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Summer's over (finally...)

2006-09-17T14:06:00.000+09:00

Well, it's been a long summer, we've been working hard in the heat. It averages about 35C everyday (that's around 95F) between June and the middle of September, so it's been tough again, but recently it's cooled down quite a bit. Unfortunately, now it's cooler but the heating is on everywhere so it's hot inside instead!

We went to a beach resort at a place called Shirahama for Jenny's birthday a couple of weeks ago. It was really relaxing and we had a fantastic suite at the hotel. It had two bedrooms, a lounge, dining room and a massive balcony that overlooked the wildlife park below - pretty cool. We only stayed for one night but it was nice to get away from the city...

Now we're busy saving for the wedding and honeymoon next year. We've decided to go on a Nile Cruise for the honeymoon now instead of New Zealand. It would have meant taking too long off work if we'd gone to NZ, so we changed our minds. Not long now... seven months and counting.

Back on the air!

2006-06-21T23:17:00.000+09:00

We're back! It's been a long time since we last wrote... But life has certainly been very hectic! At the end of April, we flew to the UK and spent time with both family and friends. Unfortunately, we couldn't see everyone because we were so short on time. Nevertheless, it was lovely seeing people and it was hard to say goodbye. While in England, we also managed to plan a lot of the wedding - we organized my dress, Katharine's dress and the suits. Everything is certainly coming together, we can't wait!

During May, we also visited both the Czech Republic and Switzerland. We spent 3 days in Prague with my family and had a wonderful time. Prague is such a beautiful city and the food was so good. On the second day, we met the wedding coordinator and got the chance to see our castle and various locations for the reception. We've really made the right choice and can`t wait for next year!

Later we visited Katharine and Carlos in Geneva which is a very scenic town with a beautiful lake. We did lots of sightseeing, had some great food and got to do some wine tasting, thanks to Carlos. We had such a nice and interesting time and hope to go back some day. Muchas gracias!

To bring things up to date, we went to see Coldplay in Osaka last night. It was really cool, and our first concert in Japan. Everyone was so polite and quite quiet but they were really good live. Anyway we're going to brave the thunder outside and see Mission Impossible 3 tonight.

Another one of Jen's infamous entries...Weddings!

2006-04-22T17:04:00.000+09:00

Only a few days until Paul and I go home and start making plans for our wedding. With this in mind, I got thinking about Japanese weddings...

Getting engaged seems to be the toughest part. The boyfriend has to meet his girlfriend`s parents and prove to them that he is worthy of marrying their daughter. If the father refuses, the groom must persist and show him that he has enough money to support her. All sounds pretty challenging...Fortunately, my Dad gave Paul his blessing before Paul proposed! Thank you Paul and Dad!

After getting engaged, Yuino (betrothal gifts) are often exchanged between the 2 families. This can be in the form of 4000 pounds or a gift composed of 9 lucky items - kelp, a folding fan, some cash, abalone, linen thread, dried squid, cash for sake, dried bonito and mokuroku (list of gifts exchanged)

Engagements are usually pretty short because it is very rare for couples to cohabit before tying the knot. However, according to the rokuyo superstition, you have to be careful which day you select. Certain days are considered to be butsumetsu (unlucky) and as a result, weddings are offered at reduced rates.

Let's have a look at a traditional wedding ceremony...

The groom usually wears a black yukata with the family crest on it and the bride wears a kimono and a tsunokakushi (a hood). The latter covers up the bride`s devil horns from when she was single! At the ceremony, the priest purifies the couple who then pray, exchange rings and nuptial cups of sake between themselves and their relatives.

At the reception, speeches are expected to last a few hours. The bride and groom then cut the cake and they change into their evening wear. In fact, it's normal for a bride to change her clothes 3 times during the evening!

So as you can see, there are some similarities and some differences between Japanese and English weddings.

I really can't wait to visit Prague and start planning our special day :)

Sunburn and Photo Exhibitions...

2006-04-16T13:19:00.000+09:00

We have certainly had a busy few weeks but we have at last reached the end of our 6 day weeks!

Last weekend, we were invited to a hanami / cherry blossom party at Ryokuchi Koen. It was actually a really sunny day and we had a barbie with some friends and their co-workers.

Unfortunately, we both got sunburned but it was really good fun. We even got to practice our Japanese a little, although most people were determined to practice their English on us - we let them win in the end.

This weekend, we went to our friend's photo exhibition in Osaka - check it out at Moonstationfoxtrot.com. The theme was "Life on a Japanese train". It was really fascinating and we could't resist buying a portfolio!

This evening, we are meeting some friends at a cafe bar in Osaka - it's a pretty chilled out place and sometimes they play live music.

Only ten days until we go back to England ... we are so looking forward to it! It's going to be a busy trip (don't expect anything less from us!) but it's going to be so nice to see everyone again. We haven't been home since Christmas 2004, reverse culture shock anyone?

Jenny had a bath in red wine!

2006-03-21T23:02:00.000+09:00

Today is a national holiday but we had to work anyway. Apparently today is the Spring Equinox - one of the 14 national holidays in Japan. Today Japanese people are supposed to visit their family grave...no-one I spoke to today actually planned to do that though. In fact, they had no idea why they were on holiday - fair enough.

Anyway, we had a pretty good weekend, Jenny was working but we went for Chinese at lunchtime and later we saw "The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe" (longest name for a film ever). It was pretty good but I'm glad that I read the book first. Coincidently we bumped into our friends Matt and Kumiko at the cinema and went for coffee after it finished.

It was great because while we were sat outside Starbucks there was a big Japanese wedding party going on at the hotel next door. The groom was rolling around outside absolutely p#%ssed! The bride was stood outside by herself as all the guests left. Then she put him into a taxi and they left. It was quite sad really... probably didn't turn out to be much of a wedding night.

Anyway, that night we ordered pizza and watched some great TV - a program about Great White Sharks, SAS Survival Secrets, then Wales vs. France and England vs. Ireland in the rugby. I finally got to bed at 5 a.m!

By the way, my goal for this week is to listen to every Beatles album in sequence - I've never done that before - and I spend a lot of time sat on trains so why not...

Jenny went back to Spa World on Sunday as well where apparently she had a bath in red wine full of naked girls - I might have to check this place out...

A first time for everything...

2006-02-13T23:26:00.000+09:00

Well, here's a first for SaruJapan. The long awaited first entry from Jenny!! Enjoy...

I had a Japanese experience on Saturday. My friend and I went to Spaworld in Osaka. Spaworld is a complex of spas, restaurants, and a waterpark...the list is endless. Anyway it also contains two floors of world spas - Asian and European. This month, women are able to use the Asian floor for ¥1000 / 5 pounds.

On entering the building, you have to take your shoes off and put them in a locker. You are then given a special bracelet containing a chip which can be scanned whenever you buy anything. This kind of system is pretty standard in Japan.

You then get undressed and are given a very small towel! One important thing to remember about spas in Japan is that you must be very clean! So, before entering a spa, you have to have a shower - everything is provided (flannel, shampoo, shower gel etc). After showering, you are then free to enjoy the spas.

We spent four hours there and had a Balinese and an outdoor Japanese spa (it smelled like pineapple). We also had a mud spa and a salt scrub. It was so much fun and very relaxing...

Actually, we plan to visit Spaworld again next month - the European floor and possibly a body massage - can't wait!

Good news comes in threes...

2006-02-13T23:12:00.000+09:00

We've had a really good weekend...

For those who don't know, we went to Australia last August - it was an amazing trip but then when we got back and found that half of our pictures were gone.

Naturally we were a bit upset but we kind of accepted that sometimes these things happen. Anyway, yesterday while Jenny was watching Eastenders (grrr...) I had a fight with the computer and managed to recover most of them! We're so happy - we never thought we'd see them again.

So, finally, here's one of us in front of Uluru (Ayer's Rock) where we got engaged...

Also, remember how we took a Japanese Exam back in December? Well, I hate exams and to be honest it didn't go all that well. Anyway, we got the results today and we both passed!!! I got 62% and Jenny got 86% - we're both pretty relieved but I'm really pleased because I'd convinced myself that I'd failed. Yeah!!!

So, that's two pieces of good news so far - I wonder what's coming next...

Happy Valentines Day everyone!

Simple pleasures...

2006-02-11T16:06:00.000+09:00

We've lived here in Umeda for two years now. We like it because it's so easy to get everywhere - and it's pretty cool to live in the city centre. One problem we've always had is that although there are thousands of restaurants and cafes - we've never found a supermarket...until last week.

One thing about living here is that you tend to just stumble across things by chance that you'd given up hope on. We were walking home from Bruce's a couple of weeks ago and found a supermarket ten minutes from our apartment. It sounds stupid but we were so excited when we went in because they sell loads of food from home. I think that only people who've lived abroad for a while really understand the thrill of seeing Heinz baked beans. So there you go...

Meanwhile in entertainment news...

I know you've been waiting for it so here's a quick Narnia update! I finally made it though book 3 - it was fairly painful but now I'm into "Prince Caspian" and it's much, much better. "The Horse & His Boy" seemed a bit random to me.

Also, we've been watching some great TV this week like The Simpsons Season 7, The Office, and we're really into 24: Season 5. For some reason (actually it's Bruce's fault) I've been listening to a lot of Pink Floyd recently too, haven't done that since I was 14...

Podcasts, Narnia, and a big surprise...

2006-01-29T13:07:00.000+09:00

Last weekend Jenny threw me a surprise birthday party. I had no idea what was going on, despite being a little suspicious when she insisted that I should go out for the afternoon and that she would cook dinner. Anyway, thanks to everyone who came - Bruce, John, Tomo, Matt, Kumiko, Jacqui and Rob - it was really cool...

In other news, we (and apparently everyone else we know) are reading the Chronicles of Narnia, Jenny's parents gave me the complete set for my birthday.

I really enjoyed "The Magician's Nephew" and "The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe" but I'm struggling with "The Horse and His Boy". The film isn't released in Japan until March so we're trying to finish them all before then. I vaguely remember reading them when I was at school but have forgotten everything except Aslan and the lamp-post, so it's nice to read them again...

I've also been listening to the Ricky Gervais podcast - if you haven't listened it's really funny. I've embarrassed myself a few times when I've randomly started laughing, but I don't care, it really cheers me up on a Monday morning and that's more important than what old women on the train think of me...

Thanks!

Happy New Year!

2006-01-01T16:00:00.000+09:00

I'm so tired today...

Last night we went to a new years party at Yuri's house. It was cool but we didn't get home until 3:30am. Anyway this Christmas we stayed in Japan - we really wanted to go home but couldn't get enough time off work or afford it, it's been pretty good. We had around ten days off overall - here are the highlights...

Christmas Eve

We went to the German Christmas market in Umeda, it would've been nice but it was (not surprisingly) packed so we couldn't see much so we gave up and went for ramen instead.

Christmas Day

The Hilton Christmas buffet (hmmm buffet), we went there back in 2003 and it was good but we made the mistake of buying a mini bottle of champagne that cost more than the meal. We were more cautious this time and it was delicious, we had turkey and pudding and everything. In the evening we watched Charlie and the Chocolate Factory - it's a good Christmas film. I drank plenty of wine and overall it was a nice day...

Boxing Day

Koya-san, a Buddhist retreat on top of a mountain in Wakayama. It was beautiful, everything was covered in snow and it was freezing (a bit like Narnia). We stayed in a temple which was a pretty tough experience. It was so cold inside, the food was, how can I describe it ... terrible, and we had to get up at 5am for prayers! The place itself was beautiful though.

We had a scary experience too, there's a huge graveyard in the forest and we went for a walk through it. We were the only people in there, it was all good until a big wild dog came out from behind a gravestone and started following us...

It was probably just a dog, but naturally I told Jenny that it was a wolf, she got scared and started running away - it kept following us and got closer and closer. Jenny was going crazy but I took a photo for the archives. Luckily it mustn't have been hungry because it didn't eat us...

Those are the key events of the holidays, it's my birthday on the 4th. It'll be weird turning 25 but we're going to see King Kong and then go back to work on the 5th (yeah!).

Hope you had a good 2005 and have an even better 2006!

Christmas is coming!

2005-12-11T19:19:00.000+09:00

We've been really busy lately but thankfully things are settling down now. We did our Japanese exam last Sunday, it was pretty awful. The actual test wasn't that bad but it took ages to get it all done. There were three sections of about 25 minutes each but we had a hour break between each one! We were there from 9:30 to 2:15 - unbelievable, also the place was absolutely freezing inside so it was quite miserable really. Anyway, I'm happy to have finished now - it was getting a bit much taking lessons all the time. I'll let you know the results in February...

Meanwhile, we've taken the plunge and signed up for cable TV (about time too). It's going to be installed on Thursday - we can't wait. Two years of Japanese TV proved too much in the end...

Also, we're getting ready for Christmas! We've got a tree and decorated the apartment - I'll put a photo up next time. Our plan so far is to go to the Hilton for Christmas dinner - we went there two years ago and it was pretty good. Then on Boxing Day we're going to stay in a temple in a place called Koya-san. It's a kind of Buddhist retreat on top of a mountain - we'll meditate and have breakfast with the monks! You never know, I might even come back spiritually enlightened, we'll have to wait and see...

Roll on Sunday...

2005-11-30T23:10:00.000+09:00

We're so busy at the moment. We have a Japanese exam on Sunday so we are taking about 8 hours of classes a week now, as well as doing extra shifts at work. I can't wait to get it out of the way - hopefully pass - and then slow things down a bit.

On Saturday we decided to sign up for cable TV, it should have been easy but we had to go back to the shop three times with different bits of paper and things - nothing is ever simple... but we should get it before Christmas hopefully.

That's about all we've been doing this week. I'll let you know how the test goes...

It's freezing!

2005-11-21T09:47:00.000+09:00

It's officially cold now. We spent six months over summer wishing for a cold day - now we've got plenty and we're complaining about that now. What do they say about the English and the weather?

Last week was really busy, we worked six days so that we can take a couple of extra days off over Christmas. Then the weekend was jam packed...

On Saturday, we went to the dentist at 9:30, then had a two hour Japanese lesson in the afternoon, in the evening we went out with a few of Jenny's friends from work. We got home at about 1:30 am so we were exhausted (and hung-over) on Sunday. However, we visited our friend Maya and her baby for the afternoon. That was nice - Anne's a pretty good baby, she's really happy.

It was our friend Bruce's birthday over the weekend (he's going to be my Best Man) so we went out for dinner (by dinner I actually mean cake).The waitress must have thought we were mad because we just had dessert! The thing was huge - and you thought portions were small in Japan.

In conclusion, now I'm even more tired than I was on Friday. Can't wait for the holidays now...

Another weekend - another party...

2005-11-12T16:39:00.000+09:00

Last week I mentioned going to a Halloween party, and last night we went to Matt and Kumiko's apartment for a "taste test party". What a life we lead...

The idea came about months ago when Jenny, Matt, Kumiko, John and I were in the Sega centre in Osaka. We were blindfolded and had to try to distinguish between popular and not-so-popular brands. For example, Pringles vs. Japan's no. 1 "Chip-Star", Coke vs. Pepsi, you get the idea.

I did surprisingly well - it seems that my taste buds are highly developed - and I came out a clear winner. That was until the final challenge...

Matt had six different beers from six countries - Mexico, China, Belgium, Germany, Ireland, and Czechoslovakia. We had to drink a sample (not that kind of sample) and name the country. John, Matt and I did ok with a respectable 3/6. However, we were beaten in the end by a 4/6 performance by one of Kumiko's old college friends.

Only one day off this weekend but that means I get an extra day over Christmas - thanks for reading. See you soon...

Do not adjust your set...

2005-10-31T22:51:00.000+09:00

Last night we went to a Halloween party with some people from work. All in all it was a good night - we had chili (my favorite food), I got Star Wars Episode III on DVD (my favorite film), and we finally got our Australia photos back!

If you read the very first entry on SaruJapan I mention losing half of our photos from Australia. That was fairly depressing at the time but last night we salvaged some of them. They are from our trip to Brampton Island - it was absolutely beautiful as you can see.

I even managed to get Jenny (a.k.a. Tiger) on the golf course - amazing I know. As you can tell she wasn't exactly keen, but we had a great time and played twice a day - I managed to half my score over the three days (so either I was terrible at first or great by the end. I'll leave that to your imagination). We met a couple who said they saw a snake on the course - but unfortunately we never saw it...

The island was awesome. We got there by helicopter and had an apartment on the beach, you get the picture - and last night so did we...

Anyway, big plans this week. We're going to watch all six Star Wars films in order for the first time ever! I'll keep you posted...

Has it really been two years already?

2005-10-30T14:40:00.000+09:00

Last weekend was our two year anniversary of living in Japan. To mark the occasion we went back to where we first lived, a place called Higashimikuni. It's not so far from here but it's in the suburbs. It was strange because we hadn't been there in almost 18 months (we moved fairly soon after arriving).

I remember arriving and being quite disappointed at first. The front door was metal, like a prison cell door and the place was filthy. Our first night wasn't great, our luggage wasn't due to be delivered until the next day so we didn't really have anything. The apartment was on the ground floor next to a train line and a busy crossroads, so it was really noisy. Also, the previous tenants had thoughtfully left a tub of ice-cream in the freezer and then turned it off - nice...

On our first real day we didn't go outside until about 9pm. We just cleaned and cleaned, also a repair-man had to come to fix some stuff. When we eventually went out to the supermarket I remember my first experience of real culture-shock. We couldn't read or even recognise 99% of the things in the shop. We just had to guess and see what happened. That night I cooked the worst meal ever (it was super-spicy) and we went to bed. Not a great start.

But then it's funny, the things that were strange and scary at first are just normal to us now. It's amazing how quickly you can adapt to a new life ... now I can't believe how fast the time goes, has it been two years already?

Anyway, we're going to a Halloween party tonight so I'll sign off now. Whatever you're up to have fun everyone!

Memories...

2005-10-20T22:22:00.000+09:00

In response to overwhelming public demand, here is a photo of us two.

This is from our trip to Sapporo up in Northern Japan. Every winter the city gets buried under about 2 meters of snow and so in February they have a snow festival! They build massive snow statues and the whole city looks really beautiful. We spent the weekend there and had a great time.

One highlight was when we first left the hotel, the pavements (sorry sidewalks) were covered in thick ice. Just as Jenny told me to be careful - she slipped and fell flat on her face. Total time between arrival and accident - 1 minute.

By the way, almost exactly 2 years ago today we were on our way to the airport to come to Japan! It's our official 2 year anniversary on Saturday night. We plan to go take a walk down memory lane, we're going to go back to our old apartment and go for a wander around our old neighbourhood. We also found the diary we kept for the first couple of months last night. It's amazing how much things change - more on that this weekend.

Stay tuned...

Sorry, I don't understand...

2005-10-15T15:27:00.000+09:00

Sorry I've been lazy for the last couple of days and haven't written anything. It's been a really busy week with work, Japanese lessons and Apple announcing the new iPods. Have you seen these? They are really cool (I ordered mine yesterday) they play video now! So I'll be able to watch TV and listen to music on the train on the way to work. I can't wait...

Which brings me onto my topic today - shopping in Japan.

Japanese shops are generally pretty good - the service is great because they have so many people working there (more on that in the future). You never have to wait for anything and it's really easy to return things that you would never be able to back home.

Maybe it isn't as easy if you're Japanese but it's great for me because I can choose to not understand anything they say until they just give up. For example, last week we both had problems because our headphones broke. We went back to the shop to get new ones - but they said no because the warranty didn't cover it.

Not to be discouraged we said we didn't understand. He explained again (this time in English - nice try) we still didn't understand, so he went off to get his manager who tried to explain again. After about 15 minutes they gave up and we got two sets of brand new headphones.

The same thing happened on Thursday (in the same shop) when I wanted to cancel my iPod order so that I could buy the new video version from Amazon. It's great - if you switch off the Japanese you can pretty much get anything you want...

Can't find a parking space?

2005-10-12T23:42:00.000+09:00

Japan is quite a small country really, most of the centre is mountainous so the cities are squeezed in around the coasts. This can cause a few problems with space.

Naturally, the Japanese have found some weird and wonderful solutions to this.

It's common to see double or even triple-decker parking spaces. And some multi-storey car parks (like the one in front of our apartment) are awesome. You park you car on a platform at the bottom - pay the fee and collect a coupon. The platform then raises your car up into the car-park and places it inside. When you want it back, hand in the coupon and your car comes back. Pretty cool.

"I go to shopping, and speaking the English..."

2005-10-11T22:23:00.000+09:00

I decided to write this today because I was using a fantastic notebook at work, on the front it said, "It is our hope that this iteme will become your good friend and help to make your life enjoy-able all the time. The benefit of this notebook is up to the sense that comes from your passion." Wow!

Although Japan spends more time and money on studying English than any other country in the world (thanks guys), you still see some pretty crazy stuff out here. There is literally English everywhere (if you can call it that), here are a couple of examples:

You see a lot of really funny T-Shirts - I saw a really serious looking man walking down the street with his family once, his T-Shirt had "Too many men, not enough time" printed on the front! I wonder if he ever found out what it meant...

Others include a restaurant serving "Fried crap with lice", and a soft-drink called "Popcari Sweat". There are hundreds more but I'll save them for future installments.

By the way - if you have any questions about Japan, leave a comment and I'll try to give an good answer (or if that fails, at least make one up).

Sayonara.

Rise of the Machines

2005-10-10T22:14:00.000+09:00

There are vending machines everywhere in Japan. Mostly they sell the usual stuff but there are some that sell weird things. This one is right outside my apartment - it's great if you like beer. The can on the top left is 1 litre - that's really big!

Can you imagine what would happen if they put a beer machine on a street in any other country?

It'd be surrounded by 14 year olds spending their pocket money - not here though. I've never actually seen anyone drinking underage. Maybe when things are readily available they don't have the same appeal to kids?

Anyway, elsewhere in Japan there are vending machines that sell:

- CD's, books, iPod's, noodles, school-girls' knickers (pretty scary), cuddly toys, flowers and more...

So, if you ever find yourself out late at night and need a present to apologise to your girlfriend / boyfriend - don't worry, you can say it with flowers and have something to listen to over dinner...

SaruJapan takes the world by storm...

2005-10-09T18:14:00.000+09:00

We live on a main road in Osaka called the Midosuji Boulevard. Today there was a huge parade which was pretty cool. We don't know what it was for but if anyone reading this in Japan knows please leave a comment.

These little kids on unicycles were really cool, except that a few kept falling off because they were too small...

In other news, SaruJapan has been on-line for a week now and so far we've had visitors from 16 countries:

United States, Japan, United Kingdom, Switzerland, Australia, Canada, Norway, Argentina, Germany, Spain, Israel, Netherlands, Chile, Sweden, Singapore, The Philipines, and last but not least our friends in Malaysia.

Finders keepers?

2005-10-08T08:13:00.000+09:00

What do you think the chances are that if you lost your wallet here, it would be returned to you?

a) None at all.
b) Unlikely.
c) Possible, but it would be empty.

Answer: Trick question. It's d) Very likely.

Japanese people are really honest. Generally, if people leave things on the train - they will either not be touched by anyone, or they'll be handed into the lost property office. Also, around the country there are over 6000 Kobans (little police stations) where people hand in things they find.

When we first arrived in Japan, I dropped a 1¥ coin (worth virtually nothing) while crossing the road. I didn't care and just kept walking. A woman actually ran after me down the street to give it back to me!

So if you ever come here and happen to lose something - don't panic - you'll probably get it back...

Backwards and forwards...

2005-10-07T22:32:00.000+09:00

Japan is a funny old place. On the one hand, it's really traditional, on the other it's really modern. For example, they've recently developed a robot (android even) that looks human, can answer questions, and even responds to touch. Pretty amazing...

However, in many ways it seems to be really behind the times. For example, pretty much everyone uses cash to buy things, credit cards don't seem to have taken off (you can't even use them in a lot of places). A lot of companies still seem to be paper based, despite the effect on efficiency.

It seems that while the big Japanese companies are pushing the boundaries of technology - Japanese society can't quite keep up...

On a lighter note, now let's play spot the robot,
(wow, it's like Blade Runner)! Is it:

a) The woman.
b) The man.
c) Both.

Scorpions and snakes and alligators. Oh my!

2005-10-06T22:10:00.000+09:00

Recently, there have been several cases of people finding dangerous animals around Japan...

Today, 3 pythons were found in various places - including under a bench at a train station! Last week, a policeman found an alligator at the side of a river, and a couple of weeks ago a landlord found three 10cm scorpions in an apartment in Toyonaka. Apparently they are unwanted pets that have been abandoned. Pretty scary.

According to the NHK news people are buying them because they aren't allowed to have cats and dogs in their apartments. I think it may be time to re-think the cat & dog embargo.... who knows what they'll find next.

Unlucky for some...

2005-10-05T22:02:00.000+09:00

Here's a little bit of Japanese trivia. As you know the number 13 is unlucky (for some) in the West. It's different here; the Japanese see the numbers 4 and 9 as unlucky. This is because in Japanese 4 (pronounced Shi) happens to be the same as the word for "death". Also, 9 (Ku) is the same as "Torture". So some buildings don't have a 4th or 9th floor. And what do you get if you add 4 and 9..... hmmm.....spooky.

In other news - here's a picture of us advertising our Japanese school! The caption reads "Do you want to use Japanese properly?" They chose a perfect example!

TV in Japan - まいうー!

2005-10-04T22:03:00.000+09:00

OK - so what's your impression of Japanese T.V? Weird game shows, Samurai?

I'd love to be able to say that in fact it's great with a wide variety of quality shows, but unfortunatley not. We have 10 channels and on an average night we have a choice of:

- Baseball.
- Wacky game shows.
- Old Samurai / Martial Arts films.
- Bizarre cooking / food programmes.

This isn't great but it does mean that even if you can't speak Japanese at all, you can enjoy (or at least vaguely follow) the T.V shows.

Here's a photo from my favourite programme - "Debuya". Basically these three guys, an ex-sumo wrestler (I think), a Japanese disco dancer, and a man dressed as a sailor, travel around Japan trying food from different areas. It's really funny in a slap-stick kind of way.

Anyway, people here are pretty obsessed with baseball too. During the baseball season (about May to October) it's common to have baseball on 5 or 6 channels at the same time. They even show high school games with 16 and 17 year old kids playing. Since I come from England, I'm not a big baseball fan (it looks like rounders to me), so during the summer months I don't have much to watch.

So, the next time you complain that there's nothing on T.V back home, spare a thought for us...

Shall we talk about the weather?

2005-10-03T22:21:00.000+09:00

As you may know, being part of a group is important in Japan. However, it can be really annoying when it comes to the seasons...

In most countries, people decide what to wear depending on the weather and how comfortable they feel, e.g. "It's cold so I'll wear a coat". It doesn`t quite work that way here. In Japan, people choose their clothes according to the season. So, this means that on Monday, it`s 32C and people wear summer dresses, shorts etc. However, NHK (the equivalent of the BBC) then announce the start of Autumn...

The next day, it's still 32C but people wear scarves and coats. For the average "foreigner" living in Japan, this means that one day you are enjoying the air-con on the train and the next day, the air-con is switched off and people start telling you that it`s cold.

The result, a sweaty and confused "foreigner" (quite unlike this cool and sophisticated guy).

Giant Crab!!

2005-10-02T17:57:00.000+09:00

OK, so our plans changed a little this weekend. It was a really grey today so we decided against going to Nara. Maybe we'll go next week instead. Yesterday we went to Namba (a pretty busy shopping area about 15 minutes from our apartment). We are trying to eat lots of vegetables at the moment so we went food shopping - they have a dry ice machine which is really weird. You put your shopping bag under the nozzle and it fills it with dry ice - freezing everything until you get home. Pretty handy - except that whilst you are walking the steam escapes from the bag. It looks like you're carrying a smoke machine home. We also had a two hour Japanese lesson and I made Mexican food (which was really good even if I say so myself) and then watched Phoenix Nights on DVD.

Following on from the last entry, there are lots of sales around Osaka to celebrate the Tigers' win. Especially at the Hanshin Department Store (near our apartment) where there was a two hour queue to get into the Tigers' gift shop!

By the way, the huge crab in the photo is really famous. Its' legs actually move...

They're gr-r-r-r-reat!

2005-10-01T01:34:00.000+09:00

Osaka has been going crazy over the last two days. The Hanshin Tigers (Osaka's main baseball team) won the league on Thursday. Traditionally when this happens people like to jump into the river that runs through the city - even after several drownings people still do it. I would have thought that drowning would be the least of your worries if you went for a swim in that river!

Apparently, a few years ago some fans threw a Colonel Sanders (from KFC) into the river - the Tigers then had a disappointing losing streak. Some said that the team would never win another game unless he was found. He never was. However, it seems that the "Curse of Colonel Sanders" has finally lifted. Now you can all rest easy...

Click here to hear the Hanshin Tigers "Fight Song"!!!!

Dear diary...

2005-10-01T01:00:00.000+09:00

Hi everyone! Here goes for the first real entry.

I was working today - but now we've finished our latest 6 day stretch....phew. We have big plans for the weekend:

On Saturday...

We're off to the hospital at 10a.m for a check-up, then onto our Japanese lesson at 3p.m. I'm finding Japanese really difficult (partly due to a complete lack of studying) but Jenny is doing ok. We're taking the Japanese Proficiency test in December so I'd better start revising.

Then in the evening I'm planning to cook Mexican food and then just relax and watch some quality Japanese T.V. (Keep checking the site for programme reviews).

On Sunday...

I don't know, but we might go on a trip to Nara just outside Osaka, it's a nice little park with old temples and deer everywhere. It was the first place we visited in Japan when we arrived here and we went again with my family last spring (a.k.a rainy season). This time we are hoping to visit the Horyuji temple complex, which houses the world's oldest wooden buildings.

Welcome to SaruJapan.com!

2005-09-30T23:17:00.000+09:00

This is our diary of life in Japan. We've been here for around two years now and live in Osaka. This is really for friends and family to keep up to date with our adventures here in Nippon, but if other people find it then that's cool too.

Also, we can show some of the great places we visit and strange sights we see here and around the world.

First up, here is a photo of Sydney Harbour from our holiday in August - this is one of the photos that wasn't lost (we found that we had lost half of our 500+ photos when we came back to Japan).