Kyoto: Shojin food

Izusen: Shojin Food, a photo by girl from finito on Flickr.

Ah food! Kyoto has some pretty amazing places to eat .. what am I saying?!? all of Japan has great food.
Kyoto is unique in the fact that being a land locked city and with a large population of Buddhist monks a vegetarian cuisine developed. Part of my walking tour included a stop for traditional Shojin food. the little red bowls stacked into each other to make a pagoda.
All the food is local and seasonal.. from what I can remember chestnut, black beans, tempura, rice with mushrooms, miso soup, daikon, various pickled vegetables. Sweet wine (plum ??) Ah! I wish I could have remembered more.
Oh! and fresh tofu - I read somewhere that it's a specialty in the north east of the city (due to the abundance of clean water used to make the tofu)

Izusen: Shojin Food, a photo by girl from finito on Flickr.

Let's go to the EX!

Let's go to the EX!, originally uploaded by girl from finito.

Oh my goodness it's the CNE!
this seems more important to me because... I had never been! I know.. but the idea seemed pretty exciting..
It kinda wasn't.. a lot of carnie games and rides and bright flashing lights.. and people.. a lot of people.
But the experience of going was worth it... and there was a lot of food...horribly amazing food!
JD (flatmate) and I headed out with the express purpose of eating terrible food.. I had heard the rumour of deep fried oreos and we both were curious...
I only wish I had gotten a picture of our first food item.. chocolate covered bacon.. that was amazing.. possibly because bacon is amazing... we followed that up with a deep fried Mars bar (kinda disappointing) and deep fried Oreos (mega good) really it was a tie between the bacon and the oreos for best food of the night... mmmmn I can feel my ateries clogging as I remember...
Yum Yum

CNE.. home of greasy food... take 3, originally uploaded by girl from finito.

April 7 - Skyr!

Iceland - Skyr!, originally uploaded by girl from finito.

we thought it was yoghurt.. it's actually cheese. It's really tasty- all the flavours of yoghurt but not too sweet. delicious!

oh and watch this : It could be worse: Iceland

icelandic foods: love, like, and not so much

easter eggs that come with fortunes. love cool article here


Bæjarins beztu pylsur (translates to The best best hot dog in town) and yep pretty good! they had a huge amount of toppings: ketchup, sweet mustard, fried onions, raw onions and remolaði, a mayonnaise-based sauce with sweet relish (oh and gravy too i think!) somewhere between like and love



haroifiskur or hardfiskur wind dried fish you eat with butter. it is alright. made a pretty good lunch. although not a quick eat.... lots of chewing. like



Hákari or kæstur hákarl (Icelandic for "fermented shark") yes rotten shark ... why rotten? well shark is poisonous when fresh due to a high content of uric acid and other toxins but may be consumed after it is 'cured' - ie buried in gravel for 2-3 months. It has a particular ammonia smell ... and is umm an acquired taste. Willa didn't mind it .... me? not so much



Skyr (pronounced skeer) is similar to a thick yoghurt, though technically skyr is a very soft cheese. and oh my it is really really good! it is actually made from skim milk which for yoghurt usually means well pretty crap but skyr is very creamy and rich. we ate skyr everyday and even during our layover on our way home! love oooooh and check out colbert eating skyr

Bike Trip Day 2 ... La Palma and back

Tobacco field, originally uploaded by girl from finito.

The next day we did a round trip from Vinales to La Palma and back that was about 60 km. There were massive hills to climb up in the morning half of the cycle and I had trouble with all of them. The first was steep and "short" (read "shorter"), the second was "flat" and long (read "not quite as steep") and the last was steep and long (this mother of a hill is what everything else was compared to.. and it was horrid). When we stopped in the main square in La Palma they actually laughed at us when we told them what direction we were traveling in.
At midday we stopped at a farmer’s home at the top of the longest steepest hill and had the most delicious lunch. Pork rinds, pork stew, chicken soup and yucca, rice and beans and white cake. There seems to be only one cake recipe in Cuba, something we learned at the Blau. This food was miles above anything else we ate in Cuba. The family feeds the farmers that work on the land nearby and take it upon themselves to feed travelers and passers by. They were the most lovely inviting family.
After that we cycled very quickly downhill to a river where we went for a quick swim and then back to the hotel.