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.