Japanese Summer Adventure 2015 - Day 6 (Mizushima & the Gods of Karaoke)

Our plan for the day was to meet with Mizushima San. I'd met Mizu last year when he showed us around Yokohama, so I was looking forward to seeing him again. Kyle and I needed to think of somewhere nice to take Mizu, thinking of his interests, Kyle suggested Nakano. This also had the advantage of us being familiar with the area so we would be less likely to make fools of ourselves. Well, that was the theory anyway.
For someone who claims to have grown out of anime, to suggest Nakano Broadway no less, I started to wonder if Kyle was just putting on an act.
Anyway, we'd arranged to meet Mizu outside Minami-Nagareyama (南流山) station. By the time we were set to meet it would have been lunchtime. Assuming that Mizu already had lunch, we arrived early and set about finding something to eat at the konbini (コンビに - convenience store) near the station. It soon became apparent that we had made a significant miscalculation. The rush of morning commuters had ended so the shelves had been raided. The situation reminded me of the old story of Old Mother Hubbard. Only the smallest selection of sandwiches, rolls and onigiri (おにぎり- rice balls) remained. Picking over the remains, I found a BLT. I was a little disappointed that where were no katsu-sando (カツサンド - katsu sandwich) left, but in hindsight, this was probably better for my waistline.
Kyle and I's prior recon bore fruit early on. We had already worked out that taking the Tskuba Express to Akihabara would provide an easier (albeit slightly more costly) route.
Upon our arrival to Nakano, we proceeded to check out some of the second-hand games shops in the arcade leading up to Broadway. We still had a few, elusive, Yu-Gi-Oh! games to locate. Well, that was after Kyle tried to convince me to visit some of the seedier establishments near the station. Sometimes I worry about what goes on in that guy's head.
Our search for games proved futile so we headed over to Broadway. On the way, I noticed something unusual (that we somehow missed the previous day) - a shop named "Piccadilly Circus". That was an... interesting one to explain to Mizu.

I won't go in to too much detail about the various shops (considering this was a key part of the previous update). One noteworthy example was that Kyle thought it a good idea (for some reason) to suggest a crossplay shop. Exactly why Kyle wants me to do... that, I'd rather not know (once again, I worry about exactly what goes on in his head).
After browsing three floors of anime merchandise it was time to move on from Broadway. We debated a few possibilities, including a number of other places in Nakano, but Mizu suggested trying Kichijouji instead.

Kichijōji Station

This proved to be a particularly good recommendation. This was hardly surprising as Mizu had previously introduced us to the street food of Yokohama Chinatown. After leaving the station, we explored a fancy looking shopping street which also had a number of restaurants. The street led up to a lake. As this was a large lake in a popular area, it was hardly surprising that there was a boat house. Naturally, we thought it would be nice to go out on a boat.

A shop with a stormtrooper. Because, Japan

In hindsight, hiring a row boat for the three of us was probably not the best idea we ever had. Even with the best planning and help from the staff members, we encountered some "weight displacement" issues.
Mizu was first in the boat, he sat in the middle as he had more experience with rowing and wanted to demonstrate his skills. Next in was Kyle, taking the rear seat. At that point, the scene that unfolded in front of me was vaguely reminiscent of the Titanic. As Kyle stepped in to the boat, I noticed the bow start to lift out of the water. My unease grew (as did that of the staff) as the bow took a worryingly steep angle. The level of the stern in the water did not look encouraging either.
How the member of staff managed to help Kyle out of the boat without capsizing it is a complete mystery to me! At this point Kyle conceded defeat and suggested that Mizu and I take a (2 person) peddle boat instead.
Continuing the comparisons with the Titanic, Mizu (for some reason) allowed me to steer. After 2 collisions and getting the boat stuck under an overhanging branch, I began to realize that a nautical career would not be the best thing for me and becoming a developer was the right choice. After all, if my code crashes then it's no big deal. Crashing a ship, on the other hand...
Mizu's brush with death seemed to give him quite the appetite so a bite to eat was next on the agenda. Among the many options available to us, there was kushi katsu. I hadn't tried that before so I was keen to give it a go,

The best way to describe Kushi Katsu is various types of katsu with a specific dipping sauce. The katsu included meat, vegetables (such as lotus root) and even egg.
After eating, it was time for us to indulge in our hobby of brutally murdering popular music.By this, I mean that Kyle suggested we go to Karaoke. Even though he knows how awful I sound, he suggests it anyway. Clearly, he is an acoustic masochist.
I'll spare the (horrific) details but I managed to butcher Queen, Pink Floyd and Foreigner - I really must stop singing songs that I like, I'm ruining them!
That wraps up another day. Next time: Nikko, off to the countryside.

Japanese New Year Trip 2014 - Day 5 (Nagareyama)

By this point the year of 2014 was almost over, we had reached New Year’s Eve. I had been looking forward to this day in particular as this involved the first visit of the new year to a shrine/temple. Of course, before the bringing in the new year we did still have an entire day left of the previous year.
There had been much discussion and debate regarding exactly what we were going to do during the day and the evening. Initially we had intended to visit the Meiji Jingu to see in the New Year. In the end we decided that this wouldn't be a very good idea. There would have been no way to get back to Saitama until the morning and all the hotels in the area would be either fully booked or charging extortionate prices. This left sleeping in McDonalds as the only available option, I can’t say I found that to be a particularly appealing option.
Another option available to us was Minami Nagareyama. Kyle’s former colleague Sato Sensei suggested that we try the temple in her city (Minami Nagareyama), Kyle hadn't been to that temple before and Nagareyama is walkable from Misato. Because there was still time to decide exactly what to do in the evening we decided to go to Omiya for the day and make a decision about the evening later.
Of course, before going to Omiya there was a very important matter to attend to. To borrow the old Japanese proverb “Never go in to battle on an empty stomach”, we needed to grab a late breakfast/early lunch. LaLaPort was to be our venue, Ryan had never been to the food court in LaLaPort (Misato Kitchen) and with time running out this would be one of the last opportunities this trip.
I won’t go in to detail about Misato Kitchen, I've written about it before.
With our stomachs filled, it was time for battle (okay, not quite a battle although the crowded trains
can seem like a battlefield at times).
Parts of Omiya have something of a… reputation for certain… “Services” if you know what I mean.
The thing that seems a little odd is that these establishments share the same general area as many
of Omiya’s restaurants. So if you’re exploring Omiya try not to be shocked if you stumble across such
establishments when looking for food. Poor Ryan got the shock of his life upon seeing the “Omiya
Girls Academy”.

I'm no expert, but I'm pretty sure that's no educational institution

Given that we had already eaten and had no interest in frequenting the seedier side of Omiya we had no reason to stay in that area so we moved on to the shrine visit.
As always, we managed to get a little lost when navigating our way to the shrine. Leading up to the shrine there is a long, wooded, path. While this can be bypassed, I recommend walking along it as
it’s a nice walk and if you’re visiting in summer it provides a nice little bit of shade. The difficulty in locating it is that we needed to traverse a small residential area. It’s pretty much a matter of much whether you find the side road you need of a cul-de-sac.
Upon arriving at the shrine we found that most of the food stalls had already been set up but there were still a lot of preparations being made. Besides stalls offering Daruma and other assorted trinkets there are also stalls offering a wide variety of snacks including ones which are only available at new year.
Kyle, with his almost inhuman appetite, sampled as many different foods as possible. I, on the other hand, was still largely full from the fried noodles (I can’t remember off the top of my head whether it was Yaki Soba or Yaki Udon) so I was a little more limited in what I could try.

Chocolate covered banana - and no, that's not a euphemism!

One of the foods I did try was a rather unusual New Year speciality – chocolate covered banana. I admit, it sounds like a crazy combination that really shouldn't work but it actually works pretty well. The stall selling them had a fun system for ordering, the vendor challenges you to rock paper scissors. If you lose then the price you pay will get you 1 banana. If you win then the price gets you two bananas. Kyle lost the game so he bought one for himself. I was fortunate and won so I gave a banana to Ryan (that sounded better in my head!).
Beyond that I sampled a little bit of some Yakiniku that Kyle bought and tried some Taiyaki. Ryan opted to sample some Tako (octopus) on a stick. You see these a lot in anime. By this point we had reached decision time. One option available to us was to stay in Omiya and bring in the new year at the shrine there. We would still be able to make it back to Saitama in time (just about) and the shrine would be busy but not as busy as Meiji. I wasn't looking forward to the crowded trains on the way back so we opted for the temple in Minami Nagareyama.
Kyle phoned Sato Sensei to confirm a time to meet, we then found that there was a twist to the plan. Besides going to the temple with her she had also invited us to her home for some Osechi Ryouri (New Year food). Bearing this in mind, we stopped off on the way back to buy a gift (it is tradition in Japan that you bring someone a gift if they invite you to their home) and some local sake to bring with us.
From Misato, Nagareyama is just across the river which forms part of the boundary between Saitama Ken (prefecture) and Chiba Ken. By crossing the bridge, your city tax increases by 30%. Nagareyama is a nice city but Misato is comfortable and not particularly expensive.

While waiting for midnight we enjoyed beer, sake and osechi ryori while chatting and watching the New Years Eve programming on NHK. Think of it as being a little bit like the New Year programme in the UK with Jools Holland. That’s probably the closest thing I can think of. There’s a contest between various singers and music groups (AKB48 win every year, so there’s no accounting for taste) and various interviews and light entertainment.
As we entered the year of the sheep it was time to go to the temple. Even though it’s a small, local, temple it was still very busy.

One slight error in judgement was picking up some more sake to drink at Kyle’s. A gentleman whom Ryan and I got talking to at the 7-11 recommended a particular bottle from his home prefecture of Akita. Although nice, it was also rather potent. Given that Ryan and I managed to finish off the entire bottle between the two of us… it’s hangover time!