Sunday, January 31, 2010

Japan: Tokyo Part 5 - Dinner at Gonpachi (take 1 at Nishi-Azabu - aka the 'Kill Bill' restaurant)

Two of our most memorable meals in Tokyo were both at Gonpachi, each one at a different location, the first meal being at the Nishi Azabu location, which also inspired a famous scene with Uma Thurman in a yellow tracksuit, Onitsuka Tigers and samurai sword in Quentin Tarantino's 'Kill Bill 2' movie. The food at this Edo village decor restaurant was a delight and affordable, and such a fun atmosphere! I highly recommend going there!

I am glad I got to sit at the bar area, surrounding the kitchen...love watching chefs at work...

I wish I had taken a photo of this chef preparing a Japanese omelette, it was incredible!

Tanuki yakitori stick - Stuffed shiitake mushrooms

Wasabigamo - Duck breast with Wasabi

Sakiika Tempura - fried squid strip - so tasty and only ¥300, i.e. approx. US$3

Agedashi tofu

Sake...of course, vital in every Japanese meal (or Japanese beer...)

“Irrashaimase……!!” All the chefs behind the counter bar (and also floor staff) shout loudly, welcoming guests as they enter the restaurant, and also when they leave.

The best/freshest/tastiest crab I have ever had.

Kobe beef - I thought it was quite pricey considering the size, but hubby insisted on trying it, not knowing if he would get another chance to eat this incredible Japanese beef (we did a week or so later, in Kobe itself...that was mindblowingly good!)

This was upstairs in the hallway above my head

Pumpkin & Coconut Zensai - with glutinous rice balls and vanilla ice cream

Hot chocolate fondant, sesame snap and sesame ice cream - amazing!

Watching Avatar in 3D

Ok guys, this is not a review, I just decided to write about it since i've got so much time in my hands and gotta get into the act of blogging again. Might as well tell you about something I just did recently.

Last Weekend, I paid RM18.50 for a ticket at GSC One-Utama to watch Avatar with Soon Yang and Daphne.

As I've never paid so much for a movie ticket in my entire life, it better be good.

Not just good. LIKE DAMN GOOD!!

Its not surprising to me that I went ahead to watch the movie at such a price because I mean, a movie does not just gross US1 Billion without actually being good. I mean DAMN GOOD!!

Some say that you should watch Avatar in 2D first then go to 3D, but then, I mean seriously if i really wanted to watch it in 2D, there's always the DVD to depend on. I know in my heart that i'll never get another opportunity to watch it in 3D. My TV can't do 3D so...I watched it...Its a 2 and half hour movie..Enjoyed every bit of it..

Also another point to add is that I've always had the misconception of watching 3d behind a glass with blue and red film just like this..

But what you actually get is like something that looks like real glasses.

The only problem of watching it in 3d is that if you are already wearing glasses like I do (not for 3d purposes of course), it may be a bit difficult to wear another glass (3d glass) on top of it (nuff said!) which is annoying I suppose.

All I can say is..

Its really good!!A good mixture of romance, action, and science.You know its a good movie when you do not want to get out of the movie to take a piss or waiting for the movie to end and hoping for more...I think you get what I mean...So for all you dvd goers out there, Trust me, if you're reading this, watch in in the cinema..Its worthwhile..

Here's a glimpse of it...

Happy New Year!

If there was any day where I can update my blog,

today is THAT DAY!!

Because today, we celebrate Federal Territory Day!! Here's how this day works. If you're working in KL that is your office is literally in KL as long as your address does state 'Kuala Lumpur', you get that DAY OFF!!

But if you're office address says something else like 'Selangor', than sorry pal, just forget about this day altogether.

Anyway, here's my latest update since the start of the year and i'm gonna talk about what I did on New Years Eve.

I told myself that i'm gonna do this post today and I'm GONNA DO IT!!I know its been a month back but helll..i'm still gonna do it!!

This year I started the New Year again with some of my closest friends back in Penang. Every year, we would celebrate New Years at home because of the idea that celebrating up at happening spots like Upper Penang Road or Esplanade or some formal events would always turnout to be horrendous and at the end never turning out to be fun.

Some say that one of the problems would be finding a car park and even if you do find one, it would be so crazily overpriced that it would create an upset in your tummy not to say, a hole in your pocket to begin with.

Some also say that even if you do find yourself in a nightclub, it would be so packed with people that is nothing different to squeezing yourself in say a box to be shipped into another country. It would give you a taste of how exotic animals are illegally transported to another country.

Some also say that even drinks would be over priced on that day and when I mean over priced I don't mean like by a few cents or something but probably by the double figures. Its like buying a proton at the price of a Bentley or so to speak..

Some also say that with all the crazy revellers around, you would never know whether your car is safe enough to defend itself when its been targeted for extra decorations by these revellers.

Anyway, a few of us decided that celebrating at home has always been a better way to welcome the New Year.

Here are some pictures.

Picture with the guys...At the heat of the moment hearing the "1 Malaysia Song", we all were taking pictures so fast that Tiam did not even have a chance to swap his cake for a glass of champagne to take pictures with.

Picture of the girls that came...

This is Dr. Yong Lin! She Saves Lives in General Hospital! She works sometimes for 48 hours straight. Makes me rethink how hard i'm working when I use to complain that I only get like 6 hours of sleep a day.

Last but not least, if there was anyone you guys should thank, it would be Tiam! He kind of pushed me to hold a party, so...yeah..THIS ONE IS FOR YOU!!!HAHA...Hope you enjoyed it...

I guess thats all I have to share in pictures. Thank you guys for coming!Its always been great to have you guys around to celebrate with. Would like to take this opportunity to wish you all on my blog and all my dear existing readers,

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

Can't wait to see how we gonna do it in 2010? I hope to be updating this blog more often..wait a minute...

I SAY IT EVERY YEAR!!!HAHA

Ovo (20)

"Found Objects: Cracked Shells" de ratpat13

Saturday, January 30, 2010

Angeles oscuros (52)

"Angel Wings" de Wibke Freund

Friday, January 29, 2010

Ovo (19)

"Hope" de ratpat13

Thursday, January 28, 2010

Mariposas (12)

"La imperfeccion de la mariposa" de Roxana Sagastume

Wednesday, January 27, 2010

Japan: Tokyo Part 4 - Omotesando

The walk up Omotesando towards Aoyama (previous post) on Jingumae is lined with designer stores sporting incredible architecture...

The Christian Dior building by Kazuyo Sejima and Ryue Nishizawa

I borrowed the picture above to show you what the building usually looks like, I think the Dior building was red especially for Christmas...White stripes are printed on the acrylic walls so that the building's appearance changes beautifully depending on the light during the day and the level of penetration of lighting at night.

The Louis Vuitton store by architect Jun Aoki

Tod's store by Toyo Ito - its distinctive exterior is made from two contrasting materials of seemingly bare concrete and glass. Just like the branches of the zelkova trees along the street, the pattern on the building’s façade get finer as it reaches upwards.

What better way to recover from all the walking than with Sushi train!!! This restaurant was opposite the Omotesando Hills shopping complex (where hubby enjoyed a sake tasting afterwards)

Hubby's favourite: ikura (salmon roe)

Hubby was puzzled as to why the 'wasabi' was given in powder form, and added some to his soy sauce, and was quickly told by the waitress that it was green tea instead, haha! So glad it was him and not me!