The Food Post

Ok, you guys, Today's post is about food. I'm still alive, which means that I have been consuming said food. But it's not extremely eventful, so I've skipped it in my previous posts. But not today, Bitches! Today you hear about the food!
So, lets start off with something that screams "traditional Japan" and that would be: "Tea Ceremony".
I attended an authentic Tea Ceremony with the Tea Ceremony Club on our school campus. It was really neat, cuz we were set up in a traditional house-looking floor on campus (I have no idea if that makes sense to you), and everyone was dressed up in traditional clothing (Yukata).

We were set up in a square formation and offered tea in a very polite, quiet, and intimidating atmosphere. I was the first to enter the room and the first to receive the tea, Therefore, I was also the first to screw up everything. But I was excused from it all on account of my being white.  We were fed a little cake, and then given the tea. When you receive the tea, you must bow to the person who presented it to you. You then pick up the bowl with your right hand, and place it in your left hand which acts like a plate. You then spin the bowl two times with your right hand. And then you are allowed to drink it. I didn't bow at first, but I was politely reminded by my company and every subsequent step was preceded by me looking around with "help me!" eyes.  But it was a lot of fun and it was a nice experience. After the ceremony itself was over, we were led into the next room to try making the tea ourselves. I thought the tea was delicious, not too bitter, just perfect. You don't add sugar, but it is good anyways.  What you do is you take a bitty little spoon, which is just a stick really, and you put one scoop of "Matcha" (finely powdered green tea) in the bowl. You then add one ladle-scoop of hot water to the bowl. You take a little bamboo whisk and quickly whisk/beat the matcha and water into tea. You need to do this fast enough to create a green foam on the top of the bowl. I couldn't get my wrist to go fast enough at first, but I received a quick lesson and then everyone commented on how quickly I improved. lol!

Myself making some tea. The Ladle is sitting on top of the water pot. The Small red container has the Matcha powder inside. The stick/spoon on top is what you use to scoop it with. And I am mixing the tea with the bamboo whisk.

This is my friend "Kilo" drinking the tea I made. Cuz you're not allowed to make your own tea. You can only make it for others.

And a couple of days ago I went to this little restaurant in nearby Fujiidera and on the menu I found "Marbled Horsemeat Sashimi". After I saw that I had to look no farther, for I had found my meal for the evening. It was fate. Nothing could keep me from my horsemeat.

It was delicious by the way. It is kinda like beef, but a lot smoother... and tastier. I loved it. I actually bought two, even though it was a little pricy. But it only came with 5 pieces, so...

Oh, and Sashimi means raw. Yes, I was eating raw horsemeat. And It's only been about a week since I had it, and I'm already craving it. And when I get home and drive past the horses around the corner, I'm no longer gonna thing "cute", but instead I will be thinking "Ooh, Yummy!".  Improvement?

And last week we went to a local Indian food restaurant. It serves curry and naan. I had both for the first time, and I loved it. I actually have never had Indian food of any kind before in my life, but this place was excellent. So, as of so far, I do like Indian food.

It's actually kindof funny, cuz the owner of the Indian restaurant we met at the airport on our first day in Japan, and then we ran into his restaurant which is in the same town we are living in, and we keep running into him just on the street and stuff. He's really nice and loves chatting with us. He's been living in Japan, and running his restaurant for over 20 years. He also speaks his Dialect of Indian, Japanese and English. So we have fun talking to him. Plus his food is just delightful.

And last night a group of us went out to a chicken restaurant, it is the same restaurant from my second post. But this time I was able to get some of the more exotic things on the menu. They include: Chicken necks (some cartilage included), and chicken hearts! It may sound gross, but I loved the taste and texture of hearts. Yes, I know I'm a little bit creepy.

I will tear out your throat!...

And eat your Heart for Breakfast!

Myself, "J", and "J". :)

And today, we went to a Conveyor Belt Sushi place. What happens is: you sit down at your table, and along the wall is a conveyor belt which brings little plates of sushi past your table. So if you see something you like, you can just pick it up and it's yours.

There is also a little interactive menu screen above the conveyor belt that you can order stuff from if you're not seeing what you want on the belt. The special orders are placed on an additional plate, so that other tables know not to pick it up.

The sushi is on different color plates, and the different color plates stand for different prices. So at the end of your meal you just count the number of plates you have, and that is what you pay. It's actually really cool. And because this is Japan, each plate of nigiri/sushi was only about $1.05. I ate my fill of nigiri for under $10. I love you, Japan.

This was what our table looked like after we were done.