Amy gets ill & updates

Morning,

Just a quick update and a few anecdotes from the past few weeks.

So my cousin Amy left a few weeks ago and on the week that she left she contracted a cold probably from all the little kids in Disney. So When it came to send her home she was coughing everywhere. As you may know the Japanese are somewhat clean freaks, so sending Amy on public transport was not a great idea. The solution; face mask. They are not very effective but it is polite to abide by their rules. It does make for some funny photos.

This month I also got the results for both my A levels and my Intermediate ballet exam. I passed the ballet exam, which I am so happy about as I have been working for it a long time. I am also amazed as I told you how badly I thought the pointe work went. As for the A levels, I did quite well in those too, not as great as I suppose I wanted; but definitely improved compared to last year. I finished 1 A level this year (DT) with a C, I also did 2 AS levels; physics and chemistry and got Ds in both, I know that doesn't sound great but they were almost Cs and they are better than the Es I got last year and easier to improve upon next year.

We are still waiting for our furniture to arrive and we are now pining for a sofa as the floor gets tiresome.

Hope you like my blog, please leave comments on what you would like to read about.

Maria xx

Update

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Holiday - the last day.

I don't want it to be over! Although I feel like we were so busy and on the go I need a holiday to relax after the holiday.

So to make the most of the last day before getting the train back to Utsunomiya we went into Tokyo to explore and with an agenda.

The Agenda is as follows;
- Buy new lens for Amy's Camera
- Look at new Ballet shoes
- Shop Generally, obviously
- Visit Sky Tree
-  See the imperial palace
- Go to Ginza
- Go to Shibuya

And if you've ever been to Tokyo in August you will know that that list is almost impossible to achieve because of the heat and Humidity that comes with cramped tall city buildings. Which is why we hardly made a dent in what we wanted to do.  But I will tell you about what did go down that day.

We got into Tokyo station we proceeded to find our way through the maze to the Shinkansen Gate, as we wanted to store our luggage somewhere with easy access. However lots of people seemed to have the same idea as the lockers were full and there was a huge queue for overflow locker space.

We finally got out of the train station and decided our first port of call was the imperial palace. Seemed easily enough we had a map and it was clearly marked. Little did we know at the time it was baking hot as it was approaching noon and, that you can only see the castle from the gardens which you have to pay for and the entrance is on the other side of the park. So instead of seeing the most amazing castle we saw a huge stone wall and a line of trees. Don't be too down heartened though because we were able to see the two moats which were home to turtles and giant fish so that was interesting to watch.

Next on the agenda; lens fro Amy's camera, we decide to head up Ginza as it is only 3 minutes away by subway. It also had shopping opportunities and none of us had been before. First stop the camera shop unusually difficult to locate and I think we may have ended up at a different one than we intended but oh well. Amy bought an amazing lens with a considerable discount compared to buying it in the UK.

After that we
stumbled upon A&F. I haven't been to one of their stores for probably two years and oh my god it smelt amazing. I don't know what the smell is and you cant buy it to take with you but it is unique and sensational. So I am now not so bummed about going shopping in Japan.

Once the very tiring but not so productive day was over we collected our luggage and hopped on the next train back Utsunomiya where we slept very well.

Hope you enjoyed your my account of our holiday this year,

Maria xx

Living in Japan

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Holiday - Disney

DISNEY, who wouldn't be excited.

Instead of staying another day in Atami we decided to head into Tokyo early. We arrived at our hotel at 10am and we decided to go to Disney Sea! We were in the park before 11.

Disney Sea Tokyo is the only one of its kind, you would imagine it might be something like Animal Kingdom in Florida; you would be wrong. It's kind of amazing and so much better, I would say its a mix between the Studios, Epcot and a hint of A Kingdom. However it really is in a league of its own. It gets in Sea from the fact that it is basically in the sea, not quite but its on the coast and all the water used throughout the park comes from the ocean. If you love an immersive experience you will love it, the theming and attention to detail is amazing you could quite easily be lost and transported to amazing scenes.  Seeing as this wasn't planned, best decision ever!

Disney is a really big thing in Japan it seems, everyone was walking around with ears and matching outfits and bright chaotic t-shirts. Many of them far older than me and Amy, so for the first time ever we bought bows. I feel like this is unusual, most little girls go to Disney and the first they they buy are ears, most likely a waste and I guess my mum knew it because I got to the age of 18 without having the experience. I have to say though it was probably the best place to go all out.

While going around the park we noticed a face that we had never come across, Duffy. After posting it on Facebook my uncle knowingly informed us who he is, although I'm pretty sure he didn't know either until he goggled it. Duffy formally known as the Disney bear is a bear Minnie made Mickey to take with him on his journeys, aw cute right? So, naturally I had to have one. There are two things you can never grow out of these are; cuddly teddies and Disney!

The next day as planned we went to Tokyo Disneyland, its pretty much the same as any other Disneyland apart from the layout and the addition of Toon Town and of course everything is in Japanese. Even mickey Mouse is Japanese, his voice higher in pitch as well. However the language is not consistent throughout, some is still in English but its doesn't make sense for those bits to be in English and others not. For example a song that was sung throughout a parade which i had never heard before was in English but when they showed a clip of Belle or Peter Pan in London it was in Japanese. I thoroughly enjoyed myself though.

Another thing I noticed about Tokyo Disney is that it a lot cheaper than other Disney resorts, not cheap in comparison to Japan but if you compare the merchandise prices in Florida to that of Tokyo there is a significant difference. My mum for most of her life has wanted to dine at the themed restaurant Blue Lagoon set in the Pirates of the Caribbean ride, but we have never gone a) because of the price and b) we could never get seats. Unlike other resorts you cannot book tables at any of the restaurants, so we headed down on the off chance that it wasn't full and it wasn't too expensive. Neither was the case, we were seated immediately and it was very reasonable for the food and experience. It was amazing, I loved it even if we did have hassle with Amy's eating requirements. We then finished the day off with the illumination of Cinderella's castle, mesmerizing and magical as one would expect.

Maria xx

Living in Japan

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Holiday - Atami

Morning, (its morning somewhere right)

So as I said in my previous blog my mum, my cousin and I went on a tour of south of Japan. This entry is about stop number 2; Atami. This section was meant to last 2 days, time to recoup our energy and relax, well that is not quite what happened. Read on to found out more.

After spending most of the day in Kyoto we jumped on a train on our way to Atami, that was more challenging than it needed to be too. We realised that the journey was somewhat longer than we had expected, so we thought we would upgrade our tickets to reserved seats. We have done it before but the guy at the desk just was not having it and didn't really want to help us, he did eventually and only by refunding the tickets and then charging us again. And then charging Amy the full price.

When we finally arrived it was dark and we decided to get a taxi to the hotel, just as well as it was miles away up a hill. We were tired and when realising it was so far away and asked if we could have dinner at the hotel, No. We assumed it was because it was late so we headed off back down to the town via another taxi. The town was CLOSED! Only 2 restaurants open, and one was McDonalds and the other was a sushi restaurant which was kinda crappy. However the view from our room was amazing and the beds were quite comfortable after some adjustments made by Amy which involved me sleeping on what looked like a marshmallow or a cloud.

We woke up and before went to breakfast, nothing special, and then went to the reception to ask about dinner again. This time we were told it was not included in our price (which we knew) we said we would pay. "No, Impossible!". We literally laughed out loud and just walked off. We decided to have a picnic in our room instead.

It's not OK to be in the middle of nowhere and not serve your guests food especially when the nearest place to eat is a 10 minute taxi journey and its closed. 

We made our way to the beach which was OK, but our experience at the hotel had already tainted our vision and it was hard to relax. We had lunch a place called Jonathan's which overlooked the beach and kept ourselves out of the midday heat. The rest of the day was spent on the beach, hot, soft sand and lovely blue skies. The sea was sublime; clear blue and not extremely cold, refreshing and it had pontoons that you could swim out to. The afternoon was stress free and very relaxing and I don't think any of us wanted to go back to the hotel.

Needless to say we were not enthused at our time in Atami and the next day we had planned to spend on the beach. But after the events of the previous days we decided instead to go to Tokyo early. We woke up super early; called for a taxi, guzzled breakfast and checked out. Unbelievable when we checked out they gave us a leaflet about their restaurant with the receipt! Oh yeah the food that cheap and good quality but we can't eat, argh!

We jumped in the taxi and we were off to Tokyo!!!

See you there :)

Maria xx

Living in Japan

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Holiday - Kyoto

Afternoon,

So last week my mum, Amy and I went on holiday. My mum had the week off because the site was shut down. We decided to do a tour of the south of Japan as it is quite as way from where we are based. Quite excitingly I was given the task of planning the holiday completely, I normally have an input but this year it was all up to me, muah ahaha! A tad stressful but it was fun.

Plan of Action -
Day 1 - Travel to Kyoto, Explore, Sleep
Day 2 - Bamboo forest, Travel to Atami, Sleep
Day 3 - Relax, Sleep
Day 4 - Relax, Travel to Tokyo, sleep (not what actually happened but explain later)
Day 5 - Tokyo Disneyland, sleep
Day 6 - Tokyo Shopping, Home, sleep

Because so much happened that week I have decided to do 1 blog for each location, so stay tuned for the adventures of Atami and Tokyo.

So on the first day we began very early in the morning as we had to get a train to Kyoto which took around 3 hours. That is a lot I know but when you think about it, its 522 km away vertically on the other end of Japan, which would take you around 7 hours to drive without stops, it all doesn't seem that bad. The train was quite simple as well just one change at Tokyo and very civilised. they say the north and the south of Japan are  very different, and they would not be wrong. You wouldn't expect it but why not, its like 2 different neighbouring states in America, still american but have completely different cultures.

We arrived I decided to take them to the Inari Shrine only a 5 minute train journey away from Kyoto central. This is typical tourist territory like most of the trip, its often the front cover of the travel books and its no wonder why; its so beautiful. However the picture are deceiving; from the picture it looks like there is one row of maybe 50-100 gates, not quite. The gates go on endlessly in various sizes and were wiggling up a bloody mountain. Don't get me wrong, its amazing and it was fun but not when its like 35 degrees and you have suitcases to bring with you up the hour long trek.



In the evening we arrived at our hotel in Arashiyama and we were completely frazzled, I'm surprised we even made it to dinner, I could have fallen asleep right then and there. As a result we went to bed at the ridiculous time of 8.30, I haven't gone to bed that early since I was 5!

We woke up the next morning feeling refreshed and ready to explore the Bamboo forests. Breakfast is always interesting, no matter where you go it seems; just varying degrees of odd. On our way to the Forest only a 15 minute walk from our hotel, we stumbled upon a bicycle hire shop where you could rent a bike for 1000 yen a day (that's £6 for the whole day!) and it was definitely money well spent. Arashiyama is not the biggest of places but it is spread out and it would be hard to do everything in one day, however with the bikes we were able to see almost everything with time to spare.

The two main attraction for us would be the Bamboo Forest (of course) and the Scenic railway. They were both amazing experiences and it felt like you were transported to a different world. From the streets you could hardly tell there was a forest behind, until you take a little alley street and then all of a sudden you are immersed in Bamboo and you have lost site of the bus street behind. The bamboos Shoot up as far as the eye can see. Even the fences are made of bamboo shoots. It's incredible and I cant quite do it justice in words.

 The Scenic railway is a steam train that runs along the bamboo forests as well as vast river that winds around the mountainous range. On our journey we saw that it is the perfect river for a white water rafting experience however that would have needed to be booked in advance. The colours and the views were to die for and it was so relaxing to look out onto whilst chugging along on an odd train. Very nice and peaceful end to our stay in Kyoto.

Stay tuned for what happened next on our holiday

Maria xx

Living in Japan

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We Have the Keys!! Empty Apartment Tour

Hello

At last we have moved in, I say moved in I mean we have the keys but we cant move in yet, we have literally no furniture! So here it is, what a lot of you have been waiting for a tour of the all be it empty apartment.

I apologise in advance if the sound quality is not very good, but I thought it would be nicer for you to watch a video than read hundreds of words, easier on the brain.

Thank you, hope you enjoyed seeing the apartment and let me know if you would like another post when there is actually furniture. 

Maria xx

Living in Japan

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GSK Girls hockey team, Orange United.

Hi, long time no see! I apologise, I've been on holiday and Wi-Fi connection has been sporadic and is continuing to be so.

My mum works for GSK and on a Saturday we were invited to attend one of the companies hockey matches. From that first sentence you would expect it to be a small, amateur, friendly girls hockey team, and that's where you would be completely wrong! The team is in actual fact a official professional team called Orange United. And some of the team members play for Japan in the Olympics, cool right?

So we set off Saturday morning from the site with a coach load of supporters as well as another coach on the way from Tokyo. it was about a 3 hour drive away in a neighbouring prefecture; Satima. As soon as we got on the bus we were handed piles of merchandising to support the team. We had cool bags, towels, fans, horns, toothpaste and water which all came in very useful during the day. Everyone was wearing orange of course and everyone except me hadn't taken that into account. They stood out like a sore thumb in a sea of Orange.

We stopped for lunch at an outlet centre, which I am sure was a bad idea. We were given 2 hours so they obliviously wanted us to shop. I did quite well I guess, I didn't go overboard but I got a fossil I Pad case for £4 (yes!) and a gym top from Nike and a sponge that looks like a doughnut for the apartment.

Then off to the game, when we arrived it was excruciatingly hot, you have no idea. We thought it was just because we were English, but other people were hot too. We later found out that it was the hottest day of the year so far at 44 degrees Celsius, 44! With no shade watching hockey seemed almost impossible, but by the time we sat down on the bleachers and started watching the game, we forget about it.

I really enjoyed the game; it probably helped that we won 5-1, but it wasn't just that. The atmosphere our side was making was outstanding; we all had hooters, we had a man with a giant drum and many song and chants to try and get the gist of. It was incomparable to our opponents that just sweltered on the opposite bleachers,
few in number and rather glum, I felt sorry for them.

Overall a enjoyable day which ended in being exhausted in the evening. A good night sleep was definitely had that night.

Maria xx

Living in Japan

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