Machida

Hello all,

As I watch the children's programmes on NHK, another post from me not about the place I live in, but the neighboring town of Machida. The next post will be about something more close by, but I can't promise anything right now, as I've not decided yet what to do today. Maybe I'll take a walk around the neighborhood and stroll to Machida again...

Anyway, a short 15~20 minutes walk from Sagamiono, where Sayumi and I reside, lies the bustling town of Machida. This place is seen as the abscess of Tokyo by many, but it's also the birthplace of Satoshi Tajiri, the father of Pokémon and the inspiration basis of Pallet Town, or Masara Town, the home of Ash Ketchum (Satoshi) as well. So yeah, I'm pretty close to the Jerusalem of all nineties kids who grew up with all those little, cute and deadly creatures.

Machida itself is a chaotic town, full of small shops, eateries, restaurants, bars and gambling halls. This looks more like a place for regular people, rather than the upper-class or more tourist-orientated regions of Tokyo. Just the place for me, as I instantly fell in love with the place.

At lunch, I had my first Okinawa-style meal. Lots of egg, meat, and noodles. The love for Spam is big in Okinawa I noticed, since there were quite a few dishes with Spam on the menue. It's hearty, heavy, and healthy food, very unexpected for a tropical archipelago.

It was a good day, where I discovered that the BookOff also sells a considerable amount of 2nd hand model trains... Not good. Not good...

See you next time!

Toni

P.s. if you hover over the pictures, you can read a short description of the contents.

Mashiko

Hello all,

I wasn't able to post anything lately, since internet wasn't connected yet in our apartment. Apologies for that, but there was nothing I could do about it. Too bad.

Anyway, I've been on the road a bit with my girlfriend and made many pictures. We've settled in our apartment in Sagamiono, Kanagawa prefecture, and are not far away from the station. Maybe a few minutes, just outside of the bustling commercial centre.

It's really a nice place to be and not very chaotic at all. Especially compared with the neighbouring town, Machida in the Tokyo Metropolitan area, it's a clean and orderly place.

After new years day, we went to Mashiko, as I said the the previous post, to buy some new tableware for our apartment. I was really excited about this, since I love Japanese earthenworks and Mashiko is a centre for some great and rough-style pottery.

We made a great haul for a low price. A few plates, large and small, a few containers for liquids and an 'Atsukan' (warm saké, or Nihonshu) flask with matching cups.

Machiko itself is a nice and small town with many old-style houses and a lot, I mean a lot, of smaller and large earthenware shops and stalls. Also, a small dyeing plant in  Tokugawa-era style was preserved. The speciality is blue dye, and they made some great and classic patterns on textile.

Unfortunately, the price was shockingly high to buy a small piece of cloth...

We went to the pottery market to buy some cheap pottery as well, since they sell stuff with mistakes there. Making it 'less desirable', but even more interesting in my opinion.

What I didn't expect though was to talk to a guy who lost his shop in the great Tohoku earthquake of 2011. We bought a saké-set from him and I wished him all the best of luck. It was my first contact with one of the direct victims of the 2011 disaster. I guess it won't be the last one...

All in all, it has been quite an interesting day at Mashiko. A nice day out with the family of my girlfriend, albeit the small car and chilly weather (it's still pretty comfortable for me here with 8˚C).

That day, I think I got very well accepted by the parents of my girlfriend. Or, at least, I feel that way. Especially the mother likes me and was constantly asking me if I was hungry or asking me 'strange' questions on European stuff.

Let's see if I can do another update today!

Cheers!

Toni

P.s. if you hover over the pictures, you can read a short description of the contents.

Shimodate

Hello all,

Today we went for a walk in the town again. Looking at some old buildings and doing some shopping in the supermarket. All shops were closed yesterday, but today I got a chance to get a taste of those wonderful wonderful supermarkets.

Also, I found out that sake (Nihonshu) is much cheaper than beer. Pretty rational if you ask me, so I might be convinced to go and start drinking sake on the same level as I drink beer now. You know, getting to know the local tastes and stuff like that... Photos. Let the photos do the talking. I'm rambling.

Anyway, the photos are mostly of buildings built before 1945, street views and two special beers. One local beer from Kawagoe, Coedo (a pretty strongly hopped ale) and the Mugi and Hop special from Sapporo. The latter one was a bit disappointing after the Coedo, since it was pretty flat in taste. I guess that's to be expected from a mass-produced beer in comparison to a local beer brewed with love.

In the evening, the mother of my girlfriend made a grand diner with the strange combination of Tonkatsu and Sashimi. Pretty weird, but delicious and so very Japanese (don't tell me about the foreign origins of Tonkatsu. I know. Shut up).

Cheers!


Toni

P.s. Tomorrow we have to get up early, since we'll be visiting Mashiko! A town famous for its china and earthenware. We need new dishware, so I'm pretty excited about this! Problem? Jealous? :3