It's interesting to see what the kids I teach are into. They bring little things into class - the usual tamagochis and cutesy little hello kitty type things hanging off their bags and mobiles. Mr Tamagochi must be fabulously wealthy. Often a kid will have 2 that are married to each other. Yes, married! You feed them, take them to the toilet, put them to bed, rear them and send them off to be married and reproduce. One girl has an eighth generation tamagochi. They have more going on in their digital lives than I do.
One day a boy produced a very realistic matt-black metal semi-automatic pistol with a very realistic action. I was a little disconcerted! Another boy (ridiculously cute, but naughty 3-4 year old, wearing donkey ears and tail) had a little gun which also appeared to be cute, but when I had to fish for him under the table I saw down the barrel a pea-sized ball bearing pointed at me. Mum didn't seem to mind. Not the toy I'd choose for my little kid! There seems to be a certain naivety about stuff like that among some parents here.
This weekend I went to Kyoto to see my old church friends Simon and Theresa! They were on a holiday from Australia after a trip to China. Simon's a doctor and Theresa's an interior designer - Simon was putting his skills and training to great use to help people in China, whilst Theresa cared for children with special needs and orphans, among other things. I'm sure if you don't know them that you've guessed by now that they are wonderful people.
They are a kak to observe as a couple, especially when Simon is asking Theresa's opinion about clothes. It was really great to hang out and just mosy around the ceramics, sweets and souvenir shops leading uphill to Kiyomizu-dera, one of Kyoto's most famous temples. Autumn is peak season to come and see the sights and we were mixing it with a steady moving throng just about everywhere. There were some amazing kimonos out and about as I think some girls/ladies like to get into the ambience of the place and have their photos taken. If I was a girl and I had a kimono, I'd be wearing mine in Kyoto... if I was Japanese... oh forget it! Anyway, they looked great. There was one couple I saw where the guy had one on too (a male one) - they looked very cute together. Of course you can go the whole hog and get made up as a geisha or maiko (apprentice) for a not-very-small fee. In Kyoto they call geisha geiko, but it sounds too lizard-like for me - I'll stick to geisha.
We outdid ourselves at the sushi-train. It was so cheap and oishii! I am constantly confounded by what is expensive and what is cheap here. I guess it must have to do with what's local, what's imported (or more to the point, where it's imported from), what's fresh, what keeps etc. Here are some examples:
bananas are almost reasonable
Chinese veges like buk choy and Chinese cabbage are cheap
most other fruits and vegetables are expensive (a gift rockmelon will set you back a couple of hundred AU$!)
fruit juice is really expensive (no, I don't have scurvy...I splurge on juice)
pastries are cheap
bread is a little expensive
pizzas are quite expensive
rice is super expensive
Kahlua is cheap!
whisky is cheap (I'll post a photo - they sell 4 litre bottles!)
electronics are cheaper than Australia
CDs and DVDs are generally through the roof
business clothes are cheap! (why oh why did I bring all those new shirts!?)
shoes are cheap
casual clothes range from cheap to insanely dear (depending on the store)
bath sheets are cheap (I got one for about AU$3.50)
The bath sheet is a tale of woe. I was excited by the price and vast proportions of said item (90cm by 170cm). I took it home, used it the next morning to find that I knocked everything over in my bathroom the first time I wrapped it around myself. I then wiped the steam off the mirror to see that I was covered in smurf dandruff (it's blue). I was finding the stuff on me all through the day. I guess you're supposed to wash it first. As a result I know use a thick hand towel about 30cmx30cm instead. Not as epic, but more useful.
I think the basic division in price is what comes from China and what's made in Japan. I guess that's not so different from home. And if you go clothes shopping in Ginza in Tokyo I guess you're going to pay for the prestige. Hence I'm pretty safe at the Kippy Mall, Sanda :-)
One day a boy produced a very realistic matt-black metal semi-automatic pistol with a very realistic action. I was a little disconcerted! Another boy (ridiculously cute, but naughty 3-4 year old, wearing donkey ears and tail) had a little gun which also appeared to be cute, but when I had to fish for him under the table I saw down the barrel a pea-sized ball bearing pointed at me. Mum didn't seem to mind. Not the toy I'd choose for my little kid! There seems to be a certain naivety about stuff like that among some parents here.
This weekend I went to Kyoto to see my old church friends Simon and Theresa! They were on a holiday from Australia after a trip to China. Simon's a doctor and Theresa's an interior designer - Simon was putting his skills and training to great use to help people in China, whilst Theresa cared for children with special needs and orphans, among other things. I'm sure if you don't know them that you've guessed by now that they are wonderful people.
They are a kak to observe as a couple, especially when Simon is asking Theresa's opinion about clothes. It was really great to hang out and just mosy around the ceramics, sweets and souvenir shops leading uphill to Kiyomizu-dera, one of Kyoto's most famous temples. Autumn is peak season to come and see the sights and we were mixing it with a steady moving throng just about everywhere. There were some amazing kimonos out and about as I think some girls/ladies like to get into the ambience of the place and have their photos taken. If I was a girl and I had a kimono, I'd be wearing mine in Kyoto... if I was Japanese... oh forget it! Anyway, they looked great. There was one couple I saw where the guy had one on too (a male one) - they looked very cute together. Of course you can go the whole hog and get made up as a geisha or maiko (apprentice) for a not-very-small fee. In Kyoto they call geisha geiko, but it sounds too lizard-like for me - I'll stick to geisha.
We outdid ourselves at the sushi-train. It was so cheap and oishii! I am constantly confounded by what is expensive and what is cheap here. I guess it must have to do with what's local, what's imported (or more to the point, where it's imported from), what's fresh, what keeps etc. Here are some examples:
bananas are almost reasonable
Chinese veges like buk choy and Chinese cabbage are cheap
most other fruits and vegetables are expensive (a gift rockmelon will set you back a couple of hundred AU$!)
fruit juice is really expensive (no, I don't have scurvy...I splurge on juice)
pastries are cheap
bread is a little expensive
pizzas are quite expensive
rice is super expensive
Kahlua is cheap!
whisky is cheap (I'll post a photo - they sell 4 litre bottles!)
electronics are cheaper than Australia
CDs and DVDs are generally through the roof
business clothes are cheap! (why oh why did I bring all those new shirts!?)
shoes are cheap
casual clothes range from cheap to insanely dear (depending on the store)
bath sheets are cheap (I got one for about AU$3.50)
The bath sheet is a tale of woe. I was excited by the price and vast proportions of said item (90cm by 170cm). I took it home, used it the next morning to find that I knocked everything over in my bathroom the first time I wrapped it around myself. I then wiped the steam off the mirror to see that I was covered in smurf dandruff (it's blue). I was finding the stuff on me all through the day. I guess you're supposed to wash it first. As a result I know use a thick hand towel about 30cmx30cm instead. Not as epic, but more useful.
I think the basic division in price is what comes from China and what's made in Japan. I guess that's not so different from home. And if you go clothes shopping in Ginza in Tokyo I guess you're going to pay for the prestige. Hence I'm pretty safe at the Kippy Mall, Sanda :-)
posted by Ian at 9:37 PM
2 Comments:
Ahhh ... hilarious Ian ... the bit about bath towel.
I remember fondly the green tea ice cream in Kyoto. Yummy! :)
Autumn must be rather pretty there. Don't they have autumn night viewing of certain temples? I saw photos of some temples lit up at night ... truly beautiful. :)
I'd say keep your stories long ... quite amusing. Just laughing with you Ian ... ;)
Hey Ian. Glad you had nice piccies of myself and Tree. Lucky I didn't have to pull out that video of you introducing the menu at our beloved sushi train restaurant!!!! Had a great time with ya pigging out on sushi and buying lotsa goodies:)
your "wonderful" friends
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