I love to cook. I love to cook dinner and learn new recipes. Don’t take it that I’m some 5-star chef making stuff conosseiurs are raving and lining up at my apartment for…but nonetheless I like to cook. Not the simple mac and cheese stuff (although, take a twist to any simple dish, and you can create a masterpiece), but I like to make those dishes that take that little bit of love and effort to make it good.

But…why am I writing this? I worry that my taste buds could be dull. How do I know that what I think is good to my taste buds, would be good to someone who really knows their food? To someone who can be picky about how a certain thing tastes? I guess I can always take that answer that “If you like your food, and it tastes good to you, it has to taste good nonetheless.” I don’t want that though – there’s a difference in being “good”, and then there’s being “amazing GOOD.”

It’s like when I watch Anthony Bourdain – how he describes the food. Sure he’ll eat anything, but there’s always “after it happens,” where he’ll say how good, or how bad, or how weird/interesting/etc etc it was. I wonder how it would be if he tried my food. My panko crusted chicken with curry. My kimchi fried rice. I mean, my girlfriend loves it, but I always think that she has to say that it tastes good, no matter what. I dunno, but whatever.

I would love to travel with that guy. All the food he eats, the places he goes, just his demeanor, the things he says, how he says it. I would travel anywhere with Bourdain, since he’s just that critical, that sarcastic, that humorous. I guess right now, I’m ready to jump onto a plane outbound to anywhere outside the US, and just jump into the culture. The people, the food, the things they do. I wanna go somewhere.

About my last post, how I have eaten all kinds of food and had no complaints. I must make a change to that, but do not worry, it’s not a negative one. After a 5am departure from Shin-Urayasu, I went to Tsukiji central market for the sushi that has been called the freshest in the world. I can atest to that, because after waiting in a suffocating line-maze of people (I almost fainted from heat exhaustion), I was able to gain entry to one of the few sushi bars in the restaurant. It is a little pricey at $35 a set, which includes (hmmm..gotta think about this) 6 pieces of roll, and 7-8 pieces of nigiri, and a slab of tamago. I have to say, it is the best plate of food I have had so far this trip.

Even the sushi chefs are friendly, and even if you don’t speak Japanese (lol, he complimented my Japanese, but I was modest about it), they will still talk to you in English. Can’t forget, the set comes with miso soup, but at the bottom are small clams. First, and best time having it. With great compliments to the chef, I would pay that much, and wait in a line for however long, just for that sushi again. Done.

(It seems no one else but me writes, lol. If you ever feel like writing, or practicing your English, write any post you want! ^^)

With a few days left here, I can put down an infinitely long list of what I will miss here. But to make it short, here are the top things (Which will still be a lot, haha):

1. My dear friends here in Japan – what will I do without you all?? You guys and girls are the most awesome part about Japan, and my trip here! To hang out with you all, and see your faces and to go places, it was all worth it. I do not want to leave you all. Someday I will live here, and I hope you all will be here too, so we can hang out anytime we want =) I promise I will be back sometime. [BUT...I am trying to extend my trip! I dont think I have a large chance of doing so, but I am gonna try!]

2. The fact that cars are only a secondary mode of transportation here. Main modes of transportation – your feet, a bike, and the trains. Those are pretty much the only things you need to get anywhere in Japan. Public transportation is made is such a way that it works so well and efficiently. Barely any of my friends drive, because the train makes it easier. No need to worry about gas, the only downfall I could think of is just the travel time. It may be a little long, but easier than driving through so many traffic lights and waiting for pedestrians, then trying to find parking. Getting around Japan is such a breeze!

3. The food – I think after eating here, from solid establishments, to holes in the wall, they have all raised my standards on how Japanese cuisine is, lol. I did not get to try everything, but still, from what I had, it was delicious. I do not think I had one bad meal here, lol. From Katsu-kare, to omuraisu, all the way to kaiten-sushi, it was good to the last noodle, to the last slurp of soup, to the last grain of rice. AND – it is also a lot cheaper than eating a a Japanese restaurant back in the states!

4. The parks and tranquil places. Although Tokyo is a very busy metropolis, they still know how to keep their peace and quiet in the midst of all the chaos. From Yoyogi kouen and Meiji Jingu, to the Imperial Gardens and Ueno Kouen, there are so many wooded areas, open fields and quiet places to sit and feel at peace, it is hard to describe. Sure, we have all that in the States, all those forest and national parks and whatnot. But the way they design these parks, and the care they put into it, the limited space for this type of stuff is really something they appreciate and honor. I loved just walking through the park and see people playing frisbee, walking their dog, practicing an instrument, or just taking it all in like I was. I liked that kind of peace of mind the parks gave me.

I think I have put a lot..but hey, why not, let me put the rest of the things I will miss. No descriptions, just a list:
- Trying to speak Japanese (Whether success or fail, it helps me progress)
- The 5am sunrises, it felt like it was 7-8am when it was only 5-6, heh.
- The hustle and bustle, general atmosphere of the place
- Japanese TV!
- The fashion, looking at what people are wearing, how interesting it can get
- Shopping here, there is such a variety of…everything
- I have got to say it again, but my friends here! (I think I will make a separate post for this, just for you all)
- The toilets that clean you, lol, that was interesting
- Staring out the train window as I watched everything go by
- Much more, but my brain can not remember, since it is almost 4am here.

***Thanks for reading this all, if you can not understand something, just ask me!

So, as my friends (or if you’re a random reader who doesn’t know) know, I’m in Japan for 22 days, to visit friends and to sightsee. So lets start the journey, and I’ll try my best to make it not too long, but still intriguing and interesting.

So with a two hour flight from Orlando to Houston, there’s a 3-hour layover, while I wait for my 13 hour flight to Japan. Either I got lucky, or I was just delaying my fear of taking that long flight, because the plane had a slight delay due to an extended maintenance. The flight itself wasn’t that bad though. The flight had quite an extensive list of foods for us, during that flight. I guess it kept me busy, along with playing games, and sleeping a lot.

By the time we got there, it was about 3:30. After clearing customs and whatnot, I got to meet up with two of my many awesome friends in Japan – Yuka and Kosuke! It was a relief to see them, because ever since the Meikai students left Japan, it’s been sorta boring around Orlando. Yuka would eventually take the train back home, while Kosuke and I took a limousine bus back to the Urayasu area. It’s so…interesting to see so much greenery in such an urban area.

After walking to the apartment and dropping all our stuff off, we decided to get a bite to eat. Would you expect a first meal here to be sushi, or maybe yakitori, something Japanese? Nah, we went to Chinese! Although, they had their own Japanese spin of it. Their ramen (cha-shu-men) was really good!

I’m probably going to forget quite a few things, since it’s already my 4th day here, and I’m just starting to write all this down. So I’ll have to do pull off a ’stream of consciousness’ right now and just throw down what I can remember. Kosuke lives in a 2 room apartment, but in my opinion, it’s fully livable without complaints. There’s everything you need – kitchen, bed/living room, shower/bath, toilet (with a sink on top of it! It’s interesting, but can’t bring myself to use it though). I wouldn’t mind living in a place like this. Also, walking around at 11pm at night is completely fine and safe. Lol, doing this where I live, yeah, that’s not going to happen. Unless it’s completely necessary. But here in Urayasu, I’d feel fine taking a leisurely walk at 2am.

What else…the station has almost everything you need. Grocery store, department store, restaurants, electronics, pretty much anything you name, you may be able to find there. It’s so convenient here; it seems like it’s more convenient here without a car than it is with one. Public transportation seems awesome.

Can’t forget about the vending machines, they are literally EVERYWHERE. Right outside Kosuke’s apartment, right across the street – a vending machine. Convenience stores are everywhere too; there’s 2 in very close proximity to his place.

It’s probably good to remember this, especially for myself when I come back for other visits – stay left on the escalator when you’re just gonna stand, because the right is for people walking up. Also, walk on the left, since cars drive on the left too. Either way, it’s noticeable when you get here.

There’s probably more I could say, but if anything, I’ll put it with another day’s post.