The party was organized by our intrepid leader Leon and it was well attended with both foreigners and Japanese. We grilled all kinds of things on two charcoal grills. The food was awesome, but I feel a little smokey. I took a few photos, but missed all the best parts of the party.
The most memorable parts of the Hanami party, in no particular order were:
1-The local Yakuza club next to our picnic spot. We later learned after we ran to get out of the rain that they have been having their Hanami party at the spot we were using for 20 years and were not happy to have it taken from them by a bunch of foreigners.
2-There was a drunk American at the party who managed to blend profanity, belligerence and flirting in a way that brought me to a new low view of Americans everywhere.
3-We taught Leon about the magic of Tim Tams and tea. The back story behind this is first you have to understand that Leon is from New Zealand. I went to New Zealand several years ago I learned about Tim Tams and tea. Tim Tams are a cookie, or as they say "biscuit," that can be made into a straw. The trick is to have hot tea or coffee. You bite off both ends of the Tim Tam and suck the hot liquid up through it. The hot liquid melts the chocolate and infuses it with the tea or coffee flavors. Once the cookie is starting to melt you have to shove the whole thing in your mouth right away. It is messy and totally delicious. According to Wikipedia this is called the Tim Tam Slam. Anyway I could not believe that there could be an actual New Zealander who doesn't know this trick.
4-And last but certainly not least there was the TV crew from NHC who wanted to interview us. They started out very politely asking who we were and what we were doing. Then they asked why we were breaking the law. We had (unknowingly because I can't read Japanese) set up our barbecue right behind a sign that said no fires.
We made new friends and tried new foods. Tripe is actually pretty tasty, I was surprised to learn. The little fishes that we grilled, photos at the bottom, were tasty and not as bony as you might think.
That's all for now,
-Kyle (and Bre)
I know you were behind the camera - but will Bre eat just about anything?
ReplyDeleteenjoying your posts immensely, not having been NZ OR Japan!
Yes, Bre will eat just about anything. She draws the line at things that are not food... though I think this just means that she won't eat anything that will give her an upset stomach. Bre is much more adventurous than I.
ReplyDeleteKyle ate the fish too. It was tasty. (from Bre)
ReplyDeleteaaaaah, Tim Tams and tea! I had to practice for a while but finally got it, the way to snork the tea up through the cookie layers...yummmm!
ReplyDeleteMom