Found at Kyoto's Nishiki market

What do you think this is a picture of? Take a guess.












Give up? I could tell you now, but I know you probably read this before actually thinking about it. So I'm gonna make you work for the answer.

Click here.

Granted, this isn't what it's called in Japanese, but it's basically the same thing. Fun stuff, huh?

I'm back

So, I got back from Tokyo on Tuesday. It was a lot of fun, although I did get a cold, and unfortunately Panda chan had to work quite a bit (you know those crazy Tokyo hours -- "hey, you're home early! It's only 1:30 am!").

Besides hanging out with Panda chan and eating at my favorite sushi restaurant, I also got to see some old friends, attend my friend's beautiful wedding, and play Nintendo Wii for the first time (everyone was cracking up at how much like me my Mii looked...).

But, now I'm back. Back to the daily grind of the three dreaded C's -- classes, clubs and career (first two are going fine, don't ask about the third....). After an all day meeting yesterday, I had quite the adventure out in the City. I went with some friends to see the movie 300, in I-Max (the ONLY way to see it -- I DEFINITELY plan on seeing Spiderman 3 there...).

The night was going along fine, until my friend's car got a flat tire. We spent 30 minutes unsuccessfully trying to get the tire off the car (yes, we DID remove the lugnuts first...), until my friend finally called his insurance company (note to self: whenever you end up finally buying a car, get roadside assistance!). 30 minutes later and the guy finally pulled up, only it wasn't the big burly guy in a Ford F150 that you would've expected, but this young Asian American guy in a BMW 3-series. Anyway, he had this long piece of metal which he used as leverage to successfully pry the tire off the axle (it was probably rusted on), and we were finally able to continue the rest of the night. Two hours, 1 delicious burrito and some drink-free time at a bar later, and I was safely back home in Berkeley...

only in Japan

I'm in Tokyo right now, enjoying my Spring Break. I think it's because I no longer live here, but even being here only a few days, its easy to remember some of the things that make this country so special.

Last night, I did something kind of silly. Leaving a very late dinner, I heard a "thunk", and noticed my book (The Botany of Desire) had fallen out of my bag. It wasn't until a phone call half an hour later (once Panda chan and I were already home), that I realized the "thunk" was mostly caused by my iPod, which had fallen out along with the book, and which the restaurant was now (thankfully) holding for me.

I would hope that in the States, if I had accidentally left my iPod in a restaurant, and if they had my phone number from my reservation, that they would call me and let me know they had found it. I went to Ginza this afternoon to pick my iPod up, and thanked them profusely for finding it and holding it for me. And, here's the kicker, the waiter apologized to ME! For not noticing sooner (in which case, I wouldn't have had to make a separate trip back to the restaurant to pick it up).

Only in Japan.

Rock 'N Roll, Old Skool Japan style

On Friday night, I went to my first concert since coming to the Bay Area. Earlier in the week, I was sitting in a cafe, perusing one of the local weekly "alternative" newsrags, when I came across the name "Yoshida Brothers" in the concert listings section. The Yoshida Brothers I knew were two brothers (naturally) that played the shamisen, a traditional Japanese 3-stringed instrument. They had gained quite a bit of fame in Japan for their style, both of playing and looks.

It turns out these were the same Yoshida Brothers (really, how many groups could there be with that name?) and they were playing at Yoshi's a jazz club/sushi restaurant in Oakland. After doing a little digging, I found out that some of the Japanese students in my program already had plans to go, so I invited a (non-japanese) friend along, and we went to the show.

I'd heard a few of their songs before, and had even used one as background music in a video I created for my old company. Plus, as I found out from one of the Japanese guys I went with, they have a song in the new TV commercials for the Nintendo Wii. Anyway, I thought I kind of knew what to expect going into the show (although, my friend had no clue), but I was totally blown away. Basically, they rocked. While the set was pretty short (just over an hour), and a few of their songs were nothing special, they had several songs that were amazing, both more "traditional"-sounding ones, as well as the more modern take on Shamisen for which theyre known. The coolest was probably this awesome shamisen-drum "battle" between one of the brothers and the percussionist they had brought along. And at times, the way their fingers were flying over the strings it really seemed like they were playing guitar, not an instrument that's hundreds of year old.

Funny Japanese tv clip

This is obviously a really old tv show, but that doesn't make it any less funny. In the last clip, someone shouts "Look out!".

Heading out

I've been in Tokyo a few days now, hanging out with Panda chan, catching up with old friends and eating well. Tonight, Panda chan and I are leaving Tokyo for a few days, to head back to her parents' place for New Year's.

Unlike in the West, New Year's in Japan is a time for families to get together (conversely, Christmas is usually for younger people, mostly couples). So we're driving to Panda chan's hometown with her brother and her brother's wife. Panda chan's hometown is in Western Japan, north of Kobe and Kyoto. The drive will take 10 hours.

TEN. HOURS.

If you thought Japan was small, you were right. But if you thought small meant you couldn't do long drives, you were wrong. Although, I guess when looked at in comparison to what a "long drive" means in the States, where you can spend 25 hours just crossing a few states, it's not that long after all.

What makes it especially tough, though, is the fact that we're leaving at night, to avoid traffic (10 pm, actually). Because her hometown is a little off the beaten path, I guess much of the driving will be off the freeway, which makes it take longer than you would expect distance-wise. I just hope we can avoid a lot of the crowds of people driving home for the holiday (a lot of Japanese had to work until yesterday, so there will probably be a lot of cars on the road all day today).

Then, of course, there's the fact that we're driving ten hours for around two and a half days spent in her hometown, only to turn around and drive back to Tokyo on the 2nd. All in all, though, I'm looking forward to the trip. It will be good to meet her family and see where she's from. And it's always nice to get outside of Tokyo and explore other parts of Japan.

After the visit home, Panda chan and I are taking another little trip. On the third, we've booked rooms at a cool-looking onsen (hot spring) in Izu, 2 1/2 hours outside of Tokyo. Should be fun!

On the one hand

I want to say that this video of the opening of the first Krispy Kreme in Japan just shows how much Japanese people LOVE to wait in lines for food. And yet, I seem to remember similar lines when the first Krispy Kreme opened outside of LA 7 or so years ago.

I admit, their donuts are good, in that "Oh my god I'm going to have a sugar-induced heart attack" kinda way. But are they really worth waiting 45 minutes (whether it's in the cold of a Japanese winter or the smoggy warmth of an LA summer)?

Since I'm doing all this updating...

I might as well post the fact that I'm leaving for Tokyo in 5 days. Hooray! Even though it's only been six months since I was last there, it seems like a lot longer. I lived there for six years, after all.

I'll be there for about three weeks, visiting Panda chan and catching up with some old friends. Should be a good time!

Sheer Genius!

And with English supertitles, to boot!

Love it, or get your ass off the internet, 'cause you don't belong!

(and next time you wonder why I like Japan so much, just think back to this video -- what's not to like?!?)

I'm off....

Well, after 6 months of traveling (almost half of which I spent in Japan), I'm finally heading back to the States to get settled in to Berkeley. I guess this is where the "Beyond" part of my blog title begins?

There's a lot going on in my head right now -- among other things, trepidation, excitement, sorrow, and a pretty big helping of "Finally!" As my friend Clementine said at lunch the other day, this time is kind of the REAL goodbye to Japan. Even though I know I'll be back, there's something different about knowing it won't be until the end of the year, as opposed to in a month or two, like when I left back in March.

So, anyway, I guess I'm now entering the next phase of my blog. While it might not be as exciting to the casual reader as my traipsing through China, hopefully it will be as exciting for me as I expect it to be, and hopefully my retelling of my upcoming days in Berkeley and in business school won't a) bore you to tears or b) send you running to delete this page from your bookmarks.

Next stop, San Francisco!

Finally

It's Tuesday in Japan right now. I leave for San Francisco on Friday afternoon. And I just finalized my ticket last night.

Everytime I wait until last minute to book travel plans, I always tell myself "Never again". But, somehow it never seems to work out that way. I guess it's part of my indecisive nature -- It always seems difficult to "pull the trigger" and go through with finalizing my plans.

Although, this time it actually worked out BETTER that way. Not only was I able to save almost a thousand dollars by using miles instead of buying my ticket here (which, I only would have used the Tokyo - SF half of anyway), but originally I was told Tokyo direct to SF was sold out, so I was going to have to go through HOUSTON. That would have sucked. But when I called on Sunday to finalize the ticket, a direct flight had opened up. Lucky!

But, never again.

Japanese Grocery Stores

Until recently, most grocery stores in Japan were either small, local shops or medium-sized stores that were closer in size and spirit to the common American behemoths, but still considerably smaller than some of the crazy-big chains in the US. In the past few years, though, stores like Aeon/Jusco have changed the face of the supermarket in Japan, plopping huge warehouse-sized supermarkets in residential neighborhoods.

There's an Aeon next to Panda chan's apartment. It's open 24 hours. Talk about convenient!
http://www.aeon.jp/index.html (don't ask what "Singing Aeon" means, 'cause I got nuthin')

Aeon has done a really great job of bringing prices down to (relatively) low levels. They've even adopted the American idea of private label brands, and have their own version of a lot of different foods.

But one thing they DON'T have is "10 items or less" a checkout line. So I ended up waiting in line for 20 minutes the other night, just to check out a few things. Luckily I had my iPod with me, but still!

One thing they DO have, however, is a "self-checkout line". For someone who loves gadgets and technology like me, this is pretty much the coolest thing to hit grocery stores since in-house bakeries (even better than sliced bread). Just can't get enough of that fresh-baked bread!

It's pretty much like it sounds -- instead of having someone there checking your items for you, they have four kiosks with bar code readers and plastic bags, so you can do everything yourself. The machines take credit cards, and even cash, including coins! How cool is that? And it's always fun to play with bar code scanners! I've used it 3 times now, and am starting to get the hang of it. I can see it now, my first post-MBA job -- Grocery store checker!!

Chance Encounter

I had lunch with Panda chan in Ebisu, today. One of the benefits of hanging out in Tokyo without a job.

Late in the meal, I noticed a woman sitting behind me that looked kinda familiar. It only took me a second to realize there was a REALLY good chance she was someone I studied in Kyoto with, 10 years ago. I wasn't sure whether to approach her or not, as she was deep in conversation with the woman sitting next to her.

But sure enough, it was her. She's been working in Tokyo for the past 3 years or so. Unlike me, she's kept in touch with one or two of our fellow classmates from that year at Doshisha. But, she hasn't kept in contact with her homestay family the way I have.

Kind of funny how I never ran into her while I was actually living here, but bump into her when I'm here visiting for only a few weeks, especially seeing as I met her in Ebisu, the neighborhood I used to live in. But, then again, I used to have a job, so I was never in Ebisu during the afternoon.

I guess even in the "largest metropolitan area in the world" (according to Wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greater_Tokyo_Area), you're never really far from someone you know.

Disaster strikes...

Thursday night, Panda chan broke her wrist. It was raining, and she slipped and fell. Luckily, it was only one bone in her left hand. And luckily, she wasn't really hurt otherwise.

Plus, I guess it's a good thing that I'm here, to help her get used to temporary life with one hand... (cooking is pretty much out of the question for her, and things like doing laundry aren't exactly easy)

Panda chan, I hope your wrist heals soon!!!!

Home (sort of)

Well, after being away for exactly 4 weeks, I'm finally back in Tokyo. Even though it's no longer my "official" home, it's been the closest thing I've had to a home since I gave up my residency at the end of last year.

It feels good to be back. But, after 7 hours or so of flights and 6 hours or so of waiting in airports (not to mention the hour and a half trip from Narita), I'm beat. And running on very little sleep. So it's nap time. I'll start my travel update from where I last left it off (Guilin) tomorrow.

Stupidity is international

I just came from the Citibank in Ginza, where I was purchasing traveler's checks in preparation for my big China trip (I take off tomorrow!)

While I was waiting, a woman in line in front of me was also trying to buy traveler's checks. They asked for a picture id, but she didn't have ANYTHING, no passport or driver's license. So she said "What about my cell phone?" Um, that's not identification. Then, she said "What about my train pass?". Um, nope. THEN she took out the stamp card for some massage place. HELLO?????

Finally, the bank teller said as long as she had two "official" things with her name on it, like a bank card and a credit card, it would be okay. So the stupid woman spent another 2 minutes trying to find something, and tried to give the employee her cell phone e-mail address!! ONLY SHE DIDN'T KNOW THE ADDRESS!! OR HER PHONE NUMBER!! Then she tried to give her the train pass AGAIN!!!!! She must have pulled out 7 or 8 different cards from her purse before finally coming up with something the teller would take.

I didn't know whether to laugh or to cry, or to run away screaming in agony...

Speechless

Above Sendai's main train station, they have a little row of restaurants that they call "Gyu-tan dori" (Beef tongue street) and "Sushi dori" (Sushi street). We arrived at Sendai station on our way to Matsushima around lunch time, and after asking several locals about a good place to eat, they all referred us to the restaurants above the station, as most of them are outposts of locally-famous restaurants. Figuring we'd have a lot of fish at dinner in Matsushima (which we did), we had lunch at one of the Gyu-tan places. For around 1500 yen (13 bucks or so), we each got 8 or 9 slices of grilled beef tongue, accompanied by rice, pickles and a bowl of ox-tail soup. It was delicious!

On the way back from Matsushima, we had skipped lunch, and arrived at Sendai station around 4, starving and unable to wait for dinner. So we decided to stop at Sushi Street this time, and sample some of Sendai's sushi delicacies. Of the 5 or 6 places, the most interesting looking was a tachigui style sushi counter, which literally means to eat while standing (ie, no chairs at the counter). It was a really small place, with a counter maybe big enough for 10 people, and 3 guys making the sushi behind it. Aside from the unusual atmosphere, what made it really appealing was the combination of some really interesting fish and a really cheap price (1 piece started at a mere 70 yen).

They had a lot of the regular sushi items you find at most sushi places (tuna, egg, kohada, etc.), and most things I tried were really good. Especially noteworthy were the grilled salmon, the fresh uni (sea urchin) and the tuna. But they also had a lot of things I'd never seen before. I wasn't about to try the octopus eggs (one of the more disgusting-looking things they had), and after the chef gave us a tiny taste of the "bakurai" (I think it's the guts of a hoya, which is apparently called a sea-squirt, although I have no idea what that is), I was glad I didn't order that, either.

Panda chan was feeling a little adventurous, and at the strong recommendation of the sushi chef decided to try what I thought was something from the inside of a shark. She tore off a little piece and let me have a bite. Strangely enough, it looked like some of the raw beef tongue we had grilled the day before, and didn't really have a strong taste, much less the bad taste you would expect from shark innards...

So, the other day, I was chatting with Panda chan about the meal, and it turns out it wasn't shark guts, after all. It was

RAW SHARK HEART!!!!!!!!

I didn't know how to respond to that revelation.

Ikea

Two weeks ago, Ikea opened their first store in Japan. Ads were everywhere, and they had a cool outdoor exhibit titled "4.5 museum", 4.5 jo (about 7 square meters) being the size of a "typical" Japanese room. The exhibit consisted of 10 or 15 boxes of that size, set up along a sidewalk, with all of the different things you could do with Ikea furniture in a room that size. Pretty cool.

Anyway, yesterday Panda chan and I took a little trip to Ikea. It's only about 30 minutes from her place (which is pretty close, actually, as it's located outside of Tokyo, in Chiba prefecture), and she was interested in picking up a few things.

As we pulled into the station, the HUGE blue building came into sight. As did the line to get in. Masses of people were milling about the entrance, in a snaking queue vaguely reminiscent of nearby Disneyland.

But having nothing better to do, we got in line and waited. And waited. And 45 minutes later, we were in (the Ikea employee at the end of the line had said to expect an hour wait, so we were ahead of the game).

It was my first time going to an Ikea, so I'm not really sure how to compare it to stores in other countries, but it was gigantic. Especially for Japan. We spent an hour and a half just wandering around one floor (there are two). In the end, Panda chan only got some curtains, but what impressed me the most was how truly cheap everything was, ESPECIALLY for Japan. Oh, and the hot dogs, which they were selling for 100 yen (just under a buck), were pretty damn tasty, too. Not really sure why a Swedish store would sell hot dogs, though.....

Hello from Sendai

I'm writing this from the Apple Store in Sendai. We first came in just to kill time before dinner, and had noticed there was a live DJ set up playing music. Turns out, it's a DJ from a now-defunct Japanese band called Supercar that I happen to like quite a lot, and which was just recently brought back into my attention by a collection of their bizarre-yet-cool music videos (http://www.metafilter.com/mefi/51111)

Anyway, the music is really loud, but really cool. And it's pretty damn cool that they're playing in the middle of this rather tiny Apple Store in a rather random city in Japan (although, from what I can tell all signs point to Sendai being on the up-and-up in terms of future cities in Japan...)

I'll post a full report on Matsushima and Sendai soon, but we're having a lot of fun, and enjoying some great food (earlier today we had a huge Japanese breakfast at our inn in Matsushima and a great and cheap standing sushi place at Sendai station, and in a little bit we're heading for Korean barbecue Sendai style, topped off by a few rounds of locally-produced sake in a pub or bar somewhere).

Rock on, Sendai, rock on!

Matsushima

Panda chan and I have done quite a bit of traveling within Japan. This week is a big holiday week in Japan (called Golden Week), and she decided to take off Monday and Tuesday, giving her the whole week off (most Japanese only get Wednesday-Friday). Unfortunately, international ticket prices are jacked up to ridiculous levels, so we can't really go anywhere outside of Japan, but today we're taking off for another domestic travel adventure.

In about an hour, we're taking a train to Sendai, a fairly large city in the Northern part of Japan's main island, Honshu. We're spending the night there tomorrow -- I've never been, and it's supposed to be a fairly interesting city (plus, they're famous for their grilled beef tongue. Sounds kinda disgusting, but it's actually pretty good). But our main destination is Matsushima, a town that's rated as having one of Japan's three best views. http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e5100.html

Be back Wednesday night, so expect a report (likely incomplete -- hey, I'm being honest!) sometime later this week.