Yesterday, I did nothing. That's right, nothing. Shopping and watching cartoons (by the way, mastertoons.com is the most amazing site ever if you're like me and haven't grown up very much since you were about 12 years old). I probably should have been out exploring or whatever, but I honestly just felt like sitting around and being lazy. I'm here for a year, pretty sure it won't be an issue.
Shopping was... interesting though. First of all, I bought some cereal (which wasn't as expensive as I had been led to believe).
I am now the proud owner of 1(one) box of KON FUROSUTI!! Or, as the Romaji says, Frosties! (Apparently Japan is too cool to call them Frosted Flakes). They're delicious. Now I can eat something besides toast for breakfast.
That wasn't what was interesting though. The old lady I met was the interesting thing. I was standing in an aisle looking up a translation of something on my iPhone (something I do a lot) when this old lady grabs my arm and starts waving around a sheet of stickers. I understood enough of what she was saying to realize she was asking if I wanted any because they take 20 yen off anything that costs over 100 yen (I'm surprised I was able to, she talked really fast). I gave her a polite "iie" because, well, I'm really bad at accepting things, especially from strangers. That shit didn't fly. She laughed, gave me an "iie jya nai. Hai da yo," ("No 'no'. Yes!") and, with the precision of a little old lady that shops a lot and knows how to spot bargains, proceeded to grab everything that costed over 100 yen from my basket and put a sticker on (I do mean everything. I had about 8-9 items, only 2 of which weren't over 100 yen. She got every one correct.) She used like 3/4 of her stickers on my stuff. I tried to say thank you and apologize for... well, I just wanted to apologize, but she just laughed, waved her hand, gave me another "iie jya nai!" and walked off. You rock lil ol' Japanese lady; keep being a badass.
Other than that, nothing much on Sunday. Today though... oh, today. I seem to have a talent that has remained undiscovered until I came to Japan: finding old, abandoned areas and cemeteries. Creepy, I know; more on that later. The day started out by... paying my first Japanese bill! (yay? -.-)
Bills here are interesting. You can sign up to have them taken directly from your bank account (which would be easier, but requires a lot of paperwork to fill out; all of which is in Japanese). Or you can... take them to a convenience store? That's right, any convenience store. Just take the bill in, give them money, push a button on the screen, they stamp it a bunch of times and give you a receipt, and presumably utilize some kind of dark magics to call off the bloodthirsty hounds of the utility companies. Or just send them the money. I'm not sure which.
On the way to my pre-decided walking path for the day, I saw a kitty cat! Well, two actually, but one ran off when it saw me. I took a few pictures specifically cause Krugle said I should get some Japanese cat pictures for Danielle. These cats lived in a shop with their owner, and this one was definitely NOT amused by my tourism. It ran off not long after the second picture. Jerk cat.
Remember how I said I wanted a more traditional Japanese house with a wall and a garden? This is pretty much EXACTLY what I was talking about. Saw it for the short time I was actually on the route I had planned for myself today.
Speaking of my route, I have a walking map. It's very nice. It lists a bunch of areas of interest. I also have another one that shows an aerial shot of the city and also shows some very nice areas of interest. I keep trying to go to these areas. I swear I do. But then I see things like small alleys that go up a hill behind some random houses. These things interest me. Please, allow me a quick tangent. I grew up near a place called Grass Valley. It was a semi-rural, kinda foothills/mountainous area. My friends were very dispersed across the landscape, so I often had my mom drive me to their houses. En route, I never, ever cared about the actual path there. What did I care about? The side paths. The little driveways that led into forests, the turnoffs that were blocked by metal gates, the houses I could see on hills but didn't see the path to. I already knew where the road I was on was going to, therefore it was already old news. What's the fun in knowing where you're going? One of the most cherished memories of that time of my childhood is when I got to visit my cousin, Danny. His family was being paid to watch a super rich person's cabin/house in the area, and they were living in a guest house next to it. I didn't know until we were almost there, but this house was down one of the roads I had desperately wanted to explore for years. We went down to a creek with a swimming hole, found wild turkeys, and I was able to think one more road was boring. I don't know why, but it was absolutely exhilarating. I tell you this as a kind of explanation for why I've been in Japan for over three weeks now and have still only been to one actual tourist attraction. It's because there's so many of those damn roads and driveways here. Today, I found a few. That undiscovered talent I mentioned earlier? Yeah, it's finding stuff like this. Stuff that used to be frequented, but is now ignored. I love these places. They're serene, beautiful, utterly depressing, and more calming to me than anything I have ever experienced in my whole life. Problem is, they normally only have that effect on me once each. Oh well.
So, that path led up to a tiny little hill, then forked into the forest. The right path looked very open, and the left path was slightly overgrown. Of course I chose the left path; all the good stuff is on the overgrown paths. As a side note, I spent a lot of my day hoping fervently that Japan doesn't have anything like poison oak or poison ivy. Looked it up when I got home, it does :(
Found this within about five minutes. There were a bunch of them along the trail. This one was actually in good condition compared to the rest.
Found this not long after, and realized it actually ran along the entire path (most of it is hidden under leaves.) So this area had to have been at least moderately popular at some point.
And then I found this. Found about seven or eight total I think. Little rest stops maybe? I think this used to be a little hiking trail. Can't understand why people don't use it now, it was gorgeous.
There was a lot of bamboo mixed in with the other trees. It was pretty windy today, and the result was kinda creepy. I don't know if you've ever heard bamboo rubbing together in the wind, but it sounds... offsetting. Let's put it this way: I looked over my shoulder more than once in the hour or so I was walking around here, and I jumped like hell when my iPhone's shutter sound scared off a bird in a bush next to me.
More support for my "it was a hiking trail" theory. Looks like a trail marker to me, but I didn't see No. 1-6 :/
Kinda bad picture, but it looks like a crude drainage ditch. I thought it was interesting.
There were a bunch of stairs, but this was the first set I found. I was thrilled. I like ruins. A lot.
A weird little white box. No openings anywhere. But it has a roof?
A much more impressive set of stairs. This led up to a rest stop that was at the center of the forest (or at least it seemed so to me. If you've been in a forest for any amount of time, you know that it's hard to keep your bearings. Even with trails.)
This was the rest stop (and apparently part of my finger) I thought maybe a homeless person lived here when I first saw the tarp, but it was old and falling apart. I think it was just left like this. Really weird.
This thing. I don't have the slightest clue what it is. I tried lifting it with the handle, but it was rusty and old, so it started to bend. Didn't want to hurt anything so I left it be.
I have a bunch more shots, but they're all random wilderness scenes that probably hold no interest to anyone but me (they're not great quality, and I really took them just to remind me of what it looked like). Suffice it to say, I eventually came out the other side and found this:
A big pond with lily pads, a bridge, a few islands, and a stream that leads off to the side.
Oh, and this... guess that's a good reminder that I should stay alert when tromping through overgrown trails, eh?
This place was very messy. It actually made me really mad. Almost like I felt ownership of it because I had "discovered" it. This does seem like something a homeless person used though, what with the newspapers all piled up and stuff. Hope he slept on the benches, snakes like to seek out low-lying warm spots at night...
This was near the lake. Definitely really old. You can barely even make out the facial features anymore.
More things that pissed me off. The pond was filthy. It's not even like it's easy to get down to. You have to try to get your damn trash in there.
Oh look, another staircase. With HUGE steps.
Tried to get a perspective shot of how tall these steps were. Each one went up to about me knee (and I'm around 6'4")
Bunny stone at the top of the steps!
The bridge in the light. I thought it looked neat.
This is where that little side stream led.
Not too far from the bridge.
Craig wanted pictures of me included, so here's my ugly mug messing up a picture for ya. Oh yeah, this was actually near a road, thus the house in the background.
Another bridge! This one led to that little island I was talking about.
The line pretty much just says no fishing. It's definitely a new and well-maintained sign.
What would you catch by fishing here? Cans that assholes threw into the pond?
Or maybe some oil from some of the other trash people threw in? Yes, I'm bitter. Matsue is trying to be the most "environmentally friendly city in Japan." Not doing a very good job.
This was on the island!
A little shrine. It's hard to see, but there's a one yen coin and a ten yen coin there.
I figured I'd spent a good hour or so wandering around in there, I should prolly give thanks to whatever kami is assigned to the area. It probably doesn't see much love lately. I went with a ten yen coin :/
This was also there. I thought it was awesome.
On the other side of the road, I saw a little stone stairway tucked away in a hill. Followed it and found this last interesting thing in the area.
Closer shot of it. There was a bench next to it too. Not sure if people chill here. It looks much more well maintained than the other stuff.
Awesome looking ramen shop right down the street from the forest. It was closed, or I would have gone in... was already really hungry at that point.
Very neat looking staircase near the shop. Framed by trees and everything... my place feels inadequate now. All I have is a narrow staircase framed by cement and a spiderweb.
Stray cat photo op!
It ran away when I tried to get closer...
Okay, so I was back on track (kinda). Realized later I was on the wrong road. Everything was going fine after my detour... then I got the irresistible urge to follow this road. No particular reason.
Then I found this hidden on a kinda side road from that path. I'm telling you, it's like a sixth freaking sense. I love it. Photo spam imminent.
All of these were along that stairway. Very scary guardians. Also very old. That poor last guy seems to have lost most of his face.
Main building of the shrine.
If I recall the culture portion of my Japanese class correctly, you make a prayer, but money in the box, and ring the bell.
First you clean your hands and thus purify your spirit with this fucking epic fountain.
Behind that main building
A very long list. No idea what it's for.
Oh look, another staircase.
The view looking down.
Found another shrine nearby. This one gave me chills. I'm serious. I'm not normally affected by the "gravity" of a place (as proofed by my tendency to explore cemeteries I find), but this one felt... special. Important.
The guardians. I considered giving them nicknames, but I surprised myself by deciding that would be disrespectful.
Cat maybe?
Fox?
Lion.
Lion.
Honestly no clue.
Ditto.
Behind the shrine. A mini pet shrine?
Freaking awesome dragon carved in the wood.
A whole menagerie of tiny, carved animals. Dunno what they're for.
A second little animal shrine. Color me confused.
Oh, look, another side path.
That leads to this (and also back down to the first shrine).
Closer view.
A list of people. All of the kanji at the beginning of each one is identical, and it all has to do with money. Donors maybe?
Cool looking stump. Flowers are in some of those green tubes.
Uh oh, those look oddly familiar...
Remember how I mentioned earlier that my weird talent includes finding cemeteries? Yeah... It's kind of creepy, but Japanese cemeteries are gorgeous, so I guess it's cool.
See? Beautiful. This one isn't as big as the other one, but the view...
My
God
the view.
Found out later that that's a school (when I was leaving, I went down that way. Bunch of students were on those patio things and started waving at me... was kind of embarrassing.
Hard to see, but those are packed full of bikes.
Awesome backdrop against a creepy forest, too.
Okay... I've been out for about four hours now. I'm starving, my legs hurt, and I'm probably about an hour from home (not sure precisely where I am, but I have a decent idea). Time to head hom- waitaminute, is that another path? Well, ok...
Another trail marker?
A felled trail marker and... a red capped marker? Um... ok...
Walking....
More walking....
Oh, look, clear markers that pretty much say "don't fuck around here" (you don't need to read Japanese to see that). It was around this point that I realized I might be a little TOO adventurous... I didn't turn around at the first one. Or the second. Or the dozenth. Maybe I have a death wish?
In my defense, I had been walking for about a half hour on this path (so I really wanted to find something to make it worthwhile), there were these stone paths leading everywhere, and I was really curious... yeah... That's definitely a reasonable excuse for ignoring all the signs with damn lightning bolts on them. What I didn't take pictures of was the numerous other red and yellow capped plastic spikes in the ground. This was not the smartest thing I have ever done.
Another fifteen or so minutes of walking and I found this... fourty-five minutes total, and this is all I have to show for it. It was in an interesting looking clearing, and really tall. I would have explored more, but I had seen somewhere around two and three dozen warning markers at this time, and to be perfectly honest, I was a little worried. No one knew where I was, I was way too deep in the forest to get out if i got seriously hurt, and this area obviously wasn't used frequently, which meant that it was highly unlikely someone would find me on their own. So, I didn't go check it out. I just turned around and went home. Gotta admit, a large part of me is disappointed in myself.
*WARNING* If you like cats, you should probably skip over the next picture */WARNING*
This is possibly the most heartbreaking thing I've seen in a really long time. It was on a bridge on my way back (I actually came out really close to where I had intended to... completely by accident). In case you can't tell, it's definitely dead. The fact that it's wrapped in a coat though... for some reason that really got me. I can't help but wonder how this poor thing came to die (it doesn't look that old) and why it was lied on the side of a road. It was actually on a small bridge, so it could have been easily tossed into the canal. Instead, it was wrapped lovingly in a cloak and laid on the ground. Why didn't the owner just bury it? Was it even the owner that gave it the coat? What if some random passerby gave up their coat just to give the poor thing some comfort in death? Sorry, this kind of stuff really strikes a chord in me.
On a less depressing note, I was able to grab some late lunch/early dinner at the most legit freaking McDonald's I have ever seen. It's two stories tall and, in case you couldn't tell, that's a damn spiral staircase inside of a glass tower leading up to the second floor. So epic. The food was meh.
Had to do some grocery shopping again today to pick up a few things I forgot, and I decided to pick up something Alethia, Ryan and I saw during training: Crunky Ball Nude (damn exhibitionist candy). It... isn't that good. The filling is some kind of puffy wafer, and the outside is pretty low-quality chocolate and some kind of specks of stuff. Meh.
So, yeah, that was my day of interesting adventure. Hmmm... couple of random awesome things that happened this week that haven't really fit anywhere else in the post:
1.) One of my students looked at me like I said I punch babies on a regular basis when I told her I had never tried curry. It was awesome.
2.) Coming back from lunch and heading through the tunnel that cuts below the street outside the station, a schoolgirl literally ran to get her friend and tell her a gaijin was coming... Oddly enough, the thing that made it surreal for me was that her friend was in the only direction I could have possibly been going (it's a damn tunnel). Why'd she run to get her when I was going to be heading that way anyways? For the record, her friend just gave her a "wtf is wrong with you" look, and I laughed then nodded at them.
3.) One of my other students informed me that the last time he got a bad sunburn was when he was in Thailand, fell asleep on the beach, and got a "butt burn". God, I love this job.
And now for a random breakdown of how people react to me here, triggered partly by the girl running to get her friend.
People who do a decent job of only staring at me out of the corner of their eye or otherwise covering up the fact that they're amazed by my presence here: ~50-55% (Variance to offset the next category)
People who are legitimately not phased in the slightest by my presence: ~15-20% (The variance is because they might just be good enough at hiding it. I've kinda stopped paying close attention. Also, almost all of this category is made up of small children. If they do stare, it's almost always the universal child-stare of "who is that person I don't recognize?)
People who do an absolutely abysmal job of pretending not to stare at me: ~20%
People who absolutely flip the fuck out about my presence: ~10%
Food Challenge Day 3: Beef bowl and sake
Oh my god yes. I don't think I have words to describe how delicious this food was. Wait, yes I do. If you know me at all, you know that I DESPISE onions. Seriously. I bring it up all the time. Sometimes when people aren't even talking about food. It was like living with Eric when he would just randomly feel the need to remind everyone that he's gay. I'm like that, only with onions. Something sounds wrong about that sentence. Whatever. The point is, this recipe had one whole onion in it. If I broke it down, it'd probably be 50% rice, 25% beef, 25% onion (I have a thing for percentages). That's a lot of fucking onions. I ate all of it. I'm gonna repeat that using capital letters for dramatic effect. I ate ALL OF IT. Seriously. Every last freaking bit. I feel the need to clarify here. The bowl was full when I started, and completely empty when I finished. To be fair, the recipe was really simple. There wasn't much for me to do in the cooking process. It's just really good food. I'm claiming the victory anyways. I need it. Also, I've decided this is now a play at home challenge. Here's the recipe: http://j-simplerecipes.com/recipes/meat/meja01a.html
Score to Date: Thomas - 2 Vengeful Food Gods - 1
Thomas' play at home food challenge Day 4: Nikujaga and... beer (was gonna be green tea, but nikujaga is practically stew, so I decided that beer fit better. Plus, I like beer).
It was bound to happen at some point. I was high off my past two victories. I mocked the Vengeful Food Gods. I called them powerless and stopped paying tribute. Their response was swift and merciless. Everything about this meal was awful. I started the meat too early, so it was overcooked. I bought the wrong kind of dashi (for your reference, there are many kinds of dashi soup. I got the kind made from freaking sardines. I wanted the kind made from seaweed apparently), so the whole thing tasted like fish (especially the potatoes). I also didn't have quite enough sake leftover because... well, the sake I bought last night was REALLY good. Don't judge me, jerks. Oh, and my rice cooker apparently thinks that the "keep warm" setting actually means "cook that shit like your life depends on it." The rice I made this morning to accompany the meal was half paste and half brick when I went to add it to the nikujaga. The result was, well, the opposite of yesterday. I was able to stomach down some of the potatoes because I was really hungry after traipsing through damn mountain forests all day, and I ate all the meat because I'm a carnivore and meat is always good, but there's still a half a bowl of awful sitting next to my laptop as I write this. I finished the meal by just eating a half a can of Pringles. Maybe I'll try this recipe again in the future. Maybe. I think the right kind of dashi would have made a world of difference. On the up side, the beer was good. Here's the recipe: http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Nikujaga-Japanese-style-meat-and-potatoes/Detail.aspx
Score to date: Thomas - 2 Vengeful Food Gods - 2 (assholes)
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