One Long Saturday

After enjoying such a nice long break, I'm officially back at school. The first week back involved a placement test for an intensive language course, a week long intensive Japanese review classes for 3hours a day, a class fieldtrip, and at the end of the week we had another placement test. The second placement test was a bit more important since it determined which Japanese level class you should be in. (I made it into class 4, with class 5 being the highest level.) It has been a busy past week! Today (Monday) was the first official day back into the swing of things - I had to attend the other classes I plan on taking this semester. This post is about our class field trip that we took last weekend though - it's one of probably many that will include pictures of 花見hanami which is 'flower viewing'. It's basically when every Japanese person comes out of winter's hibernation and enjoys a picnic while drinking お酒sake under the cherry blossoms. 

Our class field trip started bright and early (we met the teachers at 10am so we had to leave the house by 9am... which is early for students!) along the 隅田川Sumida River, which was nice because not only did we see the beautiful さくらsakura trees we also got a nice view of the Tokyo Sky Tree.

Just a glimpse of how beautiful the trees are and also how incredibly crowded it was.

There was a Taiko Drum performance done mostly by children, and it was really cool! The youngest girl looked to be about age 7.

The teacher was exciting to watch because you could tell he was concentrating on his own performance while simultaneously keeping an eye on his students, making sure they were all doing the correct movements.

After the drumming we were treated to lunch by our teachers! We ate もんじゃmonja and お好み焼きokonomiyaki. The above picture is of monja - a type of pan fried batter with various ingredients.. it's known for being runnier than okonomiyaki but they are basically the same thing. I am a fan of monja but whenever I eat it I can't help but think of a phrase my dad always says 'eye appeal is half the meal'. 

This is okonomiyaki - there are two style of okonomiyaki, one with noodles and one without. This is okonomiyaki (I did a post way back in September about the other style - hiroshimayaki)

Finished product! Looks professionally made, doesn't it?

After lunch we said thank you and goodbye to our teachers and then raced over to Yoyogi Park to enjoy more 花見hanami! Our MGU 'buddies' had planned a 花見 party for us without knowing about the class field trip so unfortunately they happened to fall on the same day. The day was promising in the early morning but about mid afternoon the sun went behind the clouds and it was just grey and cold. It was worth it though to sit under the beautiful cherry blossoms! 

Japanese people love to take group shots at the end of any and every event that takes place. Actually I think a few of the people in this photo are random strangers.. foreigners in large groups tend to attract a lot of attention from drunken Japanese people.

Fugu - Blowfish/Pufferfish

The other night I was lucky enough to be treated to Fugu (Pufferfish)! I apologize for the bad pictures - most of them were stolen off the restaurants website. As I mentioned before at some point I am somewhat teaching English while in Japan, obviously I'm not really qualified to teach English but in these situations usually it is someone who has learned before and just wants a chance to practice speaking with a native speaker. Anyways! I was treated to fugu by one of my students, which is why I brought that up. Fugu is not known for being a cheap eat so it was nice that I was treated instead of having to pay for it myself... I'm still a poor student after all. According to wikipedia, fugu can cost anywhere from 2,000yen ($25) to 20,000yen  ($245) for a full course meal. 

This picture shows the majority of the different forms of fugu that I tried. Fugu Sashimi is the most popular dish and it tasted kind of like any other kind of sashimi (raw fish). I also tried a bit of fugu kara-age which is fried fugu, which tasted more like chicken than fish. There was also techiri or fugu-chiri which is a kind of nabe or stew mixed with vegetables.

There is a special drink called 'hire-zake'. It's a kind of sake with the dried fins of the fugu. I didn't try this but my student ordered it so I could watch how they serve it. They bring it to your table in a little cup and the waiter lights the fins on fire for a few minutes and then covers the cup with a lid. This drink is served hot - it has a very sweet yet fishy smell. 

This was a photo of the fugu nabe/stew. 

This was our dessert, it was made from the leftover stew. It's kind of similar to risotto, it was basically just a rice and egg mixture combined in the leftover stew.

This was a badly stolen picture but I was trying to show you how thin and transparent the slices of fugu are! I think I preferred this style the best. Forgot to mention - Fugu can be lethally poisonous! (According to wikipedia) Certain internal organs such as the liver and sometimes the skin are highly toxic to most animals when eaten but the meat of some species is considered a delicacy in Japan, China, and Korea. The restaurant preparation of fugu is strictly controlled in Japan and only chefs who have qualified through rigorous training are allowed to serve fugu. The poison and toxins are the best part about eating fugu (not to mention it's supposed to be great for the skin!) if you get a bit of poison it can cause intoxication, light-headedness, and numbness on the tongue or lips. It's exciting knowing that this could be your last meal... I hope you like raw fish! 

Kanamara Matsuri - Festival of the Steele Phallus

Went to an interesting festival right outside of Tokyo in Kawasaki.  It was about 40 or so minutes away from where I live and there is a yearly festival devoted to fertility held at the local kanayama shrine. I'm not actually sure how we found out about it but this festival is particularly popular with the foreigner crowd. As soon as you step off the train you know you're in the right place because of the heaps and heaps of 'gaijin', or foreigners.

There were quite a few men dressed in drag at this festival. Not sure if you can clearly tell who is in drag and who is not in this photo though..

Daruma dolls! There were stalls and stalls worth of every sized daruma you could ever image. In case you don't know what it is, it's a traditional doll that symbolizes good luck. Usually you buy one every year at your  local temple and make a wish or goal while drawing in one of the eyes. Later on when your wish or goal comes true you draw in the other eye so that both eyes are 'open'. And then when the year is up there is a big ceremony where you return the daruma to the temple you bought it from and the daruma dolls are burned. 

Poster advertising the fertility festival!

There were many stalls and vendors set up selling all sorts of goodies, mostly typical festival foods but there were also many phallic objects - mostly candy. This little old woman is selling penis shaped lollipops. 

These fellas were making normal shaped candy but they were chopping the candy in such a nice rhythm that it sounded very much like drums.

The entrance gates to the temple

We were wondering why the fertility festival wasn't focused more around the womb but we guessed womb shaped candy wouldn't sell as well. 

This was a small statue in front of the temple which people were cleaning before entering.

I tried to take some sneaky pictures of the inside of the temple - the monks (in green) were following the chants of the head monk who sat before a fire. It was beautiful inside the temple!

Here is a better picture of the main monk sat before the fire

More traditional festival foods - fruit shaped candy on a stick!

Toy Vendor 

Takoyaki (fried octopus) is a traditional festival food but for the sake of the fertility festival they were renamed.

A few more men in drag sitting about having a picnic.

The main event of the day! We missed the parade by the time we got there but at least everything was still on display.

A calmer part of the shrine.. it was a nice area so it's kind of unfortunate that I will forever remember it as the place that had the penis festival. 

Alice in Wonderland Cafe

By now you should know that theme restaurants are big in Tokyo. This week's themed restaurant was an Alice in Wonderland theme. In Tokyo there are two of these restaurants, one in Shinjuku and one in Shibuya. The one I went to was in Shinjuku and was more focused on Alice, where the one in Shibuya focuses more on the Red Queen. 

The plastic food outside the restaurant was very cute! One is supposed to be the Cheshire Cat. I think it's a dessert.

All of the waitresses were dressed like Alice. I think this restaurant was actually more of a 'maid cafe' (where the waitresses all dress like maids and treat the customers as masters). 

This book was actually just the menu. 

so many decorations!

This is our waitress singing a song while tossing the salad in order to make our salad magically delicious! 

She sung in a very cutesy, high pitched voice and I think our 'what in the world' reactions to her was not something she was used to. 

Just some average tasting spaghetti... but it had a face!

St. Patrick's Day!

St. Patrick's Day isn't really celebrated in Japan, apart from a parade down Omotesandou (a ritzy shopping street near Harajuku). I didn't attend the parade but I did venture over to my UVM friend Molly's neck of the woods. She attends Toyo University which is also in Tokyo, but it is a bit far from where I live. 

She also lives in a dorm for foreigners but the set up is very different. They live in suite style apartments and their dorm looks more like a traditional residential hall when compared to the one I live in. 

Shinjuku Government Building

At the top of the Shinjuku Government Building is an observatory - all the guide books have it listed as one of the best free city views of Tokyo. The day we went was kind of a gamble because although it was a bright, sunny day it was also a government holiday. Luckily the observatory bit of the building was open.

There is a restaurant that conveniently blocks the windows facing the East side of Tokyo (where all the recognizable buildings are - Tokyo Tower, etc.) so you'd have to at least buy a coffee at the cafe in order to see those sights..

Makes you realize just how big Tokyo is. and crowded. 

That funky building is the Cocoon Tower. It's part of Mode Gakuin which is a fashion and design school. 

If you look close enough, and maybe squint your eyes a bit you can see the Tokyo Sky Tree in the back right section of this photo. The Sky Tree (634m tall!!) has been completed and is set to open to the public in May!