Friday night we had a going away dinner for several friends/coworkers who are moving on to (hopefully) greener pastures. The dinner took place at a local Italian restaurant that has great food, and we also got the 'all you can drink' menu option, so large quantities of both food and grog were consumed. A good time was had by all, despite the fact that the occasion was to say goodbye to some good friends.
Yesterday afternoon my friend and Kent and I had a shot at flying our kites, which we hadn't done in a few weeks. Unfortunately there was zero wind, and while we managed to get the kites up a few times, it was impossible to keep them aloft for any length of time. But it was a beautiful day and a nice chance to get out of the house nonetheless.
Last night we went to a party for our friend Sheryl, who is celebrating her thirty--ahem, twenty first birthday tomorrow. There was loads of good food, and I got to try my hand at making takoyaki for the first time. 'Tako' is Japanese for octopus, and 'yaki' means fried. They are cooked in a special griddle (you can see it on the counter top in the picture below) with little divots in the cooking surface. You pour in some batter into each of the divots, deposit a chunk of octopus, and then sprinkle ginger and green onion on top. After cooking for a few minutes, you turn the ball over and cook the other side.
Once the balls are cooked, they are garnished with sauce, some green stuff which I believe is ground parsley, and fish flakes. I'm not a fan of takoyaki because I don't like octopus, nor do I care for the fish flakes that go on top, but I always enjoy watching pro takoyaki chefs do their thing because they work really fast. I, on the other hand, am the slowest octopus ball rotator in all of Japan. When done properly, takoyaki should look like this:
Chieko and I took the opportunity to sleep most of the day away today. I woke up around 11 to tune into the Red Sox game on the computer, then promptly fell back asleep until about 3. It was one of those days when I woke up repeatedly but never deemed it necessary to actually commit myself to being conscious. I eventually did roll out of bed though and headed over to Starbucks to get some coffee, which was tasty.
We are in the midst of the rainy season here in Japan, called 'tsuyu.' Ever since I came to Japan, the rainy season has been a bit of an anomaly. One day the national meteorological organization just declares that the rainy season has begun, but then it never seems to rain. Perhaps I have unrealistic expectations, but when I think of rainy seasons, I imagine monsoons and weeks on end with non-stop rain. That's not quite the case here, but it has been raining a lot this week, and continues to do so this evening. There was break this afternoon that allowed me to get out and go for a run, and the low clouds and mist on the mountains was quite a beautiful site.
Although today was a bit of a wash, I have to chalk this up as a very fun weekend. And it's strange to think that at this time next week, I'll be back in America. Lot's to do between now and then, but I'm looking forward to spending a few weeks back home. Have a nice Sunday.
2 comments:
you know...you haven't even told us when you are coming in...time? airline?
unless, of course, you told dad and he hasn't mentioned it to me
xoxo
nope, i haven't told you yet...i'll send an email one of these days with the details...
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