Akiyoshidai and Akiyoshido

Jeff and I decided it was time for another little trip.  We decided to head over to the neighboring prefecture, Yamaguchi and check out a couple of unique geographic features. 

Akiyoshido is a the largest limestone cave in east Asia and is about 10k long and over 100 meters wide in places.  The first 1k of it is open for visitors. 

Entrance to the cave

You can see from this picture that the cave is well lit (although I think the lighting is better in the pictures than it was in person, yay awesome camera!) and there are walking paths for visitors.  You can also see that it is HUGE!

One section was a series of pools.  It reminded me the pools in front of Havasupi falls when I saw them back in the 1990's.

There was a sign that said there was over 100 layers.

All of the interesting features in the cave were named.  This one was called the Jellyfish Waterfall.  I thought it was pretty cool looking.

Lots of stalactites

The sounds in the cave were really interesting as they echoed and bounced around.  This area there was a lot of dripping from the roof of the cave.

After we finished enjoying the cave we checked out the touristy shops and ate some ice cream.  This was our first trip of the year that has been warm enough that ice cream seemed like a good idea.  Yum!

We then took a little drive to the area above the cave which is also quite interesting.  It is an undulating karst landscape with lots of small limestone features jutting out of the ground.  There are supposed to be several other smaller caves in the region and we saw several sinkholes.  There are very few trees and it is unlike any other part of Japan that we have seen.  It was very rugged and desolate, yet beautiful in it's own way.  We took a little hike to enjoy both the day and the landscape. 

The rolling hills of the karst.

I think this one best captures the rustic beauty of the place.

You can see the typical Japanese green hills in the distance.

Bump update, expanding at a frightening rate.  I'm the reason the hike was only 3-4 miles.

Jeff caught me in a rare moment of cuteness, lol

I caught him falling off a rock...

... and trying to look like a mountain goat on another one.

 All in all, we had a fantastic day.  It was totally worth the 2 hour drive each way for our little trip and we even had fun singing in the car while driving.  Today we are relaxing.  I think an afternoon movie is next on the agenda.

Okonomiyaki Museum

My friend from the YMCA, Despina is Greek and is full of energy and enthusiasm.  So when I got an invitation to go with her to the Okonomiyaki Museum I happily accepted.  The museum is between Miyajima and Hiroshima.  The building is shaped like a large wooden egg and is really quite odd.

We start out in the kitchen.  There are several large stainless steal griddle tables in the room.  We brought aprons and bandanas to tie back our hair and get started.  We are stepped through the process of making Okonomiyaki.  It starts with making a thin, round crape, add shredded cabbage, green onion, some sea weed flakes, bacon, egg noodles and sauce.  It is a delicious treat and fun to make.

Yasuko-san, Despina and I holding up our spatulas that are used to eat Okonomiyaki.

After the cooking class we got a tour where we learned the history of Okonomiyaki.  Although it started long ago, the current version was adopted after WWII when Japanese were trying to figure out what to do with war rations given by Americans and Europeans containing items such as wheat flour and Worcestershire sauce.  Different regions in Japan have distinctly different styles, Hiroshima style keeps the layers distinctly separate and Osaka style is more of a scramble.  The current version that is popular has been around for about 15 years.

We were then given a tour of the factory where they make the most popular brand of Okonomiyaki sauce which is a thick, tomato, Worcestershire, sweet sauce.  After the tour we were each given a bottle of sauce (still warm from the assembly line and time stamped only a couple hours earlier that day, talk about fresh!)  a package of noodles and instructions on how to make Okonomiyaki at home.  It was a fun day with much laughing and good food.  It was certainly worth the cost of the tour and lesson (about $10) and the time on the train.

After writing this blog, I just wish Okonomiyaki was a shorter word ;-)

Plum blossoms

Jeff and I went to the Shukkeien garden last weekend in Hiroshima.  This time of year, the plum trees are blooming.  Cherry blossom season is the one that gets all the hype in Japan but they like all of their blooming trees.  This garden has a small plum tree grove so we went down and checked it out this weekend.  The blossoms ranged from white to dark pink.  It was just nice to get out and enjoy being outside a bit.  It was cloudy but dry and a little warmer for a change.  Here are some of my favorite pictures from the day.

I love this little bird in the tree.  I watched him for a while.  It seems like the birds were actually eating the blossoms?

People enjoying the garden.  The building in the background is the museum.

Bump shot

Jeff

Random garden water shot.

Pregnant in Japan: Part 6 Momma Class

 Sorry, lots of words and no pretty pictures on this one.

I found out 2 weeks ago that you can't just show up at the hospital when you are in labor.  You need an appointment.  I thought that it would have been nice if someone would have mentioned this to me a few months ago as this is something you are supposed to do around the 12 week mark.  Oops.  Some frantic e-mails later and I now have a reservation at a hospital that isn't too far away and is actually a 24 hour hospital (yep, in Japan a large percentage of the hospitals do not admit people at night).

The city of Higashihiroshima offers a 3 day parenting class for expectant first time mothers.  The classes cost a total of  about $7.50 for all three days which it think was to cover the cost of food on the cooking day.  The classes were every Tuesday for three weeks in a row and lasted 3-4 hours each.  I had a translator for the classes.  There were a bunch of handouts that they gave me but they were all in Japanese.  The class had about 16 pregnant women in it.

The first class covered basic pregnant anatomy, labor and breastfeeding.  All of the information seemed to be at a very basic level.  The one I found the most surprising was when talking about labor.  The focus was pretty much on staying calm and embracing the pain as part of child birth (Japan is really in to natural birth, epidurals are not really an option unless something goes very wrong).  There was no talk on breathing, kegals, or any other labor preparation that seems to come up when I read information from the US.  Very odd.

The second day was a nutrition class.  We were divided in to groups and made lunch together.  Lunch was very Japanese in that it was a bunch of small dishes.  There was chicken stir fired with lemon and ginger, yogurt with fresh fruit, a dish made from sea weed, miso soup and of course, rice.  After lunch there was a lecture on nutrition.  The Japanese like to have a starch, protein and fruit/vegetable with every meal.  I think that is one reason why they typically have so many dishes as part of one meal.  Americans tend to be lazier and try to eat balanced for the day and not cook 5 different things for one meal and have them all served in 5 different little bowls that need to be washed.  The nutrition lecture was interesting in that the focus was on eating less salt when pregnant.  I guess Japanese food is fairly salty.  They very briefly talked about eating folic acid (Japanese women don't even take folic acid supplements), calcium, fish (omega-3s), iron, which are brought up often in the US information, particularly folic acid.  Caffeine was not mentioned at all which is supposed to be reduced in the US to the equivalent of 2 cups of coffee a day.  The other one that I thought was funny was they talked about cooking vegetables but no mention of not eating sushi or other less cooked meat dishes that are common in Japan.  Japanese women eat sushi throughout pregnancy.  There was also no mention of not drinking alcohol in the lecture but it was on one of the handouts.

The third day was a lecture on baby supplies with a strong emphasis on how to keep your baby clean and what materials you will need to do so.  Bathing and cleanliness are very important in Japan.  They had weighted baby dolls and we had time to practice one change of clothes and a diaper change.  I have spent most of my life avoiding babies and have never changed a diaper on a real one so it was good practice.  I wish we had more time to play with the dolls (first time in my life I've ever wanted to play with a doll, I never liked them as a child, lol).  Next we went to a different room full of women who took this same class and now had 4-6 month old babies.  We could ask them questions and play with the babies.  The babies of course didn't like anyone but momma holding them so soon there were 15 babies screaming bloody murder in this tiny, stuffy room.  The babies were there to be weighed and measured so then needed to be stripped down to their diapers.  Another girl from the class and I got to undress and re-dress a little 5 month old girl who really didn't like the looks of the foreigner.  Every time she looked at me she cried.  The class ended with a lecture on life after having a baby.  They mentioned all the usual stuff, sleep when the baby sleeps and that with practice things get easier.  There was a big emphasis that recovery from child birth is long and slow and that women need someone to take care of them for a month afterwards.  This seemed a little excessive to me.  Yes, help would be greatly appreciated but the whole thing seemed a little odd to me. 

After taking the 3 classes, I learned very little that I didn't already know from my pregnancy book that I bought from the US, but the cultural differences were interesting.  It's hard to tell how much was lost in translation.  The feeling on how Japanese women handle birth seemed very 1950's or even more old fashioned.  Rest, don't exercise, don't exert yourself, don't prepare for labor, you need someone to take care of you after the birth because you will be weak...  Most women started maternity leave more than 2 months before their due dates because work (even a desk job) was too strenuous when that pregnant.  I made the mistake of riding my bike to class one day and they all freaked out as that was way too much effort for a pregnant woman.  (Uh, I rode slower than I did pre-pregnancy?   Its about a mile and I don't have a car.)  It just seemed really odd and very different than the approach I'm more used to reading about from US sources; prepare physically and mentally and you will have an easier labor and a faster recovery.

I am still trying to get into an actual "birthing class" that is offered through the hospital that I am going to be using for birth.  I can't seem to get that set up until I switch my check up visits from the clinic I've been going to, to the hospital and that happens in 2 weeks.  It will be interesting to see what that covers.

Till then the baby seems to be strong an healthy based on the kicks and jabs in the ribs :-)

How Pregnant are you?

This is probably the most baffling question that I get asked on a regular basis.  Most people want to know months not weeks.  I usually just say what my due date is because that is fairly constant. 

So... here's the deal.  According to my Japanese Doctor, I'm 29 weeks pregnant today.  This is based on a measurement taken early in pregnancy and the size of the fetus at that time.  I think this is fairly accurate.  If I go off of last period which is what most of the pregnancy calculators do, I'm 30 weeks tomorrow.  The baby is fully baked at 37 weeks and my due date is at 40 weeks which is May 25th or 19th depending on which number you go with.  I'm telling people May 25th.

If you want to know in months where I'm at, this is where it gets crazy.  Lets stick with the 29 week scenario for simplicity.  According to the Japanese system, I'm at 8 months and 1 week.  According to the "What to expect when you are expecting" book I'm at 7 months and a week.  However, if I just look at a calendar and count months, I have one more week in month 6.  So... how many months pregnant am I?

Tokyo Day 2

We woke up to a beautiful clear day in Tokyo.  Something we didn't expect after the previous night's weather.  It was so clear that we had a great view of Mt. Fugi!!!

Mt. Fuji behind the Tokyo Skytree

City view in daytime

More city

Trains coming and going from station near hotel

Just to give you an idea of how much city is out there...

Tokyo is about double the population of New York city.  WAY to big to explore much of in a half day.  We spent the morning checking things out.  We experienced the super crowded trains/subways.  I even wore a face mask. (I really don't want to get sick as being sick is not fun but even less fun when pregnant since you can't take anything.  I have a face mask that I carry in my purse and put on when someone sick sits near me on my commute.  I thought that this was a good time put on a mask.)  Face masks (think disposable Dr. masks) are super common in Japan and I fit right in.  The train was so crowded that when it got to a stop, the flow of people in the train carried Jeff and I out with it even though we wanted to actually stay on the train.  Once everyone stopped getting off, we got back on.  It was a little nutty.

We checked out Shibuya crossing which is sort of like Tokyo's version of times square.  It is supposed to be the busiest pedestrian crossing in the world.  We were there way to early for the major crowds. But is was still fun to people watch.

We then got back on the train and wandered through a couple of the other districts in Tokyo.  It was interesting to see the pace of things and how huge the city was.  We had a lovely lunch and then it was back to the hotel to grab our bags and head back to Hiroshima. 

It was lovely to get out of the house for a few days and have another adventure.  I am much more aware of my physical limitations due to pregnancy.  I've definitely slowed down a little bit and need to take breaks once in a while.  It is all very strange to me. 

Japan is still an exciting place to travel around and I enjoy it very much when I'm in "vacation" mode.  I have to admit that when it comes to daily living in Japan I would love an "easy button".  The challenge of figuring out how to live here with the added complication of trying to understand how to be pregnant here is a little more of a challenge than I want on a daily basis but Jeff and I are making the most of it, focusing on the positives (and there are many) but I'll be glad to go home this summer.  The "Babymoon" was lovely and I think will help get us through the next couple months.

Tokyo Day 1

We got up in the morning and everything was covered in a thin layer of snow.  As we were eating breakfast the snow was turning to rain and everything was becoming wet slush.  We packed up and checked out and hopped on a train to Tokyo and hoped the weather would improve as the day went on.

We were about 45 minutes into our 2 hour train ride to Tokyo when we realized something was amiss.  The train was stopped at the station for an unusually long time.  The conductor was saying something but we had no idea what.  Eventually we understood that the train was stopped for some reason and would start moving when possible.  Jeff and I made the most of it and had a snack and waited patiently like the rest of the Japanese people on the train.  A couple of them drifted off and found different ways to their destinations.  The conductor continued to give updates we didn't understand.

After about an hour and a half of not moving, we saw the conductor wander past.  We flagged him down and asked when the train was going to start again.  His English was pretty much non-existent but we gathered that he didn't know.  There was the possibility of the train going to the next station but the entire TOBU line was down between where we were at and Tokyo.  Jeff found a station not too far away that was for the JR line and would eventually get us in to Tokyo.  This took a little time to figure out but after about 30 minutes we had plan B and set out with our luggage into the rain.  We were even able to get a refund for our ticket fare from the station we were at to Tokyo.

The walk to the next station took maybe, 20 minutes.  The station was tiny.  It was fully automatic, no people worked there and there was only one platform but, it worked.  We got on the next train and after some changes managed to get ourselves to Tokyo and to our hotel.  The train line shutdown caused us to get to our hotel about 4 hours later than planned and I was feeling pretty exhausted.  Our room was amazing and all I wanted was to lie down for a couple of minutes.  Jeff set off to get dinner reservations set up with the concierge and I took a bath.  After a little bit of time to relax I felt much better.  The weather was horrible with pouring rain and really strong winds.  I was content to just relax a little bit before dinner rather than go exploring.

We had a fantastic dinner at a supposedly famous Shabu-Shabu place.  Shabu-Shabu is where you have a burner in the center of the table and you have thinly sliced beef and vegetables that you cook in the hot water or broth in the center of the table, dip in sauce and eat.  It is delicious and there was a ton of food including two types of noodles, rice and ice cream for dessert.  We took some pictures of this one and I'll do a food blog in the future.

By the time we finished with dinner the wind had died down a bit and we figured out how to get back to the hotel underground so the rain wasn't an issue.  It seems like many Japanese cities have a ton of walkways under the streets and Tokyo is no exception.

A little while after we had gotten back to the room the rain cleared up and so did our view.  Surprise!  Our room with a view really did have an amazing view!  Sometimes its worth the upgrade to spend 1 night for the price of two, lol.  We left the blinds open all night and I enjoyed watching the clouds change throughout the night whenever I rolled over.  It was definitely worth splurging for nice room on the last night of our "Babymoon".

The Tokyo Skytree

City lights

My view from bed

Nikko day 3

Day three in Nikko was all about finding waterfalls.  The weather was much improved in that it was cold, sunny and not very windy.  We bundled up for the day's adventured and hopped on a bus.  The bus went up a very steep and winding road that had 20 crazy tight hair pin turns.

At the top of the steep section is an outlook that you can take a rope way up to.  Rope ways are very popular in Japan.  They are like a gondola on a ski mountain.  There was way to much snow to even think of hiking up even though it wasn't that terribly far.  The view was lovely!

Wide view of mountain and lake.  If you look closely, you can see the Kegon Water Fall at the base of the lake

Closer view of falls and lake

Ropeway car

We caught the next bus to Kegon Falls.  It was a really interesting setup.  You can take pictures of the falls from the top and then they have a fancy elevator that drops 100m so that you can take pictures from the base of the falls.  The falls are 97m high.

Kegon Falls from the bottom

We then stomped around town for a little bit.  Jeff found an amazing sake set that was made by a famous Japanese potter and then had lunch.  Somehow it seemed very strange that the lunch place was playing Boyz to Men, lol.

Photo from town stomp

We then caught the next bus and headed to Ryuzu Falls.  This was much more off the beaten path.  In fact the path was covered in snow.  I was very glad that I had brought my hiking poles with me as there were several sections that had flights of stairs that were completely covered in snow so that they were ramps of snow.  The poles helped me keep my balance since my center of gravity is not where it used to be.  These falls were very lovely and peaceful.  It was just Jeff and I out there.  I think a few other people started the trek and decided to turn back.  There were a few other sets of foot prints but very different than the crowds at the other falls.  I'm guessing both are crazy packed full of people in summer.  The walk back down was a little tricky with all the snow but we managed to get down with out any mishaps.  There was a section of snowed over stair that I just sat down and slid on my butt and used the hand rail as a break.  It worked great and then I wasn't worried about falling.

Ryuzu falls

Me walking in the snow along the path

Volcanic mountain off to the side

We caught another bus to a third water fall.  This location had two falls but we decided to only see one of them since the second one was a bit of a hike and it seemed particularly steep and icy.  Everyone we saw coming from that direction had snowshoes which I took as a hint that my running shoes were not up to the challenge.  The fall that we did see, Yudaki Falls, was really nice.  It was a very delicate waterfall, it reminded me a little of lace.

Yudaki falls

I liked the way the light was filtering through the trees

Got someone to take our picture

By this point it was getting pretty late in the day and I was getting tired.  We decided to call it a day and take a bus back to Nikko.  We shared some peanut M&Ms (a hard to find treat) and some hot tea that we brought in a thermos and waited for the next bus back.  The ride back was about 1:20.  Going back down all those hair pin turns was awful.  The way down is actually 28 turns so they are even steeper and windier.  I tend to get car sick on windy roads and this was the windiest I had ever been on but I was able to keep my M&Ms on the inside.  It was not a pleasant stretch of road for me.  Jeff thought it was super cool and kept talking about how the turns were so steep they corkscrewed and were more than 180' and what an amazing driver the bus driver was until I informed him that he was not helping.

It's a little hard to see but you if you look closely there is a squiggle that goes from the upper left to the bottom right.  That squiggle is the crazy hair pin road.  This picture was taken from the ropeway place.

After surviving the bus trip we got cleaned up and went to a fancy Japanese restaurant.  It was one of those places that has a couple of fixed menus to choose from.  I wish I had a camera as the food was very interesting and beautiful.  At the end of the meal we were both stuffed and went back to the room full, tired and happy.

Nikko day 2

Day two started out clear but bitter cold.  It was below freezing and the wind was very strong.  The "feels like" temperature had a high of 19'.  We kept the day a little shorter than we would have in better weather but still saw a ton of things.

We started off by checking out the Shinkyo bridge.  It is one of Japan's "three finest bridges".  Japan's ranking of tourist attractions cracks me up.  The bridge marks the entrance to Nikko's shrines and temples and is rather pretty.  

Next we went to Toshogu which claims to be "Japan's most lavishly decorated shrine".  It is the mausoleum of the founder of the Tokugawa shogunate.  This was a surprisingly large complex of crazy ornate buildings.

Here is the the entrance to the shrine.

Same building zoomed in to show detail.

Same building zoomed in one more time to show crazy detail.

There are some carvings in this shrine that Japanese people just love.  There are hundreds of thousands of carvings but there are a couple that people will wait in line for hours to see durring high season to take pictures of.  Fortunately for Jeff and I there was almost no one at the shrine due to it being early, on a week day, off season with crappy weather.

The "hear no evil, speak no evil, see no evil monkeys"

The sleeping cat.  Not sure what the appeal was.  There were peacocks and dragons and far more interesting carvings in my opinion, but I was a good tourist and took some pictures of the things I was supposed to, lol!

Crazy ornate outside of the inner shrine.  The inside was insane in its upkeep and the level of detail of the painting and carving but was a "no photos allowed" area so unfortunately i cannot share any.

Next we went to the temple of the crying dragon which had a huge dragon painted on the ceiling and had amazing accustics.  The had some wooden rods the clapped together and the while building rang like a bell.  The sound just reverberated like crazy.  Again, it was a no picture zone.

We took a lunch break to warm up.  My silly husband ordered a cold noodle dish (zoru soba) for some reason?  Seemed like hot food weather to me.  

Next we took a walk out to the Jizo statues.  They are said to protect unborn children and children that are miscarried, in the afterlife.  The bibs they are wearing symbolize them providing food for the children and the hats keep them warm in winter.  They also protect travelers.  There is a long line of them that has been partly destroyed by time and nature but there are roughly 72 remaining.  The walk to get to them was along a lovely river.

Between the walk and the cold I was pretty tired.  We went back to the hotel to warm up and took a little break.  We ventured out later and explored the town a little bit and enjoyed the small shops and figured out where we wanted to do to dinner.  It was a lovely but cold day.