Escoffier Dinner

At The New Sanno Hotel in downtown Tokyo, I attended an Escoffier Dinner.  It was a seven course dinner that showcased the hotel's best dishes based on the season/theme.  It was fun to get dressed up and have an elegant evening out. The theme of the dinner was Harvest Moon and I think they did a great job with the dishes, especially the wine! With almost every course there was a wine pairing and it was awesome!  My favorite course was the first one, the crab cake was AMAZING it was so juicy and flavorful, I could have had just that and would have been satisfied.  I will definitely be attending another dinner.

The Evening's Menu

Myself and Lauren

The crab cake appetizer - My FAVORITE

Nikko, Japan

Columbus Day Weekend, I took a trip with some friends to Nikko, Japan.  It's a really beautiful town about 3 hours north of where I am.  They have the See No Evil, Hear No Evil and Speak No Evil shrine.  There were so many shrines and temples to see, and A LOT of walking LOL for someone who is totally out of shape there was a lot of walking uphill required, but well worth the exertion!  I took over two hundred pictures so I picked my favorites to share here, but the majority of them are on Facebook.

Laura and Katie

Myself and Stephanie

The good times started early....but the bus broke our spirit...

In front of the Sacred Bridge

On the Sacred Bridge

This picture is too funny! We had two cameras going and Stephanie was trying to figure out which one was going first, but she looks like she's telling someone off.  I love it!

Yes, in a country that is SOOOO healthy this this what they say about cigarette smoking...

Those are fish on a stick, for 500 Yen.  They were roasting them over a fire.  I didn't test that out, but supposedly it's supposed to be good.

Kegan Waterfalls

Our hotel - a traditional Japanese Royokan (hotel) We slept on futons on the floor.  It wasn't too bad, but definitely not something you'd want to do every day.

However they did let us use and iPad for free during our stay.

The parking lot Nazi made Stephanie park in the corner....it was quite comical.

The Sacred Horse

The See No Evil, Hear No Evil, Speak No Evil shrine was under renovation so we didn't get a chance to go inside to see them, but they had a lot of statues to commemorate the shrine.

I'm still here!

Sorry for long wait for the next post, but as expected things got crazier here.  The biggest issue being -I moved out into town!  Everyday when I wake up I still think this is all a dream, but no here I am living in Japan, in a Japanese neighborhood.  My apartment is small, but has a lot of personality!  I'm still furnishing the place so full-pictures will have to wait, but I do have a few smaller images to share.

Here is both my microwave and oven.  Japan is all about saving space and double-using items. While I was  very worried about using this at first, I've come to enjoy it for the most part now.  I was more worried about blowing myself up because my house uses gas for everything, but I've have sense mastered this appliance.  The top left is microwave, the button next to that is the oven.  I twist a little knob to set the time and temp then press the big grey one to start.  Simple enough - Now that I know what I'm doing!

And here is a blurry picture of my toilet.  Apparently, using the buttons are the side will provide a more pleasant bathroom experience. There's a bidet, it will blow air on your bottom and some other water situation, but I've yet to try any of them, I'm sure with a little too much wine one night I'll be willing to give it a try!

The Driving Course

So Wednesday morning I finally got to attend the driving course.  Although I am still kind of worried about driving on the left I am attempting to embrace this new adventure. 

Promptly at 7:45, I arrived to the classroom ready to learn.  I did not know I was also entering a hot box, but that’s another story.  First we were given a “warning” from the base safety director about not drinking and driving.  He really emphasized not do “dumb shit” – yep he said it.  He was a little rough around the edges.

Then our class begins with this little Japanese woman named Waka. She was such a good teacher – she was VERY animated.  For example when you see and ambulance with its lights on you can continue driving because they always have them on.  However, should the sirens be on –she stops here to give us the sound effects.  “If you hear WIIIIIOOOOOOOWIIIIIIOOOOOOOOWIIIIOOOOOO, please pull to left.” As she gives this sound effect she is using her hands to flash the lights in front of her face and behind her at her butt, while walking back and forth in front of the board.  Too funny, but I liked that she was energetic.  She also said when we get our license we would be considered “professional and experienced drivers” in Japan.  As she told us this she pumped her arm muscles, apparently professional and experienced = strong. J

After 5 hours of instructions on the Japanese street signs, DWDI, DWI, DUI, blue tickets and yellow tickets it was time for the test. Without much fuss the test was given and I became a “professional and experienced” driver in the eyes of the Japanese government.  We’ll see how long I keep such a status…..

Japanese Dinner

I went to the New Sanno Hotel this weekend for a luncheon and had dinner at the Japanese restaurant there.  The food was great! The best was the garlic fried rice - yummy! I was so hungry I ate the food before I remember to take a picture!

I wish I had more time in that area, there's a huge park and an international shopping plaza near the hotel.  There will definitely be a part 2 for this trip!

Laura, me and Jennifer

The Chef

Jennifer and Billy

Laura and I -this is the 3rd shot she was over it! :)

Fabulous me!

Tokyo & Ice Bar

I went to the Ice Bar in Giza today.  It closes next Friday for good due to the energy conservation.  It was a good time even though my nose, hands and toes were frozen it was worth it!  I went with Matt and Amanda Harper, some friends form school, and they were so great to show me around Tokyo. We we to Shibuya - the busiest intersection in the world, it was awesome!  It was busy, but not so busy that it was scary.  I definitely want to go back because there's just so much to take in.  The fashion here is out of this world!  I may have to make another blog of just the fashion and how people work to make themselves stand out here.  I want to do an anthropology/sociology study in Japan!