Tokyo - Pocchari Edition

Our day started in Harajuku - it was terribly wet, dreary and cold. The 100 yen store supplied us with eight 100 yen umbrellas. As with most Japanese things, they were both practical and stylish. Due to the horrible weather, there were no Harajuku teens congregated around the Jingu Bridge.

The rain however was not to deter our shopping efforts given Harajuku is renowned for being the fashion capital of the world for unique street fashion. I had great success having found a pair of anpanman socks! Squee! I'll let you know soon if it actually fits my feet. My feet are on the giant side in Japan - could not find any shoes that fit in Uniqlo Shoes. Speaking of Uniqlo, the boys went Uniqlo crazy, visiting no less than 2 stores today. I suspect that we will also be going to the Ginza Uniqlo tomorrow.

Crepes are a must-do when when strolling down Takeshita Street.

We then eventually made our way to Akihabara, with intentions to try world famous Kyushu Jangara Ramen, and dine at a maid cafe.

The most popular dish at Kyushu Jangara Ramen is the thin noodle, pork based broth with the lot (number 1a). I am not a pork fan, so I went for 2a - miso based soup with the lot. The verdict? Probably one of the best ramen I've ever tasted. It really was good, particularly on a cold, wet night. Be warned though, you could be in for a long wait.

Probably the most exciting and interesting part of the day was the maid cafe. There are a number of 'maids' loitering on street paths inviting passersby (usually targeting men) to come into their maid cafes for more intimate, fun, personal frivolity. Here's a re-enactment ...

By some bizarre twist of event, we ended up in a maid cafe that catered for clientele that has a pocchari (meaning chubby, slightly plump) interest (I don't really want to use the word fetish, because that will degrade the whole experience). The cafe itself was located in a darkish alley, away from the main street, where I suspect the more traditional (or less pocchari) maid cafes conduct their business.

We walked in hesitantly, but with a sense of wonder and ordered 4 coffees - luckily we had Ken (sorry Ken, named and shamed) with us who could read the Japanese menu.

We giggle, marveled and people watched for 30 minutes. It is a fascinating environment, and there is quite a lot of social and cultural commentary I could make about the experience. However, in the interest of brevity, I will say that this: there is nothing overtly sexual about the concept. It genuinely felt like the maids were there just to provide fun company and engage in a bit of friendly, harmless conversation. Sure they were making attempts to shower you with attention, but a lot of the patrons in the joint looked like they really needed it. The experience cost us about 1000 yen each (around $10 AUD). Part of our bill included a photo with your favourite maid (favourite pocchari maid in our case). They insisted that we all do the cat pose, and kept yelling directions of 'meow meow, meow meow, meow meow' from behind the camera. It was hilarious - yes even more hilarious than Ken's awkward face.

Oh, and I find it disturbing that my face is as pocchari (if not more) as the pocchari maid ...

Tokyo

We have rounded out the snowboarding part of our Japan 2010 trip, and today we spend the day in transit from Rusutsu, to Sapporo and then finally to Tokyo.

The journey was hard going on the now haggard body - there are more than a few weary and sore limbs and muscles in the group.

We are staying in a fairly swish hotel in Shinjuku - Citadines Hotel for those that are looking for affordable, spacious and nice accommodation in a major hub. The highlight of the day was the traditional Japanese dinner at Ukai Toriyama Restaurant which is about 50 minutes from Shinjuku. The setting was beautiful - it presented as self sustained village amongst lush gardens, narrow paths, stepping stones, fancy footbridges, mini water falls, ponds, koi fish. Each dining party has its own room/private dining area, most built with traditional materials, i.e. wood, bamboo, stone, mud walls, tatami mats and washi screens. And this is before we got to the FOOD! The food was sublime. My favourite was the red bean mochi - yum yum YUM.

Unfortunately, the battery in my camera died, probably due to the cold weather, so this photo of the gang will suffice for now.

Rusutsu Resort

We have been at Rusutsu Resort for the past 3 days. To describe Rusutsu in a few words, think: Bellagio + Dreamworld + Snow Resort. A few of the novelties here include: amusement park, arcade, roller coaster, water slide, wave pool, musical fountains, monorail, pony rides, caramel making etc etc ...

We are staying on snow, in a lodge which is positioned directly adjacent to a ski lift. The only downside to the lodge is that there is 1 bathroom between 8 people! Luckily most of us are making full use of the public bath/onsen.

The snow at Rusutsu has been above average. The runs are long and wide, and pockets of powder can always be found on the edges of trails. There are a lot of school kids at Rusutsu, all in their school jumpsuit kit.

Ok, short entry, need to hit the onsen. We pack our bags tonight and its onwards to Tokyo tomorrow morning. I shall leave you with a few pictures from Rusutsu, and our fun tubing experience.

And when in Japan ... do what the Japanese do:

Wandering Sapporo

We spent the day wandering about Sapporo, and hitting the usual staples of Japanese shopping and culture including:

A pet store with unbearably cute puppies ... and some not so cute puppies

Bic Camera - you can take a picture with just a blink of an eye with this particular camera

Expensive Fruit Shops - approximately $35 for one rockmelon! Now I feel bad about the rockmelon that is rotting in my fridge.

Subway - check out the mirrors next to the doors. Tell me this is not a great a idea!

Not to mention food halls, moss burger, seven ereven, Lawsons, and of course Anpanman shopping:

Off to Rusutsu tomorrow. Wish my shoulder good luck ...

First Skidoo Experience

The powder was pretty epic on our last day at Kiroro (popurar ... particurary).


Unfortunately, I was the powder 'buzz killer' for the rest of the group. I crashed at high speed on the freshly groomed, aptly named 'power run' run. Kenneth (prematurely) flagged for the emergency medics, lots of fuss ensued ... and then I was on a skidoo back down the mountain. I ticked the 'overconfidence' option on the form I had to fill out at the medic centre.


I have to get ready ... I will pass over to Sharlene:

Hmm, what to say, that Marissa hasn't already. She has probably torn her rotator cuff, as said by Dr YDG. So, it was not as serious as first thought, but she did hear a *crack* when she went down.

Have to say, the snow was awesome! So awesome, that we dared to go through the trees. I got up, close and personal with a skinny trunk. I think I came off worse, hence the tree not budging, and me adding a bruise to my list of injuries.

Okay, have to go, we're in Sapporo now, taking a two day break of eating and shopping, before heading to Rusutsu resort for a few more days of snow.

Bye!
Sharlene

Kiroro - Day 2

I am going to rely on pixels to tell the story of Day 2 Kiroro.

To be clear, the intention was to spell out "Kiroro" in the following picture.



Oh and YATTA! Success with the 100 yen anpanman machine. Not only did we get the red bean man himself, we also scored the 50th anniversary edition anpanman in a cake! Sugoi! Let's not mention that we managed to empty out the machine, and the fact that we were desperate enough to ask the hotel staff to open up the machine for us. But it was fate and destiny . Hotel staff didn't have the key, and the very next spin gave us the elusive anpanman. My holiday is now complete.

I shall leave you with Kiroro carnage.

Kiroro - Riding - Day 1

First day of riding today; snow condition was abominable for Japan standards. Some sections of the mountain were, dare I say it, Thredbo-like. Eek.
On the upside, the runs were empty and queues were non-existent. In fact, the only people en masse we had to contend with was at the breakfast buffet. The runs are long and wide, and there were still sections of the mountain with decent snow. My new boots held up well. Not sure how my toenail-less big toe held up though. It could be suffering badly under the 2 layers of sports tape and 1 layer of bandaid. I might muster the courage to open it up tomorrow.

The litter of beer vending machines strategically positioned at popular (or should I say popurar) rest stops is also a luxury to most, and a necessity to some (we call the latter drunks).

Dinner was, surprise surprise, a buffet. The cold dishes (raw prawns, snow crab, salmon sashimi, squid etc) was oishii! Queen of buffet YDG yet again brought her B-game(i.e. Buffet Game). She murdered the buffet.

My quest for anpanman magnet continues. I have added another 3 to the collection since the following photograph was taken. I'm starting to think that there is no anpanman is that dodgy 100 yen machine. I'm about to clean it out!?!?

Annual Japan Snow Fix - 2010

After a sleepless night (basketball finals plus celebrations drink plus last minute packing equals no sleep) and yet another Jetstar debacle - they actually cancelled our 6am flight; no warning, no prior announcment, nothing! - we arrived to 15 degree weather in Japan.

I do love Japan. She excites the sense, yet brings order to chaos. She is a living, breathing example of juxtaposition at work.

We are heading out at 4am to visit the Fish Markets in Tokyo tomorrow, then is onwards to Sapporo.

A few photos to finish off.

Being in Japan means the revival of anpanman references:


Warning - the following content may be offensive to some viewers
Haven't even hit the mountains yet, and already injuries to report.

Big Fish, Big Tank

Inescapable re-introduction into the doldrums of non-holiday life has officially begun.
It hurts!
Sitting on your ass for 8 hours is surprisingly very tiring. A vending machine that spits out toasty drinks would go part way to addressing this lethargy.

Lethargy or not, gotta make sure I'm going with the general flow and swim, swim, swimmingly along:

The tank featured above is called the "Coast of Chile" and the marine life (excluding the great black shark) include: sardines, Japanese anchovy and Perjerrey.

Keynesian economics is making a big comeback as a result of all these government driven stimulus packages . John Maynard Keynes was my economist of choice during HSC days. Admittedly I only had a choice of 3 and freakonomics wasn't around in those days. Who would have though that Keynesian theory would be applied in my life time. Actually who would have thought any economics theory is applicable in the real world - that 'ceteris parabis' phrase always gets in the way.

The theory behind the stimulus package according to my basic 2 unit economics understanding is this:

Goverment pumps in dollars (e.g. investing in infrastructure, education etc) --> this leads to an increase in aggregate demand (total spending in the economy) --> initial injection of funds will also have a multiplier effect, i.e. even greater increase in output relative to the initial injection of funds --> overall increase in economic activity and reduction of unemployment and deflation.

Government spending (stimulus package) is particularly needed in times of weak economic activity because the components that make up total income (macro) - consumption and investment - are, by virtue of the recession non-existent. Moreover, prices and wages (natural market forces) are "sticky" and therefore will not restore the market to equilibrium.

Although there are certain goods and services that seem to 'swim' in a different direction, e.g.:
- Short hair cuts
- Soup
- Prostitutes (high end to be precise)
- Evangelical churches
- Cocoa
- Home vaults
- Taser Guns
- People who purchase luxury cars while I'm in Japan - you know who you are ...

Farewell Japan

On packed Jet-frills flight.

Destination: Sydney.

Holidays always feel so short lived.

I have my hotel slippers, a chicken-o nigiri and Splash (the movie) which should just about get me through the next 8 hours.

Farewell splendid Japan.


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Osaka Fun

Today's agenda consisted of:

• Suntory Museum
• Kaiyukan Aquarium
  

Suntory Museum was a mild disappointment - no Bill Murray, nor whiskey caskets. The building itself was quite impressive. As a precursor to the aquarium, we also treated ourselves to an IMAX movie - Deep Sea. Tell you what, 3D movies are hard-going on your eyes. Most of us managed to catch a few winks during the show.

The aquarium was very impressive. Interesting fact: the total quantity of glass in the aquarium outweighs the world's annual output by a factor of 1.5. The place was massive and the variety of marine life was extraordinary.

Tried my luck on a 200 yen anpanman machine. It must have been my lucky day because I scored the JACKPOT!

We also browsed around in Bic Camera and guess who I saw on TV...

Last Stop: Osaka

We made a pit stop at Matsumoto Castle, in city of Matsumoto. The 600 yen entry fee convinced us to skimp on cultural enlightenment and eat some Mos Burger instead.

A few shinkansens later, we arrived in (rainy) Osaka.

We checked into Dotonbori Hotel, conveniently located in the middle of Namba and also near a restaurant called "the sex machine".

We then made a bee line to the all-you-can-eat sushi place we found last year. Food babies all around ... *belch*

Sayonara Shiga Kogen and Snow

We begin our journey back to convict land via Osaka. We are currently on a bus (not a genki bus) that is gently meandering down the mountain towards Nagano Station.

We spent the day riding at another mountain - Yokoteyama - home of the 1998 Nagano Winter Olympics Alpine Course. Yokoteyama is situated on the other side of the main mountain but remains part of Shiga Kogen.

The landscape and scenary at Yokoteyama was breathtaking. It was almost as if someone splashed a gargantuan bucket of thick white paint and then froze time and physics at the point of impact. The trees looked like cauliflowers, and the buildings looked like replicas from Krypton (in the Christopher Reeves version of Superman and assuming that there are buildings on Krypton).

It was simply spectacular ... despite the malodorous chemical fumes (mixture of egg and fart) that radiated from the onsens. At first I thought it was our heavy breakfast (someone did eat THREE eggs that morning), but when it stuck around like a bad smell (heh), the blame quickly shifted to non-human causes.

Minutes away from Nagano Station now ...


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