2015-06-15: Bye Bye Japan

A pretty good way to get attention at an International Airport nowadays is to wander in looking like an idiot whilst carrying wooden guns. We did this. Well I did, Ewa didn't look like an idiot, she did have wooden guns though. We obviously have no photos for this days post.

Last Shinkansen Picnic. These sandwiches are objectively bad but we have developed a pavlovian response to them, they taste good because we are going to be doing something cool soon.

I have mentioned that the Police in Japan tend to be Kendo / Jodo aficionados but we got kind of lucky and the Policeman with his Jo (5 foot stick that you seriously do not want to laugh at for being an ineffective anti terrorist armament) recognised our guns, asked if we did jukendo and then escorted us through the security checkpoints at Narita airport to the Singapore Airlines counter.

Return to airline lounge food, again objectively bad but always comes with lots of free booze and a reason to drink it.

They had a flyer mentioning that toy guns were not allowed on board. We pointed out they were not toys. The Lady then found a youtube video of jukendo and asked if that was what we did. Once it was established that we don't do bayonet fencing with wooden guns as a game but rather as a martial art favoured by the Japanese military everything was fine.

This is the reason to drink. Ewa's skills at holding coffee whilst sleeping are really quite unparalleled.

Which I find amusing. A kid with a toy gun is a threat. People that practice actually fighting with wooden guns are totally fine.

Tourist Checklist: Inaccurate Travel Plans

I have done a few pretty good cockups in the past. Turning up to an international flight, getting checked in and having customs realise I have an expired passport is a notable example of how good I am.

Me shortly after arrival in Japan

This time I had a brilliant idea. Ewa has a visa to the US (actually she has a great one because she is a commie and had to apply for a good one). I have a reference number indicating I am allowed to turn up at an airport in the US but it doesn't guarantee me entry. I assume that will work fine. I also know I need an address that I am staying at when I get there.

2 months later, 1Kg fat gone, 1kg of muscle gained. Still have a fat bastard icon.

I did notice that I need a ticket for leaving the states if I arrive by air, which I have. Tickets to Canada the day later. But if we arrive by train into the US I don't need a leaving ticket. So we can fly to LA, then to Canada then catch a train down into the US and wander around vaguely.

Ewa just after getting off crutches

This appeals to me as it means I can leave plans open to last minute decisions. 
Unfortunately this idea is completely wrong because of some daft treaties between the US and Canada. So we had to buy tickets leaving the US. Buying tickets means I needed the address we are staying at now rather than at the end of the flight.

It is not scrunched up because her icon of the muscled person upset me.

Rating: 7.5/10 (If James had been asleep then it would have been 9/10 for cockup levels)

All of which means I guess I now officially reveal the current plans. Ewa has decided Jukendo is awesome. We are going to spend 3 months in the States and then return to Japan and apply for a cultural visa. That means we can live there for a year training and renew it each year. 

This plan means I can grow my dream hairstyle.

There will be a little bit of changing in our personal and corporate finances for this to work (we aren't allowed to work in Japan on this visa) but it does mean we can rent a decent size apartment with a kitchen.
Once we get a kitchen Ewa has announced that we will not be going out for dinner for 2 months.