Food – Page 6 – RITs International Game Industry Course for 2023

Breaking Ground

While today started as a chill hangout with our entire group together for the first full day, it ended with a LOT of “waku waku” (the Japanese onomatopoeia for the sound of your heart beating intensely).

Megan, Jessica, Jasmine, Skylar, Liam and I started the day by heading to a local cafe and bakery for breakfast called City Bakery Shinagawa. I ordered the french toast which was a TOTAL score (the bacon on top was the real king of the meal), and also got a small table roll because I enjoy eating bread by itself.

After breakfast, we had a couple hours to kill before we boarded the train to Kyoto, so we decided to visit the aquarium that was connected to our hotel. Quick aside: I cannot stress enough how insane our hotel was. Connected to it was two pools (one of which was heated), an aquarium, an 80-lane bowling alley, four practice golf range simulations, 11 movie theaters (one of which was an IMAX theater), and more, not including the food court or other restaurants just around its perimeter. I wish that we had been able to stay longer to capitalize on it, because it was kind of incredible how much could be fit into one hotel complex.

I digress, back to the aquarium! I am definitely spoiled by the Georgia Aquarium, but this aquarium had a lot of really cool (albeit much too small) exhibits and some animals that I don’t think I would have seen anywhere else! Namely was the capybaras, which were SUPER cute but gave us some mean glares as we took pictures of them. We also got to watch an otter performance that was very cute!! My favorite part was when he grabbed the mic and yelled into it, because I too would do the same thing if given that power. Thankfully Jessica got a video of it as my phone was on the verge of overheating.

Otter yelling, my favorite kind of yelling.

There was also an assistant robot who could do the Ievan Polkka dance (there were a lot of popular English/TikTok songs too, but who cares about those?) and a tube where the fish could swim over you that housed a massive manta ray. A large portion of our group also went on this giant swinging ship that was right at the entrance to the aquarium, which was fun to watch!

After the aquarium, we hurried back to the hotel to get our luggage and make it to the train station in time for our train to Kyoto. Getting on and off the train in a timely manner was the most stressful part, but I played Tears of the Kingdom for the entire ride and thoroughly enjoyed it (while also stopping periodically to take videos of the scenery passing by). Once we got to Kyoto, though, the real intensity began.

After a short walk to a VERY nice restaurant, we come to realize that we’ve just walked into a very nice, very expensive ten course dinner. For anyone who’s not familiar with me (first of all hi :D), I have always been a super picky eater and the food in Japan was my biggest concern when planning for this trip due to my limited palate. All of that was completely chucked out of the window tonight as I was sitting almost directly next to the director of our entire program who planned this dinner. I think that I tried more completely new food tonight than I have in the last year.

In its entirety, we ate: some weird little beef ball, a piece of red snapper, some mixed vegetables, a whole miniature squid covered in mustard, miso soup which contained a piece of fish and some vegetables that I could have mistaken for bricks of tasteless jelly, some sashimi that consisted of tuna, salmon, and tai (AKA Red sea bream? I think?), some professionally made sushi consisting of tuna, salmon, and rice, wasabi, the weirdest egg/jelly/bean drink that was expectedly disgusting, some bacon slices that we steeped in cooking broth in a process called “shabu shabu”, a set of fried shrimp tempura and fried lotus root, another soup of indistinguishable origins, and two small ice cream scoops that were vanilla and soy milk flavored respectively. Do you see where the “waku waku” was happening? I also treated myself to a peach fruit juice that was a nice palate cleanser from all of the horrors I put my body through during dinner.

Despite my obvious reservations with the menu we were served, I am proud to say that I at least tried every single thing that we were served. While some of them were hard to swallow (literally), I am surprised at how far I was willing to push myself out of my comfort zone; I think it’s the first of a few big milestones that I will reach while being here.

Tomorrow will be another incredibly packed day, as we’ll be on a bus tour of Kyoto for almost the entire morning and afternoon. While I am looking forward to seeing the sights that the city has to offer, I could really use an extra hour of sleep.

A picture of the manta ray from the aquarium. SO CUTE!!

Half-a-Day in Shinagawa

I woke up around 9:00, hopped in the shower, and got ready for my first lunch in Japan. After using the hotel’s very convenient express check-out, I checked in my bags and went to the food court to look at the many options of Japanese cuisine. I ordered a pork and leek udon and a salty pork ramen, both dishes costing a lot less than they would in the US.

After grabbing some lunch, I decided to make my way towards the Aqua Park, where there was a diverse range of animals, from basic fish, to jellyfish, reptiles, and, even, capybaras. I also watched the mini-otter performance, which was extremely adorable.

By this time it was around 12:45, so I decided to make one last stop at a 7/11 to prepare some snacks for the road, and grab a popsicle to deal with the humid weather.Our time in Shinagawa was short, but very enjoyable. Can’t wait for Kyoto!

Travel Origins and the Beginning

My journey started in San Francisco where my flight to Haneda airport started at 12 pm. The flight was overall pretty smooth with the exception of having the middle seat… At least I bought the wifi which was definitely worth the $18 for the whole flight. The flight was filled with me starting Honkai: Star Rail and competitive games of Hearthstone.

Upon arriving, I successfully navigated the train system to get to the hotel I booked (since I got to Tokyo early). However, I took the wrong exit out of the station and ended up in the backstreets of Roppongi where I wandered through a park. It would have been a much more welcome experience had it not been raining…

The next day, I went to Asakusa where apparently the Sanja Matsuri (festival) was happening. Supposedly, this is one of the largest festivals in Tokyo! I met with Belle and Megan who happened to be visiting on the same day. Jessica joined us later. I also got a drew a fortune in which I got a regular one. The festival was busy at first, however, by 2 pm the crowd became unbearable and we decided to split up.

Later that day I met with my dad who was on a layover and we went to the Rainbow Bridge (which there were no rainbows to be found. What a scam!). However, walking across the bay to Daiba was really pretty at night. However, the bridge was very windy and there was a lot of walking involved so by the time I got back we were exhausted. Next time I would like to take one of those ferries on the water.

From here, you can see both Tokyo Tower and the Tokyo Skytree if you look closely.

The next morning my dad and I went to the Tsukiji fish market and had sushi for breakfast. However, the restaurant was really crowded and busy in the morning so I didn’t get any good pictures. For a Sunday, where the fish market was supposed to be closed, there were still many shops open and people moving about. I did also find a sushi vending machine… Not sure how good it would be though…

My dad and I said our goodbyes and I went to drop off my bags at the hotel.
Later that day we went to a hololive event in Akihabara.

Lastly, the day ends with us exchanging our train ticket vouchers and having a meal at the food court at the hotel where I got one of my favorite foods, Kitsune Udon (udon with sweet fried tofu). I can’t wait for what’s to come!

Before the big trip (aka official rit time)

This is gonna be a big one so buckle up!

Okay! Ready? Let’s go!

Day 1: We were gonna go to Ueno but Belle and I ended up waking up at 4am.. the time difference really hit. We were up for a while seeing if there was anything to do but nothing was open until like 930-10am. We met up with Jessica and walked around a bit. We ended up going to a Starbucks connected to the Sky Tree and getting some coffee.

After an hour, the SkyTree opened up! We ventured in and spent our WHOLE DAY there. There were so many stores and shops, as well as desserts and foods. Literally any thing you wanted to buy or eat was there.

For example there was the Kirby Cafe, Pokemon Center, Snoopy Store, Marvel Store, Hello Kitty Store, Kirby Cafe store, book stores, clothing stores from Uniqlo to lolita to Diesel, food that ranged from ramen to a cheesecake drink. It was a fun but overwhelming experience. It was like a dream but also a nightmare as I stumbled through my coin purse trying to count.

After shopping around for hours we were exhausted but we still wanted to see the view from the sky tree itself. We planned our adventure to the sky for 630pm so that we all had time to go home and take a little nap.

After we had awoken, it was time to go up! It was really cool and the elevators up to the viewing deck had different themes of the seasons. The views were really cool but sadly it was cloudy. We did see the transition from day to night time though! After this excursion, we all went home and passed out again. Also fun fact, we ended up going around the Sky Tree’s 11 anniversary! Also the top deck was Disney themed.

Ritchie really enjoying the Sky Tree and it’s views!

That was all day 1! Already so much but we continue.

day 2: We wake up once again at 4am, it’s rough but we play Zelda and try to sleep. This day we actually had a plan for breakfast! We all ( being Belle, Cam, Jessica, Liam, and myself) planned to go to Hoshino Coffee in the sky tree. We met up ( after some difficulties) and went for breakfast. We really wanted the big soufflé pancakes but those were only on holidays so we mostly just got some French toast. It was ok, I felt bad for the staff because there definitely weren’t enough seats for us.

After breakfast, we walked around the Sky Tree again! This time finding more stores and showing Cam and Liam the crazy food market and dessert options. I ended up buying some dango! It was really good and seems ritchie liked it too. It had the consistency of mochi but was sweet in flavor almost like brown sugar.

As one could guess, we did some more shopping. This time I got some baby books to practice Japanese! It was Pokémon themed how could I not?! It was funny because we also found Minecraft books and diary of a wimpy kid in Japanese. It was cool to see! After that we got some food and headed back home for our siestas for the day.

After a nap, Belle, Jess, and I went to Asakusa for ramen! It was a cute shop with mostly foreigners but it was yummy! We looked around the area and stumbled upon the Senso-ji Shrine. It was night time so the lights were all on and it was pretty empty but it was super pretty.

We saw some signs that a festival was happening and decided to check it out the next day. It was an accident that we stumbled on to one of Tokyo’s largest festivals that happens every year on this weekend.

Before we get there however, I NEED to talk about the Asakusa Don Quixote. It was CRAZY. Literally anything you could need or want was in the 4 story building. From bicycles, to chargers, to clothes, to beauty products, to food, to alcohol it was all there. It was also very cramped but cool to go through.

After Don Quixote we dispersed and went to bed.

Day 3: If you think it’s crazy now, just wait.
Belle and I woke up at a normal time today!!! Seems our bodies are finally adjusting. After being in bed for a bit we headed out back to Asakusa for the festival. At this point we thought it was gonna be a little crowded but manageable but oh boy we’re we wrong. It was around 10am when we arrived at the temple and it was already packed. We also saw a lot of girls in Kimonos and a lot of traditional clothing. We met up with Skylar and explored the area.

Ritchie having a fun time seeing and participating in the festival!

Apparently we ran into the one of the biggest festivals in Tokyo ( as I said before) but I was not expecting what I saw. There were tons of people and apparently the event draws around 1.8 millions viewers. There were little shops everywhere with food and fortunes to get. We all got our fortunes and all got normal fortunes. At least it’s not a bad one!

After that we saw and heard drums and chanting. The festival is about 3 temples and their shrines. Therefore, there were mini shrines that went around with chanting and clapping to celebrate. Accompanied with that were these carts with taiko drums from different families.

One for the many many shrines moving about the day

The crowds would shuffle around to see all the different mini shrines and drums. It was amazing and I felt so lucky to have seen it. Jessica ended up join with us at about noon for the rest of the day.

After getting a bit tired from the crowds we walked around the festival area to see all the stores. There were a lot of different stores with food, souvenirs, kimono rentals, and more. As a snack I got this 500 yen pancake with mozzarella cheese in it. It was very yummy.

We walked around a lot, bought some gifts, and once again needed a little break from the action. It had been a long day at that point of walking around and seeing so many cool things. We all went to our hotels and rested for a little while.

After a little break, Belle, Jess, and I went to this cute little American themed diner. The staff seemed so happy to see foreigners and even tried to speak English to us! It was funny to see how American culture is perceived and our food. I got Mac n cheese and it was ok. Definitely not my good ol’ box of Kraft! After dinner we did some walking to local shrines in our area and a walk down by the Sumida river. It was a nice temperature outside for a walk. We saw one temple that still have ladles and water out so we practiced cleaning our hands properly. We walked around, planned for tomorrow ( Pokemon Cafe!) and went to bed.

Wow. That was only 3 days and so much has happened. I would love to go into every detail but then this would be more like a dissertation than a blog. I’ll leave you with some more photos I took as we went around. See ya next time!

Wandering Oshiage -> Ueno -> Tokyo eki ☀️Day 1

05/18/2023

Last night, our little group had originally planned to visit Ueno together to karaoke, but upon waking up I had realized half the group had left to grab breakfast and so I dragged Cam along with me to Ueno to explore instead! It was our first time actually traversing the transit system and we were quite nervous/scared/anxious/confused, but we got the hang of it by the end of the day.

We are closest to Oshiage station and made our way to Ueno, where we walked through a lovely little district of very affordable products! (not the picture below, I forgot to photograph it)

I grabbed a cute little matcha latte boba (not pictured bc i forgot) as we walked around. We were stopped by a kind old lady who was conducting user research for a foreigner-friendly touch screen nearby and I was compensated with a guidebook and a panda eraser after the interview was completed.

We stopped in a building with the aim of popping in Daiso on 7F and I momentarily got distracted by a cute windbreaker that was on sale for only 1,000 jpy!!! I’m still thinking about it now as I write this, hopefully it’ll still be there by the time I go back.

Within the Daiso, we came across a Sweets Paradise collab cafe with Sixfonia. While I’m not a fan, it was really neat to see a collab cafe in person after seeing them everywhere on social media!

After our quick Ueno trip, we headed to Tokyo eki in order to finally pick up a suica card. They are only available for purchase in specific areas so it was our mission of the day to secure a card.

We must have emerged on the wrong side of the large station, because we were very clearly out of place with all the salarymen bustling around the area. We wandered the area for a short while before grabbing some food from 7-11 and a スーパー and then headed back in the station to Oshiage station.

On our way home, we happened to walk past a Detective Conan cafe! I had originally planned to go to the Ikebukuro location and didn’t realize there was one so close to my accommodation! Unfortunately, the wait for a seat was very long, and we were both tired after a day of running around so we headed home.

After a day and a half in Japan, we have still yet to eat a ‘proper’ meal. The gyudon (picture above) from 7-11 was still delicious though! Here’s hoping that I’ll be able to eat more than one meal a day tomorrow.

Food while Traveling to Japan

After not sleeping the whole night, my friend drove me over to the airport at 4 in the morning to catch my early flight from Rochester to Newark. The flight was unremarkable (I slept through the whole fight), and then I had a four hour layover. The next flight was a bit more eventful, mainly due to the food options given to us on the trip.

The first snack given to us was a rice based snack encased in a thin coat of chocolate. Sadly, I did not grab a picture of this snack, but it was yummy.

For our first meal, they gave us the option of either butter chicken or stir fried vegetables. Seeing as I’m allergic to many vegetables, I decided to take the safe option and eat the chicken. Sadly, I still had an allergic reaction to the chicken because of the sauce that was on it, so I did not eat much of it. I was also unable to eat the salad as I was allergic to ingredients in that too. However, the brownie brittle was delicious, and the bread helped me overcome the allergic reaction I was having due to the chicken.

For the second snack, we were given turkey and swiss cheese sandwiches with M&Ms. The sandwiches weren’t the best, but I was grateful for something to eat that I was not allergic to. Luckily, it’s incredibly difficult to mess up M&Ms, so those were delicious.

For the last meal on the plane, we were given the option of either waffles or eggs with sausage. Because I didn’t want to risk being allergic to the waffles, I chose the eggs and sausage. Thankfully, this time my caution actually worked, and I was able to eat everything given to me without any issues. The pineapple and grapes were refreshing to eat after only eating prepackaged food the whole flight. The eggs were plain, but adding salt and pepper made it much better. The bread was bread: a safe food for me to eat, but not outstanding in taste. The best parts of the meal were the potatoes and the sausage. They were very flavorful and filling.

The 14 hour flight itself was nothing remarkable. I slept, listened to music, and watched Puss in Boots: The Last Wish and started watching The Last of Us. I also had a small chat with the person sitting next to me who was a student on a class trip to visit Japan to follow the trail of the samurai, and each student is supposed to present a part of the trail. I wished him good luck with his part as we exited the plane.

Now, I am in Japan! Ignoring getting lost on the train system, getting from off the plane to the hotel was not too difficult. My trip is off to a great start!