The first signs of Spring

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After two months of winter, the weather is finally turning warmer.

You know that Spring is approaching with the first arrivals of the beautiful peach blossoms and plum blossoms.

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Kyushu & Shikoku Travels – 熊本市 (Kumamoto) & 阿蘇山 (Mount Aso or Asosan)

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Our second part of the journey covers Kumanoto which is famous for horse meat and well, lots of other things too. As our stay in Kumamoto was very short.. we reached there in the evening and departing for Aso-san the next morning at 1100hrs, the exploration around Kumamoto was fast direct. What is most important in the discovery of a new place is definitely FOOD and Kumamoto is famous for their Ramen. For those who may not know, Ajisen Ramen that is so popular in Singapore comes from this part of Japan. Ajisen Ramen as well as a “pub” for blood donors. You drink water, they draw your blood.   Our hunt for Kumamoto Ramen landed us in this restaurant that was one of the top 100 recommended store in Japan. Look for the sign (red in background) and the quality of the food will not go wrong.    alright i admit, the budge from my tummy was caused by the wonderful ramen we just had. Oh! Horse Katsu for sale. . . hmmm… how could I ever resist it? And it was enjoyab...
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Modified Mee Pok dry in Owase?

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In a country like Japan where there are basically only 3 types of noodles – Ramen, Udon and Soba and of cos some variations that arise from it. But there is definitely no mee pok, you mee and others. So, what can one do when certain craving hits? Create your own! Just this morning, Mr Tan Tan created Mushroom Bak Chor Mee, Mee Pok dry using some instant pasta from a half-priced tonkotsu italian ramen that we found in the supermarket! Yes, its half-price and the Tan Tans always buy stuff when it is price-down to save money.   In order to replicate the taste of Singapore’s famous mee pok noodle, Mr Tan Tan simmered japanese mushroom with oyster sauce, soy sauce and dry scallops for 2 days before this meal. A pity he cannot find the dry fragrant fish that is commonly used with the mushroom in Singapore. The fish cake that the Tan Tans bought caught them by surprise when they found gobo (japanese roots of some sort) within the fish cake. With a dash of the mushroom sauce, ...
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Kyushu & Shikoku Travels – Nagasaki

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This was a trip that the Tan Tans had during the golden week holiday in Japan in their goal to cover all parts of Japan. Having been to the furthest south of Okinawa and the top of Kyushu (Fukuoka – earlier in 2006), the Tan Tans proceeded to cover central Kyushu and thereafter Shikoku. This was a trip that took weeks to plan. Air tickets were booked at least one month in advance to take advantage of the Tabiwari discount (Air tickets promotion by both JAL and ANA) where air tickets can be cheaper by 70%. First stop in our plan – Nagasaki – the place of rich cultures. But surprisingly, imported cultures as it was one of the earliest port that was opened to trade in Japan. With that, it was no surprises that there was a strong European influence as well as Chinese influences. How do we know that? Well, the most popular dishes in Nagasaki is ちゃんぽん Chanpon (some also known as Champon) as well as Sala-Udon which was well, invented by Chinese and the Chanpon is like Hokkien mee whereas the ...
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