Culinary adventure

Itadakimassu! (Translation: Bon Apetit, or more correctly:I accept the food you are giving me.

If some of you remember, I wanted to call my Japanese Diary: "Eating Loving and Learning"

Exploring the Japanese culinary delights is a very important part of our adventure. We can probably spend years in Japan and still find new cullinary experriences. We've eaten at Unagi-Ya (Eel restaurant, delicious!),Yakitori-Ya (Skewered Barbecued Chicken restaurant),Nabemomo (Hot pot restaurants), Ramen-Ya (noodle shops) Kushiga-Ya (deep fry restaurants), Robatayaki-Ya (Charcoal grill restaurant), Tappen-Yaki-Ya (grilled steak/seafood restaurant) and more.. 

But our most "personal" eating experience took place in a Mediterranean style restaurant: "Kitchen 5". It happened last night, when we both experienced "Japanese food fatigue". I decided to find a non-Japanese restaurant in Frommer's and the following description caught my eyes:"If love is the best spice for cooking, then perhaps that's why Yuko Koyabashi's 23 years old, 18 seat restaurant is so popular. The love for what she does shines in her eyes when she cooks". No question, we had  to meet Yuko San! (pictured above)

The restaurant is tiny. Casseroles of Morrocan Tajin, stuffed peppers, roasted eggplants, figs stuffed with cheese, all colourfully displayed on the counter. Yuko San runs the "establishment" with her 2 helpers, competently and cheerfully. I cannot describe how delicious everything was, particularly the roasted chestnut cake.

I really wanted to talk with Yuko San, who was quite busy. "Why Kitchen 5?" I've got her attention and she came to our table: "5 is my lucky number" "The food is so fantastic, where did you learn to cook?" "I went to Italy, Turkey and Israel" "I am from Israel!" well , talking about transformation, the whole restaurant was being transformed into a "Mishpucha" (family in yiddish). Yuko  excitedly brought photo albums to our table, other customers joined us, listening to Yuko decribing to them her Israeli culinary adventure, and showing photos of restaurants in Yaffo and Tel Aviv, where we go when we are in Israel. My god! She went to eat at Dr Shakshuka, a Yaffo landmark, and she sometimes cook Shakshuka in her restaurant!  Shakshuka is a receipt that was invented in the Israeli army. You fry eggs, onions,tomatoes, anything else in your fridge, and camouflage the mess with tomato paste. The fastest delicious meal that one can make.

Gochisosama deshita (Thank you very much for the meal"

Pnina

Adventures in Tokyo

As I watched Big Boy here, I realized that we had arrived at the next level in our Japan adventure. (Actually he was not one of the big ones but I liked his flexibility). It has been one month since we left Montreal. Our first week was filled with a sense of wonder and excitement. Now we still revel in our adventure but with a greater sense of comfort. We truly feel at home.

Yesterday the rains from the typhoon let up and we went to explore the neighbourhood of Azuba-juban, for no other reason than it is next to our rather high-rent space. We wandered down various streets, dropping into random shops. Some of the owners who were well versed on English, thought we were lost. (Thanks to my iPad, we were not). Others, were of the impression that we actually knew our way, so gave us elaborate directions.

I can assure you, Japanese is not essential in this wondrous place. Ok, some basic stuff is important As graduates of Kindergarden and Piki's memory, we could take on the shop-keepers. Piki found this marvelous woman's boutique and set a world record for buying an outfit. The major challenge was choosing the ONE. We found our way around the 'hood to the Gallery where local ceramic and potter artists showed their stuff. Although our credit card was poised for action, we held off, for no reason in particular. However, we did get directions to this intimate little park across a steep hill and down some very narrow streets. All with minimal language skills but a very good map of Tokyo (iPad).

The walk continued as we explored the neighborhood, a very pricey one, on our way to the park next to the hospital. By Tokyo standards, it was tiny. Every corner was a gem. The leaves are about 2-3 weeks from turning. I never cease to be astounded by the attention to detail in most of what we see. At tea time, we stopped for coffee at a Sangfredo shop. Yes, they did use the Italian jargon with a distinct Italian thread. We ordered our cappucino with tiramisu. Suddenly the server comes back in a state of panic. It took a couple of moments to realize that his anguish was that he no longer had that cake but could offer us cheese cake. Love the attitude. (By the way, the food shops in the department stores will be the subject of another missive.) As we left, he shouted out bona serra.

I am afraid that my words cannot give true justice to this one day. But I shall keep exploring with my eager companion, Piki. More on our evening adventure to follow.

Marcel

Freud in Asia East meets West

I have chosen to share with you the photo of Mao's imposing portrait at the entrance to the Forbidden City. Perhaps because this was the image of China printed in my brain: The Cultural Revolution, the Maoist communist regime, holding tight over China. But my own observation leads me to believe that a new generation of bright curious passionate generation is transforming the country, and creating opportunities, where, indeed, East meets West.

China's monuments of its past is awe inspiring: The Forbidden City, The Great Wall, The Temple of Haven, The Terra Cotta Warriors of Xian: There is such a thrill of being there (particularly walking on the Wall) feeling both exhilaration and disbelief: :am I really here?. But , at this stage of our travelling, and learning, the real joy and thrill is the Human connection.

There are few examples where human connection made me feel that East meet West. The first experience took place in a traditional Foot Massage Salon. We are very lucky having our friend Kevin, who is Beijing resident, with us, introducing us to the joy of Chinese foot massage. I hope we did not embarrass  Kevin too much, by not following the right process, exposing our big Western feet prematurely.

So here we were. Kevin, Sheldon, Meryl, Marcel and me, lying down, our tired feet and legs thoroughly massaged, each of us being pampered by a lovely young Chinese woman. My masseuse, looked at me with piercing intelligent eyes: "Me teach English"  she insisted. She pointed at the body part being massaged, and so the lesson began: One foot, 2 feet, one leg, 2 legs one finger, 10 fingers, and so it goes. After a while I did not have to repeat myself. My masseuse continued on her own, while vigorously massaging my feet: "One foot, 2 feet, hair, face, nose, mouth'.. So when you visit china and hear Chinese people speaking English with Israeli accent, rest assured that it is all my fault.

The most exciting experience of human connection, for Meryl and myself,, took place during the 2 days psychoanalytic conference that we have attended. My own recent experience, attending conferences in our part of the world is of "tried" and lackluster exchanges. But, here in Beijing, we felt like privileged observers, who witness some important transformation: The emergence of an engaged, passionate, curious psychotherapist community. In the lectures we have attended there were few Westerners. Most of the participants were young Chinese psychologists and psychiatrists, many of them look 15 years old!

One seminar had a very interesting multicultural flavour: A Taiwanese psychologist presented her paper, in Chinese. There was on screen English translation of her paper, but the follow up discussion was conducted mostly in Chinese, with some verbal English translation. We were 4 Western participants, in a room full of very engaged Chinese. The discussant/moderator was an Israeli psychoanalyst, who did an excellent job, conducting and facilitating the discussion.

There were a few other interesting seminars, but it is now very late in Tokyo  What was evident is that is very hard to conduct therapy in a society were the word "self" does not really exist. Yet, the most important message for me from the conference, is that despite all our cultural differences, we all felt connected through our belief in our universal needs: The need for belonging, safety and authenticity.

Oyasoominasai

Pnina

Marathon & Magic in China

We have been absent from our blog for over a week. A number of excuses come to mind, too busy, left the computer in Tokyo, Blogs do not work in China, does not work on the iPad, etc. As usual, the truth is much simpler. All of the above combined with a bit of lethargy limited our writing.

First, to all of you who have commented and tracked us, thank you for the encouragement. Life is an adventure and it is fun to share. Second, to Kevin a great thank you. Beijing would not have been half the fun without you. Now that we are soon leaving, you will be able to rest.

Companion photo from our thoughts are always a challenge. Here is both passion and grace, ballroom dancing in the Temple of Heaven. How appropriate.

This first visit to China was limited to Beijing and Xian. That is the marathon portion. First impressions seem to be a good place to start this blog. Stupendous and overwhelming are two adjectives that come to mind. The airport and the drive into Beijing impress with the size of everything. It brings to mind asking for a small latte at Starbucks. There is no such thing as small. Nothing can prepare you for the size of the road taking you past Tienamin, or for that matter, the expanse of the Square itself. We were told that there are 4 million cars in Beijing. I am a believer.

Everything appears to be designed to impress. Bejing is one place where one can believe that size does count. There are no short blocks, small buildings, or quaint restaurants. Blocks are long, buildings are tall and broad, and restos seat hundreds. We have done all of the requisite sites and more. Got our fake watch and real cashmere shawl and ate tons of dumplings and duck. But I digress, onto Xian.

Do you believe in magic? As we shuffled into the first of the terra-cotta warrior halls, we were awestruck. These thousands of guys are impressive. Seeing them lined up in their splendor with the open ceiling allowing the sun to spotlight their grandeur, takes your breath away. Patience, the real stuff is yet to come.

Looking at the soldiers, I hear a voice call out "Marcel". My first reaction is, I wonder how many Chinese have the same name as me. Now for the magic. Right behind me, in a huge crowd of Chinese tourists and a few foreigners, is Sara from Berlin. We scream, we hug, our respective spouses wonder if we have lost our minds. There it was, Marcel and Piki hook up with Andreas and Sara completely outside of our respective zone and planetary orbits. Wow do you believe I fate.

As with previous blogs, we share some random thoughts and events. More to come. After all, we did come here for the International Psychotherapy conference.

Marcel

Noto Hanto Adventure

Pnina's story:

In Takyama we rented a car, and embarked on a 5 hour driving adventure to Noto Hanto, a peninsula on the western coast of Honshu. Noto is a  word for "nose" Hanto: peninsula. It is a remote area, where fishing, sea-weed harvesting and agriculture are a way of life.. It is an area where steep, densely forested hills lining the coast, an area which is breathtakingly ruggedly beautiful. We were drawn to this area because of it remoteness and also because we heard about a very special secluded Ryokan (Japanese inn, built on the edge of the sea (Lamp No Yado, inn of the lamps, shown in the photo). We already knew in Montreal that we'll have a real challenge getting to Lamp No Yado, since we could not book it from Montreal. We eventually managed to find it on a Japanese web site, and Masahiro, our ex Japanese teacher booked it for us.

The car rental company did not have maps in English so we put our fate in the hands of our dear English speaking GPS (Marcel claims that it is a marriage saving instrument) . The closer we came to Noto Hanto, the more scarce were the English signs. But as Marcel drove forward we kept following the soft woman's voice: "In 700 meters turn right, keep going straight," etc. We were guided through on narrow steep roads, through forests, hills, valleys and quaint villages. Everything went so well, till we arrived to a hill top and our GPS soft feminine voice announced: You have reached your destination. We got out of the car enjoyed the beautiful view, the sea bellow us, then down below saw few beautiful buildings, which we assumed would be Lamp No Yado. We saw a very narrow steep road, somehow I suspected it meant for driving, but Marcel stated n a self assured manner stated; "We can do it" Of course we could not read the Japanese big sign, apparently warning of driving down hill.  To make a long story short, we ended on  a cliff, facing the sea, got out of the car, walked down to the Ryokan. Eventually the driver of the Ryokan, the only one who is allowed to drive down there. got our car back to the parking lot, at the top of the hill.

We spent the next day driving along the coast, visiting fishing villages, shopping in a  charming morning market (asa-ichi, in Japanese) where you can buy sea food, fruits and vegetables and local craft. We liked this little village so much, so we decided to go to the grocery store and buy some food for a picnic on the beach. We easily "identified" some cheese and tomato, but finding bread was more challenging. I got excited when I found  what looked like a loaf of whole wheat bread. (That's one western food item that i miss) But when we stopped for our picnic I found out that I've bought some kind of a brown creamy cake, which brought close to home the famous statement: "If they don't have bread, let them eat cake".

It was a bit hard to leave Lamp No Yado, in the nights we have been there we enjoyed communicating with the friendly young woman who took care of us (in spite of the language barrier). But it was time to go 'home to Tokyo, so we climbed the hill, got into our car, where we were very relieved to hear again the voice of our friendly GPS. We drove about 3 hours to Kanazawa, then hopped on a train, then into another train, eventually got back to our apartment "we have reached our destination"

Good night (Oyasso minasai) to all.
Pnina

Takayama Fall Festival

From the photo, you may get the impression that we were invited to this magnificent Japanese wedding. There are a number of common factors between our western culture and what we observed. First, the bride is beautiful. Second, she is the full centre of attention with a minion of people running around assuring that she looks he best. Of course he has this permanent small on her face for the audience. Third, the father appears proud and slightly stressed. I suspect that he is paying for this party.

Now the truth, we made our first attempt at being wedding crashers. We followed the wedding party to the other end of town at a beautiful shrine. There we caught up with the wedding, the groom's party and then were firmly advised that we were not invited. From the dress code and other obvious factors, it was hard for us to fit in. However, the shrine itself, the surroundings and the music playing from just about everywhere around the building, were worth the trip.

Back to the festival.

The small town of Takayama, famous for the quality of its sake, was out in force to welcome the tourists. There were few non-Japanese faces. But the were tons of people and cameras. Check out the photo. The major highlights were the floats and the processions of people dressed in traditional wear. We understand that there was an awesome puppet show, but the closest we could get was 100 metres from the stage.

It is refreshing to know that there are many universal truths. The truth of festivals is that it brings out people who spend a lot of money, and the hotels and restaurants who have this one week to make serious money, raise their prices by 25%. As one who dislikes crowds, I enjoyed the spectacle, the floats and all the local participants who made the experience.

Marcel ( we are now signing, so you can distinguish the point of view.)

Real coffee

Another bonus from the Japanese Language School was the local market. it is a narrow street with a glass roof and a myriad of stores. Most important was the cookie store where we bought our snacks for the hard lessons ahead. The Chyoda sushi takeout was a great source for lunch on the way back. (Who said that we were going to cook on this sabbatical.) There was also a Chinese takeout nearby. With places like this it is hard to be motivated to cook. But best of all was the coffee roaster.

This shop has about a dozen large baskets with raw coffee. But the roasting processing is special. There are 3 small roasting units, probably 50 years old, about the same age as the grinders. You choose your coffee (Number 1 always sounds best) and the roast. French dark also sounds good. Then you are invited to sit and sample some excellent random drip coffee while you wait the 20 minutes for your own. Not everyone waits as we do. I did notice many bags of custom roasted coffee waiting for their owners. We tried it back at the flat. Awesome.

By the way. The whole transaction was conducted in Japanese without a hitch. That school was really good.

As to a previous entry. Piki did come back from yoga but was too tired. Hard work this sabbatical stuff.

Stay tuned. We have arrived in Takayama. The trains are great.

Graduation day

There we are. Members of Level 0 Japanese class. I must admit that after 5 days, I can say that it was worth while. It did prove to me that the days of being a fast learner are over.

On the positive side, we did manage to keep up. Now I can embarrass myself in one more language. I can ask for directions to the toilet and Piki is excellent at asking for the bill.

We have moved our residence and are now even better established. More news when Piki gets back from her yoga class.

Another day in Kindergarden

Pnina's observation from Japanese class kindergarden

Today we almost became kindergarden drop outs. Our sensei (teacher) gave us a writing test. We were supposed to practice Japanese writing, but with all our focusing on new culinary discoveries, there was not time for homework. We were sitting, looking stupid among our young fellow students, all of whom are quite younger than our own kids. The Sensei humoured us and allowed us to have our books open while writing the test, and it was still too hard! How can you absorb 3 different writings of Japanese?: Hiragana, feminine and soft. Katakana, masculine and aggressive, and Kanji, writing style that had been imported to Japan from China.

In spite of the difficulties, there is something so poetic and beautiful in Japanese writing. We were given a short document that describes the Japanese characters in English. I found it so enchanting:For example: the description of the charachter Su is: "Sooey sooey, you call out to a pig with a curly tail".. go figure!

In a previous email to friends i named our Japanese adventure: "Eating, loving learning" (not too original). Since the focus is on eating, i made sure that i know how to read and write Sushi in Hiragana. I cannot write much, but I can confidently say:" Gochisoo sama deshita, Okeikee onegai shimassu." (I finished eating, the bill please) Most of the waiters laugh when they hear me say it.

Time to go, there is another writing test tomorrow

Good morning Tokyo. What you see is definitely the preferred method of transport, unless you are in my neighbourhood where the hills are not bicycle friendly. Note the difference in bike riders, one gear, no protective padding on any part of the body and complete respect for traffic lights. Yes, they ride on the sidewalks so the only risk are the inconsiderate pedestrians who walk four across. On hills, you just get off and walk up, but the downhills are great. as for us, we walk a lot. Good news, the pain is minimal.

Piki and I are still in tourist mode. Our routine is exciting since each day we have managed to explore a new part of this city. Yesterday, Ueno park or rather a small corner of it was on the radar. In reality, we were looking for an eel restaurant recommended by the Frommer guide. The best landmark noted in the book was "next to KFC". That is truly important since there is not one letter in English or other readable language to let us know where we are. Yes, they did have a readable menu. Great food. In addition to magnificent museums and the concert hall, this area is also well populated by the homeless of Tokyo. Near to the park we stumbled onto a wild market area which we left for another time. Even we, do not have limitless energy.

Casual observation. The number of western tourists is quite small. There were some lost souls on the Ginza (we must go back tonight), but generally tourism appears to be Asian.

Have a great day.

First Day in Kindergarden

Today Piki and started our Japanese lessons. To be expected, we were at least double the average age in the class. Yes, we sat through four hours of rather exciting learning. Our teacher was filled with energy and lost me at least every 15 minutes but I did manage not to embarrass myself to badly. We even started on learning how to write and read Haragana.

After the lesson we wandered a side street to discover a coffee roaster. What an aroma. I must pick some up tomorrow. Lunch was has at a fine hole in the wall with a great looking menu (literally, the photos were mouth watering). The 3 tables on the ground floor were full, so we were rushed upstairs to the executive dining room. Needless to say, we were all by ourselves. As it turned out, it was a Korean resto of which there are many in this town. Oshi. For the uninitiated, delicious.

Further down, we picked up some fruits and a take away sushi for our evening meal. This was one cool local market street.

For those with cheap Skype or international phone cards our local number is +81 80 5890 8935. If that does not work please let me know.

We even managed to sneak in a quick trip to the Ginza tonight. Wow. Times Square, Picadilly Circus and the Champs Elysees all rolled into one. Piki had to go visit her hairdresser and visit Mitsuya for some bocconcini and tomatoes.

Good night, and do my homework. Ichi, no, san, 1,2,3

Settling in at Villa Fontain Annex, Tokyo

We have unpacked all of our gear and to my surprise it went quickly and effortlessly. The only unexpected surprise was the internet connection is not great and it cuts-out my Magic Jack. We are getting our Japanese cell in a couple of days, so those of you who can do cheap calls to Japan I shall post the number as soon as I get it.

As you can expect, we have played tourist on our first couple of days. For those of you who discount my affection for technology, the iPad works brilliantly here. I cannot get a local sim so I am limited to the WiFi I set up in our flat. Without this gadget we would have spent half of our 2 days like every tourist in Tokyo, LOST. The Maps app uses a built in GPS to locate where I am when it is on. Therefore for the past days we have been tethered to this thing. Not only did it plan our route to any destination (better than most who profess to know Tokyo) but also tracked us as we walked the streets. There was not a missed step nor getting lost. WOW.

We now face a fundamental challenge. Cooking seems like a chore but eating out, although great in this city, can get boring and expensive. We have discovered that Frommer is quite accurate in its recommendations. We are still looking for some excellent prepared food stores. There was one a couple of metro stops away.

Speaking of Metro, we have been getting around this city from top to bottom and side to side without skipping a beat. Again, the iPad metro app finds our destination and with our Pasmo card we get there in a flash or without getting lost. Like every other major subway system this one can get you anywhere but there is a tremendous amount of walking required to transfer. I guess that the good new is that it is all underground and allows for even more exercise. Speaking of which, I am beat.

Tomorrow we start our 1 week of Japanese lessons. We failed the entry test and shall therefore start at level 0. They could at least have called it Beginner. Stay tuned for updates on our language skills.

This is the beginning of a great adventure. We have already booked our tickets to the Sumo tournament in Fukuaka. In addition, I am now on the mailing list of the Sumo association of Japan. Another good thing about the Japanese lessons, I hope to be able to read these e-mails.

We have not embarrassed ourselves too much as we wandered and rode around this beautiful city. More about the public gardens for later.

For those of you who are wondering, yes I have brought out my camera arsenal. That is why my back is a bit stiff right now. The couple in the photo was following an ancient global tradition, wedding photos in the park. I am now checking out as to how to get my stuff onto a photo sharing web-site. I shall let you followers know when I figure it out.

Good night and best wishes to all