Thursday, July 4th 2013 - Home Again, Home Again, Jiggety-Jog

We got up early this morning to see the R family off to work/daycare. R and his family were excellent hosts. Although my friend R can come off at first as a little stand-offish and tough, he is really kind and thoughtful and both he and his wife went out of their way to make sure that we had everything we needed, helped us find things, and spent as much time with us as they could. And of course his daughter is 1000% adorable (she should really be on TV). R has created a wonderful home for himself and he should be very proud of his family and life in Japan.

We watched this program nearly every morning of our trip and I may never get the song out of my head . . .

After the R family left, we showered and ate breakfast (R - we restocked your frosted flakes, sorry about filling up your trash). Then we dashed out to do some last minute shopping at the shopping center near their aparto. We wanted to be out the door and on our way to the airport at 11:30am, so we figured that we'd leave early and hit the grocery store first (as clearly that would be open first) and then off to the other shops. Also, because I had been saying the night before that despite it being the rainy season, we've really only had 3 days of rain, it had started raining, so we made excellent time. Good thing since everything was closed. Nothing opened until 10:00am, including the grocery store and the bakery (how does a bakery stay in business if it doesn't open early in the morning?!?!) So that ate into our carefully planned last-minute-shopping time.

By the time we finishes shopping and got all our bags frantically repacked, it was noon, so we were only running a tad behind. We stopped in at Lawsons for our last conbini lunch for the train ride back to Narita Airport, which was a touch sad. We stocked up on curry pan (for the plane) and then I found a yummy chahan (fried rice) onigiri (rice ball), Mc got a tray of yakisoba (fried noodles that you often get at festivals), we got Red chicken (5 spicy chicken nuggets that are delicious!) and cheese chicken (same, only not good), Mc got macaroni salad in a pouch (he used the chopsticks they gave us, but I think you could probably just squeeze it into your mouth, like macaroni salad Gogurt), I got chocopan and he got a ring cake. (Eating this was spread out over waiting for the first train, then on the second super long train, then on the plane, lest you think we're ridiculous with our conbini feast.)

This was on the train platform to the airport. I wonder if the lear section is next to the women's car . . .

Finally at the airport, we cashed in our Suica cards (you can return the train pass cards and they will give you back the remaining balance plus 290¥ of the 500¥ you paid to purchase the card, TOTALLY worth it for the convenience of not having to figure out individual train tickets) and returned our rented phone (this took 8 seconds, we handed them the phone and pouch of accessories, they found our name on a list and highlighted it, and we were off) and went to the 4th floor for our last-last minute shopping.

*SuperNova Travel Tip - Utilize the airport. If you ask one of your friends where you can find some specific thing in Japan, it is likely that they will say, "You can probably just get that at the airport." And they are right. The 4th and 5th floors of Narita airport have souvenir shops that carry many traditional items as well as fancy omiyage (snacks you bring home for people) and humorous items too. Whatever it is you are looking for, you will likely find it here (although maybe not as much variety - for example, if you want a tea set, you might only find 2-3 different ones, so if you see one you like while you're traveling, get it). And here is the astonishing part - you will find it for reasonable prices! I know, madness. So, if at the last moment you realized you forgot to pick up a present for someone, just get to the airport early! Just don't go through security, once you're through, there are only a very few shops and they are PACKED.

Mc and I finished our shopping, checked in, and made it to our gate just as it started boarding. Now I am freezing on the airplane, sitting next to my love, another unforgettable trip added to the list. Sayonara, Japan! Maybe again in another 10 years, ne?

Tuesday, June 18th, 2013 - Kamakura and My Beloved Daibutsu . . .

Tuesday we had planned on visiting my FAVORITE place in Japan, Kamakura. Kamakura is a small ocean town famous for ajisai (hydrangeas) and the Daibutsu (great Buddha). It is about an hour and a half south of Tokyo and it was very, very hot when we went. Kamakura is kind of split into two parts - there's the main part of the city by the Kamakura train station, and then there is a little train that goes out to the area around the big Buddha (Hase station on the Enoden line, it's still a JR line, your Suica will work). My plan was to run out and see the big Buddha (straight shot from the station, follow the signs or the masses) and then head back into the main part of town for lunch. What I had forgotten was that most of the things you go to Kamakura to see are on the route between the big Buddha and the tiny train station. Mc is pretty easy-going, so we changed the plan to get a snack and drink at a konbini while we were sight-seeing and then eat at a restaurant when we got back to the main area.

Did I tell you that there are konbinis everywhere in Japan? What I meant to say is that you can't throw a stone without hitting a konbini unless you are specifically looking for one. Then they disappear into the mist, like a 24-hour ninja. There were zero konbinis between the station and the Daibutsu. However, I had read that sweet potato softo-cream (soft-serve) was specific to Kamakura and so Mc and I got a sweet potato and vanilla swirl cone instead at one of the many stands, which was delicious while at the same time surprisingly sweet-potatoey. (If you don't read Japanese, just look for the purple ice cream cone, there's pictures and giant plastic ones everywhere).

*SuperNova Travel Tip: Every area of Japan is known for something. If it's outside the city, it's usually a fruit or vegetable. You'll know it because EVERYTHING in the shops near the station will be selling products with that flavor. The ice cream shops will almost always feature that flavor in a soft-serve, and if ever there was an excuse to buy ice cream at every destination . . .

The Daibutsu is a 44 foot tall bronze statue of Buddha (2nd tallest bronze statue in Japan) in Kotoin temple. He used to be housed in a great wooden building, but it was blown away in a typhoon/tidal wave more than once (as I will go into more later when we go to Kyoto, the Japanese are a bit like ants when it comes to doggedly insisting on rebuilding the same thing) and he survived each time. Eventually, they gave up and he has been in the open air since the late 1400s. The Daibutsu is one of my favorite sights in Japan because he is impressive while at the same time peaceful. He was built in the 1200s, which means for more than 700 years he has stoically, literally, and peacefully weathered every storm.

When you buy your ticket (only 200¥), you walk through the ticket gate to the washing area where you rinse your hands with cool water you scoop up with a long ladle from a fountain, so that you are cleansed before going in. The path to the big Buddha is L-shaped and as you begin to round the corner, you can see his head just above the foliage. Then as you walk further his entire body is revealed, towering above the tree tops and the tiny people crowded around his base futilely trying to take pictures that encompass his size. He sits there among the frenzy, cross-legged, head bowed in meditation. For an extra 20¥ you can go inside the Daibustu to see how he was put together. It is very cheap to go inside, probably because he is a giant oven and you can only spend a few minutes there. Next to the Buddha is a long stand selling Daibutsu-themed good luck charms and souvenirs, we bought a Daibutsu traffic safety charm for Mc, as mine has served me well over the years.  You will find omamori (good luck charms typically made of fabric with a loop at the top to hang from your car mirror or handbag, never open an omamori or all the luck will come out!) at every shrine or temple you visit. There are omamori for all different types of luck - from making your wishes come true to passing an examination to falling in love. I love good luck, so I love these. After purchasing our omamori, we sat on a large stone near the Daibutsu and people watched, enjoying the calm the big Buddha has always provided.

Daibutsu with a kite (type of bird), see how he towers above the trees.

Kosoku-ji

On the way back to tiny Hase station, there are a number of signs telling you to go this way (right, if you're walking from the big Buddha to the station) to see this or that. We followed one and ended up in a lovely ajisai garden in Kosoku-ji. It was very quiet and shady and beautiful. Another sign led us to one of the main temples of Kamakura, Hasedera. At the temple we were given a handout in English and on one side it stated the main summer events. One said that there was a Inari Festival on June 18th, which it happened to be. Mc and I saw nothing all day that would imply that there was a festival going on, except for the fact that it was more crowded than I had ever seen Kamakura regardless that it was a Tuesday. There is part of the gardens of Hasedera where you walk up a hill to better view the ajisai, and there were so many people that as we walked up we were given a number that corresponded to a huge board. The group with our number had to wait 45 min. for our turn to wait in line to get to see the ajisai. While we were waiting (and sweating), Mc bought a steamed man (of undetermined flavor in the middle) and Ramune (Japanese soda with a marble in it) by himself, I was very proud. Once we were in line, it was basically just staying in line till the trail ended. As we inched along, admiring the ajisai in slow motion, I thought that this was probably for the best as standing in line is a large part of the Japanese culture. Welcome to Japan.

The line to view the ajisai at Hasedera

There is a lot to see at Hasedera, there is a 30 foot golden statue of Hase Kannon, a cool cave with a carving of Benzaiten (one of the 7 Japanese Gods of Fortune, the only female and the god of music and art), a statue of Daikokuten (another one of the 7 Wise Guys, he is the god of wealth), and Mc's favorite - the Kyozo Sutra Archive. The archive is stored on a rotating rinzo (book racks) and it is said that if you turn the rinzo you can earn the same merit as reading all the sutras. You can only turn the rinzo on the 18th, so it was worth wading through the masses.

After Hasedera, we rode the train back to Kamakura station and went out the wrong exit (it had to happen sometime). I knew we were on the wrong side of the station because I'd been to Kamakura before and didn't think Kamakura had changed that much in the past 9 years. So we walked around the station and it started to look much more familiar. We went to the Komachi-dori, a very popular shopping street marked by a HUGE vermillion torii gate and my favorite Studio Ghibli shop (which was still there!). 

Then we went hunting for food, as 4pm was a very late lunch. I will admit that as experienced a traveler as I am (and as much as I LOVE food), my kryptonite is restaurants. It's the one place where if they don't have a picture menu, I don't feel confident that I can point and grunt my way through. However, and I think this has changed since I lived in Japan, many restaurants offer English menus. So we picked the first place to claim that they had an English menu and sat down. Turns out we picked a Chinese restaurant and while flipping through the menu Mc was delighted to realize that he would finally get to try shark fin. He had the option of soup or dumplings and he chose dumplings (the cheaper option), which was a good thing because shark fin is not good. Check that off the list!  Linner was average and we decided to try to hit one more temple before we went back home. There are a TON of temples in Kamakura (like Zenairai Benten Shrine, where you can wash your money in hopes that your money will double), but it was getting late and Tsurugaoka Hachimangu Shrine was at the end of Komachi-dori and we figured it would be easy to find.

To this day, we have no idea how we missed it. We caught our mistake in time to enter the Shrine from some sort of tiny side street. It was closed (most shrines and temples close around 5pm), so we walked the grounds and then headed back.

view from Zenairai Benten Shrine, see the torii gate in the distance

SuperNova Travel Tip: Omiyage doesn't really have an English translation. We would say "souvenir" but it's not really the same. Omiyage is a gift you bring back from your trip for your coworkers and family. Every time you go to a popular tourist spot, you will see little shops inside and near the train station selling decorative boxes of individually wrapped cakes/cookies/treats, often featuring the local taste of the region-specific fruit or vegetable if they have one or pictures of whatever thing they're famous for stamped on each treat. When you get back to work, you put one (or a few) individually wrapped treats on each coworker's desk. If you are staying with people, it's polite to bring them back omiyage from wherever you are. If you don't know what the local specialty is, watch people. You'll start to notice that everyone is carrying the same bag from the same shop, and that's probably what you want to bring back for people. If you'll notice, the price of each item is always listed on a sign, not on the omiyage itself, so there's no price tag to spend hours picking at because it's all meant to be gifts.

As we walked around Kamakura, we kept seeing people carrying yellow bags with the same bird on them. I saw a school group carrying them and knew that was the popular Kamakura omiyage. We finally walked by the shop selling the contents of those bags by the train station (of course). The store was Toshimaya and they are famous for selling large butter cookies in the shape of a pigeon. Yup, a pigeon. No further explanation offered. R, you're welcome. 

Sunday, June 16th 2013 - Finally in Japan!

We finally arrived in Narita Airport around 2pm and got our bags. It was muggy and hot even in the airport. As we were going through a hallway, I nearly ran into a man and said, "Sumimasen!" (excuse me). He replied in kind and that tiny exchange sent a thrill through me that I was finally back in Japan! We bought Suica cards (like a debit card for the train/subway system; you just charge it up with a chunk of money and then swipe it through train gates, saving you the hassle of figuring out individual tickets each time you ride the train) and rented a phone (our plan was to buy prepaid SIM cards for our Android phone like we did in Europe, but 1. they don't sell SIM cards, you have to rent them and 2. our Android phone didn't work in Japan because while it does have 3G, it doesn't have 3G GSM, whatever that is, so we rented a phone instead for the same price. We recommend Mobal; their prices were the best and the ladies at the counter we super helpful and patient) and hopped on a train to visit the R family.

*SuperNova Travel Tip: Do as much in the Narita Airport as you can because that's where you're going to find the most help in English. The airport is full of information desks as well as random workers there just to help you. Japan is extremely respectable and safe, so you don't have to worry about someone in the airport trying to scam you. One lady came up to us while we were staring blankly at the train counter and asked if we needed help with the train, handed us a flyer, and started to lead us somewhere. Anywhere else, this would be highly suspicious behavior leading to some sort of hard-sell. However, since this was Japan, the flyer was about a package deal for the train and she was leading us to the Suica machine where she stood by us and walked us through, step-by-step, how to buy the cards and then charge them. You don't tip in Japan, so she expected nothing from us, as soon as we were done we thanked her, she bowed, and hurried off. At the information desk, another lady researched and wrote out the route we needed to take from the airport to R's apartment, and the Mobal ladies helped us figure out our phone problems and rented us a phone with zero communication issues. Narita Airport is basically a lovely introduction to a lovely culture and you should take advantage while you're there. PS - Narita Airport is not really in Tokyo, just like Portland Airport is not really in Portland. Wherever you are staying, it's probably an hour/hour and a half away from the airport. DO NOT TAKE A TAXI unless you are prepared to spend all of your spending money on one (very clean) taxi ride. Take the train; you're going to do most of your traveling in Japan on the train anyway, you might as well jump right in especially when the people at your starting destination speak English and can help you with your first route.

Two trains and about an hour later, we were walking to R's aparto in Arakawa-ku via his excellent and very descriptive directions. It was hot and very humid, so on the way we stopped in 7-11 (yes, they have 7-11; no, it's not the same; it's WAY better) and picked up an Aquarius (sports drink), which was deliciously familiar.

*SuperNova Travel Note: Tokyo is not a city like Seattle or San Francisco. It is more like a small state (prefecture) with cities within it. So if you want to go to Harajuku because you are a huge Gwen Stefani fan, that's in Tokyo, but it's within Shibuya within Tokyo. (Specific places are like nesting dolls. For example, I used to live in Haraichi which was in Ageo which was in the Saitama prefecture.) Anyway, if you want to see "Tokyo" you need several days. Also, there are almost no street names, hence the exceptionally descriptive directions of how to get to R's aparto. Landmarks and trains are basically how you find anything, I have NO idea how postmen or pizza guys do their job. No one does.

I know R from back in my Japan days, but in the years since he has acquired an awesome family. He and his wife T have THE CUTEST 2 year old daughter and I wish that I posted personal pictures on my blog because I am sure you would agree. (Unless you have a 2 year old, in which case you are wildly offended.) They were most welcoming and had a tatami room (a room with traditional straw mats instead of carpet which have a distinctively pleasant smell) set up just for us. After presents were given (I was not joking, bring presents. Not only is it thoughtful, but it creates space in your suitcase for souvenirs!) they took us out to dinner at an izakaya near their home. An izakaya is a restaurant where you order lots of little plates and share with everyone, generally while drinking beer. I love izakayas because you can get beer and tons of little plates of things and if you make a horrible mistake (chicken cartilage on a stick, anyone?), then everyone has a piece, it's gone, you order the next thing, and then just split the bill at the end. This one came with what can only be described as a beautiful sashimi (raw fish) bouquet that Mc and company enjoyed quite a bit.

After that we walked home and Mc and I hit the hay (or tatami, I guess) while R's family went through the bath routine.

*SuperNova Travel Tip - Bathing in Japan is a ritual. Typical bathrooms are separate from the closet where they keep the toilet. (If you ask for a bathroom in public, they will look at you oddly, wondering why you want to take a bath in a department store. If you are out and need the restroom, ask for the toilet. That's one of my favorite universal words. Technically in Japan they say "toire" but you will be understood.) The bathroom generally has a telephone shower and a drain on the floor next to a deep, but short, bathtub. You are supposed to bathe at night, you do not get into bed with the day's cooties on you. You first scrub down sitting on a short stool using the telephone shower. Once you are all clean, you may get into the tub. The tub is for relaxing, not washing. This is important. You can take just a shower or you can even shower in the morning, but god help you if you get soap in the bathtub.

Monday, both R and T have to work and since we'll be jet-lagged, we plan to just do an easy day in Tokyo. (Did you ask which part of Tokyo? Good, you were paying attention! We plan on going to Asakusa.)