So on Sunday, S asked us if we wanted to go make pottery. We said yes. Despite the fact that Mc generally avoids art-like activities and puts them in the same stress-inducing category as final exams, we said yes because we had never done pottery in Japan before and when you're traveling, you try new things, and if you're going to say no to things just because you think you might not enjoy it, then why did you leave home in the first place?!
N-sensei was supposed to spend the day with us this time, but unfortunately, Y-chan had woken up with a fever and N-sensei had to take him to the doctor (yes, on a Sunday, apparently the health care in Japan is amazing). So S, A-kun, Mc and I loaded into the car and off we went to spend the day in Omiya. This is one of the things I love about staying with different people. S is an art teacher, so of course she knows about an awesome place to do pottery, something we never would have thought of doing on our vacation. We arrived in a little studio, donned aprons, and sat around a long table while a pottery guru gave us each a huge chunk of clay and taught us how to make serving dishes largely by demonstration. It was surprisingly easy and Mc even enjoyed himself. And in 6-8 weeks S will send us some authentic pottery, made in Japan!
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| Tougei (pottery) |
After we washed up, we went to lunch. Apparently, S remembered that I told her neighbor boy that my favorite food was gyoza, because we ended up at Gyoza no Ooshyo, a Chinese restaurant known for their gyoza (fried/steamed dumplings similar to pot stickers but way better). We got there just before it opened, and there was a huge line behind us. Lunch was awesome, the gyoza was delicious, and I recommend this restaurant if you stumble upon one.
Lunch was followed by a trip to the Omiya Bonsai Museum. Museums are quiet, but the tiny tree museum was silent. It was also beautiful. They had an exhibit of trees that were 200-300 years old. (This is astounding to me because I cannot keep a plant alive for 2 months.) Mc found the museum to be fascinating and admired and appreciated the trees like an adult. My favorite part of the museum was the sign that said that you could NOT take pictures of the trees. Why? Am I going to steal the image of the tree and scandalously reproduce it over the next 300 years? Are the trees camera shy? Or are they just high-maintenance diva trees? There was a small section of trees in the courtyard that you could photograph, and they were beautiful works of tree-art.
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| One of the less uppity trees at the Bonsai Museum |
For fun, S decided to take us to my old apartment complex in Haraichi. Mc got to see my old apartment building and one of the apartments was vacant, so he even got to look in the window and see the layout. I showed him my tiny train station and the vending machine where I'd buy ice cream sometimes on my way home and the daycare next door that would keep me awake when I stayed home sick. We went to my old conbini (Family Mart, still my favorite because old loyalties die hard) and the Seims drugstore where S helped us buy some headache medicine as our Advil had run out. (If you need ibuprofen while visiting Japan, Eve is a safe brand. Mc had seen a commercial for it and guessed that it was pain medication, but S confirmed so we got some. However, it is not as strong as Advil, only 150mg per tablet, so make the appropriate adjustments to your dosage.) It was really neat getting to show Mc where I lived and how far I had to bike to work and the okonomiyaki place that S first took me to.
When we got back to the N family house, Mc and I had a surprise jet-lag attack and had to take a nap. We got up 2 hours later and went upstairs to find that not only had dinner been made, but they had constructed a noodle chute in their living room. Earlier, S had asked what we might want for dinner and Mc loves noodles, so S thought of somen (very thin Japanese noodles). Apparently there are restaurants in Japan where somen comes down a chute of running water and you have to try to catch it with your chopsticks, dip it in your tsuyu (sauce garnished with green onions and ginger), and eat it fresh off the chute. The N family had built a chute in their living room with cartons cut in half, lined with plastic, propped up on a chair with a bowl at one end. A-kun positioned himself at the end of the chute by the bowl, and Mc and I were on either side as N-sensei and Y-chan dropped noodles and poured water down the chute and the three of us had a chopstick competition. It was so much fun! I highly recommend building a noodle chute in your living room if you're making somen! It was also delicious, but (of course) merely the first course of dinner. After the chute fun was over, we went over to the table where S had made more somen, hamburger steak, and 3 kinds of sashimi (raw fish slices). After a while, there were only a few slices of sashimi and a small hamburger steak left and they offered it to Mc, who took it to be polite and because it was delicious, even though he was full. Then S brought out another course of more gratin (a second dish from this morning), which Mc also finished to be polite. Then came a surprise dessert course and Mc died. Well, not literally. Dessert was mochi dango (3 mochi balls on a stick with various toppings - seaweed, thick sweet teriyaki sauce, or brownish powder) and sakuranbo (Y-chan hates sakuranbo but loves feeding them to Mc.) Mc had to try the mochi dango, but could only split 1 stick with me and I laughingly reminded him of when he asked me if there would be food at S's house.
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| Somen chute |
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| Amazing dinner |
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