After a wee stroll this weekend came across a very rustic looking lovely old ramen shop specialising in charsui udon.

Was very "oldie worldie" almost like it was trapped in the showai period (1926-1989)

I don't usually eat ramen but I did settle on a bowl of udon as I'm not a big ramen fan for a three reasons :

• Although tasty, the fat rich soup gives me the trots, leaving me stuck on the toilet for about half an hour.
  

• You can wrap it up in as much eastern mystique as you like but ramen is DIRTY. Its the equivalent of a battered fish served with greasy chips and a pickled egg and mushy peas.If Asians spoke in Glasgow accents they would say "moanan lets get doon tae the ramen shoap and get us a big durtae bowl ah ramen eh!"
  

• Lastly, if your a caucasian who likes ramen you become one of those endless wittering bores who whenever eating a bowl of ramen in any location other than Asia you have to note in a loud voice how "This ramen is good but nowhere near as awesome as the ones I had in Osaka/Tokyo/Shangai/etc", these people always seem to think the act of eating ramen is an aesthetic akin to a martial art and that the food is somehow transferring the exotic asian quality to them.More irritatingly, most always these types tend to pronounce the word "ramen" as "wwrrraaaaamen" in a nasally smug voice.

So Ramen, no thanks...Udon on the other hand....

You have guests coming for dinner and your making Guacamole but your avocados are hard, WHAT TO DO ?

Other than worrying that "hard avocados" gives you a freudian flash do the following:

At the moment my commute time takes about from door to door takes about 2 hours. Returning time is about 10pm at night. When explaining this to a friend he asked incredulously

"But what about your tea !?"
(That's Scottish for dinner usually from 6pm)

I always have been a very "regular" eater, lunch at 12, dinner at 6. All other countries seem to eat later, I think Japan being the latest.

This said after the first leg of my journey, I have a 1 hour train ride which thankfully I get a seat on. By that time I am as we would say "HANK MARVIN"
(That's Scottish for hungry)

Thankfully all station platforms have little ramen restaurants for a quick munch before going home or as I prefer, some "otsumami" these are traditionally snacks to be eaten with beer, like nuts, pretzels. There's a stunning array to choose from, my current favourites are ;

Shiotan - Salted dried cows tongue with spices.
Chitara - Strips of cheese sandwiched between dried cod.


Naturally I didn't know what either were made of till my partner explained.Still love em tho !

Just got back from Golden Week holiday and got all the friends round for a mexican cook out and console tomfoolery.

The menu was Salad, Quesedillas, Salsa, Beef Chilli, Guacamole, Chicken Fajitas and CAKE !

As you can see the NES  emulator was providing much nostalgic entertainment.Known as Famicom in Japan I think every Japanese person in Japan has a "Famicon" favourite or memory.
Everyone was exchanging "you do it that way !? that's stupid, you miss that block with the super mushroom !"

I always was useless at original Mario Bros, I'm more a SNES Super Mario Land guy...
<excuses-excuses>

By 5 o clock I was exhausted from cooking and all the eating, beer and cake, I ended up falling asleep and waking at 10 where everybody was still in full flow! By that time the PS2 EyeToy was on the go and everyone was bustling about the room, avoiding virtual punches or dancing in time to some virtual disco diva.I joined in for an hour or so but was knackered and then back to bed...Must be getting old.... though the party theme had a mental age of about 14. =)

I'm an incredibly fussy eater.Add to this fact I'm Scottish and you may understand the changes I have had to make since living in Japan.
A funny quip I once heard was

Man - "Oh Fried Breakfast ! Lots of Cholesterol !"
Foreign Woman - "What's that ?"
Man -"Its what Scottish people eat."

Although my diet has chnaged alot, sometimes I do year some "Scottish cooking" i.e. Cholesterol. Pies and pasties are extremely rare in Japan so I resorted to making my own with some frozen pastry sheets and my "secret recipe" minced beef.Turned out very nicely, served with chips and lashings of vinegar I was transported back to the land of deep fried pizzas, albiet momentarily. I had a fellow English & Australian friend have a sample as they too missed pasties n pies. Well recieved they joked I should go into business.

I cant see the Japanese taking to the Scotch Pie with much enthusiasm though.