Visiting Marunouchi Area, very near from Tokyo Station.

 Last week I went to the Marunouchi area where takes only a few minutes from Tokyo Station. Originally, I came there to take lunch at a Turkish restaurant, but it was closed that day. Instead, I took a nice Chinese meal :) It is famous for illumination in the evening for winter, and if you want to know how it looks, see this post on my blog :) Since this area is cutting-edge and stylish place, I took some pictures to show you today :D

 Oh, the last one is a box for wines. I discovered it in a wine store and really liked it, so I asked them to sell. There were many good wines and I only bought a wooden box, haha. 

Leaving for hours.

 Although many people avoid getting on distant buses, I prefer to take it especially on weekdays. Unlike weekends, highways are usually smooth and it arrives without any delay. 5-hour sitting on a seat just suits me, reading books, watching films, sometimes sleeping, then back to read again.

 Soon after coming back, I cooked a unique food in my hometown Nagoya, called "miso-nikomi", udon noodle with soy paste sauce (about Udon, see this post). I'm a big fan of eating it in my home since it's hard to find this kind of food in Tokyo. "I'm home!" Anytime I eat it in my home, I couldn't help feeling that way.

 Well, I still play an old TV game with an old machine, just like the day I was an elementary school student, haha :D

--------------------------

 The other day...

 I was cycling on a big street, headed to the West. It was absolutely the midnight, 1:30 a.m. or so when I left my home alone.  I was too tired to think further and thought I needed some getaway from my place. There was no public transport available for sure, and I felt like being alone. I didn't decide where to go, but I just left.

 It's unusual for me to go out in the night of course, I'm a person who spends nights in my home, doing chores while taking coffee. "I'm sick of all." during my escaping, I kept thinking like that. When my smart phone shut down due to run out of the battery and coldness, I found myself that it was time to give up. I had already crossed a river which separates Tokyo from neighbor prefecture, and the Sun didn't seem to appear for a while. I parked my bicycle in front of a Shrine I just found at that point, taking rest, then pedaled again to go to the nearest station.

 Things aren't good these days, about my family, my work, even my fragile future. Those I once cared for so much disappear from my sight slowly, but surely. I could be stubborn, however, I wouldn't do it this time. I did it so many times and I know things would never be better with doing it. Just patient for now, however it hurts me.

Kamakura in Autumn.

 It's difficult for me to define Kamakura as a good place or not. Sure, I like old places like there, but I can't help but comparing Kyoto, a popular historical city in Japan. Well, no wonder anymore, just take a look :)

 The fact I really like it that Kamakura is very near from Tokyo. If you want to visit Kyoto from Tokyo, it'd be better to stay at least a night  there. Although you can enjoy one-day trip, but it must be tired. But Kamakura, you can make it plus stay a good night in Tokyo, eating at some restaurant and such :)

 Also, this place isn't bigger and famous than Kyoto. Just walking along forests and houses makes you feel comfortable.

 I visited some temples that day.

 One of temples had a bamboo forest. There were some people sitting while taking green tea inside.

Wow, bad attitude :) Well, I don't hate it at all :)

 When I was in Jerusalem, I found myself that I adore taking pictures of gates. I always take it whenever visiting good places regardless of countries. If the gate is beautiful, I would be excited because inside must be more beautiful, I recently found it :)

A Sushi restaurant, and more.

 Past several weeks were tough for me, the feeling had always been so unstable that I couldn't cook every meal. One day I took my phone to call a friend of mine who is a Sushi chef. "Oh, it's you, what' up?" He seemed a bit puzzled because it's been a while since I called him last time. "I just thought I'm pleased if I can go eat lunch in your restaurant today." "Sure" He responded immediately.

 Despite I went out my home earlier that day to do some chores in a city, they were done way before I had thought. I felt a little bit hungry, so I decided to go to the restaurant.

 Fortunately there was no one but him. I chatted while tasting his Sushi. The place was quite silent, we talked a lot, about a comet disappeared that morning, the fish I was eating at that point and such.

 I like his Sushi so much. There are many Sushi restaurants in Tokyo, from 10US$ or below to over 250US$ per person. However, I simply like his Sushi because of his courteous way of cooking as well as fresh fish.

 Soy paste soup, salmon caviar, those are my favorite :)

 Can you see a dish behind the lamp? I've eaten there many times though, I found it last time, haha.

 Well, I'm stuffed! :D By the time I finished eating, my bad feeling that had continued for several weeks was already gone for somewhere. I thanked him and promised to eat it again soon.

-------------------

 On the way back to my home, I popped in a park to see Autumn leaves and I thought it's not good like last year. Some leaves were in the middle of changing their color, but others were still green. Probably because of rapid change of the weather, I thought. Even for me, the weather lately is so unpredictable, sometime too warm, but the day after that it's too cold. That might cause my instability.

While I was there in the park, I had been in my thought for ten minutes or so on a bench, kept my eyes closed to concentrate on listening to the world. That was enough for me to recover. Delicious foods, beautiful nature. I like them all :)

Cooking and eating Oden.

 Many people like eating oden, a Japanese hot meal which is usually eaten in cold seasons like now. You can find it anywhere such as convenience stores, markets and so forth so easily. Eating it outside is fun, especially cold place with someone. But what if you want to cook it in your house? Well, let's do it :)

 It was the first time for me to actually cook it, so I searched some recipe books in my room in advance. There seems to have a variety of kinds, from its sauce to its ingredient. "Every family has its own way to season it." the book says. It must be true, considering the fact that I encounter unique ones when I eat it at other people's home or other regions as well. Sometimes brownish soup, sometimes almost transparent that you could even see the bottom of the pan. Oh, I bought so many kinds of ingredients, by the way.

 To tell the truth, I cooked another one, called "Kansai-style" or the style of the western part of Japan. You may find chopped beefs are stuck. It usually takes sauce from chicken and beef, that's the big different point of the one we eat around Tokyo.

 What's this?! Well, these are called "fukuro", just means a bag. Containing rice cake inside, it really enchants me anytime I eat oden.

 And konjac. Actually I hated it when I was a kid, I really didn't like the texture of it and taste neither. Old memory, haha :)

 We also use it with being sliced and then banded. You can find it many meals if you taste nabe, or hot pot dishes (about nabe, see this post :)).

 First of all I had no idea what the ingredients was, but well, it's only wheat and water :D

 Another mystery here, hmmm... Those brown things are basically called "nerimono". I wrote "basically" because the way of calling varies in regions. Not only this one, but also the ones I introduced in this post. Since oden is widely eaten among this country, many people name it in their own. Naturally, talking about oden with friends from different part of this country is fun. "You put carrot in it?!" "Cooking with soy paste? Are you kidding me?" That's something I find frequently.

 Well, it's about a short story of oden. The fact that many people like it is you can preserve it almost a week if you preserve it rightly. When you eat it, you would do it with many people sitting around the table.  Surely it blows cold air to somewhere ;)

Turning into Autumn 2013.

 As it's getting colder, I found myself cooking in my kitchen like all the day. Sometimes Chinese, sometimes Japanese-like food. The common thing among them is quite simple: I like them all :)

 Boxed lunch, I'm a fan of it very much. I planned to bring it to my work place, however, it didn't work since I left it in front of my entrance, haha. I ate it with dinner on that day. This wooden lunch box always has me cook another meal and it's hard to stop it. You know, wooden things are not easy to live with. You have to care for them like always, and that's exactly what I like, whenever I treat them, I feel like as if I treat myself, difficult and stubborn stuff :D

 Before it's too cold to outing, I went to China Town in Yokohama by the way, it was warm enough to take my coat off.

 Chatting while eating with my friend was fun moments and we promised to see each other sooner rather than later.

 Well, I'm back here soon :)

 (I plan to write something about Japanese food, but not decided what to write yet ;))