75 replies to this topic

[Hiroyuki]

The fact is, the medicine that Majra gave to her daughter was S.TAC AC capsules, as the photo upthread shows, not S.TAC Nys Cap (sp?) 12, which Blether linked to.
Strangely, the pharmaceutical company's website does not have a webpage for S.TAC AC capsules, so I have no idea what is in that medicine.

[Blether]

The fact is...

(Same ingredients, different format ).

[Majra]

One thing's for sure...I'd have to quit my job if I ever wanted to be a food blogger! I will try to wrap up my account of our last few days' of eating and adventure in Japan. After Kyoto, we had another 3 days back in Tokyo. Time to shop! First destination was Kappabashi-dori for kitchenwares. I purchased several serving pieces, nothing extravagant, but I love the oval shapes and petite sizes that I saw commonly in the shops. My family earned the saints award that morning for their patience while I shopped. They all encouraged me to take as long as I wanted, and I took the offer gladly.

Before taking the train to Ginza for toy shopping at Hakuhinkan Toy Park, we stopped for lunch at a Chinese restaurant called Hong Kong Tower. We eat a lot of Chinese food at home, so choosing this restaurant had a level of "comfort food" to it. While I wouldn't consider it authentic Chinese, it was quite tasty and we all ate well. For the 4 of us, we ordered 3 dishes: ramen soup with pork and vegetable, kung pao chicken lunch set, and fried rice lunch set. The kung pao had a decent chili bite to it, so my daughter enjoyed it. My son inhaled most of the fried rice, and the soups really hit the spot on a cold day. My husband and I tried to hold back a little on that meal, so that we would have room for sampling more stuff later.

Which we did, of course. My notes have us snacking on onigiri, more gyoza, and green tea soft-serve ice cream later that afternoon.



In the evening we walked to Tokyo Hands and closed down the place, shopping for bento supplies and other goodies. Evidence of my shopping spree may show up on the bento thread one of these days.

Walking busy Shibuya on a Friday night, the kids chose to eat at First Kitchen. They amused themselves for hours (or was it days?) over the fact that they ordered "hot dog set-o" and it was basically the same pronounciation in both Japanese and in English. I think they may still be giggling about that. We sat down in the non-smoking basement level of the restaurant, where I was amazed by the number of foreigners. I don't know if they were expats or tourists or a mix, but the English-speaking folks were hanging out there. After the kids ate, my husband and I had curry rice somewhere else. I think I must have been getting tired of the camera at this point, because there are no photos of these meals.

On our last full day in Tokyo, we had some ambitious plans to shop 'til we dropped. Breakfast consisted of coffee, and lunch was a quick stop at a beef bowl place in Shinjuku.

My son's meal:



We felt the time slipping away too quickly, so I boldly allowed my daughter to eat some of her bakery stash while sitting at the restaurant counter. Horrors!



I had curry rice, probably my favorite one in Japan.



My husband had a pork set with egg which he loved.



We are pretty low-maintenance foodies. My husband and I do enjoy an occasional haute cuisine experience, but we both prefer street foods and cheap eats as a rule. This meal in Tokyo ranked as one of our most enjoyable on the trip, and it was purchased with coins, from a vending machine, and we sat at a counter.

[torakris]

Was that last meal at Matsuya?

[Majra]

Was that last meal at Matsuya?

Maybe, probably, could have been?! The menu looks exactly the same. I don't recall seeing any roman alphabet though, so I cannot be sure of the name. I do remember thinking that it was probably a chain restaurant, and I remember noticing that the counter was occupied only by single male diners. And I remember that there were no tables, it was counter service only, and they also had a take-out window. If it was Matsuya, what do you think of that type of food?

[torakris]

Was that last meal at Matsuya?

Maybe, probably, could have been?! The menu looks exactly the same. I don't recall seeing any roman alphabet though, so I cannot be sure of the name. I do remember thinking that it was probably a chain restaurant, and I remember noticing that the counter was occupied only by single male diners. And I remember that there were no tables, it was counter service only, and they also had a take-out window. If it was Matsuya, what do you think of that type of food?

I thought it might be Matsuya because in your son's picture their is the restaurant ad that says プラぎゅう, I popped this into google and came up with Matsuya. It basically means "Plus Beef" and is a campaign that for a certain price you can double the amount of beef in your beef bowl, have beef added to curry rice, etc.

I have never seen Matsyua written in English usually it is 松屋、Yopu will see it in the top of this link advertising their campaign.

Matsuya, Yoshinoya, Sukiya are all general beef bowl restaurants and I think they offer a great deal. It is easy to get full on a couple hundred yen and if they weren't any good they wouldn't have customers! Depending on their locations however during the week the I probably would feel uncomfortable eating lunch alone during the week. They are usually filled with males, either salaried workers or workmen. Weekends are a different story and I see plenty of families then. It can be hard with a party of 5 though as we may not always get to sit together at the counter. When eating at these type of restaurants we generally avoid the peak hours.

[Majra]

Matsuya, Yoshinoya, Sukiya are all general beef bowl restaurants and I think they offer a great deal. It is easy to get full on a couple hundred yen and if they weren't any good they wouldn't have customers! Depending on their locations however during the week the I probably would feel uncomfortable eating lunch alone during the week. They are usually filled with males, either salaried workers or workmen. Weekends are a different story and I see plenty of families then. It can be hard with a party of 5 though as we may not always get to sit together at the counter. When eating at these type of restaurants we generally avoid the peak hours.

I know that it was not Yoshinoya, because their signs are written in English, and I vetoed that place as an option a couple of times on the basis that we had Yoshinoya nearby when we lived in California. I wanted to stick with only-in-Japan places whenever possible.

Edited by Majra, 09 April 2007 - 04:24 PM.

[Majra]

On that last Saturday, when we ate the beef bowl lunch, we had planned to eat at Kuu. Unfortunately we had underestimated its distance from the train station and arrived just as they were ending their lunch service. The view was nice, but the food will have to wait until next time. I always think it's good to leave a few things undone on any trip; I think it increases the possibility that you'll return.

Late on that same Saturday night, my husband and I left the kids in the hotel room and snuck upstairs to the bar on Cerulean Tower's 40th floor for a date and glass of champagne. The following morning, we had 4+ hours of playtime left before leaving on the airport shuttle for Narita. Each family member was given the choice of one last activity. Daughter chose Harajuku, son chose Akhihabara, husband chose onigiri.





I chose depachika. We didn't eat all of this stuff, but this is my idea of sightseeing.






On the way back to the hotel to catch the shuttle bus, we had one Last Meal, at our little noodle shop for old times' sake. Ironically, I had the same thing as my very first meal in Japan:


My husband had curry rice. He had an egg with it too, which didn't sound very tasty to me but I think he liked it.


My son had a last plate of zaru soba. His sister may not have liked that preparation, but he discovered a new favorite dish! Here he is, slurping like an old pro:


My daughter, to no one's surprise, had a bakery bun. She survived Japanese food, but she is still not a fan. No big shock to me, and at least I know that I wasn't being neurotic when I started this thread in the first place.


Overall, the beauty of Japanese foods, and the care taken in the presentation of even the most simple items, is just so elevated over anything I've seen in the world. I'm so happy that I had the opportunity to see and experience a few things in Japan. And happy for my kids too--what a great place for them to broaden their horizons and expand their frame of reference.

Thank you to all who provided suggestions and encouragement before our trip. It most definitely helped and I am grateful to everyone who took the time to help me out! Cheers!!

[SuzySushi]

Oh my goodness! Natsukashii desu!!! (It makes me nostalgic for Japan.)

I have to bookmark your thread for when (if!!! no plans at the present time) we go to Japan with our 10 year old. Unlike your daughter, she Japanese food, but with three of us traveling, we need to choose carefully to conserve our budget. It looks like you had some great experiences and discovered the real "family" Japan, and I'll be forever greatful that you turned me on to the Ghibli museum, which I hadn't known about before!

[torakris]

I LOVE that picture of the Hello Kitty inarizushi!
That is a first for me...

[Majra]

Oh my goodness! Natsukashii desu!!! (It makes me nostalgic for Japan.)

I have to bookmark your thread for when (if!!! no plans at the present time) we go to Japan with our 10 year old. Unlike your daughter, she      Japanese food, but with three of us traveling, we need to choose carefully to conserve our budget. It looks like you had some great experiences and discovered the real "family" Japan, and I'll be forever greatful that you turned me on to the Ghibli museum, which I hadn't known about before!

SuzySushi, we ate quite inexpensively in Japan, and it wasn't difficult to do. It's obvious that you can spend a bundle on food if you want to, but we were satisfied with simple and casual meals.

I don't remember the prices of the Studio Ghibli Museum, but I do remember that we had to make the reservations many months in advance. So do plan ahead for that one.

In general I didn't think that the prices of anything in Japan lived up to the hype we often hear in the US about how expensive it is there. Coffee, sandwiches, bottled water, trinkets and souvenirs, were all priced comparably to the US. We did splurge on our hotel in Tokyo, but even that was comparable to what you would pay for a nice room in Manhattan. Our 1-week JR Line passes were pricey too, but we used the heck out of them and the Shinkansen experience was important to us, so those tickets were a non-negotiable item in our travel budget. The biggest help to our budget, however, was the fact that three out of four of our airline tickets were purchased with my husband's frequent flyer miles. That's a lot of miles that he'd racked up. He travels frequently for business, and we intentionally stockpile the airline miles and plan "big" trips. The next one on the agenda will be Ireland and Scotland. My son plays bagpipes and my daughter swing tenor, so we hope to coincide a trip with a piping event or competition next year. I'll have to do a "Kids in Kilts" thread over in the Europe forums!

[Majra]

I LOVE that picture of the Hello Kitty inarizushi!
That is a first for me...

Aren't they sweet?!?!?!? We bought a few of them to take on the plane. They helped to put smiles on our faces after we'd been sitting on the tarmac at Narita for those four hours before our plane actually took flight.

[Cadbury]

I always think it's good to leave a few things undone on any trip; I think it increases the possibility that you'll return.

We like to do this, too.

I chose depachika.  We didn't eat all of this stuff, but this is my idea of sightseeing. 

A woman after my own heart.

Thanks so much for the fabulous photos and trip report, when my three grow a bit bigger, I'd love to do something similar (if I have any Japanese language skills left by then - nappy brain and all ).

[JasonTrue]

I'm finding that as I change my eating habits, and as average restaurant bills steadily climb in Seattle, Japan is starting to seem similar in price to what I'm spending these days in the US.

While I don't find $6 soft drinks in Seattle yet, wine or sake by the glass is roughly the same price as in the US, and a typical dinner seems to work out to be similar to all but the cheapest Seattle options. Sales tax, generous tipping, and irritatingly large portions in the US make urban dining in the US pretty pricy.

Plus right now the exchange rate is favorable for the US dollar... I just realized prices appear to be substantially cheaper when I arrive April 27 than my trip last March.

My parents are planning to come to Japan with me this fall, and they weren't shocked by average hotel prices at all. (I usually stay in a weekly apartment when I'm in Tokyo for at least 8 days, though... that makes things even cheaper).

SuzySushi, we ate quite inexpensively in Japan, and it wasn't difficult to do.  It's obvious that you can spend a bundle on food if you want to, but we were satisfied with simple and casual meals. 

[Majra]

Thanks so much for the fabulous photos and trip report, when my three grow a bit bigger, I'd love to do something similar (if I have any Japanese language skills left by then - nappy brain and all  ).

Thanks for reading! As for Japanese language skills, or lack thereof in our case , it didn't curtail our fun. Of course I'm sure the trip would have been that much more fulfilling had we been able to speak and read the language, but those skills were not a pre-requisite to having a great time.

[Majra]

Sales tax, generous tipping, and irritatingly large portions in the US make urban dining in the US pretty pricy.

These are excellent points. I agree.

My parents are planning to come to Japan with me this fall, and they weren't shocked by average hotel prices at all. (I usually stay in a weekly apartment when I'm in Tokyo for at least 8 days, though... that makes things even cheaper).

We would stay someplace cheaper next time too. Cerulean Tower was great, though.