From Japan With Love

Sayonara 2011! Hello 2012!

2011-12-31T02:56:00.000-08:00

It's almost 2012 here...only about 4 hours to go!

After Christmas, I spent 2 days cleaning the apartment. It's a tradition in Japan to clean before the new year. In Canada we call it "spring cleaning" and of course, do it in the spring. But we did it after Christmas since I was having a small party at my apartment. It was a good excuse to really clean the place....and now all the dust bunnies are gone!

So, Thursday afternoon 3 of my students came over for a late lunch (or early dinner). It was a pot luck and it was yummy! They brought cheese fondue, lasagna, pasta, "annin tofu" (creamy almond gelatin dessert), "karage" (fried chicken...like nuggets) and I made garlic cheese bread, 3 kinds of party pinwheels (tortillas with cream cheese and other items rolled and cut) and a mix between a fajita and a pizza (pizza style fajita?) and for dessert I made a kind of apple pie tortilla with caramel sauce and ice cream. Everything was so good! They stayed and talked for about 5 hours.

But...sometime during the party my throat started to feel funny. The next day I was supposed to go out with my friend- I felt bad but I cancelled as I didn't know if I was getting sick. Sure enough...I don't know if I have a cold or a sinus infection but I'm sick. Thankfully I'm on holidays so I don't have to miss any work but it isn't any fun.

I think my body was trying to tell me to stop running around like a chicken with no head and since I didn't listen...bam! Sick! So....I have to slow down. In fact I haven't done much of anything except watch Columbo on TV. They are having 3 days of Columbo on the mystery channel-thankfully I love Columbo!

2011. Can't say I'm not happy to see this year end. It wasn't a good year for Japan or for me (4 deaths). I do think, to see the silver lining, that I have learned to appreciate life a bit more and that the "ordinary" is actually extraordinary. The simple things we do everyday are actually amazing. Life can change so quickly so we all need to see that there is beauty in the "ordinary" moments of our lives.

Well....I wish all of you a very Happy New Year!!

Sayonara 2011! Hello 2012!

Merry Christmas!

2011-12-25T09:13:00.000-08:00

Ugh! I meant to blog before this...but like many (probably most) people December has been super busy!

Of course we have been busy with out businesses but I have also had 4 Christmas parties at my school-3 class parties (for the little ones) and then 1 big party for elementary school students. I took some pictures....

First we have pictures from the big party.

We played a "guess how many candies are in the jars" game so the kids wrote down their numbers.

Then the older kids had a game where they had to write down words they could make using letters from this statement "Merry Christmas and happy new year."

Then they decorated cookies!

Then on 3 different days I had 3 class parties. I took pictures from this class party-my youngest students. They are so cute! And their moms came to help and to play. They decorated pencil cases.

Yesterday, the 24th, we went to my in-laws for yakiniku (grilled meat) . There was a ton of food...lots of onions, cabbage, carrots, green peppers, enoki mushrooms wrapped in bacon, different cuts of pork and beef and some seasoned chicken. We grilled it at the table and it was sooooo good!!

Today we went to Kristin's house for turkey!! There were 3 couples and 5 kids. I met Kristin's friend Christine and her husband and 2 children and I met Kristin's 3 kids and her husband. It was sooooo much fun and the food was so delicious! There was turkey, mashed potatoes, stuffing, gravy, a green bean casserole, sweet potato pie, dinner rolls, a crab and cream cheese dish, cheese and crackers, pumpkin pie, cookies....it was fabulous! We listened to Christmas music, sat around the table and got to know one another. The kids were sooooo cute! They sometimes mixed their English and Japanese....did I mention how cute they are?!! Well....Tommy loved my husband and since my husband is so tall, Tommy climbed on his back because he wanted to fly high in the air....so I took some pictures.

I have to say it was the best Christmas I have had in Japan! I hope all of you are enjoying the holiday season!

My poor tree, new zabuton and I made a new friend!

2011-12-10T11:00:00.000-08:00

I haven't blogged lately because I have been busy! We've been busy with our shops which is great but we are a bit tired and therefore every time I sat down to blog, I just didn't have the energy.

So...the title of the blog post starts with "my poor tree" and I have to say I'm still not happy about what happened. So about 2 weeks ago my husband emailed our landlord and asked them to please come and remove the dead bushes as they had started to fall down and my assistant who weeds our "garden", aka patch of dirt, wasn't sure what to do with them. It wasn't her responsibility or ours as they were put in by the original owners of the building. They had been dead for at least 9 years but this year they started falling down so we wanted them gone. We never heard from our landlord but last Monday, while I was in the living room I could hear voices outside below. There were a group of 5 older people wearing hard hats and I was happy as I figured they were here to pull up the dead bushes. But...that is not all they did. They butchered one of our small trees, cut off one of our trees, cut off the neighbours tree and then really pruned our big tree. I actually went outside and told them not to cut it all off and apparently, they kept telling the older guy who was up in our tree not to cut too much off as she (IE me) didn't want too much cut. It used to be that all I could see out of the side window in our living room was the tree rather than the neighboring apartment buildings which is how I like it. Now, I can see the damn buildings! I just keep reminding myself that the tree will grow. I really wish I had some more before pictures to show you but here are a few of both before and after.

This is our "garden" and now we have a blank slate to perhaps do something with. We would like to have some kind of wood deck or patio area for BBQs and what not, but in order to do that we need to build a fence or something in order to have some privacy. No one in our area has BBQs or spends any real time outside so I can only imagine people checking us out as they smell delicious food cooking and hear English being spoken. Also, on the other side of the "fence" (the short white metal fence) kids play there in the summer so definitely don't want to see them or have them watching us. We will figure something out.

Another bit of news which might seem like nothing but we just ordered these "zabuton" and I'm so excited! "Zabuton" are floor cushions. We live a very Japanese life as in we don't have a dining room table so we do everything on the floor in the tatami room/living room. I'm having some high school students over for a little party later this month and I was looking at our sad sorry excuse for zabuton and decided the party was a good excuse to buy some new ones. And really, ours are at least 6 years old and look it! They can't be washed and all the puffiness is gone. So, we went online and found these amazing zabuton. You get 5 in the set, free shipping and all for just under 4000 yen (about $55). The covers are hand dyed and 100% cotton and in "wafu" colors (wafu means "Japanese style"). We decided to get one in each color as I think it will make the room look lovely!

Other exciting news is that I made a new friend! Yes, I know that sounds pathetic....as if I don't have any but the truth is for us long term foreigners who don't live in a huge city, it can be hard to make friends...especially friends who plan to stay more than a year or so. How we connected is also so ....funny for lack of a better word. About a year ago or so, Connie from http://connienaka.blogspot.com/ made a comment on my blog. She is an American married to a Japanese man and at that time she was living in Saipan but was planning to move to Japan. I read her blog and posted some comments. She then moved to Japan but I wasn't sure where. While reading one particular blog post, I realized that she must live close to me because she mentioned the shrine in my city. So, I emailed her and it turns that while she isn't in my city, she isn't far from it. She asked me if I knew Kristin who does live in my city. I didn't! So, Connie told Kristin about me and Kristin and I got to emailing and finally we connected last Thursday and went out to lunch. I can't believe that she has been in Munakata for so long (I believe at least 8 years) and we have never run into each other! But we do have very different lives as she has 3 children so her schedule must be closer to a typical Japanese schedule whereas my husband and I area almost opposite to most Japanese people's schedules. Anyway, we had lunch and then she drove us to the mall and we did a wee bit of shopping and then, as there isn't a Starbucks or nice coffee shop in town, we went to Mr. Donuts to chat some more. I tell ya, old men stopped and starred at us! I mean, 2 foreign women in the same space....must be a convention! Anyway, we hit it off and I have to say I'm thrilled to have a foreign friend who lives in my city! Oh and Kristin's blog is here.

So that is my news! For those who celebrate Christmas I hope you are enjoying all the preparations!! Have some eggnog for me!

My crazy neighbour and her stinky, rotting daikon!

2011-11-29T08:01:00.000-08:00

For the past 2 weeks or so, as I go down the stairs of our apartment building, I'm greeted by a foul smell. My crazy neighbour (she is really crazy when she drinks...which is everyday) LOVES to make Japanese pickles. A lot of people like to make pickles but I think she is either obsessed and out of control or she sells them.....or perhaps both. She is constantly making pickles...she even uses the little house in the parking lot as a pickle making room.

But now she is preparing the daikon (Japanese radish) outside ....basically they smell like they are rotting and as it is unusually warm these days so the smell is horrible!

Basically she is trying to make "takuan" ...pickled daikon.

When I first came to Japan, I basically couldn't eat any of the pickles...they take some getting used to. Now, I actually really like takuan (call me crazy but they are really good with pork chops!) but really...does she have to make them in the parking lot?

If you are interested in more information about takuan and how to make it...click here.

We went to the shrine on top of the train station/shopping mall!

2011-11-19T10:06:00.000-08:00

This year, the newly renovated Hakata train station opened. In case you didn't know, Hakata station is the largest train station on Kyushu island. It was always a busy place but now it is just crazy!

Anyway, we went today to meet a friend whom I hadn't seen in 10 years! It was great fun catching up and meeting his daughter and seeing his parents again. We had wonderful curry, chatted and laughed a lot. When they left, my husband and I decided to check out the station a bit more and I wanted to see the shrine that is on top of the building. So, first we tried to take an elevator...yeah...that was impossible. If you have never been to Japan, let me tell you something....we had closets in our house that were bigger than some of the elevators in this country! You would think that in the department stores within the island's busiest train station that they would have made the elevators bigger ...nope! So, we found an escalator and slowly made our way up to the 10th floor. Then we had to find the next escalator to the roof. Finally! The roof has a little play area for kids including a little train that goes around. There is an area for dogs. From the highest point you can see the city and of course, there is the shrine along with little shops selling hot food and kids toys etc. So here are the pictures!

Today was super cloudy and I didn't get a good picture of the outside of the building. So, this first picture is from the JR station's site.

My husband (with the yellow bag).

You should wash your hands before going to the shrine.

There is a great (but cloudy) view of the city.

Back in the mall-on the 9th and 10th floors are many restaurants and the decor is beautiful.

My husband really wanted to try a Krisy Kreme donut but that line is insane! Next time....maybe.

Then he saw this and said "this is my dream" sadly there was no place to sit.

All in all we had a good time. Sadly, it was as hot and humid as JUNE!!!! After we got home, it cooled right down!

Daigaku Imo - Japanese University Sweet Potatoes

2011-11-18T07:42:00.000-08:00

Tonight I tried some "daigaku imo" for the first time. They were DELICIOUS!!! My student's mom not only made them fresh today but her family also grew the special potatoes for them. Apparently the potatoes they used are not so common and I was told that I can't buy them at most supermarkets. Remi (my student) was shocked that I had never tried them as I have lived here for more than 13 years and they are a very common snack but honestly, they just never appealed to me. I'm not big on my mixing sweet tastes with ...not so sweet ones. I hate glazed carrots and that salad with mandarin orange slices and I just lumped this potato snack in with them. When she brought them to school today I took one because she had come back to school 2 hours after her class finished- in the rain- just to bring them to me...how could I not try them?! Well...thank God I did...they were amazing!!!! They were sweet and a bit salty and the sugar was caramelized and crunchy and I really had to stop myself from eating them all!

Here is the picture of what she brought me....the picture isn't very good because it is from my cell phone and it was at night. The 2nd picture will give you a better idea of what they look like.

These are called university (daigaku) sweet potatoes (imo) because they were originally a cheap snack sold to university students during the Taisho (1912-1926) and Showa (1926-1989) period. For more information and a great recipe (all of Maki's recipes are amazing) click here .

Remi said she might bring more next week...I'm keeping my fingers crossed!

Pepsi Pink! Strawberry and milk flavored Pepsi!

2011-11-11T10:09:00.000-08:00

I'm pretty sure this is only in Japan. Pink Pepsi. Yeah...I did a double take when I saw it at the supermarket but of course we picked it up to try it!

I have to say it isn't bad! It isn't Pepsi by any means (and that is ok in my books as I'm not a big cola lover). It isn't super super sweet and the taste really was strawberry milk. I would buy it again. My husband said it was just ok but I'm not sure he is a big fan of strawberry flavored anything.

This is only available for a limited time-which I might point out is very annoying and very common in Japan. I have to say I hate it when I find something I really like and then after a few months it is never to be seen again!

Here is a picture of it!

Gluten free, grain free and delicious...pizza!

2011-11-08T06:38:00.000-08:00

Recently I blogged about this gluten free, grain free cheese bread . I mentioned in the blog post that I wanted to use the recipe to make pizza-I did and it is great!

Here is how I made it.

1 cup tapioca starch
1/4 cup olive oil (or melted butter etc)
1 egg
1 cup shredded cheese
herbs

I mixed the starch, oil, egg and herbs first. Then I added the cheese. It will appear kind of dry so get your hands into the dough and really mix it well and it will form a moist ball of dough (if it is still too dry and won't form a ball, you can add a bit more oil). Then I rolled it out between parchment paper. You can roll it out as thick or thin as you like. I baked it at 220 degrees Celsius for 10 minutes.

While it was baking I cooked the pizza toppings. When the crust was ready I added the pizza sauce, mushrooms, green pepper, bacon and cheese. I put it back in the oven until the cheese melted.

This is very delicious. My husband is sooo happy with it and he ate it all!

Here are some pictures. Sorry but I took them at night in my kitchen so they aren't the best but it will give you an idea. Oh and this made, I'm guessing as I haven't seen a North American sized pizza in a while, 1 medium sized pizza. So you can double the recipe if you want it to be bigger.

Here it is about to go in the oven.

Here it after being baked for 10 minutes.

Here it is with all the toppings.

Butter is $9.5 USD a pound....if you can find it.

2011-11-06T00:03:00.000-07:00

For the last 3 weeks I haven't been able to find butter at the supermarket. There is margarine (if you like liquid plastic-my personal opinion of the stuff) but no butter. This happened 3 years ago but this time, part of the problem is due to the earthquake/tsunami/nuclear disaster that happened back in March. In March and April, 40,000 tons of raw milk was thrown out in Eastern Japan due to the disaster. And then the summer was really hot and apparently the cows didn't produce enough milk. Now, in the big scheme of things a butter shortage isn't a big thing but ....I love butter. I bake with butter. I miss butter!

As a Canadian it is painful to pay $9.5 for a pound (500 grams) of butter but I'm totally willing to do it....I just can't find it. Some of my students laughed but I told them...imagine there was a soy sauce shortage. They stopped laughing. That is what it feels like to me. And before you start thinking...crazy Canadian and her butter, Japanese consume 80,000 tons of butter per year. They love butter, too!

Oh and for more shocking dairy prices.... shredded cheese is about $5 for 8 oz (1/2 pound or 230 grams). For a 30 gram or 1 ounce piece of cheddar cheese it is $3 and no, I don't buy my cheddar cheese at the supermarket. Thankfully there is costco and companies that shop for you from costco so I can get a 2 pound block (about 1 kg) for $13.

Thank God for costco. As I'm typing this, I'm waiting for a delivery of cheese and 4 pounds of butter. I figure I better stock up in case I can't even buy it at costco!

It's all about the chestnut!

2011-10-30T08:20:00.000-07:00

In North America, when it comes to Autumn and sweet treats I think things like pumpkin pie, apple pie etc probably come to mind. Now that November is upon us, many will start to think of Christmas baking. But here in my part of Japan, leaves are just starting to turn, the temperature is in the low 20's (Celsius) or upper teens and it really feels like fall. And that means chestnuts! Japanese LOVE chestnuts! So I gathered some photos from Yahoo shopping to show you how popular chestnut cakes/puddings/sweets are.

A community announcement. Only in Japan?

2011-10-29T02:38:00.000-07:00

It is a cool rainy Saturday night (6:30 pm). I just heard some guy driving around in his car using a speaker to say something. I couldn't understand so I asked my husband about it. Apparently, he was saying things like "turn off the gas (heater/ stove) before you go to sleep", "don't leave things (like your laundry) outside", "when you are sleeping, don't leave your windows open", "look out for criminals" . I thought maybe some guy had escaped from jail but no...this was just a community announcement.

Now, as a Canadian I think this is pretty funny and strange. My husband said "but there are a lot of old people in this community". Since when does old=stupid? And as it was being said outside on a cool, rainy evening, chances are the "old" people didn't hear it as most won't have their windows open like we do and they will be watching TV or listening to music, or cooking etc. And they might even be hard of hearing. I just don't get it.

I'm guessing this is "only in Japan", right?

I was surprised!!

2011-10-28T23:55:00.000-07:00

On Mondays, I teach a really great class of high school girls. I have been teaching them for many years and we are quite close. I know all of their mothers and have taught their siblings (and some have even worked for me). Well, wasn't I surprised when I walked into my class to see that they each made me a homemade treat for my birthday!

Mifuyu made me a homemade cheesecake topped with many candles in the shape of a heart.

Saya made "pudding" which is kind of like creme caramel.

Sarina made an Italian dessert.

My boss brought in some hot tea and we had a little party.The food was delicious!!

I have said this many times over the years but I truly am blessed. I am so lucky that I said yes to this job over 13 years ago.

Gluten free grain free and delicious!!

2011-10-26T08:30:00.000-07:00

Last month on one of the forums I read, a woman mentioned making these "buns" and then using the same recipe to make a pizza dough. She said both were out of this world. She then linked the recipe. I just made some and while my pictures don't show how good these are...holy cow!! These are amazing. They are crusty on the outside and moist and chewy on the inside.

They are basically (I didn't know this before reading the information on the blog) a Brazilian cheese bread. Mixes can be bought under the "chebe" brand in the States. I don't have access to those here but I can get tapioca starch so I can make them. Click here for the recipe . If you need to eat gluten free and/or grain free then you really need to try it! They are super easy to make and you can adjust the seasonings. I didn't add the chives or dill. Instead I added fresh rosemary and other Italian herbs and for my second batch I used a combo of olive oil and coconut oil as we didn't have any butter in the house (there is another butter shortage in Japan right now).

These can made in any size and today I cut one in half and put some ham in the middle-so good! Next I'm going to make a pizza crust -I probably won't include the baking powder or less baking powder as I don't want it to get too puffy.

Oh and if you are in Japan and need to buy tapioca starch, you won't find it in the supermarket (at least we can't) so you can buy it here-they have the best prices .

Shop now for rings for Christmas-10% off!

2011-10-19T22:48:00.000-07:00

Okinawan Food

2011-10-16T06:35:00.000-07:00

Yesterday my student took me out for my birthday! She took me to "umisora" which means "sea sky" in Japanese.

It is an Okinawan restaurant. I have to admit that I was a bit nervous because all I knew about Okinawan food was that it can include goya (bitter gourd) which I hate because it is sooooo bitter. But I was pleasantly surprised!

My student made sure that she didn't order any goya. In fact what she ordered was amazing! Sorry but the pictures are pretty dark because the restaurant was really dark!

First we had this tofu dish-it was amazing!

Then we ordered "butakakuni" which is a delicious pork dish.

We also had this salad with noodles, veggies and seaweed.

We also had "onigiri" (rice balls) stuffed with "umeboshi" (pickled plums). These were very big and delicious. They came with "takuan" (pickled daikon) which were some of the best I've eaten.

Then my student asked me if I had ever tried "umibudo" which means "sea grapes". They are a kind of seaweed that looks like grapes. They were served cold with lemon slices. My student squeezed lemon juice on them. They were interesting-firm to the touch and when the little "grapes" burst in my mouth I could feel the slightly slimy seaweed feeling to them. It was cool and tasty!

I'm so glad I got to try some new food and chat with my student!

I had to go to the police station!

2011-10-12T08:23:00.000-07:00

What a day!

It started out great. I went to Hakata (the big city near me) to meet my friend Phee (hi Phee!). We met at starbucks. We talked and drank coffee, did a bit of shopping followed by more talking and more coffee. I took the train home and when I got to my station, I got in a taxi and went home. I paid the taxi and went upstairs to my apartment.

My hubby wanted to order pizza and I said no problem. He phoned the pizza place and ordered. I told him to get the money from my wallet. He went to my bag and looked around and asked me where my wallet was. I said in my bag or on the table in the hall. No. It wasn't there.

We searched everywhere in the apartment and I went outside to the parking lot to look. We couldn't find it. We called the taxi company and not only did they search the taxi I took but the taxi driver drove to our apartment so we could check it ourselves. No wallet.

I was very confused. I know I had it in the taxi so between the taxi in the parking lot of our apartment building and our apartment itself, I lost my wallet.

My husband suggested that I go and check again in the parking lot. It was kind of pointless as our apartment building is small (6 apartments in the building) so the parking lot is very small and my wallet is big and orange-hard to miss. But I went. As I was going to go down the stairs I stopped because our nosy crazy lady neighbour was in her car and about to pull out. But suddenly I decided to go down the stairs and look around. She stopped backing out and asked me what I was doing. I told her about my wallet and she smiled and told me that the lady in 201 found it and asked her what she should do with it. Now...this is where culture differences come into play.

In case you didn't know this about Japan, your bicycle and umbrella have a good chance of being stolen but your wallet-nope. In this country, wallets, money found on the street-even the equivalent of a $10 bill- etc will be turned into the nearest police "box" ( mini mini police stations) with everything intact.

So, the lady in 201 finds a wallet in the small parking lot of her building. Instead of opening it and looking for ID, she gets in her car, drives to the police box and fills out paper work. The crazy lady (I call her crazy because when she drinks she gets rude and fights with people-called my husband bad names once and threatened my assistant!) told me not to worry that it will show up at one of the many police boxes. She just didn't know which one the lady in 201 went to.

So...I go upstairs and tell my husband this. He phones a few of the police boxes and no one answers. So he phoned the main station, told them what happened. They said they would get back to us if they found it but they said maybe we could ask the lady in 201 where she took it. So....we went to 201 and the family was home but when we knocked, it got quiet and they ignored us. My husband, said through the door who we were and mentioned my wallet but no response. So we had to wait for the police to find it.

About an hour later the police called and told us where it was and suggested we go right away to pick it up. We called a taxi (thankfully my hubby had money) and explained to the taxi driver, after he expressed surprise, why we wanted to go to the police box. What is funny is that when I mentioned I thought it was strange that the lady didn't open the wallet to see whose it was the driver said he wouldn't have opened it. So...this is a Japanese thing... I think. They are so worried about being accused of taking money from the wallet and not wanting to get involved that they would rather just take it to the police station.

So, we got to the police station and there was my wallet. The police told me that they had opened it and wrote down the contents and that if things weren't in the right place it was their doing and not the person who had turned it in (again, fear of being accused). My husband had to fill out some paper work and I had to sign it. And before we could leave we got a little bit of a lecture...that isn't quite the right word but the older police officer said (as if we weren't going to) we should thank the person who turned it in. And by "thank" it means give a present in Japanese. We explained that we were going to go and buy them something to say thanks. Apparently that was the right thing to say because he smiled at us.

I'm exhausted and feel like I have been run over by something big. I'm thrilled that I got my wallet back. But, am I the only one who would have opened the wallet to see whose it was? Well...if I could read Japanese that is! Still, if I was in Canada and I found a wallet in my apartment building's parking lot, I would have opened it to find an address and if it was in my building I would have returned it. If it wasn't in my building I would have figured out a way to return it.

Anyway, I have to get up in the morning to go to the mall to buy some senbei (Japanese rice crackers that will be in a beautiful box and gift wrapped) for the lady in 201 and the crazy neighbour lady (since she put my mind at ease by telling me about the lady in 201).

Any thoughts on this? What would you do if you found a wallet in your building's parking lot?

Edited to add: in case I sound otherwise-I'm thrilled to have it back and ultimately it wasn't much trouble to get it back. I guess it was just surprising to me.

Finally it feels like fall!

2011-10-04T09:35:00.000-07:00

Anyone who has read this blog for a while knows how much I hate (that isn't actually a strong enough word) the summers in Japan. There is nothing quite like opening your door and feeling a very hot very wet blanket fall on top of you. I hate just standing and sweating. I know some people love summer and really "blossom" in the heat and sun. Not me. I wilt and want to do nothing and go nowhere. We have to keep our typhoon shutters closed on our sliding glass doors to keep out the afternoon sun otherwise no amount of air conditioning will keep us comfortable. That means it starts feeling like we live in a cave.

I know that some foreigners in Japan survive without air conditioning but I'm just not one of them. I can't even look at food after a certain point if I'm not in air conditioning never mind cooking food . Thankfully my husband is the same. But it also means very expensive electricity bills and a feeling of "meh" just starts to feel normal.

Thankfully I don't feel "meh" anymore!! It was glorious today! It was about 25 Celsius with a nice cool breeze in the afternoon and it's nice and cool at night. I've started sleeping without air conditioning and I feel alive again! I wore pants today for the first time since mid May. Taking a bath in my deep Japanese bathtub with the window open at night is heaven. The though of going out doesn't make me sad and we opened the shutters so it is nice and light in our apartment!

This weather also means, of course, fall/winter food is starting to appear. Now we can buy "oden" at the "combini" (convenience store). Oden is quite delicious (though it took me a few years to like it) but sadly, I'm pretty sure the stuff I can buy at the stores/restaurants isn't gluten free as the "dashi" (broth) has soy sauce in it (and all soy sauce has wheat in it in Japan). I don't buy it often because of this but man it is yummy! Here are some pictures

The first shows what it looks like when you make it at home.

This is what you can buy from 7-11. This first one is "chikuwa". This is made of fish paste and molded into different shapes-it tastes much better than it sounds!

This is a slice of daikon

This is "ganmodoki" . This is a tofu fritter made with vegetables, egg whites, tofu and sesame seeds.

This is my favorite! This is "mochikinchaku" . The outside "bag" is made from deep fried soybean curd. It is filled with "mochi" (Japanese rice cake) and mushrooms and pork. Delicious!

These are "shirataki" noodles. These are made from konjac yam.

This is an egg! My hubby loves these!

I make this at home sometimes so I can make it gluten free. It is easy, filling and delicious! You can add other things of course! You eat these with spicy mustard.

The other good thing about fall is that it is my birthday this Saturday! I will be 41. I can't believe it to be honest. I came here at 27. Where the heck did the time go?! I am hoping my husband and I will go out to my favorite yakiniku restaurant for dinner! And I'm really lucky this year because not only does my birthday fall on a Saturday but I have a 5 days off! So I'm off from Saturday to Wednesday and go back just for 2 days before the weekend again!

Great weather. My birthday. 5 days off. Life is good!

Typhoon Number 15

2011-09-20T11:43:00.000-07:00

Well,...it is 3:30 am here and I can't sleep. The wind is unbelievable! We are ok where we are but honestly, what we are seeing on TV is heartbreaking. Mother nature really seems to be unhappy with Japan this year! Here are some pictures of this typhoon (which isn't over yet).

This is a train station in Nagoya ....completely flooded!

Typhoon Number 12

2011-09-02T06:27:00.000-07:00

We just did something we haven't done in a very long time. We just taped flattened boxes to our bay window to protect us from flying glass in case the window breaks (we are more worried about the window being struck with something than just the wind). We aren't in the direct path of this typhoon but it is so big and moving so slow that at the moment it is affecting almost half of the country. The whole island of Kyushu is in the yellow section and the winds are fierce right now. It is supposed to be worse tomorrow as we will be close to the center of it. Most of the time my area is pretty safe but I sure don't like the sound of the wind and feeling my building vibrate!!

A recipe for spicy Japanese pickles.

2011-08-07T10:40:00.000-07:00

My lovely assistant has been giving me many vegetables from her garden and many of these are cucumbers. My husband doesn't like them raw in salads so I decided to make this pickle recipe as it perfect as a side dish with rice and meat. Oh and I should mention that you fry these!

This recipe uses Japanese pickles which are different from the cucumbers I ate in Canada. I have no idea how these would taste if you tried to make them with other cucumbers but if you have or can get some Japanese ones and you like pickles give this recipe a try!

The official name for these is:

culi no karamitzuke (culi means cucumber and kara means spicy)

What you will need:

Japanese cucumbers - 2 big or 3 long

fresh ginger minced fine- 2 Tbsp

Japanese rice vinegar - 6 Tbsp

white sugar- 2 Tbsp

Salt-a little

chili pepper - 1/2 (I used dry chili pepper flakes- I didn't measure)

soy sauce - a little

oil-1Tbsp ***(for an alternative-I suggest using sesame oil-tastes amazing!)

1) Cut cucumbers in 1/2 lengthwise then cut into quarters. Put them in a bowl and add some salt. Let sit for about 30 minutes then squeeze out water.

2) Add 1 Tbsp oil to a frying pan. Add cucumber, ginger and hot pepper. Fry until cucumbers are completely hot. You aren't looking to brown them.

3) In a bowl add vinegar, sugar and a bit of soy sauce. Mix well to dissolve the sugar. Add hot cucumbers (scrape out and add the ginger and pepper).

Let cool and then put in the fridge. I think leaving them over night is best. The next day, taste one and you can always add more sugar, soy sauce or chili pepper. They should be crunchy, sweet, sour and spicy!

Here are some on a plate that I made years ago when I was studying pottery here in Japan.

I also made some deep fried shrimp. I used almond flour so they are gluten free! I didn't take any pictures but it is super easy. Clean them and the dip them in a beaten egg. Add a few at a time to a bag that has almond flour in it (you can add spices to the almond flour but as I was going to eat them with cocktail sauce I decided not to). Shake the bag to coat them evenly. When they are all coated, put them in the fridge for a few hours to allow the coating to really stick to the shrimp. Then deep fry them. I made cocktail sauce (ketchup and horseradish) to go with them. Yum!

EDITED TO ADD: I totally forgot to mention that I sometimes use sesame oil to fry the cucumbers in....it tastes amazing!!

This stuff is addictive!!!

2011-08-05T09:03:00.000-07:00

I know my last post was about yummy frozen treats but this post is about something I have actually tried and love!!! And seriously....this stuff is addictive!

It is called "sacre". My husband says it is sherbet but I think it is more like a packed down snow cone. The lemon flavor is soooo refreshing and as you can see from the pictures, there is a frozen slice of real lemon on top so it is a mix of sweet and sour. I love biting in to the frozen piece of lemon and then eating some of the sweeter stuff. YUM!

Frozen fruity treats to beat the heat!

2011-07-29T23:47:00.000-07:00

I don't know about you but the terrible heat and humidity really do a number on my appetite and the thought of eating anything heavy makes my stomach turn. These sweet treats don't have that affect!!

Don't these frozen fruity treats look yummy and cute?!

Apparently, hollowing out fruit and filling it with ice cream and other frozen treats is big this year!

These look delicious!

Japanese love roll cake! This one is filled with ice cream!

Macarons are also very popular in Japan. These are also filled with ice cream!

I know this is the second picture of strawberries...but who doesn't love strawberries? And stuffed with ice cream-they gotta be good!

My sister in Vancouver is wearing a red nose!

2011-07-28T10:49:00.000-07:00

Yep...you read that right. There is a woman walking around Vancouver Canada wearing a red nose and...she is my sister!

Now...you might be wondering why she would do this? In her own words:

Why, you might ask, would I wear a red nose out in public??? Well, I want to connect with people. I want to make people smile. I want to have people break out of their head/their own little world and shift their energy for even just a moment. Even if they don’t smile but they just look at me, or have a confused look on their face, or whatever else they might experience, they have shifted their attention/energy. You see, the red nose is “the smallest mask in the world” and gives the wearer AND viewer permission to take risks, to express themselves in a way that they normally wouldn’t do and also helps them go beyond their own expectations in a positive way. With the red nose there is an open-heartedness and innocence that occurs with all involved. A spark. A light. A curiosity.

And wearing a red nose isn't new for her as she has worked in health care facilities as a clown doctor in Ontario. She co-created and trained high school leadership students in a Spirit Clowning curriculum, for both classroom and leadership conference purposes. Perhaps it also helps that her degree is in Drama. But she was nervous to wear it on the street. Finally she did it and the response has been interesting! Some of the comments have been:

"Nice nose."

"You have a bloody noses"

"You forgot to wear sunscreen."

"It's not Christmas yet."

"Claritin should clear that right up for you!"

She noticed how more guys than gals made comments. How some people would look anywhere but at her. One person gave her a rose. Others just cracked up laughing.

She has started a blog called The Red Nose Daily. She blogs about what it feels like, how people react etc. It sure is interesting!

Oh and just so you know...she is pretty cute without the red nose too!

Yum!!! I want to order some daifuku!

2011-07-05T09:59:00.000-07:00

These look so good I just had to post pictures. These are called "daifuku" or 大福. Daifuku are a traditional sweet made with mochi rice flour but these are a bit different. Instead of being filled with sweet bean paste these are filled with cream!! There are a variety of flavors including matcha (green tea), sesame, strawberry, "nama" cream (fresh cream) and more! If we do order these I will let you know how they taste and of course....they are gluten free!

Not bad for 100 Yen!

2011-07-02T08:47:00.000-07:00

Sometimes I really really love Japan...and this is one of those times!

A little while ago, we gave up our ADSL internet connection in our apartment. I had gotten it many years ago because the plan included a long distance phone plan that, at the time, was the best out there. But I realized that if I used skype, it would be much cheaper. So, for our internet connection, I joined our cell phone company's personal wifi system. The only (kind of) problem with that was that when I was at work (I took the usb wifi system with me so I could use my computer I keep at work on my breaks to work on our business) my husband had to go downstairs and use the internet connection in our office. This was not a huge problem but still....he sometimes wanted to work upstairs. So we thought we should stop our connection downstairs and get him a personal wifi system as well. We were going to have him join our cell phone company too but for whatever reason we just never made it there. I'm so glad now!

Wednesday night we saw part of a commercial advertising a personal wifi system that when you joined (a 2 year contract which is standard here in Japan), you got, for 100 Yen ($1.25 USD) - a netbook computer and a camera. But we didn't really know who was selling it and there were only 500 sets available. Then we saw it again on Thursday and this time we figured out who was selling it and we applied. It took a couple of days to be approved but everything is on its way to us! We are so happy because it means we have a backup camera (or rather the camera we have now might become our backup and considering we take pictures almost everyday for our business...a backup is a good thing to have) and we will use the little netbook downstairs in the office so we don't have to take down our laptops!

I did a search and apparently, the netbook is worth about $600 and the camera is $100! Not bad for 100 Yen/ $1.25 USD and for getting something (personal wifi) we would have gotten anyway!

I finally found coconut flour in Japan!

2011-06-30T08:29:00.000-07:00

As some of you know, I need to eat gluten free. It isn't easy in this country. I found almond "powder" (flour) easily on line but until 2 days ago, I just couldn't find coconut flour. That is because it isn't called flour or powder but rather...coconut fiber ココナッツファイバー .

I ordered some from this company http://www.cocowell.co.jp/food/fiber.html . It arrived tonight and I made these coconut vanilla cupcakes with chocolate icing just to test them (pictures are from a previous blog post). Recipe can be found here.

They taste the same!! I'm so happy because it means that I don't have to have my friend in California order it for me and ship it over! So, for those who want to bake grain free/gluten free here in Japan....you can! And I highly suggest recipes from this blog http://www.elanaspantry.com/ as she uses basically almond or coconut flour for most of her recipes....easy and utterly delicious!

Oh and if you are looking for almond "powder" in Japan at decent prices (rather than the crazy prices at the supermarket) I suggest this site http://item.rakuten.co.jp/nutsberry/almond/#almond

UGH! 28 Degrees C or 82.4 Degrees F

2011-06-29T09:10:00.000-07:00

Imagine you are at work. You are wearing your professional work clothes. Now imagine the temperature in your office is 28 degrees C or 82.4 degrees F. Do the words "refreshing" or "comfortable" come to mind? I doubt it. But that is the temperature the Japanese government recommends you keep your air conditioner set to.

28 degrees C is NOT comfortable. I walked into the bank early in June....it was hotter inside than outside. The little lady who greets customers was sweating and constantly wiping her face with her handkerchief. All the staff had shiny faces and the customers were trying to fan themselves with their hands! I just about died it was so uncomfortable.

I went to the shopping mall and upstairs to the 2nd floor and basically turned around again and didn't spend any money as I had no desire to sweat.

It is a bit crazy. The idea of course is to conserve energy (and help with global warming) and while that is especially important this year for those people in the north who were affected by the disaster, this initiative actually started back in 2005. It was named the "cool biz campaign" and the idea is to keep the office temperature at 28 degrees and for employees to wear more casual/summery clothing such as Hawaiian shirts, polo shirts and to stop wearing ties etc. The campaign is part of the Japanese government's pledge to cut emissions by 6 % per the Kyoto protocol. The UN's "cool UN" campaign has a much more realistic temperature recommendation of 25 degrees C (77 degrees F). A Japanese researcher found that for every 1 degree above 25 degrees C workers productivity is cut by 1.9%.

It shouldn't be surprising to find out that when workers are hot and sweaty they don't get as much done. Last night on the news it was reported that there has been an increase in the number of people going to the hospital complaining of heat stroke, fatigue, no appetite etc. And it is still June! Right now it is midnight and it is 28.3 degrees C (83 degrees F) and the humidity is 83%......summer has just started so I'm guessing it is going to be long, hot, sweaty and frankly....dangerous for some people! I'm just happy that I can control the temperature at work!

Oh and here is a picture I took from my window at work.

The rice is planted!

A walk among the fireflies

2011-06-08T09:04:00.000-07:00

The other night, my husband and I went for a walk at about 1am. As we live in the "inaka" (countryside), it is pretty quiet. There was a wonderful, slightly cool breeze, the sound of frogs and a beautiful moon. We walked along our normal path which takes us by 2 small streams. And suddenly we saw "hotaru" or fireflies. They were so beautiful among the tall grass. We just stood there for a bit and watched them. The breeze felt so good and we could smell flowers and plants. This was one of the moments that my friend Kayo and I had talked about .....where everything was just perfect. I had tears in my eyes but I smiled and soaked in as much of it as was possible.

On the walk home, I felt more alive than I had in a while. I felt refreshed and ....I don't know how to explain it but I felt kind of reborn. I thought of this quote- which is one of my favorites.

     ~ I am red. I am passion, sunset, anger, blood, wine and roses, lust and apples.
                                                   ~ Julia Cameron

Also, I want to say thank you to everyone who commented on my last post "Kayo". I didn't comment there but I read each one and I really appreciate all your comments!

Kayo

2011-05-19T12:23:00.000-07:00

During golden week here in Japan (May 2nd -6th) I got a phone call from one of my best friends, Kayo. She started out as my Japanese teacher years ago, then moved around a lot and then settled with her hubby in Romania. She gave birth to a cute little boy there and still tried to run an English school, here in my town, from Romania. We talked about a lot of things. She asked me, very seriously, why I was such a happy person. She asked me lots of questions about how I see life. I explained that I try to see the beauty in every day things/experiences...to really enjoy the little moments and not just look forward to big things like trips abroad etc. I mentioned how I love the smell in the air before it rains.....the sound of the wind in trees....how amazing a rice field looks with the wind blowing through it...my little students' laughter....a smile from a cute little old lady at the supermarket.... that first taste of something delicious. Things like that.

We also talked in detail about her moving back here (where I live) in July. We started making plans about where to go. We talked about her possibly working for me. We had a great conversation. She joked that she would leave her son with my husband to babysit while we went out (my hubby...he is not so good with kids...their high energy makes him crazy and stressed out). We said good-bye and said we would see each other soon. I was so happy.

I got a call this past Sunday and was told that she had died suddenly...shortly after our conversation. I am still in shock. This has hit me harder than even my favorite aunt's death. Perhaps it is because she was only around my age. Perhaps it is because it was so sudden. Perhaps it is because I was excited about her moving back here. Perhaps it is because we had talked about future plans.

I don't know.

What I do know is that since March there has been a lot of death. The earthquake and tsunami here in Japan. 2 of my aunts died (and one other has terminal brain cancer). And now Kayo. I have shed more tears in this short time than I have in many years combined.

What I do know is that our last conversation is still in my head. She said I inspired her to try to live life in a more positive way....to enjoy the little moments. I have to keep doing that myself. Even, or perhaps especially, at this time. The beauty and the people that surround us is so important. It is too easy to take them for granted. To not see them. But, for me, it is the little moments that make life special and wondrous and I can't forget that.

One of my favorite quotes sums it up nicely:

I like living.
I have sometimes been wildly, despairingly, acutely miserable, racked with sorrow, but through it all, I still know quite certainly that just to be alive is a grand thing. ~ Agatha Christie

Life is too short and you never know what it will throw at you. I am more determined than ever to live life fully... to savor and enjoy every moment.

Thank you Kayo for having been in my life.

I will miss you AC!

2011-04-26T09:11:00.000-07:00

I haven't blogged in a while. I haven't felt like it. In the past month I have lost 2 great aunts and a 3rd has brain cancer. I sometimes just get so sad.

AC (short for aunty Cathy) is the aunt I grew up with. She would have been 91 in July. She was my grandma's sister and those 2 were always together. Every Thursday they went shopping together. They could finish each other's sentences. They could drive each other nuts. But they were always there for each other.

Every Christmas eve we went to my aunt's house for pigs tails, sang songs around the piano and even roasted chestnuts on the fire one year. She wore bells around her ankle for Christmas so she "jingled" when she walked! I turned to both her and my grandma when I couldn't talk to my parents.My grandma and my aunt took me on vacations in the summer. It was my aunt who took me on vacation to Vancouver when I was 16. Every holiday and birthday and anniversary was celebrated at my grandma's house with my aunt. Some of my happiest memories are hanging out with my grandma and my aunt. She made a waldorf salad that my brother loved. Her favorite drink was an "old-fashioned". We used to tease her about having 1 drink, getting tipsy and flirting with the waiter. My grandma and aunt would sometimes break into song at the dinner table. We used to argue about the word "lady". I didn't like it. She did. She would always say that it was pronounced "ToronTo" not "Torono". She hated it when people didn't properly enunciate words.

I wish I could have seen her more often but living on the other side of the world it just wasn't possible. This is the down side to living here.

Here are some pictures I scanned in.

This first one is of my grandmother and aunt helping me skip rope.

This one is of both of us on one of our summer trips in the 70's.

This one is of all the women in my immediate family. AC is in front sitting down. My sister is to the right of her (in the purple dress). My grandmother is between my sister and I (I'm wearing black and have glasses) and my mother is next to me. This was taken the day before my sister and I moved to Japan almost 13 years ago. My sister and I were living in Vancouver and my mom, aunt and grandmother flew out to see us before we left. I love this picture and have had it on display since moving here. It is hard for me to look at since my grandmother and now my aunt are gone but it is still one of my favorite pictures.

The earthquake = no milk and more!

2011-04-11T02:08:00.000-07:00

There was just another aftershock- 6.something. The aftershocks won't stop and neither will the effects from the earthquake.

When the earthquake and tsunami hit no one could have imagined it would mean a shortage of yogurt, cola, milk, magazines, manga etc. But that is the reality.

The problem is the packaging. The companies who make yogurt and other containers are either shut down or working at a lower capacity for a number of reasons...gas/power and/or raw materials. My hubby went to the 7-11 today and there is no cola, yogurt and other items. A lot of items that require certain kinds of packaging are hard to find.

For example:

Milk
natto
canned food
dressing/condiments
books/magazines
shampoo etc
laundry soap
diapers

Here is a little chart to show the Japanese people what products will be affected.

Another thing I found both interesting and sad is the power issue. I'm guessing most reading this don't know that unlike most countries Japan has 2 different power systems. From Nagoya up to Hokkaido they use the German system of 50Hz while we here in the south use the American system of 60Hz. So...imagine you are living in New York and you move to Florida...you bought a fabulous fridge in New York so of course you want to take it with you. It's no problem, right? Not here. If you live in Tokyo and you move to Fukuoka (where I live), you CAN NOT bring your large electrical appliances.... they won't work!!! Companies here in Japan have to make 2 slightly different versions of the same product so that they can be sold throughout the country. Hard to believe isn't it? That is why we here in the south can't help the people up north. That is why there will be rolling outages in Tokyo and surrounding areas. Turning off lights and conserving energy here does nothing to help those in need. It is so hard to imagine.

While the earthquake and tsunami are completely nature made, the nuclear problems and this power divided country are man made problems and that is just sad when you think about it.

50% Off Sale!

2011-04-10T01:37:00.000-07:00

I don't normally blog about our stores on this particular blog but in this case I decided to since we are having a big sale!

In Japan, April is the season of new beginnings! We are making some changes for our business and have decided to stop carrying certain items in our store (or clear out older products to make room for new items) so we are offering them at 50% off.

The following items are all 50% off

* Craft Books
* Memo Pads
* Clay Kits
* All Fabric
* Appliques
* Fabric tape and ribbon
* Gift bags
* Letter Sets
* Bags
* Re-ment Miniatures
* Felt
* Pencils
* Buttons
* Clay Molds
* Wood clips

Since the earthquake and tsunami...

2011-04-03T06:08:00.000-07:00

While we are far from the disaster area we are still a little affected by it. Last week we went to a big supermarket but they were out of tissue (kleenex) and it can be difficult to find bottled water here. People are panic buying for themselves and to send to family up north.

Because of the disaster, there are rolling blackouts in the areas and prefectures (states) surrounding Tokyo. My friend lives in Tokyo and she was talking about this. It is not so bad now as it is spring but in the summer this could be hell as it is extremely hot and humid in Japan in the summer. Of course, it is hard for her to find some things as well...bottled water, some foods etc though apparently it is getting better.

And in Urayasu city-best know for Disneyland- they are having many problems. While they are quite far from the epicenter, because the city was basically built on reclaimed land the ground basically liquefied causing all kinds of problems. They don't have running water, sewer pipes have just popped up and many building are not "attached" to the ground anymore. This video is amazing...but it won't let me embed it so here is the link. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9rVDKK3yoWs

One thing that I found to be strange is that on TV there are almost no commercials (companies feel it is in bad taste to advertise their products-even after 3 weeks). Instead they have these "good manners commercials". They talk about things like don't be mean to people, help people etc. My younger students are quite unhappy about seeing them all the time and complain to me every week (they are starting to get on my nerves as well). Here are a few that are on all the time.

This first one says not to forget that touching says more than words. Touching people is not part of the Japanese culture so I think this one was interesting to watch.I might have mentioned it before but I once had a student who was embarrassed to admit that she still hugged her grandchildren who were 8 and 10. And I have never seen my husband hug or really touch his parents.

This next one is pretty easy to understand.

This one is about remembering to be polite and say "hello", "bye", "thank you", "I'm home" etc.

Well...that should give you some more ideas of what is going on here in Japan. My friend in Tokyo is very optimistic and told me that she believes Japan will come out of this stronger. I think she is right.

Thanks everyone!

2011-03-14T00:11:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone! Sorry I haven't commented until now.We appreciate all the comments and well wishes!

While we are safe it has been just heartbreaking to see the news....to hear the stories. I finally got in touch with a friend in Tokyo...she is ok as is her family in Chiba but they live near the oil refinery that was on fire so they had to evacuate for a while.

It sure makes me grateful for everything/everyone in my life. I've been hugging my husband a lot and didn't let him out of my sight on Saturday as I have to admit I was/am a bit freaked out by it all.

My mom, needless to say, is freaked out not only by the earthquake and tsunami but also because of the nuclear reactor issue going on. We are far away but still....and also by the volcano that went off on our island-we are also safe from that but it is all a bit much for her.

I repacked and added to our earthquake bags we have prepared (since the earthquake we had here a few years ago). I hope we never have to use them but I sure felt better after I added more items to them.

Anyway, thanks again everyone! We really do appreciate you all!

So Sad.

2011-03-11T04:41:00.000-08:00

I'm sure most of you have heard of what has happened here in Japan. We are in the southern part of Japan so we are fine but it is unbelievable what is happening up north. Watching the news ....I almost have no words...it is strange to see houses both on fire and in the water. It is surreal to watch full 2 story houses, which appear to be intact, being swept along the "river". There are now worries about some nuclear plants. It is dark here now so the full extent of the damage is yet unknown. Here are some videos from Japan.

In this second video you will see Sendai airport being hit with water.

Our prayers are with those affected by this tragedy. And thanks to those of you who emailed us to see if we are ok.

Where can you buy bananas in Japan? From a vending machine of course!

2011-02-24T08:47:00.000-08:00

For banana lovers living in Tokyo or Fukuoka (the big city near me) you will be happy! Dole Japan Inc has installed vending machines that sell...bananas! Yep...that's right. Just put in your money (390 yen), push a button and out comes a bunch of bananas!

And just so you know, the interior of the vending machine is kept at 13 degrees Celsius which apparently is the best temperature for bananas!

And in case you were wondering, the vending machine that was set up in June in Shibuya district in Tokyo sold 9,000 bunches of bananas in the first month!

Too cute to eat!! Warning...don't look if you are hungry!

2011-02-20T00:26:00.000-08:00

I love browsing online sweets shops to look at what is available since it changes according to season etc. So, I decided to share some of the little cuties with you!

Tired but happy!

2011-02-11T09:53:00.000-08:00

I always have good intentions when it comes to this blog but then I get busy and I just can't squeeze it in. At least this time it is because of a good reason! Starting about 2 weeks ago, I started receiving emails from international media groups wanting to interview me about the rings I make! For one of the groups I took new pictures and of course answered the questions etc and because of this we were featured in The Telegraph (one of the U.K.'s biggest newspapers). You can see it here http://www.telegraph.co.uk/foodanddrink/foodanddrinkpicturegalleries/8315733/Miniature-food-rings-created-by-Sofia-Molnar.html

We also are waiting to hear about 2 other big opportunities...one for our ring store and one for our vintage store so we were busy preparing for those as well (as they say...when it rains it pours!) . If anything comes of these I will share but please keep your fingers crossed for us!

So....like the title of this blog says we are tired (and if you see a chicken running around without a head say hi as it is probably me!) but super happy and very grateful!

Curved Pinkys

2011-02-05T23:10:00.000-08:00

I get many emails everyday and some make me very happy for example when a customer tells me how much they like the items that they bought. But this last week, I got an email that really made me smile.

Vadim from Russia wrote to tell me that he saw my rings and while he thought they were great, he emailed me for a completely different reason. He wrote to talk about my pinky. Yep, my pinky finger. In all his life, he had never seen another person besides himself and his son who had the same curved pinky finger. He was really excited about this because he said that people were always asking him if he had broken it and it hadn't been set properly etc. He now had proof that others were out there! He even sent pictures! You can see that we do indeed all have the curved pinky!

He suggested we start a club and he named it INTERNATIONAL SOCIETY OF OWNERS OF CURVES Pinky! !

Reading his emails really put a smile on my face and it also made me wonder.....how rare (or common) are curved pinkys? Before this email, I really had never thought about it. Even growing up, it wasn't anything I thought about. My dad's are also cuved so I just thought it was his fault! :) Anyone else have curved pinkys?

I was busy baking today! Gluten Free Of Course!

2011-01-18T08:20:00.000-08:00

As many of you know, I eat basically gluten free and I'm always looking for new and yummy recipes. I found some and thought I would share with you! First, 2 of these recipes come from http://www.elanaspantry.com/ . They are easy to make and very delicious!

Now, I must apologize for some of the pictures. My kitchen has very little light so the pictures aren't great. Sorry!

The first recipe is flax focaccia. Her recipe is here. I did change 2 things. 1) I didn't add any agave nectar 2) I used only 1/4 cup of oil (not 1/3). I used Bob's Red Mill flax meal for this recipe.

I lined the pan that came with my Japanese oven with parchment paper.

She recommends letting it sit for 2-3 minutes before pouring it into the pan but I did that the first time and it was much harder for me to smooth out the top. So, this time, I mixed it and poured it right away and smoothed out the top. This is what it looks like before going in the oven.

This how it looks like once I cut it up. This "bread" is great. I usually toast a piece and then put 2 sunny side up eggs on it for breakfast. It is super filling!

The next recipe I tried was the vanilla cupcakes. This uses all coconut flour. These are to die for!!! The recipe is here. I used Bob's Red Mill Coconut flour (which sadly isn't in Japan so I had to have a friend send me some-totally worth it!). I didn't use agave in these either. I used honey since I had some on hand. I made both cupcakes and a loaf. I found that using parchment liners for the muffin tin and a strip of parchment on the bottom of the loaf pan is VERY important. This is how they looked once the came out of the oven.

Here is what they look like after I put some chocolate icing on them ( I used my own recipe for the icing). Honestly, these are also fab without the icing!

Honestly...these are some of the best things I have ever eaten. They are moist and very cake like. I was really shocked at how good these are considering it is just coconut flour, eggs and a few other things. I will be using the recipe as a base and will be adding things like chocolate chips, nuts etc.

Tonight I made pizza! Now, I don't remember where I found this recipe as I just wrote it down. I will warn you that if you are looking for an exact copy of a regular wheat filled crust..this isn't for you. It isn't crust in the traditional sense but it is gluten free, lower carb and I think very good. And even my husband likes it.

4 eggs
1/3 cup coconut flour (I used Bob's Red Mill)
1/3 cup flax meal (I used Bob's Red Mill)

1/2 cup of some kind of milk ( I used unsweetened regular almond milk)
herbs
Cooked toppings of your choice.

I mixed the coconut flour, flax meal and herbs (I used an Italian mix-not sure how much but I did find more is better to cover up the slightly coconut flavor) in a big bowl. In a smaller bowl, I mixed the eggs and milk. Then I poured the milk and egg mixture into the flour mixture. I mixed really well. Then, on a parchment lined pan, I scooped out the mixture using a 1/2 cup measuring cup and made 4 shapes (can't really call them circles). I made them fairly thin as they do rise. Then I put them in an oven preheated to 350 degrees F or 180C. First bake them for 10 minutes. Take them out and flip them (which is why making 4 smaller pizzas is much easier than 1 big one). Then the recipe says to bake for another 10 minutes but this time I baked them for 15 to try to make the crust a bit "crispier".

While they were baking, I cooked mushrooms, onions, ham and bacon and prepared some cheese. Once the crusts are done, take them out, add your pizza sauce and cooked toppings and of course...cheese! Pop them back in the oven under the broiler until the cheese is melted. Yummy!

This after I flipped them.

I am totally loving cooking and baking! I hope you give these a try! If you do, let me know how you liked them!

Was surprised to find this!

2011-01-09T08:47:00.000-08:00

The other day, my student opened her pencil case and I took a look inside as she normally has some cute pencils and erasers etc. I was quite surprised to find a box cutter in it! I asked her about it and she said her teacher told her to bring it to school.

Now, I'm guessing that this is not ok in North America as it can clearly be used as a weapon. Am I right?

More Unbelievable Japanese TV!

2011-01-01T07:19:00.000-08:00

I just had to blog about this....and this must fall under "only in Japan"!

It is midnight here and we were just flipping through Japanese TV channels and I stopped at one and watched as a girl walked up to men on the street and asked them a question. I didn't understand what she was asking but I continued to watch and the girl took a guy to a kind of van, knelt down, undid his pants and looked inside!! Apparently she (a porn star btw!) was asking men if there are circumcised? If a man said yes, she then asked if she could check. If he agreed, they went to this van (turns out to be a porn set) and she checked! Seriously??!! Who thinks up these kinds of shows?

I'm right....right? This has to be an "only in Japan" thing, right?!

Crazy Japanese New Year's TV Shows!!

2010-12-31T04:03:00.000-08:00

I almost put the title of this post as "Rambo and Rocky= New Year's In Japan" or "I couldn't make this stuff up" because frankly...it is beyond weird.

In Japan December 31st until January 3rd are ...basically holidays. That means all kinds of weird TV shows. First, the movies Rocky and Rambo are shown on many channels and for many days. All of them. In a row. So, if you don't like either movie series you better change the channels. Then there is the bizarre "24" TV challenge (yep...Jack Bower). Fox TV here in Japan, will be showing all 7 seasons of "24" in a row so for 1 week...that channel is all about Jack!

Now...for Japanese TV shows. Here is an example of how crazy Japanese TV shows are. I'm not making this up. I just watched this.

Imagine a cold winter day (ok..no snow but still cold) in a big high school field. Imagine there are many men all in black suits and black trench coats standing in front of a big stage. On the stage imagine a chubby man dressed in a woman's military uniform (with wig, red lipstick, blush. pantyhose, heels etc). Then next to him on the stage is some white foreigner (we think he is from Holland) dressed in a military uniform with a huge crazy mustache. Now...the foreign guy is yelling in the microphone (in some language) at the men in black. He is freaking out and the guys in black are trying not to laugh. But of course they do because it is stupid. Suddenly the foreign guy says in English "out" and points at the man who is laughing. Then out of nowhere, a guy comes running out on to the field with a big black tube in his hand and hits the guy who was laughing on the butt. This keeps up for like 5 minutes- the crazy foreign guy yelling and pointing at the laughing men and then the laughing men getting their butts hit with some kind of rubber tube. The point? Try not to laugh while the crazy guy yells. Sadly, my husband is laughing his head off. I truly do not get Japanese TV...especially the New Year's TV shows. Wish me luck as I have another 3.5 days of this!! At least for some of the time we will be watching K-1 which is a combined fight of karate, kick boxing among other things. I actually like this. You can find out more about K-1, if you want ... here.

Happy New Year everyone!

Merry Christmas!!

2010-12-24T08:51:00.000-08:00

I almost made the title for this post "I survived" as this December has been unbelievably busy for me and my rings!! It has been a record month and I'm very thankful!! That, plain and simple, is the reason I haven't blogged!! I hopefully will be blogging more regularly.

So...Merry Christmas everyone! It is 1:40 am here on Christmas morning! Last Saturday I worked as we had the Christmas party for the children. Here are some pics! This year their craft project was decorating blank pencil cases. They used fabric markers and glittery fabric paint. You will see some very cute ones!

Then we played bingo. They LOVE bingo and they were looking at the board as I was writing down the numbers that my boss has shouted out.

I hope everyone has a safe and happy holiday!!!

We can ship to the United States again! Plus Christmas lights!

2010-12-01T02:13:00.000-08:00

We just found out yesterday that from today, December 1st, we are again able to send packages weighing over 1 lb (453 grams) to the United States via airmail!!! There might be a slight delay but basically all is back to normal!

Canal City, a shopping mall in Fukuoka (near us), is all lit up for Christmas. Click on the link and it will take you to a panoramic view...it is stunning! You can use click on the buttons to see the top or bottom or either side of the view. Enjoy!

http://www.canalcity.co.jp/canalxmas2010/panorama/sunplaza/

10 Japanese Fashion Flops

2010-11-25T23:41:00.000-08:00

I saw this article and just had to post the link! These fashion flops are mostly seen in Tokyo but I have seen #7 Engrish shirts, # 6 Flat tires and # 2 Shoes beyond repair even here in my small city. I have to say that # 6 really really bothers me!! I am constantly wanting to tell people to put their shoes on properly and pick up their feet when they walk...the noise people make when they walk is amazing!

Enjoy!

http://www.cnngo.com/tokyo/life/10-japanese-fashion-faux-pas-563524?hpt=Sbin

A lovely lunch and the New York Times

2010-11-20T02:08:00.000-08:00

Yesterday, my Friday class took me out for a lovely lunch! This restaurant is small...only 2 tables and is booked all the time. It is seasonal so the food varies. I also believe that there isn't a menu per se but that all customers are served a 6 course meal (at least that is what we had). It is a beautiful place filled with gorgeous hand made pottery, tatami mats etc. Of course, you have to take off your shoes.

Here are some pictures of the food....they are bit dark due to the restaurant's lighting and I used my cell phone.

The first picture shows there is a bit of cooked octopus on top a bed of steamed mizuna with a lovely sauce, a little dish of black beans with real gold flakes, inside the green "packet" is a little mochi filled with sweet adzuki beans and the little pot had a mix of "kazunoko" (fish eggs) mixed with wasabi mayonnaise and something else which we weren't sure of. There was also a real ginkgo leaf for decoration

Then we were served some sashimi.

Then we had some sushi with a slice of "kabosu" which is a green citrus fruit.

Then we had a piece of salmon that had a sesame crust on it...very delicious.

I forgot to take pictures of the other dishes but our next course was rice, Japanese pickles and soup followed by coffee and a bit of matcha ice cream with black sugar syrup. It was really lovely! Thanks ladies!!!

In other news:

I just found out that we had been mentioned in the New York Times again! http://dinersjournal.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/11/12/the-lunch-box-clearing-out-leftovers/ It was a nice surprise!

A sponge won't cut it this time!

2010-11-16T06:17:00.000-08:00

Well...my last post was a cute one about how I got a sponge when Japan Post messed up. A sponge won't cut it this time!

So today I woke up and while drinking coffee I browsed the Etsy forums. Thank God I did. Another seller in Japan had posted something about Japan post not shipping any package over 453 grams (1 lb) via airmail to the States starting tomorrow. WHAT?!

We called Japan post and the lady I spoke with said that the American government asked the airline companies not to carry any package that weighed more than 1 lb. That means all packages that weigh more than 1 lb must be sent via seamail. Now I asked the lady if she wasn't mistaken because all I could see on the Internet was that only ink cartridges weighing more than 453 grams were banned due to the terror plot. She said no...ALL packages.

So..I quickly rushed down to the office to pack up a few packages that I knew were over that weight. Then we rushed to the post office to mail them off. The guy at the post office said the same thing to me.

So...I then went on the etsy forums again...funny...only Japanese sellers were complaining of this. Some sellers from Canada and the UK said that only the ink cartridges weighing more than 453 grams were banned. Hmmm....

Now...Japan post is a big company and I usually assume that big companies have people who speak different languages but I'm guessing that somewhere along the line something was drastically misunderstood because there is a huge difference between 1 kind of package being banned and ALL packages being banned!!!

So....at this point it looks like Japan Post just decided that ALL packages going to the United States that weigh more than 453 grams are banned. WTH???

To all our American customers:

From November 16th, any orders weighing over 453 grams (1 lb) will not be able to be shipped airmail, EMS or SAL. If possible, we will try to divide the order into 2 (perhaps more) to send them airmail but if isn't possible we will be in touch and discuss sending it seamail or refunding your money. We are so sorry about this but there is nothing we can do. We will update this as we find out more. Hopefully it won't last long. And ... you can bet your bottom dollar that I will be phoning and complaining!

So...in this case a sponge will not be enough to say sorry for all the inconvenience this is causing us and our customers!

Nothing says "I'm sorry" like a sponge!!

2010-11-13T07:25:00.000-08:00

I'm guessing that what I'm about to blog about qualifies as "only in Japan" but I could be wrong.

Our post office is a wonderful friendly little (really little) place. The people are very nice and I realize that I'm quite lucky with how few problems we have ( I'm especially grateful after reading people's posts on the Etsy forums about post office problems). Of course no place/no person is perfect so the occasional problem happens but how it is dealt with, I believe, is very different. For example, there are times when they might forget to give us our copies of the EMS forms. They have someone drive them over to us and they give us a towel (very handy for cleaning) to say sorry. The other day, my hubby went without me and it took an unusual amount of time. They apologized and gave him another towel but then the next time we went in, the boss apologized again and gave us these- a sponge, a cell phone strap (charm) and a pack of band aids.

You might notice that they say "JP BANK" because in Japan, post offices are also banks. How cool is this? Most of the items are useful so that is even better! I almost forgot...one time we got a box of plastic wrap...again with the logo.

We also regularly get "thank you" gifts. I have received pens (so many that I probably never have to buy one again), small tissue packs, hair scrunchies, chopsticks, special envelopes, candy and other things.

So...am I right in thinking that is a "only in Japan" thing? And am I the only one that finds it a bit ...hmmm...odd (but still cool)...that Japan post has all these items made up with it's logo?

Remember this little guy?

2010-11-10T20:52:00.000-08:00

Back in 2008 I put up this picture of my student's little brother (with my student).

He was sooo cute and he let me play with him and pick him up. I loved Thursdays because I could play with him.

Well...now he is my student! He is 3 and is in a "mommy and me" class. We sing ABC and other songs. He is learning colors, numbers etc. His pronunciation is soooo cute-"fish" is "pish" and my name is "sopia". He belts out the ABC song and apparently sings it all the time which his sister (the girl in the above photo) complains to me about! Anyway...here is his latest picture. He is still a cutie!

It used to be a hobby!

2010-11-09T08:48:00.000-08:00

I've been neglecting my blog!! And the reason is simply that I have been crazy busy with what used to be my hobby....making rings! I have been busier and busier and last month I sold over 225 rings!!

It's funny -I never started this part of my business thinking about being successful...rather I've always been creative and I thought I might as well try to sell them since I'm already on Etsy for supplies and vintage...it just made sense. It used to be that Sundays I would go downstairs to the office where I have my "studio" and I would make some rings (pendants etc) while watching Suze Orman on itunes or listening to Harry Potter (book on CD-Jim Dale's version) on my ipod etc-it was fun and relaxing. But now I'm making them 4 days a week....3 nights after work and on Sundays. That of course doesn't include taking pictures, listing them or preparing orders for our assistant (she does all the packing for our 5 on line shops-thank God for her).

I'm so happy to make and sell rings!! I'm not complaining at all! I just have to try to balance it all- 5 online shops, a full time job, all the crazy daily accounting that has to be done here in Japan and I'm trying to have some kind of personal life-this is proving to be stressful at times. I can't even imagine what it would be like if we had kids!

Anyway, now you know why I haven't been blogging as much as before.

In other news....

Here is something I thought would interest you. From now until February 19th in Nagoya you can take this "oden" train. It's once a day and lasts 1 hour and 15 minutes. It costs 3,500 yen ($43 USD at today's exchange rate) and that includes beer "nomihodai" (all you can drink beer), a bowl of oden (boiled food you eat with spicy mustard-very popular in winter and quite yummy), some snacks and 1 glass of sake. There is also karaoke. This local train company started this in 2007 as way to attract more customers in the winter season (apparently they have a summer version as well).

UGH!! What a vacation!!

2010-10-27T05:49:00.000-07:00

I'm on vacation-my school always has a vacation this time of year so that my boss and some older students can travel. They are now in Italy. I chose not to go as I'm not a "6 cities in 7 days" kind of gal! I was really looking forward to relaxing, hanging out with my friend in the big city and working on my business (which I love so I don't really think of it as work most of the time).

So...Friday night came. I left work and went home to eat a delicious meal with my hubby but half way through, my throat started to hurt. It was literally like someone flipped a switch because I didn't have that "hmmm...think I'm getting a cold" feeling...just suddenly I had a sore throat. So...Saturday and Sunday I was feeling pretty crappy...runny nose, sore throat and I had a hard time sleeping. Monday I started to feel a bit better and I figured I could meet my friend as planned on Wednesday.

I was right. I went to Hakata (the big city about 40 minutes from where I live) and met my friend. We went to Starbucks (twice-it's a treat since there isn't one in my area) and lunch and did a bit of shopping. I had a great time (thanks Phee). So we parted around 5:30 and I went to the station, bought my ticket and then realized there was a huge group of people standing around. I also realized that my route wasn't on the announcement board giving the time and platform to catch my train. It was blank. This was not good. I asked the train station guy but he couldn't tell me much at that time just that I couldn't take the train and he didn't know when I could. Ok...problem. I called my husband who was at home and asked him to find out what was going. Turns out that a bridge near my area had a crack and they didn't expect to even begin train service again for 3 hours. Now at this time my hubby and I discussed me trying to take the bus but this would have been very difficult as I have never taken a bus from the city to my area. I can't read Japanese and was a bit worried about getting lost. So...my hubby called his family and it turned out that his brother was in the city as he works there and there was a chance that we could meet and figure out what to do together. So...I found him in the crowd and he suggested we try to take the bus. Fine but it was a good thing that I hadn't attempted this on my own as it turns out that the big bus center that is next to the station was not the one we needed. We took the subway into Tenjin (another part of the city) to leave from the Tenjin Bus center but once we got there we realized that we weren't the only ones with that idea in mind. The line was very very long. It moved very slowly and we realized that it would have been hours before we reached home. So....we decided to take a taxi. It cost us about $80 so about $40 each. We had the taxi driver drop us off at my in-laws house (where my brother-in-law still lives) and he then drove me home. Needless to say I was tired but very grateful that my brother-in-law had been there. When I got home the TV announced that the trains probably wouldn't start again until about 11pm so I would have been stuck in the city for about 5 or more hours.

And to top off all that has already happened we found out on the news that a typhoon is headed this way....should arrive by Friday. Perfect.

What a vacation!! Sure hope my boss is having a better time in Italy!!

A great video about Fukuoka

2010-10-24T22:56:00.000-07:00

I was on YouTube looking for something and I found this video. It is a promotional video that highlights some of the famous places, festivals and crafts from this part of Japan. Fukuoka is really a great place! Enjoy!

Japan has some tiny restaurants!!

2010-10-17T07:00:00.000-07:00

I watched a great show tonight on TV-the top 20 tiny restaurants in Japan. Oh. My. God. Tiny is right. Most of the restaurants we saw on the show are so small that we couldn't even imagine trying to go there as being crammed into a restaurant isn't our idea of a good time and we are pretty sure that because my hubby is a giant here (6ft 5) he probably wouldn't even be able to sit down. In many of the restaurants the customers backs were against the wall so if one person wanted to leave, everyone had to stand up and move to let them get by. But it was amazing to see how the owners/chefs worked in such a small space!!!

I had recorded the show on my cell phone (as we were watching it on our TV) as I was hoping to be able to upload some of it here but sadly, we can't do that so instead we found a great example on youtube.

Are there such small restaurants where you live?

Long time no blog!

2010-10-04T06:56:00.000-07:00

Can't believe it has been so long since I last blogged! In the last month or so we have had a lot going on...toilets that wouldn't stop running, taps that wouldn't stop dripping, a sink that leaked into the bathroom in the apartment below ours through the light in the ceiling(!!!) though thankfully that is our apartment as well (our office). Then at pretty much the same time our printer died and our main computer died! We got those ordered and then some very stressful personal stuff happened so needless to say...blogging wasn't the first thing on my mind. Now almost all is back to normal!

And fall is actually here!! The weather is much better....nights are cool and I feel alive again! Friday is my 40th birthday and I asked for the day off as I just don't want to work that day. Thankfully my boss is fabulous and he said yes so my honey and I will go into town and eat at my favorite yakiniku restaurant (you grill the meat at your table).

I don't have much else to blog about at this moment so I will leave you with a crazy Japanese commercial. Apparently the idea behind this commercial is finding the bra that fits you right....when it first shows the bra you can see how it doesn't fit well and then they show a well fitting bra. Seriously... a strange bra commercial!!

How cool is this ring?!!

2010-09-12T09:43:00.000-07:00

I don't normally do this but when I come across something so unique and fabulous I love to blog about it.

I LOVE rings! But not just any old ring...I love unique bold rings and I just bought one! It is a sterling silver blackboard ring. Talk about unique! You can write words or draw pictures etc. It comes with a white pencil (but white or colored chalk works as well) and a little sponge. It is by Evrydiki on Etsy.

It takes about 2 weeks as they are made for you in your requested size. I can't wait to wear this! I have so many favorite quotes and words I love that it will be hard to choose which I will write down first! This will be a conversation starter!!

I think someone forgot to tell Mother Nature that it is September!!

2010-09-04T09:05:00.000-07:00

I don't know about you but when I think of September....I'm thinking of autumn and colored leaves and brisk air. Sadly, it feels more like July-actually I think it is hotter than July. Today in Nagoya Japan (not near me) it was 39 degrees Celsius (102 Degrees F-not taking into account the very high humidity). Where I am it was pretty close to that. This is a special kind of hell.

Not only is it beyond hot and humid, we are having major storms where the heavens open up and pour rain down, lightening lights up the sky and of course, the thunder has my little kids scared. The weird thing is that normally in Japan, a rainy day is a rainy/cloudy day ALL day but lately, a major thunderstorm happens and you think it will never end and then it does and not only does it stop but the sun comes out and it looks nice and then maybe an hour or so later it repeats. Very strange for here! Also, a bit dangerous. My student's neighbour's house got hit by lightning. No one was hurt but it was scary and the power was off in the area for a while (so no air conditioner in this very hot weather).

The other day, while at work, the above weather situation happened. I took some pics from the window to show you the very black skies.

Hubby and I had started walking again at night but the last few days we haven't as the humidity is so high that I start feeling sick so will hold off until it cools down. I sure hope where ever you are that nature is treating you better!

Inspired by Sake!

2010-08-27T07:25:00.000-07:00

This is the 2nd in my series of posts called "Inspired by....". This time I chose "Inspired by sake!". In Japanese, "sake" means alcoholic drinks in general. So, this post includes items inspired by Japanese beer as well as "nihonshu" (what we foreigners usually mean when we say "sake").

The first is a very very cool sake cup! It can be found at mikioceramics. The interior glaze is food safe so it can be used!

Next we have this very cute print by threecatsgraphics.

It is super hot here in Japan right now....beer sales are soaring! Sapporo is a very famous brand of beer. This is a very cool recycled notebook by ivylanedesigns.

Here is another item inspired by Sapporo beer-soap by thebeersoapcompany.

Pocket mirrors are very handy to have and this one is also cute! Robots drinking sake under a cherry blossom tree eating sushi-what's not to love! Check it out at botodesigns

One can't talk about sake without including sake sets! This is a very cool set by Hodakapottery. I love the colors!

Here is a gorgeous fine art print by kylespears. Stunning!

How cute is this print by TomokoMaruyama ? Cute animals in a hot spring enjoying sake and Mt. Fuji!

And what a perfect combination - a sake set with cherry blossoms! Check it out at alinahayes

When I first came to Japan...

2010-08-21T22:37:00.000-07:00

The other day my friend and I were talking about how we couldn't believe I had been living here for 12 years. She said she had noticed some changes in me and after our little talk I got to thinking about my first few years here. So...here are some things I realize/remember etc.

When I first came to Japan 12 years ago:

* I didn't have culture shock but I did have price shock! I remember going to a kind of cafe and a small (think ornate British style tea cup) cup of mint tea was $4.5. I almost walked out.

* My body was confused. I came in July from Vancouver (almost no humidity) and the humidity was so heavy here that everyday my body was expecting rain followed by a break in the humidity. It never came. It also gets dark here in the summer by 7:30 so I kept looking at the clock expecting it to be much later than it really was.

* I couldn't wear makeup. It was so hot and humid until November that the thought of putting anything on my face made me cringe and besides, I would have just wiped it off as I was using a cloth every few minutes to wipe the sweat off my face (if you come to Japan in the summer you will see that everyone carries around at least a small handkerchief though some carry towels). And by "wipe" I don't mean the dainty style of dabbing my face like Japanese women do. I mean I was taking off my glasses (thank God I wear contacts now) and wiping my face as if I just got out of a shower or like the "ojisan" (old men) do.

* I had never seen a cockroach in any place I had ever lived in and therefore the thought of having to deal with/kill them was so foreign to me. Now, I'm a pro at killing them and have come to realize that it has nothing to do with a dirty house but rather it has to do with living in Japan (though thankfully I only have to deal with them 2-3 times a year).

* My first winter here was a bit shocking. Where I live, it doesn't snow-kind of like Vancouver. It does get cold (sometimes it gets below 0) but there are vegetables growing, flowers blooming etc. What was shocking was that I was fine outside with nothing more than a sweater (I am Canadian!) but inside my house I was freezing!! I could never get warm enough. Cold wind blows in easily through closed windows! And there is no central heat so you have a choice of contraptions to keep warm but for the first few years it wasn't enough. Now, I'm not only used to it I love it and find it too warm in Canadian houses especially while sleeping.

* I couldn't drink cold green tea (the real stuff...not flavored or sweetened "green tea" products). It was way too bitter for me. Now, it is my favorite drink.

* I had hard time dealing with getting paid only once a month. In Vancouver I had 2 jobs so I was paid every week since they had different pay schedules. I was in shock and had a really hard time learning to budget my money.

* I was really homesick at Christmas time since not only was I far away from my family and traditions but really...Christmas in Japan is....well...not the same (I know I know....not a real shocker). Now, I love NOT having Christmas. Honestly, I never thought I would be someone to say that but it is true. I'm glad I don't have all the stuff taking up space in my home, no pressure to shop ( I do send a few things home but it isn't the same), no overspending etc.

* I was shocked at how small the portions are in Japan. I will never forget my first meal here with my boss. We ordered and after it came I looked around and thought the waitress would be bringing more...nope! Now, the opposite is true. I am SHOCKED at the how big the food is in Canada!

* I couldn't eat plain white rice-no flavor. Now, I love it. I couldn't taste the difference between 100 yen salmon sushi and 500 yen salmon sushi ($1 and $5). Now I really can and I'm not so fond of the 100 yen salmon sushi anymore.

* I was shocked at how quickly Japanese homes get dusty. You could dust here every day and still not keep up with it. I am thinking it must be the way houses are built or what they are built with. I remember 3 older friends (ladies in their 50's) went to my mother's house and one morning they got up early to clean her house for her but they couldn't find any dust....they thought she had just cleaned but mom said she cleaned before they got there- so about 5 days before. They were shocked.

* I would stare out my school's windows at the rice fields in dismay and wonder what the hell I was doing here. Now, I LOVE rice fields. Walking by one as the wind blows through it is so amazing!

* I missed so many foods from home but when I go back and try them I can't believe they were my favorites as my tastes have changed so much.

* I couldn't imagine that I would start to forget English. I remember listening to the teacher I was replacing explain how to use the washing machine. She was talking and then she was struggling to find the right words so she used her hands in a sweeping motion while saying "now we will make the water go away". In other words, turn this dial to drain the water. She was Canadian. I was shocked. Now....I'm not shocked. Now I struggle sometimes and the dictionary is my best friend. But living in a foreign country for 12 years and teaching "This is a pen." over and over....chances are ...you will lose some English!

I still can't believe I have been here this long. I came when I was 27 and I will be 40 in October. I never could have imagined this life but I love it!

Summer Vacation!

2010-08-13T09:45:00.000-07:00

I'm on 2 weeks of summer vacation though I'm not planning on going anywhere far. I'm planning to stay home and putter around and organize etc. It is super hot and humid here so basically I have no desire to do anything that involves not being in air conditioning. I've been having trouble with "natsubate" or ....I guess something similar to heat exhaustion. I have no appetite-the thought of meat (my favorite food) makes me want to gag so I've been eating a lot of salads when I do finally eat or some of my homemade sesame and almond flour crackers with some cream cheese. I can't wait until this horrible weather is over. It was 37 degrees Celsius (not including the humidity) the other day so ....you can imagine.

So I'm taking this vacation to purge. I'm purging the things I don't need, want or use. The first day, my honey and I carried down to the office a huge dish cupboard (thankfully it was in 2 pieces) to just give me more space in my office/relaxing/reading room upstairs in our apartment. The place was a huge mess as I piled items into the "garbage" or "give away" piles. I carted down all kinds of things to the office where I will box them up and give them to family members who love all things Japanese. We are using the huge dish cupboard to store some of the vintage items we have for sale in our vintage store and now upstairs feels so light and inviting! I can't wait till fall comes and I can roll up the "hurricane" shutters (we need to keep them closed now to block the hot afternoon sun or we would be able to bake bread in this room) and enjoy the fresh air and enjoy this new open space! Today I went through about a year's worth of paper stuff-feels good to have that done! I'm going through books, dishes, bags...everything! It just feels so good to get rid of these things.

Last year we went back to Canada and I have to say....I'm a little homesick. I really would love to be at my mom's (Southampton, Ontario .....she lives about a 5 minute walk from Lake Huron) hanging out at the beach or in her hot tub. I remember at night it was sometimes only 15 degrees (Celsius) so it was heaven sitting in the hot tub and looking at the stars! Eating "Canadian" food (you know....just things different from Japanese food) was fabulous (and we still talk about some of them yummy things we ate)! We are hoping to go back next year so that is what I will think about as I step out into the "hot wet blanket" feeling that is this hell aka summer.

I thought I would end this post with some pictures . These pictures are from different festivals that have taken place around Japan. They LOVE summer festivals!!

Soy Sauce On Ice Cream?

2010-08-06T09:02:00.000-07:00

Yeah...you read that right! A very old and famous soy sauce and miso company invented a soy sauce based ice cream sauce! It is meant to be used only on vanilla flavored ice cream and a few other desserts. Apparently, it tastes like caramel!

Here is the man who invented it. He looks pretty happy eating it!

Here he is pouring it on Haagen Dazs vanilla ice cream.

Here he is eating it on "kinako mochi" (rice cakes with powered soy beans).

I think I will pass on this. Would you try it?

How cute is this?

2010-08-03T08:58:00.000-07:00

This summer has, so far, been very very hot and humid. All my students know how much I hate this weather (and hate really isn't quite strong enough...loathe, detest...). They often ask me how I'm doing and if I'm surviving etc. Well...today was very very humid and hot and it rained cats and dogs....I got wet and I walked around my class without sandals as they were soaked right through and I must have looked hot and miserable (yes, I have air conditioning in my classroom but there isn't any in the kitchen or bathroom etc). Anyway, my little student pulled something out of her bag and gave it to me. She had made me this postcard-it was so cute it cheered me up right away! She drew the sunflower and the "kakigori" (snow cone) and the rest are stickers. She is 8 and very sweet and ...what can I say? I had a smile on my face all day!

Only in Japan? McDonald's straps.

2010-07-31T10:04:00.001-07:00

I was at the mall the other day and we went to "mac" (as they say here) as my honey wanted a burger. We saw these and I thought I would take some pictures for my blog (I sure got some funny looks while I was taking the pictures!). I assume they are only available here in Japan but I could be wrong. As you can see from the guy holding it-they aren't small (I think they are too big to be strap-at least for me)!

ADDED ON AUGUST 2nd. Sorry if I confused some of you! The straps are cell phone straps and they are all made of plastic! Japanese LOVE cell phone straps (or maybe some countries call them charms?)!

And I just saw this picture today online. It is so amazing I thought I would share. There was a "matsuri" or festival in Tokyo and of course, there were "hannabi" (fireworks) which literally translated means "fire flower"! You can also see the new (and not yet finished) Tokyo tower which is actually called "sky tree".

Planning on taking the train or subway in Japan? Here are the rules!

2010-07-28T09:45:00.000-07:00

I saw these and just knew there was a blog post here! Ok...so, you want to take the train or subway and aren't quite sure what you can't do ....no worries! You might be able to find pictures like the ones I found in the train station and subway station. Now...some of these....you have to kind of wonder why you have to tell people not to do them as it seems obvious but really....I have seen all these and more on the train!

Let's start with the first picture

In many of the drawings in the picture above the idea is basically to be quiet, don't take up too much space and give up your seat for the elderly but...see the superman like drawing in the bottom right corner? Can you guess what that means? No? It basically means "don't fly on to the train". So...the train is at the station but ready to leave and you are running down the stairs and are desperate to make it on to the train so you "fly" on to the train and probably knock over a bunch of people. Don't do that! But note that it happens ALL the time (so try not to stand right in front of the doors on the train) which is probably why they had to add that drawing!

Next picture:

In this picture again it is about giving your seat to the elderly and don't take up too much space, don't litter etc. But...from the top left hand side...2nd picture in....there is a girl in a blue and white dress. Can you guess what that one means? It means you should let the people off the train first and then you can get on.

The last picture:

This picture is pretty easy to understand....don't use cell phones, don't be noisy, don't listen to loud music, don't "fly" on to the train etc. But the don't eat...as this is a sign for the subway I am assuming it is only for the subway as people eat on the train all the time but I'm also going to guess that people probably eat on the subway as well. Now...you might be wondering why there is a a big "X" across a lipstick and compact. Perhaps you are thinking...really, no powdering your nose or touching up your lipstick? That isn't what it is about....I have done both. The reality in Japan is that many teens and young women put on ALL their makeup on the train. I mean, they pull out monster sized makeup bags, HUGE mirrors and start with foundation and go from there-they will even spray on their perfume! It really is unbelievable and I really don't get it. Still...it happens all the time.

So....now you know what not to do.....though you will see it happen all the time.

Fish or meat? And answers to other questions!

2010-07-17T08:22:00.000-07:00

In the post "What would you ask?" I asked readers to send me questions. I picked three for this post.

The first question I asked was "Which do you prefer fish or meat?" . I asked this question to many different ages-from 4-71. Some gave me reasons why they picked one over the other. Most like both but preferred one a bit more.

Sarina-(girl, 17) LOVES meat -HATES seafood/fish

Saya (girl, 16) fish

Mifuyu (girl, 15) meat

Kayo (woman, Dr. 60's) Loves meat-Likes sashimi and sushi.Hates cooked fish because of bones.

Kyoko (girl, 12) meat

Riho (girl, 9) meat HATES fish

Sawa (girl, 9) fish - meat is too fatty

Hina (girl, 9) meat-hates fish

Kazuki (boy, 10) meat

Shuhei (boy,8) meat

Ayano (girl, 8) fish

Yayoi (girl, 7) meat

Yoshihide (boy,9) fish

Aiko (girl, 7) fish

Haru (girl, 13) fish

Airi (girl, 12) fish

Saki (girl, 13) meat -hates fish

Ren (girl, 12) fish

Michiyo (woman, teacher, 50's) fish-She likes it because it is simple and she like simple.

Yuika, (girl, 13) meat

Mako (girl, 14) meat

Takeko (woman, housewife, 60's) fish-because it is healthy

Kodai (boy, 7) fish

Hina (girl, 7) fish

Mai (girl, 6) meat

Manami (girl, 6) fish

Kana (girl, 6) fish

Natsumi (girl, 17) meat

Chika (girl, 16) meat

Yuna (girl, 16) meat

Yuka (girl, 15) meat

Sachiko (woman, housewife, 71) meat

Litsuko (woman, works in a dentist's office, 61) fish- HATES meat.

Kikue (woman, business owner, 56) fish

Aiko (girl, 4) fish

Rena (girl, 10) fish

Risa (girl, 8) meat

Wakaba (girl, 8) meat

Mami (girl, 9) meat

The next questions I only asked teenagers and women. It would have been too difficult to ask the younger kids.

What is your favorite word in English? What is your favorite word in Japanese?

Sarina (girl, 17) Her favorite English word is "guilty" but not because of the meaning...she likes the sound. Her favorite Japanese word is "kitsui"which means "tired".

Saya (girl, 16) Her favorite English word is "struggle". She doesn't have a favorite Japanese word but she has a Japanese word that she really really hates. She hates "gambare" which means "good luck" or "do your best". She feels it is used too much and that it really has lost meaning. It is true....it really is thrown around a lot!

Haru (girl,13) Her favorite English word is "happy". Her favorite Japanese word is "zamamiro"

which means "I told you so".

Airi (girl, 12) Her favorite English word is "thank you" and her favorite Japanese word is "ikiru" means "to live" or "life".

Saki (girl,12) Her favorite English word is "crazy" and her favorite Japanese word is "okebokujyo"which really just means "ok" but because this word was in a popular movie it is a little famous to say ok this way.

Ren (girl, 12) Her favorite English word is "idiot" and her favorite Japanese word is "ukeru" which means "so funny".

Michiyo (woman, teacher, 50's) Her favorite is "love" in both English and Japanese. In Japanese "love" is "ai".

Yuika (girl, 13) Her favorite English word is "thank you". She doesn't have a favorite Japanese word.

Mako (girl, 14). Her favorite English word is "happy". She doesn't have a favorite Japanese word.

Natsumi (girl, 17) Her favorite English word is "summer". Her favorite Japanese word is "warau" which means "smile".

Chika (girl, 16) Her favorite English word is "meat" (she really really loves meat!!). Her favorite Japanese word is "tanoshim" which means "enjoy" or "having fun".

Yuna (girl, 16). Her favorite English word is "fun". Her favorite word in Japanese is "warau" which means "smile".

Yuka (girl, 15) Her favorite English word is "smile". Her favorite Japanese word is "arigatou" which means "thank you".

Sachiko (woman, housewife, 71) Her favorite word is "fantastic". Her favorite Japanese word is "yasashisa" which means "kindness".

Litsuko (woman, works in a dental office, 61) Her favorite word in English is "happy". Her favorite Japanese word is "wa" which means "harmony".

Kikue (woman, business owner, 56) Her favorite English word is "beautiful". Her favorite Japanese word is "nasebanaru" which means something close to "may all your dreams come true".

I also asked some teens about today's popular words.

"googoolu" from "google". Means "to search" on the internet.

"amazoru" from "amazon.com" and it means "to shop".

Now the next one is a bit strange to me. The say "zabito" in the Hakata dialect or "zabiru" in proper Japanese. This is used when you see old men with "unique" hair. What is unique about this is that it comes from Francisco de Xavier, a Spanish Jesuit missionary who came to Japan in 1549. I"m not sure I have the right picture to show his "unique" hair but maybe the just mean bald on top?

Young Japanese really love to shorten words so for example "Mcdonalds" (which is pronounced macu donaludo) is "macu" and "starbucks" is just "staba". So "tanjobi presento" (birthday present) is too long so it is now "tanpre".

I will post more questions and answers another day.

Makeup Tutorial for the Harajuku "Ganguro" style

2010-07-13T09:37:00.000-07:00

Ever wondered how to get this look?

Here is a tutorial that I think you will enjoy. While I can't say I like this fashion style, the girl in the video is pretty cute! Oh and for those who don't know "ganguro" literally means "black face". It is about tanned skin, white makeup around the eyes and a whole lot more. I NEVER see this style where I live but it can be seen in Tokyo! Enjoy!!

What do you think of this combination?

2010-07-11T09:06:00.000-07:00

In Japan, eating snacks while drinking is big business! I know what you are thinking....same in the States and Canada etc. But I'm not talking about just peanuts, wings and chips. In Japan, there are very specific kinds of beer snacks and if you go to the 7-11 (convenience store) there is a whole section of these beer snacks which include peanuts (normal and peanuts covered in a crunchy coating often tasting like wasabi), peanuts with dried mini fish, dried sliced squid, salami, cheese, shrimp flavored snacks etc. Eating edamame (steamed soy beans in the pod) with beer is the norm here. And going out for ramen after a night of drinking is popular. BUT I think this is a pretty bizarre idea. Sweets and beer. As you can see from the pictures they are pairing beer and sweets. I highly doubt this will become popular...even here!

Tanabata Star Festival

2010-07-06T06:55:00.001-07:00

On July 7th, it is the star festival, called Tanabata, in Japan. There are apparently a few versions of the story behind this festival but it goes something like this: the daughter of the sky king was a weaver and weaved beautiful cloth but because she worked so hard, she couldn't meet any one or fall in love. The sky king arranged for his daughter to meet a cow herder -they met, fell in love and got married. After they were married they forgot to do their work so cows were roaming around and she stopped weaving. The sky king got angry and separated them. His daughter was very upset and cried a lot and so the sky king agreed that they could meet once a year on the 7th day of the 7th month. The problem is, if it rains they cannot meet and must wait another year.

For Tanabata, people write their wishes on paper and hang them from bamboo along with other decorations-it really can be beautiful!

Real yoga for real people

2010-06-28T23:21:00.000-07:00

Summer has arrived and with it-high humidity which makes walking at night the exact opposite of refreshing. In fact....I hate it. So, I decided I would get back into yoga. The problem is local classes aren't really an option and I only have 1 DVD (out of about 10) that I actually like doing. 1 DVD is obviously not enough and I really want to have yoga on my ipod so I started looking at itunes. I found a few that were ok but the problem is they were just missing something-I wasn't connected and found myself looking at my clock every few minutes. Finally I found one and downloaded it and I LOVE it!! It is called "Namaste yoga with Dr. Melissa West". Her website is here http://www.melissawest.com/

The funny thing is that she is Canadian and lives not too far from where I grew up-what a small world!!! Anyway,...what can I say? Her podcasts are amazing....you feel like you are in the room with her. She banters with her guests, she jokes...she is natural and real. I have found her classes really are for real people and she herself says she isn't Yoga Journal model...which is one of the reasons I love her classes. Before I sound like an infomercial (and no, I'm not affiliated with her) I just want to say that if you have ever wanted to try yoga but weren't sure where to start download a class and give it a try! If you are in Ajax or Whitby, Ontario you can contact her for Personal Yoga, Pilates, Thai Massage and Yoga Therapy at 416-737-0999

One final note-if you just want to download to your computer and do the class from your computer there is no problem. If, however, you want to download on to your ipod (like me), some of the podcasts may not download until you convert them. This is easy to do. If, after trying to download you get a pop up note that says something like "this podcast wasn't downloaded because it can't be played on this ipod" just highlight the podcast, then go up to the top where it says "advanced" and you will see "create ipod version". Click on that and it will convert it. It will take time-on my computer it takes 10 hours for 1 podcast but it is well worth it! Enjoy!!

What would you ask?

2010-06-23T11:12:00.000-07:00

In yesterday's post I mentioned that I would be adding 2 new features....one is blogging about cool items and the other thing I am planning to do is to interview people. Some will be artisans who either are in Japan or are inspired by Japan. But I am also planning to interview "regular" (not selling on Etsy) Japanese people and I likely will be interviewing more women than men so .... what would you ask a Japanese woman? What would you want to know about the culture, lifestyle, fashion, food....? I know from my own Japanese friends, my husband's family and my students that Japanese people are very curious about "ordinary" things like how often people go to the supermarket (here it is almost daily or every other day in many many cases) as well as the "big" things like ... religion or politics so I'm sure many of you probably are curious about similar things. After reading the questions, I will ask (depending on the question) girls in their late teens to women in their 70's to get a variety of answers and then blog about them.

So, please, feel free to leave me as many questions as you like.

Inspired By Sushi!

2010-06-22T09:51:00.000-07:00

I have decided to add 2 new features to this blog-this first one, which I will start tonight (well....it's 2 am here in Japan) is blogging about cool Japanese inspired items. I am constantly awed by the things I find and I want to share them with my readers. Though I find lots of fabulous items, in keeping with the title of this blog"From Japan With Love", all the items will have a Japanese theme. So....let's get started!

Inspired By Sushi!

How cute are these baby booties?!! Check out Sushibooties on Etsy for other cute items! I am planning on buying some for my niece!I LOVE this hand painted sushi tray because not only do I love sushi but I LOVE bamboo! Check out Mypolkadotpottery on Etsy for this and other fabulous items!

Sushi and wasabi go hand in hand....and apparently they love each other! What a cute print by FashionCandy!

Speaking of wasabi...how about some wasabi solid perfume? Apparently it is a "clean, really complex, really sexy very version of the spicy scent of wasabi". This is available from Soapopotamus.

These are very cute little stickers-perfect for adding to a letter! You can buy these at digicute.

Soap....everyone needs soap so why not cute soap? This is perfect to give to your sushi loving friend or as a gift to yourself! Click here to go to BunnyBubbles' shop!

For a perfect sushi dinner at home...why not eat it from this fabulous set by AmyKirkman!

If glass isn't your thing...what about this gorgeous wood sushi board by inspiredbywood? It is stunning!

And last but not least.....sushi candy!!! Perfect for the friend who loves a unique gift! I love the shop's name as well... deathbycupcake!

Homemade Gluten Free Okonomiyaki

2010-06-18T07:53:00.000-07:00

Lately I've really been into cooking and baking and so I decided to make some gluten free okonomiyaki and the sauce for it. Okonomiyaki is kind of a savory pancake. We eat the "kansai fu" which means "Osaka style". We took some pictures.....but they aren't great as they are taken at night in the kitchen. Also, if you click on the links within the recipes, it will take you to some sites that sell the items you need to make it. We aren't connected to these places in any way and haven't used these brands but it will give you an idea of what the items are.

This makes a big okonomiyaki-good for 1 really hungry person or 2 or more people.

I made the sauce the day before (all store bought sauce has gluten in it).

The sauce:
1/4 cup ketchup
1 1/2 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
1/4 teaspoon of Dijon mustard
1 teaspoon soy sauce (gluten free)
3 tablespoons brown sugar
1 teaspoon mirin (Japanese sweet cooking wine)
1/8 teaspoon ginger (ground, in a jar)

Combine all ingredients in a small saucepan and simmer for 1 minute or so stirring constantly. You can add honey for a sweeter version or a bit more soy sauce if you find it too sweet. Remove and cool. Store in the refrigerator.

The "pancake" part of the recipe:
1/2 cup Pamela's baking and pancake mix
1/2 cup brown rice flour
1 large egg
1 cup of water
about 2 cups of cabbage cut into bite size pieces (I didn't measure this so it is a guess)
6 pieces of raw shrimp cut into pieces
3-4 pieces of "buta bara" (buta bara is thinly sliced pork belly-You could use another kind of pork-thinly sliced bacon perhaps) Here is a picture.

Toppings:

sauce (see recipe above)
aonori-ground nori (seaweed)
Japanese Mayonnaise (American mayonnaise won't work for this)
katsuobushi (dried shaved bonito fish)

Cut up the cabbage into bite sized pieces and put aside for the moment. In a big bowl,combine the flours, water and egg and stir well.

In a big (lightly oiled) frying pan, lay the meat out in strips and then add the shrimp on top. The heat should be medium. Add the cabbage to the bowl of "pancake" mix and mix well. Pour this mixture on top of the meat and shrimp. I then covered the pancake with a lid. Just like a pancake...when the top has bubbles or is getting a bit dry looking and the bottom (you can check with a spatula) is turning a nice golden brown you can flip it over. Now, this is a big heavy pancake-I can actually flip it (thanks to a few years of being a cook in a restaurant back in high school!) but if you can't you will have to try to flip it over with a spatula.....if it break apart don't worry about it as it will still taste great! Let it completely cook on the other side. You can cut into it to check that is cooked through if you aren't sure. When it is done, put it on a plate.

Add the sauce on top-I like a nice bit of sauce so I add a fair bit. Then sprinkle the aonori on top. Then add the mayonnaise and then the katsuobushi and it is done!! My hubby loves this better than the real stuff so I'm pretty happy with that!

I know you want to be Canadian, please.

2010-06-15T08:39:00.000-07:00

My friend sent me this and I just had to share as it is hilarious! Enjoy!

Difficult teaching moments!

2010-06-14T10:11:00.000-07:00

WARNING! There will be swearing in this blog post.

In most English conversation schools there are a few things you aren't allowed to talk about....sex, politics, religion and of course....don't teach your students bad words. I am quite lucky in that most of those rules don't apply to me as my boss is very liberal. I don't teach my young students swear words. I don't normally teach my older students (adults) swear words either... though over the course of 12 years, I have.

The thing is there are lots of things that my students are curious about that frankly, aren't in any text book. Once, a class of ladies (all in their 60's) asked me to teach them bathroom English....yup....all about bowel movements, passing gas (and they wanted the slang) etc. That was fun! Another time, one of students (also a woman in her late 60's) said that she had been watching a TV show and a celebrity was being interviewed and they wanted to know what her favorite swear word was. My student was curious because when the woman said the word, there was no explanation in the Japanese subtitles. Turns out the word she was curious about was "cocksucker". Yeah....just about spit my tea out when I heard that one!

I also remember when one of the sweetest little ladies (again, in her 60's) I have ever taught blurt out in class that her crotch hurt.....I now totally forget what the topic was about but I remember teaching her to say something else as that would be surprising to hear!

Explaining these kinds of things to adults is fine albeit, embarrassing at times but today I walked into a class and a 13 year old boy wanted to know what "fuck you" meant. Ah..... He then proceeded to say "shit" "goddamn" among other things. I told them (there was class of 4 kids watching carefully as they knew something was going on) that these weren't things they should say. He then turned to his friend in class, flipped him the finger and said "fuck you". I asked him where he learned these things. From a friend. They wouldn't let it drop. These are good kids and I love this class but I certainly don't want their mothers thinking I'm teaching them these things. So, I asked my boss (who, obviously can tell them in real Japanese) to tell them these are things they shouldn't say etc. He walked into the class and the kid asked him about "shit"....my boss said that it means "unko" (poo) and then told them to not say these things in class. I thought it was settled but when that kid didn't get perfect on his test, he looked at me, snapped his fingers and said "shit"...just like a Canadian would!

Worried about your skin looking older...take a placenta pill!

2010-06-05T08:47:00.000-07:00

I have seen a beauty commerical on TV many times and at first when I heard the word "placenta" in English in the commerical, I thought that it must be one of those crazy Japanese English words because I just couldn't imagine that there would actually be placenta in the pill. But no, I was wrong....it is placenta.

The reason to take the pills is basically to keep your skin looking young. They say that the placenta helps to stabilize protein so your skin shows less signs of aging. Hmmm.....Apparently they decided to go with bovine placenta from Denmark since Denmark is famous for pigs (I didn't know that!).

Now, if pill form bothers you, perhaps you could drink it with fruit and vegetable juice? Here is a commercial I found on YouTube.

Before writing this I googled, in English, "placenta pill" and from what I could see in the wee bit of time I looked most of the sites that talk about eating placenta have to do with people believing it helps moms who just gave birth to recover faster and possible stave off postpartum depression. All the sites talked about using the woman's own placenta.

Now, I usually say "never say never" but I just can't see myself doing this for beauty.

Any thoughts?

I just made gluten free, low(er) carb bread!

2010-05-30T06:53:00.001-07:00

So, under "my favorite blogs" on my blog, there is "Elana's Pantry". I put it there a while back because it looked cool but I never really checked it out until today and OMG....I wanted to make so many of the recipes but I figured I wouldn't have the ingredients on hand....after all I live in Japan where you basically can't find gluten free products. BUT I realized I had everything on hand to make her "gluten free simple bread" so I made it. You will have to forgive the pictures as we took them at night but you can at least see what it turned out like. It is very very good!! It is too small to make regular sandwiches with but I made mini open faced egg salad sandwiches and they were amazing! And so simple to make without a million hard to find ingredients. And because the main ingredient is almond flour it is pretty low in carbs! Oh yeah - don't use Bob's Red Mill almond flour as it is too coarse-she has links to the almond flour she recommends.

I can't wait to toast this and eat it with bacon and eggs in the morning!!

Strange new Japanese flavors of American Favorites

2010-05-28T08:42:00.000-07:00

"Baobab" is the latest flavor from Pepsi here in Japan. The taste is supposed to be similar to the baobab fruit from Africa which of course....most Japanese have never tasted. I'm sure this has everything to do with the world cup which will be starting soon. It is supposed to be "refreshing". Hubby and I bought a bottle so I could report to you all. The taste....it isn't cola...much lighter and a bit spicy....almost a bit gingery and not as sweet as cola. Does it taste like the baobab fruit? Not a clue as I have never tasted it but it was pretty good and I would drink it again.

"Ume" or pickled plums is one of the new flavors for bubblicious. Pickled plums are quite sour and so is this but while it isn't my favorite flavor of gum....it isn't bad!

We also bought "matcha" (powered green tea) "caramel" corn (no caramel on these but you get the idea ...sweet corn snacks) today and I think my hubby like the ume gum better.

If you are hungry and in Hokkaido....

2010-05-20T23:37:00.000-07:00

If you are hungry and in Hokkaido it looks like it might be possible to just pick asparagus from the road! This asparagus sure wanted to see the sun! I can't believe that no one else noticed it before it got this big!!

In other news, it has been getting quite warm which of course means summer (or hell, as I like to call it) is coming. People are already complaining about the temperature which today is supposed to hit 30 degrees Celsius. But I keep telling people to enjoy it as this is nothing compared to what is coming!! And of course before the sweltering temperatures come, "tsuyu" or rainy season has to start which should happen next month. This is the season that can cause a lot of problems like mold growing on leather etc. I best stop blogging about it before I get too depressed!

A very sad story.

2010-05-13T03:01:00.001-07:00

My student told me about this the other day and I was shocked. Before I explain what happened I should explain about the health care system a bit. In Japan, everyone has health insurance either through your company or you pay yourself (if you are self employed or have a part time job etc). Even if it is through a company, it comes out of your pay. The amount you pay is tied to how much money you make. If you are sick and go to a doctor you pay only 30% of the doctor's fee out of pocket-the rest is covered by your health insurance. Okay...now to the story.

A man tried to kill himself (don't know how) but was rescued. He was taken to a hospital and they hooked him up to machines and then stated that he was brain dead. In Japan, there is no "pulling the plug" even if every doctor agrees that the person is brain dead and will never wake up. Also, if you try to kill yourself but fail and need medical attention you have no health insurance. Even though you paid it your whole life you lose it at that point. So, this man is brain dead and hooked up to machines that cost at least $1,000 per day (I swear my student told me $10,000 a day but I have to check with her again but it almost makes little difference as both are beyond the ability of most people to pay). He has a wife and 2 small kids. They have no way to pay this for even 1 month never mind till he dies a "natural" death. At some point the man's mother decides she can't watch her son's family go through this and goes to the hospital and kills him with a kitchen knife. She, of course, is arrested. She told the judge that she knew this is what her son would have wanted-he never would have wanted his family to suffer like this. She will go to jail for 3 years. I'm sure the sentence is light given the circumstances but still.....I can't even imagine being in that situation. I was shocked to learn that there is no way to "pull the plug" and let the person die naturally. I was told that "the heart is still beating" so you can't "pull the plug" (of course the heart is beating because the machine is doing it!). Apparently the government might take a look at this and make some changes. I was told that there are many many brain dead people in Japan and many families with no option of letting them go.

And since I am writing about this I thought I would share another probably little known fact about Japan (unless I already wrote about this) and suicide. If your husband (or wife or under age child) kills themselves by jumping in front of a train, you have to pay for the clean up and pay the train company compensation for lost time etc. Sadly, jumping in front of trains is pretty common here. I can't imagine having to deal with losing my husband and then getting a bill!

I really hope they make a change in the law so that other families don't go through what the family went through.

We have opened a new store!

2010-05-06T10:08:00.001-07:00

As you can see in the upper right corner of this blog, we have a new picture that will take you to our newest store. This, as the store name suggests, is all about Japanese craft supplies. This year we made some new business goals and one of them was to start this store. We are just starting to list products now but we have lots of plans for this store so stay tuned and check back often!

It's a trap to make you pay more! Unbelievable!

2010-05-06T02:07:00.001-07:00

This must fall under the "only in Japan" category!!

So....I was watching baseball on TV the other day (ok....I was eating dinner while my honey was watching baseball on TV) on a local channel. I asked if it was going to be over soon. He said no. Just as he said that the channel that was showing the baseball game changed the program. I was confused and said that it must be over because ...well....it wasn't on the channel any more. My honey laughed at me and then took the remote control and turned on our "sky perfect" TV (we have a dish) and after a few seconds found the station that was showing the game. I was very confused and asked what was going on. He said that the game is only shown for 3 hours on local TV so he had to switch. So I checked the channel on "sky perfect" and sure enough....it only started to air the game after the local TV stopped airing it. So....basically you can't watch a full game on any 1 station!!! And, if you don't pay for "sky perfect" or some other satellite TV company, you can never watch the end of a game! I can't even imagine that happening in North America! I mean....can you imagine during a football game...just as a touchdown is happening the TV station stops airing it and you have to fiddle around and change stations?!

6:00 curfew?!

2010-04-29T00:16:00.000-07:00

I have been living in Japan for almost 12 years and I still learn things that surprise me. It isn't that I think I know everything about Japan but rather what I learn just seems so surprising!

The other day my high school student (she is 16) was telling me that she had gone to Canal City (beautiful shopping mall with movie theaters) to see the movie "Alice" and all the shows from the morning until about 3:30 pm were sold out so she couldn't watch it. I asked her what about the 4 pm movie and she said she couldn't because she had to go home. I thought perhaps she had something important to do at home but no...she has to be home at 6pm! Turns out this isn't exactly strange. I asked the other students in the class (all girls). One other student said 6 was also her curfew. The other girl said on Friday or Saturday nights she had to be home around 10-the other 2 looked jealous. I asked my boss about his daughter and he said when she was in high school she had to be home at 8. What kind of cracks me up about this is that most cram schools are open until 10 or 11 and before tests I have had students tell me they stayed at cram school until 1 am!!! So....studying and going staying at school for various reasons is fine until 10 or later but don't stay out "late" if you are having fun!! I should point out that high school kids don't have jobs in most cases as it can be against school rules, there are no school dances or proms and dating styles seem to be different (mind you, I live in the "countryside" so things are probably very different here than in Tokyo) so that perhaps changes things a bit but...seriously?! 6pm?! (Please note that I am NOT saying that all Japanese kids have such an early curfew...but it also doesn't seem as rare as you might think-I've been asking around.)

Another thing I learned this week was that elementary school teachers have to do a home visit. The school year starts in April and in April is also the home visit. So, for one week the students go to school in the morning only and then in the afternoon, the teacher goes to 5-8 students' homes and talks to the mother (most of the time). Now, since school has just started, this is not really to talk about how the child is doing but more to see the home life but as my friend puts it, you don't really see or learn that much. She has been a teacher for 16 years and says it is the most stressful part of her job as the home visits are very formal. And, unpleasant things do happen like being yelled at. Now, I'm pretty sure that my teachers never came to my house but I am curious.....in other countries do teachers do home visits?

A great video to show you Fukuoka!

2010-04-19T00:29:00.000-07:00

This is a great video that shows many spots in Fukuoka city (the big city about 30 minutes from me and where I used to live). It is about 10 minutes long and starts in the morning and goes into the night so you can see how things change.

As you are watching you will sometimes here a kind of music or a mechanical kind of bird sound-those are the cross walk signals for the blind (which are only there because people donate money to keep it going). Also, you will notice along "Naka river" people are setting up little stalls with doors or plastic-those are "yatai" or night time food stands which Fukuoka is famous for. Every time my friend comes from Tokyo she goes to one. You will see "Canal city" which is a famous shopping mall. There is also "ohori park" which is a big beautiful park in the city and the "Nakasu" area which is famous for night time entertainment.

Enjoy!!

April in Japan is not just about spring...or ...More things I don't understand about Japan

2010-04-08T23:06:00.000-07:00

When you think of April (and live in the northern hemisphere) you probably think of spring.... "April showers bring May flowers" and so on. But here, April is the beginning of the fiscal year, the new school year, the new working year and the bizarre (in my opinion) tradition of just transferring people willy-nilly.

I guess I have to explain a little bit about the work culture first . When you apply for a job in Japan, you aren't really applying for a job per se but rather you are applying to a company who will tell you what job you will do. So, they will also decide to change your job from say a scientist to a manger (this actually happened to a friend of mine who worked for the prefectural government). This explains why when you ask someone "what do you do?" they often tell you what company they work for rather than a job title. Ok...back to transfers....let's say you work at a post office and you are happy but you have worked there for 3 years so chances are you will be transferred to another post office. Why are you transferred? Because. Because it is the Japanese way. Because they don't want you to get too comfortable. Apparently, transferring salesmen will prevent corruption and stealing from the company! In some cases, people are transferred to another local branch or store but it also happens that people can be transferred to another prefecture altogether! I remember when my hubby and I discussed what we would do if his company (an electronics store) wanted to move him to another prefecture-our idea was for him to quit since we didn't want to live apart and I have a great job here (thankfully we never have to worry about that again!). Even teachers are transferred about every 5 years.....perhaps so they can learn how other people teach at another school?

Talking about teachers...I have a friend who is a teacher. She has taught 6th grade for about 15 years. Last year, out of the blue, she was told that she was (starting within a month or so) going to be teaching English to her class. She couldn't speak English never mind teach it. So, she started learning English so she could teach her kids. She studied hard and learned enough to teach her kids. Her confidence grew and she enjoyed it so much she decided to really study English and she was looking forward to teaching her new class this year. The school year ended in mid March and she was preparing for her new 6th grade class (which would have started this week) when she was informed on March 26th, that she is now a 2nd grade teacher so she doesn't need to teach English. Not only is her new skill wasted, there is now a new 6th grade teacher that is going to have to teach English that can't even speak English at this point. I just don't get this way of thinking!! How does this help anyone?

April is also the season of "Shin nyu shain" or "enter the new employees". In Japan, 3rd year university students start looking for jobs that would start the April after graduating from university (most do a 4 year program) . Hundreds at a time sit for company tests (this country loves tests!!!), and if they pass that test, they then might get a first interview, then a 2nd interview and hopefully, they will have a job lined up long before they actually graduate. See "freshmen" meaning just graduated students, are most sought after by employers. If you graduate without a job lined up, your chances for a "real" job (IE working for a big company) are slim as the next job hunting season will be filled with these "freshmen" and they will be chosen first in most cases. You will then be left working at an "albaito" or part time job (even if you work 40 or more hours a week, if you are not salaried then it is considered part time work). I know one woman who, after not being able to line up a job, has decided to stay at university for one more year so she can be a part of the next job hunting season while technically still a student. This will cost her parents at least $8000 and that is just for tuition.

So...as it is the season of people being transferred it was no surprise to me that when I walked into the local 100yen shop ($1 shop) there was huge area filled with packing tape, bubble wrap, boxes etc. So while moving companies are making a killing this time of year, I can't help but wonder if they are the only ones that benefit from this.

Cherry Blossoms, Sushi Cake, Tomato Sweets And More

2010-04-01T23:43:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I went to Hakata (the big city near mine)and while I was on the train, I took this picture of the train doors. In Japan, many kids in their school uniform sit on the floor so they had to put these "don't sit on the floor" stickers on all the doors. I think this might be another "only in Japan" thing.

I also took some pictures of cherry blossoms at a train station.

Today I went to a shop famous for traditional Japanese sweets. It is really beautiful!

They had a display of tomato daifuku...tomato sweets! These are cherry tomatoes covered in mochi (sticky rice cake) and sweetened with mirin (sweet Japanese sake used for cooking).

Then we went to a sushi shop and we saw this for sale. Sushi cake for kids!

Then we went to the supermarket. There are spring decorations and food everywhere.

Here are some pictures of sweets.

Here are some pictures of the Kimchee section. I love kimchee!

This next picture is of pickled potatoes. The are pink thanks to plums.

The next 2 pics are things most of us in North America don't/won't eat-Raw chicken and raw horse meat.

And the last picture is of some fried food available at the supermarket.

Crazy Japanese Beauty Gadgets!

2010-03-28T22:04:00.001-07:00

WARNING: Breasts and nipples will be shown in this post so if that offends you, please skip this one!

I'm sure most if not every country has interesting/crazy gadgets and doodads for losing weight, getting toned, cleaning your house, fixing broken items etc. Japan is no different! One thing though...they have some crazy (in my opinion) beauty gadgets.

I found these ads in very popular catalogs called "Belle Maison" (yep...they love French as much as they love English!) and "Dinos" which are kind of like a Sears catalog for you North Americans.

Let's start with the nipples! Don't like the color of yours? Don't like the wrinkles around your nipples? No problem! Just apply "Top Peach" et voila! Light colored, non wrinkled nipples!

Do you have a "dango bana" (means dumpling nose-see below-the nose without the gadget)? You can get a nice high straight nose if you use this contraption!

Are you cheeks and jowls droopy? Not if use this! Just 10 minutes a day and all droopiness will vanish!

Do you furrow your brow and the lines don't quite go away anymore? Do you have big wrinkles across your forehead? Roll them away with this!

Are those bags under your eyes weighing you down? Not anymore!! Add batteries and apply for 3 minutes a day. Heat and micro currents will kick those bags to the curb!

Does your face need all over toning? Wish you could train your face not to droop! There is an answer! Just apply the "lift patch pro" to different parts of your face and watch your face get whipped into shape!

Roll, roll, roll your way to a more toned and shapely face! As your roll this across your face (and apparently anywhere), the rollers gently lift your skin and the micro currents help keep your shape!

How many women actually use these? I have no clue but they are available in many catalogs!!

Would you pay to hang out in a restroom in a train station?

2010-03-25T23:18:00.000-07:00

I'm thinking this might be another "only in Japan" idea but apparently it is a popular one. The West Japan Railway Company (JR West) in Osaka opened a ¥300-per-hour toilet service called Angelbe back in 2007 after hearing complaints from women that there was no place to do their makeup or kill time while waiting for the train. In this spa like restroom you can enjoy tea, learn makeup tricks and even shop for lingerie. It has become so popular that now big brands are sponsors and Panasonic will bring in a professional hair stylist to show women/girls how to use their new hair product that is just being launched. And Wacoal is going to have a fitting event for lingerie. Here are some pictures.

So...what do you think? Would you pay about $3 to hang out here?

How do you say "doggy bag" in Japanese? You can't!

2010-03-22T03:02:00.000-07:00

Once, many years ago, when I went to an Italian restaurant and I couldn't eat all of my dinner, I asked for a doggy bag. They didn't understand.So, I said "mochi kaeri onegaishimasu" ( which means "take out") while pointing to my dinner. They said no. Take out food is take out food. What you can't eat at the restaurant is garbage. Thankfully, that idea might be changing.

According to the Tokyo-based nonprofit organization Doggy Bag Committee (DBC) ,the amount of food wasted in Japan every year equals the amount of global food aid (actually, according to the According to the Ministry of Agriculture's Food Action Nippon Committee, 19 million tons of food is wasted every year and only 5 million are recycled in to fertilizer or feed. ) So, The DBC was founded last March and is trying to popularize the English term "doggy bag" to help reduce the waste. At a recent meeting he had to explain that a doggy bag is not a bag you put dogs in nor, is it a dog shaped bag.

The DBC recommends using a reusable doggy bag that you can carry with you. This special doggy bag was created using origami techniques and it won't leak. The biggest challenge will be to get people to use them and to allow restaurants to let people take their food home. Apparently, many restaurants fear that if people take their food home they will get food poisoning and then won't go back to the restaurant . So the DBC has created cards that people can sign and leave on the table stating that they are taking their food home "on their own responsibility" So far only 200 restaurants in all of Japan have signed up with the DBC and posted notices in their restaurants stating that customers can take their food home if they wish.

Perhaps if the government steps in, it will help? Well, in Chiba prefecture, that is what has happened. The prefecture is worried about the space left in their landfill and so has asked about 280 restaurants to participate in "Chiba Tabekiri Eco Style" (Chiba Finish Your Dish Eco Style) and let people take home their food. Only time will tell if this will work or not.

Geeky foreign men = stars!!

2010-03-18T23:08:00.000-07:00

When I first came to Japan, I hung out at and eventually worked at a local bar. I was living in an area near a University so there were lots of foreigners around. And it never ceased to amaze me to see cute Japanese girls falling all over .....ummm.... geeky foreign guys. Guys, who when they lived in North America would never get a second look. But here....they are stars! I've seen it so often that I don't give it much thought anymore but then I saw this article on CNN and I laughed so hard because it is so true and yet hard to explain to people back home. I also believe that many of these guys will never go back to their own countries-at least not while they are being treated like Hollywood stars!

Raw Donuts Anyone?

2010-03-17T08:49:00.000-07:00

There is a craze going on for "nama donuts" in Nagoya at a shop called Love Sweets Antique(ラブスウィーツアンティーク). "Nama" basically means "raw" but in this case it is more like "uncooked". Apparently they take sponge cake, mousse, jelly and fruit or other flavors, combine them in a donut shape and freeze them. When you eat one it melts in your mouth and apparently has a very interesting texture. Prices range from 168 Yen~ 189 Yen (less than $2).

This is a new shop and people are willing to wait for up to 1 hour for them.

Here are some of the donuts they offer.

Apple.

Cream cheese.

Chocolate

Strawberry.

Blueberry.

Matcha (green tea).

My honey keeps looking at them and is practically drooling. Too bad Nagoya is so far away!