teamEggers

Japanese History Museum

We happened to be in Chiba prefecture for other reasons, and the group we were with decided to swing by the Natural History Museum and Institute. It’s a museum megaplex, with six galleries covering everything from 3000BC to modern times (post WWII).

The Japanese are really good at making things into megaplexes. On our way there, we stopped at a “truck stop” for lunch. Boy, was I not excited about that. Here’s the thing – when you travel and spend time in other countries, you just can not bring your own bias with you. They don’t work out. The “truck stop”? A man-made island in the middle of Tokyo Bay. It’s a 6-story rest stop with restaurants, shops, and a big deck on the top.

We got a wiener wrapped in bacon, on a stick. Oh, I love street food. And bacon. And bacon wrapped street food. Jon is either concentrating really hard on growing his beard, or he’s staring me down and wondering why I’m taking so many photos.

Another thing I love? Things for little kids. That little guys gets to sit on the turtle? eff that. Take my picture on the turtle!

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The museum was way more interesting than I expected. Here are some highlights:

One of the galleries talked about how their writing forms began (kanji, katakana, hiragana, romanjii) and how they evolved over the years. There were some placards in English, so I don’t know the whole story about any of this, but it seems that hiragana started out as the women’s language and katakana was the men’s. Kanji derives straight from Chinese and romanji obviously comes from the West.

Later, they walk through the printing presses and some early graphic design / typography. I love it!

Another gallery was focused on spirituality; shinto, buddism, and life in between.

“What’s in your head sir?” “oh, well, let me show you!”

Jon thought I was a creepazoid for wanting my picture next to the paleolithic skeleton. I’m SO TALLLLLLL.

Would it really even be a museum without a Godzilla (I mean, Gojira) replica? No. I didn’t think so.

Stay tuned for something sweet: it’s off to the strawberry farm!

Dragons: 1

The main event of the day is the Giants v. Dragons baseball game at the Tokyo Dome. Think Yankees v. Dodgers. They’re rivals, and we were looking forward to a good game.

You’re allowed to bring beer into sporting events here, so when the guy at the gate stopped us, took julie’s drink, and put it in a red plastic bag, we were really confused. They gave the plastic bag back to her, which compounded the oddness of the situation.

Turns out, they wanted you to take your beverage and allow them to pour it for you. No doubtingly to eliminate the cans/bottles from entering the stadium. It was the weirdest thing ever.

If you’ve met me, or ever talked to me, or saw a picture of me once, you may know that I don’t particularly like baseball. There’s no dislike or resentment, of course, I’m just not patient enough to pay attention to and enjoy the details. So when the first four innings takes almost as many hours, I get a little stir crazy.

Luckily, there were lots of things to keep me entertained. For instance. When a foul ball goes into the stands, they display this really considerate infographic, telling everyone to watch their heads.

They sell ice cream in the shape of the dome. Because it was an inside ballpark, it got hot real quick. I can’t believe they didn’t sell more ice cream options! A totally untapped market. The ice cream wasn’t very… good, but the dome-shell did make for a nice handle (and out of focus picture!).

When it’s hot out, what says “summer” more than ice cream and… beer! Two things about this girl delight me. Number 1: she has a keg-backpack. How do I arrange my life so that I have this? 2. The concession girls all wore baseball hats, but they didn’t actually wear them like we would. Look closely – it’s bobby-pinned to her hair. How weird is that?!

Our team wasn’t doing very well. Last time I pick a sports team based on name alone!

The Giants Super-Fan next to me was REALLY getting into it. Really. He really really really loved the giants. He made this sign, which was fabulous…

… and was waving it around and yelling so much that other people around us were turning to stare. The guy in front of him had enough – he was using his little clapper bats to plug his ears!

His level of excitement … really was spectacular. See for yourself. Nevermind what my face is doing…. focus on the SuperFan behind me!

It sounded like he was yelling “Yoshi the Bear!” which was also entertaining. So we started yelling it too. Because that’s the kind of asshattery that I find funny.

Gogyou (ramen)

This has just been a crazy weekend of awesomeness, eh? Oh! look at my new glasses!

Perhaps it takes me some time to tell you about these events (jon pointed out that I hadn’t blogged for two full weeks. eek.) because we have jam-packed weekends and then you have to… well… okay. I’m just lazy. Friday night we yakiniku’d with the gang, and saturday we were a little worse-for-wear but we persevered because there was a lot at stake! There were dinners to enjoy! And sunday… Sunday finds us at the top of another adventure. A fresh inning, if I may.

But first, what kind of addict would I be if I didn’t coerce my friends into seeking out-of-the-way ramen shops with me?

I was skeptical when I first read about Gogyou and their “burnt ramen” – a technique that literally chars the oil on the top, and the ramen that follows is served black. Part of me was worried that it would be too gimicky, but part of me (the louder part, i guess) was totally interested in what it could possibly taste like. And since it was just a few metro stops away from our hotel that morning, we decided to give it a whirl.

Is it telling about us that the only time we’ve been to Roppongi (the all-night clubbing district) was at noon and for noodles? While most of this ‘hood isn’t really our scene, Gogyou did a fantastic job of catering to the upscale clientele of the area without too much douchery. It’s just ramen, right? Why be uppity about it?

Needless to say, the ramen was good. I had the burnt miso, and jon had the burnt shoyu (soy sauce). Julie still remarks on how shockingly different the two bowls were; jon’s being a bit salty-stronger in flavour and my miso being really sweet and mild. They both had a cool ashen-campfire flavour that lent depth and an unexpected way to stain your clothes. Good thing they’ve got that covered.

But lunch is over and it’s time to get out of this town. We have an afternoon date with the Dragons.

VD & The Escoffier Dinner

Jon’s really good at gifting. He always knows exactly what I will love, usually before I even see it. He finds experiences – wine dinners, weekend trips, concerts. Despite my best intentions, and the fact that I really really love him, I am a terrible gifter. I always go way too overboard (the flying-themed birthday?), or completely space out and don’t do anything (every valentines day / anniversary). Sometimes I just grumble and moan about how much I hate the holiday (christmas) instead of using it as an opportunity to spout my undying love in the form of presents. Whatever. Jon’s a good gifter.

I really wish there were a good, unobtrusive way to take restaurant photos. There’s usually terrible lighting, and you don’t want to be that asshole with the flash before every plate. So you point, shoot, and hope that you can colour correct enough later to be able to make out the image. Why bother? Because this goldfish can’t remember anything otherwise.

1. Lobster Salad with Avocado, Ikura and Fresh Tarragon, Served with Yuzu Vinaigrette w/ sparkling wine. This was cool. They took a half avocado and stuffed the middle of it with lobster. It started my main complaint for the evening though: portion control. Avocados are filling and you want me to get through 8 course?! Also, what the heck is that creamy yellow stuff? Last time I checked, a vinaigrette was supposed to be light.

2. Vichyssoise soup w/ crab meat

3. Puff Pastry Filled with a Fillet of Dover Sole and Layered with Fresh Spinach and Sea Scallops, Baked to a Golden Brown and Served with Sea Urchin Butter Sauce & sauv blanc. I didn’t know how much I loved uni until we got out here. Uni is sea urchin gonads, and every time I’ve had them stateside, they’ve always been fishy and quite unpleasant. Here, they’re melt-in-your mouth buttery lovely happiness.

4. Fresh Pasta Filled with a Savory Mixture of Duck, Shitake Mushrooms and Foie Gras, Served with Pancetta Champagne Sauce and a Borolo Demi Glace & Sangiovese Grosso. oh. my. goodness. This was the show stopper, folks. both sauces were excellent. the fresh pasta was excellent. the duck breast (though it could have been more rare) was excellent. My only wish is that you could taste the elements in the duck filling more. Foie gras is spectacular by itself. why hide it?

5. sakura sorbet The entire purpose of the sorbet course is to clean your palate. So why on earth would you make the sorbet taste like cotton candy?! Just because you can? Daft.

Midway through dinner, the live jazz band takes a break and they bring out the line of chefs. It’s really neat to consider all that goes into banquet serving, and a little part of me was longing for the days when I got to carry a crumber of my own. I mean, being a grownup is good too, but I do miss waitressing somtimes.

6. The entree. We’ve already had duck and sole and now we’re just getting to the entree. I think my stomach has adapted to the lighter japanese foods and the throwback to french-french was a system shock! And again, the portions were out of control. Scaloppini of Veal Served with Twin Sauces of Creole Mustard Butter and a Marsala Demi Glace, Garnished with Smoked Salmon Risotto Cake, Sautéed spinach and Rissole Potatoes w/ a hefty Merlot. I think this was my least favourite course. Despite how beautiful it was, the veal was just a bit too much. There were too many different flavours going on and… well, I just don’t love veal.

7. Japanese Musk Melon Accompanied with a Sun Dried Mascarpone Cheese Torte, Served with Garlic Bread Sticks. Can you call a slice of cantaloupe, a wedge of cheese and a strawberry a salad? I think not, people. The melon was downright delicious though, I tell you what.

8. Mille-Feuille Filled with Sweet Spring Berries and Topped with a Chocolate Cherry Wafer, Paired with Homemade Cherry Ice Cream & Gewurztraminer Ending strong here. Cherry ice cream was spectacular. The mille-feuille isn’t usually my favourite dessert because they’re nearly impossible to eat gracefully, but it was still really tasty! My belly was yelling “I’m full! no more!” but my head was about to steal more ice cream from the table next to us.

Boy, I love eating.  And tell you about what I eat.  I hope you don’t mind.

A History Lesson

Once upon a time, a girl took a misguided turn in life and moved to Denver. While it might not have been the wisest choice (for several reasons), it did set in motion a spiral of events that potentially changed history. It’s hard to say.

The girl and her boyfriend set off in search of lunch, and eventually settled upon a lovely little french restaurant just down the street. It’s a sunny day, they’re sitting oat the corner table on the patio, and the girl is filled with an unusual bout of optimism. Out of the corner of her eye, she could have sworn she saw an old coworker of hers, delivering food across the room. Despite the insistence of their waitress, who insisted in a fake french accent that she had no idea what I was talking about, the girl walked through the restaurant and poked her head into the kitchen.

“um. Is… Isaiah here?”

Le Central, photo c/o megafaunic

I sometimes wonder how fate works. Had jon and I not happened in on Le Central when we did, had Isaiah not gotten a job there and insisted that I apply as well… would things have turned out the same way, regardless? Would Isaiah and I have been in each other’s weddings, years later? Would I have found a different French restaurant to inspire such a love of food and wine? What if I had found a great Thai restaurant? Would my world view be different? Would I rant and rave about the virtues of fish sauce and pad thai instead of goat cheese and pinot noir?

Or maybe life is just a sequence of coincidences. I did meet my Maid of Honour years earlier, as a waitress at the Outback. And I didn’t come away from that experience with a great love of steak or purple aprons.

So. Where is this going? I wanted to tell you about dinner, of course. And particularly why this dinner was the best valentine’s day present ever. But this post is crazy long, and I want you to actually read it, so I’ll break here. More tomorrow, kiddos.