The first thing you'll
notice in Japan is that every street corner has 2 or 3 vending machines. It's claimed that there are roughly 6
million Japanese
Vending Machines. And since I was there during the relatively cold month of
February, it was unfortunate that I didn't figure out how to tell wheather or
not a coffee was chilled or hot until the end of my trip. This is simply decoded by the red or blue colored
strips below the beverage can in the display.
Some of the best food in the
world can be found in restaurants around Japan. I was lucky enough to "experience"
Kobe Beef on my second
night in Tokyo's Shibuya
neighborhood. Later that night my Japanese friend and I went to a sky bar
named Bellovisto
at the Cerulean Tower
and drank matcha, which is a
green tea liqueur. The views from the 40th floor were absolutely
amazing. Reminisce of the sky bar in the movie Lost in
Translation with the view of hundreds of blinking red lights atop Tokyo's skyscrapers.
Bright and early the next morning
we went to the Tsukiji
Fish Market, which happens to be the largest seafood market in the world, and
ate a sushi breakfast. Later that evening we ate near the Tokyo Tower at a restaurant
named Garb94 and had Kushiage, which was deep fried
cutlets of meat, seafood, and vegetables on a skewers (kushi in Japanese).
Another day I ate a typical
food from the Kansai region called Okonomiyaki and Takoyaki. (I believe the
restaurant was called Sau-dade) And I also
took a liking to plum wine or umeshu.
During lunchtime in Nara, I finally
had the opportunity to try typical Japanese style ramen. And obviously this was much better than regular ramen
noodles that you may find in a supermarket. Later that evening in Kyoto, I ate the famed Kamo River Duck at a
restaurant named Ishigamatei.
And believe it or not: My
last night in Tokyo, I actually ate horse meat served with
raw egg for the first time in my life!
