In Good Company.
May. 14th, 2007 02:34 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
sechan19This weekend was chock-full of delightful sights, sounds, and experiences.
I started things off well on Friday night, going out with a mix of Korean and American friends to an excellent Korean restaurant. Our friends ordered for us, and I had the pleasure of trying a plethora of new things - including kimchi and shoju. Korean food is delightfully spicy, and - unlike Japanese fare - it's not taboo to eat with utensils other than chopsticks. I was all about the kimchi. It was seriously fantastic - spicy and flavorful and oh-so-addicting.
On Saturday, I met up with some of the usual suspects (Liz & Manda, Peter, Yero, Max, and Rocky Choi) for a trip out to Yokohama. We all met at Yokohama station - one of Japan's busiest stations (I think it's number five on the list) - and then headed for Chinatown and the pier. Chinatown was a riot of sights and scents: traditional Chinese architecture and flashing Neon advertisements jostled each other down the narrow streets. Every where we walked you could catch the most heavenly whiffs of authentic Chinese cooking.
After an hour or so, we made our way to the pier - by means of a convenience store where we all bought beer. (What's an afternoon on a pier without a brew, right?) We found a open patch of grassy knoll overlooking Yokohama Bay and the city skyline, and we sat there for hours watching the sun go down. During the course of our stay, we talked, laughed, munched on dried octopus (so, so good!), and of course sipped our beer in the sunshine. It seemed like every couple of minutes someone was up taking a photograph of the bay and city as the sun dipped and the light changed, and every other couple of minutes someone else was making a hilarious joke. We all agreed that similar pursuits must be undertaken during the weekends to come, and Izu and Chiba were both suggested as alternate locations for us to explore.
After the sunset, we made our way back to Chinatown for a sampling of the food we'd smelled earlier in the day. Despite the expense involved we found a restaurant that had something everyone could live with, and in the end it turned out not too expensive. I ordered a wanton noodle soup that came with the most delicious fried rice I've ever eaten (and that's saying a lot). The wantons were stuffed with a lightly spiced pork that was out of this world.
With dinner done, we went our separate ways on the metro and I got home around eleven. Just in time to fall exhaustedly into bed.
On Sunday I was up again and out the door to meet Liz and Rocky at the Meiji Shrine. We wandered around there and were lucky enough to see - in addition to the wild beauty of the shrine (which is massive and densely shaded on all sides by gargantuan trees) - a number of traditional Shinto weddings. One happy couple at the shrine was extremely gracious to us tourists, posing demurely for our photographs with grace and aplomb.
We had lunch at the Meiji Shrine and then walked through Harajuku, hitting up all the coolest shopping spots (according to Liz, who is a self-confessed fashion maven). We each bought something funky and exclusive. Rocky picked up an H. Naoto sweat jacket, Liz nabbed a pair of shirts, and I snagged what is sure to rank as the most Gothic piece of clothing I'll ever own - a skin tight black shirt that hangs super low in the back and looks almost like a cape. The front is done up in black satin ribbon and it even has it's own detachable black gauze arms that buckle midway down the biceps. This thing is gorgeous and it hugs all the right places. I plan to wear it out next Saturday when the Koreans take us clubbing in Shinjuku.
Throughout the weekend, I caught snatches of the annual festival that was ongoing in Yamato-shi - traditional dancers and local food vendors and parades and music and joyousness. From start to finish, and place to place, the weekend was sheer magic.
I started things off well on Friday night, going out with a mix of Korean and American friends to an excellent Korean restaurant. Our friends ordered for us, and I had the pleasure of trying a plethora of new things - including kimchi and shoju. Korean food is delightfully spicy, and - unlike Japanese fare - it's not taboo to eat with utensils other than chopsticks. I was all about the kimchi. It was seriously fantastic - spicy and flavorful and oh-so-addicting.
On Saturday, I met up with some of the usual suspects (Liz & Manda, Peter, Yero, Max, and Rocky Choi) for a trip out to Yokohama. We all met at Yokohama station - one of Japan's busiest stations (I think it's number five on the list) - and then headed for Chinatown and the pier. Chinatown was a riot of sights and scents: traditional Chinese architecture and flashing Neon advertisements jostled each other down the narrow streets. Every where we walked you could catch the most heavenly whiffs of authentic Chinese cooking.
After an hour or so, we made our way to the pier - by means of a convenience store where we all bought beer. (What's an afternoon on a pier without a brew, right?) We found a open patch of grassy knoll overlooking Yokohama Bay and the city skyline, and we sat there for hours watching the sun go down. During the course of our stay, we talked, laughed, munched on dried octopus (so, so good!), and of course sipped our beer in the sunshine. It seemed like every couple of minutes someone was up taking a photograph of the bay and city as the sun dipped and the light changed, and every other couple of minutes someone else was making a hilarious joke. We all agreed that similar pursuits must be undertaken during the weekends to come, and Izu and Chiba were both suggested as alternate locations for us to explore.
After the sunset, we made our way back to Chinatown for a sampling of the food we'd smelled earlier in the day. Despite the expense involved we found a restaurant that had something everyone could live with, and in the end it turned out not too expensive. I ordered a wanton noodle soup that came with the most delicious fried rice I've ever eaten (and that's saying a lot). The wantons were stuffed with a lightly spiced pork that was out of this world.
With dinner done, we went our separate ways on the metro and I got home around eleven. Just in time to fall exhaustedly into bed.
On Sunday I was up again and out the door to meet Liz and Rocky at the Meiji Shrine. We wandered around there and were lucky enough to see - in addition to the wild beauty of the shrine (which is massive and densely shaded on all sides by gargantuan trees) - a number of traditional Shinto weddings. One happy couple at the shrine was extremely gracious to us tourists, posing demurely for our photographs with grace and aplomb.
We had lunch at the Meiji Shrine and then walked through Harajuku, hitting up all the coolest shopping spots (according to Liz, who is a self-confessed fashion maven). We each bought something funky and exclusive. Rocky picked up an H. Naoto sweat jacket, Liz nabbed a pair of shirts, and I snagged what is sure to rank as the most Gothic piece of clothing I'll ever own - a skin tight black shirt that hangs super low in the back and looks almost like a cape. The front is done up in black satin ribbon and it even has it's own detachable black gauze arms that buckle midway down the biceps. This thing is gorgeous and it hugs all the right places. I plan to wear it out next Saturday when the Koreans take us clubbing in Shinjuku.
Throughout the weekend, I caught snatches of the annual festival that was ongoing in Yamato-shi - traditional dancers and local food vendors and parades and music and joyousness. From start to finish, and place to place, the weekend was sheer magic.
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no subject
Date: 2007-05-16 09:37 pm (UTC)The funny thing is your resent post about going out to a restaurant with BBQ's at the tables totally reminded me of this place. It also had the grills at each table, which made a really fun experience and a great Thanksgiving memory.
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Date: 2007-05-16 10:24 pm (UTC)[hugs]