Japan Is Doomed

It's the day after our big night out. We're tired and hungover and wondering what the best hangover cure might be. In the end we decided the best thing to do to get all the alcohol out of us was to head a mile or so out of Tokyo by train to Kamakura, and see the huge Buddha statue there.

Matt, Nate and myself were joined by Lynsey, who did my gap year project a few years ago, and now lives in Tokyo. The train journey was about 50km south west of Tokyo, in Kanagawa prefecture. We were still quite tired (having had about 5 hours sleep) but there was one redeeming feature of the length of the journey and that was warmed seats. Mmm! We could just about see Mt. Fuji on the skyline too, which was quite exciting. It was a really cold but clear day, and it was the first time I'd seen Mt. Fuji in any detail.

From the station we walked a short way to the Great Buddha. We looked down at the ground when we got there so as to save the suprise of seeing him for the first time from close up.

Needless to say it was a rather big shock. But the biggest suprise was for the meagre price of 20yen (10p!) we could go inside the Buddha! What an offer!

It was very dark inside and I couldn't take photos very well, but I did get to stand inside the head figure of Buddism's crotch. How many people can say that?! It was somewhat claustrophobic in there and having the only blonde hair made me a beacon of interest for everyone inside, so we quickly left and explored the area around Mr. Buddha.

It was truly amazing and for once I wasn't the biggest person around. (Although Nate is a little taller than me. Woohoo! I'm almost normal!) In part 2 of this update I'll talk about the oriental gardens, with the many tiny statues and underground caves. But for now I have to go and get ready, as tonight we are hitting the party circuit hard to welcome in 2007. So as the next update will be written in 2007, I might as well say Happy New Year!

Our holiday in the cold is now officially over. We flew back to Tokyo on Wednesday 27th, joined by Nate and Rolf. Eager to get back to civilization and hit the ground running, we took one night off then, on our second night in Tokyo, we were taken out for dinner by Alex - our rep here in Japan.

We were taken for a meal at the Tokyo Grand Hyatt Hotel in Roppongi Hills. For those unaware, Roppongi Hills is one of the richest areas in Tokyo. The meal itself was fantastic, and if you ever manage to save up enough to buy the moon, I strongly advise the Scottish Salmon followed by the Seafood Platter. All I can say is those prawns were so fresh I was surprised they didn’t fight back against my mighty fork. Rolf had a Kobe steak, rumored to be one of the best in the world, and the price was about a quarter of my monthly paycheque. A drop in the ocean for a Roppongi businessman, but it was exciting to watch a steak the same price as a TV being eaten in front of me.

Once the meal was over, Alex walked us down to a trendy walk-in bar and said his farewells. Inside the place was absoloutly full of foreigners. Usually, the majority of gaijin in Tokyo is made up of Australians and Americans, but here there were French, German and Italians in large numbers as well. All of us Europeans were outnumbered by the Americans overall, but it was nice to meet people who don’t call football “Soccer”.

After having a drink at the bar and joining some Americans who are studying in Japan, we headed for the clubs. The plan was to find the world famous Gaspanic! club, but in the end we settled for Club Vanilla. A lively place full of foreigners, we kept on partying until about 4.30, then we slept for five hours before we went to Kamakura. But that’s a different story for a different blog post…

Sorry this is a short and boring post, but the next one has loads of pictures and lots of fun words to read!

For those of you who don't know me very well, let me sum up my experience with driving;

• "Sure I'll learn to drive one day."
• "Well, I've had three lessons and I can tell this isn't for me."

As a result my abilities on machines are not as advanced as those of Matt, Nate and Rolf, all of whom have passed driving tests and know what they are doing. Still, looking at the controls of a snowmobile, you wouldn't think that would be such an advantage, right?

Wrong!

Of the four of us, I was quite easily the worst. I rammed other people by mistake on two separate occasions, frequently nearly fell off the accursed thing, and managed to choose the snowmobile with the faulty breaks. At least, that's what I blame my misadventures on.

Before we were allowed onto the ferocious machines, we had to wear the appropriate safety gear in the form of a helmet that didn't fit. 

Apparently once you are wearing a helmet you are totally and utterly safe no matter what. Our fears were doubled when the Japanese instructor spent all of two minutes explaining how to work the machine. Here for your enjoyment is a 100% accurate, word for word recap of our instructions;

The left one is the break. The right one is the accelerator. Don't go too fast.

What should we do if we crash? What should I do if I stall? All these questions remained unasked and are now a memory and nothing more. How poetic.

The first half of our time snowmobiling was spent playing follow the leader around a mile or so long path, winding itself through the dense forests that are scattered throughout Hokkaido. At one point we had to come out of a farmer's field and onto a snow-covered road, but to do so we had to go up a rather large and sharp jump. Needless to say I went the fastest and as a result I am confident I will never have children.

The views were fantastic, and the other guys were all very good at it. I was…mediocre. Snowmobiles go rather fast though. But all of this has taught me one very important lesson. Once you read it you must pass it on to your children and they must pass it on and so on.

Stand up when you go over a jump.

There isn't a word strong enough to explain the pain your entire body is subjected to if you hit a bump and aren't in a straddling position. If you don't believe me, run face first into an oncoming train. Then come tell me I was wrong.

We’re now a week into our ten day stay in Hokkaido and it’s the first (and last) time we’ve hit the slopes. Some may say that I should have been out there every day, braving the elements. But unless you’ve ever frozen yourself entirely in ice whilst standing at the North Pole eating Ice Cream you don’t know what cold means. So it took us a week to muster up the courage (and money) to finally be able to destroy the pistes of Hokkaido.

Matt and I were joined by a couple from Toya headed out in their van on a 40 minute drive over icy roads to the ski resort, later to be joined by one of the Hokkaido volunteer’s reps, Hiromi. The drive itself was scary enough, so much so that the price of a one day lift pass (5,000yen/£25) didn’t seem so outrageous. Now that I can see my empty wallet it does seem a little steep, though…

Matt is a beginner on the snow so he got a lesson from Mr. Hiro, whilst I and Mrs. Yumi went snowboarding in the fine powder snow of Japan. Having traveled half way around the world to know what the ski resorts are like. I can now officially tell you they are pretty much the same as French ski resorts. (Minus the French, duh)

We spent the whole day snowboarding on fantastic snow. It really was worth the trek, and I am confident I have fully made the change from skier to snowboarder. I leave you with a video clip we took at the top of one of the runs. Narrated by yours truly.

Update tomorrow about Snowboarding! Until then, Merry Christmas!