road trip (adirondack edition)

BF and I took a road trip last weekend to Wilmington, NY, which is about 20 minutes east of Lake Placid, both of which are in the Adirondacks. BF's ex-coworker/room mate was swimming/biking/running the Ironman Triathlon on Sunday. I knew that the Ironman involved running a marathon, but I didn't know what the distances for the other events were. For the similarly uninformed, here they are: swim 2.4 miles, bike 112 miles, and then finish by running 26.2 miles. After the swim (1:23:26), DF was around 1700 in the overall standings. He climbed to about 700 after the bike (5:53:49) and then to 440 after the marathon (4:00:12!). He finished in 11 hours and 27 minutes.

Watching a triathlon is a test of endurance in itself. The competition starts at 7:00 am, but the roads closed at 6:00 am, which meant waking up at 4:30 am so that we could grab breakfast and find parking. We then spent 11 hours (a) standing in the rain, (b) taking cover in Jack Frost's restaurant where they kicked us out after we finished our third cup of coffee, (c) napping by the lake after the rain finally stopped, (d) trying to find shade once the sun finally came out, (e) cheering DF on as he whizzed by on his bike and sprinted along on foot, and (f) eating ice cream, pringles, and many cups of coffee. I think the only thing that I have ever done for over 11 hours is sleep. By then end of it, I was EXHAUSTED! I can only imagine how DF felt...

The drive back down to NYC was no picnic either -- I had been making great progress, averaging 80 to 85 mph when we got stuck on Route 87. An accident near Exit 15 had us sitting in traffic for an hour, foiling my attempt to get us back into the city by 11:00 pm. After that, I found myself racing with a Saab -- I guess she didn't take kindly to being passed by a Hyundai Elantra. I got us back to NY safe and sound, but I didn't crawl into bed until well past 1 am. I hope that our next road trip (to Lobsterfest in Maine) is less tiring. I plan on a marathon eating session of lobster. Yum!

confession

I was listening to the radio the other day and found myself bopping along to what I thought was the latest single by Gwen Stefani. The beginning of it sampled what sounded like Kingston Town by UB40. I was shocked to learn that the person singing the song was Paris Hilton. . . and ashamed that I like it nonetheless. As an aside, is it just me, or does it look like she is lip synching everything in her video?

Hot springs - Japan series #8

If I ever visit the main campus of Harvard, I am always amazed at the bus loads of foreign tourists that roam the Quad. Because there is no security guard in the Science Building you often run into them in the basement bathrooms, where tour guides have long figured out that it is one of the few places using the bathroom without an identification. I try to avoid these bathrooms for that reason, but that doesn't mean that I don't run into that stray toursist that has lost his/her group. The odd thing is that you rarely see american tourists on campus. Foreigners seem to out number them almost 4 to 1. However, if you go to Fanueil Hall....oila all the Americans.

I mention this phenomena because I discovered it is universal. During my recent travels in Japan I hit most of the hotspots written up in all the guide books: temples and shrines in Kyoto, Koyasan, Nara, Miyajima, the bright city lights of Tokyo, Osaka, and Yokohama. In all of these places, gaijin roam around freely with cameras and maps in hand.

This weekend, I decided to make use of my unlimited ride train pass to hit slightly off the beaten path locales. Well, actually the truth is I needed a little respite from all the historical sites.

On Saturday, I went into the lab and went out to lunch with the two H's. Both of them were postdocs in our lab and both moved back to Japan. After lunch and some roaming around with the boys, I got a headache from the sun. I decided that I would let hang out and I would take a train back to my house. It was a warm day with little air conditioning on the train and I had a full belly.... Anway, long story short I woke up an hour and a half later in Okayama.

Okayama is known for it beautiful garden and its black castle. The garden is touted as one of the three most beautiful gardens in Japan. I decided to make to best of accidental arrival, by seeing this garden. Korakuen, as it is called, is a large meticulously planned out garden. So depite being eaten alive by all the mosquitoes I was glad to walk around. The one strange thing was that I noticed the lack of non-Japanese tourists even though the place was full of people. They seemed slightly surprised as I spoke English at the ticket gate.

On Sunday, I decided to make use of my rail pass and visit Beppu. Beppu is famous for its active volcanoes and its hotsprings. The water is supposed to have curative powers. Beppu is on the island of Kyushu, which is south of the main island of Honshu. Its main industry is tourism. What I failed to realize was that it was mainly for Asian tourists (although the majority of the people there were Japanese, there were a lot of Koreans too). I hopped on a Japanese tour bus that made the rounds of all the "Hells," which are hotsprings that are meant for viewing only.

Really I have only one sentence to say to summarize my experience: Kentak3, your peoples are weird.

Each "Hell" had a theme, "Blood Hell," "Sea Hell," etc.. The theme was based on what the actual hot spring looked like. Basically, this is what you do: you get off the bus stare at some steamy pool of water, then you walk around lots of concession stands, you get back on the bus and repeat. By the time I had seen three of these (in the pouring rain) I decided I had had enough. I was planning on taking a long soak at one of the public baths, but decided the ridiculously crowded bath houses should be avoided when cranky.

Which brings me to another weird thing. I have no idea why, but the entire tourist population seemed to be grandparents and grandchildren. No one from the age 15 - 45 could be seen. That might also explain why there were an inordinate number of water parks in Beppu too. The whole experience was what I imagined tripping on acid would be like: loud, bright, and strange.

On my train ride home, I tried to figure out what was common between a 350 year old university, a garden, and a city with flashy lights and natural springs all they have in common are that the Japanese seem to think are fun to visit.

I think I'm turning...

It has been so freaking hot and humid lately that I decided to get my haircut. I had been going to the same stylist since 1998 -- even while I was living in Boston. I would go for almost a year without a hair cut. He was that good. The downside of having a fantastic stylist? He kept getting promoted and his haircuts became prohibitively expensive. Now I go to a Japanese salon where everyone is super happy when you walk in and they all shout "Welcome!" in Japanese as you walk by. They also give fantastic massages after they wash your hair. I have been to the Japanese salon 3 times and have gotten haircuts from 3 different stylists. They are all fine and dandy, but I haven't been able to find someone that is as good as my old stylist. But, since my old stylist was charging four times as much as the Japanese place, I thought that I would try out 4 different stylists before giving up. I thought that perhaps the language barrier was keeping me from getting the haircut I wanted, so this last time I brought along a picture of the cut I wanted. It's been really busy and stressful at work lately and after the fantastic massage that the hair washer gave me, I couldn't keep my eyes open while Ichi cut my hair. When I woke up, I found myself with a hairstyle that can only described as "very japanese". How do I know this? The following morning while waiting in line at Dunkin Donuts a woman tapped me on the shoulder and said to me in a very loud and over enunciated manner: "YOUR BAG IS OPEN. You should be CAREFUL. You have to CLOSE your bag in THIS COUNTRY." Arigato, lady.

Lists - Japan series #7

I've just had the most amazing weekend. The past Monday was a Japanese national holiday so I took a three day sight seeing trip. So much has happened that it is hard for me to write one single coherent story about it. As a scientist-in-training, I like the neat concise manner lists convey large chunks of data. The following is a summary of my weekend:

Cities/villages I visited in chronological order:
- Kyoto
- Nara
- Mt. Koya
- Osaka
- Himeji

Places of historical interest:
- Chion temple - Very large bell and entrance gate.
- Kiyo-mizu temple - Drank healing waters.
- Todai temple - Saw world's largest wooden Buddha.
- Kasuga taisha - Walked along the path of 10,000 lamps.
- Okuno temple and cemetary - Strolled in creepy graveyard with hundred of thousand headstones.
- Himeji castle - Climbed to 5th floor without hitting my head on very low beamed entranceways.

Romantic moments shared with V, random tourists, or no one at all:
- Walk in the rain through Maruyama park.
- Sunset at Nigatsu hall.
- Making a romance wish at Kasuga shrine
- Sitting in Japanese garden on top of Koyasan at 5:20 in the morning.
- Standing on the west section of Himeji castle overlooking the city shouting "I am queen of the world" inside my head.

Strange foods I tasted:
- Black sesame soft serve ice cream
- Corn Pretz sticks - be warned: they taste like a can of corn not corn meal.
- Bibim Donburi - items on top of rice still unknown
- "delicious" sauce
- "White sour" flavored sherbert on a stick
- Shojin ryori - full dinner of vegetables including sponge-like rehydrated Koyasan tofu.
- Pocari Sweat ion water
- Takoyaki - octopus balls. (yes, you from the hose have permission to snicker.)
- Chiyo-yaki - savory pancake

Random numbers:
- Unsolicited unbrellas given to me by strangers when needed : 2
- Times strangers said I looked Japanese: 2
- People standing in non-reserved car #3 and in adjoining space next to bathrooms of Hikari train headed towards Hakata at top speeds of 185 mph: approximately 35
- Old ladies sitting on my luggage on that train: 1
- Total hours spent on trains: about 11
- Japanese "talent" seen at Shin-Osaka: 1
- Japanese girls screaming and waiting for him to come off train: too numerous to count
- Sticks of "corn" flavored pretz before becoming ill: 5
- Pictures V took : over 500
- Pictures I took: less than 40
- Number of department stores in Osaka that had Evil Twin #2's favorite dessert: 0

Ouch ... the hot seat - Japan series #6

Even using the toilet in Japan has been a learning experience. I normally just use the squat toilet that is across the hall from our office, but when I have time or need to stretch my legs I will go to the building next door to use their ultra modern western toilet.

Here are some things I learned about using the fancy toilet:

1) Always turn on the courtesy sound button. (It makes a whooshing noise to cover the sound of you doing your business whatever it may be.)

2) Check the temperature of the toilet seat before sitting down. It can get mighty hot depending on the setting the last person used. Also, one side note, if it is too hot and you happen to yelp, no one will have heard you because you had turned on the courtesy sound button.

3) The toilets in the women's washroom have an additional bidet feature: the feminine wash. I have not used any of the bidet functions yet, since I need to read about it thoroughly as not to be surprised by the water jet.

4) Taking your camera into the stall and taking pictures so your friends back home can see how many buttons these toilets have, may get you strange looks when you emerge.

Yokohama and Tokyo - Japan series #5

This weekend I visited the two largest cities in Japan (and in the strictest definition of a city, the 10th and 38th in the world), Tokyo and Yokohama. It was quite the culture shock coming from the much smaller city of Hiroshima. In Hiroshima if someone bumps into you, you will recieve a "Sumimasen" (Excuse me) and a small bow. So when I got off the train platform in Tokyo station only to be pushed by a mob of people, I was definately disoriented. (Toto, I have a feeling we are not in Kansas anymore.)

For the most part, my weekend was quite relaxing. I ate a lot of food, slept comfortably, and intermittently did some sightseeing. I, also, encountered the world's greatest birth control measure: a five year old boy.

Yokohama
My friend S used to live in Boston, and now lives in Yokohama, which is only a half hour train ride from Tokyo. While Yokohma is huge, it has very little of its own character. Because of its proximity to Tokyo, it feel more like a suburb than a city. S, his wife K and their son R live in a two story house, on the top of a hill. In a mainly residential neighborhood, there are no vending machines, 7/11's or any other common Japanese sign of urban life. From their tatami room and their japanese garden you can see a picturesque view of the water.

The city is a port town and Yokohama Bay is beautiful. On Friday night (for no reason I could find), they set of fireworks and lit up of looking Japanese ships with yellow lights. And when the Japanese do a firework show they do it up right. I am pretty sure many of the low bursting fireworks near so many wood ships should be banned, but they made for beautiful reflection off the water.

The other distinguishing feature of Yokohama is its Chinatown. Oddly enough Japanese Chinese food is different from American Chinese food. This discovery has spurred on my new desire to try many different nationality foods in Japan.

Tokyo
Early Saturday morning, I hopped on a train and went to the Tsukiji fish market. This adventure is not for the feighnt of heart, the squeamish, or those who oppose loud noises. Men ride around in these zippy loading carts. Sometimes whole gangs of them run down at the same time and my only recourse was to move to the side and make myself as flat as possible. The market itself was far less smelly than expected, and crowded with people selling and buying fish. Maguro, tuna, comes off of beds of ice, half hacked into by the fish mongers. A sensory overload kind of place. However, I did return to Tsukiji for lunch for the greatest sushi ever. While I do not consider myself a foodie, I definately could taste the superiority of fresh off the boat fish.

Of course, since I poorly plan things when left to my own devices, I went from one crazy loud place to another. Akihabara, is a district best known for selling electronics. Sadly though, while there were a lot of things for sale, the most popular items were all things that you could purchase in the US. Once, way back when, all the items for sale were cutting edge, but now it is simply a large volume of electronics that are astounding. (By the way I still cannot get over how popular Macs are here.)

Even though the Meiji Shrine is clear across town, it took less than half an hour to get there via the subway. In Tokyo, all the subway and trains make their announcement in English, which makes travel a breeze. Not once did I have to break out the Japanese travel phrase book, which I use everyday in Hiroshima. I have to say this shrine was pretty lackluster. It was built less than a hundred years ago and it does not have the historical resonance that Miyajima had. The most amzing part of shrine was the 70 year old man sweeping up the leaved on the gravel path. He had one flimsy rake yet he was incredible efficient and there was not a leaf in sight when I left the shrine.

brief update

A while back, I posted about an embarassing phone conversation. Well, I have followed up the embarassing phone conversation with a surprisingly uneventful meeting -- in person. It turns out that I had completely forgotten what FSM looked like. I remembered that he was [insert ethnicity here] and that he wore glasses. That's about it. I also got to meet the client that I have been conversing with for the better part of the year in person. As an aside, the deal that we were meeting about is the main reason why I haven't been able to post in a while. We are trying to sign it up this week, so hopefully I can try to catch up. . .

Kurashiki, Miyajima, y los banditos - Japan Series #4

Our host for the summer, H, took V and I sightseeing this weekend. This meant he spent his precious days of rest carting us around in his Mazda station wagon.

Kurashiki
On Saturday, we went to Kurashiki. Kurashiki means "warehouse village," and its claim to fame are warehouses made with special black tile and white mortar pattern that can be found on the bottom of all the old buildings.

We first went into the Ohara Art Museum. Mainly a collection of European paintings, in the adjoining buildings you can see a collection of folk art, and modern Japanese paintings. The main tourist attraction is the Bikan area, which encompasses a preserved walkway along both sides of a small river. The walkway is lined with small curio shops.

In these stores, you can find lots of souvenirs with a boy wearing a white headband. Okoyama prefecture is the home of Momotaro, "Peach Boy." This story is uniquely Japanese fairy tale. As the story goes, an old couple who had no child find a peach floating down the river. Before they can cut it to eat it, boy springs out of it. They adopt him, and when he is a teenager he leaves home to go fight demons on a far off island. He befriends a dog, monkey, and pheasant by giving them some millet sweet dumplings. The four of them defeat the three-eyed demon, bring home treasure and live happily ever after.

Miyajima
Miyajima is a small island in the Inland Sea. It about an hour drive from Hiroshima, and then 10 minute ferry ride. The Ohtorii (Gate) in the harbor is a must see monument. The Itsukushima shrine is a maze of orange pillars that sits only a few feet from the shore. According to H, this temple is destroyed time and time again by typhoons. The original shrine was built in 593, by some famous samurai, but what we see today is a reconstructed reconstruction of an interpretation of the original shrine. Despite my cynicism the shrine and the gate were awesome.

Besides the shrine and the gate, Miyajima is known for its wildlife, deer and monkeys to be specific. Right outside the ferry station, a man with a cart sells deer food. The deer have no fear of people and happily walk all around the town. In this case, the teenager in the green is getting attacked by the deer for the deer biscuits he is holding over his head.

Having taken a gondola to the top of Mt. Misen, we saw the following sign, that warns visitors to not stare at the monkeys eye to eye; do not feed the monkeys, and the monkeys will steal all your belongings. The gondola company also warns that all tickets eaten by deer or monkeys will not be reissued.

We did not get to see any monkeys, but the cool breeze on top of the mountain was a welcome surprise. From the mountain, we had a panoramic view of many small islands. On a clear day, you can see Shikoku, the smallest of the 4 major Japanese islands. From a distance Hiroshima appeared to be a truly large city.

Yamaguchi

The last sightseeing stop was in the Yamaguchi prefecture to see the Kintai Bridge. It has five arches and according to legend only samurai were allowed to cross it. Today for 300 yen, one can pretend to be a samurai and cross the wooden bridge.

For dinner, H took V and I to a place roughly translated to "the Bandit's Lair." It is a theme restaurant hidden in the mountains. When we drove up to it, we all could help saying "oh my goodness." (Hanging around H has diminished V's and my English verbal skills.) There were brightly colored oversized paper lanterns hanging above the parking lot. The restaurant itself was a multi-room compound. Large cutouts that you could put your face in to pretend you were a bandit stood at the entrance. Children beat the drums by the cutouts. The food was bandit food, naturally. Bandits apparently ate with their hands a lot because we ordered the house specialties of large rice balls wrapped in nori and chicken roasted on a stick. Every other table had ordered the same things.

Factoids - Japan series #3

Because I know Evil Twin #2 has a penchant for factoids, here are a few I have recently learned in Japan.

1) Beer vending machines turn "off" at 11pm.

2) The raised brick line running down a sidewalk is a guideline for the blind.

3) An ice cream shop in Yamaguchi sells Hakata salt flavored soft serve.

4) Japanese yogurt uses different strains of bacteria than the yogurt sold in the US. They find the sour taste too strong in American yogurt.

5) Cans of coffee and tea are often made of steel. This is so you can heat the can without it exploding from the pressure. You can also heat up plastic bottles that have a yellow cap. (A white cap indicates it is for cold drinks only)