2015

2015

I could claim that in an effort to be environmentally friendly we dispensed with the traditional Christmas card process, but the reality is more along the lines of life got busy, we waited too long and it simple didn't happen. It doesn't mean that we haven't thought of you all, it just means you get a different method of delivery.

So, Merry Christmas from the Tembys. We hope that the year has been kind to you and that 2016 sees you well favoured, happy and successful.

What's been going down in Tembyland for the last year? Let me wax lyrical for a moment.

The year started in an odd place for us. There was the joy of Michael having excelled in his final year of school, the excitement of a pending trip to Japan and the trepidation of an uncertain employment future for me. 

I spent much of 2014 travelling all over Australian with Sargent, but the reality of the business was that it wasn't going to survive and the likelihood of my contract being extended was very low. We went to Japan anyway. If you've followed this blog, you'll likely have seen the daily catch ups that I posted to cover our time away. We had a ball. The snow was fantastic and it was brilliant to get to ski again. Unfortunately for Caroline her knee was giving her hell for most of the trip and so after having made the most of the skiing, she spent much of time time sightseeing hobbling from place to place (and walking down stairs backwards much to the amusement of many who saw us).

I think one of the highlights for me was once again getting to experience a new culture, even if some of the food was, well, beyond my taste buds' capacity. I told myself that having not really made the most of the culinary experiences that Singapore had to offer all those years ago, that I'd not limit myself too much when we went to Japan, but when face to face with some things, it gets kind of hard to put them in your mouth. 

The return from Japan saw the Michael preparing for Uni life, the rest of the kids return to school and me advised that as expected, me advised that my contract would not be expended. 

It turned into a challenging time for me. In the end it was 6 months before I found another job and I can't say that it was the best period of my life. I bounced from job application to job application, determined and hoping to find something in Adelaide, particularly with Sam having commenced the final two years of his IB journey. I came close to a couple of jobs, getting interviews at periods that would buoy the hope levels for a while only to have them dashed again. It seemed every time that I would consider starting something around the house I'd think I was going to be successful. So other than finishing off Assassin's Creed Black Flag, I can't claim that I achieved as much as I might have through that time. My cooking skills at least improved and I did a bit more cleaning that I was used to as well (though Caroline would certainly be right in saying there was room left for improvement). 

In the end I scored a job though, much to the relief of everyone (and particularly me!) The fact that it was back at Transfield Services held mixed feelings for me. In some ways it was like going home and in others, off the back of having been made redundant, I wondered wether it was a direction I really wanted to go. The fact that it was a good job, based in Adelaide and with a fairly solid future with at least 5 years on the contract meant that it was far too good to turn down and get overly concerned about and now, 3 months later, I'm pleased to say that I've been enjoying it. 

The soccer season was mixed for me this year too. I can honestly say that for the first time in my career I seriously contemplated retirement. It go to the point that I think I mentioned it at almost every training (which I was really having to drag my butt too even though I was unemployed). An early hamstring injury (number 6,872 I think) ankle trouble and the fact that we weren't winning games and the pressure/dejection associated with the job hunt meant that I really wasn't in a great space and at one point realised that I was headed off to the game on the weekend and wasn't really even looking forward to the challenge. That had never happened to me before. Things turn though and somewhere along the way the team found something of a rhythm and we started to win a few games. Then we started to keep some clean sheets. Something remarkable happened. We kept winning in the cup. As a second division Saturday league side, it simply wasn't expected. Especially when late in the cup run we came up against a couple of Sunday division 1 sides. We became giant killers. We knocked off the undefeated Div 1 Sunday leaders and we took out a side that had only conceded 7 league goals all season. It was a new lease on the season and given I had played in the clubs only other finals appearance (and victory 16 years prior) I was keen to have another crack, but with injuries threatening and a long list of available players, even starting was doubtful. In fact, when the teams were announced for the semi-final I was sitting on the bench until one of the other semi-injured centre-backs decided that he wasn't quite sure enough of his injury to start. Sadly the fairy-tale fell apart in the final. We weren't disgraced, but I think we'd run our race to get there.

Demotion to division 3 has me decided to play on though. After all, there's a damn good chance we'll take out the reserve championship with the drop in division, so why not play on for a bit more glory.

Aside from dealing with everything that she normally has to during a year, Caroline of course was a trooper through such an uncertain and change-filled year. Having finished her Masters in Accounting, she too began the year looking for work, but with the uncertainty around what I was doing was somewhat limited in what she was prepared to do. If she scored a job in Adelaide and I then picked up work interstate, would she be forced to quit? Would I commute? It was simply uncertain and messy. In the end she did pick up a job though and happily (if with significant trepidation) she re-entered the workforce as a Graduate Accountant. That took a bit of getting used to for all of us (What am I going to wear?!) but thankfully she has enjoyed it and is now experiencing the joy that is limited holidays and a distinct limit on one's flexibility. 

Caroline's knee has been another significant impact this year. It stopped her from playing hockey and limited what else she could do. It was identified that she'd need an arthroscopy, but timing that with the new job was also an issue and meant that it had to be put off until quite late in the year. When they did finally go in they found more damage than they'd expected and put her on crutches for 6 weeks. Amazing how long 6 weeks can seem to take. I'm pretty sure it was worse for Caroline, but putting a mother on crutches sure as hell impacts the whole family. I think in the end the kids adopted the position that if they holed up in their rooms with headphones on they couldn't be asked to fetch and carry,. Ungrateful sods! Being told that not only had she missed a season of hockey, but that she wouldn't run or play again was certainly not good news and I don't think it helped with the recovery. Thankfully, the most recent inspection has relaxed things somewhat. I don't know that she'll see the hockey pitch again, but being told things aren't as bad as first thought  is certainly a worthy improvement.

Michael began his adventures at Uni this year having started a double degree in Electronic Engineering and Finance. As many will know things have changed a bit since Caroline and I met at that very same university and there's even more flexibility than there was when we were there. On-line course information and the ability to watch lectures from home without attending to them means that when you don't feel like getting out of bed, there's really no immediate consequence for not doing so.  Add to that a penchant for online gaming until 4am and Michael pretty much turned nocturnal for much of the year. Oh the pain and grumbles on the days he had to get out of bed to go to his casual job! Imagine the pain! 

In April he turned 18, another milestone and yet another challenge in parenting, this time mostly in letting go. Its a tricky thing when you can see the writing on the wall. You can issue the warning, provide advice and even get a little angry, but in the end, you have to let them learn for themselves, even when you can see it perhaps not going according to plan (yes, I'm sure you went through much of this Mum and Dad). Let's just say that I hope that a supplementary exam and some Summer School might be the kick in the butt for him that repeating maths was for me!

Mostly Michael's had a good year. There was a girlfriend in the equation briefly, but we won

t say too much about that other than to say that he ended the year as it began. Single.

Sam has had another good year. He's worked his way through year 11 having tackled his year 12 French along the way (we're anxiously waiting for the results that will come through in Early January). Hopefully he's done as well as he hopes and it can take a subject out of the final year load for him. Like Michael, he's tackling the IB and talks of pursuing either Medicine or Engineering once he's got himself through this year. 

Sam is a great believer the adage that too much sport is never enough and this year managed to play Tennis, Soccer, Table Tennis, Volleyball, Badminton and to have some fun with the high jump (I probably missed something too). He did rather well, picking up MVP awards in pretty much everything except Badminton. It meant for lots of running around, especially on Friday nights in winter when he'd have two commitments after school. I'm sure it was a ploy to get someone out of bed to drive him as he had pre-school commitments almost every day of the week.

Not busy enough, he also managed to pick up a job at the local KFC later in the year. I think he's enjoyed the degree of financial independence that its brought him as suddenly there were regular deliveries arriving in the mail, anything from pens to lucid dreaming kits (*cough cough conned?*) Having acquired his learners last year upon turning 16 late the prior year, 2015 was all about getting the hours up to go for his probationary license which he managed to do first time just in time for school to end. Not having to pick him up from work at 11pm on a Sunday and be on a plane at 6am the next day has been but one of the many little blessings of that little event. 

Thomas had a good solid year this year. Academically he did well enough that he can stay for another year. Sport wise he reduced his commitments, having pulled out of cricket (oh the disappointment?) He decided not to play club soccer this year which made things a bit easier on us, but in order to pick up some cash, decided to referee. That meant I spent a lot of time out there as well and all in all he did pretty well. After all, only one game was abandoned (he's beaten me to that one as a referee) and that was about the style of play of one of the teams and the attitude of the coach rather than his performance as the man in the middle. I was very proud of him when he kept at it rather than ditch it and he's lined up to do it again.

Other than the ongoing Minecraft/computer obsession, Thomas has discovered juggling this year. It unusual now not to see him walking around the house with a cascade of balls flying about him and we now just have to find that happy medium between enjoyment and driving his father nuts.

The final big change for Thomas is that he's left Mercedes this year. With everything that was going down job wise this year, Caroline started investigated schooling options on the chance that we had to make a hard call about cutting a significant cost from the family budget. She came across the Australian Science and Mathematics School at Flinders University. Part of the process was attending an open night which we dragged Thomas along to. He became quite excited about the prospect and walked away wanting to apply to go. We worked our way through the application process and in the end, Thomas was accepted. So next year he gets to start a brand new journey in a world of nerds kids with an interest and passion for maths and science. It should prove to be quite the journey (Just let me take my sanity fully in hand for a moment).

And then there's Emily.

Emily turned 12 early in the year and entered her final year of what I still consider as Primary School (year 7). Quite a shock to the system when your youngest starts hitting these milestones, I have to say. Almost a teenager, this year has been interesting as Emily finds her way. She seems pretty sure of exactly what her way is and we just work at trying to quietly (or not as the case demands) steer her down the middle way that might bring peace and harmony to the world or at least our little part of it). She has played softball in the summer and netball through the winter and become obsessed with Anime and sadly, Percy Jackson fan fiction.

Emily too brought home good results from school this year, so we're looking forward to the next stage as she heads for year 8. She can be very sure about what she wants in life, so the challenge is simply to get her wanting the same things that we want Shouldn't be too hard now should it? 

I am reassured when I speak to other parents of similarly aged girls that perhaps the challenges being faced aren't being faced alone? I think? Maybe? 

Certainly one of her highlights would have been getting along to the Taylor Swift concert recently. Given the ticket was a present that she received way back in March, she finally managed to get there in December. The delight on her face as she bopped and sang along to every word was a treat to see.

There you have it, our lives in an abbreviated little capsule. It is far from everything and likely more than you ever wanted to know, but hey, I haven't taken much time to write this year and given all that's happened, I'm just glad to be moving on to the next one whilst thankful for having worked our way through his one as well as we have. 

Over all, we're very blessed and thankful for all that we have, including the amazing love and support of our families.

Merry Christmas to you all,

Dave.

The future of Engineering

Me: Michael, do you know why the light shade is off the light over the pool table is off?
Michael: Because the light was dodgy and I was trying to get it brighter so we could play pool.
Me: Did you try the turning the dimmer switch?
Michael: What dimmer switch?
Me: The one we installed when we put the extension on about 12 years ago.
Michael: ah ...
Me: Some electrical engineer you're going to be ...

Twenty

I'm far from perfect. I'm sure there's plenty of people that would be able to supply ample examples of just how true that statement is, b
ut that's not really what this is all about. Its just a starting point. Despite the probably long list of imperfections, I strive to do my best and get by in the world. Some times its easy, sometimes it proves to be a significant challenge.

So when I get it right, its kind of worth celebrating. After all, despite the fact it might be fun to celebrate the times when we don't quite get it right, the risk with that would be too much celebrating possibly leading to even more poor decisions and choices and even more reason to celebrate. I don't think I could stand an endless celebration of failure and bad choice.

A little over 20 years ago (26 and a half really), I got something right. It was around that time that I made a successful move to have Caroline be more than just a friend. It took a bit longer to reach the point where I got the next really big thing right. it was the 19th of November 1994 actually. That was the day that I proposed. Mine was the easy part really, I mean I just had to ask. Caroline was the one that had to actually say yes. Quite extraordinary that she did really. i certainly consider it fortunate that she did. That lead to the reason for the celebration.

Today is 20 years since we tied the knot. 

A lot happens in 20 years and I am very lucky that most of the things that have happened for us in that time have been overwhelmingly positive. We've brought four kids into the world, we've travelled, we've made friends. We've loved, laughed, celebrated the good times, disagreed once or twice, possibly even argued and supported each other through the bad times. All in all, what can I say about 20 years of marriage?

Its a damn good start.

I love you Caroline.

Nocteenager

<rant>

I used to have a teenager in the house. They say that when you turn 18 you're an adult (I shouuld really write about that, but well, now isn't the time). Allowed to drink, vote, take responsibility for your life. Note the word allowed in there. You don't have to do all those things. They're optional. 

Apparently my 18 year old opted out. They say that teenagers need their sleep. Its good for their (apparently) developing brains and stuff. I also happen to know from involvement in various fatigue studies and exercies that the best time to get sleep is when the body needs it. The key hours being those early hours of the day between oh, you know, about 1am and 5am. it has a  lot to do with why they say you should plan travel around not driving at those times. 

Back in the day I worked nightshift offshore for about 70 days straight. Sunset in the 'morning' and sunrise in the 'evening'. I know that it messes with your head. 

When you're a teenager though, you mess with your own head, so why would you listen to anything like that?

I now have a nocteenager. Its when your teenager becomes nocturnal. I know this because I just coined the phrase. I googled to see if anyone else had. Don't bother, they haven't and the things that showed up were disturbing so just trust me on this.

I have threatened that the next time I find him sleeping past midday i might just come in with water propelling instruments so that I can enjoy waking him up far more than i currently do. I'm pretty sure that life passes you by when you're being woken up at 3:15 in the afternoon. 

Things could be worse, don't get me wrong. There's no drugs, we know where he is at night (never far from the comptuer of the pantry) and things seem to be going okay. The first semester of Uni exams should be a good indicator. I've tried the precautionary tale. Hell I got my kcik up the bum with a taste of reality during first year uni, so I have some (very small amount of) empathy for him. But back the day, I had lectures I had to be at. Or a job to go to. Or sport to play. Hell, I just didn't seem to need to be awake at 4am so that my 12 hours of sleep would extend to the following afternoon. I had no internet, but hey, that's not the point dammit.

So yeah, I have a nocteenager and its driving me nuts. Just once I'd like to fall asleep not listening to a conversation about LOL and not worry that he's not going to be awake for one of those rare commitments that mean he has to be out of the door.

I'm not really looking for solutions and I know where to find sympathy, but its been a good while since I had a rant here so I thought I'd take the opportunity. 

*deep breaths*

</rant>

Japan Adventures - Day 10

The last day. There were only a couple of things on the agenda. Head to the local market and shrine, zip past Akihabara one last time to pick up a couple of things and get to the airport.

Looking out the window of our hotel in Tokyo, there were a couple of things that you could see. A little amusement park, a temple and pagoda, what appeared to be a covered market and a giant golden sperm. Yep, a giant golden sperm. I didn't bother trying to find out what it really was, it would likely only disappoint me. I'll let the photo speak for itself.

We headed out to the covered walkway that we expected to be the local market (as confirmed by some brief research) only to be massively disappointed. Most of the shops were closed and those that were open didn't hold out much hope for the final souvenirs that we were looking to pick up. 

Under limited protest from the kids (apparently they weren't happy to be going without food) we went to the shrine and pagoda instead. It quickly became apparent that if food wasn't found soon that there'd be a mutiny so we set of in search of sustenance before returning to the shrine. We were briefly way-laid in our pursuit by a small group of school kids and their teacher from Shiba to be asked where we were from and a couple of other simple questions. They were 12 years old and one of the young girls (the shortest of them) was devastated to find out that Emily was only 11 and about a foot taller than her! It was all very cute.

It proved to be a good move for two reasons. One, the food improved the mood markedly and two, we stumbled into the actual local market, full of little stalls selling all the little touristy knick-knacks that one could ask for. We trawled our way through the markets, finding even more stuff to jam into our luggage before heading back to the shrine. As we paused to take photos we were accosted by a group of about 10 Japanese teenage schoolgirls who asked if they could take a photo with us. I say us and it was us, (I stepped out to try and get a photo of them taking photos of the rest of the family but was quickly asked to get in the shot again) but clearly Michael was the one they wanted. It was quite hilarious to see a couple of the girls go weak at the knees as they continually sneaked smitten peaks at the tall, gangly blonde haired lad. I'm sure that there's going to be some serious cropping of some of those photos.

Sam attracted his fair share of looks as well, though I think that his number of looks was split between those who couldn't believe he was walking around in shorts (it was about 6C) - something he'd done for the entire trip when we weren't skiing and those who wanted to take him home to meet Mum.

There's clearly a lot of Tokyo that we didn't get to see (I think that could take a lifetime) notably missing out on a couple of attractions:

Seven stories of Karaoke? How did we not do that?

We left the shrine and made our final visit through Akihabara to purchase some last-minute essentials before heading to the airport. 

(It is totally essential to have your own Shinkansen!)

And the last weird drink for the trip? Warm Pikachu juice (chocolate milk?).

It wasn't even from the Pokemon Center.

The rest of the trip was sitting in airplanes and waiting. We're glad to be home and wondering when next we might be able to afford a new adventure. Maybe if we leave the kids home ...

Japan Adventures - Day 9

I bet you thought that now that we're home again you wouldn't get to hear about the last 2 days of our trip. You'd be wrong. I've just been too busy recovering to sit down and capture it.

Our final day in Kyoto was overcast though not quite as wet as the previous day. We packed everything back into our bags again before heading out to the Imperial Palace which was only a short walk from where we were staying. You can't actually get into the Imperial Palace itself (even though the imperial family hasn't lived there since about 1867) but you can walk around the gardens. The entire place is massive and we opted for a short walk around the walled palace rather than the entire garden (I think the circumference of the precinct was about 4kms from memory).

The gates were impressive and so we took the obligatory photos. Caroline thought it would be good to get a photo of Michael up against the wall, so he stepped over the 'moat' and put a hand against the wall. It was at that point that the alarms started to go off. It was a ringing bell reminiscent of a movie's fire station bell that was soon over-layed with a proclamation in Japanese. Michael had stepped back away from the wall even quicker than he'd gone to meet it and we wondered what the likely repercussions were going to be. No one around us seemed to be overly alarmed, but then there really weren't that many people there anyway. The Japanese message was soon replaced with an English announcement letting us all know that it was not permitted to approach the wall. Pity that they hadn't thought to put an English sign up to that effect!

We walked on and turned the corner to find one of the gates open and people standing around directing traffic. As we attempted to peer within the walls for a glimpse of something not usually seen, a fire appliance emerged. Three more followed it in the time we were nearby leading us to conclude that one of three things must be true:

The imperial Palace doubles as a fire station,

That the imperial cat had been stuck in a tree or

That Michael's setting off of the alarm had been taken more seriously than we'd thought.

Given that no-one approached or tried to arrest us, we concluded that 2 was the most viable answer. If nothing else it provided a little bit of excitement for us as we bid farewell to Kyoto. I have to say that I felt like we'd barely scratched the surface.

We travelled by train again from Kyoto to Toyko, enjoying the Shinkansen as we sped through the Japanese country-side. We passed Mount Fuji, which looked fabulous on the horizon and arrived late in the afternoon. 

After settling into the hotel we made a bee-line for one of the kids must-see locations, Akihabara. For the uninitiated, this is essentially the electronics shopping district of Tokyo. Thus began a trolling through store after store looking at phones, tablets and other assorted goods. Fortunately there was just enough to keep us from tearing each other's throats out. There were some tense moments around dinner when we'd had to repeated tell Michael that we hadn't gone all the way to Japan to eat Chinese food, but we eventually both ate and survived.

Wandering through Yodabashi, we found the ultimate souvenir - the 56,800 Yen toilet sea complete with a range of controls and functions! With so many to choose from though we didn't get around to bringing one home. 

That was possibly only topped by this little gem for facial fitness:

I really have no comment.

The next morning we headed out to Mitaka to check out the Ghiblis Anime museum. It was something that Caroline had gone to a bit of effort to line up before we'd left on the basis that the kids might enjoy it. It took a few trains to get us there and a bit of an uncertain walk (I think most people relied on the shuttle-bus but we couldn't even see a sign telling us where to catch it), but we did make it. 

Unfortunately, whilst there were some interesting displays, the notion of explanations in anything other than Japanese hasn't yet caught on at the Ghiblis and so the level of interest quickly waned. I think the kids would have much preferred it if they'd been able to drag us through the shops all over again. it was eminently apparent when that was exactly what they did that afternoon.

They didn't have it all their own way though as we dragged them through Kiddyland (yeah I know that sounds backwards) before they could take us to hell the Pokemon Centre.

Before we ventured that far we did stumble across Condomania (which I read as Condo-mania but really was actually meant as Condom-mania). I didn't venture in, but Caroline had a quick look. There were four floors, but with kids tagging along, she wasn't in there for long at all! That rated up there with the seven floor 'costume and fun' shop that we found later that day that again we didn't bother venturing into.

In a case of I'd rather be anywhere else, I suffered with enduring silence as the kids worked their way through a store dedicated entirely to Pokemon, trying to work out what they could take a away as a souvenir whilst leaving just a little something in the shop for someone else. 

From there it was back to Akihabara for something different - more shopping and a visit to one of Sam's must-see stores - Super Potato. Yeah, who would have thought? It turns out that Super Potato is a store dedicated to retro-gaming (they even had an Atari 2600 in there - though sadly they didn't have it set up to play).

The endless trek through the stores (and eventual decisions to buy at the last minute) meant that our meal times had been thrown out completely an we headed back to the hotel in search of something that was open that would meet the varied (and restrictive) needs of the family's dietary demands.

Michael was happy because we did find somewhere open just down from our hotel - a local Chinese place! At least the food was good. The only issue that came up was the great duck conundrum. Given that the menu consisted mostly of pictures and prices (as opposed to english descriptions of the food) I ordered this item:

When it was delivered, we received four prawn crackers with crispy duck-skin on it and four little pancakes with cucumber and radish and the sauce. That was ok, I expected that the duck was going to come out after that as a separate dish given it was the most expensive item we ordered. I was wrong. The duck didn't arrive. As we sat there discussing the merits of the great rip-off I grabbed the menu for a second look. That was when I noticed the second line of the price at 8,000 Yen (about $80). 

This was the conundrum. What had I ordered and what would I be happy with? Did I put up with the four little pancakes at 1800 Yen and view it as one of those funny little travel experiences, or did I hope for the whole duck to arrive, love it and view it as one of those really expensive little travel experiences. The duck and the money or the skin and the disappointment?

The duck never arrived and we walked out laughing about the whole ducking mess (even as I look at the picture now I see five serves and feel just a little bit miffed!)

We stumbled into bed aware that the next day was our last and would be the end of our Japan Adventure.

Japan Adventures - Day 8

Our last full day in Kyoto welcomed us with a grey, wet, gloomy face as we set out to visit its temples and more cultured sights. 

Our first stop for the day was the Fushimi Inari Taisha shrine at Inari. We descended from the train and looked around, trying to work out in which direction we should head. It turned out to be pretty easy given the number of tourists headed to the same place, not to mention the fact that it's conveniently located about 200m straight up the street from where you get off the train.

The shrine has hundreds (thousands?) of red arches, each inscribed with the name of the company that donated it. They lined a path up from the main shrine apparently all the way to the top of the hill.

It was a fascinating place and we took a stroll down the path less-travelled that mentioned something somewhere about a castle. After strolling along what clearly wasn't the path that most of the tourists were taking, we reached another small shrine. It was a very cool collection of little shrines either being attended to or prayed at by a pair of little old Japanese ladies. The were bustling back and forth between different areas and Michael insists that at least one of them was engaged in speed-prayers between them all. I think that he managed to do so at that little shrine but abandoned his quest when it became apparent he may end up with hundreds of photos. 

The boys were keen to head to the top of the mountain (40 minutes from that point) but Emily only wanted to leave. With Caroline's knee still suffering we told the boys that they could run up the top if they'd like and that we would meander back the way we came. Apparently the view wasn't worth the effort required. 

We headed back to the bottom of the shrine and wandered down a couple of touristy little streets, finding a shop that would engrave chopsticks at no added cost. This resulted in us each acquiring our own pairs (I'll leave it to you to guess who Potato is). It was while waiting for these to be engraved that I wandered off and found an old guy cooking beef skewers over his little charcoal barbecue out the front of a butcher's shop. His sign had 800 yen each crossed out and replaced with the bargain price of 320 each, so I promptly requested 6 of them (Should have all been for me, but I shared). 

I have to say that it was the best thing that I'd eaten in Tokyo. I'm not sure what it was that he was dipping it in as he cooked it, but damn that was tasty!

We next planned on heading out to the Kinkakuji temple first (the Golden Pavilion) but due to a rushed exchange about where we were going at the bus interchange ended up on a bus going in the opposite direction, to the Ginkakuji temple instead (the Silver Pavilion). Given we'd been looking to go to both of them it wasn't the end of the world. 

We didn't spend a lot of time there as time was getting on and we really wanted to get out to the Golden Pavilion as well. I have to say that the best part of the Ginkakuji Temple had to be its gardens, including the rock garden (which the photo of keeps crashing my ipad each time I try to load it). I'm not sure if it was due to the weather being particularly wet or whether its the standard state of affairs to preserve the gardens amongst hoards of visitors, but you couldn't wander through them to the extent that I would have liked. Add to that the fact that some of us weren't quite smart enough to have water-proof clothing with us (that would be the males of the family) standing around and contemplating the zen was really just going to end up with a thorough soaking. 

On the way to the Ginkakuji Temple I'd spotted an awning across the road advertising Day Cafe, Night Bar, Bear. I laughed at it, having no idea what that quite meant. 

It was only on the way back down the street when we walked under the awning that it became clear to me exactly what Bear meant. I would never have guessed.

Instead we hurried back to the bus so that we could get to the Golden Pavilion before it closed for the day. We successfully negotiated the bus system and made it there with a good 20-30 minutes to spare. 

It was worth the effort, but now even wetter than we had been before, no one was in the mood to particularly hang around. We opted for retreating to the hotel for warmth and a change of clothes before searching out dinner for the day.

Caroline had been keen to head out to Gion the previous evening, but weary legs and time had defeated us. As an alternate, we opted to head over there with the kids for dinner. Fortunately as we left the hotel this time the lovely gentleman at the door asked if we'd like umbrellas! Rain deflectors in hand, we again took off into the night. 

Emerging from the subway, we negotiated our way toward where we expected to find bountiful numbers of restaurants. We certainly found plenty of them, but their prices were a bit beyond what we hoped to spend to feed a family of 6. A lack of any real guidance saw us head randomly Down a small street that appeared to be full of restaurants, but in reality was filled with bars. It wasn't very busy (it was a Monday night after all) and seemed to perhaps cater to more of a male business orientated clientele.

The rain was starting to get us down, hunger was fraying nerves and we were about to give up when we found a place with just enough English on the menu that we decided to give it a go. I'm pleased to report that it was a great success. We walked in to find the hoped-for barbecue tables and enough food on the menu that we were prepared to order (no gizzards for us tonight!) that everyone walked away happy with what they'd eaten and I hadn't had to take out another mortgage! 

All in all it was a successful day. Tomorrow we leave for Tokyo and the final leg of what thus far has been a fabulous experience.

And in Sam's endless pursuit of weird drinks, today was the day that Jungleman was sampled!

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Japan Adventures - Day 7

After the travels of yesterday and our late arrival in to Kyoto, we were all ready for a good sleep in a proper bed, so we didn't have the most energetic start to the day. Eventually we dragged ourselves out of the hotel in order to search for some food for breakfast. In the brief research that I'd done about what we might like to see I had stumbled across the Nishki Market, apparently refereed to some as Kyoto's Kitchen. 

(Tasty treats for everyone!)

We decided that sounded like both a good place to find some food and somewhere that would be interesting to spend a bit of time. We navigated our way there via subway and found that it was indeed a fascinating place. We'd only made it about 3 shops in though before we came across the first 100Yen shop (think cheap as chips). The kids quickly disappeared eagerly inside and we weren't far behind. The obligatory souvenir chopsticks were the first thing procured, along with what was assumed to be wasabi peas and some Super Lemon (simply because I couldn't help myself). 

Kit Kats have been on Sam's list since we first arrived as he'd heard that there's lots of weird types around the place. We talked him out of buying them when we landed at the airport, though have at times since indulged in tea, green tea and strawberry-flavoured varieties. No sign of the chilli ones that he saw on day one. 

(A quaint little side street of the Nishki Market itself)

The variety of foodstuffs in the long, completely quaint market was far beyond the range of my culinary bravery and I was happy just to have a look and keep going in most cases. I kept to the simpler things in life ... chicken wings, deep-fried prawns and tempura fish bites. Caroline, always the brave one did indulge in a couple of tastes, but after finding something that even she couldn't stomach, became a little more circumspect.

I was also surprised to find a couple of specialist chopstick shops within the market. Who knew that there were so many different chopsticks and that you could spend so much. We later saw a pair in Inari that were selling for over 2,000 dollars. Apparently they are made using traditional methods and each pair is over a year in construction!

On the list of things we didn't try was this interesting dessert pizza that I saw advertised. It could be fun and interesting, but hey, we didn't come to Japan to eat pizza.

The market gave way to a couple of covered avenues of shops and lo and behold if we didn't discover that we had a teenage shopaholic amongst us. As we attempted to walk down and check out all the different things that were available, we found ourselves stopping every second shop or so for Michael to investigate the latest in Japanese men's fashion.  I think he's coming home with most of a new wardrobe as long as it can be crammed back into our luggage!

We also found a couple of things for Emily in a shop that seemed to cater very much to the cute Japanese teen-girl look (think skirts and tops with cute white collars) even if some of their clothes had some interesting (rather than comprehensible) things written on the front of them.

(I'm still yet to come up with any idea as to what they wanted to say with this)

By far the best clothing I've never bought was located within the market when I found a shop with these t-shirts. I was certainly tempted, but couldn't quite bring myself to do it even just to get a single photo with everyone in the family wearing one!

(With the Mother and Father T-shirts added in, we had a complete set going!)

(I was going to get the one on the right for Michael, but couldn't think of any occasion for someone to wear the one on the left!)

Thomas and I strolled into a Manga shop at one point just for a quick look around. With everything being in Japanese there wasn't any intent to buy anything, it was just a curiosity satisfying survey. I forgot when I entered all those things that I'd heard about Manga growing up (not a lot, but enough) and turned a corner at one point to be confronted by covers everywhere depicting young women with unnaturally large and completely unclothed boobs! I quickly turned to steer a rather wide-eyed Thomas back the way we came before tentacles and things became involved! I was rather glad that Emily hadn't accompanied us on that little venture!

Eventually we worked our way out of the shops to descend into the food section of Daimaru, supposedly one of the best food halls in Kyoto. I have to say that I was a little disappointed. The Market was a lot more interesting, if also mostly inedible. Its like comparing the Central Market in Adelaide to the DJ's food hall - different target markets entirely

We were all a little amused at the collection of bikes parked all around the several 'No Bike Parking' signs just outside the doors.

No one was particularly keen to try the Pocari Sweat drink (I realise its an electrolyte drink, but lets not tell the kids that!).

By the time we'd completed all the unplanned shopping, it was well and truly dark and dinner beckoned. We headed back to the small street at the start of the Nishki market where we'd seen a Teppanyaki restaurant advertised. With great enthusiasm we climbed the stairs only to be told that we'd have to wait 10-15 minutes and that we'd have to sit at separate tables. That was fine by us only we were then very apologetically informed that the young waitress had made a mistake and that they wouldn't be able to accommodate us at all. She was kind enough to give us a map that seemed to indicate where two of their other restaurants were, but sadly there wasn't any English on it, nor any landmarks by which we could identify them. 

Onward we went. We found a second place only to find that whilst they had the seats available, they didn't have an English menu. Caroline was happy to go in on the basis of 'bring us some pork, chicken, beef etc) but the guy seemed really reluctant to engage in that sort of carry-on and so we beat a retreat.

We ended up on a little restaurant that charcoal cooked little skewers of meat and sat down for a feast. When we perused the menu and found things like cartilage on it, I was perhaps a little relieved that we hadn't gone with the 'bring us chicken' option as who knows which bit of the chicken we would have been getting. Caroline thought that perhaps the cartilage might have been a mis-translation of something, but when we attempted to have the waitress clarify, it was pretty clear that it wasn't. The kids settled for chicken thigh and chicken meat balls and Caroline and I for wings. I think we needed a local guide before we would have been prepared to be more adventurous.

We caught the train back and settled our well-worked feet into bed fo the night, planning on a temple-run the following day to see a bit more of what Kyoto was known for rather than just its shops.

Japan Adventures - Day 6

Day 6

The day dawned as forecast without the howling gales and dumps of snow of yesterday. It was travel out day and our options were to go via the snow monkeys, cram in another four hours of skiing or make our way toward our next stop in Kyoto.

With the weather being absolutely perfect, we decided that we simply had to ski. Everyone except Sam was keen to get out there and having had a day off the day before, I made Sam come with us.  We wanted to get up to the highest point that we could to get some photos given the inability on previous days to see too much. We'd headed up there on day one and nearly been blown off and that had scarred Emily's memories of the place such that by the time we made it to the top she wasn't interested in being there and Sam was giving us the 'I'm here under protest and I don't have to talk to you' treatment. Ah the joys of family holidays!

(I'm only skiing becauseyou made me!)

Sadly the cloud blew in whilst we were up there so we quickly skied back down and headed for the kids' favourite runs in and around the trees. A quick break and some ice cream (Some of the food options were interesting) cheered most of them up and we abandoned Sam inside for a while and had some more fun.

(Um, I'll pass on lunch thanks?)

By the time that we collected Sam to head back to the hotel to leave his mood had improved and the fun of getting off the side of the runs and into the powder among the trees soon had everyone smiling. Thomas won the Greenie award for tree-hugging when he tried to stop, speared a tree with one ski (which popped off) and ended up cuddling the trunk. By the time I saw him he had one ski off, one buried to the bindings in the powder and he was sprawled everywhere. 

We headed up for one final run, looking back wistfully over our shoulders at the gorgeous mountains, wondering when next we might be able to afford to fit some skiing into our lives. 

A final pack and we sent all our ski gear off to be collected later at the airport (thanks for that awesome tip Kayleen!) and rode the bus back to Nagano. From there it was a three hour 'limited express train to Nagoya where we transferred to the Shinkansen for the final rail-based leg of the journey. A train that goes super-fast and serves beer? Yes please, I'll take one! Surely the most impressive thing on the train though was the button that automatically lowered the seat for you! Pity that there didn't seem to be anything but a manual mode of lifting.

The changing scenery throughout the journey wasn't bad either. Starting in Nagano and heading out through 'rural' Japan with small individual homes and plots of land with either orchards or snow-covered ground crops and gradually progressing through until at the end of the journey we were certainly in 'Modern Japan' - tall buildings and dense living. The mountains never really seemed all that far away and there were plenty of tunnels along the journey.

We arrived in Kyoto at about 8pm, checked into the hotel (The Kyoto Brighton - a rather swish affair I must say) and then finally thought about getting some dinner. We'd bought some random sushi and a pork cutlet sandwich along the way, but the connections were short enough that we hadn't really thought too much about dinner ... deferring it until we arrived in Kyoto.

By the time that we completed the check in, organised ourselves and were ready to go out in search of food, preferring to look for something local rather than bankrupt ourselves at the hotel restaurants. It would seem that within a short walking distance of our hotel that there weren't too many options at that time of a Saturday night. We found one place that Caroline seemed to think would be ok, but as no-one else was particularly keen on it we searched further. We found a number of shrines and lots of tiny little businesses, but sadly none of them were of the 'we provide yummy nourishing food' variety. That just left big hotels with big prices. With Caroline having pushed her knee to the limits skiing our walking pace and distance were significantly reduced from   normal, we gave it up as a bust and retreated to a convenience store. 2 minute noodles, instant pasta (pasta soup to be precise) some strawberry jam and a loaf of bread was the answer. WEll, I say loaf of bread, but it was rather different from what we're used to. It consisted of about 8 slices, each approximately 2cm thick. It was like, I can't be bothered making a sandwich with two a piece of bread top and bottom, I'll just slice it less and have all the bread on the bottom! It certainly filled a hole.

The scratched-up dinner was consumed and the kids were content, but Caroline suggested that maybe some fries were in order to top off the day. I called dwon for room-service only to be greeted by a message that eventually got around to tell me that their services had finished for the night! What sort of big hotel has room service that finishes at 11pm on a Saturday night? I mean, the after hours menu is only on for 1 hour! Crazy.

I couldn't help but think that it was "Welcome to Kyoto, sorry we're closed." 

We retired for the evening with a plan to see what we could come up with in the morning.