24 Friday Jan 2014
Posted in Asia, Food & Drinks, Japan, Tokyo
Tags
Asia, Food & Drinks, Japan, Roppongi, Roppongi Fukuzushi, Selfish Year, Selfish Years, Tokyo, Zōjō-ji, Zōjō-ji Temple
Mr. Selfish and I always love visiting Tokyo. We usually stay in the areas of Shinjuku, Shibuya, Akihabara, and Harajuku. This time, we decided to go to the expat area – Roppongi.
22 Wednesday Jan 2014
Posted in Asia, Food & Drinks, Japan, Okinawa
Tags
Asia, Beni-imo, Chura-Hana, Food & Drinks, Goya, Japan, Nago, Okinawa, Okinawa Cuisine, Okinawa food, Pork Belly, Selfish Year, Selfish Years, Taco Rice
As I’ve gone over previously, Okinawan cuisine is quite different from the food in the rest of Japan. Even though I knew this coming in, nothing could prepare me for the Okinawan fascination with tacos. In fact, taco rice, which is taco flavored beef served on a bed of rice, is a typical school lunch meal. Mr. Selfish and I, of course, had to try it for the sake of posterity.
Even though Mr. Selfish and I didn’t really enjoy the Kin Kannon-do Temple, we rather relished the idea of eating at King Tacos, the originator of taco rice, which is located nearby in Kin.
We ordered a taco platter, as well as the traditional taco rice with lettuce, tomatoes, cheese, and salsa. As odd as it sounds, I found it pretty tasty and definitely a bit like comfort food (even though I had never had it before). I mean – I love rice and I love tacos. Why not combine it? If you’re in Kin, I would definitely check out Taco Kings!
20 Monday Jan 2014
Tags
Asia, Cape Manzamo, Ikei Island, Japan, Kin Kannon-do Temple, Nago, Nago Sights, Nakagusuku Castle Ruin, Okinawa, Selfish Year, Selfish Years
Mr. Selfish and I spent two days in the Nago area of Okinawa. As a subtropical area, Nago has its fair share of beautiful beaches. However, since we were visiting during winter, we didn’t know how much there would be to do in the area. Fortunately, there are numerous noteworthy sights in the Nago area. Today, I’ll go over the sights south of Nago, and tomorrow, Mr. Selfish will go over the sights north of Nago.
Cape Manzamo is a scenic rock formation near Onna Village, which is on the way to Nago. It faces the East China Sea and is a popular viewing spot for sunset. Mr. Selfish and I didn’t visit during sunset but we found it beautiful nonetheless.
18 Saturday Jan 2014
Posted in Asia, Food & Drinks, Japan, Okinawa
Tags
Ashibiuna, Asia, Blue Seal, Blue Seal Ice Cream, Chanpuru, Daito Soba, Food & Drinks, Izakaya Yunangii, Japan, Makishi Public Market, Naha, Okinawa, Okinawa Cuisine, Pork Belly, Selfish Year, Selfish Years
Due to the strong Chinese and American influences and the tropical climate in Okinawa, Okinawa cuisine is unlike typical Japanese cuisine. We didn’t really see much sushi, ramen, or curry around. Nevertheless, Mr. Selfish and I enjoyed the eclectic food in Okinawa – from the pork belly to the soba to the chanpuru. Here are some of the yummy bites we had in and around Naha.
Even though Blue Seal was conceived Stateside, it was brought to Okinawa in 1948 along with the American soldiers. It wasn’t until 1976 that Blue Seal opened stores outside of the American bases and on the island proper. I enjoy Blue Seal’s tagline – “Born in America, Raised in Okinawa.”
Blue Seal ice cream is creamy (supposedly the way Americans like it), but the flavors are distinctly Okinawan. In particular, Beni-imo, which is purple sweet potato, is quite popular.
Mr. Selfish and I tried a variety of flavors. I really liked Beni-imo and Ube (sweet purple yam), and Mr. Selfish loved that you could have scoop ice cream with softserve on top. I highly recommend Blue Seal if you visit Naha. Mr. Selfish and I probably went three times during our four days in Okinawa.
17 Friday Jan 2014
Posted in Asia, Food & Drinks, Japan, Okinawa
Tags
Asia, Awamori, Higa Distillery, Japan, Naha, Okinawa, Ryūkyū Kingdom, Selfish Year, Selfish Years, Shikinaen Garden, Shuri Castle, Tamaudun Mausoleum
Mr. Selfish and I had originally planned to visit Okinawa to go diving. Unfortunately, when we were there, the wind was too strong, and our dive trip was cancelled. Fortunately, Okinawa has many diverse lovely sights to behold. Here are the sights that we visited in Naha.
Shuri Castle was the official palace of the Ryūkyū Kingdom, which ruled the islands that currently make up Okinawa from the 15th to the 19th centuries. The castle is made out of wood and burned down multiple times. The last time it burned down was in 1945 after an American battleship shelled it for three days during WWII. In 1992, Shuri Castle was reconstructed.
The grounds are quite extensive, and it is free to wander around.
15 Wednesday Jan 2014
Posted in Asia, Food & Drinks, Fukuoka, Japan
Tags
Asia, Food & Drinks, Fukuoka, Japan, Otomezushi, Selfish Year, Selfish Years, Sushi, Sushi in Fukuoka, Uotoku
Ever since feasting on the freshest and best sushi we’ve ever had in Kanazawa at Otomezushi, Mr. Selfish and I have been a bit shy to eat sushi. It’s all relative, and we know that most sushi won’t stack up to Otomezushi. We’ve mostly stuck to eating rolls instead of actual sushi since you don’t have to be as concerned with freshness.
On our trip back to Japan, we figured that we would get our fill of sushi. We had read rave reviews of a sushi restaurant named Uotoku (17-14-1 Imaizumi 1-chome, Chuo-ku) in Fukuoka, particularly about the sushi chef who had worked in Hong Kong and New York. We made a reservation for lunch, which is always cheaper for sushi, and had high hopes for sushi.
We opted for the chef’s selection and gave him a budget of about $35 USD per person. It’s always a good idea to trust the chef to choose the freshest and best sushi of the day.
The first item served was snail. I wasn’t really expecting it, but it was pretty good and tender. Mr. Selfish and I each received two snails and a toothpick to pry them out.
14 Tuesday Jan 2014
Posted in Asia, Food & Drinks, Fukuoka, Japan
Tags
Asia, Canal City, Chiba, Food & Drinks, Fukuoka, Ichiran, Japan, Ramen Stadium, Selfish Year, Selfish Years, Shin Shin, Tontoro
Mr. Selfish and I remember the days when we were ramen newbies and could genuinely enjoy most ramen bowls. Those days are long gone, and we’re now ramen snobs. It was bound to happen. If you keep eating something over and over again, you start to develop a palate for it. Unfortunately, once this happens, your discerning palate knows when a ramen bowl isn’t up to snuff.
So when we decided to come back to Fukuoka for a couple of nights, we knew that we had to do a ramen run. Fukuoka is, after all, where tonkotsu ramen originated.
Mr. Selfish and I had added Shin Shin to our Google map during our first trip to Fukuoka back in April. We didn’t make it there but had read from many sources that it had some of the best ramen in Fukuoka. We made sure to go to Shin Shin this time around.
12 Sunday Jan 2014
Posted in Asia, Food & Drinks, Japan
Tags
Asia, Crunky, Food & Drinks, Japan, Rice balls, Selfish Year, Selfish Years
Even though Mr. Selfish and I had just spent 43 days in Japan from April to June of this year, we couldn’t resist going back to Japan during our annual Thanksgiving trip. We ended up spending 10 nights in Japan: 2 nights in Fukuoka, 4 nights in Okinawa, and 4 nights in Tokyo.
Traveling back to Japan made me realize all of the little things I had missed.
I love the fact that most of the signs in Japan have cute little drawings accompanying them.
Yes, I even found a sewer cover that was illustrated.
10 Friday Jan 2014
Posted in Accommodations, Food & Drinks, Hilton, The Maldives
Tags
Conrad Rangali, Hotel Octave, Maldives, Male, Royal Garden Café, Selfish Year, Selfish Years, Swensen's, swensen's ice cream, The Maldives
This is the last of six posts on the Maldives. Check out our other posts here:
Mr. Selfish was quite delighted that Cathay Pacific opened a new route between Hong Kong and Malé, which is the capital of the Maldives. However, there is only one flight in and one flight out of Malé per day. Due to the timing of these flights, we had to spend a little bit of time in Malé before arriving and after leaving the splendor that is the Conrad Rangali.
The Cathay flight from Hong Kong arrives in Malé at 9:20 pm. Mr. Selfish and I stayed the night at the Hotel Octave, which was clean and spacious. Plus, the hotel offers complimentary pick-up and drop-off to and from the airport, as well as free breakfast. If you’re on the Cathay flight and have a night to kill in Malé, I recommend the Hotel Octave.
The airport is on a separate island from Malé proper. You have to take a ferry that costs $1 USD per person and per way to travel between Malé and the airport.
It’s a rather painless ferry ride, but the ferry doesn’t leave until it is full of passengers. The ride only takes between 15-20 minutes depending on whether you have the “fast” ferry or not.
08 Wednesday Jan 2014
Posted in Accommodations, Hilton, The Maldives
Tags
Accommodations, Conrad Rangali, Lucky, Maldives, Maldives Whale Shark Research Programme, Selfish Year, Selfish Years, The Maldives, Whale Sharks
This is the fourth of six posts on the Maldives. Check out our other posts here:
Whale sharks are the biggest fish in the ocean, and the largest recorded one was over 41 feet long and over 47,000 lbs. However, whale sharks do not pose a threat to humans since they are filter feeding fish, which means that they primarily eat plankton. I’ve recently become a little obsessed with whale sharks.
The reason that I’ve become quite fascinated with them is that the scientists in the world know very little about them. All knowledge about whale shark reproduction is based on one female whale shark that was captured in 1996. National Geographic even has a million dollar reward for anyone that can take a photograph of a whale shark giving birth.
So when I learned that the Maldives was one of the few places in the world that you could spot whale sharks year-round, I was pretty stoked. In fact, the Conrad Rangali supports the Maldives Whale Shark Research Programme (MWSRP), which is a nonprofit based in the Maldives that focuses on whale shark research and conservation.
07 Tuesday Jan 2014
Posted in Accommodations, Hilton, The Maldives
This is the third of six posts on the Maldives. Check out our other posts here:
What’s there to do in paradise? Surprisingly lots at the Conrad Rangali in the Maldives.
First of all, the house reef is awesome. While Mr. Selfish and I haven’t mastered our GoPro camera yet, take our word for it – the house reef is full of fish and colorful coral.
To get to the house reef, you should walk to Beach Villa #220 and start swimming straight out into the ocean. At that point, you’ll be swimming in between an opening in the reef. After a little while, there is a huge 60 feet drop, and you can see lots of marine life.
04 Saturday Jan 2014
Posted in Asia, China, Food & Drinks, Hong Kong
Tags
Afternoon Tea, China, Food & Drinks, Hong Kong, Kowloon, Ritz-Carlton, Ritz-Carlton Hong Kong, Selfish Year, Selfish Years
The last time Mr. Selfish and I were in Hong Kong, we attempted to go to afternoon tea at the Ritz-Carlton Hong Kong in Kowloon, which is the 2nd tallest hotel in the world. Unfortunately, we didn’t make it because we didn’t have a reservation and it was a Saturday. This time around, we reserved window seats for afternoon tea.
03 Friday Jan 2014
Posted in Asia, China, Food & Drinks, Hong Kong
Tags
China, Food & Drinks, Fu Sing Shark Fin Seafood Restaurant, Hong Kong, Selfish Year, Selfish Years, Spring Deer Restaurant, Tim Ho Wan
Mr. Selfish and I spent only 36 hours in Hong Kong, and it was a whirlwind of food and lights. We ate dim sum twice and had peking duck once since Mr. Selfish was seriously craving both.
Of course, we went back to Tim Ho Wan for the baked pork buns. They are Mr. Selfish’s favorite, and we haven’t found any better in SF lately.
25 Wednesday Dec 2013
Mr. Selfish and I wish our readers a merry and selfish Christmas! May you indulge all of your wanderlust desires next year. We know that we certainly will…
Come the new year, we will commence blogging every day until we’ve covered our recent trip to Hong Kong, the Maldives, and Japan. We look forward to sharing with you our trip report and the many, many photos we took.
19 Thursday Dec 2013
Posted in California, North America, San Francisco, United States
Tags
California, Fisherman's Wharf, Musée Mécanique, North America, San Francisco, Selfish Year, Selfish Years, United States
Mr. Selfish and I are not huge fans of Fisherman’s Wharf. Since it tends to be overrun with tourists looking for sourdough bread, we generally avoid the area. However, on one fine day, we took a leisurely stroll through North Beach and ended up at Fisherman’s Wharf.
It was a lovely day, and we enjoyed the clear view of Alcatraz from the Wharf.
The Selfish Years 