Mixed Sandwich

You now know I love UCC Ueshima Coffee Shop, and yes, I've been there with my darling again last weekend!

Their "Mixed Sandwich" is my favorite! Egg chunks with mayo, rich sliced cheese, Italian ham, juicy tomato, fresh cucumber and lettuce are in between two pieces of bread. Mmm yummy :P

I think I want to make this at home someday!!!

Tonight, I'm seeing my ex-colleague in NY! I think it has been already 2 years since we last met!!!

Have a good day :D

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GIGGLE

On Saturday, my darling and I had hamburgers at Hamburger Diner GIGGLE! They don't have a Web page but they are pretty famous around here. The diner is decorated with imported products! I liked it there! Their Avocado Hamburger is popular among women ;) My darling ordered Chile Beans Hamburger! They also serve fish and chips and a wide variety of imported beers!

To tell the truth, we rarely eat hamburgers for dinner but a week before, when we had coffee at a different diner, we saw people eating gorgeous hamburgers and that reminded us of GIGGLE! We are thinking of trying out that diner's hamburgers as well this weekend! Can't wait!!!

Anyway, this morning, since I had time, I squeezed a zit which I shouldn't... I know it is better to leave it as is but I just bet it... you know what I mean!!! (Hope you do.) Well... I will try to leave it for a month! I declare it here!!! Oh, by the way, it was on my arm and I had to cure it before the next laser hair removal in June X(

Have a good Monday!

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My Dream...

"Write down your dream...a dream so BIG you haven't told anyone, not even yourself."
This was a question from Kym.

Good question! I was just thinking of my dream recently...

To be happy can be one but that answer is unclear since it makes me wonder what my happiness is...

Is my dream to become a culinarian? Is my dream to make a cookbook? Is my dream to make a profit? Is my dream to have a baby and lead an ordinary life?

Those can be some of my goals, but not my dreams...
What if I could or couldn't reach those goals?

So... what I thought is my dreams are something indescribable and unreachable. I always want to feel motivated. I don't want to be a clock-watcher.

"To live every moment with all my energy", could be my dream!

Even when things are bad, I always want to do my best in that given situation. This sounds simple, but not. As you get old, you learn things by what you have seen and you can somewhat get dogmatic and stubborn to start new things or improve things.

I think people who always try things at their best are stellar. They have an aura to motivate others, too. Maybe my dream is to become someone like that! I don't want to talk about my past but future, you know...

Is this clear?!

But please don't take it too seriously. This is something what I thought at this moment! He-he!!!

Have a good one :D

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Women's Wine Logo

Recently, I found that the wines with this logo meet my taste!

This "Women's Wine" logo (printed only in Japan) shows that the wine is made by women who produce wine with women's sensitivities. From north in Piemonte to south in Sicilian, there are 10 women winemakers who enjoy and live with wines. Do you know any of them?!

- Alessandra Boscaini: Masi
- Emanuela Stucchi Prinetti: Badia a Coltibuono
- Francesca Planeta: Planeta
- CAMILLA LUNELLI: Lunelli
- Francesca Colombini: Barbi
- Beatrice Contini Bonacossi: Capezzana
- Elda Felluga: Felluga
- Chiara Lungarotti: Lungarotti
- Maria Chiara Clerici: Valfieri
- Chiara Soldati: La Scolca

BTW, this cute logo is designed by Italian designer. It's design is based on the word "女" (woman) in Japanese Kanji.

It is raining today. My sore throat is not getting better... It heals after the GYM, though. Maybe I feel better when my adrenaline level rises! Ha-ha!

Hope hula heals me tonight :D

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Rione dei Dogi Rosso Molise Riserva

Rione dei Dogi Rosso Molise Riserva is medium bodied red wine made from the Montepulciano wine grape in Molise (a region of Southern Italy). You can enjoy rich and fruity flavor of grapes.

This is the wine that my dad ordered at the restaurant the other day. I loved it :D

To tell the truth, I am not good at wines, but I list my favorite wines so that I can get them once again! And my list did help last weekend when I shopped at the wine shop! I usually try out new wines, but sometimes I feel comfortable drinking what I know!

Anyway, changing my story, I sometime wonder what my happiness is... I might write about it later if I feel like it!

Have a good day!!!

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UCC Ueshima Coffee Shop

I never mentioned about this, but almost every weekend, my darling and I go to 上島珈琲店 (Ueshima Coffee Shop) to have some coffee :D

UCC Ueshima Coffee (UCC上島珈琲株) is a manufacturer of coffee and tea products in Kobe, Hyogo. "UCC" stands for "Ueshima Coffee Company". They have expanded their coffee shops in recent years and one in Seijyo (near our home) has opened in 2008. Their theme is urban oasis. Isolated from crowds and noises of the city, they provide a space for relaxation with coffee.

They serve "nel drip coffee" which uses cloth filter (flannel) instead of paper filter. It takes time to drip coffee, thus makes rich and tasty coffee with supple texture. I really love their coffee. Unlike other coffee shops, their coffee is served always the same (not bitter) which is pretty comfortable! They also serve foods, too! I love their lunch menu, which comes with salad, sandwich, and a cup of coffee of course!

Do you have a favorite coffee shop?

I just can't wait the weekend to start!

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Ramen @ Koumibou

On Saturday, my darling and I've been to the newly opened 広味坊 (Koumibou) near our home (in Seijyo). This branch only serves ramen or a prix-fixe menu. (The other branch in Soshigaya serves a la carte menu.)

Ramen is a Japanese noodle dish that originated in China. I don't eat ramen that often because I can't eat that fast before the noodles get soft, but I tried the cold one without broth. My darling had a ramen with shrimp dumplings. They cook ramen as seen in the movie below! My darling shoot this video and edited it with a mood of nostalgia. Cool, right?! ;)



Busy Monday! I can't wait for the weekend to begin!!!

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Customer Service in Japan

This morning, I saw an interesting story on TV that most overseas tourists said they were amazed by customer service in Japan.

Yes, I agree! Salespeople in Japan are dedicated to making people feel welcome. They always smile and listen to the customers, so you rarely feel unhappy talking to them.

This is something we take for granted in our everyday life but I think we Japanese should be proud of it!!!

I sometimes don't like to live in Japan but what a nice country! Ha-ha :D

Happy Friday!!!

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CANON IXY 30S (will be released on May 27th)

Timely news!!! Yesterday, I found that Canon is going to release CANON IXY 30S on May 27th, which is the latest model of my broken IXY!

This camera of course is fully automated and what is amazing is that you can shoot crisp pictures without a flash in the dark! It's HS SYSTEM enhances image quality in low-light situations and helps reduce noise at high ISO speeds! Sounds perfect for picture taking at restaurants!!!

Offered in 5 different colors (Black, White, Silver, Yellow, Red), the camera will be available in Japan for 40,000 yen (approximately $430), which I think is priced out at this moment X(

Anyway, I'm gonna try it out at an electronic store after the release ;)

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Nikon COOLPIX S6

I once gave this camera to my darling but took it back from him last week when my IXY broke. He-he!

Nikon COOLPIX S6 is a slim digital camera with Wi-Fi! Now I carefully read the manual and realized it is pretty easy to use! The camera is fully automatic. The max ISO is 400, which is enough for snapshots! I wish it has a camera shake correction function, though... Anyway, the camera is old (released in 2005) but I think it meets my demand ;)

BTW, to fix my IXY (CCD), it costs at least 7,000yen ($70) which sounds like better to get a new camera..., so I ended up using my darling's camera! I bought a cute camera case for it!

Will see how it works ;D

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My Accomplishments

Belated post, but I will list my accomplishments in April.

4/10 was Yodoran (iodine-enriched egg) Day! My Spring Sushi Rolls were introduced at their event site. To give pink color to sushi rice, I sprinkled "Sakura Denbu", which is pink colored & seasoned shredded codfish :)


On 4/12, my "Black Sushi Rolls with Fruity Millet Tuna Curry", which won the prize for participation at the Millet Recipe Contest 2010, was posted on Japan Millet Association's website. Also, the report of the day was posted here. Can you find me?!

On 4/26, my Takoyaki Croquette was introduced on CookTV (TBS). The video is HERE. Sorry in Japanese X(




On 4/25, I won the special award at soy milk recipe contest. Sorry, no image available for this one.

That's it! I'll try to do better this month!!!

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AOYUZU

On Saturday, my darling and I had a dinner at the restaurant called 青柚子 (AOYUZU) where they serve fresh ingredients in season. Their speciality is fried spring chicken. Half the body of a spring chicken is slowly fried in the oil. (Left bottom image.) It wasn't greasy at all. The skin was crisp and the meat was light and juicy. We had a good time :D

Anyway, I am posting this to end up today's post with a happy stuff. He-he ;) They are the last pics I took with my IXY!

Have a good day!

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Canon IXY Digital L2

Too many unfortunate things have happened this weekend... X(

My compact digital camera (Canon IXY digital L2) broke after 3 years... Now it shoots a pic with stripes. 3 years ago, the same thing happened to the former model (Canon IXY digital L), so this was the second time! I always think "Why Today?", when the things like this happen.

Then another unfortunate thing is, my darling had a bloody nose and I was kind of worried about him for few days... On Saturday night, we had a big fight and it got worsen (didn't stop for 30 min) while he had a hemorrhage..., so I called an ambulance. I think I was O.T.T... but the next day he went to see ENT doctor and said the bleed was from a blood vessel! He had a little surgery and got better now but what a big deal!

There is something wrong with me physically, too. I think I need to get rid of my daily stresses...

There is nothing more valuable than good health!

Good luck to me!!!

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What Kind Of Beer Do You Like?

During the trip in Hokkaido, we had a lot of beer!

What kind of beer do you like?

Actually, I prefer shochu-based beverage to beer, but Otaru beer was pretty cool that their yeast is still alive when they serve!

At Sapporo Beer Museum, I found a box of beer flavored candies. What do you think?! Ha-ha!!!

Happy Friday :D

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New Protector Band-Aid

While riding a bicycle at the outer market in Hokkaido, I lost my balance and fell off X( I hurt my knee and cut my shank! I think I hurt my leg after so long! Ouch!!! But a nice fish dealer gave me a wet towel and some band-aids. And that band-aid was really amazing indeed!

Later, I searched the Internet and found it is called New Protector Band-Aid (新プロテクターばんそうこう). It is made of 30 micrometers-thin, breathable and stretch special film, that you don't feel like wearing it! It is totally waterproof, so your wound doesn't sting! Also it doesn't hurt when you peel off.

Thanks to my injury, I found a new item for my cooking slash. Of course I don't want to hurt anymore, though...

Anyway, the high today is 80F (27C)! Hot like summer!!!

Have a good day :)

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3-Day Trip to Hokkaido

From 4/29 to 5/1, my darling and I've been to Hokkaido for the first time in our life!!! As you might know, Hokkaido is located at the northern tip of Japan. The climate there is similar to that of NY! It was pretty cold there (and unfortunately raining) when we visited.

DAY 1:

We arrived at Asahikawa airport, which is located 2 hours away from our destination: Sapporo city. Therefore, we decided to stop over at Asahiyama Zoo nearby, where there are many unique interactive animal viewing facilities.




Close to the Zoo, there is a city called Asahikawa. Since we had to connect the bus through the city, we had lunch at a famous ramen shop called 梅光軒 (Baikouken). Their miso ramen was super delicious that you can easily finish up the broth as well :D There is a branch in Singapore, so I hope jose can try it out someday!!!

In the evening, we arrived at Sapporo city and headed to Sapporo Beer Museum, the only beer museum in Japan, was opened in July of 1987 to provide visitors with a varied knowledge of beer and brewing. At the museum, many selections of their brews are available to sample in small sized glasses!


The Sapporo Bier Garten is located nearby the museum. You can enjoy the freshest draft beer and Genghis Khan-style fresh barbecued lamb on hot plates shaped like Hokkaido! Yummy!!!




DAY 2:

We visited Otaru city, where is located 30 minutes away by train from Sapporo city. Otaru Canal is the symbol of this city. Otaru Beer was begun in 1995 in the Otaru Soko #1 Warehouse. We had their seasonal beer called Helles! Then we had assorted fish bowl at 澤崎水産 (Sawasaki Suisan) for lunch. You can enjoy fresh seafood in Otaru :D

For dinner, we went back to Sapporo and went to かに本家 (Kani Honke) to enjoy full-course crab meal! The seasonal crab was hairy crab! We had one each for our main course. It was my dream to eat my fill of crabs!!!

DAY 3:

To tell the truth, the rain finally cleared on the last day, so we rented bicycles and rode few miles to 場外市場 (Outer Market) to get some breakfast. Each day, approximately 70 shops line up in the outer market to sell a wide variety of produce, seafood, and other food that was just bid on in the nearby Central Wholesale Market. We had fish bowls at 平野屋 (Hiranoya) where they serve many different varieties of fresh fish bowls. Super yummy at a low price!!!

Then we toured around Sapporo city by bicycle in about an hour. Hokkaido's most famous landmark is its Clock Tower! It was the tallest building in Sapporo at the time of its construction in 1878, but these days it is dwarfed by the apartments and modern office buildings that have sprung up around it. Also, Sapporo TV Tower, 147.2 m in height, is a landmark at the east end of Odori Park.

Last but not least, the most popular souvenir from Hokkaido is 白い恋人 (Shiroi Koibito). It is a butter cookie with white chocolate in between. There is a factory 15 minutes by train away from Sapporo station, so we went there to see how they manufacture the cookies! There is a cookie-craft studio where you can make Shiroi Koibito cookies of your own!

I hope you enjoyed my brief report of our tour :D

Have a good day!!!

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