Monthly Archives: January 2014

Omae XEX

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Our last meal before leaving Tokyo.  Omae XEX which used to be Morimoto XEX by Iron Chef Morimoto.  We all enjoyed our experience.  

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Room where the beef is being dry aged


 If they have a foie teppanyaki dish, I always like to try in case there is a unique way of cooking it – it was just the usual 🙂

 Some got ala carte and a few got the set meal

 We loved the desserts which was quite unique- It’s called Rare cheesecake 🙂 It’s really rare because this is the first time I have seen and tasted something like it.  It has fresh musk melon on top too 🙂

Click below to go to their website

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Kichiri

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Another restaurant we tried under the railroad!  This poster caught our attention!

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I was so excited to try Japanese cuisine just so we can try new dishes out of the usual Japanese food that we have.  It was New Years Day and it seemed the restaurant was not prepared to serve all our orders so we missed out on a lot of dishes.  We enjoyed most of the dishes we had!

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The cream pasta with Black truffle never arrived

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The Grilled Foie Gras with Teriyaki and cheese risotto did not arrive too

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Mozzarella Cheese Fritters in “Dashi” Japanese Soup Stock – Yum!

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It’s a good thing they had the risotto

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 Sea Urchin ( uni ) Risotto.  It was very good, it needed a little more salt but all in all it was good

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Truffle and Porcini Risotto

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We did not insist on dessert anymore because it would have taken a long time for them to serve it – but the menu looked good!

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Happy New Year 2014

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As always – it’s Noche Buena at the hotel room! No shoes allowed as per Dad!

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Krie arranged and decorated the place 🙂 with all the paraphernalia and food Mom bought
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Chef Javs slices the sashimi
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Cheese fondue! and Musk melon 🙂

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We all wait till midnight – greet each other – then sleep! haha 🙂
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Taking note of what others were celebrating with 🙂

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Oyster Table

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We could not get a reservation in any of the restaurants we wanted for New Year’s Eve, so James walked near the hotel and found this restaurant and reserved.  It was under the railways again 🙂  And we were all very happy to have eaten here  


It’s a small place we took the whole wall 🙂

Loved the wall which had wine labels on it

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The fresh oysters were more popular than the baked ones.  The oyster lovers enjoyed it very muchoyster-map-oyster-table.jpeg

Shrimps ajillo – some Spanish fusion in many of the dishes

Grilled Iberico Pork – Yum!

The seafood paella was so good!!

Some specials of the day which we only discovered at the end of the meal when we asked about the japanese writing on the board!

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Whipped cheese with caviar and truffle oil

Foie Gras with oysters and Onigiri ( Risotto ) – Super Yum!

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Kani Doraku Tokyo

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Back again to one of our favorite places – Kani Doraku!  The branch a block away from Dai Ichi hotel was full we could not reserve so we had to go to the branch in Shinjuku – they have two in Shinjuku which confused some of us

Previous entry:  Kani Doraku January 7, 2010 

The kids like the gratin

and croquettes which should be eaten with the sauce or else there’s not much taste

James ordered the grilled crab legs

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Crab tempura

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The broth is made into soup!  They add rice and it’s so good

Our funny server 🙂  

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Ten-Ichi

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 We originally wanted to go to Ten-Ichi for tempura but we could not get a booking.  But Paul was able to get us a reservation for one of our last lunched during the trip when he entered and talked to them!  

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This may be the best way to have tempura in Japan – where they cook the tempura right in front of you and you order as you finish and are ready to eat
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There were two chefs there cooking
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Fresh Ingredients ready to be cooked 🙂
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What we did since we were quite a big group – we started per kind – we went through the menu and went one by one and it worked out very well

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The anago was very good! They did not have scallops which I really wanted
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Kakiage which is small shrimps unlike what we know that is mixed vegetables.  Crab legs and eggplant
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Click below to go to their website

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15 Charming Side Streets

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15 Charming Side Streets

Side streets are often small, narrow streets. usually with beautiful facades and balconies, which are covered with various flowers and vines. Mainly available only to pedestrians, they are a favourite place for tourists and photographers, because during walk amazing photos can be taken.

1. Street in Antibes, France

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Antibes is a resort town in theAlpes-Maritimes department in southeastern France. It lies on the Mediterranean in the Cote d Azur, Located between Cannes and Nice. The Old Town section of Antibes has to be one of the most relaxed locations along the French Riviera. Fascinating street of Antibes(from picture), was lined with many art shops, local residences and made for a pleasant walk to say the least.

 

2. Street in Jerez, Spain

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The economy of Jerez has traditionally been centered on the wine industry, with exports of sherry worldwide. This amazing street is located in the city of Jerez in the province of Cadiz, Andalusia.
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The trees are pinned back against the walls, with clean trunks, thereby allowing the canopy to form over the lane.
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The street is located in the old part of the city. It is currently pedestrian walkway and is part of a local winery.

3. Street in Eguisheim, France
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Eguisheim is a village in the Haut-Rhin department in Alsace in north-eastern France. The village is a member of the Les Plus Beaux Villages de France (“The Most Beautiful Villages of France”) association and is a very popular tourist destination.
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In Eguisheim, it is pleasant to stroll in the narrow streets in  a warm luminosity that varies with the season and enhances the colorful palette of houses nesting up against its ramparts.

4. Street in Alberobello, Italy
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Alberobello is a town in the province of Bari, Puglia, famous for its collection of Trulli, traditional dry-stone dwellings which are only found in the Itria valley. Although there are many Trulli scattered around this region, Alberobello represents the largest collection of original buildings, many of which are still occupied, and has been made a Unesco World Heritage Site. This is just one of the many streets which are popular tourist promenades in Alberoello.

5. Streeton Cunda Island, Turkey
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Street with houses whose facades are decorated with artistic pattern is located on the island of Cunda. It is a small island in the northwestern Aegean Sea off the coast of Ayvalik, part of Balikesir Province of Turkey.

6. Venice Canal Street, Italy
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Venice is one of the most important tourist destinations in the world for its celebrated art and architecture. The city has an average of 50,000 tourist a day. It is regarded as one of the world’s most beautiful cities. This street is one of the many streets lines with a canal in Venice and it is one of favorite places for walking tourist.

7. Street in Giverny, France
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Giverny is a village in the Eure department in northern France. It is best known as the location of Claude Monet’s (famous painter) garden and home. Narrow street from the image above is a true floral park and therefore it is very pleasant to walk.

8. Lombard Street, San Francisco, USA
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The street is famous for a small section near the top of Russian Hill, between Hyde and Leavenworth streets. Here the hill is so steep (27°) that it would
be too dangerous for most vehicles, so between 1922 and 1923 this part of
  Lombard Street was transformed into a switchback with eight sharp turns.

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The crooked section of the street, which is about 1/4 mile (400 m) long, is reserved for one-way traffic traveling east (downhill) and is paved with red
bricks. The speed limit in this section is 5 miles per hour (8.0 km/h).

9. Cherry Blossom Street, Bonn, Germany
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Cherry Blossom Street (Heerstrabe) is located in the German city of Bonn . It is a peaceful street over which, a series of beautiful trees of cherry blossoms
droop. Spring becomes alive when the blossoms are in full bloom overhead
.
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Two such roads in Bonn has cherry trees planted around but the mostly travelled is Heerstrabe. Cherry blossoms are said to last for 7- 10 days on
average and it greatly depends on weather conditions.

10. Street in Orvieto, Italy
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Orvieto is a city in Province of Terni , southwestern Umbria , Italy situated on the flat summit of a large butte of volcanic tuff. The site of the city is among
the most dramatic in Europe , rising above the almost-vertical faces of tuff
 cliffs that are completed by defensive walls built of the same stone called Tufa.
This beautiful city is full of charming narrow streets, like this one in the picture above.

11. Acorn Street, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
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This famous street is located in Beacon Hill, a historic neighborhood of Boston .  Acorn Street, often mentioned as the “most frequently photographed street
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It is a narrow lane paved with cobblestones that was home to coachmen employed by families in Mt. Vernon and Chestnut Street mansions.

12. Fiskargrand, Visby, Sweden
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Fish Alley (Fiskargränd) is a street of Visby and it is one of the most photographed streets in Sweden . The area where Fiskargränd lies is popularly
called “Fish root” from the 1600s onwards. Fiskargränd, adjoining neighborhood
 fishermen, has been used as a street name since the 1750s. Climbing roses,
among other plants, were planted in the early 1940s.
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13. Street in Frigiliana, Spain
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” White street ” from the picture is located in Frigiliana – small, andalusian town.   The town is made up of steep cobbled alleyways winding past white houses
resplendent with flowers.

14. Street in Cartagena, Colombia
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A beautiful street in the image is located in the old part of the city of  Cartagena. Architecture is among the main attributes of Cartagena ; the city
has plenty of remarkable colonial houses and military buildings, plus modern
 tourist infrastructure, allowing the visitor the recognition of its historical development.

15. Rue Des Thermopyles, Paris, France
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The Rue des Thermopyles is so-named because the street is as narrow as the pass where the legendary battle of Thermopylae was fought in 480 B.C.
The cobblestoned, plant-filled, cat-friendly Rue des Thermopyles, off the busy
 Rue Raymond Losserand in Paris ’s 14th arrondissement, is home to a number
of artists and has an active neighborhood association.15-charming-side-streets-14.jpeg

As you stroll through the picturesque pedestrian street, you might find books or furniture left out by the residents for passersby to take home. Many walls
are covered with graffiti, including one piece by famous French graffiti artist Miss Tic.

 

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