stolen colours

Well, well, thus ends the first week of O&G lectures. I had a pretty fun time celebrating my birthday on Tuesday with the asterisk people, just too bad that some were sick. Thanks for your presents! The T-shirt, the toys, the vouchers, and that amazing Morita card! And oh, thanks shmeen for the earrings. I will now try to wake up a few minutes earlier each day so I can put them on.

Comment replies:

Qiong: how come all your posts on japan are only on FOOd?!!!!! what happened to the cosplay and the music?? the animation?? the comic stores??!!!!!

Well, apart from Nikko, I didn’t really go anywhere very touristy. I guess, since I’ve been to Tokyo before, I didn’t feel the urge to snap photos of the daily stuff that I saw. And no cosplay because I spent Monday to Friday in Japan, which are schooldays. Didn’t see anyone in GL garb till I was in Laforet and standing in a GL shop. And Animate? Just a shop selling anime merchandise what ^^;; And paiseh to take photos inside the shop too. So uhm…the biggest attraction was FOOD. Haha.

Dr BFG: you guys really spend your days in Japan eating!!! and that’s loads that you spent. SGD$50 for sushi!!!
I know T_T I spent all my money on food and transport, save for a ferris wheel ride, the Ghibli Museum ticket and a pair of jeans. Couldn’t buy any clothing there anyway ‘cos I couldn’t afford it, so I might as well spend on food. Anyway, the S$50 on a sushi set there that includes the high quality stuff is definitely worth it! The same thing would cost me 2-3 times more back in Singapore.

Here’s a brief roundup of the various movies I’ve watched in the past few weeks.

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I’ve finally finished my blog entries about the Tokyo trip. Here they are:

Day 1: Arrival, and mulling around Shinjuku.
- Tsunahachi

Day 2: Tsukiji, Asakusa, Ikebukuro, Odaiba
- Sushi Dai
- Sakata Udon
- Gonpachi

Day 3: Nikko
- Dora

Day 4: Tsukiji, Ghibli Museum, Shibuya, Roppongi
- Daiwa Sushi
- Takewaka
- Ganchan

Culinary adventures have their separate, specific posts.
There are some awards to be given out:

Best sushi: Sushi Dai (But Penance prefers Daiwa’s tamago as it’s cold, and tastier.)

Best tempura: Tsunohachi

Best soba: the Nikko soba restaurant with the hunky chef.

Best yakitori: Ganchan. (Gonpachi comes close, though.)

Most value for money: Takewaka

Lousiest: nameless izakaya at Omoide Arcade

Cutest waitress: Dora

Honourable mention: Sakada

(Yes, we were bored on the plane.)

A short update on my life.
I’m 22 today, but as with all birthdays, I don’t feel any different. Thanks for the birthday wishes, people. And thanks mosquitogal and AA for your cards. Love you guys.

I just watched the finale of Project Runway Season 3. I’m really happy with the outcome; the designer that won makes clothes that I really want to wear (after I break my bones and lengthen my legs, that is.)

O&G has started. The O&G people are so anal-retentive, and the curriculum so structured that I can’t breathe. Ugh.

Had a birthday dinner yesterday. The sad thing about Mondays is that half the places I want to try are closed! And we ended up at Aburiya only to find that it was fully booked, so went back to Marmalade Pantry. I seem to be making a tradition of going to Marmalade Pantry for my birthday.

Photos ahead.

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I’m back in Singapore! The past 5 days in Tokyo was a dream. I wish I could have stayed longer, but one can’t have everything in life. I’ll be putting up a massive blog entry soon, akan datang! Posts will be backdated, so please scroll down.

Yet another long, tiring day. Got up at 5am to finish packing and check out in time to catch the 7am Narita Express to the airport. This has been a tough holiday! We rose at 5am every day and went to bed no earlier than 1am.

Tried the omiage from the Hanazono Manjyu. Delicious, if a bit too sweet.

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The last day in Tokyo was really packed.

Got up at 5am (again!), this time to try Daiwa Sushi at Tsukiji Fish Market.

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Our last dinner in Tokyo.

Our appetizer: cabbage with salt and miso dip, and mushrooms. Refreshing, but the cabbage wasn’t as sweet as what we had at Kazu.

The grill at Ganchan.

Be warned. A 600yen service charge is imposed, which includes the appetiser. They don’t serve complimentary tea or water; and a bottle of water puts you back by 420yen. The plus point is: they have an English menu.

The tsukune (chicken meatball) was the highlight of the evening for me.

Clockwise from top left:
1. Kawa: chicken skin
2. Sasami sabiyaki: chicken breast roasted with wasabi.
3. Bocchi: chicken legs with soft bone
4. Kamo: duck

Clockwise from top left:
1. Aspara maki: asparagus rolled with bacon
2. Negima: chicken thigh with leek
3. Iwate beef (1050 yen!!)
4. Tebasaki: chicken wing

The tebasaki was the other highlight. Very cripsy, but so juicy and tasty. XD

We spent about 4400yen per person. >.< Still, this was a great way to end the trip.

Ganchan:
Mon-Sat 5:30pm-1:30am. Add: 6-8-23 Roppongi.
Directions: 7 minute walk from Roppongi station. From Roppongi Crossing, take the small street going downhill to the left of the Almond Coffee Shop. Ganchan is at the bottom (and I mean bottom) of the hill, on the right.
Prices: Yakitori skewers 200-400yen, and up to 1050 yen for the iwate beef skewer; yakitori set course at 2500yen.

Lunch on the last day in Tokyo was at Takewaka, a restaurant in Ikebukuro that has customers sitting at tables around a pool where live fish reside temporarily. The fish is caught and killed at the restaurant itself, so it’s extremely fresh.

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Our last breakfast in Tokyo. Daiwa Sushi, besides Sushi Dai, is the most often recommended sushi restaurant at the Tsukiji fish market.

We got there before 7am and queued for less than 30 minutes to get seats. Penance liked the jolly, rotund chef. Both of us got the 3190yen set, which consisted of about 10 pieces of sushi, with maki and tamago. The sushi here arrived two by two, within split seconds. We took that as a hint that we shouldn’t linger. No wonder the turnover is faster than at Sushi Dai, even despite Dai’s smaller seating space.

Verdict: Penance thinks that Daiwa is slightly better than Sushi Dai; I can’t compare because I didn’t try the same things at both places. However, Sushi Dai has a more relaxed, intimate setting. Sushi comes one by one with long intervals in between, and the chefs chat and laugh with the customers.

After that, Penance headed over to a cheaper sushi joint to try the really expensive items.

a. uni
b. ohtoro
c. hotate and aji
d. sanma
e. ikura
f. aburi toro

Sushi count: 18 pieces of sushi in Penance.

Dora is an inexpensive izakaya, a favourite of salarymen. Got the recommendation off bento.com.

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