Ladies' High Tea and Fashion P - a - r - t - y...because I gotta!

A few weeks too late, but better late than never! These are some pics we snapped at the ladies’ high tea I held at the apartment a while back. All in the name of fashion, food and fun, it was a fabulous afternoon of chit chat, shopping, eating and drinking. Thanks to all the lovely ladies that came to support Trixie and Flo! I have three very important recipes to share with you: The best carrot cake, the best cream cheese icing, and the best sangria recipes IN THE WORLD!

Lunch in Harajuku - Salvatore Cuomo

After a morning of shopping and wandering through a drizzly Harajuku, a lunch hunt began as we tracked down the ever swanky Omotesando Hills shopping complex, designed by renowned architect, Tadao Ando. The hunt led us up to the top floor, to Salvatore Cuomo, a gorgeous Italian restaurant that offers a daily lunch buffet between 11am and 3pm. For just 2200 yen we could each order a main dish pizza (highly recommended) or pasta, and then help ourselves to the appetizer, dessert and drinks buffet. It was an absolute pleasure meal for sure and as the sun peeped in, we felt full and refreshed, ready to head back to Harajuku’s streets for an afternoon of sightseeing.

Hot cross buns!!!

That just happened! I'm so excited I had to post this immediately. Yes, I'm at home at 10pm on a Friday night baking, but I'm smiling from ear to ear. My friend mentioned hot cross buns the other day and the craving got me and I just HAD to try. We can’t buy them in Japan so homemade is officially the new “Woolworths”. I used this recipe (thanks Sarah!), and have (of course) already sampled the final product…only thing I’d change is to add more spices. It may have been because I had to make my own mixed spice concoction. I used a teaspoon of cinnamon and sprinkling of nutmeg and ginger but they definitely need more. I also left out the peel because peel just doesn’t rock my boat, sorry peel.  My little toaster oven is such a trooper, it’s so tiny I could only bake three at a time! If you’re in Japan and want to try baking them in a toaster oven, cover the top with tinfoil for the first 10 minutes and then let them brown for the last five…else they’ll burn ya’hear. Happy baking, and Happy Easter everyone xoxo.

Seoul food

(well…Busan as well, but that would’ve ruined my play on words)

I love Korean food but why oh why was I born with such embarrassingly weak taste buds!? Some of the kimchi even had me shedding a tear or two. It makes me a little nervous for any future Asian travels because I absolutely love trying new food but I just can’t handle the spice. Living in Japan hasn’t exactly helped…with the exception of wasabi I can’t think of a single food here that packs a punch. Better start on operation taste bud spicy bootcamp. I think a couple of Durban samoosas would be a good start.

Busan fish market

 

The first thing that struck me about Busan fish market was how clean it was…until I witnessed the most horrific sight of a woman skinning live eels in one quick serial killer sort movement. I think I’m still having nightmares about it. After some recovery time and leisurely meandering we headed upstairs to the open-plan restaurant section. We were led to a table and ordered (well we weren’t really sure what we had ordered) but ended up with a table full of seafood dishes, sidedishes and beer. We left full and happy, beaming at the success of our first Korean meal.

Korean barbeque (Gogigui)

The gogigui meal we had in Seoul was possibly one of the best meals I have EVER had!! I love food that involves experience…and sitting together at a grill, with plates of meat and a multitude of sidedishes, while cooking it up ourselves and chatting about the previous night’s antics all seems a sweet memory to me now.  Our looks of apprehension had the very pushy/disguisedly sweet Korean waitress picking up our food for us and showing us how to wrap the meat, rice and sidedishes in a perilla leaf and then gesturing to eat up with our hands.  It was glorious, and I even tried one with a whole clove of garlic in it, which no doubt led me to tears again. Gogigui places are everywhere, so just ask your hostel/hotel to recommend a good one. 

 

  Bibimbap

 

 A great meal in Myeondong before a shopping marathon! We were beckoned into a restaurant, which at first I was apprehensive about entering. I assumed if they were desperate for business their food wouldn’t be so great, but  we obliged, a little out of fear (I’d be scared to ever say no to a feisty Korean woman), and ended up having a perfect bibimbap meal. It’s a rice dish mixed up mainly with seaweed, vegetables and a fried/raw egg. They served up the gochujang (chilli pepper paste) on the side so my weak taste buds and I could add it in moderation.

I wish I’d had more time to taste all that Korea had to offer! The food there is a travel experience in itself and I hope I’ll be back someday to try more. Recommendations are most welcome!

Would you like a crumpet?

 Crumpets, pancakes, flapjacks, whatever you want to call them, this is possibly one of my favourite recipes from childhood. We’d help our mom make the batter and then watch in anticipation as she cooked them up, until finally, she’d give us a chance to pour crazy shapes into the pan at the end. What a nostalgically apt post this is, seeing as my mom and dad have just arrived in Japan and I’ll be meeting up with them in Osaka tomorrow. Excited desu.

Ingredients

2 eggs

5 tablespoons sugar

1 cup milk

1 ½ tablespoons melted butter

2 cups of flour

4 teaspoons baking powder

½ teaspoon salt

Method

Beat the eggs, adding the sugar. Add half a cup of milk and the butter.

Sift together the flour, baking powder and salt and add this to the egg mixture.

Gradually stir in the remaining ½ cup of milk to form a smooth batter.

Recipe makes about 25 small crumpets.

Looking for a cafe in Fukuyama?

If it weren’t for friends’ recommendations, I’d probably still be sitting at the same café week after week doing the same old same old.  It often just feels like mission impossible when you’re wondering around back alley Japan in hopes of stumbling upon something incredible. I’ve often found that a lot of cafes and restaurants here are so unassuming, so hidden you’d never find them unless you had the inside scoop. Or if you did, there’s sometimes an unexplainable intimidation preventing you from peeping in somewhere that looks cute and cosy, as if you’d be interrupting some intimate moment behind a restaurant curtain. Well, I’m here to share…and I’m really excited to be blogging about this place. It’s called “&S” and is a beautiful mix of creepy, gorgeous and cosy. I could’ve sat there all afternoon, though considering the size of their set lunch, it’s as if they want you there all day. This is possibly the first time I haven’t been able to finish a restaurant meal in Japan. I loved the price too, for just 850yen you can choose between four set lunches that includes soup, salad, main meal, dessert and drink. The dinner menu looked gorgeous too so I’ll definitely be back! Their attention to décor detail is impeccable and the chef in top hat just adds to the whole charm of the place. So no excuses, use this map and go, go, go. 

The lunch sets pictured in order above are: muffin sandwich set, one plate lunch (a delicious, chicken, veggie, egg mix with salad and rice) and the coconut curry lunch with extra mixed beans. All of them come with a drink of your choice and a set dessert (last pic).

High Tea at the Oyster Box Hotel

I think I’m nearly two years and about 20 blogs too late on this trend, but Durban’s Oyster Box Hotel High Tea was all I dreamed it would be and more. Possibly one of my best days out, it was one filled with laughter, gorging and more gorging. For just R150 (1500yen) we started off with our afternoon cuppa, and then helped ourselves to the wide selection of savouries and desserts. Make sure to call a few weeks ahead (especially during holiday season) to avoid disappointment xoxo.

It's beginning to feel a lot like Christmas

Yatta! In exactly one week I’ll be touching down on South African soil in the hopes of defrosting this Christmas. But before then, I have a few exciting things lined up. For one, Marty and I will be squeaking some takkie in Seoul, South Korea for a few nights of freezing city fun. In the meantime I’m enjoying crazy parties with the co-workers and fun end of year lessons with the students. My English club girls and I devoured this batch of cupcakes yesterday for our little Christmas party. I’ve never heard the word “amai” (which means “sweet”) used that many times in one sitting before. Every time they took a bite they’d say “amai” which I’m hoping meant sweet and delicious and not “Is my teacher trying to kill me with this rich chocolatey cupcake?” I used this recipe from Kim’s gorgeous foodie blog, but I added a slab of grated dark chocolate to make it taste just like the cake that Bogtrotter eats in the movie “Matilda” … “Bruce! Bruce! Bruce!” The recipe makes about 20 good size scrumptious cupcakes. The buttercream icing is from allrecipes.com but it is reaaallly sweet so beware!

Japan has taken Christmas to all sorts of commercial levels: they made it cute! I unfortunately couldn’t resist the cuteness and picked up these felt Christmas gift bags at Daiso (Japan’s number one 100yen store) probably while tapping my foot to some cheesy rendition of “Last Christmas”. I love that Christmas Eve is Kentucky Fried Chicken’s best night for business and that the supermarkets are selling fresh strawberries displayed with their own personal tubes of condensed milk (I’m yet to try that lethal combo). From what I’ve heard from my teenage students, Christmas here is not a big family affair, but a time to spend with your special someone. New Years on the other hand, is when Japan shuts down and everyone returns to their home towns for a few days of family time, traditional food and shrine visits. 

I’m looking forward to some friends and family time of my own, and although I loved the winter wonderland that Japan’s Nagano Prefecture presented last year, I’m definitely ready for some South African summer sunshine. Hope you enjoy the pictures! From me and my photoshopped nail polish, take care this festive season xoxo.

48 hours in Osaka

6 hours – travelling (bus it)

23 hours – partying (risky risky - where dancing is illegal)

1 hour – karaoke ing (one song each)

5 hours – eating (oh dear)

3 hours – sightseeing (Umeda Sky building observatory – magic!)

2 hours – shopping (Topshop you warm my heart)

8 hours – sleeping (the bare minimum)

Ooooosaka… we love you