Vegetarian Yuko w/ a splash of Cosplay

Thoughts of tofu entrees have been dancing through my head ever since a failed attempt at taking the V-2 (Vegetarian Visitor) to the famous tofu restaurant, Umenohana, last Friday.  I finally had the opportunity to hit it up last night, and the wait was well worth it!

As the sliding doors to our prviate room were opened, we were awaited by this:

Some stretchy tofu (sorry for my lack of adjectives) and what we later realized was perhaps raw chicken?? 

Then followed by this concoction:

What is that, you ask?  Well its a tofu pusher, to eat the tofu like noodles!  Watch as the hubs demonstrates:

They did a phenominal job with one of my fav dishes - chawanmushi.  Chawanmushi is an egg custard that has varying ingredients.  This version had shrimp, seaweed, shiitake, and my personal fav - mochi :)

(oh yeah, and the other bonito tataki dish was good too, but def overshadowed)

"Best chawanmushi EVER!!"

This was followed by some beef tongue and eggplant.  I swear it tasted better than it sounds!

Skewers of tofu that tasted almost like mochi, topped w/ some miso-based sauce.  Yummo!

The course was finished off by an unagi dish, pickled veggies, and yuba (tofu skin, a delicacy here in Japan) soup:

Then finally dessert, the most potent green tea ice cream I've had yet:

I'd say this trip to Umenohana was a success indeed!

Yesterday my coworker gave me these:

Fresh Japanese eggplant and Japanese cucumber!  These would cost a handful of dollar bills at Whole Foods back home

And today, after I got home from my horrific morning 3-mile run in 96F weather, the hubs greeted me with this:

Omelette w/ fresh eggplants, kara-age, and ooey gooey cheese

We then headed to our very first hair appointment here in Japan - a couple's appointment, actually!  I didn't ask for it, but ahh well:

Our own "room" w/ a chandelier?  Psssht-yeah!

Afterwards, we headed to Hoshigaoka Terrace to try Nana's Green Tea - a restaurant that serves green tea in any shape and form!

Stuffing my face w/ a green tea parfait while skyping w/ the ex-roomie?  Can't get any better than this!

After we filled our bellies with goodness (ok fine.  Just me, the hubs only got some lame green tea latte), we headed to Osu Kannon to watch the World Cosplay Championships!  That's right, people from around the WORLD came to Nagoya, dressed to impress, in their favorite anime character.  This pic doesnt illustrate the craziness:

Keep in mind it was 96F outside, and look what these die-hard anime people are wearing!

Ahhhh, Japan.  Always full of quirky surprises.

Lemonade?

The hubs brought me home this "souvenir" from his first business trip here in Japan:

Curry flavored Ramune

It smelled like curry.  It even tasted like curry.  Weirdness.

So, what is Ramune, you ask?  Its a drink I usually associate to my childhood summers in Japan. Its a fizzy lemon-y drink that has a unique bottle - curvy glass with a marble inside.  What I didn't know until today was that the drink name actually came from phonetically (mis)spelling the word "lemonade."  Ha!  Wikipedia comes to the rescue, yet again...

Mount Fuji? Been there, done that!

With the strong desire to get away from this treacherous heat this past weekend (there's been 50+ deaths related to this weather, according to Zoom-In Japan!), we decided to conquer Mount Fuji, the highest point in Japan.  It *must* be cooler at ~4000 meters high, right??

After a long bus ride to Yamanashi prefecture, we arrived at the 5th station on Mt Fuji to start our trek up to the summit.  They boys got ready w/ some of this:

What better way to kick-off the start than w/ a tall glass of cold beer?

Here's a "before" picture that we made sure to take while we were all smiles and full of eagerness:

Look how happy we looked in the beginning!  This didn't last long.

This is where we spent 7600yen to crash for 3.5hrs:

Literally a slab of wood w/ sleeping bags right next to another.  Prob 40+ people in one room.  That's right.

This is why we got up at midnight to climb to the summit to see - the famous sunrise atop Mt Fuji:

Simply gorgeous.

Truth be told, we didn't actually make it to the top in time for the sunrise at 4:30am.  With 300 meters to go, the line of climbers was at a halt.  So, we plopped a seat and viewed the beautiful mix of colors from just below the summit, but personally I think it probably looked just as good :)

With a picture of the sunrise safely taken, we restarted our very slow trek to the top.  Here's Nancy near the finish.  Almost.  Done!!

Omigosh we finally made it!!

Can you tell I got my wish for cold weather?  I was freezing my tooshie off!

To warm up our bodies, we ordered some hot miso ramen:

I have never been so excited to eat some overpriced instant ramen

The hubs and I had to take our token pic together, this time with the crater in the background:

That's me taking a celebratory swig of sake

After a loooong descend back to the 5th station (why does there always have to be a down after an up??), we rewarded ourselves by ordering one of eeeeeverything they had here:

Lured by the smells of yummy goodness. 

Body covered all over in dirt and belly full of random foods I took in throughout our hike.  Satisfied?  Fo sho'! 

Birthday shoutout...

HAPPY BIRTHDAY K-SPECIAL!!

May your day be filled with crazies, doggies, and beeeeer :)

Here's hoping to see u here in the spring!

Pizza in Japan?

Quite possibly the best pizza I've had in awhile...

I know I know, they look like nipples...but those mounds of mashed potatoes topped w/ a dollop of mentaiko - what wikipedia describes as "marinated roe of pollack" - then drizzled w/ Japanese mayo.  Nom nom nom...

This can be yours when you come visit us :)

Izakaya, summer festival, pearls, oh my!

On Friday night, a group of old dept coordinators took me out for dinner. What better way to finish off a work week than hitting up an Izakaya.  Izakaya is a term for what I would consider a Japanese bar but with good food, usually served tapas style. See for yourself:

The most interesting dish - Duck meat, yakiniku style!

After some laughs, a few beers, and even some shochu (yes, I actually drank it all!), I walked my tomato-red-faced-self to the train station.

I started off my Saturday morning with an impossibly slow 3 mile run. Each run keeps getting harder and harder, and Im getting more and more frustrated. Maybe I will wait and continue my pursuit for fitness in the fall...

As a pick-me-upper afterwards, the hubs and I headed back to our fav (still!) ramen place, Ippudo. This time I went with their specialty "Akamaru":

The indescribable broth is just too delicious not to lick the bowl clean. And their slices of meat are so perfectly smoked!

We then met up with a visiting coworker to explore the city of Nagoya by foot. We randomly stumbled upon a summer festival at a local shrine. $10 for food, beer, games, and good prayers? Yes please!

- Walk thru the jumbo wreath for good summer health.

- What better dessert is there on a hot summer day than shaved ice?

- A summer festival cannot be complete without a game of ball scooping? Watch out, kiddos!

 

And finally, we wrapped up the evening by heading to Craftbeer Keg, one of the few bars in Japan that serve craft beer, to meet up with a handful of other expats. I had me some delicious lemonade beer - yummers.

And to wrap up the weekend, after picking up our *very first* visitors from Nagoya station, we decided to take them to Mie-prefecture, home of the world famous Mikimoto pearls.

Trained female divers ready to pick out the oysters in their "state-of-the-art" diving uniform

And then it was our turn...we got this!

After a nightmare of a drive home (traffic in Japan is horrific!) on our first road trip, we quickly went to bed for some zzz's as we started yet another *hot* work week.  What better way to finish off a Manic Monday than with a trip to our local izakaya, Homare, for some dinner and their puuuuuudin' w/ our guests of honors! 

Yeah yeah, I said I wouldn't repeat restaurants, but I can't help it...you just have to go back to the delish ones!

Yaki-eeeeeverythaang!

Last night the hubs and I met up with a few visitors from our company back home for some diiiinah. 

Where do you take a Japan newbie? A Yakiniku place of course (literal translation - "cook meat," but more commonly known as "Korean bbq"), where you can watch the victim (or victims, in our case) try cooking and eating pieces of mysterious meat:

That's a spread of heart, stomach, and the infamous *hormone* at "Hanabi" in Toyota city.

I've gotta say, I was quite impressed with the newbies' challenging mentality. We ate every last piece of everything...

Should I have pursued a different career??

Maybe it's the training I've had with K-Jo back in elementary school when we'd race the boys to the street corner.

Maybe it's from hanging out with the unofficial speedwalking champ back in high school.

Or maybe these people are just so darn slow.

Whatever it is, I feel like an Olympian next to these herds of men who are walking at snail pace. Don't they have places to go, things to do (well, I don't have things to do, but I'd sure as hell rather be sitting on my uncomfortable rental couch than walking near these sweaty, smelly men!)?  I know my ultimate mission to make it onto the earlier train, no matter how frequent they come, EVERY time.  Or else I just feel so inefficient.

That's me on the left.  Just kidding.

While we're on the topic of walking, the question still remains for Japan - WHAT SIDE OF THE SIDEWALK AM I  SUPPOSED TO WALK ON??  I've tried the "obvious" left side (since they drive on that side) - I've run into people.  I've tried walking on the right side - I've gotten dirty looks.  So, which side is it??  In the meantime, you'll see me struttin' my stuff dead smack in the middle :)

Good news, bad news kinda weekend...

I usually like to hear the bad news first (yeah I'm that kinda person), so here it goes...

BAD NEWS, is this:

One of the reasons we chose the house we moved into over option #2 was the fact that option #2 house would most likely have construction next door during the year we would be living there.
Unfortunately, we woke up to the sweet sound of drilling Saturday morning.  Later, after we saw the construction port-a-potty right next to our entrance, we found out our right wall will soon be facing our new neighbor's wall, only inches away.  Let the construction begin...

GOOD NEWS, is this:

(thanks, wikipedia!)

In less than month, the hubs and I will be sittin' on da beach with a view of that!!  That's right folks, we just booked our very first vaca from Japan to...GUAM!!  I know I know, its like a "Japan Part Deux," but it was the only place we could find "last minute" for this upcoming national holiday where it seems like every place has jacked up their prices to nearly quadruple the usual cost!

Carbo loading for...

...nothing, really. But it would really seem like I have an upcoming race or something from an outsider.

My day started off w/ stuffing my face with 2 pieces of thick toast, slathered with full-fat butter and jam. I followed that with a sad attempt at a run - 4 mile run, stop & go pretty much, thanks to the *much appreciated* street lights in the city. These weekend days are precious now, since these are the only days I have now to attempt any form of physical exercise.

Then, after a failed attempt at a visit to the city ward office (you're not open on weekends OR after 5pm on weekends, really??), the hubs and I had some pasta for a late lunch in preparation for a day of SHOPPING!

Pasta topped w/ daikon, tuna, and a splash of ponzu. 

We finished up the day by heading to Misen, a popular Taiwanese ramen restaurant a few stations away from our place. They're known for their uber spicy ramen, and they sure delivered!  No wonder there was a line out the door!

The famous Spicy Taiwanese Ramen!  Def too hot for me to handle!

Since my stomach hasn't been trained for that kind of spiciness, I opted out of spending an evening in the bathroom by ordering myself some of this:

Crunchy ramen topped w/ oodles of yummy Asian veggies and seafood!

And now, I'm stuffed and ready for a nappy-poo. 

All u can eat fabulousness.

Who would have guessed the success and abundancy of "all you can eat" restaurants in a country full of nearly anorexic looking people?

Today, my group took me to an All-you-can-eat-and-drink Chinese restaurant in Toyota City for my welcome party. I felt as ease as I let people order dish after dish for me, without me having to struggle with whether I can read the menu or not (a source of major stress!).

Each dish that came out was delicious on it's own, but I think my fav was the simple greens sautéd in some light sauce and IMMERSED in garlic. Unfortunately I ate it up too quickly, and the only photo I have is of these dishes:

The best part? You get charged if you dont eat everything that you ordered! So, a handful of the guys took a little walk to boost their appetite mid-meal, and came back to attempt finishing the food we had.

To pee or not to pee...

Attempt #1: Both stalls occupied.
Attempt #2: Western toilet occupied.

Should I try?? Should I wait??

What would YOU have done if you walked into a stall that looked like this?

Yup, me too. That's why my neighbor here on the train must think I have Tourettes as I'm sitting here, legs crossed and twitching...

But of course, that didn't stop me from taking a lil' break and getting lured by the smells of fresh-made taiyaki at one of the (many!) train changes I have. 

Traditional Japanese fish-shaped cake filled with sweet azuki paste :)

The beginnings of restaurant reviews...

After receiving the FABULOUS news the other day of the upcoming (ok fine, not upcoming, I'm talking Thanksgiving here) visit from K-Jo and the (ex)-roomie, I realized I needed to step up the restaurant investigation.  My goal is to have a top-restaurant list, of both Nagoya and specifically around my area, for them by the time they arrive.  So, here's a few of my first finds:

Din Tai Fung:  I know I shouldn't repeat restaurants with the limited time I have here, but Din Tai Fung is worth being a repeat offender.  We tried this place first during our house hunting trip due to convenience (its located in Nagoya station, where our hotel was), and I couldn't stop talking about it since.  In 1993, the New York Times ranked this Taiwanese restaurant as one of the top 10 restaurants in the world, yes WORLD.  Now granted its been 17 years since then, but good things rarely change...

I've had dreams of their shoronpou (soup dumplings)...

Dekitateno Roll Cake:  I think the hubs may think part of the reason why I chose the house we're living in right now was for the proximity to this place.  A store dedicated to just one single product?  It *must* be good!

We *finally* had the opportunity to make our way to the store the other day to purchase our very first roll cake - Green tea roll cake, to be exact.  As we made our 0.1 mile walk home, I was full of anticipation, and maybe some drooling was involved too.  The roll cake did NOT disappoint.  They got it down perfectly - the fluffy green tea infused cake portion was made to just right in the moistness and sweetness, and the cream was on par - as if it were literally just made :)  I was in heaven!

Kaoru:  A 0.1 mile the other direction from our place is where we found this organic restaurant.  Ok fine, I can't take the credit for finding this gem.  Our coworker had befriended the owner and recommended this place to us.  Its a mixture of traditional Japanese food w/ a home cooked feel.  Since I'm still learning the ways of ordering traditional Japanese food (lots of little dishes, almost like tapas, to begin with), I chickened out and went w/ their "daily special" - grilled mackerel w/ miso, rice, and traditional sides.   All was great, and for those who love sho-chu, they had an amazing selection of homemade sho-chu.  And randomly, a good selection of Belgian beer too, I might add!  I was a little nervous w/ the whole eating situation, so I was only able to get a snapshot of the restaurant name w/ my iPhone, whoopsie:

And today, since it was "leave work early" day, we got home just before 8pm, the earliest yet!  So we decided to venture on over to our neighborhood bar/restaurant, Homare, instead of our usual convenient store pre-packaged dinners.  What.

We started off w/ an order of pieces of just-raw-enough beef w/ a sweet almost teriyaki-like sauce drizzled on top.  With the mixed greenery atop each piece of meat, each bite was a perfect combo of sweet and bitter.  Next, we were served tender, juicy chicken pieces which were covered with daikon and yuzu, two Japanese vege/fruit getting a lot of attention recently in the States, and definitely two of my fav "toppings!"     And finally, we wrapped up our dinner w/ a fried rice dish - w/ bacon and filled w/ vegetables, oh my! 

Although the above dishes were quite good, my fav was definitely the dessert - house made Japanese pudding (if you havent had Japan's version of pudding before, you're missing out!), topped w/ a scoop of green tea ice cream, then drizzled w/ some black honey.  Come to mama!!

To be continued...