I finally found coconut flour in Japan!

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

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

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

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!

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!

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!

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