things i find interesting in jpn (1)

i went grocery shopping the other day and wanted to get some oyster sauce. this is probably the smallest oyster sauce bottle i've ever seen. of course i had to get it because it fits perfectly on the seasonings plate! (just kidding) well, practicality is another thing... i'm done with half the bottle already.


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then, i walked over to the coffee aisle for some instant coffee. this one sits on a cup and yield drip coffee when you pour hot water over. it's the perfect solution for people like me, who don't have a coffee maker at home. quality is definitely below standard, but when starbucks are more scarce than コンビニ (convenience stores) in japan, this "home drip coffee maker" isn't bad at all!


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for those of you who has had kids and taken them to the mall, did you find it hard to use the bathroom when you are carrying a baby and don't have any help? in most department store bathrooms in japan, they thought of the mommies' needs and built baby seats inside each stall. this way, they can safely place their baby in the seat and finish their business, without needing the help of others. smart idea, right? i wonder if they have baby seats in the men's bathroom too?

love generation

love generation is showing re-runs on fuji tv now!

kimura takuya 10 years ago... but he still looks the same now

he and matsu takako made a great pair back then

his new drama "change" will start to air today as well. kimutaku overflow!

to all moms

tempura専門店

during the golden week holidays, i was treated to an authentic tempura meal. tengayu (天がゆ) is a small neighborhood restaurant which specializes in tempura - the type that they fry right in front of you. i've had this special tempura cuisine once in sendai (仙台) many years ago, so having it again definitely brought back good memories.

for lunch, you get shrimp tempura, 2 types of seasonal fish and some vegetable tempura, a kakiage (かき揚げ)*, a salad plus pickled vegetables and soup, and a choice of rice or porridge, for only 1,600yen! very economical yet delicious~

the restaurant is located within a residential area and the entrance is so tiny that i will no doubt miss it if i'm not taken there. it can probably fit only 16 customers at once, but it is very comfortably decorated. these are the best food finds in japan!

*kakiage = small pieces of vegetable/seafood mixed together to form a tempura cake

the chef preparing fresh tempura for the customers
(that's a kakiage!)

lunch course

exploring the town

today, i want to introduce the town i am in. it's called kurakuen (苦楽園), which is situated along the shukugawa river (夙川). shukugawa is one of japan's famous spots for sakura (cherry blossom) in the spring. each april, many locals from the surrounding neighborhoods rush to the river in order to catch the short-lived cherry blossoms. the area in the far back is rokko-san (六甲山).

sakura trees along the river.
i can imagine how beautiful it is in the spring!

hankyu train (阪急) which can take me to kobe and osaka.
the train station is only a 3-minute walk away from the apartment, and over on the other side of the train tracks, you can find many local shops and restaurants.

there's still lots to explore in this little town and its greater neighborhood, so stay tuned!

in kansai

hi all! i safely arrived in osaka 3 days ago! weather here has been very sunny and warm the first 2 days, and a few small showers hit today. but overall it's been pleasant. jetlag has not affected me much either!

the area i'm now in is not exactly osaka. together with kobe, kyoto, and many other cities, they're called the kansai area (関西). but osaka and kobe are both within a 30-minute train ride from where i live, so it is easy access to these 2 cities.

may 3rd to may 6th is a long weekend for the japanese. it's their golden week, which consists of consecutive national holidays. people usually get a full week off (depending if the weekends land in between these holidays) but this year 2 of the holidays are on saturday and sunday, so most people only have 4 days off. the holidays definitely brought the crowd outside!

for 2 days in a row, we were hanging out in kobe. didn't really shop much (yet), but already had a few great meals!

the real sushi "belt" instead of the westernized sushi "boat" :P

whole baby squid - don't worry, they're not alive


strawberries that are hand packed to perfection - each one is the same size, shape, and color


vietnamese pho lunch set, nicely presented

a view of kobe from the restaurant

kobe welcomed its first IKEA store on april 16th. since IKEAs are rare in japan, everyone came to see this "new attraction" during golden week. we were hoping to make it a quick run and just pick up a few items since we're pretty familiar with the self-serve system. however, we got there and was told that the line to enter would be 3 hours!! that's crazier than the longest line at Disneyland! nah, it's not worth waiting that long at IKEA... so we turned back. maybe i'll come back on a day when everyone else is at work. :)

the huge structure, well, just like any other IKEAs

the train station was decorated with the IKEA theme

they also had one of the trains decorated with IKEA sofas and fabrics, but we kept missing that train... since we didn't get to ride it, here's a picture from the promotional material