tangentbot dot com

::5.14.2008 - Aomori Final Battle!

Our original plans were to visit the Pacific coast at some point, as it is supposed to be amazing. We looked at some maps and researched a bit, only to discover that a trip to the Pacific coast would mean we would have to ride the same tiny train across the same area we saw on the way up here, for 3+ hours, ride it back to Aomori, then take the same route the very next day to get back to Tokyo. So we decided instead to travel down to Akita, on the Japan Sea side, on Thursday. This means today, Wednesday, we are doing a bit of shopping, relaxing, and hanging out.

For breakfast, I wanted ramen. We found a little place on the main strip called Osanai, which featured the local favorite, hotate (scallop) prominently in a multitude of dishes. I have heard that hotate-don (scallop rice bowl) is amazing, but as soon as I saw hotate ramen my mind was made up. You know how you get scallops, and they are these white hockey puck things? Well, these scallops were all dangly and complex, like they left all the good stuff on them! Which they did! Sandy had a noodle dish with a thick sauce, also with scallops. They were both awesome and delicious.

Osanai

Hotate Ramen

Hotate Yakisoba

We walked around afterwards, buying up Aomori-themed souvenirs and checking out some of the places we had passed earlier. If you are planning a visit to Aomori, keep in mind that everything opens at 11am and closes at 7:30pm, unless you want to hang out at Family Mart or Lawson's every night. It was a nice, cool, rainy day; my favorite kind, and so we went back to that little bakery I mentioned in an earlier post and got some yummy momo pan and iced coffee. We sat in the smoky upstairs and listened to Japanese women gossip and it was all delicious. Except for the smoky part. We also got these cheese, katsu, egg bread abominations that were greasy and awesome.

Let's see, we hung out in a bookstore and read Japanese children's books, we walked in the rain through downtown, we drank some really good sake (Hanakizakura, in a pink bottle, if you can find it...), had curry for dinner, watched an hour long show on the scientific principles behind making perfect yakisoba, watched some kids shows... All in all, we pretty much beat this town already. Except for some museums and the Jomon-period ruins, the only other things I would want to see here happen in August, so a return trip is a big possibility. Tomorrow is a day trip to Akita, through the mountains, and Friday we ride the rails to Osaka.

Before I go, here's another video from the little local train ride here, just showing how empty it is and stuff... I forgot to post it before.