*Just added a bunch more pics of this trip on my Flickr page.
I didn't realize how much happened while my mom was here until I started writing it down! So... my mom went ahead to visit some friends and had a reunion with her elementary schoolmates (how cute!). We met up again on the weekend to visit her hometown. We stayed a night in Osaka, a city known as an eater's heaven (is that proper English?? I don't know anymore!). We went to an okonameyaki place which was pretty tasty. Okonameyaki is kind of like a cross between a pancake and a pizza, it's a batter mixed with seafood, meat, and vegetables topped with mayo and sauce and fish flakes that melt and squirm around which makes the meal even more delightful and entertaining. Ah, Japanese delicacies, it's all about presentation and tastiness! We were a little nervous about cooking it ourselves, so the waiter helped us out. Yum!
We also found a little bar in town called Jazz Bar or something or other. Scott was so so happy that they had Guinness and Jameson. It was quite a treat. The bar was pretty mellow so we had a good time just chilling. The bartender was really nice and we watched the one woman in the bar get verbally harassed by men and then their disappointed faces as she left the bar alone.
The next morning we were off to Wakayama. We took a train into Kushimoto, the closest train station to my mom's quaint, little town. My mom's cousins still live in town so we were lucky to have them show us some sites and spoil us with food and drink.
One of my mom's cousins, Shingo is a third generation postmaster in the town. In small towns, people also do their banking at the post office so he's pretty famous in town. It's also very probable that I'm related to most of the townspeople in some way. That's how small a town it is. In fact, we were walking around and bumped into this lovely older lady and my mom started talking to her. By the end of the conversation, they figured out that they were second cousins!
Shingo took us to a few famous sites around town which were beautiful. We went to the largest waterfall in Japan (Nachi Taisha) which was surrounded by a 500 year old shrine. They say the monks hiked all the way from Kyoto to this waterfall. There's a hiking trail up to the mountains you can take up just like the monks... we took a car up. But, we still had to walk up the steps to the shrine, so that still counts! You feel really bad when you're tired and then see all the older folks with their walking sticks doing the same climb.
We drove through the town of Taiji, famous for its whaling. I think there's been recent controversy with Green Peace trying to stop some of the boats. We decided to stay away from controversy and eat some whale pizza at a local shop. Mmm... whale.
We also went to a lighthouse (Shionomi saki no todai) at the most Southern tip of Japan's mainland. Beautiful views from above. Then we went to these famous rocks in Kushimoto (Hashi Gui Iwa). There's an old story behind them, how they line up like a bridge and were supposed to connect the two islands. Scott couldn't resist climbing to the top of one. We were lucky to get that close since it's not often that the tide is low enough.
After sightseeing, we stayed with my mom's cousin Toyosato and his wife Hideko. He had just been fishing and caught some fresh fish and squid. He cut the fish up for sashimi, the freshest, softest sashimi we've ever had. And we made fried squid outside and had a BBQ with fresh oysters and abalone. My mom said the abalone usually costs hundreds but we got hooked up since Toyosato caught some. We partook in the frying of the squid. We had to put on safety glasses because the squid was still so fresh and watery from the sea. Can't be too safe with hot oil.
Toyosato is a real Renaissance man. He showed us a bunch of cool stuff. He catches bees and collects delicious honey from them, he has 4 dogs he uses to hunt and shoot boar (which we also got to taste), he also gets water from an unused hot spring and takes it home for his own bathtub (which was lovely). Did I mention he also plays the Japanese flute and has a lovely singing voice? We all went out to karaoke and he and my mom did some duets together. Scott even got into it and sang a solo! I wish I could show you the proof, but he won't let me. Actually, I think I was supposed to delete it so shhh!
Needless to say, we had an awesome weekend there. It was great to see my family and have Scott meet them. They loved him of course because he was funny and ate and drank everything. We got to see the actual house my mom grew up in which she still owns though it's empty now. It's cool to see things almost unchanged there. The mountains surrounding the houses are still untouched. No cables or cell phone towers stuck onto them. Who knows, maybe we'll retire there!
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