eG Foodblog: smallworld - Spring in Tokyo

[helenjp]

That's an impressive array - if I made dashimaki for dinner, the clams would definitely be relegated to something quick and easy like soup!

And is your husband drinking shochu, or water? Does he enjoy wine?

What time do your and your husband eat dinner?

I do appreciate the sight of a fridge stocked with familiar ingredients - even familiar brands in some cases - that's the brand of men-tsuyu I often buy too .

I've had the saggy shelf thing too, but only one actually cracked.

It's counterintuitive, but when we got a bigger fridge we had no more trouble - the bigger shelves were split into two horizontal panels, so that you can slide the front half backward, to make room for taller items on the shelf below. I don't think they're any thicker, must just be that the narrower panels are stronger.

[Hiroyuki]

The home-made ponzu is interesting, especially because you also have a store-bought one - Ajipon.

The dinner photo is interesting too, because of the lack of miso soup and the presence of alcohol together with rice. I am capable of having rice and alcohol at the same time, but many Japanese aren't. You know what I mean?

[kbjesq]

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Once again, another beautiful meal. I love the colors, the textures, the shapes of the serving pieces, and the fact that everything isn't thrown together on one plate, but arranged in an aesthetically-pleasing way. Such an array would take me forever to prepare. How much time did you spend preparing dinner? And is this a typical meal for you?

[Laksa]

I am capable of having rice and alcohol at the same time, but many Japanese aren't.  You know what I mean?

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How interesting. Why is that? Let me guess: instead of filling up on rice, let's make more room for the alcohol?

[Toliver]

....These cherry tomatoes were amazingly sweet and I hope I can find them again. It was the first time I'd seen them- they are long and pointed and with a nice deep colour. They were labeled simply as "mini tomato" (Japanese for cherry tomato) but such special little tomatoes must have a special name.

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They look like what are called "grape tomatoes" in my area.

Great blog so far! Thank you for taking the time to do it.

[DCP]

The middle compartment is slightly cooler and is for fruit and vegetables-- I love having a whole extra section like this.

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I know I should be reacting to the lovely food shots, but must admit that the refrigerator really captured my interest. I've wanted a fridge with multiple temperature options like yours for some time, but didn't know they existed below the super-high-end!

Tell us, are these sorts of fridges the norm in Japan?

[Chufi]

I'm really enjoying this, the colors, the shapes, the information!

I love how you sliced and arragend your kiwi and apple on that beautiful plate.

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I may have asked this question before on another Japanese blog, but if I did, I forgot the answer. With a meal like this, would you eat everything in front of you? and how would you eat the different components , one at a time, or in a certain order? you said something about the positioning of the different bowls so I am assuming it does matter what you eat first? I find this fascinating, it´s so far removed from just eating a bowl of pasta until it´s finished

Edited March 4, 2008 by Chufi (log)

[Lior]

Hello. Thank you for taking me far far away to such a very different land! Everything is very foreign to me. I have seen the basics, or the basics of the basics, so this is like being on another planet- which suits me just fine!

Thanks!

[Corinna Dunne]

Wonderful blog. Thank you so much. I was just bemoaning the fact that we don’t have a single good Japanese restaurant in Ireland to a friend yesterday. To compensate, I’m making shabu shabu tonight, although I can’t get chrysanthemum leaves over here which I had when I visited Japan years ago.

Do you ever make the Japanese savoury custards? If you do, I’d love to hear a bit more about them. I adore the little secret ingredients hiding inside. I have just one recipe for the custard, which shamefully I haven’t tried yet but intend to soon.

[racheld]

You don't need to see the freezer. It's just full of frozen stuff.

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It's wonderful to see all the condiments-in-common, from so far away. I recognize lots of the bottle shapes, and what's in them, and it's interesting to see the strange writing on such familiar staples. That could be OUR fridge door, except for the BIG bottle of Heinz ketchup upside down at the bottom.

And the part about the freezer made me laugh---it seems like the line we'd see if Dr. Seuss had this week's blog

And I love the UNFAMILIAR of this best of all.

[Chufi]

Eggs are often sold unrefrigerated, and as far as I know the use-by date only applies if you plan to eat them raw (eggs for cooking can be kept much longer). Japanese eggs are safe to eat raw, which took me a while to get used to.

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what makes Japanese eggs safe to eat raw? I eat raw eggs (in mayonaise etc) but I always thought that no eggs are 100 % safe?

[Priscilla]

Wonderful blog, Amy. Your meals are beautiful!

Could you tell about the spring cabbage preparation? And eagle-eyed Hiroyuki got me wondering why you have homemade ponzu as well as Ajipon... do you use one or the other for specific dishes?

Did you say that was just your second time preparing the tamago? Looked absolutely perfect.

[earlgrey_44]

Wow, this blog makes the wheels start turning. This latest meal in particular makes me want to get some bonito, make up some ponzu and experiment with dressings. Sounds very cool.

I have never seen umeboshi used as a condiment - that's new to me. I have always used them to make medicinal tea. Do you just mince them up into tiny bits? Any particular other ingredients that combine well with them to make a good rice topping?

[smallworld]

Once again, another beautiful meal.  I love the colors, the textures, the shapes of the serving pieces, and the fact that everything isn't thrown together on one plate, but arranged in an aesthetically-pleasing way.  Such an array would take me forever to prepare.  How much time did you spend preparing dinner?  And is this a typical meal for you?

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It took just under an hour of work (but that was spread out over two hours while I did other stuff). A little more if you count de-sanding the clams (I put them in salt water last night). Everything I made was fast and simple, and it helps that I used frozen rice. When I make rice I always cook more than I'll need and then freeze the rest. If it's used within a few weeks it doesn't taste much different from fresh rice and is a real time saver.

And I forgot to answer your question about the previous dinner. That one took me about 2 hours, but it wasn't in the kitchen non-stop.

I couldn't cook like this if I didn't work from home!

Your dinner last night is absolutely gorgeous and delectable, just the kind of dinner I wish I could have!

Tell us more about telephone lessons?  As a person who's struggling constantly to live in a foreign language, I'm very interested in how other people manage.  And I totally relate to being able to perfectly read recipes in another language, because I can too.  After all, there are only so many ways to say "bring water to a boil and simmer until tender."

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I work for Aeon, a large language school, teaching English conversation by telephone. The students are mostly people who can't attend regular lessons (people who live in rural areas, very busy folks, pregnant ladies and new moms). Usually there is a textbook or newspaper article, of which we both have a copy, and the lessons are short (15 20 0r 30 minutes) and quite intense. The salary is quite low for an English teaching job, but working from home allows me to get a lot more cooking and housework done than if I was going out to work.

Telephone lessons are three days a week, and I also have a few private students and two or three group classes a week.

And I think here must be a dozen ways to say "bring water to a boil" in Japanese! "Drain" is another tough one. I sometimes make takikomi gohan (rice cooked with vegetables and other stuff) with an instant pack: just open, dump into the rice, add water and cook. They all have different instructions, with some needing to be drained and some that go in the rice liquid and all. I twice ruined takikomi gohan by failing to to understand instructions: once I didn't drain and ended up with soggy, bitter tasting rice, another I did drain and was left with flavourless rice.

I don't buy instant takikomi gohan mixes anymore...

Great blog so far!

I can totally appreciate the concept of struggling to grasp the little nuances of an unfamiliar culture's everyday cooking that we so take for granted with the styles of food we grew up with. I've begun to absorb some basics about various Asian cuisines' meal protocols, but it still doesn't come anywhere near as fluently as the Euro-American cookery I grew up with.

About that bright-pink chirashi-sushi: I can't help thinking of various young girls I've known here in the US who have had a real thing about the color pink. Some go through this phase where seemingly everything has to be pink--backpacks, bicycles, you name it. Oh, and the pink birthday cakes, oy! (With Disney princesses in pink-on-pink frosting!) So I'm imagining a Japanese girl in a similar phase would totally be into pink sushi for Girl's Day. (Me, I somehow missed the whole pink thing. I was more into purple. )

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When we were about about 9, some friends and I started the "Black and Burgundy Club". We never found a purpose for it other than to talk about how much we hated pink and how cool black and burgundy were.

Japanese girls certainly do seem to love pink as much as girls anywhere else. "I often use What's your favourite colour" in kid's English lessons and the younger ones almost always say pink. You can tell they're growing up when they start saying other colours.

Girl's Day does have official colours: pink, green and white. The food does reflect those colours, but my sister-in-law is a health nut (at least when it comes to feeding her daughter) and doesn't buy artificially coloured food or use colouring herself. The sakuramochi she made are far paler than the bright pink ones usually sold.

There are two things to do: dilute it with boiling water to make a nice hot soup, or pour it over rice.

...or save for your next Bloody Mary!!

Wonderful blog! Timely too - a bunch of us are getting together for a Japanese feast on Sunday. Your photos and menus are very inspiring.

What's the availability/price of uni these days?

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Wouldn't that make it a Bloody Caesar? You've just reminded me of another thing I miss: Clamato juice. I've never thought of making it myself, but maybe it's worth a try.

Please don't ask me about uni! It's one of the few things here that I can't eat.

That's an impressive array - if I made dashimaki for dinner, the clams would definitely be relegated to something quick and easy like soup!

And is your husband drinking shochu, or water?  Does he enjoy wine?

What time do your and your husband eat dinner?

I do appreciate the sight of a fridge stocked with familiar ingredients - even familiar brands in some cases - that's the brand of men-tsuyu I often buy too  .

I've had the saggy shelf thing too, but only one actually cracked.

It's counterintuitive, but when we got a bigger fridge we had no more trouble - the bigger shelves were split into two horizontal panels, so that you can slide the front half backward, to make room for taller items on the shelf below. I don't think they're any thicker, must just be that the narrower panels are stronger.

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Helen, I'm in a learning phase right now, and when that happens I tend to cook to much stuff. You should have seen the meals I cooked just after I got married! So many dishes they couldn't fit on the table, with dashi from scratch and all the proper garnishes. It's no wonder we both gained weight after marriage.

My goals right now are to master egg cookery and improve my knife skills. I haven't quite gotten the hang of onsen tamago, and I still can't peel a potato without a peeler, so I've got a while to go.

My husband was drinking water. He has eczema which usually acts up if he drinks. He did have a sip of my wine though, and approved.

We usually eat around 8, but last night he was late so it was closer to 9. He has been working outside of the home for less than six months, before that he worked at home. The meal schedule was drastically different then: we'd often have just two big meals a day, with a few snacks, and eat kind of whenever. It's a challenge to learn to cook on schedule, especially when my job finishes at 6 and I need to go shopping and get dinner ready by 8.

[smallworld]

The home-made ponzu is interesting, especially because you also have a store-bought one - Ajipon.

The dinner photo is interesting too, because of the lack of miso soup and the presence of alcohol together with rice. I am capable of having rice and alcohol at the same time, but many Japanese aren't. You know what I mean?

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Ponzu is my all-time favourite condiment and I use it almost every day. I'm not crazy about all the additives in cheaper ponzu, but I can't afford the good stuff. So I compromise: Ajipon or similar cheap brand for regular use and the expensive stuff for special dishes. And when I find cheap yuzu, sudachi or kabosu (or when a student gives me a bagfull from one of their trees) I make it myself to replace the expensive ponzu.

Like I said before, there's a lot of stuff that doesn't come naturally. Miso soup is often just an afterthought, and I sometime skip it (or forget it) altogether.

Not drinking alcohol with rice is one thing I have picked up here. I'm not strict or anything (thus the wine with last night's dinner) but have somehow gotten used to it enough that I do try to avoid mixing rice and alcohol.

Back when my husband worked from home, we'd take longer to eat dinner. I'd drink alcohol with the okazu (side dishes) and when I finished drinking I'd serve rice. Now I just serve everything at once and usually drink my wine before or after dinner, but tonight I'd steamed the clams in the same wine I was drinking so I just had to have some with the meal.

I am capable of having rice and alcohol at the same time, but many Japanese aren't. You know what I mean?

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How interesting. Why is that? Let me guess: instead of filling up on rice, let's make more room for the alcohol?

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Hiroyuki can probably explain that one better than I can!

I know I should be reacting to the lovely food shots, but must admit that the refrigerator really captured my interest. I've wanted a fridge with multiple temperature options like yours for some time, but didn't know they existed below the super-high-end!

Tell us, are these sorts of fridges the norm in Japan?

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Oh, completely the norm. This is a pretty basic type, most fridges have more compartments, all with different temperatures. Check out Hiroyuki's and Kristin's food blogs: they both have the same fridge, and it's a cool one!

I may have asked this question before on another Japanese blog, but if I did, I forgot the answer. With a meal like this, would you eat everything in front of you? and how would you eat the different components , one at a time, or in a certain order? you said something about the positioning of the different bowls so I am assuming it does matter what you eat first? I find this fascinating, it´s so far removed from just eating a bowl of pasta until it´s finished

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As far as I know, the first dish sampled should be the soup, and from there you take a little bit from each dish in no particular order until everything is done. It is considered bad manners to finish a whole dish at once, then finish another, then another: you have to eat everything bit by bit. There may be other rules but I don't know about them, so maybe someone else has more to say.

Hello. Thank you for taking me far far away to such a very different land! Everything is very foreign to me. I have seen the basics, or the basics of the basics, so this is like being on another planet- which suits me just fine!

Thanks!

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Lior, thank you! I loved your blog and had the same reaction you did to mine: like another world! A delicious and beautiful other world.

Wonderful blog. Thank you so much. I was just bemoaning the fact that we don’t have a single good Japanese restaurant in Ireland to a friend yesterday. To compensate, I’m making shabu shabu tonight, although I can’t get chrysanthemum leaves over here which I had when I visited Japan years ago.

Do you ever make the Japanese savoury custards? If you do, I’d love to hear a bit more about them. I adore the little secret ingredients hiding inside. I have just one recipe for the custard, which shamefully I haven’t tried yet but intend to soon.

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I've never made chawan mushi. I didn't even like it the first time I tried it (along with any other eggy dish) but I've since learned to love eggs and I aim to attempt chawan mushi sometime this year. I have to get dashimaki tamago, onsen tamago and poached eggs down first though.

I too love all the hidden ingredients inside.

Eggs are often sold unrefrigerated, and as far as I know the use-by date only applies if you plan to eat them raw (eggs for cooking can be kept much longer). Japanese eggs are safe to eat raw, which took me a while to get used to.

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what makes Japanese eggs safe to eat raw? I eat raw eggs (in mayonaise etc) but I always thought that no eggs are 100 % safe?

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I'm not sure why they're safe, but salmonella seems to be either rare or non-existant here. I'm guessing that the way the chickens are kept has something to do with it. But who knows: the cheap eggs are definitely from a factory farm so I don't know what they do differently.

In any case it's completely normal to eat raw and undercooked eggs and we do a few times a week.

Wonderful blog, Amy. Your meals are beautiful!

Could you tell about the spring cabbage preparation? And eagle-eyed Hiroyuki got me wondering why you have homemade ponzu as well as Ajipon... do you use one or the other for specific dishes?

Did you say that was just your second time preparing the tamago? Looked absolutely perfect.

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The cabbage was chopped and mixed with a pinch of salt and left to sit for about an hour to "pickle" (Mark Bittman used a similar technique in a recent NYT column), then drained and mixed with the katsuobushi. I sometimes add a dash of ponzu too.

The tamago yaki was overcooked. But yeah, it was my second time so no big deal.

Wow, this blog makes the wheels start turning. This latest meal in particular makes me want to get some bonito, make up some ponzu and experiment with dressings. Sounds very cool.

I have never seen umeboshi used as a condiment - that's new to me. I have always used them to make medicinal tea. Do you just mince them up into tiny bits? Any particular other ingredients that combine well with them to make a good rice topping?

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The simplest way to eat umeboshi is to plunk it as-is on a bowl of rice. Ume and shiso are a super combination, and ume alone or with shiso is nice with katsuobushi and soy sauce. I don't make as much use of ume as I'd like as my husband doesn't like it. I'm guessing Helen has some good ideas for ume.

*Again with the quotes. Sorry about that.

Edited March 4, 2008 by smallworld (log)

[Kim Shook]

Hello. Thank you for taking me far far away to such a very different land! Everything is very foreign to me. I have seen the basics, or the basics of the basics, so this is like being on another planet- which suits me just fine!

Thanks!

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This really says it all for me, too! I am loving all of this! I'd love some outside shots of your neighborhood, if you are taking requests !

[C. sapidus]

Smallworld:

My sister spent a year in Japan, so I find it a fascinating mix of the familiar and the unexpected. Thank you for sharing your slice of the country. Your meals look deliciously varied and healthy (well, except for rare outbreak of artificial coloring ).

Not food-related, but I love the honor system vegetable stand and the apparently unlocked bicycles. Very cool.

[Hiroyuki]

I am capable of having rice and alcohol at the same time, but many Japanese aren't.  You know what I mean?

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How interesting. Why is that? Let me guess: instead of filling up on rice, let's make more room for the alcohol?

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Hiroyuki can probably explain that one better than I can!

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I'll just provide links to threads in the Japan Forum, because this is smallworld's foodblog.

If sake first, then rice last

http://forums.egullet.org/index.php?showto...dpost&p=1026437

Eggs

http://forums.egullet.org/index.php?showto...ndpost&p=943711

Sankaku tabe...

http://forums.egullet.org/index.php?showtopic=91881

Edited to add: No photos of you and your husband?

Edited March 5, 2008 by Hiroyuki (log)

[smallworld]

Smallworld:

My sister spent a year in Japan, so I find it a fascinating mix of the familiar and the unexpected. Thank you for sharing your slice of the country. Your meals look deliciously varied and healthy (well, except for rare outbreak of artificial coloring ).

Not food-related, but I love the honor system vegetable stand and the apparently unlocked bicycles. Very cool.

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The bikes were all actually locked. Most Japanese bikes have a built-in lock on the back wheel, I'll post a pic soon. Bicycle theft is one of the few common crimes here (along with umbrella theft!) and both my husband and I have had a bike stolen. Both times they were unlocked so it served us right. The thief usually just wants a joyride or a one-time ride somewhere to save busfare. Miraculously my husband's stolen bike was tracked down by the police, but it took months and he'd already bought a replacement. That's why he has two bikes: hey, anyone in Tokyo want a used mountain bike?

Hiroyuki, thanks! You are the link master.

My husband will almost certainly forbid me to post a picture of him. I'll see if he'll consent to taking one of me though.

Edited March 5, 2008 by smallworld (log)

[smallworld]

I made this for my husband this morning at 6:30:

The usual kiwi, half apple and homemade yogurt. The yogurt is flavoured with honey from Canada, and I always try to buy honey from Canada. Japan does produce honey but it's not that easy to find, and I haven't liked the honey from China which is widely available. I love how it comes in a tube: most packaging here is really convenient. I don't love how the tube has a picture of Winnie the Pooh and the Disney logo. Winnie the Pooh, by the way, is called "Pooh-san" or just "Pooh" in Japan.

He also had a special treat: pancakes! I never ever do this on weekdays but I haven't been able to find English muffins or decent bread this week, so I used these frozen leftover pancakes. I added butter and maple syrup, but by the time he sat down to eat it had all been absorbed and he didn't notice, so he doused the pancakes with the honey. He said they were the best frozen panackes he's ever had!

He had breakfast with a mug of Celestial Seasoning's blueberry tea (which I also had). I used to hate herbal teas until I realized I just didn't like the grassy types like chamomile. I now like floral and fruity types, especially blends (probably thanks to the "natural" flavourings). I serve herbal tea in the morning because my husband gets enough caffeine at work. His office is in the Imperial Hotel building (which impresses the hell out of any Japanese who hears it but really means nothing-- any company can rent there) and they have a well-stocked drink bar. The building charges all companies renting there some ridiculous price for the service (I think about 3000 yen per employee) and so my husband drinks espresso, jasmine tea and the like all day long.

He reports that nearly everyone uses a new disposable cup for each drink. I've convinced him to use the mugs, which are technically supposed to only be used for visitors and are washed every night by the cleaning staff. He reports feeling a bit guilty about this.

A few hours after my husband ate I had coffee and oatmeal with apple, raisins, walnuts, cinnamon and maple syrup. I don't like to eat the same breakfast everyday, but I'd probably never get tired of this.

[SuzySushi]

Your descriptions and photos are great & I've started perusing your Blue Lotus blog... Natsukashii desu (I haven't really lived in Japan, just visited for 5 or 6 weeks at a time, but my most recent visit was in 1991! Hard to believe it's been that long.)

Where do you do most of your food shopping?

A couple of stray thoughts...

About salmonella, although it's rare in Japan, a Japanese friend of mine contracted it there (most likely from raw eggs or chicken sashimi) and miscarried because of it. That's sort of put me off raw eggs.

Re umbrella theft. Do the outlying subway stations still have "loaner" umbrellas? They did when I was visiting!

[smallworld]

Another bike picture, to show the lock I was talking about: it's the grey ring on the back wheel. It would be easy to break if you were determined, but bicycle theft is more of a crime of opportunity than the well-organized business it tends to be in North America, so these locks are always enough. People are so trusting here that twice when I've lost the keys to a bike lock I've dragged my bike to a local bike repair shop, where the lock was broken off and replaced-- no questions asked!

In my basket is a bag of recycling, since most supermarkets have recycling bins. Behind my bike are three bikes that have been abandoned. They've been there for months and will probably turn into rust piles before they are removed. Bicycle abandonment (usually stolen bikes) is a huge problem in the cities. Across the street, the small shop with the yellow signs is a take-out takoyaki (octopus dumpling) stand. It is one of the few dining options nearby. There is a Hanaya Yohei (a Japanese-style "family restaurant") across the street from us but it's not very good so we've only been there a few times.

The nearest Supermarket is Inageya, about a 10-minute walk away. I hardly ever go, unless I'm already at the 100 Yen Shop or the drugstore in the same building. For some reason the atmosphere there is completely different from my regular supermarket, although there's just a block between them. The staff aren't very knowledgeable and the customers are a bit rude and they stare a lot. Really rare as most Tokyoites are rather used to foreigners. I'd say it was because the place is right on the border of Saitama (the prefecture that neighbors Tokyo to the north) but then I'd be guilty of snobbery.

This is my regular store: Summit. It's the only supermarket that I have a point card for. (Japanese people are crazy about point cards and nearly every store and service has them, but they drive me nuts.)

It has only been open for 20 minutes and already there are this many bicycles. There are also a few floors of parking on top but I think they only fill up on the weekends.

The shopping carts are tiny here and you don't put the groceries directly in them. You put in a basket first, and at checkout you give give the basket to the cashier. The pink card in my basket says "No regi-bukuro" (No shopping bags) and you put it in your basket at the register to let the cashier know you've brought your own bag. Most supermarkets do this now and some give a small discount for this (like 5 yen or so). Many cashiers will go ahead and wrap meat or seafood in small clear bags, which I hate.

Summit's recycling station is at the front entrance and has a bin each for cans, milk cartons, styrofoam trays, plastic bottles and batteries. Everything must be cleaned, which I do anyway because I don't want dirty recyclables stinking up my apartment.

Note the No Camera sign. All stores have this rule and they actually enforce it, so I'm afraid I can't take any shopping pictures. I took the previous two pictures with my cellphone while pretending to send an email. I felt like a spy!

This Family Mart (one of the biggest convenience store chains in Japan) is just down the street from our building and represents my only other nearby dining option. I'm totally over convenience store take-out like bentos and onigiri (not very tasty and chock full of additives) but I lived on them when I first came to Japan. I do occasionally pick up some hot food there, like nikuman (Chinese pork bun) or oden (a kind of stew chock full of vegetables, tofu and fish paste products), or sometimes ice cream in the summer (all convenience stores sell Haagen Dazs and other high-end ice cream). But the main reasons for visiting a convenience store is to pay bills, use the bank machine or send a package (via takkyubin, Japan's cheap and super-efficient delivery system).

I picked up this flyer at Summit. I love flyers but since we don't get a newspaper we don't get flyers. Whenever I go back home or to the in-laws I spend hours looking through all flyers!

I see that oysters are on for 98 yen per 100 grams and Japanese beef (shoulder roast, I don't know what that would normally be called in English) is 40% off. Maybe you'll be seeing oysters or beef in the next few days!

[Hiroyuki]

A few hours after my husband ate I had coffee and oatmeal with apple, raisins, walnuts, cinnamon and maple syrup. I don't like to eat the same breakfast everyday, but I'd probably never get tired of this.

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Is it only me who want to shout, "Watch out! You may spill your drink (and ruin your PC)!"?

I like the way you get get fruit into your daily diet. It's something that the Japanese can never be adept at. For many, including me, fruit is just an afterthought...

[smallworld]

A few hours after my husband ate I had coffee and oatmeal with apple, raisins, walnuts, cinnamon and maple syrup. I don't like to eat the same breakfast everyday, but I'd probably never get tired of this.

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Is it only me who want to shout, "Watch out! You may spill your drink (and ruin your PC)!"?

I like the way you get get fruit into your daily diet. It's something that the Japanese can never be adept at. For many, including me, fruit is just an afterthought...

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I always have a drink handy when I'm on the computer, and eat half my meals in front of it. Never spilt an entire glassful, but the keyboard does get the odd splash or spill. Not a problem as I hate this keyboard and really need an excuse to buy a new one.

I agree that Japanese people don't eat enough fruit. But believe it or not, I picked up the habit of having half an apple and a kiwi for breakfast from my mother-in-law, who does that every morning (along with English tea, yogurt, cheese and toast or a pastry). I do love fruit and eat a lot of it, but could never get my husband to eat it regularly until I started serving it for breakfast. I think the choice of apples and kiwis is sensible because both are grown domestically and can be found year-round (although the apples aren't very good by summer). Sometimes I'll substitute a banana or a seasonal fruit.

I think one reason why people don't eat much fruit here is that it's expensive. The high prices used to really bug me but now I'm used to them, and I even kind of appreciate them. After all, fruit is only cheap in Canada because of exploited labour and environmentally damaging farming practices. I think that in Japan fruit prices are more "real" and reflect the fact that actual Japanese farmers are making a living wage.

I wonder how long it will be before Japan catches up to the west and starts using cheap migrant labour for fruit picking and other farmwork?

[insomniac]

Shin" means new,

and

Is your seasoning more like Kansai (Western Japan) style than Kanto (Eastern Japan)?

I just had a *doh* moment......as a bumbling Cantonese speaker I have just realised that 'shin' = 'sun' (new) and 'sai' = 'sai' (west) and 'to'= 'tung'.(east)....

only took me about 21 years to notice, til now just thought certain characters were the same....hmmm, not exactly Sherlock Holmes...

enjoying your daily life very much

ps. how safe is it to cycle? I wouldn't fancy it in HK..