They eat them on everything! Cracked over rice, on top of pizza, beaten and used as a dipping sauce. In two years, I still don’t understand the appeal.

*ETA: Last night we had a salad at a restaurant.  Guess what our dressing was??  Yep.

I got really sick of sushi when I lived in California.  It was never my favorite food in the first place but there is only so much Kabuki I can take. :-p

So I was hopeful but hesitant about trying the sushi here.  I knew it would be fresher but also figured it would have a “Japanese” spin on it.  (It is their creation so I suppose really, we have an “American” spin on it.)  It turns out I was afraid for nothing.  The sushi here is absolutely delicious!  and contrary to what Scotty and some others may think, it HAS a taste!  (Maybe has something to do with the mayonnaise that’s in so much of it–sorry Weenie, you would gross out.)  I found that there was a delicious and creative mix of ingredients and that even the seafood on its own was rather delicious.  (I couldn’t bring myself to try the raw horse meat sushi though *shudder*)

To top it all off, its cheap!  The sushi is prepared two to a plate and the plates sit on a conveyor belt that runs around the bar area where you sit.  If you see something you like, you take it…they tally how many empty plates you have to figure out your bill.  Each plate is less than $1. 

An ever-interesting topic for me is Japanese food.  Especially kyushuku (school lunch).  At my school EVERYONE gets school lunch (except for me cause I figured out it was shite).

Its always interesting to see the teachers at my table listlessly pushing around their food trying desperately to force it all down because its simply unheard of not to finish your food.  Or even more interesting are the teachers who are wolfing down their food and actually seem to be ENJOYING it.

I think the people who prepare the lunch follow a list of required foods or food groups that they are required to serve at every meal.  Everyday it seems they serve a random mix of foods that look like they were thrown together with no thought of how the ingredients or dishes will actually TASTE together.  For example:

Yesterday’s menu was: Rice with ketchup and lima beans; a square blob of egg that they called an omelette; japanese style soup complete with mini fish…and milk.

Today’s menu was: a semi-palatable looking hot dish of potatoes, ham, corn, cheese and mayonnaise; two huge slices of bread with butter and strawberry jam; japanese style soup with tiny bird eggs (in place of tiny fish I suppose)…and milk.

Scott’s school served hot dogs. :-\

Yes! I found something very delicious in Japan. Not just “i guess this will do” or even “mmmm, this is good!” No no, I think I found THE most delicious candy ever made. Actually, Scott found it but then I ate them all.

It may not look like much more than a starburst but the flavor and texture don’t even compare. This candy is delicious. Ask me for it when I come back…I will definitely have a supply.

*comes in grape, lemon, cherry and some other flavors (but one flavor to a pack)

Ok, the secret is out. Japan, land of green tea lovers…has shite for tea. Or perhaps I just haven’t drunk enough. Although the green tea is not good (forget about finding herbal out here) I decided to purchase some anyway because I like to drink tea sometimes even if its not very good tea.

So after a long day at work…tired and ready to unwind…I boiled some water and prepared my tea in the pot. After letting it steep a little while, anticipating the warm tea in my throat, I poured a cup and breathed in deeply…ah, te–what tha??

So this wasn’t green tea after all. It was seaweed tea. Much more disgusting than it sounds.

Sometimes I believe that I am on some twisted sort of Japanese reality show and that on Tuesdays at 7, Japanese people everywhere tune in to laugh at the stupid American.

Japanese menus vary with the season.  For example, in hot weather, they eat most of their noodles cold.  So perhaps it is because of the season that our tacos at the buffet were sitting over ice?  Or maybe its just because all of the warming pots were being used for the curry and rice.   It seemed that the curry and rice section WAS more popular than the tacos.  But was that a cultural preference for the food or just the fact that the tacos WERE ICE COLD!  Seriously, they might like western food more if it was served correctly.  grrrr.  oh wait, I mean brrrr.

p.s.  The buffet cost less for me than for Scott because I`m a girl.  haha, suckahs! 

Do you know those coconut candies that are pink with a white stripe down the middle?  Here in Japan they serve a weird sort of processed fish product that looks just like that.  It comes in otherwise normal looking ramen soup.  No matter what kind of soup you order, it always comes with at least two weird hot pink and white squares of `fish.`  It looks weird and also, tastes nothing like real fish.  blech.