SEAFOOD at TERADOMARI

Today we gathered for Teradomari with a group of Malaysian students. Teradomari is a small seaside tourist attraction reputed for its fresh seafood and surfing. There were 6 cars from Niigata. We coordinated with other Malaysian students at IUJ, Urasa. The drive took us 45minutes. I enjoyed the journey to Teradomari because the winding road passing through tunnels after tunnels and circumventing cliffs fronting the Sea of Japan reminded me so much of the Japan GT Rally in the video arcades I went in KL.

The freshness of the seafood was just so tempting that I hop from one stall to another trying out those interesting grills. I did not try the common ones that could be found in Malaysia. I ate the BBQ snail, butter hotate (a type of shellfish), giant crab soup and many other things. Here, we eat ebiko (fish eggs) straight out from the fish stomach. O yes, I tried some marinated ebi (prawns), tako, and many types of ebiko which made me drool for more. We ordered maguro (tuna) which was cut out fresh from the fish in front of us and cooked. Salmon was just too common in KL, so I didn’t want to fill up on that.

I was introduced to many other exotic seafood like whale meat, tako brains (tako=octopus), right-eye fish, baby shark, giant flower crab, snow crab, etc.

I had a fruitful meet up with the MBA students from Urasa. One of those things they tipped was that it is very important to get a car when we are in Urasa because IUJ is really isolated from the rest of the places. I heard the food at the shokudo is boring. Siew-Siew (a Malaysian student in IUJ) was telling me that there is still snow in Urasa at hip level. Winter will feature accumulated snowfall of up to 5 meters. I thought she was just joking until other students testified the same thing. I better get equipped with more winter clothings before November then. Maybe I’ll get my stocks in Tokyo later. As for car, I have to get my nihon-go strengthened first to learn up the procedures of buying a car here. I really liked the Toyota Yaris/Vitz (the one launching in Malaysia soon) even before coming here and to see it moving on the road in Japan further reaffirmed my decision. Saiful (another postgrad Malaysian) got his Altezza at only ¥900,000 (RM30,000) so I hope Vitz is not too expensive. I just saw the new Camry today on the way to Teradomari. I think it will be a sell-out in Malaysia. I shall not divulge too much on this… See it for yourself….you will like it… Cars are really cheap here but I do not want to misuse the scholarship unless it is really necessary.

The summer holiday in IUJ is for 3 months. At this point of time, I am thinking of doing some internship in Tokyo or Osaka to gain the Japanese working experience and help me decide whether or not I want to work in Japan after graduation in 2008. Well, it is really too early to decide and talk about this matter because I have yet to start my nihon-go, what more to say whether or not I want stay here.