Sendai, Tea Ceremony, Fukushima & more!

Okay, so here are the rest of the pictures. There are more of shrines and places in Fukushima, but there are also some of my trip to Sendai. Last Monday Kaori and I took the bus to Sendai, about an hour trip, and met up with Ayako. Sendai is known for its specialty in preparing the delicacy of gyu-tan (cow tongue), so of course I had to try it. The flavor was actually pretty good, but the texture was a little chewy. They slice the meat pretty thin, so I guess it's like eating any other part of a cow. Later we did some shopping in a huge walkway or covered outdoor mall. I bought some cute shoes, a spring coat, some earrings, a Japanese culture book, and a pretty wind chime for summer. I also got to have Starbucks! In Japan it seems that the measure of how cool a city is depends on the number of Starbucks it has. For example, Sendai has three, Fukushima has zero. In fact, someone from Fukushima asked Starbucks to open a cafe here, but Starbucks declined saying that there weren't enough young people or commuters. It's also really hard to get a good cup of coffee here, especially one made with soy milk (as odd as it sounds, but even though plenty of people here drink soy milk on its on, they don't make coffee with it) so I was really excited to sit down with my white and green cup and sip on my soy mocha.

Later that night we took a short train to Ayako's aunt's house. She teaches the art of tea ceremony and was kind enough to perform one for us. She has a traditional Japanese style house, and it was so amazing to take part in such an old and disciplined custom. There are all kinds of rules like how many steps you have to make on one tatami mat, and how many times and at what angles to turn your tea cup. The tea used in a ceremony is different too. It's made from a powder and tastes much thicker and almost chalky compared to other green teas I've had. While Ayako's aunt was making the tea, we got to eat some really delicious and colorful sweets. I had an amazing time, and now I'm thinking of maybe learning how to perform a tea ceremony.

Well, it's getting late here so that's all for tonight. Enjoy the pictures!