Back in Hawaii day 1

Its sort of ironic that my last posting occurred when I was leaving Hawaii and heading back to the northeast and here I am writing again in Hawaii. We arrived on Friday at 3pm and took a very expensive cab ride to our hotel: http://www.sheraton-waikiki.com/. Due to the economic climate we got a ridiculously low rate to stay here. We got a free room upgrade because I have platinum status with Starwood Hotels. We dropped off our stuff and promptly headed to get ramen at http://www.menchankotei.com/index_E.asp which was great. We quickly fatiqued by 5 pm and took a brief nap and then then met up with my buddy Raymond and had a low key evening at his place after taking a very nice walk along waikiki beach.

Heading home- final thoughts on the trip

I am sitting on my flight back to Hawaii. I just looked over all my pictures from the whole trip. People often ask you “what was the highlight” or “favorite.” It is often difficult to answer- it certainly is in this case. The highlight was the whole trip- simply being in Japan for 3 weeks. I have seen Japan from the insider’s perspective and the outsider’s perspective. What I mean by that is when I am with Kuniko or Kuniko’s family I am seeing Japan with an inside perspective. We go to restaurants that would never be in a guidebook and even if they were it would be very difficult to order food off the menu- cause it isn’t in English. Kuniko’s family- both her parents and Aunt and Uncle welcomed me into their homes and experiencing another country in this manner is a very special thing- not to mention having the opportunity to eat in there homes which is different from going out to eat. The showers are different, the way trash is sorted out is different- lots of little (and some not so little) differences that you don’t experience as a traveler. Also when traveling alone you miss out on a lot of stuff- for example in museums or temples the English explanation is very short- often much shorter than the Japanese. On the plus side when I am by myself I can see things from my own perspective and take in all in without explanation which can be exciting.

I have traveled quite a bit and I have enjoyed all of the places I have been, however, for me there was something special about traveling in Japan. First off it is the safest place I have traveled- there simply are no bad neighborhoods and almost no crime- amazing when you consider the size of the cities we are talking about. Secondly the Japanese may simply be the most helpful group of people on the planet- seriously. Even if they can’t speak English they will try to help you. I bought a water at 7-11 and the clerk bowed to me- think about that! You are lucky to be acknowledged as a human being in most convenience stores in the US. The railway system is wonderful- you can get anywhere in a short amount of time- in a comfortable seat on a nice train- and the conductors bow every time they enter and leave the train car. On top of that you can get a killer bento box at pretty much any station for less than 10 bucks and it is often better than the Japanese food you get in the US for double the price. Even though I speak no Japanese I never missed a train connection (there were many).

On top of all these modern conveniences you have incredible temples, shrines, castles, gardens, etc. From my perspective there is a lot of polarity in Japan- on the one hand you have these sensory overload places in the big cities- lights, noises, signs, technology (all of which I find to be really thrilling and so different and exciting) and nearby there are temples and shrines (often there are little shrines in these modern areas). On the one hand you have people working crazy hours and seemingly stressful existences, on the other hand you have onsens and tons of places to get massages. There is tons of beautiful nature- mountains, ocean, etc and there are these amazing modern cities.

People talk about being crowded on trains in Tokyo- which is true and often the train stations are packed with people but there seems to be a flow and respect that occurs. In Hong Kong I hated going into the subway stations- getting on escalators and trains because people are so pushy, disrespectful and generally annoying. Even in the crowded station I never once felt like that- and often they were more crowded than the stations in Hong Kong.

Obviously I have written extensively about the food- quite simply it is amazing. I have eaten some good food in my life- the food I have had in Japan is easily some of the best ever. From my perspective it seems like the Japanese don’t half-ass anything- whatever it is they are doing they do it with pride, precision and dedication and it seems to permeate everything in Japan- including the food and service. In the really good restaurants I believe a lot of thought goes into each ingredient. I love that the restaurants are so specialized- you can go to a place that just does soba or Tonkatsu- you know that if that’s all they do it will be incredible.

I am no historian or sociologist but I think Hiroshima is a testament to the kind of people the Japanese are. It was basically leveled by the bomb and now it is a modern and thriving city. From what little I know much of Japan was leveled after the war. Kuniko’s dad told me that after the war when he was a child sweets were rare- now you can get high end pastries and candies- EVERYWHERE in Japan. Much of Tokyo was destroyed and now it is the largest city in the world and probably one of the most modern ones. It really blows my mind to think that this was all accomplished in a matter of decades. Contrast this with the developing countries- one of the things that struck me when I was in south America was the fact that no matter how smart or resourceful you were- you couldn’t accomplish anything if you weren’t in the right class. These developing countries have been living and are living fairly primitively- I realize there are many factors involved in this. Considering that Japan has very few natural resources it and has managed to build the second largest economy in the world is amazing.

Here’s the other thing that sort of blows me away- they actually like Americans. Think about that for a minute- we dropped 2 a-bombs on them and defeated them in the war and they still actually like us and are nice to us. Contrast this with the Europeans- look at the French- we saved their asses and now they (I realize this is a generalization) don’t like us. I found it refreshing to travel in a place where I was actually welcomed.

Plus they have capsule hotels and places where you can feed monkeys! If only they sold shoes and clothes that fit me. I forgot to mention the vending machines- which are everywhere and sell lots of stuff- batteries, fishing bait, coffee, haagen daz, and a few other things I won’t mention (although I didn’t see them). I do love the fact that pretty much anywhere (I really mean anywhere) you can buy a can of coffee out of a machine (hot or cold, with sugar and without, black or with cream- you get the idea).

In short, I love Japan!

4/26/08 Last day in Japan- Boo Hoo!

My last morning and part of an afternoon in Japan. First I packed which took some serious effort and planning on my part as I have a lot of food and ceramics. The last thing I want to have happen is for my very good umeboshi to be crushed!

I then headed into Kichijoji to get my money back for my baseball ticket (it was bought at a department store) and get soba noodles at the place Kuniko took me to a couple of weeks ago. I had to skype her to ask her how to order! They were fantastic- all soba is likely to be a disappointment after this place. Next I headed to the upscale supermarket to buy some miso to bring to Boston with me. At 2:30 I hopped on the bus for the 2 hour ride to Narita airport- I am on it now typing.

4/25/08 Tokyo

We headed to the fish market this morning. We were a bit late so they were shutting it down but there is a lot of interesting things to see, eat, and buy right around it. We grabbed some food- a large bowl of rice with insanely fresh pieces of sashimi on it. I also purchased some ceramics for home- bowls, plates, etc. They are incredibly cheap here- these markets supply restaurants so its basically wholesale prices. Josh then headed to catch his flight to Hong Kong and I went to the Tokyo Edo museum which is a rather large museum about the Tokyo’s history- it was really interesting although by this point I am pretty much saturated on sightseeing and such. I almost forgot- before heading to the museum I went into an internet place for a quick nap. They have these places all over Japan- I forgot what they are called (I think it’s a manga kissa) anyway it’s a place where you pay an hourly rate to use the internet and read there comic books (manga) and drink as much coffee or soft drinks you want. Some have massage chairs and recliners you can sleep in. Apparently people actually live in them sometimes because they can’t afford an apartment. Anyway I was dead tired after my night poor quality capsule sleep and I needed to check my email so for 5 bucks I checked my email, took a 20 minute nap in a massage chair, and drank some coffee- this is a bargain as a cup of coffee here is around 3-4 dollars.

After the museum I walked around the city some more and then headed back to Kichijoji and grabbed some ramen noodles at the “greasy noodle”- so good….basically it’s ramen without the broth.

4/24/08 Tokyo nightclub/capsule hotel

It is raining today. I headed to the morning markets- Jinya-mae and Miyagawa morning markets and walked around and ate some more Hida beef on a stick and grilled mochi. I also found a great little miso shop that sold miso and a type of miso marinade that you put on a type of leaf and then add meat and veggies and then cook in on a hot plate- it was very tasty so I bought some to bring home. My original plan for the day was to head to the Hida no Sato- Hida folk village which has restored homes and such and then I was going to go for a hike. Given that the weather is bad and there’s not much to do here in the evening I made the decision to head back to Tokyo.

Since I wanted to spend the 25th in downtown Tokyo I decided it didn’t make sense to stay at Kunoko’s parents house so where better to stay than another capsule hotel! There just so happens to be a capsule hotel in the heart of Shinjuki (which is a great place to spend an evening). As I was checking in another white guy was checking in and we chatted. Josh is from Toronto and was giving the capsule hotel a try to see what it is like. We hit it off and ended up hanging out. This capsule hotel was pretty big. It had a large restaurant/bar and an extensive spa/onsen. We put on the clothes they give you and headed up to the spa/onsen. There were 3 indoor baths, 2 outdoor baths, and 2 dry saunas (one insanely hot) and a stem room. They also offered a variety of other services- massage- shiatsu, thai massage and a sort of scrub down that exfoliates your skin. The weird thing was that there were 2 women who did the scrubs (done on a table out in the open) working among a bunch of naked dudes. So we checked out the hot tub and sauna and then went down for a massage. They had a huge room with probably 10 tables and a bunch of massage therapists. So we enter the massage room (no one spoke a lick of English) and they indicate to Josh to take off his top- which he did and then he pulled down his pants (you are supposed to leave them on but he didn’t know) and you can imagine the response- a whole lot of Japanese embarrassment and laughter- Josh said they were laughing throughout the whole massage- just typing this makes me laugh. Anyway the massage therapist who did my massage was fantastic. It was quite cheap- 35 bucks for 40 mins.

After that we headed for dinner. Josh hadn’t had sukiyaki so we went for that at a nearby place recommended by lonely planet. It was really good (of course not as good as Kuniko’s mom’s sukiyaki). The restaurant was fun and our waitress spoke amazing English which she states she only learned at a conversation school.

Given that neither Josh or I had been to a Tokyo night club we both decided it would be fun to check one out. We ended up doing some research online to find a place and when we got there connected with a couple of Aussies living here teaching at an international school- it was a 3 floor nightclub and was pretty crazy. Josh ended up making out with this girl and then was quite surprised when the large Nigerian bouncer broke them up and pulled the girl away- he later found out from the bouncer that it was his girlfriend! Amazingly the bouncer was quite cool about it- I think in the US (and Canada per Josh) this could have easily resulted in a back alley beating. We headed back to the capsule hotel- upon arrival a couple of absolutely hammered Japanese businessman came in- one was so drunk that the staff had to help him out of the elevator. There was some hardcore drunk snoring happening in the capsule hotel-should have used earplugs. Either way these things are a bargain and I would stay in one again (for a night or 2).

4/23/08 Takayama

Took a 45 minute bullet train ride to Nagoya and then boarded the train for Takayama. Actually typing this up on the train. The ride itself is quite stunning as we are passing through mountains and valleys- the train is literally passing through mountains (I think as we go through some big tunnels). Takayama is in the Hida district which is a mountainous area bordering the Japanese Alps. Hida is famous for Hida beef- in the US we only hear about Kobe beef but there are other similar styles of beef that are well known in Japan.

I am staying at Hida Takayama Temple Inn Zenko-ji www.geocities.jp/zenkojitakayama. It’s actually a Zen temple that functions as a hostel/Inn which is pretty common in Japan. The monk that runs it speaks great English so I chatted with him about it for a while. What he said was that there most Japanese don’t go to Temples often as they have small altars in their homes and that most of them don’t practice meditation. So what this means is that the temples are often empty. I requested my own room which he accommodated- I was in a living room on the second floor with a very comfortable futon on the floor that had an electric mattress pad. For 30 bucks a night it was a steal. I spend the afternoon wandering around older section of the town which has lots of traditional wooden buildings and houses- narrow quant streets with shops, miso factories, and sake breweries. It is really nice. I sampled some Hida beef on a stick which was quite nice. I also had grilled mochi balls that had a soy sauce on them and a type of rice that was mashed up and then grilled (kind of like a hash brown on a stick) that had a rich soy based sauce on it that was fantastic.

Since I haven’t been to a sake brewery I was excited to check them out. They don’t make it during this time of year but you can still go in and see some of the large barrels and taste their sake. Unfortunately I didn’t like most of the ones I tasted. Their was sort of moldy/cheesy flavor to them. I tried some higher end daigninjo that was good but not worth buying and carrying around.

I then headed to a hotel nearby that has a great onsen that you can use for 10 dollars- sauna, 2 indoor baths, and 2 outdoor baths in stunning garden. After that I headed to dinner and met up with a couple I had met in Kyoto and coincidentally ran into here. We headed to a steak place that had an attached butcher shop. We both opted for the (43 dollar) Hida sirloin. It is brought to you sliced and you cook it yourself on the table. As you can see from the picture it is VERY fatty. It is sort of like eating a whole steak that is composed of the fatty portion of a steak- although tasty it’s too fatty to be eaten by itself- would have been a better choice to get shabu shabu or sukiyaki. We headed to a local bar that had a bartender who spoke great English and knew a lot about sake. We had fun swapping travel stories and chatting about work and career stuff- they both work for Price Waterhouse Cooper as consultants.

4/22/08 Kyoto

I woke up pretty early to head to he Kobo-san market fair which is held monthly at the To-Ji temple. It is a massive market/flea market kind of thing held on the grounds of this temple. There are food stands, people selling used kimonos and clothes, crafts, pottery, jewelry, etc. Like everywhere here there is also fish and fish products for sale. It goes in many directions and spills out onto the surrounding streets. I bought some hand-made pottery and at these pancake like things that were filled with custard- fantastic.

Next I headed back to Kyoto station to do an organized tour I read about- Johnnie’s Kyoto walking tour. It is a tour through non-touristy back streets of Kyoto. I wish I can say it was good- it wasn’t. The tour guide is one of the first Japanese person I have encountered who was not helpful- not good for a tour guide. In addition there were over 30 people in the group- which made it move along VERY slow. I could have done the whole thing in an hour and a half- we took 5. He provided some interesting information but overall it was a wash.

The tour ended very close to the Kiyomizu-dera temple (which we went to last trip). Nearby are the Ninen-zaka and Sannen-Zaka areas which are 2 restored neighborhoods with old wooden houses, lots of nice shops and restaurants- it is really a great place to walk around and poke in shops. I walked around them and headed to the Kodai-Ji which has beautiful landscaping, gardens and a lovely view of Kyoto.

After the temple I walked around these neighborhoods some more and checked out an incense store that was huge. Kyoto is famous for incense (among other things). I then walked over to Gion (Geisha district). It is VERY touristy and a lot of the buildings are modernized and I didn’t find it all that great so I headed back to my Ryokan.

For the record attempting to find good restaurants without Kuniko is very difficult. The lonely planet book I have is not great for restaurants and more often than not the places with English menus aren’t great. Las night we went to a small yakitori place and I ordered a salad- with tuna- it was about 50% mountain yam which is the slimy stuff I hate- basically imagine a sald DRENCHED in a clear, tasteless slime- I ate most of it anyway. So tonite I just couldn’t be bothered and joined the English couple at an all you can eat buffet they found in the train station. Although it wasn’t up to the level Kuniko can find (not even close) it still had a lot of good fresh veggies and overall was good. The fact that I could look at what I was eating before eating it was wonderful. Also it was quite nice to have dinner with people (eating alone is OK but can get old).