January 28: Japan to LAX

This morning we had to wake up early to finish packing and meet Uncle Hiro at his place at 8:30 so I set my alarm for 6:15 and we went to breakfast at about 7. When we got down there Otousan was towards the back of the line and there were a tone of people. Almost all of the tables were taken so Christal and I went and grabbed an open one. Otousan called me over and told me to take his place in line to get food for myself and Christal and then he went to the back of the line. By the time he got to the food nobody else had gotten in line behind him and once he sat down at the table about half of the hoard had finished and left the dining room. It was like a swarm of locusts had descended on the breakfast buffet and then disappeared. After we finished breakfast we gathered our luggage, checked out and headed to meet Uncle Hiro. From there we drove into Fukuoka where Otousan and Uncle Hiro had to sign some documents for their father and then Uncle Hiro took us to Canal City, which is a department store/mall. We walked around a little bit and then Uncle Hiro got a phone call that he had to meet someone at Hakata Station to drop something off, so we went there hurried over there. From Hakata Station it took less than 10 minutes to get to the airport.

Canal City

We checked in for our flight to Narita and we were able to check our bags all the way to Los Angeles, so that was nice. After we checked in Uncle Hiro had parked his car and met us in the terminal so we headed up and had lunch at Kuko Ramen, which translates to Airport Ramen. They served Hakata style ramen, which uses a tonkotsu broth made from pork bones. I ordered the special ramen that included chashu pork, negi, pickled mustard greens, marinated sliced konbu and a marinated soft-boiled egg. The noodles they used were thinner than most ramens I've had before, but they still had a good chew to them. Everything was very good, the pork was really tender and soft with a good ratio of meat to fat. The mustard greens had some chili in them so it added a little extra flavor and the konbu had a tender crispness that complimented the texture of the noodles. The egg was very lightly marinated to the point that I couldn't really pick up any extra flavor. After we finished with lunch Christal and I went and bought some mentaiko for Uncle Vic real quick and then we said goodbye to Uncle Hiro and went through security.

Special Ramen @ Fukuoka Airport

Our flight to Narita was delayed by about 30 minutes, but luckily we were still able to make it to our connection pretty easily. Otousan had accidentally booked premium economy for this leg as well, so Christal and I quickly checked out the Sakura Lounge for about 10 minutes before we went to the gate to board. The first hour or so of the flight was slightly turbulent, but otherwise uneventful. The meal I got was a beef and pork hamburger steak, shredded carrot salad, simmered vegetables with sakura shrimp and a green salad. It wasn't as good as the meal flying to Japan, but it wasn't horrible for airplane food.

In-Flight Meal

After eating I tried to sleep but Luke was fussy at the time and every time I almost fell asleep he would scream out. I think I got about half an hour to an hour of sleep total. I ended up watching a couple of movies and some food shows so it was still good. The rest of the flight went smoothly and when we landed we were able to get through customs really quickly thanks to Luke. It was a really fun trip with lots of emotions, especially for Christal and Otousan, but it is good to be home.

Luke Enjoyed Premium Economy

January 27: Munakata, Fukuoka Day 2

I must have had more caffeine than I thought yesterday because last night I stayed up till after 2 and this morning I woke up with a sore throat and slight congestion...almost made it all the way through the trip without getting sick. The worst part is I can't hold or kiss Luke. Anyway, once I did get to sleep I was able to stay asleep till about 7:30 and then Christal, Luke and I went to the breakfast buffet and met up with Otousan. This morning's buffet seemed a little better to me, but maybe that was because of the types of fish they served. When we finished with breakfast Christal put Luke down for a nap and she told me to go to the onsen and alternate hot and cold pools at least three times for at least a couple of minutes in each. The onsen was completely empty, so that was nice, and after alternating the hot and cold pools I did feel a bit better.

Breakfast

Luke ended up sleeping until about 1 pm so when he woke up we went and visited Hi-Obaachan one more time. Of course she was excited to see him but unfortunately Luke got a little bit fussy after just a few minutes. We still hung out there for a little while and I could tell it was difficult for Otousan to say goodbye.

From there we went to the Aeon Mall for lunch. We ended up choosing a tempura place called Hakata Tempura Takao. I ordered the anago tendon so that I could compare it to the one I had in Kichijoji. Overall the anago tendon in Kichijoji was better, but this one was still really good. Along with the anago it also came with chicken breast, kabocha, nasu (eggplant) and pii-man (green bell pepper). The chicken was really moist and tender, especially for being the breast and the batter on everything was a thin, delicate layer that shattered when you bit into it. The piece of anago might have been slightly larger here, but there was a little more of the narrow tail portion, so it kind of evened out. The variety of items was also pretty similar, but I felt the quantity at Kaneko-Ya in Kichijoji was a bit ore, which for an American is important. The tendon here also provided more tare (sauce) if you wanted as well as the normal tempura dashi with grated daikon if you got tired of the taste of the tare.

Anago Tendon

When we finished lunch it was 3 so we headed up and got tickets to see Star Wars: The Force Awakens. I'm quite proud to say that Luke's first movie in a theater was Star Wars. He started out a little fussy so Christal had to stand up and go down on the side where the exit was, but she was able to watch the whole movie and she said Luke slept through most of it.

Luke About to Enjoy Star Wars

After Star Wars ended we headed over to Uncle Hiro's mansion and ended up arriving about 5 minutes before he got home from work so we all drove over to Eichan Udon for dinner. This time I ordered takenoko tempura udon, which was udon with a side of mixed mushroom tempura. They gave me honshimeji, bunashimeji, eringi (king trumpet), shiitake and maitake mushrooms as well as a piece of carrot and shiso tempura. The tempura was almost as good as lunch, but the batter was just slightly thicker. All of it was still better than most tempura in the States though and my personal favorite of the night was the maitake mushroom. The udon was excellent as well and this time I got a better taste of the dashi. It was even more complex than I had originally though. It had smokiness as well as a really pleasant fishiness from what seemed like several different kinds of dried fish. When I finally finished I was stuffed. From Eichan Udon we headed to the Sun Live department store and bought some more omiyage gifts to take home and Christal and I got some soft serve for dessert. Once we finished shopping we dropped Uncle Hiro off at home and then headed back to the hotel and went to bed.

Takenoko Tempura Udon

January 26: Munakata, Fukuoka Day 1

This morning I woke up at about 7:30 and then Christal, Luke and I went down to the breakfast buffet a little after 8. Otousan got picked up by Uncle Hiro at 8 and then dropped him off at the train station so that he could go to work and we would have a mode of transportation. The breakfast buffet was good, but I wasn't too hungry this morning. When we were almost done eating Otousan came back and told us he had spoke to the hotel and if we packed our bags up they would move us to a non-smoking room when we left for the day. Once we finished we headed up and packed up our bags again and got ready to leave.

Breakfast

Otousan needed to do a few things at his parents house so we headed there first. The house was at the end of a street up towards the top of a hill and the streets we traveled on up the hill were extremely narrow. When we arrived the property was larger than I had imagined, even though I had seen pictures. The front yard had several trees and Christal said they used to have a garden in the front also. The back yard extended about 20 yards or so behind the house and had a small mikan (orange) orchard with various types of mikan, including one that you pick in the winter and wait until the summer to eat. Christal said there also used to be a garden in the back as well. Both sides of the property and the back were all lined with groves of large bamboo and Christal said they would harvest shoots in the early spring to eat. After she showed me the outside she gave me a tour of the inside. It was more spacious than I had imagined and very nice, but very different than western homes that I'm used to. While we were at the house Luke fell asleep so we delayed going to see Hi-Obaachan for a while.

The Nishikawa House

From the house we drove to Aeon mall to see when Star Wars was playing and to look around. We found out it would be on at 3:15 in English so we were going to try and see it, but Christal had forgotten Luke's ear plugs and ear muffs at the hotel so we will have to watch it tomorrow. After visiting the theater we went down and found some matcha soft serve at Yamaguchi Garden of Tea and we all got one to snack on. The texture was super smooth and creamy and the flavor was nice because it wasn't too sweet and the matcha had a nice floral aroma to it.

Matcha Soft Serve

After the soft serve we wandered around a little bit and then went into a pet store to look at the dogs. All the puppies were bred to stay small and apparently their vocal chords are cut so that they won't be too loud. The prices were pretty exorbitant, ranging from the equivalent of about $2,000 all the way up to $10,000! They sure were cute though and Luke certainly seemed to agree.

Luke's New Friend

When Luke was finished playing with the pups we headed to lunch. We tried to go to a sushi place that was right on the beach, but when we got there it was closed. Otousan thought they were closed because they weren't able to get any fresh fish, so we went to an unagi restaurant called Yanagawa-Ya instead. Otousan and Christal both got unajyu with kimosui (eel liver soup) and Otousan ordered me a whole 10-course meal and I shared all the extras with Christal. Besides the unajyu and kimosui it also included tsukemono, assorted sashimi, (peanut tofu with a slice of tai sashimi), eel makitamago, green salad, (cooked eel salad), chawan mushi and an orange for dessert. Everything that I was served was excellent, but the unajyu was, by far, the best. As good as the unajyu in Ginza was, this one was even better. Otousan said that at Yanagawa-Ya they broiled the eel with tare first and then steamed it with the rice so that the rice would be infused with the eel's flavor as well, whereas most places will steam the eel first and then broil it. Because of their cooking process the rice isn't just a compliment for the eel, it becomes melded to the eel and their flavors intermingle with each other and almost becomes seamless. When I had finished I was fairly full, but I wanted to keep eating the unajyu, it was so good.

Unajyu w All Its Accompaniments

When we finished with lunch we drove to Sun Life department store to look around until Luke woke from his nap. We did some scouting for more gifts to take home too while we were there. As soon as Luke woke up we headed over to visit with Hi-Obaachan. Luke played with her for about 15 minutes or so and then he wanted to go back to Mommy. After visiting with Hi-Obaachan we went to Uncle Hiro's mansion where Luke and Christal both had naps while Otousan and I used the internet and I caught up on my blogging.

Luke & Hi-Obaachan

When Uncle Hiro came back from work we all went out to dinner at Kappa, which is another izakaya that was across the street from Uncle Hiro's mansion. It was a small restaurant and the food was really good. We had agedashi tofu, assorted sashimi that included buri, tako (octopus), sake (salmon), kinmedai and tai (snapper), fries, edamame sauteed in sesame oil, gyoza, sliced tomato, tempura shrimp with a squid ink mayo, avocado salad and Caesar salad. When we finished dinner we said goodnight to Uncle Hiro and drove back to the hotel and went to bed.

Tempura Shrimp w Squid Ink Mayo @ Kappa

January 25: Tokyo to Fukuoka

It had snowed in Fukuoka a couple days ago and quite a few flights to Fukuoka had been cancelled so Otousan was a little worried about our flight, but luckily it hasn't snowed in Fukuoka since and Uncle Hiro said the amount of snow and ice on the roads had gone down. Our flight was at 8:10 from Haneda Airport so I got up at 5:30 and we were able to get on the 6:15 hotel shuttle to the airport. We got checked in and dropped off our baggage fairly quickly so we had a little bit of time to wander around the airport a little. When we boarded we had A, B, and C seats, which were on the left side of the plane, so when we took off we had a pretty good view of the Tokyo Sky Tree off in the distance. About 20 minutes or so into the flight we got a spectacular view of Mt. Fuji, so for future reference, if you travel from Haneda to Fukuoka grab a window seat on the left side of the plane. After taking quite a few pictures I took a little bit of a nap.

Mt. Fuji

When we landed in Fukuoka it was overcast with a thin layer of snow covering the ground. We retrieved our baggage and met Uncle Hiro in the terminal. He had rented a larger car to accommodate all our luggage and so we packed up and drove to Munakata to have lunch at their family's favorite restaurant, Eichan Udon. I ordered the yamakake udon, which comes with grated yamaimo (mountain yam) and a raw egg yolk. Otousan recommended that I add some shichimi and tempura crisps to my udon so I followed his recommendation. The broth was really good and really hot. It had a great depth of flavor even though it was so light and the egg yolk and tempura crisps added a nice richness to the dish. The noodles had a nice elasticity and chew to them. Overall it was an excellent bowl udon and extremely satisfying. We also got kashiwa onigiri and inarizushi on the side because Christal said that they always get it.

Yamakake Udon

After we finished lunch we went to Uncle Hiro's mansion (in Japan they call apartments mansions) and Christal, Luke and I hung out there and watched the replay of the Patriots vs. Broncos AFC Championship Game while Uncle Hiro and Otousan took care of some paperwork and errands from their father's death. After they had finished with their errands they came back to the mansion and we hung out until Luke woke up from his nap. Then Uncle Hiro drove us over to see their mom, Luke's Hi-Obaachan, in the nursing home and we visited with her for a few minutes. Apparently Otousan was going to tell her about Masumi Obaachan, but he didn't get a chance to and when Uncle Hiro took her back up to her room he mentioned something about Masumi. Anyway, I think Otousan may have a tough converstion with his mother tomorrow.

The Nishikawas

When we finished at the nursing home Uncle Hiro took us to the Royal Genkai Hotel, which is where we stayed when we came to Fukuoka after our wedding. He dropped us off and then drove home because he has work tomorrow. After we checked in and put our luggage in our room we went down to one of the restaurants in the hotel. As luck would have it, just about the only restaurant open in the hotel at the time was Otome, which was an izakaya, so we ended up having bar food for the third straight night. Even though the restaurant was dead the food was good, so I was happy. We got assorted sashimi that included fresh saba, akami maguro, kanpachi and sazae (horned turban snail), a mixed vegetable salad with sesame dressing, gyoza, fried Satsuma fish cakes, tempura gobo, karaage (fried chicken) and kanpachi kama. I have to say, Otousan did a great job of ordering because it was the perfect amount of food so that I was satiated and not completely stuffed. For me the sashimi was the most surprising dish of the night. I wasn't expecting much since the restaurant was like a ghost town, but all of the sashimi was extremely fresh tasting and none of it, even the saba, had a hint of fishiness. Each item that was on the sashimi platter had a different texture as well, so it provided another layer to the experience.

Assorted Sashimi

After we finished with dinner we headed up to our room for a dessert of omiyage and sweets we had either received or bought throughout the trip, then Otousan either went to the onsen or to bed and Christal went to the onsen after putting Luke to sleep.

Kanpachi Kama

January 24: Tokyo Day 5

This morning I was able to sleep in until about 8 or so and then when I woke up Christal and I went to Familty Mart to pick up breakfast. I ended up getting a tonkatsu dog and a chicken and cheese patty. The chicken and cheese patty was a little disappointing, but at least the cheese was subtle and not overpowering. The tonkatsu dog was a lot better than I had expected. There was some tsukemono hidden under the tonkatsu and the tonkatsu sauce also helped add some extra flavor. After I finished breakfast we had to pack up because tonight we are staying at a hotel next to Haneda Airport. Uncle Kiyonari and Auntie Megumi picked us, and our luggage, up at about 11 and took us over to Ogikubo to the church to set up for the memorial service. 

Katsu Dog, Chicken & Cheese Patty

When we got to the church we put our stuff in a back room where we could change our clothes later and then Christal and I walked around the neighborhood for about half an hour. While we were walking around we saw Karen and Maria walking to the church from the train station. We headed back to the church to see if Otousan was done meeting with the people he needed to meet with. Unfortunately he wasn't so Christal and I went out to lunch with Karen and Maria to a small soba shop near the church called Chouju-An. Uncle Kiyonari and Auntie Megumi were going to join us, but there wasn't enough room in the shop, that's how small it was. I ordered tanuki soba, which was hot soba with tempura crisps in a broth. The soba was more tender and elastic than the soba I had yesterday, maybe it had more wheat flour in it. The broth was exceptional. It was very savory, but not salty, with a hint of sweetness and packed with umami. It was so good that I almost drank all of it even after I had finished the soba. The tempura crisps added a nice crunch in the beginning and then as they soaked up the broth they added a nice richness to the soba. 

Tanuki Soba

After lunch we headed back to the church and changed into our dress clothes. The service went well, but Luke was tired and got a bit fussy after Christal spoke so I took him to the mothers' room to try and get him to fall asleep. There was too much for him to look at though and the speaker was on fairly loud so he was too distracted to sleep. After the memorial service finished I changed Luke and took him to Christal and we visited with some of the people who came to the service. There was even a large group of ESL students from HMA that came, including Nao Manabe, so it was nice to see them and catch up with Nao. When we were done visiting with people and had changed we said our goodbyes to Alyssa, Karen and Maria and then Uncle Kiyonari and Auntie Megumi drove us to the hotel next to Haneda Airport that we were staying at. After they dropped us off and we all said our goodbyes we put our luggage in the rooms and then Christal, Luke, Otousan and I went out to dinner at Uotami. Otousan said it was like a Japanese seafood izakaya, and it was good, especially for being just a block from the hotel. We started with assorted tsukemonos and then we ordered shishamo (smelt), shirako (cod milt) with a ponzu sauce, green onion yakitori, a daikon salad with shiso dressing, amaebi tempura, buri (mature yellowtail) yakitori, hokke (atka mackerel), omelet stuffed with stir fried noodles and lastly, stingray fins. When we were almost done with dinner one of Otousan's high school friends stopped by because another high school friend Otousan was texting with on Facebook called him to tell him where we were. Anyway, they caught up for a while and once Christal and I were done we left the restaurant to run some errands and repack for the trip to Fukuoka.

Shirako w Ponzu

January 23: Tokyo Day 4

This morning Christal, Luke and I all woke up around 7 or so. After we had gotten dressed we headed over the the 7-Eleven around the corner and grabbed a quick breakfast. I opted to go for the katsudon, or pork cutlet over rice with egg and onion. It was pretty satisfying overall, especially from 7-Eleven. We ate our breakfasts back in the room so that Luke could take a nap before Christal's cousin, Alyssa, came. She arrived around 10:20 or so and we went to the train station to head to Ogikubo, which is where the Adventist Medical Center and church are.

Katsudon from 7-Eleven

After church Alyssa's sister, Karen, joined us and Alyssa took us to have a light lunch at Sanpou-An, which is a soba restaurant in an Ogikubo department store. There was a little bit of a line to get in so we waited about 15 minutes or so until our name was called. Unfortunately they didn't have any tables that could seat all five of us at the same table so Christal, Alyssa and Karen sat at one table and Otousan and I sat at another table. I ordered the sakura ebi no korokoro soba, which was basically soba noodles in a tare and topped with tiny shrimp, nori, green onion, fried gobo (burdock), shiso, grated daikon, grated fresh wasabi and a lemon wedge. The dish was served cold so it was pretty refreshing and would have been perfect for a warm summer day. The tiny sakura shrimp had a mild seafood flavor that helped to give the dish some depth and the tare broth was nice and mild so that you could taste the shrimp. The fried gobo gave each bite a really nice textural contrast and the soba noodles were tender, yet firm and had a nice chew to them.

Sakura Ebi No Korokoro Soba

When we finished with lunch Alyssa and Karen took us back to the hotel via the train and then they went home for a little bit while Otousan, Christal and I walked around one of the nearby department stores. We ended up getting Alyssa a birthday gift of Yoku Moku cookies and then we went back to the hotel to meet up with Auntie Megumi, Alyssa and Karen.

Over $100 USD for Melon Sorbet!!!

Since we had a light lunch they wanted to take us to their favorite place for sweets. It was called Nana's Green Tea and it was located in the department store directly adjacent to the train station in Kichijoji. Otousan was tired so he stayed at the hotel to take a nap. I ordered the matcha parfait with fresh matcha chocolate, agar and matcha pudding. The matcha ice cream was really creamy and rich and the cereal flakes in the parfait gave a nice crunch. The matcha chocolate tasted really good, but somehow it had a chewier texture than I was expecting and the agar was pretty much tasteless. The matcha pudding on the other hand was soft and smooth and loaded with green tea flavor. The parfait as a whole was really refreshing and I would jump at the chance to go again.

Matcha Parfait w Matcha Chocolate, Agar & Matcha Pudding

Christal ordered the matcha parfait with matcha sponge cake, warabi mochi and matcha pudding. As good as my parfait was, I think hers was even better. The sponge cake was tender, moist and really fluffy and the warabi mochi was like the warabi mochi we got at Tsukiji Market.

Matcha Parfait w Matcha Sponge Cake, Warabi Mochi & Matcha Pudding

When we had finished Alyssa, Christal and I parted ways with Auntie Megumi and Karen because Karen had to go study for her college entrance exams, which are next year. Alyssa took us to Inokashira Park, which is kind of between her house and our hotel. They were doing some repairs or renovations to the lake in the park so it was almost completely drained. We walked around about half of the park and Alyssa showed us a temple that was on the grounds. She said the path around the lake is lined with sakura trees and in March lots of tourists come to take pictures of the sakura blossoms.

Inokashira Park Temple

When we were done walking around the park we walked back to the hotel where Otousan was in the lobby waiting. Alyssa took him to meet up with his high school friend and then they met us at the restaurant where we had dinner. Christal and I lounged in the lobby until Auntie Megumi and Maria, her youngest daughter, arrived. We all met, including Uncle Kiyonari, at the Kind House izakaya for dinner. The restaurant was pretty neat. It was in the basement of a building and we walked down some stairs that were lined with bamboo and then they took us to our table which overlooked a little koi pond with islands of bamboo that was in the middle of the restaurant. We had lots of little dishes, including shio (salt) yakitori, tare (sauce) yakitori, daikon salad, minced chicken yakitori, makitamago (omelete), karaage (fried chicken), rafute (Okinawan braised pork belly), salmon and chutoro (medium fatty tuna belly) sashimi, Korean pancakes with octopus and maitake tempura. The food was very good and when we walked out of the restaurant we were stuffed. Otousan walked his high school friend back to the train station, while the Taira family walked Christal and I back to our hotel, where we said our konbanwa's (goodnights) and they headed home and we went up to our room for the night.

Kind House Koi Pond

January 22: Tokyo Day 3

For some reason I woke up at 6:30 this morning. I couldn't go back to sleep so I used my time to catch up on my blogging and editing and sorting of photos. Otousan was out of the room when I woke up and came back about 7:30 or so, then he went out to a convenience store around 8 to get breakfast. Once Christal and Luke finally woke up around 9:30 the three of us went to the Family Mart to grab a quick breakfast. I ended up getting a chicken onigiri and fried chicken and Christal got a curry beef bun and some jello. After breakfast we tried to put Luke down for a nap and Otousan met with Uncle Kiyonari and Auntie Megumi to talk a little bit. Christal, Luke and I met up with them in the hotel lobby at about 11:30 and we walked down the street about a block or less to a small place for lunch.

Kaneko-Ya

The restaurant was called Kaneko-Ya and all they served was tendon, or tempura rice bowls. They had three options and each option came with shrimp, soft boiled egg, green bean, nori and seafood kakiage tempuras. I ordered the anago tendon, which came with a huge piece of anago (saltwater eel). The eel was very tender and sweet and the tempura batter was very crisp and light.

Anago Tendon

Christal got the kisu (Japanese whiting) tendon. The kisu was very light and flaky with a mild flavor. The soft boiled egg was, simply put, amazing. The batter on the outside was super thin and crispy and the entire egg was extremely soft. Even the white was just barely set and it was unlike anything i've had. The green bean was nice and tender and again the batter was nicely crisp and thin. The seafood kakiage consisted mostly of small bay scallops, which were extremely tender and sweet.

Kisu Tendon

Otousan ordered the maitake (hen-of-the-woods mushroom) tendon. If we go again I think I will order this one because the anago was almost too much food. The tare (flavoring) sauce that they sprinkled over the whole thing was sweet and salty and made the rice really tasty, and couple that with the oozing egg yolk and it made me want to keep eating the rice for the rest of the day.

Maitake Tendon

When we finished lunch we had to go back to the hotel to change Luke, but they were still cleaning our room. Christal changed him in the lobby bathroom and then we decided to go to Uniqlo, which was a few blocks away and the Kichijoji store is seven stories tall. I was able to pick out a bunch of clothes to take back for gifts, so it was a productive/destructive shopping trip. When we were done at Uniqlo we headed back to the room and we all took naps. In the evening Uncle Hiro and his girlfriend, Kyoko, met us at the hotel and we went to Shabu Shabu Budo-Ya for dinner, which was only a block away. To start we were served a roll that had salmon, crab and cucumber on the inside and was wrapped in thinly shaved sheets of daikon. On the side were tender, little florets of broccoli rabe and everything sat on top of a bright yellow sesame ginger sauce. The flavors were really clean and clear and it was a great start to the meal.

Salmon, Crab & Cucumber Daikon Roll w Broccoli Rabe & Sesame, Ginger Sauce

Next the waitresses brought out the vegetable platters, which consisted of tofu, napa cabbage, tokyo negi (Tokyo scallion), enoki mushrooms, shiitake mushrooms, lettuce, chrysanthemum greens and noodles. The waitresses filled our pots of boiling dashi with the tofu, napa cabbage, Tokyo negi, enoki mushrooms and shiitake mushrooms because they would take longer to cook. They said the lettuce, chrysanthemum greens and noodles would cook in a very short time so we cooked them ourselves.

Assorted Vegetables

Shortly after the vegetables came out they brought out platters of thinly sliced wagyu ribeye. The marbling of the beef was amazing, you could tell just by looking that it would be tender. The waitresses cooked the first piece for everyone and they told us to leave some pink in the meat so that we wouldn't overcook it.

Wagyu Ribeye!

They provided two dipping sauces, a yuzu ponzu sauce and a sesame sauce. I personally enjoyed the yuzu ponzu a little bit more. As soon as the waitress had finished cooking my first piece of beef she laid it gently in the sauce dish and then I added some green onions to it. The beef was the most tender I have ever had, bar none. It would yield with the slightest chew, but it never seemed to be mushy, and it had a deep, rich beefy flavor that the ponzu sauce cut through and accentuated with its acidity.

Perfectly Cooked & Resting in Ponzu

When we had finished our vegetables and beef a waitress came in and added some rice noodles and mochi to our pot and cooked them for a couple of minutes before ladling out a portion for everyone along with some of the broth and then garnishing it with a few grinds of fresh pepper and green onion. This is called kishimen and it is typical of the Nagoya area according to Otousan. The broth was very mild tasting with hints of beef and the pepper helped to pep it up a little bit. The mochi was fresh and chewy and it all helped to give some relief from the richness of all the beef we had eaten.

Kishimen

For dessert I ordered the yuzu sherbet. It was a really refreshing end to the meal. The citrusy flavor helped to cleanse my palate and the texture of the sherbet was exceptionally smooth. When we finished Uncle Hiro and Kyoko walked us back to the hotel and we said our goodbyes, then we headed up to the room and got ready for bed.

Yuzu Sherbet

January 21: Tokyo Day 2

This morning Uncle Kiyonari and Auntie Megumi came to pick us up around 10:45 because we are moving to a hotel in the Kichijoji neighborhood of Tokyo. I had mentioned wanting to go to the crosswalk that was always crowded in movies when we flew over from Okinawa so they took us to the Shibuya neighborhood. We parked just a few blocks up from the so-called scramble crossing and walked down. We were there at about 11:30 am so it was kind of an odd hour of the day so the crosswalk wasn’t too crowded, but there were still enough people there to get a small taste of how the crossing works. We made a couple of rounds before we headed back up to the car.

Scramble Crossing

Uncle Kiyonari drove us over to the Shinjuku neighborhood where we had lunch at Unoya. It was on the 49th floor of the Shinjuku Nomura Building. Originally they wanted to take us to Hibiki, which was right next-door, but they wouldn’t allow children under the age of 6, so we went to Unoya instead. Being so high up we had a really great view of the city and Mt. Fuji was even in our view.

View from Unoya

For my lunch I ordered the bubuzuke with maguro sashimi, which they only have 10 orders available each day. It consisted of akami maguro sashimi with fresh wasabi and shiso, a dipping sauce of fresh egg yolk, shoyu and sesame mixed together, rice, tea to pour over the rice, tsukemono to top the rice, puffed rice and hiyayakko (soft tofu with bonito shavings, green onion and shoyu). The maguro with fresh wasabi and shiso dipped in the egg yolk sauce and eaten with the rice, tea and tsukemono was really good. It was a nice light lunch, but still satisfying.

Bubuzuke w Maguro Sashimi

Otousan got a beef curry with over easy egg, cheese and tempura onion. For some reason the large size was the same price as the small size so he ordered the large and Christal and I helped him finish it. Just like the other curries we've had in Japan, it was so much better and more flavorful than the golden curry I've had in the US. 

Beef Curry w Egg, Cheese & Tempura Onion

Christal ordered udon with negitoro don. The udon was very good, and it had more vegetables in it than I'm used to seeing in udon. The negitoro don was super fresh and the shiso leaf and fresh wasabi helped cut through the fattiness of the toro. For whatever reason the green onions in Japan seem to be sweeter and have less of the harsh onion flavor than the green onions in America and it seems to help accentuate everything better. Needless to say I was a fan of the negitoro don.

Udon w Negitoro Don

After lunch Uncle Kiyonari and Auntie Megumi took us to the Isetan department store, which has one of the largest food halls in Japan in its basement. We only walked around the desserts section and part of the meat section because we didn't want to get stuck in rush hour traffic, but the displays were amazingly intricate, especially in the desserts section. There is even a French chocolatier, Jean Paul Hévin, whose shop only lets in four people at a time so that they can regulate the temperature and humidity better inside. Whether or not this is actually effective seems suspect to me, but its not my store so they can do whatever they want. On our way out Christal wanted to get her dad an eclair so we stopped at Pierre Hermé at picked on up along with a pistachio and strawberry cake. The pistachio and strawberry cake was exceptional. The cake was light and fluffy, even though it looked like it might be heavier and crumbly, and it had a pistachio cream in the middle that was sweet and rich and full of pistachio flavor.

Pistachio & Strawberry Cake

From Shinjuku we headed out to Kichijoji and we got dropped off at our hotel. Once we got settled in Luke and Christal took a long nap while Otousan went out for a walk and I worked on my blog/journal. Otousan then met up with the president of the Japanese SDA conference and Luke and Christal had kind of woken up by that time so we all headed out for dinner. Christal was wanting ramen with chicken broth, which is supposedly what Kichijoji is known for, but we didn't find any placed with exclusively chicken broth near us so we settled on Souryutougyoku-do. I ordered the shio ramen and it was good, but I think I like the shio ramen I make better. The broth seemed more salty and the noodles were kind of generic, but it was still better than average. 

Shio Ramen

When we finished we said goodbye to Mr. Shimada and then Otousan went back to the room to relax while Christal, Luke and I walked around for a while more. We explored some smaller alleyways that had all kinds of little bars with room for 5-10 people at most. They all had yakitori or some other kind of food that looked and smelled delicious. Right before we headed back to the hotel we stumbled across a fugu restaurant that had tanks of live fugu displayed at the front window. Fugu is one of my bucket list items, but Christal doesn't want me to have it so I may have to hold off till I'm really old.

Fugu!