Thursday, August 09, 2012

Japan 2012 Day 18

I guess it is good-bye Tokyo for this trip.  I woke up only a little bit later than I normally do, got cleaned up, checked all the packing to make sure it was right then headed downstairs to the breakfast room. I had my traditional toast and coffee then I walked out the door without a camera for the first time this trip. My intention was to tour the neighborhood for a few sundries to be picked up at any of the local convenience stores. I actually did quite a big double loop of the area and hit almost every store of the type I could find.  It started out cooler feeling outside but the humidity began to pick up the further along I got and it again became sweaty work, if not as bad as some other days. The sky was overcast so at least the sun wasn't creating a blazing heat at this point like it had been on most days. I can honestly say I do not envy a TSA person who might open my luggage because what is in there is fairly ripe by this point.  Even taking my time my tour was a little more than an hour long and I got back to the room still 2 hours before check-out time. The problem with needing to be packed of course is that it limits the ability to continue to get around as would be a normal vacation day and the time limit of check out time is also a block on any chance of doing something more involved. When I got back to the room I turned on the TV for only the second time in this trip and the channel was just beginning to broadcast an Olympics semi final soccer match between Mexico and Japan. I assume it was taped because the time of day in England was way off for a soccer match but I didn't know the result so I chose to watch it until it was time to get out of the room.  Surprisingly the Japanese scored first but the Mexicans did tie it up after a few minutes.  Mexico took the lead in the second half on a bad giveaway.  The Japanese just kept making too many mistakes on their attacks to really put more than a couple good chances together after that.  After the game it was time to check out and head to Tokyo Station where I figured I would get lunch and maybe shop a little bit more before heading to the airport via the Narita Express.


After leaving the hotel I took the long way around to Hamamatsucho station because I knew I would have to contend with less stairs. There are no escalators I can think of at that particular station. I boarded the Yamanote Line for the last time on this trip and rode to Tokyo Station. My flight being at 6:15pm and it only being 11:30am I was very early to head to the airport. The ride on the Narita express is something like a half an hour to 40 minutes long so I would be there far too early. I wandered to the Yaesu Central exit and went into the underground shopping area and just sort of strolled for a little while until I hit an area of restaurants and found a Yebisu Bar which was surprisingly kinyen (non-smoking). The idea of a Yebisu beer appealed to me and I decided that was where I would eat. They had a lunch menu after all.  I got in and ordered a Yebisu Hokaru (I think) and then a special hamburger meal. The beer was an amber slightly hoppy flavor with a good bitter to it.  The hamburger special consisted of a patty with a side of spaghetti and egg salad and a dish of rice. The burger had a brown sauce over it. I ate the mea l entirely with chopsticks as I had learned how to break a burger up with them recently.  It was actually quite good food although obviously not as good as the Kobe beef from the night before. Still I really enjoyed the beer and had a second before I was done.

After lunch I took another more detailed trip through the mall area until I was completely lost from where I started and eventually found my way back to the Yaesu South Entrance from outside.  I was even further south than the south Exit I think.  In any event this did a good job of killing more time so I wasn’t too concerned on it.  I found a JR ticket office and reserved a ticket using my rail pass on the 2:03 train to Narita Airport Terminal 2.  That gave me over an hour to find the platform and wait for the specific train. The platform was of course on the complete other side of the station from where I reserved my ticket so I am glad I didn’t pick a time where I had to rush. Probably I should have picked the 1:30pm train instead but all the same I was able to find one of the few benches in the train station and set up and write some portion of this before my train arrived.

The train arrived on time. It comes in two parts of 6 cars each and they connect together to make a 12 car train headed to the airport. I assume they come from different directions and then join up. It was a big event to watch for many of the passengers, seeing the trains join and the between car walkway deploy. I suppose it was pretty neat but at the same point it was more effort to get out the camera for the trick than I thought it was worth.  I didn’t realize but even the Narita Express trains have green cars so I was reserved a seat on that with  my rail pass which was nice. There was only a couple people in the car and it was quiet. I fell asleep for a bit. About 50 minutes later, it was longer than I thought and that without stops I arrived in the airport.  That made it about 3pm. I found my way upstairs to the check-in and there was literally no line at all so I just got to get checked in right away. It was strange that I got only one ticket but apparently my flight is a continuous flight number and I even have the same seat number somehow through both so I was only printed one ticket.  After checking in I walked around the pre-security mall area for a few minutes before heading into the security check which was quick and easy then on to immigration which was technically easy except for this mixed couple and their kid who held up one of 2 lines for a very long time for some reason.  After getting through immigration it was time for the shops on the other side and I did a little bit more digging around those before figuring out where my gate was. It was still more than an hour and 45 minutes to go before boarding time so I opted to hunt out some food before we took off. I knew I would not be eating the airplane food as historically it has grossed me out so I found The Asian Bowl and had a beef bowl and a large Kirin (mainly because that was what I could afford if I wanted the big beer.  I had finally spent down most all of my yen. No sense in saving it with the dollar so crappy right now.  From there I headed to the gate and had about an hour left until boarding time so I wrote a bit more of this and then relaxed to some music from my cell phone.

Boarding the flight they put me in group 4 which was basically very last to get on the plane. I figured I was going to get screwed for overhead room but apparently the flight was not full so I got lucky in that I didn’t have to stuff anything under my seat.  The plane was a 777 and as I said it was not full. Still it took longer to board than the domestic flights in Japan by far.  The movies on the plane were the exact same as on the way to Japan which of course was disappointing. At take off time I joined a showing of Thor already in progress and then followed that by another viewing of the Avengers already in progress which I slept through most of both. I again chose to not eat the hot portion of the meals not even bothering to take the packet though I took the rest of the tray and ate the sundries.  I probably slept for about two thirds of the flight and also watched The Pirates: Band of Misfits again for good measure when I woke up for  a spell. I think for the most part I had the GPS map going and would occasionally wake and see where we are and go back to sleep.  The flight wasn’t really bumpy and this time the captain did actually turn off the seatbelt sign. Overall it was an easy if long flight (though well over an hour shorter than the flight there).

Arriving in Chicago I was getting prepared for my least favorite airport. This was my first chance to use my new Global Entry access and I think if it wasn’t for that this would have been the typical miserable O’Hare experience.  The lines for passport control were incredibly long and it was clear a lot of international flights had all landed at relatively the same time. I however got to walk around the big line to use one of the completely unused row of kiosks to get into the country. The process is easy. Scan your passport bar code and let it take a picture of you. Scan your fingerprints.  Check a series of checkboxes and you are done. It prints you a receipt with your picture on it and you take that to customs.  No form to fill out or anything.  So I was the first person from my flight to the checked baggage area and also the first out. Only a couple other people were through by the time I got my bag and I am sure they had some reason for special access or Global Entry too.  So from there it was stuff some bottles into the suitcase as best I could and then hand the receipt to the customs officer who let me pass through no issue.

Of course this is where O’Hare becomes O’Hare.  The gate for my next flight was in terminal 3 and I was in 5 and I had to swap over by a tram. That wasn’t too bad but of course my flights are always out on the furthest point of any gate arm you can possibly get. I went to a security line and was told to use another because it was less crowded. The first security person said the single boarding pass I got was not going to work and I had to go back and get the appropriate one for Chicago. I knew that was going to bite me in the butt but the Japanese lady in Narita didn’t understand me well enough. So back out of that line which was really fortunately not a line at all (Thanks so much to the girl who sent me to the other) and on to the check-in counter where I fortunately only had a couple minutes wait before I got a boarding pass that would work then back on to the security line and through.  All in all it probably wasted me about 10 minutes. By the time I got to my gate boarding was going to happen in 15 minutes. I cannot see how I could have made it to my plane with the passport control lines being their size unless it was at the very final boarding call to be on time.  I know I saved a minimum of 20 minutes of line there even if I waited about 5 for my suitcase. The flight that was before us on our carousel was barely trickling through to get their bags which had all been taken off and put aside by the time the Narita bags were coming through. I am not sure how many people were trying to make the connection and if they made it to the plane or not.  Because I did have a few minutes to spare I walked back to a McDonald’s and got a quarter pounder with cheese meal and wolfed that down before they started to board.

Boarding I was again group 4 which was last to get on. This time it made no sense as I was in the very back of the plane. I would have expected to be near the front if I was going to board last. The line after ticket check was all the way up the ramp and it was a fair mess getting in. Still I was fortunate on 2 counts. The seat next to me was empty.  I had aisle as usual. And there was still enough overhead for my backpack when I got there though they were making people behind me check their roller luggage because of limited space.  Even if there wasn’t I could have used the empty seat’s foot space so I was good.  This plane was a 737 as I expected. I think it took longer for boarding than even the 777 from Narita did. I nodded off for the first bit of the flight till they came around for drinks then used the opportunity to dig out the laptop and write up a bit more of this.  The flight was mostly uneventful with a couple bumpy spots but nothing at all interesting.  We landed on time and being at the back of the plane it took forever to get off. My bag however was very early in the carousel and it was on to waiting for the Flightline van which they said was going to take about 20 minutes but really took 10.  I was the lucky one going in a different direction than all the rest and so was swapped over to a different van at Dascomb Road and then on to home. I made it there about 10:30 or so and was pretty much fully exhausted and ready for a night's sleep in my own bed.  The unpacking could wait until morning.

The pictures from today are located here.

Tuesday, August 07, 2012

Japan 2012 Day 17

I woke up early today with the intention of getting to the new Tokyo Skytree.  The Skytree is the new tower in Tokyo that is taller even than the Tokyo Tower by nearly double or something like that. The main observatory platform is 350 meters up which is higher than the the top platform of Tokyo Tower. The higher Tembu platform is 450 meters up. The reports were that the lines to get into the Skytree have been horrendous 6 hour waits whenever people have tried to do it. I was hedging my bets that it would not be that long at 8am when the tower opened for the day. I ate breakfast quickly then went to Daimon Station and bought a day pass for the subways as it was cheaper than the combined fares I needed. I then rode the Asakusa line to Oshiage (Skytree) Station and exited to the surface. It doesn't take long for the tower to come into view and you can really see how gigantic it is from below. I worked my way around to the entrance of the building and found that there was indeed a line forming but it didn't look that big yet and everyone appeared to be moving inside.  So I got in line and a little less than 20 minutes later I had bought my ticket to the lower platform and a couple minutes later I was in the elevator on the way up.  It takes about 50 seconds to get to the 350 meter level in one of their elevators. They have 4 and they each are set to a theme of the seasons. I rode up on the one for spring which was decorated in sakura.

At the first platform I walked around the loop and took pictures. It was very crowded inside and good window space was hard to come by. People weren't pushing but neither were they really moving around from their perches much either.  I think the crowds inside did detract from the overall experience a little bit.  Still I was able to wade my way through them and get a good look around. It is funny that all the other buildings are already below you.  After the loop I made my way to the line to buy a ticket for the higher platform and that took about 5 minutes.  Then it was a couple minutes until we were in the elevator up 100 more meters in just a few seconds.  At the upper platform they have a spiral walk around the tower. It is really obvious how high up you are at this point as even the buildings look tiny, let alone the cars.  Again this platform was just about as crowded as the lower one and it was a bit of mucking through the traffic to get a good look out the windows and all the way around the loop.  When I was done it was back onto another elevator ride to the 345 floor (345 meters, just below the main observatory platform). The walk around there produced a way too overcrowded gift shop then stairs down to the 340 floor which had the glass bottom floors to stand on. Everyone was on it. It was not like in Tokyo Tower where no one dared stand on it. I had to wait a couple moments to actually get on it.  I still saw people who were hesitating even with such a large crowd on top of it.  From there I found the elevator back down to the 5th floor which had a larger and less crowded gift shop then it was on out of the Skytree area and back on the Asakusa line to Asakusa itself to do one more visit to the temple and then run through the gifty area for a few minutes. I managed to get a cherry version of my deep fried favorites. It had some sort of leaves in it too. Not sure what they were but it was very tasty.  I also later on after quite a while of walking around had a rose flavored soft serve ice cream that was very good. Packed with stuff I bought I figured it was best to bring them to the hotel before heading to lunch so I rode the Asakusa line the rest of the way back to Daimon and dropped things off.

After a brief stop I had lunch at the Tokyo Tower. I had intended to go to the katsu restaurant but they were completely filled up so I ended up at the Tokyo Curry Lab which served a katsu curry. It was ok but the curry was a bit acidy and I liked the CoCoIchi curry better overall.  After lunch I headed back to the room and relaxed a little bit before deciding to take a trip out to Daiba. In order to get to Daiba I had to get on the Yamanote Line to Shimbashi and then switch over to the Yurikamome monorail type line out to Daiba. This isn't covered by my pass so I had to buy a round trip ticket there and back.  It isn't a very long ride but the cars were fairly full. The Shimbashi stop is the first station in the line and it was getting filled up right away.  In order to get to Daiba the train rides a big loop around before going over the rainbow bridge (after making a couple other stops first). While on the bridge I noticed it has sidewalks that means you can walk across it, and people were. I think I will put in on my list of things to do next time in Japan. Daiba is the second stop after the bridge. I have been there both other trips. The first obvious attraction from the stop is the Fuji TV building which has a very futuristic shape. Second is the reproduction of the Statue of Liberty given to the Japanese by the French a few years ago.  What was also obvious is the place was jam-packed full of people and there was a large carnival set up all around the area, perhaps a couple of them. That meant the place was overrun with kids.  The main reason I went to Daiba is they brought the giant Gundam robot back. It was up before my last trip but was taken down before we got there and now it is back again. I had to do a little searching to find it but it wasn't really all that bad. I did a full loop of it for pictures from all angles. I would say it is at least 40 or 50 feet tall.  I am a terrible judge of stuff like that but it did look like the size they are supposed to be in the cartoons.

After I was done with the Gundam I was pretty much done with Daiba and I just got back onto the monorail and headed back to Shimbashi. This train was even more crowded than the one on the way in but I found a comfy spot at the edge of the car. My stop was the last stop so I didn't have to worry about getting out through the crowds.  At Shimbashi I changed to the Yamanote Line again and headed back to Hamamatsucho.  There I sought out Kaji and some Kobe beer. I got there a bit early and he asked me to come back at 6pm so I wandered around the area exploring a bit until it was 6 and then headed back. I had his special Kobe beef set. Yes it is expensive. Yes it is worth it.  The meal started with a small glass of white zinfandel and a tray of starters which included a cold spiced beef, a cold shrimp with an herb sauce on it and a lychee nut (I think) with some sort of sauce on it as well. All were really good. When I finished  the wine I ordered a beer. Next followed the daikon radish cooked with salt, pepper and soy, followed by an onion slice, piece of squash and a small new potato.  These were all cooked together but finished individually.  I decided to hold onto them to changes tastes while eating this time. Next came the beef and I had it rare as usual. Nothing but salt and pepper and garlic were added.  It was incredibly tender and very tasty as it had been before. The garlic chips were also cooked up and served and added another flavor and a crunchy texture to go along with the others.  I was mostly done the beef when he made some bean sprouts with red and green peppers sliced very thin.  Those were followed by the beef fat cracklings.  He takes the fat from the steak and puts it under a press to render out all the oils. The bit cook up crunchy and tasty.  The fat is saved and then after he serves the cracklings he puts some minced garlic on the grill in the fat and browns that and then cooks the fried rice with that. He only adds salt and pepper otherwise. It is possibly my favorite part of the meal.  I am fairly certain I like it more than the beef even though that is probably heresy to say.  After the rice came a set of pickles (cucumber and radish) and a miso soup with brown beans and tofu.  Following the soup was a mango half. After that was a demitasse cup of coffee that was strong but good.  While I was there his reservations arrived in the form of a mother, her 2 sons and daughter. They ordered cuts of steak that were not Kobe but man were they huge. It looked like Texas steakhouse size.  In any event they were on to the cracklings with their steaks by the time I was leaving.  After dinner I went back to the hotel for a bit before heading out to meet Marina who had been teaching while I ate dinner.  It would be our last chance to say good-bye before I left.

I headed out to Ebisu Station on the Yamanote Line and met her at the gate.  We walked down to the Exselsior Coffee place which is about all that was open long enough by that point and sat and chatted for a while until the store closed and we were sent away. From there we walked back to the train station and on to the Yamanote Line to Hamamatsucho where she rode with me until my stop then after saying our good-byes she headed back to her home and I walked back to the hotel.  I got as much of the packing done as I could before heading to bed still uncertain how my day was going to go on Wednesday with such a late flight departure at 6:15pm.

The pictures from today are located here.


Monday, August 06, 2012

Japan 2012 Day 16

Today Marina and I had originally planned to go to Ishinomaki but the injury to her leg made the idea of too much walking a bad one so we instead the night before decided to go to onsen probably around Hakone.  When I got up we started to make our plans and we agreed to do some shopping I had to do before heading to the spa and to get some breakfast as well and decided we would meet in Shimbashi which is one stop away from Hamamatsucho on either the Yamanote or Keihin Tohoku line.  I got to the station before she did because she has a much further route to take and bought an iced coffee in the Exselsior at the station to wait for her. A few minutes later she got in and we checked out two breakfast buffets. The first was on a 25th floor of a hotel and had a nice view of the city but it was very crowded so we decided to go to the second which I believe was the Mitsui Garden Hotel which had its breakfast buffet on something like the 24th floor and also had a nice view. They were only a few minutes walk apart. I am not really a breakfast eater so honestly a buffet cost is a waste for me but it was what she wanted to do so we did it.  A little it after getting there it started to rain in Tokyo and it remained that way on and off until we eventually got out of town. My breakfast consisted of some fruit, bread, yogurt, bacon and juice. Marina took a bit better advantage of the buffet than I did but I just cannot eat heavy in the morning.  After we were done with that we did the bit of shopping I needed to do in Ginza which didn't take too long then it was off to the train station where we took the Tokaido Line to Odawara which is sort of a gateway city to the regions around Hakone.

If you recall we went to Hakone on the first trip to Japan I took but we did it by bus tour on the same day we visited the Fuji station.  We ended up directly in a hotel which provided lunch then were brought to the pirate ship on the lake.  This time we had to take a Hakone Tozan Railway train to Hakone Yumoto which brings you into the center of town basically.  When we got there we asked the information desk about the various onsen in town. Marina had been to one of them before and liked it but the woman said we should tray Kamon as it was a traditional style spa that is part of a ryokan which is a traditional Japanese style hotel.  We got outside for the bus that would take us to the spa and asked again the security guy that was directing passengers to their correct buses and he also said we should go to Kamon because the other one she had been to before was much more crowded and we would be better able to relax at Kamon.  So we got on the bus and a few minutes we were there and putting our shoes in lockers and getting upstairs to get checked in. I had to buy a towel for 300 yen to go along with my fee because I didn't have one with me.  Still I got to keep it as a souvenir so that is kind of cool. It is embroidered with their name and a couple sakura.  After getting checked in we got to our respective changing rooms and swapped to our provided kimonos and headed back down to the second floor for the spa. As with all onsen the male and female guests are kept separate and there are no swimsuits involved. This place was not busy at all. In fact when I got in there was only one other guest in the pools.  I went through the process of the appropriate scrub down you are supposed to perform before going into the water. I spent probably about 5-10 minutes on it which seemed reasonable to me.  This is part of the tradition of going to onsen and is always supposed to be done. Of course two Japanese patrons who came in after me didn't bother to do any scrubbing and just dropped into the pools bone dry. I am not sure if there are different rules if you are already staying at the ryokan part but Marina said some women did it on her side too.  Most of the pools were 42C which is probably a little bit higher than I wanted. It had rained but was not when we got to Hakone but the temperature was still high outside as well. The pools were partially outdoors and partially indoors and the indoors were just covered by a real roof more so than completely enclosed. I am basically not fully cut out for onsen because I don't know how to be idle long enough to enjoy it as some  other people do. This meant that I was constantly changing pools or getting out of the water and sitting on a bench to cool down a bit while I was there. I had only the one towel but it is traditional to bring one into the water with you and leave it on your head.  I could not do this as I needed my towel to dry off after I was done. I spent about an hour in and out of the pools and even tried the sauna which was so hot I could only stand less than two  minutes of it before I got out. It did feel nice back in the 29C weather outside once I escaped. When I was done I went back over to the washing area and rescrubbed to get the spa water off and then used my souvenir towel to dry off, put on my kimono and headed back upstairs to the waiting area where I had a cup of macha while waiting for Marina to come back up. I was sort of dozing off a bit when she returned and we both got changed back to our civvies and headed downstairs to wait for a free bus ride back to the train station area.  The bus came a few minutes later and the ride downhill was very quick.

At the town center most everything was already closed. I am not sure why so early at only 5pm but apparently the really touristy towns just shut down very early around here. However we were able to find a reasonably good restaurant where I had curry udon noodles which were good but even more messy than the noodles that I had in Nikko.  I also had an Asahi Super Dry to go along with the noodles. When we were done eating it was already getting late so though she made a couple suggestions of some other things we could do I was really ready to get back into Tokyo instead (I think this worked out best for her as well as she fell asleep on the Tokaido line). We basically backtracked our train rides from earlier in the day and went back to Shimbashi for a couple more minutes of shopping then had ice cream at a specialty store. I had a vanilla soft serve with brown sugar and soy bean powder on it. It looks terribly a lot like a hot fudge sundae with nuts on it in the picture but it tastes nothing like one (which is what I was hoping for). It was actually very good and I am glad it is what I ordered.  The ice cream also came with a complimentary cup of tea as well which was a nice surprise.  After the ice cream we walked back to the station and got on the slightly delayed Yamanote Line (apparently there was a man on the tracks for a couple minutes) and then I rode my one stop and she continued on to her home.  From there it was a quick walk back to the hotel.

There are very few pictures today as it was not really a sightseeing day at all. The onsen being what it is does not lend itself to pictures either.  What few there are are located here.

I just found out that Monday was the 67th anniversary of the atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima.  It would have been crazy mobbed out there, they say 50000 people filled the square.  Still, it is interesting to add that bit of history to this trip.

Sunday, August 05, 2012

Japan 2012 Day 15

I wasn't totally sure what I was going to do today. I knew my original plans were mussed up with the change of timing for the Fuji climb and I was originally supposed to go to Yokohama today but I had already done that with Marina in the previous Tokyo stint.  I chose instead to go to Nikko because it had been mentioned a few times as a great visit. I woke up at 5:30am and just sort of messed around a bit at first then chatted with my brother for a few minutes before getting cleaned up and heading downstairs. The breakfast room was full out mobbed. I didn't even bother trying to get food but I was able to sneak in and get a quick cup of coffee.  It was 7:00am and the entire room was full of Japanese people.  I dare you to find an American hotel breakfast room filled with people at 7 on a Sunday.  After the cup of coffee I set out to the JR station and took the Keihen Tohoku line to Tokyo Station (it arrived just a minute before the Yamanote line and they share a stretch of stops and platforms.  At Tokyo station I booked a seat to Utsunomiya which was the first leg of the trip.  Unfortunately I didn't pay attention and the girl didn't give me a green car seat, but fortunately the car had few people in it and the ride was short anyway.  At Utsunomiya I had to switch to a JR local train to Nikko. The Nikko line is basically just one way to Nikko and back. There is no reserved seating.  That ride took about 50 minutes or so and there was a couple of Tourist Information guides in the car who were giving passengers information. The woman I spoke with gave me a map and explained what to do and how to do it. They were trying to sell bus tickets sort of but I suspect most tourists don't want to walk the distances. She said it was probably a 40 minute walk to the World Heritage park.  I figured that was my better option especially because the general rule is it does not take me near as long as their suggested times. Looking at the map it also seemed it couldn't really be that far. The distance seemed to be the same as the size of the grounds of the world heritage site.

When we got to the station I immediately started the trek to the park. It was uphill most of the way but the slope wasn't that bad. The first thing you see is a couple statues and a sacred bridge, the Shinkyo Bridge.  You can pay a fee to walk across the bridge and when I got there a bunch of people were doing so. I chose to just walk across the regular bridge this time and get to the park instead.  Once inside the park the first major item it seemed you should see is the Rinnoji Temple. However the temple is being restored right now so instead you see a picture of it on some corrugated aluminum siding. None of the temples in this region allowed pictures inside so for that reason Rinnoji was a disappointment.  Nonetheless I trudged on through the grounds and found the Togoshu Shrine and then clambered my way up the 200 steps to Ieyasu's graveyard.  A day after hiking Fuji my legs were tired but still it didn't seem like much in comparison at all.  Also at the Togoshu Shrine was a really nice five storied pagoda. That was basically on the way into the shrine and graveyard.  Next I worked my way over to the Futarasan Shrine then to the Iemitsu Taiyuin Temple and Iesmitsu's graveyard.

That was the majority of the world heritage park. When I got through that I worked my way down the hill and found a bunch of shops that had restaurants in them and decided I would eat lunch as it was past 12:30. By the way I got into Nikko before 10am though I am not completely sure of the timing. The place had the plastic mockups of their food outside but I was handed a menu with a few pictures and little English. I chose something that looked like a tomato based stew as a set menu. It had the stew, a side of some sort of sushi and a tiramisu for dessert. I also ordered a Kirin draft beer as well.  The sushi, as it was served with wasabi and I was told where the soy sauce was, was interesting. It was a thin almost papery product but all rolled up. It did have a faintly fish flavor but I really have no idea what it was.  The stew was basically a watery tomato based soup with some form of maybe leafy vegetable, asparagus small bits of chicken, onions, tomatoes and noodles. I was also instructed to add extra Tobasco for more spice (so I did). The stew was actually awesome. I was sort of disappointed when I was done because I wanted more. The noodles were cooked perfectly as were the vegetables and it just tasted really good. I am glad I ordered it. After the soup I had the tiramisu and it was also quite good though it was a small piece compared to what you would get in America. It is probably better that way.

After lunch I headed further down the road to the Nikko Tamozawa Imperial Villa.  This was a former Imperial vacation home that was constructed originally in the 1800s but was added to over time. One part of it was even moved from a different location and rebuilt into the villa.  The place was huge and sprawling. The only way you could get a full picture of it is from the air. Otherwise it is spread out too far and surrounded by trees and garden all over the place. Entry allows you inside and in the gardens as well. It was obviously restored over time in some areas but there was a lot of original stuff too. The varying architecture on the outside was obvious but inside a lot of the differences from section to section were more subtle.  It took a long time to get through all the rooms they allow you to go through. The let you up to the second floor of one area but not to the third unfortunately.  Still I think the visit was well worth the 500 yen I paid to get in.  The garden grounds are also very nice if only for the opportunity to get some pictures of the back side of the villa which looks a lot more interesting than the front entrance.  From there I headed back towards the main World Heritage site and picked up the last 2 temple and shrine, the Hongu Shrine and Kannon Do which also had a three storied pagoda.  There was absolutely no one in these sites when I went for some reason. They are off the beaten path of the area but are definitely on the maps.  After that it was back down the street I came up to the train station.  Being downhill it was a little easier.  I think the local line runs fairly often so I was able to get on a train back to Otsunomiya pretty much right as I got there and only had to wait a few minutes before it departed. From there I was able to book a green car seat on a nearly full train back to Tokyo station.  Then it was back onto the Keihen Tohoku line (it arrived first again) to Hamamatsucho where I got into the room to clean up from the sweat and all that.

Marina and I had been messaging during the day a little and we ended up meeting for dinner in Hamamatsucho. I have no idea what the name of the restaurant was but it is a place that is supposed to specialize in sashimi which is the sushi that involves only the pieces of raw fish and no rice (for those that do not know).  It was a small place that I have passed a couple dozen times in my life already.  Apparently a lot of her friends recommended the restaurant to her but she had never tried it before. She did all the ordering. I had a couple Suntory Premium draft beers to go along. They served an appetizer of radish and cuttlefish which was pretty good though the heavy soaking of soy on the radish was a bit much for me.  Marina ordered some fried chicken bits because she thought that it would be something else. Still it was good. Then we also got a sashimi order for two which had tuna, fatty tuna, red snapper, mackerel, sardine (fresh), scallop and either squid or cuttlefish, we couldn't decide. Along with that she ordered a tofu dish that was in a broth of fish roe.  All of the food was very good and the fish was very fresh. I was surprised how much I liked the tofu thing too. During dinner we made our plans for the next day. She has an issue with her leg so we decided not to go to Ishinomaki as we orginally planned but instead will go to an onsen.  After dinner was over I headed back to the room for some well deserved rest.

The pictures from today can be found here.

Saturday, August 04, 2012

Japan 2012 Day 13 Part 2 and Day 14

I followed Japan-Guide's advice on how to get to Fuji by rail and I was led a little bit astray but not so bad really that I couldn't recover. I left Hamamatsucho at maybe 2:15 and rode the Yamanote line to Shinjuku. In Shinjuku I booked a ride on the Chuo Line to Otsuki. It is a limited express and has only half a green car for some reason.  That unfortunately wasn't leaving until 3:30 so I had to sit for about 40 minutes or so before it came in and the passengers could board. This trains starts up at Shinjuki. The ride to Otsuki was just a bit over an hour and put me around the corner from the Fujikyu train line which goes to Kawagachiko.  This is where I was led astray.  Kawagachiko Station is not the direct point for getting into a Fuji 5th Station like the  guide said.  Instead Kawagachiko has a bus terminal and there was a bus that actually goes to the 5th station.  The train for the record was a local which meant it stopped at every stop along the way which took probably about 40 minutes.  It was a nice and clean train. I noticed a lot of people wave to the conductor so it must also be a friendly local line (it is considered a commuter railway for that region).

The bus was a bit more difficult to figure out but I was able to find the ticket office and purchase a round trip fair which was reasonably discounted versus a one way fair so that was at least good. Then I found the number 6 bus stand where my bus was supposed to arrive at 6pm.  Yes it was already getting late.  It actually showed up at 6:10. There were 4 other buses that came to the stand and told us it was the next bus that would take us to the 5th station.  At the stop were Akush and Martin who were also aiming to climb Fuji. While we waited and joked around a bit it became a reasonable idea that perhaps we could commit the journey together which is what happened. Martin is from Slovakia originally but now lives in Northern Ireland and apparently works for DHL where he has finally started to earn enough money to travel as he wishes. He said Japan was his second trip.  His first being a trip to Australia. Good for him.  Akush is Hungarian and had quit his job to travel the world for 6 months. Apparently it is not difficult for him to find a new job when he gets back though he has to be very tight with his money. Both were in Japan for around 3 weeks and just happened to choose the same day I did to climb Fuji by general accident.  The bus ride was about 45 minutes or so to the 5th Station. It was not really exciting except that between waiting for the bus and riding up, all the clouds peeled off the mountain for us before we got there. This is apparently a rare experience.

At the station we discussed what were were going to do. The basic plot for climbing Fuji is it takes typically between 4-7 hours depending on the trail you are going to use and your own physical condition. We were going to take the Oshida trail which is rated at 5-7 hours. The idea is to get to the top in time to see the sun rise on Japan from the mountain top.  It was around 7 when we got to the station and we decided we would wait until 8:30 to start the trek.  Martin and I both found food at the station in the form of a giant doughy bun filled with pork. I am sure I have seen them before but had never tried them. Basically it ended up tasting like a giant pork gyoza but with a soft and doughy outer shell. It wasn't bad really. I also had a can of hot black coffee. Apparently the machines in Fuji still serve hot this time of year where I haven't seen them anywhere else right now.  After that it was just general killing time and using the facilities and talking to each other until it was time to start.  Sunrise would be at 4:40 or so at Fuji and that was giving us a reasonably good amount of time to get to the top. Far beyond what we would need.  For the trek I had my new backpack with my cold weather running shirt, running gloves, a windbreaker some snacks in the form of nuts I bought at the train station and basically my cell phone and headlamp. I also was wearing my trekking pants which I had zipped off the legs before leaving Tokyo as it was incredibly hot so the legs were in that bag as well. I also brought a water bottle belt that had compartment that I could fit my camera in as well as the 2 water bottles which I filled with water from the vending machines at the station.

The three of us didn't really know tons about how the climb was going to go but we figured we would just find out as we did it. The initial walk to the trailhead for Oshida Trail was down and up hill. For a short while you are in the tree line but then it is back out of it as you hit the trailhead and then onward and upward. Almost as soon as we got into the trail the batteries on my headlamp died but both Martin and Akush had headlamps of their own and the first area was fairly easy so I didn't want to run back and get batteries knowing that there would be stations along the trail that had stuff for sale and I figured that more than one of them would have to have batteries.  The climb is sort of divided into stages between the stations. You start at 5 and by the end I think technically what might be considered a 9th station is the top of the mountain.  Though it is peak climbing season and the trail is by far the busiest of the 4 you can take at first the trail didn't seem too busy. I think a lot of people probably start at 10 because that should get them to the top closer to when the sun will rise in theory.  The initial climb to the 6th station was not really bad at all basically being a series of switchbacks on crushed lava and sand.  As we moved up we had to take some stops to rest. Neither Akush nor Martin are all that athletic as they proclaimed themselves so we made periodic rests in the early going to conserve energy and because it appeared we had a real lot of time. It was interesting to see the clouds over the city down below us which we believe was Kawagochiko and how the city lights started to pull out from underneath them as clouds down there also broke during the night.  It was also interesting that for the first couple hours because of this effect it appeared the city was getting bigger instead of smaller as we got higher away from it.

As the trek continued the trails did get increasingly more difficult. Fortunately just before the really rocky section that required a lot of pull chain use as well as some hand on rocks climbing to get up I found a station that had AAA batteries. I completely got taken on them paying 1000 yen which is almost $13 for the set of 4 of which I needed 3 but in the long run it was really worth it to have the batteries as my headlamp is the LED type where both Martin and Akush's were older incandescent bulb types and about 3 hours into the trek their batteries were dead and my headlamp was still blinding people until the sunrise.  Pretty much everyone wears a headlamp on the trail and that was another interesting thing to watch as you looked up or down the trail and could see the line of little lights bobbing around along the trail.  As the climbing got more difficult so the trail got more crowded. There were obviously a bunch of tours that were climbing the mountain as units and they often had very different ability levels in the tour. I will say that I saw young children right up to older retirees along the trail as well as more than a few gaijin.  There is a proverb that says that every Japanese person should climb Fuji once but only a fool climbs it twice.  The other one is He who doesn't climb Fuji is a fool.  He who does climb Fuji is an even bigger fool.  Basically each year the climbing season is thousands of people per day climbing the mountain. Worse yet for us it was a Friday so being the start of the weekend many more people were there as they didn't have to work than there would have been on say Tuesday.  Needless to say the tours and the varying ability climbers posed an extra challenge that became more and more evident the closer we got to the top.  During the difficult terrain they would often cause the entire line to stop for long stretches as they clambered their way slowly and hesitantly up and the tours would block off the entire trail so as not to get separated during the climb making things even worse.

Honestly the trail did get a lot easier the higher we got after those couple rocky sections but of course the climb also got steeper though made of stairs or gravelly path most of the time. The steeper definitely took a lot out of a very large number of the climbers and again we found ourselves taking a step, stopping, waiting thirty seconds, taking another step and repeating ad nauseum.  It was certainly not the way I had wanted to spend my climb. I had to put on the pant legs pretty much before started the climb because it was already getting cool out. The 5th station is at around 2900 meters or so I think so it is already a reasonably high altitude. With sun down and clear skies it dropped in temperature steadily and got windy at times along the trail,  most often when we were in the bad car accident type traffic where we weren't moving enough to keep warm.  I chose at hut past the 6th station to put on my warm weather running shirt but when we were moving I was fine so I didn't want to sweat a lot and never ended up putting on my jacket (I cannot recall seeing anyone else who didn't have a jacket on by the time I put on the shirt).  At various points they had thermometers and we saw temps like 8 and 6C.  It probably wouldn't have been bad at all but for the wind and the stopping. At times we were able to make our way around the slow people by cutting through unused areas of the trail but often the trail bottlenecked so we couldn't do anything but stop and wait. As this pattern continued we often forsook our own rest breaks just to try to get ahead of the people that were slowing us down. We kept checking the suggested amount of time we had left and for many stretches early on it looked very good but as the crowds of the trail affected us more and more it was sort of a worry that we would arrive late.

When we got to the 8.5th station Martin needed to change his shirts because the sweat inside was freezing him to death.  This turned out to be truly unfortunate because he took a long time to get back to us (he was able to use a hut to get out of the cold and dry off and change but said he had a Chinese woman sitting on his shoes and it took forever to find them (no shoes on in the huts). The problem with this is that the large number of tour groups we passed chose this 10 minute span to start up the last portion of the trail to the summit.  Akush and I were dismayed and rightly so because when we did finally start are own portion of this climb the very same thing we fought past started all over again.  I think if we had managed to get out before the tours it would have been a breeze but instead it was another span of longer than an hour of stopping and starting all over again.  We did manage to push past some of the people along the way but as we were wading through the sea of people we could see the beginning coloration of the sun getting ready to rise on the horizon below us and we were getting worried we weren't going to make it. Fortunately our perseverance paid off and we made it up to the tori gate that signifies the top of the mountain by about 4am.

As  I said sunrise officially happened at around 4:40 but we were able to perch in some reasonably good spots as all the other people filed up past us and took a lot of pictures and videos until the sun was fully up.  From there we climbed to the final station and had to push our way through crowds again. We took a few more pictures from this portion of the mountain and took a small breather before deciding to do the crater trail which basically circumnavigates the main eruption crater. Martin was not going to go all the way around as he was far too tired but in the long run he made it to the end of the trail. We did skip the summit station because the lines were not moving and many people long. Not sure if it was for restrooms or just to see some stuff up there. All the same none of us wanted to wait and see what the fuss was so we just continued on the trail until we got to the descent trail.

The Oshida Trail has different trails for ascent and descent and theoretically the descent trail is much easier. However the truth is that though it was faster it was the part of the whole experience I didn't like. It basically was a series of  switchbacks dug out by a bulldozer I am sure. The problem was the grades were steep and the whole path was made of very loose crushed lava and sand. It meant slipping and sliding and falling or almost falling most of the way down. I hated it. If they had just used a less steep grade the whole process would have gone much faster but the path they made was slower for trying not to fall. Also, the trails created so much reddish brown dust that got over everyone and everything during the descent. I could feel my hair felt like it had plaster in it and everything I owned that was visible was covered in a coating of the stuff. About a quarter of the way down Martin and I parted with Akush as he was going to do different things but we were both getting back on the bus and eventually getting to hotels hopefully as quickly as we could.  As we got further down the trail the weather started to catch up to Japan in August, meaning getting very hot.  The sweat and the dust made a most disgusting combination and I felt gross fairly early on. Also the dust got all in my eyes, nose and mouth as more and more people trying to get down fast kicked up even larger amounts of it.

By the time we got back to the 5th station all I could think about was washing my hands and face and I tried to use the mens room but a man wouldn't let me do it at first because I had a backpack (there are no trash bins on Fuji as is typical for Japan and I am sure he was trying to prevent people from dumping their trash in the restrooms. I dropped my gear next to him and went in and washed up as best I could with no soap and no towels.  When I was done  I waited for Martin who had gone to have a cigarette before we tried to figure out our bus.  During that time a nice old Japanese Tourist Information man came over and talked to me for a couple minutes. We talked about the climb and what I thought of it and he mentioned he had climbed Fuji 4 times (so I guess he isn't a fool) but had never seen the sunrise due to clouds covering the mountain. He said we were very lucky (I used my sun god powers as moon god powers for the full moon night on this climb) and that most people don't have that happen. We also talked about Boston for a couple of minutes because he had been there once before and wanted to go back. He gave me a couple postcards of Fuji for the conversation. Pretty cool I thought.

Martin was not coming to the restroom area like he said he would but I was sure I heard an announcement  for the bus wee needed to take so I searched that out and found it was going to be a couple minutes before it loaded and departed and hurriedly I searched until I found him and were able board the thing right away. Who knows when another bus would be there. It was so quick I never got to buy anything to drink. The ride down was about 45 minutes and I think I dozed off on it a bit.  When we got to the Kawagochiko Station we parted ways as he had a hotel locally and I had to get to Hamamatsucho.  I got right into the train station and of course the express back to Otsuki was already there and I had to get on before getting something to drink. As an express it did not stop at every stop but it still drove very slow which meant it took probably about 20-25 minutes to get to Otsuki. I think we had arrived at the 5th station at around 11:45am. By the time we got to Kawagochiko I think it must have been 12:15 or so. The train ride to Otsuki got me there at about 12:45.  I was able to book a green car seat to Shinjiku that departed at 1:04 and arrived at Shinjuku at 2:04. I then immediately jumped onto the Yamanote line to Hamamatsucho and was basically back at the room by about 2:45which was much earlier than I was expecting. I got cleaned up and cleaned my stuff as best I could before writing this then choosing to relax for a bit before dinner (recall I hadn't had lunch).

After a brief stop of less than an hour I headed out to find dinner. I think before I left I set it in my head I would get a pizza at the Dream Factory. You may recall I've been there on both previous trips. Hamamatsucho is dead on the weekend because it is mainly a business area and there was just no one around at all even though it was 6pm on a Saturday night. Not so amazingly I remembered exactly where the place was and entered to see a couple people there and some folks that were obviously family (if not all of them, probably all of them). I ordered a Sapporo draft and the pizza mezalone which is an eggplant and salami with basil leaves pizza. He does his pizzas in the very thin almost cracker like crust. It was honestly an excellent pizza if a bit messy to eat. The eggplant was sliced very thing but was across the whole pizza and slid off the top a bit too much. Nothing to bother me really. The taste was great.  I know I'm in Japan but I think pizza and beer was a good way to celebrate completing Fuji. Plus it really required little thought. The owner gave me a free dessert which was a couple of biscotti and some amoretto to dip the cookies in.  They were very good also. Meanwhile some of the other people started talking to me in halting English and were very nice. They were all older and were trying to figure out an iPad so I helped them with that a little bit and we talked about a couple other things in the best we could. They gave me a slice of their mushroom pizza which was also really good. I think it had about 5 different types of mushrooms on it at least, maybe more. I then ordered an espresso and finished that (as a sort of thank you for the biscotti). When I settled up I headed to the Lawson around the corner and picked up a can of Sapporo Classic and headed back to the room for the night. It was only 8pm but I was shot from the full 2 days.

The pictures from days 13 and 14 got mushed together due to the days being so and can be found here.

Friday, August 03, 2012

Japan 2012 Day 13 Part 1


I started off with a very early morning, getting up at 5am to get cleaned up and on my way to the airport. I was out the door after double-checking the packing at about 6am and it was a 20 minute walk hauling the suitcase to Sapporo Station. Fortunately the streets were basically empty at this point so it wasn’t much of an issue to get through except for the traffic lights. It was maybe a little bit cool but the hint of another hideously humid day was definitely looming over the city. I think maybe it would rain a little bit in some areas.

At the train station I immediately went to the ticket office and reserved a seat on the Airport Rapid Service train which was departing in about 10 minutes. I chose then just to go to the track and board rather than trying to find something to eat. The ride took about 40 minutes and had more stops than you would expect a rapid service train to make but still it was not like I wasn’t extremely early. In these situations I think it is always better to err on the side of caution when it comes to checking into an airport to catch a flight in a foreign country. Haneda was a seriously busy airport on the way to Sapporo and I had no idea how New Chitose Airport would be.

Getting into the airport I had a small touch of confusion finding the check in counter but managed it moderately quickly anyway. The girl took a few minutes to find my ticketing information but did manage to do it so it was not too bad. I noticed that the flight included 2 checked bags as a domestic trip. Imagine if that came back in the US… In any event I was only checking the one. I would not dare send the laptop through that way even in Japan.  By the time I had my ticket it was still very early so I found a Lawson and bought a can of cold black coffee, a bag of chocolate chip cookies and a bag of almonds and macadamia nuts. I found a place to sit and eat the cookies and drink the coffee then headed towards the security check. As with the ticketing counter there was no line at all. I am not sure if it is because it was so early or because it was just not a busy day, time, airline, something?  In any event it meant that I was now basically 2 hours to flight time. So maybe probably one hour and forty minutes to boarding time. I wandered the gate areas for a few minutes looking in all the shops. Again being in the domestic terminal meant the gifts were all basically foodstuffs. In Japan apparently the best gift to bring back is something edible so people buy all that stuff at the airport just before they leave and give them to the people they are expected to provide gifts for. I guess it sort of makes sense but it really does make for odd gift shops to a westerner.  After the quick tour I bought a grape drink and sat at the gate which had one flight before mine to depart for Nagoya.  It didn’t appear it was either a large plane or maybe it wasn’t a full flight as the gate was not that full of waiting people even 10 minutes before they were supposed to board.

I killed some time by watching the taiko videos I had made the night before then shut down the computer and waited out the last few minutes. Our plane was supposed to depart at 10 and the boarding time was 9:45.  I watched around 500 people get off the plane coming from Tokyo so I was curious how they could manage this. Nonetheless boarding was quick again but we were not a full plane at all this time and I even had an empty seat next to me though someone was sitting on the window seat.  The flight was basically uneventful. I had a coffee from their drink service and again they had the camera to show take off and landing.  This time they did show a safety video however which was different from the other direction.  Coming into Tokyo it was obviously only partly cloudy and they said Haneda was 30C.  I got off the plane and waited only a few minutes for my bag to come off the conveyor and then it was time to find the monorail.  This was not too hard and the next one coming was an express to Hamamatsucho as opposed to a local which would stop at every stop. The express skipped a bit less than half of the stops.

I got to the Villa Fontaine at about 12:30 but they said check in time was not until 3pm which was going to put a big dent into my ability to get out to Fuji and start climbing in a reasonable time frame. However, I really didn’t have much of a choice in the matter so I left my suitcase in the hotel and carrying my backpack headed out to get lunch. I wasn’t really in the mood for searching or fighting so I just went over to the Mosburger and had another double Mos cheeseburger with fries and a melon soda but I didn’t take a picture as I have a couple of them already and I didn’t feel like digging the camera out. 

After I finished eating I pretty much decided I should head back to the hotel and use the lobby computer to figure out my train options to get to the mountain and then sat in the lobby writing some of this while I waited for them to check me in.  My ploy worked out pretty well in that they chose to check me in at about 2pm as a non-smoking room got ready. I then basically hurried upstairs sorted out my stuff and headed off to Shinjuku to start the trek up Fuji.  More to come when I return.

Thursday, August 02, 2012

Japan 2012 Day 12


I got to start today later than normal because it was my planned relax and hop around Sapporo day knowing that I would be flying back to Tokyo the day after then trying to get almost directly to mount Fuji to start the climb.  With that in mind I knew that a day without the risk of failing to get back to the hotel was the best option for me. 

I woke up really late for me, at 6:45 and then took my time getting ready to get out the door.  I tried to sort out some of my packing for the flight so that I wouldn’t have to do it later.  I then headed out to the JR Station to get breakfast.  Guess what?  It was actually a reasonable temperature today. I would say it rated at about 70 or so most of the day. There was often a swift breeze coming along with it too so it was by far my favorite weather day here even if it was a bit overcast most of the day.  At the JR Station I hit the Mister Donut and had a cream filled donut and a chocolate coconut donut along with a cup of coffee. I thought the cream filled was lemon but I was wrong. Oh well. 

After the donuts it was on to the Hokkaido University Botanical Garden which I had been unable to visit on Monday.  This time it was indeed open. It was a pretty cool garden having all styles of plants set up in sections by format, such as the rose garden which still had roses here (the Tokyo ones were finished) as well as a marsh plants garden, shrubs, trees, herbaceous plants and the like. I wandered through for reasonably over an hour and basically enjoyed the lazy format of the visit.  They also had a small but very good Ainu museum which had a lot of artifacts from the Ainu.  If I have not mentioned before, the Ainu are the aboriginal tribes to Hokkaido.  I assume they have integrated in by this point but I could be wrong.  I need to do more research on them.

After the garden I headed over to the Sapporo Factory which is a big mall. My intention was to find a small backpack for the hike that was not too expensive. I had not succeeded in the time I had allotted in the US and was going to have to go without if I couldn’t find one. This would pose problems for layers I needed to bring but did not want to start with knowing the heat.  I did manage to find one for about 30 bucks which I guess is the best I could hope for. Most of them were $90 or higher which is insane. While in the factory I decided to have lunch at a Japanese style hamburger place (this isn’t a burger joint). I actually had the beef hash which was a shaved beef stew with mushrooms, carrots, onions and a potato in a brown gravy served over a large helping of white rice. It was actually very good. I rounded that out with a Sapporo beer of course.  After lunch I tried to head to the Sake Museum, which I found but it turned out it wasn’t really a museum at all but rather a shop which was really disappointing especially because with nothing in English it all could have just said sake on the bottles and nothing else.   There wasn’t even a chance of sampling without having to order and pay which meant I had no idea what I was getting if I tried to so I passed.

From the ‘museum’ I headed to the Nijo Fish Market which was a small market but bigger than the one in say Kanazawa. I walked through it to see what they had and it was mostly various forms of crab. Not so much anything else.  After I was done there I headed back to the room for a few minutes to put on some sunscreen which I had forgotten to take with me as it was cloudy out in the morning but the sun was starting to poke through.  After a brief stop I headed back out and this time decided to attempt to visit the full circuit of Odari Park which before I made it too far I stopped at a Sapporo Beer Garden and ordered a Yebisu Black and an order of edamame. When I was finished with those I decided to have a Sapporo premium and an order of sausages to go along with it. While I was finishing my beer an older Japanese man and his wife came over and sat with me and we talked for maybe about 45 minutes. He was very friendly and good natured. He spoke English reasonably well if at times a bit haltingly.  We talked about a lot of stuff including the disasters in the country and 9/11 and so on. It was an interesting conversation. Eventually though we both finished our beers and headed on our own ways.  I found the far end of the park I hadn’t seen before and another small rose garden there. I then headed back to the other end which is the Sapporo TV Tower and then headed back to the main street in theory to search for some dinner. I didn’t rush through any of this at all and made a couple detours through some shopping arcades as I was poking around.

It turns out that there was some sort of “Grand Opening” festival going on and not too far back from the park the main street was closed off and a stage was set up. There were guys doing ice carvings as well.  I was looking for the CoCoIchi which is a Japanese style curry shop but I actually passed right by it without noticing before I ran into the festival.  I watched the ice carving for a little bit then worked my way back and found they were about to start some taiko drumming performances so I settled in and watched a team of high school age girls and boys perform a couple songs before they broke up that portion, presumably to start something else. They weren’t very quick so I decided to go searching for the dinner I had initially started out for and found the CoCoIchi and went in. It is right on the corner of the main intersection but it is very small. I ordered a thinly sliced curry pork over rice. I asked for a 4 on the heat scale of 6. It was good and reasonably spicy. As with any time I have curry I had to have a beer and had a Kirin lager which is pretty much what they served there.  When I was done I walked back down the street and found the carvings were done and quickly got pictures of them all while they were melting then headed back to the stage where it was obvious something was about to start again.

It was more taiko drumming but this time it was a much bigger presentation. They had 5 or maybe 6 teams. It was impossible to see all of them at once. In some instances the whole lot of them played the same song which was really impressive and in other times the individual teams did their own songs. They were all really good. The team that I had seen as the warm up earlier was there and they were probably the best of the lot. I didn’t really want to get in too late but fortunately they stopped just around 8:00 so I didn’t have to miss anything by leaving. I am sure more was going to go on but I couldn’t really hang out with the fact I needed to finish getting packed and prepared for the next day’s travel.

The pictures from today can be found here.

Wednesday, August 01, 2012

Japan 2012 Day 11

I  had to get up early because of the distance I would travel today. I had sort of put the destination today as a wait and see how it goes sort of place and was as much expecting to ride a long time, get lunch and turn right back around as anything else.  When I got dressed and started my way outside I discovered it was pouring out. First day I didn't open the curtain to check. I figured it was just a given.  So I had to run back upstairs and change into long pants and get my umbrella. Wasn't too thrilled with the idea but it really was coming down hard.  My destination was Hakodate which is almost 4 hours away from Sapporo and is the third largest city on Hokkaido. It is famous for being the first port to open up to foreigners after the period of isolation ended.  Before I left I got my ticket for the 7:30 train and went to Doutour to have some cheese toast and coffee before a quick run into a Kiosk to buy a snack for the ride.  My hopes were that as I rode west and south I would find my way out of the rain and basically that is exactly what happened. Along the ride I ate some chocolate mushroom things made by Meiji candy. I had similar things on previous trips and they were reasonably ok. Along the way I got a glimpse of Lake Onuma which is probably someplace I should have visited though it is not likely at this point as it very far from Sapporo and tomorrow is my last full day in Hokkaido. Plus it really is a short visit from what I have read, no matter how nice it looks.  It would have been best coupled together with Hakodate but I arrived in the city at 11:15.

First course of action was to find the tourist office which I did and found there was a guy there who probably grew up in Hawaii helping some Aussies.  Since he really spoke English I waited for him and got the lowdown on what to do. I knew there was western style fort to visit but apparently there is a shopping district made from the old red brick warehouses near the waterfront. There are also many western style buildings and a few western churches out that way.  The fort was going to take a trolley car ride to get to so I figured I would hit the local area stuff first then make my way out to the fort. On the way to the touristy things I stumbled upon the Hakodate Beer brewery and restaurant and of course since it was basically lunchtime I had to go in.  I had their 4 beer sampler: Weiss, Alt, Ale and Kolsch. Plus I had an order of savory spare ribs which were done with a sesame soy based sauce and were perfectly fall off the bone cooked. The guy that came in after me and sat near me ordered the same thing I think because of how good mine looked. I should have gotten the edamame he got to go along but I wasn't really thinking. After settling up I worked my way into the red brick warehouses and wandered around that area for a few minutes. I decided I was in search of ice cream and found a place called Lucky Pierrot where I got soft serve sundae in a waffle cone basically. It had cheesecake and a berry sauce on it and was really quite good.  I did choose to sit down and eat it because I could tell it would be messy otherwise.

From there I worked my way uphill and into the old buildings area. I found the former British consulate building and the old Hakodate Public Hall which was really western looking. I would say it looked like an old south building really.  I then worked my way over to seeing the churches. There was a Russian Orthodox church, an ugly Episcopal church and a stout looking Roman Catholic church. I kept seeing signs for a Greek Orthodox church but I never did find it.  I am not sure where it was or if it really existed. It is not on the map I got from the tourist office.

Next up was the cable car ride up to the top of Mount Hakodate. Yes, 3 cable car rides in 4 days in Hokkaido. This one again was a large car and full of people so that it wasn't really all that treacherous feeling. Plus it was only a 3-5 minute ride. The car really did move fast. At the observatory there were several good views of the city that were basically spoiled by the haze that hung over it a little but still it was nice to be up there. By the way it continued to be insanely humid and around 30C all day as has been typical for the obviously cooler than Tokyo region of Hokkaido.  Yeah, right... Anyway, the observatory was not really all that large so I spent a few minutes gathering as many good pictures as I could before taking the ride back down and heading on my way to see a couple of Japanese style shrines and temples also in the region. The shrine has a graveyard for the new government army hidden in the back which I did manage to discover.  Different from other graveyards around here in that it had old stone monuments that were obviously permanent.  The shrine was Gokoku Shrine and the temple was the Hakodate Higashihonganji Temple.

When I was done with the temple it was on to the fort but that meant walking back to the train station and then getting on a trolley car which was probably about a 20 minute ride. The trolley was a bit difficult to make sure I was on the correct one at first but it turns out I did it right and was able to get off at the Goryokaku Koen Mae stop. The fort is the Goryokaku Fort and is about 3/4 of a kilometer away from the trolley stop. It was not hard to follow the signs and get my way there. First thing I noticed was the Goryokaku Tower. The tower is of course tall and has an observatory right next to the fort. I figured it would be the best way to see the fort as a whole so I went in, paid up and rode up. The tower does give a nice view of the city from a different direction than the mountain but unfortunately it is a touch too close for good pictures of the fort in my opinion. Any picture really has to come with window frames in the view.  In any event I took what pictures I could and then headed my way back down. Oh yes, one more glass floor location to walk on in this tower too. Yes I did it.

Getting out of the tower I went into the fort and found they had a reconstruction of the old Hakodate Magistrates Offices in the center. Apparently before the battle of Hakkodate which I am going to have to research better at some point, the informational signs were sort of confusing and I am not that familiar with the history already, the magistrate's office was there but after the battle it was torn down symbolically. The fort was built in around 1858 or so and was used for a bit over 10 years before it was dismantled. The magistrate's office was built inside it to protect it from attack. I guess in the long haul the fort didn't work that well. I believe it was lost in 1871 or so.  The building was fairly cool but no pictures were allowed inside so you'll have to take my word on it.  After touring that I decided to clamber around the ramparts of the fort and pretty much covered the entire circumference minus an area that looked closed. On one side I found a stage set on the fort side of the moat with a giant grandstand on the opposite side. I suspect they have concerts or plays or the like there. It looked fairly cool.

After the ramparts I decided it had gotten pretty late and I should head back to the train station. I got on the next available trolley car heading back which behind me filled in as though it was a bus in India.  There was basically no room to breath in it and it got really swelteringly hot. I had to stick it out though. Figuring out which was my stop was a bit of a nightmare too because it was so noisy but I did manage to get my way to getting off the trolley at the right stop and heading straight into the train station where I reserved a seat for my ride home. Unfortunately it was 5:30 which meant I missed the 5:11 and had to wait until the 6:24.  I had intended to get dinner at Sapporo but I had an hour to kill and would be getting there at 10pm so instead I found a restaurant on the second floor of the train station and ate there. I would have liked maybe to order something different but the menu had like 2 pictures in it and one of them was pork katsu with rice. I chose that and I had a Sapporo classic. It turned out to be very good food anyway. I was happy with that.  When I finished and settled up I moved back downstairs and bought a Dars bar and a can of cold black coffee for the ride and got to the platform. It was early but the train was already set up to go so I got on board and waited it out. It left on time and was basically uneventful. I ate the candy bar and drank the coffee along the way. We passed by Onuma around sunset and that looked really nice again. I don't try to take pictures from moving trains because they are gone before you can click the button unfortunately. I would have liked a picture of how it looked.  After a bit I sort of nodded off and was in and out of dozing for the ride until Minami-Chitose which is about 20 minutes before Sapporo Station.    From there I woke myself back up and waited out the rest of the ride. We got back at just about 10pm and I exited the station and got back to the room as quickly as I could which turned out to be 10:20 including having to wait for traffic lights and the elevator time. Not too bad I thought.  From there it was posting the pictures and writing this.

The pictures from today are found here.