Road Trip

Yesterday I went for a drive an drove due north to the Tappi Cape, the tip of the island on the west coast.  It was a blast and an adventure.  The roads are marked, sort of, and I can kinda of figure out where I am by combining the GPS, maps and a bit of dead reckoning.  I tried staying on the coast roads which takes me through all the tiny villages and fishing ports.  Life up here is very simple and there isn't much around.

It was a treat to climb the mountain range and I found a long rider out enjoying the snaking road.  I tried to talk to him, but up in the north part of Japan I am learning that English is not used, even the young teens. Here is the link, I drove 339 for the most part and yes it was tight.

http://maps.google.com/maps?q=japan+map&ie=UTF8&hq=&hnear=Japan&ll=41.224892,140.375233&spn=0.053839,0.175781&t=h&z=13

For  my little adventure I had a feeling that communication would be a challenge, as I have learned that English just isn't know even by teens and younger adults.  I decided to play it safe and packed myself a lunch of PB&J, a coke, Hersey candy bar, Bananas and water bottle.  I stopped a bunch and took some great photos along the way.  I made the top of my trip by lunch so I sat on the ocean breakers and ate my lunch looking out over the Japan Sea.  

After lunch I decided to try a different route back and once again winged my direction and watched for signs in English pointing to towns I could find on my big map.  It was pretty amazing to me that there just wasn't much traffic any where, including very lite tourist traffic.  I'm the only outsider I saw the entire trip, which is kind of weird feeling.  I made it back to the apartment without any drama and was happy to have a good drive and adventure on my own.

Today I headed south to Goshogawara area which is the major 'city' close to me.  It is sort of like a smaller Lakeland, and has 2 malls in the area.  I told Amy I was malling for her today and also there is a Starbucks.  Once again I was successful and found both malls, and right now I'm in Starbucks typing this email up.  Funny thing is I'm the only one on a computer, but they have some very good business.  I ate a lunch at a Japanese Restaurant, I have no idea what it was because everything is in Japanese.  It was good, it was like a cold noodle salad with I think Chicken and other cut vegetables.  It had this sesame dressing which I've heard others rave about.  It was a nice light meal and an experience because as you can already guess I was the only outsider in there and nobody spoke English!

Today is Mother's Day in Japan, so Happy Mothers Day to Mom and Amy, Jenifer your's is coming next year!

Link to my pictures:

https://picasaweb.google.com/jrtubb/MyJapanAdventure?authkey=Gv1sRgCJ-7y47b4cuC1QE&feat=directlink

My First Drive on my Own!

This is my first email update, just adding to keep history:

On May 3, I successful managed to drive myself to work and explore out on my own.  Just down the road from our site location is the Takayamainari Shrine that I was told was a good one to visit.  This link gives you some info on the shrine, I was mostly alone looking around and climbing the very high stairs to each shrine.  I took some pictures and will get them uploaded later.

http://www.enjoytsugaru.com/areaguide/tsugarucity/takayamainari.html

This is the map location:

http://maps.google.com/maps?t=h&ie=UTF8&ll=40.93754,140.316224&spn=0.013324,0.043945&z=15

I then decided to try my luck at navigation a bit ans went back home a new way then I had ever gone before.  I stayed on 225 east till I hit 12 then went east to Tomiyachicho, which is were the apartments are.  I realize the level of this adventure may be lost on you all, especially given my travel across the country rides.  Rest assure that when EVERY road sign is in Japanese letters, including the built in navigation system in the Subaru Forester, it is a bit unnerving to be out there faking the directions.  In many cases I was looking at rivers and lake areas to get an idea of my location.  

As I drove back I began to see sights and locations I recognized and my comfort and hope that I wouldn't have to call someone to tell them I was lost was fading.  I found a gas station, which since the tank was below 1/4 left was excellent timing, and from there I made it all the way back to the apartment!  In fact I was so happy with my driving for the day I even navigated the local village to a small store and bought my self a 6 pack of Sapporo Beer.

Back at the apartment I cracked open the beer and made myself 3 large burgers with bake beans and all the timings, it was a most excellent meal.  

So I finally figured out a bit of my area, this is where I'm living, in one of the long buildings.

http://maps.google.com/maps?ll=40.983381,140.363002&spn=0.002373,0.007703&t=h&z=18

It is pretty much farming here as you can see.  Weather is cool, very early spring like in Maine.  But the
wind is incredible; we usually have 50 mph steady winds, the building rattles and shake.

Last night I walked around the village a bit, but there isn't much to see except very rundown buildings.

We went to a Japanese BBQ place last week, not exactly the same as the south! The guys I went with ordered the meat, it is seasoned and brought to your table and you have a grill in the middle to cook it on.  It was very good and I ate cow tongue, which was more like chewy meat then anything else.

On the adventure food front last weekend while in Misawa I had sushi at the Japanese version of 'fast food'.  Basically you site at a table that is next to a conveyor belt that has individual plates of sushi on it going around.  Each plate is 100 yens, about $1.20, and you take what you like.  The guys loaded me up with a ton of kinds and
I stuck with the traditional ones.  I liked most everything i tried, didn't care for the squid.

On Sunday in Misawa we went to a Japanese Fish market, Mom would have died.  It is a huge market with a ton of vendors selling fresh fish that you buy right there.  You can take it home, or cook it on grill tables in a separate area.  We cooked it there and it was great.  As is custom here everyone buys something then everyone shares.  I bought these 1.5" think Sword Fish Steaks, like thick tuna steaks, for 500 yen, which is about $6.25 which was amazing.  We had these huge prawns, which are pretty much a huge shrimp, and we had huge scallops,
still in the shell too.  It was a traditional Japanese experience and extremely filling.

One thing I've noticed is the fish just doesn't smell here, I guess it is so fresh.  Another thing that is weird is napkins are extremely small and often they only give you one, and then you have to buy extras!  I recommend traveling with wet naps, I've been stuffing extra ones in my coat pockets!