What? Horse Sashimi? mmmmm OISHI!

So the other night a few people from work went out for dinner.  It was an awesome Izakaya (Japanese word for Tapas or PuPus) place in Roppongi (name of restaurant to come later) and we tried a variety of great dishes.  One of the dishes we tried was Horse Sashimi!  what????  Horse Sashimi?  Who eats Horse?  Well, I didn't know what to think when I saw it on the table?  What would it taste like?  What may be strange to me who is Chinese and enjoys eating Chicken Feet must be extremely weird for everyone else.  With a little hesitation, I tried it and actually enjoyed it!  Oishi!

Horse Sashimi is called called sakura (桜) or sakuraniku (桜肉, sakura means cherry blossom, niku means meat) because of the meat’s pink colour. It is very chewy and can be served raw as very chewy sashimi in thin slices dipped in soy sauce, often with ginger and onions added. In this case, it is called basashi (Japanese: 馬刺し). Fat, typically from the neck, is also found as basashi, though it is white, not pink. Horse meat is also sometimes found on menus for yakiniku (a type of barbecue), where it is called baniku (lit., horse meat) or bagushi (lit., skewered horse); thin slices of raw horse meat are sometimes served wrapped in a shiso leaf. 

As I said in my introduction, I hope to share my experiences with all of you.  Food, will definitely be a heavy topic as I experience Japan firsthand.

A bed, a sofa, a coffee table, and a TV stand???

To continue on from yesterday's post I know I mentioned I'd tell you what I could fit into such a small place. Well here you go, see the pictures :) When I first moved here, my real estate agent and I kept on moving the bed around in different corners of my room to see how we could maximize space. Hmmm how much space can be maximized you ask by shifting around a bed??? A lot! I finally settled on a floor pan that would enable me to sleep parallel to my couch in the direction I would watch TV as you can see in the pic. The bed is about 140cm wide and the couch is about 135, a nice two seater that can actually only fit one -- ME.

When one moved to Japan, you have to know the spots to check out to furnish your place. Places that I visited was Ikea of course, but along with Ikea there are great furniture places in Japan that have great little things for your little place. Stores like Muji where I purchased storage containers that hold clothes, valuables, and dirty laundry. The Loft in Shibuya where I purchased my sofa for only around $350 USD. And other random stores like Bic Camera, a superstore near Shimbashi station where i bought a bunch of household goods, and Ikea in Yokohama where I purchased nearly everything else. All in, I don't think I dropped that much on my place, you'll be surprised with how nice you can make your place once you simplify your lifestyle.

I hope you enjoy the pictures and for those looking to move to Japan, 26 sq meters is actually on the larger end. I have seen much smaller!

Aloha!

How can I fit in 26 square meters (280 sq feet)??

How can I fit in 26 square meters I asked myself? Not only was I not used to the metric system but who could anyone fit in 280 square foot flat and still be comfortable? Where I come from, minimum studio sizes that I look for to rent in the bay area are at least 750 square feet, nearly 3x that of my place so when I started to pack for my move I made sure to pack just the essentials.

Well in Japan or Tokyo specifically, everything is made for small places. From miniature iron boards and irons, too book shelves that fit only three books per shelf and are about 15 cm wide. I wanted to live as close to the way I lived in the states as possible, a flat screen TV, a decent size bed as I am well over 6 feet, a sofa, coffee table, night stand, and a floor lamp. Hmm but how do I squeeze all of that in my 170sq feet of living space (space not including the bathroom and mini kitchen). Well I say, take a look at the floor plan. Yes, you're reading right, I measured my living space in centimeters! Welcome to Tokyo! :)

I will share how I arranged my room in a following blog, more to come, stay tuned!

Morning commute to Roppongi HIlls from Minami Aoyama

Hello all and Good Afternoon Tokyo time. Ever come from a place where you take the car everywhere and drive yourself 20 steps away from your office door? Well that doesn't really happen in downtown Tokyo. This morning the bus was exceptionally crowded on my way to my office in Roppongi Hills. Our company recently moved to Roppongi, an area known for a great nightlife as well as foreign companies. In fact, companies such as Goldman Sachs, Barclays, Google, and other well known US and European brand names base their Tokyo presence out of Roppongi Hills.

So, I live 3 stops away from my Roppongi Hills office in this area called Minami Aoyama. The bus stop to be exact is Aoyama Gakuin Chutobumae. Which is the local University in Aoyama. I live off of Roppongi dori (street) which is a major thruway in Tokyo. The bus that I take comes from Shibuya station so every morning and evening its very crowded as commuters pile in and out of the inner circle of Tokyo for work. My commute to work only takes a few minutes and many Japanese locals are very envious of the short commute, but unlike many of them I don't have a family so I only need 26 square meters to live in.

My stop is the first stop on its route and as you can see, this morning was very crowded. As you can tell, I am in the left-hand corner of the bus (the only one allowed to fit in as only one got out at my stop) the driver is on the right-hand side unlike the United States. It's only packed like this for one stop though as about 50% pile out at Minami-Aoyama. Five minutes later, I am at my stop: Roppongi Hills.

Enjoy!

Hello and welcome to Tokyo, Japan

Hi Everyone,

I recently moved here from the San Francisco, California where I enjoyed the amazing weather the Bay Area had to offer along with its rich culture and educated people. I recently moved to Tokyo to take on a new role at work where I am beginning to learn the culture an immerse myself in my new home. Please follow my blog as I will bring you a piece of my life. I hope you enjoy it.

all the best!