Sunday--to Shinjuku

One of my students, Ayako, took me out to Shinjuku, another area here in Tokyo. These areas are shopping areas (malls, departments stores, small shops and boutiques, restaurants, etc) based around a major train and subway station. Like Shibuya, it looked like stereotypical Tokyo. Lots of people, walkways at different levels, neon signs, American and Japanese stores, and big television screens.

The first thing we did in Shinjuku was stop in a small restaurant that serves Onigiri, rice balls, for lunch. A rice ball is white rice packed around a small filling. This can be anything from wasabi and fish or vegetables, tuna and mayonnaise, caviar, salmon, chicken, etc. The rice ball (often a pyramid or triangle shape) is then wrapped in seaweed or kelp. Ayako and I split two rice balls , one salmon and one chicken, and each had vegetables and miso soup. (We chose simple and unintimidating flavors for my first two. They were both very good, but the salmon was fantastic!)

Ayako chose to take me to Shinjuku specifically for an enormous book store there, Kinokuniya. I, of course, could not help but buy something. Or three somethings. Full story from inside the store in my book-lover blog. On the way to the store, a guy from Texas (we never caught his name) was relieved to hear us speaking in English, or so he confessed when he surprised us to ask for directions to the very store we were headed to. On the way we talked to him a little. He is also here to teach, but elementary school. He knows a bit more about the train/subway system than I do: he has to take the train an hour and a half to school everyday. I am very lucky to be able to walk! He is also out in the blogging world, but not with my zeal/obssession, it seems.

The next thing I did was get gelato. I never thought it would be so easy to find italian ice cream in Tokyo, but there it was!

After talking so much about food with Ayako, a passion of each of ours it seems, I revealed how much I miss cheese. (Being fairly new here, the kinds I am used to are not readily available here.) She took me to a cheese specialty counter at a department store, but I still didn't find any American styles of cheese. . . it's all European or Australian . . . the only American cheeses -- at the specialty counter--were low-fat cream cheese, cream cheese, and pepperjack. . . even the cheddar they have is "British red cheddar" just like my local grocery store :-( . Oh well, I'll make due on a low cheese diet for 10 months.

Despite the cheese dissappointment, I had a great time in Shinjuku. I'm sure I will go back many times. For gelato and books.