Friday, June 24th. It is getting quite hot. Thankfully, our air-conditioning units are working. We set them at 24 or 25 degrees Celsius, and mostly use the drying mode. This is more or less what we encounter in most places here. Well, maybe a tad colder. But not uncomfortably cold as it was often last we were in North America. Noe went to the office relatively early, the other three tidy a bit the apartment and work at home in the morning. We joined Robert and Noe in Waseda for lunchtime. We went despite the heat to a nice fish place, and we encountered Japanese rigidity as we frequently have in restaurants: we are 5, it is 1:15pm and the place is starting to empty, but there is no way to put an extra seat at a table planned for 4. We will have to put the three adults at the counter and the kids on a table behind us. This happens quite often here, and we have accepted it. But it is clear that, while it is completely understandable at crunch time when places are full, it is more comical at late services when places are emptying.
During the afternoon, it is work and study in Noe’s office, then the adults go to the seminar leaving Gadea and Eyquem on their own in the office… presumably less for studying and more for interacting on tablets and phones. :). In the evening, we went out with Robert to eat Shabu-shabu. The idea is to cook meat and veggies (and tofu, cheese) in broth. From the moment you enter, you have 2 hours to order and order some more. After two hours, you have time to finish what is on the table, but you cannot order more. We opted for the all you can eat and all you can drink option. Since we are 5 (and allowed to sit at a 6-person place, thanks to Robert who made a reservation), we can choose 4 different types of broth: tofu-based, spicy, regular and seaweed. And we ordered, cooked, ate, ordered, etc. We put pieces of meat, chicken, made meat-balls, had lots of different mushrooms, tofu, seaweed, cheese, mochi (the latter two items, you have to watch and get out quickly, or it will be very gooey…). It was fun, and we all ate a bit too much!
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