Food, Food, Food: Japan Edition

Usually, I don’t have much control over when, where or what I eat when I’m at a race, but Japan is slightly different. I think everyone knows how lucky we are to be in Japan, so there is a little more leniency to go explore and enjoy the local fare instead of always eating hotel buffets. My personal aim was to eat raw fish as frequently as possible.

I wasn’t great with staying gluten-free but I also wasn’t terrible. There was only one night where I actually didn’t care at all. I had worked late doing many, many, many interviews and by the time I could go eat, only two other coworkers hadn’t eaten. It was Friday night and we wandered around for quite awhile trying to find somewhere that was open, had seats and would take credit cards.

We eventually settled on what I would describe as a Japanese pub; it was the type of place you take your shoes off and then sit on the floor around a bar. We let the bartender/waitress pick what we ate and it was quite the experience. All the other diners adored us, despite the fact none of us could communicate with each other. It gave us that true ‘local’ experience that I always look for in my travels.

Utsunomiya is known for its gyoza, which I had never tried and it definitely didn’t disappoint. We also had edamame, soba noodles and a salmon and rice dish.

I was glad I had packed all my snacks, especially on the two race days. The road race is in the middle of a forest and there are literally no options except for the sandwiches the race provides. I stuck with a can of tuna fish and my muffins. I also used the coconut milk and teff every morning; our hotel breakfast was not quite to my taste.

One of the most memorable dishes I ate was actually at the Tokyo train station. I googled breakfast places while on the train and found Tsukiji Sushisay Honten. When I got there, I had three choices, two ochazukes and one sashimi. I just randomly pointed to one of the ochazukes. It was such a perfect meal of chopped up salmon belly that you poured savory tea broth on. Mix in some rice and little rice crackers and it was truly one of the best things I’ve ever tasted. A few tamago slices and ginger and I was set for my day of travel.

Wild and Wonderful Japan

The biggest theme of Japan was jet lag. It was a constant battle to avoid napping during the day and then staying asleep during the night. Fortunately, I’m lucky enough to travel with a doctor who provided me with a decent sleeping pill every night.

Japan is magical to me. It feels so strange and foreign, yet it is incredibly safe and clean. The people are always friendly and helpful. I didn’t have much free time, but when I did, I wandered. We stay in a fairly industrial city but at the train station, there is a huge mall with loads of restaurants and shops. I would walk up and down aisles after aisle taking it all in and trying not to buy every single dish, mug and treat that I saw.

While this race is fun, it also is one of the most intense and work-demanding races of the year. On Saturday and Sunday, I literally had a minute-by-minute schedule to adhere to (with interviews starting at 6:45am). This included needing to round up over half a dozen people at all times and organizing a much larger team all day long. I’d saw it was managed chaos. But all the prep work from the previous weeks really paid off and everything flowed seamlessly. And I really felt like we capitalized on our short time in Japan to get out as many stories as possible.

I tried to keep as healthy of habits as I could, including daily walks and yoga, but I also enjoyed as much of the food as I could and probably one too many sakes. I do think I’m coming home a kilo or two heavier than I went….how is that possible when you focus on raw fish (and tried to be aware of my rice intake)?!

Closing out the trip, I decided to take the bullet train to Tokyo on Monday morning before my flight. The race organizes a bus for everyone to get to the Narita Airport, but it takes nearly 2.5 hours. I figured it was worth taking a 50-minute train and exploring with that extra time. In my head, I always worry this might be my last time going somewhere or doing something, so I always want to maximize my adventuring. I ate some tasty food and found gifts to take back. It actually ended up being more stressful than I would have liked. I didn’t feel like I had enough time, I felt a bit lost and turned around and I was worried I’d miss my flight, but in the end, I’m glad I did it. Adventure big.

Now I’m heading back to Belgium for four days. On Saturday, I fly right back to Asia, so the jet lag theme is going to continue for awhile. This time to Beijing. 

Eastward Travels to Japan

I've been spoiled for the past few weeks, even months, without having to wake up early. Following surgery, I let my body sleep as much as it needed and this really ranged from day to day. When the alarm went off at 6:30am yesterday, it was a little shock to the system. Fortunately, a hot shower and espresso got me in gear quickly, or so I thought....

I walked over to my tram station and got on my normal tram to the train station. Sadly, there is major construction and detours going on with Gent's public transportation and I ended up going in the complete wrong direction. I got off and had to hobble, a little faster than my foot would have liked, over to a different tram stop and then was properly under way. Luckily, I've learned many times that things can go wrong with Belgian public transportation, so I always build in a huge time cushion.

A quick Starbucks at the train station and I was on my way to Zaventem (Brussels airport). Ran into some friends from another team at the airport who were heading to the Tour of Hainan; it was nice to catch back up with work friends after not traveling for nearly two months. I had a short flight from Brussels to Amsterdam and then had to wait in maybe the longest immigration line to date while transferring through Amsterdam.

I headed straight to the KLM (Skyteam) lounge with hopes that I could use points/pay to upgrade to business class. I've been concerned about flying this far with my foot and thought a lay-flat bed couldn't hurt. I asked and the woman sadly told me that she had sold it just 10 minutes before. I was bummed but figured I shouldn't give up so easy. I sat down and did some work until it was basically time to board, then I reapproached her and asked if anyone in business hadn't made the flight. To my surprise, she said yes! We processed the transaction as quickly as possible and hobbled super fast to the gate as it was finishing boarding.

Flight attendants on KLM and Delta are always amazing and this flight was no different. I asked for ice for my foot and the flight attendant took amazing care of me from that point forward, continuously bringing me bags of ice wrapped in a towel. Super amazing service. They also made me a gluten free plate of food (no soy sauce, no miso, no tempura, etc), which was above and beyond my expectations. Sadly, I didn't sleep well though. My foot just hurt; there is no way around it. I wasn't comfortable no matter what I did.

We landed and I soon met up with a few riders from my team. We all grabbed much needed Starbucks and then started the journey to Utsunomiya, Japan. The Japan Cup is by far one of the best organized races in the world and everything flows seamlessly. We had a nice 10-passenger van for the 2.5 hour ride, where I proceeded to catch up on Teen Mom (one of my dirty little travel habits).

Since getting to the hotel, I ate a little food, iced my foot crawled into bed for a two-hour nap and then went out for an hour plus walk. My foot is still bothering me and I've been good about icing it. I'm glad to be back in sandals and not lace up shoes and hopefully it'll calm down if I take it easy for the rest of the day.