Mashiko...Iceman's Bar...Wii...

The weekend started off with some casual badminton on Friday night. We met up with Michael’s co-worker, Azumi-san at the Honda Gym. Azumi-san showed us the ropes on how to sign-in and all that good stuff. We played for about 2 hours, who knew badminton would be so exhausting. On Saturday, Michael and I went with my teacher, Eiko-san and her husband, Ichihara-san to Mashiko to make our own pottery (ロクロ). We went to a nice mom and pop type shop. The pottery teacher had an old style kiln outside that is not in use, but it dates back hundreds of years. The four of us got a brief demonstration on how to use the potter’s wheel and the techniques to create a bowl, plates, cup, etc.. I opted to make a rice bowl (ちゃわん) for my first piece. It turned out ok, but making it was pretty difficult. The second piece I made was a soba chokou (dipping bowl for cold soba). I was quite fond of that piece. Michael’s first attempt was a rice bowl and it turned out pretty good. The second piece he made was also a soba chokou. Michael found that the potter’s wheel was very relaxing. I on the other hand found it more stressful. We made 2 pieces at a time and then switched off. I think it allows you to relax in between the sessions. For my second try, I made 2 plates. The first plate was not as pretty, but I decided to keep it anyways to have a matching set. Michael’s second try he made 2 tall cups and a small tea cup. After experiencing the pottery making, it gave us a new found appreciation for the things that we have previously purchased from Mashiko or any handmade piece of pottery. It takes so much talent and time to create these little pieces of masterpiece that we don’t think about and use almost every day. I definitely had a good time with good company.

Saturday night, we went to Iceman’s, a bar in Utsunomiya, for Heather and Kevin Saul’s farewell party. The atmosphere was pretty chill. There were many foreigners there so it felt a little bit like being back in Ohio, except for the smoke filled room. It was a good time and we met some new people, which is always fun. On Sunday, we had a little get together at our place with the Hughes’s, Loza’s, Matt and Annie. We just ordered some sushi take out and played some wii. The Hughes’s let us borrow guitar hero and I think we are becoming mildly obsess. It’s nice to have good conversation with good company!

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Good Times and Soba Making

The week went by pretty much as usual. On Thursday, I did decide to venture off to the salon. I contemplated for awhile as to what I should do with my hair...the outcome: digital perm. Basically I added soft curls to my hair; the best part of the salon was they give you a head and shoulders massage. Downside, it took about 3.5 hours. You can see the curls in most of the pictures from the weekend. We started off the weekend with dinner Friday night at a tapas restaurant called Bar Mar. Annie and Matt went with us and it was an awesome place. The food was good and the atmosphere was kind of like being in NYC. There were a couple of customers who were celebrating their birthdays and the restaurant dimmed the lights and then announced that there was a birthday and the whole restaurant joined in to sing “happy birthday”. Oh, I tried white sangria for the first time too and I really like it. After dinner with met up with Annie’s friend, TD and her boyfriend. They took us to a jazz bar pretty close to our place. It was a really nice, relaxing atmosphere. We’re definitely going to have to go back for dinner one night.

Saturday, Michael went to play badminton with his co-workers and I went to teach English for a couple of hours. We didn’t do too much else on Saturday, it’s beginning to get hot here and it’s only May. I’m so scared for the heat and humidity in July and August. Sunday morning, Michael, my teacher, Eiko-san, her husband, Ichihara-san and I went to a soba making class. It was in a classroom within a farmer’s market area. We made soba from scratch and then had lunch with all the other students. It is hard work making soba, it gives me a new found appreciation for the stores that sell handmade soba. Plus, it’s refreshing because I don’t think that we can find handmade soba in Ohio. Handmade soba is best when it is served cold because you can really taste the texture of the noodles. When it is boiled in hot broth the noodles expand and lose a little bit of its consistency, per the teacher. I can’t wait to make soba for everyone back home!

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Nikko/Sumo

Michael and I had a very fun filled weekend. We went to Nikko on Saturday with Michael’s teacher, Kawai-sensei. She is an official tour guide for Nikko, so it was nice to have her explain some of the history. To get to Nikko there is a super crazy windy road, Irohazaka niban, with more than 25 turns. Michael did not drive too fast, so luckily I did not get carsick. We first went to Kegon Falls, which was a beautiful waterfall. We could watch the waterfall all day long, but we decided not to and headed to another waterfall, Ryuzu Falls. Ryuzu Falls was not as high of a waterfall, but there are 2 falls that come together which is depicted as a dragon’s head and that’s what Ryuzu means. There is a path alongside Ryuzu Falls that we walked up and it was very pretty, but exhausting. After Ryuzu Falls, we went over to Lake Chuzenji to enjoy the view of the lake and the mountains. It was a perfect day. For a Saturday, Nikko was not crowded and the weather was the best it could be. We decided to have lunch by Lake Chuzenji. We found a little restaurant that had set meals. Michael and Kawai-sensei order a whole fish grilled and finished with salt and I opted for the fried smelt. Each of our set meals includes yuba, beancurd sheet rolls, which was a famous food item in the Nikko area. The way the restaurant prepared the yuba was a little sweet. Still trying to determine if I really liked it. After lunch we headed down the mountains taking Irohazaka ichiban. Again, it was a super crazy windy road and we went slower because of all the traffic. We headed towards Nikko National Park to see the 2 shrines and temple. Nikko National Park with Toshogu Shrine, Futarasan Shrine, and Rinno-ji was declared a World Heritage Site in 1999 by UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization). Since we were low on time we opted to visit Toshogu Shrine. After Toshogu Shrine, we went to a senbei (rice cracker) building that was a big store, but inside the store they allow you to buy blank senbei’s to design yourself with soy sauce “paint” as they called it. Spending the day in Nikko was amazing and we shall return.

On Sunday, we went to Tokyo to see the Sumo Tournament. We met up with Dinorah and Arnulfo in the afternoon because we were pretty tired from spending the whole day at Nikko. The four of us shared a box seat, which basically meant we were on the first level and we sat on cushions. It was pretty cool because the box in front of us had no one, so we slowly moved into that area for more room. The sumo day starts off with low ranking sumos, Juryo. Close to 4:30pm was the beginning of the higher ranked sumo matches. The higher ranked sumo matches were more unpredictable because they would try to trick the opponent more often on when the match would actually begin. To top off the awesome sumo experience, Michael and I met Alton Brown from Food Network. He was a very nice man and took pictures with us. I always wanted to meet a celebrity; I never would have guessed it would be in Tokyo!

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Golden Week (芝桜公園,Seoul, BBQ, Mashiko)

Golden week holiday began on Monday for us, but it didn’t officially start until Wednesday, 4/29. On Monday, Michael and I spent the afternoon with our teachers. We had a small bbq at home and then went toしばざくら公園 (shibazakura) in 市貝町 (ichikai town).There was a big flower carpet of shibazakura. There were also lots of little vendors and quite the tourist attraction. It was a very nice afternoon with our teachers.

On Tuesday, Michael and I headed to Seoul, South Korea. Seoul was a beautiful place! We spent most of our time around tourist attractions, but did make an effort to find some small restaurants filled with locals for food. It was awesome to have the opportunity to have authentic Korean food! Now it kind of stinks because we can’t get it in Japan. We did bring back loads of kimchi and seaweed. We bought so much kimchi they gave us a free cooler. We made our way around Korea using the train, it’s a pretty easy system. If the train failed to get us to our destination we just hopped in a taxi because it was so cheap. We did lots of shopping, especially in Dongdaemun, because we could bargain for anything and everything. It turned into a fun game for Michael and I. Another favorite was the 63 building, which was more than 250meters (820 feet) high and had a panoramic view of Seoul. We did this at night, so everything was lit up, the buildings, the bridges, and the path along the Han River. It was beautiful. Gyeongbokgung (palace) was also an amazing site. We were there in time to see the changing of the guards! I also had the chance to meet up with a friend, Haeyun. It was so weird because in high school, I would always say how I would go to Korea, blah, blah, blah and it happened! Never in a million years would I imagine to have dinner with a friend from high school in Korea. It was great, caught up on good times. Michael and I really enjoyed Korea!

We came back from Korea with a few more days of holiday. Saturday, Michael and I packed up our grill and all the supplies and had a little grilling picnic next to the Kinugawa (Kinu River). It was very secluded and only 2 other cars had the same spot in mind, but I think they were there to fish instead of BBQ. It was a nice, relaxing afternoon of Korean BBQ and skipping rocks.

Monday, we took our first trip to Mashiko. Mashiko is a small pottery town about 25km away from our apartment. Every year they have a block party like sale during Golden Week and one week in October. Mashiko was the most incredible place to me. I think Michael was secretly trying to keep me away from Mashiko as long as he possibly could because it was dangerous (for his wallet). I thought that since it’s a famous area things would be moderately expensive. I was wrong. There were great finds and we picked up some amazing pieces for a low price. I wanted to buy everything, but of course, Michael was there to keep me in check. One of the most exciting items were bought were two planters. Michael and I have decided to try out gardening. Michael chose to plant snowpeas and I chose green beans. We'll send updates. I heart Mashiko.

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