No sooner did the digital clock blink 11 AM than four elegant English speakers arrived for ongoing coffee and conversation with baked treats from the local Paul in Roppongi-ichome station. (The fifth member had to look after her granddaughter as professional babysitters are not in plentiful supply in Tokyo.) "Are we early?" asked chef-san, to the secret amusement of musume (my daughter) eavesdropping from her room. Despite best efforts to prepare coffee, photocopy word games and produce a new word list there always appears to be one more thing to do as they tiptoe in. "Water for everyone?" The sudden rise in humidity requires hydration. Two preferred carbonated water, two preferred natural and which type is healthier? Impossible to determine based on this sample.
Last week ended with a question: Why do Americans say "you know" so often? You know, that's a good question. Fellow Americans, any ideas? What do you know, it is a colloquialism that we fall back on when gathering our thoughts. This week I selected a quiz from the BBC British Council on the subject of food shopping. Bananas and grapes come in bunches (fusa), but how strange that Westerners buy meat by weight. In Tokyo meat is sold in single portions to avoid waste. White and dark meat of a chicken was a new concept. Milk comes in a carton, but only in litres and half litres. Who needs a gallon? Chef-san, who once lived in Westchester, reminisced about jumbo packages of foods including the "buy one get one free" specials at the Gourmet Garage. After 6 PM Daimaru Peacock supa (market) discounts perishables but the choice is unpredictable.
Lively conversation led to a new word, anecdote, "an amusing or interesting story about yourself." Two came up about milk: Obaasan (grandmother of 5) recounted a friend who was served milk (mi-ri-ku)on an airplane after asking for beer (bi-ru), while Chef-san's husband was served six glasses of milk after ordering a milk shake! Shake sounded like six? Traveler-san once asked for a map in New York and was presented with a mop! Giggles all around. Looking at the paper napkins on the table provoked the final question of the coffee: What do you call the character on the napkin? That's a smiley face. In Japan he has a name (Niko Niko chan). Gomen nasai no time for Pooh-san , but the new Feng Shui books were distributed with great hopes for the future. Sayonara! Raishu ( next week)!
Showing posts with label Roppongi-ichome. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Roppongi-ichome. Show all posts
Wednesday, May 19, 2010
Monday, May 3, 2010
Sanuki Club
Azabu Manor faces Roppongi i-chome, a neighborhood where skyscrapers dwarf single family homes huddled below the hush of the Shuto Expressway. Prince Charles, a stickler for tradition, would not approve of the mishmash that is Tokyo! Salvador Dali,on the other hand, would applaud the bizarre mix: Immediately below our Manor terrace lie rows of modest homes, some barely two arm-lengths wide. Predictably, by 8 AM the women of Azabu have hung out the laundry to dry on a rooftop or balcony. Behind the laundresses rises a cement slab eight stories tall: At sundown a lamp appears in each window and every morning futons lean on the windowsills to air out. Rather than Alcatraz this grim building was identified by one knowledgeable tomodachi as the Tokyo Sanuki Club.
Tokyo is a town of private clubs, but the Sanuki Club is open to the public: It was designed as a ryokan (inn) for people from Shikoku, south of Tokyo it is the smallest and least populated of the four islands that comprise Nihon. Shikoku-ins come in by the busload, spend the night in the dorm-like setting at a reasonable rate and snap each other in front of the gray building upon leaving. "The Sanuki Club is famous for its udon restaurant," added tomodachi, referring to the noodles that are as long as shoe laces. Shikoku boasts hundreds of sanuki udon shops, and at the moment this dish is enjoying a boomlet.
After staring at this cement rectangle for three years, I persuaded two tomodachis to meet me for a bowl of udon one sunny day during Golden Week. Penetrating beyond the gray exterior we entered a tasteful, traditional interior. The udon shop, on the mezzanine, offered a pretty lunch set for Y 1,500, which challenged this gaijin's ability to successfully lift and swipe the noodles into the dipping sauce. Secondly, the requisite slurping sound was difficult to replicate with the correct gusto. After nibbling a variety of delicacies served on small dishes, we repaired to the main floor where low wooden chairs allowed for a relaxing cup of coffee. Outside in the garden a trio on Japanese flute provided an impromptu concert. For one afternoon, we were transported to Shikoku.
Tokyo is a town of private clubs, but the Sanuki Club is open to the public: It was designed as a ryokan (inn) for people from Shikoku, south of Tokyo it is the smallest and least populated of the four islands that comprise Nihon. Shikoku-ins come in by the busload, spend the night in the dorm-like setting at a reasonable rate and snap each other in front of the gray building upon leaving. "The Sanuki Club is famous for its udon restaurant," added tomodachi, referring to the noodles that are as long as shoe laces. Shikoku boasts hundreds of sanuki udon shops, and at the moment this dish is enjoying a boomlet.
After staring at this cement rectangle for three years, I persuaded two tomodachis to meet me for a bowl of udon one sunny day during Golden Week. Penetrating beyond the gray exterior we entered a tasteful, traditional interior. The udon shop, on the mezzanine, offered a pretty lunch set for Y 1,500, which challenged this gaijin's ability to successfully lift and swipe the noodles into the dipping sauce. Secondly, the requisite slurping sound was difficult to replicate with the correct gusto. After nibbling a variety of delicacies served on small dishes, we repaired to the main floor where low wooden chairs allowed for a relaxing cup of coffee. Outside in the garden a trio on Japanese flute provided an impromptu concert. For one afternoon, we were transported to Shikoku.
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