Japan - Day 3
Tuesday, October 23, 2007
Tuesday, October 23 (Japan Time)
Greetings from the Shinkanssen! That's the bullet-train that runs from one end of Japan to the other. Actually, I think there is more than one set of tracks, but whatever. Ginger and I have been train riding fools so far this week. This is my first time on the Shinkanssen. The rest of the trains have just been the mass transit lines in Tokyo.
It's nice to sit down finally and rest my feet. As I told Ginger earlier today, "My dawgies are tired!" We spent the majority of the day in Ueno at the Zoo. She and I have gone on several zoo dates in the US, and we had always wondered what animals foreign zoos would house.
Would they find commonplace animals from the US so interesting as to make them zoo-worthy? Would the gigantic squirrels of South Bend make it in? What about the possum - ugly and abundant in my home state of Kentucky - would it amaze the Japanese? Well, I'm happy to report that there were indeed animals indigenous to North America in the zoo, but not our squirrels or possum.
They
did have both bison and beaver. If you think about it, both of those animals make a lot of sense. I can't think of any other animals in the world that compare to either one. One Japanese girl was very intrigued by the bison, reading the sign and saying repeatedly, "Ohhh! Bi-SON! Bi-SON!" The bison also seemed intrigued by the girl, responding in kind by turning its back to her and creating a nice, steamy pile. Ginger and I also shouted upon seeing the familiar animal, only we both shouted "Tatanka!" unsolicited by the other. It was a bonding moment. Thank you, Kevin Costner.
We saw a lot of new animals, too. I had never seen a giant anteater or an aardvark before today, nor had I seen an armadillo. Apparently the animals with "a" names had evaded me all my life, but no more! Ginger thought it funny that I had to travel all the way to Japan to see my first armadillo when they're rampant in the central southern states. There were a ton of birds, including a lot of beautiful cranes, ibises, owls, and eagles. Some of the other animals we had never seen before included the ring-tailed cat, red panda, flying fox (basically a huge bat), and a bird called the Cock-of-the-Rock, which looked like it was donning an Elvis hairdo.
Quick aside: this train is seriously hauling. I'd guess we're doing somewhere between 100+ mph, easily. And the ride is very smooth.
I got to try some more traditional Japanese cuisine today before leaving Shinjuku. We went to what basically was a Japanese fast food restaurant, only it's more mom-and-pop style. What makes it fast-food-like is that the menu is a window display of all the dishes they cook with numbers by each. When you go inside, you walk up to a vending machine, put in your yen, press the button with the number you want, and it gives you a ticket. You then hand the ticket to the person at the counter and they make your dish and hand it to you. Ginger is fascinated by these restaurants and wanted to take me to one since I landed.
Oh, I still haven't told you what I had - udon noodles in a beef broth with beef and onions. In case you don't know, udon is a thick noodle made of buckwheat and is quite tasty. Top it off with a refreshing Coca-Cola purchased at one of the thousands of vending machines in lining the streets of Tokyo, and you have a tasty meal.
Now we're on our way to Osaka for the next three days. Our original plan was to go to Kyoto, but when you don't book your hotel until the day before, sometimes you have to change your plans. Especially here in Japan, where it seems like people must live in hotels, or the tourism industry is doing great. Hotel searching last night was actually the only time I thought I might say something mean to Ginger. It wasn't her fault - I was tired from a long day of walking and we were trying to book on the hotel lobby computer, which had an English/Japanese keyboard. The worst part -- the space key was shortened to create two new keys that switch to Japanese, but not back to English. So mid-sentence or Google search, your word were suddenly replaced with Japanese kanjis. Once we gave up on the hotel search, I tried to write an email to my parents and gave up in the first sentence.
The next morning I find out that the hotel has free internet in the rooms, but you have to ask for a kit. Awesome. I am my own worst enemy. Nevertheless, the last hour of our stay was enough to find a room at the Ramada Inn in Osaka. We're hoping that a hotel with a western name will have a few more comforts of the Western life, namely a bed that's not so firm.
One more thought on the Shinkanssen -- it's not so much designed for tourist travel as it is business travel. Most of the passengers appear to be business-men and women. There's also no room for luggage. Well, at least no dedicated room. There's a luggage shelf above the seats that's really only suitable for for backpacks or small carry-on luggage, but there's no space for large suitcases. Luckily no one has a ticket for the third seat in our row, so that's where my bag is. Ginger fit hers behind the last row of the car. I'm not sure why they didn't design the cars to have a luggage space, since the Japanese seem to have most other things pretty well thought out. I guess they don't get a lot of tourists on the trains. Oh well. If that's the only issue we run into all week, we've got it made.
Labels: Animals not named AniMal, Ginger, Japan
Author: Goat » Comments:
Japan - Day 1
Sunday, October 21, 2007
Sunday, 21 Oct 2007 (Japan time)
Well, I made it to Japan. It's kind of surreal, but here I am. I got in last night, which seemed like yesterday morning to me because of the time change. Ginger met me at the airport and helped me navigate the trains into Tokyo and to our hotel. It's good she came because I couldn't fall asleep on the flight and I was running on fumes. I managed to stay up late enough to accompany her to dinner. She scarfed down a rice bowl with beef, plus all the traditional side dishes and miso soup. I settled on a bowl of warm miso soup which was just enough to keep me awake and able to hold a conversation.
We slept in this morning to help me get over my jet lag. By the time we got out of the hotel it was lunch time, so we set out on a quest for food. A short meander through the Shinjuku station landed us in a small restaurant. The sample dishes in the window outside caught Ginger's eye and the decision was made. The menus had no English, but we saw a picture of a dish in the display and pointed it out to the waitress. Soon after we each had trays of delicious food in front of us. I called it sashimi at first, but someone corrected me later on. I don't remember the name. Sorry. Nevertheless, it was delicious.
Satiated by our traditional Japanese cuisine, we set out to explore Shinjuku. We started out in the Shinjuku Central Park, which was adjacent to our hotel. The grounds were very green and very comforting. I was shocked at how nice the weather was for the time of year. Japan's climate is pretty temperate despite how far north it is. We wandered through a swap meet in the park courtyard and perused the goods. There were a lot of American clothes (A&F, AE, GAP, etc.) that people were selling. Ginger was in Otsu and Kyoto the week before and noted that she didn't see any homeless people. I rebuked that theory on my first day as we passed several homeless people with tarp-tents in the park.
After that we set off for the Shinjuku Gyoen National Garden. On the other side of town. I couldn't help but notice how clean the streets are, and the whole city in general. There's also very little traffic. Granted, it was Sunday, but still. In Los Angeles there's traffic every day. They also drive on the opposite side of the road. I guess Americans are just about the only people who drive on the right side of the road. We just have to be different.
We make it to the gardens and they're much bigger than the park. You have to pay to get in, but it's only like 200 yen (less than $2). Being Sunday, all the Tokyo residents are out enjoying the amazing weather. The park is built around a long, slender pond in the middle. around it are open green lawns, and around all that is a forested border. There were many stone lanterns around the park and even a nice patio house. It turns out the house was built for the wedding of one of the Japanese princes.
Our friend Sander took us out to dinner in Ikebukuro for some more traditional Japanese cuisine. At the top of the menu were what I surmise were fried sardines. Not fried fish meat, but fried whole fish. You eat them like french fries. I was a little weirded out, but dove tight and bit the head off one. Scrumptious!
Well, I had to have a swig of water, but I ended up eating about three of them before the night was over. Also on the menu was tempura and kebobs. There was another dish (I can't remember the name) that had beef and vegetables and they cooked it in a bowl right there on the table. Very tasty. We even got some Japanese beer and hot sake to wash it all down with.
Sander took the chance to teach us a few of the Japanese customs. We had noticed how polite everyone in Japan had been, and Sander explained that it was no coincidence. There are many formalities such as when someone hands you something (a receipt, your credit card) with both hands, you accept it with both hands.
With our bellies full and bodies warm from the sake, Ginger and I are calling it a day.
Labels: Ginger, Japan, Things I never thought I'd eat
Author: Goat » Comments:
The Glory of Love
Tuesday, October 16, 2007
I'm talking to my coworker today about my upcoming trip to Japan, and he tells me I need to stay at some place with the paper sliding doors overlooking some beautiful forest. I could eat at one of those super short tables and share tea and sleep on a mat, he continues. By this point the image of Daniel Russo and his hottie Japanese lady-friend is in my head, not to mention Peter Cetera's voice. Suddenly I'm transported into a daydream where I'm saving Ginger from some Japanese foil of myself whom I have dishonored.
Daniel Russo dishonored himself by cheating on Elisabeth Shue's character.I'm going to go out on a limb and guess that my trip will be nothing like that. I sure hope it isn't. I have zero karate skills and would probably get my butt whooped in a fight. We goats are pacifists, you know. Sure, we talk a big talk. Like last night when Matt and I were watching
Last One Standing. We were both like, "This guy sucks. He needs to get in there and bash that Zulu's shield with his stick a few times, scare the crap out of him, you know, and then start goin' for the legs." And in reality, we would have been crying like women, tucked in the fetal position, if we were on the show. Sure, there's some primal rage somewhere down in there, but it would take a lot to require unleashing. And it would probably do more harm than good. Oh, check out the show if you haven't already. It's on Discovery Channel.
Labels: Ginger, Japan, TV
Author: Goat » Comments:
Go ahead, be jealous
Tuesday, October 09, 2007
For behold...
That's right, I hung out with none other than the legendary Bruiser while at the ND-UCLA game this weekend. It appears she's still living up in the Bay Area and doing well on all accounts. Still looking good, I might add. The blond hair threw me, though...
For those of you going to the BC game next weekend, keep an eye out for our former section leader. I think she mentioned something about tailgating with Mothball, although I can't be certain.
Mothball commences peeing himself in 3... 2... 1...
Labels: football, Helloooo nurse, Los Angeles, Notre Dame, Tones
Author: Goat » Comments:
Exhibit BF
Monday, October 08, 2007
Two Fridays ago I got on a plane to Indianapolis with an end destination of West Lafayette, IN. The goal of the weekend: cheer the Irish on to their first victory from inside Ross-Ade Stadium.
Halfway through the flight I woke up suddenly in a cold sweat -- I forgot to bring the game tickets. Awesome.
Two and a half hours, a dozen text messages, half a dozen phone calls, and $42 in FedEx charges gets my tickets overnighted to me. They arrive two hours before game-time, making me miss the tailgating.
On top of it all, we go lose and go 0-5.
Labels: Evidence for the prosecution, football, Notre Dame, Purdue
Author: Goat » Comments:
It's nice to sit down finally and rest my feet. As I told Ginger earlier today, "My dawgies are tired!" We spent the majority of the day in Ueno at the Zoo. She and I have gone on several zoo dates in the US, and we had always wondered what animals foreign zoos would house. 
Would they find commonplace animals from the US so interesting as to make them zoo-worthy? Would the gigantic squirrels of South Bend make it in? What about the possum - ugly and abundant in my home state of Kentucky - would it amaze the Japanese? Well, I'm happy to report that there were indeed animals indigenous to North America in the zoo, but not our squirrels or possum. 
They did have both bison and beaver. If you think about it, both of those animals make a lot of sense. I can't think of any other animals in the world that compare to either one. One Japanese girl was very intrigued by the bison, reading the sign and saying repeatedly, "Ohhh! Bi-SON! Bi-SON!" The bison also seemed intrigued by the girl, responding in kind by turning its back to her and creating a nice, steamy pile. Ginger and I also shouted upon seeing the familiar animal, only we both shouted "Tatanka!" unsolicited by the other. It was a bonding moment. Thank you, Kevin Costner.
We saw a lot of new animals, too. I had never seen a giant anteater or an aardvark before today, nor had I seen an armadillo. Apparently the animals with "a" names had evaded me all my life, but no more! Ginger thought it funny that I had to travel all the way to Japan to see my first armadillo when they're rampant in the central southern states. There were a ton of birds, including a lot of beautiful cranes, ibises, owls, and eagles. Some of the other animals we had never seen before included the ring-tailed cat, red panda, flying fox (basically a huge bat), and a bird called the Cock-of-the-Rock, which looked like it was donning an Elvis hairdo.
Quick aside: this train is seriously hauling. I'd guess we're doing somewhere between 100+ mph, easily. And the ride is very smooth.
Oh, I still haven't told you what I had - udon noodles in a beef broth with beef and onions. In case you don't know, udon is a thick noodle made of buckwheat and is quite tasty. Top it off with a refreshing Coca-Cola purchased at one of the thousands of vending machines in lining the streets of Tokyo, and you have a tasty meal.
Now we're on our way to Osaka for the next three days. Our original plan was to go to Kyoto, but when you don't book your hotel until the day before, sometimes you have to change your plans. Especially here in Japan, where it seems like people must live in hotels, or the tourism industry is doing great. Hotel searching last night was actually the only time I thought I might say something mean to Ginger. It wasn't her fault - I was tired from a long day of walking and we were trying to book on the hotel lobby computer, which had an English/Japanese keyboard. The worst part -- the space key was shortened to create two new keys that switch to Japanese, but not back to English. So mid-sentence or Google search, your word were suddenly replaced with Japanese kanjis. Once we gave up on the hotel search, I tried to write an email to my parents and gave up in the first sentence. 
The next morning I find out that the hotel has free internet in the rooms, but you have to ask for a kit. Awesome. I am my own worst enemy. Nevertheless, the last hour of our stay was enough to find a room at the Ramada Inn in Osaka. We're hoping that a hotel with a western name will have a few more comforts of the Western life, namely a bed that's not so firm.
