♥怡: SUMO day ( >< )

Sumo turned out to be quite the experience. The Tokyo competition took place from May 12 to May 26, so I was really happy to be able to watch it right before it ended. The game started form nine in the morning and lasted all the way until the evening (last entry at 17:00). Sumo is not something that I can imagine watching for eight hours. Honestly, I actually felt that it would be quite boring, but I wanted to watch it at least before deeming it so, and I'm so glad I did! Each match was really short, lasting no longer than five minutes; and when it did stretch out for a minute longer, the crowd would get excited and start cheering. It was a great atmosphere.
Anyway, I'm quite unfamiliar with the art (or sport), but the basic rule to win is either to make your opponent step outside of the ring or have any part of their body touch the ground (besides their feet; basically make them fall). Sumo is more tradition and ritual than a competition. The preparation for a sumo bout is way longer than the actual bout.

handprints

trophies/awards

preparation

the grand entrance!

So the stadium was quite large. There were plenty of seats. When we got there around 14:00, it wasn't even half filled.
The ticket prices varied depending on how close you were to the stage, so the place had two stories. The first story was divided in two: the green section and red section. Those seats are good for groups who are planning to stay for the entire day. I think food is served to them, as well, but the downside is you have to buy all four seats. The green section is where the seats closest to the stage is. Since it is so close, when buying the seats, they actually only allow those who are physically able to evade and react quickly to sit there.

I bought the standard seat on the second story, which cost me ¥3600. If I had known how big the place was, I would have just bought the cheapest seat, because you could basically sit anywhere. And in the case where it really gets crowded, it wouldn't be that big of a deal to stand, since we were already doing so to take better pictures.

I have my apple cider in one hand, camera in the other. I'm ready! :)

jump!

The salt-throwing ritual for purifying the ring, and the shiko exercise, where they clap their hands and perform the leg-stomping ritual to drive away evil spirits from the dohyo (wrestling ring).

The fittest sumo I've ever seen (on the right). He's actually a foreigner.
Speaking of which, there were quite a number of foreign sumo.

mocha/vanilla mix

We decided to leave after about four hours of watching the games. Time passed by surprisingly quickly. o.o We walked around the shops a bit and took some more pictures.

sumo merchandise

collectible figures and...hello kitty sumo? o_0

so cute!

awwww..! He was so nice. There was a long line of people waiting to take pictures with him and we couldn't wait, but he let us take his picture without us even asking. ありがとうございます！

3 in 1
Another reason why I love Japan.
From left to right: soap dispenser, faucet, dryer.

The group dispersed afterwards and I went to meet up with some other friends for dinner at Urawa, capital of Saitama. We had Okinawan cuisine! My first time; it was so good~ xD

The place we went to was called Bar Q's.

The atmosphere was really nice.

乾杯！
I ordered a fresh guava juice, which was really good, but my friend ordered a miki drink and didn't like it so much, so I swapped with her. It wasn't all that bad. I liked it because it wasn't so sweet, but definitely it must have been some type of vegetable. The texture was like a smoothie, and the taste was not so strong, but there was a gingery after taste.

Okinawa tofu is not like regular tofu. It had the texture of mochi--really different from any tofu I had ever tried.

ika sashimi on the left and braised pork on the right.
The squid was soo chewy; it seems everything in Okinawa cuisine has that soft chewy texture.
Th pork was definitely heavily (if not completely) influenced by Chinese cuisine.

Goya Champuru: an Okinawan dish, stir-fried tofu, goya (bitter melon), egg, and thinly sliced pork.

mozuku: a type of seaweed drowned in vinegar

pig ears

We then went to a nice hotel restaurant for dessert. We went there mainly for the city view of Saitama (or maybe secretly for the sweets keke).

They had a pianist!

I guess no matter how nice a place is, some things are inevitable.

#1 cocktail for me!

Dessert of the Month: ice cream, strawberry shortcake, macaroon, wine jelly, with marshmallow and gummy.
It was so good! (overused phrase lol)

And this interesting raisin butter nut dessert, which, for the first time, I must admit: it was horrible!
It looks more interesting than it tastes. Then entire combination is just wrong. The main portion was like a block of butter, so fatty I felt my arteries getting clogged, and there was no taste (neither sweet nor salty, just fatty). And the combination with the citrus-y orange peel and olive did not go together at all.
I don't know who invented the concept, but it needs to go. ><