“こんにちは私はケビンです! はじめましてどうぞよろしく。”
(Kon’nichiwa watashi wa Kebindesu! Hajimemashite dōzo yoroshiku – or Hello, I’m Kevin! Nice to meet you. [in a very polite manner]) as I said to Yuko’s (the main airBnb host that I was in contact with for making the reservation to stay at her family place in Shizuoka) husband as he opened the door after I rang the doorbell.
He immediately responded back to me the same way with introducing himself, and asked me something like this in English: “Oh! Do you speak Japanese quite often?”
Me: “Unfortunately no… not really haha I have a very limited, basic understanding of the Japanese language.” (which is true)
It was a nice, pleasant exchange as I carried my luggage in the house and walked into the main living room to also meet both Yuko and their 1 year old daughter (I’m totally blanking out on her husband’s and their daughter’s names unfortunately 😦 excuse me for that!).
~ Side Note #26: I learned quickly (and as Yuko’s husband mentioned to me) that Yuko herself doesn’t speak English at all, which does explain her messaging me via the AirBnb website / mobile app in Japanese when I inquired about her private room in their house. Given that she’s an AirBnb superhost and having read the reviews on how hospitable she and her husband is, it didn’t matter to me whether she knew English or not. From the way she greeted me (along with her daughter, though she was really shy in saying hi, which is understandable haha), it was extremely conspicuous that this place that I was going to stay in for the next couple nights is going to be a nice, peaceful time. But on the real though, I’m really glad that Yuko’s husband can speak English so I can communicate with him easily without struggling with my very limited / basic Japanese hahah 😅 ~
Yuko’s husband and I sat down as we went over house rules and having me provide them my personal information (as I learned can happen for some AirBnbs’ here in Japan) to verify my identity (making sure that it’s me and not someone else, which is totally understandable).
After I filled out the form that Yuko’s husband gave me – he looked at my personal information and mentioned “Oh! Portland, Oregon! Our family has been there before.”
Me: “Oh wow really? That’s so cool! What did you like most about Portland?”
Yuko’s husband: “We liked the food, and the bridges and scenery there are beautiful.”
It was really nice to hear that this family has been to Portland before, what a small world. I didn’t expect to hear that while on this Japan trip since Portland isn’t really one of the most well known cities to visit and travel to in the states.
As I was being given a short tour and taken to my room, I couldn’t help but notice how wonderful this traditional Japanese house is – it feels very quaint and homey, despite the fact that hallway on the 2nd floor going towards my room was very narrow and I had to exercise caution on the stairs because weirdly enough, each of the steps felt a bit taller in height than the steps that I would normally be used to with stairs that I climb (say at my apartment complex or up to my work office) in general. There was also a hammock in the common room that is open for any of the guests staying here.
~ Side Note #27: Normally (as what Yuko’s husband mentioned earlier before I was shown to my room by Yuko herself), there would be other guests in other rooms staying too, but as luck would have it – I would be the only guest staying for tonight and tomorrow night… which mean I HAVE FULL ACCESS TO THE HAMMOCK ALL DAY MAN YOU KNOW IT! CHYEAHHHH THAT’S WASSUP… (even though I didn’t end up using it during my stay here in Shizuoka 😅 ) ~
The room that I was staying in had both air conditioning and this modern lock that was easy to use.
(Note: I’m not going to post the picture here since it would reveal the location of the Shizuoka airbnb) The family provided me a printed out map of the “Neighborhood of Chirorin-mura” (which is the area northeast of downtown Shizuoka of where I’m staying at for the next two nights) that pointed out several POIs (points of interest) such as a couple ramen shops, the nearby supermarket, a deli (or delicatessen as it’s written on the map – very formal haha I don’t know anyone else who calls a deli a delicatessen 😀), and a couple soba places!
Since I got to my AirBnb in the late afternoon (at around 3pm), I had some time to sit down, relax, catch up on some news + sports, and last but not least, figure out what to eat for dinner. At first I was quite uncertain what I wanted to eat, but then after thinking about it for a good 5-10 minutes, I thought of one thing – yakitori! (which I mentioned in a previous blog post that it’s a Japanese type of skewered chicken). Given the fact that I had a terrible experience at Niku Yokocho (in Shibuya the previous day) where I was just both flustered and intimidated by the environment (even though I’ve heard great things about the yakitori and other meats there), I wanted to see if there are any good local places to have yakitori (that may not be as obvious to find on TripAdvisor).
I did look up one place on TripAdvisor though called “Yakitori Michiba” that looked pretty decent, but I wanted to ask Yuko for her recommendations on Yakitori since she knows this area quite well.
Me (on my AirBnb message conversation with Yuko): “Hi Yuko! I was just wondering – Do you have any good recommendations for yakitori around this area? I was looking at one not too far away from here called “Yakitori Michiba”, but I am not sure if they’re open right now or if its good. Thanks!”
She responded back shortly after with a couple suggestions that opened at 5pm respectively: “Yakitori Dojo” and “Yakitori Hinode” (which she said that “it is cheap and delicious near my home” [after I used google translate to convert what she said in Japanese into English]) Yuko even sent me a map of where “Yakitori Hinode” is, and it was only a 10 minute walk southwest of the Airbnb (which works out because that’s pretty much on the way back to downtown Shizuoka, where I wanted to checkout especially PARCO – which I believed I mentioned earlier in the last Japan trip post that it’s a nice department store to hit up)
~ The player’s strategy #6: This goes without saying and is obvious – when given a local recommendation from an AirBnb host (even though you found a place on TripAdvisor that seems decent enough to hit up), go with the local recommendation every time especially if that restaurant is cheap and delicious – you can’t beat that! ~
Me: “sounds great! i will go with your recommendation and try Yakitori Hinode. Thank you so much! :D”
~ Side Note #28: In case y’all are wondering…even though I communicate to Yuko in English, I’m 100% sure that she’s able to translate it to Japanese on her end by clicking on “Translate to English” via our AirBnb messaging thread. I’m really glad that the AirBnb instant messaging functionality is able to leverage the Google Translate Service to make conversing ever so seamless (despite the language barrier between me and Yuko) ~
I pretty much just chilled and caught up on stuff going on in the states / relaxed a bit until about 4:50pm ish. I got out of the house and made that 10 minute walk towards Yakitori Hinode.
When I arrived by sliding the front door open to enter (and subsequently closing it behind me), I was greeted by a nice, old couple (I just gracefully assumed that they owned the small restaurant) in which we both exchanged bows and greetings to each other appropriately. Since they opened right at 5pm, I was their first customer of the day!
The gentleman behind the counter gave me a menu (the same one shown in the above picture), and because it was all in Japanese – I had to figure out how to communicate to him what I wanted to order.
~ The player’s strategy #7: Now! This is something that I alluded to earlier in this travel blog and that I was prepared for (given a situation where the menu is all in Japanese and I had to say something to ease my initial, mental anxiety of being able to communicate what I wanted to order to eat. I looked up different things to say, and I ended up finding the following phrase that I can say to help me in this situation:
"すみません、わたしわ 日本語があまりわかりません"
(Sumimasen, watashi wa nihongo ga amari wakarimasen – or Excuse me, I do not understand Japanese very well.)
By saying this phrase in these situations, not only does this help the person listening to me respond appropriately by being more than happy to help me, but it also eased my initial, mental anxiety of having to communicate in a language that I only have a very limited / basic understanding of speaking. I might have mentioned this before, but there’s definitely something about using a language that you’re not as comfortable with using as you want to where it’s both a beautiful struggle, and a very good way to both increase cultural education, and to show empathy + willingness to better getting to know people in general. I feel like this is so universal to have, and I call this cultural bridging – I believe this is the most important thing that any of us can practice in today’s society.
Anyway, This is a phrase that I would use A LOT during this trip from here on out. ~
Immediately after I said “Sumimasen, watashi wa nihongo ga amari wakarimasen“, the gentleman suddenly had this smile on his face, said some things to me in Japanese that I didn’t quite understand, and pointed to each of the things in the glass case (where the raw meat was for customers to choose which ones they wanted to have on the grill and enjoy eating) one by one.
~ The player’s strategy #8: Even though I couldn’t read anything on the all-Japanese menu, at least I did a bit of research on yakitori at my AirBnb about an hour prior to coming to Yakitori Hinode via https://www.japan-talk.com/jt/new/yakitori – this was extremely helpful because I could understand / recognize yakitori related items that I would be interested in eating if a situation like this were to happen where the chef behind the counter would point to different types of yakitori that I can choose from. Always got to be prepared somehow ya know what i’m sayin’?) ~
“鶏肉 (toriniku, or all white meat chicken)”
“手羽先 (tebasaki, or chicken wings)”
“ねぎま (negima, or chicken thigh with negi – which is a type of Japanese Scallion)”
“皮 (kawa, or chicken skin)”
“シロ (shiro, or chicken small intestine)”
“砂肝 (sunagimo, or chicken gizzard)”
and a few other types of yakitori that he would point out to me that he had available for me to order. To be honest, I wasn’t quite ready to be adventurous and get stuff like shiro or sunagimo 😅, and I didn’t feel like having something as fatty as kawa today. I responded to the gentleman by ordering the toriniku, tebasaki, negima, and some other chicken that I forgot the name of (I do remember it having a soft bone that I could chew on and possibly digest).
After I placed my order, the lady (who owns the restaurant with the gentleman + heard me say that magical phrase that helped me start my order haha) asked me if I wanted tea by saying “Tea?” to which I replied, “hai, onegaishimasu” (or yes, please! in japanese)
After the gentleman placed the yakitori that I ordered onto the grill with charcoal fire, I was trying to figure out how to ask if I could take a photo of that yakitori on the grill. I quickly looked up how to say “Can I take a photo?” via the google translate service (I didn’t have the sound on since I didn’t want the proprietors to hear it since I thought it might have been a bit embarrassing haha, but I mean they already know that I don’t understand Japanese very well anyway, but still!)
“写真を撮ってもいいですか？”
(shashin o totte mo īdesu ka?, or Can I take a photo?)
I went ahead and did my best to say that in Japanese (I probably butchered it, but oh well haha), and thank goodness, the gentleman smiled, obliged, and let me take the photo (the most recent photo above). Phew, that worked out well haha.
While I was waiting for and a bit after I received my yakitori order, and despite the language barrier (since the proprietors didn’t speak much English, and I didn’t speak much Japanese) the lady and I were able to engage in a nice, casual conversation – it started with mainly small talk about where I am from and why I’m here visiting Shizuoka.
We went about me telling them the places/cities that I’ve been to in Japan so far this trip and will go to (aka just listing out places in Tokyo like Shinjuku + Asakusa + Shibuya, and the following cities – Hamamatsu, Nagoya, Chikuma, and Nagano), and the things I ate already and are looking forward to while here in Shizuoka like the Unagi (eel) but more specifically Unaju (うな重, which is an Unagi box that contains “grilled eel fillets served with cooked rice in a rectangular, lacquered box” ) that I had earlier for lunch today, and the Sakura Ebi! (aka Sakura Shrimp).
The lady was a bit in amazement that I would mention Sakura Ebi, and when I mentioned unaju, she laughed and said in English “expensive!” I laughed right after with her and just told her in English right there that “even though it was expensive, it was still good!”
The gentleman joined in the conversation as well, and it was just great to converse with them (despite the language barrier) – the more we engaged in conversation (in between me eating the yakitori), the more delicious and satisfying the yakitori tasted.
“おいしい！” (Oishī! or delicious!)
“すごい！” (Sugoi! or amazing!)
I mentioned both of those phrases (not just to be polite, mind you… but because I thought that this yakitori was very good! :D) to the proprietors, and they were delighted to hear me say that. It wasn’t just delicious, but the yakitori here felt like good old home-cooking that I honestly could eat everyday. There’s something about these mom-and-pop shops that just sparks that rustic and dazzling charm, you know?
I went ahead and asked the gentleman if I could order more and I decided to order more tebasaki + toriniku, to which he said “hai!” and put a few more yakitori on the grill.
One thing that the lady mentioned to me that caught me a bit off guard (but not so much in a bad way) was that she was surprised that I did not appear (while doing this motion of describing someone as being skinny or thin) to be “big” (or overweight) because she mentioned that (in her best effort at describing this in English) there were three guys who came to eat at their establishment in the past – they were from the United States, specifically from California (given that I told them that I grew up in California), and that they were “big.” (as she did this motion with her hands out wide to describe someone who is overweight).
I thought it was interesting that she mentioned that because it seemed to me that it might allude to the stereotype that people not from the states have in which they think that a lot of Americans are big-boned. I’m not sure if a lot of non-Americans think that way, but it was just a different topic that I usually don’t think about that often. Maybe I don’t think about it that much anymore because I used to be overweight (especially before I moved to Portland), and I worked my ass off for the past year to lose 25-30 pounds to be in what I thought was the best shape of my life at this point (but that’s a more personal story for another day).
Anyway, after having a delicious round two of yakitori, I did think about round three, but I decided to just call it good, and ask for the check (by doing my usual “check, please!” hand motion that I think is universal to anybody especially for those who work at food establishments)
Given the quality of food that I received, and the enjoyable conversation that I had with the proprietors, I thought that my meal at about ¥2,200 (roughly equates to $20.28 USD) was well worth it.
After I paid (and dang it I totally should’ve introduced myself sooner), I introduced myself formally and they reciprocated the same way as well. Kiyoshi (the gentleman), and Hinoko (the lady).
“ありがとうございます!
(Arigatō gozaimasu!, or thank you very much!)
I said just this and bowed courteously to both Kiyoshi and Hinoko for the wonderful meal and conversation that we had together.
Shortly right after – something graciously happened that I didn’t expect at all – Hinoko said the same thing, bowed, and reach over with both of her hands to grab mine and said thank you again + some Japanese that I couldn’t quite understand (but I feel that she was probably saying something to the extent of “it was a pleasure having you here”… at least that’s what I thought she might have said.) I was caught off guard but I immediately bowed and said thank you again as well in Japanese.
That seemingly small gesture of gracious courtesy that I just experienced…I was humbled and touched – it was something that was just so quaint that hit home for me really well… I had no doubt in my mind that it was genuine and thoughtful. That point right then and there made me realize that not only I was extremely thankful that Yuko recommended me to eat at this place, but also I just witnessed probably the pinnacle of Japanese courtesy.
I love how down to earth and old-school this was (at least to me it felt old-school) – it was very direct, simple, to the point, made me felt very welcomed, straight-up courtesy.
I know it may seem like I’m overly exaggerating and all that, but if you were to experience what I experienced, you would probably feel the same. forreal. I don’t know what to say.
Anyway, after I graciously bowed and said good bye to both Hinoko and Kiyoshi (to which they reciprocated graciously as well), I left and started walking towards downtown Shizuoka with a tear in my eye while thinking “man… that was soul dope!” and realizing that this was one of the best cultural bridging and food experiences that I’ve ever had in my life. I hope all of y’all would get at least one chance to experience the hospitality and courtesy that I had just now (and this is considering the language barrier too).
Cultural bridging has no barrier – it is universal and the best way to get to know people in all walks of life.
Alright y’all, I’m cutting off the rest of the night here as we end the blog post of “Day 3 (Part 3)” at this juncture…
So! I’m well aware I mentioned this from the previous Japan trip post (from Mid-March of this year)
“In the next post, I’ll cover the airbnb that I’m staying at, a couple, notable, interesting stories that happened over both dinner and while I was shopping at night, and something that I didn’t expect that I would get into moving forward with how I like that particular drink – stay tuned.“
However, it’s gonna take “Day 3 (Part 4)” to cover the other notable, interesting story + something I didn’t expect about how I liked “that particular drink.” That will definitely finish for my first night in Shizuoka, forreal!
Excuse me for doing that haha…I feel like I’m starting to get more into this sort of habit. Hope it’s cool with y’all – I mean honestly, I just have a lot from my notes, memories, and things to talk about for this trip.
As I’ve mentioned before. Take care y’all, stay proactive and safe during these challenging times with the whole COVID-19 outbreak.
Have a great rest of the weekend, and I’ll see y’all in the next post!
Cheers / wave
Listen to what you see. 