Last year, while my brother and his family were visiting, we went on Velocity 2, the fastest zip line in the world. It is based at Penrhyn Quarry, Bethesda, Gwynedd, and is the longest zip line in Europe (1555 metres – I’m not sure if this is the total, including the little zip too). Depending on how much you weigh, you could reach 100mph as you fly down the wire.
I would definitely recommend the experience: it is exhilarating and an adrenaline rush. There is a smaller zip to get you started, then you get in the red truck to go up to the start of the big zip. The views from the top are fantastic: the North Wales coastline and Snowdonia mountains; then you fly over the beautiful blue Penrhyn Quarry lake.
You ‘zip’ lying on your front, with all limbs tucked in and if necessary, you’re also given a sail to slow you down. Velocity used to be for one person at a time, but now 4 people can zip alongside each other, and it’s a bit like a production line.
You cannot take your own camera – they provide REVL head cams – but don’t have to pay up front (like I did). They attach them to everyone at the top and you can decide at the end if you want the video and stills. The video is great quality but I would’ve preferred a video from my point of view rather than my reaction. I think it’s a real shame they don’t have cameras that can provide that option.
Back in 2017 my family and I went on Europe’s first 4-person zip lining experience. I took my head cam and put together a video of it, which was very long and not very exciting. I have now shortened the video to mostly just keep the zip lining and not the in-between bits.
Zip World Titan: the first 4-person zip line in Europe
Zip World Titan is part of Zip World Slate Caverns, Blaenau Ffestiniog, North Wales. Because you ride in a sitting position, you can look at the views all around you, of the Snowdonia mountains and the slate mines.
You can reach a maximum speed of 70mph, but this depends on weather conditions and your weight. Mum and I were nowhere near that speed! You can also increase your speed by tucking your knees up and leaning backwards.
We have also been on Velocity 2 – Titan’s big brother – in Penrhyn Quarry. This used to be a single zip but is now also a 4-person zip. This is the fastest zip line in the world, with speeds up to 100mph.
Unfortunately you can no longer take your own cameras on either of these zips: instead you can use their REVL camera and get a video and stills of your reaction, rather than the views. I’d recommend the experience and the picture quality is great, but I’m disappointed with my Velocity 2 video, which is basically my face, with a bit of the quarry and lake around the edges.
I’m never sure if it’s Zip World or ZipWorld, but either way, at the Slate Caverns you can also do a zip-lining course in the caverns and Bounce Below, which is trampolining inside the caverns. There is also a nice cafe on site. And if you’re interested in the slate mines, there are Slate Mountain tours where you can learn more about it and go into the Deep Mine.
This is a tough one. I’ve been in plenty of foreign cities without friends, but never without any money. That makes it a bit more difficult.
But… the question says that you’re only stranded for a day, so the implication is that you don’t have to worry about getting home. In which case I would chill out in a park or on a beach, enjoying the great outdoors. Maybe go for a wander around the city. Find tourist information and see what I can do for free.
Something a bit like one of my days in Portland, where I chilled out down by the river in Waterfront Park, and messing around in the fountain. Or this day in Washington Park, which I remember fondly despite apparently not being in too good a mental state at the time.
Now if I had to also consider getting home… I guess I would see if I could get some work somewhere or else find a police station to phone home! I know it’s a bit of a dull answer, but I am a bit of a practical, sensible person.
Komal and I had breakfast together yesterday and both of us were a little taken aback when two guys walked in and ordered beer. Before 9am.
Today I went for breakfast alone at 8.30am. As I was arriving, a group of 4 people chatted to me as they were leaving, and the lady apologised for their behaviour, because they were drunk. One of the guys told me that he owned a gay bar in town, and I got the impression that hadn’t long finished work.It was quiet when they left. Until I noticed the two guys sat at the counter were snoring.
Spent the morning in the hotel with Komal, putting together an article for the website about the event. I have also told Hideyuki that I’m happy to administrate the website, so I had a brainstorm about changes to make to it.
Komal and I went to Kansai University around 1pm, but Komal had to post something to Tokyo first. Two people who don’t speak Japanese in a Japanese Post Office, where none of the signs are translated, attempting to get a large envelope for the parcel and do everything correctly. You have to describe what is in the parcel for air mail. It was a plaque of Northumbria University. They had no idea what we were talking about, but tried to check somehow. I had visions of them checking Google Translate, coming up with the Japanese for ‘dental plaque’ and having no idea what we were talking about.
Anyway, it worked. Parcel sent. And off we went to the university. I think we were more of an annoyance to Hideyuki than anything else, because we didn’t really need to see him and we made him late for a faculty meeting. But, he has set up a meeting with a community organisation in Kyoto for Friday.
Technology.
I imagine most people know the Japanese like their technology, but I just wanted to mention a couple of great things I saw yesterday. The first was a ‘bike conveyor’. These are narrow strips located next to steps on footbridges that are activated automatically on contact. So you walk up the steps and just hold your bike while it goes up the conveyor! And on the other side there is a ‘bike slope’.
The second is the seats on the Limited Express train. These trains have seats in pairs, similar to UK trains. But. All the seats can be turned around! So everyone can face the direction of travel, or you can turn seats to face each other if you’re in a group. An incredibly simple idea.
Much better day today. Despite waiting ages for Hideyuki in the hotel. Anyway, when he eventually arrived, we all went over to Kansai University. Hideyuki had some work to do, so me and Komal sat in a classroom and were very studious. Hideyuki joined us after his work and I presented what I did yesterday for him to comment on and make suggestions.
Around 1pm we left for Kainan, where Hideyuki is working with other universities, the local government and a school on tsunami preparation and evacuation. Kainan is quite far from Takatsuki, so it took us almost 2 hours on the limited express train. The area Hideyuki is working in is at an elevation of 2 metres. They had a tsunami in 1946 which reached about 6 metres, and are basically expecting their next tsunami soon. They were working on 6 metres again, but the Tohoku tsunami worried them a bit: 40 metres is quite a bit higher than 6 metres!
Komal and I followed Hideyuki to a meeting in the school which was essentially a debrief from an evacuation drill in November. About 2,000 of the 5,000 residents participated, and the school is involved because students are taking part in the evacuation plans and procedures. This is quite a big deal because children are usually seen as vulnerable victims in disasters.We also went to another meeting at the Disaster Management Centre, which involved everyone at the school meeting, except the school staff. Both meetings were in Japanese, but Hideyuki has scribbled English translations on the handout for me!
The government people also took us on a bit of a tour of the town. We visited an evacuation point at 10 metres elevation, down a street which could barely fit a Mini: bit of an issue if an earthquake topples the buildings on either side before a tsunami hits! Also, the only thing they have at the site is solar lighting. No shelter or water points. The Disaster Management Centre also doubles up as an evacuation centre, but again, they’re a bit concerned that it won’t be enough after Tohoku. We were also shown the entrance to the marina and port. There has been some work done on building a tsunami barrier. Unfortunately a permanent barrier has obvious effects on the local economy. So they considered a barrier that could be raised following a tsunami warning. But, in the event of a tsunami wave crashing into the barrier, it would then hit a part of the city on the opposite side of the inlet. Difficult decisions to be made.
The second meeting went on so long that we were pushing our luck to catch our train, or wait an hour until the next one. So Komal, Hideyuki and I ran into the station, through the barrier (we already had tickets), up two escalators, and along the platform, just in the nick of time.
We got back to Takatsuki around 8pm and went to Watami for dinner, the same restaurant as Friday night. Good food, but I had to scrape fish paper off my food again!!
Komal and I discussed research further this morning. He asked me to put together a simple plan of what I want to do, and also possible interviews in the UK and Japan. I then closed myself in the hotel room until cabin fever started setting in later in the afternoon. I went for a wander to the mall on the other side of the station.
I might have to indulge in some tights and leg warmers before leaving: they have some pretty cool ones here! I also went down to the supermarket on the ground floor of the mall and found loads of tofu! Much better selection than in the UK, where there’s pretty much just one choice. I also managed to use the self-checkout despite all the instructions being in Japanese!
Komal and I went to a cheap cafe around the corner for supper, and that was pretty much the excitement of the day.
Bowing
It’s a big deal in Japan. Pretty sure I’ll come back to the UK and bow to everyone there too! You bow when you meet someone, when you say goodbye, when you say thank you, and many other times in between. Generally, when the Japanese person you’re communicating with bows, you bow in return! And you have to make a bit of an effort, not just a nod of the head. The train conductor even walks into the carriage, thanks you for travelling with them, and bows before checking tickets.And the girl pushing the refreshments trolley. It’s kinda nice though: just another sign of the politeness of the Japanese people.
Which many of us could learn from, especially hospitality and retail staff (me included). When you walk into a cafe here, all the staff welcome you, bow and thank you for your (potential) custom. Similar when you walk into shops. In fact, you don’t even have to walk in: just pass by.
Checked out of the hotel at 11am because Komal and I are moving to a cheaper hotel for the week. We sat in the foyer waiting for Hideyuki for two hours! He was very apologetic. But I won’t get those two hours back, in which I felt like I got the entire history of internal politics in the disasters department of Northumbria!
We went over to the new hotel to drop bags off, then took the train one stop to a Nepalese restaurant. I think Komal enjoyed the food and being able to speak Nepalese! Apparently there are quite a few thousand Nepalese in this part of Japan, but a lot are here illegally.
Back at the hotel around 4pm and we checked in: not as nice as the first hotel but it’s clean and got everything we need. Komal and I went for a coffee to discuss my research project. He started by asking what I wanted to look at, which confused me since I presented on that and we had just discussed with Hideyuki at lunch. I got the impression that he thought I had no idea what I was doing. But I think he was just confirming and repeating what had already been said. Although he did ask some questions about how I plan to analyse my data, which I’m a bit useless on.
Spent the rest of the evening trying to get my aims, objectives, methodology and methods sorted. Feeling a bit better about it after that: like there is a bit of direction. But I won’t get any interviews done this week (which makes me wonder why I had to stay another week) and will need to come back in July, assuming I can get funding.
A thoroughly boring day. Met Komal and Andrea at breakfast and said I wanted to catch up on work while they went shopping. Basically spent the entire day in the hotel room but didn’t feel like I accomplished that much. Decided I should probably get some fresh air around 5pm so went for a walk to Starbucks. And paid £4 for a normal size coffee. The exchange rate is really bad for tourists at the moment.
Met Komal, Andrea and Hideyuki for a meeting at 6.30, then we went to a canteen style restaurant next door. Hideyuki complemented me on my “very Japanese” style eating when I picked up my rice bowl. Shortly followed by Komal leaving his chopsticks standing up in his food (big no-no – means ‘death’).
Said goodbye to Andrea because she is leaving in the early hours, and went to bed.
Quiet day, so a chance to write about some other ‘Japan’ stuff.
Bikes.
They’re everywhere. Push bikes and scooters. On the road, the pavements, at road crossings, travelling in whichever direction they want. It was a bit strange at first, being so used to bike not being allowed on pavements, but I’m kinda used to it now. The bike riders do a pretty good job at avoiding pedestrians, and even when you do get in their way (like I did last night), they don’t shout like they would in the UK! There are so many bikes that there are car parks for them (or bike parks if you prefer). And they’re piled up outside shops. And none of them are locked.
The great thing is watching the Japanese riding along dead casual, one hand on the handlebar, one hand holding their umbrella.
Man riding a bike and holding an umbrella. Skills.
Today the Gaijins almost brought Japan to a standstill. Well, a Brazilian one in particular. Andrea held up the shuttle bus from the hotel by 5 minutes, then the train to Kyoto was late, and much later, Komal and Bernard’s meeting ran over. Coincidence? I think not!
Late trains in Japan
Most of the group are leaving early tomorrow morning, but Chris and Liv are flying so early that they’re getting a hotel near the airport tonight. But before all that, we have a meeting in Kyoto University and then tourist stuff in Kyoto.
We took the train to Kyoto and then a local one along Nara line to Obaku (Shaun took this opportunity to take a lovely photo of me sleeping standing up) to meet Dr Norio Okada, who is quite important in disaster management; and apparently I’m going to a lecture by him next week.
So after meeting him, Komal and Bernard went off to Nagoya by bullet train, and the rest of us got a sightseeing bus pass for Kyoto. We only had a couple of hours so decided to get off at the Ryoanji Temple and if we split up, meet back at the station at 6.15pm.
We did indeed split up. Andrea, Liv, Shaun and I whizzed around Ryoanji and headed to Kinkakuji. It was a bit of a shame because everyone else there was clearly sitting and contemplating the simplicity of the rock garden, and we just took a few quick snaps and left. In typical Japanese tourist style (except they don’t do it here!).
It took longer to walk to the Kinkakuji than I expected and I was getting a bit concerned that we’d taken a wrong turning, but we got there. Then stood outside wondering if it was worth going in, because it was already 3.45pm. Eventually decided to go in and very glad we did, because it was awesome. Essentially it is a golden temple built next to a lake, and it’s very pretty. There is also a coin toss thing: we didn’t know the purpose of it, but I got my coin in! (and apparently it’s for good luck). Andrea and Shaun also got the chance to have a photo taken with a lady in a kimono. She was also a tourist, but stopped by quite a few people wanting photos.
Andrea then went off by herself and Liv, Shaun and I boarded the most packed bus in the world. They don’t seem to do doubledeckers here, and there aren’t many seats either: just lots and lots of hoops to hold. And you get on using the door in the middle of the bus, then leave using the front door and pay then. Anyway, pretty uncomfortable.
We got off the bus at the station and went into the underground shopping mall looking for tourist tat. The only souvenir shop we found was quite expensive, so we went into the ground floor of the Sky Tower building which was much more reasonably priced.
Shaun went off looking for gifts and Liv and I got a coffee in Starbucks by pointing to what we wanted. Much easier than learning another language! (Helps that the menu is in English though). We left at 6pm to go back to the station to meet the others. We chose to go the underground route, not sure if it was the mall or just underground to the station. Either way we were pretty sure we would get to where we wanted, with me saying: “the worst that can happen is we end up on the other side of the road”.
Ahem. No idea how we managed it, but we seemed to go all the way under the station and out on the other side. Anyway, it was a street we didn’t recognise and we couldn’t see anything we recognised, and all signage was useless (even those in English). Getting a bit worried as we continued to walk and still didn’t see anything we recognised.Eventually I recognised one part of the station from earlier that day and we got back to the front of the station. Still not sure how we ended up one storey above ground level though.
I’ve since checked what we did: underground at 5, straight down, and back up by the beige building at the bottom. And to give you an idea of the enormity of Kyoto Station: Sky Tower at the top; under 5 lanes of the bus station, 10 regular rail platforms, 2 bullet train platforms; and out at the mall at the bottom. Stepped outside somewhere near the Sushi Bar, realised we were in the wrong place, walked back up past Kintetsu Railway and Isetan, and out by Hotel Granvia.
The others were there already, but no sign of Hideyuki (who had hotel details for Liv and Chris), Komal and Bernard. Liv and Chris waited a while but were worried about missing the super rapid train, so we said we’d text them the details.
Then we waited. Hideyuki arrived around 6.50pm and told us Komal and Bernard would be late so we shouldn’t wait. We headed back to Takatsuki to find somewhere nice and cheap for dinner. This was the first group meal where we sat on chairs on didn’t take our shoes off!
Komal and Bernard were at the hotel when we got back. Me and Andrea said goodbye to everyone and off to bed after quite a manic day.
The conference is basically over, but everyone has a couple of free days so we decided to do some sightseeing. Liv, Shaun and I had decided to go to Nara today, and Marion, Andrea and Dorota came with us. Nara used to be the capital of Japan and has loads and loads of temples. The whole place is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
We had to get a train to Kyoto and then another to Nara, taking about 1hr 15min. We found English maps and guides at tourist info, thanks to a very helpful lady working there. It was noticeably colder here and it started to rain as we arrived. We had a look around some tourist tat shops and a random temple not on the tourist map.
We then went to Kofukuji Temple and saw the 3- and 5-storey pagodas. We didn’t bother paying to go into any of the buildings. We then walked through Nara Park, saying hello to the various deer which are protected here. There are about 1200 of them.
On to Todaiji Temple, which was well worth the visit and getting cold and wet. You walk up a pedestrianised street to an enormous gate with huge statues, then keep walking past various temple buildings and a shrine on a lake, to the main building. All the while having deer pester you for snacks. The temple houses the biggest Buddha in Japan. And he really is huge. There is also a small hole at the bottom of one of the pillars which, if you can fit through, you will be granted enlightenment in your next reincarnation. I saw a very petite Japanese lady struggle through and decided it was best avoided.
We then walked up the hill to Nigatsudo and got a view over the city. Shame the weather was rubbish. We warmed up in a nearby cafe then walked back down to the station.
We took a train to Osaka which took about an hour, hoping to meet Komal and Chris there, but they ended up in Kyoto at a meeting and it all kinda fell apart. We had a quick look in one of the shopping malls attached to the station, before deciding it was rather expensive.
Instead we went to the enormous Yodobashi electronics shop. Choice is not the word to describe it. Over-choice perhaps would be (if it was a word!). I wanted headphones. There were at least 200 to choose from. Probably about 1000 if you included earphones too. Massively overwhelmed by it all. I found the camera floor but decided it would be dangerous to stay. The shop also housed toys. Including porn manga dolls.
We then headed for a Ferris Wheel but it didn’t appear to be on or lit up, so we went for a beer instead, and then got the train back. Very cold and wet and bedraggled. I struggled for food today without Hideyuki, and wimped out when we got back to Takatsuki: I got a Subway sandwich by pointing to the stuff I wanted on it! Dead to the world by 9.30pm.
We had a much more relaxed start to the day today: breakfast at 7.45am and no educational stuff until 9.30am, which meant we had enough time to go for a walk and see orange trees, bamboo plants, and a random shrine or two in the countryside around the hotel. It was pitch black when we got here last night, so we were able to see just how remote this place is this morning. There is the hotel we’re in, what looks like another hotel across the river, and the village to one side of us. And wooded mountains on every side.
Our first seminar of the day was in the hotel, from the president of Irodori, Mr Tomoji Yokoishi. Irodori is a group that was set up to help people in rural areas make a living. From climbing trees and collecting leaves. Seriously. One person has made 200,000 yen in one day. That’s £2,000. One woman was still climbing trees until she was 95. The concept is that high-end restaurants like to decorate food with leaves of the season, and Kamikatsu is surrounded by the leaves that are in demand. Irodori has helped mostly older people set up a farmers’ cooperative to take advantage of this, and they are reaping the rewards.We got to visit the warehouse that the cooperative paid for, and saw some of the farmers delivering their leaves.
Back to the hotel for lunch, and then to Kamikatsu Zero Waste project on our way back. This rural area has never had household rubbish collections, but the zero waste facility has been set up essentially as a skip, but with a huge emphasis on recycling. People can bring their stuff and sort it into various boxes, and for those residents who are not very mobile, volunteers do household collections every couple of months. There is also a bric-a-brac shop, but you don’t pay for what you take: just note down the weight. Kamikatsu aims to be zero waste by 2020.
Then the long drive back to Takatsuki. Really long. Slept for most of it. We went out for dinner to a Thai and Bali restaurant because a few people were getting fed up of the choice of fish or raw fish. It was probably my least favourite meal so far and it was quite an expensive night. But up to this point I hadn’t paid for anything so I didn’t really mind.
We asked Hideyuki to translate a tattoo Shaun got when he was 15 because he liked the look of it. The look on his face made us think it must have said something like paedophile, but it says “blood and guts”. It was funny to him because the “blood and guts = courage” analogy doesn’t really translate, so in Japanese it kinda means sickness.
Hideyuki’s students – affectionately termed “the boys” by Neill – were quite taken with Chris’s muscles, so he treated them to a big bear hug before they left, lifting them a few feet off the ground.
The “chin chin” conversation was going on on the other table, so I told Shaun, Liv and Marion what it meant. We decided it would be funny to say “chin chin” instead of “kanpai” on the next round, and received shocked looks from Komal and the 3 Japanese people. Komal asked Hideyuki to explain to us what it meant, and I think he was slightly confused when we said we knew exactly what we were saying!
And so the inevitable suffering after the night before. Chris was pretty certain he was still drunk at breakfast. I felt OK then, but got worse as the day went on.
We took the shuttle to the station and got a train to Nagata, Kobe. We started our day at Nagata Fire Station, then wandered around Kobe streets affected by the 1995 earthquake, and then to a school practicing disaster stuff. The kids were fascinated by Chris (tall, big, ginger) and Bernard (black).
Then our Japanese firemen left us and went to the Disaster Reduction and Human Renovation Institution. Hideyuki wasn’t with us today, but two of his students met us to look after us for the rest of the day. There was a big event about disaster risk reduction (DRR) marking the anniversary of the earthquake. We hung around for a while, met someone really important for a few seconds (and we have no idea why), then got some desperately needed lunch. We spent about an hour in the museum, which was very interesting but it was disappointing that more wasn’t in English, and that we only had an hour. It was still easy to see the effects from the photos and videos, and apparently there is an audio guide: it just wasn’t available today.
We moved on to the Nojima Fault Preservation Museum on Awaji Island. The museum and Hokudancho Earthquake Memorial Park are built around a preserved bit of the Nojima fault, where you can see various points of bifurcation. There is also a house built on the fault line which has been preserved in its “broken” state. There are lots of facts about Japan’s seismic activity and also an “earthquake experience room” which mimics the intensity of the Kobe 1995 earthquake, while you sit on a sofa or at the dining table.
We then had a 3-hour bus ride to Kamikatsu village on Shikoku Island. It is a traditional Japanese hotel (called a ryokan): sliding doors, futons, kimonos. And toilet shoes.
We were a bit late so we basically checked in, dropped bags off and went for our feast. There was an enormous amount of food, and I’m pretty sure I had more than everyone else. Too much to finish. I had something that looked a lot like fish, even though they said it wasn’t. Hideyuki was joining us but hadn’t arrived yet, and his students were struggling to tell us what this stuff was. They said potato, but we all had a hard time believing it. When Hideyuki arrived he confirmed it was in fact potato: a traditional Japanese dish of mashed potato which is then squashed into blocks or something! Still, tasted a bit weird.
Kobe
So the reason we went to Kobe today was because it was the anniversary of the Great Hanshin earthquake of 1995. It hit at 5.46am and measured 7.2. The epicentre was only 16km underground and 20km away on Awaji Island. Kobe was the closest densely populated area. In total over 6,000 people died, about 300,000 lost their homes, and it caused about $100 billion damages. The central and local authorities were seen to have dealt badly with it, and it has led to most of the disaster education in Japan today. Along with the damage caused by the seismic activity (like falling buildings, roads and railways), over 100 fires began (and I mean big fires). The people of Japan and Kobe especially are still greatly affected by this earthquake, and I imagine even more so after last year’s earthquake and tsunami.
On the anniversary, people put candles out in streets where people died, school children practice disaster techniques like first aid, and the whole city is dedicated to disaster awareness.
Anyway, I advise you to check out photos and videos of the earthquake to see just how bad it was. Here is a small selection. You can also search for “Kobe earthquake” on YouTube.
Official start of the conference today. Started with a 6am phone call from Komal telling me to be at breakfast at 7.30am. Which we had already been told the night before…
We took the shuttle bus from the hotel to the station and walked in what was probably not the most direct route to Kansai University. Very plush building: Shaun, Liv and I were very jealous of it compared to Ellison Building in Northumbria. Not that Ellison Building is that bad: just looking a bit worn.
Disappointingly very few Japanese people came to see us present, but we still had a chance to present our research (or lack thereof). Despite the fact that I have no findings as yet, I didn’t feel that it went that badly.
We had lunch after the postgraduate presentations. I was presented with a basket of salad sandwiches.
In the afternoon, David Cope (Director of Parliamentary Office of Science and Technology) did an informal presentation; then Neill and Chris from the Fire Service presented, and then a postgraduate from Kansai. Finally Bernard and Hideyuki led a participatory workshop; after which we were all feeling quite tired!
We had long enough at the hotel to change and freshen up, before going to a restaurant on the 15th floor of a building next to City Hall. It was really really nice, and free drinks for the first 90 minutes. We got small glasses to go with our beer, so we had no idea how much we drank, but it led to concepts like “auto face focus” (the feature on cameras that automatically locates and focuses on faces; not it’s real name but sounds funny when said in a Japanese accent).
A few people left early and the stragglers were asked to leave around 9pm. Not because we’d done anything wrong: restaurants just seem to shut early here. There was still a full bottle of beer left which we didn’t want to leave, so Shaun hid it in his coat pocket. But he still had to put his shoes on with a few of the staff hanging around. Cue me putting on his trainers and attempting to tie the laces while both of us were wetting ourselves and no one else had a clue what was going on.
We decided to get some more beers and “cheap sake” in the 7-11 on the way back to the hotel (apparently we hadn’t had enough!). Once again I was Shaun’s bitch, getting beer out of the fridge because he couldn’t bend down.
Six of us congregated in Marion’s room for drinks and giggles. The sake didn’t go down too well (we’re pretty sure the shop assistant lied when we asked if it was sake) but everything else did, and Chris even had to get more beer. The night eventually ended around 1.30am, but not before fun misheard comments like “where are your trousers pet?” (“where’s your trouser press?”) and “where’s your winkie?” (“where’s your room key?”).
We arrived in Kansai Airport 10am but had to hang around until 11.30am because Neill’s plane was delayed (Neill is Assistant Chief of Northumberland Fire & Rescue). Once he arrived we took the train to Takatsuki Kyoto Hotel, which took about 2 hours!
One thing that seemed apparent from the train is that Sunday is laundry day. Most apartments (ranging from 2-storey to many-storey buildings) have balconies, and almost all had clothes rails on. We travelled through Rinku town and it was interesting to see agriculture in the middle of an urban area: fields and fields of cabbages in amongst loads of houses.
There is hardly any space between houses. They don’t seem to do terraces like the UK, but there are really narrow gaps between buildings, and very little outside space (usually just room for one car).
So we reached the hotel around 2pm and decided to meet in the foyer around 6pm to go for food. I wanted to work on my presentation, so showered and sat in front of my laptop. And then the tiredness hit me. I climbed into bed and next thing I knew it was 5.45pm.
We went to a mostly fish restaurant for dinner, where me meal began with a tofu salad topped with bonito, or “fish paper” as it became known to us. Thankfully the rest of my meal was a bit more veggie friendly and didn’t involve scraping fish paper aside!
We left around 8.30pm: a few of us went back to the hotel while the rest tried to find the Newcastle game in a bar. I tried to get a bit more work done on my presentation before crashing out.
Electric toilets
Big thing over here. Some offer bidet facilities. Some make water sounds to disguise your own sounds. Some flush when you first sit down. But the best have heated seats. A bit unusual I know, but it is really nice to have a heated seat on a very cold day!
And any electric toilets are a welcome alternative to traditional Japanese toilets, which are holes in the ground.
One irritating thing about public toilets though: the tap water to wash your hands is freezing cold, and they don’t supply paper towels or dryers because Japanese people carry their own towels. So unless you’re prepared, you leave with a warm bum but cold hands.
Thanks to this book that Rebecca bought for me, I know not to say “chin chin” in Japan! Apparently it’s slang for ‘penis’. So it’ll be “kanpai” (cheers) all the way!
It’s been about 2½ years since I’ve flown anywhere. At least, I think Dublin was the last time I flew anywhere. Anyway, quite weird considering how much flying I’ve done in the past.
Excited but still massively nervous about how little I’ve done and the presentation and interviews I have to do. Feel unprepared and like I don’t deserve this opportunity and someone else should have it. Someone who works harder.
But it’s my name on the ticket and in the programme so I just have to suck it up and hopefully come out with something worthwhile.
Part of what I find so difficult is narrowing it down. As far as I’m concerned, until the wealth inequality and power relations are sorted, we’re not going to do anything but talk about what could be achieved. And the likelihood of wealth and power being shared?
So how am I supposed to write something worthwhile about community based DRR and CCA? Maybe I’m not. Maybe I’m supposed to come out with something depressing.
Laptops must be removed from bags. Liquids need to be in a clear plastic bag. Why? No one can or wants to tell you. They just tell you that they have to be in a clear plastic bag, which you can buy: 4 for £1. So I bought them, swore and muttered a fair bit, and then took as long as I could to put everything back into my rucksack. Shame the airport isn’t busy enough for me to have created an enormous queue.
So after I email whoever it is that has a cafe at Shrewsbury train station to complain that they don’t have soy milk, I’ll be contacting all airports and airlines to find out why exactly we have to use clear plastic bags for liquids, and why they don’t provide said plastic bags in this ridiculous farce apparently fighting terrorism. On a brighter note, Cafe Ritazza are in my good books because they do have soy milk.
First flight was fairly uneventful: took off, flew, landed. The clouds over Wales were pretty: looked just like an enormous cotton wool blanket. Holland is so flat. Stating the obvious I know, but with climate change imminent, you begin to wonder what their plan is. Sea levels will rise and they’re already pretty damn low. And there are huge flat fields (I presume growing all those tomatoes that taste of nothing) which are going to more soil erosion, higher wind speeds, flooding, etc.
Anyways, the KLM lady in Cardiff told me she couldn’t see my special meal booked so to check when I get to Schippol. I go up to one of the transfer desks in the airport and the lady there also tells me she can’t see a special meal booked for me and there’s nothing she can do about it but if I go to the gate, they might be able to. Off to the gate where I explain for the third time that I called and booked the meal and it was confirmed; only to be told again that I didn’t have one booked but they’d see what they could do. (I did get my food, but seriously, should it be this complicated?!)
Found Liv and Shaun at the gate and they said everyone else was in a bar somewhere in the airport. We’ve ended up in seats all over the plane because we’ve all travelled different routes and checked in separately. There was an empty seat next to me though so Komal moved into that one. Watched Green Lantern (pretty awful) and Midnight in Paris (good fun).
