happy new year

best wishes for the new year.

i've been busy the past few weeks catching up with friends, doing holiday shopping, getting the flu... and now 2005 is already over!

i meant to write up a list for "the best of 2005", but there were too many highlights this year and i'm too indecisive to choose just one. the best trip would be a tie between melbourne and paris, the best dinner would either be one of the paris restaurants or yarra valley's healesville hotel, the best music album would be either superaquello's new album or maybe takk by sigur ros --although my latest favorite is solo piano by gonzales.

so instead, here's a to-do list for 2006:
1) learn to bake something chocolate-y.
2) visit barcelona (fingers crossed)
3) move house
4) drink more wine

sushi and sake

sushidai is a casual and very reasonably-priced sushi bar right outside the tsukiji fish market. i'd recommend anyone visiting tokyo to go there and try the "tencho- ni omakase" course, which is a great deal at 3,500 yen. my favorites are aji (horse mackerel) with shaved ginger, hamachi (yellow tail), and lightly-seared toro.

one thing about sushidai, though, is that they don't have a very good selection of sake. so this time, i met up with my sister for pre-sushi drinks in ginza. bars in ginza tend to be outrageously expensive, but the fukumitsuya sake bar is an exception with glasses starting from 300 yen. it's actually a "sampling bar" where you can try different kinds of sake made by an old kanazawa brewer of the same name. if you like something, you can buy a bottle on your way out, which is what my sister did.

in hot water

what do japanese expats miss the most about home? sushi? oden? yes, but those things aren't impossible to find in most major cities. for me, it would definitely be the onsen.

my sister nami was visiting from washington d.c., so my family decided to go up to the hot springs in hakone last weekend.

we were all quite impressed by the newly-renovated ryokan hatsuhana, known for its abundant (and therefore un-recycled) hot spring water and kaiseki dinners. one thing i noticed was its focus on women. in most ryokans, men's baths are often bigger and set in more picturesque settings than the women's, but at hatsuhana it was the opposite. there were about 4 outdoor and 2 indoor baths for women, while there was only one of each for guys. maybe they realized that women are usually the decision-makers when it comes to travel.

from the baths, we got a good view of the mountainside --a bright array of autumn colors during the day and an illuminated bamboo forest at night. aaaaah, i wish i could do this more often...

shochu and sashimi in palermo (of japan)

i just got back from a one-night business trip to kagoshima, a city on the southern tip of kyushu. i usually don't have time to do much sightseeing and this trip was no exception, but i did manage to find a great bar specialising in shochu and local cuisine.











i didn't really feel like pork, which kagoshima is famous for, so i ordered a platter of sashimi. i especially liked the kibinago, a small, transparent fish that is part of the herring family and available year-round in kagoshima. the saba (mackerel) and modori-gatsuo (bonito that's returned south after a swimp up to hokkaido) were also amazingly fresh, and the chef told me that should be no surprise since everything was fished locally, just that morning. i noticed the soy sauce was very dark and sweet, kagoshima-style. i thought it might kill the flavor of the sashimi but it actually went quite well, making it taste a little sweeter and fatter.

because of all my oohing, aaahing and picture-taking, the chef wanted to know where i was from. i told him i'm from tokyo but originally from wakayama (which is more exciting), and when i called it the "sicily of japan" because of the mafia and high rate of crime and unemployment, he told me that kagoshima is definitely the "palermo of japan". and this is why:

from shiroyama hotel, an impressive view of kyushu's own vesuvio, the volcanic sakurajima island.

turning 30

i was planning on not having a birthday this year so i could linger perpetually in my 20's. but i was too tempted by the promise of presents and booze...
after a champagne toast and some dancing to a record by the Brazilian Girls, a gift from purpleman, we went to Arossa, a modern australian restaurant in Shinsen. i'm not quite sure about the definition of modern australian cooking. but what Arossa and the Healesville Hotel in Yarra Valley had in common, besides a mix of italian and french cooking and some asian influence, was a very strong emphasis on fresh produce --like good farm cheese, crisp vegetables, and locally-grown meat.

so thanks to great food and wine, and a beautiful present from purpleman, a very fun transition to the big 3-oh.

paris eats

some highlights:

it was already way past 8 by the time purpleman arrived in paris, so we thought we'd just go for a quick bite. but we ended up having a great meal at chez justine, a restaurant-bar several blocks from our hotel.

it was a friday night and the place was literally overflowing with young parisians. with a crowd at the bar and some even standing outside with their wine glasses, we assumed there would be no tables, but it turned out they were just having their friday drinks and we were quickly seated near the back of the restaurant. my pork and purpleman's duck confit were excellent, thanks to the recommendation of our friendly neighbor (who spoke perfect english and french --envy!). the place even had live guitar and vocal performance later in the evening, a surprise treat. a bit chaotic and definitely more casual compared to le pamphlet, where we ate (very well) the following night, but a generous treat to the senses just the same and a great start to the trip.

l'as du falafel has a special place in my heart. i remember coming here on one of my solo travels, and the food filled me with such warmth i felt so much happier and comfortable the rest of my trip. i still think the falafel sandwich here is one of the best of its kind. and i can't get enough of the tahini sauce. purpleman and i were so absorbed in our mouthfuls of "falafel special" that we just munched in silence for a while... and as a result we couldn't help but eavesdrop on the two american girls sitting next to us discussing their diets and the need for more democracy in the third world.

we also had a good meal at les philosophes in the marais, although what i remember most is the golden tarte tatin. partly because we had to wait so long for it... the memory of it makes my mouth water. yum, yum...

l'estaminet, the bistro where i had lunch alone on the first day, was so nice i had to go back with purpleman. a very laid-back and cozy place, but the menu du jour was full of choices, with dishes like boudin blanc, andouillete, etc. we opted for the two-course meal, and i had duck gizzard and liver in red wine sauce, with salad.

our last dinner was at l'astier near parmentier. everything was excellent, and my only regret: i ate so much that by the time the fabulous cheese platter came around, i could only try a little bit. next time, i want a little bit of everything! the desserts were great too, especially purpleman's pistachio creme brulee, but our stomachs were about to explode by the end of the meal.

in fact, we were nearly bursting after every meal throughout the whole trip. but we did do a lot of walking in between and we were usually quite hungry by the next meal, so i suppose it wasn't that unhealthy. we ended up dining mostly in the marais-oberkampf districts, close to our hotel. it was nice to be able to walk home after meals --and we certainly needed the exercise.

flaneuring in paris

from left: man with a baguette greets lady friend on rue oberkampf. is it only the etranger who finds this pedestrian signal humorous, only the japanese girl who finds it kawaii? the narrow path leading from saint sulpice to the luxembourg gardens.

i've got (red) sole

i landed in paris at around noon and had several hours on my own before purpleman arrived, so after a solitary but splendid lunch at l'estaminet in oberkampf, i set out on a super-efficient shopping trip. i didn't buy much, but my main mission was accomplished in the first hour: simple black pumps from christian louboutin!!! je suis tres tres contente...

learning to like london

purpleman and sheesergirl reunite! disgusting as it may sound, six weeks apart was far more difficult than i thought it would be, even with the phone calls and frequent instant messaging. when i finally arrived in south kensington, purpleman was waiting for me with red, teary eyes. but as it turned out, it was just because purpleman had a cold and couldn't stop coughing and sneezing... one of those nasty flus that one can only get in cold and damp london. despite that, he made sure i had a fun week and i eventually began to like the city and forgive its many annoyances --the weather, severe shower problems and delays on the underground for starters

some highlights of my trip:
re-visiting the victoria and albert museum. my favorite section was the indian textiles (nehru gallery), where i spent hours just looking at the intricate embroidery and weaving on display. the v&a was also doing a special exhibit on diane arbus. i went in without any expectations and came out feeling quite disturbed, i can't explain why. i hadn't really been moved by art in a long time, and for a few hours i just walked around hyde park.

for our special dinner, purpleman chose chutney mary. it was indian food presented in a way i'd never experienced. the curries were good but i was impressed most by the appetizer we shared, chickpea dumplings with a savoury pesto-like sauce and a sweet compote, garnished with little bits of pomegranate. i also liked vama, another indian restaurant on king's road. it was chosen by purpleman's brother who works in the neighborhood.

lastly, window-shopping at harvey nicks, liberty's and harrod's. harvey nicks has so much character, even though the clothes selection at isetan is far superior in many ways. and liberty's and harrod's have gorgeous interiors that make me want to just live there. so i feel satisfied just walking around the different floors, even without actually buying anything -- a very good thing given the prices and a depressingly weak yen.

getting there... with bibinbap

i usually avoid airline food, but the bibinbap on korean air was not bad at all. sure, it's partly the novelty factor, but i even considered flying korean air from now on every time i visit europe. the bibinbap comes with a tube of authentic hot sauce. the benefits of spicy foods are countless... in this case it helped numb my senses towards the boredom and discomfort of a 15 hour flight.

sheesergirl bobs her hair

i only wanted my hair trimmed neatly so that when i land in heathrow, i don't look like i travelled all the way in the luggage compartment.

but when my hairdresser said he knew of a style that would suit me perfectly, and that today was his only chance to try it as he would be moving to the countryside in a few weeks to take care of his sick dad... i knew i had no choice.

so it's very short now. i must confess: i am very weak when it comes to hairdressers. yes, i know they're all gay. it's just that i find it very difficult to disagree with anything they say because i have an inferiority complex towards The Fashionable People. and they've got those huge, sharp scissors, you know.

more fermented stuff

because it wasn't really available in california where i grew up, natto, or stinky fermented beans, was always a challenge for me. i remember the drama of the first time my mother made me eat it... i held my nose and had to be rewarded with some dessert afterwards. but i know that it's one of the healthiest foods in the world, so i try to eat it when i can. and i've actually begun to appreciate the flavor, although i still prefer it cooked along with other foods.

so today, i ordered the natto and okura curry at "shin soup curry" in shimokitazawa. i was quite impressed. not only was it eatable, the spiciness of the soup and the distinctive smell of natto complimented each other perfectly. so-- yet another fermented thing i must bully purpleman into trying!

the natto left a bit of a funny aftertaste in my mouth, so i wandered over to the "CAFE USE" down the street, a cafe that does a beautiful job of mixing antique japanese furniture, old Coleman lamps and Fire King cups from the 1960s. judging from the menu, they are very serious about their coffee beans. i tried some from papua new guinea, because that's where purpleman grew up and i never knew they made coffee there. it was very rich, very good.i thought my brother-in-law might like this cafe because he's very particular about his coffee, but he might feel out of place because he's a Very Loud Person and this is one of those funny japanese cafes with a very serious feel where customers somehow feel like they need to whisper.

buried in sawdust

being buried in steaming, fermented sawdust might not sound like much of a treat, but appointments for a 15-minute "enzyme bath" at the nogizaka treatment center are pretty hard to get. i finally made a booking yesterday after about 20 phone calls.

it had been a year since my last visit but nothing had changed, from the brisk and cheerful service to the funny smell that i can only describe as garden compost. after changing into a pair of baggy shorts, you lie in a coffin-shaped box full of sawdust and various grains. the mixture produces heat through natural fermentation. once inside, it feels like a sauna, but it has a much stronger effect than simply making you sweat. i can tell that it boosts my metabolism because i become very, very hungry afterwards. and i feel like a newborn the following morning. so, i'm planning on bullying purpleman into trying it when he gets back.

after the treatment, i went to the book store to browse through guidebooks on london and paris, but decided i'm not taking any this time. i will be taking maps, though. purpleman doesn't think much of my navigational skills but i quite like looking at maps and knowing where i'm going.

i found a map of paris in one of my old Figaro Japon issues. it's a 20-page booklet that lists almost every cafe and boutique in the saint germain, saint honore, marais, etienne marcel and montmartre neighborhoods. it's amazing how accurate and detailed some japanese maps are.

saturday shopping and listening

a very productive shopping day.

first, i bought some 35-mm film for my london-paris trip, including some Ilford black and white of different ISOs, at bic camera in shibuya. on the same floor, they had a huge section for digital SLRs, so i had a look. my old minolta xe is so much heavier than any of them, and considering that i always have to worry about pictures not coming out right, maybe it's time to go digital... but i don't feel like making the move just yet. maybe next year.

then i went to aoyama book center and found a book about oberkampf, a neighborhood in paris where purpleman and i will stay next month. looks like a cool area with lots of good bars and cafes... i can't wait!

my last stop was tower records, where i bought this album by the icelandic group, sigur ros. i've been listening to it over and over since i got home.

i think purpleman has it already, so i put on my headphones, close my eyes, and imagine him listening to the same sounds. only two more weeks now.

comfort foods

i'm sorry if this gooey white glob looks disgusting to you, but it's my favorite food: tororo, or grated mountain yams, served over a bowl of steaming soba. i don't like ordering it at restaurants because the broth is usually too salty for me, and with tororo soba one has to finish the soup. at home, we make the broth with some konbu kelp, a mix of black and white soy sauce, some mirin and a tiny pinch of sugar. moutain yams are supposed to warm your body, and there's really nothing more comforting than soba in homemade broth.

but speaking of comfort, there are few things better than eating karinto at night with a cup of hot hoji-cha to recover from a not-very-enjoyable day at work. aaahhh, what a relief it's Friday!

bowling chic

two friends from work had a joint birthday party together last night at the spanking new prince hotel towers bowling alley. i hadn't gone bowling in years, probably since my first year of college --as i kept on reminding everyone as an excuse for my poor performance.

one thing i discovered: bowling has become fashionable. okay okay, maybe not fashionable, but look at these cute red sneakers. one reason i've never been too keen on bowling was the ugly shoes. these would look okay even on the street, right? some might even mistake them for camper.

the bowling alley also had a bar with futuristic design and prices (very post-deflationary japan).

coffee geek

one of the great things about cafe ordinaire in shimokitazawa is the selection of funny books and magazines in their bookshelves. you can go there alone and entertain yourself for hours, reading about the history of harmonicas or leafing through the latest issue of casa brutus. but i personally find the waiter the most amusing feature. he's codenamed "coffeegeek" because he takes his job so seriously.

today was no exception. when i ordered an apple pie with my coffee, he warned me that this apple pie was no ordinary apple pie, that there would actually be two layers of apples of different textures: one caramelized and the other barely cooked, separated by a thin layer of almond paste. did i still want it?

but then what came next was rather unusual: he asked if he could give me a present, a piece of paper with drawings of a little girl and boy. "like you and your friend," he said.

is my handbag hot or what?

how could i come all the way to yokohama and not have a nikuman from edosei in chinatown?!

nevermind that it was during work hours. or that i was running late for an important central bank conference. my biggest concern was getting the right shop, because they all look so similar from the outside.

i actually got it wrong once about a year ago. i realized the mistake right after ordering 2 nikumans. i was so shocked that i couldn't help yelling, "OH NO, you're NOT edosei!" and they were very understanding and let me cancel the order. i was quite relieved, but purpleman looked like he would die of embarassment. i wonder if anyone had ever done that before.

i'm pretty confident that i'm the only person to have ever shown up at a Bank of Japan conference with a nikuman in her handbag.

hara museum of contemporary art

sometimes the gift shop is the funnest part of visiting a museum. i'm very materialistic that way. but at the hara museum of contemporary art, one of my favorite art spots in tokyo, it's the outdoor cafe!

the hara museum is doing an exhibition on the photographer miwa yanagi of "elevator girl" fame. in her latest works, she challenges perceptions of innocence in young girls and the portrayal of old women as witches, inspired of course by folk tales like the brothers grimm.

the pictures at the show were so genius that i wanted to order prints. my favorite was the one used in the flier, an old woman, or perhaps a young girl with wrinkly hands?, wearing a tent. but the prints were very expensive. well, the next best thing to buying art is EATING it, no? so i had the exhibition-inspired dessert plate, a mango and peach mousse covered with a crispy tent, held together by a skinny breadstick.

fall foods

october already! it's gotten slightly cooler at night, so i traded in my thin cotton blanket for my feather duvet. ahhhhh, it's nice to be wrapped up in something warm and fluffy again! i also put my tank tops and sleeveless chiffon blouses to the back of my dresser, and instead brought my cashmere and wool sweaters within closer reach. i found myself stroking them --some fabrics can give you such a strong sense of comfort and indulgence.

fall (or autumn for some) is also the best season for food. the rice is freshly harvested and lots of tasty fish --including fatty sanma-- are in season. chestnuts also start appearing in markets and make their way into all kinds of desserts. marron crepes, mont blancs, marron glaces... i love them all. my favorite is this chestnut pie. it looks homemade but no, i didn't make it. i bought it at the "sieges kranz" bakery in setagaya last night, and had it for breakfast this morning because i couldn't wait for tea time.

already thinking of my next vacation

i've always loved looking at atlases and fantasizing about trips to far-off places. so holiday-planning is one of my favorite activities, and it gives me a buzz that i can't get from anything else... except maybe shoe shopping. i usually start by downloading subway maps, browsing the internet to see what's on while i'm there, reading hotel and restaurant reviews, making bookings, and thinking of a rough plan.

my trip to london and paris isn't for another 4 weeks, but i'm already getting a bit too excited. i've already downloaded and compared menus from a few indian and pakistani restaurants in london (so far tayyabs in whitechapel looks very good) and decided which shops to go to in paris (christian louboutin for shoes and galerie triff for a rug). my brother-in-law says that i plan things too much and miss out on carefree, adventurous travel. he has a point, but the planning process is so fun, and besides, by doing research and making reservations ahead of time, you have more time to walk around or rest. and as long as you keep an open mind and try not to tire yourself out with a down-to-the-hour itinerary, you can always discover new things, right?

women only

i'm against single-sex previleges in theory, but i can't say no to "ladies' nights" at japanese bars, when you get two drinks for the price of one. and then there's the slightly more contentious "women-only carriage"...

of course it's ridiculous. it's sad that japanese men can't learn to keep their hands to themselves, that many women still find it hard to speak up, and that the only effective solution was to offer a single-sex refuge. but when i get to the platform and see a bunch of sweaty salarymen cramming into trains, and find the women's carriage always far less crowded, guess where i stand?

a typical dinner at my parents'

i don't know if it's because my family lived in the u.s. for so long, or because my mother loves trying foreign recipes, but i'm used to eating all sorts of funny food combinations, like miso soup and french toast, tofu and tacos, or coq au vin and rice with umeboshi for dinner.

dinner tonight was a funny mix: a "champloo" of tofu, pork and leftover goya, an orange and raisin salad, spinach gratin, and pork kakuni. this was followed by some soft cheese, and for dessert, macarons with sweet red beans and cream. ahhh, so much for the diet!

bien gorgeous on headphones

the last weekend FT had a story about the iPod and how it had changed the way people listen to music --that listening to music has become a very private affair and less of a communal, or shared experience. a well-written opinion piece, but i thought his point was arguable. 1) headphones (and don't forget the walkman) have been around for quite a while 2) it's easy to share music with friends 3) and besides, a lot of music sounds better on headphones.

i'm no stereogeek, but i think cornelius should be listened to on headphones rather than speakers, though i read somewhere that the artist himself prefers four speakers.

before purpleman left, he lent me superaquello's bien gorgeous, saying it sounds much better on headphones. he's right, i can hear a lot of funny sounds and whispery singing that i totally missed the first time i heard the album on my sister's cheap stereo. i like the third song on the album, stiki, so much that i sometimes play it over and over -- although that's breaking the rules, according to some.

goya in my garden

the goya is native to okinawa, but given extra care and lots of sunlight, they can even grow in tokyo, as my mother has proven these past few summers in our little garden.

the ones that she grows are smaller and rounder than the kind from okinawa, but they're just as bitter and addictive. yes, addictive! goyas are definitely an acquired taste, but once you get used to the bitterness... pictured here is what i think is going to be our garden's last goya this year. i'm going to snip it off the vine tomorrow morning and make a goya and bonita-flake omelette.

nidding alone

purpleman is in london for 7 weeks. it's too bad he had to leave just before two, back-to-back three-day weekends. i've only had to work three out of the last nine days! of course i have no complaints about the holidays, but after catching up with friends from school, finishing haruki murakami's new book, and trying to make the perfect octopus risotto in tomato and orange sauce, i had to admit i was a bit BORED. i hadn't been bored in such a long time. i remembered that my parents used to tell me that people who get bored easily have no inner life. so i thought, have i lost my inner life? do i depend on purpleman too much?

for the first time in a while i went to nid cafe alone. this is where i used to spend long hours on my own, reading and day-dreaming between classes. since i've almost always gone with purpleman for the past year, the waitress asks me if i'll order right away or if i'll be waiting for "him"...
but after having a cup of iced cafe creme, writing a few postcards and staring out the window, i felt okay again.

williamsburg

purpleman and i have decided we want to live in NYC one day. and that our favorite neighborhood is williamsburg in brooklyn.

astoria, queens, where my sister lives, is a great neighborhood: not yet gentrified in ways that nice brooklyn neighborhoods are, so it's managed to keep its character intact and the rent from skyrocketing. but after seeing the cool bookshops, record stores, and coffee shops around bedford avenue, i thought, maybe it would be worth paying extra to live in a neighborhood like that.

it will take a while (and jobs for both of us!) before we'll really have to worry about where to live in NYC, though. for now i have to think about where to move in tokyo. i am finally about to find my own apartment after almost a year of staying at my parents'. so i am thinking:

is shimokitazawa the williamsburg of tokyo? is hongo (bunkyo-ku) the astoria?

new jersey wedding

the main purpose of our trip was to attend the wedding of our dear friend and former colleague dan in new jersey.

i'd never been to a big american wedding before --what a huge production! dan and his fiancee took dancing lessons for months, and had hired a live band (which was actually pretty good, and played stevie wonder for the first dance and john denver for the mother-and-son). i got to see purpleman in a tuxedo too.

despite the funny theatrics (which were probably normal by american wedding standards), though, i was moved. i think anyone would be, if they knew the story of dan, the hairy drunk and his angry but philosophical monologues... i miss old dan but i'm glad he's no longer sleeping on a tiny air mattress. omedeto***

new york, new york...

september must be one of the best months of the year to be in new york city. we were blessed with gorgeous weather every day of our stay. the air was crisp, the sun made everything sparkle, and even new yorkers looked happy...

as always, our daily activities centered on food.
one place i tried for the first time and really liked was la palapa on st. mark's place, a casual mexican joint recommended to us by a colleague's mexican boyfriend. the seats in the back terrace were very comfortable, the service was relaxed, the drinks were cool and yummy, and we ended up staying there for 4 hours, just chatting and nibbling on things like chalupas with chorizo and guacamole. purpleman ordered a skirt steak marinated in lime and tequila.

another memorable meal was a thai restaurant in queens called sripraphai, which my sister says is the best in the "area". i don't know how big an "area" is, but purpleman and i were very impressed and i would even say it's probably hard to find a better place in manhattan. they didn't seem to tone down their flavors for non-thais. my favorite dish was the fried rice with shrimp-past, which was intensely fishy but balanced out the spiciness of the green curry and papaya salad. the only thing i didn't like was their sticky rice, which was a bit too dry.

our little splurge was at scalini fedeli. my favourite was the truffle ravioli served before the appetizer. it was so tiny i wanted to ask for another, but i'm glad i didn't because the other dishes were great too, and very filling.

it's september!

but it still feels like summer, doesn't it? in two days we'll be on a plane bound for new york city, and while it's for a friend's wedding we'll be there for a week and so it will be like a little summer vacation for us.

one thing i regret this summer is not having worn a yukata. i've been too lazy. it really isn't that much trouble, i just never got around to getting it out of the closet. it would be so nice to be able to wear a yukata all the time, and getting my own made at chikusen.

i'm so indecisive...

especially when i'm at a good gelateria and the choices include flavors like gianduia, white japanese peach, watermelon, and something called blue salt and curacao. yesterday at gelateria mario in ginza i panicked, especially because purpleman was so quick in choosing pistachio and chocolate. i chose watermelon (because it's summer?) and gianduia (because i always do), but i'm not sure it was the right combination. next time i should go for japanese peach and pistachio or salt/curacao and gianduia.

the salt-flavored gelato reminded me that salty desserts seem to be quite popular in japan at the moment. i had some chcolate-covered potato chips the other day and it wasn't bad --after i "got over" what it actually was and focused on the flavor. sometimes salt has the funny effect of making something actually taste sweeter. maybe it boldens the flavor, like saltwater taffy. come to think of it, the japanese always sprinkle a bit of salt on watermelon. and the very sweet red bean "oshiruko" soup usually comes with a bit of salty "konbu" seaweed.

now it's the weekend again and i am thinking of what to cook with purpleman. are goya (bitter okinawan gourds) in season yet?

it's too hot and humid to go out

but i met up with purpleman for lunch at cafe nid.
i had cold tomato and basil pasta while purpleman had curry d'agneau. i think they've become really serious about food over the past few years. if i remember correctly, nid used to be more dessert-focused. the desserts are still great, of course... i can't wait til it cools down, so i can drink their chocolat chaud!

after lunch i tried to do some picture-taking (with my recently-fixed minolta XE) and some shopping, but i got so hot and sweaty i gave up and went home. but i did buy a dress --a brown silk embroidered tocca for a wedding in september. i think i already have shoes and a handbag to go with it, but i should check the accessories at enokiworld just in case. i'm not a big internet shopper, but on days like this, it's funner to be shopping indoors.

melinda and melinda

went to watch melinda and melinda at ebisu after work yesterday. it was one of the best woody allen films i've seen recently. i thought chloe sevigny was very good as the sexy but sexually-frustrated park avenue princess, and that will ferrell was a pretty good stand-in as woody allen.

after the movie, we ate at elio's cafe downstairs from the cinema. the squid pasta and seafood risotto tasted so authentically italian. and it felt so nice to eat outside --you rarely get to do that in tokyo, unfortunately.

yay!

the best news this week has been that purpleman will be going to london for six weeks from late september to do some training. congratulations!!!

it will be a great opportunity for him work-wise... but of course i'm also thinking it will be a chance for us to do a little bit of europe. maybe a weekend+ in paris?

parisby.com is one of my favorite sites. the italian version of it is pretty good too.

hakone

a weekend trip with friends was cancelled at the last moment, but purpleman and i decided we need a break from the city. hakone's only about two hours from tokyo by the regular express train --perfect for lazy bums like us in need of a quick onsen fix.

the taiseikan hotel is nothing fancy, but the views are great, especially from the outdoor baths. its location near the bottom of a steep valley makes you feel far-removed from the rest of the world. well worth the scary cable-car ride down to the hotel.

we returned on sunday and met up with claudia and taka for some soup curry at shin--an increasingly popular chain that originated in hokkaido. the vegetable curry-soup is pretty good, but maybe i'll be adventurous and try the natto-okura next time. claudia seems a bit worried about the move. it must be a bit scary to be moving to a new city where you have to make new friends and start life from scratch. but i'm sure it will be a great year for the two of them. i've never heard of anyone not having fun in barcelona!

it's a three-day weekend

purpleman didn't even know tomorrow was a holiday until i told him, so he's particularly pleased. it's so funny, i sometimes forget about holidays too and it can be a treat to be surprised like that. once when i was little i turned up at school to find it empty --it must've been either labor day or columbus day.

one other thing we have in common is that we have firm beliefs in how ice cream should be eaten. my rules are:
- make sure it doesn't drip. you should always start by licking the melty bits, especially if it's gelato.
- lick, don't bite. try to form a round dome by turning the cone as you lick. as the ice cream gets smaller, start pushing the ice cream gently into its cone. if you do this right, the cone should eventually be about half-filled and flat at the top with ice cream.
- bite into the cone. turn the cone while you do this, and keep licking/pushing the ice cream. if you do this right, you can enjoy both the cone and ice cream until the very end!

l'artemis

to celebrate our one year of dating, purpleman and i tried a new french place today: l'artemis in harajuku.

everything, from our bottle of alsace riesling to the chocoloate mousse with wine sorbet, was excellent. the chef seemed to incorporate a lot of seasonal fruits and vegetables, and mix together spices in an interesting but not-too-complicated fashion. clever, but not cocky. i have to go back for the rabbit with cinammon and cream risotto. i also felt a pang of envy for purpleman's foie gras with truffles and fig (even though i was very happy with my white liver mousse with berries).

the restaurant is not that formal, so i think i could come here again just for a casual dinner with friends. but the food is definitely worthy of special occasions. happy anniversary, sheesergirl-purpleman!

kyoto and nara pictures

the slideshow is quite cool.

closer

i finally watched Closer with the purpleman last night, despite warnings that it wasn't a "date movie". i don't regret having gone to see it, but i can't say i liked it... it just had a nasty aftertaste that i'm still trying to figure out.

the story evolved around four characters and their sexual and emotional manipulations of each other. the dialogue was emotional and intense, yet i didn't find it very engaging because all the characters were so unlikeable and obsessed about sex and revenge in ways i found pretty shallow.

still, we are having fun coming up with a cast for our own imaginary production of Closer.

nara and kyoto --a four day trip

saturday june 18 (day one)
nara is only an hour from kyoto but somehow i never got around to exploring it much, partly because everyone says there aren't that many nice places to eat or stay. and while that is partly true (not many choices), now i know i've been missing so much!

the last time i stayed at the nara hotel, i was alone on a one-night business trip. i remember being spooked at night by the creaking sounds of the hotel's wooden structure. this time, with purpleman to keep me company, i really appreciate its beauty --the tall ceilings, the mix of meiji-era western and japanese architecture.

my favorite is the nara park. i never realized it was so huge. the deer are smelly and obnoxious up close, but are really very pretty.

we have nice dinner at mangyoku, a former "okiya", with purpleman's friends jose and fredrik who live nearby. it looks very classy from the outside and the bar area is tastefully decorated with antiques, but the food is very home-style. nice. afterwards we go exploring nara's temples, which turn out to be open to the public even after sunset. it's kind of strange to see 1000-year old buildings in the dark, but it's nice without the heat or the crowd of the afternoon. we also get to see fireflies. what mysterious, sensual creatures!

sunday june 19 (day two)
after one last walk through nara park, we head for kyoto. the kyoto fujita hotel is really my favorite, even with (or because of?) its outdated style. it's right by the kamo-gawa and you get to hear the river running.

for lunch we go to gion ten-ten for okonomiyaki, which is not really special to kyoto... but it doesn't matter because it tastes so good! we walk around shirakawa and then take a nap til dinner. we end up having dinner at sinamo, my favorite cafe with the many lamps. we agree to take it easy since we're both a little tired, but end up finishing a couple of drinks and a bottle of wine.

monday june 20 (day three)
my favorite place in kyoto is in o-hara, especially the garden at ho-sen in. i imagine it must be gorgeous during the autumn with the foliage and also during the spring cherry blossom season, but it's also beautiful in the summer with the many shades of green.

afterwards we have lunch at e-fish, a cafe that looks over kamo-gawa. david has a BLT sandwich and i have an avocado, cottage cheese and tuna sandwich. we're tempted by the cakes but decide to save tummy-space for dinner. instead we give into a different temptation --beer by the kamo-gawa! aaaahhhhhhh! we definitely deserve it after such a long walk!

the u-zo-sui (eel porridge) at warajiya is definitely the gourmet highlight of the trip. unlike grilled eel covered in sugary soy sauce, this one is cooked in its own broth, together with veggies and some egg. it's one of the most powerful broths i've ever had. speaking of powerful, the japanese believe that eel has a particular effect on men...

we close the day off with a gin and tonic at bar k-ya, which must be the coolest bar in japan. housed in a spacious, "machiya"-style building that was recently renovated, bar k-ya has a beautiful, long wooden counter that looks out on a simple zen garden. a few seats away from us, an all-made-up geiko-san is chatting away with her patron.

tuesday june 21 (day four)
nanzenji has an impressive gate, but purpleman and i are too lazy to climb it to the top. instead we have a slow look around the nanzen-in landscape garden and decide we're done sightseeing. it's so great to have a travel buddy who has the same level of energy.

our final meal in kyoto is keema-curry at sinamo. that is, unless you count the tsujiri matcha softcream i have before getting on the shinkansen back to tokyo. for a minute, i think of resisting ahead of our planned boozing on board, but purpleman insists i should have no regrets on this trip. so that's how i end my trip --stuffed and wholly satisfied.

to kyo to

we're planning to go down to kyoto for a few days in late june.

it's so fun to be planning a trip again,
looking up things on the internet and fantasizing about beautiful gardens and
quiet walks along kamo-gawa... where should we stay? and what to eat?? should i buy a new canvas tote bag at ichizawa-hanpu? or should i buy a proper silk purse at chingire-ya instead? (i shouldn't tell purpleman about my shopping plans yet)
ahhhh, it's so nice to have something to do and think about at work again!

Of Love and Other Demons

purpleman lent me Of Love and Other Demons by Gabriel Garcia Marquez. i always loved Marquez, the way he mixes miracles and passion and tragedy all together. this particular novel is much shorter than most of his other famous masterpieces, but, like some of his best short stories, poignant and beautiful. i finished the book several days ago and i'm still haunted by the image of the little girl sitting at her windowsill, eating grapes.

Saturday by Ian McEwan

i finished reading Saturday by Ian McEwan, which reminded me a bit about another great novel, Virginia Woolfe's Mrs. Dalloway. in both books, the "life in a day of" setting and vivid moment-by-moment narratives force the reader into the protagonists' minds.

Saturday also reminded me about the real pleasure of reading. i'm always so impatient that whenever a passage seems a bit tedious i unconsciously skip ahead, which makes me quite a fast but careless reader. I wanted to read every single sentence in this one.

slow starters

Saturday: we had a very slow start to the day since purpleman was very, very hung over from last night's drinks with the big boss from singapore. he doesn't remember details, like how he he lifted my skirt in the train on the way home, like an ordinary chikan!

We met the Laynes for dinner in Shimokitazawa. the pizza "napolitana" is very good. i love anchovies and black olives!

life aquatic (less drooling, more laughing)

saturday: went to watch Life Aquatic with purpleman. it was so much funnier than i'd expected, maybe even better than the royal tenenbaums. it's been a good film week.

at night we went to altoto in shimokitazawa, where "dj jona" was spinning. a mix of breakbeats, jazz, and cutsey bossa playing in a comfy little bar... what a cool event! and we saw one very energetic girl jumping on a dance floor. purpleman said "yeh, there's always one jumping girl on any dance floor" but she was extraordinary --it looked like she was on a trampoline and it went on for the whole 3 hours that we were there! our friend double-D was totally entranced, and i decided we should leave before purpleman fell under her spell too.

sunday: great food stalls at the annual thai festival at yoyogi park, but the crowd was a bit too much, so we left after getting some green curry and basil-chicken from one of the food stalls.

we couldn't get into cafe apres-midi, which was once my favorite cafe in all of tokyo. it was always quite popular, so i wasn't surprised that it was full, but when i took a look inside it felt very different from the way it did a few years back. more lively, less saudade. i commented that the customers were now much younger than the old crowd, and purpleman replied: "isn't it just that you've grown older?" ahhh, hadn't thought of that!

i don't mind doing different things and hanging out at different places now that i'm older. but i want to think that it means we have more options, more places to go and things to enjoy, not less.

bad education

i finally got to see Pedro Almodovar's Bad Education.

on my way home i compared various characters from the movie to people i know in real life, something i sometimes do. i don't know anyone as corrupt as the characters in Bad Education, but i think there are people who can do things --sex, deception, manipulation-- without really feeling anything.

i should be more tired after watching movies two nights in a row, especially since both had dark, labyrinth-like plots. but i don't. both were mesmerising in different ways and featured beautiful men. Gael Garcia Bernal, he can come and swim in my pool.

movie night

i was afraid of watching Wong Kar-wai's "2046" as it had such bad reviews and i heard kimutaku was in it... but i ended up renting it at tsutaya after trying to go see Almodovar's "Bad Education" and finding tickets sold-out (ah, it was ladies' day!).

it's definitely not my favourite Wong Kar-wai movie, partly because i was annoyed by kimutaku (who looked so puny next to Faye Wong) but mostly because his other movies are so much better. perhaps i'm bothered by the storyline --the various sequences are interesting on their own, but it's hard to make sense of it as a whole. but i've thought that way about some of his previous movies and changed my mind later....

the visuals are definitely stunning, the slow motion montages, gorgeous chipaos.... and of course Tony Leung! if i ever have an illicit love affair it will be with Tony Leung. next time i hear "chestnuts roasting on an open fire" (the christmas song that kept on playing in the background) i might start drooling.

and watching the movie made me want to dress up. wouldn't it be cool if people still wore silk chipaos and high-heels all the time. Of course it would be nice to look like Zhang Ziyi too.

i take that back

about purpleman being an idiot, because he was very nice to me today when i:
assumed no one would come and drank lots of wine, fell asleep, and couldn't bother to talk to anyone when some friends finally did show up, and then to top things off got sick on the way home. idiot, idiot, me.

tomorrow it's back to work after a long holiday--- i always hate this. but it's just one day and then there's the weekend again.

pre-picnic anxiety

today i went food and wine shopping for tomorrow's picnic.
but i still don't know if anyone will show up. this is the worst thing about planning parties --you don't know how much food or drinks to have ready because everyone says they'll "try" to come.

the first year we did this it got a bit crazy --we received lots of vague replies so we kept on expanding the guest list, and in the end everyone showed up and there were more than 20 people packed in my tiny little room. so this year we only invited 3 or 4.

that reminds me... purpleman didn't come last year because he was too hung over. idiot! idiot! i can't believe i ended up dating him.

melbourne mmm, mmm, mmm....

melbourne is definitely one of my favourite cities in the world now, next to istanbul and rome. i'm particularly impressed by its cafes and restaurants, the culture of doing "breaky" and business lunches by the river, and the chilled-out, easy-going atmosphere you find everywhere.

some of the best food:
*the mango, lychee, and hazelnut gelati at trampoline on brunswick street, fitzroy
*banana and lemon pancakes banana and lemon pancakes and scrambled eggs with coriander and chili from joe's garage, also on brunswick street.
*chinese at the famous flower drum on drummond street
*moroccan at momo on collins street

one highlight was a trip out to the yarra valley wine country and staying at outlook hill, a beautiful boutique winery. from our cottage we could see the entire vineyard and the neighbouring dairy farms. one of the most beautiful sunsets i've ever seen --for about five minutes a gorgeous orange glow hung over the entire vineyard. the hotel had a great jacuzzi bath too --so relaxing, especially after a hard day of wine tasting!

the cellar doors at outlook hill, coldstream hills, yering station, and tarrawarra were all very different. hard to say which wine i liked most. the chardonnay, cabernet sauvignon and pinot noir from coldstream hills and the chardonnay at tarrawarra maybe? we also had a terrific dinner at the healesville hotel. purpleman had local free range pork in a wine and honey sauce while i had lamb. a very impressive wine list too, of course.


but the best part of the entire trip for me was meeting purpleman's brother and sister, luke and kate. i always forget he is the eldest of four because he is such an easy-going own-drummer type. i like them a lot -- both just as kind and laid back as purpleman but slightly more mischievous.

haagen dazs

has a new flavor, mango and coconut cream. sounds interesting, no?

today we had dinner at chow's. chow is a trained chef (although she is a journalist by trade) and her carrot and tomato soup with dill and black pepper is very, very tasty. highlight is caviar served with lemon and sour cream. everyone nibbles on ash-covered goat cheese and olives while i gobble up the foie gras. and we talk about holidays and naomi's new shoes from tsumori chisato and try to pretend it's not a sunday night.

hidemims and i are planning the annual "maggio cafe" on may 5, the annual get-together of friends who haven't gone away for the golden week holidays. since we're both living with our parents at the moment, we'll have to do it outdoors this year. i loved my old apartment because it was so cozy and full of character. but what i miss the most now is having a place to entertain friends. i need to move...

countdown to melbourne

we only have one more week before our trip to melbourne!!! i'm looking forward to this trip so much that when i lie asleep in bed all i can think of is what we'll do there...

i do have a shopping trip list (aesop, collette dinnigan, etc.) but our eating list is much more serious (we booked the flower drum!). besides, this visit will be more about drinking the local wine, seeing the different neighbourhoods and getting to know the city that purpleman loves so much.

after 5: shoes and curry

i am shocked to find that almost one out of every four shoes at barney's ginza has a wedge heel. i knew they were the look this season along with the african prints but this is too much! am i the only one who is wishing they'd go away and leave more shelf space to pretty elman heels and adorable round-toe pumps from viktor and rolf? i wonder if the manolo he would say, "the sheesergirl she is bitter about lacking the beautiful legs"...
a pair of flat, green-and-white maloles sandals make my heart beat a little faster, but not quite enough to make me dig for plastic. anyway, i am still repenting over my accidental purchase of seriously expensive jewellery.

after shoes? curry of course.
indian-pakistani curry house "nawab" in yushima is one of my favorites. a bit out of the way, but today purpleman and i decide to visit after retrieving his bag from the tokyo metro lost-and-found nearby. (details on purpleman's adventure)

we order butter dal and eggplant-chicken and ask for special mughlai nan with rains and cashew nuts. yum!!!! such a great way to start the week!

yoyogi koen

hanami,
originally uploaded by sheesergirl.

the young people's park

dream house

too much of my work hours are spent checking out melbourne's www.realestateview.com.au,
fantasizing about living in either a spacious warehouse conversion or one of those victorian terrace houses.
right now i'm in love with this one

coffee geek

i have a tiny crush on the waiter at cafe ordinaire in shimokitazawa.
the purpleman has encourged me to write about him. he's kind of twisted that way.

we call him the coffee geek. he takes our orders in a very serious manner and is always wearing a mohair cardigan. he has a mushroom-type haircut and wears red-and-white striped converse sneakers.

the sad fact is that i have never talked to him, but i fantasize that he is always waiting for me to come visit and maybe he is always a little disappointed because i show up with purpleman. maybe one day if i went on my own he'd give me a matchbox with his keitai number on it... and if i went at closing hour he'd join me on the red sofa upstairs...

purpleman gets porn and *ussy

i wonder what the purpleman tell his friends about his love life, but they have given him an artificial pussy and porn on dvd for his 30th birthday...

the artificial pussy is plastic and comes with a lubricant. it reminds me of chikuwa, because that's what it's shaped like. and it has a soft, elastic-y feel. very impressive, but i think it might be a bit too small for my man. his friends underestimate him!
we watch one episode of porn, which features "helicopter man" in all sorts of acrobatic positions. the actor is balding, and yet he has a mullet.

wee blossoms

SATURDAY-WAITING FOR SPRING IN SHINJUKU GYOEN
The cherry trees in Tokyo were forecast to be in bloom from a couple days ago, but only a few wee blossoms yet and in fact it looks like it's about to rain... The park is full of people though, and it looks like all of Tokyo has come to sit and wait for spring. But I have no trouble finding Yuri and Chikako's party because everyone has followed their instructions and worn GREEN. As a welcome drink, purpleman and I are each given a shot of GREEN jello, which turns out to be vodka jello with nata de coco! Genius!

sheesergirl takes a nap

this is an old picture from taketomi, land of the sheeser.
sheesergirl takes a nap,
originally uploaded by sheesergirl.

hidemims has hayfever

i am beginning to suspect i do too... snif snif
afternoon at nid cafe with my friend hidemims, cameragirl extraordinaire.
we discuss eachother's travel plans over champagne.
me: melbourne, kyoto-nara, new york, barcelona
hidemims: tahiti....?
tempted to have the fondant chocolat, but opt for regular chocolate cake with coffee.
then a glass of vin chaud for my hayfever.

the purpleman is away this weekend... snif snif

sheesergirl on sunday

today the sheesergirl flew to shimokitazawa for lunch with the purpleman. (mee-hun noodles in a tomyamkung soup, and chicken and basil on rice)

then went to watch SIDEWAYS, which just opened in tokyo. then dinner with the other lovely couple, taka and claudia.
(hainan chicken rice, singapore-style. kailan boiled with black bean sauce, pepper prawns and squid. wine)
taka and claudia are soon headed for two-years in barcelona, spain. !!!curses!!! take us with you!!!