The Search for E.T. (status)

Welcome back Ninjafans for the next exciting instalment of our time spent in Japan. It has been made known to me there are some fans who would prefer more regular updates. Unfortunately the literary genius you have decided to follow is not a tap that can be turned on and off. Therefore if you would prefer a more regular update, tough.

In any case the past week has seen us decide upon our permanent accommodation (actually it was you the avid followers of both our blogs that helped decide that. So, we will be staying in (drum roll please)…………….. Yokohama.



All 4 towers, we are in one of the far ones

The view, second bathroom, location of nearby shops, things to do nearby just seems the right fit. In addition if we do want to go to central Tokyo for whatever reason, we can jump on an express train and be there in about 15 min! (have I mentioned I think perth public transport could learn some valuable lessons from Japow?)

This week I also spent some time in Akihabara on my own. The place is quite an amazing warren of different shops full of bangs, pops whistles ……. And TOYS!!! Whilst I didn’t buy anything I did plan further purchases for after we move into the apartment (we have enough gear to be shuffling down there without adding to the pile just yet!). Please go to this week’s edition of ‘toy of the week’ for some more info and pictures.

The journey to Akihabara also saw me lose track of time on the trains for the first time (which is very easy to do!) but the damage was restricted to just one station – not to bad and it was also a pretty handy station to travel to for the next part of my trip.

One of Karate’s more refined work colleagues had also spent the week raving about the western mecca of Tokyo. The ray of light that strikes the building is reminiscent of the euphoria one experiences upon discovering a Macca’s/KFC after a night out on the turps…… except 10 times that! (admittedly it had been a little while since I have felt so rough after a night on the turps so perhaps maybe not so great).

This fine establishment is called Nissin World Delicatessen and has 3 floors of western goodness, ranging from juicy Aus/NZ steaks (yes they were ~$10 each but sooooooooooo worth it!) to an entire wall devoted to cheese and the top floor is devoted entirely to booze.

The down side to this holiest of holy’s is that it is not near a JR line and is only accessible from a local subway which is a little out of the way for us to get to from Shinagawa. The net result of the adventure was that my backpack was stuffed full for the journey home (no room for any electronic stuff ) but we ate very well that evening!

The rest of the week saw us register as aliens (it’s now official) and apply for our re-entry permits. I dare say Japan is fairly similar to Australia in that they want to know contact details for any foreigners – however they ramp up the bureaucracy by insisting that anyone who has a visa but leaves for whatever reason has to reapply from scratch unless they have a re-entry permit. This in itself wasn’t hard to do thanks to the reloJapan consultants, but I would have been pulling out my comb-over strand by strand if we had to try and work this stuff out by ourselves.

Kate then left us to go to work whilst our Kyoko-san (our guide) took me to get a mobile. Rest assured the chaps we went to see are just as if not more dodgy than Australian telco salesmen (one guy tried to sell me an iphone on the basis that I would use it when I was in Japan but once I left all I would have would be an Ipod).

I tried to get across through Kyoko-san that I had an unlocked Iphone and just needed the SIM with a basic plan…… The salesman refused to hand over the SIM on the basis that the iphone wouldn’t work unless it was a Softbank one *GRUMP* (and even though I don’t speak Japanese apparently my facial expressions can transcend linguistic boundaries! Who knew??)

As a result I had to sign up for a 2 year contract on a phone that can display about as much English as I can speak Japanese – needless to say I use it for calls between Kate and me and that’s about it. Oh and for reference even though I have message bank, please don’t leave me a message (sms only!) as the damn menus are in Japanese and I have no idea on how to access them! To my loyal fashion consultants out there (you know who you are) check out the phone and see how far I have come......

Kate also had similar language issues with her phone but after my experience in the shop I went out on a limb and whipped her work SIM into the unlocked iphone and voila Kate has predictive texting again! (and more importantly, Angry Birds).

On Friday we went to dinner in Ropongi. Not really having an idea/preference for dinner we settled on a German restaurant. The beer was nice but a word of advice is that a ‘hamburg steak’ in this joint is just a big mince patty which was tasty, but not quite what we were expecting.

This blog more or less continues in the next entry -- I didn't want to make it too big........