night on the banks of the kamogawa

(Continued from yesterday's post)

You see, it was my birthday, so we had to get a little celebration in.

Now, we had already celebrated a few days early with a lovely dinner at another local favorite, Las Meninas (You may remember it from our six month lunaversary celebration). Here we are walking down our street to the restaurant.  Have I mentioned how much we LOVE being able to walk everywhere?






Those of you who know us well may not be surprised to learn we like to take pictures of meals and celebrations before we start eating them, as we tend to get excited about the food in front of us and can't think about much else.





But back to the banks of the Kamogawa.  When the celebration in question is all about me, well, who am I to decline?

Roz and Dick were still recovering from the long flight to Japan, so they called it a night, but Jeff and I headed down to the sakura lined banks of the Kamogawa river to sip a chu-hi. Can you see us there? 

 There were actually hundreds of other people enjoying the cool breeze that evening on the river bank, but my husband artfully cropped them out.

Since it was still early when we finished our chu-hi, we decided to grab one more drink at a cute bar with outdoor seating (this time on a canal leading to the Kamogawa).

 Cheers to ME!

Mata ne,
Melissa

enji experience number ni

Last dinner with my parents before they leave Japan (forever?)!

We got our marathon meal started right with some healthy portions of sake!  This is right after the waiter poured my dad's sake almost to the point of spilling all over the table in addition to filling the bowl under the glass.  Someone was excited!

We had made a reservation for the course meal after our great experience there a few weeks before, so we had no idea what to expect.  The whole meal was an adventure!  Here is our mackerel being "cooked" right in front of us.

Never one to shy away from a "food experience," my dad had to try the eyeball from the fish heads delivered to our table.  From what I understand this is some kind of delicacy.  Also, apparently the black part is hard and you're supposed to spit it out.  eew.

Some kind of rice-bake thing that finished stewing at our table.  It had bamboo shoots (yum) and mushrooms (which I so kindly offered to my husband) and was incredibly savory.  I need to learn how to make it!

Full and happy after a great meal.  Maybe a little tipsy too.  Maybe.

See you again in just a few weeks, mom and dad!

And one last thing: I've determined that Jeff was in fact correct in asserting that the place has a name. It's called Enji, and we are trying to figure out if that is a play on the name of our town Koenji.   

Mata ne,
Melissa

oh yea, and ni is two in Japanese.

kyoto in the rain, take two

After a few days in Tokyo, we hopped aboard a shinkansen (bullet train) and headed to Kyoto.  Those of you who, like our Vice President, have only enjoyed the pleasure of an Amtrak train should take note, a shinkansen is a step above.  Nicer than your average late model airplane and complete with reclining seats, western toilets, and flight attendants, the shinkansen gets you to a destination across Japan faster and in comfort and style.  Needless to say, I was excited for the trip, in spite of the early boarding time. 

When we got to Kyoto it was raining so we dropped our luggage off at the ryokan and went right to lunch at the original Tenka Ippin, a Japan-famous ramen restaurant.  As usual, Jeff and I ordered ours niku nuki, without meat, and I got the small size.  This in no way means I had a healthy lunch.

Two things: 
1. I eat way too much ramen.  Arguably, any ramen is too much ramen because it is NOT good for you.   
2. I can justify eating way too much ramen while I am living here, knowing that I won't be able to get it in America.  It is near impossible to find "good" ramen in America.  In fact, we don't know of any.  

Tenka Ippin did live up to its reputation, by the way.  Yum. 

Because it was such a gross day, we decided to explore the Nishiki Market in central Kyoto.  It is a thoroughly modern arcade-style market filled with everything from ABC mart, the ever-present shoe store, to small stalls selling exotic ingredients for a traditional Japanese dinner, to a 400 year old family business selling very cool looking, and very expensive, knives. 

It was a rainy day, and every tourist in Kyoto had the same idea as us.  The Nishiki Market was packed.

Many people are surprised to see temples scattered about a modern-looking city, and mixed in with the clothing and souvenir stores throughout the market are several examples of century-old temples and shrines. 

After we'd had enough wandering around we sought out another of my mother's must-dos in Japan: shabu shabu and sukiyaki.  These are both distinctly Japanese methods of cooking very thinly sliced meat, and this restaurant happened to provide a split pot for enjoying both of them.  The fancy set-up:

 It's a Japanese style private room where you sit on the floor at a hori-kotatsu (a kotatsu, in this case, with your feet tucked in a recessed hole under the table).  

They're excited.  My dad because of the amount of meat on the table (it's bottomless as well) and my mom because she's apparently been hearing about this from her friend Cindi since she booked the tickets.
For the record, shabu shabu is swished through a boiling broth (yes, that is the best word for it - shabu shabu is the onomatopoeia for the swishing motion) of vegetables and tofu.  Sukiyaki is grilled/sauteed in a shallow dark broth with onions and a weird tofu (and potentially other vegetables, but we can't remember).

After dinner, we were feeling a little tired from the travel and a little soggy from the rainy weather so we went back to the ryokan to hang out.  We were in Kyoto during sakura season and reasonably priced accommodations meant that we were a little cramped for the first night. 

Those are the futons for all four of us.  Good thing we're family. 

More of Kyoto to come...

Mata ne,
Melissa

repeat after me: o-ko-no-mi-yaki

Okonomiyaki is always an experience.  For those of you who haven't been to Japan (as I am fairly certain it is extremely hard to find anywhere else) okonomiyaki is a savory pancake with vegetables. 

This is the best description we've got, so I'm sticking with it.  I suppose if you haven't had the pleasure, you really could not possibly know what it tastes like since everyone agrees that "pancake" is not a good way to describe it but then continues to do so. 

So my parents were intrigued. 

Apprehensively stirring the batter...

Clearly excited. Because I know what's coming.

Okonomiyaki on the grill.  Seasoning and topping it.  And waiting for it to cook.  And waiting.  Preparing okonomiyaki is an exercise in patience. 

When it was finally done, we had lost all interest in taking pictures and were concentrating on enjoying the food we had prepared ourselves.  Little different than American restaurants, huh? 

The verdict:  My parents loved it.  In fact, my mom liked it so much, she wanted to go back for her last meal in Tokyo.  Unfortunately, the place wasn't open for lunch so we hit up New Koenji India.  Again.  I'm fairly certain we are their best customers.  But that is another story....

Mata ne,
Melissa

lunaversary number seven!

Tuesday we celebrated our seven month lunaversary and as is the custom in this family (established precisely seven months ago) we celebrated in style.

We spent much of the day walking around enjoying a beautiful Tokyo day.  The sakura are in full bloom and we were able to take in some hanami (flower viewing) in the Imperial Palace gardens.  Of course, on a beautiful day the garden, which is only open at select times of the year, was packed with both Japanese and foreign tourists.  It was worth fighting the crowds though!

 In the evening we went out for a nice dinner at a small restaurant right in our neighborhood that I've been wanting to check out for some time.  We're sure glad we did!  The servers were very attentive, the food was amazing and very reasonably priced, and the sake pouring, as you can see, was quite generous!

Not only is the good sized cup overflowing, but the dish under it is completely filled to the brim!  Let's just say I only had one.

It was a great find.  I wish I could share with all the world the name of the place, but unfortunately, I have no idea what it was.  I'm fairly certain that it doesn't have one.  At least not one advertised on the outisde of the building.  It is instead distinguished by two large dried fish that grace the front of the facade.  We will be going again.  Very shortly in fact!

We spent the whole cold and rainy day Wednesday cleaning our whole entire apartment from top to bottom and doing every piece of laundry we could find in preparation from our next set of visitors....

Mata ne,
Melissa

Editor's note: Jeff claims it does have a name.  I'll check this out tomorrow.

halfsies

Yesterday was our 6 month lunaversary!

There are we lovebirds on our wedding day.  

 Its hard to believe it's been six months already, but we've most certainly decided that this whole marriage thing really is all it's cracked up to be!  We've been telling all our friends how great being married is, and apparently some have been listening; no less than 4 couples we are close with have become engaged since our wedding day.  We'll go ahead and pretend we had something to do with it.

[Side note:  Aaron told me when he was here that I have huge trapezius muscles.  I thought that all my swimming muscles had scaled down to normal, but judging by this picture, I was fooling myself.]

To celebrate this milestone, we spent the entire day together (as we do anyway), snacked our way across Tokyo (yes, snacked - we ate something new about every 100 meters),  and enjoyed each others' company.  We were very happy to find a ramen shop that not only served vegetarian ramen (very hard to find), but also vegetarian gyoza (thus far, impossible to locate).

Then we got dressed up in a manner befitting the occasion and went our for a nice dinner.  Just me, my adorable husband, and

our little friend, the pig leg, sitting next to our table.

Normally, I am not one to gnaw on the leg of an animal for nourishment, or even to enjoy sitting next to such a display, but when you call it prosciutto and watch the owner of the quaint little restaurant in which you are dining cut it by hand, well, "when in Rome...."

The restaurant, owned by a charming British ex-pat, was quite small but served up arguably the best international fare we've had in Tokyo.  We didn't even look at the menu or prices - just asked him what was good and told him to keep it coming - and when we left we were astonished at the bill.  I could not believe how little we owed for all the food we ate.  I even asked Jeff if maybe he gave us a discount because we told him it was our lunaversary.

And there we are again, six months into marital bliss.  Think we look any different?  Older and wiser?  Still "honeymooners"? 

One thing is for sure, I am my beloved's and my beloved is mine.  

And we couldn't be happier. 

Mata ne, 

Melissa (and Jeff)

tokyo marathon: the after

Congratulations Jeff!!

Jeff ran a personal best today and broke 3 hours in the marathon (for those who aren't in the know, that's really really good)!!  He came in top 500 (Jeff insists on precision: 411th) out of about 32,000 runners - I'd say that's pretty awesome, but I'm not exactly objective.

To celebrate, I took him out to, in our opinion, the best Indian restaurant on the planet: New Koenji India (Koenji is the area where we live - original name, huh?).  Michael, Sara, and Aaron can all attest to both how great the food is and our big love for it is.

There's the winner enjoying his celebratory mango lassi.

Jeff has this tendency to wear a hat all day and then take it off just in time for me to take a picture...

You're all welcome to send your congratulations to Jeff on his job well done.  And congratulations to me on running around Tokyo all day in the rain cheering for him.  I'll let you all make your own decisions on who suffered more.

Race recap from the man himself coming as soon as he's able to walk down stairs again.  He went up the ladder to our loft and may be up there for a while. 

Mata ne,
Melissa

a life in pictures

As can be expected when one is entertaining guests, it is hard to find the time to write about all the fun we're having.  Here are some pictures from the last two days, though!

 

Syracuse Orange fan carp in the shrine pond!

Entrance to big temple in Asakusa (Notice the typical Japanese high school girls in uniforms on the right.  MOST high school kids have to wear uniforms like these or worse to school every day!  With the silly fake bow-ties and all!)

Supercool five story pagoda at the temple.  (Not supercool: my bad picture of it, with the couple that wouldn't move in the foreground.)

 

 Aaron, not sure what to think of this whole okonomiyaki thing.  The verdict: better than he expected.

Jeff's big ice cream.  He claims it's carbo-loading.  I am skeptical if the ratio of carbs to fat make this the wise choice.

A map of our very long stroll around Tokyo today - from Shibuya to Harajuku to Aoyama to Shinjuku.  8.4 miles including stops at the Meiji Shrine, the NHK (National Broadcasting) building, the Meiji Gaien, the Shinjuku Gyoen, and Kinokunia.  It was a beautiful spring-like day and we spent most of it outside taking it all in.  It's amazing how close everything really is though in such a HUGE city!

Much much more to come!

Mata ne, 

Melissa

ramen times

Sumisasen*, New York Times.  I think you've been reading my blog.  You see, I totally beat you to the ramen punch. 

Well, I am glad at least the Old Gray Lady is on the bandwagon. 
 

Special thanks to Jeff's dad for sending us the link.  And the NYTimes for the photo.  Enjoy!

Mata ne,
Melissa

*excuse me

City of Brotherly Love?

In just a few short days my baby brother will be landing at Narita so we are eagerly preparing for his much hyped visit.

Jeff and I are both super excited for sibling hosting part deux, this time with one less sibling squatting in our teeny tiny apartment.  Coming in over six feet tall, Aaron will likely find our place a bit cramped and will be doing a fair share of ducking while exploring the city, but he's already excited about the basketball game we've arranged for him. 

I just know Aaron is going to love Tokyo and we've been racking our brains for great things to do and see with him while he's here.  We haven't made any specific plans yet, and we don't want to spoil any surprises, so here are just a few things that I know Aaron will love about my temporary hometown.

The food:

Ramen, soba, udon, tempura, yaki niku, yaki soba, yaki tori, okonomiaki, sushi.  Yum.  What's not to love??  Ok, maybe tako yaki (tako = octopus) and the ten million kinds of mushrooms they have here, but that's just me.

Don't worry, Aaron, we'll definitely go for kai-ten sushi place while you're here (or as Leigh likes to put it - sushi-go-round).


Starbucks:
My baby brother has an affinity for (obsession with?) Starbucks' Pumpkin Spice Lattes and the day they add them to the seasonal menu is a day of celebration in his world.  Unfortunately we've reached the time of year when they've run out of the appropriate spices at many locations and I didn't see them in Japan at all.  Lucky for him there is a Starbucks on almost every corner in Tokyo (though I haven't scouted a location where you can sit in one and look out the window at another like at Astor Place in NYC) with a wide range of caffeinated options for his enjoyment.  And an English menu.
(Point Tokyo: In addition to Starbucks, there are in fact many such high end coffee shops to chose from.  One is not limited to the Starbucks/Dunkin' Donuts dichotomy.)

Tully's:

Ok, Tully's Coffee, but he does like Tully's and coffee, so where can you go wrong?  Right?









Engrish:
My brother is an avid reader and a great writer and I think he'll be quite amused by the, shall we say, "liberties" taken with the English language. 

Public Transportation:

Aaron's been living in New York City since he graduated college and knows the ins and outs of the NYC subway system.  I think he will be impressed by the organization and efficiency of the Tokyo train system though.  The trains are never late.  Ever.  Oh, yea, and it's about a thousand times more comfortable and clean than in New York.  Maybe more.

This is my well worn English copy of the system. For perspective, it takes exactly one hour (the trains are always on time) to do the oval in the middle - this city is HUGE.

Can't wait to share more when he actually gets here!

Mata ne,
Melissa

tourists, towers, and toppings

Maybe it's that few of you have been to Tokyo?  Or you've been really really busy hitting the gym and cooking healthy meals after falling off the wagon during the cookie holiday season?  Or you're busy planning a wedding (excitingly, several of you fall into this category)?  Well whatever your excuse there have been few (ok, two) guesses for my Where in Tokyo is Carmen Sandiego post.  I'm going to give you the answers anyway, though.  Because I am nice.  Remember that around May 4, ok?

Photo #1
On January 2 the Imperial Palace opens it's gates (but not it's doors) to visitors wanting to give the emperor best wishes for the new year.  Kind of like the Pope, you can't actually get close to the Emperor, as he makes his hourly appearance behind the bullet proof glass windows of his residence.  That's him in there waving.  Look closely!  While there were many (old) people there paying their respects to the Emperor and his family, there were also a surprising number of foreigners in the crowds.  It seemed a significant portion of those visiting were there, like us, to see inside the normally off-limits Imperial Palace grounds.

Photo #2
Congrats Larry!  It is the Tokyo Tower!  We (Jeff, Micheal, Sara, and I) walked up and down the 600 steps to the first level, 150 meters from the bottom.  Was it good exercise?  Let's just say I counted that as my workout for the day.  Was it quicker than waiting in the line for the elevator?  Of course.  Was it cheaper than riding up the easy way?  Bingo.  Did I question my decision to take the hard route about halfway up?  You betcha.  It was especially disheartening when we reached the top and were handed a credit card sized certificate attesting to our feat.

After our very long walk up, we proceeded to wait in line for far, far, far too long for the elevator to to highest level observation deck (there was no walk up option) which was taking a maximum of eight (8! That's less than half the number of people who have come out of Mama Dugger's womb!) people up at a time.  Fortunately for us, there was a pot of gold at the end of our long journey.  While we were at the highest observation deck, we saw a beautiful sunset over Tokyo with Fuji-san (Mt. Fuji) in the background.

Ok, maybe it's a little dark.  If I had a better camera, maybe it would have come out better (hint, hint, Jeff!).  Still, if you look closely, you can make out sprawling Tokyo in the foreground and faint outline of Mt. Fuji on the horizon on the left side of the picture.  It is huge.  And I can't wait to climb it. [Correction: It's taken me about two months, and no one has pointed it out, but in fact Fuji is on the right side of this picture.  You don't need to ask if I still use the first grade trick of making an L with my hands to tell my right from my left.]


We also got some cool pictures of the Tokyo tower all lit up as we were leaving.  It was just a few days after New Year's, so they were still reminding everyone to start writing the new year on checks and everything.

Photo #4

Yes, Okonomiaki.  Yum.   Okonomiaki has been described to me as a savory pancake, so that is how I will describe it to you.  I don't really think this conveys what it is in any way, but I suppose it is cooked on a griddle and often made in the shape of a circle.  This is about where the similarities end.  Okonomiaki is made of cabbage, some kind of thin batter (ok, one more similarity), egg, and just about anything else in various combinations.  Common ingredients include vegetables, mushrooms (They are fungi and thus in a separate category.  And gross.  Just my opinion.), shrimp, chicken, and beef.   Usually, the ingredients are brought to your table in a bowl and you mix them up and cook them yourself.  When the pancake looks like it is holding together and cooking through, you flip it, let it cook a little more, and then chop it up and eat it right off the grill.

It is common to see okonomiaki garnished with nori (seaweed) flakes and mayonnaise.  There's Michael, to the left, very seriously about to dig in to his dinner topped with the green nori flakes and Kewpie mayonnaise.

Like mushrooms, you will find neither of these anywhere near my okonomiaki.  You will find mine covered with okonomiaki sauce, however, which is made completely out of friuts and vegetables, and soy sauce.  Itadakimas!

The other three pictures will have to wait until next time (dare I commit myself and say tomorrow?) to be identified.

Mata ne,
Melissa

small move. part two.

First things first.  

The very first thing Jeff did when getting to the new apartment was set up the TV and internet.  He has priorities.

Actually, that TV there came with the place, making the larger, more cumbersome TV that we paid 3000 yen to transport when we got it (for free) a very awkward coffee table in our tiny new place.  It's going on Craigslist ASAP.  

The bed, which came without a mattress, has been dissembled (by me) and is now being stored out of the way in our loft.  The coffee table pictured also came with the apartment and thankfully has collapsible legs and slides very nicely under the couch when not in use. 

We've picked up several storage units (some free, some very cheap) and are perfecting the skill of careful arrangement for maximization of usable space.

The main level is not yet ready for public display, but here is a peak at the loft.

We actually just bought our futon (the kind the just goes on the floor - think of it as a futon mattress you'd find in America) yesterday so we just slept up there for the first time last night.  As you can see, our clothing storage is right up against the bed.  Behind that we have stored our luggage, Jeff's bike case (which he bought right after buying his bike so he could transport it home - in eight months) and the bed frame that came with the apartment.  It doesn't look all that pretty, but it gets everything that we don't need regular access to out of the way.

Sidenote:  What you see there is basically all the clothing storage we have, which means that it contains all of our clothing for the year in Japan.  Can you guess which one is mine and which one is Jeff's.  Yea, it's that easy.  He was definitely the kid who went home from camp with a trunk full of clean clothes and one filthy shirt.  And it's not because he did laundry before he got on the bus. 

I mentioned we were celebrating with a friend the other night - for two reasons. One, our tough move, two, Jeff's friend Ryo just got engaged!  He works right near the Tsukiji Fish market, so we met him out there for some just-off-the-boat fishy goodness.

Maguro = tuna.  Y.U.M.

I even ate a raw giant oyster.  I won't say it was good, but... I ate it. 

And because we were in celebration mode we of course indulged in some really really good sake.  At this restaurant, you pour your own sake and they provide small bowls for under your cup in case (when) you overpour. 

Disclaimer:  I do not recommend mixing large amounts of raw fish and large amounts of sake.  And then riding the train.

As soon as we get the first floor looking presentable, we'll post some pictures.  Until then... Anyone else lived in a smaller apartment? Anyone?

Mata ne,
Melissa

small move. part one.

OK, so forgive me, people, we've been a bit busy.  We officially moved everything out of one place on Wednesday and are still trying to get it all to fit in our new place.  Here's the update.  Well, as the title indicates, some of it.

The best part of the move (the only good part?) was getting to drive in Tokyo.  That's right, little old me in a big white truck driving on the wrong side of the car on the wrong side of the road.

First disclaimer:  While Tokyo may be a bigger city than New York, it is much much easier to drive in Tokyo.  It feels more like driving in the city of Syracuse.  That is, if cyclists and motorcycles were found weaving through traffic and trying generally to cause chaos in the streets of Syracuse.  Surprisingly, Tokyo drivers are ok with forty-year-old women on their bikes, talking on cell phones, flinging themselves and their two (helmetless) children in front of moving vehicles any moment. This would not stand in Upstate New York.

We picked the truck up early near the new place, drove back to the old place to load as much stuff as we could, drove back to the new place, unloaded everything with no particular attention paid to what was going where, went back to the old place, ate unappetizing bento lunch, loaded the rest, and went back to the new place.  Interestingly, while we had less than half the amount to load the second time around it took twice as long.

This is our apartment empty (it came with a bed and coffee table and Jeff).

The mess we are now trying to deal with.

After we had moved all of our earthly possessions to the other side of town, we really didn't feel like unpacking anything so we decided to instead head out and take advantage of the day long truck rental by picking up big items we still needed for our new place. 

Second disclaimer:  Most of our earthly possessions are, in fact, not in Japan, but rather stored away in America.  In spite of this, we have a ridiculously huge volume of things that we are now trying to arrange in a 13 square meter room. 

At this point, needing to obtain a variety of household items of superior design and quality at a low price, we did what anyone would do - we headed to IKEA.  Yes, Virginia, there is an IKEA in Japan.

And it was glorious.  I felt like I was back in America Sweden.  Interestingly, IKEAs everywhere are exactly the same.  Same shape on the outside, same layout on the inside, and conveniently located just off the highway exit.

After dropping off our new goodies and returning the truck, we were starving and headed out in the new neighborhood for some stewed tofu and a beer.  When we got back to our new home, it was all we could do to pull out the couch and fall asleep.  There was much to be done the next day, and we'd need all our energy.

For the record, we shared this big beer.

Tomorrow: unpacking, arranging, and celebrating with a friend and several pounds of raw fish.

Mata ne,
Melissa