A Fish Out of Water

Hanami

I thought this might be a hanami-free year, but I managed to go cherry blossom viewing in Shinjuku Gyoen, my favourite park in Tokyo, last week with a friend. It was too chilly to set up a picnic so this was just a walk-by hanami, but I'm glad I got the chance to see some pretty blossoms outside of my own neighborhood. I'll present some of the pictures from the day without comment, but keep your eyes peeled for public napping, lots of posing, a man not interested in the flowers (or his girlfriend) so much as a nice pair of legs, a hanami-ing turtle, and a girl livening up a snapshot with a confetti-toss of sakura petals.

See more pictures of Shinjuku Gyoen (from today's and previous visits) here, and more sakura pictures here.

Kamakura

In mid-November my friend Emi and I went to Kamakura for a day of hiking and temple-hopping. We chose the Daibutsu Course, the same trail we always use- a bit boring to always do the same one but it's the perfect length for a day trip.

The hike begins near Kita Kamakura station, so it's a good chance to visit one of the many temples in the area. We found Engakuji Temple, above, to be overrun with school kids, and even though it was a weekday this was more crowded than I've seen in years. Most trees were still green, but the few that were turning colour attracted a lot of attention.

There were also berries all over the place- the purple murasakishikibu above, plus a dozen shades of white, yellow, orange and red. It's too bad the crowds had chased away all the birds, as all the berries must provide a nice smorgasbord for them.

The trail itself begins at Jochiji Temple, so we stopped for some good luck Buddha belly rubbing and were rewarded with the sight of a stinkbug with a cute design.

One little park along the way was bright with koyo (autumn leaves), so we took a break to eat mikan (mandarins) and take some pictures).

There was also an obligatory stop at Zeni-arai Benten, the shrine where you wash your money to increase your fortune. I don't know if anyone actually believes it will work- I've done it enough to know that if anything it decreases your fortune- but everyone does it just the same.

With only 22 yen in my wallet it was an easy task. It's possible to wash bills too, but I'm never sure how I'm supposed to dry them afterward. The sign below definitely doesn't help: the enigmatic English "Dries Naturally" would seem to suggest that you're supposed to let your money, well, dry naturally, while the Japanese instructions advise you to wash your riches with a handkerchief.

After a bit more hiking (I never seem to take pictures on the actual trail) we were at Daibutsu, or Great Buddha, the giant statue for which the trail is named. We skipped it (seen one big Buddha, seen em all) and had lunch instead, at a place called Kamatama Udonya. We chose it because of the picture of the daibutsu kake-udon (Great Buddha udon noodles) in the window, because how could you pass that buy and not want to try it? Upon entering I was pleasantly surprised to see that the owner could speak English and English menus were available, not that we needed them- we knew we wanted the Buddha noodles.

The noodles came in a hot broth with thinly sliced negi (long onion) for the hair, shoyu mame (fava beans cooked in soy sauce, a specialty of Shikoku) for the third eye, sliced kaeshi tamago (boiled egg flavoured with dashi) for eyes, chikuwa ten (deep-fried fish paste) for the nose, and benishoga (pickled ginger) for the mouth. It was surprisingly good, with a very light broth of home-made dashi and chewy, springy noodles. The place is run by a couple and it turns out that the wife is from Shikoku, famed for its udon. Touristy or not, this was a good bowl of noodles and I'll be back.

For dessert, or what we thought would be dessert, we bought murasaki imo crokke (purple sweet potato croquette) and ate it as we walked to Hasedera Temple. Even though crokke are usually savoury, we figured it would be sweet because sweet potatoes- especially the purple variety, are usually prepared as a dessert in Japan.

But this was savoury, flavoured with ground meat and not tasting terribly different from the regular potato variety of crokke. Very good, but not at all what we were expecting.

We had no choice but to turn around and walk to Kamakura Gelato for some real dessert. I had gelato con cafe, plain milk gelato topped with espresso, and then we headed to Hasedera Temple, our last stop of the day.

It's a large temple with a number of attractions, including a cave that I've never noticed before. We went in and saw that its walls were carved with various gods, with a stand in front for prayer candles. you buy a candle, write your name on it, light it and place it in front of the god you'd like to petition or give thanks to. Some of them, like the god of clothing, were candle-free and probably made more sense a thousand years ago. Others, like the god of money or the god of study, below, were quite popular. The god of sake (in this case "sake" would refer to alcohol in general, not just rice wine) had just two candles until an old man, who looked exactly like the kind of guy who would pray to the sake god, lit a candle and gave a very long prayer. Emi and I offered candles of our own, but to which gods I won't say (will let you know if either of our prayers comes true though).

Another thing I'd never noticed: building that houses a giant prayer wheel has part of its floor covered in pebbles. I must have never bothered to look down though, because this visit was the first time I saw that each pebble was adorned with a single character, like the one below with 無 (mu, or nothingness).

More pictures from the hike can be seen here.

For detailed info and maps on the Daibutsu Course, check out Yamaonnas' excellent guide.

Engakuji
300 yen admission
Open daily 8:00am to 4:00pm (until 5:00 in winter)

Jochiji
200 yen admission
Open daily 9:00am to 4:30pm (until 5:00 in winter)

Hasedera
300 yen admission
Open daily 8:00 to 5:30 (until 5:00 in winter)

Kamatama Udonya
3-7-21 Hase, Kamakura-shi, Kanagawa
0467-22-2264
Open daily from 11:00am to 5:00pm, or until supplies last
English spoken, English menu available

Kamakura Gelato
3-8-13 Hase, Kamakura-shi, Kanagawa
0467-22-8801
Winter hours: weekdays 10:30am to 5:00pm, weekends 10:30am to 5:30pm, closed Mondays and first Tuesday of the month.

Autumn Mini Camp

On a November long weekend I helped out with English Adventure's Autumn Mini Camp, held at Aikawa Fure-ai no Mura, a very pretty campsite in Atsugi, Kanagawa. This is a campsite in the Japanese sense, sleeping in comfy bunk beds inside cute lodges and eating at the cafeteria, and that's just fine by me. I've spent too many nights in a tent this year, and besides, what sane person wants to sleep outdoors in November?

The gorgeous ginkgo trees had dropped most of their leaves so we missed out on the normally spectacular display they provide (this is my third autumn working at the camp), but the Japanese maples were just getting started.

Our activities included tree identification, collecting, roasting and eating ginkgo nuts, warming up with hot chocolate, singing around a campfire, warming up again with mulled wine (adults only of course! this was a family camp so the moms, dads and staff stayed up to chat), and an nature art contest.

We watched a short video about Andy Goldsworthy, an amazing environmental artist, and then the kids were put into groups and set free to create their works. There were ample materials to work with and they had a great time collecting arranging leaves, twigs, pebbles and the like, and the adults had as great a time watching them. A few of their works, like the one above (which if I'd gotten closer and my camera had focused properly you'd see actually had an intricate design) were abstract, but most were representative, such as the one below. Can you guess what it's supposed to be?

An underwater scene! The rocks are the seabed and there's pine twig seaweed made, chestnut husk sea urchins, and colourful fish made of leaves. Below is a flower made of giant magnolia leaves coloured with tulip tree leaves.

A few more pictures can be seen near the end of my English Adventure Camps album.

A neighborhood walk, with cows

One sunny autumn day in October Hideaki and I went for a walk along the Shirakogawa, a small river that runs through my neighborhood on its way to the Arakawa River up north. Like most rivers in Tokyo it's completely encased in concrete, at least in the section we are familiar with, but still manages to support a variety of flora and fauna, such as small fish, birds like ducks and wagtails, huge numbers of insects, and bats.

Following the river takes me halfway back to our old neighborhood in Nishitokyo-shi where I still teach a class one evening a week, and after we moved a few years ago I biked along this path to get there. It's a much nicer route than following the roads, although not without problems- although it is lined with houses the paths themselves can be quite deserted at night, and an older student who remembered following the river on her way to high school as a girl warned me to be careful as the path was known for chikan (perverts).

In fact I did eventually find myself being followed and then chased, an incident that ended with me safely escaping but was scary enough to convince me to stop riding my bike to work, and at night in general. I now use the bus and find it rather ironic considering I switched from walking to biking about eight years ago after being followed several times. I have yet to encounter any bus chikan, which is a good thing because where would I switch to after the bus? I'm not quite ready for a private limo.

Anyway, despite being quite familiar with the river by bike, I'd never walked along it and it was nice to slow down and really get a look at the neighborhoods we passed through. We eventually walked all the way to the source of the river, an underwater spring that we figure gives our neighborhood its name (the "oizumi" in "Oizumigakuen" means "large spring"), which is something we've always wondered about.

We were surprised that the section of the river near the source is quite natural, and although the sides are encased in stone walls the bottom seems natural, and supports an even greater variety of plants as well as a colony of large koi.

About halfway between our area and the river's source is Koizumi Bokujo, the only livestock farm in Tokyo's 23 wards (presumably there are other farms in Tokyo's outlying Tama area). Koizumi Bokujo started 73 years ago, when there was nothing in the area but farmland, and since then houses and roads have sprung up all around it, making the little farm seem quite out of place. I'm not sure what the people living nearby think about having forty holsteins for neighbors, but they probably don't get much of a say since the holsteins (or their ancestors) were there first. The smell is not as bad as you'd expect, with the barn being thoroughly washed down every day and waste removed regularly, leaving only that very fresh, earthy cow dung smell that I actually kind of like (reminds me of childhood visits to Toronto's Royal Winter Fair). Um, did I just admit I liked the smell of cow poo? Please forget you read that.

The barn is open to all and features a picnic table and chairs, allowing you to sit down and watch the cows as you sample their wares. Unfortunately the milk is not for sale- when we asked the lady said "Oh, the Agriculture Board people wouldn't like that", which wasn't a clear no and seems, tantalizingly, to hint that maybe if they like you and things are kept on the down low it's possible to try some fresh Tokyo milk. Until then, there's ice cream:

  

On the left is shiboritate milk (literally fresh squeezed milk) and on the right is chocolate chip. Both had a slightly granular home-made ice cream texture, but were rich and tasty, and the shiboritate milk especially really tasted of, well, milk. At 300 yen a pop it's a bit pricey, but if it helps keep Tokyo's last real farm going then I'm happy to pay.

More pictures in my Neighborhood album, at the end.

Catching Up

Despite my lack of regular posts recently (does the past half year count as "recently"?) I've been keeping myself busy, so I thought I'd round up some pictures to show what I've been up to. So here are some things I've been doing since Spring, some of them already blogged, some not.

In May I took two trips to Mount Takao a mountain in western Tokyo. Once was as a special outing with my Nature Club students, when I was too busy guiding the kids and their parents to take pictures, and once was a few days before that to scout out my route. Late spring is a fantastic time to visit Takao, as the greenery is still fresh and bright, there are a wide variety of flowers, and the temperature is just right for hiking.

More pictures from the hike can be seen here.

During Golden Week Hideaki and I went to Hokkaido to visit his brother. In Tokyo it had seemed like summer had already arrived, but up on Japan's northernmost prefecture winter had barely ended. It was nice to experience spring twice, and even nicer to fill up on Hokkaido's famed seafood.

More pictures are here, and blog posts are here.

Then came my trip back home to Canada, which was extra special because Hideaki could come, as well as my sister, niece and nephew.

More pictures are here, and blog posts are here, here and here.

Back from Canada, we met up with Hideaki's sister's family for a day at the beach.

None of the beaches near Tokyo will ever win any prizes for beauty (or cleanliness), but we're lucky to have any beaches at all within day trip distance. We went to Koshigoe, a beach near Enoshima (that's the island pictured above) that is one of the better spots along the Shonan coast of Kanagawa, an area notorious for dirty, overcrowded beaches. This was an overcast day early in the season (there is actually an official beach and pool season here), but by the end of the day the it was pretty crowded, but we were able to relax and have a little space to ourselves while getting in some good people watching. We especially enjoyed the constant parade of suntanned surfer dudes trying to pick up two bikini-clad Brazilian ladies lying nearby

One thing that I do love about Shonan's beaches are the umi no ie, literally "ocean houses" that offer change rooms, showers, food and drink, and a place to sit. It doesn't come cheap (you usually need to pay to use the facilities, and the food is priced for tourists) but each umi no ie has its own atmosphere, with a unique look, soundtrack and menu. Some of them are really cool looking and make you think that you're on a beach in Hawaii or Thailand, and the hipper places crank up the music and become beach bars at night. But we were there for the day only and chose a minimally decorated place serving Southeast Asian food.

We shared Thai style bbq ribs, fried, some sort of noodle soup, and fried rice, as well as a good deal of ice-cold beer, and forgot for a while that we were on a dirty, crowded Shonan beach.

Dessert was nice too!

Next up were five weeks of summer camps, in Chichibu, just northwest of Tokyo, and Izu Oshima, and island south of Tokyo.

These pictures are from the Oshima camp, which was my favourite. We slept in tents, cooked all of our own meals, went on hikes, explored tide pools, learned how to snorkel, and met ancient tortoises at the local zoo.

In between camps I went to Mikurajima to swim with the wild dolphins and hike in the mountains.

I blogged about Mikurajima here, and the pictures are here.

With all that was going on in the summer I missed Hideaki's birthday, so we celebrated a bit late with an ice cream cake. Yup, he's 40!

A few days later was another milestone: our 10th anniversary. With some of the money I made at all those camps in the summer we spent a weekend in Shimoda, a town near the tip of the Izu Peninsula, southwest of Tokyo.

I chose it because it is supposed to have nice beaches that remain free of jellyfish and warm enough for swimming in September (most of the waters surrounding Japan are full of stinging jellyfish after mid-August), and also has plenty of historical sights that would give us something to do if the weather turned bad.

Shimoda is where Commodore Matthew Perry arrived and forced Japan out of seclusion in 1854, but that's about all I know because the weather was great and we had no need to set foot in a museum. I can confirm that the beaches are indeed pretty, but sadly the waves were high and we couldn't really swim, so we bodysurfed and built sandcastles (the ruins shown above were truly magnificent before the tide came in).

We took a side trip to Kawazu Nanadaru (the Seven Waterfalls of Kawazu) for an easy hike. I think we saw all of the falls, but it was hard to tell as some of them were so tiny they barely qualified as waterfalls, though some of them were lovely, and it was a very pleasant place to walk around. Most people seemed to be there because the area was featured in The Izu Dancer, a famous book that apparently everyone except us has read. There were Izu Dancer statues and monuments all over the place,

This girl kept following us and copying my poses, which kind of annoyed me at first, but then really pissed me off when I realized she looked a million times cuter doing the exact same poses. I think I'm going to have to start practicing my posing techniques and wearing fancy dresses when I go sightseeing.

Some of the waterfalls could be seen by a paved path, but for the rest you have to take a trail which is not exactly challenging, but steep, narrow and uneven in parts. It was on the trail that I saw the lady in hot pink high heels, which cheered me up. No hike in Japan is complete without seeing at least one woman in completely inappropriate footwear.

What was even more impressive than the falls themselves were the rock formations that caused them and the colour of the water, which I couldn't quite capture in the pictures but ranged from a lovely topaz to a pale turquoise. 

Once we'd had our fill of falls we stopped by a restaurant specializing in noodles local inoshishi (wild boar) for lunch. We'd never tried boar before and weren't sure if noodle toppings were the best way to eat it, so we only ordered one inoshishi dish, inoshishi soba (buckwheat noodles in miso broth with vegetables and wild boar). It was good but milder tasting than we expected, tasting like a cross between regular pork and duck.

We also had sansai udon (wheat noodles with mountain vegetables), which came with a small plate of toppings: daikon pickles, fuki-miso (butterbur shoots dressed with miso) and locally grown wasabi. I'm not a huge wasabi fan but this was very fresh and fragrant, so different than the impostor usually served.

Dessert was kakigori (shaved ice) flavoured with matcha sauce and anko (sweet red beans).

Overlooking the biggest of the falls is Amagisou, an old ryokan (Japanese inn) with a large a collection of rotemburo (outdoor hot spring baths), one shown below. There were traditional indoor onsen (hot springs) as well, but the rotemburo were coed and required swimsuits, so we suited up and went bath hopping. The place is well past its peak and several baths were empty and abandoned, but there were enough left to make it a memorable visit. We liked large outdoor bath with the view of the falls the best, and also had a good time in the onsen pool where Hideaki showed off his swimming abilities and tried to teach me the backstroke. It's much harder than it looks, and despite my best efforts I soon reverted to doggypaddling. One of these days I'll learn to swim for real, but not during a vacation.

I had better luck teaching Hideaki to snorkel the next day, on the rocky shoreline shown below. It doesn't look like much but there were some surprisingly beautiful little fish under the water, and it turns out that Hide loves to snorkel. We don't have many hobbies in common, so it's cool that we both like snorkeling and can't wait to try it again. Maybe he'll come along on my next trip to Mikurajima.

When the water got too cold it was time for lunch, so we went to Kiyu, a Japanese seafood restaurant. I ordered the kinmedai kamameshi lunch set (steamed rice topped with alphonsino, a delicious local fish). Hideaki had kakiage-don, a bowl of rice topped with a mix of vegetables, shrimp and local sazae (turban snail) fried tempura-style. Both meals were excellent and give us one more reason to go back to Shimoda.

In September Hideaki and I went for a hike in Saitama, west of Tokyo. Our first stop was Noninji, a large temple near Hanno station with very pretty grounds. We could have spent longer looking at the many buildings and gardens, but we'd started late so kept our visit short.

I really liked the little rest area, with a tea house-like gazebo that had special details like this funky light.

The lilly-pad shaped tables tables and chairs were cute too, and even the ashtray was disguised as a tree stump.

We climbed the hill behind the temple to continue our hike, but soon after we got to the top we took a wrong turn and got lost. The rest of the 'hike' consisted mostly of wandering around the village seen above.

We eventually found the tail end of the trail but were too dejected to take any pictures until we came upon a higanbana (red spider lilly) lined river. The sight of higanbana in bloom is a sure signal that, no matter how hot and sunny the weather may be, summer is over. But as sad as I am to see them I have to admit they are pretty.

Getting lost is hungry work, so we were happy to find Kunugi-an, a soba restaurant.

Hideaki ordered zarusoba (cold soba noodles with a soy based dipping sauce) and I had tororo soba (the same with grated yam and a raw quail egg to add to the dipping sauce). It was very good, if a little pricey, and if we ever try the hike again (with a compass and map, hopefully) we'll come here again.

A few more pictures of the hike here.

Canada, week four

My last week in Canada began with lunch for everyone at Kingsley, a Chinese restaurant in Brampton with all-day dim sum. This was a very big treat for Hideaki and me: dim sum does exist in Japan, but it's done a bit differently. Customers ordering from menus rather than choosing dishes from passing carts, which is way less fun. The one time we found a proper dim sum place in Tokyo, with carts and all, we loved it, right up until we were hit with the $80 bill.

Everything was delicious, with stronger flavours compared to Japanese dim sum, which is usually lightly flavoured and always dipped in a sauce before eating. Here, although soy sauce was available for dipping, nothing really needed it (and the short, unbroken journey from plate to mouth was a big relief for those of us not used to slippery, blunt-ended Chinese chopsticks). Above is beef rib in black bean sauce with sticky rice (which came wrapped in a lotus leaf, unlike Japanese chimaki which comes wrapped in a bamboo leaf).

The two vegetable dishes, ordered from the menu, were a welcome break. On the left is baby bok choy with garlic, and on the right are snow pea greens with garlic.

This was my favourite dish: eggplant stuffed with minced shrimp. A tad on the greasy side but so, so good.

The garlic chive dumplings were very good too, stuffed with a mixture of pork, shrimp and a restrained amount of garlic chives, compared to the usual Japanese nira manju most often made with pork only and an aggressive amount of garlic chives.

The only disappointment was that many of the dumpling style dishes came with broken wraps, as shown above. This is probably the only way that Japanese style dim sum is better, and I wonder how important it is. Are broken wraps a major flaw in authentic Chinese cooking? All in all, I vastly prefer Canadian style dim sum, Kingsley's included, to Japanese style. But which is more authentic?

We finished with two of my favourite sweets: sesame balls (which came stuffed with lotus seed paste instead of the sweet bean paste found in Japanese goma dango), and egg tarts (which for some reason I've never seen offered at any kind of Chinese restaurant in Japan).

My sister Julie with my nephew Aaron and niece Zoe.

My dad and Julie.

Me and my mom.

Back at home, I spent some quality time with the cats. Below is the newest member of the family, Toki (I can't take credit for the pretty picture, unfortunately: it was taken with my brother Greg's camera, either by him or his girlfriend Sherry):

I don't remember exactly how Toki entered our family (we have so many cat acquisition stories that it's hard to keep them straight), except that she was a kitten in need of a home and my family happened to have a cat vacancy at the time. After a trip home last year I blogged about Angus, the handsome cat who was the newest member of the family at the time. Sadly, just a few weeks after that post, I was told that Angus was hit by a car. It was devastating, but a few months later there was more news: a brand new kitten was working some kitten magic on my family, and although Angus will never be forgotten, his replacement was pretty awesome.

Toki gets along with Cocoa, the earless and not very photogenic (but really cute in person) cat shown above. Cocoa is a very easy going and and affectionate cat, who also got along really well with Angus. Toki is not quite as loving as Cocoa, but she's also not quite fully grown, and her kittenish antics are lots of fun to watch.

For more pictures of Cocoa, Angus, Toki, and other kitties I've known, see my Cat Album. 

I got to see some cats of a bigger kind when my dad took Aaron, Zoe, Hideaki and me for a trip to the Toronto Zoo. It was Hideaki's first time, and my first visit in over a decade, and as usual we only got to see a small part of it.

Also as usual, most of the animals were napping, but there was a bit of excitement when this tiger stalked and chased a chipmunk. Above it's cooling down after the hunt (the chipmunk escaped), but in full sprint it was amazingly fast.

Our trip was just a few days after we'd read in the paper about the death of one of the oldest elephants. She had died in an accident, after being knocked over by another elephant during feeding time and not being able to get back up. Watching a few of them eating peacefully it was hard to imagine the aggression that would cause such an accident.

 

Not all of the animals were in cages:

Caged and not, there were plenty of happy couples (some of them were really happy):

More zoo pictures can be found in my Zoo album.

Soon it was Canada Day, and we celebrated with a backyard get-together. We started by being underwhelmed by a Mentos soda-pop geyser:

Then were blown away by Greg's bbq ribs:

Along with burgers and other good stuff:

Then we were blown away again when Greg and his friend Jim did these fireworks:

And then I was underwhelmed again when I saw the pictures:

  

Oh well, fireworks always look better in real life.

I took a couple more trips downtown, once with Hideaki, Julie and Zoe for some rainy day shopping. Nobody got lost on this trip, and we even had time to admire Union Station. It looks really different from a tourist's perspective, especially looking up above the utilitarian signs and booths. I never noticed that each province's flag is displayed and that the names of major train stations across Canada are carved into the walls.

On the last trip downtown I returned to the Royal Ontario Museum with my friend Aspasia and checked out the old lobby, which I'd missed on my previous visit with my dad.

The stained glass windows and mosaic ceiling were just as impressive as ever, as were the totem poles that guard the stairs.

But we were there to see the Wedgewood exhibit. I'm not really a Wedgewood fan and my impression of the company was mostly as a maker of pricey wedding gifts, so I wasn't expecting to be particularly impressed. But I really enjoyed it and some of the pieces, especially the older ones, were breathtaking. I had no idea that Josiah Wedgwood was such a forward-thinking innovator, nor did I know of his relation to Darwin.

Sadly, the lighting made the exhibit hard to photograph, but here are some of the pieces I liked (and Aspasia shows her pictures here on her blog Domicile).

 

Apparently the exhibit has been extended and will be open until Spring 2010.

After the Wedgewood show we saw a bit more of the museum. I liked the section showing early plastic items, especially the plastic shoe heels in the picture above. I'd love to have a pair of these! 

I was also intrigued by this early timepiece, dating from the 16th century and featuring a rotating globe instead of a flat face. A figure of a black child (or baby faced man?) in a Roman gladiator costume holds a staff, the tip of which shows the time; meanwhile a weasel-like creature runs by his feet. What does it all mean? The black child seems majestic and dignified, which seems odd considering what Europeans were doing to Africans at the time. Or is the childish face and silly getup condescending? It is certainly nicer than the lawn jockeys that would be popular centuries later, but something seems off. And what's going on with the weasel?

More museum pictures can be seen here.

I continued to fill up on good food during my last week, including a long awaited Greek meal, Greek restaurants being a rarity in Japan. I fought with my family over yummy appetizers like the calimari above before settling down to a Greek salad, while Hideaki had his very first taste of moussaka, below.

He loved it and has requested I make it for him, pointing out that it's a lot like sheppard's pie so it really couldn't be so hard. We'll see.

I accompanied my Mom on a Costco shopping trip, which probably sounds boring to most people but for me, a Costco addict, was great. I was fascinated to see the differences between the Costco cafeteria menus in Brampton and Tokyo. The whole Costco experience tends to be extremely similar no matter where in the world you are so I've always assumed the cafeteria is the same too. But there aren't french fries at Japanese Costcos, and certainly not french fries with gravy, and definitely not poutine. Also, cheeseburgers, chicken strips, and Montreal smoked meat sandwiches. I do love the bulgogi bakes at Japanese Costcos, but I'd gladly trade them for poutine. Or at least a tub of gravy.

We'd been lusting over the summer edition of Food and Drink, the wonderful free magazine put out by the LCBO (Ontario's government controlled liquor retailer) when Sherry suddenly surprised us with a dessert made with the magazine's recipes (a big surprise, as I tend to treat food magazines as food porn rather than actually trying their recipes). Based on the Nectarine and Apricot Cookie Crumble  (page 169), but with strawberries, peaches and apricots. It was delicious, and although she thought there was too much liquid, I thought it was wonderful that way.

My mom made her famous lasagna and caesar salad based on a request by Hideaki (sloppy plating my fault). I thought it was a silly choice for summer, but the weather was so cool that it all worked out.

More classics: bacon-wrapped scallops and bacon-wrapped water chestnuts. They never went out of style as far as I'm concerned.

Another first for Hideaki: crumpets. I've never seen one in Japan, which is crazy considering how good they are. Maybe I should go into the crumpet business.

But we waited for Hideaki to leave (he went home a few days ahead of me) to eat the really good stuff. We bought live clams, mussels and lobsters from the Asian market, and while none of them were local (we live in southern Ontario, after all), they were a huge treat. Proper lobsters, with claws, are extremely rare in Japan, and although I occasionally come across mussels, I've never had a good one.

The lobsters were steamed and served in halves with garlic butter.

The mussels were steamed in wine and served with a baguette.

And my mom put the clams went into a pasta sauce, along with cherry tomatoes and pancetta. Yum!

For dessert, Sherry made strawberry shortcake with fresh local strawberries. Mine above was done with just a touch of cream as I'm not a whipped cream fan, but even if I was I wouldn't need much as our Ontario berries need no embellishment.

And suddenly I found myself on a plane home, my belly full of good food and my head full of happy memories. I can't wait for the next visit.

See more pictures from my visit here.

Sauble

 

During my trip back home this summer the whole family drove up for a four day visit to Sauble Beach, a place we've been visiting since before I was born. Located at base of the Bruce Peninsula on Lake Huron, the beach is one of the longest freshwater beaches in the world but is relatively undeveloped, and everything is still pretty much the same as when I was little, including the vintage sign at the south end of the beach. We stayed, like we usually do, at a rented cottage, and spent our time swimming, building sandcastles, and strolling along the beach.

We barbecued steaks and hot dogs and ate lots of fruits and vegetables (I ate more fruit in the lunch below than I do in an average week in Japan).

We also ate plenty of greasy local food, like beach poutine and Canadian-Chinese food (which I'd been craving for ages as it's completely different from the Chinese food in Japan). And of course there were a few trips Dairy Queen, but instead of the dipped cones I had there as a kid I went for Skor Blizzards, another craving of mine.

One of the few new things in Sauble is the Two Chicks Cafe, which offers relatively healthy food and outdoor seats that are a good place to don your shades and try to look cool.

On our last morning we saw another new thing: the the piping plover, an endangered bird that in the past few summers has been coming to the beach to breed. Two sections of the beach are designated breeding spots guarded by volunteers, who offer passersby binoculars to see the two pairs of very shy birds and their handful of chicks.

The two-hour drive back home to Brampton passes through some very pretty country on long, straight rodes that are a novelty for Hideaki and I, as rodes like this simply don't exist in compact, mountainous Japan.

Another novelty is the old barns and farmhouses and newer wind turbines that we pass by, and for some reason they fascinate me, especially the barns. Greg was nice enough to stop to let me take a few pictures by the side of the rode, but one of these days I'm going to have to get a closer look at a run-down barn.

 

Some of these pictures were taken by my brother Greg and his girlfriend Sherry. See tonnes more by them and by me in my Sauble album over at Flickr.

Kushiro Day One

This Golden Week Hideaki and I were whisked away to Kushiro, where we spent the holidays visiting his brother. Kushiro, though the largest city in eastern Hokkaido, is not a major tourist destination, but my brother-in-law was able to show us some fantastic places and feed us some even more fantastic food. It started with ramen at a local place called Maruhira Ramen, which has just two items on the menu: shio ramenshoyu ramen and . I went with the shio (salt flavour), shown above, and Hideaki had shoyu (soy sauce flavour), below.

It was very simple but amazingly good, like what I imagine ramen to have been like 50 years ago. I've never really understood why Japanese people are willing to stand in line for food, but the 10 minute wait inside the tiny cramped restaurant were totally worth it.

Next we went to Yonemachi Koen, a small park with a lighthouse overlooking Kushiro harbour. Most of the city's shoreline is industrialized so this wasn't the most beautiful view in the world, but it was a good look at the city.

The houses are a bit bigger than in Tokyo but not as large as I expected them to be, given how large and unpopulated Hokkaido is. They were also extremely utilitarian, and the only attractive houses I saw were a few wooden ones built when Kushiro was first settled, most of them falling apart.

Then it was off the Kushiro's NHK building where my brother-in-law works. NHK (Nihon Hoso Kyokai) is Japan's public broadcasting organization, and because it was nearly abandoned due to the holidays we got a quick tour of the place.

This is a view of Kushiro River from NHK's rooftop. Note the two little buildings with false fronts on the bottom right: these were once stores of some kind, likely small businesses run by a family that lived in the back. This style of architecture could be seen all over Kushiro, most of the stores sadly no longer in business. Kushiro's economy is in rough shape, partly due to the flood of young natives who head for Sapporo, Tokyo and other bigger cities.

Here we are in the news studio.

Next we drove east to Akkeshi, stopping on the way at Moritaka Bokujo for a soft-serve ice cream cone made from local milk (Hokkaido is famous for, among many things, its dairy products). This was probably the best soft-serve I've ever had: smooth, not too rich or sweet, tasting of milk and nothing but.

Akkeshi is the name given to the bay and the brackish lake it is connected to, both rich in sediments and plankton which make it an ideal area to raise shellfish. Oysters are available year round, thanks to the different temperatures of the lake and bay which allow the farmers to move their oysters around as the seasons change. Along with oysters, other seafood is caught and raised in Akkeshi, chiefly asari (littleneck clams).

We visited Hidetoshi Nakajima, acquaintance of my brother-in-law's who is apparently legendary in the oyster world. A fourth generation oyster farmer, he raises both clams and oysters, with oysters of the local kaki-emon variety his specialy.

This tray holds asari of a size typically found in Tokyo.

The next tray contained much larger clams, so big we assumed they were hamaguri (a larger type of clam). But we were mistaken, and apparently the locals like the big asari while the smaller ones are shipped off to Tokyo and other places.

Three of these big ones were expertly shucked by the owner and handed to us. I was hoping it was just for inspection, but when I realized we were meant to eat them I had flashbacks of being tricked into eating live clams and oysters as a child. I had wandered into the garage where my dad and our French-Canadian neighbor were sitting around a couple of buckets, each with a beer in one hand and a knife in the other. Apparently the neighbor had just come back from the east coast and was sharing the shellfish he'd brought, which must have made my dad very happy. I liked seafood at the time and I think I was eager to try some, and while I don't remember if I liked it or not I do remember I was horrified to learn that the clams I'd just eaten were alive (or had been alive until very shortly before I'd swallowed them). I felt like a dirty trick had been played on me and the idea of raw shellfish has grossed me out since then.

But it would have been rude to refuse, and the sight of Hideaki, no fan of raw shellfish himself, bravely downing his clam gave me courage. I popped the clam into my mouth fully expecting to be grossed out, but instead found it to be tasty: the fresh, pure flavour and softly chewy texture were quite different from cooked clams. I was in no hurry to have another though, because as good as it was I still think clams are better cooked.

We turned to the oyster tank, and with growing dread I prepared myself for the raw oyster tasting I assumed would follow. Raw oysters gross me out more than any other raw shellfish, and although I've tried to like them over the years (people look so happy when they eat raw oysters) it's always failed. They just make me gag. I've also never understood why North Americans go crazy for raw oysters while shunning sushi and sashimi: oysters are pretty much the most dangerous sea creature to eat raw, for worse than the tuna and other fish commonly eaten as sashimi in Japan. It's especially ironic that here in Japan it's far more common to find oysters cooked than raw, precisely because people here are well aware of the dangers.

But if any oysters are safe to eat, it would be these ones. Freshly plucked from the lake across the street and kept in a special brine until shipped to retailers across the country, these were as clean and safe as you can get.

My brother-in-law bought 60 oysters at what I can only guess was a huge expense (but a fraction of the price they'd go for in Tokyo, he assured us). And while they were being counted out and hosed off we were presented with a freshly shucked sample.

If you read the previous post it's no surprise what happened, but if you're just tuning in let me tell you what happened: I fell in love with raw oysters. There was about a half second of disgust as the soft, cold flesh slid into my mouth, but it disappeared as soon as my tastebuds detected that sweet, salty, umami goodness. I had expected I'd want to just choke it down as soon as I could, but instead I gave it a few little chews and discovered the lovely various textures that are far more apparent raw than cooked. And then I swallowed, and immediately wished for more.

Hideaki also reported he enjoyed it, but not as much as I did and he still prefers them raw. But at least he gets it now. And so do I.

We headed back to BIL's apartment in Kushiro to prepare for dinner (or rather, he prepared dinner while we waited in agony). Above are oysters to be shucked at the table.

The tools are a pair of thick cotton gloves, an oyster shucker, and glasses for champagne (which apparently goes very nicely with oysters). As an appetizer we were served crackers topped with local Hokkaido cheese and freshly picked parsley (BIL is quite the gardener, and his apartment was full of edible plants).

This oyster was shucked by my BIL, and was every bit as good as the one I'd sampled earlier.

 

And this is my first attempt at shucking. Opening an oyster is a lot harder than it looked, and I never did get the hang of it. Every one I opened had to be painstakingly picked free of bits of shell that I'd crumbled, but luckily Hideaki and BIL generously supplied me with plenty of shard-free oysters. I probably ate half of the ones shown above, and would have eaten more if shame hadn't slowed me down a bit.

The oyster feast didn't end with the raw variety: we were soon served kaki no sakamushi (sake-steamed oysters).

These were great, in a different way from the raw ones: they were soft and plump with sake and had a deeper flavour. Hideaki liked these best.

Next up was shabu-shabu, with freshly shucked oysters cooked briefly in kombu (kelp) broth). Once cooked they were dipped in ponzu (soy-based citrus sauce), which complimented the oyster flavour very nicely.

The meal ended with soup made of broth leftover from the steamed clams and kaki-gohan (oyster rice), topped with thinly sliced nori seaweed and benishoga (red-pickled ginger). Both were lovely, and while I was half hoping for some kind of oyster-related dessert, I was more than satisfied.

I'm glad I finally get what the fuss is about raw oysters. And yet, I almost wish I hadn't liked them: where am I going to find such food, fresh oysters as the ones I had in Hokkaido? And how will I be able to afford them? If Hideaki doesn't find a job soon I think we're going to have to move to Akkeshi and become oyster farmers.

More pictures from the trip can be seen here.

7 Things to do During Golden Week

(This is article also appears at Sunnypages. Hope it comes in handy to those of you in Tokyo, and for those of you who are wondering what on earth "Golden Week" is, Nihon Sun has a good explanation.)

Golden Week is almost upon us, and if you're in Tokyo for the holidays and haven't made plans yet the time to do so is now. Stuck for ideas? We've got a bunch, so read on and start planning!

Take a Walk

Join the osampo boom! If you've been to a bookstore in Japan lately you've probably noticed that osampo guides are enjoying a surge in popularity. Osampo means “to take a walk”, and although there have always been osampo guidebooks on the shelves, they used to be only for standard tourist destinations and were mostly written for the senior set.

The current crop of guidebooks are aimed at a younger crowd and explore lesser-known areas of Tokyo as well the usual touristy places. They come with fully planned routes, including suggestions for refreshments along the way, maps, and everything else you need to explore a new area. Many of them have specialized themes, like exploring gourmet neighborhoods or shitamachi (“low town” areas like Asakusa and Kanda) neighborhoods with an old-fashioned atmosphere. Other books focus on topics like nature, dog-friendly areas, history, temples and shrines.

If you can read Japanese or have a Japanese-literate walking partner then you're set. If not, head to your favorite foreign language bookstore and pick up a classic English-language book like Day Walks Near Tokyo, Little Adventures in Tokyo or Hiking in Japan, or the newer A Flower Lover's Guide to Tokyo. For online information, it's hard to beat Tokyo Tourism Info's 53 Ways to Explore Tokyo on Foot.

Go Where the Wild Things Are

If you've dismissed zoos in Japan after a depressing visit to Ueno Zoo, it's time to try again: there are actually quite a few good zoos in Japan, including a few right here in Kanto.

Tama Zoo Park in western Tokyo is a huge place featuring all the usual animals in relatively large enclosures that let you get up close; the popular Lion Bus lets you get even closer, as does the beautiful butterfly conservatory. Tobu Zoo Park is popular for its two white tigers and its penguin exhibit, which lets visitors see the birds on land and underwater. Zoorasia is considered one of the best zoos in Japan, with well-treated animals given plenty of space and natural looking habitats. Zoorasia is celebrating its 10th anniversary with free entrance on April 24th and a commemorative pin given to visitors between April 24th and 30th. Fuji Kachoen is a paradise for bird and flower lovers, with a fantastic array colorful blooms and a good number of owls and other wild birds, some of whom are put to work doing shows or playing with visitors.

Tokyo and its suburbs are also blessed with a number of very good aquariums, with Enoshima Aquarium, Tokyo Sea Life Park and Shinagawa Aquarium three of the best. If you prefer the more sedentary kind of wildlife, try one of Tokyo's botanical gardens. Yumenoshima is a large greenhouse with a unique heating system: it's built over a landfill and its tropical plants are kept warm with heat from the garbage incinerator next door. Jindai Shokubutsu Botanical Park also features a greenhouse, but the main attractions are outdoors. During Golden Week the large grounds will be home to azaleas and peonies in full bloom as well as a number of wildflowers.

Hunt and Gather

If zoos, aquariums and parks just aren't exciting enough for you (or if you find that the exhibits just make you hungry), it's time for a wildlife encounter of a different kind. The edible kind.

If you have a sweet tooth you'll be pleased to know that the Kanto area strawberry season lasts until May; some places to try are Nikura Noen in Tama, Tokyo (pick and take-home berries are 300 yen per 100 grams, the all-you-can-eat option ended in mid-April), Kawana Noen in Miura, Kanagawa (1500 yen all-you-can-eat in 30 minutes), Okiune Farm in Chichibu, Saitama (1500 yen all-you-can-eat in 30 minutes, take-home also available), and the ever-popular Mother Farm in Futtsu, Chiba (take-home 200 yen per 100 grams plus 200 yen admission).

Clam digging, called shio-higari in Japanese, is a popular spring activity in Japan, and believe it or not the shores of Tokyo Bay produce plenty of asari (short-neck clams). All you need to dig them up is a small rake to dig through the sand with, a bucket to hold your catch, some rubber boots if you don't want to go barefoot (the sand can be cold and muddy) and a good recipe for linguine con vongole. Shio-higari spots in Tokyo include Odaiba Kaihin Koen, Kasai Kaihin Koen, and Toritsu Jonanjima Kaihin Koen. Note that young clams (smaller than a 10 yen coin) must be released; some beaches may charge an entry fee or require clam diggers to pay for their catch.

For (slightly) more lively prey, fishermen don't have to go far, as Tokyo has a few catch-and-release koi (carp) fishing spots: Ichigaya Fish Center, which you've probably seen from Ichigaya Station on the Chuo line, costs 690 per hour for men and 590 for women and junior high school students (poles and bait included), and kids can try the goldfish tank for 400 yen per half hour. Suzukien is similar pond in Asagaya, costing 550 yen per hour including equipment. Seibuen Yuenchi's nijimasu (rainbow trout) pond is open until the end of Golden Week; 1500 yen entry plus 500 yen for pole rental and bait allows you to catch up to three trout (lure fishing also available for a higher fee) and they'll clean your fish for free.

Go to Market

For a kinder, gentler sort of hunting, search out bargains at one of Tokyo's many flea markets and antique fairs. There are too many to mention here, but we've narrowed down some highlights.

On April 29th Prism Hall in Tokyo Dome City hosts two large events: a regular flea market with 300 vendors and a special market run by and aimed at children. On May 2nd Shinjuku Chuo Koen hosts 200 vendors and on May 3rd a smaller market will be held in the same park; also on May 3rd is a flea market in Meiji Koen. May 3rd, 4th and 5th will see large flea markets near Akihabara station and at Shinagawa Intercity. Most flea markets start at 9:00 or 10:00am and run until mid-afternoon.

For antiques, The Japantique Show runs from April 30th to May 4th at the Tokyo Prince Hotel and the Heiwajima Antique Fair is from May 3rd to May 5th in Heiwajima. For kotto-ichi (antique fairs) try the Kawagoe Antique Market at Narita-san Temple in Kawagoe, Saitama on April 28th; the Kasai Jinja Antique Market on May 2nd at Kasai Shrine near Kanamachi Station; and on May 3rd the Arai Yakushi Antique Fair at Arai Yakushi Temple near Arai Yakushi-mae Station and the Yasukuni Jinja Antique Market at Yasukuni Shrine. For the best finds you'll need to wake up early: Kotto-ichi usually start at sun-up and run until early afternoon.

Get out of Town

It's tempting to take a trip outside the city during the holidays, but keep in mind nearly everyone in Tokyo feels the same, causing massive crowds. Don't even think about driving: Golden Week's notorious traffic jams will be even worse this year, thanks to those discounted highway tolls. If you must leave town take the train and make sure you have reserved seats: even normally comfortable trains like the Shinkansen and Odakyu Romance Car lose their charm when you have to stand for the whole trip, squished up against your fellow holiday-makers like a Tokyo subway at rush hour.

Good day trips from Tokyo include Kamakura, Mount Takao, Chichibu and the Okutama area; for places like Nikko, Hakone, and Izu it's better to spend a night or two. Golden Week is also an ideal time to catch a ferry to the Izu Shoto, Tokyo's string of islands. They enjoy a warmer climate than the mainland so you can enjoy summer-like weather without the crowds that descend in July and August. Oshima is the nearest and most developed, featuring onsens, a zoo and a volcano that can be hiked in a few hours; Niijima has beautiful beaches (still a bit cold for swimming or surfing without a wetsuit), hot springs and free camping. Getting further afield, the wild dolphin watching season off Mikurajima is already underway, and if you know how to snorkel you can swim alongside them. Hachijojima offers surfing, scuba diving, hiking and ruins left by Edo era exiles and WWII soldiers.

Catch a flick

The term "Golden Week" was invented by Japanese movie theaters in an attempt to attract moviegoers on the national holidays that fall at the end of April and beginning of May. The name stuck, so well that today few people remember the origin of the holiday's name. But it's still as good a time as any to see a movie.

Once small, dingy and uncomfortable, most of Tokyo's movie theaters have improved in the past decade. Many feature large screens, much-improved sound quality, comfortable seating, and conveniences like pre-reserved seats. Certain theatres like Warner MyCal Cinemas and Toho Cinemas let you buy tickets and reserve seats online (credit card required) at no extra cost, and even those who buy tickets at the theatre get to choose their seats. If the 1800 yen cost of a movie ticket is keeping you away, remember that almost all theatres offer discount days, and some, including Movie Day on the first of each month and Ladies Day on Wednesdays, both with 1000 yen tickets, will fall during Golden Week.

If you'd rather stay home, consider joining Discas, Tsutaya's Netflix-like service that delivers rental DVDs to your home. A number of plans are available but the basic plan gets you 8 DVDs each month for 1974 yen. They come two at a time with all delivery and returns covered, and if 8 movies per month are not enough you can rent extra DVDs at prices comparable to your neighborhood rental shop. Discas is currently offering a one month free trial, so now is a great time to try it out. The catch? It's all in Japanese, so if you can't read you'll need some help.

Amuse Yourself

Although summer is considered amusement park season in Japan, Golden Week is a great time to visit one of Tokyo's many theme parks and amusement parks. All the same rides and attractions are open (with the exception of water parks) but you'll enjoy crowds much lighter than at peak summer season.

Toshimaen has a new roller coaster called Mini Cyclone, a kiddie version of their popular Cyclone coaster; kids will also enjoy the special Golden Week stage shows by favorite characters like Ultraman and Doraemon. Seibuen Yuenchi features mini golf, trout fishing (as mentioned above) and performances for the kids featuring popular characters like Hello Kitty, Anpanman and Yattaman. Fuji-Q Highland celebrates Golden Week with Asian Fuji-Q, a collection of yatai (food stalls) serving food from around Asia; Thomas the Tank Engine fans can meet Sir Topham Hat, who will pay a visit to the park's Thomas Land during the holidays. Sanrio PuroLand will host Sugar Bunnies Experience World, where kids can try their hands at cooking classes, accessory-making workshops, a dress-up photo studio and more. Or explore the darker side of Hello Kitty with Hello Kitty Black Wonder, an interactive role-playing attraction in which visitors must rescue a captive Hello Kitty and her friend Dear Daniel. Black Wonder opens April 25th for the first time in Japan after enjoying immense popularity in Hong Kong, and with the success of the associated fashion lines you can expect Sanrio Puroland's gift shops to be full of gothic-inspired Hello Kitty goods.

Yomiuri Land goes international with Sekai no Yatai Mura, a collection of food stalls offering 30 dishes from 20 different countries. Even better, each of the six weekend and holiday days that fall during Golden Week will feature one country or area, with people from the featured region getting free entry for themselves and up to four friends, (a passport, alien card or other type of proof is necessary). April 29th is England Day, May 2nd is Okinawa Day, May 3rd is America Day, May 4th is Mekong Delta Countries Day (Cambodia, Thailand, Vietnam, Burma/Myanmar and Laos), May 5th is Brazil Day, and May 6th is Turkey Day. Those who aren't lucky enough to be from one of the featured countries still get to enjoy special entertainment and attractions from the regions, such as a bagpipe performance on England Day and belly dancing on Turkey Day.

Whatever you end up doing, we hope you have a wonderful Golden Week!

Shinjuku Gyoen

You didn't think I was finished with cherry blossoms yet, did you?

These pictures were taken at Shinjuku Gyoen, the best park in the city. It's a place I'm becoming more familiar with recently, thanks to a new class I'm teaching. As an extension of English Adventure's seasonal camps, the new Nature Club brings kids together twice a month to study nature in the outdoors, and Shinjuku Gyoen is where we do it. It may seem an odd place to study nature with its manicured lawns and well-maintained Japanese and European style gardens, but the park is blessed with some surprisingly wild areas. It's not quite the same as the amazing forest and seaside venues of English Adventure's regular camps, but given its convenient location there's no better venue for the Nature Club.

These pictures don't have much to do with the club, since we mostly stay away from the formal garden areas (but many of the pictures from my previous wildflower post were taken in the wilder areas of Shinjuku Gyoen where we study). But I'm at the park often now to scout for the lessons or to have a picnic afterward, so I get to see the photogenic areas as well.

These were taken over a few days in mid-April, a time when most of the cherry trees in the city had dropped their petals. Shinjuku Gyoen has such a wide variety of sakura that there were dozens of them still in bloom though, and there was a good number of people out enjoying some hanami (flower viewing).

 

After my first class my husband joined me for a picnic. I had been far too nervous and busy that morning to prepare a proper lunch so left it all up to him, and the grub above is what he came up with: several types of onigiri, a tray of greasy sausages, fried chicken, french fries and potato croquettes, a package of crunchy curry-flavoured snack things, and string cheese. Green tea to drink and a can of beer (discretely wrapped in a bag, as the park is alcohol-free) and for dessert, a package of Koala no March (koala-shaped cookies filled with chocolate). All classic convenience store food, and definitely not what I would have picked, but that's what happens when men do the shopping.

Among the many types of cherry trees in the park are a few of these rare green ones, which have a different kind of beauty from the usual pink varieties. There were plenty of other pretty and interesting plants, like the hime tsubaki camelia below, and it's going to take me many, many visits until I'm familiar with them all.

English Adventure is having a family picnic this Sunday (April 26th), so if you're curious about the Nature Club or other events this is a great chance to find out more; check here for more information. It's free and everyone is invited, and I'll be there. Hopefully with a lunch that was made by me rather than picked up at the combini.

See more pictures in my Shinjuku Gyoen album.