Hanami Party!

04/06/09 MONDAY

For brunch, we had tsukenmen (dipped noodles). This one 

neighborhood place is supposed to be well known for it's spicy sauce that you dip your noodles into. I'm pretty

 sure we ordered the wrong thing because it wasn't spicy at all. It was still good, but we will surely go again with someone to help guide us with the menu.

   After brunch, we went back to J-Hoppers Hostel to help the staff prepare for the hanami party. We learned how to make onigiri, karage, japanese potatoes, and other side dishes that are commonly made. The staff at J-Hoppers invited all of us to join them in Hiroshima Peace Park for a Hanami Party.  They provided all the food and it was bring your own beverage. A Hanami Party is basically a nice picnic under the cherry blossom trees. It was awesome!  We met some great people from around the world - Scotland, Australia, Japan, and England. And as usual, Elgin enjoyed eating and drinking, and then fell asleep. It was one of the most memorable picnics yet!

 

We were probably the most international looking group having a Hanami Party in the park. So many people would stare at us because we had Caucasians and an African-American. In fact, we were so intrigueing to some of the Japanese people walking by that they wanted to take pictures with us. Some just inconspicuously took pictures of us from behind trees. Some would stop to say hello and practice their English. What I did find interesting was the lady next to us sitting on a huge blue tarp surrounded by some of the largest cherry blossom trees. She had the largest space saved and she was all by herself. She was by herself when we got there, and still by herself when we left. I asked one of the staff what she was doing. They said that most likely she was a freshman of her company and they usually make the freshman wait outside for the perfect spot all day until everyone gets off work. She could have been there for over 8 hours already and no one was there yet. Oh my! Could that be considered hazing? ;P

For dinner, we decided to have a Takoyaki party since we were having fun together and wanted to learn how to make takoyaki. Masa and Satoki , most helpful staff from J-Hoppers, showed us how to make everything from start to finish. I'm going to have a takoyaki party when we get home!

After dinner, Masa took us to a local restaurant that served Izakaya. Finally, Elgin found someone to read a menu for him :) We had stomach intestine and some eggplant parmesan dish.