Our New Year's Day

Soon after our fire, onsen, and Chinese food, we made it to Tokyo just in time for the new year. We spend the countdown singing karaoke with Kunino's family. We would have forgotten about the New Year if we weren't paying for our karaoke at the time. I know that we were in Tokyo and there were probably a billion things to do to ring in 2009, but being with a close family, singing songs, and NOT driving was the perfect way to finish off the year after so much adventure.

The next day, like last year, we helped Kunino's family with preparing the New Years meal. Her mother made everything and it all tasted so good. Before we left for our trip back to Morioka, I made the family Morioka's famous Jajamen. Probably the only thing I am confident of making for her connoisseur mother.

A Foreigner's Fire

Japan has small portable stoves that are used to put on the dinner table to make one-pot stew. In our case, we used it to cut our food costs in half by cooking the food ourselves. After all, we live here. We know what the food tastes like. So after a long morning of driving, we stop by a rest stop in Nagoya on our way to Hakone for some onsen. We find a really nice spot away from the restaurants and we were planning a wonderful meal of corn pasta. I assembled the small stove, put in the gas can, and turned on the flame... It started to burn much bigger than usual. Becky and I looked at it with the same amount of strange curiosity when... BOOM!!

Our stove burst into a large fire. I put in the gas can improperly and the gas was seeping into the fire. Becky and I took the water in the pasta pot and pour over it, but the gas was still leaking through making more of a fire. Afraid of an explosion, Ron quickly took the stove and tossed it far away from us. Unfortunately, where he threw it was a large amount of dry grass. We screamed for Ron's attention and he again tried to pick up the stove and started to bash it with his foot. By the all the luck in the world mixed in with a little grace from God, the gas ran out and the fire stopped. My jacket singed a bit, but that was the most damage, besides to our new broken stove. Looking behind us, Japanese families stared speechless at the foreigners who tried to burn down a Japanese rest stop. No wonder they hate us. Ron yelled out a "Daijyobu desu" (We're alright!) and they snickered away.

The worse part was that we were still hungry and in a couple minutes we took out some money that we hoped to save for another time and headed into the restaurant with our tails between our legs. These are the challenges we faced on our voyage. May we be a lesson learned to any traveler who does not look at their gas can when attempting to make a fire.

Iya Valley , Chiiori House, and the oldest Onsen

December 22 and 23


I have always wanted to see the most traditional side of Japan. Little by little, I am learning that the "old Japan" that is usually advertised in guide books, are mostly restored temples next to convenience stores and banks. But in the secluded world of Iya Valley, there was not one vending machine and all stores closed at dinner time. The Chiiori House became the best experience of how traditional Japanese people experienced their lives. It is a NPO that focuses on educating people about old style farming and thatched roof houses. We spent our evening over a fire, drinking sochu and enjoying each others company, minus TV, radio, or any other media. It was refreshing.




Then we made it to the oldest onsen in Japan. All over Japan, this onsen is said to be the best and the ultimate in traditional. When we arrive, we came into the biggest city in Shikoku and found the oldest onsen. It ended up being a old-looking onsen surrounded by souvenir shops, boutiques, and cafes. It did not have the Japanese feel I was looking for, but we enjoyed a nice soak and watching the naked old ladies gossiping in the bath.

Osaka

December 20







We saw two whale sharks, a penguin march, and a scuba-diving Santa Claus. I've realized that the additional perk of traveling in the winter is being able to see Christmas illuminations. Morioka's illuminations are limited to a string of lights looking like a christmas tree on the walls of our bank on the main crossroad. Not very impressive. So it was nice not only to see a different city, but also the collection of their pretty lights. Osaka was our first real tourist stop after Tokyo, but we were also given a little detour challenge. Our friend Kunino's dad asked us to take a TV in our packed car and take it to Tenri Town, a hour away from Osaka, but on our way from Tokyo. Well, we named it "Casey" and departed to find this town. The temple was beautiful, but it is not the usual tourist sight. So seeing four foreigners in this sleepy town, holding a television and asking where to put it, was a challenge in itself.


Finally it was dropped off and we made it to Osaka. Soon after the aquarium, the okonomiyaki, and the ferris wheel, we departed for three more hours til the isolated island of Shikoku.

**okonomiyaki- egg, batter, veggies, and meat mixed together and fried in a roundish shape. It tastes like a Japanese egg pancake.**


BECKY AND SAM