The first was my Japanese lesson. These are the highlight of my week. I really do like Japanese (even though I am a painfully lazy student) and I love my Japanese teacher. I know I've said so before, but she really is the best. One of her designs is going to be featured in Garr Reynolds' new book (the author of Presentation Zen). I don't know what the new book is called, but I am excited to see it.
Of course, as you all probably know by now, the really, really great part about Japanese lesson days is the post lesson coffee shop cake eating. This week we went to a very trendy shop Russell and I had seen when out walking. It is called Shin and has a display case full of miniscule desserts that are truly all about the presentation. It was fun to go once, but these cakes were my least favorite of all the places we have been. A big plus, however, and one that may well entice me back to this cafe, was the amazing hot chocolate. Real, made from bittersweet chocolate hot chocolate. It was delicious. It happened to be a bit chilly and rainy that day, so perfect for hot chocolate. (Don't worry, the rain and cold was a one day fluke, we are back to lovely not too hot sunny weather now).
Of course, I took pictures (as seems to be the custom when you go to a coffee shop to eat cake). The standard Japanese cake seems to involve layers of very light and fluffy cake with large layers of cream and glazed fruit on top. Either that or a glazed fruit tart. There is usually a rich chocolate cake option, too. Some of the cake shops we have been to offer a wide range of specialty cakes - the first place we went to had an Amish cake that was magnificent, for example - but Shin was definitely just about doing the basics in the classiest way possible.
The second adventure is fresh from today. We finally ordered a pizza! I had had some pizza at work when a colleague ordered some for an office pizza party. This is the first pizza Russell has had since coming to Japan. Pretty hard to believe, huh? Its not for lack of pizza. We get ads in our mailbox all the time. Its certainly not for lack of interest, either. There are a combination of factors that have held us off, though. The first is that we are trying to be good about what we eat. There are so many healthy options to choose from, it seems unfortunate to load up on greasy pizza.
The even bigger reason, though, is that pizza in Japan is REALLY expensive and often comes in flavors that just don't appeal to the western palate. From the pizza party at work, I had been introduced to a pizza brand that seemed very in line with what I expect from American delivery pizza. There are, of course, some fascinating topping options (mayonnaise, seafood and corn are present on the majority of pizza options, for example) but there were some pretty basic options too. We got a regular pizza (think US medium) with half 4 cheese pizza (mozzarella, parmesan, camembert and brie) and half crazy mix with pepperoni, sausage, bacon, corn, olive and onion. Both very straight forward options. At a price of $30 for that one medium pizza, we weren't really willing to be adventurous unless the end result sounded DELICIOUS. For that price we are not going to be repeating this adventure any time soon, but it was absolutely delightful to order a pizza online, spend the wait time doing dishes, and then eat and throw away the box. I am very much enjoying my spotless kitchen - at least until tomorrow, breakfast time.
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