Candyland

I have recovered sufficiently to do a proper post again. So let’s get to it.

The 25th Annual National Confectionary Convention was held in Himeji in the grounds of the castle this year. It promised sweets to eat, beautiful sweets to look at, rare sweets to buy and generally an extravaganza of sweets. Fran being Fran this appealed to her greatly and off we set to candy land.

What it actually delivered was sweets to eat, beautiful sweets to look at, rare sweets to buy, and insanely hot day and enormous crowds. So it wasn’t quite the brilliant day I had envisaged.



It all started when we got to the castle and negotiated the signage to get into the convention grounds. Neither of us can really read Japanese and the English signage was infrequent so we could only hazard a guess at what each tent contained. We opted to try our hand at something we think was called “Glico land.” Glico is the company that makes pocky and any regular readers will know that I am a big big fan of the pocky. Anticipating free pocky I eagerly got in line.



The better part of an hour later I got into the tent and was sorely disappointed. The thing was absolutely crawling with kids and had exhibits up for all the major confectionary brands in Japan, Meiji, Glico, Calbee, Fujiya and a few others. The problem was whilst there was a lot to do in there; there was nothing for adults to do. We got some free poifull (a kind of jellybean) and a free donut and had exhausted the possibilities of the tent for adults. Having queued for the better part of an hour I was really quite annoyed.



Still I endeavoured to cheer myself by buying an ice cream. It being exceedingly hot this had the added bonus of cooling me down too. My ice cream was excitingly bright blue but it had a flavour that was quite vanilla like but yet a little bit off. Fran claimed to recognise it but neither of us could identify it. Nice though.

Finding an English sign we set off for the main exhibit in the convention, the collection of sweets from all over Japan. This was a tent divided into sections for the different prefectures of Japan and inside each section were traditional sweets unique to the region. Japan is very keen on its regional distinctions and regional varieties abound in everything from sake and sweets to rice crackers, snacks, savoury food and even just rice. Other than the rice (although Japanese people will strongly disagree with me) you really can tell the difference a lot of the time. This is not a homogenised country like Britain where food is much the same from one end to the other. For example the Takoyaki (octopus dumplings) in Osaka, a city significantly closer to Kobe than Leeds is to Manchester say, are phenomenally different (and much better). In fact in Kobe’s neighbouring city Akashi they serve Akashi-yaki which is octopus dumplings floating in a soup.

However I am no expert of the regional foods in Japan and English signs were non-existent so I contented myself with staring open mouthed at some of the phenomenal creations that the chefs had made for this exhibition.

Before I did that though, I had to get into the tent. The queue for this was much shorter (it was a bigger tent) but just as we got to the front we were suddenly stopped by some commotion. A load of photographers and television cameras started to gather in front of me; obviously some VIP was going to emerge shortly to have their photo taken. Eventually a kindly silver haired man and assorted hangers on started to arrive from inside the tent and set up a table in front of the entry. Japanese people started cheering and some people took photos of him. I asked someone in the queue who he was and in broken English he told me that he was the “Osaka number one boss. President.” I take this to mean that I met the Mayor of Osaka. Better than that though, shortly after he arrived they started the queue again and the mayor started handing out free sweets to people going into the tent. Not only did I meet the mayor of Osaka but he gave me some doriyaki too!



It was good doriyaki as well.

Anyway we eventually got into the tent and started gazing at the fabulous creations.

Creations such as:



This married couple that I think was some kind of cake.



“bye bye Miss American pie”










This temple constructed of sheets of mochi (rice cakes).

The blackest most evil looking Youkan I have ever seen.

Taiyaki!!!



This unbelievably nice looking mochi.







More fish.



Little sakura flowers.



Purple crisps.









This baked castle.



These amazing sea anemone style things made from sugar I assume.



And bunnies! For some reason Fran attracts rabbits wherever she goes.

We also saw:

This recreation of a famous Japanese artwork in mochi.













Another Japanese painting re-created. I particularly liked the jelly river with the koi carp swimming in it.









This quite disturbing boar’s head cake.





This AMAZING sakura tree.







These are a traditional sweet that is usually eaten in summer festivals.

And now I am going to sign off because blogger is playing up and being annoying. More pictures soon along with a site re-design hopefully.

Deathnotes.

Hello everyone, good news, I can hear again.

Saw the ear doctor today who strapped me down and roughly abused me, aurally. He had his wicked way with my ears and left them sore and aching but vastly improved. Yesterday I couldn’t hear a thing out of my left ear. The doctor strapped me to a chair and cleaned out my ears and now I can hear better than I ever remember being able to. I had no idea I was so deaf before! And you should have seen the amount of crap he pulled out of my ears, I had no idea ear canals were so big! It was truly disgusting.

He diagnosed an ear infection which I have to take an absolute ton of drugs for. 9 a day!

Anyway the only reason I bring this up is because I have now experienced something new in Japan, I have been to a Japanese doctor. How do they compare to western doctors I hear you ask, well largely it’s the same. The waiting time was a bit shorter than what I’m used to and the nurses had sexier uniforms than back home but generally they’re just as brusque and no nonsense as English doctors.


Anyway I’m still in recovery mode largely so it’s a quick one today. Tomorrow I should have a full post all about a recent confectionary convention I attended in Himeji.

So let’s talk about Caramel-Salt Kit-Kats.

One of the things that ex-pats notice a lot and that for me is indelibly linked with Japan is the staggering variety of forms the humble kit-kat can achieve. I have mentioned this before on the site and I have always intended to start cataloguing the different kinds of kit-kat available. Well there’s no time to start like the present so here is kit-kat entry number one, caramel salt.

The combination of caramel and salt sounds odd (it is after all just sugar and salt effectively) but not too odd. I can conceivably see this flavour working but I do wonder why not just go with caramel on its own, what does the salt add?

As it happens not much. The kit-kat has a definite caramel flavour although disappointingly it’s still quite chocolatey whereas I was hoping for something close to a caramac. The effect of the salt is to make it taste more like a burnt caramel than something overtly sweet. Presumably this is meant to compliment the bitterness of Japanese tea.

Finally I want to show everyone this.



Yup, it’s a bag. Crucially it’s a backpacking bag, one designed for the purpose of doing some travelling. What it signifies is a little adventure I intend to go on.

Since I first arrived in Japan people have been telling me that the great thing about Japan is that you can sleep anywhere. If you miss your last train you can always sleep in a capsule hotel, a love hotel (basically a hotel where you can buy rooms by the night or the hour) or failing that in a karaoke box, a manga café (much more than a mere manga destination. For an hourly rate a manga café will let you read manga, drink coffee, use the internet, watch films, play computer games and sleep in big comfy chairs. They stay open all night and people are employed to look after sleeping customers and see that they are safe) or failing this just in a train station. I have tested this theory by sleeping in a nightclub unmolested but now I am going to really put it to the test. I aim to head out to Hiroshima during Golden Week and see if I can spend 3 days there and in its environs without using a hotel, mostly because during golden week most of the hotels are booked up anyway. I will sleep in manga cafes and wash in onsens and sentos. If I succeed I will be endeavouring to use this method of travel again in the summer.



By the way the title of today’s post is a pun on the famous manga and anime series Deathnote. Deathnote is about a boy who discovers a notebook left on Earth by a shinigami (a death god). If he writes a name in the book, that person dies. I haven’t read much Deathnote but at the moment it is an insanely popular manga in Japan.

Eh, what's that?!

Sorry everyone no regularly scheduled post tonight. I had some odds and ends I wanted to bring up but I'm opting out on account of being sick. I've got an ear-infection that's given me a headache and left me deaf in one ear for most of the day. I'm going to get an early night and then see if it's better in the morning and that means no blogging.

I will update everyone to say that we had a second earthquake the night after the first. This one did wake me up and it was a decidedly odd experience. Like falling asleep on the train and then waking up when it comes to a sudden stop.

If I feel better tomorrow I will have a bonus post up here as a replacement.

Tofu is not as boring as you think.

Hello again tonight I aim to finish up my talk about Kyoto.

But first.

BLOODY HELL THERE WAS AN EARTHQUAKE LAST NIGHT!

Alright fair game, it was a piddly little earthquake. It was a 4 on the ricter scale. To put that in perspective the earthquake in Lincolnshire earlier this year was a 5.0 on the ricter scale. The only damage I know was that my friend Laura’s chair fell over.

I mention it mostly because I’m annoyed. You see I slept through the whole bloody thing. This means I have slept through an earthquake and a hurricane and walked through a bloody tornado without noticing any unusual conditions at all. I’m a bit like Mr Magoo, blindly stumbling through a world of disasters.

Anyway Kyoto.



Finishing up at Kiyomizu-dera me and Fran went into the main temple hall and onto the veranda to look at the views. Both Fran and myself have seen the temple hall before and it is largely unimpressive compared to some of the ones I have seen so it didn’t really draw much interest.

By far the most memorable part of the entire hall was this little chap, a picture I took on my last visit.



Isn’t he just adorable. Ah Japan, sometimes you’re so deliciously oblivious you make me smile. Actually he reminds me of Mr Popo from Dragonball.



Although apparently he isn’t even meant to be a black person. He’s modelled on one of the ancient Japanese deities, the one that’s in charge of wealth I think.

Leaving the temple we nipped into one of the tents at the approach to the temple and had some lunch. This was easily the classiest tent I have ever eaten in. For starters we had to sit on tatami in the Japanese sitting position (you know the one, on your knees with your bum on your heels). I had soba (buckwheat noodles) and Fran had udon (wheat noodles) and we both split some tofu.

Now a lot of people badmouth tofu and I’m here to defend it. Tofu is bland and flavourless, yes, I agree but that isn’t the point. It’s healthy and a good source of protein and has an interesting and delightful texture. You add flavour to it. It’s basically savoury jelly. Jelly is flavourless too until you add fruit but nobody ever complains about jelly. Well actually I do, never really did like it, or custard, or cream and I’m indifferent to sponge. In fact when it comes to desserts you could say I’m a trifle picky.



Anyway this particular tofu was great. It was served in a bucket of hot water. You sieved the tofu out of the water and put it into a bowl containing soy sauce, chilli powder and sliced welsh onions (negi). Good eating, actually it’s one of my favourite snacks.

Having gathered sustenance we had a flick through our lonely planet guide to decide where to head next and chanced upon a walking tour included in the newest edition. This promised to take us down some odd, old and interesting streets. Being a fan of winding ancient alleyways I jumped at the prospect and off we set. First stop teapot lane.

Teapot lane is so called because of the vast numbers of potters plying their wares along it. The entire street is given over to touristy shops but classy touristy shops. Cheap tat (which I am not criticising at all because Japan has the best and most interesting tat in the world) was prevalent on the parallel road but teapot lane is full of artworks, expensive but gorgeous teapots and cups, beautiful delicate fans, Yukata and all the other delicate works of art that people associate with Japan. It’s a fantastic place to wander and window shop and Fran was instantly taken with it.



We followed the advice of the guidebook and turned off teapot lane heading towards Maruyama-koen, a park which is famous in the whole of Japan for it’s sakura. The street we were headed down was amazing my dream Japanese street. Thin, crowded, twisty with ornate slated roofs overhanging into the street and everywhere dotted with sakura. Furthermore the shops continued in the same vein as teapot lane, quirky and very, very Japanese. It was bliss to stroll down it and it was very nearly perfect.

Then it got perfect.



As we started to reach Gion we spotted two geisha wandering down the street and after seeing a young Japanese couple get their photo taken with tme Fran plucked up the courage to do the same.

Geisha, sakura, slate roofs, twisty alleys, beautiful pots and a lovely sunny spring day. Perfect.

We paused in our advance to nip into a tearoom and partake of a parfait. A complex Japanese sundae-esque desert. Mine consisted of green tea ice-cream, milk ice-cream, anko (sort of a sweet kidney bean), brown sugar ice-cream, cinnamon biscuits, pudding and warabimochi. I removed the pudding (crème caramel, see “a trifle picky”) and dug in.

Mochi is a very, very sticky dumpling like confection made with pounded rice. Warabimochi was advertised as being “bracken mochi” which intrigued me. What it actually was, was bland jelly. I ate it but I wasn’t happy. The rest of the pudding was delicious though. Green tea ice cream is slightly bitter but fantastically refreshing, milk and anko are a nigh on perfect combination and I would kill for those biscuits again, particularly covered in brown sugar ice-cream.

Japanese people love their sweets, I love certain sweets but it seems that may tastes do not match up with those of the Japanese people. So until then I had never happily eaten a dessert in a Japanese restaurant. But, MY SWEET GOD was that pudding nice.

We ate happily, drank tea, people watched the young girls wandewring by in yukata and spotted more Geisha than I have ever before seen in my life.



Further sated we continued to amble through glorious scenery and eventually made our way to Maruyama-koen.

Hanami can be done in two fashions, we were trying to accomplish both in one day. The first is to amble along lanes underneath sakura looking at the trees. The second and more popular is to find a park and picnic in it sat underneath a sakura tree. And by picnic I mean drink copiously.

Maruyama-koen was packed by the time we got there, absolutely full to bursting with Japanese people of all ages partying wildly. Sitting, dancing, singing, running, playing games. Seldom have I ever seen a Japanese crowd so relaxed and free. Some students had set-up a mixing desk and some speakers and were running an impromptu disco. Well they were, until the police shut them down. Their fun and infectious tracks were then replaced with the same students singing (well, making a sort of noise anyway, an animalistic one) loudly to inaudible songs and inentionally badly, and off key. Nice one mister policeman, this is so much preferable than the music.

We made a circuit of the park to take a photo of the famous “weeping” sakura tree in the centre of the park and then headed off to go get food, drink and join in. Having procured some beers, chu-hi and tako-yaki we started looking for somewhere to sit. There were tarps everywhere but there were also people sitting on tatami and piles of tatami everywhere. I went to grab some tatami and was shouted at by a man.

“hey, hey you have to rent that.”

“oh, never mind.”

Sadly we were on a time-limit to get home and I wasn’t going to rent a tatami for an hour so I put it back.

He then started speaking in Japanese which Fran tried to translate. The gist of it seemed to be that he was inviting us over. We went over to see him and he explained that he rents the tatami and he was inviting us to use some of his for free.

So we sat and chatted (alas awkwardly) and generally had a pretty nice time. He and his friends gave us some free umeshu (a sort of plum wine/liqueur which you drink diluted in summer. It is delicious and Fran is mildly addicted). He also gave us free peanuts despite me explaining repeatedly that I a) had some takoyaki and b) didn’t really like peanuts. I ate some anyway to make him happy.

They were really, really nice people and I wish I could have stayed all night drinking and chatting. The whole thing reminded me of being a student, going to the green festival and just spending a day in a park getting hammered without a care in the world. But we were on a time limit, I had work the next day (in fact I needed to try and get back home before the dry cleaners closed so that I could retrieve my suit) and we needed to get a train back from Kyoto.

Before we left we were treated to one final absolutely magical sight.



I can honestly say that bar some of the stress of trying to get a train home in time (we didn’t manage it in the end and had to get a friend to pick up my laundry) this was one of the best days of my entire life. I will remember it fondly.