What I Ate Today: Curry Rice of Serendipity

After Japanese Kanji class has ended, I and a friend of mine, Nimar, went to eat lunch together. Menu? Curry rice. Venue? Somewhere in front of our university's hospital. Lunch time, 500 Yens. Name? As I remember, it was 'Curry House'. Not sure. 

Nimar looking into the display cupboard full of vintage stuffs, from wrist watches to documents, and from compass to abacus. In addition, a lot of old cameras.

On the right side, there are some documents. The one in the middle was from Taisho (大正) 12, which is 1924 or 1925, or sometime around that, I'm not sure, but either way, which IS old times. It's even before the WWII! Wow.

Clocks. I want to know the past of this restaurant and the chef. What kind of person would she have been? And this place? Why are there so many old things? I didn't asked though. Maybe I'll get to know as I frequent here.

And old playthings, which was reminding of the childhood even for me. I myself also used to play with those paper-based toys, though I'm not that old (at least I believe so). Information technology has changed even the children's culture, you know.

The foods are offered at moderate prices here.

Another carte, but handwritten.

The restaurant was not so clean and modern like high-level or franchise ones, but that's not why people visit those places. An old lady, the chef, talked to me as if I were a frequenter. News was coming out from a radio somewhere in the kitchen, loudly, saying that the first snow (初雪, Hatsu Yuki) came today, which is 11 days (!) earlier than average. The kitchen was open to everyone, just like others in Sapporo, but it was even revealing the spices, ingredients used here, and so on.

Actually, I had expected just a dish of curry rice, but what was served was a full set. And it looked really nice. Oh and yeah, it tasted good. I enjoyed the chicken, and the miso soup was also great. And the slices of apple, which are the red-thingy on bottom-left, tasted unique, sour, and sweet. And it comes only for 500 Yens. I don't know, really not, why we were the only customers. Maybe it becomes crowded during the evening? The chef was preparing quite a lot of meats, probably for dinner.

Anyways, I'm just happy that I found a place to have a nice, full meal with only 500 Yens - less than the money I usually spend at student cafeteria!

What I Have Eaten Recently: Yakiniku Tabehodai, Cup Noodle,and Napolitan Sapaghetti

Last Saturday, yesterday, and today, I've tried some 'new' foods here.

1. Tabehodai of Yakiniku.

Tabehodai basically has same meaning as buffet. That's it. Easy. Of course, compared to buffets in Korea, there's something different: time limit (that actually has an effect). This time, the time limit of the place I visited was 90 minutes, which means that I can order and eat any meant that are available for Tabehodai service, without any worry about the price becoming extremely expensive. 

Yakiniku can be translated directly as 'grilled meats' in English, and Bulgogi(불고기) in Korean. In fact, Japanese did not use to eat meats before modern times. What does it mean? You can say that it's actually Korean kind of food. 

You can see that from this sign. In the middle, it says 和牛カルビ(Wagyu Karubi), which means Karubi (Japanese way of writing 갈비Galbi, which means ribs) made with Japanese beef. Well, enough for history or something. It's 3,500 Yens per person for 90 mins and for 'unlimited' amount of meat. It seemed expensive. I thought so.

Oh and it somehow included Nomihodai, a free-drink service. And I chose melon soda. I've never drunk it in Korea, so for me it's so Japanese. In the end, I drank 3 cups of melon soda in total.

To eat Yakiniku (or 숯불구이Sutbulgui, I prefer, a Korean word), one has to grill it by oneself. It's the most important part. For the fire, charcoal is used, and it adds its unique smokey smell onto the meat.

It might be a bit difficult for the 'beginners', especially when it comes to judge whether it's well done or not. With a few times of 'failure', most of which will be edible anyway, one can get a sense.

Oh, there's an important difference. It is... yeah, it can be considered as steak, but it is not; it does not 'have to be' medium rare or rare. Well done is just the standard. Well, it'd be virtually impossible to make it even medium, because the meat is so thin. Of course it's up to one's taste, after all.



2. Cup noodle. Personally, I've eaten cup noodles for more than 10 years back in Korea. However, such experience does not help at all in Japan. The 'ideal' of each countries' cup noodle is different, and the brands are also completely different.

In Korea, most cup noodles are spicy, and there are a lot of variety of tastes so that one can eat a cup noodle which is almost 'customized' according to the one's taste. And the probability of failure is also low, as the tastes are basically similar. Of course there are variations like Udon, but in general terms.

In Japan, conversely, I've noticed a few 'categories': Soba, Ramen, Chinese, and curry-thingy. True, I haven't tried most of them yet (actually, only one have I tried for now). Though, there is an image on the cap.

Like this. It's a Soba I tried. There were several kinds of Soba, another several for Ramen, and yet another for curry-thingy, and so on; this way, there are more options to choose, but less space is left for 'fine tuning'. My opinion.

Well, nothing is special about making a cup noodle. Just pour some hot water in it and wait for a few minutes. Done. Bon appetite.
The taste was much different from that of the Soba I tried at a 'real' Soba restaurant. But it was good in its own way. Not bad. Now I have a Udon cup noodle left. Gotta try it some time soon.

The best aspect of cup noodle is its price. It costs just around 100 Yens. Usually, it costs more than 650 Yens to eat in a regular restaurant. During lunch time or with a discount coupon, though, it can become 500 Yens.



3. Finally, it's my first 'real' Napolitan. It has nothing to do with a Italian port city, Naples. It's completely and definitely Japanese.

With grilled cheese, fried egg, and Hambagu (Japanese hamburger steak) on it, Napolitan (ナポリタン) looks like this. The noodle was a lot thicker than I expected. It seemed like 2.0 mm or so.

One cannot say its taste is decent; but it's, again, good in its own way. For Japanese, they say, it reminds them of their childhood. As it's made with tomato ketchup, it's quite sweet, and the noodle is hardly al dente (which is not a flaw when it comes to Napolitan).

It costed 950 Yens. That's because I added 3 toppings for 350 Yens and 100 grams of noodles for 100 Yens. Thus, basically, it's 500 Yens. Not bad, not bad.

And the exterior of the restaurant looks like this. One can see how the restaurant would be, I believe.

Where I Visited Today: JR Tower Sapporo Station

The sky of Sapporo is dynamic, I've been thinking since my first step here. Indeed, sky always changes, clouds come and go, rain starts and stops, and the sun hides and seek come out. Maybe because Sapporo is flat, maybe because there are not many tall buildings, maybe because I'm in a foreign country, the sky of Sapporo feels especially rapidly changing, and the clouds seem to be much closer to me. 

Today, as a friend of mine already had done (see http://nimar-blume.de/blog/2014/a-visit-to-the-sapporo-station-jr-tower/), I decided to visit the observatory of JR Tower Sapporo, and do some homework there. 

I wandered Paseo, Stellar Place, Sapporo station, and so on, for about an hour in a search for the elevator to the observatory. When I finally reached it, I was amazed even before the real thing began: it costs 720 Yens to enter the observatory.

Having no choice, I paid the money and got on the elevator, which you can see right above. Only 5 buttons. Simple and easy, huh? I had to wait for about a minute or a half, I guess, before I reached the top.

And the city welcomed me. Much, much better than I expected. Honestly, I was disappointed when I first saw the scenery of Sapporo back in Korea. But this city is always becoming more and more beautiful. And the ambient music in the background 

perfected it. Even though it's 'just' 38th floor, it was as if it was above the clouds. Silent, peaceful, a bit spacey, and beautiful music is definitely the best background music I've ever heard. 

It was quiet, with only a few people chatting with each other in silence, appreciating the scenery. 

Me. Yes, it's Bayern Munich. And if you recognized it, I bet you know why I 'had to' wear it in such a cold weather but was so happy. 

Son, the world is never fair. If you are a male, you can enjoy more than a female. Yes, this is a toilet, and no, there was not such a observatoilet for women. 

How nice it is! Instead of looking at and deciphering the old, dirty drawings on the wall of observatory, you just need to look outside, and the parking lot will tell you the directions. Awesome.

There is a forest in the middle of a concrete-100% city. It's 'my' university, Hokkaido University. I'm so lucky. 

You are now seeing a part of the route from my dorm to the school.

The sky looks angry. It's overwhelming. 'They' are coming.

The city doesn't care the sky, though. The people just live everyday their everyday lives.  

On the green rooftop of the building in front of me, there is an interesting, colorful pattern. No idea what it is.

And the sky is still overwhelming. They dominate.

But there's nothing much to worry about (for now).

As time goes, they fade away. Quite soon. (You can see the Sapporo TV tower, which has a digital clock on it. Check the time of each photo.)

From cloudy to sunny. Let's just ignore the fact that the sun is already on the mountain, and about to go over it.

I like pictures out of focus. You don't focus on a certain thing, but you see it as a whole.

And the time keeps going. As always.

Farewell to the sun. また明日！

And the city becomes alive when the sun is set. 

O Sapporo, you are urban.

By this time, the observatory became quite crowded, and I hungry. 

So called "the best snack ever (unless you bought it yourself)", Jyaga Pokkuru (じゃがポックル) is finally in my hands. 10 packs of 18 grams of fries of pieces of potatoes, and ca. 850 of Yens. A snack of luxury, it is. 

 The food of convenient stores, especially Hot Chef by Seico Mart, is not an expensive way to deal with the problem of survival. But it becomes expensive if you add something else e.g. a bowl of salads. Well, the taste was nice, and that's it. Not bad. Satisfactory enough was it. 

What I Ate Today: A Journey Around the City and a Bowl of Soup Curry

Today, I wanted to check the balance of my Korean bank account. Well, Hokkaido University or someone in charge notified me today that I have to pay ca. 69,000 Yens this month. Why do they charge me the deposit, the initial cleaning fee, the rent for the half of September (during which I did stay here) and October at ONCE? They could have, and I think they should have, charged me those costs when they were made i.e. I could pay for the cleaning and deposit when I first entered the dorm, and the rent for September earlier this month. 

So... that's why I went to check out my balance; to make sure I have enough money. I got on my bike, and that was the beginning of today's journey. 

After failing at the post office, which was closed because it's Saturday, SevenEleven and Lawson both of which didn't served my card, I found a festival going on in the women's university nearby (not 100% sure). It looked interesting, but I had no clue what it was about, and just passed by.

This is the other side of the venue where the festival was held. And it says it's a women's junior-high and high school. Not university, then. Anyways, it has a feeling to see a school, which doesn't have any connection to me. Those 'stranger' schools always remind me of my school (or pre-university) times. Then, when I was 15, 16, or so, my life 'began', like a book 'begins' after the preface. Once I started the race called life, I can never go back, and the starting line remains a vague nostalgia. Hundreds of students would be 'starting' their lives right in that buildings, and they would feel the same, I think. A kind of empathy, maybe.

Right across the school was this kindergarten. I don't think I remember even a single 'word' I said or heard when I was a kindergarten kid. Just few names, like that of my best friend, whom I met then already.

On the way to a random direction, I came across with a cafe. At first sight does it look like a coffee factory. Just behind the corner was a nice cafe. It's not completely Western (I don't like those kind of expression, though), nor 'Japanese'. Almost every building I've seen in Japan are so; they have something in common, which is surely not 'Japan', but that IS Japan.
They are somehow different from Korea, and I cannot tell clearly exactly what is different, and why they are different. Though, I can feel it, and that's why a travel, a new experience in a new environment is good.

An 'authentic' Chinese restaurant. There are thousands of those 'authentic' restaurants. What is funny is that those in Japan and those in Korea are quite different - what is 'authentic' about them, then?

Nice to meet you, 사랑채(Sarangchae; means guest house in Korean traditional house). A Korean restaurant not too far from my dorm.

Of course I checked the menu, which was full of expensive but ordinary Korean foods. Hm, maybe the Japanese foods I had eaten in Korea were just like those.

In Sapporo sets the sun as early as 16:50 lately. And the sunset time will just become earlier and earlier until the winter begins. I have to get used to it...

Finally, I found a post office whose ATM was not closed. What I wanted to do was, in fact, just to check my balance. Well, as you can see from the photo above, I had no choice but to withdraw. As they didn't show the deposit, I just entered 45 thousands, and what I got was 45 sheets of 1000 Yens. Shit. If I'd known this would happen, I would have entered 4 10-thousands and 5 thousands.
Feeling rich, anyways, I put them in my bag. Well, I can pay the deposit with it, and the rest with my scholarship.

A beautiful manhole cover! I saw another beautiful one in Osaka, but I thought it was unique to the city.

This is it. This one, the one from Osaka, features the Osaka castle, and the one from Sapporo the clock tower. Sorry to the city I'm currently living in, but I prefer Osaka's. 

A high school. 

This is the place I had dinner. A soup curry place, and I've been to here already, on the day right after my arrival. It's called 奥芝商店(I think it's read okushiba, but not sure), and located quite near the Sapporo station. The venue is connected to the 23rd(!) gate of the station.
Usually, soup curry is called スープカレー(su:pu kare:, : marks prolonged sound), but in this place, it's スープカリー(su:pu kari:). Maybe they want to imitate the pronunciation of 'curry' more closely.

When it's meal time, the seats are full of waiting people. As I came here ca. 17:00, early indeed, there were only few customers inside, and I didn't need to wait.

They were promoting something related to prawn today. I just ordered it, as I felt 'rich' and wanted to have a nice meal.

And a nice meal naturally includes a cup, or a bottle of coke. I didn't expected a bottle with a straw in it, though. (I was thinking of a cup of coke with lots of ice)

You can see inside the kitchen. The proof of their confidence.

My meal. I chose the level 5 out of 10 for the spice, but it was not hot. Well, I'm used to eating hot foods, and that's why. It's the hottest delicious food available here, I guess, and I always enjoy it anyway. I've never tried it before coming to Japan, and now it's one of my favorite.

The small, cute, tiny piece of fried prawn is the prawn they were promoting. It tasted nice, though. The saltiness was gentle and satisfying, and the leaf underneath smelled good. And finally, I paid about 1,600 Yens in total. Well, if I didn't order the coke and the fry, it'd have been like 1100 or 1200, which would be totally fine for me.