My Side of the Fuji

Photos Here! It was a loooong time before we ate again. Comparatively. We were going to save our stomachs for some sushi. Masaki was going on another stint of not eating. But. I had to cave this time. We walked past a bakery and it smelled so good, I had to get some pastries. Masaki kept saying, "you're going to regret it! We're having sushi for lunch and you'll wish you could eat more." But, I regret nothing. Those pastries were good. Apparently, most people don't have ovens in their houses in Japan, so a lot of people don't bake. Therefore there are many bakeries. I have to say, the pastries are super good. But there is a place in Idaho that's just as good, if not better. However, they don't have as large a variety as the bakeries in Japan. But the Pie Safe in Deary, Idaho has world-class baked goods. I mean, I haven't eaten anything better anywhere else in the world. Just as good, yes. Better, no. Anyway, just a little bit of prid...

Photos Here! Where to begin? There was a lot going on at the Winter Festival. Snow sculptures. Ice sculptures. High jump ski and snowboard competitions. Cheerleaders for the Nippon Fighters Baseball team. Yeah, the pro baseball teams have cheerleaders. Do American baseball teams have cheerleaders? I honestly can't remember. I haven't been to a pro baseball game since I went to the Atlanta Braves game with my brother and sister-in-law. That was... almost 10 years ago. I don't remember. Anyway, moving on... Art in snow and ice, food. Food. and more food stalls. Including grills scallops, grilled in the shell, which I haven't seen before. An automaton singer. Her voice is not prerecorded: it is actually entirely computer generated, and her sold-out performance is animated. She's called Snow-Miku. We didn't get to see it's show, as it was sold out. As was nearly all of the merchandise. Extremely popular. There was a live radio performance of musicians, ...

Photos Here! We didn't get a lot of sleep. On Day 5, by the time we made it back to Yokohama and everything from eating Kaigan curry, it was already past 10PM. On Day 6, we got up extra early. It was very kind and understanding of Masaki and Wayne, that I requested to leave extra early in order to try and dodge the insane morning rush around Tokyo. Because pretty much any train line that passes through the hub of Tokyo on a weekday is going to be crammed to the limit with daily commuters. You can see many videos online of train workers literally shoving people on the train. No, thank you. It ended up working out. We had a more leisurely time travelling, since we weren't in a hurry and gave ourselves plenty of time. Even at 6:30 in the morning, it was still pretty crowded. But after we got to the hub and starting moving away from entering Tokyo, it eased up. Narita airport is pretty far out in the country, actually, so it took a while to get there. We landed in Sappor...

Photos Here! This was Super Bowl Monday Morning - 8AM in Japan. Hooray, The Eagles winning, but more like, "Hooray, someone other than the Patriots winning!" But the Eagles totally deserved it. But that's all old and American news. After the SuperBowl was over, we headed over to Masaki's train stop where he kindly stored our more bulky luggage, since domestic flights are a pretty hefty fee for checked luggage, and our backpacks are too large to be considered carry-ons for the Jetstar airline. So, that was convenient. We then went through Masaki's local grocery store and I got an Onigiri. It's a triangular-shaped hand-sized rice...packet, wrapped in the dry, crispy seaweed. The kind I got is Masaki's favorite, with pickled kelp in the middle. It was good. Perfect train food. We got on a train and headed to Yokohama. It took about 2 hours to get there. We found our Air B'n'B and rested for a minute or two, then got on another train for about a...

Photos Here! Day 4 - our last day in the Odawara area before flying to Sapporo. We had a relaxing day. We went to one of the shops, Lawson's and got a little breakfast. I picked up what looked like a donut, and bit into it, surprised at how it tasted. It tasted a bit like bacon bits, but healthier. It's hard to describe. It was slightly sweet, but mostly very hearty and kind of meaty, but no meat. It was a donut, but a unique Japanese ingredient, "Kinako" that made it taste that way. We looked it up, and apparently Kinako means "yellow flour" and is a roasted soybean flour that has been in Japanese cuisine for at least 700 years. 700 years ago someone roasted soybeans and ground it up, and 700 years later, I'm buying it in a convenience store. I really liked it. It's very different, but good. Wayne and Masaki didn't care much for it, though. That morning, Masaki came over to our apartment with his Play Station 4, and his new game, Dragonball...

Photos Here Day 3 started rather late. We slept well and met up with Masaki in the afternoon. We took the train to Yokohama and went to a store "Uniqlo" to get Wayne some thermals, in preparation for our trip to Sapporo, as we will probably be outside for long periods of time and it's very cold there. The "Heattech" is Japanese technology and is very warm. They had a lot of it. They even had slacks with the technology. I'm wondering is Sapporo will be super crowded this year, since the winter olympics are taking place so nearby in South Korea. After the store, we met Masaki's friend Koji. He works in an office for studying and reducing environmental impact during construction. He works a typical 12 hour Japanese work day. Not even joking. 12 hours is the minimum people work. Because of this, they don't eat supper until after 9PM. That's the usual dinner time. Koji likes his job a lot, he said, so it doesn't bother him. Masaki talks a ...

Photos Here! So, the day we landed was February 1st at around 4pm. We landed at  Tokyo-Narita airport. Masaki met us and his dad drove us on the Tomei highway about 2 hours to Kayama Station in Odawara in the Kanagawa prefecture. Masaki's father was very kind to drive us all the way. It was raining, too. We went under a river in a tunnel. Anyway, at Kayama station, around the corner, there is a ramen place that has been there since 1974. Masaki grew up eating there and every time he visits home, he said, it's straight from the airport to the ramen place. So, we were sticking with tradition. It was so good. We had chachu (pork) with Miso broth and the best potstickers I've ever had. They have soy sauce, of course, but also a semi-sweet vinegar you mix with a type of chili oil. The oil is very strong. Only two drops is very hot, but I like spicy. The oil and vinegar with those pot stickers was addicting. There was something magical about that restaurant. They brought us ...