Oh, Octopus Balls!

See that right there?  That's Randi "enjoying" a wonderful ball of battered, seasoned, octopus covered in mayonnaise.  As you can tell, she LOVED it!

Let's take it back a few hours though to some food that she did enjoy.  This morning we went to the Hogwarts of Bagels where skillful magicians churned out flavors far superior to their American counterparts. 

Randi had a banana and caramel; Melissa had blueberry with blueberry cream cheese; Josh had sweet potato and black seed; and I had green apple.  In addition to these delectable flavors they also had cherry blossom, double pumpkin, chocolate and a whole lot more.

After breakfast we played a quick game of Munchkin prior to meeting Gary's friend Suyama-San.  He met us in our hotel lobby along with his wife and son.  As a whole I would have to say that his wife is one of the nicest people I've met.  She was funny and enjoyed giving us all different sorts of foods to try for the first time.


Together we headed off to Asakusa, which is a low-rise portion of Tokyo where traditional/touristy souvenirs are sold.  Other than seeing a monk at the temple there really wasn't much that stood apart from our last trip, but we were treated to a few fun food items.

First off we received this small sticks covered in a powdery and chewy substance.  I asked what they were made of, but Suyama's wife wasn't sure.  The only agreement was that the powder was soy, but beyond that it could have been rice or "something else."  Who knows what they were, but they were delicious, with a taste similar to peanut butter.

Secondly we had fried soy bread.  I thought they tasted like Funions and Josh though they tasted like pop-corn.  It's prolly safe to say that they taste like a combination of the two.  Once again, delicious.

Third we were given the pictured octopus balls.  It's hard to describe how they tasted, as they were fried, with some sort of liquid inside, along with bits of octopus.  The batter had an odd seasoning, which was covered by swashes of sweet mayonnaise.  Beyond the blistering temperature of the liquid, I would have to say that they were pretty tasty - Randi on the other hand, well, I think the picture speaks for it's self.

After our little taste test we headed off for Ueno park, where we enjoyed the lovely sights of the cherry blossoms in their early bloom, and the even more lovely sight of groups of people getting smashed at company and family picnics.  There was even a guy who had to be carried out by his buddies by his hands and feet because he couldn't walk on his own.  Fun times!

In Ueno we visited the zoo and enjoyed a semi-normal meal of hamburgers and fried chicken.  Although both foods had the appearance of our versions the tastes were a bit off.  The hamburgers were more like sausage, ad the chicken had large bits of fat and oil.

Full and well worn we headed back to our hotel along with the Suyama family, where we parted ways prior as they headed off shopping.  Today was a good day I am very appreciative of having a Japanese person to help us along.

If you want to see our pictures from today click here.