Well the first thing to note is that I did not accomplish any of the goals I set forth – that in itself may be some type of accomplishment. Mt. Fuji was probably the only goal that I really wanted to fulfill. It seems like it is destined to be my white whale that will continue to eat away at me. This time I was defeated by a typhoon. I stubbornly ignored the warnings of the locals and insisted on making the climb at night in a typhoon – probably one of the stupidest things I’ve ever attempted while sober. It was an expensive unmitigated disaster. Luckily, I suffered no bodily harm. I will reach the peak one day. I just have to. So many weaker people have already done so…..and made it seem easy.

That night in Kyoto was the second transformative experience. I always knew that deep down that a guy like me had pretty slim chances in a club. I wasn’t seriously looking for anything, just seeking some mutual respect maybe? If you could call it that. But never was I so off the mark as in that club or maybe it just sunk in after all these years? I was perhaps the lowest in the totem pole in that establishment. It was a blow to my ego. It wasn’t the first time I understood that the english-speaking Asian male was at the greatest disadvantage at a club in Japan but this time it just really sunk in. Maybe it was all the conquest stories I heard earlier that night about a friend’s friend who was the stereotypical caucasian male living it up in Japan. The night so far had been soul-crushing and it wasn’t even over yet.

Part II of that night in Kyoto allowed me to see another side of Japan I always suspected but never thought I would see, especially in such a brutal manner. As my friend and I stumbled out of the club and walked the darkened streets in Kyoto. Something set this Japanese guy off who was walking with his girlfriend. His reaction was a total surprise and we were definitely caught off guard. He was extremely aggressive and went on a long rant about foreigners. In any event, it wiped out what little ego I had remaining. Scratch that, wiped out all self-respect I had left. My hand…and my dignity still hurts. At this point it feels like neither will heal fully.

Third, seeing SM and the baby and her as a mother was really something. She took on a whole new beauty and grace that was just hidden or just below the surface before – you felt a hint of it when you met her but couldn’t put your finger on it. As I held the baby and helped her with him, the whole thing felt natural, warm, and comforting – like I was living in some alternate reality, though I’m not sure how her husband would feel about that. Was it just 6 years ago where everything was so fluid and uncertain? We had all grown up and everything was different now. Now things were fixed and planned for the rest of our lives it seemed. I was glad that we could be friends without it being awkward. Will we continue to be friends when we get older or will I just become some skeleton in the closet?

The appeal of Japan has certainly decreased some. I no longer feel anonymous like I once did. There were a lot more foreigners and tourists where I was also. The Japanese seem to have adapted to this and grown thicker skins as well. I felt like my secret was out. My happy place invaded. I had no more refuge.

My dream is over.

After furiously packing and making a list of things to declare at customs I ran off to the express bus to Kyoto. I arrived at the bus stop and one just left so I waited for the next one. There was a bit of confusion when I tried to ask the driver to stow the luggage in the hold but he wasn’t getting off his seat and then I tried to pay when I got on and he wouldn’t let me so I guess I had to pay after. The ride to Kyoto station was quick and he wasn’t even going at full speed. Hauling the 25kg piece of luggage and 2 suits was such a mission though.

I gradually made my way through Kyoto station to the top floor where the restaurants were. It was katsu time. This was my last hurrah. I timed the bus so I would be waiting at the restaurant when it opened at 11 and then I would eat and catch my shinkansen to Tokyo at 1156. It was going to be a long day. I was going to be taking the Shinkansen from Kyoto to Shinagawa, then taking the 1450 Narita Express which would get me into Narita at 1600. I would then have the long flight at 1800. I would be arriving in New York at the same time as when I left Tokyo because of the time change. heh.

Back to the katsu. I was going to an old favorite, a Kyoto restaurant chain named Katsukura – hands down the best katsu I’ve ever had. I was the first customer in and I ordered 160g of the best katsu cut they had. It was glorious. It was as good as I remember. The salad with citrus dressing, the hand-ground sesame seeds with katsu sauce, and the rice with barley mixed in. I left just in time and went off to my train platform only to find several hundred junior high school kids on a field trip. Who does that? The entire platform was full of kids. I was dreading spending 2.5hrs with these boisterous teenagers. As my train pulled up and I got on, I looked back and to my surprise none of them got on. They were catching another train, whew…

I wanted to take a photo of Mt. Fuji as the train passed it but it was cloudy and I could not see it. I saw Mt. Fuji clear as day with the iconic snowcapped peak when I took the shinkansen from Tokyo to Kakegawa but figured I could take the shot when I was riding from Kyoto to Tokyo. Another trip I guess.

After reaching Shinagawa and transferring to the local JR lines, I met SM on the Narita Express platform. She wanted to take me to the airport. We got to the airport and I checked in. I was waiting to be charged for overweight baggage like the last trip, but I didn’t – 25kg on the scale. I went to return my Softbank rental phone. It was just some lady in a booth that did a lot of other things too, she wasn’t just the Softbank lady. It was a little ghetto. I’ll be renting a phone every trip – it was so much more convenient this time, I just hope the bill won’t be ridiculous.

SM and I sat at the terminal for awhile and talked and finally I had to go. Security and outgoing customs was a breeze. The gate was at the very end of the terminal, completely separate from all the other gates. I was worried I was going to be late but when I got there they hadn’t boarded yet. It was cool being in First class since there was a huge crowd around the gate and the ground crew were not making any announcements about boarding. Finally, some little woman was making her way through the crowd and telling people that they were boarding First class only. I stepped up. Yup. I’m going to miss that. haha.

I got settled into my pod and checked the entertainment system – it was the same movies as the last flight so I turned it off and got ready to sleep. The food was pretty bad this flight so I just nibbled at it. I thought it would be better if it was being made locally. I did have 3 doubles of Glenlivet on the rocks. I was determined to get some sleep. I put the eyecovers and the Bose noise-canceling headphones on and then set the seat flat and passed out for most of the flight only to wake up for water and bad food.

We left an hour late but arrived at JFK on time. As we exited the plane there were TSA officials there. One was screaming at another one. The First and Business class passengers left the plane in a hurry through the maze of corridors only to find a dead end – there was a double door with big warning signs that indicated it was a restricted area, “do not open”. After waiting a few minutes and wondering what to do, a TSA guard slowly walked to the door and yelled at everyone to get back and then he opened the door with his card and key code. Yep, welcome home. Back to the suck.

I arrived in Kyoto and it was a mad house. It’s crazy to think that shinkansen trains from Tokyo literally arrive every 10 minutes. It’s like a train from DC or Boston to NY arriving every 10 minutes. That’s more frequent than the peak trains on the LIRR which are local. I met her on the platform and she decided she wanted to see the Dotonbori area of Osaka. We took a JR rapid train down to there and then switched to the subway to get to Namba. It was raining pretty badly over there so we did a short walk around the area and took photos at some of the main icons in Osaka – the crab, the billboards near the waterway, etc. We then ducked into an okonomiyaki place. SM was happy that our waitress had a Kansai accent because she wanted to hear it. Some of the words seemed a little mixed up instead of clearly pronounced but that’s as much as I could tell. We had seafood okonomiyaki, pork yakisoba, and some kashikatsu which are katsu pieces on skewers. The kashikatsu wasn’t that great but the okomiyaki and yakisoba were good. They cooked it 90% of the way in the kitchen and then brought it over to your table’s hot plate so you had the same feeling as cooking it yourself. It was a pretty good system and prevents a lot of customers from screwing up their own food.

SM went on a little bit about the Tokyo and Kansai region’s peculiarities which were interesting. Apparently, Tokyo women like Kansai men because they’re more manly – apparently Yakuza speech came from Kansai. Tokyo men like Kansai women too because they’re speech is considered cuter or something since they have these little sounds and stuff in their speech. I think she said Kansai women don’t like Tokyo men though because they’re more girlish than they would like. Haha. She didn’t mention if Kansai men like Tokyo women. I guess Kansai folks are pretty lucky anyway. heh.

After lunch we took some more photos in the rain (it sucks) and then headed back to Matsuiyamate to PC’s place. We really wanted to go to a fancy Japanese place about 1.5hrs drive in Mie (?) but could not make it since SM had to catch a shinkansen and be back in Tokyo by 10. We hung out at PC’s pimpin’ pad for awhile and then PC drove us to iku-san’s temple which was nearby. The rain had just cleared and the temple was empty. It was really nice since there was no one there (including the temple workers). I took some photos of the grounds and eventually a temple worker caught up with us and made us pay, booo. It was Y1000 but when we left the entrance booth indicated prices for Y620 or Y480…wtf. Beh.

After the temple, PC took us to shabu shabu. After the shabu shabu in the Tokyo mall I was pretty much done with it but PC insisted I try this place – I was glad I did. It was amazing. It was all you can eat and pretty fancy. All the waitresses working there were super-polite and bowed each time they came and left your booth. The interior was really nice too. One of the waitresses looked like Aragaki Yui – everyone at the table agreed, I’m not crazy! We had 2 soup bases: yakiniku (we got raw eggs on the side!) and some spicy one which PC described as “it looks spicy, but it’s really sweet” – umm, no. So apparently with shabu shabu you keep the thinly sliced meat attached to your chopstick and just swirl it around the soup base and lift it out. I was leaving in the soups for several minutes on previous occassions – pwned. After many trays of meat, veggies, tofu, meatballs, and other gelatinous things we threw in the towel. We had some almond tofu thing for dessert and it was really good. Chinese style dessert tofu is completely soft and smooth while this tofu was soft but had texture at the same time. I knew my stomach would not be able to take it but I ate it anyway.

We then took SM to the express bus to Kyoto. It was the fastest way to Kyoto to catch her shinkansen train back to Tokyo. I was going to go with her to Kyoto but my stomach did not like the cold tofu dessert mixing with the shabu shabu. I went to the mall bathroom by the bus stop and it was the cleanest public mall bathroom I’ve been to. It had a disinfecting towel for the heated bidet toilet seat and a baby seat in the stall too where I put my baby….my camera. We checked out the Tsutaya after. I originally planned to rent some Best of Enka type compilations to rip but was too tired to try that. Saeko’s Enka performance at karaoke in Kakegawa was pretty inspiring. I just picked up some magazines for people back home. More rambling about parking in Japan: it was pretty crazy with the rearview camera, PC can reverse into a space or parallel park so quickly. It’s a little scary at first since the spaces are smaller (for smaller cars too but his Honda Stream is as big as a full-szie car back home) but also because he’s not looking in the mirrors, just the LCD in the dashboard and he’s reversing pretty quickly.

We got home and then he decided he wanted to do a Gears of War marathon and finish the game since he never finished it. We decided to go back to the mall where we just came from to get some drinks. He showed me his pride and joy, his $1500 battery-powered bicycle. Taking out the bicycle from the bicycle park wasn’t a mission like the old place where I spent 3 months with PC. This place had a sliding rail parking system and reserved slots so you didn’t get your bicycle tangled with another persons and you could make space when you needed to remove your bicycle. I remember fighting with the old parking area at his old place and it sucked. So back to the bicycle, the powered assist technology was apprently pioneered by Yamaha and it was difficult to develop because it had to sense the road and the person’s inputs and assist accordingly without accelerating and getting you killed. It was a weird feeling at first but after a few quick rides around the parking lot and I was good to go. When you need the torque to get the bicycle moving, it kicks in and the first pedal movement is as easy as when you’re cruising. I made PC show me the biggest uphill slope in the area to try it some more and going uphill on it is as easy as going level. It was pretty cool. At full speed on level or downhill it won’t kick in no matter how hard you pedal which was a good safety feature I guess. PC said that these types of bicycles outsold scooters in Japan for the first time last year – I can see why! I miss bicycling around in Japan, well except when it rains.

We went to pickup some Choya Ume Shu and Strong 8% (that’s the name) at the store and then settled in for the GOW marathon. We got to the final boss and couldn’t figure it out so ended up googling it. After a few tries we beat the main boss but it was the worst win ever – I was on my knees in front of the boss and needed to be revived and he pressed the wrong button and threw a grenade at me (and the boss) and then started running towards me to revive me and then the boss died. I’ve gotta say GOW single player is so much better than MW2. I think I’ll pickup GOW 2/3 and finally take up some offers to play it with the folks back home. Nerdy gaming rant over.

After lunch he went back to work and I went to check out the Daiso to get some gifts and trinkets. It’s a discount shop with all sorts of strange. I then proceeded to Osaka and Koshien – where dreams are made, and lost. It’s the epicenter of all high school baseball dramas (and reality me thinks) and home stadium of the famous Hanshin Tigers. I forgot how hard it was traveling in the Kansai region without a Surutto pass/card. I had to buy a ticket for the Keihan line from Kazuha to Yodoyabashi, then another ticket for the Midosuji subway line from Yodoyabashi to Umeda, and then another ticket for the Hanshin train from Umeda to Koshien. In the Kansai region there are so many different railway companies while in Tokyo it’s just JR or subway but both take the Suica card. I have to say the girls here are really pretty here too but they don’t look like the girls in Tokyo – they dress a bit more humbly.

I got to Koshien and checked out the souvenir shop by the station but there wasn’t anything that stood out. A pair of boxers or the the yukata would have been cool but I don’t think I would ever wear them and I would feel like such a poser if someone asked me anything about the Hanshin Tigers. I started walking to the stadium and it didn’t really look familiar then I recalled that in dramas and anime they talked about Koshien a lot but no one ever really went there. As I walked around the stadium I didn’t really feel anything. I even tried some H2 on my iPod but that didn’t work either. I saw that there was a museum attached to the stadium so I went in. It had a pretty comprehensive history of the stadium and the teams that played there. It even had a manga section – which had Touch and H2. Throughout the museum, famous games and highlight reels played and I watched the fans on the TVs and the ones in the museum. Most were captivated by the TVs – most were really old and a surprising number were old grandmothers! They took photos of memorabilia and I couldn’t stop but wonder what games they’ve seen in all the years they’ve been fans. The highlight reels showed the emotions of the fans and players. It was what I was looking for. I sat and watched a few videos and couldn’t help but feel emotional seeing how important that moment was for those people. I wish I could feel that way about something some day.

I got a Surutto card at the station so I wouldn’t have to deal with the tickets every time I switched to a different line. I ended up trying walking around the Yodoyabashi in Umeda but didn’t find anything. I found the Jump store with loads of Gintama and Naruto stuff. I didn’t get anything and took the JR train back to Matsuiyamate. I basically just vegged out until PC got home from work. We then went to the best yakitori I’ve ever had. Everything was tender, perfectly cooked, seasoned just right. Of note was the tsukune yakitori (minced meat) that had a raw egg dipping sauce. The rice ball yaki (fried) was great too. Best of all, the bill was less than $20 per person with a beer. I may need to stop eating Japanese food in NYC after this trip…

Finished up the evening with more GOW…

I later smelled MP in the next tatami room. He was passed out and his room reeked of sweat and alcohol. SF came to greet me and told me to bathe in their ofuro and get ready to leave. I started packing my things for the trip to Kyoto and downloading and backing up all the photos and videos. I then gave SF the wedding card which I forgot to give them yesterday. I don’t know how many of you have seen a Japanese wedding card but they are really works of art. They are basically like origami with gold accents and tassels and all sorts of decorations. SF said mine was the most elaborate she had ever seen. Yes, I am a badass.

SF led me to their ofuro and started explaining how to work it. There was a very hot tub of water that had been heated on the right. You then mix that hot water into a big bowl with some cold water until you have the desired temperature. You then take 2 smaller bowls and dip them into the big bowl and pour water on yourself. I was still a bit hungover and I told her I could just bathe when I got to Kyoto. She then told me I stank of alcohol and insisted I use the ofuro. Common Courtesy: 1, James: 0.

MP and I met up and helped put away some furniture from the night before and then we sat down to lunch at around noon. We had oden, salmon, and rice. I also tried Japanese milk. It was the first time drinking any milk straight in many years. I felt something happening in my stomach in 15 minutes but then it eventually dissipated after I forced myself to eat some bread. The bread looked like some crappy dinner rolls but when I ate them they were creamy and declicious. The milk was really creamy and good too. In the town they still deliver milk and return the bottles like America in the 1950′s. Maybe I can learn to drive a milk truck…*Goose talking about being a truck driver*

After lunch we helped return the normal chairs to where SF’s father had rented them. I then rewatched some karaoke videos from last night and Top Gun. That movie never gets old.

I tried to convey my gratitude to SF’s parents but I don’t think the degree of my sincerity came across too well. I also didn’t get to say goodbye to Takeshi. I feel really bad about both of those things and need to make it up to them, somehow…MP and SF then dropped me off at the station and we said our goodbyes and I was off to Kyoto for the best f’ing katsu and kobe beef!

PC arranged to pick me up at Kyoto station. He mentioned on the phone that he didn’t want to get into the traffic pattern and to meet him at a nearby landmark. I was dreading the thought of carrying my massive suitcase, 2 suits, backpack, and camera bag on his scooter from 2006 (we did that before and it was scary as hell). To my surprise he pulls up in a brand spanking new Honda Stream with his business’ info along the side. We drove back to his place and I got to see all the bells and whistles as we went – voice controls, GPS, rearview camera, etc.

We got back to his place that he bought last year and it was such a big difference from the tiny apartment I shared with him for 3 months in 2006. The place was brand new with all the latest appliances and 52″ Sharp. One of the highlights was the 50Mbps Up/Down internest speed for $25/month and his washer/dryer combination unit – the thing could wash your clothes and dry them without any human intervention. WTF? I got settled and plugged in – the first time in 2.5 days. It felt like so long…

We then drove from Kyoto to Kobe for Kobe beef! The highway tolls were ridiculous. We hit one every few minutes and they were like Y400 or Y700 at a time. The highway was extremely smooth and well maintained though. The highways had high walls that curved inward and it completely blocked the sound of the highway for the surrounding neighborhoods. We could use that for some of the elevated trains in NYC I think.

We made a brief stop at Costco. It was like the twighlight zone. It’s as if a Costco was transplanted from America to Japan. Most of the items in the store were American products with no Japanese labeling. Many of the store’s warning signs and advertisements were in English only. The staff uniform was jeans unlike most Japanese stores where employees were slacks or skirts. One difference was the deli section which had massive trays of sushi and seafood for ridiculously low prices. Pictures will follow.

We got to Kobe finally and after circling a bit we found parking. It was a 2-space parking lot. Hah. We stepped into the familiar Mouriya restaurant and like Pavlov’s dog I started salivating at just the sight of the grills, knowing that the most marvelous beef was going to be in my mouth in minutes. Apparently, PC had made reservations at a different branch of the restaurant but it was pretty empty so they took us in. They all knew PC since he takes anyone who visits him there. He even has his own chef he prefers…..pimp. They gave us complimentary drinks (non-alcoholic) and a free upgrade to the set (appetizer + soup) instead of just the meat. They also threw in free deserts after. We ended up going with 130g of the sirloin and 260g of the rib eye – a mixture of quality and quantity but both A5 BMS No. 8-12 (Those were the grades and marbling rating of the beef). Service and appetizers were excellent as usual. They fitted us with bibs which I thought was odd. It was definitely for the crowd with expensive shirts but PC and I rolled in with t-shirts and running pants.

The chef made the sirloin first. It was as amazing as I remember. We then had the rib eye which was still excellent but didn’t hold a candle to the sirloin. The rib eye was still better than anyhting back home though. We were truly stuffed after and I was ready to pass out. The chef gave me his card since PC explained to him that I have come a few times and told people about the restaurant too. Score. Maybe. I don’t think I could be as pimp as him. He’s taken people there 4 times in the past 2 months. Anyway, I picked up the bill since I was going to be staying with him for the next few days and the highway tolls to get there added up. It was less than a dinner for 2 at Mortons or Peter Lugers but infinitely better.

We then made the long drive back to Kyoto but didn’t hit any traffic so it went along much faster. It was weird being on the highway and a police car speeding along the right lane as that was the passing lane, not the left. After getting back to his house we played some Gears of War which was fun. I’ve never played before and the story was so much better than Modern Warfare 2.

MP was fitted with a black kimono by his new father-in-law and then an uncle came to fix some of it later. He looked like a real badass. Like the U.S. Marines dress blues uniform inspiring kids to enlist, this black kimono made you want to have a Japanese wedding. Everyone converged on the temple for the religious ceremony. From what I could understand the religion that SF’s family’s temple is for is an offshoot of Shinto. I took photos throughout the ceremony and setup my Flip camera on a tripod in the back. I was getting good mileage on that tripod. As part of the ceremony, guests drank sakura blossoms which tasted like really salty water, some pastry, and then some really great sake. MP’s family and I had regular chairs while everyone else sat kneeling for 45 minutes. Oww.

The ceremony was about as traditional as you could get. MP had to read some stuff in Japanese and perform some ceremony and offer some thing to the gods. The traditional music and eerie chanting just completed the experience. After the ceremony, MP took a traditional wedding photo in front of the temple with all the relatives. It was straight out of a drama. I setup my tripod next to the pro photographer’s 6×9 format camera. He broke out the light meter and had the push-pin shutter release. It was pretty cool and it reminded me of Sekai no Chuushin.

Everyone jumped into buses and vans and headed to the wedding hall for the reception. I had never been to a reception during lunch so this was a bit weird. I was sitting at the friends table. Yoko was there and then two other girls and finally a guy they called “Tencho” (I think it means manager/owner/chief?) and his girlfriend. I had heard stories about him. He was the owner of a restaurant in Osaka that SF used to work at. He was also a big drinker and likes strip bars apparently. The last time MP drank with him, MP swore off alcohol (as usual) and threw up all over the place (relatively rare I guess). I knew I was in some trouble after he started pouring me beer right away and was the first to go to the wedding table to start pouring beer for MP also. The food started flying out of the kitchen and with all the photos I was taking and talking I was not able to keep up with all the courses that kept coming out. I don’t think I was able to try everything. Oh well. I had never seen so much Japanese food come out that fast. The beer was a special wedding beer from Sapporo which was cool. I should have taken a bottle since the label was cool – it didn’t taste any different though.

Before the reception MP showed a DVD that he made titled “What is Canada?” It started off with clips lifted from a tourism video with some majestic soundtrack but then it changed to a highlight reel of big NHL hits – just players getting slammed. It went on for awhile for a pretty long time and by the end the Japanese audience was silent, probably really confused.

Two of SF’s cousins were going to translate my speech and they insisted on looking at the speech beforehand so I gave them my netbook since I never got a chance to print it out. They worked diligently on the speech for the first few courses of the meal. I felt pretty bad. They were really into it and wanted to do a perfect job though, such devotion. heh. By the time they called me up I think I had enough beer to be only slightly nervous. All that prep work went out the window and my Japanese introduction was pretty bad. Sigh. With the speech over, I felt a big weight lifted though.

There were a few other performances throughout the reception which were pretty cool. A really old man performed a karaoke song which was pretty funny. Then one of SF’s friends from Regina performed a traditional Japanese dance which really was amazing. I got that on video and that should be up soon. I’ve never had a wedding reception during the day so it felt weird leaving the hall in full daylight. Everyone piled into vans and we went back to SF’s home to change and relax until another massive home-cooked feast. There was fresh karaage (fried chicken) and really great raw tomatoes. I guess I can understand why the vegetables are so expensive here. There was also homemade oden (stew) and loads of other goodies. After dinner, the alcohol started flowing. First it was beer, then sake, and then finally the whiskey started. We managed to finish the Suntory Yamazaki 10 Year Single Malt bottle that night. There was some Suntory Royal Whiskey in a bottle the shape of a sheep which was really rough. I had never seen it before so I tried it. Tencho was drinking mixed Chu-Hi drinks until we convinced him to start drinking whiskey. He didn’t like it very much but he was determined to take us down with him and started chugging the whiskey as we poured it into his glass. That was the beginning of the end.

About 20 of the young folks came out to karaoke after dinner. We booked a huge room for 3 hours – unlimited drinks. What a disaster. I really don’t remember much. We were chugging gin and tonics there in the beginning. I had to do the obligatory Queen song, “I was Born to Love you”. It sucked so bad. I really need a go-to karaoke song that’s easier to sing… I ended up puking outside and then coming back to the room and just drinking water for the rest of the night. Ugh. One of SF’s cousins started singing Evangelion’s opening song and she was really awesome. I think we started talking and she said she liked Macross Frontier. I think I made her sing a song. She was my very own little Ranka Lee. She had a little dance and all the arm motions too. She was awesome – as were all the Japanese people there. Tencho chose some really badass songs and he nailed it of course. Time to take some karaoke lessons or something…

It was a long day and I think I was really lucky to be able to experience so many new things. It was really a once in a lifetime (or many lifetimes) experience. I wish I didn’t drink so much so I could remember more!

I also started the laundry. The hotel had some coin-operated laundry machines…in the parking lot basement. Talk about weird. There were some other foreigners there as well trying to figure out the machines. At least the machines dispensed soap by themselves – I was worried about trying to find detergent. I forgot how weak the washers and dryers are here – they only use 100V. I’m glad I didn’t bring many thick cotton items or sweatpants. The few pieces I had had to be run through the dryer again. Some of my sports socks were pretty thick and took an hour to dry. It was pretty stressful waiting for laundry and then packing before I had to checkout at 11. I worked on the wedding speech and planned the schedule for the day while I waited by the laundry machines.

I was able to get everything done and checkout of the hotel on time, miraculously. I shot off an email to SM to ask for help to translate the intro of my speech into romaji too – talk about last minute. Whoops. I left my luggage and suits at the hotel front desk and went off to Denny’s to give it one more try. I went to the one around the corner. No English menus. Hmm. I tried the omurice again and was not disappointed. I also had fresh kiwi juice and it was really good. I paid for my meal in coins – yeaaa….

After Denny’s I went to Keio to pickup a bento for the train and some omiyage gift box for SF’s family since I was staying with them. I decided to go for the glutinous rice specialists for my bento. I only got to eat it when it was cold, but I’m sure it would have been better if it was hot. I then went back to the hotel to pickup my luggage and headed to Tokyo station to catch the shinkansen to Kakegawa for the wedding. I arrived at Tokyo station 45 minutes before my train. I built in a lot of cushion because it is Golden Week and it’s a long way from the local JR trains to the Shinkansen section. I guess better safe than sorry. For awhile I was trying to send an SMS to MP to pick me up at Kakegawa and I couldn’t get it to work – then I remembered that Japanese cellphones can only SMS phones of the same mobile phone company. They can send emails but I didn’t have SF’s mobile email. I eventually called to tell them to pick me up. It’s really weird about the SMS though.

On the train ride down, I practiced the speech and enjoyed wonderful views of Mt. Fuji while traveling at 180kph on the “local” Kodama Shinkansen train. It felt more stable than the LIRR going at 60kph. Heh. I arrived in Kakegawa without incident. MP and SF’s brother, Takeshi picked me up. He was a pretty cool guy and the most outgoing of all her brothers. We then went to go meet MP’s family at the hotel to take them back to SF’s home. We also picked up SF’s friend, Yoko who came from Osaka for the weddng. She was one of the happiest/friendliest Japanese people I’ve ever met. She laughed at everything.

The ride back to SF’s home took us out of the “city” and through some rice fields and some of the narrowest roads I’ve had the (dis)pleasure of driving on. The roads were usually flanked by deep canals and ditches with no guardrails. I could definitely see us flipping over and falling into a canal and then drowning like those poor guys in the humvees in Iraq. After the harrowing ride we made it to her home. It was part temple, part house. I was lucky enough to be staying in the renovated building but it still did not have hot water – all the faucets were cold only. Thankfully the place had a western-style toilet and I was truly thankful for the heated seat the next morning. No hot water but a heated toilet seat, hmm. The old part of the home was fairly large and only had a traditional ofuro bathing area – a fire/coal heated bath and no shower. I think all the rooms were tatami. The renovated building was all tatami as well and they were simply amazing. I forgot what it was like living in a room with no furniture again. My ass was hurting by the time I left.

SF drives a silver xA just like mine! It’s funny seeing the steering wheel on the other side of my own car. It’s a Toyotal ISE or something here. Apparently there isn’t any power steering and driving through the narrow rice field roads is a bit more taxing but then again, it might be better without power steering so you can feel your car slipping into the ditch a second or two earlier.

Being surrounded by rice fields, the traditional house, and the old bathing area – it really doesn’t get any more authentic than that. It was truly a wonderful experience. We had a large communal style dinner with 30+ people. Many relatives had come from Osaka for the wedding and it was getting really hard to remember any names or the relationship they had with SF. There were also quite a few worshipers that stayed at the home as well so remembering any names/relationships would be close to impossible that first day.

I think SF’s family believed that foreigners ate a lot. The food just kept coming. It was really great home cooking. It’s just what I needed after all the greasy (but good) meals I had in Tokyo. I’m not sure if MP’s family liked the food though. After being stuffed at dinner several of the men went to a public ofuro bath house because there was only one bath in the house and it would take forever with all the relatives staying there and they probably could not boil that much water anyway. It was me, MP, Takeshi, and two second cousins of SF. They were the husbands of two of the daughters of SF’s father’s sister (I think). From what I could piece together I think one of them is some bike racer. He said sponsors pay for all his gear and apparently he’s ranked 2nd in Western Japan. Pretty nuts. BMS-R.com

The ofuro experience was pretty cool. Takeshi drove us 30-40 minutes and then paid for all of us too. I felt pretty bad so I got him a bottle of water later. Haha. Communicating in the ofuro was a bit tough but I think MP and I got the general idea. We sat in the outdoor bath for the most part and then showered on the stools. I wish I had mosaic/censored vision I could have turned on in the bath house. I just tried to keep my eyes level and keep the hairy balls in my peripheral vision only. We had lockers for shoes and then another set of lockers for clothes. You had to put Y100 to use the lockers but I was pleasantly surprised when it refunded the money after we were done using them. After the bath we went to the lobby and the big thing to do was to get ice cream and have a smoke. I also spotted an autographed Nagasawa Masami calendar and an autographed photo poster of Nagasawa Masami at the place. The thought of sharing the same bathwater as Nagasawa Masami (sort of) gave me goosebumps.

We passed out once we got back to the house. Tomorrow was going to be a long day.

I was in Shinjuku station 30 minutes before the train was scheduled to leave so I bought a Katsu sandwich and a drink for the train ride. A woman and her boyfriend came on and they had to split up because they didn’t get 2 consecutive seats. I would have switched if they asked but they didn’t feel like going too far out of my way to be nice. I got to Hamakanaya station and it really brought me back to 2006 when I visited a lot of small coastal towns. There was just one exit and a person sitting there checking tickets and palm trees in the distance. Nothing was in English so I took a photo of the map in Japanese just in case and started following the other people. I walked for about 15 minutes along a 2-lane coastal road. The direction I was going in was completely jammed and I was walking a lot faster than traffic. I must be going in the right direction because the mountain was the only attraction around. I finally got to the base of the ropeway for the gondola ride up to the summit. The traffic was caused by all the people going into the parking lot and the line to get onto the gondola went out of the parking lot. You also had to go inside the building to buy a ticket and then walk back outside and stand on the line to get on. It was so weird and unusually inefficient but I figured it out at least – the staff could not help me very much since none of them spoke English.

The area was pretty nice and was similar to other mountain temples I have been to. The view was really nice. The place didn’t feel as impressive as when they showed it on the Top Gear Japan special. I guess blame it on all the fancy camera tricks and the wacky hosts. It was not very exciting getting there either but then again I wasn’t racing. Hah. At the observatory point families were breaking out their homemade bentos and onigiri rice balls. I thought there might be food around there but there wasn’t so all I had was my katsu sandwich in my stomach. There were some feral cats on the summit and they were pretty dirty and thin. Some people fed them stuff and they were pretty happy. There were some eagles/hawks circling too. They snatched someone’s sandwich at one point which caused quite a bit of excitement. I was taking photos of the birds of prey and the Class 4 SDHC memory card really could not handle the burst mode. I hit 3 RAWs and the camera stopped. I think the T1i is rated at 7 or 8 RAWs in burst mode. I guess you get what you pay for with the Class 6 SDHC cards. I guess if I shoot an airshow or something again I will pickup a Class 6 card. I was shooting with the new 70-200 f/4L as well. AF was fast and I really like how much lighter and smaller it is compared to the f/2.8L IS/non-IS versions – we’ll see about image quality when I get back to NYC.

One thing I noticed was that girls in this town did not look like the girls in Tokyo that I have seen so far. There was not one pair of heels to be seen. The trails and stone steps throughout the mountain were definitely a deathtrap for heels but that never stopped Japanese women before.

The big Buddha and attraction was the daibatsu carved fromt the side of the mountain. It was massive. There was a lot of hard walking but there were babies who could barely walk, kids, and old people doing it so I had to also. I finally made my way back to the ropeway and ate some weird cherry blossom doughball that had some soy sauce on it. It was not very good. I also picked up some ice cream waffle sandwich which was pretty ballsy considering my track record with ice cream (instant stomachache). I had about an hour to kill until my express train back to Tokyo so I walked around the area and found a stand selling sea urchins that you cut out yourself – cool, if you like uni. There was also a kaiten sushi place but it was packed. I ended up at a conbini and got a bento. I asked them to heat it up too. I then made my way back to the rail station. I later found the bento box had lost its structural integrity field (Star Trek TNG joke) and was leaking. Beh. It was really good though – flavored rice and fried chicken.

I was pretty tired so I went back to the hotel with all my stuff to rest up. I wasn’t feeling so well so I just vegged out and watched TV. It’s something about the last nights in Japan. I didn’t feel like eating anything interesting so eventually I made it out of the hotel and walked around to the conbini where I picked up some hot bottled tea and some beef tongue cold cuts. I also went by the McDonald’s and got an ebi (shrimp) burger. The fries were really good but the ebi burger wasn’t so great. I think I then just passed out – at 9pm. I was too tired to get that massage I’ve been thinking about or to do any laundry or packing. Oh well…

This might be the last post in awhile since I’m not sure about my internet situation for the next 6 days. I’m traveling to Kakegawa for MP’s wedding party and after that I will be in Osaka/Kyoto.

I ate one of the things from the conbini in the morning on the way to the train station. It was a mayo and beef sandwich with white bread slices that were like sealed together to make a pocket. It was pretty good and solves the problem of sandwich backsliding and your sandwich falling apart. I wasn’t feeling that good after. It was on the shelf and unrefrigerated…how long can mayo stay on the shelf??? Hmm, I almost got run over jaywalking too. I really should stop doing that here. I’m never looking the right way and there’s so many scooters and bicycles that don’t seem to follow the regular traffic pattern. Also, people don’t seem to jaywalk here, even when the street is empty so drivers don’t expect it.

I planned to go to the Gundam Cafe at 830 when it opened but got a little late start and didn’t get there until around 930. The line was much longer than the day in the rain. Argh. I decided to go to the souvenir shop next door and bought a bunch of stuff then I went to wait on line. I eventually got into the cafe after 45 minutes in the queue. There was a really cute cafe employee dressed up in the White Base female crew uniform. All the guys were taking photos of her. She was a f’ing professional and soaking it all up. All her poses were straight out of the show: “damn this kid’s good.” The line was a motley bunch of older single otaku men, some young couples, and girls. Yes, that’s right – girls. They were pretty young so I thought they were definitely not fans of the original UC-series (1970′s to 90′s) but I picked up a lot of their conversation from character and Gundam mobile suit names. hah. Yes, they did like newer series and the male characters that some would argue were designed to appeal to girls. They were comparing who was cooler and stronger I think. Then they totally “geeked out” and started comparing mobile suits and stuff – they knew the model numbers and some obscure suits like the EZ-8 (it appeared in ONE episode in 8th MS Team maybe…). I was in love for the second time in as many days. Where do these girls come from? The majority of the fans were older stereotypical otaku guys though – single creepy dorky men. I think I’m on the right path. The guys even asked for an autograph of the employee in costume. Heh. I wonder what she signed…the character she was dressed up as? her own name? WTF?

The cafe had some mobile suit models, special Jaburo coffee and some other drinks, but otherwise wasn’t overly Gundam. The cafe had a big screen TV playing assorted Gundam stuff. There was a clip of the factory where they make the Gundam model kits from design, to prototyping, creating the molds, and then finally mass production with the color injection. It was pretty cool to see the entire process. A lot of the Bandai employees looked like they were wearing work uniforms that were stylized like Gundam crew uniforms. Can anyone say awesome?

I was surprised the cafe did not have any English menus since the place was touted as being foreigner friendly. The barista chick called over a coworker and she read the entire menu to me in English. After going through all the coffees, I asked for a beer. I felt like such an asshole. Oh well. I picked up a really crappy sandwich too. I was pretty angry. I cannot afford to “waste” my meal slots with crappy food! I took some photos inside and then left. As I exited the cafe, I saw some guys posing WITH the cosplay employee so I decided to give it a try too. I couldn’t understand a word she was saying but it was cute whatever it was. With that, mission accomplished!

I walked around Akihabara some more and lurked in some of those creepy AV stores. I got an AKB48 photo book – it’s really the last photo book….I just couldn’t resist. I headed back to Shinjuku for some errands after that. Enough wall to wall AV for one day…

I got back to Shinjuku and went to one of those big electronics stores. They’re like mini B&H’s, everywhere. I picked up some cheap UV filters, the LC-E5 charger, and an SD card holder. After that I went to the Keio department store basement to pickup some food. Department store basements are a treasure trove of eclectic foods and pastries. I picked up some pickles, fishcakes, and a little salmon+fish eggs on rice cup (smaller than a bowl). I then picked up my suits and picked up a shirt too. The saleswoman there was less than helpful. I took all the stuff and went back to my room and ate while watching some CNN.

After resting up, I went to Tokyu Hands, Takashimaya, and Keio stores to pickup assorted stuff. I didn’t find a lot of things and the stores were packed. I just went back to the hotel after that and made plans to meet MP and his family for dinner.

Some random thoughts:

I’ve spotted quite a few Manhattan Portage bags here. I haven’t seen them sold anywhere though. I wonder what kind of markup they have over here. Speaking of markups, I saw a Discraft Ultrastar frisbee marketed with the Japanese Ultimate Team for Y2100! A regular disc back home would be about half. If there was something unique about the disc I might have broken down and got one.

For such a stereotypically polite culture it’s strange that no one gives up their seats for old people. Is it too weird to expect that in a culture that respects elders? Does everyone just have a long shitty day and not want to give yp their seat? Or am I confusing politeness with compassion? humm…

I’ve seen a record number of facemasks this trip. It really makes me uncomfortable. Is everyone sick? My theory is that girls wear them to hide from pervs…or people like to feel like they’re ninjas. There was what looked like a bootleg DVD shack and all the guys working there were wearing facemasks. Coincidence? heh…

I went off to MP’s hotel on the other side of Tokyo in Ryogoku, the sumo district. We finished a small bottle of Suntory Hakusho Single Malt 10 Year before dinner. It was really smooth and good. I’m going to have to look for it when I’m back. I hope they distribute it in America. I met MP’s family – it was their first time to Japan so a lot of things came to a shock to them. I don’t think they liked the food very much and they were still pretty jetlagged. We walked around the area looking for a suitable restaurant and we eventually decided on a nabe place. MP, SF, and I had the seafood one while the rest of his family had a chicken one. It was pretty good and inexpensive. I had 2 draft beers at the place – frosted mugs and all.

After dinner we stopped at a conbini and bought some drinks and went back to his hotel. We watched some Top Gun on his “iTouch” and drank the stuff from the conbini – all of the cans were 8-9% alcohol. One was a whiskey base and the other 2 were vodka based I think. We pounded them and then I ran to the last train. I decided to take the Oedo subway line back instead of the JR train since I didn’t want to walk that far. Pretty drunk + unknown place = disaster. I’m not even sure how I made it back. It’s a miracle I didn’t lose anything. I stumbled out at Shinjuku and went into the the corner Yoshinoya (the one with no machine). I asked if they had an English menu and they didn’t. This Asian-American/Canadian guy handed me a menu when he heard that but it was in Japanese also. I ordered a salmon+beef bowl combo or that’s what I thought. I thought it was pork as I was eating it. Then the Asian guy (US/CDN) was leaving and he asked for a doggy bag but the employee didn’t understand so I yelled out “take away” I think. I was going to make conversation after that but was too hammered to speak any further. I then stumbled back to the hotel and just passed out.

With curry breath, I went to go meet SM at Yokohama station. The plan was to meet on the platform – remind me to never agree to that again. We eventually made contact on the platform via phone but could not find each other and through some miscommunication I got on the wrong train and had my door close on my face. Yes, the door closed on my face, not my head. I was looking down the train and the door hit me in my mouth. It was pretty gross but the door left no dirt stains like NYC MTA doors. I eventually doubled back to to Yokohama and we met on the right train.

When we arrived she realized she lost her Suica train pass so went to the ticket window (you need to swipe your pass to exit). She screamed because she was caught by surprise since the man working the ticket booth was her best friend’s father. She was able to cancel her old card and she was reissued a new pass the next day. It was pretty cool since they knew which card she used just by looking up her name. They even knew the balance  on the card too. It was pretty critical to cancel it since the Suica cards have cash value and you can buy things with them.

After sorting that out, we took a cab to Sankeien Garden. I read about the place on Japan Guide and it sounded pretty relaxing. She also had never been there. The gardens were really amazing. The place felt like Kyoto but wasn’t crowded which was nice. There were a few feral cats roaming around too. They looked really fat and were friendly so I’m sure they had a pretty good life out there. There was a little lake with turtles and koi. The koi were pretty active and in some places thrashing violently. I had to take a photo of a koi coming towards me since it made me laugh and think of that scene in Karei naru Ichizoku. We walked along the trails and visited the old houses. We went up to the lookout point. She was in heels, as were many other Japanese women there. It still amazes me how they wear heels everywhere. I grilled her about it and she said she didn’t feel comfortable in flats and it hurts her feet to wear them…I just refuse to believe that. At one point we passed a couple on the trail and she was whining and said she wanted to go home (I understood that much in Japanese) and I laughed as we passed. Whoops. I remembered this girl’s silver heels and her toolish BF – we eventually saw them a few hours later in Yokohama which was really weird.

I took some photos of the area and was not too pleased with the SLR’s metering so I changed the exposure compensation a bit and screwed around with the different metering modes. I also setup the tripod to take photos of both of us. At one point a Scandinavian tourist passed by with the 50mm L or 35mm L lens and I asked him to take a photo for us. It was pretty good. I was pretty impressed. Pwned. He replied to my questions and spoke to me in Japanese while I kept speaking to him in normal English. WTF. He had 2 blonde boys running around and going on in Swedish/Norwegian/Danish and after watching Let the Right One In, it’s hard to not be a little creeped out when seeing some blonde boys yelling in one of the Scandinavian languages.

After the gardens we were supposed to check out a tour of the Kirin Brewery but we missed our tour and then missed it again after we rescheduled it. With that out of the way, we took the waterbus tour around Yokohama harbor. We had to cut through some department stores to get to the waterbus pier and the cosmetics section never fails to impress. It still sends shivers down my spine – it’s a showcase of Japanese beauty. The waterbus tour was cool. We passed through the Japanese Coast Guard base there and it looked just like Umizaru. That was pretty cool. I also saw the Yokohama Bay Bridge and that was the bridge I originally wanted to take photos of at night, not the Rainbow Bridge in Tokyo. I just realized it when she pointed it out – I wanted to kick myself after all I had gone through to get photos of the Rainbow Bridge the day before.

We got off at Yamashita Park and walked along the waterfront as it got darker. I took some photos and whipped out the tripod as well. We made our way to the International Ferry Terminal where she made some reservations at a swanky waterfront bar. I was pretty happy with all the mileage I was getting on the tripod with all the night shots. I hope some of the shots will be good. We finally sat down at the bar, “Sub Zero” or something like that. It was an amazing view of the iconic Yokohama waterfront area. Landmark Tower featured prominently in the skyline – it’s the tallest building in Japan and houses the hotel where SM got married. Hah. We both got the set menu which included 2 drinks, an appetizer, a main course, and a desert for less than Y4000 – pretty good deal. I got some blue cocktail at first, then got some sparkling wine. After that I got 2 Suntory Yamazaki 12 on the rocks to finish myself off. The appetizer consisted of 3 types of smoked/cured fish. It was pretty good. I got the ravioli with cream sauce as my main course. It didn’t taste like any ravioli I had ever had before but it was good. SM had some pasta and it had seaweed and the “pasta” was definitely udon. WTF…

After enjoying the view and the drinks we took a cab to Yokohama station and I caught the last train back to Shinjuku. It was relatively tame for the last train and no one was completely shitfaced but it was really crowded. I was snoozing in the train and only a few stops to Shinjuku I decided to put on my iPhone which was stupid. I woke up shocked to look at the display and it said Ikebekuro (past my stop) and I looked around confused. I made eye contact with a pretty (a bit older) Japanese woman and she said “Shinjuku desu” – I was in love…I thanked her and I ran off the train, close one. The station was closing and I was panicking so I just left out of any exit. I got out of the exit on the other side of the station, shit. It would take me 25mins to walk around the station back to my hotel so I decided to grab a cab. I didn’t have the address and was mumbling “Sunroute Hotel” in my best Japanese-accented English. Hey, it works sometimes. He said some other stuff which I didn’t understand and I just gave up. I actually got to the hotel a few minutes later. Whew…lesson learned: carry your hotel address with you.