Back to the Origin!

It was about time! One month and few days without Italian food and finally i let it go. Above the goodies I bought with the sum of 3,000 Yen (35 Swiss Francs). 750 gr of pasta (3x250gr), 7dl of Extra virgin olive oil, one vase of "Pesto" and some pickles for Pasta salad.

I discussed with some people back in europe about the cost of living a few days ago. Here, compared to europe, local food is still cheaper...at least compared to switzerland. Of course Import goods like the above ones or import clothes, are very expensive. Is the same with asian food in switzerland.

Anyway, here a shot of the first italian dish :)

The taste was ok, but the pasta taste was strange. I don't know if it is the pasta type or the water i cooked the pasta in.

In japan, tab water has a strange taste. I think it is because of some substance in the water to kill germs or so. The taste is some kind of Chlorine, the one used in swimming pools. I'm not sure is the water, because i didn't feel it that strong when cooking rice (For rice, since the water is 100% absorbed by the rice, i normally used bottled water, but once, i've run out of water, so i used the tab water).

Anyway, i cooked and eaten 250gr of raw pasta in one shot...so i guess for a while... it should do ;)

Green Tea Farm !

I've always wondered, were Green Tea grows and how it looks like. I've tried Green Tea for the first time in 1996 in Germany. Some people like it, others don't, but still, it was interesting to find out...

Green tea grows as plants, like the one above. Light Green leaves, means this year leaves. Old leaves are kind of dark green. The ones needed for the tea, are the most young ones. The leaves to be picked for Tea are the biggest ones...and i've soon discovered that you can pick small leaves, in group of three, to make green tea tempura. Green Tea tempura means that you actually put the leaves in the tempura cream and then deep fry them. We do something similar in europe with Pumpking flowers, just to give you a rough idea....

Lucky enough, after training, i became an expert (or almost)...and I was ready for the analysis of the leaves and their picking...

It took about 40 minutes or so to pick a basket full...

a basket like this, after drying, yields about half fist of dried tea. So, after picking, the longer process is to treat the leaves. First you need to take a big bunch of leaves and just...smash them in your hand. You actually try to squeeze them into a ball and roll them for a while, so that all the leaves becomes small balls. While doing so, you let some fall on a hot plate...

The procedure of rolling and drying has to be repeated multiple times and it will take about one hour of manual work before the leaves are completely dry.

Once done, the leaves, should look like the ones below...

When they get this look, they are ready for storage...or .... tea! Tea made from just-dried leaves have a nicer taste, kind of sweet compared with other green tea you normally buy.

I'm not a big fan of Tea, I usually like more to have coffee, but, next time i will take a sip of green tea, at least, i know how it's made and i might appreciate it a little more :)...

Akashi-Kaikyō Bridge 1.9 KM

On the way to the strawberry picking place, I crossed the world's longest suspended bridge. it's lenght is 1991 meters and connects the city of Kobe on the Mainland of Japan with the Island of Awaji. It is really an impressive bridge. I took the picture above myself and stiched it togheter, but a better view is give by the aerial picture below...

During the earthquake of Kobe in 1995 the lenght of the bridge had to be adjusted of 1 meter because the two towers moved.

To note is that this bridge had been constructed to support 150-kilometer-distant, 8.5-Richter-magnitude earthquakes. The one in kobe in 1995 was of 7.2 magnitude at 16 km that's the reason it caused so much damage (usually earthquakes are over 60 km in depth). (But i will tell you more on earthquakes on another post, to tell you about my visit at the earthquake musem of some time ago...)

The road has 6 lanes, and the toll cost to cross the bridge is about 2300 yen (27 Swiss Francs). It was opened in 1998 after 10 years (!!) of construction work... nice job! ;)

Strawberry Day!

Last week, during the Japanese Golden Week, i went strawberry Picking in Awaji, which is an island off Osaka.

The japanese language, doesn't have a word for "Darling" or "Dear" but, believe it or not, they have a very specific word for "Strawberry Picking" that you might find in the dictionary.

The Japanese word is "苺狩り" (いちごがり) pronounced "ichigo-gari". The interesting thing, is that the dictionary definition says "an outing to a strawberry farm - to pick strawberries". So, it's not just a word, but a well known activity ;).

Breaking down the word for ichigo-gari we get "苺" (ichigo) which means "strawberry", and we get "狩り" (gari) which means... "Hunt". Wow that sure was funny... Ichigo Hunting...

But, as soon as i got there, there we go, the strawberry plants!

You cannot see it in the picture, but about half way there is a rope with a sign saying "Don't trespass this Rope". It means, you can pick only on this side and not the nice red and juicy strawberries on the other side. Well, after about 30 minutes, they removed the rope and moved it a little farther. I think they want to control areas where strawberries are picked.

But, if adults could not cross the rope, someone could. I got really serious competition out there, and believe me, really hungry as well... so, let's the strawberry hunt begin!

After 15 minutes, i got my first basket full of strawberries. After a while, i finished them all. The rule is simple: you pay 1,500 yen (18 swiss francs) and can pick as many as you can eat. You are not allowed to take them home, but it's an "All you can heat strawberry" entrance...

I managed to eat about 1 basket and half. I think should have been about 1.5 kg strawberries... in about 1 hour and half... they were really good and sweet :p... only downside of this adventure... i spent the next two days with some digestive problems. I think maybe was the water i washed them with...or just...too many strawberries in one time ...but anyhow...i survived it ;) and it was really worth it!

...and...I even made a little new friend :)

(Lunch) Vending Machines...

Here it is. The meal in box. From this machine you can buy Hot Dogs, French Fries, Fish Nuggets, Rice balls and other food. I didn't try it and there was no people queuing in front of it. I didn't even see anyone looking at it while i was staring at it... so i'm not sure how much succesfull is... but...

... Next to it, there was the Ice Cream vending machine (below)...and...apparently, looked more appetizing to the customer choosing the ice cream ;)

Fatty Dogs...

I didn't see a lot of dogs in Japan, and no, they don't eat them in Japan. The reason i think is that apartments are quite small, and people is very busy.

I came across dog's owners a few times in the past month, and i really don't know what's wrong with those dogs. They really look fat. Besides that, the breeds I have seen are various, but there is one breed (see photo) that seems to be the most common. It looks like Collies Breed but... with no legs. Well, they actually have legs, but soo small and in any case almost disappear under their belly.

I'm not sure why of it, but maybe, dogs with smaller legs don't run too much... and don't need to be taken out for long walks... but, looking at them, i think a little more exercises would do some good ;)...

White Ninjias...

Here above you can see what i call a "White Ninjia". It is common to wear face masks when going around the city. The reason Europeans would think is "They don't want to get sick" actually, in japan, is the opposite: Who is Sick, wears the Mask. The reason is so that when getting to the office, if you are sick, you don't make everybody catch your flu.

I really wish there was something like this in Switzerland too!! Many, but Maaany times i caught the cold from colleagues just sneezing around. This is partly ma fault, as i basically catch it quite easily :'(... where are my antibodies?...who knows... holiday perhaps? No idea...

Some of you might know that i have quite an allergy during spring time. Most people enjoy flowers... but i don't. I spend spring time usually inside and going for a walk is out of discussion if i don't want to come home with swollen eyes and red nose. Medicines helps a little but when is too much... they can't help anymore.

So, i said to myself: Even it looks kind of awkward to wear a mask, here everybody is doing it! Let's try it out ;)

So, during my trip to nara, in the woods, i did wear a mask. Guess what?... nobody cared, i actually looked kind of funny... but my nose was really happy ...you can't tell from the pic, but it really was ;)