Late Night Okonomiyaki (Miyajima, Japan)

Miyajima shuts down quickly after the bulk of the tourists leave around 4 pm. The majority of those who spend the night on the island eat dinner in their ryokans or hotels, so when 6 o'clock rolled around, Laura and I found that nearly all the town's restaurants had already shuttered for the night. Luckily, the owner of our ryokan told us that a small Okonomiyaki restaurant a few doors down was open until 8.


I ordered yakiudon with shrimp and Laura ordered yakisoba with pork. As usual with okonomiyaki they put just about a whole head of cabbage in each of ours. It boiled down a lot, but there was still more food on our plates than we could possibly eat. It was good, too - the amount and flavour of the sauce was just right. This wasn't the best food we ate in Japan, but it was definitely a solid choice for a 'late night' meal.

Since the tiny okonomiyaki restaurant we ate at isn't shown on the map, the best thing to do would probably be to follow these directions to the Ryokan Kawaguchi, and follow the road it's located on a few storefronts north. If you're going there at night, it should be one of the only places open, so pretty much impossible to miss.


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Cereal with Milk (and Tea) in Costa Rica

The first time you see cereal prepackaged with milk in Costa Rica, you might think you're going a bit crazy.

But, once you remember that most of the milk sold in Latin America is super-pasteurized and doesn't need refrigeration until it's opened, you get used to it fairly quickly.

That is, at least, until you find something like this:

Yep. That's Iced Tea with Lemon. Always delicious over your honey oats.

La Heredia

Heredia was much like San Jose. Exteriors were dirty concrete and rusted metal, with the junctures between the two often neglected. To say there was no insulation would be an understatement – a Missouri rainstorm would whip in through every crack.

We were assigned a scavenger hunt in the Mercado. They divided us into groups to look for items from a list, which we were forbidden to show anyone - we were meant to ask people where we could buy things and how they were used. All of our things (with one exception) turned out to be herbs and spices, so we found ourselves bothering the same people again and again.

A group of exhausted high schoolers need some sort of authority figure to maintain organization, so when it came time to eat lunch, in particular, there were arguments. For about half an hour we bickered over where to eat, as half the group wanted cheap, authentic food – the kind most prevalent in the Mercado itself, while the other half couldn’t be persuaded to go anywhere near the street vendors.

The group finally split and I stayed with the Mercado group. The little bar we ate at probably left us more exposed to thieves and pickpockets than any other place we went to on the trip, but I wasn’t at all worried about the food. They prepared it right in front of us, and meat and cheese and cilantro smells wafted over the dirty glass that separated the kitchen from the counter. My first full and real Costa Rican meal - Pollo con Gallo Pinto - was so delicious that I even ordered a cheese tortilla to finish it off.

- Journal, 06/06/08

Photo: The Mercado of Heredia.

Photo: A Sushi Feast (Japan 2009)

A Sushi Feast

Where: Tokyo, Japan
When: Evening, July 16th 2009

After a day trip, I returned to Tokyo to find an unbelievably delicious feast waiting at Mayumi's house. The sushi was much better than any I'd ever eaten before. There was sweet eel and egg sushi, chewy squid, flavorful salmon roe, and chewy, translucent squid alongside more familiar varieties. Every bite was amazing.

Food: Japanese Shave Ice

Snow Cones can be refreshing on a hot day, but I'm usually disappointed by hard, course ice that lets all the syrup slide straight to the bottom of the paper cone. In Japan, I found Kakigōri (かき氷), or shave ice - a fabulous dessert which made me reconsider the potential of the snow cone.

Photo: Melon shave ice with ice cream topping. (Kanazawa, Japan)

Served not only at carnivals and roadside stands but also in nice restaurants alongside ice cream and cakes, most of the shaved ice in Japan is similar in texture to American snow cones, if a bit softer and more like, well, fresh snow. But at least once, in Nikko, I found shave ice that seemed to literally have been shaved from a block - it was as smooth as ice cream, and had a delightful crispness.

The syrup that tops Kakigōri is not unlike that used on American snow cones, with familiar flavours like strawberry, lemon, and grape alongside melon, sweet plum and green tea. It is also common to pour condensed milk onto the ice, adding additional sweetness and richness. Many Japanese also like to add mild sweet bean paste, mochi rice cakes, or even ice cream to their shave ice.



Photo: Laura and I found this incredible Kakigōri in Nikko. The texture was totally different than that of an American snowcone, or even the other Kakigōri we had tasted. Served with strawberries in thick syrup and condensed milk, this was the most delicious dessert I have ever eaten in Japan.

Photo: Wooden Reindeer (Scandinavia 2008)

Wooden Reindeer

Where: Skansen, Stockholm, Sweden
When: Afternoon, June 27th 2008

I loved this little wooden reindeer in Skansen, an outdoor museum in the middle of Stockholm. I noticed the way the face is suggested with broad, simple cuts from the wood, as well as the cute pose and the real antlers.

Photos: Finnish Seagulls (Scandinavia 2008)

Finnish Seagulls I

Where: The Archipelago Sea, Finland
When: Evening, July 8th 2008

This photo is something of a joke. Since I grew up so far from the sea, I have a certain liking for seagulls. I took dozens of pictures of them in Finland, to Liisa's amusement and disbelief. Yes, I know they're flying rats and all of that, but I love the grey and the white and the way they cry. For me, the sound is shorthand for, "You're far from home."



Finnish Seagulls II

Where: The Archipelago Sea, Finland
When: Evening, July 8th 2008

This is one vicious little seagull. I don't even know how his wings are moving like that.