Japan: Day 6-14

Just one more post about Japan and then I'll be back to posting more CCC recipes! 

So for about a week or so I stayed with my first host family (I had two). They were amazing, and so much fun! Not only was their (very very) large house very inviting, but I had 5 siblings. 5! Amazing in Japan! While I was staying with them I attended Keio High School. It was a lot of fun, and I made so many new friends! My first night there, I went to an omatsuri or festival with my host sister. I even got to borrow one of their yukatas (summer version of a kimono).

See that gate behind us? Well that's actually her house! Yes, really, I'm not kidding. That's her gate for her house! At the festival there were so many people, and so many things to do! We played some games, like catching fish with a paper net (yes, it's do-able. I caught three :) ) or using rubber band guns to shoot down objects you want as your prize (no, I was not good at this...) Oh, and there was dancing!

I remember doing the same exact dance when I was little for Japanese class. I was really, really bad..and I still am! But it was a lot of fun, and I even tried a new candy. It's called mizu ame. Literally water candy. It was weird. The lady making it had huge pans of colored gel looking stuff, and she'd take a piece of fruit on a stick and roll it in the goo, slathering it using some sort of knife. Then she'd lay it on I think a block of ice with dents for the candy. It was really weird..but tasty! It melted the longer you held it, but it was definitely a strange thing. It tasted like sweet goo. Can you imagine that? Sorry I'm not the best describer. Have a picture instead!

My host family had the coolest fish tank. They had like 5 nemos (clown fish), a couple starfish, tons of blue fish, some other fish, shrimp, sea urchin, tons of cool creatures. :) Those are two (of my three) brothers. We're feeding the fish!

OMG! I almost forgot to write about the NINJA RESTAURANT! (Caps are for emphasis) Yes, it's seriously called the Ninja Restaurant, and they're in Akasaka, and..guess what?! They seriously have ninjas. Or at least everyone working at the restaurant looks like a ninja. When you walk in the door, you find yourself in this teeny tiny little room with what looks like no doors and stuff. But then, when the hostess calls out (in Japanese of course) all these doors open and your ushered into this dark passage. After a series of dimly lit moats, bridges, stairs, and passage ways with lots of smoke and steam, you finally arrive at your table. The presentation was amazing! Ninja crackers anyone?

Or how about some dessert? I know you want your own ice cream frog!

What do we have here? It looks like a gold coin, doesn't it?!

Well it's also....wait for it....an ice cream sandwich. No actually that's not the right name. It's THE BEST ICE CREAM SANDWICH, EVER!!!

Doesn't it just look so tasty! So decadent! So icy, creamy, and delicious! Well it was!!! Everything was so cool! When they served us our chickens, they first had an empty plate with only two little quail eggs, then, they poured some liquid flames on, and then, they put a cover over it. And BAM when they opened it there were two little roasted chickens!!! SO AMAZINGLY COOL! And probably one of my favorite meals!! I absolutely loved the desserts! But....I did have some pretty good musubis!

Ikura sake musubi anyone? It's ikura (salmon eggs) and sake (salmon) all wrapped up in to a delicious and oh so nutritious (it has protein..and carbs..and the nori counts as a veggie!) musubi. I had one (or sometimes two) of these for lunch at school. Nearby, actually just across the street, was a department store, and for lunch we had an hour to go to the depachika or any where really. Oh, depachika is what they call the basement of a department store. You know, the level with all the food...the level I mainly go to. Ikura is my all time favorite food. I know it's not a sweet, but it's just sooo tasty! The little bubbles of saltyness are like heaven! It's a party in your mouth! :)

Oh! I have to tell you about Sweets Forest. It's located in Jiyugaoka, and it's amazing. If you like sweets, then this is the place for you. It's a place that only sells sweets. This is me in front of the store.

Can't you just tell it's gonna be good? There were so many shops inside. You could buy ice cream, chocolate, souffles, cake, cookies, pastries! Shhh, don't tell, but I know the owner!!! My host sister and I went to Mix n Cream. It's like a cold stone but wayyyy better.

I know it doesn't look all that good, but trust me. It was delicious. Azuki + Kinako = <3! They had so many different toppings that are mixed in. My host sis got this really good looking one (idk why mine looks so weird..) and they were both amazingly tasty!

I'm the shorter one...haha

This is my host sis and me in front of mix n cream. Don't look at me like that! I'm channeling my inner Japanese! You wanna know what else I did? Fireworks!

This is one of my host brothers. He's 5. Isn't he cute?

This is me. I'm 15. Aren't I cute? I'm just kidding. Don't answer that.

3 Japanese boys and 2 "Hawaiian" Girls (my friend is on the right)

Oh! This is Venus Fort. It's a shoppers paradise! See all those bags in my hand?!!

A picture of my host family and me! (I'm the one in the purple). Lookit those shakas! My host family was super super nice!! I miss you! They made that week one of the most fun weeks I've ever had!