Having heard so much about the fantastic Darling Harbour, Scott and I decided to head over there while the sun was still up and check it out. Neither of us was really interested in visiting the Aquarium, having been to a few in other places. I mean, I went scuba diving off the Florida keys and had a pair of nurse sharks swim within a couple yards of me shortly after being stalked by a barracuda. Seeing some fish behind glass isn't all that exciting now. And if we weren't interested in the aquarium, you should have seen how long it took us to decide that we weren't going to the National Maritime Museum. I'm not sure stopwatches can record time that short. Oddly enough, all of the ads I saw for the National Maritime Museum seemed to be aimed at kids. That makes sense. You know how much kids love maritime related stuff. I couldn't tell you how many kids I have heard say, "Oh, golly, if only there was more maritime related stuff in my day." Right.
Otherwise, Darling Harbour appeared to be restaurants and sports bars. There was some shopping, but since I wasn't looking for clothing or jewelry (although there was this really nice diamond necklace...) I didn't see much there. And that was it. We grabbed some food, and although my burger was pretty decent Scott didn't eat his chicken because it was smothered in cheese. This was when I found out he didn't eat cheese. Who knew there were people who are not lactose intolerant and yet still don't eat cheese? Huh.
So, we came back that night to see how the night life was in Darling Harbour since it was supposed to be a highlight of Sydney. It wasn't. Not a whole lot going on there. So, after a couple drinks we headed off in the general direction of Chinatown, which is pretty small (at least compared to New York and San Francisco) and was mostly closed. Still we had a beer at a British Pub. In Chinatown. Because that makes sense.
Then we headed back in the general direction of our hostel. In order to do this we had to head to the aforementioned George St. and right when we reached it we saw what looked like a reasonably hopping place across the street. This place was Scruffy Murphy's, which as it turns out is something of a chain. The important thing was that it seemed lively. We headed in to discover that they have a live band every night. A live cover band. Who plays American music. Because, other than the British, we make the best music in the world. We also make the worst music in the world though, so don't start feeling too patriotic just yet. Anyhow, this was one of my favorite places in Sydney. Not overly clean, but the music was familiar and mostly good. And it was crowded which was something we hadn't really found up to that point.
And we would be back. Oh yes, we would...
Wednesday, January 26, 2005
Monday, January 24, 2005
Australia Part 4
Because all of my money was in Traveler's Cheques I had to break them at the rate of about one every day. Now, as I had understood it based on my own lack of experience, hearsay, and stuff that I just made up in my head, you can use a Traveler's Cheque at any store. This, at least in Sydney, is not true at all. Only larger stores, hotels, and whatnot will take them. Fortunately, there was a Woolworth's not far from where I was staying, which was actually between me and anything I would want to do anyhow.
And here's where we begin to discuss my vacationing pattern.
I would wake up early. You know, 12:00-12:30 in the afternoon. Shower. Get presentable. Head to Woolworth's. Buy something. Anything. I mean, you have to buy something in order to break a Traveler's Cheque but it can be anything. For the most part I didn't really need anything but I had to buy a little something everyday. Gum. Razors. A pen. Something. Then, I would head to SubWay for breakfast/lunch. I worked at a SubWay for a long time back in Gainesville and I thought I had gotten sick of it, but it really is pretty good for fast food. And more importantly they don't have them in Japan so I enjoyed it while I could. Then I would swing by the theater and see what was showing and at what times. A little wandering and then it was back to the theater. It cost a little over $15 to see a movie in Sydney, which would be about $11.25 US. Not cheap, but it's tough to catch American movies in Japan at all where I am so I saw everything I could. Blade:Trinity, Ocean's Twelve, The Incredibles, Meet the Fockers, Saw, and I Heart Huckabees. On a short side note, if you do not see I Heart Huckabees when it comes to video you are doing yourself a great disservice as this is probably the best movie I have seen in a LONG time.
Then it was back to the hostel to bum around a bit more until I found Scott. We would make our plans for the night.
"So, uh, you wanna grab a bite to eat?"
"Yeah, sure. Maybe get a drink after that."
"Cool."
After a few days it became a joke to us.
"Hmmm, let me check my schedule and get back to you."
"Well, I don't normally drink... But since I'm on vacation maybe just one beer..."
Anywho, he would hit the showers and then we would meet up again. Apparently, living in the desert has created in him the habit of showering at least twice a day. Then, we would find somewhere to eat, which was often a pub. Then, we would check out places on George St. This is, in my opinion, where all the good places in Sydney are. We also hit The Rocks (previously mentioned) as well as Darling Harbour. Both of those, according to the little free tourist books I picked up in the airport, are supposed to be the two best places to go. But having been there early on, and then heading to George St., we quickly gave up on going anywhere else.
There are a lot of great bars and clubs on George St., but we didn't find the good ones until we went somewhere else...
And here's where we begin to discuss my vacationing pattern.
I would wake up early. You know, 12:00-12:30 in the afternoon. Shower. Get presentable. Head to Woolworth's. Buy something. Anything. I mean, you have to buy something in order to break a Traveler's Cheque but it can be anything. For the most part I didn't really need anything but I had to buy a little something everyday. Gum. Razors. A pen. Something. Then, I would head to SubWay for breakfast/lunch. I worked at a SubWay for a long time back in Gainesville and I thought I had gotten sick of it, but it really is pretty good for fast food. And more importantly they don't have them in Japan so I enjoyed it while I could. Then I would swing by the theater and see what was showing and at what times. A little wandering and then it was back to the theater. It cost a little over $15 to see a movie in Sydney, which would be about $11.25 US. Not cheap, but it's tough to catch American movies in Japan at all where I am so I saw everything I could. Blade:Trinity, Ocean's Twelve, The Incredibles, Meet the Fockers, Saw, and I Heart Huckabees. On a short side note, if you do not see I Heart Huckabees when it comes to video you are doing yourself a great disservice as this is probably the best movie I have seen in a LONG time.
Then it was back to the hostel to bum around a bit more until I found Scott. We would make our plans for the night.
"So, uh, you wanna grab a bite to eat?"
"Yeah, sure. Maybe get a drink after that."
"Cool."
After a few days it became a joke to us.
"Hmmm, let me check my schedule and get back to you."
"Well, I don't normally drink... But since I'm on vacation maybe just one beer..."
Anywho, he would hit the showers and then we would meet up again. Apparently, living in the desert has created in him the habit of showering at least twice a day. Then, we would find somewhere to eat, which was often a pub. Then, we would check out places on George St. This is, in my opinion, where all the good places in Sydney are. We also hit The Rocks (previously mentioned) as well as Darling Harbour. Both of those, according to the little free tourist books I picked up in the airport, are supposed to be the two best places to go. But having been there early on, and then heading to George St., we quickly gave up on going anywhere else.
There are a lot of great bars and clubs on George St., but we didn't find the good ones until we went somewhere else...
Thursday, January 20, 2005
Australia Part 3
So, after a relaxing day wandering around Sydney, still experiencing an almost dream-like state, I finally headed back to the hostel about 6 in the evening. Here in northern Japan it starts getting dark about half past four, and by 5 PM it's like night. A little different from Florida, but in Sydney it doesn't get dark until after 8 PM so that was a little hard to get used to. I mean, it would be evening, EVENING, and it still looked like day. I kept thinking, "Oh, the sun is still up so it must be reasonably early," but it was actually 7 at night.
Anyhow, I popped into my room to drop off my camera and bum around, and who knows? Well, the other guy in the room (whose bag was previously mentioned) was there, so we said hello and introduced ourselves. I still find this amusing. His name is Scott and he's British, actually from London. However, he lives in the Middle East, in Oman, where he is teaching the Omanni (sp?) people how to maintain helicopters. Don't hear that everyday. Anyhow, the amusing bit is that he's British, but he lives in Oman whereas I'm American but I live in Japan. So rather than just having two cultures to discuss, we spent the next several days comparing and contrasting four different countries. Pretty fun. Apparently, and there's no joke here, there really are a bunch of camels just wandering around there. They don't actually belong to anyone, they're just wild. However, should one get killed (for example, hit by a car) someone will claim it was their camel and try to get money out of the person who killed it, especially if that person is a foreigner. He told one story where a camel apparently slipped and fell from a cliff, onto a car below. It completely destroyed the car, and of course also died in the process. Someone tried to claim that it had been their camel in order to get money out of the guy whose car had just been totaled, but that obviously didn't go anywhere. The part that I was extra surprised at, was that the guy was IN the car at the time. He was driving it, it wasn't parked, and he apparently walked away without a scratch. Just picture that whole thing from the perspective of the guy in the car behind him. Good stuff.
Okay, so Scott and I became fast friends, partly because we both had this experience of living and working in a country with a significantly different culture (although as far as how different it is, he definitely trumps me), but also because we were traveling alone and wanted someone to hang out with. We headed out to get something to eat and perhaps hit a bar or two. And thus, a pattern emerged. You see, from that day forward, every day in Sydney for me would involve coming back to the hostel from wherever at about 6-7 PM, meeting up with Scott, eating, and then hitting a couple bars. Sounds boring right? Man, it was great.
Sorry, there I go again. So, in Japan, you can usually only get Japanese beer, of which there are really only three: Kirin, Sapporo, and Asahi. There's also Yebisu but that's made by Sapporo. That's about it. I went to a foreign foods store that also had Guinness, Bass, and Budweiser (although why anyone would choose to drink Bud is beyond me) and there's an Irish pub in Sendai that serves Guinness. But seriously, that's about it. And although Japanese beer is decent, it doesn't have much body, and you just don't see anything even slightly dark here. So, I was excited to get some serious beer from a country that takes it seriously, and man does Australia take it seriously. You have probably heard of Foster's because of their delightfully funny commercials. Well, I didn't see Foster's anywhere in Sydney. Not in bars, stores, not even an ad. The two most popular beers in Sydney are Victoria Bitters (VB) and Toohey's New. But most places also carry Stella Artois, which Scott told me is the most popular lager in England. He also warned me that although it isn't a higher percentage than any other beer it has some kind of magical power where it just wipes people out. This, of course, sounded silly to me. And it being my first real night of vacation I decided to have a few. We actually hit several bars, even heading down to The Rocks which was supposed to be where all the nightlife was It wasn't particularly hopping so we managed to go full circle and come back to the sports bar where we had eaten dinner at the beginning, and have another Stella. At some point, I realized I was drunk, and needed to go to sleep. So, I told this to Scott and headed out. Apparently he said he was nearly ready to go himself but I was intent on going to bed. So, I walked back to the hostel which wasn't too far, because it really was a pretty good location, and for the first time I had to use the key for the front door. During the day the door is open so I hadn't needed it before, and therefore I hadn't known that it was ridiculously hard to use even in the best conditions. Put me there with a few pints of Stella in me and I couldn't work it at all. So, I sat down on the sidewalk to wait for Scott. I suppose I could have walked back to the bar to find him, but this just seemed like a better idea. Fortunately he was only 5-10 minutes behind me so it wasn't long before he got there and woke me up...
Ahem...
This was also my first night sleeping on the hostel bed. It was by far the best night of sleep I got the whole time, most likely because I was so tired. Those beds sucked. Still, this was vacation.
Anyhow, I popped into my room to drop off my camera and bum around, and who knows? Well, the other guy in the room (whose bag was previously mentioned) was there, so we said hello and introduced ourselves. I still find this amusing. His name is Scott and he's British, actually from London. However, he lives in the Middle East, in Oman, where he is teaching the Omanni (sp?) people how to maintain helicopters. Don't hear that everyday. Anyhow, the amusing bit is that he's British, but he lives in Oman whereas I'm American but I live in Japan. So rather than just having two cultures to discuss, we spent the next several days comparing and contrasting four different countries. Pretty fun. Apparently, and there's no joke here, there really are a bunch of camels just wandering around there. They don't actually belong to anyone, they're just wild. However, should one get killed (for example, hit by a car) someone will claim it was their camel and try to get money out of the person who killed it, especially if that person is a foreigner. He told one story where a camel apparently slipped and fell from a cliff, onto a car below. It completely destroyed the car, and of course also died in the process. Someone tried to claim that it had been their camel in order to get money out of the guy whose car had just been totaled, but that obviously didn't go anywhere. The part that I was extra surprised at, was that the guy was IN the car at the time. He was driving it, it wasn't parked, and he apparently walked away without a scratch. Just picture that whole thing from the perspective of the guy in the car behind him. Good stuff.
Okay, so Scott and I became fast friends, partly because we both had this experience of living and working in a country with a significantly different culture (although as far as how different it is, he definitely trumps me), but also because we were traveling alone and wanted someone to hang out with. We headed out to get something to eat and perhaps hit a bar or two. And thus, a pattern emerged. You see, from that day forward, every day in Sydney for me would involve coming back to the hostel from wherever at about 6-7 PM, meeting up with Scott, eating, and then hitting a couple bars. Sounds boring right? Man, it was great.
Sorry, there I go again. So, in Japan, you can usually only get Japanese beer, of which there are really only three: Kirin, Sapporo, and Asahi. There's also Yebisu but that's made by Sapporo. That's about it. I went to a foreign foods store that also had Guinness, Bass, and Budweiser (although why anyone would choose to drink Bud is beyond me) and there's an Irish pub in Sendai that serves Guinness. But seriously, that's about it. And although Japanese beer is decent, it doesn't have much body, and you just don't see anything even slightly dark here. So, I was excited to get some serious beer from a country that takes it seriously, and man does Australia take it seriously. You have probably heard of Foster's because of their delightfully funny commercials. Well, I didn't see Foster's anywhere in Sydney. Not in bars, stores, not even an ad. The two most popular beers in Sydney are Victoria Bitters (VB) and Toohey's New. But most places also carry Stella Artois, which Scott told me is the most popular lager in England. He also warned me that although it isn't a higher percentage than any other beer it has some kind of magical power where it just wipes people out. This, of course, sounded silly to me. And it being my first real night of vacation I decided to have a few. We actually hit several bars, even heading down to The Rocks which was supposed to be where all the nightlife was It wasn't particularly hopping so we managed to go full circle and come back to the sports bar where we had eaten dinner at the beginning, and have another Stella. At some point, I realized I was drunk, and needed to go to sleep. So, I told this to Scott and headed out. Apparently he said he was nearly ready to go himself but I was intent on going to bed. So, I walked back to the hostel which wasn't too far, because it really was a pretty good location, and for the first time I had to use the key for the front door. During the day the door is open so I hadn't needed it before, and therefore I hadn't known that it was ridiculously hard to use even in the best conditions. Put me there with a few pints of Stella in me and I couldn't work it at all. So, I sat down on the sidewalk to wait for Scott. I suppose I could have walked back to the bar to find him, but this just seemed like a better idea. Fortunately he was only 5-10 minutes behind me so it wasn't long before he got there and woke me up...
Ahem...
This was also my first night sleeping on the hostel bed. It was by far the best night of sleep I got the whole time, most likely because I was so tired. Those beds sucked. Still, this was vacation.
Monday, January 17, 2005
Australia Part 2
So, I have to admit that from here on in may not be that exciting to read because I relatively quickly got into a pattern which, although great fun for me, doesn't necessarily make fascinating prose.
Anyhow, I got off the plane in Sydney at about 9 in the morning, and headed through customs and immigration. I picked up my bag with no trouble and headed to the information desk for some information. I asked if they just booked hotels or if they could help me find a hostel as well. I had decided to stay at a hostel because it would cost so much less, thereby saving enough money to hopefully be able to head up to Cairns for some scuba. Well, the lady pointed me to a wall of brochures and booklets. You know those lighted boards with phones you find at airports where there is a picture of different hotels and the phone only dials those hotels? Well, there were a couple of those for hostels in the Sydney airport and I quickly spotted the ad for the hostels I had found through the internet. The rooms, as I remembered, were only about $15 dollars per night if you stayed in a dorm room, and considering the Australian dollar is only worth about $0.75, even with the weak dollar we have now in the States, that's pretty cheap. I rang them up and they were kind enough to inform me that they only had rooms for the next two nights, unless I wanted to stay for ten nights.
Now, think about that. They ONLY had rooms for the next two nights, or the next ten nights. How does that work? Oh, and if you chose the ten night deal you got the super special New Year's Price of $350 for ten nights! Look above and compare that to the price I found online. Yeah, it's their New Year's rate! So many people come to Sydney for New Years that they have no trouble renting out every possible bed in the place at a higher rate than normal. Well, I needed a place to stay so I decided to do the ten night New Year's deal thinking I might still be able to swing the scuba if I was a little more thrifty for a couple days. Heck, this place had a kitchen so maybe I could make my own food a couple of nights. Who knows?
So, they sent a shuttle to pick me up, I finally arrived, checked in, and headed to my room. It was cozy, and by cozy I mean extremely hot with four bunk beds in it, two on each side of the room. There was a fan that seemed to be cooling the area directly in front of it for about 7 inches, and a wide corridor between the beds that was at least two and a half feet wide. A window in the wall opposite the door looked out upon some buildings and as I walked to it I felt pretty good. This was a kind of adventure after all.
Even though there were a total of eight beds in the room, only one of them had any belongings on it. I chose a bottom bunk near the window, opposite the bed my only roommate had chosen, probably for the same reasons. Then I headed out for a walk. This was where I did most of my sightseeing in Sydney, the very first day. I have, of course, tossed the photos I took that day up on the photo site, so here's a bit of an explanation.
You will see the Anzac Memorial, which is a war memorial that I believe honors Australian soldiers who gave their lives in France. Treasure these pictures since, as you may be able to read on the sign, you are not allowed to take pictures in the memorial without specific permission. So, I was only able to snap a few before I was told to stop.
Then, you'll see a statue of a kangaroo and an emu. This was on the outside of a building. That's it. I never even figured out what the building was. But it looked cool...
I also strolled through the Royal Botanic Gardens which are right next to the Sydney Opera House. I was surprised to see dozens of bats actively out in the middle of the day, and I got at least one decent action shot here. I read a sign explaining that as cool as the bats are, they are apparently damaging the trees, so the park service there is currently trying to convince them to leave nicely. There were no details as to how they are doing this.
Since I was right there, I also walked around the Sydney Opera House and took some shots of that. I know it looks big in pictures, but in real life it's HUGE. And it sits right on the harbor so I got some pics of that, including the Harbor Bridge, which is nicknamed the 'coat hanger' because it kind of looks like a coat hanger. I guess no one bothered to explain to the Australians that it looks like a hundred other bridges and that any number of cities around the world would therefore be justified in using the same nickname if they were so inclined, which they likely would not be since there are so many bridges that look like that. But whatever.
There's also a bar and grill right there on the harbor, which gave me a chance to relax and drink a nice, cold beer while looking out over the water as the warm summer sun beat down upon me. As I watched the boats float past and reveled in the 35 degree (Celsius) temperature, I though about how cold it must be in Japan at that moment and realized that THIS is what vacation is all about.
Anyhow, I got off the plane in Sydney at about 9 in the morning, and headed through customs and immigration. I picked up my bag with no trouble and headed to the information desk for some information. I asked if they just booked hotels or if they could help me find a hostel as well. I had decided to stay at a hostel because it would cost so much less, thereby saving enough money to hopefully be able to head up to Cairns for some scuba. Well, the lady pointed me to a wall of brochures and booklets. You know those lighted boards with phones you find at airports where there is a picture of different hotels and the phone only dials those hotels? Well, there were a couple of those for hostels in the Sydney airport and I quickly spotted the ad for the hostels I had found through the internet. The rooms, as I remembered, were only about $15 dollars per night if you stayed in a dorm room, and considering the Australian dollar is only worth about $0.75, even with the weak dollar we have now in the States, that's pretty cheap. I rang them up and they were kind enough to inform me that they only had rooms for the next two nights, unless I wanted to stay for ten nights.
Now, think about that. They ONLY had rooms for the next two nights, or the next ten nights. How does that work? Oh, and if you chose the ten night deal you got the super special New Year's Price of $350 for ten nights! Look above and compare that to the price I found online. Yeah, it's their New Year's rate! So many people come to Sydney for New Years that they have no trouble renting out every possible bed in the place at a higher rate than normal. Well, I needed a place to stay so I decided to do the ten night New Year's deal thinking I might still be able to swing the scuba if I was a little more thrifty for a couple days. Heck, this place had a kitchen so maybe I could make my own food a couple of nights. Who knows?
So, they sent a shuttle to pick me up, I finally arrived, checked in, and headed to my room. It was cozy, and by cozy I mean extremely hot with four bunk beds in it, two on each side of the room. There was a fan that seemed to be cooling the area directly in front of it for about 7 inches, and a wide corridor between the beds that was at least two and a half feet wide. A window in the wall opposite the door looked out upon some buildings and as I walked to it I felt pretty good. This was a kind of adventure after all.
Even though there were a total of eight beds in the room, only one of them had any belongings on it. I chose a bottom bunk near the window, opposite the bed my only roommate had chosen, probably for the same reasons. Then I headed out for a walk. This was where I did most of my sightseeing in Sydney, the very first day. I have, of course, tossed the photos I took that day up on the photo site, so here's a bit of an explanation.
You will see the Anzac Memorial, which is a war memorial that I believe honors Australian soldiers who gave their lives in France. Treasure these pictures since, as you may be able to read on the sign, you are not allowed to take pictures in the memorial without specific permission. So, I was only able to snap a few before I was told to stop.
Then, you'll see a statue of a kangaroo and an emu. This was on the outside of a building. That's it. I never even figured out what the building was. But it looked cool...
I also strolled through the Royal Botanic Gardens which are right next to the Sydney Opera House. I was surprised to see dozens of bats actively out in the middle of the day, and I got at least one decent action shot here. I read a sign explaining that as cool as the bats are, they are apparently damaging the trees, so the park service there is currently trying to convince them to leave nicely. There were no details as to how they are doing this.
Since I was right there, I also walked around the Sydney Opera House and took some shots of that. I know it looks big in pictures, but in real life it's HUGE. And it sits right on the harbor so I got some pics of that, including the Harbor Bridge, which is nicknamed the 'coat hanger' because it kind of looks like a coat hanger. I guess no one bothered to explain to the Australians that it looks like a hundred other bridges and that any number of cities around the world would therefore be justified in using the same nickname if they were so inclined, which they likely would not be since there are so many bridges that look like that. But whatever.
There's also a bar and grill right there on the harbor, which gave me a chance to relax and drink a nice, cold beer while looking out over the water as the warm summer sun beat down upon me. As I watched the boats float past and reveled in the 35 degree (Celsius) temperature, I though about how cold it must be in Japan at that moment and realized that THIS is what vacation is all about.
Tuesday, January 11, 2005
Australia Part 1
The plan was pretty simple. I was to wake up early on December 24th, Christmas Eve, and begin the trip to the Tokyo Airport. Not really a problem. I would be getting up at the same time I always get up to go to work. Now, I did stay up a little late getting ready, and by a little I mean about 3:30AM. Still, I could sleep on the train and the plane.
Five months ago when I had to buy a new alarm clock here (because mine was losing time rapidly due to the fact that the voltage is slightly off from America) I knew it was a bad idea to get a battery operated one, but that was all they had. I knew that one day that battery would die on me and mess things up. What I didn't know was that before the battery died it would just get low enough that the alarm wouldn't wake up an insomniac, and that this would happen to me on the day I needed to get up early and catch a plane. So, instead of getting up at 7:30, I awoke at 11:30. Still, my flight was at 4:30 and I figured I could get to Tokyo in just over three hours so it might be possible.
Well, the train from my town to Sendai didn't come for over 20 minutes. Next, I took the Shinkansen (better known as the Bullet Train in English) from Sendai to Tokyo. Depending on which one you take it can be anywhere from just under two hours to just over two and a half hours from Sendai to Tokyo. I took the next one, which was the slowest one. Then, I hopped on the Subway to go to Narita Airport from Tokyo Station. Heck, I took the Rapid Service subway to the airport. From Tokyo Station to Narita Airport was a measly 1 hour 45 minutes. I should have remembered this from when I came to Japan I guess. Of course, that was 5 months ago, I was horribly jetlagged, and I was so excited time actually ceased to have meaning. Plus, I didn't have anywhere to be back then. So, yeah, I forgot that the Tokyo Airport is actually not in Tokyo at all, it's in Narita nearly two hours away. So, with all the waiting in between and walking and whatnot I didn't get to the desk until 5:30, an hour after my plane had left. I had to wander around the airport talking to various people for a while, even making phone calls to my travel agent back in Sendai a couple times. I have never been more glad that I own a cell phone nor so glad that I can speak Japanese. Otherwise, it would have been an even bigger mess.
Well, because I wanted to fly cheaper I went by China Airlines and they don't fly to Australia everyday. So, they moved me to the next flight at no charge, but the next flight was on the 26th. So, lucky me, I got to start my vacation by spending two nights in a hotel in Narita, a city best known for having an airport and some hotels. The hotel had CNN which was one thing. But, did you know that if you watch CNN long enough it repeats? Yeah, it does.
Finally, I had passed my time in Narita and headed back to the airport, early this time. At this point, it was time to exchange my yen for Australian money. According to the board it was about 89 yen to the Australian dollar if you got cash, or 80 yen to the dollar if you got Traveler's Cheques. So, of course I got Traveler's Cheques. Trust me, this little detail will come up again.
I had no troubles getting to my gate and getting on board my plane this time. In fact, China Airlines is really nice. We had a little TV in the chair in front of us with movies and TV on demand. The food was good, the service was good, the beer was good. I was very pleased to finally be flying. A few hours later we landed in Taipei for about a 3 hour layover. I exchanged a little money for Chinese money (sadly I'm not sure what it's called by I think it mon) and had a bite to eat. All in all, the Chiang Kai-Shek International Airport seemed pretty rundown and unimpressive to me. I snapped a couple shots while I was here which I thought were interesting. One because I was just barely surprised to see a Christmas Tree, and the other because... well, that one is self-explanatory.
Next it was back on the plane for about 7 hours until, at last, I was in Sydney, Australia. Two days late and 1200 yen poorer (because of the hotel) than I had planned but I was here...
Five months ago when I had to buy a new alarm clock here (because mine was losing time rapidly due to the fact that the voltage is slightly off from America) I knew it was a bad idea to get a battery operated one, but that was all they had. I knew that one day that battery would die on me and mess things up. What I didn't know was that before the battery died it would just get low enough that the alarm wouldn't wake up an insomniac, and that this would happen to me on the day I needed to get up early and catch a plane. So, instead of getting up at 7:30, I awoke at 11:30. Still, my flight was at 4:30 and I figured I could get to Tokyo in just over three hours so it might be possible.
Well, the train from my town to Sendai didn't come for over 20 minutes. Next, I took the Shinkansen (better known as the Bullet Train in English) from Sendai to Tokyo. Depending on which one you take it can be anywhere from just under two hours to just over two and a half hours from Sendai to Tokyo. I took the next one, which was the slowest one. Then, I hopped on the Subway to go to Narita Airport from Tokyo Station. Heck, I took the Rapid Service subway to the airport. From Tokyo Station to Narita Airport was a measly 1 hour 45 minutes. I should have remembered this from when I came to Japan I guess. Of course, that was 5 months ago, I was horribly jetlagged, and I was so excited time actually ceased to have meaning. Plus, I didn't have anywhere to be back then. So, yeah, I forgot that the Tokyo Airport is actually not in Tokyo at all, it's in Narita nearly two hours away. So, with all the waiting in between and walking and whatnot I didn't get to the desk until 5:30, an hour after my plane had left. I had to wander around the airport talking to various people for a while, even making phone calls to my travel agent back in Sendai a couple times. I have never been more glad that I own a cell phone nor so glad that I can speak Japanese. Otherwise, it would have been an even bigger mess.
Well, because I wanted to fly cheaper I went by China Airlines and they don't fly to Australia everyday. So, they moved me to the next flight at no charge, but the next flight was on the 26th. So, lucky me, I got to start my vacation by spending two nights in a hotel in Narita, a city best known for having an airport and some hotels. The hotel had CNN which was one thing. But, did you know that if you watch CNN long enough it repeats? Yeah, it does.
Finally, I had passed my time in Narita and headed back to the airport, early this time. At this point, it was time to exchange my yen for Australian money. According to the board it was about 89 yen to the Australian dollar if you got cash, or 80 yen to the dollar if you got Traveler's Cheques. So, of course I got Traveler's Cheques. Trust me, this little detail will come up again.
I had no troubles getting to my gate and getting on board my plane this time. In fact, China Airlines is really nice. We had a little TV in the chair in front of us with movies and TV on demand. The food was good, the service was good, the beer was good. I was very pleased to finally be flying. A few hours later we landed in Taipei for about a 3 hour layover. I exchanged a little money for Chinese money (sadly I'm not sure what it's called by I think it mon) and had a bite to eat. All in all, the Chiang Kai-Shek International Airport seemed pretty rundown and unimpressive to me. I snapped a couple shots while I was here which I thought were interesting. One because I was just barely surprised to see a Christmas Tree, and the other because... well, that one is self-explanatory.
Next it was back on the plane for about 7 hours until, at last, I was in Sydney, Australia. Two days late and 1200 yen poorer (because of the hotel) than I had planned but I was here...
Sunday, January 09, 2005
Australia: Prologue
So, this is the beginning of my somewhat lengthy recounting of my vacation in Australia. As a forewarning, it is not as exciting as it should have or could have been. But I had a good time and I think there are at least a couple of interesting anecdotes buried in here. Considering that this is about going to Australia in their summer (which, of course, involved a lot of sweating and a little sunburn), it is somewhat ironic that it begins with, ends with, and even in the middle involves snow. But, you'll just have to wait and see what I mean by most of that.
The reason today's post is called the 'prologue' is because... it's a prologue. This takes place before the trip to Australia even happened. I would have written about it before if I had been busy, you know, going to Australia.
What I'm talking about today is the Semine Junior High School Bounenkai, which roughly translates to the "Forget the Year Party." See, at the end of the year they have the bounenkai to look back and thank everyone for their hard work (and drink). Then, after the new year they have the Shinnenkai (New Year Party) where they look ahead and thank everyone for the hard work to come (and drink). New Year's Eve itself is basically a family holiday, reminiscent of how we do Christmas. The family gathers, eats traditional foods, visits a shrine to wish for a good year, and often try to see in the first sunrise. Now, I know what you're thinking right now, "Hey, why don't WE have two parties at New Year!" I simply don't know what to tell you.
Anyhow, December 22nd was the Junior High Bounenkai. This was the last day of school, a Wednesday, and the next day was a holiday. So, after school everyone got prepared and then headed a couple of towns over (actually into a different prefecture, the equivalent of leaving the state) to a ryokan, after driving through a light snow. This is a Japanese hotel, which is actually pretty different from a Western hotel, which is why they use a different word for the two. I got a ride with one of the other English teachers and took a change of clothes with me. This would be an overnight trip.
The really interesting thing here is that this wasn't just a ryokan, it was an onsen. Because Japan is an island nation born from volcanoes there are lots and lots of hot springs all over the place, and that's what an onsen is. The basic idea is that you go to the hotel, relax in the hot spring bath, have a party, sleep, wake up, relax in the hot spring bath again, have breakfast, and head home feeling much better.
Now, entering an onsen is done the same way as you take a bath at home here. Basically, you shower first, becoming totally clean, before you ever get in the bath. This goes way back when the whole family would share the bathwater so they didn't want to make it dirty. Now, they still share the bathwater in nearly all households, but instead of using a bucket of water they actually shower beforehand. The bath is for relaxing and warming up, not for getting clean. The onsen is the same thing.
So, after I arrived at the ryokan, traded my shoes for a pair of slippers (like a coat check), and saw the room four of us would be sharing, one of the other teachers suggested we get a quick dip in the onsen before the party started. Apparently most of the teachers were doing the same thing, at least those who weren't preparing for the party itself. So, Sakino sensei (the music teacher) and I changed into the handy robes provided for us. You take off your pants and socks, but just throw it on over everything else. Then we got on our slippers and headed for the baths. You enter the preparation room where you, well, prepare. In other words, you get completely naked. Even the slippers come off and all you have is a hand towel to cover yourself with. Then, you walk into the bath room (not the bathroom) where you have to shower. So, you pick a spot from the wall of showers and sit down on this tiiiiny little stool which couldn't have been more than 6-7 inches off the ground. These are not shower stalls. There are no walls in between them. Everyone sits down and cleans themselves thoroughly. Shampoo and soap is provided and there's a bucket there to help you rinse the hand towel out (since it has now become you washcloth as well). Once you're all done you walk over and step into the actual onsen itself.
Now, I expected all of this. I knew what an onsen was and I knew what I was getting into. Your butt may be as bare as the day you were born, but judicious use of the towel can prevent anything more personal from being revealed. I also knew that there are a lot of different types of onsens in the country, and only a few of them use 100% onsen water. Most of them mix in hot tap water, and they have to tell you what percentage they use. Because they are considered such a big part of the culture there are several laws concerning this. Sometimes they are outdoors, sometimes they are tiled, sometimes they are little more than a mudhole filled with really hot water (although this type is apparently not that common, you do still have to clean thoroughly before getting in). I was prepared mentally for stripping down, showering, and getting into the bath with nothing more than a hand towel to preserve my dignity. What I had never bothered to consider was that the water might be crystal clear. And it was.
Admittedly, I barely hesitated and just decided to relax but it was a surprise when I realized that the towel was coming off and the only thing taking its place would be some calm, clear water. However, the bath was pretty nice and I did it again the next day.
After the first dip we headed back to the room to get re-dressed and head to the party. This was a blast because all of the teachers really chill out and have a great time. And since everyone is spending the night, there's no reason not to drink. A couple of people simply DO NOT drink so they still didn't, but the rest of us knocked back a couple of liters. Actually, in Japan you don't pour your own drink. You keep an eye on the drinks of those around you and you especially try to top everyone off at least once. This means it's nearly impossible to keep track of how much you've had to drink. So, I don't know how much I had. But it was fun.
One of the things they did at the party was to Top Ten News Stories of the year from our Junior High school. These were culled from suggestions from the whole staff and were interesting. A scroll would be unrolled with a hint, and then if not one could guess it they would give a more detailed hint. For example, one hint was about someone caring a lot. Apparently our principal hand writes every single student a New Year's card which is, understandably, nearly unheard of. One of the news stories was about me, and I felt pretty silly since I had no idea what it was. It turned out that most of the teachers are impressed because I study Japanese harder than the students.
So, after that was the bingo game (somehow I am terrible at bingo which makes no sense since it's totally random) during which I won a video. Everyone bought a cheap, possibly gag, gift for this part. Well, you know those cheap Disney knockoffs you see in Wal-Mart? Imagine that in Japanese. It's Cinderella and Aladdin. I find it hilarious that I'm the one who got the Japanese children's video, and that was random too.
Afterwards we had a sort of guys-after-party. I assume the women did the same thing, but all of the men gathered in our room and drank some more and chatted. The next day we had another dip in the onsen and had a nice breakfast before gathering or stuff and trading our slippers back in for our street shoes. I said good-bye to everyone except Shida sensei (since he was driving me home) knowing that the next time I saw them, I would have returned from Australia. It was at this point that I realized it had snowed the entire time we had been there. The ground was covered with at least an inch of snow and it was undeniably winter.
Time to go to Australia...
The reason today's post is called the 'prologue' is because... it's a prologue. This takes place before the trip to Australia even happened. I would have written about it before if I had been busy, you know, going to Australia.
What I'm talking about today is the Semine Junior High School Bounenkai, which roughly translates to the "Forget the Year Party." See, at the end of the year they have the bounenkai to look back and thank everyone for their hard work (and drink). Then, after the new year they have the Shinnenkai (New Year Party) where they look ahead and thank everyone for the hard work to come (and drink). New Year's Eve itself is basically a family holiday, reminiscent of how we do Christmas. The family gathers, eats traditional foods, visits a shrine to wish for a good year, and often try to see in the first sunrise. Now, I know what you're thinking right now, "Hey, why don't WE have two parties at New Year!" I simply don't know what to tell you.
Anyhow, December 22nd was the Junior High Bounenkai. This was the last day of school, a Wednesday, and the next day was a holiday. So, after school everyone got prepared and then headed a couple of towns over (actually into a different prefecture, the equivalent of leaving the state) to a ryokan, after driving through a light snow. This is a Japanese hotel, which is actually pretty different from a Western hotel, which is why they use a different word for the two. I got a ride with one of the other English teachers and took a change of clothes with me. This would be an overnight trip.
The really interesting thing here is that this wasn't just a ryokan, it was an onsen. Because Japan is an island nation born from volcanoes there are lots and lots of hot springs all over the place, and that's what an onsen is. The basic idea is that you go to the hotel, relax in the hot spring bath, have a party, sleep, wake up, relax in the hot spring bath again, have breakfast, and head home feeling much better.
Now, entering an onsen is done the same way as you take a bath at home here. Basically, you shower first, becoming totally clean, before you ever get in the bath. This goes way back when the whole family would share the bathwater so they didn't want to make it dirty. Now, they still share the bathwater in nearly all households, but instead of using a bucket of water they actually shower beforehand. The bath is for relaxing and warming up, not for getting clean. The onsen is the same thing.
So, after I arrived at the ryokan, traded my shoes for a pair of slippers (like a coat check), and saw the room four of us would be sharing, one of the other teachers suggested we get a quick dip in the onsen before the party started. Apparently most of the teachers were doing the same thing, at least those who weren't preparing for the party itself. So, Sakino sensei (the music teacher) and I changed into the handy robes provided for us. You take off your pants and socks, but just throw it on over everything else. Then we got on our slippers and headed for the baths. You enter the preparation room where you, well, prepare. In other words, you get completely naked. Even the slippers come off and all you have is a hand towel to cover yourself with. Then, you walk into the bath room (not the bathroom) where you have to shower. So, you pick a spot from the wall of showers and sit down on this tiiiiny little stool which couldn't have been more than 6-7 inches off the ground. These are not shower stalls. There are no walls in between them. Everyone sits down and cleans themselves thoroughly. Shampoo and soap is provided and there's a bucket there to help you rinse the hand towel out (since it has now become you washcloth as well). Once you're all done you walk over and step into the actual onsen itself.
Now, I expected all of this. I knew what an onsen was and I knew what I was getting into. Your butt may be as bare as the day you were born, but judicious use of the towel can prevent anything more personal from being revealed. I also knew that there are a lot of different types of onsens in the country, and only a few of them use 100% onsen water. Most of them mix in hot tap water, and they have to tell you what percentage they use. Because they are considered such a big part of the culture there are several laws concerning this. Sometimes they are outdoors, sometimes they are tiled, sometimes they are little more than a mudhole filled with really hot water (although this type is apparently not that common, you do still have to clean thoroughly before getting in). I was prepared mentally for stripping down, showering, and getting into the bath with nothing more than a hand towel to preserve my dignity. What I had never bothered to consider was that the water might be crystal clear. And it was.
Admittedly, I barely hesitated and just decided to relax but it was a surprise when I realized that the towel was coming off and the only thing taking its place would be some calm, clear water. However, the bath was pretty nice and I did it again the next day.
After the first dip we headed back to the room to get re-dressed and head to the party. This was a blast because all of the teachers really chill out and have a great time. And since everyone is spending the night, there's no reason not to drink. A couple of people simply DO NOT drink so they still didn't, but the rest of us knocked back a couple of liters. Actually, in Japan you don't pour your own drink. You keep an eye on the drinks of those around you and you especially try to top everyone off at least once. This means it's nearly impossible to keep track of how much you've had to drink. So, I don't know how much I had. But it was fun.
One of the things they did at the party was to Top Ten News Stories of the year from our Junior High school. These were culled from suggestions from the whole staff and were interesting. A scroll would be unrolled with a hint, and then if not one could guess it they would give a more detailed hint. For example, one hint was about someone caring a lot. Apparently our principal hand writes every single student a New Year's card which is, understandably, nearly unheard of. One of the news stories was about me, and I felt pretty silly since I had no idea what it was. It turned out that most of the teachers are impressed because I study Japanese harder than the students.
So, after that was the bingo game (somehow I am terrible at bingo which makes no sense since it's totally random) during which I won a video. Everyone bought a cheap, possibly gag, gift for this part. Well, you know those cheap Disney knockoffs you see in Wal-Mart? Imagine that in Japanese. It's Cinderella and Aladdin. I find it hilarious that I'm the one who got the Japanese children's video, and that was random too.
Afterwards we had a sort of guys-after-party. I assume the women did the same thing, but all of the men gathered in our room and drank some more and chatted. The next day we had another dip in the onsen and had a nice breakfast before gathering or stuff and trading our slippers back in for our street shoes. I said good-bye to everyone except Shida sensei (since he was driving me home) knowing that the next time I saw them, I would have returned from Australia. It was at this point that I realized it had snowed the entire time we had been there. The ground was covered with at least an inch of snow and it was undeniably winter.
Time to go to Australia...
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