While the spring festival was happening in Dogo, we had a nabe party in the guesthouse. It was the perfect opportunity for our foreign guests to discover this great Japanese dish! Symbol of family, friends or colleagues gathering in Japan, you won’t find it in any restaurant.
For those who don’t know, nabe is a kind of hot-pot cooking where you put meat, fish, vegetables and even noodles in one big pot with a soup – although the combination of ingredients differs from one region or family to another. After it has simmered for a while, everyone takes small portions in their own bowls and eats it, usually along with sake.
In that way, all of us nabe lovers and neophytes were glad to share this moment, talking about our own cultures from Singapore, the United States, Australia, Sweden, Quebec, France, New Zealand and, of course, Japan. Celebrating cross-border meetings of world travelers because that’s what a guesthouse is all about! It was definitely an enjoyable moment and I wish we could do it more often even if, as spring comes, the winter season of hot-pot cooking is over…
(Hi! My name is Tiphaine and I’m a 22-year-old girl from France. I’m currently travelling for one year in Japan and I’m staying at Sen Guesthouse for 1.5 months, doing volunteering in beautiful Matsuyama. One of my passions in life is writing and I would be happy to share any stories about what’s happening in Matsuyama and in the guesthouse for travelers passing by or former guests who want to follow the news. I hope you will all like it and that I will make you want to discover this awesome place!)