Japan

Well, I should be doing something productive, but as usual I have decided to procrastinate instead. So here’s an entry on Japan .

Like in China , we docked in 2 ports in Japan – Kobe and Yokohama . First up was Kobe, which is only about an hour and a half away from Kyoto, the ancient capital of Japan and the place where much of the Tale of Genji (which I had to read for class) takes place. I’ve wanted to go to Kyoto for years now, so the second day in port I, Howard, Megan, Ben, and Tesia went there. But I’m getting a bit ahead of myself, so I’ll come back to that.

The first day in Kobe it took FOREVER to get off the ship because Japanese customs and immigration procedures are really long, annoying, and strict. They also had to take everyone’s temperature to make sure we weren’t brining any weird diseases into the country, so that only made the process longer. Anyway, Howard, Megan, Michaella and I finally got off the ship and made it our first priority to get some grub, since at that point we were quite hungry. We ended up finding a little hole-in-the-wall noodle joint which thankfully had pictures on the menu, and I ended up getting noodles with pork and some pot stickers. After that we decided to go to Mt. Rokko to get a nice view of the Bay of Osaka , so after taking the train and the bus which we were only mostly sure would get us where we wanted, we got to the tram that would take us to the top of Mt. Rokko . We bought the round-trip ticket but didn’t pay the extra 3 dollars for the combination bus pass because we wanted to save money. So after we got to the top of the mountain and looked at the map, we realized that all of the interesting stuff to do was on the other side of the mountain top. But we decided it would be way more awesome to walk to the other side than to take the bus, and we ended up heading to The Sheep (aka the Mt. Rokko Pastures) and the Cheese Palace because we easily found the road that would take us there to those places. Plus, the road sign said the Pastures were only 4 km away, which didn't sound very far. It turns out 4 km on a hill IS kind of far, but I thought it was really fun. Anyway, by the time we got to the small town on the mountain top, we discovered that everything closed at 3, and it was around 4 or so by this point. We did find a hotel with those funky toilets with heated seats and fun buttons to press and a post office where I use Japanglish and lots of pointing to order stamps (I ended up being the designated speaker most of the time in Japan, even though most of the time I didn’t know any better than anyone else how to say anything). Anyway, we passed the town and continued in the direction of the Pastures and Cheese Palace to see if it was actually made of cheese (I didn’t think it would be, for the record), but by that time the sun was setting, and when we got to the Mt. Rokko Pastures, it was starting to get dark out. We didn’t want to shell out the dough to actually go inside the farm (it was closing around then anyway), so we just admired the sheep and Kobe beef in-the-making we had come so far to see from afar.

But even though we didn't see the animals up close, we did pay a visit to the gift shop, where I ordered what I thought was milk-flavored ice cream (which exists and tastes really good), but I ended up with a cup of actual milk instead. (Well, at least it was fresh, and it was the closest I came to having Kobe beef.) After my flawed attempt at getting ice cream, we all successfully got what I am now convinced was cheese-flavored frozen yogurt made from sheep’s milk. I say this because when the women was describing it, I heard her say “sofuto” (soft-serve) and “cheezu” (cheese) and there was a picture of a sheep next to a cut-out of a cone with soft-serve inside, and I thought it tasted more like yogurt than ice cream. Anyway, it tasted kind of like sweet cream cheese, and I enjoyed it immensely.

After that, we decided the Cheese Palace (it might have been the Cheese Castle…but I digress) was too far away and it was too dangerous to continue along the blind corners of the mountain road in the dark anyway, so we decided to go back to the tram, but we didn’t want to walk there. So we waited at the bus stop for a very long time for a bus we were only 80% sure was coming. We never did find out if the Cheese Palace was made of cheese, or what the heck it was, for that matter. But we did eventually get on the bus, and we safely got back to the tram, rode it down, and then we headed back to downtown  Kobe . At that point Michealla split with us, but Megan, Howard, and I got some…okonamiyaki, I think it was, which was like a pancake with stuff in it. Mine had pork in it and it was gooood. With our hunger somewhat satiated (the pancake things weren't very big), we went back to the ship to meet up with Ben and then went to karaoke, which was amazingly expensive but a lot of fun. It took us awhile to find the English song selection, but we did eventually, and then proceeded to give several beautiful renditions of such songs as Tic Toc, Livin’ on a Prayer (which was the best, and Howard has it on video), Dancing Queen, Poker Face, and others. After that I don’t remember what happened, but I think we went back to the ship.

The next day Howard, Megan, Ben, Tesia and I went to Kyoto by the train. Luckily we got the Express Train both ways, so that significantly sped up the process. After we got there, I used my awesome Japanese skills to get us a map, and we ended up at a shrine in the geisha district, Gion (we didn’t see any geishas, though). The shrine was pretty cool, and we took lots of pictures. There were also several adorable little kids dressed up in kimonos, so we took stalker photos of them that we probably shouldn’t have. We had done the same thing the day before at the Ikuta Shrine in Kobe , which I forgot to mention earlier. Actually, Michaella and I managed to get a photo with a weird person in a bunny suit there, too.

But anywho, after the shrine we continue on to the Gion-in Temple , where there were monks chanting inside, which we all found very cool. There was also a giant bell there, and I’m sure Wikipedia explains what it’s for, but I don’t remember. Anyway, after that we went to the Heian Jingu Shrine, and on the way we ran into some of our SAS friends who were there with some students from Osaka University . We asked the university students if they knew a place with kuru-kuru sushi (the sushi that goes around on a conveyer belt), but they weren’t from around the area, so they didn’t know one.

After that, we looked for (and found!) a tourist info center to ask about getting into the Kyoto Imperial Palace , where we were told we wouldn’t be able to get into the Palace. But we decided to go to the park where the castle was anyway to see if we could see it over the walls that surround it. Well, it turns out the tourist info person had been misinformed, because that day was one of the once a year or something occasions where people get into the palace for free. We were in kind of a hurry because we had to get back on the ship before 8 p.m., so we didn’t get to sit around and admire it for very long, but it was still pretty cool to see, and the garden was especially nice. Actually, everywhere in Kyoto was beautiful that time of year because it was fall and the leaves were changing colors everywhere. Seeing the Palace was also cool because the SAS trip didn't get to go there/my history professor was super jealous of Tesia and I (we're both in her class) because we got to go.

Anyway, at the exit of the Imperial Palace there were a bunch of vendors handing out samples of Japanese treats and stuff, so of course we had a ball trying those out. I even ended up buying some delicious mochi, which will hopefully still be good by the time we get to San Diego. We then rushed to the train station and went back to Kobe, but we still had plenty of time before we had to get back on the ship, so we decided to get something to eat before heading back to the port.  We split at that point because we wanted to eat different things for dinner, and Tesia and I ended up getting delicious dumplings and pot stickers before we went back.

The next day was spent in transit between Kobe and Yokohama, and I don’t think I did anything interesting, so let’s skip ahead to Yokohama . The first day there Nick, Jacob, and I went to Tokyo . We first stopped at Shibuya to witness the busiest crosswalk in the world (I think it is, anyway) that seems to be in every movie with Tokyo in it ever made. Next, we went to the Pokemon Center , which was severely underwhelming. It only had one floor, it was pretty small, and everything in there was terribly overpriced. There was one thing I kind of wanted, which was a set of Pikachu cards from around the world, but I didn’t feel like waiting in the very long line to purchase it. The best part about the store was the demographics – besides us and like 2 other white tourists, the store was jam-packed with 10-year-old Japanese kids and their parents.

After that, we went to Akihabara, which is basically the electronics district, but it is also pretty much the manga and anime (Japanese comic books and cartoons, respectively) capital of the world. Nick and Jacob, not being fans of either, didn’t stay long, but I spent a long time there just looking in the stores, thinking about buying things, and then deciding not to. I did buy a few souvenirs at the duty-free stores, but that’s different. And I may have bought some really cute socks and these weird super long socks that Japanese girls like to wear all baggy-like around their ankles. Anyway, I eventually remembered that I had to check my email to see if my host parents had emailed me (more on this later), so I went to the nearest Internet café I could find, which of course in such an anime-centric place ended up being a manga café where you can read manga as you browse the ‘net. However, for whatever reason this café was on the fourth floor of a building that had an anime store on the bottom floor and two floors of adult goods right below the café. So that was interesting. Anyway, I didn’t realize it at the time, but apparently I had to be a member to use the café and I think I accidentally purchased said membership, because they gave me a card that they didn’t take back when I left that they made me write my name on. At least it wasn’t too expensive, and hey, maybe I'll get a discount if I ever go back!

After using the café, I hit up a few more shops and then decided it was time to go to Shibuya for a bit to look around, since that’s where all the expensive shopping and stuff is. But on the way out of Akihabara, some news reporter from who-knows-what English-speaking country asked me what I thought of the district, to which I gave a very stupid-sounding reply about being surprised about all the “adult stuff” there or something (besides anime and electronics, there was a lot of anime porn and porn stuff in general for sale, in case you were wondering). So apparently a Californian in Tokyo was on the news somewhere else in the world that day.

When I was done in Akihabara I went to Shibuya, where I window-shopped and admired all of the adorable Japanese clothes for a while (I like Japanese fashion MUCH better than American fashion, by the way), and then walked the streets for a bit because I didn’t want to go back to the ship quite yet. In the process I ended up finding and eating at a sushi-go-round place (with the very original name of Sushi-Go-Round), which I was glad to have finally found. I was still a bit full from the late lunch I’d had, so I was able to leave having spent only around $10. I bet Magali couldn’t do that.

After a bit more wandering and getting slightly lost, I eventually got back on the train and returned to the Yokohama port, where I took a shower and got ready for bed only to have Michaella, fresh back from Disney Sea (a theme park next to Tokyo Disneyland) tell me that she, Nick, and Jacob were about to go walk around Yokohama. So of course I decided to get changed and come along. There was pretty much nothing open, but we did walk in the park a bit and see the stadium where Yokohama ’s baseball team plays, although we only admired it from the outside. We also spent some time by the restroom in the park to shield us from the weather because it was raining pretty hard at the time.

Anyway, we eventually got back to the ship and went to sleep. The next day the four of us went to a mall close to the ship to look around and to get lunch/breakfast. I only stayed for a little bit, though, because I had arranged to meet my host family in the afternoon. I had stayed with them when I had been in Yokohama 6 years ago, so I was really excited to be able to see them again. I was only able to get a hold of them 5 days before we met, and my host mom says she rarely checks her email, so I’m really, really lucky I was able to see them. All went as planned, though, and we were able to talk and hang out for a few hours. Turns out the timing was perfect, because the parents and kids were free that day because it was Japanese Labor Day. The fact that day was Labor Day was not as convenient for some other friends of mine, though. They stayed up all night to see the famous tuna market at 5 in the morning in Tokyo only to find it closed when they arrived. But I digress.

Even though I didn’t have long with them, it was great to see my host family again. Akiko, the oldest, is now 16, has an awesome sense of fashion, and is gorgeous. Ryuuta, who was 5 when I visited before, is now 10, and Hanako is now the age I was when I visited before (14). My host parents, however, looked exactly the same. We had a bit of difficulty communicating because what little Japanese I used to know I’ve more or less forgotten and they do not know very much English, but we made it work and were able to have a decent conversation.

As for what we actually did? Well, first I showed them the MV Explorer, since the port in Yokohama has a part where you can walk along the top of it and look down at the ships that are docked there. After that, Hana, Ryuuta and I went on the Ferris wheel on the waterfront, which was really funny because they were terrified the entire time but afterwards said it was really fun (although they did admit it was also scary). We also went to Starbucks (I got a green tea frappucino thing, upon the recommendation of Hana) and then my host parents said they wanted to get me a present, so they got me a really cute outfit at one of the malls that I am almost afraid to wear because knowing me I’ll just get it dirty and ruin it. It was also the first and only item of clothing I tried on, which shows that Japan is the place for people my size (aka short people) to shop – nothing EVER fits me in the U.S., much less the first thing I try on.

Anyway, it was getting close to time for me to get back on the ship, so we walked back in a hurry, took a few pictures, and I gave them some presents I had picked up on my travels with the promise of sending a link to my colorguard videos once I got back to the States, since I had told them that I was in the marching band at school. They also invited me to come visit and stay at their house the next time I come to Japan , an offer I plan to take up in the future. All in all, it was a fantastic experience.

It may seem stupid to say this since I’ve been to Japan before, but I think I had the best time in Japan out of all the countries I went to on SAS. Part of the reason, I think, is that I knew exactly what I wanted to do in Japan beforehand and was able to do everything I had planned, including seeing my host family, and I didn't feel pressed to do or see everything because I'd already been there. The only thing I was not able to do was get in contact with or see my other host family, who live in Izumo. But since I plan to come back, I figure I can pay them a visit then. Anyway, I had an absolutely fantastic time in Japan , and all that’s left now is Hawaii , which I haven’t been to in years.

Well, I’m not sure when I’ll have time to make my next journal entry, but I’ll try to do one for Hawaii before we dock in San Diego, and over break I’ll write some sort of conclusive entry for the trip. We’re really nearing the end here!