The weekend is here!
Party time - well, not really, but Friday did sneak up on us (still not sure what day it is). This morning, while trying to kill some time and take advantage of the pre-rain air, we took a long walk down to the Imperial Palace. It seemed a lot like the White House, without all the protestors, and of course, without the president (although Joey is here!).
The funniest thing was that not only did it have a legit moat around the outside (you'll need more than a trusty stead to get to the emperor!), but we saw some guys doing tactical exercises (that, or the sniper guys weren't great at their jobs).
After the palace, we headed to Tokyo Station, which is the busiest station in Japan, and where all the bullet trains come into (we'll be staying here when we come back in 10 days). Think the South Station (the commuter rail for all of you non-Bostonians) on the night of a Taylor Swift concert x100. At the base of the station, they have a huge mall where you can buy individually wrapped fruits, like cantaloupe and strawberries (because let's be environmentally conscious). There are also a plethora of candies, cookies, and other sweets. We bought some fancy cookies, Dave bough Butter Butlers, and Tsana bought Caramelwichs (Tsana won to taste competition here, although Dave won the witty name of the snack tournament).
After the station, we met up with a group for a tour of the Tsukiji market and then a sushi making class. The woman who helped us around the market was a bit utilitarian, pointing out foods and insisting we taste things that we weren't sure what they were, but that's what we're here for, right?
Among the hustle and bustle, there were a lot of interesting things to try, like different kinds of beans, flavored sesame seeds, and octopus-jerky, which was an essential purchase (Rick, you'd love this). There was also an accompanying fish market, which we entered near closing time, which was surprisingly clean and tidy.
After the market, we headed to ABC cooking school, which is a large school in central Tokyo, met some nice friends from Jersey and Cali, and made some sushi. We started off by making dashi, which is a fish stock made from soaking kelp and bonito flakes in water- the base of miso soup. After that, we made a japanese rolled omelette that we would stuff into the sushi (oddly sweet). Lastly was the rolling part (most anticipated, drumroll part) - and we rolled like experts, ending up with a full dish of sushi. The teacher was a little overly cautious, except with Dave, to which she left to his own devices (with Tsana, she would often "help" by taking over - we know who the cook is in our fam).
Now, all day, it was raining A LOT - and despite the rain, we made our way to the washi paper making class (that we missed/messed-up on yesterday). We watched a video on how washi is made then took the rest of the hour to try our hands ourselves. With this bin of water and bark of a certain plant, we made a few sheets of paper, and did OK (not great, but not horrible).
We made about 8 sheets of paper, decorated and gorgeous - we are thinking about going into business in Boston as artisans...but maybe not.
We needed to get off of our feet for a bit, so we found a local cafe - with Robots. This was...something else....
...and short-lived, so off we went. Now, you may not know this about Tsana, but when she gets something in her head, she needs to get it done. There was a store in Shimokitazawa she wanted to go to, so that is where we went (again, in the rain). This area is Tokyo's Brooklyn and super hip and cool. We also ate some ramen, complete with ordering on a machine, which we guessed on since there was no English option. Turned out Ok - also saw (what we think) is a local You Tube personality recording some footage of herself (with a full crew) in different restaurants in this neighborhood. People followed her with their phones - that means she's important, right?
Today on our agenda: Sneaking back to the Shimokitazawa neighborhood (maybe) and flying to Sapporo.