January 31st 2015
I think tonight/this morning, I'm going to do a massive upload of my culinary experience.
In Japan --- We arrived in Narita Airport around 2:30 pm on January 15th ... we had until 9:30 am on January 19th, 2015 to taste what we could while there...and though food wasn't really the focus of this time period (visiting our friend, Bilal, was), we still ended up getting some pretty interesting discoveries.
I have to say, we were able to taste Japan before we even set wheel on pavement on the runway....we ended up taking Japan Airlines from Vietnam to America...it was the best decision. We will, from now on, when we get the chance, choose to fly with Japan Airlines. Their service and food is great. Though it might not be a whole lot to look at, it is very entertaining when you are on a 28 hour flight plan.
One of the first things we noticed, walking around downtown, Narita, on the morning of January the 16th was the shockingly realistic wax models of the food...doesn't that sushi look real??
And, though not exactly exciting to the tastebuds, the concept of a hot drink section in the convenient store was absolutely mind blowing. Hot coffee, chai, and of course green tea.
Another convenience at the convenient store was the availability of individually sold hard boiled eggs....or if you wished for two, they had that available also.
This Hot Chocolate was discovered in some small cafe in Atami. It was great to discover that some parts of the world still enjoy cute little china ware along with appreciate the simplicity of the absence of wifi....though that was the whole reason why we went into the cafe in the first place
....oh by the way...if you go to Atami, and expect to be able to pick up wifi anywhere, think again....you have to go to a phone service store and get a card that will specifically use their 'free' services. It turned out just fine for us because we just stopped by a hotel and asked them to use their internet...which hotels are obliged to allow, whether you are a customer or not.
Top: this is actually a breakfast we had with Bilal. It was at a chain restaurant called Coco's. Good food, but not exactly Japanese.
Right: This was the absolutely beautiful table in the tea farm's shop. They made some very interesting, natural sweet tea (shockingly sweet) along with some regular green tea.
Above: Two Onigiri along with half an ajitama...we fell in love with the Onigiri because it was such a great to go snack (we were always on the go). Still in Ho Chi Minh City, we stop by the Family Mart
March 30th
Food update:
Hannah and I constantly sniff and dig and hound around for new experiences in food. It is a habit that can be exhausting, time consuming and costly at times, but it's one of the only hobbies a city like HCMC seems to offer in full scale. It isn't just all bowls of pho and spring rolls either. HCMC is a smorgasbord of food from different countries. Of course, there are really great representations and absolutely atrocious representations of all of the food. This post is not only a review of restaurants, but also explorations outside of nicely set up dining experiences and into our own kitchen.
May 4th
This weekend has been a regular old Smorgasbord of food. Hannah and I were for some unknown reason, drawn toward District 2 this weekend. The entire weekend we have been exploring what much of the district has to offer in the way
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