Thursday, March 16, 2006

Japan Day 6


(View pictures at http://community.webshots.com/user/Proverbs21vs9)

We had a 9:00 a.m. appointment with Mr. Fugino. He wanted to take us to an underground passage that connected the southern and main islands of Japan. The passage went under the ocean. We walked approx. 1000 meters just for the sake of walking it. I’m glad we did. Mr. Fugino met us on the other side only to drive back to where we were before. He is such a kind man. Angie is lucky to have him so interested in her well being.

We where dropped of at a small shopping small. Brock and I shopped for gifts and souvenirs. For lunch we had a pancake like meal with a unique blends of foods. We cooked the meal ourselves on a hot plate built into the table. The ingredients came to us raw in a bowl. We mixed it up and cooked it. We shared one with ham, cheese, and potatoes. The other had a mixture of sea food. It was tasty and fun to cook. From there we went for desert at a place called Dipper Dan’s for my first crepe. Very good.

It was about that time I became very dizzy. It may have been from the sea food but I was likely showing signs of dehydration. Or maybe I was tired from all the running around. We went back to Angie’s and took a nap. I woke up with a head ache but it faded quickly.

Angie’s coworkers wanted to take us out for dinner. Angie was unsure what to anticipate so she warned us that anything could happen. A young man (who wasn’t as young as I thought…he was 30 years old), Angie’s supervisor, picked us up. He drove us to his father’s. We jumped into his father’s vehicle and the father drove us out in the country to a restaurant. We sat at an empty table and waited for the rest of the dinning party to arrive. The waiting party called the restaurant to tell us to start the meal without them. They would be arriving shortly.

The feast began. They brought out a small dish for us to sample then brought out another and another and another and another until we were stuffed. The first dish we had was a plate of raw meat. We didn’t know what it was at first. Angie said it could have been anything, including horse. She wasn’t sure if we were to eat it raw. Thankfully, they cooked it fondue style right before us. The meat ended up being beef which is very expensive. Then they brought out a dish of raw fish. This was meant to be to be eaten raw. Using our chop-sticks, we dipped the fish in a sauce then ate it. The sauce over powered the fish so it was like eating a thick cold chunk deli meat (short of). I wasn’t bad. Then they brought out a dish of squid. They took a live squid, cut the meat off the backbone, cut the meat into small strips, placed the meat back on to the squid, and served it. Just before I worked up enough nerves to try a bit a tentacle began to move. Other foods that we had where shrimp, pea pods, fried octopus, stuff I am unsure about, and all the drinks we wanted.

The food kept coming. They would have bought us anything we wanted. In the course of our conversation I told them that I like to eat beef when I am at home. Angie’s supervisor grabbed a menu immediately was willing to order me some. I would have said no otherwise but I was too full to eat anymore.

The meal was incredible and the company was even better. They knew enough English to carry a conversation. They we very warm, fun going, very gracious and very generous. The bill was over ¥20,000 which came up to about $200. They paid for everything. Actually, we think the school system that Angie works for paid the bill.

As if the meal were not enough they took us for Karaoke for 2 hours. They served us more food and more drinks. Angie started out the singing and it was only a matter of time until we all joined her. I think that’s the first time I have heard Brock sing. Angie said one of the men kept saying in Japanese, “This is great. There are three of them.” I guess he found our singing entertaining. It was fun singing with Angie. She sang harmony as I sung the melody (and attempted harmony at times). We ended up singing the gospel song “I’ll Fly Away”. Everybody clapped as if we where at a ol-country- ho-down. It was the best night of our trip by far.

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