Polaroid Photo

Uncle Markie out and about.

Refresh for a different picture!

UMTravels

Choose a Topic:

Search Results:

Mon
8
Jul '13

Julian In Town.

One week to get the Weiner Wagon on the road. Today’s progress, got another drawer made for under the steam table:

And then mounted the “seat track” on the trailer:

And then got the generator mounted. I was amazed that the seat track hole were at the right position…

So then it was time to pick up Julian from the BoltBus. He is beginning a seven week trip starting in Vancouver, then China, then the Tran-Siberian rail link… bastard (that would be my jealous side speaking).

He packs light:

Planning his trip:

Dinner (fresh baked bread, salad, Amtrak-style braised lamb shanks):

And then, the usual “after dinner” Julian:

Luckily tomorrow is a late morning….

[204.6]

Sat
13
Aug '22

Trip Memories: Guest Post From Julian Honeycutt

Gods & Penises

by Julian Honeycutt

 

In Japan, they say you are born Shinto, marry Christian, and die Buddhist. That is, as a new baby you will go to the Shinto shrine for purification, when the time comes, you’ll likely get married in a big building fashioned to look like a chapel and say vows in a wedding dress and tuxedo. And when your number is up, you’ll get cremated, and your family will give you a Buddhist funeral. And if you’re lucky your children, and grandchildren will pray for your soul in their butsudan and at every Obon. But in the intervening years, from that first purification ceremony until the day your remaining family all gathers in black, if you need a wish granted or a prayer answered you go to a Shinto shrine. Do you have a big exam coming up, and you need to pass? Go to Yamada-Tenmangu Shrine. Did you just make a business deal and want it to succeed? Go to Fushimi-Inari Shrine. Or do you want to start a family? Go to Tagata-jinja Shrine.

And that is exactly where we were headed at 10:00 AM on March 15th, 2018. Uncle Markie and I were on the train out toward Inyuama, the site of feudal wars between samurai and home to Japan’s oldest castle. But we weren’t going for the grandeur and history of feudal lords, we were going for the penises, and tradition, but mostly the penises. Convenience store bag in hand Katie met us on the train as we left the city. And I introduced her to my Bon vivant Uncle Markie, who isn’t really my uncle, that’s just a name that everyone calls him, including now Katie. She opened her convenience store bag and the morning started. Drinking on trains in Japan isn’t illegal and it’s hardly frowned upon, people just don’t usually do it, save silver-haired men and groups of foreigners. And with Uncle Markie in tow, we checked both boxes. So, a little after 10:00 we opened our 9% canned grapefruit cocktails. Next stop – Tagata-jinja Shrine.

The Penis Festival, actually called Honen-Matsuri, is a Shinto festival that has taken place in the same city in Japan for over 1,000 years. In its essence, it is a Shinto festival that celebrates prosperity and hopes for a fruitful bountiful harvest. In its display, it is a festival that provides free sake and parades a seven-foot 800 lb. undulating wooden penis through the streets of Komaki. If this is a wholly solemn and spiritual event, then the alcohol, commerce, frenzy, and fun are wildly out of place.

As we arrived, we passed Liquor Mountain whose line, at just before 11:00, already extended far out the front door. The parking lots on both sides of the street had been converted into vending stalls and food carts. Like most festivals in Japan, the standard clamshells of yakisoba noodles or paper cups of karaage chicken were everywhere. But unlike most festivals in Japan, so were the penises. T-shirt vendors- penises, varied banana vendors-penises, and candied penises, penises, and more penises.

It could seem odd, but it would take some great deal of time before we were penised out. Ring the penis bell of prayer? Yes! Give some money as an offering to the Gods? Couldn’t hurt! Rub the steel testicles for good luck? Don’t mind if I do! By mid-afternoon, young women in kimonos were offering free sake and parading the street caring wooden penises the size of a Sheltie (it’s seen as good luck to pet the penises; so, everyone pets the penises).

By late afternoon mochi cakes, supplied by local vendors, and mostly inedible, were being tossed from the rooftops. And the penises were winding down. With a mochi unsatisfying, only so much room in our stomachs for chocolate bananas and penis candies, it was time to go.

And though it was a Thursday, a day followed by Friday: a day in the working week, we felt it unjust to let it end so soon. The all-you-can-eat & drink yakiniku restaurant was a short few stops away. So, we did: all-you-can-eat & all-you-can-drink. As we paid and left the restaurant. Markie stumbled into a trip, that became a fall. And a drunk 62-year-old man hits the ground pretty hard. His pants ripped and his knee bloodied he asked us if we could just leave him there. Leave him there blocking the front entrance to the restaurant? No. No, we would not. Plus, you don’t follow up a penis festival with all you can eat & drink just to end it in a parking lot. Tomorrow was going to be hard, but I could see the cat paw of the Maneki Neko Karaoke (Inviting Cat Karaoke) sign from where I was standing, and we were doing some goddamn karaoke.

For my original post, click here.

[201.2]

For more blog posts, click here.

Thu
22
Mar '18

Trip Report: Kyoto

We arrived in Kyoto a little after three, and easily found our “hostel” – and found it closed until 4PM. We continued down the narrow alley for another block or so.

To discover this:

It was a very serene place to just SIT – one of the few public resting places I’ve come across on this trip. I sat, Julian did a roam of the neighborhood.

When he returned, we still had time to kill, so we went to this place in the alley that advertised Craft Beer (a Julian favorite), called Beer Komachi:

Julian tried a couple of different beers, I went for an interesting sounding sake. Food looked interesting but didn’t try any (though Julian would try to try late in the evening, but the kitchen had closed). It was 4:40 by the time we got back to the “hostel” (Hostel Haruya Higashiyama), just a few doors down.

The main entrance is by the bicycles… as it turned out – our room had a private entrance just behind Julian. You can see the key hanging out of the door!

They had it set up for one person, but rectified the situation after we went out. One thing that didn’t get rectified was Julian’s response to the check-in person’s question as to whether I was his father – sadly, he used the wrong version (though close) which said I was his grandfather. Damn I look good for having a 30+year-old grandson.

Thought it would be noisy, being right on the alley, but amazingly not. Basically, we threw our shit down and left to explore.

One of the things I learned quickly is that Kyoto is full of tourists – mostly Japanese, and it’s dress up time!

And they all seemed to be under 30. Apparently, this is a great “courting” city, as in, if you are trying to woo a girl, suggest a weekend in Kyoto.

While we are on “photo albums”, here is a collection of Japanese posters that I liked:

What the hell –a vending machine – also a favorite of mine, including the first one which actually in the winter dispenses HOT cans of coffee in addition to the cold beverages. Blue signs for cold, red for hot:

Enough random photos!

We wondered around the old town section of Kyoto, which was just over the river from where we were staying. Tried to get into a jazz bar we found.

But it was closed, so we opted for a Yakitori snack and drinks.

After our snack, tried to go back the jazz club from earlier – still closed, though they said they’d be open in fifteen minutes, so we wandered and found another jazz bar, Beer Bar Jive.

Where we had a drink. Turns out, later in the evening they have live jazz. Once again, we are too early.

One drink, and we went back to see if Hello Dolly was finally open…

But one of the staff let us in, since he’d been the one to say that it was still closed because their bartender hadn’t showed up. No mixed drinks, but he could handle whiskey on the rocks and a beer. The closed sign was still on the door so we had the entire place to ourselves!

Nice old wood classy bar interior, but again, we stayed for just one drink before heading back to Beer Bar Jive a little before 8, hoping to get out of paying the cover charge from 8PM on (didn’t work). The musical guests were a Harmonica (& Guitar – but he should have stuck to the Harmonica) player and a Pianist (really good). I’d wanted to hear some live jazz on this trip, so I wasn’t all that picky about what I could find on a Sunday night.

After a couple of rounds of drinks, we left at the end of the first set, not really getting value for our 1500yen each cover charge, but we needed to find food – and probably should have gone back to the yakitori place, but instead, walked around forever, finally plopping me down in a British Pub while Julian scoured the rest of the neighborhood – coming up empty, so we both decided to have a little food. Tip for ordering Western food in Japan. DO order the Fish & Chips (me), DO NOT order the nachos (Julian).

We struggled back to the hostel – and the room was set for two:

Julian went back to Beer Komachi to see if he could get a little more food. No, kitchen was closed, but isn’t beer food?

I slept like a rock. I was up before Julian, meaning I had to find the shower (we had a bathroom in our suite). It was though the lounge, left through a sliding glass door!

Had a bit of trouble getting Julian up and going, but once we were out, found a close café (La Bac a Sable) for a little breakfast:

Nice to have a sort of American breakfast after a couple of weeks!

Off to the temple (Fushimi Inari Shrine) we go – two or three trains later, we pop out here:

Next up was noodles at Men Ko Bo Ren – a place that Julian had been to before. It was popular, so we had to wait for a seat:

But it was a good thing we got in when we did, as they sold out of noodles!

We took the slow (2.5 hours) train back to Nagoya, which saved us enough to pay for lunch.

Notice the railroad watch holder set into the control panel.

I had arrangements for a business meeting with a client from Tokyo who happened to be in Nagoya for the day one business, so we got together for drinks and dinner.

TokyoDave has the ordering tablet in his hand, but here is what it looks like:

I let him order all the dishes, and I wasn’t disappointed!

It was a wonderful dinner meeting, but TokyoDave needed to catch the 7:55pm train home, it was shorter than I’d like.

I, myself, headed back to Julians, for tomorrow is another day.

[? ? ?]

For more blog posts, CLICK HERE.

 

 

Wed
18
Mar '15

Trip Report: Nagoya & Komaki

Julian works until 8 tonight (usually 9) so that was the reason for the late train to Nagoya – and it takes him 35-45 minutes to get from school (he teaches English) into Nagoya. Nagoya Station is crazy busy, even at 8:30 at night:

Bright lights in the big city…

But Julian is there at the appointed time (8:50) and at the appointed place (under the Gold clock at one end of the station, not the Silver clock [with gold trim] at the other end):

Yep – he wears a tie to work, even with the preschoolers. He teaches MANY different age and abilities. Off to dinner we go…

where you can order from their massive menu at a screen at each table.

I must have been hungry because there are no food shots, nor the beer and sake…

One the way back to his apartment – which is in Komaki, an in-the-sticks suburb according to Julian because it takes two transfers to get anywhere – I saw this nice bank of vending machines. Even in residential areas you will find them basically on every corner:

Guess I should get a day shot of this!

Welcome to Julian’s Dorm Room – technically a studio apartment, but it being furnished, it has the feel of a dorm room….

Past the door is the kitchen, toilet, shower, washing machine. Even the outside of the building looks industrial:

Stayed up too late catching up, (as we did in Portland as well,) luckily we don’t have an early day tomorrow.

Breakfast this morning:

Miso soup with a side of coffee.

The main reason for the timing of this visit is to see the Hōnen Matsuri – the fertility festival held each March 15th in Komaki. You can read the whole Wikipedia at the link to the left, or here is the “bite-size” bit:

Hōnen Matsuri (豊年祭?, “Harvest Festival”) is a fertility
festival celebrated every year on March 15 in Japan. Hōnen means prosperous year in Japanese, implying a rich harvest, while a matsuri is a festival. The Hōnen festival and ceremony celebrate the blessings of a bountiful harvest and all manner of prosperity and fertility.

Luckily we aren’t headed there for the entire ceremony, just the final procession.

As you can tell by the English on the sign – LOTS of Westerners (gaijin) attend.

Yep – there was a parking lot full of us:

What parking lot, you might ask?

That’s when I realized this was going to be a long day. Yep, a looonnnggggg day of drinking, luckily with no driving:

So I joined the fun and picked up this fun little number….

Until I did a little research on this bourbon (Heaven Hill), I didn’t realize that it’s from the producers of my favorite bourbon, Evan Williams.

But enough about drinking in the middle of the afternoon, let’s get onto the phallus shots. Yes, even the candy they are selling is phallus shaped:

That would be Jacob – a good-old-boy from the south end of Alabama (and English teacher). Nice veins on that candy…

Yep, that’s a big one! But it doesn’t stop there, the grounds of the temple are “littered” with penis:

When you make an offering to this:

you ring this:

Gives new meaning to the phrase: Ding Dong.

EVERYBODY turns up at this festival, not just the foreigners… from guitar-toting cowboys…

to she-males….

Yes, even the bananas are suggestive…

And yes, I had one. And bought lots of cock souvenirs.

Before we move on, I have to share one video of the ceremonies:

To show how far we slid by the end of the afternoon (and because I think Jacob is cute):

Needless to say – we needed food after all this (other than bananas and penis pops)…so off we went to a place close to Julians.

We were a decent sized party of over eight….and ate we did…

and the disaster we left…

Another long night, because we were out of booze at home, so we swung by the local mega-store for some mega-booze. At this point my feet were KILLING me, and Julian and his girlfriend were kind enough to wheel me around the store….

Just for reference, that is a shelf of 4 Liter booze bottles. To compare sizes, we have this illustrative photograph:

1.5 liter Coke Zero, 700ml Suntory Whiskey, 4 liter Suntory Black. The four liter bottle was $24, which my EuroFaerie friend Karl pointed out is only .15 per unit of alcohol. That should keep me through my visit, with plenty of leftovers for Julian. Of course, that might be the ONLY thing in Japan that is cheap.

Another long evening…but this time we have to be up and out by 9am because we have a 10:30am reservation at the Asahi Brewery. Feeling the effects of last night we take the wrong train, leading to a 20-minute walk to catch our connection…and then catch the express rather than the local and have to turn around and catch a local back, and realize that the “10-minute walk” from the station is more like 20+ minutes….and surprisingly we were only 15-minutes late for our Japanese Language tour of the plant. We arrived at the same time as a bus filled with seniors – but to our amazement, an English-speaking tour guide came to our rescue!

Here is an aerial view of the complex:

and our tour guide:

and us enjoying some pre-noon free samples.

We were both hobbling on the tour, Julian from his recovering broken leg, me from some swelling at the ball of my left foot – she enquired if we’d like a cab back to the station in Japanese. Had she said it in English I would have said “hell, yes”, but alas – we walked back the 20 minutes.

Then I broke my own rule (for the second time this trip) – no more than one tourist attraction or event in one day.

Off we went to the SCMaglev and Railway Park to continue on the transportation theme of this trip. We were beat by the time we got there – at the end of a train line through the industrial heartland of Nagoya.

It was a cool museum, though Julian spent a good hour sleeping in one of the train cars. Sorry, no picture. HUGE museum with lots of displays:

What I found interesting was the interiors of the previous generation of Shinkansen trains…

And yes, they did have a huge diorama/model train set-up as well…

Caught the train back into the city and killed a little time before meeting up with the girlfriend and other friends for dinner – this time, a cook-it-yourself kind of place:

By the time we got home, we were totally beat – and Julian has to work tomorrow, though luckily not until noon.

As for me – I spent the day hobbling into the city center of Komaki to do a little exploring, a little shopping and indulged my “once-per-international-trip” US fast food stop:

In the same department store of Ronny Macs, there was this “odd” display of which I am clueless, but it did warrant a picture:

Like some bad 50’s dream…but I did come back with the fixings for dinner:

That would be stir-fried pork and chicken bits with a couple of kinds of pickled vegetables with a bowl of rice (that yes, Mr. Low Carb ate).

Here are some of my random “wandering around town” shots…

My favorite part of the above picture is the crow drinking water out of one of the flower vases…

The final meal of the Komaki leg was with another of the English teachers at Julian’s school, and one of their older students. We went out for more conveyor belt sushi – this time with little trains to deliver your special orders:

Grab from the line, or special order on the touchscreen:

And it comes on a different little train that stops only at your table:

This is the stack of plates for the four of us…

And when you are done, you slid them into the slot in the table where they are automatically counted and added to your bill:

Other than pouring down rain (a BIG thanks to Julian’s student who gave us a ride home) it was a perfect cap to an evening – and we even put a pretty big dent in that 4 liter bottle of whiskey…

Out of the house a little before 10 to catch the train to the airport for my 2:45pm departure for Narita, connecting to my flight to Seattle.

On the train, I finally found the transit map that I’d been looking for since I got here:

This map has all the various different company lines in both Kanji and English.

Only one transfer, but I’m on the slow train so basically it’s almost 2 hours, but I saved 340 yen by not taking the express and going the long way with fewer connections.

Headed home.

[? ? ?]

Fri
16
Mar '18

Trip Report: Nagoya & Komaki

With Julian’s work schedule (11am-9:30pm), it was definitely a sleep-in day after chatting until 3am last night. Guess I forgot to mention that we stopped by a 24-hour market near Julian’s place to pick up some supplies. That might have led to the 3am bedtime.

The Melita is in the picture for size (it’s the standard #4 size, not the #2, next to a 1.5-liter Coke Zero – next to the FOUR LITER bottle of Suntory Classic Whiskey. Go big or go home!

I made myself a little breakfast:

Before heading out to Sakae to one of the largest 100 Yen stores in the city. It’s a short walk from Julian’s apartment in this complex:

To the subway headed into the city. No transfers (at least to Sakae), and saw a couple of interesting vehicles along the way:

And, not unlike Seattle, some interesting manhole covers:

Even a cemetery:

One of the things I do when I travel is to take pictures of the transit maps (especially if they have English on them). It gives me a backup of where I’m going and how to return:

While in Sakae looking for the exit that Julian sent me, ran across a Bear Papa, which we have one in Seattle!

Found my way to the store, which covers and entire floor of a mall:

I actually managed to spend 3400Yen which means lots of quirky presents for people upon my return:

Also went across the street to Don Quixote – a four floor mass of Japanese consumer goods:

It wasn’t until I as headed back to the station that I noticed a Ferris Wheel stuck to the outside:

Back in Julian’s neighbor it was off to the Aeon (grocery/department store) a couple of block away for grab an afternoon snack, which wasn’t these:

But these:

The plan is to meet up with Julian in Komaki where he teaches, taking a different subway line. Julian tracked down a spare rechargeable transit card with I refilled in Sakae. He works in the building right on top of the train station, so it was easy to find.

Off to dinner we go with his friend Tak at the wheel. I’d met him on one or the other of my two previous trips to Nagoya. Two more teachers, a student, Tak, Julian, and I in a van rolling towards the restaurant owned by the mother of another student who has befriended Julian with furniture for his apartment, etc.

She even gave him a bottle of sweet potato wine (Sochu).

I was fascinated by the Jazz Musician speaker set. Might have to try and track on down.

We were having so much fun that, tonight, we did miss the last train. Tak offered us a list, but it would have been 35 minutes out of his way, and he gets up at 6am, so we sucked it up and dropped about 5000Yen (about $50) on a cab for the 7-mile ride.

Didn’t stay up as late tonight, closer to 1:30am.

Tomorrow, Julian has PTO (Paid Time Off), which was a royal pain to get from a supervisor. He had to go to the district manager to get his legal PTO.

It’s festival time (again!).

[? ? ?]

For more blog posts, CLICK HERE.

Wed
12
Apr '17

Trip Report: Nagoya, Days Two & Three

After my first day running myself ragged (OK, Julian was literally dragging me), I decided for a light day of exploring the neighborhood after Julian left for work around eleven. Explored the Japanese version of Home Depot, shopped for whiskey to pack in my bag (and in my belly), got snacks for the day from the huge AEON supermarket a couple of blocks away, did an initial pass at the 100 Yen store (that would be The Ninety-Cent Store in the US).

I was a little amazed to find this on the shelf of the grocery store:

I can’t even find caffeine free diet Coke in Canada!

Julian got home around ten and we started fixing a traditional Japanese dinner, which, for some reason I didn’t take any pictures of – maybe we were drinking, chatting, and having WAY too much fun.

So, it’s one in the morning and Julian wants to go on a walk, or it might have been midnight, I know it was late, and I wasn’t a fan of the idea, but he finally wore me down and off we went for a walk along the river.

Here is a nighttime view from his apartment:

And from our little evening walk:

Yep, the cherry blossoms are in full glory…

He is looking like the devil, which is how I felt about him when he dragged me out for a walk – my legs still feeling yesterday’s adventures.

As it turned out, the walk helped Julian not feel as bad the next morning, though he was still running slow. Me, I slept in and spent another day exploring the neighborhood, finalizing purchases at the 90 Cent Store and getting ready for a full evening…again!

The plan was that I was to meet Julian’s friend Yousuke for Hanami, the cherry blossom viewing party where everyone sits in a park, eating and drinking all day long. Off to the subway go I, and as tempting as it was to stop in for a bit, I didn’t:

Missed the first train by seconds when the sliding gates tried to eat me:

One train to Komaki to meet Yousuke (and pick up some snacks and drink for the park), three trains later we are back in Nagoya in a different direction. Yousuke probably should have picked up his snacks in Komaki because every convenience store in the direction of the part was MOBBED.

Then there was the challenge of finding his friends among the thousands of people enjoying the festival – these shots should give you an idea of the crowds and the blossoms.

Our group:

And part of the pile of shared food:

Imagine acre after acre of people hanging out with their friends eating/drinking/chatting for hours on end.

With that many people to say goodbye, we didn’t get back to Komaki to meet Julian until after ten (he gets off at nine) so we could all go out and cook our own meals.

That would be Yousuke on the right.

So, the reason that Julian works so late Tuesday through Saturday is that he is an English As A Second Language (ESL) teacher – who is even featured in his companies advertising (yes, they charge people more to have white people from the US teaching them).

Of course, we got home WAY later than I wanted since I have to be up at five to catch my flight home – this might be PART of the problem.

Yep, that’s a little recycling to take out.

Not looking forward to the early departure in the morning.

[218.8]

Tue
27
Mar '18

Trip Report: Toyota City

Wednesday was a quiet day for me. Julian works, and I made a random Scruff date in the city. We ended up at the appropriately named Seattle Sandwich Café:

I was low on cash and the café didn’t take plastic, so it was a meal of snacks and a highball or two, but not a full meal:

Interesting guy, from Lebanon, working on his Masters in International Affairs at one of the universities in the city. Not boyfriend material, but I might get a place to crash in Beirut!

The next morning was an early morning…out of the house at 8AM, on a school holiday for Julian (who is a little slow at this time of the day).

Destination is the Toyota Museum and Assembly Plant Tour, in Toyota City. The downside is that Toyota City is 2.5 hours away from Julian’s flat. And many trains (four). I had to make phone shots of the route to get us there.

I congratulate Toyota on great instruction, including shots of the building that we’d be passing from the train station to get here:

Our tour time was 10:30, but that included half an hour of wandering around their museum:

Sadly, no phones are allowed I the plant, so we have to leave them on the bus. On the way to the buses, Julian made a little friend – now we can call him Poppa Julian, guess that makes the kid my great-grandson.

And off we go!

We were a little over an hour in the plant itself – and even Julian said he’d have like more time just staring at the line and playing their interactive “can you work the line” games.

Soon, it was back on the bus with our complimentary umbrellas as it was raining by the time the tour let out. By the time we got back to the museum, even the rain had stopped, but now we have umbrellas in case it starts again.

Needing lunch, we found this place by the train station that closed at 2, luckily it was 1:30, but we had to rush through our meal:

Ours was on the second floor (Yamauchinoujou), with the homemade banner offering 800yen lunch specials:

Another 2.5 hours and we are back to Julian’s flat, in time to make a farewell meal for ME. Julian and I did the shopping, and then when his girlfriend arrived, she looked at what we’d bought and went out and bought twice as much to supplement it – but it was a stunning farewell meal:

By 8PM, I was out the door and headed to the airport where I’d booked a room for my early flight in the morning:

Again, it was time to do some screen captures of where I was headed:

Toyoko Inn Chubu Kokusai-kuko Honkan (Orange Side). Apparently, the Orange Side is Western, and the Green Side is Asian – as reflected by the morning included breakfast, though you are free to go to either side for your breakfast. I, myself, was planning on going to the Japan Air Lines Lounge for my breakfast. Nice clean hotel, half the price of the ones that are directly attached to the hotel. This one required a five-minute walk (in the rain) from the enclosed overhead walkway. Definitely worth the walk. Mine would be the building with the reflected arrow on it.

And once again, it’s the hotel ice quest. And yet, another oddity – a machine in the lobby that dispenses cups of ice:

All, for this:

It’s going to be another early morning for me…so a couple of drinks, a little internet, and off to bed.

[223.0]

For more blog posts, CLICK HERE.

Tue
20
Mar '18

Trip Report: Osaka

I had to look it up. Hip Contusion. That’s most likely what I suffered the other day. Right leg pain and flexibility issues. NOT the thing you want when you are headed out of town doing tourist stuff that requires lots of walking and lots of stairs. Welcome to Japan!

Julian has a great view from his building, FYI. Took this shot while waiting for the elevator:

Because Julian works until after 9PM, I headed into Nagoya Central Station ahead of him to grab our two tickets on the Shinkansen headed to Osaka. Julian and I were to meet up under the infamous “Golden Clock”.

Got the tickets but needed a little food:

My choice of food was as much about my love of hot dogs as it was for a place to sit down.

While Japan has plenty of trains that run on time, they lack much in the way of seating ANYWHERE (stations and throughout public spaces), which considering all the walking and stairs, with an aging population, it’s probably not a good mix. But I digress.

Before leaving the house, I popped out to the store for some supplies for the trip. All the food groups. Whiskey and mixers:

Chocolate:

Dried squid, wasabi peas, and little sausage sticks:

Julian was on time getting to “The Golden Clock”, and so was the train:

Never seen a urinal on a train!

It took us a little over an hour to get to Osaka. Then there was the hike to the Asahiplaza Capsule Hotel.

We still needed to explore the nightlife of the Dōtonbori neighborhood and get some food.

A specialty of Osaka is their Octopus Balls (Takoyaki), so we split one:

And then it was off to a table top cooking restaurant:

Julian’s Japanese comes in handy when ordering from our VERY CUTE waiter:

Throat? Penis? Red fibrous meat of the cow’s front stomach?

Not your style? Maybe Heart Crotch, or the variation, Spicy Tongue Crotch? They have, and I quote, “Hard To Find Intestine.”

And I didn’t even mention the Hot & Spicy Retuculum or the Dainty Beef Face, nor the Red Fibrous Meat of the Cow’s Front Stomach with Scallion and Salt (how VERY SPECIFIC).

We weren’t as adventurous when we ordered…

Back to the hotel we went…full, and a little tipsy.

So, capsule hotels are a little odd, and rule bound. Shoes off in the lobby, check in, put your shoes in the shoe locker, turn in that key and get your personal stuff locker key. Luggage is not allowed in the “capsules”, so if it doesn’t fit in the gym-sized locker, that will be an extra 200yen (on top of the 3000yen [about $30] capsule rate). At the lockers you change into your yukata (rob top/drawstring bottoms), throw some personal items in the pod, and head to the basement where there is a full Japanese bath included in your room rate. Nothing like a long washing session before popping your tired bones in either still or bubbling hot water, or maybe just hanging out in the sauna (which, oddly, had a TV set in it). It being a traditional Japanese bath, no swimsuits are allowed, and they are serious about the heavy bathing before. Needless to say, no pictures of the facilities, oh, and by the way, like most of the public baths, you are not allowed in if you have tattoos, as they are associated with the Yakuza (Japanese Mafia).
LINK TO ALL THE RULES. Interestingly, the no tattoos was a sign in the bath itself, but not on the brochure or website, so I’m guessing that this is not strongly enforced for Westerners.

Here is a view from the inside of your pod. You have your choice of a TV or an electrical outlet. It’s an up-charge if you want both.

We went for the outlet as they were sold out of combo units.

I slept amazing well for it being a coffin. I think the booze helped.

In the morning we are off on our final sightseeing experience of Osaka – the Cup Noodle Museum. On the way there, passed this sign, which Julian informed me, that while Kobe, famous for its Kobe Beef, the beef at these stand is just overpriced from that region, rather than been raised in the Kobe tradition of pampering your cows:

The museum is several trains away from the hotel:

And amazingly well-signed at the destination station:

Talk about KIDS everywhere…to get to the museum we passed hundreds – all clutching these air-filled bags with their cup noodle inside so they would survive the trip home.

Yes, the statue of the founder has a packet of noodles in his hand.

If you ever wanted to know the history of ramen in its own serving container – this is the place.

Ramen through the ages:

Ramen in space:

Let’s not forget the theatre presentation:

Its free for the self-guided tour (2000yen deposit if you want the English language audio tour), but if you want the hand-on, make-your-own-from-scratch experience, that’s extra.

If that’s too much time and too much money, you can opt for the color your own bowl, and have them create a custom package of ramen with whatever toppings you want. Be prepared for a LONG line:

What can I say, I like weird tourist places – but it did make us hungry for noodles, just not from a cup, but a bowl. It took us a while to find a sit-down restaurant in the massive Osaka Train Station and my hip/leg was still bothering me, but the wait and the walk was worth it:

Next stop – Kyoto!

[?? ?]

For more blog posts, CLICK HERE.

Wed
16
Feb '11

MeatFest.

A wonderful steak and egg scramble with Solus this morning… and we were only half an hour late getting out of the house (9:30 vs. 9:00) – still made it to Julian’s house in Portland by noon… and found him playing hooky from Portland State University for the day.

Off to my new favorite restaurant in Portland – the Fishwife Café… it really does look like your basic diner/dive, but the food is stunningly good, and now they have a full bar. Last time I was here was dinner with Jamshed last summer before he transitioned to a different plane. Julian had the Cajun fish salad ($10), and I had the Lunch Special Fish and Chips ($5.50 for two pieces of cod served with waffle cut fries – and just the right amount to fill you up, but not grease/stuff you) and one of the best Maker’s Mark Manhattans that I’ve had in years – heavy on the bitters.

Julian attempted to spend the rest of the afternoon doing his homework reading… he’d get two pages and fall asleep… maybe tomorrow.

The plan for tonight’s MeatFest is to grill many pounds of sausage products (half of which Julian stuffed himself) to compliment the cheese and cracker platter, and the crock pot full of Smokies® cooked in a Welchs® Jelly and Chili Sauce mix. Oddly enough, this will be the second time in the last couple of months for this recipe… last time was at Whistler for White Trash food night.

Although the suggestion for a “toga” theme had been batted around, Julian thought that was asking a bunch for people to dress up… luckily two guys showed up in costume and talked Julian into joining them.

The movies on tap for tonight are:

  • Caligula
  • Dogma
  • Blue Velvet
  • The Last Temptation of Christ
  • Salo: The 120 Days of Sodom
  • The Passion of Christ

All big budget controversial movies…. We got through Caligua (and maybe one more – I’m a bit foggy about that) before we started playing with the Smokies ®

Needless to say, it was a late night. Good thing the train back tomorrow isn’t until 2:50pm.

[229.5]

Sun
15
Mar '20

Trip Report: Osaka

So, took a late afternoon Shinkansen from Hiroshima to Osaka. If you were trying to save money, you could shave $25 off if you were willing to transfer three times and have it take 6 hours rather than 2. We took the semi-fast train (more stops, but direct).

Unlike last night’s hotel, which was near the central station, tonight we are in the Dōtonbori neighborhood because it has better nightlife (according to Julian). We stayed in this neighborhood several years ago in a Capsule Hotel (see post) back in March of 2018 – wow, almost exactly two years ago!

Oddly enough, the entrance to the hotel was to the right (the bar was to the left). It had an oddly, unfinished, feel to it. And I found it even stranger that they handed you the TV remotes when you checked in.

While there ARE two beds – it’s TIGHT. This should really be a one bed room. Julian cut a deal with the front desk for a separate room for himself, as video didn’t work in mine (or his first one – they moved him again).

We’d had a late lunch, so I just had some convenience store food (which is really fresh and cheap). Julian went out for a bit. I was spent from all the walking.

The morning found us up and out early – Julian has an appointment at the US Embassy at 11:45 to get some notarized documents for his upcoming wedding (celebration in November so I’ll be back).

You can see the police bus in front of the embassy – didn’t want to get too close to photograph least they lock me up.

Looks like those people are headed to the embassy! Julian showed up 45 minutes early, got in 30 minutes early, was out before the original appointment time.

Here are some random shots of Osaka.

As a side note – there are 7-11 EVERYWHERE in Japan, and they are more than just a convenience store, you pay bills, pick up packages, etc. They also run a bank.

Time for lunch in the bowels of the Osaka Central Station – there are dozens of restaurants. Fast food near the gates, food mall on the lower level, then sit-down restaurant in the basement.

The food here doesn’t suck – whether it’s food out, or dining in with Julian cooking:

My trip to Japan is ending…longer than I expected, and somehow, not long enough.

I’m already looking forward to my return in November for the wedding.

Headed home tomorrow.

[231.6]

For more blog posts, click here.

Fri
14
Feb '14

Trip Report: Oregon

This week I’m off to Oregon for a couple of days – after dealing with cancelling my Microsoft Alumni Network medical insurance now that the Washington State Health Exchange has figured out what I deserve. I could have saved $375 if they’d gotten their act together in December. At least I’ll have MUCH cheaper coverage going forward. At least I saved almost $500 by protesting a damage claim by the Enterprise Rent-A-Car Bozeman unit. Me thinks they are looking to pimp out their cars before selling them… mine (see post) had almost 30,000 miles on it AND the inner side of the front tires were bald – bad alignment, previous wreck? It certainly wasn’t the vehicle I requested.

All that is water under the bridge – of which I’ll pass over many on my Oregon road trip to deliver the Winter Faerie Gathering directories to Breitenbush Hot Springs. Here is the route:

Lots of time on the freeway – 3 hours to Julian’s house, 2 more hours to the Breitenbush.

Left Seattle around 12:30 for a slow leisurely 10mph over the speed limit drive to Portland… but had to stop for lunch, then a Goodwill, gas… got to Portland a little before 4pm at the nephew’s place (after a further stop at the liquor store for more supplies – I only brought 6 liters of wine!)

I brought down salad fixing, four massive steaks:

Julian did a couple of additions – a marinated radish, red union, red wine vinegar salad topper (along with the feta crumbled and yellow pear tomatoes), and a stir-fry of zucchini, bell peppers and onions. Here is the radish dish:

These are REALLY tasty – try them sometime.

But before dinner could commence, we (Mark & Onyx, Seth, Julian, Me) had a craft project to do. Wine charms made from foreign coins Julian has collected in his travel and ring binders.

Tools:

  • Pliers (to hold coin)
  • Drill with bit large enough for the ring
  • Leftover coins from foreign travel

I think they came out really good – might have to produce them for the shop!    

Pick your coin – get it drilled, apply. I actually think they would go through the dishwasher with no problem.

We were having too much fun and totally spaced on the after-dinner activity, going through Alan’s discarded shoes – two garbage bags full of lightly used 10-11 (Men’s) shoes. Damn.

Slept in on Wednesday morning until 10am… joy of joys… and slowly rambled out the door around 12:30 to grab lunch at The Fishwife – my North Portland favorite restaurant – for their $6 Daily Fish and Chips Special and a fresh-squeezed grapefruit mimosa (also $6). For $7 I could have gotten the Oyster Shooter/Bloody Mary combo. No Julian to join me – on Sunday he was sledding in the snow and pulled a Sonny Bono (sideways into a tree, though I think Sonny did a face plant – and now I read an article [looking for a link] that it wasn’t an accident, but I digress) resulting in some seriously bruised ribs.

Went back to the house for a bit – then a little before 2pm it was off to the Bush to deliver the directories for the Winter Gathering that JustJack, HisPartner, DancingBear, and I put together on the night before I left on this trip. Talk about cutting it close:

Here is the final result, first closed:

8.5×14 edge wire-o bound, vellum cover weight stock (translucent) with 60# Springhill Digital Gray for the interior pages.

Now open:

No other photo directory for the Gathering has looked like this. 8.5×28 when laid out open – and it reads from each direction signifying “no beginning and no end”. Though I haven’t talked about it no “call” to the Gathering has looked like it either – usually 4 pages or so, the one for this Gathering… 14 pages. MUCH on-line drama about “changing” the gathering. A better phrase would be, a different vision.

Got to the gathering a little before 4pm, shortly after my cabin-mates:



But the work wasn’t done yet – the QR’s (Queens Registrar) had more plans for the directory… double wrapped as scrolls with ribbons. That was the after dinner work. Don’t they look pretty in the wooden boxes I used to haul them south in?

All wrapped up scroll-like and ready to be delivered on the opening day of the Gathering.

The highlight of my night is a cuddle date with Seth before beddy-bye time, yes, I have a bit of a crush on him. I have a crush on him even though he has a 4-year-old wickedly cute precocious daughter.

Thursday morning was another luxurious morning of sleeping in – wish I’d just spent the night cuddling (don’t we all). Seems neither of us sleep apart all that well. Lesson learned.

Had lunch in the lodge:

Though it’s winter in this picture, it’s not this winter… add 18″ of snow. They almost cancelled the Gathering. But it does show the lodge where the meals are served.

A little after 3pm I was on the road home… just in time for hellish rush hour traffic, partly caused by a narrow 1-5 Bridge over the Columbia that Oregon and Washington are fighting over.

  • Washington State wants a bridge with light rail connecting Vancouver, WA to Portland, OR – the rail line already goes within ½ a mile on the Oregon side
  • Vancouver, WA (the city) has council members opposed to Light Rail
  • Both Oregon and Washington are having troubles passing bills to fund the bridge

Meanwhile – it takes me an hour and 15 minutes to get around the “ring road”.

Luckily at the north end is a Burgerville and a Safeway for groceries and gas. A nice Pepper Bacon Tillamook Cheeseburger and a glass of Merlot (yes, a burger chain that serves wine by the glass, at least at the Vancouver, WA location at the intersection of I-205 and I-5).

Finally home a little before 10PM – time to set the alarm to get up before 8 to take the Miata for new paws and an oil change.

Nice to be in my own bed tonight.

[210.4]

Wed
11
Mar '20

Trip Report: Gero, Japan – A Mountain Hot Springs Town

Having had a good night’s sleep in Nagoya – thanks to Julian buying a new guest mattress – in the morning we are off to Gero, which is a town several hours away, up in the mountains. WikiPedia link here.

We took the slow (i.e. cheap) train, which took a couple of transfers – but we still look happy:

I still had the English-language papers from yesterday’s flights to read on the way up.

Julian had booked us into the Yukai Resort Gero Saichoraku Bekkan which came with buffet dinner and buffet breakfast…

It’s a bit of a rabbit warren of a place built up a hillside:

And they provide robes (yakata):

I have to add the photo of the door to our unit – using Julian as a yard stick:

We went on a little walkabout, but it was a TAD rainy:

Snack shopping to tide us over:

Since we are in a hot springs town, we explore the onsen (bath) on the roof of one of the building that makes up the warren of this hotel.

Yes, this was outdoors, on the roof, in the rain, and we had it to ourselves – water was hot, hot, hot, to cooler.

And the dinner where they butchered a tuna (with no sushi grace) at the beginning of dinner…

And if that wasn’t enough, you could get a vending machine cheeseburger and fries..

The next day we had breakfast in the buffet room (sorry, no pictures) and glanced out to sunshine in the valley…and by the time we checked out and headed to the train station, it was snowing. I kid you not:

Snow never shows up in photos…but it turned out to be a nice walk to the train station (we took the shuttle up the hill on arrival):

And things for sale in the train station:

The town mascot is the frog…

We opted for the Express Train back to Nagoya – one direct train rather than two transfers which turned out to be a good idea, even in the unassigned cars – look at the view!

And here is a little video of the train in motion…

Got home in about half the time (and less stress), and soon, I was reunited with Julian’s new refrigerator (from my previous visit), that includes a rarity in Japan – an ice maker!

It was a great overnight trip. More tomorrow.

[? ? ?]

For more blog entries, https://blog.unclemarkie.com

Sun
16
Jun '13

Work, Drive Fast, Play.

My morning text from Roxy. “Danger danger… missing cards… car2go and orca card with number 232 on the front last seen on or near the chaise lounge”

Car2Go is a car sharing service in Seattle and Orca is the transit card for busses and light rail.

Brought them to the shop with me and at noon a very hungover Roxy and Jerrod popped in to pick up the cards and the pack of Cocktail Colors cigarettes that he left. And there was a change deposit on my deck of 51 cents as well. Lots of people dropping lots of things last night.

Got to the shop to find that there are still samples from yesterday’s tasting – in addition to the two I plan to open today. Seven bottles to sample from – that’s a hell of a Sunday but whatever is left goes to Julians with me tonight after work and after a three hour drive. The leftover samples don’t bode well for yesterday’s sales – and it’s true. Broke four digits, but just barely – worst Saturday since the end of November.

By comparison, it wasn’t a bad Sunday — though the first 4 hours wouldn’t have shown that since it was dead, dead, dead — thought I was going to have to subsist on the woman who were hanging out someplace close by and kept coming in for more cold bubbly – though at $10 a bottle it wasn’t going to be a lot.

As usual, customers right under the wire — thinking that being open until 6 on Sunday might be safer… but I do like getting off at 5 so I can make dinner for folks at the house.

5:10 I was on the road to Portland — 7:40 I was in Portland having made a gas stop in Lacey. Two and a half hours — with a gas stop. Damned impressive — think I’ll take me time on the way home.

The graduation party for Julian was in full swing when I arrived — luckily there was a little food left for me — home make pulled pork sandwiches. Damn fine.

Sis-in-law, bro-in-law, nieces left shortly after I arrived only to return with a car issue. There goes Karen’s trip to Evergreen tomorrow. Besides Julian’s graduation they have been on the road for Emily’s graduation and are looking at colleges for Karen for 2014.

Here are a couple dark shots of the festivities…

Jameson and Julian noodling around.

Julian’s girlfriend and his parents, not noodling.

A late night — the moonshine I brought didn’t make it through the evening.

[207.2]

Sat
8
Apr '17

Trip Report: Japan – Tokyo

TokyoDave and I arrived from the train station to a living room full of teenagers – apparently, there were twice as many (eight) earlier. In the living room on a tabletop cooker they had been making quesadillas and smores – yes, these are international school students. Sarah’s (TokyoDave’s number two daughter) red-haired boyfriend is half Japanese, half Argentine. Definitely a mixed crowd where English was the major language. And like teens everywhere, more food was needed:

Yep – they send Mitzio (TokyoDave’s wife) to the Dominos store because you get an extra pizza if you pick it up rather than have it delivered. Thankfully she also picked up a bag of ice for cocktails.

It was a long evening of catching up, noshing on various bits and bobs, a bottle of red wine was opened to go with the dutyfree whiskey I brought. Spanish, El Diablo something. Didn’t try it but it was finished by the morning.

Julian showed up from Nagoya in the morning – only getting a little lost needing TokyoDave to fetch him from the Family Mart (the 7-11 of Japan, except that 7-11’s are EVERYWHERE in Japan). Soon we were off to Kawasaki for the Kanamara Festival. Basically, it’s a Penis Festival – like the one that I went to two years ago in Komaki.

Police had closed off streets:

And the crowds were massive – much larger than the festival in Komaki.

With lots of people in costume:

And then the parade of penises started:

But a still photo doesn’t do it justice – how about a video!

And there were more “floats”….

This one was carried by and donated to the local temple by local drag queens:

Yet, more dongs…

And dress-up:

It turned into a family event with TokyoDave’s wife and daughter meeting up with us, though it’s only Julian, Sarah, and I in this shot.

Sarah and I are eating chocolate dipped penis’ (banana on a stick), while Julian is holding up his “mini-me”.

Eventually, we ended up at one of the two temples (starting and ending):

When the “honored guest” (that would be me) was ask about lunch, my request was not for street/stall food, but a sit-down restaurant to get away from the crowds (and, frankly, to sit down). We ended up at t noodle joint.

You order and pay at the hostess station, they give you tickets to place on the table. Want drinks? Step up to the vending machine for more tickets:

I opted for the sparking sake:

Soon, it was time to head back to TokyoDave at Mitzio’s house and relax:

And have a little late dinner.

For tomorrow Julian and I head to Nagoya.

[219.4]

Mon
10
Apr '17

Trip Report: Nagoya, Day One

Thanks to TackyT-ShirtPrincess, I have a link to the international coverage of the festival I attended in Kawasaki. CLICK HERE. Should I return next spring, I think I’d go back to the one in Komaki (always on March 15th – Kawasaki’s is always the first Sunday in April) as the crowds are smaller and the phallus’ bigger.

Guess that I really SHOULD show you the shirt I got her – even though it will ruin the surprise since she hasn’t gotten it yet:

With that little additional information about Kanamara, we need to get ourselves south to Nagoya on the Shinkansen, which means a couple of different trains to pick it up in Yokohama.

Yep – during the morning commute. But we made it.

And soon, the little lady with the cart came around. I picked a lovely Australian Red to go with my egg salad sandwich on blindingly white bread:

The trains are definitely high-tech – they even come with instructions on how to use the toilet:

Don’t squat on the rim, don’t put your poop stained toilet paper in the trash can, and wave your hand around to flush.

To give you an idea of how quick the train is – here’s a short video:

All that speed made me thirsty, so when the trolley lady came by, it was time for another round:

Arriving at Nagoya’s Central Station, changed to the local train, where there was even a sign on the train advertising the wine TokyoDave and Mitsio drank while we were in Tokyo:

Arriving at Julian’s place, I see he’s stocked up in preparation of my visit:

Though we might have to hit the grocery store for some of their 3 to 5 liter bottles:

His new place (since my last visit) is a definite step up – on the 13th floor with a nice view:

And the insides are nice as well!

You can see his previous place in this POST.

No rest for the wicked (guess that would be me), so after dropping our bags, it’s off to a Japanese Curry restaurant:

I even had a beer – yes, me!

Since this is Julian’s last day off before returning to work – off we go Inuyama Castle – more trains, more walking:

And after six or seven flights of “ship stairs”, we get (me, huffing and puffing) to the top to see the view:

Walked back to the station to use the facilities…luckily, no need for this one:

At least there was toilet paper.

But wait, there is MORE! Appetizers at home.

Before heading out to conveyor sushi! Where you order by tablet.

And get your own hot water for tea:

With food coming on Shinkansen and belts:

And a little video

And in the end, you pay by the stack of plates, by color:

Long day, longer…wait – karaoke!

In my(previous) world, karaoke is something done at a bar with people fighting over a microphone. Apparently in Japan, it’s something experienced with friends in a private reserved room with free unlimited booze.

This is a favorite of Julian:

Free drinks (with room rent) help Uncle Markie get into the spirit:

Julian filmed a small (thankfully) segment when the liquor took over:

A seriously long night. I’m thinking of sleeping in.

[211.4]

Sun
15
Mar '20

Trip Report: Hiroshima

With my unexpected extra time in Japan, Julian and I decided to head several hours south to Hiroshima, yes, that Hiroshima. Back on the train go we.

And yes, there are little smoking rooms on the train:

At the train station in Hiroshima, besides displaying cars…

They also had a seating chart of the station bathroom:

And the stations are kind of gorgeous:

Got into Hiroshima in the evening as Julian had to work a little during the day – found us this place with its high-tech check-in system.

Features a free self-trouser press, and most importantly, an “Ice engine” – interesting translation:

If you were wondering what the top item is, VOD is Video On Demand, ART is…

But the room is nice.

It was dumping out – but fortunately out the back door of the hotel was this GREAT restaurant serving Hiroshima specialties (photo is of their front entrance, not the back entrance we came through):

Lively place:

Fortunately with picture menus! One for Julian…

One for me…

And the food was great!

 

 

After dinner it was time to check out their “onsen” (Public Bath).

The tattoo rule is pretty standard in Japan as usually only the Yakuza have them. The baths were great. Julian was impressed with the place I’d picked – and it beat walking around in a downpour outside.

The morning found us sightseeing as best we could do with all the closed museums. The manhole covers almost made up for the closures:

 

Next up was lunch at this cold soba noodle place – that had a line to get in when they opened at 11:30:

Not a big place…

And the neighborhood:

Next on the agenda is The Peace Park – ground zero for the first atomic bomb used on people. The bombed out dome down river is the far end of the park, which covers the entire area flattened by the bomb.

The museum, closed due to the virus outbreak:

This gives you another view of the scale of the park. Keep in mind that this is in the middle of a huge city.

Various memorials as well:

 

And finally, the bombed out dome across the river:

And some close ups:

Time to head back to the station since the Public Gardens we wanted to go to were also closed, but first a stop for another Hiroshima specialty – OYSTERS!

We ordered the set since the individual oysters were extremely expensive:

Came with an appetizer plate:

Three oysters prepared different ways:

Followed by a pasta course.

A couple of high balls later we were ready to head to the train station for our overnight in Osaka:

The Japanese are VERY thorough in explaining things about their public toilets – like where to que up depending on what you are doing:

Back on the train!

I just want to add this screenshot that sums up my day:

That’s it for Hiroshima.

[231.6]

For more blog posts, click here.

Fri
13
Mar '20

Trip Report: Couple Of Days In Nagoya

Change is in the wind. Next stop was supposed to be a hotel near Tokyo Disneyland Sea – until they closed the park, then shortly after, India cancelled eVisas for Japanese citizens. Delhi was the destination after Disney. Change is in the wind, roll with it.

My answer? Cancel the Delhi-London section of the trip, get the miles back, cancel the hotels, get the points back. Rebook to fly home from Japan for less points, less money, in a suddenly available Japan Air Lines First Class Suite. Lemons into a cocktail.

Fortunately, Julian is transitioning between two jobs, and has more free time – so in that sense, the timing is GREAT. And I do love hanging out with him and his friends. And there is great inexpensive food in Nagoya…if you are willing to cook it yourself.

Julian lives on the 13th floor of this building:

Tonight, dinner is with Julian and Yosuke, who I’d met on all my previous trips to Nagoya.

Yosuke got “special rice” which comes with its own heater and timer for when it is done.

And we eat well even at home.

And there are home projects to do, like refinishing his kitchen counter…

And hanging a new ceiling fixture – honest, I love this stuff, just like home:

Isn’t that a nice view out his window – mountains in the distance.

Lunch the next day was at a conveyor sushi place near his place:

So, you can grab stuff off the belt…

Or order from the tablet…

We were cheap, we were only ordering the 100 YEN plates (that’s two pieces for USD $.093 – CHEAP) and highballs were only 350 YEN (USD $3.25). In the end, they come and scan the number of plates (and their color)…

And give you a laminated barcode to take to the counter:

Which you scan at the machine and stick in cash or your credit card:

Love this place!

So, Julian is a GREAT cook – and can-do amazing things with standard Japanese appliances…like baking sourdough bread in a fish broiler:

And our dinner with rice…

Like I said, he’s a great cook, even breakfast (with the sourdough toast) is aesthetically pleasing.

Gotta clean out the fridge before we head south for a couple of days…

I’m hugging it because it is a wedding present from Yurika’s grandparents – it has a built-in icemaker. Common in the US, rare in Japan.

Well, that’s it for this chunk of the adventure – it continues tomorrow as we head south.

[? ? ?]

For more blog posts, click here.

Thu
24
Apr '14

Trip Report: Redmond, Oregon

On the road with Xander and Roxy – headed for Redmond, Oregon for a couple of nights in a 3-bedroom “chalet” complete with BBQ grill and hot tub – the only way to stay. We will be meeting Julian and Megan who are coming from Portland to celebrate Julian’s last week in Portland before a week in New Mexico and then flying off to JapanLand for at least a year of teaching English as a Second Language.

Here is a great selfie from the road:

How nice to not have to drive the 6 hours in each direction – and unusual situation. And a pleasant one.

I forgot to plug in Burgerville into my GPS so we were out of range by the time hunger struck. But we did stumble across a gem:

That would be the Barlow Trail Roadhouse on Highway 26 in Welches, Oregon. To hell with the diet – I’m having the Biscuits and Gravy (1/2 order) and a Manhattan.

Xander went for the Miners’ Meat Lovers Omelet with mashed potatoes (from scratch) and gravy instead of the breakfast potatoes:

And Roxy went for the Stomping Mountain Toast which is Texas toast dipped in pancake batter, rolled in oats and sugar frosted flakes and then deep fried.

Talk about RICH – hello coronary.

It was 4:30 by the time we got to Eagle Crest, a WorldMark resort. They did a slooooow check-in which meant that the unit wasn’t quite ready for us…not a good sign. But it was BIG:

Julian and Megan didn’t get there until almost 7 so dinner was a little later than usual… Salmon with a Ginger Wasabi Glaze for Rosy the Pescaterian, and little lamb t-bones for the meat eaters:

For our only full day, off to Smith Rock we went – no, not my idea. Really, hiking? Me? I did actually manage to get down to the river and back, but I passed on the longer route the rest of the folk took.

Needless to say, this place it set up for hiking…and rock climbing:

Man I love my 18x zoom lenses. Since I headed one way (on a shorter trail) and the kids took the longer route – I moved the car to pick them up at the other parking lot.

Tonight’s dinner is a brazil-nut encrusted rock fish for Roxy with a spicy wasabi drizzle, and a couple of racks of pork ribs for the carnivores… It’s really nice to have Julian in the crowd – he’s a great cook and takes most of the load off me.

The breakfasts were rosemary challah French toast with South Park Blackberry Syrup (yes, I ate the carbs) with sausages, and the final breakfast was a eggs scramble with a side of bacon for everyone except for Roxy – no cheese, no bacon.

Check-out time is noon, and waiting for a load of dishes to get done put up right at that mark… back on the road again, this time with stops in Portland to drop off a book, and then to finally get to a Burgerville for my fix:

Yes, that is a Pepper Bacon Tillamook Cheeseburger with a glass of Merlot. Be warned – this might be the only Burgerville that serves beer and wine.

Got back home around 7 with Xander and Roxy staying for a couple of drinks to wind down from the road trip.

Guess it’s time to plan some more travel….

[213.0]

Tue
29
Jun '10

If It’s Tuesday It Must Be Belgium.

Sorry, It’s Portland.

Must get new client. Must stop hanging out with bartenders and other night owls.

Noon finds Julian and I at the Produce Row Cafe — a once seedy neighborhood (produce district — i.e. trucks, warehouses, etc) bar.eatery that got pimped out a couple of years ago. Luckily the food is still as good as ever.

A couple of junk shopping stops — Sally Ann and Hippo Hardware that yield nothing, and then it’s home for a hap for me, and preparing ESL lessons for Julian. He volunteers in Gresham to help immigrants assimilate. Don’t say that after a couple of drinks.

While Julian is teaching, I’m having dinner with Jamshed… a dear Sufi Sheik friend of mine at Fishwife, halfway between Juilian and Jamsheds (the J boys). We both thought it was great — Yelp reviews were all over the board. Go figure.

Back at the house after dinner (and Julian’s return from ESL land) it’s drinking wine while he cooks tacos for dinner (smelled great, the left over slaw as a compliment), and then talking frequent flyer mile stuff.

He’s half way to Delta Elite status — he didn’t know about free upgrades, free bags, all that stuff, and by the end of the evening I’ve booked him to Mexico City via Atlanta, and he gets to overnight with dad (in Atlanta), earn 14,000 frequent flier miles (plus the 14,00 he has — Elite!) for a whopping $380.17. It will be good for him.

Honest.

[? ? ?]

Wed
19
Dec '12

Hello Portland.

Out of the house at 5:30, car to the airport off-premises parking, through security, and into the Board Room a couple of minutes before 6am – that might be a new record. I wasn’t expecting to be able to use the Pre line at the airport (expedited screening) since I’m travelling on a one-way ticket.

Flight would have been OK if the large guy next to me had taken off his bulky padded jacket – it sort of made him look like the Michelin Man. For a 45 minute flight it was OK, just annoying.

Took MAX into the city (that would be Portland’s Light Rail line), getting to Julian’s place at 10 where I promptly curled up on the couch under a blanket. He was still asleep upstairs, and quickly I was asleep downstairs.

Off to lunch at the Fishwife on Lombard – wonderful lunch, great fish.

Next stop was the butcher to get a boneless prime rib for tonight’s dinner. Here is my cheat sheet for timing:

What I didn’t know is that his oven door spring is a little sprung, just like Lunetta’s in Berkeley that I fixed with a bungee cord – unfortunately, no bungee cords in the house so dinner was a little late and a little rare, which is OK with prime rib.

And the table for four:

And a little holiday picture…

Might put that one on FaceBook as a Christmas profile pic.

Lovely evening conversation with Julian, his girlfriend, and roommate Alan, but soon after, Julian was out for the count:

Me, I just headed downstairs, turned on the portable heater and curled up in bed.

[? ? ?]