First snow!!

We just saw our first real snow in Japan, the sort that doent just melt as it hit the ground.
Rob jumped outside to take these photos while I danced around the livingroom with excitement.



I hope the snow keeps falling during the night.

Just a short note for now becasue we are going to watch the soccer Asia Cup final now with my dad.

Go Japan!! (Mami)

Go Australia (Rob)

A GREAT NIGHT OUT

We went to a sushi restaurant last night.Each sushi dish was ￥90 which is about A$1.15. Every second patron had a touch screen on which to place orders, or you could choose a dish from the conveyor belt 'sushi train' which passes leisurely in front of your eyes. No big deal I hear you all say; we have them in Australia. The difference is when you place an order via the touch screen instead of picking from the 'sushi train'. A Shinkansen' (Bullet train) operating on a different track belts out from the kitchen with you order and pulls up at the touch screen in front of you. You take your order and press 'OK' on the touch screen and the shinkansen bullets its way back to the kitchen. UNBELIEVABLY GOOD! Not only was that good, four of us dined out for Y2400 which is a bit less than $30.00. Good value meal but the train was magic!! Take a look at the video on the blog. It shows the Shinkansen arriving with our meal.

WEEK 3

It is the start of our third week in Japan and we have settled in well. Mami is looking, but not too hard, for jobs and I have joined the local gym and swimming pool. My doctor and physio in Australia told me I have to do gym work to build up the muscles around my knee after the surgery.
It is fun swimming on the right of the black line not to the left as we do in Australia. Even though driving is on the left as we do, they swim the opposite way. It is very hard to adjust, especially doing tumble turns. I find I am nearly collecting the oncoming swimmer as I complete my turn on the wrong side of the line.
My first day swimming was difficult. Too many rules to follow.
RULES
1. No watches to be worn in the pool as they might injure other swimmers?? Mind you they give you a locker key wristband complete with metal buckle to wear while you swim.
2. Must not use paddles as again they may cause injury.
3. Must wear a cap (YUK!!) even though I have more hair on my chest than my head.
4. Cannot have a drink bottle at the end of your lane to have a drink between laps as someone might put dangerous chemicals into it?????????

The gym is not too bad although you can’t just rock up in your runners and proceed with your workout. You enter the gym, take off your street shoes, change into slippers, crocs or the like, then proceed to the gym to put on your runners, which must not have been used for street wear. I have cut out the third pair of footwear by walking the short internal distance to the gym in my socks!

It can get a bit tricky and I am constantly wondering how many taboos i am breaking as I enter into daily life here. It gives me a better understanding of new migrants who come to Australia.

Dinner guide 1 by Mami

We are totally spoiled here. Love all the food we have had so far.
We started with sushi & sashimi feast on the first night.

We also showed them how to make Pizza. Thanks to Elaine’s Pizza dough recipe, we made perfect Pizza and everyone loved it! Yurina enjoyed making it as much as eating it.

We went to a fish market yeaterday, and ate more sushi and sashimi!! There were a lot of small stalls selling freshly made sushi. Their speciality was ‘Fugu’ , blow fish.

Fugu meat is always sliced so thinly that it is almost transparent. It is slightly chewy but has great flavour and is one of Rob’s favourites. He ate it cooked, crumbed and raw! What a pig! It is a delicacy and doesn’t come cheap.

WEEK 2

Flu has struck our house. I think they are calling it Australian flu over here as opposed to the Asian flu as we know it. As a consequence we are all wearing masks, so we do not transmit the infection. Youko, Nana and Urina had flu shots this year but Yoshi did not. No prizes for guessing who got the flu!! As neither Mami nor I have had our shots either, we have been asked to wear masks. I look like a cast member from House!!
When you have an infection in Japan, or are around anyone who does, you end up wearing surgical masks. It is not uncommon to see 30-40% of the population wearing them during winter. We are going shopping soon and I will have to wear mine.
Thank god! Nana has just told me we don’t have to wear the masks when we go shopping. It’s not a good look as the pictures show.



I am sure the Japanese have embraced the ancient Chinese art of foot binding. If you are visiting someone’s house, office or place of work, a change of footwear is required for indoor use. A ready supply of slippers greets you at the door, all of which have been supplied by the children’s department at the local shoe shop. The best I have managed was a pair of slippers whose heal acted as an arch support!! Everyone looks at me in amazement when I arrive, as if I am a distant relative of Big Foot. I am convinced the locals see me coming and hide any big pair they have, so they can piss themselves laughing at the big gaijin (foreigner) as he attempts to walk without falling over.

Rob

Day 6

Mami’s mum Youko, sister Nana and niece Urina, met us in the bus terminus at Hiroshima last night and drove us home to Shunan. This is about a fifty minute drive normally, but with Nana driving it was about forty minutes. The speed limit on the tollway is 80kph. I only saw one car on the bus trip and the consequent drive with Nana who stuck to this. They all average 100kph which is sensible as the roads are so much better than ours in Australia. Nana sat on 120kph for most of the trip! No wonder Mami put me in the death seat.

It was good to get home. Mami’s dad, Yoshinobu, or just Yoshi to his son in law, did not get home from work until 9.30pm. He has his own business as a solicitor specialising in all matters pertaining to property. Business is going well and Mami stayed up late and had a good chat with him. As for me, I hit the sack early and didn’t wake until 9.00am.

Today Yoshi is going to take me to join the gym which also has a swimming pool. I am going to get into my regular routine of swimming and writing and will allocate an hour a day to learning some Japanese. I can then go shopping and try out some of the things I have learnt. I know I will not be fluent by the time I leave Japan in June/July, but hopefully I can be a lot better than my current level of competency.

Rob

Day 3 & 4

Caught up with Mizuho on Saturday and she took us to a buffet style lunch in a huge shopping complex. It was $20 all you could eat, Japanese food. Excellent value, especially as Mizuho’s parents gave her money to shout us the meal for looking after her while in Australia. She then took us shopping in Osaka. Best way to describe it was wall to wall people and shops ; but really interesting. Mami loved it and bought some really cheap clothes that fit her better than those in Australia. She is very happy. I went in the music shops and was stunned by the cheap prices on keyboards, pianos and guitars. Janet and Enid you would have to it to believe the range of instruments and the low prices. I’d love to bring a keyboard back with me, but it might be a bit difficult.

Changed hotels today, so that we can be near the bus terminal, ready for a flying start after breakfast. We will make the 5 ½ hour bus trip From Osaka to Hiroshima where Mami’s parents will pick us up and drive us home to Shunan. Why not travel by Shinkansen (bullet train) I hear you ask. The reason is the bus trip will cost us $30 each whereas the Shinkansen would be about $150 per person. It would quarter the travelling time but we need to watch the budget said my tight a… wife.

Thanks, Rob. Anyway, we are looking forward to seeing my family tomorrow.

Day 2

Day 2


Had a great sleep on our first night in Japan. for once it was me who refused to wake up, not Mami. Had late breakfast at 9.00am. It was buffet style with extensive array of Japanese foods including fish, picckled raddish, rice, miso soup, omelette, salad, chips, chicken with coffee and tea. all you could eat for 500 yen which about $6.00. Who said Japan is too expensive to visit?



The rest of the day was spent sightseeing and shopping around Namba. We need to buy a new suitcase as, unlike our holiday to date, the wheels have fallen off! Bloody hard work dragging it from Namba station to the hotel with only one wheel working.

And now back to hotel resting before we head to look for some dinner.

Day 1

Day 1 has been and gone already. Arrived in Osaka at 5.50pm, Jap time which is 7.50pm Aus time, 10 minutes ahead of the scheduled ETA. Good flight, lots of spare seats so I left Mami and went to sleep for 3 hours across four seats at the back of the plane. Cabin staff asked us all to close the window shutters in the plane so most people took the opportunity to sleep. It was quite dark even though it was the middle of the day.

30 minutes befor landing we were asked to raise the shutters. We were flying at 10,000 metres above dense cloud cover. Mami expressed surprised that it was still light at 5.10pm in winter and then hit me with, "but it would probably be dark down on the ground." If you are reading this Tony you can imagine my response to this little gem from Mami. :)

Got train from airport to Hillary's Hotel in Namba (suburb of Osaka). It is small but really nice and includes a free massage chair which has been given a high degree of use. The shower and toilet require a driver's licence to operate and can be confusing as they both spray water!!



Posted by Rob

Why do you work where you work??

Is it because you love that job?
Is it because you get the pay you want?
Is it because you just got the job there?

Yes, all of that, but I realised that I enjoy working there because my friends are there.

Isn’t that great?

I must admit I was feeling I have been there long enough, and it’s time to change a little.
I was unsure if I wanted to come back to the place to work again.
But now I am certain that I am coming back, well coming back to where my friends are.

Some people say you don’t know what is important to you till you lose it.
I didn’t realise I am going to miss my friends that much till I really had to say good bye for 6 months.

I love you all, and I certainly miss you guys!! xoxoxo

Mami

5 more sleeps!!

Most of you would know, I hate paying for something we don’t need or use.
Well, in another words, I’m a tight a*se.

There were so many things I needed to organise before we go.
So I cancelled the Internet, Quick flix (movie rental thing) and Gym membership and suspended Health Insurance and AEU membership.
Even though we are only going for 6 months, that was over $300 a month of saving, (or not spending…).

If you can think anything else, please let me know. I have got 5 more days to sort things out!!

On a more exciting note, we are flying out on 13th, and staying at Osaka for 4 nights. I booked a hotel which has free internet access (so that I can write this blog), and free drink bar, like the ones in hungry jacks, and free bicycle hire, even though the major shopping district is within a walking distance.
Oh, did I mention? All that for $320 for 4 nights with breakfast daily.

I hope this will change your view that, ‘Japan is too expensive’. (Are you reading this Tony?)
I will post some different types of food and things you can do in Osaka, including the price.
Yea, I am on a mission to change people’s view Japan=expensive.

Then on 17th, we will head back to my home town. I would like to get a part time job, something easy, no take home work or nightmare about kids or something you forgot to organise such as assembly PowerPoint, buying milk and photo copying..etc.