Well, well, well, I've got to be the luckiest Otaku in my entire area! I was talking on the phone with a lady yesterday in regards to teaching english to Japanese workers on work study and work transfer at a nearby factory (Denso Inc brings Japanese people over from Japan to America to help with some of their stuff since they're a japanese company stationed stateside) and when we got to talking about the one gentleman I'm supposed to tutor after my 2 week orientation she mentioned he was going to Japan. I then offhandedly mentioned jokingly about having him bring back some Pocky and some Taiyaki cakes. Lo and behold she says that I can buy them locally.
So she points me to this small oriental food store on the other side of town I didn't know existed. So I walk in the door and start having a look around and what do I see almost immediately? Pocky in like 9 different flavors!! And then I asked the owner if they had Taiyaki (the little fish pastries with the sweet bean paste) and I'll be darned if they didn't have 4 varieties of that!!
So curiousity grabbed me and having a basic knowledge of some of the things that go into traditional cooking I took a wander around the store and OMG, they've got everything!!!!
Now all I got to do is figure out what dishes to try making now.
Since they sell Taiyaki and it's round donut looking counterpart (whatever that's called) I don't have to worry about making my own of that anymore, but I'm stumped what traditional dishes to try making. Or since I'll be tutoring him, I'll get a chance to go visit him and eat with him (hopefully) from time to time. What meals or dishes could I suggest for them to maybe fix for me? I'm definately interested in trying Uden and some Curry Rice, but I don't remember the names of enough of the other dishes to suggest any others. What would you guys suggest?
Well, that's my pronouncement and curiousity list for now. I'm really excited about this because the english teaching and subsequent japanese tutoring may open me up for a chance to go to Japan and teach english too, which would be uber awesome.
But enough of me, let's hear your thoughts!