Driving Adventures and More

Konbanwa!  

After a grueling 5 minutes of driving 20 kph (~12mph) on a street with no cars, they told us we are fit to drive in Japan and gave us our drivers license!  Immediately afterwards, we bought a car. It is incredibly easy to find cheap used cars here (cheap U.S. standards).  Apparently, the taxes that the Japanese have to pay on cars 5 years old is pretty steep and then it jumps even more when the car is 10 years old.  So, the Japanese will "junk" their "old" cars and sell them for insanely cheap to someone who turns around and sells them to the Americans for "cheap" and makes loads of money.   The process of transferring the registration is ALMOST as annoying as the DMV, but without the hours and hours of waiting time because you can pay someone to do the dirty work for you.   Once all the paperwork is together and you have the insurance, etc., you find someone in the yellow pages who will take it all up to Yokohama and obtain your license plates and the official registration.  Best money spent ever.  But first, you have to obtain all the paperwork needed.   The most tedious one to obtain is your parking certificate.  You have to go to the local koban (police station), with your address, make/model of car and then they measure your car.  They give you a date to return on.  During the wait time, they literally drive out to your house and measure to make sure your car fits in the spot you say you are going to park it in.  Then you go back to the station to pick up your certificate (or get the denied stamp, if they don't think the car is appropriate size). 

Here is our first car.  It is going to be primarily my car because it is just so darn cute, and Kenny is going to buy one from a friend of his when he leaves later this month to return to the States.

The pictures don't lie - it is a TINY car.  It can fit in the smallest parking spots and the turning radius is amazing.  Surprisingly, it has a space in the back that could fit a few small suitcases and lots of grocery/shopping bags.  :)

Today, we went driving off base for the first time.  I think my heart was pounding the entire time.  Not only do you have to remember to drive on the wrong side of the road, but the signage on the roads is mostly in Kanji (if there even are road names).  We researched where we were going intensely before we left and we had no problems whatsoever.  We navigated parking structures, parking lots, ticket booths, etc. 

Yokosuka Port Market is a local fish/fresh produce market similar to a local farm market in the States.  Lots of live fish in tanks, including sharks, snails and sea urchins.  There was also a lot of fresh produce, a bakery with savory/sweet baked goods and a gelato stand (they make the gelato on site every day).  Good eats, and I'm excited to do some shopping there once we move into our house.  

Lots of fresh produce

Yes, that sign means live shark for sale.  We were tempted.

A lot of live fish for sale.

Yummy gelato stand

We also went to two large stores here in Yokosuka - Livin and Homes.  Livin is a huge, sell everything type of store - similar to Wal-Mart and I believe is actually owned by Wal-Mart. Homes is another huge store and is similar to a combination of Home Depot and Ikea in one store.  We are looking for some shelving units for our new kitchen.  

After shopping, we headed down to our new place of residence - Zushi!  Just a quick trip to check the place out and take a look at the beach.  It is beautiful and we are so lucky to have it within walking distance of our house.  Crazy busy during the summer, it appears to have a slightly similar vibe to South Beach during spring break.  Beer/mojito/summer drink stands down the entire length of the beach with lots of drunk Japanese along with many Japanese families (who might have also been drunk, haha).  Huge waves today, lots of windsurfers out past the breakers.  The water was nice and warm and felt great on my feet on this 95F day! The sand however, does leave a lot to be desired.  Bit of a dirty type of sand - similar to Myrtle Beach, but more hard/packed down.  I'm kind of a sand snob - and still say that it is tough to beat Grand Haven, MI sand!  :)

Dinner in Zushi was a bit of a challenge tonight.  We haven't had too much a of problem with the language barrier - most restaurants have English menus or pictures you can just point out what you want.  But tonight we ended up at a place without English menus, menu pictures or English speaking staff.  We could have chickened out and gone elsewhere, but we managed (with some help from a translate app on my phone) to order what we wanted (for the most part).  We ended up eating some of the best tuna and salmon sashimi I have ever had, and Kenny ordered crab.  What he received was a deep fried entire crab.  They told us (interpreted with charades) to eat the entire thing, and I'm pretty sure the shell was still on, but it was quite tasty and Kenny is still alive, so I think it was okay.  :)

It is difficult to be a in country with such a drastically difference language, but it is motivation for me to keep doing my Japanese lessons and classes and keep practicing, even if they have no idea what I'm trying to ask or say.  One problem is, I know how to ask what something is in Japanese - but then have no clue how to interpret the answer, haha! :)

I will end this post with some more vending machine discoveries - one delicious and one I haven't gotten up enough courage to try yet! :)   We are going to Tokyo for the next 2 days, I'm sure a post will follow soon after!

Cold corn soup - haven't tried this yet.  I think they serve it warm from the vending machine in the winter - maybe I will try it then. 

Green tea ice cream in a crunchy waffle - yummy.

Rainy Day Story Time Part 2 - Buddhist Temples and Yokohama

As I mentioned last post, we went to Yokohama yesterday.  Yokohama is Japan's second largest city, and similar to American big cities, has lots of tall buildings, people and shopping.  Lots to do in this city, it will take multiple trips before we see it all!  In one of the malls there, I have already found a few of my favorite clothing stores.  ;)

Yokohama is also home to Japan's tallest building, Landmark Tower.  48 floors are shopping, restaurants and office buildings.   There is a 5 star hotel on floors 49-70.  A skydeck with 360 degree views is on the 69th floor.  On clear days, you can see Mount Fuji from here.  We didn't go up this visit, as it was a cloudy day, but plan to at some point.  The building also has the world's second fastest elevator - only taking 40 seconds to go from level 1 up to level 69. 

Another attraction we visited was the Shinyokohama Ramen Museum.  It is actually not truly a museum, but a "food amusement park" as they call it.  Of note, it is not wise to go to a museum in another country, as there were some historical parts of the building, but alas, all in Japanese.  Basically, the building is set up to resemble a street-scape replication from the year 1958, Japan.  Ramen was introduced into Japan in 1859 when it opened its ports, allowing introductions of new foods/etc.  Ramen in Japan is based on the Chinese ramen that was brought into the country at that time.  Apparently, Japan thinks its ramen is better, because they exclusively use the dashi (soup stock) for ramen, while those silly Chinese use the dashi in more than one dish.  ;)  Anyway, there are 9 ramen shops set up in the museum and showcase the variations in Japanese ramen.  We chose to eat at Sumire, which apparently has the most famous miso ramen in Japan.  Next time, we are going to order the small bowls and try out multiple shops in one visit.  :)

The other place we visited in Yokohama was Chinatown (Yokohama Chukagai).  This is the largest of Japan's Chinatown's.  This developed in 1859, again when Japan opened its ports to international entry/trade.  In this area are 2500 Chinese inhabitants, with tons of shopping, restaurants, food shops and millions of Chinese gift stores.  There are 4 main gates (North, South, East, West), each a different color.  

Chinatown is more confusing than Dupont Circle in D.C. (which to me is horribly confusing, lol) and we were hopelessly lost for at least one hour in search of the Chinese Kantei-byo Buddhist Temple.  Just when we were about to succumb to the overwhelming oppressive heat/humidity (it is more humid here than in D.C., which I still can't believe is possible), we turned the corner to smell incense and to see lots of touristy groups of people taking pictures on its steps!  

Buddhism is Japan's second most common religion.  Shrines are to the Shinto religion as Temples are to the Buddhist religion.  Buddhism arrived in Japan by way of India through China and Korea in the 6th century.  Buddhist beliefs are apparent throughout many modern day aspects of Japanese life, especially in emphasis of Zen or mental control.  A Buddhist temple with have a main hall (hondo) and also possibly a pagoda, cemetery and buildings used by Monks.  The Kantei-byo temple was built by the Chinese in 1873 and is dedicated to the Chinese god of good business and prosperity.  This temple differs from a lot we will likely see in Japan, as it is quite small and a lot of the temples throughout Japan are huge, sprawling areas with gardens and places for meditation.  There were a lot of candles, incense, water and flowers around the temple, which I believe represent the Four Elements teaching of Buddhism.  In the hondo, you can remove your shoes and kneel before the alter and Buddha in silent prayer. 

We both passed our written driving test, so theoretically we should know how to drive on the opposite side of the road, but will find out tomorrow on our actual driving test.  :)  Probably more food adventures this week, and then we are going to Tokyo for Labor Day weekend.  More posts to come! :)

Rainy Day Story Time Part 1 - Shinto Shrines

Rainy weekend here in Japan.  The rain held off yesterday, which was fortunate because that was the day we picked to go sight-seeing in Yokohama.  We had a great day and got more experience navigating the train system.  The trains here are amazing and will take you anywhere you want to go in the country.   They are also always, without fail, on time.  They will apologize profusely over the loud speaker if they are even 1 minute late.  Supposedly, one day someone jumped in front of the train and it only delayed that particular train for 10 minutes.  This might be an old wives tale, but I believe it.  The other noticeably different thing on the train system here, is that people are SILENT.  If you hear anybody making noise, it's probably the obnoxious Americans, and the Japanese are notorious for getting up and moving to a different seat if you sit next to them because they think you are going to be noisy. 

Last week, we went up to Kamakura.  Kamakura was the capital of Japan from 1185-1333.  There are 19 Shinto shrines and 65 Buddhist temples, so there are lots of sights to see and old history all throughout the city.  It also has a large amount of cherry trees, so it is beautiful in the spring time.  Lots to see, and the day we went was 100F and humid, so we didn't explore too much.  Kamakura is only 1 train spot away from where we will be living, so we will definitely see the entire city before leaving Japan. 

We visited one shrine - the Hachiman-gu Shrine.  Shrines are religious sites used for the Shinto religion.  Shinto and Buddhism are the 2 main religions in Japan.  Shinto is considered the native religion, the "way of the gods".  The main concept is that deities (or kami) preside over all things in nature - living, dead or inanimate.  There are many kami, some considered lesser and some considered greater.  These kami are worshiped at the particular shrines.  The torii is the red gate at the entrance of each shrine.  It separates what is considered sacred ground from non sacred ground. 

After the torii is usually a long straight path that leads to the honden (main sanctuary), where an object (shintai) is held, believed to be in what the kami resides, and to who the shrine is dedicated.  In most shrines, the public is not allowed to enter this sacred area, but worship at the haiden, just outside the honden.  Along the path are usually steep up-slopes and steps, which are meant to slow people down, because you should not be in a hurry to worship or honor the kami.

Before you can enter the haiden, you must purify yourself at the Chozuya - or a source of clean, running water.  You take a ladle and rinse your left hand, right hand and then fill the palm of your hand and rinse your mouth, spitting the water out to cleanse.   Kenny and I both accidentally swallowed the water - oops! 

After you are purified, you can proceed to the haiden.  There, you either pull a bell or throw small coins into a well, bow twice then clap twice to summon the kami and then stand in silent prayer for a few moments. 

Another thing commonly done is to write prayers or wishes on "ema" or wooden plaques and then leave them at the temple.  Once the site fills with ema, they are burned in a religious/sacred manner. 

There are multiple different types of shrines, depending on what kami is being honored.  The Hachiman-gu Shrine in Kamakura was built in this location in 1191 by Yoritomo Minamoto, who was the first Shogun of the Shogun era in Japan.  Hachiman shrines are dedicated to gods of war and was built to protect Minamoto's government and clan.  The path to the honden has ponds on both sides.  On the right side there are 3 ponds.  3 in Japanese = San, which also means life and represents the Minamoto clan.  White flowers are planted here, as well as white flags representing good luck to soldiers in battle.  On the left side there are 4 ponds.  4 in Japanese = Shi, which means death and represented the rival clan.  Red flowers for blood were planted here. 

There is a lot more to be said about Shinto Shrines - and I'm sure we will learn more as we visit others and pick up on differences, etc.  So as not to make this post too long, I will make a second post discussing Buddhist temples.  :)

Sushi and Ramen and Gyoza, Oh My!

This post will mostly be about food.  Because, lets be honest, the best part of any experience is eating.  And I can eat like a champ.  And, I'm willing to try any food once.  So far, the food in Japan has not disappointed.  There are so many different options, and they also have amazing Chinese, Thai and Indian food choices as well.  Its an Asian food smorgasborg over here.  I've tried to take pictures of a lot of foods we have eaten, but have missed some opportunities.  I'll mostly talk about the foods we have tried so far and keep updating when we have tasted more. 

I've only eaten authentic Japanese breakfast once so far.  And yes, it included raw fish.  :)  The main dish consisted of a bowl of rice, and then you add an assortment of toppings such as nori (dried seaweed), leeks, picked vegetables and tsukemono (pickles), and then pour a chicken tea/broth liquid over top.  Very tasty.  I also had some raw salmon and aji (dried horse makerel - grilled/salted) which were also very good. Probably the only thing I have tasted so far and not liked was the umeboshi (pickled plum).  Pretty gross. 

Lunch and dinner offer pretty much the same choices, but a lot of places will offer "set lunches" or special deals on their main dishes that also include soup (usually miso), a small dessert (usually some coconut custard thing) and a little salad.  

Let's talk sushi.  Sushi literally means a dish consisting of cooked vinegared rice combined with other ingredients.  It does not automatically mean raw fish/food, as you can find anything in sushi form.  Kenny has found hamburger, fried chicken, duck, corn, salted pork and anything mixed with mayonaise.  For some reason, the Japanese love mayonaise.  They even put it on pizza. We have yet to try this, so I will refrain from posting an opinion until I've attempted it.  :)  Any way you slice it, the sushi - especially combined with raw fish, is amazing.  You can pay a variety of amounts per plate and obviously the more expensive the better the cut of fish.  I paid $10 for 2 pieces of tuna, but it was well worth it.  It will be difficult to go back to regular old tuna again.  

Kenny isn't that big a fan of sushi....yet, so we have explored a lot of other types of food as well.  Probably one of his favorites is tonkatsu (pork cutlet).  Pork is the most common type, but you will also find it in chicken or beef.  It is basically a form of fried meat - lightly battered with egg/flour and then dipped in Panko crumbs and deep fried.  I've been told by the Japanese that it is actually not that bad for you despite being deep fried, but I'm not convinced.  It is however, delicious so I guess it doesn't really matter.  Classically, it is severed with shredded cabbage with tonkatsu sauce (a thick Worcestershire type sauce) and miso soup.  You can also serve tonkatsu with Japanese curry sauce (brown curry) or on top of egg/rice mixture called katsudon.  Either way, all options are great.  Below is a picture of tonkatsu with curry and omelet (plate on top).

Ramen is another big food option.  This elevates the Ramen we all used to cook in the microwave in our dorm rooms to a whole new level.  Not even close.  There are endless choices when it comes to ramen - what toppings, what type of broth, etc.  My favorite is Shoyu (soy sauce based broth) and Kenny's favorite is Shio (salt based broth), but you can also get Miso based and even curry based broth.  Each region of Japan is supposedly known for a specific type of ramen.  What's the best part of eating ramen in Japan?  Getting to be as noisy as you want!  Slurping and shoveling the noodles into your mouth is a sign of respect, so you can finally do what you wanted to do with your ramen all through childhood and beyond.  I thought they were kidding when they told us this....but its true.  Very noisy in a ramen shop.  Ramen is usually served with gyoza, which are pot-stickers or dumplings.  Pretty self explanatory, and amazingly delicious. 

I'm not much of a red meat eater, so I wasn't sure how I would feel about Korean BBQ.  Not a truly Japanese dish, but very popular here and also very surprisingly delicious.  Probably also brought us the most amount of stress when ordering as English was very limited and they just kept bringing us strange raw meats. Each place is different, but where we went had us cooking the food ourselves in a charcoal grill right in the center of our table.  They bring you raw meats of your choosing marinating in different seasonings and you grill it yourself.  A popular thing here is the all you eat Korean BBQ buffet.  They put a kitchen timer on your table and set it to 90 minutes.  Then, you just order meat until you are full.  Kenny was in heaven.  We got a little adventurous and tried the pork tongue, which was actually one of the best meats we tried.  I guess you are also supposed to mix the meats with vegetables and lettuce, but if you know Kenny - he wasn't going to waste any of his time cooking/eating those.  :)

I really could go on and on about the food here, and we have only been in Japan for 1.5 weeks!  The desserts are also amazing.  The best thing about these is that the sweetness factor is dialed down about 10 notches from the States.  It makes desserts much less heavy and a lot more satisfying.  They also wrap ice cream in a crispy waffle which is the best thing ever. I am also on a mission to try every drink they sell from vending machines - my favorite so far being Melon Cream Soda.  Assorted pictures below. :)  And, of course - more about food and such to be found in future blogs - this is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to food options.  

It is rainy and stormy here tonight, so our food was much less exotic (Kenny's famous sausage, red beans and rice), but still good.  :)  This weekend we are planning to go to Yokohama.  Next week is our driving test and obtaining our license and car.  More to come!!