Wandering Wonderings

Did Someone Say Penis Festival?

2009-03-16T20:24:00.009+09:00

There was a lot of anticipation build up leading into this weekend. Everywhere I went it seemed the usual greeting of 'hello' was foregone for 'Hey, you're going to the Penis Festival, right?' And that's exactly where I went this weekend.

Better known as the Hounen Matusuri here in Japan, rather than being a free-for-all public sexpo the Penis Festival was more about a celebration of fertility. But since nobody in our group actually wanted to get pregnant we went along to see the famed giant penis.

Basically the festival is an ancient tradition to celebrate fertility and renewal. Every year on March 15th, a big party is held at the Tagata-jinga shrine as hundreds of people gather to catch a glimpse of the monster phallus. Each year, a new wooden phallus is craved from a cypress tree. It's about 2.5 meters long and weighs around 400 kilograms. 12 unlucky blokes are desginated to carry the giant penis. They're all supposed to be 42 years old because that's supposedly an unlucky age for men when it comes to fertility.

We organised a huge group to go forth and witness the wonder of the Penis Festival. We were getting (understandably) rowdy in all the excitement. Funnily the boys seemed a lot more excited about the prosopect of seeing all those peni than the girls. We were such a huge group of foreigners that we became a popular attraction ourselves. We kept collecting random people as our group thread through the festival. As we took photos, random Japanese people would run in to pose with us.

Besides the main attraction of the Penis Parade there was plenty to keep me a-giggling all day long. The souvernir store was a delight for the senses. There were penis-shaped lollipops with matching vaginas; keychains with movable parts that show exactly how the birds and the bees do it; an almost posh looking golden keyring (dubbed the goldmember) that had string along the back that enabled people to make it stand to attention and wooden carvings. My personal favourite was the miniature penis with feet. You could wind it up and it bopped around frenetically. I fell over laughing.

Then there were the food stalls. And the Penis Festival fever definitely seeped into the food stalls. There were chocolate covered bananas, giant battered hotdogs and miscellaneous meats on a stick. We rather enjoyed taking salacious photos as we munched on our snacks.

While we waited for the much anticipated parade, we also enjoyed a taiko drumming performance. These guys were great. There were some tiny tykes bashing at those drums before they made way for the big guns who showed us what the art was really about. There was a man walking around with a well endowed mannequin. There was a polaroid attached to where the head shoud have been and if you gave the family jewels a friendly tug, it took a polaroid. Then there was the camera crew that couldn't resist approaching us (told you we were a tourist attraction in ourselves), and we played up the rowdy foreigner stereotype by chanting penis, penIS, peNIS, pENIS, PENIS. I told them that we'd see ourselves on the news the next day, then being deported the day after. I can just imagine the headlines: English teachers fired enmasse for raucous behaviour at family oriented fertility festival.

Then came time to line up along the streets for the parade... There had been much discussion about it beforehand. My coworker and I were fervently hoping that the giant member would be tweaked to shoot forth fountains of milk which would be caught in the mouths of young maidens. And after all the build up and anticipation, I'd like to be able to inform you that the giant penis pounded up that street and with a punishing thrust, exploded into the shrine.

Unfortunately, I think the anticipation of the parade was a lot sweeter than the actual deed. The giant penis took its sweet time getting up that street, teasing us until the allure became frustration. Then it just charged into the shrine like a fumbling teenager. The foreplay was too long and the finish was frankly disappointing.

But I guess the rest of the day had been so perfect that if the parade had been perfect too all of our heads would have exploded. Only in Japan could people get away with parading a giant phallus around and celebrating the fact.

And for all of you who warned me not to get pregnant at the festival, I'm pretty sure I'm in the clear but it COULD be touch and go. In an unsuspecting moment, as I was trying to thread my way out of the penis-mad masses an old woman stuffed a fertility charm (a plant with a ribbon tied around it) into my hand. Uh oh, I hope this doesn't mean I'm pregnant.

Popped my Tokyo Cherry

2009-02-02T13:59:00.007+09:00

Now that I know my final deadline for Japan I've created a mental checklist of things I have to do before I leave Japan. I'm deathly determined to get all the things on my list done. And this weekend I managed to check off the first item: Go to Tokyo.

So on Saturday night straight after work a huge group of us made the trek to the city that never sleeps (where people speak Japanese).

One of the most exciting things happened before we even got to Tokyo. My tangent buddies, Darlene and Tommy FINALLY got together. My subtle machinations finally came to fruition. So our train trip consisted of us discussing how long I'd seen this coming, trying to convince the others in our group they were actually together and getting told off for being rowdy and obnoxious gaijin.

Since we took the shinkansen (bullet train) the trip took less than 2 hours. The shinkansen essentially feels like flying but you never leave the ground. I did get that nauseating feeling that I get when I'm travelling on a really fast elevator but it settled down.

When we got to Tokyo around 11pm, we headed out to Ageha, one of the biggest clubs in Tokyo. And this was no small claim (sorry, bad pun) this place was a ginourmous warehouse with marquee extensions. There was a house area that was about the size of a football field; a pool area that was begging someone to be thrown in, a trance tent; a lounge area you could get lost in and a bunch of coloured rooms (the blue room, the orange room) that we didn't even make it to.

Apparently, cameras weren't allowed in the club but I managed to sneak mine in because I truly wanted to document my adventures. I didn't take too many photos though. There were security guards everywhere.

The highlight of the club was when the pole dancers came out. And before the screams of protest against the objectification of women start, these women were not strippers. It was like circe de soleil but instead of leotards these women were wearing bikinis. The things they were doing were absolutely mind-blowing. To be able to climb up a steel pole, cling to the pole using only her thighs then twirl around horizontally was an amazing show of their strength. They were tanks. Amazonian in their beauty and grace but athletes nonetheless. Unfortunately I didn't get to take a photo. The guards were even more prevalent around them.

We left the club around 5:30am, got breakfast, then headed to Shibuya. Shibuya is the famous shopping district and the crossing outside the station is famous for always being a crushing mass of people. This wasn't the case at 7am on a Sunday. After spending a couple of hours in the worst Starbucks ever (it had no bathroom or couches. It's only redeeming quality was the music they played), we got a Tommy Hadouken Adams tour of Tokyo.

We walked around Shibuya and did some window shopping. There was a shopping centre called 109 that was made up entirely of shops for women. Some of the shops were colour coordinated. Like everything in the shop was black and pink, or white and yellow. It was bizarre but shopping in Japan is always a bizarre experience.

Then we walked to Harajuku (the street famous for the people who dress up in costumes). It was definitely a sight to see. So many younguns caked with make-up, tottering around in gravity defying platforms and waving 'Free Hugs' signs. And of course we made a trip to the Harajuku market street. It was a teeming alley of kooky fashion and people.

One thing about Tokyo is that there are so many more foreigners around than in Nagoya. And for some reason almost every group of foreigners we bumped into during our unofficial tour seemed to be Australian. It felt like I was being stalked by Australians.

Tokyo is definitely a more highly-charged experience of Japan. In Nagoya, I've been allowed to get used to culture and my surroundings at my own pace. But everything in Tokyo is in your face.

This may have been my first trip to Tokyo but it certainly won't be my last.

Goodbyes and Hellos

2008-10-13T18:06:00.007+09:00

This week was my new co worker, Eduardo's (to be known as Ed or Eddie) first week at the school. As expected he was a little nervous but quiet excited by it all. I tried to help him out as much as I could because I'm a nosy control freak but there's only so much I could do bar teaching all his classes for him. He's really peppy and ambitious so I'm sure it won't take long for him to get settled in.

On Saturday night after work we had our combination welcome/goodbye party for Ryan and Ed. These parties are so much more fun when I actually know the students. It's nice to be able to relax and laugh with the rest of the staff and the students.

Everyone kept asking me if I was drinking a lot because I went bright red. I hadn't even finished my ONE drink yet. So they had a good laugh about that.

I have a Teddy Bopper student called Katsushi, also affectionately known as Elvis. He absolutely idolises Elvis and dresses the part. He brought his guitar with the intention of letting Ryan jam on it. I kept asking him if he was going to sing for me but he kept refusing. I eventually twisted his arm and he serenaded me. It was so sweet. He sang me Rick Nelson's 'Hello, Mary Lou (Goodbye Heart)'.

One of my other student's Hisataka is a masseuse and he treated Ryan to an on the spot massage. Where's mine?

Unfortunately, Ed and I had to leave early to catch last train. I basically had to drag Ed out because he was having so much fun mingling. And he forgot everything so he had to keep going back for it. I guess it was a good thing we had to leave early or I might have ended up carrying him back to the apartments.

Except for the random head that keeps popping up in the background (That's one of the students, Shouji. He's hilarious and always brings in a different weird Japanese drink every week) these are my wonderful co workers.
Ryan's the baby faced boy in the gray shirt. Can you believe he's 27?
Ayako's in the striped shirt, Saori's in the middle and of course, suave Ed in the front.

We Get Around... with Urthboy and Hermitude

2008-10-06T17:27:00.008+09:00

There are two things that I miss about Melbourne town (besides my family and friends, of course): live music and cafe culture. There's really not much I can do about the sad lack of cafe culture here. Sigh...Here they consider the souless hallows of Starbucks the only cafes to go to.

But thankfully the live music scene has had its saving grace.

Last Saturday night, I sated my lust for live music at an Urthboy and Hermitude gig. I know, I did a double take when I first heard they were in Nagoya too. I couldn't believe that they were coming to Japan let alone in Nagoya.

I've heard of gigs being intimate but this was something else. As a prelude to the Elefant Traks crew I was treated to some Japanese hip hop. Unfortunately the first crew sounded too much like little boys who'd learnt their first swear words and were trying to use them as much as they could before their mothers heard them and spanked them for it. Luckily the rest were pretty fun to bounce to.

When Urthboy hit the stage I was there front and centre. Even though the place was tiny, the crowd was similarly tiny so I had plenty of room to bounce. There was this crazy Japanese girl, hair like Amy Winehouse, in a bikini and short overalls and enough bling around her neck to fund a political campaign. She was Sydney stomping and went berserk when I joined in. She was hilarious to dance with.

Urhtboy was amazing and because the gig was so intimate he interacted with the crowd a lot. You'll be pleased to hear that I am typing this blog with the hand that was personally high fived by Urthboy. No third hand high fives for me.

There was of course the requisite Aussie fans there. And where you get Aussies in a crowd situation you always have the Aussie hecklers. But Urthboy dealt with yells of 'Get your squid out' with aplomb. Lord, I do love my Aussie hip hop. At the end of his set, Elgusto smoothed in a remixed Mary Mary song and they came on down and had a boogie with us all.

We got a dance circle started. All the fly girls and b boys let rip. It was utterly hilarious. I couldn't dance I was laughing so much.

Then it was time for Hermitude to do their thing. I tore up that dancefloor during that set. I did a Dom and nearly took myself out with my own necklace. Luke Dubs set the keyboards on fire and Elgusto was the king of the MPC. They played a seamless mixture of old stuff and new. I never wanted it to end but of course their set flew by in a millisecond.

After they finished, the Elefant Trak boys just hung out in the crowd and grooved to the Japanese hiphoppers that followed them. I went up to say thanks for the show and ended up chatting to Tim for a while.

Yes that's right, I was on first name basis with Urthboy! It was his first time in Japan and he seemed slightly overwhelmed by it. They'd spent most of their time in Tokyo, had the one gig in Nagoya and were setting off for Osaka at 6am that morning before flying back to Australia. Nothing like a whirlwind tour of Japan surviving on absolutely no sleep, fly beats and beer. He was also really interested to hear about English teaching in japan. Um...yeah it's an amazingly sophisticated and glamourous job.

It was 4am when we finally stumbled out of the club and I was definitely the Nanna of Nanna gigging. But it was so good to feel the sweet ache of a live gig in my legs again. The only thing that would have made the night sweeter was having my Nanna gigging crew by my side.

Me and Tim (aka Urthboy...woo, first name basis)

Dancing with the Doala

2008-09-18T11:06:00.004+09:00

Japan has become the land of firsts for me. First time I've lived in a different country; first time I've been to an international music festival; first time I've climbed Mount Fuji etc.

Well, last weekend brought about another first for me: I went to a baseball game for the first time.

One of the trainers, organised a huge group to go to a game and I was invited along. Since I know about as much about baseball as I do about Scientology you may wonder why I decided to accept this invitation. Basically, I thought it was about time I found out what the world of organised sports was really about. I got told at the last minute that watching baseball is just like watching the cricket. If I'd been told that earlier there would have been no way you could've gotten me to that game.

Thankfully the game wasn't nearly as boring as cricket. Baseball is a very huge thing in Japan. And what makes the games the most interesting (for me at least) was the fans.

Walking into the stadium, I felt as if I'd walked into the quidditch scenes in the Harry Potter movies. The fans are so super-genki enthusiastic. The different supporters sit on opposing sides of the stadium and try and out do each other with their flag waving, dancing and chants. Anyone who was anyone had plastic clappers and stomped, jigged and yelled along with the team chants.

The local team are the Chunichi Dragons but their mascot is a beige koala (meh?). Their mascot was like Bruce Lee with a giant, flat faced head. He pulled some pretty spectacular flips and twists in between innings.

Unfortunately, the local team lost. I swear it wasn't my fault. I didn't even watch the game that closely so I couldn't have jinxed them with my creepy staring.

My lesson of the day: One doesn't go to ball games to actually watch the game. Socalising, drinking beer and people watching are the true aims of the game.

I am Fuji's Fool

2008-09-04T11:14:00.007+09:00

Give me a mountain and I will want to climb it. I’m masochistic like that. Since I’m in Japan I figured I might as well try and tackle the highest peak in the country. This weekend was the last of the official hiking season on Mount Fuji, so a few of us decided to make the attempt while we could.

Our group consisted of Joseph, Candice (his friend visiting from Adelaide), Judy, Joel and I. We were the Triple J IC. So we left Nagoya on Sunday morning and spent five hours on local trains getting to Gotemba station. Obviously it’s possible to get there faster but we were all still using our unlimited train tickets so this way was cheaper.

Mount Fuji is split into eight stations and you start climbing from the fifth stations (unless you are completely and utterly insane with no pain receptors in your body). We arrived at Subashiri gogome (fifth station) at 6pm. We decided to relax there for a while so our body could acclimatise to the change in altitude. They say a lot of people don’t give their bodies enough time to acclimatise and suffer from altitude sickness. I did not want to leave my mark on Mount Fuji by puking on it.

Since the weather of the previous week had been absolutely hideous: torrential rain, flash floods, electrical storms, and even an earthquake (yes, apparently an earthquake happened on Saturday while I was at work but I was completely oblivious) I was expecting the same kind of treatment on Fuji. I was preparing to basically drown as we tried to climb up the mountain. Therefore I was surprised but thankful that the weather held up beautifully. It only rained for the first ten minutes of our hike.

We hiked through the night and I took sadistic pleasure in blinding the others with the flash of my camera. Joseph, Candice and I enlightened Joel on the wonders of Australian slang. We all decided that since Mount Fuji doesn’t have any monsters to call its own we would introduce Drop Bears to Fuji. They’d be ninja Drop Bears.

We reached the eighth station at around 1am and it was glorious to rest by the dying embers of the fireplace and chillax for a while. One of the most ridiculous things I saw up there was, on one hand you had people inhaling from cans of oxygen to acclimatise to the thin air, then on the other you had people smoking. What kind of crazy nutter wants to shrink their lungs while on top of the highest peak in Japan?

From the eighth station it took us another hour and half to get to the summit. There were so many people trying to get up to the summit at the same time and the paths were narrowing down so we experienced a bit of a traffic jam. This was more of a blessing than a curse though, since it forced us to rest as the air got thinner and the atmosphere colder.

We finally reached the peak at 3:30am. Woo, we made it before sunrise. So all we had to do was wait for the sun to make an appearance. It was so ridiculously cold up there. We piled on all the layers we’d brought and went crazy trying to stay warm.

I still couldn’t believe how well the weather had held up. The sky was perfectly clear. The stars up there were soul-achingly beautiful. I saw two shooting stars. Across the horizon we could also see the distant lights of the cities. The sun rise itself just tore at the heart. I felt like a deity looking down on the Earth and I did not feel worthy to be in the presence of such glory. There was also the most amazing cloud formation. It looked like a battleship sailing majestically across the sea of clouds.

Unfortunately, the glory of the sunrise went straight to my bladder and I desperately needed to pee. But apparently the toilets at the summit were closed (you have to pay to use the toilets on Mount Fuji). What kind of sadistic, evil creature thought that was a good idea?

So we decided to head back to the eighth station for another rest by the fireplace and maybe a hot chocolate (after finding a toilet). We’d gotten about 15 mins down when we realised we had gone down the wrong way. There was a separate descending route we were supposed to take but we’d gone back down the ascending route. Whoops. We connected to the descending route and proceeded to fall down the mountain.

When we got to the eighth station, a thick white fog wrapped itself around the mountain like something out of a bad fantasy novel. Fortune has nothing on the whims of Mount Fuji. After resting at the eighth station for a couple of hours we decided we wanted helicopters to take us back down. None of us were looking forward to the further 4 hours of hiking we would have to endure. Little did we know…

I can imagine that the descent into Hades would be exactly like the descending route of Mount Fuji, except probably hotter. The way down was a 45 degree decline of crumbly ash gravel. There was nothing to grip to and the slightest motion gave you the momentum of an out of control shotput. I’m quite happy to report that I only majorly stacked it about 5 times. I fell over a lot more than that but those times were the most painful. But hey, who needs a whole coccyx bone or skin on their feet?

It only took us 3 hours to fall down the mountain. Yes, that’s right. It took 8 hours to climb up but only 3 to come back down. By the end of it, I felt like dropping to my knees and screaming to the heavens (Leo DiCaprio in Romeo and Juliet style) and screaming ‘I am Fuji’s fool!’.

We were all deliriously happy to make it back to the fifth station. We still had to wait an hour for the bus so we just relaxed (i.e. collapsed) and looked at souvenirs. After another 5 hours on trains, I finally got home around 8pm and pottered around till 11:30pm when I fell into the sleep of the dead. I certainly made the most of my weekend, considering I was awake for 34.5 hours straight. And now I can officially say that I have conquered Mount Fuji.

This is my very short video of the sunrise for your benefit. It was too cold to record for too long. Just ignore Joel's voice in the background.

Saturday night shenanigans

2008-08-16T19:47:00.000+09:00

On the last Saturday of our week off, some of the peeps decided they wanted to go clubbing. And since I felt up to a night of light hearted amusement I decided to tag along. Our group consisted of Joel, Joseph, Judy, Jean, Fiona and myself and we all headed over to Joel's place for pre-drinks. I don't quite understand the tradition of having pre-drinks but I'm a green innocent thing when it comes to such things.

We chatted for a while and played silly drinking card games before we headed out to Club ID. I've been told that while Club ID is the most popular club in Nagoya it's also one of the seediest. I was told that I should only go if I want to get hit on by fifty Brazilian guys. But Jean wanted to go there and nobody else had any suggestions.

When we got there the line was ridiculous. It literally went around the corner. Some of group went to the convenience store to get drinks while we waited. Joseph very kindly got me drink as well but we barely cracked them open before we got to the door. Fastest moving line I've ever been in.

At the door we were greeted by a pro-wrestling team of security guards. They did the prefunctory check of id and then Joel and Joseph got frisked. That pissed me off because none of the Japanese guys got frisked or any girls for that matter.

Joseph: They probably wouldn't get away with frisking girls.
Isa: But a girl could just as easily have a girl strapped to her thigh as any guy.
Joseph: Yes, but that would be sexy and if they saw that they'd be like, 'Please come straight on in.'

It was packed inside of course and Jean led us all to the hip-hop, R&B level. And thus the dancing ensued. Despite all the warnings about ID, it wasn't quite as horrendous as I was expecting it to be. I never actually got hit on by any Brazillians. I got the sleazy look over all the time but I think Joseph and Joel's presence in our group kept most of them at bay.

At one point we all started a bump and grind train with a whole bunch of other people. It was hilarious. I also saw one guy dressed up in a Yoshi suit and another in a Pikachu suit. Hilarity. They must have been hot as heck in those.

It got so crowded we had to do our best worming to get through the crowds to get a drink. Jean grabbed my hand and led the way do I put out my hand for Joel or Joseph. I turned back and saw some random japanese guy had grabbed my hand. And he refused to let go until we got to the bar at which point he thanked me for leading him out of the crowd. Smart man.

After Club ID we all decided to head to Joy Joy for a bout of Karaoke. Our bout lasted into the wee hours of the morning. By the end of it, only Judy, Joel and I were still rocking. When we stumbled out of there the sun was already well and truly out. It gets so bright so freaking early over here.

A spot of terrain jaunting at Kakizore

2008-08-15T21:06:00.000+09:00

Today I was on a mission to find a waterfall. I found out about a particularly beautiful one out in the Kiso Valley in the Nagano prefecture.

As I made my way to Nakatsugawa, I realised that I've spent the bulk of my holiday on trains. It's a good thing that the trains here are fo hospitable and easy to use. At Nakatsugawa, I had to wait about 30 minutes to get the train to Junikane. Junikane is a tiny deserted country station. I was the only person to get off there and as the train departed I was struck by an ominous horror-film feeling that I might never leave this place again. Been watching too many movies lately? ;0)

There were plenty of maps to guide me towards Kakizore ravine. They were imminently helpful, if a little false in their distance gauging. But maybe it was the winding roads and the heat that made the four or so kilometres seem more like ten. I saw the river immediately and was at once enchanted by its siren-like waters. But I was not to have the pleasure of experiencing it for quite some time. I swear the river was taunting me throughout my hike.

It was about a four kilometre hike from the station to Kakizore, all of it following a narrow road. I'd brought my runners thinking I'd be hiking more but because of the heat and the easy road, I accomplished the hike in my thongs. I have such a funny tan line on my feet now. Sigh, I've spent far too much time in the sun this holiday. I look like a turkey roast roll with the criss-cross net pattern.

The views were amazing along the way: little quaint country houses on luscious farm lands and the most beautiful wild flowers lining the roads. The mountains were majestic and already dotted with a few early deciduous red and yellow trees. This area would look magnificent in the autumn. And of course throughout my journey was the constant tinkling laughter of the running water. I was always so close to that river yet still so very far.

My first sight of the water left me in awe. It was blue and gorgeous but as I got closer to Kakizore the water got even clearer and purer. By the time, I reached Kakizore, I was hot and wet with sweat, wonderfully glad for the shade and ready to sit down and eat my lunch. I decided to cross the river and the suspension bridge was one of those shake-with-every-movement-you-make types. It was fun and made me want to bounce up and down.

Then I crossed the river again, this time through the water to get to a shaded glen to have my river side picnic. It was glorious. The water was the clearest, coldest water I have ever experienced. Forget the chilly waters of the lake that inspire cries of 'decollatage!' this was freshly-melted-snow cold.

I lost my thong again as I walked in the water. But this time the water moved so fast I didn't have time to laugh as it's appearance let alone save it. It disappeared from sight before I could utter a cry. Thank god I'd brought my runners or it would have been a long and utterly painful walk home.

After my picnic and recovering from the loss of my thong with aplomb, I headed for the Ushigataki waterfall, following a narrow and decidedly rickety looking pathway. The time-worn planks bent this way and that, leading up and down stairs that sloped at dangerous angles.

On the way to the falls, I spotted three guys in wet suits in the river, clambering over the rocks and tackling the cold rapids head-on. Since they were hopping along those rocks like mountain goats I dubbed them the Terrain jaunters.

The sight of the waterfall was unforgettable. I stood on the viewing platform with my mouth literally hanging open. In the presence of such overwhleming power and beauty there really wasn't much else I could do.

The Terrain jaunters reached the pool just below the waterfall just as I reached the viewing platform way above them. They took great delight in hollering as they dived from the rocks into the icy swirls that skirted the falls. Lucky bastards.

While I was there I wondered why the ravine air seemed to be scented with the smell of barbecued meat. I was expecting more of a pine scent, frankly. On the way back, I saw several families crowding around tiny little barbecues, preparing their dinners. Ah...that would explain the smell.

As I headed back to my shaded glen for a spot of relaxing, I saw a woman carrying my lost thong. Huzzah, it had been rescued! I swear I am the luckiest thong owner in the world. Twice now I've lost my left thong in the waters of Japan only to have it rescued for me.

It was utterly serene to sit by the river and write as I listened to it rush past. I dangled my feet in the water but it was just too cold for a proper swim.

I headed back, giving myself plenty of time since I didn't want to miss the highly irregular trains. But the trek back was so much easier, quicker and cooler that I made it back with more than an hour to spare. I caught the earlier train and was expecting to have to wait at Nakatsugawa for a long while. But I was able to get on a rapid immediately. My train connections were seamless and I was home before 7:30pm. God bless Japan's efficient trains.

A visitation with Mother Kyoto

2008-08-14T19:24:00.000+09:00

Atsui des ne! (It's so hot!) I heard a lot of this yesterday. I'd been warned that Kyoto was really hot in August but I can't say that it was any hotter than Nagoya. Osaka definitely felt hotter. Though that could be because I was under the direct sunlight the entire time.

So, if Osaka is Nagoya's try-hard flashy sister, then Kyoto is definitely their quintessential Japanese mother: desperately trying to keep up with the trends but on the inside still clinging to traditional Japanese values. I went to Kyoto because it's one of the top three must see destinations in Japan (Osaka, Tokyo, Kyoto). Plus I have an unlimited train ticket, so why the heck not?

Kyoto is supposed to be the heart and soul of Japan, old-style like what we see in movies. But when I arrived at Kyoto station it was as if I'd gotten off at the wrong stop. The station is a monolith of modern architecture, all arching metallic beams and clean lines. Certainly not what I as expecting but pretty cool.
I headed straight for Kiyo-mizu dera temple (Pure Water temple). The roads of Kyoto are well-signed and easy to follow. They're set on a grid structure unlike the hodge podge of streets in other cities. So, I didn't get lost in Kyoto either. Woo, maybe my sense of direction is coming back to me.

Although I doubt I could have gotten lost even if I wanted to. There were so many tourists following the same path that I really just had to follow the tide. I immediately decided to ditch the crowd and followed a path up to a gorgeous shrine. Then I took the back road up to Kiyo-mizu. The back road was actually an uphill hike through Toribeyama cemetery. All the tombs were so immaculately kept and dignified looking it wasn't as creepy as cemeteries usually are. All the tombs clung to the clopes overlooking the city, talk about prime real estate for the dead. That hill would look even more spectacular in Autumn or Spring when all those trees changed. The hike up that hill was gorgeous even if it did leave me dripping with sweat.

When I got to Kiyo-mizu I followed the crowd again and took a bunch of pictures. I tried to take a few with me in them but since I didn't exactly have a range of angles to choose from they all look like mugshots.

Kiyo-mizu was like a huge national park full of temples and shrines. It was wonderful because when I got up there a breeze set in. whew! There were so many different paths and hillsides to explore. There was a waterfall from which the temple derives its name, Pure Water.

As it trickles down the spouts you can catch the water in long metal cups and take a sip. It was gloriously cold stuff. The water is said to bring one of the following: long life, wisdom or beauty. Since I don't feel any wiser and I know I'm looking a little the worse for wear, I guess this means I've increased my lifespan.

It really was a beautiful temple. The main hall with its wooden balcony that lets you peer across the entirety of the city was constructed in the traditional Japanese method: without using a single nail!

I went down 'teapot lane' on my way out. It was a cobbled, winding street of market stalls selling souvenirs, ceramics and ice-cream. There were also these man-drawn hackneys lugging tourists up and down those hills. Those guys must have legs of steel to make it up those hills carrying those carriages. Not to mention the stamina they must have to survive the heat.

The people wearing yukatas looked like they truly belonged in Higashiyama (the temple/shrine area of Kyoto). Higashiyama is what foreigners expect Japan to look like. Cobbled streets, temples and shrines on every corner, tiny curving alleys, trees bursting with blossoms, people clip-cloppping in their yukatas and wooden sandals just make it seem all the more like the mystical Land of the Rising Sun.

But like anything that lives up to a stereotype it has become clotted with tourists. The chattering crowds and constantly flashing cameras certainly contradict the peace and tranquility one generally associates with temples and shrines.

I really enjoyed wadering off the well-trodden and Lonely Planet recommended tourist routes. At one point I climbed up a set of intriguing looking stairs expecting to find a park or something equally pretty. When I got up to the top I was faced with a...car park. To say I was disappointed was a mega understatement.

Then I looked up and saw a towering statue of Quan-Yin (the Buddhist Goddess of Mercy). It was awe-inspiring. It was really peaceful to see her beautiful and serene face smiling down on me.

Then I headed for Gion where Maikos (geishas in training) and Geishas are said to roam. Since the number of maiko and gesiha have rapidly declined in recent years I wasn't actually expecting to see any. But I actually caught sight of two clip clopping down the alley of teahouses, giggling away.
Past the cobbled streets and teahouses, Gion city is where Kyoto's wrinkles are starting to show. It's looking a little rundown and cheesy.

I had to cross the bridge over Kawa river to get to Potoncho-dori and I noticed a family playing in the water. So of course I decided I had to get in on the action. I've become such a water baby since coming to Japan. I love it every time it rains and whenever I see a body of water I feel the urge to run head long into it and splash about. The water was absolutely gloriously, clear and cool. As I as crossing the river, I lost one of my thongs. The image of my foot-imprinted thong floating down the river was so comical I wanted to take a picture. But I knew that actually saving my thong was more important so I chased after it. Thank goodness there was a couple ahead and the man fished my thong out for me. Ahh, blessed be the kindness of strangers.

Potoncho-dori is a tiny little cobbled alley that reminds me of Melbourne's laneways and acts as the nightlife artery of the Kyoto region. It's glutted with bars, clubs and restaurants and has a real night owl vibe about it. I can just imagine it bursting into like as the night descends.

By early evening I was so hot and tired from my hiking that I decided to stroll back to the station. I am still taken aback whenever I see the buddhist sign around Japan. It looks to me like a swastika which is such a tabboo sign in Western countries but I have to keep reminding myself that it's actually the symbol for buddhism.

Good, clean, naked fun in Osaka

2008-08-11T19:07:00.000+09:00

The next day I had to wake up early to check out. I was still tired but still deliriously happy from the day before.

Osaka is kind of like Nagoya's try-hard sister. It looks like Nagoya but everything is five times bigger and five times flashier (but more often than not just as useless).

Den Den town is Osaka's electronics district. It's absolutely huge. It really is it's own town. Clearly a heaven for all electrical and comic book nerds.

I visited a couple of fresh food markets and all the yummy food smells reminded me of Malaysia. Of course the markets here are meticulously clean. There were plenty of fish stores (we are in Japan after all) but I was surprised by some of the live fish. They had live eels (summer is eel season. The Japanese believe eating eel will recharge all the energy summer has drained from you), huge octupi with tentacles the length of my legs, sea snails the size of my fist, turtles and the infamous fugu (puffer fish).

Dotombori is an open aired-arcade market. They had some crazy fantastic decorations so I was busy taking photos. This is the place to be and be seen in Osaka. I was tempted by all the food, especially the ice-cream and desserts. Oh oh, they have ice cream vending machines in Japan. Not crappy stuff either but Cornetto style ice-creams. Woah!

I decided on sushi for lunch and wanted to go to another sushi train place. But they're not as easy to find as you'd think. I saw one place that was an all-you-can-eat sushi train. Men were $15.80 and women were $12.60 (Yes, in Japan they have separate prices for men and women and more often than not women have to pay less. Eg. at gyms, to get into bars or clubs. They really don't understand sexual equality here). I knew I wouldn't be able to eat that much sushi so i passed on that one.

I found another sushi train place. This one was so much better than the one in Nagoya. all the plates were $1.30 not just the crappy ones. So I filled up on fresh and amazing sushi. And it only came up to a total of $6.50. I swear I'm going to get a rude shock when I go back to eating out in Australia. It's so cheap over here.

After my meal I decided I was too hot and tired to walk back to Shinimamiya so I took the train. My unlimited train ticket is the bombdiggity. Namba station is not. It's actually 3 stations in one and of course I was on the wrong end. So I had to walk to the opposite side of the station to catch my train. The station was so huge I felt like I walked all the way to Osaka station.

There was also random stuff in the station. Like a mini replica of the Chicage art gallery with gorgeous prints of famous works by Van Gogh and Monet. It made the hike slightly less tedious.

I know I don't usually complain about walking but I was hot, tired, still dirty from the day before and carrying my huge backpack of wonder on slightly burnt shoulders. But I was heading back to Shinimamiya to remedy all that. I was heading to Spaworld!

I'd read about it in the Lonely Planet and they made it sound really touristy and therefore not my thing. But I looked it up on the net and I realised it actually sounded like fun. Spaworld is a theme park of hot springs/baths from around the world. I also got a discount coupon, so entry was $20 for 3 hours and included towels, access to shower facilities (plus soap, shampoo, hairbrush, toothbrush, dryer etc) as well as locker use and use of all the spas on the level assigned to your gender.

Since you have to be completely nude to use the hot springs they have separate mens and womens levels. They have the Europe zone with spas from Europe and the Asian zone. They swap the levels fore each gender according to the month so you have to come two different times to experience both levels. This month it was the Asian zone for women.

I was fully prepared to do the full monty for this but I was surprised at how easy it was. I always wondered why people told you to imagine the crowd naked when you're feeling nervous. But now I understand. When everyone is completely nude you just feel completely at ease. They do provide tiny hand towels that can cover the essential parts as you traipse from spa to spa but you can't wear them into the water. They also provide you with pyjamas to wear when not in the hot spring area.

I started off with a hard scrub. It was blissful to wash away all that dirt. Then I started in the Islam bath. It was beautifully decorated and hot, hot, hot. I swear I melted, there and then. It was so relaxing. There was also a waterfall thing where the falling water pounds you. It was like a water massage. Absolutely brilliant for the knots in my back. And also a herb steam bath.

There was a Persian section with a milk and honey scented spa and a flat screen tv to enjoy whilst relaxing. The Bali spa was beautifully decorated and tucked in a candlelit alcove. The stone's of the spa were perfectly shaped for lounging and the bubbles were delightful.The Japanese are had a pine onsen. It was like a sauna and spa combined in one. There was also a cold spa because apparently it's health-improving to dip between cold and hot water. I dipped a toe in and no more. It was just too cold.

The outdoor Japanese spa was my favourite. I just lay there listening to the waterfall and watching blossoms float down and land in the water from the trees above as a light breeze ruffled my hair.There was also a section called Dr Spa that had a high temperature mineral water spa (although I still think the Islam pool was hotter) and a low temp spa. The piece de resistance was the salt sauna. Basically you go in, scrub yourself wih the salt provided then let it melt off your skin. It was utter bliss for my poor callused feet and it left me feeling like a snake who's shed it's skin.

I also decided to check out the family spa and swimming zone on the top floor. This area is for everyone, so swimwear must be worn. After the spa area this was an utter disappointment. There was a huge moat of a pool and there were so many people they all basically walked round and round the moat. To be fair, there were two giant waterslides with giant lines to match and also there was a massive bucket with water dripping into it. When it filled a siren went off and everyone underneath got hit with a huge load of water. That was fun. But everything else was the touristy gunk I'd wanted to avoid. So back to the hotsprings I went to get naked and relaxed again.

I'm supremely glad I did the whole naked onsen (hot spring) thing on my own for the first time. I felt completely at ease with my nudity in front of all those strangers. There were women of all ages. From little baby girls to wizened old women. There were mums with their bubs, and teens with their friends. Naked bathing is such an ingrained part of their culture so they don't think twice about it. But I think I would have been a lot more hesitant about the getting naked idea if I'd gone with mum or the girls.

There was also a rest room with lounges you could sleep in. These weren't your average plastic or cane lounges (although they had different areas with those too). These were your Gold class cinema seats that stretch out to lying position with blankets provided. Obviously people were wearing the pyjamas provided in this section.

After I'd done the rounds on all the spas again I had another shower. I left feeling rejuvenated, gloriously clean and relaxed. As an added bonus it had cooled down to a bearable temperature by the time I left. So I headed back to the station and made my way home to Nagoya.

Typhoon Isa hits Summer Sonic

2008-08-10T18:46:00.000+09:00

I got an early start on Sunday morning to get to Osaka by early morning. I wanted to leave as soon as possible because I knew it would take around 3 hours (and that's if I didn't get lost along the way). Sleep? Pfft who needs sleep. Besides, I thought I'd have plenty of time for sleep on the train. Little did I know...

Even at 7am the trains to Kyoto/Osaka were packed. I figured it would die off as we headed out. But that was just deluded optumism. So I spent the entire time making like a cow and sleeping while standing.

Every time I opened my eyes to check I was still going in the right direction, I'd look out the window and the landscape would just get more beautiful. The mountains in Gifu took my breath away. And the greens of the land were indescribable. They're almost a lurid green. If someone had painted that landscape I would have said they'd exaggerated the colour. Nothing can be that green. But seeing is truly believing.I also saw a pine forest. These bare-to-the-midriff pines look like the Japanese cousins of the Ents: magical yet spindly, tall and revelling in their half-nakedness in the summer heat. It was like Japanese watercolour come to life.

Of course at that time the train was too packed for me to turn to get a better look let alone get my camera out of my bag.I had to transfer twice on the way and this was where I thought I'd get horribly lost and end up in Narnia (which wouldn't have been too bad but I really wanted to go to Summer Sonic). But I just went with the tide of people and read the signs every now again. And 3 hours later I was in Osaka. Woo hoo, I didn't get lost.

I booked a hotel close to Namba (the exciting part of Osaka). It was really close to the Shinimamiya station and cheaper than a youth hostel. Thank god they provided a pictorial guide on how to get there otherwise I would never have found it. For $15, I got my own teeny room (about a 1.5m squared), with a fan and tv.

The landlord was so nice. I spoke to him in broken Japanese and he replied in broken English. He gave me a really good map of Osaka and pointed out all the highlights around the area. I was really glad to have a place to dump my stuff. I totally over-packed my great second-hand backpack of wonder. I think I was channelling Maddy's 'what if' vibe as I packed. But I didn't bring any candles. Needless to say, I don't think I'd make a good backpacker.

When I got to Sakurajima for the festival the station was bursting with people. I thought I'd be waiting all day to get the shuttle bus to the festival. But of course they were so well organised and had so many shuttle buses we all just drifted straight on. When we got to the festival site, I collected my wristband, festival map and complimentary mints. I was so chuffed that I was finally there.

Summer Sonic (SS) is 5 times bigger than QMF. I'd written up my timetable of artists to see based on the QMF system: i.e if something sounds interesting í'll check it out. If they're not that great I can bail and head for another tent. With SS it took about 10 mins to get between stages - at a fast walk, so that system didn't work out quite as well as it does at QMF.

The first band I checked out were Beat Union. A British soft punk, pop-rock band. You know the type: they wear their tattoos like sleeves then rock out to love songs. They were fun to kick everything off with. As I was dancing along I realised that I was going to fry under the baking sun. Most of the stages are outdoor. I'd totally taken the tents of QMF for granted.

Then I meandered over to check out OneRepublic. You know how at festivals, you go along to some bands just for the sake of filling time, but then they surprise you with how fantastic they are. Onerepublic was the first band of the day to do that. I initially thought they would be too mainstream pop for my tastes but they actually sound more indie live. I take my hat off to any band that can rock the cello and the piano like they did.

The fest was very heat management friendly.There were plenty of giant fans connected to mist sprayers, staff that would spray the crowd with giant hoses and drink taps too. There were so many guys stripped to their shorts, most were either a gentle puce or the colour of a freshly roasted turkey. Then you had the other extreme of some people wearing beanies elbow high gloves and thick, long denim overalls. Maybe they thought if they convinced their bodies it was winter, they wouldn't get hot.

After OneRepublic I decided to check out a Japanese band called Caravan, but it was too hot at the Park stage. Plus one of the staff told me I wasn't allowed to take photos. Initially I thought it was just for that stage/band. Then I realised we weren't supposed to be taking any photos of any of the artists. I scoff with derision!

Then I went to the sonic stage which was an indoor (airconditioned) venue. There were a lot of people napping in the foyer, smart people. Cajun dance party weren't nearly as cool as they sounded on their myspace page so after a couple of songs I faced the heat again and went to see Old Man River.

I'm so glad I did. He would be a perfect candidate for QMF. He just gives off that happy, chillaxed vibe we get at Queenscliff. And there's a chick in his band who rocks on this massive sitar. It was pretty pyschedelic. He sang 'La' for his last track and invited some people on stage to sing along. I totally would have been there but I was wearing a dress and I just didn't scramble over the barriers fast enough.

One of the things I love about music festivals is how strangers can bond over good music. While I was sitting, waiting for Death Cab for Cutie I started chatting to a guy called Jeff. He was surprised when I started speaking English because he'd thought I was Japanese. We had a really nice chat. He was in japan for a holiday and had come to Osaka specifically to see Death Cab who are from Seattle like him. He even showed me pictures of his hike up Mount Fuji. The view looked outstanding. It looked like he was on a plane.

Death cab were beautiful live. It makes so much of a difference to see and hear them live. Sigh...After Death Cab, Jeff wanted to see a band called the Lost Prophets but I knew I couldn't miss the Verve so we split up and decided to meet up again for the Prodigy. The Verve were so fantastic, even if Richard Ashcroft is the biggest tosser. During the performance he smashed a perfectly good guitar. I hate it when they do that. Waste of a (no doubt fantastic) instrument. Then halfway through he went off to get a ciggie and smoked through a couple songs. Umm...alrighty then. But tosser behaviour aside it was a brilliant show. They played all the golden favourites and a couple of new ones. Apparently they have a forthcoming album. I didn't even realise the Verve were still together until I saw them on the bill for SS. I danced along to Drugs Don't Work as the sun set in an explosion of colours. Then I went absolutely insane when they wrapped it all up with Bittersweet Symphony. Oh it made my day.

After the Verve I made for Hot Chip (over and over and over again, like a monkey with a miniature cymbal). They were another band that surprised with how much I enjoyed them live. Another thing I loved about SS was that the crowds don't squish like the crowds in Australia. If you're dancing they'll give you space, especially if you're dancing around other foreigners. Hot Chip were so much fun. I literally got picked up by a random British guy. He was tall and lanky so I snuck in front of him. I noticed him joking with his friends about how tiny I was and how he could just pick me up. I told him he could if he really wanted to. I love surprising people by speaking to them in English. But he got over his initial surprise and decided he wanted to, so he picked me up.

While I was dancing, he asked me where I was from and complimented me on my dancing. Thank you very much, random. Some other Japanese guy complimented me on my dancing too. It's nice to know I've still got it. ;0)

Hot Chip finished their set by doing a gorgeous version of Nothing Compares. It was so unexpected but beautiful.

After that I ran for the Prodigy. Man they've gotten old. And that makes me feel old. I remember listening to them in high school. The Sex Pistols played SS too but I didn't feel a burning need to see them. I swear all these bands came out of retirement just for SS. Met up with Jeff again and we danced our little feet off (okay, my little feet. His feet were normal sized). The sun had well and truly set at this stage and the stars had come out to play. It sounds romantic doesn't it? Dancing under the stars...to the Prodigy. Uh...maybe not.

Then Pendulum time came and I said my farewells to Jeff. I always said that if I ever got the chance to see Pendulum I would have to take it. And now I know precisely why I was always plagued by this conviction. They were mind-blowingly fantastic. I tore up that dance floor. They played a lot of stuff from 'Hold your colour' still my favourite album of theirs. he set went by far too quickly and they didn't do an encore. Actually none of the bands at the fest did encores. But come on, Pendulum, you were the last act for the night was it really so much to ask for another hour...or maybe five.

After Pendulum everyone rushed for the shuttle buses (in the orderly fashion that rule the Japanese of course) so I followed the tide. As I was heading that way, i walked into some guy so we both apologised simultaneously. He thought I was Japanese so he said 'sumimasen'. I took him for a foreigner, so I said sorry. Again, he was surprised by my english. I was surprised (pleasantly) by his cute french accent. I noticed he was with a Japanese guy so he knew what was going on. So I asked French dude if I was going in the right direction. Better safe than sorry (Isa protests innocently).

I really did want to make sure I was getting on the right bus. Getting to hear his cute French accent was an added bonus. So I chatted to Thomas from Briton (Northern France) while we made our way back to the station. We compared notes on the festival. We also got a free walk-through tour of Universal Studios on our way to the station. So now I can say I've been to Universal Studio. Unfortunately we got separated in the crush at the station.

By the time I got back to my hotel, I felt like an A-class festival feral. I was covered in a mixture of dirt and dried sweat (most of it my own but certainly not all of it), my feet were black and my hair felt like one big dreadlock. I was too boned to shower by that time. Not that it would have made a difference since the shower room closed at 10pm anyway. I fell onto my futon with a feeling of enormous satisfaction. I'd made it to Osaka, found my hotel, danced all day and chatted to some randoms: all on my lonesome. It made me feel all proud and accomplished.

This little piggy went shopping

2008-08-04T18:27:00.000+09:00

I went on a huge monetary blow out this weekend in preparation for my holiday next week. I get a week off for 'summer vacation'. It's Obon (festival of the dead) so everyone in Japan goes back to visit family and pay respects to their familial ancestors.

I was originally planning to climb Mount Fuji during Obon since it's smack bang in the middle of climbing season. But 98% (yes that's an exact calculation) of people I've talked to about Fuji-san has said that it's actually quite disappointing. Up close the mountain is all ashy and black, so the climb up isn't exactly soul-soothing. The main reason to climb it is to see the sunrise at the peak. But all the people I talked to said it rained all the way up and when they reached the peak it was so cold and foggy they couldn't see anything anyway.

Then I realised that Summer Sonic (music festival) was on the weekend that Obon begins. So now I'm going to the last day of Summer Sonic. So I spent all of my money on my ticket yesterday. Plus I bought a special train ticket which allows me to travel around a bit more too. I can't wait to finally go dancing and listen to live music again.

The line up for Summer sonic isn't anywhere as fantastic as Fuji Rock Festival but beggars can't be choosers. I'm looking forward to seeing The Verve, Death Cab for Cutie, Old Man River and Pendulum. Hopefully I'll be able to stumble upon some new fantastic acts too like we always do in Queenscliff.

Summer Sonic will simply have to be my Queenscliff replacement this year. And all this is happening in Osaka. So first I have to get to Osaka. If I get horribly lost and I don't even make it to Osaka for the festival I'll be sending y'all a tearful email full of rage at my inability to read signs and get the trains right. But fingers crossed that doesn't happen.

And since I'd already spent so much money I decided to go out and spend more. I went to Osu market near the city. It's a fantastic quirky little undercovered market, about half the size of Queen Vic's but a lot less touristy. It's got mostly clothes and food stalls but with an amazing range. There were also a few electrical stalls and pachinko parlours thrown in.

The fashion ranges from the crazy Japanese pop-art clothes, mod, indie-rock, to bohemian. So it's pretty amazing. It was also a great place to go people watching. There happened to be a Summer Festival parade on while I was there. Plenty of Brazilian carnivalé dancers, belly dancers and salsa dancers to be seen. All the half-naked dancing women attracted the old Japanese men like a squashed banana in a forest of beetles. I never got close enough to the parade to take pictures because the horde of skeazy old men created an impenetrable wall around the dancers. Some of them were literally dripping with sweat but they refused to budge and continued to click away on their cameras with frenzied smiles on their faces.

I enjoyed my time scouring all the vintage clothes stores and looking at all the crazy fashion. Eventually I started shopping based on the music the store played and how annoying the sales people sounded. In Japan ALL the store people yell 'Irrashaimase' as soon as a person enters the store. Some of them have crazy high pitched tones that drove me insane. But there were some pretty kooky sales people, dressed in colouful yukatas with crazy hair and make up trying to drag people into their stores and offering free plastic fans.

I found a few Ishka-like stores where I could have happily spent all my money on all their beautiful things. But I didn't have any money anyway.

After Osu, I went to the Cosplay championships which was happening in Oasis 21. For those not in the know, Cosplay is a huge thing in the Anime nerd (Otaku) world. People dress up as their favourite anime/manga characters and act out scenes. They are then judged on their costume, act and how well they represent their character. It was insane. There were so many people and so many oddballs in costume. These people are the literal definition of enthusiastic.

My favourite was a dude who dressed as a Harry Potter character. He was wearing the full school uniform with the cloak and wand and Gryffindor vest and scarf. He also had on a blond wig so I'm not sure who he was meant to be. There were some other pretty spectacular characters out there but I can't explain it nearly as well as the photos can.

After watching a few of them acting out there scenes on stage we decided to head out to Anjo for their Tanabata festival. There were only so many times we could watch grown men running around with samurai swords play fighting, kissing then screaming at the injustice of it all after they kill their opponent. It seems like a popular theme in these animes.

The Anjo festival was huge and beautiful. Nat and Joel's coworker Kayo was our guide for the night. It was great. She was telling me about Tanabata, a festival that celebrates two unrequited lovers who have become stars. They can only meet on the one day everyday (July 7). So people write wishes on papers and tie them on trees with stars.

They had the usual festival stalls but also some hilarious extras. One stall sold 'Magic voice'. Basically these were bags of helium. So there were teenagers running around inhaling helium and cackling at how funny their voices sound. Personally I think most Japanese teenagers have really high voices anyway so I couldn't really tell the difference. ;)

There were also some stalls selling beetles. The Japanese kids are crazy about having beetles as pets. Nutty. Apparently the beetles in Japan love Nat and they keep appearing around her and stalking her. So we all kept making fun of her. We saw a beetle that was literally the size of my foot. Yes, I know my feet aren't terribly big but for a beetle that's pretty ginourmous.

Oh we also got to join in on a bon-odori dance. There was a parade of dancers and they were pulling people in from the crowds so we decided to jump in. We were clapping and hopping about. It was great. High-fives all around.

Photo credits: Natalie Borda

Sushi in our stomachs and sand between our toes

2008-07-29T15:05:00.000+09:00

The heat of the Japanese summer has finally gotten to me and I decided I wanted to swim in something besides my own sweat. I never thought I'd go to the beach in Japan. I mean, Australia has some of the most beautiful beaches in the world but I barely ever go to the beach back home. But I made it my mission this weekend.

So Nat and I met up in the city and I helped her get her phone. She was glad to finally get it. She's never gone so long without a phone before.

Then I decided that since I hadn't had sushi since arriving in Japan (sacriledge, I know) we simply had to find a sushi place. We managed to find a Keitan sushi which is a sushi-go-round like the sushi trains back home. THey aren't actually as common over here as you'd expect. But it was really nice. The plates started from $1.50 and went up to $10. You could pick up plates from the train or you could order it fresh. Nat and I had some tofu bags and ordered some hand rolls fresh. Man, it was so fresh and yummy. The seaweed was crispy and the rice was just perfect. Yum yum. We didn't spend much at all there. It only cost $7.50 for the both of us. But I can see how you can really rack up quite a bill at those places. It would have been interesting to see what was on the $10 plates but they didn't have any out while we were there.

Then we headed on down to Utsumi beach which is about an hour out of the city by train. We got there around 5.30pm which was perfect timing because the day had cooled down enough that we weren't scorching and the beach was pretty deserted. I'd heard that it was a really popular beach so I was expecting it to be packed. It was absolutely beautiful. I dove right into the water and it was warm... Ahhhh the glory. So we swam around in the gorgeous water and watched the sunset. At one point the as the sun let out it's final burst of light the clouds above us opened up and we had a glorious summer shower. It was so serene to watch the droplets hit the water. Then a rainbow came up. Because it's in a bay the waves were so tame. I'm so used to being battered by the waves at the beach at home. The ones over here barely gave us lazy nudges.

I love water. There is simply nothing quite like the feeling of floating in its silky warmth and letting all your worries wash away.

Photo credits: Natalie Borda

A heady mix of festivals and fireworks

2008-07-23T14:47:00.000+09:00

Monday was a public holiday over here (not that it mattered to me since I have Mondays off anyway). I don't know the reason for the holiday but there was a festival on at Nagoya Port with fireworks and the whole shebang. So I decided to head on down that way for the day.

Pat and I got there late afternoonish and walked around. It was lovely. The aquarium is there and it's huge. Apparently Nagoya Port is THE place to bring a girl on a first date. You get major points for doing so.

When I told Mads about my going to a festival she asked me about the music that was going to be there. I had to explain that it wasn't a MUISC festival it was just a festival. It wasn't until I got to the festival that I realised that basically all of the festivals in Melbourne are orientated around live music (sigh...I miss good live music). But this festival was just a celebration of summer. Which is as good a reason as any.

There was the usual festival stalls lining the street. Except it was probably 15 times the size of the Queenscliffe stall markets. Most of the stalls were selling food. There was the usual festival food: cotton candy, french fries, shaven ice, toffee apples, sausages on a stick, baked potatoes. Then there was the more Japanese stuff: grilled squid on a stick, mini watermelons, takoyaki (octupus balls), okonomiyaki (vegetable pancake thingy), ramen (noodles), Doraemon shaped donut things, choc-dipped bananas, rice crackers. There were also the usual array of masks, lighty flashy things, and stuffed animals for sale. There were also a couple stall selling live mini goldfish and hermit crabs. Random.

I have never seen so many yukatas (summer kimono) in the one place. Men, women and children of all ages were wearing them. They are apparently THE thing to wear to summer festivals. They were so pretty. And I'm sure the photos I took won't do any justice to them.

There was also a crazy parade. I don't know exactly what it was for but some overzealous crowd controllers shoved us back as carts with drums and traditional Japanese harp players rolled by. They also had street walkers accompanying the carts. There was a huge drum attached to the back of each cart and a person would run behind the cart bashing at this drum with all their might (in rhythm). The street walkers would clap sticks, wave fans and yell accordingly. There was also an inordinate number of skinny hal-naked men running around trying to excite the crowds further. I still find it funny that the Japanese have very different views when it comes to nudity in public (for men anyway). They even have naked men festivals. Ha.

I also met a whole load of new people. So I met up with Nat (my girl from training), her co-worker Joel, and his friends Judy and Dwight. They in turn introduced me to Eric (a Taiwanese/American) very funny guy. Jean, a nice Torontonian girl. Joseph a ginger guy from Adelaide: he was so smashed it was funny. He asked me four times how long I'd been in Japan. Then told me that he had a problem with my being from Melbourne (what is it about Melbourne that makes everyone out of Melbourne hate us so much), but it was okay because I seemes like a cool chick. Ha...Hiro was a Japanese teacher that actually lives near me. And also a guy called Derek English. So his name and his job description are the same: English sensei (English teacher). hehehehe.

We all sat around the park and watched the fireworks. These fireworks were absolutely brilliant. They were the most amazing fireworks I've ever seen. They were so complicated and colourful. There were technicolour fishes, stars, supernovas, watermelons and mushrooms flying through the sky that night. It was beautiful and they lasted for ages. We were reminiscing about fireworks and all the happy memories they brought. Most of the Americans said it reminded them of the 4th of July (American Indepence Day). Judy (the Brit) and I were just buh?

But the fireworks made me think of that night we were up at the lake and we wandered out to the point in the dark and we sang songs under the gorgeous stars and satellites. Oh the good times.

The trains to get out of the festival were crazy packed. There were lines leading down the street just to get into the subway. So we all just walked to the next subway stop. When we got down there it was so packed we had to wait for the next train. This was hardly a hardship since the next one was maybe a two minute wait. But we all had to pile in. Forget sardines. We were a bag of jellybeans left out in the sun for too long then packed into a tiny tin to melt into each other.

I became intimately acquainted with more than my fair share of armpits on that ride. It's a good thing that Japanese people really don't seem to sweat or smell. I did get stepped on. Of course the girl who stepped on me was wearing her traditional heavy wooden sandals so she well and truly clomped my toe. Oh well, it was an experience. But at least it's not something I have to deal with on a daily basis as I would if I was in Tokyo.

Photo credits: Natalie Borda

Stupidity haunts me across the continents

2008-07-22T14:43:00.000+09:00

Here's the section you've all no doubt been expecting but I have thus far neglected to include. The stupid things Isa has done section: Yep moving half way across the world has not in anyway improved my coordination or grace.

I'm still constantly walking into walls and tables and chairs and dropping things, much to the amusement of those around me. Everything's so small and cramped in Japan it's almost impossible to not walk into things. I also managed to pour boiling hot water over myself while making a tea with my old-school whistle kettle. Thank God I'd seen one at the Brown house otherwise I would have spent ages trying to figure out where the cord for the kettle was.

Then I shredded myself with a can opener that I was convinced didn't work. I went to the dollar store to buy myself a new one today but they only sold the exact same one and I was determined not to buy another self-mutilating tool. I'm not a sadist.

Then I turned it around and it had pictured instructions on how to use it and I realised I'd been doing it wrong. I now know how to use a can opener! High five! I knew Japan would be a growing experience for me.

I'm still a little perplexed by how much the old men in Japan like me. I keep getting the winky-winks and the gleeful smiles from them. But I've been reassured that all old Japanese men are perverts so there's nothing to worry about. And here I was thinking my pheromones were set to ancient. I bought an old-school Japanese fold up fan since it's so hot. I love it. But I belatedly wondered if there was any fan ettiquette. Like if I wave it a certain way it means I'm free and easy. Fans were the tools of the geisha after all. Needless to say the old men really like me and my fan as I meander the streets of Nagoya.

I've been reduced to stalking strangers

2008-07-21T14:38:00.000+09:00

Today I met Nat's co-worker and some of his friends. Nat was supposed to come too but she bailed at the last minute. So I had to pick Joel out of the crowd and introduce myself.

It went a little like this: When I spotted him (Nat had sent me pictures previously so I knew what he looked like), I had to do a bit of covert stalking to check he was actually the person I was looking for. Then I went up to him just as he and his friends started moving away so I had to do some not so covert stalking until I finally walked up to him and said, 'I know this is random but are you, Joel?'
The look he gave me spoke volumes: 'Yes, I'm Joel but who the hell are you and how the hell do you know my name and where's the nearest exit?'

But when I explained the situation he was all friendly. So Joel is from Memphis, Tennessee so he's got the cute Southern drawl going for him. His friend Dwight is from somewhere in America though I can't recall where. Dammit why are there so many places in America. And Judy was from Manchester. They were all really cool so we spent the afternoon doing a bit of exploring and chatting.

It was hilarious. We went into a comic book store because Judy's a crazy fan. This store was so funny. The first floor had all the most popular anime. Level 2 was a ladies only floor. We were wondering what was there so we took a gander. It turned out to be the level with all the guy on guy comics (which apparently is uber popular with the ladies over here).

The 3rd level was the over 18 floor and the used comics section. So it was the J porn section and of course a lot of the used comics where porn comics. Needless to say I didn't want to touch any of them.
One of the funniest comics we saw was one called Painal Fantasy (Final Fantasy). It was an S&M comic. Oh, and there was also one called Combat Butler. We all decided we wanted a personal Combat Butler, who'd go around saving the day and come back in time to make us a cup of tea. A lot of the guys that were shopping in the over 18 section kept getting freaked out whenever they saw me and Judy perusing. I guess they're just not used to seeing real live girls.

It's a sumo world after all

2008-07-16T14:20:00.000+09:00

I have been sumofied!

I went to a sumo tournament yesterday. It was actually really interesting. We went from around 1pm. It was meant to finish at 5pm and I hadn't expected to stay for the entire thing because frankly I didn't think I'd be that interested. We ended up staying for the entire thing which ended at 6pm.

It was a sweltering hot day and when we got to the Aichi Prefectural Gym, Ryan got Takoyaki (octupus balls) so I scored some from him. But they were too hot to eat on such a bone-melting day.

Then straight onto the action. In exchange for our ticket we got a 'cute' little sumo key ring thing. It was funny. Since we got the cheapest tickets we were actually right at the back of the arena in the hard blue bucket seats. But because we got there 'early' (usually people don't come until the last hour or so when the champions come out) we went down to the boxes. So we were sitting on little pillows right up close to the ring. Those tickets cost $100 at least. It was great for photo taking.

Okay, so when one mentions sumo one immediately thinks of fat men wrestling. But the event is really more of a ritualistic art form. For one thing, the sumos aren't actually as obese as I expected. They are actually quite muscular for most part with a big tummy. And for fat men they are pretty damn flexible. As they prepare for their bout they have to do a few ritualistic moves. The lifting of each leg. They looked like cranes...industrial cranes that moved majestically but shake the earth beneath you.They throw salt into the ring for purification purposes but a lot of them threw that salt like they had a personal vendetta against the ground. Then they squat and knuckle the ground. They'll stand up again and scrub their faces with a towel and a glare. Take a sip of water for purification (or sake as we suspected), then head back to the center for some more squatting, glaring and knuckling. Then boom! they charge at each other.

The sound of flesh hitting flesh wasn't actually as squishy as I'd been expecting. It actually sounded more like to giant bags of rice hitting each other. Then the object of the bout is to get your opponent to touch any other body part (besides the bottom of his feet) to the ground or throw him out of the ring. So if a sumo falls and his hand touches the ground he's out. Or if he gets thrown out of the ring, he's also out. Each match lasts for a maximum of 30 seconds so it's really fast paced. We saw a lot of sumo.

My favourite ones were the ones that didn't end straight away but they got into a battle of the bear hugs and stood there hugging each other trying to psych each other out, gripping each others nappies and giving each other wedgies. It made me cackle with glee.

At one point a, sumo got thrown out of the tiny ring and actually landed on a little old lady sitting ringside. She was petrified and moved immediately. Funnily enough those ring side seats cost the most. They can fetch up to $400.

They also have sumo groupies with handmade signs and squealing...hehehe... The nappies were also a surprise. They are so intrically tied and yet so secure. I didn't see any butt crack or wedding tackle at all. Another major surprise was the sumos themselves. When we walked past the big sweaty sumos to get to our seats, I realised they smelled like big babies. It was as if they'd been rolling around in baby powder.

Exploring the abyss of weird

2008-07-02T14:10:00.000+09:00

Pat (my neighbour and fellow teacher) went exploring in our area today. Since there really isn't anything interesting in our part of town we decided to head somewhere else.

We ended up in Ozone which is just one stop away. It's the site for the Nagoya Dome (a baseball stadium – baseball is huge here). The local team are the Dragons but for some reason their mascot seems to be a tan koala. I think I might have missed something there.

There's also a mega mall. And this mall was pretty huge. It was probably bigger than Chadstone but a lot less crowded and with a lot less people. It was pretty deserted actually. It was your average shopping centre with average stores but there were a few highlights.

There was a arcade called Romantic Street full of those skill testers where you use the claw to pick up and win stuff. But these were filled with mega-huge plush toys (the Japanese people here seem obsessed with Stitch from Lilo and Stitch), Dragon ball z figurines, Hello Kitty biscuits, Pooh Bear kitchen ware, Snacks, A sausage jerky thing, and in one of them you could win a box of ritz crackers. Um…people you can buy that stuff in convenience stores.

There was also a HMV and the cds weren't actually too expensive. In the HMV was a weird store called Village Vanguards that was full of weird kitsch things. There were star/heart shaped frying pans, so all the ladies can cook up a heart shaped omelette for their husband's bento lunch (gag). A kettle shaped like a giraffe and my personal favourite was the cocktail sausage cutters. They cut cocktail sausages into fun shapes like crabs and penguins to encourage kids to eat them (sigh).

Then Pat and I wandered downstairs where there was a travel agency offering trips to space. Seriously? There are men and women who study and train for years, undergoing extensive training programs to become astronauts and now they're just offering the priviledge up to anyone with enough money. Uh…I think I'll pass.

Then we hit the Jackpot of Japanese weirdness. There was a mega pet store. They had the usual mini-dog section with accompanying dog clothing range. But beyond the dogs was a crazy range of animals. There were the usual fish plus walls and walls of tropical fish: clown fish, puffer fish, albino walking fish and others I don't know the name of. There were the usual love birds and cockatiels, then some quails too. Lizards, toads, frogs, turtles, tortoises, snails, crabs, beetles all ranging from miniscule to massive. Then there was a badger, a fox, a sheep, ferrets, a 20kg rabbit, chinchillas, possums, and snakes. I went nuts. It was awful to see these animals kept in teeny tiny boxes but the fact they were being sold as pets drove me insane. I felt like there was going to be a dolphin around the next corner I turned. It was something I would never have believed if I hadn't seen it but I was pretty glad to get out of there.

I think I will continue to be surprised by Japan for a long while.

Gives 'cosy' a new meaning

2008-06-22T13:55:00.000+09:00

And onto my apartment. Sigh. The best description I can give is that it's miniscule. I'd spent most of training week optimistically telling everyone that 'Hey our apartments have to at least be bigger than our hotel rooms right?' And technically it is bigger but only by another meter square that encompasses the inbuilt kitchen and laundry (read: closet with a washing machine and shelf). It's a good thing I'm a relatively small person. Any bigger and I'd be suffering from some serious claustrophobia.

My bathroom does not have a super funky electronic toilet and I'm almost glad for it. The spray and the constantly warm toilet seat were beginning to freak me out.

There's a tiny balcony where I can hang out my laundry but since it's rainy season (I've seen more rain in the past two days than I have in two years back in Melbourne) it's not exactly the best spot for drying clothes. I went in search of a clothes horse today and was frustrated when my search came up empty. I mean, they have stores and stores full of random useless crap but they don't have clothes horses? I'm using my curtain rod in the meantime.

So a little bit about the area I live in. It's an industrial suburb called Shinmoriyama. The Asahi and Sanyo factory are nearby. My place is a 5 minute walk to the station, and there are a couple of large supermarkets and a bulk food store, 100 yen store (like a reject shop where 98% of things cost $1 but everything is so much better quality. It even sells some food items), a recycled/second hand store (a great little shop that has a crazy range of second hand goods, from tvs, computers, washing machines, tyres, surfboards, musical instruments, clothes, DVDs and CDs, and bikes. Another store full of random stuff but cheap good quality random stuff), an internet café, convenience stores, dry cleaners, pachinko parlours (their version of pokies), a post office and a littering of Japanese fast food stores. All of this is within a 15-20 minute walk from my apartment.

Something that I love about the area that also applies to most of Japan. The Japanese take advantage of every bit of land they can. A lot of the country is concrete and buildings so at every opportunity they plant a variety of the most gorgeous flowers and plants. The best example I can give is one construction site. There was scaffolding and fake fences everywhere but they literally built the scaffolding and fences around a tiny patch of flower pots. Such an amusing sight.

My area is littered with random mini rice paddy fields and veggie patches. Plus, I have a little river/canal thingy. And the best thing: it's clean! You can see the bottom and all the plants and giant fish and turtles that live in it. So bizarre.

Apparently Nagoya is the Nazi city when it comes to garbage. We don't get bins. We have to use specific plastic bags (which can be purchased at the supermarket) to separate our garbage into Non-burnable, burnable, Recycled (different bags for cans, bottles and paper). It's so confusing and I have so many different garbage bags lying around the place.The walls of my apartment are so thin. I can hear everything my neighbours are doing. It's not so great when I'm in bed and they use the bathroom. The trickling water sound always forces me out of bed to go to the bathroom.

Kitsch and Karaoke

2008-06-21T13:35:00.000+09:00

On the weekend before kids training started, Nat and I went to get our inkans (name stamps: the Japanese version of a signature). While we were waiting for them to be made we wandered around the store. It was a department store called Tokyu Hands and it was a department store within another department store called Takashimaya. So it was kind of like a Target (except more stuff and better quality) within a David Jones (except even posher).

That was such an enthralling shopping experience. We were in the stationery section. You know what a stationery fiend I am. So I was in seventh heaven. There were so many random little things that were so kitsch: Animal shaped paperclips, animal shaped rubber bands, jumbo glue sticks, jumbo white out tape, gorgeous paper both for origami and huge sheets of it, calligraphy stuff, a wall of kooky pens and pencils, another wall of postcards and cards. I probably should have bought my postcards there but they were all too pretty to send. They would have been ruined. I would have felt like I was sullying them by simply writing on them.

While we were looking around and chatting this little old lady basically jumped on us and just started to speak to us in English. She'd done her Masters in Cambridge Uni in England and she was always wanting to practice her English. Since she didn't often get the chance to practice she liked to stalk people at the International Center and just start speaking to them. Hmmm…interesting. So we chatted to her for a while. She asked me if I was Taiwanese. She's not the only one to think Taiwan when they see me and I'm wondering why… She told us all about herself and her plans to go back to England, then very abruptly said, 'Okay thank you for talking to me. Goodbye.' Interesting.

We continued on to the kitsch section of Tokyu Hands. There was an entire level of random crap. It was chock-full of useless but aesthetically pleasing objects. There were lovely inkan holders with inbuilt stamp pads, crazy expensive Japanese fans, purring robot cat alarm clocks (freaky), toilet paper with English lessons printed on each sheet for the keen English learners who spend a of time in the bathroom, tissue paper that's printed to look like 10000 yen notes ($100) so it looks like you're so rich you can afford to wipe your sweat with money.

There were ant farms made from coloured jelly like substances, fish in tiny glass jars, and the piece de resistance: Facebank (nothing to do with facebook): it's a piggy bank shaped like a face and you feed it your coins and it swallows them (creepy).

On our last night in Nagoya we hit the city again. Went out for dinner. Ugh… One thing I can't get used to is that people are still allowed to smoke indoors here. Nagoya city has some public non-smoking areas but in restaurants and bars etc they're still allowed to smoke. It's so bizarre to be asked if I want a smoking/non-smoking area.

Then we hit a karaoke bar (yes, it was my idea but everyone else was just as enthusiastic about it). And please don't cringe. It was so fun! We got our own little lounge room thing complete with tv, microphones, couches, and random musical instruments. It took us about 10 minutes to figure out the karaoke machine. It was very hi-tech and in Japanese. Then we were off and running.

We started with an oldie but a goldie: Hey Jude by the Beatles. Then we really got into the swing of things with Creep by Radiohead, Living on a Prayer by Bon Jovi, Girls just wanna have fun by Cyndi Lauper, Bohemian Rhapsody by Queen, Lady Marmalade by Everyone, She f**ing hates me by Puddle of Mud, Cry me a river by Justin Timberlake. Muhahahha. It was so funny. Everyone cacked themselves at my rendition of JT. And of course our personal paparazzo got great shots of the night. Great times.

First Impressions

2008-06-08T23:10:00.000+09:00

Here follows my account of my first day in Nagoya city.

I always thought I had a good sense of direction. Apparently that changes when you get swept across the world. Or maybe it's the fact that I'm now 22. Age does funny things to a person. In my travels around Nagoya city, I got misplaced 4 times.

To be fair I was pretty sleep-deprived, all the street signs are in a different language and I later (very much later) realised I was looking at 2 maps simultaneously (they were quite similar and I only noticed when one of my landmark buildings kept disappearing. I thought I was going insane).

I always knew Japan would be different but you never realise how bizzare different is until you experience it first hand. It's the little things that catch my notice.

Taxi doors automatically open (the back door so you don't presume to get in the front with the driver). Only the driver can open the door. So clearly if he doesn't like the look of you he just won't open the door. And I say 'he' because I haven't yet seen a female taxi driver.

They have zebra crossings at all their pedestrian crossings but at most of them they also have ped lights so I have to get used to not crossing a road willy-nilly whenever I see a zebra crossing. Some of the pedestrian crossings sound like laser beams (pteu, pteu!).

About 60% of the population ride bikes. Most of them have front and back baskets. They are bike parking lots littered throughout the city where you pay to rack your bike, but some people just seem to line the bikes along the paths. That seems a little trusting to me. But maybe they have super tiny lock things that I haven't yet noticed. Most woman are very dressed up, full face make-up and HIGH heels. I've only seen two orange people so far which is refreshing. They even ride their bikes in their skirts and heels! I should have brought my office skank shoes. I would have fit right in (except for the wobbling. These women walk better in 3 inch heels than I do in flip flops).

Most people look like they're being led around by their universal remote-sized flip phones. They even text and ride. tut, tut. I know these gadgets probably have in-built microwaves and whatever but they are freaking huge.

I saw individually wrapped lemons for about $7 each (no thine eyes do not deceive thee). But that was at a specialty fruit store. Elsewhere lemons are about $1 each. Yep my constant gorging on cheap fresh fruit seems to be on hiatus for a while. The Japanese don't have enough land to plant fruit trees and stuff so they have to import a LOT of it, thus the exorbitant prices. Mangoes were nearly $20 each. Woo!

And while I'm on the subject of food and prices and because I know you'll ask... I have been eating. I've actually bought all my food from convenience stores. And before you freak out (mum and dad) they sell cheap fresh food there. Like a big pack of sushi I got for $3. Salads around $2. And rice noodles with veg and tofu that you add hot water to and it's just like the vietnamese 'fo'. Yum.

Oooooh, I saw an Omu rice cafe and the pictures looked really good. But I didn't try any because the line for it was around the corner. That's another thing... the cafe/restaurants are so small here, people line up to eat there. There are also restaurants where you prebuy your food from a machine. Odd.

I've also decided that I do not like the spraying function on the toilet. The warm water fountain is creepily accurate and it makes me want to pee more.