The Last Shamurai

Well, despite all of our attempts to confound the universe, the sun finally rose on the morning of our last day in Japan. Over are the days of playing samurai, the temple tourings, the bowls of little fishes... well, actually, not yet. Our flight's tomorrow... enjoy it while it lasts! Today, I eat like Samurai.

Yoko took off work to spend the last day with us, so we had a nice breakfast; more of those golden Japanese eggs, this time scrambled, and more of those awesomely huge and delicious Japanese peaches.

Then, for our last journey we headed out to

Kamakura, a beach town with an enormous Buddha whose shrine was destroyed in a tidal wave way back and now sits, towering in the

sunshine. Then we headed over to another beautiful temple and then took a train to get

some lunch.

Apparently in Kamakura the specialty is Shirazu, which are these little, and I mean tiny, white fishes that you get served over rice or however - so of course I had to have them. We found a small, but incredibly busy little restaurant, and with Yoko's help I ordered a salad of greens and the famed Shirazu in a light soy dressing, topped with seaweed and tobiko (roe). It came with miso soup and two kinds of pickles, and needless to say it was awesome.

Also of note was the beautiful plate of sashimi that Dad ordered.

From there, we went to another beautiful temple, but the great thing is that though you might start to think that once you've seen one temple, that you've seen them all, the next proves to be even better in some way. Each has something unique about it, for example this one had a huge lake with a veritable forest of giant lotus plants covering it.

After that we headed home and I stopped at 7-11 and the mini mart and LOADED up on Japanese snacks like bags of various dried and smoked creatures, salty seaweed, bean cakes and Green Tea Oreos, that should tide me over for a week or so if I ration carefully...

After a brief rest we headed to dinner at one of Yoko's favorite restaurants, and as always, she didn't steer us wrong!

Like so many of the restaurants we've been to in Japan, it was very very small, and at first we were the only people in the place.

The meal began with a round of drinks (a final sake for this samurai, of course) and complimentary plates of edamame and also jellyfish marinated in sweet soy and topped with shredded cabbage.

For some reason we ordered an appetizer of spring rolls filled with potato, cheese and bacon, which everyone else liked, but wasn't Japanese enough for my tastes. For dinner, the cook made special for Kathryn a bowl of chicken and egg on rice, although it wasn't on the menu, because it's her absolute favorite dish in Japan so far, and she orders it every chance she gets...

I ordered the broiled sea eel in a sweet mirin and soy sauce, and a bowl of steamed rice to wash it down.

The other three split three wonderful dishes; first there was a plate of 5 small, whole roasted fish that were mildly fishy and delicious with a squeeze of lemon, and second was a basket of absolutely delicouse fried shrimp, prepared tempura style, but i suspect the batter was salted and seasoned beforehand because they were unusually flavorful. Lastly was a plate of chopped chicken, marinated and roasted in a sesame chili sauce that was reportedly moister than moist and served with salad.

We finished up, made a few toasts, took some pictures, and headed home to do some packing.

And tomorrow - let me rephrase that - at 4 in the morning, we get picked up and head for the airport, where we are bound for an entertaining, fun filled 13 hours and gourmet food. AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAH, right...

Take Me Out to the Crowd

Well, already our second to last day in Japan, it was time to do the last minute shopping for gifts and souvenirs. But before a day of weaving through the thick crowds in Tokyo's

shopping districts, we needed to fuel up.

For breakfast I went out to a cafe and bought some bagels: pumpkin-raisin, edamame and parsley, 3 cheese and blueberry, and Yoko prepared a beautiful zucchini and cauliflower, golden and delicious from those brilliant Japanese egg yolks.

Then we headed out, and before commencing the shopping, headed over to the National Museum where Kathryn and Mom wanted to see a special exhibition of Buddhist art. I spent my time perusing the building of Japanese arts and saw cool stuff like this;

From there we went to a "flea market" that turned out to be really like

Harujuku without all the manga girls clogging the street, and was a gauntlet of vendors hawking everything from dried fish to designer leather belts. The only thing I bought was some pineapple on a stick, a chopstick, of course.

Next we trekked back to the Tskiji fish market where early in our trip we had spotted some good stuff, and gorged ourselves on pottery and chopsticks. Glutted and tired we headed home, snacked on some leftovers from the birthday party, and headed out for the main

event of the day; the Giants vs. the Tigers game at the Tokyo Dome!

Now don't get confused; I'm not talking the San Francisco Giants and the Detroit Tigers - I'm talking the Tokyo Giants and the Osaka Tigers. And I'm not talking American Baseball - I'm talking Japanese Baseball...

Sure, most of the rules and the level of play are the same, but the experience is a whole differen't ballgame (like that one?). First off there's the stadium grounds, called Tokyo Dome City; a crazy complex of the stadium, an amusement park, restaurants, stores and counteless other entertainment centers and businesses, and then the stadium itself which is an actual dome, and I gotta say that watching a baseball game inside is different than at an open-air field.

But that's not all; the fans are a completley different species as well. Sure, we have our fanatics and our leather lungs belting out insults or cheers after a few too many beers, or even the fat guys who paint their chests with letters and wave foam fingers or whathaveyou, but Japan has FANS, all of whome dress themselves up head-to-toe in their team's colors and come laden with paraphanelia ranging from bats to noisemakers to streamers to giant top hats... And to top that off, they sit together in sections based on their allegiance, pitting half the station in a cheering and banner waving match against the other. And these guys don't let up, at all! They cheer the WHOLE game, every time their team comes up to bat, for the WHOLE inning - the Tigers section even had it's own brass band playing anthems to liven their chants.

But this being a food blog, I would be remiss if i didn't mention the different food to be had at a Japanese baseball game than at an American one.

Forget peanuts and cracker jacks and think edamame and dried squid. Instead of chicken fingers, go for BBQ yakitori skewers or the katsudon (fried pork) sandwich. If that doesn't suit you, try the tokayaki octopus doughballs with brown sauce, a cup of pickled

vegetables, or even a bowl of potato salad (that's right folks, potato salad).

Missing the standard hotdog? Okay, you can have one, but get it topped with curry sauce and daikon relish at least, and then top it off with an ice cream burger; vanilla ice cream in a cake cone "bun".

Thirsty? Well you won't even have to leave your seat; just wave to one of the countless young, attractive, neon tennis-skirt clad girls roaming the stands with pony-keg backpacks filled with everything from beer to Shochu and lemon - and we're not talking the usual limited options of Budweiser or Budweiser - there are Asahi Girls, Kirin Girls, Suntory Girls, Yebisu Girls... you can even buy a Sake in a little can or get a seat-side cocktail mixed from the wandering Whiskey Girl.

Yes, sit back, relax, let the food and drinks come to you (because they will) and let the show go on, because here, in Japan, it's a hell of a Ballgame!

Chinese in Paris, in Japan?

Woke up early this morning and made a walk to the corner store for some iced coffee. Yoko had left us some giant peaches for breakfast, so I sliced those up with some banana and we also had what I'm calling gourmet poptarts, the Maple and Salted Vanilla flavors (they are really a Japanese brand called Balance Up).

After breakfast we headed over to the Imperial Palace which was interesting mainly for it's impecably manicured grounds, and then over to Harajuku, which is the street where all the audaciously dressed, incredibly hip youth swarm in Tokyo to buy crap like wristbands and glasses without lenses, 3 inch high neon pink pumps and eat crepes filled with cheesecake and ice cream and syrup. We had lunch at Tokyo station in the food court area known as Ramen Street for its plethora of Ramen restaurants, all of which had lines of hungry, but patient people outside. You place and pay for your order at a vending machine and then take your ticket and get in line. A hostess takes your ticket stub, and when a table opens up she seats you and your food arrives within seconds; very efficient. And this is not your typical add water, let sit and eat Ramen; mine was a bowl of fresh Ramen noodles (with visible bits of wheat bran in the noodle dough) in a rich, somehow butter pork broth, topped with greens, scallions, bamboo shoots, pork and a soft-boiled egg, and it was delicious. We need more Ramen like this back home.

Next we went and did some souvenir shopping

before returning hometo Yoko's where I went for a walk and got briefly lost before heading out for dinner.

My parents wanted to take Yoko's family out for dinner to thank them for all the wonderful hospitality we've been shown, and had the idea that it would be an experience to have Chinese food in Japan. The restaurant was located in an area called Yebisu, which is famous for being home to a brewery of our favorite beer here in Japan, a flavorful brew of the same name, one of which I indulged in before being introduced to the Chinese version of Sake; a rice wine as well, but brown in color and perhaps a bit sweeter than its Japanese cousin.

Honestly, I didn't find the food to be all that different from its American counterparts (albeit of higher quality than your average takeout), but the restaurant itself was a trip.

Apparently it is themed as dining in a Chinese restaurant in Paris, albeit being in Tokyo, Japan, and so has a dining room clad in Toulouse-Lautrec paintings and a menu of Chinese food, written in Japanese kanji. Needless to say, we needed help with ordering...

Given the structure and spread of the meal, it was hard to document everything, but we started with some pickles and a series of various dumplings like steamed shrimp and crab wontons and deep-fried taro filled with fish and onion. Next came out some larger plates like fried fish in oyster sauce, shrimp and mushrooms in a light brown sauce and then chicken with vegetables.

After that people were still hungry so we ordered a plate of fried noodles with shrimp, squid and pork and next two plates of pork fried rice that came topped with slices of roast pork, which Dad especially liked.

For dessert they served us what was translated as "Almond Jelly" and was like a hunk of lightly sweet, faintly almond-flavored jello, with the consistency of pudding, in a puddle of syrup...

All in all, I conclude that there is not much difference between Japanese Chinese food and American Chinese food, but to eat Chinese food in Japan while feeling like you're in Paris and surrounded by good friends and family is truly something special.

The BIG Six One

Today was a rather simple day, but a special one as it was Mom's birthday and also the joint celebration of Yoko's birthday which is in early August. I woke up early after a small earthquake in the early morning (!) and so decided to take a walk in the mountains and stopped by the convenience store and bought some fruit to make a fruit salad.

I bought some Kiwis from New Zealand that are yellow, compared to our green ones, a bunch of small grapes that came clustered so closely on a vine that the bunch seemed like a fruit in itself, and a giant peach of the type that we've seen being sold all over Japan. I sliced it all up and then entertained myself by arranging it all on 5 little plates, and needless to say, it was a nice start to mom's birthday.

After a slow morning we took the series of trains back to Tokyo and then made a quick, but awesome visit to the Tokyo Sword Museum, home to hundreds of beautifully crafted ancient and modern Samurai swords, and then we headed home for the party that was being thrown for Mom and Yoko's birthdays.

And boy, does this family know how to entertain. There was food and drink aplenty, and i strayed from my usual sake and went with shochu and lemon, the Japanese answer to vodka, but more mild in flavor and somehow water-like.

As for the food we started with fresh edamame and then a marinated eggplant salad with garlic and a tofu, scallion and fish cake salad with sesame dressing. There was also Vietnamese style chicken and pork croquettes, skewered on sprigs of lemongrass and a plate of fresh veggies and dip. Next came out what turned out to be the best chicken wings I've ever had, coated in a sweet and spicy ginger sauce that were crunchy on the outside and juicy on the inside, and did I mention that they were the best I ever had?

And finally, came the "main" course which was a stew of pork, carrots, and mushroom in a tomato-chili broth served over couscous, that, though not exactly Japanese, was good all the same.

For dessert we had a fruit tart, the kind with the glazed fruit over custard in a pastry shell, but by then the shochu had done its job and I forgot to take a picture...