Monday, January 28, 2013

My Favorites, 01-29-2013

Here is my list of favorites (and least favorites) of the past year in Japan:

THINGS I LOVE

Of course all the friends and just the friendly, kind people I’ve met here are #1, but after that given, here is my list:

#1 Heated toilet seats - Pure luxury in winter, you just want to melt into the seat!

Considering sashimi, sushi and udon 'fast food', and cheap fast food at that!

Warm spring and HOT summer.

Being able to ride my bike everywhere.

Flowers and food that represent the seasons in everyone's mind.

winter - camelia, mikan (mandarin oranges), yuzu       

spring - plum and cherry trees, strawberries

summer - all kinds of flowers, fireworks & festivals,  kakigori (shaved ice), sudachi (a lime like fruit), cold noodles                         

fall - kinmokusei (fragrant olive bush – such a sweet smell), kaki (persimmons)

So many different kinds of mushrooms to choose from - or have all.

Kotatsu - low table with a heating lamp under it.  Instant warmth (at least your bottom half!).

Seeing the persimmons hanging outside people’s houses drying.

Ohuro (soaking tubs) in winter time - keeps you warm for at least 1/2 hour afterwards.

Bike riding along the mountain.

My favorite vegetable shop and little market.

Bakeries (bread) everywhere.  So many supermarkets within riding distance - all with different prepared foods and sashimi.

Heat Tec clothing (longjohns).

Jupiter - the imported food store.

Hanging clothes outside to dry.

Small portions.  Light cakes.  So many choices in senbei (rice crackers).

THINGS I COULD DO WITHOUT

No central heating.

Only cold water in my bathroom sink.

Absolutely no insulation in the homes / wind coming through the doors and windows (that have slats that can’t be close!

Lack of natural beauty/green close at hand.
 
The trash/recycling system!!!
Having to ride my bike everywhere I want to go.

N. Tamiya Community Center Cooking Class, 01-28-2013

I had another cooking class this morning.  We made Chinese cabbage soup, fried pork seasoned with scallions, benishoga (red pickled ginger) and black sesame seeds, shredded carrots with miso and little apple pies.
Instead of each work area doing all of the things, the courses were divided and each area made something different.

Afterwards I went to Naoko's house where she and a friend reading Harry Potter in English.  We'll do that probably twice a month.  It's a particularly hard book for them because 1) there are a lot of made up words; and 2) because there are a LOT of British words and expressions.  And then there is British slang, dialects, 'lower class' English, etc.  So I hand it to them for trying. 


Pork seasoned with beni shoga, black sesame and scallions - fried.

Shredded carrots sauted in oil, with miso.

Cream of Chinese cabbage soup with milk foam.

Rice cooked with mushrooms and salmon.

A mini apple pie - YUM.

Leftover rice made into onigiri (rice balls).

Ready to eat.

Sunday, January 27, 2013

English Square New Year's Party, 01-27-2013

I am STUFFED!!!  We had a fun and delicious meal at a Korean style yakiniku (grilled meat) restaurant tonight.  I wish I'd know how much food was going to be involved - I would have skipped lunch.  As it turned out I ate a very late lunch and an early dinner!
This restaurant had tables with the 'holes' under them so you sit on the floor but your legs go down as if in a chair.  Much more comfortable than sitting completely on the floor.  There are grills in the middle of each table, and somehow (I didn't think of it until now) there was no smoke but there weren't fans either...  Hmmm, I wonder how they did that...  Yuko had ordered set courses for us and there were different cuts of beef, pork and chicken, vegetables, lettuce leaves to wrap the meat in, some salad with a great dressing, a Korean mochi - scallion pancake, a little fried chicken, rice, soup, bimbap (Korean rice with veg. and raw egg in a cast iron sizzling bowl) and ice cream.  I completely skipped the regular rice and soup, and only had a couple of spoonfuls of the bimbap.  Just too much!  But it was all delicious and so much fun to talk and cook together.

Joel and Chiharu
grill in table


Chie (Yuko's daughter) and Koki kun (they had their official engagement today).
spinach, bean sprouts, tofu, kimchi on shiso


pork and tongue

yummy salad

pork with salted onion
chicken and beef


mochi-scallion pancake

lettuce for wrapping
Joel, Yuko, Chiharu, Miho


grilling some meat

bimbap - Korean rice with veg and raw egg




See the snowball he's holding?! (Sorry, snow on my lens)


Mini snowball fight


Thursday, January 24, 2013

Kimono Dress Up Day at Tea Ceremony Lessons, 1-24-2013


















 
 
Everyone dressed up for tea ceremony today - mostly so I could wear a kimono.  But they enjoyed it so much they thought they might do it a couple of times a month!

Sunday, January 20, 2013

Special New Year's Tea Ceremony, 01-13-2013

I attended my second special New Year's Tea Ceremony knowing what to expect this time, but that didn't help with the excrutiating leg pain from sitting on our feet for so long! I gave up a couple of times and scootched my legs out to the side. The men are allowed to sit cross-legged...

Leg pain aside, it was a very nice event. Those who were tea ceremony students took turns making and serving tea to the rest. Then there was a game with gifts and then a delicious lunch.

Everyone (except me) was wearing a beautiful kimono which is actually special for them as well as for me.