The End of an Era

Monday, 21 July 2008

10h55

My last week was brutal. After my presentation, I was ready to unwind. In less than a week, I was in Kobe, Nara, Osaka, Kyoto, Tokyo and Nikko. Nikko was a lot of walking in the drizzling rain, but it was worth it. The whole area is packed with temples all built in the middle of lakes and 40- and 50-meter tall trees, which makes for a very impressive landscape. Seems like this place is where that typical image of the three see-no-evil, hear-no-evil, speak-no-evil monkeys was made famous. There’s also a lot of hiking trails that lead to more lakes and outstanding waterfalls, but this I didn’t do… first, because it was raining; second, because my crazy schedule and little sleep finally caught up with me and I started to get cramps in my calves just from walking; third, because when I got to the first waterfalls, the 100-m high Kegan falls, it was a bit late; and finally, because the map I had was all in Japanese and I really didn’t feel like getting lost.

In any case, I went back to Tokyo that evening and I got lost there for the first time. I first make a quick stop at Akihabara since I had heard so much about it and still hadn’t been. This place is also called “Electric Town,” so whose who know me can only imagine how much in heaven I felt. Every single electric and electronic gadget is found in one of those stores. Each building had storeys and storeys of anything from cell phones to electric screwdrivers to videocameras to kitchen appliances and video consoles. Inexplicably – maybe because I was so tired –, I felt overwhelmed after a couple hours, then headed back home.

I was too exhausted to cook anything at home, so I looked for a recommended place for dinner in my guidebook. I saw that this place, only about 3-4 metro stops before my destination sold the best codfish dinner in town (and Robert de Niro’s favorite), so I got off the train and started walking there. To make a long story short, I never found the place and started to feel very anxious because I had no idea where to go. I was lost and I couldn’t make any sense of any of the maps that are scattered all around Tokyo. When I thought I had finally found my way, a couple blocks later I realized that there was some train station or embassy or some massive structure that prevented me from following my desired path. It is true that it’s hard to get lost in Tokyo – after all, I could always hop on any train and get back home – but I knew I was not far from my neighborhood, so I kept walking, my feet now throbbing with pain at this point. Then after over an hour of wandering around aimlessly, I saw the Wendy’s by my metro stop and felt relieved.

The next day I wanted to go to Tsukiji, the fish market. I went there once but it was closed and my friends told me it is truly an amazing experience… but to get the most out of it you need to get to the tuna auction by 5 a.m. – which meant I only had 4 hours left for sleeping… so in the end I decided that that would be yet another thing I’ll have to do on my next trip to Tokyo, and slept in.

In the afternoon, I went to Ueno, another area that I hadn’t visited. This is where a lot of the major museums are. There’s also a very nice park, and a huge – huge – shopping area, more like a humongous flea market. I came here because this was my last full day in Tokyo and I had a lot of last-minute shopping to do (souvenirs and the like). Unfortunately, this wasn’t the place for that… lots of clothes, jewelry, beauty products, watches, and electric appliances… but no souvenirs.

Amazingly, I randomly met a colleague from work there, and I was surprised that even though I know less than 30 people in a city of 30 million, I still manage to randomly meet people on the street. Anyway, he suggested I go to Asakusa (where the Senso-ji temple and la Flamme d’Or building are), and so I went. Bought a few things, then had my last sushi dinner, and headed back home, where I was supposed to meet my friends for a last farewell hangout.

It was fun. We talked over drinks for hours then around 2 a.m. headed to Roppongi for some club. We had some kebabs, managed to avoid all the African pimps on the street, went into some place, had a drink, went to some other place, had another drink, then ended up dancing to some Latin beats with some Japanese girls, who then agreed to come with us to some other salsa club. My new friend, Hiromi, turned out to be a very good follower, so we danced the rest of the night. Around 6 a.m., I thought it would be wise to head back home, given that I hadn’t packed or cleaned my room, and the room inspector would come around 10 a.m. to check out my room and give me back my security deposit.

I had about 1 hour of sleep and, needless to say, things got crazier by the minute. Finally, at around 12.30 p.m., I left my house, got a taxi and went to my school. Even though I had no idea how long it’d take me to go to the airport and my flight left at 3.30 p.m., I still had to return a book to the library and pick up some books and my gym clothes from the school. I have always been a last-minute packer. Luckily, I’ve never missed a flight or faced any bad consequences from this indisputably bad habit. But this time, I was certain I was finally going to pay for my unpreparedness and lack of foresight. And as if I needed things to get worse, my taxi driver clearly wanted to “see me the face”, that is, cheat me and take advantage of my ignorance. After he took me to my school, I told him I had to take the Narita Express train to the airport, but I didn’t know what station I had to go to. And I clearly had a lot of trouble explaining myself because he look completely clueless. Then I think he understood but also realized I was a bit desperate. I asked him to take me to Tokyo station but he insisted that Shinagawa station was a better option. I said no because I knew Shinagawa was further, and I really didn’t feel like paying over 5,000 yen or 50 dollars for my cab ride (driving to the airport was not an option… this would’ve cost me about 20,000 yen)… and I also knew that from the Imperial Palace, Tokyo station is only a few blocks away; yet this asshole drove me for antoher 10 minutes until I finally yelled at him and he pretended he had no idea what I was barking about. Anyway, as soon as we got there, I ran with all and my 2 rolling suitcases and 2 backpacks… a true India María... and I just made it to the 1.33 p.m. train that took an hour to Narita… and, again, I just made it to the plane, about 5 minutes before they closed the gate.

And after this wild end to my stay in Tokyo, I still had to deal with incompetent Japanese Continental employees who told me that I couldn’t go back to the U.S. with my F-1 visa because “studying” wasn’t the purpose of my less-than-2-hour stay in Houston (I was only in transit to go to Mexico City)… I had to deal with Japanese kids playing videogames very excitedly during the whole flight, kicking the seat while I was trying to sleep… and when they finally stopped playing, they got sick and started throwing up all over the place… I had to deal with bad airplane food and a bad stomachache and a missing suitcase… but am now sitting at a cozy restaurant in Condesa in Mexico City, enjoying my huevitos with chile guajillo sauce and Mexican seasonal fruit juice. I am sad for having left Tokyo so soon, but it’s easy to erase this sadness with a sniff at the fresh tortillas on my table.

OK, I am transcribing this blog entry from my journal while having lunch at Primos, a restaurant in the Condesa neighborhood in Mexico City, and they are playing a very strange song on the radio.

Desde el cielo una hermosa mañana
Desde el cielo una hermosa mañana
La Guadalupana… La Guadalupana…
La Guadalupana bajó al Tepeyac.

Which is a religious song we sang in children’s mass when I was a kid… except this one is sung as a rap. My country is definitely a strange place.

Thank you for smoking

Friday, 18 July 2008

7h38

I am now having a morning smoke at a café in Tokyo station as I wait for my train to Nikko. Now, I’m sure that if you know me, you’d be surprised I wrote that given how much I’ve hated cigarette smoke my entire life. Well, perhaps you’ll be even more surprised if I told you that this otherwise unthinkable event is taking place in the non-section area of the café, especially after I’ve written about Japanese infatuation with rules.

But before you spass me out, let me clarify things: the smoke is coming from the smoking section, which starts basically at the table next to me. The Japs are funny this way, they set ridiculous rules like this and for no reason would I be allowed to smoke where I’m sitting even though my smoking would only imply that the non-smoking section starts one table further.

Everybody smokes in Japan. For a country that seems to obsessed about its health and well-being, this is really surprising. Their diets are so well-balanced and includes so much fish and vegetables – but perhaps that’s only attributable to the country’s vast coastline and centuries-long habits, right? Well, yes, but they also always protect their skin from the sun… they even wear arm-length gloves when they drive even if it’s steaming hot outside. They walk around with these hospital masks to cover their mouths when they are sick to avoid infecting other people and to protect themselves from air pollution. They all eat a healthy and plentiful breakfast to start the day strong, and they seem to be all fit. So, why do they smoke?

Starbucks God

Thursday, 17 July 2008

18h24

I am sitting by the window on the 2nd floor of the Starbucks at Shibuya crossing. I think I wrote about this crazy crossing before, in my first few days in Tokyo: people wait patiently until all cars stop at their red light and then start walking in all directions when they get the green light for pedestrians. What makes the whole thing special is that this is a huge intersection and seeing the 60-second marvel of people crossing is quite a sight. Right now there are no cars but people aren’t crossing: they wait. Three, two, one… north meets east, east meets west, west means north-south-east. A couple, holding hands, crosses slowly; they kiss suddenly as they continue walking. A man in a suit runs – is he late for a meeting – and a biker almost runs him over. A women dropped her cell phone and some random guy picks it up. They both bow, then go separate ways. A western-looking couple also holds hands as they cross, and she holds her camera high – probably taking a video of the whole spectacle.

And I, I see it all from the heights, like a see-it-all God who knows what you and you and you are up to.

This has to be the coolest Starbucks in the world – at least for people-watching!

I gave a seminar in Kobe University two days ago, and I had been locked up in my office and in my bedroom for too many days. I think the presentation went well and once I finished, I was finally able to relax. Takashi, a professor there, and his wife took me out for dinner to this very casual Japanese fusion place that served food that can be best described as Japanese tapas. We had so many of them, from octopus to crab to Kobe beef to vegetables of all sorts, plus some good hot sake, Japanese plum wine, and some other Jap-liqueur. The restaurant scene in Kobe is supposed to be one of the best in Japan. Their other characteristic feature beside its quality is that it reflects the international influence that the city has had for centuries. I confirmed this the next day as I walked around town and discovered even a traditional Turkish ice cream place – didn’t know that ice cream was a specialty in Turkey!

Although I only spent half a day exploring this city, that was enough to make me want to go back. The city was devastated after an earthquake hit it back in 1995, but numerous efforts to rebuild it paid off and now it looks fabulous – especially the harbour area. There’s a huge park by the oceanfront, with a beautiful hotel shaped like a pyramid, the massive white metal structure of the Maritime museum, which is supposed to symbolize the ocean waves crashing, the Kobe tower, some very nice statues, and an old carabela called “Santa María” – I wonder if that was Christopher Columbus’s… can’t be, right? And as I saw all this, I also saw some kids playing in the distance, I felt the wind blowing strong in my face, and I heard some happy-sounding Latin beat coming from a cruiseboat, and the loud voooom it made as it left the pier and all the passengers waved goodbye at their friends and relatives, who waved back. Combining all this with the fact that I had just finished my presentation the night before, that I was traveling (living!) solo in Japan, and that I had finally had a good night’s sleep, it occurred to me that I have perhaps never felt so free.

And after all this, I had my Kobe beef meal. Just perfect.

From here, I went to Kyoto to meet K as we had made an appointment several weeks ago to visit the Katsura imperial villa. This place is one of the most ridiculously well-taken-care-of gardens you will ever see in your life. It’s amazing how gardens are one of those few things that can actually be preserved for centuries (this one was built in the 17th century!) and still look like they were built last year.

Finally in the evening, I met my friend Claudia and we walked around the city and enjoyed the Gion Matsuri, one of the most famous festivals in Japan. It was beautiful. They close down the streets downtown to all non-pedestrian traffic and there are many “floats” all over the place, which are tall wooden structures decorated with tons of tapestries and Japanese lamps. On top of these structures, there are several men sitting by the edge, playing some music with bells, flutes, and drums. All along both sides of the street, hundreds of stalls sell anything from okonomiyaki, takoyaki, and hot dogs to cartoon masks, “peluches,” and kimonos. At dusk, all the streets are only lit by the lanterns on the floats and on the street, and it’s a beautiful sight. The downside? It’s insanely crowded!

Culinary Japan

Wednesday, 16 July 2008

14h07

I dedicate this post to my my roommate who's constantly nagging me with questions about the stuff I eat everywhere I go.

Given that I just had one of the most perfect meals of my life and given that I have been living in a country that indisputably has one of the top cuisines of the world, with the most 5-star restaurants listed in the prestigious Michelin guides, it just seems fitting that I write something about my experience with food in Japan.

In earlier days I described how perfectly manicured gardens are in this country. Japanese dishes are just like little gardens on a plate. It seems as though one’s meal experience starts with the presentation and the whole visual aspect of the dish and, upon looking at it, you certainly feel like eating it with your eyes.

I also think that a very important concept in Japanese cuisine is balance. You rarely see a huge item on your plate outweighing all the other smaller vegetables or whatever they use as side dishes. Things are never too sweet or too salty – in fact, you seldom see salt and pepper shakers on the table. Of course there are “soupy” dishes, like the übertraditional miso soup, as well as udon and ramen – different types of noodles, but in general food items are never too wet or too dry. Also, I really like the balance of colours: in almost every meal you have a bowl of pristine-white rice; then you have some bright, lively colours like the pink of tuna fish and salmon or the orange of salmon roe; and finally you have your dose of vegetables: yellow squash, gray japanese potato, green peppers and cucumbers… just beautiful.

Today for lunch, I decided to treat myself since I have been working way too much and I had my presentation yesterday at Kobe U (thanks, PP, for the suggestion… I will charge you for half the price of my meal when I get back!). I asked some locals in Kobe where I could have the worldwide-famous local specialty, Kobe beef, and they told me to go to Mouriya. I can just say it was an excellent choice. They had beef lunch menus starting from 2,000 yen (about 20 dollars) but I decided to get their supreme tenderloin (10,000 yen! Ouch!) to truly taste a top-notch chunk of beef.

What was immediately apparent is that I was not paying only for my steak and all the sides… I was also paying for the ridiculously outstanding service. I had at least one waiter, who was kind of hiding a couple of metres behind me, at all times, and as soon as I finished my soup, he will come and take away my bowl – always asking very politely if I had finished. My water glass was full at all times and, when I ordered wine, it came in less than a minute. But more than that, I also had one of their chefs at my service. He cooked the entire meal in front of me: I saw how he meticulously prepared the vegetables (Japanese potatoes, green peppers, tomatoes, toasted garlic, ginger, zucchini... and some other pickled things) as I had my exquisite cold corn soup and a very tasty, fresh, and crisp small salad bowl. Then he started preparing the beef steak, which he cut in small pieces for me… but the amazing thing is that he didn’t cook it all at once. He would put them on this 24mm-thick metal plate for a few seconds, then he would put it back on a cutting board, while he did something else with the fat and meat juices that the beef had released. And he would put only one portion of the steak on the hot plate, then serve it on my plate, and then wait until I was almost finished to start preparing the next portion. That way the items on my plate were always hot and “just-made.”

And like this, I have had just too many good meals. I’m surprised that I’ve never been to Japanese restaurants in the U.S. that serve things other than sushi, sashimi, and your typical fish dishes – even those at very fancy places. What I mean is that there’s such abundance of different types of local dishes here, that I’m surprised I haven’t seen those elsewhere. For example, there’s this dish called kamameshi, which is a wooden/steel deep bowl covered with a wooden lid, with okoge or “burned” rice that sticks to the sides of the bowl, and a mixture of seafood things in the middle, which you mix with the rice little by little, but always trying to eat from the middle and moving things to the side of the bowl. So you help yourself and then cover the bowl again so that things keep cooking and the rice keeps “burning” while you are eating a small portion of it. It’s like a little paellita, and it is very tasty. Then they have the ubiquitous okonomiyaki. I first had that on my very first day when I visited K. Basically the tables at the restaurant all had a hot plate in the middle, and there they cook a mixture of some sort of dough and egg with a bunch of things inside, anything from vegetables to seafood (actually, the name literally means "cook anything you want" or something like that, isn't it awesome?). Then they fold it and you cut a piece and eat it while the rest keeps cooking. This is also very popular street food. Another street food item that I found all over the place and which K’s mom made for dessert or late-night snack is takoyaki. This is octopus inside a fried? dough ball, perhaps with other vegetables, and a creamy sauce on top. Quite tasty and they were selling them literally everywhere during the Gion Matsuri festival in Kyoto. Other delicious dishes I tried were sukiyaki, which is a mixture of vegetables and raw meat that you put in a pan for a few seconds, then dip in raw egg right before putting it in your mouth... and shabu-shabu, which is basically like a fondue bourgignonne or meat fondue, but instead of dipping the raw meat in boiling oil, you dip it in a boiling water-based soup with lots of vegetables, Japanese mushrooms, and tofu. Quite yummy.

By far my most memorable sushi meal ever I had at Fukuzushi, a sushi institution in Tokyo, just behind the Hard Rock Café in Roppongi. Alex and I went there for dinner and, even though it looked like a very popular place, we didn’t really go all out and decided to order carefully – not because we were afraid of the quality of the food, but because they didn’t provide a list of prices since prices were according to “today’s fish market value.” I must say that this was the best sushi I’ve had in my life: the freshest ingredients, the juiciest fish… even the ginger and the wasabi was noticeably far superior than what you have at your standard sushi place. And by the way, I should say that “fresh wasabi” is nothing like the wasabi we normally eat in the U.S. or even at your standard sushi stall in Japan. The popular version is spicier by means of some added chemicals or whatever… but fresh wasabi is such a delicacy, quite more subtle and sweeter than the regular kind. Anyway, as if the quality of the food was not enough, something that will make this dining out experience one for the ages is the hostess that greeted us as we walked into the restaurant and who later took our order. Whenever people arrived, she would sing to them in a very operistic fashion to welcome them and lead them to their table. Then she would sing to the kitchen staff or the other waiters to say that such and such table had been taken, etc. It was hilarious. And finally, something that will certainly make us remember this meal is the exorbitant price we paid: we ordered each about 7 sushi pieces and one drink, and paid over 70 dollars per person. Ouch. However, if you ever go to Tokyo, by all means go to this place – it’s worth it.

A few observations

I have been out of commission these past few days because I have a seminar in Kobe tomorrow and I have been working on my slides.

Anyway, I just came back from lunch. I taught this morning then internet in the office wasn't working so I left. I walked to Roppongi Hills where I looked for a place to eat and then I found this cheap Indian buffet, not bad at all (1,200 yen or $12 for all you can eat daal with corn, mixed vegetables in some creamy sauce, chicken tikka masala, and rogan josh... oh, and salad. For once, I wasn't hungry after my meal! :)

The funny thing is that I had been wondering why I hadn't seen that many Indians around... I mean, after all India is a huge country, with so many people, and they are relatively close geographically to this other Asian superpower, Japan... it only made sense that some Indians would come here to work or for holidays or something, no?

Well, I hadn't found them... until today! They are all here, in this Indian restaurant! All the not-eating-with-the-left-hand thing, all the using-your-naan-to-clean-off-all-the-sauce-on-your-plate thing, all the head-shaking-while-talking thing, and all the grunting-to-signal-approval thing... they were all happening here. It reminded me of my days in India a few months back... except these were all super fresa Indian ex-pats, the guys wearing suits and collar shirts and showy rings, the wives looking very western, weating dressy pants, heels, and regular tops... no saris.

Then I decided that it must be decidedly hard for Indians to integrate into Japanese society. I mean, Japan was a very isolated society for the longest time, then it opened up and it's definitely embraced western values... but I guess that western doesn't include Indian, even though India is somewhere to the west of Japan. Then there's the potential racism thing... I don't know if a regular Japanese person would easily become friends with a brown person. Plus, both societies remain relatively closed to the rest of the world... and I guess it even shows on the use of terms like gora in Hindi and gaijin in Japanese to single-out whites or foreigners.

Other than that I have another observation. A LOT of people in Japan are sambos! And I mean A LOT. I don't know how to say this in English, but we call sambos those people who walk with their feet pointing inwards... I think they are called pigeon-toeds in English, but I'm not sure. Anyway, in Mexico whenever that happens to you, your parents usually take you to the doctor and they put these corrective orthopedic treatment thingies that fix your feet/legs and then you walk normally for the rest of your life.

Do people do this also in other countries? Please tell me!!

Because I haven't seen as many people with this problem in other parts of the world. Maybe there's a market opporunity here...!! I could become rich!! muaaaaahahahaha...

deer town

Saturday, 5 July 2008
17h28

After a long day of sightseeing and walking for hours and hours in the sun, nothing makes me feel better than a large McDonald's coke. I've been doing this since my backpacking days in Europe 13 years ago, and I still enjoy it just as much. The only difference is that now there's coke zero! After all, one has to somehow watch all those calories after so many Oreos, no? :)

Nara is such a magical place -- even in the hot and humid summer. A lot of the main temples and major sights are downtown in the middle of a huge park, Nara Park. The place is full of deer that love to be fed, petted, and photographed... and they like to play with the little children. It's realy funny to see a bunch of them following someone who's bought some popular cookie-like thingies they sell around here and, if you don't feed them, they gently push you with their horns and nibble on your shirt!

The temples here are just fantastic. My favorite one is Todai-ji, which features an impressive 15-meter tall statue of a sitting Buddha inside a massive building. At the main gate, there are two equally massive statues of some guardians or protectors of the temple, and across the beautifully-manicured garden, you can see the temple. A really cool thing, which I only noticed on my way out upon looking at a postcard in the souvenir shop, is that there's a big window above that is (I think) only opened during some festival, when the whole Buddha sculpture is lit at night and a bunch of Japanese lanterns are set along the path that leads from the main gate to the temple. Thus, from the distance you can see the building and the illuminated head of the Buddha peeking through the window. I wish I could see this live.

hungry in kyoto

thursday, 3 july 2008
14h55

I don't remember ever feeling in such a pissy mood for not having eaten. It must be the accumulation of things: not eating, twisting my ankle a couple of days ago and not being able to walk properly, the heat and humidity, not having someone to vent with, having such a stubborn host. For the past couple of days, I've been in Kansai prefecture, in the Osaka-Nara-Kyoto area. My friend K and his family have been just amazing to me. Two days ago, when I got off the metro, right before getting to K's house, I tripped and twisted my ankle. K's mom was extremely attentive, got me one of those icy hot patches, an ointment, and a gauze, and they made sure I was alright.

I was super tired and wanted to take a shower. K's mom had already prepared a hot bath and K showed me where my towel and other shower stuff were. Can I just say that I just love the whole private experience thing in Japan, from the toilets with various buttons to the hot baths to the incredible water pressure I've experienced in every shower I've taken in this country. Of course, this bath was no exception.

I got out and made sure that everything was spotless, as I found it. I emptied the tub, rinsed off the soap, and put shampoo, towel, and everything back in place. I rejoined K's family in the living room, and the mom gave me another icy hot patch, even though I was wearing the one I had put on 10 mins before showering... but she insisted I wore the new one. K asked,

Does your foot have fever?

and I had absolutely no idea what he meant. He tried to explain, and I thought he wanted to know if the ankle was swollen, but he didn't know what swollen meant, so I showed him. But then he asked me again if my foot had fever and my only response was, I'm afraid that we don't say that in English. If somebody has a better idea, please let me know.

A few minutes later he led me to his room, where I was going to sleep, and suddenly we heard K's mom yelling at him --- and cracking up uncontrollably at the same time, although not a crazy laugh but a very japanese one instead, if you know what i mean. Amidst giggles, she kept babbling something to K and then, unexpectedly, K started laughing too. Then he finally said to me,

- You abandoned the water!!

- Huh?!

- Why did you abandon the water? My parents were going to use it to take shower!

I didn't know what to say. My natural answer would've been, That's digusting, but I think that would've been a bit too rude. Plus, at this point, I was more shocked than anything else. This made me think, however, that perhaps in the Americas we're a little bit too obsessed with our own notion of hygiene or cleanliness. I mean, I would always think, no matter what, that what my Franco-Belgian host brothers did -- using the same water to take a bath, one after another after another (since there were 3 of them), after not having taken one in more than a week -- is beyond nasty... and the brown water left in the tub was the best witness of this. But, hey, at least it's environmentally friendly in so many ways, from the water saved to the energy not wasted in heating that much water!

Anyway, I digress. As I said, K has been extremely attentive... but, like most Japs, he can also be so squared-minded and... set in his own ways. People must sit a certain way in the train and not cross their legs, otherwise "they are stupid." There's also a correct way to dress, talk, and eat. Even I "will follow" his advice on what to see in Kyoto because, whatever my guidebook says, even if he hasn't even read it, he knows better.

I'm now at this noodle place taking a break and recharging batteries. I just finished my noodles and, unsurprisingly, I'm still hungry. Time to go for a snack. Who said Oreo McFlurry?