Back to Japan. (Japartures?)

So, I made it back to Japan with less problems than I left. No snow, no rain and all the trains were running normally (i.e. painfully slowly on the airport Narita Express.) I obviously didn't sleep on the plane due to the babies crying, screaming, running around and their parents not even trying to stop them.

To combat the non-sleepy boredom, I watched 2 films (Eat Pray Love and The Social Network) but with the German audio track to get some practise. Then I watched a very Japanese TV programme about... food. It was called "Two Gourmet Ladies

Travel Japan" but I think a more descriptive title would have been "Two Old Radies go to countryside, smell lots of different fish and say it all tastes delicious." Then the radio times wouldn't need to describe it at all. I couldn't understand every word, but most of it was just delicious (oishiiiiiiiii) with their mouths full of food.

At customs, the woman was interested by the chocolate I had brought back for friends over here, but when I said it was for myself, she gave me a knowing look as if to say "Yes, I'm also addicted desu." There were no further issues. Banzai.

As it is my spring holiday I have made a little map to show the places I intend to visit (the main places, there will be other stops inbetween.)

As you can see I'm heading west away from Tokyo. Really it's south but on this map it's west like the Japanese say it is. I want to go north in summer which should be nice. I won't be blogging for 3 weeks but there will probably be a monster post when I'm back or a wave of sudden ones.

Ittekimasu!

Proverb: Don't Let Your Daughter-in-law Eat Your Autumn Aubergines

I think we can all learn from those words of wisdom. Also I just can't stop eating tenpura aubergine. Basically batter and fry anything (prawns are usual but sweet potato is probably the best.) Maybe not the healthiest of foods but it's certainly better than rotting soy-beans.

Speaking of food, I've been experimenting a lot with miso soup for my breakfast, I now like it with pumpkin and beansprouts in it and onion and maybe some tofu. Although its much quicker just to put seaweed and nothing else in. My friend went to a traditional Japanese inn where they really took miso experiments to another level. She couldn't eat the soup because it contained brain. No joke. She also sent me a photo of it which I won't upload. The proverb does says that some insects will even eat knotweed. I would probably also eat knotweed if the option on the menu was brain.

I'm coming back home very soon which means packing- not one of my favourite things. As the proverb says, put off for one day, ten days pass by. I'll practically be back in Japan by then so maybe I should not even bother. We all know the suitcase is going to remain unpacked on my floor until I have to pack it again anyway. I'll get it done. Tomorrow.

See you soon, and remember; When sun shines, plough field. when rainy, read book.

Crisis, What Crisis?

A brief look at the news (BBC) would lead anyone to believe that Japan is financially crippled and everyone is living in poverty. Whilst this could well be the case in the future, right now there are no signs of this what so-ever and spending money seems to remain the number one favourite hobby for the Japanese. I have never seen people spend money like the Japanese. Everyone eats in restaurants all the time and thinks nothing of it. A trip to Tokyo Station and an effort to go to the Imperial Palace showed me this. The palace was closed and the Station- which is one of the few western old style buildings in Japan was under heavy restoration work. While Shinjuku station with over 200 exits and over 3.5 million passengers per day remains the world's busiest station, Tokyo is one of the world's biggest. We got lost. 3 times.

It was actually huge, especially as it includes about 3 underground shopping centres. I was looking for some souvenir items someone had told me about in the station, but I actually had no chance of finding them. Instead I found novelty KitKats:

They also had Wasabi flavour (Japanese Horseradish,) which actually tasted rather nice.

But I have never seen so many shops selling expensive things, not for foreign tourists but just for Japanese people who live here and enjoy spending money. These shops certainly give them the chance.

After that, we went to Shinjuku to have some noodles as we were starving. I actually prefer Soba (buckwheat) noodles to Udon (rice-noodles) as they taste more. However, we found a nice cheap udon restaurant selling freshly made udon. I decided to go for one where you get the noodles plain then dip them in the sauce at the side, then slurp (noisily of course.)
Then I went for some peace an quiet to a little shrine not far from where I live and ended up speaking to an old woman there who was very friendly and talked to me about Heathrow airport for a while as it is her only experience of the UK, but she was very impressed.
This water is from some really good rocks or something or nothing but I don't really know but it's meant to be really fresh and taste good so she told me to fill up a bottle in the little stream and make a cup of English tea with it. I think I might.

This Country is Going to The Dogs. Literally.

OK so I'm having another boring rant about animal cruelty. Unfortunately I didn't have my camera on me when I tried to capture these beauties but I'm sure you get the idea from my phone's attempt.

I pretended to the owner that I was really moved by how cute the dogs were and just had to take a photo. He was delighted. I'm still after the holy grail photo though-dogs in prams.

Another time, I was in a big shop which sells everything and accidentally (certainly not what I wanted to buy) stumbled upon the following:
And more disturbingly, this:

Just incase some of you were wondering about Matcha cake, here is a matcha roll, which was very nice. I still haven't got to any actual real punishment in the book so I'm assuming it is all about how he punishes himself after the crime.

Oh yes, it was my birthday. My friend Veri helped me celebrate with a Taiyaki (fish looking thing with yummy filling, I like sweet potato red bean paste.)
Then we went for an Indian meal, which was nice, did Purikura- the hilarious photoboothe that makes you look "pretty," followed by Karaoke. This time there were tambourines which literally doubled the fun, and it was a really nice evening.

Watashi-wa Amused Desu.

Today is my birthday but I may do a birthday post later on. This post is devoted to some of the things which have made me laugh. They could maybe (hmm maybe not) have happened anywhere but I think it is more amusing to think it is only Japan.

1. Some school students who I'm helping with English come every Friday. One week one of them came and told me that another hurt her back skiing and would have to stand. I thought this was very unfortunate for her and there could be nothing worse than having to stand with a painful back, learning English. That was until the final person walked in. Wearing an eye-patch. I thought it best not to ask. I could have told her it was very eye-catching but that would have been insensitive.

2. Many of the pet dogs in Japan wear coats and jumpers because they definitely would not survive the harsh Tokyo winter with lows of 3 degrees c and constant sunshine. It hasn't even snowed here. I'm beginning to get used to this and also to the dog-walkers pushing their dogs around in a dog-pram, but one thing which did surprise me was a dog wearing nothing (sordid, I know,) apart from 4 sparkly red shoes. I wish I had taken a photo.

3. I was asked by someone what I thought of sashimi which is raw fish. I said it was maa-maa (meh its ok, 50-50) and that it doesn't really taste of anything (I think because it is fresh.) She was shocked and told me not to say such things so loudly as I would offend the other Japanese people.

4. When someone eats natto (fermented soy beans which is the most disgusting thing I have ever seen/smelled/tasted,) in your kitchen, it stinks like rotting feet for at least a day.

5. Apart from the whale, I don't think Japan has a bad animal cruelty record. Apart from the sort of thing on this poster.

Also see item no. 2.

The last thing is not so much amusing as impressive. Impressively Japanese. Two men were in a cafe as I was reading my book. As they got up to leave, rather than bowing once to each other, they actually both bowed 3 or 4 times alternately. It was the sort thing you see on stock footage the BBC has on archive if they ever do a documentary about East Asia.

Thank you for your birthday cards and presents, they are all very much appreciated. I will be back soon to see you all in person :) baibai.