- Eat and enjoy beef tongue and ox tail soup! Oishii!
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In our years of traveling we had plenty of moments where we would just look at each other and say "never in my life did I think we would experience...." It's been anything from taking a traditional Japanese naked bath, getting a Kia Soul to go 200km an hour on the autobahn or simply eating and enjoying chicken heart. The last year proved to be full of adventures and first because we were totally out of our element, across the world in a completely new culture. Continuing with our blog we will be posting small entries titled "things we never thought we would experience," here are a few older newly tagged entries. Enjoy!
Our friend kept telling us about a chicken resturant in Ishinomaki that served the best chicken in the world. We were intrigued and jumped at a chance to go one Monday evening. Ishinomaki is located about an hour north of Sendai and was one of the worst hit by the tsunami. (If you would like to see some photos of the damage check out our blog entry on tsunami clean up in Ishinomaki.) The restaurant was beautiful! It had a few tables and a main grill in the middle along with a wooden bar area surrounding it. The wooden bar was actually salvaged from the previous restaurant and restored. We were excited to try "the best chicken in the world" and soon discovered our friend wasnt exaggerating. The chef prepared each piece of chicken with precision and served it on skewers. We were told the restaurant specializes in yakitori (translation, grilled chicken.) the food just melted in our mouths and we couldn't be happier to try all of the local specialties! The Japanese eat all parts of the animal which sometimes to us and many westerners can be a little too much to handle. But I'm happy to say that in our time abroad we ventured past our comfort zones and will gladly try anything once. Chicken heart, liver, skin, stomach, cartilage, as well as regular chicken wings were all part of our meal! All of the food was delicious and we particularly liked the heart, valves and all! The time slowly passed by as we all enjoyed the delicious chicken, grilled veggies and cold beer. Conversation was lively and laughter was abundant! We felt so thankful to be part of such a heart warming experience and be welcomed by such great hosts. We were eating the best chicken in the world at a restaurant that a year ago was completely flooded by the tsunami, such a surreal, unbelievable yet rewarding feeling. Rewarding in the sense that one really felt that Japan is rebuilding, the process will surely take a while but it was special to see people laughing, eating and rebuilding their lives with one restaurant at a time. A truly special evening!
After the meal we were presented with a gift from the host. Shouldn't it be the other way around we thought? Not only did we get fed but also snagged a gift along the way! But we were told it's given to guests as a good luck symbol for the restaurant on its opening. They were two beautiful glass sake glasses with a Japanese symbol of "Chicken-Dragon" on it, the name of the restaurant. We will cherish those glasses forever! The whole evening felt truly special for so many reasons and it's definitely going to be a memory we will never forget. Thank you to our hosts and the chicken dragon himself for giving us the opportunity to try the world's best chicken! Arigatou gozaimasu! ありがとうございます "So when was the last time you saw your mom naked?" asked a Japanese friend. "Ummm what? (hesitation and puzzlement) I don't know at whatever age it's no longer appropriate to shower with a child." She looked puzzled. My mind started wondering, should I rephrase my question or just go with it. Was something lost in translation? We are in Japan after all, maybe it's different here. "What about you?" I asked hesitantly. "Oh we take baths all the time, she washes my back, I wash hers. It's really nice." Now I was puzzled and so began my first Japanese hot spring experience. My mom came to visit us in late March/early April (lots of photos coming soon!) and one of our friends, we liked to privately call them our Japanese parents, invited us to a Japanese hot spring in the mountains near Sendai. Reading up on what to expect at a Japanese hot spring made me a bit nervous, naked bathing in natural hot springs... Oh boy! Do we get a towel or do we just let everything fly? By the way, guys have it so much easier, just one body part to worry about covering!
We arrived at the Yuzukushino-Yado Ichinobo on an overcast Monday morning. The resort was beautiful, very grand yet serene. We paid our dues and then quickly left our shoes in a little storage locker where we were also given a towel. Hallelujah! No naked walking around for us, I thought. Our hosts also gave us a small long towel that one could drape over intimate parts. In our slippers we walked through the big resort to a changing room where we put on traditional hot springs robes. Then it was off to the hot springs. My mom and I followed our host to the first bathing area. We took off our robes and here we were standing naked (so much for that towel!) in a room with other ladies waiting to shower before entering the bath. Awkward doesn't even begin to describe it! The traditional Japanese shower is much different than in the west. Its very low and you actually sit on a stool while showering. Strange at first but very convenient and comfortable the second time around. We showered and then draped our long towels over our bodies before entering the bath. My awkward feeling began to ease, and bathing with others made it strangely comfortable. Hey we were all in this together! The ladies all smiled and their sincere smiles made my mom and I feel welcome. There were three different baths, ranging from hot, very hot, to burning hot! The hottest one topping off at around 115 degrees Fahrenheit. We took our time sweating perfusely and checking out the different baths. We alternated between the baths and a cooling station, cool water never felt so wonderful! From the first indoor bath we checked out two more bathing facilities. The second one was semi outdoors with a nice nature view of a forest. The facility was all made out of stone and wood. Very traditional Japanese design - simple and beautiful! The last bath was probably our favorite, all outdoors surrounded by rocks. The natural mountain hot spring actually flowed straight into the bath. We were all thankful it was a little chilly outside because otherwise we wouldn't be able to stand the 100 degree water. At the hot springs I finally learned what it means just to "be" with someone. In the West we are so occupied with talking that sometimes we forget to take a deep breathe and just "be." To the Japanese, silence is golden, and many just enjoy ones company by sitting in silence. Like many westerners I was uncomfortable with silence until I came to Japan, the lack to understanding the language and only being able to express myself with limited English taught me the importance of spending quality time with people without verbal communication. So the three of us were just boiling in the bath, relaxing, taking in the scenery and feeling comfortable in our own naked skins. Not only were our minds at ease but so were our bodies. The hot spring water relaxed our muscles and let us put our guard down. After the baths we met our male companions(the husbands) at the hotel restaurant for lunch. Cold soba noodles (buckwheat noodles dipped in wasabi and soy sauce ) never tasted so delicious! I have to admit, my first Japanese hot bath experience was amazing! Not sure if the personal connection is the same for males, who just cover the old fella with a hand towel and hang out in the hot waters. But for a female, the experience was very personal and moving. Never in my life did I think I would take a bath with my mom when I was 27 years old nor with a plethora of Japanese women, but the experience proved to be very rewarding and I can't wait to do it again! My teammate Hikaru and I did another television appearance, this time on a morning show in Sendai called TBC TV. We spent a day on Joji Mountain, a famous tourist attraction in Sendai. There is a big Japanese Buddhist temple called Johgi Nyorai Saihoji Temple on the mountain and host showed us some Japanese customs when visiting a temple. We stopped by two restaurants, where we tried the towns famous fried tofu as well as some sweet beans on a stick. I can't say they were too delicious to me, but it was fun to try some new things. We also did some shopping down main street, and then had an interview talking about my teammates and the whole Sendai 89ers organization. After the show taping concluded, we had a late lunch with the crew of the show, it was fun to talk with everyone involved. I've been in front of the camera a bunch at Marquette but this was a lot of fun and certainly a new experience that I will remember forever! Check out the video from the show below as well as some pictures my wife took throughout the taping. Check out the video!
Today, Dan and I went to check out the new Super Sports Xebio by the Nagamachi subway stop. Xebio is a sports store similar to the American Dick's Sporting Goods. This particular location just opened up in the last month and is only a few steps away from the Sendai 89ers training gym. Not only that, it's also where the new Sendai 89ers home arena will be located. No more three home gyms, just one great one! The store also had an awesome basketball section featuring the Sendai 89ers!
Very cool! My coach in Japan brought me a book he was reading, finding it in a Chinese book store. It was none other than Tom Crean's "Coaching Team Basketball: A Coach’s Guide to Developing Players With a Team-First Attitude." I remember receiving this book when I was at Marquette University. It's fun to say I'm a character in a book, and to see it internationally printed in another language is also pretty cool! I'm of course biased, but I certainly recommend any basketball buff to give it a read. I learned a lot at Marquette about what it takes to not only be a player, but to be a winning player. Being about the team and not about yourself is a huge part of that. I would not be successful playing now as a professional had I not embraced that idea.
Proud of my hubby! He was listed in the top ten former EuroBasket Summer League performers!
Click on the image below to read the full article. This is a little past due but Dan and his teammate Take Shimura received, The Japan Times' Offensive Players of the Month for February. Woohoo! Click on the image below to read the full article.
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