After an amazing trip to Australia (thanks Leslie, Ryanne, and Sierra!) I had a quick stop in Tokyo and the below picture pretty much sums up my experience there - I was totally clueless but had a great time!
Mukai-san, my colleague and friend from the Chicago office connected me with two colleagues in the the Tokyo office, Sho and Aya, who took me out for a culinary tour of Tokyo! No Japanese meal is complete without Sake right? And I learned that the traditional way to serve it is overflowing into the coasters below...
Meal number 1 was
Oden, a very traditional type of boiled food often served from street food carts. We went to a super tiny restaurant that consisted of a bar with about 10 seats.
Next stop was a small Ramen restaurant. We bought our tickets from this machine out front...
...then were handed cards where we constructed "make your own ramen" - each person got to choose the broth thickness, noodle crunchiness/softness, spiciness, amount of garlic, type of onion, and type of meat. Thanks to Aya and Sho's patient explanation, I constructed a delicious soup that I loved. I'm a little frighted to think what I would have ordered to myself if I had been on my own, though I probably wouldn't have made it past the vending machine of ramen options at the beginning ;-)
A huge thanks to my wonderful hosts Sho and Aya - we had a night filled with many laughs! I also learned a few new Japanese words, can't wait to try them out at the office when I get back!
My hotel came with a breakfast and I had the choice of English or Japanese style...with such a short trip I had to go for the Japanese style...Sho and Aya has "warned" me about the Natto, which is sticky, fermented soybeans that are typically served with rice and have a very distinctive taste. They were right, it is different and I am glad I had the tip to eat them with the rice, but overall I was a fan.
Stay tuned for Beijing and Shanghai!
Mukai-san, my colleague and friend from the Chicago office connected me with two colleagues in the the Tokyo office, Sho and Aya, who took me out for a culinary tour of Tokyo! No Japanese meal is complete without Sake right? And I learned that the traditional way to serve it is overflowing into the coasters below...
Meal number 1 was Oden, a very traditional type of boiled food often served from street food carts. We went to a super tiny restaurant that consisted of a bar with about 10 seats. 
Next stop was a small Ramen restaurant. We bought our tickets from this machine out front...
...then were handed cards where we constructed "make your own ramen" - each person got to choose the broth thickness, noodle crunchiness/softness, spiciness, amount of garlic, type of onion, and type of meat. Thanks to Aya and Sho's patient explanation, I constructed a delicious soup that I loved. I'm a little frighted to think what I would have ordered to myself if I had been on my own, though I probably wouldn't have made it past the vending machine of ramen options at the beginning ;-)
A huge thanks to my wonderful hosts Sho and Aya - we had a night filled with many laughs! I also learned a few new Japanese words, can't wait to try them out at the office when I get back!
My hotel came with a breakfast and I had the choice of English or Japanese style...with such a short trip I had to go for the Japanese style...Sho and Aya has "warned" me about the Natto, which is sticky, fermented soybeans that are typically served with rice and have a very distinctive taste. They were right, it is different and I am glad I had the tip to eat them with the rice, but overall I was a fan.
Stay tuned for Beijing and Shanghai!
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