8.21.2008 Japanese Food

One of the true cultural experiences of Japan is the food. I already indulge in Japanese food of some sort at least once an week in Taiwan. I kept hearing that it doesn't compare to true Japanese food. While I believe that's true of any "import" food Japanese food here is still so good I couldn't believe it.

Well of course Japanese food in Japan is the best. Unfortunately most of the time when we ate we were starving so bad from wearing ourselves out sight seeing that we just grabbed what was easiest. Thankfully most of the time that was still something incredibly delicious.

Japanese curry (definitely distinct from the other curries), Tempura, noodles (udon, soba, ramen.... well Han not me), and sushi.... ohhhhh sushi. I think I could go on a trip to Japan again just to eat.

We did gorge on junk food a little more than I would have liked but Japan even does that good! Junk food in Taiwan is not the best. Taiwanese tongues aren't big on salty foods but in Japan things that are supposed to be salty were salty, and things that shouldn't be sweet (like milk and whole grain bread) weren't sweet! Surprisingly Japanese style pizza and hamburgers are both delicious.

A few things did surprise me in Japan. I found out that my taste in food is very Osakan (maybe I made that word up). After awhile I noticed something missing and asked Uken, where are all the teppanyaki restaurants????? Teppayaki is food cooked on a large iron griddle in front of you. Steak, pork, lamb or seafood are fried up in front of you by a swiftly working chef and served along with peppered bean sprouts and oily chinese cabbage. To my surprise this is an "Osaka thing". Another Osaka thing I adore that was easy enough to find all over Tokyo is Takoyaki. Takoyaki is pieces of octopus cooked up on a very cool grill into battered balls. I have to say even though the Japanese version is more delicious, the Taiwanese version of the wasabi sauce topping is a lot more delicious.

A lot of things are common to Taiwan but it was really interesting to be able to finally distinguish what is Taiwanese, by not being able to find it in Japan, and what comes from Japan.

Something else I found a little odd and funny is that even though there are junk food spots all over Japan I think I only saw one MOS burger on my trip. MOS burger is a Japanese fast food restaurant that is famous for cooking up everything fresh when ordered so it takes the "fast" out of fast food but it's really popular in Taiwan and it is easy enough to find one within walking distance from wherever you are in Taipei. I'd be willing to bet that there are more MOS locations in Taipei city, than in the whole of Japan.

Although I've eaten a lot of crazy things in Taiwan (intestines, alligator, hearts, etc) while browsing menus in Shinjyuku I saw something that simultaneously made my eyes bulge out and make me nearly start crying. I saw not only horse meat on a menu, but also raw horse meat. So wrong on so many levels. It wouldn't surprise me if somewhere in Taiwan it's possible to get horse meat but the shocking part... aside from HORSE MEAT... was how posh this place looked.

Surprisingly in the end even though Japan still has some of my favorite meals I was getting really bored with Japanese food and homesick for Taiwanese. I don't think it's possible to convey the variety of food that exists in Taiwan and I have a hard time believing there is anywhere else in the world with as much "food diversity". I've lived here over 3 years and I still try new stuff all the time. From my understanding, which could be misinformed...correct me if I'm wrong in the comments, it is because mainlanders who have come from China at different points in history came from all different parts bringing with them their cuisine. Not to mention a lot of colonization by many different countries.

Another annoyance with Japan is how it doesn't cater to night owls like me :) Compared to Taiwan things close EARLY. In Taiwan there are restaurants that only open at 9 or 10pm. It's possible to eat at any hour of the night or to find something else to do. Even as huge as it is it really felt like Tokyo shut down early.

But Japan does win brownie points on being foreigner friendly. Wonderful picture menus, realistic food displays outside the restaurants, and food ticket machines that let you buy a ticket that corresponds to a numbered food display. Most of the time, not all of the time, getting food was easy.



Japan also wins points for customer service. First for having customer service, which doesn't seem to exist in Taiwan, and second for doing it well. Smiles are everywhere, as is courtesy.

Not to mention great ambiance!



Another awesome feature that I'd seen posted in Korean blogs before was the button! This allows you to page your waiter/waitress to let them know you need something.



Taiwan is a long ways away from this!

8.20.2008 baseball in Japan from one who is not so much into the baseball

Han and I are a bit of an odd couple. Aside from the obvious, our rare Western female/Taiwanese male combo, and the fact that I'm 4 years older than Han we're an "opposites attract" kind of couple. Han could be explained as a sports loving jock who thinks he's a comedian, and I guess I'm the artsy film loving techie geek who's too serious most of the time.

What binds us, I think, is that both of us are not stereotypical for our cultures and we both enjoy trying anything once even if it isn't something we wouldn't do on our own.

One of the things I've had to endure for him has been baseball. Thankfully, Asian baseball is something completely different. It's like being at a rock concert filled with the most die-hard fans. The cheering, chanting and hollering does not end, ever, E V E R!!! and baseball games are freakin' long!

Han and I saw games I'm sure some baseball fans would drool over on our 3 week trip in Japan. We went to Tokyo Dome (Yomiuri Giants vs Yakult Swallows), Chiba Marine Stadium (Chiba Lotte Marines vs Orix Buffaloes), Meiji-Jingu Stadium (Yakult Swallows vs Yokohama Baystars), and finally the Japanese All-star game at Yokohama Stadium (the best from both the Central and Pacific Japanese leagues).

Although I have an increasing tolerance for baseball the best part is still the people watching. Each team seems to have half a dozen chants that each fan knows by heart as well as some kind of "gimic" when their team has a run.

The swallows do an umbrella dance.




The giants swirl orange towels over there heads.

The Marines wave checkered flags around.




....and my favorite, they also start a polite mosh pit :) jumping up and down while chanting.




It seemed during the allstars game some people were torn in two and were singing the half dozen chants for their home team as well as the half dozen for another favorite team.

One of my favorite things in Japan was seeing girls in Kimonos. Like the Indian sari I'm so glad the Japanese girls haven't completely abandoned this beautiful and feminine way of dress. Surprisingly I probably saw the most kimonos at the sporting events I did attend. Han and I also, unfortunately, saw a wrestling match by the Japanese "NOAH" league. It was horrible, fake and noisy.... although he loved it (sigh) but that doesn't get its own post.

At Japanese games there are a bunch of young people who walk around selling beer or bento boxes, they're kind of like walking concession stands. Probably the most entertaining moment of all my baseball experience was watching this guy (and having my ear drums burst) who loves his job just a little too much. I promised Han I'd try to make him famous.




The most hilarious thing is I was trying so hard to get him on video, his big loud scream followed by his arm swirling the cup above his head. I didn't want him to know I was filming him so I tried really hard to be discreet and act like I was just filming the crowd... but I think he caught on anyway so he wouldn't give it as much gusto when he passed me or would wait until he was far away to do it. Finally after awhile I'd gotten bored taking pictures and videos so I tucked my camera away. The next time he walked by he gave it his all and mid-way looked down at me from the corner of his eye with a little glint of "ha ha ha! You're plans have been foiled!" . I had to bite my tongue to stop myself from laughing.. but I did catch him anyway even though the arm swirl in the video isn't as dramatic as it was when he wasn't on guard. Thank you concession guy for making my baseball night less boring. I'm not being mean, I truly think this guy is awesome. I'm sure he sells more than the whole bunch. Even more than the cute girls.

Anyway, whether you live in Japan, Korea and Taiwan.... even if you hate baseball and sports...try to hit one game at least. It's a unique experience.

Anyway here's a compilation of all of my baseball clips:

8.17.2008 First day in Tokyo (in video) Updated!

Tokyo - Day One from Catherine Daigle on Vimeo.

I've been uploading all my vids to Vimeo because the quality on youtube is horrible and I'm having issues getting my videos to upload to youtube. The quality is awesome considering the real quality of the video and Vimeo actually gives you a status bar to show you the progress of your upload. Very good stuff.

First day in Tokyo (in pictures)

Question from a 5 year old

Since I've come back from Japan I've dove back into work and straight into our school's summer camp program. It's a lot of extra work since we aren't provided with any materials but we are given complete "creative control". Basically pick a weekly theme and go from there.

Last week I chose to do the 5 food groups with my kindy class. Their food vocabulary is really good so I started to teach them the difference between fruit, vegetables, dairy, grain and meat. Mid-week I started the morning by showing them coloring pages I'd taken off the net and getting them to shout out which food group it is from. The kids have become naturally chatty which is awesome for an ESL class. So as I flashed the picture above one of my 5 year old students, who I've taught since he started learning English a couple years ago, tilted his head and with complete seriousness and curiosity asks "Teacher, that one is very stinky or very hot?" The absolute seriousness in his voice and "thirst for knowledge" on his face is what really killed me.

I nearly fell off my chair laughing followed by him and the other students. He didn't mean it as a joke but was pretty proud of himself after when I told the other teachers what he asked.

The image is from first-school, a really great resource for any kindy teachers out there.

Labels: ESL teaching, taipei