fuji-san: it's been a hard day's night

We couldn't live for a whole year in Japan and not climb Mt.  Fuji, right?

So we did.

And it was spectacular. 

Let me start from the beginning.

We had always intended on climbing Fuji-san, but couldn't really make any plans to do so until the official season opened in July and Jeff's paper was done and delivered.  Jeff delivered his paper Friday, July 2, and we immediately started scouting the weather report.  Originally, we planned to head for the mountain on Tuesday, but when the forecast started projecting hard rain, we pushed it up a day to Monday, set to be a clear night.

Yes, night.  As the view from the mountain tends to be clearest in the early morning, and watching the sunrise from the top is an experience not to be missed, we decided to follow the Japanese tradition of timing our climb to arrive at the summit just before sunrise. 

So we hopped in our rented Mazda Demio (known as the Mazda2 in America, and absolutely the smallest car we've driven) in Tokyo, and drove the three or so hours to the base of the mountain.  We loaded up on a bento dinner and started the ascent up the seasonal road to the trail head. 

Now, has anyone ever driven up the Whiteface Mountain road?  Steep, right?  Have you tried it in a Demio?  There were several moments when we really were not sure our poor little rental car was going to make it.  That little guy would not survive Upstate New York.  Or any area where one might encounter hills. 

We hung out in the car conserving our energy until 10 p.m. when we laced up our old running shoes (we're working with what we've got here, folks!) hoisted our loaded packs on our backs, and started up the mountain.  After taking a few "we're climbing Mt. Fuji!" photos, of course.

That's me behind the headlamp!  My legs (in black underarmor leggings) seem to have disappeared!

Jeff appears to be showing us how wide his steps are going to be going up the mountain.

We started our ascent from the so-called fifth station of the Subashiri Trail, originating at just below 2000 meters.  It should be noted that almost everyone starts from the fifth station of one of the several paths to the top, so really, they all should be called the first stations, not the fifth stations, but that is for another time. 

The books, blogs, and tourist information all told us it would take six or six and a half hours for the ascent, so we gave ourselves plenty of time to make it to the top by about 4:30.  Jeff was concerned about the altitude sickness that we'd read some people get from climbing too quickly, and we are never ones to miss our snacks, so we planned to stop at the stations along the way to acclimate and have a bite to eat. 

Here I am the the torii marking the sixth station - the first one we came to.  I look quite pleased with myself, don't I?

That's because we were still feeling warm and well rested and mistakenly thought getting to the sixth station meant we were somehow closer to our goal.  We had a lot to learn.

There was a nice young man on his way home to San Diego from Korea with a day and a half layover in Tokyo who we met on the trail.  I know, it's ridiculous, but let's move on.  The important part of telling you about him was because he took our picture.  It's all about us, remember. 

We walked with him for a while, chatted about how crazy he was, and stopped again for some much needed peanut butter nourishment. As we were moving upward, it was getting noticeably colder, so it was time to add some layers.  I would regret this choice about two minutes after we started moving again, due to the quick pace we were keeping (remember Jeff's aforementioned huge steps?).

I think our fast feet were a little too much for our new friend, as he politely declined to join us after the second stop.  We really didn't feel like we were moving all that quickly, though!

After the seventh station, we could feel the air getting thinner and much colder, which slowed us down a bit.  We were also getting a little tired, which makes perfect sense since it was about 1 am and we'd been walking for three hours already.  Oh, and there was this too:

See that stuff I'm walking on?  Looks like dirt, right?  Don't let that fool you!  It is actually something much closer to sand, and gave us quite the workout up the mountain!  And it may be difficult to tell, but to my right in the picture, just off the path, is snow!  Hard to believe we left sweltering Tokyo just a few hours before.

And here is my husband.  This picture doesn't illustrate anything important about the climb, and in fact, I don't even remember taking it.  But it is silly, and that's Jeff.  He was wearing a towel wrapped around his head.  This might seem totally weird in America, but in Japan, every other laborer and ramen shop dude has a towel wrapped on his head, so Jeff fit right in.  Except for the red beard of course.

Ok, just one more for good measure.  And cause he's cute.  Those lights up there were more people climbing.  Except for our crazy friend from San Diego, we only saw two other people before arriving at the big eighth station (where two trails converge, and people can sleep over on the mountain).  We were sure happy we chose one of the less popular routes when we saw the lines of people snaking up the mountain.  A quick stop at the less than comfortable "pay" toilet (there was a box where one was expected to place a ¥100 coin, about a dollar, for use of the facilities, though I doubt everyone - and by everyone I mean American tourists - is as honest as me) and we headed out to beat the crowd to the top. 

Jeff tried to get a good picture of the line of headlamps and brightly colored NorthFace/Patagonia/MontBell/Columnia-clad climbers, but this was the best we could do:

Each light is one person's headlamp as seen by us looking down the mountain.  I think it does give a sense of just how many people were charging up the mountain behind us.  No, charging is not the word for it.  How does one describe something that moves slowly?  Crawling, maybe, is a better word.  We left the station at the same time as this group.  In fact several members of this pack were in front of us and we passed them without any effort whatsoever.  I know not everyone is in a good shape as us Jeff, and you're supposed to climb slowly in order to avoid altitude sickness, but it was taking more effort to walk with these people than to just pass them!

Of course, Jeff couldn't just pass them and then ease back into the leisurely pace we had been enjoying before, he wanted to put some good distance in between us and the pack.  Hence, our picture of the pack from 200 meters away.  He insisted we get to the top and find a good spot to watch the sunrise.  Which turned out to be a very good decision.

Mind you, our hike was projected to take six and a half hours (six hours and twenty-five minutes, I believe, if we are to be precise) and at this point we'd only been walking for under four and a half hours.  We were on pace to make it to the top in less time than it takes to roast a turkey.

We made it to the top well before the large crowds, though there were already a dozen or so people up there, huddling wherever they could find some relief from the wind which was oppressive.  I am not a small person, and for a minute there, I was concerned I was going to be blown off the side of a rock wall.

At this point, we were getting colder and decided it was about time to get really bundled up.  We layered jeans over our running tights, added several layers of shirts and sweatshirts (actually, Jeff took off the two dry-fit running shirts he had been wearing and put on two new ones since he'd gotten sweaty climbing the mountain - at one point he was standing shirtless on the top of the mountain in sub-zero temperatures with the wind gusting around him), and snuggled together in a small corner huddled underneath our lifesaving ¥100 tarp.

We had come fully prepared with several warm and wind-breaking layers, but not having winter jackets and insulating pants, there was little we could do to actually get warm.  So we shivered together, using a free hand warmer Jeff got as swag from the marathon and a heated therapeutic back wrap meant for our long flight to try and warm ourselves (I was so cold I didn't think the back warmer was even working until we started our descent and I started warming up!).

We had arrived at the summit just before 3 a.m., less than 5 hours after we started our climb, so we snuggled under our tarp for quite some time as others filled in around us.  We had been fortunate to find a great place to wait out the sun.  Jeff had developed quite a headache and was feeling nauseous and generally crappy which he attributed to to altitude sickness, but I was feeling no nausea or headache which he attributed to my being able to endure other vomit-inducing activities like roller coasters and bungee jumping.  I was only feeling the cold - or not feeling as the situation progressed and my feet and hands started to numb.

But then about 4:15...

 And 4:30...

At this point it was getting lighter and it seemed at least to be getting a bit warmer (seemed being the operative word) so we decided to venture from the windbreak and explore the top of the mountain a bit.  It was quite windy still, and the fog from around the mountain and in the crater was bringing the sun in and out of sight every minute or so, but we still managed to snag some good views.  Here is the sunrise through the torri on the top of the mountain.   I think those are coins stuck in the wood, but I am not sure why.  Jeff?

I am also not sure why there is a hook hanging down from the top.

With the fog blowing from the volcano crater and over our heads, the sunrise was constantly becoming obscured, only to be unveiled a moment later when the fog would get pushed to the side. This video, taken with our Flip (thanks Michael!) shows the nature of our experience of the fleeting sunrise at Fuji.



Here are some pretty typical Japanese climbers:  Twenty-something, fancy (warm) hiking attire (though less colorful than most), nice hiking packs, telescoping hiking poles, taking pictures with cell phone camera.

There were in fact many, many very nice cameras, tripods, and lenses on the top of the mountain - much nicer than the one I was holding (the Japanese take their photography seriously - it is no accident that Canon, Olympus, Nikon, Pentax, and Sony are all Japanese companies).  There were also many, many people using their cell phones (rather than a point-and-shoot) to take pictures of the sunrise.  This was less crazy than the two American men we saw in shorts, so I can't be too hard on them.

This next picture illustrates several important things:

First, the fog.  This was a moment when it was fairly light.  The way the winds were up there, one moment it would be almost perfectly clear, another visibility would be about 30 feet.

Second, the colorful outfits of the climbers.  There are more North Face colors and patterns sold in Japan that America has ever dreamed of.  I guess it would be an advantage in a search-and-rescue operation, though?

Third, and most treacherous, the terrain.  There's some snow to the left, and you can see the rocks and sand vary in color between a deep red and black.  Also, the rocks are very light.  Instead of a deep clanking noise that rocks in the Adirondacks might make when kicked around, these rocks make a light clinking noise.


We walked for about an hour down to the eighth station (where many people turned off to the more popular trail, and we took the road less traveled) just like this.  waiting for the person in front of you to move so that you could.  In fact in some places it was even more crowded than this.  And there were at times people who had missed the sunrise still on their way up, making things more difficult. 

Here's another picture to get a sense of what kind of crowds we're talking about.  And this is before the peak season.


And here's Melissa looking like a turtle.





 Once we had passed the eighth station going down (the place where the paths diverge, and where most hikers would be heading to a different base station), we were free wheelin', with only a handful of other hikers to contend with rather than hundreds. From this point on, the descent took a separate but mostly parallel path from the ascent. The part of the trail is called Suna-bashiri, literally sand-run, and with each step, your foot slides and depresses several inches to make for a soft landing. Here is Jeff testing out the terrain.



The path is actually used by large tractors to haul provisions to the lodges scattered on the mountain, which allows their owners to jack up the rates of the meals exponentially with the elevation. Cup noodles, for example, fetched the equivalent of about $7. Being clever and un-dupe-able, we brought enough snacks to last the entire trip. Here we are again, punishing our legs on the sandy descent.



Still in good spirits there, but that would soon fade as the terrain continued on like that for nearly the entire way down. Despite the "soft landing" of the sandy trail, it forces your legs to overcompensate in an effort to stabilize your body, meaning that it takes quite a toll. On top of this, our low-top sneakers, not known for being sand-repellent, needed to be removed every ten minutes or so in order to dump out the part of the trail that was obviously trying to escape from the mountain with us.

We did take a fair share of breaks, careful not to repeat the altitude sickness of the ascent by going down too quickly. Also, we would have been remiss to make the entire descent without a celebration of a beloved pub in Penn Yan, New York with the vista, which only seemed to get better with time.

Nearing the end, we both had that feeling of hitting the wall. The last mile or so, though perhaps the most moderate part of the trail, seemed to take an eternity to finish, and we hoped to see the parking lot as we turned each bend.

We pulled in to the trail head just after 8 am, exactly ten hours after embarking, and with zero sleep. A woman greeted us with a salt-loaded tea to replenish what we had sweated out. Although it was welcome, they were clearly trying to lure us into the souvenir shop, which obviously worked, because we left with a few postcards. 

Back to the parking lot, we managed to squeak out a smile using the hill we had just conquered as a backdrop.

We hopped in the car, headed to Hakone with hopes that we'd hit an onsen for a long soak. We had also planned to capture an image of Fuji from a distance, but the overcast sky turned the mountain into a foggy gaze. Before we could even find an onsen, fatigue took over, and we decided it would be best to head home, which we did. We returned the car by one, took quick showers, grabbed lunch at our favorite daytime eatery, New Koenji India, and slept hard from 3pm until 8pm, then midnight until 10am the next day. That's about what you can expect when you forgo sleep to climb a nation's highest peak.

I think we're still recovering, and even writing this post was a challenge with so much to cover - it took both Jeff and Melissa to complete (Melissa wrote most of the beginning, Jeff most of the end).

Now, for one last adventure out of Tokyo, leaving bright and early tomorrow morning.

Mata ne,
Melissa (and Jeff!)

Special thanks go out to our parents for making this trip possible!!

lunaversary 10

The other day we celebrated our 10 month lunaversary!

How's that for a convenient statue to find on the day before your lunaversary? (We are still in Tokyo by the way, not Philadelphia.)

What did we do to celebrate our marriage turning double digits?  Here's a preview:

Not a bad view to kick off our eleventh month of marriage, if I do say so myself. 

The full run-down (literally) to come.

Mata ne,
Melissa

good view, great martini

When Aaron, Jeff and I were on our quest for a view of Mt. Fuji from Tokyo after our failed attempt at a good glimpse up close, we took several ear-popping trips to the highest floors of almost every tall building in west Shinjuku.  Many of these buildings are fairly unspectacular themselves. 

We did, however, visit one building which may be a little more exciting to the viewing public.  The Park Hyatt Tokyo Hotel.  It's where Bill Murray and Scarlett Johansson's characters meet, and where the New York Bar is, where Bob Harris sips his Suntory and one can see the Shinjuku Skyline. 

Normally, ¥1600 is a bit steep for a drink, but I ordered the martini, and let me tell you, it was worth every penny.  Do not, DO NOT, order a martini anywhere in Japan unless it is in the New York Bar.  Pay the premium and sip slowly while enjoying the view of my new city.  Take the risk somewhere else and you will be disappointed.

The bar was quite dim, but we took a few flashless photos (lest we appeared to be tourists - along with EVERYONE else in the bar) to document the evening. 

 

Tip: Enjoy the New York Bar before 8 p.m.  After this time, they'll sour your martini with a ¥2000 per person cover charge.

 

See that very small bowl of nuts and wasabi peas on the table?  It was free.  You bet we ate five of them.  Had to make up for the ¥1600 drinks somehow.

Mata ne, 

Melissa

Editor's note:  Jeff did not change his outfit during our visit to the bar.  He was wearing the blue jacket over the plaid shirt, even though you can't tell that at all from the second picture.

chasing fuji

Aaron left the other day.  We were sad to see him leave, but were so glad he was able to come see us and experience our Tokyo life. 

While he was here, one of the only things he really wanted to do was to see Mt. Fuji, which is an hour and a half drive away, but can be seen from Tokyo and other sites on a clear day.  We enjoyed one gorgeous day, spent mostly outside exploring the city (check out our long walk).  Unfortunately, we also endured a few not so nice days, including some rain and even an evening of snow. (I place the blame for that squarely on Aaron's shoulders.  I think he brought it with him in his carry-on.  It snuck in there when the TSA was taking out my peanut butter.)

With rain in the forecast and not wanting wet feet, we decided to rent a car and head to Fuji's famed Five Lakes region, using Jeff's newly acquired international driver's license. 

Jeff was very excited to drive after being relegated to the passenger seat in our last driving adventure.

We got up bright and early, grabbed the rental car, and got right on the road. We were all moving a little slowly and were very pleased to find a nice kombini with heated toilet seats (if you're unfamiliar with this phenomenon, I'll explain later) and a little coffee pick-me-up. 

We had fun on our day trip, but alas, even at the bottom of the road up the mountain, Fuji-san was feeling a little shy that day, hiding behind the deep fog. 

We did get to see a very cool old house though.  Possibly even older than our old old house, and certainly in much better condition (although conspicuously lacking both bathroom and kitchen).  Hint: you can click on the picture to see it bigger.

There's Jeff standing in the sliding doorway.  I took the picture from the front door and you can see how the doors to the rooms slide open so you can see through the whole house.  To the right where the light is coming in, there is a roka (like a covered porch/hallway thing) that the walls of the room open onto.  The walls and doors are made of very flimsy paper-like material, similar to the windows and doors of our old house. It was freezing that day, and I don't think it would be much warmer with the doors closed. 

Also notice that Jeff's head is hitting the top of the doorway.  He's the first to admit he's not the tallest beanstalk, so that's saying something. 

The second picture shows the source of heat for warmth and cooking in a house, a small, recessed pit in the floor of a tatami room. 

Two things: 
1. Brrr.
2. Fire hazard. 

A straw roof of another old building nearby.  And Jeff's freakishly long fingers. 

Boys will be boys. 


We had a great time with Aaron and can't wait for him to come visit us again the next time we live in Tokyo. 


Mata na,
Melissa

Hakone Ahoy!

The last big adventure we had with Jeff's brother and sister, Michael and Sara, was a trip out of Tokyo to Hakone, a town known for it's beautiful landscape and onsen.  We got up bright and early to get on the train for our almost 2 hour trip out there so we could have a full day to enjoy ourselves and take in the sights.  By far the best deal is to get the Hakone Free Pass in Shinjuku (good for two days even though we only used it for one) which includes transportation to the area, several unusual forms of transportation within the area, and discounts on attractions within Hakone for 5000 yen.

We took the regular Odakyu commuter train for the long trip out to Odawara in the morning.  My three companions slept the entire way - essentially from the moment the train started moving until the moment I informed then our stop was coming up.  This was no comfy express train either.  It was the bare bones, florescent lighting, sideways facing bench, commuter train.  They must be heavy sleepers in that family.  By the time we got to Hakone they were well rested and ready for adventure.  I immediately got myself a coffee. 

Being somewhat close to Tokyo, Hakone is quite a popular tourist spot, and apparently there is a set route which people often take which maximizes the fun stuff they can do. Trendsetters that we are, we decided not to follow this route.  Instead we got on a bus (which was free thanks to the Free Pass!) for a roller-coaster ride to our first stop.

Now I enjoy roller-coasters, and have been known to drag people around for entire days begging them "just once more!" but this 40 minute ride was a bit much even for me.  I'd liken it to being driven around the Bershires, with steep grades and hairpin turns galore, by a fourteen year old who thinks he's playing Mario Cart for Wii.  Our bus driver was apparently unaware that there is something in between speedy acceleration and slamming on the break.  We fortunately made it safely to our next mode of transportation/adventure.

A freaking pirate ship!

(Hey, move lady, you're messing up my picture!)

I am not sure who decided that a pirate ship was just what this small, inland lake in Japan needed, but they are probably related to the person who thought it would be fun to tell people there are whales in Seneca Lake.  The pirate ship is on the route that most people take through Hakone, "sails" (notice the folded up sails on the boat) on Lake Asahi providing awesome views of Mt. Fuji, and comes complete with unconvincing and underpaid teenager (really, whatever they were paying this kid, it wasn't enough) walking around dressed as a pirate captain offering to take a picture with you.  We politely declined. The pirate ship ride was free with our Hakone free pass (notice a pattern here?)

Once the pirate ship ride had taken us to the other side of the lake, we rushed past every single other person on that boat up at least 4 stories worth of stairs (there was an escalator, but I'm boycotting escalators right now) to be first in line for the next mode of transportation/adventure.

Gondola!! 

There were actually three sections to this gondola ride it was so long.  The views, as you can see, were spectacular.

 

No, not that one!

Ahhhh.  Fuji-san.  We will meet someday.

And guess how much this little ride in the clouds cost us?  Zero dollars yen.  That's right, covered by the Hakone Free Pass. 

Since the trip was in three sections, we had to switch to a new cable car twice.  At one of the stations, you're able to go out and explore the mountain area where the hot springs are.  Well, you're sort of able to walk near it.  It was all roped off and it really wasn't all that exciting.

There are the heavy sleepers at the hot springs with all the steam rising out of the ground behind them.  Noticed the slightly pained looks on their faces?  Thats because it smelled soooo bad.  Once the steam really got going we got out of there.  Fast. 

While we were there though we had to try the eggs boiled in the sulfurous water - they turn black!  I am not sure why we had to do this.  Wait, I remember.  Jeff insisted.  And in fact was so excited he ran ahead of us to buy them.

There's my black egg.  Of course, we were in for a BIG disappointment when we peeled them and they looked and tasted exactly the same as  a regular egg.

We're not sure why they boil eggs in the sulfur water, but all the tourists buy them and eat them anyways.  I think the man who put pirate ships in the lake had his hand in this. Michael saw through the black egg scam from the beginning, and was very proud that he hadn't bought into it like the rest of us. 

After the last section of our gondola ride, it was off to our next (free - thank you, Hakone Free Pass!) mode of transportation/adventure.

Funicular!  

Ok, I know this just looks like regular train tracks, but I promise, it was on like a 30 degree incline!

(This was far less adventure and far more mode of transportation.)

When we got to the bottom of the funicular, it was way past time for food, but being in a tourist town, off season, there were very limited options.  We managed to find a place that had six meal choices: two Japanese dishes, one Mexican dish, one Thai dish, and one that I can't remember now.  So strange. That not being enough, we looked for a little something to top off the tank.

These tasted about as appetizing as Michael is making them look.  Eeew.

After a long day of exploring an area essentially known for it's ridiculous forms of transportation, we were in the mood to relax.  Fortunately, Hakone is also known for its ridiculous onsen.  Ok, most onsen here (and everywhere else for that matter) are not ridiculous, but the one we chose was... interesting.

We went to a "resort onsen" called Yunessun that had not only the traditional Japanese hot springs baths, but also themed spas and an amusement park style onsen area for families (where bathing suits were required).  In addition to a Roman bath and a kids area complete with water-slide, there was a chocolate bath, a coffee bath, a sake bath, a green tea bath, a dead sea bath (with high levels of salt - you do float!), et cetera, et cetera.  We didn't bring our cameras to take pictures of the bathing-suit ones, although apparently this is totally kosher, and for obvious reasons we couldn't take pictures of the traditional baths (For an idea of what an onsen - the bathing part - is like, see here).  I can assure you, however, a good time was had by all.

For the trip home, we decided to spring for the extra expense of taking the RomanceCar (yes, really what it's called) rather than the regular commuter train.  Let me tell you, spend the 850 yen!  We rode home in comfort, each enjoying a snack and a chu-hi in our own chair.  The chairs even swiveled so we could all face each other. 

Truly a fun-filled day in Hakone.  I don't think anyone would need to stay for two days, unless maybe the weather is really nice and you can go hiking (hmm, hiking in Hakone then onsen - what do you think Jeff?), but we managed to fit in everything on the typical route (while not following it the right way) in one day. 

Best part:  Gondola ride
Most ridiculous part: The wine pouring "event" at the onsen.   They did a "presentation" and poured a bottle of wine into the spa as greedy cupped hands tried to snag some before it hit the water. (We actually witnessed one child lick the bath water after the wine had already entered it.  Gross.)  
Game ball goes to: Hakone Free Pass

Mata ne,
Melissa

tourists, towers, and toppings

Maybe it's that few of you have been to Tokyo?  Or you've been really really busy hitting the gym and cooking healthy meals after falling off the wagon during the cookie holiday season?  Or you're busy planning a wedding (excitingly, several of you fall into this category)?  Well whatever your excuse there have been few (ok, two) guesses for my Where in Tokyo is Carmen Sandiego post.  I'm going to give you the answers anyway, though.  Because I am nice.  Remember that around May 4, ok?

Photo #1
On January 2 the Imperial Palace opens it's gates (but not it's doors) to visitors wanting to give the emperor best wishes for the new year.  Kind of like the Pope, you can't actually get close to the Emperor, as he makes his hourly appearance behind the bullet proof glass windows of his residence.  That's him in there waving.  Look closely!  While there were many (old) people there paying their respects to the Emperor and his family, there were also a surprising number of foreigners in the crowds.  It seemed a significant portion of those visiting were there, like us, to see inside the normally off-limits Imperial Palace grounds.

Photo #2
Congrats Larry!  It is the Tokyo Tower!  We (Jeff, Micheal, Sara, and I) walked up and down the 600 steps to the first level, 150 meters from the bottom.  Was it good exercise?  Let's just say I counted that as my workout for the day.  Was it quicker than waiting in the line for the elevator?  Of course.  Was it cheaper than riding up the easy way?  Bingo.  Did I question my decision to take the hard route about halfway up?  You betcha.  It was especially disheartening when we reached the top and were handed a credit card sized certificate attesting to our feat.

After our very long walk up, we proceeded to wait in line for far, far, far too long for the elevator to to highest level observation deck (there was no walk up option) which was taking a maximum of eight (8! That's less than half the number of people who have come out of Mama Dugger's womb!) people up at a time.  Fortunately for us, there was a pot of gold at the end of our long journey.  While we were at the highest observation deck, we saw a beautiful sunset over Tokyo with Fuji-san (Mt. Fuji) in the background.

Ok, maybe it's a little dark.  If I had a better camera, maybe it would have come out better (hint, hint, Jeff!).  Still, if you look closely, you can make out sprawling Tokyo in the foreground and faint outline of Mt. Fuji on the horizon on the left side of the picture.  It is huge.  And I can't wait to climb it. [Correction: It's taken me about two months, and no one has pointed it out, but in fact Fuji is on the right side of this picture.  You don't need to ask if I still use the first grade trick of making an L with my hands to tell my right from my left.]


We also got some cool pictures of the Tokyo tower all lit up as we were leaving.  It was just a few days after New Year's, so they were still reminding everyone to start writing the new year on checks and everything.

Photo #4

Yes, Okonomiaki.  Yum.   Okonomiaki has been described to me as a savory pancake, so that is how I will describe it to you.  I don't really think this conveys what it is in any way, but I suppose it is cooked on a griddle and often made in the shape of a circle.  This is about where the similarities end.  Okonomiaki is made of cabbage, some kind of thin batter (ok, one more similarity), egg, and just about anything else in various combinations.  Common ingredients include vegetables, mushrooms (They are fungi and thus in a separate category.  And gross.  Just my opinion.), shrimp, chicken, and beef.   Usually, the ingredients are brought to your table in a bowl and you mix them up and cook them yourself.  When the pancake looks like it is holding together and cooking through, you flip it, let it cook a little more, and then chop it up and eat it right off the grill.

It is common to see okonomiaki garnished with nori (seaweed) flakes and mayonnaise.  There's Michael, to the left, very seriously about to dig in to his dinner topped with the green nori flakes and Kewpie mayonnaise.

Like mushrooms, you will find neither of these anywhere near my okonomiaki.  You will find mine covered with okonomiaki sauce, however, which is made completely out of friuts and vegetables, and soy sauce.  Itadakimas!

The other three pictures will have to wait until next time (dare I commit myself and say tomorrow?) to be identified.

Mata ne,
Melissa