Japan 2015 | kimberly ah

Aug 06 2015

adventures, cocktails, Japan 2015, My Love Affair with Tokyo

Hasegawa Happy Hour: Mixology in Tokyo

Craft cocktails are still a new thing in Tokyo. Most bars are still the izakaya style where copious amounts of beer and simple cocktails are served alongside fried foods, meat, and noodles. There are only a handful of actual cocktail bars in Tokyo, four or five mixologists are paving the way in their own little pockets of the city. I found this article in Time Out Tokyo and added a visit to one of these cocktail bars to our must-do list. We decided to go to Codename Mixology since it’s only a few steps away from Tokyo Station and its wonderfully stocked post office. The cocktails here are developed in a “lab” and using unique combinations and uniquely developed liquors. They offer a whole menu of cheese-infused martinis, foie gras vodka, and gins distilled with hinoki (Japanese cedar), blue cheese, and other unusual flavors. We had read about the Tomato Cocktail and the Tom Yum Cooler in the article and decided to start with those. The tomato cocktail (pictured above) was lovely. It was garnished with drops of olive oil and a dried tomato and had a subtle tomato flavor. The Tom Yum Cooler stole the show though. I’m not a huge fan of Tom Yum soup, but the flavors in the cooler were exploding! Lime, balsamic vinegar, and tamarind–it was at once sweet and savory and tart.

Our bartender, Ohba-san let us taste some of the weird gins and told us about the behind-the-scenes development of the cocktails. Even though we had planned to drink just one cocktail, we decided to go upstairs to Codename Mixology Laboratory, a prohibition themed speakeasy. Ohba-san walked us upstairs, punched in the code, and introduced us to the bartender upstairs. Everyone else who entered the Laboratory after us knew the code. It felt like a secret society in there! The menu upstairs was very similar to the menu downstairs, but the atmosphere felt more dark and moody. We ordered a pizza–which was so good! One half was Margherita and the other was prosciutto and arugula. We ordered specialized versions of familiar drinks, a Manhattan and I can’t remember what Naoto had. (Sorry!) There was less “showmanship” upstairs, but the presentation of the cocktails was superb. Both of ours were served in pewter goblets with matching coasters.

I made a quick little video so you can hear the music and the quiet chatter at the bar. The 1930s and 40s music really set the tone in the room. After dinner, we ventured back downstairs for another drink. Watching Ohba-san masterfully create these crazy cocktails was well worth the bar tab! To end the night, I had a Smoked Negroni and Naoto had a Peach Wasabi Martini. (Truth be told, I had ordered the martini, but I liked the Negroni better, so we switched.) At first the Negroni seemed like just an average Negroni, but the smoky finish made it special. And Naoto’s martini was fruity with a slow burn from the wasabi vodka…delicious!

We are looking forward to exploring more craft cocktail bars on our next trip!

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

Aug 05 2015

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Japan 2015, My Love Affair with Tokyo, Naoberly's Noodle Tour, Office Supplies, Spending the Yen

Spending the Yen 8: Ramen Souvenirs

We picked up a few silly treats during our visits to the Ramen Museum and the Cup Noodles Museum. I’m a sucker for a good gift shop and both museums had few offerings but some really fun stuff. I try to get something useful or something we can use up, but I don’t always succeed. We each chose a porcelain ramen spoon at the Ramen Museum. We will most likely use them as soup spoons, but maybe they will inspire us to make ramen at home? They also sold ramen bowls, but spoons took up much less space in our suitcase! The images on the spoons are logos from old Japanese ramen shops. We thought the ramen cart was classic and of course, I chose the ramen chef cat. Naoto got a ramen t-shirt (he’s sporting it at Mister Donut in the picture above). Hisae told him he looked like an American tourist because Japanese men do not wear t-shirts with pictures on them…I guess that’s why we had to sit in the English-speaking room at Maisen!The Cup Noodles Museum had a few paper-y delights for me. I picked up a few pencils while I was in Japan this time. The Cup Noodles Museum logo pencil was one of them and I thought these build-your-own-ramen stickers were cute. The only postcard the Cup Noodle museum sold was this hologram one. Depending on how you look at it, you can see the cup noodle or a cross-section of the ingredients (top pictures). These little Cup Noodle notes are my favorites. They’re 3-D! On the top, there’s a place to address the note. And inside, there’s a place for the message. Then, roll it up, tuck in the tab and place the Cup Noodle on the recipient’s desk…a Cup Noodle note cannot be missed! (Just ask Presley. She got her treat last night!)I purchased this Ramen Log at Loft. I have a failed history with book logs, movie logs, dream logs…pretty much all logs, but for some reason, I was compelled to buy a ramen log. I’m hoping, with the team effort of Naoberly’s Noodle Tour, we can keep up with it. Inside, there pages and pages where you can rate the broth, noodles, and toppings and there’s a place for photos. I’m looking forward to filling up the pages with our past and future ramen stops!

Do you have favorite souvenirs?

Tagged adventures, food, I *heart* Japan, Japan, office supplies, shopping

Aug 04 2015

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adventures, Japan 2015, My Love Affair with Tokyo, what's for dinner

Maisen

One of my favorite meals of our trip was the tonkatsu at Maisen. Maisen is an old and famous restaurant in Omotesando, the same part of Tokyo as the Bunbougu Cafe is in. Naoto’s sister, Hisae, took us there a few years ago and I’ve been dreaming of going back ever since. This time we made it happen.

Tonkatsu is a fried pork cutlet (we had it at home for Christmas dinner once) with a delicious crust of panko breadcrumbs. At Maisen, it is served with miso soup, rice, pickled vegetables, and as much shredded cabbage as you can eat. (There are servers who walk around with giant baskets of cabbage, offering up refills throughout your meal.) I love that the tonkatsu is served on a little metal rack so the cutlet stays crisp until the very last bite. And the sauce!! The Maisen tonkatsu sauce is like a tangy barbecue sauce and it’s delicious on the pork AND on the cabbage. It’s similar to Bulldog Sauce (which is what we use on tonkatsu at home) but it’s richer and thicker.

The main part of the restaurant is a former bath house dressing room (you can see pictures here) but there are also several other rooms and counters for dining. The first time we ate here, we ate in the main room, which feels very spacious and light with its high ceilings and sky lights. This time, the hostess said something about English speakers and stuck us in what I assume is the part of the restaurant where the servers speak English. (There were other families in the room with English speakers, so I can only assume that’s why we were all sitting together?) The big room had better atmosphere but the food was just as delicious!

Oh, and my favorite silly part of Maisen is…they have a parking lot. It holds two cars. And there is a parking lot attendant. He’s not guarding the cars…Omotesando is a very nice neighborhood. He just stands there and bows to you as you walk by. Oh, Japan.

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

Jul 30 2015

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adventures, Japan 2015, My Love Affair with Tokyo, Naoberly's Noodle Tour

Naoberly’s Noodle Tour: Cup Noodles Museum

Back to Japan…

After we stuffed ourselves at the Ramen Museum, we decided to make a noodle day of it and visit the Cup Noodle Museum. We just made it with an hour to spare, so we didn’t have time to read every word in the museum, but we had a good time learning the history of our favorite late-night snack*. The museum is really spare and modern. The lobby is huge, open and only decorated with an illumination of a Cup Noodle. You take a giant staircase upstairs to the museum. The first part is the Instant Noodles History Cube where you can see the history and the packaging of 3000 instant noodle products. It was crazy to see the subtle changes in packaging over time and all of the regional flavors that were introduced as Cup Noodle took over the world. Much of the Museum is devoted to Momofuku Ando, the inventor of the instant noodle. (You may be familiar with Ando because he recently was honored with his own Google Doodle!) Because he invented the instant noodles later in life (he was 48) after two failed careers (he was even jailed for tax evasion!), Ando is the perfect example of how success can come at any age. Charming illustrations take you through the history of instant noodles. It took over a year of trying and failing every single day (and only sleeping four hours a night), but in 1958 Ando invented Chicken Ramen (which is like the packaged block of noodles we have today.) Later, in the 1960s, Ando came to the U.S. and saw people breaking up the blocks of ramen into styrofoam cups and adding hot water and eating them that way. Ando figured, why waste time with a separate bowl when the ramen could come in its own bowl! Cup Noodles were introduced in 1971. Ando’s last invention and lifelong dream invention was Space Ramen–instant noodles that could be eaten in space. (They are thinner so they cook quickly and have a thicker broth that won’t float around as easily.) It was fun to see the annual consumption of Cup Noodle around the world. Ando passed away in 2007. (Isn’t the drawing sweet?) I loved reading the New York Times obituary. In the next part of the museum, we got to make our own Cup Noodles. (It was an extra ¥300, so less than $3US.) There were stations set up in another huge room where you could decorate your cups. (I’ll share ours tomorrow, but we didn’t go too crazy with the decorating!) Next, the Cup Noodle guy sanitized our cups and we each turned a crank that and added a block of noodles to our cups. Then we got to choose from four different soup flavors and twelve different toppings to personalize our cups of ramen.The guy seemed excited about my choices, but now I’m not so sure: spicy tomato soup flavor, scallions, corn, cheese, and little bird wafers (I can’t remember what they are). Naoto played it safe: chicken soup flavor, ham, bacon, corn, and little bird wafers.

Then our cup noodles went through a machine that sealed the tops on and shrink wrapped the cup. (Please enjoy my mediocre video.)

“Noodle Day” was definitely one of my favorites on our trip. I really left the Cup Noodle Museum feeling thoughtful about failure and age and invention. Ando’s determination to turn his life around and his success at midlife was really inspiring. Momofuku Ando said, “It is never too late to do anything in life.” and I couldn’t agree more.

Do you eat Cup Noodle? Have you ever tried the spicy tomato flavor?

*We’ve slowed down our instant noodle eating because it’s not the healthiest diet (though Ando supposedly ate it every day for his whole life and he lived to be 96), but we still enjoy a cup now and again.

P.S. This bit about the Cup Noodle Mascot shoveling snow made me smile.

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

Jul 27 2015

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crafty adventures, Japan 2015, Office Supplies

Sakura Ballsign Knock Pens

Every time I step into Loft, my second favorite stationery & more store in Japan, I head directly for the pen displays. I stand there, section by section, trying out all of the different pens, different colors, different styles. This time, I was shopping for a new pen that I could use for letter writing. (My reliance on the Frixion pens has gotten risky for letter writing since some of the ink disappeared on the way to Tacoma, Washington recently.) So I was shopping for something a little bit more permanent. I found and fell in love with these Ballsign Knock gel pens. They come in a few different varieties, but I ended up getting a pack of the metallic ones that can write on dark and light paper, a pack of the shimmery ones that glitter in the light, and a single neon one. My favorites are the metallic ones. I love pens that write on dark papers, and I was excited to have some that went beyond the normal white, gold, and silver options in my arsenal. I love the metallic gold (it’s almost a white gold), green, blue, purple, and pink colors, but sadly, they don’t show up as strong colors on black paper. (It’s hard to tell from the picture, but they read more silver metallic on the black paper.) I think part of the reason is the colors aren’t very dark to begin with and that they have a 0.6mm point. (I like a thinner point on my pens, but I’m also not sure that this style comes in other sizes.) I still love the way that they write and the way that they look on dark paper so I’m pleased with my purchase. (Plus I have these other Ballsign gel pens in my pen stash and their true colors show up perfectly on dark papers. I’ll be sharing more about them in a future blog post.) The glittery ones are a lot of fun, but only show on lighter papers. I purchased the 0.8mm points in these (again, I think that was all Loft offered) and the thickness is perfect for showing off the shimmer of the ink (the box calls them lamé). The colors are very opaque and the ink flows really well. These will be fun for addressing envelopes and making mail art. I almost bought a box of the neon pens, but I decided that I should leave some pens for the other people. So I just bought the red one. (Neon is out of style now anyway, right?) But I like the width of the neon red pen and there was a tiny bit of skipping at first, but it got better as I used it a bit. It’s hard to tell from my picture, but the ink really pops off the page.

Sakura also offers a pastel version that can be used on dark papers and a regular ol’ gel ink version (in a 0.4mm point). All in all, I’m really happy with these pens. They are nice and slim and comfortable to hold. Time will tell if they are good workhorses for letter writing and list-making. I’ll have to put my precious Frixion pens away to find out.

Tagged crafts, I *heart* Japan, Japan, mail art, office supplies, snail mail

Jul 21 2015

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Japan 2015, Office Supplies

Pilot Frixion Stamps

I’ve never done a post about Pilot Frixion Pens, but they are my favorites. (I’ve mentioned them in these posts.) I love that they are erasable, because I’m a perfectionist at times, and I love the way my handwriting looks when I use them. I use the pens mostly in my calendar so I can easily erase appointments when plans change. When I read about the Frixion Stamps, I immediately put them on my shopping list for Japan. (This should tell you so much about my Tokyo shopping addiction!)I sometimes regret not buying all of them (they are sold individually, but you can see all of the options here on Amazon), but since I also have a planner sticker addiction, I chose the four that I thought would be most useful for me: the umbrella for tracking rain in the garden, the coin purse to mark pay days, the birthday gift to remind me to buy or send a present, and the birthday cake for noting birthdays. Just like the Frixion Pens, the ink is erasable, so if plans change, you can erase the stamp with the rubbery edge of the cap. The stamps themselves are about 1/2 inch square and a little over 2 inches long, so they can easily fit into a pencil pouch for on-the-go planning. The stamped images are about 1/4 inch and fit perfectly in smaller calendar squares. So far, I am using the coin purse and the cake on my monthly calendar spreads. And I’m using the gift and the umbrella on the daily pages. (I guess mainly because buying and sending gifts is more of a to-do list item which I put on daily pages and because this summer has been rainy so I don’t have room for a hundred umbrellas littering my monthly calendar spread.)

Like any new stamp, using the Frixion Stamps takes some getting used to. At first, I was pressing too hard and the images were getting all muddled together. They really take a gentle touch. And, though the stamps dry pretty quickly on normal paper, they dry really slowly on the smooth Tomoe River Paper in my Hobonichi Planner. (But, if the ink smears or transfers to another page, you can just erase any mess.) Now that I’m used to them, I’m really enjoying using these little guys.

(Rumor has it that Jet Pens will be carrying the Pilot Frixion Stamps soon!)

Tagged crafts, gardening, I *heart* Japan, Japan, rubber stamp, washi tape

Jul 09 2015

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adventures, cocktails, Japan 2015, My Love Affair with Tokyo

Hasegawa Happy Hour at the Suzukis

During our stay in Tokyo we were lucky enough to have happy hour with Jess and her family. We drank yuzu umeshu (plum wine) cocktails and Jess made sukiyaki. Sukiyaki, made at the table in a Japanese hot pot, usually consists of meat and vegetables cooked in a broth of soy sauce, mirin, and sugar. Jess sliced up the vegetables and presented them beautifully, in true Japanese fashion. We had two types of beef, tofu, cabbage, leeks, burdock, two kinds of mushrooms, and noodles in our sukiyaki. Jess browned the meat a bit first (on a pile of leeks!) And then she added the broth to finish cooking the meat. And then Jess removed the meat to make room for the pile of vegetables and noodles. Mmmm…it was delicious. The beef was perfectly seasoned by the slightly sweet broth and the vegetables’s textures were the perfect complement. Naoto and I think a nabe pot and a table-top burner is in our future. I definitely think it would be a fun cold-weather activity with friends!

And, to add a little excitement to the evening, there was a sizable earthquake (7.8) that night off the coast of Japan! It was a little bit scary because it was so much more powerful and lasted a lot longer than the other tiny earthquake I’d experienced in Japan before. I just kept looking at Jess to see if she had any panic in her eyes. (She didn’t and she calmly turned off the burner in case things did get any scarier!) We turned on the TV to see that the subways had been briefly halted, but by the time Naoto and I left, everything was up and running like nothing had happened.

Whew!

Thanks for being such great hosts, Jess, Keiichi and Ethan!

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

Jul 07 2015

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adventures, Japan 2015, My Love Affair with Tokyo, Office Supplies, snail mail, Spending the Yen

Spending the Yen 7: Kyukyodo

Kyukyodo, Tokyo, Ginza, stationery store Last year, Jess introduced me to Kyukyodo and I fell in love. Located in Ginza and just down the street from Itoya, Kyukyodo is filled with traditional Japanese stationery and paper gifts. The store opened in Kyoto in 1663 and moved to Tokyo in 1880 and it’s still run by the same family! The building is dark brick and very traditional looking, sandwiched between modern steel and glass towers in Ginza. Kyukyodo has only two floors dedicated to the shop: the main floor with all of the stationery and handmade washi gifts and the second floor with amazing (and expensive) calligraphy supplies and wall art.* We spent most of our time on the first floor, but I think the best part of shopping for stationery in Japan is that you can get some really fantastic stuff without spending a fortune. I bought some really lovely letter paper. On this trip, if it had a hydrangea or a cat on it, I almost always bought it… The letter papers are gorgeous. The hydrangea paper is so thin its almost translucent and the kitty paper is lovely washi and the cat and Kyukyodo are embossed. I bought a greeting card with the same cat image to send to a friend for her birthday. I also bought a few sheets of washi paper stickers. The sleepy kitty and “fist-bump” cats were obvious must-haves and the hydrangea stickers have a really pretty texture and delicate gold accents. And I bought plenty of these postcards to send to pen pals and to save in my paper collection. Wind chimes (top left) are a very big thing in Japan this time of year so I bought the cat postcard to remind me of the season. And I love that bottom right card with the pigeon and the Ginza Wako Clock Tower, which is right by Kyukyodo. I found this little video on YouTube where you can see the real clock tower:

And, of course Kyukyodo has beautiful flat paper bags and will separate your purchases into the proper omiyage packages, one of my favorite things about shopping in Japan!

*I apologize that I didn’t take any interior photos, but it was very busy that day and I wasn’t sure of the rules. Itoya doesn’t allow photography in its store, so I wanted to make sure I extended the same respect to Kyukyodo.

Tagged adventures, crafts, I *heart* Japan, Japan, office supplies, snail mail

Jun 24 2015

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adventures, Japan 2015, My Love Affair with Tokyo, Office Supplies, snail mail, Spending the Yen

Spending the Yen 6: Fish Stamp

I picked up this kanji fish stamp in Itoya during our trip and I’m so excited about it. I’ve seen these stamps in previous trips and I’ve always loved the artistry and meanings. I wish I’d written down the artist’s name. He has a whole collection of these stamps, with simple drawings mixed with kanji. This one in particular means (roughly translated) “a feeling that you are face to face even though you are far apart”. Isn’t that a perfect description of letter writing? Naoto, who isn’t often impressed with rubber stamps, convinced me that I needed this stamp in my collection. I’m glad I let him talk me into buying it!Yesterday was a most beautiful day and I spent some time on the balcony writing letters and using my new stamp. I stamped it on some sticker paper and cut out a bunch of stickers to send to pen pals. I’m very happy to share these sentiments with my letter writing friends!

Tagged adventures, crafts, diy, I *heart* Japan, Japan, mail art, office supplies, rubber stamp, snail mail, summer

Jun 22 2015

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adventures, cocktails, Japan 2015, My Love Affair with Tokyo, Naoberly's Noodle Tour, Uncategorized

Naoberly’s Noodle Tour: The Shinyokohama Ramen Museum

Naoto had one wish for our trip–to go to the Shin-Yokohama Ramen Museum, a “food amusement park” in Yokohama. Since we’ve been on our Naoberly’s Noodle Tour, I was almost as excited as he was to try different varieties of ramen. These three pictures pretty much represent the “museum” part of the Ramen Museum. Actually, the museum part is smaller than the gift shop! But the real purpose of going to the museum is to treat yourself to different varieties of ramen. Two floors below street level, there is an old fashioned “neighborhood” featuring the best ramen shops from all across Japan. (Shown in the top picture.) Outside each shop, there’s a ticket machine where you choose your ramen, any extra toppings, and drinks. You pay at the ticket machine and when you sit down, the servers take the tickets and serve up your order. Museum rules dictate that each adult must order one bowl of ramen at each place he dines. Thankfully, the shops all offer a “smaller” bowl of ramen (in addition to a regular-sized bowl), so you can try a few different types. Sadly, though, even that small bowl of ramen was too much for me. We started at Komurasaki, which serves Kumamoto-style ramen. Naoto had a traditional tonkotsu ramen with added pork and eggs (pictured first) and I had the King’s Ramen with fire roasted garlic with added pork and corn. It really was delicious! Aaaaaand that was the only bowl I ate! After the first ramen shop, we sat at a table in the bar area and had drinks. Naoto had an Orion beer on tap (which is apparently a big deal since you can’t find Orion on tap around here) and I had a Okinawan citrus cocktail, which may have been the best thing I drank during this vacation. While Naoto moved onto another ramen shop, I stayed at the bar and wrote some postcards. Naoto went to Shina Soba-ya (where I could see him eating from my postcard-writing station!) and had not only another bowl of ramen, but spare ribs, too! After walking back upstairs and spending some time (and money) in the gift shop, we went back down to try one last bowl of ramen. We went to an izakaya and had Okinawan-style ramen (and another Orion beer and another citrus cocktail!). It was really simple but tasty and it had the thickest noodles of any ramen I’d had before.