Status report

[cjsmith]

Less than 24 hours in the country and I've already bought food I couldn't eat and had to throw away. I was lucky to go that long, really. I'm in Japan, for goodness' sake, and I can't eat fish or seafood. I'm lucky I can eat at all. Mochi = wonderful, and hey, since I did come here with Rob, I'm in McDonald's twice a day. Haute cuisine it isn't, but it's got calories in it!

We didn't see a blade of grass out of place at Narita. Maybe the crash was on the opposite side of the field.

The train system defeats me. I can do the subways, but transfer me to something else and I'm useless. Fortunately Rob has a better instinct for those.

Ueno Park is starting to bloom, and it looks like it's going to be STUNNING in about a week.

It's nifty having a teapot in the hotel room.

Mikie wants us to sing. This is going to be a disaster. We tried to tell her what the dancers do when we sing. ("You're not going to do any more of those... are you?") She was undeterred. Yikes.

My feet hurt. Surprise.

Comments

[erikred.livejournal.com]

Try to get to an okonimiyaki or ramen place. There should be plenty of options not involving fish, shellfish, or mollusks. And remember: karaoke is all about spirit, not talent. My Kiwi buddy was absolutely atrocious at singing, but man, he put his heart into it, and people loved it.

[densaer.livejournal.com]

I was able to remain a vegetarian in Japan. Of course, some of that involved nattoo (fermented soybeans), so that may not be an appetizing solution. I had one of the people at the hotel write a note that I'd give to the greeters at restaurants, who would mostly shake their heads at me and I'd have to go elsewhere.

I found a few Indian restaurants in Tokyo (Akasuka), which helped :)

[erikred.livejournal.com]

When my middle brother (vegan) visited my youngest brother in Japan, he was finally able to get by on okonomiyaki (http://www.japan-guide.com/r/e100.html). You can forgo the cheese, meat, squid, etc. by saying "yasai dake" (vegetables only); if you just can't eat seafood, tell them "ika wa dame desu." Replace "ika" with "sakana" (fish) and "tako" (octopus) as necessary.

Mmm, natto: I love that stuff. If you ever get a chance to have natto onigiri, do so.

[densaer.livejournal.com]

When I called down and asked for natto, the hotel restaurant had to send someone into the local neighborhood to get some... and they kept asking me if I was sure I wanted it? Did I know what I was ordering?

The props from the guy who finally brought it up (with a bottle of sake, natch) was priceless. Of course, when I finally got to eating it (in private!) it was...quite the experience. I had it, but not sure I'd do it again :-)

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

"dame" = ? This sounds like a very useful phrase!

[erikred.livejournal.com]

"dame" literally means "no way, Jose, no how." It's softened by adding "desu" at the end. (Makes it more polite.)

Best bet: put on an apologetic smile, cross your hands like an X, and say " wa dame desu." They'll understand what you mean, especially if you point. And bow. And act apologetic.

Enjoy!

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

Ooo, thank you. I'd been going with "taberaremasen", "cannot eat". "Dame" is shorter. :)

[erikred.livejournal.com]

Good on you for tackling the longer "taberaremasen!" That's politer (and better) Japanese... though it lacks the oomph of a good old-fashioned "dame desu."

Let me know when you need some curse words! :)

[erikred.livejournal.com]

Doh! LJ ate my placeholder.

That should read "<something> wa dame desu."

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

Yeah, for me there are two problems: 1) that the food place *have* options I can eat, and 2) that I can *identify* them. I'm sure I've passed up many places I could eat, simply because I couldn't tell. The handwritten note thing sounds fabulous.

[abqdan.livejournal.com]

It was a non-negotiable part of my trip to Karaoke; that and drinking huge quantities of beer. One helped the other I guess. I also learned it was important not to pour your own beer. Not sure what the etiquette would be if you were alone in a bar... Sounds like you are having a fun trip!

off topic again

[moriamerri.livejournal.com]

Huh, I was going to check in here to make sure you know about the open house on Sat for the new "green" humane society facility in Milpitas. Supposed to have much more humane (larger? and no bars) areas for the animals and lots of other stuff. Um, but I guess you won't be going :) since you are in Japan :) Wow.

densaer -- I like the "have someone write a note" solution -- one can even buy cards that have veg-food requests, in a whole set of languages. (They sell them for a couple different flavors -- at least veg-lacto-ovo and vegan -- maybe more -- and I don't recall how many languages come in the set.) But I like the personal flavor of a hand-written note.... plus you can have it say what you want :) But also interesting that one can buy a whole set of cards for this purpose..... (or could a while back -- I bought some!)

[hopeforyou.livejournal.com]

Yakiniku? There are Japanese steakhouses, if you eat meat.

You could do vegetarian sushi.

And then there's okinimiyaki like someone else said (Japanese pizza) and places where you can cook vegetables (and optionally beef or chicken) in a hot pot full of seawood stock -- this is called Shabu shabu (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shabu_shabu).

Do you avoid fish stock, also? I'm sorry, I might have missed a previous post as to why fish and seafood is out for you.

Some Zen and macrobiotic food places would probably work well for you. A lot of Buddhists are vegetarian and thus wouldn't use fish or seafood in their dishes.

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

I love okinomiyaki, but haven't yet had it without a native speaker next to me to make sure the scallops go on someone else's. :)

Yes, Zen/macrobiotic would work too, if I could identify them. Part of my problem is that my language skills are so pitiful I'm nearly deaf, mute, and illiterate! :)

[fyellin.livejournal.com]

BillvM had someone write a note that he could show to any waiter: "I cannot eat fish or seafood; it makes me ill. Please verify with the chef that what I'm ordering doesn't contain these."

For riding the trains, I discovered that I needed to have someone write out the name of the stop in Kanji. I could then pattern match to figure out where I needed to go.

I don't remember nato being too horrible.

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

I can do the names of the train stops; I just need to learn to tell the train systems apart, so that I buy a ticket for the right thing from the right machine.

Wonder if the hotel staff could write me that note. That sounds perfect.

[kateyule.livejournal.com]

Yakiniku makes me think of yakitori... Ooh, kushikatsu! Hooray for Things on Sticks!!

Do you know about the food halls in department store basements?

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

Things on sticks = two thumbs up. So far I haven't found a place that's open, selling those, though I got close once (they were gearing up to open).

Ohhhh yes, department store basements! Of course, most foodstuffs I can't be sure are safe, so I am eating a lot of nuts and dried fruits.

The crepe places are good too.

[davidlevine]

Check out my post on "How to take the train in Tokyo" at http://davidlevine.livejournal.com/99829.html

I wrote it mostly for the "omigawd can you believe this" aspect but it might actually be useful to you in your current situation. Hope it helps!

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

HA! Yes, that is very accurate! My problem usually comes in between determining the line and fare I need and finding the right place to buy a ticket. Different machines correspond to different systems, and if I'm switching systems, I may goof. Rob so far has been batting a thousand on this.