Curry Nights at Thali Spice

Dinner at Thali Spice in 2012.

Something of a tradition here for the Kagawa JETs. Usually on Thursday evenings, almost every week, members of the foreign community in Takamatsu (and the nearby area) descend on the Thali Spice restaurant in the Shotengai shopping streets. It's a Nepalese and Indian restaurant, and it's damned good.

This tradition mostly started by having dinners with departed-ALTs Jasper Wood and Danny Blackwell, as well as Arran Chambers. The four of us would frequently meet during Jasper and Danny's time in Japan, occasionally joined by a few other people. In addition to that, I often found myself coming along with non-JET American Sam Jones, where we'd often get together and talk movie reviews or just hang out with a group. Eventually these traditions just sort of stuck, Thursday after Thursday.

With Matt Katch (left) and Sam Jones.

And so, as more and more foreigners have started to come more and more frequently, the restaurant finds itself full of foreigners nigh-on every Thursday night. With good reason, too; the curries are exceptional.

My traditional set.

For my own part, I'm afraid I'm not usually terribly adventurous; I usually get the same meal every time I go, because I enjoy it so much. In actual fact, the waiters can repeat my order back to me before I even give it these days (which may give you an indication of how often I go there). I almost always getting the mutton masala, spice level three, with a huge butter naan bread and a lassie to drink. At least I'm consistent.

I have to say, it will be a sad day when I finally leave Japan and I won't be able to have any more of these curries again. Until then, well, expect to see me there on Thursdays.

Movie review madness.

Summer in Kagawa, Japan

Healthy rice-paddies on a hot Kagawa day. 

Seeing as I wrote an article on my experiences of Winter in Japan a little while back, I thought it would be appropriate to also spend a little bit of time talking about the Summer. I've written a little bit here and there on the subject in other posts, but I feel like it would take a full blog post on the topic to really do it justice.

I'm afraid, however, that Summer here isn't much more pleasant than the Winter.

Summer in Kagawa can be... difficult.

Not the most positive of starts, I know, but there's several approximations that make it more than a bit hell-esque. For starters, the temperature is about the same as you would expect from the Devil's lair: a relentless onslaught of heat and humidity which seems to last for an eternity. The devil's minions are also clearly present in the form of gigantic insects and giant green spiders that torment and seemingly target the foreign population (yet fascinate and please the school kids).

Hyperbole aside, it is hot. Very hot.

• Heat and Humidity

The biggest challenge of Japanese Summer is quite simply the heat. According to my phone, the current temperature is 32°C, yet it feels far warmer than that because of the humidity in the air. Japan is an intensely humid country, and that contributes to a constant sweaty feeling throughout the summer months. The temperature is pretty much constant and only drops marginally in the evenings. It really is a heck of a challenge to stay hydrated, as you're sweating constantly and always in need of a glass of water. It goes some way to explaining why Japanese homes lack insulation (though, as I mentioned before, that causes serious inverse issues in the Winter, too).

Luckily, the handy air-con is on hand. Like in the Winter, I have this thing on pretty much constantly - though it is unfortunately consigned to one room. Normally I use it at 18°C, but unfortunately the heat typically builds up so much throughout the day that it can take a fair amount of time for the effects to be felt. In contrast, opening the window to try and cool the place down doesn't do much to help as the air coming inside is roasting and there isn't much of a breeze (though at least it freshens the air).

The Air-con is back online.

Supplementary to the air-con are a few other purchases that can be made. I recently picked up a fan for a very good price in my local Aeon Department Store. As my aircon is restricted to just one room, I often find myself blasting the fan into the kitchen when I'm in there preparing food for long periods of time. There are also dehumidifiers, which are far more expensive but very effective. When I visited Michael in Shizuoka last June, I was amazed at how much watch his managed to extract from the air - it looked like a litre in the space of a day.

 

My new fan (left) and a de-humidifier (right, image from here).

Michael had one of these in his place when I visited him in Shizuoka last year.

Traditional Japanese fans (uchiwa).

Of course, the old favourite in Japan is the hand-held fan (known as an uchiwa). These are not quite as common as you might expect during the Summer months, and I imagine its because they are often more ornamental than anything else. You do often see people waving paper equivalents, however, as they're often handed out while walking along the streets (usually these versions are plastered in advertising). They are very beautiful to look at and very pleasing to see when they are used.

• Cold Treats

If you're anything like me, you'll agree the best way to deal with the heat (short of a cold shower) is in a refreshing beverage. Thankfully, vending machines in Japan are plentiful and on almost every street corner. In the summer time these become absolutely essential. On the weekends, I can visit them around two or three times a day (if I'm out and around town and nowhere near a store). Obviously, it's slightly pricier than buying from a store (costing between around 100円 to 150円 on average), but in the summer its a price you cannot afford not to pay, and 120円 is the standard price, which will get you pretty much anything at most machines (that's around 80p for you UK JETs).

Vending machines everywhere.

So many options.

I'm pretty much an addict on the canned cold coffee. Even though cold coffee isn't such a big thing in the UK (probably because it's so damn cold over there), it really is refreshing in the heat. If you're British and you haven't tried an ice coffee yet, I'd recommend you get yourself to Japan and try one of these (a few do have a pretty high sugar content, though, so some are a bit too sweet).

Cold treats are incredibly popular throughout the Summer, and with good reason.

Another alternative of course is to pop into a convenience store (or supermarket) and pick up an ice-lolly or ice cream. These are abundant and everywhere in Japan, with some very nice varieties available (including a Magnum equivalent and a banana-milk flavoured ice). The soda-flavoured "Gari Gari-Kun" is an all time favourite, but my personal preference is for the watermelon ices that creatively include little chocolate chips in place of seeds. It's very refreshing and just looks aesthetically great.

Watermelon ice-poles!

My reprieve from the heat.

Chocolate is difficult to keep during the summer months because it melts so quickly. Mostly it's best to keep it indoors in a fridge and only remove it when about to eat. Carry it around town and it'll almost certainly turn into goop.

Fruit is also difficult to keep (especially bananas) as the heat makes it wilt rapidly, and occasionally small little flies can get in through the open windows (even with a gauze up) which will make short work of them. On one occasion, I bought an apple from the supermarket at around 9pm at night, leaving it on my breakfast table with an intention of eating it the next morning at breakfast. I picked it up not long after sunrise to discover the lower half had turned to mush and was covered in little holes that a fly had made. Again, the fridge is your best friend here, but you really do struggle with bananas as they go brown so damn quickly in there. Best recommendation is to only buy fruit on the same day you intend to eat it.

A special delicacy of Kagawa-ken is, of course, the Sanuki-Udon. I quite enjoy udon noodles, but really only when they're hot. However, cold noodles are very popular during the summer in Japan, and as such cold udon is consumed en masse by loads of people in Kagawa. Sadly, I can't really eat the stuff myself: the texture just feels off-putting. Might be worth a try for a one-off, though.

Cold udon? No, thanks.

(Image from here.)

• Schools and Summer Holidays

Katsuga Junior High School.

The schools I visit can become incredibly hot during the summer time. Like homes, the walls are designed to be very thin and lack insulation, but the humidity and heat is such that it doesn't make much of a difference, really. Windows are consistently open (though this does inevitably let all manner of bugs inside). The kids can visibly be a lot more tired during these months, and I find myself constantly sweating throughout the day and drinking a lot of water and cold ocha (Japanese tea). Some rooms come equipped with electric fans (though their range is pretty small) or air-con units. These help greatly but because many of the schools are quite old many rooms aren't equipped with these gadgets and typically teachers can be reluctant to use them.

The school swimming pools see a lot of action in the Summer time.

One benefit of summer is that students are given a lot of swimming classes, which I've never participated in but look like a lot of fun. In the intense heat, this would definitely be a welcome way to break up the day. I know if I was a student here that I would love these.

With regards to summer holidays, here we come to a huge cultural difference that you may find very surprising...

The school holidays in Japan aren't really holidays in the way that we in the Western world would conceive of them.

Basically, er, they're not really holidays.

Students participate in the sports clubs everyday.

In Japan, students and teachers still come to school every day throughout the Summer. While this might seem insane to most of us, it's the status quo over here. Students are often assigned homework to do throughout the holidays and are expected to participate in daily sports clubs either in the morning or afternoon. Teachers have a lot less work to do, and mostly just sit at their desks doing... stuff. Leave isn't automatically granted, and teachers typically need to take paid holidays to take days off (though of course, this being Japan, most teachers don't take their full allocation).

ALTs aren't exempt from this, and come to school to basically find work for themselves. Often times there really isn't much work to do, though a lot of ALTs work with some students to train them for the upcoming English speech contests which arrive at the start of the next semester. It can also be a good opportunity to prepare materials for the upcoming semester, though like Japanese teachers, many ALTs use this time to take their paid leave (which is very sensible as it avoids disrupting classes).

One nice thing is that, with school lunch not running, the teachers may often go for lunch together. I've had quite a few trips with various teachers to enjoy lunch together (typically udon), and they're a lovely way to spend time in the early afternoon.

It seemed bizarre to me when I first arrived in Takamatsu to sit at a desk when there is very little work to do, and to keep the school running when there aren't any classes, and I can't say my opinion on that has changed very much. Still, it's just the way it is. The atmosphere in these summer months is usually very relaxed, and teachers have a lot more flexibility with their time. It's not an unpleasant atmosphere.

• Bugs and other Monstrosities

Japanese Summer is beloved by all manner of beasties. Everyday you'll encounter countless insects and bugs crawling all over the place as soon as you've left your door (I've already mentioned the flies getting in and destroying my fruit).

Cicadas are everywhere in the summer months.

(Image from here.)

Most prominent in the Summer months are perhaps the cicadas which make one hell of a deafening noise. They constantly sing throughout the summer months; big, clumsy guys who make a very constantly loud noise which is audible constantly throughout the day. They aren't unpleasant, really, but they often jump out and surprise you. They're a lot cuter than most insects due to their big size and clumsy behaviour. You know Summer has started when you start to hear the cicadas throughout the day (eventually you just start to tune it out). Unfortunately, a lot of ALTs I know have complained about sitting under trees and being taken by surprise by cicada urine dropping on them. Whether or not those claims are true I have no idea.

Far more unsettling are the giant green spiders that are everywhere.

Visions of hell.

(Image from here.)

These green spiders are everywhere throughout the Summer months. They grow to a pretty big size (up to around the size of a palm), and they're so numerous that they cover almost every tree, plant and doorway. Looking up at a train station could well induce nightmares into the faint of heart, and they occasionally take up shop on some of the vending machines, too (which can give you quite a fright). I've heard conflicting reports as to whether or not they're dangerous or not but the colour scheme definitely suggests that they aren't something you want to mess with.

Often times they create giant webs that can stretch across big distances, which unsuspecting people can walk right into. Other times, their webs dangle overhead, and another looking up can see the silhouette of a large spider looking down at them from the sky. On the plus side, they probably help to keep away quite a lot of the bugs around here.

Typically these guys hang around until October, and trust me when I say they are everywhere (though currently they haven't quite fully grown yet).

Somewhat worryingly, I've also started to see a small blue and yellow sparkling lizard running around near my front door. It looks absolutely lethal and I've never seen anything like it before. Here's hoping it keeps a distance...

• Clear Skies and Sunshine

The ferry terminal at Sunport, Takamatsu.

If you're Scottish like me (or are from anywhere in Britain), you'll be familiar with Summer being a typically inconsistent season which is prone to the occasional burst of rain and overcast skies. Not that Summer is always dreary, but it can certainly be haphazard and there can be occasional long stretches without much in the way of sunshine.

Thankfully, one of the advantages of Japanese summer is absolutely gorgeous sunshine. It's fairly consistent almost every day, and Kagawa simply looks glorious bathed in the sunshine.

Not a cloud in the sky.

With the intense sunlight obviously comes a long of sunburn. Luckily for me I don't tend to burn so easily, but plenty of ALTs turn into beetroots during the summer months. Sun cream is probably necessary for long exposure (though I typically don't wear it as often as I should, which is admittedly very silly and probably a bit dangerous of me). Many Japanese women are known to carry umbrellas during the summer month, or otherwise wear very long sleeves, in order to avoid tanning; as you may know, pale skin can often be fetished in Japan (which is bizarre to me, since I know plenty of Scottish girls who are constantly trying to get a tan).

Japanese woman can often be seen carrying umbrellas to stay out of the sun.

Image from here.

So really, it's a trade off. You have beautiful scenery with almost no clouds around, but you're gonna have to accept you'll cook for it.

A visual metaphor for the sweat running down my back.

(Yeuch.)

• Festivals

And of course, there are the summer festivals.

If there's any major redeeming quality to summers in Japan, it's these.

Sakaide Matsuri, 2012.

Dancing at Takamatsu Matsuri, 2012.

In Shikoku, there are three major festivals that I've made my way to over the last couple of years; Sakaide Matsuri, Takamatsu Matsuri and Awa Odori (in Tokushima, the next prefecture to Kagawa). There are also the much smaller festivals such as the Shionoe Firefly Festival which take place on a more local level. Each of these has it's own unique feel and events. Of course, these are all accompanied by the traditional layout of festival stalls, and encourage a healthy attitude of merriment (and perhaps a little bit of drinking on the side).

I'll be writing at length about the Summer Festivals I've visited in Kagawa in other blog posts, so expect to see more information on those soon.

• Final Thoughts

As you can see, Summer is a month of mixed blessings. Beautiful weather, but frankly the heat and humidity is so intense than it kills all enthusiasm for it. Many Japanese people I speak to concede that Summer is one of their least favourite seasons, and I tend to agree (though I'd say it's about equal to Winter in that regard, as both are quite difficult in their own ways).

Fish swim in the pond at Katsuga Junior High School.

As I say, the summer festivals go a very long way to making up for the challenges the season entails, and some of the best things to do while in Japan. Sweating aside, it's well worth being in Japan at this time of year just to see (or participate in) those amazing spectacles.

And if you can get past the heat (which is difficult), there is honestly a tremendous amount of beauty to admire.

Sunset on the coast at Sunport, Takamatsu.

Angie stands on the beach near Kozai at sunset.

As an additional note: many Japanese people seem to believe that Japan is unique in having four seasons. I've often been asked questions such as; "How many seasons does Scotland have?". I'm always pretty perplexed by this. I always understood that pretty much everywhere on Earth had four seasons. 

I'm not sure where they're getting this from, but it's very peculiar.

Noodle Waterslide at Hiroko's!

NB. Big props to Dan Johnson for pointing out that this event is known as Nagashi Somen. You can read about his own Nagashi Somen party here.
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I was recently invited along to my good friend Hiroko Tomozawa's house for dinner, along with her family and friends (including Junko and Rie, who have both been very generous to me during my time in Japan). Hiroko was having a Russian exchange student staying with her for a few days, and so I was invited along to introduce myself and say hello.

Little did I know what was in store for dinner, however; a noodle waterslide.

Noodle waterslide!

Fun!

Basically the concept is pretty simple. Somen noodles run down a water slide made of bamboo with a hose attached to one end. Someone at the top drops the noodles into the slide and everyone tries to catch the noodles with their chopsticks to put in their own bowl. At the end of the bamboo run is a colander on a stool to catch all of the missed noodles.

This was an absolute blast!

Gotta catch 'em all.

Served with some lovely tempura and fish-things.

This was a pretty fun way to spend the evening, and we all had a blast. I couldn't imagine a better activity for Hiroko to introduce to her guest as an introduction to Japan and Japanese food.

25th Birthday Fish Fry!

First published: 24 Jun 2013

Tamara and a ridiculous quantity of fish.

Following the very successful dinner I had for my birthday with a small party, my shakuhachi buddy Tamara and her husband Nick were kind enough to host a fish fry party on their rooftop the next day. Tamara had somehow acquired an abundance of fresh fish at a ridiculously cheap rate, and had volunteered to host the event as a continuation of my birthday celebrations with a wide group of ALTs. I was more than happy to oblige!

Takashi, Akane and crew.

Drinking and merriment.

Sayuri, Olya, Matt and I compete to make the strangest face.

With no less than fourteen (!) big fish and a buffet of additional food people had brought along, everyone was very well-fed. Most people shared fish in pairs, with myself naturally doubling up with Angie. They were pretty damn tasty, though I'm not sure what the exact name of the fish was! The night was initially fairly rainy, but luckily Tamara and Nick had assembled a parasol, and the rain disappeared fairly rapidly. iPhones were hooked up to the speaker system for music, and I was greeted with more gifts from more friends. There was drinking aplenty until the early hours (upon which we moved onto the Amazon bar in town).

 Angie and Lily.

Duck-face blues.

I'm not a fan.

Shit gets real. Too much duck-face.

One thing worth noting is that everyone in our foreign community is now desensitized to eating fish with the heads attached. Back home, this would be a big source of contention for a lot of people in a lot of Western countries. Here, however, the habit has become so habitual that it doesn't garner a moment's thought. It's interesting to note the horrified reaction many folk (mostly girls, I have to admit) have when I show them photographs of the fish we eat here.

Matt enjoys his fish.

Kobe Ferry Trip

Taking photos on the Kobe ferry with my Canon 60D.

Credit for this shot has to go to Mary Thanh Vo.

A Kagawa JET tradition which has run for many years is the Kobe Ferry Trip, where the group gets themselves on one of the ferries from Takamatsu to spend the day or night in Kobe.

The year I arrived, however, this annual event was called off due to a typhoon warning. Luckily, it came back around the following September, and so I was keen to get myself on board.

Chatting with the ALTs.

The times for the ferries are a tad unfortunate, as the first leaves around six in the morning (!) and the second in the early afternoon. This is because the ferry takes around three-to-four hours or so to arrive, so you either arrive in the late morning or you arrive in the early evening. A small group decided to head out in the early morning to go and do some hiking on a local mountain area in Kobe, while a second group (which included myself) planned to head out on the afternoon ferry and join them in the evening.

Getting ready to depart. Slightly sweaty.

It was a terribly hot day, and I was already sweating pretty badly by the time I arrived at the bus stop next to Takamatsu-chikko station that would transfer us to the ferry port. Plenty of water was consumed by myself before we had even departed.

The ferry trip makes up the bulk of the excitement on this trip, and is intended as an easy way for people just to spend time with each other. The facilities were very comfortable, and it was a very relaxing experience. Upon departing, we made our way directly up to the roof, where we enjoyed the sea breeze and took plenty of photographs. We sailed around and saw plenty of the Seto inland sea islands, including making a brief stop at Shodoshima (where we acquired a few extra ALTs for the trip).

Islands in the Seto Inland Sea.

Mary Thanh Vo photos the scenes.

(A lot of the photos on this entry were taken by her!)

Justin's hair was fairly noteworthy at times on this trip.

Pose to sell bottled water.

The downstairs facilities were equally as comfortable. Lounges were provided, as were an amusement arcade, sleeping area and cafe / bar area. My fellow JETs and I ordered some Sanuki udon (of course) followed by ice creams. Mostly, we just sat down in the lounge area and enjoyed playing card and iPad games (including a two-player Fruit Ninja HD tournament - outstanding).

We're on a boat! With Lorriane, Justin, Ryan and Mary.

Hugs!

When we arrived in Kobe, it was already the early evening and night had come in. We took taxis through the town to meet the other ALTs at a famous Brazilian meat restaurant on the water front; Brasiliano, in the MOSAIC building.

Brasiliano.

Looking bewildered at the steps of MOSAIC.

As the other ALTs made their way inside, Mary and I stood on the balcony for a while and took photographs of the beautiful waterfront area. There was plenty to see, and I regretted that I wouldn't be staying longer in Kobe to explore some of these areas and see them up close. The unique buildings were a gorgeous spectacle, and it was difficult to tear myself away from photographing them.

The waterfront in Kobe.

Some sort of party takes place on the veranda.

Stunning.

The other ALTs were knackered from their day of walking, but we had an amazing all-you-can eat dinner with cheerful Brazilian men coming over to the table and cutting off countless cuts of meat.

The seasoning on the meat was - without exaggeration - some of the best I'd ever had. It was an incredible meal with great company, and we stayed until we were the last people in the restaurant; the food was so good, we simply didn't want to leave! I absolutely, completely recommend this place if you want to have some Brazilian food in Japan.

Fannying around with Justin and Luke.

After dinner, we had a brief stop in town at an area affectionately known as "Tits Park" (or Oppai Kouen), due to the mounds in the ground that local a bit like, er, breasts. It's right next to Hankyu station in Sannomiya.

Sitting on a "tit", apparently.

When we arrived, the area was full of young people, and there appeared to be some sort of live music event which had been casually put together. The crowds were drinking their beers while musicians casually strummed guitars on the Saturday evening. It was a very relaxed affair which we simply strolled into, taking up a seat on one of the "tits". As an added bonus, I ran into an ALT I'd met on my time water-rafting in Tokushima on the WhyNot trip back in May; Andrew Foley, an Irish ALT who I'd gotten on immensely well with at the time. It was great to chat to him and the local Kobe JETs in the area, though sadly we couldn't stay very long.

Drinking in "Tits Park".

Justin's hair was certainly noteworthy.

After this small rest, it was pretty much an immediate journey back to the ferry port. We would be taking the night ferry back to Takamatsu, arriving in the early hours of the morning. A lot of the ALTs who had been hiking in the morning were knackered by this point, and passed out almost immediately on board. It wasn't long before most of us were doing the same thing.

We were woken up just as the first dawn was breaking in Takamatsu. It felt like a long journey home that morning, with very little sleep behind me. Still, I stopped off at a McDonalds on the way to treat myself to one of their breakfast McMuffin sets. Even though I'm trying to enjoy as much Japanese culture as I can, some things remain simply essential.