Things I didn't know about Japan

After being in Japan for about 3 weeks I've learned several things about this wonderful country. I love the people so I'm not criticizing; these items just surprised me. 

1. Convenience stores and supermarkets carry a lot of processed food; fresh fruit and vegetables are extremely expensive; especially grapes ($0.30 each seedless grape!) 

2. Finding somewhere to buy/enjoy hot green tea is a challenge; if they serve tea at all, coffee shops and other places seem to only serve English breakfast.

3. Food in one form or another is for sale everywhere; temptation to eat is great. Sweets, fried food, and meat are prevalent.

4. Difficult to avoid cigarette smoke (like Korea).

5. People with tattoos are forbidden in swimming pools.

6. Real Greek yogurt can't be found.

7. Trash cans are few and far between and very small yet packaging of items one buys (like food) seems excessive; except for bottles, recycling doesn't seem common; where does all the trash go?

8. It is against the rules to break up a bunch of bananas. Typically bananas are sold in bunches wrapped in plastic so one has to buy the package. On the rare occasion when a store sells bunches that are not wrapped in plastic, the bunches are large (8 or more bananas) and you are not allowed to break off and buy 1 or 2 bananas; I tried and was scolded when I got to the cashier and not allowed to buy the 2 bananas I'd broken from the bunch:)

9. Temples everywhere, especially Kyoto, but difficult to find one that will allow foreigners to stay and practice.

Photo of a rare trash can (aka dust box).

Onigiri

Like a lot of Japanese I've become a big fan of Onigiri or rice balls; I especially enjoy them filled with salmon. Their convenience and cost (less than $1 each make them great for travel so you seem a lot of them in train stations and in convenience stores. I usually buy one or a bento box when traveling by train or bus for some distance. They are wrapped in nori (seaweed) which help hold the rice together and vice them.a crunch. There is a trick to unwrapping the plastic; if done wrong (as I've done) when the  the plastic wrapper is removed the nori will also be removed. It took this western mind a few tries to figure it out:)

Nara

Took the 1 hour train ride from Kyoto station to Nara today; called JR rapid service train but made 14 stops along the 1 hour route. No worries though, the 0849 train was not crowded and the sunny day provided good viewing from my window seat.

Nara is beautiful with lots of temples and fall colors; and lots of tourists:)

Beautiful walk up a lantern- and tree-lined path with lots of deer begging for handouts. I paid the 500yen admission to the small but beautiful botanical garden which the deer are excluded from.

Luggage for traveling RTW

When traveling for business I lived out of my 20- inch roll-on; it was small enough to carry on most planes, including international. And most importantly, rarely did I need to go up or down stairs.

Traveling round-the-world is completely different as stairs seem to be everywhere, especially subways and train stations. I feel sorry for the many tourists I see lugging their heavy roll-ins up and down  very steep and long stairs. Another challenge for roll-on luggage is the braille pattern embedded in most walkways in Korea and Japan; rolling luggage over a bumpy walkway appears difficult and one doesn't realize how many non-smooth walkways there are until one travels with a roll-on suitcase.

Another luggage option I see, especially young Europeans is the large backpack that extends from the butt to the top of your head. These packs carry a lot; I used them many times to lug 40-50 pounds of supplies to hiking and climbing base camps. Unfortunately every time you need something it seems it is at the bottom of the pack. Also, they can be a bit top heavy when full and it is easy to bump into people and things without knowing it; they are also too big for carry on trains and planes; basically they are meant for and work best outdoors.

While researching for this trip I came across Tortuga  backpacks designed for the type of traveling I'm doing. It is a compact backpack that can be carried on your back or as a piece of luggage and the size fits all but the most stringent carry on limits. But the best part about these bags is that they pack and open like a suitcase so it is easy to find things.

I use small zipping bags to organize things within my pack and keep non-clothing items in a small day pack I wear in front.

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Rice cakes

Stumbled upon a small shop selling rice cakes; photos show making a soy and seaweed covered rice cake for me - delicious!

Cycling in Japan

I expected to see a lot of people riding bikes in Japan; what I didn't expect is how many people ride without helmets and/or without lights. Of the many cyclists I've seen to date, only a handful wore helmets. Even more surprising is the rarity of lights on bikes riding at night; including riding on busy streets! 

Bike rentals are common in cities; prices seem to range from $25 to about $45 per day; rental bikes are functional but don't expect a new, mountain, or fancy road bike for this price.

Kyoto

Kyoto is a beautiful city; but most of the world already knows this because they are here with me this week:) like most beautiful cities, they've been discovered and many people come to Kyoto this time of year for autumn colors. I was thinking the other day how we humans never tire of seeing the annual change in foliage color; what keeps us coming back?

Anyway, if I were to visit Kyoto again it would be during a different time of year; maybe December? I'm staying at the travelers inn which is a low budget ($50/N) hotel with a great location; upscale places nearby include the Westin Miyaka (where I stayed last week) and the Ritz (where I can't afford to stay:) these and most other nice hotels and ryokans are booked months and sometimes years in advance so for the 2nd weekend in a row I'm leaving Kyoto. museums, shops, restaurants, zoo, temples, and more are abundant in this part of town. Subway stations and bus stops are within walking and one can get to the large Kyoto station in about 30minutes from which one can get to just about anywhere in Japan via train.

To be fair, Kyoto is not just about fall colors and temples; it is a culturally diverse and rich city. For example today there was a world food day where one could try foods from around the world; surprisingly, I couldn't find one vegetarian entree:)