Pages

The whole object of travel is not to set foot on foreign land; it is at last to set foot on one’s own country as a foreign land.” – G.K. Chesterton

Friday 29 June 2007

Things you notice when travelling alone..

.. especially when you're a lone, young female traveller, and all the flight attendants in the economy class on your plane are males. These things had never happened before for me (either one or both combined), so it was an interesting experience.



[Oh, and Rob's server is having disk issues so the photos on my blog will be unavailable indefinitely. That also means I can't check my bobturf email account, so those trying to contact me, please email my yahoo account. Hopefully that will get resolved soon.]

Tuesday 19 June 2007

In her memory

In a couple of my previous journal entries, I wrote that I would be in Perth for a sad event. The first entry was initially kept as a private entry, but there's really no reason to keep it private. My stepmum-in-law, Hania, lost her life to cancer last Tuesday night, and I want to honour her memory. She was a beautiful person, and I am blessed to have known her. I'm really touched that she considered me special enough to leave a precious memento for me - a gorgeous pair of diamond stud earrings given to her by Rob's dad. Rob's dad tells me that she never took them off since he gave them to her many years ago, and I will treasure them dearly.

It has been a tough week (especially so for Rob's dad), but the funeral on Wednesday will probably be an even tougher one for us...

Friday 15 June 2007

Budootei, Makuhari

Soon after arriving at Rob's office in Makuhari (Chiba) last Friday evening, we went in search for dinner around the World Business Garden WBG, which is where Rob's office is located. We settled on a yoshoku-ya called Budoutei that served pizza, pasta, salads and paella. Rob raves about their salads that he sometimes has for lunch, and I was curious to try one myself. Their paella (or rather the plastic model of the paella) looked to be quite a decent size too so it didn't take long before we decided that Budoutei was where our dinner was.

This place is quite gaijin-friendly (no surprise here considering the number of expats in this location) with plastic models of food on display and some romaji on the menu. And the menu items are quite reasonably priced. I don't really know if the staff speaks any English because we didn't try speaking English to them. Service was good and friendly, punctual and professional. The restaurant had a nice ambient atmosphere, dimly lit and quiet chatter. Quite a nice place for a quiet dinner for two.

We liked the sound of the Smoked Salmon and Hotate (scallop) Salad (880yen) and the Seafood Paella, so we didn't need much time after being seated to place our order. The salad was yummy! It had quite a simple vinaigrette dressing, but the smoked salmon was good, and the raw hotate was really fresh. The seafood paella was served in its paellera and there was plenty to fill both of us. It was very well seasoned and tasty, with plenty of seafood which included king prawns and smaller prawns, mussels, squid and clams. I was delighted to see that the traditional medium-grained rice was used in the paella (unlike the Japanese short grains used in the paella at Nihon Kai Club). I think the paella at Budoutei is better than Nihon Kai Club's in terms of taste and value for money.

The salad and the paella:


I was very happy that night because I saw Rob for the first time in two weeks, and we had a yummy meal soon after. But the 10-course lunch we had at Yonemura in Ginza the next day made me even happier (eventhough it was for Rob's birthday celebration). I'm looking forward to writing the review for Yonemura, but it may be awhile yet because an unexpected (and sad) event came up which calls for us to be in Perth for the next week.

Thursday 14 June 2007

Sad news :(

Yesterday morning, we received news that Rob's stepmum Hania passed away on Tuesday night. We kinda knew it was coming, since her cancer was quite advanced and untreatable. But I still received the news worst than I expected.

Yesterday was a hectic and busy day making flight arrangements to fly back to Perth. Rob took the night flight to Perth, so he should already be in Perth this morning. Apparently his dad is in a bad shape, so hopefully Rob's company would be some comfort. For me, since I'm so inaka, it wasn't as easy as taking the next flight out. I have my flight booked to arrive in Perth on Sunday morning.

So we'll be back in Perth again, but not for happy times...

Tuesday 12 June 2007

Glamourous Ginza and pretty pastries

I spent the last weekend with Rob in Tokyo, to see him and to celebrate his birthday. I took a couple of hours off work on Friday and took the afternoon flight to Tokyo. First stop was Rob's office in Makuhari (Chiba), and I met his collegues. It was around 6:30pm when I arrived, so we looked for dinner around Makuhari and settled for some paella at a nice restaurant called Budoutei (review to come soon). I can see why Rob was leaving work so late everyday last week - he was the first to leave the office at 6:30pm! On a Friday night too! By the time we arrived at Rob's place in Ichikawa, it was already around 8:30pm. I love his location - so many restaurants to choose from, lots of gaijin ingredients to get at the shops, and everything's so benri (convenient)! The nearest movie theatre to Rob's place is only 20minutes walk away (as opposed to the 2-hour drive from the Noto to the nearest cinema in Kanazawa :P). These things reminds me why I'm a city gal. I mean, I love the peace, beauty and laidback culture of the countryside, but I'm a restless person and I need to keep myself busy.

On Saturday morning, we headed out to glitzy Ginza, where we had a beautiful 10-course degustation lunch at Restaurant Yonemura, in celebration of Rob's birthday (click for review). I consider this meal to be the best western-style meal I've had in Japan. One of the most expensive too, but it was worth it. The restaurant is located on the fourth floor of one of the nicest department stores I've ever set foot inside.

The entrance to Restaurant Yonemura; the fifth floor of the same department store even had a crystal chandelier!:


For those that don't know, Ginza is the most exclusive and expensive shopping area in Japan. And indeed, that is the truth - the department stores are probably the most swankiest and glitziest I've ever seen, and there are huge stores of exclusive brands like Dior and Chanel. We saw an 8-storey Gucci building! In fact, it is called the Gucci Ginza Tower. I took a photo of it, but it looks quite ordinary compared to the photo on their website. Now, I don't care much for brand names (much less for clothing brands), but an 8-storey Gucci tower?! Perhaps only in Ginza..

On this Saturday, the streets of Ginza were packed with well-dressed shoppers and not-so-well-dressed gaijin tourists. Some parts of the streets were closed off for pedestrian-only access, and here we see gaijins street performers busking. We dropped by the Sony Building and browsed through the latest Sony technology - we were amazed by the display of walkmans, laptops, TVs, cameras and many other electronic goods on four floors of this building. If you're ever in Ginza (for a dining experience like we were, perhaps?), I'd recommend dropping by the Sony Building.

One of the main intersection in Ginza; a puppeteer busker:


We also stopped by the Ginza branch of a well-known patisserie, Sadaharu Aoki. I've heard that the Japanese patissiers have excelled at perfecting the art of French pastries better than the French themselves. I can't really verify that statement myself since I have yet to go to France and try the French pastries there, but the ones in this shop looked gorgeous. I'm not that big on pastries myself, but Rob loves the buttery treats. I'd heard a lot about the Sadaharu's eclairs, so we settled upon a chocolate eclair. Beautifully presented, it was almost a shame to eat it. This is definitely a luxurious treat, as one eclair fetches 550yen (~AU$5.50).

Friday 8 June 2007

French Chocolate: Poulain 76% and 86% noir

Poulain chocolates (315yen for 100g) have "1848" branded into their chocolate pieces and packaging because 1848 was the year that the French chocolatier Poulain founded this brand name. Sounds nice, but upon closer inspection of the packaging, we found that this brand name is owned by confectionary giant, Cadbury. It tastes better than the usual Cadbury chocolates, so I'm not complaining.

The texture of this chocolate is not as smooth as the Swiss or Lotte ones. The 86% is only a touch more bitter and has a slightly rougher texture than the 76% one. I don't find the 85% noir is too bitter as it contains enough sugar to just balance out the bitterness. Taste-wise, we prefered this over the German chocolate, but I would rank this below the Belgian, Swiss and Lotte chocolates

Wednesday 6 June 2007

Baked Glass Noodles with Chicken

I use the words 'glass noodles' as the title of this recipe because I was at a loss whether to use the word tanghoon, which is the term I'm most familiar with when referring to these transparent mung bean noodles, or to use harusame, which is the Japanese name for the same type of noodles since I'd bought it and made this dish in Japan. So plain old 'glass noodles' will do, and you will find that I've used the terms tanghoon and harusame interchangeably in this recipe.

These noodles are popular in most Asian cuisines, including Chinese, Korean, Japanese and Vietnamese, and it certainly is well-known amongst the Chinese population of Malaysia and Singapore. I love tanghoon because it will readily absorb all the yummy flavours of the ingredients cooked with it. I hadn't used tanghoon in my cooking before, but since I had some in my pantry, I decided to try and make a baked dish of it with chicken. I think that this dish could benefit with some shaoxing (Chinese cooking wine) and dark soy sauce, but I had to make do with the limited ingredients that I have in this countryside area. Mirin (sweet cooking sake) is a nice, light and sweeter substitute for the shaoxing. I would also use a claypot if I had one big enough - I love claypot dishes!

As I've often said before, don't be afraid to experiment with the ingredients in your pantry. Go with your instincts and tastebuds! Baking will allow the ingredients to meld and the flavours to develop better, but it is not an essential step - it can be skipped if you don't have an ovenproof dish or an oven.

Ingredients

500g chicken breast fillet, sliced
1 tablespoons each of oyster sauce, vinegar and soy sauce
1 teaspoon sesame oil,
1 tablespoon cornflour
Some oil
1 medium onion, sliced
40g harusame/tanghoon/mungbean/glass noodles (dried)
2 cups good stock (fish or chicken. I used stock made from the ikan bilis my parents brought over on their visit)
3 cloves garlic chopped
2 teaspoon ginger chopped
4 pimans (Japanese green capsicum) or 1 green capsicum, julienned
1 teaspoon sugar
2 tablespoons mirin (sweet cooking sake)
soy sauce and pepper to taste

Method

Marinade for a few hours or overnight with the oyster sauce, vinegar, soy sauce, sesame oil, cornflour and some pepper. The acidity of the vinegar allows the chicken to absorb the marinade, and also serves to keep the chicken tender during the cooking process.

1. Heat the stock until it boils, place the dried harusame in it and turn off the heat. Let the harusame soften and absorb the flavour of the stock. If baking, preheat the oven to 180degC.
2. Saute the sliced onion with some oil on medium heat until onion is soft, then add ginger and garlic and stir fry for a minute further.
3. Turn up the heat, add the chicken and stirfry for a minute to brown the meat.
4. Add about 1/2cup of the stock to the pan to deglaze, then add the julienned pimans, mirin and sugar.
5. Bring to a simmer and turn down the heat and simmer gently for a few minutes until the chicken is cooked.
6. Add soy sauce and pepper to taste, then transfer to an ovenproof dish with a cover (eg claypot, pyrex). Add the stock with the softened harusame to the chicken and mix well.
7. If baking, place in a moderate oven (180degC) and cook for 10 minutes.
8. Serve with rice and vegetables, and enjoy while hot.


Monday 4 June 2007

Japanese chocolates (Lotte brand)

Most of the dark chocolates by Japanese brands are not very good, and we've tried most, if not all of them in our search for a yummy, readily available dark chocolate to indulge in. Most either have a strong artificial vanillin flavour, a gritty rough texture or don't taste very pleasant. They are, however, still significantly better than Hershey's brand, which remains right at the bottom of my list of chocolates (and may it remain there forever). There is one brand that we found to be quite good - both taste and texture. We've tried many varieties of dark chocolates by Lotte and have liked them all. Apparently, Lotte is the first Japanese company to employ the Swiss methods of conching chocolates to produce the smooth texture that we appreciate so much in chocolates.

These are the ones we have tried and loved. We started out with the 77% chocolate and gradually moved onto the 85% one which we now appreciate in all its bitterness. Both are quite smooth, with the 77% one a touch sweeter. The 85% chocolate is not as smooth, but has a richer chocolate taste. Both are not too pricey, with the 77% one going for 238yen (~AU$2.40) for an 82g pack of individually packaged mini-chocs (the chocolate bar version is shown in the photo which I think they are being phased out), and the 85% one costing 188yen (~AU$1.90) for a 70g bar (which is being taken off the shelves and replaced with the more expensive individually packaged ones). (Munz Swiss Premium is actually cheaper than Lotte, but too bad it's not readily available at the groceries stores.)



There's also the special 70% Cacao Selection (330yen for 65g), featuring chocolates made with cocoa from Venezuela, Ecuador and Trinidad Tobago. All start out bitter, but leaves a pleasant slightly sweet aftertaste on the tongue. The differences between the three are quite subtle, and our tastebuds are perhaps not refined enough to detect the exact differences. The differences are easier to pinpoint when tasted in close succession to each other. The chocolate from Venezuela is a bit rough and has an almost gritty texture. Quite bitter, actually. Our favourite is the Ecuadorian one - smooth with a rounded chocolatey flavour. The Trinidad Tobago one is as smooth as the Ecuadorian one, but does not taste as creamy. It has quite a bitter overtone, which some may prefer. What we learnt from this is that we ought to try more Ecuadorian chocolates!

Sunday 3 June 2007

Bloody mackeral!

Literally. I bought nice shiny saba (mackeral), and proceeded to gut (degut?) one of them for my lunch. There was so much blood, that it really caught me by surprise. I mean, I've gutted fish before, so I thought I knew what to expect.. The local fish monger must know the secret to gutting saba without spilling blood because I saw him do it two weeks ago when I bought the same type of fish off him for twice the price.

I was a bit restless today. As I said in reply to a comment posted on my last entry: A Saturday without social plans can suck (unless it's for a much-needed rest). A Saturday without Rob, without plans, without a readily available car, stuck in countryside sucks even bigger time. It's not that I don't have things to do. I do have hobbies I wanna expand on, like photography. And I am quite behind with my Japanese studies. And I do have 'chores' to do for my successor. I lack motivation to do chores on the weekends, so I spent a bit of time reading some of the pages of this 21-page thread on 'worst meal at someone's home'. Amusing read, although it fed my insecurities about hosting meals at my place.

It was a gorgeous day (it was overcast and a bit drizzly the past few days) so after I finished some household chores, I took a walk around the neighbourhood with my camera. It was quite windy, otherwise I'd have biked it to get nicer photo ops. I live in a nice quiet neighbourhood, and there's even a small pond maybe 20m away from my kitchen door (obstacles in the way though). There was an unusual type of flower growing around - both in purple and brilliant yellow. I'm guessing it's a type of lily.



Ok, food-related post next time, I promise!

Saturday 2 June 2007

First week sans Rob

So how was my week this week? Not too bad actually. It got a bit better when I got internet working at home earlier today (let's just hope I can get it working at work again without too much trouble).

In summary:
I find myself leaving work later than usual.
I cook too much food for one person.
I am studying more Japanese and watching more Japanese programs on TV (though only ~1/2hr each night).
I eat simpler meals.
I don't find it too bad living on my own.

Meanwhile, Rob has been leaving work after 9:30pm every night (that's a >12hour workday!). I worry about him, mostly because when I ring him just before going to bed each night, he's only leaving the office and hadn't had his dinner. Hopefully it will be better next week.

I have a feeling our keitai (mobile phone) bill will hit the roof these next two months..

Friday 1 June 2007

Internet's up!

Yay! *does a happy dance around the room* Internet is set up at home on my laptop! I'm not that computer-illiterate without Rob after all, and I did it on Linux OS! Since Rob took his laptop to Tokyo on Sunday, I've been without internet at home (I leave my laptop at school). It didn't occur to either of us to bring my laptop home before Rob left so he could set it up for me..

Yesterday I brought my laptop home for the weekend (since I will be making a school trip to the city today and won't be at school) to try and set up internet at home on it. I had so much trouble last night, and written instructions from Rob can only help so much. I did all the tricks I knew: check cables, pull out ethernet card and shove it back it etc etc, but no luck. I was frustrated and went to bed annoyed. This morning, woke up too early and talked to Rob for awhile on the phone and he suggested rebooting the modem. So I switched it off and back on. And it did the trick! Simple as that (thanks Rob!)!

Anyway, so here I am, posting on my blog (using the internet @ home!!) at a relatively obscene hour in the morning. I'm hungry, gonna make some brekkie (last night's leftovers) and cook my lunch (fried rice) before I get picked up in an hour's time. Ciao!