Settling In + Hokkaido Earthquake Updates

It's been such a busy three days that I couldn't really sit down and write this post!

Monday

After I landed, I took a bus from New Chitose Airport to Sapporo. I was supposed to get off at Asabu station (2nd last stop), but silly me decided to get off at the final stop. If you saw my insta story, you'd have seen that I took a taxi, but whooh, my anxiety climbed as the meter rate went from 600+ yen to 1000+ yen. That's like, RM30+ for a 10 minute ride, guys. Of course, getting a taxi as opposed to, say, walking would be the wiser option if you have 45kg worth of luggage to carry around with you, like me.

From the airport

They use RFID here for their tolls. No obstructing poles. 

The setting for most anime/manga; high rise mansions (or are they apartments? I still can't tell the difference yet)
"Mansions" are not fancy bungalows for crazy rich asians. They're just better & pricier apartments.

somewhere in Sapporo city

The place where I'm staying at is really nice and homey! But for personal & security reasons, I won't post any pictures of my temporary humble abode (sorry about that, but you can view my archived stories on my instagram profile for a house tour + outing!). 

All I can say is that it's a triple storey house, and currently I've got the entire 2nd floor to myself. Sweet. However, it's not as wide as you think! The toilet and bath/shower are kept separate, and the kitchen is small but comfortably sized. There isn't a designated dining room and the living room is joined with the kitchen. Just imagine a studio apartment that extends to a corridor with a couple of rooms, the bathroom, and toilet. The Neighbourhood is peacefully quiet most of the time -- kinda reminds me of Nottingham. What I like though, is that it's quite organized and grid-like, but there are soooo many streets that I still can't remember the way back to my place.

Anyway, after settling in I went out again with my new housemate, and as we walked to the big Aeon to get some stuff, new housemate showed me a few shops, convenience stores, and restaurants. We explored Aeon a bit and I'm kinda surprised, for some reason, that the exterior looked a little like the Aeons we have in Malaysia, but smaller. The inside, however, I don't quite know how to put it, but it's just different somehow. I'll need more time to explore.

From Aeon, we took the train from Shindo-higashi Station along the Toho line (blue) to the city, where we got off at Odori station (after Sapporo station). I really wanted to visit Don Quijote (affectionately called Donki by locals) to see what I can get my hands on that would be cheaper than visiting a pharmacy, for example. After perusing it's four floors, I finally settled on a tube of sunblock.

Sapporo TV tower at Odori Park

The biggest crows you will ever see.

Yakisoba for dinner - basically mee goreng (fried noodles)

We also visited GU (sister brand to Uniqlo) after spotting it along the many shops that lined the main road of central Sapporo. Nearly bought something, but didn't. I wish Malaysia had GU though -- I can imagine everyone going berserk at its lower prices compared to Uniqlo.

By the time we got back, my feet felt like crumbling. No joke. Was compelled to soak in the ofuro after a long day of just walking.

Tuesday

Got my bike (on loan) but the seat is rather stiff so my butt bone kinda hurts whenever I ride it.

Went to the ward office to get myself registered as a resident here, and got myself a national insurance. I won't delve into the specifics here, but basically JNHI or 国民健康保険　こくみんけんこうほけん　koku-min-ken-kou-hou-ken enables the registered user to have up to 70% subsidy on medical & dental payments at hospitals. I've yet to receive my card, so that's one thing to look forward to.

Also went to the post office to get my postal account (like a bank account), and surprise surprise, they still use bankbooks. I do suppose it's due to the ATMs that are made in such a way that bankbooks are still essential. You can withdraw with either the bankbook itself or with an ATM card (which may or may not have a Debit feature, unless you request for one but I've read that it requires some paperwork.)

Another thing that surprised me was that my tax account number was needed to open a postal account. Yes, my Malaysian tax number. It was explained to me that Japan has been trying to prevent money laundering lately, so with this small bit of information, it's easier for them to work with the respective government authorities of other countries. ATM cards take 2 weeks to be delivered.

This gaijin is SO grateful for English.

I kid you not, I squealed so hard when I saw Sato Takeru on tv.

Wednesday

Had my first Japanese lesson today! The best is, it's free since it's held at a civic centre of some sorts. What that means is that the teachers are all volunteers and there are several groups of varying levels all having classes at the same time, in the small office-like room. It took nearly an hour to get there though. Cycled to shindou-higashi station, parked the bike, took the subway to Sapporo Station, then walked to the building-whose-name-I-can't-remember.

I've not felt so nerve-wrecked in such a long time, it was so embarrassing being unable to recall simple Japanese words that I would have otherwise been able to say easily! After filling in a form handed to me, one of the teachers, I suspect she was a supervisor there, maybe; asked which textbook I used, and how much I knew since I had studied Japanese prior. I told her I would like to have a refresher session (because I honestly had no confidence in my Japanese language ability at that moment) and that I wanted to use the first Minna no Nihongo book (I was actually already on the second, but had not touched it in months). The lady then checked around for teachers who would teach me that morning and I was introduced to a short-haired lady who had helped me to fill in the form. Great!

When I sat down at the table, it hit me. Of course I had to forget to bring any stationery. I was rushing around so much in the morning that it slipped my mind to bring even a single pencil. Brilliant. Playing the gaijin (foreigner) card, I shamelessly asked if I could borrow a pen. Then came the hard part.

All the teachers spoke only Japanese with their students (of course, there are some words that they do explain in English to make the learning process a little smoother). At first my potato brain panicked at the thought of not being able to understand a single thing, but a thought came to mind; 

"Wasn't this how we learned our second-languages in school anyway?" 

And so, putting my embarrassment aside, I ploughed through the 1 1/2 hours learning in 99% Japanese. Half way only did I realise that it wasn't as impossibly difficult as I thought it would have been. You see, I subconsciously set really high expectations for myself, especially when I know I should be good at a particular something since I've learned/done it before.

The teacher assigned me to is also an editor! (I think that's what she said)
Also, FLEA MARKETS.

After the morning classes were over and teacher and student thanked each other for their hard work, housemate and I went to get some lunch at any nearby convenience store (konbini for short). 7-11 was so dreadfully packed that we just left and went to a Seico. I got myself some spaghetti, and a pen.

After lunch, headed back for afternoon classes which ended at about 4pm, then went around the city looking for Kinokuniya. We came across some really big malls!!

A quaint looking subway entrance.

I wanted to get some textbooks or reference books or workbooks. Anything that could potentially help me with language study, but the choices were so overwhelming that I ended up leaving empty handed. "Another day, perhaps," I told myself quietly, quite pleased that I could save some money today.

And yes, it's illustrated.

I know some of you are geeking out at the existence of this picture.
You're welcome.

Midnight update

A quake just happened. If I had to be honest, I had not expected it at all. The house was swaying left and right and I could feel the adrenaline rushing through my foggy brain telling me to get up and get out, but part of me was silly enough to be curious to wonder, 'is this a quake?' maybe because I was half asleep and unsure of what was going on, but my inner conscious was pretty dang sure it was a quake happening. The tremours stopped after 20 seconds.

As I sat there in the dark, I wondered if it was safe to get up and leave my room. I peeked through the window; I couldn't see any lights on in other houses. I turned on my light, and from upstairs my caretaker came down and knocked on my door.

"Are you okay in there? Did anything fall over?"

"I'm okay! Only the cork board fell."

I decided to follow him to check on the house and behold, what was left of cups, plates, and bowls lay in shards on the wooden floor. Drawers were left open and some glasses had fallen out of their places.

"It's never been this strong before," said my caretaker with a tight frown between his brows. "There will be some after-shocks, so just be careful." He hurried back upstairs to check on things and I went back to my room.

Not too long after that, ambulance sirens started wailing outside in the distance, and suddenly everything turned dark. The power had gone out. I peeked out the window to see only pitch darkness. Only then did I realise that this was a pretty big deal.

And just like the caretaker said, very small but noticeable after-shocks came. At this point my heart is still pounding and I'm made sensitive to every little sound, and movement the house makes. I packed my bag with my passport, wallet, and portable WiFi -- you know, the essentials.

My caretaker came back, dressed in more proper clothes and with a flashlight in hand, told me to fill the tub partly with cold water in case the water supply's cut off.

Right now as I wait for the tub to fill, I'm doubting that I can go back to bed.

Thursday Morning update

Managed to get some sleep, though every time a small after-shock happened, I bolt up in bed, feeling very cautious. Got up at 6am, went back to bed and woke up again at 9am.

Some huge trees in parks have been ripped out of the ground!

There's still no electricity.