This Is Not 1937 :: 'How Do You Live?'

Of course I would stop by bookstores for a browse. They're such happy places. I'm thrilled by the range of books in a language that our local bookstores don't fully carry, and I don't have to put in a request to Kinokuniya Singapore to bring them in. Non-English hard copy books is the one luxury I'd allow, instead of buying them as e-books. When I made time to stop by Maruzen, Kinokuniya and Books Toranomon for a browse.

Picked up a book on the shelf proclaiming 'bestsellers'. Yoshino Genzaburo's (1899-1991) 'How Do You Live?' (published in 1937); 吉野 源三郎 の小説『君たちはどう生きるか』. It's part of a series of 16 books, and this last one in the series was written for junior high school children, with the aim of developing their social awareness. The series is co-wrriten and co-edited by Yuzo Yamamoto (山本 有三), except this last one, because he died. I'd have very likely read the children's version years ago, but I have no recollection of its storyline or understood the full meaning of the book.

This book and its ilk was suppressed during its era for its socialist and liberal angles, and criticism of Imperial Japan and her military government. The 1930s were a period of growing nationalism in Japan. (We know what that led to in 1940s.) It's supposed to contain alternative concepts and constructs, providing a different narrative from the nationalistic slant of textbooks in that generation. Apparently Studio Ghibli has picked up this book to be made into a film for a release in two to three years. No wonder there's a resurgence of interest in this book.

Protagonist 15-year-old Junichi Honda (本田 潤一) is bright, smart and popular. His nickname 'Copel' is inspired by Renaissance astronomer Nicholas Copernicus. His bank executive father died, his mother works as a maid, and he moved in with his Uncle who just graduated from law school. His school is attended by the offspring of wealthy and powerful families, and school conversation and subjects taught often involved summer resorts, ski runs, Ginza and its fancy malls and lifestyles. Copel also has three close friends- Mizutani, Urakawa, and Kitami. Predictably, these three boys also hail from different familiy backgrounds- the business wealthy, a struggling and impoverished large family, and the military elite. The story develops through little notes written to Copel by his Uncle, and the letters between the young boys. And hence, the angst of growing up, finding one's place in society. 'How do we live' becomes more of a 'how do we want to live', against the backdrop of societal pressures.

I understand that there're a few editions of this book, each given a different focus by its publisher- Iwanami Shoten published it as an adult book in 1982, Shinchosha and Poplar published it respectively in 1956 and 1967 as a children's book. The edition I bought is intended to be a standalone new edition published in 2017 by Magazine House. I should have bought the manga version illustrated by Shoichi Haga (羽賀翔一)! Way fewer words, more illustrations. Hahaha.

1937 marked the Marco Polo Bridge Incident in Beiping (now Beijing) leading to the Second Sino-Japanese War, and the start of that ridiculous notion of the Greater Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere. It was also the period when the Peace Preservation Law of 1894 morphed into the strict Public Security Preservation Law of 1925. This is an easy book to go through (never mind that I didn't fully comprehend some of the poetic aspects of the language), but its themes and notions are mind-boggling, although it was written in 1930s and I'm reading this with hindsight and new eyes, and in a new social context in 2018, and without the uhhh shackles of Japanese traditions. When I finished it, I wasn't really sure that it was meant to be a children's book. Or rather, if this was/is what children read, then they are really more politically aware and socially conscious than the children I know in my social circles.

A Bit of Quiet Time

Stepped into St. Ignatius Church for a peek, and sat down for a little quietude. There were only three people in the pews. Thank goodness I was in Doc Marts and those boots were silent. I could take a couple of photos and walk around without making much noise. I wouldn't be able to do this before a scheduled mass with full attendance.

The church shares premises with Sophia University, which is a short walk away from Yotsuya station. It's spring and its gardens are lovely to walk through and it's cool enough to linger. I don't care for flowers, but I love the trees. It's almost as though flowers babble and don't make much sense. But trees are wiser, and whisper secrets of life, except humans will never understand them.

Of course I missed Sunday mass, but I managed to make it to the week day mass. It's literally a stone's throw away from the hotel. I couldn't ignore it. It's like......a sign. Time for prayers and reflection is always time well spent. (Following the practice of Scripture, Observation, Application and Prayer.) The only problem- mass at this hour was conducted in Japanese and I obviously wouldn't understand all of it. Oh never mind. There're English copies handed out, and I have the Bible on the phone. Very glad I made time for this sojourn.

The main hall.

焼き肉の青山まんぷく

Off we went for yakiniku (焼き肉) at Manpuku Aoyama (青山まんぷく) at Omotesando Hills. Many of us are fond of Manpuku at this particular location. This restaurant has number of outlets in Tokyo and west coast USA as well. The style of yakiniku is influenced by Korea and popularized in post-war Japan, so Korean dishes feature on most menus. This offers beef. I think there might be a token chicken dish somewhere, but I didn't notice it. I'll take beef any day over chicken. If you don't eat beef, don't bother coming here.

The good thing about having yakiniku at this restaurant is, they have sorted out the ventilation so that guests don't leave stinking of smoke and beef. The hair and jackets smelt okay. The servers change the grill often and it's such a pleasure grilling our food slowly, one piece at a time. Had loads of good sake. Chose those that aren't available in Singapore. The only issue is, the restaurants serve sake by the little cute carafe. Each 1400円-carafe holds about 150ml-180ml, which is easily drunk. We end up ordering at least three carafes each time. And that's for two persons. I have a rather large capacity for sake. 🍶🙃

Ordered sufficient vegetables to keep my stomach happy. At Manpuku Aoyama, the menu listed items in both English and Japanese. But I was confused by 'namul'. Wondered what 'namul' is, and finally googled for it. Haha. Spotted salted beef tongue and premium thick cut beef tongue. タン塩! Had to order those, just to taste it and tell the man about it! Heh. We had a table of four and they happily went to town with tons of meat. While these cuts were really tasty, I wasn't as interested in quaffing all beef; am also not interested in cuts of wagyu. I'll do yakiniku one time if I'm in Japan, and that's it. I tend to avoid yakiniku and Korean BBQ places in Singapore. I don't eat enough to justify my share in the final bill. I'll merrily foot the bill for sake, but I grimace at paying S$200 for beef that I don't particularly fancy, and I'd only have eaten less than S$50 of it. In this case, I was clear that I was paying for the experience, in good company, and because I'm in Tokyo.

The point of having dinner at this Manpuku in Aoyama-dori is also, after dinner, we simply crossed the road to have cocktails at the famed Radio Bar, and enjoyed the creations of its bartender Koji Ozaki who has been doing this for over four decades. Try not to get drunk at dinner and then talk too loud at the bar. You might be thrown out. Koji Ozaki is stickler about ambience and vibes. I love this bar because it's QUIET, and its おつまみ is exquisite; totally worth the cover charges. Radio's gimlet and a simple gin and tonic are out of this world.

Walking into Radio.

郵送する :: 郵便はがき

The word 'postcard' in some segments of spoken Japanese always make me grin. The hiragana and katakana literally take the English pronunciation and kinda slang-ed it- ポストカード. Perhaps it isn't a fair statement, but if you can read the characters, it is so. And that will also be GoogleTranslate's crap option. Use '郵便はがき', 'yubin hagaki'. 'はがき' is a much more accurate usage.

I find joy in scribbling little postcards and hunting down post offices to mail them out. The hotel concierge could do it for me, but it's more fun doing it on my own. Quite a thrill strolling into a post office to run errands. Hehehe. There seem to be many post offices in Tokyo that pop up even though I'm not looking out for them.

If trips coincide with the Christmas and New Year season, then greeting cards are mailed out from wherever (It has been from Seattle for the past few years). This isn't Christmas, so I didn't bother getting a whole stack of cards. Found cute postcards as souvenirs and decided to mail them out. Yeah, this is a short trip, but I just have the habit of randomly writing to the few people I always write to. :P 

Spied a convenient post office at Nakameguro that doesn't seem to hold too long queues. Returned to it a few days later to mail out ten postcards. I'm missing a few birthday celebrations these two weekends. Thought a little postcard would be fun. I don't know if all the postcards will get to the recipients; some have reached their mailboxes. We've had mail from Tokyo lost in transit and never found. Since those weren’t tagged with a tracking number, we have no idea if Japan Post lost it or it's SingPost again. Fingers crossed for these postcards! 🤞🏻

カジュアル晩ご飯うどんとシーフード

The easiest thing to cook at home is udon (うどん). That's my happy version of instant noodles. I love the simplest version- kake-udon. Tonight we piled into the car and headed out of town to enjoy the sea breeze, and an easy dinner at Kisarazu-An (房総海鮮処 木更津庵). I ordered cold bukkake-udon (ぶっかけうどん), which came with a small bowl of negitoro-don. See that onsen egg? That was totally why I had to have that, and asked for an extra egg on the side. Bukkake-udon (ぶっかけうどん). It simply means udon as a carb base sitting in in soy, mirin and dashi, and you throw whatever you like onto it as toppings.

There're many Japanese words that Singaporeans can't utter without grinning. Bukkake-udon is probably one of them. LOL. Although I hope with age, we should all know that the root word of 'bukkake' is usually referring to the act of 'rudely splashing a liquid on someone' (打っ掛け, which explains its popularity in the adult film lingo), and it comes from 'bukkakeru' (ぶっ掛ける). A genteel usage of 'to pour' is 'kakeru' (掛ける). So please just pronounce bukkake-udon smoothly okay?

Well, if I'm thinking in the language and speaking it, then it isn't very funny to me. :P At least I don't stutter or stumble over it on this trip. But there is one dish I simply cannot pronounce without cracking up somewhat- 'カニなべ物'. Very juvenile I know. The only way I won't giggle is if there aren't any Singaporeans or Malaysians at the table. Sometimes, I'd rather just ask for 'シーフードなべ物' or 'kaisen nabe'.

My stomach was very relieved and pleased with dinner tonight. No chance of indigestion striking on this trip. This restaurant is far from the city, and nearer to Chiba, located in the giant Umihotaru complex. It's spacious and not crowded; there is no pressure to zip off after the last bite because of a long line waiting outside for our table. We lingered over dinner, savored every strand of udon, and as always, had good conversation.

WiFi On The Go

The hotel provided an Android device for our use. It’s data-enabled, but it doesn’t allow porting out to other devices. That's at least useful for maps and navigating around Tokyo, making local calls and and all. But there's no way I'm signing in to my usual apps on it although it says that 'Your data is SAFE'. Riiiight. I couldn't be bothered to take it out. It's not heavy, but with so many gadgets weighing down my bag, I really don't need this.

We didn't bother to ask for a pocket wifi thing from the office, so the BFF took out this Android phone from the hotel for her use. She has a thousand things to do on it. She's responsible for some of our jaunts around town. Tokyo is not unfamiliar to us, and we're comfortable with the language; but we don't live here, and will need help with some of the little alleys, bus routes and such.

I'm carrying around the pocket wifi device rented from Changi Recommends. It works great, and allows up to eight devices to latch onto it. Of course the more devices latched, the faster the battery drains. It isn't too heavy and when we have just two devices, it lasts for a good eight hours with fairly extensive usage. Reserving and collecting the device were a breeze; payment is only collected when I get back to Singapore and return the device; rental date is extendable. Importantly, it's stable and fast without data limits or throttled speeds (for some countries; check before you rent one), and is steady even when I travel out to the countryside, along the Tama River, across Tokyo Bay and up the hills.

素晴らしいお蕎麦と天重でしたの六本木Honmura An!

I'm a soba, somen and udon person wayyy more than ramen. The BFF and I sneaked off to Honmura An in Roppongi for wonderfully hand-pulled 100% buckwheat noodles. If you're wondering whether this restaurant is worth the hype, the answer is YES. It was a delightful dinner over loads and loads of sake.

The current incarnation of Honmura An literally came full circle from New York City to Tokyo. Owner Koichi Kobari probably wrestled long and hard before ditching his Soho restaurant in 2007 to take over the reins of his late father's soba restaurant in Roppongi. Chef Koichi Kobari has done a spectacular job with the food here. He retained all traditional flavors. I wouldn't know the technology he employs in the kitchen. But the end result is a gorgeous menu of wonderful non-pretentious food. The menu here is seasonal, and surprisingly, printed in both English and Japanese.

Ordered appetizers that we’ve sorely missed and can't quite find good versions outside of Japan- Tsukune yamaimo (山掛け or otherwise known as 'tororo'), and Nikko nama yuba (beancurd sheets, 生ゆば). Such light froth and depth. Mmmm. Had a few pieces of red snapper sashimi and Kamo smoked duck breast. The 花冷え酒 went so well with the flavors that by the end of the meal, we had polished off three little bottles. Heheh.

There're tiny chicken meatballs as an appetizer too. They also offer a hot udon with dipping sauce and a stir-fried version with prawn tempura and chicken. I spied oyako donburi (親子丼ぶり), tenju (天重) and ko tendon (小天丼). Although I'm sure the restaurant would do rice dishes well too, don't bother with the ordering anything else as your main carbohydrates. The highlight here is the soba. Please eat soba.

The BFF went mad and ordered uni soba, with extra uni. I went for a simple zaru soba (ざるそば). I prefer have my soba cold. I wanted to taste the full flavors of it without anything much. It was indeed delicious, and later on, cups of dashi and soba yu were served to finish off the meal. Ahhhh good soba, I've missed you. Our dessert came complimentary- apricot mochi and tiny bites of sour-sweet pineapples.

Cats, Cats, Cats!

Managed to find a pocket of time to view a photo exhibition of cats titled 'ねこ専' ('Neko-sen'. It translates into uhhh 'cat fetish'. hmmm. Obsession?) It's put together by photographer Kenta Igarashi. He collated the works of eleven photographers and put them on the wall for us admire. Apparently he does this annually at many locations.  The photographers themselves also try to make it some days of the exhibition.

Each photographer has his preferred shooting angles of cats. There're varied themes running through, and it's most interesting to see how each photographer portray these cats. There were so many fun prints. If I can't keep a cat at home, then at least I could have a print of a cute one to look at.  I'd love to buy the big-sized ones, but I couldn't decide. Glad that some of them came in the size of postcards. At least I could buy a few postcards. Otherwise, I'd have to ask to somehow purchase prints online and have them delivered to Singapore.

I enjoyed Masayuki Oki's (沖 昌之) take on the seriously cute expressions and poses of street cats in the city. He affectionately calls them 'ugly cats'. (IG: @okirakuoki) He captures them in all sorts of unglamorous positions, and I love how he either observed or waited for the cats to stretch and all, and seize the opportunity to take the shot. Or it could be pure luck- randomly shoot and go, and get a great shot.

One of my favorites is of a black cat chilling out on the ledge against the backdrop of the Aegean Sea in Santorini. It's part of a series taken by photographer Asuha (明日葉; twitter and IG: @siesta_asuha). The series is titled『エーゲ海のねこ　シエスタの町から』, which roughly translates into 'cats of the Aegean Sea, at siesta'. He really captured loads of cats lounging around; there're many hues of blue and white in the series.

Found a few photos that I'd like to have as postcards. Not to send to people. Oof. Just for myself as a souvenir. The photographers happily signed my postcards for me. SO NICE LAH. I wasn't expecting them to do it when they're just postcards and don't cost a lot. I didn't even buy like a stack or a booklet. I bought only 10 postcards, but Masayuki and Asuha were really sweet to bother to sit down and even asked me where I'd like their signatures to be placed.

A Truckload of Sugar

I wanted to make a collage of all the ice-cream and dessert the BFF has been quaffing. The BFF has a very sweet tooth, which is quite scary if you witness it in action. She announced that she would be eating one a day. Then after four days, I gave up. The numbers pile up too fast and furious that a collage would just make me dizzy. Yes, I'm judging her.

We don't have time to seek out the artisanal ice-cream and gelato shops, or wagashi houses. She's been hopping into the convenience stores and supermarkets, and wherever else I don't know of. (We're not sticking to each other 24/7.) The BFF has inhaled (and is still inhaling) so many cones and cups of ice-cream and whatnot! Lindt, Dassai (using sake lees and sorbet), et cetera. It doesn’t help that Lawsons are everywhere, and right downstairs our office, there’re gourmet delis dishing out sweets. (Luckily our hotel area holds no such shops. Ha!) She claims that they're all seasonal flavors that Singapore doesn't have, and when the tiny cups and sandwiches by Häagen-Daz cost only 200-300円, she's gonna eat them all. 🙄

Well, spring is mochi season afterall. I’ve eaten only ONE MOCHI. Perhaps I’ll eat another; two sounds okay. The BFF likes the traditional sweets too. She's not that into wagashi (和菓子) that are like the dango, red bean jelly, castella sponge, or the crumbly wasanbon sugar stuff, but she ate SO MUCH mochi and daifuku. What the. And I enabled her by buying her boxes of dorayaki and daifuku. These aren't the exciting new flavors, and don't require too many photos even though there're repeats. HAHAHAH.

Happy Birthday, BFF. We're celebrating for a month. Have a sweet 40th year marked by loads of good dessert, punishing circuit runs and great spin classes.

幸せな朝です

Mornings are splendid when they're filled with coffee and light bites. That morning was supposed to be cloudy and not filled with bright sunshine. Dawn broke quietly, misty and ethereal. We sat on the patio to admire the view, take in the sounds of nature, and enjoy the respite from noise and light pollution. Heading back into the hectic rush of the city is going to be painful.

This morning was perfect with home-brewed black coffee, and a simple breakfast of cheese (a really tasty Hokkaido camembert) and crackers, milk, yoghurt and fruits. Okaasan trotted out a little plate- she had sliced up little pieces of toast and spread walnut and apple butter on them. I didn't even need eggs, but still asked for one anyway. An egg is as fresh as it gets out here in the countryside. This was a very happy meal.

It's been such a heartwarming sojourn to have long-term friends gather. It's been two decades (and counting) of friendship from those crazy days in Australia, US, then Japan. I hope it doesn't take another four years till the next gathering IRL.

ご親切しんせつに、ありがとうございました, K と M!

いちごの季節 :: イチゴを摘む!

Why buy strawberries when there's a farm next door for us to pick them and eat all that we want? Strolled over to stuff our faces full of juicy red strawberries. We had a box partitioned into two, for stems and the other filled with condensed milk if we want to dip the fruit in. The strawberries are sooooo sweet. I didn't need the extra sweetened condensed milk.

The problem with the milk was- the resident cat liked it. I didn't think he was supposed to have it, and neither were we supposed to feed him. BUT, he was too fast for me. I simply knelt to say hello and he leapt up to my knees and finished that milk in a matter of seconds. He was most inelegant, and was fairly rude. He licked up all the milk and left sandy paw prints on my jeans. Grrrrrrr.

We probably ate about 30 strawberries each. 🍓🍓🍓 That's a lot of sugar! Wooooohoooo. Well, eating the fruit is much better than quaffing three to five strawberry shortcakes... 🍰 Well, kinda. When we're back in the city, we'd have to buy strawberries and cherry tomatoes to put them into the fridge in the hotel room. Those are snacks, or as breakfast to go with the yoghurt or milk.

THEN.

We were invited to the other section to admire the white strawberries. We were allowed to EAT THEM. Wooohooo. Not all of it though. The staff had plucked those while we were running amok through the red patches. There was a little basket of white strawberries filled up for us. These white strawberries are quite beautiful, but a little too sweet for me. I stopped at two pieces.

There're a few varieties with erm poetic names. Giggled at this one, 『白いちご 初恋の香り』, which roughly means 'the fragrance of first love'. OH COME ON. It's just a strawberry that scientists developed by restricting the reddening protein, making it a white strawberry, tested and pushed out to the consumers in 2009! Innovative, for sure. These white strawberries contain way higher sugar content than its red cousins, and they cost about ¥700 - ¥1000 a piece. I understand white strawberries cost about S$45-S$52 for a box of five at Meidi-ya and Isetan in Singapore, and they aren't even of good quality. Japan and her crazy prices of perfect fruit.

千葉県の焼肉

The friends hosted us to an awesome weekend at their spacious and scenic home in Chiba. It was very lovely of those who took the trouble to drive up (or take the train) when they don't even live in Tokyo anymore. An eight-hour journey to-and-fro total is such an effort. It was great catching up with old friends and meeting new ones.

Everyone brought loads of ingredients to grill. It was to be a rainy and windy weekend, but the rain came later, and there was a bit of sun which held for our looong lunch. At 16°C, it was perfect for a cookout. Light beer and a bottle of red went easy with the meal.

The food wasn't that scary in terms of portions. Nothing gigantic, whewwww. Beef, lamb, chicken wings, vegetables and seafood. There was uhhhh horse sashimi too. The food didn't need much seasoning beyond pepper, salt and butter. There were additional dips of shoyu and wasabi. I took a few slices of beef, and I got to eat all the lovely crunchy and superbly fresh vegetables and clams. Homemade onigiri provided the carbs needed for very-hungry people.

There was a trampoline, but I decided against it, wisely. I was quite stuffed. All the stomach contents would not hold up to jumping. The dog and the kids had more energy and did way better on it with their somersaults and splits.

源や :: 海鮮炭焼処

None of us bothered to do any sort of googling before this. It was more of a, 'It's lunch time and I want to get out of the office asap. I'm really hungry. Let's just walk and see what's to eat nearby.' Randomly walked into a little alley off Yotsuya station and into 源や (pronounced as 'Gen-Ya') for a casual lunch of seafood sumiyaki (海鮮炭焼処). It's obviously the local lunch spot for the offices.

Grinned when we sat down. We were likely the only table of tourists. No English menu! Hahahaha. Well, that's not an issue when it's just lunch sets. There were plenty of familiar stuff to choose from. Took a peek around at what the others ordered. Everything looked great. Nothing mind-blowing, but super decent and comforting. The sets ranged from ¥870 to about ¥1200 that day.

The others opted for tempura and sashimi. The kitchen offered ayu (smelt) too, which is a little early in the season. As much as I like it, I gave it a miss since I didn't feel like dealing with the tiny bones. This side of the table had grilled saba, and nimono of tuna chunks on bones and daikon. The red miso soup with tiny little clams was delicious. Went perfectly with my beautiful bowl of rice. It was only much later then I thought that I should have ordered an egg to go along with the meal. Oof.

源や「海鮮炭焼処」
東京都 新宿区 四谷 1-7新道通り
ホテルニューショーヘイ1F
T: 050-5595-0874 (+81-50-5595-0874)

Gen-Ya (源や) is on the ground floor of Hotel New Shohei
1-7-9, Yotsuya, Shinjuku, Tokyo 160-0004, Japan

こんにちは東京！

I couldn’t stop cackling when the friends sent me videos of this particularly windy day in Tokyo earlier last week, along with captions like, “The flowers are blown off the trees! No more sakura after this weekend! No more sakura when you come in.” Hurhurhur. The wind was whipping around so fierce that people had difficulty walking!

Soooooo glad that the flowers have wilted and fallen off the trees. Nope, totally not here for the hanami season. I don't care about sakura, plum or apricot or any sort of flower fields or patches. In recent years, the incredible numbers of tourists thronging Tokyo in late March and April are horrifying. I couldn’t care less about flowers or manicured gardens. I care that the crowds have eased off and won't elbow my face each time I walk through a famous or popular stretch of streets.

Unfortunately each time I swing into Japan, I don't get to go to anywhere else but Tokyo because these aren't exactly leisurely trips. It does help that I can avoid downtown and the main tourists traps, and quietly melt into the suburbs and feel right at home wherever. When I live in a crowded city, visiting another densely packed city doesn't instantly put me in a better mood. Being able to slot in nature trails to the itinerary would help loads to alleviate the surly disposition. What puts a smile on my face is feeling the rhythm of the change of seasons, and soaking in this wonderfully crisp spring weather.

The Rise of Avocados

The avocado has been hailed as this wonderful fruit of the decade. Its popularity is through the roof. Well, it's a delicious fruit that's my main staple, and for many people too. Juice, smoothie, protein bowls, as one of the fruits for overnight oats. We eat it as a meal.

Along with eggs, the super nutritional avocado is a part of my diet as a child with many allergies who's also a fussy eater. Somehow, I've still stayed in love with these two food items. I toggle between Mexican and Australian avocados. It depends on which one I find at whichever market I'm at. Avocados punk me all the time. Arrrrgh. But I still buy them to eat at home because it's ridiculous to pay for overpriced expensive tiny portions of avocado at the cafes. Unless they give me the whole fruit, then fine, I'd pay for that.

Brook Larmer's article on 'How the Avocado Became the Fruit of the Global Trade' in The New York Times published on March 27, 2018, is among many of those discussing the merits of trade of the fruit. California definitely doesn't supply enough volume to even feed domestic demand. There's huge environmental impact, of course, as with any popular produce, as more land is cleared to accommodate the planting of fruit trees or bushes. I clearly haven't felt guilty enough to stop eating avocados.

The avocado toast hasn't had such popularity till this decade. It's delicious. Salt flakes, a drizzle of lemon and olive oil, and dukkah. Plus a ton of raw shallots or onions. Gorgeous. It isn't just America's craze with the fruit. It's now a global obsession. Mexico produces a third of the global total exports of the fruit, with majority grown in the rich volcanic soil of Michoacán. 'Green gold', they call it. Australia produces avocados, but currently it's between seasons even as demand surges, and it's hence facing a shortage that should end soon.

The current US-China trade dispute does nobody any good, most of all the consumers. It still remains to be seen if US or China is worse-off for it. At least for this side of the world, steel and aluminum tariffs don't seem to hurt US and definitely would dent China's growth. But China's tariffs on food imported from the US sound painful...for the US. China imports tons of apples, pears and cherries from Washington state. These products could be supplied by the rest of the Asia-Pacific. The US exported about $20 billion worth of farm products to China last year.

I'm just not so sure about China's interest in riding on the exports with their homegrown plantations. Balancing out the world's supply sounds environmentally-friendly and ideal. International exports and profits, sure. But it would need lots of quality control and integrity to move away from the stereotypical perception and distrust of Chinese food and fruits.

Mexico was China’s largest supplier of avocados until last year, when it was surpassed by Chile. (Peru is moving in quickly, too.) In the future, the competition may come from China itself. With state backing, some Chinese businessmen are developing avocado plantations in the southern province of Guangxi. If they can come up with an avocado that matches the Latin American variety, at a lower cost, then the global market could shift. 

For now, though, China is adjusting. Most avocados sold there are hard and green — often to the confusion of the uninitiated. To solve this problem, Barnard’s Mission Produce built China’s first “ripe center” in Shanghai last year, with another to follow in Shenzhen next year. And Barnard is dreaming big. “If I could put four avocado chunks in every bowl of noodle soup in China,” he muses, “we wouldn’t have enough avocados in the world.” Only Mexican production would come close. And who knows? If American trade policy lurches toward a trade war, the farmers under the volcanoes in Michoacán might be eager to start sending their harvests to China instead.

寿司四季花まる

Finally stopped by Sushi Shiki Hanamaru (寿司四季花まる) on a weekend for an early lunch. It's supposed to be a casual sushi bar at this Singapore branch instead of its conveyor belt kaiten sushi, so even if you sit at a table like us and order off the menu, the plates are still stacked and counted before the bill is rung up.

Of course it has many outlets in Hokkaido and three in Tokyo. But please don't compare the food of this restaurant in Singapore to the ones in Tokyo and Hokkaido. I think you'll cry. As it is, this is already one of the more affordable sushi places in the city at S$5 for two pieces. Many supposedly good ones have turned horrible in the last few years. Given the constraints and pricing, what they've done here is fairly laudable. The quality is currently decent, much better than many other conveyor belt equivalents in town. Whether the cuts are nice, would be dependent on who you get as your sushi chef on the day/timing you visit. Some friends have had eeky sushi here, and the others who visited at different timings didn't mind it. It was all dependent on which sushi chef is on duty at that point.

The king crab miso soup was delicious. That miso used was lovely. But getting the meat out of those thin legs ain't worth it, unless you really like to do that. None of us ordered tempura. We just went for sushi. Loads of protein and a bit of carbs. I enjoyed how they cured their cod roe (pollock, really, たらこ) in house with less salt so that it could be placed on sushi. That was fine! Surprisingly, I was okay with how they treated their mackerel, sardines and herring. They tasted all right. 10 pieces of sushi and a bowl of soup filled me up nicely. I hope they don't let these current standards drop. For now, I guess Sushi Shiki Hanamaru is a reasonable destination to get a quick fix.

Sushi Shiki Hanamaru (寿司四季花まる)
within Hokkaido Marche (北海道マルシェ)
Orchard Central, #B2-11/29/44/48 
181 Orchard Rd, Singapore 238896

Exercising :: Taking Stock Of Q1

This low-impact WOD that we do at the gym is just 30 minutes.
Easy to replicate at home, i.e without equipment. Motivation is subjective.

When people ask me how often I get to exercising weekly, they tend to blink at my answer, “About 40 minutes each day. Five to six days a week.” Actually that's quite normal for a segment of the population. I’ve no idea what they think I do (or what we do), but I get the impression that what comes to mind is lots of jumping and running. Hahahaha. NO. Neither jumping or running appeals; I avoid them whenever possible. You’ll almost never see me on the treadmill or run at warm-ups even. For many reasons, I stay away from CrossFit and Spartan Race obstacles.

That’s why I haven’t stopped this gym membership although the 12-month commitment has ended. I pay membership fees on a weekly basis now. The gym seems to be able to retain good instructors and offers a variety of classes that covers the range of functional training to HIIT, strength and flexibility. This is something smaller gyms and studios can’t offer. I’ll have to sign up with three smaller studios to get back to the ideal weekly workout regime. But I am gym-shopping.... 😉

Classes at the gym are pitched at a generic multi-level audience. What you get out of class, is truly what you choose to make out of it. Don’t look around and compare yourself to other gym-goers. We’re all at different stages of our ‘get fit’ program. If you don’t know where the others are at, and blindly compare, that ain’t doing any favor to your self esteem. The competition is with yourself. The goal is always to do ‘two more reps’, and that’s it. FWIW, I don’t track steps walked, distance jogged or calories burnt. If I know the details, that’s because the friends or fellow gym members gleefully yell that out.

Since I don't particularly like running, cardio for me, is in the format of krav maga and HIIT programs, for example, my favorite cardio + weights 30-minute burn in a Les Mills GRIT Strength class. I favor loads of stretching and strength training in the form of uisng my body weight as well, and pilates done in a specialized studio is my preferred method. Can I do this without joining a gym? Of course. I'd just need Youtube, a space, and loads of perseverance to incorporate daily sessions into my lifestyle. I do this in hotel rooms; not sure if I'm disciplined enough to do it at home on a regular basis. However, injuries and bad form tend to prevail without the presence of a trainer. My current week looks like this:

焼き鳥で白金酉玉

Once in a while, I don't mind yakitori (焼き鳥), and by that, I mean to have it in its intended meaning- grilled chicken. Shirokane Tori-Tama (白金酉玉) has always been my choice. I don't think it's got the best service or whatever, but I've never had issues at the restaurant. They've consistently churned out fairly delicious chicken and all its innards, even for someone who doesn't quite fancy the meat. It isn’t just the binchotan used or the marinade. It’s the chicken itself. No idea where they got their supplies of meat from, but it distinctly tastes different from how the other restaurants do it.

J takes no innards. Whhhuuuut. But she enjoys chicken, so she found what she wanted. Thighs, wings, and a pork-part-something. Hahaha. I didn't have to eat that much chicken. I probably ate fewer than five pieces. There were plenty of other items on the menu for me. Peppers, mushrooms and other vegetables were available. We even had an excellent sweet potato mash with loads of crunchy greens. What I do like, is chicken hearts! Hahahaha. Had two skewers. :P

A pity the weather is simply too unkind for yakitori here. That evening, we dressed light and didn’t mind smelling like grilled meat. Perhaps it was our imagination, but through the years, somehow the ventilation system improved, and it didn’t feel too hot sitting in front of the grill. We smelt fine after too. The yuzu-umeshu with soda went down easy and didn't make us feel too much like alcoholics at all! Woohooo. The sparkling drinks were perfect for the hot hot day.

Shirokane Tori-Tama (白金酉玉)
11 Unity Street #01-02 Singapore 237995
T: +65 6836 5680 (reservations necessary)
Hours: Dinner from 6 to 11pm; closed on Sundays

UK National Theatre's 'The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time'

The friends bought us tickets to the international production of National Theatre's (UK) 'The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time'. What a thoughtful awesome gift! This version is adapted by Simon Stephens and directed by Marianne Elliott. It premiered at Soho's Gielgud Theatre (on the corner of Shaftesbury Avenue and Rupert Street) in 2012, has finally ended its run in June 2017. The show has gone on tour, and Singapore got to see it this month.

The actors were brilliant. Joshua Jenkins deftly brought out the inner world of Christopher Boone. The set was wonderfully, for the lack of a better word to describe it, futuristic. Light and sound flawlessly complemented physical theatre. It’s highly effective and impressive. That electric train running through London's suburbs and downtown skyline was such a hoot. And OMG, that cute little Labrador puppy at the end melted everyone’s hearts. Yes, a real puppy that appeared for all of two minutes.

Of all of Mark Haddon's works, this 2003 title is probably the only one I really enjoy. I think that this play stayed true to the essence of the book, fleshing out what we thought Christopher might look like, and how he might be (voice, vibes, movement) if he is our neighbor, classmate or cousin. We know the story pretty well, and the themes it brought out.

However, in the play's 2012 premiere, Mark Haddon himself warned audiences and readers not to refer to the book as any yardstick of understanding the behavior of people on the spectrum of autism and Asperger's. Mark Haddon wants this book to be more than about a behavioral disability. One still can’t help but link to that. We know how flawed humans are, and that parents can’t and don’t always necessarily make the right choices, and that love might not be the guiding light. Mark Haddon's 2012 concluding statement reads,

If I was being contentious I might say that Curious is not really about Christopher at all. Christopher is an outsider, and novelists are drawn to outsiders of all kinds - Robinson Crusoe, Raskolnikov, Holden Caulfield, Jane Eyre, Benjy Compson... - because they grant us a privileged position from which we are able to look back at ourselves. 

If I was being particularly contentious I might say that Curious is not really about Christopher at all. It’s about us.

Penang Seafood Restaurant

A super decent assam laksa Penang style is found at Penang Seafood Restaurant. Its char kway teow and prawn noodles are fairly consistent too, along with a kick-ass sambal petai fried rice or simply stir-fried sambal petai. In fact, we’re not that fond of their other dishes in comparison to their one-dish options. It’s a zi char eatery, and also offers seafood.

There’s a public carpark opposite the restaurant, but it’s tough to get a slot in the evenings. The good thing is, Aljunied MRT station is right next to the street on Geylang Lorong 25A; it's a viable to leave our cars somewhere and take a straight train. Although this is the East-West line and can suck if you're planning to stay out after 10.30pm. We usually pop in after 8.45pm when the peak dinner crowd has thinned out, and there's a higher chance of getting a parking lot easily. What scares me is the entire row of fruit stalls in the area. OMG, the stench of durians. I cannot.

Their trio of eggs and spinach in superior broth is odd. Each time I forget and order this, I keep getting fibrous spinach. The soup stock is a fail; it isn’t the elegant Cantonese version I prefer. None of us like their pork either. After many visits, we’ve learnt not to order it- their ribs (in all three versions) tend to come fatty and kinda weirdly soft. The marinade and sauces aren’t something I appreciate either. Oddly, the sweet and sour pork seems fine so far. The standards for sambal belachan fluctuate like crazy though. Currently, it’s no good. We’ve been popping into this eatery-then-restaurant for almost a decade. When it expanded into its current mode that offers air-conditioning, and upped its prices, some things are still worth coming back for.

Its assam fish head is delicious. I'm not this giant fan of fish head curry, to be honest. So this is one version of fish head 'curry' that I enjoy. The kitchen use a snapper of sorts. It took me a while to realize that they use ang goli which is ikan ibu kerisi. I'm not good with Hokkien or Chinese names for fish. I learnt them in Malay as a kid and those are the ones that stuck through the decades.

Lenten Read: 'In The Upper Room'

This year, Good Friday and Passover met on 30 March. Before that, there were a number of robust discussions at the dining tables of good friends who are Jewish, Muslims, Christians and Catholics, and atheists. Those frank, inspiring and terribly intellectual conversations, however, won't be shared here. It's not meant to be done on this platform.

This Lent, I went through 'In The Upper Room' (2007) written by John Chong Ser Choon. I used it for Lent last year too. Clearly, lessons ought to be repeated because I uhhh...forget. So the devotionals are still read over again and again. I use the Douay-Rheims Bible. Never bothered switching it out since that was the childhood bible.

[Ser Choon is a graduate of Regent College (Vancouver), completed his Master in Spiritual Theology with Dr James Houston, and is currently the Retreat Director for Community for Spiritual Formation (CSF), previously known as Trinity Life Center.]

The book begins with Ash Wednesday: 'Re-entering The Upper Room' (Luke 22:7-14). From then on, we go to First Sunday in Lent: 'Life In The Trinity', Second Sunday in Lent: 'The Paraclete ~ Power or Person?', so on and so forth for 40 days till Good Friday, Holy Saturday and Resurrection Sunday.

Every year, different passages will resonate. This year, two chapters went round and round my head. The first being Tuesday Of The Second Week In Lent: 'Destination, Route or Person' (John 14:4- 6). That, "Jesus saith to him: I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No man cometh to the Father, but by me." Obviously, I have a ton of trust issues. Ser Choon shared,

At a time when land was so critical to livelihood and existence, this was a radical call: to trust a person for the well-being and security of an entire clan, instead of relying on material, tangible possessions! Is Jesus not saying the same to the disciples in the Upper Room? 

The second chapter that made me linger over was- Saturday Of The Fourth Week In Lent: 'A Little Knowledge of God that is full of Self' (John 16:1- 4). Of Judas's treachery, Peter's denial, of Saul-then-Paul, impending death, imminent persecution of the Church and her disciples. Well, these aren't just issues facing Christians a decade ago or right now. It's important for us to recognize the persecution of any religion (or race) as unethical and wicked, and the ironic oppression of the majority. Ser Choon wrote,

A fellow Christian once blurted out in exasperation: "You can never argue with someone who is right. Either you agree or you are wrong." He was being sarcastic of course. During our stint in National Service, I remember my colleagues nicknaming an officer as Mr "No-You-Are Wrong". This officer would often cut off his subordinates by telling them, "No, you are wrong!" 

Oh, the terrible danger of a self-possessed zeal that does not know God! One appears to be religious without being Christ-centred, knowing what is spiritual but not who God the Father is. It can generate its own inherent logic to rationalize and justify, even murder, death to others who are not "for us or our cause."

Lenten reflections are necessary for me. It is the one time in the year that my thoughts truly turn to God and religion, mulling over the teachings and Scriptures as when they were written (in those times), versus today's interpretation by various denominations and the ahemm sad state of world affairs. How I find this balance, is my journey to tread, and my story to keep. 

Still Going for AGY Classes

Still having fun with aerial yoga, or what is branded as ‘anti-gravity yoga’ at the gym. AGY. The yoga/meditation/spiritual element is low, and the focus of the class is always on moving into the different twists. With the flips, the movement looks more acrobatic than going into asanas per se. Well, this forty-year-old body won't be able to do many poses, like middle splits. But when my grounding comes from gymnastics and ballet, there’s plenty which I could still do (like flips, side splits and back bends). I intend to keep it that way.

That one hour spent stretching is great for flexibility training. When you adopt different exercises in the weekly regime, that’s fantastic cross training. When you're told to invert and do crunches up, those are a killer. So fun though. Core strength and flexibility ought to be built, even as we age. The core isn't just the abs; it goes round to your glutes. It comes in handy in the event of a fall. AGY classes are a great way to see if your core strength has increased through the year spent exercising.

Build the core and upper body strength needed for anti-gravity classes, then everything gets easier and all you need to be mindful of are the instructions to climb or invert, and how not to kill yourself by winding the silk hammock round your thighs and body like a tourniquet. Or after nailing a pose, sliding to the floor in an unglamorous heap as the non-slip socks ermm slip off the fabric. 

'A Good Death'

Image from the review published on 31 March 2018 in The Straits Times.

In spite of the heaviness of the subject, I still went for ‘A Good Death’, presented under the umbrella of Esplanade's 2018 season 'The Studios'. It was a one-woman show by nicely carried off by Karen Tan for the 90 minutes. Written by Faith Ng and directed by Chen Yingxuan, the story follows palliative care doctor at the hospice, Dr Leong (played by Karen Tan) as she journeys with her patients in their final days, also questioning her own abilities to deal with the deaths of her loved ones when the time comes, especially those of her parents. We see her emotional journey, her breakdowns, her thoughts and her pain, all raw and real.

Karen Tan is a brilliant actress, and it isn't difficult to imagine the other people she's interacting with as she slips into their portrayal as her own dementia-stricken elderly father, exasperated brother, and as her many patients. The stage set, sound and lighting help to create all the moods and ambient associations with the different characters and emotions.

More than exploring what constitutes a good death, it talks about how the caregivers and patients both suffer heart wrenching emotional upheavals. We all have loved ones who are stricken with a form of debilitating illness. My heart aches when I keep hearing old folks talk about how 'my life is cursed' or 'this is retribution'. Really? Perhaps I'm too naive in thinking that people ought to walk the path of light and not darkness right from the start. If retribution exists, then there ought to be penance, isn't it? Gene mutations and infections are the quirks of life that aren’t the least bit discriminatory. One could have the healthiest lifestyle, but the worst luck in the genetic bingo. It's aging and mortality. It's up to each of us to find the faith and strength within to carry on, either as a caregiver, or as a patient. 

Salad & Grain Bowls

The Daily Cut's most recent menu. 

Many many versions of grain concoctions and salad bowls later at the various salad bars around, I still swear loyalty to The Daily Cut. I fell in love with how it did its tofu. It bothers to press it before marinating it in different ways. Tasty tofu is difficult to find. Since then, it hasn't failed me. The ingredients have somehow offered the perfect mix of flavors, salt and textures for my tastebuds. These are my default food choices when I have to eat out for many meals.

Friends are happy that the menu offers both chicken breast and chicken thigh. Those little pieces of soy honey chicken thighs come with skin attached. There're other protein choices of jalapeño lime skirt steak, orange-glazed salmon, caribbean spiced tilapia, and of course sriracha tofu. Its recent menu offers coriander as a topping. Okay, some people love coriander loads. But I was all like, coriander should be FREE. Like, it should be an additional sprinkling on top of all items in a bowl. Like shallots. Oh well. :P

The one time I put in an advance order (24 hours ahead) via Deliveroo for a 5pm delivery for 30 bowls, they turned up on time, with every bowl's contents correct and every item intact. I was absolutely impressed. One person lugged them all. Glad I opted to tip the delivery rider. We know the dine-in magic timings at the outlets at Raffles Place and Tanjong Pagar. Go before 11.40am or after 2.15pm. Anything in-between means a loooong queue; CBD lunch hour is a war zone when it comes to fighting for seats or a table. It's virtually impossible to grab a quiet corner at The Daily Cut at peak lunch hour, just do a takeaway. Dinner too, is quite mad. Tanjong Pagar Center fares slightly better since it is open all day, and the volume of the evening crowd isn't too bad. Dunno about Marina One yet, since that outlet just opened, but at lunch, it should be equally mad.

‘Ramen Teh’ 《情牵拉面茶》

Had to watch Eric Khoo’s ‘Ramen Teh’《情牵拉面茶》. Not that I’m a giant fan of the director or anything, although he has churned out pretty decent stuff. There’s a storyline, but it’s patchy. Feel free to watch this as a cooking show rather than a love story, search for cultural identity or anything else. The food shots are beautifully framed. The songs in the film are composed and arranged by Kevin Mathews and Christine Sham. The OST is pretty catchy.

It’s quite a surprise seeing Mark Lee in a role where he actually acts. I haven’t seen him in films doing other stuff beyond stereotyped characters. Maybe that’s because I don’t notice Chinese productions much. I forgave all nonsense scenes with loopholes because I watched it for Takumi Saito (斎藤 工), and mostly for Seiko Matsuda (松田 聖子). My teenaged self totally idolized her. 😍🤩 She’s a really good actress, and even in this role as a food blogger and single mother, Miki, she shone. The final scene was really annoying though. Arrrrgh. Watch it and tell me if you find it vague too. I hate ambiguous endings. Rather, everything else is nicely and lovingly spelt out, except for Seiko Matsuda’s Miki and her future.

Chef Keisuke Takeda made a guest appearance in the film, as himself. 🙄 He also provided his Suntec restaurant as venue for one of press conferences, and served the imagined dish ‘ramen teh’ for guests to sample. I’m neither a fan of bak kut teh (done in light pepper or dark herbal style) nor ramen in too rich and oily tonkotsu broth. Cha shu or giant ribs done this way ain’t what the tastebuds like. I prefer ramen as tsukemen or at the very least, in the Kagoshima style. I like the instant cups well enough though. Hurhurhur. I’d rather make my own version with seafood or vegetables, using the barest pork bones to flavor the soup.

BUT, I went to Keisuke Tokyo at Suntec to try its special dish of ‘ramen teh’ (on the menu till 30 April 2018). I went before the film opened on 29 March 2018. What arrived was an interesting mix that I didn’t mind- springy thin noodles and a lighter broth. Loved the garlic in it. Chilli padi and dark soy sauce were provided. That totally made the meal. I skipped most of the pork. Very fatty lah. There were erm, those complimentary eggs provided, of which I ate four. LOL. Same same protein, right? Hehehehe. ‘Ramen teh’ tasted pretty decent!