udon, onsen, life

Today's been a pretty fun day. I still find I'm in a state of shock that I managed to eat out, go to an onsen and have some ice cream for the equivalent of ten dollars today. (Never underestimate the power of a Jew looking for a discount *L*). It was one of those weird days where I ended up stranded in Mine for three hours again, so I headed off to Ofuku onsen to enjoy myself. I stopped at another Udon place and found that I could read all the kanji on the menu (scary, that) so I ordered something random called ebi tendo, which reads as shrimp heaven. I figured I'd like it since it had shrimp and I did, but I didn't expect to have whole shrimp, baked into a kind of tempura cake on top of the udon. I did try to eat them whole (head and eyes and tail etc) but I couldn't do it more than once without gagging (from the texture, taste was fine) so I stuck to eating the bodies and tails and pretending I always eat shrimp, shells and all.

The onsen itself was lovely. I hadn't realized how much I needed a massage until I was under the high pressure waterfall thingy. Other than that, I drowsed around, had half understood conversations with the other bathers who talked to me, and generally enjoyed myself. Afterwards, I headed to the common tatami room for dozing and book reading, then highed off to get a melon ice cream to try to give myself enough sugar to wake myself up. I still had twenty free minutes then, so I stopped at a park on the way back to Mine and hiked to the top of the cliff there. Then I taught my class (who are currently, completely enamoured with hangman (mostly cause I tend to draw each "hung" man differently for my own and their amusement)).

Meanwhile, we (meaning the teachers at B.) have been trying our hand at low key Japanese restaurants (think Dennys). Last week was Joyful (cheap, but only the desserts are worth it), and this week it was Sunday's Sun (better food, delicious ceasar salad, more expensive.

The rice is growing atm. It's pretty cool to see all the fields flooded with little green stalks sticking up, but I blanch every time I think of the manpower that goes into them since they're planted by hand. No wonder all the obaasan's here are bent over double. Which reminds me, must remember to eat more calcium...

Final class was my advanced class and we had a great time discussing sports (handball, archery and taijustu). I brought in my computer so I could show them taijutsu stuff. Computers are damn good talking points.

And now I must finish my rather excellent dinner of pasta and sauce. Ja ne!

udon, onsen, life

Today's been a pretty fun day. I still find I'm in a state of shock that I managed to eat out, go to an onsen and have some ice cream for the equivalent of ten dollars today. (Never underestimate the power of a Jew looking for a discount *L*). It was one of those weird days where I ended up stranded in Mine for three hours again, so I headed off to Ofuku onsen to enjoy myself. I stopped at another Udon place and found that I could read all the kanji on the menu (scary, that) so I ordered something random called ebi tendo, which reads as shrimp heaven. I figured I'd like it since it had shrimp and I did, but I didn't expect to have whole shrimp, baked into a kind of tempura cake on top of the udon. I did try to eat them whole (head and eyes and tail etc) but I couldn't do it more than once without gagging (from the texture, taste was fine) so I stuck to eating the bodies and tails and pretending I always eat shrimp, shells and all.

The onsen itself was lovely. I hadn't realized how much I needed a massage until I was under the high pressure waterfall thingy. Other than that, I drowsed around, had half understood conversations with the other bathers who talked to me, and generally enjoyed myself. Afterwards, I headed to the common tatami room for dozing and book reading, then highed off to get a melon ice cream to try to give myself enough sugar to wake myself up. I still had twenty free minutes then, so I stopped at a park on the way back to Mine and hiked to the top of the cliff there. Then I taught my class (who are currently, completely enamoured with hangman (mostly cause I tend to draw each "hung" man differently for my own and their amusement)).

Meanwhile, we (meaning the teachers at B.) have been trying our hand at low key Japanese restaurants (think Dennys). Last week was Joyful (cheap, but only the desserts are worth it), and this week it was Sunday's Sun (better food, delicious ceasar salad, more expensive.

The rice is growing atm. It's pretty cool to see all the fields flooded with little green stalks sticking up, but I blanch every time I think of the manpower that goes into them since they're planted by hand. No wonder all the obaasan's here are bent over double. Which reminds me, must remember to eat more calcium...

Final class was my advanced class and we had a great time discussing sports (handball, archery and taijustu). I brought in my computer so I could show them taijutsu stuff. Computers are damn good talking points.

And now I must finish my rather excellent dinner of pasta and sauce. Ja ne!