Sunday, February 3, 2008, 04:29 AM - Food
Just a quick catchup for all of you who don't read Lisa's blog or need a recap because I only post on 2 month centers as Marc so statistically pointed out: After Bangladesh, we went to Hawaii for a week, spent Christmas and New Years at home, got sent to Korea for a week on 8 hours notice, and am now in Thailand. Nice recap.
I've decided that when I eat at a restaurant that I would like to go back to in the future (especially those in foreign countries) that I will blog about them in my own personal review. Hence: Bassaracum.
The Internet told me that this restaurant was excellent and has been since the 1980s, serving primarily "Royal Thai Cuisine". You can read all about that on their website if you click on the "related link" below.
So tonight, I drug my friends all the way over there to check it out. It turned out to be a very elegant restaurant in an unlikely setting. More of a cross street than an alley, but it sure felt like an alley. The people were exceedingly pleasant and eager to serve. As appetizers we tried the Chicken Sate with peanut sauce (of course), shrimp spring rolls, Krathong Thong (like a pastry cup with shrimp, pork, corn, and peas). For my main course, I had massaman curry (in Lisa's honor since it's her favorite). It was outstanding...I dare say even the best I've ever had. To top it all off, we shared a mango and sticky rice dessert (which my faithful followers should know is one of our favorite desserts of all time).
In review: weird location, great atmosphere, pleasant people, outstanding food, good price. The total bill for three people with drinks and everything came out to be around $65. So this is inline with the cost to eat in any of the big western hotels here, but more expensive than a non-tourist restaurant. I'd give it 5 stars and would go back there again.
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Monday, July 2, 2007, 10:55 PM - Family, Nathan, Lisa, PC, Food, Japan
Well, Lisa and Nathan successfully made it back to the States yesterday/today. We got to the airport an hour and a half early (normally that's WAY too early, but we figured Nathan would like to play on the inside playground for a while). As soon as we walked in the terminal, we saw like 500 people in a line that snaked across all of the ANA counters and into the middle of the building. We looked at each other in utter disbelief...never has it been so busy in our small little airport!!
Lisa waited in line with all the stuff while Nathan and I went and changed his diaper, played on the airplane playground, watched the airplanes and airport trucks drive around the tarmac, etc. It wasn't until 11:20am that Lisa finally got up to the counter (for a 12:00pm flight)!!! After about 20 minutes, Lisa got all their tickets AND an ANA escort to take them to the plane. I couldn't go past security, so it was kind of a quick goodbye. After talking to Lisa today, she said that the airline lady walked them all the way to their seats and helped install the car seat too!!
I'll let Lisa tell the rest of the story on her blog, but that's the beginning part.
So, what did I do with my new found bachelorhood? Mowed the lawn, cleaned the house, read my book, and tried a GREAT new ramen restaurant. I'd been wanting to go there for the last year or so, but it just never worked out (they open late). Anyway, the place is basically a shack on the side of the road but their ramen is awesome! Just like the stuff we had in Sapporo. The have a set menu where you choose what type of ramen you want (soy sauce, miso, etc) and you get a drink, gyoza, japanese salad, and garlic fried rice all for about $8. Definitely a keeper.
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Sunday, July 23, 2006, 03:15 AM - Family, Nathan, Food, Pictures
Lisa stole most of the wind from my sail because she posted her update first and included some pictures. Well...I'm including them ALL!!! See the related link for the pictures.
BTW, note the picture below of the three of us in front of the table where Nathan and I were picking our noses. Nathan started it!!!
;)
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Tuesday, July 18, 2006, 08:08 PM - Family, Food, Japan, Pictures
Sorry, I'm a fair-weather-blogger, so I haven't posted in a while. That's what Lisa is for!!! Anyway, as you already saw from her blog, we went to the Nago Pineapple Park and Pizza in the Sky this weekend. Click on the related like for all of our pictures.[ 2 comments ] ( 26 views ) | [ 0 trackbacks ] | permalink | related link
Sunday, July 9, 2006, 04:18 PM - Food, Japan
One more blog post for the morning then it's back to playing with Nathan. Right now he's entertaining himself with watching Baby Einstein, playing with his toys, and pooping all at the same time 
;)
Izakaya's are basically Japanese style pubs. They're informal drinking establishments that serve finger food like sushi, tempura, noodles, etc in family style dishes. The food is usually pretty cheap and really good. I thought they started in Okinawa, but I'll have to double check that fact. Here are some links for more info:
Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Izakaya
Slashfood has an article about them: http://www.slashfood.com/2006/07/07/iza ... shi-in-la/
Anzuya - chain that we like on Okinawa: http://www.anzuya.jp/index.html
When you come visit us, expect to go to one!
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Sunday, June 25, 2006, 09:43 PM - Family, Food, Japan, Pictures
I love being a day late on my blogging. It suits me
;)
As you already read on Lisa's blog, we went to Gala yesterday. That place is freaking awesome!! Click on the related link at the end of this entry for their english website. It's basically a salt factory and you can also blow glass and make pottery there! They've got a gift shop, a pizza place, an ice cream shop, and a japanese restaurant that does yakiniku outside! That's my new favorite place to take people.
Here are the pictures from yesterday: http://www.thedrews.net/pix/index.php?aid=104
;)
One of the things that Lisa pointed out while we were eating our Taco Pizza (pictured here) was that the pizza was cooked, then cut into pieces, spread a part a little bit, and THEN the lettuce, tomato, and cheese were added to each individual piece! You gotta love the Japanese! Nathan had a plate of Gohan with his taco pizza of course.
;)
Lisa, Nathan, and I shared a melon soda slurpee and a coconut ice cream as well. Naturally, because we were eating it, Nathan needed some too. I guess he likes cocunut ice cream, huh?
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Monday, June 19, 2006, 03:39 AM - Family, Food, Japan, Pictures
This morning, Jeff and I got up at 3am to watch the USA vs Italy World Cup game. We played pretty well until the last 10-15 minutes of the game. It seemed like all the players just quit. Except for Keller, the goalie. He seemed to have been pretty bad the whole game except for the last 10-15 minutes. The ref made some bad calls also, which will affect our next game against Ghana.
After that, I came back over here and played with Nathan for a little while. Then he went down for his nap (early again). After that, we went to Tropical Beach again and took Nathan swimming. He wasn't so sure about the water...but who is at first? He has kind of the same expressions as when he first started taking baths. No doubt, he'll grow into it.
It ended up being a beautiful day for the beach. The water was perfect, the clouds blocked most of the sun, and there was enough moisture in the air to not make you feel cold after you get out of the water.
Go ahead and read Lisa's post for all the cool insight into Nathan's beach-side eating habits. For pictures, click on the related link below.
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Wednesday, May 24, 2006, 02:12 AM - Family, Nathan, Food, Japan
See, I told you he was Gohan Boy!!!
Click the related link below for more pictures.
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Sunday, May 21, 2006, 10:42 PM - Family, Nathan, PC, Food, Japan
Nathan Loves Rice. Period. End of blog entry. Just kidding, I'll bore you to death with a little bit more info . So Nathan and I spent the day together without Mama because she was at a baby shower for our neighbor. We attempted to try a new taco stand on the sea wall to determine if it is better than our favorite taco restaurant "Tacos Mexico", but it was closed.
After spending about 15 minutes walking around the sea wall and giving Nathan a tan, we hopped back into the Habu and went to Jusco. We ended up in the food court so he could finish his lunch and I could start mine. I was in the mood for Mexican food, so naturally I ordered the Okinawan favorite: taco rice.
As I was holding bite sized pieces of toast and cheese for Nathan, he watched me eat my taco rice. Of course, being the observant guy that he is, he realized that he was NOT eating taco rice and I was. A few cries/whimpers later, I rectified the situation and put some of my lunch onto his plate. That quickly turned into him eating almost half of my rice. As I said, he is now Gohan Boy: Super Hero of Japan.
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Saturday, May 20, 2006, 03:38 PM - Food, Japan
Last night we went to the Transit Cafe for dinner. I had $200 in Yen in my wallet, so we knew we could go anywhere! Of course Lisa's immediate choice was Ono Kau Kau, which is her favorite restaurant on the island. On our way there, however, she remembered that we wanted to try this place called the Transit Cafe that's on the second story of a building along the Sunabe Sea Wall. So, I whipped the car around and we headed there. The place is really neat architecturally and has an amazing view of the water and sunset.
Anyway, Lisa ordered the "abagabo salad" (otherwise known as avacado salad) and I ordered the bacon, salami, and sauasage (aka hotdog) pizza. I should've gotten the vibe when we first walked in that this was a "sit down and relax" kind of place, but that thought never came to me until AFTER we waited 45 minutes for our food. Nathan was really hungry, so we kept feeding him the food we brought for him. Unfortuantely, since we thought we were going to Ono Kau Kau (which has really fast service), we didn't bring a lot of food with us. Just some peas, squash, and the Gerber puffs that he eats as a snack.
Needless to say, Nathan started to get a bit fussy about 30 minutes into it (after we ran out of most of his food). It was also a bit windier on the deck than we thought it would be. Add to that the fact that Nathan's third tooth is coming in and he was tired. So, Lisa made the command decision to get the food to go. Lisa took Nathan to the car and I paid for the food and waited for it to be finished. They packed up the abagabo salad in a normal to go box and the pizza in a cut up cereal box with aluminum foil in it and we left.
We got home, put Nathan on the floor to play for a bit, and ate our elegant cuisine out of to go packages on our messy dining room table! The food ended up being really good and we decided that we'd go back again, but under a little bit different circumstances. If you're looking for a yuppy place to relax and have good food with a beautiful view, the Transit Cafe is a great place. If you're looking for a quick, baby friendly place to eat, maybe the better choice is Ono Kau Kau.
Follow the "related link" below this entry to see the Transit Cafe website which has some pictures.
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