Look at this portrait of perfection. This is common bar food at my favorite place "Hitoshi" in Ishigaki. Not only have I already packed up all my things and said goodbye to all my friends and students that I have spent the past two years with, I am also saying goodbye to seafood. Once I return to America, I will become a full vegetarian. None of this "I'm a vegetarian but I eat seafood" thing anymore. It was really easy for me to give up chicken, beef, and pork six years ago when I decided to become a vegetarian, but seafood is going to be another story. But, I feel its the right thing to do, once again, to do my small part in helping save our environment and help save our oceans. But at the same time, I can still appreciate this masterpiece plate filled with deliciousness, including octupus, bonito, tuna, salmon, sea grapes, squid and a number of other types of fish, after two years, I still can't figure out what they are. I never ate much sashimi when I was in America, only sushi, but in Japan it seems more common to eat sashimi, and that was fine with me. You really appreciate the flavor of the fish much more when eating it without the rice. Also, in Japan, they use very little soy sauce and wasabi, unlike most Americans (including myself) who drown each piece in the sauce. At the moment, I am in Indonesia exploring the wonders of satay and tempeh, but I will be back in Ishigaki one last time for one last sashimi plate at Hitoshi, and then its full vegetarianism for me. I don't feel so bad though, I reckon, seafood is ruined for me anyway, after living on a tiny island in a fishing paradise for the past two years. It doesn't get much better.
