Hiroshima okonomiyaki party
Arrived to Hiroshima yesterday, with the Shinkansen train (fucking hell, they're fast). Went to the first hostel of my life! J-hoppers Hiroshima at Dobashi station, I had one of the greatest evenings so far. I happened to come on the evening when they held a okonomiyaki-party, so Hiroshima style okonomiyaki research and beerdrinking with people from the world in one clash. Fucking great!
At the moment, I'm sitting in the living room of the hostel, waiting for my iPad to charge up. I have about 7hrs to kill before meeting up with other couchsurfers, and I'm thinking of going to Miyajima. Apparently, that's one must-do thing while visiting Hiroshima, and with the hours I have to kill.. Why not.
Got shitfaced. Kanpai!
Breakfast pic
Its raining outside and I really don't feel like traveling today. Will go to Hiroshima by train and try out my first hostel, but I secretly just wish I was on the beach in Thailand atm. My god how rain can take one down.
Natto, tofu, kimuchi and orange milk.
Today's market
So, today I woke up at my friend's place in kita-ku, had some natto bfast (can't imagine living without that either) and then we went to a market. Loads of fish and seafood stuff, which I documented, maybe a bit too much. Different mochi and snacks aswell, for me this is pure interest and warmth at heart, but it's probably shitloads of boring stuff for normal people.
Anyhows, spent around 5 hours of walking around Sannomiya after that, ate some sweet potato tayaki and tamago onigiri and just killed time. Later, we went to a shabu-shabu and yakiniku restaurNt and got our meat cravings filled. We paid a certain amount (this case 2000yen=€14) and then we were free to order how many refills we wanted of both veg and meats. Good deal I have to say, Japanese style of eating out differs a lot from eating out in west. It's more of a play, you kind of make your own dining experience rather than having everything already planned and given right on your front door. I love the Japanese cuisine more and more for every day, and I can't imagine living without my soba or natto bfasts anymore.
Sjögurka!!!!!
Valkött+späck. Skall testas imorgon
Miso market
Shabu-shabu
Yakiniku!
Kyoto, mochi in my brain
Went to Kyoto on a day-trip. We went to shrines where I swung a rope and wished for life satisfaction and beer (the others did the whole procedure with writing papers and good luck charms, I was too lazy). After wishing, we went straight to a sake destillery and tried 4 different kinds. Gosh, sake is niccceeeee. The factory was closed so I couldn't see the procedure unfortunately, but at least I bought myself a very cute bottle for home :)
Blood levels was low after these hours of walking and eye-shopping so it was Mochi times!!!!! Anko (sweet red beans), green tea ice cream, dark syrups, green tea soup, mochi (balls made of mashed sticky rice) ohmygod. Sugar sugar sugar! More sugar please, my diet has changed from my European one so now I increase my carb intake and lower the fat. High carb low fat. Not that I follow a diet or so, I just happen to eat like this here.
So, desserts first and then..... Yakitori Izakaya! Basically we went to an izakaya and ordered many different small dishes of skewed chicken parts. Had some heart and liver again. Loads of beer for that aswell (everything was 280yen each!!). We then left Kyoto, I continued to a Spanish meeting/party and went later to a club in central Osaka. Closest to party I've been to, normal clubbing-dancing-drinking like in Malta. Smiling and having fun, finally some dancing goddamnit.
Maiko's house!
Pickled vegetables tasting
Most beautiful restaurant entrance ever
Walking around in Namba and Shinsaibashi
Today, I changed host. Which, I might say was a little bit of a relief since my first host HATED people who smoke/drink. Not about house rules. People who ever ever did it. Which I noticed when he saw my package of cigarets in my bag, completely stopped talking almost. Answering very shortly. Anyhows, I just felt like a pain in the ass finally, he was a bit too clean boy for us to get along I guess.
Anyway, met up Anderson today and we had a great but short moment before he left me with Tokie who had been studying Swedish for 6 years!! Been living in Sweden for 6months aswell, she speaks surprisingly good English for being japaneese. We had some coffee, she showed me purikura and later we had beer in a Irish pub. Some hours in between, I spent on walking around for hours, just looking at stuff. The journey is starting to feel better now, the last time in Ishibashi (former host) just felt awkward to be honest..
A penguin outside a penguin bar :)
Czech beer, foie gras with bacon and baked egg
Just came home from Umeda central station. I met up a couch surf friend and we went to the beer world restaurant and had great Czech beer. Later had ume-shu and baked egg with foie gras at some very cute little 'Italian' shop and then went home. Nice evening
Today
Haven't done much at all today, woke up at 9, had some plum yoghurt and then went out for soba lunch at 12. Then I've just been walking around in Ishibashi shopping area, eye shopping at various foods and tried to find a atm which accept my MasterCard but hell no, only VISA everywhere. I had VISA before, why did the bank change it for me?!?!?! Bought some chicken heart and liver skewers to calm my frustration, but I have now 749yen left (€5.2) and would need a atm really :c Going in to main station Umeda now to meet up a local couch surfer, maybe he knows something.
I was thinking if I should start eating stuff at home, but then I realize I easily get a filling bowl of soba for between 300-550yen (€2-4), it's quite alright to eat out. When I eat those noodle soups I just eat 2 times a day, they really make me full (so hot, so filling, so incredibly lovely), so the cost of about maximum €8 for food each day is okay. Most of the full meals in convenience stores cost more than that anyway.
"SPESIAL PRICE!!"
Chicken heart and liver!
Got some fermented soy beans, natto for my painting stomach, stickyness!
Stomach pains, leg pains, shoulder pains
Woke up today and felt like living hell. Backside of my legs were so sore that I seriously almost couldn't stand up, even less walk. My shoulders was hurting, but the worst was my stomach. I was at hospital for four days in December for acute stomach pains, which later was shown to be caused by some virus. I woke up around 7am today with same kind of pains, and all I could think about was just why, oh whyyyyy.
It took away my appetite completely, and first around 7pm I managed to get myself some soba noodle soup. I'd probably eaten earlier if it wasn't so that my body was completely trashed and hurting everywhere. Anyways, stomach a bit better now (still not good though) and I just hope it'll be going away for tomorrow. Japaneese people, well me too, seems to love undercooked eggs. That might maybe be a reason, but then lots and lots of people here would get sick all the time no?
Since I stayed in coma inside today, I don't really have any pictures to show you, except the soba noodle picture. I give you pics from Monday jan 20th instead, enjoy!
Tomato ramen soup!
Soba noodle soup with raw egg and spring onions.
Internet is impossible to find in public, let's go eat
Alright, today has been a day for killing time. Last night we went to a psy club and danced to psy techno til' late, slept too less hours and felt like shit when we had to wake up for the check out (stayed in a friends hotel room). Took the train from Shinsaibashi (really like that area) to Umeda, central of central Osaka. Had 9-10 hours to kill before meeting up a couchsurf host, so I went to the connected shopping mall. Seriously walked around there for 6-7 hours, my eyes suddenly felt like 1kg each as soon as I sat down. Hu-fucking-mongous mall so I had plenty of space to walk in. No internet to find anywhere at all, sucked to be alone at some moments. Found a globe of the earth, haven't decided yet if I should buy it. Stumbled into a food market. Oh boy.
The last 3 hours was spent on food. I had my dinner consisting of pork ramen soup and kimuchi, but had still like, 2 hrs left so I decided, why not try udon tsukemen (noodles you dip) and takoyaki aswell (octopus pancake balls). Yeah, had like 3 meals in those 2 hours, just to kill some time and to try. Also side ordered 6pcs of gyoza :)
I'm now at my new hosts place in Ishibashi, a student town. My host study biomechanics at the university beside and hates both alcohol and smoking... How lucky it's the beginning of the week, I don't need to show my bad wolf side really yet :P
Ramen bfast!
Pork ramen and kimuchi
Takoyaki, bleeeeeeeee
Udon tsukemen with a pork slice
Psy in Chiba, Kobe beef
Yes. So I went to this psy, about 1,5h outside central Tokyo, and had a beautiful night. We danced, watched snow fall around a campfire, danced a bit more and loved the morning light until lunchtime the Sunday after, when we finally drove back to leave me at the Shinkansen station with a friend from the party. Impulsive decisions feels so exciting when traveling without plans.
At the event, I met people who was willing to open up and share their family life with me if I wanted to stay in Tokyo. An au pair thing I would call it, which I greatly, oh god you don't know how much, appreciated with all my heart. But.
I feel in need of a rest. I haven't been relaxing at all since I woke up that departure day, and Im started to feel worn. So when I got the offer to go down west to Osaka (Kobe), I took it. Tokyo in all great might, but somehow, south did give me this more relaxed feeling of thought. So I went.
And here I am, being guided around by two soul family members, who unfortunately can't be with me much more these coming 5-7days. But I'm sure I'll manage with a bit help of couchsurfing.org.
I would't forgive myself if I forgot to write about my meeting with Kobe beef as a introduction to the city. I tried it in the dish Sukiyaki, which means the meat and veg is cooked in the middle of the table together with soy and a dashi/konbu stock, then dipped in a raw, whisked egg before putting it in your mouth. Kobe beef was more amazing than I ever imagined. The thin slice of meat literally melted in the mouth. I'm not kidding, it MELTED away. It is a very fatty slice you got, all deliciousness amazingly marbled into the meat and oh boy, that's an illegally sexy texture you have. Does fat sound disgusting? Try it if you can. It'll be worth those extra calories. Try it in a real japaneese way (whatever you choose that to be). Just go. Now
Look at that marbling. Just look at it. Can you imagine how it feels when those fat molecules is heaten up between the protein ones? It falls apart from the lightest bite, and it will make you sigh of culinary beauty.
Journey started
So. I arrived to Narita airport in Tokyo at 17.20, Thursday the 16th of Jan. Had to stand in a humongous line of other foreigners for that bloody rail pass I ordered while in Malta (need to exchange the envelope for a proper pass when arr to Japan), so I wasn't at Shinjuku station until around 20.20ish. Where I finally found a smoking room lol.
Anyhows, Robert found me and we went straight to Attic room for something to eat. All food was fucking hell, great! Nice introduction, even though the food wasn't typical japaneese or anything. Got some good ideas and inspiration, we had some pâté, a awesome chicken salad, something that could aswell be named 'salmon wellington' and a truly beautiful avocado, tapenade and prawn tartar topped with sesame seeds. Some not-the-best wine and ume-shu with that. Umeshu really is hell of a good liquer to finish a meal with.
Straggled away to Legato, a Italian place on the higher floors with view over east Tokyo. Nice glass windows, and great ginger ale (spicy is the shit). THEN... We found some caves. I'm speaking literally here, my friend took us down a basement and it was all very weird, but in a good way. That place was so.... Fucking awesome! Very calm though, but hell, the place consisted of tiny caves built in papier mâché, inside/on/together with the walls, go down a few steps and you have to crawl to get into those. Difficult to get a proper picture, but a really nice and different experience. Narrow, tiny, one could easily get stuck there if you're bigger than the average Asian. Weirdness <3
So, first night was nice, second is Friday and we got some party going on. Let's await and see what Tokyo has to tell me. So far so good, and if the clubs are boring I'll just stick my head down the beers instead ;)
Had a big touch screen fucking cinema, food, red
wine and whiskey as flight meal. Can't complain ;)
