The Good, The Bad, The Ugly of Japan...thus far

THE GOOD:

- Ladies fashion: most women are well dressed here - they have nice coats, stylish scarves and lurvely handbags. The current trend is to wear winter shorts over black tights and heels... I like it but haven't been brave enough to try it yet!

- High speed internet: our current cable TV is limited so we've been streaming American TV shows from sidereel.com... heaven.

- Japan mobile: serious phone rage prevailed after the first week of my new phone - there was no space bar! and no dictionary! and it was a huge relief when we discovered I could still use my iPhone... Angry Birds on the train it is!

- Heated toilet seats: the novelty never gets old! We're investigating some for the future Wembley Downs house :)

- Pub with 180 Yen beers: local knowledge is essential! Wednesday we paid Y980, last night Y180… note: this does lead to "bad" and "ugly" if abused.

THE BAD:

- Snoring on the train: Most Japanese people work very late hours (11pm) so they are always tired on the train and most fall asleep... I went to work with very loud snoring yesterday!

which one would you chose?

- Listerine Vs Oral Splash: took us a while to find Listerine... they only had "original" which is light brown colour... I suspect it's cinnamon... in the meantime we tried "Oral Splash" which I believe contains sugar and tastes like rotten apples...yuk

- Smoking in restaurants: they are pretty good about designated smoking areas... work has a smoking room so they don't have to stray too far from the desk... but some restaurants are too small to prevent walking out smelling like an ashtray :(

THE UGLY:

- Nasal extraction: I watched a guy attempt to extract his brain, through his nose, with his pinky finger, whilst half covering with his other hand... for the entire 17min train ride! How is that socially acceptable and yet blowing your nose isn't?!?!?!

- Spitting: only cited a few times, but it happens... not just on the street but in the subway! eeewww

- Schrunchies: seriously, the biggest fashion faux pas here is the use and overuse of schrunchies... leave them in the 80's ladies, they were a bad idea at the time and still are... it gives me shivers ;)

xo

Karate Kate

Wanted: a needle swift enough to sew this poem into a blanket - C. Simic

Fabrics at Yuzawaya

The day started with a short train ride South West, stopping at Kamata Station. I went in search of Yuzawaya - the big fabric store! A little man at the station figured I was lost so he spoke some broken English to me and lead me down the garden path... I followed for about 15mins and then realised he had less idea than I did so I politely parted company and picked a few randoms to ask for directions - all gave me conflicting information! In the end I was in a craft store and the lady informed me that Yuzawaya was 5 buildings and the fabric building was just around the corner from McDonald's... of course! I made a few small purchase - great variety!!!

I then went one stop further to Kawasaki - great shopping mall! Bought Baby Hinchcliffe's (x2) a little pressie from the GAP... now I need to figure out the postal system...damn! I seem to end up in GAP and Banana Republic wherever I go :) 

In the afternoon, Kept Ninja and I trekked to the Dydo Ice Arena for an ice hockey match... Oji Eagles Versus the Cranes... see Ninja's blog for details!

xoxo

Karate Kate

I can walk the walk, but I can't talk the talk

Takeshita Street

Japanese people, though vertically challenged, can walk as fast as I can! Yesterday I was trailing an older Japanese woman who almost got away from me! She walked two steps to every one of mine - the difference between 4ft and 6ft! I'm often the one caught in that scenario where you need to dodge right and left with the person coming towards you until you almost crash… well not here - they make a decision about where they are headed and they bee-line! Oh and just to make it tricky, the majority of Tokyo believe in "keep left"… except for a few areas that have European influence - particularly towns West of Tokyo, where the rule is "keep right". For the most part I end up getting out of their way!

 

"Japanese people don't make a scene"… this is what we were told at cultural awareness training - so far it's 100% correct. Case and point was yesterday, my train home from work, there was a homeless man in the priority seating who exuded a body odour similar to cow dung… one by one I watched people step on the train - the smell hit them - 80% didn't move from their spots (close to the odour source) only one or two politely moved up the carriage 10m or so… I was one of them but in an confined space, there is no escaping the smell!

Gardens at Roppongi Hills

Ralph Lauren - Omotesando - hubba hubba

Markets next to the Temple

The building where Buddha's ashes are
- a gift from India after WWII

On Sunday we had a tour of Tokyo - our tour guide, Kuniko-san took us to two Shrines, a temple, the Tokyo port area and to a few more shopping districts that are "must-see". We're hoping to collate a comprehensive sightseeing schedule for any potential visitors :) The one area we visited, Takeshita street, is where the young "punks" hang out and dress up like Anime characters and other styles - unfortunately we got there too early so we'll have to go back another time to have a giggle… it's right next to Omotesando …hmmmm shopping. The Sensoji Temple and Asakusa Shrine were a highlight of the day. Kuniko-san showed me how to pray at each place of worship… it involves throwing a coin and saying a prayer… the shrine worship adds some clapping and bowing. It's interesting how Japanese can be both Buddhist and Shinto religions… our guide explained that Shintoism focuses on worshipping nature, where as Buddhism is more about how to lead your life. Might be worth doing some more reading on the subject! As well as praying, I also waved the incense smoke towards me from the vat which is suppose to have healing powers… in the absence of an ailments, I walked away not smelling too flash! The Shrine also has fortune telling, where you pay ~$1, pick a draw (from hundreds) and read the fortune note… if you get a bad fortune, you tie it to the stand next to the boxes and leave your bad fortune behind.

Asakura Shrine

The incense vat

Dessert last night
- not sure what it was,
but it was YUMMO!

The French designer was might
unimpressed when height restrictions
meant he couldn't straighten the
flame tip!

 

We haven't quite figured out our favourite foods just yet - most meat is pork - if in doubt, it's pork. We thought we'd bought some rice and chicken the other night… turned out to be garlic tofu…damn! The texture of the tofu here is quite different… similar to a crème caramel… but obviously not quite as delicious! Last night we opted for soup from Chowder at the Shinagawa train station - definite winner… plus there was room for dessert :)

 

We're hoping to catch an ice hockey match this weekend - the two teams playing are from the area around Niseko… just need to figure out tickets … apparently you can buy them from a 7-Eleven!

No language lessons yet - waiting til we move into Yokohama...so lots of "sumimasen" and "arigato" and sign language...

xo

Karate Kate

Yoko..o-oh!

I can see my bank balance fading away with every step we take in Yokohama...

Urban and Ocean Towers - Yokohama

Landmark Tower Shops

Today Naoko-san and Keiko-san took Kept Ninja and me for a tour of Yokohama. We started in Landmark Tower- a 5 storey department store with lots of restaurants and shops... drool. The station I take to work is just below this tower... in the words of Ripper... alllllllright! We then walked through some open courtyards and discovered our local shops (200m from our "potential" apartment)... they include a huge electronic store, the most gigantic sports store I've ever seen (MTC will be in heaven here), a book/dvd store, and an IKEA-equivalent store - bliss!!! We later returned unguided and bought a few things...

My new ski jacket and super attractive padded ski pants

Japanese diffuser

Motomachi street

We then caught a quick metro link to Motomachi which is the centre of Yokohama - including a long shopping road and Chinatown. The shopping street is soooo lovely - has the usual designer stores - Gap, Zara, Louis Vutton, Longchamps, Coach, etc. I was somewhat distracted by the shops so we didn't enter Chinatown, but there are suppose to be some good restaurants in there. I got a jumper from Victorinox... another necessity for our skiing adventure in 3 weeks time.

Delicious, large mirror at Dean & Deluca

Our guides also told us about Kamata, which is the fabric district, home to Yuzawaya, which is suppose to have it all - shall explore soon and give the K-town girls the D/L :)

Segue from our shopping adventures to the fact that we are suppose to be saving for our house, to be built upon return to Oz... I'm picking up some architectural and interior design tips - here are a few snaps...

Hanging lights, high ceilings, white up top, dark wood furniture - Dean & Deluca

A building in Yokohama which hosts weddings... and me - minus diffused hair :(

Back of the wedding building

I've leave you with a pic of my boy near the Imperial Palace Gardens...can you see the snow from yesterday? :)

xo
Karate Kate

Kept Ninja at Imperial Palace Gardens - Tokyo

Beauty "Pad"gent

Today Karate Kate and Kept Ninja took on the epic task of selecting a pad to live in for 18months. We saw ~15 contestants and the final decision is down to two....
Contestant Number 1: La Tour Mita - Tokyo
This contestant was built in 2006 and boasts a wide range of attributes, including....
- 110m2 living area - 2 bedroom, 1 bathroom
- Free internet, cable tv, heated flooring, small gym
- close proximity to the central metro and rail to work (work travel time =17min walk time, 20mins on train)
- in business district - shops, night life, etc are 10-15mins walk
A sample of photographs have been taken for the judges:

Contestant Number 2: Pacific Royal Court Minatomirai Ocean Tower - Yokohama
This contestant was built in 2007 and again, boasts a wide range of attributes, including....
- 128m2 living area - 2 bedroom, 2 bathroom
- Free internet, cable tv, an uber large flatscreen tv, small gym
- close proximity to the Yokohama station (work travel time =20min walk time, 7mins on train)
- Tesco (supermarket) located right under the building, movies and other shops 500m away, large park 100m away, open area for biking, department store 10min walk away.
A sample of photographs have been taken for the judges:

Judges - cast your votes wisely!!! Results to be collated and a verdict will be reached on Kept Ninja's blog... keptninjalivingthedream.blogspot.com on Sunday...
xoxo
Karate Kate