as completely pumped as i was to be reunited with all my wonderful friends in japan, i may even have been more excited about the food.  there is a lot of food pride in japan so i think my friends understood.  the whole week i was in tokyo i got to enjoy great company and great meals.  here’s a little smattering of photos, when i remembered to take them before digging into delicious food and of course, the ubiquitous memory lane:)

shabu shabu with my tokyo gang.

making tempura with momoru’s mama.

my favorite ramen in tokyo, rasuta ramen.

followed by dessert and coffee at mr. donut with masa.

delicious dinner with my japanese teacher and her family.

i was so lucky to chat with them about life and art and our old friends.  and chiba-sensei gave me some homemade umeboshi plums to take home.

okonomiyaki and monjayaki with masa, mariko, and

surprise!  yuki and blair all the way from australia.

fun times in harajuky with kiyomi, who brought us delicious japanese bakery lunch, sorry no photo!