I planned on getting a one day muni pass, but the first place I went to wanted to sell me a clipper card to store my pass on (whatever happened to the little one day punch card) which I would most likely hardly use. I figured I'd come across another place that might sell the old day pass. I should've checked at the train station.....but anyway.
My first stop was Chinatown, where I roamed all the little shops that sell basically all the same stuff. I was contemplating getting a sake set, but I wasn't sure how one goes about heating sake, so I decided to hold off until I knew more. When I have sake at home, I just have it chilled. While browsing the sake sets, there was a mother and her daughter looking as well, discussing how they'd be really neat if you actually drank tea. I didn't have the heart to tell them they were sake sets.
After wandering for awhile and not buying anything (my first time in Chinatown without coming home with chopsticks or brocade shoes) I had lunch at the sushi place that started it all.
With a full belly, I walked on over to Japantown.
I should mention here that Thursday was my first day back in the gym in awhile, and I am so sore that I cannot sit down on a toilet without putting my hand on the seat to lower myself down. Now this has absolutely nothing to do with Japantown, but everything to do with walking there from Chinatown.
I guess it isn't that far, but people were passing me left and right and I wondered if I was really going that slow.
I popped into Japan Center to do some shopping. Bought some incense and a burner, a book on ramen, and then found myself standing in front of Nippon-ya, a Japanese candy store.
I tried keeping myself out of there. I'm incapable of going into a store that sells mochi and coming out empty handed. I'm a little out of shape right now due to finals week and whatever illness was threatening to take over my body before and during finals week. I knew I should not be buying mochi.
Mochi is a candy made from rice flour, is a bit gummy, and comes in all sorts of flavors and styles. You may be more familiar with mochi ice cream that you get from a sushi restaurant or Trader Joe's. That's amazing too.
As I stared at the display in the window, my will power weakened, and I figured there was no harm in just going in to look, even though I knew I'd be buying something.
Oh boy did they have mochi. And how cleverly displayed! Above the stacks of boxes were display mochi showing one cut open with the filling oozing out. I should not have gone in. How hard to decide! There weren't any assorted boxes in the group I was looking at, and while they were very affordable, I could see me sitting down and eating a box at a time.
Also- these boxes of mochi do not have the calorie information on the box. So maybe there aren't any.
After staring at the boxes for what was probably about 10 minutes, I chose the original Harajuku Mochi Chocolat. It was painful to walk away from all the other flavors. I stared at a mocha one for awhile and was stopped in my tracks by a strawberry kind filled with chocolate. And a chocolate one with orange filling!!
I had to get out of there.
At the check out, the cashier said "Just the one box?".
I wondered if maybe they had barely any calories and that maybe it was normal for people to eat the whole box in one sitting.
I doubt it.
I sat outside the store on a bench and opened the box. It had a little mini-fork to grab the little tasty morsels.
And underneath a little cellophane flap was the most beautiful mochi I had ever seen. This is them now. A day later, if you're wondering what's up with all the empty spots.
And when you bite into them:
In my defense, it has been over 24 hrs and there are still some left. Not many. Not as many as are in that picture. I don't really want to get into numbers, but it's more than one.
Anyway, I looked at my map and tried to decide whether I could make it to the California Academy of Sciences. Via my feet. Because in order to get on the muni subway (still had not purchased a transit card to get on the bus and had limited small bills) I would have to walk a ways. Might as well just walk the entire way.
That was a dumb idea. Have you ever walked across the entire peninsula that is San Francisco? Ridiculous idea. It looks great on a map, not so much in reality. I did see these cool houses along the way.
It was already almost 3pm and the Academy of Science closed at 5 or 6, and I still had a good deal of walking to go. With my sore, tired body. I decided living this close to SF, I could always just come back (and grab more mochi when I do). So I decided to walk down the street and find the subway (which at that point is actually above ground).
Since I didn't have the correct change, I ended up paying $5 for a $2.25 ride, but it was worth it. I was exhausted.
I rode the subway to the train station, hopped on the next train (local limited- unfortunately I was a little early for the baby bullet) and headed home. The local limited takes about an hour and a half to get me home, the baby bullet takes an hour.
From the train station, I hopped on the local light rail, and two stops later I disembarked and walked the 0.8 miles home.
And ate more mochi.
Today I am making ramen. The real kind. It's a fairly drawn out process which is still in the works, so that will not be posted today. Tomorrow most likely.
But I had to go to the Japanese market to get supplies for the ramen, as well as some stuff for miso soup and sushi. The only reason I made it out of there without more mochi was that I knew there was more at home. But that didn't stop me from drooling over what they had.
So while I started the ramen broth going, I made some miso soup with tofu and wakame seaweed.
I was going to have a bottle of sake with it, but I was so tired that I knew sake would put me out for the day. I had coffee instead.
Now the ramen is on the stove, it's Saturday afternoon and I'm sitting around in my sweatpants. Life is good.
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