Good morning!
The hotel (Intercontinental) upgraded us to a suite complete with kitchen so we took advantage by picking up some items at the local farmers’ market and shops and making breakfast.
Giant figs, two types of dried mushrooms, Okinawa sea salt, garlic & thyme olive oil, three types of dried pepper, local honey, local tomato juice, local orange jelly, local thread peppers, and local yuzu-kosho paste.
Akemi looking and feeling quite at home.
The peppers were very tasty – and not particularly hot. EXCEPT for the one Akemi got. 🙂
They were selling three types of eggs that differed by what the chickens ate. The ones we picked up were pretty rich and delicious.
Last night, it was unagi dinner with Akemi’s family: her brother, father, and mother. We went to their favorite local eel restaurants (and mine!) Uoi. We actually visited for lunch last time we were in town – and got a little TOUR as well.
Appetizer: tempura shrimp paste wrapped in shiso and lotus root.
Shirayaki. Light, crisp, and possessed of a sweet, subtle flavor.
Kabayaki dinner – This sauced version is darker, richer – and equally delicious.
On the way back to our hotel, I couldn’t resist stopping for my favorite Japanese dessert. Not macarons at chocolatier Jean-Paul Hevin. Not the airy light seasonal maron cakes at revered patissier Hidemo Sugino’s shop. Not the hand-crafted chocolates at La Maison du Chocolat. I”m talking about the $1.50 Hattendon cream buns available in many fine Japanese subway stations. I got the matcha (green tea) and the custard. As amazing as I remembered them!
Hey, check it out! It’s a sneak peek scene from this Friday night’s Dark Matter season finale:
And Good Morning to you!
Just driven into work and into thick fog/mist. It’s gonna be another scorcher – yesterday was 40 degrees C! People here have stopped saying how lucky I am working outside….
Really enjoying your Japanese experience. The food appears absolutely amazing, far tastier than I was expecting! I am making a note of the names for future reference 😋
Say hi from London (UK), to Akemi’s family 😊
Oh, that all looks so wonderful. I miss unagi. I have had it here in Utah, and it just falls flat. Way flat. I’d be better off with a packet of supermarket tuna …
Goodmorning Joey san
6 a.m. here eastern u.s. time.
Breakfast looks delicious and Akemi looks even more beautiful today serving it up japanese style! ❤
So glad you two are much enjoying your visit. You both needed it.
Caught the vids of your weird food purchase and lulu snoozing. I bet she misses her her weird food eating dad who ate a whole bag of bitter chips.
Akemi looks gorgeous all dressed up in her Japanese style!!
After reading that entry, I hardly needed to eat breakfast!
Hey Joe, Akemi is sooo adorable in her kimono!! Hope y’all have fun and come back safely!❤️
It’s appropriate that you’re in Japan right now as it makes me think of my dad since I have him to blame for my love of Japanese food. We used to have some excellent, extremely traditional Japanese restaurants in my town here that we’d go to a few times a year or on special occasions. Then, there’d be the two Sushi places we’d hit up every so often as well, too. One place had my dad’s favorite Uni with Quail Egg that was better than the other’s for some reason(probably a supplier thing), and the other had thicker cuts of Ahi, Salmon, and Yellowtail. Then, when we went to the coast for vacations during the summer or whatever, we had a couple Japanese places we’d frequent there, too.
I’m sure I’ve mentioned this before, but Unagi is my absolute favorite and seeing your posts of this Unagi restaurant AGAIN this year is making my mouth water at 9:30 in the morning! Those dishes look absolutely amazing. I think if I lived there, I’d be going to this restaurant about once a week. Or, at least, learning how to make eel in the Kabayaki and Shirayaki styles at home, somehow. We do have a great imported Asian foods grocery store here locally, maybe I’ll go down there and see what they’ve got, eel-wise……
-Mike A.
Akemi is so relaxed and happy. I can see why you want to move there now. “You’re” the one with the accent. 😉
TheOtherOne: 40C? I didn’t know the UK could get that hot. Hope there are no fatalities. Are air conditioners common there?
Hello Akemi’s gorgeous family! The kabayaki dinner looks perfect, The green peppers look tasty; thread peppers, that’s new to me. Akemi is so pretty at breakfast rocking the side swept hair.
In the morning I look like the space monster from Alien. Today was farmer’s market day at lunch, I was literally beside myself as I snapped up yellow and purple carrots, gorgeous tomatoes and more almond croissants.
@Tam Dixon You’re right! It’s not usually this hot in England but we’re going thru a hot spell at the moment. The humidity is the worst bit … although we did have downpours and thunderstorms this afternoon (phew!).
Air con’s are more common in cars here than buildings, but the supermarkets are always good places to hang out….
Good morning Joe. Wow, Akemi looks so beautiful and totally at home. Good to see her lovely family again. I think her sister is missing.
I was wondering what Anthony said when he “jumped” in that big puddle while filming “I Should Have Spaced You When I Had The Chance”? Is it repeatable? 🙂 I’m pretty sure that wasn’t in the script. 🙂
Thanks for sharing!
I think @theotherone coined the phrase correctly: “Really enjoying your Japanese experience”. Enjoying the food, the culture, Akemi’s smile, and did I mention the food? Looks like you had a fabulous dinner with the family.
Anyone else buy this season on Amazon and not get the last episode? I’m so bummed. I was hoping to watch it today.
Akemi looks so happy. I keep saying that, don’t I? You both really needed this trip. Akemi’s family look great.
@MikeA That is a lovely memory of your dad. <3