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FUNNY TALES….. 

Hitch-hiking

In most countries I would never think to hitch hike but Japan (in a rural area) I think can be a great form of transport. Had the day planned to see Mt Aso, volcano in Kumamoto Prefecture but be warned the transport in the this area is very few and far between hence we found ourselves in the freezing cold with nothing open with a 1 hour wait for the next bus to take us up. 3 young girls thought `Should be okay to hitch hike or at least try…’ At first hesitant to put the finger out soon came more easily. After only 10 minutes a lovely sedan pulled up and to our surprise and relief an elderly couple greeted us. We could speak enough to let them know where we wanted to go and they seemed more than happy to drive us there. As if this wasn’t good enough, from the front seat the `obaasan’, grandmother, proceeded to pass over hot chips, chocolates and Japanese sweets. After a short trip up the hill, a brief photo op and a smiley thanks, we waved them goodbye.

Ahhh…sweet memories!

FUNNY TALES….. 

Beef upon beef….

Took a great trip down to Beppu, famous onsen city located on the East coast of Kyushu, to experience a mud onsen! Arrived late in the afternoon and after checking into our hotel we headed out for dinner. We came across a small yakiniku restaurant which had a table so in we went. It was a challenge to order as the menu was in kanji and none of us could speak Japanese. Through the dictionary and pointing at the table’s food next to us we finally ordered and looked forward to some beef! As the plates of beef came out the hunger grew and looked amazing. Plate after plate came out and we all started to panic. We had enough beef on the table to feed 10 people and there were only 4 of us!! As we couldn’t send it back and explain the situation we called our friends to come and help us eat it. I did not want to see the bill…..

Finally we did our best and requested the bill. Total 28,000 yen, about $400.00!!

Note to all travelers: Learning the basics of Japanese language is essential when going to a rural area

FUNNY TALES….. 

Flower time

It is always a lovely idea to say `thanks’ with flowers however in Japan you have to be a little more careful about what flowers you select than in Australia. One of my friends made the mistake of buying a lovely bunch of white flowers for his Japanese grandmother but when he gave them to her, her face went white as these are flowers to be placed at graves!!! His mother quickly jumped in and pointed out that they were actually intended for their grandfather (who had passed away), nice recovery! The thought doesn’t always count.

FUNNY TALES….. 

Eating is such an enjoyable experience in Japan with all the endless amount of choices of the freshest ingredients but it can sometimes be a challenge to understand what is to be eaten with what??

Sauces galore – a friend of mines family came to Japan and was looking forward to a `set lunch’. When the trays came out they were full with numerous dishes which smelt and looked great. Whilst my friend was busy talking to her mother the father started with gusto. When the waitress returned to the table just a few minutes later she had a look of horror on her face which made my friend look at her father, he had drank the whole bowl of dipping sauce thinking that it was black TEA!

Another one…..

Do you know Edamame beans? You should pop out the beans inside not eat the whole thing! The texture will be rough, tough and dry. They do look like a large snow pea so be careful!! I have done this one