Kat taking one of many photos at the 颐和园 Summer Palace

I can’t actually remember what I was doing on specific days but fortunately I am an adept stapler (if that makes sense… basically I am keeping ticket stubs and the like in a notebook).  By the way, this gets really long:

• On the evening of the 4th, Kat and I sought out Russian food and we ended up at a place in Dongzhimen called Traktirr Pushkin.  I thought it was a decent meal, but it was substandard for Kat who has standards for such things.  When I got back to Ben and Verena’s, they were watching Twilight with Jake and I caught the last half hour or so and it was absolutely ridiculous.  Later, we watched The Proposal.
• October 5th: I got up relatively early and returned to the Summer Palace with Kat.  It was busier than when I first visited but it is the Golden Week.  We had lunch in Wudaokou and returned to Ben’s before going for Peking Duck with Ben, Verena, Jake, and Lorelei (who is in town from Shanghai) and her friends Cedric and Philippe.  We ate at Dadong which is supposed to be one of the best places for 北京烤鸭 roast duck in the city and while it was very good, I think I’ve had duck of equal or better quality in Toronto with less hype.  The accompanying dishes were all right.  Later, drinks in 三里屯 Sanlitun and the rest of them went clubbing at Destination but I went back to Ben’s and caught up on Desperate Housewives.
• On the 6th, I finally moved to Kat’s where I stayed the rest of my time in Beijing.  I met her at Miss Me Coffee & Cake where she spends most of her time after work, studying for her CFA.  That night, we went to see Zhang Yimou’s production of Giacomo Puccini’s Turandot at the Bird’s Nest with her roommates.  I enjoyed what I could of the opera itself and was very impressed with the tenor who sang the part of the Prince (and I have some thoughts on the production itself in the Bird’s Nest that I plan to write later), but omigood the family sitting across the aisle from us was sooooo annoying.  I basically had to tell them to shut up, except without words, because my Chinese ain’t so great yet.  I accepted mild chatter and eating-noises because we were in a stadium and people were clearly explaining to each other what was going on, but this family (a grown son and his parents) were literally just chatting: awful.
• The next day, Kat and I got our hair cut at a place just outside her apartment complex.  I think it went well.  This wasn’t one of those loud music-blaring salons that are so common, but I relatively low key one.  I insisted on skipping the first one we saw because of the crazy hair the staff member standing in the window had, and then we skipped the second one.  We ended up at the third because it had recognisable brands in the window.  Afterward, we had lunch with Michele (one of Kat’s roommates) and I think we just killed time meeting up with Ben, Verena, and her IR friends at Lush for trivia night.  The night ended again with dessert and the novelty of dining on swings.
• At this point, I’m having trouble distinguishing Thursday and Friday, but one of those days, we just hung out at Kat’s cafe and the Sculpting in Time in Lido and basically chilled out.  When we got home, we weren’t sure what we would do about dinner, but Kat’s other roommate Cameron had their fellow English teacher Brian (who I met on the plane), his Chinese girlfriend, and her friend over and they made dinner and it was yum.
• On the other day, we set out to the art district 操场地 Caochangdi.  It was really cool, and maybe that’s another post, but I hope to go back again, especially when it isn’t the holidays and when most of the galleries aren’t closed.  We did see a few cool exhibitions though.  After that, we made our way to 押宝路 Alien Street to look for better Russian food but somehow we ended up at the other location of Mirch Masala.  After that, we head to the Drum & Bell District to a 疆进酒吧 Jiangjinjiu Bar to check out something advertised as, “Panjir Uighur folk band make the sounds of Xinjiang heard in the alleys of Gulou.”
• Saturday was my last day in Beijing.  Kat and I went to 五道口 Wudaokou to have lunch with Ben at BLCU; said goodbye to him and Jake and later Verena.  Succeeded at buying some long underwear at Uniqlo (and wish I bought some more, because they’re comfy) but failed at finding any good ankle boots (apparently my feet are too big for China).  I bought some sandwiches and returned to Kat’s to chill out and get ready to leave.  Brian and Corey (also from the plane) were there for a little bit, and then Kat walked me to my taxi which got me to the station with perfect timing.  The driver was very friendly when we started talking during the crazy traffic jam close to the station.
• Sunday morning I got back and all was chill.
• Monday we went back to school and I think it went well.  I remembered thinking the day before that I return to spending about 7 RMB per meal on weekdays eating in the school cafeterias (as opposed to 30-50 RMB eating out in Beijing) but of course Marco texts me to say that a bunch of people are going out for Arab food again at the restaurant where we celebrated my birthday and we ended up spending almost 70 kuai per person.
• Yesterday was similarly chill except that we had our first (optional) evening class.  At first I thought, o no, but I actually liked the opportunity for a study hall sort of time to focus and work.  Li Laoshi will be there Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday evenings from 7pm and I plan to make every Tuesday and Thursday as long as I can stand the cold.  Also, I met a friend of a friend of Jenny’s who will be going to study Spanish in Beijing so that the government can post her to a Spanish-speaking country to teach Chinese.  She seemed interesting and I hope to keep in touch.

On the last day of our Golden Week adventure we had a long stopover in Singapore on our way back to Japan. We checked our bags for our next flight and then headed out for some delicious dinner at Jumbo Seafood on the East Coast. Mmm…. it was so good. We had pretty much the same things that we’d had there on our previous trip, since we had such good memories of it and we couldn’t decide whether we preferred chili crab or black pepper crab. Both are fantastic. Along with our spicy sauced crabs we also ordered deep-fried man-tou buns (like tasty doughnuts for sopping up the chili sauce), bamboo clams, and lime juice. We dug in as soon as the chili crab arrived. As you can see it’s plenty messy so it would have been impossible to get a picture of the black pepper crab by the time it showed up.

Wouldn’t you know it, I just learned today that they even have two Tokyo locations. I don’t know what their prices are like, but it might be worth a try (It must certainly be cheaper than a ticket to Singapore).

So finally, here is the wrap-up of our Golden Week adventure:

Bali: Dinner at Mozaic

Bali: A day at the market and cooking class

Bali!

Java!

Singapore!

Alex’s Photoblog: Singapore

Alex’s Photoblog: Java

Alex’s Photoblog: Bali

The fobby motherland celebrates its 60th National Day today.  Happy Birthday!

As Hong Kong “Stirs From Slumber” And Buyer Confidence Remains High In China, What Can We Expect To See Next Week?

Zeng Fanzhi is one of the historical Chinese contemporary artists up for auction in Hong Kong next week

We’ve been interested in the upcoming Hong Kong Sotheby’s auctions of Contemporary Chinese, Southeast Asian and other Asian art, with a particularly obvious fixation on the Chinese side, for some time. After the surprising turnout of mainland Chinese, and their willingness to go far above and beyond lot estimates to take home something they’ve set their hearts on, Sotheby’s is likely expecting a good proportion of bidders both from the mainland and other areas of Greater China — definitely Hong Kong, since buyers from that market have been something of a fixture at Chinese art auctions for ages. And while the unpredictable nature of art auctions makes it difficult to forecast how next week’s auctions turn out (although total revenue estimates for all of the Hong Kong auctions are close to US$100 million), many people are excited and motivated to buy some high-quality, historical art.

One thing that makes the auction of contemporary Chinese art even more interesting to me on a personal level is the way it will coincide with “Golden Week,” a week of celebrations coinciding with both Chinese National Day and the Mid-Autumn Festival. If last year’s turnout was any indication, Golden Week could draw well over a million mainlanders to Hong Kong this year, most of whom are coming to the city either to shop for expensive objects or eat and drink for days. While Golden Week, on its own, really shouldn’t affect the Sotheby’s sale too much, it is within the realm of possibility that some of the shopping-mad mainlanders might be shipping a Yue Minjun or Liu Ye painting home along with their boxes of luxury goods.

Another reason I’m excited about the Hong Kong sales next week is because of this article, published today by Art Market Insight, which is bullish on the article because of the comparatively fast re-emergence of Hong Kong following the global economic crisis:

Once again, Sotheby’s is weighting its sale in favour of the Contemporary segment (Contemporary Asian Art) which carries the richest of the three catalogues with 190 lots and a total revenue estimate of $12.5m. In order to re-kindle interest amongst its biggest clients, the auctioneer has built a catalogue of very attractive signatures. Among the star lots: a powder drawing by CAI Guoqiang , Money net NO.2, estimated at HKD 4.7m – 5.5m, ($606,000 – $710,000), several paintings by YUE Minjun , including Hats series – The lovers expected to generate around $400,000 (estimated HKD 2.8m – 3.5m), three paintings from the famous Chinese Portrait series by FENG Zhengjie including a superb contemporary Amazon (4 x 3 metres) estimated at $100,000 – $130,000 (HKD 800,000 – 1m). A very similar monumental portrait fetched $133,000 in June 2009 (Phillips de Pury & Company, London, £81,000).

ZENG Fanzhi and ZHANG Xiaogang – known for their capacity to generate exceptional results even in periods of crisis – both have several works in the sale, including Zhang’s Comrade diptych offered at $600,000 – $700,000 (HKD 4.7m – 5.4m). Sotheby’s has prudently excluded his most expensive works from (the Bloodline: Big Family) series from the sale although two paintings from that series generated relatively respectable results in the autumn of 2008 at more than $2m each (Bloodline: Big Family No.1, fetched HKD 20m at Sotheby’s Hong Kong on 4 October and Bloodline: Big Family No.2, fetched HKD 23m on 30 November at Christie’s Hong Kong).

Hong Hao: "Hello Mr. Hong": Although done in 1998, Hong's work predicted the style of the emerging Chinese luxury consumer we see today

I think Sotheby’s has been smart to weight in favor of contemporary Chinese art, especially on the heels of their sales of Chinese antiquities. Following up the momentum of those recent sales with a large-scale auction of contemporary pieces that are of exceptional quality and by historical, established artists is a good way to tap in to the economic exuberance of Hong Kong as it emerges from the shadow of last year’s crisis. It also gives mainland bidders the opportunity to snap up some fantastic pieces right in their backyard during a period of national celebration and holiday. These elements all have the potential to affect the mood of the bidding, particularly because — as the Art Market Insight study shows today — bidders are showing that they are in the mood to buy:

For these Hong Kong sales, Sotheby’s has brought together some very charismatic signatures, with chosen carefully subjects and modest price pretentions. The stage is therefore set to attract buyers who have expressed a strong acquisitive appetite: according to Artprice’s Art Market Confidence Index , more than 75% of respondents are in the mood for buying.

Keep an eye on our coverage of the Hong Kong auctions next week. They are certain to be interesting and important, and should give us a glimpse of what we can possibly expect to see at upcoming auctions in November.

Always wanted a badass tattoo, but can’t figure out what to get?  How about something fobulously patriotic, like a map of the motherland?

“Tattoo artist Ren Liang works on a tattoo on customer Chen Huang’s back in his shop in central Beijing September 28, 2009.  The small tattoo parlour has had an influx of requests for tattoos which symbolise the 60th anniversary of the founding of the People’s Republic of China.”

Check out the full gallery here!

Suzie

1.8 Million Tourists And Shoppers Made The Trip Last Year; Will This Year See Similar Figures?

Photo Courtesy Hong Kong Tourism Board

Hong Kong retailers, hoteliers and merchants of all shapes and sizes are getting ready for the second of two “Golden Weeks” which take place annually in China — the first celebrating Chinese New Year and the second beginning on National Day (Oct. 1) and continuing through the Mid-Autumn Festival (Oct. 3) until finally ending on the 8th. For Hong Kong’s luxury retailers, Golden Week has traditionally provided a much-needed boost to their sales, particularly as fall begins and the flow of foreign tourists slows down significantly.

For many mainlanders, however, Golden Week is a chance to hop over the border and do some serious shopping. As Hong Kong retailers aren’t saddled with the same high sales and luxury taxes as those in the mainland, shoppers from throughout China often take advantage of the timing of Golden Week to enjoy the cultural ambiance of Hong Kong while stocking up on expensive products that would — at home — cost up to double the price.

Today, the New York Times Globespotters blog gives a glimpse into the fun (and chaos) of Golden Week in Hong Kong, when millions of shoppers (many of whom have saved up throughout the year for their HK shopping spree) converge on this small but densely-packed city to queue up for hours and open their wallets:

European designer emporiums, jewelers and gold shops will all be packed, as mainland Chinese rush to buy goods that are both cheaper, and more likely authentic, than back home. (Unlike China, Hong Kong has no sales or luxury taxes.) For upscale shopping, avoid the crowds by trying department stores like Lane Crawford instead.

…

As far as the local government is concerned, you can’t have too many festivals. During this hectic period, there is also the Hong Kong International Arts and Antiques Fair from Oct. 3 to 6, and the Hong Kong International Jazz Festival from Oct. 1 to 15. Jazz and antiques aren’t big Chinese tourist draws, so they might be another way to escape from the maddening crowds.

In addition to these festivals and events, this year’s Golden Week will also coincide with Sotheby’s Autumn Auction of Contemporary Chinese and Asian Artwork, taking place on October 6 in Hong Kong. It’ll be a great opportunity for luxury buyers who have come over from the mainland to bid on some domestic contemporary artists and maybe take home a few Yue Minjuns, Zeng Fanzhis or Cai Guo-Qiangs in addition to the boatloads of Cartier, Louis Vuitton, Gucci and Rolexes they’re going to tote back over the border.

Hello All!

I am back and going to start working on writting up some blog posts very very soon!

But for now, here are some videos I made to distract you.

If you plan to travel to mainland China, you’d better avoid the so called Golden Week in October this year.

This year the week stretches from 1 October to 8 October, including the day for Moon Festival which falls on 3 October, making the week slightly longer than usual.

During the golden week, many local Chinese will travel around in the country, making hotel booking and transportation harder to arrange. The major scenic spots will also be packed with visitors.  If you need to book your staying in mainland China during those days we suggest to do it as soon as possible.

]]> http://beyondboulder.wordpress.com/2009/08/16/finally-golden-week-part-1/ Sun, 16 Aug 2009 00:26:26 +0000 laurel http://beyondboulder.wordpress.com/2009/08/16/finally-golden-week-part-1/

Singapore’s famous Merlion

I’ve been meaning to write about some of our traveling adventures for a long time, but it seems like the more fun things we do, the less time I have to write about them. During Golden Week (oh my goodness, that was months ago now), we took a few days off from school and combined with several national holidays that fall in the same time period, we were able to have 11 days of vacation. First we flew to Singapore. We met up with some friends and tried some of their favorite places.

On the first night, we had dinner at Din Tai Fung, the famous Taiwanese dumpling shop that also has branches in Singapore and around Asia. Unfortunately I was just getting over a nasty case of the flu and I had temporarily lost my sense of smell. I literally couldn’t smell a thing. If it ever happens to you (and hope it doesn’t) you’ll be surprised to find how many “tastes” are really smells. I could taste the salty-sour combination of soy and vinegar, and the savory meatiness of the fillings, but the real flavor from the spices, ginger, and various ingredients was absent. Occasionally, the stuffiness would recede enough to allow me a few seconds of “smell-ability,” but for the most part the meal was muted, like watching your favorite movie on a black and white TV.  I did have more of an appreciation for textures, though, since it was one thing that I could sense. After dinner, we headed down Orchard Road to Food Republic, a big food court in the Isetan shopping center, and enjoyed some freshly squeezed fruit juices and steamed coconut cookies.

orchids at the Singapore Botanic Gardens | see more photos from our trip on Alex’s blog

By day two my sense of smell was fading out less often so I could smell the flowers (sometimes) at the botanic gardens. We had a great time looking at all of the beautiful landscapes, and we especially enjoyed the ginger garden and the orchid garden. The bonsai collection was amazing too.
For lunch we ended up back at Food Republic. Mara recommended the beef soup noodles, which were delicious. It’s rice noodles with beef and vegetables served alongside a seasoned beef broth that was oh-so-good. Of course, we also got some more fruit juices, which I just can’t get enough of.

beef soup noodles at Food Republic

In the afternoon we went to Yixing Xuan Teahouse where we learned about Chinese teas. We enjoyed four different teas in the traditional style, using small scent cups and tasting cups and a ceramic pot that was just big enough to brew four cupfuls of tea. The little pots come in several sizes so you can choose the right sized pot for the number of guests that you’re drinking with. The cups and teapot were set on a “sea” where the excess water could be drained.
To enjoy the tea, we filled the pot to the brim and let the leaves steep for a very short time. Then we poured the tea into the scent cups to enjoy the aroma, and finally into the tasting cups to drink it. Since the leaves are brewed for such a short time, we could brew each portion 7 times—the flavor of the tea changes a bit each time. I enjoyed the flavor of the 2nd and 3rd brewings the most. We tried silver tips, dragonwell, oolong, and jasmine oolong. My favorites were the oolong and the dragonwell green tea, which had a surprisingly grassy flavor. While it was fun to drink tea this way, and all of the equipment was beautiful and clever, with each piece filling its specialized purpose, it seemed a bit too fussy for everyday tea drinking for me. However, it was a great experience that I would recommend if you have a chance.

Chinese tea service at Yixing Xuan Teahouse

dragonwell (lung ching) tea

We had dinner at the Newton Circus hawker center. The outdoor setting is good and the food was pretty good (though we’ve had better), but the vendors were aggressive and prices were high. If I find myself in Singapore in the future, I hope I can try some of the more local hawker centers (foolishly, I had forgotten to read up on the Singapore foodie blogs until after dinner). For dinner we enjoyed fruit juice (of course), barbecued stingray, clams, and fish.

mezze platter at Coriander Leaf, clockwise from left: Fattoush salad, fried haloumi, muhammara, labne, grilled eggplant with pomegranate salad, falafel

By the next day, my sense of smell was back to normal, thank goodness. After a boat tour of the river and a visit to the Asian Civilizations Museum, we had lunch at the Coriander Leaf. We felt refreshed right away as we walked in from the heat and humidity outside and we could enjoy a nice view over the river from our table. I chose the mezze platter and smoked duck and mango salad while Alex had the tandoori chicken lunch special. I especially liked the labne and grilled eggplant with basil and pomegranate seeds. Both were very good with the homemade flatbread. On the other hand, the rest of the mezze were rather forgettable. Alex’s chicken was tender and nicely spiced. Later we had some snacks for a quick dinner before we headed off to the Night Safari.

Da Dong’s prawn and pork rib noodles

On our last day in Singapore we woke up early to go on the rainforest treetop walk. After a quick shower and checking out of our hotel, we had lunch at Da Dong, following a recommendation from Chubby Hubby. I forgot exactly which dish he had recommended, so I got prawn mee with pork rib soup while Alex chose just pork rib soup. The soup was rich and delicious while the shrimp, pork, sweet and tangy sauce, sprouts, and chopped coriander combined in such a delicious way. While we were eating, I realized, “why in the world have we been eating that awful hotel breakfast every morning instead of going out to find something tasty like this?” It’s not as though the hawker centers and coffee shops are expensive, so we definitely should have been exploring the neighborhood at breakfast time too. Live and learn.

From there it was on to the airport and our next stop, Java.

See more photos at Alex’s photoblog

Our first (most excellently delicious) trip to Singapore in 2008 page 1 | page 2

Golden Week is a spring holiday in Japan when many Japanese travel. May 3-5 and to some degree April 29th are national holidays and the whole country seems to move to the other side of the country. 

Here I talk about the tradition of Golden Week and the hassles of traveling during this time. Still it’s nice to get up to a week off, something we never get in the States.

Here I talk about How I spent my Golden Week Holiday past and present.

The first few years I worked or stayed home. In 2007, I started traveling going to a samurai festival in Yamagata Prefecture then another festival in Hiraizumi in Iwate.

In 2008 I saw ancient Imperial court music known as Gagaku and dance Bugaku at Meiji Shrine on Showa Day – April 29th. Then I went again to the samurai festival in Yamagata and a castle nearby. I went to Hiraizumi again and the day after to a replica of what Hiraizumi once looked like.

This year I went to Tohoku yet again starting in Kakunodate a town with samurai houses in Akita. After that I stopped by Lake Tazawa then went to a Jomon site, a stone circle in northeastern Akita that goes back over 4000 years.

I took a ferry boat from Aomori city that night to Hakodate and saw the last place of defense for the old followers of the Tokugawa Shogunate.

The next day I took a ferry to ShimoKita where I went to the land of ghosts known as Osorezan. It’s a smoky sulphuric dead landscape said to be where people go when they die.

Ready to board the ferry

On April 28, 2009 I embarked on my second great motorcycle adventure.  I went for two weeks to Shikoku.  Shikoku is an island located south of the main island.  It’s the fourth largest island and a dream destination of mine.  I had two destinations for riding adventures, Hokkaido and Shikoku.  As I have written before, I had already visited Hokkaido, with a bad result.  This time, things were completely different. 

Ocean Tokyu Ferry

From Tokyo, there are two simple ways to reach Shikoku.  The fastest and possibly cheapest is to take the highway from Tokyo to Tokushima.  This is roughly 700km in total.  You will start off in Tokyo, head past Nagoya, Kyoto, Osaka and Kobe before going over the Akashi Bridge to Awaji Island and then over the Naruto Bridge into Shikoku.  In Japan, the ETC system can provide significant savings to your trip.  On weekends and holidays, there is a flat rate of 1000 yen for cars and motorcycles with an ETC system.  If you travel overnight, enter or exit between 10pm and 6am, you can receive up to 50% off your total travel costs.  Many people make use of this system, however be very aware that during the weekends and holidays, traffic will be backed up for kilometres.  During the first Golden Week rush, there were traffic jams along every expressway on Japan’s main island and they could stretch for over 100 kilometres in some cases.  ETC has also become so popular, that it’s sometimes faster to go through a regular pay toll gate than the automatic ETC gates. 

Tatami room of the ferry

The second route, and something I recommend if you don’t have ETC, is to take a ferry.  From Odaiba, you can board a ferry and reach Tokushima in 18 hours.  It’s an overnight ferry, but the gas and sanity that you save is a lot.  Plus, you can meet a lot of people if you want to.  It’s definitely better if you can enjoy the trip with a friend.  The ferry arrives around 1pm in Tokushima and it’s just enough time to go around the city.  Going outside the city to other regions can be difficult unless you plan everything correctly. 

Breakfast, Lunch, and Dinner

When travelling in Japan, most Japanese people will use their car navigation to find out how to go from A to B.  This is the most efficient way to do things, but it isn’t always the best.  For motorcyclists, we have a touring bible.  It’s called “Touring Mapple”.  It’s written completely in Japanese, but there are references within each book, road recommendations, and information about camp grounds, hostels, and almost anything you need to know when travelling.  I would highly recommend this book to anyone and everyone.  Whether you travel by bicycle, car, or by it’s intended audience, by motorcycle.  Without it, I would have been lost in my travels.

Please note that this is just an introduction to my actual adventure.  I will be writing about things in much greater detail in the coming weeks.

このblogは英語のblog。もし私の英語は難しい、日本語のquestionは大丈夫。

Har ikke skrevet en skikkelig bloggpost paa veldig lenge naa, og det har skjedd saa utrolig mye at jeg ikke orker aa skrive alt, men skal nok faa med det viktigste.
Den 28. April byttet jeg til en midlertidig vertsfamilie 40 minutter med sykkel unna skolen min. (Grunnen til at jeg flyttet dit for en liten stund var at min vertsfamilie skulle til USA i to uker og derfor kunne jeg jo ikke vaere alene der. Den midlertidige familien min bestod av Mor, Far, storebror (18), bror (16) soster (15) og lillebror(7, snart 8).
Folte meg kjempevelkommen hos dem, og ble raskt en del av familien. De er verdens hyggelige og elskverdige mennesker. De tok meg med paa forskellige ting og lagde masse god mat.
Under Golden Week (ferie) som var fra 1. – 6. mai gjorde jeg folgende ting: Shoppet paa Namba, et av Osakas storste shoppingplasser, sov paa tatamimatter (med andre 4 personer), lagde tacoyaki, var i KOREATOWN!! spilt basket, besok en jente fra norge som ogsa bor i Japan (nermere bestemt samme by som meg). Ogsa har jeg spilt utrolig mye tv-spill med vertsbrodrene mine. Altsa en supertopp feire !!
Den 10. mai flyttet jeg tilbake til min gamle vertsfamilie, men det var saa trist aa fortalte den familien jeg hadde saa rakst blitt en del av . Det endte med fler gratekonserter. (BTW saa gar den ene eksvertsbroren min i 1. klasse paa den samme videregaende skolen som meg , saa vi far sett hverandre hvver skoledag)  Men resten av familienlofte aa besoke  hverandre saa ofte som mulig. og hvis jeg hadde problemer kunne jeg bare ringe. I dag kom den yngste eks vertsbroren min og eks vertsmoren min paa skolen min. Jeg ble saa utrolig glad at jeg nesten begynte aa grate igjen.

Den 26. mai arrangerer skolen min 体育再　（taikusai=sportsfestival）. Vet ikke helt hva “sport” har med saken aa gjore  fordi festivalen handler mer om aa ha det goy enn om sport. Skolens litt over 1000 elever ble delt opp i 4 team, eller farger. Blaa, Rod, Gronn og Gul. Hvert team har et tema og en maskot. Jeg er med i 青団　（aodan=blatt team). Temaet vart er 青花の力　（ohana no chikara = bla blomst kraft, men det er et ordspill som er vannskelig aa oversette. Hvis  no chikara = bla blomst kraft, men det er et ordspill som er vannskelig aa oversette. Hvis dere har  chikara　=　bla　blomst　kraft,　men　det　er　et　ordspill　som　er　vannskelig　aa　oversette.　Hvis　dere　har sett LILO og STITCH  skjonner dere kanskje begrepet “ohana”). Maskotten var er selfolgelig en nesten 3 meter hoy Stitch figur som vi pleier aa jobbe paa med i friminuttene, etter skolen og i helgene.  Hver gruppe har ogsa en egen dans. Vaar bestar av tre sanger : Opningssangen av Stitch, We Rock ( Disneys Camp Rock  Soundtrack) og Believe (en japansk sang som gaar KJEMPEFORT!! ) .  Selv om vi ” trener” dansen nesten hver dag husker jeg den fortsatt ikke . Kanskje fordi “treningen” er typ 30% dans  og 70% snakking , tulling og andre ting som ikke har noe med dansing aa gjore. Medlemmene i det blaa laget har gitt meg kallenavnet セラーもーン　（seramoon = Sailor Moon) en kjent japansk tegneserie figur ( ikke vet jeg hvorfor). Det er ikke akkurat noe jeg liker…
Elevene paa Matsubara HighSchool er noe helt for seg selv … Et par merkelige episoder fra denne uken.
 Random jente: Hei Sunniva. (kommer bort til meg)
Sunniva: Hei..e hh .. Hei du
Random jente rekker meg en is: verseegood, bare spis.
*Jeg tar en bit av isen og gir den tilbake*
Random jente ser overrasket paa meg: Nei ,, uh, du kan faa HELE!
*Jeg takker pent nei og sier at hun kan beholde isen sin (saa snill som jeg er)*
Random jente: TUSEN TAKK! du er saa snill.! *jenta gir meg en klem*
.. Bare for aa komme til en konklusjon her , en jente tilbyr meg isen hennes, jeg takker nei, ogsa takker jenta meg fordi JEG lar HENNE spise isen HUN hadde KJOPT… 

Pa mandag spise jeg lunsj med International friendshipclub. Det er en spesielt morsom episode jeg husker da jeg skulle forklare (Hip out gas) som de kalte det paa japansk.. Kan du gjette hva det betyr.. XD aa fise, fjerte .  Ikke spor hvordan vi kom inn paa det temaet.
 Istarten skulle jeg vaere serios, saa jeg skrev paa en lapp “to fart” (de ville vite den engelske betydningen).. Det vi fullstendig knakk sammen av latter av var da jeg (med serios britisk akksent) leste hva som stod paa lappen “to fart” . og de repiterte med det samme tonefallet . Det var saa bizzart at det ble hysterisk morsom..

En av mine bestevenner paa skolen gaar i en annen klasse som meg, men vi gar i samme engelskklasse saa da er det naturlig at vi alltid sitter sammen og i pausene gar vi somregel ned og kjoper oss kaffe og is.  Denne uken da vi hadde engelsk kommer det en klassekamerat bort til meg og spor rett ut:  Liker du han?  (selfolgelig sitter vennen min vedsiden av meg.) .. Det er fortsatt litt vannskelig aa utrykke seg paa japansk, og jeg vil ikke bli missforstaatt her.
Sunniva: Nei ,jeg liker har ikke.
Klassekammerat *tenker seg om en stund*: elsker du ham da?
Sunniva: Nei, vi er VENNER
Klassekammerat: Hater du ham?
Sunniva: NEI!
Klassekamerat: Liker du meg.
Sunniva *sukker oppgitt*: NEI !
Klassekamerat.. : Jeg visste at du hatet meg!
Sunniva: Jaa ! Jeg hater deg .. Saa konsentrer deg om engelsk og ikke snakk til meg .
vennen min har selfolgelig hort hele samtalen, og etter det virket han liksom.. tja , litt fjern.     men det gar sikkert over.

Paa torsdag skulle jeg mote en venn i Osaka kl 1700. men den merkelige personen kom ikke for 1740 ellernoe . Grunnen var visst at de hadde gatt seg vill paa et fjell under PERSONENS (kremt) skoletur.
Vi skulle mote enda en, men etter mye styr med telefoner og slikt fant vi ut at han var paa toget til Tokyo. YESS ! Sann gar det naar du planlegger med folk som ikke har telefon .  Det endte med at vi jeg) kjopte masse godis ogsa plantet vi oss utenfor en Starbucks cafe og drakk noe som jeg syns var verdens beste kaffe. XD   Paa bordet ved siden av oss ble vi plaget av noen japansere. Jeg sa at jeg kom fra Tyskland og ikke forstod japansk eller engelsk, og etter litt ble de lei og gikk. En av den sa visst “Danke” ogsaa “sayonara” . Hahah , trodde jeg skulle falle sammen av latter, men heldigvis holdt jeg det inne i meg.

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Akkurat naa er jeg litt sur fordi jeg og Lisa hadde planer om aa feire 17. mai i Kobe ,  men jeg fikk akkurat vite at vertsmoren min ikke lar meg dra fordi det er 3 personer .. 3!! som har blitt smittet av Griseinfluensa i Kobe. Derfor er det visst “for farlig” for meg aa dra dit! ! AHH ! er saa sint! jeg hadde virkelig gledet med!
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 Men na maa jeg legge meg . Skal skrive mer senere . BAAII
 og husk !

AODAN , NUMBER ONE . ( Blatt team er number one) !!

Golden week was a really good opportunity to have a proper break, catch up on sleep and do a few fun things. Its a fantastic idea having a week of national holidays back to back, but unfortunately this means that everywhere you go, prices are doubled and everywhere is crowded. Interestingly, Japanese people love domestic tourism, so even at “touristy spots”, places of interest or natural beauty I often find myself the only white person there.I really would have liked to have gone to Okinawa or at least Kyuushuu, but it would have cost me so much more than I could have afforded so I stayed around Nagoya with a few day trips, and plenty of trips to onsen to relax!

Ise Jingu

Ise Shrine is where one of the main gods is supposedly enshrined, and it is also the setting for part of the Japan myth (a bit bonkers). It is a collection of lots of small shrines which you can wander freely around, and Ami, Yasu and I decided to go on a daytrip there as it is pretty famous. However, as one shrine looks much like another, we spent most of the time going around the surrounding “town”. All the buildings look old-fashioned, with the signs written in the pre-war style (kanji which are read from right to left instead of the now conventional left to right) and even modern banks and the post office are made to blend in!

It was absolutely fabulous to wander around and soak up the atmosphere. There are all kinds of shops selling souvenirs, toys, clothes, and amazing food. Essentially it was as all good days out should be – very chilled out and constructed around eating lots of local specialities and yummy food. We had the finest steak grilled on a stick, semi-frozen cucumbers on sticks, Ise style udon noodles (, freshly caught whelks, melty-cheese filled deep-fried giant crab stick things, plus, shaved ice covered in syrup of freshly pulped strawberries.

We also got to see live taiko drummers which were fantastic!

Ninja Town

I also went for a mini road trip with Yasu and went to Ninja-mura, to see an actual ninja house filled with trap-doors, revolving panels, hidden passages, hidden upper floors, hiding places and doors/windows with special locks that only those in the know can operate. After that we went to the most amazing playground which is called ninja town. Its built like a mini village and ninja training ground – I would have loved to gone as a kid but that didnt stop me trying out the assualt course as an adult!

They even had costumes for you to rent so you could look and feel the part! We went on the zip-wire, climbed over a roof, crossed a pond using ninja floats, and paid a visit to the ninja-star throwing gallery. Even though the stars weren’t particularly sharp I got the impression that even in a semi blunt condition they could still inflict a lot of damage!

Shiga

During that same road trip, we were already in Shiga, so I took the chance to go back to where it all started, the Wilsons house in Ono. Since it was almost exactly 4 years after I left, I wasn’t sure if I could find my way there, but as soon as we got to the local station I instantly remembered the way that I used to bike home everyday! Unfortunately they werent in, but I left a note and maybe I will get to see them another time. Still it was really fun going back to where I used to live. Not much has changed at all! Its still exactly as I remember it!

I also got to see the replica of the inside of Nobunaga’s castle (important Japanese historical figure) and went around the attached archealogical museum – since there was no English I really had no idea what I was looking at though!

Fortsätter med mina rapporter från Guldveckan…

På onsdagen stack vi till Ikebukuro för att roa oss lite, vi blev 6 tappra kämpar som begav oss. Nate som pluggar i Ikebukuro hade koll på läget och lotsade oss till en schysst bowlinghall. Men det blev bara en omgång spelad, sen så tappade folk lusten… Om det var för att jag vann eller om dom bara tyckte att det var tråkigt vet jag faktiskt inte.

Poängpapperet från bowlingen slutningen är spärr och pilarna mot varandra är strike, namnet fick bara vara tre bokstäver långt och dom lyckades få mitt namn till Jun istället för Jen. Till deras försvar så ser yu och e hyfsat lika ut i japanskan.

Vi tog därefter ett genemsamt beslut att roa oss på bästa möjliga sätt, japanese style. Dvs vi gick till närmaste arkadhall, som är betydligt fler i antal än i Sverige och bättre utrustade än i princip samtliga arkadhallar i Sverige. Jag han med att spela lite Street Figher IV mot Allen och observerade när Nate dominerade Taiko no tatsujin (musikspel med japanska stooor trumma). Upptäckte en Rythm Tengoku arkad, vilket säkerligen fanns före DS versionen släpptes men jag hade ingen som helst koll på det så jag blev lite förvånad.

Tiden går ju som bekant ganska fort när man har roligt så snart var det dags att fånga sista tåget hem, eftersom man blir kvar tills tågen börjar gå igen annars…

Det sista som hände var dock att Tuomas upptäckte ett arkadspel som gick ut på att slå på en boxboll, Tuomas tränar precis som jag Karate fast en annan stil. Så när han slog sina slag och kom upp i 340-360 kgw så kunde jag liksom inte låta bli. Här nedan kan ni se resultatet av den testosterontriggade tävlingsmänniskan i mig. Allt jag tänker säga är att mitt fulla namn är Jens Tommy Svensson och att den som har initialerna XXX förmodligen har sparkat på boxbollen… ;P

As expected, this morning was a nightmare. Not only did I have to wake up at 7-something in the morning during summer vacation, but the reason for doing so was to get massive oral surgery in which all four wisdom teeth were extracted, two plates (I thought it was only one but when I got there I found out it was two) were screwed into my jaw and some jawbone was hacked out to make room for said jaw plates. Because I get really horrible Vasa Vagal reactions, the doctors brought in an anesthesiologist so I would be 100% out during the operation. The only bad part about that was the fucking IV needle was HUGE and the guy would inject all kinds of stuff into the catheter, and the medication that was supposed to put me to sleep burned! The IV was in my hand and I swear I though my entire wrist was either on fire or breaking. I don’t remember much after that; I don’t even remember seeing my mom leave the room. But maybe going under full-on anesthesia proved to be a good thing, that or the surgeons are amazing, because I actually don’t feel too bad, all thinks considered. Of course I’m in pain, but the Vicodin is helping a lot with that. But I’m surprised because the last time I had oral surgery, which was a very minor procedure (it was just cutting into my gums to attach a bracket and a chain to a stubborn tooth that wouldn’t grow in so it could be slowly pulled up over time) hurt way more than this. I couldn’t smile for a week because the slightest pressure to the spot hurt like a bitch! And I remember last time I was really weak and nauseous afterward. This time I just went right to sleep and I had no problems walking around or talking (well, after the numbing wore off and my tongue became functional again). But the doctors said the peak swelling and stuff would happen in 36 hours, which will be between 9:00pm and 10:00pm tonight. I’m hoping they just meant swelling and not pain… But even so, as of right now I’m already not looking too good, who knows what the peak swelling will look like! ;__; (Click “Read More” to see pictures of how I look now, post-surgery – nothing gross, I promise!)

My lip got cracked from the intense stretching during the surgery.

But all in all, the surgery went well. I haven’t even been bleeding that much aside from when I have to dab the tads sticking out from the plates with a Q-tip dipped in antiseptic mouthwash. I mean I’ve heard horror stories of people who get their wisdom teeth out and do nothing but pour torrents of blood into a bucket all night. -_- I’d say I’m definitely lucky! I just hope the jaw plates work so we can move onto the next step. The whole point of this is to fix a really bad cant (slant) in my jaw. But because my jaw looks level when you look at my face, the surgeons can’t simply snap the jaw so it’s level on the inside, otherwise it wouldn’t look level on the outside of my face when you look at me, if that makes sense. Eh, they tell me I’m a very rare case… But anyway, the point of these jaw plates is to serve as anchors so extremely strong rubber bands will connect some of my teeth to the tads sticking out from the plates in an attempt to level out my lower jaw. If this works, then they can surgically go in an manually level out my top jaw to match the bottom jaw through hacking out some bone here and there and adding screws and fake bone to keep everything stable. It’s not gonna be pretty (I have to stay in the hospital overnight for that operation), but I was in braces for 9 years – that’s just about half my life. And to come out of that disastrous event with abnormal teeth is just…unfair, especially when all of your friends around you get out of their braces and they have nice, normal teeth. (My first orthodontist was a whack job who completely ignored the fact that my jaw was getting worse and worse, so I had to switch to someone who actually knew what they were doing and they eventually sent me to these awesome surgeons.) Don’t get me wrong, this isn’t just cosmetic – I don’t bite properly at all either, which leaves me in constant discomfort, and I have pretty bad TMJ too. Every time I chew my jaw fuckin clicks… Sometimes it actually hurts!

Eh, on the bright side, Golden Week is over and Bleach will resume its normal release schedule. Although I just read the spoilers for Chapter 357, and it doesn’t look very promising… But of course I gotta read it anyway! XD

(And by the way, I got my final grade back from school – I have a 4.0 GPA this semester!!! A+, A+, A, A, A! I’m so fucking ecstatic!!!)

Super Sentai Herasunger

Cosplay Crime Prevention

Via Sanspo, YahooJP, News24, the 4th May, during the Sumida Koinobori Fair*, at Tokyo Sumida Ward, the Super Sentai Herasunger**, created by Mukojima Police Department, demonstrated measures against robbers.

* Koinobori , Kodomo no Hi, Golden Week
** 向島戦隊　犯罪・事故減らスンジャー Mukojima Sentai Hanzai Jiko Herasunja / Mukojima Sentai Crime Accident Reduction Ranger

Via JapanProbe

->Watch also The Nippon News Network video

Happy Children’s Day *cough*

Ah children’s day! Such a strange day! Major bank ups on the roads and trains and trams packed to the rafters with people visiting family or coming back at the end of the golden week holidays.

My children’s day didn’t involve any of that (but I watch the 30 k traffic jams on the news, which I found has an English option, much to the dislike of my host brother who would rather be watching cartoons than the news in another language, but he’s just going to have to deal with it.)

My host dad took me to go watch kite flying.

“Oh, kite flying, how boring!”

How dare you say that! (And don’t say you didn’t. Its right here on the screen for the world to see!)

These kites have knifes and involve people running into rivers. It was hilarious!

I wasn’t exactly sure of the rules, but I think it was pretty much don’t let the string on you kite get cut by the knife on another person’s kite. People started running into the river and falling over.

After watching that for about an hour (and only just missing the mega kite, which I saw on tv. It looked so kool. L) my host dad took me to a really old traditional style town. We went to a famous house and bought some cake like bread thingy. Delicious!

I went to the Ehime Prefecture Tobe Zoo ( EPTZ) with Sumiko, Maki and their mum today.

On the way to the zoo, we stopped at a ‘make it yourself’ Udon restaurant. It was so delicious. Even though I wasn’t hungry, there was still no way I could ever turn down a bowl of Udon.

When we got to the zoo, it was packed. The line to get in was pretty long (but not as bad as the usual line at Melbourne Zoo on the school holidays). My ticket to get in was ￥100 ($1.30 AUD) [CHEAP!]

The zoo was split up into streets. For example, all the animal species from Africa were on Africa Street and all the animal species from Australia (apparently we only have Red Kangaroos, Emu’s and Cassowaries’) were on Australia Street.

Now, I did notice some differences between this Zoo (EPTZ) and the main Zoo back at home (Melbourne Zoo):

1. EPTZ– You (the public) can feed certain animals

Melbourne – You can’t even think about feeding any of the animals let alone do it

At EPTZ you can buy a small plastic bag of fish from a vending machine and feed it to the seals. Most people just throw the fish into the enclosure but some people hold the fish over the railing and make the seals jump for it (and they jump really high! Someone’s going to get a hand taken off one day!) Same with the bears (they get a sort of cracker thing and people chuck it through the bars.)

 2. EPTZ - Entrance, souvenirs and food are cheap. (Relatively cheap family day out.)

      Melbourne – Entrance, souvenirs and food are EXPENSIVE.

3. EPTZ - Enclosures are kind of small for the larger animals (tigers, seals, lions, elephants etc)

Melbourne – Enclosures are big.

The Tobe elephant enclosure made the Melbourne elephant enclosure look like the damn Hilton!

4. EPTZ – The line to get in was really quick. You buy a ticket from a ticket machine and walk through a gate.

Melbourne – The line is really slow. The tickets are handed out by people and always take a long time even though there are two entrances into the zoo.

5. EPTZ– There are mini coin operated mechanical animals that kids can ride around on. They were all over the zoo and they played really annoying music.

Melbourne – No mini coin operated mechanical ride on animals (luckily)

6. EPTZ– The kangaroos were fenced off. (?!?!)

Melbourne (and Healesville) – You can walk right up to the kangaroos and feed (or at least you used to be able to) and pet them. 

And now for the ‘prettyful’ pictures!

Golden Week has come and gone, I was highly looking forward to it and had an awesome time however it’s sad now that there are no public holidays until the end of July.
Japan spoils us with national holidays.

I went to Okinawa. For those of you who don’t know, Okinawa is the southernmost prefecture of Japan, and takes about an hour and a half to fly there. It’s well known in Japan for beaches, and the American Air Force. I lived there about 2 years ago, only for a month but it was enjoyable (and HOT)

This is Okinawa

Pretty nice eh?

Anyway so Okinawa was cool, went to the Aquarium, saw fish, dropped a camera filter in the sea turtle tank (!!). Randomly met up with other JETs who happened to be in the area which was cool. We didn’t hit the beach up all that much, but at the same time we did other interesting stuff so it was all good.

Whilst in Okinawa we met up with some people and one of them had this: Fujifilm Instax Mini Camera Which is potentially the coolest camera I’ve seen in a while. Now I’ve wanted an instant camera for years, and whenever I looked at them they were kind

a pricey, plus it looked like Poloroid were going the way of the dodo, so I resisted. Poloroid died and it turns out that Fujifilm had done a different product printing on tiny credit card sized film much like you see here. (yes, that is me. Hello!)

I realise by putting that image in now I have somewhat skipped ahead and confirmed that I bought one, this one in fact and so I am now running around taking photos of people.

It’s such a nice experience, has a big retro vibe to it, I think we’ve all become so hooked on digital and can fix everything with photoshop etc that photography as in some ways is now more of a science than an art-form.  Taking photos with this yesterday made me feel like a kid again with an old 110 film camera.

The only problem is now buying the film is gonna cost me a fortune.

AHHHHHHHH!

I just got back home from a week in Kansai, where (amongst other things) I did iaido, kendo and went to watch the Kyoto Taikai.

More later.