14th Japanese Film Festival

Japanese Film Festival is on! I still have to wait for about 3 weeks till the opening film in Sydney 'About Her Brother' on Monday 22 November. I still remember vividly the first time I joined hundreds of folk watching 'Kamikaze Girls' three years ago and then the next year I watched 'Season of Snow' and won one of the door prizes from Nagano City tourism.

This year I'd like to watch at least two movies, firstly as a foodie and a Japanese food lover, 'Flavor of Happiness' in on my 'must see' list, and as a big fan of Ryoko Hirosue I don't want to miss out 'Zero Focus'.

(Flavor of Happiness, picture courtesy of Japanese Film Festival)

( Zero Focus, picture courtesy of Japanese Film Festival)

For more information about the festival news, film list, preview or watch the trailers please visit 14^th Japanese Film Festival.

Mizuya

Mizuya, this 'izakaya' style restaurant on George street offers private dining rooms equipped with karaoke facility, cozy atmosphere and tempting cocktails on the menu which make it a great place for drinking out with friends. The touch screen ordering makes it easy for you to add something to your order and the service is good. The price is above average but still ok considering the place is right in the heart of the city. They got every kind of Japanese cuisine on their menu from Kushiage to Sushi or sashimi and from sukiyaki to teppanyaki.

I picked the wagyu beef for the hotpot with mixed sashimi as the cold side dish, adding sushi set to my order as I was craving for sushi, then picked the cheese potato mochi as desert.

The wagyu beef sukiyaki for $18 was my best choice as the sushi set and cheese potato mochi were little disappointments.

(wagyu beef hotpot)

(Sushi set)

(Sashimi as side dish)

(Cheese potato mochi)

Collagen Kaki Sushi

I happened to be in Kuala Lumpur over the weekend, staying in a hotel on Bukit Bintang known as the major shopping district in town from the premium mall like Pavilion to the specialty shopping plaza like Lao Yat, a popular shopping center for electronics and IT products.

Right across my hotel there is Fahrenheit 88, a refurbished plaza with Uniqlo, an innovative brand from Japan for fashion, opening their first store in Malaysia end of this month.On level 1, I found a Japanese restaurant called Sushi Zanmai, the menu has a wide range of Japanese cuisine from sushi to bento box. When scrolling down the menu, their sushi and sashimi look quite unique so I picked a chutoro sashimi, aburi sushi set and a Collagen Kaki Sushi which was on special for 6.80 RM for two pieces.

Collagen Kaki Sushi

The Kaki Sushi is an oyster sushi with strong flavor of oyster so if you want to try this kaki sushi make sure you are a fan of oyster. I don't know whether this sushi really contains collagen in it, but it really is a unique kind of sushi.

(Chutoro Sashimi)

(Aburi sushi set)

Overall it's a cozy place, the sushi and sashimi was good, the service was a bit slow but still ok.

On another note, there were wet tissues available on the table and I was a bit surprised when I was charged 0.2 RM for a wet tissue while no price shown for that, neither on the menu or on the tissue's packaging, I thought a wet tissue normally would be complimentary, well... I guess most customers won't even bother for an 0.2 RM?

Tulip Time

It was an extremely busy weekend for me, lucky to have a public holiday Monday..

Went down south to Bowral in the Southern Highland of NSW this morning to enjoy the Tulip Time..

Cherry blossoms

Cherry blossoms or Sakura represents spring, in Japan a wide variety of Sakura can be found (believed to be more than 200 varieties) and the most popular variety is Somei Yoshino with pure white petals and tinged with the palest pink, especially near the stem.

This spring somehow I couldn't make my way to the Sakura Matsuri at Cowra Japanese Garden being held this weekend on September 25-26, but I did take some sakura's shots around Katoomba and Leura in the Blue Mountain region.

Here are some of them..

Corica Strudel

I've been to most cities along east coast of Australia but never been to the west coast, including Perth, so I think I can't call myself a traveler then. Eventough I've never been to Perth yet I got my favorite pastry over there, the best strudel I've ever tasted!

Corica, a local famous pastry shop in Northbridge, Western Australia. Apart from their signature Apple Strudel, the Blueberry Strudel is also one of its kind.

(Corica Blueberry Strudel)

How did I get this Corica blueberry strudel from Perth? Well, some people bring the strudels over and sell them in Sydney, occasionally you also find the strudels sold in a cultural festival in Sydney, and if one of my friends from Perth coming down to Sydney I'd ask them to bring my favorite strudel, either Apple Strudel or Blueberry one, or both of them if they don't mind :)

Deep fried Mars bar

Love chocolate..?

Well.. I do, and if you also are a fan of this addictive sweets, then you may want to try this unique deep fried Mars bar.

(Deep fried Mars bar from Sydney's Bondi Surf Seafood)

The bar is dipped into coconut butter, pre-cooked in a low-temperature oil then deep fried, served with sprinkled powdered sugar and priced at $2 each.

It is said to have been invented in the Haven Chip Bar in Stonehaven, near Aberdeen on Scotland's northeast coast, in 1995. The chocolate bar is typically chilled before battering to prevent it from melting into the frying fat.

In Sydney, you can find this at Bondi Surf Seafood on Bondi Beach's beach-front road.

Rahmen Genki

I happened to wander around Artarmon while craving for a bowl of ramen, and speaking of ramen in Artarmon, Rahmen Genki is the only one I know. This authentic Japanese restaurant located in a leafy and relaxing area just off the train station. I had got my brunch earlier that day so even the curry on the menu was so tempting, I ended up ordering a bowl of seafood ramen.

(seafood ramen from Rahmen Genki)

The seafood ramen comes with a huge prawn, fish fillet, squid and garnished with seaweed, spring onion and sweet corns kernels. Normally my favorite soup for ramen is tonkotsu but this time the light soup tastes so good, perfectly matches the seafood.

Onigiri with Furikake?

Today I was too lazy to go out to get something yummy, the gusty wind ripped through the city from the morning. Too lazy to cook too... so just made myself some simple Onigiri.

(My Onigiri, one plain and one with furikake)

Nothing fancy, just simple onigiri made from sushi rice, lightly salted, stuffed with fish floss and sprinkled with furikake.

Spring!

Spring has come! It' my favorite season of the year even I don't like its gusty wind. I always looking forward to the blooming cherry blossom and the tulip time so for you who are looking forward to it here are some festivals worth a visit during this spring in Australia.

1. Floriade, Australia's biggest flower festival set up in Canberra from Saturday 11 September to Sunday 10 October 2010.

2. Tulip Time. This year will be a celebration of 50 golden years of Tulip Time in Bowral's Corbett Garden in the Southern Highlands of NSW, from Tuesday 21 September to Monday 4 October 2010.

3. Sakura Matsuri Festival on the weekend of Saturday 25 and Sunday 26 September 2010. In its 21st year at the Cowra Japanese Garden, Sakura Matsuri has developed into a showcase of Japanese arts, crafts and cultural activities. Even if you are not into Japanese culture but if you do love enjoying the beautiful cherry blossoms you shouldn't miss this much loved festival in a beautiful country town of Cowra.

Spring two years ago, I made my way to the Sakura Matsuri and hopefully this year I'll have a chance to go back there.

(Cowra Japanese Garden)

(A Tokyo Geisha show)