Melbourne time

Hello, こんにちは Kon'nichiwa

Well hello, Kon'nichiwa, or should I say こんにちは.....

This blog is about my trip to Japan later on this year. The countdown has begun, today is Easter Sunday, 27 March, I fly to Japan in 70 days, 5 hours and 10 minutes! I know three words in Japanese - hello, thank you and goodbye. I don't drink beer and I don't like raw fish. But I love meeting people, seeing new places, culture and history. I will only pass this way but once and I feel the need to try and see as much as I can in as little time as I have. .
Cheers. 乾杯

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Friday 3 June 2016

20. Plus Size Clothing in Japan

Everybody knows Japanese people are smaller than Westerners, while they are dainty and have small feet, we are wider, heavier and have bigger feet. When I was in China, I saw the most beautiful leather shoes and sandals - not the sort of cheap crap that gets exported to Australia, this was real good quality stuff, but there was only one problem - they didn't come in my size. None of them did. The biggest I saw was a 37 and that was considered huuuge over there. A 37 is only a size 6!


It is, I've been told, the same with clothing. A friend who had visited Japan said an XL over there is like a size 12 here! I won't be going shopping for clothes when I'm in Japan. Or for shoes.




Where to Find Tall and Plus Size Clothing in Japan
I came across a website called Surviving in Japan which goes into detail about where to find clothing for tall and bigger size people. It does say though, most of the stores listed are online sites only available in Japanese. Which isn't much help to anyone other than a Japanese person. Or someone who speaks the lingo.






Bra Size Converter
For ladies with a fuller figure, Click here to convert your bra size to the equivalent Japanese size. Example, if you wear a 20G in Australia, you would be a 95I in Japan. If you wear a 36D in America, then you would be an 80E in Japan. Equivalents are given for US, UK, AUS/NZ, EU/JAP and B/E/F (Belgium, Spain and France)




International Dress Size Converter
To find your clothing size, Click here.






Thursday 2 June 2016

19. Prayer for Tourists

Well, it's only three more sleeps then I'm on my way. The closer it gets, the more I know I have things to do which have not been done because somehow I can't seem to calm down to do them. I am also become quite excited as the time draws near (it's about time it happened!).

Knowing all the hundred and one things I want to do, the things that bedazzle all tourists, I give you - The Prayer for Tourists.


Prayer for Tourists

Heavenly Father, look down on us your humble, obedient
tourist servants, who are doomed to travel this earth,
taking photographs, mailing postcards, buying souvenirs and
walking around in drip-dry underwear.
We beseech you O Lord to see that our plane is not hijacked,
our luggage is not lost and our overweight baggage goes unnoticed.

Protect us from surly and unscrupulous taxi drivers, avaricious porters
and unlicensed English speaking guides.
Give us this day divine guidance in the selection
of our hotels, that we may find our reservations honoured,
our rooms made up, breakfast included, and (hot) water running in the taps.

We pray that the telephones work, and the operators speak our tongue
and remember our morning call for the sake of others on our tour,
And that there is no mail from our children awaiting us
which would force us to cancel the rest of our trip.

Lead us, dear Lord, to good, inexpensive restaurants
where the food is superb, the waiters friendly and the wine served complimentary.
Give us wisdom to tip correctly in currencies we do not understand.
Forgive us for under tipping out of ignorance and over tipping out of fear.
Make the locals love us for who we are, and not for what we can contribute
to their worldly goods.

Grant us the strength to visit the museums, the cathedrals,
the colonial houses, national parks, and convict jails
listed as "must see" in our guide books.
And if by chance we skip an historic monument to take a nap after lunch,
have mercy on us, for the flesh is but weak.

And when our trip is over and we return to our loved ones, grant us
the favour of finding someone who will look at our home movies and
listen to our stories.
So our stories will not have been in vain.......

Amen