Today we woke up, and after breakfast, had to pack our bags.  We were leaving Mio’s house today, and the plan is that she will send our bags to our hotel near Narita, and we will take what we need to Nasu to visit Otosan and Okasan for a couple of days.  So it was at this point that we had the scales out to work out if everything would fit OK.  It was quite a tight fit, but eventually the bags closed, and we were pretty spot on our limit.

Mio and Arisa took us to the station and we said goodbye, and then made our way to Tokyo station to buy our Shinkansen ticket.  I managed to get a 3 day tourist pass, which covers the line going up to Nasu, and also the Narita Express, for ~8,000 yen.  Because Kaoru has a Japanese passport, she wasn’t allowed, so had to pay 5,500 yen to get to Nasu.  So my pass was real value for money!  Getting the ticket was a real headache though.  It wasn’t from the normal ticket counter – we had to go to a tourist information counter, and it seemed nobody knew where we had to go – although they all pointed us in *a* direction – just not the right one half the time!  It took us over 15 minutes just to find the place to buy the tickets from.

We stopped for a hot chocolate after sorting out the tickets – Kaoru needed to sit down.  We had about half an hour before our Shinkansen left so we enjoyed a hot chocolate, and bought a bento box for the ride.  We left just after 11, and arrived at Nasu around 12.30.  Okasan and Otosan were waiting for us, so we got in their car and went to a french style cafe for lunch, before going to the house.

I had bought a “UFO” wireless access point for them, as coverage to the second house was non-existant with the existing router.  So I played around setting that up, checking the coverage, setting up the computers on the new access point, etc, and got a bit of work done.  We got to speak to Mum and Dad on Skype just before dinner (while Otosan and I enjoyed a Sake), and then after a wonderful meal and a hot bath, I went to our house to do some work, while Kaoru had a bath and talk to her parents.

Grand Final Day!

After waking up and having breakfast, we had a look at some packing.  Then we walked to the train station (Mio wanted to drive us :)).  It took us 3 trains but we made it to Roppongi, and after about a 10 minute walk we were at the Hobgoblin bar.  This was the place I had found for us to watch the Grand Final.  We got there around 12.00, because we were concerned that it would get busy and we may not have a seat.  It was a good thing too, as we did get a seat, but within half an hour it was standing room only.  We met the couple sitting next to us (Richard and Jessica) who were from Sydney – Jessica’s brother had just done a 100km run around Mt Fuji, and they were in Japan as support crew.  So now they were in the “tourist” part of their trip.  They were from Sydney (so were mad swans supporters) but have just bought a house in Ascot Vale – small world!

The game was great, but the service at the bar was unbelievable.  There were 3 very inefficient staff behind the bar, and they really weren’t prepared for the day.  It took nearly 10 minutes of waiting at the bar to get a drink – luckily I planned on not having a big one anyway!  Near the end of the first quarter Mio arrived – she said she may come and join us, and luckily we had brought a 3rd Hawthorn scarf with us.

At half time there was a raffle.  We had bought tickets before the game – 3 for 1000 yen.  There were about 7 prizes in all, and I came out with the 3rd one – a bottle of Russian Vodka!  Luckily we hadn’t reached our duty free allowance yet – we were still wondering what other bottle to buy.  And this one was quite heavy, so must be a good one.  The other people we were talking to (who bought the tickets immediately before us) won the gold printed football!

After the game I chatted to people at the bar a little longer, and then we had to head back home.  We met Mio at a train station on the way, and she drove us the rest of the way home.  I quickly got changed, and then we walked to dinner for Youichi’s birthday.  This was a very formal restaurant, and served delicious Italian food.  Youichi brought along a very nice bottle of wine as well which we enjoyed.

Back at the house after dinner we had a beverage at Mio’s bar, and then called it a night.

I hate not having a clock in the room.  I know I need to wake up early because, well, everybody wakes up early in Japan.  But when you don’t know the time, you don’t know if it’s too early, or how long you can go back to sleep for…I think it was about 8.00 that I came downstairs for breakfast.  I had a shower, and then had a few hours work to deal with while Mio went out to have her hair done.  I finished around lunch time, which is when Mio got home, so the 3 of us went out for lunch at a Sushi resetaurant – we had to return the trays from last nights sushi anyway, so staying for lunch just seemed like the right thing to do :).

After lunch Mio dropped us off at the train station, and we went to Harijuku, so we could go to Meiji Jingu shrine – as this was the first place Kaoru ever took me in Japan, it’s somewhere I always like to return to.  After the usual lap, we got back out, and noticed that the big pedestrian overpass was no longer there!  I had noticed something different when we arrived, and didn’t have my bearings at first, and this was why.  Amazing how things change.  I wonder what would cause them to take down an overpass, so everybody has to cross on the level of the road?

We then caught a train to Shinjuku.  We were on the “other side” of town so didn’t see our hotel or our meeting place from the wedding trip.  But we went to a place to get a 1 hour massage.  The guy who did me was too rough so it wasn’t as relaxing as I like them to be.  I find it hard to be relaxed when pain is being inflicted!  After the massage we found a bar to sit down and have a drink, and then caught the train to Kozue’s.  We called when we arrived at the station and Kozue came and picked us up.

It was only about a 5 minute drive to their house from the station.  I had never been there before so it was nice seeing something new.  Minami was sick and asleep on the couch.  Yukari had made us gioza for dinner, and Yukari and Kozue were both still folding them while we talked, and enjoyed a beer and some nibbles.  Kenichi came home about half an hour later, and then we went outside to eat.  Their outside area was quite small (in Australian terms) but it was a beautiful evening to be sitting outside and we had a lovely, informal evening.

After dinner Kozue drove us back to Mio’s – we were expecting to get the train or a taxi, but it turned out only being about 15 minutes away.  So that was very helpful.  Mio’s bar was open for last drinks, and then I had a bath before bed.

I woke up and went downstairs for breakfast.  After a cup of tea, some food and water, and addressing a few work issues, it was time to start the day.

Arisa had the day off school (public holiday) so Mio went shopping, while Kaoru and I took Arisa for a few hours.  We went to the electric store, where we had heard they have a robot that talks and interacts with you!  So we thought that could be a laugh.  It was called “Pepper”.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kCFYw8mIqcc.  Unfortunately his English translation wasn’t very good, so whilst I had half a conversation with him, it seemed very primitive.  However Kaoru’s conversation in Japanese made a bit more sense, it seemed.

While in the shopping centre I had an email from the stadium in Brisbane with the World Championships, so I had to give them a call.  I knew there was a chance of something like this, but since no issues came up in the 4 days I was there, I was quite confident it would be the same.  But alas, people will be people, and will break things when I’m not around.  As always, it was just user error – somebody doing something stupid.  At least I got to use some of the credit on my mobile phone – seems a waste to recharge it every time we come here, and then I don’t use any :).

We had Siu Mai dumplings for lunch (ok, eating Chinese food in Japan – I know – but Arisa picked it) and after a bit more walking around, we caught the train back to Mio’s.  Much to Arisa’s disgust we were going to walk to Mio’s from the train station (about 15 minutes) but it was raining, so we called Mio to come and pick us up.

Back at the house we had some time to kill, before the evening’s guests started arriving.  It was Youichi’s birthday, so since I was there, Mio decided to invite some more people around and have a party.  One of Kaoru’s cousins who I hadn’t met before came with his wife and 3 children, then a friend of Mio’s and her husband and 2 children, Kenichi (Kozue couldn’t make it) and another friend of Mio’s who I had met before.  So it was a very enjoyable night, and Mio’s bar was well and truly open!  It was a work night, so it didn’t go too late, which was a good thing.  Kozue came to pick Kenichi up around 8.00 so I went out to say hello to her.  Minami was asleep in the car so I didn’t get to see her and Yukari.  But we were seeing them tomorrow so that was OK.

After everybody had left and we had made a start on cleaning up, I had a bath and went to bed.

We woke up early this morning and were eating breakfast at 7.  This was after I had fitted the hose for otosans new pressure sprayer.  We left around 8 for the ropeway at Mt Chausudake and even at 9 there was a 1 hour wait for a parking spot! Okasan, Kaoru and I got out as Otosan couldn’t do the hike anyway.  We caught the ropeway (cable car) to the top and took some photos before starting the 45 minute hike.  We were treated to some fantastic views that my camera skills (and camera, for that matter) could not do justice.  This is an active volcano, but somehow, when Kaoru said “so you have to be careful”, I couldn’t think what I could do carefully because I was walking on something that could erupt at any point.  We could see clouds of sulfur gas coming off the ground at a number of places, and the smell was quite strong in areas.  It was windy at the top, although a still day at the bottom compared to yesterday.

As we were walking back down, there were a lot of people coming back up – we could tell it was getting busier.  The ropeway station was already quite full but we managed to get on the first car, despite there being over 100 of us already.  I could not imagine where all these people came from. There was no room for parking so they must have come up by bus.

Otosan had been driving around and then had propped in pole position for us – right at the bottom of the stairs!  So we got in and started the drive down.  There was no traffic going with us but the line of stationary cars waiting to get up the top went for a long way.  It would be at least a 3 hour wait for them.  Unbelievable.  As bad as Disneyland!  And this was still only 11 am on a Monday!  I’m glad they suggested we start early and come here – it was a beautiful place, but I wouldn’t want to wait like these people are!

We went to lunch even though it was only 11.30 – we went to a nice little cafe that served pies.  But they weren’t pies like we have – they were more like Calzone’s.  I had a potato, bacon and cheese one, and it was quite nice.  We also had soup and ice cream as part of the set menu.  A cruise start to the day.

We were home around 12.30 and Otosan wanted a sleep before we got cracking on chopping wood.

I have been in Brisbane since Saturday, ensuring the junior world champs for indoor cricket ran smoothly. Today it was off to brisbane airport to join Kaoru in Japan. I put my frequent flyer points to use and went business class! Very nice!

I watched a few movies on the flight and did a bit of work. On the approach to Narita we were advised it was 17 degrees.  And here I was in shorts, expecting it to be hot, based on talks with Kaoru.  I was going to get changed (I had a long sleeve top and long pants in my carry on bag) but opted against it.  Eventually I landed at Narita. Immigration wasn’t too bad and I managed to buy a bus ticket with 15 minutes to spare- time enough to buy a beer for the bus ride! And boy was it needed!  17 at night with high humidity is nothing like 17 in Melbourne!  It was very muggy so not too comfortable, but I’m glad I didn’t get changed on the flight!  It was a bit over an hour to Cerulean tower hotel, where Kaoru and Mio were waiting for me. We then went to Mio’s house and had a drink with youichi. I was tired from a long flight so had a bath and went to bed.