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.