Japan Day 2 Eve - Sukiyaki
Ok, this is my second blog of the day. It's gone midnight here and we have just returned from our evening with Sayaka's family. Present at the meal along with Sayaka, Mark and myself were Sayaka's Mum, Dad, Brother, Sister-in-Law, Nephew (3 1/2) and Niece (< 1 year):
The evening was very pleasant and lots of laughs were had - I did my best to remember my five Japanese phrases. Mark was kept busy doing his excellent translation between Japanese and English. Our meal was Sukayiki (see photos 1 and 2). To quote from Wikipedia, "It consists of thinly sliced beef and/or tofu slowly cooked or simmered at the table, alongside vegetables and other ingredients, in a shallow iron pot in a mixture of soy sauce, sugar and mirin. Before being eaten, the ingredients are usually dipped in a small bowl of raw, beaten eggs". Photo 3 shows Masaki adding the thinly sliced beef to the pot. To wash it down, we drank beer and sake (see photo 4 of Sayaka's Dad with sake bottles). Photograph 5 shows Mark giving a cuddle to Sayaka's little niece (Hana). Sayaka's Dad spent much of the evening walking backwards and forwards cuddling Hana and trying to get her to drop off to sleep. However, at one point I found myself wondering whether it would be Hana or Sayaka's Dad himself that would fall asleep first (he has a reputation for drinking and dozing and his eyes were drooping). Photograph 6 shows Sayaka's little nephew (3 year old, who speaks Japanese AND English, by the way) opening the box of desserts - waffles filled with various flavours from chocolate coffee through to strawberries and cream and mango and orange with cream. Very delicious indeed. After stuffing our faces (gee, I put that so eloquently) , Mark received an invite from two of his English speaking friends, Esdras and Yuzo, who invited us out for a quick drink. It was nice to meet them both, as they will be on my table for tomorrow's party. Ok, holy crap, I've just been shown a photo of a large black spider on Nonchan's phone... I recognised the carpet immediately - it is the same carpet that is underneath my futon (mattress on the floor). Apparently it was there earlier and she took a photo before putting it outside - Sayaka and Mark have just said that it is the first spider that they've EVER found inside the house. What a way to start your count - I hope it doesn't have a twin brother! Right, that's it from me. Tomorrow evening is Mark's big day where he has to stand up and give his speech to 40 people, in old Japanese, at their big celebration party. He is rather nervous, to say the least. I will be sitting on a table near the front, with Nonchan, Esdras and Yuzo and one other Japanese girl. I will be taking lots of photographs and will endeavour to post a few on here.As usual, feel free to leave your comments below...
NN
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