An embarrassing tale involving shoes & miscommunication

I have got a lot of embarrassing experiences in my life, but this one would definitely be in the top 5.

While in Harajuku (famously known as the fashion trendsetting district in Tokyo, Japan), my friend and I were walking along the street lined with boutiques and shops when a shoe store caught my eye. Everyone knows that it is very expensive in the land of the rising sun, so just imagine my surprise when I saw signs plastered all over the shoe shop with number 2 beside Y1000. I’ve been wanting to buy a nice pair of wedge shoes, after observing that every woman there seems to be wearing it – nice, fancy styles that you won’t be able to get in Auckland – so I was really keen on scoring myself a pair. I tried the Oedo market, and they do have a selection of nice wedge shoes that were within my budget – unfortunately none of them is within my shoe size, which figures really, because Japanese women have got small feet.

So I was all agog then when I saw that shoe shop. Two pairs for Y1000 – that would be about $6 NZD each! Plus they’ve got shoes in my size! Sweet! I was so ecstatic that I decided I will get 6 pairs in total. The selection that they have was really good as well – and I particularly loved a charming black pair that is sort of a hybrid of a ballet and wedge, accented by an orange and a purple circle on the side. I seriously fell in love with that shoe. After carefully going back and forth trying out the 6 pairs I was going to buy, I asked the saleslady to get the shoes I am buying and ring them all up for me.

I was holding my credit card and preparing to hand it over when I saw the total amount I have to pay on the register - Y26,000. I double checked and nearly keeled over when the saleslady confirmed that this is correct. No way am I going to pay more that $500 bucks for shoes! So my friend clarified what the signs meant and while he was talking to her, it dawned on me that it actually meant that for every two pairs of shoes, you get a Y1000 discount. Clearly, this was a case of miscommunication because we can’t read Japanese. But in reality more like us wrongly assuming that it meant 2 pairs for Y1000 bucks because that’s what I really want to believe. I know it was dumb, especially if you look at it logically – first, it is Japan after all, and so everything is expensive, plus – if it seems too good to be true, chances are, it is too good to be true. But in my defense, the sight of the pretty shoes clouded my judgment.

In the end, I had to apologize profusely to the nice lady who assisted me in my numerous shoe fitting tryouts. She was polite, but couldn’t manage a smile afterwards. It didn’t help that my friend jokingly told her I was rich in an attempt to strike a conversation. And that he took a photo of me with the shoes. I could’ve bought just that pair that I liked, but I was already way too embarrassed and my only thought at that time was to GET OUT OF THE SHOP IMMEDIATELY. And so we left not with shoes, but with the memory of a very embarrassing moment.

Blue Mountains

Our whole second day in Sydney was spent in Blue Mountains. As per the advise of the nice old bloke in the information center, we got off at the Katoomba station, two hours by rail from Sydney Central. Since we only had a day, we opted for Explorer Bus, where you can hop on-hop off the bus to stop on areas we thought were interesting. We were provided with a map to do this.

Blue Mountains is a mountainous region (duh) and got the name from the blue tinge it apparently takes when viewed from a distance (this is as per Wikipedia). There were several lookouts or spots where you can view the spectacular view, particularly the sandstone formations.

The obligatory stop here would be the beautiful Three Sisters - We managed to climb down them really steep stairs and then cross over to one of the Three Sisters. My legs were real shaky by the time I reached a sister, especially as I crossed that bridge and stupidly looked below. It was real windy too, so I had to hold on to the rail because I was several meters above sea level.

Another stopover was the Gordon Falls. Unfortunately, the water in my tap back home appears to be stronger than the waterfalls. Maybe because it was summer so the waterfalls was a bit dry - but the view was still breathtaking though.

Ang Sydney, bow

In November 2008, we made a decision to spend the New Year in Sydney. I've experienced New Year in Auckland once - didn't like it; it was a far cry from the literally earth shaking New Year celebrations I've had my whole life in the Philippines. We settled for Sydney because of the fireworks - always an anticipated event in Australia and even tourists from all over the world flock to downunder just to experience it.

Unlike my past trips abroad, I didn't do any research at all prior to leaving. I was too caught up with work, tidying up loose ends before the Christmas shutdown. Plus, I couldn't be bothered to do anything that requires too much work when I am actually off work. Besides, Kiwis can go to Aussie anytime anyway, the RT fare is sometimes even cheaper than going to other parts of the country. All I know is that in Aussie, I am going to watch the fireworks, and that I absolutely have to go to Bondi Beach. This can't-be-bothered-to-research attitude is also why I got talked into going to the capital, Canberra. Should've taken a cue from the stunned faces of Kiwis who wondered what the heck we were going to do in Canberra - there was absolutely nothing exciting in that place, unless a visit to the Old and the New Parliament offices is your idea of fun. I spent my first night sleeping in a flea infested bed. On my second day we hiked more than an hour from our backpackers hotel to the parliament offices. For this effort, I got very tanned skin. Not good.

the Old Parliament, as seen from the top of the Old Parliament

We stayed in my flatmate's cousin's apartment - they were back in the Philippines spending their holidays, so we sort of took care of their place while they were away. The place was like two blocks away from the train station. Luckily, I've learned a thing or two from my recent trips to Japan and Korea, so it wasn't hard to figure out which platforms to go, and where to change trains, and the color-coding stuff which is based on the area you're going to. Besides, it's in English! And you can ask rail station officers anyway if you get confused or too lazy to figure out what train line you should get into.

the Opera House, above; up close view, below



Never ever go to Sydney without taking a photo with the Opera House in the background. I've got several obligatory Opera House photos on file now. Looking at it up close, the tiles weren't really distinctive or anything spectacular, it actually kinda reminded me of our old kitchen floor tiles. But I did appreciate the fact that it must have taken a fair amount of work in planning how to lay them down. Across the Opera House is the Royal Botanical Gardens. From here we did a walking tour of Sydney center, essentially because we were keen on buying a kind of fish that we have got heaps in Manila but can't get anywhere in Auckland - tilapia. So from the gardens, we passed by the Sydney Hospital, the Sydney Museum, St. Mary's Cathedral, Hyde Park and then all the way to Darling Harbour. By this time my feet were dead tired as I still haven't recovered from all the walking we did in Canberra. From here, we had to take a rail to the Sydney Fish Market. Alas, there was no tilapia in sight - we had to settle for the biggest and tastiest prawns I've had in a long time which we sauteed in garlic and butter and a bit of chili powder - yum!

Earlier on, we also visited the Queen Victoria Building - essentially a shopping center, but a real architectural beauty and heritage building, with the glass dome, stained glass windows, the tiled mosaic floors, mechanical clocks, the carved balustrades give off a feeling of shopping in a historical and carefully crafted mall. It's also got a huge as Christmas tree that almost touches the dome - pretty cool and best tree I've seen so far this year.