I am leaving Korea today (Sunday), but having been here since Thursday, it took me until Saturday to finally get pizza. After arriving on Thursday, I spent the evening with Chris Deviney, Don Liuzzi and two local Korean musicians, Ed Choi and Brian ?. Ed is the principal percussionist for the Seoul Philharmonic and Brian is a percussionist in the Civic orchestra here in Seoul. We had a wonderful Korean BBQ that they treated us to. I told them about my pizza blog and Ed informed me that the best place he knew of was a place called Sortino's that was owned by an Italian Canadian.
So on Friday afternoon (that being pizza day), I took the subway to Itaewon to Sortino's. Fortunately I remembered the number for the pizza place because I would have never found it on my own. I finally arrived there at 3:45 after a certain amount of confusion. Unfortunately they were closed until 5:30, and I had a concert later that evening so no pizza. HUGE disappointment!!!!So I went hungry to the concert. To my surprise, the presenters brought some food to the hall that we could munch on. They didn't bring pizza, but they did bring some baked ziti and meatballs. A Korean woman made it for us. I was shocked! It was better than most restaurants back in Philly. I'm tough, so coming from me that's a huge complement. Most people would never even think to ever attempt making Korean food, so my hats off to her for making my day.
Well I did make it to Sortino's for lunch on Saturday with Ed and Chris. And here are the results:
Cheese 6/8
Crust 7/8
Excellent, best so far
Sauce 5/8 A little on the pasty side
Presentation 7/8
Overall 6/8
Ed was right, this was truly a good pizza. (Not to mention, the antipasta was also very good.) This was pizza I could eat regularly. It really had the potential to be amazing had the sauce just been a little lighter and sweeter. The size was generous. Those guys only ate half their pizza. I, of course, ate the entire thing, plus the rest of their pizzas later that night.
There was another place across the street that I would have liked to try, but I ran out of time. On to Beijing, Iam really curious to see what I find there.
Saturday, May 31, 2008
5/31 - Such a short stay in Seoul
i can't believe it's already our last day in korea. it feels like we just got here but we also did so much. pauline, julie and i had lots of plans today, especially since the weather was so nice, but ended up not doing very much before dinner. thankfully, julie was able to do my laundry at her place (which should get me through the rest of the tour). but other than that, we just took it easy. pauline briefly met up w/ a high school friend in the morning so i caught up on this blog while watching the celtics beat the pistons to get into the nba finals.
for dinner, my uncle, (dad's younger brother) who is a piano professor in korea, held a dinner for our family at bellagio (restaurant attached to sejong hall). we had such a great time talking and laughing and the food was excellent. i realize how rare this kind of meeting is and i'm not sure when we will be able to get together like this again.
tonight's concert was another great program. we started off w/ bernstein's candide overture followed by mozart's sinfonia concertante w/ juliette kang (first associate concertmaster) and cj chang (principal violist). julie and cj sounded so good together and as always, the candide was a lot of fun. we played shostakovich symphony #5 in the 2nd half and tonight's audience seemed even louder and more excited despite the smaller size (probably due to the demonstrations which i will talk about later). it was so surreal to be playing here in seoul w/ my entire family watching (as well as about 100 friends).
this is after about 20 people had already left since they had to catch the last train to taegu (about 150 miles away)
such a rare and memorable occasion for our family
my family meets maestro eschenbach
after the concert, we went to my uncle's apartment for dessert. there, the fun continued as we took tons of pictures (i think there were 4 cameras going at the same time), laughed a lot and ate a delicious cake one of my cousins brought as a gift. on the way, we saw tons of policemen (there was even a barricade of them right in front of my uncle's building). for the past few days, there have been protests throughout the city. at one point, there were about 40,000 people in the city hall plaza nearby our hotel. due to all of this, there have been some delays when taking buses from our hotel to the hall and back. walking has been the best option although there are huge crowds all over the place which slows things down. the hardest thing has been trying to get taxis in our area since many roads have been closed. it took my parents almost an hour to get from their hotel to the restaurant/hall.
one of the many police barricades - thankfully, they let us through
hanging out @ uncle tony's after the concert
wish we weren't leaving tomorrow. i'm so thankful my entire family could share this memorable experience all together and already am looking forward to playing here again (and eating the food!).
for dinner, my uncle, (dad's younger brother) who is a piano professor in korea, held a dinner for our family at bellagio (restaurant attached to sejong hall). we had such a great time talking and laughing and the food was excellent. i realize how rare this kind of meeting is and i'm not sure when we will be able to get together like this again.
tonight's concert was another great program. we started off w/ bernstein's candide overture followed by mozart's sinfonia concertante w/ juliette kang (first associate concertmaster) and cj chang (principal violist). julie and cj sounded so good together and as always, the candide was a lot of fun. we played shostakovich symphony #5 in the 2nd half and tonight's audience seemed even louder and more excited despite the smaller size (probably due to the demonstrations which i will talk about later). it was so surreal to be playing here in seoul w/ my entire family watching (as well as about 100 friends).
this is after about 20 people had already left since they had to catch the last train to taegu (about 150 miles away)
such a rare and memorable occasion for our family
my family meets maestro eschenbach
after the concert, we went to my uncle's apartment for dessert. there, the fun continued as we took tons of pictures (i think there were 4 cameras going at the same time), laughed a lot and ate a delicious cake one of my cousins brought as a gift. on the way, we saw tons of policemen (there was even a barricade of them right in front of my uncle's building). for the past few days, there have been protests throughout the city. at one point, there were about 40,000 people in the city hall plaza nearby our hotel. due to all of this, there have been some delays when taking buses from our hotel to the hall and back. walking has been the best option although there are huge crowds all over the place which slows things down. the hardest thing has been trying to get taxis in our area since many roads have been closed. it took my parents almost an hour to get from their hotel to the restaurant/hall.
one of the many police barricades - thankfully, they let us through
hanging out @ uncle tony's after the concert
wish we weren't leaving tomorrow. i'm so thankful my entire family could share this memorable experience all together and already am looking forward to playing here again (and eating the food!).
Friday, May 30, 2008
5/30 - Sejong, Sookmyung and Subway
thankfully, the weather has been very nice in seoul so i opted to walk to the morning rehearsal at sejong performing arts center. during the rehearsal, pauline met julie at sookmyung women's university where she is teaching. after rehearsal, i headed to sookmyung as well to check out the campus and her office.
sookmyung campus
julie's office
it was cool to see where my sister has been working and the campus was beautiful. we had dinner plans w/ an old family friend before the concert so we went back to get ready. he took our family to the best naeng myun (cold buckwheat noodles) place in myung dong (the area we are staying at). it was sooooo good. i wanted to keep eating but didn't think it would be a very good idea to go overboard right before the concert. he told us that myung dong is like the expensive ginza section of tokyo. offically, 36 square feet of commercial space costs around $600,000! pretty crazy.
the best naeng myun!
on a side note, the subway system in seoul is also pretty good (like tokyo). it's so easy to get where you need to go. at times, it can be a little jerky though.
tonight's concert was very meaningful since my entire family could be there. several more old family friends were able to come as well as some of pauline's college friends. it was an evening of 6th symphonies w/ the beethoven in the 1st half and tchaikovsky in the 2nd and was such a great program to play. i had a lot of fun and felt the audience really got into it.
banner outside of sejong hall
sookmyung campus
julie's office
it was cool to see where my sister has been working and the campus was beautiful. we had dinner plans w/ an old family friend before the concert so we went back to get ready. he took our family to the best naeng myun (cold buckwheat noodles) place in myung dong (the area we are staying at). it was sooooo good. i wanted to keep eating but didn't think it would be a very good idea to go overboard right before the concert. he told us that myung dong is like the expensive ginza section of tokyo. offically, 36 square feet of commercial space costs around $600,000! pretty crazy.
the best naeng myun!
on a side note, the subway system in seoul is also pretty good (like tokyo). it's so easy to get where you need to go. at times, it can be a little jerky though.
tonight's concert was very meaningful since my entire family could be there. several more old family friends were able to come as well as some of pauline's college friends. it was an evening of 6th symphonies w/ the beethoven in the 1st half and tchaikovsky in the 2nd and was such a great program to play. i had a lot of fun and felt the audience really got into it.
banner outside of sejong hall
5/29 - Food, Family and Fun in Seoul
a big reason i am able to pack lightly when going on tour is that i don't have to put my tails and other concert dress in my suitcase because the orchestra brings wardrobe trunks for us to put those in. w/ this extra space, i usually pack a suit (in case of a formal event), dress shoes, extra socks/t-shirts and this time, put a few of pauline's dresses in there. unfortunately, i forgot we wouldn't have access to these trunks until 3 p.m. and i needed my suit while pauline needed one of her dresses for a big family lunch. pauline had some dressy things she could wear but i only had a pair of jeans and shorts. so we rushed next door to the lotte department store and i was able to get some slacks (and have them altered) in 20 minutes! my dad had an extra shirt and tie so i was all set.
this being the first time both of us are in korea since getting married, my mom wanted to have some kind of post-wedding reception/lunch for our relatives who could not attend. about 15 of us gathered and had a wonderful time catching up and it was nice that pauline could meet them all.
since we had dinner plans in nearby insa-dong, we decided to just hang out and rest in our hotel. people took turns taking naps while i ran over to get some ppad bing soo (red bean shaved ice - it's better than it sounds) and chocolate covered green tea ice cream bars - mmmmmmmmmmmmmmm!
we left for insa-dong at around 5 and met up w/ my sister julie there. if you ever get a chance to come to seoul, this is an area you have to visit. although it's very touristy, there are so many cool things to see, eat and buy here. we went to a restaurant well-known for their jeon (fried pancakes - not for breakfast but more like the ones we had in japan). we also had some dol sot bibimbop (fried rice in a stone pot) and lots of bahn chahn (the many tasty side dishes). afterwards, we walked around the stores and took many pictures, some sillier than others. here are just a few.
he is pounding a batch of dduk (sticky rice cake) to soften it
they even let pauline try
julie may have found a new calling while putting that guy out of a job
catching a big break and landing a magazine cover! basically being a ham.
now you can see where i got it from
the ham's..... errr.... i mean, han's!
this being the first time both of us are in korea since getting married, my mom wanted to have some kind of post-wedding reception/lunch for our relatives who could not attend. about 15 of us gathered and had a wonderful time catching up and it was nice that pauline could meet them all.
since we had dinner plans in nearby insa-dong, we decided to just hang out and rest in our hotel. people took turns taking naps while i ran over to get some ppad bing soo (red bean shaved ice - it's better than it sounds) and chocolate covered green tea ice cream bars - mmmmmmmmmmmmmmm!
we left for insa-dong at around 5 and met up w/ my sister julie there. if you ever get a chance to come to seoul, this is an area you have to visit. although it's very touristy, there are so many cool things to see, eat and buy here. we went to a restaurant well-known for their jeon (fried pancakes - not for breakfast but more like the ones we had in japan). we also had some dol sot bibimbop (fried rice in a stone pot) and lots of bahn chahn (the many tasty side dishes). afterwards, we walked around the stores and took many pictures, some sillier than others. here are just a few.
he is pounding a batch of dduk (sticky rice cake) to soften it
they even let pauline try
julie may have found a new calling while putting that guy out of a job
catching a big break and landing a magazine cover! basically being a ham.
now you can see where i got it from
the ham's..... errr.... i mean, han's!
5/28 - Tokyo to Seoul
after saying bye to our friends, pauline and i headed to narita airport via taxi and keisei skyliner (train). since we were not flying w/ the rest of the orchestra, we got to the airport a bit earlier and had our final meal in japan. pauline had udon and i had ramen (of course).
we got to seoul a little before the orchestra but once they arrived, we had a bit of trouble actually getting on our buses to the hotel since the airport police wouldn't let us stop anywhere to load. our touring manager, julie kim (who by the way is doing an amazing job), did everything she possibly could to change their minds but they would not budge.
walking to our buses at the airport
as our buses pulled into lotte hotel, we were greeted by my parents who were waiting for us. soon after, my sister julie met us in the lobby and from there, we went to her church to attend a wednesday night service. it was great to finally meet many of her friends i had heard so much about.
afterwards, we went to my parents' hotel to meet up w/ my aunt grace (dad's younger sister) who is in town to take care of some things. we decided to go to a nearby restaurant to eat and just hang out. by the time we finished, it was pretty late so we caught a taxi, dropped my sister off at her place and headed back to our hotel.
thankfully, tomorrow is a free day but we have lots of plans, including a lunch w/ many relatives and dinner in insa dong, a very famous (and touristy) area of seoul.
we got to seoul a little before the orchestra but once they arrived, we had a bit of trouble actually getting on our buses to the hotel since the airport police wouldn't let us stop anywhere to load. our touring manager, julie kim (who by the way is doing an amazing job), did everything she possibly could to change their minds but they would not budge.
walking to our buses at the airport
as our buses pulled into lotte hotel, we were greeted by my parents who were waiting for us. soon after, my sister julie met us in the lobby and from there, we went to her church to attend a wednesday night service. it was great to finally meet many of her friends i had heard so much about.
afterwards, we went to my parents' hotel to meet up w/ my aunt grace (dad's younger sister) who is in town to take care of some things. we decided to go to a nearby restaurant to eat and just hang out. by the time we finished, it was pretty late so we caught a taxi, dropped my sister off at her place and headed back to our hotel.
thankfully, tomorrow is a free day but we have lots of plans, including a lunch w/ many relatives and dinner in insa dong, a very famous (and touristy) area of seoul.
Tuesday, May 27, 2008
Last try for pizza in Japan
After a travel day yesterday from Osaka back to Tokyo (and good sushi last night), I thought I would give Tokyo one more chance at pizza. When I went to the first restaurant in Tokyo (Pizza Maruma ), I noticed a second pizza place right across the street. So after today's victorious triumph against the Tokyo Symphony in baseball (we scored almost as many runs (16) as the Phillies (20!!!!), I was hungry for pizza and went to Palermo's for lunch for yet another margherita pizza.
For just a little less than ten dollars, I got yet again a small pizza and an even smaller salad. And here are the results:
Crust 6/8 It better be good, because most of the pizza was crust.
Sauce 4/8 Barely any.
Cheese 4/8 Average is all I can say
Presentation 2/8 Picture a donut with the cheese and sauce where the hole is located. That was my pizza.
Overall 3/8
In order to get the pizza effect, I wound up taking bites of the middle and immediately eating the crust so that I was not just eating bread at the end. Now I know why the waitress brought olive oil with the pizza... to put on the leftover crust. Weird thing is that I was more full after this tiny pizza. I guess it was the plentiful crust.
Well tomorrow we are out of here and on to our next stop. Sayonara small pizza I hope. Bring it on Korea. Let's see what you got!!!
For just a little less than ten dollars, I got yet again a small pizza and an even smaller salad. And here are the results:
Crust 6/8 It better be good, because most of the pizza was crust.
Sauce 4/8 Barely any.
Cheese 4/8 Average is all I can say
Presentation 2/8 Picture a donut with the cheese and sauce where the hole is located. That was my pizza.
Overall 3/8
In order to get the pizza effect, I wound up taking bites of the middle and immediately eating the crust so that I was not just eating bread at the end. Now I know why the waitress brought olive oil with the pizza... to put on the leftover crust. Weird thing is that I was more full after this tiny pizza. I guess it was the plentiful crust.
Well tomorrow we are out of here and on to our next stop. Sayonara small pizza I hope. Bring it on Korea. Let's see what you got!!!
5/27 - Firebirds Fight Back
thankfully, i am still able to wake up relatively early here w/out too much trouble (which is never the case back home). this time, the baseball game against the tokyo symphony was being held a bit closer so pauline and i went directly from our friends' house at around 8 a.m.
we arrived soon after the rest of our team and after a brief warm-up, started playing. although we struck first w/ a run in the 1st inning, they held us scoreless for the next 3 innings while racking up a 7-1 lead. it was starting to look bad when all of a sudden, we broke it open w/ a 9 run 5th and 8 run 6th. in the end, your philadelphia orchestra firebirds clawed back for an 18-7 victory.
from there, pauline and i took the train to the kinshicho stop where we had a quick lunch, curry and tonkatsu (fried pork cutlet) and went souvenir shopping at a huge hyaku yen (100 yen or dollar store). this is not like your average dollar store back in the states. there are so many cool and unique things you can find and we ended up getting a ton of great gadgets and gifts for our family and friends back home. then we headed back to our friends' place so i could shower and then go back out for the concert.
although the subway system here is quite extensive, they make it so easy to follow and get around. every day we have been going back and forth all over the city and not once have we gotten lost.
it was great to see some familiar faces out in the audience at suntory hall. several of our donors arrived yesterday to cheer us on. they will be w/ us in korea and china as well. it was nice to chat w/ them backstage during intermission and at the end of the concert. i know they were pretty jet-lagged but they all looked great and i'm glad they could be here.
i was kind of sad to play tonight's concert as it marked the end of our time in japan. tonight, we played the britten again w/ midori and then schubert's "great" symphony. i think it went very well and we ended w/ 2 encores by strauss.
when i got back home, my friends and i ate the okonomiyaki we brought from osaka and some other snacks. there are so many good things to eat here. this is a picture of coolish, the amazing frozen smoothie.
we played another round of nertz before going to bed. i will miss our friends but hope to see them again soon either in the states or when we come back to tokyo.
we're off to korea tomorrow where my parents, sister, other relatives and friends await. it is going to be another food fest! can't wait.....
Monday, May 26, 2008
5/26 - Back to Tokyo
i don't typically like sweet things very much but i love japanese bread and pastries. they are lighter (or at least seem to be) and taste so good. next to the hotel, we found a bakery and had a wonderful breakfast. we even bought a pastry for the road but i think pauline finished it before we got on the bus.....
one of the foods osaka is famous for is this fried pancake called okonomiyaki (not the kind we eat for breakfast but more like something you would have for lunch or dinner). we had not gotten a chance to eat it but we found a restaurant (also next to the hotel) that had them. however, they did not open until 11 a.m. and since our bus was leaving at 11:15, we weren't sure if we would be able to get one. so we went to the restaurant a little before 11 only to find out that it would take about 15 minutes to prepare (and we certainly didn't want to risk missing the bus or worse, making everyone wait). thinking we were out of luck, we proceeded to the train station where we were able to find a frozen box of these pancakes (which meant we could take them back to share w/ our friends in tokyo).
once again, the trip to tokyo on the shinkansen was super fast and after a little gift shopping and a quick run for ramen and gyoza near suntory hall, we headed back to our friends' place (while a group of musicians went to the tokyo dome to catch a yomiuri giants baseball game). we had plans for dinner w/ our friends and after some deliberating, we decided on sushi (when in japan, one can never have enough sushi, or ramen for that matter...). they took us to this really cool place where the sushi comes around on a conveyor belt (which exists in the states - pauline and i went to one in hawaii) but the unique thing was you could actually order using a keypad from your booth. when the order was coming close, the keypad would beep to let you know the sushi was approaching. it was a lot of fun, and delicious too of course.
close-up of the keypad
before - deciding what to order
after - i don't think josiah had room for even one more
as you can see, we ate well. although we weren't that close to home, we decided walking would be a good idea to at least work off a fraction of what we consumed. when we got home, we played an incredibly fun (and addicting) card game called nertz (requires quick thinking and even quicker hands - i will have to explain this in another blog altogether) and after another refreshing peach coolish, we called it a night. we definitely need our rest as we will be facing a tokyo symphony baseball team seeking revenge early in the morning.
one of the foods osaka is famous for is this fried pancake called okonomiyaki (not the kind we eat for breakfast but more like something you would have for lunch or dinner). we had not gotten a chance to eat it but we found a restaurant (also next to the hotel) that had them. however, they did not open until 11 a.m. and since our bus was leaving at 11:15, we weren't sure if we would be able to get one. so we went to the restaurant a little before 11 only to find out that it would take about 15 minutes to prepare (and we certainly didn't want to risk missing the bus or worse, making everyone wait). thinking we were out of luck, we proceeded to the train station where we were able to find a frozen box of these pancakes (which meant we could take them back to share w/ our friends in tokyo).
once again, the trip to tokyo on the shinkansen was super fast and after a little gift shopping and a quick run for ramen and gyoza near suntory hall, we headed back to our friends' place (while a group of musicians went to the tokyo dome to catch a yomiuri giants baseball game). we had plans for dinner w/ our friends and after some deliberating, we decided on sushi (when in japan, one can never have enough sushi, or ramen for that matter...). they took us to this really cool place where the sushi comes around on a conveyor belt (which exists in the states - pauline and i went to one in hawaii) but the unique thing was you could actually order using a keypad from your booth. when the order was coming close, the keypad would beep to let you know the sushi was approaching. it was a lot of fun, and delicious too of course.
close-up of the keypad
before - deciding what to order
after - i don't think josiah had room for even one more
as you can see, we ate well. although we weren't that close to home, we decided walking would be a good idea to at least work off a fraction of what we consumed. when we got home, we played an incredibly fun (and addicting) card game called nertz (requires quick thinking and even quicker hands - i will have to explain this in another blog altogether) and after another refreshing peach coolish, we called it a night. we definitely need our rest as we will be facing a tokyo symphony baseball team seeking revenge early in the morning.
5/25 - Osaka and Hyogo
because we had not played the britten violin concerto w/ midori since early in the season, we had a rehearsal before today's concert. there were 2 buses that went to the hall in hyogo and in order to get 20 more minutes of practicing in, i decided to take the earlier bus. i guess many other people felt the same way because the bus was so packed, we even had to use seats that folded out into the aisle.
we didn't have much time between the rehearsal and concert but fortunately, there was a small cafeteria in the performing arts center which had all sorts of good food like curry, udon, soba, etc. after eating quickly, i got ready and went on stage. the hall in hyogo was pretty nice and looked like it could seat 3,000 or more (and it was packed). the acoustics were different from suntory hall but still good. this audience was a bit different than the one in tokyo in that they were definitely more expressive (more "bravos" and yelling).
after the britten, we played the shostakovich once again. this was actually the very first symphony i played w/ the philadelphia orchestra. what makes it even more meaningful is that i'm sitting w/ the same stand partner (lisa-beth lambert) which has been great! listening to solos being passed around the different sections and principals once again reminded me of how blessed i am to be a part of this group.
for dinner, we had plans to meet a pediatric surgeon who pauline has been tutoring in english back in philadelphia. she returned to japan recently to do some research in nearby kyoto. by her friend's recommendation, she took us to the best sushi restaurant in osaka (nawa sushi). i think i have had good sushi in the past but i would have to say this was definitely some of the best (and freshest) fish i have ever tasted. i have never experienced toro (fatty tuna) melt in my mouth the way this did. i am also not the bravest when it comes to trying new things but everything she ordered was amazing (and there were a few i had never seen or heard of before).
after dinner, we decided to walk back to the hotel and on the way, stopped by several convenience stores (which are literally on every single corner) in search of a great slushy ice cream dessert called coolish. it comes in many flavors but so far, our favorite is peach (which is often sold out and also the reason why we had to go to a couple of stores before finding it). they are soooooooo good. i will try to include a picture later on.
tomorrow we're heading back to tokyo and have one more concert at suntory hall on tuesday.
Pizza in Hyogo (just outside in Osaka)
Today, the orchestra traveled from Osaka to Hyogo for a rehearsal and concert. I didn't find time to find pizza in Osaka. I really didn't want pizza for breakfast (not that I haven't done it before) so when I heard there was a pizza place close to the hall, I went out looking for it. Sure enough, there was a place called Grazie Gardens just a 5 minute walk away from the hall. So during my hour off between the rehearsal and concert, my friend Chris Deviney (percussion) and I made a beeline to the restaurant for some much needed pizza. (It had been at least 2 days since my last fix.)
Of course, I ordered a plain Margherita pizza. But here is where it gets tricky. Their Margherita actually had Buffalo Mozzarella cheese which is the best mozzarella cheese. Now again the pizza was tiny, so after 5 minutes I ordered a second pizza which was a traditional pizza. I will rate both of them. Margherita pizzas can take on two meanings. And this first pizza really was a true Margherita (with a Basil leaf or two) which is almost like cheating when comparing to others so I will leave it at that.
First authentic Margherita.
Crust 4/8 so paper thin that it could have been mistaken for a Mexican tortilla shell. It was OK on the outside, but barely noticeable on the inside.
Sauce 7/8 very fresh
Cheese 8/8 But totally unfair being that it is Buffalo moz.
Presentation 5/8 So tiny... even for Japan, and the crust didn't help
Overall I give it a 5.5, but this is a little tainted in the final analysis.
Second traditional pizza.
Crust 4/8 same invisible crust.
Cheese 5/8 average at best, little greasy.
Sauce 5/8 I think it was the same but greasy sauce can sometimes have negative effects on good sauces.
Presentation 4/8 Stuart Little wouldn't have been full after these pizzas.
Overall 4.5 The only thing I eat in large quantities is pizza, and the worst thing you can do to an Italian is leave his stomach hungry. (Ask my Aunt Louise.)
Of course, I ordered a plain Margherita pizza. But here is where it gets tricky. Their Margherita actually had Buffalo Mozzarella cheese which is the best mozzarella cheese. Now again the pizza was tiny, so after 5 minutes I ordered a second pizza which was a traditional pizza. I will rate both of them. Margherita pizzas can take on two meanings. And this first pizza really was a true Margherita (with a Basil leaf or two) which is almost like cheating when comparing to others so I will leave it at that.
First authentic Margherita.
Crust 4/8 so paper thin that it could have been mistaken for a Mexican tortilla shell. It was OK on the outside, but barely noticeable on the inside.
Sauce 7/8 very fresh
Cheese 8/8 But totally unfair being that it is Buffalo moz.
Presentation 5/8 So tiny... even for Japan, and the crust didn't help
Overall I give it a 5.5, but this is a little tainted in the final analysis.
Second traditional pizza.
Crust 4/8 same invisible crust.
Cheese 5/8 average at best, little greasy.
Sauce 5/8 I think it was the same but greasy sauce can sometimes have negative effects on good sauces.
Presentation 4/8 Stuart Little wouldn't have been full after these pizzas.
Overall 4.5 The only thing I eat in large quantities is pizza, and the worst thing you can do to an Italian is leave his stomach hungry. (Ask my Aunt Louise.)
Saturday, May 24, 2008
5/24 - Tokyo - Osaka
i realize i've been beginning every post talking about how little sleep i got the night before. i promise this will be the last time. i think.....
last night, i actually slept through the entire night w/out waking up. however, i still got up at 5:30. i did feel more well-rested though. today, pauline went clam-digging w/ our friends and we had a 2 p.m. concert.
i definitely felt much better for the concert and could really get into the music today. once again, the audience was wonderful. i would have to say they are the quietest crowd. while we played, i think i heard 3 coughs and 1 dropped program. not bad. maybe that is why when they applaud, it sounds incredibly loud. not too much yelling out, just pure clapping.
afterwards, pauline met up w/ our group at the hotel where the buses were going to take us to tokyo station. i had heard about the shinkansen (bullet train) and was excited to ride it. it is definitely fast.
after checking in, we just took it easy and went to bed after unsuccessfully trying to use the hotel's internet.
last night, i actually slept through the entire night w/out waking up. however, i still got up at 5:30. i did feel more well-rested though. today, pauline went clam-digging w/ our friends and we had a 2 p.m. concert.
i definitely felt much better for the concert and could really get into the music today. once again, the audience was wonderful. i would have to say they are the quietest crowd. while we played, i think i heard 3 coughs and 1 dropped program. not bad. maybe that is why when they applaud, it sounds incredibly loud. not too much yelling out, just pure clapping.
afterwards, pauline met up w/ our group at the hotel where the buses were going to take us to tokyo station. i had heard about the shinkansen (bullet train) and was excited to ride it. it is definitely fast.
after checking in, we just took it easy and went to bed after unsuccessfully trying to use the hotel's internet.
Friday, May 23, 2008
Pizza in Tokyo
Just got back from Pizza Marumo in Tokyo, and I was pleasantly surprised. I of course ordered the Margherita pizza.
Crust 6/8 slices
Sauce 6/8 slices
Cheese 5/8 slices
Presentation 5/8 slices
Overall 5.5 which really I could almost lean towards a 6.
The biggest problem was that the pizza was too small for the money and I am still hungry. But then again, when you think about it, everything here in Japan is small including the people who probably eat very little (and everything here is expensive. Very fresh taste, and I would go back.
Crust 6/8 slices
Sauce 6/8 slices
Cheese 5/8 slices
Presentation 5/8 slices
Overall 5.5 which really I could almost lean towards a 6.
The biggest problem was that the pizza was too small for the money and I am still hungry. But then again, when you think about it, everything here in Japan is small including the people who probably eat very little (and everything here is expensive. Very fresh taste, and I would go back.
Pizza tour of Asia
My name is Rich Amoroso, and I am a member of the Philadelphia Orchestra violin section. Each year the orchestra tours a different part of the world. I have been a member of the orchestra for ten years now and have traveled to many parts of the world. This year marks my 3rd trip to Asia (Japan, Korea and China.)
I find that one of the most important events when you tour is what you find to eat. Now I will try most anything, but what I crave most is pizza. Ever since I can remember, pizza has been a very important part of my life. Just about every Friday evening in an Italian-American household is filled with pizza. When I was a young child, I remember fondly my grandmother letting the homemade dough rise in the afternoon and then eating some of the most incredible pizza later that evening.
To this day my wife and kids and myself have pizza just about every Friday from the same brick oven place in West Chester. (However this is not my favorite) So going on tour (especially to Asia) somewhat crimps my style in this department. So I decided that on this particular tour I would sample different pizzas from each city that we travel to and rate each one. I prefer plain pizza, so it will be pretty simple to compare each one.
Each pizza will be rated by the amount of slices.
For example 8 out of 8 slices will be a perfect rating (the whole pie)
The categories will be:
1. Crust/Bread
2. Sauce (or gravy as I grew up calling it.)
3. Cheese
4. Presentation (thickness, freshness, or other wildcard factors.
So today is Friday May 23rd (morning) and here I go. (I will most definitely have pizza later today, after all it is Friday.)
Baseline pizza
My favorite:Lorenzo's Pizza (3rd and South in Philly)
1. Crust/Bread 7 slices out of 8
2. Sauce 8 slices out of 8 (wonderful natural sweet taste.)
3. Cheese 7 slices out of 8 (never greasy)
4. Presentation 8 slices out of 8 (wonderful large thin slices, 2 is a meal, 3 and I'm stuffed)
Overall 7.5 Don't see how any pizza in Asia will beat this . (I would have given it an 8 (the whole pie) but my friend Burchard said that I should leave room for the miraculous)
Villa Pizza Kitchen (at Philly International Airport) have to have one more go around before I leave for Asia
1. Crust 5/8
2.Cheese 5/8
3. Sauce 6/8
4. Presentation 5/8
Overall rating is a 5.
This pizza was OK, a little thick and greasy, but after 3 weeks in Asia, this might taste like Lorenzo's.
American Airlines pizza. Yup, they offered it on the plane so of course I was going to have it and rate it. I will never turn down pizza.
1. Crust 5/8
2. Cheese 4/8
3. Sauce 3/8 thick and pasty
4. Presentation 3/8 It was a deep dish (Chicago style). Yo, I'm from Philly, now c'mon.
Overall 3.5 and that was being generous, especially given the fact that my Flight Attendant was nasty, my tray table was lopsided, and the plug for my earphones was broken on a 13hour flight. I will post later today after I eat pizza. I am looking forward to pizza in Tokyo. Wish me luck.
I find that one of the most important events when you tour is what you find to eat. Now I will try most anything, but what I crave most is pizza. Ever since I can remember, pizza has been a very important part of my life. Just about every Friday evening in an Italian-American household is filled with pizza. When I was a young child, I remember fondly my grandmother letting the homemade dough rise in the afternoon and then eating some of the most incredible pizza later that evening.
To this day my wife and kids and myself have pizza just about every Friday from the same brick oven place in West Chester. (However this is not my favorite) So going on tour (especially to Asia) somewhat crimps my style in this department. So I decided that on this particular tour I would sample different pizzas from each city that we travel to and rate each one. I prefer plain pizza, so it will be pretty simple to compare each one.
Each pizza will be rated by the amount of slices.
For example 8 out of 8 slices will be a perfect rating (the whole pie)
The categories will be:
1. Crust/Bread
2. Sauce (or gravy as I grew up calling it.)
3. Cheese
4. Presentation (thickness, freshness, or other wildcard factors.
So today is Friday May 23rd (morning) and here I go. (I will most definitely have pizza later today, after all it is Friday.)
Baseline pizza
My favorite:Lorenzo's Pizza (3rd and South in Philly)
1. Crust/Bread 7 slices out of 8
2. Sauce 8 slices out of 8 (wonderful natural sweet taste.)
3. Cheese 7 slices out of 8 (never greasy)
4. Presentation 8 slices out of 8 (wonderful large thin slices, 2 is a meal, 3 and I'm stuffed)
Overall 7.5 Don't see how any pizza in Asia will beat this . (I would have given it an 8 (the whole pie) but my friend Burchard said that I should leave room for the miraculous)
Villa Pizza Kitchen (at Philly International Airport) have to have one more go around before I leave for Asia
1. Crust 5/8
2.Cheese 5/8
3. Sauce 6/8
4. Presentation 5/8
Overall rating is a 5.
This pizza was OK, a little thick and greasy, but after 3 weeks in Asia, this might taste like Lorenzo's.
American Airlines pizza. Yup, they offered it on the plane so of course I was going to have it and rate it. I will never turn down pizza.
1. Crust 5/8
2. Cheese 4/8
3. Sauce 3/8 thick and pasty
4. Presentation 3/8 It was a deep dish (Chicago style). Yo, I'm from Philly, now c'mon.
Overall 3.5 and that was being generous, especially given the fact that my Flight Attendant was nasty, my tray table was lopsided, and the plug for my earphones was broken on a 13hour flight. I will post later today after I eat pizza. I am looking forward to pizza in Tokyo. Wish me luck.
5/23 - Still Sleepless in Tokyo
in my earlier post, i mentioned being able to wake up super early as an advantage w/ jet lag (so as not to oversleep and miss the bus to the baseball field). however, it (as well as waking up numerous times during the night) can also make having to play a rehearsal and concert after experiencing such a restless night, extremely difficult.
despite being so tired last night, i constantly woke up throughout the night (each time thinking i was late of course) and finally gave up sleeping at around 5:30. we had a 3 hour rehearsal scheduled for 11 a.m. but i wanted to get to the hall early to practice so i got there at around 9:30. lots of people were already there because for many of us, this was the first time to see our instruments after packing them in the trunks last saturday night. we had to cover a lot of music in 3 hours and by the end of the rehearsal, i was ready to call it a day. but of course, hunger won over sleepiness and a group of us went out to the ginza area for lunch.
(pauline, one of our friends and her daughter came to the rehearsal since i couldn't get them tickets to the concert and here is a picture pauline took of us in suntory hall.)
by the time we got back, it was almost 5:30 and the concert was at 7 so there was not much time to do anything. i was barely standing but knew that if i took a nap, i would probably miss the concert. so i got a coffee drink (and i'm not a coffee drinker at all) in hopes that it would wake me up. by 6:55, i realized it was not going to happen. it was as if i was in a dream.
and it was a dream in some ways. i have seen many pictures of suntory hall and heard about the amazing acoustics, so finally being able to perform here as a member of the philadelphia orchestra was a dream come true. our soloist for the japan portion of the tour, midori, played a beautiful and dazzling tchaikovsky violin concerto (i don't think i've ever played the 3rd movement faster!) and in the second half, we performed prokofiev's 5th symphony (which we did in our second to last week of subscription concerts). it went well and the audience was incredibly warm and appreciative. so as an encore, we did an excerpt from prokofiev's romeo and juliet (the montagues and capulets).
i know many of us were in a similar state of tiredness (is that even a word?) but i think we were able to overcome and give our all to the music. it was fun but i hope i am a bit more rested for tomorrow afternoon's concert.
despite being so tired last night, i constantly woke up throughout the night (each time thinking i was late of course) and finally gave up sleeping at around 5:30. we had a 3 hour rehearsal scheduled for 11 a.m. but i wanted to get to the hall early to practice so i got there at around 9:30. lots of people were already there because for many of us, this was the first time to see our instruments after packing them in the trunks last saturday night. we had to cover a lot of music in 3 hours and by the end of the rehearsal, i was ready to call it a day. but of course, hunger won over sleepiness and a group of us went out to the ginza area for lunch.
(pauline, one of our friends and her daughter came to the rehearsal since i couldn't get them tickets to the concert and here is a picture pauline took of us in suntory hall.)by the time we got back, it was almost 5:30 and the concert was at 7 so there was not much time to do anything. i was barely standing but knew that if i took a nap, i would probably miss the concert. so i got a coffee drink (and i'm not a coffee drinker at all) in hopes that it would wake me up. by 6:55, i realized it was not going to happen. it was as if i was in a dream.
and it was a dream in some ways. i have seen many pictures of suntory hall and heard about the amazing acoustics, so finally being able to perform here as a member of the philadelphia orchestra was a dream come true. our soloist for the japan portion of the tour, midori, played a beautiful and dazzling tchaikovsky violin concerto (i don't think i've ever played the 3rd movement faster!) and in the second half, we performed prokofiev's 5th symphony (which we did in our second to last week of subscription concerts). it went well and the audience was incredibly warm and appreciative. so as an encore, we did an excerpt from prokofiev's romeo and juliet (the montagues and capulets).
i know many of us were in a similar state of tiredness (is that even a word?) but i think we were able to overcome and give our all to the music. it was fun but i hope i am a bit more rested for tomorrow afternoon's concert.
Thursday, May 22, 2008
5/22 - The Fabulous Firebirds
i guess there are positive things to having jet lag once in a while. several of my colleagues woke up at 4 a.m. to explore and eat at the famous fish market and those of us playing baseball were all able to get up and catch a 7:30 a.m. bus we rented to take us to the field (which was pretty far and would have been quite difficult to find on one's own).
when we arrived, we were able to warm up a bit before the other team showed up. i thought we looked pretty good in our matching team jerseys (the philadelphia firebirds) even though some of us were wearing shorts (me) and others had on full baseball attire. but when the tokyo symphony arrived in their authentic baseball uniforms, we knew they meant business. ironically, our principal tuba player as well as artistic designer/coordinator and distributor for our team jersey, carol jantsch, forgot to bring hers!
by the end of the first inning, we were down 4-2 but that quickly changed w/ some great pitching (danny matsukawa and chris deviney) and hitting on our part. in the end, we triumphed 18-6.
afterwards, we were pretty hungry so several of us went in search of a favorite ramen restaurant discovered on the orchestra's last tour of asia. we took a train to the ginza section of tokyo but after walking around for a while, couldn't find it so had to settle for another place that turned out to be excellent. another group actually went to watch live sumo wrestling. the pictures they took were pretty cool so hopefully someone will post them up.
pauline and i headed back to our friend's place after lunch and relaxed before dinner. we actually rode bikes to the restaurant where we met several members of our friends' church. we ate some amazing japanese style steak and hung out for a while.
so after a long (and victorious) day of baseball, searching for ramen and biking around town, we went to bed for a hopefully more restful night of sleep. it's back to reality tomorrow w/ a morning rehearsal and our first concert of the tour.
5/21 - Arrival in Tokyo
hello everyone....
it's good to be on solid ground after being in the air for so many hours. once again, i stayed up the 2 nights before to "prepare" myself for the 13 hour time difference, and as usual, it didn't work at all. i kept falling asleep on the plane when i wanted to stay up and vice versa. i guess we'll see how many times i wake up during the middle of the night.
once we landed, i tried to get through customs and grab my bag as quickly as possible in order to catch the keisei skyliner train to my friend's house. upon arriving there, i was also greeted by my wife pauline who flew in the day before from l.a., where she was matron of honor at a friend's wedding. we were treated to a wonderful home-cooked hiyashabu udon (kind of like cold shabu shabu on top of fresh vegetables and udon noodles). needless to say, it was delicious and a wonderful start to this year's tour and my first time in tokyo.
it was also nice to see our old friends after so many years. they used to live in boston and we know them from church. their children have grown up so much since we last saw them.
i am pretty exhausted but hopefully the jet lag will work to my advantage as i need to wake up early tomorrow morning for our first baseball game vs members of the tokyo symphony and new japan philharmonic. so goodnight for now.
it's good to be on solid ground after being in the air for so many hours. once again, i stayed up the 2 nights before to "prepare" myself for the 13 hour time difference, and as usual, it didn't work at all. i kept falling asleep on the plane when i wanted to stay up and vice versa. i guess we'll see how many times i wake up during the middle of the night.
once we landed, i tried to get through customs and grab my bag as quickly as possible in order to catch the keisei skyliner train to my friend's house. upon arriving there, i was also greeted by my wife pauline who flew in the day before from l.a., where she was matron of honor at a friend's wedding. we were treated to a wonderful home-cooked hiyashabu udon (kind of like cold shabu shabu on top of fresh vegetables and udon noodles). needless to say, it was delicious and a wonderful start to this year's tour and my first time in tokyo.
it was also nice to see our old friends after so many years. they used to live in boston and we know them from church. their children have grown up so much since we last saw them.
i am pretty exhausted but hopefully the jet lag will work to my advantage as i need to wake up early tomorrow morning for our first baseball game vs members of the tokyo symphony and new japan philharmonic. so goodnight for now.
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