Keep Calm and Carry On: The Diary of Foodie and Gourmet

When I think about my recent trip to Japan, there were many highlights, but I think New Years stands out the most. As I mentioned in a previous post, my New Years Eve is usually fairly low key and uneventful, but that was not the case this year. To celebrate the start of 2015, I did something very Japanese, but it was as totally new experience for me. I kicked off 2015 by visiting a Japanese shrine! This is a tradition in Japan and it was such a cool experience for me.  A little bit after midnight, we got into Dr. K's car and he drove us to a local Shinto shrine. Although 2015 had just begun, the shrine was already mobbed with people! We had to wait on line for about 45 minutes, before actually getting to the shrine and making our prayers! Although it was cold and the line was long, there was so much to see. It was really fun people watching, but it was even more entertaining to look at all of the food vendors that lined the streets.  The enormous line I have visited

I know that this post is nearly one month late, but I hope that won't put people off. Even though it is January 27th, I still wanted to share my Japanese New Years adventures with everyone. This was the whole reason for our winter vacation. As I have mentioned in a previous post, New Years is one of the most important holidays in Japan --- if not THE MOST important holiday. It's all about food, spending time with loved ones, and tradition. I have never spent New Years in Japan, so this was really exciting. Getting ready for the Olympics We were fortunate enough to be invited to our good friend's house for New Years. We have known Dr. K and his family for, gosh I don't even know how long. They live in Toyosu, which is a relatively new neighborhood in Tokyo and they have a really spectacular view of Tokyo Bay and the Rainbow Bridge.  It was a really low key, but very fun New Years filled with amazing food and a lot of laughter. Dr. K was such a gracious host a

Hello all! I hope that everyone is well. You may or may not have noticed, but I have been rather silent recently. I apologize for that. I have a lot that I want to share with you, especially from my trip to Japan, but it's been a very busy couple of weeks and I haven't been able to blog! Since getting back from Japan, I've had many more adventures that I also want to share with you and I intend to get blogging as soon as possible! Just wanted to check in at let everyone know that I haven't abandoned by blog! Please stay tuned!

After visiting Fushimi Inari-Taisha, my parents and I wanted to experience another one of Fushimi's attractions --- it's sake! I did not know this until reading Wikipedia, but apparently, Fushimi is known for having good spring water, which makes it an ideal location to distill sake. Today, Fushimi is the second greatest producer of sake in Japan and this is where the sake company Gekkeikan was founded!  Fushimi is also famous for it's association with Sakamoto Ryoma (坂本龍馬). Ryoma "was a prominent figure in the movement to overthrow the Tokugawa shogunate during the Bakumatsu period in Japan. One of his most noted accomplishments during this period was the negotiation of peace between Choshu and Satsuma, two powerful provinces that had long been hostile to each other, and then unite them against the Bakufu, the government that supported the Tokugawa shogun." (Wikipedia)   Apparently, Ryoma stayed in Fushimi at some point. We walked around this little sak