MY FAVE PASTA @ CAPRICIOSA

Im not a good cook nor I claim of being one. But I can experiment a pasta dish and can perfect it overtime. This is also the same in looking for a perfect pasta restaurant which is quite rare in tokyo as cuisines here are distinct.

One of the place I frequent for the best squid ink and crab pasta is Capriciosa. My good friend fong tagged me along in this cozy resto near Yotsuya station which is pretty near and a 5 minutes walk from Yotsuya Catholic church. But recently I also found another franchise of this same resto at kaihin Makuhari near the outlet shops which is more accessible from my place.

They have the best squid ink pasta that I tried to copy but failed. But please be reminded that if you order this dish, your teeth and your lips will end up black as well. So if your on a date, this is probably a big no no. Whenever I dine in here, I always make sure that I dont have any appointment after . Heheheheeh. But regardless of that this is a star dish on a plate.

The next good thing in their menu is their famous Crab pasta dish. I was abit apprehensive in trying this dish as I have some crab allergy whenever I ate crabs way back in the homeland. But oh boy t'was tempting so i gave in and never regretted it since.

HOW TO GET THERE:

* Yotsuya branch- 5 minute walk from the Yotsuya Catholic church

* Kaihin Makuhari branch- 2 minute walk from Kaihin makuhari eki near the outlet shops



LA Day 1

So excited with this trip that I couldnt sleep the whole flight. We were out of  Los Angeles Airport (LAX) around 9am US time and we need to travel another 30-40 minutes to reach Omni Hotel in the downtown area where we are booked for a week.

There are alot of ways to reach downtown but we opted for the fly away bus which will bring us to union station and from there we took a taxi to our hotel. Once we reach the hotel, the Omni front desk staff was considerate enough to check us in early. I was sleep deprived the whole day that my body doesn't function well anymore when we reach the hotel room and after seeing their bed. Having just said that...Oh i loved their mattress and pillows that I even thought of bringing one home.

Our alarm woke us up at around 3 pm as we were scheduled to watch a baseball game at Anaheim by 6pm. But since the last meal we had was that from the plane still, we decided to drop by olvera street first which is just across union station.

Olvera street in downtown LA is everything mexican. I have limited knowledge about mexico except for tacos and the sombrero thingy...so when i saw a hole in the wall resto which served tacos, we immediately decided to dig in.

After a hearty lunch, off we went to Anaheim where were going to watch a baseball game and meet some friends later after the game. Hubby was ecstatic upon seeing the Angels Stadium and bought a ticket for us. It was an enormous experience watching it live with the chaotic crowd and funny cheers and boooos.

After the game we met up with some friends and off we went to Disneyland in Anaheim for dinner treat from my friend's Aunt. It was already around 8pm when we reach the place outside of disneyland so we were not able to see the whole park. We were just there for dinner anyways.

Our night ended young and fun with a thought for the next day randomness....

LONG FLIGHTS : Korean Air Narita to LAX

Narita to LAX aboard Korean Air was a drooling 11 hours direct flight. Was a bit exhausted counting the hours before landing but was able to forget about the time by all the things you can do while on board Korean air.

CONS:

1. the free slipper for comfortable feet. I was able to take it home for souvenir

2. Their inflight meals (e.g bibimbap, croissants, beef) We had 4 meals onboard so we were able to taste most of them.

3. the attentive flight attendants. They will really make sure your properly dehydrated every 10 minutes.

TIPS FOR LONG FLIGHTS

1. Try to seat at the back  or in front near the wash room for ample of leg space and you can stretch near the FA's abode.

2. Always be dehydrated by drinking alot of water.

3. To forget about the time watch a movie or just sleep the whole flight

Happy Flying!!!!

AIRLINE MEALS

Whenever I plan for a flight, the first thing I usually checked are reviews for airline meals of different airlines. I always feel giddy opening  airline meals foiled packed when traveling. 

1. Korean air
     Their bibimbap is a star on its own. They even provide a `HOW TO` piece of paper when they hand the meal for first timers.. I just loved it. My Narita-LAX 11 hours flight was  worth every penny if only for this bibimbap.

2. PAL
     I didnt expect much with PAL airline meal but surprisingly their beef set meal  is awesome for our Narita-Manila economy flight. But their chicken meal was kinda not for my palate. I regret having a bite from my hubby's plate. And for their business class meal, it didnt taste  good as it looks.. arrggh... they are trying to be a copycat of the japanese version at JAL

3. Northwest Airlines now Delta Airline
         My first taste of an airline food is with this airline for our Manila-Nagoya flight. And sadly I couldn't remember how it tasted.

3. Singapore Airlines
        Theres nothing extraordinary with what they offered. Its just the common laksa or beef and chicken set meals.

I will try to review some more airline meals in my next post as I would like to accompany my claims with pics.

SEIRYU RAMEN

Ive been bracing the cold this days... and beginning to hate winter again.. brrrrrrr but on this particular tuesday night hubby and I have this brutal, healthy cold blowing craving for ramen in Shin Koiwa...the one we frequent when we need a good slurp of a good thing.

Seiryu Ramen house is like a hole in the wall resto near Shin Koiwa eki.But dont be fooled by its exterior coz the moment you sit down in their 8 seater counter stools, you will be transported to a different experience of eating ramen.

In entering a ramen house in Japan, please observe some manners. If you see some free space you are free to go ahead and take a seat without waiting to be ushered. Then the staff  will  cry out in unison ”Irashaimase” which losely translated  thanks for choosing our shop, or welcome to our restaurant”, this does not require a reply.

Ordering Ramen is as easy as saying ” Ramen Onegaishimasu”, the third word being the equivalent of “please” in English(pronounced ‘on-egg-eye-she-mus’, the “mus” is same as “must” but without the “t”, and is said quickly with no pauses).

With your ramen you’ll be given a glass of cold water, or will be free to help yourself at the water dispenser,  On your table or counter you’ll find some chop sticks (hashi), as well as extras like pepper, chili flakes and extra soy sauce for those that like their Ramen with a touch more kung fu.

Ramen is a hearty meal during the cold or even during summer with a price tag around ￥800 per bowl, it represents great value for your money. There are many ramen shops in the city and suburbs so you should have no trouble finding one. Please note that depending on the shop, you may be seated at a table, the counter or may be required to wait a little while for a seat

VERDICT: ramen here is so addictingly good and healthy that my husband can finish up to 3 noodle serving in one sitting.

Location: 2 minutes by car from Shin Koiwa eki  (in front of Koiwa Animal Hospital)
                  5 minutes walk from Shin Koiwa eki via Sobu line.

Food and Travels

I have been blessed with a good pair of feet to walk the world, an unassuming taste bud to taste, and the means to do all these things.


So for my first entry on this blog, let me share this different quotes on travelling....

"For my part, I travel not to go anywhere, but to go. I travel for travel's sake. The great affair is to move; to feel the needs and hitches of our life more nearly; to come down off this feather-bed of civilization, and find the globe granite underfoot and strewn with cutting flints." -Robert Louis Stevenson

"If you come to a fork in the road, take it." -Yogi Berra


"Clay lies still, but blood's a rover; Breath's aware that will not keep. Up, lad: when the journey's over then there'll be time enough to sleep." -A.E. Housman 1859-1936: A Shropshire Lad


"A good traveller has no fixed plan and is not intent on arriving." -Lao Tzu


"Tourists don't know where they've been, travellers don't know where they're going." -Paul Theroux


"To awaken quite alone in a strange town is one of the pleasantest sensations in the world." -Freya Stark


"The use of travelling is to regulate imagination by reality.. -Samuel Johnson


"Your true traveller finds boredom rather agreeable than painful. It is the symbol of his liberty-his excessive freedom. He accepts his boredom, when it comes, not merely philosophically, but almost with pleasure." -Aldous Huxley


"The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeing new landscapes, but in having new eyes." -Marcel Proust


"I am going away with him to an unknown country where I shall have no past and no name, and where I shall be born again with a new face and an untried heart." -Colette


" the open road is a beckoning, a strangeness, a place where a man can lose himself." -William Least Heat Moon (William Trogdon)




A good holiday is one that is spent among people whose notions of time are vaguer than yours." -J. B. Priestley




"I have found out that there ain't no surer way to find out whether you like people or hate them than to travel with them." -Mark Twain


"He who does not travel does not know the value of men." -Moorish proverb


"The best and most beautiful things in the world cannot be seen or even touched. They must be felt with the heart." -Helen Keller


"Our Nature lies in movement; complete calm is death." -Pascal, Pensées


"Stripped of your ordinary surroundings, your friends, your daily routines, your refrigerator full of food, your closet full of clothes - with all this taken away, you are forced into direct experience. Such direct experience inevitably makes you aware of who it is that is having the experience. That's not always comfortable, but it is always invigorating." -Michael Crichton 

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