harnn

I've written about Harnn soaps before, here.

Satoshi recently received this rosemary & artemisia bar. I had to look up what artemisia was, apparently it is part of the daisy family.

The packaging changed a bit from the time I picked some up, the rosemary fragrance is quite strong, can't wait to use it.

Since today is the 7th, we're having our nanakusagayu today.

This weekend is also a 3-day weekend, but Satoshi has to work today.

l-o-n-g

Lately I've been buying baguette from Bigot (bee-go). Most places charge between 240 and 260 yen, the size of the baguette range too.

Some charge the higher of the price range and give you a teeny baguette...boo!

I like the fact that Bigot's baguette is about 60 centimeters (that is nearly 2 feet) and only 241 yen (tax included)...yeah, I measured it.

When you toast it, the outside gets crispy and the inside kinda chewy.

I know in France most people keep their baguette in a cloth bag, but in Japan, they give you a plastic one.

I usually re-use the plastic bag I receive and put other breads into it afterwards.

This was the view of our mountains yesterday with a sprinkling of snow.

p.s. I've added a QR code for this blog (in the Buttons Galore section), just scan the code with your reader and bookmark us.

It's Friday here, hope you have a great weekend!

this and that

Had some photos that weren't blogged about...

Remember I wrote about tamatoro? Well, we recently tried the ebi katsu (shrimp cutlet) version...for some reason this one smelled really "eggy", I think I like the menchikatsu (hamburger cutlet) version better.

For Christmas, we received this matcha (green tea) kougelhopf from my host-sister. (Thank you!) It is made by Jouvencelle, the same place that I tried their matcha fondue.

The cake is a marble of white and green tea with sweetened black beans here and there.

On the outside it is drizzled with green tea chocolate, delicious!

I recently came across this chijimi spinach at the market, it was priced higher than regular spinach and it was the first time I'd seen it.

It boasts more minerals, it was definitely darker than the usual spinach I see in the markets.

The package also said that it is only a winter item.

The leaves were kinda "curly" so it was hard to clean. I prepared them kinpira style.

It was nice to try but I don't think it was worth paying the extra money for it.

I came across this cafe sign awhile back, "no charge, no tax, no future"...kinda funny, kinda negative...hopefully they'll be able to stay in business...

We had this Bodegas Carchelo from Spain with some wagyu and miso dip (the first meal out of my kitchen for 2012).

I liked the deep purple color, it was easy to drink and went nicely with the steak which was marbled nicely with fat.

This Chilean Espino Chardonnay was delicious too, a little on the dry side but fruity. We had this with Grilled Thai Beef Salad.

I saw this huge garnet pendant while walking with Satoshi before Christmas...so we played, "how much?"

FYI: 3,990,000 yen (about US$51,000)

I've written before that I like Mascot's curry paste here.

They also have an instant version with garbanzo beans that I like too.

Let me catch you up on the first couple of days of the new year...

On New Years Day, we visited MIL, after hatsumode. She is doing fine but cannot sit on the floor. She also doesn't cook much so, I picked up many items for O-sechi for our lunch. (I've written about hatsumode and O-sechi before here).

And Satoshi, has been doing danshari from before the New Year and even during the first days of the New Year...we have a saying that what you do in the first days of the New Year is what you'll be doing for the rest of the year, guess he'll be decluttering in 2012.

Oh, and you want to hear something funny? Satoshi who refused to wear thermals because "only old men wear them" wore them under his business suit yesterday...ha!

We had flurries yesterday...woot!

What have you been doing/enjoying during the first week of 2012?

kaga onsen-osaka

On the last day of 2011, we awoke to a beautiful sunny day.

Apparently it had snowed the night before, so there were many slick spots on the sidewalk.

There were several shrines that Satoshi was interested in visiting, so we gingerly made our way.

Along the way, we stopped in for coffee and some sweets at Premiere.

Their popular item is called a Yamashi-roll, a rolled cake made with rice flour and edible charcoal (the texture was a bit gritty), a black sesame cream and some adzuki beans.

The service was spotty (they served us the coffee but forgot our cakes) so the owner added a small cream puff as a peace-offering...everything was delicious...600 yen each for cake and coffee.

Then the hotel shuttle took us back to the station and we ended up waiting several hours for our train back to Osaka.

While we waited, we bought some items for our lunch on the train.

Satoshi bought a grilled saba(mackerel) sushi while I chose these sasazushi (rice and fish pressed together then wrapped in a sasa leaf (young bamboo leaf)).

I thought this was funny....the ladies of Kaga have a campaign to promote their businesses around Kaga, when I saw their posters, I thought of this lady...Lady Gaga.

Hope you enjoyed our little adventure.

Despite some low points, we had a nice time and enjoyed seeing snow.

Premiere
2-8 Yamashiro Onsen Kikyogaoka
Kaga, Ishikawa
Phone: 0761.77.2511

p.s. it's back to the grindstone for Satoshi today...hope your 1st week of 2012 is going well.

kanazawa-kaga onsen

The next day, we awoke to snow, sleet and hail.

Breakfast for me were two doughnuts from Doughnut Plant (carrot cake with cream cheese and their black out (a very chocolatey doughnut).

Both were very moist.

Satoshi had two musubi (rice balls) and we both had coffee.

The nice thing about Kanazawa is that there are many underground walkways, so that if it is raining (or snowing), you can easily get around.

The underground walkways aren't as extensive as Osaka, but still very convenient.

After breakfast, we went to check out Kenroku-en (Kenroku Garden). This garden is one of Japan's top 3 gardens to see. The other two are Koraku-en in Okayama prefecture and Kairaku-en in Ibaraki prefecture.

But before going to the garden, right across the way from it is Ishikawa-mon (Ishikawa gate), there are turrets and storerooms and it is the only remnants of the Kanazawa castle.

It was my first time to see a moat frozen over.

Although this area has been restored many times, I was surprised to see that they kept the stairways traditionally steep, I still can't believe that samurai, with their long hakama (skirts) and katana (swords) ran up and down these stairs.

I had to hold onto the railings for dear life going up and down.

We then went across to Kenroku-en. A beautifully kept garden which used to be the outer garden of the castle.

I noticed many trees with ropes draping from their tops and figured it is to keep a lot of snow from accumulating on the branches.

From the garden, we walked back into the city and checked out an area with restored samurai homes called Nagamachi.

The streets here are very narrow and winding.

We didn't have any time to check out the insides of these homes, but it was fun to walk around their "neighborhood".

We then caught the train from Kanazawa to Kaga Onsen, which is about 50 minutes away.

The hotel picked us up and we were able to leave our things with them until check-in time.

While waiting to check-in we decided to look for lunch. Since it was after 13:00 and nearing the end of the year, pickings were very slim.

We ended up waiting almost an hour for lunch at Bengara-ya.

The woman running the cafe had run out of the simpler lunches (noodles and rice bowls), so we ended up ordering fancy chazuke (tea with rice) lunches.

In fact, this lady was running the place by herself and kept running back and forth like a chicken without a head and at one point had run across the street to fetch a pot of cooked rice!

I chose the ume (pickled apricot) with chirimen (small anchovy) toppings for my chazuke, while Satoshi chose mentaiko (spicy pollack roe)...1365 yen each.

Our lunches came with some nimono (simmered veggies), miso soup. There were also some toppings for our chazuke like tiny rice crackers, wasabi (Japanese horseradish) and shiso miso (soy bean paste mixed with perilla).

Despite the long wait, everything was delicious.

We then walked to the outskirts of town to see the Kutaniyaki (Kutani ware) kiln and gallery. Kutaniyaki uses a dish to "bake" its pieces in the kiln fueled by pieces of wood.

We were able to see the remnants of this kiln, it was a huge thing covering a hillside.

The volunteer guide (who was 80-something) said that his father used to be one of the artisans at this site and that nowadays pieces are fired off in electric kilns.

The gallery/kiln area was truly amazing to see.

We then went back to the hotel to check-in then quickly went back out to check out the oldest bathhouse in the area.

Ko-so-yu is a restored bathhouse dating back to the Meiji era.

They don't allow you to use soap or shampoo at this bath, just soak.

The area to disrobe is not separate from the bathing area like modern bathhouses are, so they give you a plastic bag to put your clothes in so they don't get wet from the steam.

Even though this was a restored bathhouse, it was a beautiful place with stained glass windows.

Dinner at the hotel was a disappointment, there was crab, but it was very "dry", Satoshi was also very disappointed with the meal which is surprising because he usually enjoys whatever he eats.

Not wanting to end this post on a bad note, I was fascinated with this huge tea pot objet at the JR Kanazawa station...it even had a cover!

Bengara-ya
59 Yamashiro Onsen Road
Kaga, Ishikawa
Phone: 0761.76.4393

Kutaniyaki Kiln and Gallery
19 Yamashiro Onsen 101-9
Kaga, Ishikawa
Phone: 0761.77.0020

osaka-kanazawa

The last time we visited Kanazawa was in 2010 and it was just to pass time until our train connection.

From Osaka, Kanazawa (which is in Ishikawa prefecture) is about 3 hours away.

We arrived close to 13:00 and luckily we were able to check-in. After unloading some of our things, we went in search of lunch.

Satoshi wanted to check out the Omi-cho Market, a huge shopping arcade filled with...seafood!

Since Ishikawa prefecture is near the Japan Sea, seafood is definitely abundant here.

Many vendors were doing brisk business as many shoppers were trying to prepare for the New Year.

There were many shops with customers lined up out their doors, but we decided to check out Mawaru-omi-cho-ichiba-zushi (a conveyor belt sushi shop).

Even though there was a small line, it moved quite fast because the interior of the shop is quite large.

You can eat the sushi from the conveyor belt, order the kinds of sushi you want (if you can't wait for what's on the belt) or order sushi bowls.

I ordered the kaisen don...1480 yen. This was just the perfect amount for me.

Satoshi ordered the omakase don...1890 yen, which he enjoyed very much.

After lunch, the rain came pouring down.

We had intended to see a garden but since it was raining, we didn't know what else to do, finally we decided to check out the Contemporary Museum.

But upon reaching the museum, we found out they were closed for the rest of the year...boo!

Cold and sopping wet, we flagged down a taxi to take us to the East Geisha district.

The roads are very narrow in this area and the taxi maneuvered scarily through.

Parts of this area reminded me of Kyoto.

After seeing this area, we caught a different bus back to the Kanazawa station area.

We bought some souvenir items for MIL as well as some sweets to try and headed back to the hotel to put these things down.

NOTE TO SELF: bring old newspaper on trips to stuff into wet shoes.

We then went in search of dinner and ended up at another conveyor belt sushi place called Sushi Tama.

Look at the size of this negi toro (onion with fatty tuna)...huge!

Even though we had sushi for two of our meals we enjoyed them both.

For dessert, we tried a sweet by Matsui, this monaka is in the shape of the Maeda clan's mon (family crest) and is filled with sweet bean paste. Apparently this sweet only appears in stores for the New Years, so we were lucky to be able to try this.

Satoshi wanted to try this...Ankoro, mochi (rice cake) surrounded with sweet bean paste. It didn't look pretty but he enjoyed this.

Even though it was a cold and rainy day, I think we did quite a lot (as well as eat a lot) for our first day in Kanazawa.

Mawaru-Omi-cho-Ichiba-zushi
28-1 Shimo-Omi-cho
Kanazawa, Ishikawa
Phone: 076.261.9330
Hours: 9:30-20:00

Sushi Tama
JR Kanazawa station Kutsurogi-kan 2F
Kanazawa, Ishikawa
Phone: 076.235.3238
Hours: 11:00-21:30

Matsui
JR Kanazawa Omiyage Annex

it's a new year

It's a New Year, I hope this year will be a very good year for everyone.

For New Year's Eve, we had an array of appetizers and this Cono Sur Sparkling Wine.

I'd been saving this for Satoshi's staff party, but that never happened, so we had this bottle last night.

It is a mixture of Chardonnay, Riesling & Pinot Noir, fruity but very dry...perfect with yakitori, Comte cheese and other munchies.

I wanted to show you this huge wall that is supposed to look like a chocolate bar.

Meiji Seika in Takatsuki built this wall in front of their factory.

It is 27.6 meters tall (90 feet) by 165.9 meters wide (544.2 feet)

I took these photos on the way to Kanazawa and the video on the way back.

I still need to go through my photos before I can post on Kanazawa, so it may take some time.

I hope your New Year's Eve was a festive one! Let the Year of the Dragon begin.