Typhoons, temples, and Japanese delicacies

Breaking news: We left Japan last night, in a bit of a hurry, upon finding out that there’s a typhoon in our path, and we’ve been thrown off course (well, perhaps not literally thrown off but it sure felt like that last night!) So, instead of going to Qingdao, China we’re going straight to Hong Kong, and will arrive there in five days. So, now we are currently trying to outrun the typhoon and avoid the 36 foot waves that are at the center of it. I think we managed to avoid the worst of it, but I don’t think anyone could have slept through last night. The ship was rocking so much that I almost fell out of bed! All is well, now though. There is still quite a bit of rocking, but everyone seems ok with being back on the ship for the next five days. Perhaps that’s because we had such an amazing time in Japan.


I found Japan to be a place of several little surprises. First I must admit that I had quite the stereotypical view of what Japan would be like; tons of little temples and pagoda-like structures, geisha floating down the streets and sushi restaurants everywhere. Boy was I wrong. While I did see my fare share of temples and shrines, caught quick glimpses of glamorous women in kimono, and managed to find a few restaurants serving sashimi, I mostly found Japan to be quite different than what I had expected, and I was pleasantly surprised.

First, the people in Japan were amazing. I thought it was going to be so difficult to find my way around the cities and to travel throughout the country, considering that I do not read, write or speak Japanese. But I quickly found out that the people were so helpful and polite, and it turned out to be quite easy to communicate and to get around.

The first night we actually went to a baseball game. It was one of my favorite nights there. Perhaps it was because we were so excited to get off the ship, or maybe it was just the first time I really got to enjoy hanging out with the students, away from the ship. I found a fun group of students to travel with to the game, and we stopped along the way to pick up snacks. First fun little surprise was biting into potato chips that looked like they could have been Lay’s chips and finding out that they were in fact, wasabi chips! Yum!! Note: most of the surprises were with food.

The second day I journeyed to the beautiful city of Kyoto with three of my fellow staff members, Joy, Joe and Gail. We had planned to stay one night in Kyoto and the next night climb Mount Fuji. As it was, it happened to rain all day on Wednesday and I became quite aware that I was not prepared with the gear to climb a mountain in the middle of a storm. Instead we walked all over Kyoto, stopping at various sites to visit some really beautiful temples and shrines. We then spent about two hours trying to find a sushi restaurant, to no avail. We were literally tripping over noodle houses, however, and finally decided to concede and go for the noodles. Ordering food by pointing at pictures and/or plastic replicas of food became the unfortunate norm for us in Japan. But, once again, I found the food to be both surprising and delicious. That night we stayed at a Ryokan (a traditional Japanese inn), where they gave us kimono like robes and slippers to be worn inside. We all slept in the same room with soft, comfy mattresses on the floor. The one thing that caught me slightly off guard was how incredibly quiet everything was. Japanese people are much much quieter than Americans, and everywhere we went we practically had to whisper to avoid being rude or impolite. For those of you who know me well, this was of course, a bit of a challenge.

We made up for it the next night when I caught up with a different group of friends and we went out for Karaoke! First the six of us, went on yet another quest to find some sushi. Instead we found a tiny little mom and pop restaurant, and quickly filled the place up, as there were just enough seats at the bar. Here the menu was entirely in Japanese characters and there were no pictures, so we really had to be adventurous and trust in our hosts. Again there was no sushi, but we cleaned out the rest of their sashimi (salmon, toro, octopus, and several others I couldn’t identify) and drank a fare amount of asahi and sake. We were having such a good time with the owner that he offered us the first of two little presents. Six little pieces of cold fish liver. Hmmm… how do I swallow this without grimacing and how quickly can I chase the taste out of my mouth with a splash of sake? Whew! I managed it, and I guess it wasn’t too bad. We all smiled and nodded as if we relished it, it was after all a gift. Our hosts were do delighted in fact that they offered us another. Six fully cooked little fishes, head, tail, eyes and all. There is no way I can eat this, I thought. But this lovely and gracious woman stood staring eagerly behind the bar, waiting for us to enjoy our presents. There was no way out, we had to eat them. Catching our quizzical looks, wondering how were supposed to eat these little fishies, the owner took one and popped it head first right into his mouth and started chewing. Yikes! I have to eat it head first!?! Be polite, Danelle, be polite. I popped the fish head in my mouth and smiled. Usually I order some mochi or perhaps a little green tea ice cream for dessert at the Japanese restaurants in California. Here I had a fish head. And tail. Hmm.

Kyoto was gorgeous, and I really loved it there. I am a huge fan of lush green parks, and of beautiful and/or unique architecture. Kyoto delivered. It is a very old and lovely city with tons of history. For many years it was actually the capital of Japan, and the blend of the traditional and the modern are apparent throughout. I could spend a week in Kyoto alone and it wouldn’t be enough.

The final two days I spent in Kobe, where I found out I have no talent for origami, and a new appreciation for those who do. Again for the last night, I had a quest to sample some Kobe beef. While I’m not typically a red meat eater, I figured, when in Kobe, eat the beef. But surprises being as they were, I missed not one but two parties I was supposed to meet up with, and found myself with very little time to grab a bite and head back to the ship. I ran into two shipmates and we hurried into a crowded little restaurant (always a good sign – the food must be good). Again we looked a menu with pictures of food for which we had little clue of what we’d find inside. And again we were delighted to find that everything we ordered was fantastic! Perhaps my only disappointment, was that I didn’t have more time to spend there. Until next time, I’m off to explore the world!