Yay! It's Winter Vacation which means rest, relaxation and among other things, a chance to update this blog! I can hear everyone breathing a sigh of relief: "Finally! The anticipation has been killing me! What happened next? Did they survive life in Juso without Sam and Brent? Did Rumi and Yoshimi have their babies? What did they end up doing for winter break?" All this and more will be answered. Stay tuned. So, I'm going to start with a report on what we got up to in November. It was pretty eventful with a short trip away, dinner with our new friends KJ and Rachel (from Jersey, USA), red leaf viewing season, the beginning of Christmas celebrations and decorations and a few birthdays thrown in. We waited patiently for Rumi's November baby, but she never came! (Stay tuned for December) :)
So, November began with Sam and Brent's departure and a stealthy replacement plan executed by KJ and Rachel. We thought they were just a nice couple, new to Japan and eager to make new friends but little did we know that they had a very clever master plan. Over a short period of time, they managed to move themselves out of the shitty little apartment #1E (yes folks, you may recall us living in that very apartment too) and into Sam and Brent's apartment. They then surreptitiously secured a large portion of Sam and Brent's shifts. The final chapter of their plan: lure Ross and Allie in with fun evenings on the Nintendo Wii and witty conversations. A clever pair indeed. But I'm on to them. Actually, all joking aside, KJ and Rachel have definitely not replaced Sam and Brent - who we still miss terribly - but they have been great company over the last couple of months and we're thrilled to have met them. They are a pair of very honest, funny, generous, sweet people who we admire and are at times, humbled by. Poor us, every time we visit them we come home defeated by KJ's politeness! They are seriously, a wonderful pair. So, in mid November we bought a Nabe stove and pot and researched how and what to cook by inviting a very pregnant Rumi over as our Nabe teacher one night. Lucky she came, or I could have continued by embarassing faux pas of cooking brown onions in a Nabe pot! No! As it was, we did our best but Rumi still heralded our meal 'Australian style Nabe'. We then followed with a night of Nabe with KJ and Rachel - it was just a casual thing that turned out to be a really fun night. Nabe, for those not in the know is a kind of hot pot dish where a soup stock is boiled and various vegetables and meats are added then simmered together with the lid on. You then share the meal from the one pot with your own individual bowls where you can add a dipping sauce or eat as is, however you like. There are tons of soup stocks including just a basic dashi (mild fish flavoured stock) or miso or Korean Kimchi or shoyu (soy sauce - my favourite). We love to dip ours in Yuzu (Japanese citrus) sauce before eating it. Yum! At the end, some Japanese people like to add ramen noodles to the pot, others add rice to make a kind of gruel and some just reuse the stock the next day for more Nabe. This style of dining is really what makes Asian food so fabulous - sharing tons of dishes or one big dish or whatever - Japanese dining is all about the shared experience of eating - and I love it!
We requested a Saturday off work (we have five paid days leave to use during the year as we please) in November, to match up with a Monday National Holiday. This gave use from Fiday to Monday off work so we planned a short trip away to a place Sam had visited in October, an island that's part of Shikoku called 'Shodoshima'. Shodoshima is known as Japan's answer to a Mediterranean island and sits in a climate and ocean area that is likened to the Aegean Sea area. The island is famous for Olives - the entire island is absolutely teeming with Olive plantations - small patches in peoples' front gardens, massive olive trees lining the town's streets, big public gardens, olive company 'orchards' etc. The entire island is covered in trees that are heavy with fat green and black olives. It was incredible to see, particularly as we arrived at Shodoshima at night and didn't take all of this in until the next morning; after we'd had a rather bizarre night in which we'd decided to leave Shodoshima the first chance we had! Hmm...back to the beginning of the story. So, we left on Friday mid morning to head to Shodoshima; taking a couple of trains through Kobe and out to Himeji, then a long local bus ride to Himeji Port. Himeji is a big small town that is famous for Himeji Castle (known as THE castle to visit in Japan). At this time, we'd still not been to Himeji before so we had planned to visit the castle but time was getting away from us rapidly that day so we passed through and headed straight for Himeji Port. It must be said that we hadn't really planned out our travel to Shodoshima - we knew the basic route but hadn't researched extensively and this was definitely a case of us marvelling once again that in Japan, it doesn't matter how far you go away from a big city - the public transport is endless and fabulous. We simply left our apartment that day, took a train that linked to another train that took us to a bus station where we took a bu that took us to a port where a ferry left ten mins later. It is amazing. Back home, you're lucky if there's more than one ferry a day in rural areas like this and even then you definitely have to book in advance! So, back to the story. We got to the port, bought tickets and jumped on what I like to call 'The Luxury Liner'. This ferry was something to be marveled at. It was huge for starters, but the price was really cheap so we were expecting a basic two and a half hour ride across but instead we were greeted with the most hilarious decor. It was like being in an eighties/early nineties motel; plush carpets, lots of pinks and creams, paintings on the walls, big plush sofas and coffee tables. It was incredible. We chose a plush sofa and settled in for the ride, thinking 'Well, transport has been so easy today, we'll just hop off the ferry and meander to our lodgings and all will be a success.' The ferry ride was lovely but unfortunately when Japanese people tell you 'Shodoshima is a very small island', they're not comparing it to Phillip Island...they may in fact be comparing it to Australia. This island was actually very big and we had docked at one of the five ports that serviced the island! Luckily, Ross spoke with a bus driver and we were able to board a bus that would take us past our accomodation (amazing, it was like six oclock at night by this time and the presence of this bus made us feel two things: 1) Japanese public transport is amazing and for a short moment 2) Maybe all public transport is waiting just for us. We are the two most important people in the world. This thought was very short lived as after we boarded this local bus that would deliver us to our accommodation we became very aware of the fact that this island was enormous and we were now on the single most unexpectedly long bus journey of our lives. An hour or so (and one very expensive bus ride) later, we arrived at Shodoshima Olive Youth Hostel, where we had booked a room in an effort to keep costs low. Japanese Youth Hostels have always been reportedly quite nice as they are a lot more expensive than their foreign counterparts...I don't think anyone told the Shodoshima Olive people this...or maybe they told them and the man just huffed and rolled his eyes and looked annoyed and said 'Well, I can't do everything myself now, can I?' This was the mood that seemed to surround the manager of the hostel and we felt incredibly sorry for his lovely wife and their even lovelier new kitten. This man was a martyr. Of course, it didn't help that during the night Ross spotted a drowned mouse in the men's urinal and we were woken with an almighty crash. The crash was the stained glass window outside our room crashing out of its frame and onto the hallway floor in lots of tiny pieces. It didn't make for the best morning greeting. 'Good Morning Martyr, the window is smashed'. 'Huh, well, I guess,
I'LL have to fix it then wont I?' Stomp stomp, head hung low, mutter, mutter.' So, our host was seriously strange and we had had to walk four kms that first night to find dinner (which was served by a man wearing most of the meal down the front of his white undershirt in a very strange Japanese take away that bore a great resemblance to the scary 'HAKE' fish and chip shop I visited with the girls all those years ago in Ipswich) so by that point we'd pretty much planned to cut our losses and head home, but at breakfast we gasped at the sheer beauty of the ocean, the mountains, the olives (and the kitten) and decided to just laugh a lot and stay. The martyr man begrudgingly offered to drive us to the famous gorge on the island called Kankakei (after we asked him for a bus timetable he took the opportunity to further martyr himself with a cry of: 'Well, I can drive you today but not tomorrow!') so we accepted and drove in silence feeling very sorry for what we had done. :) Kankakei Gorge was gorgeous. We rode the cable car up, ate olive infused chocolates, took in the breathtaking views of the Inland Sea then hiked back down stopping to take innumerable photos in front of the bloomin red leaves. We also were amazed to come across a shrine that was built right into the rock face with a little lady sitting in the shrine selling talismans and momentos...out of a little cave room. Incredible. This was autumn at its best. The hike back down and into the township looked long but we decided to do it and hail a taxi if one passed by. On the way down we ate fresh picked mandarines from trees in orchards by the road (the growers leave out bunches of fruit that are too small to sell on the side of the road so people can eat them) and trekked before hailing a taxi the rest of the way. We relaxed and took in Shodoshima by hired bicycle that afternoon, which was one of the single funniest experiences of my life. This hostel was like an extreme version of Fawlty Towers. When we asked to hire the 200 yen per day pushbikes, the woman said we could choose whichever ones we wanted. Ross went out to choose from the rusty selection. When I joined him he said 'The locks on both of these work...and I think the brakes do too...at least they do on this one' and so began our relatively peaceful afternoon ride through the unmistakably beautiful Shodoshima. I say relatively peaceful as the island itself was pretty silent save for the noise coming from our bikes - a kind of churn from mine and a definite rhythmic crunch from Ross'. It was hilarious. We ended that day in Shodoshima with a visit to the Olive Hot Spring, mainly because it seemed the only way to escape the mad elderly man who was staying at the hostel with us and seemed intent on convincing me to go to the Hot Spring. The Hot Spring was a modern spring with about eight different baths that offered different herbs and treatments. It has become a lot more comfortable for me to get naked with the Japanese women now since my first expedition with Liv and Jus, and I have to say I will greatly miss Japanese Hot Spring Bathing when we return to Australia. The Hot Spring was gorgeous and we both really enjoyed it and headed back to the hostel very refreshed. We left the next morning, glad we'd come for the sheer beauty and for the wealth of funny stories to tell. I have included a picture in this blog of Japanese people lined up to get off the ferry...this is because November was a month of frustration at how rude and self serving Japanese people can be. Of course, everyone can be rude and self serving from time to time and of course at the moment I'm living in Japan and have no other nation to make comparisons with and on the whole Japanese people are incredibly polite and make amazing efforts to provide the most amazing level of service in most cases; but each day Ross and I ride numerous trains and come into contact with many people and it is incredible when you're living here long term to witness the rudeness of Japanese people in terms of the efforts they'll go to to take care of number one. This is my cultural observation for November! I spoke with a Japanese friend of mine about it, and particularly about the behaviour you tend to see most on trains - people running to get a seat and cutting others off and virtually leaping into a seat, taking it out from under someone else, crowds of people attempting to push onto a train while others are still getting off (I learned to say 'Sumimasen, Orimasu' this month, which means "Excuse me, I'm getting off'), people spreading themselves out on seats to ensure they are uncomfortable while others stand up, pushing in lines, the list goes on. The amazing thing is that the Japanese have a strict lining up system for train travel where lines are painted on platforms and people form orderly queues, but it seems to be that people are becoming increasingly anxious to look after number one. My Japanese staff member friend Monica said there is a Japanese saying 'If I am ok, everything is well.' It just seems that this selfishness is becoming more and more apparent - particularly during red leaf viewing when trains to Kyoto were chockablock and old Japanese women would line up, steady themselves then race into a train, throwing their ample bags across seats in order to save seats for themselves and their posse. It was ridiculous to watch and really very rude. On the ferry from Shodoshima this feeling of rudeness from the Japanese, especially the men, was exascerbated as we sat near one man who ate noisily with his mouth open, smacked his lips then used his tongue to audibly clear out his teeth for the rest of the two and a half hour journey back to Himeji. We escaped him only to be seated on a bus next to amn who loudly chewed his gum in his peeved friend's ear for that ride. Sometimes I think, it's just me, I'm becoming less tolerant. Then I talk to my students who all say 'Oh, I think Japanese are very rude...spitting on the streets, smoking in crowded public areas, speaking loudly, eating with ill manners, pushing on and off trains etc' then you ask them what they do, if they do anything to show their displeasure and they say 'No never!' So the cycle continues.....
Enough ranting...on to the German Christmas Market! In Japan, Christmas isn't celebrated as an official holiday but sales are big and christmas cake is something to line up for. Christmas celebrations such as concerts, lightups and festivals are held too and it's a cold season, but a great season to be in Japan. The German Christmas Market was held at the bottom of the Umeda Sky Building, a huge central city building that Ross and I can always see from outside the window of our apartment. The market features stalls from Germany and from Kobe (an international city not far from Osaka), gorgeous German food (potatoes, sausages, beer and hot wine) and luckily for us, even a mini concert from a Japanese boy band! We visited the market twice and loved it both times - it's wonderful how many exciting things are constantly happening in our area and I love taking advantage of that. I really hope it's a habit I continue with when I get back to Melbourne - I want to support and take in everything our city has to offer. One more note about November. Of course, it's Autumn and in Japan that means Momijigari - red leaf viewing! Of course we had the chance to see red leaf in Shodoshima, but we also made a special trip to the very crowded Kyoto where we saw red leaf along The Philosopher's Walk and near Nanzenji Temple. This was a special return visit as the last time we visited this area was April when we saw Cherry Blossoms! It was beautiful in Autumn too. It's my favourite Japan season so far.
December began with the highly anticipated arrival of Rumi's (tiny) baby 'Cocomi'. Rumi waited through the end of November and ended up being induced in the most beautiful, lacy, floral women's clinic (with the most fabulous desserts I've ever seen) on the first of December. We had the chance to head out towards Minoh to visit the tiny little darling and her mother. Cocomi is lovely. We wish the whole family well. :) xoxo December has also been ful of ample opportunities to see 'Lightups'. In Japan, fireworks and light ups seem to be very popular, the former take place in the heat of summer while the latter are all about Christmas and the New Year. What's so special about a 'light up'? Well, thousands of Japanese people (and foolish foreigners who are willing to put up with crowds) load onto trains and head to specific areas which are lit up with all sorts of things - Christmas lights, handmade lanterns, golden archways flown in from France to commemorate the rebuilding of Kobe post Earthquake..... The lightups are gorgeous and crowded and usually worth the trip - though the Nakanoshima ones were a little disappointing, especially since I couldn't get the timing right on the camera to catch that special aqua light that kept flashing on. :) I got a little obsessive. So, in December we started with Illuminarie, which I was lucky enough to go to with Yoshimi ten years ago on my first Japan trip, and desperately wanted to take Ross to. We took KJ and Rachel too and despite awful weather during the night, we were treated to a rain free evening, depleted crowds and awesome coffee and biscuits. The second light up we went to was in Arashiyama. We've been to Arashiyama a few times now; it's a beautiful area of riverside country town in Kyoto, just out of the city. The last time we visited was with Brent and Sam and on that occasion we specifically waited until nightfall so we could see the Bamboo forest lit up, as we'd seen on lots of posters and postcards. Unfortunately, we discovered that the forest isn't actually lit up on a regular basis. Unlucky for Sam and Brent but lucky for us, we read that the Bamboo Forest and surrounding streets of Arashiyama were to be lit up in December. So we headed there, in memory of Sam and Brent. :) The streets were lined with handmade lanterns (s0me better than others, though I'm going to try not to be critical since i think they were made by local Primary school students) and the forest itself was lit with both white/purpley lights and normal lighting so it had a natural and also an eery glow. It was breathtakingly beautiful. On posters advertising the light up it had said the event would take place until 8.30...midway through the forest I mused 'How do you think they end an event like this?' and I got my answer when right on 8/30 they simply switched off all the lighting in the forest and left us all, deep in the forest in pitch black darkness. It was hilarious, especially with the young women screaming all around us! The third light up was in Nakanoshima area, where Yoshimi lives and came strongly recommended by her. Basically, Nakanoshima is a central business area so wealthy companies sponsored Christmas lights to flash and look pretty and a boat lit up to look like Santa and a sleigh with reindeer to cruise the harbour area. When we were paid a visit in Osaka by the lovely Bex and Matt Ooi, we took them out for the day in Osaka, ate good local food, played Pachinko (a long awaited dream) and took in the lights.
