wednesday

Wednesday, I went to Shonai to check out a park that I've seen from the train many times.

If I'm not mistaken, it used to be the property of Panasonic.

Every time we pass by on the train, there is no one in the park.

Even with the cherry blossoms, no one.

Well, I figured out why no one is there, they have so many "no" rules at their entrance.

"no eating, no drinking, no playing ball"...

No wonder no one is there.

Luckily, when I visited there were people sitting here and there on the benches that they have there.

Too bad they don't allow eating, it would've been nice to picnic under the trees.

I shot a short video of the area here.

After checking out the park, I walked to SidMid, a soup curry shop for lunch.

I ordered the kakuni (braised pork) curry...950 yen (plus tax).

This came with some saffron rice and a drink of your choice.

Since the weather was quite warm, I chose their iced chai.

The pork could have been cooked a little longer, the bottom part of the piece was quite tough, while the upper part was tender.

When you order you can choose your spice level (1-10), the first four are at no charge, five & six are an additional 100 yen, seven & eight are an additional 200 yen and nine & ten are an additional 300 yen.

There was another customer there when I went and I think he must've ordered a really high level of spice because I could hear him coughing a lot.

Me, I ordered my curry at level 2.

The portion was quite filling, lots of vegetables and soup.

Towards the end of my bowl, I noticed that there was something gritty in their soup.

I would go back when I'm in the area but try something else on their menu.

SidMid
1-5-8 Shonai Higashi-machi
Toyonaka, Osaka
Phone: 06.7161.5879
Hours: 11:00-20:00 (or until they run out of soup)
check their facebook page for days off (Japanese only)

hounan ichiba

I told you a little about the Hounan Ichiba (hounan market) in yesterday's post.

This place is rather large and many eateries buy their ingredients from here.

There are many vendors selling different things. I thought their prices were quite reasonable.

In Japan, most vendors specialize in particular items, for example you buy fish from the fishmonger, meat from the butcher, etc.

Unlike the U.S., where most items are sold at supermarkets these days.

I picked up this bag of chirimen (whitebait)...200 grams for 475 yen. I divvied them up into 10 grams each and froze most of it.

Scored "bambucha" (huge) brussels sprouts...not sure how heavy these were but they were only 400 yen.

Which I used some in a Kimu-Taku stir-fry...we had this with lots of rice.

Huge San-Fuji apples, these are about 200 yen each, I think the markets sell each for more.

I also found super cheap goya (bittermelon)...2 for 150 yen.

I used 1 for goya tsukudani and the other one for goya champuru.

By the way, our weather is still funky, Thursday it rained.all.day.long.

And then yesterday there was hail and flurries!

Not to mention there was also a huge earthquake 5 or 6 level near Shikoku which Satoshi and I didn't even feel (we were in deep sleep), though it rocked pretty much all of Kansai and Kyushu...

At the rate we are going Spring is gonna whiz by and then we'll be left with super-humid-hot-blah Summer until October...sigh.

Hope the weather is warmer and nicer where you are.

Hounan Ichiba
right outside of Hankyu Shonai station
Toyonaka, Osaka
Open everyday except Sundays & Holidays
Hours: 9:00-18:00

foodie kind of weekend

Saturday, the sun was out but the temperatures were way down.

Since Satoshi had to work, I went for a walk.

There was a Mini that I spotted from the train and wanted to check out in person.

You should know that riding the train in our area gives pretty much a bird's eye view of things. Most of the time you get views that you would not see while walking.

This Mini was the first left-sided steering that I've seen here. It also had a nice gas flap.

On the way home, I stopped by Suigetsu Park and caught this group of grandpas chatting and having fun.

I then stopped into Family Mart and came across Muji's Banana Baum Kuchen drizzled with dark chocolate. after seeing Manju's post, this was the perfect snack.

Sunday, Satoshi had the day off and we decided to visit several temples for hatsumode (first prayers of the year).

In Sone, we stopped at Hagi-no-dera, which is known for their god of promotions & success.

Then we walked to Hattori, about 15 minutes.

On the way to Hattori, I told Satoshi that I wanted to stop to photograph another Mini that I always see from the train in a parking lot.

Unfortunately, the parking lot is manned, so I couldn't actually go into the lot to get pictures.

Instead, I stood outside the lot and took photos from under the fence.

I think these were the first photos I got of a MINI that were up close.

At Hattori Tenmangu, we prayed to the foot gods and thanked them for keeping our feet in good shape.

Then we walked from Hattori to Shonai, about 25 minutes.

Satoshi was feeling hungry so we picked up a curry croquette (80 yen about US$.80) & a wagyu (Japanese beef) (70 yen about US$.70) croquette from Niku Fuji.

These were right out of the fryer, hot and delicious, not to mention reasonably priced.

After our snack, we walked around Shonai a little more.

There is a music university and Satoshi wanted to see it.

I was impressed because they even have an opera house.

Lunch was at a tiny shop called Boss. Their specialty is curry.

On a cold day like Sunday was, hot spicy curry really hit the spot.

Satoshi couldn't decide and finally ordered the fried shrimp with curry set (950 yen about US$9.50), this came with a salad, fried shrimp and curry with rice.

Whenever you eat curry in Japan, it seems that most do not have "stuff" in it, just sauce.

This curry had bits of beef but not a lot more, t is quite spicy and you can ask them for a milder version if you like.

I chose the gyusuji nikomi (simmered beef gristle/nerf) curry set (800 yen about US$8), this came with a salad, a huge serving of curry with gyusuji pieces and a tiny lassi (yogurt drink).

Satoshi wants to go back on a weekday to try some of the other items on their menu.

The weekend flew by but there was lots of walking and eating.

Boss
2-1-23 Shonai-higashimachi
Toyonaka, Osaka
Phone: 06.6332.9550
Open 11:30-21:30, Days off not set, call before going