What certainly enhanced this feeling was this sekihan (red sticky rice)

Sekihan is sticky rice cooked with azuki beans, and it’s a traditional Japanese dish for celebrations.  My friend cooked it for me when I visited her house last week   As you can tell from the photo, it was so delicious…!  

Sekihan with soup and pickles: it may look like a tiny meal, but this is how I like the meal to be!  I always thought a meal in Australia is such huge portion.  I’m even happy to just eat a bowl of steamed rice with pickles and a bowl of soup every night!  (especially after watching Grave of Fireflies)

Too much is not a good thing, I believe.  ”Just right” or “little less” is the best. (腹八分目)  It’s not only for food, but other stuff as well such as toys, clothes, time, etc.  If there is a limit, whatever it is, you will appreciate it.

I’m seriously thinking to stay in a temple while I’m in Japan!  Even one day, experiencing monk’s life in a temple may clean up my mind and spirit.  … I don’t think staying in a temple will happen to me this time, but I hope to visit a temple and sit down there, listening to myself.  While I was a elementary school student, it was a school’s event that all students had to visit a temple to listen to a monk’s story.  Back then I kind of didn’t like it and thought “why we had to come here in such a hot day” etc.  I didn’t appreciate it.  So were other students.  Now, however, I miss it, and appreciate the monk who took his time to do even though we (students) weren’t keen to the story.

The keys to delicious, crispy and light tempura are:

• Don’t mix the batter too much ( as it will develop the gluten from the flour)
• Cold batter x hot oil 

If you do so, the tempura stays crispy even when it’s cold.

• 45 g plain flour 
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 80 ml water
• 1/2 tbs sake (cooking wine)
• 2~3 ice cubes

Try…

• Thinly shredded onion and carrot, and chopped onion.  (equal amount) Mix into batter.  Using a spoon, scoop the mixture and carefully drop into hot oil.  Deep-fry both sides until cooked through. 

• Fresh herbs (eg: basil, parsley, coriander etc).  Coat with batter lightly and deep-fry for 30 seconds. (both sides)

The Nippon Ham group established structures for large- scale meat production, processing, and export, and it operates subsidiaries around the world.  (English site)  Most of processed meat products you get to see at supermarkets in Japan are Nippon Ham’s.

.. I wasn’t searching for this meat company, I was actually googling “bagel shop in Japan”.  Then I found this “delicious soft bagels and pizzas online shop - Nippon Ham”   … Nippon Ham = bagels??  

I clicked the Nippon Ham site, then I found that this company now doesn’t sell only ham and bacon, but also salad, pizza, bread, curry, dressing, and even bento boxes! :p

You can see bagels are now getting to be one of common food people eat at home everyday in Japan.  These bagels from Nippon Ham are well-packaged for commercial sales, and of course Nippon Ham is not the only company which sells bagels in supermarkets.  Plus, bakeries, hotels, restaurants and cafes also serve bagels as standard menu.

I will try to eat many bagels in Japan for the next few weeks

As I’m from Osaka College of Foreign Language, my friends from the school are all interested in other countries and traveling the world.  I was taking Studying Abroad Course (major in Animal Science) and most of my classmates flew to America to go to universities after graduation.  I, on the other hand, chose to come to Australia instead of America.  Major reason for this was that I thought Australia was surrounded by big nature and wild animals.  (which is true)

I was browsing the college website the other day and I noticed there’re photos of my classmates on the site.  It recalled the memory of my last home-coming trip - I had a small gathering with my classmates in Osaka and could catch up with them.  After that, they seem to be doing fine and some of them are again going overseas for further career

One friend, who is also from Shiga prefecture, went to America to study animal behavior at an university.  Since then she got a job at one of her work-experience place and now she is working as a dog trainer in America  It had been her dream to be a dog trainer and she seems to be so happy.

Another friend, Haru, she studied preschool education in New York and moved to Hawaii after graduating an university to work as a kindergarden assistant teacher.  Then she went back to Japan, worked in a International kindergarden for awhile, and now she is flying back to America, Portland to work as an assistant teacher for one year.  She is so determined

Another one, who also chose to come to Perth, Western Australia with me after graduating the Osaka college, worked in Japan for few years after graduating from school in Perth.  Few days ago she flew to Ireland!

I’m not planning to go overseas and work at this point.  I will probably stay in Perth and just lead my life here  But in future, maybe when I’m much older, I would like to go to other countries and do some voluntary work.  It is one of my dream!

I have been planning to go to Tenkadori in Subiaco (please see the comments on my old post) to try their yakitori, but I heard that they are still not opened at night.

I could talk to the head chef in this restaurant.  He told me that the boss (owner) is currently in Japan, and they are still waiting for the liquor license to be approved.  All the equipments and menu has been organised already, and they assume they will get the liquor license very soon.  So, they will start opening at night with Yakitori menu after the boss comes back (after 8th of March)

Too bad, I will be in Japan by then.  Well, I will go there after I come back to Perth :p

I was thinking which Japanese restaurant I should go to with my friend. Then I thought “hey I’m going to Japan in few days.  Maybe I shouldn’t go to Japanese restaurant in Perth.  I can enjoy lots of nice food in Japan.”  That is true…  I guess I will postpone the night out and try Tenkadori after April.

March 3 is Hinamatsuri Day in Japan.  It is also called “girl’s day”, and families with girl(s) celebrate this day with a display of ornamental dolls (Hina-ningyo).

It is one of Japanese traditional event, and my house also used to display a set of Hina-ningyo on the day of Hinamatsuri.  Since this display set is pretty huge, it takes few hours to set up the stairs and dolls on the right position.  (which is like setting up a Christmas tree)  And, on the day of Hinamatsuri we turn on the light called bon-bori and run the music of Hinamatsuri song.  

Nowadays people don’t set up the traditional display (which is kinda shame), but substitute with something different…

Our favorite food there is .. pancake! Big volume, soft and fluffy and I love the sauce!

They, of course, make food on order and you will be so spoiled with this freshly made pancake..  Dusted cinnamon sugar and juicy blueberry compote is a great match.  2 of my friends ordered this pancake and one asked the staff to serve the blueberry sauce separately.  

I, on the other hand, ordered French toast this time.

This is also dusted with cinnamon.  It was so good, sweet, juicy and pretty filling

My friend really loved the freshly squeezed orange juice.  You can choose between 100% bottled juice, or hand-squeezed one. She chose hand-squeezed juice and it was delicious ♪

Ummm, what a perfect brunch  

We sometimes need a treat for ourselves, and for me this was it.

C15 Espresso.

15 Riseley St Applecross WA 6153      (08) 9316 4242

I’m not a phone person and I don’t really like talking on the phone, even to my family.  I don’t know what to talk about!  My family is all the same, when I occasionally call them, they are like “so… how are you?” “I see… we are fine here” and no more conversation.  So I (we) prefer just e-mailing.  While in Japan if I wanted to say something I just emailed people.  We can email from mobile to mobile in Japan and it is super cheap to use (we kind of have sms but never used it before - expensive and sucks..) and you could send photos, voice message, image character etc etc on the e-mail since long time ago.  So, if I find something funny, even a tiny thing, I took a photo and sent to my mum “hey I found this” ” how about oyako-donburi tonight?”  My mum is like my best friend.  .. she looks young too.  So, flying back to Japan and seeing their face & hearing their voice is something I need to do.  I try going back at least once a year.

Anyway, the orders for Bagelia last week has been different…  Someone asked me if I could make cheese cake with fruits, and another asked me if I could wrap banana cake individually.  I normally wrap a whole banana cake in a plastic film, but she said that her kid wanted to bring the cake to the school and give to the classmate.

I, of course, said “yes” and I individually wrapped the cake with ribbon and small tags (so that classmates know what it is).  They turned out to be cute.   She ordered 48 pieces of banana cakes, plus other cakes and bagels.  I hope the classmates liked it…

You can watch NHK news on SBS every weekdays (early morning and night time), and I watch it sometimes.  Watching your country’s tv show make you feel home  I always thought this Otenki onesan, weather woman, on NHK news REALLY look likes my friend!  She is cute…

Some people who understands Japanese kana (a syllabic Japanese scripts) may be able to read what’s on th e weather board…  The sunny signs with orange color is creating two katakana  ”エロ” = erotic….  What a coincidence..   

This photo was taken by my mum, on a subway.  This man fell asleep, and unluckily his wig fell down… :p  I wonder what he did when he woke up.  This photo has been my mum’s caller ID on my phone (^口^)

It’s little late, but… my husband and nephew made cupcakes for me for my birthday.

They followed my recipe Moist and Fluffy Cupcake Recipe.

They found it’s difficult to pipe out the butter icing on the top of the cupcakes.  (by the way I was the one who prepared the icing in a piping bag for them so that they could just play around with it)

Well, they look good enough, and very delicious  Thank you guys!