randyswanderlust

[randyswanderlust]

TAKE-OUT GOURMET

For a quick meal, it’s well known that Japanese convenience stores offer a wide variety of delicious and affordable premade options. The food halls in the basements of most Japanese department stores or another great option. And if you play your cards, right, you can save some yen too. In the last hour or so before closing, prices drop on most of the delicatessen-type fare. I had a great “room picnic” of several kinds of sushi rolls. This salad was amazing, and I can’t wait to reverse-engineer it at home. Tofu, avocado, wakame seaweed, lettuce, green onions, slivers of daikon with a sesame soy dressing. After a night in the mini fridge in my room, it made for a great breakfast as I was packing my bags to head for Haneda Airport

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タカノフルーツパーラー TAKANO FRUIT PARLOR

Takano Fruit Parlor has been in business since the 1880s. It is a favorite of a certain someone, which I’ve been hearing about for years, and have long wanted to visit. Celebrating the night before my departure was the perfect excuse. I had a fruit parfait that did not disappoint. Each of its components was chilled to just the right temperature to highlight its flavor and texture. A dollop of whipped cream and a couple of small scoops of refreshing sorbets complemented the fruits, of which there must’ve been almost a dozen. It’s on the fifth floor of a building in the heart of Shinjuku, which kind of equivalent to being right on Times Square in NYC. Note the view I had while savoring my parfait!

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友達 FRIENDS

One of the highlights of this trip was getting to see all the people I was hoping to see. Sure did a lot of catching up! And made some new friends, too.

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TOKYO TIME!

My time in Nagoya flew by, and I boarded the Nozomi (fastest among the bullet trains,) bound for Tokyo with a heavy heart… and an Ekiben (station lunchbox,) as is my long-standing tradition. Just one full day and two half days here, and it says fun and overwhelming as always. There’s a certain electricity to this megalopolis, and it’s as enthralling as the transportation grid is complicated and confusing.

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A WELCOME SURPRISE IN MY RICE!

This is one of my favorite dishes- ground seasoned chicken served over rice. In this case ginkgo nuts were added. I told the friend I was having dinner with that we have the trees in America, but don’t use the nuts (which are actually the seeds of a small, cherry like, foul-smelling fruit,) at all, and he seemed rather dismayed. “You mean, people just throw them away!?”

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PARADE DAY-Part 4

Within five minutes of the passing of the last contingent, spectators had dutifully cleared the streets and city workers had traffic flowing again. Even more impressively, there was not even a single piece of litter.

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PARADE DAY-Part 3

Here are some various shots from the parade: The array of costumes and color was amazing. Who invited that red bird thing?!?

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PARADE DAY-Part 2

At noon, city officials ushered me and the president of our sister city group onto a fancy car, and following a band playing John Phillips Souza music, off we slowly went to join the parade. What an amazing experience! Tens of thousands of people lined the route, many of them waving. (There were also occasional shouts of “We love the Dodgers!” and curiously, “Trick or treat.”) The warm response of people in the crowds to our simple waves was really touching. 90 minutes of waving, however, can be quite taxing on the shoulders, I learned.

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PARADE DAY-Part 1

When I opened the window to my room early on Sunday morning, I could hear fifes and drums echoing in the nearby back streets. A giant float was being pulled towards City Hall to the repetitive strains of the music, play by girls sitting in the back of the float. Up top, a smallish puppet made elaborate movements.

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MEANWHILE ON THE BATHROOM DESIGN FRONT…

When using this innovative sink, you hold your hands to the left for soap, and to the right for water. The dryer is also built into the sink, on the side closest to the user. I think this is a Japanese invention I can pass up on. On the bright side, it also kind of looks like a face.

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HOLIDAY DESIGN CHALLENGE

In the land of Hello-Kitty cuteness, what do you do for the figurines that will be used to celebrate the upcoming year of the snake? Seeing these in Japanese stores in October is like seeing Christmas decorations for sale at home before Halloween.

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SCENIC NAGOYA

A pretty spot in the city center

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DELEGATION DUTIES

This weekend is Nagoya Festival, and it’s dedicated to the 65th anniversary of our sister city relationship. Lots of speeches, meetings, receptions, and banquets to attend. Of course, I deal with our teacher program and educational exchanges, but the relationship between the ports of Los Angeles and Nagoya is a big part of the sister city affiliation.

Note the mayor seated in the front row, holding a Dodgers flag. Shohei Ohtani is big news here. 

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THIS TOWN DON’T GET NO RESPECT

No respect at all, I’m tellin’ ya! Poor Nagoya- the locals have an unappealing accent, and for most tourists, it’s just a station to pass through on the way from Tokyo to Kyoto on the bullet train. And honestly, proclaiming that you’re “not boring” comes off as more of an admission than an assertion.

Noted filmmaker Hayao Miyazaki’s new Ghibili Park might turn things around, but what can you say about a city, one of whose major attractions is Nana-chan (Little Ms. Seven,) a 20 foot bald mannequin that gets dressed for different occasions? Actually, she’s finally getting her due, as evidenced by several Nana-chan-themed products in an official souvenir store.

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TEA TIME WITH DAVID

No visit to Nagoya would be complete without a visit to my friend Tsubouchi-san, AKA “David”. He’s a purveyor of tea from China and Taiwan, and we always visit in his lovely shop, over cups of Chinese tea from successive pourings. Many of the teas have poetic names, though I’m not sure what to make of the one below, the name of which translates as “scent of duck poop”. (In fact, I suspect the name is a ruse to deceive potential tea thieves, as it’s actually a high-quality tea.)

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PENCIL SHOPPING

Japanese has the most complicated writing system of any language and one of the loveliest. Not surprisingly, Japanese are true connoisseurs of writing utensils. The stationery section of any department store typically offers a wide variety of choices, and I like that there are always little pads of paper available for potential customers to “test drive“ the pens or mechanical pencils they’re considering. In the center of this pad, someone has written the five vowels that begin the Japanese version of the alphabet… あいうえお(A-I-U-E-O).

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名東高校 MEITO HIGH SCHOOL

I paid a nostalgic visit to my old school to meet with the principal about our program, and with our LA teachers Bao and Paul, to see how they’re doing. I was also able to sit in on some classes, which sure brought back memories. 30-some years later and it’s a struggle to get the kids to speak in class! It was interesting to talk to Paul and Bao, and to compare the struggles and joys of living and working in a different country. Bao also shared the joys and struggles of using a giant pair of teeth and fake tongue to teach pronunciation.