I know it’s a bit late, but I just wanted to say happy Mother’s Day to all the wonderful mothers in my life!!!
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Wow, it’s hard to believe that I have had this website up and running since before I went to Europe in 2008. This is just now my 100th post. At least I’m averaging more than one a month.
Things have been going well. It’s the hanami (flower viewing) season here in Japan, which means the cherry blossoms are out in full force. It actually started when I came back from Bankok. I had the opportunity to see the cherry blossoms in the famous Ueno park in Tokyo. It was a strange year for the Sakura (cherry blossoms) though. They started blooming in Tokyo first, which is very unusual. Usually it starts in Kyushu (the southernmost main island), and slowly works it’s way up through Honshu (the largest of the main islands), and finally ends in Hokkaido (the northernmost of the main islands). This year it started in Tokyo, which is in the center of Honshu. I think the reason for this is because they had an usual warm front hit Tokyo before the other places.
Whatever caused it doesn’t really matter too much to me though, since I was lucky enough to land when the blossoms were in full bloom.
“So why is the hanami season so important in Japan?” you may be asking.
I’m glad you asked. So honestly, I don’t know the history, or why this one flower is the most important when they have so many other beautiful flowers. It may be because it’s so abundant and it’s one of the first to bloom, starting off quite a long viewing season. It may just be due to the fact that they are so beautiful. Whatever the original reason, it is huge here. It has become everyone’s excuse to go to the park for a picnic, and drink sake until they can’t stand anymore.
Now, I understand, anyone can have a picnic and get drunk. I know. But what makes this so extraordinary is the fact that everyone does it at the same time. People travel long distances to see famous trees and buy the local sake and special foods. Some people, rather than backpacking through Europe or other places, will travel from southern Japan to the north to follow the blooming sakura.
It’s pretty amazing.
Now, about my season. I had two good weekends of hanami, minus my day in Ueno Park.
Last week, the sakura in Koriyama were blooming, so I decided to walk around the city. It was beautiful, and since I had no end in mind, I found quite a few beautiful places. After walking for about an hour and a half, I ended up at the big park in Koriyama. There are so many sakura there. Since it’s such an important time, I was able to buy festival food. I had yakitori (meat on a stick) and some beer and just walked around and enjoyed the day. There were so many people there. After I left the park, I just walked around some more before finally heading back home. All in all, I think I walked around the city for about 4-5 hours just looking at the cherry blossoms.
My school had our Hanami Party on Saturday. It wasn’t outdoors though due to the fact that there are quite a few teachers and students who have allergies. We ended up going to a fairly nice restaurant. We talked and drank all night long. One of the other teachers crashed at my place because he couldn’t drive back. Then on Sunday morning, upon waking, we found that it was snowing. It is very rare to get snow during the hanami season. It has only happened twice in the last 15 years. He is from Aizu, and the blossoms there bloom about a week after Koriyama, so we decided to go check it out. It was amazing. I had no idea how beautiful it could have been. I wish I had the words to describe it to you, but I couldn’t even begin to do it service, so with that, I will send you to my gallery page so that you can see it for yourself.
The places that I went
- Ueno Park – Tokyo
- Kannon Sama Goddess – Aizu Mura Park – Aizu, Fukushima
- Tsuruga Castle – Aizu-Wakamatsu, Fukushima
In closing, if you get a chance to visit Japan during the hanami season, I highly recommend it. Yes, the flowers are beautiful, but more than that, you get to witness the best of the Japanese culture. I can probably honestly say that this is the one time of the year that makes all the troubles I’ve had to go through well worth it.
This is a video of soil liquefaction during the earthquake on March 11, 2011. I live in Koriyama, which is a little over 100 miles from the epicenter of the earthquake. Chiba is about twice the distance, or further than Koriyama.
You can hear her whispering “Yabai” which is basically the equivalent to “OMG!!!” In short, what’s happening is that the soil under the ground has been turned to quicksand. The pressure from the earthquake is forcing the water into the streets. There are some other videos if you search that show some of the other things that happened in Chiba.
Despite this being a very old video, this is the first time I’ve seen it.
Just thought this is interesting.
I’m home, and I’m exhausted. Bangkok was beautiful and disgusting all at the same time. I think the only way to keep my thoughts in order is to break this down by category. so here I go:
Food
The food is delicious. I think the most surprising thing was the price. I don’t think I paid more than $3-4 for any meal, and most cost less than $1. I expected the food to be spicy, but what shocked me the most was what food was spicy. For example. The salad, while in western culture, is usually a mild flavorful appetizer to a nice spicy entree, was probably some of the spiciest foods that I ate. More specifically, in papaya salad, they use the fruit juices as dressing, and it blends with the chilli peppers. Every bite burned every part of my mouth, including my lips. It basically made beer a requirement for every meal since beer has the cooling effect of bread.
My favorite dish was actually the same thing that I used to eat at Tulsa Thai restaurants. It was the Pad See Iew (definitely don’t know how to spell it). It’s basically a very large fried noodle with various vegetables and cilantro. It was easily the best meal I had.
The beer is good, but they put ice in it since Thailand is always so hot. I tried this, but I just couldn’t keep doing it. It waters down the beer, and makes it taste pretty nasty. I just ended up drinking my glass rather quickly and moved on to the next.
The fruits are some of the best I’ve ever had. They were so fresh, and cheap. I ate pineapple, papaya, watermelon, mango, as well as a few others every day. Everything was so sweet. The street fruit vendors made walking around in super hot Bangkok manageable.
Buildings
The buildings were both beautiful and terrible. I have never seen such a combination of high class, ultra rich right next to run down, ghetto style buildings, with a few ancient traditional buildings in the mix. It was more shocking than anything.
Having said that, the temples were beautiful. You can really see the effects that Buddhism has had on the culture, and its importance even today. Monks are revered, and cared for by everyone. Statues dedicated to the faith are all over the place. It is really a beautiful sight.
Markets
The markets are really cheap. I was shocked that I could buy almost anything at their street markets. Sure, some of it is used, but a lot of it is hand made. I think my favorite thing at the markets were the baby coconuts. They just chop a hole in the top and then give you a straw to drink the water inside. They cost about $1, which is a little expensive considering the prices of everything else, but it was well worth it on a hot day.
People
The people are wonderful. Everyone is. They are always so happy, and they are so caring. More than once was I offered free food when I was walking through parks. Everyone was happy to talk to me if they could understand some English. They acted like they really wanted to help me if I was lost. I never felt as if I was imposing on them. They are very laid back and relaxed. It was the complete opposite of what I see everyday in Japan.
Despite their happiness, I was shocked at the economic disparity in Bangkok. As I said in the buildings section, you have the ghettos mixed in with the ultra rich. There are poor people everywhere. Victims of war with missing limbs, as well as children, begging for money can be seen in every part of the city. It killed me. I really felt like I wanted to do something to help, but simultaneously felt that there was nothing I could do.
It’s strange though, because it seems as if they just accept life. It’s sad that there is little ambition to improve, but the fact that they are still very happy despite all the terrible things they have lived through. I don’t know that I can put the feelings into words. It was just… amazing.
Final Thoughts
Bangkok is a city of extremes. There is very little moderation there. You can have anything you want, and there is very little oversight. I must admit, that while I had fun, it’s not a place I want to go back to. Yes, I think everyone should visit once. As an American, I know that I used to live in a tiny bubble, and was only exposed to terrible living conditions when I saw the “Feed the Children” videos on TV. It’s so much more powerful when you see it with your own eyes. It’s amazing how I was always able to separate myself from “those poor people” who have nothing. I never considered that there were any similarities between them and myself, but after talking with them, and seeing how they live on a daily basis, I understand how we are all the same. The difference is only where we were born. I was born in a place where I have many many opportunities. They were born in a place where they have nothing. In many cases, they don’t even have the ability to make a choice to improve their lives. They just do what they can to survive, and enjoy the parts of it that they can.
I think I will definitely go back to Thailand, but next time I’ll either go to the northern or southern parts.
I know I left a lot out, and I’m sorry about that. I’m still a little fuzzy from the traveling. Feel free to ask any questions, and if there’s interest, I may make another post to talk more about what everyone else is interested in.
The title is a little misleading. I am far from chilling. It’s been around 90-95 degrees and extremely humid everyday so far, and the night isn’t much better.
It’s a blast though. The food is spicy. Great going down, not so great… well, I’ll just let you use your imagination to finish that one.
I have many pics, but the internet here is far from optimal, so you’re just going to have to wait for me to get back before I can upload them to the gallery.
I haven’t done many touristy things yet. Mostly, I’ve just been getting a lay of the land. Been relaxing a lot (sleeping in, eating, taking a nap, then waking up to go out for the evening). I’m going to be going to a temple here in a few minutes, so I’m pretty excited about that.
I’ll try to keep everyone updated here and on Twitter.