Sunday, June 27, 2010

sleepy foodie friday

Friday, Satoshi had the day off and boy, was it a good thing because we woke up at 3:30 a.m. to watch Japan play against Denmark in the FIFA World Cup.

We aren't really soccer fans, (and don't really know the rules), but we were interested to see how they would do.

Luckily they won (3-1), but talk about sleep deprived. Usually on weeknights we go to bed at 1:00 a.m., so to wake up at 3:30 a.m. was definitely a crazy thing to do.

At about 5:00 a.m. when the game finished, we chatted until we fell back asleep.

Then at 8:30 a.m. we headed to our favorite cafe, Hiro for some breakfast.

(Next month there is an election (they sure have a lot here!), but because it is on a Sunday and Satoshi thinks he may have to work, he cast his absentee ballot.)

We spotted this Mini in a driveway on the way to our city hall.

After he voted, we headed out to Kyoto for lunch and then to visit MIL.

It is amazing the things you see while waiting for Satoshi run some errands, I spotted this Japanese figure atop a clock.

At the end of August, the Hankyu Department Kyoto store will close its doors, so I snapped a photo of their sign.

Another thing I noticed was that the kuchinashi (gardenia) are in full bloom, I love the fragrance of these flowers, reminds me of home (Hawaii).
For lunch, Satoshi and I went to Ichi no Funairi. I've been here with Tamakikat in the past and I've wanted Satoshi to experience this place.

We tried to go there during Golden Week, but they were only open to those who already had reservations. Today, they were also quite busy so we ended up waiting over 30 minutes for a table.

Satoshi ordered the shrimp with eringi mushroom set menu (prix fixe)...1500 yen (about US$15) and I ordered the fried chicken with yakumi (condiments) set menu (prix fixe)...1500 yen (about US$15)

This came with a hoshidofu (dried bean curd) salad. This tofu (bean curd) had a texture like noodles cooked a little softer than al dente but not mushy as sometimes tofu can be. It was flavored with a light sesame dressing.

This also came with some siu mai (steamed pork dumpling), har gau (shrimp dumpling) and tsa tsai (pickled mustard tuber).

Satoshi's main dish was garlicky and delicious with lots of mushroom and shrimp. My main dish had lots of chopped onions, cabbage, shiso (perilla) and lemon.

This was the yakumi (condiments) that topped the crispy fried chicken....sweet, salty, a little sour and light tasting with the lemon. There was also a citrus soy sauce under the chicken too....mmm!

The main dishes were very generous in portion.

Our meals also came with some egg drop soup, rice and dessert.
The dessert was a tapioca pudding topped with some honey. It was a nice finish to a great and very filling meal.

After lunch, we walked (rolled out) to catch the subway to visit MIL and on the way, we noticed this sign saying "Sight-seeing toilet"...wondering what the heck it was, we peeked in and realized it was just a public toilet...why they named it sight-seeing was a mystery to us.

The ajisai (hydrangea) were in full bloom too, it was nice to see them mixed in with the gardenia along the sidewalks.

I threw in the last photo of a popsicle that Satoshi had before the World Cup started...This blue popsicle is a limited time item to root for Japan's team which they call "Samurai Blue".

Anyway, it was a long day, we got to visit with MIL, and had some great food.

Hope your week will be a nice one.

15 comments:

K said...

Yum, looks delicious!

I can only imagine the translation process that went into the "Sight-seeing toilet"...maybe it was Public -> Tourist -> Sight-seeing? Who knows, haha.

Dennis K. said...

I love garigari-kun! I don't really follow soccer or any sport for that matter but world cup is always exciting.

Thistlemoon said...

I love the new look of your blog! And wow, that is early for soccer! :)

K and S said...

K, sometimes I wonder where they were looking up these terms :p

Thanks Dennis, Satoshi really likes these gari-gari kun bars also :)

Thanks Jenn, I think the earliness has to do with the time difference between S.Africa and Japan.

Take care everyone!
Kat

jalna said...

I love your food photos. Everything looks so good. The flowers look beautiful. I'm soooo into your Samurai Blue team! Hahahaha. When I read "sight-seeing toilet" the first thing that came into my mind was this YouTube video that I saw where the occupant in a public toilet pops up for all to see. I would so not use that "sight-seeing toilet".

Unknown said...

Nice looking Mini! Did you see that Mini vs. Porsche race on Mini's Facebook page? Stirred up a lot of attention!

K and S said...

I would so not use THAT toilet too Jalna :)

Thanks Rick, I'll go check out FB :)

Take care you two.
Kat

Barbara said...

Yum, the tapioca pudding looks delicious. I love tapioca.

K and S said...

I love tapioca also Barbara :)

Take care.
Kat

Deb in Hawaii said...

Wow! You did eat well! Love the sight-seeing toilet too!
;-)

Rowena said...

That mini is gorgeous! It's got some sort of sign on it? Rallye Monte Carlo? This past weekend there was a vintage Alpha Romeo car show in town but we couldn't stop to see it. Your eats sounds soooo good as usual but what did MIL serve you guys if anything?

K and S said...

As long as no one is sight-seeing in the toilet Debinhawaii ;)

MIL served us tea Rowena, we actually left before dinner ;)

Take care you two.
Kat

K and S said...

p.s. Rowena, I googled Rallye Monte Carlo and all these photos of Minis popped up :)

Rowena said...

I found a photo where the rally was held when it was snowing?! Looks like so much fun!
http://robson.m3rlin.org/cars/wp-content/uploads/2007/10/austin-mini-cooper-s-rally-1964-02-copy.jpg

K and S said...

I think these were similar to what I saw when I googled...scary but fun Rowena :)

Take care!
Kat