2009.03.18 - Welcome in Japan

I arrived appropriately tired after the almost 12 hour flight to Japan. After reuniting with my girlfriend however, the tiredness was quickly forgotten. For the first few days we also had only a slow program, so I could adjust to the time difference and acclimatize myself.

As the season warrants, I was greeted with a cup of sakura tea at my arrival. The sakura tea is made only by putting a slightly salted sakura blossom in hot water.

2009.03.22 - Visiting my girlfriends oldest sister

The table was laden full with delicious food. Under this crust of whipped egg-white a fish was hidden. Here the fish was uncovered to be eaten by us. A salad with squid. A refreshing taste. Cooked aubergine with dried fishslivers. Very good and low calory :-) ! Slightly fried Shitake (a kind of mushroom). Very delicious, I like Shitake a lot.

2009.03.23 - Kyuushuu - near Nagasaki.

After having met my girlfriends sister I felt more secure that the rest of the family would also be as nice as her and so I didn't feel too nervous about that trip. Actually she felt more nervous about it than I did :-).

Haneda airport, a view through a window. This was not the plane we took, but I had to take a picture of the ANA Pokemon airplane. Ah, what a sight! Almost one feels bad starting to destroy such a beautiful arrangment by eating it. But only almost, as the Sashimi was very tasty indeed! Ah, I want to eat that again right now! Thanks to Okaasan for preparing such a feast! Those strawberries were freshly harvested from a nearby greenhouse and had a complete red texture and a full flavor you cannot buy in any supermarket. I fear I ate almost a field full of them :-). どうもすみません! どうも有難うございます!

2009.03.24 - Kyuushuu - Mount Unzen.

After a quick bamboo harvest in the morning we went to see the volcano and the sights around it in the Mount Unzen national park which is just a quick drive away from the Fujita-families house.

In the morning we went to the bamboo-forest behind the house to hunt for bamboo sprouts, so we could eat them fresh. Here one was found. This hard worker here is digging around the sprout to uncover it as whole as possible. Hard worker is now cleaning away the roots and the hard part around them. At one flank of the volcano hot water, mud and sulphurous gases come out of the earth, earning this area the name 地獄 (jigoku/hell). Walkways have been built through it, so one can walk through it. The building in the back is an 温泉 (onsen / hot spring) which utilizes the hot sulphurous water for bathing. Cherry blossoms waiting to burst into flower any moment. My girlfriend really makes some nice pictures (this one is from her). A closer view down one of the sources. A map of the area with english text too. Many of the hot patches where the water and sulphur comes to the surface have legends attached to them. Looks hot. And poisonous. Also a little like from another planet. Welcome to hell. Actually the sunshine and warm weather that day distracted a little from the hell-feeling :-). Another legend, this time attached to a smooth stone. Even here, in hell, cherry blossoms started to bloom. A look down a muddy pit. I am here. The explanations to the mud volcano. That's the mud volcano itself. Fortunately, rather tame at that moment. A view from a observation platform down to the bay. A sign explaining the changes of the mountain during the last eruption. More explanations. This is a look at the dome from the observation platform. The path of the main lava flow can be seen clearly. Another look at the dome from a different angle. On the way back we stopped at the entrance to one of the famous onsen in the area. The roof of the entrance is supported by really big trunks of trees. This pictures shows the size of the tree-pillars. The open hall also contained some big wooden artwork. Here is a engraving of the seven gods of luck. Around some parts of the volcano there are still poisonous gases escaping the ground in dangerous amounts. For that reason that's the closest one can approach from this direction. The big boulders are the former tip of the volcano. At the time of the eruption boulders were thrown for miles in many directions. Lunch in a restaurant close to 島原 (Shimabara) castle. Some kind of natto, but not as strong in taste and also without the sticky goo around it. Well it had sticky goo around it, but it was less sticky than usual natto :-). Here you can see that sakura trees really surround the whole castle. Around Shimabara castle, the cherry trees were already in full bloom. A look at the outer wall and the ditch of the castle. Shimabara castle. Inside was a very interesting museum of the christian history of Nagasaki. Shimabara castle was the seat of a christian fiefdom inside japan in earlier times. As christianity was declared illegal a decisive battle was also fought here, which ended the era of christianity in Japan. A layout of the castle grounds. More plans of the castle. The surprising thing is, that anything remains standing at all. The house must have been quite sturdy. A timetable of the eruption in the early 90s. For preservation a roof was built over more of the stricken houses.

2009.03.25 - Kyuushuu - Near Nagasaki - Saying Goodbye to the family.

As our schedule was quite packed we had to travel on this day and only stayed for breakfast and lunch and walked around the village in between.

A very typical japanese breakfast with miso-soup, rice, egg and sausage. As my stomach was a little queasy from too much beer last night, I could eat only a little.

2009.03.25 - Kyuushuu - Fukuoka

At late afternoon that day we arrived at our hotel in Fukuoka.

Our hotel in Fukuoka wasn't a pure hotel but a "Residential Suite". Accordingly it was called "Fukuoka Residential Towers". The price was good and the room was really great. Here it shows part of the main room looking out into the floor. The bath room had a washing machine for more permanent residents. Here was a typical japanese high-tech toilet I could use and try out without having to fear spraying myself over and over with water in some public space :-). The control panel was kind of simple though, there are more complicated toilets in japan :-). The shower and bath was separated by a glass wall from the rest of the bath room. The room also included a small kitchen which was very convienent for making our own breakfast the next day. This was the view from our hotel window. Now we went out to have Okonomi-yaki. Translated that means: "fry as/what you like". It's called that way, because normally you only get the ingredients and mix it in the way you want, before you fry it. Here the Okonomi-yaki is almost finished and already has the stripped pattern made of sauce on it. For some reason, when you put some sauce to Okonomi-yaki you always make a pattern out of it. The remainder of the first Okonomi-yaki is almost gone, but the second is almost finished too. Not easy, splitting a round thing into five parts evenly.

2009.03.26 - Kyuushuu - Fukuoka - Dazaifu-jinja

The next day greeted us with incredibly good weather, so we were looking forward to a visit to 太宰府 (Dazaifu) shrine.

A view back at our hotel in the morning sun. Or rather late morning sun :-). Finally we arrived at Dazaifu-station. Because it was already more than four hours since the last meal the girls were of course starving ;-). That's why we decided to have lunch. A small shrine in Dazaifu. A island in the park area of Dazaifu. More of the same small lake. Another small wooden shrine. Turtles sunbathing. The main gate to Dazaifu-shrine. For 100 Yen I got a fortune. I couldn't read most of it, but my girlfriend explained that it basically meant that my fate is not screwed, but I should not be too reckless. As "reckless" is totally unknown to me, I accepted my fortune and tied it to the fortune-tying place. Firmly, I don't want my fate to be blown away by the wind. A street of small wooden shrines. Why? Every god has a own house? I have to ask someone who knows. Green tea and snack. Poor snack, it didn't have a chance against Gorudilla. Beautiful scene from the shrine garden.

2009.03.26 - Kyuushuu - Fukuoka - Dinner

After the shrine we returned to Fukuoka to eat 臓 (motsu, intestines).

Here the sukiyaki is started which would contain the motsu. One sidedish was liver served with a sour sauce. The liver was raw or only slightly fried, which is not everyone's taste but as I always steal bites from the raw liver dough when there is liver dumplings at my place I liked it a lot. The white/slightly pink globules in the sukiyaki here is the motsu. The motsu is said to contain a lot of collagen and gives the eater smooth beautiful skin. The taste is not very strong but from the texture of the motsu while eating you can certainly guess it contains a lot of long fat molecules. Also there were beautiful skinned women present who liked motsu, so it might be true ;-). As a second course (if you don't count all the side dishes in between) there were some more Udon. I am always a big noodle fan and those were really tasty, even though I could feel the trouser shrinking more and more ;-).

2009.03.27 - Kyuushuu - Fukuoka - Ramen

The next day it was already time to return to Ebina. Our flight was only around evening so we had some time still. After we could store our luggage in a department store we walked around shopping for souvenirs, mainly local specialties like 明太子 (Mentai, a fish sausage, or as the dictionary says: "salted pollack or cod roe spiced with red pepper". Ok, I know pepper, but I am really weak on types of fish :-) ). Afterwards we decided to have Ramen in Fukuokas best Ramenshop, according to the locals.

Here yours truly is posing between the lamp at the entrance. Remember that sign, the Ramenshop is a chain restaurant and can be found in other cities too. So if you come to Japan and want to eat Ramen, that's a good adress. The main menu of the ramen shop. You can also order by pointing at a picture, which might be convenient :-). The chef, busy and quick and always ready to humor a tourist with a camera :-). This nice woman afterwards took a picture of all of us, thank you :-). That was my ramen. White with 肉 (niku/meat) and 玉子 (tamago/egg) 入り (hairi/included). Can you find the price by looking at the menu a few pictures before, now you learned the kanji? The side dish was ご飯/ごはん (gohan/rice) and to the right vegetables wrapped in rice paper, a chinese dish. My girlfriend had the red bowl, but as she already started eating, the pristine form can no longer be distinguished, so don't ask me what extra ingredients she choose :-). Finally, enough pictures taken, let's eat! At the Fukuoka airport they had a big portable shrine which is carried in a celebration each year. Where "portable" means not fixed to the ground, it's still quite heavy and needs a lot of people to carry it. Here is a picture of a picture of the shrine in action.

2009.03.28 - Back in Ebina

After the trip to Kyuushuu we put in a slow day, where my girlfriend cooked dinner at home. That is, it was slow for me, because I only had to cut the vegetables, she had the work :-).

Miso soup, Potato salad, rice, and sprouts wrapped in smoked ham. The beer was good Yebisu. As you can see from my plate to the lower right I already started eating before remembering to take a picture, so the population of the sprouts in ham was already declining before becoming extinct a little time after :-). Another picture from bird's eye view. Oishikatta!

2009.03.30 - Saitama

On the 30th we visited my girlfriends aunt to whom she is very close because they cared a lot for her when she was in nursing school fresh away from home. Her husband worked many years as a cook on international freighters so he had seen a lot of the world and learned a lot of things. Thank you all for the grand dinner and your time :-) !

This dish is an assortment of boiled vegetables, most of which don't exist in europe in this form. Beside the carrots, which are well known, there is a form of sweet potato, lotus root and the beans are soy beans. Here you can see, that the vegetables are taken with soy sauce. But the main focus of course lays on the finely sliced beef which is done rare. This dish is well-known around the world and chinese in origin. The name is the same in all languages, only different :-). Frühlingsrollen, spring rolls or 春巻き (harumaki) all have the same meaning. The trouser was in danger of breaking open, but who could resist the next course of vegetables with noodles. The noodles needed some time under the vegetables in the sauce before becoming soft enough to eat.

2009.03.31 - Ebina - Yakiniku

On this day we returned only around noon from Saitama because the day before it got too late to return home and we stayed at her aunt's place. In the evening we met with my girlfriends brother at her favorite Yakiniku place in Ebina.

This is how Yakiniku works: In the middle of the table is a round depression coated with metal in the table where a gas flame heats some hot stones. The stones look like burning coal, but I guess having smoldering coal indoors might be a bad idea oxygen-wise, so it's more likely a lookalike without the carbonmonoxide problem. On top of the depression lies a grill on which the guests place the ordered meat and other grillables. In between the meat, one also grills some vegetables. Here we see some ねぎ (negi/a type of long onion, not tasting like onion), 南瓜 (kabocha/japanese pumpkin), 椎茸 (shiitake/shitake mushroom), 玉ねぎ (tamanegi/onions) and carrots and soybeans. In the back there is some very exquisite beef. This already comes prefried and needn't go on the grill. More kinds of delicious meat. Of course, or it couldn't be called 焼き肉 (yakiniku/lit. fried meat) :-).

2009.03.31 - Ebina - Night walk around Vina Walk

After eating yakiniku with Hidemasa-san and him returning home we walked around the shopping mall/park/community center of Ebina called the Vina Walk. We spent many hours shopping for groceries and clothes around here and passed here almost everyday on our way to the train, so we decided to take some picture of the place.

This picture, like all others is taken from the second floor (1st if you are counting the german way). From the second floor one can have a good look at a portion of the interior park of the Vina Walk. This is me spoiling the view :-). On the left side you can see the 0I0I department store. As the circle is called "maru" in japanese and round is called "marui" the 0I0I is also pronounced marui. There are a lot of Marui around japan and kind of good to remember because you can always find nice restaurants and toilets at the top floor of each marui, making it a nice place for taking a rest during sightseeing. This is the main bridge crossing the courtyard on the second floor, also showing the mascot-symbol of the Vina Walk.

2009.04.03 - Ebina - Okonomi-yaki

The next days were kind of slow. On april the 1st we visited Akie-san in hospital where she was because of a snowboard accident. Akie-san I knew also from the last time I was in Japan. The following days My girlfriend went to school and to work and we spent the time slowly resting and watching DVDs, but to ensure I didn't starve My girlfriend made good food every day :-).

As an example of the food here some homemade Okonomi-yaki. The second pan full of Okonmi-yaki finished. In the upper left you can see a red can of special limited Yebisu. The red has a very strong taste, a little like guiness but somehow more spicy.

2009.04.04 - Yokohama/Noge - Hanami

Finally the cherry blossoms bloomed in full in the Kantou-area and we went to Hanami with two friends of my girlfriend.

At the entrance of the park of our choosing food stalls were selling typical outdoor festival food. From the left: beloved Takoyaki (fried octopus in a dumpling), Yakitori (fried chicken on a stick) and Okonmi-yaki (the sign here says: Hiroshima-style). The first view of the park already showed a sky made white by overhanging cherry blossoms. This first space in the park suitable for Hanami looked empty at first, but because it was still before noon it just wasn't occupied by people yet, but already the claims were staked out by the friends of the hordes to come. The place we decided on was more beautiful than that first space anyway. Here by this little pond we placed our mats. This was a view of the park and the little pond from where we were sitting. Notice the many cherry blossom petals floating on the water and the picturesque stone lantern on the right. Truly, a perfect place for hanami! Slowly the park filled with more people. A closer look at the petals floating on the pond. After the picnic we strolled through the park. Here another picture of the sky hanging with white blossoms. The blossoms are really tightly packed on the trees so the sky seems all white. This is the landmark tower of Minato Mirai (meaning "Harbor Future", the harbor of the future) a very new part of Yokohama next to a cherry tree. Besides being beautiful you can also see here how tightly packed the blossoms are on the tree. Finally here you can see through patches in the blossoms that the sky actually is blue, it only seems white because of the multitudes of flowers. Here there was only a small space but this one also was packed with hanami people. As it was a saturday it would probably become crowded when many more arrive towards evening.

2009.04.04 - Yokohama/Noge - Noh theater

Unplanned, we encountered a newly built culture center on our way no one had heard of yet. Inside there was a very nice Noh theater stage.

The stage in a Noh theater is rather strictly layed out. I hope they show a play some times when I am in japan. If I attended a play here, would I understand the japanese spoken there? Most probably not :-).

2009.04.04 - Yokohama/Noge - Nogeyama Zoo

After the short stop at the Noh theater we visited the Nogeyama Zoo.

There was no fence around the smaller pandas place but the fellas seemingly like to stay there because they still were there :-). The tiger cage wasn't too big, so this one here looked a little bored. I am sure he really wants to play with some visitors :-). I haven't seen a live giraffe in decades. Their necks really are as long as in the pictures! Pretty flamingos. Did you know that flamingos are normally white and their color only comes from their food? In captivity they are feed additives to their zoo food in order for them to stay pink.

2009.04.04 - Yokohama - Minato Mirai

We wanted to drink some coffee now. The near vicinity of the zoo brought no success. As it also started to rain we decided to go into landmark tower, because it's inside and has a big selection of cafes.

This is the view of the landmark tower from Noge-station. In the harbor near the landmark tower this sailing ship laid in the harbor. The name was the "Nippon maru". "Maru" simply means ship and every japanese ship is called <something> maru. The pink flowering tree in the lower right is a peach blossom and in my opinion very underrated, they should really make some peach blossom parks as well as cherry blossom parks :-). One entrance to the landmark tower. It also contains the world's fastest elevator by the way, which you can ride for a fee. We found a cafe then and ordered cafe or tea and cake. Outside between landmark tower and the next huge building there is this big sculpture. Near the landmark tower there is also this amusement park. Another time I want to ride that ferris wheel and get a good view of the surroundings. Inside the building there is a huge shopping center and a very spacy, very open architecture. You can see directly to the tracks of the train station from many floors up. The whole feeling is really like a whole city inside a building and unfortunately cannot be captured by camera.

2009.04.05 - Ebina - Nearing goodbye

Sadly this time was nearly over now. My girlfriend had to work the last sunday and we spent a final meal at her place before going over to a hotel near the airport for the flight at the 7th.

This is Yakisoba my girlfriend cooked for us. I am always ready for noodles :-). Those are meatballs, the beer is of course Yebisu :-).