Cooling off

Well things are starting to cool down here in Tokyo, while Sonia continues to sweat it out in Bangkok. A few rainy days have meant that the temperature has dropped back into the twenties - positively chilly! Not really, but it has been better on the last two or three mornings walking to work.

Sonia flys up tonight, arriving early tomorrow morning. Since she has spent most of the week with a cold, I am not sure what we will get up to around Tokyo, but there is a nice restaurant I was thinking of getting to. And of course maybe we should look for Eggs Benedict to review.

There is an IT/Gadgets place called Akihabara which I'd like to take Sonia to see - amazing area full of shops with tvs, stereos, computers, and anything else gadget-wise that you can think of. It is also known as one of the places that exhibits a more quirky aspect of Japanese culture - "maid cafes". They are innocent (as opposed to sleazy) places where all of the waitresses are dressed in french maid uniforms. I've not seen one of these cafes, but walking around the gadget shops you see the waitresses walking past outside. There are a few strange aspects of the culture here, so maybe over time I can write some more.

Once great thing is the sushi. Amazing, and so fresh. I particularly like the tuna - so much more tender than tuna in NZ. It really does melt on your tongue. I will be keeping a lookout for "real" sushi places back in NZ - now that I know what to look for. Most of the places I've been here make the sushi fresh, right in front of you. These are guys who have trained for 10 years to know how to do it right. They told me yesterday (through translator) that there is a special way you make the rice into the sushi shapes in order to maintain the correct amount of air in it. Otherwise it ends up becoming heavy and solid. And there is a special mix of vinegar, sugar and salt that works best. Whatever... it tastes amazing.

And I can now say that I've eaten sea eel (very nice), sea urchin, sea grapes (type of seaweed), scallops (wasted on me), salmon roe, and a few other strange things. I guess things have come a long way since mashed carrots and parsnip? Still don't like cauliflower, broccoli, etc!