I was on vacation last weekend and am on a biz trip this weekend. I have missed two Tokyo weekends. I am on my way to
Sendai. I will have to take care of field work there. 300Km (180miles) north of Tokyo. It only takes 1 1/2 hours by this bullet train. (Oh, that reminds me that I read an article yesterday about
the next generation's bullet train due in 2008? has been built and will go on a test run pretty soon. It travels at the speed of 360Km/h and the max speed is 405Km/h. Are we that in a hurry?) Although Sendai may not be the most popular tourist destination, this is one of the best local cities I love. Because Miyagi Prefecture (The area where Sendai belongs to) produces high quality rice, and the water here is very pure and clean. Sake (rice wine) produced in this area is considered extremely good. As a matter of fact, I am not a big fan of Sake but I really like "Ichinokura" made here. It's very dry and refreshing. I don't like any aromatic sake but I find this very tasteful. Anyone who is unfamiliar with Sake but does like something dry should definitely try Ichinokura. (well, you could actually get it anywhere in Japan) I always try local specialities even if I am on a biz trip. Other Sendai things are Beef Tongue, Oysters, Sea Urchins (ew? I love 'em) and
Zunda Mochi By the way, I am on a bullet train right now but haven't gotten disconnected from internet yet.
This wireless mobile card rocks!
Canada is so behind, technologically, compared to Japan and Europe. Especially in terms of transportation and communication. Maybe it's because our country is so small, population-wise, so we don't have the money to keep up? The Shinkansen is so incredible and gorgeous! We have a pathetic light rail system, that runs at about 60km/hour. http://display.maxvr.com/translink/fullpopup.asp?id=6. Also our cell phone system is terrible - apparently there are so many technologies available in the UK and Japan that we've never heard of. We also have very little free wireless service - there's ONE cafe in Vancouver that offers it. I've heard it's pretty good in Seattle, but I've heard that wireless access is nearly universal in Japan. Lucky you! Have fun in Sendai. It looks beautiful.
Thanks for the pic thingey you'v done, gave me more of Aaron, which didn't hurt him a bit ;)
How are these urchins?
i love japanese food, seriously, i do. but i can never get myself to eat uni. that's sooooooooo nasty!
how is the beef tongue prepared? mom prepares it in a cream of mushroom sauce. it's super yummy!
Hey Intertextual,
Sure we have a lot of new technologies available at a reasonable price. My internet connection back home is 100Mbps fiber optic. It's not really expensive and it's very common in Japan. We have bullet trains. Great communication devices. I used to be proud of them but I started wondering why we are obsessed with convenience so much. I think inconvenience is sometimes good and we should endure it... is what I've been thinking. Check it out. THanks for stopping by!
Hello Sven,
Welcome back!No problem at all. I can't get enough of Aaron. :-) I haven't gotten a chance to try Urchins here yet. They are so in season right now. The urchins here are supposed to be the best! I wanna try them before I leave tomorrow. I will see about that. :-) Have a good Friday evening for me as I don't have it :-)
Hello Raph,
Well, urchins you could get here may be different from the ones you tried. I had a Spanish friend who said the similar thing, and he now orders Urchins first under any circumstances at Sushi restaurant. :-) The beef tongue is just grilled with some sauce and salt sprinkled over it.
now I'm hungry *tummy grumble in the background*
If you think of juicy raw sea urchins a little bit, your appetite may decrease a little bit (@_@)