Finally!
Ten months has finally passed and my long awaited Japan trip is less than four days away. It’s hard to believe I’ll be leaving this Thursday since I waited so long. My excitement must’ve died along the months and Hiroshi felt the same way too. He sorted of started packing last night which prompted me to do so as well when I came home last night. To be honest I’m glad I’ll only be bringing a backpack for this trip. Less things to worry about.
Anyhow since I will be eating nothing but Japanese food this weekend and next week which is nothing new since Hiroshi does cook Japanese food most of the time, I was hoping to avoid Japanese food while I’m away from Hiroshi but nooooo. First Pauline was craving for sushi last Thursday since I will be in Japan so we ate at this new Korean-owned sushi place close by. Plus we had coupons. Third of the worst sushi I’ve ever eaten and it was my first and worst hot sake I ever had. I was traumatized from trying sake in Japan.
Then on Saturday, I met Hiroshi’s aunt and uncle who are visiting from Japan. His aunt is so nice while his uncle is absolutely hip to the point I already felt like a bum. Neither spoke English so I had to beef up my bad Japanese. Good thing I still remember some of my Japanese and understood some of the things they said. Hiroshi and I drove to Torrance to pick them up and toured them in Orange County. I thought they would want to eat American food but we had ramen. Afterwards we took them to South Coast Plaza to go shopping. Yup, his uncle is so hip that he mostly bought tops in Abercrombie & Fitch while his aunt bought two pairs of Uggs since it was so much cheaper here and Marc Jacob perfumes in Sephora. They definitely knew what they wanted. Since it was still early for dinner, we headed back to Torrance and had dinner at one of my favorite Japanese restaurant. We had salad, mixed of tempura, sashimi, miso soup, egg custard (that I like now), and mixed mountain vegetables. Hiroshi’s uncle wanted to drink beer and it’s kind of awkward when you’re drinking by yourself so I ordered a small hot sake (very dry). He said he’ll have the rest of what I can’t finish. Sorry uncle but that was the best sake I’ve ever had. If sake was that good then I can’t wait to try the one in Japan! Of course my rule of thumb when it comes to traveling is that I can only drink during dinner and not set myself up for a hangover the following day. Anyhow, his mom and aunt were surprise that I can drink while his uncle immediately liked me. They’re so nice.
Following day I had a slight hangover but tolerable thanks to daylight savings. I attended at my sister’s Genbukai Karate tournament at the last minute at 10 in the morning but did not expect them to finish at 2 pm. That was the longest I’ve ever sat on bleacher but some of the combats were interesting. I did however notice there were some favoritism among the black belts. One guy I was rooting for should’ve gotten a point against his opponent but he was fighting with their top student. And to top it off, the top student pretends to attack by yelling to intimidate and fool his opponent and the judges. Sadly it works more on the judges. After the tournament guess what? Ramen again!
This week I will definitely avoid Japanese food to cleanse my palette and prepare myself for some real authentic Japanese food. Not that the ones I’ve been to aren’t authentic except for the one I went to with Pauline, but I want to prepare myself for some good grub.
Anyhow since I will be eating nothing but Japanese food this weekend and next week which is nothing new since Hiroshi does cook Japanese food most of the time, I was hoping to avoid Japanese food while I’m away from Hiroshi but nooooo. First Pauline was craving for sushi last Thursday since I will be in Japan so we ate at this new Korean-owned sushi place close by. Plus we had coupons. Third of the worst sushi I’ve ever eaten and it was my first and worst hot sake I ever had. I was traumatized from trying sake in Japan.
Then on Saturday, I met Hiroshi’s aunt and uncle who are visiting from Japan. His aunt is so nice while his uncle is absolutely hip to the point I already felt like a bum. Neither spoke English so I had to beef up my bad Japanese. Good thing I still remember some of my Japanese and understood some of the things they said. Hiroshi and I drove to Torrance to pick them up and toured them in Orange County. I thought they would want to eat American food but we had ramen. Afterwards we took them to South Coast Plaza to go shopping. Yup, his uncle is so hip that he mostly bought tops in Abercrombie & Fitch while his aunt bought two pairs of Uggs since it was so much cheaper here and Marc Jacob perfumes in Sephora. They definitely knew what they wanted. Since it was still early for dinner, we headed back to Torrance and had dinner at one of my favorite Japanese restaurant. We had salad, mixed of tempura, sashimi, miso soup, egg custard (that I like now), and mixed mountain vegetables. Hiroshi’s uncle wanted to drink beer and it’s kind of awkward when you’re drinking by yourself so I ordered a small hot sake (very dry). He said he’ll have the rest of what I can’t finish. Sorry uncle but that was the best sake I’ve ever had. If sake was that good then I can’t wait to try the one in Japan! Of course my rule of thumb when it comes to traveling is that I can only drink during dinner and not set myself up for a hangover the following day. Anyhow, his mom and aunt were surprise that I can drink while his uncle immediately liked me. They’re so nice.
Following day I had a slight hangover but tolerable thanks to daylight savings. I attended at my sister’s Genbukai Karate tournament at the last minute at 10 in the morning but did not expect them to finish at 2 pm. That was the longest I’ve ever sat on bleacher but some of the combats were interesting. I did however notice there were some favoritism among the black belts. One guy I was rooting for should’ve gotten a point against his opponent but he was fighting with their top student. And to top it off, the top student pretends to attack by yelling to intimidate and fool his opponent and the judges. Sadly it works more on the judges. After the tournament guess what? Ramen again!
This week I will definitely avoid Japanese food to cleanse my palette and prepare myself for some real authentic Japanese food. Not that the ones I’ve been to aren’t authentic except for the one I went to with Pauline, but I want to prepare myself for some good grub.