21 June 2009

Today was my last full day in Japan. I can’t believe it has all come to an end so soon! All in all, it was a really great experience. I didn’t have anything pressing to do today, so I first woke-up at noon. It was pouring rain outside, so I went back to sleep for another hour. It was 1:00pm by the time I rolled out of bed. I Skyped with Jenna while I got ready, then once the rain lightened up, I grabbed my umbrella and went out for a walk around Tokyo Station. I bought a few last minute gifts and spent almost all of my remaining change. I have about 610 yen left for tomorrow’s snacks. Overall, it was just a lazy and relaxing day.
For dinner, I met Masaru in the lobby at 6:00pm for my last dinner in Japan. He wanted to take me out to sukiyaki since I hadn’t had any while in Japan. He had a certain restaurant in mind, so we took the subway a couple stops to Ginza. The restaurant was really nice, and the atmosphere was nice. He ordered the dinner set of beef sukiyaki for both of us, but I wasn’t really sure what to expect. As an appetizer, a small square of Japanese pumpkin gelatin came out, and it was delicious. Next, a small bowl of raw egg was given to both of us in anticipation for the sukiyaki. A gas range was placed on our table and a large plate of beef and vegetables was also brought out. The lady started the fire, and she began cooking the vegetables and meat for us. She did this the entire time until we finished all of the food. She additionally would serve us whenever we would finish what she had given us before. It was a really weird concept. Every time she gave us the sukiyaki, she placed it in our bowl of raw egg, and that’s how we ate it. It’s a good thing I don’t have a problem with eating raw egg that why, otherwise the meal definitely wouldn’t have been as tasty. I was full by the end of the beef and vegetable sukiyaki, but there was still the udon sukiyaki left. Using the same pan, our waitress cooked the udon in the sukiyaki sauce along with four pieces of “fu” (breadlike squares made from wheat). The consistency of fu was very close to that of soft mochi, and I liked it a lot. I ate all of my udon, and for dessert, we each received a small square of Bavarian cream with a roasted slice of banana on top. It was delicious! I was completely full, but it was a great meal to end my trip. In total, it cost just short of 10,000 yen.
We caught the subway back to the Pearl Hotel, and Uncle Masaru made sure I could have a late checkout at 11:00am instead of 10:00am. I thanked him once again for dinner, and he left for the night. The rest of the night I relaxed and finalized my packing. It still feels a bit surreal that I will be leaving Japan tomorrow, but I am prepping myself for the really long flight. Hopefully I will be able to sleep for most of the time we are in the air.