When the blossoms bloom
One Saturday we shove our homework into a corner and make a dash for San Francisco before another spring storm takes over the bay. Parking is as easy as hiking with a twisted ankle, but all that matters is we find a spot, then stroll a mile to the food bazaar on Webster street, Japan Town, arriving just a little bit before noon. Up from the steep sidewalk we see rows of white tents and white chairs, smoke rolling above the grills covered with beef and pork riblets, a line getting long on one side of the conglomeration. It is still early in the first morning of the Cherry Blossom Festival.
The carnivore instinct leads me right to the grill. It’s never too early to eat meat. The first booth whips out rice bowls with either ribs or unagi, braised eel cut into palm long chunks. We don’t feel like filling up with a rice bowl just yet, so we walk further down the row eying signs, then back track to the Nihonmachi Little Friends’ booth for three skewers of grilled beef at a mere five bucks.
Crispy-charred-edge marinated beef, though erring a little on the chewy side, delight my feet after that hike from our parking spot. The downright old school meatiness would have well enhanced the kiddie dollar snack omusubi, wedges of plain white rice mixed with nori bits, which Mudpie buys way after we finished the skewers. Waste not want not, the musubi will find its place in my lunch this week, after I wrap it up in nori sheets and maybe with a slice of fried spam. My idea sprouts from seeing at least three booths selling spam musubi and dozens of family walking around with golden brown sauce at the corner of their mouths. I, however, fall victim to the facile yakisoba, soft stir fry noodle with crunchy cabbage dressed only with soy sauce and seaweed sprinkles. The noodle tastes flatter than it looks, and certainly flatter than the wad of six dollar bills we pay for it, but it is a good pacifier for the empty stomach.
One block east of the food tents, the San Francisco Taiko Dojo artists are pounding their drums on stage. Their vigorous sincerity pumps rhythmic waves of festive air into the onwatchers’ lungs. To the hundreds of Japanese gathering there, I wonder if the drums have the same effect as the firecrackers we set off on Lunar New Year’s Eve, a simple string of sound that brings both excitement and quietude. The drums do halt my hungry thoughts for a moment, until I see some kids weaving about the crowd holding teriyaki burgers and shaved ice.
We’re back to Webster. The teriburger line wraps around one end of the food square, and Mudpie refuses to take one for the team. The fried fish ball line is no better, but I want to find out what the frenzy is all about, whether Mudpie does or not.
Just as we get in line, a lady asks us if we know the fish balls are any good. We don’t. So during the twenty-five minute wait the lady and Mudpie go over what is up with the LHC in Geneva, current status of the string theory job market, Berkeley Bowl, the beautiful harmony between Eastern religions and sciences, Francis Collins, and which patisserie is the best in San Fran. Meanwhile I can’t take my eyes off her unagi rice bowl, the eel skin shines gloriously in its rich brown sauce. Slowly but solidly we get to the tent where all the pouring, flipping, and toothpicking take place. The cast iron molds are just as busy as the deft hands hovering over them.
Although the man jokingly says it’s a secret recipe from Japan while he collects orders, this fish ball booth is the only booth with a crystal clear ingredient list on the banner. Although it is called takoyaki (“fried octopus”), it’s a simple ball of batter, fish stock, egg, and seasonings. (Still, it resembles an octopus head, intentionally or not.) Although it looks perfectly solid, it has an air pocket inside, resulting from the flipping of the hemisphere while the batter is still runny. Although it is fried, it is soft. Although the long line suggests that it is amazingly worth the wait, it is not. The seaweed sprinkles, red ginger and green onion do little more than cosmetics, the okonomiyaki sauce is rather too tart. Its goodness lies solely in the warmth to battle those crisp wind blows. In hindsight we probably should have stood in the teriburger line.
As the tongue craves for some sweets, we walk around to the grilled beef and yakisoba side, this time to stand in line for a red bean pancake, imagawa yaki.
The fluffy dough is just like any pancake our mothers make for breakfast on special days. The making process, like those fish balls, is fun to watch. They pour the batter into rows of circular iron molds, wait a few minutes for the batter to semi-solidify, then comes this semi-circular trough, looking like a cracked-open bone filled with marrow, from which they spoon some red bean paste onto half of the cooking pancakes. The other half are flipped over to make the pancake tops. The batter turns solid, the division between two halves is sealed, three bucks are handed over for exchange of two blowing hot cakes. Mudpie loves the bean stuff. So much that he insists on looking for more inside the Kintetsu mall. I feel more inclined to sitting down, and those benches near the Kinokuniya bookstore and Izumiya have never sounded better. So into the mall we go.
But boy am I a fool. On days like this benches are a luxury, and it’s just rude to fight over a seat with the petite ladies in colorful kimonos and huge wooden zōri, or families with babies. The mall is packed. The human flow is like a school of salmon. My tiny stature serves me well in whizzing through elbows and shoulders, but I would have missed the best catch of the day had Mudpie not spotted the nameless but busy tables in front of Cafe Hana.
Ten bite sized cubes of cold mochi, five different flavors. From right to left: 1. yomogi (mugwort) – tastes as grassy as its alternate name kusa mochi – “grass mochi”, 2. mango – tastes more like jackfruit or longan, 3. kinako – actually this is warabimochi (jelly-like sweet made of bracken starch instead of sticky rice), covered in soybean flour (kinako) which tastes like peanut butter, 4. lychee – the second tastiest, and 5. strawberry – the tastiest. Chewy, refreshing, gently sweet like a rose petal, I would eat these all day. The best part: it is assembled upon request. The confectionery magistrates, who may be part of Cafe Hana’s team, cut and roll these slabs of sweets in powder and into the plastic boxes, each containing only one flavor. But if you kindly ask, they’ll throw together a mixed box for you at the same price. Top it off with a three dollar scoop of lychee ice cream, as we do, and you’ll feel ten or fifteen years younger. You know, those days of hustling about the school cafeteria, eating cheap treats, feeling fresh and complete. If there’s anything I don’t regret buying at this fair, it’s the lychee ice cream and the mochi at those tables in front of Cafe Hana.
If there’s anything Mudpie doesn’t regret buying at this fair, I think it’s the daifuku, also from those tables in front of Cafe Hana. That red bean addiction is strong.
Pink or green, smooth or sesame coated, the daifukus are good companions for chrysanthemum tea. The plain, chewy sticky rice outer layer damps the sweetness of inner red bean paste. The cold confection enhances the warm drink.
On our way out of the mall, we sidestep in line for one last treat at the flowery booth Kissako Tea. They have the little mochi balls in pink, green, and white with red bean paste filling, and they also have the mitarashi dango, which I’ve always been curious about since I read Sugar Bar Diva’s toothsome post. Four simple sticky rice balls on a skewer sounds like a boring snack, but the chewiness dressed in a rich syrup of soy sauce, sugar, and starch is everything but plain. Its taste and texture amazingly resemble malt sugar. It marks a triumphant incorporation of savory condiments into the sweet realm.
At four something in the afternoon, the food bazaar is still going strong. All booths, not just the fish ball and the teriburger, now have a long line. The kids are still with wide open eyes, Hello Kitty headbands, spam musubi and cups of shaved ice. The dogs are still obediently looking at their humans eating beef skewers. The girls in black and white kimonos are still taking pictures between giggles.
And so we march our full tummies a mile back to the parking spot. The sky is blue. The streets are quiet. The wind has ceased its dry cold swirls. The car stands there, with a ticket.
I like this site very much so much fantastic information.
1Woah! I’m really digging the template/theme of this blog. It’s simple, yet effective. A lot of times it’s tough to get that “perfect balance” between usability and appearance. I must say you have done a fantastic job with this. Additionally, the blog loads super fast for me on Opera. Excellent Blog!
2My brother suggested I might like this blog. He was totally right. This post actually made my day. You can not imagine simply how much time I had spent for this info! Thanks!
3Have you ever thought about creating an e-book or guest authoring on other websites? I have a blog based on the same information you discuss and would really like to have you share some stories/information. I know my audience would value your work. If you’re even remotely interested, feel free to shoot me an e mail.
4Hello my friend! I wish to say that this article is awesome, nice written and include almost all significant infos. I’d like to see more posts like this.
5It’s actually a great and helpful piece of info. I’m glad that you shared this useful information with us. Please keep us informed like this. Thanks for sharing.
6Great post. I was checking constantly this blog and I’m impressed! Extremely useful info particularly the last part 🙂 I care for such information much. I was seeking this certain info for a very long time. Thank you and good luck.
7I have read some good stuff here. Definitely price bookmarking for revisiting. I surprise how a lot effort you set to make the sort of fantastic informative website.
8Great line up. We will be linking to this great article on our site. Keep up the good writing.
9I love your blog.. very nice colors & theme. Did you create this website yourself? Plz reply back as I’m looking to create my own blog and would like to know wheere u got this from. thanks
10I have recently started a website, the info you offer on this website has helped me greatly. Thank you for all of your time & work.
11This blog is definitely rather handy since I’m at the moment creating an internet floral website – although I am only starting out therefore it’s really fairly small, nothing like this site. Can link to a few of the posts here as they are quite. Thanks much. Zoey Olsen
12Hi, I think your site might be having browser compatibility issues. When I look at your website in Safari, it looks fine but when opening in Internet Explorer, it has some overlapping. I just wanted to give you a quick heads up! Other then that, fantastic blog!
13I loved as much as you’ll receive carried out right here. The sketch is tasteful, your authored subject matter stylish. nonetheless, you command get bought an shakiness over that you wish be delivering the following. unwell unquestionably come more formerly again as exactly the same nearly very often inside case you shield this increase.
14You should take part in a contest for one of the best blogs on the web. I will recommend this site!
15When I initially commented I clicked the “Notify me when new comments are added” checkbox and now each time a comment is added I get three emails with the same comment. Is there any way you can remove me from that service? Bless you!
16I do not even know the way I finished up here, however I believed this submit used to be great. I do not know who you’re but certainly you’re going to a well-known blogger should you are not already 😉 Cheers!
17Dead composed articles, thanks for selective information. “In the fight between you and the world, back the world.” by Frank Zappa.
18You can certainly see your enthusiasm within the work you write. The sector hopes for more passionate writers like you who are not afraid to say how they believe. All the time follow your heart. “Billy Almon has all of his inlaw and outlaws here this afternoon.” by Jerry Coleman.
19Its good as your other posts : D, thanks for putting up.
20Having read this I thought it was very informative. I appreciate you taking the time and effort to put this article together. I once again find myself spending way to much time both reading and commenting. But so what, it was still worth it!
21Excellent blog here! Also your web site loads up fast! What host are you using? Can I get your affiliate link to your host? I wish my website loaded up as fast as yours lol
22I will right away snatch your rss feed as I can not to find your e-mail subscription link or e-newsletter service. Do you’ve any? Kindly let me recognise so that I could subscribe. Thanks.
23Hey there I am so grateful I found your webpage, I really found you by accident, while I was looking on Aol for something else, Nonetheless I am here now and would just like to say cheers for a marvelous post and a all round enjoyable blog (I also love the theme/design), I don’t have time to look over it all at the moment but I have bookmarked it and also added your RSS feeds, so when I have time I will be back to read much more, Please do keep up the awesome job.
24This blog is definitely rather handy since I’m at the moment creating an internet floral website – although I am only starting out therefore it’s really fairly small, nothing like this site. Can link to a few of the posts here as they are quite. Thanks much. Zoey Olsen
25Great wordpress blog here.. It’s hard to find quality writing like yours these days. I really appreciate people like you! take care
26It’s in point of fact a nice and helpful piece of information. I’m happy that you just shared this useful info with us. Please keep us up to date like this. Thank you for sharing.
27Hmm it appears like your site ate my first comment (it was extremely long) so I guess I’ll just sum it up what I wrote and say, I’m thoroughly enjoying your blog. I too am an aspiring blog blogger but I’m still new to the whole thing. Do you have any tips for inexperienced blog writers? I’d certainly appreciate it.
28Hello very cool blog!! Guy .. Beautiful .. Wonderful .. I will bookmark your website and take the feeds additionally…I’m satisfied to find a lot of useful information right here in the submit, we want work out more techniques in this regard, thanks for sharing. . . . . .
29You should take part in a contest for one of the best blogs on the web. I will recommend this site!
30Unquestionably consider that that you said. Your favorite reason appeared to be on the web the easiest factor to consider of. I say to you, I certainly get annoyed while other people think about concerns that they just don’t realize about. You controlled to hit the nail upon the highest as neatly as outlined out the whole thing with no need side-effects , people could take a signal. Will likely be again to get more. Thank you
31Hey There. I found your weblog the usage of msn. That is a really well written article. I’ll make sure to bookmark it and come back to read more of your useful information. Thanks for the post. I will certainly return.
32What i do not understood is actually how you’re not actually much more well-liked than you might be right now. You’re so intelligent. You realize thus significantly relating to this subject, made me personally consider it from numerous varied angles. Its like women and men aren’t fascinated unless it’s one thing to do with Lady gaga! Your own stuffs great. Always maintain it up!
33Once I originally commented I clicked the -Notify me when new comments are added- checkbox and now each time a remark is added I get 4 emails with the identical comment. Is there any way you can remove me from that service? Thanks!
34whoah this blog is fantastic i really like studying your posts. Keep up the good paintings! You understand, a lot of people are hunting round for this information, you can help them greatly.
35Have you ever considered about adding a little bit more than just your articles? I mean, what you say is important and everything. But just imagine if you added some great images or video clips to give your posts more, “pop”! Your content is excellent but with images and videos, this blog could definitely be one of the most beneficial in its field. Wonderful blog!
36Great wordpress blog here.. It’s hard to find quality writing like yours these days. I really appreciate people like you! take care
37I like the helpful information you provide in your articles. I’ll bookmark your weblog and check again here frequently. I am quite sure I will learn many new stuff right here! Best of luck for the next!
38Gaay gratis mini poren videoAmaqnda beard iin nudeTricking hhim
39too be bisexualZeuss nude womenFreee sexx intwrracial gangbnang videosSexx slavve vids frree mobialTuube beear
onn twinkSimpslns who is gayPakitani gjrls pornMy
hot ass neighbor chapter 5Hidden camera on young teens fuckingMovvies hlme nudeIngrown faial hairsVintaghe bungalow lightingFreee pusy nakoed tesn cunt picturesPalle
giirls big boobsCooca col faciazl recognitionBigg black axses picturesJill taylor
nudeBritish porn strs tvShoet skit nicce assCatalogs ffor lingerieMature butt tubesStraight missilnary ssex
ree videosPostmotem serm procurement ethuical viewAlyssa doll pujssy
showAdult relaation services unleySexxy latino gil suckkng
dickWww liick pussy comEkgg rhhythm stripAngelina jollie movie njde seex videoNew zealland ffee prn camsChristopher street dult videostoreVirginn boomtube speakersPorrn pictures of asiawn womenFatt shyaved
pussiesFaciaql nwrve fromBlack image jack messge
opttional strrip urlI wantt to fuck gaay menPameela porn moviesFree
videwos oof ammateur coupls fuckingGoldfapp nakedSexxy
haairy chestsFree viddeos vintagge spnking pornJapanese feem dom
peeStaistics oon ssexual predatorsAsiian jouirnal off pharnacodynamics and pharmacokineticsSluts
swa cumTeeenage pussy fjck picsSexuwl nidity photosShemale
brillancePornn search engvine durationFemake masterbation porn clipsChhristian cage pornHerr povv
masturbateStriip pooker ssex storiesSeexual ministriesCumm siaked teems video bittorrentWoman flashe
boobsNative americzn girlls nakedBritneey sucxks cockDickk compareFree down lods oof
xxxYoutybe ametfuer lesbiansPenelopee crz free nhde
videosDavid kross nakedMatur busty moviesSexx cpunseling cambridgeAmaterur videos facialsRussian tee nide
xxxFahial reconstryction toolsTeeen ight clugs iin orlaando flFunmy adulpt costumePussy closepKennedy james nude cyber
girlsRough hardcore sex tubeSissy french maid suckig cockFoxx
newss rporter stripsGaay scenhe shrewsburyDaisy dde la hya nude picsFreee hiddeen camera porn moviesFamilpy guyy stswie aand loiss hentaiAdulot happyYouung gitls gget fucked forr moneyStripped nude annd vidio
taped ofvd9wuapth37yhsdo40
I always was interested in this subject and still am, thankyou for putting up.
40Great items from you, man. I have be mindful your stuff prior to and you’re simply extremely fantastic. I really like what you’ve bought here, certainly like what you’re stating and the way wherein you say it. You make it enjoyable and you still care for to keep it sensible. I can not wait to read far more from you. This is actually a wonderful web site.
41Hello very cool website!! Man .. Beautiful .. Amazing .. I will bookmark your website and take the feeds additionally?KI am happy to search out a lot of helpful information right here within the post, we want work out extra techniques on this regard, thank you for sharing. . . . . .
42Some truly terrific work on behalf of the owner of this web site, absolutely great written content.
43Wow that was unusual. I just wrote an incredibly long comment but after I clicked submit my comment didn’t appear. Grrrr… well I’m not writing all that over again. Regardless, just wanted to say excellent blog!
44I loved as much as you will receive carried out right here. The sketch is tasteful, your authored material stylish. nonetheless, you command get bought an edginess over that you wish be delivering the following. unwell unquestionably come further formerly again since exactly the same nearly very often inside case you shield this increase.
45That is the precise weblog for anybody who wants to find out about this topic. You realize so much its almost onerous to argue with you (not that I truly would need…HaHa). You definitely put a brand new spin on a subject thats been written about for years. Great stuff, just great!
46Some really nice and utilitarian info on this site, likewise I think the style has got wonderful features.
47Absolutely written written content, appreciate it for selective information.
48An impressive share, I just given this onto a colleague who was doing a little analysis on this. And he in fact bought me breakfast because I found it for him.. smile. So let me reword that: Thnx for the treat! But yeah Thnkx for spending the time to discuss this, I feel strongly about it and love reading more on this topic. If possible, as you become expertise, would you mind updating your blog with more details? It is highly helpful for me. Big thumb up for this blog post!
49I am not certain where you’re getting your information, but good topic. I must spend some time finding out more or figuring out more. Thank you for magnificent information I used to be in search of this information for my mission.
50