The shrimp that wouldn't die

Tonight we went to the kaiten sushi (rotator belt sushi place). HIroshi and I always used to go to one in Meguro across from the station (beside Wendy's) but the last few times, the fish has been a bit dry and I've been disappointed in the quality. So today we tried one in the Atre building (also in Meguro) that was recommended to me by some wacko guy chatting me up the last time I went to the old kaiten sushi in Meguro. Wow! It is awesome! It has lots of choices, including non-sushi items.

Erik was having a blast. There were lots of things he had never tried before, which was good because it sounds like sushi was a regular part of his New York diet. I was also happy because the fish was fresh and there were vegetables and stuff there to eat as well. Yummy.

Towards the end of our sushi extravaganza (we had to roll home) the sushi chef wiggled some large shrimp at me and asked if I wanted some. I figured what the heck, so he prepared them by chopping off the heads and peeling them, except for the tail. He fried up the heads and gave them to us in a bowl - I gave them to Hiroshi and Erik because I hate the heads. Shrimp brains are disgusting. Then the chef handed over the shrimp and touched the tail. Well you know your seafood is fresh when it still moves. The shrimp spasmed a bit when he touched the tail. So we set the thing on the table and waited.

Hiroshi finally decided to eat his one. As he put it in his mouth, the tail was moving!! Talk about giving someone the willies. I didn't want mine moving around, so I tried to cut off the tail part. I usually take it off before eating anyway, rather than pulling it out of my mouth. Well, as I grabbed it, it moved! So I decided to take my chopsticks and cut the darn thing off... only soon as I put pressure onto the shrimp flesh it started flipping and flopping around like a fish out of water. Of course I scream and jump back in my chair. This is not cool. So I get Hiroshi to take the tail off... only he ends up doing the same thing, jumping back when the thing moved. A few minutes later, I tentatively touched the flesh and it started flopping again, causing me to scream yet again. I'm sure the other customers thought I was nuts. Keep in mind that this shrimp has been alive without its head or its shell for like ten minutes!

Finally, we got the tail off, and the thing was still moving. I couldn't bring myself to put it in my mouth because I would have absolutely freaked if it had moved while inside it. I've never had to gear myself up so much to eating something! All in all it ended up being a really fun time and I must say it was the most amusing time I've ever had at a kaiten sushi!