27th Apr 2016
As well as getting to travel a reasonable amount with my job it also affords me the opportunity to visit places I might otherwise not have traveled to.
That was certainly the case when I was told that I was to be heading to Hiroshima to cover the local side Sanfrecce against Buriram United in the AFC Champions League.
Japan is a place I've never visited before but have always wanted to. That said I always thought my first destination in The Land of the Rising Sun would be Tokyo but to Hiroshima I was going.
One issue with these trips is the language barrier that exists in pretty much every country that participates in the AFC Champions League and that was certainly going to be the case in Japan given that my entire Japanese vocabulary extends to konichiwa, sayonara and domo arigatou mr Roboto!
Thankfully work arranged for a colleague from our Tokyo office to assist us and she would prove a lifesaver when it came to both work and play.
My journey began on Sunday night with a late-night flight from Changi with my colleague asking me to arrive unnecessarily early but it did give me the opportunity to drain two cans of Asahi – all in the name of cultural acclimatization of course…
The flight was pretty uneventful although it gave me the opportunity to watch Creed (not bad at all) and, after a minuscule amount of sleep, the Mel Brooks classic Space Balls! Any airline that has this in its film library is alright by me!
The food was decent enough – typical airline breakfast fare: omelette, potato wedges and bacon although they committed the heinous crime of serving turkey bacon rather than its superior and glorious big brother bacon bacon.
Thoroughly unimpressed but I ate it anyway. It's food after all…
What was good, however, was the soba noodles with soy sauce, wasabi and roasted pork that accompanied the meal as an appetizer and a good introduction to what we could expect in Japan: food heaven.
Day one:
We landed at Tokyo’s Haneda airport at 6am and met Ema from Fox Tokyo who was to be our interpreter for the few days we were to be in Hiroshima before winging our way to the city made famous (or should I say infamous) by the atomic bomb that fell on it on August 6, 1946.
Hiroshima is a city that Fox has never been to to cover sport so we decided that I would do a mini guide to the city giving me the opportunity to channel my inner Judith Chalmers.
The first thing that I noticed about Hiroshima is that it is cold in March – only around 10 degrees Celsius. I realise that in the grand scheme of things that 10 degrees isn't that cold but having lived in the tropics for 11 years to me it was bloody freezing!
That made every piece to camera (PTC) a struggle because I had to try and battle against the shivers each and every time. The colder I got the more mistakes I made thus making me even colder!
Finally we got a couple of decent PTCs in the can and we were off to the hotel. Having only been in Hiroshima a few minutes Ema was already proving to be worth her weight in gold (I was lost from the moment we got there if I'm being totally honest)!
She came into her own when we had to try and get SIM cards for our Dejero unit which proved far tougher and more challenging than I could have ever possibly imagined! Japan, one of the most technologically advanced countries in the world, offer little to no pre-paid SIM cards and the ones they do have either don't contain anywhere near enough data for what we need and/or are really expensive.
The whole process took a couple of hours and without Ema we’d have had a cat in hell’s chance of getting what we needed!
Early into the trip one thing that struck me was how insanely polite everyone in Japan is. I've never seen anything quite like it. The amount of time spent saying thank you and bowing after the simplest of exchanges is quite incredible (it must run into days over the course of a lifetime) but it's a trait that's refreshing to see in today's society.
The conductor on the tram we took said thank you to every single passenger who exited his vehicle – lord knows how many times he must say it in a day or indeed during his working life!
With the SIM cards sorted it was time for lunch and seeing as we were doing our feature on the city that meant going for Okonomiyaki – Hiroshima-style.
Okonomiyaki is a traditional Japanese pancake which includes a variety of ingredients one of which is cabbage cooked on a teppanyaki grill. In Hiroshima they do it slightly differently by serving it on top of noodles.
I opted for the okonomiyaki special that included pork, squid and prawns served on udon noodles. To complement the okonomiyaki you get a variety of condiments one of which was the spicy okonomiyaki sauce which was liberally added along with chilli powder and a little mayo.
I wasn't sure about adding mayo to it but I followed Ema’s lead and to my very pleasant surprised it worked so I added a bit more!
There was plenty of pork, squid and prawns to go with the cabbage, all perched on top of the thick udon noodles and then topped with egg and green onions.
On top of being extremely tasty, it was also very filling and made for a great lunch. My only difficulty was having to use chopsticks to eat it – never my strongest skill – which meant that it took me a little longer to eat it than it otherwise might!
I was very impressed by okonomiyaki and it was a good start to my food odyssey in Hiroshima!
Post lunch we made the short walk to the atomic bomb dome. Ever since “little boy” was dropped from the Enola Gay on August 6, 1946 the dome has remained as it was after the blast ripped through the city and serves as a poignant reminder of the horrors of that faithful day.
That part of Hiroshima is so peaceful, without the scorched ruins of the dome it'd be easy to forget what took place all those years ago.
It's a place that almost enforces moments of self reflection that are only broken by the frequent chimes of the peace bell tolling out across the river.
We speak to a man who is considered an in-utero survivor of “little boy” as his mother was four months pregnant with him at the time the bomb detonated.
He tells us his story which we film and he describes – sometimes graphically – what happened to his family in the aftermath, most of which was deeply sad and moving, and was no doubt the same for many families in the days, weeks, months and years that followed.
We then moved on to Hiroshima ancient castle for more filming and a 90-second piece to camera. That might not sound long but believe me, it is! This takes me several attempts to get right (letting daylight in on magic here) but eventually get what's needed for that evening’s Fox Sports Central.
Once we had that in the can it was a case of going back to base, pulling the edit together and sending it back to Singapore.
With my duties completed, it was time to head out for dinner (my favourite meal of the day alongside breakfast and lunch).
What I didn't know about Hiroshima (one of many things I might add) is that it's renowned for its oysters.
The city's history might make people skeptical about eating things like that but with the bomb having detonated in the atmosphere the region is radiation free.
Shireen, my camerawoman, is also a foodie and was very keen on getting oysters so Ema found us a place that came highly recommended.
What I didn't know at that time is that Shireen suffers from gout and can't eat too many oysters – something that would require me to eat an awful lot of them by the end of the night.
We found the restaurant and Ema ordered us a couple of large Kirin beers. These cost SGD$4 each… FOUR DOLLARS EACH! In Singapore they'd have been four times the price so I knew I was in my happy place.
We started with a plate of six oysters – four from Hiroshima and the remaining two from elsewhere in Japan. It must be said that the local oysters were bigger and better in every way so I made sure I had two of those out of the six.
What I also learned is that in Japan it's considered bad luck/manners to pour your own beer. It’s a lovely tradition but it has its weaknesses; mainly that in the desire to be polite you end up going thirsty waiting for someone to top you up!
Fortunately after a while I was free to go nuts and pour my own beers! Kampai!
In addition to our raw oysters we ordered an enormous plate of assorted tempura – prawns, okra, lotus root (that was a first), squid, (more) oysters among other things – a bowl of edamame, a plate of sashimi – tuna, swordfish, amberjack, sea bream and more as fresh as you can imagine – an interesting raw squid dish the likes of which I've never had before and a soup dish with ramen noodles, tofu (not my choice) oysters – yep, more – mushrooms, bacon, lemon grass, and spring onions to name but a few ingredients.
For six people it would have been a hefty meal; for three it was downright ridiculous! That said we tore into it like three people who hadn't eaten since their okonomiyaki at 1pm (8.5 hours later).
Every dish was exceptionally good but the problem was that Shireen’s aforementioned gout forbade her from eating more than two oysters. That meant an awful lot of aphrodisiacs for me in one sitting; not good with the lovely Aine sitting all the way back in Singapore!
Thankfully I don't believe in oysters aphrodisiacs so I was able to proceed as normal without any adverse effects!
Both Ema and Shireen started to flag about 45 minutes into the meal which meant I had to pick up the slack. By the end I felt like a hog that had been fattened for several slaughters but the food was so good it would have been rude to stop.
We were the only remaining people in the restaurant by the end and it was time to pay up and leave. Between the three of us we'd managed to spend and impressive SGD$220!
Luckily our hotel was only a short waddle away from the restaurant which was good for all parties concerned and within 10 minutes (it was only a five minute walk) we were back.
I wanted to get a drink (non-alcoholic) before bed but the vending the machine was the only option. It was at this point I discovered that this particular vending machine was one of those that sold beer.
Having never bought beer from a vending machine I felt it my civic duty to buy a beer; to not have done so would have been an insult to the country that was hosting me.
With that in mind I ordered an ice cold Kirin and headed back to my room to enjoy it before turning in for the night.
Day two:
On our second day in Hiroshima we had to make our way to the Edion Stadium, the home of Japanese champions Sanfrecce (taken from the Japanese word san meaning three and the Italian word frecce meaning arrow) Hiroshima.
To do so we'd need to take a train and a bus – this was a trip being undertaken sans taxis due to their exorbitant cost (more on which later). Once again Ema was a godsend as she got us on our merry way.
The bus took us to the beautiful outskirts of the city where the stadium is located and dropped us a short walk away from the ground.
All was going well until I realized that I'd left my bag on the bloody bus. Anyone who knows me an iota will tell you that me losing things is a regular occurrence but this time I'd really dropped the ball.
What was in the bag, you ask? Just my iPad and, most importantly, the laptop work had supplied me with in order to edit our footage. This was not good.
How did I lose it? I had two bags: the camera tripod bag and my personal bag. In order not to lose the tripod I kept it around my shoulder all journey, while placing my bag on the seat. When the bus arrived at our stop I got up, leaving my bag on the bus.
The only reason I knew I'd forgotten it was because I wasn't getting the double squeak from the bag straps that I had earlier.
Had this happened without Ema, it's safe to say we'd have been well and truly fucked.
Thankfully we had our super star fixer and she got straight on the phone to the bus company as we made our way to the stadium to complete the task in hand: film training and the press conferences.
The company promised to call back in five minutes if the bag was located. The one thing in my favour was that we were the only people on the bus and it had reached the end of the line.
Despite that, 10 minutes ticked by and still no call…
Starting to sweat profusely in spite of the cold I began to start conjuring up excuses to explain how I'd lost the laptop…
Thankfully the call came moments later! What a fucking relief!
Ema set off to pick up my bag, while Shireen and I finished off filming.
What struck me about the Edion stadium was the beauty of its location. The ground is perched atop of a hill with larger hills surrounding it on two sides. With the beautiful blue skies that we had it made for a picture perfect setting and I'm convinced that it must have the most picturesque backdrop of any stadium in Asia.
Upon her return it was time for lunch. After okonomiyaki and oysters the previous day, Ema suggested yakinku – Japanese BBQ.
In my opinion, any style of BBQ is a winner – Korean, Thai, South Africa braai, regular. If it has flames and barbecued meat I'm as happy as a pig in shit, possibly happier.
I'm also a huge beef lover so the opportunity to have wagyu as part of my BBQ set for around SGD$20 was not something I was going to pass up in a hurry.
It proved a wise investment as my wagyu was far superior to the regular beef – instant smug mode.
In addition to our meat, our set included rice, miso soup, pumpkin, some pickled vegetables and a delicious sweet and slightly spicy yakinku sauce.
Unfortunately for me, the only utensils we were given were chopsticks. I can use chopsticks but not particularly well; I can't even hold them correctly and have over the years adopted my own, limited technique.
Large items I can handle, they end up in my mouth no problem; it's rice that causes me to come to grief.
Rather than admit defeat to the beastly rice and chopsticks combo again, I got stuck in right away clumsily trying to get the rice into my mouth with about the same success rate as a chopstick wielding horse would have. All the while Ema and Shireen were handling their utensils with the dexterity of a world class surgeon and the smooth, measured grace of an orchestra conductor.
Thankfully the kindhearted waiter took pity on me and handed me a fork and spoon to a) save me from further embarrass, b) allow me to eat my lunch, and c) prevent any more food ending up on the floor, walls and ceiling.
Ok, I'm exaggerating slightly but talented with chopsticks I am not!
What I can do is BBQ meat and my wagyu and the subsequent pork that we ordered was all cooked perfectly: wagyu rare and the pork cooked but not dry.
Given that top quality meat needs little else bar some seasoning, most of my wagyu was eaten unadulterated but I did dip some in the yakinku sauce and that was also delicious.
Post lunch it was time to head back to the stadium for more filming and a couple of interviews.
The beginning of every journey now involved double and triple checking that I had all my belongings – I was definitely having no more mishaps!
There were no major dramas for the rest of the day and once everything had been edited upon our return to the hotel – via a quick stop at the beer vending machine of course – it was time to head out for dinner.
Shireen was keen for yakitori and that was fine by me. My good friend Dan Weber had recently come back raving about his yakitori experience from Tokyo and I was determined to get in on the act.
We left sourcing a restaurant to Ema – she had an app that highlighted places with great reviews (tabelog) and fortunately there was a highly recommended spot a short walk from the hotel.
After walking down a feel dark alleys wondering where on earth we were going, Ema announced that we had arrived and led us upstairs.
Inside the front door was a small, dimly lit restaurant that was pretty full of diners and revelers tucking into plates of food, drinking beer and sake, chatting and also smoking.
Having not experienced that in a long time it first came as a surprise and not a pleasant one – I can't stand people smoking while I'm eating.
But it was getting late and I was hungry so I threw caution to the wind and sat down.
It proved to be an inspired decision.
Led by Ema’s suggestions we preceded to embark on one of my favourite eating experiences in quite some time.
Ema suggested we start with a yakitori set and we also ordered a couple of beers to go with it.
The beer came out first and needless to say it was icy cold and delicious, and then the first of many plates of food arrived.
We ate so much that night that I'm at pains to remember everything we had but among our first skewers was cow's lung – a little chewy but an intense and tasty flavour – chicken and one other which I think was pork.
They lasted a total of around 20 seconds; each one a meat-covered stick of deliciousness.
All around us people were having more and more food brought to them and, sensing that Shireen and I were keen to get in on that action, Ema went into overdrive.
Every time she made a suggestion we said yes and before too long she just went ahead and ordered knowing full well we'd eat whatever was placed in front of us.
Octopus, squid, chicken skin gyozas, chicken with wasabi (and none of that commercial green nonsense you tend to get), beef heart (incredible), chicken heart, kidney, okra wrapped in pork, asparagus wrapped in pork and many more.
The arrival of each skewer was accompanied by a little squeal of delight as the meal began to take on epic proportions.
Midway through I decided I wanted some sake to complement my meal so Ema called the waitress over and ordered me a glass.
I was expecting a regular shot glass but this was at least double in size (if not triple) and filled, as is Japanese custom, right to the top so it almost overflows.
In order not to spill any I took my first sip from the glass that was still sitting on the table. This thrilled the waitress as that too, apparently, is the way to take your first mouthful!
Feeling at one with my surroundings, fueled by the rocket fuel strength of the sake not to mention more beers, I wasn't even bothered by the smoke any more and was merrily working my way through more yakitori skewers.
By the time the meal was over – a sad event in itself – I had drunk several beers, sunk three large glasses of sake and near as damn it worked my way through the entire yakitori menu.
I was satisfied but not too full plus more than a tad merry – a major win in my book and as we said our goodbyes and left the restaurant I vowed that I would return one day (hopefully with Ema in tow to order for me)!
The walk back to the hotel sobered me up a little so I countered that with another vending machine beer before dropping off at the end of a great day for eating.
Day three:
Our third day in Hiroshima was match day and that normally affords us some downtime given that the matches don't usually kick off until 19:30.
After a decent lie in we went for breakfast to a little café that did an ok line in eggs on toast. Nothing flash but it did the job.
We the took the opportunity to walk around the city a bit more and pick up one or two things to take home.
With thoughts of the previous night’s sake still fresh I managed to pick up a little bottle to take home for Áine and also grabbed some bits and pieces to take to the stadium as food is often hard to come by at Asian grounds believe it or not!
Our late breakfast and snack purchase meant that lunch was skipped although that proved a mistake for me as I ate most of my stadium food before I'd even left the hotel!
There were no mishaps on the way to the ground this time and all in all it was a pretty stress-free evening with two live crosses to our studio done with minimal fuss and anxiety.
It was, however, bloody cold and having to conduct my crossovers while freezing my nuts off was not a pleasant experience!
With the working day done, we headed home, dumped the equipment and headed to a 24-hour sushi restaurant for a quick bite to eat.
In addition to my sushi plate(and half of Ema's) I also ordered some karage (deep-fried squid), complemented by a beer to round off my Japanese culinary journey (or so I thought).
Despite it being close to midnight and the streets deserted, the restaurant was still pretty busy and the sushi was excellent.
Money at that stage was tight so I couldn't order as much as I would have liked but it was still enough to send me to bed (after bidding farewell to Ema and another vending machine beer) satisfied.
Day four:
With the shuttle bus to the airport not starting until 06:25 and our flight at 07:40 we were forced to take a taxi to the airport.
Our driver had his own peaked cap and white gloves – gotta love Japan – and our journey only finished when we accepted the sweets our driver insisted upon giving us!
These little touches, however, didn't make the 45-minute journey worth the SGD150 it cost us! Thank goodness for overseas expenses claims!
The flight to Tokyo Haneda passed without incident and Shireen and I took the opportunity to indulge in a cheeky bowl of ramen before our flight back to Singapore.
I also discovered that I'd received some previous expense claims so I purchased a bottle of sake (full size) for Áine and I to enjoy upon my return to Singapore.
My memory of the meal served on the plane is hazy so I can't have been all that special but what was incredible was flying past Mt. Fuji as we left Tokyo – simply breathtaking.
A few hours later we touched down in Singapore to complete a thoroughly successful maiden trip to Japan.
Sayonara, Nippon! I'll definitely be back!