Gacuette has lived in many of the world’s major cities and a number of smaller places, too. But in no other places has he felt “mugged” as he does in the local super market chain in the Japanifik area [with the possible exception of a supermarket in Westwood Village, LA, whose owner could come from Japanifik,] where the price of food products can swing violently by up to 110 percent, sometimes on the same day. Even the forex market isn't so volatile.

Here is a brief story about yogurt and its price variations at the store:

Day 1:
The local supermarket chain [“loc-sup”] introduces its own brand of yogurt “OBY”at ¥100 [approx. $0.95 ] per 500g [1.1lb], while at the same time raising the price of a popular brand of yogurt [“pop-yog”] from ¥158 to ¥218 for the same quantity. Loc-sup yogurt sold out within hours.

Day 2:
Loc-sup’s OBY price jumps to ¥210;  pop-yog stays at ¥218. Bad move!

Day 3:
OBY down to ¥100 again. Pop-yog reduced to ¥180.  OBY sold out again.

A few days later…
OBY goes up ¥180; pop-yog down to original price of ¥158 [pop-yog comes with a 10g pouch of sugar and is more delicious.] Another bad move! This time pop-yog is nearly sold out.

During the following week a few other pricing tricks occurred; however, the pop-yog seemed to have mysteriously lost its taste and texture! Surely they wouldn’t dare interfering with other peoples products? Would they?

Recently,  after a number of worrying incidents, Gacuette made a conscientious decision to minimize trips to “loc-sup” and only buy those products there that were tamper-proof.

A brief inspection of the yogurt fridge revealed the following prices: OBY price was ¥180 and pop-yog was sold at ¥168. The OBY stack was half as small as the pop-yog’s. The taste-texture “trick” seems to have worked!

So.. some random pictures.. the things I'd eat, bought, tried and tasted (for some)....
Maybe I should make Japan as a yearly trip for myself... hmmmmm.... *seriously considering...*

Uniqlo shopping! SALE! SALE! SALE! in Japan.

No. 1 sale in MUJI (As stated in their store).. So I'd decided to try.

MINA Magazine in Japanese! @_@

Hershey's Choco Crunch

Soup Pasta. Not bad..

MEIJI's Oishii Milk.

Fanta Orange is good!

Calpis Drink.

After finishing my Ebi Fillet Burger then I'd decided to take a picture.. -_-"

Freaking cheap Ramen that Yanling brought me to eat in Tokyo's Shinjuku. 290 Yen only!

Coco Ichibanya Curry @Tokyo.

French lunch with Kei-san @Shibuya.

Okomiyaki @Shinjuku with Toshiko.

Dinner with Mamiko @Nagoya.

My purchase... last night @Sakae, Nagoya's shopping district.

Finally.....

.......

.....

...

Do I look satisfied with my soup pasta meal?? hmm..

The first commentary was, naturally, me comparing my reaction to that of the first time I saw the film. Often you can be disappointed when watching a favourite film years later (in college, I thought Amadeus the best movie I’d ever seen – yet the last time I tried to watch it, this past February, I could barely stay awake till the end). There are misremembered lines of dialogue, scenes whose sequence you’d confused and scenes you’d forgotten completely – but there was little of that when I watched Goodfellas. The movie had made such an impact on me that I remembered it virtually scene by scene. The violence didn’t shock me as much – was that because I always knew when it was coming, or because nearly 18 years of the real thing on the internet have left me callous and jaded? The sequence (to the tune of “Layla”) where De Niro’s character has his accomplices bumped off in various interesting ways disturbed me deeply in 1990 – so much so that I replayed the whole thing in my dreams for years afterward.

Watching it the first time, you never know what Joe Pesci’s increasingly psychopathic character, Tommy, will do next. It is probably the last really unpredictable performance I’ve seen in a movie, so naturally, my eyes followed him the whole time in 1990. Second time round, I realized how strong the supporting performances were (and this is always one of Scorcese’s strengths – bringing out the ensemble-cast feel) – especially Lorraine Bracco as Henry Hill’s wife and Paul Sorvino as Paulie, the understatedly threatening mob boss. I noticed the camera work this time – the brilliant tracking shots, the very long, tense confrontation scenes, the disjointedness and speed of the action as Henry (the minor wiseguy from whose point of view the story is told) gets more paranoid from cocaine. The movie didn't disappoint – it still holds up well.

There was however, one puzzling difference: the scene in which {SPOILER ALERT} Tommy enters a room and realizes that he’s not being made a full member of the Mafia, but instead is about to be whacked. For 18 years, I’ve remembered his last words being, “Aw, shit!” But when I saw it last night, he said nothing. Misremembered, or second thoughts on Scorsese’s part when the DVD edition was released? {END OF SPOILER ALERT}

That was the first running commentary. The second one was comparing the contexts of both times I watched the movie. In November, 1990, a friend of mine invited me to Kurashiki for the long weekend of the then-new Emperor’s Enthronement ceremony (the Daijousai – it was declared a one-off national holiday that year). After seeing the sights of beautiful, downtown Kurashiki, we still had 2.5 more days to kill. The video shops had been picked clean (nobody watches these royal ceremonies, although they are duly televised – I've been told that video rentals were also brisk during Emperor Showa's mourning period and drawn-out funeral). Goodfellas was playing on Saturday night at the non-cineplex movie house. We'd never heard of it, but knew De Niro. Bought tickets.

I still remember the pasta we ate beforehand (dinner and a movie! How last century can you get!), the cappucino which, in those pre-Starbucks days, was still a relative novelty outside of Tokyo, the acquaintances of my friend, who joined us for the movie (one of whom un-ironically stated, for some long-forgotten reason, "well, we must always protect our interests"; yes, some Americans talked like that even then, in the presence of impertinent foreigners like me). The theatre was old (at least that's how I remember it). There might have been a dozen people there – it wasn't a big hit. In those bucolic surroundings, watching Goodfellas was a bit surreal. But I never forgot it.

Cut to 2008. I'm sitting in my room, eating smoked salmon and avocado on English muffins (the first ingredient unaffordable, the other two virtually unknown in Japan, c.1990), watching a movie in a medium that didn't exist the last time I saw it, able to pause the movie at will and look up info about cast, crew, on the IMDB or Wikipedia. I wonder whether the movie would have had the same impact on me had this been the first time to watch it. I doubt it – as much as I enjoyed it, I was too easily distracted, knowing that I could always pause, rewind, look up, go for a pee. It's a totally different aesthetic experience. Don't worry – I'm not going to get all Luddite now and say one is better than the other. But still.

A semi-related afterthought: I just recalled my grandmother's little movie notebook, which she came across in a drawer some years ago, and showed me. In the 1930s, she and her school friends would take in movies all the time. She would make a note of what she saw, where she saw it, who she saw it with, the cast, and a comment or two. Although going to the pictures was cheap entertainment, it was still the Depression and no one would dream of spending a good quarter to see the same movie twice. Seventy years later, she can still relate some of those stories, describe long-forgotten starlets.

El ramen (ラーメン) es una sopa que se prepara con fideos de trigo y se acompaña con carne y verduras, entre ellas los narutos, y sazonada con salsa de soja. El ramen data del siglo XVII en Japón, pero en realidad cuando tuvo un gran consumo fue a partir de la Segunda Guerra Mundial, destacando empresas como Nissin, que impulsó mucho su producción y consumo y hoy en día es un alimento popular y barato en Japón. En otros países como EE.UU y Reino Unido existen platos parecidos denominados "Noodles".

Normalmente una bolsa de ramen contiene los fideos solidificados, aceite, bolsitas con verduras y polvo que según sabores será diferente.

[gallery]

oh, well... it didn't really bother me at first. but them I met jen and korin at 原宿　（はらじゅく）and they had bought me this!!!!

二宮和也

nino!!!!!! I have to have a cellphone now! if only to put them on. yeah!

so anyway, it seems that [johnny's entertainment official shop] (link to blog with extensive info about shop) is in harajuku. when you get to the station you have to take the omotesando exit and search for some girls with red armbands. these girls work for the shop and give you a piece of paper with a time written on it. that's the time you have to go to the shop to START QUEUING! O.O apparently for at least 30 minutes... I thought: "WTF!I'm not going there!fuck the posters and the stuff I wanted to buy and fuck johnny's". but jen explained to me that there is an easier way. harajuku is full of clothes and accessories stores AND of unofficial johnny's merchandising!!! which is cheaper, more varied and faster. they showed me where to find the best shops for cute, pinkish, frilly japanese-wear, gothic-lolita stores and so. I was so overwhelmed with all that stuff that I forgot to take pictures... not that you can take any inside the shops - which reminds me you cannot take a picture of the johnny's official shop name either... we went into the cheapest gothic-lolita shop and they even had nana's heart-shaped lapel jacket!!! I have to back there before I return home. actually, I was very proud of myself today because I didn't spend a dime. and considering we went past [kiddyland], into the asian bazaar (right next to sejima's dior omotesando building - biiiiig contrast, trust me), [condomania]and the main shop street in harajuku... it means a lot!

there was a previous attempt at eating lunch in a [chococro] - jen's favourite dinning place - but they only served sweet croissant (chocolate, banana-chocolate, mango...) and, oh, croissant with tiny ridiculous sausage in it! I said "no thanks, only maccha smoothy for me..." and starved until I got home.

Oh! I nearly forgot! it seems you cannot smoke in the street in japan, so there are special places for smokers, generally close to station exits. they are like small public squares with cigarette ashtrays - since it is impossible to find a trashbin in tokyo it doesn't surprise me so much. 

tonight we went to a karaoke near our home. usually it costs about 400￥per hour (2.50 euros?) so it's pretty cheap. but from friday night to the end of the weekend the price goes up to 600￥, which is still fine. we sang the stupidest songs you can imagine, from YMCA, to YATTA or BUTTERFLY.

yatta! video. japanese men in ridiculous pseudo-adam outfit.

hmmm... no explanation needed.

so this was my day... I'm tired, but I'll do one more post. :9

Until Thursday, it had been comfortably warm...but since Friday, it's gotten quite hot and humid here.

We went out yesterday and it got up to 37°C (99° F)!

As we were walking around, we saw this cat resting in the shade:

Although it gets very 蒸し暑い (hot and humid; muggy) in Tokyo during the Summer...there are many great Summer festivals in this city that will be starting soon!

Some photos I took today:

The main reason we went out yesterday was to buy advanced discount tickets for a movie that the five of us want to watch next weekend at the theater.

The movie is 「ゲゲゲの鬼太郎 (千年呪い歌)」 (Ge-Ge-Ge-No-Kitarou (1000 Year Cursed Song)).

It's the second live action movie from the long-running cartoon about a group of monsters. We saw part one last year and it was good, so we're looking forward to seeing the sequel.

The cartoon started in the '60s and it's on TV every Sunday (new ones...not re-runs).

This is a picture of the main characters in the cartoon:

And here they are in a movie promo picture:

After we bought the movie tickets, we went to the park and happened upon a show of two Peruvian Indians playing their traditional music.

They were quite good!

I took a few short videos of them and uploaded them to My YouTube Page.

Well.. given that I'm quite free till my flight back to S'pore..
I'd decided to cook to pass my time easier.. and well.. it's really easy to cook Japanese curry.
As I read from some website.. she recommended S&B Golden curry.. the hottest one.. actually it's not that hot either.. compared to the one I'd ate in Coco Curry..
Anyway.. it's quite successful for the curry I should say.. And I love Japanese rice!!! Umai~!

Simmering the potatoes, carrots, chicken and onions....

After adding the Curry Roux.

....

....

....

TADA!

My curry rice.. thanks to S&B Golden Curry Roux.

It really taste quite good ya know.

小栗旬 in a 自動販売機　(vending machine)

松潤　and pepsi

松潤　au CM big version at shibuya's hachiko exit

松山ケンイチ　(L in deathnote) for docomo group

山P's new dorama　"code blue"

and last the AU CM's that I posted previously, but this time pics were taken with my camera:

A.M.N.O.S

:3

at the inhabitants request I didn't take any photos of the bedrooms to avoid scaring you. :) the @ics have comments that will display when opening them on another window.

apparently ホストクラブ　are owned by yakuza, so naturally the boys that work in them are yakuza too - low grade ones, though. this I only learned after, when I had already told one of them "oh, so you have a tattoo? in japan isn't that exclusively for yakuza?". I suspect jenny was privately laughing her head off because she knew and didn't tell me! tonight at dinner:

jen: "that guy must have been 25 'cause he said he had a tiger and a dragon tattooed on his back. also, it proves two of the major yakuza clans (虎　and 竜）are now one. I heard the three families became one last month..." (she heard from a taiwanese guy of the taiwanese mafia)

me: "..."

korin: "yeahh... you're really updated in your yakuza news."

so that's how it is basically.

the truth is we came close to giving up on ホストクラブ　that night because the one we wanted to go to - cheap, nice and with funny guys - was closed. then the next was full, the following two where closed, another hadn't open to the public yet and the last one didn't exist. I thought it was a clear sign that it was not ホストクラブ　night, but they wouldn't listen to me, so we tried a last time and half succeeded. just for the record, in japan you've got to be over 20 to be legally able to drink alcohol and Area - hongkong girl from the other night - wasn't still. so they told us she couldn't have お酒　and we neither because we came together, which is excessive in my opinion. korin convinced them to make two groups: soft-drinking group and お酒drinking group. but when we went to sit together they said that was not possible. we tried separating the tables a few centimeters, they said two groups meant that we had to sit meters away. here korin got really angry and they finally allowed the 5cm distance. see why I said so many problems were a sign?

the first on the left was シニャ - whose real name wasn't even close to that because they all use fake names and whose age wasn't 20 because they always lie about that stuff. also, he was the one with the tattoos. ユラ　is next, then キョウヤ, ダイゴ　and セツナ.　

they were fun after all. they taught us naughty words - or the equivalent to "naughty words" in japanese, which is like elementary school kids' babble: "真っ暗して"って言った。 literaly it means "make it pitch black" - まっくらして. we imagined that we were saying something that had sexual connotations because they laughed a lot when we said it, but we sort of thought it'd be filthier than it turnes out to be. we were so disappointed when we searched it in the dictionary. I mean, how the hell could "let's make it pitch black" compete with "let's fuck up a storm" or "vamos a echar un polvo", "vamos a follar"?! WTF, it even sounds romantic! why were they so excited?

after that we counterattacked. jen taught them "je suis pede" - sorry for the lack of accents, there are none in this keyboard. they repeated it so enthusiastically to one-another that we laughed our heads off. I was kind enough to tell them "pede" meant gay (おかま), but only after I had contented myself with their ridiculous display.

I'm leaving more photos here. I borrowed them from korin, so take a look at her [picasa albums] to see the rest if you want.

やっほー！Just came back from Kyoto last night... The train ride back was better than the one that I took to there. But still.. ここでやっぱり好きになちゃった・・！Oh yes.. and I went to Hamamatsu （浜松）to meet Chiharu and Puikhuan last Sunday. 嬉しかったよ！But now.. the weather in Japan is getting hotter and hotter! とても暑い～！！！！

I dunno why. But even though this is the first time I'd ever so relaxingly travelling around in central Japan... I dun feel awkward.. or feel intimidated to speak Japanese anymore. I just try to speak in Japanese and somehow or rather they will understand. 2 days ago.. on my way from Nagoya to Kyoto.. this cute おばあちゃん even sit beside me and talk to me. She asked me if there's any toilet in the JR train.. when I said.. "I don't think there is.." and she asked me this and that.. talking to me.. and of course she realised that I'm not a Japanese given that I am slow in japanese listening comprehension.. Japanese just speak soooo fast..! And she complimented me on my speaking of Japanese.. "きれいな言葉を言って".. I felt totally happy to hear that. とても嬉しかった！And I realised おばあちゃん was heading towards Kyoto too.. and she said she always took Shinkansen.. but since she was not in a rush, she just took the JR line.. but.. yeah.. gotta change train 2 times.. from Nogoya to Ogaki, and from Ogaki to Maibara, then Maibara finally to Kyoto! But well.. I enjoy the scenery and ride though it was quite long. Somehow, I feel that I had totally immersed into their lifestyle and culture.. hmmmm. Cos I'd never felt like I'm a foreigner in a foreign land. I wonder..

Well.. pictures then.

Walking towards Kiyomizu Temple..

I met a bunch of Japanese students asking me in English.. I think they were having some competition to complete certain tasks by asking tourists in English.. Cool.. And I even have some Omiyage from them ;)

On the way to Gingakuji.. But it's currently under construction...!

Inside my hostel..! I like the hostel...! :D

Gion, night.

I saw them!! Geisha? Maiko? Oh well.. at least I saw them in Gion. :)

伏見稲荷　Fushimi Inari

金閣寺　Kingakuji　”暑いだもん～！”

二条城 (Nijo Castle)

Minute Maid in Pink Grapefruit Blend.

There's Giordano in KYOTO!! *shock*

Wujud peraturan yang baru ini adalah diberlakukannya sistem pembelian rokok dengan menggunakan sebuah kartu yang bernama TASPO. Tanpa menggunakan kartu ini orang tidak akan bisa mendapatkan rokok. Jadi orang yang hendak membeli rokok terlebih dahulu harus membeli kartu ini dengan cara meng-apply. Form aplikasinya memuat nama, alamat tanggal lahir dll, bahkan harus menempelkan foto untuk dimuat dikartu TASPO tadi. Dan yang bisa mengapply kartu ini hanya orang yang berumur minimal 20 tahun. Jadi intinya kartu ini sebenarnya dibuat sebagai usaha pemerintah Jepang untuk mengurangi pengaruh buruk kepada perokok di bawah umur. 

BTW, gimana nih di Indonesia?

昨年から 静岡市に有る松永酒店経営者である松永様を知り合って本当に良かった！松永様２０年以上前から２０数年前より蔵元めぐりをしながら美味しい酒を一所懸命探して発見した酒を自分の冷蔵庫で熟成した。だからそろそろ私がその素晴らしい幻酒を手に入れて別界をする前に自分の天国で全部を飲む計画しました！もっと詳しくしたかったら internetを是非見学して下さい！
そして松永様の酒店を訪問したら彼のサービスを絶対忘れないだろう！

萩錦酒造（静岡市）大吟醸
昭和６１年BY（１９８６）？
（記載なし昭和６２年－１９８７仕入れる）
アルコール分：17～18度
杜氏：田中政治（志太）
清酒二級

透明さ：非常に透明
色：殆ど透明
香り：辛口（ドライ）、上品、フルーテイ:パイナップル、メロン、グミ（飴）
ボデイ：滑らか
味：口当たりははっきりするけれどもすぐに消えます。辛口。アーモンド、パイナップル。
　　何か食べると非常に辛口になりながらアルコールの特徴は強くなる。コーヒー豆、パイナップル。後二ビターチョコレートとアーモンドが強くなる。

コメント：”昔系”の酒。懐かしかった！食べ物、特に濃い食べ物にぴったり！
　　　　　ちょっとだけ熟成感があるがとても美味しい酒！

Shizuoka Sake
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Please check Shizuoka Gourmet Blog for all the gastronomy in Shizuoka Prefecture!

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As I said before, I have the particular luck to know a liquor shop, Matsunaga Saketen (Japanese), whose owner, Mr. Matsunaga, has collected and safely stored sake from the Showa Era, that is, since 1988 and before! He even has introduced his stock on the internet, a document that any Japanese-reading sake-lover ought to consult!

Melinda, Etsuko and even Tim are going to scream again for my skin!as I continue exploring the whole Shizuoka stock.

This particular brew was also bottled in 1987, although Mr. matsunaga thinks it was actually brewed in 1986!

Haginishiki Brewery (Shizuoka City), Daiginjo
No records but for:
Alcohol: 17~18 degrees

Clarity: Very clear
Colour: Alsmost transparent
Aroma: Dry, discreet, fruity: pineapple, melon, gummy sweet
Body: Velvety
Taste: Short tail. Dry. Almonds, pineapple.
Turns very dry with food with a strong hint of alcohol and lots of coffee beans and pineapple. Almonds and bitter chocolate also fighting for supremacy.

Overall: An "old fashion" sake with strength in alcohol.
Suited for food, especially oily and strong sauces.
Still very pleasant in spite of grand age!

I'm continuing yesterday's post.

the day of my arrival, my two crazy roommates kidnapped me and took me to a night-club called [PBP] - that stands for "pink big pig" (you'll see what I mean by clicking on the link). it's the sort of place where you can eat and drink as much as you want while you listen to live music performances - the difference is that you do it under the nose of a "pink big revolving pig" . apparently some japanese friends of my roommates were playing that night.

their names are takurou and youhei, you can see them here:

I've tried to upload a better one, but for some reason it doesn't work...

area and joyce, two girls form hongkong where there too. we took pictures with the boys - or I should say I took pictures of korin jumping on takuro... the poor thing was so embarrassed at first, but korin didn't give a fuck, she kept kissing him on the cheek and asking the rest of us to take a photo. yohei is not so japanese though, he actually enjoys receiving attention from girls. they both sang horribly in my opinion, but don't tell jen or korin, cause they'll probably kill me...

here's a song from youhei [kuruoshiku]

and from takurou [うたた寝ふれーばー] I don't know how to pronounce that kanji, so I just wrote it in japanese, sorry :9

I chose both songs based on korin and jen's criteria because I haven't had time to listen to the whole CD yet, so I don't really know if they're the best ones...

after the songs a guy that did magic tricks came to our table - he sort of reminded me of yuho... but he was really good at magic - unlike yuho. he did some amazing things and ended up making balloon animals at korin's request - yes, she never gives up. I don't have a picture of the cute kuma-chan that he did for jen, or korin's fake french poodle - which was suppossed  to be a lion - but there's a picture of the pretty poor attempt at a totoro:

yes, that white-blue thingy is supposed to be a [totoro]- for those who don't know how a real totoro looks like, click on the previous link. actually, I felt sorry for the guy when joyce requested a totoro... but japanese people don't really know how to refuse, do they?

something that really surprised me from this place is that male waiters kneeled before you when coming to your table O.O I was thinking "yo, what are you doing on the floor man?", but it seems in these type of places it's normal. also, the bathrooms had a dressing room where you could change your make-up - I mean, for goodness' sake, it even had cotton swabs and a hair drier!!!

oh! and toilets are like pieces of engineering. they are harder to understand than quantic physics and have more buttons than this keyboard... and when you sit on them it warms up your bum. I find it disturbing, as if the toilet was cleverer than me... -.-u

other pics of the night. the japanese guy being kissed by two crazy chicks is takurou. on the last pic, from left to right: me, jen, joyce, area and korin.

(静岡新聞、２００８年１月１日）

鰻が名物の三島市の鰻店核組織（加盟２８店）はこのほど開いた総会で天然ウナギを全面的に使わないことを決議した。
とくにシラスウナギは減少してしまって全滅危険がありウナギ資源の保存が目的。
天然ウナギが高級品としてもてはやされる中、うなぎ店が組織が不使用を決めるのは全国的にも珍しい！
これまで地元でとれた天然ウナギが店に持ち込まれ客に提供することはあったが、今後それもやめることを申し合わせた。

自分が外国時ですが静岡県こんな行動が行って嬉しくて自慢です（静岡人ですからね！）

Shizuoka Sake
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(Shizuoka Shinbun, July 1st, 2008)

In an unprecedented move (apparently a first in whole Japan), the Mishima City Eel Restaurants/Unagiya Association has voted against serving wild eels, especially the variety known as "shirasu unagi", to preserve and increase the present stocks which have fallen to an alarming all-time low.
Mishima City is celebrated all over the country as the "eel city" where you can eat the delicacy in all known forms.
Until now, the restaurants would have even accepted to prepare wild eels caught and brought by customers. As the decision has come into force the moment it was voted, do not expect anyone to break the rules!

This is a similar move to the self-imposed quotas decided by the Yui Sakura Shrimps Fishermen Association which led to increased stocks for the benefit of all.

Who said Japan is bent on fishing the oceans dry?

ベアードビールニュース＆タップルームイベント情報ｅメール配信サービス　2008　＃15

タップルームに集う仲間たちとベアードビールファンの皆様へ：

大変お待たせしました。ベアード夏の季節限定の中でも特に人気商品といえば「静岡サマーみかんエール」。本日より販売を開始します。2008年度版は例年よりも長く樽や瓶の中で熟成させたため、また特別なものとなっています。

ベアードブルワリーで使用されるのは、採れたての新鮮なフルーツだけ。この夏みかんは、ベアードビールではお馴染みの大工さんの実家・戸田の畑で育ったもの。ベアードブルワリーのチームにより、手作業で１つ１つ皮を剥き、果汁を絞り、煮沸釜へ投入、熟成タンクへもドライホップと共に入れた。今年から瓶は専用ラベルで登場！。友人でありベアードビールのデザイナーである西田栄子さんの素晴らしいアートワークもお楽しみに！

静岡サマーみかんエール2008は、フロアーモルティングされたマリスオッターペールモルトをベースにアクセントとして多様な小麦を加えた（ドイツ、キャラメル、国産）。ホップは全て柑橘系でアメリカ産のものを使用した（センテニヨル、アマリロ、カスケート、ア-サナム）。アルコール度数は約5.5％。暑い夏を爽快にしてくれる最高の１杯となるだろう。

静岡サマーみかんエールは、当社直営店のフィッシュマーケットタップルーム、中目黒タップルームで飲むことができます。今回は多めに仕込みましたので、何杯でもおかわりしてください！全国のベアードビール取扱店でも瓶（633ｍｌ）や樽で近日中に販売を開始します。

最後に、沼津フィッシュマーケットタップルームの８周年記念イベントが７月19日（土）～21（月・祝）に開催されます。カレンダーに印を付けておいてください。イベント開催中の３日間は、正午より開店し、毎年恒例のフルーツエールフェスティバルも同時開催されます。食事は恒例の食べ放題（一人1000円）で、ビールに合うおつまみを多種用意しています。１階では前年好評だった海鮮バーベキューもやります。詳細はまた追ってお知らせします。

中目黒のタップルームで初めてベアードビールに出会った方も、このイベントをきっかけに、ベアードビールの生まれた沼津へ遊びにいらっしゃいませんか？

乾杯！

乾杯！

ベアードさゆり
Baird Brewing Company
Numazu, Japan
ＨＯＭＥＰＡＧＥ

Shizuoka Sake
Shizuoka Shochu
Shizuoka Sushi
Sizuoka Gourmet

Please check the new postings at:
sake, shochu and sushi

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日本語のブログ
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Baird Beer & Taproom Events Bulletin 2008 #15

Dear Taproom Friend & Baird Beer Enthusiast:

The waiting is over. Today marks the 2008 release a Baird summer beer icon -- Shizuoka Summer Mikan Ale. Extra maturation time in the bottles and kegs renders this 2008 version more special than ever.

A summer mikan ("natsumikan") is an almost grapefruit-like citrus fruit that is tart and sweetly sour in flavor and gloriously aromatic. The only fruit to make it through the doors of the Baird Brewery, of course, is fresh whole fruit recently plucked from the land. Our summer mikans are Shizuoka-grown, right in the Heda orchard of our carpenter-partner-friend, Mitsuo Nagakura. The bounty of fruit is painstakingly hand-processed by the Baird Brewery team before its introduction both on the hot-side (during wort production) and the cold-side (right into the conditioning tanks along with a dosage of dry hops). The gorgeous new artwork adorning the bottles is the expertise of our wonderfully talented artist and friend, Ms. Eiko Nishida.

Shizuoka Summer Mikan Ale 2008 sports a wheat accented grist bill (German base wheat and specialty caramel wheat along with unmalted Japan wheat) that compliments our workhouse malt -- Crisp floor-malted Maris Otter. The hopping is all-citrus and all-American (Centennial, Amarillo, Cascade and Ahtanum). The alcohol is moderately strong around 5.5% ABV. The quenching result is summer paradise in a glass.

Draught Shizuoka Summer Mikan Ale is now available at the Fishmarket Taproom, the Nakameguro Taproom and fine Baird Beer retailing pubs and restaurants throughout Japan. Bottles (633 ml) too are available for purchase through Baird Beer retailing liquor shops and direct from the brewery.

Lastly, please mark your calendar for the upcoming 8-year anniversary extravaganza at the Fishmarket Taproom (Saturday July 19 - Monday, July 21). Monday, July 21, of course, is a Japan national holiday. We will open each day at noon and celebrate with our annual Fruit & Beer Festival, a daily buffet of sumptuous beer-inspired specialty dishes (1,000 yen all-you-can-eat), a downstairs sidewalk barbecue to be manned by a team of passionate patron-volunteers, and casual acoustic jams. Complete event details will be announced early next week.

Cheers!

Bryan Baird

Baird Brewing Company
Numazu, Japan
HOMEPAGE

Please check the new postings at:
sake, shochu and sushi

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日本語のブログ
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(unfortunately, the Missus refused to comply to my request to the point of having a demonstration photographed. This pic of a bento concocted last February will have to suffice till I come up with a more satisfactory solution!)

Me and my big mouth! Why do I have to make promises on somebody else's behalf when I should know better! LOL.
But a promise is a promise. Even if it took a whole evening, night (do not ask me why or how, uh!), and next (this) morning of badgering a Missus surprised (pleased by?) at the sudden attention!
I know one big guy, namely Bill, who might find himself in the exactly opposite situation. One piece of advice mate, do not give away your little (cooking) secrets all at once and you will find yourself basking in a lot of attention (why am I saying that? No way I will translate that in my Japanese blogs, or our Japanese apartment will become a unilateral point-blank shooting gallery!).
In any case, Rowena, you might need the help of the likes of Taste Memory Girl as far as some ingredients are concerned, unless you want to send a SOS all over Foodbuzz!

The recipe I managed to extract from the Missus is open to variations. Do not hesitate to do your own research and discover new ways, although I can already hear (and welcome) advice from Foodhoe and others!

Ingredients:
-chicken: thigh chicken only. Breast chicken being too lean, you will end up with dry coarse chicken. Thigh chicken contains the right amount of fat to make for juicy morsels. No skin please, as this will become a different recipe I will hopefully explain one day. Enough for at least 5 pieces a person (probably double for me!)
-Marinade: Japanese sake (cheap cooking variety). If unavailable, a strong dry white wine should do. Grated garlic. (Chinese) oyster sauce.
You will have to experiment there as far as the amounts are concerned.
Nota bene: The Missus, depending upon her "mood" will add grated ginger, reduce the oyster sauce and add rice vinegar, sesame oil or Thai Sweet Chili Sauce. Plenty of scope again to please everyone!
-Rice powder, called "yoshinko" in Japanese. I do not know the Chinese or Korean equivalent. That is where you will need a little help from your friends all over the world!
-Cornstarch (katakuriko in Japanese).

No salt or pepper needed. Oyster sauce contains enough salt as it is.

Recipe:
Marinade the chicken cut to pieces with the sake (or wine), grated garlic and oyster sauce (or whatever combination) in a Tupperware (or cellophane paper-covered bowl) in the fridge for at least a night.
"Deep-frying" is actually "shallow-frying" as the Missus uses a large teflon coated pan with just 2 or 3 millimeters of oil. Oil temperature should be around 180 degrees Celsius.
Roll the chicken pieces (do not wipe them, just shake them to get rid of excess liquid) and roll them in a equal mixture of rice powder and cornstarch.
Drop in the pieces and fry until colour start changing. Take them out and put them on sheet of kitchen paper to prevent them from absorbing oil.
Let rest for a minute or two or until you have fried everything once. Fry a second time until the chicken pieces have attained a rich brown colour. Put them on a sheet of paper chicken to absorb excess oil.
Can be served at once, or later in a bento/lunch box after having let them cool down sufficiently.
The Missus will usually serve them with lettuce to wrap chicken in and cut lemon for seasoning.
Again, "depending upon her mood", she will serve in separate dipping dishes tartare sauce, rice vinegar, Thai Sweet Chili Sauce, or a mixture of mayonnaise and Thai Sweet Chili Sauce!

Enjoy!

Next to come will be recipes for Japanese omelette/Yakitamago as promised to Bill!