Mochi cream in Narita

yeah... It's all coming back to me. The iresistable frozen Mochi cream shop in the airport. As if we are trying to prolong our stay beyond the checkpoint, we have traced our way to the Mochi place and indulged in cheese cake and strawbery Mochi. A last glass of Draft Yebisu and a final noodle bowl with sliced grilled pork. We are leaving Japan with a taste of more...

Camels in Japan.

There are no Camels in Japan. When I first visited the US, in the late 70's, people asked me if I owned a Camel and if that is how I got to school. I always considered it a result of ignorance. Israel was a modern country and my Dad was driving an American car at the time.
During this trip to Japan, I had a few "Camel" gaffes and I am about to put myself to shame as a way of redemption.
Rice fields:
on the plane to Tokyo,a lady named Michiko was sitting next to me And we struck a conversation about what to see in Japan. I asked her where can we best see Rice Fields in the country. Well folks, the answer is everywhere. Other then down town Tokyo, there is no single road or view that does not include a rice field somewhere. We have 2,000 km of footage to prove it.
Buddha:
When riding into Kyoto, a giant Buddha statue was seen on the mountain above one of the town's shrines. Whe I was discussing what to see in Kyoto, with the concierge in the hotel, I asked what is the site of the giant stone Buddha. The lady concierge giggled in a typical Japanese way and told me that it was not Buddha, just a stone statue... It sure looked like Buddha to me.
Shoji doors:
Our first night was spent in a traditional Ryokan in Goyakama, a heritage village near Nagano. Danielle was interested to know how do the people here keep the snow out of the house, with the Japanese doors made wood and paper doors. She asked a girl who was sharing dinner with us, how do the doors with Rice paper windows, keep the snow out. The girl giggled and told us that it is just paper, not Rice paper... Didn't we always learn that Japanese doors and screens are made with wood and rice papers?...

Robataya Tokyo

Life is good. Having dinner at Robataya Tokyo. An amazing grand finale to a great trip.
Amira, our chef, takes the ingredients from the stage in front of him, and prepares them on either a grill or a steamer that are positioned around him. We chose Sashimi for starts, baby crabs that were grilled as crunchy snacks, Red Mullet on a skewer and beef skewers for Danielle chan. The dinner was very entertaining. The orders were shouted across the room by the waiters and fresh Mochi was stamped in traditional fashion in a large stone mortar.
A few bottles of Yebisu beer accompanied the dinner. After his shift, Akira showed us their celebrity photo album, with Sting, Brad & Angelina, and other car racers, actors, singers and statesman.
Semi dry Sake in a box and sweet Mandarine slices, sealed the dinner.
Hopped in a cab and back to the hotel.
Tomorrow we will be heading back home.

Returning the bike

Time to drive the bike back to the Japan Bike Rent shop. Safta chan and I get on the GS one final time and program the location of JBR in the GPS. Two times right, and we are on the onramp to the 20 Expressway. 200 meters further, a frantic toll cashier, waves to us with a Luke Skywalker wand, and explains to us in fluent Japanese, that we can not ride two up on freeways in Tokyo.
It all came back to us. We new the rule but forgot about it. It stemed from a time when the police was cracking down on Yakooza gangs, roaming the city two up, shooting each other. He insisted we turn around and head back where we came from. Only this time, we were driving against the two lane traffic in kamikaze style, breaking one rule just to comply with another. I hugged the wall, turned my hazard lights on, and stepped on it. Safta chan had her eyes closed and was screaming...
Down the incline and a uturn, and we were safe again, back on our way on side roads.

Tokyo fish market

This is our last day of the trip. We started the day at 6am in the Tokyo Tsukiji fish market. I am sure lots of blogs write about this place. It's the second time I visit the market and just like 10 years ago, the first thing that struck me was the smell of sea as opposed to fish. We were late for the Tuna auction but still got view of the large yellow fins being distributed and processed. We maneuvered our way sjillfuly around the cazy motor trucks that zoof to and from the loading dicks. Tokyo gets it's fresh delivery of dish and sea food for the day.
I coul not name more then five items I have seen. The variety is stunning. Thousends of merchants, dealers and restaurant owners, choose their pick. An amazing culinary experience, but not for the faint of heart.
We ended the morning at a food stand on the edge of the market, with a KaisenDob, a fish sashimi sampler on a ball of rice.

June 2nd - Zaba san 50th Birthday

Feels good to be 50. Met a couple of geezers celebrating one's 74th Birthday Japanese style. Traditional dinner, visit to a Geisha lounge and a day of Golf. Sure have something to look forward to. There is life after 50...
We had grand plans for the day. A skyline drive or two, that would bring us to Tobe, the birth place of the cultured Pearl, and a harbor of a ferry boat that will bring us closer to Mt Fuji. A combination of GPS programing error (user error I admit) and lack of time, put us on a different rout. Shorter but never the less beautiful. As we got used to, twists, beautiful views and endless rice fields. The drive was fantastic.but by the time we got to Toba, the only available room we could find, was a mediocre Japanese style hotel. The people were very excited for having foreigners on a bike come stay with them. It was nice friendly Motel 6 stay.
The morning after we packed and left. Driving by Pearle island, we got on a ferry heading across the bay. An hour later, we were on our way to Shuzenji.

Kobe Beef in Kobe

Aritsugu Kyoto food market

Kyoto market BBQ squid

June 1st

For our second day in Kyoto, we had planned a visit to Aritsugu, the 450 year knife maker, and a trip to the near by Kobe, for a Kobe beef, steak.
The path to Aritsugo was going through a half mile long food market. Needless to say, by the time we got to Mr. Aritsugu's store, we had steamed Rice patties with leek and shrimps, bamboo wrapped rice patties with sweet minced beef, baby octopus, marinated in sweet soy sauce and grilled on a bamboo stick. yummmmmm.
A pickle shop with adjacent pickling room, provided some samples of Cucumbers, Aubergines, Bamboo shoots and Daikon, in fermented rice.
The knife store was a surprise. I expected an old man leaning over the fire stove, hammering his knives into shape. instead, we found a immaculate, modern designed store, with an astonishing selection of Japanese for each and every task from the finest carving knives to butcher axes.
One sided blade knives were presented with a left and right handed variations. After some consultation, I have chosen a knife to be added to my collection. Not that I needed another knife, but how often do you get the opportunity to buy a knife from Mr. Aritsugo's half century old establishment?
An hour trip on the Bike later, we were wandering the streets of Kobe. The town was nothing to write home about. It has been largely wiped out in the '95 earth quake and new meaningless buildings have been erected.
A web search and some walking around brought us to a reasonably good teppan yaki restaurant. Our table side chef, prepared for us, simple but mouth watering filet and entrecôte of Kobe beef, accompanied with nothing but salt from a near by mountain.
Walking out of the restaurant, we both agreed that it has been the best steak we have ever had. Ever!!!
The trip back home (Westin Kyoto, that is) has taken forever. I forgot to turn off the "avoid toll roads" option on the GPS. I don't think I have ever rode 60+ km on surface roads. Surely not at night, on the left side of the road, in a foreign country.
Once again, a shower and bed were a welcoming finale to an eventful day.
Tomorrow is my Birthday and the beginning of the trip back north to Tokyo.