Yoshinoya and winter Miffy gifts

Yoshinoya is the largest chain of gyūdon restaurants, I have been there while in Japan, but specially when I have visited my home city (Hong Kong).

Look what are they giving away if you eat there, in the mood for some beef soup and noodles?

The Orange Cap Sect’s party

To celebrate the great success of our latest meeting where Draculina J and Aurore Marie were accepted as new members of the Council we ordered something special.

Fresh Gooseneck barnacles (Pollicipes pollicipes) from Galizia and some Veuve Clicquot Champagne.

Of course a delicious chocolate cake for dessert.

Hey, a big present is waiting for you at the Post Office

This week has been a hard one in the country where I live, Spain. A severe transport strike hit all the country. Protesters claim against high fuel prices and things gone really wild with people severely injured and even worse.

We ran out of fuel in petrol stations and ran out of fresh food in supermarkets. Of course mail and courier services were suffering severe delays.

But this afternoon we received a phone call from the post office.

- Miffa, there’s a big parcel waiting for you

So I sent my father to pick up it immediately.

Great, our friends from Caffemiffy has sent us beautiful presents: a lot of Japanese food and ingredients to cook delicious dishes and to improve my father’s skills. Besides a superb device to make biscuits that we will test as soon as possible (Father Bunny makes cakes that look horrible but taste quite fair).

Thank you very much!!

PS: Father Bunny did not see the special Japanese beers, we have hidden them. ;)

And he thinks he can make makis...

I opened my Flickr Pro account some time ago and it’s one of the few e-services or e-whatever that I pay for.

Unlike our mother, for dad and me pictures are just fast small time pieces that we capture to store in our hard disk (ehemm, several hard disks). We use our small camera and we publish, post, store or delete as is. No further action, not even cropping or colour balance is applied.

May be we are lazy, may be we do not care. Anyways I have been looking for something new, something funny and something bunny.

And this is what I have found.

via Los Dragónnes

If someone can make these rolls, the improvements dad has made with Miffo teaching him are just nothing.

Thank god I have learnt that if you want to cook good Chinese you’d better hire a good Chinese cooker/chef.

Futomaki 太巻き

Futomaki 太巻き is a big thick roll usually vegetarian. Miffo is seriously cooking for us using the techniques she learnt from her Japanese family.

We are trying to learn some dishes from her but with irregular results. In the other hand Father Bunny is doing quite decent Baozi after our last visit to Hong Kong. May be he was not going to the gym at 6 o’clock while in Kowloon.

Eastern Holidays at home.

Past eastern we visited Japan for the first time and we discovered our favourite city – Tokyo- this eastern in exchange we have had no vacations and we have been at home.

It had been really hard because we planned to go sailing two days but strong winds and heavy rain from the North could made it a very unpleasant experience.

Anyways we will go to Hong Kong in less than a month. Yes!!! We will fly directly this time from BCN to HKG (via CDG that tells u no one is perfect) and I will be able to take Miffo and some of my sisters to my hometown. That’s great.

I said that Tokyo is my favourite city, but home is home so I dying to come back to my Hotel. To celebrate it Miffo cooked “Soba” for us and her delicious Miso Soup.

Note from Father bunny: Miffa doesn’t admit it but she prefers Tokyo right now. ;)

Madrid me mata, Madrid kills me

Past 12th Father Bunny and Miffo went to Madrid. That was Miffo’s first time at the new T4 terminal that we visited with Chairoko and Kiiroko a year ago.

Today me and Miffo have taken a plane and we will be there for four days in a Spa resort while Father Bunny is working at Ifema.

Tonight we went to one of my father’s favourite restaurants: Goizeko Wellington.

We will keep you informed about our moves in “The Capital”

This post refers to an event dated 01/05/2008

Sometimes life and events repeat as if they were following a secret tempo, sometimes we experience or we live something that we have lived previously.

Scientist and researches, in fact a French gentleman whose name was Émile Boirac called it Déjà vu. Furthermore now we know that there are different types of Déjà vu.
(Déjà vécu, Déjà senti and Déjà visité).

Repetition and cycles are very common in nature, economical cycles, climatic cycles…There are a lot of cyclical phenomena in our universe. Actually a cycle has a starting point and an ending one. You must close the loop to properly talk about a perfect cycle.

And today a very particular cycle ends. Sometime ago, exactly when spring started last year Chairoko and Kiiroko arrived from Japan and Father Bunny picked up them. That day Father Bunny had a business dinner at Carme Ruscalleda’s restaurant and he took them with him. They met Carme, they met a Japanease cooker who works there and they enjoyed one of their first pictures in Spain with Carme.

Today we have gone again there to close the loop, tomorrow they will go back to Japan and Miffo will stay here in our new house after being in Japan for several months.

I will miss my friends a lot, but my sister Miffo has returned. Should I be sad or happy?
It’s very difficult to say it. Meanwhile I will try to taste Carme’s dishes. After all this is my first time and I’am sure I am the first one to taste the new winter menu.

Happy new 2008!!!

With almost half the dinner ready we decided that Father Bunny and Mother Bunny should go to pick up our guest from their Hotel. Meanwhile we will prepare our menu and we will decorate our table.

What a nice surprise to meet our friends and their bunny family in our new home. I showed them my new private room where I play with my sisters and friends.

We were ready to celebrate that a New Year was coming

And there were more surprises too. Lot of nice presents for us, nice presents from Japan and delicious food that Cafemiffy Mother Bunny cooked for us.

It was a long dinner with tons of food and lots of dishes but we enjoyed it very much.

We cut some slices of a delicious "Jabugo" and we set a nice table

Happy new year 2008!!!

Preparing our News Year’s Eve dinner

Today Father Bunny, me and Chairoko and Kiiroko will prepare a nice dinner. Our Cafemiffy friends will have dinner with us and we will celebrate the New Year together.

I decided the menu with the help of Father Bunny’s mother. A traditional Spanish dinner with a lot of entrees, a seafood and fish soup as a starter and roasted goat kid as main course.

Of course we have selected a good white wine and an excellent red.

What a rush! We need some ingredients and we want them as fresh as possible. Below you can see us cooking the Soup.

Merce 2008 with our new friends

As I have told you many times I have been travelling around the world quite a bit with my parents but I have been visiting my new city only in a few occasions. When Chairoko and Kiiroko arrived to my home things got a little better but still almost every month we were travelling out of the town.

Today it’s a Major festivity in Barcelona “La Merce”

From the official website

“Every year, around the 24th September, Barcelona bids farewell
to the summer with its Festival celebrations. This year’s
programme includes more than 600 events, which will take place
in just four days.

An explosive programme where tradition – giants, dragons,
human castles – lives side by side with the most
contemporary artistic offerings: independent music, street
theatre, all kinds of public participation.”

Unfortunately I am very busy with a new business I have decided to create with Chairoko and Kiiroko but our new friend from Japan, Melanie has just arrived and we were impatient to show her Barcelona

Draculina , who never regrets to go out and to party, proposed to take her friends - Chairoko and Kiiroko as well as her new friend, Melanie – to taste the Merce 2008.

Mother Bunny accepted that Draculina takes out her friends , but not overnight. So, they got up quite early today and they took the bikes to have a look at the different events in the city. They went to “ Parc Ciutadella “, where a few events for small kids were going on, and then directly to the beach. They had a stop in front of the Hotel Arts, Draculina´ s recommendation for Chairoko and Kiiroko´s parents. Then, they went to beach. Draculina wants to get suntanned, actually, she wants to be as dark as her new friend Melanie.

They also had a look at a huge paella, which was being cooked on the street.

Chairoko and Kiiroko said “what a pity that our parents were not here to taste Paella too”

Draculina had a short bath and then they all ate paella while me –at home- was thinking about how to solve the Paella problem.

Cafemiffy's great gift - and our post number 200

Friday evening, Miffa finds a delivery note from the Spanish Post Office. She alerts everybody, but, especially Chairoko and Kiiroko, that parcel may have arrived from Japan.

Next day Father Bunny drove to the postal offices to pick up the parcel.

Almost all my Bunny Family is here, this handsome guy on the right
is Tako Tako a Japanese octopues who lives at 12,000 feet under the sea

As usual Draculina acted a the bad girl she is and divedinto the contents

And , there, it was. Miffa, Chairoko and Kiiroko as well as our naughty Draculina decide to open the box. Ei !!!!!! Chairoko and Kiiroko´ s parents have sent us a bunch of nice things. Draculina jumps the first in the box, as if she wants to plunge in the box - Chairoko advises Draculina that she should be careful and not jump in that way - Draculina does not care and she finds “ Umeshu “ She wants to drink Umeshu , but , Mother Bunny does not let her drink “ Umeshu “

Miffa is very very happy to get some stuff she bought in a Japanese Mall with her Cafemiffy friends, She put it inside a parcel which is still considered lost by Air France. These French guys have not been very nice with Miffa. Although , Miffa has rung Air France almost every day, the French guys have not initiated any special action to find the parcel. On the top of that, they are quite rude on the phone . They have been telling Miffa that the parcel was not lost, as a parcel cannot be considered lost for 21 days. Now, the 21 days are gone and they asked Miffa to write down the content . They say that they will study the content and then let Miffa know, if she will get a part of that value. But, the nasty French guys already have an excuse : the content mainly consists of food , so, they are not responsible for the food. Miffa said : Ei, guys, I had several nice stuff there apart from food and that food was dried one . What about that ? No reaction from our Air France nasty guys. Phucck !!!

Draculina said. "That stuff smells really good"

Any way, our adorable Café Miffy´s friends sent us a nice parcel with parfums, food and Umeshu for Mother Bunny ( not for Draculina ), they called Narita airport too to ask for information about the lost item.

Thanks a lot , Caffe Miffy

By the way, Chairoko and Kiiroko have established a new Co. in Spain called Chairoko and Kiiroko Logistic Services. Miffa also has some shares . More news will come

Lot of stuff to make our Japanese party!!!! Yeahhh!

Sapporo 199

This is the old Sapporo beer factory, a nice red brick building

Of course the first attraction in Hokkaido is Sapporo. It is Japan’s fifth largest city with around 1.8 million people living there. Until nineteenth century Sapporo was just a small hunter and fishermen spot but after that it was designed as Hokkaido capital and its development was planned carefully.

One good thing about the last statement is that Sapporo centre observes the same pattern than many occidental cities. A grid with a central point close to their TV tower and then blocks are named East, West, South and North, great for occidental tourist.

The TV tower is a Eiffel alike red painted tower who designates somehow the city center. You can climb to the observatory for about 800 yens and there you will have a 360 panorama. More interesting is the “Bier Garten” around the tower. Expect to experience the same scenes you would experience in Munich.

Munich and Paris in the same pack and not as expensive as going there.

Mr. Kihachiro Okura visited Germany and he was shocked about the art of brewing beer. He decided to establish the first Japanese brewery here, in Sapporo around 1876.

You can visit Sapporo Beer-en, the old brewery located at N7E9 Higashi-ku. A museum where you can also taste different beer at a reasonable price. Note than the new brewery moved from here to another state of the art production plant.

I took the picture, Father Bunny had the beers

But the Bunny advice is having Jingus Kan – a traditional BBQ lamb dish very famous there- at the restaurant. For 3850 yen you can order all the lamb, vegetables and beer !!!

That’s great value, and great taste!

Thank good my father was not there with his friends or things had ended badly with great embarrassment by my side.

---------------- SPANISH ---------------

Por supuesto la primera atracción de Hokkaido es Sapporo. Es la quinta ciudad, por tamaño, de Japón con unos 1.8 millones de habitantes. Hasta el siglo 19 fue un asentamiento de cazadores y pescadores pero después se convirtió en la capital y su desarrollo se planifico de forma cuidadosa.

Lo bueno que tiene lo anterior es que la estructura de la ciudad se parece a muchas ciudades occidentales, una cuadricula con un punto central – cercano a la torre de la TV- a partir del cual se distribuyen y nombran las manzanas Norte, Sur, Este y Oeste.

La torre de la TV es una versión mini de la Torre Eiffel pintada de rojo que marca el centro de la ciudad. Puedes subir por unos 800 yens y disfrutar de una panorámica de la ciudad. Pero es más interesante el “Bier Garten” que esta en la plaza. Es increíble ver escenas que esperarías contemplar en Munich pero con Japoneses, claro.

Munich y Paris al mismo tiempo y sin necesidad de grandes gastos.

Kihachiro Okura visitó Alemania y quedo muy impresionado por su cerveza, tanto que estudio allí una temporada y se hizo maestro cervecero. A su vuelta construyo la primera fábrica de cerveza en Japón en Sapporo.

Sapporo Beer –en (N7E9 Higashi-ku) es la Antigua fábrica hoy reconvertida en museo y restaurante. La fabrica actual ya no esta allí sino a unos 40 minutos en tren en una nueva planta de producción.

Nuestro conejo consejo es que pruebes el Jingus Kan, un plato de barbacoa de cordero muy famoso en Sapporo. Por 3850 yens puedes comer tanto como quieras, aparte de beber toda la cerveza que puedas. No sólo es un buen precio, esta realmente bueno.

Por suerte para mi no estaba Draculina y los amigos de mi padre junto con él, porque sino la hubiesen liado.

Back from Japan.

Hands up bunny!! Japanese police stopped me speeding wild in my Toyota bB

Yesterday I landed in CDG where almost everyday the police and the French army enjoy themselves using explosives over missing luggage. Me and Father Bunny do not like people in camouflage outfits and assault rifles in ANY airport but we find real pathetic that they even usually carry a backpack.

Ok. Ok, you know that we got mad when we’re packed in a plane for 14 hours and when you arrive to CDG you have to start again with all the pathetic security checks.

Some of my friends at BCN would like to be there to share some food with me

That’s the wrong part about traveling and it’s getting worse but I must say that our decision to visit Japan after visiting Tokyo last April was a good move.

Planning the trip was huge effort from Mother Bunny and Father Bunny, more than three weekends planning and… finally the good advice and support from our Japanese friends – Cafemiffy- who did more for our planning that we were able to do in two months.

More than 1500 pictures are waiting for cleaning and classify… several kilograms of maps and brochures are waiting too. And a lost parcel is in someplace which contains a lot of presents for family and friends.

To be continued

Soba and Youkan at Miffa's place

Soba are thin Japanese noodles made from buckwheat flour (alforfón, trigo sarraceno, trigo negro; catalán: fajol, cairat, blat cairut, blat negre).

You can have them cold or hot and according to wikipedia these thinner noodles are preferred by Tokyoites better than Udon (thick noodles).

And being Chairoko and Kiiroko from Tokyo they missed their Soba… Their parents sent us a parcel with tons of Japanese goodies to make their stay more enjoyable and to share exquisite food with Miffa´s bunny family.

Miffa and Kiiroko checking if everything was under control

Chairoko keeping an eye onto Father Bunny's work

Miffa was thinking "I wish this idiot will be able to cook it properly..."

Happy family with our Soba on a zaru? and special limited edition bowls for our soup

When we did our first attempt to cook Japanese for them we cooked the wrong stuff. We cooked it right but it wasn’t what we thought it was. Now with the hyper detailed instructions Cafemiffy sent us, even a poor oriental cooker like Father Bunny, we succeeded.

And as our friend Katanga says, no meal is complete without desert and for that we had Youkan, and not just some Youkan… they were made by Toraya (may be the best)

Thanks Caffemiffy !!!!

Chairoko and Kiiroko opening their parents gift - Youkan

Design school with Kiiroko and Chairoko

Having Chairoko and Kiiroko with us it’s great. A few days ago we received a big gift from their parents with plenty of delicious ingredients to cook Japanese recipes.

When Uncle Bunny knew about it and he saw the nice designs they use in Japan (uncle bunny designs for a food company doing label and packaging designs) he got shocked.

And he has been searching WebPages with nice designs that will inspire his new creation.

This is one of the best. I will ask my Japanese bunny friends as soon as they return from their Spanish classes.

Exploring Cape Cod

Google Earth track From Boston to Orleans

While in New York we asked Father Bunny to visit another places close to the Big Apple. Too many days in such a busy city were stressing us and I really wanted to visit Boston.

I must admit that we were very lucky. We arrived NY during their Memorials Day and many people went out off the city (mainly to the beach) to celebrate the three days weekend. Walking along NYC center (what they call Midtown) was great. Just only a few impenitent tourists who woke up early to defy the high temperatures.

And wait a moment if we were going to visit Boston what about a nice stop in that Peninsula were old wealthy families has built nice houses I private islands. One of them the Forbes family used the money they got trading with Opium and built and nice house…

Yes I am talking to one of east coast favourite’s tourist attraction: Cape Cod (Apart from Miami, of course)

Getting there from Boston or New York is easy but expect big jams during Fridays and Sundays (back home).It will take you about three and a half hours to get Princetown (the most remote city on the Peninsula’s tip). But if you are not in a hurry our advice will be that it will be a good idea to visit some of the little and no so little places that are in your way to Princetown.

As the great planner that my Father is we departed from Boston at 7:00 pm and we ended reading free tourist guides that we found in a gas station. Chairoko, Kiiroko and I were not very happy about sleeping inside the car or going back to NYC.

But finally in a town called Orleans we found a nice place, actually a beautiful place called Orleans Inn. Its owner Ed, whose family bought and restored the building, is one of the nicer persons we have found in our travels. He gave us very useful information to maximize our travel experience in such a few time and gave us a book with all the building history though time.

Beautiful sandy beaches, nice green fields, nice lighthouses that are still in use, great food, nice wooden houses painted in nice colours… Definitely this is a place to visit and to stay some days if you suffer from any kind of stress.

we spent a great time visiting Orleans Inn

Here you can find a book to do some planning
And there you can download the Google Earth track

Kiiroko and Chairoko adventures in the country.

During our holidays in Leon visiting Father Bunny’s Grandma we have had a lot of adventures. We saw a lot of animals: sheeps, dogs, pigeons, etc. We also find the county at its most after April rains.

Everywhere you could see blossom trees and green fields, beautiful flowers and beautiful - and tasty – vegetables.

We asked Super Grandma Bunny to have Fabada and together with Kiiroko and Chairoko we made it for Father Bunny.

Fabada is a white bean stew. Its origin is Asturias, but is common in Leon and other parts of Spain. It is made with dried large white beans. In Leon we use a smaller white bean that we found mellower.

Here it’s our recipe (that differs from the original a little bit)

Ingredients:

- 250 grams (one cup) white beans
- 150 grams Spanish chorizo sausage
- 150 grams pork shoulder
- One small onion
- One clove of garlic
- Two Bay laurel leaves (Laurus nobilis)
- Salt (one or two tea spoons)
- Hot paprika
- Olive oil

Soak overnight the beans before cooking. We suggest you to use only a cup because this dish is quite strong and for two people 250 grams is enough.

Put the beans into a pressure cooker and add water until all of them are fully covered. Add a little more water (1 centimetre above the beans will be enough). Add the onion, chorizo, pork shoulder, garlic, laurel, salt, etc.

Depending of water hardness it will take more time the beans to cook. In Barcelona regular water (from the tap) is very bad for cooking and it takes a lot of time. After some talk with several people we will suggest you 45 minutes to cook the beans.

After those 45 minutes open the pressure cooker and prepare that we call “sofrito”. Add some olive oil to a fry pan and a smashed clove of garlic. Just a few minutes until the garlic gets lightly brown, then add two tea spoon of Paprika and a little bit (one tea spoon) of vinegar. Remove from fire and add it to the beans. Mix it a little bit and cook the beans with the pressure cooker opened until the stew boils.

That’s it. ! The Chorizo, Pork Shoulder and additional ingredients – including a nice red wine bottle- are in their way to japan.

PS: Do not prepare this stuff for dinner or you will regret it with terrible nightmares, ;)