Trip to Paris with Qatar Business class Haneda International Airport to Doha

Many of my friends know that I am a nervous flyer despite being a frequent flyer.  However, unlike the thousand other times I have traveled, I decided to travel in Business Class this last trip. I have always wanted to travel business class but never felt that it was an option because the prices were always so high. However, after much searching around and deciding this would be my last trip overseas for at least 6 months, I decided to purchase a business class ticket with Qatar Airways.

Qatar Airways offers the best economy class product I have ever experienced. I have flown with QA at least 6 times last year. I have never been disappointed with their economy class product. The food was always good, flight attendants polite and movie selection good. Knowing this, I decided to fork over a large sum of money to fly their award winning business class product.



Upon entering the flight, I was greeted by the head flight attendant and offered my amenity kit along with a glass of Champagne.

 The kit included lots of goodies such as lotion, socks, chapstick and so on. I found the kit itself to be quite sturdy.







The menu for the flight was quite extensive. I really enjoyed the meal on demand option that Qatar Airways offers to all of its premium cabin guests.

I started my three-course meal with an Arabic Mezze. It was delicious and quite filling. I could not finish the whole mezze. 

The next course was steak and mashed potatoes with a sweet basil sauce.

Yuzu and chocolate cake 

The cake was delicious.


The whole meal service took about a whole hour. I tried to enjoy the meal at my own pace but the flight attendant kept on taking my food away before I could finish it.


After eating, I decided to go to sleep and I ended up sleeping for a total of 8 hours.


I woke up an hour before landing and decided to eat breakfast.

 Greek yogurt with oatmeal. 

The yogurt was good but I found the sauce to be a little too bitter for my liking.

Fresh fruit french toast

I found the french toast delicious.

After eating breakfast, we started to prepare for our descent into Doha.
The plane landing was smooth and after taxiing for about 20 minutes we have arrived at our stop. Due to the lack of gates available we were transferred via bus to the terminal.

April and the puff pastry

It is spring here in Japan and I have decided to do more cooking at home. Recently, I have been into baking this last week and I have discovered a new product at the supermarkets here in Japan. Japan has started to sell Pie Sheets (In the USA, it is known as puff pastry).


As you all might know, I have love to bake quiches and pies and so on...

But, sometimes I get very busy and I do not have the time to bake from scratch. This is where the pie sheets come into play.

You can buy a pack of these pie sheets from the supermarket for about 400 yen. You get two sheets of pie crust. The brand I use most is Meiji.



This last week, I actually injured myself and I couldn't walk. These pie sheets were very easy for me to use and I was able to cook without spending a lot of time standing.

I made apple pies, pigs in the blanket and even homemade hot pockets with them.

Theres pie sheets are a lifesaver

Stuffed squid

After returning home from the department store I decided to cook dinner. I decided to look online to see what I could make with my newly bought ingredients and to my surprise I found a list of things I could make with squid.


I decided to try making stuffed squid.


The recipe was quite simple all it required was a cup of old rice, chorizo sausage, red peppers, the tail and tentacles of the squid, garlic, white wine vinegar , salt and pepper.

All I did was cut up the squid and fry the the rice and other ingredients in a fry pan. And then stuffed the body of the squid with these ingredients and then fried the body of he squid. After frying the body on both sides for about 2 minutes each I placed it in the oven safe dish and covered the squid with about a half cup of wine vinegar and baked for about 45 minutes on 170C. If you want to make the presentation look nice, I would add some tomatoes or other vegetables around the squid when you bake it.

The stuffing can be replaced with anything you have in the fridge.

The recipe is quite easy to make

You can find the original recipe at this link

http://pasto.wordpress.com/2011/08/22/chorizo-stuffed-squidlulas-recheadas/

The original asked for bread instead of rice, but since I live in Asia I decided to use rice instead of the bread and egg mixture.

Shopping in the Japanese department store for food

Since moving to Shinjuku I find it quite enjoyable to shop in department stores for daily goods. They are quite expensive compared to supermarkets but the quality is great.


This last week, I was walking around Shinjuku after work and decided to go check out the seafood department at Odakyu department store. After arriving at the department store I was quite shocked to find that they were having a sale on seafood.


I was able to buy a basket of squid and two Kai

The basket of squid only cost me 500 yen and the Kai cost 480 for the two.

Great deal

Yasukuni Shrine

After viewing the Emperor and his home, we decided to walk to Yasukuni Shrine located near the palace. This Shrine is quite famous because it is where some of the World War Two War Criminals are inshrined, thus making it a huge news topic in Asia. This last year Prime Minister Abe visited this particular shrine to pay respect  to his dead relatives. But by doing so.. He also prayed for the inshrined war criminals.


Lets just say it didn't go well with Japan`s neighbours.

Once we got to the Shrine we got something to eat and people watched. It is quite evident that many of the people who come here for prayer are either Japanese Mafia or Japanese extremists.



At around two in the afternoon we decided to head back home.

Emperors New Year Speech on January 2nd

After celebrating the New Year Holiday at home. I decided to meet up with some of my old friends from University to attend the Japanese Emperors New Year Speech on January 2nd.

This is a big event in Japan. Many Japanese people as well as Japan Nationalists come to view this great event every year.

 Thus, there are long lines in order to see the emperor`s speech. My friend decided to attend the earliest speech possible because that is when most of the royal family comes out to greet people (common folk). Thus, I decided to wake up at 7 in order to get there before our 8:30 scheduled time. 

As usual, I over calculated my time and I arrived at the station at around seven thirty am which meant I would have to wait over an hour for my friends. Moreover, I was really tired and had to use the restroom really bad. Thus, I decided to look for a coffee shop or restaurant to use the restroom and get a fresh cup of coffee. However, everything was closed which meant I had to walk about 15 minutes to the nearest Starbucks to use the restroom.


After using the restroom and drinking a nice hot cup of coffee, I headed back to the station to meet up with my friends. I arrived at the station at around eight twenty and they had already been waiting for me. After meeting up with them, we headed to view the emperor.


We arrived at the entrance of the palace at around 9 am just in time to get into line and wait for another hour to get in. As you are waiting to enter the palace you can see many kinds of interesting figures. Most of them are extreme nationalists and Japanese Yakuza.




















At around 9:30 the gates opened up and we were allowed on the palace grounds where we lined up and viewed the whole two minute speech and then were quickly ushered out. The speech was really short compared to previous years( I don't blame him, he is quite old ). Luckily,  I am tall. If you are short or typical Japanese height it is almost impossible to view the family during the speech because everyone waves Japan flags during the whole event and scream bonsai!!!!.

New Year`s Eve meal

I already wrote about New Year Day and what I did but I have yet to tell what I made on New Year`s Eve. 

Most Japanese eat soba as I had mentioned in my previous blog. Thus, I made soba and also bought a nice bottle of sparkling white wine. 

Moreover, I wanted to make dessert for my friends. So, I decided to make a simple Mille-feuille with homemade whipped cream and custard. 


The custard was very easy to make 

All you need is

35 grams of sugar 
150 cc of milk 
One egg yellow 
15 grams of flour 
15 grams of cornstarch (optional)


You mix all the ingredients in a bowl excluding the cornstarch, then put the bowl in the microwave for about 1 minute and thirty seconds.

Take it out and mix 

Then put it back in the microwave again for another 30 seconds. 

If you don't like the constancy of the custard you can some cornstarch when you stick it in the microwave for the second time. 

If you do so please add about 15 grams of cornstarch. 


After making the custard I got some frozen pie sheets and baked them and then cut them into squares followed by whipping up some cream. 


I then layered them like a sandwich. When you layer them, please make sure that all the ingredients are cold otherwise they will fall apart during this process. 

pie sheet
custard
cream
strawberry
cinnamon 
pie sheet
custard 
cream
strawberry
cinnamon
pie sheet

Then, you have a very easy treat for your friends. 

Yakiniku Dinner on New Year Day

After doing a lot of shopping and praying at the shrine. My friend decided head back to Shinookubo to eat Korean food because that was the only thing open during New Year Day.


So, he headed all the way back to Okubo to find a nice restaurant. Once we got there we found a nice looking restaurant but... there was a line and there was only one waiter. Knowing this we decided to head back to Shinjuku and check out a yakiniku joint we had seen earlier in the day.



Let me tell you this,


This restaurant was expensive but it was the joint!!!!

The first thing we ordered was raw meat to fry and I ordered cheese binbinpa

Then we ordered an assortment of raw meat to grill on hot rocks. 

The meal was quite delicious for a last minute meal and I plan on visiting again in the future.

Check the restaurant out here at this address

焼き肉ホルモン 門

〒169-0072 Tokyo, Shinjuku, Okubo, 1 Chome1-2 泰正ビル １F

03-3200-3307

Yakiniku Restaurant

Japanese New Year Day

Japanese New Year Day is similar to Christmas in the west. Most Japanese return to their hometowns and eat delicious dishes known as Osechi. The Osechi was first founded during the Heian period in Japan. Most people ate these dishes over a couple of days which meant that the food had to last. Thus, the food was stacked in boxes called jubako.

I have never eaten Osechi in Japan but I will eventually. Unlike most Japanese housewives I do not have days to prepare this glorious dish nor do I want to spend hundreds of dollars to purchase it. So, this year I decided to walk around my local area and eat Japanese Yakiniku and do Hatsumode (Praying for good luck for the year.)

Living in Shinjuku the closest shrine to my house is Hanazono Shrine located next to Kabukicho (Tokyo`s red light district)

 I left my house at around 3pm and headed to the shrine with my friend and on the way I decided to sample some delicious street stall foods in Shinokubo. I decided to eat a potato fried on a stick. It was quite delicious and cheap at only 200 yen.

After eating the potato I headed to the Shrine. But do the the amount of people waiting in to pray I decided against waiting and went shopping instead. I ended up buying my new oven then headed back to the Shrine to pray for good luck. Again the line was super long thus I decided to go to Hanazono Sweet Shop and enjoy some Japanese sweets and wait until dusk. 

This sweet is a soft rice cake with cream and raisins in the middle. It tasted like a raisin cookie not too sweet but very delicious. 

This is sugar candy that is often given with warm green tea in Japan.

This is a special Anmitsu only served on New Year Day. Anmitsu has many thing such as jelly, azuki (Japanese sweet beans), cherry and fruit. This particular one had green tea ice cream. 

This is fried mochi(mashed rice until it become a dough like substance) with seaweed and soy sauce. 

Tsutaya in Roppongi

Ever since changing jobs last year I have been able to spend more time in Azabu Juban. Although, I am no stranger to Azabu. I have decided to enjoy more of the restaurants in the area. One of the places I never visited as a student was Tsutaya near Roppongi Hills. I never really had time to enjoy Tsutaya because
1.I was busy studying.
2. I was too poor to buy books or drink Starbucks on a daily basis.

Thus, the other day during my lunch break I had decided to take sometime and good browsing through their book section. While there, I noticed that had a large assortment of architecture
and art books. I was never a huge fan of these two subjects so, I decided to take a look at their cooking section. The cooking section was also quite big with books ranging from everyday bento making to extremely difficult French recipes.


I decided to pick up two books while I was there. The first book was how to make sandwiches from scratch. (I do not eat many sandwiches but I think I should start)

The other was a cookbook on how to make bistro style dishes.

I hope I can try all of these recipes in the near future.

Divas can cook recipe review

I have decided to start a new type of entry into my blog and I want to call this section my Recipe Review Section.

Over the last couple of days I have been on a cooking frenzy. I have not cooked much over the last year. However, over this last new year holiday I decided to buy a new oven. I ended up buying a Sharp Healsio.

To  my surprise it was a great investment.


The oven works great and it bakes really well.


Thus, this last Sunday while browsing the web I decided to take a challenge and bake a whole chicken for the first time here in Japan.

The recipe that caught my eye was from a food blogger (Divas can cook)

You can view her site here at

www.divascancook.com

I decided to challenge and cook her Lemon Rosemary Garlic Chicken.

And let me tell you this... This recipe is the bomb!!!!


The chicken ended up real moist and the Rosemary, Garlic, and butter taste fabulous.







I also cooked some veggies simmered in butter and herbs to go with the dish. I think this chicken is a great way to end the week or start the new week. The recipe was easy to follow and all of the measurements were on point.

My friend who had come over for dinner that night was surprised by how fast I was able to cook the chicken and how little prep it took. ( In Japan is uncommon to buy a whole chicken and bake it)

If I have a potluck or a party in the near future this will be one of the dishes I would consider taking.


Here are a few pics from my dinner last night.