I was in Hiroshima and Miyajima a few days ago. It’s all been marinating in my head – so many things coming up. I can experience everything all at once, in non-verbal brain language. Writing it in a way that adequately captures my experiences and thoughts is going to be harder. I can’t possibly do it justice. So I’ve been doing what we all do in moments like this and just avoiding it. Rumpling it up and putting it into the top shelf of my brain where it keeps falling over into my consciousness. Procrastinating.
First of all, I had no intention of going to Hiroshima when I woke up that morning, but some combination of FOMO and shame at the idea that I’ve been chowing down on okonomiyakis like it’s nobody’s business, but I can’t get off my lazy ass to see something pretty damn important propelled me to go. OK, and honestly, I had an unlimited Japanese Rail Pass that I hadn’t used enough to have it be worth it. So there were multiple things going on there, as there often are. Continue reading Hiroshima mon amour→
So apparently it is a thing in Osaka to “eat until you drop,” referred to as kuidaore. I don’t know if this should be taken literally. I can say that I didn’t see anyone passing out from gut-explosion firsthand. Yes, I did look for it.
Whether this is fact or hyperbole, it is still true that Osaka is a down home kind of city famous for good food, particularly street food. It is the birthplace of okonomiyaki, a takoyaki (fried octopus balls)-making machine, and the inventor of such high-class innovations as conveyer belt sushi. The best place to experience all of this is at night wandering around Dotombori, a Times Square-esque area lit up with billboards and concentrated with street food vendors. That’s basically the only thing I did in Osaka other than my other favorite activity. Lay in bed. Thousand-yard stare. Hours pass by. Eventually, I pass out.
While I was on the plane today leaving Osaka, the dissonance between this celebration of (ahem, unhealthy non-Dr. Atkins-approved) food in Japan on the one hand and the unforgiving obsession with appearance and body image on the other just struck me as odd. Continue reading Osaka, Kuidaore, and Amy→
Kyoto is a city of temples, greenery, hushed alleyways, and refinement. A holy-feeling city all mixed in with everyday modern life in pockets. It has the air of an old capital. In the spirit of not overdoing it, I actually didn’t see a ton of the city. I didn’t research every temple or shrine. I just tried to pick off a few things and enjoy the experience of being there rather than of knowing it all.
My 34-ish hours in Tokyo consisted of uneducated meanderings and some down time. I landed at Haneda airport (much closer to the city than Narita) at 10:30pm without a hotel reservation and convinced someone at an airport information desk to call one of the hotels in my Lonely Planet guide. Luckily, I got the last room!
This information desk person then convinced me to navigate the insanity of the Tokyo public transit system instead of taking a taxi. The interesting thing about Japanese people is that they generally don’t give you a flat-out no, but when they pause uncomfortably and look at you askance, you get the feeling that you’re about to make a bad decision. So against all my seemingly sane instincts to take a taxi, I decided to navigate my way by train. Which looks like this crazy mess:
Tokyo subway and rail map (i.e., WTF)
I stayed in a super cute Japanese inn called Kimi Ryokan. Picture a Japanese zen garden with sliding shoji paper doors, tatami flooring all around you, and a comfortable white fluffy bed-like cocoon on the floor. Continue reading Remembering Tokyo→
I need to stop waking up at 2am. And if I’m going to wake up at 2am, I should consider doing something other than spending 3 hours agonizing over travel itineraries and scenarios. Some decisions have been made at least. Osaka tonight. Kobe tomorrow night (most likely). Kuta in Bali on Thursday. And then…maybe I’ll stay there and surf or head to Ubud and the Gili Islands, which are less run down by tourists.
Selfie starting my blog in Tokyo at one of my favorite places, Bucky’s
I may even share a link to this to people I know. It’s a big step. Oh, and thank you, Lily.
I’m writing this blog to chronicle some of the randomness and serendipity of my life at this moment, share it with my friends, and hopefully, have it be a structure for expression, meaning, and useful new realizations.
It’s unintentional but somehow fitting that I’m starting this blog my first morning in Tokyo. After two weeks of loafing in San Francisco and a one-day stopover in LA (a sort of hiding out period for me), I’m in Asia. In a way, this feels like a return to the homeland and a reconnection with my roots…it’s close enough without being too close (i.e., it’s not Korea).
So apparently it is a thing in Osaka to “eat until you drop,” referred to as kuidaore. I don’t know if this should be taken literally. I can say that I didn’t see anyone passing out from gut-explosion firsthand. Yes, I did look for it.
