07.12.09
Hakuba and snow-covered monkeys
Obligatory Engrish
After reams of fanmail *cough* I had to come back and tell you about adventures in Hakuba
Hakuba is in Nagano Prefecture, where the air and water is clean and soba (buckwheat) is king. Soba noodles are nice, but just eating the fruit is good too.
So father and I descended upon the unsuspecting small town of Hakuba, which was unseasonably warm. The owners of the Minshuku (Like a B&B, but Japanese) called us the week previously, apologising profusely about the lack of snow (for it was surely their fault) and expected us to cancel, but I stubbornly insisted that we go and see Hakuba anyway; it was a place I’d not visited before and the alternative was Kyoto which, though interesting, is not inherently exciting.
Getting to Hakuba from Tokyo was 2 long bullet train rides to Nagano station and a 50 minute bus ride from there to Hakuba station. Mother, always overplanning things, had informed the owners of our accommodation the minute details of our travels, just to make sure the completely clueless father and I were unable to get lost. Mother had also insisted that we call the accomodation owners when we were 30 minutes away from Hakuba. When I did this, the voice on the end of the phone took this news with the bored-yet-polite tone of someone who’d heard it at least 4 times previously from a overprotective control freak with a high pitched voice.
So there we were, in the vaguely cold weather and enjoying the quaint feel of the small town of Hakuba. The Minshuku was almost empty; the only other guest was an English teacher and seasoned skiier. We ate lovely home cooked meals and managed to hold very long conversations with the owners about travelling around to see the sights of the ‘Shinshuu’ area using leet skills and an electronic dictionary. This was the point of the trip where I was having an astonishingly large problem with speaking English, so this probably helped.
One of the trips was to Nagano, where we looked at the local temple, Zenko-ji. As you will see in the link, historical does not even begin to describe it. 
After looking around there and snacking on more soba-based products, we made our way to the station to get on a train to Yudanaka. Now Yudanaka is the closest station to Jigokudani (Hell Valley), which is known for one thing: Monkeys. When the local monkey population are feeling a tad cold, they go and take a dip in the naturally occurring hot skills, much to the delight of tourists. No one had bothered to mention to us that not only was Yudanaka in the middle of nowhere, the walk from the taxi drop-off point at Jigokudani to the actual hot springs was very long. Urk. But the monkeys were adorable. Attempted to get some photos, but mostly my camera liked to focus on steam.
Then, on the bus ride home, it started to snow.
BUCKETS
Did I mention it was Christmas Eve? Overnight, the landscape became a snowscape, and I had my first White Christmas.
This and the Wayne Brady and Over the Hedge CDs I received Christmas morning meant I was fairly over the moon.
Later that day, I was given the opportunity to have snowboarding lessons. I joined legions of way too talented schoolchildren and close to pro adults and wobbled my way down the face of the mountain with the help of a seasoned ski/snowboard instructor, who was very patient and understanding. Snowboarding is quite tiring, but easy to pick up. I suggest you go and try it now. Go on, I’ll wait.
Great, right?
That’s all for now; I’ll be posting pictures on this post late, so don’t forget to visit again~
04.28.09
Well well
Look who came crawling back to wordpress
I’m going to leave writing about Hakuba to a day where I am more coherent.
For now, a list. No real subject
- Things I am commonly heard saying
- ‘I’m sorry, it’s the spout’
- ‘Fail’
- ‘Because he is a WOMAN’
- ‘I know right?’
Now, the first refers to the many times where I have unwittingly attacked members of the public with my handbag. It is a watering can. That is a bag. People make plant-watering and water restriction jokes all the time. It gets old.
The third I say with alarming frequency. Mostly because I watch Japanese dramas, which contain a rather large number of girly girly asian men(?). Very pretty ones, at that.
2. I have never named any form of naturally occurring thing after me, nor claimed them as my own. Clare rocks, Clare rain, Clare lightning, thankfully, do not exist.
Maybe I should, though. How about…sleet that mysteriously forms in outback Australia during the middle of autumn. That can be Clare sleet.
Mason says that Mason silence is the silence before a storm.
3. Katamari is a brilliant game, that should be played by all. Mason agrees
4. GUEST POINT byyyyy MASON: Katamari is amazing. It really provides a clear life message: roll things up. Every day, I repeat this to myself, under my breath – a relentless mantra – and it truly makes a difference. Sometimes, particularly when I’m handling toxic chemicals in the lab, the King honours me by whispering in my ear………….
5. Couple contractions – You know, the one name that is borne of two names in a couple. A single identity, if you may. Thing is, I’m really really starting to dislike them. 2 people -> person sounds like it would take up too much energy, and you’re talking about a lot of unwanted by-products and waste.
6. Dreams of late have been very satisfying. I go to sleep and find myself in not particularly remarkable places, but different ones, with new faces and a different life, just on the edge of my memory.
7. If you sang out of tune I would shudder, and either run away or try to shut you up. Mason has a lovely singing voice, and dreamy eyes.
He even sparkles
03.11.09
Asakusa
So yeah, I happened to be in Tokyo at the time of the yearly Hagoita (badminton racquet?) festival. Hardly sports equipment, these boards are decorated with intricate embroidery in the form of women in Kimonos and white makeup or actors from Kabuki theatre.
So Isuzu, her husband and I ventured out to Asakusa (Ginza line, last stop)
We ate Fried Manju (wow, Linda just exploded with joy) and Kaminari Okoshi; hard rice/bean sweets. Both were delicious
After this, we had eel for dinner (further Linda explosions) and wandered around a bit.
Basically, Asakusa is your one stop shop for all kinds of Japanese souvenirs. “Ninjya” shoes, sake bottles shaped like gourds, prints (the cheap kind, mind you) and dolls are all on offer for visitors. This means you will see many many foreigners here, all with terrible or no Japanese skills. I find this entertaining; not sure if that’s weird.
“So this is like, a shrine?”
It’s a temple, actually. Sensoji is large, red, and very famous. One of the main attraction is the How-is-it-being-held-up-it’s-fucking-huge Lantern at the front gates. Walking through that leads to an elegant display of true Japanese culture souvenir shops.
My tip? Only go there for the relatives or friends you feel obligated to get generic gifts for…or for intentionally tacky souvenirs.
Nest stop: HAKUBA!
03.01.09
Ah, whoops
Make that one more Tokyo post before Hakuba
Next episode: Asakusa. Oh and I thought I would share something. Random occurrence, preserved by a photo
and now, for the national anthem
Takarazuka
Apologies, I just remembered that I did do something new and interesting after adventures with Tarou and Souda. I went to a Takarazuka performance.
Because of the strictly Male-only Kabuki theatre (which is one of the main causes of the cross-dressing phenomena now seen in the Japanese entertainment industry), a Female-only theatre was set up which was called the Takarazuka. People in Takarazuka have to be gorgeous and sing, dance, and act. They put on large, glamorous productions and have been doing so for many decades.
The reason why I went along was because my Great Aunt, a massive lifelong fan of Takarazuka, told me that an iconic old theatre in Shinjuku was about to close down. This was the Koma Gekijyou (Top [like a spinning top, so name because the stage has a number of sections that spin] Theatre) in Kabukicho, well kown as a rather sleazy area of central Tokyo. More about that later.
So I sat down in the magnificent theatre, wondering why anyone would want to demolish it and build a new one. My great aunt me told me of times when there was a weekly Takarazuka radio program with singing and other entertainment. She sang me the theme song. I was also told that one of my mother’s cousins, the beloved Seio-san (now one of the excecutives at Mitsubishi and yet still only able to afford a 5 room apartment) used to perform in the Koma Theatre as a child actor. Yet another person in my massive family who is into the arts. I guess this explains why mother think it’s a shame that I want to be a Psychologist when I can sing and dance. More about that in another post, perhaps. So, while trying to imagine Middle Aged and portly Seio as a small child in Period dramas, the show started.
And I was completely blown away. There were large dance numbers about Sukiyaki, and at least 4 subplots all kept together with surprising strength. The show was about, of all things, Takarazuka during World War 2. There was much underlying sadness and resentment about the war. and then someone announced that they had to become a famous Takarazuka star quickly, as they had a terminal disease.
Cue Clare desperately trying not to cry. Terminal disease is a cheap shot damnit *sniff*. That, and long dialogue about performing on stage being the best part of life and the girl wanting to die on stage at the end of a big number.Then a scene where the girl, lying in bed, with her fellow performers singing the song she loved most.
Cue Clare crying her eyes out. Blast.
So the show ended, and I was in love. Shame I fell in love with a theatre that was due for demolition in the following weeks. Mmm, spinny theatre.
Isuzu, my great aunt, told me that her friend owned a nearby Tonkatsu (Crumb fried pork) restaurant so we went there for dinner. Doing so meant we had to walk through a large crowd of hosts. Unfortunately they ignored me (rejected ;_;) so I can not report on their luring techinques. I can note appearance.
- They all had similar hair, and this in turn was similar to Mimasaku Akira’s hair in the first seasonof Hanadan
-
Host hair. But it was pointier at the top
- Most of them had expensive, tailored, shiny suits
- Pointy shoes. So very very (very) pointy o_O.
- Oh, and they were all mildly attractive, if kinda sleazy looking.
- Pointy pointy pointy
Isuzu and I walked through the group completely unharmed. How disappointing.
Tonkatsu = delicious. Especially the Tonkatsu in Kabukicho. Omunomu
Next time I post, it will be about Hakuba. Until then~
02.28.09
The Adventures of Clare, Tarou and Souda
“medical reasons for window tint excema”
“stupid gaijins”
“will cannabis buds regrow once picked”
“i has”
“yelling hippos”
All of these, for some reason, are search terms that led to this blog. I am Sorry about your excema, those 5 people and cannabis person…well…um sorry, can’t help.
So yes, last time I wrote I went to Shinjuku and my poor second cousin was made fun of by the entirety of my massive family.
Then next day it was organised that I would meet Daijirou’s older brother, Tarou, at Takadanobaba the train station in Tokyo which is closest to Waseda University, which is where Tarou goes. Daijirou The Failure (:P) goes to Chuo University. So I met Tarou at Takadanobaba and he was throwing around ideas as to where we could go. He also brought along his friend, Souda. He would be Linda’s type, if any of you understand what I mean by that.
It was finally decided that we would go to Kamakura. After a trip to Yokohama to pick up Tarou’s car from his house, we were on the road
CUE ROAD TRIP MUSIC.
Thankfully, Tarou and Souda liked The Beatles, Bob Dylan, Jet, The Arctic Monkeys and Collective other things that were not generic j-pop, which was good. On the road I saw a lingerie shop called, get this, Sexy Miser. It seems that once you leave the centre of Tokyo, the Engirsh pops up again.
After a longer than expected time on the road, we stopped in Enoshima to eat the local speciality, baby sardines. That’s right, small scaleless baby fish scattered over everything. I had kakiage don- a bunch of vegtables fried in tempura batter, covered in a special tempura sauce. This was placed on rice and covered with baby sardines. The baby sardines themselves have very little taste, but have a smooth and almost rubbery texture that I, for one, quite enjoyed. However, the Kakiage were so huge that I had trouble finishing off my meal.
The brown disc is the kakiage, and the white is the shirasu (baby sardines). There were originally two discs, much effort was made to eat all of one.
After the meal, we went up a nearby mountain to look at the illumination and flowers displays. The lookout points gave a great view of the general area. We also went up a large lighthouse to look at the small number of visible stars and the views from there.
Tulips and Illumination
Souda on the left, Tarou on the right. Taken from the top of the lighthouse
I’m not sure what Souda is looking at there. Oh well.
So after a leisurely time walking around and admiring the natural wonders around the mountain, we made our way towards Kamakura.
Kamakura contains one of the most beautiful historical sights in Japan. formerly being the capital of Japan, there are dramatic, multicoloured building dating back from that period. Definitely worth seeing.
After that there was a long drive home (made even longer by neither Tarou nor Souda knowing how to get home and Souda’s ipod being an ok but not fantastic map) where I found the Clothing Store: Atrantis. Mother’s dire warning to get home before dark rang in my head as the time approached 10.30. But my great aunt and uncle were fine with it and forced food upon the boys until they made their excuses and ran away to the nearest convenience store.
(and now for a brief public service announcement
Because I rushed past a number of things in my adventures, the rest of my time in tokyo was spent revisiting places. This means there aren’t exactly new Tokyo adventures after this. So I will continue on to writing about Hakuba in Nagano prefecture, which is where I went after Tokyo. Will post soon! xx)
02.19.09
Help? ;_;
I’m currently trying out a few different layouts and themes for Miyukisama. So, dearest readers, do you like my blog how it is? Should I dramatically change everything?
I am toying with the idea of this header
What do you think? It's a bit melodramatic for an Ueno Zoo exhibit, ne?
But, I guess, this would warrant a darker overall theme.
Decisions decisions.
Also, do you like the mix of English and Japanese writing in the title? If not, there’s the option of:
幸様のブログ
Or, a completely different title is possible. Can’t think of anything that isn’t pretentious that hasn’t already been used, but I’ll keep thinking. Any suggestions?
“Adventures of Clare, Tarou and Souda” will be posted soon!
Oh, and I have put photos in the Akihabara and Ueno posts, so check them out too!
02.18.09
Shinjuku with Daijirou
Hah, my second cousin (Daijirou) intended to meet me at 2.15 in Shinjuku
He was late and, aware of the punctuality-is-God thing that the Japs have going I was rather worried. Turned out that he got lost.
We walked around Shinjuku for a bit, got rather off-track, and ended up walking around the train line in the rain.
He admitted that he hadn’t known of my existence before the previous week, when his father announced it to Daijirou that he was to guide me around Tokyo for a couple of hours. I doubt that this meant getting us completely lost, but that happened anyway.
We finally ended up close to where we started, a Maccas right by the train station, where Daijirou said he would like to meet my (and his) great Aunt Isuzu. So we went to Numa (numa)bukuro, where she fed us both until I could hardly stand.
Afterwards, I got a call from Daijirou’s father (My Mother’s cousin) apologising for his son’s incompetence.
“Getting you lost and then eating Isuzu’s food? Stupid son” etc etc etc.
I heard this same thing at least 3 times, from different people quoting him.
Tomorrow? Adventures with another 2nd cousin (Daijirou’s older brother) and his friend.
Oh, just a warning. I will be inserting photos in past blog posts, so keep an eye out for the changes/ improvements.
Meguro, Ikebukuro
Hey folks, little bit pissed of that the first draft of this disappeared in a blaze of computer failure, but I will soldier on and write it again.
I went to Meguro (via the yamanote line). After a disastrous attempt to read a map, I went west instead of east. Whoops. In my walk west I went past a nature park (closed for the end of year) and a modern art museum (1000 yen admission, urgh). But I was intent on finding my original destination, The Meguro Parasitological Museum, which meant doubling back and walking an extra kilometre. Only to find the Museum was closed. Not my lucky day.
So, defeated and tired, I retreated to a nearby internet cafe. 600 yen for an hour =S but free drinks; mmmm cold tea.
Then I jumped back on the yamanote line, this time going in the opposite direction, and went to Ikebukuro.
Ikebukuro
Lonely Planet, bless its informative paper soul, had told me of Namco Namjatown, a theme park of sorts in Sunshine City, a massive shopping complex in Ikebukuro.
To me, Namco (a gaming company) = Katamari, the super special awesome game where one rolls around, picking things up, and gradually getting heffing enormous. So I descended upon Namjatown, hoping Katamari merchandise could be obtained. And LP had promised a Cup Ice (cream) museum. Paying 300yen for entry, I wandered in and was immediately disappointed. The place was far too dark, empty and cold to be inviting. So that was a let down. But, as your dutiful guide, I took a quick tour through the Dessert Area, Gyoza (Dumpling) stadium, and Fortune telling area.
This fortune telling area was full of machines willing to tell you and your hypothetical partner if you were made for each other. Or it would tell you your future, or tell you what illnesses you were susceptible to, like most good machines.
So, after looking at these areas, it as onwards to the ice cream town. Aside from a Turkish man trying to sell me ice cream, it was mostly deserted.
The cup ice museum as entertaining. It sold strange ice cream flavours from all around Japan, and one from the US. To start off with, I bought:
- Garlic flavoured ice cream (the aforementioned US import)
Quickly; kiss me.
and
- Octopus flavoured ice cream
Now folks, here’s a quick public service announcement
NEVER EVER EVER EAT OCTOPUS ICE CREAM.
It tastes half way between soap and rotten fish. Oh god, the taste still gives me nightmares; it is by far the foulest thing I’ve ever eaten.
I'm surprised that it can be captured in a photo, what with the pure evil that it contains
Let us have a moment of silence for those tastebuds that had to endure the horrors if octopus ice cream…
Minute over. Garlic ice cream didn’t have an overpowering taste or smell, but I had terrible breath afterwards.
For my great aunt and uncle, I brought home
- Sweet Potato ice cream (Delicious, my favourite ice cream flavour ever)
Omunomunomu
- Sunflower ice cream (Great Aunt liked it)
Made with the petals, I think. Has embedded seeds
- Rice ice cream (thin flavour; contains hard, whole rice grains)
Trivia: The big character in the middle, 'rice', is also the character that represents the US in Japanese news and general writing. Not sure why
- Shark Fin ramen flavour (can’t tell what it tasted like, someone ate it without telling us how it was)
Delicious, I'm sure >_>
- Pumpkin flavoured (looked and tasted great)
Yay
- and a few others I can’t remember, will look through photos later and update- Aha! Photos say:
- Tofu ice cream
Quite good, apparently
- Corn ice cream
Other flavours I saw in the museum of horrors
- Crab
- Sea Urchin
- Squid
- Sanma (type of fish)
- Beef tongue
- Soybean paste ramen flavour
;___________; Can’t imagine what they might have tasted like.
So, with the horrible taste still in my mouth, I left Ikebukuro. The next day I would be meeting one of my 20 second cousins, and was looking forward to it
