Ciggies and toilets

The toilet was at Ollibar in Kanazawa. It was a very tiny little bar with a very tiny water closet. Sink on top of the toilet.

Japanese ciggy machine. They smoke a lot in japan, especially the dudes.


By the way, I started a tumblog. The boys looked like they were having fun over there. It's just for random things like this.

Monkeys!

Some more photos from the Jigokudani Monkey Park in Nagano. It took us about half an hour to walk up to the monkey onsen from where we parked the car. Even the monkeys were cold.













Monkey snowball fight


I love this one...he looks so cold.



Our room at the onsen.



Leaving the onsen....

Kanazawa school

Here are some more photos from when I went to sit in on two of Kate's classes.




My guest slippers

Purikura and okonomiyaki, umai!

After spending some quality time with the police at Komatsu airport (see previous post), I was relieved to finally make it to Kanazawa station where I was to meet Kate. We met at Starbucks and went to get some okonomiyaki for dinner. Okonomiyaki is sometimes called "japanese pizza", but it's more like a pancake with lots of cabbage, some egg, dashi, green onions....it's a bunch of stuff mixed in a bowl. I got mine with cuttlefish (or squid, not really sure). You fry it, then top with sauce, japanese mayo, dried fish flakes. It looks strange, but it's awesome and very filling. My japanese friends made okonomiyaki a few times in New Zealand, so when Kate suggested it for dinner, I was all for it.

Kate trying to decipher the menu.


Our private booth and stove. Shoes off please...


After dinner, we went to the mall to get some mochi ice cream. Seriously delicious. We went to eat it in the Dessert Forest, the coolest food court I have ever seen. Then even had fake bird sounds.



Then we went and had some fun with a japanese photo booth. Why don't we have these here? They're so fun!


Some ultra-fashionable feet

Let's looking more Japan photos!

I was getting rid of some of my boring Flickr photos and realized I still have a lot of Japan photos to post. I was sick my last few days, so I left quite a bit out. If you checked my Flickr, some of these might look familiar.

Kate and I went to this little soba place by her apartment. It was a challenge trying to communicate to the lovely lady working that Kate's a vegetarian and doesn't eat fish. There happened to be two Japanese businessmen having lunch that knew a little english. They overheard us and explained to the lady, no fish. She was really confused because I'm asian, so she kept looking at me even though Kate was trying to speak. I don't know any useful Japanese, so you know.... We didn't really order anything. They just brought some stuff out based on Kate's "No meat or fish" and my "I like fish". What we got were cold soba noodles, some sauces and seaweed, and each a plate of tempura. It was good.


Japanese apartments are small. Well, just about everything in Japan is small. I felt like a giant.


These are when we went to Nagano with Kate's friends, Mish and Andrew. It was snowing like crazy up in the mountains. We went to see some monkeys and spent the night at an onsen in town. I'll have more monkey photos soon.




I really didn't get a chance to do too much exploring around Kanazawa because I was sick. I only ventured out for maybe 2 hours each of the last 2 days. I was curled up on Kate's couch trying to keep warm the rest of the time. I did get some flu meds from the drugstore. I've no idea what was in them. They were less strong than American drugs, but they helped with all my aches.

So, one day I took the bus into town and explored the Omicho Market. I love markets! They have more than crab, I assure you. More pics later...


My last night in Kanazawa...I went out to dinner with Kate and her friends Katherine and Leslie at a small plate eatery. We had some fried cheese, tofu gratin, and some shishkabab things. Hmm, not what I expected to eat in japan. Come to think of it, I don't think I had any sushi while I was there.

Sick in Japan

It sucks being sick in a foreign country and you don't have meds. I didn't sleep well last night and felt pretty ill when I woke up this morning. It's my last full day in Japan, and I wanted to get out and see some more. I was hoping I'd get better with a good night of sleep, but no. So I had to find a drug store and buy some meds. I think I got the right stuff. I feel a little better. I just went by the pictures on the box. My throat hurts and I have a headache, so I bought one that looked like it was for throat and headache. Then I went to the grocery and bought a bottle of vitamin C drink. Things are so expensive here, especially having just come from China. The cold meds cost me about $19US. Here are my non-food purchases so far, not much. The naked doll and the little Hello Kitty are both made in China. So you see, everything here is made in China, too.



Since I'm traveling so long, I haven't been buying much. But was feeling bad for myself because I was sick, so i made a few purchases today. Also, I exchanged too much money today, so I had to spend some. So today after I purchased my cold meds, I went to the Omicho Market and Kanazawas Geisha District, where I got the tomato scarf above. There is a lot of beautiful stuff here. If I had money to spend, I'd love to shop here. But I'm backpacking and I'm on a budget so I buy things like silly little toys. The Geisha district is small, but it was really nice. I happened to be there by myself when it was getting dark and it was snowing, so it was really very peaceful.





These are from when I went to visit the school where my friend Kate is teaching English. I sat in on 2 classes and helped her with some teaching. The boys class was really fun. Must start packing now....next post from Sydney!

For your entertainment

We had a crazy night out on Sunday. Monday was a holiday, so I spent the night drinking, singing, dancing, and making myself sick with a group of Kate's friends. All fellow Americans plus one Canadian also teaching English in Japan.



Here's some entertainment if you're interested. This is us after two hours of Karaoke and much drink.



We went to a club afterwards and drank some more. Here are some pics...again, more on Flickr. Okay, I really am sick, so I'm going to bed. It feels like some kind of flu. Headache, cough, achey joints...More later... enjoy!

Let's enjoying Japan with monkeys!

So i'm in Japan now, but I can't update as often since I don't have a computer anymore. I've been in Kanazawa since Thursday. My mom's broken arm required surgery. She had to have a metal plate put in her arm because the bone broke in several places. At this point I had just arrived in Japan, so I wish I could be back in Shanghai to help out. So my first hour in Japan, I spent at the police station.

Okay, I flew into Komatsu airport, which is a very small airport. Going through customs was interesting, but not worth describing. I had never been to Japan so I had absolutely no Japanese Yen when I arrived. I went to the money exchange, but it was closed. So I go to the ATM and try my bank and credit cards. None of them work, because Japanese ATMs are stupid and only work with local bank cards. Shiiiiittttt!!! I needed to take a bus into the city and I needed money! I couldn't call anyone, because everything was in japanese and I didn't have any money! I went to the information desk, and the girls there were wearing neon green dresses and black bowler-type hats. (That's not part of the story, I just thought their uniforms were funny.) They don't speak English. But they were able to tell me that the money exchange was closed for the day. maybe I should ask the police for help. So I found a police officer and he walked around the airport asking people for help. Finally he told me to step into the airport police office where there were 4 other officers. None of them speak English. I don't know how long I was in there, maybe 10-15 minutes. Somehow I was able to communicate that I needed to exchange money for the bus into the city. They were all very nice, and we all laughed at the situation. Finally one of them takes a $20 bill from me and gave me 2200Yen from his own wallet. oh my god, I was so thankful. When I left, they were all gathered around looking at the American money. So thanks to the Japanese police, I made it into Kanazawa city to meet my friend Kate who has been teaching English there since July. The Japanese people really are amazingly generous and kind. I'll have more to say later because I'm sick and tired, literally...I really need to get to bed.



We went to Nagano to see a monkey park up in the mountains where monkeys go to bathe in natural hot springs. It was great! Jigokudani Monkey Park"
We spent the night at an onsen, which is a japanese bath house. It was a good weekend. More pics on Flickr