(no subject)
So, a few months ago I went up to New Jersey to visit a previously internet-only friend of mine, Alex-kun. It was my first experience out-of-state to a non-relatives house, and I'd like to think our friendship deepened because of it. A misunderstanding almost created a bit of trouble before I even got there, however! I had told her I'd be at the airport at a certain time but she thought I meant PM instead of AM XD;; Luckily she was able to beg a ride from her father to fetch me~ I would have waited without complaining otherwise. I had made the To trip in the morn and the From trip in the evening so that I could spend as much time as I could and thought I'd impressed that upon her :m She made me a taiyaki: a fish shaped cake filled with sweet bean filling. It was quite delicious. I find that she likes things sweeter and I like my tea stronger XD
I got to see and do quite a lot of fun things...a favorite day in particular was going to visit a korean strip mall and a japanese store. At the Korean store I bought a cellphone charm. It's quite lovely: a red crystal dangling a red (straw?)berry and a bejeweled leaf. We had lunch there as well. A bowl of rice that had several kinds of fish eggs on it (the black kind tasted of sesame but the big red ones were fishy tasting), okonomiyaki (a thick Japanse-style cabbage pancake) and inarizushi (sweetened fried tofu pouches filled with sushi rice). I was excited to finally try "real" okonomiyaki and was glad to find that it tasted just like the kind I made, though much thicker.
While the Korean place was a big strip mall, the Japanese place was a big store. Not unlike a Winn-dixie. I got to walk around looking at various shelves with treats printed in a language I couldn't read :D They also had mini stores and a restaurants! I was so deliiiighted <3 <3 They had things like sushi, filled breads, various -dons (meat on rice) and mochi (sweet rice treat)! There was a small section that I think was only for making riceballs, a place for taiyaki, a tea place, a ramen store and one with various rice dishes. There was also this expensive looking place that sold these little jelly jewels that had a fruit in the middle :o
Later in the week, when we went to collect tickets for a con, we went again to the store (at my request) to have dinner :D I also finally got to try fresh ramen. There was so many different kinds of food to try but I decided to try Natto-ramen. It was a regular bowl of ramen that came with some natto, really. But I'd never tried that either. I had heard that it was very strong...but I didn't think it was much different from the other beans I've ever eaten. I felt a bit proud that I knew how to swirl my chopsticks to get the sticky fermented strands off.I had opted for miso broth because I was worried it'd be too salty, but I realized that there is a reason they have salt broth :o Then we went to a little cafe where I finally got to try a japanese style parfait <3 <3 I chose the mixed fruit one. There was mochi, green tea cake, and exotic fruits like dragonfruit and lychee.
I'll tell you next time about the convention. I got to go to a concert in style~ Mixed Speakers~
I got to see and do quite a lot of fun things...a favorite day in particular was going to visit a korean strip mall and a japanese store. At the Korean store I bought a cellphone charm. It's quite lovely: a red crystal dangling a red (straw?)berry and a bejeweled leaf. We had lunch there as well. A bowl of rice that had several kinds of fish eggs on it (the black kind tasted of sesame but the big red ones were fishy tasting), okonomiyaki (a thick Japanse-style cabbage pancake) and inarizushi (sweetened fried tofu pouches filled with sushi rice). I was excited to finally try "real" okonomiyaki and was glad to find that it tasted just like the kind I made, though much thicker.
While the Korean place was a big strip mall, the Japanese place was a big store. Not unlike a Winn-dixie. I got to walk around looking at various shelves with treats printed in a language I couldn't read :D They also had mini stores and a restaurants! I was so deliiiighted <3 <3 They had things like sushi, filled breads, various -dons (meat on rice) and mochi (sweet rice treat)! There was a small section that I think was only for making riceballs, a place for taiyaki, a tea place, a ramen store and one with various rice dishes. There was also this expensive looking place that sold these little jelly jewels that had a fruit in the middle :o
Later in the week, when we went to collect tickets for a con, we went again to the store (at my request) to have dinner :D I also finally got to try fresh ramen. There was so many different kinds of food to try but I decided to try Natto-ramen. It was a regular bowl of ramen that came with some natto, really. But I'd never tried that either. I had heard that it was very strong...but I didn't think it was much different from the other beans I've ever eaten. I felt a bit proud that I knew how to swirl my chopsticks to get the sticky fermented strands off.I had opted for miso broth because I was worried it'd be too salty, but I realized that there is a reason they have salt broth :o Then we went to a little cafe where I finally got to try a japanese style parfait <3 <3 I chose the mixed fruit one. There was mochi, green tea cake, and exotic fruits like dragonfruit and lychee.
I'll tell you next time about the convention. I got to go to a concert in style~ Mixed Speakers~