Morning time Nagoya. Peace, quite, paper, shower, out the door while K is just rolling off the bed. Me time was eventful in 1) getting tickets for tonight to Kyoto, 2) socializing with a group of schoolgirls who thought my hairband was cool (I'm pretty sure they thought I looked like a fat white gay guy, and to make things worse, I didn't have my camera with me for the bragging shot) and 3) finding a safe breakfast place for my better half, the golden arches of course. After getting back to the room, errands having been run, we went down for McGriddles, hasbrowns and coffee, which all in all are not a bad deal considering Japanese prices (340 yen is about the same price as I'd pay in Poland for this set).
My old work friend Haru, whom I haven't seen for 10 years dropped in on us last night and took us out to dinner in the hotel we were staying (which technically means he took us IN). At 10:30 sharp, as agreed yesterday, he showed up with wifey to give us the "Haru day tour of Nagoya". First stop: Izumiya Castle, a charming wooden structure dating back to 16th century. Rather humble for a castle, but beautiful Japanese architecture is always a sight to behold. And those damn stairs. How can you build a structure with stairs at almost a 90 degree angle which are half a meter tall? Has anyone in the 16th century heard of knee pain? Chiropractors? Physical therapy? Well obviously not. A gratuitous ninja shot topped off our visit to this charming place (I heard my wife saying she's turning Japanese. I have to agree with that statement. Well... at least when it comes to taking photos).
First note on Japanese hospitality, which I know quite well having been a lover of manga, anime and Japanese girls in my youth, and a friend of and to couple great Japanese people. Face is everything, meaning your guests have to have what they have. Which is really quite funny when you're faced which couple low-maintenance peeps like us. The whole way back to Nagoya was one long interrogation by Haru on whether Kris wanted kishimen (fat noodles from Nagoya) or tonkatsu (Japanese schabowy / breaded pork chop). He was a bit concerned that she did not like seafood and yesterday's dinner was one long neverending marathon of sea creatures fried, boiled, poached or simpy raw. Long story short: he ended up ordering both to keep Kris happy: one covered in dried bonito shavings (seafood) and soaked in sea kelp broth (seafood), the other one covered with misoshiru and wakame (seafood). Ha ha! I thought both were yummy and delicious and Kris actually liked tonkatsu a lot despite the sauce. I mean, a girl's gotto love pork.
Long lunch and then a stop at a shrine that I can't actually remember the name of, meant that we were late for the grand finale of the night: the grand basho, sumo championships in Nagoya's Aichi Prefectural Gymnasium. This was something I had planned months ago to attend, of course in the end Haru wouldn't even except my part for the tickets stating they are just a wedding gift (Japanese hospitality...). I didn't mention that he bought saijiki seats, 4-person boxes which happen to be the best seats in the house, barring the ring-side? Japanese hospitality can be too much when you start feeling a bit uncomfortable.
Sumo was great! I'd seen matches and whole championships on NHK (Seattle has a few Japanese programs on the air), but seeing it live was something else entirely. Fat guys galore! And amazingly, quite a few foreigners amongst them, all of which seemed to have avid fans in the audience (of the child or female variety mostly screaming their names as they entered the ring). Cultural sensitivity aside, there is something magical about sweaty fat guys running around in diapers, slapping their asses, lifting up their legs like for a great fart, trying to give other atomic wedgies. Brilliant, never to be forgotten.
Tickets in hand for Kyoto, time was running short, but we absolutely had to stop and have dinner first. Haru's daughter Juna just finished her entrance exam for dental residency, so there was a reason to meet and celebrate (and for me curiosity to see what a gawky 14 year old turned into). Wagyu aka. Kobe beef was on the grill (hallelujah!) along with other prime cuts of cow and I could see the missus was mighty happy.
All of this hospitality meant we almost missed our train. With tickets in hand, we were running like crazy to the platform to jump on a shinkansen bound for Kyoto just in time, night adventures to be told tomorrow.
Goodnight!
 |
| We're so tough... |
First note on Japanese hospitality, which I know quite well having been a lover of manga, anime and Japanese girls in my youth, and a friend of and to couple great Japanese people. Face is everything, meaning your guests have to have what they have. Which is really quite funny when you're faced which couple low-maintenance peeps like us. The whole way back to Nagoya was one long interrogation by Haru on whether Kris wanted kishimen (fat noodles from Nagoya) or tonkatsu (Japanese schabowy / breaded pork chop). He was a bit concerned that she did not like seafood and yesterday's dinner was one long neverending marathon of sea creatures fried, boiled, poached or simpy raw. Long story short: he ended up ordering both to keep Kris happy: one covered in dried bonito shavings (seafood) and soaked in sea kelp broth (seafood), the other one covered with misoshiru and wakame (seafood). Ha ha! I thought both were yummy and delicious and Kris actually liked tonkatsu a lot despite the sauce. I mean, a girl's gotto love pork.
Long lunch and then a stop at a shrine that I can't actually remember the name of, meant that we were late for the grand finale of the night: the grand basho, sumo championships in Nagoya's Aichi Prefectural Gymnasium. This was something I had planned months ago to attend, of course in the end Haru wouldn't even except my part for the tickets stating they are just a wedding gift (Japanese hospitality...). I didn't mention that he bought saijiki seats, 4-person boxes which happen to be the best seats in the house, barring the ring-side? Japanese hospitality can be too much when you start feeling a bit uncomfortable.
 |
| You're getting a wedgie for this fat boy! |
Tickets in hand for Kyoto, time was running short, but we absolutely had to stop and have dinner first. Haru's daughter Juna just finished her entrance exam for dental residency, so there was a reason to meet and celebrate (and for me curiosity to see what a gawky 14 year old turned into). Wagyu aka. Kobe beef was on the grill (hallelujah!) along with other prime cuts of cow and I could see the missus was mighty happy.
All of this hospitality meant we almost missed our train. With tickets in hand, we were running like crazy to the platform to jump on a shinkansen bound for Kyoto just in time, night adventures to be told tomorrow.
Goodnight!
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