ikegami baien

Monday, went to check out Ikegami Baien.

Was about a week too late though

 

Not many trees left with flowers on it.

The strong winds weren't too helpful either.

Hello! (thanks for not barking at me)

Even though there weren’t many flowers, it was still nice to check out this part of our area

taiyo & kouka no shizuku

We've been trying different plums lately...

This one is called Taiyo (which means sun) and was grown in Yamanashi prefecture.

So so sour!

This one is called Kouka no Shizuku and the name is a combination of meanings taken from the chinese characters used to write the name..."deep red", "fragrance", "droplet"

This plum was grown in Aomori prefecture.

So so red!

Not too sweet but definitely sweeter than Taiyo.

I'm glad we got to try both varieties.

What have you been enjoying these days?

bonbaiten

Monday was a National Holiday, Seijin-no-hi (Coming-of-age Day). It is when the 20 year olds are "initiated" into society. They can legally drink, which seems to pose problems and embarassment at the ceremonies. There are many girls who dress in furisode (long sleeved kimono) and the guys wear suits. I think it is losing its luster though, as I didn't see many out and about.

Since it was a beautiful day, Satoshi and I headed out to Shiga prefecture. On the way, we were able to see some snow flurries.

In Nagahama, they had an exhibition called Bonbaiten (potted plum exhibition). This is the 57th exhibition and it runs from January 10 until March 10. The admission was 500 yen.

Some potted plums were only 8 inches tall and some were 6 feet tall! There were many trees to view and some as old as 350 years! Some weren't blooming yet but they were still beautiful to see.

Lunch was in the Kurokabe area of Nagahama. We stopped into a machiya called Yokaro. Their specialty was saba (mackerel). I had the Bi-doro-bako (left photo) which was an assortment of seafoods like funa (carp), unagi (eel), kisu (sillago). Satoshi had the saba kaido (middle photo), this featured mackerel grilled then put on top of somen and on top of sushi. Everything was a bit too "fishy" for me, so Satoshi cleaned up what I couldn't finish.
We then were craving something sweet, but wanted to go somewhere closer to home, so I asked Satoshi if he would like to check out the place that I had had matcha fondue at. He was game, so we head to Kyoto. When we got to the place it was peak cafe time but the place was quite empty.

Satoshi had a babaloa (bavarian cream) with chestnut paste and bits of chestnut in it. I had the Saganoji, which was a light cheese cake with a sponge cake bottom, matcha mochi (green tea rice cake) layer in between and then was wrapped with a thin, soft mochi. I think it is supposed to resemble the cobblestones in Arashiyama, though it was light as a feather.

Hope your week is going well.

hana shobu

We have a park nearby called Suigetsu Park which we have visited in the Spring and Summer and I have posted about before. Spring showcases the ume and momo (plum and peach )trees. As Spring turns to Summer, you can see the fruits begin to ripen on the trees.

The beginning of Summer also brings the hana shobu, a type of iris.

I love the these fragile flowers.

The beginning of Summer also brings Satoshi's birthday. This year he has to work on his birthday. I bought us some dessert from a shop in our arcade called Mior. I bought a Chocolat for Satoshi and Tiramisu for myself.

Here's the birthday boy, he looks a bit run down since he's been working late and also been going drinking with friends and co-workers.

foodie weekend

Saturday was rainy and COLD! Satoshi had to work and I had a lesson. I met Satoshi for dinner at the New Otani Hotel. There is a restaurant called Trader Vic's in the hotel. We like their food because it reminds of Hawaii and also Satoshi's friend works there. This restaurant will close in June, so if you want to go, you'd better go soon!

Sunday was cold and WINDY! It felt as though a typhoon was on its way and we even had flurries. After doing some errands, we were (Satoshi was) strapped to the television watching the World Baseball Classic game between Korea & Japan. The other day, Mexico won their game against USA which gave Japan a chance to play in the semi-finals. Japan won their game yesterday and now face Cuba in the finals.

After the game we decided to walk around Suigetsu Park to see how the ume (plum) blossoms had progressed. The whole park was pink, white and red! It was really nice (but VERY windy) There is a fitness area in the park which has this rocky path. Take off your shoes and walk on the rocks. It is supposed to press the different pressure points on your feet. Satoshi cringed as he walked on these.

From the park, we made our way to dinner at the kaitensushi restaurant, Sushiro. Kaitensushi is sushi that comes to you on a conveyer belt. Some people also call it kurukuru sushi because kurukuru means to go round and round. We like this place because it is a nice walk to the restaurant and each plate is only $1. "Real" kaitensushi usually charge you different prices depending on what kind of fish tops the sushi.

There are a few rules that you should know about eating at one of these places. 1)If you take a plate off of the conveyer belt, you need to eat what you took...don't put it back onto the conveyer belt! 2)Wait for the sushi to pass in front of you, don't reach over to the other side of the conveyer belt to get the sushi you want.
There are some families who apparently don't know this and do these obnoxious things.

I am trying to clean out our refrigerator since I'll be going to Hawaii at the end of the week.

Today for Satoshi's breakfast I made chanchanyaki. Chanchanyaki is a dish from Hokkaido, the most Northern island of the Japan. It is a very easy dish to make. They call it chanchanyaki because chanchan supposedly means easy to make in Hokkaido dialect. If you have this dish in Hokkaido, you'll be surprised at the volume of food that is cooked. They "throw" a whole salmon, a whole cabbage and other veggies onto a hot plate grill and this is supposed to feed 2 people!

Chanchanyaki : serves 2
200g salmon (cut into fourths)
1/2 cabbage (cut roughly)
1/2 onion (sliced)

Sauce:
120 g miso (soy bean paste)
10 g sugar
60 cc sake (rice wine)
*Mix these together and leave on the side

Put the salmon and veggies into a pan and cook until salmon is heated through and veggies a bit wilted. Add sauce and simmer for 2 to 3 minutes. Serve with rice.

Enjoy!