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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

Saturday 31 July 2010

Keeping cool with toddler in Tokyo's summer

Tokyo may be the most expensive city in the world for expats, but I think it is one of the best places to bring up children. That is definitely not the first impression that most - if not all - expats would have of this big urban city, especially if one were to live outside of the gaijin (foreigner) parts of Tokyo (Minato Ward is very popular with foreigners). I think that Tokyo is also the safest big city where young school children can walk safely to and from school without adult company, and where I have never felt fear when I used to walk home in the dark after work. (As an amusing aside, I recall Rob telling me that one of his colleagues from New York were advised by Japanese real estate agents that it is "dangerous" for foreigners to live outside of Minato. Sure, there aren't as many English-signages around, and it may be more difficult to find foreign restaurants, but it certainly is not dangerous. In fact, we think that the foreigner presence in Minato makes it less safe, and Roppongi (in Minato) is the only place in Japan that we can see spray-painted graffiti and litter on the ground - coincidence? We think not.)

Anyway, back to the topic. I can't speak for the other wards of Tokyo, but Chuo City certainly tries its best to make life easier for mothers by providing a range of facilities for children. We are now well and truly into the summer season, and the most popular free public facility for children is the jyabu-jyabu ike (splash/paddle pools). There is a small one set up only 5 minutes' walk from our apartment, where there are always two staff standing by, and every hour the pool water is cleaned and chemical-tested to maintain quality. A great way to keep cool in the heat and wear out the energetic little ones.



I've also made plenty of use of the various outdoor and indoor playgrounds around this area, and I recently discovered a special indoor play area called Kirara Chuo, designated only for babies and toddlers up to 3 years old. This facility is free, but only available for the Chuo City residents. The best thing about Kirara is that unlike the other city-provided indoor facilities, there are always a couple of minders on the floor to give the extra hands when needed, and it's open 7 days a week (shut only on some public holidays). It even provides cheap daycare services for parents who need their kids off their hands for a couple of hours. The indoor play centers are essentially air-conditioned playgrounds, where we can also meet other mums while the kids are having fun.

Zak learning young on how to help out in the kitchen (at Kirara Chuo play centre); and the English-speaking playgroup comprising of mostly Japanese mums and their toddlers in our area (at another indoor play area):


Tokyo is quite a toddlers' playground, and I hope that Zak will find Hong Kong just as fun.

Saturday 24 July 2010

Italian @ Il Mulino, Tokyo

The other weekend was Date Day, and we were happy to enjoy some time together while leaving our 21 month old son in my sister's capable hands (thanks Hon!). Rob and I headed into Roppongi to have lunch at Il Mulino, and afterwards watched Toy Story 3 (in 3D) at a nearby cinema. (The movie, by the way, was pretty good.) Il Mulino is a sister restaurant to the popular Italian restaurant of the same name in New York, and one of Rob's colleagues had eaten and raved about the food. Apparently the New York restaurant has been voted by the ZAGAT Guide as NYC's best Italian restaurant for almost 20 years, so we were quite looking forward to our meal at the sister restaurant in Tokyo.

The restaurant was cool and posh, and service was formal yet friendly. Two lunch courses were offered in addition to the a-la-carte menu, and we were informed that the "special dishes of the day" were Scampi Risotto and Porcini Ravioli with Truffle Sauce. Even before the tray of beautiful fresh scampi were brought to our table to entice us to order the risotto, there was already no doubt that one of us would be ordering that dish (we had a delicious previous encounter with the shellfish a few weeks prior). Complimentary Zucchini Marinato (marinated zucchini) and Crispy Focaccia were served for us to enjoy while we deliberated over the menu. Rob ordered the Special Lunch Course which included the special ravioli dish, and I got the Pasta Lunch Course with the special risotto dish (for an additional extra cost), so we managed to fit both the special dishes in our choices.

The complimentary zucchini and focaccia were pretty good and very more-ish, but also quite salty:


Rob's Antipasto Di Il Mulino contained a nice variety of cheeses and cured meat. For my starter, I chose Insalata di Frutti di Mare (seafood salad), which was delicious with a generous portion of seafood including salmon, shrimps and mussels.

Rob's antipasto - (clockwise from top) resh tomato, grana padano cheese, dried salami, prosciutto, bruschetta, buffalo mozarella and roasted bell pepper (centre); and my seafood salad:


Rob's pasta course contained two types: Ravioli Tartufo (porcini mushroom ravioli with truffle cream sauce) and Perciatelli alla Amatoriciana (perciatelli with prosciutto, pancetta, onion and tomato sauce). I adored the porcini ravioli for all its earthy mushroom flavour, and the perciatelli was quite good although I remember it being a little too salty. Good idea to balance out the creamy ravioli with the tomato-based pasta. My Risotto di Scampi was beautiful but also on the salty side. The risotto had a lovely creamy texture, but not from cream so it wasn't too rich for me. The scampi had been fried, and while it was quite nice, we don't think it's the best way to serve scampi. That subtle sweetness which we love was overpowered by the light coating of batter and strong seasoning.

The creamy porcini ravioli and tomato-based perciatelli on one plate; and the scampi risotto:


The special course included a meat course, and Rob chose Saltimbocca (veal sautéed with sage and prosciutto). I'd often wondered about the translation of the dish's name from Italian (saltimbocca = "jumps in the mouth"), and it clicked when I recalled that the word sauté is French for "jump". The thin pieces of veal were very tender, and the heap of wilted spinach the meat sat upon added nutrition to the dish, but overall the dish was very salty which made it quite difficult to eat. At first I thought it was just my tastebuds on overdrive because this wasn't the first overly salted dish I ate, but Rob affirmed that the dish was definitely too salty. It brought to mind all the strongly seasoned food we ate during our few months in New York in '07 and '09, and I guess it makes sense since this restaurant hails from NYC too.



Rob's dessert was a trio of Cheesecake, Tiramisu and Raspberry Sorbet with a chocolate wafer stick and generous dollops each of cream and custard cream. The cheesecake was crustless and creamy with a fluffy texture like ricotta cheese (it most probably was a ricotta cheesecake). The tiramisu was generously flavoured with coffee, and it was mostly cream with a small amount of cake. The sorbet was refreshing and tart. For my dessert course, I went with the Pear Tart (the designated tart of the day), which was quite good. Lovely buttery pastry, yummy soft pear filling and finished with a crunchy sugar crumb topping - it went very nicely with the custard cream.

An assortment of dessert; and the pear tart:


It was a nice experience, even with the overly salted food. Il Mulino certainly does dessert well, perhaps better enjoyed on its own and not at the end of a full meal. They do a pretty good cup of cappucino too!



We're grateful being able to have dates sans toddler kinda regularly, made possible only when Honey came to Tokyo last October. We'll no doubt miss her help when it is time for us to part in a couple of months time. Speaking of which, we will be pretty busy with our upcoming move over the next couple of months, which means less time for this journal; but I will still try to write once a week so that I won't fall too far behind with photos and experiences.

Saturday 17 July 2010

Revisit of The Great Burger, Tokyo

Since my sister loves burgers, bringing her to The Great Burger was a must-do during her time in Tokyo. Rob and I have been to this burger joint before, and enjoyed the gourmet-style burger (and sandwich) very much. We headed to The Great Burger last weekend before Honey began work in the afternoon. It was popular as before, and we had to wait at least 20 minutes for a table. We scored seats at the counter, with a bonus view into the kitchen. I wonder if the menu has expanded in the last year or so since our first visit, because it seemed that there were more types of burgers (including lamb and chicken) and a wider range of sandwiches to choose from. I also noticed that hot dogs and kids burgers were on the menu too (can't remember if these were also available last time).

Seats at the counter meant a view into the kitchen and entertainment during our meal! Honey is sipping the Chocolate & Macadamia Super Rich Shake:


Honey ordered the Avocado Burger, which is basically a hamburger with avocado, which she said was good but she would have preferred not having to rush through it to get to work on time.

Watching our burgers + extras sizzling on the hot plate in the kitchen:


Rob likes to ham up his burger with additional stuff, so he got the Hamburger with Avocado, Fried Egg, Bacon and Gorgonzola. Actually, he had no idea what gorgonzola was when he requested it, and all I knew was that it was a type of cheese. He learnt by eating the burger that gorgonzola was a blue cheese ("Hm, tastes like blue cheese"), which he thought was a bit strong. He still enjoyed his burger though.

Rob's hamburger with extras, and Honey's avocado burger in the background:


I've said it before that unlike my hubby and younger sister, I am not that keen on hamburgers, so I was pretty happy to see that there was a wider variety of non-hamburger burgers on the menu than I'd remembered from our previous visit. I chose Grilled Chicken Burger, and was pleasantly surprised to find a slab of succulent thigh meat between the buns. Certainly a nice change from the chicken breast which seems to be the favoured part to use in chicken burgers at fast food restaurants. Unlike my husband who likes his burger with the lot, I am more of a minimalistic purist, and even requested for no mayonnaise in my chicken burger - the waitress was hesitant to accept that request, even after I assured her that plain salt and pepper seasonings were fine. As it turned out, the burger was delicious without the mayo with plenty of flavouring coming from the tomato, lettuce, onion, relish and mustard; but that's just my personal taste and I know most people (including Rob and Honey) would prefer mayo.

My juicy chicken burger sans mayo:


The Chocolate & Macadamia Super Rich Shake mentioned in the caption of the first photo was indeed very rich, but we wished it was more chocolate-y. Macadamia is a great flavour, and a nice change from peanuts and almonds which are often used in desserts. We also got a Mix Berry Sundae, which was huge! Shame that Honey had already left for work by then because we couldn't finish it. The milkshakes and desserts at The Great Burger are probably meant to be shared because the serving sizes are too large for one!

Berry sundae:


We all liked our burgers, and Hon said she intends to revisit this burger joint for a more leisurely meal.

Thursday 15 July 2010

Thai @ Chilled Out Thai, Sydney

For dinner on our final night in Sydney, we ate the yummiest Thai food at Chilled Out Thai, not far from my sister's house in Maroubra. I try to avoid using superlatives when I can, but I do mean it when I write that this rates as our best encounter with Thai cuisine so far. For some reason, I had never really gotten into Thai food, in spite of - or perhaps because of - the fact that it is such a popular cuisine. Thai dishes are similar to Malaysian food (due to the two countries being geographically close to each other), but in my opinion are not as good, perhaps even bordering on blah and ordinary. I freely admit that Thai cuisine is not amongst my favourite food, however the food at Chilled Out Thai made me rethink my assessment about Thai cuisine. Perhaps Thai food is actually flavourful and delicious, but I've only ever been exposed to mediocre dumbed-down versions in Australia and Japan.

According to my sister, there are a few Thai restaurants in the area (because, you know, it's a popular cuisine), but Chilled Out Thai is her favourite one. To be honest, I wasn't too keen on having Thai for dinner, but I was a pretty happy camper when we left the restaurant after our meal. It's a lovely restaurant with a modern decor and cute Thai waitresses who were smitten with our little dining companions who made up half of our group (7 year old nephew, 4 month old niece and my 20 month old son). The food was cheaper at the Thai restaurant next door, but I'd rather pay a little extra to enjoy my meal than putting up with average food. On the menu were the usual suspects such as pad thai, tom yum and green curry (in fact all three curries - red, green and yellow - were available), but the dishes to pay attention to are those that come under the Chef Suggestion heading.

My nephew requested the Pineapple Fried Rice, which came served with prawn, chicken, vegetables and of course pineapple pieces. It was pretty good and got everyone's approval.



My sister played safe and had the Tom Yum with Prawns. The soup had a nice spicy kick and a balanced sourness.



Rob was curious about eating banana flower (aka banana blossom and banana heart), so he ordered the Yum Hua Plee (a spicy salad with prawns and banana blossom). This one was really good, easily the best dish at the table that night. Big juicy fresh prawns, and the crispy blossoms added a nice texture to the salad. The creamy and spicy coconut dressing was delicious and completed the salad very nicely.



I wanted something light and healthy to offset the lack of vegetables in our holiday diet, so I got the Green Papaya Salad with BBQ Chicken. Chilled Out Thai's version was tasty with large slices of delicious barbecued chicken. Proof that healthy can be delicious (and vice versa).



Dessert that night was Black Sticky Rice with Custard. It wasn't quite what we expected, but it was very good. The rice was served differently to bubur pulut hitam (Malay for "black glutinous rice porridge", one of our favourite Malaysian desserts), with the nutty chewy cooked grains presented almost al dente rather than like a creamy porridge. The custard was kuih-like, soft almost like a pudding yet firm enough to hold its shape - it was a delicious accompaniment to the rice. The dessert was finished perfectly with a drizzle of coconut cream. The dessert changes every few weeks, but I reckon this particular one ought to stay on the menu permanently.



We were pretty satisfied with this meal, which was the first time I was impressed with Thai food. Chilled Out Thai is a hidden gem in the suburbs.

Sticky Rice on FoodistaSticky Rice

Tuesday 13 July 2010

Hyde Park & Darling Harbour, Sydney

Here are some shots I took around Hyde Park and Darling Harbour during our stay in Sydney city last month. This wasn't our first visit to Sydney, and these few shots are in addition to the ones I've previously posted up on my journal in early 2006.

Anzac War Memorial and the Pool of Remembrance; and Rob (with Zak in pram) walking down a fig-lined avenue:


Silhouette of the Archibald Fountain; and St Mary's Cathedral adjacent to Hyde Park:


Soccer fever at Darling Harbour during the World Cup 2010 (Sydney International FIFA Fan Fest); and my 20 month-old son's healthy love affair with clocks and numbers (he can already count to 20 almost perfectly!), at a playground in Darling Harbour:

Friday 9 July 2010

Malaysian @ Mamak, Sydney

All of my sisters and I got together again to have dinner before my younger sister Honey was due to fly back to Tokyo. It was great to have everyone together at one place, including our respective partners and kids, although perhaps Mamak wasn't exactly the best place to enjoy a leisurely dinner. For some reason or other, this restaurant has gained enormous popularity since opening 3 years ago, that I'm told there is ALWAYS a long queue outside every evening. The restaurant does not accept bookings, and customers are seated on a first-come-first-served basis. Some of us arrived 15 minutes before it opened on that Friday evening, and there was already a line! The dining area was crammed with as many tables and chairs as is practically possible, and diners don't generally hang around long at their tables after they are done with their meals, because there are still poor souls standing outside waiting for a table. So you understand, the food may be great, but not the place to enjoy 'slow food' and company. The upside is that service was prompt and efficient, and the food got to the table in a surprisingly short amount of time after placing the order.

The long queue to get in about 10 minutes before the restaurant opened its doors for the dinner service. We were behind about 20 people, and there were at least another 20 behind us extending out onto the Friday night market on Dixon Street. (The dude smiling in the photo thanked me after I took the photo!):

We actually have been to Mamak before, on our previous trip to Sydney in October 2009, when we went in search for some ais kacang after lunching with family. After failing to find the iced treats elsewhere in Chinatown (Haymarket), we headed to Mamak because I'd had a vague memory of seeing a Malaysian restaurant on Goulbourn Street before. However we were less than impressed with the ais kacang and cendol (although the Malaysian-style coffee and drinks made a good impression on my father-in-law and his wife), especially because there were those in our company who were eating these (usually delicious) iced treats for the first time. Truth be told, we probably wouldn't even have considered going back to Mamak if I hadn't read a rave review by Perth blogger TFP a few months ago. Rob, my sister and I wanted to eat Malaysian food before going back to Japan, but neither of my Sydneysider sisters could think of a Malaysian restaurant in the city other than Mamak. I guess the lack of other Malaysian restaurants around helps explains Mamak's tremendous popularity, and one sister reckons that my mum would make good business if she opened up shop selling her Malaysian cooking in Sydney city.

The calm before the rush: a view into the kitchen while waiting for the restaurant to begin serving dinner. The staff are huddled at the dark corner of the kitchen, presumably for a pep-talk to prepare for the Friday night dinner crowd:

We ordered individually (as opposed to banquet-style), and our table ended up with a lot of food. We were quite pleased to find that dishes were like the stuff back home in Malaysia (except with a much higher price tag!), and the roti and murtabak were even served in those metal trays that is a familiar sight at mamak stalls (see my post on making murtabak for pictures at a mamak stall in Malaysia). Due to the placement and joining of our set of tables to accommodate the size of our group, it was unfortunately impractical for me to take shots of the dishes out of reach. My brother-in-law got a Nasi Lemak with Kari Ayam (coconut rice with the optional extra of curry chicken). I had a taste of it so I knew that the fried ikan bilis (dried anchovies) were deliciously crispy, the rice was sufficiently fragrant with coconut milk, and the sambal was more sweet than spicy. A plate of nasi lemak is of course not complete without half a hard-boiled egg, crunchy roasted peanuts and fresh cucumber on the side.

Nasi Lemak with Kari Ayam:

Two of my sisters ordered Roti Telur Bawang (Malaysian-style "bread" with egg and red onion) each. These omelette-like roti came with two types of curry and a dollop of sambal, and were quite good.

Egg and onion roti:

My 7 year old nephew ordered a Mee Goreng (fried noodles) and received the biggest plate at the table. It was a huge serving, and he obviously couldn't finish the whole thing.

Oodles of fried noodles:

Rob and I ordered four dishes, but before you consider us the gluttons that we actually are, we shared three of them around the table. Rob had a Lamb Murtabak, a omelette-pancake hybrid stuffed with lamb, cabbage, eggs and onion (it's a choice between chicken and lamb, and Henry said that the chicken one was pretty good too).

Lamb murtabak:

The plate of a dozen Mixed Chicken and Beef Satay was delicious, especially doused in the sweet and spicy peanut sauce.

Yummy satay sticks:

We also got a plate of Rojak, a vegetable-only salad that's sweet, spicy and peanut-y. Mamak's version had prawn and coconut fritters, cubes of fried tofu, hard boiled eggs, fresh crunchy cucumber and crispy yam bean. A nice combination, although quite different to the rojak I've had where the vegetables and fruit pieces were marinated in a sweet, spicy and sour sauce. (Looking up the wikipedia entry on rojak, it looks like Mamak's version more closely resembles mamak rojak than the mixed fruit and vegetable ones I'm used to. Makes sense, I guess, since the restaurant is named Mamak.)

Mamak rojak:

I've really missed eating kangkung (water spinach), so I had to order Kangkung Belacan (stir-fried with shrimp paste). Yum!

Spicy stir fried kangkung:

Another sister got Roti canai as well as a plate of Ayam Goreng (Malaysian-style fried chicken, 4 pieces), but these plates were at the other end of our set of tables, so were not photographed. Also not photographed were the desserts and drinks: Ais Kacang, Cendol, Roti Pisang with ice cream (roti with sliced bananas), and various Malaysian-style drinks such as Teh Tarik (literally "pulled tea"), Milo Ais (iced Milo) and Limau Ais (lime with syrup on ice).

I think everyone was pretty happy with their food because I didn't hear any complaints. I'm glad to say that we walked out of Mamak feeling more satisfied than our first experience. There was still a pretty long line to get inside when we left around 7pm.

Mamak on Urbanspoon

Wednesday 7 July 2010

Casual Sydney eats: Curry Tiger, Asian Bakeries, Bánh mì & Kebab

Taking a break from writing about our restaurant eats during our trip to Australia, here are some of the food we ate on the go, on the streets and at a food court/cafe.

Curry tiger @ Harry's Cafe de Wheels, Haymarket

I first read about the place and the pie on Perth blogger's site, thefoodpornographer, and was surprised that I haven't yet encountered this Harry's Cafe de Wheels shop in the familiar territory of the Haymarket area in Sydney. However as we approached this little streetside eatery late one morning during our Sydney trip, I realised we had indeed walked by this pie shop many times on previous Sydney trips, but never had any reason to take notice of it. Until now, that is. Although meat pie is a very popular and even iconic Australian food, the concept of a savoury pastry pie is still foreign to the Japanese (and Americans, who make up the majority of the expat population in Japan), so we haven't had much opportunities to eat meat pies in the past 4 years. I wouldn't say I'm a pie person, but reading about it on TFP a few months ago during Tokyo's coldest spring in 41 years conjured up a craving for a hearty hot meat pie. As it turned out, our trip to Sydney was to be during its winter season, so a hot meat pie would be very welcomed.



We shared one Curry Tiger Pie between us because as there were many other food we still wanted to eat elsewhere. It is a bit of a sight to behold, with the pie sitting underneath a pile of mashed potatoes and mushy peas, complete with a pool of dark gravy. I wish I could have taken a shot of the pie centre, but it got pretty messy once we dug into the pie. I remember the meat filling to be peppery but that it did not taste much like curry. I liked the chunky pieces of beef, which is a nice change from the minced beef with gristly bits that is usual in meat pies. The curry tiger was tasty and very filling.

Asian Bakeries, Haymarket

There are a number of popular Chinese bakeries along the main street of Sydney's Chinatown (Dixon Street) selling delicious cakes, pastries and bread, but I like going to the bakery facing Sussex Street in the East Ocean Arcade, a little shopping alley that connects Dixon and Sussex. I don't even know what the bakery is called, but I do know that the baked goods are pretty good and a little cheaper than the bakeries on Dixon Street which can be a bit of a tourist trap. This little bakery is very popular with a pretty high turnover, so there's always something fresh from the oven. On this occasion, we got a couple of new seasonal items, a Chestnut-flavoured Crepe, and a Glutinous Rice Ball with Black Sesame.



We came across another Asian bakery on Sussex Street in Haymarket, called Barby's Bakery. This one looked more commercialised and had better presentation than the unnamed bakery in East Ocean Arcade, so it was not surprising to find that the baked goods were considerably more expensive. We got a Durian Tiger Roll and a pack of Mini Pandan Chiffon Cakes, which were quite tasty but the flavours were very subtle. It was hard to detect the durian and pandan flavours. Nevertheless, it made a lovely accompaniment to our afternoon coffee at Starbucks.



Bánh Mì @ Phuong inside Eating World Food Court at the top end of Dixon Street



Almost a decade ago, my eldest sister used to live in Haymarket when she first moved to Sydney (hence my familiarity with the Haymarket area). The first time we visited her, she introduced us to this delicious Vietnamese Sandwich from Phuong Special Vietnamese, a tiny shop hidden inside a food court at the upper end of Dixon Street in Chinatown. It was really cheap - around AU$2 at the time - and made for a filling snack for a couple of uni students on holiday (wow, that feels like half a lifetime ago!). Although we've been back to Sydney a few times since then, we had actually forgotten about that bánh mì until we started thinking about what we wanted to eat during our stay in Sydney. We went searching for this food court, wondering if that banh mi shop was still operating - fortunately for us it was still running, and popular as ever even though prices had hiked up in the last 7 or so years. There were a few options available, including chicken, vegetarian and meatballs, and I got a Shredded Pork Roll for a little over AU$4. It was really yummy, with crusty baguette, fresh vegetables, and the nicely seasoned shredded pork (skin?).



Kebab @ the Eastgardens Shopping Centre food court

We spent half of our final day in Sydney doing last minute shopping for supplies at Eastgardens Shopping Centre before our night flight back to Tokyo. The shopping centre was of course well-equipped with a food court, where we had lunch with my sisters, brother-in-law, nephew and niece. It was nice to get together one last time before we left Sydney. We all have such different tastes, and our meal choices ranged from a 12-piece bucket from KFC (my sister, who's breast-feeding her 4 month old baby, polished off 8 pieces of chicken on her own! I don't know where it goes because she's naturally very slim), to a rice bowl from a Japanese shop, to our doner kebab from a kebab place. Our Mixed Kebab (chicken and lamb) with sour cream and garlic sauce was simply delicious.




I still have a couple more posts about our Sydney eats before I'm done with writing about the trip, so stay tuned!