Month: October 2008

Last 2 Bags of Raw Kusaya

When I got home today, I noticed a rotten fish scent in the air. My dad had cooked the last two bags of raw kusaya-no-himono. There are only 3 boxes of the cooked kusaya left. This makes me sad. :( I should have been less girly with my personal items (like leaving the extra pair of shoes that I didn’t even wear at home). My dad jokingly asked me if he should go to Japan now. He would bring back a lot of kusaya-no-himono with him. I jokingly responded, we still have some left. He should go when all of it is gone.

My dinner tonight consisted of kusaya (of course), sushimeshi (picked the wrong white rice in the freezer), natto, miso soup, salad, and yogurt. Healthy. :) Oh, and nigorizake… >.>;

My Knees Hurt :(

I must have done something to them yesterday because they hurt. It hurts to stand up, it hurts to go down the stairs, it hurts going up the stairs, and it hurts trying to sit down. :( I think I must have overworked the knees while they were swollen from the flight. Sitting around for 11 hours straight is bad!

Home Sweet Home

I arrived home yesterday at around 2:30 PM. My flight was originally supposed to have arrived at around 12:15 PM, but there were some technical difficulties with one of the wings. Something about the hydraulic system leaking fluids from Singapore to Tokyo. There were technicians working on the left wing for a good 2 hours and 15 minutes before we were in the air. I will gladly trade 2 hours of my life in exchange for getting to keep it.

Ironically enough, the Narita Express from Shinjuku Station also was delayed for about 30 minutes. It was a day full of delays. I passed out on the train as I don’t remember the full delay, nor the reason. Just that there was a delay and the feeling of mild surprise when I saw that I was 30 minutes behind schedule (which actually wasn’t bad because I was right at 3 hours before my flight).

At Narita Airport, I had my last delicious chai tea latte, venti size. I ordered so many of those drinks that I know the name of the largest cup now… >.>; No more delicious Japanese milk. *sob*

Thankfully, the person that came to pick me up at LAX was my dad, not my mom. I don’t think she would have been happy if she found out my flight was delayed for so long. My dad just spent an hour watching planes land and take off from a restaurant on the second floor. He said he enjoyed watching the planes, so it’s all good.

After I showed my parents what I brought back from Japan, I called my sister to tell her that I was home. She said, “I’m coming over!” I was like, but what about work? She responded that it was 5 PM already, so she can take off. We were chatting till almost 10 PM. In that space of time, she went through a lot of the food I brought back, and ate some kusaya-no-himono, and popped a lot of breath mints afterwards.

Tonight, we’re going to be eating sushi. I brought back a wasabi root. It nearly wasn’t as expensive as I imagined it to be, but expensive enough to say that real wasabi is a luxury. Laura and her hubby is coming over, too.

Last Full Day in Japan

Today is the last full day in Japan for me. Tomorrow, I’ll be going to the airport and taking off for home. I’ll miss Japan and all it’s delicious foods.

One thing I didn’t get to do is go to an obakeyashiki, or haunted house, at an amusement park. I don’t think I’m going to have the time to do that today.

What I do need to do is buy some kusaya no himono (2 packs of raw aji, 2 packs of raw tobiuo, and 5 small packs of cooked kusaya), and some kuki wakame. Then go to my aunt and cousin’s house to drop off the non-perishable stuff so my cousin can ship them to me. In the evening, I’m going to go visit Luke and have some drinks. Woo!

I should get going before my day is over. Sundown at 5 PM makes my day so short. :(

Ginza Apple Store

I’m currently in the Apple store located in Ginza. Erika is a happy Mac geek. Currently on the 4th floor. I think there’s a 5th floor, but I was paying attention to the number of floors. There were stars in my eyes.

This place has to have the largest concentration of 外国人 I have yet come across.

Speaking about Macs, yesterday I was in the Apple section of Yodobashi Camera in Shinjuku. It was there I saw the newest Macbooks and Macbook Pros. I touched it. I played with it. I would have totally licked it if I wouldn’t have gotten strange stares from people. It was cool. COOL, I tell you.

Gero Onsen Day 2

I’m going to barf. Not because I’m sick, but because there was too much delicious food for dinner tonight. I don’t do well when a lot of meat is placed in front of me because I tend to try to finish as 11much meat before I say I’m done. It’s even worse when it’s good food. Gochisousama.

Burp.

I feel better now.

I also tried the Gero sake, Tenryou. It was good. I ordered two bottles.

….

Today, I walked around Gero.

First place I went to was the Gero Hot Spring Museum (of course on the pamphlet it says “Gero Museum of Hot Spring” in Engrish). They had a foot spa that was split up into 2 pools, one with hot water, and one with cold water. Both lined with smooth rocks. Walking around 2 or 3 times is supposed to be good for you. I stepped into the hot water, took a few steps, yelped ‘hot’ and got out. It took a while before I got used to the water enough to be able to walk around in it. The rocks at the bottom sucked. Like hell they’re good for me.

Next, I went to Onsen-ji, a temple built when a white heron lead villagers to the area where the hot spring water was gushing forth after an earthquake shut down the one they were living around. There were also a lot of new burial stones. I wonder if they were families that decided to move to Gero or if they just decided it was time for a new stone or something. Clueless here. There was a new o-haka area, I also wondered about that area as well.

I also went to a public bath, Shirasagi-no-yu. I wanted to go to a rotenburo, but the desire to explore other areas of the town was stronger. A friend told me about the yu-meguri-tegata that would enable me to visit various places. I was thinking about it, but I ended up not buying one.

At this point I decided to eat lunch. I ate at a place called Ofukuro and had the tomato udon lunch set. It came with a tomato udon, Hida beef, and 2 onigiris. It was gooooood.

tomato-udon-lunch.jpg

After food, I walked around Gero. After a while I needed to go poop. I had to walk to Gero Station to go there.

Next I thought I should got to Gassho Village and the museum there. I didn’t get to see all of Gassho Village unfortunately, and definitely not the museum. I arrived there sometime before 4 PM, and the place closed at 5 PM (like many cultural places in Japan). I think I spent around 700 yen on koi food and about 15 minutes happily feeding them. Each piece was about 100 yen. The fishes were quite cute (or gross depending on who you’re talking to) when they were around me desperately rushing for food.

At that point, I realized I need a pet that rushes up to me when they’re fed. I love watching animals eat. Sen sorta does that. Hoji… not quite as much. :\ They’re so cute. I can’t wait to go hom and pet them (and train them some more).

After Gassho Village, I decided it was time to go back to the minshuku I was staying at.

Tomorrow, I need to buy an onsen tamago before I hop on the train to Nagoya.

Miyajima, Itsukushima Shrine, Mt Misen, and the Atomic Bomb Dome

A very busy day today. There were two places I wanted to hit today, fortunately, I got to see both. I thought it would be a good idea to go to Miyajima first, and then the Atomic Bomb Dome second.

I took the JR line to the Miyajima-guchi, then the JR ferry to Miyajima. Walked about 10 minutes or so to the torii gates. It wasn’t high tide, so the shrine wasn’t floating in the water. Poop. :(

I walked around some more, and then I got the bright idea of going to the top of Mt. Misen by walking up the trail. Without water. Up very steep steps. I thought I was going to pass out and die. Death would come in the form of a branch impaling me when I would inevitably roll into it. Luckily, that didn’t happen. Every time I got to a clearing, I would mumble, jidouhanbaiki over and over. I got my wish at the top. :P

When I was leaving, I saw the torii gate was pretty much out of the water, and there were people walking right up to the gate. I walked around and looked at the base of the torii. When I turned around, I saw that the little “road” I walked to the gate on was gone. The tide was coming up. At the JR ferry station, there was a sign that said high tide would be at sometime past 8 PM. Low tide was at around 2 PM. Doh!

I was on the island longer than I intended. I wanted to be at the Atomic Bomb Dome by around 3 pm. I got there around 6 PM. I did get a few cool night shots thought. The museums were closed. There was one I want to see that opens at 8:30 AM, and I thought, “Maybe!” And then I realized that I like my sleep very much.

For dinner, I ate at a restaurant at the edge of the Peace Park. It was classy. Pricey. Delicous! I had a Moscow Mule drink, but I don’t there there was any alcohol in it. :\ Watered down drinks, boo!