Palican Bread (パリカンのパン)

My mum's a bit of a health freak and used to say "the whiter the bread the sooner you're dead" whenever I asked for white toast bread over some multi-gran variety, but seriously the white bread and rolls from the Palican Bakery are pretty dam good. 

If you can't get into their Asakusa store early it pays to book a day in advance because they soon sell out. Closed on Sundays too by the way.  

http://www.bakerpelican.com

the big two

last week just over a week ago kou-chan turned two (i know, two already!) so to celebrate his birthday we decided to invite his friends from the same “duckling” group at kindy and have a bit of a party/picnic at the park.

had a beautiful sunny day for it and all in all it turned out to be a great idea as the kids could run around on the grass and play on their bikes while us adults chilled out in the sun sipping our drinks and supervising.
the best thing about it was at the end of the day we didn’t have to worry about cleaning up had it been a house-party.

one

first post of 2012, now that's not a good start to the year...

i'm not gonna explain myself but what I'm gonna try and do is some catching up.

spring is in the air!
everything is good!

goodbye~

now i bet that title got you worried.
no, i'm not giving up this blog, but this post is probably gonna be my last one for 2011; hence the title.

i so didn't intend to disappear from sekimachihato's world for so long, but a few months back I went through a bit of a rough patch at work where I was chucked into the deep-end (that's putting it nicely) and was under too much pressure, enough to make me disappear from, here for a while.
every morning i would leave home early as kou-chan lay fast asleep in his futon only to get home late in the evening to see him tucked up fast asleep again in the same futon. this is so not what i had in mind when i moved to tokyo, i mean come on; no father in their right mind would want a life like this.

but since then things have picked up. i'm handling a project which i'm fairly passionate about, and making sure that i have a comfortable work-life balance.

it's never easy packing up your life, moving to a foreign country, and starting work at a new company (believe me, this is my blimmin 4th time!) but the initial settling-in/stressful period is over, or so i hope.

so with only just over a week to go until christmas we seem to have gatherings with friends just about every weekend.
today we had lunch gathering at our home with our guests bringing this delish cheesecake from "ginza no budo".



i've never tried a cheesecake like this one before, it's not baked or rare, but rather more like a mouse kinda cheesecake which comes tucked up in a zaru; a traditional japanese bamboo basket.
pretty cool. thank you t-san!



i had better get this post up and away as we're running out of time in getting kou-chan his christmas presents. last minute mad rush, but hey, it's all fun!

if i'm not back on here before this year's out, have a great christmas and new year. wanna hear lots of wine corks popping open over the next few weeks!
see you again in 2012!!

my new green-curtain

thank god monday's over; I so hate mondays.
today I had to write a letter to the CEO of one of the biggest corporations (in the top 10) in the world.
how's that for a freaky start to the week!

anyway, have you heard of green curtain?
it's not a "curtain" curtain but rather a curtain made out of lush green foliage which you grow outside of your window.
apparently by growing a green curtain you can reduce the temperate inside your house by around 2 degrees.
they also look nice too and offer a bit of privacy.

after walking around my neighborhood its easy to see that they are the in thing at the moment in my little suburban tokyo neighborhood.
couldn't resist but get in one the fun so yesterday I drove to the local hardware store and purchased myself a big flower pot, some dirt, couple of stakes, a net, and some plants.
most people around here are growing goya which is a bitter gourd popular in okinawa, but I went for yorugau; moonflower, from the morning glory family only because I though the odd flower would look better than some gourd hanging outside my window.

as you can see I'm in need of some privacy so I'm looking forward to my green curtain to start winding itself up the net.

can you see kou-chan on the sofa to the right? he can now get on and off the sofa or bed by himself!

dandelion

I so shouldn't have made a promise to do this daily blogging thing over a weekend. talk about no time!

so yet another quickie.
kou-chan's recently found out how fun dandelions can be.
he still doesn't know that if he blew the dandelion it would be just that much more fun. he's pretty content at this stage to wave it around and wonder why it gets smaller and smaller.

forgot how much fun dandelions can be for adults too.
when was the last time you blew one?
a dandelion that is!

kakigori (かき氷)

shit, it's coming up midnight and I still haven't uploaded my promised daily post.

spent the day at a local park with a free (small) zoo and an old school kakigori ice shop.

it melted pretty fast but it was darn good.

right, diving into the bath and then it's time for the blanket show.

pretty pink

this weeks been a scorcher.
has been 30 degrees plus in Tokyo (we topped the 35 degree mark the other day) and gunma prefecture got up to 39 degrees. bugger that.
our office is warm to say the least with the aircon set at 28 which basically means the aircon is spewing out thick warm air that just makes the sweat run at a slower pace.
not cool (pun intended)

a few colleagues at the office bought those USB fans so the other day after work I went on the hunt for one.
well, talk about popular. the first two stores I went into were out of stock but my luck changed in the third store, where they had five left.
the last five were all in pink color.
pink...
pretty pink...
she lady at the store went on to explain that they did have them in white, black, blue, even silver and gold but all that was left was pink, and even these are selling out fast.
I spent the next 10 minutes holding the little square box containing a pink fan wondering if I should try my luck elsewhere or just be a man and buy the god dam fan.
pink...
it was then that I remembered what the new temp lady at work told me.
we were having some after 5 drinks and she said was interested in tarot card reading etc. I'm so not into that but she said if I told her my birth dates she would give me a run down on my personality.
sounds like some primary school game but it turns out that I like the number 8 (true) and my lucky color was yup, you guessed it, pink. pretty pink.
can't say it's my favorite color although I have a few pink items stashed away.
so I though bugger it, the extra luck won't go amiss, and a few cha-chings later I'm the proud owner of a pretty pink USB desk fan.
haven't got too many funny looks at the office which I'm not sure is a good thing or not but at least I'm a tad cooler.
it has two settings, low and high; so can't figure them out as the high setting doesn't seem to give off any stronger wind but just makes my desk vibrate a bit.
no doubt will start getting sone funny looks if I set it to high.

a wos first

I haven't hit the update button on my blog for ages, and it's only because I don't carry my camera around with me to take any photos nor (hate that word "nor") do I have the time to ever upload a new post.
as I've mentioned before, my only free time these days is while I'm commuting to and from the office or while I'm in the bath.

so here comes a wos first.

I've decided I'm gonna do a post a day for the next week no matter what.
even if I come down with malaria or loose a finger you are gonna see a new daily post right here.
it will most likely be updated during my commute because I don't trust myself in the bath with my iPhone.
mind outa the gutter. I don't wanna drop it into the bath.

but be warned, photos will be taken on my phone so don't expect any snazzy pics and the posts will be relatively short; I'm often not in the mood to blog while in a jammed backed subway carriage.
and don't expect any random photos of sexy people I see during my commute, we can't turn off the iPhone's camera shutter sound for Japanese iPhones. I think thats because there are too many creepy men going for the knicker shot.
yuck.

anyway, here is kou-chan waiting for his lunch at "cafe;haus" in toyosu last weekend.
cafe;haus has a very relaxing feel to it, a nice outdoor courtyard for bbqs, good hearty food and some eye-candy staff. happens to be across the road from lalaport so you can get your shopping fix too if need be.

oh yeah, I can only upload one photo from my iPhone to this blog so don't expect a daily barrage of photos.

Sent from mr sekimachihato's iPhone

hatsu zekku : 初節句

celebration after celebration.

a few days before kou-chan turned one he also celebrated his first ever children’s day; an important “first” in japanese culture called “hatsu zekku” (初節句).

although children across japan and many parts of asia celebrate children’s day annually, the 1st and the 5th children’s day are considered big events in japan for boys.

kou-chan celebrated his hatsu zekku with both his grandparents and all but two of his uncle and aunties. pretty special in my book.

unfortunately uncle N from japan was away in some exotic location in east-asia on business and untie A; (my sister), was in paris on holiday.

a special dinner was out of the question as you don’t wanna be dining in some posh restaurant with a tired toddler, so instead we booked in for lunch at the top-notch shiba tofuya ukai (芝とうふ屋うかい); a beautiful japanese restaurant at the very foot of tokyo tower.







as the name suggests this fine establishment focuses on tofu.
they produce all their own tofu which is made at their own in-house workshop in the foothills of the okutama mountains. the beans (yup, tofu is made from beans) are grown in hokkaido.

the lovely ladies who were serving our private dining room didn’t seem to mind that kou-chan wanted to be the first to get his hands on every dish that they served.
in true japanese service they simply smiled, commented on what a cute little boy he was and gracefully shuffled around the tatami mat room in their modified kimono dress.




(above photos from shiba tofuya ukai website)

not only did k-chan and I have to interpret all being said between the grandparents (my parents only know “hello”, “thank you”, and how to count up to 10 in japanese, whereas k-chan’s parents, well her dad anyway, is good at mimicking phrases from hollywood movies like “oh no” and “come on baby” and “fu*k you”…), but we also had to control a wriggly kou-chan AND try to enjoy our meal.
because of such circumstances we do not have that many photos of the “big event”, but we do have some wonderful memories.






restaurant info:
shiba tofuya ukai
4-4-13
shiba-koen
minato-ku, tokyo
tel: (03) 3436-1028 (reservations recommended)
website

nearest station: akabanebashi station (oedo line) or kamiyacho station (hibiya line)

hanami : 花見

the dark shadow which has been looming over japan for the past month is still here but now has a slight tinge of pink to it.
if sakura (cherry blossoms) don’t light up your day then I think you’re outa luck.

last weekend the sakura where in full bloom here in tokyo so we got together with a group of friends and gave kou-chan his first taste of hanami; literally cherry blossom viewing. or more appropriately, “a drunken picnic under the cherry blossom trees”.
and no, kou-chan didn’t get his first taste of alcohol! he's got at least another 10 year wait if i have anything to do with it.

our day was spent chilling out in the spring sun under the watchful eye of some crows in one of the many sakura trees in yoyogi park; a huge park in central tokyo.





we all pitched in and took along homemade goodies and of course alcohol. ended up with a pretty impressive spread if you ask me.

we even got to use our colorful mexican zarape rug for the first time too. it really did set off the scene for this gathering *wink wink*

photo: asa.co.glass



many people in japan feel slightly guilty about having some fun or taking a trip at a time when so many people have been displaced and/or experienced the horrors which mother nature threw our way, but it was great to see so many people, both young and old(ish) out and about enjoying mother nature’s more beautiful side.

photo: asa.co.glass
photo: asa.co.glass


as expected, kou-chan was more interested in the hundreds of dogs leaping around in the dog-run, bits of broken twigs and whatnot on the ground, and the other kids who could actually run around chasing balls and bubbles.



photo: asa.co.glass


don't worry kou-chan, i'm sure you will be running in no time!

giant catfish on the loose

just as I was drifting off to sleep last night my iphone suddenly went ring-ring, ring-ring.
it wasn't the "nice" ring for an incoming call but that horrible pre-earthquake ring (if you live in japan) that you hear on tv followed by an announcement that says "there is gonna be a strong earthquake, take cover, strong earthquake, take cover immediately!" and then wham, the whole apartment starts creaking and swaying as if it were perched high-up on a tree top, which happens to be rotten….

naturally sleep was now out of the questions so I sat in front of the tv for the next 30 min watching the news readers warn of yet another possible tsunami and for all people in the area to take cover to high ground. turned out to be a M7.1 aftershock just north of fukushima (again) which has caused widespread power cuts up north.
i really feel for the people up there as i'm sure this jolt bought back horrible memories of the march 11 quake.

so back to my phone.
most mobile phones here in japan (pre 1998 I think) have early warning earthquake software pre-installed, which like the name suggests warns you of a possible earthquake a few seconds before it's felt; just enough time to take cover if you're lucky.
we've had some pretty strong aftershocks during the last 3 weeks here in tokyo and I was kinda disappointed that my iphone didn't warn me of any incoming earthquake while all my colleagues phones were busy going ring-ring, ring-ring in unison.

well well well, turns out there is a japanese app for iphones! yippie!
i installed it 2 days ago and as you can see it worked.
the pre-warning alarm woke me up and warned me about 5 seconds before the earthquake was actually felt in tokyo.

for those of you in japan with an iphone, just search for 「ゆれくる」(yurekuru); it's a free app with a picture of the oonamazu (大鯰); the giant catfish which is said to live deep down under the earth and cause earthquakes.
charming.

if you don't understand japanese but want this on your phone, let me know and I'll tell you how to set it up; it's easy peasy.

teething time

i now have my family back with me in tokyo and our little apartment is back to the noisy way it used to be.
things have calmed down here in tokyo so i feel it's safe for them to be back but it's always good to know we have places to escape to if need be whether they be in japan or overseas.

kou-chan is teething again; he's getting his 7th tooth coming through.
our friend who has a toddler 1 month older than kou-chan still doesn't even have any teeth! i guess each toddler has their own little schedule in place.
he's also zooming around the room (and i mean zooming!) pushing his wooden chu-chu train thingy (thanks ojii-chan!). it seriously won't be long now until he can take his first step without the help of something semi-solid to hold on to.

not only is he now extremely mobile but he is also picking up little tricks.
the other night i clicked my tongue at him to make him laugh and he picked it up straight away and now laughs and laughs when he clicks his tongue. at this age they are really like a (cute) sponge, soaking up everything around them.
can't believe that he will be 1 years old next month... think we will have to hold a little party for him (this is normal right?!) with his first cake (and a few drinks for the adults too!)

tsuruya jam

boy has it been good to escape tokyo these last few weekends.

we headed up to nagano for the long weekend and had three days of delicious food, long soaks in the local onsen (hot springs), no scary aftershocks, and i even learnt how to change the tires on my car (i know… i've never had to do it before; but i had to take off my winter-tires as i was probably the last person in tokyo driving with winter-tires).
good old murphy’s law; it snowed the day after I took them off…

with all the current stuff happening in tokyo at the moment i persuaded k-chan to stay up in nagano with kou-chan.
glad they are safe(r) up there.
you've probably heard, but we were advised that it's not safe for children under one to drink the tap water here in tokyo due to the high levels of radiation detected. anyway, i’m not gonnna rant about this, instead i'm gonna introduce some jam.

if you are ever in nagano you so have to buy some locally produced tsuruya jam*; it’s seriously good!
these little jars of goodness use less sugar than other varieties and the best part is that they come in a huge range of flavors.
this time i bought four jars; walnut butter, gooseberry, rhubarb, and citrus marmalade.
all are divine!





have just left my love ones up in nagano again and returned to tokyo alone.
so if you’re in tokyo; invite me out for a drink; i'm a semi-free man!

spring's around the corner; it's gotta be good.






* can be found at any tsuruya supermarket.