2010 01

It's been weeks since I saw this. One early sunny morning on my way to the train station, at the traffic stop, there was a classic Mini, British racing green with white stripes on both sides of the bonnet, and in it were 2 women, happily chatting, looking lovely in their kimono! Were they just coming home from an all-nighter or on their way to a very early appointment?

Wafu weekend

Late lunch last weekend, we decided to go "wafu", traditional Japanese.

I brought my camera along expecting a beautiful arrangement of the food that would make you feel sorry for the dishwasher but cheer for the chef.

Off we went to Ueno, it's like our Divisoria or Quiapo district were one can find anything at bargain prices. We were quite saddened to see several shuttered shops, though the fantastic food stalls were still in business.

Did not buy anything but found a wandering band of Chindon-ya, musicians performing traditional live advertisement, this one for a sushi restaurant.

Play ball!

An exciting weekend, back at Jingu stadium, this time it's Waseda U vs "arch enemy" Keio U. We thought of buying some "provisions" first and being quite new at this, we just bought our beers but forgot to bring some cold packs! Oh well, the weather was pretty cool so we really did not have to glug on warm suds.

Waseda had a thrashing, 2-11 and they actually lost twice that week! I heard that it's been 3 weeks since these devastating losses and people in campus were still talking about it. I am so looking forward to the next series.

It's soba for a very late lunch, sayang talo ang Waseda U. Oh well, at least I understand the game much better now.

 

Treat!

Got a bag of treats from my Nihongo sensei, polvoron from España! These are labeled "artesanos" and they are rightfully so. Nevetheless, I've already acquired a taste for our own from Goldilocks so it took me a couple of bites from this huge piece of the "original" one to appreciate it.
So, anong lasa? It's fine powdery-dry flour with no milk and is packed just so, doesn't crumble to the touch but softly breaks as you bite in. The taste is sweet, subtle, lemony, sofisticados!

remembering mommy

Mom made "cheese pimiento" with red pimiento, star margarine and grated cheese. It really goes well with pan de sal, much better than the "cheez whiz version".

I skipped the margarine this time and used butter instead, no pan de sal here so a baguette had to do.
Not as tasty as the original but, the chunks of pimiento and cheese really brought back sweet memories of helping mom in making this spread.

dinner time!

What's for dinner? Well, we have sashimi tuna, salmon, amaebi, kanpachi and hotate. There's an assortment of veggies, 2 patties of grilled satsuma-age, and a block of tofu from Kyoto garnished with fresh myoga, ginger and spring onions and drizzled with yuzu tare. Persimmons are in season so that's our dessert. We'll have chilled nihonshu that's semi-dry to drink. Ittadakimasu!

yesterday at the ballpark

It's Waseda U vs Hosei U, and at last I finally got to watch Saito Yuki on the mound! He's been really popular since he debuted at Koshien in 2006 with his pitching skills, his good looks and his habit of using a blue handkerchief (a towelette, really) his mom gave him, to wipe the sweat off his brow before he throws a pitch. Hence, the media dubbed him with this cheesy moniker, "The Handkerchief Prince". A buying frenzy for that blue handkerchief soon after made sales for a towel company really booming and a loyal following of devoted middle-aged women could be seen at every game where Yuki is pitching. I saw a gaggle of them yesterday, toting mini-binoculars and digital cameras and happily cheering for their prince.



Two hits by the "handkechief prince" made for 2 home runs, plus a great play added another point at the 5th!

We brought sandwiches and warm drinks to the ballgame and had draft beer afterwards. Looking around at what people are usually eating, there was one munching on a home-made rice ball, one tucking into his obento, there was also curry and rice, hotdog on a stick, and hard-boiled egg (with salt)! The fare was very Asian, which made me think about bringing a Pinoy obento next time.

Hosei rallied on the 7th, caught up with Waseda and our handkerchief prince had to replaced at the pinch. The game was extended to 3 more innings and ended up in a draw at 3-3.


We visited a dear friend in hospital afterwards, and then it's happy-hour at a yakitori nearby. That's grilled chicken with ume paste and wasabi. Kanpai!