Ambling about Tokyo and 七夕

Last week was 七夕 (tanabata), or, as the English textbook I use in my classes calls it, "Star Festival."

Tanabata celebrates the once-a-year reunion of Vega and Altair and is probably better known as the legend of the Princess and the Cowherd. During tanabata, people also write their wishes on strips of paper and hang them from bamboo.

One of the teachers from my schools invited me out on July 7th, the day of tanabata, to Asakusa, and knowing of my habit of taking pictures wherever I went, he also advised that I arrive with my camera well charged.

Very good idea, I might add.

Asakusa, housing one of the oldest shrines in Tokyo, is always jam packed with tourists and locals simply looking for some luck. When I asked coworkers if there were special events for tanabata at the Asakusa temple, I was met with a laugh and the reply, "There are always special events at Asakusa."

July 7th was no exception.

Since it was so packed, our party of five (S-sensei, his wife and daughter, M and I) had to be careful navigating to make sure we stayed together. Despite trying to stay close, there were quite a few times when someone wandered off, but it wasn't too difficult to regroup (thank goodness for cellphones!).

S-sensei was a great guide, armed with a bilingual guide book and his own wealth of local knowledge.

Despite having stayed in Asakusa in 2007 when I was last in Japan, this was my first time exploring it in depth. S-sensei took us to plenty of places, which included the famous Senso-ji, as well as well-known hole-in-wall boutiques.

S-sensei, in addition to spending time guiding us around Asakusa, also treated us to San-sada tempura.

Everyone got the jyouten don set, and it was, by far, the best tempura I'd ever had.

The tempura was fried to crispy perfection, and all the seafood was large and fresh, with no skimping and cutting corners. It also rested on a bed of hot rice drizzled with soy sauce. After a long morning of walking and weaving like ninjas through crowds, the bowl of fried protein and carbs was a delicious treat.

After guiding us around Asakusa, S-sensei's wife was also incredibly considerate, insisting on having us try the Funawa desserts. She bought a box set of yokan, which I easily polished off the next day with tea. The Japanese really do have a gift for beautiful taste and presentation!

Despite the rain, it was a wonderful trip to Asakusa, and having a fluent English guide was beyond helpful (did I mention that S-sensei also speaks and reads Chinese? He's so worldly...) While I lament the fact that they had to show around some foreigners when I'm sure there were better things to be spending their Saturday on, I really appreciate that they were so thoughtful!

The day didn't end there though. My brother also had a friend who was in Shinagawa, and she also braved the horrendous rain to come and have dinner with us at Jangara ramen and then doing some window shopping after. Thank you so much, S!

To give some background--Jangara is amazing. After having a bowl from my first trip to Japan in 2007, I never forgot the flavor, and with the rain pouring down outside, enjoying Jangara's 全部入り(all toppings included) was a welcome meal.

All in all, it was a wonderful way to spend my tanabata. Good company is always a gift from the powers that be, regardless of what you worship, don't you think? :)

As always--till next time!

Discovering Home

Whew, the weather has been B A D.

That's right, BAD with all caps! It has been switching between heavy rains and moderate winds to summer humidity and heat here in Saitama.

The sun allows for me to take my bike out and around town though, and explore more of Misato and the neighboring towns of Yoshikawa and Koshigaya.

While I'm not a big fan of mosquitoes and other creepy crawlies that tend to come out near bodies of water, I can't deny that I'm very lucky to be surrounded by such beautiful rivers. Foster City had quite a few lagoons, but nothing half as wide as the Nakagawa.

I also found the cutest bridge to cross the Nakagawa, and it reminded me more of a shinto shrine tori than a bridge.

Right over this bridge is a mall called Lake Town. It's one of the rare places with an "outlet" although I have yet to check out how cheap their outlet items are. While before I used to take the train, if I want to visit Lake Town for a look around, I might simply go by bike from now on since the view is so fantastic.

A friend also treated me to some deliciously fantastic 和食 (washoku), traditional Japanese food. There were all sorts of items, including pickled squid, tororo (grated nagaimo yam), burdock stir fry, and more.

Having tororo was a first, and although I had seen it in other food-related shows before, it didn't look particularly appetizing. However, the one bowl of tororo completely changed my mind. It has an incredibly clean taste on the palate despite it being a bit slimy. Some research on the good ol' world wide web also seems to make it fairly easy to make, so I might try it out at some point.

Another surprising instant favorite was the pickled squid. While it did look suspicious with its limp strands of squid floating in some thin unidentified orange-red sauce, my first taste of it had me hooked. The pickling retained the texture of the squid, and the (still unidentified) red sauce gave it a salty bite, which went perfectly with the steaming hot rice.

All in all, a delicious meal with a lot of first-time dishes! I'm super happy I got the chance to try it out (*´ω｀*)

Before I met with my friend for dinner though, I managed to find the local library. I also picked up some awesome free books! While my Japanese reading comprehension is by no means up to par, I think the pretty pictures in the books will motivate me to actually pick up a dictionary.

This coming week is known as Golden Week in Japan. Yes, they call it Golden Week in Japan-ified English. It's various national holidays that fall within the same week, so this means I get a breather before I dive back into the world of elementary school education and overactive school kids.

Until then, see you next time!

引越

Moving is never fun.

Whether it was in to college, out of college, back home, out of home, in to Japan--moving is not fun.　It's especially not fun when you have to bother your friends and making them nearly late for work while dragging the most ridiculous luggage case known to mankind.　To ☆子--thank you SO SO much again, and I'm so sorry for all the trouble I kept causing you and K m(__)m

The only positive thing to moving is knowing that there will be a new adventure in store. There's something oddly appealing about getting lost and prowling the local area like a cat.

There's also a giant supermarket, Itoyokado nearby along with a giant mall (Lala Port), IKEA and Costco. Everything is accessible by bus, and I'm looking forward to getting a bike to make it even more accessible whenever I want it to be.

Lala Port has anything you could possibly need, from another Itoyokado supermarket to clothes, to bikes, to etc etc. They also happen to have a fancy boulangerie with its cute (probably inedible) displays.

Even with these corporate retail giants though, we also found some great deals at small locally-owned grocers. We met Mr. Hideo Hasegawa, who owns a small and cozy grocery store. Not only was he friendly, but he was happy to give us tips about how to make 和食 (Japanese food). While we were chatting with him, he even introduced us to a matcha green tea powder produced in Kyoto and let us sample a cup.

Even though Ann Arbor also encouraged the joys of buying local, it's ironic that I crossed the globe before realizing how doing so is actually a really great experience. While we have shopped at hyper local grocers before, it was really out of price factors and not so much out of a desire to support the local community. After meeting Mr. Hasegawa, it's nice knowing that doing your good deed of shopping local is not only cheaper, but also more joyful.

I'm currently hunting for a bike at the moment and tried a bike today before realizing that it's ridiculously high and I seriously need to work on my bike maneuvering skills. When did turning left become so hard for someone who wasn't Derek Zoolander?? (Lame culture joke, but I still love that movie).

じゃ、また～

ハロー 日本!

Hi everyone!

This is my first post from Japan.

Many many things have happened since I arrived, but here I am, safe and sound!

It has been a whole week since I came to Japan on March 19th. Time really flies!

7 days ago, ☆子 was picking me up from the airport, and the poor girl even had to help me drag around my luggage in addition to making me delicious food. Believe me when I say I'm so glad I have her!

The flight itself was uneventful. Besides the regular cramped leg space and hours of mind-numbing movies that is typical of international flights, it was quiet, peaceful and I even managed to get some good photos up in the sky when I wasn't being blinded by the clouds.

Things have been moving at an incredibly fast pace this past week. I have been whisked away to ☆子 and K's house before speeding up to rural 花崎 up in 加須. It's been an adventure, but I really do feel bad for ☆子 and K for having to take me everywhere even in their spare time. I promise to make it up to them!!!

My time in 加須 Genki Plaza was pretty interesting. There were 8 girls (me included) in a tatami room that was complete with futon. While it did smell a bit similar to rabbits, it reminded me of how much I enjoyed sleeping on the floor.

Meanwhile, tomorrow is another big day. I'll be officially growing up as an adult when I move in to my new apartment in 三郷 tomorrow. It'll be my first time in a lofted anything, so I think I'll definitely enjoy it.

There hasn't been any earthquakes (yet) since I arrived, so hopefully it stays that way! The weather has also been very comfortable with some occasional rain and strong winds, but we had that in California, so it's not a big deal.

At any rate, just to spite you all (joking!), here's a lot of pictures of food!! ♪～(´ε｀ )