Hungry Like the Wolf: The Cold and the Ravenous: Tokyo Drift

Growing up, I was one of those kids who always believed she had a secret twin or long lost older sibling out there, just waiting to be discovered. Yes, there are certain advantages to being an only child, but by early adolescence I had negotiated those waters long enough to be absolutely thrilled when I gained not one, but two younger sisters. Of course, since we were separated by both time and geography we didn't get to experience all of the standard sibling joys and conflicts: no toys were co-opted, no diaries read (after all, that's what Stepmothers are for, right?) Our time spent together always involved travel, either me to their home in the city, or occasionally them to my home in the suburbs. So it's only fitting that after too long a separation my sister Susie and I would plan an epic reunion halfway around the world. Well, okay. We actually both live in Asia right now. So you could say that I was "in the neighborhood and decided to stop by". But I prefer the epic-reunion-half-a-world-away narrative, so we're sticking with that.

I did not know what to expect from our Japan trip, and frankly I was nervous, maybe even a bit scared. My sister and I hadn't seen each other in years, and this meeting had the prospect of unearthing a wealth of terrible family drama. In some ways I think the painful family history made me more restrained than it did her. My Buddhist younger sister has learned to forgive and accept things that I'm still coming to terms with.

It was so cold even the statues
needed sweaters.

But this is not a tragic memoir! This is a food and travel blog, and therefore we must press on with discussions of epicurean delights. I had a day and half in Tokyo before meeting up with Susie, and I started out with my usual chaotic travel pattern: hours of aimless walking which led to my getting hopelessly lost when a mere three blocks from home, and all of this providing an excellent excuse for eating really good food. One thing about Japan that must be mentioned - it's cold. As in, painfully cold. And my first night there was rainy and awful. (Side note - I'm writing this from the sunny beach at Kenting, and the music at the Happy Panda Bar is so crushingly bad that I'm in danger of going deaf from my preventative ipod measures. Really, is this their business plan? Drive us to drink? Anyway, back to Japan). The bitter cold was not alleviated by my inadequate shoes, coat, gloves, and non-existent umbrella. But I still managed to take in the Asakusa temples by night, enjoy over-priced yakitori, and finally discover the warmth that only spicy ramen can bring. Now, while this ramen was spicy, it was also a bit tomato-y. My previous ramen experiences had not prepared me for this. Was it supposed to be that way? Have I been wrong all these years? The meat was good, but not "melt in your mouth" good. In fact, the best thing that can be said about this ramen shop is that it existed, and gladly welcomed a white girl who bore a striking resemblance to a drowned rat. The soup could have been Campbell's Chicken Noodle and I would have attacked it like it was my last meal. Any port in a storm. Literally.

You're suspect, ramen. Suspect.

Yes, this photo is blurry, but when you compare it to the much
blurrier photos it becomes a work of genius.

The next day dawned a crisp, cold blue. I returned to the Asakusa temples and experienced the standard tourist side of things: crowds, kids, and kimonos. This was followed by a walk through inokashira park in kichijoji which, strangely enough, made me quite nostalgic for Berlin. What was it? The spare delicacy of the barren branches? Or the fact that I couldn't feel my toes? (Side note: Dear sweet lord, the Happy Panda music. Why would someone do this to another human being?!?!?) But I digress. We're not in Berlin (or Kenting, for that matter.) We're in Japan. (Further side note: the more I travel, the more easily I transport mentally to a previous trip or a plan for a new one. It's as though time and space is coalescing into one great, big vacation. This may not be a good thing.) But Japan! Tokyo! What did I eat? Lots of tempura, because I was freezing and therefore deserved fried food. Tender, salty yakitori. A particularly satisfying bowl of chirashi. Generally, anything I could find that cost less than the US debt to China. I was prepared for prices more in the range of NYC than Taipei, but that didn't make them any easier to deal with. So yeah, I ate a lot of what I can only assume would be considered Japanese fast food. Finally, adorable kichijoji shops thoroughly explored, I went back to the hostel to prepare for the big reunion. I killed time by helping a Frenchman prep his audition for a British dental commercial (over red wine, of course). Then Susie arrived, and it was once again like existing in several times at once. I was 12, 20, 27, 36. Susie was an infant, child, and teenager living in the body of a wise, kind, and curious adult. How did we get here? How did we make it through the passage of time and history? I can't answer that, but I can tell you that the next day we embarked on a 10 hour train ride to Kyoto. And yes, it was epic.