June/July SG/TH

The trip to Singapore and Thailand was wonderful. The food in Singapore was almost as good as I had imagined, but the country itself … well, I had overly romanticized it in memory. Meeting up with friends was the best part. In Thailand the highlight was diving. I had not been for some years and to be in the warm water rather than off of Monterey was really nice. We even got to pet a shark that was sleeping on the bottom about 20 meters down. Now that the diving license is up to date I really can’t wait to go back under again. I’d like to try night diving with the bioluminescent stuff that’s around. And caves. And wrecks. And quite especially NITROX so that there is more bottom time without the decompression stops.

AU by KDDI – Eternal Bondage

Everyone is likely aware of the process of getting hooked up with a cellular phone. You pick out your phone and your service plan, and sign a two year contract. The provider is always careful to make it absolutely clear that if you cancel during the contract, you must pay a cancellation fee. My service was with AU in Tokyo. My two year contract was up a year ago so I decided to switch to SoftBank so I could get an iPhone. They have a special promotion going on at the moment which provides the phone for free as well as reduced rates, and since my two year contact was up (if this were not the case I would not have considered switching), there was everything to gain and nothing to lose.
So, I go into a shop which is advertised to have English speaking staff (shockingly this has to be discovered by painstaking net searches since the AU English web site has zero information on where any branch is actually located). Of course, their professional English speaking staff is at a competency level of a pre-kindergartener, so we wait and wait while their translator calls back and we begin passing the phone back and forth. I am informed that the fee for breaking my contract is about 10,000 yen. I explain that my contract is well past over and there should be no fee. They explain that they started a new contract with me for the same period as the original contract, so I have to pay the fee since I am breaking the new contract. This goes so far outside of the idea of a contract that it is mind boggling. So, the moment my two year contract ended they unilaterally bound me to a new two year contract, effectively making it impossible to ever cancel service without paying the fee. Lovely, my service plan is not a two year contact, but one that lives eternally through all time and outside the bounds of reason. I was then pleased to hear that I get to pay two fees! You see, what I was initially told was a ‘family plan’ with two phones on the contract I actually did sign – all in the same name and on the same bill – was actually two contracts, both of which I was breaking. All of this is a breach of good faith and fair dealing practices. All they can intone by rote : “this is Japan.” My head screams that this is outrageous stupidity and plain criminal deceit.
I did explain my displeasure to them and ask the fee to be waived since I never signed or asked for a new contract, much less two new contracts. To this, they gave the favorite phrase of the Japanese (and one with which they are remarkably adept in English): “it is impossible.” From any reasonable customer service standpoint this is insane. This is a despicable company. Be warned and be absolutely sure to ask what happens when the only contract you sign lapses – you may not be as free and clear as you would be when dealing with an entity which adheres to any concept of international contract.

(another thing to be aware of when considering AU is that, unlike SoftBank, they have no SMS capability so you won’t be able to communicate with that internationally accepted method. Also, my experience with SoftBank was remarkably better. They have a shop locator and have listings of English speaking locations – where they have people who actually speak English.)

Nagasaki

Had a great time in Nagasaki this past week. The transport system was convenient, yet intensely crowded. I’m used to crowded transit in Tokyo, but in Tokyo it somehow works better due to the incredible level of efficiency necessary in a city of so many millions. It was very shocking to me how used to Tokyo I’ve become. The so-called “freaks” who are Tokyoites have for me become so much the norm, that to see the “normal” people of Nagasaki was an abruptly confounding experience. I mean, guys look and act like guys – that’s really freakishly bizarre after living in Tokyo!
Although it was too windy for the ropeway to work it’s way up the Mount Inasa when we tried at first, the view was great when we finally made it. The night view was splendid. The weather was a bit difficult for most of the time, but it did adhere to the norm in that it was too cold when we didn’t have a jacket and too hot when we did. Nearby our hotel was the Glover Garden, which they apparently pronounce as Clover Garden, and which I only realized later was Glover Garden. He was a Scot who was instrumental in the city history and the education of Japanese in western science and humanities. It’s the first historic garden park I’ve ever been to with escalators. Convenient! There is also the sobering Atomic Bomb museum and the peace park with it’s statue pointing to the earth and to the heavens warning what may come from above.
Outside the city we went to Huis ten Bosch which is basically a fake Dutch city theme park. It was pleasant, but deserted at the time. It’s about the price of Tokyo Disneyland (5000ish yen) and has some museums and a canal boat ride in keeping with the Holland aesthetic. A Dutch location in Nagasaki itself is Dejima, a preserved trading post where you can explore the living quarters and storage areas.
We also got the chance to see the new Star Trek at a branch of Toho Cinemas they have there. It was good, but royally disturbed the red letter established history, preferring action over respect for the Trek continuum. Of course, that should not be surprising considering that JJ Abrams character.