Matsushima is a special place for my honey.
Well, as I mentioned before, Matsushima is located in Miyagi prefecture, where my darling and his mother were born. My hon was born in a city called Shiogama while his mom was in Matsushima.
I visited Matsushima last month as I wrote in "Make A Wish☆."
That was the second time. It was raining, but I really had a great time there.
Well, Matsushima's bay cruise has been very popular, and many tourists including Japanese people enjoy it when they visit Matsushima.
By the way, have you ever heard of 日本三景, Nihon Sankei? It's translated as "the three most scenic spots of Japan" in English, according to the official English website of Nihon Sankei. They say Miyagi's Matsushima, Kyoto's Amanohashidate and Hiroshima's Miyajima are "the three most scenic spots of Japan."
Japan has 日本三名園, or "the three great Japanese gardens," too.
Well, when I was a teenager, I went to Matsushima for the first time with my family. I guess it was a sunny day that time, but I remember I slept while we were on board a ship, haha.
This time, I made a friend with a Chinese girl while cruising around Matsushima bay. She told me a lot about China, and that made me think about many things. Oh, she speaks English very fluently, so we talked in English, not Chinese or Japanese. Well, actually, I started learning Chinese a few months ago using NHK's radio program and its textbook, but I can't enjoy it at all and haven't mastered anything yet, haha. Chinese is hard for me. Japanese people use kanji characters as well as Hiragana, but they are very different from Chinese characters.
Well, I decided to learn it because my hon opened new locations of Eggs 'n Things in Singapore and Taiwan, where Chinese is used as well. I hear their Chinese languages are different from what is spoken in a mainland China, but I also hear if we master so-called standard Chinese language, which is based on the Beijing dialect of Mandarin, we can communicate in Singapore and Taiwan with it. I'd say some people don't like it when people call Taiwanese language just Chinese and insist they be totally different.
Anyway, though I sometimes think Japan is a weird country and its whole society is like a small village where people who speak their minds like me stand out and feel suffocated sometimes. But its people can use so-called social media, offer information and post almost freely. Though I've already known some countries forbid their peoples to do so, I did realize it again then. We can even insult or speak ill of our own country, the government or politics like I do while other peoples can't since they're not permitted.
Anyway, after we got off the board, we visited 瑞巌寺, Zuiganji temple, together. Well, I think I should have taken more pictures at the temple.
And then, we had 牡蠣, or oyters, in a popular eatery called 南部屋, Nanbuya.
Matsushima is also famous for its seafoods such as oysters. Well, this reminds me that my darling's father was working at a big seafood company and that's why my sweetheart lived abroad for many years when he was younger. Well, just check four books written by him and find out why he has stong feelings about sushi, raw fish, sea urchin and so on. Above all, what he thinks is his life purpose and why he's always deeply involved in food and beverage industries worldwide, I mean not only in Japan but other countries.
I ordered the combo in 南部屋, or Nambuya, because I wanted to try their various oyster items at a time.
This offers three kinds of their oyster dishes; "Oyster Rice Bowl," which is covered with sweet soy sauce, "Fried Oysters" and "Raw Oyster."
Yummy
I didn't ask the girl if it's okay to post our photo, so I've edited it.
Well, 南部屋 has a great view of Matsushima, so we could enjoy it very much while eating.
If only it were sunny.
I like rainy days, too, though.
After I said "Enjoy Japan. Keep in touch!" to her, I went to "Matsushima Italian Toto."
It's an Italian restaurant located very near the Matsushima Kaigan station.
I went there to try their pescatore, which seems to use linguine, because I thought they used Matsushima's seafoods for it. But a chef told me they don't use Matsushima's for it.
Instead, they recommended their Sea Urchin pasta because it uses Sea Urchin caught in Miyagi, where Matsushima is located. Well, Japanese people call Sea Urchin "Uni," ウニ.
The atmosphere of the restaurant was really good. I thought it was popular among local people, because it stood out in Matsushima thanks to its stylish building and colorful interior decoration. Besides, Matsushima doesn't have many Italian restaurants, I guess.
On the contrary, they said people including tourists tend to go to traditional eateries in Matsushima to have local seafoods like oysters, so many people don't stop by their restaurant. Well, to be honest, I understand to some extent. There are lots of Italian restaurants across Japan, you know, while Matsushima herself doesn't have so much, and a lot of people wanna have traditional local foods when they visit tourist spots like Matsushima. Some can cook Italian dishes at home after all, so they don't have to go to Italian eateries in the first place while others are looking for restaurants where they can have genuine or delicious Italian cuisine.
Well, I love Sea Urchin, or Uni, but I don't think Uni goes well with almonds. I think raw Sea Urchin itself is awesome. I've tried Uni pastas before in other Italian restaurants, but I always think I wanna have Uni separately, I mean, not served with pastas, haha.
I really liked their plate because its bright blue color was like the ocean and was beautiful. Though I've read somewhere before blue plates and dishes shouldn't be used for food and drinks because they make people lose their apｐetite, but I don't care.
I think blue colors sometimes go perfectly with some cuisine.
Well, I've already mentioned Matsushima's seafoods, but did you know that Matsushima and Sendai have various kinds of かまぼこ, Kamaboko. It's made from fish. And 笹かまぼこ, Sasa Kamaboko, whose shape looks like a bamboo leaf, is known as Sendai's local food.
Actually, I don't like Kamaboko that much. Then, why did I try so many Kamaboko? Well, I thought Kamaboko was perfect for men when I tried to give them local souvenirs. That was why.
I found lots of Kamaboko brands have Shiso and Cheese flavors in addition to normal ones.
Many shops and brands sell their Kamaboko individually while they have set items as well, which include many Kamaboko in several flavors.
These are Kamaboko items of 松島蒲鉾本舗, Matsushima Kamaboko Honpo. In short, it's 松かま, Matsu Kama. I forgot to take photos of their real Kamaboko, but they had me taste some of their products, and it helped me a lot. Their popular item is Tofu Kamaboko named "むう", Muu.
I decided to get their Kamaboko in the end. I really wanted to send souvenirs in Matsushima since it's an important place for my sweetheart. Their company's name includes the place name "Matsushima," and I thought it was perfect.
By the way, in the first photo of this blog post, I put my hand on my stomach, as if I were pregnant. Well, actually, I am ... Haha, I'm just kidding. My big stomach just made me look pregnant, but I'm not.
To be honest, I had lots of 牛タン, Gyutan, or beef tongue, the previous night in Sendai, and that's why my stomach was so big. Well, Sendai as well as Matsushima is located in Miyagi.
Sendai is very famous for its 牛タン, Gyutan, too.
I had these in 牛タン おやま, Gyutan Oyama. The eatery is famous especially for its stew, which appears in the top two photos, but I prefer their "しそチーズ揚げ," Shiso Cheese Age, or Fried Shiso Cheese, which look like tempura in the bottom two ones. They tasted great. Who ever thought beef tongue, or Gyutan, goes very well with cheese, tempura and Shiso? The combination was just awesome. Oh, Shiso is Japanese basil.
Then, I went to 伊達の牛たん本舗, Date No Gyutan Honpo. They've already opened 8 restaurants in Sendai s and three in Tokyo so far. I went to their main store in Sendai. Though they offer mainly Gyutan, I mean Japanese cuisine, their main restaurant's appearance looked like a stylish cafe or a western restaurant or something, and its atmosphere was great.
The two top photos are their "牛タン定食," Gyutan set meal, and we can choose among three flavors; salted, miso or miso & salted. I had the third one because it enables customers to try both salted and miso flavors.
The two bottom ones show their popular " 極厚芯たん焼き," "Gokuatsu Sintan Yaki." This one is also offered as a set menu which also has rice and tail soup, but I ordered its separate item since I'd already had their Gyutan set meal. They were tender and juicy, but a bit too salty for me. I told so softly at the register, saying my sense of taste may not have worked well after having so much Gyutan dishes in one night. Their staff member listened to me and thanked politely that I gave my opinion. She admitted some customers say the same thing, but I also told her not to try to change its flavor since many regular customers must love their popular item and don't want them to change.
Well, Gyutan is usually served with rice, Japanese pickles and tail soup. They offer free refills on rice.
萩の月, or Hagi no Tsuki, is also known as Sendai's famous confection. Hagi no Tsuki is a representative item of 菓匠三全, Kasho Sanzen. I really like Hagi no Tsuki.
The kanji character "月," Tsuki, means the moon.
It looks like a full moon, right? It's delicious. Another great thing is that Hagi no Tsuki can be stored at normal temperature and doesn't have to keep refrigerated, though they recommend it should be refrigerated during summer.
On top of that, they offered this limited design box for 萩の月 during Sendai Tanabata Festival this year.
The exclusive design explained what each Tanabata decoration means. It was amazing.
Here we go, the color blue for food again. The box's not a plate or something, though. It's so beautiful and works perfectly for Tanabata's special illustrations, huh?
On the other hand, I hate to tell you this, but I was really sad and dissapointed to find that their cafe in Sendai offers pancakes that look like symbol pancakes of Eggs 'n Things. I saw strawberry pancakes and banana ones there served with big whipped cream, which made me surprised. Well, I hope they were not imitating, and I'm not blaming if they did. And I guess my hon doesn't mind if his restaurants' items or menus are copied. I think he's glad lots of cafes and restaurants have been offering pancakes, following and join the trend. Besides, Eggs 'n Things is known as the trigger of the pancake boom in Japan, but their concept is "All Day Breakfast," which means they serve breakfast all day long.
It's just ... How should I explain? Their Hagi no Tsuki has been very popular and famous for many years, and a lot of Japanese know and admit Hagi no Tsuki is an authentic confection. They don't have to serve something that other companies already do or to jump on the bandwagon called "pancake boom," you know, since many people already recoginize the company, their brands and items especially Hagi no Tsuki.
They seem to have started the pancakes before Eggs 'n Things opened their store in Sendai. I guess some noticed the items were like popular pancakes appearing on TV and thought it was lucky to try them out even though Eggs 'n Things hadn't opened their store in Sendai or Miyagi or Tohoku region itself, while others may not have recoginized the name "Eggs 'n Things" then and believed they could have exactly the same thing as what they'd seen on TV though they were not the same. Now that Eggs 'n Things opened in Sendai, I'd say some realized they were different or wondered which was authentic while others don't care at all.
I really like Hagi no Tsuki and another item named 伊達の小巻, Date no Komaki, and I just wondered why. Some must insist they don't imitate, and that may be true. It can be. Their cafe might have started strawberry and banana pancakes before Eggs 'n Things opened the first Japanese store in Harajuku, Tokyo.
Date no Komaki comes in three flavors and colors. Though they have a purple one, which is my favorite color, I had this orange one because its flavor Ume, or Japanese plum, attacted me. It was tasty.
Well, some of you may know Nasu no Tsuki. It's been sold in another prefecture of Japan, not Miyagi. I just read Nasu no Tsuki had changed its name, and now it's called Goyotei no Tsuki.
When I was a child, I got very confused since both looked alike and tasted almost the same, though later I found they tasted a bit different. I know some people think Hagi no Tsuki the best while other people prefer Natsu no Tsuki. Well, I forgot which one I first had, but I remember I felt it was lucky to have an item which looks like Hagi no Tsuki even though I was in Kanto region and appreciated I didn't have to go to Sendai to get Hagi no Tsuki.
As I get older, I came to think Hagi no Tsuki is genuine and authentic for some reasons. Well, I haven't tasted Nasu no Tsuki for years, so I forget what it exactly tastes like and can't decide which one is to my taste. It seems Hagi no Tsuki was born before Nasu no Tsuki was released for the first time, but I don't know for sure whether Nasu not Tuki just followed the popular item Hagi no Tsuki or not. I just feel Hagi no Tsuki is more refined and dignified.
You know, sometimes the second one conquers the first one by improving and growing while sometimes not. Here, the second one means something that is born after the lookalike, the first one, was already released. Hope my English makes sense.
Miyagi's Sendai is famous for its Zunda, too.
These Zunda items are released and produced by ずんだ茶寮, Zunda Saryo. I loved their Zunda shake. It was fantastic. It's in the right photo. I had these in Matsushima, but they seem to be available in Sendai, too.
Well, I'm really surprised that Zunda Saryo is also one of the main brands of 菓匠三全, Kasho Sanzen. They are great. That makes me wonder again why they needed to serve pancakes like those even though they have authentic brands and items like these?
Hello Kitty again.
She collaborates with AGF's Blendy. Their Tohoku-limited flavor is "Zunda milk au lait." I shared these with my darling, so four of them for him and the others are mine.
Almost all of thesb e photos are from the blog post I've already touched on; "Make A Wish☆." 
In front of the mirror.
I put on kimono by myself in a hotel I was staying at. It was difficult.
Full of stars.
I got this beautiful pudding while staying in Sendai. I forgot what the brand name was, but it was their exclusive item for Sendai Tanabata Festival.
Black coffee goes well with sweet foods.
I came by three Tully's Coffee shops while I was in Sendai, but I got this item at a convenience store. Well, Tully's Coffee Japan released plastic bottle items this year, but they've been selling canned ones for years. They're available at many convenience stores or vending machines all over Japan.
I had my favorite "Honey Milk Latte" at one of Tully's Coffee shops located in Sendai. The beverage was renewed last year or so, but the original one was produced by my honey, the founder of Tully's Coffee in Japan. I'm sure he also loves "Honey Milk Latte."
I wonder when Eggs 'n Things Sendai can serve Sendai-limited Zunda Pancakes again. How's it going?