Japanese Food Bites: Indulging in the Taste of Summer

Hello everyone, it’s Rachel again! After our peaceful and travel-hectic “five-bender” (as Jo coined it), we touched base in Kyoto after two trains, a Shinkansen and Thunderbird, in the morning from Fukui. Everyone must be relieved to have a break from dragging their luggage from one hotel to another the past couple of days. Despite the luggage workout and my personal respiratory issues from an unfortunate cold, I would happily do it again. The countryside was a beautiful contrast from the vibrant city life of Tokyo – it really felt like I was going at my own pace instead of getting carried away in the endless bustle of the city.

After arriving at Tune Kyoto to drop off our luggage, we were released to roam about in Kyoto until 5:30 PM for class. Being a matcha lover, I opted to join in on an Ogawa Cafe adventure and scope out the shopping scene. The journey took longer than expected since the Kyoto station was not only a transportation hub, but home to hundreds of shops and restaurants lining multiple floors. It has been awhile since I had Ogawa matcha from the Boston branch, so I was looking forward to a taste of familiarity in a foreign country. Distracted by the hustle of the cafe, it was too late when I realized my matcha latte was a lightly sweetened iced latte instead. Since I’m the type of girl who loves her 98% cream and sugar and 2% coffee ratio, I told myself to just roll with it and continue on with life.

The shopping scene at the AEON Mall was a little lackluster in styles compared to the diverse fashion at Laforet in Harujuku, Tokyo. Not my best shopping endeavor to say the least but then again since when was Kyoto known for its fashion scene? I did end up trying two matcha lattes from chains which were both leaning towards the chalkier side. On a brighter note, my excitement for the Uji Tea Farm on Friday has been simmering since the start of the dialogue. 

As I strolled back to the hotel, the handful of familiar roads, shops, and vending machines made me happy to visit Kyoto again. I spent about two days in Kyoto with a close friend who has always painted my world with manic laughter, mutual silly bickering, and thoughtful conversations. It is a bit of a mystery how my brain can attach such a strong emotional attachment to physical settings in a short amount of time. That feeling of familiarity warms my heart a little too much – to the point that I don’t even care about my mediocre start in Kyoto today. If my friend knew I wrote about her like this, she would gloat with a smug smile at me for months on end. Also, I wonder if I’ll feel the same way about Tokyo when I come back again after this Dialogue because I’ve already exchanged teasing smiles, entirely new experiences, and unique memories with such a quirky group of people who love and respect food as much as I do. 

While checking my What’s App notifications in the dialogue group chat, I looked to see that Professor Ito and Professor Young enjoyed their lunch at a “fast food” shop near the hotel. The picture looked like anything but the fast food I had imagined in my head – it looked far too delicious for that label. 

We all trekked over to class at 5:30 PM after our afternoon adventures. It was nice having a formal sit-down lecture that resembles the classic routine that I am used to as a student. Specifically for this dialogue, I do appreciate the mix of classroom lectures and explorative activities that match up with the lectures! For me, it serves as another way to reinforce topics while savoring my time in Japan.

For dinner, I ended up at an izakaya eating an omakase (chef’s choice) of five different types of yakitori. The most memorable one was the skewer with chicken tail meat because of its tenderness and juiciness with the right amount of crispiness. To be honest, my tastebuds are not in peak condition lately because I burned my tongue on hot tea the other morning and due to mild sinus blockage. In fact, my eyes were devouring the yakitori more than my tastebuds. The yakitori came in different shades depending on the cut and amount of browning. The wings, in particular, gave off the aura of being intensely smoky from the small charred bits blended with the golden crust from the skin. An absolute visual stunner but a little too salty – at least that was what my impaired senses were telling me. Overall, I could not ever go wrong with a izakaya dinner. Back at the hotel, I settled myself in with a head-empty cliche webtoon before dreaming off later while my roommate dozed off watching Crazy Rich Asians.

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