It's just about time for some Humor....

In honor of Thanksgiving... I wanted to write a blog about all the things that make me laugh in Japan. I have seen and heard some strange things over my 11 months here so far and I wanted to share a few of them with you.

On a side note, obviously, we don't have thanksgiving in Jap

an. The really strange part is that despite the fact that people here eat raw horse meat, whale, raw chicken, and numerous other intense foods, they look at me like I am crazy when I ask them why I can't get any kind of turkey here. Like turkey is really so exotic. Haha. They love chicken- but a l

arger bird-the turkey- must seem like an alien bird... beats me. Picture to th

e left that is me eating basashi- raw horse meat.

The above photo is me posing with a statue that is supposed to be Our President. Haha. It looks nothing like him and he is wearing a headband that says I Love Obama. If you see the flag pictured to my right you can see the horrible drawing they have of him. Now here is the funny part, this is in Obama Cit

y, Japan! That's right... there is an Obama City here and it's residents not only love Obama (as do most Japanese People), but they are proud

to have a leader that represents change that has the same name as their city. Plus, it is a nice boost to the tourist industry here. Besides this statue, there isn't a whole lot here.

The next thing on my list isn't just this little fur-ball; but the many fur-ball-like characters that exist all over Japan. There are so many characters! T

his little guy is the representation for Awaji Island. He has a car on his head.. probably something to do with the highways and bridges, but he looks like a giant Yellow tooth man. I love to pose with strange things.

Next on the List; Bad English! I love seeing bad English. You know the kind I am talking about. It seems like they just put what they wanted

to say in Japanese into a cheap computer translator that used similar words and attempted to make numerous grammar changes, but just ended up with a pile of mumbo jumbo. Usually, I am able to decipher these incredibly challenging puzzles to figure out what the author was trying to say in English, but failed miserably at.

But this sign, found on a vending machine at Nijo-jo in Kyoto, is impossible. I can't even read it without going into a laughing fit... to me, it is just that funny. I mean, seriously, there are foreigners on every corner, especially in Kyoto, plu

s you have so many University Students that are English majors or have studied abroad. How long does it take to say, " Hey, can you read these two or three sentences for me? I don't want to look like a jackass". Haha. Keep up the bad English Japan, it keeps me happy if I am feeling blue.

Wow... I don't even really know where to start with this one. I love this because it is a constant source of entertainment for me. Experimental Food Choices. Every month or so it seems that every single restaurant, fast food chain, and convenience store just jumps on the bandwagon and has a 'special' seasonal food or drink to taste. Right now there are two strange types of Pepsi products; the first being Azuki Pepsi. Azuki is sweet bean paste. Yes, you read correctly... there is a pink Pepsi in Japan that tastes like sweet beans. I hope it is short lived. The other flavor is Shiso. Shiso is a plant that people have with sushi and some other traditional Japanese foods. It tastes like a plant, not lettuce. The Pepsi is green. Needless to say I have never seen anyone drink either of these Pepsi products. The photo above is from a fast food place. McDonald's has the Ebi Fillet, which is a patty of small shrimp formed together and deep fried, served on a bun with mayo and lettuce, but this Tako Burger takes the cake. Tako is octopus. Yes, that is an octopus patty fried with tons of Mayo. I think the little tentacles give it away.

Looking at it makes me curious, but also makes me feel like I am going to be sick all at the same time. I think the strangest craze for the month I tried was a tamago double mac at McDonalds. It has a McMuffin egg on a double BiG Mac. Needless to say I didn't eat all of it. I prefer to try caramel, wasabi beef, and teriyaki chicken flavored potato chips as they are released.

I have many more funny things that I will periodically add to this blog. I think that these are really the joys in life so I must send them for you all to see. Keep in touch and keep reading!

Fall into Kyoto

Seeing as Autumn is probably my favorite season, and I was definitely missing American football, apple picking, and pumpkin flavored everything, I thought I would try to remedy this with what Japan has to offer. Leaves. Japan is famous for the Japanese Maple trees which grow all over the place like crazy. What is special about these trees is the way they change color, and how bright their leaves get. Well, I decided that I wanted to take a weekend trip to see the leaves in the best place for viewing, Kyoto.

Kyoto is the best place because it provides us with over 600 Temples and Shrines which provide a great backdrop to go with the leaves. Since there were obviously many places that I had left to discover here, I decided it would be the best place for a weekend getaway. I invited my best friends, Meredith and Miho, and we took off for our adventure. Meredith would be hiking during the day, but would meet up with Miho and I come evening and we would all stay together for the remainder of the trip.

We arrived in Kyoto around 1040 am, and much to our surprise our hotel was conveniently located and the streets were yet to be crowded. We grabbed some provisions and headed to our first destination after dropping off our bags.

We chose Arashiyama first. We had heard that it was traditional, beautiful, and full of great places to see the colors of autumn. The bus was as expected for a weekend in Kyoto, barely allowing enough room for one person to stand. Embarrassing as it already is at times to be foreign here, the embarrassment escalated when Miho didn't hold on before the crazy bus driver took off, knocking her into me and me to the ground with her on top of me laughing hysterically. The man in the seat above us looked at us distastefully, probably for a number of reasons.

As we were driving around the west outskirts of Kyoto, we started to notice that there were many young children dressed in Kimonos. We were thinking that maybe their parents just wanted to take photos of them in the kimonos with the fall leaves, but soon we realized that today was a special day, which might have been part of the reason that there were so many people with families in Kyoto. November 15th is a day here where children (boys of 5 and girls of 3 or 7) go to a shrine to pray wearing kimonos and take photos. These are special years. What I find interesting about these ceremonies and the one in January held for all the 20 year olds (legal age; much like the 18 in America...but they can also drink at 20) is that they are all head at the same time. It is good, I suppose, because you can celebrate with friends, but it feels a little too THE GIVER to me; the nines the tens... etc. (if you haven't read The Giver, I highly recommend you give it a quick once over.)

We got off of the train and headed around the part and looked at the famous bridge, Togetsukyo Bridge, which is the oldest bridge in Japan I think. It was once all wood, but now has some concrete supports. Another interesting thing about this bridge is the river that flows under it. From one shore, it is called the Hozu River (west of the bridge) and the other it is called the Katsura River (east side). Interesting.

We snapped some photos; my favorite being one of a girl with her boyfriend. She was dressed up as a "Maiko for a Day" which is a common thing you can do for about 10,000 yen. They dress you up as a Maiko and you walk around Kyoto, face paint, kimono and all, and take photos. I think I must do this before I leave Japan. Even though it is ridiculous. It is awesome, and many many Japanese girls do it, so I really have to I think. She was so funny b/c she looked traditional and he was dressed in a red leather Michael Jackson-Esq jacket with spikey hair. Modern meets Traditional... all with brightly colored leaves. Hah.

After this we poked around at some local temples, grabbed a bite to eat and headed back to the hotel where we would meet Meredith before going to our night viewing spot.

Miho's mother and father had suggested we head to Eikando Temple for night viewing of leaves because they light up the trees at night. I was very excited about this because Temples in Japan usually close around 4pm, so getting to go to a temple past dark is a very rare occurrence. We approached the gates to the Temple and it's beauty was overwhelming. It was tucked into the mountainside with the gates lit up and the bright colors of the leaves appeared even brighter in on this dark night. As we entered, the garden was lit up as was the bridge over water. We were luck because we arrived just in time to get to hear some traditional Kyoto music played by musicians on the bridge. I was so overwhelmed with Japan's beauty that trying to take this all in at once was a struggle, but a much enjoyed one at that. It was simply amazing.

We returned home for some rest after having a bite to eat and heading back to our hotel.

In the morning we headed to the lobby for our Japanese breakfast of rice balls, seaweed, miso soup, pickles, pasta salad, and bread. Of course, all of this lovely food was accompianied by a cup of coffee and The Japan Times newspaper. Here in the lobby we were approached by a small Japanese woman who asked us if we spoke Japanese. We told her that we didn't speak very much and she was curious as to how we were able to travel around Japan. Her English was wonderful and we asked her to sit with us. She told us that she was from Brazil and she was an English teacher there. Her parents were both Japanese, so she had heard them speak to her all of her life, but never formally spoke or studied until only 4 years previous. Now she had been saving for a long time to take a trip to Japan and she was vacationing for a couple of months.

She said that she had to take the trip now because last year the Brazilian government required her to declare her savings (for her trip) and upon complying with their request she was required to pay 45% of it in taxes to the government. She is not rich, merely a humble English teacher that had been saving for her life trip, but according to the tax bracket with the money she saved, she was a higher earner. She said she had to take the trip after she paid because she was worried they would come back for the rest of the money. She then cautioned us to travel as soon as we have the money. She handed us her business card, and requested we get in contact with her during the Olympics or if we ever wanted to travel in San Paulo. Very sweet woman. We then cleared her tray from the table as she disappeared down the street.

We gathered Miho from the room, as she was still getting ready for our adventure, and we headed off to Ginkaku-ji (the silver pavilion). Upon our arrival, we noticed a sign that the temple was undergoing restoration, so it was not looking great. We were bummed but due to the red and orange we could see up the hill behind it we shelled out the 500 yen a piece to enter.

We explored the trails and snapped some photos of the view and headed out to walk down the 哲学の道, Tetsugaku no Michi which is the Philosopher's Path in English. The trees that line the path are a pleasant mix of Cherry Blossom (Sakura) trees and Japanese Maples to give the colors of the two most 'philosophically inspiring' seasons; spring and fall. It is named the Philosopher's Path because a University of Kyoto Philosophy Professor named Nishida Kitaro used to walk this path everyday for meditation. It passes many places that are spiritual, such as many temples and shrines. It was very inspiring, and made us feel like we needed to grab a bite of food.

We headed to a small bowl restaurant where Miho and I grabbed a Child and Parent bowl (this morbid name is Kanji still makes me laugh today. Oyako Donburi is the name in Japanese which literally means Parent and Child. (It consists of Chicken and egg... Get it....parent and child... so funny). It is quite tasty...I have always enjoyed this bowl, probably mostly because of the name.

Next we headed to another Temple...this was the Chion-in Temple. It is famous for it's very large tori and number of stairs. There were many people here and we were lucky to hear some of the Monks chanting inside for a private prayer with a family. The sky was growing cloudy and we were feeling the night chill creeping up. Miho had plans back in Kobe, so we headed to the bus stop to see her off before heading to our last stop. Kiyomizudera.

Now, as you have seen in previous blog postings, I have been to Kiyomizu many times. However, each time it is amazing in a different way and I am always excited to take someone there for the first time. Meredith had never been here before, so I was hoping we could make it up the hill before the sunset. We arrived just in time to catch the colors in the sky overlooking all of Kyoto. It was breathtaking but short-lived because they were closing in 15 minutes and then for an hour before reopening to light up the leaves. Meredith and I didn't want to wait in the 300 person line for re-entry and decided to call it a night and head back to get some rest for the long work week ahead of us. What a trip!!

FINALLY THE DAY HAS COME!

Last weekend was THE weekend. I had gone out with some students and Miho on Saturday after work and we had enjoyed an evening filled with wine, fine Italian food, and good conversation, and the next day was filled with a new kind of adventure.

I had had a couple of students that wanted me to try Kobe beef. As you probably know, Kobe beef is world famous. It is considered by some to be the best beef in the world due to the marbleization of it's meat. The beef owners are able to achieve this by feeding the cow a diet of Sake and Beer and massaging them often. Needless to say they are very drunk, pampered animals for the short time they live. Some of the luckiest beef cattle in the world.

And for this, Kobe is famous.

"Jen," you might say, "Why is it if you have lived in Kobe for 10 months now that you have had yet to try such a delicious piece of steak? Such a morsel of delicious meat should be enjoyed!"

Well to you I say, "I agree there you very smart friend. I see that your mouth is watering at the prospect of such a delicious steak. However, as tempting as this was, the steaks usually range between 80-110 dollars a pop."

You might have just gasped out loud upon reading this information but if you didn't you might now. Some restaurants, for the highest quality, serve their steaks for over 600 dollars each. Mind you, these steaks are not the size of American steaks either. They are about 170 grams.

As I was saying, my students wanted me to go and I was so lucky that they offered to take me. I met up with my student at 2pm. We went to Kobe where we entered a Japanese Sword shop. The art of Japanese sword making was explained to me and I was informed that this shop was owned by my student's friend. The blades of the swords were beautiful and the stamp of the name of the maker was very unique and interesting. Next, we headed to a china shop. However, the regular collector's items are on the first floor, but my student knew the owners and is a very well known member of the community so he was able to take me upstairs where the shop owner showed us rare pieces that sold for anywhere between 150-100000 dollars while we sipped on macha tea.

We headed even further into Sannomiya where we had coffee at a posh cafe in Marui Department store before heading to a local museum. The Kobe Prefectural Museum of Art houses many special exhibits, and, unfortunately, I missed the exhibit I had been wanting to see with Dali art by only 2 days. Now there was all Japanese art. It was still beautiful, even though it was not what I was hoping to see. There were many screens that were painted with crows and tigers and even Geisha. It was very beautiful.

Next we headed into the final destination. It was a smokey shop. The aroma of charring beef filled the air and the surroundings were all stone and dark wood. We took our seats at a table and looked at the menu, which consisted of two types of steaks and the choice of getting them as a set (with sides) or alone. We chose the sets and a beer and waited while our steaks were being cooked up. Out first came a stew. It was made with beef and potatoes. It was very hearty and I didn't want to get too full, but I couldn't help but eating it all. Next, was a salad with a delicious dressing that I still can't quite place.

Finally, out it came. Sizzling on a skillet, a nice big chunk of Kobe Beef covered in onions with a side of green spinach and some potato wedges. The meat was a perfect medium rare and due to all of the sizzling we had to wear a bib.

When I took my first bite I was in heaven. The meat literally melts in your mouth. It was unlike anything I have ever tasted in my entire life. If you had no teeth, you could survive on a diet of pudding and Kobe beef; that is how tender it was.

I will be forever thankful of this opportunity to try the best steak in the world. I suggest anyone in the Kobe area that has a hundred bucks to spare head to A-1 restaurant to try this amazing delicacy. Come Hungry, Leave on a Cloud.

Shikoku Famous Noodle Adventure: Day 3

Day three of my three day weekend was packed full of events and traveling. After this day I felt if I didn't ride another train or bus for weeks I would be okay with that. We started out at 8 am after a nice breakfast of rice balls, bread, salad, pickled veggies, and pasta salad. Due to the surprise cold front, it was FREEZING. We got to the station to realize we missed the hourly train by only two minutes. At this we decided to waste some time and warm up at a local coffee shop with a nice HOT cup-o-joe.

As the time of our train was approaching, we headed to the station. Our first destination, Naruto whirlpools. These whirlpools have formed due to tides in the Naruto straight between Awaji Island and Shikoku Island, Japan. The tides move large amounts of water twice a day between the inland sea and the Pacific Ocean. The reason the whirlpools form is because the straight is very narrow so the water is rushing through at 13 to 15 kilometers per hour between the times of high and low tides.

Upon checking the tide flow charts we were very confused. I had been given lots of information from students about times to go and where you should view from. They told me that if you go at the wrong time the whirlpools are basically non-existent. We learned that the best time to view was actually NOT at hight tide or low tide, but when the tides were changing, so before and after those times. Luckily, the train time that we had chosen was the perfect time.

We arrived at our stopover station where we were to change trains. Mind you, we were out in the middle of nowhere on and island riding on a train that had only one car. We asked the driver if it was the train at the station, he said yes so we hopped on only to discover either he didn't understand our Japanese, or he didn't like foreigners; it was probably our Japanese, but I'm still not sure. The next driver suggested we get off at the next stop and wait for the next train, which was about forty minutes later.

We walked around and took some photos near the station. Our fear of missing the next train was real and tangible due to the fact that if we missed the train, not only would we limit our day because we would have to wait another hour, but we would miss the changing of the tides and our chance at seeing the whirlpools.

The train was approaching as I purchased a glass bottle with Kit-Kat bars inside from a vending machine and we were off! Down to Naruto. We arrived at the Naruto station and talked to the attendant at the ticket window. Due to the infrequency of trains we decided that it was necessary to plan what train we wanted to take in order to ensure we would have enough time to see what we wanted at our next destination. We hopped on a bus to the straight, along with our new friend Oscar from Mexico, who was on a three week holiday from his work in Seattle.

We couldn't decide it we would rather view the whirlpools up-close-and-personal on a boat or under the bridge on a walkway. We opted for the bridge in order to try to save some cash and because the weather was not calling for a boat ride. Despite the sun, it was a very windy 13 degrees C and with only a light sweater and scarf I was in no condition to bear those circumstances.

However, to my dismay, under the bridge was actually freezing as it was open air and the winds at such a height were VERY strong. Despite the cold we were able to catch a glimpse at the whirlpools and snap a few photos before heading back down to catch our bus back the train station.

By the time we got to the station we were starving and had only about 13 minutes until the train came. There was no fast food in the area so we opted for a Family Mart convenience store on the corner. Now, convenience stores in Japan are very similar to those in America; they have both hot food and cold food along with ice cream, and a variety of snacks and drinks. But I think they are much more fun, probably because I can't read the packaging. Also, because of what we bought for lunch. Please let me introduce you to the AMERICAN DOG.

Meredith and I have been eating these for quite some time now, but I have come to realize that I have never blogged about this scrumptious snack bearing the name of my homeland. The American Dog is....a corn dog. I hope that didn't kill your suspense too much. But here is the exciting part about the American Dog in Japan. It is all in the condiments. When you buy one you get this ketchup and mustard packet (Japanese mustard is sooo spicy). Please check out the photo to see why it is so amazing. You squeeze it and it comes out in perfect lines with no mess. They also use this kind of packaging for salad dressing and many other liquids on the go. It is fantastic.

We hopped on our next train with our destination in mind; Takamatsu. We were off on a voyage to see what we could before the sun set and we had to take our bus back to Kobe. We only had a few hours so we settled and changed our plans to only include a very large Japanese Garden and the ultimate goal; UDON. Udon is a noodle soup with thick noodles. My mom was not fond of this upon her visit to Japan due to the sticky and chewy texture of the noodles, but I love them and I heard that in Takamastu not only were they famous, but they were even stickier and chewier than elsewhere in Japan!

We approached the station around 2:15 pm and decided to rent bicycles at the station for a mere 100 yen. I had recently re-taught Meredith how to ride a bike because she hadn't since she was very small, but in Japan you have be to be able to ride a bike sometimes, especially after you realize how much easier your life will become.

We rode down to the garden passing designer shops and a Domino's pizza restaurant, all of them proving to be little reminders of the mass amount of western influence that is in this country. But finally, we approached the traditional Japan that we craved, a giant Japanese Garden. It's name is Ritsurin Koen. It is built as a promenade style garden and was constructed in the 1600's during the Edo Period for the Matsudaira Family that ruled during this time. It was beautiful and the amount of Coy and Tea Houses were simply amazing.

After walking around here we headed to a noodle shop to have a bite to eat. I chose the udon with soy sauce with a side of tempura octopus and shrimp. It was so delicious and at only 450 yen it was such a steal. I wish we had these in Kobe!

We returned our bikes, bought our bus tickets, grabbed a bus-beer and a doughnut and we were on our way back home, thinking of the Wednesday workday that was in store for us the next day.

Oh what an adventure!

Next installment; Jen FINALLY tries the World Renowned Kobe Beef!

Shikoku Weekend: Day 2 Oboke and Iya

WOW. The next day was a complete surprise. We had heard that Shikoku could pose some travel problems if you were without a car, but we had no idea how infrequent and rural it could be. However, this made our trip even more of an adventure and we were happy to go somewhere that felt nothing like a concrete jungle... this was a real jungle.

We headed out on a train with two cars then transfered to a train with one car to reach our first stop; Oboke. Here we had heard that there were beautiful gorges and a river that you could raft down. Due to time, and the small side-note that it was FRRREEEZING, we decided to pass up the rafts. We got off the train in what appeared to be a small town. To our right was a shop that sold beer, and straight ahead was a small market selling less than, probably, 150 items. That was it. There wasn't even a man taking our tickets when we got off the train. We decided that first we would head over to the Oboke/Koboke Gorges because it was within walking distance and we realized that since it was not a holiday, or a weekend, that the buses would not be running to Iya for another hour and a half.

We crossed a beautiful bridge over the Kino River that proved to be a fantastic viewing spot for the mountains. The river wrapped around the base of each mountain in a way that I have seen before in Upstate New York. It was simply breathtaking. The leaves had only just started to changed colors, but just imagining how beautiful this place would be in a few weeks gave me chills.

We walked our two km down to the gorges where we saw some of the greenest water with white rocks that I have seen. There were not many people there but the few of them were on boat tours of the gorges as well as snapping photos like us. We took in the beauty of the gorges and hiked down a small trail where we sat and rested for a while.

After this, we headed back up to the road. We were quite weary of missing the bus since they came only once every 1 1/2 hours and we didn't have endless amounts of time to wait, not to mention daylight hours (there is no daylight savings in Japan so it gets dark in winter about 4:00- 4:30). At the bus stop, which had a table made of a giant tree slab, was a very old Japanese woman. She had few teeth but her smile brightened us up. I was freezing and she laughed at me. When I told her in Japanese it was cold, she agreed, then, assuming that we spoke fluent Japanese went off to tell us about other things. We were able to understand that she was saying Meredith was nuts for only wearing a short sleeved shirt and that she had three layers on herself. She walked off and didn't catch the bus with us.

When our bus arrived we headed down a mountain to the bottom where a small sign with an arrow indicated we would be able to discover our prize. We had traveled all this way to see the Iya Kazurabashi. This is the name of a famous bridge that is made of a plant called Shirakuchigasura. It was built with this vine because it would be easier for them to cut the bridge behind them if they were trying to get away. Under the bridge runs a river, and quite a fall. The bridge is over 800 years old and is rebuilt/checked every three (because they let tourists walk over it for a mere fee of 500 yen). You can hear about this bridge, if you understand Japanese, in the folk song "Iya no Kohiki Bushi".

We decided we were hungry and we would need our strength before trying to brave this bridge, so we stopped in on a local vendor stand to have a specialty of the area. I opted for the salted trout on a stick caught in this river. It was the entire fish, and I guess you were supposed to eat the whole thing... that wasn't going to happen. Meredith went for the other local delicacy which was some sort of concoction consisting of a potato, a special hard tofu from the region, and konjak all dipped in miso and roasted like the fish. We both agreed that they were interesting snacks and we were satisfied for the time being.

We went and paid our 500 yen (which is used to maintain the bridge) and started our walk. Now, this bridge is very deceptive. It looks much safer than it actually is. The slats are farther apart than most foreigner's feet, which is funny because Japanese feet tend to be much smaller. This means that your leg could easily slip through it you are not careful. Also, when the wind decides it wants to gust, it makes the whole bridge sway. This was definitely something out of Indiana Jones, and we felt like true adventurers crossing it. Holding onto your cameras while snapping photos was the worst thing we had to brave, for dropping it was a real danger.

Upon crossing we decided to go off the trail and climb down by the river to get some other photos of the bridge. We apprehensively jumped from rock to rock hoping not to fall into the icy river (mind you, I was wearing my only sweater and scarf that I had on this trip). We climbed up some rocks and followed the path of streaming water to discover Biwa waterfall. It was small, but the way that is poured down the rocks into a pool of water and then down into the river was something out of a tourist magazine. Pure perfection. I can imagine that it would be the perfect place to shoot photos in swimsuits.

After all of this wind, water, and adventure we were quite famished and decided to indulge in the local Soba noodles with a view of the river. They were soft and tasty, but not unlike other soba I had eaten in the past. However, the noodles were much thicker than normal, almost like Udon.

After this we realized that the next bus was not going to be for another hour, so we were able to negotiate with a cabbie to take us back to the train station for just 2000 yen. The bus would of cost us 1400 yen, so we felt very accomplished to not have to sit in the cold for an hour with no coats.

After arriving at Oboke station we read through a guest book filled with notes from people from all over the world. Some of them were lost, some of them were disappointed by Oboke, and some of them wrote blog and e-mail addresses. We half-thought it would be funny to e-mail all of them, then decided that our Creeper @ work series didn't teach us how to go about doing that.

We headed back to the hotel and then out for dinner to plan our next day of travel then it was off to bed early for a bright and early start in the AM.

This three-part series is To Be Continued....

Shikoku Weekend: Day 1 Tokushima

My friend Meredith and I decided that we needed to get away and we saw the perfect opportunity arise as a three day weekend was fast approaching. We decided to go somewhere 'off the beaten path' that we hadn't been before. I have decided that I really can't come home until I visit the five main islands of Japan (Honshu, Kyushu, Shikoku, Hokkaido, and Okinawa). So far, I have managed to get myself to only two of those; Kyushu and Honshu ((where I live)). Upon this realization, we looked into going to Shikoku and seeing some of the beautiful natural things we had heard about.

We headed off early in the morning (well about 10 am due to the fact that the previous night was Halloween night). We caught the bus from Maiko station and took the Awaji bridge over across Awaji Island to Shikoku. On the bridge over the Naruto straight we were able to catch a quick glimpse of the famous Naruto whirlpools. Upon this, we decided that we would have to return to this location to get a closer look.

We arrived at Tokushima around 12pm and decided it would be best if we tried to find our hotel first so we could at least check in and have them hold our bags for us. After trying to check into the wrong hotel once (there are two hotels of the same chain within 1 km of each other) we finally found our new temporary place of residence very close to the ropeway. We left our bags and headed out to find something to eat. While we were walking, we noticed a bunch of street stalls selling food set up along the river. There were many children with balloons and raccoon hats, so we decided that this would be a perfect place for us. What is a better combination than funny hats, toys, and food?!

We still haven't quite figured out what this was, but we are thinking it was something to do with the environment. It was a festival complete with a stage where Power Ranger-esq super heros were battling it out on stage with an incredibly annoying woman with a high-pitched voice continuously yelling the equivalent of "fight fight..." wow. It was beyond annoying and the cringing on our faces carried over to the faces of all of the Japanese people around us. It was nice to know we were not alone.

We decided that we were going to try many different kinds of food, so first we headed to a local favorite, Pizza Hut. Haha. They had a stand set up and as a snack, mere and I decided that Pizza Hut would surely be the most delicious choice. There were no choices in toppings...and upon opening the box in hopes of having cheesy meaty deliciousness we were in complete shock-and-awe to see that our toppings were none other than potato, ham, corn, mayonnaise, and cheese. WHAT!? We managed to force this slice down and then hastily set off in search of something more gourmet. :(

After we got our raccoon hats, took some photos, got some balloons, and were given a giant bag of miso that the man insisted was "VERY EASY" to make, we headed to a local shopping center to get something warm to wear. You see, I had packed without checking the weather and I didn't realized that a cold front was going to be coming through. It was definitely one of those moments where you remember, just before walking out the door, you thought "hmm... should I bring my sweatshirt or a scarf? Nah...". I was kicking myself as I shelled out a few thousand yen for a new scarf and sweater. BOOOO. But the next day would prove to be much colder, so it was unavoidable.

We walked around a bit more and went back to the hotel to try to make plans for the next day. We were going to head out to the countryside and the middle of Shikoku Island. We knew we would have to get up early so we got all the information we would need, had sushi at a rotating sushi joint, and headed back to get our beauty sleep....

To be continued....