Night Lights: Nara Lantern Festival

Sometimes, you're just in the right place at the right time.  


Such was the case on February 3rd.  We'd unintentionally scheduled our trip to Japan to include Setsubun Mantoro, a celebration marking the transition from Winter to Spring.  Don't be deceived.  It was only "spring" by the very loosest, upstate New York definition of "spring": damp, with daytime temps ~5 C/40 F, and there were snow flurries the day we arrived.  Setsubun Mantoro is celebrated with the Lantern Festival.


The Lantern Festival is pretty much just want it sounds like - the lighting of thousands of lanterns.  In Japan, this occurs at the Kasuga-Taisha Shrine in Nara City.  Kasuga-Taisha is also a UNESCO World Heritage Site, the first of many we saw in Japan. I should warn you, though - since we visited at night, we don't have many photos of the Shrine itself.


 Nara City is a short train ride out of Kyoto, so after spending the morning at the Kyoto Imperial Palace, and the afternoon securing delicious ramen, we set off for some lanterns.  We arrived in Nara City at dusk and walked from the train station ~1 km to the entrance to the Kasuga-Taisha Shrine.  The walk was lovely: up a cobblestone sidewalk, past lots of small shops and food stalls, and next to a park. 


The park and shrine grounds are inhabited by free-roaming deer that are, allegedly, the sacred messengers of the Shinto gods that inhabit the shrine.  There was some amusing signage warning us to stay away from the deer, and to take appropriate cautions to avoid getting bitten.  This doesn't sound very god-messenger-ly to me, but what do I know?  We took appropriate cautions (I guess??), and survived unscathed. We arrived at the entrance to the Kasuga-Taisha Shrine complex and were greeted by hundreds of stone lanterns lighting the path to the Shrine itself.  

Like this, pretty much as far as we could see.

Please excuse my less-than-super photos.  I am definitely still learning how to use my camera.  One of my pre-trip goals was to learn a bit about photography.  Clearly, that didn't really happen.  So instead, I'm using our travels as an opportunity to self-teach some photography.  I'm learning all the time, but I'll continue to post less-than-professional photos of very cool things (or sort-of cool things)  (and perhaps totally uncool things - but at least you've been warned).  I'm not quite sure what I did in this next photo, but I think the overall effect is pretty cool.  

And hey, I love that smile.

These lanterns that stretched all the way from the street to the shrinewere quite impressive, all lit up in the dark, but they were NOT the lanterns of the Lantern Festival.  In fact, most were lit with electric lights rather than candles.  A close up, using flash, looked something like this:

I think the moss makes a great hat.

We followed a long and winding path of these to the shrine, where we paid our 500 yen entrance fee and began our walk through the actual Lantern Festival lanterns.  These were much more delicate lanterns, made of bronze and with intricate designs cut in the sides.  

The lanterns were about 8 - 12" in the diameter and 18" tall.

There was no information or placard available (in Japanese or in English), but some subsequent research indicates that the Lantern Festival has been going on for over 800 years.  I'm not sure of the age of the lanterns - most were donated to the Shrine by citizens, and a few were donated by Samurai warriors.  The lanterns look pretty old - you won't be able to tell from our photos, but many had broken doors, and cracks or breaks in the designs.  But honestly, looking at them all lit up with candles, flickering and glowing in the dark, those details didn't matter.  Some were suspended, and others placed on the floor and walls. They were EVERYWHERE. Japan once again demonstrated for us their careless use of fire...  Good thing the Shrine was made of stone.

Come around the corner and see THIS

 The overall impression was ethereal and beautiful.  Although there were many other visitors walking through, admiring the lanterns, and taking photos - there was a respectful hush throughout the Shrine.  Everyone spoke softly, somehow all sharing a respectful quiet in the presence of such tranquility.  

Lanterns, for as far as the eye can see...

The whole experience was quite peaceful and lovely.  The walkways were "staffed" by some students (~12-16 years old) who kept an eye on the lanterns, as well as the older visitors, pointing out stairs, lending a hand over the uneven sections of ground, etc.  The Shrine wasn't that large - our entire walk through took about 20 minutes, at that included plenty of time for photography -but it was packed with over 3,000 lanterns.  There was also some "mood lighting", with small candles decorating the ground and lighting the paths.

Floor lights...

Single soldier, standing guard.

After finishing our lantern tour through the Shrine, we headed back to the train station to head home.  On our way, we were side-tracked by a loud, heavy drum beat and music.  We turned into another shrine complex and stumbled upon a play/performance/battle re-enactment.  There were people dressed in formal attire on a balcony outside this Shrine, all watching costumed figures engaged in an epic battle on the stage/ring erected outside.  The music was loud, heavy, and crashing. The lights were flickering and flashing.  Frankly, it felt like being in the middle of a thunderstorm.  We tried to get some photos, but the crowds of people, plus the odd lighting conditions, made it a challenge.  The best I could do:

The overall scene.

Best shot I could get of the "action".  

We still have absolutely no idea what was happening.  But it's amazing what you can find when your ears are open!  After gawking in true tourist fashion for a few minutes, we headed back to the train station, and back to Kyoto.


We had actually taken dinner with us to Nara, to eat with the lanterns.  But the situation wasn’t quite right for dining, and it was cold – so enjoyed our dinner in the warmth of our hotel room.  By this time, it was nearly 10 PM.  I couldn’t wait to break into the hand rolls we’d purchased earlier in the day at...wait for this...a department store.  


[A digression about Japanese department stores: Their basements are like supermarkets + 30 specialty food markets all in one.  You can walk through a regular supermarket area and purchase fresh produce, meat, and fish (no canned/boxed/packaged products, really).  A separate area has ~25 or more small stands selling fried food, yakitori, breads and pastries, and pre-packaged Japanese sweets (mostly this last one; there is a separate post coming on sweets).  There is no place to sit, so you just purchase food to take away.  This is where we bought our dinner.]

At the hotel, we broke into the rolls quickly:

Our dinner table.

Rolls in profile.

The rolls on each side were filled with egg (the sheet of yellow), tofu, a bit of veggie, and one had some eel, too.  The smaller ones in the middle were simpler fish rolls (tuna on the left, salmon on the right).  We were hungry, so they all were decent - but they weren't going to win any sushi awards.  

The best part of dinner came next - the chestnuts!  We'd purchased them much earlier in the day, at a stand in the train station. Japan's preferred method of chestnut preparation is roasting + steaming.  To re-create that "freshly steamed" feeling, we popped them on top of our electric kettle while boiling the water:

In another life, this blog will be called "101 Uses for an Electric Kettle".

This technique worked remarkably well.  And let me tell you, the chestnuts were delicious.

Look at this scrumptious chestnut!

See how easily it peels!
[I think the steaming does that. Every one opened and slipped out of its skin.]

 The chestnuts were the highlight of the meal for me.  They were very easy to eat, because they peeled so easily.  Plus, they were blackened with good flavor from roasting, but moist from the steaming (and kettle reheat). Our fingers got satisfyingly blackened from cracking them open. I often find Singapore's roasted chestnuts to be a bit dry, but these definitely weren't.  As a novice chestnut eater, I thought the steaming was a brilliant move, although Kee-Min, the chestnut veteran, missed the dry roastedness a bit.  Still, we both enjoyed them enough to keep running back to the chestnut cart for more!  There *may* have been at least four chestnut stops during our 8 day trip...

Mmmm...chestnuts....

And now, it's time to get our party-prep on at the Ngiam house.  We're entertaining some visitors this afternoon/evening.  I'll tell you all about the popiah we're serving in another post. Cheers!

The Great Ramen Showdown!!

It's no secret: In this relationship, we love each other...and ramen. 


When we were doing the long-distance, cross-country-dating/marriage thing, my most requested meal during a visit to LA was ramen. Our go-to place in LA was Daikokuya. We were frequent customers of the Little Tokyo and Monterey Park branches, waiting patiently in line for our chance to squeeze in at the counter and slurp down a bowl of perfectly cooked noodles and tender pork, with a touch of bean sprout crunch, all in a rich and savory broth. Yum. 


So you can bet your babushka (I just invented this.  It's already my new favorite saying.  My Polish brethren are applauding, I just know it.) that we had our hearts set on some ramen-fication while in Japan.  Japan in February is actually very conducive to ramen - after spending a morning traipsing around the grounds of a palace, temple, or shrine in the cold, we were often looking for something hot and cozy for lunch.  As a bonus, ramen is gentle on the pocketbook - after all, it's food for the masses.


If you recall from the end of this post, we had our first ramen after less than 12 hours on the ground.  This was at the end of our day-trip to Osaka.  We were tired and still adjusting to the cold.  But we figured that the ramen served at this stall must be delicious, if people were willing to sit outside in the cold to eat it.

Testing my chopstick skills. Verdict? Trickier to manipulate when your fingers are numb!

The ramen was actually quite disappointing.  The broth was salty and greasy, but without a robust pork flavor.  The noodles were OK, but the pork was tough.  We weren't overwhelmed, but we were full - and for the evening, that was good enough.

But really, it wasn't.  Upon returning to the hotel, Kee-Min did some research and identified a possible stop for lunch the next day.  So, after spending the morning on a tour of the Imperial Palace, we headed for Ippudo.  Ippudo is actually a chain of ramen shops, with branches in New York City, Hong Kong, Singapore, and throughout Japan.  They specialize in tonkotsu (pork) ramen, the same as we had the night before.  This is probably the most common variety that people associate with the word "ramen" (excepting the cellophane-packaged crap), although ramen does comes in quite a variety of shapes, sizes, and flavors.

We had to poke around a bit to find the small storefront, through an Isetan department store and into a back alley.  But our persistence was rewarded.  We entered and were quickly ushered to a small slice of counterspace at the back.  We tucked our belongings into the baskets that fit under our chairs (brilliant idea, by the way) and opened our menus.

Now, one of the dangers of traveling in Japan with Kee-Min is that he is constantly mistaken for a native.  Although Ippudo apparently has English-language menus for foreigners, we were holding Japanese-language menus.  Thankfully, they included pictures. We each got a lunch set: a bowl of ramen, a bowl of rice, and 5 gyoza dumplings.  I got the Shiro ramen (white broth), Kee-Min opted for the Aka (red broth, a bit spicy).  [Editorial note: I learned these names after the fact. At the time of ordering, we just pointed and nodded.]  Both were made with long, skinny, wavy noodles.  

We were dining during the lunch rush, and the place was bustling.  Like most of the dining establishments we frequented while in Japan, it was small - a long counter area and one large table.  Customers were packed in pretty closely (thankfully, we were all right-handed), and the servers squeezed around and past us, cheerfully welcoming new patrons, calling orders to the kitchen, and wishing everyone a good day.  At least, I'm pretty sure that's what was happening, since I could actually only understand a small fraction of their rapid-fire Japanese.

While the atmosphere could have been chaotic and stressful, I actually felt bolstered and energized by the enthusiasm and fast pace.  In just a few minutes, steaming bowls were placed in front of us:

This lunch experience was amazing.  The ramen was excellent: flavorful broth that wasn't too greasy, firm noodles, and tender pork.    The gyoza were also quite tasty, with a nicely browned finish and typical pork-y interior.  For a bargain-hunter, the rice was a good addition to make a really filling meal.  Kee-Min's looked much the same, except his broth was a bit redder and spicier.  We each liked our own better. Win.

We slurped down our noodles loudly - this is a sign of appreciation - and didn't dilly-dally.  People were waiting for our seats, so we settled the bill (< $10 USD each) and moved on to our next adventure, which I'll tell you about in my next post.

Having checked off "REALLY GOOD RAMEN" on our Must Eat In Japan list, we diversified our diet over the next 5 days, exploring many of Japan's other culinary delights.  But in Tokyo on the last day, we headed out in search of a "farewell" bowl of ramen.   We had a place in mind, but got a bit confused on the name/characters and were not entirely sure of the street.  So we ended up popping into a place which may (or may not) have been our intended target.  But I'm glad we did, because we had quite a different ramen experience.

We again ordered by pointing, on an all-Japanese menu.  We first chose the amount of noodles we wanted (200, 300, or 400 grams).  Then, we chose what we wanted in/with our ramen: pork, extra pork, bean sprouts, egg, bamboo, nori, and a few other items I either couldn't identify or don't remember.  Then, we crossed our fingers and waited.

The interior of the place was quite typical - see below.  Seats at the bar, plus some small tables.  Chefs are preparing food on the far left.  

Cute, right?  Sorry ladies, he's taken.

Below, you can see how mine looked when it came out:

Clockwise from top: Noodles, broth, cabbage & bean sprouts, meat & eggs & bamboo, chicken non-wings.

Let's start with the chicken non-wings.  They were actually boneless dark meat, battered and fried up very crispy.  They were unquestionably my favorite part of the whole meal.  The meat was juicy and tender, the batter flavorful but not too salty, and the frying was exquisite. Crispy, but not too greasy.  We squeezed a bit of lemon on top, which complemented the seasoning perfectly. They were divine.

The ramen itself was good, but not great.  Although, it was definitely unlike any ramen I had before.  The noodles were thicker and, as you can see above, not curly. The broth was thick, with chunks of beef and a few veggies in it.  It could be thinned slightly by adding some clear broth from pitchers provided on the tables - although we didn't notice this until the end of our meal.  The thick sauce was a bit spicy, pretty salty, and had a few other strong flavors that I couldn't identify.  I still maintain that it was a bit like curry (although without a super strong curry flavor), although Kee-Min disagrees.  I wish I could describe it better, but it was unlike anything I've ever eaten before.

You eat this dish piece by piece, dipping each into the sauce, then eating directly. There were a few things that made this NOT my favorite ramen experience.  First, I tend to prefer a thinner noodle, and find the wavy ones easier to eat with chopsticks. These were a bit tricky to manage, getting them into the sauce, then into your mouth.  My shirt definitely ended up with some splashes of sauce at the collar.  The add-ins (pork, bamboo, egg) were good, but not amazing, and there was one flavor in the sauce that eventually overwhelmed me and I was unable to finish all my noodles.  

Overall, I'm glad we had this new (to me) ramen experience - but as a rule, I'll generally choose the lighter, cleaner-tasting Ippudo offerings in the future.

Also note, 300 g of noodles is a LOT.  We both would have been content with 200 g, and we left stuffed.  Therefore, we were unable to properly seize the next eating opportunity that presented itself:

Dang.  I love ice cream covered mozzarella sticks..

DARN.

But that reminds me - we do have some photos & notes to share on some genuine Japanese sweets.  So, pop back again soon!

Kyoto Imperial Palace: Better Than the Grammies

Let's get things started by taking a quick peek at a map of Japan:

Kyoto is marked with the 'A'.

Historically, Kyoto was the capital and largest city in Japan.  In fact, the word "Kyoto" apparently comes from the Chinese word "jingdu", which means capital city ('Kyoto' and 'jingdu' don't look like they sound the same to me, but what do I know?).  Starting in the 1500s, though, the population of other Japanese cities began to grow, and in 1869, the emperor moved his residence - and thus the capital - to Tokyo, where it remains today.  As of 2010 population statistics, Kyoto had fallen to the 6th largest city in Japan.


However, much Japanese history remains alive and well in Kyoto.  There are over 2,000 shrines there, and the city contains 14% of Japan's designated Important Cultural Properties.  [Although I'm not exactly sure what this means. As you'll see/read, Japan seems to like designating places/buildings/gardens/items as ICPs, National Treasures, etc.]  While it was the capital, the infrastructure of Kyoto sustained damage from earthquakes, fires, and wars.  However, it was  spared much of the destruction that befell other Japanese cities during World War II.  Allegedly, the US Secretary of War during WWII (Henry Stimson) had visited and vacationed in Kyoto and wanted to spare the city as an important cultural site.  [I find this to be an interesting commentary about the power of anonymity is in the commission of acts of violence and destruction. But that is a topic for another post, probably by someone with a degree other than 'Biochemistry'.]


We did not intend to visit 2,000 shrines.  But we did want to take in some culturally relevant sites.  So our first historical stop in Kyoto was the Kyoto Imperial Palace.  When Kyoto was the capital of Japan, this compound was the emperor's residence.  Today, the emperor's residence is at a different Imperial Palace in Tokyo.


We had a special appointment for an English language tour of the Kyoto Palace at 10 AM.  We showed up at the gates a few minutes early and wandered into the compound.  The outer area includes a broad paved path around the Palace complex and is open to the public.  All of the structures are enclosed by an earth-and-tile wall.  


We must have looked lost, because a friendly Japanese gentleman approached and asked whether we needed help.  He assisted us in finding the entrance to the complex and check-in area.


After a brief video introduction that included some history of the compound, as well as a preview of the tour, we set out.  Click here to see a map of the area and the route that we took.  Basically, we were shown several of the gates and a variety of the "work" buildings.  The center and back sections of the complex, where the emperor and his wife/children lived, respectively (that's right, they didn't live together in the same buildings), are closed to the public.


In retrospect, as I looked through my photos, I realized that I had a very difficult time capturing the enormity of these structures with my camera.  Often, I "coped" by merely snapping a photo or two of the rooflines, to give an idea of size and architecture.  Many of my pictures from our first few days in Japan look something like this:

Now that I have identified this trend in my photos, I'm hoping to take some measures to avoid it in the future.  But for now, you're stuck with the photos that I took!  


So let's start with the entrances to the compound itself.  There are at least 6 separate gates that were used to pass into the compound.  Each was designated for a different "class" of visitor.  The fanciest and most convenient gate was for the highest ranking visitors, and so on down through the less-fine gates and less-famous visitors.  If you are familiar with Japan as a hierarchical, structured, and strict society, this type of imposed order shouldn't surprise you.  Below, you can see the Kenreimon Gate (one of the middle-ranking gates):

Why yes.  I have an equivalent "mediocre" entrance for my "less than super famous" visitors... 

Next, we got to peek into the building that was designated as a waiting area for visitors who came to see the emperor.  Just like the entrance gates, this building had 3 different waiting areas to separate guests by rank.  The most basic waiting room had black-edged tatami mats and simple screen paintings.  In contrast, the room where the highest ranking officials waited was several steps higher, with white-edged tatami mats and elaborately painted screens.  The height, the color, the drawings - symbolism, every step of the way!


One of the next buildings we saw was the Shishinden.  

While most of the buildings are neutral in color, the orange painted pillars at the front of the Shishinden indicate that this is a particularly important building.  As you'll see inphotos over the next few days, the torii (traditional Japanese gates) at the entrances to shrines are also usually orange.


The Shishinden is the symbol of the Kyoto Imperial Palace, and was the location of important ceremonies (eg: enthronement ceremonies).  The photos below are taken through the orange gates and into the courtyard of the Shishinden, where the white-grey rocks are raked daily into orderly perfection.  You can see the actual building through the gate in the photos below:

Personally, I was most amused by the trees on either side of the Shishinden entrance.  In the photo on the right (east), you can see a cherry tree beside the steps.  As we approached, our guide told us that the tree on the left (west) was an orange tree, but it would be covered to protect it from winter frost.  I laughed out loud when I peeked into the courtyard and saw...an actual shed erected around the tree.  This is one fancy tree, guys.  No simple burlap sack for this baby!!


Now, if you can manage to look beyond the protective-tree-shed for a moment, check out the roof of the Shishinden and the Kenreimon gate in the photos above.  Traditionally, the buildings in this complex (and similar temple/shrine/government complexes) all had roofs made of many, many layers of cypress bark held together by small, whittled bamboo nails.  Here's a close up:

Many, many layers of cypress bark.

Cypress bark, apparently, makes for great roofing material.  It is very light, making it ideal for roofing a large building.  It is flexible, which allows for sweeping, swooping roof lines (check out the photo of the Kenreimon gate).  It also regulates temperature very well, and allows for the reflection of heat and insulation of cool air inside during the summer.


Unfortunately, many many layers of bark are needed to make a roof.  See below:

Furthermore, such roofs only last about 20 years before they need replacing.  Based on the number of buildings in the Kyoto Palace Complex - by the time all the roofs were replaced, the roofing team would have had to start the process all over again.  The other major disadvantage of such roofs are that they are highly flammable.  Japan has a very bad track record with fire.  Many of the buildings in the complex had burned down repeatedly over hundreds of years.   [Based on what we saw and read at the historic sites we visited, the Japanese obviously would have benefited from a Smokey The Bear visit a few hundred years ago.] 


The result has been depletion of Japan's supply of cypress trees.  Use of cypress barks is now more tightly regulated and only used for certain structures.  Ceramic tiles are used when cypress bark is unavailable.


We also saw the Shunkoden (which I, for some reason, want to keep calling the Skunkoden...), which is the special building where the Palace's treasures are kept.  One such treasure is a mirror, but I can't remember what the others are (educational blogging FAIL).  I'll do a bit more research on this to include in subsequent posts about some of the temples and shrines that we visited - but most of them have some specific "treasures" that are kept in a separate and sacred building.

We saw several other Palace buildings (from the outside only), notably the Seiryoden, where the emperor lived and worked.  There is an elaborate system of partitions, screens, and hanging cloths to separate different areas and facilitate cooling in the summer. Overall, Japan seems to worry about staying warm in the winter; but everyone is concerned about keeping cool in the summer.  I couldn't get any photos that weren't crowded by a bunch of my fellow tour participants.  And the guard that was bringing up the rear of the tour was none-too-pleased about my hanging back to try to snap some "clean" photos.  I hurried along.


Around the next corner, we could see the Oikeniwa Garden.  It was larger than this, but I carefully composed the shot to avoid photos of the garden maintenance team.  Speaking of maintenance - visiting the Palace emphasized to us how central such a complex could be to the economic life of an area.  Obviously, many hands were required, both indoors and out, to keep the place clean, tidy, and fed.  In particular, I remember our tourguide telling us that, when the Palace was in use, the gardeners used to hand pick the deciduous leaves out of the trees before they fell to the ground in the Fall.  

This is considered a "strolling" garden.  See the bridges?

By this point, we were chilly, tired of being in a tour group, and getting hungry.  Research indicated the presence of a good ramen place just a short ride and walk from the palace, so we set off on a Ramen Hunt.  It'll be worth coming back to read and drool over what we found...