World Where You Live - or my 2009 in pictures

2009 was a rather boring year. I didn't get arrested. I didn't spend a night in jail. I didn't even get a speeding ticket. There was zero excitement, adventure and really wild things. Instead, there was plenty of packing and moving, and packing and moving again... But other than that, we are all more or less healthy, the cats are more or less still alive and life just goes on, more or less as usual.

So, here's my 2009 in pictures.

JANUARY

January saw us sleeping at Gatwick, but can you believe it -  in an actual bed (Yotel) and not on an airport bench. Sheesh, we've turned so bourgeois... I'm almost embarrassed.

And in Antigua we learned a valuable lesson:

That you should never let drunk strangers (or Brits, but that's pretty much one and the same) take important photos.

FEBRUARY

We were busy packing and preparing to move. The only problem was we were not entirely sure where we were moving. Yeah, it was fun. Sort of.

And please don't ask me how we managed to get approval for pet import to Japan in less than the prescribed 40 days. Let's just say it was magic. On the last day of February we were all ready to go:

At Narita

MARCH

I spent a lot of time at a lot of different airports: Narita, Helsinki, Copenhagen (gotta love those 17 hour layovers). After only a week in Japan, I returned to Sweden for 4 days. During 3 of those days I managed to drive up and down the better part of Scandinavia and catch a ferry to Poland. Oh, and did I mention that the driving was done during the last snowstorm of the season and in a car without studded tires?

High Coast Bridge

After all this frantic driving, I returned to Japan.

APRIL

Not sure what happened in April, whatever it was it must have been rather boring, or I was simply too jet-lagged to notice...

somewhere in Utsunomiya

And then I returned to Europe for a couple of months.


MAY

The plan was to visit the UK and do other exciting things as well (I was dreaming about Belarus) but  I ended up staying in Poland. Why? Budget trouble, duh!

in Gdansk

I went to Hel and back, visited an upside down house, learned to speak Kashubian and ate a lot. And I mean - a lot.

There was also the Eurovision song contest and this year the best song actually did win. Whoa!

JUNE

After one last frantic Polish road trip and almost getting my face burned off by a fire eater in Torun:

in Torun (I should maybe write something about Torun, it's an interesting place)

I hopped on a plane and returned to Japan. To make it more exciting, I flew via Warsaw, Toronto and Vancouver. That in retrospect proved to be a very dumb idea, because somewhere between Toronto and Narita my bras and most of underwear disappeared from my luggage. I sent in a complaint to Air Canada but so far - no answer. Oh well...

JULY

Started a new job, schlepped all over Tochigi and did nothing much.

at a museum in Moka

AUGUST

There was the annual Miya Matsuri (Utsunomiya festival) in August and even though it rained that day, I went downtown to take a look.



Yeah, nothing professes your love for the company you work for like marching to music in the drizzle while performing highly coordinated hand movements. They call it "dance", I call it "looking like an idiot." Either way, it's fine by me, as long as I don't have to do it.


SEPTEMBER

Patrick Swayze died.



I saw this sign when we were still in Sweden. Just a random neon on a random building in Umeå.
I love that movie. Oh, shut up, you know you do too.


OCTOBER

We moved to a new apartment. It's small, but at least one of the cats seems to like it:



I like it too, because small means a lot less cleaning.

NOVEMBER

Autumn came and went in November and frankly, I was too busy to notice...

next to my workplace in Imaichi (Nikko)

DECEMBER

That's when I finally decided I should be updating this blog a lot more often. And oh yeah, there was Hanukkah and Christmas and a few other things. And I ate. A lot.

Ashikaga Flower Park

And that's pretty much it. Let's hope that 2010 will be much more exciting...

Dreaming of Antigua part 2

Yeah, welcome to St. John's...

It's a perfectly agreeable small capital city with all the usual amenities:

And all the usual tourist attractions:

there's a museum...

and a cathedral (quite nice actually):

There are statues of the national hero:

framed by cute little pineapples.

There's yummy local food:

The food was yummy, that's for sure. But the lady at Fabian's decided to try to calculate our bill incorrectly, in her favor of course. Unfortunately, she didn't count on my penchant for math and numbers.


I liked St. John's. I really did.



It reminded me of Mindelo, and as everybody who knows me knows, I love Mindelo. In a very serious way. And frankly, I wouldn't mind moving to St. John's (or Mindelo, I'm not that picky) permanently.




Even the Antiguan-and-barbudian flag is pretty:

It's a difficult choice trying to decide which flag I'd prefer as my own (hypothetically, of course): Antiguan or Cape Verdean...

to be continued... (maybe)

Dreaming of Antigua part 1

My totally harmless post about rice polishing machines in Japan has proved to be the most popular post on this blog. Ever. In two days it brought over 10 000 visitors and counting.

That post also seemed to anger many readers. Out of that 10 000 people, about 0.5% (and that's quite a lot, trust me!) felt strong enough about it to send me emails. Angry emails. Reading them, you'd think that I was single-handedly responsible for every case of beri-beri in the world. Some emails pitied me. Apparently my love of white rice and refined flour will be my undoing and I will die a painful death suffering from colon cancer, along with pretty much every other disease known to mankind.

Some emails, instead of my penchant for white rice, attacked my "all-knowing" attitude. But of course I am all-knowing, otherwise you wouldn't be reading this blog!

But seriously, I should maybe avoid such controversial topics in the future. I shudder at the thought just what kind of response a post about industrial train platform cleaning machines (if I would ever feel inclined to write one) might bring.

So, in the name of keeping the peace, and because I am cold and the weather is sucky right now, let's travel back in time today. Don't worry, not very far back in time, only to January 2009. And because no proper time travel would be complete without some spacial displacement, let's displace ourselves to Antigua. As in "Antigua and Barbuda", not "Antigua, Guatemala."

Ready? OK, here we go.

I've been having a major attack of "let's go somewhere warm" lately and every day it's more and more difficult for me to resist it. And Antigua is just a perfect "somewhere warm" place.

Now, I despise water sports. In fact, I despise water in general (yes, even taking a shower every morning is a major accomplishment for me), but right now I'd gladly sell my mother in law for a chance to sit on a beach, or ride in a kayak.

Yet even with all my hatred of water, I still managed to somehow obtain a sail-boat license way back when. And lately I've been telling my saintly husband that we should just sell everything (including mother in law, but excluding the cats), buy a boat and get moving.

Unfortunately, even with selling MIL, this would be the only "boat" we could afford to buy.

So for now, all I can do is dream about being magically transported somewhere tropical.

And even though normally I'm not a fan of Half Moon Bay, even this place looks mighty fine to me at this moment.

to be continued...

How Long Until We All Fly Naked?

Yeah, one of the people I follow on twitter (go ahead, follow him, and he's totally adorable, too) said, “As for new flight security rules: I am wondering how much longer it will take until we all fly naked.”

I am wondering too. Because let’s face it, the just-instituted new TSA security rules are an epic fail, every moderately intelligent person who flies more than once a year can see that.

at Narita Airport, Japan

So, it’s either full-body scanners, which are expensive and you can expect them at a podunk-middle-of-nowhere airport in Borogravia (or Zlobenia) sometime around 2056 at the earliest. Or… flying naked, which would be much cheaper and infinitely more entertaining.

Or, and here’s a third alternative – paper jumpsuits and tranquilizer shots before the flight.
Now, wait a second and just imagine how convenient that solution would be!

Airlines could cut staff and save even more money, because if their passengers are unconscious (would we be called "cargo" then?), there’s no need for flight attendants. There would be no bitching over seat assignments. No need for overhead luggage bins – the space could be converted into additional passenger storage units.

There would be no need for food and drink service. No mess to clean up later - passengers would have to be fitted with Depends upon boarding (and frankly, with this new rule of no getting up during the last hour of the flight Depends might be something I’d have to consider – I have a bladder peanut-sized bladder).

Just imagine the cost cutting possibilities here! Instead, we get another set of moronic rules from the geniuses at TSA. No items in your lap during the last 60 minutes of the flight, including books and magazines. Brilliant! I want to know how they arrived at the conclusion that it’s possible to bring down a jetliner with a copy of Ladies Home Journal.

Luckily for me, I do not plan to travel to the US anytime soon.

PS. And for all those who think that those new TSA rules will improve our security, ha! Dream on people. Here's a photo of a non-functioning security gate and an abandoned hand-luggage scanner with absolutely no security personnel in sight at a certain international airport in Africa. And as it happens it was in Africa where that alleged Nigerian terrorist boarded the flight to Amsterdam.

Photo taken in 2007, I don't think much has improved since then.

Rice, Rice, Baby...

Many things confuse and baffle foreign visitors to Japan, that much is true. After reading an umpteenth travel blog post about “wow, it’s a washlet and I got sprayed” or “holy crap, it’s a squat toilet, in the middle of freakin’ Tokyo” alternating with “look at all the vending machines in this country!” and “meido cafés, those chicks are sooo cute” you may be excused if you think that Japan is visited mostly (only?) by idiots on their very first trip abroad.

But recently, it was my turn to be baffled when a brave tourist, who ventured outside of the capital city (read: got lost in the countryside) asked this: “And what are those oversized phone booth thingies?”

Come again?

“Well, from the outside they look like miniature laundromats or oversized phone booths, but there are no phones inside. And no washing machines. Only some control panels and strange contraptions.”

And then he added, “And I haven’t seen them in Tokyo, but here (meaning - in the countryside) they are everywhere.”

And then he added, “And it seems people dump some bags in there and it obviously serves a purpose, but not sure how or what…”

Very observant, indeed!

People do dumb bags – of rice – into the contraptions in those “phone booths” and what the machinery does is simply polish the rice.

“What? You need to polish your own rice?” I heard him ask.

Well, yes… You see, not everyone buys their rice at the supermarket. We don’t. We get our rice directly from the farmer. Such rice comes unpolished and yellow in color. And I’m sure that some health nuts would eat it like that just fine. But I (and most of this country) prefer my rice fresh, white and shiny.

And that’s where the machine comes in. You dump your yellow rice in at one end, put some money in, press some buttons, and voila, shiny white grains come out on the end.

yellow rice in

We normally polish only a bucket at a time to keep our rice fresh and yummy. The whole procedure is very quick – it takes only a few minutes, and my only disappointment is that colorful lights don’t light up during the process and cute arcade music doesn’t play while the machine is running.

white rice out

And you’d think that where as where, but in Japan the companies would think of such obvious technical improvements.

PS. There are other rice-related machines, but I'm going to spare you the full-blown rice farmer story right now, OK?

Jingle Bells Chicken Smells

Our very traditional Christmas dinner is over… And thanks to the Colonel and a local cake shop, it was a smashing success.

Yeah, the Colonel… I know this topic has been beaten to death on various J-blogs already, but not everyone who reads THIS blog frequents other J-blogs (and did I just include myself in the ranks of J-bloggers? Hell must have frozen over and the fat lady is singing…)

But where were we? Ah yes, the Colonel.

You see, it’s traditional in Japan to eat fried chicken on xmas day. Why? Simply put, turkey is/was too much of an assault on the very genteel Japanese taste buds, not to mention the fact that it’s pretty much impossible to cook a proper turkey in a standard Japanese oven. So, back in 1974 KFC got the brilliant idea to use this fact to their advantage and have themselves a merry, little xmasy fried chicken marketing campaign.

And as with all “new” things in Japan, there were only two possible outcomes – come January 1975 it was going to either fade into obscurity or catch on in a big way. There is simply no middle ground when it comes to trends in this country.

And as we all know by now, the campaign has caught on, big time. So big that now, only some 30-odd years later, eating fried chicken for xmas is considered “traditional”.

Other retailers have jumped on the fried chicken bandwagon and if you’re not a fan of the Colonel, you can get your xmas dinner from just about any food purveyor, from a local grocery store to the Hotto Motto bento seller.

Our “traditional” Japanese xmas dinner also included pizza and cake. “Traditionally” it should have been a strawberry cake, but I am very pleased to say that chocolate cake is gaining ground too.

Of course, this being Japan, the cake came from a cake shop, because:
a) no proper oven, and
b) nobody wants to slave in the kitchen, especially since for 99% of Japanese xmas day is just an ordinary work day.

And needless to say, this being Japan, every cake looks like a little work of art...

And why do we put candles on top of a Christmas cake? Well, it might be not baby Jesus’s birthday today, but it IS somebody’s birthday, so why not?

And now, if you excuse me, I need to look for some indigestion medication.
Happy Holidays!

Sendai - the Capital of Gyu-Tan (grilled beef tongue)

This is Yoshi's debut as a travel blogger. Not bad for a first-timer, wouldn't you say?

It’s been a decade since my last participation in a job-related meeting of the Japanese, by the Japanese, for the Japanese, in Japan. Ten years ago it was in Fukuoka, and this time - in Sendai (Miyagi prefecture), in the north-eastern part of mainland (if you can call it “mainland”) Japan.

Sendai is also called “ A City of Trees” and that was the excuse a bunch of plant biologists (and I’m one of them) used to organize a meeting there.

This city of one million inhabitants (and counting) was established by a “one-eyed dragon” local ruler in the early 15th century (Tokugawa Edo period). His name was Masamune DATE (伊達 政宗) who lost his right eye to smallpox (hence the nickname).

 

Sendai's famous one-eyed founder on horseback. 

 

This “one-eyed pirate”-looking overlord (who also allegedly converted to Christianity at some point later in his life) was a fearless, intelligent and ruthless politician. Ruthless enough to assassinate his biological brother. And oh yeah, he was also into good food – and Sendai is known for its nice cuisine, because nothing calms down the nerves after a good massacre like a yummy bowl of gourmet goodies. Apparently, he was not only an expert at chopping off heads, but also generally good at chopping and cooking stuff in the kitchen, too. According to all historical records he was an exceptional cook, I believe the words "culinary arts" were even used to describe his cooking.

Masamune Date’s name and character overwhelms Sendai. I mean it (but I don’t mean that deadly sibling rivalry is a commonplace occurrence here these days). There’s a bronze statue at the Sendai castle, his mausoleum - Zuiho-den, and his name was even borrowed by a local FM station - Date FM, but the pronunciation is ‘deit’.

Another interesting historical fact is that he sent his retainer, Tsunenaga HASEKURA (支倉常長) on a diplomatic mission to España (via the Pacific and Mexico). That dude’s Christian name (yep, another “alleged” convert) is Don Felipe Francisco Hasekura!!! Now, how’s that for charming, huh?

 

Roses were brought to Sendai from Europe by Hasekura 

Well, let’s proceed to my trip to Sendai. At the meeting, I realized how uniform everything in Japan was… men in their cheap suits (on a researcher’s salary you can’t really afford Armani or another Versace, unless you marry rich) looked like any other government-issue businessmen you could encounter on a Tokyo subway platform.

It appeared that I was one of the very few participants wearing… let’s say, “relaxed” clothes and four-year old sneakers. But hey, I didn't marry rich, and I happen to like my sneakers, after four years of constant wear they’re fused with my feet.

However, I realized one extremely basic fact that for some reason had eluded me until then. It was so easy and convenient to participate in a meeting conducted in my mother language. See? That’s what ten years of living abroad will do to you.

The boring scientific part took two days and there was even a celebration for those young, promising researchers in cheap suits, who provided a nice poster. Five PhD students got a prize for the best poster of the meeting and the “Daruma dall” was bestowed as an award by the organizer.

 

The winners with their daruma. 

 

In general, a Daruma doll has only one filled-in eye. However, in Sendai, because of Masamune Date, it is considered a taboo to have a one-eyed Daruma, or so the organizer told us...

Daruma is a representation of an ancient Indian Buddhist monk, Bodhidharma, who is also known as the founder of Zen. Anyway, the awarded young scientists with bright future all have Darumas with two black eyeballs, as a result. You know what? Actually that Zen founder is not an East-Asian! It is hypothesized that he was an Indian-born Aryan of uncertain heritage, but reportedly - with blue eyes. Yes, Zen was established by a blue-eyed guy (allegedly)! Chew on that, all you Asian culture freaks.

 

Zen style garden 

 

 

And even more zen. 

 

Because I happened to know one of the head honchos at the meeting, I was invited to visit Matsushima islands (松島), with the head honcho himself acting as a local guide.

Matsushima is popular sightseeing place around Sendai and is considered as one of the “Three Views of Japan”. Whatever. Matsu (松) in Japanese means pine. I expected to be able to find matsutake (松茸) mushrooms there but the weather was bad and it was not the season for mushroom picking.

 

On the way to Matsushima 

 

Instead I had tons of oysters and a little bit of Ascidiacea (ホヤ) as the chef’s seasonal recommendation. Was it good? Hmmm… Let’s just say it was interesting, OK?

Another thing that Sendai is famous for is gyu-tan 牛タン (grilled beef tongue). I have to say that Sendai has a lot of yummy foods to offer (and that I can understand why Mr. Date was rumored to be a gourmand) and is definitely a place worth visiting.

Eating gyu-tan also made me realize how long I’ve been living outside of Japan. Last time I had gyu-tan in Sendai was in 1998. Back then, I was also in Sendai to join a boring scientific meeting (no fancy trips to Matsushima that time, btw). I remember eating gyu-tan in the 20th century was like chewing on a leather jacket, my jaw was ready to crack, and tears started to come out unconsciously from the sheer effort involved…
What a difference ten years make when it comes to food technology!

 

I'd rather enjoy macha tea and a rice cake with edamame paste than chew old leather jackets.

OK, my next destination in the general Sendai area would be Tashiro Island (田代島), an island of cats!!!

PS> And what my poor husband doesn't realize is that with that last sentence he just decided MY winter break plans for me. The magic word - "cats"!!!

Winter Illumination at Ashikaga Flower Park

You'd think that someone who spent five years in northern Scandinavia would be resistant to cold and low temperatures, right? Wrong. There are few things I despise more than freezing weather.

Yet even freezing weather and low temperatures couldn’t stop me yesterday from visiting the Ashikaga Flower Park. In Ashikaga, of course. That’s Tochigi for those of you in big-city Japan.
Ashikaga is a wholly unremarkable town. At least for me. Oh, they have attractions over there – there’s the fireworks display (summer) and wine festival (fall). They also have the oldest school in Japan and this Flower Park thingie.

And if Ashikaga itself is rather unremarkable, the Flower Park is just the opposite – it’s a magnificent oasis of all things that cause pollen allergies. But not in winter. In winter it’s the home of a splendid seasonal illumination. And that’s what we went to see yesterday.

And it’s so splendid that I’m seriously considering going back there again to take better photos, because these do not do the place justice.

See? If it’s worth freezing my butt off twice in one season, than it must be really something. Because I hate cold weather. And that’s a fact.

How to get there:
Drive – there’s plenty of free parking.
If you can’t drive, there are trains:
From Tokyo to Oyama by shinkansen
or Tohoku line
from Oyama to Tomita - Ryomo line
from Tomita station to Ashikaga Flower Park it’s about a 13-20 min walk.

Price: 500yen and definitely worth it.
Address: 607 Hazama-cho, Ashikaga
Phone: 028-491-4939

New Year’s Day – closed.

To see more photos of the Winter Illumination in Ashikaga, visit Tochigi Daily Photo.