typhoon, yikes!!

Tuesday, Sept. 11, 2001 5:25 pm, Tokyo time


Okay, so maybe I was premature in saying that the typhoon had passed us by.


This morning I picked up e-mail from my father, saying that he had heard on NHK radio that the worst of Typhoon 15 (Typhoon Dana) was going to be hitting Tokyo within an hour or so, and suggested that Jeff and I might want to stay inside until things had calmed down somewhat. When we looked outside, however, everything looked okay. Sort of grey and drizzly, but better than yesterday. We decided to go out anyway.





Our first stop was the Prince Hotel (where Alison first met us) so we could check out the airport bus schedule for tomorrow. A few minutes after we got inside, Jeff happened to glance out the glass windows and noticed that the trees were being buffeted around by a tremendous wind. Huge sheets of rain drenched everything, and we could see people running for the hotel, heads bent down and struggling to hold onto their umbrellas.


Of course I immediately wanted go out in the storm to experience a genuine Japanese typhoon (and get some pictures for Blatherings, of course!!), but Jeff wisely advised that we stay inside until the worst was over. Probably a good thing, since the high winds were probably knocking things around quite a bit (in the news, we later found out that one of the things being knocked about was people (!)).





We spent a few hours in the lobby of the Prince Hotel. Apparently all the subway lines were closed during the worst of the storm, which meant we couldn't go anywhere anyway. We had breakfast in the coffee shop (we avoided another restaurant in the hotel where the coffee cost CAN$14 for a single cup (!!!)), then sat in the lobby for a while; I snoozed on Jeff's shoulder while Jeff read a magazine. There were a group of North American foreigners obviously waiting for their airport bus. One of them mentioned that there had been another small earthquake this morning. Darnitall, I keep sleeping through all the excitement. Some great people-watching during this wait, by the way. There was a female hotel staff waiting by the front doors with a basket of rolled up towels; she handed a towel to each person as they came in so they could dry themselves off a bit.


One of the highlights of our time in the hotel was finding a Solitudes display in the souvenir/magazine shop. There was even a bio of our friend, Dan Gibson! All iin Japanese, of course, but we both thought this was VERY cool. :-)





When the storm had died a bit, we set off in the rain. I had brought a cheapo umbrella that kept turning inside out; I had to hold onto it with both hands to keep from losing it from the gusts. We took the subway (which was running except for the Maunouchi line) to Ikebukuro, which the Frommer's Guide to Tokyo describes as "the working man's Tokyo, less refined and a bit rougher around the edges."


Right outside the station, we saw the two rival department stores, Seibu and Tobu. I checked out Seibu for a travel reading light AND FOUND ONE. This time, I had drawn an elaborate picture of what I wanted, with pictures of a plane, a person reading on a plane, a light on a book, as well as including the Japanese characters for "travel", "small", "lamp", "portable". After talking to several department store staff, I was sent to a shelf with a selection of book reading lights, woohoo!





Some shinkansen trains, subway trains, and flights were cancelled. I hope things clear up by tomorrow, when we fly back! Good thing that Jeff and I didn't take the train to Nagano yesterday, as we had originally planned...we might have been stuck there until today since some of the trains had been cancelled since yesterday.


By the time we got out of Seibu, the Maunouchi line had re-opened (when we passed areas in the subway related to that line earlier, there were handwritten signs in Japanese all over the entry gates..I assume this was an announcement of the closure). I kept thinking of how confusing it would be for a foreigner who wasn't aware of what was happening during a crisis like this, or worse (e.g. earthquake).





Our visits today included the Toyota display in the Amlux building, and the Tokyo Transportation Museum. The first was more interesting than I expected, and the second was less interesting. We had also wanted to check out the Tokyo Metropolitan Artspace, but unfortunately it was closed. :-(





By the time we got back to the apartment, the rain had pretty much stopped. The Japanese television news is currently full of typhoon coverage. The other big news is the discovery of a case of mad cow disease.


Apologies for the incoherence of this Blathering; Jeff has the tv on while I'm typing (listening to typhoon news), so I'm focussing on two things at once. :-)


We're taking Alison out for sushi tonight!


p.s. REALLY hoping that our flight isn't cancelled or delayed too much tomorrow. Please keep your fingers crossed for us, thanks. :-)


Today's Blatherpics:


- I took this picture out the front window of the Prince Hotel. I found pictures didn't do nearly enough justice to the storm; you can't see very much of the tremendous wind and rain in this photo, for instance.


- Jeff looking out the Prince Hotel coffee shop window at the storm.


- Part of the Solitudes display we found in the souvenir/magazine shop in the Prince Hotel.


- Noise-maker thingy in the Prince Hotel women's washroom. Apparently some Japanese women are self-conscious about their toilet noises, and press the button on this gizmo (in each stall) to create the sound of a toilet flushing. The five lights at the top illuminate in succession to show how much time the noise will last. I had to try it, of course, though it was difficult not giggling while I listened to the electronic flush go on and on and on...


- English translation typo in the Transportation Museum.


- Giant train set in the Transportation Museum.


- During our walk after the worst of the typhoon had passed, we saw many fallen bicycles and motorbikes, branches, signs, all tipped over by the wind. Other evidence of the storm we saw included leaking roofs in buildings (lots of pails, escalators covered in plastic and being repaired).


Today's Poll:



Have you ever experienced a typhoon?

last day

Tuesday, Sept. 11, 2001 6:50 am, Tokyo time


Last day in Japan! The typhoon seems to have missed Tokyo (all we got was a ton of rain and wind). Elsewhere in Japan, unfortunately, the effects were bad enough that four people were killed in mudslides. Jeff and I spent most of yesterday indoors hiding from the downpour, shopping for souvenirs in the Oriental Bazaar, having tonkatsu for lunch, browing Harujuku.





Part of me wishes we could stay a lot longer, but the other part is ready to go back home (besides, it's time to let our friend Alison have her apartment back). We've done and seen so many wonderful things during this trip, and I'd definitely like to come back to both Japan and the Wickaninnish Inn someday.


Here are just a few highlights of this trip for me, in random order:


- Morning beachcombing at the Wickaninnish Inn in B.C., especially the morning I spend an hour at a single tidal pool.


- Hanging out with our pal, Alison George. Alison is one of the most positive, energetic, generous, motivated and brave people I know, and I'm very proud to be able to call her a friend. My admiration for her has grown during this trip, watching her interacting with the locals with comfort, continuing to seek out new experiences. I thought it was difficult being in Philadelphia for six months without Jeff, but at least I was able to make frequent trips home. Alison's here in Japan, five months' pregnant, working extremely hard in a senior position, speaking a foreign language all day, only able to see her husband in person twice during her entire stay. Her apartment is basically just one room, yet she opens it up to Jeff and me for twelve days, letting us sleep on her bed and borrowing a cot for herself. THANK YOU, ALISON.





- The fish market in Tokyo. This is still the highlight of my Japan experience.


- On our way to our ryokan, passing an intersection and seeing four women in full kimono dress, sweeping up leaves with a twig broom.


- The first time Jeff and I went to a Japanese restaurant without Alison. As the main "communications" person, I was terrified, especially when I realized that no one in the restaurant spoke any English. I remember how delighted I was when, through sign language and broken English/Japanese, the waiter and I actually did manage to communicate enough to get us the set dinner and something to drink. From that moment on, the language barrier became an exciting (and fun!) challenge to overcome.


- Meeting Bill the Fossil Guy in B.C. and then getting e-mail from him later.


- Conveyor belt sushi.


- Checking out all the different things they have in Japanese grocery stores that they don't have back in Canada.


- Seeing Japanese people's reaction to Jeff; sometimes I'll even purposely walk behind him or distance myself so I can observe reactions better. I'm used to being the only non-Caucasian in a room or town; seeing Jeff be the unusual one is an entertaining change. :-) There are other obvious gaijin in Japan, of course, but Jeff still gets stared at by both men and women of all ages. Sometimes schoolgirls will gawk and then whisper behind their hands, giggling. I told Jeff that this probably means that they think he's cute but he's pretty sure it's because they think he "looks like a freak". He doesn't mind, though. Some Japanese also seem fascinated by the fact that Jeff and I are a couple.





- Visiting Meiji Shrine in Tokyo (an experience I didn't get to Blather about; will have to do that when I get back home).


- Japanese office supply stores.


- Rosemary and mint shampoo at the Wickaninnish Inn, as well as the other Aveda amenities supplied in our room. I had never tried bath salts before (though was curious because Lissa had mentioned she likes bath salts more than bubbles); quite liked them.


- Bento boxes. Not just from ekiben stands, but the astonishing variety you can get. Most are relatively inexpensive; I could eat these all the time.


- Seeing the huge, mottled back of a gray whale slowly arch through the water about ten feet from our boat while on the way to Hot Cove Springs one drizzly afternoon in B.C. MAJOR thrill; I had never seen a whale in the wild before. The boat ride over to the Springs was also pretty exciting, especialy freefalling over crests of 5-6 foot waves.


- Aloe vera and white grape juice.


- The shinkansen. Incredibly fast, efficient, comfortable, clean. Sure wish trains at home could be more like this.





- Aloe vera yogurt.


- Sacred Sea Thalassotherapy treatment at the Wickaninnish Inn.


- Being able to visit my mother's childhood city.


- Getting sucked into the Japanese soap opera (can't recall the name, sorry) that Alison sometimes watches in the morning for language practice. It seemed to me that almost everyone overacted, the plot (designed to end in a cliffhanger at the end of each 15-minute episode) was contrived, yet I found my attenion glued to the screen, wondering desperately if the old guy would finally get up the nerve to propose to his secret childhood love, if the unhappy and cynical young artist woman would ever find true love, if the hopefuly young musician guy would ever propose to his girlfriend. Alison has promised to send me plot updates after Jeff and I go back home.


- Red bean icecream on a stick in Tokyo.


- Sitting in a thick terrycloth bathrobe by the fire, reading a book and listening to the ocean waves outside our room at the Wickaninnish Inn. Our time at the Inn was incredibly relaxing, with lots of quiet time. The timing was perfect; by the end of our stay at the Inn, we were well-rested and ready for the excitement and adventure of our Japan trip.


- Getting interviewed by the school girls at the Golden Temple in Kyoto.





- Our stay at Yoshi Ima, the ryokan in Kyoto (thanks to Alison and JeffL for recommending this place). It was more than we had hoped for. Wonderfully "old Japanese" scenery, amazing food, friendly staff, and we thoroughly enjoyed trying an old-fashioned Japanese bath and taking part in a tea ceremony.


- Hearing live koto music while wandering around a park in Kyoto.


- Watching the sunset on Long Beach, near Tofino, B.C.


- People-watching in Japan. LOVED this, and want to come back for a chance to do more of it. So many different fashion styles, even more so than back home. It's quite the experience to be walking through downtown Tokyo and see a woman in full kimono dress striding through a busy intersection, passing a teenager in her black and white Goth maid outfit.


- Strawberry shaved ice in Kyoto.


- Having Internet access during our travels. Many, many thanks to our friends Ryo and Alison for enabling this during our Tokyo stay! Thanks also to my dad for giving us Japan phone cards, which certainly made our arrival in Tokyo go much more smoothly. Imagine us arriving in Tokyo station, totally brain-fried from the long flight, needing to call our friend Alison but having no change, and unable to read the instructions on the different-coloured public phones. The phone card enabled us to call her pretty easily. Thanks also to those of you who posted messages to me in Blatherchat during our stay. :-)





More Japan/B.C. highlights and photos will be scattered through future Blatherings.


Meanwhile, Jeff and I will be doing some more Tokyo wandering tomorrow (Wednesday), but then we have a 12-hour flight back to Toronto. I still haven't been able to find a book light, augh. Since I had a non-working book light on my Air Canada flight to Vancouver AND from Vancouver to Tokyo, I'm somewhat paranoid. Don't think I'd be able to survive a 12-hour flight without being able to read. Wish me luck. :-)


In a few days, Jeff and I are off the cottage with my sister and her family.


Today's Blatherpics:


- Our friend Alison talking to her husband back in Toronto; they call each other every night. Photo taken in the ramen restaurant I really like.


- Toronto, Canada t-shirt. Not especially interesting in itself, until you consider the fact that Jeff and I found saw it in a trendy youth clothing shop in Harujuku, downtown Tokyo.


- Wall graffiti near Harajuku.


- Teenage girl dressed in the "Goth Maid" fashion that seems popular with some right now.


- Yummy-looking pastries. Sadly, Jeff and I had just had lunch and weren't hungry enough to even share one. Maybe tomorrow...


- Two Japanese girlfriends going shopping.


- This "bunched-up sock" look seems to be very popular with many schoolgirls.


Today's Poll:



Do you consider yourself to be an adventurous person? (choose YES for adventurous, NO if you tend to prefer the safe and familiar)

typhoon!

Update 10:02 a.m.: Hey, Alison just called and said that apparently a typhoon is on its way! Pretty exciting...it's supposed to hit tonight or tomorrow.


For those who have not checked my Blatherings in a few days, be warned that I've done a number of extra entries as a result of my visit to Kyoto and Kobe. To catch up, you can start here.


Monday, Sept. 10, 2001 7:30 am, Tokyo time


Only two days left in Japan! I have to say, I love it here. Love the food, the people, how different the customs are, the challenge of the language barrier. I definitely want to come back someday.


Anyway, here are some collected random observations. To be honest, these are more for my benefit than yours, just because they don't really fit into regular Blatherings but I'd like them recorded somehow. I will likely keep updating this page as I think of more things to add.


I've also included some mystery pictures. I'm hoping some of you will be able to help me with some questions (see "Today's Blatherpics" section for questions). Please answer in Blatherchat if at all possible, thanks.





- It's difficult to find a wastepaper basket when you need one. Jeff and I have frequently carried around an empty drink container or paper wrapper for some time just because we couldn't find anywhere to toss it. Mental note: make sure I always carry around a spare plastic bag next time. I can't help but notice that Japanese women tend to carry larger purses or shopping bag type of bags rather than tiny purses. In fact, even stationery stores will often sell shopping bags made of a thin (perhaps disposable) plastic for pretty cheap.


- No one says anything (even the equivalent of "bless you") when people sneeze.





- Saying "sumimasen" a lot will help you get by even if you don't know a lot of Japanese (thanks to my friend Shane for this tip). For me, it also helps to then ask if they can speak English, because it cues the other person into the fact that I'm not fluent in Japanese. :-)


- Larger public washroom areas (and the shinkansen) will often have Western style toilets in addition to Japanese style.





- Bring my own indoor slippers. That way I'll always have a comfortable pair that fits perfectly.


- Don't bother bringing kleenex if I plan to visit a large city. It seems like every major intersection has a young girl handing out free packets of kleenex. At first I thought they were marketing a particular brand of tissue (and everyone needs tissue in Japan, since toilet paper is rarely made available in public washrooms). Then I realized that it was just the equivalent of people handing out paper flyers back home. Each packet of kleenex came with two cardboard inserts covered with a colour advertisement. Brilliant marketing, as far as I'm concerned. I'd turned down a paper flyer, but happily take a free packet of kleenex.





- Keep lots of change handy for the drink machines, and buy bottled water when it's available. Interestingly, it's much easier to find sweetened drinks than regular bottled water. We've gone by half a dozen drink machines before finding one that sells plain water.


- Things to do/visit next time I visit: more time in Kyoto, visit Hiroshima, try a public hot bath, schedule in more people-watching time (rather than constantly going from one place to another), investigate where to find shakuhachi flutes, figure out when major flea markets take place and spend a whole afternoon at one.





Today's Blatherpics:


- Weather warning about the approaching typhoon this morning.


- There were a number of these kinds of statues in Kobe. Each was of a human figure, often naked. The metal plaque on the stand had something in Japanese, followed by a year. All the years seemed to be within the past 20 years or so. Does anyone know what the significance of these statues are?


- These were on sale in the produce department of a grocery store. Any guesses?


- While exploring Alison's old neighbourhood, we saw an old cemetery in which many of the gravestones had long wooden sticks stuck nearby. Each stick had Japanese characters written on it in black magic marker. Anyone have any idea what they're for?


- Alison told me these were pork penises, and I believed her until I noticed her trying not to laugh. Does anyone know what these really are?


- Is this Prince Planet or Astro Boy?


Today's Poll:



Did you ever own a pair of platform shoes?

lazy Tokyo sunday

(conclusion of a multi-part Blathering which begins here)


Sunday, Sept. 9, 2001 7:20 pm, Tokyo time


Yay, finally caught up in my Blatherings!





Last night, we watched The Postman on an English movie channel. Baaad movie, but part of this could have been because the original three hours had been edited down to less than two hours. We had fun tearing it apart throughout, however. :-)





My dad had warned me that two typhoons were heading towards Japan today, and Alison confirmed that she had heard something similar. The worst must have hit another part of Japan, however, because we only got a ton of rain and some wind. Weather was pretty weird today, alternating between sunshine and heavy rain. VERY humid, yuk. I was perspiring within a few minutes of leaving Alison's air-conditioned apartment.


The Japanese must be used to it, however (I know Alison's already adjusted somewhat)...many of them were walking around with sweaters and vests without a hint of any discomfort.





This morning we decided to check out the east gardens of the Imperial Palace. Very pretty, an oasis of green in the center of downtown Tokyo. I especially liked seeing the section containing all the different trees representing different prefectures (each prefecture had a symbol tree, similar to each Canadian province having a representative flower/plant). There were even palm trees! My favourite of them all was the Japanese maple.


Next, we explored the Tokyo International Forum (air conditioning, yay!) and had lunch. The Ginza area was next...the main road was closed until the early afternoon, and there were tables and benches set up in the middle.





We browsed the Matsu-yo department store, then went to the Sony building, which is supposed to have many floors of interesting high-tech displays. Alison and I accompanied Jeff for one floor but then decided to head back home, leaving Jeff free to peruse each floor as long as he liked. He also checked out the Sony Museum....perhaps I'll be able to convince him to Blather about it later on.





Alison read and I caught up on my Blatherings in the late afternoon. Jeff came back to the apartment a while later, laden with electronics brochures and lunch from Macdonalds.


As I type this, Alison is in bed reading, and Jeff is in bed snoozing. And I'm caught up in my Blatherings! Very soon we'll take out our bento boxes for dinner. We have a number of interesting things to choose from for dessert. I've made a point of buying something new or unidentifiable to eat each day. So far, everything's been yummy. My favourite so far is red bean icecream bars (I've had red bean icecream back home, but never on a stick; the texture is different). I am REALLY going to miss these when I go back home. :-(





And I went out on my own FOR THE FIRST TIME today. This may not seem like much to most of you, but I am abysmal at navigation; I've left it all to Jeff and Alison during our stay. If I have no choice, then I can do it (e.g. while living alone in Philadelphia), but I know it's definitely not one of my strong points.


So I went out to the AM/PM a short walk around the corner from the apartment by myself. It was very liberating. :-) And I never had to use Japanese even once, except to say thank you when paying for my groceries; maybe the clerk didn't realize I was a gaijin. I bought toothpaste (I bought the only brand I could recognize, which was Aquafresh) fruit popsicles, some juices, a "new soft" bun for Jeff (it turns out they're a sort of soft bun with pork inside; he really likes them).


Hm, all this talk of food is making me hungry. I think it's time to pull out my bento box...


Today's Blatherpics:


- Haagen Daaz green tea icecream! I wish they sold this in Canada.


- In the east gardens of the Imperial Palace.


- Tour group near the Imperial Palace. Note the flag-bearing tour guide...this was a pretty common sight at popular tourist attraction areas.


- Umbrella stand at a park near the Imperial Palace. I find it fascinating how prevalent umbrellas and umbrella stands seem to be in Japan. Umbrellas are used in both rainy and very sunny weather, and it does seem to rain more in Japan than back home.


- I'm nuts for Japanese children; they are so adorable. Whenever we pass a particularly cute infant, I'll tell Jeff, "Soooo cute! Let's have one!!" He knows enough about me (both of us are rock-solid in our decision not to have children ourselves) to react by laughing instead of being horrified. :-)


- Baby food in a grocery store we explored. I'll bet North America never sees these Gerber flavours: "Turbot and Cod White Stew" and "Mugwort and Sweet Potatoes". :-)


- A display in the Sony building.


Today's Poll:



If you had to choose between a temperature extreme, would you rather be too hot or too cold? (choose YES for hot, NO for cold)

conveyor belt sushi

(continuation of a multi-part Blathering which begins here)


Saturday, Sept. 8th, 2001


Today we checked out Alison's old neighbourhood...she used to live in Koen-ji about thirteen years ago, studying Japanese while working various jobs, including a being disc jockey in top-40 radio show called FM-Banana, English teacher, and had her own cable television show about Harajuku. Nice neighbourhood, prettier than downtown Tokyo.





I picked up some kanji-practice notebooks in a stationery store. LOVE Japanese stationery stores! All kinds of interesting paper and pens and other office supplies. Heck, I'm an office supply store addict anyway, and adding the unique experience of a foreign country just adds to the lure. I could have spent a lot more time (and money) in the office supply store, but there were other places to see and do. I even found some SUSHI ERASERS, woohoo!





We also visited Shinjuku. VERY interesting neighbourhood, definitely not a place to go if you just wanted some relaxing downtime. :-) Lonely Planet's Japan guidebook says, "If you only had a day in Tokyo and wanted to dive headfirst into the modern Japanese phenomenon, Shinjuku would be the place to go."


All kinds of shopping, stand-up noode bars, pachinko parlours, government offices, huge video screens advertising various products and services, crowded, noisy, the sleazy and classy shoulder to shoulder.





We had lunch at a kaiten sushi shop, where you can watch small plates of different types of sushi go by on a conveyor belt and take what you'd like. The plates are different colours, with each colour being associated with a different price. My dad had mentioned these a lot, so I was very happy to be able to visit one.


The conveyer belt had two levels...the top had the plates of sushi, the bottom had chopsticks, cups and green tea bags. If you wanted green tea, you could grab a cup, stick a bag in it, and get hot water from the small hot faucet in front of you. There were also largish containers of ginger near each person.





Relatively affordable, too...we pigged out on sushi and the total tab for the three of us only came to about 2600 yen (CAN$35).


Alison also took us to Iseten, a huge department store. Jeff and I were mainly interested in the foreign section of the bookstore. I already have some books on formal Japanese back home. The foreign book section had an excellent selection of Japanese language learning titles. After much agonizing (and eavesdropping on a few gaijin who were there commenting on their experiences with various Japanese language books with a Japanese friend), I bought four:


Kanji Pictographix : Teaches over 1,000 Japanese kanji and kana through mnemonics. This will nicely complement a basic kanji dictionary I have back home.


Once Upon A Time In Japan: Contains a number of Japanese fairytales. Each set of facing pages has the text in regular English on one side, hiragana and kanji on the other. Each kanji has the corresponding hiragana in small symbols above. There are also illustrations sprinkled throughout. Very cool.


Beyond Polite Japanese: A dictionary of Japanese slang and colloquialisms. The Asahi Evening News review blurb: "An indispensable reference to have at your side as you switch on the TV to watch a cop show or a soap opera."


Flip, Slither, & Bang: Japanese sound and action words. Looks great...each chapter/topic opens with a sample dialogue (in both Japanese characters and regular English) followed by a breakdown of various sound/action words, each with the hiragana representation, definition, pronunciation, and use in a sentence.





We also went to the basement floor, where we each picked out a bento box and accompaniment dishes to have for dinner that night. It was incredibly difficult choosing...the entire floor was filled with vendors of all kinds of interesting things to eat and drink. Great people-watching opportunities, too, with all the bustle and crowds and vendors calling out (I assume) to those passing by, trying to convince them to try their wares. Free samples, too!


Later in the afternoon we went back to Alison's apartment to relax, do laundry, nap, read. I've found that scheduling a little downtime has contributed a great deal to our not getting overwhelmed/exhausted. Plus it gives me time to do Blatherings. :-)


Hey, I'm almost caught up! One more day...


Today's Blatherpics:


- Basement of Iseten department store.


- Melon in grocery story. Cost: 4800 yen, or approx. CAN$65 for one melon. (!!)


- Fugu restaurant (fugu = puffer fish).


- Conveyor belt sushi.


- Books I bought at a foreign bookstore.


- Alison ordering food from a clerk in Iseten.


Today's Poll:



Do you prefer seeing a first-run movie in a crowded or empty theatre? Choose YES for crowded, NO for empty or if you don't care.