KYOTO and back home tomorrow!!!!!

This is it, we leave for NY tomorrow! Yes, I will say it again, I cannot believe it!

Kyoto was definitely the perfect end to Japan. It was the perfect time to visit, the trees and foliage were absolutely stunning. I only have a few pics below from my camera phone to upload for now until we can get everything off our camera. We packed in the major sites including a trip to Nara. What a gorgeous country. I feel like descriptions will not do anything justice. We went to the major temples and shrines in Kyoto and had some great meals including a Kiseki meal that was one of the best meals (if not the best) we had in Japan.

Our last night in Japan and we are going to have sushi. Tomorrow for lunch is our last ramen....

The Golden Pavillion:



Kiyomizudera Temple and it's amazing view:



Sashimi from our Kaiseki meal:



FAREWELL JAPAN!!! *sniff*sniff*

Videos and last cooking class

Here are some videos from the dance music festival. In the first one, check out the old guy at the beginning! They can really party in Tokyo!





For my last cooking class, we made a root vegetable salad with sesame vinegar sauce, mackerel with hot and sweet balsamic sauce, white miso soup (it had soy milk in it!) and a pumpkin something or other dessert.



Mine:

Tokyo Dance Music Festival

So we actually got blown off from dinner. It's a long story and confusing, I'm not even going to bother writing about it. Needless to say it's starting to feel like a good time to move back home where are family and real friends are.

Anyway, in the afternoon we walked around Harajuku and stopped in Yoyogi Park where there was this random Tokyo dance music festival



There were guys like below carrying around full bottles of wine. We also saw flasks, bottles of whiskey. Sheesh. Anyway, it was the last time we would see anything like this. Japanese party goers, just enjoying the music on a brisk autumn afternoon in the park.



A random sign:






Will upload a couple videos soon.

Thanksgiving dinner analysis

Thanksgiving dinner at Lawry's was good but expensive. A whole turkey costed $200! We had 11 people at dinner. Salad, turkey, mash, stuffing, gravy, cranberry sauce, pumpkin pie and wine. The turkey was good. Stuffing was weird, it looked like sliced meatloaf:



We think it was some mixture of bread, rice, dried fruit, nuts... We had 2 turkeys and 3 people had prime rib:



We had way too much turkey left so everyone got to take some home. Overall we stuffed ourselves (as thanksgiving should be) and had a good time but not the same as a home cooked meal. Pumpkin pie was different too. Less fluffy and no cinnamon taste.
We are going upstairs to Brandon and Caroline's place for Thanksgiving dinner part 2. I think they are cooking a whole dinner for friends tonight.




Hope everyone had a great meal!

Happy Turkey Day

I hope I don't gain too much weight. Leaving the wonderful city of Tokyo, full of delicious food. We're getting all our last meals in.

On Tuesday, I met up with my old coworker and we went to an Izakaya. Kenn and I don't get to go to those often since the menu is always only in Japanese. This was a real old school one where salarymen go and you can see the old beer advertisement posters on the wall. I think there was one other woman in the place besides me.



We tried whale again. This time sashimi and we were able to taste it. We also tried horse meat sashimi. I know, terrible, but we had to give it a shot. It had more flavor than whale but I personally couldn't get over the fact that it was horse so couldn't quite enjoy it.

Last night Kenn and I went to our favorite yakitori place behind our apt. We tried the chicken meatball hot pot. Yumm.

For turkey, we are going with some friends to
Lawry's Steakhouse but they're specially serving turkey, mash, and stuffing.

8 more days in Japan!

Beef Stew

Taking the last of my cooking classes these last few days. Made beef stew, here's the cooking school pic:



Here's mine:




Came out great, we learned how to make the stew sauce from scratch, pumkin cream salad (actually really good) and cheesecake dessert. The dessert was like a quick gelatin cheesecake which is a great quick dessert instead of baking a whole cake if you're pressed for time.

Next up is a japanese meal including grilled mackerel.

This week we have a bunch of dinners including Thanksgiving at a restaurant and probably a second thanksgiving dinner at our friends' place. Then it's our last weekend, Kyoto, then NY!

Design Festa - Nov 2007

Random pics from Design Festa:




The Chief & Mischief booth:




Kenn dj'd at the booth and had some t-shirt and sticker designs for sale. It was a tiring weekend of set-up, working the booth, tear down... but a good overall experience.

Tsukiji Guy Part 1

*****READ THIS POST FIRST*******

Went to Tsukiji fish market again today with Jen and Bashi. Last time when we went with PC and Melissa we saw this poster and started cracking up. Can you tell why without looking at the next post?

Tsukiji Guy Part 2

************READ ABOVE POST FIRST************





His eye!!! It's just so funny that the one eye is looking in another direction. Of course, it's not really funny because it's a problem with his eye but it really made us laugh. We were also really confused as to why he's holding a steak on a fish market poster.

Then I ruined it all by asking my coworker about this pic. I asked what the text said and it says something like "Tsukiji is interesting on a Saturday". With "interesting" also interpreted as fun, unusual, or full or surprises. This explains the steak. Then I pointed out the guy's eye and was told he's a famous tv/variety show producer and always wears dark glasses.

Finding out the mystery behind this poster made it not funny anymore. *sigh* sometimes things are better left "Lost In Translation".....

My relation to Jen

So last night Jen (the cousin that's visiting Tokyo) and I figured out how we are related. Actually we didn't figure it out but her mom knew. We drew it out on paper because it's a bit confusing to try to keep it straight in your head.

Very interesting to think through the family tree. I've always been interested in creating a really large family tree that spans distant relatives. It's not something talked out or thought of often and is fascinating really.

As family members move to different cities or states and as family members grow apart or get older and pass away, these things tend to get forgotten.

Here is our relationship tree (I think I have it right. Dad, you were close):



Check out how confusing it gets!

It's been a week since I've posted?

Wow, how did that happen? Time really flies. At least you have my short Twitter updates. Last week was mostly uneventful. Had a nice dinner with Rupa who is also moving back to NYC. My cousin Jen and Bashi arrived late on Friday and we went to Milwaukee Bar. Saturday we took them around the shopping neighborhoods (it was yucky weather out unfortunately) - Omotosando, Harajuku, Shibuya.

Sunday was rest and relaxation day, I can sleep a lot lately.

This week Jen and Bashi are visiting Hakone and Kamakura. This coming weekend is Design Festa. Kenn is going to help out a friend's booth and hopefully sell his own tshirts and stickers he designed, and dj too.

Boots and hats are back

As autumn arrives the knee high boots are back in Tokyo! Often paired with short-shorts and not hose or tights but with bare legs and socks. I don't understand how women are not cold wearing the shortest shorts I've ever seen out.

On the flip side, hats are back. Along with hats people are already wearing scarves and full winter coats. WHAT? Kenn and I can't figure out how some people can be wearing full winter gear in a city that barely gets under 40 degrees!

More Tokyo

(Hey Livia,) This subway ad caught my eye because it's for a GE Money AMEX card (she worked/works for them). The outdoor advertising in Tokyo can be amazing sometimes. They had these ads down the entire stairs and escalator at my subway station. On the platform they are also on all of the pillars. Impossible not to notice (at least the first day they put it up, then you get used to it). I'll see if I can take more pics.


Kenn and I had a Mos burger the other day. Mos burger is a Japanese fast food joint. The burgers are small and cute as you can see from the pic. But really yummy and the lettuce and tomato so crisp and fresh. They also have burgers with rice cake buns.



We went to Ueno Park and Odaiba. Odaiba had nice views, there happened to be a festival there with some dance performances and there's also a Toyota showroom we went to.

We had fast food Katsudon for lunch and for dinner we had great Yakitori. PC & Melissa's last lunch in Tokyo so today we're off for one more ramen. :)

Kenn and I have a few days break until more guests!

PC & Melissa in Tokyo

First, here is what I learned to cook this week. Pork miso soup, steamed salmon & veggies with ponzu sauce, a side dish, and a sweet potato/cream dessert:


The lighting isn't so great so you can't really see how it came out.

This close up is really yummy though!
My dessert came out looking like a turd but tasted delicious! :)


So with PC & Melissa this week, we've eaten: ramen, tonkatsu, oudon, sushi (once at the fish market and again at a conveyor belt place), and some random restaurant where we had small dishes of pasta, steak, and chicken.

We've gone to Akihabara, The Tokyo City View at the Mori building, a really cool Mori Museum contemporary art exhibit, and Asakusa.

It's been a great week. Tonight we're off to Milwaukee Bar.

Osaka Part 3

On the Shinkansen high speed train to Osaka Kenn had a sushi bento box:



On the platform waiting for the train we saw this special edition Kit Kat. As I mentioned in a previous post, Kit Kats here come in all kinds of flavors including seasonal and special edition ones. We've recently seen chestnut, caramel, and cookies & cream.



Statues outside of PC & Melissa's hotel:


Funny fat guy (no, I don't mean Kenn!)



Overall, there was a lot of walking involved but it was a nice trip.

On a completely separate side note, I saw this in the news today:
A former creative director at Dentsu USA has filed suit against the holding company, claiming he was fired after he complained about being put in sexually-charged work situations that included side trips to a Czech brothel, a Tokyo bath house, and a Maria Sharapova photo shoot.

One of the the complaints is: A 2004 trip to a Tokyo bathhouse during which the Dentsu chief told Mr. Biegel and others to dip naked into a bath with him.

Umm, yea, anyone that knows Japanese culture should know that's normal for Japanese at a bathhouse. It's rude and actually prohibited to wear clothes.