Monday, May 28, 2012

Last weekend

Last weekend was really nice!  I stayed in on Sunday and finally watched In the Mood for Love.  It's a Chinese film set in Hong Kong in the 1960's, and I enjoyed it although it went on a little too long.


Then afterward I went out for dinner with my friend Emma.  We walked around Shinjuku looking for a restaurant that was not our normal 270 yen izakaya, and we found a great Thai place!  We got a two person set that was like a sampler of a bunch of different things.  It was delicious~  I love Thai food!  It was nice to have some different things besides just tom yam soup and pad thai, which are what I always order at the Thai restaurant down the street from my work when I go there for lunch (cheap lunch specials!).


Then on Monday I went with my friend to see The Artist, the film that won best picture at the Oscars.  I thought it was in French, but actually it was in English!  I guess I should have realized it would be in English since it won the Oscar;  I don't think a French language film would be eligible, it would have to be best foreign film or something.  I really enjoyed it!  I wasn't sure how I would feel about it being a silent film, but actually it worked really well and there were some clever uses of sound as well as an incredibly dramatic orchestral score, haha.


After the movie we booked it to Shin-koenji for a takoyaki party!  My friend is living in a sharehouse there, and their kitchen is stocked with a takoyaki pan so of course we had to try it out.  Takoyaki is really simple to make, you just need batter, green onions, red ginger, and of course octopus!  The hard part is trying to flip the balls so they come out nice and round.  They weren't the prettiest takoyaki ever, but they tasted good!

Prep time!  

Our first batch!  Messy but delicious

Sunday, May 6, 2012

Osaka and Kyoto

Fushimi Inari in Kyoto!  The whole path is lined with these torii gates, it's really cool.  It's a long trail but we did the short version because it was starting to rain and we didn't want to get caught in it at the top of a mountain, lol

The sand garden at Ginkakuji.  Ginkakuji means 'silver temple' but it wasn't actually silver, just wooden.  Nice views though!

Ginkakuji

Kiyomizudera!  Kiyomizudera is one of Kyoto's most famous temples, and after going there I can see why, the views are amazing.  It was probably the coolest temple we went to in Kyoto

Kiyomizudera

My new haircut that I got right before leaving for Osaka

Okonomiyaki with friends in Osaka.  Osaka is famous for okonomiyaki and  takoyaki

Osaka castle.  It was pretty cool, the inside is a museum and they had an awesome display of historical folding screens when we went.