Cherried out!

Well St Patrick's day arrived and went in a flurry of drinking, eating and lots of green tinsel!  
We went to the Emerald ball which was good fun and involved a lot of dancing.There's even a parade at a high street near us.  So we signed ourselves and our friends A&A, who were visiting from the UK, up.  Perhaps not the most Japanese thing to do on day 3 of your holiday!  

A couple were sitting having lunch with a box on their table...I peeked in and this is what I saw!

We had several visits to a shop called Tokyu hands - it does loads of stuff from wood to Snoopy stickers...and lots of pens and pencils. You know those bulky biro contraptionswhere you can choose from 4 different colours red, blue, black or green in one device?  Well here you can choose the empty device and then pick the colours that you want!!! Amaze balls! 

Mount Fuji - looking great!

We went away for a night to Hakone - we did the fabulous open air museum and the following day we took a bus, a cable car to get a good view of Mount Fuji, a boat across the lake (pirate themed of course!) and then walked part of an ancient path.  The Japanese have a fascination with taking multiple forms of transport and that is one reason why Hakone is so popular. 

For the final night together we went to Andy's - Andy is a northern lad who has been out here for ages and runs a typical Isakaya restaurant (pub) which is squeezed under the railway arches. He goes to the famous Tokyo fish market each day. Fermented sea cucumber was not available so he suggested sea pineapple. We asked what it was like and he said it was one of the most disgusting things you could put in your mouth. So we ordered a portion!  A couple asked to see the dessert menus, Andy said there are none…but then produced a few After Eights from his own personal supply!

Chocolate tart with cherries.  Coffee with a pastry containing marmalade to add to your coffee - the marmalade not the pastry!

Blossom...with a bird!

Naka Meguro

We waved our friends off the next day at 6am, and at 9:30am were installed at our first hanami (Blossom watching) party! The Japanese don't really do picnic blankets instead they use massive bits of blue tarpaulin to mark their space.  Peeps from our group had arrived on site at 6 am to grab the space under the biggest cherry tree. We started off with yoga and having finished this the beers were opened!! Food ranged from sashimi, fried chicken, Doritos, cheesecake to a Dominos pizza that was delivered! We then went to another party on a housing estate it featured various random entertainers. Apparently it is very traditional for people to balance spinning tops on the edge of fans and swords!  The excitement!  The local school brass band was the finale. 
A place called Naka Meguro is famous for blossom watching - has loads of trees either side of a river which join each other over the water. Great viewpoints from the various bridges. The place is also full of stalls selling food and drink. I treated myself to a Sakura flavoured fizzy wine for around three quid. Dominic managed to hold out till he saw the pink Chandon for £3.50 a glass!  We were blossomed out! 

Another public holiday! Shrines and racing.....

Well it was another public holiday so we went off to Nikko famous for its shrines.

Luckily for us that evening the statues along the river were being lit by candle light.  So we checked in, had a coffee went and had a look at the famous red lacquer bridge and then walked along the river and waited for it to get dark!

Next day we arrived early at the shrines - beautiful setting with lots of trees and some snow on the rooftops. Saw the three monkeys and exhausted our phone batteries with all the photos we took. 

The monkeys!

 I suggested to Dominic that that we should treat ourselves to lunch as I had read about a place nearby. It was cold outside but the restaurant was very cozy and Dominic soon spotted a 15 quid bottle of fizzy Moet and kind of asked "should we order that?"  We did and toasted the arrival of Charles. The staff were keen to serve us as quickly as possible but eventually they understood that we wanted to just sit and relax!

More shrines in the afternoon. At the last one which was my favourite Dominic bumped into the woman that sits next to him at work. Taking the bus back

to the hotel Dominic got off early to go to the onsen. I did a bit of shopping along the High Street at a kind of antique junk vintage shop- very enjoyable.

The next day we went to Chozen lake. There were a few snow igloo type houses in which were displayed impressive ice sculptures.

We found a walk to do and the tourist office said our shoes were fine and that the snow was only 3 inches deep. Within five minutes of starting the walk I was knee deep in snow!  We continued for a while but I suggested we should turn back. Having got back to the main drag Dominic realised the bus was due in five minutes so we ran up the hill to the bus stop. The bus arrived and we got on puffing and red-faced only to hear from the back of the bus "konnichiwa!" Dominic's colleague again. She commented "Dominic you are sweating."

We stopped for some noodles and I took my shoes and socks off in order to dry them out!  Had a look at the waterfall and then got on the bus back to the hotel. However we got off early to go to a recommended coffee place which turned out to be fantastic and then we decided to go to the onsen. It was on the roof of the building and from it we would get a great view of the fireworks further down the river.

How do they do those circle things?

So I sat in a bath outside waiting for the fireworks to start. I was joined by three Japanese women. I smiled at them to try and look friendly and so they then started to talk to me in English and Japanese. The fireworks started and we all jumped out of the bath to get a better view. There was much oohing and aahing and clapping. Once finished we all got back into the bath to warm up. Some piped music was playing and they asked me if I knew the song. I didn't so the three of them started to sing it to me. It was very lovely that they were so chatty and friendly so I gave one of them my card and said if they were in my area could we go for coffee? 

Next day we visited the temple which has been in the process of being renovated since 2013 and I think is not due to be completed until 2019. The time lapse film of the shrine been deconstructed was interesting.  Catching the bus back I whispered to Dominic that I thought I recognised one of the women from the onsen but I wasn't sure because she had clothes on! 

waterfall

The next weekend we were invited by Hide to go and watch his friend, Yutaka’s, horse race.  We were told the food at the race track was rubbish so to bring our own.  Yutaka is a very friendly and smiley chap.  He gave me his rosette for the day, which meant that I was the horse owner.  The officials looked somewhat confused at having to let me in everywhere with this door opening rosette!

A day at the races!

I know this is an American product but I love them, mints in the shape of Snoopy and Charlie Brown!  Cannot believe they have not used Peppermint Patty somewhere in the range?!

Dominic went off to see some Ricoh rugby and I decided to luxuriate at home with some new material, my sewing machine and a packet of chocolate chip cookies!

Dominic had a couple of very busy weeks and was out for five days on the trot with Friday evening or should I say Saturday morning causing some damage! Unfortunately he incorrectly set his alarm for a meeting on Friday afternoon which went off at 4:30 AM on Saturday morning. Needless to say he didn't hear it!

Had been trying to book a holiday for May and got in touch with a travel agent I said I wanted mid to low range hotels but at £500 a night I don't think her definition of mid-range quite matches mine!  


For Christmas I got Dominic a Japanese cookery lesson. We headed off to Mayuko's Little kitchen. It turned out to be just us two. Mayuko was very welcoming and started off with the basics of what ingredients were and then we got chopping and cooking. Her sister joined us. She makes clothes and had lived in the London. We swapped stories of the various courses we had done at Morley College!

Cooked by the man himself!

That evening Leslie was on her way back to London and was booked into chez nous for 4 nights. Sunday we went to lunch at a photographer's home. He cooked up a storm and was full of chat of the amazing people he had photographed and met and his home was full of stuff.(Note to Saskia - it looked as though the burglars had been!)

We went to Harajuku where women dress up as schoolgirls and popped into McDonald's to have their new fries with chocolate sauce.  A different kind of culture!  

Fries with milk chocolate and white chocolate sauce!

Went to Mori art museum to see Marakame and have a look at the view before going to find some wagyu beef. 



Dominic had Monday off work to be the tour guide doing bonsai and dolls.

I had Tuesday off... Leslie and Dominic discovered a fabulous pen shop the night before which is about 500 metres from home. Leslie and I spent over an hour in the shop before heading to do the plan for the day. First up origami centre next electric town. 

Bad timing - most of the time the guy was not looking at what he was doing!

We went to a place called honey and toast - a 12 cm loaf of bread. It's been toasted so it's crispy. The inside has been taken out and chopped into big crispy croutons these are then put back into the loaf and then a variety of ice cream and sauce is put on top; in our case banana ice cream chocolate sauce and bananas. OMG it was delicious. How do the Japanese women stay so slim?  

Tricky to resist!

On the way home we went to see some illuminations - most finish 14 Feb. 

Next week shrine central……to add some culture rather than just food!

January is here....stayed at The Peninsula! Interviewed on tv!

January started in a whirl of lessons and a couple of new students.

Through someone at church I got a very part-time job at Tsukuba School for the visually impaired. Very excited about it. Ironically I'd been to a volunteer group meeting and the thing that appealed to me most was doing English interview practice with 18-year-olds as part of their university application.  It's at the same place so I get to be more involved and paid!

January11th is a public holiday so another four day week!  Dominic had booked a weekend away on the Izu Peninsula, about 50 minutes on the train from Tokyo. Volcanic lava flow has created a rocky coastline, with lovely beaches further south.  What is strange is that ugly horrible buildings are right beside these beautiful beaches.  

 One beach had a similar rock formation to the Giants Causeway, perhaps Finn came here on his holidays? 

We joined the locals enjoying bowls of fish and noodles.

The area is famous for hot springs.  One ryokan (a type of traditional Japanese inn that originated in the Edo period (1603–1868). They typically feature tatami-matted rooms and communal baths) has a wooden 1,000 people bath.

Men and women normally bathe separately (you are starkers).  But in some places the women can go into the men's!! The assumption is that the men will be lucky if this happens. The reverse is not true and is not allowed!   It was very confusing but I went into the men's side. Women are allowed to wear a towel which is weird. One                                                 woman had a specifically designed outfit for the occasion.

The next day we got to take a chairlift up to the rim of the volcano. The bottom of the crater is used for archery!  We got a good view of Mount Fuji or Fuji-san as they call him.

The area is also famous for dried fish and there are various contraptions all around town for this.  However we went to a place recommended for okonomiyaki pancakes and ordered two jumbo ones. The female owner looked alarmed and said that one would be enough. She was right but it only cost about four quid so not sure we were her most profitable customers that evening.

We stayed at a hostel which was a 100-year-old wooden building, basically a hotel without any ensuite rooms!  I loved it and we had a massive room. It had a few communal rooms too which looked out over the river and there was a very small strip of decking.  In typical Japanese style this tiny area had been used to create a lovely garden.

We went to another mixed bathing place.  Accessed via a funicular railway!  We had the place to ourselves. It really felt as though we were on holiday.  A tenner to have exclusive use of it for an hour!

 The following weekend we went to a temple known for its number of cat statues. Shop owners buy a statue and leave it at the temple believing that it will bring their business money and good luck.  A TV crew were there interviewing foreigners to find out why they were visiting the temple and what they did there.  They asked us a few questions and then asked if they could follow us around the temple. That was weird!

Perhaps they thought he was Harrison Ford?

Festive season

Well Christmas Day was a normal working day in Japan. But not for us!

Before Christmas we went out to a tiny cafe - one big table seating about 12.  It does world breakfasts.  On offer was English and French.  The French one had a boiled egg served in an egg cup with long pieces of toasted baguette. Surely this is more English egg and soldiers?  Our neighbours chose the french breakfast and were given copious instructions by the waitress on how to take the top off the egg! They gingerly tapped around the egg with a knife.  It was a new experience for them.  It caused much excitement and laughter. This explains why I haven't seen an egg cup in Tokyo because they don't exist!

Having some extra time in a metro station I decided to go to the stand-up noodle bar.  Was one of those places where you put your money in the machine press a button to make a choice and it spits out a ticket that you then present to the staff dishing out the food. Luckily I spotted the English menu button so choosing what I wanted was easy even though I didn't know what it was!

There were seats! So I grabbed one. The way to eat noodles is to get hold of some with your chopsticks and then slurp them up. Putting my head over a massive bowl of incredibly hot noodles is bound to make my nose run.  We are wondering if when the locals are slurping food they are managing also to snort up their snot. They are not fans of people blowing their nose, we believe they think it is disgusting, but I had to several times over!  

Dominic decided that he wanted to have a traditional Christmas lunch. Sprouts very expensive. A friend paid £4 for a parsnip.  I've only recently decided that I need to stop comparing UK and Japan prices for fruit and veg or we will end up with scurvy! 

Jo arrived in and I had my second Christmas dinner of the day with her and Dominic launched into the Christmas pudding! 

We decided a breath of fresh air would be good and we went to see the Christmas lights. Luckily we got there just before they were switched off for the year at 10pm. 

On Boxing day we went to an area that sells all kinds of kitchen stuff and then on to the temple that has a busy street of market traders on its approach.

Next day off on the Shinkansen to Kyoto.  It was cold there and we ended up buying thermals! We templed ourselves out.

We also found a fantastic cafe doing ice creams.(yes I know we should have been looking for hot soup!)  At the entrance they have a display showing the products available in fake food format. They look fantastic so we decided to try the real thing!

We headed back to Tokyo to see what happens over New Year.  We met up with Matt a friend of a friend and and wondered round a part of town new to us.   We said we'd be having noodles at home with tempura like the locals and Matt offered to make sushi as well.

Very impressive it was too. I put a bit of the skin of a citrus fruit yuzu in with the noodles, you can also put the whole fruit in your bath to keep you healthy.

So full of food and alcohol we headed off to the local temple to hear the bell been rung 108 times. Apparently there are 108 things we can do wrong and ringing the bell gets rid of them.  We arrived and were told to get a number. We soon realised that between us we would be ringing number 63 and 64 gongs!  We watched to see how others rang the bell so that we did not embarrass ourselves.

We then walked up to the massive temple and joined the throng of people who were queuing up to spend 30 seconds in front of the temple.  We thought it might take an hour to get to the front of the queue so we decided to head home.

We went to a great exhibition at the MORI  Museum by Takeshi Murakami one of the few places that are open every year over New Year and went up the tower to get a view over town.  Then we went to Gonpachi the restaurant associated with Kill Bill.

We spent ages looking for one of the Japanese photo booth places only to be told it had shut down and to be shown the empty site amongst the buildings!

There is a whole area known as fabric town but as it's mainly wholesalers it too was shut. However week three I found a fabric store that I think is really good so Jo and I headed out there on Sunday. We had intended to go somewhere else as well but we did three floors of the shop and then had a break for coffee and cake. We then headed back in to do the final two floors and make our purchases!  It was great fun - Jo advised that a stripy fabric which had illustrations of otters, armadillos and badgers would not suit me, the same for the spotty fabric with pink pugs on it.  I settled for the flowers with a polar bear poking his head through them. We made it home just in time to go out for dinner with Kayo the person I met through a cultural exchange website.

We put Jo on the airport train just before 7am and we waited on the same platform to get a train to Kamakura to see the big Buddha and the sea. Glorious weather so much so Dominic zipped off the bottom of his trousers!  

Look at the flavours!

 

Drying fish on a bike!

Crikey it is already December.

We have not sorted out Christmas cards yet so maybe they won't happen. instead perhaps we should adopt the Japanese tradition of Happy New Year cards - that should buy us a few extra weeks!

Okay so here goes I was teaching a student. The topic was sleeping. I found some audio for her to listen to. She said she was happy with all the vocabulary but then could not make sense of the sentence " I get up in the middle of the night to go for a wee."  The dictionary had said wee meant small!

We cover this and then the conversation moved on. Student mentioned she'd been stung by jellyfish. I thought she would be interested in the first aid myth. If you're stung by a jellyfish you need to wee on it.  I tried to explain this but it was tricky! Eventually I ended up drawing. Here it is!  I am not sure BRC would be happy with this focus on what NOT to do, but I did tell her what she should do too, although that did not take as long or require my illustration skills.

Next washing.  Talking about having a bath before bed being relaxing. I told the student I have a shower in the morning. She asked did I have a bath in the evening. When I said no she was absolutely horrified. And I mean horrified. She said if I got into bed without bathing my sheets would be dirty and I would need to wash them often.  We talked about babies and kids having baths in the evening. I wondered when the change from evening to morning happens. I did not dare mention teenage boys and perhaps them not washing in the evening or in the morning!

Did I tell you I have some wheels? After a few weeks in Tokyo I really wanted a bike. On craigslist they were advertised but went before I even had a chance to reply or they were in some far-flung part of Tokyo from which I was not confident to cycle back from. I got a second hand bike from a shop.  It has a lock, front light,  and they registered it for me, alI for £50. I got back home and cycled round the various food vans in the area to make my lunch choice. I was supposed be doing some interview prep in the afternoon but I was just so excited with my purchase that I couldn't concentrate!

Any suggestions for a name gratefully received!

Well I had a couple of random meetings this week.  I went out for dinner with someone who who I had had a quick chat with whilst washing up at a cookery school session. I commented to Makiko that I was amazed that there is always someone standing outside the Kentucky Fried Chicken booth on the High Street...she then told me that for Christmas Eve (a bigger day here than the 25th) that her Mum and Dad tried to get Kentucky Fried Chicken but were told that they couldn't as they hadn't  booked in advance!!!!  The reason is that ovens in Japanese homes aren't very big so they cannot fit in all the stuff they want to cook so revert to buying it...in this case from the great man himself Colonel Sanders!

...and then I met up with Kayo, she's got a masters in History of Art and is applying to do a PHD - or is it the other way around?  I found Kayo by signing up to a website for cultural exchange.  I asked them to find me a Japanese teacher who could teach me and I in exchange would help them with their English.  And she's heading for Scotland to further her studies.  Apparently in the 1800 s there was a connection with Scotland and Japan, and some of the Glasgow boys art group went over to Japan...

A club in town runs various classes....the current teacher for the Japanese womens' English discussion group is leaving.  I found out about this opportunity on day 3.  I tried to find out details, had arranged to meet the teacher etc etc and then I was contacted to say my application was late!  Not sure how but they allowed me to put in my proposal "late".

I also met up with lovely Anujah from the British Red Cross who has been in Tokyo for 3 years and is mad about the octopus balls from Osaka. I am hoping to go vintage clothes shopping with her :)

A while ago (well not that long because I was already in Tokyo) I saw an English language teaching job ad for the business arm of Berlitz.  Applications closed the next day so I quickly submitted mine. I was asked for an interview which would require me to do a trial lesson.  Another email asked me to confirm my attendance as apparently a lot of applicants when they find out that they need to do a sample lesson cancel.....does make me wonder why they are applying?!  Business attire was required...mmm this was going to be tricky! 

.......I got offered the job!!!!   I am very excited about it and go in next week for a half day induction to find out more.   

The church bazaar - Dominic helped man the cake stand and I was on the white elephant stand the aim of which was to get rid of stuff! I walked in at 9am for my stint and within minutes had bought several notebooks and a dry erase board!  The number of people that looked disappointed when seeing the sold sign on it was interesting....especially an older Japanese lady who seemed to get excited and then visibly slumped when someone told her it was sold!

David from Ireland came to stay a couple of nights and he took us to a print museum just a short walk away, and also advised us about an antique fair on Sunday as well as loads of other things, he's lived in Tokyo and seemed to digest the entire what's on in town calendar! Also went to Gonpachi the restaurant featured in Kill Bill.  Dominic did not wear the outfit.

Our stuff from the UK showed up.  So how come our flat in London is half the size of where we are living yet our things barely fit in this place?  Perhaps this question will feature in next years GCSE maths paper?

Tune in next time to find out what happened when I told a student of my washing habits.....and a first aid myth!