Food. Friends. Fun.

On Saturday,  Aaron and I had made plans with several friends.  First, we met up with Nobuko and her husband at Yumi's family soba shop.  It's a plan we've been trying to set for several months, ever since Yumi opened up her shop.  Finally, FINALLY we were able to do it.

First, we had to wait for Aaron to get out of work.  He had to work late this weekend because of Christmas preparations.  We didn't get going until around 3pm.  We tried to dial in the address to our GPS, but it just took us in circles.  Once we got to the general area, we stopped at a convenience store and asked the poor high school kid working to give us some directions.  The guy was really helpful and told us exact directions in how to get there.  While in the convenience store, I took the opportunity to buy a snack.  Some cheese crackers!  That was my breakfast!  I'd been waiting all day to eat at Yumi's shop and now we were super late!  But, thanks to that high school kid's help, we found the place.  His directions were perfect.

Yumi taking Nobuko's order.

When we got there, we were surprised by how small it was.  I knew from pictures that it was going to be small, but once we stepped foot inside, we got a better idea of just how small it was.  It was only big enough to sit about 8 people at a time.  With Nobuko and her husband, we took up half the entire restaurant.  Aaron and I sat at the counter on these tiny little wooden stools.  Since, it was pretty cramped and there was already a family sitting inside, we waited for a while before we got our food.  We were able to make some small talk while we were waiting for our food.  Poor Yumi and her family were slaving away!

Once we finally got our food, the wait was worth it!  It was delicious!  I normally don't care for soba because it's quite bland.  But they mixed their soup with some chicken broth and it tasted so good!  I ordered the cold soba, but it probably would've tasted even better hot.  Aaron got the same thing I did and he loved it too.  He said it was the best soba he's eaten!  Plus, they gave us some free dessert.  Some azuki bean bricks (I don't know what they're really called) and persimmons.  After all their other customers left, we all sat around and talked story.  We ended up staying for quite some time.  When we checked the clock, it was already 6:40 pm!  We had to go or else we'd be late for our next plan.

Soba with chicken! Yum!

Before we headed out the door, Yumi gave me one of her homemade charms.  It was worth $5, but she gave me it for free.  It was a little charm made from a 100 year-old kimono.  At least that's what she said.  When she said that I thought it was so cool.  I tried to hand her 500 yen to pay for it, but she refused.  They then ushered us out of their parking lot and waved goodbye.

Next up, we had dinner!  Luckily, our dinner place was just around the corner from Yumi's restaurant.  We couldn't believe how close and convenient it had all turned out.  After only about a 5 minute drive, we were at the restaurant.  When we got there, Natsuho had just arrived too.  Not long after, Manami Suzuki and her friend Ayano came in.  We were all there.  The place was a Korean restaurant that was owned by a Korean lady.  Manami had been there before and recommended we try it out.

The huge blocks of meat, with a little cup to catch all the oil.  By the end of the night that little cup was filled up to the top!  It was pretty gross.

We all ordered whatever we wanted, but Manami ordered a big chunk of meat for all of us.  Literally.  A huge chunk of meat.  We couldn't believe how much meat they gave us.  They fried it right in front of us as we ate chijime, sundub, and other Korean dishes.  Of course, Aaron had to order a bowl of bibim naengmyeon.

Natsuho ordered a big glass of beer and afterwards some kind of rice wine that they served in a bowl.  He passed it around and we all tried it.  It was quite interesting.  It seemed that Natsuho enjoyed himself and we had a good time talking to everyone.  The Korean lady who owned the place was really a crazy lady.  She talked to everyone and was pretty wacky.  I'm not sure but she either called me fat or was checking me out.  She told me I had much volume while making a shapely figure with her hands and then she said that I had a small face.  I didn't really know how to take it.  She also said I was short.  She also seemed to like Aaron since he has a Korean connection.  I don't know what she said to him but she kept feeding him like he was her son.  It was quite a strange but funny experience.

At the end, the Korean lady made us a kimchee fried rice with cheese.  It was pretty cool to watch her.  It turned out to be the most delicious thing we'd eaten all night.  I think I might even have to make that for myself one day.

Unfortunately, Aaron had rented out his school's van for the day and he needed to get it back by a certain time.  So we had to say goodnight far too early.  When we finally got home, we were stuffed!  It was a strange day for my stomach.  I spent the first half dying from starvation, then the next several hours eating non-stop!

Our three friends: Manami, Ayano & Natsuho.  All eating the yummy, cheesy kimchee fried rice.

But overall, it was a fun day with great food.  Aaron was very happy and it was like having a life again.  Lol, I agree.  It's nice to have some sort of social life and not feel like a mindless working robot.  As for me, it was my last day of food happiness.  The next day would be the start of my 3-week-long Daniel Fast.  I guess this was my Fat Tuesday.  Yup, very fat.