My trip to see Miki, David and Miki's parents

   I left on this trip last Wednesday evening but with a casualty before I even get to the airport. On my way to the subway from the office I heard something hit the ground in front of me to look down and see something clear and white break. I looked up thinking "what the heck was that" but it only took about 2 seconds before I realized that one of my earrings fell out and shattered on the ground. For those that don't know, I have gauged ears so my earrings are not the typical dainty steel that most women wear. This pair was glass, hence the shattering. I would have to go the entire trip with giant empty holes in my ears since I didn't have any spares with me.

  Once I got to the subway everything else went smoothly. The plan was for me to call Miki on her Mom's cell phone to let them know which train I would be on from Kanai Airport to Kyoto then I would meet Miki and David on the train platform so we could take the local train to the Taniguchi's. Well Wednesday evening was the same time that Miki and David were getting to Japan but they flew into the other airport in Osaka. So when I got on the train I called the cell number that was given to me and Miki's mom picks up...the kicker here is that her mom doesn't speak any English and I don't speak any Japanese. I said Miki's name and then I heard a bunch of Japanese and my name on the other end... at least I knew I had the right number. Then there was a pause and a bunch more Japanese...we really couldn't communicate but I made the assumption that Dave and Miki hadn't arrived yet since she wasn't passing the phone to either of them. So we fumbled a little longer on the phone and I said "OK, bye bye" and waited for her to hang up and I did the same. Then what, I waited for a call back from David but didn't receive one. What would happen if they weren't at the platform when I got there? I didn't have an address for the Taniguchi's. What would happen if their flight was delayed? How hard would it be for me to find somewhere to sleep if I was unable to meet up with? I didn't have a guide book or any maps with me. I was fearing the worst. I stepped off the train and didn't see anyone that I recognized. I hesitantly walked towards the exit just to see if anyone was that direction and my heart leap for joy when I saw David and all of his luggage. He had the same releaved expression and I found out that he was thinking the same thing, except he didn't see me get off the train and really thought that I would be stuck at the airport until the morning when the train started running again. It was another hour before we got to the Taniguchi's. It was very comforting being in their home and being around family.

   The next day we all took our time waking up and starting the day. Sometime around 11am the 3 of us went for a 3 1/2 mile run together. What a difference from running in China, actually everything was so different then being in China. For starters, it was quiet; no cars honking at every moment. The air smelled fresh and there were no crowds around. The Taniguchi's live in Shiga Prefecture which is about 30 mins by train from Kyoto. We had beautiful views of mountains and Lake Biwa as we ran along.

   After getting washed up we spent the afternoon at Miki's material grandmothers home. It was the first traditional Japanese home I had been in. I met grandma, a cousin and 2 second cousins. We drank tea, ate snacks and listened to Miki's 9 year old (second)cousin play some music on the piano for us. It was so great to meet everyone and have a quiet afternoon together. On the way home Miki's dad dropped us off at the grocery store so that I could compare a Chinese grocer to a Japanese grocer. We went to town picking out all sorts of sweet and salty treats!

Not sure which of our many snacks we picked out that Miki is
holding but I'm pretty sure she could sell it to anyone with that smile.

We picked out some of David and Miki's favorite snacks,
plus a couple new ones to try.

One difference here was that you check out and pay for your groceries
 then walk over to a separate counter to bag the purchase yourself.

   Left, this picture is for Trisha. I think that Mr. Taniguchi can compete with her in the "who can own the most house plants" competition! Miki's dad has a green thumb for orchids so most of what you see is just that. Right, David enjoying the Japanese donut that we bought at the grocery store which we meant to eat on the way back to the house.

For dinner, the Taniguchi's prepared Nabe. My brother
was SO excited, seems that he loves to eat this and it
had been about 5 years since the last time he enjoyed it.

The Nabe is being cooked at the table. This one was fish based.
Two types of fish, Cabbage, mushrooms, tofu (soft and firm),
bean sprouts and udon noodles were all added little bit by little
bit as the evening went on. It was SO delicious.

   Left, my bowl with fish, tofu and noodle inside. The bowl also has ponzu mixed with fresh ginger and chopped scallions. Right, near the end of the meal Miki's mom brought out homemade mochi to drop in the Nabe. I was so full but could not resist trying one of my own (I really like mochi). There was lots of talk about the homemade mochi which brought up another way to eat it. Broil it until it is browned on top then dip in in soy sauce mixed with sugar. Miki's dad headed to the kitchen to prepare this but along the way he popped the mochi in the microwave to thaw it... apparently mochi and microwaves don't mix.

Here is the result. I'm sure that Miki is embarassed that I am posting this
picture b/c this is not a good representation of what the final product should
look like (the microwave really killed it). It still tasted very good and I can see
when done correctly that it's a yummy snack.

   Dinner must have lasted about 1 1/2 hours. Upon finishing David looked like he was ready to pass out. I think that the jet lag and full stomach had caught up to him. He retired to bed pathetically early but Miki and I stayed up past midnight just hanging around the house. I was SO thankful to just have a relaxing time. This is now my third time visiting Japan and this trips was more about hanging out with family and taking a break from Shanghai then about rushing around to see all that Japan has to offer.

Friday's breakfast: Egg, nori, Some type of fish product,
mandrian orange, rice and miso. A good start to to the day.

   We were up and around earlier on Friday since we had plans to catch a train to Kyoto to do some wandering around. The Taniguchi's live very close to the train station and it only takes about a 3-4 minute walk to get there.

The view of lake Biwa from the train station.

Left, Miki and David waiting for our train at Ono Station. Right, brother

and sister excited to be in Kyoto together for the 3rd time.

Miki and I. We wandered these covered shopping streets
on the look out for some new plugs (earrings) for me. No luck.

   While shopping around we hit up all my favorites that I could remember. My 2 requests, an army surplus store that has some pretty cools items and a small shop that does high quality tasteful screen prints on t-shirts and denim (all very nice quality).

Left and Right, it's amazing how much shopping can expend energy. We

were hungry and needed to stop for a snack. Takoyaki (AKA fried octopus

 balls!) seemed like it would fill us up until our next meal time. This treat is

topped with bonito (dried fish shavings).

A super cool copper topped building (old bank building)

As a treat to me, we were going to head back to the place that served me one of my
 favorite meals ever, Black Sesame Tantan-men. Tantan-men is a style of noodle with a
specific style broth but beyond that I can not explain exactly what it is. Anyways,
this is a picture of me crying b/c apparently the restaurant has closed or moved.
No tantan-men for me :( I'll never know if it is a good as I remember it being.

I had a special request come through to look for a specific Japanese knitting needle
while on this trip. It's random that we found this knitting store we went looking for it
in it's original location (one or the shopping complexes) but found that it was no longer
there. As we wandered the streets we decided to go into a TinTin shop then discovered
the knitting store 2 floors above. We even found needles that would work for Chrissie.

Right, Miki working out quantities for a scarf that she will make for David.

Pork anyone?

Instead we went out for the best ramen I have ever had. We all got it

in a rich pork broth. I would love to be able to eat this again. Apparently,

I was hungry b/c I ate every noodle and drank almost all the broth. I finished

more then both Miki and David...I'm kinda proud!

The ramen noodle restaurant. We all left with oil slicked shoes.
I think there was pork on the floor of the restaurant b/c it
seemed that you could slide around if you tried.

The Minamiza Kabuki Theater in Kyoto. Built in 1929.

You can't go to Kyoto and not get dango to snack on. Here

we are waiting in a long line to get some freshly grilled dango.

 

I stole these pictures of dongo from wikipedia.
This is what it looks like!

A Shinto Shrine in Kyoto. Miki, I can't remember the name of this one? Help me!

   After getting our dango we walk through the Gion district of Kyoto (the Gion is a old well known geisha district). It's a well preserved areas of traditional architecture and entertainment. The streets were very quite in this area. As we walked around you could here some of the geisha's singing.
**a little note on behalf of geishas: There is a popular misconception that Gion was a red-light district. It was a geisha district, and as geisha are entertainers, not prostitutes, Gion is not, and never was, a red-light district. Shimabara was Kyoto's red-light district.**

We found a spot to enjoy our dango.

Left, the bar streets of Kyoto. Right, another cool building

 (I can't remember what Miki told me about this place).

   Then we caught the train back to the Taniguchi's. I'm sure we all slept well that night (I know I did, I was SO tired from all the walking around).

Let there be heat!

   I'm back in Shanghai safe and sound (and working on getting pictures posted from Japan).


   I would just like to share that I have now discovered that there is heat in my apartment. Thanks Miki and Dave for telling me there is a mode on my air-conditioning unit for heat. I took my remote down to the front desk and they told me which setting is for hot air :) I'm now blasting heat.

My bike got a good workout today

   Today I had one important mission, to ride my bike into work. I needed the bike so that Tony, Oliver and Tina could take me to a Korean restaurant for lunch that was too far away to walk. So I set out this morning 15mins earlier then usual and took a route that I was a little familiar with but took me way out of the way. I was amazed at the traffic that I had to fight to get to work...it wasn't all just car traffic, it was also bike and motorcycle traffic. By the time that I parked my bike and got settled at my desk it took about 1 hour from when I left home. I think that if I find a more direct route that I could cut off about 15mins so the commute would be about the same as taking the Metro. And since riding in was way more interesting then taking the subway I think that I will try to ride in a couple more times while I'm here.

Tony (Production Manager), Oliver (Team member) and me

    Tina doesn't own a bike and neither does Oliver so we had to come up with a plan. Oliver borrowed a co-workers bike and Tina rode on the back of mine. This was my first time riding with a person on the bike so it took a couple of blocks to get used to the extra weight and balance shift but soon I got the hang of it. After about 4 blocks we ended up riding alongside this old Chinese man with no teeth (or barely any teeth). He thought that the sight of Tina and I on the bike was SO funny...he kept telling Tina that he liked my "hat". Somehow this old man knew some English and was just spurting out whatever he could think of. We rode with him for at least a kilometer and the entire time we were all laughing (including the old man). We must have been quite the sight to others too b/c everyone was staring. I guess it's not often that people see a Westerner wearing a bike helmet (bike helmets are pretty much nonexistent in China, even though millions of people in Shanghai commute by bike everyday) with a Chinese women on the back hanging on for dear life. I'm happy to say that we made it to our destination without any hiccups.

Even my co-workers think that my bike helmet is funny!
Oliver wore it the entire time we weren't on the bikes.

    This korean restaurant (no English name available) was down the food street that I was at on Sunday. It was not one of the chain restaurants there but a little standalone place. It was packed when we walked in but somehow managed to gets four seats within 5mins of standing around. Then Tony and Oliver went off to order. Food started showing up right away.

Left, Tina showing off the homemade, handwritten menu. Right, we sat at the bar.

This was my view of the busy restaurant.

Tony called these fried noodles but I'm not sure that they were
actually fried. They are in a spicy kimchi-like sauce and served hot.

Kimchi fried rice

Left, we got a big bowl of fried stuff. All of which was pretty good.

Fried pork with a paper umbrella. I hear that the umbrella is a true Korean touch ;)

   Left, part of the atmosphere of this restaurant is that the walls and all other surface areas are covered in customer comments/reviews. Everyone wanted me to write one so I did. Tony hung it up for me. Right, my review. Iris, you will have to look for this the next time you come here.

Outside the restaurant with full stomachs. Good thing we had a bike ride ahead of us.

Isn't this picture cute? Tina and I getting ready to ride back to the office.

    On the way back I rode side-saddle on the bike and Tina drove. I was a little concerned b/c I weight more then Tina, probably by more then 40lbs. I definitely flattened the back tire quite a bit when I sat down. I offered to take over several times but Tina insisted that she was doing just fine. I was a little nervous at first b/c I like to have control of things but I trust Tina and soon was able to relax. I could get used to riding on the back of a bike, there's a lot less sweating that happens.

The sea of bikes at the office basement parking.

Then it was back to work...