Japanese Food for Thought

Whether it is diving into a spa of naked ladies, or eating the strange concoction of ingredients on the plate in front of you,  I say go for it, no matter what. Maybe you're deathly allergic to shellfish or peanuts, and only then would I suggest making an exception.

The point is that you might not have an opportunity to try that food again, and tomorrow you'll be able to say you did that, and describe to others exactly what it tasted like.

I tend to try everything edible when I'm traveling. And then I return home and research what I just ate. Sometimes I wonder if I should be eating and researching in reverse order...

 

 The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations reported in 2007 that Japan is home to less than 2 percent of the world's population, and accounts for more than 8 percent of the world's seafood consumption. My best guess is that this 8 percent has increased, considering this report indicating that global fish consumption is at a record high. 

 

 Gyutan, or grilled beef tongue, is a specialty of Sendai, a Northern Japanese city. Would you eat it? What about raw horse meat, fish sperm or whale burgers?

In 2010, Japan consumed 5,813 thousand kiloliters (or 1,535,632,134 gallons) of beer. That number maintained its seventh place on the Kirin Institute of Food and Lifestyle's list of global beer consumption by country. Above Japan on this list, in order, are China (#1), the United States, Brazil, Russia, Germany and Mexico. That number might have something to do with the fact that beer is available for purchase in vending machines on just about every street corner in Tokyo.

Get Naked. You'll Regret It Otherwise.

I forced new friends and travel companions to spend their first day in Japan traveling to the Arima onsen, or bathhouse, behind Mount Rokko.

Backstory: I get my kicks out of hiking that leads to natural hot springs. The experience is woodsy, aromatic and relaxing. You always meet someone who you expect lives there, or someone else who has traveled the world and has wild stories to tell. For me, hot springs have been a perk of living in Colorado and Oregon. And after months of rambling through cities, I was ready for serenity and the great outdoors.

My friends appeased me. They packed bathing suits and towels into their backpacks and followed me to the bus that would take us from Kobe to Arima. When we arrived we discovered a tranquil mountain town reminiscent of Breckenridge, Colorado, but much quieter and more calm.

We wandered around the trails of Mount Rokko, past small temples and shrines, and underneath trees with leaves so pink and so red you had to get up close to confirm they were real.

By now I was also questioning the authenticity of the famed Arima Onsen I'd read about online. I couldn't smell sulfur in the air, and none of these trails led us to any form of natural oasis.  Jill (whose beautiful photos are included in this post) and I spotted "bathhouse" on our poorly translated map, and took off into town to find it. We left the rest of our friends behind, who preferred to continue hiking the mountain than to bath in its springs.

We arrived at the onsen, and instead of discovering an outdoor sanctuary, walked into a building that reminded us of the entrance of a 24 Hour Fitness. We were instructed to take off our shoes and rent a locker immediately upon entry. We also instantly spotted a sign indicating that no bathing suits were allowed here. It practically read, "Strip Down or Get Out."

We made it this far. So we took off our shoes and rented lockers and wrapped ourselves in towels to avoid the inevitable until the very last second possible. We walked through a small door leading to the springs, which resembled the hot tubs you see in a gym locker room.

Were we in the right place? This wasn't exactly serene and outdoorsy. Jill and I exchanged panicked looks when one woman motioned for us to remove our towels. There was no need to express our discomfort out loud. In silence, we turned back around, dressed, returned our locker keys, and put our shoes back on. This wasn't what we expected, and we just couldn't go through with it.

In retrospect, I wish I would have ripped off my towel, and jumped into that tub with all of those naked ladies. Sure, it wasn't what I expected, but if I wanted to my standard hot springs experience, I could have waited until my return to the United States. Granted, we probably found a sort of spa, and not the hot springs we'd hoped for, but that was no excuse not to soak in some culture, so to speak.

I should have gotten naked and dove in, both to respect my environment and to embrace these sorts of conundrums that everyone experiences when they travel. If you ever come upon a situation like this, I highly recommend stripping down and sucking it up. It will be a much less embarrassing story to tell when you return to your friends who have found the natural spring on their hike.

Grabbag

In no way do I intend to trivialize my experience in China (or anyone else's for that matter), but I will say that the list of places I saw while in Beijing came out of a travel guide. I saw the Great Wall, of course, and the Summer Palace, the Ming Tombs, and the site of the 2008 Olympics. I traveled with my fellow tea scammed for the week that I was there, which didn't help to separate me from all of the other tourists meandering the same route of historic places.

As redeeming as it was to share tales of Chinese landmarks when home and have friends and family actually know what I was talking about, travel is more worthwhile when I don't come home with a host of stories that could have come out of Frommer's. (No offense Frommer's)

It's easy to get lost in the crowd in a new city, but if you're paying attention you might pick up on a couple of things like these to distinguish your trip...

Foridden City take one...

And take two...

 

Despite the inevitable crowds at The Summer Palace, there's peace to be found on-site at Kunming Lake. You wont regret renting a paddle boat and taking in the sights from afar.   

The PekingUni International Youth Hostel is an extension of campus dorms that will land you in a bunk next to a variety of students and travelers from all over the world. I happened to meet a professor from Shanghai and a lost adventurer whose next stop was Cambodia. I recommend bringing an extra blanket to this dig - the two sleeping options are under the thin blanket provided, or with arms and legs exposed using the blanket as a sort of cushion for the mattress, or I should say board, below.

Down the street from the hostel is Lush Bar, which sits atop a bookstore and some other clothing shops. It's an American-style pub and open mic venue owned by an Australian and one of China's former pop stars. Be careful with the giant electric blue Adios Mothafuckas- after one of those I was singing an old Dave Matthews favorite (off-key and 3 beats behind) to the room of strangers.

We saw an acrobatics show that was a humble Cirque de Soleil with performers so bendy I felt compelled to do more yoga upon returning home.

Immediately after being tea scammed, we stumbled upon what I like to call "the skewer festival"- an outdoor food market with snacks on sticks for strong stomachs, and adventurous eaters. I ate snake and banana cakes. My friends grubbed on chicken stir fry wraps ans silkworm. Also available at this market: starfish, shrimp, scorpion, squid, cat and dog.