I just wanted to wish everyone a Happy Leap Year 2008! It’s not very often we get to see one of these, and yeah I know it may just be another day, but it’s still kinda cool to be able to date things the 29th of February.
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Archive for February, 2008
I mentioned to Tanikawa that I have a lot of time on my hands now so she offered to have a cooking day. (I’d also mentioned during that lesson that I was trying to learn how to cook.) She had sent me a text with dates she was available and I selected Wednesday the 27th. Once all this was confirmed, she sent another text suggesting we make Chirasashizushi. I had no idea what it was but I wasn’t overly picky so I said that would be fine with me.
I’ve still been in the habit of waking up early even though I don’t really have a reason to. This morning was the first in a while where all I wanted to do was go back to sleep. However, I’d agreed to meet Tanikawa at Tengachaya Station at 10 AM.
I grudgingly got out of bed, ate a quick breakfast, and was out the door at a reasonable time. When I got to the station, one of the other ladies (whose name at the time eluded me; she was Ban-san) was waiting for me. At first, we both did a kind of uncertain approach thing. But it was only briefly and recognition finally flickered for both of us. Ban-san informed me that Tanikawa had to run home because she forgot her keitai and that we could go ahead to the supermarket.
Ban-san chatted with me as we walked to the market, which was connected to the station. I think that’s an amusing thing about Osaka, most major train stations have a market of some kind either attached or a hop, skip, and a jump away.
We waited for Tanikawa by the entrance to the market. Ban-san was doing her level-best to hold a conversation with me. She was trying very hard to find the right words to explain why sushi rice was different from regular rice. She also said that we would try making two type of chirasashizushi, a traditional Japanese-style and a Western-style because the ladies weren’t sure if I would be able to find all the ingredients to making Japanese-style in America.
Tanikawa wasn’t far behind us and the three of us were soon in the market ready to shop. Holy smokes I have never seen a supermarket that crowded before! I was reminded of Thanksgiving 2006 when Fight Club made the uninformed decision to go to Costco on a national holiday. Y’all know how I feel about people, so I was mildly discombobulated while we were shopping. I commented to the ladies that I usually never go grocery shopping so early in the morning, and Ban-san said usually many housewives come at this time. Neither Tanikawa nor Ban-san shop at 10 AM either. Like me, they wait until the crowds go away.
Somehow we managed to get the necessary ingredients. The first item was salmon, the kind they eat for breakfast. I dunno how to describe it other than cooked and that I recognize it when I see it. Since we were in that section we also bought some sashimi and these cute but creepy little dried fish. Ban-san showed me the package and asked me if I would be able to find them in America. I told her honestly that I wasn’t sure, but I could try the Japanese market. I didn’t say that I was mentally omitting some of the ingredients because I didn’t think I would be able to eat them. I couldn’t help but think the fishies were cute, though. They had these little eyes and while some people find that morbid and creepifying, I was raised in a semi-Chinese household so these things don’t really faze me. We also passed through the prepared foods section and Ban-san suggested purchasing these onigiri-type…uh, side dishes? They asked me if I had ever tried them, and when I said I hadn’t, they asked me if I’d be willing to try them. We didn’t have to if I didn’t want to, but Ban-san said they are very tasty. I agreed to try them, mostly ‘cuz it seemed to please them so much. (Later, I found out these things are called Inarizushi, and yeah, the same “Inari” as “Fushimi Inari”.)
Finally, after about half an hour or so of wandering around the crowded supermarket, we had all of the ingredients. I was amazed that the lines were so long at the check-out…I hadn’t seen anything like that since the States. Made for interesting standing ‘cuz it always seemed like we were in the way even when we really weren’t. Tanikawa suggested going on ahead, so we went to wait by the entrance. Again, I was surprised to find that there were NO BASKETS left for people to use. Seriously. Messed up, desu ne?
Eventually, Tanikawa suggested going on ahead since she had to ride her bicycle back to the house anyway. While we were walking to the house, we noticed Tanikawa met up with Tsukada-san. Ban-san told me there would only be three of us for cooking; I was actually surprised that Zeze-san did not join since she always meets me at the station and asks me to have my lesson with the class when she is able to come.
Tanikawa has a wicked cool house, it even has an elevator. It doesn’t look like much from the outside, but inside is neat. Then again, I have only really been in apartos in Japan, so maybe I just don’t have a lot to compare it to. Well, she DEFINITELY has a cooler house than I do! It was only the second time that I got a chance to see the living area. (The classroom is on the first floor.)
Once we got all of our things put down, we started getting things prepared. One of the first things we did was get the rice ready. Tanikawa had prepared some sushi rice the night before, to practice as it were, but she burnt some of it and was henceforth dissatisfied with using it. I’d rinsed rice before, so this part wasn’t all that new for me. Although, we were going to be making the rice on the stove which I’ve never attempted. We also put the salmon in the broiler. Tanikawa has a really wicked range! Then again, most Japanese ranges only have two burners; she has five (one in the middle for tea kettles). See, when they told me we would be making the rice on the stovetop, I thought it was gonna be wicked hard. It turns out Tanikawa’s range has an automatic setting. She also has a special pot for making rice on the stovetop which resembles the inner-pot for a rice cooker (it’s got the measuring stuff etched on the inside).
While the salmon was broiling and the rice was cooking, we prepared the egg. Here is one of the parts that proves I suck at cooking…or rather, I need lots of practice, desu ne? So basically, when preparing the egg, you scramble it. This part, not so much with the hard. Ban-san demonstrated how we would be making it, though. Essentially, you make a really thin layer of egg. You barely pour any of it into the pan. You swish it around so that it covers the whole surface, just like when making scrambled eggs in general, you use chopsticks to pick up one of the edges, then with your fingers you flip it over so both sides are cooked. Yeah, I’m sure that this is a way easy task or something, but for me it was wicked hard! I joked that you could tell which were the ones I made and which were the ones Ban-san and Tsukada-san made — mine had holes in ‘em ‘cuz I couldn’t swish the egg around well enough.
We put the egg cakes aside and got the sushi rice ready (it had finished by this time). We used two types of rice, microwave rice and the type we made on the stove. We took care of the microwave rice first. We dumped it into a mixing bowl and then Tsukada-san had me “cut” the rice with the spatula. While I did this, Tsukada-san poured some of the sushi no ko into the bowl, this is an easy way of giving the rice it’s sweet and vinegar taste. Once that was done, we set the rice bowl aside.
Next, the salmon was done. The next task was to shred the salmon and take out the little bones as we came upon them. Meanwhile, Tanikawa went to fetch her wooden sushi oke. (Doubt I’ll eve have one of those!) For the rice we made via the stove we were going to make the sushi rice using the oke. This involved measuring vinegar and a little sugar (I think that’s all we used…to be honest I wasn’t paying that close attention ‘cuz I planned on just using the sushi no ko if I could find it). A lot of the measuring was kind of eyeballing ‘cuz the ladies were so used to making this kind of stuff by just, you know, knowing. (I hate that about cooking.) We dumped the rice into the oke, and once again I was asked to “cut” the rice while they added the liquid version of the sushi no ko. Both types of rice tasted great.
Tanikawa added the fishies with the eyes to the Japanese-style rice, and Ban-san and I slices the egg cakes into shreds. Again, you could tell the ones she did and the once I did ‘cuz mine were way thicker. 
We had unagi and imitation crab as well, Tsukada san prepared the unagi and I shredded the imitation crab with my hands. We got the sashimi out of the refrigerator and the mixed vegetables as well. Ban-san sliced the sashimi while I mixed half the salmon into the Western-style sushi rice and then the Japanese-style sushi rice.
We were ready to “decorate” the rice. Tanikawa got the bowls out for us and we started doling out the rice. For the Western-style zushi, we added some shredded crab, the mixed vegetables, thinly sliced ham pieces, and topped with sprouts and shredded nori. Ban-san we could really put anything in but it should be a little salty as well as colorful. For the Japanese-style we added three pieces of different sashimi (because three is a lucky number), unagi, the shredded egg cakes (for color), sprouts, and shredded nori. (Don’t forget, the Japanese-style also had the little fishies with the eyes!) Tsukada-san also made a soup with a kind of miso-flavor base with egg and tofu. I’d always wondered how they got the egg in soup to look and taste the way it did; apparently, you scramble it and then just pour it in a circular pattern so it doesn’t just kind of clump.
We were just about ready to eat! We just had to slice the inari zushi, dole out the soup, and set the table. When we sat down, we “itadakimasu”ed (yeah, I know, I verbed it funny — and yeah, I just used the word “verbed”)
We started with the Western-style chirasashizushi first. It was actually really good! I totally expected to not really like it (don’t ask), but I was pleasantly surprised. The traditional Japanese-style wasn’t bad either, the only thing I would change about it is the type of sashimi used. I like salmon a bit more than I like squid. The soup was great and even though one of the inari sushi had wasabi in it, the tofu pocket balanced it with a bit of sweetness.
Like many other instances, I do not really recall what kind of conversation we had. To be honest, I think the ladies just chatted in Japanese and I contented myself to eating. This doesn’t put me off in any way ‘cuz like I mentioned before in the post about Ikebana, it was just like hanging out with my family. (Only my family is usually speaking Tagalog.)
While we were eating, someone stopped by. At first, the ladies thought it was Zeze-san, but it turned out to be another one of the ladies. Here’s the part where I am a jack ass yet again ‘cuz I didn’t catch which lady it was. She stopped by because she wanted to bring me the present she bought for me before I packed up all my stuff. I seriously wasn’t expecting that and I feel pretty stupid for not remembering which one gave it to me.
Tanikawa made coffee afterwards for dessert. I wasn’t exactly sure what would happen next, but it was decided that we play cards. They asked me if I knew any card games. I suggested Euchre, but figured that it would be a kinda hard to explain and hard to play — I mean, the first time I played it was very Munchkinesque, and I didn’t get any ice cream out of the deal. Then I remembered Go Fish. I explained the rules of Go Fish and we tried playing that. While we played, however, I realized there were a few things about the game that I’d forgotten. Like what happens when all the cards in the deck are drawn and there are no “fish” to go fish. I also vaguely remembered something about keeping the pairs with you and counting them.
Ban-san had to part company hereafter, though. She had to go to work, but Tsukada-san said she could stay a bit longer. I honestly wasn’t sure what I should be doing, but both Tsukada-san and Tanikawa seemed to want me to stay, so I did.
They taught me a Japanese card game thereafter. It was a really simple game played with the face cards of the Japanese deck. You drew one card at a time; there were priests, samurai, and miko (princesses). If you drew a samurai, you kept the card, if you drew a princess, you could draw again, if you drew a priest, you put all the cards you had into the middle and whoever drew the next princess inherited all the cards. The player with the most cards by the end of the deck was the winner.
Afterwards, they asked me if I would like to try a more traditional card game. I’d heard about the game from Masumi during one of our lessons so I knew the basic premise of the game. The only problem was that I didn’t know any of the songs, which is a key strategy to playing. However, I could read hiragana fairly well so I thought I’d give it a try. Tanikawa was the one to “sing” the cards and Tsukada-san and I had to look through our group of cards and grab the right one. Since I was at a disadvantage, Tanikawa helped me out, too. I was actually quite proud of myself for selecting a few of the right cards unaided. Both Tanikawa and Tsukada-san were impressed that I was able to read hiragana so well. I think they were just being nice ‘cuz really, I’m not as quick as I should be.
We played two rounds of the game before Tsukada-san had to part company. I was under the impression that it meant that I should leave as well, but Tanikawa said that Zeze-san was on her way. I was a bit apprehensive about sticking around since it was 3 PM and I’d been there since about 11, but I didn’t want Zeze-san to be disappointed she’d missed me so I agreed to hang out.
Tanikawa pulled out a home-made siji board and we played that for a bit. We also chatted about games and such. She also explained to me that Zeze-san was coming from a funeral of a neighbor which was why she wasn’t able to join us for making chirasashizushi. Tanikawa wanted to know if I wanted to stay for dinner. Again, I wasn’t sure how to answer ‘cuz I didn’t want to impose and I’d said as much. She told me that she would like me to stay and that then I could meet her daughter who was visiting from Chiba. A little hesitantly, I agreed ‘cuz I thought that Zeze-san would also be joining us and so it wouldn’t seem so awkward.
Before Zeze-san arrived, Tanikawa and I prepared some chirasashizushi for her to take home. I guess she had asked the day before for us to make extra since she wasn’t going to be able to partake in the lunch. While we were putting the finishing touches on the “decoration”, Zeze-san rang the buzzer.
Zeze-san also got me a present; a lovely calligraphy brush pen. I just wish I practiced calligraphy, but I’m pretty sure I’ll find some use for it.
It was decided that we should take a walk around Tengachaya. I was starting to feel kind of tired, but I smiled and went along with the idea. While Tanikawa washed up some of the other dishes, I took this opportunity to use the bathroom before we left. And here’s where the trouble began…
So when I’d used the bathroom earlier in the day, I don’t think I locked it properly. Not that it really mattered, but this time when I turned the lock I heard a definitive click. After I’d washed my hands and such, I turned to lock a full 180 degrees, you know, ‘cuz I figured that would unlock the mechanism. So didn’t work. Confused, I turned the lock 180 degree again. Not so much. I was steadily leaving confusion, bordering on discombobulation, and dipping ever so slightly with panic. I started knocking on the door, hoping that either Tanikawa or Zeze would hear, but they were down the hall in another room with a closed door between the bathroom and the dining/kitchen area. I continued twisting the lock in 180 degrees both ways but wasn’t really getting anywhere; I also resorted to knocking on the walls and calling out (not loudly, although, maybe I should have). I laughed, too ‘cuz I thought it was hilarious that I somehow got locked in the bathroom. I won’t tell you how long I was standing in there like a moron, twisting the lock this way and that and knocking on the door, but eventually, Zeze came into the hall and heard me. I told her I was stuck in the bathroom, and she went to get Tanikawa-san.
Don’t ask me what prompted this revelation, but for some reason I was compelled to turn the lock 90 degrees. Low and behold, I was freed from the bathroom. I laughed about it, and I tried to explain what happened to Zeze-san, but I’m not entirely sure she was able to understand.
I am such a moron.
It was kind of cold outside; the ground was wet and I guessed it rained a bit while we were indoors cooking. Tanikawa and Zeze wanted to show me the local history, so we went to one of the nearby temples. I still can’t get over how there are shrines and temples peppered throughout the city. They seem like random places, too.
As we began our jaunt, Tanikawa explained that Osaka is actually more historical than Kyoto, but during World War II many of the historical places were burned down.
One of the ones we visited was at the top of a hill and had barbed wire on the some of the walls, which I found pretty odd. This particular shrine had two huge cherry blossom trees in its courtyard. Tanikawa and Zeze said that it was a popular place to visit during hanami, and I could see why. The “weeping” cherry trees’ branches pretty much covered the whole of the courtyard! Not for the first time I lamented the fact that I was going to miss out on this year’s hanami season. We went over to one of the sides overlooking Tengachaya. While we stood there, I asked about the barbed wire. Tanikawa said it was to discourage thieves.
They chatted with the caretaker as we were leaving; I’m not really sure what they were talking about, but it didn’t bother me that I couldn’t understand. They took me back behind the temple to the shrine area. Tanikawa said that there was a lot of construction going on so it would not be very beautiful to look at. She said that the area used to be covered with pine trees and it was nicer then.
One of the shrines was for good business, like many shrines. This one had a stone pillar a few meters away from the shrine itself and had the kanji “100″ and “stone” written on it (I didn’t know what the one in the middle was). Zeze explained that if you completed a circuit from the shrine and around the pillar one hundred times your wish would come true.
Some of the other little shrines had this triangle symbol that was like Triforce; I wondered if it was from some Shinto god that the Triforce got its shape and such. I mean, it’s a pretty common symbol, but it was the first time I’d seen it on a shrine.
We also visited a “woman’s” temple. I don’t know what that meant exactly, but it was a bit of a hike from where we started. Zeze said she visited that temple for New Year’s. It was also a famous place because it was where a famous tea ceremony teacher was from or visited or something like that. They showed me a special prayer stone that Hideyoshi’s wife prayed at for a good pregnancy.
The road just outside the entrance was once a beach and it was often the route people took to get to Sakai. We followed the road ourselves on the way to the park, where there was a foundation stone of a pagoda that used to stand there. There were actually a few more sites, like a burial mound, but Tanikawa and Zeze said that it was a bit too far for us to walk to we contented ourselves with only a few sites. As we left the park, Tanikawa explained that “”Tengachaya” is something like “the world’s tea house” — literally it’s “under heaven tea house”, but the idea was more along the line of “wolrd’s tea house”. We also passed by a storage place for where the tea ceremony things were once kept. It also had a map of what Tengachaya looked like in the past.
On our way home, we passed Zeze’s house. It was at this time that she parted company with us. I was surprised at that, but after thinking about it, I remembered that they’ve all got families to cook dinner for. I was once more in an awkward position of whether or not I should stay for dinner.
I had to go back to Tanikawa’s house anyway ‘cuz all my stuff was there, and so I ended up staying. Tanikawa said she thought of me as like another daughter so she was glad to have me. I felt a bit awkward about that, only ‘cuz it was nice and I don’t always know how to react when people are being nice to me outside my circle of close people I don’t hate.
When we got back into the house, the sun was well and truly set. She said she wanted to make the room smaller; at first I didn’t know why, but then I figured it out when she turned on the little stove-type heater. The cool thing about the room is that she can curtain it off with this big divider thing. (She can do the same for the kitchen portion of the room.)
She turned on the TV while she prepared dinner. She apologized for only having left-overs, but honestly, I didn’t care. It was nice to have a cooked meal. She offered to put in a DVD or “Desperate Housewives”, which amused me greatly. I asked her what she thought of it, and she said she liked it, but it was hard to follow sometimes because of their English. She commented that they use “freak” a lot and that it has many different meanings.
I was actually quite happy to watch Japanese TV. I find it fun and interesting. Her daughter arrived while we were watching. As she buzzed her in, Tanikawa told me that her daughter did not speak much English; Tanikawa’s father was also going to join us and she said that he can read English very well but cannot speak at all.
Her daughter passed through the room with a meek little bow on her way to her room. When she returned, she sat next to me and introduced herself. I smiled a bit to myself ‘cuz I’d remembered Aaron and Rob telling me that she was a fox. “My name is Yumi. I live in Chiba.” Hey, that wasn’t bad.
She tried to ask me a few questions, but needed her mother’s help at times. Tanikawa’s father had come into the room by this time as well. When he settled at the table, Tanikawa asked me to tell them something about Chicago while she finished getting dinner ready. I showed them my Chase Debit Card ‘cuz it had a picture of the Chicago Skyline on it. Tanikawa also pulled out an atlas and Yumi and Ojii-san checked the location of Chicago. Ojii-san’s English wasn’t terrible, and he was able to name the Five Great Lakes.
After chatting a bit more about Chicago, dinner was served. For Yumi and Ojii-san, they had the rest of the chirasashizushi while Tanikawa and I dined on a homemade sharkfin soup, roasted pork slices, steamed broccoli and rice. It’s been forever since I’ve had sharkfin soup and it was great! They offered me wine or sake, but I sheepishly explained that I don’t like alcohol, and we had green tea instead.
It was a lovely dinner. I was content to talk about America and we watched TV and it was like being around family. Tanikawa brought out some Japanese condiments, but I declined ‘cuz they were all a little spicy. After we ate, Tanikawa took a picture of all of us, too.
For dessert, Tanikawa brought out some cashew cookies and made Cambodian tea. Tanikawa confessed she didn’t really like the tea, but it was a souvenir from her son and had a very interesting lotus taste.
We watched a segment on the Junior Olympic Japanese curling team while we had tea and cookies. I don’t think I really understand the point of curling, though.
Tanikawa insisted on driving me to the station, even though it was really a short distance from her house and I could easily walk. She wanted to drive me home, but it was not on the way to her daughter’s apato, and I told her I was really fine with taking the train. She really didn’t need to drive me to the station either, but she again, she said I was like a daughter and she didn’t want me to walk alone in the dark.
It was a long day, but it was a good day. I really enjoyed spending time with the ladies and with Tanikawa and her family. Not for the first time, I was really sad to be leaving Japan if anything because I’ve met some really nice people and have had some great experiences.
I sure will miss them.
It’s not very often that I go out with my roommate. Since I don’t really have much else to do anymore, and prior to this we didn’t really see each other on the weekends, my roommate suggested going out for Brazilian this Sunday (today). We were hoping to make it a Firefly Sunday kind of thing, but unfortunately for us, Mike and Anna bowed out so it was just me, Steve, Rob, and Rob’s co-worker Kuni. This isn’t to say it wasn’t fun or a good group of people, it’s just that Firefly Sunday just really isn’t Firefly Sunday without Mike and Anna.
We went to EternA (website in Portuguese only), where they serve Churrasco style barbecue. We did the all-you-can-eat thing and there’s a kind of buffet included with this. Then the servers come around with various types of meats on skewers and cut off slices for you. I was reminded of dim sum with the carts when they did this. It was all pretty cool. And SUPER filling. I love me some dead animal. I think my favorite was the garlic steak — pretty much it’s like a coating of garlic on the beef. So. Good. Definitely not a vampire! I like garlic way too much to be one!
Anyway, it was a lot of fun. I’m glad I got the chance to go to this place before I left Japan. I’d been wanting to try it for some time now.
Good stuff!
Heh. Funny that I should use cigar in the title. You know, ‘cuz sometimes a cigar is just a cigar and what not.
Well, there was no cigar in the dream, but there was yet another kiss. I have also come to the conclusion that I am a bad kisser.
So herein lies my question: Will Al allow me to come home even though I have not fulfilled my end of the conditions? I mean, I got TWO dream kisses, so that’s kinda close, right?
Just sayin’.
Even though I was very happy and comfortable in a real bed, like many other times when sleeping in a strange place, I kept waking up at various points during the night. I went back to sleep easily each time, but still, weird. And even though I’d gotten little sleep the night before and such, I was still awake at a reasonable morning hour. I had more than enough time to take a shower and eat breakfast (Balance Up bars and a Mt. Rainier Cafe Latte Hazel Mocha — like every morning) and watch more J-dramas. What can I say? It’s way fun when you don’t know exactly what’s going on and the like.
The others came by at about 10:30 so we could check out and get something to eat. We ended up at a First Kitchen that was close to the station; I just had a coffee. Mike and Anna were keen on hanging around Shinjuku, so that left Steve and me to venture forth to Akihabara. I was a little surprised by the split up, don’t ask me why, but all and all it made sense. We had different things we wanted to see and the like. Mike and Anna were also kind enough to stand in line for an hour and however long for Krispy Kremes. I know, I’m gonna be home in like three weeks and stuff, but I wanted to bring some back for Masumi since she’d never had them before and she used to live in Tokyo. (She had told me in one of our lessons that the store set up just as she left.)
Mike and Anna’s great advice to us was to stick to the JR Yamanote Line. Otherwise there would probably be a lot of transferring involved. They said we would be able to take that to Akihabara and Tokyo Station for when we would meet up with them later. We parted company shortly thereafter.
I had one mission: find a reasonably priced Macross figure for my brother (my real one, not Mike). I’m a pretty crappy sister, so I really wanted to do this one thing from my brother. He’s only really asked me to find him some of this stuff, and I did my first year, but I wanted to try and find more. The problem with Macross is that it’s really rare, which translates to really expensive. I’d pretty much exhausted DenDen Town in Osaka, so I thought I would give Akihabara a try.
From Shinjuku Station to Akihabara it was gonna take us something like 25 minutes on the train. Lucky for us, it wasn’t all that crowded and we managed to sit down. The Yamanote Line reminded me a lot of the Loop Line in Osaka. It even had TVs we could watch, granted all the stuff was on a loop, but still, it was kinda cool.
Steve and I made it to Akihabara with no problems. I had my roll-aboard with me so I wanted to find a locker first.
The place isn’t unlike DenDen Town, maybe a bit bigger. There were a lot more Duty Free shops to me if anything, but otherwise, yeah. The only reason I was bothering with the place was because I thought there might be a better chance of finding something for Jason. We wandered down one side of the main street, popping into stores here and there — since there were so many Duty Free places I thought I’d check out if they had any backpacks while I was at it (mine has a big ass hole in the bottom of it that is currently being plugged by a black T-shirt; I could just get a new back…but I think mine has character…won’t hold John, though so that’s why I’m on the search). So far, I was out of luck.
Steve found a place on the map that claimed to be an Anime thing…for the life of me I can’t remember what it was officially called, but we thought it might be helpful since it was the only Anime thing on the map. Don’t get me wrong, there were anime stores all over the place, but this one had an official title or some such. Unfortunately for us, when we got to the building, it was closed.
I was getting kinda hungry by this point. We’d been there for something like an hour and so far, not so much. There was still a whole other side of the street, so I figured we’d find something to eat and then try that side. I couldn’t help but shake my head when Steve picked Mos Burger — the alternative was McDonald’s, but still.
On our way to Mos Burger, we passed two stores that looked promising. I made a mental note of their locations, but my stomach was growling and my hunger took precedence. Once our lunch was finished, though, we turned back.
The first place didn’t quite have what I was looking for, but I was pretty happy with the second one. I have to give Steve the credit on finding the thing, though. I mean, I can’t say I can never find Macross stuff — it’s more like finding Macross stuff that isn’t ginormous and expensive. I hope my brother will like this figure…
My mission complete, we found we still had plenty of time before we had to meet up with Mike and Anna. We decided to wander around a little more. It was during this time that we happened upon a Mac Store; it wasn’t an official one like the one on Midosuji, but it was still worth venturing in. They had all the new stuff on the first floor and second-hand stuff on the other three floors. While we were poking around the new stuff, I checked out the MacBook Air. Holy smokes that thing is thin!! I was flirting with it a little, but then realized it didn’t have a disk drive and was likely to snap in half if I mishandled it. Once again, this isn’t to say John is useless…he’s just heavy. (“Did he just go crazy and fall asleep?”) But much like Kaylee, it will probably take me another year to finally decide to get a new laptop or something.
There really wasn’t anything else we wanted to look at so we made our way back to the station. Steve asked me what I was interested in seeing, and I told him I actually wouldn’t mind seeing a major touristy area, you know, with people. I kinda wanted to do the whole Lost in Translation thing and see the famous Shibuya crossing, or maybe Harajuku with the chance of seeing one of the subculture groups.
We ended up going to Harajuku ‘cuz Steve said we’d be able to go to the Meiji Shrine. So it was another 20 minutes on the Yamanote Line going back the other way — we were practically at Shinjuku. I got another locker for my luggage and we were out of the station.
Unfortunately for me, there weren’t a lot of the Harajuku Girls around. There was only one group of people dressed up and I didn’t get any pictures of ‘em ‘cuz I didn’t wanna be a total jack ass.
The entrance to the park wasn’t that far from the station. In fact, it was just over the bridge. I was happy to see such trees and stuff around. I even remarked that the place kicked Osakajokoen’s ass in terms of nature. But then Steve pointed out the lack of cherry blossom trees. (So I guess Osakajokoen is still wicked cool.)
It seemed like there was a torii gate every five seconds, but in reality I think there were only five. Walking on the gravel and then stepping into the courtyard. I was amazed at how smooth it was; after walking through all that gravel I would have thought there would be more traces of such in the courtyard but not so much.
It was very quiet, tranquil even. I wondered if it was because of the time of day or if it was always like that. It was pretty cool.
After leaving the shrine, I made it a point to take a picture of the meeting place bridge. It was starting to get a bit more crowded; I just wished some of them had been in costume. We decided to find a place to sit down since we still had some time before we had to go to Tokyo Station. We ended up at the Wolfgang Puck Express restaurant that was just on the corner of Takeshita-dori.
Finally, after about an hour of sitting and having coffee, it was time to meet Mike and Anna. Anna had sent me several texts regarding Tokyo station. She wanted to make sure we didn’t leave the gates and to find the right exits. Initially, I didn’t think it would be that big of a deal.
And then we got to the station. Wow. Meeting people at the right gates must be a real pain in the ass. It was only mildly annoying for us, a phone call was involved, but it wasn’t overly evil. We wandered into the food court and the others had dinner while I had a Coke (I was still full from Wolfgang Puck’s). While we were eating, Anna said she wished our tickets were for an earlier train. Then it was a kind of, “Hey yeah, why don’t we just do that?” moment ‘cuz otherwise we would be waiting around in Tokyo for another hour and half or something.
We were in luck and were able to get an earlier shinkansen. We made it home a whole hour before expected. While we were in Shin-Osaka, we divided up the Krispy Kremes and then parted company. I told them earnestly that I was glad the trip didn’t suck nearly as much as I expected.
‘Twas a good trip had by one and all. Go Fight Club!!
Nippon no Nikko National Treasure
From the Moleskine
“You haven’t been to Nippon until you’ve been to Nikko.”
(I remember sometime last year, one of my students told me she was studying English because she was a volunteer tour guide for Nikko. I asked her what it was and she said it was one of Japan’s National treasures. It was she who first told me that phrase.)
I’m writing this from the Limited Express Tobu Line on my way to Nikko. So far, the trip doesn’t seem half bad. THen again, it is still wicked early in the day and maybe people just aren’t up yet. Oh yeah, and it’s a Sunday. I guess it’s kind of a good thing that we’re on our way out of the heart of Tokyo. Initially, when we were at Shinagawa Station, Tokyo seemed like a city, a real city with tall buildings and everything. And when were in Asakusa, I thought the same thing. Looking out the window now, it looks no different than Osaka. Maybe a few more tower thingies, but generally the same not-quite-countryside countryside. It’s all Japan.
We departed Osaka last night at 10 PM. Steve, Anna, and I met for dinner first at the Chinese place where we had our Final Firefly Sunday dinner. Mike had already gone ahead to Tokyo with his friend from home and we were gonna meet him in Tokyo.
The overnight bus was a “relax bus” — something like a coach bus but with somewhat fancier seats. I thought that it was all well and good that the seats reclined much further than regular coach buses and that there was loads more room between the rows of seats…but the actual seats themselves weren’t very comfortable. In fact, I found them quite hard. It was a bit difficult for me to fall asleep. I dozed every so often, but nothing really solid. The two rest stops we took probably didn’t help with the solid sleep thing, either. I think one of the greatest things about the bus trip was the English announcement’s literal translation of some parts. I particularly enjoyed “the light will turn off shortly after this announcement as it turns out this is a night bus” — like it was a surprise or something! And also, “This is all I have to say for now.”
We arrived this morning at about 6:15 or so, which was much earlier than expected. (I think…I vaguely remember Anna saying something about arrival time being around 7 AM.) It was pretty cold, it seemed much colder than Osaka…but now that I think about it, I think it was just ‘cuz it was morning.
We ended up killing time at the Shinagawa Station Starbucks. The only flaw to this scheme was the fact that it was an outdoor/open-air Starbucks. (Seriously. What the hell? Who thought that was a good idea?) In other words, we were still cold.
Mike finally arrived at about 7:45. We set off from that point to find a train to Asakusa. We originally thought we would take the subway, but the JR attendant suggested taking the Keikyu via the Toei Asakusa Line, this way we wouldn’t have to make any transfers. Sounded pretty five-by-five to us, so that’s what we did.
Buying tickets was something of a trip ‘cuz we didn’t see Asakusa anywhere on the map. Mike ended up asking the Keikyu Information people and we had to press a special button to get the menu we needed. I was definitely glad that I wasn’t making this trip alone ‘cuz I ain’t so sure I’d be able to navigate the trains! (Cool! We’re passing through “farm country”!) I couldn’t help buy smile when we passed Shinbashi (!) and Nihonbashi, not to be confused with Osaka’s Nipponbashi — both stations have the exact same kanji.
From Asakusa, we had to transfer to the Tobu Line (where I’m writing from now). I was starting to understand what everyone meant about transfers in Tokyo…there is so much distance between them all! It was a good thing we had some time between our arrival and the departure of the Limited Express. We stashed some of our luggage in lockers and made use of the facilities before boarding the train.
The other are pretty much passed out right now and I’m wide awake. I’m really looking forward to Nikko ‘cuz I’d been told by a lot of different people that this is an amazingly beautiful place. I sure hope it’s all it’s cracked up to be.
But yeah. So far, Tokyo ain’t so bad.
My hand started cramping not long after that, so I had to put the Moleskine away. I can’t quite write longhand like I used to. I ended up falling asleep toward the last 20 minutes of the train journey. I really liked the Tobu Line. It had comfortable seats that reclines AND lots of leg room, even when we turned the seats around so we were all together facing each other. SO much better than the relax bus!
The whole of the train journey was something like an hour and half. I wanna say we got to Nikko around 10:45 or something like that. We followed to flush of people out of the train. Anna nominated me leader ‘cuz I stayed awake to look at the maps and stuff. “I’m not the leader! I just wanted to make sure we made the transfer!” Yeah, there was a slight transfer at Shimo-Imaichi. Not a hard one, so it was all good.
We let a bunch of people pass, mainly ‘cuz we didn’t wanna get caught up in the rush, and ‘cuz we were distracted by the little igloo at the station. It had a Hello Kitty flag. My camera was buried in my bag otherwise I woulda taken a picture.
We got out of the station and went to look at the map. It was a bit hard to discern what was what and where we were…it probably didn’t help that the section we wanted to see was torn off. Eventually, we just picked a direction that seemed like maybe it was the right way and started walking. We also started passing restaurants, so we thought if anything, maybe we’ll find a place to eat.
As we continued down the street, the restaurants became more scarce, as did the people. I pointed out that there were no other tourists walking this way, so maybe we weren’t on the right track. We decided to turn around, but not before finding another igloo. Mike wanted to go in it, so we humored him. It turned out that it was gonna be a kind of tight fit, so he contented himself to just standing outside of it while we took pictures. On our walk back, we ran into a little old lady who promptly and cheerfully greeted us, followed closely by a weather exclamation: “Samui desu ne!” (“It’s cold isn’t it?”) Couldn’t argue with her there!
We ended up picking a restaurant that was across the street from the bus stop. They had a lot of choices in the window, so it seemed like a good idea. The selection of food was the usual Japanese fare, although it seems that Nikko has very good tofu ‘cuz a lot of the dishes included such. I was lame and went with ramen ‘cuz well, I was cold, and I really wanted some.
The ramen noodles were a bit different than I’m really used to. Much thinner, but it tasted fine. The broth even had some seaweed in it, the kind found in miso soup, and that was a great addition in my opinion.
After we paid and wrapped ourselves back up in our winter gear, we set out again. We’d decided that we should just take a bus since that was what everyone else seemed to be doing. Of course, it was wicked crowded. And it turned out that Steve had been to Nikko before! We were all like, “Dude, why didn’t you say something?” He said he’d tried, but honestly, none of us heard him say, “We should take the bus” when we first stepped out of the station.
The Nikko bus works just like the Kyoto bus, meaning there’s a stupid change machine before you can put in your money. I was unaware of this and accidentally put in 300 yen, instead of 270. I had to wait for change. Stupid, stupid bus money thing!
We were first greeted by a copper statue of Priest Shoto; there was also this neat copper dragon fountain in front of him, too. I ended up taking a picture of the dragon and not so much of Priest Shoto.
We walked up the little incline to the main area. On our right was Sanbutsu-doh Hall, and on the left was a lovely tea garden. There was also this incense burner in the middle and there were a few other tourists invoking the blessing. I went to do so as well to honor my grandmother mostly.
There was a line for people buying tickets and we asked Steve if it was a must. He strongly suggested it because it was something of a package deal and it would get us into some really cool places. The first order of business was to go into Sanbutsu-doh Hall. I can’t say we stayed long to really admire and appreciate the place, but there were some great statues and I was reminded of visiting Todaiji in Nara.
We followed to flow of people down this scaffolding — I guess they’re doing some renovations or some such. Behind the Hall, there was another hall thing, but there was a ceremony going on so we opted to pass up going in. I also took a snap of Sohrintoh Tower while we passed back there.
It was onwards toward the main attraction: Toshogu Shrine. It was a little slippery going up the slope towards the shrine, but there was a nice view of the mountain and I had a kick out of taking some icicle pictures. I think the Toshogu Shrine is one of the most colorful places I’ve ever been, complete with beautiful carvings on all of the buildings. (Check out the rest of my flickr to see.)
We spent a good long time wandering around the shrine. We got to see the infamous Three Wise Monkeys, the Nemuri Neko, the urn of Tokugawa Ieyasu, and the beautiful gates that were abundant throughout. I could really see why Nikko was considered such a national treasure.
Unfortunately for us, we weren’t able to venture into the National Park. We wanted to see the waterfalls and the cedar avenue, but time did not allow us such an opportunity. If anything disappointed me about the trip, it was that. But, it was still a fantastic first day in Nikko.
We caught another Limited Express back and honestly, I pretty much passed out during the train ride. We had been up since 6 and walked around all day. No wonder we were all pretty beat.
We arrived back at Asakusa and since we were in the area, despite our fatigue, Mike and Anna asked me if I wanted to see Asakusa Shrine. Again, I remembered students suggesting this as a place to visit so I agreed. It was really just around the corner from where we were. I guess the huge lantern is one of the things the place is famous for. It was closing as we arrived so I didn’t get to go in or anything, but I think I got some nice pictures of the place.
It was off to the hotel thereafter. We tried to trace our way back to the Keikyu Station, but ended up accidentally passing it. We studied the train map for a while ‘cuz Mike and Anna desperately wanted to avoid making too many transfers. I think we ended up needing to make one at Nihonbashi or something, but it wasn’t terrible. There was definitely a lot of walking between trains and such, but I was incredibly happy that I didn’t experience the stories I’d heard about how there are people whose job it is to cram as many passengers into the carriage as possible. I guess that only happen at rush hour and the more popular train lines. I think we ended up sticking to the JR.
We decided to try and find the hotel before we did anything about dinner. Exiting Shinjuku Station required more map looking, but Mike and Anna were able to figure out where we needed to go. The travel agent assured Anna that the hotel was only five minutes away from the station; fat lot of good that did us since she hadn’t said which exit to take or which side — Shinjuku Station is about as big as Umeda so really, it took us a bit longer.
When we found the hotel, it seemed a little on the…shady side. It was tucked away down a dark side street and it didn’t look overly well lit. Sure, it was night…but most hotels I’d been to are at least lit up at night. The room wasn’t terrible, but compared to the room I stayed in when we went to Hiroshima last year, it was just adequate. We had passed a Mos Burger on the way, so we decided it was as good a place as any to have dinner. I know, it wasn’t Tokyo food or anything, but Tokyo isn’t like Osaka in that there is a distinct food you have to try. If anything, there was more opportunities to eat Western food than traditional food.
We parted company thereafter. Like I’d said earlier, we were all pretty tired. I was happy to be able to sleep in a real bed again, and I had the TV on playing J-dramas as I went to sleep. I will say this about the hotel — they had real Pepsi, so that was pretty cool. (I’d had one after dinner, while I was chillin’ out watching some J-drama where this chick totally kicked her possibly cheating boyfriend in the neck!! I was hella impressed!)
I think that’s it for this installment of the trip. Stay tuned for tomorrow’s exciting update of “Fight Club goes to Tokyo”!! Oh, and check out my flickr!!
You know, it really doesn’t feel like I’m never going back to work. I can’t really describe it, but it’s all done now. No more developing lessons no one will ever use, or logging onto the Ginganet. Y’know, I coulda gotten away with keeping my headset, but really, what am I gonna do with it? I didn’t even teach on my last day! Instead, I help cut flyers and put stuff together for the jinji groups that went out this afternoon. Not a bad job, but I can’t help but be amused that I didn’t teach. I didn’t get to take that picture of my last student like so many other people did before me.
That’s all right, though. I’m done.
And now I’m debating about complaining about the company. I guess the latest news occurred yesterday in the Asahi Shinbun. Supposedly, someone at g.comm claimed the reason the Jan, Feb, and March people weren’t offered new contracts was because we’re all lazy. Oh you better believed that pissed people off. The non-Japanese reading folk couldn’t really read about it but the Chinese team did and raised hell about it. Of course, I wasn’t there to witness any of it, but that’s what Anna had text to me yesterday.
Honestly, I just laughed about it. You know, in the bitter, cynical kind of way.
One of my co-workers gave me a phone number and an e-mail address of a Asahi Shinbun writer as I left work; I guess the guy who wrote that original article is looking for a counter-point. I’m kind of of a mind to do so ‘cuz really, what’re they gonna do? Fire me?
Lazy. Feh. The more I think about it, the more insulted I am. I don’t think I was lazy. I never called in. Even after they gave me the gorram letter I kept coming into work and doing stuff, whether it was proof-reading or trying to write a new lesson…or even jinji!
Lazy.
Anyway, it was my last day. Felt a little weird. And I think some guy asked me out…not really sure about it but now that I think about it, I think he meant “get drinks” as in like…asked me out.
Hmmm…
Oh yeah. Two years later and I’m finally on my way to Tokyo! Stay tuned to read all about it in the Misadventures: Japanese Chronicles — Fight Club goes to Tokyo
Katrina and another co-worker of ours Jessica invited me to go to Kyoto with them today because it was supposed to snow. I wasn’t overly sold on the trip, but I told them to let me know what time they were leaving and stuff.
When I woke up this morning, all happy and snug in my futon, I had half a mind to send them a text bailing on the trip. But I somehow dragged myself out of the happy warmth ‘cuz I figured for one thing, it would be something productive to do, and I’m not gonna be in the country that much longer and probably wouldn’t get another chance like this.
We were scheduled to meet at Big Man (the giant TV by the Hankyu Station that serves as a meeting point for a lot of people) at 9:30 this morning. I was already awake at 8:00 ‘cuz I’ve been going to sleep by like 1 AM recently (and I had to take the recycling out). I figured if I left the house by 8:30, I’d get there in plenty of time.
Boy did I miscalculate that departure. I got to Big Man at 9:10. Remember how when I first got here I griped about how nothing was open before 10 AM? Yeah. Lucky for me they actually had CNN running on Big Man (they usually only have Japanese language stuff). I was able to get a little info on the Presidential race back home.
Katrina and Jessica arrived at the appropriate time, and we even had a few minutes to spare to grab a coffee before heading up to the Hankyu Line. I don’t usually take the Hankyu and had never taken it into Kyoto City before. My past experiences with it (Arashiyama) have always been crowded. I was not really looking forward to standing for the entirety of the trip.
Imagine my surprise when there was barely any people lining up for the Limited Express! We even got seats together! I know this may not seem like an amazing thing to y’all, but seriously, all the other times I’ve taken this train line to the Kyoto area standing has been involved.
It was a bright and sunny day as we began our misadventure. The destinations in Kyoto had not been determined; both Katrina and Jessica had had their hearts set on seeing Kinkaku-ji (the Golden Pavilion) covered in snow, but since it seemed so sunny they were both all right with passing up that stop. I mentioned that I’d never been to Ginkaku-ji (the Silver Pavilion) and that I also haven’t taken the Philosopher’s Path. Katrina said since I was leaving next month that the choice should be mine.
As we neared Kyoto, however, we noticed bits of snow on the ground as well as flurries. It wasn’t anything like what we had last Saturday (or what we get in Chicago), but it had stuck. I noticed that the snow was sticking to the roofs of the houses and buildings we passed and suggested we try for the Golden Pavilion anyway.
We got off the train at Karasuma. Katrina’s been to the city loads of times and had her bus map with her. This was one of the first times I’d been to Kyoto and not gone into JR Kyoto Station so I was glad to be going with people who knew their way around (Jessica also frequents the Hankyu Line and Kyoto).
As we stepped out into the city, the flurries had turned into fatter flakes. They still weren’t sticking to the ground, but they were quite a sight to see for two people from non-snowy areas. But in sooth, I was just as delighted. It sure beat rain. (I refer you to my first trip to Kyoto.)
We crossed the street to the bus stop and just missed the number we wanted. I checked the next time for the bus and we had about fifteen minutes to kill. Katrina suggested walking up the road a little to pass the time and try and catch it from the other stop. “If we miss it, I get to kill you.”
The next stop wasn’t as far as I’d thought and we made it with plenty of time to spare. It was a good thing we moved, too ‘cuz we were able to get seats; and then when we pulled up to the stop we’d originally waited by there were loads of people boarding the bus.
It was about a half hour to Kinkaku-ji from where we were. It was a pleasant bus ride. Now, one of the other things I rather dislike about Kyoto is actually the bus. They have this weird change thing they do — there’s a machine that gives you change instead of the main machine. I find it really annoying. AND they raised the price from 200 yen to 220 yen — or so it seemed (none of us could really remember how much it was before…but we all seem to think it was 200 yen). Lucky for me, I had exact change and didn’t have to deal with the silly change machine.
It had been snowing pretty steadily during the duration of the bus trip and it was still doing so when we arrived. I have to say, I’ve missed snow covered trees. Katrina and Jessica’s delight escalated to full out excitement (well, Katrina’s really did as she was squealing joyfully quite a bit).
We started taking pictures and I was very glad to have remembered to take me Da’s camera with me.
I hadn’t been to Kinkaku-ji since my parents first visited during my first year here. My memories of the place involved humidity and rain. Now my memories of it will include the Golden Pavilion covered in snow as it was snowing.
A much better memory.
It was pretty crowded there and so I didn’t take heaps of pictures. The sun came out while we were walking around, melting the snow off the trees and causing quite a few clumps to tumble onto the unsuspecting passer-by. It was kind of cool.
We didn’t spend a lot of time there and were soon on our way to the next destination: Ginkaku-ji.
We were having some really good luck with buses ‘cuz as we got onto the main street, we saw the bus we wanted pulling up. We had to sprint a little to catch it, but when we did, we found that once again we were all able to snag seats. I know this seems like a silly thing to be happy about, but much like the train journey, the bus journey is much more enjoyable if sitting down is involved.
Again with the pleasant bus ride. The sun was pretty bright during the journey, but about halfway there, the clouds had returned. I’d checked the forecast last night and it said something about rain. I was pretty relieved when it was revealed to be more snow. We were having incredible luck with the weather.
So I’d heard people say that Ginkaku-ji is better than Kinkaku-ji…and I have to admit, after seeing both, I’d hafta agree with this sentiment. The Golden Pavilion is pretty and everything, but the Silver Pavilion is more picture-esque. (I’m biased though. Ginkaku-ji wasn’t nearly as crowded as Kinkaku-ji. That might be a factor into my preference) It was amazing to see covered in snow and with all the trees. There were Zen gardens around too, and the snow had half-covered most of the lines in the sand. I was sure to take pictures of these. Little did I know I should have saved those pictures.
I put in new batteries at the Golden Pavilion, but by the time I got to the Silver Pavilion, the batteries had all but died. I sighed. That’s what I get for buying them from the Hyakuen Store ($1 Store). But I was pretty pissed at myself as I kept walking the grounds of the Silver Pavilion. There was this one shot that I desperately wanted of the pavilion covered in snow through snow covered trees and wouldn’t you know it? The camera totally disagreed with me as I tried to take the picture. I kid you not when I say I tried for like twenty minutes. Katrina and Jessica had gone ahead of me that’s how long I took. Finally, I resigned myself to not getting the picture and continued on the path up the side of the hill.
After I’d walked for a bit, I ran into Katrina. We were by this kind of rock alcove in the side the hill. I thought I would test the camera again and wouldn’t you bloody know it? The gorram thing worked! “I’m gonna go back and try and get another shot of the pavilion. If all else fails, I’ll meet you guys at the end of the path.”
I hurried back down the muddy stone steps and across the little bridge to the spot I’d stood at for twenty minutes. I turned on the camera…
And it bloody well died on me again!
I was so pissed!!
Finally, I resorted to taking the picture with Toshi — I really didn’t want to pass up the shot!!
Somewhat satisfied, I departed from the spot and found Katrina and Jess. Up on the trail, there was yet another bloody good shot of the pavilion from the top. I thought I’d try the camera again. Yeah. Nothin’. Needless to say, I was mildly disgruntled.
But it wasn’t a total loss. I have a great memory of the Silver Pavilion covered in snow as it was snowing.
Strangely enough, the sun came out again when we left. Katrina remarked that nature was definitely with us. The other Jess and I had to agree. We all caught lunch after that since we were all pretty damn hungry by this point…and we had a long walk ahead of us.
It was going to be about an hour walk back to where we wanted to go. In the meantime, we walked the Philosopher’s Path along the water. I hate to say it, but I wasn’t overly enlightened after walking the Path. I think the houses and paved streets had something to do with it, and the construction sign blocking the last part of the Path. Katrina and Jess both assured me that it’s actually quite pretty in Spring and Autumn with the cherry blossoms and changing leaves, though. Not that I’ll be here to see it…
The Path took us down a route that would pass a few more shrines and temples. We stopped at one with a viaduct and I took a few more pictures via Toshi. I admit, though, that I was starting to get a little tired with all the walking. At one point, Katrina suggested walking through another shrine area on our way to the main street and Jess and I just busted up laughing. For the whole of the walk, it seemed like she was saying it was only a little further, and well, it’s on the way so let’s stop a bit at this shrine/temple. We ended up following her advice again, and it was a nice little jaunt through a traditional area versus the main street we would have followed otherwise.
I’d wanted to go to Random Walk in Kyoto since the one in Osaka closed down last month. I’ve been in search of a new book, and Katrina knew where this location was. I was amused at the fact that I was in the same general area I’d been with Laura last October when we were trying to find it. (It turned out we had taken a wrong turn and that’s why we couldn’t find it!)
Unfortunately for me, I couldn’t justify buying anything.
There was a Mister Donut in the same shotengai so we decided to take a coffee and get off our feet for a spell. Cool thing about Mister Donut — it’s one of the few places in Japan that gives free refills on coffee. As we sat there drinking coffee and having donuts, I confessed to them that this trip was by far was the best experience I’ve had in Kyoto. I was really glad I got up this morning and ended up going with them.
We caught the train by Kawaramachi Station and again we got seats.
Seriously. Great trip.
So my schedule was blocked off for “jinji” this afternoon. I had previously had one lesson in the afternoon followed by development, but then after my second morning lesson it changed to “jinji”. Earlier this morning, one of my other co-workers asked me if I knew what that meant. So during my Dev period, I went upstairs and asked Eddy. (I’ve had Dev on my schedule for a while now so I got to know the blue tags a little better.)
Apparently, it meant I was gonna be one of the people handing out tissues!
I was getting pretty excited about it. It’s not a great job, but like so many other things, you get out of it what you put into it. I asked Eddy if there was some kind of prize for passing out the most tissues or something, and he jokingly said there would be. I suggested a cookie, and he was like “Yeah, a cookie. One from Starbucks even.” He was sending me and one other person to the area by Subway, which is a pretty high traffic area, and it was also where I happened to be going to for lunch.
I scoped out the area. Usually, there were a few different groups of people handing out tissues, but today I didn’t see anyone. I thought it boded well. I made jokes about how it might end up being like turf war out there ‘cuz there are lots of different people handing out tissues in Namba.
After my lunch break I met with the other people who were doing jinji. Some of ‘em were not as enthusiastic as others. In fact, I thought some of the other language teams were taking it too seriously. Yeah, this kind of thing isn’t technically in our job descriptions, but I know it’s just kind of one of those things that other companies do. I’d heard that if you worked at a branch you had to do this kind of thing whenever you had a free. Some of their claims were fair, though; some of them had colds and were sick. But others found it downright degrading. I could think of worse things honestly. But I was pretty good natured about it.
Once our group got together, we made our way to the Subway intersection. At first, Javier and I were standing mostly in front of the restaurant, but I soon discovered it wasn’t a very good place so I went across the street to the area I knew lots of people handed things out. I made a killing on that side and made it through my bag of tissues faster than I expected. In fact, I ended up going back to Javier’s side and taking half his bag.
We made it back faster than any other group I think. But to be fair, some people ended up having to go a pretty long way, I can’t remember the name of the place, but it was something like an hour away. I laughingly told Eddy he owed me a cookie.
And he totally got me one!! I didn’t really think he would, but he did. In fact, he got me two! I think it’s ‘cuz I told him he hadda get it to me within the next two days ‘cuz I wouldn’t see him anymore after next Saturday, and he doesn’t work on Saturdays and I took the rest of this week off on paid holiday. Javier even got me a little treat thingy too ‘cuz I told him about the cookie and he told me he’d get me since I got rid of half his bag.
Eddy said he’d put me on tissue detail tomorrow too. I won’t be going to the same place as today, but he’s sending me and someone else to Kyobashi, which is where Laura used to live so I know the high traffic area of that place too. It’s all about scoping out the area, man. 
************
ETA: Sorry, for those of you not in Japan, handing out tissues to pedestrians is a way of advertising. The tissues are in travel packs and have little flyers in them.
I meant to post this yesterday, but my connection to the site was all kinds of funky. Anyway…
It snowed in Osaka!! And when I mean snow, I mean proper sticks to the ground kind of snow. I was happy to see it, if anything ‘cuz I’m from Chicago and I grew up with the stuff. Masumi said it’s the most she’s seen in Osaka in the last ten years. It was kinda interesting to see all the people still try to ride their bikes and such. Even better were the J-girls in their shoes.
Yay snow!!