Friday, October 07, 2005

Food...Glorious Food

Should I be working hard on emailing faculty members and trying to ingratiate myself? Yes. But it's more fun to post pictures on the web!

This was at a trendy restaurant in Tokyo - a sushi-fusionesque sort of deal.

Simmering pots...

Mmmm...smell the roasting meat. Kobe beef is like butter. Buttah.

Tonkatsu - fried pork cutlet. Heaven.

Now, this is elaborate and pretty, but not my favorite. That greyish thing next to the green ball? My personal term for it is "baby flesh." Because it has the texture I think baby flesh would have - soft, squishy, but not chewy. And juicy. A texture I never encountered before.

These are little confections - just sugar, really, made into an exactingly pretty form, wrapped in beautiful Japanese paper, and placed - just so - in an ornate box. My co-worker said, "They look like boobs." But they're really supposed to look like steamed buns (no, not that kind, this is not about T & A) with the red seal they're branded with. Ah, Japan. In the basement of the big department stores there is usually a floor devoted to food - confections, beautiful pastries, and freshly fried foods - like potato croquettes. MMMMMM. And did I mention everything is beautifully made and packaged? It's insane. And, when you walk down the aisles of the department store, the shop ladies (all in gloves) bow in succession as you pass through.

Just look at the joy on his face. Japan is the land of vending machines. There are millions of kinds of drinks and they are all wonderful. Want a soda? Iced coffee? Yogurt drink? Ice cream? Pastry? Batteries? Digital camera? Just go to a vending machine!

2 comments:

Bird On A Line said...

Love the pictures!

myevilterran said...

Yeah, these pictures are amazing. Especially the tonkatsu. *drool*