August, 16, 2018

August, 16, 2018

So, let’s talk holidays. Before that, though, I want you to know that as I am writing this, I am sick. I have been sick from the start of my holiday, until now, the end of it. Looking back, it was a very good vacation and I got to spend a lot of time with my family, but it was a challenge at the time, battling the heat, my own frustration with said heat, and sickness that cropped up basically from the word go.

So, where to begin?  Well, I didn’t sleep before heading down to Tokyo because I had a very early Shinkansen to catch and I was afraid I would miss it, so I started out this trip pretty out of it. I made my train and my family was on a tour that was unable to contact me due to some crossed wires, but the hotel let me into their room and I crashed until their tour was over.  We got Mexican that first night. You might laugh, but after so long without, it was so damn good. I was really happy…then the snoring. Everyone in my family snores, but it’s hard for me to manage, personally. So, I didn’t sleep much in Tokyo.

Fuji was…a difficult trial. Not a bad one, mind, but a difficult one. The heat was an omnipresent entity during this entire trip and it beat me down. I sweat from every pore and I was gross by the end of every journey. Thankfully, it was higher up in the area we went and cloudy, so it was more manageable, but I still felt like dying each and every day. The bus to Kawaguchiko, the lake just below Fuji, was supposed to take only about 2 hours but traffic caught us going and coming so we arrived and returned an hour late. It was super frustrating. The area itself was beautiful and I got to have a lovely Indian lunch and talk with another US citizen living in Japan. Gave me some food for thought about my future. We also got to climb using a ropeway to a tanuki and rabbit shrine and got a decent view of the peak of Fuji. Pictures to come later. A running theme of this tour would be our giving up on walking, as we were so tired and hot after the ropeway that we took a bus rather than walk to the last spot on our journey. The music forest, or music box museum. I love this place. It’s like a giant fairytale garden, but it’s based in realism, with music boxes from all over the world preserved. We even got a performance from a charming opera singer and our tickets could be turned into music box reading cards. We also got to see a wonderful concert that had live sand painting with the accompanying music. It was crazy seeing the indistinct sand smudges turn into a whole scene to enjoy. But after all that, it was time to go back. I was hoping to get Kaiseki in Tokyo, which is a special style of Japanese feast, but our schedule didn’t allow and we got back to our hotel right as the Kaiseki restaurant was closing. We could still get food elsewhere and I had a Japanese twist on American mini burgers which was great.

Sunday was where the chinks in the armor started to show. I began to feel not just hot and tired, but sick and with pain in my throat. I headed to the Tokyo skytree, but said to hell with waiting two hours to climb up. We visited a Ghibli store, which was cool and nostalgic, and then headed to the national museum. It was full of great art, but again, the walking killed me and my family. After that, we headed out to an Izakaya tour to try some amazing delicacies from Tokyo and all of Japan, including eating a still twitching fish. It was meh, I’d rather have had regular tuna, but the food overall was excellent and again I got a chance to think about my future as our guide was an Australian woman who found her calling in giving food tours with another company. Sounds like a heavenly job.

Monday, I felt like garbage. I’ve felt that way basically all the way up until today. My throat was on fire, I had a wheezing cough, and the heat didn’t help. So, I struggled to get ready for the trip to Natori. My family and I got Taco Bell which was a nice taste of home, plus now I can say I had Japanese Taco Bell, along with KFC, Mcdonalds, and Subway. The waiting and the heat was brutal and when we got to Natori, my family got lost and I had to do some quick thinking to find them. They actually managed to call my phone after we missed each other and apparently some wires got crossed so they were waiting upstairs while I was waiting on the 2^nd floor. After heading to Natori, we got a taxi, which we would get every day afterwards due to being tired of walking, and my family checked into their hotel. Then, I took them to Yakiniku. My restaurant had a great selection of different meats and my mom and dad left satisfied, so long as I didn’t tell them what was in any of them, hehe. It felt good to sleep in my own bed. After the snoring and the heat, I had my A/C and my own futon back.

Looking back, I think Tokyo is a magical and wondrous place, for example there’s a giant Ghibli clock sculpture that moves at certain times outside the hotel we stayed at. That said, it’s also too crowded, too hot, and a bit too busy for my liking. Some of my favorite times during the trip was when my family and I didn’t have to run around and could just get downtime together to relax. Natori and Sendai mostly provided that.

I couldn’t go to the doctor till Thursday due to the holiday, so I’ve had to tough out my sickness. On Tuesday, we took the Sendai Loople bus tour, but it was so crowded and so hot. I love Sendai castle and we had fun looking at all the souvenirs and trying weird stuff, but the Zuihoden mausoleum was a bit much with all the stairs, waiting, and heat. We were going to make four stops, but settled at two. We were all so tired. We also wanted to visit Matsushima, but with me being sick and down and the heat beating us silly, we decided against it. I think I’ve sweat more in this one weak than in almost a full year. Anyway, after the tour, we bought some trinkets in Loft, had some crepes, and tried omurice for my family. I love food and think of myself as a gourmand, so I wanted my family to try the weird and wonderful daily food that I loved in Japan, like yakiniku and omurice.

We headed to the bathhouse on Wednesday and had a good soak. We also ate some cold soba and tempura along with ice cream to help refresh ourselves after the bath. It was very restful for everyone and a much-needed break, which helped us all to relax. That said, I was still sick and worn down from the whole trip. Bless my family for helping me. I didn’t get mean or angry, but I did complain a fair bit. I really do hate summer. After that, we had dinner at a hamburger steak restaurant called Bikuri Donki. I haven’t been very hungry through most of the trip just through sheer dehydration and exhaustion. I’ve only wanted water and tea and indulged in generally one to one and a half meals during my time in Natori with my family.

The final day of my family’s stay, I had to get up early and book it to a doctor. I got medicine to help with my horrible, wheezing, painful coughs and throat burning. I managed to get what I wanted and it has helped me to feel better, but I am going into work a bit down tomorrow, as I’ve just been run ragged. Today, the goodbye was pretty light, as my family knew I needed rest. I took my mom and dad to my local ramen shop and they got to meet the lovely family who’ve given me delicious food for so long. We shared a yakisoba, katsudon, and chashumen lunch and it was excellent. They love pickled food and our hosts gave them plenty, to my delight. Everyone had a good time, but I was finally weakened enough to want to rest and write this. So that’s how we’ll end my vacation. Sick, bedridden, exhausted from the heat, but with some pretty good memories.