The House Poet

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...

On Friday, I took the train back down to Stockton to spend the holiday weekend with my boyfriend. It was the first time we had seen each other since school ended and I was soooooo happy to see him! It felt so wonderful to be with him again! There were family parties all weekend! My boyfriend (who I will refer to as A) and his family are Chinese, but his parents are from the Philipines. Thus, a lot of Philipino food is prepared. It's fun for me because I have never been exposed to that sort of food before. I always try everything, and food I don't like I give to A to finish for me. :D I didn't take a picture of the food because I was too shy; I am not altogther always comfortable around some of his family because I am the only non-Asian/Philipino person at the parties. But, I can describe it and I'll probably end up spelling everything wrong. :) First of all, shrimp seens to be very much loved. It was in a vegetable dish with bitter melon, tiny green beans, a squash/pump...

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...

Aaaahhhh, yesterday was a rather busy Monday, but the temperature went down! I rode my bike down to my old high school to go talk with my Japanese teacher there. He invited me to lunch with him and wanted to talk to one of his classes about college and taking Japanese. I wasn't too sure about what to expect, but I hoped it would go well. He and I have always gotten along well together and his Japanese classes were my favorite when I was in high school. I hated all my other classes.......high school was really lame. End of story. College is infinitely better! Riding down to the school on my bike felt so exhilarating! I could smell the fresh scent of the trees and grass as I rode down the trail behind where I live. It's so convenient living right on a trail! I breathed it all in and realized that I've been smelling that scent all my life, even since I'd been going to parks and trails in the Bay Area. So nice and nostalgic~~ Of course, as I reached downtown and rode behind...

This morning, my father made me breakfast in bed! It was really delicious! My sister brought it out to me and I gazed on it with happiness in my heart and hunger in my eyes. Breakfast consisted of a croissant filled with sharp white cheddar cheese and sliced deli ham that had been broiled in the oven. The cheese had melted and the croissant was faintly crispy. Accompanying this delightful meal was a mug of orange and mango juice. So good and refreshing! I was joined by my cute friends Ume (the turtle) and Tofu (the square sunflower tofu thing). It was a lovely morning, even though later I finished Donald Richie's latest (and perhaps last) book, which was a bittersweet feeling. I love reading, and finishing good books is a little sad. Scooter, my tortoise, also had a treat this morning! My father gave her an old tomato he found in the fridge, and she happily started munching away. That's my girl! :) Lunch was good; I had leftovers from Wednesday night's dinner, which was an...

I still can't really believe I am home from college right now; I am trying to get used to having nothing to do! :D So, for lunch today my father wanted me to make Miso Ramen. It was rather simple to make, since we are still trying to figure out the best recipe for it. All we did was boil chicken broth and the noodles. Then, I added two heaping spoonfuls of Shiro Miso paste (white miso), which is a mild miso paste. There is also Aka Miso (red miso) which is a lot stronger and I personally don't like it. I diluted the paste in a bowl with some chicken broth and then added it to the other chicken broth on the stove. I cut up some tofu since we didn't have any other meats ready, and I sliced green onions, which adds a fresh, oniony flavor to the soup. I was dissappointed that we were out of eggs though......the hard-boiled egg is my favorite part of the soup! So this is what it came out to look like. Not perfectly Ramen-esque, but I'm trying! Next i am going to add more in...

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...