My views do not necessarily reflect the views of my employer.
May 2024
The night before my first day off in Japan, I asked the crew what there was to do in Otaru. Of course they asked well, it depends on what you like. There is a canal.
I love canals.
My favorite thing I did in Paris was walk along the canals. I loved the canals in Amsterdam. When I went to visit my friend Matt in Swindon I was delighted when he suggested visiting some canals for the day. There was something else they mentioned that I loved which was probably wine, so I was ready to go!
I got off the ship and used my data to call home. Two-year-old Easton was very concerned that not only was I gone from Papa and Bobbie’s house (see previous posts for these references), but where were Kelly’s bags?! I found the canal just a couple of blocks away from the ship. There were boats you could ride in the canal, but I decided to wait and do that another day. So there was the canal. What next?
I started walking around and realized that I felt very intimidated by the language barrier. I’ve traveled in Italy with very little grasp of the language. I’ve traveled to Qatar, where I didn’t know the language or the alphabet (but I did have friends to help guide me). I’ve traveled solo in the Czech Republic, where I didn’t know the language. I wanted so much to visit a culture that was very different from my own that I thought I’d have the courage to go explore and figure things out but as I approached each doorstep, I found I couldn’t go in. I wanted to find a local authentic place to eat, but if they had enough pictures that I could communicate, I was afraid that it would be too touristy. Here I was, completely out of my element, like I wanted to be, and I couldn’t make a move. Finally I ran into Kosuke, from my team, and Mimi the Youth Manager, and asked if I could tag along with them wherever they were going. They said, sure! They were going to Don Quijote, the Japanese discount store. That sounded good to me! But first, they needed to stop at the convenience store, which I later realized, was exactly the local authentic Japanese experience that I was looking for. Mimi pointed out a drink that was very local, so I got one, and I took out some cash from the ATM (with no idea what the conversion rate was). We went to “Donki”, which had several floors of just about everything you could imagine, and I think there were different stores, so you had to buy the things you wanted from the closest register. With the help of google translate, I found some mouthwash, and left everything else I might want to buy on land for later when I had more courage. I lost my friends in the aisles and decided to head back to the ship to take a nap.
On the way back I stopped for some milky ice cream, which I had tried in Singapore, and it was just as creamy and different as I wanted it to be.
I took a moment to appreciate how incommodious I felt being out of my comfort zone (yes, I did just visit thesaurus.com to avoid using comfortable and uncomfortable in the same sentence), and started brainstorming about how I could learn to immerse myself in this culture.
Word on the street was that Ryota, the Japanese Entertainment Host on my team, was on a mission to find the best Ramen in each port. I asked him if I could come along with him, and the next time we were in Otaru, that’s what we did.
We walked about 20 minutes from where the ship was docked to a place that I definitely would not have had the courage to go to on my own. Of course, I ordered what Ryota ordered.
It was delicious. I’ve had lots of Top Ramen, but nothing like this. Ryota said that if you slurp your noodles and make lots of noise while eating it shows the chef your appreciation.
Around the corner from the restaurant there was a Sake distillery, so we decided to go check it out.
Outside of the distillery there was a special barrel of water that was used for making Sake. There were people lined up to fill their bottles to take home.
We tried the water. It tasted like water.
Of course we stopped in the kombini (convenience store). I was delighted to see that they had Smirnoff Ice.
There is a college drinking game where people hide Smirnoff Ice, and if you find one, you have to chug it. My cousin Cameron tried to trap me into finding one, but I’m too old to fall for this trick so I think that Smirnoff is still in his parents’ fridge. But I had to send Cameron this picture.
Ryota and I had taken the direct route to the Ramen place, so we took the scenic route back. We stopped in the Music Box Museum – Otaru is famous for music boxes. And then Ryota led me to a charming street that was very famous. This street was where all the people from the ship were. I was glad we were heading back this way having already eaten. There were many places to sample different Sake and wine, so we did. We stopped for cheese ice cream which tasted like cheesecake. And then when we were almost back to the ship we made one more stop in an Australian wine store where we became friends with the owner. I talked to her about Australia and Ryota and I tried the wine, which was all very expensive and Ryota and I agreed that neither of us would pay more than the 100 yen we spent to taste it.
My third time in Otaru I retraced my steps and went to the Ramen place all by myself – I ordered the same thing, ate and paid. I was so proud of myself. I walked down the famous street and tried the black ice cream that tasted like vanilla that wasn’t quite as good as the cheese ice cream I had tried before. I found my way to “Donki” and bought all the things from different registers that I was too nervous to attempt to buy before.
So I am making progress. I still prefer to explore with the locals, but I am starting to find my way around Japan.