odds & ends

Random photos...look how HUGE this yolk is? Must've been LL (what we call XL) sized!

Saw this cloud on a walk, it reminded me of a spaceship.

How are these 4 shih-tzu? (At least I think they are shih-tzu)

When I first passed by there was also another dog outside of the gate, so they were barking away.

When I passed by again, it seemed they couldn't care less.

A "sprinkling" of clouds at Suigetsu Park.

I have a kind of weird habit when it comes to eating instant noodles.

Not that I eat them all the time, but when I do, the noodles have to be on the firm side and I always throw out the soup.

(This was a tantanmen, nice and spicy! Lots of sesame seeds.)

A popular Japanese boy band, SMAP, came out with a sports drink through Asahi Beverages to kick-off their new album tour.

It was good, kind of citrusy....only 98 yen (about US$.98) at the market.

I try not to buy lunch from the convenience store because they use lots of preservatives in their foods.

Usually sandwiches in Japan, no matter whether you get them at a bakery or convenience store will have 3 main types, egg salad, tuna or ham.

And you can find combinations of the 3 types, like ham and egg, tuna and ham, which they tend to call "mixed sandwiches".

Anyway, on a recent visit to the convenience store, this sandwich jumped out at me because it was different...teriyaki chicken and egg...literally an oyako (parent-child) sandwich!

This was good...sweet teriyaki chicken paired with egg salad ....250 yen (about US$2.50)

Out on the lanai, goya (bittermelon) is looking good.

I replanted 2 times since March because the weird weather killed my first 2 tries.

I am amazed at this plant. It has these thin "feelers" that "reach" out for things to climb on.

This year I bought plastic netting at the 100 yen store, in hopes that this year I will be able to harvest some bittermelon. Last year, I had little ones but nothing got big enough to eat.

My chili pepper plant revived.

I kept it indoors during Autumn and Winter, which is probably why it revived.

I hope this year I'll be able to get some chilies from it.

Bell pepper, looking kind of small, but I'm hoping this time around I'll be able to harvest something from this too.

Senjaku's rock salt candy. Our family friend, D, who I mentioned a couple days ago, raved about this rock salt candy.

He said that it reminded him of those candies we have in Hawaii with the li hing mui (preserved plum) in it. Yup, sweet and salty, these are good.

McVitie's lemon biscuits...even though half the biscuit is chocolate, you can't really taste it. These are nice and lemony...105 yen (about US$1.05)

Meiji semi-sweet almonds have a crunchy nib wafer coating...210 yen (about US$2.10)

These purple sweet potato Kit Kat were a gift from our family friend, D.

Most "brand name" candies have special editions for different areas in Japan, which you usually can only buy when visiting that particular area OR at food fairs at department stores.

These special edition items usually represent the area's famous/popular food item.

This Kit Kat is a special edition for Okinawa and Kyushu.

Though I'm not a fan of white chocolate, these really did taste like purple sweet potato.

I recently saw this light fixture made by art students near the Hankyu station...made from cotton swabs!

I have been checking out this Mini from the train. I finally walked down to take its picture.

Sorry this post is so long...Satoshi is letting me "go on vacation" for the rest of summer, he'll visit with MIL towards the end of my stay.

I hope to meet up with friends and spend time with family while I'm there.

Maybe try some new foodie places and reconnect with some old favorites...next post from HAWAII! (Praying for tradewinds there!)

novipiù

Though I am a dark chocolate fan, there are times when I want something sweet like milk chocolate.

I recently came upon a chocolate at the market that I hadn't seen before.

Novi's Novipiù.

Apparently this chocolate is owned by Elah Dufour, who also owns Barratti & Milano's chocolates.

This bar was a creamy almost buttery milk chocolate, speckled with crushed almonds, hazelnuts and raisins.

I loved the crunch.

It satisfied my sweet tooth and was delicious with some iced coffee.

naan taco

Monday was so hot! and humid. I wondered what the temperature was.

Before I went out to do my daily grocery shopping, I vacuumed. Big mistake!

(I think there should be laws against vacuuming or ironing during these type of days.)

After vacuuming, I changed and put on some make-up (which immediately started running off my face while putting it on!)

Then I walked to the station. Even though I had my sun-blocking umbrella, it was still quite hot and humid with little to no breeze.

When I got on the train, I tried not to sit with my back up against the backrest for fear of a big wet spot on the back of my T-shirt when I got off.

After doing some grocery shopping, I also wondered what made me think I could walk from Ikeda station to home (about 30 minutes) in this sort of weather.

Luckily, along my route there was my favorite fast food place, MOS burger to cool down and get some lunch.

Since it is summer, they have started serving their Naan Taco.

It has been awhile since I've eaten them, the naan seemed thinner and crispier this time around (and the chips were not stale!). Also, the meat filling was curry flavored not taco.

I also enjoyed their Lassi, a yogurt based drink, very sweet and a little tart. It was a nice lunch and great way to cool down, even though I had to walk the rest of the way home afterwards.

p.s. today is Tanabata, I wonder if the two star lovers will meet? What will you wish for? I think I'll wish for tradewinds.

curry...

Last month I wrote about Kazokutei's Java-style curry udon.

Well, they sell their curry in re-heatable pouches, so I picked up 2 for our lunch the other day.

You can pour this over rice or noodles, your choice. We had this with udon.

Cook your udon as stated on the package. Heat up your pouch of curry. Pour over udon and garnish with some green onion.

Semi-homemade. A very filling and delicious lunch.

Since there were several mouthfuls of curry leftover, the next day's breakfast was an omlette covered with a spoonful (or two) of curry as inspired by Ono Kine Grindz's tweet.

Overall, this curry was spicy and delicious, though the 4th ingredient is lard, so it won't be something we eat all the time.

staying dry

Since the rainy season started, I found the perfect way not to get my wallet and some groceries wet...oilcloth bags!

I don't know why I didn't go through my stash of bags before, but this is definitely a great way not to get stuff wet.

The cloth is coated on the outside with what seems to me like vinyl or plastic, so when the rain hits it, the rain repels.

Just wipe the bag when you get back and your wallet, cell phone and digital camera will be dry!

What do you do about your bag when it rains?

p.s. my two oilcloth bags are: Hello Kitty (which I got from a friend in Hawaii) and Laduree, Paris macarons! (which I got as a freebie inside a Japan fashion magazine)

p.p.s. How was/is your 4th of July? We technically don't celebrate here, but here's what we had for dinner, in case you were curious...steak, chirmol (made with okra, tomato, lime, onion, cucumber, italian parsley (didn't have cilantro at the store)), carrot salad, baked onion rings and La Guillotine beer. The maker is the same that makes Delirium Tremens though not as fruity, it had the same alcohol content (8.5%), it also had a little bite to it but went nicely with our meal.

Have a nice week!

rainy foodie saturday

Friday, the rain came down in sheets at lunch time and didn't really let up.

Saturday, we awoke to a light drizzle, which picked up and poured.

Satoshi had to go to Umeda for his German class, so I tagged along so that we could eat lunch together.

We decided to pick somewhere that wasn't too far from the station and not too far from his class.

The restaurant we chose for lunch served assorted Asian cuisine...Baku, in the Yodobashi Camera building.

Satoshi chose the Baku Ramen which came with gyoza...870 yen (about US$8.70). Satoshi really enjoyed this, though his gyoza looked a little overdone.

I chose the chilled Pho which came with summer roll...1030 yen (about US$10.30). This caught my eye because usually Pho is served hot. I gotta admit though this wasn't Pho...more like hiyashi chuuka (a Japanese cold noodle dish), which had rice noodles instead.

Even though it wasn't authentic Pho, it was still delicious, I loved the sesame sauce/soup.

The summer roll was also not authentic, it had avocado, some ham and veggies in there...different, but still hit the spot.
After lunch, we wanted some coffee, so we went down a floor to the Sweets Museum, this is a food area with some restaurants and sweet shops.

After being seated at Dear Cafe, we looked at their menu and realized a cup of coffee would be 500 yen! (about US$5)....or we could get the cake set and pay 800 yen (about US$8), this would be 500 yen for coffee and 300 yen for cake.

We checked with the girl behind the counter and you could choose from whatever was in their showcase...So, we each chose the most expensive ones...worth about 480 yen (about US$4.80) each! (I guess we could look at it like we made about 180 yen (about US$1.80?? from the set)

Satoshi chose the waguri (Japanese chestnut) tart which was like the Mont Blanc. Sweetened chestnut puree, cake, chestnut cream and crust.

I chose the Blueberry tart...blueberries, cake, cream cheese and crust.

Their crust was good, crisp and flaky because they coat it with a layer of dark chocolate!

Our only gripe is that if you are going to charge 500 yen for coffee, don't use a machine to make it!

Hope your weekend is sunny!

Baku : UPDATE as of 2012, this restaurant has closed
1-1 Oofuka-cho
Yodobashi Camera 8F
Phone: 06.6486.2240
Hours: 11:00-22:00

Dear Cafe : UPDATE as of 12/2011 this restaurant has closed
1-1 Oofuka-cho
Yodobashi Camera 7F
Phone: 06.6371.8078
Hours: 11:00-22:00

bruno

UPDATE: on yesterday's post...I talked to our family friend and he was in the midst with a group of Japan friends climbing the 6th station of Mt Fuji! He wasn't planning to go all the way up to the top, but he was either going to go to the 7th or 8th station then come back down as practice. I'm glad his trip wasn't a waste and that he got to climb!
I wanted to tell you about a place we recently tried called Bruno. Apparently, they have been in business since 1979.

Located in the HEP Navio building, the interior is quite dark and a bit gaudy for a curry shop.

Satoshi ordered the Eggplant curry, this was topped with shredded pork or chicken (I didn't try it so I don't know)...1200 yen (about US$12). His lunch came with a caesar salad and coffee.

I ordered the Vegetable curry, this came with a LOT of veggies (broccoli, yellow & red bell peppers, eggplant, carrot, asparagus & mushroom)...1200 yen (about US$12). My lunch also came with a caesar salad and I added an iced cafe latte for 100 yen (about US$1).

As for spiciness, you can choose between amakuchi (mild) or karakuchi (spicy). We ordered the amakuchi (mild) which in their books is actually a medium hot. It was definitely spicy enough for us.

Every order comes with butter rice, this is rice cooked in butter, stock and topped with raisins and fried onions. I liked the fact that this rice is not greasy.

You also get to try 6 different types of toppings--rakkyo (pickled scallion), pickled green bell pepper, sweet pickle relish, cheese, fukujinzuke (sweet Japanese pickles) and pickled ginger.

And the best part of this meal is that you can have more rice and toppings, which is a good thing because they give you a lot of curry. (My photo of the curry doesn't look like a lot but the bowl it comes in is quite deep.)

It was a nice lunch, and quite a lot of food. We'll be back!

Bruno
7-10 Kakuda-cho, HEP Navio 7F
Kita, Osaka
Phone: 06.6315.5252