Mystery Food

The only thing I know about this food is that salt is used to do something to it, or that it has a salt flavor. Any ideas how this works???

Ainu Performance

This is an Ainu performance I saw during a field trip for one of my audit classes. The Ainu people were the original inhabitants of the Japanese islands and were forced further and further north by a second group of people, very much like the Native Americans  in the United States. Also like the Native Americans, their culture has almost been completely destroyed by policies of the Japanese government.

Later, I will post a link where you can go to find out more about this group. For now, please show this video clip with your friends. If you are interested in helping promoting awareness of the Ainu people and other minority groups in Japan, please contact me by email at digfreak@gmail.com and I will do my best to point you in the right direction.

Osaka Castle!

So I'll post this first, because this is one of the things I did this weekend (on Friday) with my class. We went to Osaka Castle to see the plum blossoms. We will probably return in April, when the sakura trees bloom.

If I had to relate this experience with anything thus far in my life, it felt very much like Warwick Castle when I went with my family years ago in England - I was DEFINITELY thinking of you, Will and Alex :) There was no torture chamber (like The Tower ~ yay), but instead the inside of the castle itself was completely modern, with two elevators, glass, cement, you name it. It was very much a regular, modern museum on the inside, but majestic and grand on the outside. The other fanTASTic thing about this castle is that nature is incorporated into the architecture and design. There are trees specifically planted so that there is the feeling of nature and a forest while within the castle walls.

Oh Japan....

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Talk about a moat and walls!

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Maaaaaassive castle! And very commanding when approaching from below!

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Here's the view from the top floor! I thought Dad would appreciate the height ;)   The golden fishy supposedly protects the building (I think). And there are actually 4 different layers to the castle, each one with a moat! There's an outside grounds, inside grounds, outer bailey, and inner bailey. You can't even see all of the original grounds anymore!

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A kind gal was willing to take a shot of me when I passed her on my way up to the inner bailey. When she asked me what I wanted her to capture in the shot, my reply was, "Me, rocks, and trees." I think she found that entertaining.

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The plum blossoms were just starting to open up, and the weather was very helpful with taking pictures, although a little bright for this dracolich ;)

FOOD!

This post displays the range of delicious food I have had thus far in Japan (basically, the first month). Contrary to the layout of this blog, this post starts with the first meals I had (with the exception of the first photo) while it ends with the meals I have eaten most recently.

I can't believe Japan has its own Nutella.

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Yakisoba at home! (Cooked by Yukiko-san)

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Chestnut cake? 0_o

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Besides the "Nutella," this is one of the many situations that makes living here paradise...

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Yakisoba + dancing flakes at a place under JR Suita-eki! (Japan Railroad, Suita Station)

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I went to a Korean place with Yukiko-san and met up with Masako-san and three of her friends. The event was to celebrate the birthday of one of the gals, and to welcome me :) It was SO MUCH FUN!!!

This was the central piece of each person's meal, and it was served in a piping-hot, metal (?) bowl (which you did NOT want to touch). Rice was under all of this gloriousness.

The sides to eat with the bowl pictured above. The middle one was dangerous (kimchi, duh).

TO ALL IOWANS: THIS IS CORN TEA!

This was one of the two birthday dessert dishes! It had beans, ice cream, fruit, shaved ice, and (of course) sprinkles. It was delicious and completely new to me!

This was some amazingly bright red-orange tea! It was sweet, but almost like apple cider in a sense.

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TEMPURA UDON AT HOME!!! HOW CAN I HOPE FOR ANYTHING ELSE IN LIFE???

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Okonomiyaki! (+ dancing flakes, of course)

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Sukiyaki!

HA! Proof that I actually ate the raw egg along with the cooked parts! It was surprisingly good!

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Mister Donut's donuts are some of the best things on the planet! And they have a surprising origin!

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REAL RAMEN with deliiiicious omu rice (fried rice with egg over the top, pretty much) with friends!

Korean friends

Alaska friends

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~~~Oden~~~

Do not ask me which is what, because I can only tell you which is the egg and which is the potato. (Note the rice. This means that I am in paradise.)

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Oden (leftovers, of course - tradition ya know) + fishy + temaki on the 3rd of February (the day in which you eat temaki - handrolls)

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Have I made my point yet? Well, if I haven't, here is a chocolate bun the size of Iowa's Machine Shed's cinnamon buns (except CHOCOLATE!!!).

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Oh, and a piece of deadly chocolate cake.

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Yakisoba at home II (+ shumai!!)

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This is some of the world's weirdest tea. I do not really know what to think of it, except that the hard coating that dissolves is made of rice (yum!), it is fun to play with, and it is edible!

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HOMEMADE OMU RICE WITH MISO SOUP! My manga-fan side just about died when I got to eat this!

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Takoyaki with Yukiko-san, Masako-san, and Tabitha-chyan (and later Isao-san)! Tons of fun, and very filling!