RECAP: Trip 1 Day 2

As Simon can tell you, Nagoya is a damn boring place. There's just nothing there! Honestly. It's like Birmingham. Last time I visited it, Yuka and I barely found enough places to keep us entertained and so we would not have to stare at the same spot the entire time. This time we decided to go somewhere different: Asuke. Neither of us had been there and we had no idea what to expect. It turned out we didn't need to expect anything...



A quick look at the map and we realized Asuke was ages away and we wouldn't have been able to go with my ticket, i.e. we would have had to pay extra and the Flying Spaghetti Monster knows we don't like forking out craploads of cash. So we decided to go to Ise. Let me start off by saying that Ise is very disappointing. Very disappointing if you want to see the famous shrines. Why? Because they are closed! You can throw the god or goddess some money so they will listen to your prayers (for some reason gods always love cash), but you will not see the insides of any shrine. The doors are shut and you are not even allowed to take pictures of the closed doors.



However, there are a couple of very beautiful things worth seeing in Ise. The shrine surrounding greenery is fantastic. Sure, it is ridiculously crowded in some places, but this should not stop you from looking up to see all those tall trees and down to see all those chickens. Yes, Ise sports a small free roaming chicken farm on the way to its main shrine. How I would love to feast on a holy chicken! Holy animals are usually fed better than average and treated more nicely, thus probably tasting better a lot better than your average barn yard animal. There is a lovely river running right through the shrine area and some people, although mostly kids, were bathing in it. Idiot that I am I had, of course, not brought my swimming trunks, which I dearly regretted. Being more than 30 degrees centigrade and very humid, you can probably imagine how much I wanted to bathe in a refreshing river.



Ise is also famous for its traditional old town district Okage Yoko-cho just before the main shrine grounds. It should be pointed out that by famous and traditional, I mean that there probably were traditional aspects to it once, but it is so overrun by tourists nowadays that it is hard to appreciate the beauty of the old wooden buildings. It is still worth going because of what in my opinion Japan excels at: local dishes. Yuka and I treated ourselves to a bowl of cold Ise noodles (Hiyashi Ise Udon) and for dessert Matcha snow cones (Macha Kake Aisu) with red bean paste covered rice cakes (Akafuku Mochi). The noodles are far sweeter than in most other places and a bit chewier, in a word: delicious. The snow cones did not look like they would taste of Macha very much, but Boy!, were we wrong. The snow cones were fantastically rich in slightly bitter Matcha flavor. Better even than any Matcha ice cream I have had. The rice cakes were also great. They were rather small, but covered in a thick layer of red bean paste which was outstandingly smooth and tasty. Definitely worth every single yen. It is said that quite a considerably number of people choke to death on rice cakes each year. While I haven't personally had the pleasure of death by rice cake, given their consistency and the way they stick to the back of your throat, it could very well be true.



It was around the time we finished our desserts that we decided we had seen enough tourists with parasols pass us by. We headed for Toba to see the sea. Upon arrival we found we had no time left, so could only gaze at that day's rather boring looking sea and headed back to Nagoya. On the way I recorded a time lapse video from the train.



Then we had to do something in Nagoya to prove it is not a complete waste of space on Japan's main island. So we went up some tower to see the pretty lights from above. Pretty they were, but Nagoya is flat as a pancake. Surprising given its population, but then again not really, because it is a complete waste of space. Since I get vertigo very easily, the ride in the glass elevator and the observation platform from which you can almost look completely straight down really made me feel like I was in heaven or at least on the way there. I pretended to be happy and smiled, but was really happiest when left.



For our final stop we headed to a small restaurant to eat Misokatsu, a Nagoya specialty. Basically speaking, katsu is fried pork meat wrapped in bread crumbs. Comparable to the German Schnitzel, but slightly different in taste and the meat is thicker. Miso is a traditional Japanese seasoning. We ate at a place called Yabaton. The Misokatsu was delicous, but at 1150 yen I found it slightly overpriced. However, it came with some of the best rice I have had anywhere. After that it was back to Yuka's place to prepare for an early take off the next day.

All photos from Ise and Toba can be found here.

RECAP: Trip 1 Day 1

Naturally I woke up far too late and so I decided to settle for Maibara rather than Makino for the trip's first destination for various reasons. First of all it was closer to Nagoya and so I could make up some time. Secondly - just like Makino - it lies on the shore of Japan's biggest lake, Biwako which is located not too far north from Kyoto. I had been there a few times before about three years ago, but only near a town named Otsu and had been itching to see some more of the lake from another angle for quite a while. Thirdly, both places start with M. I could always go to Makino on my way back anyway...



The weather was splendid; a few clouds here and there, but mostly blue skies. This was a problem, because I wanted to make a time lapse video at Biwako, which was supposed to show the movement of the clouds over the lake with a mountain range barely visible on the far side of the lake. I did make that time lapse video, but it turned out very, very boring. So boring in fact that I could not convince myeself to upload it. A couple of stops before Maibara I decided it wasn't worth it, because I had heard it is mainly a public transportation hub and thought about getting off at Hakone, one stop before Maibara. Seeing Hakone station though, I soon realized that this was not the kind of place I wanted to visit, I wanted something smaller - I wanted the Japanese countryside. I went past Maibara and got off one stop further north at a tiny place called Sakata.



Now, in order to imagine how small this place is, you have to know that, when you exit the station, there are only rice fields as far as the eye can see and far across the planes - about a twenty minute walk away - is Sakata itself. At least that is what you see when you get out the station through the same exit as I did. I later noticed the other side of the station does in fact have some buildings right next to it and even a couple of shrines and temples which according to the local tourist board's information maps are worth seeing, but I highly doubt that. Seeing those rice fields move like waves in the wind, I decided to head to the main village and Lake Biwa. The lake seemed angry. The waves were surprisingly large - and roared fiercely as the came closer to the shore. Some Japanese families were camping on the shore and we had a small chat. One family had brought a jetski, but sadly they would not allow me to ride it. I took pictures of the lake, its surroundings and headed back. The whole time I was wishing for a 200mm lens - so many birds, so many small animals to snap, but alas my 50mm lens could not get up close enough.



Back at the station I headed for Nagoya. Of course, because of rush hour, I found myself standing for the next two hours. At least Japanese trains are well airconditioned. A somewhat dirty looking Japanese salaryman stood next to me, giving me the evil eye. I am sure it was him that kept on releasing horribly foul smelling gases. I was greeted in Nagoya by Yuka, an old friend of mine from those lovely Doshisha days and Simon, a fellow University of Sheffield student. We headed to an Japanese bar, got mildly drunk, went home and to sleep.

All photos from Sakata can be found here.

RECAP: Trip 1 Day 0

I packed and packed and packed like there was no tomorrow. This is the first of my last few trips through Japan and I wanted to make sure I can capture every moment of it. I packed both of my cameras, my netbook as a data storage device, my webcam for time lapse video trials, a small notebook as a small makeshift diary, a gourmet guide to tell me which region is famous for what food, my German Lonely Planet Japan (thanks Marlene), maps, my tripod and my iPod for long travels. All in all it turned out heavier than I had hoped. I checked that I had my JR train tickets and set my alarm. I was ready to go...

Trip 1 Day 4

DSC_4350, originally uploaded by Moe's Tavern.

Today I went to Shinhotaka and some other places. The view from the mountain top was fantastic. Not a very successful day photo-wise tho. In Takayama right now and will go to Kanazawa and Tojinbo tomorrow as well as maybe already return to Kobe. Will post a big blog entry about every single day when I am back.

Trip 1 Day 3

DSC_4044, originally uploaded by Moe's Tavern.

Today I headed for Kamikochi, a beautiful area in the so-called Japanese alps. Click on the picture to see todays photos.

Trip 1 Day 2

DSC_3874, originally uploaded by Moe's Tavern.

Alright then. I have to admit that today I did not have time to write the a post as promised yesterday. However, please feel free to take a look at the pictures. All of those pictures were taken at Ise, where I was visiting the shrines there. Although they were rather disappointing, the nature surrounding it was great.

All the best. Tomorrow I will head off to Kamikochi

Trip 1 Day 1 - Quick Info

DSC_3762, originally uploaded by Moe's Tavern.

Still Alive. Bigger post tomorrow

Trip 1 Day 1

Alright then, I deleted all content that was 'in the way'. Now I can start over again with a clean slate. In a couple of minutes I will set off for my first of a series of trips. Today: Makino, Maibara and Nagoya.

Here is me packing up (not very exciting):