Blogs from Japan, Asia - page 798

Well, to begin; Sophie, Viviane, Ninon, Petar (Bulgarian boy who, because he has such a hard name to pronounce we ended up calling him Charlie. He's Charlie, we're the angels) and me all met up in Shin Osaka on February 10. We took a train to go to Fukui Ken, this is the harbor where ferries leave for Hokkaido and we took a bus to get to the harbor. After waiting for a while, we got on to the Ferry, which to describe accurately is a CRUISE SHIP! Its really pretty, kung baga, "Pasensya na Super Ferry, tablado ka, Di na kita trip" It has a big shower room thats Japanese style with a big hot tub like an ofuro. It's actually the same as the shower room in the university, but of course this one ... read more

Hi all! On this particular evening in July, Larry, myself and a few other friends decided to dress up in Japanese yukata's and spend a few hours on a Yukata Tokyo Bay Cruise. Not everyone wore yukatas, but most people did....esp. the "gaijin" (foreigners!) Unfortunately though, we weren't very good at putting them on. I had to get some help at the Ito Yokato (a department store that sells everything from groceries to yukata's) from a lady who couldn't speak a word of English. She took a long time "wrapping me up," but she did do a beautiful job! Larry's yukata wasn't as nicely done.....I did it while we were riding the train! Because we wore yukata's on the cruise, we all got a discounted fare, as well as all-you-could-drink soda, beer and chu-hi! Besides drinking, ... read more

Sitting in a Tokyo Bay restaurant, you can make out the blurry night skyline through the rain as the Yurikamome driverless train snakes across the harbour bridge. This is the "Bladerunner" style Tokyo I had always dreamed of seeing and I can safely say its all here. The glaring neon, the heaving gadget-laden crowds pouring along the skyscraper lined streets, the screeching advertisements blaring out of loudspeakers overhead - Tokyo is a very exciting city! We arrived for our two week stay on the 1st of July and met Catherine's cousin Paddy at Shibuya station near the Hachiko statue. Things started on a very good note as he handed us a welcome cold beer, and we set off for his house in Hirama. Hirama is a pretty quiet satellite town between Tokyo and Yokahama where Paddy ... read more

06/7/9 Jya, this weekend I saw my host family again. It was really fun! And apparently my Japanese is somehow better now than it was before. Maybe they meant intonation-wise, because my vocab is regrettably small. They made sushi for me, and I went shopping with Chiho (and we now having matching purses), made bagels with okaasan, and helped make shabu shabu. More over, I slept finally on a real futon, in a room with tatami, and entered the o-furo. There’s something infinitely relaxing about the o-furo. Even in hot weather, soaking in it relaxes your muscles and makes the heat seem cooler. I noticed when I went to sleep that night that it felt very cozy; very right to be there. I felt relaxed in a way I don’t think I’ve felt since coming back ... read more

Yes, that's right. I am spending the night in the Tokyo Airport Holiday Inn. Suffice it to say that after today, I will never, EVER fly Air Canada again. We had a 3 hour delay in Toronto due to the weather so I missed my connection in Vancouver to Tokyo. Air Canada could not put me on another flight for TWO DAYS. They wanted me to pay to stay in Vancouver for two days! I threw a fit at the airport and managed to get myself onto the Japan Airlines flight that was leaving for Tokyo right away and luckily they accepted my Air Canada ticket. But I had to run down to the baggage claim and grab my backpack first because Air Canada would not send it over for me. Can you believe it? Oh, ... read more