August 31, 2006

Killer wakes up

Killer is the first puppy of the litter to open his eyes.
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Pretty soon he'll be able to walk about instead of just inch around like a caterpillar.
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He's just eaten, so he wants to go back to sleep.
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Posted by Adam at 5:17 AM | TrackBack

Ramen Industrial Alliance of Asia

Over at Wired, Jennifer Granick makes an interesting comparison between the music industry and ramen:


People play guitar in all sorts of styles, riffing on notes the way the Japanese riff on the basic concept of Chinese noodles in soup. What if the original ramen chefs tried to stop others from developing their own ramen recipes and making differently flavored ramen broth?

They'd form an association -- say, the Ramen Industrial Alliance of Asia, or RIAA -- and announce a clampdown on the proliferation of infringing noodle shops. Their arguments would echo the music industry's. "The chefs who created ramen deserve to get paid for their creation," they'd say. "These noodle shops are taking profits away from the creators, while peddling an often-inferior product to an unsuspecting public that believes they are getting real ramen."

Just as the music industry claims that tab sites are publishing "derivative works" related to the original musical compositions, the ramen industry lawyers would argue that ramen varieties are derivations of the original product. Kyushu's tonkatsu (pork) ramen, Sapporo's miso ramen or Hakodate's shio (salt) ramen divert customers and take ramen sales away from the original chefs.


(link)


In a world of Maruchan, Nissin, and other instant crap, it's nice to know that somewhere, pig bones are slowly simmering over a low flame, releasing collagen and combining with the other ingredients to make a rich, delicious broth. Long live tonkotsu (and tonkatsu, but not in ramen)!

Posted by Adam at 4:25 AM | TrackBack

August 30, 2006

Zebra Ghillie Suits

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The cow patterned puppies will blend in well with a zebra pattern.
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Their pattern against the zebra stripes reminds me of the dazzle camouflage used in WWII.
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This one doesn't quite blend in as well as the other puppies.

Posted by Adam at 1:16 PM | TrackBack

August 28, 2006

Hit puree!

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Young "Chunk" reenacts a dramatic scene from "The Goonies".

Posted by Adam at 1:03 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack

August 27, 2006

i-puppy

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She fell asleep right on the keyboard. More shameless puppyblogging to come...
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Posted by Adam at 2:32 PM | Comments (2) | TrackBack

Opening Bolsa Chica

Up until a few days ago, much of Bolsa Chica was closed off to the public, so when I heard that they had opened it up I went to go check it out. The water under the bridge is murkier because the water is now able to get into and out of the estuary a bit easier, now that they have widened the opening to the ocean. You can already see a difference.

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We saw about 6 stingrays in different places, all within a 30 minute span. This one seems to be missing his tail.

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Something was scaring all of the smelt, and we couldn't quite make it out. Whatever it was, it was just shy of 2 feet long.

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Upon careful inspection, it turns out to be a white sea bass! I have never seen these in Bolsa Chica before. And there were a bunch of them munching on the the smelt!

A few days ago, a school of bonita came up next to the docks in Newport and attacked the smelt as I was teaching a class. The frenzy only lasted 10 seconds, and when it was finished, there were a bunch of baitfish flopping around on the dock. This was exactly how it was in Catalina last weekend, except I have never seen this happen in front of the Sea Base or Sailing Center in the 10 years that I've been around this area.

I'm taking these unusual sightings as a good omen for the fisheries along the coast. It looks like things are starting to recover. It's about time.

Posted by Adam at 3:50 AM | Comments (1) | TrackBack

August 25, 2006

Pictures from the road

All of these pictures were taken from the road as we traveled around Kyushu. Though the destinations were all great, getting there was half of the fun. These are some of the passing moments that we witnessed on our road trip, complete with commentary.

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A old horse in Yufuin pulls an endless procession of tourists around town. This is some tired basashi.

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The JSDF and other Jeep enthusiasts regularly drive their vehicles in the mountains of Kumamoto and Oita. In these areas, you can really put an ORV to the test.

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The "Mika" sits in front of a massive ship on the coast of Oita.

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Japanese construction workers dress like the Beastie Boys in their video for "Intergalactic". Or maybe it's the other way around.

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Many of the bridges have fish on them. This one looks like a sardine.

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"Kick his ass, Sea Bass.". At least, I think this one is a sea bass.

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If my little sister or younger cousins owned a storage container, they would probably do something like this to it.

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Work is constantly being done on the two lane highways, and they use timed stoplights to direct traffic through parts where one lane is closed off. This is a good idea, except when you get stuck at one of these and have to wait a few minutes to proceed, even if there is no one else on the road. Sometimes people get impatient and go on a red. If you have the green, this can be a problem.

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We barely made it across this narrow bridge. It was only just wide enough to accommodate our car.

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Three motorcycle cops bust this guy on the stretch of expressway leading into the SeaGaia resort in Miyazaki. If you are traveling down this road, watch your speed. There are a bunch of speed traps, and an abundance of police officers riding bikes.

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Driving through Miyazaki reminds me of home, with the beautiful beaches lined with tall palm trees.

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Swans guard the coastline of a volcanic lake in the countryside of Miyazaki.

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This would be a great bridge to take pictures of an old RX-7, hachiroku, or NSX. Having none of these handy, the Familia has to make do.

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This antique pump is still in use. Sometimes, a word or simple phrase in Japanese is so much easier to convey one's sentiments than in English. In this case, that would be "monomochigaii".

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Sometimes tunnels will focus the signal given off from radar guns positioned just outside of tunnels. Often times, speed traps are set just outside of the tunnels and around a bend, so it is wise to watch your speed when you come out.

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Tonkatsu? Shabu shabu? Yakiniku? These are the questions that go through my mind as we pass a truck carrying some pigs.

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I love these animatronic dummies that pose as construction workers and cops. Often I have had the impulse to take one home for my living room, but have always exercised self-control.

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Whenever I drive by a truck carrying petroleum products, I imagine what would happen if it got hit by a car, a carefully placed bullet, or a missile, and how much it would suck to be in close proximity to it if this happened.

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Here's a picture of my former residence that I took while driving through Ubuyama. It still looks the same.
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A fire k-car. There are smaller fire vehicles, but this one is pretty compact. These firefighters were taking a break on Daikanbo, eating soft serve and enjoying the sweeping view of the caldera.

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I think it's kind of cool that this motorcycle group has boy's day decorations on their bikes. Friendly bikers are so much more pleasant than scary ones. Only in Aso...

Posted by Adam at 2:29 PM | Comments (2) | TrackBack

August 24, 2006

Torii of Kyushu

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This torii is built on the banks of the lake in the tourist town of Yufuin, Oita-ken.

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This one and the next torii are in the small coastal city of Usuki, on the same grounds that house the magaibutsu.

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The forests of bamboo and deciduous trees filters the light into intense beams that pierce the thick shadows. I can't describe it well, but these places evoke similar feelings that I felt when I visited the aincent churches in Toledo, Spain.

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The shrine at Udo Jingu resides inside of a cave on the Miyazaki coastline. I recommend going just before it closes. There are fewer people at this time, which is always a nice thing. I got goosebumps walking through the cave and looking at the ancient shrine with the auto focus light on my camera.

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This one is also on the grounds of Udo Jingu, on the way up a forgotten stairway to some ruins on the top of a hill.

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A lava floe forced the residents of Sakura-jima, in Kagoshima-ken, to flee for their lives. Days before, the water started to bubble, and dead fish floated to the shores of the volcanic island. Those wise enough to heed the warning escaped. This torii stands next to an elementary school on the island, mostly buried in magma that has frozen into volcanic rock.

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This torii stands in front of a shrine on the entrance to Iso Teien.

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Tucked away in the gardens of Iso Teien, on the outskirts of Kagoshima city, is this Torii that serves as the entrance to the tombs of members of the Shimadzu clan.

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A strangely pruned tree sits in front of a shrine in Kagoshima. I think it's supposed to be a bird.

Posted by Adam at 1:35 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack

August 23, 2006

Paying Respects to Musashi

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The body of Miyamoto Musashi, the greatest swordsman of all times, rests just outside of Kumamoto city in a peaceful park in the town of Musashigaoka. It is a nice place to enjoy the momiji in the fall, and the sakura in the spring. Surprisingly, not too many people visit the park. It's kind of sad, but most people know Musashi, not from reading "The Book of 5 Rings" or the book by Yoshikawa Eiji, but from the NHK television series or from the "Vagabond" manga.

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I look at the words of Henry Cisneros, a former mayor of San Antonio, and am sad that he didn't do his research or bother to write a better tribut to Musashi. Words that would almost guarantee anyone else an F on an elementary book report are cast into bronze for all to cringe at.

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How do you take down a whole school of swordsmen bent on killing you to protect their honor? With a katana in one hand and a wakizashi in the other. This is when it helps to be ambidextrous.

Here is Musashi demonstrating several positions where he holds 2 swords. Before Musashi, Japanese swordsmen pretty much only used 1 sword at a time to fight with. Fast forward to present day swordsmanship and the arts of kendo and iaido. No one uses 2 swords! Oh well. Kendo is kind of disappointing to me anyways, as are the other martial arts that have been made into sports.

It is interesting to note that Miyamoto Musashi prefered to use a wooden swords in his bouts. According to some accounts he defeated Sasaki Kojiro, a prodigy of the nodachi (a long two handed sword), by carving a sword out of an oar that he found in the boat that he rode to the site of their duel.

Posted by Adam at 2:25 PM | Comments (4) | TrackBack

August 21, 2006

Fishing Catalina

We departed from Huntington Harbor at 1A.M., bound for Catalina Island. The plan was to look for kelp paddies along the way, to go after the mahi mahi that had come up from Mexico along with the warmer waters, but we had just missed the bite by a week. Though we didn't bag any dorado or yellowtail, the trip was still a lot of fun, and we limited out on bonita.


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After catching some calico bass just before sunrise, we decide to go look for kelp paddies off of the coast of Catalina. We reel in, anchor up, and head out.

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Kelp paddies are hard to find, so every extra pair of eyes helps. We're also scanning for boils on the surface, whales, and flocks of sea birds that might indicate where the fish might be.

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We spot some small whales and dolphins breaching the surface, but they're loosely grouped together. It doesn't look like there are any fish with them so we part ways.

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We toss in a net full of bait and get our lines in the water next to a paddy in hopes of raising some big fish. Nothing is biting, so we return to the island.

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Matt hooks into what he thinks is a tail...

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...but ends up being a baby calico. Our bait is bigger than this fish!

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Our sardines are too big for the perch and blue bass to swallow, but they like the frozen squid. So do the calicos.

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We bag a sheepshead...

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...and then all hell breaks loose. Boils appear all around us in every direction. Several large schools of bonita and barracuda swarm up and down the coast, attacking the balls of bait fish. The small anchovies breach the surface in an attempt to flee the ravenous predators. The carnage is an awesome sight to behold, and I am too busy to take a picture. If you have a line in the water, is is almost impossible not to get a fish on your hook! This is the very definition of "wide-open".

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Bonita flop all over the deck, as we pull in fish after fish. The deck becomes a sticky mess of oily, dark blood. The fish stop going after our big sardines, so we switch to iron. Krocodiles and blue and white UFOs are like magnets to the bonita.

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A seal is drawn to the commotion, and tries to get our fish as we pull them in. It's a race to keep our fish away from this persistent pest. Luckily, we're able to reel them in fast enough to land them intact.

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We quickly fill up a sixty gallon cooler with fish, and then top off a separate 40 gallon chest. The boat looks like the scene of a crime, with blood spattered everywhere. We rinse the deck down every few minutes, but new fish just spurt more and more blood everywhere. We limit out on bonita, and decide to start heading home just before 4 in the afternoon.

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On the way back, Alex clears what ends up as well over 50 pounds of fillets, and the trail of carcasses attracts a flock of seagulls. One of them goes after a cedar plug that we're trolling. Luckily, we're able to get it off the hook relatively unharmed and it flies away.

We come into port just after sunset, clean the boat and our equipment, and head home after a great day of fishing at Catalina.

Posted by Adam at 7:36 AM | Comments (5) | TrackBack

August 19, 2006

Puppy blogging

I'm not one to regularly write posts about my pets, but I'll make an exception because our shih tzus just had puppies. The ultrasound predicted 5 of the little guys, but we ended up with 5 females and 2 males.

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Here's little "Killer" being born. He is clearly the most vocal of the group.

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Molly is exhausted after giving birth to 7 little puppies.

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Jack, the father, is freaked out by his little squeaking kids. He maintains a good distance away from Molly and his new family, and paces around nervously.

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The pups literally fit in the palm of your hands, with room to spare. About the perfect size for a water balloon toss or juggling.

More puppy blogging to follow...

Posted by Adam at 10:09 AM | Comments (6) | TrackBack

August 14, 2006

Impossible Fish Tank

I don't know how this fish tank works exactly, but from what I could understand, the tank on top that joins the adjacent tanks works as a vacuum. The result is that there are feeding holes in the side of the tank, and the water does not flow out. I could not wrap my mind around this technology, but it works.
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The fish were swimming between the side tanks over the tunnel. The smarter fish would swim across to the side where we were giving them shrimp.
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As you can see, the water stays within the half bowls that are affixed to the side of the tank.
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You would think that the water would come gushing out, but it doesn't. In the words of Arthur C. Clarke, "Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from Magic.". Yup.
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These are all fish that you can find off of the coast of Oita.
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This guy got a little carried away and jumped out of the tank. He was delicious!
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A brightly colored wrasse goes after some krill and misses. Not the most coordinated fish in the tank...
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This rockfish was by far the most tenacious fish in the tank. He boxed out all of the other fish, until he had his fill.
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The squirrel fish was a bit harder to lure out.
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A trigger fish takes his time, and grazes on a shrimp buffet.
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This is my favorite picture of the lot. Puffers, box fish, and cowfish all make me happy for some reason. They're such goofy fish, and tough to boot.

Posted by Adam at 1:51 PM | Comments (18) | TrackBack

Yufuin Taco Truck

Mexican food is not very popular in Japan, so I was surprised to find a taco truck (a broken down k-jidosha) while walking around the quaint town of Yufuin, Oita.
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My father orders a taco from the old lady, and finds out that she learned how to make tacos in Mexico. Tacos don't get much more ethnic than that...
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There is no carne asada, carnitas, biria, lingua, or chile relleno here. The vendor takes out a block of homemade roast beef, and puts a few slices on the grill
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We are offered the choice between a white or "brown" tortilla. We go for the brown. The tortilla, much to our delight, is obviously hand made out of whole wheat. A good tortilla is hard to get and can easily cost ten times as much as the going rate in the States(unless you shop at Costco). This is also put on the charcoal grill.
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The taco consists of a tortilla, roast beef, onions, tomatoes, cabbage, cucumber, and hot sauce. Irrational as it sounds, I am relieved that there is no fish sausage in the taco. Could that be a surprisingly good combination? No. I don't think so.
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The taco is small, but it is a harbinger of food to come. It's as if I was destined to eat good Mexican food.
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My father enjoys his taco, but reflects that a nice large horchata would be nice. Horchata would probably go over well in Japan. After all, it is made of rice.

Posted by Adam at 8:52 AM | TrackBack

Mambou portraits

The Oita Marine Center catches a bunch of oceanic sunfish every year, and puts them into their salt water pool. Visitors are encouraged to feed the mambou, but it is best done from a distance. You have to be careful when you feed them, because their razor sharp teeth can easily chomp off a finger or two.
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No, not really, but it sounds cooler when you make things sound dangerous! You can safely touch these guys without fear of harm. They actually kind of gum their food to death, like the elderly without their dentures. They mostly eat jellyfish and other easy to catch food.

Posted by Adam at 2:11 AM | Comments (1) | TrackBack

School of Hard Knocks

The year before I taught at Engei High School, the previous English teacher had only made it a few months into her contract. From what I heard, she tried to discipline the students and lost. It all culminated on one day when the students acted up to such an extent that they made her cry and run out of the classroom. She left school and was in New Zealand before she knew it.

I started school, and the teachers were watching me, wondering how long I would last. This wasn't paranoid delusion, they actually told me that they didn't think I had the fortitude to be able to put up with the situation for more than half of a year. These teachers were lifers, who had seen many before me come and go, as they were doomed to repeat the process over and over again. Their light at the end of the tunnel was retirement, and they weren't going to waste any energy on the latest English teacher.

I was able to make it through a year and completed my contract. I had to use every resource and every ounce of my will in order to create a feasable curriculum without the help of any of the teachers. The disrespect in the classroom coupled with an almost complete absence of motivation on the parts of the students and teachers alike made work a formidable challenge, to say the least. It was cool being able to help out the students who wanted to learn English or about foreign culture, but by the end of the year I was burnt out.

I just received this letter from a colleague still working at the high school:

Dear Adam,

Thanks for the recomendation letter. I appreciate it. I hope you are
doing well. By the way, you might be interested to know that the ALT who
replaced you quit 3 weeks into the school year and we still don't have a
new one. Nice, huh? Can you come back?? ha ha ha! ^0^

Sorry, I wouldn't come back even if they gave me a raise. Life is too short!

Reform in education, especially for the English programs at all levels of education, is sorely needed. There are people that can get the job done, but there is little interest from the higher levels to retain us. If the Japanese educational system will only pay for gaijin clowns in the classroom, then that is what they will ultimately end up with.

Posted by Adam at 1:38 AM | Comments (2) | TrackBack

August 13, 2006

8 Day Tour of Kyushu

Right before I moved back to Southern California, my father and I embarked upon an eight day road trip, touring our way through the Southern Japanese island of Kyushu at breakneck speed. Each day, we traveled through an average of exactly 2 prefectures.

It is impossible to enjoy more than a fraction of what Kyushu has to offer in such a short time, but with a lot of thought, flexible planning, and a desire to explore as much as possible, we visited six out of eight prefectures and covered a good chunk of the perimeter of the island. The only prefectures that we were unable to visit were Nagasaki and Okinawa. In order to visit everywhere I wanted to go and do everything I wanted to do, we would have needed at least a month! Keep in mind that much of the distance traveled was on windy, ill-maintained country roads. Add to this an average speed limit of 50 kph, which many country drivers prefer to drive under, and it takes a lot longer to get from point A to point B.

Here is a rough outline of our journey:


Equipment:
Mazda Familia
Assorted Omiyage (spices, chocolate, beef jerkey, and assorted snacks)
Super Cat Radar detector
Kyushu Super Mapple
Extra-large map of Kyushu
Docomo D251
Nikon D-50
2 SD memory cards
250 GB Buffalo External Harddrive
Canon Wordtank G50
40 assorted music cds and Blink (by Malcolm Gladwell) on tape
Hohner harmonica


Day 1- Osaka to Kumamoto
My father and I depart from Itami, arrive in Kumamoto, and pick up our rental car, a Mazda Familia. We wanted an RX-8, but it cost about $200 per day.

After driving into downtown Kumamoto, we had lunch at the tantanmen restaraunt on the 7th floor of Tsuruya.After this, we dropped by Kumamoto castle and enjoyed the blizzard of falling sakura petals.
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We meet up with some friends, and visit the Kumamoto Traditional Arts and Crafts Center (definitely worth a visit), watching local artisans make cutlery and make gold and silver jewelry in the local style.

After this, we eat ramen at Ajisen, and I go out drinking with Luke, his new girlfriend, Jin, and Joe. My father goes separate ways with a cousin, and they sample basahi with the local varieties of shochu.

We stop by The (now closed) Sharp and drank at Jeff's World Bar, the new Sanctuary (it's too bright and clean now), Cowboy (did 2 hours of nomihodai), and various places along the Kamitori and Shimatori.

I finally stumble in at 4 am to the Green Hotel after going to 2 other Green Hotels and being told that I was at the wrong place! That's what 2 consecutive rounds at a nomihodai joint will do to one's cognitive abilities, I guess.

Day 2- Kumamoto to Saga
I wake up with a hangover and quickly depart for Saga to visit relatives and friends.
On the way, we decide to visit Miyamoto Musashi's Grave in Musashigaoka en route to the expressway.
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My father gets directions to our relatives' church, which turn out to be bad, On top of this, a typhoon starts to roll in. We overshoot our destination, and find out that we can not go past the Saga Airport, as the directions tell us to, because to do so would mean driving into the ocean.

Getting directions to Higashimatsura, from an old man who speaks with a strong Saga dialect, tests my comprehensional abilities of Saga-ben. According to the old man, it would take another 2-3 hours of driving to get to the city of Higashimatsura. Something is obviously wrong.

We give up and call our relatives, and finally find out that HIgashimatsura is the name of the church (which moved to its present location from the city with which it shares its name) is in Saga city, only 45 minutes away. They quickly come and retrieve us from the airport.

Our cousin takes us out to eat the famous beef from Saga. It is among the best beef I have ever had in Japan, which is to say, the best beef I have ever had. A cold mug of Malt's beer and a stomach full of wagyu eases my hangover.

We spend time going over family history, and find out just how hard our relatives had to work to get educated and earn money to save up for bringing the family over to America. Everyone had to work in order to send one child to school. Public education was non existant in those days, and education was not taken for granted. How much things have changed...

My father spends the night with our relatives, and I take the train to Tosu and stay over at the Tanaka's house. I finally get to meet Sachika-chan, Ko-chan and Kaori's baby, and take too many pictures of her.
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We eat a homemade dinner of tonkatsu, miso soup, and daikon salad. Later we drink beer and reminisce about teaching and life in Ubuyama-mura.
I transfer the pictures of 2 SD cards onto my harddrive before passing out.

Day 3- Saga to Oita
The typhoon rages during the morning and I wait it out with Kaori and Sachika-chan. We buy breakfast from the panya in front of the Tosu eki and eat in their Subaru Forester. My father is 2 hours late showing up to the rendevous point. We depart, planning on stopping in Usa and a few other places on the way to the Oita Marine Center. We stop at Yufuin on the way, and find what is probably the only taco truck in all of Japan.
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The weather starts to clear up as we continue to Usuki to visit the aincent stone Buddhas (an awesome sight) and eat some cheap and delicious bento and onigiri from A-Coop on the steps of the castle ruins.
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The road to Usa is obliterated and impassable, so we regrettably don't get to see the largest collection of haniwa and head onto the Marine Center. Along the way, we drive through some great mountain roads along the coastline. They test my father's driving abilities, and there are a few hair-raising moments and appropriate expletives exchanged as a result. We climb an observation tower in the middle of nowhere and admire the view. The coastline is unspoilt by seawalls of tetrapods, a rare sight in this country.
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As night sets, we check into our room at the Marine Center, and head to Usagi Tei, the local izakaya. The food is exceptionally good. My father especially enjoys the peanut tofu (he hates the boiled peanuts of which this tofu is made, but the alchemists in the kitchen have turned it into a culinary delight), and I enjoy the locally-caught yellowtail sashimi which is among the best I have ever eaten. This is, I reflect, the last sashimi of this quality that I will be eating for quite a while.

After another full day, we enjoy sleeping in a private room, in an almost deserted minshoku. We timed this one just right.

Day 4- Oita to Miyazaki
We eat a breakfast of salted fish, rice, nori, and an egg and bacon that we cook atop a sterno-heated ceramic pan, and spend the whole morning checking out the Marine Center/minshoku. We play with friendly sea turtles and oceanic sunfish, hand feed tropical fish in a seemingly impossible fish tank, and stroll around the sleepy fishing village.
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We hit the road, and head south for Miyazaki city. Lunch is ramen at Gofu. I take many pictures along the way. Unfortunately, the weather turns bad, and we don't get to enjoy the famous beaches of Miyazaki.

The price of admission into SeaGaia, the famous indoor beach next to the beach, is prohibatively expensive, and we arrive when it is just closing.
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Instead we visit Udo Jingu, a shrine inside of a cave on the Miyazaki Coastline, and throw little tablets into a hole atop a turtle-shaped rock for good luck.
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There is no sunset today, but the transition from day to night is beautiful, regardless.

We have dinner at a local izakaya with Tsuji, a friend who I hadn't seen since high school. The jidori sashimi (raw chicken) is exceptional, and the liver turns out to be the highlight of the meal. We end the meal at a melon-panya outside of the izakaya and part ways.

My SD cards are full again, so I stop at a Cybac, pull the gaijin card, and avoid paying membership fees. It takes 20 minutes to transfer all of the files to my harddrive. It's nice to have enough space to store all of the pictures that I have taken.

We stay at cottage Himuka, and regret that we are not able to use all 4 beds. This place would be good for a larger group vacation to Miyazaki. Maybe nextime...

Day 5- Miyazaki to Kagoshima
Breakfast at Himuka is unspectacular, a Japanese-continental spread. The bacon is limp, the sausage lacking in flavor and texture, and the eggs are over-cooked. Cereal, salad, and fresh fruit take up the slack, but we are itching to get on the road. A gaijin dad and Japanese mom scold their children in the next table over. Poor kids. The father looks like a proto-expat who has clearly overstayed his time in this country.

We hit the expressway from Miyazaki to Miyakonojo. Here we stop by a waterfall, and take a hike in the rain.
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It is refreshing, and a welcome break in between.

On the way to the ferry, we get lost in the woods and ask some locals working at a small lumber mill for directions. They speak in a deep Kagoshima-ben (one of the hardest to understand dialects in Japan) and draw a map on a crosscut section of cedar. The directions, unlike their dialect, are very easy to understand and get us back on track.

We arrive at Sakura-jima, the famous volcano that sits across the bay from the city of Kagoshima, and explore the desolate landscape.
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Due to continuing vocanic activity, we are unable to proceed up the volcano.The roads have been torn in two from fissures in the earth and eroded/covered by lahar after lahar.

We take the ferry from Sakurajima to Kagoshima city,
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and I have a decent bowl of udon and enjoy the view. We see bullet holes in the castle walls as we drive through the city to, Iso Teien, our next stop.These spectacular gardens were built by the powerful Shimadzu clan of Kagoshima. We spend the better part of the day enjoying the museums and hiking around the massive grounds, until it almost closes.
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Towards the end of the day, the sun finally peeks out through the rain clouds, and gives us a clear view of Sakurajima.
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We visit the cave where Takamori Saigo hid after his defeat, and reflect on how bad of a movie "The Last Samurai" was for making Tom Cruise the protagonist. Saigo was clearly the man.

We drive up to the nearby mountains and enjoy the view of the city while eating some top-rate eclairs from the Castle Hotel. krt102.JPG
The hotel maintains beautiful gardens, and has a small museum inside. Their workers are mostly young and attractive women. If you have a lot of money to burn, this is definitely the place to stay.
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Next, we stop by the site where Saigo commited seppuku and pay our respects. After his suicide, a trusted liutenant took Saigo's head and buried it in a secret location, to uphold Saigo's honor and deny the enemy the trophy which they so greatly desired. To this day, no one knows where Saigo's head is hidden. I bet it's inside the caldera of Sakurajima.

We eat dinner at a local izakaya. The seafood, though limited, is pretty good, but no one dish stands out as exceptional. Since we have a drive ahead of us, we refrain from drinking. It feels weird not to drink in an izakaya, especially when you're on vacation.

It takes about an hour to get to Satsuma no Sato, our secluded ryokan in the mountains of Kagoshima.
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To our surprise, our names are written in the Roman alphabet on the genkan board and one of the hostesses speaks really good English. It turns out that she was born and raised in Seattle, and moved back to Kagoshima a long time ago.

This ryokan had the honor of hosting one of the Emperors. It is exactly what I picture an old school ryokan to be, complete with a Japanese garden, a full set of samurai armor, and Japanese art skillfully displayed to complement the summer season. We enjoy a piping hot radon onsen, and then have a well deserved beer before hitting the sack.

Day 6- Kagoshima to Kumamoto
There's nothing like starting your day off in an onsen, and this proved to be no exception. After meditating, my father is ready to get on with the day.
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We depart from Satsuma no Sato refreshed after a good night's sleep.

On the way, we stumble upon a lake inside of an extinct volcano. The town next to the lake obviously has a thing for dragons. The largest waterwheel in the world had a dragon on it, as does one of the bridges, among other things designed to lure in tourists.
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Next, we jumped on the expressway to Kumamoto to the 57 and rode the Milk Road back to Ubuyama-mura. I finally get to take a picture of a sign that I never got around to taking while I was living there.
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I visit all of the old schools that I used to teach at, and am happy to see all of the children again. They are so much bigger than I remember, and I enjoyed talking with former co-workers and students. Life has remained unchanged up here in my little mountain village.

We eat a lunch of yakiniku at Yama no Sato, where they have several types of tsukemono.
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Unfortunately, the akaushi was not as good as it used to be. Cooking the beef atop a piece of volcanic rock is pretty cool, though.

We visit the springs at Ikeyama and Yamabuki, and then head leave Ubuyama for Yamaga via the Milk.

I was fortunate enough to be able to meet up with a lot of old friends. First, we stopped by the Otsuka's (Joe's host family) house and talked about the Kumamoto beef industry. Unfortunately, it's not doing as well as it was doing, but hopefully it will recover. The Otsuka family runs a cattle ranch, and produce beef that rivals that of Kobe, Saga, or just about any beef in Japan. Time is short, so we bid farewell, and head over to Aiko's house.

Jamie, Dave (sh*tf*ck), Emi, Chie, and Aiko are all waiting for us.
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We enjoy some freshly harvested takenoko and drink a lot of beer and shochu, while reminiscing about the good times on JET. Those guys are still doing the program, and having a good time down there. Aiko's family is kind enough to let us spend the night, and we quickly fall asleep.

Day 7- Kikuchi to Kumamoto City to Aso
We eat a simple country-style breakfast of takenoko, tsukemono, and chasuke, and bid farewell to Aiko and her family.On our way to Kikuchi, we stop by Matt's old village and take another onsen in Kikuka town. It costs only 300 yen, a bargain! Continuing on to Kikuchi gorge, we hike in the rain yet again. Kikuchi gorge is just as beautiful as I remember, though it isn't quite the right weather to go for a swim.
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After the hike, we meet Hieda-sensei, a friend of mine as well as the former art teacher in Ubuyama. He takes us to Kokutei, a famous ramenya in Kumamoto city and his favorite place to go for a bowl of noodles. The tonkotsu broth is fantastic even by Kumamoto standards

It is good to hear that he no longer has to travel 2 hours to visit his girlfriend. They now live right next to each other in the city, and have a lot more opportunities to see eachother. When he lived in Ubuyama, he could only visit 2 or 3 times a month! It seems like everyone who has worked in Ubuyama enjoyed working with the children, but they don't really miss some of the other things that come with working in such an isolated area.

We stay the night at the Starry Pension, owned by the Nakayama family. The starry skies of Aso and gentle chirp of the local crickets make for a very peaceful setting. We meet up with Kaori, Kikuko, and Sachika-chan, and enjoy a nice meal of steak followed by a private onsen with a view of the night sky.

Day 8- Kumamoto to Osaka

Nakayama obaasan once again prepares a delicious meal, and to our great surprise, she will not accept any money for staying over at their pension! Sadly, we have little time to spare, and bid a tear filled farewell.

We had planned to visit Kurokawa for a day of onsenning, but didn't have enough time. Instead we visit Daikanbo, and enjoy a soft-serve while looking down into the Aso caldera. The wind is strong, and cold, so we depart.

We have a traditional country style lunch of dagojiro (a miso-based soup with dumplings, pork, and vegetables), and takana meshi (takana fried rice) in a popular restaraunt filled with ornaments from all over Japan.
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It is nice to have a lunch that is way too big to finish, and reminds me how country life is different from life in the city.
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Even within the same country and prefecture, people have such different lifestyles from one another, and food has often been one thing that I can use to make comparisons. Farmers need a lot of energy to work in the field. I guess the same does not necessarily apply to the Calorie Mate and McDonalds fueled OLs and salarymen of the city.

Kikuko and Kaori bid us farewell, and we proceed to sample the many onsens at Aso Farmland. My favorites included the fujinohana onsen, and the inside onsen that glowed nuclear green under the blacklight. Yet another thing that I will miss about Kyushu when I get back to the States.

We drive back to the airport, return the car, and fly back to Osaka. This has been one helluva road trip!

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Note: this entry is a work in progress...

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August 5, 2006

Before Lonely Planet

Inside a book called "A Pocked Guide to China", there is an interesting comic that shows one how to differentiate between Japanese and other Orientals. As Angry Asian Man would say, "that's racist!".

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August 1, 2006

Were you born in a barn, owl?

I love wildlife photography, but I refuse to become a birder who totes around gigantic lenses and a tripod everywhere I go. I refuse to wear a Tamron backpack, or be part of a group of people shooting the same thing at the same time from a slightly different angle as the people next to me. So for bird photography, luck, creativity, and a bit of cropping will have to suffice.

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This couple keep my Aunt, Uncle, and cousin up at night with their nocturnal shrieking sessions. I like nature, but I like my sleep even more. How many birds have gone extinct from keeping people awake at night? There have to be at least a few species who have been selected out of the gene pool in this way...

My sister said that I should climb the tree and try and retrieve an owl egg because it would make a good picture. I agreed, but suggested that my cousin should do it to let me take pictures of the action. There was a time when I could have gotten her to do it in exchange for the right amount of candy. Sadly, those days are past.

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