New song

"Japanese Dinner" Cedar Park, 2016
Photo info: FUJIFILM X100T, 23mm, f/3.2, 1/125 sec, ISO2000
“Japanese Dinner” Cedar Park, 2016

こんばんは! Hello, how’s it going?

Tonight’s photo is of another delicious dinner that Mariko prepared for us. It’s a Japanese style meal, with ebi-furai (breaded and fried shrimp), hamburg-steak, noodles, and some salsa. It’s very eclectic I guess! But soooo yummy!

After dinner I started learning a new song on the ukulele – Utada Hikaru’s “花束を君に” which is the theme song to the current Asadora, Toto Nee-chan. It’s an awesome song! I love it. 🎵

Here’s a great cover version:

Have a nice evening!

– B Barron Fujimoto

Gyu-don

Cedar Park, 2016
Photo info: FUJIFILM X100T, 23mm, f/2.8, 1/100 sec, ISO2000
Cedar Park, 2016

こんばんは! Hello!

How was your Tuesday? Mine was pretty good. And the weather is nice and warm, which I like. Tonight there is a chance for a storm but tomorrow should be beautiful again. It’s good to get some rain though. ☔

Tonight’s photo is of our Gyu-don (beef on rice in a bowl) dinner. Mariko asked for a dinner idea, and I of course said Oyako-don (my favorite; chicken and egg over rice), but she said we don’t have chicken. So next I asked for Katsu-don (pork cutlet over rice) but we don’t have pork, so then I asked for Gyu-don… and she said yes!

Anyways, it was delicious as you can imagine.

おやすみなさい! Take care!

– B Barron Fujimoto

A-Z Challenge – S

S is for “Spicy”

Spicy foods are my favorite, and if I have the change to add hot pepper, sriracha, rayu, jalapenos, etc… I will do so! I’m not sure when I started loving extra hot flavors, but it must have been in high school.

I think there have only been three times when something has been too spicy for me to eat… Mariko and I went to an Indonesian restaurant in Akasaka and whew!!! it was so spicy we couldn’t continue! I was sweating like crazy… then in Malaysia, a friend took us out to eat and one of the dishes was crazy. Probably not as hot as the Indonesian food, but hot enough where we couldn’t eat it. And the other time was something I don’t think I ate, because maybe I was too young, but my parents made shish-kebab when my grandparents were visiting, and for some reason, the peppers used were too potent, and no one could eat the grilled meats. I don’t think I had any of it though.

The photo below was taken in 2011 in Osaka at a curry restaurant we went to. The curry was extra spicy, and I was in a bit of pain, but I was able to finish. Wow, though… have you ever eaten something so spicy that your throat kind of has a reaction? Almost like gagging, but nothing to do with the stomach. It’s purely in the throat. It’s a little scary! But I think at the curry restaurant, I was really sweating and my eyes did water! Koa insists that I was crying… but I can’t really remember

Osaka, 2011
Photo info: OLYMPUS IMAGING CORP. E-PL1, 14mm, f/3.5, 1/60 sec, ISO1600
Osaka, 2011

But of all the people I know, I think I enjoy the hotness the most. When we go to Coco Ichiban curry, I would get level 10 spiciness, which is pretty hot, but not nearly as hot as the Indonesian food! Yow! 🔥

A-Z Challenge – P

P is for “Pizza”

Austin, 2016
Photo info: FUJIFILM X100T, 23mm, f/4, 1/125 sec, ISO3200
Austin, 2016

Hello pizza fans! I think just about everyone loves pizza, and most have a favorite, right? Well, I love all kinds of pizza, from a loaded Chicago style, to a plain NY slice. For toppings, I’ll eat just about anything, including anchovies. In fact, I love anchovy pizza! So salty and delicious. Plus, not many people like anchovies, so that means more for me. 😊

I also love Japanese pizza toppings, which can be a bit different from American-style. For instance, corn-mayo pizza is great, also ebi (shrimp) pizza is wonderful. We used to order a lot from a chain called “pizza-la”. Click on this link to their site’s English menu and tell me those don’t look great. 😛

At home, Mariko sometimes makes a yummy negi (green onion) pizza which is super-popular at parties. Other memorable pizzas/toppings I’ve had are the Portuguese sausage pizza in Hawaii, mentaiko pizza, and lobster cream. And I love Costco pizzas as well. I don’t think I’ve tried a pizza I didn’t like!

As you can imagine, I’m getting hungry now! 🍕

Birthday boy’s dinner

"Mountain of Karaage" Cedar Park, 2016
Photo info: FUJIFILM X100T, 23mm, f/3.2, 1/100 sec, ISO640
“Mountain of Karaage” Cedar Park, 2016

こんばんは! Happy Monday!

Today is Koa’s 12th birthday 🎂… just one more year before he becomes a teenager. He’s still a little kid in so many ways, but he’s growing up too fast! It’s really true what they say about how they become grown before you know it. Actually, it seems like they were young boys for a long time, but suddenly at about 6th grade they change and are little adults. The time really flies by! I still can’t believe Bay is a freshman in high school. 😮

Today’s photo is of a mountain of Japanese fried chicken , which is called “karaage”. We like to call it JFC. 😋 It is so yummy, and Koa requested NO VEGGIES. But we did have grilled asparagus as well, although I don’t think Koa ate any. We let him pass on it on his special day.

The karaage was so good that now I am thinking that I want to request it for my Father’s Day dinner. This year, my family will be with me for Father’s Day, which hasn’t happened in a long time! Usually they are in Japan for over a month in early summer, so I am alone on Father’s Day, but this summer they are making their Japan trip a month or so later than usual.

Time flies so quickly these days that I know that summer is just around the corner!

Take care, and good night for now. おやすみなさい!

– バロン Barron Fujimoto