Return to Kansai

おはよう皆！
As some of you know, I was back in the US for a few weeks but now I'm back in Osaka and already settling back in. It's actually been a surprisingly easy transition back and forth between here and there. It seems that I've been here long enough for it to feel like this year's home, while the US still does feel that way. In any event, the only real adjustment I've had to do is for jetlag, and even that has been fairly manageable.
Business accommodations
My first night back in Japan was actually spent up in Tokyo because my plane got in too late to catch a train down to Osaka that same night. So I ended up staying in the cheapest non-hostel option available to me: a capsule hotel. (I've heard the term coffin hotel as well, but that seems needlessly sensationalist.) I found it rather cozy and was able to get a few hours of jet-laggy sleep before leaving at 530 for the first Shinkansen of the morning.
Thanksgiving 日本スタイル
After making it back on a very crowded train (Friday was a national holiday), Rachel got us going on my second Thanksgiving dinner of the week - adapted for Japanese grocery options.

Above you can see (from left to right): balsamic glazed chicken, fried onions (to be used on top of...), "green bean casserole" (mushroom and cream base with green beans and fried onions), mashed yellow sweet potatoes, stuffing, pumpkin pie. 

It was a great meal and provided the appropriate post-thanksgiving tiredness to catch up on a little sleep before.... 

紅葉狩り(autumn leaf viewing) in Kyoto

This is the fall counterpart to the famous spring cherry blossom viewing. We went with Keiko and did some temple visits, shopping and good eating during a very long day in Kyoto. The leaves really are quite striking in their intensity of color and in the contrast between the various red and yellow hues of the deciduous trees and the bright green of the evergreens. Most of these are from Kyomizu-dera, a temple up in the hills on Kyoto's eastern side. 

 

The holiday weekend meant that the temple was packed with school groups who had come from other places in Japan for the viewing. 

This (and the one below) are from a smaller garden area at Chion temple 

After Kyoto we trained it back to Kyoto and have been home bodies for the most part (with a small excursion to Ikea yesterday). We've also been enjoying the chilly temperatures and comfort food. 

Things I'm loving recently

So, we've fallen off blogging a bit, probably in part because Richard has been gallivanting around North America for the last few weeks. While he's gone, I've been indulging in a return to singlehood-living. For me that means waking up late, eating weird things (dinner the other night was 2 clementines, saltines, and peas with sliced ham), and watching sappy movies on Youtube. I'm excited that Richard will be back soon, but I won't be giving up the peas and sliced ham (seriously, yum).

I'm also excited that Osaka has stopped dipping its toes tentatively into the pool of fall and finally cannonballed in. The temperature is now solidly around a high of 17˚ C (63˚ F) most days and the leaves are turning colors. In honor of a return one of my favorite times of the year I thought I'd post a list of some things I've been obsessing over recently.

Star Talk Radio Show

This is a radio show/podcast hosted by Neil deGrasse Tyson, astrophysicist, director of the Hayden Planetarium, and wearer of cosmic vests. Basically, he's the Bill Nye of astronomy. The Star Talk podcast is usually co-hosted by comedian Eugene Mirman. The show is a great mix of science info, humor and general nerdiness.









Curry Udon (カリーうどん）
Curry udon is a fantastic mix of two classic Japanese comfort food dishes. Many of you have probably had udon before. It's a lovely soup with thick noodles that can have a variety of vegetables and meat/fish toppings. Japanese curry is based on Indian curry and is usually a brown curry served on rice. Although not technically a "traditional" Japanese dish the way udon is, it is hugely popular and has become so thoroughly domesticated that it really is now a "Japanese" dish.
Basically, curry sauce + udon noodles = curry udon. It's a spicy, warm, fragrant soup that is fantastic for rainy days. This is a pic of a cheap instant bowl I had the other day, restaurant versions are (unsurprisingly) superior.


These Socks

Japan does socks, stockings, and leggings really well. There are tons of great options everywhere. I only brought 3 pairs of socks with me to Japan, knowing that there would be plenty of options here. I'm loving these Little Red Riding Hood socks. There is a whole series of fairy tale socks from the Luluana brand. I think I'll be going back for Snow White (featuring the 7 dwarves). I think it's the pixelated quality of them that I like so much. It makes me wish there were an old video game where Red Riding Hood has to jump over bushes and trees, picking up bonus baked goods, fight the wolf boss, and deliver the basket to grandma.
















Quite Interesting
QI is a BBC quiz television show hosted by the great Stephen Fry. Basically you take 4 comedians, ask them really hard questions about science, literature, history, biology, etc. and listen to what they come up with. You get points for being interesting, even if you can't actually answer the question. Very funny and sometimes you learn something.

Click below for an episode:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xDfP96bJwZE&feature=related

Taiko
I've been taking Japanese drumming lessons for almost 2 months now. The classes are fun and my teacher is really great. At the place I'm learning, they start you off on the medium sized upright drums.  (If you click on the video link they the middle line of drums. Not the small one in the front but not the massive ones in the back.) I'm at the "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star" level, but I plan to keep on with the lessons for the rest my time here, so I should have nicely toned biceps by next summer.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O4J37vLLb_A&feature=related
This video is of the famous group Kodo. They are basically the founders of the modern taiko style and made taiko famous internationally.

New Printer
We picked up a printer a few weeks ago and it's been awesome having one again. It's a copy/scanner/printer combo and I love it.

So those are some of the things that are making me happy recently. Hope everyone is having a good fall!

Tokyo, Kawasaki (Karaoke incl.) and Yokohama

This weekend we achieved exit velocity from Kansai and made our way to Tokyo for three days. Part of the purpose was a Fulbright meeting, so while Rachel socialized with other ambassador-scholars, I attempted to explore some of the neighborhoods I had missed when we were there in August. My first stop was Roppongi, which is known for rich people, shopping and nightlife. As I am wont to do, I largely missed out on all three. In fact, unless you end up exiting the subway into the Roppongi Hills shopping center, you come out on a busy street that is dirty and crowded and looks remarkably like any other dirty, crowded street in Tokyo. Walking down one of the many downhill streets (there are indeed hills in Roppongi), I eventually found myself in what appeared to be a fairly posh area with many severe black suits, of the sort intended to be worn anywhere but a workplace, and several large stone edifices. It was a pleasant enough walk, but after allowing myself to slow down at a bookstore, I decided I had experienced enough Roppongi for the day hopped back on the train.
From Roppongi I went to Ebisu. I wasn't drawn there by anything in particular except for the fact that it wasn't Shibuya, and therefore was likely to be far less crowded at 3pm on a Friday. We had a rather early morning getting to our train and trying to stay awake, so when disembarked I set my sights on the nearest Choco Cro and, after an awkward ordering experience, carved out a small space in which to drink some more coffee and try to do a little writing. Later on there was more socializing with the Fulbrighters at an expat bar of a generically UK feel, followed by deliciousness in yakitori form down in Kawasaki with Keiko.
Saturday we were up bright and early again to enjoy the dulcet tones of Kawasaki middle school students as they performed a series of choral arrangements of mostly pop ballads - followed by drama skits, k-pop style dancing and wind band. It was also a sort of open house at the middle school, so as we wound our way through the various classroom exhibits we play our parts as native English speakers, giving the kids some real life practice in light conversation (mainly introductions).
Later on we ended up hanging out with the middle school faculty for some old-fashioned karaoke time. By old-fashioned, I of course mean a random assortment of songs performed with equal parts abandon, gusto and nerves. My bravest moment came when I decided to belt out some 90s J-pop. Luckily it was well-received...
Sunday was fairly low key in terms of activities, most of which revolved around Yokohama Chinatown, which ranked well above mediocre as far as Chinatowns are concerned. In fact, I would probably say it was the most enjoyable Chinatown (or any other themed "town", ethnic or otherwise) I've ever seen because it was only 40% tourist traps and mostly seemed to be filled with good food and other assorted shops. As I said, it was relatively uneventful, which was good because we were faced with the prospect of a very late night indeed.
To return to Osaka we opted for the night bus from Yokohama, which left at 10pm Sunday and arrived here at 7am the following morning. While sleeping was not impossible, it was not an experience to be welcomed without trepidation. In any event, despite attempts to stay up and resume a normal sleep schedule, the need for a proper nap overrode the contents of my combini coffee can.
So that was the Tokyo/Kawasaki/Yokohama weekend.

Chilly Friday night

I've been kinda remiss lately about updating, but I just downloaded a bunch of photos to my computer and figured I should share them with the world. So here is a bunch of catching up:

Kobe:
As Rachel is affiliated with Kobe University during her research, we have had a couple of opportunities to train it around the bay to do school-related things plus some sightseeing. It's only about half an hour from the main Osaka station to downtown Kobe, even on the local trains, so it's a pretty painless trip (even shorter than some trips within Osaka) and there appears to be a lot to see. The city itself is fairly narrow, being sandwiched between the sea and the mountains, which makes for some awesome views, both from the city and from above it (from the University, which is up in the hills, you can get a great view of both Kobe and Osaka). Unfortunately, I've neglected to get any pictures of these views, but I do have a gigantic fish....

Fish (giant) - do not worry, it's not real

We found this fish down in Meriken Park, which is a plaza down by the port of Kobe. Meriken Park is also the site of one of the memorials for the Kobe earthquake of 1995, complete with videos, photo plaques and preserved portion of the original pier showing the damage as it was on the morning of the quake. It was actually quite informative, especially since I don't have strong memories from the time of the quake back when it happened. The fish (to return to a lighter note) was located outside of the Café Fish, which was surprisingly good, especially since we were just really hungry and were willing to put up with tourist trap food. 

Going back in time, I also have several pictures from our day at the Osaka aquarium. I could go on for ages about how awesome it was, but I'll try to restrain myself. One of the first things I noticed, and appreciated, was that the aquarium begins on the 8th floor and spirals down. This helped keep the traffic flowing well and also allowed the visitors to see the same tanks from different perspectives. This included the land animals that live in conjunction with water environments on the top levels. Anyway, it was a great time, and here are some highlights in picture form.

Tiny crab on a rock wall, they were seriously tiny. 

Huge fish - like seriously huge. The ones on the bottom are at least 4-5 feet long. 

Capybara. Also a very large mammal.

Rachel contemplating the penguins in their curiously green light. 

Pacific whitesided dolphin. There were a bunch of these and there were being quite show-off-y.

Whale Shark. 

Again, hard to tell through the thick glass and with a lack of non-fish referents, but he was easily 15-20 feet long. According to wikipedia that is barely over half as large as the average whale shark. 

Rays. 

Weird large fish in the large tank with the whale shark. 

Elvis fish. 

Sea turtle. 

CREEPY crabs in dark tank. 

super tiny jellyfish. 

Finally, we have found a Japanese craft brewery. It looks kinda corporate, but so is everything else here. The important part is that the beers are really good. The company's website is here: http://www.yonasato.com/  

Apartment Part I

We're been promising apartment photos for a while and since as of this week we have lived here for a month, I present the opening chapter of our apartment tour! (At some point, I want to put up some pics of our neighborhood. It might take another month. ; ) 

Like most Japanese apartments/houses, we have a small genkan (玄関）or entryway. It is great to have a place to leave shoes, umbrellas, etc. We are planning on printing out pics of our travels, family, etc. and put them up on the walls here. The idea is to keep adding throughout the year, then when we leave I can just put them in an album. Of course, we've yet to print out a single photo...maybe this weekend.

As you enter the hallway, on the left you see the bath/toilet room area. We have a sink and changing area, the door with the towel on it leads you to a tiny room with a toilet in it.

To the left of the sink is our bathing room. I love having the bath and toilet separated. Plus, the big bathtub will be great when the weather gets colder.

Continue past the bathroom area, through a door and you come to our kitchen. Against the window is a big sink, cupboards, and a two burner gas stove.

This is the view from our kitchen window. Behind the white wall with green stripe is a highway exit, the green bridge is a pedestrian walkway, and at the very top is the highway itself. Our apartment has great windows, so highway noise isn't really a problem. It's not the most picturesque view, but the passing cars are less of an annoyance than you would think.

Here is the big wall in the kitchen and the first of our adventures in washi tape decoration. We wanted to do a geometric design on the wall. It turned out a little more squat than we had originally planned (one version looked a lot like Optimus Prime, if you squint you might be able to see it still...), but we still like it. We're playing around with the idea of adding little shapes to the left, you can see I added one to test it out. Washi tape comes off the wall easily and is very cheap, so we will probably change it the design around. (There are more washi tape adventures in the living room, featured in Apartment Part II!) I want to find a bright table cloth, since beige is the default color for the floors, walls, appliances, curtains, and furniture. Any suggestions for our washi wall?

Here is another view of the kitchen. The open door to the far left goes into the living room and the door on the left in the hallway goes to the living room. This apartment is not lacking for doors. Each room can be sealed off individually, which is great when the air conditioner or heater is on, but makes moving from one room to another a bit like moving through a maze.

Next time we'll do the living room, bedroom and balcony. Stay tuned!

Random Things

We survived our first typhoon of the season. It wasn't so bad here in Osaka, just some rain and wind. We hunkered down at home on Sunday, since the main effect of the typhoon here was delayed trains. Not far from the city and farther south, however, were many places badly hit by floods and winds. We were celebrating the drop in temperature to a lovely 25 degrees Celsius (that's 77 Fahrenheit for those playing at home, sorry I've been listening to a lot of "Wait, wait don't tell me" podcasts). I got to wear both pants and a long sleeve shirt when I went outside! Bliss...

So on Sunday we were hunkered down at home, listening to the rain outside and watching wind and rain-torn images on TV, when our door bell went off. Apparently, the Japan Post office not only delivers on Sunday, but also during typhoons. We were excited to receive a care package from my parents in Wisconsin! Here's a pic of our loot:

King size sheets (our two futons together make a bizarre sheet size that we can't find here, even at IKEA), ground coffee, black beans, pop-tarts

Today the rain has stopped but the cool temps are hanging around a bit. Tonight we head out to our first taiko class with our friend Yumi. Taiko literally means "drums," but generally refers to a group of drummers performing particular styles of drumming. I've wanted to learn how to play for a long time (having a taiko DS Nintendo game doesn't really count) and both Richard and I are feeling the lack of music-making in our daily activities. 

Taiko group

Last weekend Richard and I boarded the train for my old hometown of Nagoya. We were there for the Dia do Brasil, which, contrary to the name, was actually two days of music, dancing, food and fun in the central park in Nagoya. It was a great couple of days of research, although I definitely need to work on my Portuguese!

Finally, here are two of the bands we heard that weekend:

JOÃO BELLINI - NEM AÍ PRA SOLIDÃO

Planta & Raiz - com certeza

Hope you enjoyed these random things!

Speed Demons

That's what we are. Speed demons on our new bikes. We can reach 16kph in under 3 minutes...
What's that? I don't understand the term "speed demon"? Hm.
In any event, we have been riding around a bit lately, and it's pretty awesome. It's cheaper than the trains, pretty easy in this relatively flat terrain, and definitely a good counterbalance for the fairly sedentary lives of academics. We do have to contend with speed demons when we bike though. Even though biking on the sidewalk is illegal, it seems that 90% of bike riding in big cities happens there. We have been following suit partly because it seems to work out, partly because they do have bike lanes on some of the sidewalks, but also because riding in the street would be pretty damn dangerous here. But from time to time I wonder if we might be safer sharing space with speeding taxis and freight trucks when some of the other bikers speed by us through the narrowest of spaces. It's almost as if there is some sort of unending race with no set course, no clear winners and everyone is a contestant. It actually didn't feel this scary as a pedestrian, but now I'm playing chicken on my bike every two blocks and it's starting to get a little tense... but it's still awesome, so I'm not really complaining too much. Besides, I'll probably be just as bad in a few weeks.

Speaking of tense (I have no shame in my use of bad segues), tonight we saw Biohazard/Resident Evil 5. We had seen the theme park attraction/event for the movie at Universal Studios Japan a couple weeks ago when a couple of friends came into town. The theme park stuff was at least medium level awesome, which is pretty good for hokey stuff like that. The movie itself did not hold any great surprises and was no better or worse than the other Resident Evil movies, but like the others it was quite effective in giving you cheap thrills through exquisitely timed jump cuts and monster appearances. On a side note I think that despite all of the shock value, Rachel and I found ourselves laughing much more often than anyone around us.