I Heart Tokyo

I am back in the land of the morning calm after 4 amazing days and nights in Tokyo. I completely fell in love with the city, the people, the food, and as I had predicted it holds a lot more appeal to me than Korea does.
Our trip was a little different in that we stayed at the NZ Embassy with a friend from Wellington, who has been doing Japanese language training for over a year so can speak fluent Japanese and knows all the hot spots to go. So it was lovely exploring the city with her although it left a lot of things I still really want to do - all good reasons to go back.
We stayed in Shibuya, which is in central Tokyo and a fabulous area, very easy to get around from there too. I kept a diary so the rest of this is pretty much from that, just so I don't forget anything!

DAY 1 - THURSDAY
The trip over went very smoothly, Sara and I were very excited the whole way, and it was a super short trip (only 2 hrs, and they served us food which we didn't expect so the flight went by in the blink of an eye). In duty free we picked up some wine for Nicci (Cloudy Bay sav, oh, how I have missed you) and I was very naughty and got myself Chloe perfume which I am completely in love with right now!

We made it!

When we arrived at Narita Airport in Tokyo we had about 35 mins to get through customs, immigration and get our bags before we needed to be on an airport limo to go meet Nicci in Shibuya. Thankfully we made it through with 10 mins to spare so there were no dramas of trying to navigate the subway system just yet. I loved that Japanese drive on the left side of the road! I didn't even notice for a little while but it did feel all very natural!
The drive was amazing, past the port, past two massive coloured ferris wheels, over the biggest bridge I think I've ever seen and Tokyo Tower (which really just looks like a mini Eiffel Tower to me - but apparently it was designed similarly). The cityscape stretched off forever and the lights in the buildings were quite dazzling.

First arrival in Shibuya with Nicci

Tokyo Tower -this photo meant to go in later in the story but I forgot it!

Met Nicci, went for a walk through Shibuya to her whare at the embassy, going through Shibuya Crossing, were 3 MILLION people cross every day. 3/4 of the population of NZ! Insane, and so alive and buzzing. Already could see the Japanese street style, most people were dressed amazingly, and a lot of the girls walked pigeon-toed, which Nicci said was a deliberate thing they train themselves to do as they think it looks kawaii (cute).
We walked past a whalemeat restaurant which was quite shocking, as I always expected those places to be down back alleys and with no signage, but this one had a cartoon whale out the front.Back to Niccis and some chilled NZ sav and a lot of catching up.

DAY 2 - FRIDAY
Woke up early and spent the morning reading Listener, eating Vogels and drinking Milo - just a typical morning in NZ but felt very special in Japan! Weather was pretty bad, raining very heavily with no signs of letting up but Sara and I headed to Ueno Park, which many of my friends had recommended as a place to go. The park (at least, what we saw of it) was quite lovely, even in the rain, although this park is home to most of Tokyo's homeless population, and we saw them all lined up huddled under big trees surrounded with all their belongings waiting for food from a temporary soup kitchen, which was quite sobering to see.

The poorest attempts at a photo of us, Ueno Park, Tokyo National

Museum, and a fancy fountain whilst camera battery was dying and

it was pouring with rain: FAIL.

We went to the Tokyo National Museum, a huge grand old building set back in the park. It was a very traditional museum with lots of old Buddist statues, ink drawings, ceramics and beautiful old kimonos. Was nice so see it all, and you really got a sense of just how old the culture is, but I wasn't overly amazed with it all, perhaps because I feel like I have seen so many replicas of these things.

View from inside the museum which we couldn't get out to

I LOVED this wall! Amazing!

Afterward we went back to Shibuya and found some lunch, chicken ramen noodles in broth, fried dumplings (mandu in Korean, not sure in Japanese) and rice. Was very tasty and hearty and pretty cheap - and I really wish you could get food like that in Korea! Everything seems to be defaulted to a high level of spice which is almost kinda boring. It gives so many things a very similar flavour as a result.

Had a wee mosey in a huge 4-storey clothing store and then went back to Niccis for a little moe before heading out to Roponggi where we met some of Nicci's friends for some Philippino food. All so tastey, tofu, fish, squid. Yum. And Japanese beer Asahi, SO much nicer than Cass in Korea!Next the lure of karoke took us to a very cute little bar with a stage toward the back. We sort of took over the bar singing hundreds of songs, which was a lot of fun.

You can stand under my umbrella-ella-ella, eh, eh, eh

There were a group of Japanese salarymen, who would every now and then take the mic, and some of the bar staff would come and join in too! One of the Japanese men kept saying to Nicci I was kawaii but that he was too shy to talk to me, which at first was sweet but eventually just plain annoying so I decided to make him feel as uncomfortable as possible, serenading him with Mariah Carey - Hero and The Bangles - Eternal Flame, made me laugh a lot.

A new friend - who I never actually spoke to but sang to a whole bunch


In full flight!

DAY 3 - SATURDAY

Another great day despite the rain. We went to Harajuku for the best burgers ever - from a cute place aptly named 'The Great Burger' - delicious big burger patties, really juicy and tasty, avocado and mozerella - yum! Sara and I then hit the shops while Nicci went off to Celtic football practice. I got some really great jeans and a few other things. The amount of people in this area was astounding, it's a very beautiful area with big wide avenues lined with ancient trees, but it was tiring trying to get around due to the crowds (it's very popular for shopping) so we flagged and went to a temple nearby Nicci had told us we should see. Unfortunately we were a little late in the day and the gates closed shortly after we arrived so we had to turn back. But it was a beautiful walk through very old trees with the late afternoon sunlight streaming in.

Entrance gate to the temple we never saw

Proof I was there - even if we didn't get through the trees

Beautiful

That night we went to Nicci's friend Dani's apartment where she was having a little get together. She'd recently finished writing a story on organic skincare and cosmetics and was selling off all the sample products to her friends at fractions of the cost to give the money to charity. Was a very lovely apartment with a sweet chubby grey cat, and a nice group of Japanese women. Drank some delicious Church Road red and had real cheese! Something you just can't find in Korea- gooey, smelly delicious, I was so happy! Also had steamed cakes with Japanese citrus on them, really tasty and subtle flavour, deliciously soft and delicate. Want to find a recipe for them to try to make them myself.

Afterward we went to an izakaya (equicalent of a Japanese pub) where we ate edamame (steamed soya beans sprinkled with grainy rock salt) yakitori (skewers of meats), asparagus wrapped with bacon and Chinese rice. Delicious. Also tried Sapporo beer, very good too - So much better than the Korean alternatives! The izakaya was really cute, with small individual areas for groups separated off with screens.

Next we headed back to Nicci's to get ready and celebrate Sara's birthday! A couple of Nicci's friends came by and eventually we all went to a rock'n'roll bar nearby, which was really cute with girl DJs and all these cute Japanese girls dancing. Next went to my favourite place by far, this three-storey club which was just so cool! The ceilings were covered in chandaliers, there were deer heads on the walls and mannequins standing watch in the corners. Each storey had a different vibe, and we danced up a storm there until the lights came on and we were shuffled out into the stark daylight (it gets light VERY early in Japan, like 4.30am - so mum don't think too bad of me!)

Our whare for our stay - Gad love ya Aotearoa!

Birthday cuddles with Sara

A very happy deer

New friends

This place was amazing! Like a great junk store - with vodka!

DAY 4 - SUNDAY

Beautiful sunny day today! We took a long time to get our A into G with everyone a bit jaded from the night before. We went to a really funky cool area near Harajuku for a special birthday brunch for Sara. The place we went would have fit nicely in Wellington and is yet another thing very lacking in Korea, and was a lovely change. Had amazing ginger wine mojitos, amazing jam packed with mint (this whole blog entry seems to be about food!) and yummy creamy tomato penne with yummy mushrooms.

Delicious!

Then walked back through Harajuku where I loaded up on ceramics from this big emporium. Such cool bowls, cups etc, I love them! Next we attempted to see some of the infamous Harajuku kids who dress up in insanely crazy cool costumes and hang out in this area on Sundays. Nicci said they aren't there so much anymore and sadly she was right, we saw a couple but they weren't as amazing as I expected, and the crowds were just insanity. We jumped a train and then a monorail heading for Odaiba, which is down by the waterfront. Went over the bridge on the monorail with the fullmoon glowing over the city, and was very beautiful. We went on a HUGE ferris wheel - my first ever - however I really didn't enjoy it as much as I thought I would. The views were spectacular but I got a serious case of vertigo, usually heights don't bother me but this time I couldn't cope so well. Nicci and Sara thought this was hysterical, especially when they would stand up and make the carriage rock a little. Lots of screaming from me. But better on the way down.

This really dwarfs the sheer size of this thing!

Pretending to enjoy it...

... When really all I wanted to do was this

And a little wimpering

The views really were stunning

More Tokyo at night

Then went on a mission walk to find this mini Statue of Liberty (why in Tokyo bay, I have no idea) along the waterfront, which was super beautiful with ferryboats all lit up, but my feet were killing me so I wandered along behind the girls.

Us and Tokyo bridge and ferry boats

Nicci had made a reservation for us at her favourite (and now mine) and very popular Teppanyaki restaurant in Shibuya so we had to race to get back in time, because of my feet it was elected Nicci and Sara race on ahead while I follow behind with all our bags etc - which suited me find.But my gosh, this dinner, this restaurant, it was one of the best experiences of my life. The place was run by this bunch of very enthusiastic and funny guys who clearly love what they do and are supremely good at it. We sat along the benches around the cooking area so we could watch the whole affair, which was entertainment in itself. Amazing to watch, so skilled. We ate raw corn and prawns (really nice subtle flavour, if a little slimy, but super fresh, I liked them), sashimi (tuna, it was perfect, melt in the mouth crimson goodness), fried chicken, a delicious salad with crunchy noodles along with other things.

Don't come the raw prawn with moi!

The Teppanyaki restaurant

Nicci and the supreme sashimi

After about an hour of being there there the lights went out and the chefs suddenly jumped up with crazy headpieces and masks on and performed a group dance in celebration of about five different people who were having their birthday dinners there - Sara included (Nicci had arranged this when she booked). It was hilarious and amazing, lights flashing, music booming, everyone clapping and cheering wildly. Each of the birthday girls and boys were presented with a plate of little desserts. One of the chefs made a beautiful speech in Japanese, which Nicci translated, abot how honoured they were for the people to choose there to celebrate their birthdays, and paying tribute to their parents as without them they wouldn't be here at all. They wished everyone happiness and success. It was really lovely and beautiful.

Drank some delicious cocktails, more Japanese beer and warm sake - I couldn't handle it, ridiculously strong and not my favourite thing.As we left they all thanked us as a group with a very well-timed clap and bow and left Sara a birthday card with a photo of the three of us taken earlier that night.It really was the most spectacular meal I have ever eaten - and yet another reason I have to return to Japan soon.

Fire burning in your eyes, oh what a beautiful sight.

Dance dance

One of the chefs

Nicci, Sara and I

But MORE birthday cocktails!

DAY 5 - MONDAY

We set our alarm earlish to head to Starbucks overlooking the Shibuya crossing - the very Starbucks and view that is in Lost in Translation. We wanted to watch the crossing in full force with commuters, however we missed the peak hour. It was still cool to sit up there and watch the streams of people, but I think some of the other times we crossed it outselves were busier.

One foot in New Zealand, one in Japan. That's how I roll.

Shibuya Crossing: Picture this times 3 million... a day.

For our final fling, and the thing I had been craving since we arrived, Nicci took us to a little sushi bar where we had delicious freshly made sushi all before our eyes. Raw salmon, raw tuna, eel caramelised with a blow torch, avocado with fish roe - very very delicious, and by far the best I've ever eaten. I just hope one day I can eat that sort of food as a regular thing as it's so tasty, so healthy and so filling, and not horrifically expensive.Then it was farewells and the Narita Express back to the airport.

A very tasty last supper in Tokyo.

Chu-seok at WEL

This weekend is Chu-seok in Korea, their biggest holiday, apparently a little like Thanksgiving. Everybody goes home to gather with their families, prepare a traditional feast and play some crazy games. This week we had a special day to celebrate at WEL school. All the kids and most of the teachers dressed in their hanboks, which was quite amazing to see.

Grace with Lily and David, our youngest students

Olivia and Abigail

Raina taking the kids in some special dances

One of my Korean coworkers was very kind and gave me her hanbok to wear for part of the day, it was very pretty and floaty but surprisingly hot!

Me in hanbok with Erica



Sara and I in our borrowed hanboks

The WEL waegooks (foreigners), Byron, Sara, me and Carp

After making song-pyeon, traditional glutenous rice cakes filled with sesame (I loved making them, but not so much eating them), the kids had fun with a tournament of Korean sumo wrestling, where they wear scarves around their middles and hold on to each other and have to use all their force to push the other to the ground - very funny to watch.

Julie gets into some traditional Korean style sumo wrestling

Anne, Joey and Rosie watch on

After that the real fun began - a very Korean game where you hop around on one leg, holding the other, trying make the other contestant make their leg fall to the ground first

Olivia hopping along

Then it was outside for a photoshoot:

Venus class - finding the idea of looking and smiling at the

camera a very difficult task

Much better! William, Olivia, Abigail and Julie

David, Kevin and Joshua, our babies, with Sue

Lovely Janice teacher, who lent me her hanbok with her

son Kai (in my class) who was not thrilled at his photo taken

Was a lot of fun, really neat to see everyone so beautifully dressed and to get a little slice of Korean traditional culture.

MEANWHILE - for Chuseok, we're off to JAPAN! We leave tomorrow and are so excited to see Tokyo. So the next post will surely be of that!

My Jandals couldn't handle... the jandal

This past weekend we spent several hours of our lives - hours we'll never get back - on the Seoul subway system getting to the Korean Military Academy, in waaaay north Seoul - possibly technically not even seoul anymore - to watch the Suwon Stormers in an international rugby tournament. Was well worth the major trek there as it was beautiful sitting in the sun with lots of trees and the smell of autumn in the air watching the games. The event was sponsored by Jacob's Creek so it was kind of a treat to have almost decent wine, it's so scarce here.
Unfortunately my jandals did not appreciate the even quite as much and decided to cark it right there. Fortunately Aidan had some very snazzy sweaty rugby boots for me to wear all the way home through Seoul. I was one classy gal.

This is me selflessly carting some of Janine and Patrick's luggage around, as they were flying out to Ireland the following day.
We went to Santorini's in Itaewon for a final farewell dinner of delish chicken souvlaki, spanakopita and cheese filo pies, and amazing Coldstone Creamery icecream. Very sad to say goodbye to them both, but know will meet again in the not too distant future!

Casino Fatale

For a night a gang of Yeongtong-ites became (mostly) sophisticated French socialites during a murder mystery game for a friend Elaine's birthday party. My character was Countess Alice de Ville, a wealthy beautiful widow (who secretly killed her husband for his money) who was meant to spend the evening on the arm of a buisnessman (actually a secret agent) after being paid by Mr X, the man who helped her knock off ole hubby.
It was - as I expected - the most bizarre party I have ever - and I truly think WILL ever - been to. We arrived at Elaine's and Patricks and were quickly hustled into a secret room with Elaine, thehost, who gave us more information, pretend money etc, and then everyone sat quietly in a corner of the room absorbing the information, goals for the night etc.
I found the whole thing pretty unnerving at the start, as much as I loved drama at high school, this was like nothing else - walking around with people you spend so much time with in real life but suddenly introducing yourself as some strange person whose information you can't quite remember. It took a couple of glasses of wine before I could get into the swing of things.
Not so for my coworker Carp, who pretty much walked in the door in character and barely lost it all night. Meanwhile there was a lot of nervous giggling from me during much of it.
There was an auction and jewels and money were stolen and everyone had different secrets and reasons for being there, and it was quickly apparent to me that my character was rather secondary and there was no way I was going to achieve my "goals", so instead I spent most of the night in a state of confusion as to what I was supposed to do, who I was supposed to talk to and about what. About 15 minutes from the end I suddenly remembered but by then it was too late.
I was stabbed on the stairs once, brought back to life, attempted to throw a casino coupier off the balcony but was overthrown (decided by a game of rock scissors paper) and finally shot for no apparent reason in a brutal attack. Bizarre-o, a lot of fun, but a lot of work too!

Beached in Busan

Last weekend a group of us headed down to the south eastern corner of Korea for some beaching in Busan. It was an amazing place, so beautiful, and yet still a huge city (like the entire population of NZ lives there, insane!)
A smaller group of us headed down on the train straight after work on Friday night, making the five-hour journey tollerable with lots and lots of beer.
We offended numerous Koreans by speaking louder than a whisper. It's a strange culture thing here that noone makes noise on public transport, no matter the time of day or type of transport. It's rather annoying when it's Friday night 7pm and you get sushed at for laughing at something. We had to move our festivities to the dining cart to calm the people down.
I was lucky enough to get a personalised Michael Jackson Name-That-Song trivia show from a big fan of MJ, provided a great deal of entertainment for a while.
Once we arrived we headed straight to Haeundae Beach, one of the most popular spots in the city, particularly with westerners. We found really cheap digs (about $8 each!) and went off for some soju cocktail, fruit platter and cassuh

How the fruit platter looked after I got my hands on it.

The woman who ran the hof was very impressed with my skills

The next day I headed off for breakfast with a few other Yeongtongites who'd arrived late Fri night and then it was straight down to the beach. It was beautiful. The beach gets super busy in the peak season, but by October I think Koreans just don't go to the beach anymore, so it was pretty quiet. Water was so clear, such a novelty, and there were some decent waves. The beach was actually closed to swimming except for a small area where we coincidentally happened to be swimming, but everyone was ignoring the messages anyway. They need to go to NZ if they're worried about swell, it was pretty tame.

Janine enjoying the sun and sand

This man is enjoying the sun, sand and himself, at this moment he's taking a photo of his amazing budgie smugglers

Incredible sand sculpture

Haeundae Beach

Sara and I catching some rays

Haeundae Beach

The whole day was spent alternating between the water, the sun, the umbrella and the GS to get beers, and was pretty joyful. More and more people kept turning up as the day progressed so by the end we had quite a posse.

That night we had some very tasty tacos at the horribly named Fuzzy Navel (ew), and also a disgusting margerita with about a TBSP of salt thrown in for good measure. I had to dilute mine down with lemonade (called cider here - still unexplained)... and then I diluted and drank Sara's too as she can't handle salt.

Next up was Thursdays Bar and some delicious wine (amazing for this country)... and eventually a few of us headed to a club but the music was terrible - the doof-doof kind - so we flagged that, got lost for a while thanks to my terrible sense of direction before finding a great bar on the 18th floor of a building where I could throw water out the window and watch people down below's reactions as they couldn't figure out whereit was coming from - sometimes I'm not such a nice person, but it was so enjoyable!

Sara and I

Sunday was rinse and repeat of Saturday, just as perfectly clear and blue and sunny, until we all headed back to the train station for the long - and much quieter - journey home.

Overall I really loved this place, I want to go back again for a better look around and am thinking if I do stay another year, it's very likely I'd want to head there - watch this space!

Bread packaging

Sara and I found these bizarre hilarious messages on bread from a bakery chain Paris Baguette. I am so curious as to how they came up with these, whether they had anyone around who spoke any English whatsoever or whether they used an online translation or randomly opened a dictionary and stabbed at words to use. Whichever way it's fantastic:

This soft goods the good materials in the body and a possibility of eating with the families together and fiber of these fibers, uses the fresh one materials with family brand where it is f-style and fresh, it uses fine, edo it is good and the mouth to be joyful to Paris newly the fortune well of the baguette's round it is a life style brand with fine

Ooooookay... But at least that one TRIED to use punctuation unlike this fella:

It kneads a dough with the boiling wter high temperature and maturing 56 a natural taste deeply and it saves with chewy it is soft there is the recording wall hun-dred which it will chew it does and a possibility of feeling simultaneously with the bread, the flavour taste there is a possibility of seeing and it is a bread