Tempura Shrimp and Chirashi c/o Umai Umai

In real time, I am no longer in Philadelphia or even the state of Pennsylvania. In fact, it has been nearly a week since I painted my room, packed up my stuff and bid adieu to Philly. But as far as the blog time line is concerned, I'm still very much ensconced in Philly times and meals. So many of which have an Asian theme to them. For example, after one day of packing and other moving tasks, I suggested that LW and I go get some sushi at Umai Umai. Usually I just get their chirashi, but I decided I'd also try their rock shrimp tempura. Once the dish arrived I realized that (well I was pretty sure) I'd had the dish once before. It was surprising because for a tempura dish it was not so crispy. Tasty yes, but I usually think of tempura as being crispy...and any crispiness that these little shrimp morsels had was made moot by a healthy coating of sauce. Again, still good...but not quite aligned with what you might expect.

I did also enjoy the chirashi, which came in a slightly different bowl and with lettuce instead of watercress. Satisfying as always.

It's a strange thing when your days in a place dwindle. I didn't really have that many 'bucket list' wants or needs as far as the city was concerned. A few last meals with a few choice folks, a long list of things to purchase or cleaning/packing tasks to do, but no nostalgic walks along Kelly Drive or first-time visits to any of the many museums I failed to ever visit. I'm currently stationary in Ohio for a few days and it's strange how quickly I have gotten accustomed to not being from anywhere. I went out to karaoke with Cuz K., A. and a few other folks the other night and when asked where I was from I just shrugged. I'm in between places and will continue to be for at least another week as I drive ever westward. Eventually I'll blog about the hand-off of Zul the cat, which happened on Saturday, but not today I don't think.