Traveling in Japan:Tips, Tricks & Things to make your life easier

I've been traveling to Japan since I was a small child. There was a time that I used to have my mom and uncles take care of everything for me.  Then I turned into an adult with adult responsibilities and somehow overnight, I turned Type A [shut up, friends who have known me for decades] and had to start planning EVERYTHING.   Suddenly, I'm the one planning our HUGE family trip to Japan. 

Here are some simple tips that I've picked up along the way.  Hope it's of interest to you!

Cellphone: Bonaventure Cellphones is the best plan I've found so far.  They offer a family plan that allows you to call within your "family plan" for free! All incoming calls are free as well, for the low price of $5.95 per day.  Unfortunately, with my large group, I had a difficult time finding that many cellphones so be sure to reserve EARLY, especially during the high season summer months.

Takkyubin: I love this service.  I bring an @$$load of omiyage [gifts] for my family when I visit.  Trying to navigate the train stations with a lot of luggage nearly sends me into a meltdown [especially when I get knocked over by 80 year old women rushing for their train].  Having Takkyubin ship to my first [or second] destination makes my life a sweet dream. You'll find this service once you exit the baggage claim and immigration area.  Rates depend on distance. [I normally use Kuroneko]

Get familiar with your surroundings before you leave: google maps is the best thing in travel.  I can see the neighborhood and visualize the actual walk!  It's fantastic and has saved many of my trips, just based on visual confirmations!!

Japan Rail Pass: I have mixed feelings about the Rail Pass.  Depending on your travel, it doesn't always pay to get this.  My family lives pretty far south of Tokyo so it's almost always a necessity for me to get one.  However, if you're just doing day trips from Tokyo, it may not necessarily be cost effective to have one.  Check with Hyperdia [see below] for rates.

Train Departures and Routes: It's not perfect but I find that this search engine is the best thing for helping me find out which trains will get me to my next destination, how long it'll take and what time it departs.  www.hyperdia.com

Kanji:  You've searched high and low on Chowhound for the perfect restaurant. You wrote out the name [in English, of course], the address, and phone number only to discover that the address means nothing to you since the numbering system is illogical [and you forgot to google map your walk], you can't speak Japanese to get directions to the restaurant, and the only restaurant name on the building is written in Kanji [Japanese characters].  Trust me, once you figure out what neighborhood your restaurant is in, you'll want to have the restaurant name in Kanji so you can identify it enough to get IN to the restaurant.

ATM and Credit Cards: Call your bank and credit card companies to let them know that you will be traveling abroad so Loss Prevention doesn't put a hold on your cards. I've heard a lot of people talk about special "chips" that are in credit cards/atm cards in Japan, however, as of this writing, I've never had problems with my US issued ones.  The best place [for me] to withdraw money has been at post offices, even with the limited business hours.

Well, I'm off to Japan and I'll see you when I get back! Be on the lookout for my postcard to you!

POSTCARD: Greetings from Cabo San Lucas

Dear Mi Amigos:

I've been a busy little bee lately.  Last weekend I was learning how to make soba and completing my very first triathlon.  Now I'm back from Cabo San Lucas, a very welcome reprieve from my oh-so-difficult-life [especially before my Griswald Family Adventure].  I haven't been here since 2004.  Boy, has it changed a lot. The streets are so much wider than what I rememberd.

People have been asking me if I was afraid to travel to Mexico.  Seriously?? Have you seen my neighborhood [ok, probably (hopefully) not for most of you, but I live in Los Angeles. Enough said.]?  I'm more afraid of walking around after dark in my 'hood than walking buck nekkid down the beaches in Mexico [which seriously, is a scarier sight for everyone else involved].

Plus the people here were so friendly [and really, how can you be afraid of these guys]!  They all seemed to be waiting for me with a drink in hand...

Besides, how can you beat THESE views.  It's absolutely amazing.  

And the food.  I love Mexican food.   Of course, I sampled some taquitos [small tacos, not the rolled up deep fried cigar shaped things we eat here in 'Merica] from Gardenia's:

and some wonderful twist on shrimp cocktail with a Beer Foam:

 ...and dessert...you know, my favorite part of the meal.  My favorite by far was the green ones on the right  - pistachio chocolate.  Yummm.

My favorite view was from Sunset da Mona Lisa Restaurant...It gives you a breathtaking view of famed Los Arcos.  They also have a dish that uses a lava rock to cook your meat on.  It was fantastic!

One new thing that I learned while I was in Cabo was that Mexico provides about 30% of all organic produce sold in the United States! I had no idea but I decided to go down and take a look at one of the organic farms while I was there. 

Flora Farms was amazing.  It was a haven in the midst of the dusty desert for the road weary travelers that we were.  It was so refreshingly green with shade trees and herbs everywhere, despite the fact that it was not growing season!  Not only was it a haven for me, but it was also a haven for stray dogs, the very first Humane Society in Los Cabos [see below. i love that crazy dog]. One feature of this farm that I was not able to partake in was the cooking classes that were offered. I need to make another trip down there soon so I can correct that!

All in all - a very wonderful getaway!

Artisan Soba Making Class, Los Angeles

My family is a noodle family - ramen, udon, somen, soba, chow mein, lo mein, spaghetti - there isn't a noodle that I've met that I haven't liked.  My dad, a traditional Japanese papa, loves noodles so much that several decades ago, he actually bought a pasta maker and buckwheat just so that he could make his own from scratch.  It was so much work for as much soba that he ate that he eventually gave it up and went back to store bought.

A few months ago, I came across the website of Sonoko Sanai, Cook Tells a Story about a soba making class last year that was SOLD out.  I stalked her website until I saw the magic words, "Soba Making Class Schedule 2010".  I hauled @$$ to get registered and called Fuji Mama RIGHT away, you know, AFTER I made sure MY registration was in. Yeah, I suck. I know it.

Due to some technical difficulties [unfortunately for them], Rachael and I were the only students in the class [fortunately for us!].  I was very nervous when I first stood at the table.  You see, I studied Japanese Classical Dancing for many, many years. We brought in a very, very scary little Sensei from Japan who's method of correction was using the bamboo end of her fan [a dancer's tool of the trade] to smack me.  Hard. So you can imagine my apprehension and fear as I stood waiting for instruction knowing that the tools of THIS trade was a evil looking knife and a rolling pin.

I started to relax once the class began and sensei's sincere desire to share his craft came through. He gently instructed us on how to handle the soba, the exacting measurements of the authentic edo era artisan soba  - nihachi soba [a 2 AP flour to 8 buckwheat flour proportion], as well as allowing us to taste the Hitachi soba flour.  

Beautiful, snowy white soba

The amazing and talented La Fuji Mama [who's Japanese skills are probably far greater than mine if only she wasn't too shy use it!!] ROCKED the class.  The sensei declared her an "intermediate" student of soba making due to her virtuoso handling of the dough.  It was such a therapeutic and calming act to work with the soba with your hands, kneading the dough, rolling out, and cutting.  I LOVED it.  

Fuji Mama showing off her Mad Skillz

Although I should have expected it, knowing how exact so many things are in the Japanese culture, I never expected the precision and mathematical knowledge that is needed to produce the perfect soba noodle.  I mean, really.  There are only TWO ingredients in Soba - Soba flour and  Filtered [preferably soft] Water.  A humidity gauge was used to determine the percentage of water to add for that day.  That means that day to day the proportion of water to flour can change. And to mix the flour? Finger tips only and very gently [the only time you should use your finger tips throughout the process].

As for rolling out the dough? 1.5 mm thick.  Exactly. We even measured it to make sure it really was.

Each noodle was cut to a precise 1.3mm by angling the knife 1.3 degrees to the left. I'm no mathematical genius so my cuts were all over the place.

I discovered after the cuts that although my EDGES were 1.5mm thick the center was not...hence my crazy and fat noodles...

The soba was boiled for only 2 minutes, no more, then shocked in cold ice water to stop the cooking process.

But after all that hard work, we were able to enjoy the wonderful soba!

It's not too late to sign up for the class if you're in Los Angeles in the month of June. Please visit Mazumizu for the schedule and to register!

POSTCARD: Greetings from Sedona, AZ

Dear [whatever the heck your name is]:

June. In Arizona. What was I thinking? I was lucky that it was early June so while the weather was warm it was actually very comfortable! I had the opportunity to enjoy a wonderful dinner out on the patio served by Hilton's Chef Stephen Crossett: a trio of Bison over Sweet Potatoes with a splash of molasses, Lobster Tamales, and Seared Ahi Tuna with Chili Quinoa. I really wish I had some more right now.

I had a lot of preconceived ideas of what Sedona would be like: red rocks, fire-like sunsets,  new age-y stores, and a wealth of artistic talents.  I was right on all counts but what I didn't expect was the stunning views.  To get a better vantage point of Sedona, I joined the Pink Jeep Tours based in Uptown Sedona.  Pink Jeep Tours is celebrating their 50th year in business.  With a fleet of 65 jeeps, their business was certainly brisk!

On our tour, I tried so desperately to capture the stunning views but I'm just a craptastic photographer.  Well, that and the fact that the ride was crazy! We climbed up hills, rode down declines that I thought would cause us to tip over.  It was explained to me that each jeep was retrofitted with $15,000 worth of upgraded suspension [that did not preventing me from screaming or calling out for my mommy at one point].

During one of our 2 stop offs, I did manage to get some photos of the flora/fauna in Sedona...

It's amazing how the desert flora/fauna just pops against the color of the red rock. Incidentally, in case you were wondering the redness in the rock is caused by iron deposits [iron turns to rust].  What was really interesting was seeing petrified rain:

See the lighter color/white dots on the red rock? That's the petrified rain.  Still scratching my head over how they actually KNOW that its rain but I'll just take their word for it.

Wish you were here to enjoy this view!

Love,

Jen


Hilton Sedona Resort & Spa
90 Ridge Trail Drive
Sedona, AZ 86351
928.284.4040

Pink Jeep Tours
204 N State Route 89A
Sedona, AZ 86336
800.873.3662