Ramblings about nothing

So I haven't really done much in regard to this Japan trip over the last month or so. Mostly I just need to save money (have I said this before?) and that's pretty much all I'm doing. I can't book anything (hotels etc) because it's too soon and I've bought everything I need to buy at the moment. So it's just a waiting game. I'm finding the more research I'm doing the more confused I'm getting about where to go and what to do so I'm just going to leave things be for now and worry about it in the new year. The economy worries me greatly, particularly as Japan has just gone in to a recession. I'll have to start picking up the FT and reading some economics books to find the best ways to avoid bad things happening. I have just had my hours increased at work so hopefully I should have around £3k to spend when I'm out there. That's not a lot of money for 4 months but it's more than I hoped for.

I am doing some prep for the trip though. I'm reading every Japanese related book I can find. Hard Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World by Haruki Murakami was a nice little gem I found by accident at Swansea Library. I'm poking around in non-fiction too. I'm also prating my hiragana katakana when I can be bothered and learning a little Japanese thanks to One Minute Japanese. On top of this I've picked up various items that I'll be needing. Rucksack, laptop bag, tripod, wet-weather jacket, pocket sewing kit (haha tis true).

In other news vaguely related to Japan (it's training for my Fuji climb....) my mother and I will be taking part in the BHF Santa Jog in Swansea on 14th December this year. Feel free to come along to cheer us on (read: laugh at how unfit I am) and anyone feeling generous can make a donation on my fundraising page. It's for a good cause so just give a quid and help save a life :)

I'll be back for a better update in about a month. Yes, things are sparse now but once I'm actually out there then there'll be pictures and drivel on a much more regular basis. This is about being there mostly, the getting there is only the beginning.

Christmas List for "Santa" - Updated

Updated Crimbo List!

• XSHOT Extendable Arm
• So far only found on ebay but a vital purchase. A very suitable alternative is available on I Want One of Those. £20
  
• Gorilla Pod - BOUGHT!!
  
• Picked up on Amazon. Please donate £12 if you wish to purchase on my behalf
  
• Personal Organiser - Bought & Paid for
• Walking Boots and Walking Socks
• I'll probably need to buy these myself.
• Laptop Case
• Picked up on Amazon. Looking for donaters of £25
  
• Rucksack - Bought & Paid!
  
• Backpack - Bought and paid!
  
• Headlamp - Bought and paid!
  
• Padlock x 2
• Asustek Eee PC 7" Black or White. Approx £165
• If you wanna go all out then this model with XP would be even better though a bit more expensive at £260. Honestly, the Linux one would be fine.
• Inflatable Pillow of some kind

And that is it! Go BUY BUY BUY!!!

6 months and counting....

I can't sleep this morning, much to my annoyance, so I've uploaded my itinerary (see previous entry) and now I'm going to type some random junk to pass the time. What is it? 28th September? That means 6 months from now I'll have just finished my last shift at work and will be looking forward to my super-lame leaving do :) By this point I should be just about all set to go. My bags wont be packed, of course, but I'll do that on the Sunday. Monday will be for final checks and goodbyes. Hmmm...must remember to sorn my bike and car before I go or I could get in to trouble for that. But that gives me 6 months until I leave. It's kinda scary to think that in just 6 months time I'll be about to jet off to the other side of the world to live!! Amazing but scary. All those places to visit, all those foods to eat and drinks to be disturbed by (make sure you look at the older post too...), all those friends to meet and pretty boys to perv at, all those mountains to climb, literally and figuratively I suppose.

Speaking of mountains, As my 6 month countdown is about to begin, I should really get on with that training I've been talking about for ages and not doing. I have at least 1 mountain to climb, Fuji, and I may tackle Mount Aso as well, just for the hell of it. I'm not going to get far in my current state though and I seem to be getting fatter by the day *cry* I guess it's my own fault. I only need to get in the gym 3 or 4 times a week but I'm just being lazy. I'll make time for it from now on. I'll make sure Eye of the Tiger is on my iPod. I'll jog, I'll do star jumps, I'll train!! Honestly.....no I don't believe me either. Anyone who wants a project or just wants to offer some support/encouragement please do.

I guess if I'm leaving on 31st March then 30th September shall be my official training launch date. I'll figure out a training plan and a way of actually sticking to it. I might even sign up to one of those online lose weight forums and get people to egg me on there. Hey, anything is worth a shot :)

Must write an email to B² now and then I'll try to get some sleep again

Itinerary

31st March (tues) Flight from London (1pm)
1st April (wed) Arrive at Narita Airport (9.00am) - 1 night stay at Holiday Inn Narita
2nd April (thur) Transfer to student accommodation in Matsudo
3rd April (fri) Orientation Day at college
4&5th April Food & necessities shopping, visa extention
6th Aril - 26th June Study
26th-29th June (sat-mon) Pack, pick up JR Pass, Hakone Free Pass, day trip to Nikko, Kamakura
30th June (tues) Leave accommodation for Hakone - Fuji Hakone Guesthouse
1st July (wed) Hakone
2nd July (thurs) Hakone to Hiroshima - J-Hoppers Hiroshima
3rd July (fri) Hiroshima
4th July (sat) Hiroshima to Beppu (either kaosan or happy neko)
5th July (sun) Beppu
6th July (mon) Beppu to Hita or Fukoyama (?)
7th July (tues) Hita to Himeji to Osaka (leave luggage in station) - J-Hoppers Osaka
8th July (wed) Osaka - Day at Universal Studio
9th-10th July (thurs-fri) Mount Fuji climb (Fujinomiya trail)
11th July (sat) Osaka - Day at Kurama
12th July (sun) Osaka - Day at Kobe
13th July (mon) Osaka
14th July (tues) Osaka - Day at Nara
15th July (wed) Osaka - Day at Ise
16th July (thurs) Osaka to Kyoto - Evening spent at festival - J-Hoppers Kyoto
17th July (fri) Kyoto - Gion Masuri (Gion Festival)
18th July (sat) Kyoto - Uji day out
19th July (sun) Kyoto - Undecided
20th July (mon) Kyoto - Undecided
21st July (tues) Kyoto to Tokyo - Asakusa Ryokan Toukaisou
22nd July (wed) Tokyo - Undecided
23rd July (thurs) Tokyo - Undecided
24th July (fri) Tokyo - Day & evening out in Yokohama
25th July (sat) Tokyo - Festival on Sumida River
26th July (sun) Tokyo - Final shopping day - Pick up expensive things & food!!
27th July (mon) Transfer back to Narita airport for flight home (11am) arriving at 15.30

Flight Booked!

I booked my flight! Oh yes! I booked my flight!

My mum decided that she couldnt afford to go so I've booked my flight and I am off to Japan. I'll be flying with Virgin Atlantic on 31st March 2009 and returning on 27th July 2009. I'm so excited now!!

Also, I spoke to someone at the Japan embassy in London regarding a visa. What she told me was if I'm studying for less than 90 days I can go in on a temporary visitor visa (which is what I wanted) and then get it extended once I'm out there. So yay! All good news!

Now that I have my official dates confirmed, I can make a real itinerary and get planning properly.

I'll see if I can get that done later.

xxx

Permission Granted!

Yes indeed I have been officially granted permission to take 4 months off work in order to travel to Japan!! I spoke to the big boss man last night and he said it is fine. Wootage! That's one major hurdle jumped, now on to the next one.

Actually, I don't know what the next one is going to be. I have a few things on the go at any one time. I'm trying to put an itinerary together but it's a bit of a pain in the ass because whenever I decide "this is where I'm going to go on this day" I discover something new or I come up against a problem and everything gets shuffled once more. I'll plod on with this and no doubt change it over and over again. As long as I can work out roughly how much it is going to cost me to get to and to enjoy each different place, I can reshuffle one last time in the new year before I book the hostels etc.

I had an email from my language course people today. I'd asked about the accommodation arrangements. They can't book the accommodation until 1 month before I arrive but they have told me that I'll be staying in one of the following places....
J&F House Warabi
J&F House DK Shiki
J&F House Matsudo (grab the pdf at the bottom in English)
My first choice would be the guest house in Matsudo. If you go to googlemaps and search for '千葉県松戸市樋野口771' you can have a look at the house and have a wander around the streets. It's really quite a cool little function they have going on there^^. I don't know much about the other two places but from first glance, what I've discovered about Matsudo so far is tipping the balance in its favour. I can't guarantee I'll get in there but I think I'll try to request it.

Sometime over the next week I really need to get in touch with the Japan embassy to have a chat about a visa. I'm pretty sure it'll be fine but the last thing I want is to turn up in Japan only to be turned away....that would suck most heinously.

Kurama

My itinery is filling up nicely now. One of the places I've decided to stop at is Kurama. This is a small little town just north of Kyoto which is famous for it's hot springs. I'll only be heading up there for the day but that should give me plenty of time to see the Kurama-dera (A buddist temple) and to visit the Kurama Onsen. The second part I'm very much looking forward to. They have both an indoor and outdoor hot spring bath which I think I'll try both of. The outdoor one is meant to be the most special of the two due to the lush location. I think I'll probably follow the trail as shown on the map above. I'll get a nice stroll through the Japanese country side, a nice bath and a nice meal :) The Kurama Onsen do a few special deals where you can chose which baths and meals you want. For ¥4800 which is around £25 you can use the indoor and outdoor bath and have a rather tasty traditional Japanese meal. One of those ones where you get a gazillion little dishes rather than 1 plate of nosh. Alternatively, if I'm feeling rather poor, I can pay just ¥1100 (£6) for use of the outdoor bath only (but its the best so thats cool) but you do get shampoo and coin lockers and hair dryers and all that jazz. You have to bring your own towel for the cheap one though...but that's no major hardship. So we'll see. £6 for a bath, £2 for the train, 50p donation at the temple to ride the train and £3 for a bento from 7/11. Bargain day out!

31st March 2009 it is!

Minor change to the leaving date. It seems that I can get a return flight from Heathrow to Tokyo Narita for £498 with Virgin Atlantic (including £50 to spend on on-board duty free). The only problem with that is I will be required to leave a day early. If I leave on 1st April the price goes up by £100. Makes sense really to go a day early and spend the night in a hotel. I was thinking I'd do that and stop in a hotel in Tokyo for the night but after a little thinking I realised that there's little point in going in to Tokyo itself. It would be far better (or cheaper) to stay in a hotel around the airport or Narita. So I found a Toyoko near the airport which will cost me around £40 for the night. Free transfer from the airport as well. Say I spent maybe a fiver on food, I'm still saving over £50 and getting an extra night in Japan. I could take a train in to Narita for a look around which would cost I think 250yen each way but going on tiredness levels the last time I arrived in Japan, just a nice comfortable room with a vending machine near by will suit me just fine. I'll be all fresh and dandy for my transfer to my accomodation the next day and all set for school on the Friday.

Must remember to email the company tomorrow with a few questions regarding a few things haha.

Ciao xoxo

Business Cards

So already, one day on I've been diverted from my plan but I have at least done something useful.....I made business cards!! Yeah!

I dont know which one I like the most so opinions please :) I'll print out the one or two I like the most. And no, it's not stupid to have business cards. The point of them is to be able to hand them out to anyone interested in donating to the charity climb fund or who wants to get in touch with me when I'm out there, or even to just pass on to people I meet along the way.

So....the cards. The two with the best response get printed :)







:) Personal favourite is the piggy one >.<

Second Large Step!

I figure the most important things to arrange for this trip are the following and probably in this order...

1. Book place on course - done
   
2. Request time off work - done and confirmed
   
3. Check Visa availablity/restrictions - done
4. Create itinerary based on above results - done
5. Book flights - done
6. Book bus to London (plus hotel if required) - not required as Kevin will give me a lift therefore I suppose this is done
   
7. Book accomodation
8. Make payments
9. Check course/accomodation for course/transport/amenity charges - I progress
   
10. Arrange Mount Fuji climb/fundraise
11. Enquire/order JR Pass
12. Shop
13. Print out all details etc and compile filofax of doom
14. Leave for Japan!!

As it stands I've done the first 2 parts. Tomorrow I will do part 3 and hopefully make a start on part 4.

In other news....I found melon pan in Swansea. /heaven

Updated on 28th September 2008

Purchases

Saving for this trip is a little difficult to say the least. It's costing me quite a bit more than originally planned so rather than £100 a week going to savings, it's £150. Therefore a lot of the things that I'm going to need to take with me I may not be able to afford. Yes I am taking donations if anyone wants to contribute to my cause....yeah I'm sure you're all dying to offer hehe. Hopefully I can take full advantage of Christmas and rather than random gifts of chocolate, socks and general stuff I don't want I can request the following items specifically chosen to aid me in my adventures in Japanland.

• XSHOT Extendable Arm
• So far only found on ebay but a vital purchase. An alternative is available on I Want One of Those.
  
• Gorilla Pod
• An alternative to the above but would also be very nice to have. Size Small please.
  
• 4 Litre Dry Sack
• Must be useful for my trip to Mount Fuji somehow.
• Personal Organiser
• Another vital piece of equipment. Will be needed for addresses, notes, money, blah blah. This one at Amazon should surfice though I may select a bigger one at a later date....we'll see.
• Walking Boots and Walking Socks
• I'll probably need to buy these myself.
• Laptop Case
• Will need to fit a 17" laptop.
• Rucksack
• A large one. I'll pick one out at a later date.
• Backpack
• For Mount Fuji Climb...again, I'll pick one out later
• Head lamp
• Not sure where you get these from but I'll need one if I do my climb through the night. An alternative would be a torch but I might just get one of those in Japan.
  

This list could go on forever. I'll post more things to it as and when I think of them.

Where to actually go...

The first 3 months of this tour are pretty much set. I'll be in a language school just outside Tokyo the entire time so apart from the occasional short distance day trip to Disneyland, Yokohama, Kamakura etc, I won't be straying far from the greater Tokyo area itself. Once the language course is finished, then the problems start.

First of all there's the visa issue. It's a little complicated but I should just about get away with it. It's all tied in with the JR Pass so anyone who wants to read up on that, Visas and why it's causing me a headache can go poke around.

But more so than the financial and legal issues, the biggest problem I'm having is deciding where to go and in which order to do it in. The damn Wikitravel website is the bane of my life right now. The more I read the more places I think I can squeeze in and the more I jumble my already packed itinery.

Today I've been looking at the island on Kyushu. Now I know I want to go to Oita and Beppu. Hot springs and sunshine. I might try and get to Nagasaki as it isn't that far out of the way. But then I was going to take the ferry from Osaka to Beppu and go from there but now I discover that I can get a shinkansen all the way to Fukuoka. Not that there's anything in particular that I want to go to Fukuoka for but the JR Pass would, in a round about sort of way, get me there for free. I'd just have to change train half way there. And it would be quicker. But do I really want or need to go there? Would a ferry be better? The ferry is overnight so I'd save on a nights accomodation. But then who wants to sleep on a ferry? Maybe I just need to sit and have a read of Fukuoka Now to see if it's worth the effort.

And then as I type this I discover this article regarding the Kyushu ferries and price increases....It just keeps getting more and more difficult to make any solid decisions. Grr!

And so it begins....well in blog form at least

Ok so this blog is here to track the next 12 months of my life, 1/3rd of which will be spent living in Japan. Before I tell you more about what I'm doing I'll give you a small introduction to myself. It might help haha!!

My name is Laura. I'm 27 years old and I currently live in Swansea, South Wales. I work for the Royal Mail in what I consider to be the most mind-numbing job that ever existed. I have a degree in Anthropology which I have failed to make the most of hence me doing the job that I do. I have had an interest in Japan for quite some time. I'm going to blame it on the influence of two Japanese students who came to study at my school when I was 16. Since then I've delved in to the world of manga and anime, and through that I have found myself immersed in J-drama, J-pop, bizarre tv programmes, melon pan, sushi, yukata and all sorts of fun Japanese things. And so the desire to visit the country has been growing for quite some time. I was lucky enough last year (September 2007) to visit for 2 weeks and now, fueled by my boring job, my desire to escape this pretty shitty city for an adventure that most people have whilst still of university age and my love of all things modern Japan , I am setting off next Spring for my belated Japan adventure!



It's still 8 months before I leave but you wouldn't believe how much planning there is in all this. How long should I stay? Where should I go? Which order shall I do it in? Which path up Mount Fuji should I take? What size bag? Should I take my laptop? It's tough, it really is. Which is partly what this blog if for. Somewhere to spew it all out to and hopefully from the chaos, a plan will come. It's also a safeguard in case my computer dies and I lose all my bookmarks haha!

I'm going to leave it at this today. Tomorrow I'll see how much of the garbled mash of information in my head I can push together in to an actually itinery. Then maybe one day soon I'll be able to add my destinations to the map below for you to get a good idea of where I'll be swanning off to.



Until then, Adieu....