Last Sunday, my boss invited me to his house to help make mochi for New Year's! I'd never done it before or been to Ichihara, the city next to Chiba where he lives, so it was a good chance to discover some new things.
I met up with my boss at the station, and before going to his house we took a little detour to Umizuri Kouen, a fishing place in Ichihara. I've said it before, but somehow I always forget that 1) Japan is an island and 2) Chiba City is right by the ocean, even though I live and work really close to Chiba Port - it just doesn't feel that near - so it was nice to see the ocean! It was pretty cloudy that day, but apparently when it's clear you can see Tokyo, Chiba City, and Mt. Fuji from there. Inside the facility there was also a cute little mini museum/play area with some history of the area and a giant whale, as well as a little aquarium (with only one kind of fish, haha). We went on the pier where there were a few people fishing, too.
And then we went to his house to make mochi! Traditionally mochi was made by pounding (instead of a man in the moon, in Japan they say there are rabbits making mochi), but nowadays there are handy dandy machines, so all you do is put in the mochi rice (which is different from normal rice - we ate a little bit of it with soy sauce and it was much stickier, though still delicious) and let it do its work, which is much easier. I don't think I really thought about the fact that mochi is made from rice before, so it was pretty cool to see it go from rice to a big sticky mass!
Since the machine actually made the mochi, what I was actually helping to do was to shape the mochi into blocks, so that they could cut them later to eat during New Year's (I think). After my boss's wife skillfully grabbed the mochi out of the machine (which was constantly rotating), she split it into pieces and we flattened it out into rectangles. It was pretty hot but we covered our hands in some sort of starch, so it wasn't too bad. In the end we also formed them into little round cakes, which I guess is a little easier to store. I enjoyed shaping the mochi, since I'd never done it before, though they kept telling me it was hard to believe it was my first time (though they were probably just saying that to be nice, haha).
After that we had some of the mochi for lunch! Up until now I've only had mochi (a kind of sticky rice cake) in desserts, like mochi ice cream or mochi with red bean paste, so I didn't realize that actually mochi itself isn't sweet at all, but I guess that's what makes it so versatile: for lunch we had it with kinako (a kind of sweet powder), red bean paste, and grated daikon with soy sauce! I even had it the next day (because they were kind enough to give me some to take home) in pizza form - easy to make with a microwave, pizza sauce, and cheese, and super tasty!
Anyway, I'm really glad to have had the chance to help them make mochi, since that's definitely not an experience I would get on my own, and I enjoyed it a lot! :)
Thursday, January 3, 2013
Friday, December 28, 2012
nanohana volunteer bus
So last weekend I took part of a volunteer bus to go help with
recovery in Tohoku from the Great East Japan Earthquake (and tsunami)!
It was a very good experience, and I may very well go again sometime
(though maybe not until it gets a little warmer).
I decided to participate because I wanted to go somewhere and do something over Christmas weekend, and as I'd been thinking about volunteering before, it seemed like a perfect chance! I went on a trip organized by Nanohana Bus Company, which I had found out about via work and which I chose because I could get on at Chiba Station instead of Tokyo, which was very convenient. The fee to participate was also fairly low (10000 yen), which included transportation to and from the site, lunch, and even admission into a hot spring!
So after purchasing lots of necessary items (steel-lined rubber boots, work gloves, masks, goggles, bright blue jumpsuit, etc), I headed to Chiba Station on Saturday night, ready to spend the night on the bus before arriving in Miyagi Prefecture in the morning. The bus stopped at a few places including Chiba and Tokyo, slowly filling up with volunteers, most of whom seemed to be participating on their own like me. Because of a last-minute cancellation, I was lucky enough to have the two-seat row to myself, which made it much easier to get comfortable and sleep (though I can really sleep anywhere, haha).
Around 5:30am we stopped at a rest station to have breakfast and get changed (we did stop a couple of times during the night as well), before getting to our final destination around 8! We didn't find out exactly where we were going until shortly before we got there: a town called Minamisanriku (南三陸町), on the coast in Miyagi Prefecture, which suffered a lot of damage in the tsunami last year. According to our guide, the government has officially declared Minamisanriku as recovered, but there is still a long way to go before things can be considered normal again. On our way to our volunteer site, we could see huge piles of rocks and things still scattered about.
When we got to the site, they split us into two groups and assigned each one to a different area. The day's task: uprooting all the grass and plants that had grown over the land and then going through the soil to remove all the glass, trash, rocks, and other random objects that were buried there. We each had a little sickle (which I've never used before), and after a brief explanation, we set right to work! It wasn't easy - they told us to try and totally uproot things when possible and a lot of the plants were settled in pretty tight (I had to admire their tenacity! ), and it was tough to be constantly squatting or bending toward the ground, but the weather was bright and clear and warmer than any of us had expected (I shed several layers as the day went on), and it actually felt really nice to be outside doing some physical labor instead of sitting at a desk all day for a change!
It was also pretty interesting to see what came out of the ground, though thinking about where they had come from and how they had gotten there was also a little sobering at times. There was a lot of broken glass and concrete/cement/rocks, as well as shells, trash, plastic, and pottery fragments. A couple of interesting things I found included an electric toothbrush head and a little Donald Duck charm bracelet, and I even saw a tin lunch box somewhere.
After working for a few hours (with plenty of breaks in between), we had an hour for lunch, which was a buffet of things like yakisoba, fried rice, soup, spaghetti, etc. I had a big appetite after working all morning, and it all tasted delicious! There was a fire going outside and they were even grilling oysters (though I'm not a big fan so I didn't try any).
After lunch we went back to work until about 4pm, when we wrapped up for the day, having cleared almost all of the area they gave us! After we got back on the bus, our guide explained that the work we did, while helpful in its own right, was just as much to help encourage the spirits of the people who lived there to not give up and to keep doing their best to rebuild, which was a really interesting thought. As the earthquake/tsunami happened over a year and a half ago now, the number of volunteers and visitors to the area has definitely decreased, but apparently still having volunteers come out has been motivating to the locals (and hopefully will continue to be!).
Next we drove to the shopping street to have dinner and buy souvenirs, which was pretty cool even though they were all in makeshift buildings. I had ramen for dinner with another lady who was on my volunteer bus, and enjoyed wandering around the little shops before we left for our next destination, the hot spring!
It was a hot spring inside a hotel, and it started to snow as we went inside. The onsen (hot spring) was pretty nice, with several different baths and even a sauna. My favorite part, though, was the outdoor onsen in the midst of heavy snow! It felt pretty amazing to soak after a long day's work and enjoy the beautiful view of the snow falling at the same time. I also got to talk with a few more of the ladies who had volunteered with me, which was cool.
After I left the bath (I can't stay in hot water for too long), there was still some time, so I bought some ice cream at the hotel gift shop and read some manga from the little library they had there (which I thought was pretty cool) while enjoying a live band that was playing Christmas music in the lobby. And then it was back onto the bus for the night ride back to Chiba! I definitely had no problem falling asleep after that, and managed to sleep pretty well until I got back just in time for the first bus back to my apartment.
All in all, it was a really great experience, though short, and like I said, I'm definitely considering doing it again. The earthquake and tsunami may have been over 18 months ago, but there is still so much left to be done, and I hope that people don't forget about it anytime soon.
I decided to participate because I wanted to go somewhere and do something over Christmas weekend, and as I'd been thinking about volunteering before, it seemed like a perfect chance! I went on a trip organized by Nanohana Bus Company, which I had found out about via work and which I chose because I could get on at Chiba Station instead of Tokyo, which was very convenient. The fee to participate was also fairly low (10000 yen), which included transportation to and from the site, lunch, and even admission into a hot spring!
So after purchasing lots of necessary items (steel-lined rubber boots, work gloves, masks, goggles, bright blue jumpsuit, etc), I headed to Chiba Station on Saturday night, ready to spend the night on the bus before arriving in Miyagi Prefecture in the morning. The bus stopped at a few places including Chiba and Tokyo, slowly filling up with volunteers, most of whom seemed to be participating on their own like me. Because of a last-minute cancellation, I was lucky enough to have the two-seat row to myself, which made it much easier to get comfortable and sleep (though I can really sleep anywhere, haha).
Around 5:30am we stopped at a rest station to have breakfast and get changed (we did stop a couple of times during the night as well), before getting to our final destination around 8! We didn't find out exactly where we were going until shortly before we got there: a town called Minamisanriku (南三陸町), on the coast in Miyagi Prefecture, which suffered a lot of damage in the tsunami last year. According to our guide, the government has officially declared Minamisanriku as recovered, but there is still a long way to go before things can be considered normal again. On our way to our volunteer site, we could see huge piles of rocks and things still scattered about.
When we got to the site, they split us into two groups and assigned each one to a different area. The day's task: uprooting all the grass and plants that had grown over the land and then going through the soil to remove all the glass, trash, rocks, and other random objects that were buried there. We each had a little sickle (which I've never used before), and after a brief explanation, we set right to work! It wasn't easy - they told us to try and totally uproot things when possible and a lot of the plants were settled in pretty tight (I had to admire their tenacity! ), and it was tough to be constantly squatting or bending toward the ground, but the weather was bright and clear and warmer than any of us had expected (I shed several layers as the day went on), and it actually felt really nice to be outside doing some physical labor instead of sitting at a desk all day for a change!
It was also pretty interesting to see what came out of the ground, though thinking about where they had come from and how they had gotten there was also a little sobering at times. There was a lot of broken glass and concrete/cement/rocks, as well as shells, trash, plastic, and pottery fragments. A couple of interesting things I found included an electric toothbrush head and a little Donald Duck charm bracelet, and I even saw a tin lunch box somewhere.
After working for a few hours (with plenty of breaks in between), we had an hour for lunch, which was a buffet of things like yakisoba, fried rice, soup, spaghetti, etc. I had a big appetite after working all morning, and it all tasted delicious! There was a fire going outside and they were even grilling oysters (though I'm not a big fan so I didn't try any).
After lunch we went back to work until about 4pm, when we wrapped up for the day, having cleared almost all of the area they gave us! After we got back on the bus, our guide explained that the work we did, while helpful in its own right, was just as much to help encourage the spirits of the people who lived there to not give up and to keep doing their best to rebuild, which was a really interesting thought. As the earthquake/tsunami happened over a year and a half ago now, the number of volunteers and visitors to the area has definitely decreased, but apparently still having volunteers come out has been motivating to the locals (and hopefully will continue to be!).
Next we drove to the shopping street to have dinner and buy souvenirs, which was pretty cool even though they were all in makeshift buildings. I had ramen for dinner with another lady who was on my volunteer bus, and enjoyed wandering around the little shops before we left for our next destination, the hot spring!
It was a hot spring inside a hotel, and it started to snow as we went inside. The onsen (hot spring) was pretty nice, with several different baths and even a sauna. My favorite part, though, was the outdoor onsen in the midst of heavy snow! It felt pretty amazing to soak after a long day's work and enjoy the beautiful view of the snow falling at the same time. I also got to talk with a few more of the ladies who had volunteered with me, which was cool.
After I left the bath (I can't stay in hot water for too long), there was still some time, so I bought some ice cream at the hotel gift shop and read some manga from the little library they had there (which I thought was pretty cool) while enjoying a live band that was playing Christmas music in the lobby. And then it was back onto the bus for the night ride back to Chiba! I definitely had no problem falling asleep after that, and managed to sleep pretty well until I got back just in time for the first bus back to my apartment.
All in all, it was a really great experience, though short, and like I said, I'm definitely considering doing it again. The earthquake and tsunami may have been over 18 months ago, but there is still so much left to be done, and I hope that people don't forget about it anytime soon.
Saturday, December 22, 2012
chiba urban monorail wine train!
So yesterday I got to ride on the Chiba Urban Monorail's 'Wine Train', and it was amazing! Basically, it was a chance to ride on the monorail while enjoying wine and a bento dinner, along with the beautiful night scenery of Chiba!
I went with a few of my co-workers, and we met up at Chiba Minato Station, which is the beginning (or the end, depending on how you look at it!) of the monorail. The route for the event was to go all the way down one line, to Kenchomae Station, going back to Chiba Minato, then going down the other line to almost the end (though I don't remember which station exactly, oops) before ending at Chiba Station. The whole thing took an hour and a half, which after we got off I think we all agreed went by super fast!
When we got ready to board, there was a cute sign at the front of the car with the monorail mascot, Mono-chan, in a Christmas hat and holding a wine glass. When we stepped into the car, though, was the exciting part. Seeing the monorail car, which I've ridden many times before, full of tables with wine and bento boxes and decorated with little bunches of grapes (even all the ads had been changed to ones of wine!), was really really cool!
And then we were off! It was pretty amusing to see the regular monorail passengers at all the stations we passed through, who were clearly very confused (and probably jealous) to see us eating and drinking inside (can't blame them). There was both red and white wine (apparently enough for each person to have 2 bottles!), a delicious bento box, and a running commentary by our emcee, Santa. The monorail passed by the Christmas illumination in Chuo Park on its first round to Kenchomae Station, and then on the way back actually stopped briefly so we could get a good view. They even turned off all the lights and switched on Christmas lights around the windows to make our own illumination inside the cars! There was also a prize drawing, for things like a monorail charm (my co-worker won one!), fancy wine, and a stuffed Mono-chan, and a short explanation about wine from representatives of Mercian, the company that provided the wine.
All in all, it was a fantastic event, and if I had the chance I would definitely do it again! I am a huge fan of the monorail, which is in the Guinness Book of World Records as the world's longest suspended monorail - I even looked it up in the library to check once (and it was there!) - so I really enjoyed getting to experience it in a new way. We even got to take home our wine glasses and any remaining wine, plus a free 2013 monorail calendar. Well worth the 4000-yen ticket, I think! Apparently they do a similar event with beer in the summer (which is more appealing than wine to me, haha), so maybe I'll be writing about it in a few months. Let's hope! :D
 |
| Mono-chan! |
I went with a few of my co-workers, and we met up at Chiba Minato Station, which is the beginning (or the end, depending on how you look at it!) of the monorail. The route for the event was to go all the way down one line, to Kenchomae Station, going back to Chiba Minato, then going down the other line to almost the end (though I don't remember which station exactly, oops) before ending at Chiba Station. The whole thing took an hour and a half, which after we got off I think we all agreed went by super fast!
 |
| Super classy. |
When we got ready to board, there was a cute sign at the front of the car with the monorail mascot, Mono-chan, in a Christmas hat and holding a wine glass. When we stepped into the car, though, was the exciting part. Seeing the monorail car, which I've ridden many times before, full of tables with wine and bento boxes and decorated with little bunches of grapes (even all the ads had been changed to ones of wine!), was really really cool!
 |
| Delicious! |
And then we were off! It was pretty amusing to see the regular monorail passengers at all the stations we passed through, who were clearly very confused (and probably jealous) to see us eating and drinking inside (can't blame them). There was both red and white wine (apparently enough for each person to have 2 bottles!), a delicious bento box, and a running commentary by our emcee, Santa. The monorail passed by the Christmas illumination in Chuo Park on its first round to Kenchomae Station, and then on the way back actually stopped briefly so we could get a good view. They even turned off all the lights and switched on Christmas lights around the windows to make our own illumination inside the cars! There was also a prize drawing, for things like a monorail charm (my co-worker won one!), fancy wine, and a stuffed Mono-chan, and a short explanation about wine from representatives of Mercian, the company that provided the wine.
 |
| Illumination in Chuo Park! |
 |
| Our own illumination! |
Sunday, December 2, 2012
a visit from quezon city
Last week some officials from our sister city in the Philippines, Quezon City, came to Chiba in commemoration of the 40th anniversary of our sister-city relationship, and I got to accompany them to a bunch of cool places in the city, which I probably wouldn't have gotten the chance to see otherwise!
They were here in Chiba for a total of three days, though the first day was relatively uneventful. We did make a really brief stop at Narita-san Shinshoji, which is one of the most popular temples in Japan, but because it was starting to get dark and also raining really hard, we really just took a few pictures at the entrance. I would really love to go back and actually take a look around sometime - one of my friends was there the same day and she said it was one of the most beautiful places she'd seen.
The next day the delegation had a courtesy visit with the mayor and a courtesy visit/luncheon with the chairman of the Chiba City Assembly and some other assembly members, which I helped interpret for (sort of). After that we went on a study tour of some waste treatment facilities (which I left entirely up to the pro interpreter, haha), which was actually pretty cool! We got to see things like trucks dumping garbage, cranes moving it around, garbage being pressed into blocks, etc. Part of the facilities was a system that created biogas (mostly methane, I think?) from burning garbage, which is then used by a nearby steel factory for energy. Pretty cool, I think, especially considering this is the kind of thing I would probably never see otherwise!
Next we made an unplanned stop at the Fukuda Denshi Arena, aka the soccer stadium that is home to our soccer team, JEF United Chiba. Thanks to the assembly member who was with us, we got to go on a quick tour around and saw things like the control room, locker rooms, the drug testing room (complete with bathrooms with glass doors!), and the VIP room. We also got to go on the field, which was pretty cool. I think it'd be super cool to play frisbee sometime there, though that will probably never happen (though we do practice next door once a month)!
The next morning our first stop was the Chiba City Museum of Art, to see the exhibit I went to with my family a few weeks ago. After that we walked over and got on the monorail, so our guests could experience it. We managed to transfer onto the Urban Flier (the new monorail car), which has a glass bottom in the conductor seat and won a Good Design Award this year!
After that we went to the World Business Garden in Makuhari for lunch. We went all the way to the top of the building (to the 35th floor!), where there was a really great view of Tokyo Bay and Makuhari. Next was a tour of Makuhari Messe, which I've been to before but was still pretty interesting. I learned that the main 8 exhibition halls were built to look like the mountains of Chiba Prefecture, while the newer 3 were designed to look like waves from Chiba's coast, which I'd never realized before. When we walked around, there was a huge line of people stretching across the 8 exhibition halls (which I learned span 530m), who were there for Best Artist 2012, a concert that was broadcast live at 7pm tonight! I was just watching it on TV, and knowing that everybody I saw was actually in Makuhari Messe at that moment was pretty cool.
All in all, it was a super busy three days, but I had a lot of fun being with the delegation and visiting the various places with them. I'm not sure when another delegation will be coming to visit or if I'll be here for it, but I hope that I am! :D
They were here in Chiba for a total of three days, though the first day was relatively uneventful. We did make a really brief stop at Narita-san Shinshoji, which is one of the most popular temples in Japan, but because it was starting to get dark and also raining really hard, we really just took a few pictures at the entrance. I would really love to go back and actually take a look around sometime - one of my friends was there the same day and she said it was one of the most beautiful places she'd seen.
The next day the delegation had a courtesy visit with the mayor and a courtesy visit/luncheon with the chairman of the Chiba City Assembly and some other assembly members, which I helped interpret for (sort of). After that we went on a study tour of some waste treatment facilities (which I left entirely up to the pro interpreter, haha), which was actually pretty cool! We got to see things like trucks dumping garbage, cranes moving it around, garbage being pressed into blocks, etc. Part of the facilities was a system that created biogas (mostly methane, I think?) from burning garbage, which is then used by a nearby steel factory for energy. Pretty cool, I think, especially considering this is the kind of thing I would probably never see otherwise!
Next we made an unplanned stop at the Fukuda Denshi Arena, aka the soccer stadium that is home to our soccer team, JEF United Chiba. Thanks to the assembly member who was with us, we got to go on a quick tour around and saw things like the control room, locker rooms, the drug testing room (complete with bathrooms with glass doors!), and the VIP room. We also got to go on the field, which was pretty cool. I think it'd be super cool to play frisbee sometime there, though that will probably never happen (though we do practice next door once a month)!
The next morning our first stop was the Chiba City Museum of Art, to see the exhibit I went to with my family a few weeks ago. After that we walked over and got on the monorail, so our guests could experience it. We managed to transfer onto the Urban Flier (the new monorail car), which has a glass bottom in the conductor seat and won a Good Design Award this year!
After that we went to the World Business Garden in Makuhari for lunch. We went all the way to the top of the building (to the 35th floor!), where there was a really great view of Tokyo Bay and Makuhari. Next was a tour of Makuhari Messe, which I've been to before but was still pretty interesting. I learned that the main 8 exhibition halls were built to look like the mountains of Chiba Prefecture, while the newer 3 were designed to look like waves from Chiba's coast, which I'd never realized before. When we walked around, there was a huge line of people stretching across the 8 exhibition halls (which I learned span 530m), who were there for Best Artist 2012, a concert that was broadcast live at 7pm tonight! I was just watching it on TV, and knowing that everybody I saw was actually in Makuhari Messe at that moment was pretty cool.
All in all, it was a super busy three days, but I had a lot of fun being with the delegation and visiting the various places with them. I'm not sure when another delegation will be coming to visit or if I'll be here for it, but I hope that I am! :D
Sunday, November 25, 2012
chiba factory scenery night cruise
This Saturday I got to go on an evening cruise of the nighttime factory scenery in Chiba Port! This is actually only the second time that this has happened here (I believe the last one was in February), but I've heard this sort of cruise is actually getting pretty popular around the country, and depending on interest it could become a more regular thing here in Chiba, too!
I met up with one of my coworkers and a friend at the station before walking over to the port together. After checking in we waited a little bit before getting on the boat, which was very sleek and fancy-looking, with cool blue lights along the sides. The cruise included a free drink, which was a choice between what I think was a sort of fruit cocktail (tasty) or juice. After getting our drinks, we decided to go up to the top of the boat for a better view, even though I'm sure the downstairs was much warmer, haha.
After a little bit, we were off! I was surprised to discover that there was actually a guide on the cruise to explain what we were looking at and give us some background. It was only in Japanese and I didn't understand all of it, especially when he was explaining more about the factories, but I was glad that he was there to explain things to us.
As we were heading out, we got a really nice view of Port Tower, which is currently doing a nighttime Christmas-themed illumination starting at 5 every day. It's basically a Christmas tree shape and lots of colorful twinkling lights, which is actually quite pretty. From the boat we could see the whole Christmas tree design, which for whatever reason you can't see from shore, so that was pretty awesome.
As the cruise went on, we heard explanations of what factories we were passing by (what they were, what they did, etc), and we also got to see things like the Makuhari New City District in Chiba (where Makuhari Messe is) and Tokyo Tower and the Tokyo Sky Tree across Tokyo Bay, which was really cool.
We slowed down and got close to factories at two points, one at JFE Steel and another whose name I didn't catch (oops). There was actually something surprisingly pretty about all the lights from the factories, which you don't really associate with factories, and it was really cool to be able to see them up (relatively) close. They even brought the boat closer once upon somebody's request and told us what settings to use on our cameras for the best pictures, which I thought was really nice of them.
Near the end they also let us go through the captain's cabin at the front, where we saw all the navigation stuff, which I thought was really cool. I also noticed that a lot of the switches were labeled in English instead of Japanese, which I found interesting.
All in all, I think it was super interesting and I'm glad I got the chance to go! It got pretty chilly on the boat with the wind blowing the whole time, but I was relatively prepared and also I love boats, so I enjoyed it. :D Someday I'll have to go on one of the regular sightseeing cruises they offer in Chiba Port, because I'm sure those are also awesome.
I met up with one of my coworkers and a friend at the station before walking over to the port together. After checking in we waited a little bit before getting on the boat, which was very sleek and fancy-looking, with cool blue lights along the sides. The cruise included a free drink, which was a choice between what I think was a sort of fruit cocktail (tasty) or juice. After getting our drinks, we decided to go up to the top of the boat for a better view, even though I'm sure the downstairs was much warmer, haha.
After a little bit, we were off! I was surprised to discover that there was actually a guide on the cruise to explain what we were looking at and give us some background. It was only in Japanese and I didn't understand all of it, especially when he was explaining more about the factories, but I was glad that he was there to explain things to us.
As the cruise went on, we heard explanations of what factories we were passing by (what they were, what they did, etc), and we also got to see things like the Makuhari New City District in Chiba (where Makuhari Messe is) and Tokyo Tower and the Tokyo Sky Tree across Tokyo Bay, which was really cool.
We slowed down and got close to factories at two points, one at JFE Steel and another whose name I didn't catch (oops). There was actually something surprisingly pretty about all the lights from the factories, which you don't really associate with factories, and it was really cool to be able to see them up (relatively) close. They even brought the boat closer once upon somebody's request and told us what settings to use on our cameras for the best pictures, which I thought was really nice of them.
Near the end they also let us go through the captain's cabin at the front, where we saw all the navigation stuff, which I thought was really cool. I also noticed that a lot of the switches were labeled in English instead of Japanese, which I found interesting.
All in all, I think it was super interesting and I'm glad I got the chance to go! It got pretty chilly on the boat with the wind blowing the whole time, but I was relatively prepared and also I love boats, so I enjoyed it. :D Someday I'll have to go on one of the regular sightseeing cruises they offer in Chiba Port, because I'm sure those are also awesome.
Wednesday, November 14, 2012
family vacation, part two
So after a day of relaxing in Chiba, the family adventures continued! On Thursday morning we got up bright and early (like, really early) to catch the shinkansen to Nagoya, on our way to Takayama. In Nagoya we met up with my host mom (from when I studied abroad in Nagoya) and had a little breakfast at a cafe before wandering around and shopping a little before our train. It was really great to see my host mom again (it's been two years) and introduce her to my family, since I don't know if they'll all be in the same place at once again!
After that we got on the train to Takayama! We rode the 'Wide View Hida', which is so named because it has really big windows, which were great - as we got closer to the mountains we could see all the autumn colors of the trees (which we didn't get to see as much of in Kyoto) and the scenery was absolutely gorgeous. When we got there it was late afternoon, so we went to our ryokan (who picked us up from the station even though we forgot to ask them in advance!) and dropped our stuff off before getting bus tickets for the next few days and wandering around town. As it was getting dark and most things seemed to be closing (I guess it was a weekday after all), we decided to get dinner at a place called Kyouya that was in a restaurant guide. It was a very Japanese-style place and we got to try the famous Hida beef, cooked with miso and served on a magnolia leaf and a little stove! (It was delicious.) After dinner we went back to the ryokan and took baths, which felt awesome. They even had a bath outdoors, which was perfect with the cool autumn weather.
The next morning we got up early to do a walking tour around the many temples/shrines in the area. Apparently we came at one of the best times for autumn leaves in Takayama, and we got to see lots of really beautiful places. From there we headed to the weekday market, where I bought a sarubobo (or monkey baby) keychain for my phone! They seem to be a very popular souvenir in the Hida area (they are adorable and don't look like monkeys at all, despite their name) and are also supposed to bring good luck. Then we were finally able to wander around the old historic streets, which were full of little shops and had a very quaint ancient feel to them.
Then after a quick ramen lunch, it was time to get on the bus to our next destination! Our real goal was Shirakawa-go, yet another World Heritage Site, but I had unwittingly booked us a place that was about 20 minutes away, so we just decided to take it easy that night and just relax there. It was at Hirase Onsen (onsen = hot springs), and we had made a reservation to get dinner and breakfast there, too. So after we got there we decided to go into the onsen (there was a bath right in our ryokan) and soaked a little bit before being called to dinner. When we got there all the food was beautifully arranged at our table (unfortunately I don't have any pictures though), and even though there was already a lot there, over the course of the meal they kept bringing us more! It was all very traditional Japanese food (I think) and really delicious - we even managed to eat it all, even though it took us almost two hours, haha. After dinner we went back up to our room and had a little beer that my parents bought for the sake of the bottle it came in, before going to bed in our futons.
Breakfast the next morning was almost as elaborate but just as tasty - I think having Japanese dinner/breakfast at a ryokan is definitely an experience everybody should try at least once! Then we got on the bus to the historic villages of Shirakawa-go, which are famous for their distinct Gassho-style houses, which (supposedly) look like hands in prayer. First we went to the Gassho Folk Museum, which is an outdoor museum with many Gassho-style buildings set up to look the way the did in the past. It was really cool and also very picturesque, with lots of little ponds and gardens - I think it was one of my favorite places this trip. Then we wandered around the actual village, where people still live today - since most of the houses are private property we just walked along the streets and little shops before getting lunch and then getting on the next bus to Kanazawa!
When we got to Kanazawa, which is mostly a pretty modern city, we went to the Museum of Traditional Arts & Crafts, which had displays of things like Kanazawa's gold lacquer and a collection of obis owned by the citizens, and also the 21st Century Museum of Contemporary Art. My favorite piece there was an exhibit with almost 300 light bulbs hanging from the ceiling, each flashing at the rate of somebody's heartbeat. You could get in line and have your heartbeat measured too, and the furthest lightbulb in the corner would start flashing in time with it! Super cool. Then we got dinner (okonomiyaki) and some crepes with gelato (very yummy) and went to bed.
The next morning we got up for a tour of Myouryuji, which is also sometimes known as the Ninja Temple (though it has nothing to do with ninjas, actually). The reason it's called that, though, is because it's a place full of secret passages, hidden staircases, etc! There was even a room specifically built for the purposes of committing seppuku (or hara-kiri, as most Americans know it) and burning the place down, if an attack happened (they assured us it hadn't been used though, haha). You have to make a reservation in advance for a tour, which is also only in Japanese, but they do have English pamphlets to follow along with and I highly recommend it!
Then we wandered around the old samurai district (stopping in a place that sold ceramics and a historic samurai family house) and got lunch before heading to Kenrokuen, which is a very famous garden that's said to be one of the most beautiful in Japan and containing all 6 attributes of a perfect garden: "spaciousness, seclusion, artifice, antiquity, waterways, and panoramas" (according to Wikipedia). Unfortunately it was raining so I don't think we saw it in all of its glory, but it was still very pretty.
After that we had some extra time before our train, which we spent shopping, and then we got on the train to Maibara (whose station was unexpectedly devoid of eating establishments and anything really, to our dismay) and then took the shinkansen from there back to Tokyo and the train back to Chiba! There weren't any taxis at the station so we walked back to my apartment (in the rain) and finally got home around 1am - tired and wet, but happy to have had such a good trip! Or that's how I felt anyway, even though I had work the next day. :D
After that we got on the train to Takayama! We rode the 'Wide View Hida', which is so named because it has really big windows, which were great - as we got closer to the mountains we could see all the autumn colors of the trees (which we didn't get to see as much of in Kyoto) and the scenery was absolutely gorgeous. When we got there it was late afternoon, so we went to our ryokan (who picked us up from the station even though we forgot to ask them in advance!) and dropped our stuff off before getting bus tickets for the next few days and wandering around town. As it was getting dark and most things seemed to be closing (I guess it was a weekday after all), we decided to get dinner at a place called Kyouya that was in a restaurant guide. It was a very Japanese-style place and we got to try the famous Hida beef, cooked with miso and served on a magnolia leaf and a little stove! (It was delicious.) After dinner we went back to the ryokan and took baths, which felt awesome. They even had a bath outdoors, which was perfect with the cool autumn weather.
 |
| Don't worry, it got properly cooked after this! |
Then after a quick ramen lunch, it was time to get on the bus to our next destination! Our real goal was Shirakawa-go, yet another World Heritage Site, but I had unwittingly booked us a place that was about 20 minutes away, so we just decided to take it easy that night and just relax there. It was at Hirase Onsen (onsen = hot springs), and we had made a reservation to get dinner and breakfast there, too. So after we got there we decided to go into the onsen (there was a bath right in our ryokan) and soaked a little bit before being called to dinner. When we got there all the food was beautifully arranged at our table (unfortunately I don't have any pictures though), and even though there was already a lot there, over the course of the meal they kept bringing us more! It was all very traditional Japanese food (I think) and really delicious - we even managed to eat it all, even though it took us almost two hours, haha. After dinner we went back up to our room and had a little beer that my parents bought for the sake of the bottle it came in, before going to bed in our futons.
Breakfast the next morning was almost as elaborate but just as tasty - I think having Japanese dinner/breakfast at a ryokan is definitely an experience everybody should try at least once! Then we got on the bus to the historic villages of Shirakawa-go, which are famous for their distinct Gassho-style houses, which (supposedly) look like hands in prayer. First we went to the Gassho Folk Museum, which is an outdoor museum with many Gassho-style buildings set up to look the way the did in the past. It was really cool and also very picturesque, with lots of little ponds and gardens - I think it was one of my favorite places this trip. Then we wandered around the actual village, where people still live today - since most of the houses are private property we just walked along the streets and little shops before getting lunch and then getting on the next bus to Kanazawa!
When we got to Kanazawa, which is mostly a pretty modern city, we went to the Museum of Traditional Arts & Crafts, which had displays of things like Kanazawa's gold lacquer and a collection of obis owned by the citizens, and also the 21st Century Museum of Contemporary Art. My favorite piece there was an exhibit with almost 300 light bulbs hanging from the ceiling, each flashing at the rate of somebody's heartbeat. You could get in line and have your heartbeat measured too, and the furthest lightbulb in the corner would start flashing in time with it! Super cool. Then we got dinner (okonomiyaki) and some crepes with gelato (very yummy) and went to bed.
The next morning we got up for a tour of Myouryuji, which is also sometimes known as the Ninja Temple (though it has nothing to do with ninjas, actually). The reason it's called that, though, is because it's a place full of secret passages, hidden staircases, etc! There was even a room specifically built for the purposes of committing seppuku (or hara-kiri, as most Americans know it) and burning the place down, if an attack happened (they assured us it hadn't been used though, haha). You have to make a reservation in advance for a tour, which is also only in Japanese, but they do have English pamphlets to follow along with and I highly recommend it!
After that we had some extra time before our train, which we spent shopping, and then we got on the train to Maibara (whose station was unexpectedly devoid of eating establishments and anything really, to our dismay) and then took the shinkansen from there back to Tokyo and the train back to Chiba! There weren't any taxis at the station so we walked back to my apartment (in the rain) and finally got home around 1am - tired and wet, but happy to have had such a good trip! Or that's how I felt anyway, even though I had work the next day. :D
Wednesday, November 7, 2012
family vacation, part one!
Well, it certainly has been a while since my last post! In my defense, I haven't really been traveling recently, but this week has certainly made up for it - my family is visiting for two weeks, so we have been wandering the country for the past few days and will be off again tomorrow! In an effort to keep this post from becoming enormous, I'll just give a quick summary of each day up until now.
On Saturday we got up bright and early to take the shinkansen to Kyoto! We had booked a travel package that included two nights in Kyoto, a night in Hiroshima, and transportation in between. I think it was a first shinkansen experience for everybody except me, so that's exciting.
After getting to Kyoto, we checked into our hotel and then got on a bus to Ryouanji, which is a temple famous for its Zen rock garden and also a World Heritage Site (we went to quite a few of those in just a few days, actually!). Before heading into the temple grounds, we stopped to have a late lunch at a tofu restaurant recommended by my sister's boyfriend's teacher. We ate at a little table right next to a very picturesque little pond, and it did not disappoint! After we ate, we went around and saw the temple and the rock garden (the appeal of which, I have to admit, was a little beyond me). We had been planning to go to Kinkakuji as well afterward, but ran out of time and ended up just taking the bus back to near our hotel and wandering/shopping for a little bit before bed.
The next day we got up early to go to Kiyomizudera, another famous temple and World Heritage Site. We got there after a nice scenic walk from the hotel, and the temple was also very pretty. We didn't actually do any of the famous things like walking in between the love stones or drinking from the waterfalls, for the sake of time, but I really enjoyed it anyway. I especially liked all the little shops and streets on the way back down from the temple, which were full of omiyage and free samples!
After that we took a very quick glimpse around Yakasa Shrine (where a wedding ceremony was taking place!) before meeting up with my parents' friends for lunch. I think my sister and her boyfriend enjoyed their first conveyor belt sushi experience a lot, and he even won something in the lottery that you get every 5 plates!
Next our parents' friends took us to Shigaraki, to look at ceramics in the Ceramic Cultural Park and in their museum. I had fun seeing all the tanuki everywhere and was also really impressed by the very very small tea sets that were part of the ceramic exhibit in the museum - they had teapots only about as big as a quarter and cups just bigger than a fingernail! Then we went to a little shop with Shigaraki ceramics, which I gather is pretty famous, before heading to the Hotel Granvia Kyoto to eat at a buffet there. But this was no ordinary buffet - it was super fancy, with gourmet delicacies like Kobe beef and matsutake mushrooms. It was very delicious, and I definitely ate enough to make it worth the price!
The next morning we finally headed to Kinkakuji, or the Temple of the Golden Pavilion, which had been one of our goals since the beginning. It was pretty awesome to see the Pavilion, which was actually gold, even though it was pretty crowded with school groups and other visitors, even on a weekday. It was pretty impressive to see how efficiently they guided visitors in and out - we left a lot earlier than we expected and so we decided to go to Nijo Castle as well!
I was expecting it to be like all the other castles I've visited in Japan, which (frankly) are all pretty similar, but it definitely exceeded my expectations! To be fair, it seems like it was in fact a palace where the shogun lived, and so a little different from your typical castle. You could really feel the grandeur and beauty of the place as you walked around, from the beautiful art on the doors/walls to the details on the ceilings and the absolutely gorgeous gardens. I think Nijo Castle was one of my favorite places that we visited, and if I can I'd love to go there again! If I could go once the leaves have all changed color (we were unfortunately a bit too early to see any of the famous Kyoto autumn leaves), I bet it would be stunning (but also super crowded).
Then we had a quick ramen lunch before taking the shinkansen to Hiroshima! Shortly after we got there we decided to take the ferry to Miyajima, to see the famous Itsukushima Shrine (yet another World Heritage site). I love boats, so even though the ride was only 10 minutes I really enjoyed it. We got there just as the sun was setting, and it was already dark and the shrine was closed by the time we walked down to it, but the lights on the iconic torii gate were lit up and it was really beautiful! We spent a while just admiring it and taking (lot and lots of) pictures before wandering down some of the streets with souvenir shops, even though most of them were closing. There we saw the biggest rice paddle in the world and found out that they were invented in Miyajima, which was pretty awesome! After that we had Hiroshima-style okonomiyaki for dinner (not gonna lie, I think I like Kansai/Osaka-style better) before heading back to the hotel.
The next morning we got up and got on the streetcar (I think it's so cool that Hiroshima has streetcars!) to the Atomic Dome, which is the only building hit by the atomic bomb that has been allowed to survive, and the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum and Park. We watched part of a documentary about the bomb before going into the museum with a volunteer English guide, who was a Japanese lady and very knowledgeable. Going into the museum and seeing all the effects of the first ever nuclear weapon was definitely an experience; very sobering and sad but definitely something I think everybody should do if they can. Afterward I wandered around the Peace Memorial Park by myself for a little as my parents went back in the museum and the other two went to find food. It was a gorgeous day, which I really appreciated. Then my parents and I had another quick ramen lunch before we all hopped on the shinkansen back to Tokyo and Chiba!
Today was a leisurely day spent back home in Chiba, which was really welcome after four days of travel. In the morning after breakfast we walked to Port Tower, which is a 125-meter tower along the harbor. On clear days you can see the Tokyo Sky Tree and Mt. Fuji, but we weren't that lucky today. After Port Tower we bought bentos and had a picnic outside in Chiba Minato Park, near my work. Then we went to the Chiba City Museum of Art to check out a pretty cool art exhibit involving 3D flowers and plants that you had to take your shoes off and enter small spaces to see, or find hidden in what seemed like an empty display room. After spending some time shopping at Parco, then we came back for a homemade dinner and a night of rest before our next trip starts tomorrow!
On Saturday we got up bright and early to take the shinkansen to Kyoto! We had booked a travel package that included two nights in Kyoto, a night in Hiroshima, and transportation in between. I think it was a first shinkansen experience for everybody except me, so that's exciting.
After getting to Kyoto, we checked into our hotel and then got on a bus to Ryouanji, which is a temple famous for its Zen rock garden and also a World Heritage Site (we went to quite a few of those in just a few days, actually!). Before heading into the temple grounds, we stopped to have a late lunch at a tofu restaurant recommended by my sister's boyfriend's teacher. We ate at a little table right next to a very picturesque little pond, and it did not disappoint! After we ate, we went around and saw the temple and the rock garden (the appeal of which, I have to admit, was a little beyond me). We had been planning to go to Kinkakuji as well afterward, but ran out of time and ended up just taking the bus back to near our hotel and wandering/shopping for a little bit before bed.
 |
| View from our tofu restaurant |
The next day we got up early to go to Kiyomizudera, another famous temple and World Heritage Site. We got there after a nice scenic walk from the hotel, and the temple was also very pretty. We didn't actually do any of the famous things like walking in between the love stones or drinking from the waterfalls, for the sake of time, but I really enjoyed it anyway. I especially liked all the little shops and streets on the way back down from the temple, which were full of omiyage and free samples!
After that we took a very quick glimpse around Yakasa Shrine (where a wedding ceremony was taking place!) before meeting up with my parents' friends for lunch. I think my sister and her boyfriend enjoyed their first conveyor belt sushi experience a lot, and he even won something in the lottery that you get every 5 plates!
Next our parents' friends took us to Shigaraki, to look at ceramics in the Ceramic Cultural Park and in their museum. I had fun seeing all the tanuki everywhere and was also really impressed by the very very small tea sets that were part of the ceramic exhibit in the museum - they had teapots only about as big as a quarter and cups just bigger than a fingernail! Then we went to a little shop with Shigaraki ceramics, which I gather is pretty famous, before heading to the Hotel Granvia Kyoto to eat at a buffet there. But this was no ordinary buffet - it was super fancy, with gourmet delicacies like Kobe beef and matsutake mushrooms. It was very delicious, and I definitely ate enough to make it worth the price!
The next morning we finally headed to Kinkakuji, or the Temple of the Golden Pavilion, which had been one of our goals since the beginning. It was pretty awesome to see the Pavilion, which was actually gold, even though it was pretty crowded with school groups and other visitors, even on a weekday. It was pretty impressive to see how efficiently they guided visitors in and out - we left a lot earlier than we expected and so we decided to go to Nijo Castle as well!
 |
| Kinkakuji |
I was expecting it to be like all the other castles I've visited in Japan, which (frankly) are all pretty similar, but it definitely exceeded my expectations! To be fair, it seems like it was in fact a palace where the shogun lived, and so a little different from your typical castle. You could really feel the grandeur and beauty of the place as you walked around, from the beautiful art on the doors/walls to the details on the ceilings and the absolutely gorgeous gardens. I think Nijo Castle was one of my favorite places that we visited, and if I can I'd love to go there again! If I could go once the leaves have all changed color (we were unfortunately a bit too early to see any of the famous Kyoto autumn leaves), I bet it would be stunning (but also super crowded).
Then we had a quick ramen lunch before taking the shinkansen to Hiroshima! Shortly after we got there we decided to take the ferry to Miyajima, to see the famous Itsukushima Shrine (yet another World Heritage site). I love boats, so even though the ride was only 10 minutes I really enjoyed it. We got there just as the sun was setting, and it was already dark and the shrine was closed by the time we walked down to it, but the lights on the iconic torii gate were lit up and it was really beautiful! We spent a while just admiring it and taking (lot and lots of) pictures before wandering down some of the streets with souvenir shops, even though most of them were closing. There we saw the biggest rice paddle in the world and found out that they were invented in Miyajima, which was pretty awesome! After that we had Hiroshima-style okonomiyaki for dinner (not gonna lie, I think I like Kansai/Osaka-style better) before heading back to the hotel.
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| Itsukushima Shrine's famous torii at night |
The next morning we got up and got on the streetcar (I think it's so cool that Hiroshima has streetcars!) to the Atomic Dome, which is the only building hit by the atomic bomb that has been allowed to survive, and the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum and Park. We watched part of a documentary about the bomb before going into the museum with a volunteer English guide, who was a Japanese lady and very knowledgeable. Going into the museum and seeing all the effects of the first ever nuclear weapon was definitely an experience; very sobering and sad but definitely something I think everybody should do if they can. Afterward I wandered around the Peace Memorial Park by myself for a little as my parents went back in the museum and the other two went to find food. It was a gorgeous day, which I really appreciated. Then my parents and I had another quick ramen lunch before we all hopped on the shinkansen back to Tokyo and Chiba!
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| Atomic Dome |
Today was a leisurely day spent back home in Chiba, which was really welcome after four days of travel. In the morning after breakfast we walked to Port Tower, which is a 125-meter tower along the harbor. On clear days you can see the Tokyo Sky Tree and Mt. Fuji, but we weren't that lucky today. After Port Tower we bought bentos and had a picnic outside in Chiba Minato Park, near my work. Then we went to the Chiba City Museum of Art to check out a pretty cool art exhibit involving 3D flowers and plants that you had to take your shoes off and enter small spaces to see, or find hidden in what seemed like an empty display room. After spending some time shopping at Parco, then we came back for a homemade dinner and a night of rest before our next trip starts tomorrow!
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