We just finished up a really nice, relaxing (and sort of expensive) weekend. We started off partying like rock stars on Friday evening after work. I grilled two big pork steaks, rubbed and covered with barbeque sauce, a grilled leek, along with sauteed mushrooms and asparagus in garlic. We went through a couple of bottles of wine, and stayed up late listening to music and dancing.
We were a little slow getting up on Saturday. But get up, we had to do, because we had plans to go see Star Trek Beyond in northern Osaka in the morning. We were able to roll out of bed and get behind the wheel, and we got there with plenty of time remaining.
It was our first time to visit “Expo Park”, the site of the 1970 World Fair. There is some interesting artwork remaining from that time (including a weird sun statue that looms over everything) and also lots of monorail lines intersecting nearby. Since we had arrived a tiny bit early we walked around Expo City, which is a nearby large-scale shopping mall. We found ourselves killing time next to the “English Village” (where people can have the experience of speaking only English with native English speakers) and we sipped some drinks at the CNN Cafe, which is apparently a thing. I was expecting the cashier to speak English to me, but she instead used the standard Japanese greeting. I guess that we weren’t actually in the English Village at the time, so they were off the hook.
We saw the latest Star Trek movie in IMAX 3D, which can be a pretty intense experience. Kuniko felt a little queasy afterward because of all the quick camera movement in space, and it took a little while for her stomach to settle down. I liked the movie, especially the computer generated graphics involved with the space station world “The Yorktown” that was fantastically done.
On our way home we had to get off the highway to avoid some traffic due to an accident, and it worked out that we could pass by Costco. We ran inside and got some choice items (chicken, dates, bread) and then continued on home to rest up. We were pretty tired out from our rock star Friday night, so we had a quiet dinner of roast chicken (from Costco) and a really nice salad that Kuniko put together with a delicious Parmesan cheese dressing.
We were in bed before 9 pm on a Saturday.
The cool weather has been a big influence on our early bedtimes. We both slept great on Saturday and got almost eleven hours of sleep. Once again we got ourselves moving and headed east to visit one of my former students who had invited us to lunch.
On the way we stopped in Kobe and bought some goodies to give them, and then went on to Nishinomiya to meet. We had originally considered living in Nishinomiya ourselves. It is perfectly located between Osaka and Kobe, and the neighborhoods are nice and quiet, and slightly upscale. There aren’t a lot of places to eat and drink, but with Kobe and Osaka so nearby it is easy to get to fine dining.
We met Mr. and Mrs. Kato and their two-year-old daughter Anzu at the station, and together they walked us the short distance to their condominium apartment. It was just five or ten minutes from the station, which is just about the perfect distance balancing noise and comfortable walking. Anzu wasn’t sure what to make of us, and watched us suspiciously as we tried our hardest to get her to relax.
Two years ago we had the Kato’s over for dinner, and Anzu was still “in the oven” so to speak, and it turned out that this time that the Kato’s have another little one on the way – Anzu’s little brother will come in March of next year. It was great to see the family together, and everyone loosened up and relaxed after a while.
We were interested in checking out their place, because we had considered something like this a long time ago. They were on the tenth (and top) floor of their building, and so they had a really nice view from the balcony over the south side of Nishinomiya. It wasn’t far from the Hanshin train line, and I could hear the relaxing sound of a passing train now and then. The place was decorated beautifully with lots of mementos from Mr. Kato’s time working in Kenya, and there were also plenty of toys for Anzu to enjoy.
Lunch was made almost entirely by Mr. Kato, and he put together a really nice Spanish lunch. Paella, tortilla espanola, a carrot, onion and orange salad, and some pork with potatoes that really hit the mark for me. Three of us shared a bottle of Spanish red wine, and Mrs. Kato contributed a homemade cheesecake with apple jam for dessert. Wow!
We spent a few hours with them talking about what was going on with our lives. Many of our friends have children now, and it can sometimes be hard to find a point of overlap between them and us. Our lives are centered around good wine and food, travel, and work. Once kids enter the picture it can be hard for new parents to drink, travel and sometime to go back to work. Still, we had a nice time talking with them and thinking about how their life was going to change come March.
We left in the mid-afternoon and caught a rapid train from Nishinomiya west towards our home. As we were riding back the rock stars inside of us awakened, and we found ourselves craving a glass of sparkling wine. That was how it started, anyway.
Kuniko found a restaurant that had recently opened in Motomachi – a place focused on wine and Italian food, and so we found the place (one floor above an ear-cleaning establishment!) and grabbed some seats at the counter. We were sitting right in front of the kitchen, and it was a beautiful set up. A big pizza oven was placed in the back corner, and the gas oven and stovetop made up the center of the kitchen. The two guys working there were very friendly, and they had plenty of wines to choose from. I had a German Sekt, Kuniko had champagne, and also had a tiny plate of appetizers to go with it. The wine cellar was custom built with glass to peek in and see what they had – very cool.
We each had a glass of red wine after the sparkling. The staff opened up a bottle for me (an Italian red with gobs of red juicy fruit) and Kuniko had a more traditional medium-bodied red. Feeling pretty good, we asked for the check and hit the road. The price was a little higher than we’d expect for what we had, however, so I’m not sure when or if we’ll go back.
We stopped at Daimaru department store to buy some uncooked cookies (if that makes any sense) from Demel – the place that we visited in Vienna has a branch here in Kobe. We also stocked up on some premium cheeses that we figured we’d serve at next weekend’s party (or else we’d be happy to take care of them ourselves).
Finally, after the department store we found ourselves right near Chinatown, and I wanted to buy some frozen suigyoza – they have some really good stuff that comes in plastic bags straight from China. Since we were in Chinatown already it seemed like we should go ahead and get some Janjan and Tantan noodles, and also some shorompo. I had had shorompo from this place before – it wasn’t that great – but the noodles were excellent.
We fled Kobe having satisfied just about every one of our culinary desires, and made it home in time to throw together some stuff for this week’s lunches and breakfasts. It is going to be a strange schedule for Kuniko so we’ll need to be flexible about meals this week.
So, great weekend, great food, great friends – mission accomplished!
