So, today was the first day of the rest of my trip – alone, for 46 days, in Japan.

My friends and I parting was subdued as we were all very hungover from last nights tabehodai and nomihodai (All you and drink and all you can eat) Genghis khan restaurant; but we shook hands at the Niseko Grand Hirafu Welcome Center - and I wave goodbye as I boarded the Milky House bus (The owner specifically drove over to pick me up as a free service)

I am spending 8 days in Milky House, which is in Annupuri, Niseko, before heading over to Sapporo – and I can tell I am going to enjoy myself immensely. The owner speaks english well, and took me of a tour of Annupuri and the surrounding areas; pointing out places of interest and places to eat, drink, ski and various onsens.

When we arrived at Milky House, the picture at the head of this post is the scene which greeted us.

The lodge is really quite amazing, and pretty – plus I am the only one staying here apart from the owner and his employees! The place is big, the rooms are big (I have a twin room to myself) plus they have a little basement entertainment room with Karaoke, a huge television and DVD’s. I have set my computer up in the eating area as it offers fantastic views of snow out of the window.

When I arrived I was offered free pasta lunch, as they were making it for themselves and made too much; so I took a seat with them in the kitchen and had a ball; trying out my terrible Japanese skills and eating tasty pasta.

At the lodge, it costs 9500 Yen per night, but that includes breakfast and dinner, every day, and they cook different things, and take requests. A pretty good deal.

After dinner, the owner drives anyone who wants to go to a different local onsen every day – including some communal ones! The price of entry to these onsen’s is added onto your accommodation bill.

I’ve included some photos of the lodge below.

Milky House Photos!

Initially I researched getting a pre-paid sim card on an Japanese provider, as that seemed the easiest thing to do.

Boy was I wrong.

In order to get a pre-paid sim (not rental) at any provider, you first need to register yourself as an alien with your local Japanese municipal office. In order to do this, you need two passport sized photos and your passport – then fill out the Application for Alien Registration with your residency information. You then get a “Certificate of Alien registration” and get a date on which you need to return to the municipal office and pick up your “Alien registration card” which will take approximatly 2 weeks.

Luckily, in the meantime, you can get a “Proof of Alien registration” to get a SIM.

Unluckily, it appears that phone providers inconsistently provide SIM cards without phone purchase; you can get denied at a store which has been confirmed as supplying lone SIM cards, without explanation.

There are a couple of problems with this senario; because I will be moving hotel constantly for the first 28 days of the trip, there is no possibility that the residential address I put on the Alien Registration form will be correct, plus, I can’t guarantee that I will be back at that municipal office to collect it when the card is finished – of that the card will even arrive while I am still in Japan!

I then looked into how much it would cost to rent a SIM card while I as in japan for the duration of my stay.

Softbank provides rented sim cards at ¥105 per day, plus, you can pre-register these cards, get the phone number sent to you and then pick up the card Narita airport when you arrive.

Unfortunately, coupled with the rental fee of the SIM the rates plan of a rented SIM actually turns out worse than using the global roaming on my existing Optus pre-paid account, the only bonus being the rented SIM is better for phoning IN Japan.

So, this is what I need to do on my first day in Japan.

7:00am arrive at Narita airport, then take the train to Narita city office and try to get registered as an alien. If this is possible with the amount of hotel hopping we are going to do, we will then get told that I need to come back in about 2 weeks to actually pick up our card.

I then need to get a Proof of Alien Registration printed.

I take that proof to the Softbank at Narita Airport, and try to get a pre-paid SIM card; which I may or may not get using just the proof certificate.

If they accept the proof, then I try to get a SIM, if they won’t give me a SIM; I then need to buy a cheap phone. (about 5000 Yen)

If they don’t accept the proof; rent a phone.

When I get back to Tokyo, and have registered as an Alien, I need to pick up my Alien Registration Card so I can hand it in to the airport when I leave the country.

Complicated, no?

So, Ben Cousins walks in, orders some take away food and sits down to wait.

A hush falls over my table, and a friend whispers; “Hey, that’s Ben Cousins”.

I hear “Hey, that’s Ben’s Cousin”.

Now, I’m ignorant in the ways of AFL so, at the time I had no idea who Ben Cousins was. This was also a simpler time, before all the media coverage about his private life. I do believe, however, that if your cousin turns up at the same restaurant as you on your birthday – that he should wish you a happy birthday. That’s just being polite.

I looked at the empty seat at the table, turned to Ben and asked “Did you invite him here?”

Ben looked at me, confusion plastered on his face, and indicated to the negative.

I asked “OK then, do you want me to call him over? Never mind, I should call him over – he should wish you a happy birthday.”

I waved my hand in the air trying to get his attention and said “Hey! over here!”

Ben Cousins looked over for a moment, quickly, then looked away, staring at the floor, avoiding my gaze.

I persisted – “Hey!”

At this point, my friends, mortified, pull my hand down and whisper “What the hell are you doing?”

I replied “Calling him over, we have a spare seat and he should wish Ben a happy birthday”

“But I think he is ignoring us. Ben, whats his name?”

Ben looked confused again “It’s Ben.” he replied.

“Ben? your both called Ben? – that’s funny. Hey, Ben!” I yelled.

Again I caught his attention and this time got some eye contact before he looked away again.

“I know he saw me!” I exclaimed. “He is ignoring us! how RUDE!.”

It was at this point that Ben Cousins food was delivered to him, I remember that when he took it; relief was visible on his face – and he ducked out of the restaurant.

“He’s leaving! how can he leave without saying happy birthday!” I complained loudly to my friends. “That’s just rude”.

“Ben, you have a rude cousin.”

It was at this point that my mistake became evident to our party.

I was considerably ashamed and embarrassed after it was explained to me as well.

…It could have happened to anyone.

On the 26th of December (Boxing Day) at 4:30pm, I will be leaving for Japan for 64 days.

I’ll start in Tokyo for 8 nights, for New Years drinking with my good friends Tristan, Mike, Matt plus some new friends Phil and Adrian.

We will then move to Kyoto for 3 nights, Osaka, for 3 nights; then catch a plane to Sapporo for 2 nights and finally the Niseko Snowfields for 3 nights – before parting ways.

My friends will then head back to Tokyo for the reminder of their trip, and I will stick it out in Hokkaido untill the Sapporo Snow Festival. (29 nights); then fly back to Tokyo for the end of my trip for 15 nights.

I’m going, and staying longer, to practice my Japanese and to work on my Game Programming Portfolio and write more of my Book.

I’m looking forward to hanging out in some Japanese cafe, drinking coffee, programming, while snow falls outside.

Japan has cafes, right?

Not the least of which is: I have no winter gear. None.

In Australia I get on just fine with my shorts and shirts, but I have been reliably informed that if I try the same thing during a Japanese winter; that I will “freeze my bollocks off.”

So, it was off to the local Mountain Designs, Fremantle to purchase all of the things I need to survive the cold Japanese winter, and probably only wear once.

Luckily, they were having a store wide %25 percent off sale when I visited, which cut down on my costs considerably – so, after getting advice from the helpful people in the shop, I purchased a lot of stuff: Beanie, snow gloves, thermal pants, thermal shirt, snow proof pants cover, a jumper, a rain jacket, and waterproof boots.

Since then, I’m on my third pair of boots.

I consider footwear to be important on this trip, because I will be backpacking and walking everywhere, so I would need to get a snowproof and waterproof shoe to protect me from the harsh elements.

Besides walking around Japans urban areas, I could be looking at icy paths and a 12 night stop over on the snow fields of Niseko, Hokkaido means that I will be in deap snow – so I wanted a boot that could fill both roles, and be comfortable enough to wear every day, to keep down the weight of my backpack.

Footwear #1

My first pair were Merrel Shoes (Men` Moab Ventilator), which came highly recommended to me.

It soon became apparent that I was a huge idiot, as no matter how comfortable the shoes are for walking, and no matter how waterproof they are – it doesn’t matter if snow and water can just get in the top.

So I took  them back, apologized profusely and traded then in for something more reasonable.

Footwear #2

Unfortunately, on my return to the store – they had sold out of all of their US size 13 boots.

So, I had no choice but to purchase a size 14 – I got these Keen Targhee II Mid Hiking Boots, which looked great, and felt light and were only $40 more than the last pair.

Unfortunately, because of the boot size difference, they rubbed my heel raw within an hour of putting them on; so I had to hobble back to the store.

Footwear #3

This is where the buck stops.

Luckily for me, when I returned the Keen’s they had had a new shipment of boots in that morning, which meant I got to choose size 13′s!

These Salomon Explorer GTX Boots are fantastic, they are made of Gortex which is pretty complex stuff, but essentially means they are light, waterproof and allow the foot to breath.

I have been wearing these shoes for about 2 days now, and I am happy with them.

I’ll let you know how they handle in Japan.

I knocked together a relevant resume, and handed it in – although I didn’t get the job I’ve added the comic book resume I created to the site!

It’s available above and through the Resumes page – or you can jump directly there.