Icciv's notes in Japan

Visiting Cristin!

Last Saturday I travelled down to Kokubu, Kagoshima to visit my good friend Cristin. I left the island at 12 and didn't reach her until 7pm. It was a long trip but plenty of people spoke to me and entertained me along the way. I even got a high school student to show me the way to her workplace. Cristin didn't finish work until 9 so I found an italian place and sat outside drinking white wine and watching the sunset.

That evening me and Cristin went to a Japanese restaurant with her manager and co-worker (Emi), and a student. They were all really lovely and there was so much food! I was completely shattered at this point though and had to ask to head home at midnight. Seven hours of travelling can knock anyone out!

The next day Emi drove us to Kumamoto. She was going home to visit her family over Obon. It was a 2 hour drive and we arrived there about noon. The castle was the first place to visit.

Here's Cristin, Emi and myself by the castle.

Me and Cristin fight with Ninja's

I'd visited the castle before back in November with Will, but it was still just as beautiful. It was also wonderful to share this with Cristin. I'd waited a year to have her join me here and see the things that make Japan the weird and wonderful country it is.

After the castle Emi has to leave and have dinner with her family. It was a shame but I look forward to meeting her again, she often visits Sasebo. She was a very interesting person and I really enjoyed talking to her about the traditional Japanese workplace and the role of women.

In the evening I showed Cristin the delights of Purikuwa (the sticker photo booths) and taiko drumming. Once we both got the hang of the photo decorations and background we created some wacky pictures. One of which my Japanese friend commented we look like the T.a.T.u girls. Cristin, can you guess which picture that is?

We had dinner at a Japanese restaurant and discussed Japanese culture. What it was we were willing to adjust to, and what we thought was just silly. I find that I try to adhere to most rules I'm told and I understand why they exist, but they can be frustrating sometimes! After dinner we spent time wandering the streets realising the difficulty in distinguishing between Snack bars, hostess bars and normal bars. We came across a western bar called "Jeffs World Bar" and figured that was a safe bet. It wasn't too busy and the bar owner was a cool guy. We got chatting to some NOVA teachers and some Japanese students and stayed there till about 3am. We then dragged the NOVA teachers and one of the students to karaoke with us and sung until sun rise.

Here's Paul and Nick the NOVA boys who were highly entertaining.

From Left to right it's Satoshi, Nick and Paul, with me in the middle.

Here's Satoshi, me, Paul and Cristin.

We reached bed by 6am and thats the main reason why the theme park (originally planned for the next day) was a no go. We could barely cope in the sunshine, let alone ride fast turning rollercoasters all afternoon. We made the decision to get a good breakfast and travel to kagoshima for the afternoon to explore there.

Here's Cristin enjoying a hangover cure breakfast.

Here's Cristin and me riding the shinkansen...yes...we are sad.

When we reached Kagoshima we went to the ferris wheel on the top of the shopping mall. We didn't wait for the clear bottomed car but thats probably a good thing with my fear of heights and all. It was a stunning view.


This is sakurajima, the volcano. It's still active, eeek!

Cristin enjoying the view!

We got the wrong tram for 10 mins, and then had to change and go back the other way. We reached the sea and bumped into some other Geos workers who Cristin knew. We played a strange game of football and frisbee. Then me and Cristin had dinner while watching the sunset over Sakurajima...beautiful.

We headed back to Kokubu and got changed before checking out the towns bar scene. We went to a little Bar/restaurant near Cristin's house and pretty soon the owner was chatting to us and showing his amazing mixing and juggling skills. They were really cool there and welcoming and I was happy Cristin had some good bars to visit near by. Next we went to a reggae bar about 5 minutes away. It was pretty empty being a Monday night but the bar staff were again very chatty and we talked about my upcoming trip to the Yokohama reggae festival. They were cool people and I was happy that Cristin had this all around her. We reached bed around 3 and I wondered how I'd make it home!

Heading home was an awkward journey of missing trains ad sleeping through change stops. I made the 4.25pm fast boat that goes on a massive detour meaning I didn't reach home until 7. Having missed my own local, I headed to BB and caught up with my friends. Part of this was modelling sunglasses.

Kentaro (Tensai)

Shinya


Hiroki (Snack Bar owner and really cool guy) I think he looks like David Baddiel slightly.

This is Taichiro, who's also a nice guy.

I got home at a reasonable hour feeling very happy to have seen Cristin and where she was living. I just really want her to come visit me now! Come on Cristin, hurry up and visit!

posted by Icciv @ 9:04 am