The Taking of Pelham 1 2 3

Hi! On Saturday my boyfriend and I went shopping and movies to Shin Yurigaoka after my recipe work. We happened to see our GYM demo, introducing hula class! (top right image) The weather was still nice and warm like summer, so we enjoyed beer at open-air cafe in the afternoon, before the movies ;)

We saw The Taking of Pelham 1 2 3.
"Armed men hijack a New York City subway train, holding the passengers hostage in return for a ransom, and turning an ordinary day's work for dispatcher Walter Garber into a face-off with the mastermind behind the crime."
The story was interesting. It is not only the action scenes but pictures the human heart. We of course enjoyed sceneries in NY, where I met my boyfriend. He-he. Romantic right?! :D

Late at night, we had dinner at Kyomachiya. We enjoyed autumn menu. Saury is in season, so we enjoyed saury sashimi. I think it has been 2 years since we last went there.

Today I'm taking a day off because I worked last Saturday! This afternoon, I'm gonna attend the last hula class for this term. We are going to learn new choreography from October. Then gonna have lunch with my bf in Shibuya ;)

Sorry that I'm way behind on replies... I will catch up soon!

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Kyoto

The next day, we left Hikone and went to Kyoto.

Over a finite period of time, we went to see Kiyomizu-Dera (Kiyomizu Temple), Kinkaku-Ji (The Gold Pavilion), and Ryoan-Ji (Ryoanji Temple).

Kiyomizu-Dera (清水寺) is an independent Buddhist temple in eastern Kyoto. It stands in the wooded hills and offers visitors a nice view over the city from its famous wooden terrace. Behind the temple, there is a shrine called "Jishu-Jinja". The shrine dedicated to the deity of love. We took a pic in front of the entrance and bought love charms together ;)

Along the route to Kiyomizu-Dera, there are many shops and restaurants. My boyfriend found a cool lunch menu, which is called "Enmusubi Soba set", which means good luck and marriage soba set! Of course we had it for our lunch.





Kinkaku-Ji (金閣寺) or formally Rokuon-ji (鹿苑寺) is a Zen Buddhist temple in Kyoto. It takes 30 minutes by bus from Kiyomizu-Dera. The admission ticket looks like a bill. The bottom right image is the Sekka-Tei tea house. The upper left mountain is called Daimonji. The kanji "大" that means large is written on Nyoigatake (Daimonji Mountain).

Ryoan-Ji (龍安寺), the temple of the peaceful dragon, is a Zen temple located in northwest Kyoto. The temple is famous for Sekitei (石庭), the Rock Garden. The garden consists of fifteen rocks. When looking at the garden from any angle (other than from above) only fourteen of them are visible at one time. It is traditionally said that only through attaining enlightenment would one be able to view fifteen. We had a relaxing moment in the garden.

Before we leave Kyoto, we had a dinner at a restaurant by a river called Kamogawa. My boyfriend found a romantic open-air restaurant called Suigetsu. There was a nice, gentle breeze blowing at that night. We enjoyed Kyoto cuisine and went back to Tokyo.


I love him and he loves me forever ;)

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Hikone

This week, we had three consecutive holidays, which we call silver week: 21st (Respect-for-Senior-Citizens Day / Keiro no hi), 22nd (National Holiday / Kokumin no kyujitsu), and 23rd (Autumnal Equinox Day / Shubun no hi). Our silver week was great! On 22nd and 23rd, my boyfriend and I visited his family home in Hikone city (in Shiga prefecture). It is about 2 hours by Shinkansen from Tokyo.

On the day of arrival, we had lunch with his parents at a sushi restaurant called Izukiyo. Last time I saw them was about 2 years ago in 2007, so they were really happy to see me again. His mom was doing super fine. She rapidly recovered from the illness!!!

After lunch, my boyfriend took me to Hikone Castle! Hikone Castle is the most famous historical site in Hikone. We enjoyed walking the castle road lined with food and souvenir shops. We had Hayashiya (林屋)'s local brew beer, which was super refreshing and delicious.

At night, I requested his dad to cook something for us! He used to own a teppanyaki restaurant, so he is a great cook! He cooked us croquettes. Yay! I really love homemade food. Maybe someday I want to cook something for them ;)

The next morning, his younger brother who got married and have a child came to see us! I met them for the first time. His child was so cute. I hope I can have a child someday.

Earlier in the day, we left for Kyoto. We just had few hours until the return train, so we made a quick plan to do sightseeing. I will write about it tomorrow ;)

See you again!!!

P.S.
I will catch up with the replies today or so.

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AIR BLAN SERVICE

On Saturday night, after the holiday work, my boyfriend reserved a nice restaurant called "AIR BLAN SERVICE" for dinner. Their entrance was cool like a boarding gate! Food they serve was creative and delicious. The seasonal fish menu "herb-flavored grilled saury" was fabulous! Our seat was by the window, so we enjoyed the night view of Shinjuku and had a really romantic time :)

Tomorrow, I'm gonna get iPhone! My boyfriend said he will buy me one!!! He's so cool ;)

I just finished writing up my recipes I had to submit by tomorrow. Whew... It's already 2am.

Have a good night!

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KONA 57 CURRY

Whew... I'm almost done for today!!!

Today my boyfriend came to see me at lunch time, so we went to KONA 57 CURRY close to my workplace. They serve the curry which was originally made at the restaurant called Kappa Due Chi (now cafe58) in Daikanyama in 1994. They serve the curry with brown rice, which has a higher nutritional value than white rice! Mine (in the front) is curry with chopped tomatoes, edamame and mashed potato. My boyfriend's (at the back) is ground meat and cheese. Mmm! both were delicious :D

Their Hawaiian BGM healed me a lot!

Okay, I gotta go now. See you again :)

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Holiday Work

I'm at work now. I had to work on a holiday, today X(

I had a cup of coffee with my boyfriend at Starbucks near the station. There were many people walking by! Early birds!

Yesterday, I had dinner with him at a vegetable teppanyaki restaurant! I will report about it when I get a chance. Actually, I haven't posted about few other restaurants, yet X( Hope I can catch up!

Bye for now ;)

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Another Drink!

Last night, he had dinner with his co-worker but it seems like he didn't enjoy that much, so I went to have a glass of wine with him at Izakaya (Japanese style pub) to refresh! It was after 0am, so we couldn't stay long but the Izakaya was cool!!! A small glass of wine and beer is 100yen ($1) on Thursdays! Actually, we wanted to go there for a long time. I forgot the name of the Izakaya, so I will report about it again when we could take time to go there. The weather was nice at night, so we enjoyed walking back home :)

It has been a week, so I can't wait to eat out with my boyfriend tonight!

Have a good day and good silver week ;)

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Kao Healthy Cooking Oil "Econa" Referred to as Carcinogens?!

This news was shocking...

Kao Corp. has temporarily suspended sales of its "Econa" brand products (total of 59 products), including its diacylglycerol (DAG) cooking oil, salad dressings, and mayonnaise because the fatty acid glycidyl esters in them is said to be carcinogenic.

The company said in their statement that the suspension will continue "until the amounts of fatty acid glycidyl esters contained in Econa and related products can be lowered to levels found in common cooking oils."

Their annual sales of "Econa" brand products exceed 20 billion yen (200 million dollars)! Imagine how many people consumed their products X( Actually, I did used their products while they organized contests. But luckily, their products are relatively expensive, so I just used them temporarily at those times. But scary, you know!!!

Healthy food is not always healthy! I should better use long-selling products...

Take care!!!

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Today's Lunch: Soba @ Ryoka

My boyfriend just called me to go out for lunch since he came close to my workplace while making the rounds ;)

I am thinking of having soba for lunch.

Will see...



Yes! We had soba for lunch!
We've been to my favorite soba restaurant called Ryoka.
Mine is Tororo Seiro Soba, which you dip the soba in cold dashi with grated yam (Image above). My boyfriend had Kamo Seiro Soba, which you dip the soba in hot duck broth (Image below).
I love the way they cut soba. It is thin and flat. Cooked al dente! Mmm... I had a good time!

What did you have for lunch?!

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My Rice Ball at am/pm! (私のおにぎりがam/pmで発売されます♪)

Remember it or not, in July, my "Black Gomoku Rice Ball" won the highest award at the cereal rice recipe contest and now it is commercialized! It will be sold at am/pm (convenience stores) from 9/29!!!

On Sunday, I received a few samples of it and tasted them with my boyfriend. It was fabulicious!!! The flavor of ingredients were nicely sealed in the rice ball. It's taste made me want more! I didn't expect it to become this perfect, so I am very satisfied with it :D

This rice ball "Kurogomoku Onigiri" will be available at 128yen ($1.28) at am/pm in Kanto, Kansai and Kyushu area for a month from 9/29. I will report about it again when it went on sale!

Let me write the detail in Japanese, too ;)
商品名「黒五目おにぎり」（売価１２８円）として、関東・関西・九州のam/pmにて、９月２９日（火）から約１ヶ月発売されます。＜詳細＞

The weather is nice again today. Yesterday, I forgot to get off the train to go to the GYM, so I will definitely work out today!

See ya ;)

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Kobe Cream Cheese Cake

Last Friday, my boyfriend went to Kobe on business and bought Konditorei Kobe 's Kobe Cream Cheese Cake as a souvenir.

It's a small cheesecake, 4 inches (10 centimeters) in diameter, packed in a cute round box. It was eye-pleasing and made me happy :D

The cake was fabulicious! It uses 2 different kinds of cream cheese from Australia and France, and yogurt, which makes the cake rich but refreshing!!! There is no trace of cheese, so once you get started, you can't stop ;-P

It is raining today. I heard the typhoon #14 is approaching... I hope it changes its course because we've got long holidays next week from 9/19-9/23! I have to work on 9/19, though...

Have a good one!!!

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