Japan 2013 | kimberly ah

Sep 27 2013

adventures, Japan 2013, My Love Affair with Tokyo

Dreams Come True at Mister Donut

I don’t know where Mister Donut gets its music. Some days it was this “Misdo Club” radio station (the announcer spoke in English and it played mostly American music) and other days it was a little bit more random. No matter which format was playing, we sat there for an hour or so every single morning and the song above played at least four times.

Every day.

Same song.

Four times.

I was the first to notice it. Then Naoto noticed and every time the song came on we would laugh. No one else in the restaurant seemed to notice at any point. It became weird, but very catchy. It’s kind of an ear worm. I have no idea what she’s saying, or how to say what she’s saying, and I find myself singing along. When we got home and Naoto found the video, it was exactly how I pictured it.

Upon further research, Naoto learned the song was written for Mister Donut…if you go to iTunes Japan site, you can see the donut on the album. Sadly, I haven’t found it on the American iTunes site…so I guess I’ll just have to watch the YouTube video over and over and over again to relive my Misdo mornings!

Tagged adventures, coffee, I *heart* Japan, Japan

Sep 26 2013

10 Comments

adventures, coffee talk, Japan 2013, My Love Affair with Tokyo, Sweet Tooth

My Love, Mister Donut

If there is one thing in Japan that I miss most, it’s Mister Donut. More than amazing office supplies, more than fancy stationery, more than MT tape…I miss Misdo (affectionate for Mister Donut).

In normal, everyday life, I think donuts are fine. Naoto and I go to Dunkin Donuts almost every day for the coffee. Sometimes I might get a donut, but it’s really just to quash a morning sugar craving (or make the sugar craving last all day, as the case may be). Dunkin Donuts donuts are not really delicious to me. (No offense Dunk…but you guys truck them in…how can you even think that’s a good idea?) But at Mister Donut, donuts are a must. They taste different than American ones. First of all, they are made fresh on the premises. Naoto and I went to the Mister Donut right at opening on our first day in Japan (hello, jet lag!) and they were filling the shelves for the whole first hour with fresh-from-the-oven delights. Aside from the freshness, the donuts are just…different. They are lighter, less sweet and have a better consistency than American donuts (bakery & Dunkin). I seriously have never had a better donut. They also have different flavors than typical American donuts. Misdo’s glazed donut is glazed with honey (not corn syrup), there is a green tea old fashioned, there are savory donuts made with puff pastry filled with a hot dog or au gratin potatoes… And, Mister Donut has new flavors that they roll out with the changing seasons. When we there there in 2011, I gorged myself on a variety of sakura (cherry blossom) donuts. This time the new flavor for fall was chestnut. Those were all amazing. Would you like to see every single donut I ate on my vacation?

Day 1: hot dog donut, glazed pon de ring, brown sugar pon de ring

Day 2: chestnut filled chocolate pon de ring, brown sugar pon de ring, chocolate glazed pon de ring

Day 3: hot dog donut, old fashioned, strawberry frosted pon de ring, chocolate frosted pon de ring

Day 4: old fashioned, chestnut chocolate frosted pon de ring

Day 5: chestnut filled with chestnut cream, brown sugar pon de ring, chocolate glazed pon de ring, strawberry dipped cruller

Day 6: hot dog donut, chestnut filled chocolate pon de ring

Day 7: old fashioned, honey glazed old fashioned

Keep in mind, I shared those donuts with Naoto…I didn’t eat all of them on my own. We had fun each morning choosing the next one to try, or going back for old favorites like the hot dog. I cannot tell you which is my favorite. It changed by the day. You just really can’t go wrong with Misdo. In “our” Mister Donut (the one by the hotel…hey, we were “regulars”!), you walk in and pick up a little tray and tongs and choose your own donuts. At the cash register, the staff transfers your donuts to a plate (and warms up your hot dog donut if you wish) and places the plate on another tray with your coffee. Then you can take your tray to your seat at a table or a counter by the window. When you sit in the restaurant, your little red Misdo cup is a bottomless cup of coffee. The Misdo staff comes around and pours refills periodically, carrying a little basket with creamers and sugars. Naoto and I drank a lot of refills, especially because we were up so early and had a lot of time to kill before places opened at eleven.

On our last full day in Japan, Naoto had to pick up his suit–He bought a suit in Japan!–so I stayed at Mister Donut alone and wrote my postcards and people watched. He was a little bit worried about the language barrier, but really, I didn’t think “more coffee please” would be that difficult to communicate. (It wasn’t.) I’m already dreaming of my next Misdo visit…

Tagged adventures, coffee, food, I *heart* Japan, Japan

Sep 25 2013

Conveyor Belt Sushi

Naoto wanted to take me to conveyor belt sushi during our stay in Japan. Conveniently, Sushi Daidokoya was just a block away from our hotel. (Seriously…it was the best hotel location.)

Conveyor belt sushi restaurants are kind of “fast-food” sushi, without the mystery meats and paper wrappings. They are just quick and cheap places for sushi. The restaurants have rotating conveyor belts of different offerings. The sushi chef is usually in the center of the belt slicing up different cuts of fish and making the sushi. He puts each serving on a little plate (about the size of a saucer) and then the customer chooses which kind of sushi she wants from the belt.

When we walked in, we were greeted by all of the restaurant staff (much like the izakaya experience, and really all dining establishments in Japan). We took our seats at the communal table surrounding the conveyor belt and Naoto filled up our tea mugs. There were hot water spigots at each seat, making it easy to help ourselves. A woman handed us a hot towel and then we were on our own to pick out what we wanted from the conveyor belt as delicious sushi offerings glided by.

We chose several things directly off of the belt. It was lunchtime so everything was freshly made and snagged up quickly. We didn’t see my favorite roll–the tekka roll (tuna and wasabi wrapped in rice and seaweed)–so Naoto special ordered it and the sushi chef passed it over the belt to me.

Here’s a little video of the view from our seat. Things move around pretty quickly so you have to be on your toes and know what you want!

At the end of the meal, the woman who gave us our towels came over and counted our plates. We ate twelve plates of sushi and our bill was less than $20. It was awesome.

Tagged adventures, food, I *heart* Japan, Japan

Sep 24 2013

5 Comments

adventures, cocktails, Japan 2013, My Love Affair with Tokyo, what's for dinner

Scenes from the Izakaya

Naoto & I spent several evenings in Japan with family and friends drinking and dining in izakayas. An izakaya is a Japanese pub. The style is similar to tapas where you order several small dishes and share. I am not a huge food sharer (once I ate Ethiopian food with a guy with a head cold…it scarred me for life!) but I am a huge fan of the izakaya. I love the casual atmosphere. I love when you walk in and every. single. server greets you, no matter where they are in the restaurant. (I always feel like Norm walking into Cheers!) I love the hot towel (oshibori). I love that Naoto can order some “safe” dishes for me, and some wild and “crazy” dishes for himself and the family. (See whole fish below…Naoto had the honor of eating the head.)Most izakaya menus are entirely in Japanese. The first time we went to Japan, Naoto tried to read the entire menu to me. That got annoying, (I’m sure for both of us) so on this trip, I just told him to order what he wanted, and to make sure there were a few things that I would enjoy. I mean, there was really no point in him telling me about the six-headed squid on the menu when I would never eat it.

So while Naoto was devouring his fish head, I could eat sushi and sashimi, chicken skewers, goma-ae (pictured below, spinach with miso sesame sauce…I love this!), and other vegetable dishes.When we had dinner with Naoto’s family, we sat at a long table in the main room of the izakaya. The other times, with Hisae and then with Naoto’s friends, we sat in a smaller, private rooms. In Japan, the servers are not constantly checking on you like they are (for the most part) here in America. If you need something, you just ring a bell (as we did in one of the establishments) or yell out, “Sumimasen!” (excuse me) and the server comes to take your order or clear your plates or bring your bill. (It’s a beautiful concept…American restaurants, let’s talk about adopting this.)Because I’m not a huge beer drinker, and because I wanted to avoid a Tokyo hangover at all cost, I mostly drank cocktails. Usually they consisted of some kind of house-made liqueur (yuzu or lychee or peach or plum) and soda water, or some secret concoction. We also drank sake (of course!) and shochu (not my favorite). When we met up with Naoto’s college friends (Jessica and Keiichi, along with their son Ethan) we ended our meal with zosui, a rice soup made with chicken stock and other vegetables. Ours was cooked at the table, which was awesome because we were all cold and wet from the downpour we walked through to get to the izakaya. (None of us had umbrellas, which is unheard of in Japan.) The zosui had chicken, scallions, mushrooms, tofu and cabbage…Jessica literally stuffed the pot with the vegetables and they cooked down into the delicious broth. It was so comforting! Many thanks to our friends and family who made our izakaya visits so much fun!

Tagged adventures, cocktails, food, I *heart* Japan, Japan

Sep 20 2013

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adventures, Japan 2013, My Love Affair with Tokyo, Spending the Yen

Spending the Yen 1: Bunbougu Cafe

I’m not sure it’s necessary to blog about each and everything I bought in Japan…

I bought a lot…mostly washi tape, stationery, pens, Biore products, some craft supplies and some seriously tasty snacks involving green tea. (The Green Tea Kit Kats sold at the airport are my favorite things on earth!) Naoto was very much an enabler. Every time I wavered about buying something, he reminded me that we are only in Japan once every year or so. I rarely argued with this reasoning. Even so, I regret about five things I chose to not purchase…ahh next time! These are the stationery bits I bought at bunbougu cafe. I chose some calendar stickers, two rolls of MT tape, message cards and this lovely silver box. The box is covered in tiny scratches, which I love because it’s not so precious that I won’t use it. (I always need more wabi-sabi in my life.) It’s large enough to hold pens or post-its on my desk and has become a catalyst for the Great Desk Clean-Up. (Remember this post? Yeah, it’s that bad again.)

The thing I loved about the box is its story. The box is handmade by artisans in Shitamachi (an old section of Tokyo) who used to make tea containers. Since most people are buying mass-produced tea tins now (because they are cheaper, of course) the makers branched into creating other useful household items in order to keep their livelihoods and to preserve the act of making goods by hand. Each box is handmade and hand scuffed, giving it all those tiny scratches, and celebrates monozukuri (simply, the act of making things, but for a more complicated answer, click the link.)

I love having a little piece of handmade Japan on my desk to remind me of our trip, bunbougu cafe and (most importantly) to keep my desk clean!

Tagged adventures, decorating, I *heart* Japan, Japan, office supplies, washi tape

Sep 19 2013

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adventures, Japan 2013, My Love Affair with Tokyo

Our Haircuts in Japan

Hisae scheduled a haircut for Naoto and I while we were in Tokyo. She took us to her place in the Ichikawa, Chiba (just outside of Tokyo) to meet Mika at Tribe. I’ll admit, I was a little bit nervous about the whole thing. My hair has a very different texture than Japanese hair, and I was nervous about getting a try-hard Japanophile haircut that looked ridiculous on my Midwestern white-girl face. I shouldn’t have been so worried. Mika was fabulous. She speaks English so I was able to tell her what I wanted without having to rely on Naoto to translate. She is a surfer–the tannest person I saw in Japan–and she plays a Hawaiian radio station in her salon. Nothing gives a place a more relaxing vibe that Hawaiian music! Plus, who else would look so cute in leopard-print wedge sneakers and leopard-print pants?!Getting a haircut in Japan was much like it is here. A conversation, a wash, a cut, a blow-out and styling. Mika’s assistant washed my hair. There was a wonderfully relaxing head massage during the wash, and a very hot towel was placed on my head for a few minutes. It was so calming and dreamy. After the wash, Mika started cutting. Once she was done with the initial cut, she put something on my hair and wrapped my head in a plastic bag. Then she rolled over this big donut contraption and plugged it in. The donut swirled around my head, warming the conditioning treatment on my hair. While the donut was working its magic, Mika brought me a cup of tea and a piece of miso cake. Treats should always be a part of haircuts! After the donut, Mika’s assistant dried my hair,Mika gave it a few more texturizing cuts and then she styled it with hot rollers. (Does anyone still use hot rollers? I am amazing at how quickly they worked to give my hair a little oomph! I just might be a convert!) Tribe was quite a train ride away, but it was totally worth it.

Tagged adventures, hair & makeup & nails, I *heart* Japan, Japan

Sep 18 2013

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adventures, Japan 2013, My Love Affair with Tokyo, thoughts

Okaasan

They say you can tell a lot about a man based on how he treats his mother.

Naoto was somewhat of a mystery in this department for most of our relationship, since I hadn’t seen him interact with his mom until we’d been married for five years. (Though, I did have some insight–he sends her $100 worth of American cherries every spring…if that doesn’t say love, I’m not sure what does!) When we finally got to spend time together with his mother on our first trip to Japan together, I had a chance to observe my husband in a different light. Naoto is very kind and patient and giving and caring in everyday life. When he is with his mom, though, he is extra kind and patient and giving and caring. There is a soft strength that comes out when I see him speaking to his mother and holding her hand and helping her along. When I watch them interact–him explaining about his jobs, her teasing him about being “American fat” (P.S. He’s not!), him asking about her health, her talking about the grandchildren–I can’t help but melt a little bit and love my husband even more. Sure, maybe it’s the novelty…we don’t see Naoto’s mother very often…but I think their time together is very telling of their relationship. And it’s very telling of the kind of man he is.

Tagged adventures, I *heart* Japan, Japan, parents

Sep 17 2013

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adventures, Japan 2013, My Love Affair with Tokyo

Tokyo Skytree

The Tokyo Skytree is the tallest structure in Japan and the tallest tower in the world. It is pretty new, opening in May 2012. Hisae got us tickets to see it on Thursday evening. It was the perfect time because we got to see it in the bright sun and then see the view change as the sun went down that evening. We took a comfy Skytree bus to get there…it was a nice change of pace from standing on the trains! As with most of Japan, there is plenty of shopping inside the Skytree. We did a little bit of shopping and snacking before we shot up in the elevator. The sun was setting and painting the sky perfect shades of pinks, purples and golds. It was interesting to notice that Tokyo looks like any other large city from two thousand feet in the air. There is a glass bottomed section in the Skytree that made us feel all daring as we stood on it, tempting fate. Of course, the metal grid underneath the glass made it less exciting…I’m a little bit sad to say that I haven’t been up in Tokyo Tower, the famous-but-shorter tower in the city…maybe next time?

Tagged adventures, I *heart* Japan

Sep 16 2013

9 Comments

adventures, coffee talk, Japan 2013, My Love Affair with Tokyo, Office Supplies, snail mail

Heaven is bunbougu cafe

Stationery store + coffee shop = heaven, am I right?

Hisae (Naoto’s older sister) played tour guide for us during part of our stay in Tokyo. She mentioned that she had a “surprise” for me. Well, the surprise was bunbougu cafe and it was more amazing than I could have imagined.

(This is where I will tell you that I regret a few things about our trip to Japan. One is that I didn’t carry my “big” camera with me very often and another is that I didn’t take more pictures. Sigh. Sorry for my poor iPhone photos!)Bunbougu cafe is in Omotesando neighborhood. It is in the basement of a building and you walk down into a stationery shop and cafe. There are place mats (seen above) at each seat and pens, rubber stamps, markers, colored pencils and other art supplies are available to borrow for doodling and writing. They have a full menu available, but we came right after lunch, so we ordered drinks and doodled a bit at the table as I sat amazed at this incredible cafe concept. While we waited for our drinks, I poked around the store. Bunbougu sells stationery, cards, pens, stickers, washi tape, pen cases, boxes…pretty much anything you could imagine needing if you’re a letter writer or journaler. In addition to the obvious Japanese stationery offerings, they had a lot of my favorite American designers at bunbougu. I saw lots of Rifle Paper Co., Yellow Owl Workshop and Chicago’s own Field Notes! Field Notes were even one of the bunbougu employee’s favorite picks! I limited myself to a few purchases (which I will share in a bit!) and spent most of my time hanging out with Naoto and Hisae drawing at the table and enjoying my coffee. As if being a stationery store/cafe didn’t make bunbougu awesome enough, they have a membership option. For 700 yen (about $7) members receive a key to the stationery drawers at each table. Members have access to the “secret” pens, stationery, art supplies and other treats in the drawers. They also get invited to members-only events and seminars about stationery and other paper-y things. Isn’t this a genius concept? Now, who wants to move to Omotesando with me to join bunbougu cafe? Better yet, who wants to open one here in Chicago? For a great article and better pictures of the bunbougu cafe, go here!

Tagged adventures, coffee, I *heart* Japan, mail art, office supplies, rubber stamp, snail mail, washi tape

Sep 13 2013

8 Comments

adventures, Japan 2013, My Love Affair with Tokyo, Oh Presley!

Fifteen Minutes in a Cat Cafe

Let me tell you about the time Naoto & I spent 300 yen each to play with a stranger’s cats.

It all happened by accident. I hadn’t planned on going to a cat cafe–yes, a cat cafe…where you pay a cover charge to enter and play with cats, not to eat them, thankfully. But one morning, while we were exploring Shimokitazawa and waiting for the stores and restaurants to open, we happened upon Cateriam. We decided it would be a funny thing to do, and it turns out, it was the best part of that day! Our three hundred yen allowed us fifteen minutes to play with, pet, and take pictures of the variety of cats. There were about a dozen or so cats in a large room with a couch, chairs, cat towers and other furniture for the humans and the cats. There were tons of toys to promote play and interaction with the cats, too. There was another customer in the cafe who appeared to be a regular. She stayed a lot longer than we did. There was a small menu with drink and snack options and a gift shop, too!

The cats had access to a little room where they could escape human contact and take a nap or eat, so they weren’t trapped socializing the whole time. All of the cats were really friendly (Presley could never be a cat cafe cat!) Some were hiding out, and others were more playful and social. They each had a name and you could tell that the cat cafe owner, Shigemori-san really cared about each one and knew their personalities well. This cat was a big ol’ ragdoll and just flopped into my arms when Shigemori-san handed him to me. I played with this furry one, but he wouldn’t give the ball back. During our visit, the owner told us to go into the bathroom to see something “interesting”. The cats were helping themselves to some water! I took a little video of this guy lapping it up.

Although the visit made us miss little Presley even more, we both enjoyed our cat fix and experiencing something that seemed very “Japan”. Thumbs up for the cat cafe!