Australia Day

The alarm went off at 5.00 this morning. We showered, had breakfast, and got ready, to leave the hotel room just after 6.00.

We caught the Narita Express from Shinagawa and had an uneventful trip to the airport. After checking in we had some food and a drink, and said goodbye when I needed to go through immigration – both of us looking forward to my return in April.

3 movies got me to Singapore, where I did some work on the laptop, and after what felt like an eternity, I finally got on my flight to Melbourne.

After such a big night last night, I wasn’t feeling the best today. So I had a good sleep in.

Kaoru and I went out to lunch together, and bought tickets for the Narita Express for tomorrow. Then she went to work and I went back to the hotel to pack.

We went out to dinner at a restaurant in the hotel, which gave us a 10% discount as I was staying there. Wish we had known that earlier!

We went to Shinjuku to look around one of the big electric department stores. Ate lunch at Sushi train.

I came back to the hotel to work, and Kaoru went to work.

At 7.00 I went to meet Occhi for dinner. Namee was there again, as well as 3 other guys in Occhi’s soccer team. We went to a local “students” restaurant – ie, supposedly cheap. However with what we ate and drank, the bill came to ~50,000 yen, so it was quite a wild night! Kaoru joined us when she was able to after work – however the other students there were doing a fine job of translating and continued to for the rest of the night.

Lazy start to the day as I had been up working most of the night. We went to lunch at Anna Millers. Funny place.

Kaoru went to work, and I went to Nishifunabashi to fix the problems I had had there on Friday. Dai-san was there, with his iPhone as an interpreter (some app he downloaded). It didn’t do too well, but I was able to get by, as we had already explained the updates, and this was just showing them how to use them. It’s pretty easy. Left by 4.30.

We had dinner in the room – assorted platters from the deli. Very tasty!

Not long after dinner, it started snowing. This was quite heavy snow. We went to the 29th floor to look at the view of Tokyo, but couldn’t even see the red lights that covered the skyline last time I was here. Visibility was very poor. It was very beautiful, and we were happy we weren’t out for dinner and having to walk in it! I managed to get some footage on my video camera.

Kaoru and I went back to Kashiwa to see how they went with Soccer last night. No Mikiko so I was dependent on Kaoru today, and again she was great. I don’t know what I would have done if she wasn’t available!

Had dinner in a restaurant in Shinagawa station.

Kaoru and I went to Kashiwa stadium. Met Dai-san and Mikiko there later, but until then Kaoru translated for me. It was very useful, and she did a good job, considering she didn’t know the technology.

They played Indoor Cricket – I stayed for the first couple of games and Kaoru went to do some shopping. Once I had had enough, I met her at the station where we had dinner, and then back to the hotel (~1 hour trip).

Started raining in morning, but then turned to light snow. Melted before hitting the ground.

Went to Nishifunabashi to install updates. Met Mikiko there about 1.00.

Had problems as database didn’t support Japanese language. No web access at stadium so I had to come back to hotel to solve it. Only took 10 minutes to find solution once I was on the web!

Kaoru’s day off.

I had to work most of the day to solve some issues back in Melbourne.

Worked from hotel for the day.

Worked in morning.

Kaoru cooked lunch and went to work.

I finished some jobs off and then went to Shinagawa to check in to my hotel.

Kaoru arrived after work. Went out to tea.

Started the day working.

Kaoru went to work. I worked for the afternoon.

Went out to nice restaurant for dinner.

After a bit of a sleep in, we made our way down to <…>. There we witnessed a “coming of age” ritual that happens once a year, for 20 year old men (and the occasional woman). These people were in the cold water, carrying a <….> on their shoulders, jumping up and down and chanting away. The <….> weighed a ton, and there were roughly 15-20 men carrying each. Occasionally we would see somebody who had had enough come out of the water. Their shoulders were red and swollen from the massive weight they had been bouncing around.

Once this ritual was finished, they carried the <….> out of the water and on to the beach, where they continued to hold it – it was not allowed to touch the ground! We then were treated to a performance on the Japanese drums. There would have been about 15 of them, being played by a local group.

We then walked across the bridge to the island of <….>. We walked around the island, and made our way to the top, where there were more temples. A “street performer” in the grounds had a pet monkey, and they put on a fantastic show for us. Then it was in to the caves for some exploring. The tunnels (apparently) go all the way through to Mount Fuji!

We had done several hundred steps for the day, and my bag was getting heavy, so we caught a ferry back to the main land from the far side of the island (which is where we were), rather than walk all the way back. The next task was lunch, which was had at a nice little store, at about 3.00 in the afternoon.

After lunch we went to the supermarket to get food for dinner. We went back to Kaoru’s flat, and she cooked while I got some work done.

I had to check out of the hotel today, as it was closing for a couple of days for some works. So I packed up, and left the room around 10.15. I worked in the cafe in the lobby for a couple of hours, and then Mikiko and I went out for lunch, before going to Kachidoki.

Our plan at Kachidoki was to sit on the side lines and use the system during their soccer games, so the players and spectators could see it in action, while the umpires continued to use the old “flip the numbers over” system. So once I had things set up (the flat battery in the TV remote complicated things a bit, as the TV isn’t very accessible, but luckily a ladder was near by), I did this.

After a couple of games, I also ran the clock. I could hear spectators / other team members starting a stop watch when the game started, so they knew when it was in the last minutes (as there was no timer displayed at Kachidoki). So having it displayed on the big screen would have simplified things, as well as let the players on the court know without having to hear the time called from the side line. However I had to stop the clock in the last 10 seconds so the buzzer didn’t sound, as they did not want that disruption.

Kaoru turned up after an hour or so, and Mikiko left – so I still had somebody to communicate with them if I needed to. After 7 or 8 games, I decided that was enough, and we left for Kaoru’s place. There were only 6 teams playing, so they had all witnessed the scoreboard, and Mikiko had told me a couple of people commented on the “Electronic scoreboard” that was present. Hopefully the news makes it back to the right people.

We had pizza for dinner, and I caught up on work / blogging from the last week.

Today started with a 10.30 meeting at Kachidoki, with the decision makers. These are the people we should have seen on Wednesday, but better late than never. We started to understand their mindset, and it was very negative. They are convinced that they are doing us a favour by letting us put our system in their stadium, so we have to wait until they are ready to use it. At the end of the meeting, we agreed to start the trial from now, so as long as they are willing to give it a serious go, we were happy to go on. But Mikiko was quite upset with a lot of what they were saying, and it was very frustrating for both of us.

I went back to the hotel to work, while Mikiko went to another meeting. After that, she brought one of the owners of Kashiwa to the hotel, so I got to meet with him. He is very positive with things, and is happy with the support he is getting.

After a bit of a break, Mikiko and I went to Shinagawa station, and met up with Occhi – the blind soccer person we met with in November. We went to a local restaurant and had another great feast of food and beer. Then we moved to another place, where we ate more great food, and Occhi and I got on the Saki. It was another fantastic night out, and definately needed after the week we had had!

Well, luckily drinking the good quality Saki meant there was no hangover! I was quite pleased with that!

Mikiko and I met up with Dai-san, and went out to Kashiwa stadium to have a meeting with them. Dai-san’s car was parked in a car park, so he drove us from there to the stadium. On the way out, I heard a strange noise. I found out it was their phones giving an earthquake warning! We pulled over in the carpark to watch it. The pipes running overhead were moving, which was the only sign we had of the earthquake. Not knowing what Mikiko and Dai-san were saying was the hardest part, as I had no idea where the earthquake was, or its intensity. I’m guessing as we were in the car, some of the vibrations were absorbed, and I would have felt more if I was outside.

The meeting at Kashiwa was all quite positive, and they were planning on using the system for Indoor Cricket next week, so I put it in my schedule to ensure I could be there to support them for that.

We went to sushi train for lunch. We ate lots, and it was all fantastic. And the price was unbelievable, so I took a photo of our stack of plates, and the bill. . That’s 2,845 yen for that stack!

Mikiko and I then went to Kachidoke, to drop the tablet and remote off to them. I didn’t know when we would next get there (we were hoping to be there for their games on Saturday) but I wanted to ensure the system was there.

We then went back to Shinagawa to get some things done, and then go to Nishifunabashi. We arrived around 7.30pm, and had a some-what good meeting with them. Only problem is that the decision makers don’t know the business! But it was positive, and the players / umpires / staff all like using the system. We booked in for me to go back next week to install the latest updates (Sportskeep / Datascore / Player Login Screen), and migrate them to Sportskeep 3 (so they use the laptop we bought for them in November).

We had a quick dinner in Nishifunabashi, and then Mikiko and I went back to Shinagawa, arriving home around 11.00. It had been a long day.

This morning was spent working. Again, I left my room for house keeping and lunch.

In the afternoon, Mikiko and I went to Kachidoke to have our first meeting, and see how their trial had gone of the Datascore system. The less recorded about that, the better…

Back at the hotel, we met up with Dai-san, and went out for dinner in Shinagawa. Over lots of wonderful food, we worked our way through several different types of Saki. All were good quality, and very nice, but I wasn’t looking forward to tomorrow with what we went through!

Today was a proper work day. I spent most of the day in my room, hard at it. I came out in the morning for half an hour when housekeeping came in, and also went out for some lunch, but that was it.

After Kaoru got back from work, we went to a local restaurant for dinner, and then had a 30 minute walk around the block to see more of the area.

After we returned, I spent the rest of the night working.

Today is a public holiday in Japan, so Kaoru had the day off work to show me around. I decided I should respect the local holidays, and had the day off work myself 🙂

The first place we went to was Kamakura Daibutsu (the Big Buddah). We were able to go inside the buddah, which was pretty cool. The way he was constructed was described inside.

Then it was off to Hase Temple. Along the way we were a bit hungry, so had some food. After sweet potato crocket, that didn’t quite hit the spot, we had deep fried pizza.

At the temple, there were a truck load of steps to go up, but the view was worth it! We could look out over the sea, and see people on paddle boards, and walking along the beach. I got a fortune while I was there – given I had such a bad one when I was last in Japan, I thought how much worse could it get? Well, apparently I’m “gifted”, because this one was pretty much just as bad! I tied it to the pole, to send the bad luck away.

We walked around a bit, and then went to an old cafe. This was quite unique to me. It had a 1950’s type of look about it, and even the music playing was from that era, and sounded like it should have been coming from a record player!

Our next destination was Tsurugaokahachimangu Temple. There we prayed (I didn’t remember the full ritual, but Kaoru reminded me). I contemplated trying another fortune. *Finally* I managed to get a good one, although it was the only one that didn’t have any English on it, so I’m trusting Kaoru on this. Instead of tying it to the pole to send the luck away, I kept this one.

It had been a long day, with lots of walking with my heavy backpack, so we went back to the hotel in Shinagawa. After dropping things off and catching up on emails, we went to the other side of the train station (downtown Shinagawa) and had a Japanese BBQ for dinner. Here we cooked our own food on a burner in front of us. Really makes the chef’s job easy! It was, once again, a great feast!

We had buns for breakfast – we had bought them last night so we didn’t have to go out in the morning. I then got couple of hours of work done, before Hiro and Yasuko arrived at the hotel. I had planned to meet up with them today at 11.00. Dad used to work with Hiro in America, so I hadn’t seen them since I was 10.

From the hotel, Hiro took us to Aoyama, where he has his Iai training. We were privileged to see the ancient rituals involved with this form of defence. Then Hiro gave me my first lesson! The sword was much lighter than I expected. Hiro showed me a few different moves, some of which I could get the noise of the blade cutting the air, and others which I couldn’t. Video may get uploaded once I’ve checked it out for myself!

It was then lunch time. We ate nearby, at an Italian / French restaurant, with about 5 courses. It was lots of food, and very good company. Now, to take things to a new level – I had to go to the toilet at the end of the meal. After finishing, I looked all around, but could not find how to flush the toilet! There was no lever on the side, however there were a number of buttons on the wall that controlled the heater / bum-washer, which I presumed also was responsible for flushing. But there were no pictures to tell me which it was! So I had to return to the table and get assistance.

We then went to Yokohama, where Hiro and Yasoko left us, and Kaoru and I went on the Cosmo Clock 21 – effectively the Japanese version of the London Eye. We had a 15 minute round trip, which treated us to amazing views of the local area just after sunset, so had the lights of Yokohama to look at.

After that, we caught the train a couple of stops, to meet up with Ryutaro and Naoko – friends of Kaoru’s. We went to their house, where I was treated to Japanese Hot Pot dinner. A mixture of meats and vegetables mixed in with a yummy broth. They both spoke good English and made an effort to use that so I knew what they were talking about. The house was what you would expect of a traditional Japanese flat, complete with Tatami room.

Another new experience for the day – their toilet. This was a very clever invention. When you flushed the toilet, the sink ran automatically. And this water went in to the cistern, to be used for flushing the toilet the next time! It’s amazing that having just come through a drought in Australia, that an invention like that has not made its way to our shores.

Eventually we had to leave, so they walked us to the train station, and we said goodbye. We then caught the train to Kaoru’s house, which was closer than my hotel to where we were. Kaoru’s flat is very small, and again, it shows what we take for granted with space in Australia.

I have written the last 3 days blog on her laptop. I’m starting to get used to the Japanese keyboards, but they are quite hard to use. If you knock the wrong key, instead of seeing normal characters, a bunch of lines start appearing on your screen, to draw Japanese symbols. And there’s no key on the keyboard saying “Press me to type normally” 🙂 But it’s all part of the experience.

Looking out my hotel room window, I could see Mount Fuji. It was a beautiful view – clear day, and I could see for miles.

After breakfast we caught the train to Tokyo, and walked near the emperors palace. We then met up with Mikiko and had Eel and sparkling Saki for lunch. We discussed meeting plans with the stadiums for the next week. Mikiko also gave me a phone to use in Japan.

After going back to the hotel and doing some work, we went to Ichigaya, and saw a friend of Kaoru’s singing in an opera. This was a unique experience. The opera was in Italian, so after every section, somebody explained the story, so the audience knew what was going on. However the explaination was in Japanese, so no good to me! To make things worse, it was very rushed Japanese, so Kauro didn’t catch much of it either!

On our way back to the train station, we stopped at a sushi place, and had an excellent assortment of sushi. We had planned to go to the Aquarium, where we had found it was 500 yen for 2 people between 10 and 11pm, but didn’t make it back in time for that.

A long days travel.

Started at 1.30am – take off from Tullamarine to Singapore. 4 hour stopover, and then off to Tokyo. I arrived at Narita airport just after 5.00pm (7.00 pm Melbourne time). After immigration, I caught the Narita Express train to Shinagawa, and checked in to the hotel. Kaoru arrived about 20 minutes later, so timed pretty well considering.

We had dinner and a drink in a restaurant in the hotel, and then back to the room for the night. I hadn’t slept on the plane, so I was pretty tired, and out as soon as we turned the light off.