Parfait Orgy

Some of you more faithful followers of my blog may remember this post featuring photographs of giant parfaits that cost upwards of $100 USD. The parfait place, as it is known, was a favorite hangout of Jess and company, and I had the great fortune of being able to participate in the consumption of a jumbo parfait with Jess, Andy, Althea, and 5 of their AKP friends.



It was truly a sight to behold.



I tried my best to take some artistic photographs before we all dug in.





TAKE NOTE: Japanese marachino cherries taste absolutely nothing like the marachino cherries I am used to. In fact, they taste awful. The fruit in the ice cream was all frozen by the time we got to it (or maybe it was never unfrozen...) but the strangest to eat was the frozen dango. I'm going to go out on a limb and guess that Andy and I ate the most. I think we were probably a valuable addition to the team. By the time we got to the bottom, it was mostly yogurt, and it had all turned the same gross beige color, and I felt pretty sick to my stomach. I pressed on as long as I could. They served us black coffee in tiny cups at the end which made me feel a little better. Lord knows I didn't have to add any sugar to it.

Overall, it was fun, but perhaps not an experience I would be eager to repeat, though you could probably convince me. I would definitely go for one of the 2-person ones they serve in pitchers.

２月１７日

I have taken pictures that showcase about 1/3 of my daily commute (from my host family's house to the train station) but I don't feel like doing that entry today so you'll have to wait. They're up on Facebook though if you're curious.

This past weekend had some deceptively nice weather, but now it has taken a turn for the cold. Today it even snowed just a tiny bit, for some fleeting minutes and it didn't stay on the ground, of course. I was a little upset by this.

But more importantly, on Sunday I went to Kyoto to play with Jess! After a somewhat confusing time trying to meet up in the underground passageway, we ate yakisoba and takoyaki at Mr.Young Men in Shijo and did a lot of talking in English. We poked around Shijo, and I made some purchases (which I should probably photograph when I get them all set up...) and later in the evening went to "the parfait place" which had these incredible displays in the window:





I think Jess told me you have a time limit of an hour and a half and can have as many as 10 people working on it. Someday I wish to participate in the consumption of one of these. The ones we ate were more modestly sized, but still delicious.

On the train ride home, I was filled with love for Jess and our mutual friends from Oberlin. I came to the conclusion that adventures are meaningless if you can't share them with the people you love the most. I really missed her a lot last semester.

Oh yeah, and I took some pictures of the area surrounding Kansai Gaidai from the 4th story. You can see a little bit of the campus, and the beautiful clouds in the sky on this cold, cold day.