Japan Part 3.


Food.

Early Morning at the Tsukiji Market.

Mystery Flavor..

Super Cute Sweets.

Okonomiyake.

I cant believe that it has taken me the longest to write about the food in Japan. For me, eating is one of my favorite things, so eating in Japan was one of my favorite memories of being in Japan.

On our first evening, jet lagged and all, we were wandering through Ginza around 4:30pm looking for a place that was open for dinner. You know, early bird special? We didn’t have too much luck with that, unless we wanted café fare via Tullys or Starbucks… so, we wandered into this cute little place tucked away down some stairs behind a wooden façade. The menu was in Japanese, with no pictures, so we figured, well, they must have sushi, right? The woman was a bit surprised to see us, Americans, walking in for dinner at 4:30, but she seated us anyway. We were the first to arrive apparently. We tried to get some English out of her, as far as the menu was concerned. She didn’t know much, and for this she bowed and apologized profusely. But, she did keep repeating, “horse” as she pointed to the different options on the menu. We would ask, “sushi?” and she would say, “ah, yes, Horse.” We would say, noodles? And she, “ah, yes, with Horse.”
Oh boy. I have too many fond memories of horses…
In the end, I think that we managed to order Udon noodles without the horse, but I am still not so sure what we ended up eating that night.

From this adventure, I learned that the Japanese restaurants seem to specialize in one thing. sushi, bento, udon, okonomiyake..or horse. And, you cant just wander into any restaurant and assume that they will have sushi, or udon noodles. What they serve is many variations of bento, or many different kinds of udon noodles..or, in the case of our first outing, many kinds of dishes prepared solely with horse.

What was really great about dining out in Japan, was that many restaurants didn’t have English menus, but they did have a hefty display case out front that showcased their menu in plastic food parts. (I have to say, I was curious to visit the factory store that makes all these plastic food items..) Many times, we would have to usher the server outside and point to the dish that we wanted, or if the menu was in Japanese with only a few pictures, we would end up ordering something that was photographed, just so we had some idea of what might be ending up on our table.

Some of my most memorable meals had to be the Okonomiyake. Something that I would never have known existed, if it hadn’t been for my mom who went on an Okonomiyake cooking kick after visiting Japan last year. It starts with either a thin pancake of batter or of noodles, and then it is filled with cabbage, meat, green onions, ginger and topped with an egg. It is cooked on a flat top in front of you, smothered with plum sauce, then pushed over to your end of the grill, where you eat it right off the hot surface. In Hiroshima, we happened upon a “village” of Okonomiyake restaurants, upstairs in a small non descript building. It was basically a floor of little open bars, each with a flat top grill, around which you sit, and they cook for you. Yum.

Of course, I can’t not talk about the sushi and the Tsukiji market, because that was a highlight and a place that T had been telling me about for 2 years. It was pretty remarkable. A few mornings, we would get up really early and just wander around the perimeter, where the shops were already open. There were these small bars along the outside, where I experienced raw fish over steamed rice for breakfast, for the first time…and, I loved it. I cant think of a healthier way to start the day, really. (we went back there the next morning for sushi at 6am..)

Of course, being a dessert person, I did some sampling of the local sweets. I have to say, while the dessert pastries are beautifully packaged, they weren’t my favorite. They make a lot of paste-like fillings encased in this chewy-anise flavored dough, that I just couldn’t bring myself to love. I tried, I did. But, I was very impressed with the bakerys there. The Japanese have adopted the Euro style bakery and have added their own twist. While I didn’t love the bean paste in the rubbery dough, I did love it in a sugar dusted filled donut, and I did love the purple taro filled sweet buns, complete with a purple sugary glaze. Oh man, they can certainly bake the breakfast pastries…

And, I cannot forget the soft serve. They served it everywhere, mostly along the touristed sights. It was the perfect snack after a morning tour of a temple and a lot of walking. They mainly served Green Tea, to my delight, but I also sampled Milk flavor, and passed up a jet black flavor. I am still not sure what it was but the picture that advertised it, made it look like it was made from charcoal. Can this be?

I could go on and on, for the food was so delicious, and the vending machines were dizzying and numerous, but this entry needs to end so that my next entry can begin.

Harajuku girl
Originally uploaded by Jonas B

Japan Part 2

Style.

One thing that was prevalent across Japan was the amazing sense of style. I found myself many times embarrassed to be donning the same Old Navy shirt, the same clunky red shoes, and the same fluorescent rain shell..yet again. I guess these are the breaks when you are traveling around for 3 weeks living out of your carry on. I was conscious of the style quotient in Japan before we left, so I made an effort to do a little shopping and bought some stylish walking shoes, and some pants other than my staple Levi Jeans, but I think that it is impossible to blend in here, regardless of the steps you take to look somewhat stylish.

On the first day, I pulled out my brand new stylish and comfy walking shoes and found myself cursing under my breath and limping from large blisters within the first hour. Note to self: break in shoes, especially those to be worn without socks. Another note: band-aids don’t stick, but moleskin does. I spent the rest of the trip trying to find the equivalent of moleskin, which I was successful in doing, and it really saved my a** because we walked a lot. A lot.

Women in Tokyo are so stylish and seem to wear anything well. The fad of the moment, while the weather was still somewhat warm, but Fall closing in, was shorts or skirts and high black boots, with a wooly ski hat. I found it somewhat humorous at first, I mean, why wear a ski hat and shorts when you could just put some pants on? Well, that is me…boring and practical me. After a day or so, I started thinking that it was actually kind of cute. All the layering, suspender-skirts, the long sweaters, the shorts, the boots.
And, then, there are the Japanese men. I saw more hair-do’s on the young men than the women. The young men really do it up, I mean, really. I think that they must go through more styling products than the women. It is so different. You see men walking in groups of three or four, checking out the girls, and they each have a different doo going on… puffy, slicked back, mullet-style…you name it.

Halfway through our visit to Tokyo, I decided that I wanted to dress like a Tokyo woman. So, after a long day of walking, I ventured into a cool shop. After grabbing a few things off the hangers, I motioned to the salesperson that I wanted to try them on. Instead of just pointing my way to the room, the woman, took my clothes from me, took everything off the hangers, folded everything nicely and laid everything out in the dressing room for me. When I went to step into the room, with my shoes on, I learned that you don’t do that here. You are to take your shoes off and leave them at the door of the room. The only problem here was that we had been walking all day. I am sure that you can imagine what that might mean in a pair of shoes worn without socks…walking all day, every day? Needless to say, I was horrified that I had to take the shoes off and leave them for all to whiff. So, I tried to mask the stench by placing them face down, cradling each other, and I made my way into the dressing room. As if I wasn’t already embarrassed, the saleswoman came over, and grabbed my shoes to re-arrange them just so, and in the process, she began coughing…presumably from the smell. Then, she started talking to her co-worker and giggling… I was so mortified that I snuck my way out of the dressing room and out the door. (everything was too small anyway..) After this, I was a bit intimidated to repeat the experience. Interesting though, when I did end up trying on more clothes, I found, not surprisingly, that clothes don’t fit the same here. particularly pants. They are made for a shorter more petite woman, and the hems are sewn very differently. Shucks, because there were some cute pants…

On the second to last day of our trip, I remembered that my boss was throwing a Halloween party. I cant believe that I went the whole trip, when I could have been gathering costume pieces along the way. Throughout our travels, we saw many stores toting the young style of the day, which was a lot like the retro-80’s look. On that day in Kyoto, I remembered some styles that we had seen in Tokyo, in the Harajuku district. Harajuku is where all the young kids hang out and on Sundays, many gather along a certain bridge, dressed to the nines. There are a few different styles: punk, goth, kawaii (which means cute, dressed babylike), decora (which means decked out in accessories) and cosplay (which means dressing like an anime character). With all of the creative dress here, I realized that my costume was staring me in the face. So, on our last day, I braved the shops once again, this time with my less offensive shoes…

Stay Tuned for Japan Part 2. In the meantime, enjoy this video...

Shibuya Crosswalks.

This is a video of the craziest intersection of people.
When all crosswalks say walk, there are hoardes of people waiting to cross...in every direction.

Japan. Part 1.

Skip to my loo.

There is so much more to Japan than the just their amazing toilets, but I have to dedicate some of my blog to them for they continually made me smile throughout the trip. For those of you who think that a toilet is just a toilet, is just a toilet, I have some news for you.

Yes, there were plenty of bathrooms that utilized the ‘Japanese’ style of toilet..which really is not much more than a hole in the ground, with a rail in front of it to hold onto. For this, I learned the hard way, the first few times, when I didn’t roll up the bottom of my pant legs, and they fell to the ground..which usually isn’t the squeakiest of clean surfaces. (keep in mind, it is harder for women to aim..)

But, walk into a stall with a ‘western’ style toilet, and the experience is almost like a trip to the spa. First, I ventured to sit on a few of these toilets, (with the liner of course) because I couldn’t resist the heated seat. You can actually adjust the controls with just how heated you want your seat…and your toilet seat.

Then, for a little more privacy for those embarrassing public restroom moments, you have the option to cover up those noises, with the sound of running water and birds chirping. Some toilets do this automatically when you sit down, so a lot of times, when you walk into a full bathroom, you hear the sounds of nature and a rushing river…not the sounds that you might expect to hear. Just like a trip to the spa…How relaxing is that?

Then, there are the bidet and washing options which I never partook in, but I was curious about, so one night at the hotel while standing over the toilet, I pressed a button with a spray logo on it. Some sort of spigot came out and literally sprayed me in the face with water, as I stood peering into the toilet like an idiot. It then proceeding to spray the ceiling and the mirror across the room. Quite the cleanse, I would think, if you were actually sitting on the toilet. I certainly hope it wasn’t water from the toilet bowl..

Many of these toilets gave me the sense that I was operating some pretty complex machinery. Most have a control panel on the side with many buttons to push…almost as if I could push a button and buy a can of milk tea, or push a button and a hand would extend out and massage my back. I imagine for the Japanese, the masters of invention, that this is just a matter of time.

My Feet in Japan.

While I repair myself from our travels home, I will begin my Japan coverage with some photos....


In Tokyo.

On top of a beautiful sewer grate. Each city had their own special pattern.

Soaked. The wettest day, in Kyoto.

In Hakone.

Stay Tuned......


soon to come...Tales from Japan:

how much I love Japanese toilets
how I am mortified at trying on clothing after a day of walking in stinky shoes..and more!!

Bubble Tea is SO yesterday. Today, it is all about the Iced Matcha Latte..



I was heartbroken the other day when I decided to walk 2 miles to the U district to treat myself to a Bubble Tea at my favorite place. I had a frequent drinker card, and they even knew me there. During my last visit, I think that they actually perfected my drink. My usual was the black milk tea, and last time I told them to make it a little less sweet but to give me more tapioca. It was so perfect.
Unfortunately, my perfect bubble tea experience would be my last..at least for a while until I get over the shock of walking up to the doorway of "Gossip Tea" and seeing a hand scrawled sign on the door. "Closed-Sorry"

Closed? Sorry? That's it?

I peered into the windows to see my boba haven in complete disarray with the chairs piled up in a corner, the counters pulled out and signs in the windows claiming that the next best thing (a Chinese bakery) would be "coming soon."

So, in my shock, I did what I had to do. I went to the next best bubble tea place, up the street. I dont know, my drink was so sweet, the pearls not quite perfect, and hardly any ice. All in all, just not the boba experience that I had grown to love.

SO boba, I am moving on. Officially, you and I are through. (for now at least)

I have a new love. Certainly not as sweet nor as chewy. I have entered the milk tea phase of the matcha tea lattes. So far, I have only ventured with the iced version, but so far, I have been quite pleased. I am even somewhat impressed with Starbucks version, minus the nasty melon syrup they add. I am not quite sure why they would tamper with something that is good on its own.
Less is more, right? Although, I guess if they had tapioca pearls, that might be a different story..