Finding Nemo

While it may have been unusually humid in the Outback while we were there, 30% doesn't really compare to a billion, which was roughly the relative humidity in Cairns. Welcome to the tropics!

Our first full day was spent aboard an Ocean Spirit cruise, which we boarded right outside of our hotel (the Brendan Vacations tour people hooked us up!) This lovely catamaran took us out to one of the hundreds of cays on the Great Barrier Reef.



Upon reaching the cay, the parents and I were content to float around near the top of the water, but my adventerous, scuba certified brother set off for the deep with a other "certified" people. That's them below:



We all had a great time, as the underwater views were unbelievable. It looked just like an aquarium...there were so many fish and corals. Some fish were really friendly and would swim right up to you, others prefered to keep their distance. Unfortunately, jellyfish were abundant and were of the more "friendly" persuasion. Despite long sleeved suits, we all got stung anyway. Luckily, the burning sensation only lasted for the afternoon. I saw one stingray, maybe 1/2 a dozen giant clams that could have eaten my legs had they been so inclined and really enjoyed listening to the scraping sound the parrot fish made as the gnawed on the coral. It's all thanks to them that there was a cay for us to stop at!!

After lunch, we boarded a funny looking semi-submersible boat for a guide tour of the reef. Above the water line, the captain sat in a little box, and a staircase led below to the glass room were we sat on benches and oooohed and ahhhed at the captain's percision boat steering (and the marvels of the reef). The best part? No jellyfish!


Since I don't own an underwater case for my camera, the semi-sub ride gave me the chance to attempt photographing the marvels I had seen before lunch. This hardly does it justice:


I would make the long trek back to Australia just to spend more time on the reef. It was spectacular.

Cairns isn't just a beach town. Head inland and there are sugar cane fields and mountains covered in lush tropical forests. There's even an unlikely railway that will take you up one of these mountains to said forest.


I think this train station looks like something out of Disneyland, and it took a few sweaty hours of walking around its adjoining town to to convince me that it wasn't.

The weather in Cairns practically required excessive consumption of frozen dairy to survive. My dragon fruit/lime gelato in Kuranda (the town on top of the mountain) helped prevent me from expiring. You can tell my mom keeps up with my blog...she has the pose down pat.


To get off the mountain, we took a gondola over the trees. Gorgeous!


The last morning in Cairns, Mom and I went out for a special Mommy/Daughter breakfast at a coffee shop we had passed near our hotel. We ordered a Light Start breakfast (toast, yogurt, coffee) a muffin and an iced coffee to share. Boy, were we surprised when our order came out! I found it kind of odd that everyone in Australia drank hot coffee in the middle of summer, but it began to make sense when I saw the "iced coffee":


Whoa! One of those a day would be pretty dangerous. At least that will be balanced out by some toast and yogurt. Nope!! Whether it was our lousy American pronunciation or that the cashier didn't take us to be "light start" types, we were served a plate of toast, smothered in ham, eggs, holandaise and avocado. It was delicious!!

A parting shot from Cairns of the public pool in the middle of park. Next time I definitely want to go swimming!


From Cairns, we flew to Melbourne, the last stop on our packed intinerary. The weather in Melbourne threw us all for a loop, as it was cool and breezy.

View from the hotel:

Flinders Street Station.

In Australia, Melbourne is famous for its tram cars. This historic one makes a loop around the downtown area and you can ride it for free!!

The one organized tour we went on in Melbourne took us to some near by mountains which were full of exotic birds. Mom was happy. But who wouldn't be when the birds were as interesting as this one?

For our "last supper" as a family we headed to Lygon Street, a four block stretch home to around 200 restaurants, the vast majority of them Italian. We stuffed ourselves with pasta and then went searching for our last gelato together. Looking at the photo below, is there any doubt I am that woman's daughter?

After dining, we hauled our very full selves toward the Southern Star, Melbourne's newest attraction. It claimed to be like "nothing else on Earth" but it looked a lot like the London Eye to me.

We arrived at the perfect time, and got to see the city as the lights were coming on. It was quite beautiful, if not a tad bittersweet since this was our last activity together as a family.

The next day, I bid them farewell at the hotel and went souvenir shopping before meeting up with my friend Megumi. I met Megumi when I went to teach 4th grade at one of the elementary schools here in Kurume shortly after I first arrived in Japan. I let her and another teacher know about an English conversation group some other ALTs had organized, but it was a few months before they showed up. But when they did, we always found a lot to talk about! About a year ago, Megumi decided that she was done with teaching for a while (who can blame her!) and that she was going to go to Australia to study English. It was a great bit of luck that she moved to Melbourne, and I would have a whole day to kill after my parents left. She showed me around the Exhibition Hall and Melbourne Musuem before taking me to her apartment, where I spent the night. She and her boyfriend were excellent hosts, and I am sad that I only got to see them for a little while. The last we spoke, Megumi is planning on returning to Japan in July, so I hope to see her again before I head back to the States in August.

The fabulously over the top Exhibition Hall in Melbourne.

Thus concludes the much overdue and slightly abreviated chronicles of my trip to the Land Down Under. Thank you.

東京！

Apparently, two weeks in warmer climates ( I spent mine Down Under and Jamie was in Hawaii) wasn't enough vacation for the two of us, so we packed some bags and headed to Tokyo for 4 days before returning to the druggery of school.

Important places on the itinerary included: Tokyo Disneyland/Disney Sea, the Great Buddha of Kamakura, Harajuku, and Yokohama/Chinatown.

Day 1. Left Fukuoka. We were two of about four people on the plane not wearing a black business suit. Checked into our hotel, and went straight to Disneyland. Bought our two day Adventure Passes. There is no park hopping in Japan. You buy the pass and have to tell them which day you want to go to each park.

Why thank you! I am happy to be here. :-D

Excellent travel coordinator that she is, Jamie had looked up the opening hours of both parks before we left. Both parks were open longer on Saturday, and we were debating which one we should spend more time at. Thankfully we decided to stick to the original plan, which was Friday afternoon at Disneyland and Saturday morning at Disney Sea. Friday was grey and misty, which definitely cut down on the number of the people at the park. The longest line we waited in was for the Winnie the Pooh ride, and that took only about 25 mins.

Goofing around in Toon Town. Everything was wet, so I couldn't really sit down!

Sadly, due to the drizzle, the Electric Ligtht Parade was canceled. As the park closed, we made our way back to the station area for some dinner and shopping at the New Year's sales.

Day 2. Up and at 'em somewhat early, since we had a lot to fit in. I was the only foreigner at our hotel's "viking" (all you can eat buffet) breakfast, but it was a nice sunny day and we were on our way back to the Disney Resort. Today we hopped on the Mickey Mouse Monorail to get to Disney Sea. This was not a free ride however, and cost us $5 round trip! From the monorail, we saw that we had made the right choice by sticking to our original plan. The ground at the entrance to Disneyland was hardly visible through the crowd of people! But when we rounded the bend to Disney Sea, we were greeted by a large swath of pavement and maybe 6 people in line at the ticket counter.

Just inside the entrance, most of the characters were out in their sparkly 25th Anniversary outfits, so we had to stop for some pictures. Here I am with the perpetually pantless Donald Duck.

We worked our way around the park counter clockwise, starting in the "Little Mermaid Lagoon", then heading to the "Arabian Coast", the "Lost River Delta" (South America?), and the "American Waterfront" before arriving back near the entrance and the "Mediterranean Harbor." Sadly, the Indiana Jones ride was closed, but we did go on a tiny rollercoaster with a 360 degree loop! I also got to experience the aquatic version of my favorite childhood ride at Disneyland--Aquatopia!

At the "Arabian Coast", before riding on the 2 story Aladdin carousel, I made my impulse souvenier purchase. Every kid we saw was walking around with either some large eared hat or a plastic popcorn bucket around their neck, and I really wanted to fit in. So I paid $13 for a collapsible, collectible, Mickey Mouse New Year's bucket filled with black pepper flavored popcorn. I really felt like my Disney trip was complete!

C'mon! Act your age, not your (American) shoe size! [This pithy saying is pretty useless in Japan, since shoe sizes range from 22-30]

Our last stop before heading out of the park and on to other adventures was a pastry shop for some sweets and coffee. We sat in some glorious sunshine and enjoyed our snack. While we may have had to pay for the monorail, I was somewhat shocked to realize that my cake and coffee cost less at Disneyland than it does at Starbucks. I guess I always knew Starbucks was a rip-off, but worse than Disneyland?!?!

Sadly we told the man at the gate we wouldn't be needing our hands stamped for re-entry and went on our way. Our last image of the wonderful world of Disney was this talented street sweeper.

We hopped back on the train into the city and got off at Kappabashi Dori, the place to go if you ever wanted to open a restaurant in Tokyo...or just wanted light up ice cream cones, industrial sized sieves and plastic display food for your own kitchen. It was fascinating!! I was a little disappointed that there were not more "sample" stores of plastic food, but the ones we did see had some amazing offerings.

Resistance is futile, you just can't ignore delicious looking plastic food! The displays outside have lured me into many a restaurant here in Japan.

Tiny sushi to hang on your cell phone!

Large illuminated soft cream cones!

After walking up and down the block, we got back on the train and headed to Harajuku for more shopping! Harajuku was definitely crowded, but not quite the fashion parade I had expected, due to the winter weather. Friends have gone in June and said it's a much crazier place.

The main street, whose sign is obscured by the holiday balloon display. (Which, if Harajuku is anything like Kurume, is still up. The giant Christmas tree outside Nishitetsu Kurume station is still up in mid February as I write this!)

Apart from people watching and crepe eating, our main goal in Harajuku was to visit one of Japan's two new H&M stores. (For those of you who don't know, H&M is the IKEA of clothing, and since it's not a Japanese company it actually carries sizes that run into double digits!) The fact that it took us a while to find is kind of sad, when you actually see the size of the building:

But to be fair, we were on the same side of the street. Like my first ever trip to H&M in Pasadena, CA it was a little overwhelming. The Harajuku store had 3 floors of just women's clothing. Not a whole lot was on sale, but it didn't have to be. Compared to other Japanese clothing stores, it was pretty cheap. I took a whole pile of things into the dressing room with me, but ended up only buying a pair of black pants suitable for work.

We shopped 'til we dropped, ate some delicious champon near our hotel and went to sleep.

Sideways champon. I uploaded it twice, yet it insists on defying gravity.

Day 3 we left the Tokyo city limits in search of a giant Buddha and mouthwatering nikuman.

First up was the Daibutsu of Kamakura. The train to Kamakura was really crowded, as were the small streets near the station. We walked along with the crowd until we realized they were not heading where we wanted to go. We circled back to the station and got on a bus. Disembarking and the appropriate stop, I was sort of expecting a bit of a walk into the hills to see the giant Buddha. But no, once you are thru the gate and turn the corner, there he is about 100 yards of neatly raked gravel away from you!

Contemplating the little visitors.

Not so giant now, are we?!?

Frankly, as large statues go, this famous Daibutsu ranked 3rd on my list. The big wooden Buddha in Nara is much more imposing, and having lived in the shadow of the giagantic white Narita-san for 18 months, the Kamakura Daibutsu looks puny. He hardly shows above the trees and could never be used as a navigational beacon like my Narita-san.

On our way to our next stop, we partook in some excessive snacking that pretty much rendered lunch unnecessary. In retrospect, one beni-imo croquet would have been a sufficient snack (no need to add the dango and the ice cream).

Next up, Yokohama, a giant city that serves as a suburb of Tokyo. We arrived in Yokohama a bit earlier than we had planned, since after viewing the Buddha, there wasn't actually that much to do in Kamakura. And since we had just eaten a lot of snacks, we weren't quite ready to hit up Chinatown yet. Conveniently located right outside of Yokohama station is Landmark Tower, the tallest building for miles around, full of shops, restaurants, a hotel and of course, and observation deck! Oddly enough, it was sunny and we decided to go up. To get to the observation floor, we rode on the world's fastest elevator. It was a lot like every other elevator I have ever ridden, except I did notice that my ears popped!

From the top, one can see the harbour, some mountains including Fuji-san in the distance obscured by clouds, and miles and miles and miles of concrete jungle filling all the space between the water and the mountains. Incredible.

Slightly out of place chandelier and miles of cityscape.

After descending the tower, we hopped on the quiet subway to Chukagai, or Chinatown. We were greeted by some large gates.

Only about a block in, we stopped for our nikuman (steamed pork dumpling) at one of the places with the longest line. They were a bit expensive at $5 each, but they were huge!! And so fresh from the steamer we could barely hold them.

Clearly we weren't the only people looking for steamy, flavorful goodness.

We checked out the cheap-ish Chinese imports and tried to decide where to eat dinner. Every restaurant looked about the same, so we had a little difficultly choosing. I think we ended up at the one we ate at mostly because we were tired of walking. The food was pretty good, but since I had already eaten sooooooo much, it kind of just added to the misery. It was straight back to the hotel for us!

Day 4. Our last day, and given the packed agenda and overeating of the previous three, we opted for a morning at the Tokyo National Museum before heading to the airport to catch our plane back to Fukuoka. The National Museum is very reasonably priced and houses a massive collection of artifacts from Japan and other Asian countries.

The main gallery which houses a series of rooms that chronicle Japanese art through the ages. They rotate the displays regularly to show off the many, many pieces in their collection.

And the parting image from our Tokyo trip is this elaborate kadomatsu, (New Year's decoration made of bamboo and pine fronds) at the National Museum.

Happy "Moo" Year!!!

Chicken Soup for the Soul, Part II

I am putting your Nancy Drew/Hardy Boys/Bobsey Twins skills to the test. Look at the pictures and short descriptions and try to piece together what happened (or didn't).

A) View from my bathroom at 7:30 AM, January 13, 2009---the first day back at school.

B) View from kitchen at the same time. (Hint: There's a lot more white than I am used to)

C) January 13th was a Tuesday, which meant that I had Japanese class at 6:30 PM. I took some leftover chicken soup out of the freezer and put it on the counter with the idea that I would have a quick dinner ready when I got home.

D) Kitchen counter, 5:00 PM that day.

Did the last 8 hours not happen? It looks exactly the same as it did when I removed it from the freezer.

E) Maybe Thursday of the same week. My alarm clock that has a thermometer in the the bottom right corner. This is right next to where I sleep, and had read 39.9 before I turned on the space heater and ran to get my camera.

So for those of you who live in even colder climates, it's not that Japan's winters are really that brutal....it is usually above freezing, but older buildings (like my apartment) and elementary/junior high schools (where I teach) have no insulation or central heating. The clothes I wear inside are often the same clothes I wear outside---coat, hat, and scarf on top of the long underwear, turtleneck and wool sweater underneath.

To paraphrase another ALT, how is it that Japan has some of the most advanced technology in the world, but cannot properly insulate a building?

Into the Red Centre

Australia is roughly the size of the continental United States, so it shouldn't surprise me that everywhere we went was completely different. However, I have never been anywhere quite as different as the Australian Outback.

Driving from the airport into Alice Springs, the biggest "city" for miles and miles, we saw a herd of feral camels and crossed the raging river below. A river of sand? I was beginning to feel right at home! (The camels, not so much)



Our first afternoon in Alice Springs, we took bus tour of all 4 places of interest. The reptile center, the somewhat sad armed forces memorial, telegraph relay station and Royal Flying Doctor Service Station. Since we happened to be visiting during a "school holiday," we didn't get to see the School of the Air, which broadcasts radio lessons to children at remote stations in the Outback. The inhabitants of the Australian Outback are really tough people. Dealing with the hot, dry weather is one thing, but the remoteness is something entirely different.

In the evening, we attended an Aboriginal Culture Performance and Dinner at a little outdoor theater. Our host was interesting, and we got the chance to eat kangaroo! There it is on my plate, front and center:


It didn't have a whole lot of flavor and was rather chewy. I don't feel a need to ever try it again.

Our second afternoon was spent wandering the galleries of the town's main street where we happened along this ingenous sign. Australian is a completely different language!



And lastly, in addition to all of the amazing things mentioned above, Alice Springs is also home to some beautiful eucalyptus trees, which makes it smell really nice!


After spending about as much time as anyone would possibly want to spend in Alice Springs, we were picked up by a loquacious bus driver named "Smiley" who narrated the entire 5 hour journey to Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park. Oh, wait. I take that back. He did play a few songs about kangaroos on CDs and killed about 25 minutes with a Steve Irwin, Crocodile Hunter video! His commentary, while a bit much to absorb all at once, did liven up the scenery, which looked pretty much exactly like this the whole way, quite a bit.



The Outback apparently received a lot of rain in November, which left it much greener than I had expected.

We made it!



After checking into the hotel, where we would actually spend very little time (and almost none of it sleeping) we got back on the bus with a bunch of other tourists and headed to Kata-Tjuta, the sort of sister rocks to Uluru (the proper name for Ayer's Rock).

The path to nothing in particular. It was pretty hot and there were a ton of flies. The rocks do look impressive against the blue sky.



After our hike, there was another stop at a viewing a point where you could look one way and see Kata-Tjuta and then look the other way and see Uluru. Nice, but pretty far away from either of them. Gosh, there is soooooooooooo much space in Australia!! Our last stop of the day was at the designated tour bus sunset viewing area. We were greeted with some complimentary wine and extra salty trail mix to tide us over while we hunkered down to watch the sunset. It was recommended to stand in the same spot and take pictures about every 10 minutes until right before sunset, when you should up the frequency to every few minutes. When you got home, your time lapse shots would come together and show Uluru in an astounding rainbow of colors. I followed these instructions pretty closely, but ended up with about a dozen nearly identical pictures. And just as the sun actually set and the sky was the most beautiful, my battery died. Still, the one below isn't too shabby:



After sunset, we climbed back on the bus to be returned to our hotel. We ate dinner (not one of the better meals I had in Australia) and attempted to sleep before our 3:30 AM wake up call which would allow us to be out in front of the hotel at 4 AM for the Uluru sunrise tour! It was dark and a little chilly, but anticipating the high temperatures later on, I didn't bring a jacket. We drove to the park and they served us some awful coffee as we huddled around waiting for the sun to rise. I can't say it was particularly spectacular, but going on the tour did allow us to start our trek around the rock while one side was still in the shade.

Not a bad picture, especially considering this was about 6:30 AM.


Our hike around Uluru was one of my favorite parts of this Australian odyssey. Uluru has always been a sacred place for the Aboriginies, and while I don't want to get really hippy-dippy, it's hard to deny that it has a sort of other wordly feel to it. Uluru is a huge monolith in the middle of a lot of nothing. The path around the bottom took us about 3 hours to complete, and you would have to spend years studying it to get to know every little nook and cranny.



Yup, we went all the way around!

One of the biggest surprises for me was that Uluru is really lumpy up close! This shouldn't really be a surprise given that I know Uluru is a rock exposed to the elements, but in all the pictures taken from a distance (and with special filters?) it looks pretty smooth. There are countless holes and divots from water running down and sheer faces where pieces have broken off. Several of the more interesting features have especially sacred meanings for the Aboriginies and photographs were prohibited.


On the far side of the rock, away from the road, we only saw maybe 4 other people. The solitude was pretty amazing. Of course, we weren't really alone, as there were many caterpillars, beetles and even a snake making their way through the red dirt.

Returning to our hotel a little after lunch time, there was no time for a shower (gross) before we got on another plane, this one bound for Cairns.