The art of eating (Japan)

Along with the fact that I experienced this country alone (I met people along the way but it's always different), I'm writing this post separated from the previous one because Japanese food deserves it!! Yes, chinese food, mongolian food, buryat food, russian food they're different from ours, no doubt about it. But only here I ate things and had no idea what they were, not even after I ate them!! Only here I tasted something I had tasted before I asked myself "What the hell is this??!!". Only here I ordered food by pressing a button and didn't know exactly what to expect!
Yes, Japanese food deserves a dedicated post on its own right!

I didn't have to wait long for my first experience. Right on the first night I asked for a nice restaurant near the hostel. They gave me a map where the restaurant was signaled (although not very accurately), showed me a photo of the entrance, wrote the name of it in Kanji and... I still couldn't find it! Maybe I was too hungry, too tired, too something, but I was not able to it at all :P I ended up entering in another restaurant on the same street. On the first glance I knew that one was not the one I had been pointed to, but decided to go inside anyway. Beyond me there was only a couple that was talking with the owners. I sit and the I'm asked (in Japanese) what I wish to eat! As I have no idea what to answer I'm pointed to a list on the wall... written in Kanji! Again I have no idea what to say. So they bring me outside to a panel with photos, I point to one that looks like a soup and he asks me "Soba? Udon?" The first words I understood (thank you Nood!). I choose soba and now I just have to wait for the meal! When it comes the couple gets ready to leave and on their way out they ask me if I want I photo. So, through the kindness of strangers I have a photo of my first meal in Japan. Which was great, by the way! :)

Soba "soup" was my first meal

A few days later I ended up going to the restaurant that had been advised to me on that first day. Maybe because I went with a few friends and they helped me getting there :P. It was actually a good experience where we had to cook our own food, a kind of omelet. Here are some photos:

For one of the orders we needed a bit of help from the staff

We (starving) waiting for the food to cook

And there was a new story, similar to this one, or more to do with the strange looking food I saw, but a new story, almost every day!
Eating food and had to post a photo of it on facebook to understand what it was (its taste was complete new to me); or when I tried one of those places where you make an order by pressing a bottom in a panel (where you also pay) in front of the restaurant and as everything was in kanji I didn't know exactly what I was ordering; or going up and down a food market and being unable to identify around 80% of the food; or even asking for the flavor of a  box of sweets with no success at all! Yes... a big part of the Japanese experience is the food. And although the flavors are often very strange, from time to time, you are surprised with food that is simply amazing, as I had on my last night in Nagoya when I ordered tempura! And thinking of it now... maybe the food reflects the culture and what I have just said, may also be applied to many other different aspects of Japan and its people! :)
So yes, Japanese food more than deserved its own post! :)

Multi-flavoured mochis. I loved the ones I ate in the US but both that I tried in Japan did not make me a fan

Sushi... it is as good as I hoped it would be in Japan!

This is mitarashi dango, a rice flour cake with sweet soy sauce. But I only found that out two days after I ate it! :P

When I bought this I thought it was a sweet. It was salty!

They cook vegetables in very different way

I asked if it was fish and they said yes, but to be honest I couldn't taste it at all!

The one I choose was the one in the bottom left corner.

Random Japan

Now that almost two weeks have passed since I arrived it's sometimes difficult to explain how every place felt like when I was there. Specially every place in Japan. The whole country as a whole made a great impression on me. Being a highly developed country I think I was expecting to find more similarities than differences, but I was wrong!

Yes, people go around using an efficient public transportation system like in (most) European cities; yes, everyone has a smartphone like in the United States; people are wealthy and it's easy to find a coffee shop/restaurant/supermarket with ease even in the smaller cities.

But then there are these small details: People bowing to say thank you/goodbye/as a sign of respect; the toilets that are the squat type or highly technological, with buttons for everything! (see pictures below); the contrast of how quiet people and the streets were with the unbearably noisy Pachinka game rooms; the way they mix cute/childish with sexy; the gadgets they have for every kind of thing; the way people respect queues and every other kind of rule. It's actually difficult to explain. It's one of those things that one has to experience to understand, at least it was how it worked for me!

But better than words are images. And here is a collection of them from all across Japan (well, the places where I've been :P)

A squat toilet. This was in a park so it was normal that I didn't find a high-tech toilet here.

But every hostel/coffee/restaurant had them. I call them plugged-in toilets!

In every temple you see people praying or just showing their respect to that specific place.

Considering that Christianism is not at all common in Japan, it's a bit weird to find signs of celebration of Halloween and Christmas. But find the two mixed... It's almost like "The Nightmare before Christmas" came to life

They have beautiful monuments, but the Golden Pavilion (in Kyoto) was the one that won my heart.

Messages of peace could be find in various parks and monuments. It seems to go well with what I've experienced of Japanese people. It's just strange to think of some parts of Japan's history.

This is Tenryu-ji (in Arashiyama) temple. Beautiful buildings, amazing gardens

Me in the Bamboo groove (Arashiyama, as well). One of the most peaceful places on earth... if you can ignore the hordes of tourists!

This image just captured my attention. It looked like it was taken from my imaginary  world of what Japan should be.

Rickshaws in the bamboo groove.

One of the many "fountains" near the shrines (temizuya). You use it to wash and  purify your body. Full explanation here.

On the trains there are a few compartments that are exclusive to women, specially during rush hour.

This is a demonstration Japanese style. 5 protesters (one with a microphone) and two cops (one in the front and other in the back)

One of the things that I loved the most in Nara were the deers. So many! And we could feed them with the crackers that we could buy everywhere.

And with so many around... we could see many nature like things happening 

These sandals are pieces of art. And they're priced accordingly (price in front of it: 100ienes=1euro)

Tons of fans. With multiple color and patterns

Vending machines are everywhere! Like EVERYWHERE!

In one shop, in Takayama, there were these incredible Alien like sculptors! I felt like taking the tables with me... too bad they wouldn't fit in my backpack!

Minimalism! :) My room when I slept in the Temple at Takayama 

This is a grave in a cemetery in Takayama. In Japan it is common to find a cemetery involved by woods. It gives a sense of serenity and  harmony that we can't find in ours

Some sake must be drank hot, but this bottles were being kept in a low temperature

After seeing the bonsais in Japan I felt more reassured that mine is not too big! :P

To protect you from the rain, everything goes. Even if you're a store mannequin without a head

In Tokyo even your umbrella is a fashion statement! Specially in neighborhoods like Harajuku!

From time to time you see "l" switched of for "r" or the other way around. I swear that in the beginning I didn't remember why!

The train system here is both highly effective and really busy, specially in big city stations like Kyoto and Tokyo. And these guys control everything on the platform using a number of signals.

Kimonos and other things

Even when I'm in Portugal I like to indulge myself in a few moment of People Watching. When I'm in the subway or alone in downtown. I observe the common person, tourists and those who like to be different. It's maily driven by curiosity and it's enhanced when I'm travelling, and it peaks when I'm travelling alone. So in Japan there was a lot of that. Either in the coffee shop, or when I was waiting in line for something or in the busiest places.

In Kyoto I got specially obsessed with people in Kimonos. There are many people (specially women) that still wear them. The complete set, because without the socks and the sandals... it wouldn't be right.

But Japan is much more than keeping the traditions. Specially in the largest cities, specially in Tokyo, you find fashion loving people. And the looks can range from very sexy and modern to sexy and childish. But they're always sexy.

Tuna auction

One of the most mentioned attractions of Tokyo it's Tsukiji Market, the fish Market, specially the tuna auctions that happen really early in the morning. Like, really early... like, 5am early!

But sleep had been a secondary thing on this trip so the choice was clear. Me, and two other guests from my hostel met at 4am in the lobby and got a taxi to the market. When we got there we didn't know exactly where to go so we just followed a few other people (tourists) that had waken up as early as we did for the exactly same thing. After running around for 15 minutes we finally got there. To a line where we had to wait, where we could see people arriving a little later than us (around 5am) and going back because all the seats for the auction for that day (160) had already been taken. I was so happy I was not one of them!
In the entrance we saw a video explaining how the auctions were done and only after that we were able to enter the place.

Waiting inside the video room. There was a lot of waiting involved in this.

The environment inside was vibrant. Most of the times there are more than one auction happening simultaneously and they're so fast that I really believe that I wouldn't understand anything that they were saying even if I knew Japanese :P. There is tuna fish everywhere. Whole tunas, frozen tunas, being tossed from one place to the other, being analyzed, just standing there waiting for their destiny... And all of this was seen from a narrow corridor packed with tourists that were trying to take the same pictures you were, trying to see the same things, witness the same auctions. It was not a unique experience, but it was still worth the (very) early morning! :)
Here are the pictures that I was able to take.

Analysing a piece of each of the tunas. These analysis are very thorough!

Looking at the meet directly on the fish

Their color under the light tells them if its too watery or not

They may be very valuable, but they're not always dealt with like that

The bell tells that a new auction is beginning

And here are the bidders

Another auction taking place just a bit further down

Some people looked like retired samurais that now spend their time cutting tuna!

If you are wondering... these are frozen tunas, not fresh (before I thought they only had fresh tuna!)

Inside the market, cars are substituted by these things. My question is, where's the accelerator and the brake?

With frozen tune you use tools like this

A big market also implies tons of garbage. Specially if everything comes in a styrofoam package

Taking a rest. It would be a perfectly normal sight if wasn't 6am!