First month back after Japan

I think I've finally recovered from my post Japan depression. Man it was so hard getting back into real life after getting home, I've never had that feeling so strongly with any other holiday. I also think our Japan holiday was unique in that I wasn't ready to come home. Usually after a long holiday no matter how amazing it was I'm kind of relieved to get back into routine, a proper diet, and my own bed. I think I could have stayed another month in Japan.

Rob and Jan's Wedding
What a beautiful wedding. Rob and Jan got married on a friend's farm about an hour south of Perth. I think it's the most genuine wedding I've ever seen, complete with custom made Fibonacci sequence rings by Rob, a Fresh Prince inspired rap by Jenny, and a gate crashing kangaroo having the time of her life eating the flowers.





The ceremony was gorgeous, Rob and the groomsmen had very unique and elegant suits with elbow patches, and Jan looked incredible in her dainty lace top and pleated skirt with pearl buttons. They made a great choice on food and drinks, with the Eat no Evil food truck making the best wedding food I've ever had, and Colonial beer making a big appearance. 





It was also my first experience camping in a tent. Rob and Jan were awesome enough to set up a tent city made up of all the guests' tents so that we didn't have to do any hard work when we arrived.



I was quite tentative about the idea, but thought it would be fun and didn't want to be too much of a princess about it. Well... I hated it. I don't think it helped that the guest in the tent next to us was spewing IN his tent the whole night, the air mattress was so bouncy that I would flip over completely every time Andrew moved, it was raining (and the toilet was a porterloo that was quite hard to use especially without my contacts in), and I got bitten by an evil mystery bug that left a big jellyfish-like sting on my neck. But I was very brave and I survived! I don't think I'll ever go camping.

The Room at Luna Leederville
Next year I'll have to force more people to come to this, it's such a fun night! Our little group of friends has grown as people have become The Roomies and have started bringing their own friends along to watch the worst movie ever.

The Ninja Academy
For our first software department social event I organised a freestyle session at the Ninja Academy. We had a pretty good turn out and had fun trying to figure out all the crazy obstacles. I love how excited everyone got when they conquered an obstacle (in particular the perspex wall which Andrew and Anne managed to get!). I really like it there and would like to start taking some classes with the guys who run it who I am completely in awe of.









Feral Tusk Day at The Bird
So this was actually meant to be Feral Tusk Day at Petition. We were planning to get to Petition at 6pm but I got a message from Andrew P saying it was all sold out at around 5:15pm after tapping at 4pm. Andrew managed to crack the hints on Facebook and figure out that The Bird were probably going to have a keg of Feral's limited release 11% double IPA. We got there and there luckily was still half a keg left so we each got a pint and also bought one for Andrew P who had missed out at Petition (for 2 years in a row) and was about to get on the train home.

It wasn't a gimmick, Tusk was delicious. 





So I've almost made it through our first month back. I think keeping busy is the key to keeping PJD at bay, and other than this fun stuff work is definitely making sure that that's happening.

Japan - Ueno to Hong Kong to Perth

We spent our last day in Japan in Ueno park appreciating the cherry blossoms, it was magical. 

We even saw Cool Japan being filmed!

Some last minute musings on our trip to Japan:

• Andrew is an exceptional travel agent
• A 500ml Suntory 9% "Strong" drink costs 150 yen ($1.50 AUD)
• Japanese people don't mind waiting in line
• I can live without a hair straightener for at least 1 month
• 7eleven, Family Mart, Lawsons have great meals but Seico mart has the best
• Train stations can be horrendous labyrinths of doom, especially Shinjuku
• The imperial castle does not exist
• Fake food splays outside of restaurants are an absolute winner of an idea
• I could easily live off of Japanese food bus would probably spend my salary on giant apples and $10 strawberries
• People have no shame when taking photos
• There's no trash, but plenty of smut
• I would definitely buy a Toyota
• Buddhism and Shinto are my favourite religions
• Bowing is a really natural show of appreciation
• Serious TV programs will still have silly noises and cartoon characters
• I will never get a tattoo so that I can always go to Onsen (funnily enough piercings are A-OK)
• Sumo is a very riveting sport
• I like skiing but I'm very scared of dying from skiing
• Air BnB is a great way to travel
• Shinkansen is a great way to travel
• Bunny Island is the home of my soul

We just got home to sunny Perth and luckily we had a spare key with my dad because our luggage got delayed and our house keys were in checked luggage! Our trip wasn't all that long but the smells and sounds of Perth have made me so happy to be home. I think our Japan trip may be my favourite holiday yet. 

Japan - Toyota and Ueno

The Tokyo factory tour was amazing. It was in the middle of nowhere and pretty hard to find (do your research beforehand before you go) but it's definitely worth the time, and it's free!





The tour starts at the Tokyo showroom where you get to watch a robot play a violin (pretty damn well, and so many degrees of freedom in that left arm make it very smooth), then catch a bus to one of the plants. Today we got to see the assembly plant and my god it was an eye opener. The welding production line of robots was incredible, and the manual assembly line was another level of work ethic and speed. Their philosophy is kind of what Agile is based on, and we even got to see some Kanban cards in action! I would definitely trust a Toyota after going on this tour.





My first train bento was from Nagoya to Tokyo and involved a completely runny egg that we managed to crack on our beer cans without it going absolutely everywhere.



Tonight we saw some beautiful cherry blossoms and a lot of drunk people in business suits appreciating them. Tomorrow is our last day in Japan and we're planning to spend it appreciating the cherry blossoms in Ueno park in the light of day.







Probably our last ramen in Japan :(

Japan - Nagashima Spa Land

What a fun park, but man were there waits! We got there for the park's opening time of 9:30 but we were quite far back in line and we literally ran to the Steel Dragon 2000 and managed to get on within 30minutes of waiting. Best ride of the day, it was a lot more intense than I thought it would be! My eyes were drooling so much.



We went straight for White Cyclone next which was a 1h wait but definitely worth it. The roller coaster itself was very rattly but the main attraction was how you felt like you were surrounded by the white wooden structure when you were in the middle of the roller coaster, just like being in a cyclone.



We did a few small rides next that really were not worth mentioning. The Space Shuttle was boring, the  Space Shot (like a reverse drop) was sooo boring but maybe I'm just being judgy because the wait for each of them was so long. We actually really enjoyed the Shuttle Loop which was like a launch swing roller coster with a loop, the Ultra Twister was pretty smooth (and didn't make Andrew sick!) and we also really enjoyed the Bobkart which was like a weird electrical bobsled thing that seated two people with the back person controlling the speed (the funnest method was to stop, then accelerate to the full speed over and over). We got some nice views from the top of the giant Ferris Wheel.



Towards the end of the day we decided to bite the bullet and wait 45min for the Acrobat which is a roller coaster which you face down on. It was fun, particularly the famous pretzel bit, but I thought it was a bit boring otherwise although it knocked Andrew's head about a little. One thing I found hilarious is that in the gift shop they had (as usual) confectionary themed on the roller coasters and the Acrobat had pretzels… but they were straight stick pretzels! With all the other nonsense ride-themed confectionary (also rife at Fuji-Q) what a missed opportunity to make the confectionary in the actual shape of the roller coaster track, argh.



I did the Giant Frisbee on my own and enjoyed it, but I think mostly because I got on pretty much straight away.

Next we went to the Illuminations which blew our minds. It was just so lovely and beautiful and romantic. The main illumination section was like an Alps scene that cycled through the seasons with a little character that sang yodels. Very pretty and we watched it through a few times without getting bored one bit. There were also two tunnels of light that were just fucking magical.

Japan - Osaka, Nara and Kobe

Takama, known for it's unique and fantastic soba (buckwheat) noodles, is the first Michelin star awarded restaurant that Andrew and I had been to. When we got there, we weren't sure it was actually the right place until we saw that people were starting to queue (we were pretty much the first ones there at 11:25am).



Lunch was simple and delicious. We ordered two miso-flavoured entrees to share including some tofu aged in miso which tasted like cheddar cheese, and a sort of buckwheat and cabbage fritter served on a wooden spoon. Both sides were around 500 yen and were really interesting. I couldn't finish mine because, believe it or not, I thought it was a bit too salty! Andrew finished his, but he had a beer to balance the saltiness.





Andrew and I got the same dish but with a different style of noodle. I got the inaka (whole buckwheat grain) noodles, while Andrew got the mori noodle (a more delicate and light coloured noodle), both dishes served cold with a dark dipping sauce made of at least soy and mirin. These were both 980 yen and absolutely delicious. I can't believe we can't get soba noodles like this in Perth!





Next we made our way to Nara to see some shrines, the great Buddha, but mostly (lets be honest) lots of deer in Nara park. There were so many deers! We bought some deer biscuits from a vendor on the side of the road (for 150 yen) and got mobbed (one even ate my map, what is it with deers and eating our maps?). At least the deer bowed to you before asking for food, so polite!











The great Buddha was gigantic and very impressive. The 5 tiered pagoda was lovely (Andrew had me convinced for far too long that it was Japan's first TV antenna), and the gardens were absolutely beautiful and very tranquil.













For dinner we had Kobe beef in Kobe at Steak Land. It was my second experience with teppanyaki and marbled steak, and my god it spectacular. We again got two different grades and shared them, and both were really nice. The more expensive one seemed a little more tough but more flavoursome, but I still maintain that both tasted like you were sucking butter out of them (in the best possible way).





Steak Land was less fancy than Heki but the food was just as delicious, but I think I'll always remember my first experience with wagyu at Heki as the best mostly because I had no idea what to expect and kind of thought that it was going to be Andrew's thing and I'd mostly enjoy the vegetables. I don't think I'll eat anything close to this anytime soon!