Japan Day 9: Moon Festival

Chuo University Apartment Dorm
The morning of Day 9 meant me being left behind again while all the other exchange students woke up early to take their Japanese placement exams. In the meantime, I helped out my sister by taking out the garbage we had accumulated from buying stuff for her room. It felt slightly complicated at first because garbage bags were divided by flammable vs. non-flammable and it took some second guessing to figure out where things went. After all this I headed towards Seyu and picked up a small tan shelf to go in Nicole’s room and spent the morning decoding the instructions and putting it together. I completed my work as an interior designer by adding cool black decals to the walls and closet door. The room looked awesome and I am bummed I forgot to take photos to give you an idea of how it looked.
Garbage Disposal Guidelines in Japan
I was hungry after all that work, so afterwords I headed to the convenience store to pick up some food for lunch. I had Karage chicken, Inari Rolls, and a Dr.Pepper. I was so full I wouldn’t eat the rice ball I bought, so I saved it for later.
Japanese Convenience Store Meal

My sister came back and wasn’t hungry but I made her come out and get some food with me for dinner. We had seen a bunch of advertisements at the train stations for Kirin Strong drinks, which we found out were alcoholic drinks. We bought some to try and I decided to try the Takoyaki from the convenience store. It was ok, but not the same as Takoyaki made fresh. 
Kirin Strong Lemon and Takoyaki

 After our dinner, my sister and I with a couple of other students went out to buy ice cream from Seyu, once again due to effective advertising, and came back to a bunch of people hanging out in the lounge. It seemed silly that we bought ice cream because everyone brought their stash of sweets to share with everyone else.
Moon Festival - Summer in Japan

Moon Festival - Summer in Japan

Despite all these sweets, more were planned for later since it was the time of the Moon Festival and a Mochi Party had been planned for later that night. The process of making mochi is just as fun as eating it. I am not too big of a fan of mochi unless it is mochi ice cream, but there was something about the way this was made that was delicious!
Mochi Making Party

Mochi Making Party

Mochi Making Party

Mochi Making Party

Mochi Making Party

Mochi Making Party

Canon Camera
Moon Festival - Summer in Japan
Once it was done, we went outside to the deck to eat under the full moon. There were three types of toppings for the the mochi and I actually enjoyed the Dango sauce. There was red bean paste (which you discovered I am not a fan of on Day 2) and the typical Mochi powder which looks like a brown sugar and I cannot remember the name of it.
Moon in Japan

Moon Festival Ourdoor Party Japan
Eating Mochi for the Moon Festival
Eating Mochi for the Moon Festival

Eating Mochi for the Moon Festival

It was such a fun night and I thought Nicole is very lucky to be living here with such a great group of people. The fun doesn’t occur only on the night of a full moon. For Day 10 I am introduced to the meaning of Nagashi Somen, so make sure to check back for that!
Brandy