This is usually free for me.

I apologize

So I haven't been posting much. I apologize for that. But there's a really good reason for that.

I just got promoted!! You're now reading the blog of the Director of Finance.

It's been a busy two weeks or so while I transition into this new role.

I really need guest writers to keep this blog going. Any takers?

Japannniinng - Almost done

The SO and I got a day away from the family so we had planned to visit Kiso-Fukushima. A small mountain town about 45 minutes away from Suwa. 

So I keep talking about how English proficiency is improving in Japan but stuff like this undermines everything I've said. 

Kiso-Fukushima is not a big town. Normally the area immediately surrounding the train station would be very developed but yeah...this was pretty much it. The good thing is that our hotel was the building on the right. 

The hotel Urara-Tsutaya would be our place of accommodation for the night. 

Kiso is well known for keeping it's old town feel. In Japan, old town feel basically means they maintain the style and architecture from the Edo Period. Basically they've kept everything the same since the samurai and peasants roamed the streets in the 17th and 18th century. 

The town is a stop on the Nakasendo so it had all the accouterments of a highway rest stop. Bit more classy than the rest stops I was used to along I-5 on the way to Vegas. 

As much as I talk about it being an old town, it's really all a facade. The interiors of these places are quite modern and very misaligned with what the exterior looks like, for better or for worse. 

We were there on a weekday in the winter so we had the place to ourselves. 

Rock garden. Very rocky. A rocky start to our trip. I almost felt like I was between a rock and a hard place. Rock on. 

Behind the rock garden was a beautiful Japanese garden. Quite peaceful. Less rocky. 

More reminders that this was a highway rest stop. After this, we feasted!

First off was lunch. You'll notice in the following pics we go straight from lunch to dinner. This is because we didn't do much between lunch and dinner. To summarize, we stuffed our faces for the remainder of the day. This was at an Italian restaurant in one of the "old" buildings you saw earlier. 

I had the daily special. Chicken and pasta. Not too extravagant but after 5 days of eating Japanese food it was a welcome change. 

The SO got this daily special that came with 3 courses. This was course 2.

The SO's dessert.

Mine was a bit lacking compared to the SOs.

When we checked into the hotel we got more desserts. The stick-y thing is called Gohei Mochi, a local favorite. 

This was me after lunch and multiple desserts. 

Our room wasn't the biggest but...

it had an awesome bath. I felt like I was getting stewed in the big wooden pot. 

I am not a big fan of feet. Actually it's my least favorite part of the body. The SO wore these finger socks and I was about to divorce her. 

The dinner at Tsutaya was simply amazing. This was just the start of the meal. Some sashimi, plum and sake.

I was trying to enjoy the scenery around me while I stuffed my face. 

That's our menu. It's essentially about 18 courses of food. Some of each "course" was bite sized but it was still enough food to make you feel really full. 

A little bird made out of gelatin.

This was tofu with home made miso. 

Dobin-mushi, a soup made from matsutake broth. 

Because we were in the mountains, seafood was minimal but we still had some freshwater fish. 

Some sort of steamed dish that had shrimp, celery, mushrooms and tofu. 

This mash of stuff was actually miso with some wagyu beef. Amazing. The miso was particularly tasty and I ended up using it as seasoning for my rice.

Nearing the end we have some tempura and pickled vegetables.

This entire contraption was used to hold the rice bowl and the miso soup. I really need to get these things for my house so I can use it once a year to feel super Japanese. 

I don't even remember eating this dish. At this point we've been eating for about 2 hours and I've had too much beer and sake to even remember what was going on. Oh well, at least I took this picture to remind me that I did have some form of dessert.

Two more days left. Jesus make it stop.

Japanning

I took a 2 week hiatus on blogging due to my infatuation with my iPad. At first I thought it was just OK and not very revolutionary but after playing around with it for a couple of weeks I've realized how much easier it is to browse the web and do the day-to-day internet stuff on the iPad. The downside of the iPad is that it really makes blogging hard due to the lack of a true keyboard. But, I'm thinking I'll keep the laptop next to my bed so that blogging will be a nighttime right before bed activity. Well right before the other bedtime activity, if you know what I mean. Watching TV. Anyways, back to Japan. Three more days of pics left. 

The Japanese have gotten better at their English. I was quite surprised at the proficiency of a lot of the people in Japan. The heightened proficiency apparently did not apply to this beverage maker. 

He's my favorite comedian in Japan. Yes, I know it doesn't help the stereotype of Japanese people. 

Our plan for the day was to visit the temple Zenkoji and Matsumoto Castle. First, Zenkoji. 

The demons designed to ward off evil spirits. 

The sign supposedly has a bunch of cows and a sparrow in it. I could only find the cow. Can you find all the animals?

Zenkoji dates back to the 7th century and is quite an impressive temple. The Japanese aren't Nazi sympathizers, well they used to be but not anymore. Those reverse swastikas are Buddhist symbols.  

The smoke is supposed to help heal injuries, illness and improve mental health. I'm sure the tobacco company wants some of that advertising. 

After the temple my cousin took us to an awesome Soba restaurant. The Nagano prefecture is very well known for their soba so we made sure to have it as much as possible. 

Macarons at a spice store. I was kinda confused because this store is known for their seven spice pepper powder. Say that ten times fast without starting to talk like Daffy Duck. 

The Japanese are just massive fatties. Every tourist destination is chock full of stores that sell food and snacks. I'm amazed we're not morbidly obese. 

The afternoon was spent at Matsumoto Castle. There are only about 20 original castles still in existence in Japan. Matsumoto Castle is one of those and is considered a national heritage site. 

Even though these castles are fortified battle zones they are still amazingly beautiful places. 

Whole armies in Japan consisted of armed soldiers. The gun was quite commonplace on the Japanese battleground and were typically used by the infantry.  

Inside the castle. Similar to European castles, these were last stand fortresses so areas like this would be used to hunker down and pepper the incoming enemy with gunfire, arrows and hot tar. 

All while viewing the pretty sights outside. The Japanese are bipolar people. 

Can't overbuild anything. 

Japanese version of the gargoyle. Still ugly.