Summers are for adventuring...and now that I get to call Japan home, I've been doing just that.
SO...THE OTHER DAY I ATE MEXICAN FOOD. But wait one second...before that, I ate this really good little apple pie as a snack.
Okay so let's talk about this MEXICAN FOOD...
Here in Japan, people glorify Taco Bell which we all know isn't "real" mexican food, so I was more than stoked to actually get a taste of the real deal.
The restaurant we (me and three homies) went to is right next to Hiro-o station and is called LA JOLLA which is so ironic considering I have spent a lot of time in San Diego and La Jolla with two of my best friends from college...so it was meant to be!
OKAY...DRUMROLL...
GUACAMOLEEEEEEEE AND STUFFED JALAPENOS!!! I ALMOST CRIED. THE GUAC WAS SO GOOD AND LEGIT. AND THE CHIPS WERE LIKE REAL SALTY, THIN, DELICIOUSSSS CHIPS. Lets all remember that I had a Mexican themed going away party a year ago because I knew I would miss it...so this was heaven
We split a chicken quesadilla. It was amazing.
Steph got this beautiful chimichanga which was really really good. Love how they make the sour cream look like frosting lol.
OKAY. THIS. THIS PLATE OF FOOD. I knew that I needed to order rice and beans. I am a rice and beans person (shout out to my Gulu peeps) so I was so happy to be eating this plate. Chili Verde enchilada too!
The restaurant had a California vibe with maps of SD and the USA all over, and a bunch of signed papers from famous people. Right behind us was Earth Wind and Fire haha!
So after our amazing dinner (highly recommend to anyone in Tokyo)...we walked towards Roppongi area and stopped by this international super market where we found...
H A W A I I A N S U N! Praise the Lord. I grew up on this stuff and it is not commonly found in Japan so I bought one for everyone haha. Lilikoi passion is the best and we drank them while walking over to roppongi hills, in perfect summer weather, playing a little bit of Pokemon go...
Our last stop was the Tsutaya + Starbucks near roppongi hills. Japanese people love love love chillin at starbucks and this one was one of the coolest I have been in!
I already love Tokyo. But now that I know there exists a real Mexican food restaurant in Tokyo...I may never leaaaaveeee!! (jk mom)
Ok now on to Sunday...
I finally got to spend time with Sayaka who is like a sister to me since she spent a lot of time with my family earlier this year when she interned in Torrance. We met up at Lalaport Tokyo bay after church for shopping and dinner!
We were unintentionally matching, and had a really good thai dinner at Monsoon. yummmm. I love Sayakas sweet spirit and her down to earth sense of humor...for example, when we go out to eat we always end up ordering a bunch of things like "oh hey wanna get fries and a salad too...and maybe smoothies?" hahaa love her!
I also got suckered into buying candy from Sweet Factory because it reminded me of home...but what I didn't realize was that this bag would cost $10. NOOOOOWHYY???
MONDAY
Since it is summer here, Steph and I don't teach classes...but we still have to come to school. Basically, we can come in anytime and leave around 3ish. We spend the day planning for next semester or meeting with students to practice for upcoming speech contests. On Monday we didn't have much to do in the afternoon so we left a bit early and went to the nearest mall so steph could buy Birks, which she has been wanting for a while. Before we went I literally said "Steph, don't let me buy any. I already have two pairs." But WHAT DO YOU KNOW....they had a sale and I accidentally bought a pair of blue ones. haha oops! Also, we had Komeda coffee's really good pancake/croissant ice cream snack thingie that was so good.
TUESDAY
Tuesday was such a fun day. My fellow coworker and I held a small English Summer Camp for local kids who are interested. Japanese high schools often offer summer lessons to the public just for fun and for the school to get more exposure. So Tuesday we hosted a 2 hour little camp and had 6 cute kids!
We played a lot of number games, gave them silly bandz, practiced self introductions, ate snacks, and had the best time.
Little Riho was so cute! She is only 7 but speaks English really well because, as I learned from her mother, she watches Disney Channel! I guess that's the ticket folks..because this girl was amazing. Our conversation went something like this
"So what do you want to be when you grow up?"
"Oh, I haven't decided yet. But I like baseball. I play catch with my dad and I love English"
amazing!
My coworkers son, Kai, is one of my favorite little kids and he came to the summer camp with his classmate Tadakatsu. They were really fun to hang out with and after camp we had a little party eating eclairs in the English Office.
After a busy day at work, Steph and I met up with our Mexican Crew (as in the homies we went to eat mexican food with haha) and we grubbed some amazing ramen. I got the tsukemen dipping noodles with a really good spicy shoyu broth. yummm. Then, we stopped by Lawsons where I got this pineapple horoyoi drink which contains 3% alc but really tastes like juice!! So refreshing, and the only alcohol I am willing to consume. After dinner and a snack, we all went to go play pool which is our new hobby haha! Perfect summer day.
WEDNESDAY
Liane, who is a former ELT at Ichikashi and a dear family friend, came to school to pick Steph and I up for lunch. She jokingly said she hijacked us (since we are technically "working") but she knows our Vice Principals so they were cool with it. She brought along her daughter, Mina, who is teeny tiny and the cutest little disney princess.
Love this little girl!
Liane drove us to eat lunch at a really good Okonomiyaki place. We ordered the "ladies set" which came with salad, soup, a small okonomiyaki, yakisoba, two meat wraps, all-you-can-drink-bar, and icecream!! All for ￥1000 aka $10! At the drink bar I got Melon soda + Calpis which made for the weirdest color of drink...but it tasted great.
Well folks, this summer is off to a great start. I have the month of August to adventure around some more before school starts back up in September. The weather recently has been really nice...a bit overcast and not too humid...but I know the heat is coming!