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August 31, 2004
Oishi desu! (or Saturday, in the park, it wasn't the 4th of july)
Sorry it's been so long since I last updated. And yes, this is a food entry, though its not a food only entry.
So My girlfriend and I went back to Nabe. I was interested in trying some types of sushi I hadn't tried yet. My girlfriend and I also got my mom to come along this time.
I didn't get a picture of the entrance last time
We chose to sit and the sushi bar this time and we got to sit in front of Miho again. Yay!
chicken teriyaki appetizer
When this came, Miho handed me the ground pepper. It was almost like she could sense my tastes. Of course I covered my chicken in it...yeah I know...this isn't anything special...
crazy roll
I ordered the crazy roll...this was good and I liked it alot. The smelt eggs don't really offer a taste, just a texture really.
the philidelphia roll
My mom got this. The Philidelphia name is probably because of the cream cheese? It has some really good salmon on it. When my mom let me try it, the salmon slipped down the back of my throat before I chewed it, and I started choking. I hope I didn't offend Miho. My mom thought it was okay. I can tell she's not a sushi person.
the spyder roll
My girlfriend ordered this. It's soft shell crab with cucumber and avacado. Delicious. This might be something I really enjoy.
octopus
My girlfriend also ordered this octopus nigiri. I liked this a lot. I had octopus sashimi before and liked it, so I expected I would like this.
After dinner we went to a near-by antique shop to look around. It was so neat.
neat stuff antiques
this is a really good picture of my girlfriend
I snagged tons of pics in this place of random stuff. There were some funny signs which I'll post here...the rest you can see in the gallery: http://gallery.greatestjournal.com/thumbnails.php?album=97253&page=1
I forgot that the flash would reflect off the glass, but somehow I think it happened it then apropriate place
Also I have twelve gmail invites at my disposal. Here's how I'm going to distribute them. If you have a high traffic web site, I will give you two invites for a link on your front page. If you don't have a high traffic web site, offer me something and I'll see if I want it. Contact me by my e-mail on the right.
Posted by akijikan at 9:18 PM | TrackBack
August 26, 2004
Men At Work
Today when I came home from school, I saw that Hamilton County was finishing the road that runs in front of our house. I figured they would.
the road from our driveway
a tanker full of asphalt
two county trucks at the end of our driveway
holding up traffic at the end of the road
So now our road is level again, and the end is finished all clean. It'd be real good to skate or bike on right now...too bad I do neither. And I'm leaving that sentence that way despite what my girlfriend thinks it sounds like. For some reason they're still waiting right there. They're not working on this road at all. I wish I had been home when they were using the steam roller, but they were through with that now. Oh well.
Posted by akijikan at 3:22 PM | TrackBack
Bowling Pictures
These pictures are kinda old (7-18-04). Any one who has looked through my gallery has seen these pictures. I thought they were pretty cool. My family went bowling for fun, and I brought a long the digicam.
Wow...two posts in a row that weren't about food...don't worry, I have some food posts on the back-burner. ;)
Posted by akijikan at 12:06 AM | TrackBack
August 25, 2004
Men (No Longer?) At Work and a Late Birthday Salute
The Hamilton County people came by to repave the road that runs in front of our house.
the road directly from our driveway
It seems like they did an incomplete job. They left one direction higher than the other, and at one end of the road they ended it very sloppily. What a mess. I certainly hope (and doubt) they are not finished. Altough to me it seems if they weren't finished they would have come back to complete it already. It's been that way for almost a week now.
the end of the road
end of the road, detail
end of the road, detail
Also, yesterday was Sam's birthday. Happy Birthday Sam. A link to his journal is to the right under "Exit Links."
Posted by akijikan at 3:52 PM | TrackBack
August 24, 2004
Sushi Nabe
Saturday evening, I went to Sushi Nabe [sushiamerica.com] with my girlfriend. She made a good dining partner here because she is a quater japanese, and knows some japanese culture from her (full-japanese) grandmother. I was excited about trying this place because on their website, it says the chef used to have a restaurant in Washington DC, and the Japanese Emperor himself liked it so much he ate there 5 nights in a row. Wow.
the waiting area and (drink) bar
Apparently he handled some of the local chefs very well in a local competition called "Cast Iron Chef" similar to what they have on the TV show "Iron Chef." I'd love to catch one of these local version of the competition.
We first told the matre'd that we'd take first available seating (sushi bar or table) but when were seated at an open table, I became disappointed that we did not wait for the sushi bar to open up. I informed the matre'd and he told us it wouldn't be a problem to wait at the table and change when the sushi bar opened up. Wonderful.
While we were waiting at the table, they brought both us a warm, damp and towel that smelled soapy (though it wasn't sudsy). I didn't know what to do with it and I was watching my girlfriend to see what she would do. Apparently yo just wipe your hands with it. Must be a traditional Japanese thing. It left my hands feeling...ah...refreshed.
I think this was nice
Soon the seats at the bar opened up and we moved. They had two sushi chefs (who happened to be both women (nothing wrong with that)).
this one seemed double-long compared to what I've seen before
They had a lot to choose from and we had a hard time deciding what we would have. They have a wonderful variety of Roll-style, nigiri and sashimi. They even have some cooked things for those who are accompaning their sushi loving friends but can't bring themselves to eat sushi (though I don't understand that). ;)
what to get?
The selection was made a bit easier by the help of the Miho. She was the sushi chef working infront of where we were sitting on the bar. She was very nice and explained any questions I had. She was even willing to let me take her picture. When she found out what it was for (this blog), she wanted the web address to see what I would do with it.
We stalled by ordering a gyoza appetizer. These are beef dumplings, but they were out of the beef so they made it with pork. It was still good.
we split five pieces
My girlfriend came up with her first order. She asked for the hot crunch roll. It's just a California roll that's been battered with tempura and fried. Miho informed us that this was more American-ized sushi.
the hot sauce on the side of the bowl was a good touch
I then made my first selection of the salmon skin roll. This was great, though my girlfriend refused to try it. ;) Miho told us that this was a more traditional japanese sushi.
this was really good
My girlfriend then decided to give the shittake roll a try. This was one of their vegetarian offerings that was just mushroom and "japanese mayonaise" (I wonder if that's real japanese or also just American-ized) in the rice & seaweed.
these are cut taller than some other rolls
I decided to finish with some shrimp nigiri.
there was more, I just ate it before I remember to take the picture
We were interested in desert, particularly red-bean or tempura ice-cream. They were previously on the menu, but they were crossed out now. Miho explained to us they couldn't afford to store ice cream because they needed the space for something else. She told us they had chocolate cake, cheese cake or the "chef's special." We decided to split the chef's special. They don't always have the chef's special and it isn't always the same thing, so don't go in and ask for it expecting to have what we had.
It consisted of ice cream cake (layered blueberry and vanilla), chocolate mousse sandwiched between white cake, and chocolate mousse sandwiched between brownies. It was garnished with strawberries, whipped cream, whipped cream, and green tea powder.
this was so good, thanks Miho
One of the most interesting things was a rack full of chopsticks. These were personal chopsticks that people used when they came in. You could buy a pair of chopsticks for ten dollars and they keep them there. You use them when you come in and you get a ten percent discount.
that's a lot of chopstick
The chef-owner is very nice and is constantly coming around to check on the customers. He's a nice man who will talk to you about almost anything. I didn't get a very good picture of him but here he is on the left in this photo of the waiting area I snapped as we were leaving.
maybe that's him? maybe not?
I recommed this place highly. Check out the link at the top of this entry to visit their website.
Posted by akijikan at 10:05 AM | TrackBack
August 21, 2004
Harley Davidson Hwy. 43 Sheboygan, WI
this is the first harley dealership I've been inside
I was so excited to go here. My girlfriend was too. We both love Harleys. They're the best.
a general view of the store
OMGWTFBBQ....
stuff...but Harley stuff!
screaming f'n eagle baby!
another angle of the screaming eagle
This place was so awesome! I'll not forget it. Thanks for taking me here honey!
Posted by akijikan at 1:30 PM | TrackBack
August 17, 2004
Nestle Overload Candy
King Size equals three peanut butter cups
package detail: three different types
This is new for me. I've never seen it before, though my girlfriend says she's seen it for a while. My mom picked it up for me. Moms are nice like that. The candies are peanut butter cups. But they're not Reese's Peanut Butter cups, so I knew they woulf be different from that all time favorite of mine. The first Type featured "Nestle Candies." These were basically M&M's...but since its not the M&M/Mars company its not M$M's (or Reese's). The next one was Butterfinger which sounded interesting, because Butterfinger is already a peanut butter and chocolate candy, seems they would seek something different to go on a peanut butter cup. Last was topped with Buncha-Crunch. Which is interesting because its double-brand leveraging. Why isn't it just topped with Crunch Bar? Buncha-Crunch is just small clusters of crunchy material (nuts?) covered in chocolate, with the "Cruch" brand leveraged from the bar featuring clusters of crunchy material immersed in a milk chocolate bar. So they then leverage "Buncha-Crunch" for this item instead of just "Crunch." Interesting.
package detail: hmmmmmm, assorted
Because the it said "Assorted" I wondered if there might be not always the three pictured on the front, and sometimes more than one of one type and none of another. I doubted this is the case though. Only one way to find out. Another thing I was how the peanut butter used in the cups is candied, if at all. What I mean is in a Reese's they don't use just plain peanut butter, its a special type for the candy. What would Nestle do?
good, one of each, I was hoping to try them all
the Buncha-Crunch
idividually wrapped just like a Reese's, though Reese's doesn't have the fancy tray in the ealier picture
I bit into this one. Ah, plain peanut butter was used. I guess they didn't want to make it any sweeter because of the candy on top. I found this kinda blah, and the "Buncha-Crunch" to just be, well, crunchy and a contrasting sweeter chocolate than the chocolate used in the peanut butter cup. Not especially good.
next up, "Nestle Candies" topped
Whoa! Can I get a little quality control?
First of all, Click on the picture above to examine it closer in full size (as you can do with all my pictures in this journal), and you'll see some "Buncha-Crunch" got on the "Nestle Candies" cup. Poor process leads to poor control, they obviously make the cups and top them in the container next to each other instead of making and topping in seperate batches before putting them in.
Second, though its not pictured, they double wrapped this one. Not a Huge deal...but just the facts.
Now the taste here was good. The chocolate inside these candies I find to be just right to accent the peanut butter cup's chocolate. Tastes sweet, but nothing special.
The Butterfinger
This is interesting, because they've used nuggets of the Butterfinger filling without any of the chocolate. As anyone who's had a Butterfinger before knows, the filling is very hard and crunchy. The flavor was good, but the nuggets contrasted with the real peanut butter in the cups poorly and wasn't very tasty.
Overall, I find this offering from Nestle dissapointing and lack-luster. They didn't try hard on this one, and were only going for novelty, not quality.
Posted by akijikan at 8:41 PM | TrackBack
August 15, 2004
Lake Michigan with My Girlfriend
my favorite picture from this outing
So while I was up by my girlfriend's house she took me to Lake Michigan. First time she took me was at night. It was a very special thing ;). It's been a while since I've seen water that goes to the horizon. She brought me back during the day with her camera.
this is a nice picture of a tree, who obviously enjoys growing at this location
these gulls totally got squawky when we moved in on thier territory
they obviously didn't know what kind of flowers they were planting
a factory across the way
my girlfriend and her car
okay...I lied, this is probably my favorite picture of the bunch
It was a very pretty place and I found it calming. I really liked being there with my girlfriend. I wish I could be with her now...back there in WI.
There are more pictures in the album: http://gallery.greatestjournal.com/thumbnails.php?album=81161
Posted by akijikan at 7:48 PM | TrackBack
August 10, 2004
Safe House in Milwaukee, WI
During my recent trip to Wisconsin to visit my girlfriend [greatestjournal.com] we decided to pay a visit to a special restaurant called The Safe House [safe-house.com].The place is very inconspicuous. In fact, it's hidden. You have to go down an alley to this otherwise blank door that has a simple sign next to it. You'd never guess it is a restaurant.
the sign on the door says "we import and export" and lists the hours
the sign directly left of the door...sorry for the poor quality
There is a foyer once you go in, and when we went inside, we were asked for our ID. This was a gag, because its not bar-age limit or anything. We also had to pay a one dollar cover, but we later were able to take this off the dinner bill. To gain access to the restaurant, you had to say the password. Since we did not know the password, we had to do a special task. We had to bend over, arms drooping and act like gorillas. It wasn't too embarrassing considering we just had to do it in front of one person. Once that was done, we were allowed in. She informed us that the password could be found in Nixon's speech bubble in a political cartoon in a room with a green ceiling. She pressed a button that opened a bookshelf behind us. This lead to a hall with no doors at the end. At the end of the hall it said "Safe House" and pointed to the left wall. I decided to touch the wall...and the wall to the right opened to the restaurant. To our demise the entrance was next to the bar. Everyone sitting at the bar started laughing at us and impersonating our gorilla act. Great...the whole thing was on camera.
The first thing I did was find the password. Here's the cartoon.
sorry for the flash reflection...of course I blurred the password...I won't let you get off that easy
We noticed one of the bar stools had something interesting embroidered on them...most of them were blank on the backs though.
there was also another one that said James Bond...I didn't look around to see if the other Bond actors had special chairs
We ordered drinks. My girlfriend had a virgin bloody-mary (which I can't stand) and I had a virgin strawberry daiquiri. Sometimes I think we could get away with out ordering virgin drinks because they seem they think I'm old enough. My girlfriend will be old enough in October.
I appreciate it when they serve you a full glass instead of some dinky cocktail glass
When we ordered food, I was interested in the ribs, but I didn't want to waste my money ordering them without tasting the sauce...I've been disappointed before. So asked the waitress if I could sample the sauce before I made my decision. I was very pleased that they were accommodating in allowing me to do so.
this sauce is very good
So I did order the ribs. It came with a soup. It was amazing. It was called Chicken Tortilla soup and it tasted so good. If I come back, I may just have a bowl of this for my meal...it was so awesome!
the tortilla chip topping is just colored...no special taste.
My only disappointment of the night came with the ribs, and it was not with the taste, as they were delicious. They price the ribs at the level most places would charge for a full rack. They delivered a half rack (and the menu didn't specify...next time the menu says nothing, I'll ask). The also placed the ribs on top of the fries...now why would they get barbeque sauce all over my fries? I want to enjoy those with ketchup. These were only minor issues though and I did enjoy the ribs.
if you know me...you know I didn't touch the veggies...heh
My girlfriend also ordered the Chicken Tortilla Soup and The Far East Chicken Salad. This salad consisted of Asian-esque ingredients. It also came with two dressings on the side so you could choose one to toss on. One was a sweeter soy dressing, and the other was a ginger dressing. My girlfriend preferred the soy dressing.
I can not stand salads, and yet this appears appetizing to even me
Supposedly, there's a secret exit through a telephone booth. We wanted to use it but we followed the exit signs to a normal exit...my bad. Overall I would recommend this place to everyone. It is a fun experience, awesome atmosphere, and great food. Visit their website for details on the place.
Posted by akijikan at 6:08 PM | TrackBack
August 7, 2004
I back so shut up
Yeah I'm home....whats it to ya?
I got many pictures and had many great times. There will be entries about the trip. I had such a great time with my girl friend. I wish I was there with her now...
Posted by akijikan at 1:33 AM | TrackBack