This is the first time I saw anyone from Isesaki after I had moved to Matsudo. This is not so impressive as it sounds, because we all met in Utsunomiya 12 days after I moved. The way Benni-先生 greeted us, you'd think it was closer to 12 years.
We went to Utsunomiya for gyoza. I'm pretty sure I've already posted about my love for gyoza, and the Isesaki ladies wanted to foster this as much as possible. In addition, they also love gyoza, so that helped. I cannot understand why anyone would not love gyoza, but that's beside the point. We wanted to eat as much gyoza as possible. This turned out to be quite a lot. Also, the girls helped me pick out a watch while we waited for Benni先生 to show up. Akikoさん and Yukariさん helped me program it, because the instructions were all in Japanese. This made all of us very happy (not that the instructions were Japanese but that the three of us were able to get it sorted out).
We ate at three different places, though the third place was a combination of 5 restaurants and we could order from any of the menus. At the first two restaurants, we ordered a plate or two of gyoza and shared it amongst ourselves before moving on. The first restaurant was a tiny place where you ordered the food at a ticket machine, after which you presented the ticket to the waitress. Because there were seven of us, we had to split up, so Akikoさん, Yukariさん, and myself shared an order each of boiled and fried gyoza (the fried was better). After that, we slipped out to the place next door and ordered GIANT gyoza. The rest of the girls showed up just as we were finishing, which is why we had time to wait to program my watch.
Together, we all headed out to the third location, which was an awesome conglomeration of gyoza restaurants (Utsunomiya is famous for gyoza - there are upwards of two dozen restaurants specializing in this most awesome of foods, probably more). I think we ordered about seven plates of gyoza at this place, from three different menus. There was chiso (a basil-type herb) gyoza, crunchy gyoza, not-so-crunchy gyoza, shrimpy gyoza, spicy gyoza, salty gyoza - holy cats, there was a LOT of gyoza. Boy, were we stuffed. And to everyone's astonishment, Benni先生 polished off a bowl and a half of rice along with it, the half being what I couldn't eat.[This is nothing - I once witnessed her eat a huge bowl of ramen, an order of gyoza, and THREE bowls of rice in one sitting. Her stomach is bottomless.]
After gorging ourselves on gyoza, we went off in search of other exciting things to do. We began by buying gyoza omiyage. Half of the ladies bought frozen gyoza to take home - complete with styrofoam cooler to transport them in. Then they bought me a cellphone strap of a little plastic plate of gyoza, which I've become a collector of (the cellphone straps, not the little plastic plates of gyoza). These ladies are so totally the awesome.
While wandering around Utsunomiya, we discovered a shrine in the middle of the city and because I love shrines, we immediately explored it. I like going to shrines with the ladies because they will explain things to me the best they can. Benni先生 either has no answer to my questions or ignores me entirely (in her defense, she's just naturally oblivious sometimes). Even if the ladies don't know the answers to my questions, they will do their best to figure it out or explain it somehow, even if it means translating something.
The cherry blossoms were nearing the end of their blooming stage, but they were still very beautiful and stunning. The wind blew gently that day, but it still scattered blossoms all through the air. They kept falling and falling, a shower of pink and white petals. There seemed to be no end to them.
While wandering around Utsunomiya, we discovered a shrine in the middle of the city and because I love shrines, we immediately explored it. I like going to shrines with the ladies because they will explain things to me the best they can. Benni先生 either has no answer to my questions or ignores me entirely (in her defense, she's just naturally oblivious sometimes). Even if the ladies don't know the answers to my questions, they will do their best to figure it out or explain it somehow, even if it means translating something.
The cherry blossoms were nearing the end of their blooming stage, but they were still very beautiful and stunning. The wind blew gently that day, but it still scattered blossoms all through the air. They kept falling and falling, a shower of pink and white petals. There seemed to be no end to them.
With the sun going down, we decided it was time to end our gyoza adventure. We set a date for our next gathering (Nagano - Matsumoto Castle in May), and then they dropped me off at the train station. And thus ended our trip to Utsunomiya. Quite satisfying, I must say.
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