Gap

Oops!

My beloved page has been neglected for a while now.

Not that I have completely abandoned it- I have been boggled with other things the past few weeks but will start updating it again.

It's a start of a bright new day, it's always this bright and no doubtedly hot by 4:30am in Tokyo. As a Californian, any temperature above 68F is hard for me to deal with!

Sky at 5:45, quite lovely nevertheless!

Plum Jam

 For a while I was wondering what to do with left-over ume from the umeshu I made from 2010 in which I recently finished drinking. And today the idea hit to make ume jam out of it. Afterall, the ume have been soaked in alcohol for over a year so they're soft and plump so they must be perfect candidates to make some kind of perservative right? I boiled them first to get the alcohol out and then took the seeds out once it got soft enough. I then added brown sugar and lemon juice and voila :)

Not only can I put it on toast or in my yogurt, I can also use it as a dressing paste or use it to marinade meat or fish (pectin, a form of amino acid in the plum works as a meat softner) and for stirfries as well. I'm excited! 

Feel of...Monsoon

In Japan, you first realize it's monsoon season when you get on a train and feel stuffy and smell the musky-ness. This is when I like to bust out my favorite summer scents to make it feel like I'm in LA or Hawaii :) I dream of those humid-less summers...!  

Spinach Shiroae

I had it for the first time at my favorite organic food deli in Akasaka and fell in love with it! It's steamed spinach, carrots, mushrooms, and konnaku mixed in with a creamy sesame tofu paste. I've been too lazy to make it but I just had that urge to eat it over this weekend since I had a lot of spinach left over:

Spinach Shiroae (ほうれん草の白和え）

1. Steam spinach, chopped carrots, shimeji mushrooms, and konnaku. Get rid of excess water.
2. Get rid of excess water for 1/2 pack of tofu (150g) and mash it up.
3. Mix 1&2. Add in Tbsb of grinded white sesame and sesame. Also 1 tbsb of miso.

Two Tokyo-esque Iconcs

Can you believe this is what is looked like outside my office after a night of shaking? And I note, it's not shaking from earthquakes but actually by rain and wind. 

I'll also throw in a random pic of Toyo Tower I took while running to the station after I've realized I was drinking past midnight with one of my girlfriends. Oopsy. I just had to share because recently Tokyo Skytree has been stealing the spotlight. I'm definitely a Tokyo Tower fan!

Brunch Time

I can never turn down a brunch offer but it's sometimes nice to do your own brunch at home :) 

Btw, people ask about my coffee mug a lot - I got it from a popular cafe in Seoul of the same name, Mug for Rabbit. They have to-die-for cupcakes and an interesting "wasabi" latte!

Guess What I'm Doing?

Hehe I'm drying my make-up brushes. I love my make-up brushes so I do keep good care of them :)