Tea mania

After coming the U.S., I became a tea mania. I can drink good coffee anytime everywhere in the US but it is difficult to drink good tea. So, I looked for good tea house and found. My favorite tea house is "The Good Leaf Gourmet Tea Company(http://goodleaftea.blogspot.com/)". I went there today. The owner has a lot of knowledge about tea and she recommends some teas which I am interested in.
Today, I asked to refill "Raise (This is black tea and I drink it in the morning. $5.75/20 oz)", "Earl Grey de la Creme (This is vanilla flavored black tea. $5.75/20 oz)" and "Peach Melba (This is also peach and raspberry flavored black tea, and it is good for ice tea. $3.50/0.5 oz)". Moreover, I bought "Lichee Scented (This is lichee and grapefruits flavored black tea. $2.75/0.5 oz)" and "Tropical Fantasy (This is flavored green tea. $3.00/0.5 oz)".
I drink tea before going to school and take tea in my pot every day. Also, I drink tea in the dinner and keep ice tea in my refrigerator!

The Afghan Grill (Afghan food)

I went to "The Afghan Grill(http://www.theafghangrill.com/)" with my friend. They serve buffet Mon.-Fri. lunch time (About $8). There are salad with Afghan dressing, 2 kinds of basmati rice (White and Brown), Afghan bread, 4 kinds of curry (chicken, vegetable, beef ball and spinach). Every food was mild, not spicy and I love this taste. Unfortunately, there is no dessert. Oh, I wanted to eat afghan dessert (But I do not know what Afghan dessert is...). I need more kinds of food because of buffet, but I was satisfied the food they served.

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The Afghan Grill
952 Troy-Schenectady Rd.,
Latham, NY 12110
TEL (518)783-9200
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Anton's (Greek-American Eatery)

I went to "Anton's(http://www.antonsgreekrestaurant.com/index.php)" today at lunch time. I was so surprised because there were many people there. Inside this shop, there are about 5 tables but most of the people took their food out. I ordered "Pork Souvlaki ($6.75)" and "Today's soup(Gambo, $3.25)". Pork Souvlaki was very big, and many pork, tomatoes and onions were served on a pita. I love tzayziki sauce, which tastes like mayo + onion? The people who work in this shop looked very busy and I could not talk with them. I waned to know the ingredients of Greek sweets which were on the counter, and wanted some of them but I could not do. Next time, I will go there except lunch time and want to try Greek sweets!

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Anton's
577 New Scotland Avenue,
Albany NY, 12208
TEL (518)453-9191
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Japanese PEPSI

Last summer, PEPSI sold "PEPSI ice cucumber" taste only in Japan.
Then, in this summer they will sell "PEPSI Shiso (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Perilla_frutescens)" taste only in Japan.
I wonder how they sellect the taste and why they sell only in Japan???

Indian Dessert

I went to Indian Bazaar(http://www.indiabazaar.nv.switchboard.com/) today because I really want to look for "Ras malai", which I ate last night. There were 2 kinds of Ras malai there. One of them was frozen ($9.00) and the other was mixed powder ($1.69). I bought mixed powder. I made it after returning my apartment. It took about 30 minutes and the taste was the same as yesterday's. I was so surprised and was happy!! Also, I bought "Mango juice" and "Gulab Jamun" there. This shop fascinated me so much.

International Dinner

I joined "The International Dinner" at "First Assembly of God(http://albanyfirstag.org/templates/System/default.asp?id=25728) with some of JLCC (http://www.freewebs.com/jlccsuny/) members. About 30 people joined this dinner. Each of us took our country food and shared. I made one bite size of 25 "Tonkatsu (Deep fried pork)". Other Japanese took "Sekihan (Red bean rice : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sekihan)" and "Fried Chicken". I tried many kinds of food and like vegetable and chicken soup (I did not check which country) and Indian dessert "Ras malai (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rasmalai)". I asked Indian woman how to make this dessert and it looks easy. But we can get this in Indian glossary store. I will check!
During eating, we did some easy and fun game. Also, we talked with other people and had a good time.

Dinner with My Friends

I had a dinner with my friend who will return to Japan next month. We went to "Barcelona(http://www.barcelona-albany.com/)". This restaurant is near SUNY uptown campus but many of my friends do not notice it. Today, I ate "Chicken Paella" and my friends ate "Seafood pasta" and "Pork Mediterranean". As for the Paella, the texture of rice were perfect and Chicken was so nice. As for the seafood pasta, we can choose red or white source. There were many seafood on the pasta and it looked difficult to eat. As for the Pork Mediterranean, Basil and olive oil source were put on the pork, and it make me so hungry.
Some of my Japanese friends graduated this semester and they will return to Japan. I am so sad on this summer...

Greek Festival at St.Sophia

I went to Greek Festival(http://www.stsophia.net/FestivalFlyer.html) at St.Sophia today. There were so many people. At first, I strolled in the market place, where there were many kinds of Greek goods. Then, I bought Gyros ($7) and saw Greek dance. I love Gyros, especially the source is really tasty and may favorite one! Next, I bought some kinds of Greek sweets and Fried dough. I wanted to eat them at the inside tables but there were almost occupied, and I went to out and looked for the picnic area. However, today is little windy and I gave up eating outside. Finally, I took all my food to my apartment.
This church is big and there are some church tour today. I saw the inside of the church and it is so gorgeous, so beautiful. I highly recommend to see this church!

Lunch at Londonberry Cafe

I went to have a lunch with my friends at "Londonderry Cafe (1475 Western Ave # 30, Albany, NY 12203)" in Stuyvesant plaza. Today was lovely day, so many people had a seats in outside. Last time I came this cafe, I ate quiche and it was nice. Today, I ate half size chicken salad sandwiches and pumpkin soup. Sandwich was little plain taste and soup was sweet. I wanted to eat soup more.
After eating lunch, we move to Starbucks coffee and talked for a long time. We sat in a outside and enjoyed beautiful day!

My B-Day #4 "End of Semester Party"

The spring semester will end next week, so we had a party in our teacher's house. Her house has big backyard and comfortable area. We brought some food and did BBQ. Unfortunately, there were around 10 students to join this party. But I met my friends for the first time of these 6 months, so I was so happy to talk with her.
Food was good and talk was continuing....

My B-Day #3 "Fruit Cake"

After eating lunch with my lab-mates, we return to our lab and found that today's meeting will be canceled. I thought we would eat cake in meeting time. Then, we ate cake in the lab (Actually, eating and drinking are prohibited in the lab).
The cake, which were made by my friend and she brought it to my apartment yesterday, was fantastic. Fruits were sweet and cream was soft. My lab-mates love it too.

My B-Day #2 "Hana Japanese Steakhouse"

I went to my lab after interview.
My lab-mates celebrated my B-day and we went to have a lunch at
"Hana Japanese Steakhouse & Sushi Bar(http://hanaalbany.com/#/home)". One of our lab-mates really love this restaurant but I have not gone yet. Inside the restaurant was little dark but good decoration and atmosphere. There are many kinds of lunch menu and I ate "Tonkatsu lunch box". Other members ate "Sashimi Lunch", "Sushi Lunch" and ... In my lunch box, there were Tonkatsu (deep fried pork), 2 dumplings, California roll, vegetable tempura and miso soup. It was lot for me. The taste of my Tonkatsu was so-so but Sushi looked so delicious. Fatty tuna was beautiful and fascinated me.
One of the member told "Today is my B-day" to waiter, so they sang a birthday song and gave me ice cream tempura, but they asked me to dance, dance!! Sorry, I could not dance...
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Hana Japanese Steakhouse & Sushi Bar
1620 Western Avenue,
Albany,NY 12203
TEL (518)452-4262
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My B-Day #1 "Interview"

Happy Birthday to Me! Yesterday (May 11th.) was my Birthday. There were many events for me.

In the morning, I went to Union College(http://www.union.edu/). One of my friends teaches advanced Japanese class and the final project of her class is "talk with native Japanese", so I and other 2 Japanese joined her class and talked with students. I talked with Jacky, whose major is East Asia literature, and she went to Japan as a exchange student last year, so her Japanese was really good. Other student I talked with was Jeff, whose major is molecular biology, and he also went to Japan as a exchange student last year. Our topic were "Why did you come to the U.S.?", "What are you doing now?", "Are their any difficulties living in the U.S.?" and so on. We talked for about 30 min. and I enjoyed very much.

Their passion of Japanese influences me so much!

Korean Food

One of my friends will return to Japan next week, so we had a dinner together at "Ta-Ke　Japanese Steakhouse(http://www.timesunion.com/entertainment/restaurants/onerestaurant.asp?name=&cuisine=-1&style=-1&location=-1&price=-1&zipcode=&restaurantID=1203)". This restaurant mentions Japanese steakhouse but I think their Korean foods are better than Japanese. We ate Korean food. Food was so-so and price was so-so...

Spring Picnic Lunch

I have a "Picnic Lunch Party" at Indian Ladder Farm(http://www.indianladderfarms.com/cgi-bin/ilf.cgi) today. There are many apple trees and most of them bloom beautifully. More than 30 Japanese came there and they brought food which we share. Rice ball, Boiled pumpkin, Fried chicken, Onion salad and so on. The weather was soooo nice and we enjoyed eating and talking. Children enjoyed rode the hey ride, saw baby animals and played in the ground. I was really happy to see some of my friends who have not contact for long time. I love these kind of gathering!

Koinobori

May 5th is "Children's Day (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kodomo_no_Hi)" in Japan.
Before that day, families raise "Koinobori (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Koinobori)", which are the carp-shaped flags (carp because of the Chinese legend that a carp that swims upstream becomes a dragon, and the way the flags blow in the wind looks like they are swimming), one for each boy (or child). We made the Koinobori by piece of fabrics and decorated.

Capital Q (BBQ)

I went to buy my lunch at "Capital Q (http://eatmypork.com/index2.html)" today. This shop is famous as "The best of BBQ in 2008". The shop in small but there are some chairs to eat there. I bought "Capital Q Pulled Pork ($8)" by the plate, which comes with the choice of 1 side dish, cornbread and coleslaw. I selected Fried Okra as a side dish. I am familiar to eat okra but I have a first time to eat fried okra. It likes a snack and I love it. The pork was with spicy vinegar sauce and this is little spicy for me. The amount of this lunch was too much for me and I could not eat all of them. Other meats, such as chicken, yard birds and beef, also sounds good. I will try later.

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Capital Q
329 Ontario Street,
Albany, NY 12208
TEL (518)438-7675
Mon.-Thur. 11am-9pm
Fri.&Sat. 11am-10pm
Sun. 11am-8pm
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