Thai Festival 2009 (Part 1) / タイ祭り ２００９ （パート１）

It's that time of year again. The annual Thai Festival sponsored by the Thai Embassy and held at Yoyogi Park on the 16th and 17th. I've been going to this festival every year since it started - and this is the 10th annual one! Well hey, since I can't make it to the Bite of Seattle or Taste of Tacoma every year, I had to find some alternatives.

今年もやってきました。代々木公園で開催されたタイ祭り２００９年。今年で１０回目です。僕は初の祭りから毎年行ってます。

These tuk-tuks or Thai taxis always remind me of the times I've been to Bangkok - which would be three, twice as a stopover before heading my way to Laos but that's another story.

トゥク・トゥク （タイ式タクシ）を見ると、タイの旅が思い出す。三回も行ったことあるので。二回はラオス行く前でバンコックに一泊。

Mikako and I and my friend Suga went early (about 9:30am) to pick a prime spot before the place gets too crowded. Our other friends would be showing up around noon or later. But we were surprised to find other people already picking out prime spots before us. So, the three of us went and bought a variety of food and some Singha beer to start off today's festivities.

僕と美香子ともう一人の友達が場所取りの為に早い時間に出掛けた。会場に着いたら、私たちより早く来たお客さんが何人も先に居て、びっくりしましたよ。だて、朝九時半に行きましたよ。ま、まだ込んでないから、気軽に食べ物とビールを買いました。皆が来る前に三人にシンハビールで乾杯。

And now for what you've all been waiting for - the food. I must admit, I had some help with the Thai names of the food from my friend Janet who currently lives in Bangkok (Thank you!) but a lot of the food will be familiar to you with their English names.

さてお持ちかね ‐ 料理の紹介。バンコック在住の友達ジャネットが料理のタイ語を教えてくれました。ありがとう！

Seafood Stirfry & Green Curry / 海鮮甘辛炒め ＆ グリーンカレー （タレーパットとゲン・キョワン）

Pork Skewer (Muu-pin) / 豚肉の串焼き （ムゥピン）

Stirfry Noodles (Phat Thai) / タイ焼きそば （パッタイ）

Dragonfruit & Mango / ドラゴンフルーツとマンゴ

Chicken Rice with Basil / 鶏挽き肉のバジル炒めご飯 （ガイ・ガパオ）

Green Curry Croquette / グリーンカレーコロッケ


Fried Banana & Sweet Potato / 揚げバナナとサツマイモ （クルワイケーク）

Korat Styled Grilled Chicken / コラット風焼鳥 （ガイヤーンコラート）

Cheese & Thai Sausage Spring Roll / 蕩けるチーズとタイソーセージネム入り （ポピアリムパー）

Chicken Satay / カイサテー

Before I feature more food, just to give you an idea of how crowded this festival gets, take a peak at the short video clip.

他の料理を紹介する前に、どの位この祭りが込むのを下記の動画をご覧下さい。

To be continued...

つづく。。。

Asakusa's "Hollywood" Stars / 浅草スターの広場

Well, it's not Mann's Chinese Theatre but its still fun to see the names of Japanese stars that I do know.

Ramen Mutsumiya / ラーメンみつみ屋

It's been a while since I featured a ramen shop. I finally convinced Mikako to try this place out, it specializes in Miso Ramen (and we usually end up going to Miso-Ichi), but this time around, we ventured to Ikejiri to try the Miso Ramen from [Mutsumiya]. We both ordered the same ramen - Uma Kara Noko Miso Ramen which roughly tranlates to Spicy, Delicious, Miso Ramen.

久しぶりにラーメン屋を紹介しようと思いました。美香子にやっと連れてあげることが出来た。メインは味噌ラーメン。うちは味噌ラーメンを食べたい時にはだいたい「味噌一」に行きますが、今回は「むつみ屋」に行ってみました。私たちは同じラーメンを頼みました。それはうま辛濃厚味噌ラーメン。

Uma Kara Noko Miso Ramen / うま辛濃厚味噌ラーメン

We also shared a plate of gyoza with our ramen.

ラーメンと一緒に餃子も頼みました。

The three gyoza on the right are garlic-filled but both are delicious - and so was the ramen.

緑色の皮の餃子はにんにく入り ‐ 両方は美味しかった。ラーメンも。

Bon Appetit!

いただきます！

Picnic in Komazawa Park / 駒沢公園でピクニック

Last weekend when we had beautiful weather, Mikako and I went on a picnic with some friends and their kids. We went to the Komazawa Olympic Park. After eating and downing a few beers, we moved to larger open area and I got to do something I haven't done in I don't know how many years - I flew a kite!


先週凄い良い天気の日、駒沢公園で友達とピクニックをやりました。食べて、飲んだ後に、長年やってない事をやりました。それはなんと凧上げです。

Okay, so a lot of the food was store-bought, but what the hell.

食べ物はほとんどスーパーで買いましたが、そうゆうこと気にしない、気にしない。

Shoei with his RC Kikaida.

Shoei and Rino

Rino

Shoei flying a kite

Sapporo Ichiban Cup Star Red / 札幌一番カップスターレッド

This Cup Noodles is Chili Pepper flavored.

Bon Appetit!

いただきます！

Manse / 万世

You didn't think I would forget to write about where we had lunch during our walk around Nihonbashi did you? We found a nice little steak house to satisfy our hunger. It was a place called [Manse]. Mikako ordered her favorite dish of hamburger steak and fried prawns while I opted for the burger with 100% Japanese beef steak.

日本橋の散歩でランチネタ書き忘れ事はないよ。今日の昼食はチェイン店の「万世」に決定。美香子が注文したのは大好きなハンバーグと海老フライ。僕が選んだのはハンバーグと黒毛和牛ステーキ。

Hamburger Steak with Fried Prawns / ハンバーグと海老フライ

Hamburger Steak and 100% Japanese Beef Steak / ハンバーグと黒毛和牛ステーキ

Bon Appetit!

いただきます！

Lunch Break Walk / ランチの散歩

A few weeks ago when the sun was shining and I was still between books, I took another walk around my work neighborhood. It's amazing what you come across when you just walk around without a plan.

ちょっと前に読む本がなくて、また職場の近くに軽く散歩に出かけた。なにも考えずに歩いたら、面白い発見があるよね。

What caught my interest today was the Kaitokuji Temple.

最初に気になった場所は海徳寺。

Entrance to Kaitokuji Temple / 海徳寺の入口

The grounds of Kaitokuji Temple is also listed as one of the hundred scenic sites in Shinagawa Ward.

海徳寺境内も品川区の百景に指定されてます。

In case you were wondering where I got my information.

品川区百景の一つはこれを見てわかったの。

Kaitokuji Temple / 海徳寺

Temple Grounds / 海徳寺境内

Japanese Tombstone - so different from the U.S. / 日本のお墓はアメリカと違いますね。


You can see the thousand paper cranes so I imagine this is place to pray for a recovery from a sickness. It might be considered bad luck to take pictures of such images but I had to share.

千羽鶴が見えるので、病気を治すを祈りする神社と思いますね。日本人はこうゆう写真撮るのが良くないと言われますが、綺麗のんでみせたい。

Pretty small cannon if you ask me.

As my lunch break was just about over, I had to head back to work. That's when I came upon this little shrine called Mitake Inari Shrine.

休憩時間がそろそろ終わるので、職場に戻る途中に、この小さな神社を発見、名前は御岳稲荷神社。

Then back to work it was.

それで仕事に戻り。