10 posts tagged “photos”
So, Justin and I decided to go to Hiroshima randomly for three days from the 2nd to 4th of January. Not really the smartest idea since everything was jacked up for the new year but we have money and time so we thought, why the hell not. So we went. It was a great trip. :D I won't go into too much detail even though I have pamphlets and info about everything. This post is image-heavy, you are warned. For more pictures, check Photobucket. Justin took twice as many pictures as I did so take a look at his too.
We took the Shinkansen from Tokyo station on Friday morning with no problems. I was a little concerned because there was a lot of snow and trouble with the trains a few days before and thousands of people were waylaid on their trips to and from home. Luckily, that all passed and we didn't have any issues. We got as close to Mt Fuji as I've ever been (since I don't remember it when we went to Osaka) and passed through a snow storm in Kansai.
We arrived at 1:05pm on schedule and found the information desk and raided the maps and pamphlets. Our hotel was right across the street from the station but a bit of a pain to get to because there aren't any overground crossings at the station. But once we managed to cross the busy road it was no problem. We checked in and dumped our stuff and then consulted our maps. We decided to walk and see the city, to the A-bomb Dome and Peace Memorial Park.
Tram stop near our hotel, Inari-Machi, because there is an Inari Shrine tucked beside a building.
Inou Shrine (稲生神社)
Hiroshima
is pretty small, as far as I could tell. The city centre is serviced by
street cars and buses. The street cars were pretty awesome: smooth ride
and cheap! Anywhere in the city area was only 150yen. A trip to
Miyajima ferry terminal was only 270yen. When we went to Miyajima the
next day, we bought a day pass that covered the ferry ride and
unlimited street car rides for 1 day for only 840yen!
Hiroshima
is built up on a river delta so there are lost of bridges everywhere.
The Inari Bridge was a street car bridge exclusively before the bombing
but it was only of the only bridges left standing afterwards, even
though it was severely warped and damaged.
Most of the wooded pedestrian bridges were completely destroyed.
This
is Hiroshima Municipal Baseball Stadiaum, the home of the Hiroshima
Carps. Apparently they are a pretty crap team, but the city loves them.
The city is building a new stadium east of Hiroshima Station that will
be opened sometime this year. It will supposedly "feature an airy
atmosphere, good ventilation, and a feeling of unity with the city, the
new stadium's wall on the north end--to the direction of JR Hiroshima
Station--is to be kept very low. Passengers on JR bullet trains or
other trains can see inside the stadium from the windows and feel the
lively atmosphere of the stadium," says the Hiroshima Sightseeing Guide
Map.
It
took us about 30 minutes to walk from our hotel to the Genbaku (Atomic
Bome) Dome. I knew about this place before and it was on my list of
(two) things to see in Hiroshima but I didn't really know what I would
expect to feel. It's hallowed ground in Hiroshima. There are signs and
plaques everywhere telling the story of this building. It was the
Hiroshima Prefectural Industrial Promotion Hall and a landmark of the
city with it's green dome.
People offering prayers to the memorial in front of the Dome.
The
Hall was at the corner of Aioi Dori before Aioi Bridge. The bridge was
perhaps the target of the bombing and completely destroyed. Because the
hypocentre (the place in the air where the bomb detonated) was almost
directly above the Hall, it somehow remained standing, unlike most
other buildings.
Justin reads the plaque beside the bridge. It's hard to see but there is an etching of the scene just after the bombing.
After
the bombing, buildings left standing were taken down and the rubble
cleared to make emergency housing for the citizens of Hiroshima. There
was a lot of debate about the A-bomb Dome: to keep it would be a
reminder to the world of the results of atomic bombing but it would
also be a painful reminder to those who lived through it. In the end it
was kept and the city works hard to maintain the building to look
exactly like it did just after the bombing.
Justin
reads the (rather disappointing) plaque beneath the hypocentre. If one
of the security guards at one of the parkades hadn't pointed us in the
right direction, we would have missed it entirely.
The Dome stands across the Ota River from the Peace Memorial Park.
The
Children's Peace Monument. I read the story of Sasaki Sadako when I was
a child even though I didn't know about Hiroshima or the atom bomb. But
I remember the story of a little girl who got sick and folded paper
cranes. But I never thought I would get to come here and see this. This
monument was build in her honor after the outcries from her classmates.
Around the monument are little huts erected containing folded cranes
donated from across the country and the world.
The
park is really quite large, with many statues and monuments dedicated
to the people who died in the bombing. In the centre is the Flame of
Peace, the Pond of Peace, and the Cenotaph for the A-bomb Victims.
There is a small monument in Ueno Park that has a flame lit from this
Flame of Peace too.
Flame of Peace with Dome in the background.
The
Cenotaph. People come and pray here as well and every August 6th, on
the anniversary of the bombing, there is a large ceremony attended by
thousands of people. People who have been identified as victims in the
last year are added to the Cenotaph.
We went to the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum as well which I highly recommend to everyone. It's cheap (which is a bonus) at 50 yen entrance fee and they have audio guides in over a dozen languages for rent. I thought it was rather impartial given the subject matter but so powerful. I cried more than a few times reading the displays. There were letters that the mayor of Hiroshima writes to countries' leaders every time nuclear testing is carried out -- something the mayor has been doing ever since the late 1940's. There were models and displays of personal belongings left by the victims, photos, among other things. We went in around 3:30 and they closed at 5 so we had to rush near the end. I wish that we had been able to spend more time there. Justin took pictures of the inside becuase his camera doesn't suck.
On our second day, we went to Miyajima. Formerly known as Itsukuushima, Miyajima is home to one of the three great views of Japan and Itsukushima Shrine. It's also a World Heritage site.
It is also home to many wild deer.
Monument talking about Itsukushima as a World Heritage site, and the O-torii in the back.
Since
we went on the first weekend of the new year, it was freaking busy.
There were food stalls set up everywhere and tons and tons of people.
The weather was a bit of a bummer, but at least it wasn't rainy.
The
main reason for coming to Miyajima: the iconic Great Torii. The
vermillion gate, nor the big shrine, isn't actually anchored to the
seabed so it effectively floats in the water. Or looks like it does
anyway.
The line up for the shrine was crazy so we skipped it and went to see some of the other things on the island first. Justin was all excited for the aquarium but it's been closed for renovations until 2012. :(
Daiganji Temple, dedicated to Benzaiten.
Ringing
the bell at Daishoin Temple, one of the most presitigious Shingon
(Buddhism) temples in western Japan. In the 12th century, Emperor Toba
founded his prayer hall in the temple. The temple had close links to
the imperial family until the 19th century.
Most
Buddhist temples have a sign board telling you about your fortune for
the coming year, based on your birthdate. There are varying degrees of
luck: excellent luck (大吉, dai kichi), medium/half luck (半吉, han
kichi?), little luck (末吉, matsu kichi?) and terrible luck (大凶, dai
kyou). I'm born in 1985 (Showa 60) so according to the monks (or
whoever came up with this) at Daishoin, I'm going to have a year of
terrible luck. :( But then, so is Andrew. Haha.
Daishoin was really cool. Hundreds of Buddhas everywhere for everything under the sun. There were tons of people too. I even saw a lady with a bag full of 1 yen and 5 yen coins, giving one to each Buddha. I guess if you need good luck...
The specialty food of Hiroshima is called Momiji Manju. Momiji is the name of the Japanese maple tree and manju is a small cake with (usually) red bean filling. The momiji manju made on Miyajima is supposed to be the very best.
After wandering around some more and eating lunch, we went to the shrine.
About
200 metres in front of the main shrine and standing in the sea is the
vermillion coloured O-Torii (Grand Gate) which is the most noted symbol
of Miyajima.
First
built in the latter half of the 6th century, Itsukushima Shrine was
remodeled into the present beautiful structure by Taira no Kiyomori in
1168. Standing in the sea, it is widely known for its grand and unique
construction, the sublime and gorgeous appearance displays the artistic
beauty of the Shinden style of architecture.
Itsukushima
Shrine was officially designated in December 1996 as a World Heritage
site. There is a Noh stage at the shrine where Kiyomori enjoyed Noh
plays back in the day. They still perform plays there on occasion.
The O-Torii at sunset.
We left Miyajima and got back to our hotel around 7pm and after a short rest, went out for some local fare, okonomiyaki. I don't know if the way the place we went is the way everyone makes okonomiyaki but it was interesting to say the least. Hiroshima and Kansai have different styles. The basic difference is that in Hiroshima they put noodles in but the place we went was really different. They made it all for you instead of you making it yourself: first they made a thin pancake of batter on the grill and put the filling on top (cabbage or onion base and your ingredients like cheese, shrimp, or squid) and seasonings. Then the flipped it over and let the raw things cook. Meanwhile, they fried some noodles and cracked an egg and fried that, layering everything. Lastly, they put the sauce and the toppings on it and cut it up for you and served it on a hot plate. It was quite yummy, but I prefer Kansai style.
On our last day, we stayed close to the station. We dropped our stuff off in a locker and bought our tickets home, first thing and then we went to Shukkeien gardens and Hiroshima Castle. On our way to the gardens, we passed Sadako's old junior high school that had a monument you could see from the street.
The gardens were gorgeous. I took so many pictures but I will only post a few. It is a wonderful place to go for a picnic.
After the gardens, it was a short walk to the castle. There is a large shrine there as well, with a huge line up of people visiting for hatsumode.
Hiroshima
castle was gone before the bombing, many of the buildings replaced with
temporary military headquarters. Now it's a reconstruction with a
quaint museum inside, with the history of Hiroshima, like most castles
in Japan.
We got back to the station at about 3:45pm and got our stuff to leave. We couldn't get reserved seats so we had to take non-reserved and I am never doing it again. We got to the platform and there are only 3 cars for non-reserved seating and there were people lining up everywhere. We jumped in one line not really knowing what it was for since the trains were coming on the opposite side of the platform but some lady explained nicely to me (after me asking a staff person and them not really answering me) that they were lining up for the train coming in an hour, and hopefully they could get seat, but if not they would at least get on. All of the trains we saw coming were already full of people but this one wasn't for some reason. Anyway, we made it on but had to stand. And we were stupid and got on the smoking car so that was kind of unpleasant. Justin scored a seat after stopping in Nagoya but I had to stand until Shin-Yokohama. 3.5 hours of stand is not cool!
All in all, a really great trip. :)
Happy new year! I'm not really in the greatest mood right off the bat with these fucking technical difficulties my internet has decided to spring on me--or the site I'm trying to access because it won't fucking load. Anyway, it's pissing me off which is not good.
God, it's been quite a couple of days. I have been home for about 5 hours cumulatively over the last 3 days, and I'm going on a trip tomorrow! Yes, Justin and I decided to be spontaneous (oh, how I miss you, JC) and go to Hiroshima for 3 days and 2 nights before going back to work. Well, he goes back on Monday, but I'm off til Thursday. Sucker!
On Tuesday, I was invited to my friend Yuka's place for dinner, along with the Sado family. Aya, Yuka and I went to elementary school together in Singapore; they took me Asakusa when I first came to Japan. I've seen Yuka a couple times but I haven't seen Aya since then. Her parents and youngest brother just moved back to Japan from Bangkok so the whole family came to dinner. Oh my god! How we've all grown; it's been ten years.
I talked with Yuka's dad for maybe the first time ever. I hardly remember him; I don't think he was home very much in Singapore, or at least when I was over. He's been living and working in Dubai for the last while, I believe. Aya's mom gave me a big hug when she arrived and they asked me all about being in Japan and stuff and wanting me to talk Japanese and stuff. It was like meeting Wataru for the first time since the last and only time I saw him was just after he was born so he wouldn't remember me. Hajimu looks exactly the same at 21 as he did when he was 8: still cute as hell. Dresses in typical--some might say strange--Japanese/Harajuku fashion but it suits him. He's a singer in a band and graduating from Keio University this year, I think. I saw Yuito the last time I went to the Uda's place for dinner and he's now about 6'1" and plays American football for Keio High School, graduating in the spring, moving up to Keio U next year. He's turning 20 this year! He'll be a real adult.
Yuka's mom cooked Pakistani curry and Aya's mom brought this Thai style salad. I brought a bottle of wine and a bottle of umeshu. Dinner was delicious and we ate until late into the night. I arrived around 6:30, just before Aya's parents and Wataru. Aya and Yuka came later and Yuito came after his part-time job, around 11pm. We looked at pictures -- I showed them Sean's band's myspace and did they ever get a shock. They still recognize him though! He and Haji were in the same grade, though different classes, I think. They weren't friends in any case. I also showed them pictures of mom and dad from the summer and they say I look just l like mom.
So, I booked it home from Shinagawa at about 1:30 and was lucky enough to get the special rapid service to Kashiwa from Nippori so I got home in an hour. I cleaned my room as much as I could in an hour and a half before going out again to Andrew's for New Year's Eve. We just stayed in and watched the NHK Kohaku Uta Gassen and Johnny's Countdown on TV and drank until 2 in the morning.
On the first day of the year, Japanese people visit shrines and temples and visit the family grave and pray for good luck for the year. The word they use to call this is hatsumode which means "first temple visit of New Year" according to my dictionary. I really wanted to do hatsumode this year since I kind of copped out and just went to the shrine next to the club last year. So I did some research (after going to Kawagoe with Justin the other day and seeing the Seven Lucky Gods temples there) and decided to do the Shichi Fukujin Meguri, or Seven Lucky Gods Pilgrimage. There are dozens of "Seven Lucky Gods" temples all over Japan so I decide to go to the Yanaka ones around Ueno and Nippori because they are close and wouldn't be too busy. There is a set in Asakusa as well, among other places, but I didn't want to be anywhere near there and Senso-ji today. It would be a zoo. So we set off at 10:30am, Andrew, Ben, Justin, Takeshi, Tama and I. You can just go and pray at each temple but they also have a kind of... souvenier. Different areas do different things, but the Yanaka Shichi Fukujin temples do a picture and stamps. It's a lot more expensive than I expected, but I guess they need to make money somehow. It was 1000 yen for the paper and 200 yen for each stamp, for a total of 2400 yen. Kind of a rip off, I suppose, but it's really pretty and only for a limited time, I believe. You can do the pilgrimage anytime, but I think they have the souveniers for only the first 10 days of the year. I'm going to frame it and display it at home and hopefully it will bring me good luck. It's my year this year (the year of the cow) so I figured I should shell out and make it a good one.
So, I've caught up on news and I'm not feeling so ill from not really sleeping for the past two nights after my short nap. Laundry is done and hanging but I probably should take a few things to the laundromat to chuck in the dryer because they won't be dry by morning for sure. I still have to pack! It's only for two nights so I don't need much, maybe just one change of clothes and the essentials. It's a bit pricey this time of year but we wanted to travel and we need to break out of our Nova-induced spending scare. Our hotel is about 15,000 yen for two nights, including breakfast and toilettries etc which is fairly reasonable I think. On the other hand, we are taking the Shinkansen which is not. That is going to cost 37,500 yen. That's $500 at today's rate. Shit. That does suck. I guess I can't just lop off two zeros anymore to convert to dollars. Well, in my head it's about 375$ for a 4 hour ride each way. In any case, it beats flying. My justification is that I haven't been away from Tokyo since August and I won't get to go anywhere until March and I need to make the most of my time.
Hope you enjoyed this update and I'll try to keep the next about my trip brief. Happy year of the cow~!
62nd Toukatsu Ekiden pictures.
I'm sick. I want to curl up and die.
I am going to write an article about miso... soon. It's 1am now and I tell myself I shouldn't start it now because I should sleep, even though I know it'll be 2 more hours before my head hits the pillow. For now, I bring you pictures and a recipe.
in a school setting, they do look exactly like this.
The principal's office is next door. They write the day's schedule and any special events
on the black board and any happenings that month. My desk is nice and clean, compared to the rest.
sitting Buddha statue in Japan, it's only 2-3m shorter than the one in Kamakura
but 10 times nicer, in my opinion. About a 15 minute walk from Narimasu station on the Tobu Tojo line.
I only wanted to go there because of a drama I've seen and so I could say "I've been there!'
It's right next to the Metropolitan Centre for Performing Art though which looked really cool.
I will definitely make a trip back there.
It's Matsui Kazuyo's recipe (the Japanese Martha Stewart) from a show I saw on TV.
* Ankake is the name for a thick starchy sauce made with katakuriko (potato starch) or kuzu (arrowroot) flour
2 cod filets (in Japan, you can buy pre-salted filets [塩たら 甘口] and skip the salting step)
1 red pepper, sliced into strips
1 green pepper, sliced into strips (or 2 if using the small Japanese ones)
1/2 onion, sliced
1/2 tsp dashi powder (the original recipe calls for "Chinese soup" stock but I didn't have any, but dashi works fine. You could probably use chicken or fish stock too.)
200 ml water
1 tsp soy sauce
2 tbsp vinegar
2 tbsp sugar
Salt
Potato starch
Oil
2 tsp potato starch
1 tbsp water
1. Sprinkle the fish with salt and rub into the fish and set aside to draw out the moisture. (If you're using pre-salted ones, skip this step.)
2. Cut the cod filets into bite sized pieces. Coat them in potato starch until well covered.
3. Heat oil in a frying pan and deep-fry the fish over medium heat for 2-3 minutes. Remove fish from oil and drain on a wire rack. Set aside.
4. In another frying pan, add water and dashi powder and bring to a simmer over high heat. Add the soy sauce, sugar, vinegar and a dash of salt. Mix well. Add vegetables and cook until tender crisp.
5. Add potato starch dissolved in water to the mixture to thicken the sauce. Add fish to the vegetables and toss well to coat. Serve with cooked rice, if desired.
I got my camera back today. Finally. Tried out a new recipe and am so full, it was so good. I rented some CSI: Miami so I'm going to vegetate and bask in Horatio's glory until I get sleepy.
My not-so-new-anymore desk. And all of my crap.
I translated this recipe from Japanese. In Japan, they have adopted "hamburg steaks" from hamburgers. Usually they come with some side dishes like corn or a few "fried potatoes" (french fries) or on rice. And Japanese people put eggs on everything. I have realized I'm allergic (or something) to eggs unless they are 100% cooked through, I skipped the fried egg topping in this recipe.
Hawaiian Hamburger Steak Bowl (2 servings)
Ingredients:
A Ground
beef & pork* 200g
A Salt 2/3 tsp
A Pepper To taste
Egg 1
Dry
Bread crumbs 4 tbsp
Onion 1, half minced, the
remainder cut into thin slices
(Button)
Mushrooms ½ package, cut into thin
slices or 1 can of mushrooms, drained
Flour 1 tbsp
B Ketchup 3 tbsp
B Worcester Sauce 1 tbsp
B Bullion ½ cube
B Water 200cc
Salt,
pepper To taste
Olive
oil
*In Japan, because beef is so expensive (about $2-3 for 100g) grocery stores produce this ground beef/pork mix.
Directions:
- Combine A in a bowl, kneading well until sticky.
- Add the egg and bread crumbs continuing to knead well, then add the minced onion and mix well.
- Divide into 2 equal portions and using your hands coated with olive oil, make the meat into patties. Let rest in the refrigerator for 10 mins.
- In frying pan heat some olive oil, cook the hamburgers over High heat. When both sides have a nice grilled colour, take the hamburgers out.
- In the empty frying pan, stir-fry the sliced onion and mushrooms with olive oil until the onion starts getting soft.
- Over Low heat, sprinkle the flour over the mushrooms and onion and stir-fry until the flour is well combined.
- Add B, mixing well. After bringing to a boil, return the hamburgers to the pan. Cover with a lid and fry over Low heat for about 5 minutes.
- When the hamburgers are plump and fried, season with salt and pepper.
* Place rice in a bowl, top with baby
greens, the hamburger, mushrooms and onions, sliced avocado, and an egg fried
sunny-side up.
The hamburger bowl was delicious. It could have done with some lettuce or spinach for crunch but it was rich and tasty.
I made 3 burgers because I bought the bigger size package of meat, but
I should have just gotten the smaller and made 2 because there isn't
enough sauce for 3. The avacado adds a nice butteriness to the meat.
I highly recommend you try it! I fucked up and used potato starch
instead of flour (blonde moment of the day) but it tasted fine. The
flour just acts as a thickening agent anyway, as does starch. I should
have diced the onion that went into the burgers finer because they were
still a bit crunchy. But this is a definite repeater.
I haven't had time to write a long entry about my trip, but I survived. That's the most important part. Death is bad. I can ski! I thought I would be totally hopeless thinking back to my attempt at snowboarding in high school. Skiing is very much like skating. And MUCH easier than snowboarding. Although I had better teachers this time; they didn't take me up the mountain and then say "Ok! Now, go down!" (Yeah, I'm talking to you JC.) I crashed maybe a dozen times all day Sunday, and only two or three times on Monday. My knees were giving me lots of trouble though: I don't even have a frigging cool sports-related injury to explain why I get this heinous grating feeling and pain in my kneecaps when I strain them too much. It's happened a few times before, after climing up and down a chair or ladder repeatedly it would just swell up and hurt like a beast. Andrew suggested I get it checked out, and I really should. I can't be getting arthritis at 23! And if there is no apparent cause... though I like to think "If it ain't broke, don't fix it". It's only just a little bit broken...
The scenery was amazing. Breath-taking, pristine, I can't come up with any words that aren't cliches. I can only describe it as big. Everything just felt big. There was nothing but trees, mountains, and open air. And it was quiet. No sounds except for the whisper of snow under your skis. We could even see Fuji vaguely in the distance from the summit of Blanche Takayama on the second day. It's a pity my phone camera couldn't do the scenery justice; maybe I can get copies of Narushima-sensei or Arai-sensei's pictures since they had real cameras.
At least now I can be proud in my Canadian-ness and our innate ability to do winter sports. Because, seriously, almost every Japanese person asks me if I can ski. Now, I can say "Yes".
Spent all of yesterday bumming around after a hard night of drinking (for no real apparent reason) which was nice for a change. Nikki and I sat on our balcony, enjoying the view and cool weather and talking, later joined by Christian and Jeremy, for about 6 hours that night. Usually, Nikki and I go out into town and do some sightseeing or something active, but yesterday was an exception. The plan originally was to go to Shinjuku to watch Christian eat the biggest burger in Japan but no one was feeling especially chipper and up to the trek. Instead we went down to the lake for a bit of fresh air and played some frisbee in the park. I'd been down there once, at 2am with Andrew, but never really realized how enjoyable it is. I'll definitely have to make a point of going down there more often with a book. It is just so calm and peaceful.
I dub today 'Cleaning Day'. The new girl Amanda is supposedly coming tonight, and the house is a mess so we are cleaning. There is a mountain of cans and bottles to go down, as well as a smelly garbage bag. Nikki is doing the bathroom and I'm tackling the kitchen. I am finally going to get a round to washing the floors properly. Christian is moving his stuff back upstairs and will help out a bit, so it really shouldn't take that long to do everything.
Today Nikki and I ventured out to the Imperial Palace. We signed up for a guided tour a couple weeks ago, after our Yamanote Sen Adventure. I didn't know exactly what to expect, but I thought we would have a small group of people and a tour guide escorting us around the grounds, maybe even in English. When we arrived at 1pm for our 1:30 tour, there were about 40 people standing outside the front gate in 2 large groups. We had no idea what was going on so, as we have started to do every time we are lost or confused, we asked someone where we needed to go to check in. There were guards at the gate so we asked one of them where we needed to check in and he hustled us to the front of the huge line of people and told us to wait there. He literally ran over to where we needed to stand, it was quite strange. Although, it happens quite a lot - like the woman at Abiko City Hall. We got checked off the list, handed our English pamphlet for the tour (which had the obligatory Engrish mistakes in it), and then ushered inside the visitors centre with our spiffy retro audio guides. We were the only foreigners there, and probably the youngest ones too; we were surrounded by senior citizens on a bus tour. It felt like we were getting preferential treatment since the guy who was leading the tour would say "English Audio Guide #" whenever we stopped anywhere, just for us.
It typical Japanese fashion, we were herded around like sheep the entire time. We were supposed to be in four lines throughout the tour, but that didn't last very long. Well, they were all over 65, so how much damage are they going to do? Got to see some of the inner and administrative buildings of the Palace, and some really cool architecture, but it was like a ghost town except for the officers shuffling us from place to place. More than necessary, they would come up to us to tell us what guide number we should be listening to at that point in the tour. Even the little grannies would tell us we should take pictures, or fall back in line. Before we started, there was a short video presentation about the tour course and safety precautions. There was a gift shop that was open before the tour, but neither Nikki or I went in. There was a huge race of people to buy their souvenirs before the tour began and I didn't feel like fighting through only to find that there was nothing I wanted to buy. Pictures were souvenir enough for me. Too bad it wasn't a nicer day: it was overcast and a bit cool, though that was a nice relief.
The tour was about an hour and a half, and covered 2.2km. We learned about some of the history of the Palace and its buildings and what they were used for, past and present. It was really cool. I am looking forward to going to some more museums and being a cultured snob.
Sunday night was our (belated) Welcome Party for the new Nova staff. About 20 people went out to an izakaya in Kashiwa and had nomihodai (all you can drink) and just hung out. It was nice to socialize with the J-staff for once and see everyone our of their work clothes and relaxed. I had such a good time and got to know a lot of my coworkers a lot better. We went for karaoke afterwards, of course, and let loose even more. It was nice knowing that everyone went out and felt a little worse for wear in the morning, not just me. I present you with the highlights of the night.
We trained out from Abiko around noon to Ueno Station to begin our tour. Ueno is the start of the Joban line (our local JR line), and various other suburban lines. Adjacent to the station is Ueno Park and a number of museums and art galleries. Between Ueno Station and Okachimachi is Ameyoko. Ameyoko stands for "Ameya Yokocho" (candy store alley), as candies were traditionally sold here. "Ame" also stands for "America", because a lot of American products were available on the black market. This was the site of the black market in the Post WW2 era, and still remains largely unchanged. There is an open-air market where you can get fresh seafood and other sundries, or a new pair of your favourite sneaks at a shoe store. We saw some really interesting things in the market, and smelled some not-so-pleasant smells of fish as we walked through the crowded streets. I was reading in one of our many guides on Tokyo that there is a section of Ameyoko that specializes in Korean food, but we didn't find it.
Andrew came back from Korea yesterday and met up with us in the evening. We went to an izakaya for dinner (and spent more than we were hoping) and had some drinks and really delicious food. It was called "Mom's Izakaya" and the lady who owned the place was a riot! She kept talking to us and asking how we liked Japan and suggesting things to eat. She really was like a mom when she kept bugging me to eat more of this fish: it was really delicious, but really fatty so we left quite a bit behind. It was cooked right on the bone so there was a big bone left over. I wish we had gotten a picture with her. If we go back, maybe she'll remember us. I don't think its very often that she gets some western customers. Although she was telling us about her trip to San Fransisco and how times have changed. You used to be able to buy beer for 100 yen ($1). Wouldn't it be nice to be alive in those days...
I also experienced my first rain storm in Japan last night! As we left the izakaya, it was pouring so we went and sang karaoke for 2 hours. We tried a whole bunch of different drinks during our "all you can drink" hour. Andrew was just picking stuff off the menu - some of it really good, some of it not so good. In the end, he just called the staff and said "Bring us 3 of whatever you like". Hilarious! What a great end to the night. On our way back to the station to head home, we stopped and I got my fortune read. She wouldn't let any pictures be taken of her, because she's "famous". Haha. Apparently, I am like a guy and my love life is "asleep" until I turn 25 and then I'll have a chance for love/marriage. But if I want it to work, I have to quit my job. But I could be a company president! She kept calling me "onna shacou" (female company head) through the whole thing. She also asked Andrew and Nikki to draw cards - Andrew and I have no chance of love between us (haha, how right she is) but Nikki does, but he can't be energetic. All this for 10$! I don't know how seriously I take it, but I kind of like the idea of being an lady president.
Nikki and I made it back to Ueno to catch the 2nd last train of the night and almost slept on the train home. She had her monster blister, and I was just bone tired from our crazy day. We had been walking for about 10 hours! We made it home around 1am, showered and proceeded to pass out. No problems with the heat tonight: we were too tired to even care. I slept in til noon today - something I've been wanting to do for a long time. I spent the day doing laundry and running errands: picked up my gaijin card and got some groceries. I found the cheap super market, and even some brown bread! Tooled around the mall for a bit, looking for shoes or maybe a new shirt for work, but left empty handed.
Well, this entry has taken me about 3 hours to write so I hope you enjoyed it. Comments/emails are always appreciated! Justin and I have planned to hang out on Thursday, we might go out and see what Kashiwa has to offer but otherwise nothing epic is planned.
