Hey, surprise! I went to Tokyo! I guess I was too busy to mention it on here, but... yeah. I went. This came out of it.
WHERE'D WE GO?? (Places (briefly) featured in the video)
Day 1:
-Imperial Palace Tour
-Shinjuku
-Tokyo Municipal Building (45th Floor)
-Kabuki-cho
-Shibuya
Day 2:
-Camp Zama Army Base
Day 3:
-Punkspring '09 (Maseharu Messe, Chiba-ken)
Day 4:
-Tsukiji Fish Market, random sushi restaurant
-Sensoji (in Asakusa)
-Akihabara
Day 5:
-Subway
-Kumamoto
That's all for now! I have a bunch of pictures covering the many things I couldn't fit into the video. Look for them on Facebook soon! (Or photobucket... if I ever get around to it. The link is in the upper left of this page)
Showing posts with label Sushi. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Sushi. Show all posts
Friday, April 10, 2009
Tuesday, November 11, 2008
"Do you like Japanese Food?"
It occurred to me that I haven't really talked about the food here. Maybe it's because I talked about it enough for the first few months I was here, I didn't feel like talking anymore. Every conversation with a local person went like this, "Hello, I'm Colin!" They'd say, "Hello! Are you liking Japan?" I'd reply, "Yes, it's great!" And they'd inevitably ask, "Do you like Japanese food?" Now maybe I got it so much from the schools because the ninensei learned that sentence right before I came... but everyone asks that. As if it's a greeting.
Anyway, in no particular order, here are a few of the new "old foods" I've gotten to try. (Seriously, a lot of this stuff has lost the novelty since I eat it about everyday. :D)
Okonomiyaki - First food I had in Japan. I've had it a few times since. It's referred to as a "Japanese pancake," but as another ALT pointed out, it's more like a "Japanese pizza/Pancake." I guess Okonomiyaki means something like "Cook it as you like it." (*ding* The more you know!) Basically it's a bunch of cabbage mixed with a batter that's sorta like pancake. But the ratio is something like 1:1, so it's it's own beast altogether. From that base, you throw in whatever else you want. Meat, vegetables, maybe even cheese... I have yet to try cheese, but that could be good. :D You fry this up, flip it, and then smother it in this sauce. Drizzle on some mayonaise, throw on some fish flakes (I forget the name of these...) and you're all set. It's pretty cool because the fish flakes sway around because of the heat. Dinner and a show! Woo! (Only imagine it as NOT disgusting... it's good, seriously!)
Sushi - K, first time I had sushi was in Japan. So sue me. If you need a description of sushi, umm... google it. :D Though I guess the kaiten sushi place is pretty neat. I wrote about it way back during my homestay, so I'll spare the details. Basically, it's a cheap, quick meal on a conveyor belt. Grab what you want off the belt and have at it. Count the plates at the end for your price, and get out. (I prefer my raw fish to be sliding past me, thanks.)
Sukiyaki - This, to me, screams Japan. Maybe I'm way off and it turns out it doesn't come from Japan at all, but whatever. It's Japan to me. :D You throw everything into a big griddle. And I mean everything. Meat, vegetables, tofu, there's some special sauce... when it's all about done being cooked, you crack a raw egg into a bowl and beat it (Single white glove is optional, moonwalking is not). When the food is ready, you grab chunks with the chopsticks and then dip it in the raw egg. Then... eat it. :D It sounds/looks/smells worse than it actually tastes! If you can get past the fact you're eating raw egg, it's actually pretty good! Slimy, slimy good!! unlike our next guest...
Natto - Tim swears by this stuff. Eats it for breakfast, lunch, dinner, bathes in it for all I know. What is this "delicious" thing called natto, you ask? Fermented soy beans. I'll say that again in case you missed it. Fermented soy beans. It's a little pouch of soybeans covered in this slimy, gooey, stringy mold-like substance. And yes... it tastes as good as the description makes it sound. I tried 3 bites, to give it an honest shot, but no thanks. It's not kind of the joke between me and my students. If I ever need to pull a random english question out in class, "Do you like Natto?" or "Will you eat Natto today?" Before I tried it, my answer to the "Do you like Japanese food" question was almost always, "Japanese food is delicious! ...but... uh... Natto wa kowaii desu (Natto is scary)." I learned that vocabulary just to talk about Natto. When I finally tried it for school lunch, several teachers asked for my thoughts on it. I learned more vocabulary through that, "Natto ga kirai desu." (I don't like Natto.) Hooray for educational food!
Kyushoku - "School Lunch." It's different things everyday, but I figured I'd give it it's own category, since it spawns it's own question (Right after "Do you like Japanese food?" comes "How is Kyushoku?"). I never know how to answer it because I don't know what "normal" Japanese food should taste like. Like in America, when you had a school lunch Pizza or Hamburger, you knew it wasn't good because you've had the legit stuff, the really good stuff, outside of school lunch. You were spoiled. You knew better. To me, kyushoku is just fine because I haven't ever had the "real things." It's cheap and convenient, so I can't complain. Except for the time I had a special salad.
Usually, Kyushoku has 3 dishes (and a carton of milk. Relax, mom): Bread or rice, the main dish, and a salad of some sort. I grabbed my bowl of the day's salad and started eating it. It tasted alright... not bad, but I was able to choke it down. Something tasted fishy, though, and I couldn't quite put my finger on it. The ichinensei teacher, who is always surprised when I like japanese food, sat down next to me and said, "Oh, you like that???" I said, "It's okay, I guess." "Wow, most Americans don't go for the fish!" ...and it dawned on me. I looked down and realized that what tasted fishy was actual fish. Little tiny fish that get thrown into random things almost as a spice. And they were COMPLETELY SATURATING MY SALAD!! Easily 50or 60 little tiny toothpick sized fish were just hangin' out in my bowl (Yes, they were dead... kyushoku isn't THAT terrifying). Brave Me thought, "Hey, I've already had 3 bites. It hasn't killed me yet." but curse that teacher. Now that I KNEW what I was eating, I couldn't stomach another bite. The lesson learned is that when people say "watch what you eat," they literally mean watch what you eat. Or else don't sit around people who know what you're eating. :(
Bento - Yes, this gets a category of it's own. The little conbini boxed lunches that get made fresh daily and may or may not be healthy for you (they're not really)!! I've had far too many of these than I should, but they're pretty good. There's a good portion of rice and usually a pretty tasty meat something in the main dish portion. There's this cool little fried chicken (tempura) thing with awesome dressing on it that gets made across the street. Always a safe bet. Or, if you're feeling more classy but still want a bento, hit up Hotto Motto. Bentos made to order, and slightly healthier than the conbini bentos (Hotto Motto bentos are to conbini bentos as McDonalds Double Cheeseburgers are to Big Macs...)!! There's usually a good variety spread out, but the trick is... umm... reading what each one is. I've bought an interesting bento or two. :(
Udon - An awesome little ramen thing, but a thicker, soft noodle. Usually pretty good, but again, there are tons of different kinds. There's some neat toppings that go on them, too. And by neat... I mean good. :D Great to have when you can get some.
Ramen - It's... ramen. Good good good. None of the instant stuff (The instant ramen here actually tastes worse than American Instant Ramen, if you can believe that... tough there is one particular brand that has a Fonzie-esque character pointing at his bedazzled leather jacket). The real ramen is delicious. There's this cool ramen shop I've mentioned in the past called Ajiman that has some great stuff. It's one of the popular hang outs in Ozu, so I expect to go there many more times. :D
Curry - Good ol' standby. Easy to make, and usually very good. Pretty filling, as well. Not much to say about this other than it's the ultimate bachelor food. I liken it to american pizza. When it's good, it's great. When it's bad, it's still good. I say this because it's shown up on Kyushoku a few times, AND IT STILL ROCKS! but speaking of pizza...
Mentai Pizza - "Fish egg pizza." yes. That's right. I braved the storm and tried it. Tim had to try some because he lost a bet, but I was man enough to try it on my own. Actually NOT BAD. ...I mean... for fish egg pizza.
Basashi - Raw horse meat. Nah, jk. I haven't tried this. Not a chance. :D
I'll wrap things up here. There is a lot more food that I've had... I don't always know the name, or the ingrediants, but it's usually good. Plus my chopstick abilities are actually not too shabby, so that's always good for some compliments from the people who ask, "Do you like Japanese food?"
I'm a rock star, what can I say? Every little thing I do is "ooo" and "aaww" worthy. ;)
Anyway, in no particular order, here are a few of the new "old foods" I've gotten to try. (Seriously, a lot of this stuff has lost the novelty since I eat it about everyday. :D)
Okonomiyaki - First food I had in Japan. I've had it a few times since. It's referred to as a "Japanese pancake," but as another ALT pointed out, it's more like a "Japanese pizza/Pancake." I guess Okonomiyaki means something like "Cook it as you like it." (*ding* The more you know!) Basically it's a bunch of cabbage mixed with a batter that's sorta like pancake. But the ratio is something like 1:1, so it's it's own beast altogether. From that base, you throw in whatever else you want. Meat, vegetables, maybe even cheese... I have yet to try cheese, but that could be good. :D You fry this up, flip it, and then smother it in this sauce. Drizzle on some mayonaise, throw on some fish flakes (I forget the name of these...) and you're all set. It's pretty cool because the fish flakes sway around because of the heat. Dinner and a show! Woo! (Only imagine it as NOT disgusting... it's good, seriously!)
Sushi - K, first time I had sushi was in Japan. So sue me. If you need a description of sushi, umm... google it. :D Though I guess the kaiten sushi place is pretty neat. I wrote about it way back during my homestay, so I'll spare the details. Basically, it's a cheap, quick meal on a conveyor belt. Grab what you want off the belt and have at it. Count the plates at the end for your price, and get out. (I prefer my raw fish to be sliding past me, thanks.)
Sukiyaki - This, to me, screams Japan. Maybe I'm way off and it turns out it doesn't come from Japan at all, but whatever. It's Japan to me. :D You throw everything into a big griddle. And I mean everything. Meat, vegetables, tofu, there's some special sauce... when it's all about done being cooked, you crack a raw egg into a bowl and beat it (Single white glove is optional, moonwalking is not). When the food is ready, you grab chunks with the chopsticks and then dip it in the raw egg. Then... eat it. :D It sounds/looks/smells worse than it actually tastes! If you can get past the fact you're eating raw egg, it's actually pretty good! Slimy, slimy good!! unlike our next guest...
Natto - Tim swears by this stuff. Eats it for breakfast, lunch, dinner, bathes in it for all I know. What is this "delicious" thing called natto, you ask? Fermented soy beans. I'll say that again in case you missed it. Fermented soy beans. It's a little pouch of soybeans covered in this slimy, gooey, stringy mold-like substance. And yes... it tastes as good as the description makes it sound. I tried 3 bites, to give it an honest shot, but no thanks. It's not kind of the joke between me and my students. If I ever need to pull a random english question out in class, "Do you like Natto?" or "Will you eat Natto today?" Before I tried it, my answer to the "Do you like Japanese food" question was almost always, "Japanese food is delicious! ...but... uh... Natto wa kowaii desu (Natto is scary)." I learned that vocabulary just to talk about Natto. When I finally tried it for school lunch, several teachers asked for my thoughts on it. I learned more vocabulary through that, "Natto ga kirai desu." (I don't like Natto.) Hooray for educational food!
Kyushoku - "School Lunch." It's different things everyday, but I figured I'd give it it's own category, since it spawns it's own question (Right after "Do you like Japanese food?" comes "How is Kyushoku?"). I never know how to answer it because I don't know what "normal" Japanese food should taste like. Like in America, when you had a school lunch Pizza or Hamburger, you knew it wasn't good because you've had the legit stuff, the really good stuff, outside of school lunch. You were spoiled. You knew better. To me, kyushoku is just fine because I haven't ever had the "real things." It's cheap and convenient, so I can't complain. Except for the time I had a special salad.
Usually, Kyushoku has 3 dishes (and a carton of milk. Relax, mom): Bread or rice, the main dish, and a salad of some sort. I grabbed my bowl of the day's salad and started eating it. It tasted alright... not bad, but I was able to choke it down. Something tasted fishy, though, and I couldn't quite put my finger on it. The ichinensei teacher, who is always surprised when I like japanese food, sat down next to me and said, "Oh, you like that???" I said, "It's okay, I guess." "Wow, most Americans don't go for the fish!" ...and it dawned on me. I looked down and realized that what tasted fishy was actual fish. Little tiny fish that get thrown into random things almost as a spice. And they were COMPLETELY SATURATING MY SALAD!! Easily 50or 60 little tiny toothpick sized fish were just hangin' out in my bowl (Yes, they were dead... kyushoku isn't THAT terrifying). Brave Me thought, "Hey, I've already had 3 bites. It hasn't killed me yet." but curse that teacher. Now that I KNEW what I was eating, I couldn't stomach another bite. The lesson learned is that when people say "watch what you eat," they literally mean watch what you eat. Or else don't sit around people who know what you're eating. :(
Bento - Yes, this gets a category of it's own. The little conbini boxed lunches that get made fresh daily and may or may not be healthy for you (they're not really)!! I've had far too many of these than I should, but they're pretty good. There's a good portion of rice and usually a pretty tasty meat something in the main dish portion. There's this cool little fried chicken (tempura) thing with awesome dressing on it that gets made across the street. Always a safe bet. Or, if you're feeling more classy but still want a bento, hit up Hotto Motto. Bentos made to order, and slightly healthier than the conbini bentos (Hotto Motto bentos are to conbini bentos as McDonalds Double Cheeseburgers are to Big Macs...)!! There's usually a good variety spread out, but the trick is... umm... reading what each one is. I've bought an interesting bento or two. :(
Udon - An awesome little ramen thing, but a thicker, soft noodle. Usually pretty good, but again, there are tons of different kinds. There's some neat toppings that go on them, too. And by neat... I mean good. :D Great to have when you can get some.
Ramen - It's... ramen. Good good good. None of the instant stuff (The instant ramen here actually tastes worse than American Instant Ramen, if you can believe that... tough there is one particular brand that has a Fonzie-esque character pointing at his bedazzled leather jacket). The real ramen is delicious. There's this cool ramen shop I've mentioned in the past called Ajiman that has some great stuff. It's one of the popular hang outs in Ozu, so I expect to go there many more times. :D
Curry - Good ol' standby. Easy to make, and usually very good. Pretty filling, as well. Not much to say about this other than it's the ultimate bachelor food. I liken it to american pizza. When it's good, it's great. When it's bad, it's still good. I say this because it's shown up on Kyushoku a few times, AND IT STILL ROCKS! but speaking of pizza...
Mentai Pizza - "Fish egg pizza." yes. That's right. I braved the storm and tried it. Tim had to try some because he lost a bet, but I was man enough to try it on my own. Actually NOT BAD. ...I mean... for fish egg pizza.
Basashi - Raw horse meat. Nah, jk. I haven't tried this. Not a chance. :D
I'll wrap things up here. There is a lot more food that I've had... I don't always know the name, or the ingrediants, but it's usually good. Plus my chopstick abilities are actually not too shabby, so that's always good for some compliments from the people who ask, "Do you like Japanese food?"
I'm a rock star, what can I say? Every little thing I do is "ooo" and "aaww" worthy. ;)
Thursday, August 21, 2008
August 9th: And on the 6th day, Colin tried SUSHI!
The real stuff. Not that fake Nebraska wannabe sushi. But more on that later.
After breakfast this morning, we watched the rest of the olympics while Kuroda-san's wife was away. It was pretty cool! I think this family really enjoys sports, so we might be watching a lot of olympics. Once everyone was back, we drove up to the mountains through Nishihara-mura and Aso (both are towns... mura = village, Aso is a city). Oh, also I got up close and personal with the windfarm I've always seen to the east of town waaay off on the horizen. Oh man, the sound those massive fans make when you're directly under them is scary. You've got these massive blades spinning disgustingly faster than anything that size should be moving, and you can literally hear them SLICING THROUGH THE AIR!! When I got out of the car, I looked up just in time to see one spinning right down towards me. I kinda flinched. C'mon! Can you IMAGINE one of them slying off and spiking through the car into the ground??? *shudder*
Annyway, we went to find the friendship forest. It was kinda cool. He told me that in 1996, Hastings College students came to Ozu and planted a little grove of trees up in a little non-descript part of the mountain. He was going to show me the little commemorative post placed there, but the weeds were overgrown to be about chest high. We hacked through some to see if we could find it, but to no avail. In the winter, though, all the weeds die off, so the post is in the middle of the field. Still fun, either way. I felt like a marine, or something, climbing through the tall brush on some Japanese island... maybe that's a bad comparison... haha
we drove around the mountain a bit and he showed me some of the spectacular views of Ozu, Kumamoto city, Nishihara, and Aso. He also pointed out the different mountain peaks. (Including "neko dake"... you guess it. Cat Mountain!) The whole area (maybe not Ozu and Kumamoto... my geography is shady) is one massive crater from a volcano blast, but the only real volcano (nakadake, I think) left was just over the horizon. Since it was late, he said he would take me to Aso Nakadake tomorrow morning, so off we'll go. We had more important matters to attend to...
...like SUSHI FOR LUNCH!! Oh man. OH. MAN. Sushi is AMAZING! The little sushi bar we went to at first seemed like a little McDonald's type place (and that comparison is NOT doing the place justice... not to self: think of new comparison) with tables and everything... but then I looked and saw that each table, while at usual American height, was raised off the floor about 2 feet. So, yes. Standard routine. Take off shoes, and sit on knees or cross-legged at the table. Crap, here goes my legs again. :(
The place was pretty cool. It had a constantly moving conveyer belt running by each table with pre-made sushi standards running around on it. You just grab what you want as it goes by, and the waitress counts the plates at the end (105 or 210 yen per plate, depending on the item/color of plate). I thought that was where the fun stopped, BUT WAIT!! There was a call button that Den's wife pressed and soon the server came over. They placed an order for some specialty things, and within about 3 minutes, there was suddenly a little monorail-shaped tray sliding along above the conveyer belt. It stopped at our table, a buzzer sounded, and we grabbed the food off of it. The little train shot back to the kitchen, and we devoured the food.
I have never had sushi before, so part of me was nervous. What if I hated it? I'm in freaking Japan, and I wouldn't like sushi! not the case, though. It was VERY good! The shrimp, tuna, salmon, beef, chicken... everything was awesome. The wasabi on a few items kinda caught me off guard (seriously... for a second, it felt like every pore on my face opened up and screamed... but not in a bad way... nice mental image... where was I?), but it was very good. After this, they showed me around Jusco (Kinda like Walmart) and the 100 Yen shop (oh man, so awesome) before heading back home. On the way home, they showed me where my apartment and my school are. They're very close, so that's good. Also, tons of rice fields!
Too much going on... see the next post.
After breakfast this morning, we watched the rest of the olympics while Kuroda-san's wife was away. It was pretty cool! I think this family really enjoys sports, so we might be watching a lot of olympics. Once everyone was back, we drove up to the mountains through Nishihara-mura and Aso (both are towns... mura = village, Aso is a city). Oh, also I got up close and personal with the windfarm I've always seen to the east of town waaay off on the horizen. Oh man, the sound those massive fans make when you're directly under them is scary. You've got these massive blades spinning disgustingly faster than anything that size should be moving, and you can literally hear them SLICING THROUGH THE AIR!! When I got out of the car, I looked up just in time to see one spinning right down towards me. I kinda flinched. C'mon! Can you IMAGINE one of them slying off and spiking through the car into the ground??? *shudder*
Annyway, we went to find the friendship forest. It was kinda cool. He told me that in 1996, Hastings College students came to Ozu and planted a little grove of trees up in a little non-descript part of the mountain. He was going to show me the little commemorative post placed there, but the weeds were overgrown to be about chest high. We hacked through some to see if we could find it, but to no avail. In the winter, though, all the weeds die off, so the post is in the middle of the field. Still fun, either way. I felt like a marine, or something, climbing through the tall brush on some Japanese island... maybe that's a bad comparison... haha
we drove around the mountain a bit and he showed me some of the spectacular views of Ozu, Kumamoto city, Nishihara, and Aso. He also pointed out the different mountain peaks. (Including "neko dake"... you guess it. Cat Mountain!) The whole area (maybe not Ozu and Kumamoto... my geography is shady) is one massive crater from a volcano blast, but the only real volcano (nakadake, I think) left was just over the horizon. Since it was late, he said he would take me to Aso Nakadake tomorrow morning, so off we'll go. We had more important matters to attend to...
...like SUSHI FOR LUNCH!! Oh man. OH. MAN. Sushi is AMAZING! The little sushi bar we went to at first seemed like a little McDonald's type place (and that comparison is NOT doing the place justice... not to self: think of new comparison) with tables and everything... but then I looked and saw that each table, while at usual American height, was raised off the floor about 2 feet. So, yes. Standard routine. Take off shoes, and sit on knees or cross-legged at the table. Crap, here goes my legs again. :(
The place was pretty cool. It had a constantly moving conveyer belt running by each table with pre-made sushi standards running around on it. You just grab what you want as it goes by, and the waitress counts the plates at the end (105 or 210 yen per plate, depending on the item/color of plate). I thought that was where the fun stopped, BUT WAIT!! There was a call button that Den's wife pressed and soon the server came over. They placed an order for some specialty things, and within about 3 minutes, there was suddenly a little monorail-shaped tray sliding along above the conveyer belt. It stopped at our table, a buzzer sounded, and we grabbed the food off of it. The little train shot back to the kitchen, and we devoured the food.
I have never had sushi before, so part of me was nervous. What if I hated it? I'm in freaking Japan, and I wouldn't like sushi! not the case, though. It was VERY good! The shrimp, tuna, salmon, beef, chicken... everything was awesome. The wasabi on a few items kinda caught me off guard (seriously... for a second, it felt like every pore on my face opened up and screamed... but not in a bad way... nice mental image... where was I?), but it was very good. After this, they showed me around Jusco (Kinda like Walmart) and the 100 Yen shop (oh man, so awesome) before heading back home. On the way home, they showed me where my apartment and my school are. They're very close, so that's good. Also, tons of rice fields!
Too much going on... see the next post.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)