fuchsia fragments

Then we stopped for lunch at a soba shop that came with tofu skin (yuba 湯葉) which is made locally. I also learnt that sashimi does not only refer to raw fish. Rather, it is any type of dish served in its 'raw' form so it can be yuba sashimi or konnyaku sashimi. There's realisation that the Japanese food Western countries know and love is totally unoriginal... they don't have sushi rolls here! It's mostly nigiri or maki.

So Mr and Mrs JC arrived and so we spent the weekend food hunting: Shibuya, Shinjuku, Ginza, Asakusa and Akihabara.

Some interesting places, some pretty ordinary and unfortunately drummed up by food bloggers and reviewers who probably didn't know much better. There is a lot of great food in Tokyo and sometimes, it is the local nooks and basement bars that serve the best dishes. I know one thing for sure: I would never queue up on my own at a lot of these places! And just couldn't justify the 45+ minute wait.

Although there were a couple of standouts. The freshwater eel at Nodaiwa in Ginza was worth going to even if it was just to catch a glimpse of Head chef Jiro at his famous sushi bar opposite! The prices are expensive but it can be a bit of a treat if you absolutely love eel.

Pancakes at Rainbow Pancake in Shibuya really reminded me of Saturday brunch in Sydney. The streets, the lines, the pancakes.. fluffy but not super fluffy with burnt butterscotch sauce and baked apples. It was tasty! However, they need to do something about their drink menu...

A bit of a letdown was Butagumi which is nestled in one of the residential areas not too far from Roppongi. Expensive (and fatty) tonkatsu with average service, sauce and sides. I've honestly had better in other chains and at the restaurants on top of the department stores. Sad face.

I'm constantly surprised at the amount of food visitors can eat in Tokyo. For me, I just want some rest and some green veg and juice! Time is now ticking and a) I need a new job, b) I need to do more shopping.

We had a Design Thinking workshop yesterday followed by Japanese-Spanish fusion at a local restaurant which was very pretty. The food was good too but not Spanish (pretty sure my Spanish friend would be mortified. The drinks were good if you can overlook that the Sangria was lemonade, red wine and cinnamon. But their version of the whiskey highball was good as it had the added taste of gin. I really am liking gin at the moment.

Dinner was great but we went for "one more drink" (i.e., sit at a bar until the last train) around the corner. And as we weren't prepared and weren't planning to stick around the area since we always go to Roppongi, we kind of had to find any place that well, had a table available. Who would have thought that this would be difficult at 10 PM on a Tuesday evening? Anyway, we managed to stumble into a place after our third try (actually, there was a guy standing around who told us to go to his awesome place... talk about managing to get customers - he was good!).

At this stage, it really was supposed to be ONE MORE DRINK. But then about 20 minutes later, this group of around 10 office ladies and guys sat down at the next table and they were noisy. And the funniest thing ever, one of the girls sat down and it was kind of next to my boss (but on the next table) and preceded to tell him how handsome he was. HAHAHAHAHA.

So we bought them a round of drinks and some of them decided to show their gratitude by showing everyone how awesome their drinking skills were (they were probably my age or a little bit older). You really had to be there - it was so much fun and have not laughed so much in months. Literally like drinking with the locals and it was great! Could not believe how loud they can get especially because it is always so so quiet in the office!

Take 2 days annual leave and get 10 days in a row off? Um... no brainer, I am so in!

And so begins the (almost) 60+ tour with my mum, dad and aunty. And it was fun - at times frustrating as we missed a lot of trains and buses by seconds and the trip was always opinionated but still great to have visitors. It didn't mean I was a jolly tour guide the whole time but I managed and I think the trip and itinerary was great! Lots of walking...

First stop: Kanazawa! It's kid of a semi-sleepy city. Not much to see if you don't like fresh food and seafood markets. There's a castle and a garden. Mid-range department stores. The highlight was taking a day trip by bus to Shirakawago... amazing farmhouses in the valley of two mountains. Cold weather as expected but so well preserved and got to try famous Hida milk and beef. Yum!

Then it was down to Osaka, our base for the next 5 days. Some new, some visited before. The shopping street was absolutely packed out and then some so it was just a short walk through. Tried these amazing Portugese tarts from Andy's Dontonburi. Got some local takoyaki and subway hopped a few places like the castle, Namba and Shin-Osaka. Day trips to Kyoto (so tourist these days), Himeji and Kobe. Hotel was a huge let down... never again!

Then was Hakone and Kawaguchiko. Awesome luck that we saw Mt Fuji and the cable car was operating. Totes bad luck it rained the evening we got to Kawaguchiko and had to walk to the hotel. Gotemba outlets were so-so (expensive) but the views there were amazing. The pink moss festival can be missed. The onsen hotel in Gora was a-m-a-z-i-n-g but expensive.

And by the time we got back to Tokyo, I was glad I had an extra day to rest cause it was tiring!