Free Bullet Train Tickets For Tourists: Real or Scam? | @AbroadinJapan #241

0:00 So, I'd say look, if you're on a Japanese train, don't be loud.

0:03 Don't be annoying.

0:04 Don't shout.

0:04 Just be mindful and don't get in people's way.

0:09 Wow.

0:09 Hello and welcome to the Abro Japan podcast.

0:11 Probably the best way of learning about

0:12 life in Japan without actually being in Japan.

0:14 I'm your host, Chris Broad,

0:15 joined as always by England's top Japan enthusiast, Mr.

0:18 Pete Donaldson.

0:19 He's right over there.

0:19 Pete, I am.

0:20 How the devil are you doing?

0:21 What's going on?

0:21 I can touch you for the next few weeks before you go.

0:24 I'm going now.

0:25 I know.

0:26 Bye, everyone.

0:28 You turned up to the recording today without um borrowing

0:31 some of the communal hair gel that you usually do.

0:33 I'm an E man.

0:34 I got a haircut.

0:35 You got a haircut, so you don't need the hair gel no more.

0:37 I I

0:37 People were criticizing your hairdo.

0:39 I Yeah, I know.

0:40 You overjelled.

0:41 I've not made like anything this year.

0:43 I've done nothing.

0:44 I was just sat in the room going[ __] except for the podcast.

0:48 On the comments on the podcast, somebody went,

0:50 "Chris, your hairdresser should be shot."

0:52 And I went, "I think the fact I have no hairdresser is part of the problem." And

0:58 yeah,

0:59 so

0:59 Mr.

0:59 Toppers, the six pound one.

1:00 I went out and I got a haircut, right?

1:02 And the woman was amazing.

1:04 She was from Ireland.

1:04 She was lovely.

1:05 I Why aren't I top of the morning head?

1:08 Top of the head.

1:09 She was like that.

1:10 Yeah.

1:10 And she was lovely.

1:11 And I thought, why aren't Irish?

1:13 Why aren't I You're obsessed.

1:14 You've gone real You've You've kissed the Blonnie stone this week.

1:17 You're obsessed with [laughter] Irish stuff.

1:21 I You know, when I was a teacher in Japan,

1:23 all the best people I worked with were from Ireland.

1:24 Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland.

1:27 All brilliant.

1:28 I would say the Republic, Northern Ireland, uh Wales,

1:32 the the main food group, Scotland, they are about Wales from there.

1:36 [laughter] That one we don't have to count that.

1:38 You know, there's very few kind of people from Scotland, Wales, Ireland,

1:42 Northern Ireland that I do not have a great amount of affection for.

1:46 Well, I mean, cuz they got to put they've had to put as a ethnicity.

1:50 They've had to put up with an ethnicity.

1:52 Shut up.

1:53 They are well Irish gay.

1:56 People are obsessed with race online now these days.

2:00 Don't worry about it.

2:01 You can't change it.

2:02 Don't worry about it.

2:03 Um uh uh one man did and he's he's dead.

2:07 Good good singer.

2:09 Weird chaotic private lives.

2:10 Play for life.

2:11 Um what was I saying?

2:12 Uh Michael Jackson.

2:13 Uh smooth criminal.

2:14 Where are we going with this?

2:16 Uh Ireland Scot.

2:20 They've been put upon by the English for such a long time.

2:22 We tried to, you know, destroy the the Welsh language.

2:25 We obviously did some atrocities in Ireland.

2:26 They've had a pool with us for a long time.

2:28 So, they are unbelievably good humans.

2:31 Hum good humored and putting up with talking to me and I and I love them for it.

2:37 I mean,

2:37 they're just better people.

2:38 They're just so fun and happy and all

2:41 my Irish friends that just just so happy and fun

2:44 and I just like why why can't I be happy?

2:47 Why can't I be happy?

2:48 But she was really lovely.

2:48 She uh while she was cutting my hair, she was like,

2:51 "Would you like a drink, Chris?" And I was like, "Ah,[ __] yeah."

2:54 Wow.

2:54 We're doing the accent.

2:55 Would you like a little drink?

2:56 Like, and I was like,

2:56 "Would you like a little tart?"

2:58 I love I love the phrase the phrase, "What's the crack?" Like,

3:02 "What's the crack?" Like, the crack.

3:04 Yeah.

3:04 The Irish.

3:05 I think it puts a lot of pressure on you, though.

3:07 I don't know what the crack is.

3:08 Nobody's told me what [laughter] the crack is.

3:09 It's spelled C.

3:10 Is there a Reddit?

3:10 Is there a Reddit for the crack?

3:12 English Muppets.

3:13 It's spelled C R A I C if you're wondering.

3:17 Right.

3:16 And uh that's great.

3:17 What's the crack?

3:18 What's that crack?

3:18 What's going on?

3:19 Yeah, my dad used to say bad if I used to if I did anything naughty,

3:22 you go that's bad crack son.

3:24 It's good.

3:24 It's a really good It's a really cool word.

3:26 You can use it in any setting.

3:27 And the guy I used to work with when we taught at a Japanese school,

3:30 he you tried teaching Japanese students with it

3:32 and they just couldn't wrap their head around this

3:34 word that could sort of it was very vague how it was used.

3:37 Simu, [laughter] it was the it was the seagoy of Ireland.

3:45 __] hell.

3:46 Anyway, she she was lovely.

3:47 She was like, "Would you like a drink?" I was like,

3:48 "Yeah, sure." And she gave me a pint of proc.

3:53 And I was like, "Wow,

3:54 what's that?" I said, and I I got destroyed.

3:58 I thought [laughter]

3:59 And I'm sitting there getting my haircut.

4:01 You sure it wasn't barber side?

4:02 Um

4:04 it was so It was delicious though, right?

4:05 And and I walked out and like nearly fell over in the rain off

4:08 and I was like, it was it was catastrophic.

4:13 Tro plowed your Volvo.

4:14 I want all my haircuts to get, you know, a pint of procco.

4:17 That's absolutely wild.

4:18 I'm I've got a big fan of that.

4:19 So, hair salon doesn't do that.

4:21 [laughter]

4:22 Should do, but surely like I didn't realize proc I would go for the drinker

4:25 because you always get offered in the kind of like more bougie.

4:28 You don't get in Mr.

4:29 toppers which is just basically a room where um if you are in happen

4:34 to be in the country you can just walk in and you hire a seat

4:39 for the for the day and you can just cut hair

4:42 and you know so you go in and it's a real roulette wheel of what

4:44 you're going to what you're going to get

4:45 qualitywise but the more boo they do say can I do it can I do that

4:50 I I don't know this are an exam for Mr.

4:52 toppers, but it's like a 12 quid haircut and you might be good,

4:55 you might be terrible.

4:56 You just don't know.

4:57 But um but you uh but when they offer you a drink,

5:01 the more bougie ones, like the one I occasionally go to, they uh Yeah.

5:05 They said, but I always assume it's like going to be like whiskey,

5:08 you know, something [laughter] for the weekend.

5:10 So refined.

5:11 Yeah.

5:12 Just something a bit like Yeah.

5:13 sipping your habiki while your hair's in the glass.

5:15 It's This is a sun 25.

5:19 And it's got like your hair's all fallen and it's like a

5:22 it's not quite as nice.

5:23 But you would kind of

5:24 flavors flavors.

5:26 You're smashing back a bottle of blue none.

5:27 It was really good though.

5:28 And I I knew I was in trouble when I walked in and

5:31 uh 75% of the room was hairdressers, 25% was bar counter.

5:37 And I was like

5:38 I was really confused.

5:39 I was like this is the hairdressers, right?

5:41 What?

5:41 So it's got a p What?

5:42 It's got like a[ __] full-blown bar in the place.

5:45 Did you just get a haircut in a bar?

5:46 Probably.

5:46 just heading to weather.

5:49 It wasn't a hairdresser.

5:49 It was just somebody move.

5:51 It was Weather Spain.

5:52 Somebody in the corner had scissors and they were like, "I'll sort this out."

5:55 Oh, fantastic.

5:55 It was really good and fun and the future.

5:57 I remember we did a story years ago when the podcast kicked off and it

6:01 was like there's a place in Tokyo where

6:04 you can have beer while getting a haircut.

6:06 And I went there, right?

6:08 And I went there and it was[ __] It was a bit It was like again,

6:11 was the beer nice at least?

6:12 Yeah, but the staff were a bit rubbish and it

6:14 was just there was just hair all over the glass again.

6:16 Because I would say that if

6:19 I think you do have you have do have kind of Japanese guy hair.

6:21 I would say it's not like it's you know it's it's quite um it's quite thick.

6:25 Um but dark hair, isn't it?

6:27 Lavish dark hair.

6:28 I suppose it's the best hair.

6:29 It's the best hair.

6:30 It's good hair.

6:31 This

6:31 good hair.

6:32 But it was a celebratory haircut because I

6:34 got I got something done once and for all.

6:38 Oh,

6:38 the the main people are like, "Why is he still in the UK?

6:40 Why is he here?" It's not just because I

6:41 want to spend time with Pete Dawson in person.

6:43 It's a piercing.

6:44 An intimate piercing.

6:45 He's having an intimate piercing.

6:47 But I've been wrapping up the book,

6:50 right?

6:50 It was a false flag.

6:51 Hopefully you finished the book before it was a bit of a false flag.

6:53 I was like, I've done the book.

6:54 It's brilliant.

6:56 Yeah.

6:55 Done.

6:56 Finished.

6:56 But it wasn't

6:57 cuz then it comes back.

6:59 It's that block from InfoWars.

7:01 [laughter] Not this is not finished.

7:04 And it was it was it was like a massacre.

7:06 It was like[ __] pages red ink of notes like make this good,

7:10 make this longer, why is this rubbish?

7:12 And then I had to work through the book.

7:14 Sex this up.

7:14 Make this sex.

7:15 Put some more boobies in it.

7:16 Describe Pete Dawson better.

7:18 And now the book is And I finished it and I'm free.

7:21 I'm[ __] free.

7:23 How many words?

7:23 Oh, it was like 96,000 words.

7:26 That's too many words, Chris.

7:27 20% longer than the first book.

7:29 I think that's disgustingly good though.

7:32 And I think not only is it better than the last book,

7:34 but Penguin said it was better as well.

7:37 Really?

7:36 They went probably better.

7:38 Well, everyone's got their first book in them.

7:39 It's the second book that takes so much time.

7:41 Yeah.

7:41 And also the first book

7:42 well on the first book uh when the it came back

7:45 with the notes I was like I can't bother it it's done.

7:50 Yeah.

7:49 And this time I actually put the effort in.

7:51 I was like I'll actually properly rewrite it and improve it.

7:54 So did you go back and Yeah.

7:55 Cuz I mean people

7:55 I went back and I redid so much of it.

7:57 So the first book was basically a draft.

8:00 It was it was it was a solid draft.

8:03 Yeah.

8:03 Uh, and that's why three quarters of the last book is set in like

8:07 two years and the last quarters the other eight years and doesn't really work.

8:12 Okay,

8:11 it's a good book out now.

8:13 But fantastic.

8:14 The new book way better rounded.

8:17 96,000 words.

8:19 Yeah.

8:19 __] 350 pages or something.

8:21 Yeah,

8:21 it's going to be really good.

8:21 It's got beautiful artwork in it.

8:23 Put that on the back.

8:23 It's[ __] 350.

8:25 [laughter] Read it or die.

8:26 Just

8:26 __] just[ __] read it.

8:28 I It's going to be good.

8:29 I'm doing another book tour.

8:30 Just read it.

8:30 The next time I say I'm writing a book, please punch me in the face.

8:35 Depends on that.

8:36 Depends on what the advant is, isn't it?

8:38 [laughter] That's what the advant it cuz it basically felt like I I

8:41 have this mind where I can only focus on one thing at a time.

8:44 I can't like multitask.

8:46 I can

8:47 turn to your wedding naked.

8:49 [laughter] Charlie, I forgot my trousers.

8:53 I I mean I I can like the thing about a book, right?

8:55 You film it, you edit it, job done.

8:57 two weeks I'm like on the timeline focused like a maniac doing it.

9:01 Couple of days crying at the comments

9:02 and then yeah I cry about the comments.

9:04 You look fat, you look [laughter][ __] like and then I do it again

9:07 but I'm razor focused on laser focused razor laser.

9:10 Laser razor focused.

9:12 Don't take the front of your laser off with a razor

9:14 and and obsessed with the hairdresser.

9:16 But imagine right having instead of two weeks it's a year and you

9:20 can't really focus on anything else cuz you've got to finish the book.

9:22 Yes.

9:22 and it's felt like having a boulder block in my path, right?

9:25 And I haven't been able to get around it.

9:27 So, all the videos I've done the last year,

9:28 while there's been some good ones, my mind has not really been on it.

9:31 It's been on the

9:33 What do you mean?

9:33 So, we're like writing scripts on a, you know, a word document.

9:36 How do you write a script by the way for any budding YouTubers?

9:39 What is this?

9:40 I just say, what are you writing into?

9:42 Interrogation with Pete D.

9:43 I type it into Claude.

9:44 Make this better.

9:45 [laughter]

9:46 Very good.

9:47 make I mean the same way you write a a video script uh or a book, right?

9:52 I usually start with the jokes or the bits that really excite me.

9:56 Yeah.

9:57 Story or like uh I've just written a video and it's built around

10:01 uh a sketch that I want to do for a long time and some bits about robot wars.

10:05 Some resentment lovely

10:07 20 years of resentment.

10:08 Some 20, you know, I've never talked about robot wars YouTube video

10:12 really only here.

10:13 It's been the exclusive part where uh the only place where you can see Right.

10:17 Robot was.

10:17 But I So I always start with a joke.

10:19 My best example is I did a video years ago where it was called

10:22 like why I hate Japanese television and it came out during co at that time

10:27 when on Japanese TV they had like a woman

10:29 with a bit of paper and she went this is a pen.

10:33 I remember the paper flat.

10:35 He's telling you how to not project projectiles.

10:38 Well, they were saying that non the non like other languages that weren't

10:42 Japanese spread COVID more because we had had like possives like the P sound.

10:47 I see.

10:48 And she went qua pend.

10:50 And then she went this is a pen.

10:52 [laughter] The paper FLAP IS A PEN YOU GET ON THE FLOOR.

10:56 THIS IS A WOBBLY.

10:58 And that whole video was sort of built around that.

11:00 And I did like a little sketch where I

11:01 like green screen myself into a into a tiny diarama.

11:06 [laughter] I flicked myself out of shot and I had this idea I

11:08 really wanted to do and I built the sort of video around that.

11:11 So whether it's a book or a a video script or whatever,

11:15 you you get the bits that you really excite you the sketches,

11:18 the moments and then you put those on the paper

11:20 and then you in my case you build the narrative around that.

11:24 Yeah.

11:23 And that's sort of how I do it.

11:25 Now knowing what I know about how um

11:28 on the podcast there's no narrative structure.

11:30 It's just a[ __] shape.

11:31 Well, how we do have a running order with two items in it,

11:34 [laughter] which is new story email.

11:36 Um, when you see people giving advice on YouTube,

11:39 it's always like the sexiest stuff is never,

11:42 well, I come up with these little bits and, you know,

11:44 they they become my sort of like counter points for where I want

11:47 to sort of be by the end of the video and then I work backwards.

11:50 Always sounds too complicated.

11:51 What people want to know is what apps you using, Chris.

11:54 There's no apps.

11:55 There's no apps.

11:56 A Google doc.

11:58 Not even a Google doc.

11:58 Oh, yeah.

11:59 I use Google Docs.

11:59 Yeah.

12:00 All right.

12:00 Fine.

12:01 Google Docs pages

12:02 success in the YouTube space.

12:03 Google Docs.

12:04 Well, you all people want to know.

12:05 They just want to[ __] affiliate link and put at the end.

12:07 [laughter] Buy Google Docs.

12:09 But I mean, you know,

12:10 just consume the the sort of comedy that you want to share

12:13 in your like I'll watch a lot of British comedy and I'll,

12:16 you know, that'll filter through into the page when I'm writing stuff.

12:20 Yeah.

12:20 You went to see um Stuart Le.

12:22 I did see Stuart

12:23 because you've been accused of having a bit of Stuart Lee in your act sort of.

12:26 Yeah.

12:26 Certainly in my earlier videos.

12:27 I delivery I think delivered a bit like him.

12:29 Yeah.

12:30 which I didn't want to do.

12:31 I wasn't plagiarizing words or anything like

12:32 that, but my delivery was very it was quite like him.

12:36 Yeah.

12:36 I wanted to move away from that.

12:39 Yeah.

12:38 Um but he was very good.

12:39 He's he's still on fire.

12:41 Still the best stand up comedian in the UK, I think.

12:44 Working just completely focused on and I'd say is Yeah.

12:46 I mean, he goes to[ __] a different venue like every day around the UK.

12:50 He's very much his whole act is about how he's not on Netflix

12:54 like your Chappelle's and your Ricky Jases with their crappy[ __][ __] stand up.

12:58 He's there with the people, you know,

13:01 and he's very good.

13:02 Yeah.

13:02 And you should watch.

13:03 He's been he's been

13:04 But he also he also lambasted me once because I went to one of his gigs.

13:07 That's right.

13:07 You were looking at your phone and No, I wasn't looking at my phone.

13:10 You're writing a script.

13:11 You're writing a script on Google Doc.

13:13 I had an Apple Watch on.

13:14 I lifted my arm and then it triggered the Apple Watch.

13:17 And then he went, "What are you doing?

13:18 Why are you filming it?" I went,

13:19 "I'm not smart." And it was just really awkward and I

13:21 didn't get to see him for 3 years cuz he's scared.

13:23 Oh, I think he'd remember.

13:24 And I lived on the other side of the planet.

13:26 But the book is done.

13:27 It's coming, Pete.

13:28 It's coming

13:30 now.

13:30 And I could go back to Japan and get away from here.

13:32 Modern uh modern uh um publishing deals are very based on um how much shoe

13:39 leather you are willing to bust up

13:41 by traveling the lengths and breadths of the country.

13:44 Doing like book signings, you mean?

13:45 Doing book signings.

13:46 What is Are we going to be taking this internationally?

13:48 You're going to be doing a little bit, aren't you here?

13:50 I don't know if it'll be international, but I'll be doing I'll do some book

13:52 signings when it comes out in I think September.

13:54 Do you don't think they they should be doing them in like water stes New York?

13:59 There is there's a water st in New York if there is a lot of bookshops.

14:02 I don't know what what brand it is.

14:04 I mean Barnes& Noble.

14:05 Is that a thing?

14:06 Barnes& Noble's a thing.

14:07 Barnes& Noble.

14:08 That'll be good.

14:08 That would be kind I do some book signings.

14:10 It was good fun last year going around the UK.

14:12 Papa Shang's book box.

14:13 I did have like one we had like one stalker or something in Nottingham.

14:17 A stalker?

14:19 Yeah.

14:19 Right.

14:19 They camped the window pressed their face against it while

14:22 signing books and the staff like wouldn't let them in.

14:25 Sounds like it was a bit like maybe I won't do a book signing again.

14:28 Sounds like a Shakespearean child.

14:30 It was quite like theatrical.

14:32 Oh m I'd love to buy a Japan book and I'd push my face up against the window.

14:37 It was a slow day but the people of Nottingham were brilliant.

14:39 Probably the best people I met.

14:40 So saved people I did book signings in London Nottingham leads

14:44 and the folks in the north are way more friendly than London people.

14:48 It's interesting because we can't read.

14:50 [laughter] Oh dear.

14:52 But yeah, I'm I'm free.

14:53 I'm free, Pete.

14:54 And now I'm ready to get back in action.

14:56 Yeah, I've just scripted a new video.

14:58 We got another video coming out in Osaka shot a while back.

15:01 There's loads of stuff happening.

15:02 So, um, thank you to everyone for being

15:05 patient with me with the absence of uploads.

15:07 The last upload was Connor and I eating some fruit.

15:10 Be like, I don't eat oranges.

15:13 And the other video is him and I eating some beef.

15:14 Yeah, there just too much Connor, is it?

15:16 Too much fruit.

15:17 Too much fruit.

15:17 So, it shouldn't be.

15:18 [laughter] Who's the fruit and who's the beef?

15:20 Good stuff.

15:21 But, uh, there's good stuff coming.

15:23 But before that, we've got a story from Mo.

15:27 Mo and Steph from New Zealand.

15:28 And it says, "Hello, Chris and Pete.

15:31 It's the wrong one.

15:32 How you doing?

15:32 I'd like to share a story from our twoe autumn trip to Japan last

15:35 year when my partner and I visited Nada and hiked up Mount uh, Waka." Waka.

15:42 Waka.

15:43 I never been up Mount Waka.

15:44 I thought it was the wrong one because it's different.

15:46 I thought it was different from a different shop,

15:47 but it's just a lot of climbing.

15:48 Lot of people climbing in these emails.

15:50 The last week's story was just somebody

15:52 listing off how they climbed up nic hours

15:57 and ate those shitty cali.

15:58 As we took the steps and trails up the mountain,

16:01 we started hearing some peculiar noises.

16:03 A chorus of chirpy pitchy sounds that got louder the further we climbed.

16:07 It turned out to be dozens and dozens of kindergarten

16:10 kids that were marching in droves up the mountain path.

16:13 During their tiny uh despite their sorry despite

16:16 their tiny statures and their heavy looking backpacks,

16:19 the kids were absolute soldiers going up the mountain.

16:22 The sounds we heard were the songs and chants

16:24 of the teachers leading them up as they tked upwards.

16:27 What were they singing?

16:29 I don't know.

16:29 Some it was gangster paradise from the' 90s.

16:32 Uh one unfortunate yet endearing moment was

16:35 when one of the kids tripped over themselves,

16:37 but a fellow classmate, backpack and all,

16:40 came back to lift their classmate back to their feet.

16:43 Honestly, it sort of reminded me a bit

16:45 of the Minions from the Despicable Me movies.

16:47 [laughter] Uh, Mount Waka isn't a particularly steep climb,

16:50 far easier than the sweatfest of GJ's Fushimi and Arti Shrine,

16:54 but quite a trek nonetheless.

16:56 So, my partner and I were thoroughly imp

16:58 impressed how uh far the little legs took them.

17:01 By the time we got to the top of the mountain,

17:02 we were basically witnessing a school assembly hosted on a hilltop.

17:06 I don't think that I or my peers growing up in our kindergarten system

17:09 had ever had such a ritual of conquering a mountain like these young ones did.

17:13 I could see how it builds character and camaraderie from a young early age.

17:17 Uh, have you experienced this type of activity during your time in Japan?

17:20 Is this common?

17:21 Does it explain some of the social order

17:23 and harmony the Japanese society is often known for?

17:26 Uh, keep up the good work guys.

17:27 Miko and Steph from New Zealand.

17:30 I would say no.

17:31 [laughter] That's just that school.

17:34 My my school I worked at the biggest senior high school in North Japan

17:40 and they didn't climb a mountain.

17:42 No,

17:42 they climbed nothing.

17:43 They did.

17:43 They climb mountains of knowledge that you'd created for

17:45 No, there was no mountains.

17:46 It was it was basement of despair.

17:48 [laughter]

17:50 Mountains.

17:50 Mountains of knowledge of

17:51 a ravine of thickness that you've created.

17:53 There was nothing.

17:54 I mean uh you you don't see we didn't

17:57 climb mountains but that social cohesion that social I don't

18:02 know the the power of social dynamics is imbued

18:05 in kids from a young age in Japan you know

18:08 uh I never saw the the sort of exact moment it's done apparently it's sort of uh

18:13 I did senior high school what's the one before

18:15 that elementary school junior high school apparently that's the bit where

18:20 children go from happy to depressed

18:22 oh what because they the weight of the group.

18:25 Yeah.

18:25 Like group think is like smashed down and uh it's like kids

18:29 walk in a circle and if one kid goes the wrong way,

18:32 they're like, "Turn around, join the circle." Right.

18:34 I I heard all sorts of things.

18:36 [snorts]

18:37 Um

18:37 don't like that.

18:38 No, but uh clearly it works.

18:40 Even my, you know, in my when I was a teacher,

18:42 I was amazed at how well behaved students were.

18:44 Even the bad ones were like said a silly word loud.

18:48 It's like [laughter] compared to the UK where like you know the students

18:51 would like[ __] physically abuse a teacher for fun.

18:56 Like in Japan that that sort of thing didn't happen.

18:58 No, I mean we hunted um substitute teachers for fun.

19:03 Yeah.

19:03 For sport.

19:03 You know, if you had a subject teacher, it was like we have to destroy them.

19:08 I mean

19:08 we simply have to destroy these dark time.

19:10 It's a dark time.

19:11 I went to an all boy school and the I wouldn't want to work there.

19:15 I mean an all boy school.

19:16 I cannot think.

19:18 I can't think of anywhere worse to be honest.

19:21 How are you getting anything done?

19:23 Little little boys[ __] Absolute[ __]

19:25 That's right.

19:26 And then and but uh No,

19:29 I mean it's I mean well I don't know the exact moment though.

19:32 It is where where children are sort of made to learn

19:36 to behave [laughter] where they become another brick in the wall.

19:40 I don't know that where that moment is but it was before I became a teacher.

19:43 It was before they came to senior high school.

19:45 No doubt about that.

19:47 Uh, yeah.

19:49 Incredible.

19:49 I mean, it's Yeah, it's it's it's sad a little bit.

19:51 It is a little bit sad.

19:53 There's I mean, yes, it's good having kids that behave, but I remember

19:57 whenever I asked a question, nobody would put their hands up.

20:01 There was always in every class, there was always about two people,

20:04 the cockshaw ones, who were like ahead of the curb and didn't really care.

20:08 Yeah.

20:08 But everyone else were like, I don't want to care.

20:10 I don't want to you get bullied.

20:11 I don't want to stand out.

20:12 I'm not going to put my hand up.

20:14 So you'd have to pick on people without them

20:16 putting their hands up and then they wouldn't reply.

20:18 They'd just be like, "Um, they just sort of look at the table."

20:22 All right.

20:23 Yeah.

20:23 And then the teacher would be like,

20:24 "Ask your neighbor for help." And nine times out of 10,

20:28 they would turn to the person next to them, right?

20:30 And they'd be like, "It's this.

20:31 It's cat." And they'd be like, "Oh, cat cactus." or something.

20:34 Oh, so you they would answer the question.

20:36 Have a little group have a little group um breakout session.

20:38 And the emphasis was on like work as a group, work together.

20:42 And when that happened, things began to

20:46 happen to have that confidence to sort of But then I also thought like in life

20:48 that doesn't happen though when you're in the Sounds like it does in Japan.

20:52 Yeah.

20:52 But you're not when you're working, you know, real get anything done.

20:54 You don't just turn to the person next to you like what's the answer?

20:57 You can't do that in life.

20:58 You can't do that.

21:02 Well, you can what?

21:03 How do you do that?

21:04 If I'm, you know, if I um I've got a very diff difficult word

21:08 on the go um and I'm and I'm and I think I'm nearly there.

21:11 I could turn to the person next to me on the on the train.

21:14 What if you're a[ __] pilot?

21:16 I'm should we fly the plane, mate?

21:17 That's a very good example of someone who does have help in the cockpit.

21:21 Literally have a co-pilot.

21:23 I read that.

21:24 Terrible example.

21:24 I read that South Korean airlines,

21:26 Korean airlines used to crash a lot because the subordinate the co-pilot

21:30 was always too scared to tell the pilot they had done something wrong.

21:34 Yeah.

21:34 Because it was just like and and and that's

21:36 the uh that's the great thing about um

21:39 because the pilot be like, "Oh,

21:39 we don't need the engines." And the co-pilot will be like,

21:41 "Oh, [snorts] please put well he's my boss.

21:44 I better not tell him.

21:46 Imagine going to your death cuz that

21:47 but that that's what happened though quite a lot.

21:49 It was fascinating stuff and that's why I'm I'm a bit, you know,

21:53 group think is a bit scary, but at the same time, it's kind of nice.

21:57 Everybody's working together on the same team.

22:00 Yeah.

22:00 But then it robs you of your empowerment.

22:02 There's nothing more adorable than a group of um cuz

22:04 like Japanese um children when you're at like shrines and stuff,

22:07 they'll stop you and you know,

22:08 they'll have their little clipboards and stuff and they'll

22:09 ask you a generic question about you know,

22:11 are you liking where you are right now?

22:14 And um they they're way more uh they're way

22:17 more into asking if they're in a big group.

22:20 It's a little bit of a short thing, you know.

22:21 Yeah.

22:23 Yeah.

22:22 But I never but it used to I sort of it

22:24 I felt a bit annoyed when I was doing it.

22:26 I was like come on you are answer the question

22:28 and then they'd be like go and ask the one next ask your friend next to you

22:31 and then they'd instantly know the answer because

22:33 they weren't the one under the under pressure.

22:36 Oh, it's this.

22:37 If you were Robin Williams though in that film about the teaching

22:41 dead poet society

22:41 dead poet society and they all stand on their table

22:44 I'd be dead foreigner society [laughter][ __]

22:47 you got to be in you got to inspire them to be you know my captain captain

22:52 exactly all that business

22:54 it wasn't like that what I did though I just gave my students sweets

22:58 right sugar them up

23:00 in my first year I was I was[ __] I wasn't

23:01 good I was all right in the second and third year

23:03 first year terrible and I used to go to 7-Eleven I'd

23:06 I I'd spend I must have spent hundreds of dollars on sweets

23:10 and I'd be like, "It's time for a quiz.

23:11 Here's some sweets." And they all like me, but they learned nothing.

23:14 Apart from the kid who he's allergic to nuts, [laughter]

23:17 but they learned nothing.

23:18 He was really quiet for a few days.

23:20 And I remember one of my teachers after

23:21 like three months of this was like Chris, maybe we should teach them something.

23:26 It was really awkward.

23:28 It was this moment he he he did his wits[ __]

23:30 end working with me and me just throwing like[ __] latte chocolate.

23:34 I don't understand is some like I don't I did the jet um

23:41 thing where I tried to give be in the jet program and I knew that I was

23:43 underqualified they wouldn't let me come come on it

23:45 because I was under underprepared for the interview rightly say

23:48 stressed out not a big game player rubbish at everything now um

23:52 when I am in a session if I was in a classroom

23:55 like you you kind of you're when do you start your classroom

23:59 like when do you start actually actively teaching couple of weeks

24:03 uh I landed ended in it must been like August 5th there was

24:07 no students at school the whole school was empty because of summer holidays

24:10 August 27th[ __] hits the fan students come back

24:15 uh then I had a week of nothing [snorts] because the teachers

24:18 like we just want to get things rolling again before you turn up

24:22 right

24:21 and then I would go into every classroom with a TV we'd wheel

24:25 it in some classes were sort

24:27 of applauded because they're like wow he's interesting got big got a big TV

24:31 and they would be like excited

24:33 and they'd hopeful that I was good

24:35 and then other classes were like, "Oh,[ __] it.

24:37 Who's this?"

24:38 And then I deliver like a speech and I do like a little quiz and I'd be like,

24:40 "How old do you think I am?" And they'd be like,

24:42 "Oh, you're 50." And I'd be like, "Fuck you."

24:43 Bit weird.

24:44 I'll show you.

24:45 Asking a lot [laughter] of teens.

24:46 How old do you think I am?

24:48 I'd get you think I am.

24:50 How old you think I am, ladies?

24:51 I would get them to guess my age, and that's like the everyone loves that.

24:55 So, I'd write I'd write three ages on the wall.

24:57 21, 35, 42.

25:00 And it was always like 42.

25:02 Guess how strong I am.

25:03 [laughter]

25:05 Guess how much I can bench press 120 kg.

25:07 You see me wheel in this massive Sony Trinitron cathode rat tube.

25:11 Um I mean yeah that's I just don't think it's it's you know like

25:14 when you hear like certain um police

25:16 organizations uh taking the streets of towns underprepared.

25:21 Um, I just they feel that like hitting the hitting the the classroom like

25:25 that is absolutely wild like like just you're

25:28 just in there and you're just like teaching because you're doing your journey.

25:32 Right.

25:33 Right.

25:33 And I did that for I am Peter.

25:35 Well, it's it's better than that.

25:36 Right.

25:36 It's because you share Peter has a motorbike.

25:39 You did I did like two I did two truths one lie and it was always like

25:43 I met the queen I went on British TV I crashed a moped

25:48 and they always thought I'd met the queen and

25:51 yeah cuz you came from Yeah.

25:53 Yeah.

25:53 We all met the queen

25:54 there wasn't met the king now.

25:55 So if I did that if I were making te lie I'd be like met the king.

26:00 I did didn't I?

26:01 Yeah.

26:01 __] But they they always thought I had met the queen.

26:03 It's just like an assumption that

26:05 if if you're from the UK, you probably met she comes around everywhere.

26:08 I met Prince Andrew at [clears throat] Le Castle.

26:11 I should have had that on the

26:12 You did a week.

26:14 That should have been my line.

26:15 I served Prince Andrew Andrew Mountbat and Champagne and he

26:19 snatched it off the[ __] tray and didn't say thank you.

26:22 Yeah, there's a lot of like refused and we

26:24 obviously can't talk about an open legal case,

26:26 but there's a lot of people coming out

26:27 the woodwork going he was very rude and very entitled.

26:30 It's like

26:31 he is a member of the royal [laughter] family.

26:33 Do you know what I mean?

26:34 Like not that long ago,

26:35 we did apparently believe that they were

26:37 God's representative on the on the ground.

26:40 Do you know what I mean?

26:41 Like it's it's still like he was still part of the royal family.

26:44 They are all balance.

26:46 Do you know what I mean?

26:47 [laughter] Good lord.

26:48 How dare how dare they?

26:49 How dare they?

26:50 But but good on you for just hitting the ground running.

26:52 I would be very timid about the whole thing.

26:54 Yeah.

26:54 Yeah.

26:55 It was It was pretty scary.

26:57 And then and then they sense fear.

26:59 What's scarier is after that.

27:01 They're not[ __] dinosaurs.

27:02 They sense fear.

27:03 Their movement is Don't look at them in the eye.

27:05 Their eyesight is based on movement.

27:07 Uh after the jigle shaw, then you're[ __] Cuz then it's like they're like Chris,

27:11 can you think up a good lesson plan?

27:13 And you be like, uh, don't know.

27:16 And then you have to actually do some work.

27:18 I can't talk.

27:18 Yeah.

27:18 He's like, I can't talk about myself.

27:20 I got to talk about something else.

27:21 I think Benjamin Draeli,

27:23 every single podcast should just be the me detecting

27:26 the lesson [laughter] plan that I did that week.

27:29 Yeah.

27:29 I'm still traumatized by some of those lessons.

27:32 Have you got I mean presumably a lot of it

27:33 was just unp How much did you bring back to England?

27:36 Do you bring any lesson plans home physically?

27:38 I think they must be on a hard drive somewhere.

27:42 Right.

27:41 I'd like to find them and make a book.

27:43 I might my third book.

27:45 Yeah.

27:45 How to teach English really badly?

27:47 I I think at this point in in time um

27:49 the idea of someone having a hard drive in their possession.

27:52 [laughter]

27:53 No, no, none of that.

27:54 I'm not going that directionated, but I will.

27:56 Um, yeah, like a hard drive in their possession.

27:58 Like they're so valuable nowadays.

28:00 Any kind of hard drive because of the RAM shortage.

28:02 Melt it down.

28:03 Melt it down.

28:03 Make some money.

28:05 Yeah.

28:05 Melt my lesson plans down.

28:06 Yeah.

28:06 Did you see that?

28:07 Um, the big uh because the RAM shortage.

28:09 Um the who's the big toilet manufacturer in Japan?

28:12 Toto.

28:14 They um their shares went up because the porcelain

28:17 they make porcelain ceramics and that could be used in the

28:20 RAM chips.

28:21 Ram chips.

28:21 Yeah.

28:22 Wild.

28:22 That's thinking later, isn't a British active investor was like, "Hey guys,

28:26 you could you can make more money than

28:27 God here." And they went, "What?" Oh, yeah.

28:30 Yeah.

28:31 So,

28:31 well, I mean, it's a Japanese company.

28:32 It will be mismanaged and over overmp employed.

28:35 So, yeah, it'll be interesting to see if they they do it.

28:38 But, uh,

28:38 you know what?

28:39 I I just don't think toilet porcelain's the same as ram porcelain.

28:43 You haven't lived.

28:44 I haven't lived.

28:45 I don't ram chips.

28:48 Toto is I think it's based in Kyushu near Fukuoka.

28:52 And our story today involves Kyushu and Fukuoka.

28:55 Oh my goodness.

28:56 And more.

28:57 Uh, foreign tourists in Japan will get free Shinkansen tickets.

29:01 Yeah.

29:02 To promote regional tourism.

29:04 How[ __][ __] good.

29:05 I mean, I'm not a tourist, so I don't know if

29:07 I can enjoy the the benefits of free tickets.

29:10 [laughter] But you can

29:11 I can There's a lot of bad news stories for people who are heading to Japan.

29:17 There's a lot of bad news.

29:18 Like the Sky Tree cuz it it broke last.

29:20 Yeah.

29:20 Yeah.

29:21 Exactly.

29:21 The last show was literally death elevator.

29:24 Um but this time round um foreign tourists this is a really good offer.

29:28 Really nice offer.

29:28 So Japan's bullet trains the famed Shinkansen are

29:31 about to get even more inviting for international visitors.

29:34 Um according to a recent report the professional

29:35 government in Kagashima down in Kyushu has

29:38 come up with a very cool idea

29:39 to spread those tourists beyond Tokyo, Kyoto and Osaka.

29:43 Foreign tourists will soon be able to snag a free one-way shinkan ticket

29:46 from Hakata station in Fukuoka all the way down to Kagashima Chu station.

29:51 A trip that usually um costs about 75 USinis.

29:56 Um Kagashima is one of those places that I'm familiar with.

29:59 I'm not really sure why I even went there in the first place.

30:01 I think you might have recommended Oh god, long time ago.

30:04 You might have recommended I think or I

30:06 may have watched one of your stinking vids.

30:08 It's probably one of my favorite cities in Japan.

30:10 We finished the original journey across Japan there.

30:12 Last year I shot a volcano documentary on

30:15 like in Kagashima on Sakura volcano.

30:18 It's just the most amazing place.

30:20 It's so to like to to walk out or like

30:24 the hotel I stayed in in the middle of Kagashima.

30:26 I open the curtains

30:27 and you've got the city, the bay, and then the smoldering Sakurajima volcano.

30:32 It's just the most incredible site.

30:34 Yeah.

30:34 I mean getting that

30:35 and nobody goes there because it cost $75.

30:38 [laughter]

30:39 Yes.

30:40 possibly.

30:40 Um there's that.

30:41 Um so if you go up like Kagashim,

30:43 if you go up the um uh there's like a lovely

30:46 little train line that goes right around the coastline um

30:50 the the Nippo mainline mainline up to um Shikatami

30:56 and a couple of other places and stuff and it's absolutely beautiful.

31:00 Um but uh yeah, it's one of those places that the devil's washboard, isn't it?

31:03 Hagashima is that down there where it's like a load of um a load of uh

31:08 rock volcanic rocks have like created like

31:11 this weird kind of like pattern in the island.

31:14 Is that island you might be

31:17 but um

31:18 yeah probably possibly but it's down it's down it's

31:20 down at the way of like Kag Kagashima anyway

31:22 and you've got Yakushima Island as well down there next

31:24 to the woods and Tanagashima where they launched the rockets.

31:27 That's right.

31:28 Uh the jacket.

31:30 Um how do I get a ticket?

31:31 It's a good point actually.

31:32 Yeah, let's uh tell me the secret.

31:34 I can't get free tickets.

31:35 Looking at this beautiful train.

31:37 Can't remember where I went.

31:38 Uh yes.

31:39 Uh yeah, tourism Kagashima Prefecture has been

31:41 a little bit quiet since the pandemic,

31:42 especially compared to Japan's uh most popular destinations.

31:45 Fewer direct international flights, fewer overseas visitors mean less buzz.

31:50 So officials are hoping that offering free bullet train travel will

31:53 entice more explorers to hop on board and check out places like

31:56 Sakurajima um volcano beautiful uh Yakushima's

32:00 ancient forests and the amazing local

32:02 food scenes and uh yeah so um travelers are coming from Korea,

32:07 Taiwan, China and Hong Kong and they are going to be

32:10 expanding that to the United States and Thailand in the future.

32:12 What about England?

32:13 What about England?

32:14 What about England?

32:15 It's going to be fully subsidized by the regional government.

32:17 Um they've not shared how you apply for it just yet, but they are coming soon.

32:21 And obviously on the Abro on this podcast,

32:26 we're going to be uh uh going to be uh

32:29 telling you how to get them as soon as we know.

32:31 Well, I want to get them first.

32:32 I'll steal them all.

32:34 It's like Willy Wonker's gold ticket.

32:35 Could you pretend you're not res?

32:37 I'm going to open all the Wonka bars.

32:38 All the free tickets.

32:39 I'm gonna I'm gonna film some very obscene stuff down

32:42 in Kagashima and the people of Kakashima are going to hate me.

32:45 It is.

32:45 It is like the sort of place that you

32:49 should go if you're traveling to Nobody will.

32:51 Nobody does.

32:51 It's a bit too far out of the way.

32:55 Yeah.

32:54 Um I think Kyushu is just the most incredible

32:57 place and probably the most overlooked island in Japan.

33:01 Like main island anyway.

33:02 Yeah.

33:04 Um it's in it's in uh Miyazaki, the devil's washboard,

33:05 which you go you it's obviously quite close and I never went to that.

33:10 [laughter] I've been to Miazaki.

33:12 I went to an abandoned village.

33:13 Oh, I went to an Easter Island theme park.

33:16 I went to a chicken restaurant and I haven't been to the devil's washboard,

33:20 right?

33:20 It's it's just some rocks.

33:21 I wouldn't I wouldn't go out me way.

33:23 We don't need to go there.

33:25 But Kagoshima is incredible.

33:26 And um whether or not you snag the free train ticket,

33:30 you should definitely go like on your trip.

33:32 It's I think it's like a two a one one and a half to two hour flight from Tokyo.

33:37 Yeah.

33:37 And if you can like combine it with a trip to Kumamoto Yeah.

33:40 land of the hills in the gro.

33:41 Yeah.

33:41 go up Mount then, you know, get the ferry across to Unen.

33:46 Look at the volcano there.

33:47 Then go to Nagasaki and have some some pork buns.

33:51 Job done.

33:52 Love it.

33:52 It's got so much so much love in Kyushu.

33:55 It's amazing.

33:55 And nobody goes.

33:56 No.

33:56 True.

33:57 Um Beu's um famous resident my Toyota Century pass it

34:02 and Dogen [laughter] and Dogan and Toyota Century.

34:05 All right, fine.

34:06 And it's very famous.

34:07 Um uh yeah.

34:08 And uh it's uh

34:09 you passed the There we go.

34:12 Well done.

34:13 Couple of advisories,

34:14 but what's [laughter] what's a couple of advisories between

34:18 the wheels going to steering wheels?

34:20 Just a couple of bushes on the suspension.

34:22 That's just a that's a quality of life improvement, isn't it?

34:25 Really?

34:25 Oh, dear God.

34:26 Uh yes, we got another new story if that's all right.

34:28 Chris, should we pile out a quick one?

34:30 Um yeah, the uh apparently there are a list.

34:34 Oh god.

34:34 [laughter] There are a list.

34:36 It's

34:36 about trains again, is it?

34:37 Yeah.

34:38 Uh, yes, pretty much.

34:39 Uh, 10 top 10 things that foreign tourists do

34:41 on trains that really irk people who live in Japan.

34:43 If you're traveling to Japan and you're taking advantage of the fantastic um,

34:48 uh, Kushu train [laughter] that's worth upwards of $75 on the dollar.

34:54 Um, yeah, you might want to read this list because

34:57 you can make sure you don't do any of these things.

35:00 Yeah.

35:00 Top 10 lists that foreigners do on trends

35:01 that really irk people who who live in Japan.

35:04 A lot of them are just like coughing

35:06 and sneezing uh without a mask and leaving trash behind.

35:10 But some are even more egregious in the eyes of like

35:16 5,000 locals who are surveyed by the Japan Private Railway.

35:20 I don't have the list in front of me.

35:21 So,

35:22 no, it's it's a loose list.

35:24 I mean, basically, we've got um sitting

35:26 sitting in ways that take up extra space.

35:27 No man spreading in Japan, please.

35:29 Oh, I saw an AI photo of like um like

35:32 a white guy on a Japanese train and he had like four

35:35 suitcases and it was like foreigner in train[ __] bastard

35:40 on something it say well yeah probably happens when I arrive sometimes

35:46 people do it on the morning commute I think yeah I think that's here [laughter]

35:52 it's weird though isn't it like this idea that where should we put

35:55 our luggage then we land at Hanner airport what is put it about the luggage.

35:59 What are you supposed to do?

36:00 I get it though.

36:00 You know, you're commuting in Tokyo, office work,

36:03 you got a busy day and then Barry from Chelmer rolls up,

36:07 he's like, "Fuck[ __] four suitcases." Yeah.

36:10 I'm sorry.

36:11 I think the um I think if you're going to be

36:13 traveling in rush hour Tokyo traffic and you're taking a big suitcase.

36:17 It's so awkward.

36:17 I've done it one time.

36:18 I think I landed at like 7:00 a.m.

36:20 at Hanada, hit the rush hour.

36:22 I had two suitcases

36:24 and the looks I got were like death stare.

36:27 Yeah.

36:27 Yeah.

36:27 And it's just like, "Oh,

36:28 next time I'll just sit and tell his coffee until it's 10:00 a.m.

36:31 and [laughter] traffic dies down."

36:33 Yeah.

36:33 I'll get a bus or taxi if you flush.

36:36 Yeah.

36:36 Not ideal.

36:36 But, uh, yeah, just just taking too much space than you actually require.

36:40 Blocking doors by lingering at the doors.

36:42 That's probably one, isn't it?

36:43 Uh, bringing big bags and suitcases on board without storing them neatly.

36:47 Um, all of which makes crowded trains quite uncomfortable.

36:50 Strong perfumes, which I've probably been.

36:53 I'm a bit of a Yeah, you smell like a[ __] French flower pot.

36:57 Yes, that is a more tame version of what my mom

37:00 and dad used to call [laughter] like a someone's handbag.

37:03 Uh they used to say um but yeah, it's Yeah.

37:05 No, no strong um no strong perfumes.

37:08 Same as when I used to work in a sandwich factory.

37:10 Used to check you just give you a sniff and say too smelly.

37:14 Really?

37:14 Because it would contaminate like the egg

37:16 contaminate the egg may sandwiches.

37:18 You smell like Calvin Klein number one.

37:20 Yeah, exactly.

37:21 And it would have been Calvin got a dup.

37:22 Bit of lovely dup back then.

37:24 So what what are like the top two things not to do?

37:27 I mean noisy conversations having a Yeah.

37:30 And uh messing about.

37:33 That's too vague.

37:34 What does that mean?

37:34 Messing about.

37:35 Does that mean like people that hold on to the bars do pull-ups?

37:39 Yeah.

37:39 Just general horse play.

37:41 Horse play general.

37:42 I I just think I think horse play in a crowded

37:45 vestibule uh or anywhere on a train is just a no no.

37:49 It's a no.

37:50 It's a no no all the way around the world and people should have a bit

37:53 more a little less horse play and a little less and a little more horse eating

37:59 with the Sakura um I was with somebody the other day

38:03 who who seemed to be very rich and did horse riding

38:07 I love horse riding and I was like oh I eat horses in Japan oh dear

38:10 and now they won't talk to me and that's the end of that bit awkward

38:13 I forgot about that

38:16 what what material is your saddle oh

38:19 that was once was a living thing, wasn't it?

38:21 Awkward treats.

38:22 I I mean, I was with a friend on a bullet train.

38:24 No, I was on a friend on a Yabanote line and they're from Leeds,

38:27 I think, and they were really loud and I was just like

38:30 and you could feel the stairs.

38:32 So, I'd say look, if you're on a Japanese train,

38:34 just be mindful of that's all there is to it.

38:37 Be mindful.

38:38 Don't be loud.

38:38 Don't be annoying.

38:39 Don't shout.

38:40 Just be mindful.

38:41 Don't get in people's way

38:43 because people are having a long[ __] day

38:45 and the last thing you need is let's go down the pub

38:48 on the train for 20 minutes when they're on the way home.

38:50 Yeah.

38:51 Excruciating.

38:51 Absolutely excruciating.

38:54 But we're back guys.

38:55 Your stories, comments, and questions over in the fax machine.

39:00 Wow.

39:02 And we're back with the fact machine.

39:03 What do we got this week from our listeners?

39:05 Mr.

39:05 Dawson, fill us in.

39:06 Hamish from Leeds.

39:07 Not um the person from Leeds who were Yeah.

39:12 Uh hey up crystallized Chris and Petrified Pete.

39:15 Have you been you guys been watching any of the Winter Olympics?

39:17 I'm watching the figure skating pairs team event and the Japanese pair

39:21 Utana Yoshida and Messiah Marita did a mashup starting with butterfly by smile.

39:26 Uh which is a bit of a choice.

39:28 Uh if Japan was to host the Winter Olympics in the future,

39:30 do you think they'd hold it in Hokkaido or Alori?

39:33 Assuming the former they'd uh do you think

39:34 they'd do it in Saporo or elsewhere in Hokkaido?

39:36 Keep the good work.

39:37 I've been following the pod uh and channel since 2019 and my sister

39:40 got me your book recently without even knowing I'm a subscriber.

39:42 So, a random stroke of luck there.

39:44 It is the thing to do.

39:46 Uh all the best Hamish uh from Leeds.

39:49 Obviously, the last main Olympics was during co times.

39:53 Yes, but Vish who sits in this very chair of the football ramble.

39:56 He was out there and basically was frog marched to a 7-Eleven

40:00 and then back to his hotel when he wasn't just covering the games.

40:03 It was a very bizarre situation for him.

40:05 Yeah, it was a really weird time.

40:07 Really weird time.

40:07 It's such a shame.

40:08 Yeah.

40:08 The old Olympics and um how the whole, you know,

40:11 Japan was so excited about the Olympics and then

40:14 it happened and then it was it was a success,

40:16 but it was not quite what it was going to not quite how they wanted it to be.

40:22 No.

40:22 Given the situation, but no, I mean,

40:23 they had the Winter Olympics in the Was it 1998 in Hakuba in um Nagago?

40:30 Yeah.

40:30 Right.

40:31 Yeah.

40:31 Yeah.

40:32 Uh and I think that was a hit and a big success.

40:34 I think if they did it at Nico that would be cool.

40:37 Nico has just the most incredible snow.

40:40 You don't ski, do you?

40:41 No, I somebody went skiing business partner went skiing quite recently

40:45 and I was like that seems that seems I used to have

40:48 this idea that you get up on the slopes are miles

40:51 away from the chalets and stuff but apparently that's not the case.

40:53 Like they all end in the village.

40:56 They end in the village where all of stuff is,

40:58 which kind of makes sense, doesn't it?

41:00 Brilliant.

40:59 I'm a silly sausage.

41:00 I don't understand how the world works.

41:01 What did you think was gonna[ __] happen?

41:02 I thought it was like you're in a[ __] and you you have

41:04 to get airlifted off every morning [laughter] to get to get to your hotel.

41:08 One of the first times I went skiing was in um three valleys in uh South France

41:13 and I stayed at a place called Valter.

41:15 It was like the highest ski resort in Europe actually.

41:18 Yeah.

41:18 And I skied over the mountain and I went down it

41:20 and then I realized I was[ __] because I

41:22 was down in another valley like 25 km away.

41:25 Yeah.

41:26 And the only way back I had to like ski in record

41:28 time before the ski cliffs uh before the ski lifts shut down.

41:33 And I had to like race over these valleys.

41:35 Oh to get back.

41:36 Yeah.

41:36 Cuz I got for lunch like the other side of France.

41:38 Cuz you just cuz when you're skiing,

41:39 you go phenomenal distances without realizing.

41:42 And I was like, "Oh[ __] it's like 400 p.m.

41:44 and I've got to get back cuz they're going to shut down at 5." So

41:47 I was like running up and I was getting on ski lifts and skiing really fast

41:50 to get back to the get all the way back to V.

41:53 And I made it with like 10 minutes to spare.

41:55 Otherwise, I would have been like lost up a mountain, probably died.

41:58 So, the ski lift takes you down.

42:00 Yeah.

42:00 So, you you know, you go up, ski down,

42:03 and I went over like three whole mountains, right?

42:06 And then I I was like a whole mountain range away from where I started.

42:09 I I Isn't that insane?

42:11 It's too And you can ski over the border into Italy from the same place.

42:15 It's just I just would end up skiing off a big ravine.

42:19 It can happen.

42:20 Die immediately.

42:22 Terrible.

42:22 Uh but Niscoco is really nice.

42:24 Very powdery snow.

42:25 Very beautiful snow.

42:26 Lost Australians.

42:28 I Connor went there recently, I think.

42:30 And uh he was like just Australia.

42:33 Australia.

42:33 [laughter] But like it's like famously like all of Australia

42:38 gets bored and during winter they come up to Nik.

42:41 Who can blame them?

42:42 Bloody great ski resort.

42:44 Yeah.

42:44 Uh but they're punchy.

42:45 It's very expensive.

42:46 They punch you in bunsy.

42:48 Yeah.

42:48 You should learn.

42:48 It's good fun.

42:49 I mean I wouldn't mind.

42:50 Ski is scary.

42:51 I don't get me wrong.

42:51 It's it's[ __] terrifying sometimes when you're going down like a

42:54 life is scary, man.

42:56 When you're going down a gradient, love is scary.

42:58 But then you'll just get like there's a m like incredible moment of clarity.

43:01 You've got the cool like wind coming over you.

43:03 Oh, it'll be amazing.

43:03 Panoramic views, you know, there's and you just down it

43:08 and then you you roll down it and hopefully [laughter] don't break your legs.

43:11 The um Yeah, I do fancy I I've said it before sort of again the old skiing vibe.

43:16 went for my um grade one violin and did not go

43:20 to the dry skis club in Sunderland or wherever it was.

43:23 There's there's a dry ski slope.

43:26 Yeah, that's not skiing though.

43:27 That's just depression.

43:27 Yeah, but you teach yourself how to skiing that you

43:29 just sort of pop off and do a bit of skiing.

43:30 That's not squat.

43:31 Skiing for like 3 meters down at No,

43:33 I'm off to um as we recorded, I'm off to Muldova tomorrow and uh ah

43:38 and I didn't realize how getting cold it was going to be and how

43:42 treacherous the snow is going to be when I am driving a higher car.

43:44 So, that's going to be interesting.

43:45 Can't wait for the next podcast hearing about how you got on.

43:48 We got one here from Emily who says, "Hello, Chris Pete.

43:51 Where would you both recommend the best area

43:53 to stay in while spending eight nights in Tokyo?

43:55 A couple in our mid20s will visit in early mid November.

43:58 The last leg of our three and a half week visit to Japan.

44:01 My boyfriend and I are not the type of people that shy away

44:03 from a drink but don't wish to fall

44:06 into the clutches of scammers or sketchy areas.

44:08 Love the podcast.

44:09 Can't wait to be there.

44:11 Emily from the West Midlands, eight nights in Tokyo.

44:15 I would say either Shinjuku or I quite like Akaka, right?

44:21 Nobody goes there.

44:22 Akasak is really good in the middle uh near um like the emperor's palace.

44:27 Yes.

44:27 Okay.

44:28 From Akasaka, you can get to Shinduki,

44:29 you can get to Shabu, you can get to Rapongi.

44:32 Uh most people seem to divide their trip into two halves though.

44:36 They'll go to like Asaka for the first few days and then Shabu the second half.

44:40 Yeah.

44:40 Or if you Pete Dson some ramshackle place in Shabuya.

44:45 Correct.

44:45 Just do that.

44:46 A bin.

44:46 There's a skip with my name [laughter] on it.

44:48 Like the sesame.

44:50 I think it's dogggina mansions.

44:54 Yeah.

44:52 In Shabuya.

44:53 Um it's terrible.

44:56 [laughter] You stay there every time without fail.

44:59 Terrible.

45:00 There's always an item left behind from the previous.

45:03 Do you add to that?

45:04 Do you add?

45:05 Yeah.

45:05 Just like um take a penny, leave a penny.

45:07 You put a bit of your hair on the bed and leave it there for bit of poo.

45:11 [laughter] A bit of my poo.

45:13 And finally, we've got one.

45:14 But like Akasaka is good.

45:16 Uh, and Mark from Leeds says, "Everyone's from Leeds this week." Hello.

45:19 I wondered guys, where within your expat circles in Japan, when home cooking,

45:24 do people try and cook Japanese style home meals or do they

45:27 try and recreate what they would eat back in their own home country,

45:30 uh, but using Japanese ingredients?

45:33 Uh, that's a cool question.

45:34 M I as somebody who only cooked chicken and cam bear every day for like 3 years,

45:41 right?

45:41 I don't think that's a Japanese recipe,

45:42 but it use Japanese sourced chicken and Japanese sauce cannon bear [laughter]

45:47 from Hokkaido.

45:47 Yeah, I don't think that really counts, but and omelets I I think um

45:53 yeah, I I I did generally find people just

45:55 cook stuff from back home though if they could.

45:57 And then you just get like a tray of sushi at the old supermarket.

46:02 Um but that's what we do.

46:03 Yeah, definitely.

46:04 Eat rice.

46:04 Eat rice omelets.

46:06 Get yourself on a giri.

46:07 There was um somebody pointed out, I think I was talking about the egg in a you

46:11 know Bolognese meals you get in the 7-Elevens somehow.

46:15 Yeah.

46:15 Somehow the fake eggs.

46:16 Um apparently there is egg in it,

46:18 but it's all based on some kind of weird powder.

46:20 I don't trust it though.

46:21 Don't trust it.

46:22 Don't trust the egg.

46:22 Don't eat the eggs.

46:23 The the texture is really um nice plasticky and[ __] Can't recommend it.

46:29 Gross.

46:29 Um, but no, it's Japanese supermarkets are a bit daunting at first because

46:35 they don't have as many processed crappy

46:38 ready meals and things that you would normally,

46:39 you know, you have a big biscuit aisle and big aisle of crisps.

46:43 It's just there's just like one crisps, one biscuit.

46:45 We should have, we should rename the aisle of white the aisle of crisps.

46:49 What the [laughter][ __] But you get like bentos as well at supermarkets.

46:52 They're kind of ready and they're all right.

46:54 Delicious.

46:55 Says that as well.

46:55 Absolutely delicious.

46:56 But love it.

46:57 Yes.

46:58 Chicken and cam bear.

46:59 Yes, please.

46:59 Good stuff.

46:59 I had it for three years and it made me the man I am today.

47:03 Yes.

47:03 Good.

47:04 And I cooked it for Charlotte and she

47:05 wasn't impressed [laughter] and I've never had it since.

47:07 Keep the stories, questions, comments coming in to Japan podcastmail.com.

47:11 We'll be back later in the week, guys.

47:12 Do all over again.

47:12 But for now, have yourself a great few days and we'll see

47:15 you right back here to do all over again on the Japan podcast.

47:18 Bye for now.

47:19 Goodbye.

47:19 Bye.

47:22 [music]