We finally chose our New Year's Food

As I mentioned in the other blog post, New Year's celebrations are big here and eating "osechi" or traditional Japanese New Year's food is a big part of it. I can't cook it and we are having his parents over so we decided to order it. There are so many places offering osechi but we picked this one. It is 3 layers and happily....40% off. Normally this would be about $200. We were going to get a bigger one but since I won't eat much of this (I love Japanese food but osechi is different), I will make some/buy some non Japanese food for all of us.

We will also have Nihonshu (sake) to toast the New Year, beer for his dad, sparkling wine for the rest of us and sweets as his mom loves sweets.

New Year's eve.....traditionally people eat soba so I'm guessing at the supermarket soba will be everywhere! The other day when we went down the instant noodle aisle all the instant soba noodles were sold out! I will buy some soba for my honey on the 31st. Then, we will watch some crazy Japanese TV including the big K-1 fights. Here is a link to the fights for that night http://www.k-1.co.jp/en/event/2009/1231_dynamite/index.html Some of the tickets go for $10,000 and they are all sold out!

I'm off to do some accounting so I can hand everything over to my accountant soon!

Merry Christmas!! And....lots of pictures!

Merry Christmas!!

I'm sitting here drinking sparkling grapefruit wine (very yummy!), listening to the audio book "A Christmas Carol" on my ipod while my honey is taking a nap. It may be Christmas but we went to the post office, bank and many stores today....so it doesn't really feel like it here. But we did eat Kentucky Fried Chicken for lunch and here that is considered Christmas food!!

So I am now on winter holidays and am thankful for that. It has been busy with orders, 2 school Christmas parties and deciding what to have for New Year's lunch (my in-laws are coming over so it has to be good and traditional). I thought I would share the pictures I have taken over the last little while. There are pics from the 2 parties at my school and pictures I took while shopping. I think they are interesting.....but warning...there are many of them!

These first 6 pictures are from a class Christmas party. These kids are too young to join the other party and the moms always come and help.

The next set of pictures are from the party we had on Saturday the 19th. We always do a craft and this time we made parfait cell phone straps using whip clay and fruit slices and sparkly things. They had a blast!

The next set are from the supermarket. We went yesterday and wow!! The people and the chicken!!! Honestly, I have never seen so many fried, sauteed, glazed chickens. Apparently, Christmas dinner is eaten on the 24th because when we went today ...no more chicken!!

Here are the decorations and Christmas goods at the supermarket including expensive Christmas cakes!!

This cake is about $40!!

Of course, Japanese are also preparing for New Year's day which is what is really celebrated here. So, you can already buy food for that special day...some are very cute!!






Mickey mouse mochi!! (mochi are chewy rice cakes)

Nihonshu (sake) with gold shavings!

I'm off to open some Christmas presents now that my honey is awake!! Merry Christmas!!

Kerosene makes me sneeze!

I can't believe 2 weeks have gone by since I last blogged! I or rather, we, have been super busy with orders and stuff! My rings have been flying off the shelf (for me at least!) so I've been trying to keep up and poof.....2 weeks passed! We are getting excited about going away and of course our camera has suddenly been acting up....we thought it died the other day but it might have some life in it yet. We now know that sooner rather than later we will be shopping for a new camera. It is a good season to shop as there are tons of sales so hopefully we can find something we like.

So.....the title of this blog post was something I thought up the other day....as I was sneezing....because of kerosene. Let me explain. In many parts of Japan (including where I live), there is no central heat (though it is cold enough to snow!) so there are a variety of ways to keep a house or rather 1 room at a time, warm and the most popular/cheapest is kerosene heaters. When I first came to Japan my boss told me not to get one as many people die each year because of them. That was good enough for me-I have never used one. I have had many conversations with my students about this as many use them and swear they are safe. They might be safe but man....they smell. The minute my students step into my room I can tell which family uses them as the smell just seems to be attached to them, their clothes etc. Well...the other day I had a private student and the minute he walked in all I did was sneeze for 5 minutes. He asked me if I was ok and I said yes but asked him if he used kerosene at home and the answer was yes. He was fascinated by the fact that I sneezed because of it and that I could smell it. I told him that never in Canada had I been around it so the smell for me is very distinct. Perhaps I am alone in this thinking/sensitivity? Perhaps I am just weird!

Speaking of weird!!!! How about this-oden in a can!!!! UGH! Ok...oden is a very delicious food popular in winter and is pretty easy to make so I think this "convenience" food is just taking it a bit far! I don't know...it just does not look good to me!

Red Bean Flavored Pepsi And Osechi!

Yeah...you read that right! Azuki (red beans) flavored pepsi. I think this falls under "only in Japan!" We saw it at the supermarket today and bought it to try so I could explain what it tastes like. We thought we would hate it. We were wrong! The flavor is a bit hard to describe but I will try....it is like a mix of Dr pepper and cherry Pepsi but really subtle. Kind of refreshing....for a soda that is. I think hubby will buy it again!

And once again, it is time to think about "osechi". "Osechi" is traditional New Year's food in Japan. I can't make it and apparently lots of women don't make it anymore as there are tons of stores that you can buy it from and have it delivered to you-even on New Year's Day. I can't imagine having a turkey dinner with all the trimmings delivered but hey...I can cook that...this stuff...no way! I thought I would show you some of the osechi that is available online.

Of course there is a Hello Kitty themed one. This one costs about $75...I am sure you get to keep the container.

Mickey mouse!

We are having hubby's parents over on January 1st so we are in the process of deciding what to buy. I will post pics once we decide!

My rings were featured on Perez Hilton's Blog and the Trendhunter blog

Oh. My. God! Thanks to a wonderful etsian I found out that Perez Hilton featured my rings on his CocoPerez blog!! Sadly, he wasn't sure who made them so I left a comment and the wonderful woman who emailed me about it, also emailed him. Turns out he found out about my rings from this site Trendhunter ! It certainly explains why I suddenly sold a whole bunch of rings last week!

Enjoying the little moments. A perfect start to a Sunday!

Normally, I wake up on the weekends and basically turn on the computer and start working. Not today! Today, my hubby decided to climb the mountain near us giving me some space and him some exercise. It was just the kind of day I like...cloudy and cold. I turned on some soft jazz, made some hojicha (roasted green tea) and called my girlfriend in California. After we got caught up, I read Oprah magazines and a few others. I relaxed and sometimes just closed my eyes and listened to the music. I love these perfect moments. Some people live for the big moments....but little moments happen more often and are just as amazing. The old saying about "stop and smell the roses" is so true!

When hubby came back he was refreshed and was so happy to have gone hiking. He took some pictures and they sure are beautiful so enjoy!!!

Although Thanksgiving is over (way over in my case as I'm Canadian and ours is in October)....being thankful for moments like these is so important for a happy life. I wish you all a fabulous Sunday!

Senbei shopping and the "virgin road"

Lately, I have been really into eating senbei. Senbei are Japanese rice crackers. They are delicious but finding some without wheat or soy sauce is very difficult. Even the "plain" ones often have soy sauce. We found out that near us is a famous senbei shop. Here are a few things they offer.

So we went yesterday and I bought some. I was a bit sad because most of the nice ones in the pictures above I couldn't buy...in fact I could only find the plain ones-still....better than nothing.

Apparently this senbei shop is so famous that you can even buy the water they use to make the senbei-it is pure mountain water -100 yen (about $1) for 10 liters. The place to buy the water is attached to the store. Here are the pictures!

Now, the "virgin road" story. Even after 11+ years, I learn new things all the time! Yesterday my student was telling me about a new hotel that was built here in our city. Apparently it is hoping to be popular for weddings as they built a chapel inside. My student said: " They are very proud of this chapel because the designer drew the plans so that the sun would shine on the virgin road". I was a bit lost and though I must have heard her wrong...perhaps she meant a statue of the Virgin Mary or something. But no. She meant the virgin road. She then looked at me like something was wrong with me. Why didn't I understand? It was English after all! Turns out that when the bride walks down the church aisle (with or without a father), she is walking down the "virgin road". And no, that is not the translated version...they say it in English. When it is just a regular church day it would be translated into an "aisle" but when a bride walks down it, it is the "virgin road". I was speechless....never heard that before! My students were shocked because they thought that was how we say it in North America. Umm...no. We don't. We all got a laugh out of that one!!

A Romantic Christmas Eve

Yesterday, we booked this room at an onsen for Christmas eve!!! I am so excited! It is a room big enough for 4 with a private, outside bath. We will eat delicious food and have a great time! I will take a ton of pics of our trip and post them after. This sure beats staying at home and thinking of what everyone is doing back in Canada for Christmas!