First of all, I'd like to wish my grandpa a happy 80th birthday! Sorry I'm not there to celebrate it...hope Tabachi's is good ^_< Save me some pancakes!
So, Thursday, Osaka. We woke up early, had a continental Japanese breakfast that consisted of meat, veggies, bread, and of course rice...much healthier than frosted chocolate sugar chunks with extra chocolate syrup. After that we just shopped the entire day, hopping between various shopping arcades. Unfortunately I don't really remember all their names, but we hit up all the famous ones, such as Den Den Town (Electric Town), Osaka's main otaku (nerd) attraction.
---Note: I'm trying to upload pictures but it's giving me an error message. I'll try again later, but it's almost midnight and I want to get some good shut-eye before my first day of class tomorrow, so I might not finish this post until tomorrow afternoon (which would be tomorrow night for ya'll). Sorry, blame Google!
Sunday, September 30, 2007
Kyoto - Hanging out with Captain Jack
It was around 2:30 when we had finished visiting the three temples. The other two ryuugakusei and our tutor went to Osaka to check into the hotel while I went to my friend Ryota's house. Ryota goes by the nickname Captain Jack after a Eurobeat musical artist of the same name, who's most famous for his Dance Dance Revolution songs. True to his name, as soon as I got in Captain Jack's car there was DDR music playing.
I met Captain Jack about 4 years ago at a Super Smash Bros. Melee tournament in San Jose. He had flown in from Japan to participate. At that tournament we spent the night at the venue (my friend's house). He, his friend Takuto, and I spent the trying to understand each other (I was attempting to use what Japanese I heard learned from my year of community college Japanese my Junior year in high school). We became good friends and he promised me then that if I ever came to Japan I could come stay with him. I'm glad I made good on that promise :)
I met Captain Jack about 4 years ago at a Super Smash Bros. Melee tournament in San Jose. He had flown in from Japan to participate. At that tournament we spent the night at the venue (my friend's house). He, his friend Takuto, and I spent the trying to understand each other (I was attempting to use what Japanese I heard learned from my year of community college Japanese my Junior year in high school). We became good friends and he promised me then that if I ever came to Japan I could come stay with him. I'm glad I made good on that promise :)
Jack lives in Kyoto, about 20 minutes by car from the main eki (train station). He has a nice house and a nice family. This is his gaming room. He's the one closest to the TV.
The other guy's name is Ii. He lives north of Tokyo and came all the way down to Kyoto just to play with us that afternoon. I'd say he and I are pretty even at Melee. CJ is, of course, elite. I was able to beat him once, though he was playing a random character and was probably sandbagging (not trying his hardest). His friend, Takuto, whom I had met at the tournament in the United States four years ago, came later. He had been preparing for "The Last Big Melee Tournament" in America this past weekend, so he was on his game. I was consistently getting 4-stocked and 3-stocked by him (in other words, I could barely scathe him).
For dinner Jack took us to his favorite ramen-ya (Ramen shop). This is where Takuto met up with us. He had previously eaten and said he was full, so he and CJ (as well as Ii and myself) did squats while we waited outside to build an appetite. I ain't gonna lie, it was kind of hazukashii (embarassing), but fun at the same :)
A cool little turtle on a sign next to us.
"Tan Tan Ramen"
OISHII~!! (Delicious!) I love these huge ramen dishes in Japan. Thankfully they give you napkins here, which I mainly use to blow my nose in. For some reason eating hot & spicy ramen or other similar dishes makes my nose run.
Switching from food to bathrooms, this is the inside of Captain Jack's bathroom. I've never seen a urinal inside a house bathroom before. Sick.
Omoroi (interesting, slang) nuigurumi (stuffed animal)...
The line up (from the left): Takuto, Ii, Ore (me), and Jack
Jack was, and still is, Japan's premier Smasher. Currently he sells the raw materials for car parts for some Japanese company. He likes to travel a lot - he spent last year studying abroad in France (his French is better than his English, he says). He leaves for Africa this week for two months, just because he thinks Africa is interesting. Thankfully he plans on playing Super Smash Bros. Brawl, the sequel to Super Smash Bros. Melee coming out for the Nintendo Wii this winter, as heavily as he did Melee, so hopefully our paths will be able to cross again in the future.
Kyoto - Kinkakuji & Sanjuusangendou
Outside of Kinkakuji, aka Kyoto's Golden Pavilion. Wikipedia link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kinkaku-ji
Yup, that's gold. I wonder how much it'd fetch for on the black market...*calls in Ocean 11*
A closer view...note the reflection in the water. Keen camera-man Xander!
What's more money: The temple, or me?
It's pretty touristy with a lot of kusogaijin (stinkin' gaijin) visiting. I always hate going to places where there are a lot of other gaijin. When I first got to Japan whenever I saw another gaijin I felt like saying "Hey, this is crazy, we're in Japan!" Now that I feel more like an actual denizen of the land instead of a tourist, I feel a bit more resent towards them...I can only imagine how the Japanese feel.
An even closer view...so...sparkley...must...steal...
Try to toss a coin into the little bowl...people apparently really suck at that.
This is the entrance to Sanjuusangendou. Wikipedia link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sanj%C5%ABsangen-d%C5%8D
Dekai! (Huge!) Inside are 1,000 Thousand Armed Kannon statues, as well as 28 statues of guardian deities. No photography is allowed inside :(
Of course, that doesn't stop Google Images from having a sneak peak of what it looked like inside :)
A small shrine outside of the temple
Surrounding the center building on the inside of the gates were these hideous-looking structures. I tell ya, who could possibly like this color??
Greg must be the architect's decedent or something...
Yup, that's gold. I wonder how much it'd fetch for on the black market...*calls in Ocean 11*
A closer view...note the reflection in the water. Keen camera-man Xander!
What's more money: The temple, or me?
It's pretty touristy with a lot of kusogaijin (stinkin' gaijin) visiting. I always hate going to places where there are a lot of other gaijin. When I first got to Japan whenever I saw another gaijin I felt like saying "Hey, this is crazy, we're in Japan!" Now that I feel more like an actual denizen of the land instead of a tourist, I feel a bit more resent towards them...I can only imagine how the Japanese feel.
An even closer view...so...sparkley...must...steal...
Try to toss a coin into the little bowl...people apparently really suck at that.
This is the entrance to Sanjuusangendou. Wikipedia link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sanj%C5%ABsangen-d%C5%8D
Dekai! (Huge!) Inside are 1,000 Thousand Armed Kannon statues, as well as 28 statues of guardian deities. No photography is allowed inside :(
Of course, that doesn't stop Google Images from having a sneak peak of what it looked like inside :)
A small shrine outside of the temple
Surrounding the center building on the inside of the gates were these hideous-looking structures. I tell ya, who could possibly like this color??
Greg must be the architect's decedent or something...
Sunday, September 23, 2007
Travel update
Soooo not everything worked out as planned (does it ever?). I was going to go down with two of the other ryuugakusei to Kyouto last night via bus. However, because we didn't reserve a bus early enough (due to one of the other ryuugakusei being flakey) we couldn't get seats for last night. Or tonight. So we're going down on Tuesday night to Kyouto, spend the early morning going to a temple (I forget which one, one of the major ones), then I'm going to split off and see my friend who lives in Kyouto while the other guys go to Oosaka to start shopping. I'll meet up with them Wednesday night (I can't stay at my friend's house that night because he's leaving town), spend the night in Oosaka, shop all day Thursday, then return by bus Thursday night. Afterwards, either on Friday or Saturday, I'll go north up to Nikkou to visit the hot springs and natural wildlife up there. School starts on Wednesday.
Thursday, September 20, 2007
Quick update
So tomorrow I have my kimatsushiken (final exam). I haven't updated all week because nothing's really happened...just basic schoolwork, watching anime, eating food, breathing, etc. Nothing really to write home about. We did go visit the Linear Motor Car last week, which is supposed to be one of the world's fastest trains, going at around 500mph. They had one of the more interesting gift shops, with little kitsune (foxes) that you can dangle from your phone, with each different colored kitsune having a different meaning (being able to read all the kanji that described what type of luck each kitsune wished was very satisfying, proving that I am actually improving :)). I hadn't seen those the first time I went there, but some of the other ryuugakusei had bought some. One of the ryuugakusei bought a very attractive light-pink kitsune, which wished luck in relationships, for his girlfriend back home. I'm currently putting together a care package to send to the-girl-back-home-I-was-dating-prior-to-coming-to-Japan, that would be one of the best gifts to give, so I went back there today with Fumi-san, one of our instructor's whose sole purpose is to make sure we have fun. Now all I need to find is a sensu (a folding fan) and I'm set.
My hair is extremely long...I can't remember the last time it was this long. Unfortunately, when my hair grows out, it just literally does that - grows out. There's no unity to it; I constantly have that bed-hair look (think Tristan Ruppe). I was going to get a haircut today but realized that it's approximately $30 for a simple hair cut! (I might be able to talk them down since I'd just want a buzz cut, but it'd probably still be north of $20.) Instead, tomorrow after my kimatsushiken, Fumi-san's sons are going to give me and another ryuugakusei a buzz cut since they have a buzzer. Machidooshi (I can hardly wait)!
I just exchanged emails with my teacher Shima-sensei. One of the students was feeling like he was being picked up, despite us telling him that all the jests at him were in good humor and endearing. Seeing as how I've become the unspoken leader of the ryuugakusei, I felt it was my duty to make sure everyone was in good spirits. It's a position I often find myself placed in, and am now trying to explore the various ways of being a better leader in any and all positions, not only for my own well-being, but also for job possibilities down the road, where I had considered an assistant producer / producer position. Anyways, she responded explaining exactly what we've been telling him - unfortunately he's too nervous and shy to have gone up earlier and done something about it. She'll be one of our teachers in the coming months, so our relationship with her should still be healthy. I'm not going to tell him I talked to her on his behalf (I also asked that we keep the emails confidential), because I feel that her praise towards him, seeming to have come straight from her instead of resulting from my influence, would have the most beneficial effect. Moreover, as I'm finally realizing that I can become an even better leader if I put in the effort, I feel that it's important that someone be able to do something nice and not try to get credit for it - that, to me, is the sign of a true leader. Sure, you might say that posting this is in some ways going against that philosophy, but this message was intended to be more of a "I'm going to try to realize any sort of leadership skills I have while in Japan" instead of "Hey, I just did a good deed, listen!"
I made brats and curry tonight for dinner. Sure, it's not like it was very lavish, really just a bunch of microwaving, but the dogs' taste reminded me of the ones we usually eat at home. I really want to become a much better chef. Whether or not I'll have enough time in Japan to work on my culinary skills and continue further down the path towards Iron Chefhood I can't know for certain, but I know that when I get back home I'll be closely watching Dad (okay, and Greg) at each meal preparation. I feel like being able to actually cook meals makes you that much more of a mature, responsible adult. Also, the girl back home has a 19-premier meal plan, which means she gets 3 meals a day weekdays and 2 meals a day on weekends. Being college students you rarely eat breakfast and you often skip meals or go elsewhere to eat - assuming that we're still together when I get back, that'll allow me to still have access to the oishii (delicious) UCLA dining commons. In return, I'd like to be able to prepare really nice meals for us when she wants a change of pace from dorm food. So, konpai (cheers) to furthering my daidokoro no jutsu (kitchen skills)!
Finally, next week is our week off before the next half of our schooling begins. Most of us are traveling around. My current travel plans are as follows:
Friday: Kimatsushiken, haircut, basketball, memorize speech
Saturday: Present our final speech in the morning in front of our host family, Takaguchi-san (our main head instructor), the tutors, and anyone else who comes. Saturday afternoon we go to Toukyou for a piano recital. After that, we're free until the 1st of October, when the second half begins.
Sunday: Go to the Toukyou Gemu-shou (Tokyo Gameshow), which is a big display of a bunch of videogames from a bunch of different companies. Going with a few friends, should be a lot of fun.
Monday: Do some more shopping in Tokyo since I'll still be there. Planning on going to Asakusa, Shibuya, Harujuku, and Akihabara. Monday night I'm taking the red-eye bus to Kyouto.
Tuesday: Travel around Kyouto with some other ryuugakusei to see a few temples. Head over to my friend Ryota's house in Oosaka (alias Captain Jack, Japan's #1 Super Smash Bros. Melee (a videogame) player). There I'll be spending Tuesday night, possibly Wednesday too, depending on how it goes.
Wednesday: Do the Oosaka thing - eat the famous food, shop in the famous districts, etc. See how much time I have left, possibly return via red-eye bus back to Toukyou, Wednesday night, or stay another night if I'm playing a lot of Super Smash Bros. Melee with my friend and leave Thursday night.
Thursday: Up in the air, possibly stay in Oosaka again, possibly be in Toukyo / return to Tsuru to rest up.
Friday / Saturday / Sunday: Possibly go to Nikkou with a few other ryuugakusei and Japanese students. Nikkou is about an hour north of Toukyou by train. There you'll find natural waterfalls, onsen (hot springs), and a bunch of different sites to visit and hands-on things to do, like pottery or wood carving. It's also known for its various wildlife, especially the saru (monkeys), who will apparently jump right on in the onsen with you. (They'll also steal food from stuuuuupid travelers.../free present to anyone who caught that reference, probably only Greg.)
So, I probably won't be updating at all next week, since I'll be all around Japan...till then, wish me luck on my final and my speech!
My hair is extremely long...I can't remember the last time it was this long. Unfortunately, when my hair grows out, it just literally does that - grows out. There's no unity to it; I constantly have that bed-hair look (think Tristan Ruppe). I was going to get a haircut today but realized that it's approximately $30 for a simple hair cut! (I might be able to talk them down since I'd just want a buzz cut, but it'd probably still be north of $20.) Instead, tomorrow after my kimatsushiken, Fumi-san's sons are going to give me and another ryuugakusei a buzz cut since they have a buzzer. Machidooshi (I can hardly wait)!
I just exchanged emails with my teacher Shima-sensei. One of the students was feeling like he was being picked up, despite us telling him that all the jests at him were in good humor and endearing. Seeing as how I've become the unspoken leader of the ryuugakusei, I felt it was my duty to make sure everyone was in good spirits. It's a position I often find myself placed in, and am now trying to explore the various ways of being a better leader in any and all positions, not only for my own well-being, but also for job possibilities down the road, where I had considered an assistant producer / producer position. Anyways, she responded explaining exactly what we've been telling him - unfortunately he's too nervous and shy to have gone up earlier and done something about it. She'll be one of our teachers in the coming months, so our relationship with her should still be healthy. I'm not going to tell him I talked to her on his behalf (I also asked that we keep the emails confidential), because I feel that her praise towards him, seeming to have come straight from her instead of resulting from my influence, would have the most beneficial effect. Moreover, as I'm finally realizing that I can become an even better leader if I put in the effort, I feel that it's important that someone be able to do something nice and not try to get credit for it - that, to me, is the sign of a true leader. Sure, you might say that posting this is in some ways going against that philosophy, but this message was intended to be more of a "I'm going to try to realize any sort of leadership skills I have while in Japan" instead of "Hey, I just did a good deed, listen!"
I made brats and curry tonight for dinner. Sure, it's not like it was very lavish, really just a bunch of microwaving, but the dogs' taste reminded me of the ones we usually eat at home. I really want to become a much better chef. Whether or not I'll have enough time in Japan to work on my culinary skills and continue further down the path towards Iron Chefhood I can't know for certain, but I know that when I get back home I'll be closely watching Dad (okay, and Greg) at each meal preparation. I feel like being able to actually cook meals makes you that much more of a mature, responsible adult. Also, the girl back home has a 19-premier meal plan, which means she gets 3 meals a day weekdays and 2 meals a day on weekends. Being college students you rarely eat breakfast and you often skip meals or go elsewhere to eat - assuming that we're still together when I get back, that'll allow me to still have access to the oishii (delicious) UCLA dining commons. In return, I'd like to be able to prepare really nice meals for us when she wants a change of pace from dorm food. So, konpai (cheers) to furthering my daidokoro no jutsu (kitchen skills)!
Finally, next week is our week off before the next half of our schooling begins. Most of us are traveling around. My current travel plans are as follows:
Friday: Kimatsushiken, haircut, basketball, memorize speech
Saturday: Present our final speech in the morning in front of our host family, Takaguchi-san (our main head instructor), the tutors, and anyone else who comes. Saturday afternoon we go to Toukyou for a piano recital. After that, we're free until the 1st of October, when the second half begins.
Sunday: Go to the Toukyou Gemu-shou (Tokyo Gameshow), which is a big display of a bunch of videogames from a bunch of different companies. Going with a few friends, should be a lot of fun.
Monday: Do some more shopping in Tokyo since I'll still be there. Planning on going to Asakusa, Shibuya, Harujuku, and Akihabara. Monday night I'm taking the red-eye bus to Kyouto.
Tuesday: Travel around Kyouto with some other ryuugakusei to see a few temples. Head over to my friend Ryota's house in Oosaka (alias Captain Jack, Japan's #1 Super Smash Bros. Melee (a videogame) player). There I'll be spending Tuesday night, possibly Wednesday too, depending on how it goes.
Wednesday: Do the Oosaka thing - eat the famous food, shop in the famous districts, etc. See how much time I have left, possibly return via red-eye bus back to Toukyou, Wednesday night, or stay another night if I'm playing a lot of Super Smash Bros. Melee with my friend and leave Thursday night.
Thursday: Up in the air, possibly stay in Oosaka again, possibly be in Toukyo / return to Tsuru to rest up.
Friday / Saturday / Sunday: Possibly go to Nikkou with a few other ryuugakusei and Japanese students. Nikkou is about an hour north of Toukyou by train. There you'll find natural waterfalls, onsen (hot springs), and a bunch of different sites to visit and hands-on things to do, like pottery or wood carving. It's also known for its various wildlife, especially the saru (monkeys), who will apparently jump right on in the onsen with you. (They'll also steal food from stuuuuupid travelers.../free present to anyone who caught that reference, probably only Greg.)
So, I probably won't be updating at all next week, since I'll be all around Japan...till then, wish me luck on my final and my speech!
Saturday, September 15, 2007
Toukyou & Japanese Costco
Again, sorry for the lack of posting. I'm often very busy, even though I feel like I should have more free time. Anyways, this past week had a lot of interesting things happen - nothing huge like climbing Mt. Fuji, but still, a fun-filled week.
Last weekend I went to Toukyou with some of the other ryuugakusei and tutors. On Sautrday we went to Shibuya and Harujuku to go clothes shopping. A lot of the stores we went to were very punkish / Nightmare Before Christmas-y...think like a bunch of Hot Topics. That punk look is very big right now in Japan, though unfortunately for me I can never really see myself wearing skulls or black and white stripes. The other ryuugakusei really liked those clothes, though, and we had planned to go shopping for clothes more my taste on Sunday, so it was fine that I didn't really do much shopping on Saturday. That night I took the other ryuugakusei and tutors that were with us to the club that I had gone to two weeks ago. They were playing more techno this time around, as well as having live karaoke to 80's music (Oh, those poor, poor songs that were butchered by their botched English).
Shopping in town...very hectic, a lot of hole-in-the-wall stores, but fun nonetheless.
For lunch we went to a sushiya (sushi store). I'm not sure if this particular style of sushiya has a specific name or not. Baiscally there's a big oval conveyor belt that you sit next to, with the chefs in the middle. As they make the food they put it on the conveyor belt, and it's your duty to snatch the delicious looking sushi dishes. The price of the sushi is determined by the type of plate that it's on. Itadakimasu! (said before you eat)
Gochisousama! (said after you eat)
I like how they do fighting games in Japan - they put screens across from each other so you can't see the other player's movement or interfere with his concentration.
A small glimpse of what the inaka (rural) country side looks like. I'll be taking some pictures of Tsuru soon - it's a beautiful machi (town).
I don't even remember what was here, but this daemon model looked really cool.
A lot of crazy cosplayers (people who dress up in costumes) in Harujuku. Some of them are extremely outlandish...makes one wonder if these people are just dressing up for fun, or if they actually have some kind of self-image mental problem.
Toukyou nightlife. Yes, it looks really big and bright, but when you're actually there, it's just not THAT impressive. You get over it pretty fast ;)
We slept in a McDonald's to save money. In Japan there are a variety of places, like McDonald's or Manga Kissatens (Comic coffee shops) where you can sleep for free, until they kick you out in the morning to make room for patrons. So, if you ever go into a McDonald's at 3AM, you'll see a ton of people just sleeping. A lot of people also stay up till 5 or 6 AM, whenever the first trains start, then catch those and sleep.
The next day we went shopping around for clothes that I would like. Unfortunately they don't really have any chain clothing stores like JC Penny's or Gottschalks or Sears, so it's all about finding random buildings that would have clothes in them. We found a Big & Tall store on the corner of some random street, but unfortunately the clothes were too big and too tall. Although there were shirts that were the right length, and at a reasonable price too, they were all 3XL-6XL sizes (I fit into their XL equivalent, LL). They didn't quite get that in a Big & Tall store you're supposed to have clothes for both tall people and big people, not just tall, big people :(
We went to Shibuya afterwards to find some more clothes stores, but again, to no avail. I'll keep looking, though, because I know that there are clothes out there that I want, I just have to find them my size.
At least I go to go to the Disney store! Unfortunately, though, everything has been turned into Halloween goodies. I prefer to buy things that don't have to do with specific holidays, that way I can enjoy it year round.
After that we went to Asakasa to go look at their extensive shopping area. It's a great place to find traditional Japanese gifts (hint: a lot of your presents will be coming from there ^_<). I bought a jinbei for myself (a male version of a kimono, for lack of a better description). I didn't really any other shopping than that since there were other people with other wants, so I plan on going back there by myself during my week-long break (from the 22nd to the 30th) so I can spend as much time there as I deem necessary. After that we went to the closest Costco. I forget the name of the town that it's located in (I'll look that up later), but it's about half way between Tsuru-shi and Toukyou-shi, in an area that's half inaka and half tokai (half rural and half industrial). They even have a Red Lobster next door, which I'm sure has vastly superior seafood than it's American cousin. 
The entrance to the shopping district in Asakasa.
Shopping district in Asakasa (the name of which I forget). A lot of interesting tchotchkes and omiyage (presents) for purchase.
I'm not sure what this temple is called, but it looks cool and is right next to the shopping district.
Me in front of it. Unfortunately we couldn't get a good snapshot of me and the tip of the tower together, despite our approximate size.
These clogs put American platform shoes to shame.
Nice scenery, cool cloud formation on the train ride back.
My card at first didn't work, so I had to go talk to the tenin (store employee) to get it dealt with (now it's all good, I got my picture pasted on it and it now works in Japan). Unfortunately, in all my wisdom, I forgot to take my camera out of my backpack before paying 100 Yen (~$1) to store my backpack in Costco's storage cubbies (of course what we also didn't realize is that you got your 100 yen back when you opened it...doh!). So, I don't have any pictures of the Costco, though they wouldn't really be that impressive, since it looks identical to any other Costco at home. Which means...
YES! They DO indeed have a food court, with all of Costco's signature shokuryouhin (food)! They have pepperoni, cheese, and combo pizza, some korean meat and spicy pork bake (which I first read as "bah-keh", not understanding what it meant...too much Japanese ^_<), yogurt (which they had a really funny name for that unfortunately I forget), churros, hotdogs, and soda. At this point there were only 3 of us, myself, my friend John, and one of the tutors Kim (the others had gone home). We treated Kim to real, delicious American pizza. An entire pizza was 1,500 yen, or about $13 (I'm not sure what the price is on a whole cooked pizza at Costco back home, but for the amount of pizza they give you, it definitely seemed like a good deal). She loved it, as did the "mugen refill no shuukan" (unlimited refills custom) that we taught her about. She thought that our standard-size cup was 'dekai' (huge, I get that word thrown at me a lot ^_<), and didn't believe us when we told her that there are much larger cups to fill sugary syrupy goodness with. We also taught her how, whenever you leave a restaurant that allows for free refills, you always top off before you leave. You just do it, you don't even think twice about it. We're Americans, we gotta get the most calories for our dollar, after all! The Costco's shouhin (goods) were about 80% American and 20% Japanese. The only thing they didn't have that I wanted to get was Kraft Macaroni & Cheese...they had a "Macaroni & Cheddar" substitute, but it just ain't the same if it isn't in the signature commercial blue box. Unfortunately, Japan doesn't really understand that when you buy something in bulk, you're supposed to get a discount. Their cartons of Goldfish cost about $15, as do their bags of mixed Mars Company bars, or their Kirkland Signature Cashews. A lot of other stuff that comes in packs of two or three also cost about the same price if you were to have bought them individually. That's not true for all their products, though. The best deal, without a doubt, that I saw was their Skippy peanut butter, where for less than issenyen (<$10) I was about to buy a 64 oz. tub, compared to their 9 oz. dollop that runs at $5 a pop. That right there will save me a lot of money, seeing as how I'm still as much of a PB&J cretin as I am back home =) Anyways, I bought said tub of peanut butter, the college-life quintessential Costco sanitize wipes, and two things of Heinz mustard (since you can't get it elsewhere). Now, you might be wondering how we brought all the purchased merchandise back home? Well, I'll let you know, I had the sublime honor of carrying all our crap in an bigger box, all the way back home, with a 20 minute walk from Costco to the train station, sitting on the train with it between my legs for an hour (and enduring all the "Huh? Stupid gaijin (foreigners)" stares I got from the other travelers), then all the way back from the train station to our apartment. And, of course, I ended up going back on Tuesday, though thankfully this time we had one of the coordinators drive us. She wanted to become a member so her, her husband, and her son took a few of the other ryuugakusei who didn't get a chance to go last time on a Costco run (of course, I had to be there since I had the card). Much to my dismay we had left right after class, so I didn't have time to go back home to get my camera. Though, now that someone with a car is a member, I'm sure I'll be going back more often, and the next time I go I'll try to take some interesting pictures. Also, next time I go I hope that they'll have frozen pepperoni pizza...they have the take-home frozen cheese, shrimp, and BBQ chicken pizza, but no pepperoni pizza :( It'd be nice to be able to have regular pizza whenever I'd want, though I'd have to somehow magically fit it into my chichai reizouko (small fridge) :)
Kind of a random picture, but there's me on TV during the Hassaku Matsuri! See if you can figure out which one I am :)
Last weekend I went to Toukyou with some of the other ryuugakusei and tutors. On Sautrday we went to Shibuya and Harujuku to go clothes shopping. A lot of the stores we went to were very punkish / Nightmare Before Christmas-y...think like a bunch of Hot Topics. That punk look is very big right now in Japan, though unfortunately for me I can never really see myself wearing skulls or black and white stripes. The other ryuugakusei really liked those clothes, though, and we had planned to go shopping for clothes more my taste on Sunday, so it was fine that I didn't really do much shopping on Saturday. That night I took the other ryuugakusei and tutors that were with us to the club that I had gone to two weeks ago. They were playing more techno this time around, as well as having live karaoke to 80's music (Oh, those poor, poor songs that were butchered by their botched English).
Shopping in town...very hectic, a lot of hole-in-the-wall stores, but fun nonetheless.
For lunch we went to a sushiya (sushi store). I'm not sure if this particular style of sushiya has a specific name or not. Baiscally there's a big oval conveyor belt that you sit next to, with the chefs in the middle. As they make the food they put it on the conveyor belt, and it's your duty to snatch the delicious looking sushi dishes. The price of the sushi is determined by the type of plate that it's on. Itadakimasu! (said before you eat)
Gochisousama! (said after you eat)
I like how they do fighting games in Japan - they put screens across from each other so you can't see the other player's movement or interfere with his concentration.
A small glimpse of what the inaka (rural) country side looks like. I'll be taking some pictures of Tsuru soon - it's a beautiful machi (town).
I don't even remember what was here, but this daemon model looked really cool.
A lot of crazy cosplayers (people who dress up in costumes) in Harujuku. Some of them are extremely outlandish...makes one wonder if these people are just dressing up for fun, or if they actually have some kind of self-image mental problem.
Toukyou nightlife. Yes, it looks really big and bright, but when you're actually there, it's just not THAT impressive. You get over it pretty fast ;)
We slept in a McDonald's to save money. In Japan there are a variety of places, like McDonald's or Manga Kissatens (Comic coffee shops) where you can sleep for free, until they kick you out in the morning to make room for patrons. So, if you ever go into a McDonald's at 3AM, you'll see a ton of people just sleeping. A lot of people also stay up till 5 or 6 AM, whenever the first trains start, then catch those and sleep.
The next day we went shopping around for clothes that I would like. Unfortunately they don't really have any chain clothing stores like JC Penny's or Gottschalks or Sears, so it's all about finding random buildings that would have clothes in them. We found a Big & Tall store on the corner of some random street, but unfortunately the clothes were too big and too tall. Although there were shirts that were the right length, and at a reasonable price too, they were all 3XL-6XL sizes (I fit into their XL equivalent, LL). They didn't quite get that in a Big & Tall store you're supposed to have clothes for both tall people and big people, not just tall, big people :(
We went to Shibuya afterwards to find some more clothes stores, but again, to no avail. I'll keep looking, though, because I know that there are clothes out there that I want, I just have to find them my size.
At least I go to go to the Disney store! Unfortunately, though, everything has been turned into Halloween goodies. I prefer to buy things that don't have to do with specific holidays, that way I can enjoy it year round.
The entrance to the shopping district in Asakasa.
Shopping district in Asakasa (the name of which I forget). A lot of interesting tchotchkes and omiyage (presents) for purchase.
I'm not sure what this temple is called, but it looks cool and is right next to the shopping district.
Me in front of it. Unfortunately we couldn't get a good snapshot of me and the tip of the tower together, despite our approximate size.
These clogs put American platform shoes to shame.
Nice scenery, cool cloud formation on the train ride back.
My card at first didn't work, so I had to go talk to the tenin (store employee) to get it dealt with (now it's all good, I got my picture pasted on it and it now works in Japan). Unfortunately, in all my wisdom, I forgot to take my camera out of my backpack before paying 100 Yen (~$1) to store my backpack in Costco's storage cubbies (of course what we also didn't realize is that you got your 100 yen back when you opened it...doh!). So, I don't have any pictures of the Costco, though they wouldn't really be that impressive, since it looks identical to any other Costco at home. Which means...
YES! They DO indeed have a food court, with all of Costco's signature shokuryouhin (food)! They have pepperoni, cheese, and combo pizza, some korean meat and spicy pork bake (which I first read as "bah-keh", not understanding what it meant...too much Japanese ^_<), yogurt (which they had a really funny name for that unfortunately I forget), churros, hotdogs, and soda. At this point there were only 3 of us, myself, my friend John, and one of the tutors Kim (the others had gone home). We treated Kim to real, delicious American pizza. An entire pizza was 1,500 yen, or about $13 (I'm not sure what the price is on a whole cooked pizza at Costco back home, but for the amount of pizza they give you, it definitely seemed like a good deal). She loved it, as did the "mugen refill no shuukan" (unlimited refills custom) that we taught her about. She thought that our standard-size cup was 'dekai' (huge, I get that word thrown at me a lot ^_<), and didn't believe us when we told her that there are much larger cups to fill sugary syrupy goodness with. We also taught her how, whenever you leave a restaurant that allows for free refills, you always top off before you leave. You just do it, you don't even think twice about it. We're Americans, we gotta get the most calories for our dollar, after all! The Costco's shouhin (goods) were about 80% American and 20% Japanese. The only thing they didn't have that I wanted to get was Kraft Macaroni & Cheese...they had a "Macaroni & Cheddar" substitute, but it just ain't the same if it isn't in the signature commercial blue box. Unfortunately, Japan doesn't really understand that when you buy something in bulk, you're supposed to get a discount. Their cartons of Goldfish cost about $15, as do their bags of mixed Mars Company bars, or their Kirkland Signature Cashews. A lot of other stuff that comes in packs of two or three also cost about the same price if you were to have bought them individually. That's not true for all their products, though. The best deal, without a doubt, that I saw was their Skippy peanut butter, where for less than issenyen (<$10) I was about to buy a 64 oz. tub, compared to their 9 oz. dollop that runs at $5 a pop. That right there will save me a lot of money, seeing as how I'm still as much of a PB&J cretin as I am back home =) Anyways, I bought said tub of peanut butter, the college-life quintessential Costco sanitize wipes, and two things of Heinz mustard (since you can't get it elsewhere). Now, you might be wondering how we brought all the purchased merchandise back home? Well, I'll let you know, I had the sublime honor of carrying all our crap in an bigger box, all the way back home, with a 20 minute walk from Costco to the train station, sitting on the train with it between my legs for an hour (and enduring all the "Huh? Stupid gaijin (foreigners)" stares I got from the other travelers), then all the way back from the train station to our apartment. And, of course, I ended up going back on Tuesday, though thankfully this time we had one of the coordinators drive us. She wanted to become a member so her, her husband, and her son took a few of the other ryuugakusei who didn't get a chance to go last time on a Costco run (of course, I had to be there since I had the card). Much to my dismay we had left right after class, so I didn't have time to go back home to get my camera. Though, now that someone with a car is a member, I'm sure I'll be going back more often, and the next time I go I'll try to take some interesting pictures. Also, next time I go I hope that they'll have frozen pepperoni pizza...they have the take-home frozen cheese, shrimp, and BBQ chicken pizza, but no pepperoni pizza :( It'd be nice to be able to have regular pizza whenever I'd want, though I'd have to somehow magically fit it into my chichai reizouko (small fridge) :)
Kind of a random picture, but there's me on TV during the Hassaku Matsuri! See if you can figure out which one I am :)
Thursday, September 6, 2007
Small update with current events
So right now it's 12:17 AM in Japan. I have time to post because tomorrow is a yasumi (day off)! Naze? (Why?) Due to a typhoon coming today the college was closed...elementary school and middle school kids still have to go to class, mwahahaha ^_< ....though unfortunately I just realized that I need to withdraw money before Friday, so I'm going to have to go out in this tsoyoi kaze (strong wind) and rain tomorrow...doh! >_< style="font-style: italic;">*Note: In Japan there are clubs and circles. Clubs are more rigorous, training every day, and I think they play against other colleges. Circles are just for fun, usually only practicing a few times each week. They're a good place to meet friends for ryuugakusei, or just any student in general. I'm going to try to join the soccer circle as well, but they're summer practice schedule conflicts with my class schedule, so I have to wait until the actual school starts. Anyways, the guys on the basketball team are all around 30 or so. It's common for there to be adult sport leagues in Japan. I know of mamasan volleyball, which is a volleyball league for moms (I'm guessing due to their young age nature, they're able to play better than American moms). My host mom is in that league, which is apparently why I haven't been invited over for dinner or anything (that and from what Ken said she's probably a little stuck-up).
Ken's really cool. He's essentially the leader of the basketball group, and probably a leader amongst his friends. Sort of like Koki and the tutors, except this guy has more of a presence. He's an attractive 37-year-old, half-Indian and half-Japanese, from the small southern Japanese island Okinawa. His father was in the US Navy. He studied business at Northridge for about 4 years, so his English is decent, and he worked at a famous sushiya (sushi store) in Hollywood (or Santa Monica, I can't remember), so he's met a lot of famous actors and singers. He surfed a lot in California and Hawaii, as well as in Tijuana. He's got 4 tattoos, with one being in a place "only for the wife to see." He loves Naruto (a famous anime, and probably my favorite) and he's really nice. He's also really strong. Even though he only lifts once a week for about 2 hours, I couldn't even budge his arm when we arm wrestled (it's a bit embarrassing to lose to a Japanese guy, not going to lie ^_<). Standing at about 5'10", he was captain of his basketball team in high school, so he's by far the best player out on the court. He's currently the assistant manager of his father's construction company, which nets him a hefty salary.
Anyways, after basketball we went to a bathhouse. I'm not sure whether or not to call it an onsen since it wasn't natural, but it was really relaxing. We had some food beforehand (that's when I ate chewy squid tentacles for the first time), then got naked, rested in the hot water, and talked (well I tried to understand what they were saying, throwing in random comments every now and then). Ken invited me to come eat at his house next week. His wife will be done with her final mamasan volleyball tournament by then, so she'll finally have time to cook for me (note I'm none to happy with her since apparently the kids and husband really wanted to meet me but she kept blowing it off...I had to always be the one to send emails, trying to get us to meet, and the entire time I was just pawned off on her husband). So, that's something fun to look forward to next week.
This weekend a bunch of us are going to Tokyo on Saturday to do some shopping. I'll be going to the Costco as well as one of the other places to get a bunch of clothes and presents, and we're all going to go to the Tokyo Tower at night. It'll be a lot of fun!
Finally, I'll close this update with one thing I've noticed. If someone were to ask me "What's Japan like?", I'd respond "It's sort of like Mexico but with clean water." At least, that seems to be the mentality of the people here. They're hard workers during the day and hard partiers at night. Also, when held to American standards, they're fairly lewd. I've already been asked at least three times from different people how "big" I am. The conversations I have with the adult men here tend to be even more crude than the college student conversations back home. Perhaps I just don't hang around those type of people in America and that's why it seems new to me, or perhaps it's Japan's normal liberal stance on sex and other topics that the religious agenda in America often tries to keep under wrap. Regardless of the reason, it certainly makes for interesting conversation, as well as expanding my lexicon with more...interesting words than I would have thought I'd learn.
Okay, I lied. In a final note, I really do HATE bugs. I don't know what exact kind caused this, but I've got 14 separate bites on my left hand alone.
Ewww...I feel like going Michael Jackson-style and only wear one glove.
The rest of my body is okay, but it just seems to be that my left hand is particularly savory to insects. I'm thinking they might be shindaimushi (bed bugs) due to some brown residue stain left on my bed sheets and the nature of the bites, though my efforts to find any have been to no great avail, and since it's raining neko and inu (cats and dogs ^_<) here, it's hard to have the sun kill off the bugs (or do laundry, for that matter, though it's supposed to clear up over the weekend). I've put some medicine on the bites, and I think they're slowly recovering, but it's hard to tell. Doug, or anyone who's had experience with this kind of bug infestation problem, what do you recommend? As it is now I sleep on the ground, so I figure once I clean my mattress I'll move it to the loft where we were originally intended to sleep, though I don't know if that'll help matters or not. It's much more convenient to sleep on the ground and have my set-up the way it is now, so if it's not really going to matter much by moving to a higher sleeping ground, then I'd prefer not to do that...moreover, I've killed all the ka (mosquitoes) I've seen in my room and been careful to keep my doors shut, so I haven't seen any bugs or flies or spiders in my apartment for a few days now, but it seems that every morning I wake up with a new bite. I've tried spraying mushiyoke (bug spray) all over me, but to no real avail. Tetsudattekudasai! (Please help!)
Ken's really cool. He's essentially the leader of the basketball group, and probably a leader amongst his friends. Sort of like Koki and the tutors, except this guy has more of a presence. He's an attractive 37-year-old, half-Indian and half-Japanese, from the small southern Japanese island Okinawa. His father was in the US Navy. He studied business at Northridge for about 4 years, so his English is decent, and he worked at a famous sushiya (sushi store) in Hollywood (or Santa Monica, I can't remember), so he's met a lot of famous actors and singers. He surfed a lot in California and Hawaii, as well as in Tijuana. He's got 4 tattoos, with one being in a place "only for the wife to see." He loves Naruto (a famous anime, and probably my favorite) and he's really nice. He's also really strong. Even though he only lifts once a week for about 2 hours, I couldn't even budge his arm when we arm wrestled (it's a bit embarrassing to lose to a Japanese guy, not going to lie ^_<). Standing at about 5'10", he was captain of his basketball team in high school, so he's by far the best player out on the court. He's currently the assistant manager of his father's construction company, which nets him a hefty salary.
Anyways, after basketball we went to a bathhouse. I'm not sure whether or not to call it an onsen since it wasn't natural, but it was really relaxing. We had some food beforehand (that's when I ate chewy squid tentacles for the first time), then got naked, rested in the hot water, and talked (well I tried to understand what they were saying, throwing in random comments every now and then). Ken invited me to come eat at his house next week. His wife will be done with her final mamasan volleyball tournament by then, so she'll finally have time to cook for me (note I'm none to happy with her since apparently the kids and husband really wanted to meet me but she kept blowing it off...I had to always be the one to send emails, trying to get us to meet, and the entire time I was just pawned off on her husband). So, that's something fun to look forward to next week.
This weekend a bunch of us are going to Tokyo on Saturday to do some shopping. I'll be going to the Costco as well as one of the other places to get a bunch of clothes and presents, and we're all going to go to the Tokyo Tower at night. It'll be a lot of fun!
Finally, I'll close this update with one thing I've noticed. If someone were to ask me "What's Japan like?", I'd respond "It's sort of like Mexico but with clean water." At least, that seems to be the mentality of the people here. They're hard workers during the day and hard partiers at night. Also, when held to American standards, they're fairly lewd. I've already been asked at least three times from different people how "big" I am. The conversations I have with the adult men here tend to be even more crude than the college student conversations back home. Perhaps I just don't hang around those type of people in America and that's why it seems new to me, or perhaps it's Japan's normal liberal stance on sex and other topics that the religious agenda in America often tries to keep under wrap. Regardless of the reason, it certainly makes for interesting conversation, as well as expanding my lexicon with more...interesting words than I would have thought I'd learn.
Okay, I lied. In a final note, I really do HATE bugs. I don't know what exact kind caused this, but I've got 14 separate bites on my left hand alone.
Ewww...I feel like going Michael Jackson-style and only wear one glove.
Tuesday, September 4, 2007
Washoku (Japanese cuisine)
Since coming to Japan I've been able to try a wide variety of food. Japan has delicious food. Meat and veggies comprise most of the meals, and they're about the same cost as in America. The fruits, while juicy and sweet (especially their momo, or peach), are very expensive - it's about $1.50 for an apple, to give you an idea. Japan also has oishii (delicious) bread products. In the supermarkets there's always a little area designated to their small bakery, and it seems that every day they have some kind of new, oishiisouna kashi (delicious-looking pastry), such as melon-pan (melon bread), various donuts, and Japanese pizza (which, by the way, they do COMPLETELY wrong, which I'll talk about more later). Just last night I ate squid tentacles for the first time. It was pretty good, albeit a bit chewy (though perhaps it was only decent due to being deep fried). Here are some pictures I've taken of various foods here. I'll try to do some food updates every now and then, once I have enough pictures to warrant an update.
A quick sneak-peak in my fridge a few weeks ago. It's not very big, so I often end up frequently shopping for small quantities of food. So is that bottom bin for vegetables, fruits, or meats?
Inside my pantry. I've tried to organize a little bit...
This was the result of my first jiryouri shokuji (self-cooked meal...or at least, that's the meaning I've tried to create from combining nihongo no genryou ^_<). Skinless, boneless chicken breasts with some toriyaki sauce. It was delicious, though probably a bit raw, since I didn't feel so good the next day ^_<
Some teduri sushi (handmade sushi...Doug, when I'm writing "tsu" when it's pronounced "zu" in romaji , do I write it as "du" or "tsu" or "zsu" or what?). Totemo oishikatta (very delicious) :) I mixed in some rice spices I had bought to give it an extra kick. They lasted as my lunch for three days.
Japan can NOT do American food right. Take this hotdog for example. Only 100 Yen (about a dollar's worth). Looks like a good deal, right?...
...wrong! There's little meat in the Japanese baked good section. It just LOOKS like there's a good amount of meat...but no...it's all just a tricky Japanese optical illusion, designed to trap hungry gaijin (foreigners) and sap their money from out of their saifu (wallets). Soreni (moreover), you'll usually find them with Japan's signature mayonnaise on it. *shudders*
One rainy day this stray Japanese girl followed me home. I decided to keep her, but I've yet to decide on a name ^_<>
Mmmm...marinated chicken breasts.
Meat, potatoes, garlic, and some other kind of veggie.
The finished product! John, Keiko, and myself all enjoying the fruits of our labor (well, of Keiko's, at least).
Humorously named chocolate bar. I've only seen Snickers and Kit Kat from American brands (Kit Kat in a variety of flavors, no less, such as "fruit tropical"). Japanese chocolate kind of sucks, too. It's not very sweet and all their chocolate products taste the same.
My standard dinner meal: chicken flavored ramen with an egg on top.
These things are fantastic. It's just tomato sauce, some cheese, and two small pieces of meat on a big slice of bread (well, standard size over here, about two slices worth from an American standpoint). Great to heat up and eat on cold days, or when I don't have time to cook eggs and hashbrowns in the morning. Speaking of eggs, I still suck at cooking them, though I am slowly getting better thanks to the practice of cooking two eggs nearly every morning. Over-easy's so hard....
Fuji-san shaped melon-pan, served at the half-way point on Mt. Fuji.
In Japan, pretty much everything has a smiley face on it. Here's the backside of a bag of pancake (hotcake in Japan) mix. I've still yet to dare try to cook it. Mom, dad...help! Kowaii! (Scary!)
The Japanese loooooove their okashi (snacks)! Whenever people gather in someone's apartment (for example, one of the guys in the basketball circle had a birthday two weeks ago), there's always okashi present and open. They're usually really good, though they don't have too much variety from what I've seen (often times a lot of seaweed based snacks). They do have Doritos, though, if I ever have the urge.
Ahh, Japanese peanut butter (bottom) and American peanut butter (top). The Japanese peanut butter is a creamy like substance, partially gelatinous...none too delicious. I'm still trying to pawn it off on one of the other ryuugakusei. The Skippy is about half the size of the ones in America. I'm not sure the price on a jar of peanut butter these days, but in Japan, it's about 500 yen ($5) for that chichai (small) jar. And it's always crunchy :( Thankfully my parents came to the rescue and sent me a jar of creamy JIF. Remember people, choosey moms choose JIF.
The Japanese have some kind of idea that peanut butter and jelly go together, but they're afraid to make that leap. Whenever I tell people about the American nigiri (riceball) equivalent, a PB&J sandwich, they always respond with "oishikunaiyo" ("That's not delicious!"). They like peanut butter sandwiches and jelly sandwiches (and apparently jelly + mayonnaise is good), but not PB&Js. At least, not until they've had one made by the world-famous Master PB&J Chef, Zandaa-sama...
..."Oishii"! Iikekka! (Good result, I'm shooting for "success!" here ^_<). Nearly everyone has really liked it once they try it. And how could they not? It's a PB&J sandwich! That's next to apple pie and baseball on the American roster.
Japan looooooves their hotcakes. Why, I'll never know. Most things here don't really make sense, like having only one showing of a movie at 9:30 AM >_<>
So here's the zouryou (ingredients) for improv macaroni and cheese. I dared to go where few men had dared to go before...
All in all, I'd say it was a success! I did indeed make, quite literally, macaroni and cheese. It tasted like decent mac & cheese, though the cheese part wasn't very good since I was using Kraft single slices, which have a different taste to them anyways. Unfortunately, I can't find any other way to acquire cheddar cheese here in Japan.
A quick sneak-peak in my fridge a few weeks ago. It's not very big, so I often end up frequently shopping for small quantities of food. So is that bottom bin for vegetables, fruits, or meats?
Inside my pantry. I've tried to organize a little bit...
This was the result of my first jiryouri shokuji (self-cooked meal...or at least, that's the meaning I've tried to create from combining nihongo no genryou ^_<). Skinless, boneless chicken breasts with some toriyaki sauce. It was delicious, though probably a bit raw, since I didn't feel so good the next day ^_<
Some teduri sushi (handmade sushi...Doug, when I'm writing "tsu" when it's pronounced "zu" in romaji , do I write it as "du" or "tsu" or "zsu" or what?). Totemo oishikatta (very delicious) :) I mixed in some rice spices I had bought to give it an extra kick. They lasted as my lunch for three days.
Japan can NOT do American food right. Take this hotdog for example. Only 100 Yen (about a dollar's worth). Looks like a good deal, right?...
...wrong! There's little meat in the Japanese baked good section. It just LOOKS like there's a good amount of meat...but no...it's all just a tricky Japanese optical illusion, designed to trap hungry gaijin (foreigners) and sap their money from out of their saifu (wallets). Soreni (moreover), you'll usually find them with Japan's signature mayonnaise on it. *shudders*
One rainy day this stray Japanese girl followed me home. I decided to keep her, but I've yet to decide on a name ^_<>
Mmmm...marinated chicken breasts.
Meat, potatoes, garlic, and some other kind of veggie.
The finished product! John, Keiko, and myself all enjoying the fruits of our labor (well, of Keiko's, at least).
Humorously named chocolate bar. I've only seen Snickers and Kit Kat from American brands (Kit Kat in a variety of flavors, no less, such as "fruit tropical"). Japanese chocolate kind of sucks, too. It's not very sweet and all their chocolate products taste the same.
My standard dinner meal: chicken flavored ramen with an egg on top.
These things are fantastic. It's just tomato sauce, some cheese, and two small pieces of meat on a big slice of bread (well, standard size over here, about two slices worth from an American standpoint). Great to heat up and eat on cold days, or when I don't have time to cook eggs and hashbrowns in the morning. Speaking of eggs, I still suck at cooking them, though I am slowly getting better thanks to the practice of cooking two eggs nearly every morning. Over-easy's so hard....
Fuji-san shaped melon-pan, served at the half-way point on Mt. Fuji.
In Japan, pretty much everything has a smiley face on it. Here's the backside of a bag of pancake (hotcake in Japan) mix. I've still yet to dare try to cook it. Mom, dad...help! Kowaii! (Scary!)
The Japanese loooooove their okashi (snacks)! Whenever people gather in someone's apartment (for example, one of the guys in the basketball circle had a birthday two weeks ago), there's always okashi present and open. They're usually really good, though they don't have too much variety from what I've seen (often times a lot of seaweed based snacks). They do have Doritos, though, if I ever have the urge.
Ahh, Japanese peanut butter (bottom) and American peanut butter (top). The Japanese peanut butter is a creamy like substance, partially gelatinous...none too delicious. I'm still trying to pawn it off on one of the other ryuugakusei. The Skippy is about half the size of the ones in America. I'm not sure the price on a jar of peanut butter these days, but in Japan, it's about 500 yen ($5) for that chichai (small) jar. And it's always crunchy :( Thankfully my parents came to the rescue and sent me a jar of creamy JIF. Remember people, choosey moms choose JIF.
The Japanese have some kind of idea that peanut butter and jelly go together, but they're afraid to make that leap. Whenever I tell people about the American nigiri (riceball) equivalent, a PB&J sandwich, they always respond with "oishikunaiyo" ("That's not delicious!"). They like peanut butter sandwiches and jelly sandwiches (and apparently jelly + mayonnaise is good), but not PB&Js. At least, not until they've had one made by the world-famous Master PB&J Chef, Zandaa-sama...
..."Oishii"! Iikekka! (Good result, I'm shooting for "success!" here ^_<). Nearly everyone has really liked it once they try it. And how could they not? It's a PB&J sandwich! That's next to apple pie and baseball on the American roster.
Japan looooooves their hotcakes. Why, I'll never know. Most things here don't really make sense, like having only one showing of a movie at 9:30 AM >_<>
So here's the zouryou (ingredients) for improv macaroni and cheese. I dared to go where few men had dared to go before...
All in all, I'd say it was a success! I did indeed make, quite literally, macaroni and cheese. It tasted like decent mac & cheese, though the cheese part wasn't very good since I was using Kraft single slices, which have a different taste to them anyways. Unfortunately, I can't find any other way to acquire cheddar cheese here in Japan.
Next time I update on food I'll be sure to take a picture of the crazy Japanese pizza. Basically they have corn, huge tomato chunks, mayonnaise, and other random ingredients that really need to stay wayyyy far away from pizza. In fact, I've yet to see corn somewhere else other than on pizza. I've had a decent frozen pepperoni pizza with minimal hen na zouryou (weird ingredients), but all in all, they're pretty crappy here. I have heard that Japan Domino's, though, so one of these days I'll try to hit that up. If I had to pick a food that I miss the most from America, it'd definitely be decent pizza, but the Japanese food here is so good that it makes up for it.
Sunday, September 2, 2007
Quick note: Don't miss any of the updates!
Hey, so I updated with 4 things today: my Tokyo trip, the himatsuri, climbing Fuji-san, and the hassaku matsuri. I don't know if it'll all fit on the same page, and I'll probably update tomorrow about Japanese cuisine which might bump something off the front page, so make sure you get to read them all (or at least just check out the pics! ^_<).
Hassaku Matsuri
So on Saturday, 9/1/07, Tsuru-shi had a big matsuri (festival), and we were all invited to participate. We had to practice all last week each night just walking around in a circle, so that kinda sucked. Though, the actual matsuri was a lot of fun. First we got changed, got make-up put on, then walked around the city for 2 hours, with a half-hour break halfway. I don't have any pictures of my own since I didn't bother to bring my camera (I figured I'd be in the parade, so how would I take pictures?), but some of the tutors and the other ryuugakusei have pictures up, so I'll show the ones that are currently available, and I'll try to update when more come around.
The room where all the guys got changed.
Make-up time. I thought I looked all cool and serious here...at first I was like "Woah, who's that good looking slick guy? Oh. That's me!"
Then I saw this picture and thought "Woah, who's that dorky looking guy? Oh. That's me."
This guy is called a "yako-san", but we prefer to call him the Japanese Pringle guy.
My friend John in his Samurai garb and with a kick-ass pose (that's GOT to be his new Facebook avatar). 6 other ryuugakusei were samurai; I was the only yako-san due to a) they needed someone strong to carry an 11ft pole, and b) they didn't have any large enough samurai outfits.
However, I soon realized that being yako-san was a lot more fun than being a stupid low-ranking samurai. I was the only type of yako-san in my group. Also, I got to hang out with all the other fun yako-san guys. Hanging out with the Japanese men reminded me of when I spent time in Rosarito; they tend to be really loud, lewd, and like to party.
All the ryuugakusei (-1, who played taiko instead) dressed in our outfits.
Being a yako-san gave me permission to be silly (warning: video coming up hopefully soon). The samurai and chamber maids just had to walk really slow and keep a stern face, where as I got to joke around, smile, and have fun.
John, again, in his crazy sword poses. This one imitates a character from the anime One Piece. While not particularly popular in America (both he and I agree that it doesn't seem very good, poor animation, it's probably like another Dragonball but more boring and worse), it's immensely popular here in Japan. Whenever we ask people if they watch anime they always respond "Do you know One Piece?" Bah.
The room where all the guys got changed.
Make-up time. I thought I looked all cool and serious here...at first I was like "Woah, who's that good looking slick guy? Oh. That's me!"
Then I saw this picture and thought "Woah, who's that dorky looking guy? Oh. That's me."
This guy is called a "yako-san", but we prefer to call him the Japanese Pringle guy.
My friend John in his Samurai garb and with a kick-ass pose (that's GOT to be his new Facebook avatar). 6 other ryuugakusei were samurai; I was the only yako-san due to a) they needed someone strong to carry an 11ft pole, and b) they didn't have any large enough samurai outfits.
However, I soon realized that being yako-san was a lot more fun than being a stupid low-ranking samurai. I was the only type of yako-san in my group. Also, I got to hang out with all the other fun yako-san guys. Hanging out with the Japanese men reminded me of when I spent time in Rosarito; they tend to be really loud, lewd, and like to party.
All the ryuugakusei (-1, who played taiko instead) dressed in our outfits.
Being a yako-san gave me permission to be silly (warning: video coming up hopefully soon). The samurai and chamber maids just had to walk really slow and keep a stern face, where as I got to joke around, smile, and have fun.
John, again, in his crazy sword poses. This one imitates a character from the anime One Piece. While not particularly popular in America (both he and I agree that it doesn't seem very good, poor animation, it's probably like another Dragonball but more boring and worse), it's immensely popular here in Japan. Whenever we ask people if they watch anime they always respond "Do you know One Piece?" Bah.
During half-time I did a Rubic's Cube and impressed all the on-lookers. We also played around with the kids for a bit. Japanese parents are much more lenient about what they let their kids do. Here they didn't care if the kids had sharp swords and were swinging and poking each other with them. Reminded me of when I was climbing Fuji-san and I saw a couple take their young son and daughter up the mountain and its steep, wet rocks. My kids would have to be AT LEAST in their 20's before I let them climb ^_<
Unfortunately, after holding that huge pole for 2 hours, the left-hand side of my right forearm has gone completely numb, and has still remained that way for all of today. I'm hoping that it'll get better as the week progresses.
Unfortunately, after holding that huge pole for 2 hours, the left-hand side of my right forearm has gone completely numb, and has still remained that way for all of today. I'm hoping that it'll get better as the week progresses.
The Pwnage Of Fuji-san
Monday and Tuesday after Tokyo and the Himatsuri were spent studying for my chuukanshiken (midterm) on Wendesday. It went pretty well. Japanese colleges don't have nearly as rigorous tests as American colleges do, so it was like a big quiz. Anyways, we had Thursday and Friday off, with Thursday being our big Fuji trip!
We left at 4 AM (ewww!) by bus. It's not a very far ride; I know it's about 3 hours away by foot. I brought with me:
Sweartshirt, jacket, camera, phone, iPod, lunch, water bottle, extra change of clothes.
What I should have brought with me:
MORE FOOD & WATER!!, walking stick, durable gloves
I didn't realize how much I would want a Calorie Mate or other kinds of okashi (snacks) on the hike up. Even though we took a bus half way, that was the half that was smooth enough for a bus to go up! The second half was seemingly broken into two sections: The first half was dangerous but a lot of fun, with strong winds and wet rocks to climb up. For about the entire first half I only used one hand and had to lug an extra 100lbs up the mountain (Brianna was too frail and scared to climb by herself, so I had to basically pull her up). After she decided to go back down I got to go up some of the rocks by myself, and THAT was a lot of fun - going on all fours to be faster, or just trying to hop from rock to rock, picturing myself in some kind of anime or something. I didn't actually get any pictures of the type of rocks I climbed up since it was wet, windy, and, well, I was either holding onto Brianna's hand pulling her up or trying to keep my own hands warm.
Cool cloud formations at half-way at Fuji, where they had various gift shops.
Beautiful clouds.
View of the nearby town
Cool sky-slice
The beginning of our hike looked like this, then it became a lot more of a climb than a hike
Cool trees...at least if I lose my balance and fall they'll catch me :P
It was a little windy :P I didn't put my sweatshirt on till later, hiking built up enough heat as is.
Also watch out for barrels and Gorons
The total climb took about 5 hours up and 2.5 hours down.
Can you hear me now? Actually you were able to get phone reception pretty much anywhere on Fuji-san.
The second half was basically walking back and forth on a large, flat, steep path for 2 hours. That's when the walking stick that they sold at the base would have been REALLY helpful. I put on my iPod and just trudged along. It was the safest part of the entire climb, but also the most boring. I also don't have pictures of what this looked like, though the pathway back down looked very similar.
Aaron looking like Mickey Mouse with his yellow shoes, white gloves, and other similar-colored clothing.
The view down from near the top...we had to zig-zag like that all the way up to the top for the second-half of the climb.
Stations like these were abundant, usually about every 100 yards or so. You could buy food, water, or sleep here if it was too dangerous to press on.
Me next to a monument around the summit of Fuji. Behind me is a souvenir shop where I bought a bell and a rice pusher thingy.
So we thought this was the very peak of Fuji-san, but apparently we were wrong. There's a yubinkyouku (post office) at the top, along with a monument marking it. I might go back and climb Fuji-san again to go check it out. However, this is still at the summit, just on the opposite side, and a little lower. This specific spot is where people will drop off suzu (bells) and other objects, such as cash, in what I imagine is respect to the Fuji-san god.
Maybe if I train on top of Fuji-san I'll be able to run faster, jump higher, lift more...
View from the top of Fuji-san...can't really seem much since we're above the cloud line, though.
Checking out the view (probably of the available ramen) while resting at the top of Fuji-san.
I assume that'd be us?
We walked back and forth like this for about 2.5 hours until we finally hit the bottom. The ground was really soft, so we got a ton of rocks and dirt in our shoes. Every few rows we'd have to empty all the crap from our shoes. One of my socks ripped.
Down...down...down we go....
Which one is more epic? Picture A...
...Picture B...
...or Picture C? Cast your vote now!
A cool view on our decent down.
We left at 4 AM (ewww!) by bus. It's not a very far ride; I know it's about 3 hours away by foot. I brought with me:
Sweartshirt, jacket, camera, phone, iPod, lunch, water bottle, extra change of clothes.
What I should have brought with me:
MORE FOOD & WATER!!, walking stick, durable gloves
I didn't realize how much I would want a Calorie Mate or other kinds of okashi (snacks) on the hike up. Even though we took a bus half way, that was the half that was smooth enough for a bus to go up! The second half was seemingly broken into two sections: The first half was dangerous but a lot of fun, with strong winds and wet rocks to climb up. For about the entire first half I only used one hand and had to lug an extra 100lbs up the mountain (Brianna was too frail and scared to climb by herself, so I had to basically pull her up). After she decided to go back down I got to go up some of the rocks by myself, and THAT was a lot of fun - going on all fours to be faster, or just trying to hop from rock to rock, picturing myself in some kind of anime or something. I didn't actually get any pictures of the type of rocks I climbed up since it was wet, windy, and, well, I was either holding onto Brianna's hand pulling her up or trying to keep my own hands warm.
Cool cloud formations at half-way at Fuji, where they had various gift shops.
Beautiful clouds.
View of the nearby town
Cool sky-slice
The beginning of our hike looked like this, then it became a lot more of a climb than a hike
Cool trees...at least if I lose my balance and fall they'll catch me :P
It was a little windy :P I didn't put my sweatshirt on till later, hiking built up enough heat as is.
Also watch out for barrels and Gorons
The total climb took about 5 hours up and 2.5 hours down.
Can you hear me now? Actually you were able to get phone reception pretty much anywhere on Fuji-san.
The second half was basically walking back and forth on a large, flat, steep path for 2 hours. That's when the walking stick that they sold at the base would have been REALLY helpful. I put on my iPod and just trudged along. It was the safest part of the entire climb, but also the most boring. I also don't have pictures of what this looked like, though the pathway back down looked very similar.
Aaron looking like Mickey Mouse with his yellow shoes, white gloves, and other similar-colored clothing.
The view down from near the top...we had to zig-zag like that all the way up to the top for the second-half of the climb.
Stations like these were abundant, usually about every 100 yards or so. You could buy food, water, or sleep here if it was too dangerous to press on.
Me next to a monument around the summit of Fuji. Behind me is a souvenir shop where I bought a bell and a rice pusher thingy.
So we thought this was the very peak of Fuji-san, but apparently we were wrong. There's a yubinkyouku (post office) at the top, along with a monument marking it. I might go back and climb Fuji-san again to go check it out. However, this is still at the summit, just on the opposite side, and a little lower. This specific spot is where people will drop off suzu (bells) and other objects, such as cash, in what I imagine is respect to the Fuji-san god.
Maybe if I train on top of Fuji-san I'll be able to run faster, jump higher, lift more...
View from the top of Fuji-san...can't really seem much since we're above the cloud line, though.
Checking out the view (probably of the available ramen) while resting at the top of Fuji-san.
I assume that'd be us?
We walked back and forth like this for about 2.5 hours until we finally hit the bottom. The ground was really soft, so we got a ton of rocks and dirt in our shoes. Every few rows we'd have to empty all the crap from our shoes. One of my socks ripped.
Down...down...down we go....
Which one is more epic? Picture A...
...Picture B...
...or Picture C? Cast your vote now!
A cool view on our decent down.
The next day my legs didn't really hurt. I was surprised I wasn't sore all over; guess I'm in better shape than I thought ^_< I was pretty exhausted though, but the weekend was far from over, for on Saturday we were to be participants in one of Tsuru's biggest matsuris.
Himatsuri - The Fire Festival
So, Sunday of last week, the day after shopping around Tokyo, and the same day as the AM Pokemon movie, was the himatsuri, or fire (hi) festival (matsuri). We took a train to a town a few stations over around 6 PM, just before supper time. I forget the exact reason for the festival (I have it on a sheet somewhere around here), but it's to honor some god or something (which Japanese festivals are usually for anyways). When we got there we walked up and down the main road, which was littered with various small food-booths and prize-booths. It looked very similar to the hanabimatsuri (fireworks festival). It also was reminiscent of a Flintstones' episode, where every few feet the scenery would repeat itself. Theres about a dozen or so different booths that repeat every few hundred yards. Some of the things they sell: flavored shaved ice (I forget the name of most of the dishes, so I'll just what they are in English), different types of meat cuts, these pancake things with eggs and veggies (note that the Japanese love to put an egg on random dishes, don't ask me why), a huge hotdog-on-a-stick, various types of pancackes and crepes, noodles, and some kind of grilled fish, either squid or octopus (which is put into little pancake balls). That night I tried one of the pancake meals (omisukiyake, I think...I know it has the "su" kanji from suki). It was pretty tasty, with the exception of the fish flakes they put on top.
That's a HUGE chunk of meat. Or, as us ryuugakusei say here in Japan, "a Xander-size chunk of meat." (okay, I realized that has a double entendre...) Apparently this style of cooking is Greek...?
Stitch shop!!! So many Stitch things here, I honestly have no idea which one to choose...it's just so hard, I could blow all of my money just on Stitch-related stuff...
Men carrying the portable god-shrine, which, again, I forget the name of :( Time to make more flashcards...
It's considered an honor to be holding the shrine. You'll see a bunch of people push and shove to be able to carry it.
Here's two random guys that saw me taking pictures of the crowd, so they jumped on the opportunity to make funny faces (I know I would have :P). They invited us to go to a bar afterwards, but we eventually went clothes shopping instead. I think I saw the guy in the hat yesterday at the 9/1 festival, because he looked like him and shouted my name...:-/
On the left is our TA, Satou-san. We call her Tamago-sensei since she's a TA (tamago means egg). She's actually our age, 20ish, so sometimes she'll hangout with us.
Fire pillars like these lined the center of the street. Everyone crowded around the food booths to not get singed by the fire. In Japan, wakamono (young people) say "Atsu!", dropping the "i" (ee) at the end, when they want to say something's hot.
My current wallpaper, looks really cool with my blurry picture-taking ability.
Summon the fire! Summon the fire! Summon the fire! -Tristan
Jamming on Taiko drums. The other ryuugakusei and I got a fun beat going, until I broke off to my Mario music solo.
Towards the end of the festival the families and nenpai (polite term for older people) return home, leaving the streets to the wakamono. Since Japan is a very alcohol-oriented society, it's legal to drink and be drunk in public. That, in addition to the fire, made it seem like a mini-revolt (or like UCLA is after we beat USC in a football match).
After the festival a few of us went clothes shopping at a store close by. John bought a few new Japanese shirts, with one really cool one having a chain laced around the neck and ending in the center with a little ornament dangling in front. I was tempted to get one that had a Batarang-like dongle hanging, but unfortunately it was only an L (I wear LL, the largest size that I could find at a store without going to a specialty store). I tried it on, though, and it fit, but if I were to wash it, it'd end up on one of my stuffed animals. However, the other ryuugakusei said it really made me look different, in a good way. Apparently my clothes now make me look like a big brother, or a character from a cartoon show (both things which I'd like to look like anyways, so I guess I can't complain ^_<). However, I think it'll be fun to get some crazy Japanese clothes here (like that chain-laced shirt, or some kind of shirt with random messed up Engrish on it).
I don't care what you say, sparkles and plaid do NOT go together.
Met this kid on the train ride back home. Brianna, one of the ryuugakusei, had said that my attire reminded her of her little brother (also Jon from Garfield). We thought it was hilarious that we saw this kid, wearing the same kind of polo/t-shirt, on the train, so I took a picture with him. My inner-Asian-kid right there.
That's a HUGE chunk of meat. Or, as us ryuugakusei say here in Japan, "a Xander-size chunk of meat." (okay, I realized that has a double entendre...) Apparently this style of cooking is Greek...?
Stitch shop!!! So many Stitch things here, I honestly have no idea which one to choose...it's just so hard, I could blow all of my money just on Stitch-related stuff...
Men carrying the portable god-shrine, which, again, I forget the name of :( Time to make more flashcards...
It's considered an honor to be holding the shrine. You'll see a bunch of people push and shove to be able to carry it.
Here's two random guys that saw me taking pictures of the crowd, so they jumped on the opportunity to make funny faces (I know I would have :P). They invited us to go to a bar afterwards, but we eventually went clothes shopping instead. I think I saw the guy in the hat yesterday at the 9/1 festival, because he looked like him and shouted my name...:-/
On the left is our TA, Satou-san. We call her Tamago-sensei since she's a TA (tamago means egg). She's actually our age, 20ish, so sometimes she'll hangout with us.
Fire pillars like these lined the center of the street. Everyone crowded around the food booths to not get singed by the fire. In Japan, wakamono (young people) say "Atsu!", dropping the "i" (ee) at the end, when they want to say something's hot.
My current wallpaper, looks really cool with my blurry picture-taking ability.
Summon the fire! Summon the fire! Summon the fire! -Tristan
Jamming on Taiko drums. The other ryuugakusei and I got a fun beat going, until I broke off to my Mario music solo.
Towards the end of the festival the families and nenpai (polite term for older people) return home, leaving the streets to the wakamono. Since Japan is a very alcohol-oriented society, it's legal to drink and be drunk in public. That, in addition to the fire, made it seem like a mini-revolt (or like UCLA is after we beat USC in a football match).
After the festival a few of us went clothes shopping at a store close by. John bought a few new Japanese shirts, with one really cool one having a chain laced around the neck and ending in the center with a little ornament dangling in front. I was tempted to get one that had a Batarang-like dongle hanging, but unfortunately it was only an L (I wear LL, the largest size that I could find at a store without going to a specialty store). I tried it on, though, and it fit, but if I were to wash it, it'd end up on one of my stuffed animals. However, the other ryuugakusei said it really made me look different, in a good way. Apparently my clothes now make me look like a big brother, or a character from a cartoon show (both things which I'd like to look like anyways, so I guess I can't complain ^_<). However, I think it'll be fun to get some crazy Japanese clothes here (like that chain-laced shirt, or some kind of shirt with random messed up Engrish on it).
I don't care what you say, sparkles and plaid do NOT go together.
Met this kid on the train ride back home. Brianna, one of the ryuugakusei, had said that my attire reminded her of her little brother (also Jon from Garfield). We thought it was hilarious that we saw this kid, wearing the same kind of polo/t-shirt, on the train, so I took a picture with him. My inner-Asian-kid right there.
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