Cicada in Hiroo

I could easily call this Mediterranean restaurant an old favourite. Their menu is one that would make you come back again and again and again. And well, the fact that it’s a place were i’ve had wonderful memories of get togethers with friends add to the place’ charm.

Honestly, I’m craving for Cicada’s dishes today so much so that I asked Hubs we eat there with Okasan next week when she comes to visit us. I-CAN’T-WAIT. For now and the next few days, I’ll just daydream of these:

Grilled flat bread that goes great with salted olive oil. It’s “bottomless” or for okawari at only 500yen (without tax).

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They offer a selection of olive oils – Greek, French, Californian, Italian.

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For their Tapaz, these are our absolute favourites:
Spicy Moroccan Crab Cakes

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Roasted Calamari stuffed with Prosciutto

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For the main entree, Pan-roasted scallops with farro and maitake risotto

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Drool. Six sleeps away.

Click here for reservations and access to the place.

Diaper talk: Combi’s Sangenic and garbage collection

Garbage segregation is strictly implemented here in Japan. Every household has a copy of the daily garbage pickup schedule – what type of garbage gets picked up at certain days and at what time. And if you’re a delinquent and your combustible garbage is with PET bottles, trust that the garbage dudes definitely won’t pick it up.

The schedule differs with every area. in ours, burnables/decomposing garbage and plastic wrappers/cellophane/styro and similar stuff gets collected twice a week at Mondays and Fridays (albeit burnables should be in a different garbage bag as the plastics). PET bottles are on Tuesdays, big boxes and old magazines/books (should be neatly tied and bundled together) every second Saturday of the month, und so weiter. And oh, it’s required that you use see-through garbage bags, well, sometimes, it’s out of courtesy as well.

During winter, spring and fall, the decomposing garbage getting holed up inside your house is just fine. The cold ambient arrests the bacteria that would otherwise cause foul odour. It’s a different matter though during summer when it’s hot and decomposing garbage could fester fast. Thankfully, we don’t cook much nowadays, especially during the workweek so it’s not torture at all.

However, I can just imagine how used baby diapers would reek after four days of being held up in the garbage can. Or rather, I really don’t want to imagine at all.

Hence, I am convinced that this special diaper trash can made by Combi is really a boon for parents in properly disposing their baby’s poop.

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The “contraption” is actually a bit complicated when we tried to check it out – Mayumi and Hubs had quite a good laugh about it as we explored how it is used. But basically, it uses a disk of partitioned cellophane. When you throw away the used diaper inside, the opened partitioned cellophane will “candy-wrap” the diaper as it goes to the bottom, leaving a newly opened cellophane gaping wide open to receive yet another used diaper.

Supposedly, the “candy wrapping” and good trash can seal can eliminate the odour seeping out of the trash can. Hopefully. Let’s see how it is in a few months’ time or should I say, next summer.

hanabi and ramen

The yearly hanabi (fireworks display) sponsored by Kanagawa Shimbun which is held right in front of our office was held today. Wanting to avoid the crowd after the hanabi, hubs and I hurried home when the hanabi was just getting started. There was such a crowd that I didn’t hazard taking a photo anymore; I was only intent on protecting my pregnant belly against the rushers.

Two things I’m glad with with the throng of people: one, there are definitely more people this year than last year – people last year weren’t really particularly feeling festive after the big earthquake in Tohoku region. I’m happy that the people in general seem more buoyed now, more genki. Secondly, it always is really nice to see people dressed in the traditional summer clothes – the yukata. It’s not as elaborate and expensive looking as the kimono but still it’s nice to behold.

We were so hungry but we couldn’t eat in our office area because we wanted to be out of the crowd ASAP. But cooking would take time. Hence we decided to eat near our home. But the best restaurants in our area are the ramen houses. Hubs usually don’t prefer eating ramen but thankfully this evening, he urged we eat ramen. Yey!

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Left one is Atsushi’s. It’s tonkotsu (pork bone broth) ramen that’s soy sauce flavoured whilst mine on the right is miso flavoured. I could taste the vinegar in Atsushi’s broth. It’s good but I’m happier with my flavour (albeit mine is more expensive and Atsushi’s has more pork slice).

Because we got guilty with all the fat content, we bought fruits in the fruit store just in front of the ramen house.
Plums and grapes for dessert.

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Just balanced, right? 🙂