Last few Asian days

A series of Unfortunate Events

So we got a bit cocky. Our last night in Korea we went for dinner with a nice Dutch woman whose name wasn't Anna but we had to call her that as we couldn't pronounce her name (note this was not an unfortuante event. We have nothing against the Dutch).

We chose BBQ meat - nice and sensible pork chops. Then we saw what next door's table had. Looked like lumps of chicken and calamari or fish. The owners (who everytime martin tried to cook the meat himself came over, grabbed the tongs off him and took over) looked a bit startled and said a lot of things in Korean we didn't understand. Oh the arrogance! We pressed ahead.

We aren't sure what we ordered. Current ideas are:
- bolied pig's fat
- the gelatine from the hoofs of pigs, formed into shapes
- dried processed fish
- lumps of cartilege
- or maybe generic gristle

Through making various animal noises at the owners, we think it might have been something to do with pigs. But we aren't sure. We have learnt on our trip that animal noises are different in different countries (for example, Spanish dogs go "wow wow").

So, back to Japan we went.

This was all going fine until we attempted to pass through Japanese immigration. With hindsight it might have been a good idea for one half of team Stanford to a) shave, and b) dress a little less like a teenager c) not go through passport control without his Wife. This lack of forethought led to a slightly uncomfortable half an hour with three Japanese customs officials being asking questions such as "so, you like smoking marijuana don't you?" and "so what exactly were you doing for three months in South America?" This being Japan this was all done with impeccable politeness, and interspersed with apologies for the inconvenience. Fortunately the miracles of modern forensic science revealed the random dust drifting around Martin's rucksack to be, well, just dust. Interestingly, they had to get him to sign a consent form allowing them to test his dust (though not to unpack his rucksack). Note, for those with overactive imaginations, at no point in all this were latex gloves donned. Mrs Stanford meanwhile was torn between concern (where the heck was he?), fear (what are they doing to him?) and slight smugness as she had told Mr S to 1) Shave and 2) wear his only shirt but he had informed her "I never get stopped in customs, I don't think what you wear makes any difference."

The next day in Akabane, Jo and Nate's district, we went for our first lunch back in Japan. We chose a place with picture menus. Still, instead of ordering what looked like on the menu beef stir fry, we ordered what tasted like liver. Good for Martin, bad for Kara. The nice bowl of spinach we thought we'd ordered turned out to be sea weed (again, good for Martin, not so good for Kara). Luckily we did pick something Kara liked (gyoza dumplings - she has a mild addiction to them. Her happiest food moment was when we went to a Gyoza restaurant in Korea).

That afternoon Kara went to buy some body moisturiser. Ah, Dove! A brand she knows. The next morning, after showering and liberally applying her new body lotion, Kara felt a little sticky. She gave the tube to Jo to read. Yes, she had smeared facial wash all over herself. Cue shower number 2 in 30 minutes.

Oh, and there is the small issue of BA on strike when we fly back. Allegedly we are still confirmed on the flight but mmmm....round the world ticket holders must be pretty high on the list of "Scum who won't give us more cash in the future so let's bump them".

Final days of fun
Oh, okay not really the final days as we have 2 fun weeks in the UK before going to Europe for 2 months but it does feel like the end of a part of our year out. We've been enjoying hanging out with Jo and Nate and having very Japanese weekend. This meant on Friday night we went out to an Izakaya (traditional Japanese drinking house) for some food (we let Nate and Jo order) with much strange drinks, including one where you squeeze a grapefruit into it.

What Martin didn't know was the cunning plan to get him slightly merry then take him to more traditional Japanese passtimes. Yes, Karaoke!

So, we all went to our little room, with TV screen, microphones, a tambourine, and an extensive playlist. It was fun and amusing and only slightly painful.

Martin has now also been to a Japanese bathhouse as he spent Saturday afternnon in the park playing frisbee with Nate. It's pretty civilised - you play sport, go to a bathhouse, clean up, then join your lovely wives for dinner. Bathouses can be summed up in 2 words: dudity. Sweat.Kara meanwhile had borrowed a pair of heeled boots off Jo and a smart coat and was feeling distinctly bling if a little sore-footed.

The Japanese Alps
As the name suggests, they are a mountain range. We stayed in Matsumoto for 3 nights surrounded by lovely mountains and from there did an epic 2 hour journey to Kamikochi. This is picture perfect mountains, with a sprinkling of snow, and a river(Switzerland eat your heart out).

The highlight of our 13km walk was near the end we saw a troop of wild monkeys (macaques) complete with babies. Very cute.

Bye bye Rail Pass
Alas, our days of casually waving a bit of paper as we sail through trian stations comes to an end today. Confirming his suspicion that he has indeed married a woman like his father, Kara wanted to spend the final day "riding the trains cos it's cool."