We have not been successful in applying for World Cup tickets, we have applied yet again, but are not at all hopeful. My friend Al's theory is that they have all gone to corporate bigwigs for purposes of improving business relations or whatever - and knowing the Japanese way of doing business I don't doubt that he is correct. So that was a bit of bad news for us to start the week.. We are still collecting the little sticker points from Coke cans however, in the hope that we will get 100 (World Cup t-shirt or pin badges), 200 (World Cup bag or radio) or 500 (World Cup alarm clock)! At first we were just competing to see who could get each country's flag's sticker first, but now we are serious collectors, and will hopefully be able to send off for some Coke goodies soon!!!
A week or two ago, we went to Spa World with a couple of friends. This is a huge building containing LOADS of different baths. At first, the men and women went in separately, as public bathing in Japan is generally done naked! In this section there were hot baths, cold baths, cedarwood baths, tiled baths, outdoor baths, indoor baths, smelly baths, massage baths, sand baths, saunas, a cafe, and buckets of mud that you could smother your body in! One of the baths outside actually contained boiling water - this one made us feel a bit ill, not surprisingly! The mud was lovely, as was one of the Chinese style smelly herby type baths - although you couldn't see your feet due to the cloudy herby stuff - apparently this one is the least popular with the Japanese, as traditionally bathing is all about purity and cleanliness, and all dirt is removed before stepping in the tub! At first it was odd being naked, and all we had to cover ourselves with was a tiny towel, but soon we just got used to it! The lads said they seemed to be scaring the Japanese men with their gainjin bodies - even though the baths were really busy due to discount ticket prices, a space instantly became available for them any time they wanted to enter a bath! We then put on our cossies and joined up with the boys, had some food, went to the gym and had a swim in the pool, which had water slides, wave channels, and strangely enough a huge video screen showing the Lion King! There were also a few other spa style baths on the mixed floor, and a very cold pool leading to outdoor roof-top jacuzzis - very nice!!! It was at this point that a 15 year old Japanese lad started touching James' chest - most Japanese men don't have much bodily hair, so I think he was a bit in awe of James, but it freaked James out a bit! We stayed at Spa World for about 8 hours, and had a great time, especially considering it was only 1000 yen!
Last weekend we babysat for a 10 month old Canadian boy called Owen, who was really cute! The family live out in the suburbs, and although it would be really difficult to commute from there, it was nice to see houses, grass and fields instead of apartment blocks and roads for a change.
Today we have been to see Lord of the Rings, and it was a special cinema day, so only 1000 yen each instead of the usual 1800!!! The film was great. Then we treated ourselves to a meal at Hard Rock Cafe - we were in need of some western style food!
I also went to see a French film (Va Savoir) last week with my new Japanese friend Hiroe. It was odd as some bits were in Italian, so I had to try and read the Japanese subtitles! Hiroe speaks fluent English, but is helping me out with my Japanese, so hopefully I will start to feel a bit better about the way my Japanese is going soon. I have also bought a childrens' kanji book that she recommended, so am slogging through it!
The weather this week has been lovely and sunny and bright - the only problem being the wind, which is still icy!
That's about all I think - only 3 weeks til Mum and Dad's visit!!!!
Bye,
Nic.