Tokyo Mini Break

For a pre-season mini break, I went to Tokyo to watch the final of the Bledisloe Cup – a tournament between New Zealand and Australia. The final was held in Tokyo to promote rugby and build hype for the rugby world cup that will be held in Japan 2011.

Although not really any kind of sports fan, I do enjoy live sport matches and the Bledisloe cup was no exception. A nearly full stadium of a mixture of Japanese and gai-jins. One of the guys I was with, John, managed to rally up enough support to begin a Mexican wave around the stadium. To be fair, the first attempt wasn’t that good, but it got better, with one making it’s way all around the stadium.

Outside the stadium all five of us purchased what was probably fake rugby strips for a very reasonable price. I did buy a Kiwi shirt for the practicality of use after the game. A black polo shirt I can use while I work out, a bright yellow one isn’t so useable outside of Australian events.

After the game we all headed to Shinjuku for an izakaiya dinner and more drinking, to carry on the Kiwi theme, I discovered a kiwi sour with real kiwi’s in the drink – yummy.

Rest of the Tokyo trip was really fun, shopping, Cold Stone, high tea at The Peninsula and a seven story, women’s only Uni Qlo.

Returning to Hirafu on Tuesday I was greeted to a very white landscape. While I was away it snowed for basically the whole weekend. It has since melted in the warm weather we’ve had this week. A great semi start to the season none the less.

Tokyo Halloween 09

Oz and Sinagpore

Recent family news took me to Oz for the first time in over ten years. It was a strange yet familiar trip. I got to meet three new family members and say good bye to one.

Customs in Oz is always so serious, I was directed towards the long line of people opening out their suitcases and showing the customs officers food and other items. The list of questions on the customs card can also be ambiguous. One was something about being near a lake in the last seven days and another about having soil on your shoes. At the counter I did take of my shoes to show the customs officer, all was well and they let me into the country.

One thing that did strike me about Sydney is all the traffic, each side three lanes wide and there always seemed to be a jam. Dropping my cousin off at the airport, a car was flashing his lights and beeping at me to move. If the car behind had looked a little further than his own bonnet he would have seen a taxi in front of me whose driver was getting the luggage out of the boot. Not much I could do when the car behind me had blocked me in so there was no where for me to go.

On leaving Sydney I went with my family to spend a few days in Singapore and also apply for my Japanese visa. As a Brit, there are different rules to extending and changing a visa in Japan which I and SkiJapan have learnt in the last few weeks.

We ate, shopped, ate and walked around in the humidity. Orchard road is going though some re-development with a lot of luxury brands lining the street and new shopping malls that feel like a whole new shopping experience that I don’t currently have the money or need, to indulge in.

We did have money to indulge in the food courts around the hotel, in China town and little India. I have since learnt that dim sum is known as yum cha and roti chani is known as prata. The lime juice, chrysanthemum tea and iced milo is a good as it was, as is the fresh fruit, roti chani and all the other good food that remind me of the family holiday’s spent in Malaysia when I was much younger.

Oz and Singapore