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Monday, May 21, 2012

On Driving

After a dozen driving lessons, I think I can conclude that I'm one of nature's pedestrians.

Perhaps it's the thing with the clutch.

I'm also terrible at multitasking when I'm in control of a one-tonne death machine on wheels.

Walk the talk,
The Edna Man

Posted by Uncle Edna at 8:36 PM

Monday, May 14, 2012

4am Conversations and Other Epic Stuff

I Had A Conversation at Four in the Morning and All I Got was A Bunch of New Friends, Honourable Mentions for the Rest of the Day from the Organising Staff, and a Vision to Change the World.

I went over to the YaleNUS Weekend on Saturday. I was vaguely aware it was going to be fun, but not in a real, concrete way: the adrenaline rush I had from meeting people in Japan must have spilled over to this. I had my doubts; I'm not very fond of the average Singaporean. Then again, the Japan experience undoubtedly dampened them until I was, on the whole, generally, it could be said, by and large, on the whole, optimistic.

So I turn up and go through the normal sales spin on YaleNUS, and somehow manage to stay awake through the whole thing. I enjoyed the lectures, all three of them; I especially loved how the professors were so passionate about their own subjects, and that passion translates to an eagerness for us students to learn.

But I think one of the highlights was the conversation I had with a bunch of other people at the Hangout Hotel at Mt Emily (which, might I add, always sounded like a hospital to me). We were playing taboo late into the night, which was interrupted by a Popeye's Chicken study break simulation, and somehow afterwards the game never resumed, but conversation slowly inched in, like the tide, and brought in the seriousness and intellectual discussion which took its place.

I'd like to think that Xi Min was the trigger, the catalyst for the discussion when he brought up the fact that experiencing the world was an important thing to do. It all snowballed from there, coming round to volunteering in Singapore and the education system and scientific paradigms and social discourse and paradigm shifts in society and the human race.

I have no details on the conversation, and a memory at 4 am is like a wet sieve. But I would love to say that I was pleasantly surprised that these people, whom I assumed to be typical Singaporeans, actually threw up a complex and intellectual discussion of which the likes I have never participated in before. When we broke up the meeting at that mythical hour, I felt like I had faith in these people, that Singapore was not a hopeless, lost country. Granted, ten people out of five million is but a handful, but now there is hope for the future.

I don't know what else to say, but I'm definitely going back.

Saxton Yale,
The Edna Man

Posted by Uncle Edna at 5:33 PM

Sunday, April 22, 2012

The Japan Trip - Day 08

We awoke early that morning to go on a free walking tour around Kyoto, hosted by a couple of local university students from their volunteering club. We were met by Ohno Yumiko-san and Inoue Yukari-san, two girls from Ritsumeikan University. They were really nice, very friendly and very informative. We were also joined by Soon-sensei, a Malaysian from Australia who was now teaching English in Japan; an older lady from southern France, I think it was Marseille; and a similarly-elder lady from Oregon, USA, whose names we didn't catch.

It was drizzling slightly, but we went on anyway. Our first stop was Chion-in Temple, the biggest of that Buddhist sect in Japan. It had an enormous gate. They also had a huge bell, which is only rung three times a year, on specific important dates which I cannot recall right now. Yumiko-san also said that it was rung for a fourth time once, when Einstein visited and wanted to test a theory he had on destructive interference.

We also walked through a street lined with souvenir shops, which I think was called Kiyomizu-zaka. Yumiko-san also explained the white charm hung over the doorways, which is supposed to be a charm for rain, with the curled rope bit at the top representing clouds, the zig-zagging ones representing lightning, and the vertical strings representing rain. Being surrounded by the stuff, we didn't understand why someone would want more rain, but I think we rationalised that it was a traditional thing when farmers needed the rain; now it's something similar to a good-luck charm.


There was also a stop at a Studio Ghibli shop, which sold merchandise from the famous anime movies such as Spirited Away and Howl's Moving Castle. This was more popular with the others; I had only watched Spirited Away before, so I didn't recognise much. There was an adorable cat character though, from one of the shows I didn't watch, Kiki's Delivery Service. Soooooo adorable.


The afternoon stop was the Kiyomizu Temple, which means "pure water temple". There I learned that the large demonic-looking statues were usually guardians of temples, while the guardian dogs usually were sentinels of shrines. We purified ourselves at the spring water, then went in. It was a gigantic temple, built over a cliff face. Apparently one of the stories is that if you jump off the temple to the courtyard below and survive, your wish will come true. Bit of a risky investment, that. There were also giant weights inside, and apparently if you could lift one, you were a man. It took three of us to life the women's one. Just goes to show.

The main reason the temple is called the "pure water temple" is because the pure water from the mountain springs flows through the area, and it's collected in a small shrine pool, where you can go and drink the water for good luck. There were three spouts, one for health, one for love, and one for studies. They had these metal cups with long handles, which you could use to collect the water. I took a bit from each spout and drank the lot. It was really cold and very refreshing. They had a really interesting system: the cups were public, but to clean them you put them back into their slots with ultraviolet light to kill the germs. Very efficient.

We had lunch with the girls and Soon-sensei at this delicious cheap udon place. I ended up talking to Yumiko-san a lot because we had to split up to sit at different tables. I remember she said she didn't live in Kyoto, but traveled two hours here everyday for classes at her university. We never really appreciate how tiny our island is until you go overseas and see how insanely huge the world actually is, and how much time people spend just getting there.

The udon shop was located near the main shopping street, and so after the girls and Soon-sensei left we walked through it. I bought churros, sweet delicious cinnamon churros which I have not eaten for years. It was so good. It reminded me of youth, when my dad used to buy them for me from those small funfair carnival things with the small rides and multiple safety violations. But it tasted way better.

When we got back to the hostel we threw all our used clothes into the washing machine for the first time ever on the trip. Keep in mind that I only brought a total of four shirts - I had been rewearing some of them if I considered them to be clean enough. We had to wait for a dryer, because someone had left their clothes in there, but they weren't coming back to get it. We were hanging out around the living room area until dinner, and then nipped out for dinner. I voted to try a McDonald's, since it's always interesting to see how food that's supposed to be the same around the world is actually slightly different. I had a teriyaki burger, which was not bad, but everything else was the same. I think I should have tried a McPork, because that's something you can never get in Singapore.

That evening we visited the shops around our hostel area. We dropped by the Toranoana, which is a huge anime shop chain. There's a whole bunch of anime stuff which I guess is popular this season, but I haven't watched yet, but so I don't recognise them. Bryan wandered into the adult section.

I wanted to round off by saying that I recognised the song that was playing in the hostel today. It seemed very familiar, and then I recognised it as a Final Fantasy song, but I wasn't sure if it was called Eternal Harvest of Melodies of Life. I went to ask the counter and they said it was Eternal Harvest. Haha, I recognised a FF song wooooo!

Posted by Uncle Edna at 11:59 PM

Saturday, April 21, 2012

The Japan Trip - Day 07

We had a bit of time after breakfast this morning. We took a short walk from our cottage down the neighbourhood street. Most of the buildings were houses, large ones; we passed a huge compound with the house nowhere in sight, but only with rows of trees and a small farm.

The flowers were really beautiful, though. It was a sunny day, and most of the sakura (the ones that were still alive, anyway) were in bloom. There was also a delightful breeze, and the overall effect of the falling petals and swaying leaves was nothing short of beautiful. A landscape becomes so dynamic once it has seasons (and of course, trees).

Inoue-san was putting a table together out on the neighbouring tennis court, and we went over to chat to her while some people were getting their luggage ready. She seemed very impressed that Bryan and JX were heading to London for university, and she mentioned that her daughter was studying there as well. As she drove us back to town, she mentioned that she was an architect by trade, and she was married to a teacher.

Most of the uneventful day was spent travelling to Kyoto, our next destination. No interesting delays, no exciting mishaps, no unorthodox adventures. Just a normal train ride through miles of beautiful countryside, most of which I think I slept through. It's something I noticed I tend to do on moving vehicles: if I have nothing else to distract me, I will fall asleep. The swaying of the carriage, the rhythmic rumble of the wheels and the blurred landscape passing by is like sleeping pills and lullabies to my conscious mind.

We got lost trying to find the hostel when we reached Kyoto. After a week in small towns and countrysides, city life was a minor culture shock. Like, wow, roads! Junctions! Intersections! People! We wandered through the streets for a bit, mostly because we were navigating with an atlas not a street directory, and stopped to ask for directions twice. What I noticed about these large city streets is that a lot of them are narrow one-way paths that go through the backs of buildings and stuff, but there are shop fronts and car parks and doorways all along them. They're like sideroads and alleys, and they are a twisty, confusing maze to the uninformed tourist. But we managed to find it in the end.

The hostel, Khaosan Kyoto, is a small quaint place near one of the main shopping streets in Kyoto. The staff at the reception were friendly and spoke good English. They even had a lucky draw for a free drink; Bryan was the only one who didn't get one.

The bags were duly dumped and we traveled to Pontocho Street in search of a ramen restaurant recommended by the hostel staff. It's not a very big street, but it was busy with office people and full of nightclubs, bars, and other assorted restaurants. We were lost on the labyrinth of shops for a good hour, looking out for that ramen shop which had an "iichiban" in its name, but that was all we could remember because we didn't write it down.

Eventually we ended up trying a random ramen place. It was one of those hole-in-the-wall types, where the owner does everything: he's the cook, cashier, and waiter, just like in a Flash game. It was a delicious bowl of hot steaming noodles, and tasted even better after a cold hour wandering the streets.

That night was the first time I slept in a hostel. The room was very narrow and the beds weren't very thick, but the quilt was fabulously warm, and overall it was better than anything the army could come up with. There was free Internet on the ground and fourth floors, which I gratefully capitalised on, and there was also a kitchen and living room on the fourth floor, which housed the only television and most of the sofas. We met a guy there who was taking a year to travel the globe; he was almost done and had travelled to Scotland, Africa and Russia, where he met his girlfriend. Hostel living is a wonderfully unique experience, and I definitely recommend it next time you travel.

Posted by Uncle Edna at 11:59 PM

Friday, April 20, 2012

The Japan Trip - Day 06

I think I should probably mention our morning rituals.

JX is the earliest to wake up, being the earliest to bed after all, closely followed by XM (usually). Then Bryan's stupid alarm goes off and I'm forced to go over and kill it (and him). I don't know what JX does in the unearthly hours of the morning, seeing as I'm not even awake yet, but I presume it involves a lot of household-y things like making breakfast and hot chocolate and writing and stuff, although he usually writes at night. There is usually breakfast involved, and much discussion about "the plan", which is Bryan's way of making sure we don't waste a second of the very expensive daylight.

It was drizzling slightly that morning, which disappointed us because we were supposed to go hiking that day. Nevertheless, we got in the car when Inoue-san came to pick us up, and trundled along the frigid country roads towards the little town on Mt Daisen. There was a lot of snow lying around, or at least it was ice, and Inoue-san told us that it had snowed the previous week, which was unusual for this time of year, and therefore there was still much frozen water lying around. I guess it was fortunate, since there was enough time for people to get the snow off the roads and paths, but still recent enough such that we could trudge through the drifts, which was very exciting for me since I hadn't seen ice lying around on the ground before.

Our first stop was supposed to be the information centre, but it was apparently closed when we got there. We thought it was because there were no hiking trails in what was effectively still winter. Seasons slow down the further up you go. So Inoue-san brought us into the town, where almost everything was closed - it was early in the morning and I think most of the business caters to the winter skier tourists and similar. She went to ask questions in a building, which turned out to be the real information centre, and then went to inform the local police about us. Not because XM was taking on the role of "party lolicon", but because it was dangerous to go hiking in this inhospitable weather, and so to make sure that someone with all the ropes and grappling hooks and snowshoes can go look for us in case we don't get back by sundown.

She then dropped us back at the alleged information centre, which turned out to just be a starting point for campsites and hiking trails. We found one nearby, apparently snowed out with a thick layer of melting ice overlaying the staircase. We then decided that slipping and dying on a remote mountain slope would put a dampener on our plans, so we walked back into town to escape the persistent torrential drizzle.

The first shop that we reached specialised in mountain-climbing and winter supplies, which we didn't really need but what they did have was a roof, so we went in. There was a wide variety of jackets, hiking shoes, carabiners and other assorted equiment. JX bought some waterproof spray for his shoes, which he complained were getting very soggy.

As we wandered the empty streets, we stumbled upon the Daisen Museum of Natural History, which we also entered because it was warm and had no entrance fee. It mainly catalogues the wildlife of the Daisen area. There was a flower-spotter's guide by the entrance, some illustrations about food webs for little kids, and a lot of taxidermy. It was also the place where Bryan took a picture of the O RLY eagle.

We went to the information centre to get some directions, and at the same time stop for lunch. The lady at the counter apparently had been to Singapore before, some ten years previously, and mentioned Orchard Road. We got a good, robust English map of the area, and settled down to have lunch. I had cold soba, which I had bought from the combini, and it was delicious because it was so cold. Somehow the conversation came around to TNN, and somehow Bryan came up with the evil Shogun of Swing and his army of Disco Ninjas, which came about because Bryan kept singing Smooth Criminal that it got stuck in my head.

We trudged up the main street, which was at a slight angle and was still very empty, even after lunch. We passed this huge drift of snow, and got the idea to all do something with it. Xi Min got an "explorer" photograph of him surveying the land from the top of the mound. We carved the words "Hi Mom!" into the snow and took a picture, with the intention of sending it home to let our moms know we were alright.

At the top of the town was a large Buddhist temple. It had many beautiful statues carved from solid rock, a lot of Buddha-looking people and a few Chinese dogs, and the whole effect was something out of a Tomb Raider movie. Most of the statues had red ribbons tied around their necks, though, and it was theorised that this was to keep them warm.

We followed the mountain path back down into a dead forest, trees with branches but whose leaves had moved south for the winter. It was a beautiful sight, one rarely seeing in my native country unless there's a toxic spill somewhere. We followed the path down to the river. It was very wide and very deep, but not filled with much water. I presumed it was because the summer meltwater had not arrived yet; it was still lazing around at the top of the mountain.  There was a stream coursing through the centre of the rocky and uneven banks, and we carefully picked our way across the shifting boulders to it.

The water was fast (relatively), and icy cold. It was also crystal clear and very refreshing. Against everything my mother would have shouted at me were she there, I ripped off my footwear and plunged my feet into the frigid waters. It was sooooooooo cold! I felt my extremities go hypothermic. I couldn't leave them in there for long, but it was such a great feeling. It's probably like the reverse effect of a hot spring. I helped Bryan take a picture of him in the middle of the river, which he spent fifteen minutes getting to and another fifteen minutes drying off after he slipped on a stepping stone and fell in. Xi Min wandered off upstream, and then tried to climb a snow-ridden slope, managed to get halfway, then slid down again. I also took a picture of myself topless, not as exciting or attractive as you might think, but in that rugged mountain explorer pose, just for fun. It was freezing, but also very liberating to just thrust your bare naked chest out into the wind.

After this hydrolic encounter, we wandered over to another mountain path, paved with stones all over, all the way up. There was a foot or two of packed snow and ice lining the sides, so it seemed like a corridor of snow leading all the way up the mountain. In effect, we got the winter landscape scenery as well, with the bare trees scattered all over. It was a long way to the top, even though we didn't want to rock and roll. I entertained myself by observing the melting ice, the way it usually starts melting from the bottom, because that's where most of the heat comes from, and so you end up with shelves of ice then a gap then the ground.

At the top of the climb we were rewarded with a huge Buddhist temple, the type where you go to learn kung fu, and it even had planks for visitors to traverse across the flooded area at the entrance. When we arrived, we found out that we had just climed the longed stone path in Japan to get there. I mean, isn't that the sort of thing you tell people at the beginning of their journey, not at the end after they've spent the last hour going, "not long more now". I guess it adds to the whole "you have endured the long journey to get here; now we shall practice kung fu" atmosphere of the place.

As expected, we were not very interested in the temple, and so we wandered over to the wilderness, where the snow had piled up five feet thick, and someone had dug a small pit to a buried signpost to illustriate this fact. Naturally, I climbed in, because where else can you be surrounded neck deep in snow? It was a hassle climbing out again, though. Bryan and XM climbed in, pretending it was a dugout, and posed with their umbrellas as rifles as I took photos.

It started to drizzle, so we made our way back to the temple. Xi Min bought a fortune, but he couldn't read a word of it, so he ended up asking the monk on shop duty to read it for him, which he understood, I guess, in a way. We made our way back down the longest stone path in Japan, slipping slightly here and there because that's the nature of wet stone. I ate one of my momoji manju on the way down. I really needed the toilet.

As we were walking back through the main street, we stopped by a rest house so I could empty the ballast tanks, if you know what I mean. The rest house was a large place, which I guess also doubled as the town's art museum, because there was paintings all over the panelings. We also stopped by a souvenir shop, where I picked up a small pin to remember Mt Daisen by, and as I was paying the lady asked us where we were from. I told her, and we found out that she was actually Chinese too, from China, and spoke to her in Mandarin. We chatted a bit and then left, but as we were talking outside, she came to us and gave us a small badge each, on the house. It was really nice of her.

The only other interesting thing on the way back was SUNTORY BOSS, who is THE BOSS OF THEM ALL. It's a brand of coffee sold in vending machines across Japan, and Bryan and I each bought a can to try (and because it was so freaking cold - Japan has warm drink vending machines).

When Inoue-san brought us back to the cottage-mansion, she said she had provided a barbeque dinner for us. It turned out to be a home-style teppanyaki dinner, and she provided all the raw meat and vegetables and rice. We roasted some of the pork and bacon and sausages and walked over to the neighbouring house - which is also apparently hers and she rents it out as well - to give it to her. We spent the rest of the dinner watching Japanese programming, which is mostly dramas, variety shows, and awesome commercials. There was come cooking show for kids which starred this very young idol-looking person. There was a irritating half-Arabic girl who looked exactly like Kumar, and she was being sickeningly cute and just pissing us all off. There was a Power Rangers-esque show with a cute female lead. And there was also some local news about some bears who had wandered into someone's backyard and killed him, I think.

We then karaoked for the next three hours.

Posted by Uncle Edna at 11:59 PM

Thursday, April 19, 2012

The Japan Trip - Day 05

Today was a sad day, as we would be leaving the Hikidas. Hikida-san made one of his infamous breakfasts, full of bamboo shoots and nori. I have to make an interruption here and just say that I LOVE nori. I never used to eat seaweed when I was younger, but now it's like one of the best foods ever. I would eat it as a snack everyday if I had enough nori lying around. It's just that good.

As we were getting ready to leave, Yumiko-san came to visit us one more time, which was weird because I thought she had to go to work. We all said our farewells again, and said goodbye to Benny/Benni, who Hikida san had taken out of her kennel and was running around exitedly. He fed her one of the onigiri rolls that we hadn't eaten, which confused me because I thought dogs shouldn't eat processed food, which I thought the nori certainly qualifies as.

Hikida-san also brought with him the photographs we had taken the previous night, as well as some good luck charms from the temple. There was one which was supposed to be for our mothers as well. We accepted the gifts graciously and presented him with the dried mangoes, which looked really incapable of compensating for all they had given us in return.

Aki-san drove us to the train station. He was quite quiet all the way, I think because he was sad too. At the station, he directed us to the restaurant which the Hikidas had recommended the day previously, which apparently sold another Hiroshiman speciality, tsuke-men, or maybe it's just the Hiroshima variant. We said our final goodbyes to Aki-san, and last bro-hugs as well, and watched him walk back out into Hiroshima.

We wandered around the station for a while before the restaurant opened. There isn't much shopping to do at train stations, unless you're of the type who needs to get a local souvenir for your family because you're here for a quick business trip, and no they haven't tried this local specialty before, and no I don't have time to wrap it in nice paper but hey look it's all wrapped up already. I have to admit that it's a very efficient system, and the Japanese have really streamlined the process to such an extent that there isn't even a gift-wrap counter; they sell non-wrapped and wrapped versions of all the biscuit boxes and treat baskets and other assorted edible keepsakes.

We had lunch at Bakudanya, and the tsuke-men was delicious. I regret that I didn't order the one with more noodles, though. The dip was slightly spicy and you can spam all the ground sesame seeds as you like, which makes it taste so awesome. I found it so thoughtful that they actually have a spice scale, so that customers can choose their appropriate spiciness level. If I remember correctly, Bryan took a Level 7 (out of 20; anything more than 11 was dangerous according to their chart). I took a nice and safe and comfortable 2. Bryan's dip was clearly red and seemed to ignite the air on contact. A level 20 dip would probably spontaneously combust wheen you dipped your noodles in.

The rest of the day was mostly travelling to Tottori, our next station. There was a delay on the train to Yonago, which was our first and only delay for the entire trip. It wasn't very exciting (delays rarely are), it just meant that we were late at our next station, and had to ask for the next train to our next destination. We were in really rural areas now, nothing much but farmland and small scattered houses along the rail lines. The train stations also started looking more isolated, like deserted islands of civilisation in the green ocean of nature. It's the kind of station where you set the dramatic and emotional ending of a romance anime, where the main character is on the platform and his love interest in on the train, and the train starts going off into the distance and he just stands there and the wind blows. That kind of train station.

It's amazing how much story one building can contain.

We arrived at Tottori station in a very slight rain (two drops every five minutes) and were stranded. We had no idea how to get to Tottori; we were intending to maybe take a bus, but apparently there wasn't one. In the end, Xi Min ended up asking an old man with a dog, and he managed to call a taxi for us. The taxi driver was also an old man, and in a small town like Tottori, must have been one out of all five active taxi drivers. I was very interested in the small device on his dashboard, which whirred through a few unreadable kanji before settling on one, which must mean something like "booking", but I wondered why it was located all the way on the left, out of his reach and not seemingly connected to the fare machine itself, which was in the normal place under the dashboard next to the steering wheel.

We arrived at the rental cottage and were surprised to find it empty. The cottage was huge, but also very dark and devoid of human life. We went in and called out a couple of times, but no one came to answer, even though there was clearly someone around because there was a pair of shoes at the front door. We walked around the back to see if there was anyone there. It really was a big place, very green, with a patio and a wire arch which in warmer spring would be a very beautiful floral corridor, but since it was still winter in the mountains, was just a very bare wire arch.

It was about twenty minutes before someone pulled up on the neighbouring tennis court. It was the cottage owner! Apparently, she was waiting at the station, and because of the delay, must have missed us somehow, and went back looking for us after we left the station. It was really nice of her to do so, since the drive back to town is about twenty minutes of difficult country road and sharp bends and steep cliffs overlooking vertical drops to the jagged rocks below.

She lets us into the house and explains some ground rules, in a mix of English and Japanese. In such a rural country town, there isn't much English anywhere. We dropped off all our bags and she offered to drive us somewhere for dinner.

It turns out she brought us to a nearby beer house, which also specialised in pasta and western dining. She didn't join us for dinner though. We all ordered pasta, and before it came Bryan and I went out to take more sakura shots, in the slight drizzle. It was very, very cold: the rainy weather, coupled with the altitude, made it incredibly freezing indeed. My pasta was a dish of cream sauce with prawns and broccoli and it was delicious.

After our dinner the owner (who was called Inoue-san) brought us into town so that we would patronize the convenience store, which I assume also doubled as their supermarket. We bought food for the next day, because we were going on our hike, and wouldn't have any access to food the next morning. I tried a microwavable yakisoba and a normal soba for lunch the next day, and got a chocolate bun and some milk. Bryan and I also purchased some instant noodles, the Cup Noodle brand of Curry Cheese, and it was ABSOLUTELY DELICIOUS when we had it later that night.

Exploring the cottage was the next item on the agenda. It was huge, and probably designed for those kinds of school class trips where you get twenty or more people squeezed under a single roof. There were so many rooms. It seemed like there was a second cottage stuck together with it, like a semi-detached bungalow, but semi-attached as well, with a door connecting the two. There were countless beds. There was even an attic, but we didn't explore much because there were these insects that were crawling in to escape the cold. I couldn't identify them; they weren't cockroaches, but they were large and woodlouse-y, and even though I have never seen a woodlouse before that's how I would describe them. They were all sluggish though due to the cold. We found rooms on the second floor which were mercifully insect-free, and traversed the rest of the apartments. There was a number of study rooms with the classic Japanese heated table thing, kotatsu I think they're called. There was a room without beds, just futons folded up on one wall. There was a room with volumes of Shonen Jump!, a manga compilation magazine. There was a really creepy looking tradational Japanese girl doll, the kind that would turn its head to follow you around the room if you were playing Fatal Frame or something. There were three kitchens. I counted.

Bryan, still high from the karaoke machine at the Hikidas, wanted to try out the machine here. We switched it on and sang English songs into the middle of the night, which was about 10pm because we weren't supposed to disturb the neighbours after that.

Posted by Uncle Edna at 11:59 PM

Wednesday, April 18, 2012

The Japan Trip - Day 04

Twas the last day in Hiroshima; but also, the day of Miyajima!

So after another huge breakfast done by culinary artist Hikida-san, we walked to Hiroshima station to take a train to the ferry station. I remember querying in the underpass whether Braille (which is also prevalent in Japan - score another one for the disabled) comes only in English, and whether there are any other language versions of it. The answer was apparently that all Braille, uh, "speakers" must know English, since there are only so many variations on six raised dots that you can have.

The ferry ride was enjoyable but short. I can't remember exactly what it was like now, since when I search "ferry Japan Miyajima" in the Google of my mind, it only throws up the more recent memories of the Hakone ferry ride. I wrote "serene" and "breezy" in my notebook, which on hindsight isn't much of a description when attempting to narrow down ferry rides. I remember the ferry station quite well though: a nice wooden structure with two huge monoliths at the non-watery exit.

Miyajima is apparently famous for three things, and we met the first one when we were merely five minutes out the gate. We saw a couple wild deer cross the road, and thought that it was a one-time thing. But apparently Miyajima's wild deer population is very docile, and visitors are advised by large multilingual signs not to touch them or feed them, which is of course the best way to get them touched and fed. We took pictures with a very lethargic one lazing about under the shade of a tree. They seem to be very desensitised to human contact, and they mostly concentrate around the ferry terminal exit area. There was one looking expectantly at a shopowner, staring at the bottles of water she just put out (we were there really early in the morning) and the shopowner was just trying to talk to a customer and push the inquisitive nose out of the way.

We walked down the main shopping street Omotesando, which was full of souvenir shops and food stalls. We had been advised to try the age momiji, which is the momiji manju deep-fried. We didn't manage to see one on the first round that morning though. We passed the second thing Miyajima is famous for though: rice scoops. Apparently, Miyajima is the birthplace of the rice scoop, and they are the proud owners of the world's biggest rice scoop, which is a bit impractical because they don't have the world's biggest rice bowl to put the scooped rice in.

We got to the major landmark we were hoping to see that day, the floating torii gate to Itsukushima Shrine. It's this giant torii gate that is halfway out into sea, and at high tide looks like it's floating on water. We managed to get a couple of shots in before some workmen came in to do some repairs (as we worked out at dinner that night, it was because of some damage which had been done to the gate). Bryan was pissed off about all these workmen and scaffolding in his pictures, so we decided to move on and come back later.


We wandered over to the giant temple which is huge, and there was a wedding photo shoot taking place in one of the more outside corridors. We didn't go in because there was a pretty hefty entrance fee. We climbed some hundred-step staircase to get to the five-level pagoda, which was towering over the landscape, and then went over to a blossoming sakura tree to get our fabled sakura shot, the one with the petals wafting in the wind dramatically.




Around lunchtime we walked back over to the floating torii at low tide. There were lots more people now that the water had receeded a bit, and the workmen were busy ruining Bryan's photographs again. I wasn't very interested in the gate itself; it was huge, but with workmen around it you can't really go up and touch it or anything. So I wandered around the beach, looking in rock pools for any interesting creatures. I think I'm very hydrophiliac; I love looking at flowing water and marine life and stuff (as long as it's clean, dirty water is just disgusting). So I was looking at the variety of tiny hermit crabs scuttling along with their tiny mollusc shells, and larger crabs which shrink into their holes in the sand, and tiny fish spawn that dart around the rock pool looking for an exit.


Xi Min, JX and I noticed a bunch of people digging up stuff on the beach and throwing it into buckets, so we wandered over to the sea-washed breakwater and asked (got Xi Min to ask - same thing) what they were doing. Apparently they were harvesting clams. There were about twenty of them, and I think the youngest was a little girl about five or six. The old lady we talked to had a small collection of the shellfish already. I was wondering what they'd do with their catch: would they eat it themselves, or sell it to some of the restaurants? Either way, we affectionately gave them the name, "clam wranglers" after that.

We went back to Omotesando for lunch, and I had a delicious curry udon which I am dying to have again. Oh, Xi Min bought some grilled oysters for about 400 yen from a roadside shop, and he claims that they're both delicious and worth it. I'm not a seafood guy so you'll have to take his word.

After this delicious interlude we walked through Momijidani Park, the forest up the slopes of Mt. Misen, which is the highest point on the island. We were promised that the path would be teeming withmore of the wild deer. There wasn't a single deer, but we did visit a small shrine. I had previously resolved to cleanse myself at every single shrine we visited (so I'd have something to do instead of marvel at the architecture or pose for photos), so I did. The shrine reminded me of the snake shrine from Bakemonogatari, with its stone torii arches and long steep path and absence of people.


On our way up we were intending to take the Ropeway, which is the Japanese word for our "cable car" because their cable car is the San Francisco word for "cable car" which we don't have in Singapore. And as we walked through this street wondering if we needed to get the tickets at the station itself, who else do we see bu Cruella de Vil herself, selling the tickets from her shop. Well, when I say Cruella de Vil, I actually mean a Cruella de Vil cosplayer, albeit an unintentional one. She had the big white hair, the long leather overcoat and the knee-high leather boots. It was only after we bought the tickets and walked a distance away, did Bryan turn to ask, "Did that lady remind you of Cruella de Vil...?" and the instant chorus was "yes".


So we went up the Ropeway, and once the images that pop up in my mental Google search are that of the Hakone cable car ride, so I can't describe it in much detail. I wrote down "vertigo" and "acrophobia" in my notebook though, which, once again, fails to be any useful description whatsoever. I do have an innate fear of heights though; not one of those you-can-overcome-your-fear-by-staring-it-in-the-face types, but one of those primal, survivalist things that your brain tells you to keep you alive. I even have jolts of terror when playing Portal. That's how primal it is.


The view from the top of the hill was excellent. You could see the surrounding islands, and they had little tubes which pointed towards the island and a little name plate next to it so you could identify it. I could understand the kanji on some of them, and I remember that one of the islands was "Big Black Monster Island", or something to that equivalent.


On our way back we stopped for the age momiji, which is one of the most delicious things in the world. I kept the stick as a souvenir. I also bought a tiny deer figure and a small towelette depicting the island's moe deer mascot, who has a Twitter account but whose name I cannot recall right now.


We got back to the temple a bit later than expected, but Hikida-san invited us into the temple. We didn't know exactly what for; the assumption was that he was going to show us around, but apparently we were invited to take part in a ceremony. Through Aki's broken English we discovered that his grandmother, Hikida-san's mother, had passed away the week previously, and this was a death ceremony. We sat at the back for most of the ritual, while the priests got on with their chanting, but we were required to perform one small rite, just bowing to the ashes (I think) and sprinkling some spices (I think) onto the incense. I think we all were very honoured and priviledged to be considered part of the family, such that we were allowed to partake in what must be a very personal and exclusive ritual. Aki-san even blessed us at the end with a lot of chanting that I didn't understand, and they gave us paper-cut lotus leaves and a small charm for good luck.


The Hikidas then brought us to this restaurant (which they must have booked out for the whole night, since it was a two-table establishment and we took up both). There was what was becoming the traditional Japanese dinner feast, which included multiple appetisers before we were introduced to the main course, whose name was sukiyaki. We talked a lot in both English and Japanese, and around the fifth or sixth beer they were telling jokes with the restaurant owner and waiter/waitress as well.


We were also introduced to Hikida-san's business associate, whose nickname was Tako-san, which means "Mr. Octopus", and I could see why he got that moniker: his eyes were huge, like an octopus's. I say "business associate" because Tako-san is an undertaker, and Hikida-san owns a temple with a graveyard out back. And, just as with the Hikidas, Tako-san didn't live up to his stereotype. You'd expect undertakers to be solemn and quiet and serious, but he was laughing and joking and drinking, like his job requires him to be so grave (haha) that he takes advantage to be outgoing when he's off duty.


This was the first time we sat down with the entire family at a meal, and this included the extended family of Aiko-san's producer, who was taking a video of the whole thing. Some time in the middle of dinner, I was tasked with the pouring of the wine, and I topped up the glasses of the two ladies, which was met with much enthusiasm. I also spent the second half of the dinner being taught how to say dou itashimashite, which means "Thank you very much". I kind of mastered it by the end of the night.


After driving us back to the temple, we wanted to take some photos of the whole family to remember them by, but it was dark and Aiko-san was tired and wanted to go rest. We managed to take a couple of shots though, with a lot of weird and funny poses from the brothers.


Then they ushered us into their giant practice room, and tired though they were, the Hikida brothers, or should I say, Hikida Brothers, put on a performance for us. They sang three songs plus an encore, all in Japanese of course, but with such skill and emotion that the lyrics didn't matter. Aki-san was the main singer, with Ren-san on the guitar and harmonies. It was spectacularly awesome. Their second song was an ode to their grandmother, which although had inexplicable lyrics, was very powerful and emotional. Their last song was exciting and energetic, and Yumiko-san went to flicker the light switch like a real concert. It was a magical hour, and we all left stunned by their awesomeness.


There was a short video segment as we were making our way back, like a short testimonial for their promotional video. We were their first homestay family, after all, and I guess they wanted a good review. Or perhaps they were just doing it for their memories' sakes. I don't know.


Then the three kids (I use kids in the loosest sense of the word; the oldest of them is over 30) came back to our rooms, just to generally hang out and spend the last bits of time with us. There was much laughing and fake arm-wrestling, and it was generally hilarious. We got them to promise to come to Singapore sometime in the future, and they said they'll be going to London this year, so Bryan and JX said they'd host them there (from their school, since they'll be studying there). We also got their emails, and promised to write soon.


After they left, we spent the rest of the night (morning - it was past midnight) just writing well wishes and thanks. I tried to write something nice on the tag on the dried mangoes we gave them as a present we brought from Singapore.


I think I want to wrap up with a shout out to the Hikidas. Even though we knew each other for only three days, we became like family, and I think that's the important thing. A big shout out to the kids, Yumiko-san, Aki-san and Ren-san, for being such great and hilarious friends and for taking the time to spend it with us. I'm definitely going back to visit them one day. Definitely.

Posted by Uncle Edna at 11:59 PM