Road Trip Part 3

I wish I had a good excuse for why I've become such a blogging slacker, but I don't think the whole "I've been busy." line is going to cut it. I mean, who isn't? 

Anyway, this blog will finally conclude the Road Trip portion and will hopefully be the end of my blogging hiatus. 

To finish up our time with Mike and Maya, we headed to Kyoto, one of my very favorite places in Japan. It's such peaceful and lively city. Not many cities can encapsulate both.

Fortunately, we had great weather for Mike and Maya's entire trip. I completely overreacted and warned them that it would be rainy and super hot. The rainy season and extreme humidity held off, and I'm currently experiencing both. Yuck. Anyway, here's a photo of Mike and Maya at a shrine we found right off of the Philosopher's Path, a beautiful walking path through Kyoto.

Here's a shot of a cute Japanese family taking a stroll along the path.

And here we are in front of an aqueduct. If I weren't feeling so lazy right now, I would look up the name and give you some background, but I'm just not feeling it. Sorry.

After spending a great day in Kyoto, we returned to Nagoya and enjoyed the city for a couple of days. The following Saturday, we headed to Aichi Bokujou, a neat little outdoor area where a small farm can be observed. Obviously, I wasn't interested in the whole petting a cow thing, but I was certainly excited to eat some of the fresh ice cream. Was delicious, by the way! We spent the afternoon barbecuing over an open firepit, eating ice cream and checking out farm animals. It felt like home, and Travis was sure to point out to all of his Japanese co-workers that I am very familiar with the smell of cow poo. Thanks, Travis. 

Here we are with some of Travis' co-workers.

That evening, we headed to the Nagoya Dome to watch a Chunichi Dragons' game.

Aren't you impressed with our team spirit?! We had a great time and enjoyed some good eats, too. It was a perfect way to end an amazing time with some great friends. I am so happy Mike and Maya came to visit us. We made some fabulous memories together!

Road Trip Part 2

Better late than never, right?

Off we went to Kobe! Kobe was a really nice city, and we had a great time. Our main goal for Kobe was to enjoy some infamous Kobe beef, and that we did. We were able, with the help of our hotel's concierge, to find a reasonably priced steakhouse. The steak was outrageously delicious. I'm not one to get too excited about red meat (Sorry, Dad.), but it was absolutely amazing. 

This photo is of the beef shortly after it was placed on the grill. It was cooked to perfection and then cut into bite-sized pieces. MMMMmmmm.

After stuffing ourselves silly, we headed to a local izakaya (a casual bar) where we enjoyed good conversation. Some of which included some brainstorming for our new business ventures. Watch out, world!

The next morning, we headed to Kobe's port to soak up some sun and let our hair blow.

Our next stop was Chinatown. While there, we feasted on some yummy Chinese food for lunch. One funny experience worth noting is that the wait staff at the restaurant where we dined must have assumed we knew no Japanese because as they led us to our table, which happened to be located upstairs, they announced over the intercom that some foreigners were on their way up. Who says that?

After that, we went to a sake museum and learned how sake is processed from start to finish. Following the presentation, we were able to sample various types of sake. I'm not a big sake fan, but it was interesting to try a few variations even if they were all gross.

And, here's a photo of the Hartman family posed in front of some booze. 

After returning to Nagoya for a brief night's sleep, we ventured to the neighboring town of Gujo-Hachiman, which just so happens to be famous for manufacturing artificial food.

Check out this bowl of ramen. There is no way one would ever suspect it to be fake. I am continually amazed by the authenticity of the artificial food created here. Outside of almost every restaurant is a display of the food you can purchase inside. It is all made from wax and plastic, but it looks so real! And, once you receive the food you order, it will look exactly like the display! Great, right?

While in Gujo-Hachiman, we were able to try our hands at making our own food.

In this photo Maya and I are creating tempura batter for shrimp and a variety of vegetables. The tempura is made from wax and is then draped over the shrimp and veggies.

Here is the finished product cooling in a bowl of water.

After making our tempura shrimp and vegetables, we made lettuce.

Travis cradled his lettuce to perfection.

After making plastic food, we took a short hike to Gujo Hachiman Castle. 

And, Mike and Maya posed in front of the castle for us. 

Still to come: Kyoto, a BBQ and a Nagoya Dragons game!

Road Trip Part 1

Is it really Friday already? This week has just flown by so fast. I had every intention of blogging much earlier in the week, but time just got away from me. 

Before I begin to tell you about the adventures we had with Mike and Maya, I want to mention that yesterday marked one year since we moved to Japan. It's hard to believe a year has already passed, and I'm stoked to be here for another one.

While Mike and Maya visited, we packed a lot into a few days as is our normal style. For starters, we went to Gifu to view cormorant fishing. Gifu is famous for cormorant fishing, which involves using birds to catch sweet trout. Check out the link if you would like a better description.

Here's a picture of all of the cormorant boats lined up on the Nagara River. It was a beautiful sight. We weren't able to eat any of the fish, but it was pretty neat to experience the process.

The next morning, we woke up very early and headed to Hiroshima, which is about a 6-7 hour drive from Nagoya.  While there, we visited Peace Memorial Park where we saw the A-Bomb Dome and toured the museum.

Visiting Hiroshima was very surreal. The city itself was quite beautiful, but it was also a bit haunting. It was interesting to tour the museum and to learn about the devastation that occurred as a result of the atomic bomb being dropped; however, it was also a bit discouraging. Much of the story surrounding the decision to drop the atomic bombs on Japan was omitted making it seem as though the bomb was somewhat randomly dropped there. That whole Pearl Harbor thing didn't come up a lot if you know what I mean. 

After visiting Peace Memorial Park, we visited a section of Hiroshima famous for okonomiyaki. We enjoyed a delicious okonomiyaki dinner as well as fresh oysters. The okonomiyaki in Hiroshima is quite different from the Osaka-style okonomiyaki served in Nagoya.

This photo shows the serious multi-tasking that was taking place. 

After a couple of hours at a local karaoke bar, we decided to hit the hay. The next morning, we took a short drive to Miyajima, which I have now dubbed my favorite place in Japan. 

We took a ferry over to Miyajima, which is famous for the red torii gate pictured above. This photo was taken mid-morning so the tide was still low. A few hours later, the area where we were standing was completely covered with water. 

Miyajima is a beautiful island, and so peaceful. The streets were beautiful with streams running along them, it was mountainous and there was so much greenery. We took a cable car up Mt. Misen, and then we hiked the rest of the way to the top to enjoy a beautiful 360-degree view.

It was well worth the hot and sunny climb to the top. 

And, here we are atop the mountain. 

Next up: Kobe and Gujo Hachiman.

$$$$¥¥¥¥

I promise to blog about our road trip adventures with Mike and Maya very soon, but you have to check out this article. I knew living in Nagoya was expensive, but I had no idea just HOW expensive. This article ranks it as number three in the world. Whoa. 

Happy Father's Day, Dad!

Whew! We have been going non-stop these past couple of weeks, and I have lots to blog about. But, before diving in, I wanted to wish my Dad a very Happy Father's Day!

My Dad is one of the boldest and smartest fellas I know, and he's an awesome public speaker. He also has one hell of a mustache. But, besides all that, he's a great father to me. He has raised me to never back down and to always stand for my beliefs, despite who I'm facing. I certainly haven't met every challenge with that kind of zealousness, but it's not because I didn't know how. Thanks for your encouragement and example, Dad. I am sorry I can't celebrate Father's Day with you, but I'm certainly thinking of you. In fact, I just watched some Fox News in your honor, and now I'm going to read American Rifleman.

Boy fun and visitors!

Well, I snuck a few pictures from the boys so you could see how the bachelor party went down. Looks like they had fun, but there's no way they had as much fun as we did.

They went to a Nagoya Dragons game.

And bowling. Apparently a few other activities took place, too, like going to a Japanese onsen (spa) at 2:30 in the morning. Silly kids didn't get home until after 5:00 a.m. 

In other news, this lovely couple will shortly be making their Japanese debut.

Mike and Maya are on their way right now! I can't wait to see them. They are such wonderful friends to us. They were a huge help to us right before we made the move to Japan and were there to encourage us when we started to lose it. We have big plans for their visit. We'll be going to Hiroshima, Kobe, Gujo Hachiman and Nara. So, I won't be blogging for a bit, but when I do, it should be chalked full of fun tales from our Japanese road trip adventure.

Surprises

There's not much I love more in life than surprises. Not bad ones, of course, but the planned kind. I love being surprised, and I love surprising other people. Yesterday, some friends and I surprised our friend, Megan, with a bachelorette party, and we had a blast! The boys also surprised her fiance with a bachelor party so maybe I'll share some of Travis' photos in the next post.

We started the event at the other Meghan's apartment. We have formed a book club, and we disguised the party as our book club meeting. So, once Megan (the bride) arrived, she quickly realized we had thrown her off track, and we were actually going to have a wild night to celebrate her! 

We enjoyed some snacks and gave her a pop quiz on her fiance and headed to dinner. She did surprisingly well because those questions were hard!

Here we are at Wolfgang Puck's. There was also a wedding reception there that night so it was neat to see the bride and her friends dressed to the nine. Her dress was crazy. It reminded me a lot of the dress in The Wedding Singer, but her hair was bigger with a huge flashy flower accessory.

When planning, we racked our brains for something silly and fun to do after dinner, and then we found it. Next, we went to watch a drag queen show. Yes, mom, I know you are proud. It was a hoot. I must say I wasn't exactly prepared for what occurred, and I'll spare you the details, but it certainly made for a funny memory. 

Here we are with some of the "girls." The "girl" to the farthest right of the photo had amazing hair.

After the show, the night was still young so we opted to head to a dance club. None of us are what I would call, clubbers, but sometimes a girl's just gotta dance. The club was a little swanky, but we had so much fun! Japan is such a safe country, which made going to a dance club so easy for us. We didn't have to worry about any scary creeps trying to dance with us because all the guys were too scared to even approach us so we just danced for hours with abandon.

I must say the most memorable portion of the night might have been the scene in the dance club bathroom. Oh my word! I have never seen so many girls primping. And, I'm not just talking about a little powder on the nose and some lipstick reapplication. There were curling irons plugged in and everything! One room was entirely devoted to vanity. And, the club is dark! The effort put into appearance in Japan is astounding. 

Anyway, we had the best time. It was the most fun night I have had since moving to Japan. My feet are paying the price today, but it was definitely worth it!

Oh, and dancing is a great cardio work out. Here we are sweating from dancing so hard. From left to right, Megan, Beth, Jessica and some skanky girl with her bra strap revealed. Just staying classy.