Food, glorious food....

 

I'm not exactly a foodie, in the sense that when I travel, I don't really pay much attention to food, esp since I'm travelling on budget. Instead of feeding myself and feast on a hearty meal, I would rather feed (and feast with) my eyes.  In fact, deciding what to eat can be a chore, and immensely stressful. It doesn't help that when u r travelling solo and u go to a restaurant during busy meal times, u will invariably be referred to a table facing or next to the toilet. So much for whetting ur appetite! Still waiting for the day when they would invent some food pills that we can just swallow and then be on the go. It will solve all hassle when it comes to eating, in my opinion. But of course, food aficionados out there will curse the day this pill is born.
It's extra stressful ordering food here in Japan because of the language barrier. Half the time I don't even know what I'm ordering, esp when ordering from the vending machine where u insert money first and choose ur dish, then pass the food coupon to the waitress. I just point and hope for the best. It's like playing Russian roulette! It doesn't help that the menu is mostly in hiragana (the Japanese alphabet), otherwise, I may still be able to make out what meat it is based on my near-non-existent grasp of Jap. I'll let the pics do the toking (coupled with my Dark Shadow gourmet ratings):

the first meal (lunch) I had in Tokyo...and it was a gourmet disaster...ordered something
that looks like beef coated with a layer of egg, except that it's not egg but CHEESE!
arrggghhhh......But I swallowed it all nonetheless! Here are the remains of that meal....Verdict: 1 star

this is dinner in Tokyo...notice that when u order a set meal, it comes with a bowl of rice
and a bowl of ramen; enough for two people, if u r not a big eater. Verdict: 3 stars

(above and below) the simple but fabulous home-made breakfast from Guesthouse Tamura;
and only 300 yen(S$3.90)! what a steal! totemo oiishii! Verdict: 4 1/2 stars

 

 

 

tonkatsu (pork cutlet); ended up eating this most of the time. Verdict: 4 stars


 



 

All 3 pics above: the most expensive dish I ate in Japan, lunch right after the onsen experience
at Kurama, Kyoto. The dish is some kind of wild duck cooked in a hot pot of some herbal broth.
But what takes the cake is the juicy chewy octopus tentacles in the last pic. Verdict: 5 stars

delicious chicken cutlet for dinner in a Nara coffee house,
so crispy and tender. oiishii desne! Verdict: 5 stars



last meal in Japan (lunch); not quite sure what I ordered (and ate) but I think there's beef, prawn
and this gooey but oh-so-delicious stuff wrapped in a fried external layer on the extreme right
background of the pic in the black dish. Verdict: 6 stars

DESSERT:




all 3 pics above: vanilla latte and a slice of christmas cake atop the Umeda Sky Building in Osaka;
feasting with both my mouth and eyes. Verdict: 3 stars (for food), 5 stars (for panoramic view)

coffee in the shinkasen (bullet train). Verdict: 2 stars



first dessert tried in Japan, I think in Kyoto. Matcha-flavoured ice-cream.
Dunnoe what all the fuss about matcha is about, but to me, it's just bleh! Verdict: 1 star

A monster of an ice-cream, and it comes not in a mug but a bucket!!!
And No, I didn't order this. Verdict: NA

this is the one I ordered, an old-fashioned strawberry parfait.
not exactly fantastic, but went down well with the dinner I just had.... Verdict: 3 stars



The ubiquitous vending machines throughout Japan....and they actually throw out HOT cans! Wow!
One thing though, it's so difficult to find dustbins in Japan. Half the time when I wanted to dispose of the can after drinking or throw away other rubbish, I could not find any dustbins. Makes you wonder how the Japanese manage to keep their streets so pristine. It's so clean that I would've rolled on the streets! And don't get me started on the cleanliness of their public toilets! I could've slept in it!