wbc & ginza

Were you watching the WBC (World Baseball Classic)? 

This was probably the first time I watched ALL of Japan's games from beginning to end.

Wednesday was the championship game and it was a nail biter.

Satoshi was bummed he couldn't work from home.

In the end, Japan came out champs...what a krazy ride!

After the game, I went to run some errands in Ginza...

cool window in front of Wako

Some flowering momo (peach)?

and flowering camellia and sakura...

since I was nearby I picked up salads from Frijoles we’ve only tried their burritos so this was our first trying their salad...so good with their citrus lime dressing.
 

 this was the Yahoo Japan screen, congratulating the Samurai Japan team... they are already on their way back to Japan today, too bad they aren't arriving at Haneda though, otherwise I would go check them out.

Congratulations Japan!

shunbun no hi

Yesterday was a National holiday, Shunbun no hi (Vernal Equinox Day) or the First day of Spring. It was also higan, the day when people visit their family graves to pray for their ancestors and departed loved ones.

Satoshi had the day off, so we went to have breakfast at our favorite cafe. Then for the next 4 hours he was in front of the television watching the World Baseball Classic championship game between Japan & Cuba. Japan won the game 10-6, but Cuba gave it their all to keep the game close.

While Satoshi watched the game, I went to have my hair done. On a previous post I wrote about the troubles of getting my hair cut. Well, getting it colored is much easier! Mainly because all you have to say is, "same like the last time!" :) After getting it done, I went back home and the game was still in progress.

Finally, after a total of 4 hours, the game was over. Usually during the week I am cooped up at home, so I wanted to go out somewhere. We went to Takarazuka. It is about 20 minutes from our station. Our first stop was a cafe called Afternoon Tea. I had some scones with Earl Grey tea and Satoshi had a huge salad! This is one of the only places I know that you can order a entree sized salad. Near the Takarazuka station, they also have a housing park. A housing park is a park which has model homes built so that you can walk inside and choose what type of house you want/fixtures, etc. We didn't go into any of these houses (for fear of temptation of REALLY wanting to buy one), but we did ooh and aah from the outside.

After walking around a bit, we decided to have dinner at the Takarazuka Washington Hotel. I had the "Australian" beef with Kyoto veggies and tofu (soy bead curd). With the on going problem of BSE (mad cow disease), Japan is always emphasizing where their meats come from. (Although there was an incident about 2 years ago, where the Japan markets were switching labels in order to get reimbursements from the governments...sigh...) The food was really tasty and I really liked all the vegetables on top of the steak!

The weather is definitely warming up. Hopefully I'll be able to see some cherry blossoms.

Have a great week!

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!