Today we visited a restaurant in Kotohira for lunch on the way to a climb the steps of a very famous temple and shrine. The lunch place was exactly to the sort of place we have avoided so far and hated ourselves for not having cahones plus grandes. It was busy, full of Japanese people and clearly unused to having stupid international tourists, limited on food pictures, no plastic food displays… exactly what we needed to do.
After looking at the menu in Japanese I pointed to the 1 of 2 photos on the menu (Ian pointed to the other) which perhaps was a bit of a cop out but to be fair it wasn’t clear exactly what you were getting, just that they were noodles, mine in a broth, Ian’s with tempura on top. It was a great atmosphere and a Japanese couple tried to strike up a conversation with us. We got by just fine and they gave us some boiled sweets for desert and perhaps knowing that we were going to climb up to the highest shrine after lunch and a beer which tickled them no end, I think it was to give us energy as we would clearly never manage it.
Tuesday, 21 July 2009
19/7 Claire - Hot coffee, in a can, from a machine
Vending machines that sell cold drinks are on every street in Japan. This morning I needed a kick start so got what looked like a can of cold coffee from said machine, imagine my delight when this was vended hot. A perfect black coffee… in a can!
19/7 Claire - Leaving Naoshima
We had to take our luggage to the local convenience store to forward today as the ryokans don’t do this. The service out of convenience stores is common and you just need to look for the service sign outside. I am not sure that Naoshima gets much overnight tourism (lots of day trippers on the ferry). Two reasons for this assumption, firstly, Miyake-san didn’t understand why Naoshima was on our trip itinerary and I had to explain that we had asked for this on our tailor-made schedule. Secondly, the confusion caused in the store this morning.
We were handed a form and told to complete it (I think, the lady shoved a pen in our direction) but we had been told to ask the person at the hotel or store to do this for us as the addresses and details need to be completed in Japanese writing which of course we can’t do. Two forms, debate between the shop owner and another customer on how to complete the form and a clear grump from an elderly lady (who was clearly upset that we were in the shop and getting in the way of her morning trade) and we were done. As the forms had been written, torn up and a new form rewritten our confidence level on them being correct was quite low. We took the form to the ryokan and had it confirmed that it was correct.
Our young cult friends drove us to the ferry port this morning which was very kind. As we passed the store our luggage was sat unattended on the pavement! Apparently this is OK and quite safe. If we see that luggage again I will eat my own feet.
We were handed a form and told to complete it (I think, the lady shoved a pen in our direction) but we had been told to ask the person at the hotel or store to do this for us as the addresses and details need to be completed in Japanese writing which of course we can’t do. Two forms, debate between the shop owner and another customer on how to complete the form and a clear grump from an elderly lady (who was clearly upset that we were in the shop and getting in the way of her morning trade) and we were done. As the forms had been written, torn up and a new form rewritten our confidence level on them being correct was quite low. We took the form to the ryokan and had it confirmed that it was correct.
Our young cult friends drove us to the ferry port this morning which was very kind. As we passed the store our luggage was sat unattended on the pavement! Apparently this is OK and quite safe. If we see that luggage again I will eat my own feet.
18/7 Ian - Talent borrows, genius steals….
And there we were, thinking Dyson had come up with something revolutionary with their Airblade. Turns out, those clever chaps at Mitsubishi got there first, and probably a good few years before judging by this version. Works perfectly though. Dyson just made it look git swanky. Talent borrows, genius steals, as the mighty (though now sadly defunct) Designer’s Republic used to say on repeated occasions….
18/7 Ian - The legend of Omiyake
Ok, so you get the gist of the legend that is Miyake-san from Claire’s account. This was by far the most insane experience so far – and quite possibly for all of Japan – warm and endearing and culturally inaccessible in equal measures. From the lovely lady in the little café, who had taught Japanese in the states for about 20 years, to Miyake-san himself, clearly mad as a box of frogs whether hammered or otherwise (we guess generally hammered, although he explained later at the dinner table, whilst pouring himself another glass of wine and brushing off the gentle reprimands of his ‘friend’ the young girl, that he was trying to keep it to a happy hour of 5pm-9pm, instead of starting drinking before breakfast, which is what he used to do) we spent the time laughing, smiling, trying to stifle sniggers, hiding looks of disbelief, or desperately trying not to cause offence whilst we hadn’t an idea what was going on.
We should have guessed something was a little ‘misaligned’ when the nice café lady kept suggesting that ‘he’ (as she always referred to Miyake-san when he wasn’t around) was out and about somewhere and would be back soon, and that ‘he’ would sort us out when ‘he’ got back. She also explained that Miyake-san was the 33rd in the Miyake bloodline (and if we understand this correctly, the O part of Omiyake signals his importance as the firstborn, and now head of the Miyake clan – or at least something like that anyway) and that the house had been in the family for over 400 years.
This contrasted nicely with Miyake-san’s explanation at the dinner table that he was back on the island as his 96 year-old father was about to cark it (all ceremonial preparations had already been made), the upkeep of the ryokan was both expensive and a right royal pain in the ass, and as soon as he could he was up for selling it and heading back to his beloved France, or possibly Belgium (perhaps with his wife, to whom he referred regularly, despite no concrete evidence, or maybe with one / some of his ‘girlfriends’ – we’re not sure) for a life of diplomatic luxury. I’m not sure we got a photo of this gent, but picture a short, tanned, wiry man in his 60s with gold fillings, the unnerving, piercing gaze of a clan-leader used to issuing orders, tatty shorts, t-shirt, and those round wire spectacles with flip tops (which were permanently flipped up).
He served Claire at the table, but told me to serve myself. He slipped young Japanese ladies sweets from his pockets. He held court at our (private?!) dinner table despite his broken English. He sat cross legged, when the guide books told us we should be kneeling. He told many broken, stumbling stories of his own past adventures, signalled his disgust that European rail passes do not work in the UK, and insisted that French wine was the best in the world, and that English wine would never happen. At one point Miyake-san and his guest / boy-servant entered into a separate, hushed conversation with frantic gesturing. They were trying to work out who it was that I looked like. Miyake-san started repeating to us “Die Hard, Die Hard…. you know, Broooose, Broooose….” and then the penny dropped: “Broooose Wiwwis. Broooose Wiwwis!”. Had we not been on the floor already, I think all five of us would have collapsed in fits of hysterics. They also liked the Agassi similarity once pointed out to them, although Harry Hill clearly hasn’t made it to Japan yet.
After all that, he jumped up at 10pm prompt, told us to make our own beds for the night (in a ryokan the futon only comes out of the cupboard for bedtime), and that was the last we saw of the legend. The young girl told us in the morning that they had been up until 2am. I suspect happy hour was extended by the landlord, and his ‘guests’ had no choice in the matter. Had we been staying another night on Naoshima I suspect we would both have been out with Miyake-san that morning, fishing for more massive sea bream for our dinner that evening. Perhaps that would have been all it took to stay there working for him, for who knows how long….?
The problem now is what to expect from our other forthcoming ryokan experiences? Is the guide book advice overly formal, or was Miyake-san something a little different to the norm? The Rough Guide recommends at least one stay in a traditional Japanese ryokan, stating: “Treat yourself to a night of luxury in a ryokan, a traditional Japanese inn, where you enter a world of understated elegance and meticulous service”. I’m not sure they had Omiyake in mind when they wrote that, but it was a cracking experience nonetheless….
18/7 Claire - Dinner with Miyake
Dinner was a fish that had been caught by the young woman earlier that morning. It was sea bream served with salad with a second course of burger covered in mustard sauce (?) with rice. The fish was the best fish I have ever tasted. The odd thing about dinner was that Miyake-san, and the young couple (who it turns out weren’t a couple but guests) served our meal. Miyake-san insisted the younger man sit with us while we ate our fish. He looked more uncomfortable than us but we tried to ask him why he had been asked to stay - his English was as good as our Japanese. It turned out he’d been told to stay to practice his English but Ian and I are crap teachers as we don’t know the Japanese translations for anything. So we all just continued to say things and look confused at each other.
Miyake-san and the two younger guests all returned back to our room dining area to chat. The young girl had excellent English and Miyake-san broken English. He had lived in France for a lot of years so French was his second language. He had also learnt the French way of loving French wine. In fact, I would go as far as to say he’d been loving his French wine quite a lot that day. Imagine a conversation in broken English with a Japenese man who had a Japanese/French accent who was clearly slaughtered and rambled incoherently and kept forgetting his train of thought. Even the other “guests” kept glancing at each other occasionally as if to roll their eyes. It turns out these other “guests” were kind of working at the guest house too. The woman originally had been a guest at the café but ended up staying here, she was 2 weeks into a 4 week stay – something about recuperation from a work issue (maybe stress?). The guy was here on his first day so no wonder he was looking as overwhelmed as we were. There was another young girl who’d been sailing with us. All of these people were about 30 years his junior, all introduced as his friends. I think perhaps he either offers inexpensive working holidays for young Japanese (preferably pretty ladies) OR he is the leader of a cult and once they visit they never get away.
Joking aside their generosity and kindness to make our stay comfortable was lovely. From the sailing trip, to catching the fish for dinner themselves, to bringing out English tea in china cups after dinner, to him sharing his French wine with us after dinner… these were all touches that made the experience great. Even if he was completely bonkers.
Miyake-san and the two younger guests all returned back to our room dining area to chat. The young girl had excellent English and Miyake-san broken English. He had lived in France for a lot of years so French was his second language. He had also learnt the French way of loving French wine. In fact, I would go as far as to say he’d been loving his French wine quite a lot that day. Imagine a conversation in broken English with a Japenese man who had a Japanese/French accent who was clearly slaughtered and rambled incoherently and kept forgetting his train of thought. Even the other “guests” kept glancing at each other occasionally as if to roll their eyes. It turns out these other “guests” were kind of working at the guest house too. The woman originally had been a guest at the café but ended up staying here, she was 2 weeks into a 4 week stay – something about recuperation from a work issue (maybe stress?). The guy was here on his first day so no wonder he was looking as overwhelmed as we were. There was another young girl who’d been sailing with us. All of these people were about 30 years his junior, all introduced as his friends. I think perhaps he either offers inexpensive working holidays for young Japanese (preferably pretty ladies) OR he is the leader of a cult and once they visit they never get away.
Joking aside their generosity and kindness to make our stay comfortable was lovely. From the sailing trip, to catching the fish for dinner themselves, to bringing out English tea in china cups after dinner, to him sharing his French wine with us after dinner… these were all touches that made the experience great. Even if he was completely bonkers.
18/7 Claire - Japanese bathing, what do you do?
Later we wanted to get clean and had read in the rough guide and travel agent’s reference book about bathing etiquette. Usually this means that the hot bath is already filled and for communal use, it can be booked for private use and the routine is that you shower thoroughly before using the bath but never pull out the plug as the hot bath is only filled once a day. Upon finding Omiyake’s bathroom the bath was empty and it was about the width and length of a bath at home, just double the depth. Not as I was expecting, and not big enough that you can imagine communal bathing.
Finding Miyake-san was not going to be easy but I did manage to find a young couple who did explain that the bathroom was available 24hrs. However, at this point we were unsure if dinner was due soon, would there be enough time to bath, did we fill the bath and leave water in, pull the plug? It was all very confusing. Ian did find Miyake-san later and we determined that we could get washed before dinner (but we did pull the plug)
Finding Miyake-san was not going to be easy but I did manage to find a young couple who did explain that the bathroom was available 24hrs. However, at this point we were unsure if dinner was due soon, would there be enough time to bath, did we fill the bath and leave water in, pull the plug? It was all very confusing. Ian did find Miyake-san later and we determined that we could get washed before dinner (but we did pull the plug)
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