Blahgorrhea

Well, I suppose my Japan trip really was a white road adventure just as I had hoped. I was pushed way outside my comfort zone, and I learned some things about myself, most notably that I really don’t like being pushed outside my comfort zone (they don’t call it “comfort” for nothing). Sure, it didn’t turn out ideally (no revelations about my life, no profound insights into the workings of the universe, no inspiration for a good business), but it was an adventure, and that was the point. I will probably not travel alone again, and when I want a vacation, I will head to someplace familiar, someplace warm, someplace easy. Then when I want to travel, I will pick someplace new, and there are plenty new places to fill many years of travel. But for now I will relax in the comfort of my own home, familiar, though sadly not warm.

Japan is a crowded country. They do use just about every inch of their land for some functional purpose (except for the thousands of acres of imperial parkland, but people rarely mention that). Of the space they have left available to build buildings, the Japanese cram their cities with tall buildings with stores, restaurants and offices up to every level. This means that some famous soba noodle joint that the guidebook recommends could be up on the third floor of an office building. Not exactly what you would expect, but given a good guide, some help from the locals, and good luck, you might be able to find the place in time for dinner. [Continue reading…]

I’ve been back from Japan for a couple days now, and I haven’t had a good restful sleep yet, so I am clearly jet lagged. I don’t miss Japan; I’m quite happy to be back in the comfort of my own home, not taking trains or deciphering photos of food. But there are some things from Japan I would not mind keeping. Most of them relate to how civilized a culture the Japanese have. And there are some things that the Japanese can totally keep for themselves, most of which relate to some odd rigid formality of their culture. [Continue reading…]

I’m frustrated at Japan. This whole trip has seemed like a total waste. I had this grand impossible vision of my vacation being just like A Cook’s Tour, eating crazy new meals that were all just fantastic. I haven’t had a good meal in two days, and it is really starting to bother me. The worst part about it is that I’m sure I could make things somewhat easier on myself if I just had the balls. I could just waltz right into some joint that in no way caters to foreigners and ask for “chef’s special.” Or take the guidebook along and show the waiter Kanji words of food I might want. But what if I walk into a tempura joint and ask for yakitori. Then I look like a dumb ass American and bring even more disdain than I would have received walking into a place I didn’t belong. See, for all the talk of Japan being welcoming to people and the wait staff at restaurants expecting us to be awkward and ignorant, I get this strong sense every time I wander down a dimly lit alley that I know is lined with tiny restaurants that I don’t belong there and am not welcome at all. And that is part of what is so frustrating to me right now. I just want to have a good meal.

I am definitely getting the hang of things being in a foreign land, but I am so happy that Jen is here to experience it all with me. The worst part of being alone was that I could not share the new things with her. I was unable to fully appreciate what I was experiencing without her to share it with. We are now in a temple in the mountain town of Koya-san. The monks open their temples to visitors, prepare two meals and include them in prayers in the morning. We just finished our enormous vegetarian meal with all sorts of strange tofu-based foods. Jen didn’t eat all that much because she didn’t like the mushy consistency of the tofu, but I had a ball trying all the new things. The dessert was a thick gelatin flavored of orange. It did not melt in your mouth the way Jell-o does, and you could cut it with a knife. I had fun playing with it as I ate. [Continue reading…]

It seems that travelling across a country by train could just as easily be here or there. The scenery mostly looks the same. On my journey from Tokyo to Osaka the towns looked different from towns between cities in France in two ways: the signs were in a different alphabet, and the rooftop shingles were distinctively Asian. If you didn’t have a keen eye for shingling, you may not even be able to tell the difference.

I arrived in Osaka by shinkansen, the famous Japanese bullet train, which I suppose was quite fast. I got frustrated quickly trying to navigate yet another station (Shin-Osaka) and realizing that I needed to take a subway to get to the hotel. There seemed to be even fewer English signs than in Tokyo. I stopped at the tourist help desk for help, but I still needed to ask a couple more people for help doing things like purchasing subway tickets. I suppose I should feel proud of myself for having done as much as I have in such a foreign land, but instead I am just frustrated. [Continue reading…]

Today was a good food day. I went to a recommended tonkatsu place for lunch (Katsukura), on the 14th floor of a department store. They give you toasted sesame seeds in a mortar to crush up and mix with their special sauce. Barley in their rice added a nice texture, and their smoked tea had great undertones. This was probably the only pork dish I would like, though it was definitely fattier than I would have hoped for. Still it tasted good. I ordered the “extra special” cutlet, which was from some name brand pig. I wonder what the usual pig tastes like. This was another place that give you tons of food: cabbage, pickles (yum!), rice and soup accompany the pork. They offered free refills of the side dishes, but I had a hard enough time just finishing what I was served. [Continue reading…]

I managed to get some things done this afternoon that needed doing. I bought stamps for a family friend, made hotel reservations in Nara and Kyoto, and got a train ticket to Osaka. For a city that is really hard to navigate, the officials make it especially difficult to find the tourist information centers. The two I went to today were on the 10th and 8th floors of the office buildings. That is certainly not what a tourist would expect, and I was asked to fill out a questionnaire saying so at the 10th floor office. [Continue reading…]

I managed to find my way to Tsukiji market this morning. And I sort of got suckered into eating at a restaurant. The owner came out when he saw me peek in to tell me what was on the menu. I think he really just wanted to practice his English, since he wrote down a bunch of Japanese phrases for me and explained them all to me. He was very nice though, and his fish was quite good. I had a tuna sashimi plate with tea, miso soup and rice. It was a big mound of raw tuna with a few pieces of seared tuna on the side. The raw stuff still tasted like the sea. This was my breakfast, but hey, when the fish comes in fresh at 7am, there is nothing wrong with eating it raw at 9am.