Confessions of an American in Japan

First of all, we recently had a lovely weekend in Tokyo. We were able to get a room at the New Sanno Hotel, which is the military hotel right in the middle of Tokyo. Being in the military is damn hard sometimes, but the perks are definitely great, when you can get around to using them. Free parking, $70 a night for the room, a pool, hot tub, and a ridiculous brunch on Sunday = SCORE! So we drove (!) to the big city early on Saturday and took the boys to the zoo, stopping along the way to watch street music, eat ice cream, and generally enjoy the sunshine:

Then, after we all spent way too much time in the pool, we used the babysitting service at the hotel (another bonus!) so that Adam and I could go out to gorge ourselves on yakitori and ridiculous cocktails:

Driving back the next day was tough because it was the beginning of Golden Week here in Japan. That is probably the biggest national holiday in the country. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Golden_Week_%28Japan%29 So driving 45 miles took about 3.5 hours. YAY! Totally worth it, though. It was the first time we have gotten to spend a weekend doing something touristy in a long time.

Next, my confession... I really don't like Japanese sushi. I like American sushi! I really enjoy Japanese food in general, and the Japanese know how to cook - as with everything here, since it is a country of perfectionists and extreme personal pride in work, food is done really, really well, no matter what the cuisine. However, I really love American style rolls. Here, sushi is... just sushi. Don't get me wrong, I love a good piece of yellowtail or salmon, but I don't want a full plate of sashimi with no rolls to break it up.

So, anyway, Adam took me out to dinner this weekend for Mother's Day. We went to a place called Fisherman's Restaurant. We live right by the beach, so we thought this would be a great place to get some seafood. And it was.... just, not what we were expecting. First, we ordered what we thought was an appetizer. The menu said it was baked yellowtail, and it was in the lower priced portion of the menu. Well, what came out was the size of my head, giant portion of fish on a giant bone. Witness:

Then, Adam ordered the "sushi platter." Platter is an understatement! Here is what came out:

Most importantly, this was on it:

Really? We still don't know what it was. Adam ate it (braver man that I), but WOW. Give me a crunchy roll and call me a lazy American, I guess.