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