Jalan Jalan Cari Makan!

A Day in Japanese Restaurant

18 August 2009

Today is a perfect day. I looked at my assignment schedule and figured out that on the first day after the mid semester break, I need to hand in the Japanese Scrapbook to my sensei. I really have a lot to say about Japan and what I like most about it, but none of it is really an interesting story to begin with. I might just write down information about Japan that I already know or copy them down from the internet. However, that is not what I want to do. I prefer sharing my personal experience.

I used to watch Naruto anime, but some people do not watch it. So, they will surely lose interest at the very first page of my scrapbook. I bet I should find something else to talk about. How about Japanese food? Everyone must be very curious to know about it such as sushi and wasabi. I myself do not know much about Japanese food. That is the point! If I try some Japanese foods, it must be an exciting experience for me too. So, I decided to go find some sushi. Yeah!

Just in time two of my friends asked me to go out with them to Queensbay Mall. Queensbay Mall is opened for business since 1 December 2006. I can say it is still a new mall. It is currently the largest, longest and most modern shopping mall in Penang with a gross built up of 2.5 million sq ft and over 1 million sq ft net lettable area.

The Mall is located in Bayan Lepas, minutes away from the Penang Bridge, the heart of a prime waterfront development sprawling over a land area of 73 acres.

I agreed and asked my friends to accompany me to eat at the Japanese restaurants to experience the taste of some sushi. They said they are looking forward to it. We promised to meet tomorrow at 2.00 p.m.

19 August 2009

Today the sun is bright and shiny. I smell fresh afternoon breezes when I open my room’s door. At 2.15 p.m., I walked to the bus station with my friends, Adriana and Alif and waited for the Rapid Penang Bus. Soon, we boarded a bus to Queensbay Mall and after approximately 15 minutes, we arrived there. Just as promised, we would go to a Japanese restaurant and find the sushi. We walked around, and finally we have found a Japanese restaurant at the Ground Floor. It is called “Restoran Jepun: Nippon Yataimura”. However, when I looked at the menus, the restaurant serves non-halal foods. So, we decided to find other Japanese restaurants.

As we walked, we have found another Japanese restaurant called “Azuma Japanese Restaurant”. The Japanese restaurant was just perfect, even the authority has certified that it is a halal restaurant with the HALAL printed document in front of the restaurant. However, Alif said that he just went to this restaurant yesterday and wanted to try another restaurant. Well, I just go with the flow. So, I asked him to snap a picture and then we left to find another restaurant.

We passed by JUSCO entrance at the Ground Floor again and saw JUSCO Section called “Tako Tao” Section. There were a lot of packed sushis at the corner. However, if I buy these sushis, I could not experience the atmosphere at the Japanese restaurant because these sushis were served to be taken away.

Then, we went around walking again. We have found the next Japanese Restaurant called “Sushi King”. This is a very familiar name. As we went to the Sushi King entrance, we were greeted by a female waiter. I guess this restaurant is going to be our final choice, after all. Without asking question, we entered the restaurant and sat at a table.

As a start, I looked at the menu and ordered “Beef Yakiniku.” This reminded me of Choji, a fat character in Naruto anime (did I just say fat??), who always yelled “Yakiniku!” when he gets his treat at the restaurant. By the way, Beef Yakiniku’s main serving is a big plate of roasted beef and it is mixed with vegetables such as green cabbages and sliced carrot. There are three bowls at the side: rice, soup, and egg pasta. Then, a drink comes together with the set. It is called Yakult; a drink originally made in Japan and contained live healthy bacteria or culture milk. The price for all of them is RM18.90. Takai! However, the main reason I chose the menu is because I liked the vegetables and wanted to know what “Yakiniku” is.

Then, Alif chose “Kodomo Bento.” It is a set of seafood: fried prawns, fried fish, sliced squids, sliced taufu, some fresh vegetables and rice. All of them are placed in a sectional plate. The price is RM14.90.

Then, he ordered an orange juice originally made in Japan. The price for it is RM6.90. We only knew about the price after we re-checked the menu though. Adriana is not a sushi lover, but she did take a bite of a few sushis.

The system in Sushi King is very effective. There are two large spinning tables at the front and back side of the restaurant. We called the sushis on these spinning tables as “The Spinning Sushi.” On the tables are served sushi and other Japanese foods. Customers can choose either to sit on a long bench located alongside the large, spinning table and eat the sushi there or sit on a different table, just beside the spinning table, for a family treat. We can also choose to eat both the spinning sushi on a normal table and order a larger set of sushi from the waiter. We had so much to eat that we felt almost bloated.

The price for the order is placed at the menu while the price for the spinning sushi is based on the sticker’s color on each plate. There are five types of colors, and each color has different price. For example, sushi with a blue sticker on it is RM2.00 while the purple sticker is RM6.00. So, please take a careful look at the sticker’s color before grabbing any sushi at the spinning table!

During our time in Sushi King, we also have met a family of Japanese tourists. They are from Nagoya, Japan. Those little kawaii kids' names are Yume (oldest), Mime (middle) and Yumi (youngest). Their mother's name is Kimi Kawashima. They came with their grandmother as well, but the oba-chan was paying the bills. They were in a 15-days holiday trip in Malaysia since 6 August 2009 and soon would be back on 21st August. I did try and practice some of my Japanese dialogues with them and it was intriguing. Below is some of my conversation with them:

Me : Konichiwa. Nihon-jin desuka?
Mother : Konichiwa. Hai. Nihon-jin desu. (Japanese citizen).
Me : Watashiwa Hanafi-desu. Mareshia kara kimashita. Dozo yoroshiku. Onamaewa, nandesuka?
Mother : Kimi Kawashima. (Then she said something I did not understand, but I knew she was trying to ask me something like “Do you know Japanese?”)

Me : Sukoshi (little). I like Naruto anime. (I suddenly broke into English!).
Mother : (She explained to her daughters that I like Naruto. I heard the word “suki”).
Me : Onamaewa, nandesuka? (I pointed my finger towards the kids).
Yume : Yume-desu, Mime, Yumi. (She introduced both of her younger sisters to me).
Me : Can we take pictures together? (English again).
Mother : (She explained to her kids. Obviously the kids did not know English very well).
Me : Arigato.

I am a newbie in Japanese. A word to describe: noob. LOL. I could understand very little of what they have said. I could not think fast at the moment, but at least I could reply a few words. The longest sentence I said is "Yume-san wa Mime-san no oniichan desu ka?" which means Are you (Yume) Mime's sister? I kinda feel embarrassed even to try out that sentence. Finally, we broke into English conversation. :(((

Nagoya is located in the middle part of Japan.

After finished eating at Sushi King, we went to a few interesting places. Like, Harajuku Clothes Section. The clothes at the back are some of Harajuku's fashion.

After a few hours, we went to the food court and ate another kind of food for dinner. This time, I could not remember what type of foods they are, but usually I did not care much about them because once I've found something to eat, lantaklah!

Overall, thanks to my friends because that day I have found something to write for my Nihon Scrapbook. Arigato!