Vegan - Cascadian Abroad

Things We Eat: Dining Out Edition

July 1, 2014 by Robert Haddan

We had a couple breakthroughs in our eating out adventures in the last couple weeks. I’ve mentioned before that it’s tough to find a vegetarian meal in Japan without going to a speciality shop, which are also few and far between. The awesome website vegi-navi.jp is starting to change that. Sites like Happy Cow are great, but they tend to focus on vegetarian/vegan-only places. Vegi-Navi adds in the local places that might have only a single veg meal on the menu, which is all you need sometimes.

Kick-Ass Thai — The sign under this Thai boxer says they have “World-Famous Thai Food.” I’m not gonna argue…

We were in Tokyo last week and ended up getting a couple good meals out. First stop was Tinun, a Thai place in Omotesando across from the Toyko Metro station. The lunch menu was NOT vegetarian-friendly, but the waiter was very helpful. We explained our eating preference and together we came up with a couple dishes that could be modified. We ended up with Pad Thai with tofu and a Thai Fried Rice. Both were really good.

Taiwanese Food — This Taiwanese place was a hole-in-the-wall down a side street. Always the best!

We were back in Ikebukuro around dinner time, so we headed toward one of the places we’d pre-mapped. We came out the wrong station exit, but fortunately I recognized the landmarks for another place we’d pre-mapped! According to vegi-navi, it’s called SENJOUTEUCHIGYOUZATEN. The poster inside the three-table restaurant said “Sen Jou Dumplings,” which is both accurate and easier to say.

The owner, I’m quite certain, sold us the veggie gyoza at the Taiwan Festival we attended in our first week in Japan. Her first question was “Are you vegetarian?” which was a good sign. She had a nice mix of veggie and meat options, but two complete vegetarian set options. We ordered one of each and got a table-load of food. Multi-colored gyoza, rice, veggies, soup and a mock-meat stir fry.

As we left, she introduced us to the cook—who also happened to be her mother. I told her we were already contemplating what we’d order next time.

The best find, purely for convenience purposes, might have been Tempura Tendon Tenya. Located in Crea Mall, the open-air shopping hub in the heart of central Kawagoe, they have a full English menu (!!) and several set options. The rice set comes with all-you-can-eat rice and noodle sets are also available with soba or udon. The only “oops” in the meal was some dried fish shavings (katsuobushi) on the spinach, but it was easily brushed aside.

Last weekend, we headed west (without our camera) on the JR Kawagoe train for the first time, pointed toward Alishan Organic Cafe in Hidaka City. Only three stops and a bus ride from our station, this will be a return destination. The cafe menu is 100% vegetarian and mixes a standard menu with seasonal specialties. We ordered a donburi bowl (rice bowl) with mock-meat and veggies and a teriyaki veggie burger. Both came with a salad and fried panko-crusted potato ball. Excellent, clean-tasting food. They also have a small store with hard-to-find organic and vegetarian products.

I really enjoy cooking at home, but it’s also nice to find some places for those days where cooking just isn’t in the cards.

Spicy Kabocha Coconut Soup

June 26, 2014 by Robert Haddan

We had some friends over the other day and played a “How well do you know ______?” game. We had 10 questions and each person had to answer for the other people in the room. One of the questions was “What is ______’s favorite food?” One of the people guessed “soup” for me. While the correct answer is “pizza,” I do enjoy a good soup.

When I shared the Mapo Tofu recipe a few weeks ago, I invited folks to offer up their favorite recipes and I’d take a stab at making them with vegetarian ingredients.

Cascadian Pugs sent me a recipe for Thai Coconut Soup. The original recipe came from St. Innocent Winery, a beautiful vineyard west of Salem, OR. With the exception of the chicken stock, the recipe was already vegetarian, but I tweaked it to utilize some of Japan’s local ingredients.

For example, the original recipe called for butternut squash, which I replaced with kabocha (Japanese pumpkin). Kabocha can be found in the U.S. (quite readily in Oregon) and are small-ish, green winter squash. They’re naturally sweet and make a great snack all by themselves when cooked. I also substituted the cayenne pepper for seven-spice chili powder (shichimi), which adds some unique flavors like orange peel and nori (dried seaweed) to the mix.

This turned out fantastic! I halved the original recipe, only because I didn’t know how to convert the original 2.5 lbs. of butternut squash to grams at the grocery store. 🙂 This batch yielded two thick, hearty servings. If you like your soup a bit more “soupy,” you could stretch this to four servings by streaming in additional broth during the blending process to get the desired texture. Enjoy!

Spicy Kabocha Coconut Soup

Ingredients

1 tbsp olive oil
1.25 pounds Kabocha Pumpkin, peeled, seeded, and cut into chunks
1/2 diced large yellow sweet onion
3 cloves garlic
2 tbsp minced fresh peeled ginger
1/2 teaspoon shichimi (seven-spice chili powder) or cayenne pepper
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
1 teaspoon curry powder
1 cup vegetable stock (or vegetarian chicken stock)
1/2 13.5 ounce can coconut milk
Toasted pumpkin seeds for garnish – chopped

Prep

Chop and set aside. You can combine some ingredients in the same container:
- Onion
- Kabocha
- Garlic and ginger
Measure and set aside:
- Shichimi
- Sea salt and curry powder
- Vegetable stock

Cook

In a large skillet or stock pot, heat 1 tablespoon of olive oil over medium heat.
Add onions and cook for about two minutes until they begin to soften.
Add the garlic and ginger. Cook and stir until the onions turn translucent.
Add shichimi and 1/4 cup of the stock. Stir and bring to a boil.
Stir in the kabocha, salt and curry powder. Cook for about 10 minutes, stirring every couple minutes.
Add the rest of the stock and increase the heat to medium-high. Cover and bring to a boil.
Lower the heat to medium-low and simmer for 20 minutes. Stir every five minutes, mashing the mixture each time until smooth.
Add the coconut milk and simmer for another 10 minutes.
Remove from heat and add to a blender, or use a stick blender, to puree the soup until smooth.
Reheat and season with salt.
Garnish with toasted pumpkin seeds.

Naan makes a nice side to this or, to add additional protein, you can cube firm tofu and serve the soup over the tofu. This recipe is also great cold, perfect for a summer meal.

Care Package

June 17, 2014 by Robert Haddan

About 10 minutes before leaving the house for our weekend trip to Fukuoka, the doorbell rang. It was the mailman with a care package from home! Huge thanks to Cascadian Pugs for finding some things we’ve been missing and adding a few surprises as well.

I managed to unpack the box just enough to throw a few train/plane snacks in the backpack before heading out the door.

Jerquee Wild — We’re wild for Wild-flavor Jerquee!

Among the goodies within:

Trader Joe’s vegan chocolate chip cookies (awesome because they’re vegan, but mostly because they taste good!)
Stonewall’s Jerquee Original Wild vegan jerky
Kirkland salt and pepper pistachios
Chocolate covered bing cherries
Dark-chocolate covered almonds
Dark-chocolate covered coconut

Three cheers for Pugs and some hard-to-find treats from home. Thanks again!

Plum Rain

June 9, 2014 by Robert Haddan

Monsoon season is officially upon us. There’s been a glorious break in the rain this morning after four straight days of downpour. The rainy season is called tsuyu, or “plum rain” as it coincides with the plums beginning to ripen. Apparently we can expect this ark-worthy rain until mid-July.

On Saturday, we braved the elements and headed to Shibuya in search of Kuumba du Falafel. A wrong turn out of the train station sent us in the opposite direction, so no falafels for us, but we’ll try again someday. Apparently the owner of the restaurant begrudgingly serves some of the best falafels in Tokyo. An interview quoted him as saying “If there was somewhere else that sold [good falafel], I’d close this immediately and go and eat there every day instead.” Reviews say the service is rough and the owner closes the shop at random, but it’s all worth it for the food. We’ll see!

Luckily, in a bit of serendipity, we ended up near another restaurant we’d been wanting to try, but was closed on our first attempt. Nagi Shokudo vegan restaurant is buried under the sidewalk on a back street in Shibuya. It’s a tough find, but having stumbled upon it once before, we were able to find it pretty easily this time.

The food was fantastic. We ordered the “A” set and the choose-your-own set. Both came with a cup of miso soup and bowl of brown rice. The “A” set was a deep-fried soy meat sautéed in a dark soy sauce with green onions alongside a green salad and a relish plate. There were several options for the choose-your-own set. We had tofu curry, deep-fried soy meat in chili sauce and falafel.

I get the sense it’s popular with vegan/vegetarian tourists as another group of Americans came in after us, but there were also a few Japanese people having lunch. We’re learning more and more that vegetarianism is not a popular or even well-known diet in Japan, despite the country’s Buddhist history and the Buddhist’s traditional vegan diet (shōjin ryōri). It’s certainly not experiencing the trend-bump that the diet has seen in the U.S. in recent years.

After lunch, we did what one does in Shibuya and hit the shops. I gather it’ll be a popular rain-dodging activity in the next few weeks. The best stop was on the food level of the Shin-Q Department Store across from Shibuya Station. An excellent wine shop sampled some New Zealand wines, a couple of which we brought back with us. We completed a very French dinner menu with a loaf of rustic bread from one of the bakeries and a wedge of stinky brie from a cheese vendor.

All in all a successful rainy day in Tokyo. Hopefully we’ll have a few more dry days mixed in before cabin fever sets in.

Mapo Tofu

May 27, 2014 by Robert Haddan

Cooking is something I always wished I had more time to do. I love to collect recipes and try new things, especially modifying existing recipes to make them vegetarian-friendly. With all my free time here, I finally get to spend some time experimenting with new recipes.

The first known recipe is thought to be from an Akkadian tablet circa 1600 B.C., transcribed to a clay tablet that could be passed down through the family or shared with neighbors. That clay tablet gave way to paper, index cards and eventually the internet.

Still, word of mouth is a great way to get new recipe ideas. What do other people love to make? Leave a comment and maybe your idea will be the basis of a future blog post!

Last night’s dinner was inspired by one of Viktoria’s students. Mapo tofu is a Chinese Sichuan recipe that gained popularity in post-war Japan as a less-spicy, sweeter interpretation. It’s as ubiquitous in Japanese homes as macaroni and cheese in the U.S., so much so that “instant mapo tofu” is available in the grocery store. Much of the flavor and rich color comes from tobanjan, a spicy chili bean sauce.

Traditional mapo tofu recipes have oyster sauce and ground meat (pork or beef), so here’s a vegetarian take inspired by this recipe from Viet World Kitchen.

Mapo Tofu (makes 3-4 servings)

Ingredients

1 cup textured soy protein flakes (resembling ground beef)
1 package super-firm tofu
soy sauce
tobanjan sauce (spicy chili bean sauce)
sugar
extra virgin olive oil
cornstarch or flour (for thickener)
boiled water
whole peppercorns
4-5 medium-sized shitake mushrooms, finely chopped
fresh ginger
green onions

Note: When I make stir-fry recipes, I like to prepare the ingredients in advance, especially when using a wok. These recipes cook fast, so there’s not a lot of time to chop, measure and mix along the way.

Prep

Put the textured soy protein in a bowl and cover with boiling water. Let sit for 10-15 minutes until tender, then drain the water in a colander or strainer. Mix 3/4 teaspoon of soy sauce into the drained textured soy protein.
Drain the tofu and cut into approximately 1-inch cubes. Cover with boiling water. Let sit for 10-15 minutes until tender, then drain the water. (Note: I used a pre-fried tofu, so I didn’t need to boil it, but fresh super-firm tofu will work fine.)
Reserve 1 1/3 cup of boiled water for making the sauce.
Finely chop the shitake mushrooms and mix in 3/4 teaspoon of soy sauce.
In a frying pan, toast the whole peppercorns over medium heat until fragrant. Let cool slightly and grind roughly with a spice grinder or pestle/mortar.
Mix 1 teaspoon of sugar with 1 teaspoon of soy sauce.
Grate/microplane about 1 teaspoon of fresh ginger. Combine with 3 tablespoons of tobanjan sauce.
Dilute 1 tablespoon of flour or cornstarch with three tablespoons of water.
Slice 2-3 green onions on a diagonal cut.

Cook

In a wok or skillet, heat 2 tablespoons of oil over medium heat.
Add the chopped mushrooms and textured soy protein to the pan and sauté for about a minute until mushrooms start to cook down.
Add the ginger and tobanjan. Mix continuously until combined. The mixture should now have a deep red appearance.
Add in the sugar/soy sauce mixture and stir to combine.
Add the tofu and stir to combine.
Add the 1 1/3 cup of reserved water to the pan and bring to a rolling simmer. Cook for about 3 minutes to allow flavors to meld. Taste the sauce and add more sugar as desired.
Add the green onion to the pan and combine.
Stir in the flour/cornstarch mixture and simmer until the sauce begins to thicken.
Stir in the ground peppercorns, remove from heat and let sit for about five minutes before serving.

Mapo tofu served over brown rice with a side salad

Serve over rice and enjoy!

Island Time

May 26, 2014 by Robert Haddan

As I’ve mentioned before, getting around without a smartphone in Japan requires a lot of planning. Before heading somewhere new, I spend a lot of time on Google Maps. Each trip usually includes a new lesson about what not to do next time.

This past weekend, we headed to a new-to-us part of Tokyo. The final destination was to be the Tokyo Island Fair in Hamamatsucho, preceded by a lunchtime stop at Island Veggie, a Hawaiian-style macrobiotic restaurant in Hiroo.

The “mile walk” from the train station to Hiroo was probably closer to two miles. We walked right past the restaurant once and also found a train station about a block away. Add “don’t trust ‘fewer transfers’ on Google Maps” to the list of lessons learned. But, on the sunny side, we saw some cool stuff along the way, including some awesome architecture.

Cracked building — A modern glass building appears to be hatching from this standard concrete structure.

Eventually we did find Island Veggie and enjoyed a great vegan lunch. The menu was entirely in English and the staff spoke it perfectly, which is always a nice surprise at meal time. We’ll definitely be back to try more of the menu. On this day, we had a teriyaki veggie burger, a falafel burger with fries, a soy milkshake and homemade lemonade. Healthy-naughty food is always a treat.

Since the walk to Hiroo was more than we bargained for, we decided to take the train to Hamamatsucho instead of walking as we’d originally planned. The first stop on the line was Roppongi, Tokyo’s high-end midtown, which we’d been meaning to check out. We jumped off the train and did a lap, which is about all Roppongi deserved as far as I could tell. It was a lot of shopping and eating, but the open-air mall near the station did have some decent views.

Tokyo Tower and a park with a heart are visible from the Roppongi Hills complex. A playground with multiple slide options is part of the residential section of the mall.

Back on the train, we headed for the waterfront and our original destination. The Tokyo Island Fair highlighted the food and culture of the Izu and Ogasawara islands. These islands were formed volcanically, so they’ve never been part of the continent. As a result, they’ve evolved on their own and feature plant and animal life unique to the islands. The Ogasawara chain is known as the “Galapagos of the Orient” and was named a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2011.

The festival was held at Takeshiba Ferry Terminal. The terminal serves all of the small islands and opens up into Tokyo Bay, which is connected to the Pacific Ocean. I’m not big on astrology, but I’m an aquarius, the water sign. I love the Willamette Valley, but if I didn’t get to the ocean about once a month, I’d start to get a little claustrophobic. It had been about three months since I’d last seen real water, so this was a treat. A little spiritual cleansing.

Selfie — A little water time on the Takeshiba waterfront.

Unbeknownst to us, our real reason for coming to Japan is to try ALL of the ice cream. This milk ice, made on Izu Oshima island, was fantastic. The best way to describe most Japanese ice cream is that it tastes “clean.” I’m sure an island with an active volcano that last erupted in 1990 could use a good milk ice.

As with any place in Japan, the best treats are usually at the front of the longest line. Well, there’s another theory out the window. The front of this line had snails. Giant snails. Still in their shell. Looking like some sort of hose in the engine of a souped-up car. Suffice to say, we skipped that line.

What are these mollusks? Snails. That’s right… giant, nasty snails.

There were plenty of activities to keep the kiddies entertained as well.

Fishtank — Kids gather around a tank with baby sharks and rays from the islands.

Painting — Kids paint little figurines as part of the Island Fair activities.

When we got off the train in Hamamatsucho, we saw the Tokyo Tower, another landmark on our to-do list. Two birds, one stone… great! The tower is Japan’s second-tallest structure with a design inspired by the Eiffle Tower, although slightly de-classed by the industrial white and safety-orange paint job.

Zōjō-ji temple, a beautiful Buddhist temple, separated us from the Tokyo Tower. Much of Zōjō-ji was destroyed in World War II. The oldest structure on the grounds, Sangedatsu Gate, was built in 1622. Walking through the gate will free a person from greed, hate and foolishness.

We finally arrived at Tokyo Tower where dozens of other tourists joined us in taking up-the-nose pictures trying to get the whole tower in the frame. 1,420 yen (about $14 USD) will get you a great view of the city from the observation deck, but we’d seen enough of Tokyo for one day and headed home.

Chiyoda, Tokyo Dome City and Shibuya at Night

May 2, 2014 by Robert Haddan

Another weekend, another Tokyo adventure. This time we set our sights on Chiyoda, home to the Imperial Palace, the National Gardens, National Archives and Japan’s legislature, known as the National Diet.

Of course, the day was planned around the potential for good eats. We actually found Loving Hut on our first try instead of aimlessly wandering the streets of Tokyo for hours on end. The restaurant is part of an international chain with a goal of providing people access to affordable vegan food. There’s one in Portland with more of a Chinese vibe.

This location took a more traditional Japanese approach to its menu, but with an awesome weekend twist: VEGAN BUFFET! The fat kid inside me screamed with excitement. All you can eat with no “what’s in this” moments to worry about.

Lunch at Loving Hut — My big, fat vegan lunch

I only took a picture of one plate, but I didn’t stop here. Hoax ham, faux fish, counterfeit chicken—not their real names, but I think I just populated my vegan restaurant menu! “Eel” sushi and veggie pork-stuffed buns (nikuman is the traditional pork-filled bun in Japan) alongside curry, sautéed vegetables, gyoza and fresh rolls. And the “meat”-on-a-stick didn’t stand a chance. I haven’t been so full since we’ve been in Japan.

After eating like a man going to the electric chair, we needed a walk. We were situated right between two great tourist destinations. Chiyoda City to the left, Tokyo Dome City to the right.

We started left and made our way to the Imperial Palace. The original site of Edo Castle, the grounds have beautiful gardens and parts of some buildings date back to the 1600s. Just entering is impressive as you cross the moat designed to protect the palace and enter through massive gates.

Moat — No alligators in this moat… as far as I know

Skyscrapers from modern Tokyo peek around corners of centuries-old stone, once again blending the old with the new in the way that only Tokyo can.

The gardens were in full bloom with every color in the crayon box, although we’d just missed the sakura by a couple weeks. Equally colorful carp swam in the ponds, showing off for their human visitors.

While the east garden is highlighted mostly by the wide-open park space at its center, the outer garden is more densely populated with flora, including 260 trees representing each of Japan’s prefectures.

A crowd of Nikons and Canons surrounded a bush in the park. Turns out they were capturing one of the days more beautiful and simple sights. Viktoria captured several wonderful photos of this butterfly feeding on the blooms.

After feeling like we’d seen the grounds, we explored the nearby area. We walked through the Kokyo Gaien National Gardens across the street. A beautiful scenic walking path again gave glimpses of new Tokyo while encasing us fully in nature.

The Tokyo Skytree sneaks into view through Tokyo’s real trees

The area is also the home to the Science Museum and Nippon Budokan, the arena where many “Live at Budokan” albums were recorded, including the dynamite Cheap Trick recording.

We headed back the other direction toward Tokyo Dome City, site of the massive Tokyo Dome, home to the Yomiuri Giants.

The Giants are Japan’s version of the New York Yankees, owners of 22 Japan Series titles and Japan’s Babe Ruth, infielder Sadaharu Oh. In 22 seasons with Yomiuri, Oh slugged 868 career home runs and won nine Central League MVP awards. I’m sure I’ll gush about Oh more when we return to visit the Japan Baseball Hall of Fame, located in the Tokyo Dome.

The complex is full of restaurants, shopping and an amusement park. Kids of all ages seemed to be having a good time with the different rides and activities.

We walked around for awhile and took it all in before finding dinner. We settled on pizza since it’d been awhile since we’d had any. The restaurant served Neapolitan-style pies and the food certainly impressed more than the service. We were seated in the “international” section, next to a couple young men traveling from Iran and a young European couple.

On the way home, we decided to stop in Shibuya for the full, nighttime experience. We were not disappointed.

Tokyo’s Times Square was lit up like a Christmas tree and thousands crowded the area heading out for a fun-filled (and booze-filled, from the looks of it) Saturday night on the town.

While in Shibuya, we went to the towering Tokyu Hands department store. Floor after floor of everything you’d ever need. We bought cards (the ones with glue-free envelopes) and light fixtures while perusing fitness items, beauty products and a great Hello Kitty display.

More Tokyo adventures to come!

Hello Natto

April 30, 2014 by Robert Haddan

In our never-ending quest to try all that Japan has to offer, I present to you… natto.

It’s been sitting in our fridge for a week while I’ve tried to figure out what to do with it. I thought I’d start out easy and use it as a filling in gyoza. Technically, natto is a soybean that has been fermented with hay or grass bacteria. However, I’m quite certain based on its quantity of ectoplasm, that it has some relation to this guy.

Slimer from Ghostbusters... a distant relative of natto? — Slimer from Ghostbusters… a distant relative of natto?

As usual, I wish I’d taken more pictures of the unboxing process as the packaging itself was impressive. Sealed in a styrofoam box, I feared the worst. Natto has a reputation of being stinky and slimy. As I opened the box, I took a good whiff. The smell didn’t bother me at all. We’re greeted with a small packet of hot mustard and another small packet, which the internets tell me contains a fish-based sauce, so I tossed that.

Then the natto.

It’s covered with a layer of wax paper, which when peeled away reveals the true nature of the beast.

Natto, or to summon the 8-year-old boy in me, "snotto" — Natto, or to summon the 8-year-old boy in me, “snotto”

Apologies for the close-up. It seemed necessary.

I tried it by itself first. Not an overwhelming flavor, but certainly not anything I’d want to eat plain. It has a maple-esque flavor as an aftertaste, which might be why it’s a popular breakfast food in Japan, spread on toast or rice. After mixing it with the hot mustard and some soy sauce, it was actually kinda good.

Then I touched it.

Slimy indeed. I tried to use a spoon to fill the gyoza wrapper, but the natto stuck to it. So, I’d take a pinch with my fingers and stuff it in the wrapper. I looked like a first grader elbow-deep in rubber cement (do they still let kids use rubber cement?) as the sticky strings connected my fingers to the beans for a good 12 inches. When I washed my hands, the water mixed with the sticky made a slime that required a lot of washing and a strong stomach.

It came in a three-pack, and I’m not disappointed. Natto spaghetti is also very popular and I found another recipe for natto veggie burgers. Can’t wait to give ’em a go!

Update: So, after eating the natto gyoza, I’ve had a change of heart. There’s something just… off about it. Not sure I’m quite ready to be a fan of natto quite yet.

Harajuku

April 25, 2014 by Robert Haddan

Tokyo provides a lot of opportunity for tourism, shopping… your typical big-city stuff. But, the gems of a city are in the alleyways and parks. We found an abundance of both as our Tokyo adventures continued last weekend in Harajuku.

Dancers — The fashion scene was pretty subdued that day, but these girls were dancing in Yoyogi Park.

Our primary purpose for the visit was Tokyo’s Earth Day festival in Yoyogi Park, another of Tokyo’s fantastic public park spaces. Hundreds of vendors sold food and goods and non-profit organizations used the opportunity to reach thousands with their messages.

One booth demonstrated how you could pop corn with a reflector and sunlight.

Others reminded us of our need for the ethical treatment of animals, our food and ourselves. Not being able to read food labels is actually one of the few real downers of being in Japan. We do the best we can.

Anti-fur campaign — Booth reminding us where fur really comes from…

A live band filled the air with covers of American classics. A spot-on rendition of Janis Joplin’s “Piece of My Heart” was followed by a rockabilly take on Elvis Presley’s classic “Hound Dog.”

The biggest draw to these things is usually the food, and Earth Day 2014 provided some great eats! Veggie “meat” on a stick, steamed “pork” buns and…

Arm-length french fries — French fries as long as my arm.

Deep-fried, cheese-filled avocado. Yes, you read that right…

Then there’s the innovative, weird and just plain Tokyo. A dog in a backpack, a truck that turns plastic into oil and whatever that thing is.

After the festival, we explored Harajuku. Shopping is abundant, of course, but there are little pockets of awesome all over the district. We grabbed some amazing raw milk ice cream in coffee at Shiroichi.

These guys were really enjoying their ice cream towers from Shiroichi.

We walked up Takeshita Street, which is the crammed-with-tourists home of Harajuku’s fashion movement. The video screen captures visitors in their last seconds of freedom before crowd-induced claustrophobia takes over.

We finished our big day out at Baird Brewing. At some point I’ll write a post about the beer “scene” in Japan, but on this day, we found a good one. Bryan Baird, a brewer with Pacific Northwest connections, has brought true craft brewing to Tokyo.

Baird Brewing's Harajuku Taproom — Baird Brewing’s Harajuku Taproom

The pub food was fantastic—we had grilled tofu, shitake mushrooms and edamame—but someone should tell the Japanese that you need to serve some carbs with beer approaching 10% ABV.

Reminders of home surrounded us in the corner of the bar. A postcard from Portland sat on the shelf to our left. Oregon breweries were well represented in the swiped coasters that lined the top of the bar.

Before we left, the bartender asked where we were from. I told him Oregon and he got very excited. He says “hold on…” and heads into the keg cooler. He comes back out with a 22-ounce bottle of Portland’s own Upright Brewing “Seven” and a big smile on his face. Apparently he’d just returned from his own craft beer pilgrimage to the Rose City.

I look forward to the opportunity to explore those alleyways again soon.

Tokyo – Ikebukuro and Ueno

April 8, 2014 by Robert Haddan

No matter where you are in the world, unexpected adventures are always a good thing. Such was the case with last weekend’s day trip, our first into Tokyo.

We planned to stop first in Ikebukero, a district in west Tokyo, to find a Taiwanese restaurant that specialized in vegetarian dishes. We’re still traveling without smartphones, so all we had to go off was some loose directions from a website and the city maps at the Ikebukuro train station.

We started walking and, within a couple blocks, stumbled upon a festival celebrating Taiwan and its heritage. There were even inflatable replicas of yours truly!

Ikebukuro — Which one is real and which one is inflatable?

We looked at a couple vendor stands, listened briefly to what must have been the opening address and then headed out in search of our restaurant.

As with many of these uncharted trips, we didn’t reach our destination. We’ve yet to figure out the street numbering convention. At present, I’m convinced it’s the worst way to identify addresses in the known universe. Check back in a couple months and maybe I’ll have a better attitude.

Fortunately, the festival had two booths serving exactly what we were in search of: Taiwanese vegetarian food! And even better, we finally found vegetarian gyoza! Those little pan fried, stuffed dumplings are so good, but usually so filled with pork. It was easily the best purchased meal I’ve had since we’ve arrived in Japan.

The festival also featured some amazing entertainment. All performed by young people, it was impossible to take your eyes off the stage.

A group of pre-teens pounded out the beautiful rhythm of taiko drums.

These young men and women put on an exciting display of dragon wizardry.

These beautiful young ladies entranced the crowd with their choreographed dance.

At the end of the show, we headed back to the station and caught the next train to Ueno Park to see the cherry blossoms in full bloom. You can read Viktoria’s post on the magic of sakura and the geisha picnic.

We took a lap around Shinobazu Pond, where children of all ages peddled and rowed their way in rowboats, paddleboats, and swan boats.

We’ll definitely be back to Ueno Park to visit the National Museum and some of the other sights in the area.