Finally made it to Kyoto!

I've been in Japan over 7 months, and people (not just locals) are constantly shocked that I've never been to the city of Kyoto.  Truthfully, I've just been waiting for a Japanese friend to offer to be my tour guide, and that day has finally arrived!!

Kyoto was the capital of Japan for over 11 centuries and is known as the best preserved city in Japan since it was spared by bombing during WWII.  Kyoto has over 1600 Buddhist temples and 400 Shinto shrines.  It is also home to 13 UNESCO World Heritage Sites.  (Remember we learned about these when I went to Europe?)

Since the city is so full of old world Japan history and culture, I wanted someone Japanese to read the signs and tell me the stories that go along with these amazing sites.  A friend from work gathered up 3 more people from her English class, and we rented a "family car" for a day.

Here's our Toyota "Noah" mini-van.

The drive took about 2 hours, but we played plenty of games to pass the time.  They really liked practicing their English vocabulary, so we played a lot of word games where you have to name things in English without repeating what others had already said and without taking too long.  Categories included: fruits, vegetables, flowers, automobile makers, countries, world capitals, etc.  When we ran out of categories, we simply switched to name any word that begins with the letter "T"!  Obviously, I should have been really good at this game since English is my official language, but it was also kind of tricky to make sure I understood what they were saying with their accent so I didn't repeat it.

First stop is Nijo Castle. 

Here is Ko, Kerri, Shinichi, & Eai ready to explore.

I kept looking for giant castle like Nagoya or Inuyama, but it doesn't exist.  Instead, that one-story building in the background is the Ninomaru Palace built by Japanese samurai.  It is 33 rooms and over 800 tatami mats (which is huge on a Japan scale).  Pictures inside the Palace were strictly forbidden.  My favorite part was the specially designed floors that squeak when they are walked on so your enemies could not sneak up on you!!  They are called Nightingale floors because it sort of sounds like birds chirping!

Ninomaru Garden.  In the center is the Island of Eternal Happiness, designed in 1626. 

Oddly, no one can reach this island because it's not like you're allowed to swim across the pond.

Honmaru Palace inside the inner moat.

Stop #2 is Rokuon-ji Temple (a.k.a. Golden Pavilion or Kinkaku-ji)

As you can see, the rainy season of Japan decided to start, while I was hoping it would hold out for one more day.  I bought my 5th or 6th umbrella from Japan and got on with the sightseeing.

Breathtaking view, built in the 1220's but restored with a new coating of gold in 1987. 

Kyoko-chi (Mirror Pond) containing many large and small islands.

The public is not allowed inside, but it's still a great view from the outside.  Even in the rain it was very shiny!!

My travel buddies say that the rainy season is the best time to visit Kyoto because all of the moss turns green.  Hmm... I'm not sure how to respond to that one...

At the temple, they had English fortunes you could buy.  Mine was rated "Very Good", and therefore I am supposed to take it home and hope it comes true.  If it was a bad fortune, I would have tied it to a tree and hope it doesn't come true.  (Remember from the New Year's shrine visit?)

Here's my fortune.  (Click on the pic for a larger image.)

It's interesting that for Business it says "no loss, little gain", and for Love it says "Good.  Tell your parents". 

I love you, Mom & Dad!!

Stop #3 is Daitokuji Temple, which is home to 33 small temples.  We went to only one: Ryongen-in Zen Temple, which is famous for its five gardens.

Constructed in 1502.  Did I mention they were all rock gardens?

Kerri next to the world's smallest rock garden.  Considering how small everything else in Japan is, I expected this thing to be the size of a shoebox.  Imagine my surprise!

More rocks and symbols of life.  Very zen, so they say, but I'm not going to on and on about it in my blog!

Dragon painted on the sliding doors, from the 16th century.

Another small temple inside the garden grounds.

I loved the stone walkway.

More "green" moss that everyone but me was so thrilled about!!  LOL

Snack time!  We decided to stop for Japanese sweets, which is always risky business considering they like to hide red beans in everything.  Same as usual, I couldn't read the menu, and there wasn't any pictures, so I just let someone order me something.  As it turns out it was very yummy ice cream!  From the left the flavors are: soybean (tasted sort of like coffee), blueberry, and green tea.  The other ladies ended up getting 3 other flavors of ice cream, which were terrible: egg, red bean paste, and wheat grass.  (Seriously, there were blades of grass sticking out of it!).  I tried them all, too, and goodness was I thankful even more for my flavors!

Last stop is Kiyomizu-dera Temple. 

Here is the entrance.

It's still raining, and surprisingly, I was the only one who was cranky about it.  I was sick of my soaking wet spongy shoes and socks.  And I was tired of trying to find hands to hold my umbrella, take pictures & keep my camera dry, all while constantly pulling my pants up.  (I finally got out the summer clothes, and surprise... they don't fit so well.)

Dragon fountain :)

I didn't really "get" what this place was all about at first.  It just looked like a big forest, but eventually I figured it out.

View from the Kiyomizu-dera stage

And finally it all makes sense!  Here is a view of the main hall Kiyomizu-dera, and the stage that I was on earlier.  This temple is from 778, and Japan has an expression "to jump off the Kiyomizu stage".  It's kind of like "taking the plunge" in English, but they used to let people jump off the stage, and legend was is if they survived the fall then all of the person's dreams would come true. 

This place was also one of the top 21 finalists for the New Seven Wonders of the World in 2007.  (Obviously not a winner, but still incredible.)

Lastly, we walked to the bottom to get in line for some holy water!

Kiyomizu means "pure water" in Japanese, so here I am filling up a tin cup from the waterfall.

And drinking it for good luck.  With me are Okada (friend from Mitsui) and Eai.

Finally, at the end of the day I was rewarded with souvenir shopping!!  A crazy sake-drinking bear.

One good thing about the rain:

No crowds in Kyoto!!  I was very thankful for that after my busy Tokyo trip during Golden Week.

Japanese Fashion Strikes Again!

Summer fashion in Japan has arrived, and it's simply divine!  I wish I could snap pictures left and right all day every day, but I must use some discretion.

Here's just a taste of what I see every day...

The men's shoe department, complete with purple or orange plaid sneakers.

Still in the men's shoe section. 

Yes, even the yellow ones with ruffles! Or the pink loafers with blue soles!!  I can't poke fun too much because if I'm gonna buy shoes it's going to have to be from the men's sizes, so I should be glad for such a diverse selection!

All of the bathing suits come with ruffles and skirts!!  They are actually very cute... if you're twelve!

This is the most popular outfit of 2010: straw hat + denim shirt + ruffled skirt.

See the racks full of just straw hats, denim shirts, and ruffled skirts!!  Wow... it's unbelievable how many different varieties you can see of the exact same outfit.  During Golden Week in Tokyo, Tarynn and I started counting one morning, but we lost track after about 20 because it wasn't even lunch time yet.

Leggings are essential, bonus if they are the stirrup kind!!  And everyone wears the tiny socks sticking out of their shoes.  (Even I have been known to do the leggings look and the tiny socks.  Sadly, all of the pants are too short for me to pull off the stirrup style!)

If a lady is going to wear shorts this summer, they should be enormous and baggy with tights, of course! 

I get comments every day since I'm not wearing stockings, but people need to back up off me!!  It's June, and 82 degrees in the office.  I see no reason for extra layers...

Things could be worse... 

I could just wear the tights and then rip slits in them all the way down to get some air flow...

Finally, here are some of the favorite things I have seen in stores!

This shirt first got my attention because it looks like University of Michigan, but upon closer inspection it makes absolutely no sense.  "He was bone under a lucky star" and what the heck does the big "M" have to do with that nonsense?! 

How about "Hurry Up" and "Observe a Traffic Rule"?!  Last I checked, speeding is not usually associated with following the rules...

Wow!  I think I could find a job as a professional proof reader and stay here forever:

"So taht there is it heatly live a wonderful life".

Lastly "Smartly Cats" and "Woman cat know the really good-looking".  Good looking what?  Man?  Cat with a necklace and crown on its head? 

This shirt is confusingly...

What Is Love

One of the other things that I loved about my Europe trip last month was that I actually recognized the music!!  I was constantly tapping my foot in hotel lobbies and humming along in taxi rides. 

At one point the song What Is Love (Baby Don't Hurt Me) came on, and Kawakami busted me for dancing and singing to it. 

Kawakami was shocked that I knew the song, so I had to tell him about that skit from SNL and the super cheesy movie "A Night at the Roxbury"!

Kawakami also knew the song well, but for a completely different reason.  The song is by a guy named Haddaway (can you say "One Hit Wonder"?!) and at one point he was actually the spokesman for Subaru in Europe!!  (Or as Kawakami says "just like Tiger Woods & Buick"!!)

Many years ago Kawakami was working for Subaru in Germany (through Mitsui, of course) and at every company event Haddaway was there singing his only popular song.  I thought that sounded awesome (like a private concert every few months), but Kawakami said he got really sick of hearing the same song over and over!!  LOL. 

Here's a pic of Haddaway getting the keys to his new Subaru at some advertising event. 

(And NO that's not Kawakami with him...)

Chunichi Dragons

Japan loves baseball, and thank goodness that is a spectator sport I actually enjoy!  I've been wanting to go to a game in Nagoya since the season started in April, but the ticket system is all in Japanese and work said they would take me.  My big baseball day has finally arrived!!

Nagoya is the capital of the "Chubu" region of Japan, hence the name Chunichi Dragons represents all of central Japan, not just the city of Nagoya.  There are 12 teams in the Japan league, and the Dragons are the 3rd oldest, founded in 1936.

The entire walk from the subway station to the stadium is decorated with Dragons pictures and team stats.  Building the suspense...

They even have a section featuring the cheerleaders, affectionately known as "Cheer Dra" for short.

Nagoya Dome and its tiny parking lot since everyone takes public transportation.

It was a beautiful day outside (you'd never know it's supposed to be the rainy season), and I was kind of disappointed the game was inside.  But I'm told that before 1997 (when the Dome was built), the season had to be extended at least a month every year in order to make up for all the games cancelled from rain.

Our seats were very good since they were season tickets from TMC.  (Thank you, Toyota Motor Corporation!  I knew there was a reason I liked doing business with them!)  We were about 20 rows behind home plate. 

They have designated "cheering" sections in the outfield.  1st base side is the home team, and 3rd base side for fans of the visiting team.  They were super enthusiastic, with giant flags and chants!  It reminded me of the Rose Rowdies or the Chip Crew from CMU's sporting events!  I was amazed at the number of fans there for the visiting team.  Maybe it's because Japan is not so large, so it's easy to travel around.

Here's the scoreboard with the team names and players names... uh, yeah.  Seriously, I had no idea which player was up to bat!

The Dragons mascot.  Oddly, he's a clumsy blue koala bear named Doala. He joined the team in 1994, when the koala bears first arrived at the Nagoya Zoo.

This is Shaoron, another dragon that dances around.  He also has a pink friend named Paoron.  Why one team needs 3 guys dressed in costumes is beyond me.  But Doala is the only one who travels with the team to away games. 

Ema and I cheering for the Dragons. 

They played terribly and lost 0-9. The game started out boring. No one even got on base until the 5th inning. Once the Seibu Lions started getting hits, there was no stopping them! I even got to see a home run. You know, when the ball bounces off the dome and falls back into the crowd!! Wacky. And no fireworks like the Reds home runs. In addition, Japan is quite possibly the only place where fans run from balls that are hit into the stands.  Literally, people scrabble, and then the balls end up bouncing all over the place until someone finally stops it.  (Not to mention the ushers are also equipped with whistles, and they start blowing them incessantly wherever a ball is headed into the stands to warn people.)

Also pictured above are the hollow plastic bats that everyone uses to help clap and cheer for their team.  Ema let me use hers for most of the game.

So what does one eat at a baseball game in Japan?!  Not pizza, pretzels, nachos, hot dogs, or peanuts that's for sure.  Pretty much anything that still requires chopsticks.  So lots of noodley stuff, balls of fish, rice treats, and popcorn.  I got the closest thing to junk food as possible: fries, and a stuffed fish patty flavored with wasabi.  Prices are about the same as the USA.  A can of beer cost $6.50!

There is no "7th inning stretch" in Japanese baseball.  In fact, they started playing "Take Me Out to the Ballgame" between the 5th and 6th inning, and I was so confused.  Not only was it at the wrong time, but it was sung by a Wii character on the Jumbotron in a cartoon voice.  No one else joined in the singing (maybe because it's English...) and even I didn't sing along because I was so confused!

Between the 6th and 7th inning, they sing a special Nagoya Dragons song and post the words (in Japanese, of course) on the screen.  People actually sang this one!

Right before the 8th inning, each team's mascot does an acrobatic performance!  The theory is whichever mascot does the best performance, his team will win the game.  Well, Doala is always clumsy, so he screwed up and fell over immediately.  But the score was already 0-8.  It didn't take an acrobatic mascot to figure out who was going to win this game.  In fact, most fans had already left at this point!!

The rest of the atmosphere was pretty similar to baseball games in America, except when they placed YMCA, I only saw 2 people doing the motions.  I also liked the clips of the songs that were played for each batter.  Most had cool rock 'n roll songs, but one guy had a Japanese love song and another had a Beatles tune which I thought was awesome!

If you want to see more about Japan baseball, I highly recommend checking out the movie Mr. Baseball starring Tom Selleck.  It's a 1992 classic about an American player that gets traded to the Chunichi Dragons.  It's funny and cheesy and has plenty of Japanese culture!

Wine Party

On Saturday I was invited to a very exclusive private "Wine Party" with my friends who dressed me in kimono.  I had the opportunity to sample countless wines from around the world and make new friends, both Japanese and foreigners.

Here's our table of lovely ladies:

Kerri, Gemma, Yoko, Nobue, & Yuriko.  (The 2 on the right are from Kimono Time.)

The guy on the right is the host of this party.  You have to know him to get invited to this shindig.  Or in my case, know someone who knows him...  He reminded me of a leprechaun.  In addition to his green vest, he even had green hair and green fingernails.  (That is his proud hairdresser with him!) 

Nobue, Kerri, & the hostess of the party.  These 2 are very good friends and were excited to practice their English on me.  The hostess is married to the leprechaun above, and they own a international award-winning nail salon.  (Which partially explains why his nails are green.)

Yuriko & Kerri.  She used to work at Mitsui with me and now has introduced me to many people.

My favorite wine of the night: Cono Sur chardonnay from Chile.

I really, really liked it!!

Next stop is a sweet bar named Strikers.  Here I am with the bartender, Nick.

New meaning of beer goggles!

Kerri & Gemma doing shots. 

Once you pay the cover charge to get into Strikers, its all you can drink for free.  The bartenders had fun making us exotic shots!

Gemma is from England, has lived in Nagoya for 9 years, and is awesome!!  She even invited me to a "overnight party" on a yacht next weekend.  I already have plans to sightsee in Kyoto with some other friends, so I am very disappointed I can't go!!

5 lovely ladies again.

Kerri gets pouty with the DJ because he will play anything from Eminem or Lady Gaga, but doesn't have any Michael Jackson!!  Oh, the horror!!  And no internet connection to download new songs! 

I remember the days in Eville when I used to go get my Michael Jackson CD from my car so they could play it at the bowling alley.  Maybe I should start packing one in my purse.

Kerri's new outfit, purchased exclusively in Japan!!  Everyone here loved it last night, but don't get too excited.  When I come back to the States, it is definitely not coming with me!!

More goofy glasses. 

Don't you love how I am a head taller than everyone else?!  LOL

Leaving the bar, Bartender Nick is sad to see us go.

Fear Factor Food

As I've mentioned before, even after 7 months I am still discovering new foods to eat in Japan every week.

I told many of you that last week I had raw horse (which actually tasted better than most raw fish) and squid ink ice cream (that stained my mouth & teeth black and tasted mostly like vanilla).

This week was a new adventure for my taste buds. 

First was a lunch entree of beef tongue, so that was 5 cows tongues slathered in some mystery sauce.  And yeah, I believe it was tongue because it had a tough and chewy consistency like I was chewing my own tongue at one point!

Next was jellyfish.  If you think you'd like to try jellyfish some time, just boil some thick rubber bands and start munching...  It's the exact same taste!!  Rubbery and chewy.  Eventually you just have to swallow.  Didn't have any flavor to it, good or bad.

Finally was shark fin soup flavored with crab egg.  Surprisingly, it was orange with white floaters (the crab egg) and was kind of gummy & sticky.

It's funny how I am now thankful when I see tofu and seaweed on my plate because those are considered "safe" foods to me.  How my taste buds have changed!

Something fun in Toyota City

If you have ever been to a town in North America that has a Toyota Motor Manufacturing plant in it (like Princeton, IN or Georgetown, KY), then you won't be surprised that Toyota City in Japan is rather small and lame as well.  The only thing going on in these towns is automobile production... seriously.

There is one cool place to visit while you're waiting for the train to take you away from Toyota City to some where awesome.  That place is Kevin's!

"Kevin's" is a bar owned by this really cool Japanese guy that used to live in America and loves the UK Wildcats.

The place is tiny--2 booths and a 6-seat counter, but it's easy to make friends because everyone has at least one thing in common... they're here in support of Toyota.  (Face it, there is simply no other reason to be in Toyota City.)

I went one night after dinner in Toyota City with Shin Shimada, Satoru Muto, and Yosuke Kawakami.  We quickly made friends with some guys from Poland, who work for a Toyota supplier, and filled up their nearly empty booth for them!

The really neat part is that you take a look around the place, and it's simply covered in Polaroid pictures of people having a great time at Kevin's.  There are layers upon layers of photos, each one with a witty saying at the bottom, and organized by month and year. 

I'm sure with enough searching I could have found a photo of someone I knew from TMMI, TEMA, or Transfreight, but instead I focused on coming up with a really sweet comment for our obligatory Polaroid pic. Next time, I will be sure to hunt down the picture of me!

There is also a lot of swag hanging in the bar that people have donated throughout the years... mostly baseball caps that say TMMC, Denso, Toyota Tsusho, or Safety First! on them, but there are plenty of other cool things, too.

We were having such a great time, we decided not to catch the last train out of town, and close down the bar instead.  I even got 1-on-1 origami lessons from Kevin's wife, Masami!!

I'm not too hot at origami as it is, but throw a bunch of drinks in the mix, and my folding coordination skills really went out the window...

The only disappointing part of the evening came at closing time when we had a long (not to mention expensive) taxi ride back to Nagoya! 

If you're ever in Toyota City with a few minutes to spare, now you know were to spend them!!