Japan..Raw Horse....mmmm good!

I arrived in Japan yesterday and took the bus to Kuniko's parents house (2 hours from the airport). One of the many things I like about Japan is the language is niceto hear and they use very pleasant female voices as recordings (on the bus, subway, etc). Ahh I am so happy to be back in Japan!

Kuniko's mom prepared a fantastic meal- Kurobuta pork hot pot with a miso based soup in the hot pot. I can't emphasize enough how freaking good the Kurobuta pork is- it is so flavorful and tender- nothing like the pork you get in US supermarkets- ie dry and flavorless. Kuniko's dad also went out and bought some excellent sake that went perfectly with the meal.

We spend most of the day walking around Kichijoji (where Kuniko's parents live). It is a very cool neighborhood with lots of great shops and restaurants. There is also a great park with a pond. I got rip in jeans so I needed to find a new pair- which proved to be a challenging task- given that I am just a little bigger than most Japanese men. We did find a par in Uniqlo http://www.uniqlo.com/jp/ which is kind of like the Gap but much better and much bigger. They just opened the first US store in NYC. The jeans needed to be shortened and they had them finished in 45 minutes which was really amazing to me given how big and crowded the store was.

We had a killer lunch at a Japanese pasta place. Its this really small place down a narrow street and they make the pasta in the front of the restaurant. Its a funny thing but this Japanese-made Italian food was way better than what you find in most American Italian restaurants (North End excluded). The Japanese just don't mess around or half ass anything- which is one of the reasons it's such a pleasure to travel and eat here. Our lunch cost 16 bucks for both of us- everyone talks about how expensive it is here which isn't always true.

There are lots of places you can get shiatsu or a foot massage and we found one that was pretty cheap- 60 minutes for around 45 dollars (don't have to tip here). I have never paid that little in the US.

During our New Year's trip here we didn't have time to go for horse meat which I was keen on trying to we went last night. It is so good.

We got 3 different cuts sliced like sashimi- raw. It is very tender and has a subtle flavor. You put a little fresh ginger on it and dip it in a thick sweet soy sauce...so good.

We also got baked eggplant, clams and cabbage, these little fish that were grilled, gobo (burdock) tempura- first time I have had it this way- it was fantastic. Burdock is a fibrous root used extensively in Japanese cooking and I happen to really like- it is kind of crunchy and strangely satisfying to eat. Then we had horse sushi and finished with miso soup and shared some Sakura (cherry blossom) ice cream- so good. All of this plus a couple of beers was like 80 bucks.