Staycation Highlights

{Yuriko Sensei's rare smile was a surprise when I saw this pic.}

Wearing yukata (summer kimono) at amusement/theme parks is normal practice during summer. It was a fun experience when we spent Friday evening in the park to watch fireworks and just hang out. While we had to follow school rules, it sure was a lot more relaxed since we were on staycation. Food was still delicious and I enjoyed helping out at the kitchen. As always, miso soup, tea, and pickled veggies were always served with our meals. Love Love Love Japanese homecooking. :D

The school principal treated us to lunch at an eat-all-you-can yakiniku place. Check out my eats. I started with sushi, asparagus, pineapple, pasta salad, brocolli, and peaches.

{Salad and Sushi}

While the principal grilled beef, I used my grill space for satsuma imo (sweet potatoes), kabocha, and squid steak. I think I amused him when I also threw in some of the peaches and pineapple in the grill. :P

{Lower Half of the Grill: Kabocha, SweetPs, Squid Steak, PApple, Peaches}

Second tray. Grapefruit, orange, onion, and more kabocha. A scoop each of chocolate and matcha ice cream. There were tons of flavors to choose from but I had my heart on these two flavas from the very start. :D A bowl of cold udon on shiso flavored sauce sprinkled with sesame seeds. Last saucer contains a takoyaki, slice of omelette, and nimono (stewed carrots, renkon, and daikon).

{MORE Kabocha, Fruits, Choc&Matcha Ice Cream, Udon, Takoyaki, Omu, Nimono}

We chose half of the pastry selection for sharing. Here are my six bites of sweet heaven: plain cheesecake, strawberry cc, mango cc, chocolate cake, angel cake, and strawberry shortcake. PLUS, edamame! :D

{Cake and Edamame}

Do you think I overindulged? Personally, I think I handled this buffet well. I skipped the fried rice, curries, fried potatoes, fried chicken, yakisoba, spaghetti, salad dressings, and a lot of the high calorie items. While everybody else grilled meat, I was very much satisfied and comfortable grilling my kabocha and onions. My fave pick for this buffet was the chilled asparagus. The last buffet I went to, my fave was wakame salad in ponzu sauce. Haha. :D It must be the heat.

How do you handle buffets? Do you choose your fave dishes or do you like getting a bite of everything? If I had it my way, I wouldn't go to an eat-all-you-can restaurant. For me, the amount of available food choices is just not normal. One needs to exert more restraint compared to when one simply orders what s/he wants from a menu.