Let the Countdown Begin!

IT IS OFFICIAL! Start your countdown clocks and set them to T-Minus 4.5 months. On October 14, 2007, we will be returning to the LAND OF SMILES! No my friends we are not traveling to Thailand, we are heading back to TOKYO JAPAN! Most of the original group got together for dinner recently at Chiba-Ken. Missing from the picture are the Oregon bunch (Matt, Brad and Mary) Mark, Mrs. Sakata and Ryan, who was actually there but unfortunately got cut out of the picture. Sorry Ryan!

The herd has thinned this year as only four of us have committed thus far. Quite a bit less than the fourteen of us who went last year. This is mostly because another bigger and longer trip is already being planned for 2008, and not everyone is up to going to Japan three years in a row. I see this as a "glass half full" situation since this really means there will be more sake for me to drink in Tokyo since less people are going!

Let's Give it to Timmy . . . He'll Eat Anything!

POP QUIZ: What is Timmy doing in the above picture?

A. After digging for days, Timmy is proudly showing off the granddaddy of all boogers!

B. Timmy lost a bet and must now swallow a super sized maggot.

C. Timmy is happily enjoying his dinner in Ginza.

If you answered C, you are correct. What looks like a giant maggot is in fact a raw shrimp with it's "brains" attached. Most people pull the head off their shrimp and just eat the body. A few people will sometimes suck the "brains" from the head as well. However, this is the first time I have seen anyone manage to successfully pull the brains out from the head of a raw shrimp while still keeping it attached to the body. Leave it to Timmy to pull off the impossible. .

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This feat of greatness took place during dinner in Ginza and involved one of the biggest raw shrimps I have even seen. Most of the time you think of raw shrimp as the small "ama ebi" you see on sushi. This shrimp was no tiny ama ebi, this sucker was the Godzilla of shellfish. While the above picture does not do it justice, if you look good you can see the shrimp with its head still attached on the sashimi boat.

And now for the money shot! Timmy slurps this monster down in one swallow for the camera. Impressive yet disgusting at the same time. You can see Rae in the background, cringing in terror at this horrific sight! According to Timmy this was the best raw shrimp he had ever eaten. Giant raw shrimp with their brains attached . . . one more reason to visit Japan.