A Broad Side - Neat things and why you should find them

I talked about what things you should bring back with you, but how did you get those things in the first place? Even if I don't know what country you are going to I can still help with this one. Ready? And go!

Interested in something? Anything? Culture? Martial arts? The first thing to do is get something based in why you are interested in that country. Find something unique to that place. I am very interested in Japanese culture and history. While I was there I went to some museums as well as found my own kimono, equipment for tea ceremony, had fun with some martial arts, and even went to the place where tea ceremony started. As far as things to bring back with me, I had a kimono and a lot of tea ceremony stuff. So focusing on your interests is a good way to get some of the stuff.

Since you are likely also there to learn the language then you should also consider finding a lot of things that you would want to read and collect them to bring back with you. This can help with your language skills, and be a resource that you couldn’t get back home. You do want to be careful of making sure you don’t make your suitcase too heavy, but if you don’t overload on these things you should be fine.

What about you own way of representing the culture or lifestyle that you found there in your own way? How can you do that? While there I wanted to learn more about the food, and now at home I make a lot of my own Japanese food as well as eat them with hashi or chopsticks. So if there is something you want to know more about, ask people there and research it so you can bring that knowledge back with you.

Let's hone in on some Japan specific things. Now I already mentioned that I found a kimono, but do you know how many parts there are? So many, more than you would have thought originally… well at least for the girl's kimono, the guys is a bit simpler but still. Why did I want to find this? Well it is something that I could not easily if at all find in the states and would be more than just a souvenir from Japan but it was also a journey. Finding it was not easy, there were things that you couldn’t just learn about them just by looking online. I had to speak with many old ladies to find out that the colors you used and matched with as well as the patterns made a huge difference. So just "getting a kimono" is not just a simple task but a journey that helped me learn more about Japan. This applies to the country you go to as well. Don’t just "get" what it is you want but learn about it too. This experience will deepen the experience you have

(plus most of those old ladies only spoke Japanese so it also got me a lot of practice)

Find out what it is like in the country side. Okay don’t think I'm spouting craziness just yet. The countryside can be completely different from the city. The people there will be different, talk different and who knows, you may like it out there better than the city. Even if you don’t it is an experience that you will not get in the city. Plus it is usually really beautiful out there.

Talk to the old people… okay yes they will probably bore you, especially if you never do it back home. But they are a great source of information, as well as helping you learn more about things you wouldn't or couldn’t otherwise find out about. Did I mention kimono colors and shapes? Also my tea ceremony teachers were old ladies, and I probably learned more from them than anyone else. So yeah. Get out and talk to some old people.

Go to a thrift store. Okay so the only thrift stores I have experience with are the ones in the US and in Japan. Regardless they are not the same. Different things are cheaper, there are things that you would never expect to find in a different country's thrift store. Maybe something you want is there and at a good price… like 1 dollar Pokémon games.

There are more things you could do so check it out. Find new things and go new places. Get lost! Actually that one is really important, and you really should try it in all seriousness. You learn a whole lot when you get lost. If there is anything else you think people should try leave it in a message down below. And if you liked this subscribe. Now go and try something weird. You will learn a lot from it.

A Broad Side - What to sneak out/or not

You've just spent time abroad and now it is time to leave. You loaded your suitcase and found that you filled it without fitting everything you have into it. How are you supposed to return home without everything? Well I'm here to tell you how… okay I lied you can't bring everything back. But you can bring the things that matter. What matters? What should you leave?

Also this isn't a list of things to bring/not bring back. Just giving you an idea of how to decide which things you should/should not bring back.

Before you freak-out you need to decide what things are important. I really struggled with this myself. I ended up deciding that I had clothes back home that I could wear and actually left most the ones if had with me in Japan. Not everything I brought back with me was probably the best, but there were many things I had already invested in and so in order to bring the things I felt were important at that point I had to make sacrifices.

For instance, while in Japan I joined the tea ceremony club (sadou 茶道) I began collecting many of the items to perform the ceremony; bowls, water pots, ladles, stands, fans, etc. I had actually collected a lot of items for it. These were culturally important, I even had special ones with history and were in many ways irreplaceable. Because of the time and investment I put into them as well as their cultural importance they were something I decided to bring back with me. Now conversely there were so many things as similar to this that I had to sacrifice an entire suitcase for this stuff. That is a large commitment because typically all you can have are two suitcases unless you pay more. So if you make a decision like that make sure you really feel it is worth it.

Something I did, that I would tell you not to do is bring a bunch of books back home with you. It was too tempting and I couldn’t help myself, but most of the books I could buy back here. Now if you find things that have a major price difference and you feel it would be better to buy it wherever you go then by all means get it there, but if not try not to go crazy. On the flip side I did but some things in Japan that were way cheaper there. Several games including newer Pokémon games for less than five dollars. Big, big price difference. So well worth their weight.

So a difficult thing to tackle is souvenirs because some people have more of a tradition surrounding it. But I can at least make this short. If it is normal for you to get them, then try to keep them small and light. I know that is hard, but if you don’t then you will run out of space and weight quickly. If you do not normally get them though, just don’t bother because you will most likely find yourself fighting for that space and weight later.

School work should probably stay there. If you have school books that you will actually reference later then bring it, but your work and other things are not really important. You should bring syllabi back because most schools need them, and you never know if you will have to reference them later. Although if you can get your syllabi digitally that would be better. Most of your other school papers though will be unneeded, so choose carefully what you bring with you.

I don’t have much more advise on what to bring or not bring back, but I do suggest you think carefully about what to bring back with you. If you have any questions or want to know what I think you should or should not bring leave me a message. And if you liked this please subscribe.

A Broad Side - What not to sneak in

I'm going to be away in another country for months if not a year. I have to bring it, I need to bring it. I'll die without it. Well it turns out that isn't true, and over preparing can become dangerous if done wrong. So here comes my list of things not to bring to another country. Please note that in extreme situations some of these may not apply, but these are just general so they should hit larger groups of people.

Let's just get this one out of the way now. Your cell phone! Okay maybe just that sim card. Few of you that can afford those roaming charges anyways. There are some services out there that let you travel and have "cheaper" phone calls but most of them are still pricey. I recommend picking up a sim card in the country you go to if you need to have one. They will be cheaper, but it is likely that calls home will still be costly so when you call home use a free service like google voice and call from your computer.

Next is going to be books. Just about any kind of book unless there is a special one that has everything you need in one, but then I still recommend you take it as carry-on. They take up a lot of space and weight, and odds are there are books like that there, or you can buy them there. Still wanting that guidebook? There is definitely one there and a million more people that will give you word of mouth information on the best places to go. Really wanting to hold onto that awesome Japanese book that you learned from to learn the Japanese you know now? (oh this one was hard for me… I brought it anyways… never used it.) Don't!

Our third member on this list is in that category where certain situations may deem it okay. Beauty products can for the most part be left behind. The time I would say are exceptions would be when you do something specific that you "cannot" find in the country you go to. For example if you use very elusive natural products on your hair that are already hard to find back home. Everyone else though, just buy it in country. I don’t want you to think "oh I can't leave home without my V05 because trust me they have something just as good if not the same product.

Since the women feel picked on now let's get the men. Grooming products are not needed either. Leave the shaver and pick one up there. Same with the cream, they already have it. If you want to sneak in your favorite deodorant because it may be a few days before you can order one though feel free, because OMG I cannot stand your funk. Still do not bring tons. And if you really care you should know that yes contraceptive can be bought in other countries. Do not ask me why I know.

The kitchen sink. Okay I know that is vague but you know what I mean. DVD players, hot plates, hair dryers, game consoles and coffee makers. If you are worried, I have already made a list on how to deal with not having some of these things like DVD players and game consoles. Check it out here http://stirfriedtango.blogspot.com/2017/02/a-broad-side-what-to-sneak-in.html As far as the other things, they can be bought online. Just know that I did bring my own game console and although packed really well, the TSA broke two of my controllers and the front of my console. Now I thought I would be using it a lot, but as it turns out TVs are expensive and the only way I had to play it was to hook it up to my computer. In the end I found that I played way more games on my computer. I would advise against bringing all of the extra gadgets.

Paper, and lots of documents are something else to try not to bring. Yes there will be a few things that you need to have but for the most part you shouldn’t bring these. Digitally copy them and bring the scanned copies. They will be lighter and less bulky. I would also try not to bring things like notebooks and just anything papery in general. Sure if you do better by taking notes on paper then do so, but you will only need something small to survive the flight until you get the chance to buy something to write in there.

Last on this list is jewelry. This sounds like a no brainer, but even I caught myself doing this. "oh I may want this awesome necklace. And my funny face glasses" okay you don’t have funny face glasses, but someone does so it could happen. I brought a bunch of things with me that I thought I would need but in the end I rarely used, if at all. And then of course I wanted to bring all of it back with me. I went to Japan with 2 suitcases and came back with 3.5 so just know that there will be other things you will want on the way.

Heh, I said that was last, but I still have another comment to make. If you love it you probably shouldn't bring it. If it is your favorite it might get left behind when you are trying to decide what needs to come back with you. So just plan to lose all of your clothes, and not care about most of the things you brought with you when you have to pick between

So guys I know this wasn’t a long list but I figured I could leave off the stuff I felt was obvious not to bring. Was there anything you thought I should tell people not to bring? Are there things you want to bring but are unsure if you should, or not? If so leave a comment down below. Don’t forget to like and subscribe. And good luck on your journey abroad.

A Broad Side - What to Sneak In

Okay please do not read the title and believe that I want you to sneak drugs in. Remember that you represent your home institution and doing something like that can get that school or even country banned from going to the location you are at. DO NOT SNEAK DRUGS IN.

Also you aren't really sneaking anything, it's just fun to call it that.

Disclaimer [check]

What to sneak in! After you have scoped out the country you plan to infiltrate there are some key essentials you will want to bring in with you so your mission can have the highest success rate.

As always communication with the home base is the utmost essential thing you need and what better way to accomplish that than your super high-tech spy computer. Able to make phone calls to home through google voice and utilize the all-powerful internet to find out any information you could possibly need. With this piece of tech you will never be bored as there are infinite possibilities on the web, just ask your local hacker.

Something important to keep in mind is that the target country may nor use the same technology as us so you will also need to make sure your tech is compatible with theirs. How terrible would it be if you get there and find out that your spy computer cannot get plugged into their outlet? Even countries that are "compatible" still share many differences. Japan, although compatible with the U.S. actually forsakes that silly ground hole and thinker/wide end on the plug. Make sure the adapter you bring allows you to adapt to even the harshest of conditions.

While on the subject of your spy computer's compatibility, you may want to consider picking up a VPN or proxy so you can enjoy the internet of your home country. There are a few companies that sadly do not allow you to use proxies, but as you are a super-secret spy you shouldn't be spending your time on Netflix anyways. (they work locally in most countries anyways.) there are both paid and free proxy services, while free ones are not always very reliable there paid ones are not typically very expensive. Also if you are an aspiring hacker needing to hide your location Tor may be how you want to browse.

Enough with the tech, now to consider your wardrobe. In order to help you blend in I recommend bringing several shirts that allow you to look different quite often, even though you have very few with you. Pants do not matter as much but you should bring enough that you can rotate your clothes out, or you will wear them out. A smaller wardrobe means that you wear the same things more often and actually wear the clothes out faster. A good spy can set up their wardrobe in a way the makes it seem like they have tons of clothes or at least hides that they are wearing the same things over and over, while only having a limited amount of options. Remember it doesn’t take very many clothes to fill up your suitcase and if you do where will you put your high tech gear?

Another important thing is to know how to properly stave off the locals. Sometimes it can be with your awesome looks, but some situations call for more crafty tricks. A good way is to shower them with cheap gifts such as postcards from where you came from. With this light weight and clever distraction you can show pictures from home and give presents they will enjoy all while saving luggage space and money.

Another powerful tool you need is your spy watch, able to track time at home and in the target country. Remember it never hurts to be informed, and when you need to make those phone calls back to home base you would best not wake them up at odd hours. HQ gets really grumpy when you do that. This is lightweight and able to travel in carry-on. Small, simple, but the enemy won't ever know its true purpose.

Worried that you may not have the entertainment you need? The internet just isn't good enough? Well there is a solution for that. Obviously you can rip CDs to your computer, but with software such as DVD Decrypter you can bring copies of your DVDs too. PSP Video 9 can then convert them to mp4s for saving even more space. Also services such as Steam allow you to download lots of games onto your hard drive and play them offline. Do not bring the disks for these things though, as they are quite heavy. If you need space grab a portable external hard drive. Once your data is safely stored you can travel without fear of boredom. Make sure you password protect it though so the enemy cannot steal it and access your information.

Toiletries can become a must depending on where you go. You may be surprised at what is common place in a country. Some countries may prefer spray on deodorants instead of stick and if you prefer stick then you may not find it. Some other countries dislike perfume, so you also may want to research it first. Remember to bring the things that you need not just really want. A toothbrush is a need, a hair dryer is not (and is really heavy for travel, just buy one there if you actually "need" it)

Your important documents scanned and saved as files on a secret hidden file or drive. Medical, travel, and other documents can become very necessary or if you lose things like your passport having a scanned backup could save you a whole lot of grief. Try not to bring paper copies as they will take up space and weight. Besides a passworded flash drive in your hand or pocket is a lot safer than a bunch of papers in a suitcase. If you bring paper it should be money, because not everywhere takes a card.

Finally we encourage you to bring along your spy camera. One with good photographic and videographic capabilities. You never know when you will want to document something, blog, vlog, or otherwise share your amazing experience with your fellow compatriots on the web. We know it is harder for you younger spies to resist the Facebook and YouTube, so if you are going to access them at least have good quality work to show for it. If you want to have a lightweight one, I recommend a mirrorless, but anything that has both video and picture capabilities is just fine.

Good luck on your mission. If you succeed you will be a hero.

Traveling Pains: Himeji Castle: Walk, Run, or Ride the Bus

Hello Everyone, and Welcome back to Stir-Fried Tango. Last time we had just made it to the station near Himeji-jo also known as Himeji Castle and I was looking down the road toward the castle as the buildings framed it and just showed us the clear path there. We grabbed a quick snack (who needs lunch when there is a giant castle sitting out there) and swapped out our luggage in a coin locker about 5 times until we had what we actually wanted to carry for the rest of the day. 2500 yen in a 500-yen coin locker later we started heading for the castle. Christine asked the people at the information counter about what the best way to get there was and they told us that we should ride the bus because it would take about 25 minutes to walk there and the castle would be closing soon. Too bad I didn’t ask "how soon."

We headed out for the bus stop and started waiting thinking the bus would be there soon, then I checked the time. This bus only ran every 30 minutes exactly and I had just missed it… by 1 minute! Ok so 30 minutes for a bus (and then the time to get there,) or a 25-minute walk. 25-minute walk it is since it closes soon. I walked down the street until I saw a few obviously English speaking people that would know a little about the castle. I say “obviously” because of their tall stature, white skin, and giant camera hanging off of their neck like one of the chains that hold Jacob Marley down in “A Christmas Carol,” not because I heard them speaking English or because they were walking away from the castle. Christine asked them what time the castle closed (it was around 3 something then) and they told us 4.

As I was running to the castle I remembered that I didn't bring my inhaler with me. One of the many things left in the locker. No time to care, give me the castle or give me death (or both?.) I made it to the castle gates out of breath but with plenty of time (take that 25-minute walk) and entered the castle grounds. What I saw next took my breath away, either that or the asthma did, don’t remember quite which. The castle… didn’t close until 5.

Why? Why me? Oh my air. Did I mention Christine won't run? I think it was mentioned by "Jedimaester" in the comments.

From the castle gates you walk into the open castle grounds leading to a large white castle sitting atop a hill. The walls surrounding the castle spread out all the way around us so far that even shooting a panoramic shot on my widest lens could not even take it all in. a trail along the big open field, I mean castle grounds, ran along the nearest wall all the way to the first layer of surrounding walls and another set of large gates leading up to the castle. There were trees along the sides of the grounds separating it from the paths, and while the sad trees were lacking in beauty at the time, I could tell that in a few weeks when everything was in full bloom this place would be as breath taking as my asthma.

It only cost about 500 yen ($4.25?) to enter the castle so of course I was going. When you enter you follow a steady trail up through several layers of walls all the way to the castle and around almost every corner you get another spectacular view of the castle itself until you finally get inside. At the door you have to take off and carry your shoes while you go through the inside (don’t worry if they are dirty, they give you a plastic bag.) This is where the climbing starts… and keeps going… and going up several flights of stairs all the way to the top of the castle and then all the way back down. Don’t worry, the view is worth it even if your camera doesn’t seem to take the same pictures you see in your head. I would even tell you to still try and take pictures through the thick stone window openings. Who knows, it may come out.

So a little about this beautiful spectacle, Himeji-jo. This beautiful castle's construction happened sometime around 1330, actually starting as a fort. OMG that’s old. Maybe ten times older than my grandparents. Were there still dinosaurs around then? So yeah, I said "fort" because there was some fort there, but then some ruler's son was like "hey who needs a fort? I want a castle." Now, the part that made me feel happy. The castle wasn't completed until around 1560 (Take that you bratty kid.) One of the next owners added a three story keep in about 1580, and not long after in about 1600, it got remodeled. Why? Son one else's son (Well really son-in-law) decided to tear the whole keep down and rebuild the castle. Sadly this was built and expanded, with awesome moats and fire breathing dragon, in about 10 years (Bratty kids!) The castle stayed basically the same getting passed from one person to the next (I think a lot of people were dying.) Someone added a few new building including a tower for their daughter-in-law (These kids!) Afterwards, there were many destruction attempts on the castle's life, and yet somehow it came out mostly unscathed. Someone tried to develop the land after buying the castle for about $2,000 (heck I would buy it for that,) but fortunately couldn't destroy it because it cost way too much to destroy. Also during WWII a bomb hit the castle, but again it was blessed with a dud. Thus we have this amazing castle.

While wondering around the castle I heard the announcement that the castle would close at 4:30 (yes I was confused too.) So this is when we found out the castle actually stopped people from entering at 4:30 but didn’t kick people out until 5? And the castle grounds didn’t close until 5 (so really 5:30 because it was 5 when we left, but there were still a lot of people inside,) so people could still take pictures of the castle itself while the sun set. At this point I was starting to wear out from lack of food and a little concerned about our time because we were supposed to meet Eriko at Sakai station in Osaka. We pigged out on a source of electrolytes (I’m a little ashamed to say where) and started to head back, again riding the Shinkansen.

Remember all of the wonderful things I said about the Shinkansen? I don’t take them back, but the second trip was a little less awe-inspiring. Why? Because the first time we were riding in reserved seats. I don’t know why my seat ended up being reserved, maybe they thought I was a silly foreigner that should pay more and gave me those ones on the way from Tokyo to Himeji (I did notice that people in Himeji seemed nicer and more considerate,) but they gave me reserved ones. This time my tickets were in the not quite so shiny, looks like it might be a slightly old looking, un-reserved seats. Oh well the Shinkansen didn’t stop being amazing.

Rocketing past everything I soon arrived in Osaka where once again I played musical trains until I finally made it to the right station (give me another week and I’m sure I can tell you how to get, how to get to Sesame Street.) I exited the station out of the wrong exit, walked all the way around to the other side of the station and finally, we met up with Eriko.

Osaka At Last!

At this point all I could think about was sleep. We went back to her place and stayed up for a little while catching up but soon sleep caught up to me and I was…

Next time: Nara; Oh deer!

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Stir-Fried Tango - A Broad Side - Intro

Welcome Back to the Stir-Fried Tango

So if you were expecting the next blog on our trip around Kansai... you will be waiting another few days. That series will have it's next update on Monday. Today I will be starting my new series A Broad Side, and guess what? My first post has a video!

Hope you guess enjoyed that. I'm wanting to get better at making videos so I will be practicing a lot. Don't worry! I still plan on keeping this blog, and in fact you will probably get special stuff because you not only get to see videos I put up but also the flavorful text up put up with it.

So don't despair!