Sayonara 2011! Hello 2012!

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! 

Pepsi Pink! Strawberry and milk flavored Pepsi!

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!

It's all about the chestnut!

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. 

Shop now for rings for Christmas-10% off!

Okinawan Food

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!

Typhoon Number 15

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

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!!

10 Japanese Fashion Flops

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

It used to be a hobby!

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).

Japan has some tiny restaurants!!

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?

Inspired by Sake!

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