Surprise Soup

So, as I mentioned in an earlier article, Joel and I ate at a sushi bar on one of the side streets of Namba. However, I forgot to mention that the meal did not include merely sushi. The main course was accompanied by a potato ball although not nearly as delicious as the one the prior night, tea, and two cups. One cup Joel believed to be a soup and as for the other, we are still trying to figure out what it was. It had a gelatin consistency similar to that of a soft tofu and was in some type of broth. I thought it had a bacon flavor, Joel, a fish flavor. Nevertheless, Joel passed the surprise cup off to me. Luckily I had a spoon while Joel was left to sip his soup. However, I am becoming used to eating differently but more on that later. So, I am eating my off white, clear broth, bacon tasting soup when I decide to give it a stir. To my surprise, I see a foreign object in my bowl. However, it looked a bit like crab so I gave it a try. It turned out to be crab. A few bites later, a piece of chicken emerged, followed by some fish. I began to get excited about the possible other mysteries which lay within my soup. I began to stir some more, half expecting a jewel of some sort to lay at the bottom. Sadly, the only other treat was a bean. Thus ended my surprise soup.

The customs of eating are different as their are no utensils except for the occasional spoons. Foods such as rice and noodles are often literally shoveled into the mouth using chop sticks. The noodles are not neatly wrapped around the sticks and any leftovers from the previous bite are left to drop back into the bowl. Most other items are bite sized so they do not have to be cut. As mentioned earlier, most soup does not come with a spoon but is sipped directly from the bowl. Can you imagine trying that with clam chowder? Who knows, maybe when I come home I will continue to use chop sticks. To drink it is either water or tea, maybe a beer. But there is not the selection like there is in the United States. Before dining and at the end of every meal individuals utter two separate phrases when dining with others and although I know the phrases, I do not know their meanings. Com-Pie (phonetic spelling) is cheers. This is what I have gathered so far and will be sure to keep you posted on any more that I come across.