Culture! and um, Saki.

We have become very cultured over the past few days in Tokyo! Yesterday, we headed to an exhibit at The National Art Center (in Roppongi.) We saw lots of beautiful paintings and Tucker took tons of pictures. (To be posted soon.) The building itself was completely amazing...some of the most modern and funky architecture we have seen since we got to Japan.

After that, we went in search of some real deal local cuisine. After getting lost in circles in Roppngi for an hour, we finally found a tiny little restaurant. We were very confused at first as to what the man was saying to us as we entered. He kept saying what sounded like "Sit! Sit!" but he was pointing outside. Finally, we realized that the way this worked was this: you choose what you want to eat from this little vending machine. You pick your meal and hit the button, and it spits out a ticket - and then you hand the order ticket to the man. Apparently, this is common procedure during busy times in Japanese restaurants...so they don't need to hire a waiter to take your order etc. We thought it was really peculiar, though, in this situation - as we were the only people in the place besides the man and the chef! Ah, well. We had fried rice and noodle bowls. (Will, I took a photo of the food just for you!) It was delish.

Last night, we went out and stayed up past 8pm for the first time in forever! We met up with Ayako and Makiko, friends of my friend Matt Z. It was such a relief to go out with people who spoke English! We had such a great time. Not only did we get to go to a super awesome restaurant ("Izakaya") that we never would have found if we weren't with locals, but we didn't have to worry about the language barrier. By the way - they have a button on the table that you press- and a waiter appears! How awesome is that?? You never have to wait. Ayako and Makiko took good care of us and ordered so much good food. Then... the saki began. I have never seen nor drank so much saki before - but it was really good! I actually can say that I can taste the difference between different kinds.

First we drank Japanese sake - the typical kind.
Next one was Shochu. (slightly stronger but really good)
And we finished with a sweet one, called Ume-shu (Sake with Plum)

After getting a bit tipsy, we walked around Shinjuku and stopped to play a video game! We will post video soon.

This afternoon (Friday), we continued with Culture... by attending some real Kobuki theater at Kobuki-za in Ginza. The sets were amazing and the costumes and makeup were all really beautiful and detailed. The story was sort of confusing- even with the English translation in our ears - but we both really enjoyed the show. The one thing we are treally curious about was this: throughout the show - audience members would shout randomly. Something like "hiyabaya!" We didn't know why they shouted, or when...or what it meant. It seemed to me to be something like "Bravo!" but I'm not really sure. In any case, it seemed so special to be seeing this traditional Japanese art form - right in Japan. I felt lucky for sure.

My comments of the day:
- I'm concerned about what other countries think of the U.S...and of Americans. Our lack of our own cultural identity made me almost sad and embarassed, when discussing it with our Japanese friends.
- The Japanese seem to make really good use of everything; there is little waste. Paper, space...nothing. They recycle everything. Its really admirable.
- We love Japan. Its our home right now! We are slightly sad and nervous to leave for China next weekend!
- Tomorrow we head to Mt. Fuji...and after that to Kyoto (Boston's sister city! How is THAT for a fun fact?)

Thank you for reading. We love your comments and messages!