Monday, February 26th  “Meditation”

The time of day I get most tired is between 4 and 5 pm.  I get really sleepy and I can’t stop yawning.  I think I go into rest mode because I finish my daytime classes at that time.  I can’t do anything productive at this time because my mind refuses to work.  I feel like my head is in a thick cloud.  Sometimes, I go for a walk outside to feel refreshed.  My student told me that taking a 10 min nap during the daytime is equal to sleeping 1 hour at night.  I would like to take a nap but I can’t because there’s nowhere I can lie down.  

My sister suggested that I meditate.  I don’t need to lie down and I can do it sitting on a chair.  The key to meditation is not to think about anything.  It’s really hard!!  I keep thinking of something.  Since it was hard, I bought Yoga music so I can keep my mind still.  I can do it better than before but today when I was meditating I wondered if I took my vitamin this morning.  I kept thinking and thinking about that until the Yoga music ended. I still can’t figure out if I took it or not.  It’s frustrating!!

yawning 「あくびをする。」

productive 「生産性があること。」

refuses 「拒否る。」

lie down 「横になる。」

suggested 「すすめる。」

meditate 「瞑想する」

Wednesday, February 28th   “Awesome Sushi Restaurant”

On Wednesday I have a day off from Master course so I have a chance to eat out.  Usually, during the weekdays, I’m always eating Bento at school both for lunch and dinner.  Although the Bento is healthy, I kind of get tired of eating it all the time.   That’s why I try to go to a restaurant that I’ve never been before.  

Today, I went to a Sushi restaurant in Higashi ward called Tombo.  It’s been 4 months since I last ate sushi at a sushi restaurant.  I heard about this place from a student a day before.  You can eat high-quality sushi at a reasonable price.  After class, I walked there.  It took about 15 minutes to get there.  The restaurant is really unique because there’s only a counter and you have to eat standing up.  Only about 6 customers can enter at one time.  I went there at 5 pm and there was only one customer.  On the counter, there are little plastic tags with names of Sushi on them.  The different color tells you the price.  You hand the plastic tags to the Sushi chef and he starts making the sushi.  

The sushi was amazing!!  I liked the Anago most of all.  It melted in my mouth.  On every sushi, there’s a bit of sweet sauce on them so you don’t need to put them in soy sauce.  You can really enjoy the flavor of the fish.  I really had a good time eating Sushi there.  I’ll definitely go there again.  I’m sure you’ll like it as well.  Check it out!

Saturday, March 4th  “Yakitori”

There are some foods that I really crave for.  On Saturday, I felt like eating Yakitori.  I didn’t want to go anywhere fancy or too crowded.  I found a perfect Yakitori restaurant in Nishiki.  There’s a counter inside the restaurant and it has a bunch of Oyaji eating by themselves.  I fit right in.  Ordering was also easy because I just ordered 「おまかせ」I think in English we say “chef’s choice”.  However, I regretted it later because the Oyaji next to me was eating all kinds of food that looked delicious.  I only had 12 skewered chicken.  Next time, I’ll get better at ordering.  

When I finished eating, one of the waitresses sat next to me and she started eating her Makanai dinner.  I was first surprised to see something like this in Japan.  In Japan, people always act professional and the boundary between staff and customer is very clear.   However, I liked the casualness of the place.  Later, she did something that surprised me.  As I was getting up, she took my oshibori and started wiping the table that I was sitting at, while she ate.  It made me laugh that she did not stop eating while she wiped the table!   She was a real professional after all.  I’ll definitely come back to this place again because I want to see this waitress wipe a table and eat at the same time again.

crave for   「すごく食べたくなる」

fit right in 「馴染む」

skewered chicken   「串に刺した焼き鳥」

boundary 「境界」

casualness  「砕けた態度」

after all 「結局」