FAC51: The Hacienda Music Festival in Oiso

"it's not a rave. i prefer to call them dance parties." OK, D.

we went allllllll the way down to Oiso to check out this music festival that aarif hooked us up with discount tickets for. D and i were a tad iffy from our respective drinking events the day before but a bit of fresh air and some food and were were good to go.

HMS Control spinning some great old skool brit pop beats:

kick ass set by the Charlatans:


i wondered about the stripper poles til i saw the, uh . . . . . dancers.

d and aarif consult on some twitter feeds:

there was other stuff besides the music and dancing, like skateboarding and rollerblading:

and skanky japanese ass:

d doesn't seem to mind:

dunno who he is but he was more than happy to give us a shot of his glasses:

dunno what that is but it's wrong wrong wrong wrong:

found a lot of peeps we knew there!

bobji breaks it down (he has to cuz he's like 6'4")

DJ Kenichi (which if you say his name really fast, it sounds like Kenny G)

don't hide yo wife or yo kids. just give them some ear protection:

pooped on the way back into the city:

picnic in the park

my picnic contribution. clockwise from the top right: tropical cookie (mango, lime, coconut), the momofuku compost cookie, the momofuku blueberry cream cookie, and irish brownies in the center.

met some of my work peeps in yoyogi park for some non-work play time.

arisa and taka brought their new baby boy Reno:

here's benny prepping for his soon-to-be daddy duties by looking after risa's little pooch:

mr. kasai spent pretty much the whole time trying to get the damn giant bubble thing to work. he was very envious of this other guy who had people flocking to him like the pied piper:

mr. kasai's nemesis:

threw the frisbee around for a bit:

threw the darts for a bit:

thanks! it was fun.

Goodbye Toyomatsu

my favorite unagi restaurant on the planet has closed. waaaaaahhhh! so sad. but with the rising price of eel and the old man wanting to retire, it was a long time coming. my uncle and i went to have our last amazing eel experience the day before the door shut forever.

eel bone kara-age (the salty crunchy bones were great with beer):

shirayaki: plain grilled eel that had been steamed then grilled. this is probably my favorite. it is eaten with plenty of chopped garlic, wasabi and a bit of soy sauce. so damn good.

anaju: the classic eel meal. grilled eel basted with a sweet and soy sauce. deelish!

i know it looks empty but it's just the angle. this place was packed, even for lunch!

thank you for an amazing dining experience!

love in a box translated to the plate

Care packages: Ah, the joy of distant family.

my sister sent me an awesome one 2 days ago. it was filled with stuff i'd bought and either had sent to her house (like the spices or the unpictured hosiery and dresses) or forgotten the last time i'd been home (like the couscous) PLUS a few gems she got me herself. one of them was truffle oil.


aw yeah. so what's a girl who has no experience in this magical stuff do? she calls her sister who says, "use it as a finishing oil. add some at the end of pastas and risottos and stuff." pasta, you say? why not mac and cheese? why not bacon mac and cheese? i had some thick cut bacon left over and i went out and got some white cheddar. here is a basic recipe that has the same concept but i think uses way too much of everything. i cut out all of the cream, just used white cheddar, only used 2 Tbsp of butter, used the bacon fat to crisp up the panko, and drizzled a bit of the truffle oil on top after it came out of the oven to retain it's flavor and aroma. the result? pretty fucking good, if i do say so myself:


also made a corned beef with cabbage, taters, and carrots. got it shipped from the meatguy but it was waaaaay too salty, even with the washing of the beef and the change of water after boiling. but now that i have my own pinking salt and juniper berries, i think i might try to make my own if i can find a decent cut of brisket . . . .


the other yummy dish from this week was dinner 3 nights ago. it's steak with parmesean butter on a bed of spinach drizzled with some reduced balsamic vinegar. it's basically this recipe from epicurious with minor tweaks. YUM. i like my steak bloody (well done is overdone in my book) and i didn't add the extra shot of sugar in the balsamic sauce that the recipe calls for. it's a great mix of flavors. on the side: garlic and enoki fried rice and yes, that IS a jar of cheapy red australian wine on the side:


and the final glorious thing in the care box? this book:


i'm gonna be making stuff from this book all the time. between the recipes in this book and the truffle oil madness i have just been afflicted with, i'm going to be a thousand pounds again before the year is out.