Volcanic Ash? Yes, we did get stuck. We'd been back for Jemma and Ben's wedding and then to our dismay discovered that our carefully laid plans to get back to Tokyo were absolutely snookered.
We'd planned to fly the day after the wedding and all our arrangements hinged on that. It was not to be. As Sunday 18th April neared it became very clear that the skies would not be open any time soon.
A quick email to a very good friend of ours was greeted with an absolute yes and we thank Ann hugely for allowing us to stay in her home - even when she wasn't there! Even now, looking at all the TV reports of the time, we thank our lucky stars (and Ann) for being so comfortable during the delay! The enforced downtime was good for the soul and we explored Reading as never before. (Recommend the Jamie's Italian just outside the Oracle!!)
We pretty much kept to our plans and I had to return the hire car to Healthrow on the Sunday as planned. I drove up an eerily quiet M4 heading to Heathrow with road signs saying "Heathrow Airport Closed" all the way. It was about 7pm and I did rather wonder if the Hire Car place would be open. The roads around the airport were amazingly easy to navigate - no one on them!
Herz was indeed open and the staff there could not have been more helpful. I returned the car and waited in line for a receipt. In front of me were two men - I thought they were friends but no, the first man had driven all the way from Madrid and to avoid paying the extortionate 3000 Euros that Herz were demanding to drop the car off in a different country, he had waited outside all day with a sign in Spanish saying "Please take this car back to Madrid". It had paid off. The second man was from Madrid and was looking for a car to take him there. We got chatting and he actually offered to take me to Madrid to catch a flight for Tokyo. I explained that my husband and luggage were in Reading so I was unable to go with him. He was so sweet and said that he had a Channel Tunnel Train booked and did not have time to go via Reading or he would have done so. It warmed my heart.
The elderly couple I met on the Herz bus were also very sweet - over from Canada, they had finished their visit with relatives in Wales and now could not get back. They were preparing to sleep on the bus station floor until things changed. I suggested going outside of Heathrow to get a hotel room and I really hope they did.
Now the volcano has started up again..... we have travel plans for the summer - most of which do not invlove going anywhere near the northern hemisphere but for just two and half weeks we will be in the UK. If you get a call from us saying we are stranded.... please take pity on us - your garden shed may come in handy!
Wednesday, May 12, 2010
Monday, April 26, 2010
Cuddles and Confetti - what a week!
Wednesday, March 24, 2010
Hot springs and little fishes
The day dawned bright and sunny and I headed off to meet my Japanese friend at Roppongi station to sample the delights of a real, Japanese onsen (public bath). It is in Odaiba - a part of Tokyo Bay which has been built on reclaimed land. The train out there has the most wonderful view and is well worth the trip! What amazed me most about Odaiba was the wind strength. It was blowing a real gale and whipping up the dust out there - not a bit like the sheltered parts of Tokyo that I usually frequent.
The Onsen is built in the traditional style and the whole place resembles an old fashioned village from the Edo period. So having taken off your shoes and paid a modest sum for entry you are guided to the counter where you choose your Yukata - a casual dressing gown type thing that covers you from neck to calf or toe. There is a good selection in many sizes and we were soon kitted out.
We headed outside. It was a lovely day and the temperature was not too low. This part of the Onsen was, what the Americans call, co-ed - mixed, male and female so you keep your yukata firmly tied! We spotted a place that has a shallow pool with doctor fish in it. These are small black catfish like fish that just love to chomp their way through the dead skin on your feet. We plonked our feet in the pool and the agony/ecstasy began. The feeling was like a million bubbles bursting all over your feet - very gentle and very tickly!! A fellow Japanese guest screamed throughout the whole process .... but kept her feet firmly in the water! The effect, after 15 minutes, is beautifully manicured feet - quite the best I've ever had! I will return.
The Onsen is built in the traditional style and the whole place resembles an old fashioned village from the Edo period. So having taken off your shoes and paid a modest sum for entry you are guided to the counter where you choose your Yukata - a casual dressing gown type thing that covers you from neck to calf or toe. There is a good selection in many sizes and we were soon kitted out.
We headed outside. It was a lovely day and the temperature was not too low. This part of the Onsen was, what the Americans call, co-ed - mixed, male and female so you keep your yukata firmly tied! We spotted a place that has a shallow pool with doctor fish in it. These are small black catfish like fish that just love to chomp their way through the dead skin on your feet. We plonked our feet in the pool and the agony/ecstasy began. The feeling was like a million bubbles bursting all over your feet - very gentle and very tickly!! A fellow Japanese guest screamed throughout the whole process .... but kept her feet firmly in the water! The effect, after 15 minutes, is beautifully manicured feet - quite the best I've ever had! I will return.The rest of the place (single sex places this time) was full of hot springs to wallow in, steam rooms to indulge yourself and a couple of places which were very unusual - there was the sand bath (yep, had to have a go at that) and the hot salt bath (nope, not doing that!). In the sand bath we were wrapped in our yukatas, in towels and then buried in hot volcanic sand. The sand was at 43 C. They bury you from your neck all the way to your toes. The sand is hot and very heavy and they keep checking on you. Believe me they need to! You cannot move and you perspire very heavily for 15 minutes then they unwrap you and guide you to a cold shower. I'm sure it does you good. It left me feeling very sleepy and totally spaced out!
We took a break, ate an ice cream and then headed off for lunch. There were plenty of places to be massaged and pummelled if that was your fancy. It was a great day out - another tick in the box for things to do in Japan!
Sunday, March 14, 2010
Jet Lag and other irritations
I know it seem churlish of me, but I have to confess to being fed up with jet lag - nice to be able to travel, I hear you say, so stop moaning! It's just that, as I sit here, at 2.42 in the morning, there is no one else on line to chat to so it feels as though I'm the last person on the planet. I'm not one to suffer from insomnia so this is a frustrating experience for me.
The reason for the jet lag is that we have been back in the UK doing the recruitment for Dave's school out here in Japan. It was great fun to be able to see some old friends and to spend my mother's birthday with her. We arranged a lunch for a few friends and family and we had a fabulous day at Brancaster. The sun shone, the wind was gentle and the company was fantastic. Ryan drove up from London just to be with us and that was such a wonderful thing. It was also an absolute treat to be able to spend a couple of days with Kirsty who helped me to take out an old cat flap and put in a new one for my mum. It was not without its tribulations - of the four screws one was not going to undo and we had to enlist the help of a neighbour - brute force was the answer and neither of us had the oomph! Fitting the new one was a cinch by comparison. Dave, meanwhile, was travelling the country, observing teachers and working very hard! Do I feel guilty? Not really :)
I was also lucky enough to spend the following day in London with Jemma, Ruth, Kirsty, Manda,and Jean searching for (and finding) the perfect wedding dress for 17th April. What a blessing to to take part in that rite of passage and what fun we had. Lunch was good too - a Dim Sum restaurant just off Carnaby Street.
While we were in the UK our lap top picked up a virus - it was a huge inconvenience and I tried to get PC World in Swindon to fix it for us. They happly took my eighty pounds to fix it and then had the gall to tell me they didn't have time to get to it! We were not happy. Still they did refund the money - just as well!!! However, it meant that we were without internet for a couple of days and having arrived back after the long haul flight I had to set to and resurrect the old desk top machine that has been sitting in the corner of the study for months since our arrival in Tokyo. Actually, it's quite nice to be able to see a huge screen so it's not all bad news!
So back to the beginning - now I'm nine hours out of synch with Tokyo and writing my blog! The joys of travel! Off to make tea now - care to join me?
The reason for the jet lag is that we have been back in the UK doing the recruitment for Dave's school out here in Japan. It was great fun to be able to see some old friends and to spend my mother's birthday with her. We arranged a lunch for a few friends and family and we had a fabulous day at Brancaster. The sun shone, the wind was gentle and the company was fantastic. Ryan drove up from London just to be with us and that was such a wonderful thing. It was also an absolute treat to be able to spend a couple of days with Kirsty who helped me to take out an old cat flap and put in a new one for my mum. It was not without its tribulations - of the four screws one was not going to undo and we had to enlist the help of a neighbour - brute force was the answer and neither of us had the oomph! Fitting the new one was a cinch by comparison. Dave, meanwhile, was travelling the country, observing teachers and working very hard! Do I feel guilty? Not really :)
I was also lucky enough to spend the following day in London with Jemma, Ruth, Kirsty, Manda,and Jean searching for (and finding) the perfect wedding dress for 17th April. What a blessing to to take part in that rite of passage and what fun we had. Lunch was good too - a Dim Sum restaurant just off Carnaby Street.
While we were in the UK our lap top picked up a virus - it was a huge inconvenience and I tried to get PC World in Swindon to fix it for us. They happly took my eighty pounds to fix it and then had the gall to tell me they didn't have time to get to it! We were not happy. Still they did refund the money - just as well!!! However, it meant that we were without internet for a couple of days and having arrived back after the long haul flight I had to set to and resurrect the old desk top machine that has been sitting in the corner of the study for months since our arrival in Tokyo. Actually, it's quite nice to be able to see a huge screen so it's not all bad news!
So back to the beginning - now I'm nine hours out of synch with Tokyo and writing my blog! The joys of travel! Off to make tea now - care to join me?
Thursday, February 4, 2010
Secrets of a subway traveller
I don't often use the subway (or Metro as it is also known here) at peak times. All those stories of men in white gloves shoving passengers into cars to get as many on as possible seemed rather unbelievable. I mean, the Japanese are so particular about their own personal space and anyway, they have pretty strict health and safety rules, don't they?
Well, yesterday saw me boarding a train on the Yamanote Line (the equivalent of the Cirlce Line in London) at just after 9.00 am. It isn't peak time as the Japanese start work late (and finish even later) but the station was busy which, given that the trains run every 3 minutes, was a bit of a shock to my system. I found THE spot to stand and waited. The train appeared. Hmm, I thought, this will be tricky - the carriages were already jammed with some faces pressed up against the window with their noses squashed against the glass.
Fortunately, Shibuya Station is a real hub for transport and some people got off the train, so that allowed a very few to get on. The aforementioned man in white gloves was hovering at the ready, but, as always here, there is a protocol. To get into an already packed train, you turn around, very much like getting into a lift. You then push yourself back against the people standing at the front - not needing to make eye contact (and this is the secret), they simply have to move backwards. This means the person at the very back - standing against the doors on the opposite side are then pressed against the glass but you have a space and you can begin your journey. If by any chance some of your belongings (or body parts) hang outside the door then this is the point at which the man in white gloves becomes your best friend and he will ensure you are all aboard before the train moves off!
I was staying on the train for five stops. This meant that by the time I needed to get off, I was the one at the back with my nose pressed against the glass. Of course, this is all very well if the train is absolutely packed because even though you cannot hold on to anything to keep you stable, your fellow travellers keep you upright. In fact at one point I got a fit of the giggles. As we rounded a bend the whole train shuffled first one way and then the other - very much like penguins on an iceflow. It really was a ridiculous sight as we all tried so hard to preserve the personal space rule. It's totally impossible, of course, and you do get to know everyone around you very well indeed. The real danger comes when the carriage has one or two spaces; THEN you are in trouble as you move so much further and there is nothing to stop your rolling except the next person upon whom you trample!
You learn a lot about physics. The safest way to stand on a moving train is across the middle, facing the direction in which you are travelling. You can balance much more efficiently in this position. More advice? Don't wear three inch heels and don't ,whatever you do, carry a backpack on your back - take it off and put it on the floor beween your feet. One final bit of advice - turn your phone off - if it rings there is absolutely no way you will be able to reach it and the Japanese do not take kindly to a mobile phone ringing out! There is a lot of sighing and sucking of teeth! (No, it wasn't my phone thank goodness and it belonged to a Japanese businessman!)
Nine o'clock is not a good time to be moving in Tokyo but it was an experience not to be forgotten. I'll stick to the bus or to moving around after 11 - you usually get a seat that way!
Well, yesterday saw me boarding a train on the Yamanote Line (the equivalent of the Cirlce Line in London) at just after 9.00 am. It isn't peak time as the Japanese start work late (and finish even later) but the station was busy which, given that the trains run every 3 minutes, was a bit of a shock to my system. I found THE spot to stand and waited. The train appeared. Hmm, I thought, this will be tricky - the carriages were already jammed with some faces pressed up against the window with their noses squashed against the glass.
Fortunately, Shibuya Station is a real hub for transport and some people got off the train, so that allowed a very few to get on. The aforementioned man in white gloves was hovering at the ready, but, as always here, there is a protocol. To get into an already packed train, you turn around, very much like getting into a lift. You then push yourself back against the people standing at the front - not needing to make eye contact (and this is the secret), they simply have to move backwards. This means the person at the very back - standing against the doors on the opposite side are then pressed against the glass but you have a space and you can begin your journey. If by any chance some of your belongings (or body parts) hang outside the door then this is the point at which the man in white gloves becomes your best friend and he will ensure you are all aboard before the train moves off!
I was staying on the train for five stops. This meant that by the time I needed to get off, I was the one at the back with my nose pressed against the glass. Of course, this is all very well if the train is absolutely packed because even though you cannot hold on to anything to keep you stable, your fellow travellers keep you upright. In fact at one point I got a fit of the giggles. As we rounded a bend the whole train shuffled first one way and then the other - very much like penguins on an iceflow. It really was a ridiculous sight as we all tried so hard to preserve the personal space rule. It's totally impossible, of course, and you do get to know everyone around you very well indeed. The real danger comes when the carriage has one or two spaces; THEN you are in trouble as you move so much further and there is nothing to stop your rolling except the next person upon whom you trample!
You learn a lot about physics. The safest way to stand on a moving train is across the middle, facing the direction in which you are travelling. You can balance much more efficiently in this position. More advice? Don't wear three inch heels and don't ,whatever you do, carry a backpack on your back - take it off and put it on the floor beween your feet. One final bit of advice - turn your phone off - if it rings there is absolutely no way you will be able to reach it and the Japanese do not take kindly to a mobile phone ringing out! There is a lot of sighing and sucking of teeth! (No, it wasn't my phone thank goodness and it belonged to a Japanese businessman!)
Nine o'clock is not a good time to be moving in Tokyo but it was an experience not to be forgotten. I'll stick to the bus or to moving around after 11 - you usually get a seat that way!
Monday, January 18, 2010
Winter survival
Not here of course, but in the UK! We spent a glorious couple of weeks in the cottage in Broad Town over Christmas and the New Year and we were amazed to discover that the snow had descended just 24 hours before we landed at Heathrow. The M4 was clear though and at that time the snow stopped at Reading - a lot like the trains!
Our first morning dawned clear and crisp and we drove over to Cheltenham through the beautiful country roads, surrounded on either side by a frozen landscape. Trees covered in that wonderful hoare frost and with the sun shining on them it was truly a magical land - just like Narnia! We were pleased to be home. Britain is a beautiful place and has all the plus sides of being familiar in a heartbeat. We know what to do and where to go - life in short is easy. We spent our time with friends and family - sadly we did not spend ENOUGH time with either but we will be back again in the spring to celebrate Jemma's wedding to Ben - a truly surprising announcement made on Christmas Day and the arrival of Ruby, Sian and Andrew's first baby (Dave's second grandchild) who will, no doubt, arrive with a Liverpool scarf around her neck!
We escaped from the UK with just hours to spare. We left at 1pm and the snow began to fall at 4pm. We arrived back to Tokyo with temperatures at 10C and the sun shining brightly. It was good to be back in the land of the rising sun. It too felt familiar and easy to be here.
Stories of being snowed in abounded on CNN and BBC World and we were genuinely concerned for all those left behind. Some councils doing a magnificent job whilst others were creating more chaos by salting and gritting in all the wrong places. To add insult to injury, they are running out of salt and grit so that too will cause mayhem. Anyway - photos and emails from our friends have shown us that they have (mostly) loved it. The enforced stopping of life, the necessary break from routine and the marvellous and creative snowmen that have been produced by those of you old enough to know better!
A few days ago we saw the devastation caused by the earthquake in Haiti. We too live in an earthquake zone and we are waiting for The Big One. We had a small wobble on Sunday and before that it was in mid December. It is amazing how blase one becomes to these. As one menopausal friend said the other day - you are never sure if it really is a quake or if your hormones are playing up! Probably the best way to look at it.
'Be prepared but not obsessed' we have been told. Prepared we are. I have just ordered and received an Emergency Pack from the US. Not only was I amazed at the speed of its arrival from LA (three days if you please - Royal Mail eat your heart out!) but also what can be put into these backpacks. The whole thing is designed to keep you motivated for about 36 hours - some of the wonderful things in it are a radio (plus batteries of course), waterproof stuff, medical basics, pack of cards - it even contains a tent for goodness sake! The next dilemma is, do we take out the tent and practise assembing it then fail to get it back in the backpack or do we wait til disaster strikes and tempers are short anyway before attempting it? Any advice?
So winter survival in all its guises. Not long til Spring is here in Tokyo - I think it starts tomorrow!
Our first morning dawned clear and crisp and we drove over to Cheltenham through the beautiful country roads, surrounded on either side by a frozen landscape. Trees covered in that wonderful hoare frost and with the sun shining on them it was truly a magical land - just like Narnia! We were pleased to be home. Britain is a beautiful place and has all the plus sides of being familiar in a heartbeat. We know what to do and where to go - life in short is easy. We spent our time with friends and family - sadly we did not spend ENOUGH time with either but we will be back again in the spring to celebrate Jemma's wedding to Ben - a truly surprising announcement made on Christmas Day and the arrival of Ruby, Sian and Andrew's first baby (Dave's second grandchild) who will, no doubt, arrive with a Liverpool scarf around her neck!
We escaped from the UK with just hours to spare. We left at 1pm and the snow began to fall at 4pm. We arrived back to Tokyo with temperatures at 10C and the sun shining brightly. It was good to be back in the land of the rising sun. It too felt familiar and easy to be here.
Stories of being snowed in abounded on CNN and BBC World and we were genuinely concerned for all those left behind. Some councils doing a magnificent job whilst others were creating more chaos by salting and gritting in all the wrong places. To add insult to injury, they are running out of salt and grit so that too will cause mayhem. Anyway - photos and emails from our friends have shown us that they have (mostly) loved it. The enforced stopping of life, the necessary break from routine and the marvellous and creative snowmen that have been produced by those of you old enough to know better!
A few days ago we saw the devastation caused by the earthquake in Haiti. We too live in an earthquake zone and we are waiting for The Big One. We had a small wobble on Sunday and before that it was in mid December. It is amazing how blase one becomes to these. As one menopausal friend said the other day - you are never sure if it really is a quake or if your hormones are playing up! Probably the best way to look at it.
'Be prepared but not obsessed' we have been told. Prepared we are. I have just ordered and received an Emergency Pack from the US. Not only was I amazed at the speed of its arrival from LA (three days if you please - Royal Mail eat your heart out!) but also what can be put into these backpacks. The whole thing is designed to keep you motivated for about 36 hours - some of the wonderful things in it are a radio (plus batteries of course), waterproof stuff, medical basics, pack of cards - it even contains a tent for goodness sake! The next dilemma is, do we take out the tent and practise assembing it then fail to get it back in the backpack or do we wait til disaster strikes and tempers are short anyway before attempting it? Any advice?
So winter survival in all its guises. Not long til Spring is here in Tokyo - I think it starts tomorrow!
Monday, December 7, 2009
Thoughts on illiteracy
Since we started travelling overseas to countries that do not use our alphabet, it has become increasingly clear to me that to be illiterate reduces your interaction in the comminuity considerably. It causes HUGE frustration and, if I were of a different disposition, great angst! Take shopping for instance - the words don't mean a thing so you have to go by pictures. So what exactly is in a tin with a lovely lady smiling and holding something orange in her hand? Could they be carrots? Or peaches? Or mangoes ? or even pumpkin? A quick look across the shelf and I notice that this is THE shelf for vegetables. So remove mangoes and peaches from the list of possibles (and oranges too, if that's just crossed your mind) and you have a choice. So, if it's carrots - that's OK but I'm not a fan of tinned carrots. If it's pumpkin, well I can use that in soup if push comes to shove. So I put them in the trolley. This scene and thought process is repeated across the store and you have to hope that there hasn't been a lazy shelf stacker who put the tin there out of convenience to him rather than logic!
I have just spent a whole hour and half trying to assemble an office chair. The chair is a lovely, black chair on wheels which, in the shop, was fully assembled and ready to use. Today it was delivered, on time and as agreed . The chair is now in a rather large and heavy box. It is in five major pieces accompanied by fifty five screws and washers all of varying size - and the thoughtful manufacturers have also included a small bolt tightener. It's OK though because it comes with fully comprehensive instructions - all in Japanese. There are diagrams that almost resemble the pieces in front of me so we may get close.
So, different sized bolts and screws then ...... hmmmm. Those of you who know me well know that I am spatially challenged (no Ryan, that doesn't mean I take up a lot of space!) It means I cannot park a car and I have no idea how big anything is. This serious flaw in my make up does come in handy sometimes but not this time.
I won't bore you with the details but I am sure you can imagine the scene. I tried this bolt, then that bolt, then this bolt with that washer and so on. Fifty five times ..... If you're good at statistics you will have worked out the possible number of combinations and it's a lot.
The final ignominy of all this is that having worked it all out and got something that resembles a chair standing in the lounge, I place the top bit on top of the bottom bit and all the wheels fall off. Aaaaaaaagh!
I have just spent a whole hour and half trying to assemble an office chair. The chair is a lovely, black chair on wheels which, in the shop, was fully assembled and ready to use. Today it was delivered, on time and as agreed . The chair is now in a rather large and heavy box. It is in five major pieces accompanied by fifty five screws and washers all of varying size - and the thoughtful manufacturers have also included a small bolt tightener. It's OK though because it comes with fully comprehensive instructions - all in Japanese. There are diagrams that almost resemble the pieces in front of me so we may get close.
So, different sized bolts and screws then ...... hmmmm. Those of you who know me well know that I am spatially challenged (no Ryan, that doesn't mean I take up a lot of space!) It means I cannot park a car and I have no idea how big anything is. This serious flaw in my make up does come in handy sometimes but not this time.
I won't bore you with the details but I am sure you can imagine the scene. I tried this bolt, then that bolt, then this bolt with that washer and so on. Fifty five times ..... If you're good at statistics you will have worked out the possible number of combinations and it's a lot.
The final ignominy of all this is that having worked it all out and got something that resembles a chair standing in the lounge, I place the top bit on top of the bottom bit and all the wheels fall off. Aaaaaaaagh!
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