Exciting, Exhausting, and Expensive

What a 3-day weekend it was!  It started at 8:00 Saturday morning, leaving IUJ with a couple of Nepalese students to Urasa station to catch the shinkansen towards Tokyo.  I helped the two guys from Nepal get their tickets to Ueno while I got mine to Kumagaya.  We found 3 seats together and chatted about the train system and how expensive Tokyo is.  After 50 minutes, I left them and the train in Kumagaya, where I made my connection to the Takasaki line to Kita Ageo station.

With no room to sit, I stood during the short 30 minute trip past my first home in Japan, Fukiage.  I got off at Kita-Ageo and met Adam, who shown to have healed very well from his dramatic tumble near the Mizunashi Gorge just a couple of weeks ago.  There wasn't much to do in Kita-Ageo, so we met up with family at the station to head to Omiya.

Adam's family was headed for the train museum, which wasn't too far from Omiya station.  This was the first time I saw Anna since she showed Autumn how to walk over a year ago.  Anna was very shy, but not too shy for the camera.

Adam and I had as much fun as we could in the urban sprawl of Omiya.  Our first stop was the Loft department store, which hasn't changed much in the past 10 years.  One surprise for the both of us was spotting a Nova/GEOS school just a couple buildings away.  Both Nova and GEOS English schools went out of business a few years ago, but apparently the need for such a school was so great in Omiya that a new owner retained the names and continued the tradition of eikaiwa.

After spending more than I expected at the Loft, we proceeded to the international grocery store connected to Omiya station at ground level.  I nearly forgot about that place and I found some Tim Tams to eat nostalgically later.  (Actually I just finished the last ones an hour before writing this.)  Hunger was striking us so we went upstairs above the station to eat at the old Ninikuya (garlic restaurant) that Jenevieve and I loved so much way back when.  I remember being disappointed by its amount of garlic during our Korean years, so the flavor didn't pack any punch.  I found it across the hall from its old location and we quickly got a seat.  Many of the neighboring restaurants had long waiting lines, so I guess we considered ourselves lucky.  I got bibimbap and Adam got pizza with an egg in the middle, sunny side up.  We were mildly satisfied.

I asked Adam if he wanted to come to Nagatoro with me and Masumi, but he was so exhausted after getting up early and spending a great deal in the sun and crowds with me that he declined.  Back on the Takasaki line, we bid a year's farewell at the Kita-Ageo stop.  He will not be returning to the United States anytime soon.

I continued on the train back to Kumagaya, where I easily found Masumi waiting for me at the station.  After she bought a dress and we got something to drink, we headed for Nagatoro by car.  It was the first time for me to see this part of Saitama on the road.  Nothing to impressive until we got closer to our destination.

Nagatoro has a shopping street designed like an old Japanese town.  I felt it was a bit authentic probably as much as a Japanese tourist would find Beale Street in Memphis authentic.  This picture doesn't let the observer know that it was very hot and humid there.

The best part of Nagatoro wasn't the shopping district for tourists, but the river at the end.  Unfortunately we arrived just as the last raft and boat rides down the river were heading out.  Since pictures do better just than my tired explanations, here is a picture and a video.

After spending some time walking along the rocky coast of the river, we headed back through the shops, which were closing up, and towards the shrine.

I was surprised to find the temple freshly painted dragons.

Our hunger drew us away from the shrine and out of Nagatoro back towards Kumagaya.  For most of the drive, we were trying to decide on a good restaurant.  I think Masumi really wanted to impress me as she wouldn't settle on mediocre ideas that I had.  We ended up at a place in downtown Kumagaya called Arigato that had an eclectic menu of fresh and organic food.  I had one of the best meals I've eaten in Japan this summer, seared tuna on a bed of rice with balsamic vinegar.  The flavor was quite explosive, much better than the subpar bibimbap in Omiya.  Masumi had some unique soy sauce base ramen, but what interested me more was that she ordered apple cider vinegar...to drink.  Apparently fruit flavored vinegar is all the rage in Japan for health.  If this is the case in the United States, I've been oblivious to it.

After my horrible 4:15am nightmare and my long day, I was about to fall asleep.  Masumi took me to my hotel between Kumagaya station and the nearest Mister Donut.  I found the hotel to have great service and a continental breakfast which Hotels.com denied it had.  (Now I am only 1 night away from 2 free nights somewhere.)  After blogging about my horrible nightmare, I went to sleep to have a much milder nightmare not worth mentioning.

If Saturday seemed to be a perfect day, Sunday proved to be even more perfect.  This rarely happens to me.  Being that I am so exhausted from this trip, it's hard to convince you of the blissful state I was in during the whole weekend.  But here I go anyway.

I left the hotel with about an hour before I had to catch the train to meet Yoshimi at Honjo station.  I looked down the sunny and deserted street to see Mister Donut beckoning me.  I went in and got myself a few doughnuts, but what shocked me was that they still had Pingu in their advertising campaign.  I got so excited for Autumn that I grabbed one of the advertising pamphlets to make sure it was true.

I ate my doughnuts on the platform at Kumagaya station and that's when I started to feel like I was back at home, my second home in Japan.  This feeling lasted all day!  After the train delivered me to Honjo, I relaxed a little bit until I noticed that Yoshimi was running late.  This 15 minute period was the only time I felt anxious the entire weekend, but I knew I could depend on her and she showed up so we could hurry to Karuizawa.

Karuizawa is one of the most famous mountain resorts at the Gunma-Nagano border.  Yoshimi and I were here once before together with Jenevieve, Barney, and Emma.  Yoshimi was surprised at my memory as the drive brought so much of it back.  It was so good that we concluded that this trip took place on a Tuesday.  Karuizawa is much more developed than it was the last time I was there, but we weren't there for sightseeing.  We were there for the Ghibli store!

Since Yoshimi used to work in Karuizawa, she knew the best place to park and we got a spot very quickly.  I was so surprised because there was a traffic jam for about 20 minutes all the way to the town. Once parked, we got a bite of freshly made gelato.  I got a double scoop of watermelon and chocolate.  There isn't much difference in the taste and texture of watermelon and watermelon gelato.

Just around the corner was the Ghibli store that had an ample amount of Ponyo goods for Autumn.  It was also an indication of the difficulty level of Jenevieve's wish list.  They had her top 2 items, thankfully for her, but that was about it.  After making the first of many purchases for Jenevieve and Autumn with Yoshimi, we walked down the main shopping street to Yoshimi's first part-time job after Jenevieve and I left Japan.  Yoshimi looks up to her old boss like a father and he apparently offers her solid advice about business and other topics.

Since we didn't want to waste anytime, we quickly left Karuizawa after that to head back to Takasaki.  We had some great mountain views on the way back, mostly of Myogi.  It was very difficult to get a good camera shot of our spectacular views, but here's a sample.

Shortly after we passed Mt. Myogi, one of the 3 Jomo mountains (Haruna & Akagi are the others), we passed Popo Town in Yokokawa, Gunma.  Jenevieve and her parents visited Popo Town with the Sekiguchis way back in 2000, but I had never seen it.  I got a glimpse, and it was bigger and busier than I had imagined it.

And just around the corner was...

Kamameshi!  It's the signature dish at a popular highway rest stop between Gunma and Nagano.  I was last here with Jenevieve, my parents, and the Sekiguchis.  I remember not being too fond of it the first time, but it tasted much better this time.  I ate it all up very quickly.

Our next stop was going to be the Takasaki matsuri, but I wanted to make a stop past our old stomping grounds in Yachiyo-cho.  I could still fairly give directions to Yoshimi, so she could take us to...

Pearl Mansion 3!  There in the top middle of the picture was our old balcony in room 303.  While we were headed back to Yoshimi's car, I was wondering if the Sekiguchi's still owned the property.  I spotted a gaijin coming out of the apartment complex, which was a good sign.  Before he zipped away on his bicycle, I asked him if the Sekiguchis still owned Pearl Mansion.

They do!  We met up with them at their new office on or near the site where the old Karaoke Station used to be.  It was demolished about 4 years ago and was replaced by a parking lot and an office/apartment building.  The first floor is comprised of offices only, one of which is theirs.

We had some beverages and snacks at a nearby cafe pictured above.  Because my Japanese isn't so good and the Sekiguchis' English isn't so good, most of the talking was done in Japanese, but Yoshimi didn't have to translate too much.  I forgot how much the Sekiguchis like to talk.  We were there for at least 2 hours while the Takasaki matsuri was being drenched by a thunderstorm.

After our lengthy talks, Yoshimi and I left on foot to explore downtown Takasaki and the matsuri grounds.  Just like our time in Yuzawa, it started with rain, then drizzle, and then it finally stopped.  A lot of the downtown area has been redeveloped with much of the shabbier parts removed.  For me, the biggest change was the street behind Vivre and Takashimaya, which used to be a quiet street.  It was turned into the main street running parallel to the station.  Parts of it reminded me of the Hongdae area of Seoul, so I felt a bit strange that Takasaki felt like a favorite spot in Korea.

We encountered the matsuri as this daruma mikoshi was about to be raised and paraded through the streets.  It was the first time Yoshimi and I have ever seen a daruma mikoshi.  After walking through the rain soaked matsuri for a little while, we decided to look for the Pelican, an Iranian restaurant, under Jenevieve's orders as it was a favorite of hers.  If we weren't able to find the Pelican, we would stop at the new Turkish restaurant called Red Lion.

This parking lot marks the spot where the Pelican once stood.  In disappointment, we headed back to Takasaki station to find Red Lion.  Yoshimi wanted to make sure we could find it quickly, so she asked the police at the station koban for directions.  During this time, I waited outside and saw a large group of police, about a dozen or so, standing around close together.  Out of nowhere, they apprehended one bosozoku member, perhaps the leader.  Five officers had to hold him together and force the rowdy young man into the police car.  It was just yesterday that I was told that the bosozoku have disappeared from Saitama and now isolated to Gunma only in the Kanto area.

After Yoshimi got her directions, we found it within 5 minutes.  Red Lion was actually a British-style pub, so we walked on because the officers told her that we would also find a Turkish flag, which wasn't flying over Red Lion.  Down the street at the end of the block, we found the Turkish flag flying over a corner shop selling kebabs as fast food, almost like the same one I liked in Hongdae.  Since there was no seating inside, we decided to skip past it and head back to Yoshimi's car, parked in front of the Sekiguchis' office.

Halfway there, we ran into Mrs. Sekiguchi again.  We did our best to resist an offer for dinner that day and settled on having lunch together the next day.  Our conversation was mostly about food and planning Jenevieve's visit next year.  Mrs. Sekiguchi explained that the Red Lion has taken the place of the Karaoke Station as the gaijin bar.  Supposedly the owner had lived in England and the place is stocked with imported beers from around the world.  We then learned that the Pelican owner left Takasaki after he divorced his Japanese wife.  He married another Japanese woman and relocated somewhere in Chiba.  Mrs. Sekiguchi was so sad because it was her favorite restaurant too.  The Turkish place and another Persian restaurant do not compare.

When we finally got to Yoshimi's car, we did some evening shopping on the way to Isesaki as another huge downpour struck the area.  By the time we finished our shopping for the evening, the rain had also stopped, and we were very hungry.  Yoshimi took me to one of her favorite katsu restaurants and they had some fantastic ros-katsu.  I forgot how good ros-katsu tasted.  After finishing our dinner, we both felt like we could have fallen asleep right there on the tatami floor of the restaurant.

We weren't too far from Yoshimi's place when her friends called telling her that they have been waiting outside her house.  Apparently they had miscommunicated, so we rushed to Yoshimi's house to meet them.  For about an hour, we chatted over tea and TimTams., but they could tell that Yoshimi and I had a long day, so we agreed to meet the next morning.

Being the great hostess she is, Yoshimi supplied me with ample futon bedding so I was able to have the best sleep I've had since I arrived in Japan this summer.  The next morning after we both got ready for another long day, I tried to catch Yoshimi up with our lives with all the photos on our Macbook.  She was most interested in seeing Autumn, Jenevieve, and our time in Korea and La Crosse.

Her friends arrived a little after 10am, and Yoshimi and I helped her friend Hiroko purchase some goods from her favorite band, the Hives.  Nobody there had much experience shopping online, especially through a Swedish website that used English predominantly.  The process of shopping took longer than expected because of technological glitches, translation problems, and Japanese credit cards.  Finally we met with success.

For the rest of the morning we were on a mission to buy more goods for Autumn and Jenevieve, but we ran into many dead ends.  Items on Jenevieve's wish list were either not available or they were but at the same price if not more than in the United States.  We were able to grab a few great things off the list before meeting the Sekiguchis for a two-hour lunch.  The food was good and cheap and very filling.  I ate enough to last me through the rest of the day.

After that, we said our goodbyes and was nearly time to drop me off at Takasaki station so I could head home to finish marking my students essays.  Before I left, I got to more photos.  One of Yoshimi and her friends, and the other of Jenevieve's old employer brought back to life on the other side of the station.

Goodbye Takasaki!  See you next year with Jenevieve!