The House Poet

This past Wednesday, I luckily was able to go to San Francisco with my sister; it was the first time I'd been in a long time! :) Fiona and I took the BART train and caught a MUNI bus. It was a lovely sunny day, which was such a treat as you can see in the pictures! We got off at Octavia Street because I wanted to look at a Victorian hotel that is so beautiful inside and out. :) This is the Queen Anne Hotel, which supposedly has a haunted room! :D One of my dreams is to stay there someday~ I really want to show this to Andrew too! On my 18th birthday, my friends and I walked inside and sat down in the lovely common room. I then proceeded to open all my gifts there; it was so fun! Japantown! Yay! :) This is Benkyo-do, the oldest business in Japantown. They make mochi, some of which is really good, and sell Japanese snacks. They also have a food counter where burgers and hot dogs are super cheap; it's very old-fashioned and charming! All the older folks like to congregate there ...

I can't believe I haven't put up this post yet! In the beginning of this semester, my college offered a trip to San Francisco by bus for only $5! Such an awesome deal! So, my friends and I were lucky enough to hear about it so we paid and were excited to go! Above is us putting our shoes together. My shoe is the awesome orange one!!! :D The bus dropped us off in Union Square, and since we were hungry we walked over to Katana-ya after shopping a bit in Macy's. Katana-ya is a super tiny and very popular Japanese restaurant in Union Square. The place itself is very narrow and the walls are adorned with colorful and funky pieces of art! There was a nice mix of jazz and Japanese pop music playing while we ate. :) I ordered a combination lunch of Miso Ramen and katsu don. Above is the katsu don, which is pork katsu with sauce on top of rice with a salad. The dressing on the salad was a delicious creamy sesame one. I wish Japanese restaurants sold the dressing they use, it's...

Last night, my dad made a Filipino chicken dish called Chicken Adobo! I love the flavor of the sauce with the chicken; soy sauce, spices, and other yummy things are mixed together to create a very aromatic and flavorful dish! The rice soaks up all the sauce and is a perfect accompaniement to the chicken and sauce. :) I've only ever tried my dad's chicken adobo, so I would love to try a true Filipino version! For lunch today, my dad wanted to take a shot at making Miso Ramen soup again. Thankfully it isn't super hot right now, so it wasn't bad having soup. :D The broth tasted very nice and strong; I think my dad did a really good job this time. It's simple, with only the miso broth, noodles, green onions, and hard-boiled eggs, but it's good. I will post a recipe on here once we perfect it! On a truly random note, I think mopping the floor is an absolute waste of time. The floor will get dirty from the mop and your shoes, so there is no point! Augh! I had to clean...

Hello! First off, I just need to say that the weather has been so weird......tomorrow is the first day of June and for the past few days the sky has been cloudy and the temperature chilly. I'm not saying I don't like it, but I like sunlight in the summer. It's cheerful. I don't like the heat though. Hopefully Thursday will be sunny, since that is the day my love should be coming to visit me! Ooooooh, what to cook, what to cook! ;) Sorry that I haven't been posting lately, so lets get started! :) This was lunch at Takara, a Japanese restaurant in Japantown, on Thursday. There was a little bowl of miso soup, green tea, a bowl of kitsune soba, and a bowl of Tanindon. It was a lunch combination set that was only $10. Very delicious as usual; I usually always order this when I go there. It's my two favorite Japanese foods together: noodles and donburi! I highly reccomend Takara, as it is an inexpensive but high quality restaurant in Japantown. :) My family loves thi...

Yesterday, I was off to Japantown again to meet with a Japanese tutor for conversation. He was very nice and I think I am going to learn a lot from him! He was intent on helping me with grammar and made me repeat sentences, make new ones, and such. Hopefully that goes well. :) When I finished meeting with him, I was startving. I wasn't sure where to eat, but I was in the mood for noodles. Walking down Kintetsu Mall through what I like to call the restaurant district, I looked in all the windows displaying the plastic food. One plastic bowl of noodles caught my eye at Mifune; it was called Toritoji, and was the chicken/egg/onion donburi mix on top of soba noodles. All of a sudden I knew I had to try it! So I went in and was seated promptly, near one of the front windows where I could watch the passerby. Mifune is pretty popular and many people were dining happily in there, so there was a nice atmosphere. I was given an extremely hot cup of tea, and the waitress was very matter-of-fa...

Wanting to get away from the cluttered confines of my room on my first day of summer vacation, I got a ride from my father to Japantown in San Francisco! Japantown has been one of my favorite places to go since I was a child, and to spend my morning there today was rather relaxing, even though I kept thinking of all the people I left behind...... Since I haven't started working yet and don't have too much money, I walked around the Kintetsu and Miyako malls and looked into my favorite stores. I think I've really learned how to manage my money. I did buy a few things, but I didn't spend an extravagant amount like I used to. Eager to try a new restaurant, I peered at some menus and decided to eat at Suzu Noodle House. I'd eaten there once before about a year and a half ago, and thought their ramen was pretty tasty. I was alone for lunch, and was seated outside at a little wooden table. The view was interesting; Suzu Noodle House is downstairs and has a perfect view of...

I must admit, I have been very busy ever since I set up this blog so I haven't been able to find much time to start posting. However, the semester is winding down and I realized that I have a little more time now, yay! I am a college student attending University of the Pacific in Stockton, CA. My hometown is near San Francisco, so I've been spoiled by the rich food culture of the city. As for Stockton...well, there are some pretty good restaurants, but one has to search for them. A place that I regularly go to with friends is a Japanese place called Sho Mi in the Lincoln Shopping center up Pacific Ave. Now, I am a Japanese major and have grown up going to Japantown in Sf so I have eaten (and cooked) a lot of Japanese food. Sho Mi is perhaps not the most authentic or wonderful Japanese restaurant, but it strives to be. Personally, my friends and I all find that it is one of the best deals around. The menu is rather large and has many different dishes, such as ramen, curry, donbu...