New Blog Name

In case you haven't noticed, my blog title changed. Why?

I was talking about my blog to my boyfriend's parents over the Christmas holidays. His Dad asked for my blog link. I said "littlemiko..." As I were saying, he typed "littlemiko.com." My real old blog name ends with "blogspot.com." And suddenly a bunch of naked Asian teens showed up on the monitor. "Is this your blog?" Of course not.

So no more "littlemiko." Anyways, nobody knew the meaning of "Little Miko Needs to Blog." It was named after a documentary called "Little Dieter Needs to Fly" by Werner Herzog. If you have any good idea for my blog title, please let me know. For your curiosity, it was www.littlemiko.com.

For A Good Sleep

Sacha, my creative, sweet, smart friend from the pottery studio we go to, is a holistic health counselor. During the holiday season she sends me a helpful newsletter on living healthy, living well. This time about sleeping well. According to her knowledge, foot bath in cold water (ideally switch to warm water back and forth) is one of the solutions. And I tried. Water was pretty painfully cold at first (as she instructs), but once you get used to it, it was pretty comfortable. It's supposed to be good for constipation, which I for one struggle with.

For more articles and tips, please check out www.stiggly.com. She also offers workshops regularly, which is open to anyone by registration.

Healthy Pork

I felt like grated radish. It warms the body and fight against bacteria. Or it's simply tasty! Browsing for economical grocery at JAS Mart on the 23rd, I picked burdock root and sliced pork belly. Haven't decided exactly what to cook. Noodle with pork? Oh I have a leftover bowl of rice. So forget noodle.

"Sliced Pork Belly and Burdock Root Scrambled with Egg - Grated Radish Topping"
It's a long title but really easy.

- Thin sliced pork belly
- Sasagaki Burdock Root (shredded or super thin slice, soak in vinegar water for couple minutes)
- Fresh ginger (chopped or sliced fine)
- Hot chilli flake (not required)
- 2 eggs
- Grated Daikon Radish (squeeze out excess water)
- Umeboshi (pickled plum - not required)
- Sauce: Sake, Mirin, Shoyu, Sugar (or soba dipping sauce to replace all)

1. Heat the sauce (should taste a bit sweet and not salty too much, very light amber brown color) in a skillet or pot. Put pork, burdock (discard water), ginger and cook till the pork is completely cooked.
2. Beat eggs and pour over the pork in the pot evenly and quickly. Cover with lit for 30 seconds.
3. Serve pork on a plate or bowl and top with grated radish and umeboshi on top.

Scallop with Corn Cream Sauce

I posted another scallop dish by my dear boyfriend earlier. Tonight, he made another version with sweet corn cream. It was like the one we had at our favorite restaurant Marlow and Sons in W'burg. Lots of sweet corn is lightly flavored with half&half and prosciutto. Although prosciutto was a tad gamy to my taste, this was another very happy meal.

Why Am I Blogging?

My boyfriend checks many websites and blogs and he rarely checks out my blog. My parents, for whom I write almost all blogs also in Japanese, don't seem to be reading it much. Last time I heard was a year ago from my mom commenting on typos. This isn't encouraging... I guess it's because I don't update it often enough. True. I am not close to be a blogger. Some people update every day or several times a day! My friends have started posting comments lately. Thanks you so much. I will try be a more serious blogger...

December: Party Month in Japan

With a poor immune system against digesting alcohol, Japanese still love drinking—for occasions to gather with close friends or grumble about their work. Eventually, many get wasted, puking on the platform or passing out on the train. (Thank god our city cleaning system is impeccable.) Such scenes become more ubiquitous in December when many companies and college clubs host bo-nen-kai. The spirit is: Let’s forget what happened this year and charge up for the coming year.

While Western countries warmly celebrate the holiday season, usually surrounding a table with families, Japanese toast to the end of year at bon-nen-kai. It is more of a social engagement than a party. You have to attend. You have to drink. Bosses encourage the staff to forget about the hierarchy, which you shouldn’t. Yet alcohol makes people speak honestly, act inappropriately. Some go through embarrassing situation next morning in the office, often with a heavy hangover.

In December, cities at night are full of students and salary-men (Japanese office workers) struggling to make it home. If they are not too wasted, they are unusually friendly and funny.

Little Miko on Publication!

With my boss's last-minute cancellation, I spoke at the workshop we had in Tokyo a few weeks ago. Today, copies of a Japanese trade publication on my desk. OH MY MIKO! The photo of me speaking is published on the entire back page. Worse, it reported my presentation throughly. More than 5 times of "Ms. MIKO says..." If I knew, I would have spent more time firming up the preso and spoke more responsibly. Let's hope I didn't say anything inaccurate...

When Dad Goes Wild

We went to Karaoke. My dad, me, brother, his wife and my boyfriend. This night, my dad was having fun more than anyone. I don't know how to react when my dad starts singing Carpenters and dancing to my songs. Everytime we go to karaoke, he sings English songs. He likes speaking English. But it's not that good.

Japan 2007 - Monkeys

Japanese monkeys have red butt. Until I moved to the States, I didn't know they were indeginous to Japan. First ones are monkeys in Tokyo Ueno Zoo. Below is wild monkeys enjoying the sun in Nikko, northern Kanto. My boyfriend calls me Monkey. Don't know why. I don't think I look like monkey. But he loves monkeys so I probably should be happy about it.

Japan 2007 - Sea Food

Tsukiji market is one of the most popular sightseeing distinations. The bet happens 3am - 5am. But the shops and restaurants around the market is open till noon and you can see all the fresh fish sold in the market till late morning.

All chefs including my favorite sushi chef goes to this market and makes such a beautiful assortment of sashimi.

This stripe shrimp is rare to find at restaurants. Our local sushi chef got them just for our visit. It may sound cruel but the shrimp still moves if you put it in your mouth. Rich, creamy and cruncy as well. Means it's super fresh. While we deplete the ocean, give us some credit for eating almost any part of fish. Even this shrimp head returns on the table later as a miso soup. We eat fish bones as well.

Another yummy from winter Japan is fresh oysters. They are much bigger and rich, more flavorful than wester oysters. Left is grilles with soy sause and left is fresh oyster in vinegrette.

I guess it's called alfonsino in English. This red fish in Japanese is called Kin-me-dai (Golden eye). Usually we stew this fish but if fresh enough, it taste so good as sashimi or sushi. Heaven!

Japan 2007 - Food

After taking hundreds of pictures from our trip to my sweet-home Japan, I was a bit shocked that 80% is pics of food. Hope you can enjoy the taste through this blog... Vegetarians, please bare with my country.

How many times did we eat Ramen? My boyfriend loves ramen and he actually wanted to have ramen once a day. This picture is a place in Shibuya called Ichiran. It was good and you can customize the level of richness, spices, noodle texture and etc. In here, you sit on the count with each seat devided with a sparation and a bamboo curtain between customers and kitchen. Completely privacy. Perfect Ramen spot for salary men and ladies who don't like people to see her slurp.

Monja-yaki is a typical Tokyo food, particularly popular in Shitamachi area (old downtown Tokyo). You eat and cook yourself - that's the fun of it. On the iron pan, scoop all ingredients except the soup and cook a little. Then make a small bank in the middle of ingredients. Slowly pour soup from the bowl. Without letting the soup run over the bank, mix from inside slowly. When the soup starts to get thicken and browned, you scoop directly from the cooking pan with a little spatula. It's not visually appealing but the taste is GoooooD!

We had tons of yakitori at different places and this join in Kichijoji was arguably the best. Although, it's not really yaki-tori but yaki-buta. They serve pork organs. They are so fresh and liver sashimi is superb. It's not fancy but always get packed early in the evening. No server. You just tell the guy behind the counter what you want. I'd love to go back there. In new york, decent yaki-tori restaurants are way too expensive. This dish is supposed to be reasonable, casulal snack or quick bite.

Squid ichiya-boshi is a good snack with sake, beer and shochu. Usually, we broil the semi-dried squid lightly and have it with mayo. Though it's not raw, overnight drying process keeps the squid tender inside. My boyfriend finished thie whole squid by himself.

NYC Marathon 2007

I don't have any willpower to even try run more than a mile but I did get myself out on the street, in a flip-flop, to cheer the 2007 NYC marathon runners. Amazing, over 20,000 people ran such a long distance. Luckily, I only need to step outside of my apartment as we are right on Bedford Ave, one of the main course the crowd run along.

The top 3 Japanese runners were all above 40 yrs old. Unbelievable. Maybe someday, once in my lifetime, I should try this. But maybe not. I can't event think of walking all the way from the Island to the city. I will start with joinning a gym, I guess.

Hair Cut

My super hair stylist Shin-san has a cute, cozy salon in the E.V. All the drawings on the wall are works of his wife, Kimiko-san. When my appointment is not later in the day, we often spend the session with a glass of wine.

His cut last at least 3 months and easy to handle. Lazy Miko can't do fancy curl or blow dry in the morning. If you'd like a bit of fun with your hair, he's the man.

Bear Mountain Park

Not to miss the foliage, we hopped in a Zipcar and drove up to Bear Mountain in upstate. BTW, Zipcar is really awesome. Easy to use and cheaper than rental cars. Bear Mountain is just off the Peekskill and it doesn't feel like it's only 1.5 hours away from Manhattan. We drove a bit, enjoying the colors of leaves. Then we ran into the last day of Octoberfest. Lucky us! German wine, beer and sausages. It made Miko's hungry tommy happy happy. Bakc on the car. I insisted to drive, on a 25mil/hour road. I officially have both Japanese and US license. But I never felt safe driving. In fact, my boyfriend (current and old) rarely let me drive. But hey, we are in the mountain, I can do it. I drove for 2 minutes. Just keep the same speed is hard enough. 4 cars are making a line beind me. Panic. Give up. What's wrong with me?I loved the rocks. Huge rocks. Some with beautiful surface made by moss and water dropps. We did a bit hiking and found a small fall. The iron racoon-dog is actually a grill. How cute!

Wave Hill 2

We visited again the Wave Hill garden in Riverdale, Bronx. The last time was in early summer. It was a bit chilly but enjoyed the plants and flowers of this season. All the funny-looking plants give me inspiration for my drawing. Nature creates so many amazing shapes and colors. Simply amazing.

Korean Parade

I happened to be in Korean town on the day of Korean festival. A huge parade on the Broadway from 34th. While waiting for my friend, I totally enjoyed the parade. Interstingly yet rightly so since we are in NYC, there were non-Korean people in the parade. I wish Japan had such major event to celebrate our own culture.

Soba Dinner

Another evening by myself. Another chance to cook myself a nice Japanese meal. Tonight's menu is soba noodle soup and kabocha pumpkin. Soba is Kake-Soba style, just with scallion and tororo-conbu (slimy seaweed). Simple simple. Kabocha pumpkin is not like squash. More flavor and sweet. It's pretty cheap and easy to get at supermarkets. The skin is really tough when uncooked, but it gets soft and edible (actually taste really good) once cooked. Kabocha is perfect for pumpkin soup.

Butoh America

Japan Society has hosted another week of Butoh performance. This year commemorated the 101 birthday of Kazuo Ohno, the founder of Butoh, who is still teaching actively. Our first pick was the last performance by Kazuo's son, but it was sold out. So we went to a show directed by one of Kazuo's students. To my surprise, 6 female dancers in American Aparrelish costume. My body was stiff for the first 5 minutes. But then I began to feel the softness within the powerful movements. I really enjoyed seeing female playing—Butoh is normally known for male performers. 6 girls act completely different moves. How could the director come up with all these moves and how can they remember that? Finally, the director/choreographer Akira Kasai, who himself is a mid-aged man. The concept for this show was to produce a new Butoh that cannot be produced in Japan or Europe, but only in America. Next, I aim to see Kaisanjuku.

Apple Cider Season

Instead of coffee, I got a cup of fresh hot apple cider for pick-me-up. Many farmers have hot apple cider but this one was pretty good, a bit sour and lots of apple. $1,50. It's the orchard that sells famour juices. Nice way to start a Monday morning...

Adam's Rib

Desprate for some fun movie, I picked this movie, one of the highest rates on Netflix. Turned out this movie features a feminism—specifically the equal rights between Man and Women before the law. Story is simple. A love, mid-age, lawyer couple (Spencer Tracy and K Hepburn) gets assigned on a attempted murder case: A housewife finds her husband flirting with another woman in her apartment and shot him. Spencer on the husbund side, Hepburn defending the wife. Hepburn's eloquent and powerful approaches and her passion toward equal rights unfortunatelly brings inaccordance to their house. Besides the story itself, Hepburn's costume is so worth watching.

Scallop and Beets Salad

My boyfriend made scallop in cream sauce and beets salad with mustard dressing. He's always a good cook but this dinner was one of my favorites. So lucky to have a boyfriend who likes to cook.

The sallop was top-notch. He browned the scallop and cooked in the cream sauce which had shallots, butter, cream, garlic and white wine. Top it with fresh basil. His signature beets salad is the recipe he learned from the chef he used to work for as a waiter in Minnesota. Roast the whole beets. Cover them and cool. Peel and slice beets. The dressing is a mixture of olive oil, ground mustard, dijon mustard and a bit of honey. Top with sliced caramelized or roasted onion and some blue cheese.

Hofstra University Visit

I was invited to speak to a small group of students at Hofstra University. One of the students picked me up aa the LIRR Mineola station with his MINI. The group was small but they were all very nice. Creative advertising is not the main focus for these marketing students, but they were all well-mannered and listed to me without dosing off. This campus is a state arboretum as well. Seasonal flowers and plants are nicely planted throughout the campus. Evangelistic Miko enjoyed this one-day trip.

Natto Noodle

I was craving for Filet-O-Fish, hesitated to have junk food, went to Japanese grocery store and ended up buying an instant noodle (Nakisoba, stir-fried noodle in worcestershore-like sauce). I also picked up some Natto (firmented, slimy, stringy, stinky soy beans) to help myself with nutrition. The noodle's sauce was a bit too intense and I came up with a solution. Add Natto. I love tomato sauce pasta like Amatricciana with natto. I love natto. The result was above expectation. Natto make the sauce mild and balance up the saltiness. How about slimy yakisoba?!

Flat Tire Sadness

On my way to my friend's place in Prospect Heights, I got a flat tire. Glad I wasn't speeding—my vintage-looking heavy bike cannot speed up anyways—and I didn't get in an accident, and it was a walkable distance where the tragedy happened. Still, I was looking forward to this Sunday evening bike ride and upset enought to be grumpy. See my face...

Original Greeting Card

I am taking some time off from my ceramic class this fall, which is pretty hard for me because I love it. Now my hobby is making greeting cards. Cards can be really pricy and I'd rather want it to be somehow original. I have a mini water color kit with basic 5 colors of brown, yellow, blue, green and red. Surprisingly, these four colors can create a good variety. It's fun and nice to write a note on my original cards.

Fall is Here

On a serene fall Saturday morning, I took a bike ride to the McCarren Park's farmer's market. Ungly-looking mini pumpkins caught my attention. A dollar each. They don't look edible but do look pretty in my apartment. Also got a bunch of fall-looking flower. They are both adding nice autumn feel to our apartment.

FDR Library

The 32nd United States President Franklin D. Roosevelt. He's been one of the most successful Democratic President and arguably the most influential person in the US history. At the end of Hadson River Valley trip was his library and home in Hyde Park. Once you drive in this town, you see FDR's flag alongside the roads. We started the visit to the library. The part of this building is FDR's actual office. Furnitures and books remain the way he left before he passed away. One item that took my attention is his hand-writing revision of the famous speech he made in response to the Pearl Harbor attack. I do not neglect the fact many Japanese American had to go through terrible time in the camp due to his decision. It was a political decision and I still respect FDR as a President. All the items tell his personality and what a great writer and speaker he was. It's sad that most of recent Presidents and politicians do not know how to use words effectivelly. Unfortunatelly, we got there a little too late to see inside of his house. The rose garden, in which FDR and his wife sleep, got me emotional.


FDR LIbrary and Hometown
Hyde Park, NY
website

Best Thai Food

Sripraphai in Woodside, Queens, has been mentioned on Chowhound and other food blogs. It was the best Thai food I ever had. When we got there around 8pm on Saturday night, there was a crowd of people waiting outside. I thought we couldn't get a seat as this place closes at 9:30pm. Surprisingly, we were told it would be 15 - 20 minutes wait. Shortly, we got our table. This place has been expanded to the next door, which you don't really see from outside. It's a huge place. Plus, they have a nice garden seating.


As big as the space is its menu. Not only are they many, they all look good. Even with the pictures, I had hard time chosing. Many dishes were so authentic/original that I had never seen anywhere else. We started with a classy Papaya salad and minced beef in chili sauce for appetizer. For main, we got red curry and Thai rice noodle with beef stew. The salad was perfectly shredded and spice was just right. The beef dish was a bit salty but my boyfriend who went to Thai thought it was so authentic. The red curry and noddle were both serious heat. I loved the noodle dish. So original and perhaps authentic. After this experience, all these Thai places in our hood are tasteless. They don't compromise with spices. They use the right amount for each dish. Some are really hot. But that's why it's good. We sweat a lot and drunk lots of beer. I have to go back and try more. Better to go in a big group so that you can try many dishes.

Sripraphai
64-13 39th Ave
Woodside, NY 11377
(718) 899-9599
7 train to 61st or 69th

Richard Serra Exhibition

I can’t remember the first time I saw his sculpture. Perhaps at the Dia Beacon upstate. But I do remember becoming a huge fun of his work right away. He makes hard, heavy iron material turn into a soft, warm piece. His works, especially the later ones, are huge, environmental work. Viewers feel the piece by walking through his gigantic iron walls. Physics and artist’s skill create this magical feeling of space and gravity. It makes me feel as if I were floating in the space.

What I enjoyed most at the exhibition was his earlier works. Much smaller but same treatment of iron. It’s amazing pieces of iron can look just like leather bands and how he builds heavy pieces stand in balance that are barely touching each other.

The biggest wonder of this show is how they installed such huge pieces inside of each room.

Richard Serra - Richard Serra Sculpture: Forty Years
June 3–September 10, 2007
MoMA

Mantauk Trip

Our friend couple invited us to stpend a weekend in Montauk this summer. As excited as we were to see them, we were looking forward to this trip, the first and eventually the last leasure trip we took this summer. They offered a room in the town house they were staying. All we needed was to jump on the LIRR. The water was too cold as expected. But we tried "skin board." You waite the wave to start fading at the shore. Then you put the board and step on it. You basically slide on the sand with a think layer of water. This sport is not for kids. 2 out of our 4 adults got injured hitting their knees with the board. It's a slim plastic board. But the shallow wave could push it hard enough to have the knees bleeding and huge bruise. I tried twice.

To eat good seafood was one of our primary aims. We went to seafood restaurant for every meal. The first place was a few minute from the station. Forgot the name but they had super fresh lobster. Somehow there are lots of Russian ladies working at these seafood joints. We had oysters of course. But my biggest surprise and favorite was the grilled fish sandwich. The charcol flavor was so good and just perfectly fatty fish on the buns blew my mind. My words are too poor to express this experience.

Our cultural and intellectual part of this trip was a visit to Pollock's house and studio. We were not allowed to take any photo inside the studio, which is actually a small house. Its floor has all the paintings he splashed around each canvas. Their living house is also very minimal and modest.