Northern California Unnamed Blog

Wed - August 22, 2007

The blog has been moved

I have moved my blog to a new site.
http://www.yukiunlimited.com/SushiCafe/Blog/Blog.html

I am writing entries in English and Japanese at one site.

Please update your link!
Thanks!

Posted at 12:11 AM Read More

Mon - August 13, 2007

Portraits added

Portrait photos of Model I have been just added to my portrait photography site.
The photo album is I2. These photos in the album were taken at Santana Row in San Jose.

Posted at 10:22 AM Read More

Fri - August 10, 2007

Masks?!

I saw this at a nearby Korean restaurant sometime ago. I see some aliens...
I wonder if this is popular in Korea.

Posted at 08:27 AM Read More

Wed - August 8, 2007

The Strongest in the Human History

The first four characters are interpreted to "the strongest in the human history." Well, this is food. It should be "the most tasteful in the human history." I don't see the way the almond tofu or any other food is named like this in western restaurants here. This may be very Asian.

Posted at 08:42 AM Read More

Mon - August 6, 2007

Sake Sake Sake! Party

My friend threw a Sake Sake Sake! party. We had a lot of sake. Actually, we had two Hakkaisan Ginzyo.
A little bottle in the picture is... Choya no Umeshu

Posted at 10:22 AM Read More

Wed - August 1, 2007

GT-R spotted in Sunnyvale, CA?!

It doesn't look like any of the past GT-R models, or the new 2008 GT-R coming out soon, but the work seemed to have been done well.
Here are some spy photos of the new GT-R.

Posted at 09:10 AM Read More

Mon - July 30, 2007

Tanzaku Wishes

At the Tanabata party sometime ago, we wrote wishes on tanzaku paper, and hang them on a bamboo tree.
There were varieties of wishes.... "More Hakkaisan!"

Posted at 01:23 PM Read More

Fri - July 27, 2007

Looks so spicy...Spicy Peppers?!

Korean restaurants usually serve several small plates with things like kimchi, little fish, dry seaweed, and so on.
A few weeks ago, I went to a Korean restaurant in Santa Clara, and got these peppers for the first time.
I was a little surprised, but I thought I should try. It wasn't spicy at all. Actually it kind of had a little sweet taste.

Posted at 03:26 PM Read More

Wed - July 25, 2007

Red Highlights

I got my hair highlighted in red on this past Sunday.
The red this time is a little darker than the previous red that I tried in last December.
Reds seem to fade faster and become orange-ish soon.

Posted at 04:27 PM Read More

Mon - July 23, 2007

Coffee Milk in a glass bottle

This was very nostalgic. I wouldn't have thought the coffee milk was still in the market in Japan.
When I was a little, I had the regular milk version delivered to the house every morning.

Posted at 09:27 AM Read More

Sat - July 21, 2007

Shanghai

I got a shanghai! I didn't try to get it. Well I am not good at all, so darts just go wherever they want to.
I wonder why this is called shanghai.

Posted at 07:26 AM Read More

Wed - July 18, 2007

Green Tea Frappuccino at Starbucks

I had the green tea frappuccino at a Starbucks for the first time in the U.S.
The whipped cream was just all right, but the green tea was good.
The color of the straw matched the drink, but that is the color of Starbucks.

Posted at 04:36 PM Read More

Mon - July 16, 2007

Apple headquarters

I am writing this entry at the Apple headquarters. I am attending SVMUG's monthly meeting.
The iPhone has just been released. It's said that someone is gonna talk about the iPhone.
BTW, Apple has a nice auditorium!

Posted at 07:10 PM Read More

Gourmet Cat Food

I saw some gourmet cat food in Japan. These in the picture are "Prime Bonito" and "Prime Ahi Tuna". They are finished up as delicious fish jelly.

We might have similar cat food in the US, but I haven't seen any yet. Cat food here is advertised in a way that they concern about the health.

Posted at 09:53 AM Read More

Fri - July 13, 2007

Riot on University Ave.?!

I first thought so for a moment...
A few blocks of the street were blocked. No was allowed to walk in; let alone drive in. Burnt down stuff was on the street here and there...

Posted at 02:27 PM Read More

Wed - July 11, 2007

Nagashi Soumen Project

I did nagashi soumen. What is it? We let soumen noodles float with water down on bamboos.
Here is a nagashi soumen project page.
I had never had nagashi soumen before; let alone made one.
It was a fun project. The soumen coming down on the bamboos was delicious!

Posted at 03:02 PM Read More

Mon - July 9, 2007

Guess what I received from my dentists?!

I referred a friend to my dentists, and received a Baskin Robbins $2.00 certificate.
I was like what?!
Well, I haven't seen my dentists for a while because I haven't had any cavity.
Do they wish I will get a cavity soon?!

I just need to brush my teeth after eating ice cream. :)
This certificate is cool.

Posted at 10:49 PM Read More

Thu - July 5, 2007

Spaghetti Restaurant

I went to a restaurant specializing in spaghetti in Tennoji, Osaka, Japan. You can all the varieties that they have before you order, which is common in Japan. The way each dish is displayed was kind of amusing to me.

I don't remember what I had, but it was good except the red wine and soup that came with as a set. The red wine was so light, and juicy. It didn't go well with the spaghetti. The soup was consomme based, and reminded me of the school lunch from the elementary school.

See the nice display!

Posted at 08:59 AM Read More

Sun - July 1, 2007

The iPhone got released

On the iPhone day, June 29th, 2007, I stood in the line to see the iPhone at the Palo Alto Apple store. I arrived at the store at 5:30PM. I saw TV crews from a least three TV stations. There was a big crowd in front of the store. The line was stretched out to the residential area.

At around 7PM, I went in the store and played with the new Apple toy.
I browsed my Japanese blog.

Click on Read More to read the rest of the entry.

Posted at 09:35 AM Read More

Thu - June 28, 2007

iPhone: the day before at the Apple stores

I went to two Apple stores since I was in the neighborhoods. There were already people lining up for the iPhone at the San Francisco store.

Please click on Read More to read the rest of this entry.

Posted at 01:53 PM Read More

Wed - June 27, 2007

Sake, Sake, Sake!

I went to a sake store in San Francisco a few weeks ago. They seemed to have a good selection of sake.
I didn't expect that much.
I got one Hakkaisan, two Kubota Manju, one Senshin, and etc. It was all good!

Posted at 04:36 PM Read More

Sun - June 24, 2007

Bonfire at the Santa Cruz beach

Last weekend, I went to the Santa Cruz beach and did a bonfire with friends.
It was one of the things that I wanted to do in the US.
We made yakiimo, which was really good. We also brought marshmallows.

It's kind of sad that we have rules that alcohol is banned on the beach and the beach is only open till 10PM.

Posted at 05:16 PM Read More

Fri - June 22, 2007

Dotonbori

This river, which goes through Shinsaibasi, Osaka, is called Dotonbori. When the Hanshin Tigers won the Japanese national championship some years ago, some fans jumped into the river.
The bridge is called Hikkakebashi. I don't know the formal name of it.
We can see the Kirin building, and Donkiho-te.

Posted at 03:09 PM Read More

Tue - June 19, 2007

Infitini Water Bottle

I went to a nearby Infiniti dealer last week, and got this water bottle.
Infiniti is a premium brand from Nissan.
The taste?!

Posted at 06:54 PM Read More

Sun - June 17, 2007

Spicy Korean Tofu Soup

There are a lot of Korean restaurants in Silicon Valley. One of my favorite restaurants specializes in tofu soup. Basically it is spicy like the one in the picture below. It is really good!

Posted at 07:25 AM Read More

Wed - June 13, 2007

Tako! Yaki in Japan

It is so obvious that this place serves food with octopus.
I didn't pay attention to this kind of decoration when I used to live in Japan a long time ago. It caught my eyes.
Please click here to see another one, which I posted already.

(Osaka, Japan)

Posted at 06:00 PM Read More

Mon - June 11, 2007

Legacy Nissan Z

I spotted this legacy Nissan Z nearby. I like the style and design of coups in this time of the era.
Most sport cars and coupes are really round shaped now.
Maybe this style will come back...

Posted at 11:23 AM Read More

Fri - June 8, 2007

San Francisco LGBT Pride Parade

I went to San Francisco today and saw a lot of rainbow flags.
I realized there would be the LGBT Pride Parade at the end of this month.

I took this picture of what was reflecting on the side mirror of my car.

Posted at 06:52 PM Read More

Wed - June 6, 2007

Busy Business Signs

There are so many signs in hankagai, or entertainment districts in Japan. Is this a characteristic of Asian countries?
Does Europe have it?
In San Francisco, the North Beach district and Chinatown are busy, but not like this.

Posted at 11:11 AM Read More

Sun - June 3, 2007

Flattened out gyoza

A new Japanese ramen restaurant was opened nearby and I went there to try their ramen.
Actually I have been there a few times already. Their miso ramen and shio ramen are good.
But I was a little amused by their gyoza. It's like gyoza was smashed by a wood board, or rammed down by a fist.
The taste? It was weird to me...

A view from the top.

Posted at 10:56 AM Read More

Fri - June 1, 2007

Luca Boy

I was organizing some pictures in my iPhoto on my Mac, and found this picture of Luca.
He is a very friendly boy cat. He jumps on the lap when he sees someone sit on the chair.

Posted at 01:48 PM Read More

Mon - May 28, 2007

Richard Gear lives in a Dandy House

I saw Richard Gear in this ad for a company called Dandy House. I guess they design and model houses.
In Japan, Richard Gear appears in many commercials where he is referred as "dandy".

There is no connection to the anime DVD ad right below the dandy. Nana, do you know Mr. Dandy?

Posted at 03:56 PM Read More

Fri - May 25, 2007

Beef Sandwich?! Isn't it a steak?

I had a beef sandwich at the Irish pub near my place. Most of the people who are reading my blog in English wouldn't be surprised with the size of this sandwich, but I guess people who read my blog in Japanese are probably surprised.
I had it as if it were a steak. Well, it's in the evening, so I didn't feel like having the bread part.

Posted at 10:48 AM Read More

Mon - May 21, 2007

New Portrait Phot Album

I have uploaded a new set of photos of model A. These photos were taken in January of this year. Most of the photos were taken in low-light situation, which I hadn't really done yet. I leaned a few things.

Please check out the album... Click here!

Posted at 12:22 AM Read More

Thu - May 17, 2007

Maccha Frozen with Red Beans and Pearls

I had this frozen green tea with red beans and tapioca balls about a half year ago for my first time. It was really good, and I got hooked. This is a Chinese dessert. I guess it's taiwanese. This week, I had it in a mug!

Posted at 05:21 PM Read More

Tue - May 15, 2007

German Pearl Dry Draft Beer

I don't know much about beer, but I have been to several pubs and bars. I have never seen or heard "pearl dry". Do they use pearls when they make the beer?

Posted at 02:49 PM Read More

Sat - May 12, 2007

Mopet Motorcycle

This kind of bike is popular among some people here. I heard there were some clubs in the Bay Area. They get together and go around San Francisco. It sounds fun!

Posted at 12:45 AM Read More

Wed - May 9, 2007

Running Glico Man

If you have been to Osaka and asked some local people where you should visit, some may recommend you go to Shinsaibashi and check out this Glico man. He has been there by the famous river, Doutonbori, for a long time, at least 30 years.
I haven't had Glico's caramels for a while.

Posted at 03:35 PM Read More

Mon - May 7, 2007

Big Burger

This is a big burger! I can see a lot of oil, oil, and oil!

Posted at 07:40 AM Read More

Fri - May 4, 2007

Black and Tan

I had never had mix of beer before. This is a Black and Tan, mix of the Guiness and Bass, that I had at an irish pub a couple of weeks ago. It was good. I guess I will have this again.

Posted at 01:36 PM Read More

Wed - May 2, 2007

Human looking street lamp

This is another photo from America Mura in Shinsaibashi, Osaka. I didn't notice this when I hanged out around this area a long time go. I guess the place had so many buildings with flashy signs, and did never probably pay attention to this kind of this.

Posted at 08:18 AM Read More

Sun - April 29, 2007

Fog

I took this picture when I was driving to my office in one of the mornings in November. We have fog in my town several times a year, well, maybe more.

Posted at 08:15 AM Read More

Fri - April 27, 2007

Scary Sign

The black one says "I HAVE P.M.S and a GUN. EXCUSE ME, DID YOU HAVE SOMETHING TO SAY?"
It would be scary if I saw this in the U.S., but this was in America Mura(village) in Shinsaibashi, Osaka. It's an American town?!

Posted at 08:07 AM Read More

Wed - April 25, 2007

Gyros

There is a Greek fast food place near my place. This Gyros set in the picture comes with french fries and salad. The gyros is so good, and I visit this place often. I am not sure if people in Greece eat french fries with gyros like this.

Posted at 04:16 PM Read More

Mon - April 23, 2007

Easter Egg in the Google Map Directions?!

http://maps.google.com/maps?f=d&hl=en&saddr=New+York,+NY&daddr=Paris,+France&sll=37.0625,-95.677068&sspn=31.371289,59.765625&layer=&ie=UTF8&z=3&om=1

Step 24 is funny! We'd need to bring swim suits! What shall we do with our car?

Posted at 11:06 PM Read More

Sun - April 22, 2007

The Statue of Liberty

There is a copy of the Statue of Liberty in Shinsaibashi, America Mura.
In Osaka and nearby prefectures, it is often seen on the top of the Pachinko buildings. I don't know why.
Is it the same throughout Japan?

Posted at 02:24 PM Read More

Sat - April 21, 2007

GT-R video taped at Nürburgring

I found this video clip.

http://tv.hegnar.no/index.php?vid=2149

I hope the GT-R will be released in the US at the same time it will be released in Japan this Autumn.

Posted at 09:53 AM Read More

Thu - April 19, 2007

Vietnamese Spring Rolls

I posted a picture of a Vietnamese sandwich a couple of weeks ago. These spring rolls are from the same place. They are shrimp, polk, and ham. I don't remember what the green drink is...

Posted at 03:20 PM Read More

Tue - April 17, 2007

Gothic & Lolita Shop

This store was in America Mura in Osaka. The sign says Gothic & Lolita. I wonder what it looked like in the store. Nah, I didn't go in. I saw some gothic looking girls and lolita looking girls on the street.
I guess America Mura is an Osaka version of Harajuku. Gwen Stefani's Harajuku Girls is all about this kind of fashion.

Posted at 05:22 PM Read More

Sun - April 15, 2007

Taiwanese a Burito?

I have found a Taiwanese place that opens late near my place. I was very hungry one night after midnight, and stopped by the place. This looks like a burrito. I wonder the idea came from a Mexican burrito.

Posted at 08:54 PM Read More

Fri - April 13, 2007

Not Graffiti?

Each painting had something written on it. It seemed like graffiti, but it might have not. It looked very united with each painting.

I was walking around in America Village, Shinsaibashi, and Namba this day. I'll be posting more pictures from this day.

Posted at 06:42 AM Read More

Wed - April 11, 2007

Just too picky?

I saw these different kinds of sugar at some restaurant. I guess some people really care about low fat, and some other things. I guess non-porcessed sweet is the most healthy for our body.

Posted at 07:22 AM Read More

Mon - April 9, 2007

Graffiti

The graffiti is very popular in the America Village in Shinsaibashi, Osaka. I used to hang out in this area when I was in high school.

Posted at 05:05 PM Read More

Sat - April 7, 2007

Lee's Sandwich

Lee's Sandwich seems to be getting popular. There are two of them in my area. The size of their sandwiches is a little smaller than the submarine sandwich, but that's a good size for me. Of course, it is less expensive. I guess they're getting popular because they also sell regular American style sandwiches besides Vietnamese sandwiches. They also have some Vietnamese drinks, snacks, and deserts. I will post them here someday.

Posted at 06:51 AM Read More

Thu - April 5, 2007

Added some photos of Model G

I had a chance to photograph Model G on my portrait page sometime ago. I have selected some photos and put them online. Please click here to check them out.

Posted at 01:29 AM Read More

Wed - April 4, 2007

Why elephant?

There are many Japanese products in Japan that use animals in the product name. This product removes humidity and are placed in closets. I don't know why elephant is used...

Posted at 07:51 AM Read More

Tue - April 3, 2007

Kegs of Beer

I threw a party sometime ago, and had two kegs of beer. It was just like drinking beer at bar. It was really good!

Posted at 05:30 AM Read More

Mon - April 2, 2007

A new model

I photographed my new model a few weeks ago. She was very genki.
Here is the link to her photos.

Posted at 04:28 PM Read More

Sat - March 31, 2007

Let yourself go

This is another beer post, but this time I have a question. The Prime Time beer says "Original all malt beer. For the best moments in life. Let yourself go." I wonder what "Let yourself go" means. Does that mean you'll completely get drunk and go out of control? Probably not, but we could interpret that way, no?

Posted at 04:14 PM Read More

Fri - March 30, 2007

Orange Tree

There are a lot of oranges on the orange tree in my backyard. I guess March/April is the orange season. I wish I had a lemon tree or a lime tree for some cocktails.

Posted at 02:17 PM Read More

Thu - March 29, 2007

eNoodle

It's been kind of popular to name a business entity or type of business starting with a "e".
I saw this Chinese noodle place called "eNoodle". What the heck is that?! I had a chance to walk in there and have their e-noodle. It was just regular noodle, but the taste was good.

Posted at 05:28 PM Read More

Tue - March 27, 2007

Koku Kire, Draft

I am not sure how koku and kire are said in English. I should pay attention to some beer vocabularies. I posted a gold version of this sometime ago. It's amazing that they have many kinds of Happoushu in Japan. Compared to different tastes from different kinds of beer we have in the US, these happoushu didn't taste so much different.

Posted at 04:55 PM Read More

Mon - March 26, 2007

Cherry Blossom at the Hakone Gardens

Cherries blossomed at the Hakone Gardens in Saratoga, CA. I think it is a few weeks earlier than usual.

Posted at 04:51 PM Read More

Sat - March 24, 2007

Body Warming Indian Food

I had this Indian food at an Indian restaurant in Sunnyvale. Look at the Jalapeno! It tasted really good with spicy punch.

Posted at 09:37 AM Read More

Thu - March 22, 2007

Ayashii advertisements

Ads are everywhere in Japan. Wherever people may look at have ads.

Posted at 12:25 AM Read More

Tue - March 20, 2007

Tomato Pizza?

Someone got a pizza with lots of tomatoes on the top at BJ's. BJ's is a brewery restaurant in Cupertino, CA. The tomatoes seemed to have been added right before the cooking was done in oven. It is a personal size, so it's for one person.

Posted at 03:15 PM Read More

Mon - March 19, 2007

Screen on the gas pump station

Finally someone started putting this monitor on some gas stations and running some commercials. I thought about this a while ago, and was wondering no one was doing it. Unless you need to do something else while waiting for your tank to be filled, you may be watching it.

Posted at 04:54 PM Read More

Sun - March 18, 2007

Really good name for beer

Enjuku sounds really good. It is too good for beer name. BTW, why Japanese products such as beer, cookies, and some others have only English descriptions on the package? It is just because it looks cool? (Yes it is.)

This is not beer, but another happoushu.

Posted at 05:15 PM Read More

Sat - March 17, 2007

Green Beer

It's St. Patrick's Day today. I had green beer yesterday at work. I should look for something green to wear!

Posted at 10:22 AM Read More

Fri - March 16, 2007

Sandal Stake

BJ's, a beer brewery restaurant in Cupertino, has a sandal stake on their menu. It's not called sandal steak, of course, but it actually looks like a zouri. If we put a couple of strings on, it'd become a zouri!

Posted at 06:22 AM Read More

Thu - March 15, 2007

Forgot what kind of tree this is

I took this photo on the way to the Ochashitsu in the Hakone Gardens in Saratoga. The gate that we can see on the back is a wooden gate to the path.

Posted at 12:51 AM Read More

Tue - March 13, 2007

Biiig Burger!

This is a McDonnald in Amelika Mura (America Village) in Shinsaibashi, Osaka. They have a huge big burger, french fries, and soda set. McDonnalds in Japan are much better than ones in the U.S. They have different kinds of customer. I should have taken some pictures inside, so that I can show what I mean.

I wonder if the straw is hollow or not. I'd probably hang something on the straw for sun dry.

Posted at 08:38 AM Read More

Mon - March 12, 2007

San Francisco Downtown

I am getting far away from San Francisco every time I move. I went to San Francisco Downtown a few weeks ago. It had been a while. I know it would be against the sun light. I took out my compact Canon digital camera as I walked, and took this photo.

Posted at 11:02 AM Read More

Sun - March 11, 2007

Shonen Jump & Shojo Beal

I saw these magazines at Sunnyvale Fry's a couple of weeks ago. They are originally Japanese magazines. I didn't know we had US versions. Actually I never saw the Shojo Beal in Japan.

I thought the Shonen Jump might have Initial D, but my friend said no.

Posted at 04:07 PM Read More

Sat - March 10, 2007

Kirin Lagar

I used to drink the Kirin Lagar in Japan before coming to the U.S. I hadn't seen it for years. I have never seen Japanese restaurants carry this beer. The Kirin Ichiban is popular here. I had this Kirin Classic Lagar in Japan last summer.