Lemon Tree

In Perth people grow lots of trees in their garden.  Lemon, orange, mandarin, avocado, chili, etc…  Gardening is very very popular here.

I get to see many lemon trees around.  In my friends’ houses, in a park and in my neighbor’s yard…   I’ve never seen people actually raising it from a seed though… it must take years and years to grow.

I don’t have lemon tree in my garden, but my neighbor has.  The tree grows lots of fruits and one branch is growing towards my garden, so I sometimes pick them and use for cooking :p  I don’t think the neighbor can eat all…

The lemons I picked last week tasted very sweet:)  Not as sweet as melons or banana, of course, but I could just eat them like fruits!  I think the hot weather made them very sweet

Last night I used this lemon to make an accompaniment for steak.  The tangy citrus flavor was very refreshing and went well with beef

< Tomato Salsa with Avocado and Lemon Zest >

Chop up tomato (concace) and avocado.  Zest the lemon.  Add little amount of olive oil and mix them up  gently.  Crack black pepper over the plate and enjoy♪

Super Size

One thing that surprised me when I came to Perth is the size of the food.  Everything is so huge!  Watermelons, cucumbers and capsicums (in Japan we call green capsicums “piiman”)….  Perth’s baby cucumber is the same size as normal Japanese one :p

Big surprise was Perth’s eggplant.  They are unrealisticly huge (>x<)!!!  Japanese normal eggplants are just about same size as my hand, but Perth’s ones are bigger than my head!!  Are eggplants supposed to be in such huge size in other countries too??

They are not only veges/fruits that are big in Aus.  Chicken too…:p  When I was working in the kitchen at a restaurant I had to bone whole chickens, then I realized  ”Japanese chickens weren’t this big!”.  Chicken thigh, breast and legs which you can find at local supermarkets are much bigger than ones in Japan too.

I was told that it’s because people inject some kind of hormone to chickens so that they grow much bigger than they are supposed to be.  Of course bigger the meat is more portion you can get for cooking.  …business… but it’s not natural, and now people are saying that our body also grows bigger by eating those chickens (>0<).  So scary.

You can of course get small size (natural) chickens here too, and they are more expensive…  but I always choose the natural size!  I don’t wanna get my face bigger :p

Pics from Japan

My dad sent me photos from Japan…

It’s a shrine in Shiga, near my house.  There are few people around (unlike Kyoto and Nara) and very quiet.

Foods in Season

Here in Perth, the summer seems to be just around the corner.  The Daylight Saving started in WA state and the clocks went forward an hour, so the sun is up till 8pm now.  During the summer outside is still bright around 9pm - 10pm, so I sometimes get confused “is it night time now??”

Strawberries, blueberries, melons etc were very cheap till couple weeks ago.  They are spring fruits and I enjoyed them a lot  For strawberries and blueberries I bought them in bulk and froze them.  You can easily make nice fruit smoothies or some fruit sauce for pancakes at home:)

On the other hand, my dad told me that the autumn fruits are getting in their season in Japan and Nashi pears and Passimons are very tasty.  I love any fruits, but my favorite is Nashi pears.  They are not really sweet and have not so much  flavor, but that’s why I love them:)  I love watery food.

You can get Nashi pears in Perth, and my friend told me that they are available in America and Hawaii as well,  so I guess you can get them in any country now.  But of course the price is high :p  I still think Nashi in Japan is the best.

Izakaya

As my holiday to Jakarta/Japan is just around the corner, my friends are organising a gathering for my homecoming:)  The friends are my classmates from a college in Osaka, and most of them went to America to go to university after graduating the college.  Some of them, including myself, chose to come to Australia.  Everyone except me and one girl is now living in Japan and working happily

When they asked me “where do you want to go?”, I answered “Izakaya!” straight away.  Izakaya is a type of Japanese bar and they serve Izakaya food.  Izakaya food is more substantial than that offered in normal bars and snack bars.  They have yakitori, salad, noodle, rice dish and some snack food to accompany the drinks.  They also has dessert menu.  Even though the place is supposed to be for drinking, people sometimes bring their children along as well.  I think Izakaya is kind of Family Restaurant + Drink Bar ÷ 2 .

The reason why I love Izakaya is the atmosphere, as well as the food and the price.  I don’t go to Izakaya by myself, but I always go there with a couple of friends.  We talk loudly, lough loudly and eat & drink!  All the stresses go away

Unfortunately there is no Izakaya In Perth:=(  …Correction, actually there are few, but the food and drinks are very very very expensive.  I have been to this Izakaya-like Japanese restaurant in Perth city once, and I was surprised by their price.  One small tiny salad ( the plate was smaller than my palm) costs A$8.90 (>0<).  In Japanese Izakaya this type of food is usually free (tsukidashi).

I know there are so many Izakaya (quite cheap) in Gold Coast, Sydney and Melbourne.  But not in Perth :(  …Perth is pretty isolated city compared with Eastern states.  Is there Izakaya in other countries too?

Looking at the pictures makes me really really hungry! ↓↓↓

toho-kenbunroku

Murasaki

RIVER-JO

I love Chu-Hi

And cocktais.