Merry Christmas!

Wishing all my family & friends a

very Merry Christmas!

I decided to cook at home so we are staying in with:

Tonight's gonna be a good night♪

Most definitely.

CHEERS!

P.S. Notice the Tokyo-sized Poinsettia. Cute!

Nagasaka Sarashina Soba

I love Soba.

To fulfill my cravings, I often go to

Nagasaka Sarashina (永坂更科) in Azabu Juban.

Interior.

My favorite, Natto Soba.

They also have excellent seasonal side dishes.

This is Buri-Daikon.

Totally off subject...

so excited about Matsui coming to my hometown team!

Go Angels!

(Although I'm sad that Figgins is leaving...)

Christmas Decorations

Christmas decorations here are so pretty!

Blacows

While I'm on the subject of burgers,

last week I went to try Blacows (ブラッカウズ) for lunch.

I randomly found it walking around and had wanted to try it.

Its produced by Yazawa Meat, supposedly a famous meat company

and the patty is 100% Kuroge Wagyuu (Japanese Beef).

As an added bonus, their buns are made by Maison Kayser,

one of my favorite bread stores.

Exterior.

Interior.

Menu.

Lunch Cheese Burger.

It also comes with a small salad to start

because there is no vege in the burger.

I must say the burger was really good,

although I prefer lettuce, tomato and some vege in my burger.

But the size of the patty was a little too much, couldn't finish it.

And... it's a bit pricy.

The Great Burger

Never really had it in the states,

but ever since coming to Tokyo, I've had burger cravings.

The Great Burger in Harajuku has fulfilled them.

Interior.

Really cute decor.

Lunch Burger.

Mozzarella Burger. Yuum.

UP

After it comes out on DVD in the states,

came out in Japan this weekend...FINALLY!

(しかもタイトルが、カールじいさんの空飛ぶ家…そのまま過ぎない？！）

I was just going to wait to watch it on DVD,

but my sister really recommended watching it in 3D...

and I'm glad she did because I LOVED it!

Doug was so cute!

On a side note,

this new commercial is currently my fave!

♪お湯入れて～　ふた開けて～　太！！

Grand Prix Figure Skating Championships

Watched the Grand Prix Figure Skating Championships last night.

I've always loved figure skating ever since I was a kid.

The only figure skating I've seen live was Disney on Ice...

but competitions were so intense. Especially championships.

Watching it live was totally different than watching it on TV.

I was so moved by all the peformances.

Rainy Yoyogi Stadium.

Luckily, one of our friends worked with a promoter so

she hooked us up with EXCELLENT seats right behind the judges!

Senior Ladies Champion, Kim Yu-Na.

She was amazing!

Our kind friend also gave us tickets to the VIP Lounge

where you go in between the exhibitions for...

all you can drink champagne...

really good food...

and desserts!

They also had displays of old ice skates and costumes.

Sakura Sakura

I saw Sakura Sakura (さくらさくら)

on many foodie magazines and always wanted to try.

It's Kyoto cuisine and their specialty is their udon noodles.

Usually udon is made of flour and water. Not here.

Their udon is made from flour, soymilk and yuba.

京都のお料理は薄味で大好き！

Its hidden in a residential area.

Walk through the garden to enter.

Since Yuba seems like their specialty,

we ordered the Yuba Sashimi to start.

It was so milky and the presentation was so pretty.

Their specialty, Kyo-Dejiru Udon (京出汁うどん).

The udon had such a nice texture and

the broth was so light and was the perfect match to the noodles.

Will definitely go back!

銀杏並木

I love Ichou Trees (Ginkgo, which doesn't sound pretty)

as they change colors in the fall.

The contrast of the dark stems and yellow leaves is so beautiful.

Although its cold here in Tokyo, kouyo (紅葉) came a bit late.
I took these near my house last weekend.