Archive for category Return to Japan
June 27, 2017 – Looks better than it tastes
Posted by Barniferous in Return to Japan on June 27, 2017
Due to a last minute change in our trip to Nagoya, I ended up with no plans today. I decided to hop on a bicycle to go pick up some souvenirs.
Getting around in “small town” Japan can be challenging; nearly all of the streets are unnamed and filled with buildings that have difficult to read signs. Back in my teaching days I got around using an atlas of local street maps. Today I had the benefit of technology, and got around thanks to the good people at Google Maps. Google had me expertly weaving around streets that were barely wide enough for a car. Without my phone I would have stayed on major routes or gotten completely lost.
My first stop was a toy store, where “Santa” picked up a cool Christmas present for Tiny Dog. I also got some Japanese exclusive Lightning McQueen stuff for my friend’s daughter, a huge fan of Cars. Next I went to Daiso and loaded up on mystery snacks to unleash on my friends at home. I don’t know what “salt tomato” candies are, but I’m going to find out.
Before leaving the shopping center, I stopped in at Mister Donut for a snack. Back in my teaching days I was not a fan of Mister Donut; being a patriotic Canadian, I like my donuts Tim Horton’s style. MD’s recipe must be more suited to Japanese tastes, explaining why The Penpal prefers their donuts to Tim Hortons. We are able to work past our donut differences by agreeing on cheesecake. Mmmm cheesecake!
Since Mister Donut was right next to where I parked my bike, I decided to give them another chance. I went in and chose from a huge assortment of very nice looking donuts, which I supplemented with an ice coffee. The coffee was delicious, the donut did not taste as good as it looked.
After my donut I took a scenic bike ride back home, driving by my old apartment building and stopping in at the 7-11 across the street. This particular 7-11 will always have a warm place in my heard, having provided about 50% of my meals and almost all of the beer I drank at home for the entire time I lived in Numazu. The clerk at the register was the same, and she may have even given me a look of recognition as I entered the store.
Overall I had a fun, easygoing day exploring and shopping. It was one of the most relaxing vacation days I’ve had so far.
Author’s note: Do NOT eat salt tomato candies.
June 26, 2017 part 2 – Crisis averted
Posted by Barniferous in Return to Japan on June 26, 2017
Other than coming to Japan, the most exciting part about our trip is an upcoming visit to Legoland Japan, the newly opened Lego theme park in Nagoya. Tiny Dog has spent a lot of time on YouTube watching videos of Legoland in Florida. When we found out that a Legoland had opened in Japan, we knew that we had to go (sorry Universal Studios Japan).
There are several hotels in Nagoya that offer a package that includes hotel room, breakfast, and adult tickets to Legoland. Our plan was to take a two day trip to Nagoya, with travel to Nagoya and a visit to the aquarium on the first day, followed by Legoland and returning home on the second day. I booked a hotel package online that had us checking in on Tuesday, June 27 and going to Legoland on Wednesday, June 28. There was no indication on the hotel’s website that these dates might present a problem.
While I was looking up details about getting around in Nagoya, I happened to discover that Legoland is closed every Tuesday and Wednesday. I can’t imagine how miserable it would be to show up at a fun theme park with an excited kid, only to find it was closed; I think it would be on par with finding Santa’s corpse stuck in the chimney on Christmas morning.
The Penpal called the hotel and changed our reservation so we would check in on Wednesday and go to Legoland on Thursday. Thankfully we dodged a huge bullet that would have sucked the fun out of our trip to Nagoya.
Always check the hours of operations before you make plans. ALWAYS.
June 26, 2017 – My kid is addicted to medal games
Posted by Barniferous in Return to Japan, Tiny Dog on June 26, 2017
I have written about medal games before and 10 years later I still don’t understand the appeal. One person who does understand is my son, Tiny Dog. He is absolutely addicted to medal games.
The idea of the game is to buy a bunch of small metallic discs (medals) and feed them into a machine, aiming at a moving tray covered in more medals. The goal is to have your medal push some of the other medals to the lower level. This in turn (hopefully) pushes even more medals off the lower level and out of the machine. The medals you win can then be fed back into the machine in hopes of winning even more. Some machines offer fancy bonuses which will randomly dump more medals into the playing area while lights blink and music plays. It’s total sensory overload.
It’s worth noting that you can’t actually do anything with the medals you win other than play medal games.
TD saw his first medal machine a few days ago in Yokohama. Today we played the game above at Ito Yokado, and also got some time on the medal games in Bivi near the station. In total he probably logged about an hour on the games and I likely spent about $50. If I had kept buying more medals he would have kept playing.
Originally I thought that our medal game experience was a waste of time and money. Looking back I’m happy that TD had fun doing something uniquely Japanese that he couldn’t do in Canada. Also, any quality time I can spend with my kid is a good thing.
June 25, 2017 – Adventures in Yokohama
Posted by Barniferous in Return to Japan, Tiny Dog, Yokohama on June 26, 2017
Today I got my fist sample of solo travel with a 3 year old. By the end of the day I was exhausted.
Whenever we return to Japan, The Penpal makes some time to check in with her church. The main branch is in Shin-Yokohama, conveniently accessible by shinkansen. We discussed and decided that Tiny Dog likely didn’t have the patience to spend a few hours at church, so we would both take separate trips to Yokohama and meet up for dinner with some of The Penpal’s friends.
The Penpal’s father dropped TD and I off at Mishima station around noon. Before boarding the train, we picked up some ekiben (train station lunch boxes) to eat on the ride to Yokohama. The clerk was surprised that TD thanked him in Japanese. It’s still funny the different reactions people have to TD depending on which parent he is traveling with.
TD munched away on sandwiches and rice balls on the shinkansen ride to Yokohama. His face was pressed against the window, jumping back in delight every time we entered a tunnel. This train ride was a lot more fun than the 15 minute subway ride from Shin-Yokohama to Sakuragicho; with nothing to see out the windows TD got bored quickly. I made a mental note to take above ground trains as much as possible in the future.
From Sakuragicho, we started our long walk towards Landmark Tower, Japan’s tallest building. The entire area around the tower is fantastic to visit: there are stores, restaurants, rides, games, and endless other fun things to do. Even with all of these distractions, TD was most impressed by the walking escalator that took us towards the tower.
We took the elevator to the observation deck on the 69th floor and were greeted by spectacular views of Yokohama, Kawasaki, and Tokyo. TD was impressed with the view for about 5 minutes, and then decided that it would be more fun to run laps around the building. We compromised and got ice cream near one of the windows while I tried to take as many pictures as possible.
On the way down, TD tried to touch the elevator doors as they closed. The elevator attendant said “yubi wo chui kudasai”, which TD translated into English for me as “Daddy be careful your fingers”. Everyone laughed at the sight of a 3 year old wearing Canadian flags translating for his gaijin father.
Instead of taking you back to the entrance, the elevator down from Landmark tower takes you to the 5th floor of a massive shopping center. As we walked through we found possibly the most exciting store ever for a 3 year old kid: The Tomy store. The entire display window was filled with an elaborate display of purarail (plastic train sets) and Tomy car tracks. We pushed our way into the store and TD spent about half an hour looking and playing with the display along with a mob of other children.
I eventually dragged him out of the Tomy Store and we walked to Cosmo World to play games. We wisely avoided the giant ferris wheel and waterslides, and ended up playing medal games (again). Getting him out of Cosmo World involved crying, bargaining, and eventually me having to carry him all the way back to the station. I should note that the humidity was about 6 million percent, and a fussy child is actually a portable space heater. By the time I got him to the station I had sweated through my shirt.
After some very busy Sunday afternoon trains we met up with The Penpal and some of her friends for dinner in a restaurant that was inexplicably not visible on Google Maps. By the time dinner was done, Tiny Dog and I were ready for sleep, but we still had a long trip back to Numazu.
Our adventures in Yokohama were a lot of fun, and my day was a great learning experience. Also, I have nothing but respect for single parents who try to get anything done.
June 24, 2017 – BooFooWoo
Posted by Barniferous in Azeroth, Drinking, Return to Japan on June 26, 2017
Tonight I went out for drinks with my old roommate Azeroth, who is now once again living in Numazu.
Azeroth and I lived together from 2004-2006 when I was teaching in the Numazu area. I visited him on my subsequent trips to Japan, including a fun night out a few years ago not too far from the broken nuclear reactor. This time no major travel was required – his new condo is about a 15 minute walk from The Penpal’s house.
We met outside his new condo and caught up on life as we walked towards the Nakamise area south of Numazu station. Nakamise is a covered shopping area which was home to my old NOVA branch. The area is full of stores, restaurants, and more importantly, izakayas. Our first stop was a place known for their good selection of grilled meat on sticks. We were joined by Klaxman and one of our former students, and enjoyed some drinks and izakaya food.
Klaxmax and the student called it a night at a sensible time. Azeroth and I dropped them off at the station, charged up with an energy drink, and then went back in search of another beverage or two.
One of the best parts about being friends with Azeroth is that he takes the time to scout every drinking establishment in the area. As we were walking, he listed off our many options and their merits. Truly he has missed his calling as an alcohol tour guide.
Deciding to avoid any chains, Azeroth led us down a narrow alley that I would have normally passed right by. At the end was a door with a picture of a pig’s head and a sign which read “BooFooWoo”. Unless I am missing something, there is literally nothing about the name and picture on the door that would give you any hint that you’re at a bar.
As soon as we entered, Azeroth was greeted like a regular and we were shown past the narrow pathway between sunken tables towards prime seating at the bar. After placing our order, the bartender brought over the karaoke machine that was being passed around. I did a pretty decent version of Ziggy Stardust while Azeroth busted out the Red Hot Chili Peppers. We both got some cheers and applause from the rest of the bar, and made sure to return the favour when they sang.
BooFooWoo is exactly the right kind of place for some low key drinks and karaoke with friends. We ended up having a few more drinks and performing a duet of Come and Get Your Love before calling it a night.
As I walked (stumbled) the long walk back towards The Penpal’s house I realized how much I missed nights out like tonight from my teaching days. Being a parent cuts down the time to go out with friends and getting older makes recovery the next day even harder. I’m happy I got a chance to get out this evening and hope I get another chance before leaving.
Epilogue: I’m pretty sure the Penpal’s father was still awake when I got home. Not sure if he was was worried that I would get lost or just wanted to see how late I came home.
June 23, 2017 – Karaoke!
Posted by Barniferous in Klaxman, Return to Japan on June 26, 2017
Today I met up with Klaxman, one of my old roommates for lunch. He is a retired game programmer turned English teacher who moved to Japan in 2006 and has been there ever since.
We went for lunch at an Italian restaurant that had taken over what used to be Cats Cafe. They didn’t serve ridiculously oversized desserts like their predecessors, but they did have some pretty good octopus spaghetti. Klaxman caught me up on all of the changes that NOVA has made over the past 10 years since their bankruptcy, and told me about an open source portable game system called Arduboy that he was making a game for.
After lunch we played a few games at the nearby game center before joining some of Klaxman’s friends at Radio City karaoke. I was happy to see that “Suck My Kiss” by Red Hot Chili Peppers was available to sing, but the crowd in the room was a little more Beatles so I decided to hold off on songs with rampant use of the word “motherfucker”. Karaoke is not a rock concert – some times you need to adjust your song choice for the audience.
It was fun to catch up and break my long karaoke dry spell.
June 22, 2017 part 2 – Visiting family in central Izu
Posted by Barniferous in Return to Japan, The Penpal, Tiny Dog on June 26, 2017
Today we went to beautiful Izu Peninsula to visit family. Both sides of the Penpal’s family have roots in Izu, and there are still numerous uncles, aunts, and cousins who live in the area.
Izu is one of my favourite parts of Japan. The entire Peninsula is filled with small towns, mountains, and natural hot springs. The few flat areas are home to rice paddies and strawberry farms. It’s about as close to “rural” as you can get near Numazu.
The Penpal’s father has a large family, and most of his siblings are in the 70-90 year old demographic. An energetic 3 year old looks even more energetic in a room where the average age is 80. While the family visited, I did my best to entertain TD with Lego, an ancient electric organ, and the small, friendly dog who was happy to go for endless walks around the house.
There were two interesting things I noticed during our visit:
- The Penpal’s father is the youngest of 12 children. At home he is absolutely the king of the castle. When he is around his siblings, some of which are almost 20 year older than him, he almost fades into the background. It’s an interesting things to see, and I’m not sure if this is unique to his family, all traditional Japanese families, or just large families in general.
- In Canada everyone says that Tiny Dog looks like his mother, pointing out some of his more Asian features. In Japan everyone says he looks like me, pointing out his many non-Asian features. It’s interesting how different things stand out to different people.
I’m happy we got a chance to visit so much of the family while on our vacation. It was a cool experience to introduce them to the overseas branch of their family.
Izu is beautiful despite it’s many mudslide monsters
June 22, 2017 part 1 – Kaiten Sushi with a kid
Posted by Barniferous in Return to Japan, Tiny Dog on June 26, 2017
Today before embarking on a trip to Izu, we stopped for lunch at the Mishima branch of Kappa Sushi, a kaiten sushi restaurant.
Kaiten sushi, also known as conveyor belt sushi, is a fun way to eat. The restaurant will have some form of conveyor belt or train where plates of sushi come by. If something looks good, you simply take it from the belt and eat it. Depending on the restaurant, each plate will have the same price or the plates will be colour coded indicating how much each costs.
Kappa Sushi has a long snaking conveyor belt which winds its way up and down rows of tables. To ensure that people at the end of the belt can still get what they want to eat, there is also a bilingual computer ordering system at each table. You can use a touch screen to place an order which will then be delivered directly to your table on a special train.
The Penpal and I have been to kaiten sushi many times, but today was the first time for Tiny Dog. Little plates of sushi coming by on a belt or by train is very exciting for a 3 year old! He was a big fan of maguro (tuna) and cucumber rolls. I ate way too much, which is exactly the right amount to eat when on vacation.
June 21, 2017 – A Canadian walks into an Indian Restaurant in Japan
Posted by Barniferous in Return to Japan, Shizuoka, The Penpal on June 26, 2017
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Today the Penpal had lunch plans with one of her friends and the freind’s daughter. Instead of tagging along, I decided to go off and have my own adventure.
It was a rainy day, but I stayed mostly dry thanks to some expert use of my umbrella. I’m only mentioning this because I live in Winnipeg where many people don’t own a single umbrella, and the usual response to rain is to stay inside or run while outside in hopes of not getting too wet. I felt a sense of accomplishment in being able to get to the station mostly dry in the rain.
I took a short ride to Numazu station, and walked towards the Bivi building on the north side. Bivi was built during my last year of teaching in Japan, and houses a movie theatre, internet / comic cafe, Game Center, and a bunch of restaurants. Many of the restaurants had changed since the last time I was in Numazu, but everything looked good. After making a quick loop around I was drawn in by the delicious smells coming from Ohsama No Curry.
A Canadian walks into an Indian restaurant in Japan sounds like the start to a bad joke, but it was actually the story of a good lunch. The lunch special had curry, a choice of nan bread or rice, salad, and a drink for just under 1000 yen. SOOOO GOOOD!
After lunch I made a visit to the Game Center and played whatever the newest version of Guitar Freaks is called before shooting some zombies and checking out the claw games. Most of the machines have cute anime characters as prizes, but one of them had something a bit different for “ladies day”.
I’m assuming by the picture in the background that these were actually hand massagers, which would be very useful after playing too many video games. It is possible that they may have some other uses as well.
No, I didn’t play this machine. If I want a “hand massager” I’ll buy it from a specialty shop instead of trying to win one in front of random strangers in a place frequented by teenagers.
I returned to Numazu station and took the Gotemba line towards Gotemba station at the foot of Mt. Fuji in the hopes of getting some pictures. Unfortunately the rain kept getting worse as the train climbed the mountain. By the time I reached Gotemba it was a total downpour. I managed to snap a few rainy pics from the station, but didn’t trust my prairie boy umbrella skills in rain that the Japanese people were avoiding.
My ride back down the mountain was delayed by 15 minutes due to weather. Delaying a train in Japan is NOT something taken lightly, so the weather must have been really bad. Instead of being lined up on the windy, rainy platform, everyone was politely lined up in the enclosed stairway leading to the platform. For the record, politely is the default way to line up anywhere in Japan.
I ended up getting home about the same time as The Penpal. We both went out for lunch, but had very different experiences. I may be biased, but I think mine was better. When you are on vacation, even a quick bite to eat and a train ride can be an adventure.
June 20, 2017 part 2 – Purarail
Posted by Barniferous in Return to Japan on June 26, 2017
I know you’re not supposed to give kids too much screen time, but sometimes it’s the only way to get anything done around the house. We let Tiny Dog use the YouTube Kids app, and he has a few favourite types of videos that he likes to watch: playgrounds, marble runs, and cool toys. One of the coolest toys that he likes to watch is plastic rail sets, known in Japan as purarail.
The Japanese language doesn’t have the same sounds as English. Turning English words into Japanese sounds is similar to a lossy compression on audio files – it can make things sound wrong.
The word “plastic” comes out as “pu-ra-su-ti-ku” and rail is “re-ru”. As if this wasn’t weird enough, this is sometimes written in letters as “Plarail”. Regardless of what you call it, purarail is pretty cool. You build a train track with interlocking plastic track pieces, and then put a battery powered, motorized train on the tracks. Most of the trains look like actual trains that you can find in Japan.
Like any toy / hobby, there are people who take this to the extreme, creating whole model towns with buildings, landscaping, and elaborate multi level track designs.
Since Tiny Dog was having a rough day with all of his mosquito bites, I picked up a starter set at Ito Yokado that had three suggested track layouts and came with a model of Doctor Yellow, the Shinkansen used to test tracks at high speed.
He absolutely loved it.
The rest of our evening was spent building tunnels for the little plastic train as it circled the tracks over and over. Watching my 76 year old father in law on the floor playing trains with my son was definitely a highlight of my vacation so far.
Drinking in Japan 
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