5/24 Dinner at Nenohi, Ginza Glasse 10F

I took a special guest from Hong Kong to my favorite Japanese restaurant in Yurakucho/Ginza area (with my girlfriend also!). Yes, of course, the restaurant is "Nenohi" in Ginza Glasse building which opened on 4/23 Wed . (The other restaurant in Tokyo is in Oazo building, Marunouchi.)

The photo on the right is when I went on the opening night on 4/23 with 3 other ex-colleagues.....a very special guest Muhsin came to Japan after 7 years.....the restaurant staff are very friendly and even gave some gifts to take home - so Muhsin took 2 "masu" for drinking sake. (In fact, I went for lunch on the same day! - drinking beer etc etc)


The food at Nenohi is very healthy, fresh, top quality, and though Nagoya-born (flavour tends to be very strong), the flavour is just the right level (not much salt). And the atmosphere is very much modern Japanese (I hope I'm right on this one!) and I really like it. My favourites are Tsukune (red chicken meat ball) dipped in egg and Nagoya-style Oden (a Japanese dish which has a variety of different things such as steamed fish cake, tofu, egg, vegetables, etc boiled together in a broth seasoned with soy sause --- is this right? --- but Nagoya-style means with miso sauce instead of soy sauce. And what's even better is - they have a wide selection of original sake - Morita is great.

It is interesting that not many people know, but this restaurant is run by a group called Morita Foods, and has over 300 years of history......currently run by the elder son of SONY founder Akio Morita, who was the former chairman of the same group.....interesting!?

Taiwanese NABE (Pot!)

Second working day of the new year 2008, and I went out to a Taiwanse restaurant in Ginza, Ten-Shan-Fei-Wei (天香回味) with my colleague and client! Basically they have very healthy Taiwanese hot pots, with a lot of herbal medicine inside. The distinct smell is very much noticeable as you come out of the elevators....and a much stronger flavour in the lines of "herbal spice" once you enter the restaurant on the 7th floor of Ginza Velvia-Kan. But I'm afraid they do not have vegetarian option - apparently the soup has some chicken inside it.

And guess what - the Taiwanse restaurant in ADK Shochiku Square building 2nd floor, Taiwan-Kaisen (台湾海鮮) which is very close to where I live right now, is a sister restaurant!

Talking about restaurants, nothing beats Nenohi in Oazo building for me, and they will be opening a new restaurant in Yurakucho area in April this year, so I cannot wait to try out the new place.

Life is interesting indeed, and my life right now is moving at such a fast pace........meeting loads of new people, getting a lot of inspiration from them.

Party this Saturday awaits......I cannot wait.

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year!

2008 is definitely going to be an exciting year....with the start of LuvP Planet in April 2008. We have so many ideas of what we want to do, and today 1st Jan 2008, I've been spending time with my family at home, telling them what plans we have come up with for the new company.

And I just want to tell you my father seems quite excited to hear about our plans! My brother and my sister-in-law has already started helping me.....my sister-in-law has sensitive skin, and so she has been telling me what cosmetics products she uses, and finds effective...Matsumoto Jushi, JIMOS / DoctorBio brand MacchiaLabel, ORBIS, etc.

Well, we have very high hopes for this new year, let's make it another fantastic year!

And I'd better do some exercise - cos I've been eating like crazy, all the Osechi cuisine, as well as drinking lots of sake from lunchtime, then Italian wine in the evening....Japanese food is just too great!

Some pictures taken during the new year holidays......
(1) Osechi Ryori - my mum did not make it!
(2) Our stove at home - very helpful in the winter season.
(3) Our garden had a visitor - can you spot our friend in the picture?

Hakkeijima Sea Paradise

30th December Sunday was spent yet again with Vijay, my Indian colleague from Hyderabad. The day went like below.....
11:30 met up in Shinjuku station
13:30 reached Hakkeijima Sea Paradise, Yokohama
13:00-17:00 Had a look in the aquarium and dolphin fantasy, but we could not try the free fall since it was too windy! Vijay will have to come back before he goes back to India at the end of January 2008 to try the free fall from 160 metres high!
18:00 moved to Sakuragicho
18:30 climbed to the top of Landmark Tower, had a cappucino while enjoying the view from the highest observatory in Japan at a mere 273 metres from the ground (Tokyo Tower is the tallest building in Japan, at a height of 333 metres), surrounded by loads of Japanese couples - also Vijay had a composite drawing done by an artist called Kazufumi Matsubara at the top of Landmark Tower. And I became friends with him, and invited him to the next home party to be held at Taro's flat....incredibly this Matsubara-san has been involved in creating art displays at ”Exhibition of Global Harmony" (Ai Chikyu-haku) and has been doing some work for Disney as well. Mainly involved in creating designs and paintings on the walls inside the buildings such as restaurants. Very interesting!
19:30 moved to Motomachi Chuka-gai (Chinatown), and explored the area.
20:00 had buffet dinner at a Chinese restaurant.....

And below is an interesting video taken at the Sea Paradise.......enjoy!

Karaoke for 4 hrs!

After yet another dinner at Nenohi on Friday night (28th Dec), I went to Karaoke-kan in Akasaka-Mitsuke with Vijay and Taro....for 4 hours today Sat 29th Dec!

What was interesting was that for Vijay, my Indian colleague from Hyderabad, it was his first time to try Karaoke! And for those of you who know Taro (crazy guy who sings Celine Dion "My Heart Will Go On" and Misia "Everything"...and many other songs by female artists - going for the high consumption of calories!), Vijay really enjoyed his long afternoon spent in a small Karaoke box!

Dinner at Nataraj (vegeterian Indian restaurant in Ginza) followed with Vijay, and it was yet another interesting day....

New business idea - introduce Karaoke in India! India film industry is huge and there is around 8-9 songs in one Indian film, so it could become a great pastime in India in the near future. Vijay really enjoyed Karaoke, so why not!

Nenohi, Oazo

Tonight, I had dinner at Nenohi, Oazo building, Marunouchi with a client from M Securties and an Indian colleague - it was fantastic! It is probably my favourite Japanese restaurant in Tokyo, and it has been for a while.

Well, just one more working day, and it will be all over for this year! Looking forward to the holidays and next year! LuvP Planet is going to start next April, and I just cannot wait!!!!!