Sister in Sendai

When my sister came to Sendai, it was surprising to find that, thanks to her, I actually learned more about Japan.  

(1) She taught me that in certain restaurants you sit down and when you are ready to order, you push the button at the table and the waiter comes by and takes down your order.  It was very convenient.  We liked it.  At that restaurant, we ordered cheese curry and then ordered the weirdest looking item on the menu to share.  Both ended up being quite delicious. 

(2) Melon soda!  When we arrived at the Zuihoden, we were hot and thirsty.  (In fact, the week that Isa was here, it was so hot, I think I spent half of my money that week on ice cream and cold drinks alone) We decided against the can of melon soda in case we needed to put it in our bags.  But later that day (or the next day?)  we saw the melon soda at a drink machine and got it.  Turns out it tastes just like cream soda and absolutely nothing like melon.  

(3) Thanks to a noodle shop in Ueno, we are both now experts in ordering food at a restaurant from a menu machine.  

(4) We figured out the fastest way from my house to the shopping district.  It's actually ridiculously close.  

(5) We figured out that there are slow trains in Japan and you can take them.  I think, despite the fact, that I was on a seven hour train trip back to Sendai, it was still one of my favorite ways to travel.  I got to see a lot of rural Japan and watch lots and lots of people get on and off.  

(6) We actually went to American stores.  It was my first time going to McDonald's since coming to Japan - turns out, the food makes me sick just like it does in America.  It was also my first time going to Starbucks in Japan.  Starbucks is pretty great everywhere and for some reason, the ladies that work there kept giving us samples of free cookies while not giving samples to anyone around us.  

(7) My sister introduced me to a whole new world of treats in Japan.  For some reason, she was on a snack kick in Japan and so we ended up trying and buying lots of random eats in stores.  They were all wins.  My sister has an eye for good snacks.  

(8) BB Cream.  Turns out it's a moisturizer, a sunscreen and a foundation all in one.  

(9) The fan.  Everyone here uses fans.  My sister bought a Tohoku University fan and kept teasing me. "Aren't you jealous?  You know you wish you had one."  I kept insisting I didn't.  But when we were leaving Sendai, we saw a huge bin of free fans and I picked up one for myself.  It's addictive!  Even when I wasn't really that hot, I still felt the need to fan myself.  And fanning myself always felt better than not.  

(10) Maya Yoshida is an attractive man.  In a music store, we somehow ended up in the magazine section where we looked for pictures of Hasebe.  My sister ended up picking up a soccer fan magazine and quizzed me to see if I could find Hasebe on the page faster than she could.  She usually always beat me.  She just looked for his number and I looked at the faces.  Anyway, she decided that her favorite on the team was Maya Yoshida because he's very attractive.  Since then, I have been noticing that he really is.  

(11) Courage.  After trying for a long time to do so much all alone, it was nice to have someone show me that I am capable of doing things and getting around.  Since then, I have felt a renewal of courage to get out and experience new things alone.  

High Chews - Kanjani8 style.  My favorite guy is the one in yellow.