onsen weekend

the best onsens are supposed to be the hardest to get to, but omaru onsen in nasu-kogen was pretty easy: just an hour on the bullet train to nasu-shiobara and another hour on a courtesy bus that took us directly to the omaru onsen ryokan.

what makes this particular onsen special is that it's actually a river. the hot spring comes bubbling up from the riverbed --they've basically blocked off parts of the river to make a few outdoor baths.

the food was pretty good too. they did a cool presentation with the sashimi. i guess this is supposed to be a kamakura, or a japanese igloo. notice the prawn chilling out next to a scallop and a mound of wasabi:

it snowed on our second day there, so we sat in a bath watching snowflakes melt amidst the steam.

something chocolatey

my sister read my to-do list for 2006 and decided she wasn't going to let me be all talk as usual: we would bake a chocolate cake.

everyone says baking is easier than it sounds, and i suppose it's true because it is mostly just measuring and mixing. the hardest part is waiting --especially when you need to let it cool but the smell is so good you just can't resist...

we followed a recipe by raymond blanc, and the result was my favorite kind of chocolate cake: very dense and not too sweet, with a generous sprinkle of walnuts. it initially seemed a bit underbaked --a little bit too moist-- but tasted perfect a day later.

new york

i just got back from a week-long business trip to new york and washington d.c.
the funnest evening in new york was a dinner at hoomoos ali in soho with two former colleagues. they left the company years ago but we've somehow managed to stay in touch. it was fun exchanging gossip and updating each other on the latest developments in our careers and relationships...

and we had a hilarious conversation about our mutual friend jeremy, which started:
(brian) "I met him in Moscow, he's now dating a fellow Brit there!"
(me) "So then she must be new, the last i heard he was dating a pole dancer!"
(karen) "I think he' still with the pole dancer, he mentioned her in a recent e-mail"
(brian) "But I just met his girlfriend a few week ago! She's a journalist!"
after 10 minutes and much confusion, we were able to piece together the full story-- he was dating an english journalist working in moscow who pole-dances for recreation! of course we might've gotten it totally wrong, in which case i suppose it would be a perfect example of how funny rumours get started.

the rest of the trip was mostly business, and quite rushed. but i did have a very long, leisurely breakfast at norma's. i took a full two hours to read the new york times and the new yorker(i know you can get it outside new york, but it's not the same) and finish my Waz-za waffle made with mangoes and blueberries. i don't think i would ever become a regular at norma's even if i did live in new york. it is quite expensive. but when you're travelling you have a better excuse to pamper yourself, right?

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?