The Safety Stash

I'd been wanting to do this post for about a week now, but I wanted to finish the Japan blogposts first. (If you haven't read them, then READ THEM! Even though they're kinda long...)

Anyway, I read an interesting article in Mental Floss that talked about the different items that people intentionally buy lots of...as in, when they're at Wal-Mart, they buy 5 or 6 or 20 of the same thing, just to make sure they're never caught without them.

When I read the article, the item that instantly popped into my head (oddly enough) was my deodorant: Speed Stick - Active Fresh. When I run low, I don't buy a single replacement, or even two. It's usually about 6. Why? Well, on two separate occasions, Wal-Mart briefly stopped carrying it, and I had to grudgingly switch to another deodorant...only to find my old deodorant back on the shelves when I needed to replenish again. I guess I'm not the only one who likes it. :)

Still, it's an odd feeling when I'm tossing 6 of the same deodorant into the shopping cart; I feel weird, since there's no good reason to hoard deodorant, but at the same time I feel relieved, since it will be many months before the threat of discontinued deodorant rears its head again.

I tried to think of any other items that I treat the same way, but no others came to mind. I mean, I do always buy a couple of 3-packs of soap when I'm about to run out, but it definitely doesn't feel over-the-top to do so. And, when it comes to food, there are plenty of things that I always like having around (Nature Valley granola bars, Pringles, and Dr. Pepper, for example), but I don't create emergency back-ups of them, just in case.

What about you? Do you have any intentional "safety stashes" of toiletries or food items or anything else in your cabinets?

Japan IV: The Many Faces of Tokyo

And now it’s time for the last installment of my Japan blogs! So, the last post ended with Ross and me headed back to Tokyo on the shinkansen. I want to mention that that train ride was especially nice. Yeah, we got to see Mt. Fuji, which was cool, but Ross and I also got to just sit and talk, which was great. I mean, when you go somewhere like Japan, you want to experience everything the country has to offer, but in doing so, plain ol’ hanging out can get inadvertently pushed aside. The train ride helped rebalance everything.

Anyway, we detrained at Shinjuku Station (the busiest train station in the world—2 million people each day) to go in search of our hotel. I must say that the station is a bit of a maze. We knew we had to head west from the station, but navigating the building (which included multiple corridors and countless stores) wasn’t intuitive. But, with some persistence, we made it to the Kadoya Hotel, which turned out to be a pretty good hotel. The lobby needed a good fumigation, as it wreaked of cigarette smoke, but our room was nice and big. And, it was very conveniently located. While I’m focusing on the hotel, let me mention a hotel attendant named Abe (AH-bay…not like Abe Lincoln). Similar to Adachi at the Marunouchi Hotel, Abe was especially helpful, and it was nice when we saw him behind the desk (particularly since the other attendant, who was older, did not have very good English skills).

So, what to say about Tokyo….it reminded me a lot of New York City. First of all, it was definitely a city that never slept. And then, there were countless neighborhoods, each with very distinct characteristics…very similar to New York. What was cool was that, even though there were plenty of sights to see, the real fun came in taking in each of the distinct neighborhoods. Having said all that, though, there were distinct differences from NYC too. First, it didn’t feel like a melting pot. Everyone looked Japanese. Sure, there were random folks with crazy-colored hair, but by and large, it felt like a single ethnic group. Second, Tokyo was cleaner…at least it appeared that way. Third, the people kept to themselves more. This was the general impression I got from the locals in all the cities. They were respectful, and they were willing to help if you asked them questions, but unless prompted, they acted as though you weren’t really there. And, of course, that had pros and cons. There was very little yelling or honking, which was great, but there was also very little smiling. Oh, and speaking of honking, there were very few cabs, because cab fares are prohibitively expensive. The trains and subways are where it’s at. Lastly, I never felt unsafe in Tokyo. The city has very little crime, and much of the crime it does have is the mafia kind, which usually doesn't concern people who mind their own business. :)

Alright, since the neighborhoods are the interesting part of Tokyo, I think I’m just gonna list the different neighborhoods and include a few thoughts about each.

Shinjuku – Where we stayed. The west side is home to lots of high-rise financial buildings; the east side has lots of electronic stores, some shops, movie theatres, etc. The station itself is home to a mall’s worth of stores. People don’t really live here, but the train station makes it so lots of folks hang out here. Lots of neon signage, btw.

Kabuki-cho – Just north of Shinjuku, this is the area for adult entertainment. We walked through it during the day, when everything was closed, and yeah, I’m guessing it does get hot and heavy at night. But, the plus is that outside that area, there’s really no visible sleaze.

Harajuku – Just south of Shinjuku, this is wear the crazily dressed school kids hang out. And, I mean, really crazy. Think “outrageous Halloween costume,” but that’s every day. Lots of bright colors, lots of accessories, and if you’re a guy, apparently lots of drag. Go figure. And, the area was PACKED with teenagers. Where were their parents? Good question!

Shibuya – Just south of Harajuku, this is the Times Square-esque part of Tokyo. If I visit Tokyo again, I might want to stay here, because I feel we didn’t experience this area quite enough. Shibuya Crossing is the main intersection here, and literally hundreds of people cross there every time the Walk sign turns on. It felt like controlled mass hysteria. :) We also visited one of the big clothing boutiques in Shibuya. The guys’ clothing was…almost indescribable. First of all, I’m pretty sure that an American size small was a biggest size they had; stylistically, the clothes were like biker-meets-cowboy-meets-raver. Too bad my name’s not Harley Spur Glowstick. ;)

Asakusa – Over near the center of town, this is Tokyo’s take on old school. Unfortunately, it doesn’t retain the authenticity that we saw in Kyoto. It was nice to visit, though.

Roppongi – This section of town provides nightlife that caters to foreigners. Lots of bars and clubs. There’s also a huge complex called Roppongi Hills that is meant to provide everything people need to thrive—housing, retail, restaurants, entertainment, medical facilities, etc. It’s an interesting concept. And that’s where I paid the most I’ve ever paid to watch a movie--$18 (I think that’s what it was) to see I Am Legend, which I didn’t even care for. It was a nice theatre, though.

Ginza – Ross and I both liked this neighborhood a lot. Where as most of Tokyo felt very “Downtown,” Ginza was correspondingly “Uptown.” A little bit more refined, but still very urban. It just felt very cool. Lots of unique buildings, and lots of high-end stores, too.

There are a few more things to mention. One morning, Ross insisted that we go to the Tsukiji Fish Market (the busiest fish market in the world), and I reluctantly agreed. The tough part is that you’ve to get there at the 5:30-6:30 AM timeframe in order to see anything interesting. :( :( I don’t like early mornings. But, we went, and I confess that it was pretty cool. Every morning, thousands of whole tuna are auctioned off to local restaurants and distributors, which was really fun to see. And, after we were done looking around, we had early-morning sushi right there in the market. Now, I don’t really care for sushi, but if there’s anywhere to have sushi, it’s gotta be there, right?

On the trains to and from the market, we saw this group of American guys—probably around our age—and they were being SO DISRESPECTFUL! Yelling at each other across the train and dropping the f-bomb nonspot. It would’ve been rude stateside, but it was exceptionally rude in Japan. And, one of the guys tried to hit on a teenage girl on the train; she wisely ignored him. But, you know, I’ve got to say that any time we saw someone being disrespectful, THEY WERE ALWAYS AMERICAN! It was really a shame. I suppose that’s one reason why our country isn’t well-liked abroad.

One other cool thing Ross and I got to do was attend a sumo tournament. There were some disrespectful Americans there too. They tried to start the wave when they got bored. Save it for a triple-A baseball game, kiddos. :(

Summing up everything, I had a STELLAR time in Japan! It was so much fun!!! I hope I get the chance to visit again someday. :D

Japan III: All Around Kyoto!

In terms of old-school Japanese culture, Kyoto is where we knew we’d focus our attention. After all, Kyoto was the capital of Japan for over 1,000 years—much longer than any other location. The city certainly didn’t disappoint.

To keep in the whole old-school vibe, we decided that while in Kyoto we’d stay in a ryokan, a traditional Japanese inn (i.e. the places with tatami mat floors, rice-paper sliding screens, etc.). Having said that, I confess that we didn’t go completely traditional. Our inn, Ryokan Shimizu, is categorized as a “modern ryokan,” meaning that, even though the rooms do retain a traditional feel, they also have modern heat/air conditioning, television (which wasn’t crucial since it was all in Japanese), and private bathrooms. We really appreciated that last one. ;) The place was really very pleasant. In traditional fashion, you had to take off your shoes when entering, and every day the staff brought you a tasty beverage that seemed to be hot green tea mixed with orange marmalade. It was nice.

Of course, it was a little tough to find the ryokan. The Japanese aren’t especially good at labeling their non-major streets, and this place was definitely tucked away on a non-major street. We did have a couple maps to help us get there, but again, they aren’t that helpful if you don’t know which street is which. Fortunately, we came across an extremely nice lady that offered to point us in the right direction. I would guess she was in her late-50’s/early-60’s, and I think she had the best English out of everyone we met, including all the younger folk. With her help, we found the place pretty easily. ;)

I got the impression that Kyoto is a city with a bit of an identity crisis. It wants to keep one foot solidly planted in the past and one foot solidly planted in the present. I mean, there are centuries-old temples and shrines all throughout the city, mixed right in with the apartment buildings, 7-11’s, and department stores. Even the population seemed to be a bit confused. There were lots of ladies who wore traditional kimonos, while also donning name-brand purses and modern jewelry. So, yeah, Kyoto definitely wants to have it both ways, and I think it’s as successful at it as any city could be.

As you can imagine, the majority of the sights in Kyoto are old, old buildings…and they really are spread all over town. Fortunately, our ryokan was within walking distance of Kyoto Station, the city’s transportation hub. And, since Kyoto thrives on tourism, their bus system was perfect for travelers. During our first bus ride, though, we learned an important lesson: do not sit down if you’re not sure how far away your stop is. Otherwise, you might be sandwiched in such a way that you can’t get out when the time comes. The second thing we learned in the buses was that the ideal temperature for the Japanese is somewhere in the mid-80’s. Those buses were HOT! And so was our room at the ryokan (prior to our daily adjustment of the thermostat). I mean, oppressively hot. Not to mention that, in all that heat, we were the only two people that would take off our coats. Everyone else stayed bundled up in coats, overcoats, and scarves. I don’t know how they stood it.

Anyway, back to the temples. Like I said, the bus system helped us maneuver the city, but you know, we still had to do a fair bit of walking. For most of the sights, the nearest bus stop was still about a mile or two away…usually with a hill to climb somewhere in there. ;) Regardless, the places didn’t disappoint. I could write paragraphs and paragraphs about them, but I’m already running pretty long. To sum it up, there was great architecture (including the longest wooden building in Japan and a temple totally covered in 24K gold), tranquil gardens (with babbling brooks, zen rock gardens, and koi), and exquisite statuary (like a collection of 1,001 Kannon statues—each one with its own set of 40 arms), as well as Gion, Japan’s most storied geisha district (and we did see a geisha!).

There are a few more random tidbits I want to share about Kyoto. At one of the temples, Ross and I were approached by a friendly, older gentleman. We both were a bit wary at first, because he was a little too energetic about starting a conversation, but he ended up being harmless. It turns out that he’s an English professor who’s writing an English-Japanese dictionary; wisely, he seeks out Westerners to help proofread it. So, we each took a page and gave it a once-over. All in all, a pretty surreal event.

Speaking of surreal stuff, I would never in a million years expected to see a Café du Monde right in the middle Kyoto Station. Yep, THAT Café du Monde...from New Orleans...that doesn’t have any U.S. locations outside of Louisiana. The only other franchises in the entire world are in Japan. Crazy! Unfortunately, the beignets weren’t the same. :(

Lastly, I can’t close my post about Kyoto without mentioning that Ross and I both had bouts of unwellness while we were there. :( Mine hit the first day in Kyoto. The combination of some sniffliness (probably from the cold night in Nara), the lingering fatigue/jetlag from my flight, and the exertion from walking around Kyoto made for an overall sense of blech. I definitely verged on dehydration, along with the sinus mess. Ross was really understanding at our first dinner in Kyoto, as I sipped broth from the noodle bowl. Fortunately, that night was as bad as it got. I was on a steady track upward after that. Ross’s own bout with near-dehydration happened the next day, as we frustratingly searched around midtown Kyoto for dinner. Another lesson learned: travel guidebooks offer great info on restaurants, but they don’t always tell you how to find them. We finally just threw up our hands and went with the first decent-looking place we saw. It actually turned out to be a pretty good place, and Ross felt much better afterwards.

Well, after 3 ½ days in Kyoto, it was back to Tokyo! So, we hopped aboard the shinkansen and headed that direction! The sky was clear enough that we got to see Mt. Fuji on the way! :)

Japan II: Nara or Bust!

Time for the second blogpost on Japan! When we last left the story, Ross and I had made it to the Marunouchi Hotel, having misjudged the scheduling of the trains in Japan. After a good night’s rest and a good, hard look at the train timetables, we headed out for Nara. The shinkansen (bullet train) that runs between Tokyo and Kyoto made for a very comfortable trip; we should have bullet trains around here. Anyway, after changing trains in Kyoto, we finally arrived in Nara, the first permanent capital of Japan!

Compared to Tokyo and Kyoto, Nara is a quaint town. It has plenty of shops/restaurants/etc, since it’s a popular tourist destination, but it retains a definite small town feel. People frequently walked down the middle of street, just because car traffic was so sporadic. By the time we checked into the hotel it was mid-afternoon, so we decided to immediately hit the sights. You might wonder why we were in Nara anyway. Good question! Well, on the 2^nd Sunday of every January, Nara sets fire to Mount Wakakusayama (which really was just a glorified hill), in commemoration of a centuries-old feud between two Buddhist sects. People come from all over Japan to see it, and since the festival coincided with our vacation, we wanted to check it out!

But, it wasn’t dark yet, so we had just enough time to see some other stuff. First was Nara Park, a green space known for its extremely tame deer. I mean, tame like pets. They just roam around, looking for hand-outs, and of course, many people oblige. We walked through the park, on our way to Daibutsu-den (Great Buddha Hall), the largest wooden building in the world. As the name implies, it houses a huge statue of Buddha. So, yeah, this building was MASSIVE! Not to mention that it was also beautiful—definitely one of my favorite sights from the trip.

By the time we were done at Daibutsu-den, it was getting dark, so we decided to get some food from the street vendors and scout out a place for the hill-burning. This is when I learned that Japanese people don’t appreciate “lean” meats. One of the vendors was selling delicious-looking chicken skewers, and Ross and I both decided to go for those. Unfortunately, the chicken had a good bit of fat/skin on it, so it ended up being less than ideal for me. Of course, Ross gobbled his up—1) because he’s not a picky eater at all, and 2) China has been a good primer for such things. He noted that similar skewers in China would likely have gristle and bone in them as well. Um…right. I was thankful I only had to dodge fat and skin. :)

So, on to the hill-burning. Let me make one thing clear: IT WAS REALLY COLD!!!!! I did have a hood on, and I did have multiple layers on, but it was still freezing out there! Plus, there weren’t any chairs or seats, so everyone was just standing around in the park, looking up at the hill for over an hour. Not especially comfy. The event started with some fireworks, which were enjoyable, and then they started torching the hill. I’m not sure exactly what I expected, but I’m pretty sure it involved a massive explosion that left the entire hillside simultaneously in flames. On the contrary, there were about 20 or so guys with torches who started fires around the hill. The fire did travel up the hill, but never was the hill totally ablaze. Visually, it wasn’t that exciting, but it was still fun to see a tradition that’s been going on for hundreds of years. Afterwards, we headed back to the hotel to thaw.

The next morning, we packed up to head back to Kyoto. On the way to the train station, we picked up breakfast at a doughnut shop and saw two really adorable Japanese kids with their dad. Perhaps we should’ve taken their picture, but then again, adults taking pictures of kids can sometimes appear sketchy. At least in the U.S. Anyway, we took our doughnuts to the Starbucks in Nara Station for our first Starbucks experience in Japan! Just to clarify, my guidebook was apparently printed prior to the explosion of Starbucks’s in Japan, so I was under the impression that we had better take our opportunity to enjoy Japanese Starbucks then. Wow, I was wrong. They were EVERYWHERE! No matter…we enjoyed the Starbucks and hopped on the train to Kyoto!

Japan I: Getting There is Half the Fun? Really?

Alright, I’ve finally gotten enough time to put together a blogpost about Japan!!! Hooray! I’m guessing I’m gonna have a decent bit to say, so let’s just get right down to it! :D

I confess that I did A LOT of planning in the months leading up to this trip. Considering that going on a vacation to Japan is probably a once-in-a-lifetime event, I figured it was definitely worth the effort. If there was something really cool to see/do, I certainly wanted to see/do it! Plus, I knew that a little foreknowledge about the culture would go a long way. So, you may be wondering, was the planning worth it? Well, I learned 2 important lessons about pre-trip planning: 1) planning is very important, especially on international trips, but 2) planning is NOT going to fully prepare you. In a few paragraphs, you will understand more fully, but I’m getting ahead of myself.

Alright, so let’s talk about getting to Japan; it wasn’t as pleasant as it could’ve been. Now, I was fortunate to have a pretty easy flight schedule—Memphis to Detroit to Tokyo, with plenty of layover time in Detroit. First of all, I needed that layover time, because Plane #1 had mechanical issues. We arrived about 45 minutes late. But, no big worries. On to Plane #2. First problem: a leaky lavatory, which took 45 minutes to fix. Here’s where it got interesting. During that 45-minute delay, one of the passengers decided not to fly to Tokyo. I’m sure you’re wondering why, especially since he went through the trouble checking luggage, going through security, getting on the plane, etc. Yeah, we wondered the same thing. Well, whatever, right? Just kick him to the curb and be gone, right? Nope. Since he did check luggage, all of our bags had to be unloaded so his could be located. Then, all of our bags had to be reloaded. Suffice it to say that no one had warm and fuzzy feelings for that gentleman when we finally departed…2 hours late. :( Oh, but I wasn’t gonna be frustrated. I was originally gonna get to Tokyo about 2 hours ahead of Ross anyway, so no big deal. I settled comfortably in to my aisle seat (no one was in the middle seat—score!) for the 13-hour flight.

Fast forward about 11 hours—right when you realize you are definitely tired of being on the airplane. The captain came on the PA system and said (pretty calmly, since a non-calm pilot isn’t especially comforting) that one of our engines had conked out. He did a convincing job of reassuring everyone that 747’s can fly comfortably with 3 engines, but you know, that’s like driving without spare. At some point, you’re probably gonna need the spare. Luckily, three was enough for us. ;)

Oh, but the fun was just beginning! I made it through customs & immigration and found myself in Narita Airport Terminal 1, trying to locate Ross. Now, it’s important to note that Narita is actually more like two separate airports (Terminal 1 and Terminal 2) that happen to have a bus service between them. If you’re in Terminal 1, and your travel companion happens to be in Terminal 2, there’s NO WAY you’ll find each other conveniently. They don’t share PA systems or anything. But, we weren’t supposed to have a problem, because Northwest and Shanghai Air both use Terminal 1. Well…it turns out that Shanghai Air has some codeshare flights with Air China, which uses Terminal 2, and that’s actually what Ross was flying. If we had had this problem in the U.S., I simply would’ve called Ross on his cell phone to see where he was, but that wasn’t an option in Japan. So, I went over to Terminal 2, only to go back to Terminal 1 and wait until Ross appeared. And eventually he did! Hooray! After all the snafus, it was finally time to enjoy the vacation!!!!!

Or something like that. This is where the “planning only gets you so far” part comes in. Here was the original plan: meet up at Narita, take the train to Tokyo (45 minutes), transfer over to a bullet train to Kyoto (3 hours), and finally head down to Nara (20 minutes) to check into our first hotel. Haha, looking back, that was such a silly idea. After all, we were dog-tired; plus, we had zero experience working the train system, which, while easy to navigate, does require a bit of acclimation. The deathknell, though, was the fact that I had no idea how infrequently the trains run in the evening. As in, there was no way we were getting farther than Tokyo, period.

It was an interesting challenge…and an interesting way to be welcomed into a new country. We did make it to Tokyo Station, but then we had to find a place to stay. With minimal searching, we saw that the Marunouchi Hotel was located in the adjoining building, and thankfully, it had a vacancy! It was a very nice boutique hotel, and yes, I paid way more for that room than I’ve paid for any hotel room, but IT WAS SO WORTH IT! I think God knew that, after all the day’s transportation problems, both of us would benefit from a little extra comfort.

Before I close out this chapter, I have to talk about our check-in process at the Marunouchi. Remember, we had reservations at a hotel in Nara that night, and the check-in process is very important in Japan. If you don’t check in by a given time, you forfeit your entire reservation. Well, our front desk attendant at the Marunouchi (her name was Adachi) was very, very kind. She definitely realized we were weary travelers and was kind enough to call our hotel in Nara and have them revise our reservation. But, that phone call was especially memorable. Here’s how the call went (as best as we could tell, since it was in Japanese): Adachi told the gentleman in Nara about our situation; then, the gentleman repeated the entire thing to make sure he understood. As he spoke, Adachi kept saying “hai” (Japanese for “yes”) to confirm that Nara guy was saying everything correctly. And, she said “hai” in a memorable way—think, the woman from the Herbal Essences commercials. Now, slow it down and add a touch of breathiness. That’s what it sounded like. And, Adachi said it at least 25 times…no exaggeration. Ross and I were overwhelmed by it, but of course, we had to be respectful, so we kept it inside. :)

And with that, our first day (or portion thereof) in Japan was complete!