enji experience number ni

Last dinner with my parents before they leave Japan (forever?)!

We got our marathon meal started right with some healthy portions of sake!  This is right after the waiter poured my dad's sake almost to the point of spilling all over the table in addition to filling the bowl under the glass.  Someone was excited!

We had made a reservation for the course meal after our great experience there a few weeks before, so we had no idea what to expect.  The whole meal was an adventure!  Here is our mackerel being "cooked" right in front of us.

Never one to shy away from a "food experience," my dad had to try the eyeball from the fish heads delivered to our table.  From what I understand this is some kind of delicacy.  Also, apparently the black part is hard and you're supposed to spit it out.  eew.

Some kind of rice-bake thing that finished stewing at our table.  It had bamboo shoots (yum) and mushrooms (which I so kindly offered to my husband) and was incredibly savory.  I need to learn how to make it!

Full and happy after a great meal.  Maybe a little tipsy too.  Maybe.

See you again in just a few weeks, mom and dad!

And one last thing: I've determined that Jeff was in fact correct in asserting that the place has a name. It's called Enji, and we are trying to figure out if that is a play on the name of our town Koenji.   

Mata ne,
Melissa

oh yea, and ni is two in Japanese.

kyoto in the rain, take two

After a few days in Tokyo, we hopped aboard a shinkansen (bullet train) and headed to Kyoto.  Those of you who, like our Vice President, have only enjoyed the pleasure of an Amtrak train should take note, a shinkansen is a step above.  Nicer than your average late model airplane and complete with reclining seats, western toilets, and flight attendants, the shinkansen gets you to a destination across Japan faster and in comfort and style.  Needless to say, I was excited for the trip, in spite of the early boarding time. 

When we got to Kyoto it was raining so we dropped our luggage off at the ryokan and went right to lunch at the original Tenka Ippin, a Japan-famous ramen restaurant.  As usual, Jeff and I ordered ours niku nuki, without meat, and I got the small size.  This in no way means I had a healthy lunch.

Two things: 
1. I eat way too much ramen.  Arguably, any ramen is too much ramen because it is NOT good for you.   
2. I can justify eating way too much ramen while I am living here, knowing that I won't be able to get it in America.  It is near impossible to find "good" ramen in America.  In fact, we don't know of any.  

Tenka Ippin did live up to its reputation, by the way.  Yum. 

Because it was such a gross day, we decided to explore the Nishiki Market in central Kyoto.  It is a thoroughly modern arcade-style market filled with everything from ABC mart, the ever-present shoe store, to small stalls selling exotic ingredients for a traditional Japanese dinner, to a 400 year old family business selling very cool looking, and very expensive, knives. 

It was a rainy day, and every tourist in Kyoto had the same idea as us.  The Nishiki Market was packed.

Many people are surprised to see temples scattered about a modern-looking city, and mixed in with the clothing and souvenir stores throughout the market are several examples of century-old temples and shrines. 

After we'd had enough wandering around we sought out another of my mother's must-dos in Japan: shabu shabu and sukiyaki.  These are both distinctly Japanese methods of cooking very thinly sliced meat, and this restaurant happened to provide a split pot for enjoying both of them.  The fancy set-up:

 It's a Japanese style private room where you sit on the floor at a hori-kotatsu (a kotatsu, in this case, with your feet tucked in a recessed hole under the table).  

They're excited.  My dad because of the amount of meat on the table (it's bottomless as well) and my mom because she's apparently been hearing about this from her friend Cindi since she booked the tickets.
For the record, shabu shabu is swished through a boiling broth (yes, that is the best word for it - shabu shabu is the onomatopoeia for the swishing motion) of vegetables and tofu.  Sukiyaki is grilled/sauteed in a shallow dark broth with onions and a weird tofu (and potentially other vegetables, but we can't remember).

After dinner, we were feeling a little tired from the travel and a little soggy from the rainy weather so we went back to the ryokan to hang out.  We were in Kyoto during sakura season and reasonably priced accommodations meant that we were a little cramped for the first night. 

Those are the futons for all four of us.  Good thing we're family. 

More of Kyoto to come...

Mata ne,
Melissa

repeat after me: o-ko-no-mi-yaki

Okonomiyaki is always an experience.  For those of you who haven't been to Japan (as I am fairly certain it is extremely hard to find anywhere else) okonomiyaki is a savory pancake with vegetables. 

This is the best description we've got, so I'm sticking with it.  I suppose if you haven't had the pleasure, you really could not possibly know what it tastes like since everyone agrees that "pancake" is not a good way to describe it but then continues to do so. 

So my parents were intrigued. 

Apprehensively stirring the batter...

Clearly excited. Because I know what's coming.

Okonomiyaki on the grill.  Seasoning and topping it.  And waiting for it to cook.  And waiting.  Preparing okonomiyaki is an exercise in patience. 

When it was finally done, we had lost all interest in taking pictures and were concentrating on enjoying the food we had prepared ourselves.  Little different than American restaurants, huh? 

The verdict:  My parents loved it.  In fact, my mom liked it so much, she wanted to go back for her last meal in Tokyo.  Unfortunately, the place wasn't open for lunch so we hit up New Koenji India.  Again.  I'm fairly certain we are their best customers.  But that is another story....

Mata ne,
Melissa

Guest post by Karyn: Japan on 10,000 yen a day

Greetings all of Melissa’s blog followers.  If you have noticed that she has been remiss in posting for the last week, I take full responsibility as she and Jeff have been very busy entertaining us, her parents.  So, to make up for her absence, I offer this guest blog on just a few of my observations:

Non-conformity

Aaron is right: Tokyo is like many other large American cities – just filled with Japanese people.  However, the cultural homogeneity and conformity that we Americans have been led to believe in isn’t at all what I have observed.  There is clear evidence of the genetic influence of Caucasian, African, and other-Asian on the faces I’ve seen on whichever form of mass transit we are riding that day.  And the dress ranges from traditional kimonos (most often observed in sites of historical, spiritual or cultural importance) to some wild get-ups that would impress Lady Gaga and make heads turn in even the most liberal enclaves of San Francisco or Greenwich Village.

 Non-standard Precautions

In health care [Karyn is a nurse] we refer to the routine level of personal protection devices (masks, gloves, etc) as Standard Precautions.  For you non-medical persons, basically this amounts to washing your hands between patients and wearing gloves if you may touch something “yucky.” But the CDC recommendations on the practice of wearing masks in public includes those for whom going out in public would represent a danger to themselves or others; and even then only when staying home (the preferred course of action) is not an option.  That means persons who are very compromised (i.e. on chemotherapy) or are incredibly contagious (i.e. have tuberculosis).  I am very amused by the number of people wearing masks as they go about their daily business.  Even more amusing is that only rarely is the mask employed in the recommended manner.  Covering only the mouth?  Using it as a beard warmer? Having it loosely draped across the face?  In other words, useless.  

Engrish

Let me start by saying that like most Americans, I only speak one language.  I do know a fair amount of medical Spanish – more like Spanglish – that I successfully use when communicating simple things to my Spanish speaking patients.   Even so, I am quite amused with the Engrish that I read on everything from signs to clothing.  I have been photographing my favorites to include in my scrapbooking such as these found in Melissa & Jeff’s neighborhood:  a clothing store named “Nincompoop Capacity” and a barber shop called “Bad Nice”.  When buying bottled water your choices include “Calpis” and “Pocari Sweat”.  My all time favorite (which I was unable to photograph) was the toddler wearing a baseball cap that said “Suicidal 

Tendencies”.  As Dave Berry would say – that would make a great name for a rock band.

The Honeymooners

Melissa and Jeff are very happy, and seem very much at home here in their teeny apartment in this big city.  Yes, Melissa, you are right – I could fit two of your apartments in my family room – with room to spare!  And while I fully expected Jeff, the scholar, to speak fluent Japanese, I am wholly amazed at the amount that Melissa is able to read and speak comfortably in just six months.  And for a person who has never lived in a large metropolitan area, I am astonished at the ease at which she navigates the maze of a subway system – in another language!  Finally, while I always knew that Jeff and Melissa both enjoy eating well – it has been amusing eating our way thru Tokyo and Kyoto - except the fish eyeballs. Usually Jeff and Melissa are planning their next meal before they have finished the one in front of them.  And I have no idea how the Japanese remain so thin on such a carb heavy diet (Melissa and Jeff work out every day so that is obviously their secret) – and I am scared to weigh myself when I get back home. 

Well I could go on about the impressive range of toilet facilities, the cold rainy weather we have had these last couple days, and the unbelievable beauty and antiquity of the sites we have seen – but I have to save something for Melissa to write about….

Karyn

a life in pictures

As can be expected when one is entertaining guests, it is hard to find the time to write about all the fun we're having.  Here are some pictures from the last two days, though!

 

Syracuse Orange fan carp in the shrine pond!

Entrance to big temple in Asakusa (Notice the typical Japanese high school girls in uniforms on the right.  MOST high school kids have to wear uniforms like these or worse to school every day!  With the silly fake bow-ties and all!)

Supercool five story pagoda at the temple.  (Not supercool: my bad picture of it, with the couple that wouldn't move in the foreground.)

 

 Aaron, not sure what to think of this whole okonomiyaki thing.  The verdict: better than he expected.

Jeff's big ice cream.  He claims it's carbo-loading.  I am skeptical if the ratio of carbs to fat make this the wise choice.

A map of our very long stroll around Tokyo today - from Shibuya to Harajuku to Aoyama to Shinjuku.  8.4 miles including stops at the Meiji Shrine, the NHK (National Broadcasting) building, the Meiji Gaien, the Shinjuku Gyoen, and Kinokunia.  It was a beautiful spring-like day and we spent most of it outside taking it all in.  It's amazing how close everything really is though in such a HUGE city!

Much much more to come!

Mata ne, 

Melissa

again?

So the snow that two days ago was a novelty is still here, trying hard not to melt in quaint little piles around town (if you've seen the snow piles that would accumulate in the old Fayetteville Mall parking lot, then you know what a real snow pile looks like).  Tonight, it wasn't so exciting to discover as I was taking out the ridiculous daily ration of garbage that it is, once again, snowing in Tokyo.  Not Funny.

We did have a nice day though, eating all of our meals at home (yes, this is a major accomplishment for us these days) and doing a lot of work(jeff)/reading(melissa) at a coffee shop.  Well, we did have coffee and a choco-cro (chocolate croissant) but that doesn't count, right?

I started a new book by Natsume Soseki, the author of Kokoro, and I am less that 15 pages from the end so I think I can safely say I'll be finishing it tonight.  Unless we watch all of last week's Daily Shows before bed.....

Mata ne,
Melissa

photo from choco cro website

ramen times

Sumisasen*, New York Times.  I think you've been reading my blog.  You see, I totally beat you to the ramen punch. 

Well, I am glad at least the Old Gray Lady is on the bandwagon. 
 

Special thanks to Jeff's dad for sending us the link.  And the NYTimes for the photo.  Enjoy!

Mata ne,
Melissa

*excuse me

City of Brotherly Love?

In just a few short days my baby brother will be landing at Narita so we are eagerly preparing for his much hyped visit.

Jeff and I are both super excited for sibling hosting part deux, this time with one less sibling squatting in our teeny tiny apartment.  Coming in over six feet tall, Aaron will likely find our place a bit cramped and will be doing a fair share of ducking while exploring the city, but he's already excited about the basketball game we've arranged for him. 

I just know Aaron is going to love Tokyo and we've been racking our brains for great things to do and see with him while he's here.  We haven't made any specific plans yet, and we don't want to spoil any surprises, so here are just a few things that I know Aaron will love about my temporary hometown.

The food:

Ramen, soba, udon, tempura, yaki niku, yaki soba, yaki tori, okonomiaki, sushi.  Yum.  What's not to love??  Ok, maybe tako yaki (tako = octopus) and the ten million kinds of mushrooms they have here, but that's just me.

Don't worry, Aaron, we'll definitely go for kai-ten sushi place while you're here (or as Leigh likes to put it - sushi-go-round).


Starbucks:
My baby brother has an affinity for (obsession with?) Starbucks' Pumpkin Spice Lattes and the day they add them to the seasonal menu is a day of celebration in his world.  Unfortunately we've reached the time of year when they've run out of the appropriate spices at many locations and I didn't see them in Japan at all.  Lucky for him there is a Starbucks on almost every corner in Tokyo (though I haven't scouted a location where you can sit in one and look out the window at another like at Astor Place in NYC) with a wide range of caffeinated options for his enjoyment.  And an English menu.
(Point Tokyo: In addition to Starbucks, there are in fact many such high end coffee shops to chose from.  One is not limited to the Starbucks/Dunkin' Donuts dichotomy.)

Tully's:

Ok, Tully's Coffee, but he does like Tully's and coffee, so where can you go wrong?  Right?









Engrish:
My brother is an avid reader and a great writer and I think he'll be quite amused by the, shall we say, "liberties" taken with the English language. 

Public Transportation:

Aaron's been living in New York City since he graduated college and knows the ins and outs of the NYC subway system.  I think he will be impressed by the organization and efficiency of the Tokyo train system though.  The trains are never late.  Ever.  Oh, yea, and it's about a thousand times more comfortable and clean than in New York.  Maybe more.

This is my well worn English copy of the system. For perspective, it takes exactly one hour (the trains are always on time) to do the oval in the middle - this city is HUGE.

Can't wait to share more when he actually gets here!

Mata ne,
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