1 Year since my Pilgrimage

[Yugamu Tsuki]

It's been about a year since I was in Japan last and thought I'd share some photos that may be of some interest to the group. I did a Tokyo - Numazu - Nasu - Hakodate trip. Sadly I did not get any photos of the Hayabusa I rode on.

 

Have some of the station bento boxes (Tokyo and Hakodate), Tokyo station, various real world versions of Tomix buses, a D52 from Numazu, and I got to see Girls Und Panzer Finale (1+2) in 4D (3D with moving seats, fog effects, water effects, flash bangs etc.).

[cteno4]

Damn, too late for Japanese takeaway! Nice memories, keep them coming it’s nice to have some vicarious travel these days.

 

jeff

[Tony Galiani]

Thanks for sharing.  I just realized it just about a year since I was last there as well.  Tokyo, Nikki, Tobu Railway, lots of Japanese gardens - I am so disappointed we could not get back their again this year.  I have a list of places I want to go to and am hoping this craziness subsides soon so we can all travel again.

Meanwhile, I am working my way through the NHK Train Cruise series (which is actually making things worse as my list of places to go keeps getting longer.). New plan - which I haven’t told my wife yet - when we can travel, take a month to stay and travel in Japan.  We shall see if this works out.....

Cheers,

Tony Galiani

[JR 500系]

Thanks for sharing the photos! Timely for a little relief from not being able to go to Japan now.... 

 

4 hours ago, Yugamu Tsuki said:

 

 

 

You are posting some of the most lovely pictures that can be shared! Do keep it up!  😛

[Yugamu Tsuki]

It was a fun time. I arrived just in time for Typhoon 19 to hit the next day. While I was staying in my hotel room that night, a small earthquake hit. I woke up early the next day (bluest sky ever) to see they were prepping for a parade. The shinkansen in Nagano were all totaled though...

[katoftw]

Best weather in Japan is always the day after a typhoon.

Edited September 24, 2020 by katoftw

[Yugamu Tsuki]

Truth be told I am completely a hermit stateside; I can't stomach food outside of my house and on the weekends I rarely leave except for taking my pets out. However in Japan, it's all Cheetah print suits and fine dining.

Here is Omurice, Curry, bits of dinner and breakfast at a Ryokan, and a splurge at a Awashima Island's hotel. I did not know conch was edible before this trip.

[cteno4]

Gotta be some good Japanese food in Chicago, good Japanese American community there! While not japan we have a number of good places around here in dc and had a lot in California that kept pretty authentic. I got spoiled growing up as our next door neighbor was Japanese American and had an uber authentic restaurant in San Jose then when it was taken out he ran the kitchen for a very high end place in Carmel, so we got great food whe we went to his restaurants and lots of treats when they had extras and he brought them home. Dad traded out with him doing handyman work (mr oda could perfectly fillet a fish in one stroke but could not use a crescent wrench to save his life) and bringing home fresh salmon and tuna the fishermen use to give dad for letting them tie up to his big buoys when his ship was at the dock. Mr oda would fillet the fish in like 3 minutes perfectly! Definitely a very spoiled childhood for Japanese food...

 

conch is nice and good texture. Ceviches well.

 

jeff

[Yugamu Tsuki]

Yes, I work for a Japanese Freight Forwarder and from the office is a 10 minute drive to a Japanese Supermarket/Mall (Mitsuwa). I've grown accustomed to being so close to authentic places that if I move to Wisconsin to be with the rest of my family I'm not sure I could handle the distance for sushi or curry. Actually my house is down the street from the Kato HQ so all the local hobby shops tend to be heavy on the Kato side of track stock so I think Chicagoland in general is a good place if someone's interested in Japanese trains models.

 

[cteno4]

Great, sounds like you found as close as you can get! Nice KatoUSA is nearby.

 

mr oda (our next door neighbor chef in Monterey) was from Chicago and returned to his family in Chicago when he was 90 to live in a high rise assisted Living facility. He traded his view of the Monterey bay for a view of the lake but the cool thing was a whole floor was all native Japanese speakers as well as most of their staff so he was in heaven being able to be back totally immersed in Japanese language and even food! 

 

jeff

[Tony Galiani]

Yugamu wrote:  "Truth be told I am completely a hermit stateside;  ...  and on the weekends I rarely leave except for taking my pets out."

 

Funny - unless I have a rehearsal or a performance I am in most weekends except for dog walks (and the occasional cat walk).  Driving to Raleigh or Durham (the closest cities to my home) is usually done kicking and screaming.  But if I have the chance to fly to Japan (13+ hours) or Germany (9+ hours) then I am off like a shot.  Or up to Canada.

 

Haven't had Omurice yet - next trip for sure.  It wasn't  until last year that I tried Currywurst in Germany so I am a little slow on the uptake!

 

Tony Galiani