On arrival in Japan, the first thing to do is start communicating.

So it is very important to get your home wired up to the internet. Luckily my son was already there and with no concept of cost he already had us hooked up to unlimited mega-speed adsl. When I asked how much it costs per month, I only got blank looks. Nobody seemed to know or care, I guess I will find out when the bills roll in.

I got my near-new laptop past customs ok with no duty, they were more interested in my 30.5cm ski boots stuffed with socks and sunglasses I got these in the UK since shoe sizes tend to max out at around 27/29 cm requiring you to find an oversize shop for bigger size shoes.

After 3 months selling my house in the UK I was finally able to join my wife and boy in Japan. How great it is to have no mortgage and ditch so many bills and junk to start a new life on the other side of the world!

The actual place is Kanazawa Japan which is the opposite side to Tokyo so it’s alot cheaper to live than in Tokyo. It’s a city with everything you need, close to the sea and within driving distance of the Japanese alps for skiing.

We are staying in my wife’s mom’s house which is a traditional Japanese one so it is cold in the winter and you need to wear many layers of cloths to be comfortable.

I’ve been here just 1 week so far but already had numerous interesting experiences. After leaving Osaka airport I went to a ticket desk to buy a ticket for the train. I remembered that I needed to take the train to shin-osaka and then catch the bullet train to Kanazawa. The girls at the ticket desk said all the seats were booked so I had to have a non-resevered seat so I went for that one. The 1st train was to leave in a few minutes so I rushed to the train, failing to insert the correct ticket into the barrier, I finally made it to the train which as soon as I was aboard started moving. Then I noticed my ticket was for a reserved seat. Ho-hum I thought and settled down in my non-reserved seat for the short journey to the other side of town. Some 2 hours later the train arived at Shin-Osaka.

Next, I dashed for the Shinkansen (bullet train). Again, the ticket barrier refused my ticket and said “insert all your tickets”. So I did and it just bleeped. A train station guard came running over and pointed over the way saying a number which luckily I understood as the platform number I needed. This was looking good since it actually said Kanazawa on the platform sign. Minutes later a very old looking bullet train arrived and I got on board at the end since it said non reserved in numbers 8-9 or so. Unfortunately, this was the reserved end so I had to walk through all the carriages to the non-reserved carriage. On the way, I was thinking this bullet train was a bit slow, probably because it was old and I got a cheap ticket.
Later, I learned that this was not a Shinkansen since there is no Shinkansen line to Kanazawa! Finally I was reunited with my wife after waiting near the drop-off point at the wrong end of Kanazawa station in the freezing cold for 20 minutes while my wife searched the telephone booths for me.

Anyway, I made it by myself to Kanazawa!