Memory Preserves

Dearest Rachel –

This isn’t really much of a letter, as it’s going to be somewhat light on actual words. Then again – and I think I said this not all that long ago – if a picture is worth a thousand words, how many is a video worth? And with that having been pointed out, what more really needs to be said?

Anyway, this is a bit of a recap from the night and day spent on land in Sapporo and Otaru, as I finally got around to putting together the footage from our time out there; and to think, we’ve still got four more sea days to go! What am I going to do with all this extra time? Well, I’m sure I’ll think of something…

Bear in mind, if it weren’t for having recovered all those old travel videos, I probably wouldn’t be doing this; this is not what I intended to make of my YouTube channel, by any means. But now that I’m able to travel, I’ve learned that I need to remember where I’ve gone, what I’ve done, and how I thought while I was in the middle of it all – and this is the best and easiest way to do this. I know you weren’t particularly keen on being filmed yourself, but that minute of you skating just before the accident is a particular treasure; all I wish is that I had so much more like that.

Granted, I’m probably cheapening my own likeness by putting it onscreen as often as all this, but I’m not so much preserving myself as each place we’ve been through and my reactions to it all (as well as Daniel’s; he’s actually gotten somewhat accustomed to being onscreen himself, if still unwilling to actually speak, despite having opinions himself while the camera is off). Between that and these letters, I’ll have more record of my life than most people – and more than most would need.

I just wish I hadn’t started until after your departure. But I guess I had to have that happen for me to realize how important preservation really was.

Anyway, enough melancholy musing on what was and wasn’t recorded in the past. Allow me to get on with what went down on Friday. You’ve already had the chance to read about it, but here’s what things looked like as we headed out to the Big City for a game meal we couldn’t have gotten anywhere else (we certainly won’t have options like this in Alaska, despite the fact that certain portions are teeming with bears, deer, caribou and moose. It’s just not done in our country, more’s the pity).

The really funny part about it all – and the bit I didn’t mention while we were heading out – was that this was inspired by a few throwaway jokes in Azumanga Daioh, when Yomi returns from a holiday trip to Hokkaido; her giving a souvenir can of bear meat to a horrified Sakaki (who couldn’t countenance such a fate for what she sees as a ‘cute’ animal – obviously, she never met one in the wild) and Yukari-sensei flipping out about her student getting to eat crab and jingisukan while there while she can’t. It’s amusing, the sort of things that prompt such adventures.

Of course, the proof of the pudding, so to speak, is in the eating, and while not everything we ordered was a hit, we were very fortunate with the selections that were available to us…

On further research after returning to the ship, it was confirmed to us that it was quite likely that the unusual flavor in Natural’s curry was based on cloves; those, and juniper berries, are often used to season venison and cut through the gaminess that would otherwise leave it tasting much like liver (which put Daniel off on the roasted version we were offered as our last course).

As for the timing of our departure from the restaurant, had we known how things would go the following day, we might have done well to spend a little time at the Tanukidoji Don Quijote, and see if we couldn’t have gotten a few bear-related souvenirs from there. There was, as it happened, at least one more train headed back to Otaru a half-hour later; but we didn’t know how long it would take us to get back to the station, and we didn’t want to take such a chance.

I will say that, for all that the two of us could be considered Japanophiles, we’re ambivalent toward their religion (and even more so when you consider that, for the religious among the Japanese, they can’t seem to stick with one; if one is the One True Religion, why are you messing with the other? And if neither of them is, well… multiply that question by two). We want to be respectful, given their history and culture, but their take on the spiritual world is… let’s just say, difficult to understand, let alone to agree with.

Less problematic was the historical village – although in the case of both stops, it felt like we were quite literally avoiding the city of Sapporo itself for its environs on the edge of town. But we made the best of it.

Once back in Otaru, we attempted to make our way to lunch, but even that turned out to be a bit more challenging and time-consuming that it could or should have been. Still, the meal was an experience that I wouldn’t have wanted to pass up; I just wish that I hadn’t had to walk so far to arrive at a place that was closing after the lunch rush, when we could have just gone to this place so much nearer to the docks.

Moreover, if we were to have had time to head inland on the main street (Chuo-dori, literally “center street,” which most cities in Japan seem to have, like “Main Street” in America), we could have visited Otaru’s Don Quijote across the street from the train station. We might have had better luck at finding what we were looking for than at than some glass arts and crafts place; but we were following Copilot’s recommendations. It had been reasonably good at restaurant recommendations, but this time it rather failed us, it would seem.

Granted, I somehow wonder if we’d have been able to convince the gang to get together and try the stuff if I’d managed to get my hands on the real stuff, after all. Then again, I might just try the miso simmering process on some shank steak, and see how that goes over; it won’t quite taste like bear, exactly, but it would at least be seasoned similarly. It wouldn’t be quite the same, but for those who hadn’t tried the original, there are no memories to preserve; and maybe the modified attempt will be an interesting memory to preserve going forward.

Anyway, I realize that this is a rehash of stuff I’ve already told you about, but it’s coming from the perspective of my camera and a perspective modified by a little bit of time and additional information looked up. This was, after all, the one stop we were really researching for various reasons, so it was important enough to do so. Hope there isn’t too much repetition as to bore you.

For now, honey, keep an eye on us, and continue to wish us well. We’re still going to need it.