Slumber party at Amber's (Dec 9-10)

I went over to Amber's place, to meet up with Amber and Jeff. Our plan was to spend a warm night in, just hang out at Amber's place.

We went to my favorite kaitenzushi restaurant where both Amber and Jeff had their first experience with natto.

What is natto, you ask? Natto is fermented soybeans. It's very rich in vegetable protein and, supposedly, has many health benefits (if you are able to eat it..)


When I first arrived in Japan, one of the first questions people (especially students) would ask me is whether I can eat natto. It's extremely sticky, and smelly. You either love it, or hate it. I fall in the latter category....Always open to trying new things, I was happy to try it when it was first offered to me by a family who had a homemade version of it. Thinking maybe the store bought version might taste a little different, I tried it as well. In both cases, I had the same reaction to it.....natto is just not for me.

Apparently, it wasn't for Amber or Jeff either.

I ran into a student who had graduated from Bunko and his parents at the restaurant, as well as my upstairs neighbours. It was a nice surprise!

We loaded up on lots of junk food, and headed back to Amber's place for a night of singing/guitar playing, scrabble (for which Alex came up to join us), and movies. By 5am, we were ready for sleep..!

The next morning, umm maybe more like noon, Amber treated us to french toast, covered with maple syrop and topped with strawberries and icing sugar. It was delicious!

I got home a little feeling a little pooped, and ended up heading to bed very early. But it was well worth it..!!