The Road Less Traveled

Matthew’s Mama in Japan 3-15

Wednesday, April 8th, 2009 by Carole Lanigan | Uncategorized

Note: These are emails that my mother sent out each day of her trip here. I already posted the first two earlier, but was so busy during the trip (and have been so busy ever since!) that I never got around to posting the rest. Sorry it’s taken me so long! m(_ _)m Anyway, I’m going to post them all in one big chunk, so enjoy! Also, the first two I posted, I edited just a bit, but these ones are just going to be verbatim. –Matthew

Matthew’s Mama in Japan 3 (3/15/2009)
Hi everyone! Here it is Sunday evening. At home it is early Sunday morning. First thing this morning we ate breakfast at McDonalds – an egg McMuffin and hash browns. Their coffee is just as terrible in Japan as it is in Pittsburgh. Then we went to a little shrine garden. It was a place for people to buy a fortune and then tie them on these strings. But there was also a pretty little garden there. Then we walked on to the Rikugien Gardens. The sign said that the entrance was to the right, so we went that way and ended up walking all the way around the outside of the garden before we came to the actual entrance. ( If I don’t loose some weight from all this walking, I am going to scream! This garden was quite large and very serene and beautiful. There was quite a large pond with rocks in the center and many huge carp. Also little tea houses. We really enjoyed the walk around the garden and if we were ever in Tokyo again would like to return and spend more time there. Then we went to the Ghibli Museum. It is a museum for a company that makes anime – Japanese cartoons. It was the most interesting and unusual building – a rabbit warren of sorts. It had tunnels, bridges, and little tiny rooms with little tiny doors. We watched a short video that is only shown at the museum. It was in Japanese. I understood most of the story just by watching the pictures and Matthew explained what I missed when it was over. The museum showed the history of this company. My favorite part was the paintings that were used to make the movies. Then we went to the Kabukiza Theater to order tickets to the the Kabuki tomorrow night. The tickets were a little expensive, but I think we have very good seats. You have to understand that to get anywhere in Tokyo you have to take the train or the subway. So we are always on one or the other and usually switching back and forth from one to the other depending on where we need to go. This evening we went to a very small, but nice, restaurant called Shousuke. We had a lovely meal. I had chicken on a stick, asparagus, seasoned potatoes, and shrimp fried rice. That’s it for now. Love to all, Carole.

Matthew’s Mama in Japan 4 (3/16/2009)
Hi to all! It is 6:44 PM here in Japan on Monday. It is 5:44 AM in Pittsburgh. Just grabbed a quick sandwich this morning as we really needed to be on our way. We rode two different subways to get to the Kabuki-za Theater. We saw the traditional Kabuki play called Genroku Chushingura. We watched half of the total play. We saw the first half and it lasted from 11:00 AM until 4:00 PM. That’s right – 5 hours. Two small breaks and one half hour intermission for eating. People who go to these knew to bring or buy lunch. But Matthew was able to get us a small snack. It was shaped like a fish – sort of a pancake filled with bean paste and two small dough things. It’s called taiyaki. I don’t think I would like to have them all the time, but they were good for one time. Matthew says that back at his school you can get them with ice cream in them. I want to try that. They are going to close this old, old theater. That will be such a shame because it is really quite beautiful. I will say that the seats are built for little, thin, short-legged Japanese people and not for slightly heavier and taller Americans. All of the actors are men; even the parts for women are played by men. The costumes were really lovely. One of the actors is considered a Living National Treasure! After the play was over we walked down the street and found a little restaurant. I had Miso Soup and a pork cutlet and rice dish called Katsudon. We got back to the hotel around 6:30 in the evening. So now I am writing to all of you. Matthew has gone across the street to a place where people gather to play the Japanese game called Go. … Matthew just got back. He played three games and won two of them, and he’s really glad that I convinced him to go over there even though he was nervous about it. Hope your day was as good as mine,
Love Carole.

Matthew’s Mama in Japan 5 (3/17/2009)
Hi! everyone! It’s 7:15 in the evening here and around 6:15 in the morning in Pittsburgh. We got up, packed, and checked out of our hotel in Tokyo. We had to take one train first. That’s when we had a bit of excitement. I had not eaten properly and proceeded to pass out on the train. Fortunately, I was leaning against a wall at the time, and just slid down the wall. These trains are very, very crowded so there were no seats. Matthew was, of course, distraught. As were all the Japanese men around me. We pulled into a station just then and everyone helped get me up and get our luggage out onto the platform. I sat down against a pole and Matthew bought me a very sugary (30 grams of sugar) juice drink. I had that and some cheese crackers, and after awhile began to feel better. Then we were able to get on a later train and go to where we caught the bullet train to Kyoto. I was really fine after that. I had a ham sandwich – very different in Japan with horseradish mayo on it. We arrived at the station in Kyoto. There we met a shuttle to our hotel, the Holiday Inn. After we checked in and rested for a little bit, we went downstairs and ate at a sushi restaurant. I had assorted tempura (veggies, shrimp, and fish), rice, chawanmushi (sort of a seafood soup in custard – strange but good), inarizushi (rice inside of a sweet wrapping), some melon, and some green tea ice cream. All in all, it was very good. Now it’s resting and then sleep and a promise to try to eat properly.

Matthew’s Mama in Japan 6 (3/18/2009)
Hi everyone! Today was a lovely day. The temperature was just about perfect for touring around – not too hot and not too cold. We got up early and were downstairs for breakfast by 7:00 AM. Then we rode the hotel shuttle bus, a subway and a city bus on our way to the Kyoto Imperial Palace. We were there early for our tour, but had a nice time waiting in such a lovely setting. This was the Imperial Palace between 794 to 1865. Our tour was in English. The tour guide was a young lady who actually had a portable microphone. So that made hearing her very easy. We could not actually go inside any of the buildings. But walked around all of them. Most were open to some extent, so you could look in and take pictures. The tour took an hour and the walk was about 1/2 mile. The grounds were beautifully kept and it was peaceful and serene with cool comfortable air all around. The pine trees are all trimmed in a sort of roundish shape. The guide said it is like a person with their arms outstretched and face turned toward heaven and the holy spirit. I know she didn’t mean our Holy Spirit, but I choose to think so. We had lunch there. We had udon noodles (very thick and extremely long), rice and something like a salad. Then we took a bus to the Golden Pavilion, Kinkakuji. It was the home of a Lord, but then he died, so they turned it into a zen temple. The top two sections are covered in gold and it is quite beautiful. We again could not go in, but could go all around. And the grounds were really lovely. There was a large pond with huge koi fish, ducks, and even a crane. It took quite awhile to follow all the paths. Then Matthew and I sat on a bench, talked and enjoyed the peacefulness. Then we took another bus to Kiyomizudera Temple. It is quite an impressive place at any time, but for two weeks in March they have a special light-up event. It is a temple, but people really don’s go to worship in the temples. The streets around the temple are just filled with shop after little shop. I did some shopping, too. They all have lovely things, but everything, and I mean everything, is expensive. (Let’s just say, they have never heard of garage sales!) We then went for a ride in a rickshaw. I have never been in one before – they are really made for Japanese tushes and not American ones. Our driver/runner was a very nice young man, 23 years old, who spoke English quite well. The ride was 1/2 hour for $80. I told you everything was expensive. We had dinner at a little tiny place. The ladies reminded me of Laverne and Shirley. But I had the very best hamburger steak (served with a fried egg) that I have ever had. Then we walked up to the temple and waited until the lights were turned on and walked through the entire place. Afterwards we took the bus (after a long walk) and then the hotel shuttle back to the hotel.We got here probably around 9:30 PM. Now I am going to bed. We leave for Osaka tomorrow morning. Love to all Carole

Matthew’s Mama in Japan 7 (3/19/2009)
Hi to all! Here we are in Japan on day 7. Breakfast this morning was in the hotel – a combination of Japanese and American food. We had a rather relaxed morning as we had to wait quite awhile for the hotel shuttle to take us to the train station.We had to find a convenience store. The Japanese have a unique way of shipping large pieces of luggage to their vacation destination. You just take your suitcase to the store, pay a small fee, and the shipping company comes and picks it up and delivers it wherever you want them to deliver it the next day…which for us is to Hiroshima. We are actually in Nara and wanted to go to Osaka. We had lunch as McDonalds. But before I hear any comments about eating Japanese, let me tell you that I had a shrimp burger and Oolong tea. We then rode the train to Osaka. We were going to visit Osaka Castle. All parties said that it was right across from the train station. This is sort of true – the wall surrounding the park which surrounds the castle was right across from the train station. But the actual entrance was not. We had to walk quite a distance and then up and up and up – pathways and steps. We ran into Matthew’s friend Mark from Chubu University and his family and spent a few minutes chatting with them. The grounds around the castle were built in such a way as to help fortify it in case of attack. It was quite magnificent. On the way back to the hotel we stopped and had chicken. For desert I had a lovely egg custard in pastry – it was very nice, with just a hint of coconut. We are now back in the room watching movies on TV. Talk to you again tomorrow. Love to all.

Matthew’s Mama in Japan 8 (3/20/2009)
Hi to all. Today was a day that we spent mostly traveling. We got up early after having spent a terrible night of really not sleeping. We had the smallest room, the smallest beds, the smallest bathroom…let’s just say that the bathroom was so small that the waste basket would not fit in it, terrible flat pillows, a beds like cement floors, and very noisy, crinkly bed covers that made noise every time you moved. We had breakfast in the hotel lobby and that was the best part of the stay there. Then we rode 4 trains to get from the Osaka/Nara area to Hiroshima. It was some kind of special holiday today so every body and their brother and all there children were also on those trains. So…we had to wait for our longest ride for three hours. But they did have a nice waiting room. Matthew bought us food…something called a lunch box. It is a box with lots of little devisions, each filled with something different. I had to ask Matthew what most of the things were. Most everything was good, though. The boxes, themselves are really cool – I have already cleaned them out and I am bringing them home to store scrapbooking stuff in. Our longest train ride was on the bullet train, reserved seats and very comfortable, too. We were constantly going into and out of tunnels through mountains…one right after the other. I bet you didn’t know that there are palm trees in Japan. We are right on the ocean here in Hiroshima – our hotel is very nice. We had dinner at a little local place. We had Hiroshima style Okonomiyaki. It is noodles, vegetables, and some meat sort of fried in a large hill shape. It was really good. We sat at a little table down in the floor next to a Japanese family. The little boy, age 11, was just fascinated by us. We were able to have a nice conversation with him because Matthew speaks Japanese. I am going to cuddle up in bed now and probably fall asleep. Love to all.

Matthew’s Mama in Japan 9 (3/21/2009)
Hi to all! Nine days here…it seems to have gone so quickly. Matthew and I are having a great time. We are in Hiroshima. We got up early and were downstairs for breakfast by a little after 7:00.They had different kind of buns – I had one with raisens. I also had cabbage salad and something that looked like a large triangle shaped chicken nugget that turned out to have rice inside of it – and some very good coffee. Very close to right outside our hotel entrance is the entrance to the ferry that takes you over to Miyajima Island. The ride over was very nice. The Itsukushima Shrine is located on the island. We rode two sections of the ropeway (sort of like a combination of the Pittsburgh Incline and a ski lift) quite far up Mt. Misen, the biggest peak on the island, at 535 meters. We then walked from one peak of the mountain to the other peak of the mountain – app. 1 kilometer each way. It is down and down and then up and up and up some more. It was very long and very tiring and we had to stop and rest many times. But it was really worth it as it was so beautiful from the top. Near the top there is an Eternal Flame that has been burning for 1200 years. It is a wood fire and is always kept burning. We had lunch at a little place on the top of the mountain – Udon noodles, very nice. Of course we had to walk down and down and down and up and up the other way to get back. Then we rode the two rope ways down to the bottom of the mountain. Then we walked around the town, looked in some of the shops and went to to the shrine. It is quite large and very interesting to look at. There are many places where people can buy fortunes, but we did not. Out in the ocean is a special part of the shrine. It is the O-Torii Gate. This gate is meant for protection for the shrine from evil spirits…every shrine has these gates. This one is just huge. Because the tide was out, we were able to walk probably half way out to the gate on what is usually under water. We were able to see a Bugaku (an ancient court dance). A man was dressed in a fabulous orange and gold costume. He danced to Gagaku music, which was played on Japanese flutes and drums. Matthew bought us some unusual food to eat, things that he has had before, really like and wanted me to try…Yakitori-that is chicken grilled on a stick with a special sauce-yummy…Guiuuman- a steamed meat bun-the bun reminded me of a dumpling and then it was stuffed with meat-it was wonderful…and a Japanese maple leaf shaped ting on a stick that was stuffed with shrimp. For deser he bought a box of treats…Momiji Manjuu. They were also maple leaf shaped, but this time thet were filled with cream custard. Everything was just wonderful. Love to all. Sorry this one was so long.

Matthew’s Mama in Japan 10 (3/22/2009)
Hi to all! We got up early again today and had breakfast (free) in the hotel. It was raisin buns, little hotdogs, rice cakes, some sort of macaroni salad, and coffee. We had intended to go to the Hiroshima Peace Park today, but it was raining. So we went into the main part of town to go to the Hiroshima Prefectural Art Museum. I wanted to go there because the write up about it said that it exhibits the traditional art and craftwork of Japan. It however, had a lot of modern art (like Picasso) and an exhibit from Bulgeria. I was very disappointed. We did have lunch at the museum. It was very nice – a sort of meat patty with gravy, rice, and several different kinds of Japanese vegetables presented in a very lovely manner. When we finished in the museum, it had finished raining. It was still overcast and somewhat cool. We went next door to a lovely garden called the Shukkeien Garden. That means shrunken scenery garden. It was built in 1619 and then completely restored after the bomb during WW11. It was a lovely garden with many winding pathways, lovely plantings and trees, many typical little Japanese bridges, and a beautiful pond. We had made plans to attend a small church this afternoon that had services in English. We had to wait for almost 2 hours for the service to begin, so we went into a little restaurant and had some desert. I had kiwi ice cream, and a custard with kiwi sauce on it. I was really looking forward to attending the service. But the Church either no longer exists or has moved and we were unable to join them for worship. So the we came back to the hotel by train. We ate dinner in the little place we ate the other night – again the food was very good. Love to all.

Matthew’s Mama in Japan 11 (3/23/2009)
Hi to all! My legs and feet may never recover from all this walking! They keep saying “No more! Put us to bed!” But if I do that then we will have no adventures for the day. So off we go, protesting feet and all! This morning we got up early again and had breakfast at the hotel. Then, just across the square, We caught the electric trolley into downtown Hiroshima. We got off and walked several blocks to the spot below where the atomic bomb was detonated. There is a small memorial plaque there. On our way back to the main area we saw a small cemetery. I had been wanting to see a Japanese cemetery. While there a man came over to us…he was a survivor…4 months in his mother’s womb. He talked all about what had happened from a survivor’s point of view. He emphasized that the Japanese people do not hold anything against the Americans – they only want peace – and never to have another atomic bomb detonated. He showed us some of the cemetery stones that had survived and how they were rough to the touch because of the after effects and how they were blacked by the black rain. It was fascinating to listen to him. Then we went over to the Atomic Bomb Dome. This building in the center of town was right under the detonation of the bomb…some of the outer walls remained standing even though most everything in more than a mile radius was reduced to rubble. It has been preserved to remind all of the effects of atomic warfare. We wandered around Peace Memorial Park, a beautiful park, filled with many different memorial dedicated to various groups of the victims of that day. One beautiful and touching one was the one dedicated to children. Children from across Japan have made many thousand paper cranes to hang there to remind us about peace. Then we went to Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum. We got the audio walking tour device in English. It was really worth it because it explained all about the exhibits. Most of it was fine. But part explained about the children – the 10 to 14 year old children had been conscripted to help with preparation for ordinary bombs that might be dropped. So they were all in center city when the bomb was dropped. As we listened to those stories, the tears just continued to flow down my face. Many artifacts are in the museum, from burned and tattered clothing to a child’s lunch box to a little boy’s tricycle. After we left the museum we walked to Hiroshima Castle. It was originally built in 1591 but was destroyed during the bombing. After the war is was restored. It is five stories high and is now a museum. It had many fascinating things to look at, but no elevator. We enjoyed walking around the grounds. On our way back to the trolley we walked though a large shopping area. We went into an arcade and Matthew played a game that he is really good at called Jubeat (pronounced youbeat). We had dinner at the hotel. It was wonderful – a little bit of everything…gratin clams, miso soup, tempura clams, pickled vegetables, rice with eel (weird but tasty), sushi-but Matthew ate mine, a kind of custard with meat and vegetables in it-I ate Matthew’s, tea and ice cream for desert. Now we are back in the room and I am going to get ready for bed and rest my tootsies. Love to all.

Matthew’s Mama in Japan 12 (3/24/2009)
Hi to all! Today was a traveling day. We had breakfast at the hotel and then headed by train – three of them – to Nagoya. We had to get on the Shinkansen – Bullet train – at Hiroshima station. When we got to Nagoya we checked me in to the hotel. Then we went over to Matthew’s school, Chubu University. We went to Matthew”s room and I met his dorm parents. Matthew gave them a small gift and then they brought me a gift on tea in a beautiful can. It wasn’t necessary, but a lovely thought. Then we went over to meet Matthew’s Japanese teacher, Ueda-Sensei. She speaks excellent English and is a very lovely lady. All the teachers were in a meeting. When they realized Matthew was there they all clapped and cheered because he had passed a very difficult national Japanese test. he was embarrassed but pleased. Then we went to Greg King’s office. He is the man who helps the students with bills, gives them their spending money, etc.. We had a nice conversation with him. He drove us in his car down into the town to a children’s store where I was able to get some cool things. He even came in the store and helped us with the sizes. Then he drove us over to a little restaurant. We had ramen (not like at home) and fried dumplings (very good). After that we took feet, bus, and train back to the hotel. Then Matthew went back to his dorm. We will meet up again in the morning. Love to all.

Matthew’s Mama in Japan 13-14-15
Hi to all! Day 13…I had breakfast in the hotel this morning. Then Matthew came and we rode train, bus and feet to his school. We were going to hang around his room for awhile, use the computer, do my email and call home, but they were waxing the floors. So we went over to the Center for International Programs where we were able to get on the internet. We also got on Skype and called Michael, Daniel, and David. All were glad to talk to me as I was glad to talk to them. We had lunch in the school cafeteria. Then we walked over to the grocery store, very much like our stores but a heap of different products. and also to the 100 yen store (Dollar Tree). We went to a little restaurant that Matthew goes to all the time. The people there know him by name and know his likes and preferences. Four other kids went along, too. We had okonomiyaki, Nagoya style…very different from when we had it before in Hiroshima,, but good. Then we met up with some other kids and walked to Karaoke – at least a mile. It was flat so that was good. Each little group is in a room. The kids are singing to music videos – very loud music. Matthew is a very good singer. His good friend Yoshida is here. People of all ages go to Karaoke in Japan. Day 14…I had breakfast in the Japanese restaurant this morning. It was good. When Matthew came this morning we took the train to Inuyama Castle. It is the oldest, original castle in all of Japan. The walk to the castle from the train was quite long…at least a mile or more. We stopped at a little Mom and Pop place for lunch. The food was good, as it usually is in those kind of places. We also found a little clothing store and I was able to buy a blouse that fit me and only cost $12.60! Yeah!!! When we got to the castle there were many, many steps to get up to it. Inside the stairs were very, very steep – almost like climbing a ladder. And the steps were very tall…probably over a foot for each one. That made getting up and down very difficult. After we got back to the hotel we just hung around the room and rested for awhile-that walk was quite long. For dinner we went across the street to a department store – the department stores in Japan have restaurants in them. There were two floors of restaurants…40 in all. We had Japanese style spaghetti. It was very good. Then we went to the book department. Matthew bought two Go books (a Japanese game that he likes to play and is very good at playing). I bought two children’s books. We walked through the baby department. I didn’t get anything there – the outfits were like $99 each. Day15…This is my last day here. I will leave tomorrow morning. So this is my last email to all of you. We are spending the day over at Matthew’s school just hanging around. We had lunch in the cafeteria and plan to go to the 100 Yen store again soon. Then we will have dinner at that same little restaurant, called Jyu-zou where we ate before. Then we will go back to the hotel. Matthew is going to stay over with me tonight so that we can get an early start to the airport. I have everything packed and am ready to go. Love to all.

Note: That’s all! I hope you enjoyed it! If you’re wondering, she made it back to the States safely without any problems. Hopefully, I’ll be posting more stuff soon. –Matthew

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