Home for realsies

When I first arrived in Japan, I suffered from almost NO jet-lag, due to the fact that I arrived at 1am their time, and because I'd spent nearly 24 hours in transit. I slept right away, and woke up bright and early the next day to begin my adventures.

Homeward bound, my flight schedule went off nearly without a hitch (my third flight--yes, third--landed 10 minutes later than was planned) and I arrived home in my HOUSE by 7:30pm. I went to dinner, went to bed early, and then woke up early to play volleyball all day. I lasted, and without much fatigue (outside of being tired from playing). Afterwards, I went to dinner once more, and then WHAM! Jet-lag.

I crashed HARD by 8:45pm.

I woke up once at 2am to pee, but REFUSED to let myself wake up entirely for fear of being stuck in the sleepless loop for too long into the work week (like how Squiggly is for WEEKS on end). I forced myself to sleep until this morning and now I'm just hoping that I've escaped the horrid grips of THE LAG. I'll keep you posted. Until then, back to Japan stuff...
...

Not just about the Buddha

My trip for today [Wednesday, March 14, 2007] (and possibly my last one for Japan) was all the way out in Nara. That's

• 1 hour subway from Toyotashi to Nagoya
• 1 hour Shinkansen from Nagoya to Kyoto
• 1 hour JR train from Kyoto to Nara

I got a lot of sleeping and reading done, as well as much iPodding too.

My destination had been decided by the fact that while I'd seen shrines, temples and castles, I hadn't really gotten to see the actual statues enshrined inside. Going to Nara was going to guarantee my chance to finally do so. And so, Nara-bound I was.

Getting there was no problem at all (thankfully by NOW I'd gotten the hang of the trains) outside of the 3 hours. Once there, I asked for the English map (yet another thing I'd gotten the hang of) which was well highlighted by the lady in the booth and got me exactly where I'd wanted to go.

While I did see shrines, temples, and pagodas, I also got to see what was in them, and take pictures! Sure, I had to pay admission to each andevery one of tese places, and sure, some of them still prohibited me from taking photos, but I got what I wanted from my trip to Nara.





...

I even got a little more than what I bargained for from Nara--some welcome company!

While touring the shrines, I came across a huge throng of people gathered outside on the lawn of one of the halls. There were policemen, television reporters, photographers, and just a mountain of tourists and curious onlookers such as myself. While everyone was intently waiting for something to happen at this place (I could tell by all of the up-turned faces and the precisely aimed telephotolenses) I couldn't figure out what or when the event was about because there still seemed to be a lot of tourists wandering in and out of the hall.

I finally mustered up the courage to approach a trio standing nearby to ask them if they knew--I'd overheard some strains of English coming from their conversation. Turns out that they had no clue either--yet. From the three of them, Ernesto went up to aske on of th esurround officials what the deal was. In the end, a water purification ceremony was soon to take place in which the priests would sprinkly water on the gathered masses to cleanse them. As a group, we decided not to stick around to get sprayed down on the cool evening--we enjoyed our dry selves.

Instead, our newly formed foursome made its way back to Kyoto, taking the time to know each other. Soba Girl and London Chic had only met Ernesto the other day via a mutual friend from the other side of the globe. Ernesto had been studying Japanese in Kyoto and was playing tour guide to London and Soba as they enjoyed their whirlwind of a Spring Break in Japan. We spent our stroll to the station and on the subway sharing travel stories and sticking our heads into random stores (I ended up with a bottle of blueberry honey) along the way. We also swapped recently visited tourist attractions that we considered must-sees; the girls still had a few days on their trip and therefore were looking for fillers.

By the time we were comfortable and riding the JR back to Kyoto (in the seats we'd flipped to face each other) they'd graciously extended a dinner invitation to me with promises of getting me back onto the Shinkansen on time to make my last train back to Toyotashi. How could I refuse?

Dinner turned out to be at a sushi-go-round restaurant. YUM. Ernesto wisely paced himself while we girls just greedily grabbed at the grub rolling by on the conveyor belt. Ernesto tipped the scales with the too-good sweet potatoes, some eight dishes and 40 minutes later; Soba and London did about 10 dishes each while I did 12--the three of us throwing in the towel after just 20-ish minutes. What can I say? We were hungry!

The oh-so-good grub and the oh-so-awesome company came to aclose too soon as I had to leave on schedule. After exchanging emails and contacts, I of course asked the timid question:
          "Can I take a picture with you guys?"
I don't know what I was so shy for, of COURSE they awesomely complied.


I only wish I'd had more time.

Back to Hiroshima

I know, I know, today was Nara day, but I had a couple of things cross my path (well, one of them was following Squiggly's suggestion) that brought me back to Hiroshima. First, this picture that went against our Hiroshima slogan of "GO FUN!!!"


What party-poopers. Although, I don't really know who to blame: the sign creators, or the sign vandals? Whichever, it doesn't matter. We who were in Hiroshima are still going to five minutes GO FUN anyway!

Next, I thought I might give a visual confirmation of the fact that Tiger#6 is indeed a Universal Standard:


Coincidence that this 3 storey pagoda (I'm counting the antennae on top as its own storey) is EXACTLY 6 Tiger#6s high? I think not. Therefore, 1 storey = 2 Tiger#6s. It's perfect. Even though Squiggly's early estimation was slightly off (and only slightly) this picture provides proof that we are indeed onto something.

:)

BLFF: Like a herd of holey elephants

What's worse than finding out you've been going around Toronto with your pant-fly down all day? Finding out you've managed to wear a pair of HOLEY socks while touring Kyoto!!!


Where ever I visited today in Kyoto was a historic or spiritual place and so required you to remove your shoes in order to enter the premises. Usually, I'm all gung-ho about this...in fact, I've gotten really good at taking my shoes off backwards and stepping up onto the boards they have for you.

Until I notice the hole.

I think it was at the third place I got to today. And it's not even that I went to many places in total, it was just by the time I noticed it my day was drawing to a close and I had NO IDEA how long that hole had been there for! As soon as it came to my attention, I couldn't stop thinking about it. As I was making my way around this room of Neo-Kyoto exhibits, I couldn't help but keep glancing down at my big toe and trying to tuck it further and further back into my sock so that it wouldn't be as noticeable to onlookers.

Despite my efforts, it still felt like a lighthouse beacon, shining out and alerting all those around me of the its presence.

"Ah...the warm glow of enlightenment. Oh, wait, that's not enlightenment, that's just some girl's toe poking through her sock. Somebody needs a pedicure..."

Continuing...

So I thought I was all lucky that I had found a translator on such short notice to take me through with a Japanese-only tour of this amazing place. Not only that, but in order to have her with me, my tour time was pushed back and so I would have time to exchange some more traveller's cheques before heading to Kyoto. Sweet.

Until the bank took uber-long to give me my money!

I missed my arrive-with-extra-time train and had to wait for the arrive-with-JUST-enough-time train. As soon as the Shinkansen pulled into Kyoto station, I was off like a bolt, tearing for the taxi-stand. I threw myself in and assertively told the driver "Nijo-Jinya" and even had the gaul to correct him when he suggested that I mean the castle, "Nijo-jo." NO. NIJO-JINYA!!!

And of course, I only had ONE small bill on me (the rest being the massive bills I didn't have time to ask them to change at the bank for me) and the fare turned out to be JUST over that denomination. Luckily, when dude pulled up in front of the place, my tour guide happened to be waiting outside for me (foot tapping impatiently) and asked the cabbie to wait for me while we went in together to ask for change.

Just inside the door, I managed not to run into anything, but instead stepped on the take-off-your-shoes board and tip it see-saw-style with a hugely embarrassing whump! My tour guide at that point took a moment from her lecture to me about how punctual the tours were to tell me to "just don't come in...wait there" while she got me some change.

Seconds later, the cabbie was paid and her lecture resumed as I re-entered the building of Nijo-Jinya. I was all flustered by the rush of activity and stress about trying to catch up to everyone while they finished paying their admittance fees (which thankfully I'd already done) that my shoe-removing ability went all down the drain and I forgot to step up backwards after taking off one shoe, up onto the boards I had only seconds ago nearly overturned. I was hoping I might get away with it, but my ever-sharp tour-guide noticed and barked at me: "Don't step on the ground with your bare-feet--step up on the board!"

Point taken, I managed to get the other shoe off without further ado and got both feet up on the board...only to have the board BANG back into place under my weight, having been oddly dislodged by that same weight moments ago. I was so afraid that the Japanese tour-guy was going to ask me to leave for fear of my distruption and distruction of the place. However, dispite my ruckus, I managed, and even got to put on a pair of knit booties that oddly reminded me of my neighbour down the street...don't ask me why.

Once the tour got underway, everything else fell into place and my tour was amazingly cool and fascinating (as un-cool a word as fascinating can be, the tour really was both a the same time). My tour-guide was excellent and very reminiscent of Yoshiko from Himeji. Despite the way I just portrayed her above, she was actually really nice, and was only as flustered and rushed as I was to keep up with the tour. Once we both discovered that neither of us were scrutinized for breathlessly bringing up the rear, we had a good time together.

While I realized almost immediately that I had left my camera back with my bag and shoes by the front door, I think it was for the best. One, I didn't see anyone else take a single picture. Two, pictures wouldn't have done the place justice--there were too many dramatic revelations of secret hiding places and trap doors, slanted floors and booby-traps that I wouldn't even have had enough video space (on BOTH of my memory cards) to have captured enough to be able to give an idea of what Nijo-Jinya was like. Besides, all of the security devices built into that house are a secret. They probably would have had to shoot me if I did take any pictures out of there. If you ever have the chance, GO.

The rest of the day was spent out in castle and shrine land and though I have the pictures to prove it, I don't really have much story to go with them. The commentary would be much of just: Shrine. Temple. Castle. Detail of the castle. Detail of the floor in the shrine. Tree. Cool looking pond.

I'll save you the ennui. All the good things I saw, you weren't allowed to take pictures of, hence the long succession of things that are cool but not spectacular. Instead, I will leave you with the things that only I find amusing here in Japan...

Of the all name brands...I think I might pass on this one...

Well, that IS what he called him in the movie, isn't it?

...as opposed to using cursive script?

No throwing up over the side or cracked baby carriages on the escalators.

Noni?!

This is going to sound awful the moment I write it, but I think...I think I'm getting all Japan-ed out. Ah! However, that's not exactly an all bad thing. It's not so much that I've seen or done too much, it's more like Japan is starting to lose its novelty on me--it's starting to feel like home.

So that's what I mean by being all Japan-ed out. I noticed it today while in Kyoto. Now, Kyoto is home to 17 (I think) UN Designated World Historic Treasures. It's got so much culture and heritage, philosophy and istory to be had. And yet, when I got poured on half way through, I actually took it as a welcome interruption to my hardcore sightseeing.

I spent the rest of the time wandering the covered shopping arcades in seach of my must-have souvenirs. I was content. The fact that the rain had ended my touring didn't put any damper on my day. I just brushed it off and told myself--I'll see it tomorrow.

Which brings me to another point--the downfall to my comfort level in Japan--I don't have too many "tomorrows" to go.

As comfortably at home as I feel, the truth is that I'm NOT at home and WON'T be here much longer. And I've already felt the "I'm not ready to go yet" panic. I'm home here because there are things I find that fit so perfectly into my life. My seaweed rice balls. My Royal Milk Tea. My uber-accessible train routes (except in Toyotashi). My Y100 stores. My stationary stores. My uber-fresh foods/sushi/sashimi. My plum wine. My ability to write private jouranls in public because I can be fairly confident those around me haven't a clue what's on the page. When I go home, I won't have these things so accessible anymore!

Perhaps that explains my frantic splurging all of a sudden. That and the fact that I managed to come in WAY under budget up until now and if I don't spend like a madman, I'll be going home with Y50000 and more. What am I going to do with Y50000?

Things I could do with my 50000 yen:

Buy a gold plated home like this one


Change it all into coins and spend it tossing money for good luck


Buy hoards of corn soup in a can from vending machines


Pay someone to build me a stone garden to last all of eternity, puzzling all those who question its design


Buy a whole new wardrobe from this store


Buy Squiggly a ton more of these skimpy polka-dotted aprons to strut around hotel rooms in

Any votes?

Beware: ENTIRE weekend edition ahead!

Oh no, so much to tell, so little energy!

So Friday, I left boring Nagoya and headed onwards to Hiroshima. On the way, I made a stop in Himeji to see the infamous castle there—the largest and most splendid to survive the centuries in Japan. All you hear about it is true. At the admissions desk, I was encouraged to ask for an English Guide (“Ask please for English Guide”) so I did. Amongst many nods and gestures there suddenly appeared a petite Japanese lady, just as bundled up as myself but only half my size, and she promptly introduced herself to me as my guide, Yoshiko.

Yoshiko had been volunteering at the castle for 23 years, researching the available history on her own and practicing her English by giving these tours. The effort had paid off. In concise terms, I learned about both the history of the castle and about her own. I got to learn all of the “devices” built into the castle’s design, the detailing of the tiniest ornaments, the dates of shogunate occupations, and even about the origins of the building materials.

Had I tried to make it through the castle on my own, not only would I have gotten lost, but I would have missed so much that the English pamphlet didn’t include. Details such as the 2 hidden floors, the flexible structure of the castle (which is how it withstood the earthquakes over the years), the best photo opportunities, the purposeful ornamentations, the dual layered doors, even the kitchen sink that was one of the first of its kind built right into the castle.

She knew everything there was to know about Himeji castle and I was grateful. At the end, she gave me her business card and asked me to keep in touch. Though I usually tend to be over-promising on such requests, with her I absolutely will. Thanks, Yoshiko.


One of the bonus experiences I got out of stopping in Himeji was my lunch. Hungry for food, I booked my train ticket and wandered around the station to look for a place to grab some grub. Down what could almost be qualified as an alleyway (except for the fact that there are SO many of these places in Japan) I stumbled upon a lacquered display of ramen noodles which I had been CRAVING for since the first week of my trip. Determined to satisfy said craving, I ducked through the door coverings and found myself faced with a cook behind the counter, a girl making wontons at the end of the counter, and about 6 chairs in the whole place.

Turns out I ended up having to have the girl follow me outside again to the displays so that I could point out what I wanted, but once it arrived, MAN was it worth it. Simple ramen noodles with meat and vegetables, but were they ever FRESH. The BEST 400 yen that I had spent in a while. I left that place full, happy, and oh so satisfied.

Hiroshima didn’t seem very exciting when I first arrived. Within a city block radius of the station, things were fairly drab and run-down, and then major department stores were of the Holt Renfrew type so they weren’t my scene. I managed to bide my time in a 100 yen store (figures that on the other side of the globe I get my kicks by buying crap in the dollar store) and later in a coffee shop with a caramel latte I again ordered with almost solely the use of my pointing finger.

When Squiggly finally arrived after work, things started to brighten up. We went on a hunt for midnight food (because my eating schedule is TOTALLY off) and actually discovered that Hiroshima wasn’t as dilapidated as I first thought. By fluke we ended up in the centre of town where all the bars and other shopping were. When my stomach finally drove us to a place to eat, we found ourselves in a neat restaurant that served everything from stone-oven pizza to beef sashimi. YUM.

The next morning we met up with Tiger Number6 and she took Squiggly and I out to Miyajima. What/where’s Miyajima? Well, you know when you see slideshows of Japan and its sights, and you that big red doorway sort of thing on the water? It’s that. Oh, fine, I’ll just show you:


So we went to see that (it’s called a Torii, by the way) and to do so, we took a trip on the ferry across to Miyajima Island— a ferry which by far outdoes the Toronto Islands ferry in both organization and frequency. Getting there, the first thing I let myself get roped into doing was feeding the docile deer.

Man, what an experience.

As soon as I had the deer crackers in hand, they swarmed me (as well as the Japanese ladies that were too scared to feed them themselves, but wanted the picture opp.)! It was like being swarmed by a hoarded of hyper schoolchildren who all wanted your attention at once. While one head-butt me in one leg, another nibbled my other leg, and one more kept jumping up on its hind-legs in an attempt to be noticed above the others. They weren’t necessarily aggressive, and actually, they took the food from me quite gently but they were definitely a boisterous bunch amongst themselves. What was really neat was that they knew the precise instant that I was out of food and left, immediately moving onto the next tourist who bought into the food idea.

Of course right afterwards I found the following sign.


The Torii itself was quite impressive. In the water, it was apparently self-supported, meaning that other than having the posts dug into the underlying sand, mud and earth, it didn’t have anything else holding it in place. And yet over the centuries it had stood, tide after tide, season after season. Very serene to just take in.

The major shrine on the island, Itsukushima, was another thing we had planned to see that day, but it was especially busy. We joined the throng and found that there was a traditional Japanese wedding taking place there.
The wedding party became the main attraction and there were crowds of people watching the performance of a traditional dance for the married couple, snapping pictures like the paparazzi.

After it was over, we stole some more pictures of the Torii before wandering off to discover other sights like the un-crossable bridge, the floating Noh theatre, the Pagoda where we created the Tiger#6 universal standard of measure, the countless appearances of the Lucky Rice Paddle, and all the FOOD we could try!






Fortunately we covered most of the island before unfortunately it began to rain on us. We took the tram back to the city in order to be able to snag the time for a quick nap on the way. Back in the city, we had to stall until the restaurant that we wanted to try would open, so to pass the time, we headed to the exercise and massage chair floor of the nearby electronics store.

Oh man.

First, it was the new line of exercise machines. There was one to try (which we did) which looked like a horse saddle. What it turned out to be was just that. The idea was that the user would try his best to keep his upper-body still while his lower was rocked around by the saddle. This was supposed to work abs, butt, thighs, and who knows what else. I think my abs got most of their workout from the fits of giggles I suffered from both trying it and watching Squiggly and Tiger#6 give them a go.

Next, came the machine from back in time—the gigglometer! Actually, I don’t know what it was really called, but remember back in the day when there was an “exercise” machine that strapped a belt around you and giggled the fat away? It was basically the same idea. Standing on a small platform, the machine would vibrate the platform at speeds of “fast,” “faster,” and “uber-fast” in the attempt to loosen your fat stores and get them to drain away faster. Well, that’s what I got from the video anyway.

Finally, the massage chairs. While Squiggly passed, T#6 and I settled in for the 15 minute trial and allowed ourselves to be transformed into massaged blobs of goo. These chairs were AMAZING. They hugged every curve of your body and massaged any tiny little knot you could have. When it was over, I was tempted to give the chair a hug and a kiss goodbye, but I was too shy.

By the time we were done at the electronics store, it was time for our early dinner and our opportunity to try Hiroshima’s famed Okonomiyaki (umm...just look at the picture for a description). It was lucky that we decided to get there right at opening for a seat because the tiny little place was PACKED after just 20 minutes. Food was AWESOME. Cooked right in your face and then eaten right off of the stovetop, this stuff was fresh. AND, the eggs that they used to cook always came out with 2 yolks in one egg. Well, at least of the 25+ eggs we watched them crack, only 1 had a single yolk. How they did that, we don’t know, but what we did notice was that the eggs were gimongous.

We emerged from the Okonomiyaki place stuffed and smelling of the meal we just consumed. After a brief picture-showing stop at our hotel, it was off to Tiger#6’s 9-man volleyball practice which I got to participate in. WOOOOOOOO!

First of all, her team was really good. Second of all, they treated me like a foreign superstar because, well, I WAS foreign, and probably because I towered over all the other girls on the team. Also, my first duty was to hit the ball at the girls while they practiced their defence—hit at them on a net that was 6 inches lower than the ones that I’m used to at home. MAN was that awesome! The whole experience was, well, awesome. And it was quite something to try a new style of volleyball, played out in an entirely different language and country. It’s volleyball, duh.

I think the last part of the night was the most memorable. It wasn’t even the part where we went out and drank and ate (horse meat) till the early hours of the morning. It was the part where Tiger#6 took us for our first (and probably only) stay in a capsule hotel!

Called...I think “New Japan Sauna & Hotel,” we were admitted and then divided by gender. There was a locker floor where we kept our stuff, an onsen floor to do the bath stuff on, and the sleeping floor where each person passed the night.

In the lockers we found pyjamas and towels in a convenient little shower bag for us to use. While I never made it to the onsen floor, there you could take a communal shower before soaking in one of the three spas (cold, warm, and hot), and finishing up by finding yourself in a sauna to steam out your toxins. The sleeping floor began with the “dream room” where there was a field of big comfy recliner chairs, each equipped with a personal TV that had speakers piped into your headrest. You could watch TV until your eyes got heavy, or you could sleep out your night right there in that chair. I tried one of them out before bed and almost didn’t make it to bed!

Passing through the dream room was where you found a few sinks and then toilets, and then the capsules. I’ll be honest. As excited as I was to try staying in one of them, once I got there and Tiger#6 had left for the onsen floor, it took me a few moments to get over how much the capsules reminded me of...well, the CSI morgue layout. But once I was over it, the novelty once again took over. Staying there was actually a lot of fun-—the hotel took care of EVERY thing for you. From your room to your commodities, sleepwear to your toiletries. At first I was confused when I couldn’t find the toothpaste, but get this—it was already on each individually wrapped toothbrush!!! Just add water! I of course took a couple as souvenirs.

After checking out (of both hotels) Squiggly and I trekked over to the A-bomb Dome and the Hiroshima Peace Park and had quite the sobering afternoon. The sites were beautiful in some ways, awe inspiring in others, but above all, they conveyed Hiroshima’s resolution to promote and one day achieve world peace using its history as a reminder of the consequences of war. Words could never be enough to describe what we saw there.

Our last experience in Hiroshima was once more with Tiger#6 and this time her crew as well. We went to “G&O: Gumbo & Oysters” for yet another early dinner. OMG. YUM. There were two different set meals to choose from; the decision made was based on our favourite adage, “go big or go home.” We weren’t going home, that was for sure. So, 3 raw oysters, 4 cooked ones, a salad, soup, an oyster shot and pasta dish later, we were STUFFED. Big was good.

The company was great. Tiger#6 brought out her bf and 2 of their JET friends and they were GREAT. GO FUN. :) You had to be there. By the time dinner was over (a little rushed due to the Shinkansen schedule for Squiggly and I), I was actually sorry to have to go—they would have been so much fun to hang out with for another weekend of touring, eating, drinking and capsule hotelling.

And so, the shinkansen home. Squig fell asleep, I blogged till Jenny’s battery died. Now back in the room, everyone’s battery’s charging and I’m happily posting after so long an absence. Kyoto tomorrow, Kyoto again the day after, and then who knows where the wind will take me?
...

Update
It is now 10 to 11 on Kyoto day, and here I am blogging in my jammies. I'm going, I'm going! It's a lot of work travelling this hard!

BLFF: Update

So Squiggly just fixed my little travel suitcase and I was all ready to start packing for my trip to Himeji and Hiroshima. I opened the flap and was about to ram stuff in, when I noticed something...

The damn frame of my suitcase was BENT!!!

Okay, not a big deal, I just just my uber strong muscles and bent the damn thing back, but the point is, it's weakened now and who knows how long it's going to last before finally snapping.

*sigh*

I also spent an hour longer in travel today than I needed to because I got lost. Dang it. I ended up having to cut a few things out of my itinerary because of the delay. However, as my luck's been working out, the two guys that I stopped to ask--though neither spoke a lick of English--managed to sign me amazing directions that got me right to where I needed to go. Of course I arrived much later than I'd expected to, but that wasn't their faults.

Alright, back to packing.

Inuyama Castle, after 2 hours on the road...

...and 250mL of wine for less than $2CAD at the end of the night with Squiggly--just to make it all better.