Bemusing Batam Island

Nagoya Hill Shopping Centre

What can I tell you about the first three days of this Winter Sojourn? (keep in mind I live in Japan for now!) Well, they were spent on Batam Island, in a town called Nagoya. They were not full of site-seeing or anything, rather I had a long massage on the second day and went to the cinema to see The Hobbit - which was awesome but someone might have warned me they were splitting it into three parts!

It's Christmas in Indonesia

 I saw the movie at the very swish Nagoya Hills Mall, where they were very aware it was Christmas despite Indonesia being a Muslim country. Decorations abounded although not quite to the extent of Japan. To be honest, the hotels looked cheap and I thought Batam would be a good place to unwind for a couple of days,. There are no real touristy things to do in Batam. The supermarket was huge though and had a lot of things you can't get in Japan, and the prices on groceries were pretty cheap. Electronics though were more in line with Singapore. Batam is supposed to be some sort of special economic zone, attempting to rival Singapore. However, I think it has a long way to go yet!

 The mosque, built in the 1990s, is quite splendid with a minaret out the front. There are several mosques in Nagoya itself but the others are more hidden. The morning prayer call can be heard as can the others through Nagoya town. It's been a while since I heard it to be honest. There are some new areas that look very impressive and yet some places that reminded me of the poorer parts of the third world. It's a bit of a paradox. And the open sewers lead to an unpleasant smell, especially after any rain.

 I wandered the streets of Nagoya on the last day trying to get a handle on this place. Not so easy, I felt very detached. I didn't see any of the darker side of Nagoya though that was supposed to accompany the town. And then, as easily as we arrived, we left. Another boat out from Batam Centre, also boasting a mall and hotels, but 20 minutes taxi from Nagoya.

Nagoya street, bustling, moving.

 What can you make of a place over 2.2 days? Not much really. Can I recommend the place? Not really. As a stepping point to the rest of Indonesia? Maybe. It's a very busy place, so so many people in Nagoya especially. Indonesia is a very populous country though, it was to be expected. 20km across the waters from Singapore, Batam is a strange sort of enigma. We can travel for many reasons, one is always to discover new places.

Santa in Nagoya Shopping Mall.

A journey, a Christmas, Batam Island - Indonesia

So folks I am finally back on the road after it seems like ages, but actually just over a year. I blinked and it's Christmas too. Luckily, I have been saved from a Japanese Christmas this year. Yes, Christmas exists in Japan, and quite a big deal it is too. There are trees, decorations and on Sunday we went to a shopping centre in Kamiooka that was nearly as busy as some of the ones in Melbourne.

BUT there's no real understanding of Christmas. Christmas cake is white sponge with a lot of cream, and the most popular place for a Christmas meal is KFC. Well, they do have Santa's colours I guess.

As for understanding the religious significance of the day, which even your staunchest atheist understands, forget that!

Just before midnight we flew out of Haneda Airport on the 23rd. Haneda is Tokyo's second airport, much smaller and quieter than Narita. My Japan Post debit card didn't work in the ATMs there (and it doesn't work anywhere overseas) so I was a little miffed at that. To say the least. Seems they shut down ATM services at night even if the ATM you use is working. And over holiday weekends (which it was) it also shuts down - the network that is.

I slept better on the bus to Tokyo than the packed flight to Kuala Lumpur. It was a bit of a shocker - full plane complete with screaming kids, nine seated across so very little room. But for the price Air Asia can't be beaten and their service is easily the best I've experienced on a budget airline.

Transfer over five hours at the budget terminal in KL was fine - slept a couple of hours on some very dirty seats, then double checked details for this place - Batam Island.

We arrived in Singapore shortly after midday Monday and customs and baggage were so fast it was almost painless. Took the MRT to Habour Front where ferries for Batam Island left. Similar to Japan, everything is sort of centred around the shopping malls in Singapore. We entered one side, walked through a seriously busy mall to the ferry terminal, still inside the mall. Bought our ticket (boy were we tired by this point) and had to clear customs again to take the ferry.

Above is the inside of the ferry. It scooted across the bay between Singapore and Sentosa Island. Last year I took the cable car ride above the ferries. This time I was on the ferry looking up!

Looking up from the ferry.

I probably should have got up on the ferry roof for better photos, but bang! Out like a light. Woke five minutes from Batam Island. Customs - nice and easy, visa on arrival, nice and easy (if a poor exchange rate. 10 US dollars does not equal anywhere near 18 Singapore dollars) and I was in country number 68 - Indonesia.

It's poorer than Singapore and Malaysia, that much you see right away, but this place half operates on Singapore dollars. It's not nearly as poor as some places, and is a special economic zone, I understand. Hotel is very nice for the price, Christmas breakfast even included roast chicken but I presume that turkey won't happen today. Driving on the left - not what I expected but chalk another one up for the southpaw drivers! 

This place is supposed to be a bit seedy - it's called Nagoya and a far cry from its Japanese namesake. However everything I've seen so far has been well above board. It has a huge shopping mall too, where Christmas Day should include a chance to see 'The Hobbit'.

Wherever you are this Christmas Day, 2012, Happy Christmas!

View from the hotel room

hello folks! Well, I am counting down the hours now to my next plane flight from Tokyo to Singapore via Kuala Lumpur. Then there's 3 days in Batam Island, which should provide plenty to blog about, and then Singapore followed by eight days in Sri Lanka, very excited about that! Stay tuned to this blogs for news, views and pics!

Winter has really been setting in. I write from Yokohama, with maximums around 8-10 degrees. As an Australian I never thought I could consider such temperatures warm, but compared to the last few weeks, they certainly are!

Ichinoseki saw a bit of snow. Last Thursday I had to drive to Sumita, a small town, for training. The road was covered in snow in some places and the return was treacherous too, with many downhill hair-pin bends to negotiate. But I survived in my Kei-car - that's a type of small car I drive and many others in my English-teaching position do too.

Last Sunday, the 16th, saw the general election here. I took my wife to vote late in the day. It was a very quiet polling booth indeed. The general turnout has been reasonable and one of the highest I believe at around 59%, however I was being told it was something like 25%. I think now that must have been an estimate on the turnout in Iwate. Certainly at around 3pm there were no more than a dozen people going to vote at the booth we went to. 

The result saw the ruling party, the Liberal Democratic Party (who are the conservatives here) won with an increased majority. They are quite nationalistic, especially over some islands that are disputed with China, and pro-nuclear power which has left a few people here a little mystified. I was told there was a real chance for change before this election, and so not knowing much about Japanese politics I was a little surprised. It's been a year for elections! Georgia, USA, Egypt all with vital votes on their future.

That's the state of play here. In Ichinoseki the person who won had something like 6000-7000 votes, which demonstrates a very poor voter turn out for the city. I had a page with the results but can't find it now. The winner I believe was from the LDP. He is highlighted in red. With the exception of the woman running, all the candidates looked very similar to me. All employed the technique of cars with loud speakers driving around town shouting out some sort of message through loud speakers. Very unwelcome in my opinion! It's fair to say that Japan is very big of older men in glasses and suits, and not just in politics!

See you soon, from another country!

Earthquakes and Snow

Yesterday evening I had the experience that has threatened many times since I have been here in Japan, I experienced a big earthquake. The epicentre was off the north east coast of Honshu, perhaps 250km from the mainland. It measured 7.3. Let me tell you, dear readers, it was a scary few minutes. A day later and I still feel like the earth is moving. Things fell from shelves, and this ol' building made some serious noise. It shudders and rocks a little when someone in one of the flats shuts their door, so perhaps not surprising, but this was clearly more.

Across the rooves this morning lay snow.

 I had the iron and the gas stove going naturally, and my wife wasn't home as yet. I had to rush around and turn them off, open the front door and then cower like a craven in the bathroom, supposedly the safest place to be when inside. I considered running outside. Once you're outside in a car park you're safe but with all the movement I didn't feel safe running down stairs. It felt like three minutes of shaking, probably it was less. When it stopped I didn't really know what to do. I felt quite lost, and alone.

Snow across the rails here in Ichinoseki

 In perspective, of course, this was nothing compared to the earthquake on the 11th of March last year. Now we wait for aftershocks. We had one and maybe two small tremours but nothing significant. We wait nervously to see if there will be more. Is there a bigger one coming in the next few days? 7.3 is big enough for anyone, but last years was 9. The power didn't even go out yesteday. 2011 and Ichionoseki had no power for two weeks I am told. It seems strange that we haven't have 24 hours of aftershocks to me.

Snow is pretty - sometimes!

It was only a day or three after March 11th 2011 that snow fell. We woke this morning to a cover of snow most places. The night was pretty cold. A serious earthquake and below 0 conditions would not make for a pleasant combination. Yet this morning I couldn't help but notice how pretty everything looked. The first serious snow of the winter? Well, I have nothing to compare it too. Please enjoy the pics.

We leave in two weeks for Batam, Singapore and Sri Lanka. If it must shake so again, perhaps the underground gods would consider doing it whilst we are away?

A footnote - seeing no sign of disruptions or damage today. Lest we forget that 2011's earthquake and following tsunami took around 18,000 lives.