The day I wrote the best poem ever about USA MEAT

yes, that is what we went through to eat dinner.

Tuesday June 29 (Day 27)

In all of the 3 weeks we have been going to work, we have never slept in until now. Bean and I later realized that we slightly remember talking early in the morning about waking up to run, but it ended up being all a blur until I awoke at 9:15. Looking at my cell phone, which read 8:15, it took me about 30 seconds to realize the one hour difference in Japan and frantically wake Bean up. I am not sure what was different about this morning, but Bean and I must have acquired some grand power of speed because we arrived at the office no later than 9:30. We couldn’t help but laugh when we walked into the office, still trying to catch our breath, to see at least half of the seats still empty. All is well that ends well. After my heart calmed down a little bit, Bean and I hit the internet for resources. Lunch was…the normal…and the fun didn’t really begin until we sat down to write our report on the GuruNavi event on Monday. For some reason, Bean and I had a major attack of laughter. In an attempt to sit down and write the report, I shut my eyes and let my fingers and brain do the work. Instead of a report, I got none other than a …poem. Surprise surprise. Now, for sharing this poem that we jokingly sent to some coworkers as our report (before actually writing the real thing) and that brought laughs all around:

Lets crank this paper out
And tell them people what its all about
The meat industry is whack
That’s why USMEF is bringin it back

US beef is more tender
And we charge like an offender
And you know Pork is where the money lies
But Shoot! don’t forget about those chicken thighs
And that Japanese fresh fish might be cleaner
But our angus beef be leaner

Presentation is what they search for
And we provide like a fairytale folklore
So all those pretty plates sittin there on them tables
It don’t matter what is written all over them labels

With green tea on our side
We will be up all night for the ride

I cannot explain how much this poem lightened our afternoon, but I think I may frame this masterpiece. Oh, and Seya-san said later that she let her husband read the poem and the two of them laughed about us for a long time. Some things never change.
After work we ran around the city (2nd day in a row). Soon we found ourselves looking for dinner, and after a few failures, due to price or what not, we decided to go to a Chinese restaurant that we had passed multiple times during our trip but had never went to because it is only opens for dinner. The staircase led down to one red door in a “basement” of a building. Laughing at this hole in the wall (literally) we opened the door into a room of tables. Many businessmen and women were eating, drinking, and smoking, which left this restaurant without windows full of smoke. The atmosphere was very cool and the room was full of antiques. The food was equally as satisfying! We both got dumpling soup, similar to wonton soup, and shared fried rice. Having to take food home while not burning a hole in our wallets made this place a great find! Our next stop? None other than Don Quixote! I have no idea why we end up here most nights. This time we discovered the food varieties and soon bought some banana chips, yogurt, and ritz crackers for lunch additions. We desperately wanted to enjoy the Japan FIFA game, but because we were soo very tired, we both decided to watch the game in our hotel room. I made the mistake of watching the TV while lying in bed…I think I made it to half time ha.

The day I actually had to say NO to shopping...Shibuya!

No, Bean is a proud USMEF Chef!
Dirty Man is a chef?

Monday June 28 (Day 26)

Today marks the beginning of our last week here working. This particular marking point came with mixed, odd feelings of happiness, sadness, and feelings of just being plain old weird! The weeks have flown by and the comfort and familiarity of Tokyo and the office have grown. The coworkers are our friends, and the city is our playground. But, before I get too sentimental I suppose I should explain what Monday was like. Early in the morning we ran around the city before settling in at our work desks. We were unsure if we were to attend the event found on our calendar, especially since Yama-san left early in the morning without a word. But, soon Yuka-san and Kato-san informed us that we would be attending the two of them to the GuruNavi event at Marunouchi. Like usual, this entailed some taste testing! Ha. Before leaving, Bean and I ate a delicious PB&J lunch (I’ve lost count of the # of PB&Js I’ve eaten since I left home) and met with Sam-san to have an overall talk about what we were to help him with this last week. We soon found ourselves at the event, taking pictures, notes with our eyes, and maybe playing one or two Sudoku puzzles. Maybe. Dirty Man ended up coming to the event, which made our day that much better and full of laughter! The event was a cutting demonstration and informational seminar about US beef to an audience of restaurant owners and chefs. The event went by quickly and after cleaning up Yuka-san, Kato-san and the two of us headed to Shibuya. Bean and I had decided to go Shibuya tonight to explore the shops and experience the craziness of simply walking the streets of Shibuya. Shibuya is the area of young generations. It is always full of new trends, stores, and has the largest/busiest intersection in the entire world! Yuka-san and Kato-san first led us to this chicken restaurant that ended up having a homey wooden, laid back atmosphere. Each dish was great as usual, minus maybe the chicken cartilage. The crunchy, meat-less piece of cartilage lacked a much desired taste and texture for both Bean and me. I am not sure the exact purpose of eating chicken cartilage, but hey…When in Japan!! Afterwards, our friends said goodbye and we ducked into various stores. Finding too many cute things, I had to say NO, but each of us ended up with at least a few items to take back. Bubble tea, shopping, and chicken explains this Shibuya night, and we soon headed back to Roppongi.

BTW, I cannot say Shibuya without thinking of Shi-BOO-YA!....thought you might like to know ha

The day we found out Tokyo loved Rainbows

night view of TOkyo
yes..that is a mini statue of liberty

rainbow ferris wheel

Sunday, June 27 (Day 25)

Whether or not Japanese people have the restful, sleep-in reputation attached to their Sundays, Bean and I made sure we brought the “American” culture of it here. Strolling out of bed when we pleased, we decided to get lunch and wait for Koji-san’s phone call. Having seen a fair priced, delicious looking restaurant beside Hard Rock Café the other week, we headed that way to hopefully find our meal for the day. We soon sat down in the small restaurant to peruse the menu, zooming in on the gyoza, fried rice, edamame, and soup combo to split. After spending about 5 dollars each (at the most) to eat a filling, delicious meal, we happily made our way to both of our usual “waste-time” shops, Don Quixote. The 9 floors of food, kitchenware, costumes, electronics, and everyday products, never seems to lose its luster! Not to mention, the “We Love Don Quixote” songs playing on repeat throughout the entire store. Koji-san soon saved our Sunday, which would have been lost in Don Quixote, and said for us to meet him at Akihabara. We arrived at the station and anxiously looked around for any sign of Koji-san since our phone ran out of minutes and can only receive phone calls. Before we knew it, Koji-san showed up in almost unrecognizable street wear and we hopped into his car. I think this was the first time I had been in a car “with friends going somewhere” since the very very beginning of summer. We drove over Rainbow Bridge and on various streets before reaching Odaiba. Odaiba is an area that looks out onto Tokyo Bay. The area has extensive shopping mall options, as well as a small beach that people hang out and wind-surf off of (but no swimming!). Driving in, Rainbow Bridge and the Rainbow Ferris Wheel came into view. For some reason rainbows are everywhere in Japan, which soon became a big joke between the three of us. The rest of the day we walked under the rare sunny sky and looked out onto the beautiful scene of the bay, with a few islands in the middle, surrounded by the city towers and lights. Each shopping mall had several floors of stores that we walked in to, but quickly tried to look away for our wallet’s sake. Basically Bean and I have decided we have fallen in love with the clothing styles of Japan. Often times we feel as if we are homeless, wearing shorts and t-shirts, while everyone else looks cute at every moment of the day every day. We sat down for dinner at an Italian restaurant and had an amazing Italian/Japanese twist of pasta, pizza, and appetizers. The food has not let us down once! We tried to fake that it was Koji-san’s birthday, but the cake would have taken too long to bake and Koji-san couldn’t take the thought the embarrassment. Afterwards we just looked out at the night view and walked slowly to the car. Before heading back to our hotel for the night, we went to First Kitchen for some tapioca bubble tea. Fully satisfied, we were soon at Roppongi Annex.

The day of JR trains

meat meat meat
nothing like wearing a suit and backpack

Saturday June 26 (Day 24)

Today’s epic seminar was to be a USMEF presentation followed by a cutting demonstration by Kemi-san. Sitting at the back of the room, we listened for Yama-san’s intern introduction telling us to make our way to the front and say something in Japanese. After that nerve-racking experience for the second time, I sat back down. Finally, after the usual Japanese smoke break, we headed down into the “kitchen” type room that felt like an ice box with meat in the refrigerator/freezer. Kemi-san showed several cutting techniques and with masterful ease he trimmed the fat and cut the pieces to be packaged. Standing up in slippers for a few hours can be treacherous if you are someone lucky enough to have a non-existent arch. In fact, I “went to the restroom” to simply sit down and take a load off. I had to force myself up before I felt into a napping slumber. After the demonstrations and tastings were completed, Bean and I mulled over the possibilities for the rest of the weekend. Should we stay in Matsuyama, or take a ferry to Osaka, or go back to Tokyo? Picking the easiest route that included an already paid hotel room and a guaranteed bed for our sleepy bodies, we decided to head towards Tokyo. Unfortunately by the time we arrived at the station, there was a train to Okayama but no train from Okayama to Tokyo. Koji-san and Dirty Man gave us the options. We almost decided to take an overnight ferry, which we thought would be exciting and eventful, but, having never taken the ferry before, Koji-san and Dirty Man took over with fatherly instincts and highly highly suggested not to do it. So, in the end, we headed out on a train towards Tokyo. Our arrival time was 1130ish pm in Tokyo, leaving just enough time to catch the trains to Roppongi before they closed down for the night. Koji-san had brought 2 of his favorite English DVDs for Bean and me to watch on the ride back, Adaptation and Being John Malcovich. Needless to say, these were all VERY …interesting…movies and I feel like I know Koji-san’s mind much better. Watching the movies, eating a baguette that served as our dinner (due to lack of time and options at the few convenience stores), and passing out with exhaustion made the trip go by fairly fast. Finding our familiar way back to Roppongi, we were soon off to bed with excited thoughts about Koji-san “attending us to Odaiba.”

The day I dressed up as a flight attendant and sang karaoke

maid, flight attendant, and nurse
Bean's personal Edemame meal
Hot spring!!

Friday June 25 (Day 23)

Today we were to catch a JR train for a very long 7-7.5 hour ride towards Matsuyama. This was our first weekend business trip, so we packed up our backpacks with suit clothing and pajamas and headed out the door. Our first train left at 8am, so the alarm sounded bright and early. Getting to Tokyo Station was a breeze. We then proceeded to go to the ticket office, cutting the time slightly close. In fact, when we bought our tickets the lady simply looked at us and said “Uhhh…run!” Sweating profusely from the abnormal high humidity in Japan, Bean and I continued to run up stairs and around corners and people till we reached the platform we thought was ours. Not wanting to make a dire mistake, I showed my ticket, with a quizzical “Yes? Help me?” look on my face, to a woman in line. Leading us down the two flights of stairs she quickly pointed us towards the right platform and finally, after a few more flights of stairs, we jumped on the train. Sitting on the train we couldn’t stop laughing (and breathing heavily) because of our realization that the past 10+ minutes were spent looked ridiculous running through the station with large backpacks, and yelling “Sumimasen” (excuse me) with our JR ticket in hand. But, all is well that ends well and we were off towards the eastern island of Matsuyama. The first two hours we remember very little simply because we passed out to the truest definition of the phrase. Somehow awaking from our slumber, we spent the rest of the first leg (4-5 hours) talking, looking at the scenery, and watching The Guardian till we arrived. In all, our first train ride to Okayama was fairly easy and sleep-filled, and we soon switched to the Okayama-Matsuyama line. The next ride was for roughly 2.5 hours. We made our infamous lunch of PB&J and watched the awe-inspiring scenery of Japan’s coast and islands. For a large leg of the trip the train was sandwiched between the side of the island and the ocean, giving us the feeling that we were on the edge looking out into the scenery. Although rainy most of the day, the landscape filled with green forests, rice fields, and a foggy, blue ocean were equally stunning. We arrived at our final destination around 4:15pm and took a taxi to our hotel to wait for Koji-san and Yama-san’s arrival from the airport. When they arrived we met them in the lobby and were informed that all they wanted to do first was go to a hot spring. Japanese hot springs are a traditional way of bathing where men and women are separated, occasionally with one co-ed room, and bathe in a communal type hot spring bathtub. The kicker…no clothes or bathing suits allowed. This particular hot spring is one of the oldest in all of Japan and the building was at least 100 years old. Having done this once before, I knew what to expect, but Bean was in for a good experience. Sparing details of what our eyes saw, the hot spring experience was overall very refreshing and we felt cleaner than we had in a while. Next we searched for a good place to eat dinner and found ourselves at a suggested yakitori restaurant. Yakitori is a “genre” of Japanese restaurants that are similar to tapas. The menu mostly consists of small plates that are often skewers, appetizers, deserts, and miscellaneous food items that are, of course, delicious. Unaware that we were to be joined by other businessmen until we sat down at the table, we were told that Dirty Man (our friend), and 3 other men from Nippon Ham were going to eat with us. Dinner was delicious and mainly full of rice (too much), beef and pork skewers, and edamame (which Bean devoured). I thought after dinner everyone would get a good night sleep before the long business day tomorrow (like normal people?), but I should have known that isn’t the Japanese way. Instead, Bean and I found ourselves going to karaoke with 6 men. Not only was it karaoke, but unlike the karaoke places in Tokyo, this one had costumes. I am not sure exactly how, but Bean ended up being a maid, I was a flight attendant, Dirty Man was a nurse, and Sonada-san was ...we think...another flight attendant (costume did not fit him!). I would say this was a very bonding moment for all of us. At least flight attendants wear a suit-like uniform…I wasn’t too embarrassed ha. One of the men had a wonderful voice, and the rest of us tried to sing up to his level. A mixture of English and Japanese songs were sang, and the night was complete with new nicknames and jokes for Dirty Man. Apparently in Japan many business men will go out to karaoke before a large seminar so that they can be on a more friend-like basis the next day. Ok, I accept! Finally, by about midnight, we headed back to the hotel and “hit the hay”

The day a copy of my passport was not enough identification

I'm going to just do a quick overview seeing that I am a little behind:

Thursday June 24 (Day 22)

Slept in instead of running in the morning….gah

Work work but nowhere near as successful as the day before.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY KATO-SAN!!!!! gave him a USA birthday celebration

Lunch-noodle bowl from Lawson’s Convenience store. Absolutely delicious

Excited for travel day tomorrow. Left work

Ran to the imperial palace. Did sprints etc…was amazing!

Ran back from imperial palace to a curry house for dinner. Cheap and quick and delicious. Mmm

Went hunting for a movie to watch on the computers for the long train ride. Unsuccessful- passport/ID situation. Apparently a copy of the passport was not enough evidence.

Started The Illusionist and went to bed. Early wake up in the morning

The Day of Success and Fail: Being productive= success; Love life 101= fail

(photos coming soon)
Wednesday June 23 (Day 21)

This morning we managed to get up early and finally run. And, although there was a mist-like rain we welcomed its cool presence. Feeling full of happy endorphins, we preceded to have one of the most productive work days everrrr. Going through Sam's needed bullet points gave Bean and I some consistent things to do and new websites to explore. Drinking green tea and feeling the after effects of running, I felt more awake this morning than I had in a very long time. Soon we were rescued from the glow of the computer screen by lunch, our savior, and decided to splurge and BUY lunch. So, naturally, we walked to Lawsons (a convenience store similar to 7/11) for a cheap meal. We both got different types of rice bowls that tempted all my senses...just like food should! Delighted, both of our convenience store meal did not disappoint, and it made our college student wallets/stomachs pleased . During lunch, in line with our normal shenanigans, we spent the entire time writing on the board in the empty meeting room. The only failure was that, unknown to us, Yama-san had a meeting during the end part of our break and opened the door to us trying to print our hilarious board picture. We were slightly startled and laughed until we saw a stranger, probably a customer, walk through to door after him. Slightly panicked and embarassed we erased the board and left the room with our lunch trash in hand. HAH. Despite our startled hearts, we finished out the day with diligence and in good humor. Work soon ended and we headed back to our hotel. Feeling extra and abnormally productive today, Bean and I did our laundry. So many amazing successes of the day. As we were waiting for our laundry to dry, Koji-san called us to see what we were doing for dinner. We all decided to go to Mexican, which we were definitely craving, and Koji-san took us to one of his favorite Mexican restaurants. Later we realized it was his favorite not only because of the food, but because he confessed to a girl that he liked her at this restaurant when he was young. Above ground the restaurant looked like a small, somewhat run-down building, but as soon as we opened the door we were met with old, cool brick stairs leading down to an unknown destination. After taking at least 3 downward stair cases through decorative hallways, we finally reached the dining room. This was one of the best Mexican restaurants I had ever been to and it happened to be in Japan! All the food was equally satisfying.
As we finished dinner the only thing on our mind was reaching the sports bar to watch the USA vs Algeria FIFA game. It was not hard to identify the sports bar from the familiar sounds and cheering people from America and England. Koji, slightly overwhelmed in the situation, just smiled at us while we tried to make our way closer to see the TV. Walking through the crowd we occassionally were drawn into a conversation about our reasons for being in Japan and it was truly mind-blowing, after so many weeks, to hear English everywhere. We met an Australian and hung out with a group of guys from California and one from GEORGIA! They had been living and working in Tokyo for at least 7 years. With "England Till I Die" and USA chants being yelled, Bean and I excitingly watched the games. There is nothing more bonding than being in a foreign country and randomly watching a national game with people from your country ha. After the USA scored the goal we were drenched with beer that had been thrown from who knows where and soon we found Koji, who had disappeared in the excitement for a smoke break (he must have been stressed by the outgoing crowd). Heading back to the hotel I decided that each and every part of the night was so great, especially since it was the first night we managed to stay out with a crowd of strangers. I can't wait to watch the Japan World Cup game tomorrow night!