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.