Saturday, November 28, 2009

Asamushi Aquarium

Rose wanted to take the kids to the Asamushi Aquarium in Aomori City.
I was pretty happy with it. Admission cost 3000 yen (~$30) for 3 adults and 2 children.



The dolphin show, as always, was alot of fun.
We finally got a glimpse of the elusive giant salamander.
The highlight of the tour was the dolphin feeding. We were able to stand around a very small pool and watch the dolphins get fed. It made for a very intimate experience with the dolphins.

The dolphins also did a few trips. Its one thing watching a dolphin show from the stands, but there's nothing quite like seeing them do flips right in front of you.

Friday, November 27, 2009

100 Yen Sushi

I haven't blogged in awhile, but I've collected a couple stories, so here goes with the first. One of our favorite restaurants is a 100 yen sushi restaurant. Here in Japan, 100 yen is roughly equivalent to $1 U.S. So, instead of having a "dollar store", we have a 100 yen store, and so on.


At the 100 yen sushi store, you sit in a booth next to a carousel where plates of sushi pass you by. When you see something you like, you just grab it.
Helen and Angelica both like the shrimp tempura. "Tempura" is basically anything deep-fat fried. With sushi, the big piece of fried shrimp is laid on top of a block of rice with some mayonnaise between.
One of my favorites is this concoction. Its raw salmon laid on top of a block of rice with wasabi sauce in between. Sliced onion and some sort of salad dressing is put on top.
Another type of shrimp tempura sushi. Here, the fried shrimp is rolled up in rice and a seaweed wrapoper.
This is minced seafood (shrimp and squid) with a mayonnaise-based dressing on top of rice and wrapped with a seaweed wrapper.
You can also get a bowl of miso soup at the sushi restaurant. Helen always likes to eat the shellfish miso.
After you're done eating, the waiter counts up you plates and charges you 100 yen per plate! The miso soup cost 157 yen.

Sunday, November 1, 2009

Nuidoishi Yama Take 2

Awhile back, Ryan and I took a shot at Nuidoishi Yama. Its a 100-meter multi-pitch climb up in Shimokita. The pitches are tough (5.10a-5.11b) and they become overgrown with moss and lichen. We accepted failure at the top of the first pitch.
So, we naturally decided we could make it if we came back with more gear. I even brought along a bit of aid gear.
We made it up about two more meters with the extra gear, but we kept getting stuck at a nasty 5.11 overhang. The climb wasn't impossible, but a missed move would have caused Ryan to pendulum into a sharp granite ridge. So we once again accepted defeat and headed back to the car.
On the way back, we were surprised by a very friendly Akita who followed us down the trail.
As if our day couldn't get any worse, he continuously tried to violate us, and every other hiker who came down the trail that morning.