Shinjuku and Shinookubo!

Guess I'm in a writing mood :-) Plus I should have posted this before Ginza and  I figure it's better to get this out of the way now before class today...

Last Thursday, my class went on a field trip to the Tochyo building in Shinjuku. Its a really famous building where metropolitan government officials work. On the top floor (45) there are (almost) floor to ceiling windows, so there is an incredible view of the city. I saw Tokyo Tower, Tokyo Sky Tree, a ton of buidlings, some grassy land...a lot! As much of the city as my eyes could reach. It was beautiful! Me and my Kankokujin (Korean) friends took pictures, we took a class picture and I photo bombed another class' picture! 

This is my class :-)

I bought some souveniors too, for my family and friends (not gonna say what they are though!). Afterwards, we all went to the Depaato (Department Store) to do this assignment we were given from our sensei. We had to speak to the sales people to find out what floor our wish list items were on (we had three), then ask somone else questions about it, like how much is it, where's it from, and bonus, original questions. My questions were "is this ----- the best?" and "is this a good -----?". We were given partners and I got the bubliest, friendliest, and loudest kankokujin in my class, Leia. She's really nice, and she makes me laugh without trying to but she has enough energy for eight people. Doing the assignment wasn't so bad. Only one of my salespeople pointed me in the direction of an english speaking associate and I kindly told him that I needed to practice japanese, to which he responded with more helpfulness. We were given a half hour to finish our checklists/worksheets. Afterwards, almost everyone in my class wanted to go drinking. Now, the last time I was invited to go drinking with my classmates, I said "next time". So on Thursday when Jususku -san asked me to go and I hestated, he was like "Tashina-san (gestures a mouth with hand) next time nomimasu (drink)...kyoo wa next time" What could I say to that!?! So I made sure the other girls were going (there are four of us total, I'm the only American female) and then we headed out to Korean Town (Shinookubo). They took us to this restaurant where they cook large peices of pork (like huge bacon strips) on these grills at your table with vegetables. They also bring you other small dishes, sauces, powders, and some kind of saucy dish that tasted kind of like baked ziti, but with rice cakes instead of noodles.

You can't really see the first powder on the sauce tray, it's green tea and it's sooo good!

 
 It was delicious! Oh yeah and the drinks..so they brought us korean sake, called sootyoo and korean beer. I dont like any beer, it tastes like seltzer water to me, but the sake I cold stomach. Well that is, I could stomach the first three shots. After that, it tasted worse and worse to me. I was okay though, I also had water and a ton of food to put down, so I was able to wash the taste away fairly quickly ( and avoid getting tipsy!). We took a lot of pictures and had a good time. Talking in japanese is somehow a little easier and more fun when I speak to them. I dont know why, maybe becuase its not random practice but we're actually trying to get to know each other, it's cool. After dinner, Jususko -san invited everyone back to his place, that was appearantly five minutes away. Most of us decided to go. However, after a 1 minute walk and a short ride in an elevator I discoverd that we were not going to his house, but to another restaruant - to have more dinner! Let me just pause to say how much I enjoyed the last restaraunt and ate my full of meat, veggies, rice cakes, etc. I was full...and they wanted to eat again!?! But I went with it. 

This one was a little different. It had small pots on the table, that they cooked more pork, potatoes, and a seasoned rice and cabbage dish in. That was also yummy. Of course they broke out the beer and sake again (!) but I couldn't take much more, by then it tasted nasty to me so I ordered a ginger ale - which turned out to be a good idea because none of them had tried Ginger Ale before so they all wanted some of mine, and they liked it! I had a good time. It was cool to learn a little about Korean culture and cuisine just by hanging out, and they were so eager to teach me and get my feedback -  "is the food good?" "do you like Korean sake?" "try this sauce" "eat more" "break that like this" "you have to put the whole thing in your mouth" lol. Before I knew it, we had spent like 5 hours together. Time flew! The ladies and I are supposed to go out together again on Saturday to go chocolate shopping for valentines day. Should be good :-)

Until next time,