Japanory

Sacked by Email

Monday 6^th October 2008

After Naz went back home I worked extremely hard all weekend so I could upload all the articles by the usual deadline. Cutting it quite tight this month, but the time difference allows for this as I can work all day long before the UK even wakes up.

But I logged on ready to go to find a snippy email from the boss complaining I hadn't done the work in time! She'd decided to move the deadline forward but hadn't bothered to tell me – nice. I've had my suspicions for some time that she was looking for a way of getting rid of me so she could employ someone cheaper.

Now's she's made up a reason and I'm out of a job.

Of course, as a freelancer I should be prepared for this kind of crap and it serves me right for thinking of her as a friend. Lesson learned.

I've still got my writing work to do for her, but I've lost three-quarters of my wages now. I'm hurt, cross and annoyed that I still have to continue working for her as I have no prospect of getting any other work elsewhere thanks to the lack of acknowledgement for my articles as I'm not allowed to use a by-line.

Apart from this, I am quite relieved in a way, as I mentioned before, I was no longer enjoying the work. But I really need the money.

Bah!

From Sashimi to Jimmy Choo

Tuesday 23^rd September – Friday 3^rd October 2008

My fabulous friend, Naz, arrives for a holiday. We met many moons ago when we both worked at the BBC, hit it off straightaway as we both have the same work ethic and outlook on life, and have thankfully stayed friends ever since. She is bubbly, confident, attractive and completely bonkers with a heart of gold! It's brilliant to finally have a visitor I love coming to stay.

We do the usual trips: Mount Takao, Hakone for the black eggs, Yoyogi park and Shinjuku Gyoen where we fed the turtles and giant koi in the lakes.

I also introduced Naz to the coffee morning girls and Yoko joins us for a walk around Omotesando.

Yoko reserved us a seat at a rather special sushi restaurant, a 'proper' one – not a tourist one. You can tell it's a good restaurant because they don't have the disposable cheap pale wood chopsticks that you have to snap apart before using. The chopsticks were smart, made from mid-coloured smooth wood and when we had finished our meal, they were cleaned and handed to us as a gift.

It never fails to amaze me how much food Naz can put away yet still remain willowy slim. Yoko and Naz order a set dish of sushi with rice, but I can't eat 12 pieces of sushi as well as a huge bowl of rice so I chose a small set menu of sashimi with rice. We sit at the counter in front of the display cabinet. Right in from of me is an enormous sea snail thing, still alive, on its 'back' – not sliding around the cabinet. I'm not squeamish, but certainly didn't want to eat it! The fish was the most delicious, melt-in-the-mouth sashimi I have ever had – before or since. (The restaurant is no longer there, sadly.)

There was an intriguing slab of a very dark meat that I thought may be horse. So Yoko (being the only Japanese speaker) asked what it was. The chef looked rather anxious for a moment before replying, "Whale".

Oh!

From the chef's expression I presumed he was expecting uproar from the two gaijins in his restaurant. Now, I do not condone the killing of whales, but I am certainly not about to kick up a fuss about another culture's cuisine – there are far more animal-killing problems in the world. The sickening dolphin slaughter here for one, the killing and torturing of numerous endangered species for so-called medical purposes, and many, many more. Check out Whales, Whaling, Dolphin Hunts and Japan for more information on the industry here.

Anyway, I ordered a few slices of whale. I didn't kill the animal, it was already done. And I wanted to try it because I'm like that – a bit of bravado. I've eaten all kinds of weird things – guinea pig in Peru, llama in Bolivia, bug stew in Venezuela, and besides, many people think eating raw fish is disgusting… And yes, I would have eaten it if it was horse, too.

It wasn't nice, to be honest. Partly knowing I was eating whale and partly because the texture was rather heavy I found it quite unpleasant. It was very rich and afterwards I felt a little queasy.

But a new experience as often as possible is my motto.

After our interesting lunch we wandered down Omotesando looking in the shops. While I'm a handbag and jewellery addict, Naz is a shoe addict. And Jimmy Choo's shop was right there. It's quite daunting to enter designer shops in the UK - not sure why, but it is. Over here, it's absolutely fine. So Yoko and I forced Naz inside. I drooled over shoes I could never possess - they're too small and narrow for a start, and I can't wear heels.

But we 'forced' Naz to buy a pair! Well, we persuaded her to hand over her credit card after she found the most delicious pair of super-sexy shoes with vertiginous heels, in her size and actually cheaper than she would find in the UK.

What a souvenir!

Freelance Working & Trying to Have a Life

September 2008

As I've mentioned here and here, I have a LOT of work on. As everything is deadline related, I have to intensify my workload significantly in order to have a life away from the computer. This is especially important when I go on holiday or have visitors.

There is a now a new web system in place, replacing the clunky old software but it's more time consuming and for some reason, I'm finding it really hard to get to grips with how to make it work in an efficient manner. The deadline for uploading all the pieces is around 6^th monthly – most of them arrive on 4^th or 5^th and then need to be proofread, edited, formatted, photos sourced and approved by the boss and then everything uploaded onto the internet.

Not only that, but the articles I write have to be uploaded two months ahead, so my writing schedule is extremely strict. I had to write solidly before the holidays so that I can have some free time. For instance, before the summer holidays started in June I had to write all my articles up to Christmas. All this means that I normally work until 3am then I'm up for the school run at 7am. It's taking its toll. Work is no longer fun, but I need the money and occupation, so I continue. Remember, I get no recognition for my writing and very little thanks.

It's vital to stick to a timetable, but occasionally this goes out the window, for example, when Rhiannon's ill or something else comes up. However, it all works out in the end – by me working my butt off at ridiculous hours of the night. So although it's no longer fun, as such, I truly enjoy the challenge of getting it all done - I've always worked well under pressure.

Whinge over! I'm setting the scene for a post to come in a few days…

The Lehman Brothers' Collapse

Mid September 2008

The collapse of Lehman Brothers and the associated domino effect of banks around the world has been the talk of the school gates recently. Most of the expats here are from banking circles and their future is suddenly very uncertain.

Most of these workers get paid outrageous sums of money with mega-zero bonuses which are usually ostentatiously displayed on their wives' fingers or in their ears as huge diamonds. There are exceptions to this stereotype of course!

The downside to their over-high salaries is the fact that they could be asked to move at any time, with no notice, or in this case, lose their jobs entirely.

There's a lot of unrest. Expat bankers have been warned they will be the first to leave in the event as the government here will protect the Japanese workers – gaijin will go first.

It's at times like this that I thank my lucky stars I am no longer in the banking industry (I left in the mid-nineties), and that Tim's job is in the public sector and is unlikely to be cut – for now.

But it does look like many of my lovely friends will be leaving Tokyo soon and this makes me sad.

The first of my friends to go was my darling Deb, but I can't quite remember exactly when she left Tokyo as my diary system has disintegrated. She has three kids; a girl in Rhiannon's class and twin sons in kindergarten (not called nursery here!).  She only had a very short notice. I still miss her now.

Hamster Damned

End of August 2008

Now, I love all animals. All my life I've happily shared a home with everything from gerbils, chipmunks, rabbits, guinea pigs, mice, rats, birds of every flavour, all manner of amphibians and reptiles and hoards of creatures with too many legs like tarantulas, giant cockroaches and escaping millipedes. All very peaceful and happy times. Well, perhaps not peaceful, but that's another tale altogether!

Only one type of animal bites me with annoying regularity. Hamsters.

I've never owned one but have 'hamster-sat' for others, and I always, but always get bitten. Properly bitten, with blood and pain. Needless to say, I am not a hamster fan.

I was unsuccessful in my attempts to get a more interesting creature. Rats aren't in the shops here, neither are mice (probably not cute enough for the Japanese market). Gerbils are rare too. A rabbit is too big; we don't have a suitable garden and it couldn't be a house rabbit as we have the cat.

Whatever we get will have to be shut away in a spare room. Rhiannon thinks she wants it in her bedroom, but I know through experience that rodents are nocturnally noisy, so that won't work. We see Sugar Gliders in cages, but I have no idea how to keep these gorgeous creatures and think it's sad for them to be caged. Other options are chinchillas – see above for reasons not to. Ditto degus, guinea pigs and chipmunks.

Nobody listens to me and we end up with Crystal.

Rhiannon is very pleased with her first "very own" pet. I showed her how to handle and care for Crystal. See how it happens? Tim promises a pet, and then has absolutely no idea what to do with it so it's all down to me…

The bloody creature bit me. Hard. But I will grudgingly agree these photos make her look cute.

Seoul Survivor

Friday 29^th August 2008

Tim's only in work for the morning so I took Rhiannon swimming, then headed back into the tunnel nearest the hotel to buy her a souvenir costume doll. I wasn't going to venture far today after yesterday's panic. Then we came up for air and went to Starbucks where we were to meet Tim at lunchtime.

Rhiannon's tooth fell out. Oh the drama! It wasn't quite ready but she bit down on it while eating a bun and there was blood everywhere. Flimsy paper napkins were pulled out en masse to plug the hole and stem the bleeding. Once that was over she was pleased as punch.

Tim took us to another shopping area. Namdaemun market. It was full of crappy stuff really and I wasn't interested.

So then we went to another place which boasted numerous jewellery shops – much nicer for me, but sadly we're not there to purchase jewellery. I need a new suitcase and the other side of the street is lined with bag shops. We choose a big red, semi-hard sided case and then have to wheel it around for a while until we can get a cab back to the hotel.

In the evening we went out with a load of people. I've been feeling a bit queasy ever since the rocky flight over, made worse by a possibly out of date prawn at dinner last night. I managed to survive the evening by drinking a little too much alcohol. But back at the hotel I spent the night with my head down the toilet. Tim gleefully explained to Rhiannon that this was the effect of me drinking too much but it wasn't. Honestly!

Back home tomorrow and I'm not looking forward to the flight. But I am looking forward to school starting next week. Two months is a very long time for a school holiday.

But boy, have we managed to have some fabulous times this year!

Lost Seoul

28^th August 2008

Rhiannon and I are on our own in a confusing new city. If I was travelling solo, I would be so nervous about it, but with the distraction of having a child in tow I fear getting completely lost. So we don't venture very far at all as it's a complicated city to navigate. I have maps and suggestions on where to go.

Tim told us about the "tunnel shops" that radiate under the streets and are close to the hotel. So we head there first. All the shops were closed but the windows were full of interesting little knick-knacks and jade. Also, many ginseng shops displaying intriguing concoctions of the root – and often the whole roots too. It seems that Asian countries open their stores late and then remain open late into the evening. There's little point heading out to shop before 11am.

These tunnels opened out into a shopping mall which contained lots of closed shops – we had set out too early in the day, so to stop Rhiannon Shopaholic whinging we went for a drink in a little café to kill some time before exploring further.

Later we found a massive department store called Lotte DFS (Duty Free Shopping). Most of it is a normal store, but the DFS bit has, of course, cheaper prices. Having shopped in a DFS before in Hawaii I thought it would just be a case of showing my passport and tootling off with my goodies. Not here though. I bought a Swatch for Rhiannon and a bag and wallet from Chanel but to my immense disappointment was told I had to collect my items from the airport when we left the country! So we went a little crazy in the rest of the non-duty free part of the shop so we could at least go back to the hotel with some presents to ourselves.

(I duly collected everything from the airport but didn't get chance to look at the things until we got home. Most unimpressed. Rhiannon's watch didn't work, and I'm damn sure my wallet was not the one I had chosen but couldn't prove it. My bag had a slightly dodgy twisted chain too. We sent Rhiannon's watch back and got a replacement some months later, but I was unable to get satisfaction from Chanel – I didn't want to send such an expensive bag by mail so learned to live with it. A warning to others buying from Lotte DFS in Seoul – caveat emptor – you have no way of knowing what they've given you until you are well away from the country.)

Time to return to the hotel to meet Tim. So it's back into the tunnels again, but I went in the wrong entrance and got lost. Rhiannon panics like hell over this kind of thing so I had to pretend I knew where I was going. After many random turns I finally found a tunnel I recognised from the shops we'd seen in the morning. Everything looked different as they were all now open with displays on the path outside.

To my great relief we found the hotel again.

Seoul Searching

Wednesday 27^th August– Saturday 30^th August 2008

And now we're off to Seoul!

Tim has to go to South Korea on business every few months, and this time his trip has coincided with the summer holidays so we've decided to all go together.

Luckily the flight goes from Haneda airport which is much closer to home than Narita, so it's not a mega trip to the airport. The flight was awful! I've never been on a plane flying through so much turbulence as that (the return flight was the same too). It was not fun but rather scary. Tim said it's usually like that!

We arrived at the hotel just as an enormous crowd of people began gathering in the massive square outside our window. Unsure what this was all about, prudence kept us inside while Tim went to work. A closer look at the crowd revealed them all to be monks, robed in all colours.

I found out later that 200,000 Buddhist monks gathered in protest. "The monks denounce episodes of discrimination and violation of religious freedom on the part of state officials and leaders. They are calling for an official apology from the Korean president and equal treatment, denouncing "inhospitable" attitudes toward them."

 

As Tim was only expected to be in work for a couple of hours, I took Rhiannon swimming in the hotel pool until his return. Then we went out for dinner with some friends and later we went to a huge computer complex so I could buy a new laptop. It's easier and cheaper to buy electronics here as they are more English compatible. Japan keeps their electronics purely Japanese. And very expensive. To get something that will work overseas or at least with an English operating system, you have to go to Akihabara and pay double.

I searched for ages in this hangar-sized store. For once I didn't know quite what I wanted and kept getting distracted by fascinating new gadgets unavailable elsewhere.

South Korean currency is amusing – UK£1 is the equivalent to about 1800 won, so we have huge piles of notes to lug around with us. I can't recall how much the laptop cost, but I do remember the pile of money I had to pay for it with was nearly a foot high! The shop owners have automatic counting machines to speed the payment process.

And now I have a dinky shiny new HP laptop which is far more portable and warp-speeds faster than my brick of a 10 year old Dell. And now I don't have to borrow Tim's laptop any more.

Snow Monkeys – in Summer

Saturday 23^rd August 2008

It's time to head home to stifling Tokyo from our short break in the cool mountains.

Rather than set off back the way we came, I insist on travelling a different route because I really want to see the famous "Snow Monkeys" which apparently reside nearby (according to the tourist guides).

It turns out they aren't that nearby but some considerable distance away over a series of really high mountains. Tim took a bit of persuading to make the detour but as I said, "I visited a dam for you, please let me see the monkeys"! He knows how obsessed I am with wildlife so he agreed.

Thank goodness Tim enjoys driving, especially over mountains with hairpin bends on every corner. Higher and higher we went, until we were swathed in the clouds. But wait! They aren't "sky clouds", as we discovered when we opened the car windows. The stench of sulphur assaulted us immediately. These are not any old mountains, they are living volcanoes! We made it through unscathed and found the town which goes by the intriguing name of Jigokudani, meaning Hell Valley. It took us a while to find the Jigokudani Yaen-koen - Hell Valley Wild Monkey Park (what a rather off-putting name!).

Snow monkeys are Japanese Macaques which range wild throughout most of Japan. Road signs warn of their presence in much the same way we see cows on road signs in the UK and Australians have their kangaroo signs. Macaques are not friendly and have no fear of humans, often raiding homes and shops in rural areas. Having been chased by a troop of Long Tailed Macaques in Malaysia some years ago, I know they can be very scary en masse.

These seemed placid enough though – perhaps Japanese Zen has affected them.

Rhiannon is very nervous about being so close to so many monkeys, until she sees this little one. Kawaii!

And then these two.

The park is home to a series of hot springs. It used to be a village but everyone moved out once the monkeys learned to use the springs to warm up in the freezing mountain winters. Since then, the area has been home to just the monkeys. One was bathing, but as it's August, obviously the Snow Monkey name is a misnomer.

A sign at the entrance warns that although these monkeys are wild, they are used to humans but under no circumstances should you take any food or drink into the park. Of course, someone did (not us, I hasten to add) and was immediately set upon by a cheeky juvenile who stole the paper bag of food the visitor was carrying. The young monkey was then roundly scolded by an older monkey and the spoils of the raid confiscated by her. While she was attempting to open the cellophane packet the juvenile sneaked up behind her and snatched back the treasure. All hell broke loose at this impertinence and a keeper came out of a hut with a catapult! He fired a few pebbles into the fighting troop and they dispersed, leaving these to inspect the remains of the bag for any last titbit.

This visit well worth the extra long detour in my opinion. I'm so glad we made the effort.

Kurobe Dam and Butterfly Magic. Hakuba – part 2

Friday 22^nd August 2008

Lots of photos

 

Today Tim wishes to visit a dam.

Yes, you read that correctly, a dam. I can't believe it. We've travelled all this way, to stunning countryside, and he wants to see a monstrous concrete construction. But I humour him as he has done a lovely deed sorting out this short break.

It wasn't too bad. And the weather was gorgeous.

From Wikipedia: The Kurobe Dam or Kuroyon Dam, is a variable-radius arch dam on the Kurobe River in Toyama Prefecture on the island of Honshū, Japan. It supports the 335 MW Kurobe No. 4 Hydropower Plant and is owned by Kansai Electric Power Company. At 186 metres (610 ft) high, it is the tallest dam in Japan. It was constructed between 1956 and 1963 at a cost of 51.3 billion yen. The project was a difficult engineering feat for the rapidly growing post-World War II Japan, and claimed the lives of 171 people.

We walked across the dam and looked over the edge. It was a heck of a long way down! Apparently during the tourist season the officials let huge amounts of water rush out to provide a spectacle of sight and sound with rushing white water and the roar of its power filling the valley. We must have visited at the wrong time.

A small train took us through a dank tunnel to a station a little further up the mountain where we walked in woodland for a while admiring the view through the trees of deep emerald water.

We'd taken a picnic with us and were looking for somewhere to sit and eat it when we were suddenly surrounded by delicate and strikingly beautiful butterflies.

Almost immediately one landed on me. Not to be outdone, Rhiannon tempted them by putting some squash on her finger and within minutes one came to her too. Not only did it land on her, it stayed calmly on her hand for well over half an hour while we continued our walk through the dancing butterflies to a pretty clearing for our picnic. She was ecstatic – now she thinks she really is a Princess like all the Disney characters she idolises.

After our rest we said goodbye to the butterflies and continued on our way to a cable car (called a 'ropeway' here) which would take us to the top of the mountain.

Once again, the views were magnificent.

So all in all, what promised to be a dreary day, turned out to be rather magical.

Hakuba – part 1

Thursday 21^st August 2008

In the northern Japanese Alps lies a ski resort in the Nagano Prefecture called Hakuba. There are two seasons here – the white season and the green season. Skiing or no snow, basically. Its claim to fame is that it was the location for some of the 1998 Winter Olympics events.

It took us ages to get there – about 5 hours if memory serves. Japan has a strange road system when it gets to the mountains. Marvellous views abound and just as you see something particularly beautiful, the road turns into a tunnel right through the mountain so you can't see anything. Some of these tunnels are literally miles long. I'm sure the engineering is to be admired, but I would prefer to admire a view of nature.

Tim's booked us into a lovely hotel recommended by people more wealthy than us… he still complains about the cost now! But it was absolutely beautiful and wonderful to see a little bit more of Japan. There was a Jacuzzi bath outside on the balcony and an almost private onsen next to our room. I am not allowed into public onsen (natural hot volcanic spring baths) as I have tattoos which are banned here. But I took a look and nobody was in there so I was finally able to experience this very Japanese activity. My word it was HOT! But the sulphurous water was very soothing and made my skin extremely soft.

The restaurant was special and we were entertained by a minute little girl of no more than 2 years old who was running around with glee. At one point she was hurtling through a door when we appeared on the other side ready to take our table. Instantly she came to a halt, stood to one side and bowed deeply and very formally to us. She was enchanting and I still can't quite get over her graceful and natural manners. It's incredible how this can be instilled into one so young, yet there it was. Her parents were nowhere to be seen so there was no prompting from them. It was completely natural to her. I think it's a deeply ingrained respect for others that is sadly and severely lacking in the UK.

How often do we have to remind our children to say a simple "please" or "thank you" before it finally sinks in to become as natural as that? I wish I know how they do it!

Home to Tokyo

Tuesday 12^th August 2008

I now call Tokyo "home", not the UK. Whereas Tim still refers to going to the UK as "going home". Not sure whether this has any bearing on anything, just something I've noticed.

So now it's time for Rhiannon and I to get ourselves back home where Tim will meet us at the airport.

Ignoring the horror that is Heathrow airport, I made a quick trip to the Chanel store and bought a pair of shoes. There's no way I can find my size in Japan; my feet aren't huge at size 41-42 but over here that's a man's size – so I was thrilled to find a pair in Heathrow that fitted me. I paid and off we went. Unfortunately, I discovered later that I'd used the joint account card instead of my own so had a bit of a moment when Tim found out the price. Oops! He was actually very cool about it, thankfully!

The flight was pretty uneventful and, thanks to the Nintendo I got some peace and even managed to sleep for a few hours. However, I did panic a little when I woke up to find Rhiannon had disappeared. It turned out she was at the bar (I love Virgin Atlantic. Bars on planes, perfect!) chatting to the crew and random people as if she was princess of the air.

Landing at the slick, empty and hassle-free Narita airport we shot through in about 30 minutes; from plane to outside to meet Tim. In all the excitement of meeting up with Jane and Eve, we'd neglected to tell him about Rhiannon's radical haircut and he didn't recognise her, much to her delight!

Tim wasn't the only one to get a surprise. I got two.

Firstly, it seems that Tim has promised Rhiannon she can have a hamster. I don't like hamsters – I'll explain why later.

Secondly, something far more pleasing; Tim has booked us a couple of trips. Next week we will be visiting a place in the Japanese mountains called Hakuba and the week after that Rhiannon and I will join Tim on his regular business trip to Seoul, South Korea. How exciting!

But now it's time to recover from jetlag.

And see if I can stop the sneaky hamster promise from taking place.

Don't Drop the Hog!

Each and every day in Japan I see something that makes me do a double take.

I particularly love what I see on the roads here.

Here is a lorry full of big boxes - "Do Not Drop".

Inside the boxes are Harley Davidson motorcyles! "Your Hog Has Arrived!

Sogetsu Ikebana - First Certificate

May 2008

(Yes, out of chronological order again, sorry!)

How wonderful! I've passed my first certificate in Ikebana! I haven't had a certificate for anything since I was at school so I'm rather proud of myself. Well, it takes about 3 months to actually receive the certificate but I've finished Book 1 and Sensei has sent off for the paper.

There are twenty lessons in each exercise book; four books to complete before attaining a diploma and then, in theory, I am able to teach this elegant art. I really hope I will have time to complete this. The classes aren't every week and shut down completely throughout the summer so it will be a bit of a trial to find enough time. We'll see.

Books 1 and 2 cover the basics of creating arrangements using the plant materials and containers. Fixing the plants in a shallow basin called a suiban is moribana style and using a kenzan - needle holder. Securing branches and flowers in a tall vase (nageire) is a lot harder and sometimes very unladylike language comes out of my mouth when everything topples out.

Often I don't quite 'get' what I am supposed to do. I think this is a twofold problem; no direct translation from Japanese into English of a specific concept and my lack of a natural Japanese eye for style. But I really enjoy finally being able to arrange a few flowers in an attractive way at long last.

This photo is not one of my creations though, I can only dream of being as good as this.