Healthy Signage

Here's a photo one of our mates snapped while walking by Freshness Burger on the ground floor of the Central mall at Clarke Quay here in Singapore. An establishment that promotes its "healthy meals" will sell you a "Butter & Sugar Burger" plus coffee for less than S$2 (1.63 USD/1.00 GBP).

This is the Singapore outlet of the Japanese burger chain that is currently promoting a vinegar drink. I will have to stop in and compare their wares with their Nipponese competitors Mos Burger. If I bring a ten-dollar note to Freshness, I might be able to sample breakfast, lunch, and dinner.

Japanese Cookies

Couque D'asses cookies on the shelf in Singapore.

Spotted this box of cookies at a Japanese food specialty store underneath MBFC a few months back. The double entendre is probably most quickly apparent to Americans, but I think everyone can join the fun, really. I have no ability to read Japanese so I couldn't possibly comment on the ingredients.

Tokyo Food

A snack package of what appears to be hazelnuts in a Tokyo mini-mart.

The Passengers ate all sorts of goodness in Tokyo.  The Japanese take their food seriously in the same manner as do the French with serious refinement of standardized age-old recipes.  We didn't suffer a bad meal once during our travels. Here are some highlights, though they exclude our early morning sushi adventure.  That will be a separate post.

Ramen noodles with all the fixings.

We had ramen one evening at a small restaurant not far from our ryokan.  Diners are supposed to choose their dishes from a vending machine outside the front door.  After the customer pays money in, the machine spits out a ticket for his order, and he brings it inside the restaurant.  We tried our very best to match the Japanese labels on the selection buttons with the pictures in the window.  Finally we gave up, and we were kindly greeted inside with an English menu.  This bowl of ramen was as big as my head.  I could barely get through half of it.  Passenger H unwisely had her own bowl, too, which by the time she quit looked like she only managed to pick out the seaweed, the half-boild egg, and two pieces of scrumptious fatty pork.  The yummy noodles are underneath a big pile of extras that also includes corn, bamboo shoots, and bean sprouts.  I think we paid JPY 950 per bowl (USD 11.25/GBP 7.10).  More dishes after the jump.  Click below left to keep reading.

Beware the Trains

Sign in the stairwell at Iriya Station in Tokyo.

Tee hee.  The Tokyo Metro trains have wind.

Sushi-Dai, Tokyo

Early morning bustle around the Tsukiji Market in Tokyo.

Against our preferences for a leisurely holiday, the Passengers awoke early one morning in Tokyo to make the trip down the Hibiya line on almost the first train of the day to visit the huge Tsukiji Market, the wholesale outlet for fresh fish in Tokyo.  We wanted to see the market in action, but our prime motivation was to find ourselves the freshest sushi breakfast imaginable.

Patrons lining up for a seat at Sushi-Dai along a row of restaurants at Tsukiji Market.

Activity at the market begins in the wee hours of the morning so by the time we arrived in Ginza at 6:00 AM, a number of labors were already searching out lunch.  The rest of the city comes to Tsukiji for breakfast. Based on a friend's recommendation we headed straight for Sushi-Dai a fourteen-seat sushi counter with reportedly the best fish at the complex.  The place opens at 5:00 AM, and its reputation meant we found ourselves in a two-hour queue.

Come early; bring cash.

Once we got inside Passenger J opted for the full Omakase selection at JPY 3,900 (USD 46.25/GBP 29.25) for 11 pieces of sushi, miso soup, maki rolls, and a bit of omelet.  Passenger H decided that as the smaller member in the pair she needed the smaller option at JPY 2,500 (USD 29.65/GBP 18.75).  We did not go away hungry.

Marinated tuna with a dollop of wasabi.  Pickled ginger sits on the right.

We took our seats at the counter on a rainy August morning with the air-conditioner steaming up the view of the hopeful customers waiting outside.  After our early start to the day we were ready to eat.  All the sushi pieces were impeccably chosen and brilliantly crafted.  The three sushi chefs placed their offerings directly on the top-shelf counter.  Patrons ate using both their fingers and chopsticks.

Passenger H's set included mackerel braided over rice.  The omelet and the fish-based miso soup appear in the background. 

More pictures of sushi after the jump.  Click the link below left to keep reading.

Japanese Baseball

Hiroshima Carp batting against Yomiuri Giants at the Tokyodome.

Now an overdue entry on Japan.  During our time in Tokyo the Passengers took the opportunity to see a baseball game at the Tokyodome: Hiroshima Carp vs. Yomiuri Giants.  The Giants are Japan's equivalent to the New York Yankees, the nation's most storied and successful team, and they turned in a very good performance during our Sunday afternoon visit.  Starting pitcher Asai pitched 7+ innings of shutout ball, and the offense put in two home runs.  The quality of play was every bit as good as MLB in the US and Canada. The tickets I bought online cost about as much, or even a little less, than an MLB game in a major American city, too.

The right-field stands lead the cheers for the home team.  They rolled out this banner in the middle of the seventh inning.

None of that was too surprising.  What I really wanted to experience was the atmosphere of professional baseball in another country.  I was not disappointed.  The fans of both teams proved incredibly dedicated with organized cheers for their batters.  The Carp brought in a host of supporters wearing red in the left-field stands.  The Giants had the whole stadium on their side, all the fans chanted while waving around bright orange towels over their heads after scoring runs, but the right-field seats hosted the die hard supporters that led the cheers.  They even had two large flags waving in tandem.

In the foreground ladies sell beer and snack food.  Cheerleaders dance on the field.

Additional entertainment came from the ladies.  Beer and snacks were sold throughout the game by young women wearing brightly colored kit.  Beer was dispensed from pony kegs in insulated bags hauled up and down the stands.  All the usual staples could be found in the Tokyo Dome: beer, peanuts, soft drinks, cotton candy.  However, the concession windows offered bento boxes and outrageous ice creams.

The team also had cheerleaders dancing between innings, sometimes with the Giants' family of orange furry mascots.  After a Giants home run the dancers stream onto the field for a celebratory routine while one of the troop jumps up and down behind home plate waving a souvenir stuffed animal.  The Giants players all come out of the dugout and form a line to politely congratulate the batter after he circles the bases.  Once the last runner crosses home plate he is given the stuffed animal, shakes hands with everyone in the receiving line, and then tosses the orange plush toy into the crowd.  The whole affair seems designed to spread the success around to everyone.

Reporters and onlookers stream onto the field for the post-game awards.

The post-game press conference was another unusual moment because it takes place on the field with a horde of press reporters and photographers.  As seen in the pictures, the cheerleaders and mascots flank the stage as the day's outstanding player is awarded the game ball, which deservedly went to pitcher Asai.  He makes a few comments into the microphone for the benefit of the crowd and the media.  For some reason the onlookers included a giant Pikachu Pokemon.

There are a couple more pictures after the jump.  Click the link below left to view them.

City Hotels - Tokyo & Hong Kong

Our room in Tokyo at Sakura Ryokan.

I have been writing furiously (on academic subjects) for the past couple of weeks so I have not had a chance to post here for awhile.  I owe pictures from Japan, but the Passengers just spent a fabulous weekend in Hong Kong, and I am still jazzed about that. Allow me to somehow combine the two.

Above is a picture of room in Tokyo at the Sakura ryokan.  We had a lovely stay in this traditional Japanese B&B.  The futons are pretty good for sleeping and we stayed in the old-style Asakusa neighborhood.  Our room did not have an en-suite bathroom and breakfasts were served downstairs at communal tables.  It definitely took me back to days of student hostels, but in a good way.

Our bedroom at JIA in Hong Kong.

 Last weekend the Passengers decided to go to Hong Kong in celebration of wedding anniversary number two. Since it was a commemorative event we decided to splurge for a couple of nights at JIA (sound alert). It's a boutique affair, opened by a Singaporean I think, designed by the ever chic Philippe Starck.  There is, of course, lots of white-on-white decor, and the only untinted mirror stands above the bathroom sink. But one doesn't spend a weekend in a design hotel in Hong Kong for practical living.  Quite the opposite, really.

Main room of our suite at JIA.

 The staff were very kind to upgrade us to a suite so we had plenty of space to spread ourselves.  I didn't include pictures of the kitchen or bathroom, but all the facilities are excellent.  The hotel even gave us a discount card to use at some of the shops near the hotel in the Causeway Bay neighborhood.  They also booked us into one of Hong Kong's private members clubs Halo on Friday night.  We were exceptionally well treated.  I have heard of people being placed at JIA for a number of weeks while working on business assignments.  Can someone get me one of those deals?

Dining table in the main room of our JIA suite.

Reading nook behind the television and stereo.  Love the gnome seats.

More on Japan soon, I hope.

Existential Evening Plans

Screen grab from an online reservation form for a Tokyo ryokan.

The Passengers are planning a trip to Japan next month, and I am doing my best to hunt down a traditional Japanese bed-and-breakfast, or ryokan, for our stay.  These places sometimes also serve dinner to visitors so when I entered our meal preferences on the enquiry form above I was faced with a startling choice: large, medium, small, existential.  Click the image for a detailed view.