Saturday, January 28, 2012

A taste of Spring.

In typical fashion, I stopped by one of my favorite grocery stores on my way home from my last trip to Kamogawa.

I was set on bringing these babies home with me:

Some sort of strange leafy vegetable???
Yes that's right...once again, nanohana! The same lovely flowers from my previous post...except that they are only good before they flower.

Last year when I still lived in Kamogawa, I had the opportunity to go nanohana picking...and wound up coming home up with bags filled with this stuff. Not wanting to let supposedly edible good food go to waste, I did a lot of research on different ways to cook nanohana.

It's not so common to consume it this way, but if it's freshly picked, nanohana can be eaten raw and tastes kinda like broccoli! The most typical way is to boil it and season it with salt, soy sauce, etc. When you cook it, you have to be really careful though...cooking it brings out its slightly bitter taste, and if you overdo it you'll taste straight bitterness.

I am not a big fan of bitter things (thinking of bitter melon aka ゴウヤ), but after a bit of experimenting, I found the most wonderful way to eat nanohana!

The below photo is from last year, but I went out of my way to buy nanohana just so I could make it again this year:

Nanohana, scallop, and mushroom soup!
Pure genius, and it's so easy! It's not much more effort than throwing the ingredients into a pot of diluted tsuyu (yes, like the kind used for soba and udon noodles) and bringing it to boil.

This cold weather has me constantly wanting soup! Tomorrow I am planning to make more soup, this time with komatsuna (小松菜), hiratake mushrooms, ham, and soymilk!

Sunday, January 22, 2012

Photo shoots in flower fields.


Last weekend, I was on a mission.

Basically, I was contributing an article to a publication for work, and I was looking for a photo to send in along with it. I wanted a photo to go along with the article's themes...and what better timing! I happened to be going to Kamogawa to attend a friend's wedding reception.

Such a lovely day!
Nanohana flowers are one of Japan's symbols of the spring season. It is also the official flower of Chiba Prefecture (and Kamogawa as a city too)! They contrast really prettily with the blue sky...plus, they are really tasty! (But they are only good for eating before it flowers.)

My article is supposed to be published in March...so the moment I heard I needed a photo, I knew that I wanted a photo in Kamogawa's nanohana fields.

Welcome to Kamogawa's Nanabatake Road!
Being early January though, I was unsure of whether or not the nanohana would actually be in bloom yet - normally the peak season for nanohana flowers is the beginning of February.

But!!! Some random research led me to discover this - the Nanabatake Road (菜な畑ロード)
The location itself was really familiar to me...it is right behind Kamogawa City Hall, where I worked for three years. But the project itself is new!

Basically the tourism association, etc. have rented out what are normally rice paddies and planted about 7,000 nanohana there! (I'm not sure exactly why, but I've heard that planting nanohana in the rice paddies is actually makes the paddies better for rice planting later in the year.)

You aren't allowed to pick the flowers, but just being there makes it totally worth it.


It really was an amazing place! Walk into the fields and you are completely surrounded by the flowers. Thank you to my wonderful friends for coming out with me!! (Btw, I really love this photo.)


On a totally random note, I was stalker-ish and took a photo of this lady harvesting nanohana in one of the privately-owned nanohana fields right next to the Nanabatake Road. Kinda like how I mentioned before, but the nanohana is only good for eating before it flowers, which is why there's practically no yellow here.

Trying to be photogenic?
After making such a huge fuss about the photo, it turns out it may or may not be published with the article (because of lack of space, etc....it probably didn't help that the length of the article went over the limit they had originally told me). :/

But it was a great excuse to go and see the flowers, and be random with friends!

Thursday, January 12, 2012

Cafe Hopping in Chiba.

Over this past three day weekend, I went shopping around Chiba Station to take advantage of the awesome New Year's sales! And a day of shopping is also the perfect excuse to take breaks at chill cafes in between all the self-indulgence.

After conquering one half of the station in the AM, we wound up near by Chiba Chuo Station on the Keisei Line (京成千葉中央駅). It was a little past lunchtime, and we were starting to feel hungry - but I was bent on going somewhere I'd never gone before! We decided to try out Rix's Cafe, right across from the less crowded entrance to Chiba Chuo Station. I'd heard a lot of good things about this place...and I was quite satisfied with it too!

I wanted to gracefully gesture to the awesome chalkboard menu (I have a thing for chalkboards) but instead it looks like I am trying to wave awkwardly...
Coke! Giant windows! A lovely patio! And you can't tell so much in the photo, but many of the lighting fixtures and furniture are mismatched tastefully. I love cafes!!
Lunch!
We chose the "spare ribs drizzled in seasonal fruit sauce" (<-- yes, that is translated...I promise it sounds way tastier in Japanese). Actually, we tried to order two of these but the waitress stared at us like we were insane...with good reason! There was actually a lot of spare rib, but for a very reasonable 1500 yen I think?

We also got this baby too:

Tomato...something something. But it is stuffed with giant slabs of CHEESE! How could it not be amazing??
Their desserts looked amazing too, but we were stuffed with spare rib...I must add this place to my rotation so I can try more of their stuff! They also had super adorable くまマカロン for sale by the register -- a great take home snack to brighten up a dull day?


...We went poking around Chiba PARCO before we decided we were done shopping, and it was time for another break! This time, I was determined to go get waffles at a cafe I've favored since before I moved up to Chiba.

Cafe Yummy Waffle! The name leaves no room for doubt.
If you've never been to Cafe Yummy Waffle before, the location might be a little difficult to find because it's located on the 4th floor of a rickety looking building along the train tracks connecting Chiba Station and Chiba Chuo Station.


Not to mention, the cafe is really really tiny! This is pretty much the entire cafe, except for the 4 person table to next to us (to the left). So I believe this place can only seat 10 people at a time...this day, we got lucky and it was fairly open - I guess everyone else was still enjoying the New Year's sales. It has been awhile since I last came here though, so it was a pleasant surprise when one of the cafe people came to give us the menu and said something along the lines of "it's been awhile"! :)

Fluffy, but crispy...super delicious waffles!!!
This day I ordered waffles topped with ice cream and homemade blueberry sauce. Usually I order the waffles topped with honey and cheese cream (actually no, not cream cheese!) but I felt like having something different, and I was not disappointed with the result!

I must admit that this cafe is strangely pricey though...800 yen for a couple of waffles? Really??? It stops me from coming constantly, but it is not enough to bar me from this place all together. The texture of the waffles is perfect, and there is something relaxing about this place, even if it is really tiny.


Anyway, cafe hopping was great! I haven't done nearly as much exploring around Chiba City as I have wanted to, and I want to change that this year. I just know that Chiba has a lot more to offer than meets the eye!

Tuesday, January 10, 2012

Lunch at work.

What's inside the box?
 If only lunch was like this everyday.
...or maybe the idea that it is "special" makes it taste even better?

Sushi lunch!
This was our lunch for shigoto-osame (仕事納め), or the last day of work for 2011.

Aaaaand a fancy bento lunch.
Similarly, we also had a fantastic lunch on shigoto-hajime (仕事始め) - the first work day of the New Year.

I assume stuff like this might be a common tradition for many workplaces throughout Japan, but I don't actually remember doing this at my old workplace. Then again, I guess I went home during Christmas and New Years for two out of the three years I was in Kamogawa, so even if they did I wasn't actually there for it.

It's a very nice tradition to close out old year and welcome the new year by partaking in a mini-feast like these together with coworkers!

Thursday, January 5, 2012

the Fish.

As I mentioned in my last post, there will be a Kickoff Event for Chiba Prefecture's spring tourism campaign 「きらきら房総〜誰と行く?〜」here at the Fish, this weekend from January 7-9, 2012. So allow me to introduce the event's venue through photos!

the Fish on a bright summer day.
I had passed by the Fish multiple times before, but had never gotten the chance to go inside. You can't tell so much here, but it's a pretty interesting looking building, so it stands out from its surroundings.

Walk inside, and you'll be welcomed by a gigantic souvenir shop selling all sorts of goods from the surounding areas - fish, snacks, toys, and more. I found some fantastic pickled vegetables here!!!

We were hungry that day, so we shuffled over to the restaurant in a hurry.
Delights of the sea galore!
This set looked pretty amazing, but it was long gone by the time we got into the restaurant.
We went on a late summer weekend, and the restaurant was so popular that I think we had to wait for almost 2 hours before we got in! So if you want to eat here, you might want to sign your name in and then look around the souvenir shop.

Finally...lunch is served! This is one of my favorite foods here in Japan - kinmedai no nitsuke (金目鯛の煮付け)
the Fish is right next to the Tokyo Bay Ferry's Kanaya Port, so you can watch the ferries come and go!
Looking out over the Futtsu area.
Afterwards, take a walk outback to work off your lunch while enjoying the lovely scenery of the Chiba's coast and Tokyo Bay.


Once you've digested lunch a bit, don't forget to stop by the Minamitei Sweets Factory for treats to bring home...and dessert!


Baumkuchen seem to be one of their most popular products, but there were a good number of other products (made from local ingredients!) that definitely had my name on them. I need to go back...


Anyway, this concludes my tour of the Fish, but I really recommend this place if you are in the area...and like I mentioned before, this weekend's kickoff event is a great excuse to stop by!

Monday, January 2, 2012

New Year's Day Cruise on Tokyo Bay.


5:21am....urgh.
The first day of 2012 found us up bright and early to catch the first departure of the Tokyo Bay Ferry so we could watch the hatsuhinode, or first sunrise of the year, from the boat.

Tokyo Bay Ferry (東京湾フェリー) stands awaiting.

From Chiba, you can get on the Tokyo Bay Ferry at Kanaya Port in Futtsu City. If you're coming from the Kanagawa side, you can take the ferry from Kurihama Port in Zushi City.

You can take your car on the ferry to get across, or you can ride individually as well. They sell one way, round-trip, and cruise (yuranken) tickets.

The difference between a round-trip ticket and a cruise ticket? The round-trip ticket is for people who are getting off at the opposing port and returning later - return tickets are valid for up to 7 days. Cruise tickets are for people who just want to take a trip around the bay - you cannot get off the boat at the opposing port. Round-trip tickets are 1280 yen and cruise tickets are 1000 yen.

We were there for the rise, so we went with the cruise tickets! One trip around the bay takes approximately 100 minutes (40 minutes each way + 20 minutes boarding time at the opposite port).

Inside the passenger's deck.
Southern Chiba.
It had been raining as we were driving to Kanaya Port, so it had seemed a little iffy about whether or not we would actually be able to see the sunrise...but it was slowly starting to clear up!

On the top of the boat in the middle of the winter...needless to say, it was freeeeeezing.
Sunrise on Tokyo Bay was predicted to be at about 6:53am for New Year's Day. Many of the passengers gathered on the top of the boat, hoping to see the sun peek out from the clouds.

By then, we'd actually reached Kurihama! Lots of people were gathered on the beach to see the sunrise too.
Finally! The sun (kinda) decided to rise up out of the clouds.
With this, our mission was complete! There were still other fun things to see on the ride back to Chiba though.

On our way back, we passed by the other ferry heading from Kanaya to Kurihama.
All of a sudden there were a ton of golf bags in the luggage racks!! I guess a lot of people were headed over to Chiba for New Year's golf...Apparently Chiba Prefecture has the 2nd most golf courses in Japan (1st is Hokkaido)!
Looks like it was the start to a very nice day on Tokyo Bay.
Aaaand back at Kanaya Port!
the Fish, located right next to Tokyo Bay Ferry's Kanaya Port. Too bad it was before opening!
On a side note, next weekend the Kickoff Event for Chiba Prefecture's spring tourism campaign 「きらきら房総〜誰と行く?〜」will be held here, at the Fish, from January 7-9, 2012.

This post just reminded me that I went to check out the Fish for the first time a few months ago, and it was pretty awesome - I took a bunch of photos so I could post about it, but then I totally forgot about it! I will try to post them over the next week, but if you are in southern Chiba (or want to come down to southern Chiba!!!) next weekend, definitely check out this event!

They'll also be celebrating CHI-BA+KUN's birthday on January 9! (His birthday is January 11 though.)