Giant Robot Store and GR2 News
Shingo and Ai’s little dude Rei is a picky eater and didn’t make it out. So this is the best I got. We ate at an izakaya place called Gomaya, which translates to something like sesame seed shop. You guessed it, that’s the theme, sesame. Michelle may be vegan, but somehow she’s getting through this trip unscathed, yet, it seems like it’s all about veggies. Tomato, cucumber, fava beans, tofu, soba, and stuff like that. The occasional rice ball, and it seems to be working. I’m sort of glad, I’m able to explain what a vegan means in Japan. You can say, no fish, no eggs, no this or that, but until you say, no dashi (which is from bonito fish), then they trip out. This is Shu, he does art and also helps Ai and Shingo. He’s a quiet dude who I’ll guess always takes that middle path. That’s Ai and Shingo. I haven’t seen them in a year and a half. They’re showing me pics. That’s Miss Premium Yuko who helps out Ai on the weekend. In front is a veggie medley, cooked simple and it was good. The egg behind it was amazing, my blood orange juice of course great, behind the OJ was the sesame tofu which was almost dessert like. Impressive. I’ve had it before, and don’t remember it being as sweet. It was powdered with sesame. I’d suggest this to anyone who’s into tofu. To the right is gobo, flattened and seasoned like a chip. Rice ball. The piece of seaweed kept flopping over like a comb over hair cut. They often refer to it as a bar code, but I found out that it’s sort of taboo to make fun of that. Madsaki is a Japanese artist who lived in the states for years, but now rock in Tokyo. We met him for coffee. He seems like a good guy. In case you don’t know her work, this is what some of Ai Yamaguchi’s work looks like below. Take a look at more pics where it came from: Edition Works.
Continue reading
Soba Made by Hand. It sort of rhymes with Castles Made of Sand, a song by Jimmy Hendrix. This is the one I like best. Duck in the hot dipping sauce "tsuyu"... the soba was amazing. It's great when you can taste the freshness, and the green onion which are those huge chunks, were actually quite sweet. Ate this at a spot in Saitama. It's pointless to even guide you there. It's about an hour north of...
Soba Made by Hand. It sort of rhymes with Castles Made of Sand, a song by Jimmy Hendrix. This is the one I like best. Duck in the hot dipping sauce “tsuyu”… the soba was amazing. It’s great when you can taste the freshness, and the green onion which are those huge chunks, were actually quite sweet. Ate this at a spot in Saitama. It’s pointless to even guide you there. It’s about an hour north of Tokyo in a tiny spot that I’d never be able to find. You can get this at most soba spots that have variety, but not with fresh noodles. Dinner time was another story. Sumireya is an amazing spot. I didn’t shoot another city scape but it’s on floor 42. The elevator gets you up in 5 seconds, literally. This, above is sort of like an appetizer, but it ends up being, that the entire meal was like many appetizers. I think I liked the seasoned squid on the bottom left. The scallop in the cup was good and the tiny green vegetables were seasoned with ume. They were crispy. The shrimp was a sushi with I think potato under it, mashed. This sashimi will mess with you. The tuna was chu toro. That alone was amazing. Name the other two. Cold Chawanmushi, that had this super bony fish in it. I think it takes a special technique to cut it and rid the bones. That’s uni on top. Great uni makes uni great. (how’s that sentence?). Tuna that’s fried seared. Amazing, and it’s not because it was fried. This wasn’t even mine, and it was good. Chicken. Cooked well. With Mr Arai, we discussed pachinko futures and gangster business techniques. Gelantinous seafood puck. This wasn’t sweet, but every bite was a party in your mouth. Sir Loin on fire. This was good. Perfect amount, if you got a 10 oz steak of this, you’d have passed out at 6 oz sporting a woodrow. The rice is white but it had bits of fish. Was it Spanish Mackerel. Red dashi miso soup, the best kind, and pickles. Dessert was a mousse cake, with fruit. Shiodome City Center D4Tokyo 41F, 1-5-2 Higashishimbashi, Minato-ku, Tokyo Here’s a site for the four restaurants. I guess I’ll have to try the other three. One’s a bar. Here’s the
Continue reading
I made it to Tokyo in time to see Seonna Hong's art show at Kaikaikiki gallery called, Viscery Loves Company. Her paintings were large sized, much larger than anything I've seen from her before. I actually saw these pieces in the works at her studio, but seeing them up on a nice large wall was amazing. She's able to mix her old sharp 2d style that was heavily graphic oriented, to now using paint...
I made it to Tokyo in time to see Seonna Hong’s art show at Kaikaikiki gallery called, Viscery Loves Company. Her paintings were large sized, much larger than anything I’ve seen from her before. I actually saw these pieces in the works at her studio, but seeing them up on a nice large wall was amazing. She’s able to mix her old sharp 2d style that was heavily graphic oriented, to now using paint brush strokes and showing them off, while not abandoning her craft elements of using pre printed papers for her character’s outfits. I have a feeling, these new works will be part of a great future in painting for her.
Continue reading