What I Loved About Japan This Week - And See You In Two Weeks!

This nashi pear, practically a national emblem of Japan. And our sweet neighbour for thinking of us.

This slice of heaven, a breathtaking saloon of a bar and lounge on the second floor of an equally stunning book store, Tsutaya at the Daikanyama T-Site, Tokyo, (just casually open from 7am - 2am, like any cool place in Tokyo). Thank you to the best tour guide ever and lovely new friend for taking me there! Note: this place has even been described as, "Tokyo's Stunning Palace For The Printed Word," by CNN, and although an elaborate title, it's no joke.

A rainy day didn't put off these Matsuri (Summer Festival) preparations at my teeny local community centre.

How I imagine The Wizard Of Oz would be like, if it were set in Japan.

And because rargh! Another unknown fact I learned the hard way - Japan has nasty insects!! This tiny sucker fell out of a tree into the crook of my elbow and proceeded to send a burning pain through my entire arm. Why did I love this about Japan this week? Because I grew up in Australia, and I am convinced it was my immunity built up from having been stung from way worse (not a great advertisement for Australia here) that stopped the burning pretty soon afterwards. Hah! Take that tiny ninja stinger thing!

My mother is coming to visit us (happiness overload!) in Tokyo tomorrow for two weeks. We are planning a few trips away, some sightseeing, and plenty of mother-daughter-'bub' time. I will be back around here after she heads home (please time go slowly!) to Australia.

I hope you have a great weekend and next couple of weeks!

A Sweet Relationships Idea: At Your Next Dinner Time

My husband and I were Facetiming a couple the other day, and it was dinner time, so they proceeded to cook (an amazing) dinner, and afterwards headed over to the couch with their food to continue chatting.

Jesse astutely noticed that as they sat on their couch, they had only one plate between them and a knife and fork.

Given the closeness of our relationship, Jesse right out and joked, "Either you guys have a ton of dishes in the sink and this is your last plate, or you guys are pair eating."

(Me: Pair eating??)

Turns out, they often sit on the couch together and share their meal, having come from a tiny apartment where the habit of eating together on the lounge just stuck. And also, from the brilliance of wanting less to wash up.

This is me: Sweet. Insanely practical. Genius.

And apartments here in Tokyo are not exactly huge for the majority population, and kitchens even drastically tinier (it is not uncommon to have a single burner for all your cooking needs in a studio).

Having lived in a couple of tiny apartments in the past (i.e. here is our kitchen, dining, living, while turning around in a circle without moving), and definitely having had our share of a cosy dinner on the couch with a movie (or pjs and toasted cheese sandwiches, let's be honest), all I could think of was WHY have I never thought of that?

I have since tried said method. Happy to report that less dishes is indeed as satisfying as it sounds.

So pair eating (is it a thing?). Would you do it? Do you do it?

Pregnancy And Working From Home: Zaitakukinmu (I Think)

We've established I have some time on my hands, and I have been loving the freedom of pursuing being a writer, actor and model, as well as the general preparation for becoming a mother in 12 weeks (woo!) and settling into living in Japan.

Old news, I know.

But another of my dreams, or regrets really, was that I never studied business in high school. I thought it sounded dry, and there were other more interesting subjects (like Chemistry, Economics, and Maths?!) that I apparently wanted to do instead! Does anyone else look back on high school, or university for that matter, and go, what exactly was I thinking?

No regrets.

Since then, I've always wanted to start a number of businesses, but always felt a little bit like, a). How on earth would I have the time because I work full time and write in the evenings?, and b). Where would I even start?

Well. This little course came across my emails (thank you amazing husband, without his brilliance I'm sure nothing would get done).

Launch Your Profitable Online Business
By Remit Sethi
Time: About 1 hour a day for 5 days
Cost: Free (at least for the next few days, but there is a ton of great free material on his website too)
Content: Mostly videos

And I'm letting you know I'm doing it. (It is only 5 days, so let's not get too big headed Kirrily.)

Stay tuned for some 'zaitakukinmu' ('working from home' in Japanese, I think, I hope)!

What about you? Have you done any courses on the side that you recommend?

My Local Farmer's Stall

Every photo I've posted of where I live in Higashikurume, has so far been fairly conservative. This is the real deal though.

There are rivers. Fields. Shrines. Actual houses. And, as I said, limited coffee options. It is what people who live in central Tokyo call 'inaka' (rural).

Although, let's take a step back here. The suburb is still 13km² with just under 120,000 people living here. Compared to the Lower North Shore of Sydney, which is 80km² and about 250,000 people. So, Higashikurume is packing a ton of people, and only 20 minutes train to the centre of Tokyo. But, we cannot deny, there are fields (which, let's be clear, by the way suits me perfectly).

And this here is my local field. (There are actually like at least 5 of these in walking distance from me.)

And that is real raw ginger! I have never in my little life seen it before!

And total bonus - Higashikurume comes complete with chestnut trees! A little walk and you are foraging for chestnuts. I've never roasted some before, but if these turn out well, I'm going back to gather for Christmas time!

The Japanese Homestyle Cooking Project

Oyakodon (or Japanese Chicken And Egg Over Rice), recipe via Japanese Women Don't Get Old Or Fat.

One of the best ways to begin to feel comfortable in a culture I think, is to make its food. Hello, grocery store that no longer stocks the ingredients I am used to. How much more at ease am I going to feel when we go shopping and I'm all, yes, I do need these ingredients on all these shelves because I am cooking a Japanese meal at home.

(Rather than my often defeated feeling spagetti - which, I do have ZERO qualms about making, I'm all for maintaining my heritage, and I'm incredibly grateful for the wide variety of foods I have grown up with, BUT, try walking into a supermarket in Japan to make spagetti. It's not impossible, but it's as if every shelf is staring down at you until you find that tiny selection of pasta and a few sauces, as opposed to the entire half aisle I was used to in Sydney.)

Setting myself up for a win each day.

By attempting to make Japanese food.

A few people have also asked me to include some Japanese cooking on the blog. And I loved Julie and Julia, the movie based on the book/blog about a woman who worked her way through Julia Child's Mastering The Art Of French Cooking.

So, I've picked Naomi Moriyama's Japanese Women Don't Get Old Or Fat cookbook and general commentary on the insanely healthy lifestyle of Japanese (men and women), to cook my way through.

It is graciously in English. Written by a Japanese woman, who lives in the USA, and who greatly believes that Japanese home cooking is the source of some of the world's best kept secrets.

As the blurb on the back of her book says, paraphrase, Japanese people are amongst those with the longest life span in the world, their country has next to no obesity, and women in their 40's look as though they are in their 20s.

Hello. Yes.

I can totally vouch for that. I am constantly assuming the people I meet are 10-20 (!) years younger than they are.

Ok Kirrily, less writing, more cooking.

The first recipe I tried, I totally cheated, because I have made it a billion times before in Australia, and so many more times since being here. So no disastrous stories here today - though I am sure they await me in future pages...

Basically, Jesse once told me he loved this meal, and I love home cooking, and it is easy, and warm, and delicious (and apparently long-life enhancing).

Here's how it went in photos:

Oyakodon (or Japanese Chicken And Egg Over Rice)

Your basic ingredients, dashi (fish stock), sake, mirin, soy sauce, eggs, negi (Japanese spring onion-meets-leek, either one would work fine), onion, chicken, salt and sugar.

Got the dashi going with sake...

Added the negi and onion and let them cook.

Added the mirin, soy sauce, sugar and salt...

Then added the chicken, to essentially poach it for a few minutes (I like putting the lid on to keep the broth in there, but you could leave the lid off and let it reduce for a less sauce-y version).

Once almost cooked, I whisked the eggs up and poured them gently over the top.

 Grab a bowl of rice (which is seriously as simple as 'grab a bowl of rice' if you live in Japan and have your rice cooker almost constantly on everyday).

Cooked! (Like shamefully easy, right?) A bowl of an extra few years on your life. You're welcome. Plus, it is So. Freaking. Delicious.

Itadakimasu!

What I Loved About Japan This Week

I had about three people stop me in the street to excitedly point out the rainbow, and saw every second person taking a photo. Either they are super rare here, or Japanese people are just a lot more appreciative of the humble rainbow.

Because this ferris wheel promises 16 minute memories.

So pretty.

More pretty. I love summer.

And YAY on high. Basil is growing and we are putting it in everything. (P.S. Those heavenly brass bonsai scissors are from my husband's beautiful mother's shop, in case you are looking for the perfect pair for your kitchen.)

Have a lovely weekend!

Places: bills, Odaiba Tokyo

Oh, bills.

In the words of my husband - going there was like experiencing the best of Sydney and Tokyo in one place.

We celebrated our super fast processing through Immigration with freshly baked Nutella And Ricotta Scones and some melted chocolate Hot Chocolates.

Heaven.

P.S. Bill Granger was totally there! ::screams:: The owner of bills and celebrity chef - obviously an Australian thing, because despite a full restaurant, not one person bat an eyelid. Or they are just far more civilised here in Japan than I am. Highly. Likely.

Here's some photos, if you'd like to see:

 Me subtly checking if that is Bill Granger.

Totally was! Such a geeky fan!

 Real melted chocolate Hot Chocolates.

bills
Odaiba, Tokyo

(P.P.S. The rest of Odaiba is usually worth visiting - however, do not advise going on a rainy Monday. The kitsch but brilliant Venetian canal replica shopping malls were closed, as was the Toyota Show Room, which admittedly sounds less than riveting, but this is Japan, and Toyota is Japanese, and well, there's like robots and 'futuristic' cars and stuff. Normally. Like I said, closed. But bills was heavenly.)

8am Monday Morning: Shinagawa Station, Tokyo

This is the Tokyo I experienced this morning. We were headed to Immigration - hot tip: to line up before it opens. (My husband's colleague recommended it. We were processed in 1 hour 15 minutes, as opposed to a roughly 6 hour wait. The peak hour press was Worth. It.)

(Another side note - by press, I mean, the point at which people are pressing themselves onto trains, and being helpfully pushed in by train guards as well. Just this morning I witnessed a man stuck between the closing doors, his face, and his bag, as two guards ran to save him and yanked frantically at the doors whilst also shoving him further inside. Just a little thought to consider people. In the words of the Australian Government anti-mobile-phone-use-while-driving-a-vehicle campaign - M8 It Can W8. Or, don't be crazy.)

Anyway. This is a post just because. It was a little overwhelming and a little breathtaking. Kind of like everything Tokyo.

That's all.

What I Loved About Japan This Week

Because we all know how much I like parfaits. (One of these was Jesse's by the way. P.S. How cool is the chunky dragon fruit just hanging out there? Courtesy of Jonathans Coffee & Restaurant.)

A REAL pizza. Are we in Japan, or Italy here, people, I know! Japan is so extremely Japanese, and yet extremely multicultural, and it's hard to figure it out to be honest. But Italian food, which is a huge part of the menu of so many restaurants I see everywhere, is usually just 'ok'. Here, though, at To The Herbs, we have a real, wood-fired, more than three mouthfuls, pizza.

It was a tiny, hole in the wall Portuguese tarts patisserie. That's all they do. Stumbled upon. Will be stumbling back upon.

Because, The Chad? (Charlie's Angels anyone?)

And our lovely neighbours have invited us over for dinner. We are in charge of dessert, so the beginnings of a little ice cream layer cake (coconut cherry layer number one).

This post. It is entirely food. All I do is eat!

Have a great weekend!

Find A Decent Coffee: Fuglen Espresso Bar

In Japanese, a coffee house is called a "kissaten". Cool word and fun fact, but it definitely isn't long enough to encompass the venue we found ourselves at last weekend:

Fuglen Espresso Bar, Cocktail Bar, Vintage Norwegian Design.

In the heart of Tokyo.

Worth a visit, I'd say.

Jesse and I whiled away a drizzly Saturday afternoon here, watching scores of stylish people come and go. We helped ourselves to the range of gorgeous, why-haven't-I-seen-this-book-before books, sipped our hot drinks, and pored over the menu of craft beers and cocktails for a definite return trip in the future one evening (post-pregnancy of course).

Fuglen Espresso Bar, Cocktail Bar, Vintage Norwegian Design
Yoyogi, Tokyo

Coffee: Beautiful. (Hot chocolate, also beautiful - it was a perfect hot chocolate afternoon as well, ok!)

Value: Expensive, although coffee of the day is ¥360, so anywhere from ¥360-¥600.

Atmosphere and service: Heavenly, very relaxing, jazz music, and attention to detail, and the most comfortable lounges known to man.

My two cents: Being able to spend a few hours somewhere as beautiful as this was worth every cent.