Tag: Food

day thirteen: the final countdown

today was really bittersweet. the last full day of the trip is finally upon us and while i really don’t want it to end, i’m ready to go back. but it was fitting that we ended on a pretty chill note.

we all gathered in the lobby so that we could hit up day one of unreal fest. it was a quick walk (through the rain which was quite unfortunate) but then it was easy enough to get inside. it was mostly just people showcasing the different games they’d been able to develop using unreal engine, but there were also some guest lecturers as well.

i mostly stuck to watching other people play the games, because i am absolutely atrocious at video games. plus it’s nice to watch people who are good at them actually do well. we were on our own for lunch so me, jas, jess, and cam peeled off to get mcdonalds. it was probably about as good as the mcdonalds in the states, maybe just warmer? i’m not sure, but hey, at least it wasn’t worse.

than at 2 pm we all met back up so we could head over to cyber connect. that was basically just a presentation on the overview of the company and the games they produce, as well as the different roles and aspects go into a game developing company. but once the presentation and tour was over that was it. the rit portion was officially done, and we were on our own.

after that we needed to get back to akihabara where a bunch of us decided to go to conveyor belt sushi together. unfortunately we had to split into two groups (me, belle, fabian, and pavel in one and cam, skyler, and liam in the second) for dinner, but i still had an awesome time.

then when food was done the four of us decided to go to an arcade. fabian and pavel were pretty tired and needed to pack, so they went back to the hotel. me and belle however, were feeling lucky. i managed to somehow get a plushy of miffy and a motion detected king boo light, while belle won an emolga plushy. i couldn’t believe it. i still can’t.

we made our way back to our hotel, and then after everyone got ready for bed we met up one last time to finish the second half of the d&d movie. it was nice having mostly everyone there as a final goodbye. but as the movie came to a close, so did our trip, and it was time to head back to our rooms.

all tomorrow is going to be is waking up, getting food, saying goodbyes, and then it’s off to the airport. oh boy.

day ten: free day part. ii

today was a free day, and first up on the agenda was to hit character street. we went at about eleven, so there was plenty of time to sleep in, and we were off to the races. actually finding character street was a little confusing because you had to enter it via a subway station. except we couldn’t find the right staircase that would lead us to it. we went on a wild goose chase for about fifteen minutes before we finally managed to find it.

from there we all kind of dispersed, agreeing to meet at the kirby cafe for the 1:30 pm reservations we had. first up on the agenda was hitting the shonen jump shop, where i purchased a (you guessed it) 1000 piece one piece themed puzzle. me and belle spent most of out time perusing the stores together, making numerous stops to fawn over cute things. we also hit up the pokemon store they had down there so belle could get her location based coin. we didn’t realize how cut and dry it would be, so we wound up at the meeting spot like 20 minutes early. oops.

but the kirby cafe was cute. we placed our orders for which treats we’d get, and i opted for a tiramisu and a strawberry yogurt and jam thingy. both were delicious, and came with a mug and tiny mason jar! so (kind of) free souvenirs! after that me, belle, jess, megan, and jas all embarked on a journey to muji. it was mostly home decor, clothes, and stationary. following that we headed to uniqlo so we could shop for clothes. i didn’t wind up buying anything at these stores since i already spent so much earlier.

it was getting pretty late so i decided to get dinner with katherine. we found this cool ramen place and the food was pretty good. i was expecting authentic japanese ramen to really blow me out of the water, and it did a pretty good job of meeting my expectations. once we were full from dinner we headed back to the hotel, and since we’re roommates it was pretty easy to just flop on our beds and not move for a second.

but we decided that we would stay in and just relax for a second, so we had a bit of a movie marathon. we watched the little mermaid, frozen, and frozen 2. bit of a disney kick but it’s fine, we’re fine. it was pretty late by the time we finished, but honestly i didn’t mind. it was nice to just chill and sing and have fun. until tomorrow!

day nine: bits and bobs

today wasn’t really all that eventful. like, sure we did things, but it also somehow felt like we did nothing. maybe it’s because i didn’t have that good of a night’s sleep, and also like an idiot had forgotten to eat like all day. so i was also probably kind of hangry too tbh.

nevertheless i decided to utilize my last morning in kyoto by sleeping in. that’s right. i don’t think i woke up until like 11. i took my time getting ready, i finished packing, and began to map out what the upcoming week would look like. we headed to the station and began the two and half hour shinkansen ride to akihabara.

i managed to snag a window seat and took a bunch of cool photos of the countryside and various towns and cities. once we arrived at the station our hotel was literally a thirty second walk, it was awesome. by the time we got checked in we had an hour to kill so i think this is where things kind of went a bit downhill. i was exhausted so i decided to nap, except i couldn’t actually fall asleep so i was essentially just tired and horizontal.

then we were summoned to the lobby so we could all head as a group to mandarake, a really cool old manga and other types of media store. i went off on my own and managed to snag romance dawn, which is the first volume of one piece, as well as a book with snoopy comics. then we left for super potato which had a bunch of retro video games. i didn’t buy anything, but it was super cool to see all the old stuff they had. there were things for every nintendo console, every playstation console, games, merch, add-ons, there was everything.

after that though we were free to do whatever, so me, jess, and jas decided to do the most sane thing one could do in our shoes, and go to a maid cafe. and not just any maid cafe, a catgirl maid cafe. it was… an experience. if we wanted to order, we couldn’t say “excuse me.” no, we had to go “meow meow.” we also had to wear cat ears during the duration of our meal. jess got this really cool drink that came with a face so you could take pictures with it.

the food itself was actually pretty good, i had beef curry and rice. classic. you really can’t go wrong with that tbh. but after we finished eating, it was time for dessert. jess got this chocolate ice cream parfait thing, whereas me and jas shared a bubblegum flavored unicorn parfait. and it was not that good. it’s okay though, because in order to make up for it the three of us got to take a polaroid picture WITH one of the catgirl maids! it was awesome.

after that we went back to the hotel where i promptly went to my room to pass out. it was probably one of my least favorite days i’ve had so far, but that’s not to say that i didn’t enjoy it at all. there were genuinely moments where i was having a good time, like the train ride and dinner, but i think just overall i was having an off day. tomorrow’s our free day though, so i have high hopes!

day two: electric boogaloo

i started day two off on a much better foot than day one, not only had i gotten nearly 12 hours of sleep, but we had free time to do essentially whatever we wanted. so after hitting up the 7/11 for breakfast with katherine, checking out and storing our luggage, it was off to the races! a big group of us —jess, belle, liam, skyler, cam, megan, and i— went to the aquarium which was conveniently attached to the hotel.

once we got inside a few of us went on a pirate ship ride, which was pretty fun all things considered. after that though is when we really started looking around. there were so many cool fish to see; i really liked the ones that could camouflage to look like coral, the fluorescent ones, and the silly looking guys. after the tiny little fish we went to the jellyfish room, and i felt kind of bad for them since the tank was so small, but they looked really cool. especially because there was blue, pink, and green lighting that highlighted the jellyfish pretty nicely.

after the jellyfish exhibit we moved on to the larger sea creatures, like sawfish, leopard sharks, stingray’s, and a bunch more that i don’t even know the name for. and for some awesome reason they also had capybara’s which was actually sick. following that was an otter show which was potentially one of the cutest things i’ve ever seen. he did so many cool tricks and listened to his instructions so well!!

once we were done with the aquarium it was time to meet up with everyone and head to the bullet train so we could travel down to kyoto. the train ride was nice because i got to chat with those around me —jas, cam, megan, fabian, and jess— and also enjoy looking out at the scenery we passed by.

when we arrived in kyoto it was time for dinner, and i was pretty excited going into it. i knew that they were probably going to serve things that were outside of my comfort zone, but i was willing to give things a go. the first plate they brought out was… interesting. there was tiny raw squid, fish, collared greens, vegetables, and beef. i’m proud of myself because i ate both of the raw squids, but the best thing on the plate in my opinion was the beef. after that was raw fish, and i gotta be real, i am not a raw fish fan. next up was pork and vegetable hot pot, which was probably my favorite thing the whole night. following the hot pot was a salad which was standard, i enjoyed it. after that was shrimp that were in some sort of fried batter, and that was pretty good too. next up was this tofu gelatin thing?? i’m honestly not too sure, and frankly the texture was just not it. we had sushi after that, and since i’m not really a raw fish person, i wasn’t too keen on that either.

all in all it was a really solid day. i had fun hanging out with everyone, and despite the fact that dinner was touch-and-go, i still really enjoyed it. kyoto has very cool architecture from what i’ve seen so far, and i’m excited to go on the bus tour tomorrow!

Day 10

I was very excited for this day because I had heard that the Imperial Palace gardens were pretty. The giant stones that made up the walls were incredible and the koi pond was mesmerizing. I loved the waterfall and all of the trails that surrounded the flower beds nextto the pond. One of the things I was shocked by was the number of times each shrine has burned down. I think the most we had heard was eight times, I don’t remember how many times the Imperial Palace burned but it wasn’t nearly that many times.

After a brief lunch of ricotta and banana pancakes, we all met at the final shrine of the entire trip. It reminded me significantly of the backyard of the house I grew up in with the thick woods aesthetic and the river running through it. Something I was surprised by was the giant row of barrels that once held wine – although I cannot remember the story behind it. While this shrine was not as staggering as the shrine on the cliff or the one with over one thousand gates or statues, I thoroughly enjoyed the simplicity of this one.

Food in Day 8: Traveling Back to Tokyo

After waking up early to pack all of my things, Maddy and I went downstairs to have breakfast before the long train ride back to Tokyo. On the train ride, I wrote as much on my blogs as my stomach could handle before taking a nap while listening to music. After getting to Tokyo and dropping off our bags in our hotel in Akihabara, we speed ran as many floors of Mandarake as possible, went to Super Potato to look at their retro games, and looked around Animate before having dinner and going to sleep.

For my last breakfast at the hotel, I was given toast with prosciutto, spinach, tomato, and parmesan. Although I was not a big fan of how hard the crust was, the rest of the toast was delectable. I also grabbed more fried fish because I’ve enjoyed all of the fried fish I’ve had here along with some egg, another croissant, some mushrooms, and yogurt with soybeans and brown sugar. I also got another glass of apple juice because I cannot resist its call.

After our long train ride, Maddy, Brody, Vincent and I went to a food court near the hotel and got some ramen. I got ramen with shrimp tempura in it because I love ramen and I love shrimp tempura, and I have already had the two together, so why not get it again?

For dinner, we decided to go to a sushi restaurant that Toshi recommended to us. I got this rice combination bowl with various different things in it so I could try a little bit of everything. It was absolutely delicious, and I would definitely recommend going there if you like sushi.

Tomorrow is our last free day on the trip, so let’s make the most of it!

Food in Day 7: Ending the Game Jam

We finished the game jam! Despite our very incomplete results, I am very proud of the amount of work we were able to complete in our limited time along with the language barrier. After a short recess, we went around and looked at everyone’s games, took a picture together, then headed back to the hotel. Vincent, Maddy, Brody, and I went back to UNIQLO to get a couple of more things before we went to the hotel again to rest up after a long couple of days.

For breakfast, I was given the special sandwich of the day once again. Honestly, I don’t remember what was in it, and I also don’t remember if I even ate it. What I do remember is that I was running late yet again, so I didn’t get to eat much before we had to go, so there is a pretty high chance I didn’t get to have a bite. However, I did get to enjoy yet another croissant, a fried egg, and some strips of chicken. The egg was a little too cold in my opinion, but everything else was great. I also had apple juice yet again. For some reason, apple juice is just better in Japan, so why not have it as many times as I can?

For lunch. we were given a choice between omurice and different types of lunchboxes. Because Toshi was unable to get the ingredients of the omurice to make sure I don’t die in Japan, I picked up the fish packed bento. It included rice, backed fish, some fresh veggies, some cooked veggies, pickled veggies, some kind of savory pancake, pasta salad, and a sui mai. Everything that I could eat was delicious, but the bones in the fish took me a bit off guard. Luckily, I didn’t ingest any, or else I could’ve died in a way Toshi was not accounting for.

For dinner, our small group that went to UNIQLO stopped at a restaurant in the same mall the UNIQLO was in, Aeon Mall, and had some ramen. The ramen there was delicious. I was a big fan of the combination of toppings on top of the ramen. The soft-boiled eggs, bamboo shoots, chives, and pork all went well with the salty but savory broth.

After dinner, it was time to say goodbye to Kyoto and return to Tokyo and visit Akihabara!

Food While Traveling Back to the U.S.

June 3rd: the day we say goodbye. After saying one last goodbye to the remaining students in Japan in the hotel lobby, Maddy and I braved the train system together with our heavy bags and heavier hearts. Luckily, our two head working together helped us get to the airport without too much struggle (ignoring how laborious lugging our bags around was). We were also able to get through immigration, security, and on our plane without any issues.

However, Maddy only had about an hour and a half layover, and I had about two, proving to be an issue when we got to immigration in the U.S. Thankfully, we had just enough time to get to our respective gates before boarding started, but the anxiety while waiting in the long, snake-like line was overwhelming. Now we know in case we ever travel outside of the country by plane ever again: if you have a layover in the United States, make sure it’s at least three hours long. Although we made it on our planes, we were both cutting it real close, and I would much rather have way too much time to spend in an airport than cut it that close ever again.

I made it back to Rochester with all of my bags, got picked up by my friend, took a pit stop at Chipotle, and then went home.

This was my last meal in Japan. I decided to get tempura on rice at the airport. It came with egg tempura, shrimp tempura, and various vegetable tempuras. It was super yummy! I kinda of scarfed it down to make sure Maddy would have enough time to eat before the flight, so it’s hard to say more than that, but I thought it was really good.

On the plane, I got some pasta with a piece of bread, red bean mochi, and vegetables. I really like the pasta. It was very flavorful, and I liked not being allergic to something that I eat on the plane. I could not eat the vegetables because there were peas included. The bread was bread. Bread is always solid; a safe choice. The red bean mochi was really good, but the texture made me feel nauseous since Iw as already feeling lightly nauseous because I get motion sickness, so I did not finish the mochi. However, I know if I were on solid lad, I would have greatly enjoyed it.

For a mid-flight snack, I was given a ham and cheese sandwich with some snacks. I pocketed the snacks for later, but the ham and cheese sandwich was… a ham and cheese sandwich. Not much to say about it. Just a plain ham and cheese sandwich. I would’ve preferred it with mayo, but I was thankful to be getting any food in the first place.

For breakfast, I was given an omelet with a sausage and a piece of potato. The omelet was okay. It was cold by the time they got to me, so it felt kind of gross to eat. The sausage was better tasting cold. The potato thing was worse. This was probably the sketchiest plane meal I had on this trip, but once again, I was just thankful to not be allergic to it at all.

That marks the end of the trip! It was honestly such an amazing experience, and I am very grateful to have been able to go. Now, I’ve been back in the U.S. for a few days, and the jet lag coming back to the U.S. is way worse than it was when going to Japan. Take that warning as you will.

Food in Day 12: Unreal Fest and CyberConnect

We started the day out by braving the rain and making the walk over to Unreal Fest. It was super cool to see all of the projects being made using Unreal Engine. It makes it feel like the possibilities are endless. Seeing that inspired me to keep working hard on my own projects so that one day I may be able to create something like the things that were being shown off there. After that, we went and got a tour of CyberConnect2, the game studio behind the development of the Naruto fighting games, .hack series, and Fuga: Melodies of Steel. After that, Jasmine, Jessica, Megan, Brody, Maddy, Vincent, and I trekked through the rain for a delicious last dinner and ice cream. After that, a few of us had a late-night meeting, I finished packing, and then head to bed.

In terms of the stars of the show, sadly, I had to skip out on breakfast because I did not wake up in time to grab breakfast before going to Unreal Fest. So for lunch, I got oil noodles again, but with a raw egg to mix into my rice this time. Maddy and I had already come to this place before in Shibuya, so we knew this was good. I decided to try a different flavor this time, but I forgot what that flavor was called. Again, this was delicious. I also appreciated that they gave us broth this time. I assume they did this because it was rainy outside. Great service, and I appreciated being able to order form a terminal that included English translations.

For dinner after CyberConnect2, Jasmine, Jessica, Megan, Brody, Maddy, Vincent, and I had dinner together. Jasmine and I shared some garlic bread with pesto as an appetizer. It was toasted just enough to have a bit of a crunch, and the garlic and pesto paired well together. It was the perfect way to lead up to the steal that I got that came with rice and baked vegetables. The steak was super flavorful and juicy, and the sauce only made it better. The whole dinner was just delicious.

For dessert, I got a Sumiko Gruashi-themed ice cream from Baskin Robbins, which was a fruity-flavored ice cream. I really like it, and I enjoyed the character being a little chocolate that you could eat. For second dessert (to help me stay awake during my meeting), I had a coffee jelly from 7-11. It was also really good and super cheap.

Tomorrow, Maddy and I need to brave the subway system together once more to the airport. Leaving will be very bittersweet.

Food in Day 11: Gundam, Museum, and teamLabs

Today, we went to see the life-sized Gundam in Odaiba, Tokyo. We also had lunch in the Diver City Tokyo Plaza and looked around the mall before heading to the Miraikan Museum of Science and Innovation. There were many cool exhibits there, including a jarring robot controlled by A.I, pieces about how humans should evolve to live in sustainable prosperity, a scale model of a living quarters in the International Space Station, and an interactive game to promote medicine. After that, we went to teamLabs Tokyo and went through all of the art exhibits that make use of your eyes, ears, and touch for a complete experience.

McDonald’s again? Yes, McDonald’s again! This time, I got a sausage McGriddle with a hashbrown and a caramel latte. I’ve never had a McGriddle in the U.S. so I cannot really compare the two, but I thoroughly enjoyed the one I had here. It was a good mix of sweet and savory, and the hashbrown helped to tame the strong flavor of the McGriddle. The caramel latte was also super good. 10/10 breakfast. I would definitely go to McDonald’s in Japan again because (spoiler alert), I never got the chance to go back after this breakfast.

For lunch in Odaiba, I had this noodle dish native to China. Why am I having a Chinese dish when I could get a Japanese dish in Japan? Honestly, I think the better question to be asking is, “Why have you eaten McDonald’s so many times in Japan?”. So obviously, although I do appreciate all of the authentic Japanese food I’ve had here, I also enjoy trying other food while I’m here. For all I know, the Chinese food they have in Japan is better than the Chinese food in America. And boy, if this noodle dish is any indicator of how much better Chinese food is in Japan, then it is way better. It was hearty and savory and mellow and just good. It was yummy. I would go back to Odaiba again just to have these noodles again.

For dinner, Brody and I found this cafe connected to a few soccer fields. Side note, I think this idea is brilliant. Imagine how much money you would make from soccer moms who want to grab a good dinner together as a group and gossip as they watch their children. I think it’s an incredibly smart idea, and if that already exists in the U.S., then I’m upset that I didn’t get to witness that as someone who played soccer for six years. Anyways, this meal was super good. Chicken, rice, and raw egg. Where can you go wrong with that?

I was super excited to go to Unreal Fest the next day as well as go to CyberConnect2!