Gram's Japanese experience

Mom is trying very hard to learn the answers to 3 easy questions:

1. Where did you live?

Akasaka

2. Where was the temple?

Asakusa

3. Where are we now?

Osaka

These words are like tongue twisters for mom and on a good day she get's all 3 on the first try. On a bad day... well, it's a bad day.

Mom has had to go back to basics since arriving in Japan. Simple things are often complicated or are often different each time you try to use another one. Take for example, the toilet. Seems easy enough. Do your thing and flush. Well, there are so many buttons and knobs and radars, it is not always apparent which mechanism does the flushing and once you have figured it out, surely the hoosy whatsy will be located in a different spot on the next toilet. 

Walk on the left, pass on the right in Tokyo, stay a week and you figure it out. Travel to Osaka and then you need to walk on the right and pass on the left. Walk in the middle anywhere and you are bound to get run over. 

Turning on the shower.. we usually schedule a lesson beforehand. Needless to say, I am having a ball! hee hee! 

We read in a pamphlet that Friday is No-my-cah-day! This means we will get a one day pass for Y600 instead of Y800. N0-my-cah-day = No my car day, ... not the day for me to drive around (doesn't matter we don't have a car), the subway pass one day pass is only Y600! woo hoo!! 

We are in Osaka now. We didn't make it to the aquarium today... save for another day, but we did go to the Ethnology Museum. Mom really really liked it. There is so much stuff crammed in that place, you could spend years there. It is also a research institute... We have tons of pics. There was info about all different cultures. Ainu, Indian, Balinesian, Japanese, Korean, French gypsies, Peruvian farmers, yadda yadda.... you name it.. and it was very inclusive... housing, music, clothing, costumes, transportation... oh my!! If Gram had travelled the world, this museum housed all of what she would have collected along the way and stored in her bag to bring home to examine later!  : ) We must have seen 3000 hats and 2500 pairs of shoes, all assembled on a single floor. 

Yesterday, we left Tokyo and headed out by train to Odawara,... Nebukawa, specifically to stay one night at a Hilton Resort.  Afraid I would miss our stop, I began to worry when the ocean kept getting closer and closer..... and closer. Just when we could almost reach out and touch the water, ... we arrived. A shuttle bus was waiting at the station to take us up on a windy drive up a hill. The view from our room is fantastic and we were upgraded so our room is American size x 3. Two big windows with small balconies that look out onto the ocean which is just like down the hill and across the street. The hotel has a free onsen, so of course, we took advantage of that before dinner yesterday. The water was salty in this one, but still great. There was an indoor hot spring and a small cold water bath and then another small bath outdoors. We tried all 3. : )

This place is set apart from everything else and since were were only staying for one night, we just walked the hotel grounds, which are quite vast and decided to eat the buffet dinner in the hotel. There was a swiss theme at dinner in addition to the japanese food so it really was a treat.  The fondue was probably my least favorite thing. On the other hand, although I am not a big carnivore, the kobe beef accompanied by really sweet white onions was GREAT!

Toilets in Japan are really over the top and come in all kinds. Our toilet in the room has at least 15 controls and comes with heated seats. Now isn't that GREAT? Also, I think this is the first hotel I have ever stayed at that had a Pillow Menu:

1. Memory Form Pillow

2. Hinoki Pillow- Japanese Cypress Chips & Cotton

3. Sobagara Pillow- Buckwheat Husks

4. Cotton Pillow (Allergy Free)

5. Feather Pillow

6. Hard Pillow- Polyester

The Godfather series has been airing on tv for the last couple of days and mom has watched it intensely every day, though I think she is making up her own story of what is happening as the movie goes along. Meanwhile, I missed another episode of 24 : (

Today, we head out to Osaka in the afternoon. We need to make sure we do not miss our train. This is Japan. The train WILL leave ON TIME!

After walking up and downs the stairs of tokyo, I thought we were ready to hit an onsen. I read about a place that was like a museum filled with over  14 different baths. Surely, this place would be great. It was a little bit of a trip on the JR line, but that was ok, we now had our SUICA cards so we didn't have to keep buying individual train tickets. After the onsen, we would go to a festival at a shrine way on the other side of town. It should be an interesting travelling day. 

The tokyo metro system is pretty easy to navigate IMO... I just don't like all the stairways. Many stations have escalators and elevators now and we  took advantage of all the ones we could find. Mom is the one with the bad leg, but I still tire sooner than she does. We had an american sized coffee this morning at Tully's. That was GREAT and I got to read an English newspaper. Mom missed knowing what was going on back home. I kind of like being removed from the news and was looking to read about local events in Tokyo. There was a Swiss Food Festival of all things, at the Hilton hotel we were thinking of visiting in Odawara.. close to Hakone where people go to climb Mount Fuji. Mount Fuji wasn't in our plans, but Odawara was a possibility. 

After Tully's, we head off the Oedo-Onsen Monogatari. We had to change from the Metro to the JR train on the Yurikanome line. It was a little tricky, but we did it. The train on the Yurikanome line is like a ride at an amusement park. The train ride runs outdoors suspended about 10 meters off the ground, sort of like a monorail... perhaps that is what is was. Anyway, the views were GREAT and the windows were so clean you could even take pictures. We could see Tokyo tower, the ferris wheel the tv station with a big globe attached to the building and lots and lots of other things. We travelled over water on a bridge and it seemed we were going to another country. I had feared we would not find the onsen when we arrived at our stop, but our "regular fortune" held out for us and it was on the map. Actually, the place was so close to the station, we could see it when we got out on the street. 

WOW! It was huge! GREAT! Oh, and there was a dog hotel attached to the onsen. So everyone in the family could have a relaxing time. Dogs would get washed, exercise in a pool, have their hair brushed and done up and who knows, ... maybe they had lots of food choices too like we did. 

When we walked into the onsen, we first had to put our shoes in a locker, then we pay, then we choose from 9 different yukata, really GREAT designs and select a color for our obi. This is not what I was used to when attending an onsen. The places I have been, just change, wash, bathe.

After selecting our yukata, we went to the changing room where we were to change into the yukata and leave all our things. Strange, no slippers. Everyone walks around barefoot. From the changing room, we entered a big open area, made up like a village with shops filled with wears, amusement games, candy, food, ice cream, palm reading.. you name it, this place had it. Then there was a sitting area to eat dinner or you could eat in one of the many restaurants or you could go to a separate room and eat on a tatami, japanese style. 

We entered the section where the baths were and were given towels, one to bring in with us to wash, one to leave in the locker to dry later. Mind you, this is the third locker room we are in. We were supposed to leave our two other locker keys in this locker and change out of our yukata to enter the baths. No clothes in Japanese baths. So, we go with our little towel out to the bath and first we wash. After that, now bathe. WOW! There were so, so, so many baths to choose from.. big ones, small ones, square ones, ones with rocks, ones outdoors. Ones that were warm and ones that were hot, one with jets and one cold splash. We went from bath to bath to bath. It was better than GREAT!! There was also a sauna and steam room. This place had everything. After bathing, we dressed back into our yukata, dried our hair and went back out into the village and walked around. I ate takoyaki (octopus balls).. the ones in NY were better and mom had soba noodles with mountain veggies. We sat in the tatami room to rest and then both had green tea ice cream. We headed into another section that had the foot baths. It was an outdoor setting and they gave us an additional orange coat to wear over our yukata. Very warm. It was a park like setting with a windy foot pool path. You could walk through it (or so I thought) or sit on the side. 

So, it is a little dark outside by now. We walk up to the foot bath pool and the bottom is covered with flat rocks. How nice. Pretty. We walk in few steps, the water gets a little deeper, but only up to our calves. A few more steps... OW. OOH. OH. OUCH!!!!!$%! I am stuck!! Don't move. No, I have to move. OW. OOOOH!!$%#. I can't move. As soon as the water got deep enough to not see clearly.... hmmm.. it was a trick! The rocks were now STANDING UP!!$%^#! It was impossible to walk without having the standing rocks digging into your feet. Reflexology! a.k.a. FootOUCHology! Happily, we were not the only ones who made this mistake to try and walk through the pool. A guy next to us stepped right in from the side and got his yukata all wet as he screamed!! I think the people sitting on the sides of the pool just pressing their feet in the water lightly, were having an absolute ball watching all us fools as we attempted to walk through the pool. Anyway, enough of that. Not again.

So, we walked along the pool from then on and came upon a little house that said Dr. Fish. What is Dr. Fish? Hmm. I was interested. Guess, my previous lesson was not long lived. So, I read. Dr. Fish is a special fish that comes from Kangal, Turkey. It is a type of baby carp that can live in water that is higher than 37 degrees C. Wow. Interesting. And these little fish like to eat dead skin cells. Lots of research has been done in Germany to say it is good to have the Kangal Fish eat your dead skin cells. Hmm. Eat, nibble, chomp. I am either very brave or not so smart, but either way, I was very interested to try. So, I paid a little extra fee and was brought in the little house. People can view from outside through the window. I sat on the side of the small square pool. The instructions said only put in your feet, no hands. Keep your feet still and the fish will come. And they did! Whole schools of fish. Villages! I think I had all the Dr. Fish in all of Turkey on my feet! It tickled at first. Then, it felt more like when you sit in a jacuzzi and there are the jets and then the little teeny holes of cold water that spritz on you, like a little tingle. That is what it felt like to be eaten by Dr. Fish. This was GREAT, GREAT, GREAT!! When I was done, my feet and legs were silky baby soft. Amazing!

We never made it to the festival. We were having too much fun, so much fun, I forgot there was another place we wanted to go that was supposed to be close to this onsen.. The Ramen Museum, where you can try all sorts of ramen. Maybe we will come back before we leave Japan! : )

After our venture to the fish market we headed off to Shitamachi Museum at Ueno Park. This was a great place. Small, but GREAT! We were even given a personal tour from an English speaking guide. The museum illustrated how people lived in the Edo period. It was really nice because you could "touch and feel" everything. I like to look with my hands, not my eyes! There were also lots of games you could sit and play and we took the time to enjoy them. 

On the way to Ueno Park we stopped at the tourist desk at the subway station. The people there were a wealth of information and we left with all sorts of ideas for places to visit in the coming days. 

When we left the museum, we were planning to go to a soba restaurant that was recommended by the tourist rep. She pointed it out on our map and it appeared to be right next door to the museum.... We never found it, but instead ate ramen (good ones this time) at a place where you look at the picture, choose a number, pay in a machine and hand your ticket to the cook. It was pretty good. Afterwards, we strolled through the outdoor market where you are supposed to bargain... we didn't take our chances, but instead we bought some roasted chestnuts from a street vendor. They were tiny in comparison to chestnuts in the US. Nearly half the size, but tasty if you like chestnuts... I do not! Mom does.

It was a pretty sunny day, so we decided to walk through Ueno Park. The plum trees were in blossom and there were plenty of street performers out and about. We watched a two man band "Dot and Line" --made up of a drummer and fiddler.. pretty funny! Then we walked on to see a balloon guy who whipped up a giant blue and white bugs bunny in less than 5 minutes and finally we watched a story teller robot who was very very flexible in the legs. That was GREAT!

Here is the fortune I received... a "regular" one.. #57. It is almost impossible to cross a river too wide, waves are hard all over the river, you can't get to the other shore without a boat. But if you get a chance to cross the river when waves get calm down. You can get a powerful means to pick up a giant fish.  (notes to self... was this my visit to the fish market the next day?)

Your request will be granted. The patient get well, but takes a little time. The lost article will be found soon. The person you wait for will come late. Building a new house and removal are both well. You should to start a trip. Both marriage and employment are well, but by a half fortune.

Interesting....

Day 3... very confusing day start. woke up very early, 'bout 4:30am and thought,.. hmm.. why not make use of the time and head off to the fish market. So, I checked my guidebook.. closed on holidays and some Wednesdays.... SOME wednesdays? What does that mean? That's not helpful and today is Wednesday, don't want to chance it. So, I go on to do other things, catch up with emails and make other plans for the day. I read an email from Mai telling me info about a ceramics class we are considering. I reply to tell her we were going to go to the fish market, but it is Wednesday... when all of a sudden I notice her email says Wednesday and she sent it last night. How can that be? Well, I blame it all on that lose a day when you go to Asia, get it back when you return routine. Anyway, time has ticked along while I figured all this out, but by now mom is awake, so we decide that since its Thursday and we are already awake, why not give it a shot. So we did. We missed the auction, but there was still alot of action going on. We saw more different sea animals than I have ever seen in my like. Giant mussels, baby squid, great big tuna and all sorts of crab and creepy crawly things. It was GREAT! Maybe we'll go back again.