So, I guess Australians aren`t all bad. The joke goes like this:
Two Aussies, Two Americans, a Scotsman, and a Brit walk into a bar... All the Japanese people leave.
No, it was fun, and we stayed up really late playing ｈｉｇｈ stakes Uno with a very cool Japanese guy from Hiroshima. He put down Gin like it was going out of style, and sung Huey Lewis like it was hip to be square (sorry).
Needless to say, didn`t get much sleep, but it`s all good. I went to Arashiyama today, the western side of Kyoto, home of monkeys (didn`t go to the park) and many more temples. After paying 500 yen (5 bucks) to see a painting of a dragon on the celing, and then paying another 500 yen to enter the grounds right behind it, because they couldn`t tie the package for the temple complex together, I didn`t feel like spending more money to go into temples, which I`ve been doing since I got to Japan. So I walked through the bamboo forest, which was very cool, and decided to hike up a mountain, after seeing a trail going up.
What goes up must come down right? I hiked for a good long while, not sure of where I was going, and finally made it to the top. There was no view, but you could see through the trees the whole of Kyoto and the mountains on the East side. Found a truck path down, and forked off into the woods when I saw a trail that did so.
Or so I thought.
After about 500 feet, the trail kinda dissapears, and I scrambled down at least 30% slope, grabbing trees and things as I went, doing some hardcore scrambling down the mountain. Not exactly what I had planned for the day, but hey, I`m still here to talk about it.
So I get to the ``trailhead,`` a 6 foot stone wall bordering a road near a toll booth, and walk back into town. I walked all day the day before, didn`t get much sleep, so my feet weren`t too happy with me. Had some food, got back to Kyoto to meet with Takashi, the couchsurfing buddy.
He took me to this tea house where they give you the tea and a thermos of boiling water, and show you how to make it. This was the real deal, with high quality tea, and precise methods for brewing. And it tastes like nothing on earth. Bad high quality green tea tastes like grass, and even decent high quality green tea kinda tastes like grass, but this had dimension like you wouldn`t believe. Sweet, slightly bitter, earthy, hint of toasted rice, like a fine wine. Eye-opening.
We then walked around, he translated a bunch of signs for me and explained to me the whole bowing thing (as best he could), and then we went for dinner. The menu was as big as a Tolstoy novel, and we ordered a bunch of things and shared them. Not bad, nothing too amazing, good quality for the money. Afterwards, we met up with another couchsurfing friend of his, and went to Karaoke.
Yes, there is a video of me singing sweet caroline. No, you will never see it.
It was fun, we were all getting into it, except that I didn`t know the words to the Japanese songs. Afterwards, I mentioned I was from Boston, so our second friend explained the existence of a hardcore fan bar, aptly named Fenway Park. After they explained I lived in Boston and was a sashimi cook, I was shown pictures, a signed baseball, given a Sam Adams and a buisness card, asked for an email address, etc. He threw everything he had at me, this guy was so proud of what he was, and with good reason. They flew him over last spring and he got to hand a trophy to Okajima, had amazing seats, basically living the dream. No, he didn`t eat at Uni. ``Fenway Franks only!``
Don`t ask how it got here, but yes, there is a picture of me holding a fake katana and a Fenway Park sign with a samurai wig on, and no, you probably won`t see that either. But if you know someone with a Japanese cell phone, it`s probably traveling the ether as we speak.
Tomorrow, off to Kobe with another couchsurfer. I have nothing but high regard for this websit now. Go figure. This country has the most amazing people in the world. We were talking in the hostel tonight how you could probably leave your bag in the middle of a busy shopping center, and not only would it not be stolen, someone would pick it up and scour the city trying to find you to give it back.
Saturday, January 19, 2008
Friday, January 18, 2008
Kyoto! But no Geisha
Forget about Geisha. I`m not super pumped to find them, and they are really few and far between anyways. However, there are tons of places that you can pay lots of money and they will dress you up and parade you around town, complete with a mini camera crew to document the experience.
Doesn`t it seem a bit odd though? I mean, Geisha are so huge in western culture, so popular with tourists, maybe because of that book, maybe because it`s an quintessential image of beauty, or what have you. However, these are women that are paid to whore themselves out. Not necessarily sexually, but they basically are paid to keep guys entertained, and be beautiful company (arm candy). So, all of these strong, independent, `feminist` women are so enamoured with the concept of the geisha, yet pride themselves on some sort of feminist ideology. It seems completely contrary.
Anyways, back to the trip. I took a shinkansen to Kyoto, no hassle there, although a good 2.5 hour trip. Bought a new Murakami book (highly recommended by the way, `the wind up bird chronicle` Imagine magical realism (100 years of solitude, house of the spirits), but way more modern and japanese). I checked into the hostel (sister of the one in Tokyo, and the same high quality and numerous australians), and invited myself along with this nice British girl on her Lonely Planet `essential walking tour of Kyoto.` It was nice to have company for the day, as it was my 9th day in Japan, and I haven`t had a travel buddy all trip. I`m not complaining, but I like meeting new people and hearing new stories/ideas/viewpoints, you all know that. Anyways, she has been on a huge trip: teaching english in madagascar (sound familiar, boston peeps?), Australia/New Zeland (why does that look spelled wrong... oh well, deal with it.), somewhere else too.. I don`t remember, we talked about many things for basically the whole day.
So, Kyoto is a city put on a grid, with every section kinda different. There`s the old wooden pretty `old school japan` section, the modern `normal people live here` section, the Kyoto University section, the `crazy shopping wants to be like tokyo` section, and many others. Surrounding the city on all sides (basically) are huge mountains (not huge, but big), and these mountains have giant Japanese characters carved into them (maybe for seasons, maybe for directions, I don`t know Kanji). All the main temples are around the mountains (because they like religion and nature, remember?), and all the museums and shopping and restaurants are in the city. And it`s HUGE. Sprawling. I walked around the past few days, and that might have been a mistake. With Maddy (British girl who doesn`t have an Australian accent, even though I`m ignorant), we hit half of Eastern section of Temples and Shrines, and they were beautiful. Again, it`s difficult to write about, harder to photograph, you have to see them for yourself. We walked in the `old school` section of Kyoto, down alleys with lanterns and bamboo everything, unmarked places you just knew were private restaurants, or various other things that normal tourists would never be allowed access to. It was a cool place, hugely atmospheric.
We tried to find Geisha, we saw a bunch of the fake ones, and yeah, that was that. I did convince her to do Kaiseki (look it up), and that was probably the best meal so far. Absolutely amazing, and even cooler because I actually knew much of what was being served. (they love that, when you can identify food in Japanese.. they get this huge smile...)
Walked home, crashed. Woke up today, went to Nishiki Market, kind of like a huge food market in Kyoto. Absolutely stunning. All sorts of food, entire stores just for Bonito, Konbu, Rice, Pickles, etc. I went a bit early, but I did find the artisigu shop (knives... hehe), and saw how much damage it`s going to be later in the trip (not too bad.. you pay for the quality). Then I walked around the normal people part of Kyoto. It was ok, but not terribly exciting. Went to the Imperial Palace, on a hardcore guided tour. That sucked. Oh well, my fault for doing a guided tour.
I made it up to myself by walking along the Kyoto University area. There are two rivers that meet right by there, and it had this awesome chill vibe where all the students were, very nature-filled.. Walked along the philosophers path, saw a bunch of cherry blossom trees, but no blossoms.
It was a day of quiet meandering, with some cool pictures. No cool stories, except for dinner. I went past a cheesecake place, and had a craving, so I bought a piece. While there, I asked the lady where the best Unagi was (eel). She walked me 1/4 mile to this place, and read the sign for me... ``Number 1 Unagi in Kyoto``
It was good. Really good. I didn`t know Unagi tasted like that.
Anyways, back at home, going to go out drinking with the hostel peeps, haven`t had a night out yet, should be fun. Tomorrow I might be meeting some Japanese people I contacted through couchsurfing, so I`ll let you know how that goes...
Oh, by the way, no pictures until I get back. I didn`t bring the cable with me, and I`m not spending time uploading for your benefit. You get my witty typing, you can wait a bit for the amazing photography. =)
Doesn`t it seem a bit odd though? I mean, Geisha are so huge in western culture, so popular with tourists, maybe because of that book, maybe because it`s an quintessential image of beauty, or what have you. However, these are women that are paid to whore themselves out. Not necessarily sexually, but they basically are paid to keep guys entertained, and be beautiful company (arm candy). So, all of these strong, independent, `feminist` women are so enamoured with the concept of the geisha, yet pride themselves on some sort of feminist ideology. It seems completely contrary.
Anyways, back to the trip. I took a shinkansen to Kyoto, no hassle there, although a good 2.5 hour trip. Bought a new Murakami book (highly recommended by the way, `the wind up bird chronicle` Imagine magical realism (100 years of solitude, house of the spirits), but way more modern and japanese). I checked into the hostel (sister of the one in Tokyo, and the same high quality and numerous australians), and invited myself along with this nice British girl on her Lonely Planet `essential walking tour of Kyoto.` It was nice to have company for the day, as it was my 9th day in Japan, and I haven`t had a travel buddy all trip. I`m not complaining, but I like meeting new people and hearing new stories/ideas/viewpoints, you all know that. Anyways, she has been on a huge trip: teaching english in madagascar (sound familiar, boston peeps?), Australia/New Zeland (why does that look spelled wrong... oh well, deal with it.), somewhere else too.. I don`t remember, we talked about many things for basically the whole day.
So, Kyoto is a city put on a grid, with every section kinda different. There`s the old wooden pretty `old school japan` section, the modern `normal people live here` section, the Kyoto University section, the `crazy shopping wants to be like tokyo` section, and many others. Surrounding the city on all sides (basically) are huge mountains (not huge, but big), and these mountains have giant Japanese characters carved into them (maybe for seasons, maybe for directions, I don`t know Kanji). All the main temples are around the mountains (because they like religion and nature, remember?), and all the museums and shopping and restaurants are in the city. And it`s HUGE. Sprawling. I walked around the past few days, and that might have been a mistake. With Maddy (British girl who doesn`t have an Australian accent, even though I`m ignorant), we hit half of Eastern section of Temples and Shrines, and they were beautiful. Again, it`s difficult to write about, harder to photograph, you have to see them for yourself. We walked in the `old school` section of Kyoto, down alleys with lanterns and bamboo everything, unmarked places you just knew were private restaurants, or various other things that normal tourists would never be allowed access to. It was a cool place, hugely atmospheric.
We tried to find Geisha, we saw a bunch of the fake ones, and yeah, that was that. I did convince her to do Kaiseki (look it up), and that was probably the best meal so far. Absolutely amazing, and even cooler because I actually knew much of what was being served. (they love that, when you can identify food in Japanese.. they get this huge smile...)
Walked home, crashed. Woke up today, went to Nishiki Market, kind of like a huge food market in Kyoto. Absolutely stunning. All sorts of food, entire stores just for Bonito, Konbu, Rice, Pickles, etc. I went a bit early, but I did find the artisigu shop (knives... hehe), and saw how much damage it`s going to be later in the trip (not too bad.. you pay for the quality). Then I walked around the normal people part of Kyoto. It was ok, but not terribly exciting. Went to the Imperial Palace, on a hardcore guided tour. That sucked. Oh well, my fault for doing a guided tour.
I made it up to myself by walking along the Kyoto University area. There are two rivers that meet right by there, and it had this awesome chill vibe where all the students were, very nature-filled.. Walked along the philosophers path, saw a bunch of cherry blossom trees, but no blossoms.
It was a day of quiet meandering, with some cool pictures. No cool stories, except for dinner. I went past a cheesecake place, and had a craving, so I bought a piece. While there, I asked the lady where the best Unagi was (eel). She walked me 1/4 mile to this place, and read the sign for me... ``Number 1 Unagi in Kyoto``
It was good. Really good. I didn`t know Unagi tasted like that.
Anyways, back at home, going to go out drinking with the hostel peeps, haven`t had a night out yet, should be fun. Tomorrow I might be meeting some Japanese people I contacted through couchsurfing, so I`ll let you know how that goes...
Oh, by the way, no pictures until I get back. I didn`t bring the cable with me, and I`m not spending time uploading for your benefit. You get my witty typing, you can wait a bit for the amazing photography. =)
Wednesday, January 16, 2008
Luck beyond bounds.
Alright, now we`re caught up to today.
So I wake up, turn on the TV, and what do I see, but a Japanese newscaster in NYC doing a segment on BROOMBALL!!!!! It was nuts, and a great way to start off the day. I ate all of my food (I bought like 10 mikan the previous day, so it was a bit redundant, but the Japanese pop those things like candy). Nobody was to be found when I tried to checkout, so I left my key on a note by the door, and I hoped they got it.
I get to the train station, and I see there`s a train for Tokyo leaving in 5 mintues, so I haul and get on it.
Now. A bit about the shinkansen. There are two types of seats: Reserved and non-reserved. To get a reserved seat, you buy at ticket at the office ahead of time. The non-reserved ones, at least for cool people like me who have a rail pass, are obtained by showing your pass to the guy at the ticket gate, and finding a seat after he lets you pass. In a 12 car train, there are about 6 reserved ones and 6 non. So I jump on the train at car 6, and walk all the way to car 1, looking for a non-reserved car. None were found, and it wasn`t too busy, so I sat down. The train takes off and the voice tells me:
``All seats on this train are reserved``
I was not where I should have been. On the plus side, it was a super-ultra-express to Tokyo, with like 3 stops. It went REALLY FAST. So I`m sitting there, praying that nobody finds me, when the conductor comes to me and asks me something. I know what he was after, but I feigned ignorance.
``Ticket``
Oooh! Ticket, that`s what you wanted! I showed him my rail pass, hoping for the best. Thankfully, he let me stay, and I think he put me into his computer, which was good, because at the next stop the train filled up. To capacity. Somehow, nobody had a ticket for my seat. I love technology.
So I get to Tokyo, and today is Sumo day for me. I showed a bunch of Mexicans to the hostel, because they were needing one and looking lost, and then I walked to the arena to try my luck. There were no cheap day-of seats left, so I bought one of the cheapest reserved seats and walked in.
Sumo is cool. It`s steeped in tradition and religion and culture in a way that nothing else is in this world today while still being accessable, and even really popular. (sorry for the spelling, but japanese computers wont correct my spelling, and now they will not let me add apostraphes..)
So I went in, had some of the porridge that sumo wrestlers eat (liver, veggies, broth.. yum!), and went to the center of the arena to sit on the aisle and watch the matches nobody cares about from up close.
When the big ones started, a security guard ran around and started kicking everyone out of the aisles (lots of tourists got booted), but I saw her, and jumped onto a vacant pillow (right, no seats, pillows) 5 rows from the action.
And I stayed there a good long time. Throughout most of the matches, I was right at the front. When the top ranking fighters made their entrance, so did the rightful owners of my seat. I got up to leave, and this guy behind me in the 4 cushion box seats motioned me to sit near him. So I stayed right up front till the end. (I found out later that he was squatting too, as this really friendly Japanese family behind me explained to me, and everyone around me kept saying 'lucky seat!' (look, I found the apostraphe). They had a 24 year old son too, and he didn't speak any English.
Anyways, Sumo was amazing. They really get into the higher profile matches, and everyone yells and screams and claps and goes nuts. I wish I understood a bit more of what was going on, but as I watched more I got more. It seems as if every little motion has a meaning, and depending on how long a squat is held, they can intimidate the opponent and draw cheers from the crowd. Wild, I tell you. You had to be there.
Anyways, back at the hostel, doing laundry, I have the exact same bed as I did last time I was here. Guess it was free. Kyoto tomorrow, and down south for the next couple of days. I'm gonna go get me some tempura, cause I'm hungry.
Signing off!
So I wake up, turn on the TV, and what do I see, but a Japanese newscaster in NYC doing a segment on BROOMBALL!!!!! It was nuts, and a great way to start off the day. I ate all of my food (I bought like 10 mikan the previous day, so it was a bit redundant, but the Japanese pop those things like candy). Nobody was to be found when I tried to checkout, so I left my key on a note by the door, and I hoped they got it.
I get to the train station, and I see there`s a train for Tokyo leaving in 5 mintues, so I haul and get on it.
Now. A bit about the shinkansen. There are two types of seats: Reserved and non-reserved. To get a reserved seat, you buy at ticket at the office ahead of time. The non-reserved ones, at least for cool people like me who have a rail pass, are obtained by showing your pass to the guy at the ticket gate, and finding a seat after he lets you pass. In a 12 car train, there are about 6 reserved ones and 6 non. So I jump on the train at car 6, and walk all the way to car 1, looking for a non-reserved car. None were found, and it wasn`t too busy, so I sat down. The train takes off and the voice tells me:
``All seats on this train are reserved``
I was not where I should have been. On the plus side, it was a super-ultra-express to Tokyo, with like 3 stops. It went REALLY FAST. So I`m sitting there, praying that nobody finds me, when the conductor comes to me and asks me something. I know what he was after, but I feigned ignorance.
``Ticket``
Oooh! Ticket, that`s what you wanted! I showed him my rail pass, hoping for the best. Thankfully, he let me stay, and I think he put me into his computer, which was good, because at the next stop the train filled up. To capacity. Somehow, nobody had a ticket for my seat. I love technology.
So I get to Tokyo, and today is Sumo day for me. I showed a bunch of Mexicans to the hostel, because they were needing one and looking lost, and then I walked to the arena to try my luck. There were no cheap day-of seats left, so I bought one of the cheapest reserved seats and walked in.
Sumo is cool. It`s steeped in tradition and religion and culture in a way that nothing else is in this world today while still being accessable, and even really popular. (sorry for the spelling, but japanese computers wont correct my spelling, and now they will not let me add apostraphes..)
So I went in, had some of the porridge that sumo wrestlers eat (liver, veggies, broth.. yum!), and went to the center of the arena to sit on the aisle and watch the matches nobody cares about from up close.
When the big ones started, a security guard ran around and started kicking everyone out of the aisles (lots of tourists got booted), but I saw her, and jumped onto a vacant pillow (right, no seats, pillows) 5 rows from the action.
And I stayed there a good long time. Throughout most of the matches, I was right at the front. When the top ranking fighters made their entrance, so did the rightful owners of my seat. I got up to leave, and this guy behind me in the 4 cushion box seats motioned me to sit near him. So I stayed right up front till the end. (I found out later that he was squatting too, as this really friendly Japanese family behind me explained to me, and everyone around me kept saying 'lucky seat!' (look, I found the apostraphe). They had a 24 year old son too, and he didn't speak any English.
Anyways, Sumo was amazing. They really get into the higher profile matches, and everyone yells and screams and claps and goes nuts. I wish I understood a bit more of what was going on, but as I watched more I got more. It seems as if every little motion has a meaning, and depending on how long a squat is held, they can intimidate the opponent and draw cheers from the crowd. Wild, I tell you. You had to be there.
Anyways, back at the hostel, doing laundry, I have the exact same bed as I did last time I was here. Guess it was free. Kyoto tomorrow, and down south for the next couple of days. I'm gonna go get me some tempura, cause I'm hungry.
Signing off!
Winter means cold
Alright,
Back in Tokyo right now, after two days up waaay north. Aizu-Wakamatsu, where I attempted to see a festival I read one sentence about in Lonely Planet. Turns out that place is like a city, but not huge like Tokyo. So needless to say, I found no festival, but lots of things were closed, so maybe there was a festival. More beautiful castles, wonderful people, and communication problems. I was having dinner at this small place, with homemade gyoza, where the chef was interested in talking with me once he found out I was a cook (that works well around here), but due to my crappy phrasebook, I understood nothing, and our converstation was at a standstill.
I feel that this trip would be so much better if I knew even the slightest bit of Japanese. I mean, I`m definately picking it up, and the grammar isn`t very difficult, but it`s hard to learn vocabulary or even guess at a word if you can`t comprehend the alphabet. If you go to Japan (or any asian country), bring a pocket dictionary, in addition to or instead of a phrasebook. It will prove infinately more useful.
Item number 2: Fashion. Even in winter, when it`s cold (and it`s damn cold), girls wear short skirts and high boots or stockings. It`s crazy. I saw one girl on the Metro with hardcore goosebumps. Small price to pay for looking good, right? All the buisnessmen are stereotypical there, and I`ve seen alot of them. There are normal people too, but they are few and far between in Tokyo, but more prominent in the outer regions. Granted, on a train into tokyo from these places, the girls fancy up...
I stayed in a buisness hotel at the suggestion from a lady at 7-11 (yes, they have them here..), it was small, there was an alarm clock radio with 4 preset stations, and there was a television, so I absorbed some culture (from what I could understand). Not exciting, but restful... finally a western style bed.
Next was Morioka. That was a long trainride. I`m getting to be a regular on the bullet train, and I`m a fan. It was another city, but a beautiful one, with rivers all over the place, and a destroyed castle in the middle of it turned into a park. It was snowing, and I`m beginning to believe that it snows everywhere north of Tokyo, and doesn`t stop throughout the winter. I checked into this place that was suggested by the tourist place and by lonely planet, so it must be ok.
Couldn`t find it at first, because there were no english signage. However, I`m not too bad with a map, so I guessed well. It took 10 minutes to get someone though, and it was about 12:30, but they were out grocery shopping. It was a Minishiku (sp?), basically a japanese style inn. This nice old lady ran it, and I had a japanese style room, with Tatami mats everywhere, futon bedding, a TV and space heater (!), and a porch (did not get used, covered in snow).
Walked around, found free internet, had an adventure of eating in the basement of a department store. Those places are like food courts on speed (sorry for the drug references in this blog, but you have to see it to believe it). They had everything, from bakeries, restaurants, noodle stands, a grocery store, cheese shop (!), and tons of confectionary stores. The Japanese are perfectionists when it comes to fine food. Presentation is everything, and these things look beautiful. I haven`t tried many, because I save my money for the savory, but the ones I`ve had are really good (Paul - Beard Papa! I had a mille-fueille).
Wanko soba is a unique experience, probably best done with a group. I screwed it up of course, because I could not understand my server, even when she was repeating things like 5 times. (she showed me a glass and a bottle of beer to ask if I wanted draft or bottled, I motioned for both) Basically, they give you a bunch of side stuff, and a bowl with a lid. The waitress stands over you, and pours a mouthful of soba into the bowl, you eat it, she pours another one, you eat it, etc... It`s odd to have her standing over you the whole time, for one thing, and you feel like it`s some kind of race. I did 51 bowls, and I could have done more, but I felt like I was going to burst at the time.
Anyways, I roll back to where I`m staying, intending to read. The lady hears me come in, motions me to the bathroom, and says ``Shower!``
Now this means Japanese style bath. It`s a room with a deep bathub and a faucet/minishower, stools, and a brush. Basically, you clean yourself off really well using the minishower, and then relax in the bath, like at the onsen.
My skin was going to boil off.
That saying: ``Some like it hot.`` The Japanese like it exceedingly so. It was hotter than the onsen, and that`s saying something.
When I was done with that, I had a couple of mikan (Japanese clementines), a can of tea and some crackers waiting in my room. What service! I made good use of the space heater that night, because that`s all there was...
Back in Tokyo right now, after two days up waaay north. Aizu-Wakamatsu, where I attempted to see a festival I read one sentence about in Lonely Planet. Turns out that place is like a city, but not huge like Tokyo. So needless to say, I found no festival, but lots of things were closed, so maybe there was a festival. More beautiful castles, wonderful people, and communication problems. I was having dinner at this small place, with homemade gyoza, where the chef was interested in talking with me once he found out I was a cook (that works well around here), but due to my crappy phrasebook, I understood nothing, and our converstation was at a standstill.
I feel that this trip would be so much better if I knew even the slightest bit of Japanese. I mean, I`m definately picking it up, and the grammar isn`t very difficult, but it`s hard to learn vocabulary or even guess at a word if you can`t comprehend the alphabet. If you go to Japan (or any asian country), bring a pocket dictionary, in addition to or instead of a phrasebook. It will prove infinately more useful.
Item number 2: Fashion. Even in winter, when it`s cold (and it`s damn cold), girls wear short skirts and high boots or stockings. It`s crazy. I saw one girl on the Metro with hardcore goosebumps. Small price to pay for looking good, right? All the buisnessmen are stereotypical there, and I`ve seen alot of them. There are normal people too, but they are few and far between in Tokyo, but more prominent in the outer regions. Granted, on a train into tokyo from these places, the girls fancy up...
I stayed in a buisness hotel at the suggestion from a lady at 7-11 (yes, they have them here..), it was small, there was an alarm clock radio with 4 preset stations, and there was a television, so I absorbed some culture (from what I could understand). Not exciting, but restful... finally a western style bed.
Next was Morioka. That was a long trainride. I`m getting to be a regular on the bullet train, and I`m a fan. It was another city, but a beautiful one, with rivers all over the place, and a destroyed castle in the middle of it turned into a park. It was snowing, and I`m beginning to believe that it snows everywhere north of Tokyo, and doesn`t stop throughout the winter. I checked into this place that was suggested by the tourist place and by lonely planet, so it must be ok.
Couldn`t find it at first, because there were no english signage. However, I`m not too bad with a map, so I guessed well. It took 10 minutes to get someone though, and it was about 12:30, but they were out grocery shopping. It was a Minishiku (sp?), basically a japanese style inn. This nice old lady ran it, and I had a japanese style room, with Tatami mats everywhere, futon bedding, a TV and space heater (!), and a porch (did not get used, covered in snow).
Walked around, found free internet, had an adventure of eating in the basement of a department store. Those places are like food courts on speed (sorry for the drug references in this blog, but you have to see it to believe it). They had everything, from bakeries, restaurants, noodle stands, a grocery store, cheese shop (!), and tons of confectionary stores. The Japanese are perfectionists when it comes to fine food. Presentation is everything, and these things look beautiful. I haven`t tried many, because I save my money for the savory, but the ones I`ve had are really good (Paul - Beard Papa! I had a mille-fueille).
Wanko soba is a unique experience, probably best done with a group. I screwed it up of course, because I could not understand my server, even when she was repeating things like 5 times. (she showed me a glass and a bottle of beer to ask if I wanted draft or bottled, I motioned for both) Basically, they give you a bunch of side stuff, and a bowl with a lid. The waitress stands over you, and pours a mouthful of soba into the bowl, you eat it, she pours another one, you eat it, etc... It`s odd to have her standing over you the whole time, for one thing, and you feel like it`s some kind of race. I did 51 bowls, and I could have done more, but I felt like I was going to burst at the time.
Anyways, I roll back to where I`m staying, intending to read. The lady hears me come in, motions me to the bathroom, and says ``Shower!``
Now this means Japanese style bath. It`s a room with a deep bathub and a faucet/minishower, stools, and a brush. Basically, you clean yourself off really well using the minishower, and then relax in the bath, like at the onsen.
My skin was going to boil off.
That saying: ``Some like it hot.`` The Japanese like it exceedingly so. It was hotter than the onsen, and that`s saying something.
When I was done with that, I had a couple of mikan (Japanese clementines), a can of tea and some crackers waiting in my room. What service! I made good use of the space heater that night, because that`s all there was...
Tuesday, January 15, 2008
Nikko part 2
Hey,
When I was falling asleep the first night in Nikko, I decided to stay another night, so I did. I went up to Lake Chirzenji and walked around for a really long time (without the big packpack). It`s this beautiful lake almost a mile above sea level, where the buses have to go on this winding narrow road both up and down, which affords you an AMAZING view of the mountain range (with snow of course). Once there, I got cold. Mountains right, you expect wind. Sean didn`t plan for wind. At least not that day. Oh well, I braved it anyways. I went first to a natural history museum, where this nice old guy told me it was my lucky day, because they were doing renovations on the museum, I could see the first floor and the film for free. So I watched a film on the seasons around the Lake, and learned that there are bears in Japan, so don`t feed them.
The lake feeds a waterfall, and of course that was pretty (you`ll see pictures). I decided to do a nature hike around the lake, where I learned that the country of Japan was so nice, they gave lakeside villas to the Embassies of France, Belgium, England, and Italy (maybe more, but that`s as far as I got before I got hungry and turned around). I don`t know if anyone was inhabiting them, but that`s not a bad place to stay in the spring/summer.
So I go back to the town, where I encountered another language difficulty. I wasn`t sure where I wanted to eat, so I started looking at the places around town. Most places have pictures with Yen amounts as part of a sign out front of the restaurant, so I like to look these over. If the place is slow, and the owner/chef/chef`s wife/etc. sees you outside looking, they will motion you in and start talking at you in Japanese. I can`t turn down a kindly old lady, so I went in to the first restaurant I looked at.
That was a wise move, for your sake.
She sits me down at a table with a beautiful view of the lake, and I`m the only one in the place. There are fishes on the wall (trophy like), and it gives the aura of a cabin in the woods that you would find in New Hampshire or something. I ask the lady what the local specialty is (that phrase is in the book, at least), and she points to an item on the menu and tells me the fish are caught in the lake outside (at least, that`s what I got with the hand gestures). Fried sardines, very tasty.
I`m sitting there, and three people come in. What looks like a husband and wife, and their kid. They say hi to me, ask where I`m from (me understanding what they were asking took 1 minute), and sat down at their table (far from me, most japanese people don`t really want to sit near me. I shower, so it can`t be the smell...) and talked about me without me understanding any words in their conversation besides ``Amerika``. What strikes me as odd, is at one point, the wife gets down and ties the guys shoes. Japan is a country that sticks to their old defined gender roles, I guess.
5 minutes later, 4 well dressed men walk into the place, greet the three already there, and go over to them. The one in charge (sunglasses, slick hair) comes to me, and speaks very boisterously. The conversation was long, but not much was ascertained (by either party), except that I was american tourist and I flew over on a Jet plane. They go over, one guy shows the boss an air rifle (maybe a real rifle, not sure), and they all smoke like crazy together. I get lots of glances at me, and lots of ``amerika`` coming from the table. Over the course of the meal, the woman actually discovers she can speak, and translates.
``Do you have Japanese money?``
``Yen? Um.. yes.``
``Do you have a job?``
``In Japan? No, but in America, I am a sashimi cook (this gets me in, it works)``
*at this point, the ``father`` chimes in*
-points at guy with sunglasses-
``You know Yakuza?``
``Yeah.``
``This guy Yakuza... Big Boss!``
``Konichiwa`` I say, while trying to have a big old smile. I pretend like I`m taking a picture, we all laugh.
I`m not sure if it was true or not, but they did get into 3 really nice Mercedes, and honk at me when driving past. One of the Henchmen did try to compare himself to me when I got up and paid (He was as tall as me, and his legs were just as long. This brought them all immense joy). I didn`t ask to see tatoos, and I think that was the right decision. But it is fun to say I had lunch with the Yakuza.
Anyways, after that, my heart was racing a bit, so I walked around town a little more, and then I went to an Onsen. That`s Japanese for ``really hot bath with naked people.`` You get used to it really fast (the nakedness, not the heat), but it is an endurance trial (the heat, not the nakedness). Over 3 hours, I went in 3 times, for a total of 30 -45 minutes. Between each session, I rested and watched sumo on tv for about 40 min.
The strangest thing was that one guy actually struck up a conversation with me. Younger middle aged guy (probably not much older than me), he spoke English and we talked about Jazz, Sumo, Baseball, and TV. He is a Program Director for a big Tokyo network, so we bonded over that, and the fact that we were naked in water hot enough to cook pasta (or a lobster, for that matter). I saw him afterwards, during one of my breaks, dressed, and it was a bit odd.
So yeah, that experience was about as exhausting as the hiking with my backpack the previous day, so I went back to town to get dinner. I also found a great used kimono shop, and using my crappy phrasebook, an online translator, and his boss (who spoke some English, but didn`t understand enough), I bought two Kimonos and to Obis. Normally these things are like thousands of dollars, but used ones are drastically cut in price, so that`s cool.
Dinner then. The night before, I forgot to mention, I asked for the advice of the Hostel Owner lady, and she directed me to this Okonomiyaki place (make your own Japanese pancake). It was really good, a hole in the wall, frequented by locals. The next night, I went to a place suggested by Lonely Planet. It was plastered with buisness cards of all types, all with phrases from people around the world saying how awesome it was, etc...
Eh..
Maybe I`m a snob, but it wasn`t that exciting. Decent noodles, the meatballs were tasty, but not crazy good. I did however, meet a french guy who was traveling, and once I told him I knew french, he spoke to me in french and I did my best to respond. It was refreshing to actually understand what someone was talking about in a foreign language. Oddly enough, it turned out he was at my hostel, so we chatted for a good part of the night, along with this canadian ESOL teacher, who was older middle aged, and a role model to travelers everywhere. The things this man has done, and the way he did them, was amazing to listen to, and inspiring. Well, and a bit scary. A cross continent road trip of Europe by hitchhiking. I feel that`s not really possible in today`s world, at least without losing a finger or two.
Anyways, signing off for now, I`ve been at this for about an hour, and I`m going to go eat Wanko-Soba, Morioka`s speciality. Basically all you can eat soba noodles. Should be interesting.
When I was falling asleep the first night in Nikko, I decided to stay another night, so I did. I went up to Lake Chirzenji and walked around for a really long time (without the big packpack). It`s this beautiful lake almost a mile above sea level, where the buses have to go on this winding narrow road both up and down, which affords you an AMAZING view of the mountain range (with snow of course). Once there, I got cold. Mountains right, you expect wind. Sean didn`t plan for wind. At least not that day. Oh well, I braved it anyways. I went first to a natural history museum, where this nice old guy told me it was my lucky day, because they were doing renovations on the museum, I could see the first floor and the film for free. So I watched a film on the seasons around the Lake, and learned that there are bears in Japan, so don`t feed them.
The lake feeds a waterfall, and of course that was pretty (you`ll see pictures). I decided to do a nature hike around the lake, where I learned that the country of Japan was so nice, they gave lakeside villas to the Embassies of France, Belgium, England, and Italy (maybe more, but that`s as far as I got before I got hungry and turned around). I don`t know if anyone was inhabiting them, but that`s not a bad place to stay in the spring/summer.
So I go back to the town, where I encountered another language difficulty. I wasn`t sure where I wanted to eat, so I started looking at the places around town. Most places have pictures with Yen amounts as part of a sign out front of the restaurant, so I like to look these over. If the place is slow, and the owner/chef/chef`s wife/etc. sees you outside looking, they will motion you in and start talking at you in Japanese. I can`t turn down a kindly old lady, so I went in to the first restaurant I looked at.
That was a wise move, for your sake.
She sits me down at a table with a beautiful view of the lake, and I`m the only one in the place. There are fishes on the wall (trophy like), and it gives the aura of a cabin in the woods that you would find in New Hampshire or something. I ask the lady what the local specialty is (that phrase is in the book, at least), and she points to an item on the menu and tells me the fish are caught in the lake outside (at least, that`s what I got with the hand gestures). Fried sardines, very tasty.
I`m sitting there, and three people come in. What looks like a husband and wife, and their kid. They say hi to me, ask where I`m from (me understanding what they were asking took 1 minute), and sat down at their table (far from me, most japanese people don`t really want to sit near me. I shower, so it can`t be the smell...) and talked about me without me understanding any words in their conversation besides ``Amerika``. What strikes me as odd, is at one point, the wife gets down and ties the guys shoes. Japan is a country that sticks to their old defined gender roles, I guess.
5 minutes later, 4 well dressed men walk into the place, greet the three already there, and go over to them. The one in charge (sunglasses, slick hair) comes to me, and speaks very boisterously. The conversation was long, but not much was ascertained (by either party), except that I was american tourist and I flew over on a Jet plane. They go over, one guy shows the boss an air rifle (maybe a real rifle, not sure), and they all smoke like crazy together. I get lots of glances at me, and lots of ``amerika`` coming from the table. Over the course of the meal, the woman actually discovers she can speak, and translates.
``Do you have Japanese money?``
``Yen? Um.. yes.``
``Do you have a job?``
``In Japan? No, but in America, I am a sashimi cook (this gets me in, it works)``
*at this point, the ``father`` chimes in*
-points at guy with sunglasses-
``You know Yakuza?``
``Yeah.``
``This guy Yakuza... Big Boss!``
``Konichiwa`` I say, while trying to have a big old smile. I pretend like I`m taking a picture, we all laugh.
I`m not sure if it was true or not, but they did get into 3 really nice Mercedes, and honk at me when driving past. One of the Henchmen did try to compare himself to me when I got up and paid (He was as tall as me, and his legs were just as long. This brought them all immense joy). I didn`t ask to see tatoos, and I think that was the right decision. But it is fun to say I had lunch with the Yakuza.
Anyways, after that, my heart was racing a bit, so I walked around town a little more, and then I went to an Onsen. That`s Japanese for ``really hot bath with naked people.`` You get used to it really fast (the nakedness, not the heat), but it is an endurance trial (the heat, not the nakedness). Over 3 hours, I went in 3 times, for a total of 30 -45 minutes. Between each session, I rested and watched sumo on tv for about 40 min.
The strangest thing was that one guy actually struck up a conversation with me. Younger middle aged guy (probably not much older than me), he spoke English and we talked about Jazz, Sumo, Baseball, and TV. He is a Program Director for a big Tokyo network, so we bonded over that, and the fact that we were naked in water hot enough to cook pasta (or a lobster, for that matter). I saw him afterwards, during one of my breaks, dressed, and it was a bit odd.
So yeah, that experience was about as exhausting as the hiking with my backpack the previous day, so I went back to town to get dinner. I also found a great used kimono shop, and using my crappy phrasebook, an online translator, and his boss (who spoke some English, but didn`t understand enough), I bought two Kimonos and to Obis. Normally these things are like thousands of dollars, but used ones are drastically cut in price, so that`s cool.
Dinner then. The night before, I forgot to mention, I asked for the advice of the Hostel Owner lady, and she directed me to this Okonomiyaki place (make your own Japanese pancake). It was really good, a hole in the wall, frequented by locals. The next night, I went to a place suggested by Lonely Planet. It was plastered with buisness cards of all types, all with phrases from people around the world saying how awesome it was, etc...
Eh..
Maybe I`m a snob, but it wasn`t that exciting. Decent noodles, the meatballs were tasty, but not crazy good. I did however, meet a french guy who was traveling, and once I told him I knew french, he spoke to me in french and I did my best to respond. It was refreshing to actually understand what someone was talking about in a foreign language. Oddly enough, it turned out he was at my hostel, so we chatted for a good part of the night, along with this canadian ESOL teacher, who was older middle aged, and a role model to travelers everywhere. The things this man has done, and the way he did them, was amazing to listen to, and inspiring. Well, and a bit scary. A cross continent road trip of Europe by hitchhiking. I feel that`s not really possible in today`s world, at least without losing a finger or two.
Anyways, signing off for now, I`ve been at this for about an hour, and I`m going to go eat Wanko-Soba, Morioka`s speciality. Basically all you can eat soba noodles. Should be interesting.
Northern Japan is Pretty
Hey all, (The post was saved, but i`m not reediting it...)
I`m in Morioka now, as north as I`m going to get this trip, and for some reason, it`s always snowing. I`m not complaining, though, cause if you know me, you know I like snow. However, it`s also really cold. Not really a problem, but not totally what I was expecting. I`m only 5 days into the trip (6? I`m not really sure), but I know how I`m going to pack differently next time.
Northern Japan is Unrelentlessly Beautiful. Maybe its the idea that when it`s not your normal surroundings, everything is framed differently anyways, or maybe it`s the snow, but everywhere I look, it`s some sort of breathtaking view. Let`s start with Nikko. It was my first taste of Japan outside of Tokyo, so I didn`t know what to expect. (side note: shinkansen are the craziest mode of transportation ever. They go really really fast. And they`re so smooth on the inside, I didn`t even know I was moving the first time) Halfway through the train ride, it starts dumping snow. Really dumping. By the time I got to Nikko, it was blanketing the ground, and the little village looked really nice and postcard-like.
Having no place to stay, and nothing being in English (Except my useless Lonely Planet map), I asked an old lady if there were any hotels around (with my almost useless phrasebook, which has a million ways to ask how to fix your car, but 3 phrases on introducing yourself to the locals), and she immediately found a young girl to help me (she spoke English). However, the help I got after telling her I wanted to be near the temple put me at the temple site with no hotel in sight. So I went to the temple complex with my heavy backpack.
Stunning. Like what you see in pictures and movies and books, but even more so. Pictures don`t do it justice. Imagine a snow covered Japanese temple, and then imagine it surrounded by snow covered mountains, smelling like incense, and sounding like a mountain stream. Then do a line of cocaine.
Here, 3 days later, I`ve seen a whole lot of temples, but they`re all in different settings. The Buddhists and Shintoists really know how to create tranquility and harmony with nature, even in the middle of a city. Which leads me to my next off-topic topic. What fascinates me the most (lots of pictures to prove it) is the juxtaposition of culture in Japan. I visited a historic temple yesterday (in Aizu), and right next to it I found a Love Hotel (look it up). There are tons of temples and shrines right next to department stores and bars. It`s downright amazing.
Anyways, while at the temple complex, I saw a group of white people hiking up some stairway, so I decided to follow them (in hindsight, not a good move with the backpack). I said hi, and in some bizzare twist of providence, they were part of the Tufts Bezeelbubs (a capella group), and one of them had eaten at Uni that spring.
``Was there a big Asian guy behind the bar?``
``Yeah!``
``Was there anyone with him?``
``Yes, some American guy``
Go figure, right? That same guy is graduating in spring and moving to LA to do acting.
We chatted for a bit and went our seperate ways, I tried to find a place to stay for the night. The problem with the guidebook is that it gives you the phrase, but doesn`t tell you what a response will sound like. So if you ask where there is a hotel, and you get a 30 second long answer in Japanese, all you can do is give a blank stare.
Finally, an old lady stops me on the street. `
`Youth Hosteruu?``
``Hai!``
*she points above her, at a sign on a lamppost.*
--International youth hostel this way--
So I head next to the river, behind these houses, down an alley, down some stairs, to a door (labeled, thank God), and walk in. Homey doesn`t begin to describe this place. It was cheap, and warm, and I stayed the night, and met no australians (But I did meet a korean and a japanese guy, but the korean didn`t understand when I told him I had a Korean roomate. He got `bulgogi` though).
I`m going to cut it off here, they might kick me off. If not, I`ll talk about day 2 in Nikko next.
I`m in Morioka now, as north as I`m going to get this trip, and for some reason, it`s always snowing. I`m not complaining, though, cause if you know me, you know I like snow. However, it`s also really cold. Not really a problem, but not totally what I was expecting. I`m only 5 days into the trip (6? I`m not really sure), but I know how I`m going to pack differently next time.
Northern Japan is Unrelentlessly Beautiful. Maybe its the idea that when it`s not your normal surroundings, everything is framed differently anyways, or maybe it`s the snow, but everywhere I look, it`s some sort of breathtaking view. Let`s start with Nikko. It was my first taste of Japan outside of Tokyo, so I didn`t know what to expect. (side note: shinkansen are the craziest mode of transportation ever. They go really really fast. And they`re so smooth on the inside, I didn`t even know I was moving the first time) Halfway through the train ride, it starts dumping snow. Really dumping. By the time I got to Nikko, it was blanketing the ground, and the little village looked really nice and postcard-like.
Having no place to stay, and nothing being in English (Except my useless Lonely Planet map), I asked an old lady if there were any hotels around (with my almost useless phrasebook, which has a million ways to ask how to fix your car, but 3 phrases on introducing yourself to the locals), and she immediately found a young girl to help me (she spoke English). However, the help I got after telling her I wanted to be near the temple put me at the temple site with no hotel in sight. So I went to the temple complex with my heavy backpack.
Stunning. Like what you see in pictures and movies and books, but even more so. Pictures don`t do it justice. Imagine a snow covered Japanese temple, and then imagine it surrounded by snow covered mountains, smelling like incense, and sounding like a mountain stream. Then do a line of cocaine.
Here, 3 days later, I`ve seen a whole lot of temples, but they`re all in different settings. The Buddhists and Shintoists really know how to create tranquility and harmony with nature, even in the middle of a city. Which leads me to my next off-topic topic. What fascinates me the most (lots of pictures to prove it) is the juxtaposition of culture in Japan. I visited a historic temple yesterday (in Aizu), and right next to it I found a Love Hotel (look it up). There are tons of temples and shrines right next to department stores and bars. It`s downright amazing.
Anyways, while at the temple complex, I saw a group of white people hiking up some stairway, so I decided to follow them (in hindsight, not a good move with the backpack). I said hi, and in some bizzare twist of providence, they were part of the Tufts Bezeelbubs (a capella group), and one of them had eaten at Uni that spring.
``Was there a big Asian guy behind the bar?``
``Yeah!``
``Was there anyone with him?``
``Yes, some American guy``
Go figure, right? That same guy is graduating in spring and moving to LA to do acting.
We chatted for a bit and went our seperate ways, I tried to find a place to stay for the night. The problem with the guidebook is that it gives you the phrase, but doesn`t tell you what a response will sound like. So if you ask where there is a hotel, and you get a 30 second long answer in Japanese, all you can do is give a blank stare.
Finally, an old lady stops me on the street. `
`Youth Hosteruu?``
``Hai!``
*she points above her, at a sign on a lamppost.*
--International youth hostel this way--
So I head next to the river, behind these houses, down an alley, down some stairs, to a door (labeled, thank God), and walk in. Homey doesn`t begin to describe this place. It was cheap, and warm, and I stayed the night, and met no australians (But I did meet a korean and a japanese guy, but the korean didn`t understand when I told him I had a Korean roomate. He got `bulgogi` though).
I`m going to cut it off here, they might kick me off. If not, I`ll talk about day 2 in Nikko next.
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