A Fish Out of Water

Easter

Although we didn't do anything special for Easter at home this year (I can barely remember what my family does- I think it involves ham maybe?) Shuma got to participate in two Easter egg hunts. That's him above with his bunny bag that we'd made the week before at Polar Bear Club, one of our playgroups. Well, I did most of the making, his main job was tearing off the whiskers. Which he has a real talent for!

The PBC's (Polar Bear Club) egg hunt was at Koishikawa Botanical Garden, which has some beautiful old cherry trees that are just gorgeous when blooming. There were a few trees in bloom but it was a bit early for most of them, but the main problem was the weather- one of the biggest storms in decades was due to hit that afternoon.

So we got right to it, with some moms reading Easter books while others hid the eggs, and then we let the kids loose. Shuma was too little to really participate in the PBC egg hunt last year so this was basicly his first time, and he needed to have the first few eggs pointed out to him.

Which kind of felt like cheating, but when I saw how carefully he picked up the eggs and put them in his bag, and how proudly he carried that bag around, I figured I'd helped exactly enough.

After the hunt the kids checked out their loot and did some sharing and trading, and we had a very quick lunch.

Shuma ate one piece of avocado, all of the chickpeas, and not a single bite of anything else in the lovinvly prepared bento. Sigh.

Then we had to hurry home to avoid the wind and rain, and also a looming tantrum: I'd foolishly given him a piece of candy and he wanted more (a soft kind, don't worry- what are those little white pill-shaped candies that have the texture of chalk called? grr, that's going to bother me now). Thankfully he's still easily distracted, and the walk home did the trick.

It was a really nice walk, actually. A good portion of the way from the park to Myogadani Station is along this cherry blossom-lined street, and a section of the median has a nice walkway, sculptures and even a little river. Koishikawa and this road are definitely top on my list of cherry blossom viewing spots for next year.

The next egg hunt was with Oizumi Playtime, another playgroup. This one is run by my friend Ayako and myself, and for Easter we invited our members' families and friends to our local park for a picnic. We snagged a spot near the only cherry tree in bloom.

We made paper Easter baskets while the dads hid the eggs. It was their first time hiding eggs, and for most of the kids it was their first time finding them.

Shuma, however, is now a seasoned pro so he found four eggs, without us having to point any out! He's such a fast learner. A real genius, I tell you. Of course, the winner of the hunt found eighteen, so Shuma has some practice to do before he can truly compete at the highest level.

Then the kids were free to play, and of course Shuma wanted bubbles. So bubbles he had, until Hideaki was out of breath. Good news for him though: a few days later Shuma learned how to blow bubbles on his own, so he's off the hook. I told you Shuma was a genius!

Note that the photos from the second event aren't mine. I was too busy being proud of my genius son to take any pictures myself.

New Year round up

Yes, it's the middle of February, so it seems a little late to be blogging about our new year's holidays, but they tend to drag it out here (that's my excuse and I'm sticking to it). So I already shared our nengajo (new year postcard) but I thought I'd show a few of the outtakes. He's holding the ball in some pictures partly as a distraction and partly to represent that flaming ball or pearl that Chinese and Japanese dragons are often depicted holding (don't ask me what it actually means).

This year we were only in Osaka for a few days and we stayed at a hotel. My mother-in-law broke her wrist in December and was unable to cook, clean or drive so we just visited during the day and helped out in the kitchen as well as we could. My sister-in-law took charge and did most of the work, but I was able to learn how to cook some of the osechi ryouri (the traditional new year's dishes) that my mother-in-law usually makes. No pictures as we were rather busy, but there are years of osechi pics in the archives (here is last year, for example). Here is a picture of the whole family taken at our hotel after a dinner out.

We had lunch at Haneda airport on our way back, at one of the small restaurants in Terminal 2's 3rd floor that share common seating overlooking the departures lobby. We've always avoided this little alley despite some interesting looking restaurants because it's kind of like a food court and the seating looks crowded and uncomfortable, but we noticed some nice big chairs in front of a Sri Lankan place called Court Lounge. The food was good and not outrageously overpriced, and upon sitting down we noticed that every chair is different and we'd definitely snagged the best ones- Shuma loved swiveling around his his big armchair. I think we'll eat here every time we fly from now on.

Back home I decided to try cooking some more osechi. I've never, ever had to do it because my MIL always does everything, so I didn't want to get too ambitious. I decided to just try a few simple favourites, so I did yakitai (roasted sea bream), kani sarada (crab salad) and ozoni (soup with mochi), along with some quick cabbage pickles (not really osechi, I just wanted something pickled). My in-laws always order a great big sea bream that comes already cooked, wild-caught in the Seto Inner Sea, known for its delicious bream. I've always been under the impression that it must be really hard to cook, but mine (a little farmed one from nowhere famous) turned out beautifully and was surprisingly easy. I want to make this again, not just for new year's.

The crab salad was nothing special, my MIL's is much better and is presented really beautifully.

But the ozoni was good, it's very hard to screw up. It's almost the same as MIL's: a clear dashi broth with chicken thigh, hakusai (Chinese cabbage), mitsuba (trefoil) and square-cut mochi (rice cake), but instead of namafu (raw wheat gluten) I used shiitake. That's it above, with some of the sea bream.

Just like in Osaka, the day after eating yakitai we had taichazuke, which involves making a broth with the leftover fish head and bones and serving it over rice with any leftover meat. This is probably my favourite new year's food of all.

On January 7th we ate nanakusagayu (rice porridge with the seven herbs of spring) without taking a picture, but the herbs and the final dish look exactly like this every single year so I didn't bother with a picture. A few days after that is Kagami Biraki, which is when you break the kagami mochi (rice cakes displayed during the new year's holidays). That's our kagami mochi above, and you can tell how busy/lazy I've been because look at this year's compared to the one we had a few years ago. I mean, no little altar, an ugly fake citrus on top- I'm not even trying.

The mochi was stuffed into abura-age (pockets of fried tofu) and added to oden (a stew of vegetables and various fish and tofu products), which is not at all traditional but as you can probably tell by now I'm not too big on perfectly following tradition these days.

It was yummy though, even if this picture makes it look gross.

The final chapter in a Japanese new year is (I think) Setsubun, which falls on February 3rd. This is a time to drive bad luck out of the house (in the form of oni, best described as an ogre or troll) and bring in good luck. This is done by throwing around dried soybeans, which is really fun to do but rather annoying after because the floor is littered with beans. I really want to sweep them up as soon as they are thrown but seems wrong somehow, so I always mean to leave them overnight and clean them the next day, but by then they are already crushed or kicked away into crevices and I forget. And then for weeks or even months after I find the stupid little beans in random places. Like finding a forgotten chocolate easter egg in June, except not because it's a tasteless bean.

This year I got smart and decided to throw something different. A lot of people through whole peanuts instead, because they're easier to clean up, but I'm not a fan of raw peanuts (and like I have time to sit around shelling them). So I went with little bags of mixed nuts, and it may look like total cheating because there are no soy nuts but it was in the Setsubun section next to all the proper beans and accessories.

Besides being easy to clean up, these packages contain corn nuts and now you too know how to say corn nut in Japanese. What an awesome name, and if you think it makes no sense think about the name "corn nut". It's not a nut, people!

Some families get festive and dress up the dad or other volunteers as the oni. Oni are always red and blue and have horns (or a horn) and usually look rather grumpy. These ones were made at my playgroup so are on the friendly side.

Shuma would only tolerate wearing it for a second or two, so Hideaki and I had to be the oni.

But Shuma happily participated in the throwing part. All other customs, like eating your age in roasted soybeans (yuck!) and eating ehomaki (a fat sushi roll that is supposed to bring luck but is just a made-up thing to get you to but sushi were discarded. I will consider eating my age in giant corn though.

Happy New Year!

Here is this year's nengajo (new year's post card), starring Shuma as this year's juunishi (zodiac animal), the dragon. He may not look particularly dragony but we were busy at the end of the year and didn't have time to create the perfect costume or take the perfect picture. This was as close as we could get to perfect, and that's good enough.

May you all have a close-to-perfect year!

Christmas 2011

Christmas has come and gone, way too fast as usual but it was good while it lasted. Shuma was a good boy so his stocking was full of presents from Santa and the tree was surrounded by presents from his fans.

We started Christmas morning with mimosas, because we're fancy like that.

Don't I just emanate Christmas cheer? This is before I had my first sip, obviously.

That's better. Shuma doesn't need much to get in the spirit, a little water and a Cheerio or two will do the trick.

On to the stockings, and after hearing about how kids this age care more about the packaging than the goods inside, we were slightly disappointed that Shuma had no interest at all in ripping the wrapping paper or playing with boxes. He did like the presents themselves though, so we're taking that to mean he is extraordinarily mature for his age.

His favourite presents were the banana, which he insisted on eating right away, and the clementine, which he doesn't think of as food but made a pretty good ball.

Next up was breakfast, with Shuma eating close to his weight in strawberries. We opened the rest of the presents after that, and just enjoyed ourselves without bothering with the camera. It was nice.

Christmas dinner started with oyster soup for the grownups and Cheerios for the little one.

Then roast chicken legs, greens sauteed with bacon and garlic, stuffing, mashed potatoes and gravy. I knew I wouldn't have time to roast a bird this year so went to the local chicken shop a week early to order a roasted chicken (a delicacy only available at Christmas). The owner replied that there would be lots and lots so there was no need to pre-order, so of course when we went to pick it up on Christmas there were none left. He was very apologetic and we were happy to buy just a few of the momoyaki (broiled drumstick with thigh attached) that are available all year. That's the best part anyway, and it was nice not having to deal with leftovers.

Shuma ate the same as we did, minus butter and gravy. He especially liked the chicken.

Dessert was a chocolate truffle cake from Nakataya, our local cake shop. Exactly the same as last year, and exactly as good.

Shuma made do with more strawberries, and had no idea what he was missing.

Now we're off for a very brief visit to the in-laws in Osaka. Happy New Year to all of you!

 

 

Ready for Christmas

It's late as usual, but the Christmas spirit has finally arrived at our home, mostly thanks to my mom. Thanks, mom! First she sent some Christmas colours for Shuma to wear, above.

Next came the tree, which unfortunately mom couldn't send. Like last year I picked it up at Ikea, and carried it home along with my other purchases (and Shuma) on two buses and two trains. Hopefully that will help explain why I picked one that is barely taller than Shuma (especially after I had Hideaki saw off a good portion of the trunk to help preserve it).

Then my mom sent a couple more boxes of Christmas treats, which of course are 99% for Shuma. And he knew it. He was so excited to open the boxes, pull out and manhandle the presents, and take them off to his various hiding places. The littlest presents keep disappearing and I suppose in a few months I'll find them in a secret hiding burrow of his (along with the TV remote control, several odd socks and a spoon that have gone missing recently).

He was really excited about "The Night Before Christmas", which parents want me to read to him on Christmas Eve, a continuance of a family tradition. I think I'll be reading it every night till then, along with "Good Night Moon", because he keeps insisting.

Finally, I got the decorations up, and not surprisingly Shuma loved "helping". I really wish I had the video camera handy, because he kept saying "Oooooh!" whenever I turned the lights on. He's also taken it upon himself to redecorate the tree, and putting his toy box in front of it doesn't help- he just climbs right in the box and grabs what he can reach. I think I'll have to get a bigger toy box, or a higher piece of furniture to put the tree on, or maybe my mom can send some electric fencing.

More birthday stuff

Between August 20th and October 4th we celebrate Hideaki's birthday, our anniversary, Shuma's birthday, and my birthday as well. We also lean towards "birthday months" rather than big bashes on the days themselves, so please forgive me for kind of spreading out and jumbling up these birthday posts.

So I got a big surprise the weekend after my birthday- a delivery of ten fresh oysters from Akkeshi, Hokkaido! I'd dropped hints last year that, with a brand-new baby taking over our lives, went unfulfilled. This year Hideaki came through, and although they weren't my beloved Akkeshi kaki-emon oysters (which were apparently mostly wiped out in the tsunami) they were from the same brackish lake and tasted quite similar.

Aren't they pretty? He even shucked most of them for me, and I was nice enough to give him one. He doesn't like his oysters raw, so we cooked two in the microwave as recommended in the information that came with the delivery. Amazingly they were really good that way, just liked steamed but much easier.

These oysters are so flavourful that they don't need anything added, but a squeeze of sudachi citrus was nice for variety's sake.

The birthday dinner that followed was a humble but tasty meal of yaki-udon (fried udon noodles) and wonton soup. Hideaki uses fish sauce and ponzu to flavour his noodles and I'm totally addicted to that combination of flavours.

Dessert was a store-bought berry cake, and you can tell it's for my birthday because he hates these sour kind of berries. It's actually quite hard to find a simple cake like this, but since I don't like a lot of whipped cream and goo this is really all I want.

No candles or "Happy Birthday" singng, but then if those were really important to me I would have married a woman.

Then Shuma got a late and wonderful birthday present from some former students of mine who took us out for lunch. It's a birthday cake from Noe (pronounced "Noah", a much-loved cake shop in nearby Shakujii Koen). The chocolate heart says "Shuma-kun,Issai no Otanjoubi Omedetou" (Baby Shuma, Congratulations on Your First Birthday).

He was fascinated by the candle. He's recently learned how to blow but wasn't up for it so I took care of the candle for him (my wish was that he'd outgrow his dairy allergy so he could eat his next birthday cake).

He did get to eat his fill of fruit though, and his mom and dad really enjoyed the rest. Actually Noe cakes are the only ones I'll happily eat, cream, goo, and all. Yum.

Birthday

We recently celebrated Hideaki's birthday, and Shuma gave him the best present he's able to give: a whole day of very good behaviour.

For the actual birthday there was an ice cream cake, which looks awful here because we forgot to take a picture before eating it.

But it was delicious and was addressed in way Hideaki has never been cake-addressed before. I was afraid he'd think it was cheesy but he loved it. Shuma was his usual fussy self- the good behaviour was on another day (we like to stretch our birthdays out).

A few days later we had lunch at Girandole at Park Hyatt, which is kind of a fancy place so we were prepared to bolt at the first sign of fussiness, but it never happened. I wish we were always so lucky.

I started with salmon rillette and mixed greens with passion fruit sauce. It was really lively and fresh but would have been better with a few more of those crispy bread things to scoop up the salmon with.

My main course was pan fried kurodai (black sea bream) with Herbs with chive sauce, which was perfectly cooked and very tasty.

Hideaki had sirloin with Lyonnaise potatoes and Bourguignon sauce, also nicely cooked and delicious.

Dessert was next door at Peak Lounge, where Shuma started to get a bit wiggly but still well under control.

This was the same place we had high tea at last year near the end of my pregnancy, and Hideaki was tickled that we now had before and after pictures.

I had a blueberry tart and iced latte, Hideaki had a mochaccino and tiramisu, and Shuma had a few of our berries.

We stopped by the neighboring Shinjuku Chuo Park to reward Shuma with a little playtime. My sister-in-law tells me their grandmother used to live nearby and that they used to come here all the time as children. When I told Hideaki that he used to play here he was like "We were homeless?" That's exactly the kind of image this park has, but it turns out to have a really nice playground, complete with a splash pool.

We weren't dressed for the pool, but we did find one thing of interest:

That's right, a baby swing! Finally!

It's actually more of a toddler swing and he is way too small for it and probably was in danger of flying out of it, plus we had to wait our turn and then finish quickly because a whole bunch of other people wanted to use it. Maybe they should think about putting in a few more?

But we can't complain, finally finding a baby swing was a great end to a great day.

Mother's Day

On Mother's Day Hideaki's family had a lunch in honour of Ah-chan, his maternal grandmother. In attendance were his mother, who flew in from Osaka just for the event, his aunt, his sister Atsuko and her husband, daughter Marya and baby Yuuki.

We met at a restaurant called Tsukiji no Uemura in Mizonokuchi, Kanagawa (near Ah-chan's nursing home) and had a feast. It was tasty, and Shuma had rice in non-okayu (rice porridge) form for the first time and ended up eating nearly half my bowl. But we didn't much pay attention to the food, as this both Ah-chan and my aunt's first time to meet Shuma and Yuuki.

The kids were happy to see each other, and Marya proudly showed off her missing teeth (the picture sadly didn't turn out). I can't believe she's losing her baby teeth already, it seems like she was just born (yes, I realize I'll soon be saying this kind of thing about Shuma, and yes, it totally blows my mind). The babies spent most of the time engaged in hand-to-hand combat.

And Ah-chan was very happy to meet the babies. They loved her right back, and were generally charming and remarkably well-behaved. Ah-chan 94 (I think) and it was pretty incredible to have four generations together, with nearly a century between the eldest and youngest. I hope all four generations can meet up for many more years.

Kodomo no Hi

 May 5th was Kodomo no Hi (Children's Day, pronounced "koe-doe-moe no hee"), which is the official name for what really is Boys' Day. Also known as Tango no Sekku and celebrated throughout East Asia, it is an ancient celebration that involves, not surprisingly, decorations and tasty treats. Kodomo no Hi is a national holiday (in contrast with the March 3rd Girls' Day for which there is no day off- make of that what you will) that falls during Golden Week, the string of holidays in late April and Early May.

In the weeks before Kodomo no Hi you'll see koinobori (carp streamers) popping up in farm fields, in front of houses and on apartment balconies. These beautiful wind-catchers were originally flown in battlefields, as carp symbolize strength and courage, and as those were desirable traits for sons to possess they became associated with Tango no Sekku. The basic pattern is a colourful windsock on top, then a large black or dark blue carp representing the father, a smaller red or pink carp representing the mother, and a smaller blue or green carp representing the chonan (first-born son). Any further sons are represented by progressively smaller smaller blue, green and purple carp.

The best koinobori are lovingly hand-painted, metres long, and will put you back hundreds of dollars, but you can also just get a cheap set at the 100 Yen Shop, like I did. Obviously this was the first year I've bought and displayed koinobori, and I would have loved to get a really nice set, but it's not quite in the budget.

Actually what I'd really like to do is send a huge set of koinobori to my family in Canada, as it would surely delight both my father and brother. My dad loves windsocks, flags, wind-catchers, and any kind of doodad that can be hung in our backyard to flap in the wind or sparkle in the sun. Which annoys the hell out of my brother, who in recent years has taken over much of the gardening and outdoor work and also spends a great deal of time in the backyard drinking beer and grilling things. He can't stand any kind of decoration or unnatural presence in the backyard (other than his extensive collection of barbeque equipment, of course) and is constantly taking down my dad's decorations. But if I were to send some really handsome koinobori my dad would be able to indulge his love of colourful outdoor ornaments, and my brother would also be pleased because koinobori are only meant to be hung up for a limited time: week or so after Kodomo no Hi and the carp come down. So I'm saving up for next year.

Here is the little Kodomo no Hi display in our living room, on the shelf above the TV (the most auspicious location in a Japanese home). On the wall is a plaque, below it are two decorations we made at our playgroup (koinobori and a pink kabuto, or helmet), and below that is a collection of snacks sent by my mother-in-law.

Here is a better look at the snacks. Inside the blue koinobori is a pack of arare (rice cracker balls, pronounced "ah-rah-ray"), and inside one pack of snacks are little koinobori-shaped crackers.

An even closer look. On the left is ramune flavoured candy in various wrappings, top right is the arare, and in the middle is what's inside the mini koinobori: a long senbei (rice cracker) and a round senbei with a roasted soybean inside. All yummy and sure to delight any boy, but this year they're for adults only.

Here is a closer look at the plaque. It was made by my mother-in-law, whose hobby is enamel work. Isn't it beautiful? It shows a kabuto, which is the helmet that was worn with Japanese armour. Nowadays kabuto are associated with Boys' Day as they symbolize parents' hope that their boys will grow up to be murderous and bloodthirsty warriors. Or maybe these days it's more about strength, health, courage, etc, but I'm not crazy about the association with war so am a bit relieved that we can't afford to display kabuto.

Kabuto for Boys' Day are child-sized (although not really meant to be worn) and normally displayed together with their storage box, a gold screen, and often such extras as miniature arrows, swords, and even full child-sized suits of armour. Here are some examples. A good set costs thousands of dollars and I have to admit are very cool looking, but it's just not the kind of thing I want my boy celebrating. So I was really happy to receive the enamel plaque above- it is pretty, lovingly made, doesn't take up half the living room to display, and really shows the kabuto as a symbol and nothing more. I also think my mother-in-law is really talented and am glad to have a piece of her art.

There are a few kinds of wagashi (Japanese sweets) that are eaten on Kodomo no Hi, but I was unable to find them (maybe I shopped too late and they were sold out?) so this year I got some treats for us grown-ups at a local cake shop. Strawberry cake for Hideaki, mango mousse for me, and also a little "charity cookie" (lots of shops are doing this: you get a yummy cookie if you give a small donation to the earthquake victims). Next year, when Shuma is old enough for sweets, I will make sure to buy the proper chimaki.

Happy Boys' Day!

Easter

Shuma's first Easter went well, although being just seven months old he didn't really notice anything out of the ordinary. We didn't do a whole lot, except take some silly pictures (in bunny ears we made at our playgroup), which he's used to, and eat lots of chocolate, which he is also quite used to.

He did get a new stuffed bunny from his grandparents, which he loves. And he got to watch Hideaki and I decorate eggs. No psanky for me this year, just regular crayons and dye. Although Hideaki developed a new technique with tape that I think looks pretty cool. I took the eggs to a kid's Easter lesson, which was my first time working in ages and ages and it felt great. I can't wait to start doing more.

Our playgroup had an Easter party, which started off in a member's home due to rain. We had lunch and did an egg hunt. Shuma really sucked at egg hunting and didn't find a single thing, but some kids took pity on him and shared their eggs. He still doesn't know about chocolate, but seems to like how tinfoil tastes.

When the sun came out we went to the park and admired some late cherry blossoms. The older kids played around and Shuma patiently posed for pictures. He's such a good sport.

And here's Shuma going at the tinfoil again. Green seems to be his favourite flavour.

Happy Pancake Day/International Women's Day/Birthday!

On the phone with my parents this weekend, my Dad asked if I knew what was coming up this week. "Pancake Day?" I asked, enjoying the few seconds of silence as they tried to figure out if I was joking or not. I was, of course, because yesterday was my Mom's birthday.

But I'm rather proud of myself for remembering Shrove Tuesday, a holiday that isn't celebrated here in Japan so I tend to forget about. We did Breakfast For Dinner (actually Breakfast For Breakfast for Hideaki, who's on night shift), with pancakes and lazy strawberry compote (strawberries + sugar, mixed in the morning and left to sit all day). There was also bacon, and would have been eggs if I hadn't been overwhelmed by the amount of pancake batter I wound up with by following this recipe. I mean, just looking at the ingredient amounts I knew I was in for a big batch, but I was totally unprepared for the ridiculous amount of pancake batter I got. We ate until we were stuffed and then I filled the freezer with pancakes and there's still a bowl of the damned batter in the fridge to use in the next few days.

And what happens to old pancake batter? Will I end up with crepes? Won't be much different from these pancakes, which were much less fluffy than promised (not complaining- I like thin pancakes too, and these were very soft and light). I don't know what went wrong- did something get lost in translation when converting those ridiculous Imperial measurements into metric? Should I just admit that the homemade substitute is a pale imitation and stop using recipes that call for buttermilk?

Anyway. Happy Pancake Day, and Happy Birthday Mom, and also Happy Birthday Cuzzin Jen, Nephew Aaron, Friend Emi, and (oh shit who am I forgetting?) everyone else who has a birthday around now.

Also, speaking of holidays not celebrated in Japan, Happy International Women's Day!

 

Wrapping up the holidays

Oshogatsu (New Year's) didn't begin or end in Osaka. It started just after Christmas with oosouji (great cleaning), which for most families involves the complete cleaning of the house from top to bottom in order to purify it for the coming new year. My oosouji consisted of doing a giant pile of dishes and giving the sink an extra-thorough scrubbing, so it wasn't that great of a cleaning, but I think I did pretty well under the circumstances.

Our home thus purified, we took the Christmas wreath down from the front door and replaced it with the shimekazari above. This is a special decoration that designates a space as holy, welcoming the gods and warding off bad luck. Each component symbolizes some sort of wish for the new year (the fake pine branch in ours represents longetivity, but don't ask me about the other stuff), and it is hung not only on front doors of homes, but at shops, restaurants, and on cars. This particular one was chosen because it was the smallest, least gaudy, and most importantly, the cheapest we could find and it wasn't until I took it down a couple weeks later that I noticed it said koutsuu anzen, which means "traffic safety". It was meant to be hung on a car.

My husband, who is allegedly Japanese, helped pick it out and either didn't bother reading it or didn't think he needed to mention that this was for cars only. But the numerous people who saw it (our landlords who live next door, their son's family, who live upstairs, various mail carriers and delivery people) probably thought "Jesus, when is that idiot foreigner going to learn how to read?"

Inside the house was another decoration: the kagami mochi (literally "mirror mochi"). These slabs of mochi (rice paste) are usually topped with a daidai citrus, symbolizing the wish for fertility. But as we've had quite enough of that already we went for the non-traditional but more appropriate maneki neko (beckoning cat), which represents our desire for cold hard cash.

After we'd all returned from Osaka in the new year, we went to a local shrine for hatsumoude (first prayer of the year).

Once we'd offered our prayers we bought our fortunes in the form of these omikuji. Mine on the left says kichi (good luck) and Hideaki's says hankichi (half good luck), which is a designation we'd never heard of so we asked the lady behind the counter what exactly it meant. It turns out that she was a philosophical type, and her explanation started off with "Well, the fortunes can't really be ranked from good to bad" (except that they totally can) and went on for quite some time, with gist being "it doesn't really matter what your fortune says, it's how you yourself decide interpret it". We found it pretty funny considering omikuji always come with extremely specific designations ranging from daikichi (best good luck) to daikyou (worst bad luck) and very detailed predictions in a number of categories like "love", "study", and "health". We still have no idea what hankichi means: is it half luck as in neutral? or as in half-way between regular good luck and best good luck? what is the difference between hankichi and chuukichi (medium luck)? But we've been having lots of fun mimicking the shrine lady (for example, in answer to "Is this towel clean?": "Well, it can't really be designated as clean or dirty. It's up to you to decide its level of cleanliness").

On January 7th we ate the customary nanakusagayu, which is rice porridge with the seven herbs of spring. Those herbs were described a few years back, and a few years before that I posted a recipe.

The next thing to be done in the new year was kagami biraki (breaking the mirror). This is when the kagami mochi that was displayed at the end of the year is broken and eaten. We did ours as isobeyaki (grilled and wrapped in nori seaweed) with melted cheese and flavoured with shichimijouyuu (soy sauce with seven spice mix).

The last custom involved with the new year is Setsubun, which coincides with the Chinese New Year's festival (in the olden days Japan followed the same lunar calendar as China, and Setsubun was actually part of the New Year's festivities). To celebrate, we tossed dried soybeans in and out of all windows and doors to our apartment while whispering (you're supposed to shout, but Shuma had just been put down for a nap) at demons to get out and good fortune to come in. Mamemaki (throwing of the beans) is an ancient custom, but a much newer one is the eating of ehomaki, which are special futomaki (fat sushi rolls). The ehomaki must be eaten in a specific way: by hand, without being cut, without talking or pausing, and while facing the year's eho (auspicious direction). Kyoto Foodie has a nice explanation of ehomaki.

Neither Hideaki or I are particularly fond of ehomaki as the filling tends to be too sweet and it's so large that eating it without pause is unpleasant. So this year I found half-sized ehomaki, which we ate in silence while facing south-southeast, pondering what kind of luck half-sized sushi rolls would bring us.

Wait, I know the answer: "It doesn't really matter what size your sushi roll is, it's how you choose to interpret it."

Oshogatsu

What I did for Oshogatsu (the new year holidays): spent nine babyriffic days with my in-laws in Osaka.

You'll recognise one of those babies in the picture above. The other baby is his cousin.

Meet Yuuki, my three week old nephew. He was there with his mom (Hideaki's sister) and his big sister, Marya.

It was highly entertaining sharing a roof with two babies and a five year old, and not nearly as noisy as I'd imagined. In fact, every time we heard a baby crying we knew it was Shuma, as Yuuki barely cries at all- he just gives the occasional, very polite, little whimper. 

My visit started with a fancy double-decker bento, full of tasty morsels too numerous to list here. The next night we had tonyu nabe (soy milk hotpot), which was a first for me and is way better than it sounds, but like a lot of meals I was too distracted by the baby to take pictures. I'll be trying it at home soon and will be sure to blog about it then.

Shuma had all kinds of firsts in Osaka, starting with his first time riding in a car seat. After a bit of crying he seemed to like it, and it was one of the few places he was able to nap. Now I really wish we had a car!

He also had his first experience sleeping on a Japanese style futon. Considering he continued to sleep well at night (and refuse to nap during the day), I think he liked it.

Other developments included a dramatic increase in the use of his hands, and the first time playing with a toy all by himself. This Very Hungry Caterpillar became a favourite.

He met his first doggy, a pomeranian named Shiro. They became good friends and Shuma was on the receiving end of many a sloppy dog kiss, which delighted both him and Shiro.

And a very exciting first: snow! We had one day of snow, and it was actually cold enough to build up a little, so of course we went out for a walk. His reaction?

"We are not amused."

He wasn't impressed by the whiteness of it all, didn't seem to like the cold, and had no reaction to a bit of snow on his cheek. I'm not a winter person at all, but I was a wee bit disappointed.

But he's half Canadian, so he'll learn to love snow eventually I'm sure.

 

The best first of all was him meeting Yuuki. Like all babies they loved looking at each other.

In Japan, New Year's Eve can sometimes seem a little anti-climactic, but for the last several years ours have been very fun. In addition to the traditional toshikoshi soba (year crossing noodles) we feast on crabs sent from my brother-in-law in Hokkaido. No pictures this time as I was busy taking care of Shuma and cracking crab legs. But wow, were they ever good.

The new year begins with three days of osechi (traditional new year's food). Osechi are heavily seasoned and meant to last throughout the holidays, and most are symbolic of various wishes for the year, but as I've explained some of them in past years (here's last year's) I think I can skip it this time.

Osechi is usually served in a multi-layered lacquerware box, but my in-laws favour this revolving server. Above we have, from top, kamaboko (steamed fish paste), tainoko (bream roe), gomame (glazed baby fish), kazunoko (herring roe), sake no kaburamaki (thinly sliced daikon rolled around salmon), datemaki (thick rolled omelet), and kuromame (black soybeans) in the middle.

Kuromame are flavoured with soy sauce, while the shiromame (white beans) above are sweet.

Kurikinton is another sweet one, made of mashed sweet potatoes and chestnuts.

New this year was the kaburamaki, which was marinated in vinegar so nice and refreshing with all the other heavy flavours.

This is matsumaezuke, which is pickled kazunoko (herring roe), konbu (kelp), sakiika (dried skid) and carrot. It's homemade and very good, and the only way I like herring roe.

Above is more of the matsumaezuke, chicken braised with anise, and homemade kimchi. All excellent drinking snacks, and I would have done much more drinking if I hadn't had a little one to feed.

Other osechi included the umani (braised vegetables and beef) at bottom left, which includes the auspicious kuwai (arrowroot) and the namasu (pickled daikon and carrot) at bottom right. Usually for breakfast and lunch osechi is served with mochi (sticky rice cakes) while for dinner it is served with rice and non-osechi side dishes, like the buta no kakuni (braised pork belly) and stir-fried vegatables shown above.

A meal of osechi always starts off with a toast of otoso, a syrupy concoction of sake steeped in sugar and medicinal herbs.

The mochi is usually served in ozoni, a clear soup with chicken and vegetables (at least at my in-laws' house- the soup varies depending on the region and family).

Osechi is always eaten with brand-new chopsticks served in pretty paper wraps. The ones above have our names on them.

New Year's Day is doubly special for us, because it's also my father-in-law's birthday. He turned 77, which is a big deal in Japan and normally we would have gone out to celebrate, but with a brand-new and almost-new baby we stayed home and had a feast delivered.

It came in several huge boxes, with everything already plated- all we had to do was set the table (and wash all the dishes before they were picked up the next day). The meal started with a tray of pretty appetisers, above, along with suimono (clear soup) and chawan mushi (savoury egg custard).

We each had our own servings of sukiyaki that came on little burners.

Here's the sukiyaki served with the onsen tamago (poached egg) provided. A very nice meal, but hopefully we'll all be able to go out for FIL's next auspicious birthday, his 88th.

The next day we tried to do hatsumode (first prayer of the year) at a local shrine, but the line-up was too long so we just bought a few snacks at the yatai (food stalls) and added some fuel to the dondonyaki.

Dondonyaki is a fire on which last year's New Year's decorations burnt. Marya was in charge and did a fine job.

She was hardly scared of the fire and very proud of herself for getting up close.

Hideaki didn't get any time off for the holidays, so just came for one night. While we dropped him off at the airport we took a few lame pictures.

They had a clearly male ground crew member, a clearly male pilot, and two nearly identical skirted and high heeled stewardesses. Did we just ring in 2011, or 1961? Hideaki is mildly obsessed with those ground crew workers who direct taxiing airplanes (there's got to be a proper name for them), so that's what Shuma got to be.

Shuma had way too much attention to really notice his daddy was gone. He had a special seat which he sat in, with the help of a Bumbo, and he took to sitting in it with his arms on the armrest, which earned him the nickname of "Shacho" (president).

Yuuki was just starting to give those fleeting newborn smiles, and I managed to catch one. He felt so tiny when I held him, and it was hard to believe Shuma was the same size just three months before.

For our last night we had homestyle yakiniku (a Japanese version of Korean bbq), which is cooked on an electric griddle at the table.

This could very well have been the best beef I've ever had.

Instead of the usual yakiniku sauce, we had oroshiponzu (grated daikon with ponzu, a soy-citrus sauce). Delicious!

On the bullet train ride home Shuma was a very good boy, which was a relief as I was not looking forward to being on the receiving end of stink eyes from other passengers annoyed by his crying. I hope our first flight goes this well.

It was hard for both of us to get used to being back home- hard for me to get back into doing my own cooking and laundry, and hard for Shuma to adjust to the lack of non-stop noise, excitement, and attention. But I think we've got the hang of it now, and he's even napping once in a while. I hope it's a skill that he gets better at in 2011.

Happy New Year!

May you all have a wonderful 2011!

(Argh, Typepad cut off a chunk of the right side of the postcard. Click on the pictrure if you'd like to see the whole thing.)

Nengajo sneak preview

After 11 years of making childish nengajo (new year's postcards) with stamps and ink, I finally have myself a real live model to make picture postcards with. Naturally I went all out and dressed Shuma up as next year's zodiac animal, the  rabbit (with big thanks to Mila's Daydreams for the inspiration). But what exactly is going on with the yellow circle, mallet and bucket-like thing?

The yellow circle is the moon and the mallet and bucket are a kine and usu, which are a large mortar and pestle used for making mochi (sticky rice paste). And what does a rabbit have to do with the moon and mochi-making? Well, a mochi-making rabbit is what the Japanese see when they look at the moon, that's what.

For most of the photo session Shuma refused to hold the kine, which is only fair considering he's only just learned how to hold things.

Or he just wanted to eat it.

But I got enough snaps of him holding it to make choosing just one a tough decision. Stay tuned to see the finished product!

Bestest Christmas Ever

We just finished celebrating Shuma's best Christmas ever (ours too), and before Shuma and I head off the in-laws in Osaka to begin New Year's celebrations I thought I'd share some holiday pictures.

Hideaki was working the night shift in the week before Christmas, so we got off to a late start. And to compensate we stretched the holiday out over the weekend, with our Christmas dinner and traditional opening of a single Christmas Eve present on the 25th, and the opening of the rest of the presents on the 26th. Chrismtas dinner was a lovely chicken (people don't really do turkey here) that I bought already cooked (a basic roast chicken is a dish that I still can't get right, and I know better than to try again with a baby around) followed by a beautiful cake. Also store bought, of course, at our local patteserie. Actually my parents bought it when they were here earlier this month, as Christmas cakes are usually pre-ordered in Japan.

I couldn't tell you what was inside, because I'm not much of a cake person, except that it involved layers and layers of chocolatey goodness. It was very nice, and I could become a cake person just for this. Thanks Mom and Dad!

The next morning we awoke to full stockings- and one more than usual! Yes, Santa remembered that it was Shuma's first Christmas, and went all out.

Most of the presents are from my parents and other family and friends, which we're very grateful for. Hopefully next year we'll be better able to shower Shuma with the material goods he so deserves (and he'll hopefully be old enough to appreciate it more).

Did you know that it's very hard to post for family pictures with a baby? Yes, you probably did, and now we do too.

Shuma was quite interested in the wrapping paper and packaging, as babies are supposed to be, and was also impressed with all most his presents.

He didn't particularly care for this clementine though.

But this tasty wrapping paper made up for it. As did this onesie:

Now Shuma and I are off to Osaka. I'm wishing all of you a Happy New Year!

Anniversary

A few weeks ago we celebrated our 11th anniversary. I was all set to tell the story of our wedding and took a bunch of pictures of our old wedding photos (we were wed in the pre-digital era, unfortunately, so getting the pictures online is not an easy process) and then I was hit with a bout of lethargy which kept me away from the computer. I don't know if it's directly pregnancy related, or if this summer's endless heat wave finally got to me, or what, but I've stopped loving being pregnant and now just want this baby to come out. So the wedding story (stories actually, as we ended up having four different celebrations) will have to wait, and all you get for now are the pictures.

We celebrated our anniversary in a very small way. Hideaki brought me a little bouquet of flowers, and I cured this year's first batch of ikura (salmon roe), which was put to use in the dinner above. Clockwise from top left: edamame (green soybeans); kyuri no asazuke (quick-pickled cucumbers); nasu to myouga no nimono (simmered eggplants with ginger buds); okura to myouga no misoshiru (miso soup with okra and ginger buds); and umi no oyakodon (mother-and-child seafood over rice).

Oyakodon (mother-and-child over rice) usually refers to a chicken and egg dish, but this seafood version uses salt-grilled salmon and salmon roe, with a garnish of shiso (perilla).

For an anniversary lunch out we went to our favourite local seafood restaurant, Marufuku. Hideaki had the kinmedai furai teishoku (deep-fried alfonsino lunch set). Alfonsino being a high-mercury fish I only snuck a few bites, and man was it ever good. It was also very rich though, and I couldn't imagine eating a whole plate of it.

I chose the sashimi moriawase teishoku (assorted sashimi lunch set), which came with a salad and chawan mushi (savoury egg custard), not shown, and the tray above: pickles, rice, miso soup and a beautifully arranged plate of sashimi. Clockwise from left: suzuki (sea bass); maguro (tuna); sawara no aburi (seared king mackerel); shake (salmon); and buri (yellowtail). It was all excellent, particularly the sawara, which is not a fish I eat often for some reason. Researching it later I discovered that it's very high in mercury, which was a bit of a surprise- I'm pretty careful about mercury but I guess because I don't come across sawara very often it just wasn't on my radar. And here I was worried about the tuna (I gave most of it to Hideaki) and alfonsino.

Actually, I've just checked the the Japanese government's mercury guidelines, and sawara tests as low in mercury (the high mercury listing mentioned above is American). Who to believe? I don't think the very small amounts of tuna, king mackerel and alfonsino I ate have any chance of harming the baby (and all the good stuff from the fish would outweigh any harm anyway), especially given how careful I normally am. But how frustrating to have two official sources give such vastly different information! I swear, once this baby is born I'm going to have the biggest mercury feast ever.

Marufuku
03-3925-1345
4-2-2 Higashioizumi, Nerima-ku, Tokyo
Open weekdays 11:30am-12:00am, Sundays and holidays 11:30am-10:00om, closed Mondays

Birthday cake, curry and tea

Hideaki turned 41 last week, kicking off a month and a half of celebrations: his birthday, our anniversary, the baby's due date, and my birthday. From now on late summer and early autumn will be a busy time, but I do NOT want to be one of those families that celebrates everything all together. That's just lame.

It's hard to justify spending money on a present when there's so much to buy for the baby, so I decided my gift would be to make him a cheesecake. This was actually supposed to be a great big sacrifice, because I hate cheesecake and would be putting all the effort into something that only he could enjoy. I was in for a few surprises though, the first being that cheesecake isn't that hard to make.

Or maybe it's hard to make well- you can see that it's a little messy and I've gone outside the edges a bit with the filling. But for a first attempt by a cheesecake hater, it's not bad. This is an unbaked cheesecake (who wants to bake when it's 35 degrees?) made with mascarpone, cream cheese and cream, based on this recipe (substituting lemon zest for orange zest and omitting the orange slices). Yup, it's a kid's recipe, but perfect for a beginner like me.

I topped it with with nectarine slices macerated in a bit of sugar and lemon juice for a few minutes, and if you can ignore the mess on the crust it almost looks pretty. And it tasted amazing. That was the other surprise- I don't hate cheesecake! In fact, I quite like it. I probably still don't like the baked kind, or the unbaked kind if it was made with gelatin and lots of sugar, but this was delicious and I think I'll have to buy a cheesecake ring so I can make this again properly.

All Hideaki wanted for his birthday dinner was curry rice, and I was happy to oblige as I don't think I've made curry all year (I went off curry in my first trimester and even after my food aversions ended I didn't feel like cooking it). I made what we call keema curry, which is  based on Japanese style keema curry, which is very loosely based on actual keema curry. Our version uses ground pork, garam masala, and lots of onions and tomatoes and I love it because it cooks fast and doesn't need any of that nasty store bought Japanese curry roux. I'm sure it is nothing at all like real keema, but the name has stuck and that's that.

On the weekend I took the birthday boy out for high tea at the Peak Lounge in the Park Hyatt. I love their high tea and we figured this was our last chance to enjoy it for a very long time. He started off with an iced cappuccino, which I'm sure is hardly traditional but hit the spot on a very hot day (I had one later and it was the best iced cappuccino I've had).

The waitstaff were very nice, cautioning me not to fall down those stairs seen above when we entered (Japanese people are very concerned about pregnant ladies on stairs), bringing me a pillow for my back, and not seeming at all disturbed that I had way more caffeine than a pregnant woman should.

The weather was not quite clear enough for excellent views, but a blue sky and the buildings of west Shinjuku weren't bad to look at.

I started with a pot of Assam, and although I know nothing about tea I can tell this was good because that sugar cube in the picture went unused (I normally can't drink hot tea without loads of sugar).

The food began with the classic three-tiered serving of sandwiches, scones and cakes.

The sandwiches were shrimp and tomato, ham and cabbage and I forget the last; all were tasty.

The scones were mango and plain, both delicious and the proper British style that I love (I can no longer eat the giant, dry North American coffee shop kind). The mango ones were nice but I'd just as soon have both plain.

Served with the traditional red currant jam and clotted cream.

The cakes were very well made but were more of a treat for Hide. I may like cheesecake but I'm still not a big cake person.

After the above treats were gone we were periodically brought trays of sweet and savoury snacks to choose from, and we were soon stuffed. I forgot to take pictures of these supplementary treats, but I did make another discovery: I like panna cotta. I don't know if it's a pregnancy thing or not, but it seems I'm losing my hate for gooey, rich creamy things. I'm also not sure if this is a good thing or a bad thing.

So that's one celebration down, three more to go. Just think, the next birthday we celebrate will be an actual birth!

The Peak Lounge
03-5323-3461
Park Hyatt Hotel 41st Floor, 3-7-1-2 Nishi Shinjuku, Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo
Open weekdays 11am to 10:30pm, weekends and holidays 10am to 10:30pm

Golden Week(end)

This year for Golden Week, the string of national holidays in late April and early May, we went to Osaka to visit the in-laws. It wasn't exactly a Golden Week trip, as Hideaki only got one day off, but a long weekend is special enough so we're not complaining.

We managed to do quite a bit in two and a half days, starting with a trip to Katsuoji, a temple not far from my parents-in-law's place in Minoh, northern Osaka.

Katsuoji (you might want to hit mute before clicking) is set in the mountains with sprawling grounds that feature flowers in bloom nearly all year long. We caught the tail end of the cherry blossoms and the beginning of the rhododendrons, with a few early blooms seen above. 

That's Hideaki above with Shiro, my dog-in-law. Shiro loves to take trips, especially in the car, and is such a good boy that I didn't even know he had come along until we were there and he got out. He's not such a good boy that he didn't relieve himself all over the temple grounds, but I don't think Buddha minded.

Katsuoji seems like a typical temple at first, with the usual buildings and statues.

It does feature a large pond with Shinto shrine in the centre, but it's not unusual for the two religions to mix like that.

There is also a miniature version of Shikoku's 88 temple pilgrimage, where all you have to do is step on all of the 88 stones representing each temple, reducing what could be a months-long journey to mere minutes. But other temples have similar shortcuts.

It's not until you've walked around a bit that you start to suspect Katsuoji is a little different. You might first notice that the tiles topping roofs and walls, usually black, seem unusually colourful, as above.

Or you may wonder at the flash of red visible as you near the top of a long set of stone steps.

Then you'll probably notice tiny figures nestled in peeking out of stone lanterns, hiding in the crevices of trees, and nestled into stone walls.

And finally you'll see that hundreds of tiny eyes have been watching you.

The eyes belong to daruma dolls, and they're everywhere, in all sizes. Some are tiny, some big, some look angry, some amused. But they all stare endlessly with two big, black eyes. The effect would be creepy if they weren't so colourful and cute.

Daruma are lucky talismans, bought by those hoping to fulfill a wish or goal. They are usually sold with blank eyes, with their new owners drawing or painting one of the eyes black upon deciding on their goal, and filling in the other eye when the goal is reached. With the wish fulfilled, the daruma is returned to the temple it was bought at, and all the dolls seen in the above two pictures are returnees, representing hundreds of granted wishes.

The tiny ones shown here are sold with their eyes already painted in, and are simply left on the temple grounds or taken home as a souvenir. I'm guessing these are for relatively minor wishes.

My parents in-law have a pretty impressive collection of these little daruma in their living room, bought at Katsuoji during their many visits over the years. I hope all their wishes have come true.

The next day we went to Minoh no Taki (Minoh Falls), located in the same Semi National Park (yes, that's an official designation) as Katsuoji.

We took the usual route, a path starting at Minoh Station that passes several grand old ryokans (the area was once a popular hot spring resort) that have mostly been converted to souvenir shops.

I really love the old ryokans, as they're mostly well preserved and retain all the amazing little details they were built with, right down to the wavy antique glass in the windows (for an example of what I mean, check out this full-size picture to see the beautiful maple leaf cutouts in the second floor balcony above).

The buildings give way to a forest, with the path winding up into the mountains along a small river. Most of the trees are momiji (Japanese maple) and they look just gorgeous at this time of year with their brand-new greenery.

I've been to the park many times, but this is the first time I saw kawayuka (temporary riverside terraces). There were a few of them, and they all looked like nice places to stop and have a meal, but unfortunately they were all booked up. Apparently they were put up by the city and are only up for the spring, but this is the first year they've done it so hopefully they'll try it again. Kawayuka are more commonly put up in the summer, and are especially popular in Kyoto. I'd love to see these again in Minoh, hopefully in the summer.

The path ends at the falls, which were just as pretty as ever.

Besides sightseeing, we did a lot of good eating. The dinner above included my mother-in-law's fabulous cabbage rolls (made with good wagyu and without tomatoes), rice, stewed eggplant, sweet black beans, sauteed celery, cucumbers for dipping, and a sea bream head poached in sake and soy sauce.

One lunch out was at a wonderful soba restaurant (if only I could remember the name). We started with a plate of futomaki (thick sushi rolls) which I usually don't like so much, as they are overly sweet and tend to fall apart while eating. These were the most delicious futomaki I've had, stuffed with thick omelet, unagi (grilled eel), and squid sashimi, all perfectly seasoned and rolled so nicely that it could easily be eaten in two bites without it all falling apart.

The soba was excellent as well, with a firmer texture and stronger buckwheat flavour than we usually get in Tokyo.

One night we ate at Ume no Hana, a restaurant specializing in tofu and other soybean products. Ume no Hana is a chain, but does a good job at making pretty, tasty and healthy food served in fancy courses. They also have private rooms, which is always nice when the family is together. The pot above was the first dish to arrive; it was yudofu (simmered tofu) with yuba (soy milk "skin") and was cooked at the table.

These are the first few courses in their cute dishes, all lidded and stacked and waiting to be eaten.

Here are those dishes ready to eat: komatsuna greens dressed with sesame seeds; a kind of firm sweet tofu called mineoka tofu; chawan mushi (egg custard) and simmered yuba.

Next came tofu shumai (steamed pork dumpling) and rolls of tuna sashimi and yamaimo (mountain yam).

This is the finished yudofu.

Next was a dumpling made of tofu and lotus root, served in a tasty dashi broth. It doesn't look like much in the picture but was my favourite dish.

At left is ageyuba (deep-fried soy milk skin), at right is namafu dengaku (wheat gluten broiled with miso sauce).

Next was yuba gratin, yuba and kabocha squash baked in cream sauce with cheese.

The savoury dishes ended with fuki gohan (rice cooked with butterbur), pickles, and yuba in clear dashi broth, and the meal ended with soy milk ice cream (not shown, and better than it sounds).

Our last lunch was shimeji mushrooms sauteed with spinach; cucumber and tomato salad; grilled shishamo (smelt); potatoes sauteed with bacon; store-bought kushikatsu (skewered and deep-fried pork and vegetables); raw yamaimo (mountain yam) with katsuobushi (bonito flakes) and rice.

I think we ate as much that weekend as we would have if we'd stayed for all of Golden Week. Which is great, because visits to parents and parents-in-law just don't feel right unless you leave a few ponds heavier.

See more pictures of the trip here.

Wrapping up the holidays

Just as Christmas doesn't end on December 25th in the west, Oshogatsu (Japanese New Year) keeps going well after the year has begun. Even once the traditional three days of celebrations are over and life returns to normal, there are things like shinnenkai (New Year parties), dondoyaki (bonfires fueled by New Year's decorations), hatsumode (first shrine visits of the year) for those who didn't do it in the first three days, and a host of other hatsu (firsts), like hatsugeiko (first practice or training), hatsugama (first tea ceremony), hatsushigoto (first day of work) and hatsuichi (first market). I'm sure we're not the only couple who makes up our own hatsus, some of which are not fit for sharing.

One day I always look forward to is January 7th, called jinjitsu no sekku (human day festival) or nanakusa no sekku (festival of seven herbs). The day is celebrated by eating nanakusagayu (rice porridge with seven herbs), which is standard okayu (congee or rice porridge) to which the seven herbs of spring are added. These herbs were traditionally gathered wild (remember that oshogatsu was celebrated in early spring on the old lunar calendar) but are now sold at supermarkets, and eating them on this day is said to bring good health all year. I've gone into more detail in previous posts, so if you're curious about what the herbs are or want a recipe, check this old post.

Like many people, I find this simple dish a nice contrast to the highly seasoned osechi (New Year's foods), rich food and ever-flowing alcohol served during the holidays. That's our nanakusagayu above, a bit on the thick side, served with sweet shrimp sashimi in mentaiko (spicy cod roe), sent from a friend in Toyama prefecture (famous for its shrimp) and kombu no tsukudani (soy-braised kelp).

The next occasion is kagamibiraki on January 11th. On this day the kagamimochi (ornamental mochi, or rice cakes, placed on a special altar at the end of the previous year) is broken and eaten. Traditionally the mochi was homemade and consisted of two large disks, placed on a small wooden alter and finished off with fern leaves, daidai citrus, and various paper decorations. In the old days houses were unheated and very dry and after a few weeks the kagamimochi would be hard and brittle, so breaking it was easily- and dramatically- accomplished with a swing of a mallet.

Modern homes are relatively warm and humid though, which causes the kagami mochi tends to get moldy before it dries out, much to the disgust of housewives who then have to carve the mold off of the shattered pieces before cooking them. A clever if unattractive solution is store-bought kagamimochi, which is encased in plastic and often comes with its own little altar and decorations made of cardboard and plastic. The mochi stays fresh and mold-free, and "breaking" it involves peeling off the plastic and cutting it up with a kitchen knife (which is interesting because it's traditionally bad luck to use a knife for kagamibiraki).

The mochi is usually toasted and added to oshiruko (sweet azuki bean soup), but my sweet tooth has completely vanished recently so we made it into isobeyaki (toasted mochi dipped in soy sauce and wrapped in nori seaweed).

 

We ate it with dinner, first with plain soy sauce then with yuzu-ichimi (chili pepper with yuzu citrus peel) and cheese, shown above in the middle, along with mizuna greens dressed with sesame, sauteed shimeji, eringi and shiitake mushrooms, yakishishamo (grilled smelt) and miso soup with kabocha squash and tofu.

Next up were prayers at the local shrine. This wasn't hatsumode for me as I had already been to Meiji Jingu with a friend, but it was a first for Hideaki. He has in the past occasionally skipped hatsumode altogether, but this is his yakudoshi (year of calamity). Maybe. There are a few ages that are considered very unlucky, different for men and women, and the system seems to differ slightly according to region and shrine. For men, age 42 is especially unlucky, and although Hideaki only turns 41 this year this still counts as yakudoshi. Apparently some shrines claim that that the years before and after the yakudoshi are also unlucky, and others use the old system of counting ages in which a baby is already one year old at birth. So for whatever reason he needs to be careful this year, and he made sure to do his hatsumode.

We were hoping to buy a talisman or something to protect him during the year, but it seems the only thing to do is pay the shrine a whole bunch of money so he could be blessed buy a priest. I had already gone through that a few days before at Meiji Jingu (for the blessing of a new business rather than for yakudoshi, but the ritual is exactly the same), and although it was an interesting thing to experience, it was also long, silly and boring. Once is definitely enough for me, and neither of us are that superstitious, so we were leaning towards not doing anything when he decided to buy himself an omikuji (paper fortune). He got daikichi (the highest good luck) and that clinched it- no need for a dumb shinto ceremony when his luck was ensured. Actually daikichi is often thought of as bad luck, since once the good luck runs out the only way to go is down. But in this case we figured the daikichi would balance out his yakudoshi and this would turn out to be an average year.

In late January the post office announces the winning numbers in their otoshidama nengajo kuji (New Year's postcard lottery). The nengajo (New Year's postcards) received in the first few days of the year usually come with a lottery number (shown at bottom left of the postcards above), and that number can bring a variety of prizes, from a TV or overseas vacation all the way down to a set of two commemorative stamps. We were hoping that Hideaki's daikichi fortune would ensure us a good prize, and although we did win three sets of stamps (our biggest haul ever), the better prizes alluded us.

I'm never sure what to do with these stamps- it always seems like such a shame to use them, but also a waste not to. I think this year I'll keep one set and give away two. So if any of you readers are a stamp collector, let me know and I'll send you a set.

And then the last two Christmas packages from my mom finally arrived, two months late. We don't know what went wrong- the fist box arrived in less than a week, but the others took forever to make the journey across the Pacific. It turned out to not be so terrible, since as I wrote earlier I was sick on Christmas and although Hideaki had just found out he had a job we still couldn't afford presents for each other (having spent all our money on a fancy Christmas brunch with family). I had been rather bummed about our non-Christmas, but in hindsight it was actually a great day, since news of a new job was really the best present we could have hoped for. Or second best, but I'm not quite ready to announce the other gift we got that day.

So having kept all the decorations up (that's our "tree" above) we had a wonderful Christmas in January, with a bunch of great presents from back home, a present each to each other, and stockings full of goodies (Santa knows all about Christmas in January, apparently).

And of course, Christmas dinner. I roasted a duck for the first time ever, thinking its small size would make it easier than the small turkey or chicken I usually attempt (like most Japanese kitchens, we only have a tiny convection oven). It turns out that roasting a duck is harder than it seems, because although it was relatively fast and easy, it wasn't nearly as good as expected. The skin was wonderfully crispy, which never happens with other whole birds in my oven, but the meat was tough. And although in the past I've complained about soft, flabby chicken skin, I now realize that tender, juicy meat is a thousand times more important than crispy skin. I don't know if it was the recipe, my oven, the bird itself or simply my lack of skill, but I don't think I'll be messing with a whole duck again.

Still, served with orange gravy, mashed potatoes and brussel sprouts, it was a nice festive meal and we were more than satisfied with our late Christmas.

The last holiday event was setsubun. Setsubun technically means "seasonal division" and falls four times a year, but in practice is only celebrated on February 3rd. The main activity is mamemaki (bean throwing), which is done to invite luck into the home and ward off evil. We skipped the ehomaki, a newish custom of eating a fat roll of sushi while facing the year's lucky direction, as we decided a few years ago that it's a dumb tradition- the store-bought sushi is never very tasty and eating the whole huge thing without talking is no fun at all.

So we just tossed roasted soybeans around the house (those are the tossed beans above) and Hideaki ate 41 of them, equal to his age this year, to bring good luck (I refrained as I hate eating the dry, tasteless beans). I wrote a bit more about mamemaki and ehomaki in this post a few years ago, so have a look if you're interested.

And now Christmas and New Years are finally over, Hideaki has become a regular overworked salaryman, and I'm looking forward to what is pretty much guaranteed to be a better year than last.

A few more holiday pictures can be seen here.

Christmas

I thought Christmas 2009 was going to be different. I went out of my way to decorate the house and feel Christmasy, unlike in 2008 when the only decoration was a tiny poinsettia that a student gave me a few days before the big day. Back then I had decided that all the fuss of decorating and cooking holiday treats wasn't worth it and wanted to see what a no-effort Christmas was like. Not surprisingly Xmas '08 made me a little sad, and I realized two things: one, that you do have to put in some effort to get that special Christmas feeling. And two, that even as a fully grown-up person, without kids, and an atheist to boot, I actually still wanted that special Christmas feeling.

So this time around I put up decorations and we even fashioned a kind of tree out of some branches (two trees actually: one on our balcony made of sticks from the park, and one inside made of a fancier branch from the florist's). I played Christmas music 'till my ears hurt, got my Christmas cards done early, and made Hideaki put up Christmas lights in our bedroom window and on our balcony.

And still Christmas never really came.

The first bad sign was after I'd done my Christmas cards, I was literally on my way out the door to mail them when I did a quick email check on my phone and got an email from my mother telling my Uncle Bill had died. Bill was to turn 100 on January 13th, and although I already had a birthday card picked out I thought I'd send him a Christmas card too, writing giant letters (an empty gesture as he was too blind to read) and hoping he'd remember who I was.

Uncle Bill had an interesting life, especially during the war. He flew with the Royal Canadian Air Force and spent time in Finland, involved in a mission so top secret that he still wouldn't discuss the details six decades later. After the war he married and lived in the Parkdale area of Toronto, where he'd grown up.

He was actually my great uncle by marriage, the husband of my father's grandmother. We weren't particularly close and I'd only met him a handful of times, but he'd kind of become part of our family in recent years. We'd been out of contact with him and his wife for decades, only getting back into touch several years ago. Aunt Mabel died ages ago, they never had kids, and our family was his closest kin, so when they regained contact my dad took responsibility for him, visiting him often at his home in Toronto and eventually moving him to a home nearby in Brampton. He was a bit senile but fairly lively for his age, with a newly developed forbidden love for chocolate and sweets (he wasn't allowed to eat them for health reasons, but dad figured at his age he deserved the pleasure and would smuggle in occasional treats for him), making jokes about how he likes to keep after-dinner mints around "for the ladies" and even once goosing a female attendant. On my last visit he had done what he always does to younger visitors: held up both fists and asked me, of my dad, "Is he giving you any trouble?". Apparently when my brother or other males visited the fists would be twirled around in an old-fashioned boxer's move, a treat I never got to see.

So although we weren't close I was really sad to hear about his passing. The timing was also sad, since he just missed his 100th birthday, but as my mom pointed out he already believed he was 102 or 103, so in his own mind he'd already passed that milestone.

The news didn't ruin Christmas though, and I was mostly just glad I'd had the chance to visit recently and that he had lived such a long life. But still Christmas didn't come. Oh sure, we tried to do some Christmasy things, starting with a visit to an event at the Tokyo International Forum (a good place to visit even when there's no event, as the building is amazing and the surrounding neighborhoods always have nice Christmas decorations). Called the "Strasbourg Christmas Market in Tokyo", it was an attempt to recreate the famed Alsatian Marche de Noel. It sounded great, with booths and artisans directly imported from the original market, Alsatian delicacies on sale, free concerts and give-aways of Alsatian wine. Alsace is one of my favourite wine regions but I haven't had a chance to try the food, so I was really looking forward to that (OK, it was the free wine that really got my attention).

I met Hideaki there after he had a job interview in the area, and we were both underwhelmed. We were too early for the concerts, no free wine was to be had, the stuff for sale in the booths was way overpriced, the tarte flambes were sold out, and the very tempting charcuterie cart above was closed without explanation (it re-opened just as we were leaving, when we were already full).

So I took a picture of the Christmas tree, imported (along with its decorations) from Alsace. As I did so passersby looked around in confusion, wondering what I could possibly be taking a picture of, as the tree was extremely tame by Japanese standards- it didn't even light up! Then we bought some overpriced grub at the one food stall that was open, eating it while we froze at the outdoor tables provided (no heaters or blankets offered).

Clockwise from top left: a nice bread with bacon and onion; some kind of potato dish with cheese, mulled apple juice, wine (variety unknown); choucroute; and quiche. The choucroute was delicious and I may have to rethink my hatred of sauerkraut (or maybe the Alsatians are just the only ones who do it right). The other stuff was good but not very hot when served and quite cold by the time we ate it.

Now that I think about it, I don't think it was the food or booths or other stuff that failed to impress me, it was the crowd: the very few people there looked miserable, which is completely normal for Tokyo but just doesn't work for a Christmas market.

December 23rd is the Emperor's birthday and thus a national holiday, so when Christmas (which of course is not a holiday here) falls on a weekday lots of folks choose the Emp's birthday to celebrate. We did so by meeting Hideaki's sister Atsuko and her family at the Tokyo Hilton for brunch. We go there every once in a while for special occasions because they put on a nice spread, but hadn't been a few years. In the time that we'd been away the place had renovated, raised both the level of their food and their prices, and been declared the best hotel buffet in Japan (a title way better than it sounds, as tonnes of hotels here do buffets and most are very good). I'd read that the buffet now included raw oysters and even had Hide call and ask, and he was told something odd: that they do have oysters but they're not actually raw, having been treated to render them safe. We'd never heard of this so were curious to see what they meant.

Sure enough, there was a mound of oysters on the halfshell over ice, and they looked like normal raw oysters. I picked a few up on my first trip to the buffet, failing to notice the sauces, and ate them plain. That's how I ate the Akkeshi oysters in Hokkaido and at that time I couldn't imagine adding any kind of flavour to an oyster. But it turns out that not all oysters are equal to Akkeshis, because these had almost zero flavour! Was it the variety of oyster or the mysterious treatment they'd undergone that did it? No idea. They had the same texture as regular raw oysters, a bit of a briny odour, but close to nothing on the palate. I later went back for some sauce, and once they were dressed up they suddenly tasted like oysters again. I think I must have had nearly twenty, which I later regretted- oysters go down so easily but are deceptively filling.

The rest of the food was good, and although the others were most impressed with the desserts, I thought the salad bar and appetizer bar was the best and also offered the biggest bang for the buck. I was already stuffed by the time I got to the hot food, above, and couldn't finish my plate.

Afterward we checked out some of Shinjuku's Christmas decorations, which Marya especially was impressed by. Believe it or not, this was the first proper light display I'd seen this Christmas- I really don't get out like I used to. We then started an Ultraman stamp rally (a stamp rally being a unique Japanese custom of bringing a special flyer around town to various locations to get a stamp from each one, usually with a reward when you've got all the stamps), Marya being an Ultraman fan, but had to cancel halfway through when I suddenly came down with a cold. Just like that- I was feeling fine one minute and the next felt like hell. So straight to home and to bed it was.

Christmas Eve I downed enough cold meds to get through the night and met my friend Emi for dinner. We usually go to Nasu to celebrate but I couldn't afford it this year, so dinner it was. We were a bit curious to see what it would be like to have a nice dinner together on this night, since Christmas Eve is considered THE date night in Japan. Women without dates on Xmas Eve are supposed to stay home in shame, and the lucky ones who do snag a date can expect an expensive present, a fancy dinner, and a few hours at a love hotel (if the guy has was smart enough to book a room months in advance, that is- Christmas Eve is the busiest night of the year for love hotels).

Like most stereotypes, this turns out to be not quite true: nobody looked as us funny and we saw lots of other women who were obviously not on dates, in groups, pairs, and even alone. The male-female couples in our restaurant, however, stayed true to the stereotype and each girl was handed a present by her man (a cashmere scarf for one and jewelry for the others, the lucky bitches).

Anyway, we ate at Cafe Table, an interior goods shop in Omotesando (selling pop-art type stuff they call "Sweet French Style") with a French restaurant decorated with their wares. It was a very cute looking place and the food was way better than my initial expectations were, although a bit gimmicky. The Christmas wreath salad had lovely bits of pate and scallop mousse, and the "cappuccino style" soup below was made with soy milk and mushrooms, with a very rich flavour and no evidence of icky soy milk.

Next was seafood (a large shrimp, squid and raw scallops) atop pesto risotto with a red pepper sauce, just lovely.

The roast beef with "Maria Maricia" sauce was less impressive, as the sauce turned out to be chocolate-based. Not like a complex and very slightly chocolaty mole sauce, but really really chocolaty. 

The dessert was a mini white yule log and ice cream with balsamico reduction. There was way too much of the sauce and the ice cream was rendered far too sour and savoury- I found myself wondering if the chef had mixed up the sauces for the meat and dessert courses.

Still, it was a very nice meal, and they gave us each a free coffee mug as we left. It's still under my Christmas tree (I mean branch), waiting for our real Christmas to come).

After dinner we checked out the Christmas lights along Omotesando. These lights were once a famous sight in Tokyo, but this is the first time they've been up in over a decade: local merchants disliked the crowds that the lights brought (at the time such displays were rare here) and worried about damage to the trees, so put an end to the displays. In the years since, the shopkeepers have looked on in envy as other neighborhoods in Tokyo started putting up lights, with displays becoming more and more elaborate and the crowds getting bigger and bigger, and I guess they realized that massive crowds are better than none at all, and the lights are back up.

The display was pretty, but it was hard to get a good view as the pedestrian bridge was closed, the street was lined with parked cars whose occupants were taking pictures, and the curbs were strewn with trash bags (must've been garbage day on Christmas).

Meanwhile, back at home, Christmas didn't develop much past the decorations. With Hideaki's job situation as it was, we weren't doing presents for each other, and of the three parcels my mother had sent only one had shown up. There were no traditional Christmas Eve presents, and the next morning we opened stockings (his was full of lame stuff from the local convenience store that I'd hastily bought on my way home the night before, mine with treats from all over that Hideaki had actually been collecting for some time- he's getting really good at Christmas!) had then one present each from my parents (the only two that made it from home). No mimosas in the morning or champagne at dinner, no turkey or even chicken- knowing that I had to recover from my cold before my upcoming ski camp job, I took it easy and let Hideaki do dinner. He did tiny but beautiful wagyu steaks, and although I could barely taste them I could definitely appreciate the melt in the mouth texture (you'd have to be near death not to appreciate that).

So, despite a lot of good eating, it was kind of a sad non-Christmas after all. It's highly embarrassing to realize that at 36 years of age I still rely on my mother to make Christmas happen, and also rather disappointing to know that I really do need all the presents, traditional cooking and other bells and whistles. How The Grinch Stole Christmas was wrong. It didn't come without packages, boxes and bags!

Wait, I'm exaggerating. I had some nice times with friends and family, the present from my mom was lovely, and we did get one very special present on Christmas: a phone call for Hide, from the company he interviewed for the previous week. He got the job!

He starts this Tuesday, and hopefully the boxes from home will arrive around the same time he gets his first paycheck, and we'll have a proper Christmas after all. A month or so late, but I'll chalk that up to the time difference.

Hope you had a merry Christmas, if Christmas is your thing! And if you're interested, a few more holiday pictures can be seen here.

Catching Up

Despite my lack of regular posts recently (does the past half year count as "recently"?) I've been keeping myself busy, so I thought I'd round up some pictures to show what I've been up to. So here are some things I've been doing since Spring, some of them already blogged, some not.

In May I took two trips to Mount Takao a mountain in western Tokyo. Once was as a special outing with my Nature Club students, when I was too busy guiding the kids and their parents to take pictures, and once was a few days before that to scout out my route. Late spring is a fantastic time to visit Takao, as the greenery is still fresh and bright, there are a wide variety of flowers, and the temperature is just right for hiking.

More pictures from the hike can be seen here.

During Golden Week Hideaki and I went to Hokkaido to visit his brother. In Tokyo it had seemed like summer had already arrived, but up on Japan's northernmost prefecture winter had barely ended. It was nice to experience spring twice, and even nicer to fill up on Hokkaido's famed seafood.

More pictures are here, and blog posts are here.

Then came my trip back home to Canada, which was extra special because Hideaki could come, as well as my sister, niece and nephew.

More pictures are here, and blog posts are here, here and here.

Back from Canada, we met up with Hideaki's sister's family for a day at the beach.

None of the beaches near Tokyo will ever win any prizes for beauty (or cleanliness), but we're lucky to have any beaches at all within day trip distance. We went to Koshigoe, a beach near Enoshima (that's the island pictured above) that is one of the better spots along the Shonan coast of Kanagawa, an area notorious for dirty, overcrowded beaches. This was an overcast day early in the season (there is actually an official beach and pool season here), but by the end of the day the it was pretty crowded, but we were able to relax and have a little space to ourselves while getting in some good people watching. We especially enjoyed the constant parade of suntanned surfer dudes trying to pick up two bikini-clad Brazilian ladies lying nearby

One thing that I do love about Shonan's beaches are the umi no ie, literally "ocean houses" that offer change rooms, showers, food and drink, and a place to sit. It doesn't come cheap (you usually need to pay to use the facilities, and the food is priced for tourists) but each umi no ie has its own atmosphere, with a unique look, soundtrack and menu. Some of them are really cool looking and make you think that you're on a beach in Hawaii or Thailand, and the hipper places crank up the music and become beach bars at night. But we were there for the day only and chose a minimally decorated place serving Southeast Asian food.

We shared Thai style bbq ribs, fried, some sort of noodle soup, and fried rice, as well as a good deal of ice-cold beer, and forgot for a while that we were on a dirty, crowded Shonan beach.

Dessert was nice too!

Next up were five weeks of summer camps, in Chichibu, just northwest of Tokyo, and Izu Oshima, and island south of Tokyo.

These pictures are from the Oshima camp, which was my favourite. We slept in tents, cooked all of our own meals, went on hikes, explored tide pools, learned how to snorkel, and met ancient tortoises at the local zoo.

In between camps I went to Mikurajima to swim with the wild dolphins and hike in the mountains.

I blogged about Mikurajima here, and the pictures are here.

With all that was going on in the summer I missed Hideaki's birthday, so we celebrated a bit late with an ice cream cake. Yup, he's 40!

A few days later was another milestone: our 10th anniversary. With some of the money I made at all those camps in the summer we spent a weekend in Shimoda, a town near the tip of the Izu Peninsula, southwest of Tokyo.

I chose it because it is supposed to have nice beaches that remain free of jellyfish and warm enough for swimming in September (most of the waters surrounding Japan are full of stinging jellyfish after mid-August), and also has plenty of historical sights that would give us something to do if the weather turned bad.

Shimoda is where Commodore Matthew Perry arrived and forced Japan out of seclusion in 1854, but that's about all I know because the weather was great and we had no need to set foot in a museum. I can confirm that the beaches are indeed pretty, but sadly the waves were high and we couldn't really swim, so we bodysurfed and built sandcastles (the ruins shown above were truly magnificent before the tide came in).

We took a side trip to Kawazu Nanadaru (the Seven Waterfalls of Kawazu) for an easy hike. I think we saw all of the falls, but it was hard to tell as some of them were so tiny they barely qualified as waterfalls, though some of them were lovely, and it was a very pleasant place to walk around. Most people seemed to be there because the area was featured in The Izu Dancer, a famous book that apparently everyone except us has read. There were Izu Dancer statues and monuments all over the place,

This girl kept following us and copying my poses, which kind of annoyed me at first, but then really pissed me off when I realized she looked a million times cuter doing the exact same poses. I think I'm going to have to start practicing my posing techniques and wearing fancy dresses when I go sightseeing.

Some of the waterfalls could be seen by a paved path, but for the rest you have to take a trail which is not exactly challenging, but steep, narrow and uneven in parts. It was on the trail that I saw the lady in hot pink high heels, which cheered me up. No hike in Japan is complete without seeing at least one woman in completely inappropriate footwear.

What was even more impressive than the falls themselves were the rock formations that caused them and the colour of the water, which I couldn't quite capture in the pictures but ranged from a lovely topaz to a pale turquoise. 

Once we'd had our fill of falls we stopped by a restaurant specializing in noodles local inoshishi (wild boar) for lunch. We'd never tried boar before and weren't sure if noodle toppings were the best way to eat it, so we only ordered one inoshishi dish, inoshishi soba (buckwheat noodles in miso broth with vegetables and wild boar). It was good but milder tasting than we expected, tasting like a cross between regular pork and duck.

We also had sansai udon (wheat noodles with mountain vegetables), which came with a small plate of toppings: daikon pickles, fuki-miso (butterbur shoots dressed with miso) and locally grown wasabi. I'm not a huge wasabi fan but this was very fresh and fragrant, so different than the impostor usually served.

Dessert was kakigori (shaved ice) flavoured with matcha sauce and anko (sweet red beans).

Overlooking the biggest of the falls is Amagisou, an old ryokan (Japanese inn) with a large a collection of rotemburo (outdoor hot spring baths), one shown below. There were traditional indoor onsen (hot springs) as well, but the rotemburo were coed and required swimsuits, so we suited up and went bath hopping. The place is well past its peak and several baths were empty and abandoned, but there were enough left to make it a memorable visit. We liked large outdoor bath with the view of the falls the best, and also had a good time in the onsen pool where Hideaki showed off his swimming abilities and tried to teach me the backstroke. It's much harder than it looks, and despite my best efforts I soon reverted to doggypaddling. One of these days I'll learn to swim for real, but not during a vacation.

I had better luck teaching Hideaki to snorkel the next day, on the rocky shoreline shown below. It doesn't look like much but there were some surprisingly beautiful little fish under the water, and it turns out that Hide loves to snorkel. We don't have many hobbies in common, so it's cool that we both like snorkeling and can't wait to try it again. Maybe he'll come along on my next trip to Mikurajima.

When the water got too cold it was time for lunch, so we went to Kiyu, a Japanese seafood restaurant. I ordered the kinmedai kamameshi lunch set (steamed rice topped with alphonsino, a delicious local fish). Hideaki had kakiage-don, a bowl of rice topped with a mix of vegetables, shrimp and local sazae (turban snail) fried tempura-style. Both meals were excellent and give us one more reason to go back to Shimoda.

In September Hideaki and I went for a hike in Saitama, west of Tokyo. Our first stop was Noninji, a large temple near Hanno station with very pretty grounds. We could have spent longer looking at the many buildings and gardens, but we'd started late so kept our visit short.

I really liked the little rest area, with a tea house-like gazebo that had special details like this funky light.

The lilly-pad shaped tables tables and chairs were cute too, and even the ashtray was disguised as a tree stump.

We climbed the hill behind the temple to continue our hike, but soon after we got to the top we took a wrong turn and got lost. The rest of the 'hike' consisted mostly of wandering around the village seen above.

We eventually found the tail end of the trail but were too dejected to take any pictures until we came upon a higanbana (red spider lilly) lined river. The sight of higanbana in bloom is a sure signal that, no matter how hot and sunny the weather may be, summer is over. But as sad as I am to see them I have to admit they are pretty.

Getting lost is hungry work, so we were happy to find Kunugi-an, a soba restaurant.

Hideaki ordered zarusoba (cold soba noodles with a soy based dipping sauce) and I had tororo soba (the same with grated yam and a raw quail egg to add to the dipping sauce). It was very good, if a little pricey, and if we ever try the hike again (with a compass and map, hopefully) we'll come here again.

A few more pictures of the hike here.

7 Things to do During Golden Week

(This is article also appears at Sunnypages. Hope it comes in handy to those of you in Tokyo, and for those of you who are wondering what on earth "Golden Week" is, Nihon Sun has a good explanation.)

Golden Week is almost upon us, and if you're in Tokyo for the holidays and haven't made plans yet the time to do so is now. Stuck for ideas? We've got a bunch, so read on and start planning!

Take a Walk

Join the osampo boom! If you've been to a bookstore in Japan lately you've probably noticed that osampo guides are enjoying a surge in popularity. Osampo means “to take a walk”, and although there have always been osampo guidebooks on the shelves, they used to be only for standard tourist destinations and were mostly written for the senior set.

The current crop of guidebooks are aimed at a younger crowd and explore lesser-known areas of Tokyo as well the usual touristy places. They come with fully planned routes, including suggestions for refreshments along the way, maps, and everything else you need to explore a new area. Many of them have specialized themes, like exploring gourmet neighborhoods or shitamachi (“low town” areas like Asakusa and Kanda) neighborhoods with an old-fashioned atmosphere. Other books focus on topics like nature, dog-friendly areas, history, temples and shrines.

If you can read Japanese or have a Japanese-literate walking partner then you're set. If not, head to your favorite foreign language bookstore and pick up a classic English-language book like Day Walks Near Tokyo, Little Adventures in Tokyo or Hiking in Japan, or the newer A Flower Lover's Guide to Tokyo. For online information, it's hard to beat Tokyo Tourism Info's 53 Ways to Explore Tokyo on Foot.

Go Where the Wild Things Are

If you've dismissed zoos in Japan after a depressing visit to Ueno Zoo, it's time to try again: there are actually quite a few good zoos in Japan, including a few right here in Kanto.

Tama Zoo Park in western Tokyo is a huge place featuring all the usual animals in relatively large enclosures that let you get up close; the popular Lion Bus lets you get even closer, as does the beautiful butterfly conservatory. Tobu Zoo Park is popular for its two white tigers and its penguin exhibit, which lets visitors see the birds on land and underwater. Zoorasia is considered one of the best zoos in Japan, with well-treated animals given plenty of space and natural looking habitats. Zoorasia is celebrating its 10th anniversary with free entrance on April 24th and a commemorative pin given to visitors between April 24th and 30th. Fuji Kachoen is a paradise for bird and flower lovers, with a fantastic array colorful blooms and a good number of owls and other wild birds, some of whom are put to work doing shows or playing with visitors.

Tokyo and its suburbs are also blessed with a number of very good aquariums, with Enoshima Aquarium, Tokyo Sea Life Park and Shinagawa Aquarium three of the best. If you prefer the more sedentary kind of wildlife, try one of Tokyo's botanical gardens. Yumenoshima is a large greenhouse with a unique heating system: it's built over a landfill and its tropical plants are kept warm with heat from the garbage incinerator next door. Jindai Shokubutsu Botanical Park also features a greenhouse, but the main attractions are outdoors. During Golden Week the large grounds will be home to azaleas and peonies in full bloom as well as a number of wildflowers.

Hunt and Gather

If zoos, aquariums and parks just aren't exciting enough for you (or if you find that the exhibits just make you hungry), it's time for a wildlife encounter of a different kind. The edible kind.

If you have a sweet tooth you'll be pleased to know that the Kanto area strawberry season lasts until May; some places to try are Nikura Noen in Tama, Tokyo (pick and take-home berries are 300 yen per 100 grams, the all-you-can-eat option ended in mid-April), Kawana Noen in Miura, Kanagawa (1500 yen all-you-can-eat in 30 minutes), Okiune Farm in Chichibu, Saitama (1500 yen all-you-can-eat in 30 minutes, take-home also available), and the ever-popular Mother Farm in Futtsu, Chiba (take-home 200 yen per 100 grams plus 200 yen admission).

Clam digging, called shio-higari in Japanese, is a popular spring activity in Japan, and believe it or not the shores of Tokyo Bay produce plenty of asari (short-neck clams). All you need to dig them up is a small rake to dig through the sand with, a bucket to hold your catch, some rubber boots if you don't want to go barefoot (the sand can be cold and muddy) and a good recipe for linguine con vongole. Shio-higari spots in Tokyo include Odaiba Kaihin Koen, Kasai Kaihin Koen, and Toritsu Jonanjima Kaihin Koen. Note that young clams (smaller than a 10 yen coin) must be released; some beaches may charge an entry fee or require clam diggers to pay for their catch.

For (slightly) more lively prey, fishermen don't have to go far, as Tokyo has a few catch-and-release koi (carp) fishing spots: Ichigaya Fish Center, which you've probably seen from Ichigaya Station on the Chuo line, costs 690 per hour for men and 590 for women and junior high school students (poles and bait included), and kids can try the goldfish tank for 400 yen per half hour. Suzukien is similar pond in Asagaya, costing 550 yen per hour including equipment. Seibuen Yuenchi's nijimasu (rainbow trout) pond is open until the end of Golden Week; 1500 yen entry plus 500 yen for pole rental and bait allows you to catch up to three trout (lure fishing also available for a higher fee) and they'll clean your fish for free.

Go to Market

For a kinder, gentler sort of hunting, search out bargains at one of Tokyo's many flea markets and antique fairs. There are too many to mention here, but we've narrowed down some highlights.

On April 29th Prism Hall in Tokyo Dome City hosts two large events: a regular flea market with 300 vendors and a special market run by and aimed at children. On May 2nd Shinjuku Chuo Koen hosts 200 vendors and on May 3rd a smaller market will be held in the same park; also on May 3rd is a flea market in Meiji Koen. May 3rd, 4th and 5th will see large flea markets near Akihabara station and at Shinagawa Intercity. Most flea markets start at 9:00 or 10:00am and run until mid-afternoon.

For antiques, The Japantique Show runs from April 30th to May 4th at the Tokyo Prince Hotel and the Heiwajima Antique Fair is from May 3rd to May 5th in Heiwajima. For kotto-ichi (antique fairs) try the Kawagoe Antique Market at Narita-san Temple in Kawagoe, Saitama on April 28th; the Kasai Jinja Antique Market on May 2nd at Kasai Shrine near Kanamachi Station; and on May 3rd the Arai Yakushi Antique Fair at Arai Yakushi Temple near Arai Yakushi-mae Station and the Yasukuni Jinja Antique Market at Yasukuni Shrine. For the best finds you'll need to wake up early: Kotto-ichi usually start at sun-up and run until early afternoon.

Get out of Town

It's tempting to take a trip outside the city during the holidays, but keep in mind nearly everyone in Tokyo feels the same, causing massive crowds. Don't even think about driving: Golden Week's notorious traffic jams will be even worse this year, thanks to those discounted highway tolls. If you must leave town take the train and make sure you have reserved seats: even normally comfortable trains like the Shinkansen and Odakyu Romance Car lose their charm when you have to stand for the whole trip, squished up against your fellow holiday-makers like a Tokyo subway at rush hour.

Good day trips from Tokyo include Kamakura, Mount Takao, Chichibu and the Okutama area; for places like Nikko, Hakone, and Izu it's better to spend a night or two. Golden Week is also an ideal time to catch a ferry to the Izu Shoto, Tokyo's string of islands. They enjoy a warmer climate than the mainland so you can enjoy summer-like weather without the crowds that descend in July and August. Oshima is the nearest and most developed, featuring onsens, a zoo and a volcano that can be hiked in a few hours; Niijima has beautiful beaches (still a bit cold for swimming or surfing without a wetsuit), hot springs and free camping. Getting further afield, the wild dolphin watching season off Mikurajima is already underway, and if you know how to snorkel you can swim alongside them. Hachijojima offers surfing, scuba diving, hiking and ruins left by Edo era exiles and WWII soldiers.

Catch a flick

The term "Golden Week" was invented by Japanese movie theaters in an attempt to attract moviegoers on the national holidays that fall at the end of April and beginning of May. The name stuck, so well that today few people remember the origin of the holiday's name. But it's still as good a time as any to see a movie.

Once small, dingy and uncomfortable, most of Tokyo's movie theaters have improved in the past decade. Many feature large screens, much-improved sound quality, comfortable seating, and conveniences like pre-reserved seats. Certain theatres like Warner MyCal Cinemas and Toho Cinemas let you buy tickets and reserve seats online (credit card required) at no extra cost, and even those who buy tickets at the theatre get to choose their seats. If the 1800 yen cost of a movie ticket is keeping you away, remember that almost all theatres offer discount days, and some, including Movie Day on the first of each month and Ladies Day on Wednesdays, both with 1000 yen tickets, will fall during Golden Week.

If you'd rather stay home, consider joining Discas, Tsutaya's Netflix-like service that delivers rental DVDs to your home. A number of plans are available but the basic plan gets you 8 DVDs each month for 1974 yen. They come two at a time with all delivery and returns covered, and if 8 movies per month are not enough you can rent extra DVDs at prices comparable to your neighborhood rental shop. Discas is currently offering a one month free trial, so now is a great time to try it out. The catch? It's all in Japanese, so if you can't read you'll need some help.

Amuse Yourself

Although summer is considered amusement park season in Japan, Golden Week is a great time to visit one of Tokyo's many theme parks and amusement parks. All the same rides and attractions are open (with the exception of water parks) but you'll enjoy crowds much lighter than at peak summer season.

Toshimaen has a new roller coaster called Mini Cyclone, a kiddie version of their popular Cyclone coaster; kids will also enjoy the special Golden Week stage shows by favorite characters like Ultraman and Doraemon. Seibuen Yuenchi features mini golf, trout fishing (as mentioned above) and performances for the kids featuring popular characters like Hello Kitty, Anpanman and Yattaman. Fuji-Q Highland celebrates Golden Week with Asian Fuji-Q, a collection of yatai (food stalls) serving food from around Asia; Thomas the Tank Engine fans can meet Sir Topham Hat, who will pay a visit to the park's Thomas Land during the holidays. Sanrio PuroLand will host Sugar Bunnies Experience World, where kids can try their hands at cooking classes, accessory-making workshops, a dress-up photo studio and more. Or explore the darker side of Hello Kitty with Hello Kitty Black Wonder, an interactive role-playing attraction in which visitors must rescue a captive Hello Kitty and her friend Dear Daniel. Black Wonder opens April 25th for the first time in Japan after enjoying immense popularity in Hong Kong, and with the success of the associated fashion lines you can expect Sanrio Puroland's gift shops to be full of gothic-inspired Hello Kitty goods.

Yomiuri Land goes international with Sekai no Yatai Mura, a collection of food stalls offering 30 dishes from 20 different countries. Even better, each of the six weekend and holiday days that fall during Golden Week will feature one country or area, with people from the featured region getting free entry for themselves and up to four friends, (a passport, alien card or other type of proof is necessary). April 29th is England Day, May 2nd is Okinawa Day, May 3rd is America Day, May 4th is Mekong Delta Countries Day (Cambodia, Thailand, Vietnam, Burma/Myanmar and Laos), May 5th is Brazil Day, and May 6th is Turkey Day. Those who aren't lucky enough to be from one of the featured countries still get to enjoy special entertainment and attractions from the regions, such as a bagpipe performance on England Day and belly dancing on Turkey Day.

Whatever you end up doing, we hope you have a wonderful Golden Week!

Easter

I've been madly decorating eggs for the past few weeks to use for a couple of children's classes and an egg hunt with my niece. The psanky style eggs I tried didn't turn out very nicely, unfortunately, but here are a few of our regular eggs. All of the really nice ones were done by Hideaki, who turns out to be quite talented in the Easter egg decorating department.

On the weekend we visited my sister-in-law and her family for the egg hunt and more egg decorating. Mayra was so into the egg hunt that we kept re-hiding the eggs just so we could watch her find more of them. She would do this little running dance thing every time she found one, and it was extra cute when she needed to be picked up to reach an egg up high, with her little legs frantically running in the air.

Lunch was sushi, which was an Easter first for me. Delivery sushi is not always great, but this stuff was really good and we felt so lucky to have had so much good sushi recently.

Dessert was also a treat: my mother-in-law had sent our favourite cake from Osaka, from a patisserie called Madame Shinko. The place's specialty is baum brulee, a variation of baumkuchen (a layered German cake very popular in Japan) featuring a crisp layer of caramelized sugar on top. The top stayed remarkably crunchy considering the journey from Osaka, and I couldn't stop at the small piece shown below. There were also Easter cookies and plenty of chocolate Easter eggs too.

My niece Marya was a little less into the egg decorating than egg hunting, and ended up having more fun peeling the boiled eggs. But that's OK. The grown ups had plenty of fun decorating their own eggs (there were some great ones, I wish I took pictures). And maybe it was all the sugar from dessert, but she was extra sweet that day. She usually refuses to smile for the camera, preferring to make faces, but this time she let me snap away as she admired her loot. So here's a little sweetness for you to enjoy, too:

Breakfast, and Breakfast for Dinner

This weekend I noticed that half a carton of cream leftover from Valentine's Day was about to expire so, remembering how I made butter during last year's butter shortage, I sat down for a good bout of shaking. And ten minutes later (it works way faster when the carton is only half full) I had a small amount of very tasty butter. There was also a bit of buttermilk, which I supplemented with some of the water used to wash the butter (enough juice leached out of the butter and into the water that it looked and tasted pretty much the same as the actual buttermilk, so what the hell--if it looks like buttermilk and it tastes like buttermilk, it's buttermilk).

I used the butter for breakfast, which made a regular plate of fruit and toast extra special. The buttermilk stayed in the fridge until tonight, when it was used to help celebrate Pancake Day.

You may know this holiday as Shrove Tuesday or Fat Tuesday, but where I'm from it's Pancake Day or Pancake Tuesday. Or maybe it's just my family that calls it that--I'm not really up on my religious terminology. In any case, as an atheist I don't do lent and Shrove Tuesday is, unsurprisingly, not celebrated in Japan, so with nothing to remind me I've managed to miss almost every single Pancake Tuesday since I first got here. But this year I remembered and heathen or not, I wanted pancakes.

Thanks to the buttermilk, these were some of the yummiest pancakes I've had. This was my first time to cook with real buttermilk and it really does seem to make a difference, because the pancakes were so fluffy and flavourful. I also loved how the two holidays ended up linked together: the cream used for Valentines day was turned into the butter and buttermilk used for Shrove Tuesday. True, the two holidays have nothing to do with eachother and are completely meaningless to me, but I think it's neat anyway.

This being strawberry season in Japan, I made a no-cook strawberry maple sauce to go with the pancakes, and because all the fresh fruit seemed just a little too healthy I added some bacon and scrambled eggs for balance.

The meal brought me back to my childhood, not only to Pancake Tuesdays but the occasional Breakfast for Dinner that I always thought was such a huge treat. Maybe I haven't really grown up, because I still think that there's nothing better than pancakes for dinner.

Happy Pancake Day!