Bubby's Pie & Coffee

Firstly, I'd like to apologise to anyone receiving a huge amount of emails from my site over the last week. I've had a problem with Wordpress plugins, which resulted in my site's server actually being shut down numerous times. Totally suspended without any access; I'm currently looking at my options to avoid this in the future. Part of my plan involves changing server, and completely changing the look of the site to a more modern theme. Stay tuned!

I've never actually been to New York, but I've had New-York style foods all over the world. Bagels, cheesecakes, pies, coffee... a whole manner of tastiness can be found inside Bubby's. There's one in Yokohama (the one we went to) and one in central Tokyo. Check them out if you have time!

At this point, I'd like to recommend the excellent blog by Alex Irmscher "dybydy-phtgrphy", as Alex has recently been to New York. Please checkout his excellent photos.

Waffles

Waffles | NEX-7 & SEL24F18Z | 24mm, 1/125s, f/2.2, ISO100 , RAW Not exactly the most healthy of afternoon snacks, but perhaps one of the most tasty! This cute little waffle-shop in shimokitazawa specialises in waffles and coffee... so that's what we had! I went for the healthy option of strawberries and custard, topped with oodles of maple syrup, and a strong black coffee with which to wash it down. Lovely!

Food in Hiroshima [Hiroshima Pt. 2]

Okonomiyaki | NEX-7 & SEL24F18Z | 24mm, 1/25s, f/2, ISO100, RAW

Each and every prefecture of Japan has its own regional dish. Sometimes specific areas within a city might be famous for a certain type of cuisine. Hiroshima's no different.

DSC04626

It's possible to get the bullet train from Tokyo to Hiroshima in just under 4 hours, which is quite impressive (~800km). This time, however, we flew to Hiroshima directly from Tokyo's domestic Haneda Airport (though it does have a few international flights), with Japanese airline ANA. Haneda airport is something else. It's like being in a quiet museum. The atmosphere is so calming. We checked in the bags using just our mileage cards (didn't show any ID for the entire journey), and went to have some breakfast to start the day.

DSC04631

DSC04632

The toasted panini and double espresso went down a treat, in the ground floor café... with a live pianist. Rather lovely. We headed back upstairs to departures, bought some food and drink for the flight (you can bring drinks onto Japanese domestic flights), and went through security.

DSC04741

Panini's are not what Japan's famous for. It's probably most famous for... sushi? I've been here so long that I've forgotten what I used to think of Japan before living here! Anyway, Hiroshima is famous for its take on the Japanese "pancake" called "oko-nomi-yaki". In the top left of the sign above, you'll see the characters 広島名物 which essentially says "Hiroshima's Speciality". On the right of that, we find 元祖 which means "original". OK, so we've found somewhere pretty good! The bottom left characters are お好み焼き (okonomiyaki), so we know this should be the original speciality pancakes of hiroshima! へんくつや is the name of the shop, which is pretty much in local dialect but means that they're passionate about what they do. Excellent! Let's grab a bite to eat...

DSC04747

We sat down and I promptly ordered some hot sake 「熱燗」which was warmed in the boiling tub of soba noodles which would make up our "pancake". We ordered a local speciality (in Japanese, much to the surprise of the owners), and he got cooking (main picture, at the top). I'll not describe the process, for fears of getting it wrong, but it's essentially a case of breaking an egg onto the teppan (hot plate) to make a thin omelette/pancake, frying pre-boiled noodles on the teppan, adding cabbage, pork, squid, oysters... whatever, and then stacking it all together, topping it with a sweet sauce and green sprinklings (seaweed?). However it's made, it's delicious.

DSC04939

Oysters may seem like an odd ingredient into this pancake medley, but they're probably Hiroshima's most famous food. They find their way into everything. The next day, we made a special trip to a famous island (separate post on that to follow), and I really fancied some of the local oysters. I'd never had oysters before. I think there's an episode of Mr. Bean, which really put me off. Yes, there is. Here. I think that put me off, when I was a child. They just never looked appetising  These ones, however, very much did.

DSC04941

I bought myself a local beer, designed especially to be eaten with oysters, and waited whilst my oysters were cooked over a set of hot coals. I ordered some with a sprinkling of cheese on top, just in case I didn't like them.

DSC04943

I loved them! They're kind of like massive scallops... but more meaty. Hard to explain, but I'm now a convert. I ordered some the following night without the cheese.

DSC04944

Charlie doesn't care for sea-food, so she had one of the local steamed bread rolls with beef inside. They looked lovely, and smelt fantastic. A good substitute!

DSC05140

For our evening meal, we had another local speciality, 広島つけ麺, pronounced "hiroshima tsu-ke-men". It's a spicy sauce packed full of sesame seeds, into which one drops in the side of noodles and salad, before eating. Simply gorgeous, and very refreshing!

DSC05148

In the mornings we had huge breakfasts at the hotel, comprising pancakes, mini-bread rolls, fresh orange juice, and a few too many cappuccinos. Well, we were on holiday...

DSC05184

The view from the hotel was a mixture of dramatic mountains, and modern-day Japanese skyscrapers. We were definitely in Japan, that's for sure.

DSC05188

Getting around Hiroshima is quite easy. There's no underground, as the city's pretty small. It does have a very quaint tram (road car) system, which is reasonably priced. We bought a ¥2000 (15 EURO) ticket for unlimited 2-day travel, including ferry rides. Not a bad deal at all.

DSC05189

Earlier, I said we flew to Hiroshima. We did, but the airport is about 45 minutes from the centre of the city, by bus. This is where the total time between flying and bullet-trains diminishes to the point where one chooses by simply cost alone. Having said that, the JR Rail Pass, only available to tourists - and highly recommended, means all bullet train rides are paid for. Our city-airport bus (in the background of the shot) was occupied only by Japanese... and us. We weren't the usual tourists!

DSC05190

Waiting for our lunchtime flight, we settled down to another bowl of tsukemen noodles (this one is actually tsuke-tan-tan-men, つけ担々麺). Delicious!

That concludes the "Food in Hiroshima" post - stay tuned for the next installment!

Gung Hay Fat Choy

Gung Hay Fat Choy │ NEX-7 & SEL18200LE │ 200mm, ISO 1600, f/6.3, 1/160, RAW

恭喜发财!! Happy New Year to all (number 2). The Chinese Year of the snake has officially started. We celebrated by going to the world's largest chinatown just outside of Tokyo, in the city of Yokohama. Busy isn't quite the word...

For photography at events I have a bit of an advantage, being 6ft2/187cm. I lose this advantage anywhere else in Japan, though (with the population being so much smaller, many rooms are miniaturised). Anyway, I could easily see over the crowd, and snapped away.

The "lion dance" was quite spectacular, in which the performers pay impromptu visits to local shops and restaurants in order to bring them luck for the coming year. Firecrackers galore.

There was also loads of amazing food (the smells were amazing), and everywhere we looked, someone was eating a tasty morsel or two.

Happy New Year to all!

Coffee at the Chelsea Café

Coffee at the Chelsea Café │ NEX-7 & Sigma 30mm F2.8 EX DN │ 30mm, ISO 100, f/4, 1/30, -0.3EV

Just got back from a 4k run (starting small) with Charlie, as we've been feeling a little lazy over the past... two years. Gym memberships are very expensive in Tokyo, and another main issue is a complete lack of time. Anyway, we thought we'd have a late lunch so that we didn't need much to eat tonight after our run.

We both opted for the House Club Sandwich at the Chelsea Café in the centre of Shinjuku. I had a black coffee, which could be refilled for a small charge, and Charlie went for the Royal Milk Tea. Honestly, sometimes, we forget we are thousands of miles from the UK.

What a difference a day makes...

The Restaurant │ NEX-7 & Sigma 30mm F2.8 │ 30mm, ISO 100, f/3.5, 1/50, -0.3EV I took the above shot yesterday evening, after a lovely long walk around Kichijoji. It's the outside of a restaurant, and is really quite beautiful. It's been done in the style of the old edo wood carvings and paintings, which I absolutely love. It really caught my eye, and pleasantly reminded me I am in Japan.

Today was the Japanese "coming of age day", which is effectively a "bank holiday" (aka a day off) here in Japan. Seijin no hi (成人の日) is a Japanese holiday held annually on the second Monday of January (incidentally this year, it's also the birthday of a very good friend of mine). It is held in order to congratulate and encourage all those who have reached the age of majority (20 years old (二十歳 - hatachi) over the past year, and to help them realize that they have become adults. For me, and my co-workers, it was another day at work. Instead, it a wasn't another day of work, because Tokyo had the heaviest snowfall in the last decade, at over 10cm. I was not dressed for this...

and I am glad to be in the warm right now!

Yakitori

Yakitori │ Samsung Galaxy Nexus; 5MP F2.6 │ 3.43mm, ISO 80, f/2.6, 1/92 Yakitori 「焼き鳥」is the Japanese cuisine of grilled chicken. Though it doesn't sound like much, it's possibly one of my favourite meals. Our personal favourite, is the yakitori of the skewered variety; namely kushi-yaki 「串焼」as inscribed on the sign outside our favourite local restaurant.

I've certainly been known to take pictures of food, especially since moving to Japan. The presentation here, even for inexpensive dishes in casual restaurants, is often sublime. However, on this particular occasion, the shochu & hot water flowed, and various skewered morsels devoured.

Food snaps another time ;)

Roppongi Hills Christmas Market

Roppongi Hills Christmas Market │ NEX-7 & Voigtlander Nokton Classic 35mm F1.4 │ 35mm, ISO 640, f/1.4, 1/60 Brätwurst and mulled wine were consumed enthusiastically at the German Christmas market here in Roppongi. Great atmosphere, and the hot sausage, mustard and mulled wine, went down a treat.

Merry Christmas to all!

Chef

Lens: Voigtländer Nokton Classic 35mm F1.4 Camera: NEX-C3, ISO 250, f/1.4, -3.0, 1/60, RAW

I'd like to thank all of my friends for their kind words and support regarding this website. A lot of hard work and effort went into it; it's been on my todo list for at least three years now, since I let my iWeb account expire and just let my photolibrary gather digital dust on my hard drive.

As for the photo; it's a chef hard at work in a small restaurant in one of the millions of backstreets making up the web that is the metropolis known as Tokyo. Even if I were to live the rest of my life in Tokyo, I would not be able to eat at all of the restaurants here. There are that many. In fact, due to the sheer ubiquity of good food, one has to remember to in fact try new places, and not get into a comfy rut at the same old haunts.