Ume matsuri wa omoshirokatta desu
The chisai josei arrived Saturday evening safe and sound and none the worse for wear. We took the bus back to Toyonaka, checked into the hotel, and then went out in search of dinner, which we found at a sushi shop at the train station. I successfully ordered sashimi and sushi, although there was some confusion regarding the number and contents of a miso soup order. Michelle had a plum chuu-hai, a flavored drink with shouchuu (Japanese vodka) and bubbly stuff.
On Sunday we visited my old digs, and I managed to show Michelle my apartment even though I've moved out of it. We visited Family Mart, my office, the coffee machine, all the important sites of Osaka University. A quick trip up the monorail line took us to the World Expo Park (banpaku kinen koen), where the plum blossom festival was underway. The plum blossoms were incredibly beautiful and fragrant, and we got some good photos. We also visited the Japanese garden there, and freezed our buns off in the chilly wind.
For dinner we met some of my cohorts for sushi at one of those conveyor belt restaurants. Varieties of sushi come around on color-coded plates, and you grab what you want and eat it. When you're done, the waiter counts the plates to tally your bill. This particular establishment used an electronic device (similar to a pricing gun) that detected the color of each plate, so tallying was nigh instantaneous. The bill was recorded on some sort of chip (NVRAM?) which we then took to the front counter to pay. Even my Japanese friends had never seen this before. In any event, nobody had any idea if it was actually accurate. But it was tasty nonetheless.
Michelle and I both had o-toro, the top cut of the fatty tuna, which was like buttah. Also good was the mackerel (saba) and eel (mmm, unagi). Two nights, two sushi dinners.
Tomorrow we're planning to go to Himeji Castle, a bit of a schlep from Osaka, but one of the must-see destinations in Japan.
On Sunday we visited my old digs, and I managed to show Michelle my apartment even though I've moved out of it. We visited Family Mart, my office, the coffee machine, all the important sites of Osaka University. A quick trip up the monorail line took us to the World Expo Park (banpaku kinen koen), where the plum blossom festival was underway. The plum blossoms were incredibly beautiful and fragrant, and we got some good photos. We also visited the Japanese garden there, and freezed our buns off in the chilly wind.
For dinner we met some of my cohorts for sushi at one of those conveyor belt restaurants. Varieties of sushi come around on color-coded plates, and you grab what you want and eat it. When you're done, the waiter counts the plates to tally your bill. This particular establishment used an electronic device (similar to a pricing gun) that detected the color of each plate, so tallying was nigh instantaneous. The bill was recorded on some sort of chip (NVRAM?) which we then took to the front counter to pay. Even my Japanese friends had never seen this before. In any event, nobody had any idea if it was actually accurate. But it was tasty nonetheless.
Michelle and I both had o-toro, the top cut of the fatty tuna, which was like buttah. Also good was the mackerel (saba) and eel (mmm, unagi). Two nights, two sushi dinners.
Tomorrow we're planning to go to Himeji Castle, a bit of a schlep from Osaka, but one of the must-see destinations in Japan.
posted by Eric M. at 11:30 PM
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