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Phew. No time to blog now or maybe never... running around for work, but I snapped around. In 10 days I covered, New Zealand (Auckland, Wellington, Christ Church), Australia (Sydney, Melbourne), Singapore, nap in Hong Kong, then BEIJING. Oh yeah !
Another seasonal / cultural quirk that Japan has - which I am beginning to appreciate in this sweltering melting potroasting heat mecca of Hong Kong -- is the Shochu Mimai note.
A card or a postcard typically depicts summer scenery - and it's a breezy heartfelt custom to inquire your family and friend's health during the abyss of summer heat and humidity.
In any case, I do love love love the occasional snail mail in my post box. Instead of the usual bills and rags. Doesn't everyone?
*Ok never mind the carbon-footprinting guilt trip on this one - if I think about the plane, the postal truck for my wee card to be delivered to the other side of the world - of course I just want to sigh sigh >>>
Another one of my business traveling grub hunting exercise; I present you the humble food-on-stix, the Japanese Yakitori (literal translation: Grilled Bird"). This is a type of post-work grub fare that is very popular offering in Izakayas, which is equivalent of Spanish tapas bars. I love this way of eating small assortments of nibbles very much. The whole hors d'hoeuvres, big-ass entree, and dessert exercise is tiring and boring - I feel - and not as intimate as sharing a plate with your friends. Or for me, since I have to eat alone quite a bit on business trips - there is nothing more fun than being at the counter tasting everything, while chatting up the bartender / stix-operator.
Birdland was a bit hard to find as it was a restaurant that is embedded and tucked within the subway corridors -- but once you step in, the host and the staff were very friendly to this almost-Japanese girl. They presented with me bilingual menus and carefully explained the origin and preparation of each and every ingredient. I love that they take so much pride and care in their service - to their commitment to local farmers/growers collectives, to their clients - an easy and extended welcome - where glasses of wine poured with a quick nod and wink. That is classy - and to me, will beat any pretentious Michelin-constellation toting restaurant any day*
Had only my crappy cell camera - so it is a bit fuzzy. The menu I scribbled down -- a bit harriedly -- so let's see.. For amuse bouches: Kanazawa cucumber in vinaigrette, baby lotus in wasabi foam, grilled chicken gizzard gently roasted with okra, and Junsai -- a member of the water lily family. Looked weird - floating all curled up in a slimy vinaigrette - but I eat and will try everything - and thank goodness, it was delicately tasty.
I googled and this showed up for Junsai:
A member of the water lily family, junsai grows in clumps in natural ponds and irrigation reservoirs. A perennial water grass, junsai's flower is a deep maroon-red. It is the young, unfurled sprout covered in a slippery, transparent jelly, which is the culinary item prized by so many Japanese. Fresh sprouts come to market early in the summer.
Otherwise, the Omakase set was completed including wasabi and basil roasted chicken, grilled liver with fleur de sel (I hate liver, but I had seconds !!), crisp-charred hicken skins with yuzu/lime salt (lovely) and roasted vegetables including - gingko nuts, maitake mushrooms and shishito (japanese pepper) and my favorite myoga (a ginger variant, so yummy).
Charred chicken skins:
Grilled Myoga ginger: Divine - aromatic, a twist of green grass and slightest bitterness!
Myogas usually looks like this:
And a palate cleansing Tofu cube with coarse salt and pepper, extra virgin olive oil and a 'micro'-tomato. It was a perfectly ripe, pea-sized tomato. Weird !
Dinner ended quietly with a small Oyako-don (scrambled eggs and chicken on rice), and miso soup... with a creme brulee for dessert before I rolled myself outside for a little nightcap at a winebar in Ginza.
*Although did you hear (NYT, Feb 2008), that some of the Japanese restaurants / chefs declined to be reviewed Michellin as they felt Westerners have no business or an acquired palate in tasting/discerning Japanese food. (Umm...yeah, sorry!! We can be like that in Japan. I am not really apologizing - but some of this outright defensiveness of our culture is a perplexing/amusing/frustrating to explain to colleagues and friends even for me.)
not sure if you're checking today...
Starting last month, I made a decision to become more eco-conscious and consumer-responsible by trying to not to purchase any new things for one year.
Failing pitifully at it already: FitFlops
I love these flipflops. So comfy, so cute, gives me a 1" lift, and it's supposed to enhance your glutes. I am such a sucker.
Now I love my standard Havaianas; Proper "Grippage" is a serious consideration for me as HK torrential rains can be very swift, and I have ruined too many proper commuting flats. I admit, I know commuting in flip flops is seriously offensive to many of you - but I"d rather not taxi to work - save on fuel, or toss another pair of perfectly good shoes. If you have other professional suggestions, I welcome them.
Lets' see how these FitFlops manage during the amber rain alert.
Like a lot of people, I am reassessing quite a bit on my pollution imprint... I have read many blogs of urban and more herban adventures of doing their bit in reducing their anti-Earth impact. I wish I had a little garden to experiment self-sustenance - but that will have to wait a bit when I am not traveling as much for work (Yes - another fossil-burning NoNo that makes me upset.)
In any case, I share with you a book I picked up when I was in Tokyo earlier this week, 'Furoshiki for Newbies' at the Maruzen Megabookstore near the Tokyo station. The bookstore has about 6 stories, I have a habit of easily losing myself for a couple of hours in that place... although nothing beats Strand's and the Housingworks Bookstore on Crosby Street.
Anyway, Furoshiki (literal translation: "bath spread") is a traditional Japanese cloth used for wrapping and transporting goods to and fro - and I think is a beautiful way to present a gift - as the cloth is not only poly-functional but reusable and therefore recyclable.
Example 1: MINI HANDBAG to carry TWO PAPERBACKS
(pls excuse my peeking toes! I am not a perfectionist with photos as I do not have time to blog as it is... no touch no touch)
EXAMPLE 2: TRADITIONAL BOX WRAP
Here's a good website I found on the history & wrapping techniques: http://furoshiki.com/home.php
Above are my feeble attempts and examples of wrapping books I had lying around - I still need to work on perfecting the corner folds* , but it was entertaining and beautiful.
Hope you give it a try - it's like origami, but so much more fun and useful !!
*Precision upon Precision is a Japanese aesthetical decree...
Oh yes, since I wrote Part I previously, there must be a sequel. Here's one of my favorite Japanese comfort food called Okonomiyaki (literally means "Pancakes However-You-Like"), known better as Osaka-regional grub, than in Tokyo. Certainly not Western breakfast pancakes with gooey yummy maple syrup and blueberries, Okonomiyakis are bit more savory - good for lunch, better post-work with Nama-Beeru (Asahi Super Dry, thank you!)
Business traveling alone is just that, lonely sometimes. It gets more depressing when you eat-in room service - so when in Japan I leverage my American-personality (although in meetings, I am more chameleon-like and turn serenely Japanese), and walk into restaurants pushing my way with a big smile in English. It's quite comical because I can hear them fussing around me "She's a gaijin/foreigner - she looks so real (Japanese?) . Someone get her an English menu, or get the busboy who always sings in English R&B!" In any case, this is grub-pub-fare in Osaka -- and the restaurant itself is very casual and easygoing.
The pancake batter is really flour / water & egg / shredded raw cabbage mix & pickled ginger - seasoned with salt & pepper - yes, it sounds a little weird now that I have written this outloud. You sizzle that batter on a teppanyaki grill - for a little carmelization on the bottom, at which point, you place your favorite toppings - bacon or thin sliced pork, shrimp, calamari , more veggies, whatever delights you, -- and then you top it with another drizzle of pancake batter. Flip the now bottom - toasted pancake and heat the other side -- and there you have it. Shake a little bonito flakes on top, with a little aonori/pulverized powder seaweed flakes, and drizzle some savory Bulldog sauce (OK - it's like A1 sauce -- but infinitessimely better tasting and aka TONKATSU sauce at any decent Asian store), and get your spatula. Why, it's a mini pizza / pancake!!
MMM.... Oishii , deelish :) Here's a link to a recipe I googled: http://www.ifood.tv/recipe/japanese_okonomiyaki
A New Year goal of mine, I am still working on is swimming. Now I consider myself a decent athlete - having been bestowed 12 varsity letters in high school in tennis, track&field, cross country, thereafter running competitively in university, and with more than a handful half-marathons under my belt in my 30+ years of life.
HOWEVER, I, er, rather my petite but DENSE body is pitifully useless & futile, in the H2O... Every breath is a desperate and turbulent gasp of O-SQUARED. It is frustrating beyond hell - but I believe, if a task is an acquired skill, and not innate - PERSEVERANCE shall dictate and claim victory over any fickle gods who are scheming delightfully to prevent me from acquiring this basic summercamp skillset.
In February, I enrolled in a Total Immersion course in Hong Kong for USD$500. Admittedly, I am a closet geek, and more importantly a TECHNIQUE FREAK. I have no free time in my life to accumulate bad muscle habits - so I partook in this rigorous wknd course with an open mind, and full commitment. Progress is very slow - but I feel I have achieved closer to my goal of turning AMPHIBIENNE.
Thanks Gary for his wonderful movie-producing skills. Let's keep practicing and beat Sky.
Spent a day in Osaka; for a 30 minute meeting. Lovely. Wasting all the fuel. How about videoconferencing people???
Anyway, not to be too deterred and too angry. A few snapshots to share.
In many places in Japan, the subway system has designated carts for female passengers. Groping, fondling it appears to be a rather prevalent problem when you are in a subway like a jar of packed anchovies. Is that the correct idiom? Sorry.
The 1st sign says basically "It ain't right to grope." Osaka-dialect sounds very casual to me, so that is the nuanced translation.
Tne 2nd signage shows you exactly where to stand if you're to correctly aboard the Female trolley...
Last week was a trip to Boracay in Philippines - Another mental vacation I desperately needed after a month of biz trips and not being home. This was my perfect vacation of absolutely doing NADA NADA. Just a bikini and sipping anything that sniffed of Rummy-goodness. I even abandoned my buds to hang out solo with a bunch of Shangri-La ground workers on their day off - at beautiful Puka Beach.
Not the prettiest cabana boys -- but they hauled ass and were damn helpful with their royal treatment mentality with - plenty of icy bottled mineral water, grilled fish BBQ on the beach, and a proper toast of homemade liquor served in Dixie cups. The Boracay police and militia were on full alert, with mean- poking rifles came to check if this little Japanese girl was OK every five minutes or so.
