October 14, 2018
What
to say? Well, how about I just got back
from vacation again? Seems like a lot, huh? It’s felt like time has gone by so
fast, from my vacation in summer to this fall trip. Anyway, details now, photos
later, you know the drill.
My
vacation started with an old friend of mine arriving in Japan. We had yakiniku
together on Saturday night, with her favorite food there being the Karibi, or
the fatty pieces of meat. It was a good time, but I…didn’t get much sleep. I
truthfully haven’t been sleeping much the last few weeks. It’s not because I’m
worried or stressed or anything, I just…haven’t. I’m getting more now and I’ll
talk a bit about life after the vacation, but anyway, on with our story.
Yakiniku
and ramen are standard stops for visitors because I want to show my friends the
best food of Japan and I want to show the friends I’ve made at those
restaurants my stateside friends. We had ramen on Sunday on our way to the
cruise. Hokkaido, specifically, Hakodate, was the destination. We got to the
cruise a bit early and my friend did some wandering as I rested, again, from
lack of sleep. This is kind of a theme of our trip, as we do lots of stuff
together, but she just loves exploring. For a 65-year-old lady, I couldn’t keep
up with her, haha. She found everything in the journey very exciting, which
made me feel good about our choices of visitations. I sprang for a room on the
cruise ship and it was a much more enjoyable time with company. A relaxing
cruise from Sendai to Tomakomai. I repeated a lot of where I went from last
year, but we had a few new twists as well.
Our
arrival in Tomakomai was fine, but we were waiting on trains all bloody day on
Monday. The hokuto super express is a cool train, but it was late perpetually
during my stay in Hokkaido, which was a major disappointment. Upon our arrival
at the hotel, I was a little worried about the quality, but it turned out to be
a solid place, with good A/C(it’s rarer than you think in Hokkaido) and clean
rooms, with enough space for me to relax, which I did. We went to the stall village
in Hakodate twice during our stay and had some wondrous foods. In order, they
were, squid ink, lamb, and king style gyoza, three kinds, rice bowls full of
fresh sea food and I had uni, or sea urchin, for the first time, we had tempura,
including hunks of corn which I got a kick out of as it was sweet corn, and we
had my favorite, wasabi pork, which really cleans out the sinuses. The vendors
even remembered me, which was very touching.
Tuesday,
we started out with a morning breakfast at the morning market. We’d do this
every morning during our stay and it always proved to have great food at reasonable
prices. Then we headed out to Goryokaku, and I wisely sprang for taxis, as I
was not about to wear myself out with my more energetic counterpart. It was a
fun tour of history and our trip to the tower was a chance to get some very
good food and gifts for others. A running motif of our tour was my friend
wanting to learn a little Japanese. Pronunciation was a problem for her, but
hey, she tried and I taught. Following Goryokaku, we got a delicious meal at a
local burger joint called Hot Box. I have to tell you, this is the BEST burger
place IN THE WORLD. It’s small, but the owner is friendly and the burgers he
cooks are magical. Couple that with the fantastic Hokkaido potatoes used to
make the fries and you have a recipe for culinary mastery. Afterwards, we
headed to Mt. Hakodate. Again, fate screws me and we couldn’t take the ropeway.
We were one day too late. Ugh! The bus
trip was much more tolerable this year, though. Less crowded overall. I
maintain the view is worth it. It’s so breathtakingly beautiful that I was
smiling all night, especially with their little movie. They have a short movie
about the view of Mt. Hakodate which they refer to as a full course viewing. It
truly is a full course. A full course
meal for the soul. And, we ended the night with some Mcdonalds. Japanese Mcdonalds,
especially in Hokkaido, are magical and they still had the Tsukimi, or moon
burger, that I loved from September. Such a good time.
We
planned to go to a park on Wednesday, but instead, went on a walking tour of
Hakodate, to see the old brick warehouses the foreigners used, then we say the
northern peoples’ museum, and we headed to see the old public hall and some
churches. Great architecture all around and some wondrous sights to see, just
in the local area. Unfortunately, the Hot Box was closed on Wednesday, but my
friend and I headed out to a local ramen place and got the legendary Hokkaido
special ramen. It’s…okay. I prefer my ramen in Natori better, but the salty
flavor the pork is pretty impressive.
Thursday,
we spent all day in a park, Onuma Koen. My time was limited last year, but this
year, my friend and I went island hopping on a walking tour of the whole park.
No pumpkins for Halloween, but it was still a beautiful tour, by land and by
sea. I had a great time there and when
we got back to Hakodate, more Hot Box. I’m not exaggerating. Best burgers in
the world. I actually went back to the Hot Box, AGAIN, for dinner. Haha, it was
a surprising discovery that I was super pleased with.
Friday,
was mostly a day for getting home. We rode to Shin-Hakodate, took the
Shinkansen, once in Sendai we got sushi, which was great, and I bought a few trinkets
to give to friends. Afterwards, we both called it a night. I bought a ton of gifts
for people and I am buying more besides, to give my friends a real taste of
Japanese sweets. Only two, maybe three care packages this time.
Saturday,
I was still tired, but having slept in my own bed helped a great deal. We
walked to the bath house, after I reserved a taxi to the airport for my friend’s
trip to Korea and China. The bath house was a nice place to relax and I felt a
bit light headed by the end. It was a good time, but also a bit somber. We both
knew it was goodbye, but I feel we were both a bit tired, so it was okay, we
could both rest afterwards. No goodbyes were said, because we know we’ll meet
again. After our parting, I spent my days resting and trying to recover my
strength to return to work. I’m feeling pretty good as I type this, but first,
a few thoughts on the trip, then back to regular life.
Foods
to remember. I mentioned the stall village, Hot Box, and ramen, but I also had
some delicious sweets, including the white black thunder, the magical crème brulee
style cake, and the wondrous butter cookies called Moonlight. I also discovered
a variant of black thunder in two different stores. One had a bit more…nutty
spices to it? Almost like brown sugar or
a different type of flour, but I couldn’t quite place it. Another was like a
poptart full of chocolate, but it felt much healthier, not as sweet, and a
perfect balance of sugar and chocolate. Wondrous.
The
trip itself ran me a bit ragged, but I didn’t get sick and I didn’t tear up my
legs like last year, so that was good. I enjoyed seeing the new sights and
revisiting old stomping grounds. If I can’t live in Natori, I would definitely
like to live in or close to Hakodate. It’s a beautiful place, but not a mega
tourist trap like Tokyo. Hakodate is more open to the strange and bizarre, as
many people there were not what might fit your typical idea of a Japanese
person and that’s great. I loved seeing the variance there. Finally, the
weather when I got home was just perfect. It’s finally cool enough for me to be
KING OF WINTER! When winter arrives, at
least, haha.
To
round out, let’s review the in-between time from the last post to now. My
students have been working hard to try and prepare for the Eiken and most of
them, I’m optimistic about their chances. We’ve been working towards the
Halloween party as well, with question practice and Halloween related practice.
I’m having a grand time living in Natori and have no complaints and my time at
work is…well, it is work, but it’s very fun. I’m grateful for saving and
sending money stateside, because I had to use my American debit card to reserve
a lot of things for my trip to Hokkaido, but that account is running a bit low
now, haha, something I need to fix soon. I said before I wasn’t sleeping much,
but that’s not quite right. I’m getting a decent amount of sleep and rest, but
falling asleep is harder, so sometimes I just lay in bed awake. Still, I am
trying to get up early to do my walking, and that might be why I’m tired. Going
to bed at like 12:30 or 1, falling asleep at like 3, and then waking up at 8:30
leaves a bit of a deficit, eh? Anyway, I’m taking steps to fix it, now that all
the excitement is over. Finally, I’ll just say, I’ve met someone online. I told
people I started looking and…well, I don’t have too much news. It’s still
early. But I’m talking with a very cool person, who will remain nameless here
because of privacy, and I’m having a good time with that as well. Life is
fantastic. Now, wait a week for photos. Why? Because I am lazy, haha.
