2009 September 04 | Tokyo Kawaii, etc.

Archive for September 4th, 2009

I’m back from Sydney!

Posted by: kirin on date

Sep 4th, 2009 | filed

	I’m back from my short trip to Sydney. It was only 3 nights in Sydney and 2 nights on the flights. (It’s that short because it was only USD400 deal.) But this trip meant me something. It was November, 1999 that I was in Sydney last time. I entered Australia with working holiday visa 10 years ago from now. At that time I was busy looking for a room to live in. Accommodation and rooms for share were full of people who tried to spend millennium in Sydney. I made a call day after day to ask any vacancy of the room for share, and visited one by one to have an interview with the advertiser or the owner of the room. Even after I found a room to live in, I started working and I rarely had any chances to hang around the places like tourists would visit. This time I visited the places like the Rocks, Opera House, Darling Harbour, Brue Mountains National Park, Bondi beach and nice restaurants for dinner. That was something I couldn’t do 10 years ago. Now I wonder why I didn’t try to enjoy my life in Sydney at all then. I had a lot better and more wonderful experiences since I left Sydney, because I changed my purpose of working holiday from “working” to “holiday” when I left Sydney. From Melbourne to Perth, to Darwin, to Cairns, I kept travelling. And this experience has become something unforgettable in my life, and maybe that’s why Australia is one of the countries I feel like living. I think I’m in love with this country! But Sydney, only Sydney had left me a sort of bitter memory until this trip. Without such a tempting deal, as only USD400 for everything, I’d never thought of visiting back Sydney again. Because I’d prefer Perth or Melbourne a lot. But thanks to this great offer, my bitter experiences at Sydney have gone and is replaced by happy ones! It was really strange but I felt as if I were back in 10 years ago. It was like I came back to the time I left Sydney 10 years ago. I felt as if I’d been living there, and will be living there. I could sense that some buildings have changed, but I could walk the city without a map. My phone card from last time expired and oversized for current system as well as the prepaid mobile phone. People all said, “wow, it’s from 10 year ago?” It was funny like a movie, as if I made a time slip from 10 years ago.

One more surprise. Thanks to this blog, I had no difficulties in English while I stayed there. In Japan, life can be spent almost 100% in Japanese. That means, if we don’t try to make the situation particularly surrounded by English speaking environment, we are forgetting it day by day. But as I keep this blog in English, my days in Sydney was sort of extension from this blog.

I have however found difference from 10 years ago. Prices rose. Things could be more expensive than they are in Japan. I’m not talking about the weakness of Yen, as it’s still better than some time ago. Prices on menu and price tags look apparently different from what I saw in 10 years ago.

One more thing. People. I wonder if there were so many Asian people last time. Many of the people I talked to at the restaurants, hotels, stores, and streets were Asian. (They maybe Asian-looking Aussie, though) I guess they now have more immigrants and international students or workers.

Time had soon come that I had to go back to Japan. I didn’t want to leave Sydney. It used to be a place of NO LUCK to me, but now, I think I loved the city! People were really kind and nice. There were many places to rest in the city, which is what we miss in Tokyo. Tokyo is full of people, buildings, signs and ads. I’d even feel as if I lived in rubbish or garbage and noise.

There was no extra time for me to look for something kawaii out there, but speaking of kawaii, Tokyo would be far better! I have come back to the reality of busy Tokyo life, but I may think back the slow and relaxed Australian cities when I’m messed up with jam-packed life in Tokyo.

Travelling really means something to me. It gives me some new perspectives that I can never attain from a daily life in Tokyo.
I definitely have been too busy and too realistic. I was the one who was too jam-packed!! (LOL)
How about you? Did travelling give you insightful questions to yourself and you realize something from them?