Meeting up with Yumi...

  Hamamatsu, Japan
Saturday, March 17, 2007

So after finally leaving Tokyo, I decided to have a night in Yokohama on the way to Yumi`s (it was supposed to have been two nights, but I guess plans are always susceptible to change when there are cute Canadian girls hanging around!). As it happened, one night was enough to see the major sights and I managed to squeeze a lot in...

The hostel I was staying at was a little bit off the beaten track, but an old Japanese man practically dragged me to the building when he saw me looking at a map! It was a decent place and I had a Japanese style room to myself, so I couldn`t complain...although the green tea that the receptionist brought me when I was using the internet was awful, yet I felt compelled to drink it!

I got the metro to Sakuragi-cho and saw some interesting architecture, including the impressive Landmark Tower, Japan`s tallest building. Across from there was the famous Cosmos Clock Ferris Wheel, which I couldn`t resist going on to get some good views of the city, just as the sun was setting. There were plenty of shops to browse around as well, and of course I had a wander through Chinatown in the evening, and caught a glimpse of the Marine Tower...so yeah, I managed to fit a lot in.

The next morning, I slowly worked my way south on the futsu trains to Hamamatsu, home to the lovely Yumi who I`d not seen for 18 months. She greeted me at the ticket gates and it was great to see her again after such a long time, and as she drove me away from the station, it felt like we were on our way to the kiwifruit packhouse again! Thankfully that wasn`t the case, and we were going to the altogether less-tedious surroundings of Kakegawa to see a castle, something that I`d not seen in Japan so far.

Surrounding the castle were a variety of museums, and barely any tourists at all, so Yumi and I had a gentle stroll around them all, with my newly appointed tour guide helping with explanations. Unexpectedly, we took part in a Tea Ceremony at one point, with both of us having to kneel down in front of an old Japanese lady and watch as she whipped the powder into a frothy consistency. We then had to follow suit, before meticulously lifting the bowls up and taking a sip (something I wasn`t looking forward to doing after my previous encounter with green tea). After the initial sip, we had to drink the rest in one, and actually it tasted alright, as did the Japanese sweet we ate beforehand.

Back at Yumi`s house, I met her mum who was so kind and funny, and she soon got the guitar out and I learned my first Japanese song - "Sakura Sakura." We ate sushi and various other titbits, and they both were very surprised with my ability to use chopsticks (admittedly I am something of a dab hand thesedays!). I even underwent "further training" with Yumi`s dad later in the evening, picking up individual bits of rice with them. He couldn`t speak much English at all, but we got on well, partially due to our mutual appreciation of alcohol - we certainly sank lots of sake that evening! He then gave me a physical demonstration of Shorinji kenpo, a Japanese form of self defense that he`s been practicing for 37 years, and I think it proved that I would come off worst in the event of a confrontation.

We had an early start the next morning as we were going to see Mt Fuji, although a quick glance at its webcam before we set off didn`t fill us with optimism...you couldn`t see it! Likewise when we stopped at a service station on the way, I was surprised when Yumi pointed to where it was...it had disappeared! Actually I wasn`t too despondant because I`d seen it on the train journey down, and I`ll probably go and stay near it for a few days before I leave Japan...

Cloudy skies apart, we had a great day beginning with a trip to some lovely waterfalls, with Yumi making fun of the number of waterfall photographs I took in New Zealand! We followed this up with a trip to the Mt Fuji Museum which was a little overpriced, and of far more interest to me was the nearby theme park...the rollercoasters looked amazing!

I`m not sure how much of an adrenalin junkie Yumi actually is, but probably out of politeness she went with it, and so we spent the afternoon at the Fuji-Q Highland Theme Park. First up was the highest and longest rollercoaster in the world, Fujiyama, and after a 45 minute wait it was our turn. I took a good photograph of Yumi on the way to the top, which I think captures her sheer terror quite accurately! Well we weren`t disappointed, and it was one of the best rides I`ve ever been on...the first drop was ace!

However, Fujiyama pales into insignificance when compared to Eejanaika, a rollercoaster that holds the world record for the most number of times that you go upside down (fourteen). It was quite simply awesome, ten times better than anything in the UK, and the fact that we queued up for a ridiculous two hours and nearly died of hypothermia seems insignificant...it was worth it! I dread to think what the queues will be like on a weekend though...

I was nodding off on the way home while poor Yumi, suffering badly with hayfever and having found herself on two of the scariest rollercoasters in the world, made the long drive back to Hamamatsu. Her mum had made me beans after hearing about my love of beans on toast, and we ate lamb, chicken, rice and tofu as well...it was good to be eating so healthily for a change! We then talked about Japan and which places I wanted to go to, before I was given another lengthy masterclass in Shorinji kenpo by Yumi`s dad whilst enjoying the odd sake or three...

Unfortunately my time in Hamamatsu concluded with the disappointment of missing out on tickets to the Arctic Monkeys gig...they sold out in ten minutes and all the websites crashed, making it impossible to get any. I was gutted, but at least it means that I don`t have to trail back up to Tokyo again, and my spirits were lifted when I met Yumi`s husband and had a look at their wedding photographs...they make a cute couple!

I`d had a great time with Yumi and her family, and I`ll be seeing them again at some point...there`s talk of us going to see the Sumo Wrestling in May which would be excellent...just as long as we`re not sitting on the front row, as it looks quite dangerous there!