January 18: Naha, Okinawa Day 4

This morning, like the previous mornings, we went down to the breakfast buffet at 6:30 am and beat the rush. I was in the mood for carbs so I ended up having a pretty unhealthy breakfast, but at least I controlled my quantity well (gotta find the silver lining somewhere). The croissants at this buffet are surprisingly good. They always look like they might be a little overcooked and dry, but when you bite into them they are crispy and light and not as rich as European or American croissants. I finally remembered to add an over-easy egg to my bowl of rice & braised pork and I was not disappointed with the result.

Breakfast

After breakfast we went back to our rooms and I took a nap while Christal and Luke hung out in her dad’s room. Around 11:30 or so Auntie Tokimi, Uncle Dan and Hi-Obaachan Yukiko came over and took us to visit Christal’s biological grandfather one more time. He was sitting up when we got there and was very excited to see Luke again.

Hi-Ojiichan

From the hospital we drove to lunch at Marukame Udon. Christal and I both ordered kake udon with onsen-tamago (soft boiled egg) and I added kakiage (mixed vegetable), kashiwa-ten (chicken) and karei (flounder) tempura on the side. My eyes were bigger than my stomach, because I barely finished and when I did I was stuffed. The udon was sanuki style, which are thick, square noodles and the chain is the same as the Marukame Udon in Honolulu.

Kake Udon w Onsen-Tamago & Tempura

When we finished with lunch we took Hi-Obaachan Yukiko back to her house in the Kokuba neighborhood, which was really close to the restaurant. We said our goodbyes and then we drove to Auntie Tokimi and Uncle Dan’s house to drop off Uncle Dan.

With Hi-Obaachan Yukiko

Auntie Tokimi then took us to the new Aeon mall, which is huge! The first floor has a fairly large aquarium that surrounds the elevators and houses two zebra sharks, a small Napoleon wrasse, a couple of moray eels, some large parrotfish and various other fish.

Best Mall Aquarium I've Ever Seen

After taking a look at the fish we went shopping for a little while and then Christal and her dad went and got some soft-serve to snack on. Once we had finished the ice cream we took another quick look at the aquarium and then Auntie Tokimi took us back to the hotel. We headed back to the rooms and Luke got a quick bath before the four of us went down to dinner at the buffet in the hotel. The buffet at the Loisir hotel was much better than the one a couple of nights ago when we went with Uncle Dan. The quality of everything just seemed to be a notch higher all around. After we finished dinner we went back up to the room and did some packing and then went to bed.

Soft-Serve @ the Mall

January 17: Naha, Okinawa Day 3

Yesterday afternoon uncle Hiro flew in to Naha so this morning we met him for breakfast at the buffet at 6:30 am. I didn’t eat quite as much today as the last couple of days luckily. After breakfast we went back to our room and put Luke down for a nap while I watched the Chiefs vs. Patriots playoff game, which didn’t turn out quite how I would have liked.

Some of Today's Breakfast

Uncle Dan picked Christal, Luke, Uncle Hiro and me up at about noon and took us over to the Yonabaru church for Obaachan’s memorial service. The atmosphere of the service was definitely different than the atmosphere at all of the memorials in the states. It was much more subdued and there wasn't really any laughter when Christal or her dad spoke. Luke was a bit more fussy this service than he had been for any of the others as well. It was probably because he hasn't really been on a good schedule at all and is short on sleep. After the service concluded we all had a late lunch/early dinner at the church and got to visit with some of the people that came. Once we talked to a couple, the Yanami's, who had gone to Loma Linda medical school (Eddie graduated in 1999) and nursing (Sumie graduated in 1998) respectively and Eddie said he was going to Cedars Sinai for a fellowship in palliative care in July so hopefully we will see them later this year.

Yonabaru Adventist Church

When we finally left the church it was about 6 pm and we were supposed to go to Step-Hi-Obaachan's house for dinner, but Otousan was too tired and since he was going to get dropped off at the hotel we decided that Luke should probably get to bed at a reasonable time as well. We got Luke bathed and then did a load of laundry while Otousan went to the onsen (hot springs) and got a massage.

With Most of Christal's Cousins

January 16: Naha, Okinawa Day 2

Today we went down for the breakfast buffet at about 6:30 and then we went back to the room and Christal and I took a nap with Luke until about 9. Uncle Dan came at about 10 to pick us up and take us to church in Yonabaru. At church Luke got to meet a lot of people. Ai’s parents, uncles and grandfather were all there as well as Auntie Susie Mackey’s mother. Somehow I stayed awake through the whole service even though I couldn’t understand anything, go figure. After church we stayed for potluck and had takikomi gohan (rice cooked with various ingredients), sautéed winter melon and soup.

With Miyoko Miyagi (Ai's Mom)

After potluck Christal, her step-grandmother, Luke and I went to a hospital close to Yonabaru to see Christal’s biological grandfather so that Luke could meet his hi-ojiichan. Even though he has been suffering dementia and apparently some days he doesn’t really remember his family he seemed to remember both Christal and me, which was a little bit surprising. He really lit up when he saw Luke and had a huge smile on his face. Towards the end of the visit he started to get emotional and Christal thought he may have realized that something happened to Obaachan Masumi.

Luke, Biological Hi-Ojiichan & Step-Hi-Obaachan

When we were finished visiting with hi-ojiichan we dropped off hi-obaachan at her house and then uncle Dan took us to his and auntie Tokimi’s house where we met up with Auntie Tokimi and Julia/Manami. From their house we went to the nursing home where Christal’s biological grandmother and step-grandfather were at. We visited with both of them and they were both very happy to meet Luke. Hi-obaachan even told us to leave him with her while we went and got dinner.

Luke & Biological Hi-Obaachan

Luke & Step-Hi-Ojiichan

 Next we went to a hotel buffet in the area for dinner. Auntie Tokimi picked up Hayato/Joshua and dropped him off at the restaurant and so uncle Dan, Julia, Joshua, Christal and I all ate at there. The buffet was pretty good, and the highlight was the snow crab legs. While I was picking the crab legs Julia and Joshua watched me and seemed to be impressed with how I was doing it. Julia eventually decided to try them for the first time and I think it frustrated her a little bit trying to get to the meat. When we finished with dinner uncle Dan dropped Julia and Joshua off at home and then we picked up Makoto/Jonathan on our way back to the hotel. By the time we got back to the hotel it was about 11:40 pm and Christal and I were completely beat. Poor Luke had been sleeping since we left the restaurant and went to bed without a bath for the second night in a row.

With Hayato & Manami

January 15: Naha, Okinawa Day 1

Even though I tried to sleep in I woke up at about 5:30 am and both Christal and Luke woke up shortly thereafter. We played around with Luke for a while and then Otousan called us to see if we were up and ready for breakfast. We headed down for breakfast at about 7 am for the buffet, which was included with the room. It was a pretty large buffet with all kinds of different foods set up on various tables. They had an egg station making omelets and over easy eggs, there was a long table with just breads, cereals and pastries, a salad bar was set up and then about three different tables with Japanese dishes and fruit. The assortment of dishes was impressive. They had stir fried green papaya, sautéed bitter melon and fish, pig skin with vegetables, okra and squid, mozuku seaweed, stir fried kelp, chicken skewers, beef curry, stewed pork and peanut tofu just to name a few. After breakfast we headed back to the room so Luke could take a nap.

Just Part of the Breakfast Spread

At 10 am Christal’s step-grandmother (hi-obaachan) and Uncle Kiyohito came by the hotel to visit. Unfortunately when Christal went to see them she woke up Luke, so when I took him over he was pretty fragile. Eventually he warmed up to hi-obaachan and let her hold him for a while.

Hi-Obaachan, Luke & Us

Once uncle Dan arrived at the hotel we all went out for lunch to Yazaemon. It was a conveyor belt sushi restaurant in the Aeon department store. Otousan ordered a wide variety of nigiri for us all to try. We had tamago (egg), sawara (Spanish mackerel), kinmedai (splendid alfonsino), jousaba (mackerel), madai konbujime (konbu cured red sea bream), iwashi (sardine), kanpachi (greater amberjack), akami maguro (lean Bluefin tuna), chutoro (medium-fat Bluefin tuna belly) and finally otoro (fatty Bluefin tuna belly).

Tamago

I thought it was funny how an everyday, run-of-the-mill sushi restaurant in Okinawa is as good as some of the best sushi restaurants I’ve been to in the US. All of the fish was really fresh and had a nice clean flavor. The tamago was the largest slice of omelet I’ve ever seen and it was still warm with a fluffy, delicate texture and a slightly sweet, slightly savory flavor. My personal favorites for the fish were the kinmedai, madai konbujime, and chutoro. I had expected to enjoy the otoro more than the chutoro, but the chutoro seemed to have a better balance between fattiness and fish flavor, whereas the otoro was almost too fatty and seemed like it kind of had only one note. That being said, I still thoroughly enjoyed the otoro too.

Chutoro, Otoro & Akami Maguro

When we had finished at Yazaemon we walked down to the food court and found a bakery called Jimmy’s Bakery that had individual Mont Blanc cakes so that Christal could satisfy her craving. I’m pretty sure Christal, obaachan and I had eaten Mont Blanc cakes from the same place back in 2013 too. Anyway, Christal was extremely happy after eating the cake and I was pleasantly full.

Mont Blanc

After we had finished our cakes Christal, Uncle Dan and I went to the Gyokusendo Caves at Okinawa World for some sightseeing. The caves had many chambers with all different types of stalactites and stalagmites and we would walk through one chamber and straight into another. It seemed like they just kept going forever. Towards the end of the caves there were even some terraced travertine pools that were pretty neat. It was much better than I was expecting, that’s for sure.

Gyokusendo Caves

Upon exiting the caves we walked around the Kingdom Village, which was also part of the Okinawa World Park. It was essentially a kitschy tourist village with plenty of souvenir vendors along the way and souvenir shops that you had to walk through in order to get to the exit/entrance of the park. Some of the areas of the village were pretty neat to see, like the free culture museum and some of the traditional houses, but overall I thought there were too many different souvenir shops and stands.

When we had finally found our way back to the parking lot and uncle Dan’s car we drove back to the hotel to get dropped off. Luke fell asleep about halfway back and so we just went up to the room and put him down for the night.

Loisir Hotel Room View

January 13/14, 2016: Los Angeles to Naha, Okinawa

To start our trip out we are heading to Okinawa for a few days. Our plane left LAX at about 12:05 pm and I wanted to make sure we got there with plenty of time so we picked up Auntie Celia and Po-Po at 8:30 and were able to get to the airport at about 9:30 so we had plenty of time to spare. Upon checking in we found out that we somehow had access to the international lounge, so after getting through the TSA checkpoint we headed up to check it out. I don’t have much experience with travel lounges but this one seemed to be above average. They had a pretty decent self-serve bar, some sushi, pastries, coffee machines, chips, granola bars and fridges stocked with beverages, sandwiches and wraps. Of course I had to take some sandwiches for flight just in case as well as a bag of Doritos. I wanted to get some more food from ink.sack to take on the plane too so I headed down to the main terminal level and ordered a few sandwiches. I ended up getting the cold fried chicken sandwich with ranch cheese, Gindo’s spice of life, lettuce & pickles, the banh mi with pork shoulder, bacon, chicharrónes, pickled vegetables & onion spread, and the corned beef & egg with cheddar, chips and mayo. After getting my sandwiches I met Christal, Luke and Otousan at our gate and tried to add my JAL mileage number to our itinerary, but for some reason they said it was invalid. Once we boarded I saw why we had access to the international lounge. Otousan had accidentally booked us in the premium economy section of the plane and so we had seats that partially reclined, leg rests, reading lights and slippers. After we sat down Otousan exclaimed, “I was wondering why the flights were so expensive!”

Ballah!

The flight to Tokyo seemed to go by relatively quickly. I was able to watch The Intern, The Martian, The Man from U.N.C.L.E. and part of Mr. Holmes. The main meal was a choice of cod with a dill cream sauce or fried chicken with rice. Naturally I had the chicken and Christal ordered the fish. They both came with cold udon, an Italian mushroom, olive and ham salad, a green salad and fruit. Both meals were a definite step up form economy and actually tasted decent. They also provided some snacks, the best one being the kouign amann, which had a little bit of raspberry jam baked into the middle.

Fried Chicken (Karaage) Meal

Overall Luke did well on the trip. He didn’t really sleep very well while we were on the plane with his best nap being about two hours. Even though he didn’t sleep much and was a little bit fussy throughout the trip he wasn’t too loud so that helped to keep our stress down a little bit. In the middle of our connection to Naha he fell asleep, but when we landed he woke up as Christal put him in the Ergo. From then on the poor guy had is eyes wide open and was a total zombie. Uncle Daniel picked us up from the airport and shuttled us over to the Loisir Hotel, which seems like one of the nicer hotels in Naha. It isn’t quite as trendy as the hotel we stayed at last time, but it seems to be just as good. After getting a bath and quick snack in the hotel room Luke went right to bed.

November 11, 2015: Talula's Garden

Christal ended up taking the clinical skills portion of her boards examination in Philadelphia so that she can attend Julie's wedding in December, so I went ahead and made a reservation at Talula's Garden for the night after her test. I forgot how I heard about it, but it was in my restaurant bookmarks for Philadelphia and it seemed like it was fairly kid friendly online, which was important since we had Luke with us.

The weather was really pleasant so we ended up sitting outdoors in their alley/patio area. They had plants and Christmas lights creeping up the walls and outdoor heaters next to every table, which gave it a very cozy feel. We decided to go with the chef's tasting menu because it had a good variety of dishes that were on the normal menu and we could try more dishes that way.

The first course was a big eye tuna tartare with local apple, celery and parsnip. Most of the tuna tartares I have had lean towards an Asian flavor profile but this one went in a different direction. There was a smear of smooth parsnip puree on the bottom of the plate that the tartare was piled on top of and it added an earthy sweetness to contrast the sweet and tart apple and crispy celery. All three of these elements did a wonderful job of complimenting the tuna, which stood out in the dish. The tuna was super fresh and had a deep ruby color to it and it was diced larger than normal for a tartare so that it was kind of in between a typical tartare and a poke, which I thought brought out the firm texture of the fish more. A squeeze of fresh lime to finish the dish brought it all together perfectly.

Big Eye Tuna Tartare w Local Apple, Celery & Parsnip

Next we had duck rillettes with candied walnut, orange and roasted grape. We each received two quenelles of the duck rillettes that contained a generous amount of shredded duck. Underneath were purees of orange and roasted grape and on the side were some sliced grapes. Both of the purees and the sliced grapes were just sweet enough to balance with the savoriness and fattiness of the rillettes and the candied walnut added another sweet element as well as a pleasant crunch for textural contrast. The only criticism I had for this dish was that I would have loved to spread it all on a warm piece of crusty, chewy bread, but otherwise it was a delicious rendition of duck rillettes.

Duck Rillette w Candied Walnut, Orange & Roasted Grape

The third course was black pearl salmon with sweet potato, baby turnips, shellfish-saffron nage and caviar. The salmon had a really crispy skin and the flesh was still medium rare and moist. The sweet potato and turnips were firm yet tender and the tops of the turnips were left on, adding a slight bitterness to the dish. A small dollop of caviar was placed on top of the salmon, which added a salty richness to the dish that seemed to make it a little more luxurious. The shellfish-saffron nage was poured into the bowl at the table and it was almost a whole other dish in itself. It was obviously packed with shellfish and saffron flavor, but it also had some spiciness in the background that amped up the whole dish. After I had finished the salmon I grabbed a spoon and finished the nage too. It was pretty much like a fish course and a soup course all in one.

Black Pearl Salmon w Sweet Potato, Baby Turnips, Shellfish-Saffron Nage & Caviar

The pasta course happened to be their special of the night. It was a house-made farfalle pasta with gorgonzola, crispy maitake mushrooms and pistachio and citrus zest bread crumbs. The pasta was well made and had a very nice chewy and tender texture. There was just enough gorgonzola to get the flavor and not overwhelm everything else. The maitake mushrooms were definitely the crispiest mushrooms I have had without having any breading or batter on them and to top it off our waitress told us that the owner had foraged them that day.. They had a pleasant meaty texture and an earthy flavor that went well with the gorgonzola and pasta. The pistachio and citrus zest bread crumbs added a welcome crunch to each bite as well as the citrus flavor to balance with the rich gorgonzola cheese. For me the maitake mushrooms made the dish.

Housemade Farfalle & Gorgonzola w Crispy Maitake, Pistachio & Citrus Zest

After the pasta they brought out some bread for us. It was a house-made brioche roll with a cranberry butter that was melting on top. The brioche was warm and fluffy, almost cloud-like. The cranberry butter was bursting with cranberries and had chunks of cranberry that tinged the butter pink. The cranberries brought out the sweetness in the brioche and they were a winning combination.

Housemade Brioche w Cranberry Butter

The next course was roasted quail with braised kale, parsnip-Anaheim chili hash, pickled beech mushrooms and a mustard jus. The quail was moist and succulent with a flavorful rub on the skin. It had been partially deboned, which made it much easier to eat. The kale was kind of mixed in with the parsnip-Anaheim hash and it all had a nice flavor. The parsnips were tender, earthy and sweet and the Anaheim chilis added just a hint of spicy heat to the dish to excite the taste buds, but not overwhelm them. The kale was tender and added a nice chlorophyll/vegetal flavor. There was a small amount of butternut squash puree under the hash, which had a velvety texture and added a little more sweetness to the dish. The pickled mushrooms had a crunchy, yet soft texture and added some needed acid to compliment the quail as well as the vegetables in the hash. The mustard jus was spooned around the dish and it provided a salty, umami punch that elevated the quail and really highlighted its meatiness.

Roasted Quail w Braised Kale, Parsnip-Anaheim Chili Hash, Pickled Beech Mushrooms & Mustard Jus

The last savory course of the evening was the meat course. It consisted of a petite butcher filet with buckwheat polenta, chard hearts and a Bermuda onion agrodolce. The medium-rare beef medallions were good, but it was all the accompaniments that really made the dish a success. The buckwheat polenta had a chewier, more substantial texture than normal polenta and it was well seasoned with a lot of herbs mixed throughout. The chard hearts were very tender and had a nice sweet flavor. The Bermuda onion agrodolce tied everything together. It had whole rings of charred Bermuda onions along with a sweet, sour and savory sauce, which makes sense since agrodolce means sweet and sour in Italian. The acidity and sweetness of the agrodolce lifted the flavor of the beef and enhanced the whole dish.

Petite Butcher Filet w Buckwheat Polenta, Chard Hearts & Red Onion Agrodolce

We had the cheese course next. It included Humboldt Fog from Cypress Grove Chevre, Hummingbird from Doe Run Dairy, Oma from the Von Trapp Family's Jasper Hill Farms, and St. Agur from Auvergne, France along with some various fresh and dried fruits, pumpkin seeds and a drizzle of honey. Each of the cheeses were excellent and they were all different styles. The Humboldt Fog is a goat cheese that I am very familiar with and was as good as always. The Hummingbird was a Robiola-style mixed milk cheese, which was soft and oozy with a mild flavor. The Oma was a washed rind cow's milk cheese that was a little more pungent with a soft pudding-like texture. The St. Agur was a double-cream blue cheese made from cow's milk. It had a smoother texture and more mild flavor than a Roquefort, but was still plenty strong and flavorful. My personal favorite by the smallest of margins was probably the St. Agur, but all the cheeses were delicious.

Cheese Course w Humboldt Fog, Hummingbird, Oma & St. Agur

For dessert we had PB and J doughnuts with Concord grape jam, peanut mousse and salted peanuts. The doughnuts were yeast-raised and fluffy as a cloud, yet they still had a slightly chewy texture. They were rolled in granulated sugar that added some crunch and sweetness. The grape jam was well balanced with a little bit of tartness to counteract the sweetness in the doughnuts. The most surprising component of the dessert was the peanut mousse. It had a pleasantly strong peanut flavor without overwhelming or being too sweet and it almost seemed lighter than a normal whipped cream. Both Christal and I were surprised at how good it was and we both would have ordered this dessert just for the mousse. The salted peanuts helped to reinforce the overall peanut flavor in the dessert.

PB & J Doughnuts w Concord Grape Jam, Peanut Mousse & Salted Peanuts

We finished our meal off with the petit fours, which were squares of dark chocolate ganache with mint syrup. The dark chocolate was rich and smooth with the consistency of chocolate truffles. The mint syrup was homemade with minced fresh mint throughout the syrup. It wasn't too sweet and it provided a refreshing finish to the bite of dark chocolate.

Dark Chocolate Ganache w Mint Syrup

Christal and I were both impressed with not only the food, but also the atmosphere and service at Talula's Garden. They accomodated Luke really well without making us feel bad about bringing our baby along with us. I think the evening also provided Christal with a little bit of an escape with everything that her mom has been going through. I would definitely recommend this restaurant to anyone visiting Philly.

Food 4.5/5
Service 4.5/5
Christal's Rating 4.5/5
http://talulasgarden.com/