A Meal to Remember

It is safe to say that I’m a pretty poor romantic. I’ve failed time and time again on occasions where it really counts (my proposal was so bad, we’re embarrassed to talk about it). It is thus no surprise that I have never really been able to take Keiko out for a fantastic meal. This Christmas I made it happen!

On a recommendation from @shinpuren, we made a reservation at Chef’s V, a restaurant on the 5th floor of Yokohama’s Landmark Tower. @shinpuren told us that the service was excellent, and that really is a deal-breaker for me. I frequently choose restaurants that look fancy but rarely do I come across one in which the staff actually make a memorable impression.

We were taken with a nice sounding course menu, but the next morning we received a call from the restaurant: on Christmas Day they would only be serving a ¥12,500 meal (£80). Keiko said that was okay and accepted the time and cost before telling me about it. Expensive or not, we were both a bit excited about what we would be eating.

It started with champagne with Christmas music in the background. Everyone’s reservation started from 18:20 and like one big party we were all served together. At around 18:30, just before the first course, the blinds opened to reveal Minato Mirai in all its light-up glory. It was a nice view and the invariably young couples on the side-by-side, snug window seats must have had a spectular time looking out.

The first course was foie gras flan. Foie gras, for those who aren’t aware, is the fatty liver of an extremely fat goose or duck. The flan, which I assume also contained cream and butter, had an extremely creamy, buttery taste and texture, but with a mild spicy after-taste. In small doses, on top of a bruschetta perhaps, I imagine I could have liked it; however, in this case, a single bruschetta was dipped into the flan making it more than a little like eating butter with a spoon.

Next up was the appetiser: creamed cauliflour, drenched in orange sauce, held up a bundle of crab meat topped with caviar, while at the back of the bowl sat a lobster-filled spring roll. The crab meat was delicious as was the crispy lobster spring roll, however, the orange sauce was difficult for me to stomach: its taste was overwhelming. Regrettably, because of this perhaps, I was unable to taste the caviar.

The third course was seafood: a very soft and palatable sea bream that melted in your mouth, in creamy risotto. This was outstandingly good. My only regret is that, like all the other courses, the serving was so small that I cleaned off my plate in only a few spoonfuls.

The final main course was meat, more specifically wa-gyu, Japanese beef. This was my first time to try the excessively expensive beef from famously pampered cows. It really didn’t disappoint. The marbled fat made it soft and creamy, completely unlike any other meat I had ever tried. On top were real slices of truffles. When we booked the meal, I had no idea that chocolate truffles were only named so because of their appearance. Having tasted the real thing, I can guarantee that real chocolate truffles would be disgusting. Truffles have a corky, woody taste that is impossible for me to like. This course, like the starters, was also slightly spoilt by the overpoweringly fruity sauce. Also, Keiko got double the amount of truffles I had (which I can let slide) and much more beef  (lots of which she slipped onto my plate, what a wife!).

Last up was the dessert which consisted of a fantastic cheesecake and a pistachio-flavoured truffito-style ice cream. It was a nice end to a really great meal. We had a thoroughly great time, and even if I didn’t like every course, it was an culinary experience for both of us.

The only downside, as I mentioned above, was the lack of balance in the food. The foie gras had the purest taste, I imagine, and the fish course was perfect, but the meat course and appetiser needed a little more work in my opinion. From my days watching Hell’s Kitchen, I am reminded of Gordon Ramsey berating chefs for using too much sauce to cover their poor food. I have no doubt that the food at Chef’s V was excellent, I just wish that the staff would have allowed that excellence to shine through a little more.

On a final note, the service was wonderful. From taking pictures of the guests (with extreme patience), to quick turnovers on bread, water and courses (although on the latter point, a little more time would have been welcome).

All in all, an excellent meal worth its price, and a start to a thoroughly good Christmas. Thanks Chef’s V, you can be sure we’ll drop by for a regular course sometime this year.

Y150@Minato Mirai, Yokohama

2009 marks the 150th year of Yokohama’s status as an open port. Ever since Commodore Perry of the United States Navy forced Japan to open her ports (despite prior decades of mostly forgotten trade with various foreign nations), Yokohama has considered itself the hub of cosmopolitanism in Japan. Unfortunately, that seems to have missed in the city’s 150th anniversary celebrations which notably lack English translations of any kind. It is cosmopolitanism in a narrow sense, acknowledging that foreign enclaves once existed and have since dispersed without really opening itself to foreign tourists, despite the fact that one would find English or even other languages in other more fleeting exhibitions.

Yet still, it was nice to look around. The main exhibitions are based in Minato Mirai, home of some famous red brick buildings which acted as the customs houses of the ports. Minato Mirai marks the convergence of past and as its name implies, future. It is also a pleasant urban landscape set against the quiet beauty of harbour waters.

Tickets to enter the three locations at Minato Mirai typically cost ¥2,400, but there are concessions available, and the most important of these is the night-time entry price: ¥1,200. At this lower price, I believe the price is worthwhile, but there isn’t really all that much for ¥2,400. At night it is cooler and the cityscape is at its best.

The first place we entered was home to four attractions. The first was a ENEOS stand full of company propaganda about how this oil company is helping the environment, it even had baseball star Ichiro to back up their presentation, but largely it was forgettable. Across the way was the much more important historical exhibition which showed Yokohama’s technological development following the arrival of Perry’s ‘Black Ships’, including the introduction of the steam train, gas lamps, western style suits, and food products. The entrance is flanked by period US Marine cut-outs and Edo-era samurai retainers, and this kind of cardboard presentation continues throughout. Below we see Perry and a retainer in negotiations about Japan’s closed ports.

Outside was the real highlight of this particular section: the food court… wait, I mean La Machine, a French art project involving a giant, robotic spider. The stuff of my nightmares.

Piloted by several technicians, la Machine moves with an awkward, tentative grace and really captures the animal it intends to, even if spiders aren’t (thankfully) blessed with the ability to spew out steam from their front and rear. The dance occurs several times a day, and is best seen from the terrace of the food court.

We moved onto the second area across the road. This section contains a movie theatre, although we didn’t really arrive at the right time to see it, and a big spherical balloon. The balloon is a projector screen, and the show played upon it addresses the lost of habitat and other environmental issues. The story, called ‘Home’, is quite brief (a few minutes long) and relatively abstract (lacking any narrative), but makes a succinct point.

We didn’t dwell too long in this section, mostly because there was nothing else there, and also because it was getting late, so we headed over to the final section, a Nissan-run celebration of ecological technology, or perhaps more particularly, a very large advertisement for a future electric car concept. We were hustled into a Super Hi-Vision cinema, skipping the immediate exhibits (which included space tech), and were presented with the crispiest moving images and best surround sound I’ve ever watched. Two videos were played, the first was called ‘Gift’ from Hawai’i, which was essentially a tech demo, demonstrating the system’s fidelity through a series of vignettes: hang-gliding, diving, and American football. So far, so very IMAX. Then came Nissan’s video which was a typically cheesy, romantic look at nature and kids at play. In terms of the latter part of the exhibit, which I will come to in a minute, the theatre section lacked any real point. It was out of place, and didn’t really set the scene for what was to come.

We were herded into the next room where we sat on tree trunk-like seats made of paper. In there, Nissan presented the future of electric cars: a cutesy little robot thing called Pibo. It was installed in the dashboard of a bubble-shaped car which had three seats, the driver being flanked by two passengers. The car’s wheels could turn at right angles with no turning circle, and the cockpit could turn to match it. A video attempted to show us how useful this could be for ambulances in Japan’s small cramped roads (although where you could put a patient is not mentioned), as well as parking. As an electric car, it could enter the home so that old people needn’t climb steps or fiddle with doors; although without a genkan of sorts, I don’t think many Japanese would take to it. It was propaganda of the highest order, a nice concept that stank of its corporate master’s branding.

In the final room, on a small piece of crepe paper we wrote what we could do today to help the environment, I wrote something about turning off the air-conditioners in my feeble Japanese, before we fed it into a suction tube that whisked it off into a giant bubble. Looking at what other people wrote was pretty fun, although clearly some were stuck for ideas. We then mingled around the impressive-looking installation, stomping on piezo-generators and so on, but again, there wasn’t really much to be done, so we piled out into the night air to reflect on the experience.

At their heart, the ideas presented in the Y150 locations were quite good, but really lacked in terms of cohesion and presentation. I couldn’t help but wonder why Yokohama hadn’t tried to internationalise it by making it more foreigner friendly. The latter part of the Nissan presentation and the historical side really could have done with some other languages or directions. Perhaps I missed the English language guide or something, but this could have been Yokohama’s World Expo, a celebration of its role as an international port and the origins of Japanese technological prowess. While I didn’t get a chance to see all the other parts of the Y150 (in Yamashita Park, for instance, or near Zoorasia), I was left wondering how the could justify the entry price when the beautiful urban landscape of Minato Mirai was available for free.

Christmas Celebrations

The Christmas period has been particularly busy. We have always tried to organise something with our friends and family, but this year was different: it was my first Christmas in another country. While that, in itself, was not particularly difficult, it meant that things would be slightly different. On Monday 22nd December, I went to Yokohama’s Minato Mirai (literally, ‘future harbour’) to see what Christmas illuminations there might have been. Turns out that there wasn’t much at all…

Lots of photos after the cut…

Winterval 2008/09

That special time of year is rushing up on us. Today I finished work with a sigh of relief: I have a holiday, much deserve, and long awaited. The holiday will upset my internet activity, I’m not certain quite how well connected Keiko’s parents are to the tubes that make up the internet, but I know it won’t be like it typically is for me (24/7).

Here is what I expect to be doing, much of which will, I hope, be placed here on the blog as soon as physically possible:

Sunday

For those of you who know them, ****** and ****** are in Japan and we’ll be meeting them tomorrow in Machida. I am left with one question, besides wondering what’s for dinner:  who the hell is running the *** ****** ****** ? Without ****** , the place is surely on fire, or manned by monkeys, or something equally apocalyptic.

Monday

Yokohama is lit up like a Christmas tree at this time of year (Tokyo too, but I am a man of limited time and energy), so I will head down there with Chikara, and fellow teachers Neil and Louisa. We will check out Motomachi (whose illuminations I’ve seen on TV thus far), Yamashita Park (for a nighttime view of Bay Bridge), and then hit up Minato Mirai for Landmark Tower’s monster Christmas tree.

Tuesday

The Emperor’s birthday will be an adopted Christmas as we host Chikara and Sawa, Neil, Nori and his wife for the best damn Christmas dinner you can make without an oven and on a day other than Christmas Day. I hope to watch the Emperor’s speech as a stand-in for the Queen, both of whose speeches I find slow and achingly dull.

Wednesday

I will head over to the Hashimoto Clan’s headquarters (a.k.a. Mokoto’s house) to gatecrash their Christmas party.

Thursday

I will fly to Hokkaido. When I arrive I will meet my in-laws, have an all-you-can-eat yakiniku buffet, and then call family (maybe early-late afternoon on Christmas Day in the UK).

Friday

Shopping in Rura Penthe, I mean… erm… Engaru. At some point in the next few days I will be visiting a snowy prison and a troop of marching penguins, if I’m lucky.

Tuesday 30th December

Keiko will flight over and join us in Ikutahara.

Wednesday 31st December 2008/Thursday 1st January 2009

A traditional New Years topped off with sunrise on an icy mountain of death… did I mention there would be alcohol too? Sounds fun!

Friday 2nd January 2009

We’ll go to Keiko’s school reunion.

Sunday 4th January 2009

We fly back to Kanto.

Monday 5th January 2009

Keiko returns to work.

Friday 9th January 2009

I return to work.

General Notes:

Besides my busy Christmas schedule, I will be knuckling down on my Japanese. I have already picked up the pace, I just need to maintain it. This Winterval will be particularly difficult for me, living with Keiko’s parents without an interpreter will surely test me, but it is sink or swim.

Yokohama – Nagoya’s Cleaner Brother

I already visited Yokohama’s Chinatown last month, but since Andy was here, and with lingering hangovers, we headed down to Yokohama: him with a gammy leg, me with a lingering cold. When we met Chikara, with a sore knee, the three stooges were ready to roll.

We traveled on the Seabass, a seaborne bus that gave us lovely views of Yokohama’s Bay Bridge and Landmark Tower.

At first I was going to title this post `Yokohama – Tokyo’s Cleaner Brother’, but the two aren’t really comparable. In terms of size, Tokyo is so big that its difficult to draw the line between two bayside cities (not to mention Kawasaki in the middle). Yokohama, for me, is reminiscent of Nagoya (Japan’s Third City): its small, well-connected, and shows the signs of city-zoning. The major difference is that Yokohama is pretty damn clean.

We got off at Minatomirai, home to the relatively famous Ferris wheel and Landmark Tower. It nice, reminded me of a New Town or Urban Redevelopment Area (think the London Docklands). Clearly a lot of money has been plowed into the area which is littered with hotels, conference centres and indoor shopping centres (which I miss, a bit, about a home).

Like much of Japan’s extravagant building projects, and with the time that we were visiting, these large halls and open-spaces were notably empty. I have seen this time and again, most particularly with underground stations where there can be immense and lavish tunnels with no-one in them… perhaps something we would expect from Saddam-era Iraq or Kim’s North Korea.

Pork barrel heaven or not, there was plenty of decent places to photograph Yokohama’s landmarks, even if the Landmark Tower, looming above us, was hidden until we emerged underneath it.

What I didn’t expect, however, was the price to enter the tower. At over 1000 Yen (5 pounds), we decided to give it a miss. Chikara’s brother works in the tower, so the next time Andy comes, we’ll call him up for a discount lunch in his fancy restaurant! So, instead, we walked through the shopping centre at its foundations and then left for the train station.

Inside the shopping centre was this guy… he looked pretty cold and nervous, and his skin was a bit waxy too. It was nice installation art and created a pretty cool talking piece for locals and tourists alike.

With Landmark Tower towering overhead, I stopped to take a photo of as many Yokohama skyline features as possible:

Sure, I could have done better if I could walk on water, but are you going to deride my lack of godliness? Oh, and I took another snap that says so much… about me:

In my defence, being a pedestrian in a big city is hardly an adventure. Every 50-100 metres you end up standing at set of traffic lights. This particular set clearly had a Duracell-powered green light as us pedestrians were made to wait for 5 minutes.

Oh, that ship in the foreground two photos up is the Nippon Maru, a sail training ship (now relegated to being a tourist trap). It sits outside the Yokohama Maritime Museum. Unfortunately, however, when we arrived they had just finished for the day… still, I’d like to see it again sometime.

We soon caught up with Keiko and made our way over to Ishikawa-cho to meet Sawa for drinks and wa-shoku (Japanese-style cuisine) at an izakaya that Chikara likes. It was nice, we sat, drank, talked and (I) took photos with Andy’s SLR (I want one so bad).

I was still ill, however, and by the time we left for home, I was feeling pretty rotten. The next day, after work, we met up with Andy in Shinjuku for some more drink and dinner (Andy managed to get lost in Shinjuku’s side-streets while hunting for a place to smoke). That was a pretty cool, and relatively cheap izakaya, although the name escapes me (Black Dragon, or something like that, in English). With all the smoke inside, however, my tickly cough was becoming painful and annoying.

Sadly, it was then time to say goodbye to Andy. I enjoyed having Andy over. We had drinks in bars I wanted to visit, and we got to do touristy things and chat. I’m not likely to become truly homesick any time soon, but the one thing I miss is my social circle. Sure, it slowly migrating over here, but I miss seeing Andy often, having Leo stay over, exchanging har-de-harrs with Gerard and Kasia, catching up with Nori and Chikara (although Chikara is now here). The problem is, and I don’t know how much this holds for the 9-5s that most people have back home, when I finish work between 8-9 (mostly over an hour away from home) 5-6 times a week, I have no time to catch up with people. I don’t know any people locally, and that means that there is no-one to come out for late-night drinks. Worse still, and this past week has proven it, going out when I have split or one-day weekends means that I am simply not recovering.

The week before Andy arrived, I had training and cover, so my 3-day week became a six-day week. Then I saw Andy at every opportunity: after all, how often can I catch up with my right-hand man now we’re at opposite ends of the world. That was nice, but utterly shattering when combined with the cold I developed the day he arrived. I took Tuesday off to get better, but actually, on Wednesday I felt worse. After saying goodbye to Andy, I couldn’t sleep for the coughing and I took Saturday off to recuperate (which did the trick – after a long rest on Saturday, I felt better than I had done at any point in the previous week). I’m still coughing and clogged up now, and I still feel absolutely drained, but I was glad to be able to spend my time with Andy… I just wish he’d move out here. I don’t like being Billy No-mates!