Japan Day 1 - All Aboard The COVID Bus!

[Snuze]

Well, I made it. It wasn't easy, but I am in Japan. I just crossed onto Kyushu island in the "COVID Bus" which means I'm about 2 hours or so from my final destination.

Note there are no pictures because there hasn't been anything to take pictures of, or its been too dark.

To recap, my employer (US govt) needed some folks to go to Japan. Japan is having COVID mania right now and has made it all but impossible to get in the country. However due to being govt I was able to get an exemption, but it required jumping through a lot of hoops - COVID test within 72 hours prior to travel, working with the embassy to get a MOFA letter certifying Im on official business, filling out a metric shit-ton of paperwork. I seriously think an entire tree died to produce all the papers needed to get here.

One of Japan's COVID mitigation steps is only allowing travel into the country through Tokyo (either Narita or Haneda). Upon arrival I was required to take another COVID test - this time its a spit test. I don't drink a lot of fluids when I travel because I dont want to pee every 5 minutes, so I was a bit dehydrated and it took me a while to come up with enough saliva. Weird, I know.

Then I had to sign an affidavit that I would quarantine for 14 days, regardless of the test outcome. Part of that affidavit is refraining from public transport - no domestic flights, trains, public buses, etc. Now remember, we are in Tokyo, which is eastern central Honshu island, trying to go to the western part of Kyushu island and we can't take a train or plane. So, the sponsor arranged for a private charter bus to take us down to Sasebo, which is about 14 hours away.

The bus is pretty standard, aside from being right hand drive, but its really just like any other US motorcoach. It even has the blue seat fabric with the curly colored ribbon pattern.

But because any of us could be potentially infected, they have turned each seat into a safety coccon by covering it in plastic and draping a plastic curtain around it. I feel like I'm in a cheap sci-fi movie. We were joking when we got on board that they were going to put us into cryostasis for the trip. Fortunately it wasn't necessary, I slept for most of the last 12 hours on my own accord, only waking for snacks and bathroom breaks.

Speaking of snacks, if you are unaware, Japan is legendary for crazy snacks. Here are the things I've had so far:

• Honey BBQ Pork potato chips. These arent your typical Lays chips dusted in crappy BBQ sauce powder, they taste like legit BBQ pork!

• Rice triangles! Dont know the name, but its a palm sized, triangular shaped hunk of sricky rice filled with stuff - one was fish chips, one was garlic chicken and spicy mayo, and one was ginger salmon.

• Meat bun. Typical steamed pork bun, but it was tasty!

• Pork tray. Again, no idea what its called, but its a little tray about 6" long by 3" wide and 1" deep. It has a base layer of stick rice and on top are chopped seaweed, teryaki ground pork, and scrambled egg. So good!!!

• Canned coffee - Japan LOVES ice cold coffee. When I was in Yokosuka a few years ago there was a coffee vending machine on practically every street corner (not an exaggeration). I love this stuff and really need to limit myself around it. Im partial to BOSS Cafe Au Lait, but I like trying different ones.

• Yogurt drink! Had this in the airport and it was Weird But Tasty. Its basically a can of thinned, sweetened plain yogurt with some kind of, uh, solids in it. They were kind of like the bubbles in bubble tea, but smaller.

When I get to Sasebo I have to quarantine for 2 weeks, so don't expect much Japan content for a bit. Once quarantine is up I am moving from govt lodging to a hotel out in town. At that point I will be taking more pictures and posting more.

[liam]

@snuze Do you quarantine with the other that were on the bus, or are you stuck in solitary confinement?

[2Poor_sh2Furious]

@snuze can you go rent a camaro for these 14 days? Since you can't drive it you'd feel just like home!

[Vondon302]

@snuze I don't think I could visit Japan, I'm allergic to fish. Bummer
Enjoy your quarantine and the many flavored Kit Katts.

[Snuze]

@poor_sh said in Japan Day 1 - All Aboard The COVID Bus!:

@snuze can you go rent a camaro for these 14 days? Since you can't drive it you'd feel just like home!

I'm fairly certain Mrs. Snuze is trying to lemon law it while I'm gone. There's a non-zero chance I return home to no Camaro.

That being said, this should be a lucrative trip, and I potentially have a few more this year. I'm only half joking when I say I'm thinking of holding out for a C8 Corvette. I mean, its GMs flagship, so QC has got to be better than the Camaro, right? ....right?

[Snuze]

@liam We will all be in the same building, but seperate rooms, so yes, solitary confinement.

@Vondon302 It would be tough but I think it is doable. I was actually thinking about that when I had a piece of candy a bit ago. It was basically a Japanese Nestlé Crunch, nothing weird or exciting which is why it didnt make my list. But it occured to me while looking at the packaging that I have basically no way of knowing the ingredients. I dont have any food allergies, but what if someone does? In this case I was thinking of a coworker who has a peanut allergy.

[AdverseMartyr]

@snuze The rice triangles are called Onigiri. And that is a long way to travel on the bus. I hope your dimensions matched the bus dimensions. All the ones I ever get on have my knees touching the seat in front of me.
Those bubbles probably were the ones in bubble tea only smaller. Tapioca in drinks is popular here.

I can't remember the name of it, but if you like tempura (or just deep fried foods) there is a restaurant chain that is all you can eat make your own deep fried foods. veggies, shrimp, chicken, hot dogs, cheese biscuits (I think they taste like the Red Lobster ones), beef, meatballs, mushrooms, chicken cartilage, etc.
It's 90 minutes for 1500 if you go during lunch time. It was a new experience for me in December. I'm sure it's been around for a long time, but it's sort of fun.

[AdverseMartyr]

@snuze said in Japan Day 1 - All Aboard The COVID Bus!:

@poor_sh said in Japan Day 1 - All Aboard The COVID Bus!:

@snuze can you go rent a camaro for these 14 days? Since you can't drive it you'd feel just like home!

I'm fairly certain Mrs. Snuze is trying to lemon law it while I'm gone. There's a non-zero chance I return home to no Camaro.

That being said, this should be a lucrative trip, and I potentially have a few more this year. I'm only half joking when I say I'm thinking of holding out for a C8 Corvette. I mean, its GMs flagship, so QC has got to be better than the Camaro, right? ....right?

Aren't they being hand built? Isn't that the hallmark of quality control with supercars? You should be good.
Alternatively, you could pick up a GTR while you are here and have it shipped back.

[t0ast]

@snuze said in Japan Day 1 - All Aboard The COVID Bus!:

Rice triangles! Dont know the name, but its a palm sized, triangular shaped hunk of sricky rice filled with stuff - one was fish chips, one was garlic chicken and spicy mayo, and one was ginger salmon.

Those would be Onigiri. Fantastic travel food, those. If you happen to really enjoy sour flavors, I'd also highly recommend keeping an eye out for one with pickled plums (Umeboshi) inside.

Some other quick food suggestions (if possible, whatwith the quarantining and all):

• Warm ginger ale is a cold weather game changer if you've never had it before. It should be available in some vending machines since it's still winter.
• Unagidon - Grilled eel with sauce over rice. Definitely worth a shot if you haven't ever tried this type of meat before. It's like the best parts of fish and chicken got together with a killer sauce IMO. It's also commonly available as sushi (unagi/anago for freshwater vs. saltwater eel respectively) if you don't want to commit to a full bowl.
• Okonomiyaki - A savory pancake with a batter+cabbage base and various toppings (meat, veg, noodles, etc.) fried up on a griddle. Different locations throughout the country have different takes (which is fitting for a dish that basically translates to "cooked what you like")
• Whatever you do, don't sleep on convenience store fried chicken.

[Snuze]

@adversemartyr This 90 minute all you can eat tempura resturaunt sounds intriguing. I will do some more investigation. This is my first trip but others on the team have been here many times. Apparently at the end if the trip everyone likes to to go to Steak Salon and get $100 waygu steaks. When in Rome... err, Japan!

Re. The Corvette, I think they are actually mostly mass produced, which is how they can get the starting price so low ($59.9k). Though I think some things are hand fit. Unfortunately the engines are not one of those things and many recent 2020 Corvettes have fallen to the same valve spring issue that affected the Camaros new engine.

Also, if I got a Corvette I'd want a Z51 w/ mag ride. The Z51 package is the Vette equivalent to the 1LE package in my Camaro (track cooling, big brakes, eDiff, etc.) and I'm spoiled by it. But the reality is that takes the price of the car up to a about $75k, which is 66% more than a Camaro, and a substantial jump outside my budget.

I'm going to say something blasphemous here, but GT-Rs dont really do all that much for me. I think they are neat, I respect them, but I don't have a burning desire to own one. Maybe I just need to drive one first.

[VincentMalamute]

@snuze @AdverseMartyr @t0ast Dang!! Every bit of food you guys describe is mouth watering. I don't want to deal with traveling to Japan though.

[Snuze]

@t0ast I saw the plum Onigiri in the Lawsons at the airport but didn't bite. Next time I will. I had okonomyaki on my last trip (Yokosuka in 2016) and LOVE it! The guys who have been here before know a particularly good place for it.

I think during quarantine we are limited to ordering food from on base, which will be kind of a drag as I think its all American stuff. But I did buy a few bowls of fancy ramen and tucked them in my suitcase. And once quarantine is over and we're out in town, I plan to Eat All The Things.

[VincentMalamute]

@snuze said in Japan Day 1 - All Aboard The COVID Bus!:

I saw the plum Onigiri in the Lawsons at the airport

Lawson's sounds familiar from my knowledge of Japan derived from manga and anime. Convenience store? It must be a foreign company since the Japanese language doesn't have an "L".

And once quarantine is over and we're out in town, I plan to Eat All The Things.

Good plan. Again, you're killing me with the food!!

[Snuze]

@vincentmalamute My first trip was a whirlwind, quite literally. It was only 5 days and the first day a massive storm came through and we had to sequester in our hotel for safety and lost a whole day of work. We spent the rest of the trip working 12+ hour days to make up for it. So I didn't get to see much or do any touristy stuff, but we still had some fun and we ate good.

This trip should be more relaxed after quarantine ends and I should get to do and see more, though we're not really in a touristy area. But based on what I have experienced of Japan so far, its totally worth a trip, just not during COVID. Once the vaccine rolls out and things return to something resembling "normal", it would be totally worth it!

[RallyDarkstrike]

@snuze Glad you made it friend! Can you stick some kind of classic kei car in your pocket to bring back for me on your way?

[Snuze]

@rallydarkstrike I want to! I brought my big suitcase with extra room in it. Not sure how many keis I can fit, but probably at least 4!

I passed a house on the way here with a Beat in the driveway and got all excited!

[aremmes]

@snuze said in Japan Day 1 - All Aboard The COVID Bus!:

... filling out a metric shit-ton of paperwork.

My understanding is that the Japanese have a knack for bureaucracy, so no surprises there.

I seriously think an entire tree died to produce all the papers needed to get here.

They love paper even more than they love whale meat.

Part of that affidavit is refraining from public transport - no domestic flights, trains, public buses, etc. Now remember, we are in Tokyo, which is eastern central Honshu island, trying to go to the western part of Kyushu island and we can't take a train or plane. So, the sponsor arranged for a private charter bus to take us down to Sasebo, which is about 14 hours away.

Now that is seriously asinine. Entering/leaving only through Tokyō makes sense as a control measure, but then not being able to take the Shinkansen or another flight out west doesn't seem to have a logical explanation.

• Rice triangles!

I love onigiri. The only nearby place where I can get them is a small Japanese grocery in Ardmore, just west of Philly, where little old Japanese ladies also serve really good homestyle dishes. There's also a couple of places near my old place that sell all of the ingredients, but ain't nobody got time for that.

• Canned coffee

頑張れ!

[Chariotoflove]

@snuze said in Japan Day 1 - All Aboard The COVID Bus!:

Also, if I got a Corvette I'd want a Z51 w/ mag ride.

My dream spec too.

GT-Rs dont really do all that much for me.

Me neither. Saw one up close at a dealership here. It was cool and all, but no fizz for me.

Enjoy your trip!

[sn4cktimes]

@snuze The quarantine thing explains the bus vs train. That’s shitty. The trains are so comfy to get around in. We had tourist JR passes when we where there in 2015. We first classed the shit out of that system.

• the rice triangles are called Onigiri. And yes they are awesome.
• I also love Boss Coffee’s. We can buy them here at Asian supermarkets. I was really partial to Kirin Fire’s. Can’t get them here. I was probably drinking 4-5 canned coffees a day. They were like 90-110 yen at the time. So a dollar CAD.
• I didn’t really like yogurt drinks, but it was in Augusta so was blazingly hot and humid. I love Pocari Sweat. It was my first Japanese vending machine choice, and I inhaled a bunch of them. I drank a bunch of the tea drinks, and a ton of what I can only assume were for children, juice boxes and such.
• When you can, get some local Ramen Shop food in you. I never did have a bad bowl. And quite the Everyman priced food too.
• not sure if you’re a drinker, but the Asahi Extra Dry (not sure why it’s called that) is a very nice mild beer. Japan makes a ton of booze, and a lot of it rivals the best I’ve ever had. Nikka makes some stellar Whiskeys. And I could’ve bought US brand bourbons there cheaper than in Canada.

I’m a huge introvert, but the Japanese will always treat you with a ridiculous amount of politeness; but also aloofness. Don’t take it personal for the most part. They are in general, very much an all or nothing society. A lot of the younger people understand English pretty well, but won’t converse in it at all unless very proficient. Often people will go get “the English speaker”.

I could go on forever about Japan. I’ve gone a few places internationally. Japan in the peak of summer was my favourite. I plan on going sometime in the winter to snowboard some of their famous Japow. But from what friends have described, that is a very different, far less immersed-in-it experience. Our trip was Deep Japan. Small towns where we were the only caucasians. One hotel had a guy that I’m pretty sure wasn’t allowed to go home for the 3 days we stayed there. Any time we asked anything, at ANY hour we was called up and bent over backwards to meet or exceed what could be considered service. We got to the point we could move effortlessly through crowds like the Japanese do, and not like the fresh tourist who left a disturbed “wake” behind them. We don’t have cicadas here in Alberta and I miss their summer sound. Cheering on the heat. Laughing at my human weakness to cope with +39°C with 98% humidity without being a sweaty mess. I would go back and happily remain an “outsider” just to partake in the food, the sights, the manners. I gotta stop. Okay just two more things.

1. I saw a car pull up to a store with windows rolled down but the car still running. It started to rain and a pedestrian just walked up, opened the drivers side door, rolled the windows up, and carried on.

2. I saw a bunch of Japanese “punks” smoking a laughing at a corner. An old lady was sorting her purse as she walked along and dropped a 10,000 yen bill. 100 bucks. One of the “punks” saw it and ran over and picked it up. Then chased the old lady up an escalator to return it with a pretty respectful bow. They had a short exchange and he returned to his “no goodnick” “punk” friends and got a pat on the back for his troubles.

Amazing place. Fantastic people.

[sn4cktimes]

@t0ast said in Japan Day 1 - All Aboard The COVID Bus!:

Those would be Onigiri. Fantastic travel food, those. If you happen to really enjoy sour flavors, I'd also highly recommend keeping an eye out for one with pickled plums (Umeboshi) inside.

Yes!

• Unagidon - Grilled eel with sauce over rice. Definitely worth a shot if you haven't ever tried this type of meat before. It's like the best parts of fish and chicken got together with a killer sauce IMO. It's also commonly available as sushi (unagi/anago for freshwater vs. saltwater eel respectively) if you don't want to commit to a full bowl.

Yes!

• Okonomiyaki - A savory pancake with a batter+cabbage base and various toppings (meat, veg, noodles, etc.) fried up on a griddle. Different locations throughout the country have different takes (which is fitting for a dish that basically translates to "cooked what you like")

Yes!

• Whatever you do, don't sleep on convenience store fried chicken.

Omg yes!

[WhoIsTheLeader]

@snuze I'm especially intrigued by the standard blue festive cloth seats that are in literally every motor coach. I wonder if the fabric is all produced by one company. Enjoy the bus ride because two weeks in a hotel room isn't going to be fun.

[RallyDarkstrike]

@snuze I would be too busy staring at all the cars to get anything done...

[Just Jeepin']

How long is your trip?

[ToniCipriani]

@adversemartyr said in Japan Day 1 - All Aboard The COVID Bus!:

@snuze The rice triangles are called Onigiri. And that is a long way to travel on the bus. I hope your dimensions matched the bus dimensions. All the ones I ever get on have my knees touching the seat in front of me.
Those bubbles probably were the ones in bubble tea only smaller. Tapioca in drinks is popular here.

I can't remember the name of it, but if you like tempura (or just deep fried foods) there is a restaurant chain that is all you can eat make your own deep fried foods. veggies, shrimp, chicken, hot dogs, cheese biscuits (I think they taste like the Red Lobster ones), beef, meatballs, mushrooms, chicken cartilage, etc.
It's 90 minutes for 1500 if you go during lunch time. It was a new experience for me in December. I'm sure it's been around for a long time, but it's sort of fun.

You had me googling. Think it's called Gachi. Says they have 5 stores since 2016.

https://www.triplisher.com/stories/53078/tempura-all-you-can-eat-only-in-japan/
https://www.likejapan.com/news/半年開第五間分店大人氣¥1980天婦羅放題/

[VincentMalamute]

@sn4cktimes said in Japan Day 1 - All Aboard The COVID Bus!:

I saw a bunch of Japanese “punks” smoking a laughing at a corner

What a great story. To hear in the US. I imagine it's typical and would elicit a "so?" reaction over there.

@Snuze You and @sn4cktimes are doing a good job for the Japan Tourism Bureau. I was in Seoul, S. Korea for a week; was neat and all but not a fan of the 19 hour plane flight, or however long it was.