Day 1 - Tokyo to Odawara & Day 2 - Ashigara

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 the food (so much for 1,200 yen!). You think to yourself, "there's no way I can eat all of this! But, by magic, it's all gone in 30 minutes.

So, we eat and we go to a 7Eleven. Masaki informs us there are 20,000 7Elevens in Japan. They sell everything you need. Breakfast, lunch, supper, snacks, spices, umbrellas. One of the neatest things, is there are two sections of drinks: cold and hot. They have a heated drinks section just like a gas station in the US would have Mt.Dew and Coke. But, it's for coffee and tea that is pre-heated. It's very convenient. In fact, so far, everything in Japan is super convenient. You can even buy these heated drinks on the side of the road. They have little drink vending machines for hot and cold everywhere, just standing on the side walk, blinking.
Right next to these machines is a recycling bin for the bottles. Also convenient.
We went into the 7Eleven to get cash. Then we walked across the street to get a train ticket to Odawara. It's only a few stops from Kayama station, so it was only 190 yen for the distance. The trains' ticket prices are measured in distance.

We rode the train and got off at Odawara and tracked down our Air BNB.
First of all, the Air BNB smelled amazing. I don't know what the scent is, but we were all saying, "Man, it smells super good in here."
It's a long, narrow apartment. Wide enough for two twin beds, and that's about it. It has a tiny kitchenette, and a tiny bathroom. But it's pretty long and even has a small washing machine.
It's bigger than what I lived in in Brighton, UK when I studied abroad there, which was only wide enough for a single-sized bed. And it was about 15 feet long. So, this seems pretty large in comparison. It's very cozy and nice.
Anyway, it has a table and four chairs, a small sofa and USA decor everywhere. There's even a small cubby that says, "I <3 the USA". Lots of references to New York and California. The person who lets it seems very nice. And, apparently loves the US. And the color brown.

Anyway, there's no central heat and no door or barrier between the outside of the building or the stairwell, so it's pretty cold. All buildings are pretty open-air. Usually, it's not this cold in Japan, but it has snowed in the past week. It's been 35 years since there was that much snow, according to Masaki.
Walking around, some people were saying to each other, "It's so cold!" - Masaki translated.

There's a little space heater in the room. It worked very hard for us.

We fell asleep around 8:30pm and slept for 12 hours. Wayne had been awake with only 3 or 4 hours of interrupted sleep for over 48 hours. Mostly because he was too excited to sleep the night before our flight. I had about 6 hours of sleep between two days. So, needless to say, we slept HARD.
We didn't get to seem much the first day as it was mostly dark.
What I did see before it got dark was trees and plants everywhere. Every yard and business has trees or plants out front. And there are lots of citrus trees everywhere.

Day 2 - Ashigara

This morning we woke up and got ready for the day. Masaki came and walked to 20 feet from our building to Lawson's, which are convenience stores that are as common as 7Elevens. We bought the hot coffee drinks in cans and a melon bread and a chocolate-type soft bread. The coffee was so sweet. Anyway, then we went to the station and took an older Daiyuzan train line out of town.  we stopped at Ashigara which is going Southwest of Odawara. Fun fact, the Daiyuzan line was in the Guiness Book of World Records for having the shortest distance between stations. You can see the next station from Ashigara station. It's maybe less than 200 meters away. It might still be the record, but I don't know. It doesn't even take a minute to get between them.
It didn't take us long to get to Ashigara. About half an hour.  We went because Masaki grew up there. There's a picture of the street on which he grew up. We walked to the shrine, which is right next to his old house. We bought "fortunes" for 100 yen each and Masaki read them to us. I was a little lucky. Wayne got the most luck possible. There was a lot of fortune for 100 yen. Each one had advice for work, living situation, business, buying/selling, travel, friendships, love, and parenthood.
We walked through Masaki's old playground and walked to his old elementary school. Between the shrine and the school, a stray cat started following us, meowing. I think it was a stray. It looked like it was in pretty rough shape. I gave it a pet on the back and it followed us for a couple of blocks. Eventually, it stopped.
The kids in the school were doing P.E. inside their gym. They were jumping rope, and we could hear their jumping from outside.
We then walked the 3 miles, or so, from Ashigara to Daiyuzan, the town that's at the end of the Daiyuzan line. According to Masaki, we were "way out in the boonies". That area we walked in, had manhole covers that depicted a child riding a bear. I asked Masaki, "why is that little girl riding a bear?" Masaki said, "well, you asked me, so I'll tell you..." and broke out into a traditional song.
Well, it's not a little girl, it's a little boy, but the manhole covers were hard to distinguish. Later when we got to the Daiyuzan town, there was a statue that was more obviously a little boy. But, it's a folklore legend of a little boy from the Ashigara family name, that tamed a bear and would ride it, and generally ride around being a badass and doing cool things.
Masaki thought he remembered he was a real, historical person, like our Daniel Boone. But Ashigara was from pre-samurai times.
Anyway, we walked a pretty far way. We stopped at another Lawson's to get something to drink on the way.
Once we got to Daiyuzan, it was around noon and we were pretty hungry.
We ate Kamameshi at a restaurant there. Kamameshi is a steamed rice dish, which comes with a special presentation/preparation. Masaki and Wayne had beef.
I had scallops, which were very fresh. They were not cleaned at all and had all the veins, feet, etc. I've never had a scallop that way. It tasted good. It came with miso soup. We also ordered fried chicken (a special type of fried, which I can't remember the name of now...), they serve it with lemon, which you squeeze on it. It was so good.

We then went to a super market "Cameo" and I got some gel arch-support inserts and Wayne got some "Eve" headache medicine, since he had a pretty bad headache. It was a very clean and well-lit store. And felt very homey. They had everything. Jewelry, clothes, food, flowers, pharmacy, bakery, cafeteria, gifts, etc. I don't know what else they had, because we were only in a small part of the store, but it was impressive how much they fit into that space. Everything was so organized.
We tried to find Masaki's favorite: an eclair from Cozi Corner (a chain bakery that is within those Cameo stores), but they didn't have any. We went into another more Japanese type bakery and I got a doriyaki (red-bean filled pancake sandwich thing). I've had doriyaki before. My mom loves them, too.
Then, it was time to start heading back to Odawara since Masaki had to go tutor a student soon thereafter.
We bought some donuts at "Mister Donut", a tiny little donut shop at Odawara station. I had a delicious strawberry donut. They are crispy on the outside and soft on the inside.
Everything in Japan, is "Just so". I'm not sure how else to say it.
And every house and alley and street is a little different, each with it's own personality and style. I just want to go down every street I see.
I'm having a lot of fun so far, even just looking.
I'm trying to figure out the best way to say things. I studied some Japanese with duolingo, but beyond showing me how sentences are structured, it's actually not that helpful. Mostly because there's no context to the phrases they teach. One of the phrases in the "food" category is "How much is that desk?"
But, it did show me how to structure a sentence and ask for things politely. Although, any phrases I learned in that program are not really used in the real world.
But, I know some Hirigana. And I know the word for water, and the words for "small" and "Large".
As with any language, you can study all you want, but when you're around it, trying to use it, you learn much faster.

Now we are just taking a little break in our apartment, until we are leaving for Kayama station again to eat at another one of Masaki's favorite spots. It will "blow our minds", says Masaki.
That's still several hours away, though, so we may explore Odawara a little more before then.
After a nap.
To sleep off the Kamameshi and donuts.

More later.

So, it was later. I'm updating for the dinner we had on the second night.

It was shabu-shabu which is a pot with boiling water.
Thin pieces of meat, vegetables, fish, etc. are dropped into the pot and cooked. It doesn't take long since the pieces are so thin.
We also had tofu.

After it's cooked, you take it out and dip into ponzu, or another sauce, which was orange-colored and creamy.

Then eat. Yum!
It's so fun to fish for the pieces of food in the water. It made me feel like a happy little creature, in a good way. It's just very satisfying. Looking at it, watching the meat curl and turn a different color, smelling it, and cooking it yourself, and fishing for the food when it's done. It's very engaging and a fun activity, and as a bonus, it's delicious!

Also, as per Japanese tradition to try to have as little wasted resources as possible, once the shabu-shabu meal is done, you can drink the water left in the pot, which turns into a broth. It's delicious because it had been steeping with so many tasty things for a long time.
It was rather salty, but it was tasty.
Also, Masaki was explaining that making Miso soup from just plain water is why the miso in American isn't as good as in Japan. In Japan they'll take something like the shabu-shabu water and make that a base for the miso soup, or for a ramen. That's why they have much more flavor.

We ate a LOT of food that night.