My first trip to Shibuya and a mini tour of my apartment

Photos:

• Top left: "Living area" of my apartment, taken while standing in kitchen. Pretty sweet fake machete hanging on the wall, huh?
  
• Top right: kitchen, taken while standing in living area. Yes, that's my uber-small refrigerator (that all three of us share) right next to the sink.
  
• Middle left: my futon. Just imagine there are two of those side by side and then add a foot and a half or so at the end of the bed and you know how big my room is.
• Middle right: my closet. Yes, Ted, I have a midget closet right above my regular closet, too.
• Bottom left: main intersection in Shibuya. Just above the girl in the red shirt you can see a two-story Starbucks and farther above that you'll notice that the windows in the building are actually TV screens. Haven't even been in Tokyo for 24 hours yet, and already I got them to put up a billboard tribute to my sister... :) (Click on the photo to enlarge and look at the white TV screen to see what I'm referring to.)
  
• Bottom right: more Shibuya

Just thought I'd share a little portion of my new home with you all!

My first night in Tokyo...and I've already fallen over

Photos:

• Left: Goodbye Portland!
• Right: Hello Tokyo! (The image looks pretty peaceful, but to get the full effect of my experience you'll have to imagine for yourself the many screaming babies that were serenading our landing.)
  

Here I am in Tokyo. Well, technically I'm in Yokohama, but apparently my ward is just about as close as you can get to Tokyo and I will probably even have to take the train into Tokyo just to catch another one that will get me to work. So for all intents and purposes, I live in Tokyo.

Got into the airport at Narita at about 4:15 after possibly one of the most comfortable of the ridiculously long flights I've taken. Customs and immigration went incredibly smooth as well and then I met up with the team from my language school that had come to pick up a bunch of new hires that were all flying in the same evening. Caught a bus at 6:45pm with three other new guys and arrived in Yokohama just shy of two hours later. One of my flatmates had come to meet me and take me the rest of the way to the apartment.

On the way from the bus station to the train station I had the good fortune of tripping over one of the stones on the sidewalk. Not just a small, unnoticeable trip. The big kind, where you fall completely forward and almost on your face. My flatmate gracefully is blaming it on the jet lag, but I myself have burned into my memory the horrified gasps of the crowd of Japanese people that were awaiting their buses. I didn't get hurt or anything, but it sure is one way to have a memorable arrival.

Once home at my apartment, I met my other flatmate and set up my futon, which means that I'll be getting used to sleeping on the floor. It also redefines the concept of a small bedroom: my futon takes up just under half the floor space of the room but is smaller than a twin-sized bed!

This morning my luggage arrived earlier than scheduled (yay for Japanese efficiency!) and we ended up heading out around 11am, I think. I went to my ward office and applied for my alien residency card which will be ready in a couple weeks and is also necessary to do almost anything that someone who actually lives here might want to do. So for the next couple of weeks, I'll be living like a tourist.

From the ward office, we went to Shibuya. Took a few pictures just outside the train station and then went to Tower Records to look for a Japanese textbook for Kim. Didn’t find it, but a few minutes later we did find a little eatery that looked kind of like a diner, but I’m pretty sure I’ve never been to a diner that serves curry and soba before. It was a relatively cheap meal. We followed that up with a walk through some of the neighboring streets to do window shopping. Piece of informational interest: Japan is pretty much the best place to be if you want to get your alarm clocks for about $1 and then go to Louis Vuitton and get your umbrella for about $600. No joke.

Anyways…ended up the evening with a trip to the grocery store, which is an entirely different kind of adventure that I shall save for a later time, and then I went with Kim to where she gets Japanese lessons for about $3 a month. I’m thinking I may start going next week myself. But for now, I’m just going to settle for going to sleep.

The countdown to Japan begins!

I reserved my plane ticket this week for Japan! I am leaving Portland on Tuesday, September 26th. Until then, I'll be working at the same place and staying either at my parents' house or another house where I'll be doing some house-sitting. I'd love to spend as much time as possible with friends before I take off, so be sure to let me know what you'll be doing. I may try to make it down to Eugene again before I go, too. Please, please, please stay in touch!

P.S. "Tako" means octopus in Japanese. Get it?

Sydney Zoo!!!

Photos:

• Top left: Kangaroos! These are red kangaroos, and you actually get to walk right through their pen. There was nothing in between me and them except a few feet of ground when I took this picture.
• Top right: Koala.
• Middle left: Tigers. The one on the bottom was still working on tearing up a huge piece of raw meat.
• Middle right: penguins. Can't remember the specific name of this penguin, but they're supposed to be the smallest penguins in the world.
• Bottom left: This was what Carla was the most excited about. This lion was obliging and looked right at me for the picture! Click on the picture to see the larger version.
  
• Bottom right: Just a minute or so before the ferry hit a wave and we all got wet...

Carla and I went to the Sydney Zoo yesterday. What a trip! It was really expensive (even with the student discount), but worth it. I got the long-awaited pictures of kangaroos and koalas, and I also got to see some other interesting things.

Absolutely no rain, either. We couldn't have asked for better weather, really. The only time we got wet was on the ferry ride home, and we got pretty wet then. Yucky salt water. Back at Circular Quay, Carla and I went and got 50 cent ice cream cones at McD. It's probably the only time in Sydney that I've gotten something for less than $1.

Well...this is my last post from Sydney. I'll be home in about 48 hours or so. I've had so much fun with this blog, and I hope all of you have enjoyed the pictures. (I've got lots more pictures that I'd love to share, by the way. But you'll have to come hang out with me to see the rest.)

Thanks to everyone who stayed in touch while I was gone. It was really nice to hear from people at home, and I hope we can do the same when I leave for Japan in a couple months. I will be using this blog again when I get there, so keep this address handy. Until then, I'll try and update every once in a while so everyone can know my exact departure, etc.

Thanks again! See you all soon.

Woolloomooloo Wharf

Photos:

• Top left: Harry's Cafe de Wheels
• Top right: Custard tart from the cafe
• Bottom left: Woolloomooloo Wharf
• Bottom right: Sydney Harbour at night, one more time

Yesterday was only a day for "semi-adventure", as I will refer to it. Found a place in the tour books/maps that said Garden Island and thought it sounded interesting. I had to take the bus to Woolloomooloo to get there and then found out that this is where the Australian navy has barracks, so you can't even get to that part of the bay...

Walked back up the hill and caught a bus to "Harry's Cafe de Wheels", which is another site that I keep reading is a huge tourist attraction. Apparently a lot of famous people have been there and I read that they have their pictures up all over the cafe. Too bad I didn't recognize a single one of their so called "famous celebrities." I felt like it was just another twisted ploy to get me out there to spend money. The cafe is also supposed to be famous for its pies. (Note to American readers: "pies" in Australia are not fruit/dessert pastries, but instead are more like chicken pot pies. It's a VERY popular meal here.) Now, the pie thing is one rumour that turned out to be true. They must have had at least 20 different kinds of pies: chicken, beef, chili, you name it. They pile them high with toppings, too. I wasn't hungry enough to eat one, so I just got the dessert custard.

Next, with some extra time on my hands seeing as there's nothing to do in Woolloomooloo, I decided to go on yet another ferry ride. I just took the Darling Harbour/Pyrmont Bay route, which is round-trip and brought me right back to Circular Quay where I caught the bus home.

By the way: it's official. Now that I've actually bought the umbrella I went so long without, there will be absolutely no good reason for me to use it. The weather forecast of "rain all weekend" apparently really meant "shower Saturday morning and then blue skies through Sunday night". I keep finding myself actually hoping for rain tomorrow so that I'll get to use it before I leave--just in case I can't take it home with me. But really I can't complain too much; such nice weather today made our trip to the Sydney Zoo even better. But you'll have to wait until tomorrow's post to hear about it.

Church tours and final trips to Art Museum and The Rocks

Photos:

• Top left: St. Patrick's Cathedral
• Top right: window at St. Phillip's
• Middle left: rooftops and blue sky at The Rocks. (I took the picture through a chain link fence, which is why there are black spots at the top.)
• Middle right: Doorway to St. Mary's
• Bottom left: gallery of 19th century European paintings at the Art Gallery of NSW
  
• Bottom right: the Qing Dynasty table that I've waited so long to see in person... :)

As mentioned before, I finally went and bought that umbrella yesterday. Used it for 5 minutes on the way to the internet place and then for the rest of the day didn't see so much as a drop. Figures... I'll probably get a lot of use out of it this weekend, though, because it's expected to rain until after I leave.

In the afternoon yesterday I wanted to squeeze in some final photos of the places I've been. I made the rounds to four different churches, two of which I'd never seen before. Got some nice pictures. My route took me back through The Rocks and to Observatory Hill, where I also got some nice pictures.

Next, I went back to the art museum. Took even more pictures. (Had to make sure I got one of the Qing Dynasty table and porcelain, you know...) I found a couple of exhibits that I didn't go see the other times I'd visited.

Didn't do much else yesterday. Rainy weather kind of makes me want to stay inside all the time. I'll be out and about today, though. And hopefully I'll have more pics to share tomorrow!

A Maritime Museum and a look at Australian television

Photos:

• Top left: a view of the side of the museum from the ferry
• Top right: I guess these paintings are a tribute to Australian beach-goers...
• Middle left: lighthouse outside the museum
• Middle right: playing around a bit with b/w on the camera. This is one of the ships that people can take a tour of at the museum, but you have to pay for that. So I didn't.
• Bottom left: a tiny bit of blue sky as I was taking the ferry home.
• Bottom right: yet another view of the harbour...

The sky in these pictures--unlike the ones from the other day--give you a really accurate idea of what the weather's been like this week. When I left the house this morning, it was barely sprinkling. Seconds later, the rain was falling in sheets. I was completely soaked by the time I got to the bus stop a block away. Needless to say, I went straight into Randwick and bought an umbrella. (The little twist of irony is that the store I went into to get out of the rain had the air conditioning on.) As I sit here typing (hours later), I'm still wet.

But anyways...

Yesterday I went back to Paddy's Markets. This time, I actually bought stuff. Came away with some good deals. Got really wet walking back to the CBD from Chinatown. Not much else exciting to say about that.

Next, I went to the Australian National Maritime Museum via the ferry. It was definitely worth the trip, and the fact that it was free was an extra bonus. This place has museum-ized nearly everything that can fit in the category of "maritime". Right down to the exhibit on bathing suits, including a display of a 1970s bikini and bathing cap. There's also a pretty big section on US-Australian maritime contact. I guess it was the US's gift to Australia to commemorate the bicentennial of European settlement on the continent. There's a big plaque on the wall where George Bush (sr.) made the dedication in 1992.

After the museum, all I wanted to do was go home and put on some dry clothes. Which is pretty much how I feel right now. But a little rain's not going to stop me from making the most of my last few days here...

And to conclude, I have another list for you: "Australian TV Shows Based on American Television".

• Bert's Family Feud. Complete with a guy who actually kind of looks like Louis Anderson, a former host of the US version of the show.
• Australian Idol. This one's pretty much self explanatory.
• Dancing on Ice. I think this one's called "Dancing with the Stars" (or something like that) back in the states. This season boasts "Stars" which include a morning news anchor with more chest hair than I've ever wanted to see, an ex-cricket player who now fills his days working as a cricket commentator, and to top it all off there's also a member of parliament.
• Big Brother. This one's definitely the winner by far. Now in season 6, this is one of the most popular shows in the country. Reality TV just wouldn't be complete without a zookeeper and a gay farmer-slash-model living in a house together for weeks on end...