Sonia and I had sushi for lunch before she left on her way back to HK and Bangkok. As we ate it, we realized how far we have come in what we now eat - surprisingly me more so than Sonia. As best I can recall the lunch:
Start with a soft tofu appetizer - served hot in a very small pot, with a couple of thin slices of mushroom on top, and a small prawn in the bottom. Yummy.
Then on to the sushi itself. Each piece is made separately in front of you, shaped by hand, a dab of wasabi (grated freshly in front of you), and the seafood on top. The piece of sushi is put on the lacquered counter in front of you, next to a pile of pickled ginger. There is a small saucer of soy sauce on the tray in front of you, but you're not really supposed to sully the excellent fish with soy. You eat each piece of sushi from the counter with your chopsticks, straight into your mouth. The chef stays about one piece ahead of you, so you cannot get much fresher than that.
The sushi part of the meal usually starts with tuna (very nice), snapper (or something like that), then a piece of squid, a piece wrapped in seaweed with a pile of salmon eggs on top, then more fish. During this part, a dish of miso soup with small clams arrives.
One of the sushi courses is made with an egg mixture - made with egg and fish soup, which is cooked and then allowed to set into a fairly firm cake - this is cut into pieces and put on top of rice.
Depending on the menu price, you may also get sushi made with sea urchin. Oh, and usually sea eel!
The sushi part usually finishes with rolls made with jellyfish and/or more tuna.
All of this is accompanied by Japanese green tea.
Quite a big meal, and I normally don't have a big dinner afterwards. I now eat everything except the clams in the miso soup. Not bad for someone who still dislikes broccoli and cauliflower! Sonia's not so keen on the sea urchin, or the salmon eggs.
Tuesday, November 20, 2007
Sunday, November 18, 2007
A Weekend in Tokyo
Sonia arrived on Friday afternoon while I was out at a Call Centre trade show (which is interesting when it's all in Japanese). We met up at the Park Hyatt hotel, which has a restaurant and bar that was featured in the movie "Lost in Translation". The view is amazing from the 52 floor - you can see most of Tokyo and what looks like all of the way down to Yokohama.
On Saturday we started slow with bagels and coffee (at home) then wandered around central Tokyo sorting out errands. Getting new heels on my work shoes turned out to be expensive - around USD 30 per pair! Then a walk to the bookshop (there is a small shop with all English books) and on to the supermarket. The supermarket is pretty good - a large range of stuff that we have mostly not been able to get in KL and HK. The afternoon included a good workout at the gym - on level 22 it also has a good view up towards Roppongi. Then we went out to an Italian restaurant: "Il Mulino". Very nice! But it did make us realise that Tokyo can be very expensive. Coincidentally we saw a couple of advertisements for apartments (for sale). Most of them seem to be between 1 and 3 million USD. Incredible the prices!
This afternoon we caught the subway to Omotesando, then walked down the road to Shibuya. A walk through the backstreets around Shibuya, eventually finding a cheap hole-in-the-wall place that did nice Indian food. Then back to the apartment, the gym, and dinner of chicken breast and salad.
Tomorrow it's back to work, and Sonia is off to HK on the late afternoon flight (and on to Bangkok on Tuesday morning).
On Saturday we started slow with bagels and coffee (at home) then wandered around central Tokyo sorting out errands. Getting new heels on my work shoes turned out to be expensive - around USD 30 per pair! Then a walk to the bookshop (there is a small shop with all English books) and on to the supermarket. The supermarket is pretty good - a large range of stuff that we have mostly not been able to get in KL and HK. The afternoon included a good workout at the gym - on level 22 it also has a good view up towards Roppongi. Then we went out to an Italian restaurant: "Il Mulino". Very nice! But it did make us realise that Tokyo can be very expensive. Coincidentally we saw a couple of advertisements for apartments (for sale). Most of them seem to be between 1 and 3 million USD. Incredible the prices!
This afternoon we caught the subway to Omotesando, then walked down the road to Shibuya. A walk through the backstreets around Shibuya, eventually finding a cheap hole-in-the-wall place that did nice Indian food. Then back to the apartment, the gym, and dinner of chicken breast and salad.
Tomorrow it's back to work, and Sonia is off to HK on the late afternoon flight (and on to Bangkok on Tuesday morning).
Monday, November 12, 2007
Monday
Monday is over...
A fine day dawned this morning, although a little chilly ("samui"). Started with a Japanese lesson at 8, then meetings straight through until lunch. Lunch was a Japanese restaurant with a few of the marketing team as we welcomed a new guy joining the team. Then meetings for most of the afternoon as well. Realised at about 4pm that I still had not managed to get a coffee all day. No wonder I was feeling slow by that stage...
Now at home, having had dinner (a chicken breast and a small salad), I am getting ready for the gym.
Sonia is still in Bangkok, and will fly back to HK on Thursday. Then up to Tokyo on Friday for the weekend.
Anyway, guess I need to get to the gym.
A fine day dawned this morning, although a little chilly ("samui"). Started with a Japanese lesson at 8, then meetings straight through until lunch. Lunch was a Japanese restaurant with a few of the marketing team as we welcomed a new guy joining the team. Then meetings for most of the afternoon as well. Realised at about 4pm that I still had not managed to get a coffee all day. No wonder I was feeling slow by that stage...
Now at home, having had dinner (a chicken breast and a small salad), I am getting ready for the gym.
Sonia is still in Bangkok, and will fly back to HK on Thursday. Then up to Tokyo on Friday for the weekend.
Anyway, guess I need to get to the gym.
Sunday, November 11, 2007
Week
Well the end of another week has arrived, and actually gone. It's Sunday night and I've spent the weekend nursing a cold. By this afternoon I have managed to recover mostly, and was able to get to the gym for 45 minutes.
It was raining all day on Saturday, so that wasn't a big loss. Then Sunday started rainy as well. By midday it had cleared up, and I went for a walk to Starbucks to get some fresh air and read the paper.
Sonia has been in Bangkok for the weekend and avoiding work that she should be doing. Instead she has been getting her nails done and attempting to break records for how many coffee shops she can visit in one day.
One interesting thing last week - I was invited to a charity dinner on Thursday night. A Japanese child cancer foundation set up by an expat couple who lost their son to infant leukemia. Not a bad night, and I managed to meet and chat to John Kirwin! And Dennis Lilley.
It was raining all day on Saturday, so that wasn't a big loss. Then Sunday started rainy as well. By midday it had cleared up, and I went for a walk to Starbucks to get some fresh air and read the paper.
Sonia has been in Bangkok for the weekend and avoiding work that she should be doing. Instead she has been getting her nails done and attempting to break records for how many coffee shops she can visit in one day.
One interesting thing last week - I was invited to a charity dinner on Thursday night. A Japanese child cancer foundation set up by an expat couple who lost their son to infant leukemia. Not a bad night, and I managed to meet and chat to John Kirwin! And Dennis Lilley.
Sunday, November 04, 2007
Madison's
Was a disappointment. We arrived and went through the entrance into the main part of the place. It looked like a bar or cafe, with more informal seating than we were expecting. However it turned out to be the dining area.
The whole atmosphere was a little disorganised - took time for the bread to be delivered although the butter arrived promptly after we sat down. The menu was ok, but leaned towards the more casual side of things.
By the end of the mains we'd decided that it was probably enough, and the dessert menu did nothing to tempt us to stay.
The restaurant was not even close to full. Given the location in Central, we wondered if it might be busier during the week - the after-work crowd?
The place is actually ok. However I think we were expecting something a little flasher based on the website, and the actual experience did not live up to this. Next time we'll head back to Harlan's. Or maybe "Tuscany By H", which is another Harlan's place.
The whole atmosphere was a little disorganised - took time for the bread to be delivered although the butter arrived promptly after we sat down. The menu was ok, but leaned towards the more casual side of things.
By the end of the mains we'd decided that it was probably enough, and the dessert menu did nothing to tempt us to stay.
The restaurant was not even close to full. Given the location in Central, we wondered if it might be busier during the week - the after-work crowd?
The place is actually ok. However I think we were expecting something a little flasher based on the website, and the actual experience did not live up to this. Next time we'll head back to Harlan's. Or maybe "Tuscany By H", which is another Harlan's place.
Saturday, November 03, 2007
Hong Kong
Well we are home in HK this weekend. Both of us flew into HKIA on Thursday night.
HK has got a bit colder in the last couple of months. Although we are not needing to wrap up warmly yet, I noticed some of the locals have got out their scarves and heavy coats already. We noticed this phenomenon last year as well. It feels like as soon as the "official" start of a season is reached, everyone goes overboard. Same as winter fades into spring - immediately out come the summer clothes, which are sometimes not really appropriate when the temperature is still on the chilly side.
Lunch today was at Zembra in Wan Chai. This is a bit of a favorite, as it serves good coffee and excellent food.
Tonight we are booked for dinner at Madison's in Central. I have been once before (over a year ago), and we've been trying to get a booking here for a while. Inevitably we are disorganised and end up trying to book a table on Saturday morning. By this stage it's always full. So this week I booked on Wednesday before leaving Tokyo. I will put an update on the blog on tomorrow.
The rest of today was spent playing squash with some of the work colleagues, ordering a new suit from a tailor here (pretty good work), a haircut, and getting some basic groceries. In a couple of minutes, we will be off to the gym to work off lunch and prepare the way for dinner.
HK has got a bit colder in the last couple of months. Although we are not needing to wrap up warmly yet, I noticed some of the locals have got out their scarves and heavy coats already. We noticed this phenomenon last year as well. It feels like as soon as the "official" start of a season is reached, everyone goes overboard. Same as winter fades into spring - immediately out come the summer clothes, which are sometimes not really appropriate when the temperature is still on the chilly side.
Lunch today was at Zembra in Wan Chai. This is a bit of a favorite, as it serves good coffee and excellent food.
Tonight we are booked for dinner at Madison's in Central. I have been once before (over a year ago), and we've been trying to get a booking here for a while. Inevitably we are disorganised and end up trying to book a table on Saturday morning. By this stage it's always full. So this week I booked on Wednesday before leaving Tokyo. I will put an update on the blog on tomorrow.
The rest of today was spent playing squash with some of the work colleagues, ordering a new suit from a tailor here (pretty good work), a haircut, and getting some basic groceries. In a couple of minutes, we will be off to the gym to work off lunch and prepare the way for dinner.
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