Itadakimasu....and other fun Japanese words

It's been 50 days since my last post. Yet another confession. I do admit that I am not the best blogger in the world, but I still haven't found a lot to blog about when I'm not traveling....or not traveling somewhere exotic!

But, alas I am in my next exotic locale -- Japan! It is a fun country, to say the least. I arrived at Narita airport, after sitting on a plane for 10 hours in flight, preceded by 2 hours at the gate waiting for them to fix a jumpseat for one of the flight attendants. Needless to say, everyone aboard was pretty anxious by the time we departed. Conversations started and I found myself chatting with two US military guys who are currently stationed in Japan. They had both been in Tokyo for a while, so they had a lot of recommendations. I decided to follow them via Narita Express into Tokyo, so I at least had to get that far then part ways so I could go on to Kawasaki and they to the US Navy base. We quickly figured out that we had missed the Narita express by just a few minutes, so I decided to go it on my own using a different route through Nippori airport. Thank goodness for my friend Yuuka, who outlined every possible route I could take to get to Kawasaki from Narita. I said goodbye to the military boys and went on my way. Surprisingly enough, I made it to my hotel in just under 2 hours, which is actually very timely.

The next day, I met my friend Yuuka, who I've known since my college days in Seattle. She attended the English language school where I worked while I was a student at Seattle Pacific. We've kept in touch somewhat, writing emails every couple of years, but of course, going right back to where we left off when we last saw each other. Yuuka, who is not originally from Tokyo, but rather from Osaka, was still a wonderful guide! We saw the beautiful Kaminarimon gate, which leads to Senso-Ji temple. Yuuka showed me how you throw a small coin (about $.10) into the coffer before entering the temple...for good luck. She said it ranges in how much you throw in, but the more you give, the better your luck! :)

After walking around Nakamise-dori, the shopping street near the temple, we hit up a local joint for lunch. We had a little bit of everything, including niboshi dashi, edamame, some kind of dish of beef entrails (which was amazingly delicious) and yakitori (fried chicken) -- literally, it translates as yaki=fried, tori=chicken. So...yakisoba = fried noodles! Pretty easy, actually once you get the hang of it! We also had Sapporo, the most popular beer in Japan. Yuuka told me it's not common to have beer with lunch on a weekday. The "salarymen" as they call them save their drinking for after work, where they get their fill at happy hour. But since it was a Sunday, we indulged. We also followed up with a small bottle of Japanese sake, which was very sweet. I found out that there are other kinds of sake, as well, that are not made with rice. They call it something else, but it can be made with wheat or grain.

After lunch, we went to Meiji shrine, which sort of makes you forget that you're in Tokyo. After a long walk down a tree-lined gravel road, you come upon a beautiful wood shrine. We were fortunate to go on a Sunday, because we actually got to see two wedding parties getting their wedding photos done in the shrine. They were both traditional Japanese brides, with the large white hat over their pinned up hair. Yuuka told me they refer to these hats as "what covers the horns." I found this entertaining....just wait until after the wedding day when the horns come out! :)

Near Meiji shrine is a square where teenagers stand around dressed in very "interesting" outfits. Some are goth-looking with heavy makeup and dark clothing, others are more "anime-looking" with bright-colored, bold clothing. Others still are dressed in cartoon-looking Victorian dresses. According to the Lonely Planet, these "Harajuku girls" are the shy ones at school or even those who are bullied, but they use this sort of dress-up as a way of finding freedom. It's common for tourists and onlookers to stand around and take photos of the girls (and some boys), which Yuuka and I found ourselves doing.

We then walked around Ginzu, which is the incredibly expensive shopping area -- from Gucci to Prada and everything in between. We obviously just window shopped and used the fancy public restrooms! One new thing I learned about Japan is that most toilets, especially in public restrooms, have an automatic stream of water that flows into the toilet as you sit down on the toilet seat. This is apparently a new feature on toilets to help out those who are shy when it comes to using public toilets! Not exactly the most environmentally smart thing to do!

Our next-to-last top of the day was Tokyo Tower, which is the largest free-standing metal tower in the world -- it's about 13 feet higher than the Eiffel Tower...and also a 3,000 tons lighter, because of the type of metal used -- according to the guide. I can understand this might come in handy if it ever needs to be moved???!! Tokyo Tower provided a beautiful 360 degree view of Tokyo. We went up around sunset, which was incredible and provided us the benefit of seeing Tokyo in both the daylight and in the night sky.

After a bit of a wait to go back down the in the elevator, we made our way to Ebisu, which is known for its monja, which is a sort of "do-it-yourself" stuffed pancake. Each table has its own frying surface, where you pour the toppings and the fish-based batter onto and let it cook down. Yuuka admitted to never having cooked it herself before, so we had our server do us the honors. We were each given our own mini spatula, which we then scraped off small portions of the monja, smooshed it onto the spatula, then ate it right off of the spatula. It was tasty. But nothing compared to our next dish, which was okonomiyaki. This is a dish I've actually had the pleasure of trying before, since Yuuka made it for us several times back in Seattle. It's an egg-based batter with cabbage, mountain potato, and other ingredients. It's poured onto the hot surface and cooked just like a big pancake. After it's done cooking, you top it with a sweet teriyaki-type sauce, mayonnaise and dried fish flakes. It is simply delicious! We accompanied this delicious dinner with sake-mixed drinks.

Well, now that I've worked my way through the last couple of days in Japan, I'll bid you farewell without promising when the next post will be!