Japunzel

Yesterday I got back from a week of visiting my relatives in Västmanland, Sweden. Today I'm going to Denmark. Then tonight Germany. Then tomorrow Belgium. Then the day after, Netherlands. And in october, I'm going to India, to attend a wedding.

 

When adding my trips to Japan and South Korea earlier this year, it's been many years since I travelled this much. I'm not rich or anything, things have just lined up pretty cheaply for me. India has always been on my list of countries I want to visit but it was never that high up on the list. But a colleague from my mom's time volunteering in a village just south of the Himalayas is getting married. And so my mom is actually paying for me and my sister's ticket.

 

Speaking of new horizons, have one of my favourite pictures of the beautiful Kyoto, Japan.

 

 

And here is one of the old castle in Seoul, Korea.

 

1. Okonomiyaki - the delicious kale pancakes! Can be modified to any taste but I prefere with cheese and egg.
2. Edamame beans - Boiled soy beans in their pods. Usually served cold in Tokyo, but I prefer them hot and salted.
3. Deep fried soft tofu - They are relly good at tofu here. So soft it breaks when you touch the inside and melts in your mouth. Often served with bonito, dried fish flakes.
4. Egg sushi
5. Seaweed soup

 

1. Kitsune Udon - Deep fried tofu with thick wheat noodles in soup. Unfortunately not really vegetarian since it's based on miso soup which usually has fish or at least bonito in it.
2. Pancakes - American style pancakes are sold everywhere and they usually combine it with delicious fruit and not-actually-cream, or banana and syrup. Common breakfast but not really good for sustainance.
3. Toast/Morning Set - This is the breakfast that saved me. Toast doesn't mean a pathetic slice of bread, like in continental breakfasts. This is a huge slice of white bread, with butter and usually with jam and/or egg. And sometimes it includes a hot drink. Works every time, even in sleazy shady cafeterias you can't go wrong with toast.

 

Tokyo Top Three Desserts:

1. Ravioli-shaped pie with cheese filling, caramel sauce and vanilla ice-cream - This was as random as it sounds. But really tasty!
2. Honeytoast
3. Fish-shaped cake with icecream filling

 

Top Tokyo 5 bars

1. arraku, Golden gai
2. New York Bar, Hyatt Park
3. 10cc, Golden gai
4. CoCon, Golden gai
5. Albatross, Golden gai

 

Favourite drink in Japan:

Plum wine, on the rocks - Sweet as marmalade.
Sake - Doesn't taste too much, but goes well with the food and good company.
Asahi - Most beer in Japan is very weak. Asahi is too, but it does have flavour.