Day 3/4 [Tokyo]: Kagurazaka Festival!
Standing Sushi
A standing sushi bar, where you stand at the counter and the chef serves you sushi. The was a wide variety of sushi, and the chef would make them in front of you. My favourite was the unagi (eel) sushi.
Akiba dolls
Shabu Shabu
Japanese shabu shabu is different to Chinese hotpot in many ways.
- Instead of adding water to a soup base, shabu shabu soup is premade.
- In shabu shabu, you grab a piece of meat and hold it in the soup, and swirl it around to cook it before eating it. It cooks quickly because of how things the slices of meat are.
- For the vegetables, after cooking them dip them in a raw egg for that additional flavour.
- To top up the soup, you say “だしのおかわりをください” or dashino okawariwo kudasai.
Tsukishima Monjayaki
An interesting experience. The chef told us that it was "downtown" food and not well known. In fact in Tokyo, many people have not heard of monjayaki or tried it. The chef made it for us once, and we made it ourselves the second time. To eat the monjayaki, to have to use mini spatulas to scrape it off, while being careful not to roll it up as monjayaki is meant to be thin and crispy.
Fake Europe?! Venus Fort, Odaiba
Miraikan (Future museum)
Kagurazaka Festival （神楽坂まつり）
Mizuame
A delicious treat with red bean paste inside.
Grapefruit Drink
The chef drilled a hole in the grapefruit and added juice to it.
Aomori traditional dance. This involved a drummer who provides the beat while singing, and dancers moving around while moving their hands, as if to copy a rivers movements. This was performed by students from Aomori.
Taiko drums
Amazing performance! The first time I've seen a cymbal solo.
Enka
The singer Matsunaga Hitomi was really entertaining! She sang Enka while interacting with the crowd in between songs. She also holds a small clapping instrument in her hands to produce a clapping sound during her performance.
Autograph from the singer, Matsunaga Hitomi.
