Posts Tagged Hokkaido

A moment in the fog

Posted by tzuyen in Photography, Travel on August 16, 2010

Kiritappu Wetlands, Hokkaido, Japan

Yep, these are wild irises and Hemerocallis middendorffi (yellow). To give you an idea how dense the irises were in some places here is another photo taken a few hundred meters away. It is difficult to make the irises show well in this photo since the green and purple are both quite dark. It’s either close up and beautiful flowers or wide angle but not much contrast.

Irises

Hokkaido, Iris, wild flower

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Breakfast for champions

Posted by tzuyen in Travel on August 4, 2010

When I don’t sleep enough, breakfast taste like nausea. My standard is cereal (usually Uncle Toby’s Quick Oats) with soy milk, yogurt (I like Gippsland). If I am more industrious I add frozen berries and some muscovado sugar. Of course there is also a flat white with a pretty pattern on top. I wish someone made me something warm and savory like this:

7 am, Utorohigashi, Hokkaido, Japan. Salmon roe on rice

7:30 am, Daisetsu-zan YHA, Hokkaido, Japan. Salted fish, scrambled eggs, rice.

Maybe that’s going a little over the top. But the salted fish breakfast came from a YHA (a super clean and nice YHA). in japan I have not come across a accommodation serving breakfast that did not include some sort of fish. It is usually lightly salted salmon or a small fish that is related to the mackerel (does anyone know the name?). Pickles that taste fresh and only lightly acidic or salted are a fantastic way to eat vegetables.

Maybe I should just sleep earlier.

Hokkaido, Japan, salmon roe, salted fish

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Salmon roe, raw scallops and sea urchin

Posted by tzuyen in Travel on July 18, 2010

Why does it always rain?

I am in my 3rd week of holidays (2 left) and have returned from Hokkaido. Right now it’s Kaoshiung, Taiwan, with all the tropical heat one can imagine. Thunderstorms have been forming every afternoon in Kaoshiung this week. On the news there was a video of a small tornado. Yesterday I was at a sushi train restaurant (everything equivalent to 60 cents, including Sapporo draught) and the rain fell so hard water flooded the floors. I suspect little sailboats were needed to replace the train.

Rain fell on most days in Japan to my camera’s annoyance. Seafood and ramen was clearly not affected.

Rain fell hard on my drive to Coonawarra last year. Rain fell still on my drive to Yarra Valley this year.

When it rains, you need what I am holding below. The back of the shop opens to the a fish market in Otaru. There IS a huge difference between very fresh and ‘ok’ seafood. More posts to follow!