Japan Trip Day 7

2003, Vacations, , , , ,

THE DAY IN A NUTSHELL:USA: November 12, 2003: Wednesday
Japan: November 13, 2003: Thursday

        • Took the train to Tokyo to see the Meiji Shrine.
        • Ate kaitenzushi with Mom and Patricia.
        • Went to Asakusa.
        • Went shopping in the Senso temple’s street of shops.
        • Ate at an okonomiyaki restaurant.
        • Took the train back and met Michelle at the izakaya again.
        • Packed for leaving the next day.(Technically the next day:)
          USA: November 13, 2003: Thursday
          Japan: November 14, 2003: Friday
        • Rode the bus and saw Mt. Fuji.
        • Shopped in the airport.
        • Went through security and boarded.
        • Transferred in Chicago and arrived in Tampa!

 

Our last day in Japan began with a sort of disappointment: We found out that my sister had been misinformed about where the Sumo was to take place, so it was too far away to go see it. We’d seen a little on TV, though. We went to see the area where she used to live when she went to Waseda, and we found some nice places to shop, though our last ditch effort to find a DDR machine was also unsuccessful. So I didn’t get to play Japanese DDR. 🙁 Patricia got Starbucks.

 

 

Meiji

Meiji Shrine Entrance

Meiji

Trees at Meiji

We wandered around the shrine a while, looking at the merchandise and at the beautiful grounds. I lost my umbrella. I don’t really know much about what the shrine was dedicated to except that it has something to do with a certain emperor and his family. You can find out more here at this external link about it.

My mom hadn’t had kaitenzushi yet and Patricia desperately wanted her to try it, so we ducked into a place. My mother liked this too, and I got to try a “begetarian” roll that unfortunately had some cucumber in it that I didn’t like. We got a little snack (and my mother got a Coke), and then it was off to Asakusa.

 

 

Senso Temple

Manju

Lanterns

Guardian

Pagoda

Time for the Senso Temple. My sister wanted us to eat age-manju, and they were pretty good but I couldn’t eat a whole one because it was just too much fried batter and crap. I found a BUNCH of cool souvenirs in this place, because the whole street leading up to the Temple is totally lined with shops. A lot of them sell food of the snack and candy variety, and one really nice shopkeeper kept following me around offering me samples whenever I expressed interest in something (so I kinda felt obligated to buy something from him, which I did). We took a look at the guardians outside the temple and looked at the temple itself, and the cool lanterns and the lit-up Pagoda. It was all very cool, but it was now time to eat okonomiyaki.

 

 

Okonomiyaki

Okonomiyaki

Okonomiyaki

Okonomiyaki

 

 

Cultural Note:

Okonomiyaki is kind
of known as the “Japanese
pizza,” but it isn’t really.
It means you mix whatever
you want in a bowl, cook it,
add seasonings, cut it up,
and eat it. It was tough
for us to find ingredient
combinations that only had
vegetables.

 

I enjoyed the experience of making okonomiyaki, though it wasn’t one of my favorite food experiences. I preferred the one I cooked–I think it was like corn and cheddar–to the other, which had peppers in it. In any case, we ate all our food (and ordered a bottle of wine, which I didn’t touch), and we had just gotten some of our pictures developed so we looked at them. We chatted about health and food in Japan, and then it was time to head back.

On the way back, my mom’s foot was pretty bad so we sat in the disabled seating so that she would be guaranteed a seat. (Actually, Patricia and I held the rings in front of the seats.) Two elderly ladies started talking about us in Japanese, wondering if we were students and sisters and commenting on my amazing blonde hair. My sister just interjected, “Do you have a question about us?” and of course they were shocked that she understood them. “We heard you speaking so fluently in English,” one said, “and assumed you wouldn’t understand what we were saying.” Heh.

Then my mom got to meet Michelle, at the izakaya. She really liked that place, and willingly ate a bunch of good stuff. I ordered some fries, having missed my potatoes during my stay in Japan. (They’re very non-cheese, non-potatoes-eating people for the most part, unless you go to the fast food restaurants where they’re trying to be American.) I had a Kahlua ice cream thing instead of the green drink (though my sister and Michelle ordered their “Sexy” and “Recharge” again). I have determined that I should not drink alcohol. I fell asleep on the table again.

 

 

Sorting gifts

 

After leaving the izakaya, there was really no time for sleep because we had to leave REALLY early in the morning to catch a bus that only runs to the airport four times a day. I slept for about half an hour after packing up the stuff, and my mom didn’t sleep at all. Our plans to get a taxi fell through–none were OUT that early, it was still dark!–but Patricia’s friend Ed helped us and we made it to the bus.

 

 

Sunrise on the bus

Leaving Narita Airport

Once on the bus, we saw some really nice scenery, including a vague Mt. Fuji and a nice sunrise. We ate a Japanese pear Patricia had brought (called nashi), and I slept a bit. Then we got to the airport and hung out for a very long time, shopping in the souvenir stores and wasting the day until the flight was ready to board.

 

 

We left

 

Finally, we said our goodbyes and got on the plane. I had a fantastic time, of course, although I was planning to see Patricia in another month or so from the time we left so I wasn’t thinking I’d have much time to start missing her. She took a picture of our behinds as we left, though.

 

[departure] 
The flight back was VERY comfortable, for some reason–my mother and I got seats all alone, and I was able to sleep for most of the flight (though I hadn’t wanted to, I’d wanted to work on the calendar more). The food on this flight was fantabulous too (when I was awake for it); there was some unidentifiable stuffing-ish rice thing that was soooo good, I thought I’d just die, it was great. I wish I knew what the heck it was.

Our transfer in Chicago and ride back to Tampa were uneventful (though tiring and annoying, we had to go through customs). We arrived back in one piece, and were grateful to get back to the house, unpack, and do laundry. I didn’t go to sleep for a long time because of all the sleep I had on the plane, but eventually I did go to bed.

I think my favorite things about the visit, besides seeing my sister, were the great food at the soba shop and the sushi place, and the Japanese karaoke. I also loved shopping in Tokyo. My least favorite part was having to ride the train so much, especially when I had no seat and was tired, and having to lug a heavy backpack when my back hurt (sometimes my mother ended up rescuing me from it), and the really awful cold and rainy weather. But I am so glad I got to see where and how my sister was living, and finally got to leave the country I’ve lived in all my life, even if it was just for a little while.

Japan Trip Day 6

2003, Vacations, , , , , ,

 

THE DAY IN A NUTSHELL:USA: November 11, 2003: Tuesday
Japan: November 12, 2003: Wednesday

        • Went to Patricia’s school, helped teach five classes.
        • Got a ride home with one of the English teachers.
        • Experienced an earthquake.
        • Went to Kawagoe with Patricia while Mom stayed home to rest.
        • Shopped at Loft.
        • Had conveyor belt sushi (kaitenzushi).
        • Went to an izakaya, met Patricia’s friend Michelle.
        • Went to karaoke with Patricia and Michelle.

 

Today was the day we had to go to Patricia’s school, to her job teaching English. We were to be interviewed by the students in five classes. I wore my hair looped up in little braids, and when we got to the school (by taxi) we had to wear special guest slippers that were far too large for us, so we shuffled to each class.

 

Cultural Note:

The children wear uniforms,
of course, but there is
a lot of restriction on
how they can wear their
hair as well. Black and
clear rubber bands are okay,
but no other ornamentation.
However, any shape
is allowed, and that’s why
I wore unique loopy braids.

 

My sister has a desk in the teacher’s lounge, but children are allowed to come in and talk to her. She gives points to kids for talking to her in English, so sometimes they come in to do that or just to see her. Before any classes started, I got to talk to a wonderful student named Yuka, who has been practicing English since she was very young and speaks very well. Talking to her was probably my favorite part of the school day, actually, and I got to talk to her between almost every class.

Joking with Japanese students

Kids’ presentation

Japanese students

 

Each class was more or less the same. First we were introduced (my sister emphasized that I was her older sister, and they seemed confused by that), and we said a few things about ourselves, and the rules of question-asking were explained; then we were asked questions by the students.

 

Cultural Note:

In Japan, birth order is
more important than in the
U.S. My being Patricia’s
OLDER sister carried a lot
more weight than just the usual
sibling relations. “Older
sister” is even said with
a different suffix in
Japanese than when you refer
to your “younger sister.”

 

They had been given a sheet to ask us from if they didn’t know what to ask, and everything had to be done entirely in English. My sister gave them points if everyone at their table had asked a question. We actually got some rather odd questions along with the usual ones, but that is to be expected since we were dealing with third-years (about fourteen years old or so).

 

Some questions (and their answers, if they’re amusing):

        • Q: “Do you have a boyfriend?”
        • Q: “What kind of men do you like?”
          A: (Mom) “Tall, dark, and handsome!”
          Q: “Is your husband tall and handsome?”
          A: “Tall, yes. Handsome? Ehh, so-so.”
        • Q: “Are you Christian?”
        • Q: “Can you eat natto?”
        • Q: “How long is your hair?”
          (I answered by unraveling my braids and having my family members
          hold the braids out from my head. This provoked much amazement
          from the crowd.)
        • Q: “How old are you?”
          A: (Mom) “Older than dirt.”
        • Q: “What do you want to do in Japan?”
          A: (Mom) “I want to experience an earthquake.”
        • Q: “What is Florida famous for?”
          A: (Me) “Disney World, oranges. . . . ”
          (Mom) ” . . . And OLD PEOPLE.”

 

Cultural Note:

“Natto” is a type of
fermented bean that most
foreigners don’t like and
find repulsive. It is
stringy and smells like
feet (though I wouldn’t
have thought to say that).
Much of the population of
Japan also does not like
natto, but they seem to find
it funny to ask foreigners
if they “can” eat natto, as
if they’re wondering if it
is physically possible.

 

Interestingly enough, one of the teachers had asked a couple students to prepare for us an introduction to Japanese culture. They drew pictures for us and one of the set of students let us keep theirs. The pictures taught us about not wearing shoes in the house, not using soap in the tub, and using a futon instead of a bed.

 

[futon] [genkan] [jbath]

 

In between the classes we usually went back to the teachers’ lounge to sit and relax, and then we were supposed to have lunch in there but some other class snagged us and asked us to sit with them, so we did that instead; they even gave us free school lunches even though we’d brought our own.

 

Cultural Note:

Japanese schools eat their
lunches in the classroom,
they don’t have a cafeteria.
They push their desks into
rows and hand out the food.
At this school, they also
did a rock-paper-scissors game
at the end to see who had to
help clean up.

 

Classroom kids

Japanese school lunch

At the end of the day we hung out in the teachers’ lounge talking to some students for a while, waiting for one of the teachers because she’d offered us a ride home (sparing us cab fare). On the way out we met the special ed teacher and she tried to guess my age, coming up with “sixteen.” Sure. We got our ride home and hung out at the apartment for a little while talking about the day.

 

Cultural Note:

Relationships between the
teachers in Japan aren’t
much like the ones here.
Teachers actually go out
drinking together, and
since alcohol is involved
they tend to have more
than just professional
relationships and know
more personal details about
each other than in the U.S.

 

My mother was not ready for what my sister had next on our platter: A trip to Kawagoe, a special sushi restaurant, a drop-in at an izakaya for snacks and drinks, and a bout of karaoke with her friend Michelle. She decided she’d rather stay home and relax instead of going out, so Patricia and I made to leave the house. It was then that the ground started shaking; it was a mild earthquake, my mom got her wish.

 

[loft] 

We took the train out to Kawagoe and had some great shopping. Unfortunately, it was already pretty late, and stuff was starting to close. We managed to check out a few other hundred yen places, a place that had some funny shirts, and the Loft department store, where there was everything you could dream of, toys and clothes and candy and stationery . . . dream come true, but a nightmare if you have no money. I found a gumball machine that sold little Tarepandas.

 

Kaitenzushi

 

We decided to go to the conveyor belt sushi restaurant (which is called “kaitenzushi” or “kaiten sushi”) so I could see what it was like. I’m not historically a sushi person (since, well, I don’t eat fish, actually neither does my sister), but there were four things I tried. Kappa-maki was not one of my favorites (cucumber roll), but it wasn’t horrible. I already knew I liked tamago (the egg sushi), so I got one of those, and I also ate a natto roll (the bean one, called natto-maki) and found it to be fantastic! Yes, I can eat natto! Lastly I tried inari, a sort of battered and fried cold thing with rice inside, and it wasn’t very good in my opinion. My sister said that what we’d ordered today was probably the least amount of food she’d ever ordered in one of those places.

 

Cultural Note:

Kaitenzushi places
usually have lots of different
sushi rolls on plates that
rotate around the bar. You
can grab whatever you want,
and be charged by how many
plates you racked up. You can
also order special items, but
it is possible to go to one
of these places and never speak
to an employee. Even the drink
(green tea) is in a distributor
that’s already at the table.

 

Patricia was still a tad hungry so we headed back to her neighborhood to do izakaya, or so we thought. We called my mom a couple times to see if she would join us, but she wasn’t answering, so we got worried and headed toward home. We ran into her in the street and it turned out she’d gotten lost on the way back from the convenience store. It sounded like a scary experience, especially since the street signs were in another language and it was tough to ask directions from people who don’t speak English. Long story short, she didn’t want to go out again and stayed home while we went to meet Patricia’s friend. She also hurt her foot during the walking around, so the next couple days she had to walk around with a swollen ankle.

Off we went to Shiroki-ya, apparently my sister’s favorite izakaya. It’s a Denny’s-ish place that has a picture menu (for us goofy illiterate foreigners), and many dishes are pseudo-American, plus there are many alcoholic drinks. Patricia’s close friend Michelle was there waiting for us, having already ordered a drink whose name was “Sexy.” It was bright pink. It had companion specials on the menu entitled “Recharge” (yellow) and “Fruity” (green). I got “Fruity” and Patricia got “Recharge.” It wasn’t that good but then I’m not an alcohol fan.

I had a good time meeting Michelle and eating potato-cheese mochi (sort of biscuity thing with cheese in the middle), but then due to a combination of exhaustion and alcohol I fell asleep on the table. Whenever they felt like waking me up, I bounced back and we went to karaoke for two and a half hours! It was a more run-down place than the others, but still quite fun, and I enjoyed watching Michelle and Patricia put songs in for each other as well as choosing them for myself. I was definitely ready for bed by the time we got back to her place, though.

Japan Trip Day 5

2003, Vacations, , , , , , ,

[daibutsu toon]

THE DAY IN A NUTSHELL:USA: November 10, 2003: Monday
Japan: November 11, 2003: Tuesday

        • Checked out of the hotel and went to the bus station.
        • Took a bus to the Daibutsu.
        • Went to the Hase Kannon Temple.
        • Ate at another noodle restaurant.
        • Took a train to Shibuya.
        • Met Yuichi at a ramen shop.
        • Did karaoke and sticker pictures again.
        • Had a really tiring train ride back.

 

I woke up in the middle of the night because I’d gone to sleep so early, and eventually I got up and took a shower, then did my hair in cute little buns and put on one of the yukata for the heck of it. I was really sad that I’d missed the chance to hang out in the hotel room with my family for a leisurely evening.

 

 

Patricia fixing my yukata

Me in yukata

Patricia in yukata

Tea in yukata

Tea in yukata

Tea in yukata

After my family got up, my sister showed me the proper way to wear a yukata (depending on if you’re a man or a woman, it’s worn differently) and helped me adjust its length, and we took some cute pictures and had some tea. Then finally we packed our stuff and checked out of the hotel.

We stopped at a convenience store and a few nice shops while we were wandering around looking for the bus station. I got some melon bread but I didn’t eat it yet. Soon we rode the bus to another part of Kamakura, where the big Buddha is, and when we got off I ate my melon bread. That was very exciting to me.

 

 

Melon pan

Finally we made it to the attraction of the area: Daibutsu. He was a HUGE Buddha statue that was hollow inside, and you can go in him if you want. We admired him and shopped in the temple shops (which sold Daibutsu merchandise and little safety charms), and looked at the little attractions like the Buddha’s incense thing and his huge shoes. It was awful and rainy outside, but we managed to have fun.

 

 

Daibutsu’s shoes

Daibutsu

Daibutsu

Daibutsu

Mom & Ivy at Daibutsu

Incense at Daibutsu

Next on the agenda was the Hase Kannon temple, where the figure of honor is Kannon, the Bodhisattva of Infinite Mercy. We got to see her and the huge garden of tiny statues called jizo. Those little statues stand for the patron saint of departed children, and if you want to honor a dead child you can go there and put clothes on one of the statues. It’s sad and touching to look at the statues.

 

 

Jizo

Jizo

Jizo

Jizo

There were several other attractions at the Kannon Temple. One was a system of grottos where you could light candles or burn incense toward certain statues for certain results or buy a tiny statue and write your wish on it to leave in the cave. (The grotto was dedicated to Benzaiten, a goddess of beauty and wealth.) Then there was a big wooden holder of some Buddhist scriptures, and you can push it around in one rotation to get wisdom. And of course there was the statue of Kannon herself. We looked at that as well.

 

 

Turn for wisdom

Turn for wisdom

Turn for wisdom

There was a cool wall of places to hang wooden plaques with wishes and prayers on them (you could buy a plaque for 500•), and we read some of the other people’s wishes. (Patricia said that she’d once seen one that said, “I wish for my cat to not be constipated.” My mom joked that she would buy one and write on it, “I wish for my 500 • back.”)

 

 

Fish pond

Nice pond

 

We saw a cool graveyard and some nice swimmy fish on some temple grounds, and finally we decided it was lunchtime. We got on the bus again, made it back to the train station, and ate at a cool noodle restaurant near there. I had udon this time, while my mom had tempura. We stayed there way too long, then decided to go on to our next destination: Shibuya.

 

[shibuya][mannequin]
 

We went shopping around in Shibuya, including a store called 109. (A mannequin somewhere looked just like me, as you see above.) We saw some cool electronics and whatnot, and then everything started closing so we decided it was time to check out the ramen shop. As an extra bonus, Patricia’s boyfriend was able to take a break from work to come see us, so he met us at the shop too.

 

 

Ramen restaurant

Ramen restaurant

 

 

Cultural Note:

Ramen in a ramen
restaurant is nothing
like the “ramen” you
buy in dry packages in
the U.S. It tastes much
better and usually comes
with meat of some kind in
it. But unfortunately,
unlike soba, ramen
is not very good for you.

 

We did sticker pictures again, all four of us. They really love those machines.

 

[purikura 1]  [purikura 2] 
Then my mom and Yuichi went downstairs to play with games while my sister and I took some sisters-only pics. This machine was cute because they showed you images of two girls and you were supposed to imitate what they were doing, then choose four of the six poses. (We rejected one where we tried to kick at the camera and it didn’t come out particularly glamorous.)

 

[purikura 3]  [purikura 4]  [purikura 5]  [purikura 6] 
After that Yuichi had to go back to work (even though it was like 9 at night!), and so we left him and we went to karaoke again.

Ivy & Mom karaoke

 

  [keitai 4]  [keitai 5]  [keitai 6]

Ivy at karaoke

Well, after that we shopped a little more, saw some hotels and some strangely-dressed people, and I saw a Japanese bookstore, including the Japanese kids’ section, which of course interested me because that’s my position in my bookstore at home. I didn’t buy anything, though, because . . . I don’t read Japanese.

 

 

Japanese kids’ section

Tokyo nighttime

We rode the train home and I almost fell asleep standing up, it was exhausting! We could have stopped along the way to see if some place had a DDR game, but I couldn’t have played, so I passed it up. We went home and crashed.

Japan Trip Day 4

2003, Vacations, , , , ,

[shaving]

THE DAY IN A NUTSHELL:USA: November 9, 2003: Sunday
Japan: November 10, 2003: Monday

        • Took the train to Kamakura.
        • Got a room at the Tsurugaoka Hotel.
        • Took a walk to the Hachiman Shrine.
        • Went to Kenchoji Temple.
        • Shopped in little Kamakura shops.
        • Had warm noodles.
        • Spent the night in the hotel.

Big apple

Big apple in Japan

 

Yay, we got to eat the big apple for breakfast! It was so big that it filled two plates and the three of us couldn’t eat it all, so we took it in a bag and hopped on the train.

[suica]While we rode on the train munching the apple, I did my hair in french braids, and my sister read to us from the guidebook to tell us all about our destination: Kamakura. There are LOTS of shrines and temples there, and it’s pretty far away; Patricia thought it’d be a good opportunity to see all the stuff and also get to stay over in a Japanese hotel.

After some mucking about trying to find the best rates and then trying to find the place, we arrived at our destination: Tsurugaoka Hotel. It was rainy and yucky, so we were glad to take a breather and put down our stuff in our room. The room was great! I kind of wanted to hang out there longer, but we had stuff to see. It had beds, which isn’t “traditional” exactly, but it also had the tatami floors and a futon and a box of the yukata that you could wear around the room. And of course some neat sliding paper doors to enclose the tatami-floored portion, where there was a tea table and some free tea with a water boiler. I even found some very funny phrasing on a packaged razor: “Have a good shaving for your fresh life.” I was excited that we’d be able to enjoy all these things later.

 

Papers at Hachiman

Old trees at Hachiman

Purifying at Hachiman

Bridge only for the Shogun

Bridge with umbrellas

First we went to Hachiman Shrine (external link about the place, if you’re interested). It has lovely grounds, and we were greeted at its entrance by a bridge that you can only walk over if you’re the Shogun. (Don’t worry, there are bridges for us peons too.) There was a little place where you could purify yourself, and plenty of neat stuff to look at, but a large portion happened to be closed the day we went.

 

Cultural Note:

At a shrine, according
to the Shinto tradition,
you purify yourself by
washing your hands with the
water (into the rocks below),
then sipping a small amount
and washing your mouth out
with it, spitting it out.
You’re then pure to touch the
statues and talk to the gods.

Kenchoji

Waving smoke at Hachiman

 

The next stop was Kenchoji, which is a temple, the most important Zen temple in Kamakura actually. It’s still in use and very beautiful, even though it was a soggy day. We could take our shoes off and walk around in certain areas of the building (which we did), but there wasn’t a lot we were allowed to see. It was pretty cold, so we went back into town; I was getting hungry. We passed a shrine dedicated to hell demons on the way back, but decided not to go in in the interest of time. My sister and I talked about Japanese language stuff on the way.

 

Cultural Note:

The difference between
a shrine and a temple is
that shrines are for
Shinto-oriented beliefs,
and temples are for
Buddhism.

 

We did a small amount of shopping in the Kamakura shops. Kamakura is famous for the Daibutsu (the “big Buddha”), so a lot of the souvenirs had images of him on them. We found a lot of fun things to buy and look at, but the weather and being hungry and being cold was making me a bit irritable. We stopped for wine and drinks to bring to the hotel for our little party.

 

Warm noodles

 

After being cold all day, it really felt good to stop in a restaurant and be warm and eat something warm. I had soba and my mother had udon, we both had some tempura stuff in ours (mine had peppers, pumpkin, and eggplant–I liked it all but the peppers). We had a very short walk back to the hotel, and there I took off my jacket, kept on my other three layers, holed up like an inch from the heater, and stayed there for about an hour before passing out on the floor at only about 7 PM. (Somehow they got me to the bed, but I missed the whole night, though they tell me I woke up and tried stick tea. I don’t remember it.)

Out like a light

Patricia makes stick tea