a mixed plate of Japanese American news and culture
If not for a shoulder injury many moons ago, we might be watching Masaharu Morimoto swinging a baseball bat instead of deftly slicing sashimi. As a foodie, I’m thankful that he took the path of sushi and sashimi instead of besuboru. Morimoto opened his Hawai‘i outpost, Morimoto Waikiki (1775 Ala Moana Blvd., Honolulu, HI 96815; [...]
Editor’s Note: This is the first of a two-part series. This city was once infamous for being Pablo Escobar’s home, the notorious head of the cocaine drug cartel, until he was killed in December 1993. The murder rate was very high and no sensible American would dare visit. There were an estimated 6,500 murders in 1991 in [...]
Editor’s Note: This is the second of a two-part series. We again traveled by taxi to the Accra suburb of Teshie to see coffin makers ply their trade. The coffins are elaborate and limited only by imagination and money. It can take up to a month to construct coffins that resemble fishes, cars, boats, cigarettes, [...]
Well, it’s the start of the new year, the Year of the Dragon. The Year of the Water Dragon, if you want to get technical, and it doesn’t officially start until Jan. 23. But it’s that time once again, that we make little promises to ourselves to change for the better; to be a better [...]
Editor’s Note: This is the first of a two-part series. Where? The lure of a fantastic low airfare offer and a chance to stay with couch surfers to save on accommodation costs hooked me, a sucker to travel anywhere I have not been before. A relatively expensive visa was required, as well as a yellow [...]
Bend, Ore. received its name when pioneers traveled to farmlands west of the Cascades. They forded the Deschutes River at the last hospitable place before reaching their destination and would call out “Farewell, Bend” and those that stayed here gave it the full plaintive call as its name, but when the application for a post [...]
The Nichi Bei asked me to provide answers to many travel questions for a special New Year’s article. My number one advice is: GO NOW. Waiting until retirement may result in old age problems that discourage travel and result in you sitting in the rocking chair mumbling, “If only I had…” How to Book Deals: [...]
FLOUR: SPECTACULAR RECIPES FROM BOSTON’S FLOUR BAKERY + CAFE By Joanne Chang with Christie Matheson (San Francisco: Chronicle Books, 2010, 340 pp., $35 hardcover) The new cookbook by pastry chef and owner of Boston’s Flour Bakery + Cafe begins with an unlikely analogy to theoretical math. Says author Joanne Chang “theoretical math class … taught [...]
QUICK AND EASY ASIAN DESSERTS (Learn to Cook Series) (North Clarendon, Vt.: Tuttle Publishing, 2009, 96 pp., $12.95, Spiral-bound) “Quick and Easy Asian Desserts” sets out to demonstrate that desserts do have a place in Asian cuisine and that many are easy to make. The book begins with a brief glossary of essential ingredients punctuated [...]
Well, the beginning of every year is always filled with change. From simply hanging up that new calendar you purchased at Borders … whoops, that’s change in itself since there is no Borders, to crowning a new NCAA national champion in football via the convoluted BCS ranking system (I guess if LSU goes undefeated, it’s [...]
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