One of my new co-workers started taking swing lessons in Osaka a while back. A friend of hers introduced her to a club where you pay $15, get a token for a free drink, an hour-long beginners lesson and then swing dancing for three hours. Since Phil, Russell's swing-dancing co-worker was in town, I asked my co-worker if she would take him swing dancing with her.
The original plan was for Russell and I to go into Osaka, spend the evening wandering around and then meet up with Phil to go home. As it turned out, though, Russell had forgotten his Japanese conversation was set for Wednesday. Then I found out most of my other co-workers were going to try the place out too, so I decided to tag along.
I took one ballroom dancing class in college and a community salsa dance class with Russell a few years ago, but I've never really danced much.
Post swing reaction? It was a lot of fun! We got some basics from the beginners class, got to practice with a bunch of slow songs in the beginning, were regularly asked to dance by the locals (who were very good about asking everyone to dance) and got to watch some pretty good dancers do their thing.
The only downside was the $4 bottles of water.
I'm definitely hoping to go back. All of us had a good time and we are scheming a swing take over of our school Christmas party this year... gonna take some practicing.
Now I just need to get Russell in on the action. He's currently holding out.
New Dilemma: Swing dancing or Japanese? My Japanese lessons are at the same time as swing dancing. They were cancelled the last two weeks, so I didn't make the connection, but now that lessons have started again, I'm going to have to face reality... Japanese is way more important, but Swing is so much FUN. What to do...
Thursday, 29 April 2010
Sunday, 25 April 2010
Low Moments in Japanese Cuisine
I guess its not the cuisine that's to be blamed in this case...
We took Phil, Russell's co-worker to Kyoto yesterday. We actually got out of the house at 7am and therefore had enough time to hit up Sanjuusangendo (the long temple with all the Buddhas inside), Kiyomizudera (the shinto shrine in the hills with the huge wooden deck), and Nijojo (The castle with the nightingale floors). We tried to go to the National Museum, but the main display was closed and the traveling display had a 40 minute wait to get in.
Even so, it was a packed day and we were hoping for some good grub afterwards.
We went to Gion.
Gion is one of the old districts in the city. Very picaresque and full of shops and restaurants. It can be a tourist trap at times, but there is also a lot of quality things there to see. We have eaten fairly well there before - it can be expensive (being in the touristy part of town) but it isn't usually too bad.
Last night, we were wandering down the street with all the restaurants and having a hard time choosing. FInally we were hungry and decided that one particular izakaya looked fairly reasonable. We went in and the host explained that they were a little full and could we sit at the bar? We said we could and he took us upstairs. Unfortunately, the bar was full, but two tables were open. He put us at one of the tables. We started perusing the menu and realized that our first assessment of the prices had been wrong. Instead of $5 for three chicken skewers (for example), it was $5 for one. And that was the cheapest thing you could get. Instead of $3 for a pint of beer, it was $7. Things weren't looking good.
We each ordered a drink and a couple of cheap starters. When we finished the host came over and offered us our bill. We were taken aback. In Japan, restaurants never hurry their customers. You can sit and talk for hours and no one will even give you stink-eye. To be rushed after only two appetizers seemed really odd. Russell said we were hoping to order a few more things, and the host said okay. He took the bill back. We then ordered a much larger selection of foods (the portions were really small) and at that point the host came back, rather flustered and asked us to move to the bar. This was really odd, too. We took our drinks and moved. In retrospect, I think the table had been reserved and they had originally planned to move us to the bar, but we hadn't understood.
In any case, once settled at the bar, we waited for our food. Out came two tiny skewers with a pair of meatballs on them the size of quail eggs, two small chicken skewers and two chunks of eggplant. Not really enough for one person, let alone three. At this point the shine was off this restaurant. We nibbled our skewers, finished our drinks and left.
The bill was $70.
We returned to Kobe and paid another $10 to get three large beef and rice bowls. Not gorgeous, not in a beautiful wooden building, but awfully tasty and certainly filling. Good enough.
We took Phil, Russell's co-worker to Kyoto yesterday. We actually got out of the house at 7am and therefore had enough time to hit up Sanjuusangendo (the long temple with all the Buddhas inside), Kiyomizudera (the shinto shrine in the hills with the huge wooden deck), and Nijojo (The castle with the nightingale floors). We tried to go to the National Museum, but the main display was closed and the traveling display had a 40 minute wait to get in.
Even so, it was a packed day and we were hoping for some good grub afterwards.
We went to Gion.
Gion is one of the old districts in the city. Very picaresque and full of shops and restaurants. It can be a tourist trap at times, but there is also a lot of quality things there to see. We have eaten fairly well there before - it can be expensive (being in the touristy part of town) but it isn't usually too bad.
Last night, we were wandering down the street with all the restaurants and having a hard time choosing. FInally we were hungry and decided that one particular izakaya looked fairly reasonable. We went in and the host explained that they were a little full and could we sit at the bar? We said we could and he took us upstairs. Unfortunately, the bar was full, but two tables were open. He put us at one of the tables. We started perusing the menu and realized that our first assessment of the prices had been wrong. Instead of $5 for three chicken skewers (for example), it was $5 for one. And that was the cheapest thing you could get. Instead of $3 for a pint of beer, it was $7. Things weren't looking good.
We each ordered a drink and a couple of cheap starters. When we finished the host came over and offered us our bill. We were taken aback. In Japan, restaurants never hurry their customers. You can sit and talk for hours and no one will even give you stink-eye. To be rushed after only two appetizers seemed really odd. Russell said we were hoping to order a few more things, and the host said okay. He took the bill back. We then ordered a much larger selection of foods (the portions were really small) and at that point the host came back, rather flustered and asked us to move to the bar. This was really odd, too. We took our drinks and moved. In retrospect, I think the table had been reserved and they had originally planned to move us to the bar, but we hadn't understood.
In any case, once settled at the bar, we waited for our food. Out came two tiny skewers with a pair of meatballs on them the size of quail eggs, two small chicken skewers and two chunks of eggplant. Not really enough for one person, let alone three. At this point the shine was off this restaurant. We nibbled our skewers, finished our drinks and left.
The bill was $70.
We returned to Kobe and paid another $10 to get three large beef and rice bowls. Not gorgeous, not in a beautiful wooden building, but awfully tasty and certainly filling. Good enough.
Friday, 23 April 2010
Health Check #2
It is once again Health Check season. We got to start the year off with a staff-wide physical. We did this last year as well, but I didn't make it through the full check. Last's year's program was scheduled for 9:00 - 12:30, but all the English teachers had to teach from 9:20 - 12:30, so we only got through the first half of the check.
Turns out we had skipped the EKG and chest X-ray. I knew they were coming, but somehow I hadn't really processed what that meant.
All I can say is that everyone who came out of the EKG room looked a little traumatized. Mostly because nobody had told us what would happen. All they had to do was hook up sensors and check your heart beat, but that required full frontal nudity. Not a problem if you know its coming. When an old woman suddenly and swiftly yanks your shirt up, though, its a bit of a surprise.
After that we headed to the X-ray van in the parking lot and hugged a giant metal box for our chest X-rays. Creepy, but not so bad.
At least is over with.
Turns out we had skipped the EKG and chest X-ray. I knew they were coming, but somehow I hadn't really processed what that meant.
All I can say is that everyone who came out of the EKG room looked a little traumatized. Mostly because nobody had told us what would happen. All they had to do was hook up sensors and check your heart beat, but that required full frontal nudity. Not a problem if you know its coming. When an old woman suddenly and swiftly yanks your shirt up, though, its a bit of a surprise.
After that we headed to the X-ray van in the parking lot and hugged a giant metal box for our chest X-rays. Creepy, but not so bad.
At least is over with.
Eat Your Greens
I have to take a quick hiatus from sharing dad's visit to tell about something interesting that happened today. Our home has pretty much been a revolving door of guests over the last month. Dad left and within a week we had new guests. They stayed about a week and then we got another week off before one of Russell's coworkers and friends arrived. Phil - said friend - has only been here a couple of days. SInce its Friday night, we decided to take him down and introduce him to everyone at the local izakaya (bar).
We had a couple rounds of food and drinks and then the owner came over to pick up some dishes. She cleared away the glasses and some of the dishes, but a number of dishes still had garnish lettuce left on them. She chided us for not eating our vegetables and left with a "go on - its healthy."
We quickly did as we were told.
We had a couple rounds of food and drinks and then the owner came over to pick up some dishes. She cleared away the glasses and some of the dishes, but a number of dishes still had garnish lettuce left on them. She chided us for not eating our vegetables and left with a "go on - its healthy."
We quickly did as we were told.
Tuesday, 20 April 2010
Dad's Visit Continued
After a couple rainy days, things seemed to be clearing up - at least enough. So dad and I headed to Kyoto again to catch some more sights. Kyoto, of course, is on of those tourist Meccas that can keep you amazed for weeks on end. There is so much to see. Russell and I really need to go explore it more because we have really only hit the core attractions. There's tons more to do and see. While dad was here we decided to first hit Kinkakuji (the golden pagoda) and then head accross town to Ginkakuji (the silver pagoda). I had been to the first, but never to the second. When we arrived at Kinkakuji it was pretty over cast and just starting to rain. By the time we got in the gate it was officially miserable outside. We tried to take some half-hearted pictures of the pagoda but right about then a digestive emergency caught up to us and we had to make a hasty run for the exit. Emergency averted, we used our tickets to go back inside the temple. This time we had perfect luck. Just as we were entering, the sun burst out and we got a gorgeous view. Those are the pictures you are seeing now. We meandered through the grounds again at a much more relaxed pace and then headed to Ginkakuji.
Russell took some friends to Ginkakuji early in our stay, but I was working and hadn't ever made it. I have to say, compared to Kinkakuji, Ginkakuji is way more awesome. The pagoda itself isn't as impressive (no gold - no silver either) but the gardens around the pagoda are far superior and the homeliness of the pagoda is much more endearing than Kinkakuji - which comes across a bit as opulent for opulent's sake. 
This picture is also from Ginkakuji. Next to the pagoda, you can see a white rock garden. This was different than any other rock garden I have seen in Japan. The rocks are deep and dug out into perfect shapes. There is a mount that is carefully sculpted in one corner and the rocks are dug into deep trenches along the majority of the garden. This doesn't look anything like gardens that have been carefully raked - it looks hand sculpted. As you walk around it, you keep getting new and scenic views of the surrounding trees and rocks. Its really impressive. After the rock garden is a hike up a hillside with Japanese gardens on either side mixed in amongst the trees. I will definitely be coming back. Unfortunately, Dad and I chose a major travel day to visit Kyoto, so the buses were packed and the streets were super jammed. It took two hours to get from Kinkakuji to Ginkakuji by bus. We easily could have walked it just as fast. We didn't know that when we got on, though. By the time we finished it was just about closing time across Kyoto, so we headed home.
The next day. we were treated to a rare sunny day and decided to go the other direction on the train to Himeji. I didn't realize what we were getting into at the time, but I'm sure glad we went. Himeji castle, as you may remember from before, is one of three major castles in Japan. It is one of the few remaining castles which has the distinction of not having been bombed or burned down in the last few hundred years. It was restored in the 1950s (when they found all sorts of items that had belonged to the previous builders hidden in the walls and rafters). I really like this castle. There are many castles to be seen in Japan, but this one does have a special air to it. When we arrived, there was a line forming outside of the gates to the castle. The line wasn't too long, and it was early in the morning, so we assumed we had arrived just before opening. We waited about 2 minutes and were then let in. It turns out, though, that we were not the first group to enter the premises. In fact, we were experiencing only a taste of the lines that would start piling up over the next couple of weeks. As it turns out, the castle is due for another refurbishing. After cherry blossom season had ended it was slated to be closed to the public for 6 YEARS. People from all over Japan were making the pilgrimage to see the castle before it was covered up.
Once we were inside the gate, we spent 20 minutes waiting to go through the women's dormitory (shown in the pictures with a view of Himeji in the background and a hillside where enemies would try to spy on the castle) and then another good hour waiting to just get into the castle. It easily took another 40 minutes to make our way up all the stories to the top. It was incredibly crowded. I assumed at the time that it was just normal cherry blossom traffic (Himeji castle is a famous place to go enjoy the cherry blossoms) but it seemed a little extreme since the blossoms were only barely starting to peek out. Now I know better. 
We had originally planned to meet up with one of my friends for a cherry blossom party on the way back to Kobe, but she ended up getting sick, so we opted to head back to the city and take a gondola up to the top of one of the mountains framing the city. This particular mountain was new to me. It has a botanic garden at the top, so we took the ride up, shot some video of the city and then enjoyed the garden. 
It turns out the botanic garden is more like a botanic zoo - with a variety of species of plants from other countries (as opposed to local varieties of plans). It includes tropical fruits, spice plants and plants used for various perfumes. It was interesting, if a little stinky. Russell had recommended walking down from the botanic garden (as opposed to returning on the gondola) but it was getting dark when we finished, so we played it lazy and let the gondola do the work.
Friday, 16 April 2010
Barely Treading Water
Sorry its been so long since my last post... Things have been really busy. We have our new term up and running, now, though. The first two weeks are over and we have been absolutely swamped with students in the English office . This is great, but its almost impossible for teachers to get any prep done during the day. Many of us have resorted to staying late at night and working on the weekends just to get our classes ready.
I was home early last night (7pm) but by 8pm I couldn't keep my eyes open. Russell found me curled up on the floor when he came home at 9pm. The plan is to sleep in tomorrow (Saturday).
In the meantime, I have more pictures to share from Dad's visit:
Unfortunately, Dad's visit was plagued with bad weather. On the first rainy day, we decided to go check out the Kobe Maritime Museum, but unfortunately, it was closed on the day we happened to choose. This was especially disappointing because it was kind of away from anything else we might want to do. Before we started back to town, though, we decided to stop in at Fish cafe. I had walked by Fish cafe early in our stay and noted that it looked just like a Geary sculpture. Turns out, it was! At first I thought the cafe was inside the fish, but it isn't. The fish is attached to the outside. The cafe was okay, but I could take it or leave it. It was a welcome break from the rain, though, I must say. They also did latte art, which was fun.
The next day, we went into Osaka. Dad had spotted the Sky Building from the train and was quite taken with it. I did some research and found out that tourists can walk around the top of the building. We decided to try it out. Sky Building is one of the more recognizable sky scrapers of the Osaka skyline. It consists of two towers with a circular opening at the top and a pair of diagonal escalators towards the top to get into the circular "garden." 
I took a picture of dad on the escalator. The view was great from Sky Building (though the weather was cloudy and awfully gray. We did see a stand on one floor of the garden that was selling personally engraved, heart-shaped lockets. Then, when we went outside on the deck above, we discovered a corner where couples could lock their locket. There were thousands of little engraved hearts hanging from the railing. Aha.
To round out our drizzly day, we went to the Osaka Aquarium. It is one of the biggest in Japan (though there are maybe two that are bigger). Its pretty darn awesome. I love it. Dad was a little tentative about going (having never seen an aquarium on this scale). He soon realized his error. IN the first mini-exhibit (a walk through tunnel right in the beginning) he took a ton of pictures. It just got better from there. We had a really good time.
After the aquarium we went to my friend's cafe and had decadent coffees and cake. It was a nice finish to the day. On the way home, though, we had one more spectacle to take in. A huge crowd had gathered around an enormous TV screen in the Hankyu Train station. What was playing? The national Sumo championships. They were taking place across town. The crowd was rapt.
I was home early last night (7pm) but by 8pm I couldn't keep my eyes open. Russell found me curled up on the floor when he came home at 9pm. The plan is to sleep in tomorrow (Saturday).
In the meantime, I have more pictures to share from Dad's visit:
Unfortunately, Dad's visit was plagued with bad weather. On the first rainy day, we decided to go check out the Kobe Maritime Museum, but unfortunately, it was closed on the day we happened to choose. This was especially disappointing because it was kind of away from anything else we might want to do. Before we started back to town, though, we decided to stop in at Fish cafe. I had walked by Fish cafe early in our stay and noted that it looked just like a Geary sculpture. Turns out, it was! At first I thought the cafe was inside the fish, but it isn't. The fish is attached to the outside. The cafe was okay, but I could take it or leave it. It was a welcome break from the rain, though, I must say. They also did latte art, which was fun.
The next day, we went into Osaka. Dad had spotted the Sky Building from the train and was quite taken with it. I did some research and found out that tourists can walk around the top of the building. We decided to try it out. Sky Building is one of the more recognizable sky scrapers of the Osaka skyline. It consists of two towers with a circular opening at the top and a pair of diagonal escalators towards the top to get into the circular "garden." 
I took a picture of dad on the escalator. The view was great from Sky Building (though the weather was cloudy and awfully gray. We did see a stand on one floor of the garden that was selling personally engraved, heart-shaped lockets. Then, when we went outside on the deck above, we discovered a corner where couples could lock their locket. There were thousands of little engraved hearts hanging from the railing. Aha. 
To round out our drizzly day, we went to the Osaka Aquarium. It is one of the biggest in Japan (though there are maybe two that are bigger). Its pretty darn awesome. I love it. Dad was a little tentative about going (having never seen an aquarium on this scale). He soon realized his error. IN the first mini-exhibit (a walk through tunnel right in the beginning) he took a ton of pictures. It just got better from there. We had a really good time. 
After the aquarium we went to my friend's cafe and had decadent coffees and cake. It was a nice finish to the day. On the way home, though, we had one more spectacle to take in. A huge crowd had gathered around an enormous TV screen in the Hankyu Train station. What was playing? The national Sumo championships. They were taking place across town. The crowd was rapt.
Thursday, 1 April 2010
Dad's Visit
After 10 days of non-stop action, my dad returned home on Monday. I was really sad to see him go. We had a great time together. Many of the places we went have been discussed in earlier posts, so I won't go into too much detail. A few of the places were new, though, so I'll stop and write about those as I get to them. To begin with, dad arrived on Thursday night two weeks ago. I had to spend all Friday finishing textbooks, but my intention was to stay as late as it took to finish and then be done. That didn't pan out. By 7pm we still had a lot to do, and after 12 hours of non-stop work we were all clearly out of energy. I decided it would be more effective to come back on Saturday - even though it meant one less day with dad. I was pretty bummed. I met dad and Russell at the neighborhood Izakaya and moped.
They were both good sports, though. I got to work early the next morning and by noon Russell and dad showed up with lunch. They stayed the rest of the day and helped with formatting and page number checks. We worked until 5pm, but we got the textbooks finished. We celebrated with yakiniku and two pitchers of beer. The waitstaff seemed slightly taken aback when we ordered the second pitcher.
Now that I was free, we planned our remaining weekend day. Since it was the one of the only days Russell would be able to join us we chose something we could all enjoy - a trip to the whiskey distillery!
After the distillery we headed into Osaka. It was evening, so Russell looked up a highly rated okonomiyaki restaurant and we stopped in for dinner. There was a long, cold wait outside, but we figured that was a good sign. It turned out we were right. The food was awesome. Okonomiyaki is always generally good, but rarely as good as this. I would definitely go back to this particular restaurant. The food wasn't too rich. It was really good.
After dinner we walked around Namba - one of the main shopping centers. It is also the famous home of the Glico man. Dad was an instant fan and seemed a bit disappointed later in the trip that we hadn't been back to visit. Dad got much better pictures of the Glico man all lit up. I was less careful, so my picture is a little less impressive, but it gives the idea.
Starting Monday, Dad and I were on our own. Russell had some serious work to do, so he was glued to the house. Dad and I decided to head into Kyoto. We went to Kiyomizudera first - I've posted about this place a lot.
The one new thing we did was go on the pitch-black below-temple-tour. It turns out that if you pay an extra hundred yen (about a dollar) you can go under one of the temples into pitch blackness. You follow the wooden bead railing around through twists and turns until you come to a lit stone. You are suppose to make a wish at this point and then keep following the beads until you come out again. It is really eerie because you have no idea where you are going or what is ahead of you. The first time I was sure there would be stairs or an incline or something, so I kept feeling gingerly out in front of myself before taking a step. Turns out there is no need to fear, though. The walk is all flat and smooth. Sadly, it was a bit overcast, so my pictures are not as good as they sometimes are. That ended up being a theme through all of this trip. 
Before we headed out, we stopped at Sanjuusangendo - the really long building with the 1,001 buddha statues in it. This was one of the first places in Kyoto that Russell and I visited, and we haven't been back in a long time. It was a nice stop. The buddhas themselves are all almost, but not quite the same, having been hand-carved individually by several artists over the years. You have to look pretty closely to see the differences, though. In front of the Buddhas are the guardian spirits. These guys are the really fun statues to look at. They are all quite different and detailed. Unfortunately. not pictures are allowed. I only have a shot of the outside. It really is a long building - supposedly the longest wooden building in Japan.That's going to have to do for now. I'll post more soon. We have 7 more days to go!
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