A Beautiful Day for Baseball: Baystars vs. Swallows

A few weekends ago, we headed to Yokohama to attend our first baseball game of the season. I love cheap beer, super fans and good friends.

Every team seems to have their "thing". In Hiroshima, it was the balloons. Apparently for the swallows, it is mini umbrellas.

After the game, we met up with some other friends (and a fellow twins fan!) and headed to a new restaurant near the stadium.

The chef is American. AND an American who knows how to barbeque. His brisket was fantastic!

I am loving the spring weather this year. Good food. Good times. It's great to have my mister home!

Pantry Game: The Final Leg

With moving day in 3 months or so (maybe, hopefully) and Glenn leaving on cruise in the near future, it's time for the pantry game to kick in to high gear! I hate hate HATE throwing away food or items that can't be moved. Since we won't see our things for approximately 2 months after they are packed, we can't really sneak things in to a regular move like I might within the States.

This cupboard is always the hardest- cooking oils and sauces. I'm pretty sure that we can move the spices, but I don't think we'll be moving our 3 bottles of Worcestershire sauce. We inherited a few of those from families who were also moving. Good think we have new neighbors that just moved in. They will probably be receiving a few of these bottles! Know any recipes that use a lot of red wine vinegar? cider vinegar? hot sauce??

The fridge and the freezer should be pretty easy. Just no more shopping. Or shopping around what I have already.

More pictures next month...hopefully it will be well on it's way to empty by then.

Thinking of you, Cheryl!

Glenn's mom, Cheryl, is having surgery today.

We just want you to know that we're thinking about you today, Cheryl. You're such a strong, brave, beautiful woman! We'll talk to you when you get home. We love you!

Tokyo Food Tour 2011

Ok, so it wasn't so much a tour, but it could have been. I should copyright it now. Glenn and I headed to Tokyo on Thursday night after he got done flying. Being the sweet husband he is, he was even able to rearrange a few things so that we could leave a few hours early. Thanks, Mr. We had dinner on Thursday at a restaurant near the hotel- Cicada- Spanish tapas with sangria....thankyouverymuch.

The next morning we slept in- wow...hotel blackout curtains really work. Perhaps I should have invested in some when we moved here...then we headed to Tsukiji fish market. I had been there before, but Glenn never had. Last time I was there, we didn't eat at any of the restaurants because it was 5 am, but I knew I had to eat at the largest, freshest fish market in the world before leaving Japan.

I was doing research on Tokyo and came across this article that recommend Sushi Dai for breakfast. I really know what we were looking for, but when we saw this line, we figured it was it. No other shop at any line whatsoever and after about an hour in line, Glenn begrudgingly said, "This better be the best sushi of my life." Another 30 minutes later, we got seats in the tiny 13 seat shop. OMG.It.Was.

Since it was no longer breakfast like I had intended, but in fact, lunchtime, we ordered a beer which came as a set with octopus and baby squid with ginger.  An excellent start to our tour.

We decided to order the 10-piece chef's choice set and share it because at around $50, it was a pretty expensive. The set included one roll, soup, tea and one piece each of the best sushi I've ever tasted. The piece of tuna on the far left in the picture below was one of the greatest things I've ever put in my mouth. It melted like no piece of fish ever as. I'd wait again, just to eat that piece of sushi again. Luckily, the 10th piece of sushi was our choice so we ordered another one. I can't remember all the sushi we had, but in included: fatty tuna, no so fatty tuna, baby shrimp, sea bass, soft crab (that was still alive when they served it) and a few others. 

The chefs were very friendly, thanked us for waiting and even gave us a free egg sushi. Maybe because we were the only gaijin (foreigners).

It was a wonderful experience. I highly recommend the wait even if it seems to be taking forever. After "brunch" we headed to Yasukuni shrine near the Imperial Palace. We enjoyed the beautiful weather and took a walk through the palace gardens on our way towards our subway stop.

 

Our next stop on our TFT2011 was a Indian restaurant near Hiroo station called Priya for a late lunch. I love Indian food, but always say that I go for the naan bread. For me, curry is a condiment for my naan. That was not the case at Priya. Amazing curry! I had the chicken spinach curry and it didn't disappoint!

After lunch we headed back to the hotel to rest and clean up. Tonight we were celebrating our anniversary a little late at the Park Hyatt's New York Grill. This is where much of the movie, Lost in Translation was filmed.

Here are a few pictures from the Internet. I say we were celebrating our anniversary, but the real other reason was so that Glenn could order the Kobe prime cut steak. I'll let Glenn tell you all about it some day, but here are a few quotes of the evening.

"I don't want to swallow"
"I just want to crawl inside my mouth and be with it"
"This is the single greatest thing I've ever eaten"

Of course he let me try a bite, and he was right. I ordered the 5 course set and the awesome steak that came with mine didn't even compare.

 Last bite. So sad.

The Park Hyatt is an amazing experience. We were greeted at the entrance by no less than 4 staff members and were treated like royalty. An amazing way to wrap up our tour in Japan and Glenn and I's last few months in Japan. And with the prices you pay, it gave us time to save up!

The restaurant is on the 52nd floor and there are several bars as well. We headed down to the 41st floor for a night cap and to enjoy the never ending skyline of Tokyo before walking back to Shinjuku station to catch one of the last trains back to our hotel.

TFT2011 did not disappoint. We might have to have a part II before Glenn leaves. What an amazing city!

Not America Safe: Ventilation

I'm pretty sure these uncovered fan directly above a store entrance wouldn't pass a few safety standards in American. Especially since the doorways are only about 6 feet tall. Anyone could stick their hand up there. Well, any one stupid could.

:)

Happy Birthday Tim!

Hi Tim! Have a happy birthday!

Osaka: Day 3

We met Hillary for breakfast, and enjoyed exploring the city until lunch time where Hillary introduced us to El Pancho and their 50% off Happy Hour from 12-5 pm. Umm...yes please. What would have been a 5200 yen pitcher was only 2600 yen! Yes please!

Since I've returned and talked to my students about Osaka, they have all asked me, "What did you eat?" "Did you try takoyaki? okinomiyaki?"

"Umm...sorry to say, we ate a lot of American food!" Well, if you count tacos and pizza as American.

We were hoping to catch a Tigers baseball game in Osaka, but unfortunately, there were out of town while we were there. That didn't stop Glenn from buying a jersey though. Tiger fans are pretty hard core and several asked to take his picture since he was an American fan. Cheezu!

One of the main streets in Osaka was having a festival of some sort. I liked this dance groups hair style. Not even sure how they got that to happen!

After shopping and walking a little longer, we decided it was time to head home. We grabbed our bags from the hotel and headed to the Shinkansen (bullet train). I love these weekend trips and I am sad that they are coming to an end in Japan and with Glenn. I've already started a list of places on the east coast that I want to visit. If we go to Texas, I'll have to start another list! So many places and things to see!

Laura's Baby Shower- The Other Side

I posted some pictures from Laura's Baby Shower the other week, but here are a few pictures from Laura's side!

I even got to be in the group picture!

What's for Dinner? Meatload Sandwiches

Glenn and I recently made these sandwiches from a recipe in BH&G. Not the healthiest thing, but oh so good! I can't find a link online, but here is the basic recipe.

Mix 1/4 cup ketchup with a teaspoon of curry powder (that's enough for 2 sandwhiches). On two pieces of bread, melt cheddar cheese with sliced green onions under the broiler for a few minutes. On top of the cheesy bread, layer a piece of lettuce and a slice of meatloaf and then some of the ketchup mixture. Layer the two pieces of bread and top with a pile of french fries and then the last piece of ketchuped-bread. It's a massive sandwich, but you won't be disappointed!