Spicy Sausage Doritos and Laser Hair Removal

Raku and I found these at the grocery store, and they were too funny not to try.  They're not bad, though they didn't really taste like sausage.  John thought they were cool ranch - when I showed him the bag his eyes nearly popped out of his head.

Weird!

Other than the funny snacks, life has been good here. It's rained for the past three days, and is supposed to keep going until Sunday, but we're having a brief (though cloudy) break from the rain.

This afternoon Raku and I have scheduled a consultation for laser hair removal. Apparently it's very common in Japan, and clinics are constantly having crazy specials to lure clients in. We found a package that costs just under $20 and covers 8 sessions (2 years worth) for underarm hair removal. How great would it be to never shave your armpits again? If all goes well I'll report on the process soon.

If you're in Tokyo and sick of shaving, but looking for something a little less permanent than laser hair removal I would recommend Elena Jade salon for waxing.  Elena is Australian, and always fun to chat with while she does her work.  She's licensed in Australia and even trains other estheticians here in Tokyo.  She imports organic products from Australia, and I've always been very pleased with her work.

Elena Jade

Hours: Mon-Tues 11:00-9:00, Wed-Fri 10:00-9:00, Sat-Sun 10:00-7:00

Phone: 03-6438-9895

Address: 1-5-19 Azabujuban, Minato-ku, Tokyo

Map

Good Food

I've had a lot of really great things to eat lately (including Korean food for dinner tonight), and I thought they deserved a blog post.

Since we arrived here I've been missing greek yogurt so badly.  Fage is sold in some of the import grocery stores, but the price is just completely insane.  It's like 690 yen for a single serving and 3000 for a medium size.  But, then I discovered that I had just been oblivious to the greek yogurt right in front of me all along.  It's really good and comes in plain, raspberry, and honey.

So delicious!

Moving on to Italian food, a friend taught me a few weeks ago how to make homemade pasta.  I thought it would be really complicated, but it was actually quite simple and fun.

Making Cavatelli

The final product

And finally, we had an incredible mango.  I have to admit that I was totally tricked, and would never have bought it if I knew what was going on.  But it wasn't labeled clearly, and I was in a regular grocery store, not a gift fruit store.  Yeah, I totally bought a mango that cost $20 by accident.

Worth the money?

When it rang up I was so shocked I didn't know what to do, so I just went ahead and paid.  It was definitely the best mango I've ever eaten.  It was incredibly sweet and the texture was perfect.   Not something I'd buy on a regular basis though.

Lately I've been working on some really exciting baking experiments that I'll post about soon - there's still a little more work to be done though.

Spoon Bread in Jiyugaoka

Update: It looks like Spoon Bread may have gone out of business. It was such a great place, I'm sad to see that it's gone.

Yesterday I went to Jiyugaoka with a couple of friends for lunch.  Jiyugaoka is a trendy neighborhood in western Tokyo full of shops, restaurants, and cafes.  Raku and a friend had been dying to go to a popover restaurant called Spoon Bread, and they invited me along.

It turns out Spoon Bread is in the same complex (called Sweets Forest) as Cuoca, the baking shop I visited back in December.  It's a great place to have some lunch (or dessert) and then do some shopping.

We arrived early, so I got pictures before anyone else arrived, but even during the lunch rush it wasn't crowded enough for  anyone to wait for a table.  It might be worse on the weekend though.  The place has an airy, country sort of feel.  I imagine Martha Stewart of Ina Garten could walk in here and feel right at home.

I'd never had a popover before, but was assured that I'd love them.  My two friends (popover experts) proclaimed these to be perfect.  Crunchy, fluffy, chewy, and eggy all at the same time.  This might be blasphemy, but I actually thought the soup was the standout of the meal, but everything we ate was wonderful.

They have number of lunch sets, but we all opted for the soup and salad set for 1200 yen.  There are also individual soup or salad sets that are larger, or a curry set - but we don't think that even comes with a popover.

I had the herbed chicken salad set, and it was fantastic!  The soup was a really rich tomato-y vegetable soup.  The salad was lightly dressed and the chicken was crispy on the outside, tender on the inside, and perfectly seasoned.  I loved the soup so much I would almost recommend the Soup lunch, except I wouldn't want to miss out on the salad.  Decisions, decisions.

Another friend tried the avocado and tuna salad.  It came with a light fluffy tuna salad that she said was quite enjoyable topped with a generous portion of avocado.

Raku got the marinated bean salad, which comes in a small bowl, separate from the greens.  She reported that it was dressed very pleasantly in a tangy mustard dressing, and it looks like there were small chunks of avocado mixed in as well.

After lunch two of us got the popover sundae. We each got the half size, which was half of a popover filled with ice cream and whipped cream, then topped with banana slices, chocolate shavings, and chocolate syrup.  (Adzuki beans are an alternate topping to the bananas).  Delicious!  Raku just got a plain popover for dessert - can someone please explain sweets to her?

Japanese Wedding Invitation Etiquette

I recently wrote about our friend Yoshimi who got married, and going to see her wedding photo shoot.  She's having a reception in July, and we just got our invitation.  Not only is the invitation really beautiful, it was an interesting chance to learn a little about invitation and reception etiquette.

Yay!

The most traditional sort of wedding reception is a large party including family and employers where guests are expected to give money as a gift in a specific gift envelop.  The bills should be new and crisp, and the typical amount is 30,000 yen (about $300).  20,000 yen is considered unlucky because it can easy be divided in half, and can symbolize the couple breaking up. 4 and 9 are also unlucky numbers because they can be pronounced the same way as the words for death and suffering, so 40,000 and 90,000 yen are never appropriate either.  Even if you can't attend you are expected to give this gift, so let's hope you don't know a lot of people getting married around the same time!  Being a student is generally the only exception that makes it alright for you to only give 10,000 yen, but if you're family you're expected to give 50,000 or more!  Yikes!  How do people afford these weddings?

Yoshimi explained that there is a new type of reception becoming more popular today.  The bride and groom will have a small formal party with their families, and then a larger party with friends that family doesn't attend.  Rather than giving cash in the envelopes the invitation will list the price of the event (per person, not per couple) which helps pay for the party.  This is known as a "1.5 party," though I didn't completely understand where the name comes from.  As you can see on our invitation the "contribution" is 12,000 yen/guest, which can be paid to a receptionist when arriving.  In some cases there will be a higher price listed for men than women because it is assumed men will drink more.  This probably feels a little abrupt  if you're a Westerner, which is unusual because the Japanese are not normally so direct.

The Invitation

An RSVP postcard is included with the invitation that is already stamped and addressed to the host/hostess.  Notice the stamp, because they're sold specifically for weddings.  Now here is where the etiquette gets interesting.  The address will say the return addressee's name in kanji and below that  行 (iki) which, in this case, basically means "To:"  This is written in very humble form because they are giving themselves no title.  As the recipient you should cross this out and write 様 (sama) which is the most formal way of writing Mr. or Mrs.

RSVP Front

On the back, circle whether you will attend or not (oops, she accidentally translated them backwards for me.)  Then fill in your name, address, and phone number.  The card is written in the most formal language, so it is polite to cross out the ご in order to be more humble.

RSVP Back

We're planning to attend, so in July I'll write all about what it was like.

Tokyo Disneyland

Earlier this week Raku and I went to Tokyo Disneyland.  I've never been to Disney in the United States, so I can't make a comparison, but we had a great time.  It was really a novelty to live somewhere that we could just go for the day and then come home at night, rather than requiring a multiday trip to Florida (or California).

We went on a Tuesday, so it wouldn't be terribly crowded.  There will still tons of people and lots of long lines, but it wasn't unpleasant.  I can't imagine what a weekend in the summer would be like though.

Raku on the Tea Cups

Me on the tea cups

I think my favorite ride was Space Mountain, going on a roller coaster in the dark really gets the adrenaline going.  The Peter Pan ride is obviously for kids, but I thought it was really sweet.  And a ride that only exists at Tokyo Disney - Pooh's Hunny Hunt - was absolutely charming.  I'm not the biggest Winnie the Pooh fan, and I wasn't sure it would really be worth the wait, but it's completely adorable, and the ride is really creative.  Splash Mountain was one of our last rides of the day, and we thought we were lucky when we got the front seats, but then we realized how wet were going to get.

I'm such a chicken!

Do you think John's jealous?

As for the food there, we had some really great snacks, though I thought the meal offerings were just mediocre.  I'd definitely recommend just snacking through the day.  We had these adorable Mickey waffles, and the curry popcorn was also really good.

Yum!

We skipped the nighttime parade and rode Space Mountain again several times in a row, and missed the fireworks by accident, but it was still a great day.  

The Castle at Night

Tsuyu

Just like the cherry blossoms did, Tsuyu (Japan's rainy season) has arrived a week and a half early. The humidity is high, the sky is grey whether it's raining or not, and rain is the most common weather we'll be having until mid-July.

Rainy days are some of the most annoying days to be so tall.  It's terrible to be walking down the street in a sea of umbrellas, all of which have spokes (what are those little things actually called? ribs?) right at eye level. Yesterday I was waiting at a cross walk (with my hair up) and a woman's umbrella got tangled in my bun!

Umbrellas at Shibuya Crossing

 I remember the first summer we were here I didn't know about rainy season.  I don't think I saw blue sky a single day we were here.  I thought Tokyo must have the most awful pollution, and I remember how amazingly blue the sky seemed when we got to Hong Kong.  Now I know that blue sky is quite normal here, just not in June.

Foggy Night View from Our Apartment

To cheer myself up (and because I needed a new purse anyways) I bought this  bright sunny bag to make me think of summer.  It's by a Japanese brand - Jiyoh - that does lots of bright canvas bags.  I found it in the Gallery Market in the Tokyu Hands Cafe in Shibuya, but they're also available online.  And if I understand correctly (using google translate) you can order custom colors.

Summer Dresses

I've been loving the summer dresses that Uniqlo has been selling lately.  Sometimes it's hard to find clothes that fit me right - often the hips are wrong, or the waist falls too high, but Uniqlo is pretty good in general and I've found a couple of really great dresses lately.

At Hikawa Shrine

I feel like I'm wearing an impressionist painting

And here's one of Raku: