Well, I'm at the airport. I've got one more hour before my flight leaves. I had a bit of a scare this morning. I had reserved a seat on the shuttle bus at 6:10am, but when I woke up and looked at the clock, it was 7am. Needless to say .. up until now I was pretty stressed this morning. I was able to use the same ticket for the bus leaving at 8:10, and I got here with an hour and a half to spare. I'm just paranoid.
Anyway, its 10:30am here, which is 6:30pm (Tues) pacific time, or 8:30pm central time. My flight (AA 176) gets to DFW around 9:30am (Wed), if I remember correctly, and then my connecting flight (AA 1119) goes from there to Sacramento at around 11:30am, and gets there just after 1pm.
I'm sad that my trip is over, but I'll be glad to be able to talk to people and read things again =)
Tuesday, March 18, 2008
Tuesday (3/18)
Today was my last full day in Japan, and I didn't do a whole lot. I had to do some laundry this morning, and after a late start, that kept me from leaving the hotel until well after noon. I spent the time waiting on my laundry to talk over Skype with Erina and Tina, trying really hard to keep up, but they talk really fast =)
When I finally got out, I wanted to try to see Sekakuji in Shinagawa, but by the time I got over there and found it, it was already closed. I could still walk around the temple grounds, but I couldn't get to the burial grounds for the 47 ronins. The story goes that a few hundred years ago, a master with 47 samurai was being antagonized by another feudal lord, and so his temper finally got the better of him, and he drew his sword on him in the imperial grounds at Edo (now called Tokyo). The guy was sentenced to commit seppuku, and his family was banished, leaving the 47 samurai to be masterless ronin. Over the next few years they met in secret, and tried to appear normal while they planned to avenge their master's honor. Finally, they stormed the house of the other guy, chopped off his head, and brought it to Sengakuji where their master was buried. They knew from the beginning that they would be sentenced to seppuku, but they considered it an honor rather than the price of revenge. All 47 ronin are buried there with their master, and every year on the anniversary of the raid, people come to honor the ronin and their tremendous loyalty, and steadfastness.
One of these is the place they washed the head when they brought it to the temple.
Anyway, I headed back to the Shinagawa station, and came back to Shinjuku. I had sushi for dinner (only the second time since I got here), and kinda splurged. It was really good. Then I wandered around, listened to a couple of bands that were playing on the sidewalk, and made my way back to the coffee shop across the street from the hotel, and sat there reading for a while.
Since I got back to the hotel, I've been geotagging my photos. That's where you add longitude and latitude data to your photos so that they can be placed on a map (like Google maps, or whatever). I've finished all the latest pictures back to just before I went to Nara.
Tomorrow, I get up bright and early (my bus is at 6:10am) and fly back to California .. after a few hours in Texas .. so weird.
Until the next chance I get to come back, sayonara.
When I finally got out, I wanted to try to see Sekakuji in Shinagawa, but by the time I got over there and found it, it was already closed. I could still walk around the temple grounds, but I couldn't get to the burial grounds for the 47 ronins. The story goes that a few hundred years ago, a master with 47 samurai was being antagonized by another feudal lord, and so his temper finally got the better of him, and he drew his sword on him in the imperial grounds at Edo (now called Tokyo). The guy was sentenced to commit seppuku, and his family was banished, leaving the 47 samurai to be masterless ronin. Over the next few years they met in secret, and tried to appear normal while they planned to avenge their master's honor. Finally, they stormed the house of the other guy, chopped off his head, and brought it to Sengakuji where their master was buried. They knew from the beginning that they would be sentenced to seppuku, but they considered it an honor rather than the price of revenge. All 47 ronin are buried there with their master, and every year on the anniversary of the raid, people come to honor the ronin and their tremendous loyalty, and steadfastness.
One of these is the place they washed the head when they brought it to the temple.
Anyway, I headed back to the Shinagawa station, and came back to Shinjuku. I had sushi for dinner (only the second time since I got here), and kinda splurged. It was really good. Then I wandered around, listened to a couple of bands that were playing on the sidewalk, and made my way back to the coffee shop across the street from the hotel, and sat there reading for a while.
Since I got back to the hotel, I've been geotagging my photos. That's where you add longitude and latitude data to your photos so that they can be placed on a map (like Google maps, or whatever). I've finished all the latest pictures back to just before I went to Nara.
Tomorrow, I get up bright and early (my bus is at 6:10am) and fly back to California .. after a few hours in Texas .. so weird.
Until the next chance I get to come back, sayonara.
Monday, March 17, 2008
Monday (3/17)
This morning I went over to Asakusa to see the famous Kaminarimon (lightning gate) and Sensoji (the temple that's there). There were more foreigners (like me) there than I've seen most other places since I've gotten here. And yes, I do like it better when I'm the only foreigner around. When I'm around other Americans, I feel a small need to apologize for when they act rude, or stupid. Like when a guy is taking a picture of a band while they have a giant sign next to them that has a picture of a camera with an X across it, and it says No Pictures! Anyway, I got some pictures, and walked around the shopping area.
A picture from the bottom looking up at the giant lantern that hangs in Kaminarimon
I found a stand that was selling amazake (sweet sake), but it wasn't close to being as good as what I had at that tea room in Nara. Regardless, I had a couple of cups =)
Then I started to notice a bunch of monjyayaki places around. It's a Tokyo variant of okonomiyaki where the mixture is much more watery, and they carefully mix it together on the range by making a pool out of the more solid bits, and poring the liquid part in the middle. Then once it gets pretty thin, you spread a bit across the grill and then scrape it up with the metal spatula. It was pretty good, but I'd put it below both Hiroshima style okonomiyaki and regular, Osaka style okonomiyaki.
I found a place that was up a flight of stairs (and if you want there to be fewer foreigners, all you have to do is find a place that's not on the ground floor). I think we Americans like to be able to see the inside of a place before we want to go in. So I had the waiter make it for me, since I had no idea what to do, and then I had some Cream Mitsu Mame, which is ice cream, little cubes of a pretty solid gelatine-like substance, and sweet red beans. And now I know the kanji for beans : 豆 (mahmey).
Then I decided to give my JRail pass a workout on one of its final days, and went to Ueno, sat in the park and had a Dr Pepper (and, of course, I had to get a some pictures of a Japanese Dr Pepper can)
The trees in Ueno are starting to blossom, and they were getting ready for the Hana Matsuri (flower festival) that happens in a few weeks.
Then I went to Akihabara and looked around the Yodobashi Camera, and finally came back to Shinjuku and had some ramen and gyoza for a late dinner. Finally, I went and had some coffee at a Mister Donut that stays open until 2 .. but I only stayed until midnight. Now I need to do laundry in the morning, and make a quick trip to Shinagawa to see Sengakuji before I repack all my stuff and get ready to go home =(
A picture from the bottom looking up at the giant lantern that hangs in Kaminarimon
I found a stand that was selling amazake (sweet sake), but it wasn't close to being as good as what I had at that tea room in Nara. Regardless, I had a couple of cups =)
Then I started to notice a bunch of monjyayaki places around. It's a Tokyo variant of okonomiyaki where the mixture is much more watery, and they carefully mix it together on the range by making a pool out of the more solid bits, and poring the liquid part in the middle. Then once it gets pretty thin, you spread a bit across the grill and then scrape it up with the metal spatula. It was pretty good, but I'd put it below both Hiroshima style okonomiyaki and regular, Osaka style okonomiyaki.
I found a place that was up a flight of stairs (and if you want there to be fewer foreigners, all you have to do is find a place that's not on the ground floor). I think we Americans like to be able to see the inside of a place before we want to go in. So I had the waiter make it for me, since I had no idea what to do, and then I had some Cream Mitsu Mame, which is ice cream, little cubes of a pretty solid gelatine-like substance, and sweet red beans. And now I know the kanji for beans : 豆 (mahmey).
Then I decided to give my JRail pass a workout on one of its final days, and went to Ueno, sat in the park and had a Dr Pepper (and, of course, I had to get a some pictures of a Japanese Dr Pepper can)
The trees in Ueno are starting to blossom, and they were getting ready for the Hana Matsuri (flower festival) that happens in a few weeks.
Then I went to Akihabara and looked around the Yodobashi Camera, and finally came back to Shinjuku and had some ramen and gyoza for a late dinner. Finally, I went and had some coffee at a Mister Donut that stays open until 2 .. but I only stayed until midnight. Now I need to do laundry in the morning, and make a quick trip to Shinagawa to see Sengakuji before I repack all my stuff and get ready to go home =(
Sunday, March 16, 2008
Sunday (3/16)
Today was another lazy day (they seem to be happening more frequently the later I get into this trip). I got up and got to the station around noon, and caught a train for Tokyo (and bought another bento box lunch to eat on the train). The train was nice and empty, and I got a whole row of three seats all to myself.
I got back to Shinjuku and checked into the Washington Hotel again around 4, and took a little rest (the metro train from Tokyo to Shinjuku had been really hot). Then I set out, and just wandered around some areas of Shinjuku that I hadn't explored yet. I found a place where they put a little grill on you table and you do it yourself.
It was pretty fun, but I couldn't read much of the menu, so I just asked the waiter to recommend something and I think what he recommended (that I ended up getting) was called buri kamo yaki (which I'm pretty sure is yellowtail meat from just behind its head, or its collar, or whatever). Well, that's not all I got, I also got maguro (tuna) and ika (cuttlefish), and a beer that looked like a locally brewed thing called Hoppy. It was all great, and I managed to not embarrass myself .. and another guy let some juice get down into the coals in his barbeque, and nearly smoked us all out of the restaurant. I was just glad it wasn't me =)
Then I walked back around the station, and there were a bunch of bands playing on the sidewalks, selling CDs. I stopped and listened to a few, and I'm realizing that girl drummers are hot .. at least Japanese girl drummers are =)
I should have gotten some pictures .. oh well.
Oh, and then I spotted a place that makes mochi ice cream just next to the south entrance to the train station, and I got a few: rum raisin (which was awesome), green tea, caramel pudding, and sakura. The sakura one was pink, and I can't think of any way to explain how it tasted, other than it tasted extremely pink as well.
I got back to Shinjuku and checked into the Washington Hotel again around 4, and took a little rest (the metro train from Tokyo to Shinjuku had been really hot). Then I set out, and just wandered around some areas of Shinjuku that I hadn't explored yet. I found a place where they put a little grill on you table and you do it yourself.
It was pretty fun, but I couldn't read much of the menu, so I just asked the waiter to recommend something and I think what he recommended (that I ended up getting) was called buri kamo yaki (which I'm pretty sure is yellowtail meat from just behind its head, or its collar, or whatever). Well, that's not all I got, I also got maguro (tuna) and ika (cuttlefish), and a beer that looked like a locally brewed thing called Hoppy. It was all great, and I managed to not embarrass myself .. and another guy let some juice get down into the coals in his barbeque, and nearly smoked us all out of the restaurant. I was just glad it wasn't me =)
Then I walked back around the station, and there were a bunch of bands playing on the sidewalks, selling CDs. I stopped and listened to a few, and I'm realizing that girl drummers are hot .. at least Japanese girl drummers are =)
I should have gotten some pictures .. oh well.
Oh, and then I spotted a place that makes mochi ice cream just next to the south entrance to the train station, and I got a few: rum raisin (which was awesome), green tea, caramel pudding, and sakura. The sakura one was pink, and I can't think of any way to explain how it tasted, other than it tasted extremely pink as well.
Saturday, March 15, 2008
Saturday (3/15)
Well, today my camera ran out of batteries pretty quickly, so I'm afraid I won't have many pictures.
This morning I headed over to Namba, where they're having a daily Sumo tournament this month. I was able to get a ticket, but the main event wasn't for a while, so I left to grab some takoyaki at a street vendor, then I got some coffee, and finally decided to just head on in. There were some matches taking place already, but they were kind-of junior league matches. It was still pretty interesting to watch.
Here's the few shots I was able to get. One of the sumo wrestlers' openning ceremony, where they introduce all the sumo that will be fighting from the east side, and then they do the same for all the fighters on the west side.
Here's a shot of the sumo doing their posturing toward their corners (where their attendants are)
When two guys come out into the ring, they have some motions they go through first toward their corner, and then toward each other. Then they go to their corner, rinse their mouth with water and grab a handful of salt. When they turn to go back into the circle, they throw the salt to cleanse the ground and to ward off injury. Then they face each other and do one squat with their feet close together. Then they stand back up and squat again with their feet further apart. At this point the match could start if both of them look at each other and place both of their fists on the ground. However, most of the time one of them will not look at the other (either to indicate that they're not ready, to irritate the other guy, etc), or they could just take too long, and so the other guy will stand back up and leave the ring. As soon as either one decides to leave, they both do. Then they wipe themselves off with a towel, grab some more salt and start it all over again. This process can repeat for up to 4 minutes (I think).
Once both of them are finally ready, as soon as all four fists are on the ground and they're making eye contact, they launch at each other slapping each other in the chest and around the face. They'll try various tricks that involve grabbing the waistband of the other guy, trying to trip him, etc. As soon as one of them steps out of the ring, or any of their body (besides their feet) touches the ground, they loose.
When the match is over, they both go back to their sides of the circle, bow toward each other and the loser leaves the ring. The winnder squats, and the referee declares them the winner by gesturing to them with a fan-looking thing. The sumo wrestler makes a gesture. Then, if there is a cash award for the match, the referee walks up to the winner and offers him the prize. The wrestler then has one final gesture they use to take the prize, and then they finally leave the ring. The winner then stays to offer the mouth-rinsing water to the next wrestler on their side of the ring.
It was really interesting, and I ended up sitting right next to some people from Los Angeles, and they were pretty fun, so I got another dose of anti-lonely medicine. Then once it was over, I headed into Namba's shopping area, and I found a restaurant that serves fugu in _everything_. I went in, ordered some fugu nigiri (just a couple of slices of raw fugu on rice), tried it, and left. Then I found an okonomiyaki place, and had the rest of my meal =) The fugu was okay, but nothing spectacular .. the okonomiyaki, however, was superb. Then on my way back to the JR station, I saw a street vendor selling sesame seed balls with sweet red bean paste in the middle. They were also selling these little chunks of potato covered in a sugary glaze and then carmelized so that the glaze became a hard candy shell. I got some of both, and it was great.
Well, that's about it. I came back to the hotel and wrote this. And now I'm gonna get some sleep. I head back to Tokyo tomorrow, and if I make it in time, I might head over to Harajuku. That place is awesome on Sundays.
This morning I headed over to Namba, where they're having a daily Sumo tournament this month. I was able to get a ticket, but the main event wasn't for a while, so I left to grab some takoyaki at a street vendor, then I got some coffee, and finally decided to just head on in. There were some matches taking place already, but they were kind-of junior league matches. It was still pretty interesting to watch.
Here's the few shots I was able to get. One of the sumo wrestlers' openning ceremony, where they introduce all the sumo that will be fighting from the east side, and then they do the same for all the fighters on the west side.
Here's a shot of the sumo doing their posturing toward their corners (where their attendants are)
When two guys come out into the ring, they have some motions they go through first toward their corner, and then toward each other. Then they go to their corner, rinse their mouth with water and grab a handful of salt. When they turn to go back into the circle, they throw the salt to cleanse the ground and to ward off injury. Then they face each other and do one squat with their feet close together. Then they stand back up and squat again with their feet further apart. At this point the match could start if both of them look at each other and place both of their fists on the ground. However, most of the time one of them will not look at the other (either to indicate that they're not ready, to irritate the other guy, etc), or they could just take too long, and so the other guy will stand back up and leave the ring. As soon as either one decides to leave, they both do. Then they wipe themselves off with a towel, grab some more salt and start it all over again. This process can repeat for up to 4 minutes (I think).
Once both of them are finally ready, as soon as all four fists are on the ground and they're making eye contact, they launch at each other slapping each other in the chest and around the face. They'll try various tricks that involve grabbing the waistband of the other guy, trying to trip him, etc. As soon as one of them steps out of the ring, or any of their body (besides their feet) touches the ground, they loose.
When the match is over, they both go back to their sides of the circle, bow toward each other and the loser leaves the ring. The winnder squats, and the referee declares them the winner by gesturing to them with a fan-looking thing. The sumo wrestler makes a gesture. Then, if there is a cash award for the match, the referee walks up to the winner and offers him the prize. The wrestler then has one final gesture they use to take the prize, and then they finally leave the ring. The winner then stays to offer the mouth-rinsing water to the next wrestler on their side of the ring.
It was really interesting, and I ended up sitting right next to some people from Los Angeles, and they were pretty fun, so I got another dose of anti-lonely medicine. Then once it was over, I headed into Namba's shopping area, and I found a restaurant that serves fugu in _everything_. I went in, ordered some fugu nigiri (just a couple of slices of raw fugu on rice), tried it, and left. Then I found an okonomiyaki place, and had the rest of my meal =) The fugu was okay, but nothing spectacular .. the okonomiyaki, however, was superb. Then on my way back to the JR station, I saw a street vendor selling sesame seed balls with sweet red bean paste in the middle. They were also selling these little chunks of potato covered in a sugary glaze and then carmelized so that the glaze became a hard candy shell. I got some of both, and it was great.
Well, that's about it. I came back to the hotel and wrote this. And now I'm gonna get some sleep. I head back to Tokyo tomorrow, and if I make it in time, I might head over to Harajuku. That place is awesome on Sundays.
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