No seriously, we miss the US and our house in Chicago. We had it pretty good back there. I've always thought about moving to somewhere in Asia for a couple of years before relocating back to the States for good, but I'm starting to reassess that thought. I had no idea how much I would actually miss home (albeit not as much as V). Is it sad that one of the people we miss them most is Andre, our go to rep at Bloomingdales? Yes it is sad. We cry daily.
Although realistically, I would only move to Asia if I could leverage my degree into a ridiculous salary. In which case, living in Japan would not be much of a problem. Then again, living anywhere isn't much of a problem if you're rich. Hmmm.
Last night was Okinawan food at Maruhachi in Shibuya and karaoke afterwards. Let's congratulate Miwa and Izumi for achieving initial status: M and Iz (cuz I might get confusing - i.e. "I was happy." So dinner was with M and D, and we met up with Iz later.
Okinawan food was really good. It's some kind of weird fusion between more traditional Japanese, Polynesian, and Hawaiian foods. We had slabs of bacon, fatty salmon, taco rice (above: like a taco salad with rice), a salmon salad, fish cakes, and a whole bunch of other things. There were only four of us, and we ended up with a pretty hefty bill cuz M wouldn't stop ordering food!
We had some pretty strange things as well, such as fried chicken cartilage. I had a really good time with all the veggies though. I can't remember the last time I had a fresh tomato. I pretty much single-handedly killed off the bean-sprouts.
Look at my Asian eyes. M took the bacon to school.
We somehow managed to finish every single dish because I split up the last piece of salmon and force fed everyone.Then it was on to karaoke!
Iz met up with us and while V, M and I went inside, Iz and D hit up the nearest combini for some alcohol to sneak in. Karaoke was pretty solid; I'm pretty sure I'll be able to find pretty much any song I want to find.
We had a very healthy mix of songs. I sang the only Korean song I know well enough to try; the girls contributed a number of Japanese tunes I had and had not heard before. M and Iz work pretty well together, and M is a good rapper. They could probably start a group or something. I think the American songs were probably the most entertaining. We had Stacy's Mom by Fountains of Wayne, Low by Flo Rida, and Sometimes by Britney Spears. I heard through the grapevine that Iz wanted some more embarrassing songs, but I'm not sure how much more embarrassing you can get. Near the end, D put in A Whole New World, and I duetted that with her. It's pretty crazy that I used be able to do that with Jieun and now I don't have the range for that anymore. V thinks it's cuz I've matured in which case I can't complain, can I? Did I mention that D serenaded M with some Boyz 2 Men? "I'll make love to you~~."
Iz sang the song from the movie Hanamizuki which reignited V's desire to watch that movie. So we'll probably go do that this weekend. For M and Iz's reference, the two Japanese songs I failed miserably on were Sakanaction - Aruku Around and Base Ball Bear - Aishiteru. V also input Yuko Sasaki - Pure Snow, but we couldn't do that either. It was fun, but I feel like I need to step up my game. Is that weird? Before I'm done with my time here, I will be able to sing all of these.Didn't do much today, but we did head back to Okubo to do some household crap shopping. I think I've talked about Donkihote before without any pictures.
We've been to the one in Kabuki-cho but this one is still way crazier. Sure the other one was more densely packed, but the sheer volume of the Okubo Donkihote is ridiculous. The inside looks like this:
And goes like this for miles. Well it feels like miles. Today I saw a Pikachu costume for 4000 Yen and really wanted to buy it. Is it weird to be Pikachu to be Halloween? V and I were Misty and Ash last year... Is 4000 Yen too much for something I'll only wear once? Maybe I can just wear it in Yoyogi Park on weekends.
I had been craving ramen, and although I had Ippudo the other day, it didn't quite fulfill me. Menya Musashi was definitely fulfilling.
We're lucky enough to have the original location within a few blocks of us, and although the line was a good ten people long, we got seated within 15 minutes or so. Menya Musashi is probably the most expensive ramen we've had at 1000 Yen per bowl, but damn it was good. The normal broth has a very distinct bonito flavor that was just ok, but the miso ramen was とても美味しい.
It starts off really heavy, and for sure, it's super rich from start to finish. However, the flavor grew on me and by the time I was done, I was super full yet kind of sad that it was over. I think part of the draw of Musashi is the giant cuts of pork belly, also very delicious. I don't think I've ever managed to eat ramen without breaking into a sweat. We have at least three other ramen places on our street we need to try, but we'll be back to Musashi sometime for sure.We rushed through dinner a bit because I wanted to get to a school get together. There was a meeting at a wine bar in Takadanobaba that one of the French students had organized (typical). It was good to make friends with some other people (Sorry girls!). I'm in business school after all; I should get to know my classmates. The best part of the experience was the discovery of Japanese wine.
I didn't actually know they make wine in Japan. There are actually grapes specific to Japan as well. This requires some "research."
P.S. I bought this pudding from Sunkus on our way home yesterday. It was delicious. I regret not buying it today.
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