When I learned that my workplace would be closed for a whole week in August, I saw it as the perfect chance for a catch-up.
My mate Noah has been living in New Zealand, and I hadn't seen him in a few years. Another friend whom I met in Japan named Thavy had returned to Australia last year. Everything lined up nicely for an Oceania summer vacation. The plan was to spend three days in Melbourne and four days in Auckland.
A few days before flying out, I saw on the news that a typhoon was approaching. Japan gets many typhoons, but most of them pass by Tokyo, but this one was expected to hit the area on August 8th – the day I flew out.
I left for the airport earlier than I planned. While on the Narita Express train, I glanced up at the screen showing the airports flight statuses. I felt a pit in my stomach when a screen showed all flights with a bright red "CANCELLED" label next to them. I urgently checked my phone; it turned out that all domestic and a few international flights were cancelled, but my plane to Melbourne was safe.
Once I was finally seated on the plane, the pounding raindrops outside made it hard to relax. The pilot's voice piped up over the PA, "Good evening folks, well it looks like there are no planes ahead of us, so we'll be leaving earlier than expected." I exhaled and settled in.
The flight was close to 10 hours, but Melbourne and Japan's time difference is only 1 hour. I left in the evening in Tokyo and landed in the morning in Melbourne. Despite the favourable conditions, I still couldn't sleep on the plane. When I arrived at my friend Thavy's house, the first thing on the agenda was a nap.
After waking, we went out to explore Melbourne. My first impression of Australia was "massive". Thavy lives in the suburban area where the roads are wide and the houses are mansions.
As Australia is in the Southern Hemisphere, it was winter when I arrived. I had packed warm clothes, but it was still a shock to go from Tokyo's scorching 35-degree weather to a relatively chilly 15°.
I had very few requests, but one absolute must was to go to Nando's. I've been living in Japan for three years, and the only things that I've been homesick for are BBC's coverage of the World Cup and Nando's. I almost fell off my chair when I learned they had branches in Australia. When I walked in, I immediately felt at home; the menu was the same as the UK's, as was the succulent taste of the peri-peri chicken.
After getting the important stuff out of the way, we went off to the city centre. While the suburban area was reminiscent of the US, the city was straight out of London. They even have a WHSmith. I met up with Thavy's friend Boone, and we had a few drinks around town.
I couldn't leave Australia without seeing some of the country's unique animals. I had no time to go to the Outback, so we went to the next best place, Melbourne Zoo. Thavy thought it was a strange request, but he agreed to take me.
Once at the zoo, I quickly realised why; young couples and families were the only people there on a weekday afternoon. I got to see many animals, such as a lion and a giraffe, but I'm sure I could've also seen those at Ueno Zoo in Tokyo. I couldn't see a koala as it was off hiding somewhere, but I did get to see a group of young kangaroos'.
After that, Thavy took me to a burger place he had wanted to check out. Then, to cap off our romantic evening, we went to a place called The Forum, a free-to-enter live music venue.
Thavy's friend arrived to interrupt our date; the three of us went to the restaurant to celebrate Thavy's birthday – which coincided with my trip.
Before heading to the restaurant, we stopped off at an alcohol shop. (Booze is strictly regulated in Australia, so you cannot buy alcohol at a convenience store or a supermarket, you must go to a dedicated place). The shop included notes from the staff on drinks; all the recommendations were phrased as questions:
"Best wine in Australia?"
"Good for a night out?"
I picked up six cans of Asahi (as I was too scared to try something new?)
The restaurant was surprisingly accommodating; they allowed us to bring our drinks in. After dinner, we went off to the karaoke place, which was conveniently located next door.
This place was right out of Tokyo; even the system was Japanese. However, the Australian version had some official music videos, which was thrilling to see after years of singing Rage The Against Machine songs to the backdrop of two Eastern Europeans on a date.
Too eager as it turned out, the next day, my voice was super raspy. Thavy and I went out for a hangover breakfast at a place nearby with his neighbours Anu and Victoria. Then, we came back and watched Deadpool 2 in his room. While watching the movie, I opened my mouth to ask a question about the flick.
"…ugggh….errr…."
My voice had gotten worse. After waking from another nap, my voice was gone. We went off to a trendy Malaysian food restaurant named Laksa King.
The rare chance to make a pun using my name was wasted ("Laksa King? More like Lak's a King!" I imagined saying).
Along with us was another of Thavy's friends, Mark. A real cheerful fellow who I wish I could've talked to.
While at the restaurant, Victoria asked Mark what he thought of the food,
"Well…it's not surprisingly good," he said.
Everyone responded with a collective "Huh?"
Mark clarified, "Well, it's good, and I'm not surprised because I know this place is good so, it's not surprisingly good!"
Before going to sleep, I checked the internet for remedies to fix my lost voice. I know I rock hard, but professional musicians must deal with this problem too, I thought. I found a YouTube video that demonstrated a technique. The doctor in the video applied pressure on the area just behind the Adam's Apple. I did that relentlessly before going to sleep.
The following day, Thavy knocked on the door, "You up?" he asked.
"…Err…yeah…!"
I could talk!
I applied pressure to the back of my neck at the airport and on the flight to Auckland.
My flight from Melbourne to Auckland was my first time flying in style: Premium Economy! When booking my ticket, I was surprised that the difference between Premium Economy and Standard Economy was only 2000yen ($20). In Premium, the chairs are a few inches wider, as is the TV screen, which helped during the surprisingly long 3 hours and a half journey.
After being greeted by Noah and his wife Karsen at the airport, we went off to downtown Auckland and the casino in the Sky Tower. I had never been to a casino, but what I learned from movies and Grand Theft Auto is that nobody wins at the casino (unless you create a save file beforehand and restart when you lose).
I took out $50 and went off to the blackjack table first; I felt reasonably comfortable with this game as I played it in GTA San Andreas. That comfort faded as my chips dwindled each round. We decided to go to the roulette table for one more go. I kept placing my chips on #30 as I recently turned that age. Noah managed to hit it big and won about $100. I battled on through. On my last chip, I decided to switch at the last moment to #32. The ball rolled around on the table….tick…tick….
"Number 30."
…
We went off to find a bar for Noah to celebrate his winnings and for me to curse my luck. In front of us were a couple; we followed them to find a cocktail bar nestled behind an alleyway. Walking down the stairs revealed a darkened room, only lit up by two men playing jazz in the corner. The waiter showed us to our table; he came back a bit later.
"So, we don't have menus," the waiter said. "We have about 3000 cocktails", he mumbled in a casual but deliberate way. "Instead, I'll ask you some questions." He then took a seat and glared towards me, "I'll start with you. Would you like a spicy or a sweet drink?"
"Erm…sweet."
The waiter thought intensely; he asked me two more closed questions. The waiter then turned to Noah. "So, would you like a spicy or…."
"I'd like a mojito", Noah interrupted.
The waiter cleared his throat and reverted to his script, "Hmm…Would that be a…?"
"Nah, just a mojito."
After we got our cocktails, Noah was feeling flush from his winnings. "Do you have any champagne?" he asked our waiter.
"Well, what would you like? We have about…."
"Could I just get a menu?" Noah replied.
The waiter returned with a menu in hand.
We took an Uber home; the driver didn't offer us 3000 different routes, sadly.
For the rest of my time in Auckland, we did some hiking, found a cave, played a lot of video games and watched some movies. But, most crucially – I had some more Nando's (it's in New Zealand as well).
Auckland is a big city, but you're never too far from nature, one wrong turn, and you end up on a hill.
Another takeaway about both countries is how extremely far they are from…anywhere. My journey from Auckland back to Tokyo took almost 11 hours.
Next time, I will talk about my domestic trips in Japan, featuring an expedition for chicken wings.
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| Bonus Sanji: He's three years old now! |
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