My busy week of eating

The best way to say farewell in Japan is over a meal, so I had many lunches and dinners with friends and co-workers this week. 

(I am still full from all of the eating and drinking!)

KG with some young ladies from the office. 

We ordered a "pizza lunch" in rather than going out to a restaurant.  Pizza on left is Margherita.  I'm not sure what the middle was, but it included a lot of olives.  Pizza on the right had giant chunks of eggplant!

Small dinner with the Credit Dept. 

They hosted 4 "training sessions" for me throughout the year and were glad to have an excuse to practice their English!

Dinner with Ema and her friends, Takeshi and Kishi. 

We have taken a lot of road trips together throughout my 12 months in Japan!!

The meal was Korean yaki-niki, where you cook the meat on the sunken grill in the middle of the table.  I find that Japanese people really like "working" for their food!

One of my lunch buddies in front of my favorite kara age (fried chicken) places!

Another one of my favorite lunch places: tantanmen, which is spicy ramen soup.

I am very messy, so I need a bib for this meal.  But eating noodles with chopsticks is quite an accomplishment!!

KG and the owner of the restaurant.  He will miss seeing me each week!

Dinner with some ladies from work. 

I am eating a chicken wing stuffed with gyoza (wonton) and she has fish tempura.

I love anything on a stick!!

Our waitress is loading up the "chanko nabe", which is a giant pot of boiling soup, and traditional food for sumo wrestlers!!

We are waiting for our chanko nabe to cook.  That thing sure kicked off some heat!!

The group next to the sumo pictures. 

Sumo wrestlers hand prints.

I will miss my weekend travel buddies and lunch buddies from work!

I went to a Belgian bar where the type of beer you order dictates which glass you use. 

Instead, we decided to choose our glass from the wall (and ceiling--there were hundreds of choices), and take our chances with what beer came with it!

The beer glass, bottle, and special coaster.

Dinner of green salad and European cheese. 

(Yuck--give me American, cheddar, or colby cheese any day!)

My beer came in a wine glass. 

Can you believe that entire bottle fits in the glass in one pour?!  Talk about an optical illusion...

The bartender heard me mention that my favorite American singer was Michael Jackson,

so he had to show me his "version" of Michael Jackson...

He had a Beer of Belgium book written by a Michael Jackson. 

But based on the picture, we are definitely not talking about the same guy!!

KG and Nobue enjoy their Belgium beers. 

(She the one who owns the kimono shop, hence she's wearing a kimono!)

Notice Nobue's glass is rounded at the bottom and has no stem!

It sits on a wooden slab instead of a paper coaster!!

A Month of Farewell Parties!

October will be a busy month of farewell parties and saying goodbye to my friends in Japan. 

I've had 4 parties already with different groups of people, and I have at least 3 more to go!! 

It makes me feel so loved :)

Party #1: Dinner and Karaoke

Restaurant that uses a chalkboard as a menu.  Geez... what's a girl to order when there is no pictures?!

Singing the night away! 

This work party wasn't actually in honor of me (that will come during my last week of work). 

Here's the new guy, Nakayama, doing what Japanese businessmen do best: mixing drinks for their colleagues!

Later in the night, I let my hair down and Nakayama loses his tie!

Shiraishi's farewell speech. 

(By the way, he and 4 others arrived over 2 hours late to this dinner because of a meeting in Toyota City!)

Welcome to Nakayama, and Farewell to Shiraishi!

The girls with Nakayama and Shiraishi.

The Motor Vehicle Department

Next party: Nobue pours the sparkling wine... delicious!

Raw chicken in spicy Chinese sauce, with what looks like a pot leaf for garnish!!

Gorgonzola cheese pizza drizzled in honey... they love wacky combinations in Japan!!

6 lovely ladies out on the town!

Gemma, Mika, Yuriko, Nobue, Kerri, & Yoko

We ordered every dessert on the menu (5) and then shared them!

Some options were: pumpkin squares, banana chocolate pudding, sweet potato mousse, and black sesame ice cream!

You know how I love a man in uniform?!  

That includes medieval knights...

More fun to come in the next 2 weeks :)

Mika visits Nagoya

This weekend I had one last visitor to Nagoya.  It was my friend from my CMU, Mika.  You may recall that she is usually my tour guide in the Tokyo area, so I'm glad I could repay the favor and give Mika her first experience of Nagoya!

First stop was a Nagoya-speciality restaurant, Yabaton.  I see this 6-foot pig all over the city, but this is the original restaurant, so he takes up the whole building this time!

Yabaton, not surprisingly, is known for pork cutlets.  

It's one of my favorite meals: fried miso katsu, slathered in miso sauce served on a bed of cabbage.

Next stop was the Nagoya Castle!

They had some interesting flower displays at the Castle...

Even a mini-castle with a traditional golden dolphin on one side of the roof and a fried tempura shrimp perched on the other corner!

At night we went to a traditional bon dance.

The dancers move in very slow, methodical movements and wear special hats that cover their faces.

I'm told that the shape of the hat is beautiful, which is why they wear them!

Quite an experience!

Music was live--sung and played by a kimono-clad crew on stage.

 

Check out this video of the singing and dancing. 

(You must go directly to the blog to access it.)



The next day we went to pray at the Atsuta Jingu Shrine, and they were having an event for children ages 3, 5, and 7.

The odd ages are consider special years, so the children were all dressed in their best kimono and many pictures were being taken!! 

(I figured no one would notice a few extra from me!)

These 3 are being blessed by the woman in the back shaking what looks like a clump of Christmas bells. 

I'm guessing the boy on the right is 3, which is why he's wearing kimono, and his brother in the middle is 6.  Since 6 isn't a "special" year, he only gets to wear his suit (with shorts!).  The woman on the left is their mother.

We had another Nagoya speciality for lunch: hitsumabushi, which is eel served over rice.

Then we went to Nagoya Port, which happened to be having a Okinawa festival complete with a traditional drum and dance performance!!

Check out this video of the Okinawa performancers.

(You must go directly to the blog to access it.)

Mako, Mika, & Kerri at Nagoya Port.

It was a great weekend--full of nice weather, Nagoya fun, and even some new sights! 

I'm am glad I was able to fit in a few more Japanese cultural events since there is only 2 more weeks left before my departure!