kenleewrites in 日本

What’s good to eat in Sendai? Beef tongue (牛タン) of course!

Nope, we didn’t have beef tongue at a restaurant called “Sperm”. Just chanced upon this clothes shop with a strange name.

The shopping arcade in Sendai, Ichibancho Shopping District.

Was told this place is famous for its beef tongue.

Spiderman deciding what to order. 牛タン定食 (beef tongue set, comes with grilled beef tongue, rice and Japanese-style oxtail soup) is usually what you order if you were alone.

Other things on the menu.

Grilled beef tongue! Look at how thick it is!

Want a bite too ^^?

This is beef tongue sashimi（牛タン刺）. Raw! I don’t think this counts as french kissing a cow.

Yummy stuff.

Spidey’s waiting for the next dish.

Beef tongue stew!

Ikkitako（活たこ刺）. Live octopus sashimi. Wasn’t really moving when I ate it, but I was told it was 2 seconds ago before it came to our table.

Good beer to match good food.

I forgot the name of this ice-cream, but it’s bitter tea-flavored. Also yummy.

Ate too much. Need some water to wash it down.

The other end of the Ichibancho, SunMall Ichibancho

Another leisurely Sunday stroll. I take this route pretty often and it ends at a park on top of a hill which overlooks the harbor. There’s even a rose garden in the park. If you’re thinking of seeing blooming roses, you might want to plan a trip there soon… real soon. Once at the end, you can decide to head off to Motomachi, Chinatown or make another trip back to catch the pretty ferris wheel lights ^^.

p.s. There was an African Festival today. Anyone been to Africa?

A friend asked me to introduce some good Japanese music. Let’s begin with my favorite singer ^^. I’m a big fan of Utada Hikaru. I like her music, her lyrics, her looks ^^, her voice and simply just the aura around her. She’s a pretty popular singer in Japan and if you don’t know her, well… now’s a good time ^^. You could impress your friends by singing her songs at a karaoke session… her songs are difficult to sing though, 頑張ってね。Just to name a few of her albums I have in my collection.

First Love. Her first album was a big hit in Japan way back in ’99 if I remember my history. This was when I my ears and eyes first met her ^^. Many hit singles from this album there was; Automatic, Movin’ on without you, First Love, Time will tell etc. It was, and still is, a great album. Propelled her all to way to the top!

Distance is, imo, an excellent album! If you were to ask me which is my favorite album, this one wins hands down. It contains my favorite single Wait & See. Other songs I really like in this ablum; Can You Keep A Secret?, Distance, Addicted To You (great song), For You, Kettobase (prefer the unplugged version though), Parody, Time Limit.

Deep River. On my favorite album list, this one ranks right below Distance. Just because the single I like the most is not in here ^^. Songs I like; 幸せになろう, Deep River, Final Distance, traveling (this is among her best), Sakura Drops, 光 (also one of my personal favorites). 光 (hikari) has an english version called “simple and clean”. I like the lyrics and this song has been used in the game Kingdom Hearts (if you’ve heard of it).

Exodus… This is a difficult album. Her first big release in the US. Don’t think it did very well. I’m no expert, but I think she was experimenting with some new sounds. Some individual songs were good, but I haven’t listened to any of those recently. I’m sorry, but this album didn’t resonate within me although some singles did make it to the top of dance charts in the US and UK.

ULTRA BLUE. Also another experiment with sound in my opinion. The only songs I kinda liked were 誰かの願いが叶うころ、日曜の朝 and Keep Tryin’. Oh yeah! I almost forgot, COLORS is in this album too. COLORS is good. The others didn’t make it to my frequent playlist. This album was a big hit nevertheless.

HEART STATION. Her latest album as of this post. I think her experimentation paid off. The sounds and tunes in this album are pretty cool. Many good songs in here. Fight The Blues, Heart Station, Beautiful World, Flavor Of Life, Stay Gold, Kiss & Cry, Prisoner Of Love (big hit now), ぼくはくま、虹色バス。Prisoner Of Love is the current opening theme of the drama ラストフレンズ (last friends). Good tunes, good lyrics, great song. I bought this album from the iTunes music store ^^.

I only have 2 concert dvds. The Bohemian Summer Tour and Utada Hikaru Unplugged. Wish I was there at those lives though. It looked pretty fantastic from the dvds. Unplugged versions of her songs were also good. If you’re looking for a recording of a live performance, I highly recommend the unplugged dvd.

I’ve just listed some (if not all) of her albums and some of here live DVDs. She has also released dvd collections of her MTVs (called PV in Japan). If you’re a big fan of some of her MTVs, you can buy and watch it over and over again instead of like waiting forever for it to appear in MTV today. If you’re reading this from Japan, want some Utada Hikaru stuff but feel lazy to get to your nearest music store, you can always try searching 宇多田ヒカル on Amazon Japan. They have tons of other goodies than the few I’ve covered here. Check her out at wikipedia.

From elsewhere in the world, can’t find it at your nearest music store (impossible I think), search for Utada Hikaru on Amazon.

If you’re shopping for a simple digital camera and don’t mind if it’s the latest or shiniest, check this site out. It doesn’t get any cheaper this ! Don’t know how long these particular models will last though. The list of cheap cameras is always updated.

Up to 70% off! 安い!

Although I’ve been asked to help in acquiring some of these cameras, I don’t do favors like this. Sorry, but I just don’t have the time… Please check with my friends at Rinkya if you are thinking of acquiring any. ^^.

Ofuna isn’t far from Yokohama. Just 3-4 stations away… although the distance between each station is quite a bit. Trust me, you wouldn’t want to try walking there ^^. From Ofuna station, it’s about a 15-20 minute walk to the botanical gardens. Check the link here. It’s all in Japanese though. Just continue walking along the river that runs parallel to the train tracks. The Botanical Gardens will be on your right. Hard to miss. The weather was pretty cloudy when I went, hence you won’t see any blue skies in the photos above. If you’re a student. Entry’s gonna set you back ¥250. Else it’s ¥350. Bring along a picnic basket, a picnic mat, a good book (perhaps a great date too?) and you can spend the whole day surrounded by flowers. Remember, flowers are seasonal. Don’t expect to see what I took if you decide to go in June. You might be surprised and see something better ^^!