Japan - There and Back Again: Week 7-8 - Feb 20

Okay, condensed the next two weeks into two. Week 7 the biggest thing we did was eat Okonomiyaki and then went to the Ueno Zoo. Week 8 we ate at the Lock up, experienced Hinamatsuri and then finally had another outing with our class.

Week 7:
Okonomiyaki is a Japanese food originally from the Kansai or Hiroshima area of Japan. It is basically a pancake-like food with batter, cabbage and other things like seafood. I liked the shrimp one best.

How to make Okonomiyaki:

1. Smear a hotplate with oil

2. Mix batter and place on plate

3. Smooth until thin

A turned one and a raw one.

4. Turn!

5. Add sauce and eat!!

On Friday after class I went to the Ueno Zoo with Tim and Monique. They wanted to see Panda's and the ticket was quite cheap so I tagged along.

Our spirit animals! I got a bunny of course.

Panda!

Polar bear.

Californian sea lions!

Sleeping in the sun.

Baby gorilla!

Tiger.

Lion!

My favorite was the red panda.

Picture (C) to Tim as my camera had died by this point.

Week 8:

We went to this restaurant called "Lock-up". It was a prison themed Izakaya. It was a bit of a disappointment! We thought we would actually be scared going in, but we were there for a couple of hours and nothing happened. When we were ready to leave the lights started to flicker and some "scary" music started to play. Some people were running around, but it was quite a disappointment. I think we went there too early. It would have been more fun later in the night.

Lock up Menu.

It snowed again! I never thought it would snow in February in Tokyo!

On Thursday we went to experience "hinamatsuri". We didn't really know what to expect, but it was in an old feudal emperor's apartments which were located in a hotel. The hotel was built around it most likely. There were lots of different types of dolls, but we weren't allowed to take pictures of them. The rooms themselves were also splendid! So pretty. The hotel was very fancy as well.

A display at the hotel.

The fanciest /bathroom/ I've ever been in!

They had very nice pictures on the ceilings.

On Friday we went to visit another campus of Nihon University. This one was the Liberal Arts Campus. We got to watch some traditional Japanese dancing.