I've never been much of a fan of Thanksgiving, and with a huge dead bird and salt oozing in a gravy boat the symbols of the holiday, it doesn't exactly conform with my current diet. Still, there's a bit of nostalgia to reckon with, and, even more, I've been wanting to cook up a pumpkin pie ever since Halloween. So I searched the net and found a couple of recipes: one for lentil "meatloaf", and a couple for kabocha pie (using kabocha, Japanese pumpkin).
The lentil loaf was pretty tasty and chock full of healthy stuff, but it tasted nothing like meatloaf, as you might expect; rather, it tasted like filafel (not at all a bad thing!). It did have the consistency of meatloaf after it cooled, though, and it went well with a tofu gravy I had used as a white sauce for pasta earlier in the week. It lasted a couple of days (as all Thanksgiving meals should), and the best meal I made out of it was when I spread it on bread and poured on some hot salsa.
The interesting thing about the meatloaf recipe is that I used an automatic recipe maker that lets you put in the ingredients you have and get a fair recipe. The site is here.
What turned out for me (note I used tahini as my binder rather than any of the options in the loaf maker above, and I baked in a toaster oven at 1000W for ~45 min):
Lentil Loaf
Ingredients:
2 cups cooked lentils
1 cup cooked brown rice
1/2 cup pine nuts
2 Tbsp olive oil
One onion, diced
One large garlic clove, minced
One large carrot, peeled and grated
One cup mushrooms, cleaned and chopped
One jalapeno chile, seeded and minced
1/4 to 1/2 cup vegetable broth, as needed (I used kombu dashi)
1 heaping Tbsp tahini
1/2 tsp. dried sage
1 tsp. dried basil
1/4 tsp. dried oregano
1 tsp. ground cumin
2 TB soy sauce
Directions:
Preheat the oven to 350º. Spray a loaf pan or 8x8 square baking pan with nonstick spray and set aside (an 8x8 pan makes a crisper loaf).
Be sure to cook rice and lentils before beginning: the lentils should be cooked with kombu (use 5-10in of used kombu) for about 20-30 min.
1. Grind the pine nuts into a coarse meal using a food processor or spice/coffee grinder. Place in a large mixing bowl and set aside.
2. Sauté vegetables in the olive oil until soft. Add to the large mixing bowl along with all the remaining ingredients. Mix and mash together well, adding only as much liquid as needed to create a soft, moist loaf that holds together and is not runny (you may not need to add any liquid if the grains and protein are very moist). Add more binder/carbohydrate as needed if the loaf seems too wet.
2a. Optional: mix together in a food processor for about 3-4 min.
3. Press mixture into the prepared pan and bake for 45 minutes to 1 hour, or until cooked through.
Let the loaf cool in the pan for 10 to 15 minutes, then turn out onto a plate or platter and slice. Serve with potatoes, vegetables, and vegetarian gravy, if desired.
The vegan white "gravy" recipe is available here.
In retrospect I wish I had added a glaze using the following:
10g sliced ginger
1 Tbsp soy sauce
2 Tbsp dashi
1 Tbsp arrowroot powder (kuzu 葛)
Mix them together and brush onto the top of the loaf, and tell me the results! I find this has a very nice "steak sauce" flavor, especially when the dashi is cooked off.
Finally, the kabocha pie was very good, but too sweet. I ended up using cinnamon graham crackers for my crust, which turned out to be the best part. I found the soy milk in the recipe for the crust was far too little: just add more until it is easily malleable. The recipe I used was here, but I (unfortunately) added 1/2 cup of sugar, which was too much. Use brown sugar or beet sugar, not white sugar!
Tuesday, November 27, 2007
Sunday, November 11, 2007
Mabodofu
Looking at the recipe book I've put together over the past couple of months, I see I've made a fair number of dishes. Some have been good, some great, and some were terrible. My favorite so far, a dish I make at least once a week, is Mabodofu. It comes from China, and is traditionally served with pork, but I like it better without.
The recipe I have is adapted and translated from Macrobiotic Start Book, a great, full color guide to macrobiotic philosophy with 200 recipes. It is a compendium of recipe books published by Orange Page and is largely to blame for my current vegan tendencies.
First--a note about kinds of tofu.
The recommended tofu for this recipe is Momen, a medium-firm tofu that I didn't really like much before I started making this recipe. It is in contrast with the two tofus most westerners know--"Silk" tofu (kinu in Japanese) and the very firm tofu that is preferred in western groceries and restaurants (this kind is rare in Japan, but I've found a version called "kara kara," "very dry," in a few stores). I've come over to the momen camp, at least for mabodofu: though it crumbles easily and can make things a bit mucky, it absorbs the other ingredients much better than hard tofu, which tends to taste "tofuey" at its core even after cooking in sauces. It is also much better for this than silken tofu, which falls apart in a slight breeze.
I also recommend Koyadofu, or freeze dried tofu, for this recipe; though it has an odd texture, it is overflowing with protein and sucks up the flavorful sauce like the sponge it is. Make sure to soak Koyadofu in hot water for a few minutes, then squeeze the water out, soak and repeat a few times before adding to the dish as per this recipe. Apparently ammonia is often added to Koyadofu and will come out in water as a whitish liquid. Also note that Koyadofu has more calories than Momen. Good for exercising.
Mabodofu
300 g Momen or 2 thick or 4 thin squares rehydrated koyadofu
100 g, or half a medium onion
10 g ginger
5 pieces shiitake mushrooms (dried shiitake works best, soak first and save soaking water!)
1 cup kombu dashi (add 1/2-1 cup extra if using Koyadofu)
1-2 tbsp miso (I use mixed miso, though 1 tsp barley miso + 1 tbsp soy miso is recommended; add 2 tsp extra if making with koyadofu)
1 tbsp kudzu, or arrowroot, powder
1-2 peppers (in Japan, use togarashi, a dried chili)
20 g leek
1 tsp soy sauce
sesame oil, salt
optional:1-2 cloves garlic
1 Cut tofu into 5 cm squares.
2 Finely chop ginger, onion, pepper, mushroom, and garlic.
3 Cut leek into 1 cm pieces.
4 Heat a frying pan and add 1 tbsp sesame oil and fry. ingredients from 2. Add misos, dashi, and soy sauce. Turn down heat and cook until vegetables become soft.
5 Add tofu and add salt and miso to taste.
6 Dissolve kudzu in an equal amount of water and slowly mix in. If cooking with momen tofu, be careful not to disturb tofu too much or it will begin to disintegrate.
7 Remove from heat, add leek, and serve over rice.
It is important to cook the ingredients well in step 4: the longer you cook, the stronger the flavor of the sauce will be. I prefer to cook the sauce a little longer to boil off some of the dashi and have a slightly saltier tasting result. However, it might be too salty if you don't mix with rice.
The recipe I have is adapted and translated from Macrobiotic Start Book, a great, full color guide to macrobiotic philosophy with 200 recipes. It is a compendium of recipe books published by Orange Page and is largely to blame for my current vegan tendencies.
First--a note about kinds of tofu.
The recommended tofu for this recipe is Momen, a medium-firm tofu that I didn't really like much before I started making this recipe. It is in contrast with the two tofus most westerners know--"Silk" tofu (kinu in Japanese) and the very firm tofu that is preferred in western groceries and restaurants (this kind is rare in Japan, but I've found a version called "kara kara," "very dry," in a few stores). I've come over to the momen camp, at least for mabodofu: though it crumbles easily and can make things a bit mucky, it absorbs the other ingredients much better than hard tofu, which tends to taste "tofuey" at its core even after cooking in sauces. It is also much better for this than silken tofu, which falls apart in a slight breeze.
I also recommend Koyadofu, or freeze dried tofu, for this recipe; though it has an odd texture, it is overflowing with protein and sucks up the flavorful sauce like the sponge it is. Make sure to soak Koyadofu in hot water for a few minutes, then squeeze the water out, soak and repeat a few times before adding to the dish as per this recipe. Apparently ammonia is often added to Koyadofu and will come out in water as a whitish liquid. Also note that Koyadofu has more calories than Momen. Good for exercising.
Mabodofu
300 g Momen or 2 thick or 4 thin squares rehydrated koyadofu
100 g, or half a medium onion
10 g ginger
5 pieces shiitake mushrooms (dried shiitake works best, soak first and save soaking water!)
1 cup kombu dashi (add 1/2-1 cup extra if using Koyadofu)
1-2 tbsp miso (I use mixed miso, though 1 tsp barley miso + 1 tbsp soy miso is recommended; add 2 tsp extra if making with koyadofu)
1 tbsp kudzu, or arrowroot, powder
1-2 peppers (in Japan, use togarashi, a dried chili)
20 g leek
1 tsp soy sauce
sesame oil, salt
optional:1-2 cloves garlic
1 Cut tofu into 5 cm squares.
2 Finely chop ginger, onion, pepper, mushroom, and garlic.
3 Cut leek into 1 cm pieces.
4 Heat a frying pan and add 1 tbsp sesame oil and fry. ingredients from 2. Add misos, dashi, and soy sauce. Turn down heat and cook until vegetables become soft.
5 Add tofu and add salt and miso to taste.
6 Dissolve kudzu in an equal amount of water and slowly mix in. If cooking with momen tofu, be careful not to disturb tofu too much or it will begin to disintegrate.
7 Remove from heat, add leek, and serve over rice.
It is important to cook the ingredients well in step 4: the longer you cook, the stronger the flavor of the sauce will be. I prefer to cook the sauce a little longer to boil off some of the dashi and have a slightly saltier tasting result. However, it might be too salty if you don't mix with rice.
Tuesday, October 23, 2007
First steps in Japanese Vegan eating
It's been about a month since I've started eating primarily vegan foods. For a while I was eating yogurt for dessert and I'm not so careful about snacks, eating tortilla chips that may be fried in animal fat (though I don't think so). But for the most part, I've had complete control over my ingredients, choosing organic foods with no animal products whatsoever. The normal fare that I have eaten for about a year has lost most of its appeal: I sometimes glance at a fried pork cutlet in the supermarket and think about having it for dinner out of old habit, but it really can't compare with the flavorful foods I cook at home. I'm gaining weight, though!
I wanted to put a couple of recipes here; my personal ways of making dashi (soup stock, used in almost every recipe) and miso soup. Both are relatively easy but foundational in Japanese vegan cooking (and, really, all Japanese cooking).
I started making dashi a couple of years ago, but it never seemed to work too well--it was always too thin. I really don't remember my process being much different from the way I do it now, but perhaps the ingredients I get now are better, because the stock is thick and hearty.
The heart of dashi is kombu, or Japanese kelp. There are many varieties of kelp, but I'm not an expert. There are supposed to be many health benefits to kombu, particularly flushing chemicals, lowering blood pressure, and providing minerals like calcium. Apparently it also helps soften foods (like beans) it is cooked with, as well as reducing the amount of gas-causing sugars in beans.
The best thing is that dashi is pretty simple to make. Guides warn you not to let the water boil, as that is supposed to make the flavor bitter, but I haven't had any bad results from a few seconds of boiling. Still, boiling causes you to lose water, so it should be avoided, I suppose.
Kombu Dashi
2 cups water
1 3 inch x 6 inch strip of kombu
Put the ingredients in a pot and turn on medium heat. The kombu will expand just before the the water begins to boil, I'd let it cook for 30 sec to a minute after the kombu expands.
Turn the heat off and let the kombu for 10-15 minutes. Strain the water (now a dark yellow stock) into a container and save the kombu. Use the stock immediately, or just let it cool and put in the fridge.
If you dry the used konbu out again you can use it later, but this time allow the stock to sit out for longer before straining, about 20 minutes or so. I usually add old kombu to new kombu when I make dashi and cook as above, using slightly less of the new kombu. I have heard scoring the old kombu with a knife or scissors before cooking helps release more minerals and nutrients.
Next: Miso Soup.
Miso is a Japanese ingredient that is purported to provide proteins necessary for those not eating meat; it also adds a lot of flavor (and salt!). Miso soup is a staple of the Japanese diet along with rice. It uses seasonal ingredients in addition to your basic tofu and is best cooked using balanced yin foods and yang foods. I'm learning now what is yin and yang, but the following recipe is an attempt at balancing fall foods: tofu is yin, balanced with yang wakame (another seaweed); shiitake mushrooms are yin, and kabocha, Japanese pumpkin, is yang. Both mushrooms and pumpkin are fall foods, so I think the recipe is a fair example. And it tastes damn good: the sweetness of the pumpkin is modified by the neutral flavor of the tofu and the hearty flavor of the mushrooms. It may be a bit on the salty side, so be careful.
3 cups dashi (as above)
5 pieces shiitake (dried is fine, but avoid the presliced and dried shiitake; the flavor is substandard)
half a block of tofu (hard tofu is my personal preference, but momen (medium hardness) is good as well)
1/8 kabocha
a couple pinches of dried wakame, to taste.
1-2 tbsp miso (I recommend a mix of rice and soybean misos, but this can be seasonal as well)
1 Don't remove the rind of the kabocha--it is edible. Cut kabocha and tofu into 1/2 inch pieces. Cook kabocha and whole shiitake in dashi until fork can pierce kabocha meat--don't allow it it get too soft, and don't allow the dashi to boil.
2 When the kabocha is ready, add remaining ingredients, mixing miso well, and simmer for 4 or 5 minutes.
3 Add wakame to taste.
I recommend adding wakame to each individual bowl: if you refrigerate the soup with wakame added, the wakame will become soft and slimy. You can refrigerate leftover soup without wakame and reheat later, adding wakame then.
I wanted to put a couple of recipes here; my personal ways of making dashi (soup stock, used in almost every recipe) and miso soup. Both are relatively easy but foundational in Japanese vegan cooking (and, really, all Japanese cooking).
I started making dashi a couple of years ago, but it never seemed to work too well--it was always too thin. I really don't remember my process being much different from the way I do it now, but perhaps the ingredients I get now are better, because the stock is thick and hearty.
The heart of dashi is kombu, or Japanese kelp. There are many varieties of kelp, but I'm not an expert. There are supposed to be many health benefits to kombu, particularly flushing chemicals, lowering blood pressure, and providing minerals like calcium. Apparently it also helps soften foods (like beans) it is cooked with, as well as reducing the amount of gas-causing sugars in beans.
The best thing is that dashi is pretty simple to make. Guides warn you not to let the water boil, as that is supposed to make the flavor bitter, but I haven't had any bad results from a few seconds of boiling. Still, boiling causes you to lose water, so it should be avoided, I suppose.
Kombu Dashi
2 cups water
1 3 inch x 6 inch strip of kombu
Put the ingredients in a pot and turn on medium heat. The kombu will expand just before the the water begins to boil, I'd let it cook for 30 sec to a minute after the kombu expands.
Turn the heat off and let the kombu for 10-15 minutes. Strain the water (now a dark yellow stock) into a container and save the kombu. Use the stock immediately, or just let it cool and put in the fridge.
If you dry the used konbu out again you can use it later, but this time allow the stock to sit out for longer before straining, about 20 minutes or so. I usually add old kombu to new kombu when I make dashi and cook as above, using slightly less of the new kombu. I have heard scoring the old kombu with a knife or scissors before cooking helps release more minerals and nutrients.
Next: Miso Soup.
Miso is a Japanese ingredient that is purported to provide proteins necessary for those not eating meat; it also adds a lot of flavor (and salt!). Miso soup is a staple of the Japanese diet along with rice. It uses seasonal ingredients in addition to your basic tofu and is best cooked using balanced yin foods and yang foods. I'm learning now what is yin and yang, but the following recipe is an attempt at balancing fall foods: tofu is yin, balanced with yang wakame (another seaweed); shiitake mushrooms are yin, and kabocha, Japanese pumpkin, is yang. Both mushrooms and pumpkin are fall foods, so I think the recipe is a fair example. And it tastes damn good: the sweetness of the pumpkin is modified by the neutral flavor of the tofu and the hearty flavor of the mushrooms. It may be a bit on the salty side, so be careful.
3 cups dashi (as above)
5 pieces shiitake (dried is fine, but avoid the presliced and dried shiitake; the flavor is substandard)
half a block of tofu (hard tofu is my personal preference, but momen (medium hardness) is good as well)
1/8 kabocha
a couple pinches of dried wakame, to taste.
1-2 tbsp miso (I recommend a mix of rice and soybean misos, but this can be seasonal as well)
1 Don't remove the rind of the kabocha--it is edible. Cut kabocha and tofu into 1/2 inch pieces. Cook kabocha and whole shiitake in dashi until fork can pierce kabocha meat--don't allow it it get too soft, and don't allow the dashi to boil.
2 When the kabocha is ready, add remaining ingredients, mixing miso well, and simmer for 4 or 5 minutes.
3 Add wakame to taste.
I recommend adding wakame to each individual bowl: if you refrigerate the soup with wakame added, the wakame will become soft and slimy. You can refrigerate leftover soup without wakame and reheat later, adding wakame then.
Wednesday, September 05, 2007
A Name and Content Change
I've decided to add some content here about organic alternatives available in Japan, particularly in Tokyo, as well as relevant news. I will continue to post bicycle information as well. I've found it a bit frustrating finding good organic markets and restaurants in Tokyo, especially on the more conservative east side where I live, so I hope to collect information here about what I've found. I have a regular route now of various markets, and will post information about them soon.
Friday, June 29, 2007
My new sport!
I've at last found a team sport to participate in! I wish I'd found this 10 years ago, I'd be in great shape now!
Bike Polo!
It looks like they are riding fixed gears (i.e. a single gear bike that, when you pedal backwards, stops the bike, like a kid's bike), which now make perfect sense to me. I want one!
Bike Polo!
It looks like they are riding fixed gears (i.e. a single gear bike that, when you pedal backwards, stops the bike, like a kid's bike), which now make perfect sense to me. I want one!
Sunday, June 10, 2007
Yesterday's News
[Note: this is from a few weeks ago--I wrote it on the train while I was traveling back from Southern Chiba, and have just now decided to file it]
Yesterday, I had a great day riding through the city. I had just finished Kurt Vonnegut, Jr's Cat's Cradle, and I decided to look for anything else I hadn't read in one of the few used bookstores that sell titles in English, the Blue Parrot, located across town in Takadanobaba.
I did a sort of rambling trial on my way home from the Earth Day ride a month ago. This time, I used my experience from that trip, as well as advice from a guidebook, to partially plan a more defined route. It worked quite well.
Though Tokyo, like every developed city in the world, is ruled by the automobile, there are many areas, hidden from the 6 lane thoroughfares cars mostly use, that are more pleasant for the bicycle or pedestrian. A good example is on either side of the Toden Arakawa light rail line--the only of its kind in Tokyo. The Arakawa line cuts across the northern part of Tokyo, and roads run on either side much of the way. These roads, because they force a car to cross the line's tracks if it wants to take a right or left turn, are left mainly to human-powered travelers, with the occasional local traffic. Best of all, the Arakawa trains are remarkably slow and stop frequently, so it is possible for a bike to keep up with it and benefit from the railroad crossings, which stop cross traffic and effectively give the bike rider a green light. I raced the train, and though I lost a number of times, I was always able to catch up at the next station, and finally ended up winning. A bitter victory, as the intersections were no longer mine to blow through... For nearly 15 minutes, though, every intersection was mine.
Though my area has succumbed a bit to the temptations of sprawl, many of the areas the Arakawa line travels through--Kita, Toshima, and Itabashi wards, are still blessed with tiny, winding streets that both conceal the secret magic of Tokyo and provide refuge for those on foot or two (or three) wheels. Though these alleys will slow down the more athletic biker, I usually make about 20 km/h, and I much prefer them to the seconds-from-tragedy feel of the major throughways. I still hit the big roads, of course, when I feel like covering some distance ;).
I remember, in particular, one of these "alleys" opening upon a triangular shaped park somewhere just north of my destination. The park forked the road, and to my left was a man pulling a loaded cart the size of a truck bed behind him as he walked, and to my right, commuters, dressed in suits and dresses, were headed home on their charinkos. In the park itself, mothers were gabbing and the whole area was full with the laughter of children. Honestly, it wasn't the most beautiful area--undeniably city, concrete and a playground covered in fine gravel, with little that could be said to be green or flowery--but the air of relaxed interaction struck me. "This is what they mean by community," I thought, moved, as I rode past.
The first time I discovered these old alleyways was, of course, on my first trip here. I've explained, in another blog's entry, some of the peculiarities of the alleyways of Kita ward, where I stayed for a month. Part of my trip took me through this neighborhood, to meet up with a walking path along the Otonashigawa, a miserable stream. The stream is miserable because it is always a trickle, surrounded by a huge fortress of concrete that is meant, I suppose, to protect the surrounding residences from its capricious flow. But if you can manage to ignore the sad canal, the tree-spanned walkway that lines it is restful and pleasant, and there are numerous parks to stop off in for a moment, including a maple tree park, cherry tree park, and a park with several waterfalls.
The trip down to Takadanobaba from Otonashigawa wasn't particularly inspiring．I was very happy, once there, to find two Kurt Vonnegut books. It was a good find in a small English used book market.
On the way back I took some recommendations from a Japanese biking guidebook I use quite often. Though I have the series of books to thank for some great rides, this was a loser. It focussed on ugly, dangerous streets that could quite easily have been replaced by smaller, more esthetically pleasing roads. The emphasis, I suppose, was on speed, but I don't think choking on scooter fumes while waiting for that 10th light you've shared with it is worth the higher heart rate. But I saw them through most of the way until they recommended a four-lane parallel to a more enjoyable one lane. I chided the authors, then took my one lane back to the Arakawa rail line, which I took home.
Yesterday was a whim, but today I finally took a trip I've been toying with for some time. Although I really like Tokyo, I've been wanting both to get on some less-used highways out in the country to get some speed going, and to see the ocean. I can't say today's trip really satisfied either of these hopes completely, but it was still worth it.
I've been primarily riding straight from my house to someplace and back, only rarely using the train. But to get into "the country" from Tokyo, you have to really travel, and the best way is by train. So I set out from Nishi Arai at ten this morning for a three hour trip deep into the southern part of Chiba, Southern Boso. Chiba is opposite Tokyo across the Tokyo Bay, but although it is fairly close to the city, many areas are difficult to get to because of mountains, and parts of Chiba are quite rural.
I got off in Tateyama, an ugly city with narrow streets packed with cars and lined with strip malls. I was able to get some speed up, but the early part of the trip was marred by sprawl and cars. Nothing I haven't experienced before, but it was something I was hoping to get away from.
The trip got worse, however, once I reached the ocean on the other side of the peninsula. Chikura, the name of the region, has very little to recommend it, unless you like headwinds, viewing the ocean in tiny glimpses between shanties, or fishing boats. I don't like any of those things. I cursed the guidebook writers again.
However, the last 25 kilometers were much more pleasant. From Shirahama on, there are actual beaches, a tailwind, and wide views of the ocean. There are even short paths specially designated for bicycles that cut through tall grasses lining the beach. It was far more in line with what I had hoped to see, and I was happy to have done it. I probably won't come back any time soon, though.
Yesterday, I had a great day riding through the city. I had just finished Kurt Vonnegut, Jr's Cat's Cradle, and I decided to look for anything else I hadn't read in one of the few used bookstores that sell titles in English, the Blue Parrot, located across town in Takadanobaba.
I did a sort of rambling trial on my way home from the Earth Day ride a month ago. This time, I used my experience from that trip, as well as advice from a guidebook, to partially plan a more defined route. It worked quite well.
Though Tokyo, like every developed city in the world, is ruled by the automobile, there are many areas, hidden from the 6 lane thoroughfares cars mostly use, that are more pleasant for the bicycle or pedestrian. A good example is on either side of the Toden Arakawa light rail line--the only of its kind in Tokyo. The Arakawa line cuts across the northern part of Tokyo, and roads run on either side much of the way. These roads, because they force a car to cross the line's tracks if it wants to take a right or left turn, are left mainly to human-powered travelers, with the occasional local traffic. Best of all, the Arakawa trains are remarkably slow and stop frequently, so it is possible for a bike to keep up with it and benefit from the railroad crossings, which stop cross traffic and effectively give the bike rider a green light. I raced the train, and though I lost a number of times, I was always able to catch up at the next station, and finally ended up winning. A bitter victory, as the intersections were no longer mine to blow through... For nearly 15 minutes, though, every intersection was mine.
Though my area has succumbed a bit to the temptations of sprawl, many of the areas the Arakawa line travels through--Kita, Toshima, and Itabashi wards, are still blessed with tiny, winding streets that both conceal the secret magic of Tokyo and provide refuge for those on foot or two (or three) wheels. Though these alleys will slow down the more athletic biker, I usually make about 20 km/h, and I much prefer them to the seconds-from-tragedy feel of the major throughways. I still hit the big roads, of course, when I feel like covering some distance ;).
I remember, in particular, one of these "alleys" opening upon a triangular shaped park somewhere just north of my destination. The park forked the road, and to my left was a man pulling a loaded cart the size of a truck bed behind him as he walked, and to my right, commuters, dressed in suits and dresses, were headed home on their charinkos. In the park itself, mothers were gabbing and the whole area was full with the laughter of children. Honestly, it wasn't the most beautiful area--undeniably city, concrete and a playground covered in fine gravel, with little that could be said to be green or flowery--but the air of relaxed interaction struck me. "This is what they mean by community," I thought, moved, as I rode past.
The first time I discovered these old alleyways was, of course, on my first trip here. I've explained, in another blog's entry, some of the peculiarities of the alleyways of Kita ward, where I stayed for a month. Part of my trip took me through this neighborhood, to meet up with a walking path along the Otonashigawa, a miserable stream. The stream is miserable because it is always a trickle, surrounded by a huge fortress of concrete that is meant, I suppose, to protect the surrounding residences from its capricious flow. But if you can manage to ignore the sad canal, the tree-spanned walkway that lines it is restful and pleasant, and there are numerous parks to stop off in for a moment, including a maple tree park, cherry tree park, and a park with several waterfalls.
The trip down to Takadanobaba from Otonashigawa wasn't particularly inspiring．I was very happy, once there, to find two Kurt Vonnegut books. It was a good find in a small English used book market.
On the way back I took some recommendations from a Japanese biking guidebook I use quite often. Though I have the series of books to thank for some great rides, this was a loser. It focussed on ugly, dangerous streets that could quite easily have been replaced by smaller, more esthetically pleasing roads. The emphasis, I suppose, was on speed, but I don't think choking on scooter fumes while waiting for that 10th light you've shared with it is worth the higher heart rate. But I saw them through most of the way until they recommended a four-lane parallel to a more enjoyable one lane. I chided the authors, then took my one lane back to the Arakawa rail line, which I took home.
Yesterday was a whim, but today I finally took a trip I've been toying with for some time. Although I really like Tokyo, I've been wanting both to get on some less-used highways out in the country to get some speed going, and to see the ocean. I can't say today's trip really satisfied either of these hopes completely, but it was still worth it.
I've been primarily riding straight from my house to someplace and back, only rarely using the train. But to get into "the country" from Tokyo, you have to really travel, and the best way is by train. So I set out from Nishi Arai at ten this morning for a three hour trip deep into the southern part of Chiba, Southern Boso. Chiba is opposite Tokyo across the Tokyo Bay, but although it is fairly close to the city, many areas are difficult to get to because of mountains, and parts of Chiba are quite rural.
I got off in Tateyama, an ugly city with narrow streets packed with cars and lined with strip malls. I was able to get some speed up, but the early part of the trip was marred by sprawl and cars. Nothing I haven't experienced before, but it was something I was hoping to get away from.
The trip got worse, however, once I reached the ocean on the other side of the peninsula. Chikura, the name of the region, has very little to recommend it, unless you like headwinds, viewing the ocean in tiny glimpses between shanties, or fishing boats. I don't like any of those things. I cursed the guidebook writers again.
However, the last 25 kilometers were much more pleasant. From Shirahama on, there are actual beaches, a tailwind, and wide views of the ocean. There are even short paths specially designated for bicycles that cut through tall grasses lining the beach. It was far more in line with what I had hoped to see, and I was happy to have done it. I probably won't come back any time soon, though.
Thursday, May 24, 2007
Today's trip--to Omiya and Back
Found a nice little path that follows a river for nearly half the route. Just before passing under the Musashino line, the Shibakawa route becomes unpaved, and two paths branch off to the right and left. I took the left path, and found out it was a very good path for getting to Omiya, perhaps even better than the Shibakawa cycling road itself.
Did a total of about 65km, though about 10 km were just wandering that didn't make it to the map. 4 hrs riding time, much longer trip time (something like 8 hours!)
I took a box lunch, then bought some more onigiri later. Didn't konk out until the last 15 minutes or so.
Update: noticed a pronounced shimmy in the rear tire on this trip, and will most likely have to replace the tire. I may also need to get the rim trued or replaced. I just noticed it after I put on the fenders, so it may be I somehow screwed up the alignment when I removed the rear tire to place the fender, but that seems unlikely. The tires are very worn on one side from when I was riding on an underinflated tube. Grrr! Hopefully it's nothing more than a worn tire problem, but the wobble is very noticeable. I wouldn't mind getting some experience truing a tire before going on a real bike trip, but I also want a quick fix!
Was pretty tired (this is the next day) when I woke up, but I feel more relaxed and energetic now. Would love to go for a ride right now!
Did a total of about 65km, though about 10 km were just wandering that didn't make it to the map. 4 hrs riding time, much longer trip time (something like 8 hours!)
I took a box lunch, then bought some more onigiri later. Didn't konk out until the last 15 minutes or so.
Update: noticed a pronounced shimmy in the rear tire on this trip, and will most likely have to replace the tire. I may also need to get the rim trued or replaced. I just noticed it after I put on the fenders, so it may be I somehow screwed up the alignment when I removed the rear tire to place the fender, but that seems unlikely. The tires are very worn on one side from when I was riding on an underinflated tube. Grrr! Hopefully it's nothing more than a worn tire problem, but the wobble is very noticeable. I wouldn't mind getting some experience truing a tire before going on a real bike trip, but I also want a quick fix!
Was pretty tired (this is the next day) when I woke up, but I feel more relaxed and energetic now. Would love to go for a ride right now!
Wednesday, May 23, 2007
Shopping
Took a trip down to Y's Classic in Okachimachi to pick up some new handlebar ends for the bike. I bought some ends the other day, but they hurt my hands, so I decided to drop 6000 for a new bar ends/handlebar grips set. At the same time, I decided to trust myself and buy some fenders as well. A rather impatient clerk at Y's once told me that it was impossible to add fenders to my bike because it has fat tires. I knew he wasn't really thinking about it and just wanted to get rid of me, but the fenders cost 4000 and if they didn't work, I was screwed. But, of course, he was wrong, and the fenders did fit, though with only a small margin. I have to keep my eyes on them, because if a piece of the fender starts to rub against the tire, I could be in big trouble.
~24 km
Pretty good, didn't bottom out. I ate a couple of onigiri and a corn dog ("American dog"), and that kept me going. I was able to keep up a 24km/hr pace when I had room, but had to stop a lot because of the many intersections.
~24 km
Pretty good, didn't bottom out. I ate a couple of onigiri and a corn dog ("American dog"), and that kept me going. I was able to keep up a 24km/hr pace when I had room, but had to stop a lot because of the many intersections.
Monday, May 21, 2007
Time to get serious
Well, it's been a while, but I plan to start updating this frequently now that summer is beginning. I hope to lose at least 20 kilos by the end of the summer.
Today I decided to take it easy--I've been eating and drinking too much crap since I came here, and I'm really out of shape. I'm changing the diet, too, but that's not my focus here.
I went for an hour and ten minutes there and back along part of the Arakawa.
21.24 km
Average speed:19.5km/hr.
I checked my new bike computer using the kilometer signs along the bikepath, and it seems to be roughly correct. Plus, bikely/google maps also agree.
I stretched after 45 minutes (always forget to do it beforehand) and it made an obvious difference. I was doing 24km/hr outbound, with the wind, then 20km/hr on the way back against the wind. After I stretched thighs, calves, and ankles, I got back on and managed about 24km/hr against the wind.
The map shows half the trip: the return trip followed roughly the same path.
Today I decided to take it easy--I've been eating and drinking too much crap since I came here, and I'm really out of shape. I'm changing the diet, too, but that's not my focus here.
I went for an hour and ten minutes there and back along part of the Arakawa.
21.24 km
Average speed:19.5km/hr.
I checked my new bike computer using the kilometer signs along the bikepath, and it seems to be roughly correct. Plus, bikely/google maps also agree.
I stretched after 45 minutes (always forget to do it beforehand) and it made an obvious difference. I was doing 24km/hr outbound, with the wind, then 20km/hr on the way back against the wind. After I stretched thighs, calves, and ankles, I got back on and managed about 24km/hr against the wind.
The map shows half the trip: the return trip followed roughly the same path.
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