Visitations

I had some visitors! Hello to DD and Tim, who visited me from Russia and England respectively last week - textbook visiting guys, good job. I showed them the best that Fukui has to offer, which can be summed up in two words: TOAST and COAST. Possibly the highlight of the whole trip was a visit to Tom's Toast Restaurant - Where Dreams Are Made(TM). (Truly, that man is a toast wizard - check the November 2004 archives to see what I'm on about.) Mmmmm, how I love toast. And coast, of course, to a lesser extent.

The guys quickly picked up the Japanese habit of making peace signs every time a camera was in the vicinity, and Tim made a heroic effort at blending in by wearing a yukata (a summer kimono). Although the effect was somewhat spoilt by the trainers he was wearing at the time. Still, 8 out of 10 for effort.

THEY MADE TRADITIONAL JAPANESE PAPER!!!

THEY ATE TOAST!!!

THEY MET TOM THE TOAST WIZARD!!! God bless you Tom (not his real name).

THEY PULLED MANLY POSES ON CONCRETE SEA DEFENCES!!!

THEY CAUGHT CRABS!!! (As in the crustacean, not the disease. I hope.)

THEY BARBECUED!!!

THEY POSED AS TRADITIONAL FOLKLORE CHARACTERS RIDING GIANT CARP!!!

THEY ATE SUSHI!!! Truly, they have sampled the very best entertainment that Japan has to offer.

The lunch of champions

Since I've been living in Japan I've become a big fan of soba - buckwheat noodles in English. Not only are they healthier than other noodles, they're also a damn sight tastier - think of the difference between wholemeal bread and bleached white economy bread and you'll get the idea.

They're also a lifesaver if you're a vegetarian, since many of the soba meal options available come without meat or fish, which is a rarity in this famously vegetarian-unfriendly country. [Speaking of which, on Sunday I ordered a Hawaiian pizza without meat and it arrived covered with bacon, which apparently doesn't count as meat in Japan. It's not the first time that's happened either...]

At lunchtime I often go to the local convenience store and buy a bowl of soba for my lunch, and there's usually a pretty good selection to choose from. Most of them have tare (a weak soy-sauce) as their base, and this is variously combined with wasabi, daikon (Japanese radish), crispy rice or spring onion.

However, when I was in SunKus the other day I stumbled across an absolute beast of a soba dish. For the princely sum of 430 yen this lunchtime delight, known as Tsukimi Tororo Soba, comes with everything, from wasabi to yams to partially-cooked egg. Just putting all the (individually-wrapped) ingredients together took up a good proportion of my lunch hour, but it was worth it.

I bring you... THE LUNCH OF CHAMPIONS.

Verily, 'tis a mighty, mighty, plastic-wrapped giant of a midday meal.

STEP 1 - The giant is disassembled: ingredients to be added on the left; lovely, delicious, healthy soba on the right.

STEP 2 - The tororo paste goes on, which is made of mashed up yams. It actually tastes quite nice, despite having the texture of baby sick.

STEP 3 - Mmmmm, wasabi. Gosh darn I love wasabi. Whatever, you do though, don't put it in your eyes. Though I'm sure none of you were thinking about doing that anyway. But just in case you were, don't.

STEP 4 - Now the cucumber. Ah, cucumber, thou watery, no-taste vegetable! The filling of choice for vicars' sandwiches across the British Isles, yet in salad terms a perennial second place to the mighty tomato. I pity thee, cucumber.

STEP 5 - The negi (spring onion) is added. "But what about your onion breath?", I hear you cry. I say, "Have you smelt the pickled cabbage that the guy next to me is eating? His breath could fell a horse."

STEP 6 - The seaweed goes on next. It's not a proper Japanese dish if it doesn't feature seaweed in some way, shape or form.

STEP 7 - Time to pour on the soy sauce. There's enough here to drown a small bird.

STEP 8 - Crack open the cold, runny, partially- boiled egg: Edwina Currie please look away now. Salmonella-tastic I say.

Finally, after a quick stir, the preparation is complete. Behold the King of Lunchtime Convenience Food! And lo, he saw that it was good, and it did pleaseth him.

Of course, the down side to this behemoth of a lunch is the waste - all this packaging for just one bowl of soba; even the egg comes polythene-wrapped. How can something be so bad when it's so delicious...? I'm so confused.

More toast fantasies

I went to Tom's Toast Restaurant again last night (see "God bless you Tom!"). I think I'm becoming addicted.

This time I went for the potato and tomato, whilst Adam plumped for the egg and ham. It was toast heaven.

Adam's egg and ham toast. Vicar! Fetch the smelling salts! He's fainted!

The potato and tomato toast in all its succulent glory. Look at the size of that mother!

God bless you Tom!

I have discovered the best restaurant known to man.

Well, Adam and Neil actually showed me it so I can't really claim credit, but it's still a bloody fantastic place.

Question: What's the best food on the planet?

Answer: (Obviously) Toast. Therefore, the best restaurant known to man is a...... yes, that's right, a TOAST RESTAURANT! Go to Tomu (Tom's) on old route 8 in Takefu - it truly is the eighth wonder of the world. Tom himself, we believe, is some kind of toast wizard, sent to deliver his bread art to to the true believers. It's not just any toast - we're talking half a loaf of bread here, with egg and tomato running through the full depth of the bread. Awe-inspiring.

The restaurant is stunning too - as Adam pointed out, it looks like a vision of the future from the past. Perhaps it's the future that could have been... 

The man himself. Is he from the future? Who knows?

Welcome to Tom's restaurant.

Settling down

Well, where do I start? The past three weeks have absolutely flown by. It really feels like I'm on holiday at the moment - which I am I suppose - and I've been trying to cram in as much as possible before school starts, which is on the 1st Sept, not long now! There are 87 JETs in Fukui prefecture, and I think I've met them all now, plus there are a few other English teachers working for private companies who tend to hang around with us JETs too. The last month really has been a whirlwind of parties and day trips - I feel absolutely exhausted now!

Last night we went to a reggae festival held on the beach at Takasu, which was brilliant. The weather has been incredibly warm and humid ever since I arrived - its been above 30 degrees almost every day - and last night we had a bit of a dance round the camp fire on the beach until 3 in the morning. It really made me think of what Australia must be like - I'll have to stop off there on my way home!

Other than that there have been lots of trips out to restaurants and bars. The food has been a bit tricky - especially for a vegetarian. Ive had some really nice stuff but there are some things that are just barely edible. I've also been eating a little fish, since most restaurants dont have a vegetarian option. Cant say Im too keen on the taste though! I also ended up having a hot dog on the beach last night, because thats all there was to eat - tasted pretty rubbish though...