At some point during the full days of chemotherapy, while sitting looking at travel magazines and talking about making plans for the future. I made a promise to Mikiko that I would sail her to those isolated sandy beach islands and we would have the adventures along the way. We talked about how cancer has effected our lives with both of our mom's surviving breast cancer and my dad fighting with Lymphoma for 12 years before loosing.
While setting the goals of what to do after cancer were mainly to take us away from the dealing with what was happening, it set in motion a bit of insanity.
~Keath
]]>Mikiko and I fell in love with Surrender, it seemed to be the perfect boat matching our plans. We did the inspection and sea trial. We started all the loan papers and everything was going perfectly. Things were going well all around, we had new projects coming in at work. Then in the morning we got approved for the boat loan and the papers were faxed from the east coast sitting in the office waiting to be signed.
Then everything came to a sudden end, that morning was September 11'th 2001. The loan papers were faxed from one of the towers at the World Trade Center that did not fall, but everything was lost. The new projects at work were all put on indefinite hold, everything stopped, the whole world stopped.
~Keath
]]>This was the first wake up call for us to put together a plan to transition to living a life that we felt matched our goals.
~Keath
~Keath
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Great news for Londoners, McD's has not yet stolen the right to deep fried apple pie. I guess this shouldn't be surprising since they are the home of a lot of famous deep fried goodies like Fish and Chips, Deep fried Mars bars and best of all Deep fried frozen pizza.
~Keath
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Before coming to Tokyo Shimpei had mentioned a new Ramen place had opened about a block away from his station and it was really good taste. We headed off for dinner with the typical Japanese style directions, "from the station cross the tracks, then walk to the 7-11 and hang a left and after a bit you'll know when your there". It was very easy to find with a long line of people and a simple sign "eat ramen here".]]>
 The place is called Ivan Ramen, and it is really great Ramen. Miki proclaimed the the Shio (Salt flavored) was the best she had ever had and actually finished the whole bowl. For some strange reason and a first for this trip I didn't order the spicy Ramen and had the Roasted Garlic Chashu Ramen it was totally amazing, the Chashu (Roasted Pork) was very tender and passed Nagasaka's Chashu test with flying colors as it was about half an inch thick and stood on end very nicely.
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 Ivan is a chef raised in New York and had worked all over place. He followed the dream of making the perfect Ramen with quality ingredients, a great relation with his guests and staff in a good atmosphere. We will be headed back in the next few days and I will get the spicy ramen this time.
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If you ever get over to the Rokakouen area in Tokyo eat some ramen there. You can get more information from Ivan's web page at http://ivanramen.com and his story about why at http://www.ivanramen.com/story1.html
~Keath
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 Yes... Challenging life, death or worse! Fugu paralyzes the muscles while the victim stays fully conscious. There have been tales of people being taken to the hospital and put in the morgue and wake up at some point later if they don't die from that whole not breathing thing. |
Fugu is actually fairly safe to eat and has an amazing texture and a really subtle nice taste. Almost all parts of the Fugu are eaten in many ways. The fins are toasted and put in Sake for a drink called Hirezake.
The main part of the meal is Fugu Nabe, with peaces of Fugu, enoki mushrooms, chrysanthemum leafs, Napa Cabbage, Naganegi (Onion) and glass noodles. Nabe is a kind of soup where you have a boiling pot of soup in the center of the table and add ingredients as the meal goes on. The person who takes responsibility for adding stuff to the nabe is the Nabe Bugyo (Nabe Director or Judge).
Deep fried Fugu karaage is also popular, but due to the interesting bone structure it takes a little bit of work to eat.
There are few traditions in Japan that revolve around New Year, one of these it to do house repairs and yearly house tasks. For us this means changing all the batteries in the clocks, clean and repair all the light fixtures and what ever needs renewal. So, we needed to head off to one of the main stations to replace a gas hose for the cooking stove. There is a good ramen place up the hill in Minami-Senri, and they serve a good bowl of spicy tonkotsu ramen with really nice chashu (roasted pork).
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After ramen we headed back to Minami-senri for shopping to finish up the missing items for Osetchi. There I found the melons are cheap at the moment... only about $80....
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You know you're headed off to a distant land when the final train in the journey is a single car, it's even better when it has a picture of the thing that represents the area that your headed off to.... TANUKI.... Ok, lets start form the beginning, a long time ago when Christen was still living in the valley she took it as her responsibility to make sure I had a correct understanding of Japanese culture despite Mikiko's objections. And it went something like;
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From the moment you get off the little single car train you know these people are all about Tanuki. In front of the train station they have a monster Santa-nuki.
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Japanese style bath tubs (ofuro) are requirement in Japanese culture, but you have to take a shower and get clean before you can get in the tub. It's not about becoming clean, it's about soaking in very hot water and relaxing. In most households the tub is fulled and stays warn, then in order by household rank everyone takes a turn starting with guests, elders, father, kids then wife. Yes, if you stay late in at someone's house you might be invited to soak and relax and you might even get a few kids thrown in. ]]>
Ofuro is actually a personal hot spring (Onsen) that one can visit everyday, but most people in Japan visit onsen often, it's no shock when looking at advertisement pictures in almost all magazines, at the train stations and on the walls of the trains. Japan loves it's onsens, in the northern areas the monkeys will soak for hours in the natural hot springs in pools adjacent to humans. Onsen trips are popular destinations for company trips, school classes (you have never seen bedlam till the peaceful onsen your visiting gets overrun by hundreds of middle school girls), families and reunions of old friends.
A few thing to know about going to an onsen;
Men and woman are split to different areas when bathing, there are a few that have mixed pools or even privet outdoor pools attached to a traditional tatami style room.
Every one is naked, get over it, it's about relaxing and talking to people and enjoy the escape from the fast pace of modern life (hadaka no tsukiai).
My first experience was years ago on a family trip to Awagi Island, we stopped off at a small onsen. Shinta at 5 years old at the time was left to teach me the proper educate of this most honored ritual. At that point I had been reading about Japanese culture and understood the basics, you get there, put your stuff in a basket, wash yourself very well, then go over take a bowl of water from the hot spring and rinse, then slowly get in the 42'c water and quietly enjoy the peace and quite, then go to the next area and repeat, all very Zen. So, he got us locker put all of our stuff in it and grabbed key, quickly headed to the wash area, sat me on a small stool showed me the soap and how to use the water controls, then in an burst of energy he did the fastest wash job on the planet ( still not sure if the bar of soap touched his body) ran over grabbed a bowl of water and poured it over his head as he dove into the hot hot hot spring. I finished washing off and joined him in the spring where he was sitting, then just as I got settled Shinta jumped up and started to collect all the small stools and bowls and pile them up under water towards the middle of the pool. The just as I was almost relaxed, he ran over showed me the key to the locker and stated he was done. Thus ended my first trip to an onsen and a rather stressful Zen experience.
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Another day starts with the alarm clock going off, and me heading off to LAX to jump on some airplane heading to a hotel in a far away land. The difference this time, Mikiko is not dropping me at the bus stop and leaving, we are dropped by my mom and headed home to Japan instead of a hotel, wow... home... For a first in my life I'm head off on this mysterious thing I've only heard others remark off-handedly about, vacation...]]>
As I watched our bags run though the x-ray with all the nifty stuff in my luggage glowing different colors, I only one thought comes to my mind.... New game concept... Who can arrange the items for best representation of a detailed picture, only using the items you would normally travel with ( Liquid shows up blue and red and metal being shades), as I alway have my laptop power supplies, USB cables, tooth paste and soap, I think I'll first go for a simple smiley or maple leaf...
Breakfast at the terminal's local unnamed dinerish waiting area, Mikiko and I migrated to the back table, a typical sight of laptops, food and drink, sending off the last minute emails, few reports, few IM's and it's just a normal morning at in transit.
North West business class rocks, the new seats are those funky looking SciFi pods that lay almost flat and have a complex set of buttons for complete control. Complete on demand entertainment system with over 30 movies, games and an interactive touch screen map system like google maps. The service and food were outstanding.
Wine and Snacks
Japanese Style Dinner w/ Calculate Cake Ala mode
Mixed Greens Salad, Halibut on Couscous with Garlic butter w/ Cheese and Crackers
Chicken and Shrimp with Asian Slaw / Egg pie Florentine
Then, fun with trains... A quick run though the heath station, immigration, baggage clam, customs and a though Narita airport to the Japan Rail (JR) office grab our three week rail passes and got seats on the next Narita Express. A new record has been laid down, 28 mins airplane to train transfer... A short transfer at Tokyo Station to the Hikari Shinkonsen ( Japanese Bullet Train ) with a quick tech handoff from Shimpei for our cellphones and my new datacard, and we're off to Osaka.
While wading though the sea of little Japanese businessmen at Tokyo station, Mikiko and I both started laughing, people in Japan are really short. Not that I'm at tall at 5' 8" with my little Japanese wife being 5' 10", the original reason she started traveling to the US in the first place was to find clothing that fit. Now in the states they have started a public service campaign that kids under 4' 6" should have child safety seats in cars. But in Japan they have a different style of transportation safety, train stuffing ( more to come on this subject later, and maybe even some video).
From Shin-Osaka station we jump a few local trains and we're home, a nice relaxing soak on the furro, and crash... thus ends the 24 hours of sitting marathon...
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Kushikatsu is a style of food from the Konsi area of Japan (Osaka, Nara, Kobe, Kyoto, Suita). In a few respects it is like going to a sushi bar, the food itself is an art form of flavors and textures. There are also different levels of taste and quality, from sticks you can buy at the local market, stands on the train platform to high quality restaurants.| 1 - Shrimp wrapped with shiso (Japanese Basil) leaves. (Picture Above) | ||
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<-- 2 - Beef with a slight curry flavor | |
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| 3 - Stuffed Shiitaki Mushroom --> | ||
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<-- 4 - Kaki (Oyster) | |
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| 5 - Asparagus --> | ||
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<-- 6 - Broccoli with cheese and bacon | |
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| 7 - Tainoko (Red Snapper Row) --> | ||
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<-- 8 - Ginnam (Ginko Nut) | |
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| 9 - Gyutan (Beef tongue stew with carrot) --> | ||
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<-- 10 - Komochikonbu (Cod Row on kelp) | |
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| 11 - Tai (Red Snapper with Ponzu sauce) --> | ||
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<-- 12 - Mentaiko (Spicy Cod Row wrapped with chicken and Shiso leaves) --> |  |
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<-- 13 - Tamatto with Egg Salad | |
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| 14 - Tofu with chopped Veggies --> | ||
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<-- 15 - Kisu (White fish with green onion and parsley mayo sauce) | |
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<-- 16 - Tamanegi (Onion with Beef and Curry) --> |  |
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<-- 17 - Satoimo (Tarro potato) | |
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| 18 - Uzura (Quail Eggs) --> | ||
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<-- 19 - Maguro (Stewed Tuna) | |
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| 20 - Mochi (Sticky Rice Cake) with Tarako (Cod Row) and Seaweed --> | ||
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<-- 21 - Renkon with Ebi (Lotus Root with Shrimp in the holes) | |
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| 22 - Buta (Pork) --> | ||
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<-- 23 - Cheese with Broccoli bits | |
| 24 - Satsuma Imo (Japanese Sweet Potato) (No Image) | ||
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<-- 25 - Frozen Banana coated with a brown sugar and cinnamon cake then breaded and deep fried and topped with whip cream --> |  |
After we unpacked and got the house in order Miki and her Mom made a nice lunch of Sesame bread, hand made sausages, Chinese Shumai dumplings with hot Japanese mustard and a salad made from seaweed, onions, cucumber and tomatoes. Nice strong Japanese style coffee, we are set....
The sausages taste similar to ones that our Uncle Sam and Elva used to get made from pigs they raised, the traveling butcher that serviced their area was something special ( and if you ever have a full sized pig rendered into meat products you will have more then you can store yourself and will end up just like Sam and Elva giving sausages to every family member, neighbor, friend and a few strangers).]]>
After only getting a few hours of sleep, Okason made a normal Japanese style breakfast for us. It was a bowl of rice, bowl of Miso soup, a bit of Tofu and a plate of little fish to share. Nice typical breakfast in Japan.
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