Sauntering Sunflower

Back in March, we decided to take the boys on a mid-week trip to the Woodland Park Zoo in Seattle, Washington. We had a kickstarter package to pick up, and going for a couple of nights meant that it would all be duty-free – BONUS!

We drove down after work on a Tuesday & checked in for 2 nights at a cheap motel. The first night was mainly uneventful as the boys had both fallen asleep in the car, and we managed to get them in the room without waking them up. Then the next morning we were off to the zoo!

One of the main attractions was the fact that three lion cubs were just starting to come out on exhibit there. We had excellent timing and managed to see them several times as they came out to play with their papa.

The zoo also had a pretty nice penguin area so the boys got to see some penguins close up.

And they thought this hippo statue was pretty cool too (oddly, we didn’t get any photos of the kids actually climbing on it).

We weren’t sure how they would handle the day at the zoo, so we thought of a few other things to do in case we needed to fill time. Our fears were unfounded though and they lasted the entire day. In fact, after the zoo closing announcement, as we were headed to the parking lot, both boys got quite upset that we had to leave at all and we had to stay an extra half hour or so before actually driving back to the motel.

We’d read a good recommendation for a local Italian restaurant and ordered some dinner from there. Unfortunately, they’d had a scheduling error and after nearly 40 minute wait, I phoned again to find out that the delivery driver had just gotten there after getting called in at the last minute. She was profusely apologetic when she dropped off the food in the pouring rain about a half hour after that. The food was pretty good, though difficult to eat as they hadn’t packed us any utensils for it. (Mental note, add a couple sporks and some chopsticks to the suitcase before our next trip!)

Luckily, we’d brought some digital entertainment for the boys. I think the hardest part was keeping them fairly contained in a small motel room. True to our previous travels, it just wouldn’t be right unless the boys kept us up most of the night. The rigors of walking all day proved for some pretty intense leg cramps for Locutus. Lance ended up walking him up and down the street for a while, just so his crying wouldn’t inconvenience our fellow travelers. A few of them did pack up and leave in the wee hours anyway.

We got up the next morning very tired and decided to head back to the zoo for a while and make the most of our trip (and duty-free allowance). Again, we weren’t sure how long the boys would last, but yet again, they wanted to stay all day long.

We were pretty exhausted when we got back but had an excellent time and are looking forward to making another trip down this fall now that the zoo also has 3 tigers on display.

One thing I realize I’ve never done, is written an extensive post about washrooms in Japan. First off, just like at home, public washrooms are hit or miss for their cleanliness and the facilities available. But, Japanese washrooms have many features that I’d love to see adopted in Canada. But, let’s start off with some caveats . . .

Most importantly, if you enter a Japanese washroom and they are selling pocket packs of kleenex by the entrance for 100 yen, BUY SOME! This generally indicates that the stalls do not come equipped with toilet paper so you’re on your own to supply it, or drip dry.

I’ve yet to see a paper towel dispenser in a Japanese washroom. Air dryers are sometimes present. Most Japanese people carry a washcloth or handkerchief with them at all times. It’s a good habit to get in to.

Squat toilets are quite common. Don’t fear them. They are actually fairy easy to use unless you are drunk or have a physical disability that would prevent you from balancing in a squatted position. In fact, when I am wearing Locutus on my back, they are easier to use than a sit-down toilet. Sometimes they stink. Sometimes our public washrooms stink too.

Restaurants aren’t required to have public washrooms. Neither are stores. Get used to using train stations and using whatever facilities are available before you leave places.

Some washrooms come equipped with multi-functional seats. If you don’t understand the buttons, don’t push them unless you consider yourself a stoic, brave adventurer. Just don’t squat on a sit-down toilet.

This is not a squat toilet, do not squat on it!

Now on to my wishlist . . .

1. Stall doors that fit better and go down to the floor and higher than the ceiling. Obviously, in a culture where squat toilets are normal, a normal stall door goes all the way to the floor. This prevents unexpected toddler visitors during your stay as well. A taller door also prevents people from grabbing your coat and/or purse, while you are otherwise indisposed.

2. Multipurpose rooms. Often times in train stations or department stores, we would find a room that was designated a ‘multi-purpose room.’ This means that it could accommodate someone who needed wheelchair access, it also would have a change table in it. And sometimes other things. Like a fold-out bed, essentially.

A full folding bed was handy for diaper changes

This one also had a mini-stall for other small children to use

I just think this is incredibly clever. In case you are just feeling ill, you’ve got a spot to lie down. It also works for a first aid station if someone has a cut or takes a fall. Most of them had a sink in the room. Some of them were even more posh and also would serve as a nursing room and had a bottle-warmer as well.

3. A little-boy urinal in the ladies room.

A little urinal for little boys who need to go to the washroom with their mommy

The little boy doesn’t have to wait and all the ladies don’t have to wait for him while he takes up a stall. It’s just smart!

4. A baby-seat in the stalls. This would work in either men’s or ladies’ rooms. It gives you a place to put your baby so they aren’t getting into trouble while you go to the bathroom. There technically is a falling hazard, but since the stall is so small that you should be able to grab your baby while sitting on a toilet, I don’t see why this wouldn’t work. Except that our stalls are too flimsy in construction.
Something which I would like to see change in general too.

Let’s not limit my wishlist just to public washrooms and such either. While the heated seats are nice, and the bidet functions do come in handy, they aren’t necessarily on my wish list. Let’s move on to the shower/tub section of the bathroom now.

1. On demand hot water. Move water heaters to the spot behind the water source. Then I don’t have to wait and pump out cold water for 5 minutes while waiting for the hot water from our water heater in the garage to move up to our third floor.

2. Separate the temperature and pressure control in the shower/bath. One dial controls temperature and another controls the pressure. Not the norm in every hotel bathroom, but boy was it nice when it was set up that way! There even appeared to be a safety button on the temperature control to prevent scalding. At home in my shower there is one generic pressure setting and you can’t get cold water to come out at a strong water pressure.

3. A handheld shower head with 2 brackets at different heights. This came in so handy!!! First of all, if you’ve got a kid who is a mess, you just stand them in the bathtub, take the handheld sprayer and hose them down. You get nice warm water right away if you’ve got number 1 & 2 in place already. We also used it to clean out messy diapers and easily rinse off messy towels (eating strawberry yoghurt with a 1 year old will make it look like there’s been a homicide).

4. A pause button on the sprayer. You can turn the shower on and then pause it, without having to completely reset your pressure setting to off. Also very handy, if a bit of a luxury item. It also lets you move the sprayer within reach of the toilet and sink without getting water all over the floor. Not that this is an issue, since most Japanese bathrooms have a drain built into the pre-fab washroom floor.

5. Let’s not forget the mirror with a heated panel that doesn’t fog up. Love that too!

By now, you’ll have noticed that our early efforts at souvenir shopping were quite frustrating. The places we returned to lacked anything new and unique that grabbed our attention. We’ve come to the conclusion that Japanese department stores are actually just cleverly designed traps intended to confuse and exhaust tourists until they buy things out of sheer exhaustion. Trust us, we adventured through 5 in one city and couldn’t find anything actually worth it. It was only because we are experienced adventurers that we got out unscathed.

So, while we had picked up a thing or two here and there, we hadn’t really found anything of the calibre we’d brought back on our previous trips to Japan. Nothing as stunning as a Foo Dog statue or replica musket. We have particular weaknesses for drinking vessels and had yet to find anything really indulgence worthy there. The day we were going to possibly go in search of Imari pottery we stopped because of the long travel times involved. I was also looking for some outfits for Locutus to wear to our Samurai Night Fever costume party, and had yet to find any used Kimono stores where something might be worthy. Even in the 1000 yen shop in Miyajima (it’s like a $10 store where everything is about $10) the only children’s jin bei (asian style pyjamas) they had were quite ugly and they were completely out of the men’s selection (Lance likes wearing these in the summer because they are so nice and light and comfortable).

In one of our earlier searches, we’d seen that there was the Harbour Bay Shopping Centre right next to the sumo stadium. So we thought we’d go check it out. It didn’t seem particularly large, but it was close to sumo, and the map showed a small green space where we thought we might let Locutus run around for a while and have some fun. So we went, and kind of hit the jackpot.

It’s a shopping centre and ferry terminal. Cruise ships dock behind us.

Doesn’t look like much, does it? But inside, in addition to a giant aquarium in the centre, they had an entire shop for Imari style pottery. While none of that struck our fancy, they also had a selection of pieces that were by a local artist. It. Is. Gorgeous. We don’t have any pictures, but his pieces were in earthy brown tones or blues. The earthy pieces depict forest scenes with little shrines. They are intricate and gorgeous. The blue tone pieces feature Japanese troll-type creatures. The tea mug I bought has his front on one side and his back on the other. Anyone who has an appreciation for DnD-type mythology would love these! So we . . . decided to invest.

Before we bought though, we had to discuss our purchases. So we went to the Japanese Duty Free store in the next building over (we were basically at the cruise ship port). I’d read briefly about it and it sounded like a standard duty free store featuring perfumes, makeup, etc. I didn’t think we’d actually find anything. Except in the clothing section, they had some yukata (like a casual kimono made of cotton) and some children’s ensembles. We picked up 2 in different sizes and neutral styles so they can be passed down to other kids in the future too (because I consider Foo Dogs and Dragons to be completely gender neutral).

We also picked up a few sumo souvenirs of course. The couple of times that the sumo association had a table set up they had some very good deals and we were happy to support them a bit too. Sadly, they sold out of the handkerchief I liked early so I didn’t get any additional colour variations. But that’s ok, because handkerchiefs is one thing I did stock up on in Kyoto early on.

Things we almost bought, but didn’t . . .
– Japanese patterns – we actually found a fabric shop and they had a pattern section with a few promising pieces. But since the instructions would all be in Japanese, and my Japanese isn’t that strong, I decided against it.

– a sweater dress – in the basement of the building next to Hakata station, they had a store that was selling a bunch of really cute sweater dresses. But, in the end, I can get something similar back home fairly easy, so I’m glad we didn’t pick one up.

– anything Hello Kitty or Pokemon. Don’t tell my nieces and nephews, but we did look for learning chopsticks in those themes. Aside from entire bento sets or cutlery sets, they didn’t have anything appropriate though, so we didn’t get anything. Also, they sold out of the really cute Hello Kitty Sumo figure by the time we thought to buy one. Clearly we weren’t meant to support those particular Japanese icons.

– furniture – Yes, we saw some really cool pieces. However, aside from the obvious issue of getting them back to Canada, there is also the issue of where to put them in our house. (Editorial note, this is only an issue for Jenn. Lance takes an entirely different approach to home furnishing and this did not present an issue for him at all.)

– wood carvings – there were several that were gorgeous, but again, luggage restrictions really limited us.

– booze – well, there’s still a chance we’ll pick something up at the airport duty free store. This is the first time we’ve gone to Japan and not visited a sake brewery. We thought we might visit the Asahi brewery, but the info brochure they had at the tourist centre didn’t actually tell us where it was or how to get there. In a choice between randomly wandering Fukuoka in search of a beer brewery and watching sumo while drinking beer (Lance at least), we chose sumo.

– a suitcase – this is the first time we’ve actually managed to fit everything we’re bringing back into the same bags we came with. This was partly made possible by the fact that we packed a backpack in one of our suitcases for the trip over here. The other contributing factor is the dwindling diaper supply. On the way here we had a supply that lasted about 10 days. On the way back, we only need to bring a couple of days worth. (Editorial note: if I had to do it again, I’d bring fewer diapers to start, but more diaper wipes)

Today was the final day of the Kyushu Grand Sumo tournament. This has been a pretty exciting tournament for us, being able to attend everyday. There were still box seats left during the week so we upgraded on Thursday and Saturday, too. On all three days, we were sitting beneath the camera, about 9 rows up from the dohyo and center ring. It put us about twice the height of the dohyo from the floor and made for spectacular viewing.

The box seats had the added benefit of being more Locutus-friendly. We found that he would stay put and watch sumo for longer sitting in the box than in a seat, because he could roam a little within the box and chat in his way with our neighbours. On Saturday, we had families with children in the boxes on either side of us, so he was well entertained and we were free to enjoy the penultimate day of sumo.

And what a day of sumo! If you’re a sumo fan, you’ll know what I’m talking about. And if you’re not a sumo fan, you won’t care. So I’ll leave it at that. But some highlights…

• I think we were featured on NHK on Thursday. We were rather enthusiastic cheering on Shohozan (a new favorite). Jenn noticed the mobile camera folks pointing our direction and talking.

• Tonight we were part of a cheering section for Yoshikaze. The guys behind us had signs and everything, so we turned our section into the Yoshikaze fan club. And then he won! The crowd went wild.

• It turns out everyone loves Shohozan! The last few days, regular chants of SHO-HO-ZAN would emerge from the crowd. Normally, sumo fans are rather complacent, so this was awesome and we joined in heartily. He won the Fighting Spirit prize!

• Ikioi beat Chiyotairyu on the final day. More insult to injury!

• I gave a smile and nod to Kotoyuki as we passed in the hallway. And I ran into Jean Luc Shimpan in the foyer while walking my son around. And Hakuho is massive up close.

• All of the staff knew us by the end of the tournament. Or, I guess more accurately, knew us as those people carrying around the adorable Locutus. But they were very friendly and quite accommodating as our son walked us around the stadium, day in and day out, for hours at a time.

On our previous trip, Miyajima was a good spot for souvenir shops. And so it was again. Only, many of the shops are the cheap tourist stuff, clearly aimed at the hordes of school children that visit the shrine with limited funds. There was a fantastic shop with carvings that would have been great, had they not been improbably large and difficult to transport.

We did find a lacquer shop and managed to get a couple of items off our shopping list. So, moderate success. And Locutus was not eaten by a deer, so…that’s good, right? I guess we’ll call this one a win.

“Hi! My name is Jenn and I’m adopting you into my sumo education association!”

That’s actually how I started a conversation this afternoon at the sumo tournament. You see, I like talking sumo and educating people. So I’ve been trying to find people at the sumo tournament who look like they probably need some information about sumo (i.e. other gaijin/foreigners).

It ended up going really well and Lance and I had some really good conversations with a bunch of interesting people. It started with a couple from Belgium and their 18 month old daughter (whom Locutus terrorized a bit with his brazen advances). Then we got to meet a couple of couples who were on a sumo trip up from the military base in Sasebo. The other day we really hit pay dirt when 100 JET teachers attended the tournament right next to where we were sitting. And then today there was a family, again from the military base from Sasebo. If we visit Japan again, we’re supposed to look them up. They’re into Judo quite a bit so the sumo was also very interesting to them.

The next time we come to Japan in order to see a sumo tournament we are going to further expand our sumo education association into a full-fledged tour guide operation. We’ll advertise on various travel sites and attend sumo tournaments with other foreigners, giving them info about sumo while we watch, for a modest fee (this isn’t a plan to make money, since we’d be there anyway, and we’d probably spend the money we get on snacks for the group.)

Every day we take Taihaku dori from Hakata station to the International building where sumo is held. We usually walk the distance – it’s perhaps a couple kilometers – but if we’re in a hurry there are frequent busses that run the length of the street.

Located a block from Taihaku dori at around Gionmachi is Shofukuji temple. It was one of many temples we happened across during our early days of wandering Fukuoka. It’s a zen temple. And it’s active, though the active parts are well secluded from the visitor parts.

The temple grounds are quite popular with locals. On our first and subsequent visits, we’ve said hello to many folks using the grounds for walking, running and jogging. The temple isn’t large, but it does feature some nice landscaping, wide-open and level paths, and is relatively secluded from the bustle of the city.

We keep coming back to Shofukuji for the same reasons. More importantly, it features some excellent walking courses for Locutus. There are stairs, uneven ground, dirt, leaves and bollards…all the makings for an excellent playground. We’ve walked the steps up and down from the main building many times, trodden the simple paths over and over, and been appreciative that such an excellent location for our son to explore is so conveniently located.

 

 

 

 

The weather here has been absolutely unbelievable. After Nagasaki, we decided to take another day off from sumo and go visit Hiroshima and Miyajima for shopping.

We got off the train in Hiroshima and walked to the covered shopping arcade. We had hit up Wikitravel for the ‘best’ shopping places for arts, crafts and unique gifts in Hiroshima, which was an area near the Peace Park. We’d been there before and knew where to go. The shopping arcade is actually on the Hiroshima tram line, but since we were hunting for shopping opportunities, we decided our best bet was on foot. Besides, we’d already used the trams a lot.

We walked the length of the shopping arcade and discovered kimono shops, 100 yen shops, drugstores, clothing shops, electronic shops, video arcades, and restaurants. In other words, all the same shops we’d been seeing everywhere else. And all the same stuff we’d been seeing.

The shopping was obviously geared towards the locals, who didn’t need unique and interesting souvenirs to win friends and influence people. 0 / 1 for wikitravel thus far. But wikitravel had an ace up its sleeve. The danbara something something. The name was long, so I only memorized part of it. And writing things down is so gauche.

After reaching the end of the shopping arcade we hit up the information booth. And there on the map was the danbara shopping centre. Ha! Danbara! It was listed as a cool place to find unique and one-of-a-kind textiles, ceramics, you name its!

We set of on foot, yet again. We walked along the Peace Promenade. Belatedly, before we left, we remembered to snap a photo since we hadn’t been to that part of Hiroshima before. Phew! Disaster averted.

Danbara was on the other side of a forest. We climbed some magical steps above a tunnel and entered the fantastical forest!

The fantastical forest had a map in the parking area, and we were able to find a path that led across the mountain. Higher and higher we climbed, eventually reaching the penultimate peak! When at last we felt we could walk no further, when our energy was gone and our bodies broken husks, we discovered the Skywalk. We were saved!

The Skywalk was a random escalator in the park that runs for a good kilometer. Yeah. Weird, huh. It doesn’t actually go to anything that we could tell, but it got us down the mountain in a hur…well, it got us down the mountain. Speed was not its strength.

At last! Danbara something something! Only…the Danbara we’d read about was two stories. The shopping center was nine. We wandered up and down but found no cool shops. We wandered down the street, up the street, around the block, around more blocks, back up the tower, over some other streets. There were no cool shops here. It turns out, Danbara is the district. It’s like being told a shop is in Vancouver, vaguely over there. And try as we might, we could not find it.

Disappointed, we decided to walk back towards the station and catch a train to Miyajima. On the way, we found it! The Danbara something something! Only it sucked. It wasn’t a unique shop with blah blah blah. It was a bunch of second hand shops with some random stuff in them, nothing too spectacular, unless you were into swords. Because one shop had actual katana (the plural) and some very nice furniture items that would be impossible to transport home.

We gave up. Shopping was not meant to be. Around the corner, the tram line had a convenient stop. We hopped on the tram for the station and headed to Miyajima. When we got home later, I mapped our walk. We covered just over 10km in Hiroshima on foot, not counting the five department stores (and 40 floors) we visited.

We bummed out to Nagasaki to check out the Peace Park and do a little shopping. There is no fast way to get to Nagasaki by train. Even by limited express – the fastest option available – our transit time was almost two hours.

Perhaps because the train was a little slower, Locutus showed an interest in looking out the window for a substantial part of the journey. And what a view! One side is ocean, the other mountain. Lots and lots of hills, covered in bamboo forests and orange groves.

Upon arrival in Nagasaki we were greeted by a midweek market. It appeared to be a sponsored event of some sort. If we were back home, I’d say one of the local radio stations was hosting an ‘on-location’ type of event day. In addition to the market, there was a stage area set up. Several children groups took turns performing for the shoppers. It was adorable.

The Peace Park was mostly paved. It featured the rather enormous Statue of Peace. The statue was surrounded by the Pool of Peace. There were billions of Origami Cranes of Wishing (for Peace). And it was a gorgeous, sunny day. We let Locutus cruise the park, working on the Steps of Peace and School Girls for Peace, alternately and concurrently.

A tour guide popped over while we were walking Locutus along the Benches of Peaceful Group Photo Opportunities. We chatted for a while about Nagasaki. He recommended visiting the Glover Park. The flowers were currently in full bloom. Because Kyushu does November correctly.

We left the park after a few hours. We took the tram back to the station, but hopped off a few streets early so Jenn and I could shop for souvenirs while Locutus napped in the carrier. Sadly, while we found a lot of great photo opportunities and thoroughly enjoyed the sunshine and summery day, we were unsuccessful in our shopping endeavors.

We arrived back at the station, grabbed some Osaka-style okonomiyaki from the takoyaki stand (Hiroshima style is vastly superior), and then debated visiting Arita.

Imari/Arita is a town in Saga prefecture (between Nagasaki and Fukuoka) famous for its pottery. No fast trains go there, however, and the trip from Nagasaki to Arita is by local train only – a trip a little over 2 hours. Facing the prospect of another 2 hour trip from Arita to Hakata afterwards, and not really wanting to do anything in Arita aside from browse the stores, we decided to throw in the towel and return back to Hakata directly.