Outdoor training 1

 

So our group of newcomers are still struggling with
the fundamentals of speaking…

 

So the other day, we did some outdoor training
on “Practice giving a report”

 

On anything we wanted!

 

 

 

Apparently it’s an annual tradition they do.
We got on a shaky bus and headed towards Fuji…

 

First off, we went to the site of the Fuji Shibazakura festival.

 

Oh that day, there were still a third of the flowers in bloom,
but in full bloom, a full sea of beautiful cherry blossoms
together with Mt. Fujiwould be so amazing and really
represent what Japan is about…

 

What an amazing festival ^^

 

Apparently it’s also getting pretty well established as a premiere tourist attraction

 

Unfortunately the weather that day wasn’t that great
but in good weather with everything in full bloom
would be just absolutely amazing huh.
I definitely want to go back again.

 

Next time on a day with good weather!

 

Even though it was a little covered by the clouds,
seeing Mt. Fuji so close up was absolutely breath taking

 

 

And so
we got started on reporting practice right away
and started rolling some film…

 

And yeah… it’s hard

 

I had done my prep for the reading, and it was only talking
(like introducing goods or dates of the festival)
but I couldn’t even talk about the basic details of location

 

There were a lot of other problems too,
Like I realized so quickly how poor my ability to describe things are
and how small my vocabulary is.

 

 

 

There were also other things to enjoy there aside from the flowers.
There was a “Mt. Fuji tasty things festival”
with food and drink booths

 

There were things like a recent famous B grade gourmet dish called “Fujinomiya yakisoba”
and famous local dishes like “Yoshida udon” and “Houtou”!

 

I really like Fujinomiya yakisoba, the noodles are so unique and chewy
When I went to Shizuoka before
I had bought them at a supermarket and brought them home to cook…

 

So of course my very first order was “1 Fujinomiya Yakisoba”

 

And then what do to for my second order…

 

There’s no mistake that I love pumpkin
and “Houtou” has pumpkin in it,
but I was in the mood for ordering some soba… (><)

 

 

So when I was eating there
or well… where ever really, I’m always thinking if I’m eating too much
and that always happens when I visit some place…

 

 

 

Anyway, there were a ton of things on the menu,
and everything looked so good! ^^
Then right as I was leaving, I noticed the lovely aroma of
grilled salted iwana fish in the air.

 

My colleague Ueda ordered some Fujinomiya yakisoba and Houtou.
Unlike me, she is very decisive.

 

Ueda said “I’ll give you a little of my Houtou!”
So I ended up having Fujinomiya yakisoba for my first order
and Saisai soba for my second order.

 

The soba wasn’t famous or anything
but it was a really good choice!

 

The noodles were a little thick and hard, but in a good way.
Add some sauce with crispy saisai, it was so good ^^

 

And the “Houtou”

 

You can’t really see in the pic, but in the middle is my favorite, pumpkin!
There were also a ton of mushrooms, bok choy and other veggies.
The soup also had some miso flavor to it.
And again, the noodles… were very chewy.
So much goodness ^^

 

 

 

There was also a cafe with some original sweets made by hotel maids
called “Sakura cafe FUJIYAMA SWEETS”.
They had a ton of delicious sweets lined up in rows
I’m a slow eater so I barely just made it to dessert
when it was time to meet up with everyone.
That was my only regret. Too bad…

 

 

…Ah, that was a long rant about food.
Sorry about that ><