get ya head in the (maru)game

instagram is always good for giving us ideas of places to go, things to see, and of course, delicious food to try. that's how we ended up heading out to little tokyo one day, on a quest to try some amazing-sounding udon at marugame monzo.  after looking at the map, i realized that it was pretty close to japanese village plaza and so that's where we parked.  we were about an hour early so we browsed through the shops there, starting with the sanrio store.

the bean was excited to go into the mokuyobi store, full of all kinds of colorful retro bags and clothing and accessories.

but not quite as excited as they were to pick out snacks at fugetsu-do, the mochi shop just down the street from the restaurant.  it's been there since 1903, and remains family-owned and operated.

i thought we'd killed enough time, but when we got to marugame monzo i realized that i'd looked at the wrong day for their hours and we had another half hour to hang out.  oops. although there were already a few others who had put their names on the list and were standing around waiting for them to open, so we added ours and didn't go far.  

there are markers on the ground in front of most of these establishments, noting what businesses used to be there and when they were in operation.  i always find it really interesting to read them and see how long the building has been in that same spot.

once the restaurant opened for business, we were seated pretty quickly.  the service was a little slow, but let me tell you - 100% worth the wait.  the miso carbonara udon was pretty much everything i hoped it would be - creamy, savory, chewy, amazing.

the old lady ordered the gratin udon - noodles covered in a chicken cream sauce topped with cheese and baked.  this was also delicious.

and for the bean, the beef udon with fluffy egg.  they were in seventh heaven with this bowl of goodness.

those plates were damn near licked clean.  and after all that rich food, we decided to head off on a walk - browsing through a few stores, doing some window shopping, and then we took a brief detour here:

because, of course, instagram told us to go and check this out.  

yelp had told us that there's a pretty little rooftop garden here that's worth a visit for a moment of peace and serenity in the middle of the city.  apparently it's meant for hotel guests and those attending a private event, so we just sashayed our happy asses in there and headed right to the elevators.  no one stopped us or even glanced our way, so we were good.  we pressed the "G" button - garden?  ground?  that doesn't make sense.  oh, whatever - and up we went.

while there was not a single soul anywhere around when we emerged, this sign was placed in front of the doors to the garden:

we went out there anyway.  such rebels.  and it was indeed pretty and peaceful up there, although we could see tables and chairs that were out there waiting to either be set up or taken down.  again, not a soul in sight.

afterwards, we headed into the shopping center just down the street and browsed around the japanese grocery store.  we have one close to home though, so we didn't go crazy with stocking up on snacks and things.

this was out in the courtyard on our way back to the car.

and then we made one last stop - i've followed milk + tea on instagram since we were on lockdown, even ordered boba kits from them once or twice.  but this was the first time we had a chance to visit their actual shop.  it was a great way to get a blast of caffeine before battling the traffic on the drive home.

i really want to go back for another bowl of that miso carbonara udon.  seriously, it's the stuff dreams are made of.  if you get the chance to visit, i HIGHLY recommend it.  

you're welcome.

mochitastic

so despite the plethora of valentine's day surprises i had planned for the hub, i really didn't do much in the way of elaborate heart-shaped breakfast/lunch/dinner items or anything like that.  i thought about it all morning as i dragged the bean around to run a bazillion errands all around town, and decided that maybe it was finally time to try my hand at some homemade mochi.

random, i know.  but i've had a box of mochiko (sweet rice flour) sitting in the pantry for god knows how long, and i'd been promising the teen that i'd make a batch for ages.  and when one of my facebook friends posted a link to a super easy-looking recipe that she'd found, i knew it was finally time.  actually, i'd added the recipe to my pinterest board, so this technically counts for nanette's pinteractive link-up, but that's okay.  i'm sure i'll be making something else that i can add to next week's linky party.

instead of cutting the finished product into simple cubes, i busted out a set of fun food cutters that my friend lilcee had given me months ago.  voila - instant valentine's day snack!

the ingredients (or, at least, the main ones):

and just as i thought, it was ridiculously easy to make.  like, so simple i was totally kicking myself for not attempting it sooner.  you just mix everything together (add some sugar, water, and a bit of red food coloring), grease up a pan, pour it in, and cover it with a piece of equally greased-up foil.  bake for an hour and cool for another hour, and that's it!

i put some of that potato starch into a shaker to make things easier for myself.

the edges of my mochi were ever-so-slightly overdone, so i just avoided them as i cut little hearts out.

i dropped the cutouts into more potato starch, and the teen took charge of pulling them out and dusting off the excess.

this stuff is delightfully chewy and just sweet enough for snacking.  it reminded the teen of that rice candy with the edible wrapper that you get at asian markets, and i had to agree - same flavor.

yummy.  as soon as this batch is gone (which may not take very long at all), i totally want to try experimenting with fun stuff, like fillings of peanut butter or chocolate.

yay!