First Class on A Long Haul Flight to Japan

I don't usually write about flights, since we all know that you get fed, try to sleep or watch copious amounts of television and hope that when you wake up you are being fed again whilst you patiently waiting for your descent.

This time was different, we got the 'wide' seats. We were on stand-by thanks to an ex-delta pilot and reaped the rewards of someone no showing for their Delta One flight. Since they only had one seat available when we first arrived I was prepared for us either waiting for the next flight to Tokyo.

As you can tell by the title, we made it on and, what a ride! Unlimited drinks, snacks and fancy meals with more than one course. Without a doubt we were elated and ready to make this haul with fully reclining seats. That is right folks they fold all the way down with pillows, blankets and a little box packed with all the daily fixens in it to make our flight as comfortable as possible.

Adam read his book, watched movies and napped at his leisure with ample cups of tea and mini salted dark chocolates we could eat.

I ended up vegging out and catching up on regular TV shows in a binge fashion as I played with the electric seat that had a massage option. Note to self: Get a massage chair. I didn't end up sleeping at all but it was by far the comfiest ride I have ever had in my entire life on a flight, even when I book economy and get a row to myself. I have been in business class once from Toronto to Seattle but this was the bees knees. I checked online and it equated to $4700 for the both of us! Talk about honeymoon luck :D

Back From Haitus!

It has been a helluva long time since I got guts to get back onto the blog, I wanted to do it many times over and never got around to it. I will have to take a little bit of your time to explain what I have been up to or you have the option to skip ahead.

Excuses are just procrastination revved up to the max, as time goes on I always seem to eventually end up back at the computer thinking to myself how much I wish I was writing....so here I am. 

TADA!

Life became 'hectic' after the move to Vancouver after decided again Edmonton wasn't for me, that is right folks I moved out west again. lol A place called Burnaby for a little while. That lead us straight into April 2017 where I got another opportunity to travel again with my now husband Adam ( I am going to be name dropping him from time to time, like I said a lot has happened this year thus far.)

We packed up our bags, hopped on a plane from Kelowna -> Vancouver -> Taipei, Taiwan -> Tokyo, Japan. I thought that it would be different with a partner and it was, it was tougher than I had imagined at times and easier too. I had someone to react to and sometimes that is just more fun, to have someone to bounce ideas off of and relive experiences with in the future. 

I will make and attempt to keep the recap short, we traveled throughout Japan on the infamous JR rail pass and I finally got to see parts of Japan that I had been dying to during all these months gone by. I was really home sick for JapanLand for those who know me well enough. Unable to shake the Asian homesickness I was back and in full force where I was able to ride the rails just the way I like it, on a bullet train. 

After the two weeks of unlimited travel which is now about mid May 2017, I was ready to attempt another workaway after a bad experience in the past with Wwoofing. We found a place called Nozawaonsen home to a whopping 3400 people, a quaint ski mountain town about an hour out of Nagano. (If anyone remembers it was where the winter Olympics were once.)

Using the last day of our pass we were able to make it to Nozawa shaving off an extortionate rail prices if we weren't on the pass. I will skip the finer details and just say that we made ourselves a contact here and worked for room and board. I ended up staying here for 5 weeks total doing interior painting, sanding, oiling trim and general cleaning. 

During this time here we were able to hitch a ride to the top of the mountain and to train stations into Iiyama and Nagano city. Including discovering a free croquet course on the side of a ski hill where we eventually decided to get married. *insert awesome sound effect*

Before getting hitched in Japan, some family emergencies took us by surprise and eventually we both returned to Canada cutting our trip short. I traveled onward to Hong Kong to visit my grandmother in the hospital for 4 days before returning home. 

Back in Canada we did some camping to help us regroup near Gibsons, BC after touching down in Vancouver. The weather kissed us with the perfect camping spot at Smugglers Cove, which is still one of my favorite camping memories to date.

Of course I headed home to Edmonton, AB to visit with friends and family. Don't forget Jamtron, a music festival worth going to if you are ever in the area at the right time.

With a minor detour mini road trip to Drum Heller to learn about the underwater river which is now a dinosaur rich lands. We very quickly learned that the prairies are not ideal for camping since they home some of the strongest winds I have faced in a tent. So much so we had to tear down and to sleep in the tent before finally making our way back to the Shuswap, BC. 

This leads us to WEDDING IN 30 DAYS.

Goodbye Japan you've been great, I'll never forget you．

It's kinda like "When you wake up with a broken heart" this is like a real breakup. 

My Japan movie. 

Now as I mentally prepare for my last hours in Japan I scroll through my photos which seem never ending. In Japan I have felt a loneliness that I have never suffered before in this vast metropolitan city that engulfed, stunned and impressed me in ways that imagination supersedes. 

Nishio and Dhani, thank you so much for the very warm welcome back to Tokyo. 

Kris Wolf, you keep being you and you'll be famous in no time. 

Lyo, you are the person I would love to travel around Taiwan and by travel I mean eat food. Thank you so much for inviting me to your house and jamming. I hope that we can one day right a song and preform it at an open stage. 

I've been lost in the lifestyle, uncomfortably squished into a train in the busiest train station in the world and and sauntered down seemingly undiscovered pockets of the countryside, literally and psychologically, a continious cascading waterfall of experiences.  

Shota, it is always lovely having dinner with you. Next time we are going to get drunk! On me, promise.

For those who've known me during these times have had numerous conversations about life and all that it entails. Whether it had to do with international/domestic travels of the past and future in detail, the unheard of reasons to learn Japanese or most of all what we should do, to make life more forgiving.

Think of all the stories!

Heather, Thanks for digging me out of a bad situation, I am really grateful and I hope that we can party on in Taiwan. 

The boys team, we didn't really have a chance to say goodbye but it was great seeing you as always. 

I don't flinch anymore at the thought of what'll come next on my journey. I can embrace and adhere to all walks of life with a sense 'resourcefulness' I didn't know I possessed. 

Living in Tokyo was like trying to decipher a puzzle story book about an individual I once knew in an elongated mind blogging dream. Before I get strangely off topic, most importantly it has shown me consistent change and the ability to adapt, this will prove to serve me well. I couldn't have learned all of this anywhere else in the world. Alas, as much as I adore and will eternally set aside a crevasse that only Japan can fill it isn't the place that I can quite call my home, it's close. 

If you had asked me this time last year if I was ready to leave I would have shared an emotional tale that I wasn't and will never be ready to watch the sunset on my last days here. 

Although, I'm still going to put one foot in front of another and keep searching. It's unlikely that I'll be happy with a small corner of any world, even if it is filled with overtly eccentric media, mouth watering cuisine and a list of numerous activities that I'll never quite finish or master. 

Hanami with new and old friends. Thanks Rie, you are amazing and don't ever stop being yourself. You are really lovely and your boyfriend is damn lucky to have such a wonderful and intelligent woman! I am going to find you in Scotland... :) Pat, thank you for all your support and kind words, I'll see you in the next swan shaped paddle boat.

I've just scratched the surface. 

....but....

The place that I called home, the city I kept returning to, the people I will forever call my friends, I thank you. It has been awhile where I was able to walk off the Tarmac and feel a sense of relief and excitement that I had yet to experience with essence of familiar. 

Trini! Taiwan, Japan...where next! Stay fantastic. I'm sure we are going to have a blast in Europe! 

I don't even know how to say it, with you the world seems brighter and better all around. Not only are we tree leave friends, you have made me remember that even if life is dramatic it isn't bad when you have people to share your stories with. I want to travel with you someday and you owe me a trip to the Philippines. 

Casey, Casey, Casey....we never do anything normal. Trust me that is a full on compliment from me, Until next time. *salute* 

You! Yes, all of you! 

Elizabeth, your consistency to be genki and rock at being an entrepreneur always amazes me. I want to be like you, really! You're like role model. Since you have stoic-ness in all that you do is something I lack. So you be strong and amazing and I will find my resolve in this big wide world. 

Tomu, Thank you receiving me and sending me off. You already know how valuable it is to have close friends and the ones that stand by you through thick and thin. I got your back. Always. Come find me and we can party. Please. I will miss you soo much. 

From the bottom of my heart I thank you. ...for listening to me whinge and whine, speak of foreign lands, share my stories and letting me be me. That's all I ever wanted and most of all accepting me for who I am. Seriously, it sounds cheesy and there will be times I will wish from the depth of my being that I can return and relive this eye catching, page turning chapter all over again. 

Tokyo, Japan you've been a relationship that I'll will take to the ends of the earth. For anyone who has made it to the end of this post, 'come find me' 'I will be waiting you' whenever I over hear Japanese spoken at an iconic tourist spot or eat a piece of overly priced sushi I'll think of you. 

Akihabeera- Jenny Appears on TV!!! XD

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Thank you guys for having me on your show, it was a lot of fun! 

Sapporo

Well we got some time, let's see what Sapporo has to offer:

A Rope way, it was really cold and snowy when I made my way up there. I was all by myself but all in all it was a lovely time that reminded me of Canada.

All you can eat crab is really expensive and to be honest it turned out to be a lot more work that I had hoped. Either way from 2500-4000yen you can stuff yourself silly. There are many places in Hokkaido that you could get kani tabehodai, I would recommend doing a bit of research first to find the place that you want.

Fish market: We went there during the day and everything was closed unlike most fish markets which are booming in the morning. I would openly make the assumption that the market is only catered to restaurants for the evening rush.

The shrine is just next to the zoo surround by a large park, if the weather was nicer it would have been a great time to just wander around. Why was Sapporo soo chilly?

Zoo: Now I remember why I don't want to go to zoos. it was quite sad to see the animals in captivity and maybe I am feeling a little more sensitive than usual. 

Finally time to head back to Tokyo. 

Noboribetsu ninja town (date jidaimura)

Finally, going today. Just over 2 hours I'll have made it here after thinking about how it will be when we arrive at this historical amusement site.

We climbed over a hill and through bushes to arrive at the parceling lot because we got off one stop too late. This was a refreshing but usual event for me and when we came up on the parking lot I was overcome with a new feeling of accomplishment. 

Though ¥2900 to enter and see the buildings weren't overly worth it. The shows and fun houses were fun but everything else was cash on delivery. The food, throwing ninja stars, blow darts, dress up and of course the food. 

The ninja show was short but I thoroughly enjoyed it. We were surrounded by a tour bus full of people from Hong Kong. Maybe this and bokans  at the dress up shop really made me home sick. 

During the walk through I visited the Ninja maze, the haunted house and the monster museum. I jumped around and made a mini video :) 

Time to head back to Sapporo. 

Hodate -> Onuma -> Sapporo

From Hakodate there aren't many trains that take you to Sapporo so next stop was Onuma.

In Onuma there wasn't anything happening the man manning the station quickly said that there is a convince store and nothing else and we were welcome to hang about near the old school indoor boiler. 

I asked to borrow some umbrellas to explore the rainy city. Quickly a wild dinosaur appeared, if you know me this already makes me a happy girl. Time to climb it :) then we crossed the train tacks to take a peak at the lake that resided in this little town. An hour later it was finally time to board the train again. I like Onuma, the smell of bonfire nestled perfectly with gentle rainfall and open spaces reminded me of home. 

Seriously who just leaves a dinosaur alone in the rain all by himself?

Bare branch trees dripping in foggy rain in the brisk weather. I have stated time and time again that I love rain, it always makes me feel like everything negative is being washed away.     

Hakodate Food

Thee famous food here is squid, sashimi ika where they happily serve you one on a plate whilst it is still moving. I was wrong when I previously stated that wankosoba was intimidating. This had me stunned and squirming in my seat, the head was detached and most of all the tentacles still thriving in the normal life like way. The skin changed colours as time passed and my mind couldn't shake the humanity of it all, though when in Rome.

In the morning we headed to the fish market which was chalk full of crabs かに  being the most famous or should I say well known in Hokkaido. We ended up having a keisen don (sashimi rice bowls) for breakfast while wandering by more than enough live produce to make one appreciate sea life.

Though as I walked through this chilly place I had a momentary lapse to tsukiji in Tokyo where I had honestly believed that the ocean would be fished emptied in less than a year by the Japanese alone. 

After that, we ventured to the rope bridge. I had a suspicion that it would be closed due to the rainy and windy weather. It was. 

Well looks like next stop is Sapporo. 

Morioka -> Odate -> Hakodate

After a pretty anti climatic vegetarian breakfast it was time to brace ourselves for another full day of travel. I'm pretty good at taking local trains now since this is the like 1/4 of what you do when you live and work around Japan. I have been granted the time and money to see a lot of this country and I can't imagine that this part of the journey would be so bad until...we arrived at Morioka station for out outbound journey.  

From there one the lovely staff told us a roundabout way to Aomiri which would take more than 9 hours. The other route is paying ¥7500/each for an hour ride in the Shinkansen. 

Or we could pay ¥650 to the JR transfer point. In the end for the sake of money we went with this option. 

The mountain ranges were more than pleasant scenery. Today weather is lovely, sun shining and as we move more North we start to see the trees turning green awaiting soring as much as the south did a couple weeks ago.

A short nap later, I awoke and there was snow! Who would have guessed that Jenny would chase winter >.<

Having an hour to waste in Odate it was time to wander. here I learned the true meaning of inaka (countryside) we aimed towards the river but as we walked everything was closed even though it's lunch time on a Saturday. Where are all the people? Did the sidewalk just turn into a road? This intersection doesn't have any traffic lights...

Back on the train. 

Aomori was more desolate than I thought, the walk from the station in the middle of the sunny afternoon showed little signs of life. We didn't even cross paths with many department stores. Over a large bridge to the ferry port. 

The port itself looked uninhabited by tourists leaving me to believe that we had reached the wrong ferry terminal. The traffic pulling in was mostly semis trucks and family cars I didn't think that pedestrians were able to board. I became skeptic but we were in the right place. Phew. 

From there we bought a ticket to Hakodate. ¥2220 and an unnecessary courtesy bus which I presume is only meant for shuttling people with an abundance of luggage. The passengers were far and few between, like a dozen or so. 3.4 hours later we finally arrived. I'll let the video explain the boat atmosphere. 

Lastly, Hakodate had such an industrial vibe to it, even combinis weren't frequent. Leaving the underlying effect that I had left Japan entirely. 

Wanko Soba

I have been looking forward to this since I found out that Morioka had this thing called わんこそば, soba served in bite size wooden bowls until you're full. 

We all know that all you can eat establishments are scattered all across Japan since Japanese people love the fact that they can eat until satisfied and be able to leave a little bit of good behind on the table. This also rings true when it comes to alcohol especially sake, though the end results are quite the opposite. 

After arriving in Morioka I found two chains that serve Wankosoba. The one we went to was Azumaya which has a couple locations one being next to the station. 

(FYI: Wan = bowl ko=sounds cute soba 'buckwheat' =type of noodles) 

Since in the Nambu region it's quite mountainous making it hard to grow grains the people here adapted by making noodles. They made it a tradition to keep serving you food until you say 'matta' and even then keep serving you more. 

Served with side dishes, specifically shaved radish and mushrooms, raw tuna (sashimi) and shredded chicken. Soon it turned into a game/contest of how many bowls one could eat, it became popular among tourists. Which brings us to today :P

When we showed up at the restaurant we were given a traditional soba eating apron (that's right they exist) and settled on the normal set. ¥2700, this way you count your own bowls 3 bowls = 1 toothpick. 

(sorry I used the cheesy song for all the videos on this trip, they should really give me more options. Or you can watch all of them when I make an even cheeser after-movie ha ha) 

Although, you had the option to pay ¥3700 where you would get to stack the bowls on your table instead of them being sent back to the kitchen and of course photos of your soba success. 

This was the most intimidating meal I have ever experienced. I was nervous making me less hungry and even my hands weren't so steady when we started. You were unable to take long breaks and it had to be more or less a consistent waterfall of noodle refills. 

Goodbye Morioka and 48 bowls of soba, oh last but not least a lovely public indoor onsen :) 

I the average woman can eat 30-40 bowls and the average man is 50-60...

Sendai -> Ichinoseki -> Morioka

Sendai's specialty is Gyutan 牛たん (beef tongue) you can eat it with rice like a teshoku, in ramen and I am sure many other ways. I had it in a bowl of (jaja mein) good old Chinese style noodles, though it was far to heavy for brunch. (I should have known better) 

We didn't really explore Sendai much but I can mention the area we were staying at was between the shopping district and what seemed like a fair amount of host clubs and love hotels. It reminded me a less crowded version of kabukicho, which isn't so bad since it isn't new to me.

I figured for someone who was entirely new to this would turn their gaze away from the girls for hire and the billboards with an abundance of girls and prices deals. 

Now, the initial plan for today was to visit the cat island off the coast of Ishinomaki but we quickly realized that the frequency of the ferries out there are quite limited. Apparently departing at 8am,1pm and 3:40pm. Sadly the last return boat is at 3pm. We sadly already missed the opportunity to catch the one at 1pm, it was decided for us that our chance to visit this place has passed. 

Damn lack of planning, hindsight you win this time. 

Now we will go directly to Morioka, the weather report states that it is going to be raining but I think we should be fine to explore the city at least little bit. Our estimated time of arrival is now 3pm, even though we left this morning at about 10:30am. Taking local trains sure has shown its downside, however I am enjoying my book and will be able to write thorough blog posts. (My best ones are always when I have long commutes, I find it easy to think) 

Arriving at Ichinoseki the next train out to Morioka was an hour later. If we were taking the Shinkansen it would have been quick, also the trains seem to come at 15 minute intervals. 

From there a short walk was needed to stretch our legs. Since we have nothing else to do with out time off to the local river...

I buffered this photograph with high filters to take away the countryside gloom it held as grey skies wish to commence raining. 

The best part of this place was the library which has an old train parked out front, a very fitting moment in this journey. 

This train is dedicated to Tsukuru Tazaki, yes I am well aware a library is not a train station. 

Rainy Morioka....it time for wankosoba!! 

Fox village (Kitsune Mura)

I From Fukushima we just hopped on the JR Tohoku line towards Sendai and in 30 minutes we arrived at Shiroishi station. 

There are only two buses a day that go to Kitsune Mura, one being 7:35am and the second one at 1:35pm. Look for the only colourful 'castle bus' with an anime girl on the side. ¥200 ticket bought on board the train. 

I was surprised that there wasn't any other tourists waiting at the bus stop or boarded at any other of the stops along the way. The bus driver doesn't speak any English nor was he 'genki' although his initial judgement was that we were mainland Chinese tourists. I only found out because I over heard him talking about us to the group of oka-sans at the front of the bus. 

After a misadventure up a steep hill that didn't want to be conquered....and a 20 minute delay we were picked up by a kind man who worked at Kitsune Mura. 

¥1000 per person and ¥100 per bag of treats (cut up hot dogs and/or carrots for the rabbits) we were in the 'village' greeted by Guinea pigs and captive foxes and rabbits. 

The rabbits' ears looked more than damaged, I wonder if it due to the abundance of foxes here. Midnight adventures or should I say hunt? 

The foxes in the cages made me really sad since the enclosures were smaller than I had imagined or near acceptable by my standards. (Mind you I always want all public animal enclosures to be free roaming) The website and YouTube videos portrayed that the whole place was a village of cute domesticated foxes running around.

After going through another set of doors, there they were the ones that were able to wander. My idea was that there would be a lot of them jumping around and none of them would be caged. I realized that they do fight and they are territorial wild creatures after all, living harmoniously might not be an option. Are they captured from the wild? 

They had a human feeding area encouraging tourists to feed the foxes from a safe distance above. 

The taxi back to Shiroishi station was about ¥4000. Remember if you try to walk back it will be a 13 hour trek *cough* sorry that's 13 kms :P 

Tokyo -> Sendai

This time I bought the Seishin 18 Kippu ticket (all you ride on Non Shinkansen JR rail, this is available three times a year) this time the final destination will be Sapporo, Hokkaido. Last time I bought this ticket it was New Years just to get out of Tokyo for a couple of days but I didn't go very far with it. 

We left early in the morning about 5am to ensure that we would arrive in Fukushima by lunch time. Today's main itinerary is the fox village near Zao mountain. I just learned about this place and rabbit village (near Hiroshima) this time around, I was only aware of the island with an abundance of cats (which we will hopefully get to visit) 

Let's see if we can manage this part of the journey without coming across any hiccups. 

Always make sure to hop off before the train starts to reverse. "Do what the Japanese do...?" luckily we noticed it quickly and it was only one stop. Just a quick track jump, back en route to find out we have already finished half of the train journey. So far it has been fairly painless with the sun out warming the interior of the train-cars as we passed large stand alone houses. Now it is really feeling like we have left metropolitan area. 

So many transfers I think we have done at least half a dozen today and so do  many more to come. 

The best part of this long train ride is the fact that I got to stare out of the window where mountains cascaded in the background. I really love riding trains sometimes, it kind of beats being a runaround tourist fighting endless lineups and large noisy crowds. Left alone with all your thoughts, a serene pastime of a wandering traveler. 

Cherry Blossoms, Hanami!!

As some of you may very well know I am in love with hanami (the cherry blossom season) I timed it in Taiwan so I could come back and celebrate this joyous occasion. Not only do I get to spend time with friends and family I happily get to soak in all the lovely spring feeling. The flowers aren't just a reminder of my time in Japan but much more than that, it holds a very calming feeling of freedom. 

I took some time this year and went to Hie Shrine to get my omikugi (written oracle, or a fortune) which gives you little tid-bits of advice and what the year will entail. I got a recommendations from one of my students to visit this shrine so I made a little video here. Don't mind the cheesy music. :P

The best part of this year's hanami is the fact that I got to spend it with some lovely friends. New and old together talking freely about whatever we like with open minds and happy faces surrounding us. I really felt like I was truly on vacation. Plus all the alcohol helps :) 

Return to Tokyo, Japan

You might be tired of reading this post again and again but here landed at Narita airport for the 5th time. Though I am fairly sure that this will be my last. 


Either way, I am always really excited to fly back in to Japan from wherever I am coming from. This was the only time where immigration was honestly cold and threatening. There is a possibility that I was a bit more apprehensive while standing at the gate. Seriously, come on! I've been here this many times and this is the time you decide to grill me about every detail I've written on my card? 

Anyways I wanted to try my hand at the airport limousine which is suppose to get you to Shinjuku station in 90 minutes which I found impressive. Or I have been miscalculating the distance this whole time, well it was ¥3100 for a ticket (¥2000 if you're under 25). Off to the trains, looks like I'm just in time to pop on the last rapid train out and hopefully still have time to transfer to the correct local line. 
I was quite pleased to find that my pasmo still works, actually I don't see any reason why not. After a delay on the Narita line towards Tokyo we were metropolitan bound again :)

Here I am again awaiting for the upcoming days where I can revisit all my favourite places and most of all catch up with my friends. 

Hiroshima Food!

I feel like I enjoyed the food enough to write a short post on it or better yet just post some photos!  :P

Tsukimen- awesome cold noodles usually served with cabbage next to a spicy sesame and miso like dipping sauce. When I was looking at the menu I instantly noticed that there are 30 degrees of hotness you can choose from. Not knowing how spicy each level was I was like...ummm 5. FYI 5 is like nothing. I tried my friend's 15 still alright. Next time 25... teehe. 

Hiroshima specializes in oysters you can get this in an assortment of dishes but we decided to order it on a bed of sauteed spinach. I can't remember why spinach is so rare here but damn it is yummy! 

Of course you can't go to Hiroshima without hitting up an okonomiyaki restaurant. This is a 'pancake' that is layered with many things and squeezed down to size. There is a pile of cabbage, pork slices, an egg and a piece of dough that one can say is the shape setter of the whole deal. Before WWII it was just made like a dough and eaten very much like a pancake but with sauce on top. (the sauce is savory btw) Only after the war was the noodles and even rice was thrown into the mixture, now with how popular it has become you can put any kinds of toppings on it. ex cheese, mochi, shrimp, veggies, etc. 

I threw in this picture because this was homemade food from my friend's mom just outside of Hiroshima. Lovely food and real matcha, my fav! 

age-momiji! Momiji is shaped like a maple leaf and is originally filled with sweet bean called anko, which I love. Only here on the island of Miyajima where they serve it deep fried with tea. I wouldn't eat it often but it was good! Again there are many falvours that you could get inside like custard cream. 

A close up of a negi (green onion) rice and soba okonomiyaki. Don't forget you can get Udon in it instead.

Happy drooling. Time to eat. Itadakimasu!!  いただきます!!!