Travel Blog Posts
May 16th 2010
I'm moving my blog to a different site, so if you'd still like to subscribe, please do so here. ... read more
April 27th 2010
Stupid Japanese Things This Month... Japanese teachers of English I asked one of my teachers how she's finding the new first years. I phrased it "So how are you finding the new students?" - pretty straight forward I thought, especially as I'm pretty sure she's used that same sentence structure before. She replied by telling me about the entrance exams. I KNOW HOW THEY GET INTO THE BLOODY SCHOOL WOMAN!!!! Do you really think that I would ask such a question? Obviously you do take me for an idiot. I might give her a snack and then ask "how are you finding the snack?" just to see if she tells me that I gave it to her. I had a lesson this morning with that same teacher, and she said "maybe we don't need the textbook", ... read more
March 30th 2010
We managed to find a snowboarding deal at the travel agent in Noichi, where some of them even speak English! We got return flights from Kochi to Chitose, return bus transfer to hotel, 6 nights in a business hotel (with breakfast), 2 lunches, equipment rental, and a 6 day lift pass for all mountains (including night ski) - all for JPY88,000 each, which is about £600. So all that leaves is 4 lunches, 6 dinners, and the ever compulsory omiyage. Monday We left home at 06:35, 5 minutes later than planned. But my landlady’s husband (who incidentally is the spitting image of Mr. Miyagi from The Karate Kid) drove us to the airport, and he seemed to enjoy speed, so we got there in good time. At the check-in counter, we were told to go to ... read more
March 24th 2010
An extract from a conversation I had with Alex the other day: en route to pick up dinner A: Woah, that’s a bit strange! L: What? A: That plane going across. L: Yeah, the airport’s there. A: Really? Looks weird. L: Hmmm. (laughs) A: What’s funny? L: Plane (shakes head) A: Did you see the plane? L: No. A: How could you miss it? L: Errr….because there was no plane. A: There was! Going across. L: Right, like a Boeing 747 can fit on the road A: I didn’t say it was a 747. L: What was it then? A: I don’t know. It was too dark to see. L: Riiiight. Yet you saw the plane. A: I did! L: Uh-huh. on the way back home from picking up dinner A: Oh dear. L: What’s wrong? ... read more
March 15th 2010
The New School Year The Japanese school year starts in April, and unlike the UK system, all teachers (including head), office workers, and cleaners are employed by the Board of Education, and as such have their placements dictated for them every year. The usual get go is they’re moved every few years to a different school, and they have absolutely no say in it, unless there are special circumstances. One of these, I found out this year, was the PE teacher at one of my schools. And the reason I was told for him staying at this particular school permanently? “Because he’s very good”. Take that as you will… Not only are they placed wherever the BoE feels like it, but they’re given less than 2 weeks’ notice, so if they have to move to the ... read more
March 14th 2010
The difference between a condo and an apartment: one's owned, the other's rented. Who'dathunk you'd need different words for that? Sports Depo Why is the shop called Sports Depo? Depo might be the Japanese version of the word, but if they were using Japanese versions, then surely the Sports bit would be Supotsu? And clearly Sports is an English word, so the Depo bit should be Depot. And yes, it’s a minor ting, but it just doesn’t make sense. Mikawa, Ehime I decided I wanted to go to Ehime for some boarding, because it hasn’t been snowing recently and Mikawa’s supposed to be better than Ikawa. So I dragged Alex with me on the 2-hour-but-seems-longer-because-it’s-mostly-normal-roads-as-opposed-to-expressway-like-ikawa drive and we spent a couple of hours there. It’s slightly more expensive than Ikawa ... read more
February 6th 2010
A friend in need... James decided he needed some new furniture to furnish his bare crappy flat, so he went to the furniture store on the 55 to see what wares they had to offer. He managed to find a small soft poo-coloured 2 seater, which he asked if we wouldn't mind helping him take home. So we went with him later in the evening to pick it up, but it wouldn't fit in the boot. So he put it in the back and managed to climb in under it, being pinned to the seat/window - a pretty amusing sight, considering he's like 8 foot. That might have been a bit of an exaggeration, but it was still funny. There was a taxi parked next to us in the car park, and as James climbed in ... read more
January 1st 2010
Toyama, 30th December 2009 We were quite excited about Toyama, especially as it snowed loads a couple of weeks ago. There was already 110cm of snow in Gokurakuzaka, according to Snow Japan. However, it hadn’t snowed for the last few days, so it wasn’t looking that great, although it did mean that the roads would be easier to navigate. We had another look at the weather forecast the night of our return from Seoul, because our plan was to drive to Otsu on Wednesday and stay the night before heading to Toyama on Thursday for new years. The forecast said there would be no snow on Wednesday but lots on Thursday. That concerned us a bit, and it was constantly in the back of our minds. On Wednesday morning, we set off towards Otsu, and we ... read more
December 29th 2009
Seoul, South Korea 27th-29th December 2009 The whole reason I wanted to go to South Korea in the first place was because of the food. I love Korean food and it did not disappoint. As I’d anticipated, there wasn’t much else to interest me, especially as I’m not a particularly huge shopper, although I was looking forward to experiencing what the 4.5* Intercontinental had to offer. I think it was my first time in such a highly starred establishment. The flight into Seoul was a fun one for me. I love flying. Take off, landing, and turbulence are the best parts for me. It’s like being on a rollercoaster and I love rollercoasters. I don’t really think about dying when I’m in a plane - if it happens, it happens, so just try and enjoy the ... read more
December 25th 2009
Westin Awaji We booked a couple of nights at the Westin Awaji, part of Starwood - SPLURGE!!!!! Gotta say one of the nicest hotels I've stayed in, but that's not really saying much... Unfortunately I was a little late in booking it, so we ended up getting a smoking room, but we got used to it after a while. We got free entrance tickets to the plant museum in the adjoining complex, so I made Alex come with me and we had a nice walk through some nice shrubbery. Nice. At the exit, there was a wooden sleigh pulled by wooden reindeer. Cute. Back to the hotel - dinner at the restaurant there was JPY 4,000. So we decided to go to the complex for dindins, not that it was any better on price. But the ... read more
luciella
| Joined | March 13th 2008 | Trips | 0 |
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Map Legend: 26%, 70 of 263 Territories
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the world is huge - i feel like i've seen a lot of it already, but it doesn't look like much on the map. hopefully a lot more will turn green over the next few years...
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