Some movie or famous person must have once said something like this: We are fast catching the present!
If not, you saw it here first, folks. This post refers to the 30th of March, an interesting day. On the 29th of March, my host family, Blair Thomson and his wife Sachiko, along with their two children, arrived home from their respective holidays. On this, their first full day back in Tokyo, Blair and Sachi decided it would be nice to take a trip to the beach!
We left at around 12:30pm, to catch a bus from Shinagawa to Odaiba, the closest access to salt water from our current location. We arrived at a nice hotel, and made our way across suspended walkways and courtyards towards some cafes and the sand. It was unusual to be walking over 50 metres in the air, looking down at the water of Tokyo bay. Please refer to the following two photos.
One view over Tokyo Bay.
Turning further North, another photo.
I knew, when Blair informed me of our goal to arrive at the beach, that it would not be the same beach one would experience living on the Gold Coast. This certainly drove the point home. We found a nice Italian restaurant slightly further along the walk from this photo. Since I arrived in Japan, 26 days before this post, I have eaten more Italian than almost half a year on the Gold Coast. Please do not read that as a complaint, there are very few meals I have had in this country that I have not thoroughly enjoyed, interesting observation though.
After lunch, we journey down to bury our feet in the sand, or at least the Japanese version of that. If you had found the extreme difference between the beach on the Gold Coast and that of Tokyo Bay shocking before, these next photos may drive you over the edge.
A photo looking North
And then rotating to look west...
Then south...
And then turning...
A little to the east, I think.
Even though I was shocked to think this is the 'beach' that many in Tokyo would grow up to know, this is easily one of the world's largest cities, and one that is constantly growing. The land I was standing on when I took this photo was once the wild sea, a fascinating experience.
The Beach
Ben
12:59 PM
This post refers to the 22nd of March, where I joined my friend Taro and two friends of his for lunch in Akihabara.
Leaving Blair's residence in Takanawa, Minato-ku, we made our way to Sengakuji station, which was the start of a small adventure in itself. I am used to taking the yamanote line from Shinagawa station to just about everywhere. I would simply stay on that train until the stop closest to my destination, and then walk, which is much easier for me. The other option is of course what we did on this day.
As we descended the stairs to the station, Taro suddenly turned to me and said, "Hurry," then started to run. As I followed him down the stairs I realised why we were moving with such haste, the train we were hoping to board was at the station. We continued to plummet into the heart of the earth, and rounding the last corner onto the last set of stairs, I looked up quickly to see the train there and the conductor on the platform, finishing the final check. Our pace increased markedly.
...
We made it, and even better, we did not have to fight the doors! I feel it necessary to say this, as many times before and since then I have seen someone perform a similar trick to this, but make the threshold as the doors are closing, sometimes being forced out, other times managing to fight off these mechanical obstacles and make it in. My favourite memory of such is still the time I saw two friends rushing to make the train, one making it on, and the other failing to follow quickly enough and missing the train to quickly closing doors.
If you were not sure, in Tokyo there are several 'lines' that trains use. Yamanote line is the simplest, being merely a wide circuit around the city centre. More complex lines are difficult to describe, but needless to say, if you need to go somewhere in Tokyo, there is a subway or train station very close by. The two main options are Tokyo Metro, and JR, if you are curious about the complexity of it all, the following links are provided for your convenience:
http://www.tokyometro.jp/global/en/index.html
http://www.jreast.co.jp/e/
After some time on the train from Sengakuji, Taro informed it was time for a change. Accordingly, we exited our vehicle at the next station, found a different 'line' and hopped the next train out of there. We were rushing because Taro was supposed to meet someone for lunch, and regrettably, we were behind scheduled time.
Arriving in Akuhabara, apparently the centre for all things technological, we met with Michi, a friend of Taro who shares the same apartment block, Tiger house. We then picked a place to have lunch, fortunately for me it was decided to eat at a nearby pub. I say 'fortunately' not because of any difficulty, but because this pub was fascinating.
Upon entering, the view was as such:
Chandeliers, a disco ball, a world map, and everything else you can imagine.
This the right side of the previous photo.
And the left.
I was simply astounded, by not only the sheer amount of items, but also the fact that almost all of them were from another country. However, the most bewildering thing was still to come. We ate a mix of Western and Japanese foods, from rice to a hot dog. There were beers from all across the world, from countries as diverse as Australia and Belgium. We talked for a bit, our fourth party member showed up, and we talked some more. Upon taking a trip to the bathroom, I saw this...
A cool sign right? The most surprising thing was that it was in the middle of Tokyo.
I hope you have found this interesting and enlightening, I found it such, and therefore felt compelled to share.
Akihabara
Ben
8:17 PM
Forgive me if the title seems cryptic to you. Natto is a traditional Japanese dish, made from soybeans fermented with bacteria. The purpose of this post is hopefully to amuse you and in equal measure, to inform you, so that if you are ever in a situation where you are confronted with a Japanese style meal such as this, you will be armed with knowledge.
This post refers to the morning of Saturday, the 20th of March; forgive me for not posting it sooner, but the odd thing about Japan is that things just keep happening. On this particular morning, Taro Miyaji and his friend Saori had stayed the night to keep me company. I suspect they were secretly testing if they could encourage my brain to explode trying to remember too much Japanese.
On this morning, Saori offered to make breakfast, whilst Taro quickly ran off to a corner store to buy some natto. Some history: for over a week now Taro has been taunting me with this dish, saying it is the true test of any person wishing to try everything. A similar equivalent would be Australians trying to get foreigners to try a sandwich heavily smothered in vegemite. Unfortunately, this analogy does have its problems, as you will see.
Allow me an explanation: the bottom half of the photo shows my portion, of which everyone has the same. The top half of the photo has 2 shared dishes, the egg roll thing on the left and the black plate, which I shall explain forthwith.
In the top left corner of said plate, you will notice some brown things; these are pickled plums. On the plum's immediate right you shall see a small reddish pile of food, this is pickled radish. Continuing clockwise, at the far right of the dish, you may distinguish a black pile of something; this is pickled kelp. Finally, nestled below and slightly to the left of this radish, is another black pile, these are small fish, which I think were pickled, but were surprisingly crunchy.
My 4 dishes are a bowl of rice, then clockwise you will see an empty plate, onto which shared food, such as some of that egg roll are placed. Following this, on the extreme right you will see a square plate, contained within is the object of my trepidation, the natto. Finally, the brown bowl contains miso soup, a traditional Japanese soup made of mushrooms, seaweed and various other vegetables.
At the start of every meal, before eating, the Japanese say, "Itadakimasu," or in English, 'thank you for the meal.'
...
After which I must have noticeably hesitated, as both of my Japanese compatriots laughed.
It is no doubt difficult to tell from the poor photo what exactly this natto looks like, thus I shall attempt an explanation. Natto comes in these packages almost uniformly across the country. It is a Styrofoam container, which you see here opened. Inside is contained the natto itself, as well as a separate pack of soy sauce and Japanese mustard.
The natto was covered in a plastic film, which Taro and Saori informed me I must peel back. As I did so, the smell released was strong and incredibly difficult to describe. I had decided before hand that this would be delicious, as one gains nothing from avoiding something that is good for you. Unfortunately, my brain had lapsed in its task to inform my nose of this wonderful meal. Subduing my facial betrayal, I asked, "what now?"
Apparently, it is important to 'activate' the natto, by mixing it with your chopsticks quite thoroughly. This task is difficult as natto is extremely sticky and thick. As I stirred this sensational looking dish, the sticky substance coating the soybeans changed colour and consistency, becoming slightly more fluid, and definitely more yellow. After this process was complete, we put the soy sauce and mustard on, me of course opting to use every minuscule droplet contained therein.
At this point in the meal, I think I put the natto down, along with my chopsticks, sat back from the table and exclaimed, "Weird!" Most likely, this statement was loud and my sadistic hosts both enjoyed a hearty laugh at my expense.
Brief respite complete, "try it," was my next command. Calming my apprehension, I reached for my natto and chopsticks, procured for myself several beans and quickly ate them. Taro and Saori both had wonderful looks of anticipation on their faces. It was not that bad, weird texture, unusual taste, but really, not that bad. The taste is difficult to describe, being composed of soybeans, it had that signature bland sort of taste. However, the fermentation process had added a sort of sour cheese kind of flavour.
The disappointment on my Japanese compatriot's faces did not last long when I informed them that, "it's not that bad," quickly changing to a smile and a clap. To my immense relief they informed me that I was now permitted to combine it with my rice and eat it, which I cannot emphasise enough, was much easier to stomach. The rest of the meal progressed more smoothly. I would eat some natto and rice, have a sip of miso soup, and grab a couple small fish from the communal centre plate, the usual.
Oh, before I forget, the plums were another challenge, since I do not normally like plums and my love for pickled anythings was equally none existent. My only recommendation to anyone going to another country, like Japan, is to decide before hand that you like everything, only then will you enjoy yourself to the fullest. Either that or you will at least have interesting stories to tell: win, win.
My first bite of plum did cause my undisciplined nose to wrinkle again, but when I focused on the salty taste, it was really quite ok. I asked Taro to eat some of his plum, which he did by taking a bite, then quickly scooping some rice into his mouth and eating the two together. I cannot advocate this method enough.
Finishing my last bite of egg roll, I exclaimed, "Finished." My host's cheered, but then informed me that I should never do that again. "Seriously," they said, "never." "What did I do?!" "It's really quite rude, you shouldn't ever do that." After several minutes of asking what it was that I did, I was informed that one should never leave food behind in your rice bowl, an insult to the person who cooked it. Chastened, I finished off the straggling rice grains and tried again, "finished?"
"Exam complete, you passed," I was told. I think I sat back in my chair at this point with an audible sigh.
A photo of our finished meal.
Some hints to those who would learn:
Finishing one's rice is obviously important and to that end, I would assume all plates of food specifically marked 'yours,' such as my miso soup. However, at the end of the meal there was still some shared food remaining, which it appears is ok.
Whilst eating my rice I was reprimanded for not holding the bowl in my left hand whilst I ate. Not only is this acceptable, but also expected, and holding the bowl close to your mouth to get those last bites of food, or a difficult mouthful, is not only unobjectionable, but laudable.
Eating miso soup should be performed likewise and slurping is common. Furthermore, whilst drinking the fluid of the soup is simple in this manner, eating the large chunks of seaweed or mushroom is more difficult. In such a situation, either it is commendable to use your chopsticks to pick up, or shovel said morsels into one's mouth.
A final note on holding the bowl: this ought to be performed with all four fingers on the very bottom of the dish, with the thumb perched on the rim; this is recommended in every case.
Natto
Ben
11:38 AM
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