Week 15: My 23rd B-day!!! and Japan part 1 of 3: Gastronomy

Format

My Birthday just keeps getting better and better; it’s great to be old enough to know but still young enough to freely live it up! This year’s 23rd was spent in Tokyo, Japan in great company. I met with 6 ppl from my alma matter, Willamette University. One person was even a surprise guest! and her and Katie were responsible for setting up an AMAZING Birthday dinner in a themed restaurant! YAY for Friends! =D

Note the butchering of my name. It’s great! =P

1 out of 5 was hella spicy. So we all ate one.

The SPICY surprise went to Yoshiki lolz!

Interesting how meat can resemble a stove top. (shiverz). Im a vegetarian going on 12 years now.

Food comes in small portions in Japan. Cheesy potato balls–hopefully an appetizer cuz I was hungry.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME, or should I say “Pheove” lol! “deuce-tres” baby

BTW just wanna point out to the many who don’t know how to spell my name it is corrected: PHOEBE*

Eye-EYE captain! ;p yeah, I’m a cheese ball hehe

Lock up is a themed rest. that we are (obviously) locked up in a jail cell. It was fabulousness. Guess the goblin and monster theme was mixed in, ‘cuz we were hungry for some cannibalistic body parts.

Afterwards we were gonna hit up Karaoke for a half hour before the subway closed, but it’s virtually impossible to Karaoke for only 30mins so we just took some sticker flix and the boys played in the arcade. That’s Kevin on the Left. We were in Crew (rowing) WU team together sophomore year.

WU reunion on my Bday. From L-R: Sean, Phoebe*, Katie (I lived with Katie for a minute in Honolulu), Yoshiki TIUA ’04, Hiroko TIUA turned WU alum, Eric. Kevin had to run to catch his train but he’s not forgotten. My WU in Japan friends really made my birthday a great night!

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Japan’s Gastronomy

It’s quite clever, really. You order from this vending machine and then give your ticket to the waitress and it saves much time. Though, if only there were pictures it’d make it so much easier for foreigners.

And this was the result of the vending machine ticket order. Ramen but you dip it into the sauce with chop sticks then eat. I forgot the name of this meal.

In Yoyogi park. I just watched others to figure out what this water well was used for…

…and drinking this chlorinated tasting water is how it’s done. Hmmm questionable. Now to think about it I’ve been getting sick since the day I drank that water. ugh.

Fish and rice= my favorite meal! yummmmmy. See!? the stomach is the way to not just a man’s heart lolz.

4:??am mad tired and the boys tryna figure out what to eat from the vending machines before the subway opens. they were more into the chairs than the food though so they fell asleep on those chairs while i finished Seans food. ;p

Some kind of fried breaded odang (processed fish)

Soba noodle. scrumptious 😉 On the top is a seafood patty.

Each region/city is famous for a certain food. On the day long train ride I took a 30minute stop over to try some of Osaka’s famous octopus balls, Takoyaki.

Again, it needs to be reiterate how nice, friendly, caring, and a whole lot of other great things many Japanese strangers have shown themselves to be. On the train, I was to stop after Osaka but a) wanted to stop in for that takoyaki and b)I got on the wrong train (which in the end worked out well since I got on a fast[er] moving train). Anywho, this lady couldn’t speak fluent English, but gestures help immensely. When she understood I just wanted to try Osaka’s famous takoyaki she got off in Osaka and treated me to Takoyaki at the famous Takoyaki shop. We had half an hour to run around and eat and exchange information. Such a sweet lady! She even walked me all the way to the train when I boarded again and waved goodbye as if she was a long lost friend. Everyone was staring at our departure b/c it was so dramatic, but I didn’t care. Just grateful to have met so many great Japanese people during my trip.

Kam-pai (cheers in Japanese)

One of the many rice fields throughout Japan.

Rice balls from the train station just don’t cut it but work when your starved and running from train to train.

Fukuoka is famous for its ramen so I couldn’t wait to grub on that Ramen. I was directed to the 5th floor of a mall for ramen shops. It was crazy, though! There was a whole Ramen LAND with lines out the door and Ramen shops all over. By this time I was tired and probably a bit delusional so I just stood in the shortest line, only to get pulled out for not buying my ticket from the vending machine. Anyways, that Ramen was nothing like the ramen from the package you can make in 5 minutes. This was da bomb dig!

Even though it looks simple, once that egg is mixed in it’s delicious! Thank you Fukuoka. Full tummy and hot outside…was ready for a nap afterwards!

Just for kicks had to try the takoyaki in Tokyo. Yeah, it didnt have nuthin! on Osaka’s takoyaki. This is why it’s best to try foods from their origin city, otherwise it’s just a knockoff (and Tokyo doesn’t carry cheap knockoffs!)

All in all, if I had to chose one kind of food for the rest of my life, I’d perhaps chose Japanese. Sushi – Sashimi – Udon – Ramen – Miso – Fish and Rice – Yummm – Mochi ICECREAM – are you salivating yet?

Next week part 2 of 3: The itenerary (the meat of the matter but it takes so long to write it wont be ready til next week).