Enough Said...
The cold winds of December have both ushered in the winter (fuyu) season and the sixth month of my stay here in Fukuoka. In the limited span of time I have been privileged to stay in Japan and at Kyushu University, I must say that there have been countless times and incidents have occurred which I must say I can “charge to experience”. I know everyone has an amusing or embarrassing tale to tell during these frosty and chilly nights to come so let me share some of mine.
All foreign students will agree with me that learning nihongo can be an excruciatingly painful experience specially for someone who left his home country knowing only a handful of Japanese phrases. Foolishly thinking that I can get by with a minimal spattering of “Konnichiwa” and “Do itashimashite” admixed with my own version of Japlish (like ATM doko desu ka?), boy was I mistaken. Within the comfy confines of my department, I am safe from having to wrack my brains just to ask for coffee with two sugars and cream. But it’s a totally different world when you go into a McDonald’s. Try ordering a double cheeseburger with large fries with extra ketchup, garden salad and a medium diet coke and you’ll get my drift. For me, I used a variety of techniques that included a lot of pointing, the words “kore or sore”, mime and if worse came to worse, pictionary or charades. Thank God for set meals (setto o onegaishimasu) or the combi or to-rio.
Since we are already in the topic of food, we might as well discuss it. Before I left the Philippines, I voluntarily abstained from eating Japanese food with the reasoning that I would have to eat the same stuff for the next two years. Again, for the second time, big mistake. As explained by one if my sensei, “real” Japanese food is unlike the “Filipinized” Japanese food I have been accustomed to. The real sashimi or sushi found here in Fukuoka is so vastly different from its counterparts in Saisaki or (gasp!) Tokyo Tokyo. Of course, I goes without saying that the quality and size of the sushi in Hotel Okura is far more superior than in Sushi-ya.However, with the quality and authencity of the food, there are come local food which are very foreign to my Jollibee chickenjoy and champ hamburger loving onaka. Let me name a few: unagi or freshwater eel. Yes, I realize it’s very expensive and a specialty but the texture, which is kinda slimy, makes me shudder when there are times that I have to eat it (like when it is served as a special dish for my sensei). It’s barbeque flavored with just a tinge of gooh. I could go on living without having to partake of it again, thank you. Of course, there are things that I do enjoy: going to Teppanyaki restaurants (there is a very good one in Nakasu), mongo based sweets (which remind me of hopia) and shochu (heavenly), which is a sweeter version of vodka. I take it yu-wari (diluted with hot water) and preferably with nabe. When all else fails, I run to the nearest Costco in Hisayama and gorge on Spam and blueberry cheesecake. Yummm.
One of the best things in Japan is the efficiency of the transportation system. The ease of transferring from airport to subway to bus, or the other way around is so mindblowingly simple that one may have second thoughts in getting a car (with the shakken and price of gasoline and all). But the best way to get around is a trusty bicycle to propel your way to your place of destination. I got mine on sale from Daiei and have been pedaling ever since. As there are different kinds of people, there are different kinds of bikers. There are the serious biker variety with the multi-speed racers, to BMX wielding kids, mountain biker types for the serious climbing enthusiasts to your usual garden variety ordinary biker you meet everyday. One would be most familiar with sort because they are the ones that careen out of control when the sign says “don’t walk”, brakes that screech so hard that they leave you functionally deaf for a few hours or keep on hogging the bike path when their bicycle is the foldable type with wheels so small that disassembled would fit into your pocket, but the rider would still not let you pass. Go figure. But the bicycle has opened a whole new world of possibilities for me in the city aside from the bucolic surroundings of Kaikan in Kashiihama and the extensively complex structure adjacent to it which every kaikan resident holds dear to his heart and pocket called Jusco. I have come to discover that one can ride the bicycle from Kashii to Meinohama resulting in a lot of aching muscles and dehydration, that Hawk’s town is surprisingly close to Tenjin when you are on two wheels, and going from Canal city to Hakata Station is a breeze. Serious enthusiasts have suggested taking the bicycle to Uminonakamichi or Nokonoshima Island but I would rather climb the steep and treacherous mountainside leading to an oasis of wonderment and thrills that is called Mr. Max. I am not in anyway connected with the company but you will be surprised how relaxing it is to listen to the jingle over and over and over…
But these may seem trivial to a transient visitor like me is unable to appreciate the culture Japan has to offer. The Japanese gardens, Shinto-temples,numerous festivals,Sumo wrestling,Ikebana,Origami,and the martial arts of Judo and Karate. Or traveling to distant sights to see Mount Fuji, Aso or Sakurajima, or Tokyo with its dizzying subway system ,jaw-dropping prices in the shops of Ginza or the endless maze of bars in Shinjuku. The serenity in visiting one of the many temples in Kyoto and having your picture taken with a real geisha or the peace memorials in Nagasaki and Hiroshima that reaffirm the world’s commitment in preventing another nuclear devastation. These are still just a few of many possibilities one’s stay in this country has to offer and as Eiji Miyake, David Mitchell’s protagonist in “number 9 dream” would say: I dream all dreamers, all of you. I dream the frost patterns on the temple bell. I dream the bright water dripping from the spear of Izanagi. I dream the drips solidifying into these islands we call Japan.” Enough said.
December 2004
All foreign students will agree with me that learning nihongo can be an excruciatingly painful experience specially for someone who left his home country knowing only a handful of Japanese phrases. Foolishly thinking that I can get by with a minimal spattering of “Konnichiwa” and “Do itashimashite” admixed with my own version of Japlish (like ATM doko desu ka?), boy was I mistaken. Within the comfy confines of my department, I am safe from having to wrack my brains just to ask for coffee with two sugars and cream. But it’s a totally different world when you go into a McDonald’s. Try ordering a double cheeseburger with large fries with extra ketchup, garden salad and a medium diet coke and you’ll get my drift. For me, I used a variety of techniques that included a lot of pointing, the words “kore or sore”, mime and if worse came to worse, pictionary or charades. Thank God for set meals (setto o onegaishimasu) or the combi or to-rio.
Since we are already in the topic of food, we might as well discuss it. Before I left the Philippines, I voluntarily abstained from eating Japanese food with the reasoning that I would have to eat the same stuff for the next two years. Again, for the second time, big mistake. As explained by one if my sensei, “real” Japanese food is unlike the “Filipinized” Japanese food I have been accustomed to. The real sashimi or sushi found here in Fukuoka is so vastly different from its counterparts in Saisaki or (gasp!) Tokyo Tokyo. Of course, I goes without saying that the quality and size of the sushi in Hotel Okura is far more superior than in Sushi-ya.However, with the quality and authencity of the food, there are come local food which are very foreign to my Jollibee chickenjoy and champ hamburger loving onaka. Let me name a few: unagi or freshwater eel. Yes, I realize it’s very expensive and a specialty but the texture, which is kinda slimy, makes me shudder when there are times that I have to eat it (like when it is served as a special dish for my sensei). It’s barbeque flavored with just a tinge of gooh. I could go on living without having to partake of it again, thank you. Of course, there are things that I do enjoy: going to Teppanyaki restaurants (there is a very good one in Nakasu), mongo based sweets (which remind me of hopia) and shochu (heavenly), which is a sweeter version of vodka. I take it yu-wari (diluted with hot water) and preferably with nabe. When all else fails, I run to the nearest Costco in Hisayama and gorge on Spam and blueberry cheesecake. Yummm.
One of the best things in Japan is the efficiency of the transportation system. The ease of transferring from airport to subway to bus, or the other way around is so mindblowingly simple that one may have second thoughts in getting a car (with the shakken and price of gasoline and all). But the best way to get around is a trusty bicycle to propel your way to your place of destination. I got mine on sale from Daiei and have been pedaling ever since. As there are different kinds of people, there are different kinds of bikers. There are the serious biker variety with the multi-speed racers, to BMX wielding kids, mountain biker types for the serious climbing enthusiasts to your usual garden variety ordinary biker you meet everyday. One would be most familiar with sort because they are the ones that careen out of control when the sign says “don’t walk”, brakes that screech so hard that they leave you functionally deaf for a few hours or keep on hogging the bike path when their bicycle is the foldable type with wheels so small that disassembled would fit into your pocket, but the rider would still not let you pass. Go figure. But the bicycle has opened a whole new world of possibilities for me in the city aside from the bucolic surroundings of Kaikan in Kashiihama and the extensively complex structure adjacent to it which every kaikan resident holds dear to his heart and pocket called Jusco. I have come to discover that one can ride the bicycle from Kashii to Meinohama resulting in a lot of aching muscles and dehydration, that Hawk’s town is surprisingly close to Tenjin when you are on two wheels, and going from Canal city to Hakata Station is a breeze. Serious enthusiasts have suggested taking the bicycle to Uminonakamichi or Nokonoshima Island but I would rather climb the steep and treacherous mountainside leading to an oasis of wonderment and thrills that is called Mr. Max. I am not in anyway connected with the company but you will be surprised how relaxing it is to listen to the jingle over and over and over…
But these may seem trivial to a transient visitor like me is unable to appreciate the culture Japan has to offer. The Japanese gardens, Shinto-temples,numerous festivals,Sumo wrestling,Ikebana,Origami,and the martial arts of Judo and Karate. Or traveling to distant sights to see Mount Fuji, Aso or Sakurajima, or Tokyo with its dizzying subway system ,jaw-dropping prices in the shops of Ginza or the endless maze of bars in Shinjuku. The serenity in visiting one of the many temples in Kyoto and having your picture taken with a real geisha or the peace memorials in Nagasaki and Hiroshima that reaffirm the world’s commitment in preventing another nuclear devastation. These are still just a few of many possibilities one’s stay in this country has to offer and as Eiji Miyake, David Mitchell’s protagonist in “number 9 dream” would say: I dream all dreamers, all of you. I dream the frost patterns on the temple bell. I dream the bright water dripping from the spear of Izanagi. I dream the drips solidifying into these islands we call Japan.” Enough said.
December 2004
posted by arnold pineda at
11:38 AM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home