Food! Food! Food!

Slice of Margarita Pizza

In my first couple hours in New York I immediately developed the idea “how can anyone ever be fat with so much walking being done?” Within 48 hours of being in New York my thoughts had shifted to “How can anyone ever be thin in a town with so much delicious and diverse food?”

Vietnamese Dumplings

While in New York I ate enough food to satisfy myself for many months. If I were a bear I would need not wake up for at minimum 6 months. I ate Vietnamese Soup, margarita pizzas, artichoke pizzas, homemade pizzas, mouthwatering burgers, eggs and turkey sausages galore, Vietnamese dumplings, superb bagels with Jalapeno cream cheese, Vietnamese ice cream, Vietnamese Sandwiches, and the best darn Pastrami Sandwich I have ever had!  And I topped it all off with enough coffee to keep me awake for at least the next 7 days.

Vietnamese Soup

I got some great recommendations from the locals and am glad I followed their advice. I ate so many places that I left saying to myself “I have to eat there once more before I leave” but then I was provided another recommendation and ventured out to try some new food.

Lots of Bagel spreads at Absolut Bagels.

New York is such a diverse place that there are experts within the city at making so many different food types. There is one food I did not dare to try and will NEVER EVER bother to try (unless I lose a bet someday) while in New York. That food is Mexican food. I saw a few Mexican restaurants but coming from California trying Mexican food would be the equivalent of missing the Super Bowl because I choose to go watch the local Pop Warner football team.

While travelling throughout New York I constantly tried to maintain a “while in Rome…” type of attitude. This meant doing something’s differently with my food then I generally would but this was for the better. Above all else, the food is what I will continue to remember from New York. 

Katz's Deli

Tonight I had the awesome experience of being at Katz's Deli. Katz's Deli is world famous. They claim to have developed Pastrami. I don’t know if they created the Pastrami but Katz has definitely developed a Pastrami like none I have ever tried.

At the strong recommendation of my friend Eric, I decided to go with a straight Pastrami on rye. No cheese, no sauerkraut, just straight up Pastrami. The meat was so tender and moist. I have never had Pastrami like this.

The vibe in Katz is lively and energetic. It is a huge hall of tables, lines, and constant dodging of people going left and right. As soon as you walk into Katz we were handed a ticket and informed by a man yelling to all that came in “Don’t lose your ticket! Nothing is more important than your ticket!” From there we headed to the counter where there are numerous individuals behind the counter making the food. Each Sandwich making expert (as they should be rightfully called) has his own line. I got in line and watched them dice and slice the pastrami for the sandwiches.

As soon as I got to the front of the line the man diced a little bit of extra pastrami and put it on a plate for me to try. SO GOOD! It was so tender, moist and fresh. The meat had this incredible perfect red coloring to it… I really want to eat another one RIGHT NOW!

The Bottle Shop- Taking Advantage of the creation of sliced bread!

Today I went to the Bottle Shop. This is a very well known sandwich joint in Ukiah, California. Let me start here with a little story. As I was ordering my sandwich a man walked in. He worked his way through identifying his own personal struggle verbally. I don’t think he was talking to anyone specifically. I think he was just putting it out there in hopes that someone in the room would hear him and get him a sandwich. This is the type of situation that can eventually become very awkward. If the man continues to verbalize his problem and no one steps up… Well, that’s up to the imagination what may happen. But before things could turn awkward one of the ladies behind the counter said “I’ll get you a sandwich”. This single act represents the character of “The Bottle Shop”. This is a great place with great employees and extremely well made sandwiches.

I got a Roast beef sandwich with Jack cheese, Lettuce, pickle and tomato on a Sourdough crunchy roll. On the side I got a bag of Jalapeno Kettle Potato Chips. The cost out the door was around $7. Bottomline: My sandwich was awesome! The ratio of the portions on the sandwich were nothing short of perfect. There was the perfect amount of lettuce, pickles, tomato, and mustard. The chips were an outstanding compliment to the meal.

The service was professional and handled with integrity. The individuals behind the counter take their time with each sandwich. While I watched them I felt like my sandwich was in good hands.

In short, The Bottle Shop is flat out really good. I have ate here many times in my past and have always had an excellent experience. There is a comfortable seating area inside and outside. It is peaceful enough to read a book but alive enough to people watch. The bottom line: Eat Here!

A Walk to the Golden Gate Bridge

I am currently staying in the Marina area with my friend Zach. I have known Zach since we were very small children (before preschool age).

Today we woke up around 930. We made a breakfast. We had scrambled eggs, sausages, baked potatoes seasoned with minced onions, garlic powder, olive oil, salt and pepper. We then decided to head out to the Golden Gate Bridge.

We walked all around the marina area near the ocean. It was windy but since Zach and I had awesome Northshore jackets we were not effected by the cold. As we walked through the Marina area we crossed through a park, walked right on the coast, up a hilly green region, and then across the bridge.

 

Walking across Golden Gate Bridge always has its moments when fear strikes. When I sit and look over the edge of the Golden Gate Bridge and look into the water I always get a slight tingle up my body. It is very powerful to be standing so high above such a powerful image. It is quite a postcard to look across the bridge to see San Francisco. It is quite shocking how much depth of the city can be seeing from the bridge.

On our way back to Zach's place we saw a small festival for children. Zach noticed from afar that there was a band playing. As we looked closer we realized they were a rock band of kids that could not have been older than 11. It was hilarious seeing some 11 year olds rock out to hardcore music. I had no idea what they were saying.

Zach and I then returned back to Zach's place in the Marina. We then created sandwiches . I had an oven roasted turkey sandwich with spicy mustard, spinach and tomato on sourdough bread.

My last day in Shimonseki

On my last day in Shimonseki I went to an Onsen and had Roof Soba noodles. Taka, Mama and I went to an Onsen. Onsens are awesome. Every single one of them is different from the next. I think that the mineral water in onsens are very good for my skin. When we were at the Onsen there was a man with many tattoos. Taka said "did you notice the man with lots of tattoos?" I said "yeah" and he then explained to me that this man was a known gangster and that I should not make any eye contact with him. The guy had tattoos all over his body so it was hard not to look at him. But I am alive and healthy so I didn't mess up.

After the Onsen. We went and got soba noodles. I have realized that one way to make an onsen experience even more awesome is to have good food after the onsen. The noodles that we got are only made in Shimonoseki. I like to call the noodles "Shimonseki famous noodles". They were delicious. These noodles are cooked by heating up a roof tile and then the noodles cook on the roof tile. When they serve you the soba noodles they are on a roof tile. It is pretty cool. Below are a few pictures.

Mama and I eating Shimoseki Soba Noodles.

Famous Shimonoseki Soba Noodles.

My understanding is that these noodles used to be cooked by soldiers at war. When it was really hot out they would put the noodles on the roof's of their facilities and this would cook the noodles.

Japanese Barbeque with the Kawahara Family

On my last night in Shimonoseki the Kawahara family had an awesome barbeque. Papa made many different types of food. We had Yakitori, vegetables, beef, Craw, Miso soup, Udon and many other foods. We all hung out had some drinks and lit fireworks. It was very fun. At the end of the night they made a little sign for me on the cement portion of their outdoor patio.

The food was so good. One of the many stereotypes about Americans is that many of us are fat. Well, I can promise everyone that if I were to stay with the Kawaraha family I would likely become very fat because all of the food they cook and eat is very good.

Below are some pictures from the barbeque.

The food so far

Since I have been in Japan I have tried a variety of different foods. A lot of the time I am still unclear about what I am eating. On my way to Nagoya I got a small bento box from the subway station and it turned out to taste pretty bad. In most cases the writing is in Japanese so I can’t read it and the people that sell the food don’t speak English. So I basically go for what looks good. I also do try to eat foods that look foreign to me. I do this because if I know what a food is it means I can probably get it back in the states. So I try to be a little adventurous. A few of the different foods I have eaten are: beef buns (which are Chinese), Ramen noodles, udon noodles, soba noodles (cold and hot), yakitori, sushi, dumplings, Japanese pizza, rice balls, sweet rice dumplings, and some other things that I don’t know the names of. The pizza is interesting because they put lots of stuff on it that you just wouldn’t see in the states. I tasted a seafood pizza that had all sorts of fish on it. I would name all the fish but I don’t know what they were. I did have to remove a piece of squid though because I couldn’t eat that on the pizza. I really like the noodles. I have had cold noodles and hot noodles. I like them both it just depends on the day. The noodles are a very refreshing food to eat. The interesting thing is that they often put half of a partially boiled egg (the egg white is solid and the yoke is partially solid) in the hot soups. I’m not really a desert person at all but thus far I have been unimpressed by any of the desserts in Japan. There are sweet rice balls that seem to be popular but I don’t think they are good. I have found myself simply going to convenience stores and getting hagen dazz (is that how I spell it?)

Sushi Conveyor Belt

Tonight I went to dinner with Taw and Tim. Tim is a fellow teacher at Taw’s school that also taught in Los Angeles. He has been in japan for about a year. Tim has proven to me that it is possible for a foreigner to be conversational in Japanese (though he would say he isn’t) within a year. Tonight the three of us went to dinner. Now this place had conveyor belts that went by our tables. On the conveyor belts were a whole foray of different sushi options. Each plate had 2 pieces of sushi or other stuff on it. Each plate costs 100 yen. 100 yen is a little bit over a dollar. This means that I could get ten plates for about 10 dollars. It was awesome. I am sure there must be something like this in the United States but I have never been. I also feel like it would probably be more pricey in the United States.

The farmers market In Takayama

Yesterday morning I was sitting in the lobby of my hostel and I began conversing with some people. It turned out they were from Israel. There names were Noa and Matis. They were husband and wife and had been travelling all around Japan together. Like so many other Israeli's I have met they were very friendly and very easy to talk with. After conversing for a while we decided to head to the local market together.

The farmers market was held right next to a large river that crosses through the town. The river is very powerful and very scenic. The farmers market had a whole foray of different foods. I got a hida beef bun (similar to a pork bun but had beef instead) and I also tried some marshmallow thing.

This market was obviously very used to tourists because the owners at many of the stands were very friendly. They weren't freindly in an agressive way where I felt obligated to buy something. Instead they just enjoyed conversing. There english was limited but good enough for general conversation.

It was really fun meeting some new people and going around the town with them. I might meet up again with them in my travels. They invited me to come to Israel and I as well returned the favor and told them if they ever come to northern california I can show them around. The best part of all of this is that Noa had a great camera and I asked her to take some pictures. Also today I plan to get a camera.

On a search for food

I am definitely the type of person that has no issues trying differnt types of food. I rarely get grossed out by any foods. At the same time I do like to know what I am eating. As i walk around this area of Tokyo which is called Shinjuku there are so many different food places. There are little Sushi stands (which i will be getting for lunch today), nooodle places, meat (I didn't say the type of meat cause i have no clue) bowl places, tempura places, and all sorts of others. There is a Mcdonald's and 7 eleven as well. The thing is that at many of the places all of the writing is in Japanese (which makes total sense) and they have a picture of the food. Then in some cases the people don't speak english. This leaves me with the option of pointing and saying "that". Which works out totally fine for me.

Here is the irony in all of this. I find comfort in getting foods that are wrapped in stuff. I don't know why this is? There could be anything inside of this wrapping. I keep on being draw to egg rollish, pot stickerish, and rice ballish foods. The thing is that what they put inside here is similar yet different then what we do in the states. Yesterday I had some eggrolls and skewers with meat on it for dinner. I think it was chicken on the skewers but it tasted slightly different. It could have been the seasoning or it could have been something else. I also had an eggroll. I have no idea what was inside the eggroll. yes, I looked inside of it but I couldn't tell what the stuff was. It tasted good so i kept eating it. That will be my policy, if it tastes good i'll keep eating it.