Ride, Jenni, Ride.

Not much has happened over the last few days since our trip into Tokyo. We've sort of just been stuffing around, waiting for a call from Fifth Wings to tell us what to do.
We've spent the time organising/tidying our apartment and going for bike rides around the area - exploring, getting to know the place better. Usually we take the camera, so I've been getting some pictures of random stuff...mainly cars.
I promised you pictures of us on our bikes, so without further ado:

Jenni - refusing to be photographed actually riding.


And me - looking like I'm about to crash. Note the stylish new jacket :D.



As you can imagine, small, winding streets coupled with small, quiet cars and...lets say...rusty riding skills, have caused more than one near miss. Though considering the tiny size of many of the cars I'm still unsure who would come off second best in a collision.

So far we've found a couple of good supermarkets and department stores as well as mapping out the more important things...like the local McDonalds' and (for later) tyre shops and panel beaters. We've also come across a couple of cool little 'farm-shops.' Basically the setup is; they have a small farm (of strawberries in this case) adjacent to a road/street. Sitting on the side of the street is a large display case/dispenser which the farmer regularly fills with fresh produce straight from the farm. It seems the average price for a punnet of [about 20] strawberries is 400Yen (roughly $4 - $5 AUD). Having done hardly any food shopping while living in Australia, I have no idea if that's a good price or not.
Here's a picture of the strawberry one. Though we've also seen ones for tomatoes and eggs.


Today we decided to ride all the way to the Fifth Wings office - mainly for something to do, but also to time how long it takes for future reference (it's about 25 minutes). Despite studying the map before leaving I managed to overshoot the turnoff by about a kilometre and we ended up at another big shopping centre. One of the shops was a homewares place, much like Anaconda/Bazaar/Loot...you know the sort of trendy type, where you can buy stuff like environmentally friendly coasters that look like Pandas or some shi...Anyway, Jennifer bought some cool chopsticks (Japanese word = hashi) with cats on and a cat-shaped chopstick resting device. As seen below. Why she put them on the obviously dirty floor, I do not know.


Also over the last couple of days I've been trying to work on improving my Japanese. So I've decided that a fun way of doing so would be by reading some Japanese comics (manga). I realised that in the learning-Japanese scheme of things I could compare myself to a small Japanese child. So I had a look for manga that a small Japanese child might read/be able to comprehend, and the result is the following selection:

Clock-wise: Mario - vol. 1; Ranma 1/2 - vol. 2; Crayon Shin-Chan - vol. 6; Dragon Ball - vol. 1


Jenni picked Mario and Ranma 1/2. If you're wondering why we didn't get volume 1 for Ranma 1/2 and Crayon Shin-Chan, there's a really interesting story behind that; it's because the shop didn't have them.
Latest update: Me - still struggling to get past page 2 of Crayon Shin-Chan; Jenni - 'likes to look at the pictures.'

And finally, the obligatory car pictures.

This one was outside a panel beater's and looked like it hadn't moved for some time. I'm guessing that whatever rocket fuel they were using to power it is no longer being produced due to environmental health issues (the thing is HUGE, it doesn't even fit into a parking space). Didn't see any badges on it, but on the front above the grill it says 'Mark IV'.


And also saw this Nissan 370Z - but it's not just any 370Z, it's the special NISMO S-tuned edition. Quite rare so I hear. Either way, a very nice looking car.


Stay tuned for my next blog entry where I hope to reveal What's on Page 3 of Crayon Shin-Chan; also, answers to such mysteries as, 'What Day Are We Supposed to Put the Rubbish Out?'!

I <3 of Darkness

Today we ventured into Deepest Darkest Tokyo.
I spent Friday night picking a particular place to go (Shibuya - shopping mecca) and meticulously planning our travel routes so we would actually make it to our destination. I'm so proud of it, I've put a copy on this very blog. See below.

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Fukui (Tochigi) - Shibuya (Toyko) 1320Yen

Train 1:
Depart Fukui (Tochigi) at 8:43am for Kuki (Saitama) via the Tobu line on train #400 - the station before Kuki (Saitama) is Washinomiya.

Arrive at Kuki (Saitama) at 9:26am. Get off train #400.

Train 2:
Depart Kuki (Saitama) at 9:31am for Shinjuku (Tokyo) via the JR Tohoku line on train #4100Y - the station before Shiinjuku is Ikebukuru.

Stay on train # 4100Y and it will take you to Shibuya via the JR Shonan Shinjuku line - the station before Shibuya is Harajuku.

Arrive at Shibuya (Tokyo) at 10:20am. Get off train #4100Y.
********************************************************************
I had a quick look at the return trip time-table and it was basically: do the above, backwards. Simple. I was confident my plan was bullet-proof.

So, armed with our trusty phrase book (thanks mum) and Lonely Planet guide to show us a good time, we set off from the apartment at 8:04 sharp...
Fukui station is, as we discovered, a 20 minute walk (pace: brisk) from our apartment, so we arrived in time to stand around the station's terminal for a good 10 minutes deciding whether we had none, or Buckley's, chance of figuring out how to buy a ticket. I eventually whipped out the phrase book and stuttered an enquiery to the guy behind the information desk. He quickly pointed out the "English" button on the ticket machine/computer (duh!) and then showed us how to buy a ticket. He was really very nice and helpful. So a small hiccough, but from now on it should be smooth sailing.

Now, I know you, dear reader, can sense the rising dread....so why couldn't I?

Got to Kuki station, realised we only had 5 minutes to find the connecting train. Further realised that Kuki was much larger than Fukui, with several platforms and ticket gates. Did we make the connecting train?







No.
So then the two options were: Jump on the next train heading to Shinjuku which was 5 minutes away. This meant a longer trip with more stops and another transfer. Or we could wait an hour for the next train straight to Shinjuku. Trains are warmer than platforms, so we got on the train. Then we had to get off at Ueno (one of the bigger Tokyo-city train stations) and jump on a train to Shinjuku >> Shibuya. There would be about 4 or 5 different trains all heading that way - I'm pretty sure we picked the worst possible option. We stopped at about 15 stations before finally getting to bloody Shinjuku. In the end we got to Shibuya at 11:20...about an hour later than we planned. Once off the train we headed to one of the many McDonalds' (McDonald's?) in the area. And you know what, I got a double quater pounder and some chips (+ free ketchup!), it tasted almost exactly the same as Australian Maccas!
It was hard to know where to begin exploring Shibuya, and in the end after about five hours there I'm sure we only saw a tiny fraction of it. The first building we went into immediately put me on edge. For such a large building there were very few people inside. Also, these people were dressed extremely well, even by Shibuya standards. The names of the shops didn't sound Japanese at all, they were more...Western-European. Lots of the shops seemed to be low on stock and nothing had price tags. My 'typical-aussie-male' senses were tingling and I quickly hustled Jenni out. The next few shops were much better and we had fun looking around at all the 'crazy' Japanese stuff. Then we stumbled accross the Disney store which was pretty cool. I think it's also a Disney Hotel and you can buy Disneyland tickets there.
After walking around the streets of Shibuya for an hour or so I was definitely starting to notice how well-dressed all the young men were. And it wasn't just the one style of 'well-dressed' you get in, say, Townsville either -"Maaaaate, nice duds. How much'd that t-shirt and jeans combo set you back? Not going fruity on us, right?"

Disclaimer: Nyah nyah, I can say what I want because I'm overseas :P.

lol, you know I love youse. Anyway, I thought it was about time to upgrade from my trusty, warm (kept me alive at Falls Festival in '06...had a tent and a sleeping mat, but no sleeping bag or blankets of any description. I swear it got to below freezing) Glasser and Parker standard issue woolen jumper; colour - black. I spied something beginning with FCUK on the fourth floor of some building and we headed up there. Had a good look around and found a few likely jackets to try. There was also some sort of Spring sale going on so I would get something like $20 off on whatever I purchased.
**Some time later**
With Jenni's patience and blood sugar level rapidly diminishing I made my final decision - a...jacket...of some sort, and a cool black belt - and we got out with seconds to spare. We spent the next couple of hours wandering around checking out anything that stood out or looked particularly interesting. There were people everywhere. Lots of people hawking crap - ie fliers, free samples of stuff and even cheap t-shirts. 'I <3 Shibuya' t-shirts to be exact - still not sure what to think about that. Saw a Ferrari too. A couple of guys doing lappies of the main Shibuya area. At some point Jenni bought some shoes. Wait, I know what you're thinking boys, but it's not as bad as all that. They were just a comfy pair of Adidas sneakers; about $70, $80 tops. They have spots on. Finally found ourselves directly under Shibuya station...as in underground...where there is a huge food-court of sorts. There's all types of food; sweet and savoury, and not just japanese food. Lots of Western stuff. It's not really a food-court and it's not really a supermarket it's like a food...shop. Or a food DFO. It's very cool though. I bought a small piece of chocolate cake which the lady put in quite a large box, asked if I would like a block of dry ice to keep it cool (...of course I do.) and then placed that box in a bigger cardboard bag. It was perplexing. Then we went home. Well, first we got lost in Shibuya station and then accidentally took the slow train (lots more stops than necessary) twice.

EDIT: Adding some pictures and video of Shibuya and what we bought.

Shibuya:

Shibuya again:

Stuff we bought - we got those red picture things from Maccas. They are like document sleaves with Japanese baseball stars on the front. Not sure who they are, but must be pretty cool. Oh and no-one else got them, just us, cos we're special:

Video of Shibuya and Shibuya dudes:

To See What We Could See See See.

So day three was nice and sunny, though windy and still cold. We decided to go for another walk around the neighbourhood and see what we could see....see see. It's a prety good area. Lots of small, neat streets lined by small, neat houses all with their very own small, neat gardens...or mini-farms.

Below are what we think might be cherry blossoms...early ones. They're in the garden of the house just accross the lane from us.

On our travels, we came accross this car. Dunno what it is, but it looks cool as.

Also saw this:

And now for something completely different...more flowers. Again, dunno what they are.

Also, Mika took us to get our gaijin cards (foreigner ID card) this afternoon. Pretty much hassle-free, should receive them in a few weeks.

Oh and last but not least; today, we got our bikes...teleported through time from the 1950s! It's really amazing - the technology the Japanese have. It must be so simple for them to just build a time travelling device, hook it up to one of their last-gen teleportation devices (think Charlie and the Chocolate Factory) and hey-presto, instant bike action!
Photographed and videotaped hilarity to follow soon. Watch this space!

Give Me A Home Among the Rice Fields

OK, so we arrived safely in Japan - Narita international airport, Tokyo to be exact. Apparently there was some accident/plane crash at the airport before we arrived and we were one of the lucky ones to not be delayed or cancelled. Didn't realise what a big deal it was until we were watching TV in the terminal and saw the plane crash on the news. Wow.
We were picked up by Jen and Ayako and they drove us over to Ashikaga-shi...it took about two hours. We were both pretty tired but it was really interesting seeing all the new sights. So many lights and stuff.
Didn't really get a good look at the apartment when we arrived because it was dark and we were tired. When we woke up the next day we had a look around. It's literally in the middle of rice fields...which are in turn surrounded by more city/suburbia. I'll upload some photos soon. It's a good area actually. Very close to stuff but also very quiet. There was a guy accross the laneway going over his tennis-court-sized vege patch/'farm' with a tractor. As in full-sized tractor. It was weird. Anyway, the apartment is actually quite big. Three main rooms (bedroom (with tatami mats and a HUGE cupboard), lounge room, Kitchen/dining room/laundry) and then a seperate toilet and seperate bathroom with a shower and a bath. The ceilings are high, but the doors, for some reason, don't make use of that height and are quite low. Go figure. We have a little patio/veranda thing which both the bedroom and the lounge room open on to. Oh and the coolest thing is the intercom. We have a video-audio intercom! It's pretty cool. There is also a lot of parking space outside.
Saw a few nice cars...well 90% of the cars are 'nice', as in newish, shiny and good looking...but I mean I saw one of the new Nissan 370Zs and an RX7 FD something arather. As a side note, I can now say I fully understand the term 'econo-box'. These cars in Japan really epitomise the word. There is this whole class of small 2 or 4 door car that is very square, boxy -straight lines everwhere. They are EVERYWHERE. There are also a whole range of econo-box vans and trucks.

Anyway I've had enough of blogging for now. Will write more later, though don't expect so much from now on haha.

EDIT: A few photos

Our apartment complex:

Pokemon noodles!:

Kitchen/dining room/laundry:

Front enterance and bathroom:

To bedroom (left) and loungeroom (right) from kitchen area: