Yaki-Tori-Don!

This is really delicious! You need to try it! Is a "Don". A "Don" is generally a bowl of rice with some toppings on top. In this case is a "Yaki-Tori-Don" which means "Grilled Chicken Bowl". On top there is some seaweed to add more traditional taste ;)

You can find This one in one of the various shops around Sannomiya Station. Where you see the sign saying "焼き鳥" (Yakitori) just check the menu if you find "焼き鳥丼" (Yakitori-Don). Usually shops have written outside what is their main dish, and you will find that outside Yakiniku (grilled meat) Restaurants, they always write Yakiniku (焼き肉）in big Kanjis! Just make sure you check the price before entering ;) some places offer Yakiniku-all-you-can-eat-buffet starting at 1,500 Yen, but expensive ones, can easily go up to 6,000 or more...

Worth to try! believe me!

Test Results!

We got the Test Results of December Test! In our class various classmates tried the level 2, which is quite hard. One of them attempted level 1. I and other non Asian Students, we tried Level 3.

We with level 3, in Class "C" passed all. Our chinese friends had troubles with level 2 and It looks like nobody manages to pass that one as well. There was a surprise, though, Our classmate Inson-San (she is from korea) Attempted level 1 and ...guess what! She passed! Congratulations! Amazing!

If you plan to enter an university in Japan, they don't really look at this test, since you need to pass the school test to be enrolled. Some of the students, still didn't have a level 2 but managed to enter the University...but still, you need to know quite some japanese to pass the entrance tests, which are not that easy, since includes mathematics and other tough vocabulary...

The next test I think will be around July... but still no information yet...

Setsubun: Season Festival

Setsubun literally means "Change of Season", but in February, there is a special event that usually matches the lunar New Year which is celebrated.

The Celebration consists in wearing a mask and people throwing Soya roasted beens at the one wearing the mask to chase the evil away.

I personally didn't see it, but I've read about it. On that day they sell the soya beans for the occasion. There is an article that explains the details on wikipedia (click here) if you would like to know more ;)

Cooking Day!

Today was cooking day! We met near the school at 10 AM and were ready for our adventure ;) Is nice to have a "Day Off" and doing something different than studying Japanese in Class.

Even though we had just a rough idea on how to cook the planned recipe we all did our best. For cleanliness, we all used Face Masks.

We were about 70 students! Wow! Teachers did really a good work preparing all the ingredients and planning this activity...not easy! It took us about two hours to prepare all the dishes, dessert included!

Every team was of about 10 students. This is the team lead by Miyake-Sensei and as you can see they were almost finished. We had just a little trouble with the rice that didn't completely cook, probably we put too many ingredients ;) and here they are completing it in a normal pan, nevertheless... it was delicious!

This team did really an amazing work presenting their final result! Tamago-yaki, Miso-vegetable-soup, and fish with vegetables!

And of course, at the end, Dessert! This was absolutely the best! Really good!

At the end, before leaving, we cleaned up everything in record time and left at around 3.15 PM. Just the time to take one last picture with our teachers :)

A day with University Students!

Today we met the Students of the Girls' University of Kobe. We already know some of them as we met them last year during a previous visit to their school.

This time we had few questions to answer, like "What was the most amazing thing you did" or what would you do with "1,000,000 Yen" ($10,000). It was interesting hearing the answers ;) One of the bravest thing one of the students did, was eating two bowls of rice topped with grilled meat ! (and no kidding! is quite big and one usually fills you up)

Every group did a presentation on the answers of one of the group members.

Most of the students that came to our school, will finish this year. After that, they will enter their career work. Actually, listening to young people, one of the hardest time for a Japanese is during their school years. I know one girl, she is only 14, that wakes up every morning at 5.30 AM to go to school. When I said "Every Morning" i literally mean including Saturday's and Sundays. On those days they have practice for extra school activities like playing in a Band or training for various Sports.

And here...a video :) !

Sushi!!!

Today we went with a couple of students, Davide-san and Yaya-san to have lunch together. We found this place where we can have a sushi set, called "Rokko-plate" (Rokko-san is one of the mountains surrounding kobe) that with Miso soup costs 710 yen. I real deal!

If you want to get the best bang for your bucks, you need to always choose a specialized restaurant. It means: if you want to eat sushi, look for a sushi place. If you want to eat Tonkatsu, look for a tonkatsu place. You can find sushi everywhere, but the best quality you usually find it in a sushi restaurant.

This plate is only a "Lunch Special" it means that at night prices go up. One thing about Fish in Japan, compared for instance to Europe, is that it doesn't smell like fish. You can put your nose directly on the fish...amazing...no smell!

Come and try!

Japanese Movie Theater!

If you enjoy watching movies, you can have a good time in Japan! The above is the sign and name of the Mint Kobe building near Sannomiya JR Station. At the 9th floor you can find the movie theater. On the 7th and 8th floor there are some restaurant and the remaining part of the building is a shopping center.

There are many screens... I think about 8 different shows at the same time. What is interesting is that all Foreign Movies, like Hollywood movies are in original Language with Japanese subtitles. Of course you can enjoy japanese movies as well, but they are quite difficult to understand as they might contains some jokes difficult to catch.

I always go on the "Movie-day", twice per month, on the 1st and on the 16th. On those days, it costs only 1000 yen (normal price is 1800 yen). Lately they had some movies in 3D, like Avatar that was really nice, but for 3D movies there is an additional service fee of 300 yen.

On "Movie Days" I go usually around 2 PM after school, and book a ticket for the 6PM show. At which time, I can still choose the seat i like. If the 1st or 16th is on staturday or sunday the movie theater is really full! When i went to watch Avatar, I could manage to get one of the latest tickets, even though i went there few hours in advance.

To find out more, check the official website here!