After a long week of hard work I do what every geek girl likes to do: relaxing with a shopping tour through the nearest big town!
Well, first I start by having a looong, nice sleep-in. Then I go on tour. And since by “then”, I mean “well into lunch time”, the first stop is defined by the question: “Where shall we have brunch today?”
Today we decided to have Japanese food. There are several great Japanese restaurants around Stockholm, but for ease of parking coming from our direction and general hungriness we chose one called “Sandai-me Kato”. This one gets a pretty good review by “real” Japanese people, though apparently not as good as the place called “Ki-Mama” (which is also the only place in town to serve broiled eel, but that is a culinary adventure for another day).
On the other hand, it goes away from the fastfood atmosphere of sushi bars (including Ki-Mama) with its lovely interior. You can see the almost LARP-ish atmosphere of it on the picture above. Lovely, isn’t it?
On the menu are, alongside the mandatory sushi, several other Japanese dishes you don’t usually get in Japanese places in Sweden. I choose one that I already had last time – I am eager to try out all their menu but this one just had me drooling for more last time! It’s Hiyashi Ramen – advertised as “typical Japanese summer food” on the menu, it is a huge bowl of chilled ramen in a fruity sweet and sour marinade topped with freshly-woked seafood and vegetables. It’s so good I almost forgot to take a picture!
I apologize again for the bad picture quality. I need to remember to bring my pocket camera next time, as I’m about to give up on my cellphone cam and not about to bring the SLR.
Filled with yummy Japanese foody goodness, we go on over to the Japan Food & Kitchen (JFK) Shop to get some supplies. (And candy.)
Since it’s right around the corner, we also go pay The English Shop a visit (For candy.) and nip into another Asian supermarket on the way (Mooncakes are candy too, right?).
To save our bellies from total destruction by multicultural candy, I’ll stay away from foodshops after this. I hope nobody reading this minds as I geek on!
The next stop on the list is Gamla Stan. Even without tourists, it’s still full of people, but this time Stockholmers out on shopping trips to the neatest little shops that are scattered right throughout the most touristy district.
Since I have never managed to get to the store when it was open before, Sound Pollution is worth a visit. It’s a music store that specialises in anything metal, punk, goth, industrial, death, doom… you name it, they probably have it (or at least can order it). I get a VnV Nation CD as I haven’t been able to find it anywhere but online before and like to have some stuff on CD. I don’t feel like asking for testlistening though, so nothing nice and new for me. The main attraction, SF Bokhandeln is still waiting and our parking time is limited…
SF (yes, that’s for Science fiction) Bokhandeln is a fascinating bookstore. It specializes in SF/F books, though it has comics, RPs, and general geek paraphernalia as well, and is doing so good business it can afford a big store on the biggest tourist street in town. And it’s always full, no matter when I come there! It’s fuller than any other bookstore I’ve ever seen outside signings and special events.
The haul: The 4 Earthsea books, Lord of Light by Zelazny, Wintersmith (finally out in pocket) and the BF got another book he got recommended. Success!
Sushi Bar Sandai-Me Kato
Adress:
S:t paulsgatan 22
118 48 STOCKHOLM
Japan Food & Kitchen (JFK)
Swedenborgsgatan 28
118 27 Stockholm
The English Shop
Söderhallarna (upstairs)
Medborgarplatsen
118 26 Stockholm
SOUND POLLUTION AB
Stora Nygatan 18 (Gamla Stan)
103 14 STOCKHOLM
SF-Bokhandeln
Västerlånggatan 48, Gamla Stan
Stockholm
Were rabbits 