http://www.adventurasia.com/blog Live, work, travel and play in Asia. Sun, 23 Mar 2008 09:00:09 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en My wife's coworker who came to Tokyo to help out with a project has sent us a loaf of fruit-cake like bread. I think Mr. Nutcracker was very pleased to see it! danke schön - Mr. Nussknacker http://www.adventurasia.com/blog/2008/03/japan/gift-of-bread-from-germany/ My wife, Mr. Nutcracker and I had a craving for Korean BBQ and Makori (Korean-style sake). One of our favourite places is called Jijimi which is located in JR Hirai station. http://www.adventurasia.com/blog/2008/03/japan/135/   Each year, my wife and I try to host a shin-nenkai which is basically a party to celebrate the New Year. We also like to share a bit of food culture from her hometown, and so this year, we prepared a Kiritanpo Nabe (hot pot) amongst other things. Kiritanpo is ... http://www.adventurasia.com/blog/2008/03/japan/kiritanpo-shin-nenkai-party/ Stuart who previously lived in tokyo, came back for a visit. (I met the others through the Japan Australia Uni Club). First, we started out at the Dubliner's Irish Pub in Shinjuku. Afterwards, we went to Shinjuku's Shomben Yokocho (Piss Alley) -- always a favourite for hole-in-the walls/rundown restaurants and food stalls ... http://www.adventurasia.com/blog/2008/03/japan/stuart-visits-tokyo-from-oz/ My friend Evelyn was visiting Tokyo. Incidentally, we've now met in 4 or 5 different countries now! After visiting Tokyo Midtown, we headed to my fave chinese restaurant in roppongi called Cafe 8 located across from the Hyatt in Roppongi Hills. Cafe 8 is a Hong Kong style restaurant with an interesting, ... http://www.adventurasia.com/blog/2008/03/japan/evelyn-visits-tokyo-cafe-8-absolut-icebar/   On our return trip from Morioka to Tokyo, we took the Shinkansen (Bullet Train). As it was a fairly long journey that took us through lunch, we decided to buy a couple of Eki-ben. Eki-ben which is short for Eki-Bento is essentially a lunch box that is sold by the ... http://www.adventurasia.com/blog/2008/03/japan/ekiben-on-the-shinkansen/   As is the tradition, each year we have family dinner at my wife's hometown. This time it was at one of her Uncle and Aunt's place. Yumi-chan took a bit of time to get acquainted with Mr. Nutcracker though. http://www.adventurasia.com/blog/2008/03/japan/116/   On January 1st (or sometimes New Year's Eve or even 1 or 2 days later), people will visit a temple or shrine to wish for health, happiness and prosperity for the year ahead.Thankfully there aren't so many people living in Hanawa so we could get some good pictures. I remember when ... http://www.adventurasia.com/blog/2008/03/japan/hatsumode-in-hanawa/ As is the case every year, Ikumi and I went back to her hometown in Hanawa (near Morioka) to spend the New Year's. We also don't like the traditional food so much and therefore improvised. I prepared: scallop and crab with ginger sauce; bak kuh teh (Singaporean soup-like dish filled ... http://www.adventurasia.com/blog/2008/02/japan/oshogatsu-new-years-eve-in-akita-ken/ My parents, Ikumi and I went down to the U.S. to do some 'Day After Christmas' shopping in Bellingham, the Premium Outlets and finally Seattle, prior to our flight back to Tokyo the following day. With the strong Canadian dollar, prices in the U.S. were even better than ever! Mr. Nutcracker ... http://www.adventurasia.com/blog/2008/02/personal/boxing-day-in-bellingham-seattle/