Sake Tour

10th March, 2007

Ok I have now 100% decided that I definitely do not like the taste of Sake. For those of you who don’t know, Sake is a type of Japanese alcohol. It is very strong and you drink it in a shot glass. We were taken to a Sake factory on the weekend to have a tour. This was a very interesting experience. First of all we were given a talk about how Sake was made– it was all in Japanese so I had no idea what was going on. I was trying to pick up some words but I got nothing! After the talk we were shown a video of how they made Sake and then we went on a tour of the factory.

On our tour we had to wear white gumboots and a little white shower cap. We all looked very stylish! Before the tour began we had to step into water with our boots to make sure that they were clean. (Japan is very big on being clean if you hadn’t already noticed). The tour consisted of showing us the different rooms and processes of how Sake is produced. Sake is made out of rice and there is a lot of labour involved in making it.


After the tour we went back in to the main section where we were able to taste test the various types of sake. They brought us quite a few bottles to taste and it was like an ‘all you can drink’ for about an hour. Everyone bought snacks such as cheese, ritz, chocolate, chips and popcorn to share so we got stuck into the Sake and food! It was funny because the Japanese people’s idea of snacks was totally different to ours. They went all out and were eating actual proper food like sushi, fried meats and rice. Of course I wanted to try all the different types of Sake, so you can imagine the kind of state I would have been in when I left the place.
Trying to ride our bikes home after we got back to the train station was definitely an adventure. A pot plant in the middle of the path had a slight collision with me (it was all the pot plants fault of course). Luckily there was no damage caused! We made it home in one piece ready to then head to the pub for the remainder of the night.

The pub was ok. I didn’t really need any more to drink which was a good thing – all I needed to do was to dance it all off (which I managed to do!) The people at the pub were crazy. There must have been something in the air but at one stage these people were putting cream on plates and shoving in into people’s faces. I’m glad I didn’t get creamed! I would have been peaking if I did!! Then I was just standing there talking to my friends (as you do) and the next minute these people came running through the crowd and I was taken out! There was me sprawled all over the floor about 1 metre from where I was standing! It must have looked so funny. I reckon I would have won Funniest Home Videos if that was caught on camera. I eventually managed to pick myself up off the floor with some assistance of course. At that stage I was ready to head home. Taxis were hard to come by so we ended up just walking home in the rain in my high-heeled white boots. It took us about 20 minutes to walk home and I think I pretty much complained the whole way home. My white boots weren’t so white at the end of the night. They needed some major cleaning on Sunday morning. Just as well they only cost me $10.