A new era begins on Tuesday of this week. E begins preschool, M begins daycare full-time, and I begin Japanese lessons. I am taking a course provided by the Shibuya ward, and it is subsidized. I didn't realize the extent of subsidization until I received an email asking for payment in the amount of $30, which also covers textbook and materials. We meet for two hours every week for ten weeks. What a bargain.
Although people can get by in Tokyo not understanding Japanese, it is definitely limiting. You can't properly read a receipt. You can't eavesdrop on neighboring conversations. You can't fully appreciate your surroundings. I have heard that the course is not easy, so I am hoping to 1) be able to communicate and understand basic phrases and 2) not fail the course.
On the flip side of things, I am a little worried about M's English development. She is attending a Japanese daycare and interacts mostly in Japanese at home. Her English exposure is limited to listening to her parents speak English. I speak to her in Mandarin. She will likely follow her older sister to the English-speaking international school in a couple of years and will eventually need English fluency.
E, on the other hand, will be immersed in an English speaking environment at school and so will need Japanese at home. Our goal is to help both kids develop fluency in all the languages we can speak. Of course this is unnecessary but this is a critical age for language development, and it is much easier to learn it now than later, so we are trying our best to make the most of their exposure to our respective languages.
It is Sunday here in Tokyo. We have been eating out a lot this weekend. I like cooking but am still trying to find my footing in the kitchen with a new stove and different ingredients.
Since groceries are generally expensive and restaurants relatively inexpensive, there is a strong incentive to eat out. Moreover, restaurant and takeaway food, though it obviously depends on what you eat, can also be quite healthy and nutritionally comparable to home cooking. Plus, there are so many good restaurants to try.
On Friday we go to a tonkatsu restaurant. In Japan, restaurants typically specialize in one type of food. Tonkatsu is fried pork cutlets served with finely shredded cabbage, rice, and miso soup. The restaurant we went to also had a vegetable variation that consists of veggies wrapped and fried in yuba (tofu skin). There are three sauces on the side: a yuzu dressing for the cabbage, a bolder sauce for the tonkatsu, and a sweeter milder sauce for the tonkatsu. The bolder sauce says spicy, but it is not even a little bit spicy. You also get a bowl of sesame seeds which you grind yourself and incorporate into the dressing for a thicker, richer sauce.
Shredded cabbage is bottomless, and I ask for two refills. I have to get my vegetables in when I can. A common and convenient feature of Japanese restaurants is having baskets to place your belongings, such as purses, scarves, and coats.
We also ate ramen this weekend. Most ramen shops have bar seating. Customers are in and out quickly - you are not suppose to linger. However, there are a few ramen shops that also have more family-friendly table seating. There is one near our apartment that serves creative versions of traditional ramen. They have a mapo tofu ramen, flavored like the spicy Sichuanese dish and full of chilis. There is a creamy spicy ramen that uses emulsified hazelnuts in its broth. I ordered this last time, and it was very delicious. This time, I ordered the tomato ramen, which is not at all spicy and tasted a bit like gazpacho. It was also very delicious, though definitely not your typical Japanese ramen.
This place uses relatively thick noodles. It works well because the broths are so thick and rich. I order E a half portion of the salt ramen, which has a chicken soup flavor and is exploding with umami.
This morning, we went to Yoyogi Park to enjoy the nice spring weather and get a bit of exercise to balance out all the eating. After some walking and playing in the park, we went to a nearby cafe near the park for coffee.
I noticed that amazing coffee is easy to find in Tokyo. Coffee shops have a very artisanal approach, often letting customers choose beans from their origin of choice and then grinding the beans right before making the coffee. Pour-over coffees are the most popular. It comes at a price, as making pour-over coffee is slow and labor intensive, especially if you are grinding beans on the spot. These types of coffee range from $4 to $8 for a standard size (small) cup. These coffees are considered more a source of pleasure and less a performance enhancement substance. But you can also get your cheap, utilitarian coffee from convenience stores and vending machines.
Time to head home. The crowds in Tokyo are unbelievable on the weekends, and this is without the usual tourism. The weekend isn't over but the rest of it will be spent more quietly at home.
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