Rastro Flea Market

So one of the things that I love to do when traveling is to get a dose of REAL LIVING in a city and that usually entails going to a local market or to a flea market. I fiddled through my Rick Steves travel book and read something about the Rastro Flea Market. I know that in the past, I have seen lots of awesome antiques that you only hear about. Being that I was in Spain and knowing that the Spaniards dominated history along with the Portuguese during the Age of Exploration, I was bound to find some cool history stuff floating around, or so I thought.

I got up super early in the morning and walked all the way to Rastro Flea Market from La Latina neighborhood. It took me a good 20 minutes to get there because I got turned around a little. On the way there, I passed a local corner bar. I had to laugh hard to myself because I saw a couple guys heeled over at the bar looking like they passed out or were literally just waking up. One of the guys was dressed up in a flamenco costume with a slit that exposed his really hairy legs. His buddies were wearing fedora hats and keeping their bachelor friend afloat. Also, he had a beard that would put a pirate to shame. These guys must have been at a bachelor party and they “fiesta’d” ALL NIGHT LONG! I remember on my walk around the streets, I saw lots of empty beer cans. On top of that, I saw a drugged out couple that were getting hot and heavy at around 7:00 AM. They were completely out of it. You had to be there! Every morning in Madrid, it is not strange to see street cleaners cleaning up tons of bottles and cans. There is also a smell of urine and stale beer, the usual. I still don’t let that bother me. I LOVE MADRID!

I finally came up to a long street where I saw tent stands. The locals were definitely out and I was one of the few tourists with camera in hand. As I strolled along, I got the realization that there was a lot of cheesy items. If anyone could capture the disappointment on my face, it would have been priceless. I would compare it to a small kid eating a delicious ice cream cone, only for it to completely plop off the sugar cone and onto the pavement. I really felt like I was going to waste my time, but I was still optimistic. I saw scarves, a few cheap looking antiques and felt like I had seen all of this kind of tchotchke stuff in other countries. I even recall picking something up and seeing that it was made in China. There were the touristy Spanish fans, T-shirts and leather goods. I’ve seen the same spread in Argentina at the San Telmo market. I was able to snap a few cool shots though.

I felt like I was in a B rated film when I was watching all kinds of locals buying super cheap things. But then again, I had to also remind myself that Spain is going through a lot of economic hardship. I saw people buying spoons, plastic containers, cheap pots and pans and all kinds of little things for their apartments or flats.

Honestly, I would skip the flea market, or literally do a walk through and then just go check out something more interesting like a church tour, a museum tour. Just don’t plan on buying anything. Maybe you can score cheap postcards or flags, but I wouldn’t count on anything super interesting. I don’t want to be cynical, but I felt like my time could have been spent somewhere else. Just remember not to make this a main event for your day.

So, I don’t like to pick up “touristy” things, but I do regret that I did not get one of these posters, specifically a Flamenco one with my name. I would have loved to have put this in my classroom! Oh well….gives me another time to come visit Spain to buy one!

This stand had  every little kitsch thing you could imagine that you would find at the airport or at a gift shop. If I was ambitious enough, I would have bartered and found out how much certain little things were to gauge other prices at gift shops just to get a real idea of how much price gouging takes place at the local gift shops. I didn’t bother.

Beer Tasting in Paso Robles (Firestone Walker and BarrelHouse Brewing Company)

When it clocks in at 100 degrees in Paso Robles, you tend to stay in with the air conditioning blasting on, but not today. My cousin and I decided to change up the scene by skipping wineries and going to have a ice cold refreshing beer instead. We were on our way to Morro Bay, but we glanced over at Firestone Brewery and decided to check out the “Tap Room” In a casual conversation the other day, she mentioned that there have been a lot of cars parked around the “Tap Room” so there must be a big buzz about it.

Ambience: We walked in and I was taken aback by the industrial feel of the place. The inside space was super modern and clean with a lot of cool metal work. To the left of the door entrance was a bar with several booths and plenty of bar top tables. If you look up towards the ceiling, there is a conveyer belt moving with several beer bottles in motion. Super cool if you ask me! I should have taken a picture or video, I regret that! Will do it next time I go sometime this week. Also inside the restaurant space, we noticed that the design included kegs that were sliced in half and were designed into the wall. The kegs also had taps still included on them. There were lots of  Firestone Walker signs and advertisement posters. There was also a few pieces of artwork showing the beautiful landscape of Paso’s Wine country. I also really like their logo with a bear and lion. The bear and lion reminded me of some of the beer halls that I visited in Germany.

Lunch: There lunch menu is not overwhelming which made selection much easier. Some of the selections were: burger with fries,  margherita pizza, bbq brisket sandwich, fish and chips, fish tacos, cobb salad etc. Something enticing like a maple bacon grilled cheese sandwich caught our eye, but I’m sure the calorie count was not favorable. I saw some other tables nibbling on some gorgeous looking onion rings. They looked like they were fried with panko bread crumbs. I also saw someone eating a calzone, so there is a great selection for everyone with all kinds of different appetites. As we talked to our friendly server, she mentioned that there is a dinner menu and a dessert menu. She was kind enough to drop off the menu for us so that we could salivate over their dinner menu.

Beer: Of course, this is a brewery and what kind of visit would this be if you didn’t order a beer? We asked for recommendations from our lovely server. She recommended the Walker’s Reserve and also the Double DBA. There was also an unfiltered Double DBA. I loved how they served the beers in the proper glasses. The Walker’s Reserve was served in a tulip glass and my 16 oz “805” glass had a “FW” for Firestone Walker etched on the bottom. As I was finishing my crisp and refreshing “805” my eyes saw a sparkling etching at the bottom of my glass and it was a special eye treat for me which I appreciated. Of course there are many other beers to choose from, but that is for you to go and experience. They do sell out, so don’t hesitate. You can always walk across the street and go to Firestone’s Tasting Room. Lots of cool merchandise to buy with great logos and designs on their t-shirts. Click here for Firestone Walker Merchandise. 

Verdict: Great place to visit! Family friendly as well. Nice and spacious and very clean. Moderate prices, but nothing that will break the bank. Happy to see this place in Paso Robles. I will definitely be going back there to try out their organic fuji apple cobbler.

BarrelHouse Brewing Company

My cousin also mentioned for us to go check out this cute little brewery off of Limestone Way. She mentioned that they had some gardens. This brewery is located in a small industrial area right off of the freeway. As you approach it, you’ll see red cloth umbrellas and some grass patches. There were several picnic tables outside accompanied with multi-colored plastic chairs.

 

They open at 2:00 PM on Wednesday and Thursdays and we arrived at 1:52 P.M. The owner happened to be walking by and let us in early. Immediately upon entering, you could smell the fresh hops and grains doing its magic for a fresh batch of stout. It was rather warm inside the brewery because they were just finishing up some beer making and there was no air conditioning. The kind lady at the beer counter welcomed us and told us where to sit for some fan action and some local breezes. We ordered a $10 beer flight and a $5 Kolsh beer (light crisp beer).

We were the first guests so we had plenty of room. Since it is an industrial space, you can bring your own food. On Fridays and Saturdays, the trendy food trucks come for a visit.

The lady serving us beer was super nice, friendly and made sure that she greeted every customer that came in. She was very observant about people’s beers and made sure that everyone was content. It was too hot to go outside, so we stayed inside and camped out barstool style. She talked about the BarrelHouse hosting concerts and many events. The place felt super casual, chill and relaxing.

So if you want a little break from wine, go check out some local beer spots. Guaranteed you will have fun!

 

 

A Couple Days in Sevilla Spain

June 5th sevilla: woke up at 8 am. Almost had breakfast at a fish place, believe it or not! Was so excited to try the place because there were a ton of locals, but when I arrived, it was a fish restaurant! Thank goodness for my basic Spanish. Instead I looked for a place that would serve bakery goods. Went to Historico Horno (bakery). I had a pan de tomato y queso (bread with tomato and cheese) and a cafe con leche. The lady behind the counter was all business and not really friendly, but I understand her work ethic. People are not at this bakery in the morning for a worker that is yapping too much. People want to sit down, eat and get to work. Besides, the Spanish have siesta. This means later on that customer can come back and actually have a conversation, sip coffee, eat something, go home and take a nap and then get back to business. I admire this practice and tradition!  I loved sitting at the bar and watching all the different pastries being called out in Spanish. It was a great Spanish lesson for me. I started recognizing all the different pastries and sandwiches and were calling them out in my head. Yes, I’m silly like that. A lot of bread with just olive oil was ordered, which surprised me. I guess when you live in a country that has phenomenal olive oil, then simple and fantastic ingredients make sense like fresh bread and olive oil. I even saw a guy sprinkle a little pinch of salt on his bread.

I scooted over for a couple guys on my left. The locals were getting ready to go to work and I was making sure that I wasn’t the “stupid” and “annoying” tourist. It was a sunny day and based on the conversations that I heard, it was going to be a sweltering hot day. Went upstairs to use the restroom before I was off and enjoyed seeing some displays of jamon serrano legs and olive oils etc.

By the way, the word “Alimentation” means market. I figured this out through observation in Madrid, Toledo and now Sevilla. After I left Historico Horno, I sat at Plaza Nueva. I walked around the plaza and even ventured through some random streets. I had scheduled a tour of Sevilla with a lovely lady named Concepcion at 10:00 AM. She never showed. Then I looked again at my email and noticed that she was meeting us at 10:30 AM. Concepcion was recommended by my Rick Steves book and her tour was well worth it! While I was waiting, I saw some guys roller skate by that were dressed up as fawns. Wish I got a picture of that!

Went on tour with Concepcion. She discussed the history of the 3 kings of Sevilla. When you walk around you will see a symbol everywhere. I think I recall seeing this symbol on a bench, a man hole cover and on several buildings. The symbol that you will see is a word “No8d0”. I listened intensively to the tour, but I was caught up with looking at so much detail I forgot what the real meaning behind the symbol was. I did catch something along the lines that it translates to “no medegar do” and means something like “you didn’t abandon me”.  As you look at the architecture around Sevilla, you’ll notice 1920’s style buildings with a mixture of Renaissance influence, Moorish buildings and even Baroque accents throughout. It’s an architecture & art  lesson waiting to be told and explained in depth. So if you are a sucker for detail, Sevilla has a lot of stories to be told.

While we were strolling around listening to Concepcion’s stories, she mentioned habits of the people of Sevilla and Spain. Spanish people save up their money and buy clothing around December and July. July is the “Rebajas” month or “Sale” month to shop. You can see clothing being reduced to almost 70% off! While we were passing by the windows of shops, we saw a person making tassles for curtains, the old school way. As a form of measurement, these guys were walking back and forth with the tassle string for a concise measurement. Hard to explain, you just had to watch them.

“La Juderia” is a must see area of Sevilla. The Jewish Quarters are defined by a large standing wall. It’s like Venice, Italy in the sense that you just see crowds of people wandering around together, getting lost. If you stick close to the walls that enclose this area, you’ll be able to figure how to get out. When the Catholic Kings took over during the course of Reconquista, they allowed for Jewish people to convert. They gave them 4 months to convert or their fate ended up in torture or death. You can figure out what most of the Jewish families did. Most of them practiced Judaism secretly, but were even scared to do that. If you follow the large walls, you will eventually run right smack into the Alcazar (summer palace of the Sultan) that is built in mudajer style. I can’t tell you how much of a surprise this place was me. I have to say that I might have enjoyed the Alcazar more than the famous Sevilla Cathedral. I’ll write more about these lovely places in a different post. Too much to comment on.

If there a color to associate to Sevilla, the color orange comes is their official color. Still today, when I think of Sevilla, orange or “naranja” will forever stay in my mind. I saw women wearing beautiful tangerine color clothing, especially skirts. I saw a pair of orange espadrilles for sale in a fashion display. I saw lots of orange paint in the Alcazar, in the detailed tile work and in many paintings in the Catholic Cathedral. Also, the streets are lined with orange trees EVERYWHERE! And even though the oranges and large and look refreshing, you cannot eat them. They are according to the Sevillans, “sour as hell”. Concepcion also mentioned that in the month of December, tourists get orange bombed in large numbers. The orange trees produce really heavy oranges and they just snap right off the tree and onto tourists heads. Of course if you are an avid and professional “people watcher”, this would be the event of a lifetime to watch!

Even the gazpacho, the tablecloth and even my beer had hues of orange

I met a lot of cool people on the tour and ended up swapping emails and contact info. I ended up meeting with a few of the people on the tour later that day. But, I felt like I needed to sit and take in all the information that I learned and saw quietly somewhere. I wandered around the streets and found a cute cafe that had an alleyway. I sat in the alleyway and ordered a cafe con leche and some jamon iberico and pan con tomate y aceite de olivos (bread with tomato and olive oil). I sat and observed people’s eating and socializing habits. Occasionally, I received a sad stare from a few people and I could tell that they were thinking…”Oh, how sad…she is by herself” What was I thinking? THIS IS AWESOME!!!!!!! I have absolute and complete freedom and I was on my own time and my own dime! I enjoyed every second, minute and hour of my leisurely time. For those of you that have a hard time enjoying quiet time to yourself, challenge yourself to sit, watch and think. You’d be surprised what you pick up on in regards to human nature and habits! ENJOY!

Cordoba, A Real Local Feel of Spain

So Cordoba is a really small town, or at least I felt that way when I was there for two days. It’s a local experience and if you want to feel like you live in Spain, I would imagine that this place fits the bill. The charm of the town is in the people, the local shops, the local foods, and the old buildings that have so much history. I stayed in Old Town, so I really don’t know what it is like to travel outside in the other parts of Cordoba, so my view is very biased. I imagine that there are beautiful villas in the countryside with olive & pomegranate trees and even vineyards. I hope to go back to Cordoba with a rental car in the future.

I stopped at a local  bakery really close to La Mezquita and close to my hotel. As soon as I entered and sat down at the bar stool, everyone stared at me. I purchased a bocadillo with ham for 5 euros. The ham was a little tough, but I was happy to feel like a local for at least 20 minutes. I saw the owners talk to each person as they came in. I just wish I could pick up on some of the conversations. I picked up a few words about the weather, but that was about it. Although I love traveling alone, there are those moments, when you feel alone and Cordoba made me feel that way. Because everyone seemed to know each other in town and especially around the shops close to La Mezquita, I started to wish I had friends or family with me.

I think my loneliness started to set in when I realized that siesta does occur in Cordoba and things don’t open up till 12:30 pm. From what I gathered, shops opened up around 5:00 PM as well. I still till this very day, don’t know the actual times when stores opened up when I was in Cordoba for two days. The siesta made me lazy and I didn’t feel like doing much at all. I was however interested in taking photos wherever I could. I packed my camera bag and wandered and literally got lost in the side alleyways and corridors and cobblestone roads in the mystic old town areas.  I had heard that Cordoba had beautiful patios, so I thought I would go and see what I could find. I found a lot of cool things to photograph in the La Juderia (Jewish Quarters). The buildings were close together practically hugging each other and on each corner there was something mysterious or fun to photograph.

As I got more into the siesta mode, I just liked the quiet and calm of staying in Old Town. Once La Mezquita closes down, the area that surrounds La Mezquita gets REALLY QUIET. So for some of you that like more night life, I would recommend that you stay around Plaza Del Colon. For those of you that love to shop and people watch, you can do that around Plaza Del Colon as well. I sat down at a cafe and had a cup of coffee, a pastry and then even a tinto de verano. I sat at that cafe for at least 3 hours. I watched people smoke cigarettes, feed little scraps of food to their dogs. I watched little kids kick a soccer ball back and forth. I just sat and journaled and enjoyed EVERY MOMENT OF IT!

It’s so refreshing to see the relaxed nature of everyone in this town. The easy going flow of this town allowed for me to decompress, to think about my present and my future.

Walk…..just walk and be. You’ll find all kinds of cool things to experience. I loved walking into small shops that specialized in breads, meats and candies. I remember walking into a cute little candy shop that made marzipan and chocolate. A mom was letting her little child pick out the cute little fruit shaped marzipan candies. The smile on this kid’s face was priceless.

There are so many other things to say about this town, but go and experience it for yourself!

Visiting La Mezquita in Cordoba Spain

July 7th: woke up early for free admission to La Mezquita . If you wake up early, then you can go to the church and get in for free (Gratis!) Make sure you are dressed to be respectful. Ladies, this means, wearing a shawl or something that covers up your shoulders. Also, make sure if you are wearing a dress or skirt that is longer than the knee or just above it. Always be a good ambassador. They are strict here, which I appreciate. Guys, you should wear pants or slacks and a t-shirt, no tanks.

Waking up early and touring La Mezquita was awesome!!! It was everything I expected and more. The left side of cathedral had better lighting for openings in the ceiling that the Christian Kings put in later during the time of the Reconquista. You could see older arches and newer arches stacked upon each other. Just to give a quick history lesson, the visigoths (a Germanic tribe) were in Cordoba first, then the Muslims (Moors) came and lastly the Christian Kings kicked the Moors out. So, as you can see this building has been through A LOT! It was bewildering to see the beautiful Islamic style arches and then walk around and see Catholic carvings and pictures of Jesus. The Mihrab was stunningly beautiful painted with shiny golds and hunter green shades. I could see moon shapes and flower shapes in many of the panels. You have to note that these panels and spaces were hand painted by many individuals and are painstakingly lovely. A Mihrab is an opening in the wall or a niche that is pointing towards Mecca, so it is a very important part of the building. If you were to make comparisons, it would be like walking into a Catholic Cathedral and walking towards the altar. When standing in front of a Mihrab, you will see more etches and intricate designs that go into the wall. You may even see beautiful tile work or Arabic writings if you look really closely into the designs in the ceiling part of the Mihrab.

Barely anyone was inside which made my experience better. Daily routines for maintenance were taking place early in the morning before flocks of tourists came in. There was a man cleaning the floor with a zamboni machine. I had to step aside so that he could clean the floors to shine. I was in the building for more than an hour. A early morning Catholic mass was taking place. There were speaker phones that were attached to several columns and I decided to go and stand right next to one. I didn’t feel brave enough to go and sit at mass. I feel like if I knew my Spanish a bit more, I could listen along and know when to be respectful. What a trip to listen to a Catholic mass that used to be a mosque. Talk about cultural diffusion! It is a surreal and mystical experience. For just a minute, I felt as if all the religions of the world had no hostilities and that every religion in the world was on the same page. This mosque has its religious differences set aside, because they kept the beautiful parts of the Catholic Church and they kept the exquisite parts of the mosque.

Walking around, there is just so much detail to absorb and to feel. I had to touch some of the columns to try and feel what this building had gone through in history. It amazed me that this building had gone through several hands in history, yet maintained a quiet and serene and pristine beauty. Before I left, an Australian lady was so kind enough to take a photo of me inside the cathedral with the beautiful pink and creme arches. We exchanged a quick conversation and we both agreed that it was a spiritual and reflective experience to walk around with only less than 10 people inside. I finally decided to go outside and sit in the sun. I felt a sense of completion and purpose. I was exposed to these beautiful arches of Cordoba when teaching my AP World history students about the Ummayad and Abbasid dynasty almost 7 or 8 years ago. Something about the arches, haunted me and drew me in to its enticing story. The arches were so perfect, so geometric and so simple, yet they inspired me to travel to Spain. Kids that I have taught still taunt and tease me about the arches. I was able to tell them that I actually went and saw them!

As I sat outside, girls were getting denied at door for not having shawls. This was the first place that enforced this rule and I appreciated this. I witnessed some small birds, possibly swallows flying around like a swarm of bats. At one point, I thought that maybe the birds were bats and still I have yet to answer that. I sat close to a water fountain and watched the local people and tourists hang out by it to be purposely splashed with water because of the escalating heat. It gets REALLY hot in Cordoba. There was some kind of bell device attached to the water fountain that made chiming noises and many people were videotaping it, including myself. Cordoba, is definitely a place that feels local. You can tell who is a tourist, who is a student and who lives there. I wasn’t used to the change in pace since I had come from bustling Madrid and Sevilla, but now when I think back and reflect on my experience, I would go back and enjoy it all over again. One more thing to note, is to go and check out the outside facade of the building as the day progresses with the sun placement. The light and dark of the day bring about a feeling as if the building is still alive and breathing. I can’t explain it, you just have to go and see it throughout the day. Oh…and if you get hungry, go eat a slice of Spanish tortilla (egg, potato & onion) at Bar Santos, you will thank me later.

Itadakimasu!

In case you were wondering, the word “itadakimasu” is an expression that you yell out before you eat. The expression is along the lines of “let’s eat” or being thankful for everyone who was involved in the process of making the food or producing the food. It’s a cute, sweet and personal formality that takes place in Japanese households. To me it symbolizes appreciation for the food that you are about to eat. It also really brings thanks to the person who cooked your meal, most likely, a Japanese mom. In Japanese culture, the little things count and so the mom that cooked this meal and hears the “itadakimasu” sees this as a generous gesture.

The picture shown here is a humble spread of a special evening meal we had in Hokkaido, close to a tourist Ainu village. If you look carefully, you can see beautiful colors of salmon sushi. In the “nabe” pots (brown cast iron pots) venison meat is boiling with udon noodles. It’s hard to see, but there is a secret hiding spot under the “nabe” that has a portable flame powered by mini rockets (not kidding) that keeps the pot boiling. It is custom to open it mid way, and to add a few more veggies or extra fixins. Scallions and daikon (Japanese radish) are pretty standard. There were golden crispy pieces of mountain mushroom tempura and shrimp tempura gently lying on peach colored ceramic plates. I can assure you that almost any food that you eat from Hokkaido is super organic and tastes extremely fresh. The quality of food in Hokkaido, especially in the mountains is close to……as Remy from Ratatouille would say “close to godliness”.

When you eat Japanese meals in Japan, you learn to appreciate the little things. This is more of a moderate spread, but some spreads of Japanese food take a moment of appreciation. You take the time to look at the ceramic plates. One would even lift up the ceramic plate and look under the plate to see where it was handcrafted. A conversation would pick up between you and your guests and the ceramic plates. You also discuss where the tea that you are drinking is from, down to the water sometimes. The seasonal vegetables and meat are a hot topic to discuss and of course…the taste. Japanese people are definitely GOURMET!

In this picture, take a look at the “daikon” (Japanese radish) that is dyed yellow and shaped like a flower. The beautiful orange & shininess of the salmon looks luscious and tantalizing. Meanwhile, if you look closely in the right hand corner, another “daikon” is shaped into a cherry blossom that is dyed pink & is accompanied by a raw piece of shrimp (it’s that fresh & safe to eat) adorned with a shrimp tail.

I have many wonderful memories of our week long trip to Hokkaido with my grandmother and mom. Most of our enjoyment came from sitting down on the “tatami” with a “zabuton” (floor pillow) while sipping beer or tea and eating food as pictured above. It was also empowering not to have our men around and to be served by other people with no responsibilities. There were people daily coming to our room to take out  our “futons” (floor beds) and then they would come in the morning and fold up our “futons” and put them away. Our hotel workers would also deliver us our colorful meals and would genuinely talk about Hokkaido and their culture to us with all sincerity and pride. Definitely a girls night out and we enjoyed every minute of it. Oh….and when you are finished with a meal you say “gochisosama deshita” (Thanks for the meal) Another cute thing about Japanese culture. Matta ne!

Fabulous Fish Display in Madrid

Found this lovely monkfish with a pepper in its mouth while doing my daily walk on Calle Cava Baja in Madrid! I appreciate oddities wherever I travel and this goes in my book as one of the most RAW & RED statements EVER! Take This!

I was so lucky to stay next to Calle Cava Baja. You really feel the energy of people when walking on this street around the evening time. People are clinking their glasses of tinto de verano and red wine while conversing in exciting conversations. Spaniards love to travel in groups of 4 or 5, or at least that is what I picked up. Age was not a factor at all! I saw people in their 20’s to 30’s socializing with 50 and 60 year olds. How beautiful is that? Go check this street out and life will course through your veins.

Sapporo Beer Museum: Hokkaido

If you ever visit Hokkaido, go to Sapporo! It’s a super modern town with great beer and lots of great food. You must absolutely have their famous Sapporo Ramen! The town definitely has a more European influence. I didn’t get to really explore Sapporo as much as I would have liked, but I did see how the city had a lot of Christian & European influence. I had the feeling that Sapporo felt like what Vancouver or Seattle feels like.

We took the local bus to the Sapporo Beer Museum. Everything in the city pushes the tourist and visitor to go and check it out. I was enticed by the beautiful brick building that reminded me of some of the German Beer Houses in Munich. For a second, I thought I was going to a communist factory when I saw the Sapporo Red Star.

Make sure you walk around the property before going in. I was very interested in actually seeing real “hops”. “Hops” are a key ingredient in brewing beer and apparently there are many varieties of “hops”.

I can’t remember how much the entrance fee for the museum was, but I highly recommend that you go in for an English speaking tour. This was definitely a low point of the museum. Luckily, I had my mother, who is a fluent Japanese speaker and reader, but I like to take my time at museums and actually read the panels. EVERYTHING WAS IN JAPANESE! I was pretty upset, because the city of Sapporo is pretty modern & international, yet they don’t even try to put the panel readings in English. I saw several foreigners trying to figure out what the panels said. The museum definitely needs to take some customer comments from tourist crowds. Well….I guess one thing you could do is chug at least 3 beers before you go in, then maybe things will make more sense.

A model like this is pretty explanatory, even if you cannot read the Japanese panels.

Here is a close up of what hops look like. They are a distant relative to cannabis, but they do not have the “drug effects” of what natural cannabis have.

I enjoyed seeing all the beautiful vintage advertisements and retired products. Sapporo made other beverages such as soft drinks and other various alcoholic beverages. I would love to have the amber beer bottle pictured in the top left as a house decoration.

Here is that great vat of beautiful beer fermenting and getting ready for the thirsty beer drinker. I’m smiling because I am thinking about all the summer nights that I spent on top of a roof at a “nomihodai” (All you can drink) beer garden with my friends drinking Sapporo beer, eating edamame (soy beans) and “kara-age” (fried chicken pieces).

KOMPAI (Cheers) I was so ecstatic to see such rare and unique advertisement posters. Even better, there was a beer bar right across the way. I chose the trio beer sample and tried the original draft Sapporo beer and then moved on to a dark lager.

This poster by far has to be the BEST MANLY beer poster of Japan. Toshiro Mifune is my Japanese hero for acting. He was one of Akira Kurosawa’s premier actors and has starred in several classics ranging from Yojimbo, Rashomon, & the Seven Samurai. On a more modern note, he was also in Shogun.

The outside facade was stunning with green shrubbery hugging the brick exterior. They have a great setup outside with lots of tables and benches and hanging lights for a festive and fun evening of beer drinking.

If I was to do my trip to Sapporo again, I would definitely have come in the evening with lots of friends. Couldn’t come at night when I was visiting because my grandmother and mother were with me and they were exhausted from traveling. I also highly recommend eating “kakipi” (Japanese rice crackers with peanuts) which happens to be a lovely snack. The “kakipi” has little crescent shaped persimmon colored rice crackers with peanuts and gives just the right amount of savory and crunch that pairs well with the crisp and refreshing beer.

Cute Cooking Show: The Little Paris Kitchen

Was watching the cooking channel and came across a cute show called “The Little Paris Kitchen” starring Rachel Khoo.

It’s a BBC special. I just adore hearing her British accent. Reading up a little on her biography, she decided to go live in Paris to study at “Le Cordon Bleu”. Of course that is one of my dreams, but not sure if that is in the cards or my future at the moment.

Rachel cooked a dish called “tartiflette” The ingredients included lardons (cubes of smoked bacon), julienned potatoes, Reblochon Cheese, butter, onions, white wine and a bay leaf. She paired her tartiflette with a simple salad and said it would be a great spring or summer dinner (can’t remember which).

Her kitchen was cute, small and practical. She was lighting the stove with a match and moving around in a small space. I appreciated this, because my kitchen is small and seems helpless. Watching shows like Top Chef and other famous celebrity chef kitchens, everything they do seems so easy because they are fully equipped with top of the line products. Yeah….I would be cooking like a celebrity chef if I had a huge ass kitchen and every cooking tool you could imagine. So her humbleness was refreshing and inspiring. I love her mosaic tiled wall.  “Si tou vois Mere” song by Sidney Bechet played while she was sauteeing her dish! I also caught a fun and sweet song called “Je Suis Seul Ce Soir” by Swing 41.

She finished off the show with a parfait glass of decadent chocolate mousse.

I look forward to ordering her book. She cooks from the heart, smiles a lot and makes cooking seem easy. I like that, especially with the crazy schedule that I have. The book looks like it has great photography and her fashion is fun to watch. Happy Cooking! So glad I channel surfed today and found her! She’s on BBC!

Little Tokyo Los Angeles

My mom had to renew her passport so we went for an adventure in Little Tokyo.

Lunch: The Curry House. We miss this place terribly. We had a location in Convoy, but they closed. They serve lots of curry dishes that you would typically find in Japan. Omrice, which is an omelet with fixings of rice and topped off with some Japanese curry. They serve hamburg, which is a Japanese hamburger patty that is served with a side salad, and corn pottage. I usually get the chicken curry set. It comes with rice, curry with chicken, corn pottage and a salad. I love their tropical iced tea, but most people order the green iced tea.

Tonkatsu Curry set. Tonkatsu is breaded pork cutlet. Just watch the calories on this one

Weller Court: After we had a reminiscent Japanese curry lunch at the Curry House, we walked to Onizuka Street. In case you are not familiar with with the last name, Onizuka street was named after Ellison Shoji Onizuka, the astronaut from Hawaii that lost his life in the Challenger explosion back in the 80’s. I remember being a little kid going to the multipurpose room to watch the Challenger take off into space, only to see the Challenger explode. Us little kids were confused and were quickly asked to leave the multipurpose rooms to go back to our classes. I remember Christa McCauliffe being one of the first school teachers to go up in the Challenger. As for Ellison Shoji Onizuka, he was one of the first Japanese Americans to go up into space. He had been to space before, but his second expedition did not serve him well. The Japanese American Community made a memorial street for him in Little Tokyo.

Go check out Kinokuniya Book Store in Little Tokyo. If you are looking for books like Japanese folk tales, anime, manga, how to learn origami or Japanese cook books this is the place to go. Be prepared to shell out a little more money, but these are books that are difficult to find. They also sell cute stationery items and various types of Japanese gifts.

While you are in Little Tokyo, also go check out the various shops around. You can find your signature Hello Kitty Items along with fake samurai swords, chopsticks, Japanese dishes, Japanese festival wear and crazy t-shirts. Walk around to find a few bargains. Most all of the shops carry the same type of souvenirs, so focus that bargain eye of yours.

So the locals say that Daikokuya has the best Japanese ramen. The only way I discovered this place is when my mom and I stayed in Little Tokyo. We saw a line that was at least an hour, so we waited. The interior felt like a Japanese diner for ramen. The hipsters were definitely showing up in their trendy clothes and we knew that there would be good food here.

My favorite type of ramen. Chashume Ramen. Chashume is the small pork cutlets that are placed in your ramen.

Coffee: When you get tired, go check out a place for coffee. I yelped this one: Demitasse Coffee Shop. It’s on the corner of Onizuka Street. If you like good coffee, then this is the place to go. This place fits the bill of serving designer coffee in small setting that reminds me of Europe. The Japanese are coffee snobs, so it seems appropriate that it is located in Little Tokyo. What I love about this place is that there is a coffee bar. I saw at least 5 customers come in, sit down, bust open their newspapers, sip their coffee, talk to the coffee barista and then leave to go back to work. My mom and I sat on a couch, relaxed and rested.

Japanese American National Museum: I didn’t get to go this time, but I used to work there. Go check out this museum because it is essential to the community of Little Tokyo. The presence of the museum serves a great deal for the community in Little Tokyo and for the outer community of Japanese Americans. To make a long story short in history, the Japanese Americans lived in this area and thrived in the 1920’s-1940’s. After the bombing of Pearl Harbor, there was intense racism and prejudice that ran through Japanese American communities. In the U.S. Japanese Americans were forced to go to internment camps. The once bustling community of Little Tokyo was taken over by African Americans and became a pretty popular jazz community. After internment camps were closed by the government, the Japanese Americans wanted so bad to come back to their beloved community. They fought blood, sweat and tears to gain back their community and took some legal issues to court. They won and received Redress and were given $20,000 for their their losses in WWII. Each Japanese American family received money from the government, but most decided to help their kids with education or gave their money to help educate people about the injustice that took place. The lessons that I learned from Internment camp survivors will forever be etched into my brain. I met some amazing people and worked with them.

Of course there are so many other things to see and do, but give it 1/2 a day to go and explore Little Tokyo. Other places in Los Angeles to go check out are Sawtelle Street and Torrance for a good Japanese experience. Matta Ne! (translates to again, some other time)

Before you head home: Grab some Japanese groceries at Marukai or Nijiya. These two grocery stores have all the Japanese essentials from dashi (Japanese fish sauce), goma (sesame seeds), shoyu (soysauce), rice crackers, various Japanese produce to rice cookers, tofu, natto (fermented soy beans). I know that a lot of people are really into mochi ice cream and you can find many different varieties.