Sushi Go-Round and Standing Out in the Crowd
After our “march or die” tour of Yokohama, and time back at
our hotel to ice my knee, Zack took us
to a “sushi-go-round” for dinner.
Also known as a sushi train or conveyor belt sushi, dishes
traverse the restaurant from a central preparation area on something similar to
a small airport baggage carousel. There is (or was) a small restaurant of this
type on Franklin Street, so I had been exposed to this idea on a smaller scale.
But in typical Japanese fashion, this restaurant exceeded expectations.
In general, I was intrigued by the use of technology,
including the electronic map of unoccupied toilets in the Tokyo Train Station.
This time, the technology was in the small ordering interface on each table.
The small computer screen boasted a multiscreen menu and was available in
Japanese or (a somewhat questionable) translation into English. Orders were
placed and shortly thereafter you were notified when your dish was on its way
on the conveyer belt, tagged with your table number. There were other dishes
available as well, untagged and available if you had a hankering.
It was a great way to sample a variety of dishes. I expanded
my appreciation for nigiri (raw fish sushi) and sampled eel for the first time.
Nat was bold enough to try pickled eggplant, but his response was not unlike
Mary Frances’ watermelon rind pickle reaction at our favorite BBQ joint. It was
fun and easy to share dishes. Each table was equipped with hot water and green
tea. When we signaled the waitress that
we were finished, she brought out a ruler of sorts and measured the stacks of
empty dishes we had generated and charged us accordingly. We cleared a
respectable number of plates!
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| Making Green Tea |
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| Sushi Go-Round |
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| Pickled Eggplant |
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| Damage Count |
Our final morning in Yokohama, after breakfast at MacDonald’s,
we visited Chinatown, the largest in Japan. It was within easy walking distance
of our hotel. One moment you are on a typical, calm, Japanese street and
suddenly you find yourself in an explosion of color, noise, and movement! Restaurants
stretched in a seemingly endless march fronted by hawkers imploring you to eat
within. The air was filled with the scents of simmering dumplings, roasted
chestnuts, and sizzling dishes. Colorful “fake” food adorned each entrance. In
between the restaurants were scads of shops with Chinese gifts – including lots
of pandas. The entrance to one store was a panda’s open mouth!
Sidewalks were filled with groups of high school aged
students dressed in traditional school uniforms of tartan and navy. They bore
the universal look of teenagers happy to be out of the classroom. And the
preschoolers! Adorable! Classes were clustered around their teachers, each
class wearing matching caps. And universally, the students were well-behaved
and orderly.
One group of teenage girls caught sight of our little party,
winding single file through the crowds. Lilly had dropped back to keep me
company near the end of our queue and she spotted them first, eyeballing Earle
and the boys ahead of us, who stood out in the crowd, heads above everyone
else. One pair of girls giggled behind their raised hands obviously watching
them. One of them then caught our eye, smiled widely, waved, and shyly called
out “Hello!” We were indeed a rarity in Yokohama; I saw only 4 other westerners
in the 48 hours we spent there!
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| Entrance to Chinatown |
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| Fortune Telling |
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| School girls |
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| Pandas! |
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| THE CUTENESS! |
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We also stopped by a small temple that enshrines deity Kwan
Tai who was a general in an ancient Chinese army around 200 AD. He is worshiped for his military agility and
virtues, including integrity and loyalty. It was surprising to find this small,
quiet temple in the heart of Chinatown. Its rich golds, reds, and guardian
lions (foo dogs to westerners) were a haven of serenity the midst of business,
barkers, and crowds.
Soon we found ourselves retracing our steps and slipping out
of Chinatown, as magically as we entered. We collected our suitcases, which
were stashed in Zack’s apartment, and began our journey to Tokyo.
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