On the road again with Hula Boy

Hula Boy has been with me on every road trip I’ve taken in the past decade, including travelling from D.C. to Minnesota four years ago, so it is only fitting that he be in view in my rear view mirror while I finish the trip from Minnesota to California.

We finally finished cleaning the house (the realtor left a message saying how impressed she was with how clean it was.  She’d better be!) and left Minnesota around 3pm on Thursday.  We hauled ass to Grand Island, NE.  Hint: there is no island.  Not much time to write a detailed post, but here’s a few quick thoughts from my travels the past two days.

- Omaha reminds me of Kansas City, except flatter.  And not as pretty.  And without the BBQ.

- There are a lot of cops pulling people over the last 50 miles of I-80.  This is because a lot of people just want to get the HELL OUT OF NEBRASKA.

- Whoever set up the state line between Wyoming and Nebraska walked up to the first interesting landscape feature and drew a line.

-We drove through Laramie, WY.  Every time I passed one of those fences I thought of Matthew Shepard.

-People in Wyoming stare a lot.  I guess it’s obvious we’re “not from around here” but based on the number of truckers on the road it can’t be the first time the locals have seen out-of-towners.  The staring is somewhere between rude and threatening.  All in all though, people are better looking and less overweight than in either Iowa or Nebraska.  Not as attractive as Missourians of course.

-I dig the electric speed limit signs that change with the weather.  It has already snowed up here and is (can’t believe I’m about to say this) colder than Minnesota.  I am learning there are many worse places I could have lived.

On to Winnemucca today.  Winnemuccawinnemuccawinnemucca.

Hula Boy says… forget the GPS.  Follow the sun and when you reach the water turn left.

Around Osaka

Before the Japan trip fades into the past, I want to recommend staying at Yamatoya Honten, a hostel in Osaka.  A hostel in Japan would be a hotel anywhere else.  I can’t imagine what the hotels are like, other than very expensive.  I booked Yamatoya Honten via Travelocity.  It cost the two of us approximately $60 per night each for a shared private room.

It was well worth it.  In addition to a place to sleep, we had an eating area, a private bathroom with a small Japanese tub with hand-sprayer, and a Western style toilet.  I really really really really dislike using the traditional Japanese women’s toilet. Our bathroom even had special bathroom-only slippers.  And the seat was heated, among other things although we couldn’t figure out most of them.

The best surprise was being able to enjoy the use of the traditional Japanese public bath (men and women separate).  They provided robes for us to wear downstairs, which we most certainly did not arrange correctly.  But we entertained ourselves anyway as usual.

I should probably note that there are no beds at Yamatoya Honten.  The staff comes during the afternoon to make up mats and cherry pit pillows, then comes in the morning and puts them away.  They also set hot water for tea.  Jessie and I were quite comfortable this way, but we are both small people.  The room supposedly fits up to four.  I think that would be crowded unless you all really liked each other.

The hostel was centrally located near restaurants, a busy shopping area and two train lines.  The directions from the train were not very good.  I recommend printing out the address in Japanese so that people will be more able to point you in the right direction.  We wandered lost for an hour until finding a coffee shop merchant who spoke some English and kindly called the hostel for us to find out the address in Japanese.

A general note about traveling in Japan – most places do not accept credit cards or debit cards.  I was able to pay for the hostel by credit card but only because I booked on-line.  Take a lot of cash and exchange it at the airport (or beforehand).  Also, food is very expensive, in addition to the dismal exchange rate.  Jessie and I had to come up with a new plan after we realized we’d spent $120 on our first modest meal with beer.  We bought breakfast items at a grocery (which we stored in the small refrigerator in the room), snacked on nuts and coffee in a can in the afternoon, then splurged on big sushi dinners.

Yamatoya Honten

2-17-4 Shimanouchi, Chuo-ku,
Osaka-city, Osaka 542-0082, Japan

TEL:(06)6211-3587
International: +81-6-6211-3587
FAX:(06)6212-1553
International: +81-6-6212-1553

Check-in: 3:00p.m.
Check-out:10:00a.m.

http://www.yamatoyahonten.co.jp/eng/

Around Osaka

 

peace man, that's where it's at

 

Corn Dog Man & Jessie

 

Corn Dog Man & Sara

Capybara & Obama & Me

See Flickr for more of my favorite pics from around Osaka.

Coffee in a Can!!!

The most wonderful surprise of our trip was discovered by Jessie on an empty street in Osaka.  She had wandered off to photograph a building while I waited in the lobby of the theatre, tired of being cold.  She returned to my side, whispering, “Put your hand in my pocket.”  Yeah, right. “No, really. Put Your Hand. In My Pocket.”  Well, okay. I found a hot delicious treat – COFFEE IN A CAN!!!  That’s right – hot coffee from a vending machine.

Why do we not have this?  And why is it advertised by Tommy Lee Jones and his eyebrows?  Like many things in Asia, it’s a mystery.  And I love it.

Locating Coffee in a Can became a prime directive for the rest of our trip.  Compared to 900 yen for coffee in a cafe, 120 yen to warm our hands while sight-seeing was a great deal.  First we knew of only one brand – Boss.  Apparently Boss is so strong and manly it will cause ununusal hair growth even for delicate Janapese women.

But while in Kyoto we discovered another brand, the superior Black Wonda.

There are many varieties, presumably with different amounts and of milk and sugar, but we couldn’t tell what any of them were for sure.  My favorite is Wonda Wonderful Coffee in the orange and white can, which has some milk but not too much and is slightly sweet.  Be warned, while “The first is always tasty,” for your second you may crave a simple Black Wonda.

Skoopy loves Black Wonda.