Back to reality: Home, and on with the rest of my life

New Zealand, one year later...

So as we got closer and closer to Auckland, I got a more and more excited and emotional. After a year of saluting whenever I saw something with "Product of New Zealand" on it, I was eager to land. I probably sounded like a real dick to the others in the plane, with my "touchdown", "welcome back", and "Honey we're home" etc etc, but I was just stoked to be back.

I was a bit miffed at the airline (their only mistake) because they didn't say welcome home to the New Zealanders, but I was stoked that the guy at customs (who was a nice guy) had the insight.

Unfortuately getting through customs and getting my luggage took quite a while. I felt a bit embarassed after all the times this year I had said under my breath "In my country we don't have this problem..."

Anyhow, made it out of customs and met my parents, and headed off home. Via BP Connect Ngaruawahia for a pie and a sausage roll. Nice.

So that was a week ago, since then I have just been sleeping (making up for a year without a "relaxing" holiday (there is a difference between sight-seeing and vegeing out)) eating (a reunion with cheese, which I better cut out soon) - it only took me two days to have ticked off the tri-fecta of food I wanted to eat - A pie, Mutton, and fish and chips. The sad thing is, food doesn't taste as great as I remember it. Although I didn't lose any weight in Japan (I thought a diet of fish and rice was iminent and so was weight loss - stereotypes) I think my appetite died down, and I don't crave food so much.

Other than that, I've just been visiting people, and catching up. I was surprised how easy it was to drive again, no bunny hops (although I did get the wheels spinning in mums car).

Other observations? We do have an accent. We seem to talk like we are talking to our own chests, or through our noses or something. We use O instead of other vowels, still/stool etc.
I can see so much sky! in Hamilton everything is pretty much 2 storeys or less, even in Victoria street, the hub of the city!
Its weird being able to understand every conversation I hear.

Overall, its nice to be home, although I'm a little lonely and bored at the moment, after an action-packed year. Everyone seems to have moved on with life.

Keep watching this site. I plan to put up a heap of photos, and I will probably keep this site going until I get a real job (and then I will probably start a new one) so this site will have covered the lead-up, the journey, and the following return.

Singapore Sling, into Malaysia

Arrived in Singapore, got some pamphlets and maps from the tourist information at the airport and caught a taxi to my hotel.

The hotel was really nice, a double bed (well actually two beds pushed together, but Im not complaining) free internet usage (and if you had wireless you could use your own laptop) and a swimming pool. Unfortunately for me, I mucked around too long writing emails, reading the pamphlets etc, and then I wasn't allowed to have a swim. After a shower and dinner, I decided I should make the most of being there (versus having an early night because I was quite tired) so I got a taxi to town. It was a Tuesday night, so it was pretty quiet. However I did have a Singapore Sling - a famous cocktail. It was not too bad, but a little too lolly-tasting.

The next day I got up and investigated, and made plans to go to Malaysia. It started to rain, so I decided I may as well leave sooner rather than later. So I did. At the bus depot there was a guy exchanging money. I was a little wary of him for a start because he wasn't very offical, but apparently his rate was about right, so I changed some money.


On the bus I talked with a couple of people, one was a French woman, who lives in Singapore, and was showing her parents around (I think her mother was Singaporian or Malaysian though) and then with a Belgian woman who is living in Malaysia.

So anyway the trip was kind of interesting, we stopped once for food and then got to Malacca (or Melaka, depending on how you want to spell it). At Malacca there was a guy advertising his guest house. I was wary of him too for a while, but he ended up being quite helpful and not pushy, and had lived in Canberra for a while, so I ended up going to his guest house which was quite cheap. When I got off the bus to the guest house, I met some girls with funny accents. So I asked them where they were from, and they were Kiwis! so we walked together to where the guest houses were. They were going to stay in another, but it was full, so we ended up staying in the same one. So after showers and stuff, we went out together to get some food. The awesome thing was, was they had real Kiwi appetites, hungry, meat-eating chicks. So I was suitably impressed. Anyway, we played pool, I got thrashed, and then one of them needed to sleep, so she went back to the hostel. So me and the other girl (an accountant, at the same stage as me) had more of a look around, the last place we went to the owner wanted to challenge us to a game of Connect 4, if I won she would buy both of us a drink, but if she won, I had to buy another drink. Being out of practice, I lost. But after that me the kiwi girl played and I think I won most games after that.

The next day we looked around Malacca, which was quite historical - it is where many Portuguese, Dutch, British, Chinese and Indian immiggrants came to. There were several museums and ruins worth checking out. So after a tuktuk ride back to our hostel to pick up our bags (again I was wary, but the guys were really friendly, and not dodgy, and had English that was more than seller english) we walked, and then caught the bus back to the bus station. From there we got a bus to Kuala Lumpar (KL).

The girls had been to KL before, so we went to the hostel where they had stayed before. The hostel was in KL's chinatown. Again, we went and had some dinner, and then went to play pool. I was feeling tired, so I called it an early night.

The next day, me and one of the girls went to the Petronas towers. We had to get there early and queue for a long time, but you did that to get the free tickets. Actually on the train on the way there we met a Filipino couple who were doing the same thing. So we ended up spending a lot of time with them, in the line, and then later when we came back to go up the towers.

With the towers they take you to the Skybridge which joins the two towers. Its OK, considering its free, but I would have liked to go to the top.

So after that we all parted ways. I went and took some more outside photos of the towers, and then found an information centre so I could plan what else I could see in KL before leaving. I decided to go to the science speed museum in the towers, and then saw Little India on my way back to the hostel.

I got back to the hostel, picked up my bag, and then jumped on a bus back to Singapore. Lo and behold, the Filipino couple that I had met earlier were on the same bus. So on the few stops we had on the way back to Singapore we had a few yarns about the day.

Funny thing was, when we got to the customs back in Singapore, we took slightly longer, because of the line. Anyway, our bus took off without us, which was strange. Surprisingly I wasn't so annoyed. Luckily I had taken my bag with me (because you have to). Anyway, there was a city bus heading back to the city so we jumped on that (me, the Filipino couple, and another couple.)

I ended up staying in a cheap (yet good) backpackers near the life. I was quite happy, it had a double bed, ensuite, 2 complimentary bottles of water, and internet (although the internet was quite bad). That night I had a bit of a look at the nightlife, but was uninspired.

The next day, I checked out Singapore's little India, caught the bus that takes you around Singapore, went to the Singapore Motor Show (co-incidentally it was on while I was there, I just happened to discover it). That night I went to the night safari at the Zoo, and then got dropped back off in town. I went to a popular American restaurant for dinner, and then caught a taxi to the airport via my first hotel to pick up my luggage.

At the airport I spent about 3 hours rearranging my luggage, getting rid of excess junk, and transferring the heavy stuff into a big shopping bag (thats how you get around weight restrictions kids). Then following that I went through customs into the departure lounge for about three hours. However I quickly spent that time, after writing a few emails, eating, and having a well-deserved shower. So I hadn't had sleep by the time I hopped on the plane, but I slept through most of two movies, and then was sweet.

Last Stand in Japan

Sorry again that this has been a while coming. I've decided to update it an entry at a time, otherwise it might not ever get down. It's one of those things that has to be done while it is recent, otherwise it doesn't.

Anyway, after sleeping the night in Beijing airport, to make sure I got my flight, and fighting off scouts trying to convince me to come to their airport hotel - going so far as suggesting that I could have a massage from girls with large mammory glands (my words, not theirs, obviously. If I didn't think they were dodgy beforehand, well I knew it then) - I made it back to Japan.

On arrival to Japan, at Nagoya airport I was asked to open my luggage so they could check it. I didn't have a problem with that, but I guess it was because I had been to Thailand, or maybe it was the Al Queda beard thing again. Anyway because of that I had to wait another hour for the airport bus to come, but no big deal.

So I worked 2 and a half days, once in Yatomi, and once at JYK, and the half day at my own branch (started at 10am, finished at 2pm, had lunch, packed my bags got the train to Nagoya to catch a train to Nagano at 4pm.)

The train ride was kind of long, but interesting while it was still light. At the end of the trip I was picked up by the people where I was staying, which was pleasantly unexpected. It turns out I was their only guest, so I had a great time there, they treated me like a guest to their house. For example that night we had nabe for dinner, the following night we went to a local bar, and then on the Sunday we went up the mountain for a picnic lunch. See the link if you are ever heading to Hakuba Alps.

On the Sunday I headed to Tokyo. After a little trouble I managed to find my accomodation. It was a bit late to do anything, so I just went and got some food. The room in Tokyo was pretty small, but was cheap for Tokyo (Y2500 - roughly $25-$30NZD).

The next day I went to Tokyo Disneyland. It was pretty good, interesting to see how they portrayed things from stories I had read as a kid, compared to how I had imagined them, for example there was the Swiss Family Robinson tree house. I was a little gutted though that you can't go inside that castle that they always have.

The following day I went to DisneySea. I ran into a small problem though, as the last leg of the train trip there had temporarily been stopped, due to wind. So I had to walk (catching a taxi or bus would have meant a long wait) for about an hour, and didn't get there until 2pm (I had to go that day as I had bought a 2-day ticket). On the last kilometre or so of the walk, I met a Russian man and his adult son, who were also heading to DisneySea, so we teamed up and walked together. It seemed funny to think, here were 3 adult men, off to see DisneySea. Fortunately, I still managed to see everything there that I wanted to see, as well as somethings twice, with time to spare. I must compliment Disney on having the sense to stay open until 11pm, rather than closing at 5pm like other parks.

The following day, I went to Yokohama. I didn't think it was anything special. The Chinatown was better in Kobe I thought, and was quite expensive. I went up the tallest building in Japan though.

The next day I turned 27. Bit of a non-event. I went across Tokyo on the subway and visited the famous places I wanted to see, Akihabara (electronics), Tokyo tower, etc. After completing that, I jumped on the Shinkansen back to Nagoya, and on to Yokkaichi.

Back at Yokkaichi, we had my staff farewell/birthday party, which was nice. I guess it was a decent turn-out for a Thursday night, and considering essentially I had already left.

So I worked a half day on the Friday, during which I had lunch with my old Japanese teacher. And then a full day on the Saturday. Saturday was nice, thanks to my co-workers co-operation, I managed to organise the schedule so I had all three kids classes, and the students that I had had regularly during the year.

That night I had my Student farewell party. Again nice, but sad.

The following day, after packing my bags, two of my student friends and I headed to Kyoto, to visit Anandia. That night we had dinner, and then went to karaoke. The next day, unfortunately was spent sorting out all the various things that needed doing, for example cancelling my phone contract, and closing my bank account. By the time we finished doing that, we could only visit Kyoto tower. My friends were such a great help translating, I would have been really struggling otherwise. After having dinner, I hopped onto the express train to Kansai airport (Osaka).

That night I stayed at the airport hotel. It was expensive, but I figured it was worth it, cos if I missed my flight, it would have been a lot more! It was a really nice hotel room. I got to sleep on a double bed for the first time in a year. I say on, not in, because I was so tired that I fell asleep on top of it, rather than in it. Anyhow, without much trouble, I got my flight to Singapore.

I must admit though, I was a little sad when getting my tickets, knowing I wouldn't be back. My eyes did well up a little.