Celebrating Valentine's - Japanese Style...

Last week, Rei, asked me if I wanted to go to Tachikawa to shop for a Valentine's Day gift for David.  Yes!!! Valentine's Day,  even though it is one of those commercialized holidays, its the one I've always wanted to celebrate.  There's just something romantic and magical of receiving a secret valentine that I can only imagine makes your heart pitter-patter off the chart!  You see, I was one of those girls that would watch the other girls receive secret candy grams and florist made bouquets delivered during class from some secret admirer, <sigh> just holding my breath that one of those beautiful flowers would be mine.. it didn't happen *sniff* :)

Fast forward - I am finally married to a man that I have loved almost my whole adult life and knew that someday we would marry.  This year will be our first Valentine's Day physically spent together, EVER!  Flashes of past daydreams dancing in my head imagining what kind of Valentine's Day we would have..it was going to be romantic and, well...magical.  Imagine my surprise when David came home to tell me that he specifically liked Dark Chocolate, but I could forgo the flowers.  I'm like..WHAT are you talking about??!!  He quickly, and very happily, I might add, that in Japan the men receive flowers and chocolate, not the women.  I thought he was joking because he knows I can be quite gullible, but I was not going to fall for this trick.  Unfortunately,

Rei confirmed this sad bit of information. No it's true...the men receive all the pretty valentine flowers and chocolate. 




 

This past Wednesday, Rei and I went to Tachikawa. I could not believe my eyes, this is no joke, the japanese women take their Valentine's Day shopping seriously.  It looked like an end of season clearance sale at Macy's. Counter after counter, kiosk after Kiosk was a bevy of chocolates! Milk chocolate, dark chocolate, truffles, bon-bons...and women everywhere.  It was a chocolate haven and I suspect that some of those women pushing and sampling couldn't help but make a few hidden purchases for themselves!  Sales ladies passed out chocolate samples like the perfume lady in front of Macy's, only instead of being nauseated by the smell of perfume, we were nauseated from sampling too much chocolate!  In fact, this trip reminded me of buying perfume. I liken this experience the same as trying to find the best chocolate to finding the perfect scent but because you've smelled so many, you can't remember which one was your favorite. I knew David liked dark chocolate, but which one?  There were just so many to choose from.  In the end, I selected one that was sprinkled with 60% dark cocoa over Dark Belgian...ooh so yummm.

But wait...what about the girls??  We get a marshmallow.  Yep, it's called White Day and its celebrated in March.  Apparently, the men give their sweethearts a marshmallow, hence the white.  I don't know who's bright idea that was but I'm with Rei, screw the marshmallow..I want chocolate!

Watashi no inu wa friendly desu! translation: My dog is friendly

The simple phrase of "Watashi no inu wa friendly desu" meaning, "my dog is friendly" has been such a blessing to me this week.  I walk Oliver three times a day - 5:00 am, noon, and at 7pm;  30, 60 and 30 minutes, respectively, with an occasional 15 or 20 minute one, mid-afternoon.  During these walk we often pass the same people out with their dogs and are suspiciously looked at as if to say "Who is this very tall woman and her extremely large dog?" to which I can assume they're really thinking...will her dog eat my dog?!

I wanted to let them know that my dog was friendly, so I ask my friend Rei how to say it.  This simple phrase has opened up my lonely days.  Lonely only during the day, as every English speaking person I know, works.  I pass Japanese people all day  and I feel suffocated because I do not , yet, know the language.  And for those of you that know me, know that I enjoy people and love to chat. 

I have to laugh because on Monday, a curious gentleman stopped to chat with me.  I wasn't sure what he said, but I did use my new phrase to which he then asked me in perfect English, "What kind of dog is he?"  We've met Yoko and her dog, Moku and hope to pass them again.  We've only put Mee-Maw's fears to rest that Oliver will not eat her dog that's just as old as she is, and I can only assume really, really old!

This morning was the best!  I met Mrs. Jun-ko and her daughter's dog.  It seems the biggest question, is what kind of dog is he?  Jun-ko informed me that we walk by her house everyday and I could stop and say hello.  However, I apologized because I didn't understand her directions and she let me follow her home.  Her home is one that I often admire and was curious about. She has a garden that I can assume is quite beautiful when in bloom.  She brought her husband out to interpret as he has lived and traveled abroad to England.  She is a domestic goddess as well, and he is a Farmer.  He is also the man  I see practicing his golf swing each day along the banks of the river when we walk.  This photo is of a Japanese radish, known as Daikon, which he proudly grows.  David and I often see it at the farmer's market and wondered what it was..now we know!  Mr. Jun-ko gave this to me as a gift, I felt so blessed and touched that they would extend this kind gesture to me a stranger.   I look forward to eating it. 

"Watashi no enu wa friendly des" has opened a door for new friendships.  Because of this simple phrase, Jun ko has invited me and David back to her home.  A visit I look forward to!

The growing pains of using a Japanese kitchen

Moving to Japan has been such an eye opener.  Meaning, and I'm generalizing here, that we as Americans have way too much stuff in our life - space, possessions, clothes, etc.. and while that is not always a bad thing, do we really appreciate it or need all it? I have always wanted a big beautiful kitchen, you know the one with the stainless steel appliances, granite counter tops, a kitchen bar with rustic, yet trendy stools that your friends and family can sit at while you're cooking a meal...*sigh*.. yeah, not happening here!

I have always enjoyed cooking and baking, but my greatest challenge was that it was just me.  If I tried all those scrumptious recipes who would eat them?  Me? I'd have and had a freezer full of leftovers. You see, I don't do cooking small portions well.  Living by myself and cooking for one was always easy.  I enjoy cooking and baking I also don't mind living off of chicken, rice, and green beans for dinner every night.  I'd simply change up my seasonings and vegetable.  Voila, a different dinner!

I grew up helping my mother cook for a family of six, or seven when my gram stayed with us during the winter months. It is ingrained in my mind that I must cook large meals.  Having been recently married, I must now cook for two,.  This has been a challenge because my husband is a meat and potatoes man.  He could eat some type of roast every night.  I don't mind that but my challenge was leftovers...it got very boring.

Before moving into our new house the kitchen consisted of a tiny counter top with sink, and a three- burner stove top with a fish oven.  What is a fish oven you ask?  It is an 8x12 inch broiler that sits under the stove top, that's it.  No big stainless steel oven for me!  Prior to moving in, David was able to procure a convection oven that is, in reality - a very fancy microwave!  It has the capabilities to bake, convect, and microwave all in one.  Sadly, it so small that I am unable to use my regular size pans for baking leaving me to use it for it's microwave capabilities.  This past Christmas I had the bright idea of making three different type of cookies - sugar cookies, peanut butter chocolate chip and, of course our family favorite, cinnamon stars.  Like a silly girl, falling back onto old habits, I doubled my recipes only to realize that my cookie sheets were too long and I had to rely on my pampered chef stoneware - bar plate.  Needless, to say I spent all weekend baking four to six cookies at a time.  Did I mention that I doubled my recipes?! 

How do I make those roasts that my husband adores so much?!  Two words - Crock. Pot.  It has been my life saver.  I have now mastered a roasted chicken with thyme and rosemary, beef roast, pork roast, chili, and bean soup.  In fact, I had two and gave one to a friend who is learning how to use hers as well.   What about the fish oven? Well, while I like eating fish, I'm not fond of cooking it. The fish oven  now acts as my own personal grill.  When David does not want to stand out in the cold and rain, he'll ask me to use my grill.  I can grill up a pretty mean pork chop, steak, and Italian sausage, not to mention roasting vegetables tossed with olive oil and garlic. And on occasion, toast.

I'm almost broken of cooking large portions as I am unable to house a freezer of meals or vegetables in my small refrigerator.  All leftovers are sent with David the next day for his lunch.  The lesson I can take away from moving here is take what you'll use, not what you think you'll need.  Although I've downsized and have a complete kitchen stored somewhere in permanent storage heaven, I now realize that I'm quite capable of cooking a very scrumptious meal with a crock pot, an iron skillet, a griddle, a saucepan and a fish oven. I challenge you to try that and let me know how it works out!

January 1, 2011

 This New Year's David and I did not ring in the new year.  Instead, we chose to rise early. Skip and Rei (Pronounced Leigh) invited David and I to go on a mystery bus tour with them. We were promised five stops to various tourist attractions around Japan.

Five a.m. came way too early, we caught the 6:40 train to meet our bus in Tachikawa at 7:30.  Our drive to the first stop took us along the Pacific coast, the view was gorgeous.  Unfortunately, the sun was coming up and I was unable to get a clear shot of the ocean, but it was a spectacular view.  David said it reminded him of taking Highway 1 along the California coast.  As we neared our destination we came to a town that was embedded into the coast with surfers catching their first surf of the new year.

Our bus stopped at the top of a hill in the Izu prefecture (compared to a state in the US) where we were to climb up 170 steps to the Shirahama Shrine,  famous for ensuring a long and everlasting love in your relationship!  There are actually 600 steps  that start at the coast...!
  

 Japanese, for the most part, do not celebrate Christmas.  They celebrate New Year's and it is a big production, one of their big traditions is to go to temple (a shrine) and pray for health and happiness for the new year.  Here is just a picture of the shrine. I hope that the link provided works, it also inclues more pictures from our trip. 

I'll not bore you with details of stops two through five. Rei explained that the japanese love their souvenirs, they feel compelled to buy a little trinket for all their loved ones when traveling about.  Along with shopping for souvenirs, Japanese also love food!  This was a definite factor when the tour company planned our trip.  Stop two was an all you can eat buffet where you can gorge yourself on every type of japanese food imaginable.  I must say, it was well thought out and thoroughly organized.  They have to make a killing, at any given time there were about 10 tour buses in the parking lot with about 40 people per bus, with the buses rolling in and out like an assembly line. Afterwards, you are invited to peruse their food and souvenir section.

Our first stop was the only significant attraction on this trip...stop 2 was lunch.  Stop 3 was a wasabi factory with a huge grocery store inside.  Stop 4 was a natural cold spring with, of course, a place to shop for souvenirs...by this time the four us we're just silly..because we realized  that this was just a shopping tour..Stop 5 was...a grocery store!  No really, it was! Here is where I thought this was interesting,we found a wasabi flavored Kit Kat.  I was not, however, ready to lay down $10 to try this tasty treat!

Overall, this day was not a bust.  I was hoping for Mt Fuji, even though I know it's closed this time of year. There are lakes there where one can visit during the winter.  The reason I was hoping was that each stop took us closer and closer to Mt Fuji...the view was almost surreal.  We seemed so close, but still far. In the end we had a wonderful time just riding, laughing and chatting with one another and I really cannot think of a better way to spend a day! 

Fresh Food

Please forgive me for neglecting my blog.  I have taken tons of pictures and have a million stories running through my head.  In my mind I have to have a story and it has to come out just right.  My mother's advice is to break it up into short stories, those of you who know me, KNOW, I can never give a cliff note version of ANYTHING!  So, I ask that you bare with me as I continue to learn my way through this blogging forest of do's and don'ts.
 
Food is definitely a need.  Living in a foreign land can have it's drawbacks if you can't read or speak the language making it hard for one to find a grocery store. However, working on a military installation allows us to shop at the commissary where fresh produce is much to be desired there.  Produce currently offered is shipped over from the US leaving it not so fresh.  A recent acquaintance took me a local Marafuji supermarket, a chain. I was quite impressed with the produce, but not the prices.  Potatoes here - $8.00 for about five lbs, tomatoes - $7.00 for four, broccoli - $4.00 a head. But they are FRESH. 

Through David's work we met a wonderful couple, Skip and Leigh Bennett, who have been a big blessing in helping us find our way around  the local area. Skip, is a science teacher and his wife, Leigh, is a Japanese national and domestic goddess, such as myself. 
 I was so excited when Skip and Leigh invited us one Saturday to go the farmers market with them.  I couldn't wait..it was our first time doing something off base and with new friends, e-e-e-e... how exciting!!  They took us to the Akigawa farmer's market, which turned out to be about a mile and half away.  I can walk there.  Everything was so nice and fresh, beautiful, and even better, cheaper! There were so many different types of vegetables there.   I haven't a clue what some are, but the japanese love them. There were even fresh cut flowers - lilies, my favorite offered there.  A whole stalk of them for 400yen, about $5.50.  Needless to say, everytime I walk in my house now  a bouquet of fesh lilies greet me at the door!  We even pick up fresh soba and yakisoba noodles here, mind you my stirring technique is still wanting but tastes good.  I was unsure about how to take photos of the produce inside but here are some of the gardens surrounding the market place.  It looks like the countryside but believe it or not this is part of Tokyo, crazy.  It is so crowded here, yet they find space to grow gardens, I love it! The farmer's are so proud of their produce that their name is on all their items sold, and oftentimes you will see them rearranging their produce to catch your eye.  Now I go there about three times a week and the farmers and cashiers are getting used to seeing me - I'm quite tall and very foreign! This is a well hidden secret from the base and I'm thankful that Skip and Leigh trusted us enough to share their secret market with us.

Searching for Fall and feeling like Gilligan!

This past Sunday, David and I were hanging about the house and it was one of those days you ask yourself, "Do you, or don't you leave the house today?"  The morning had been blah and the afternoon was feeling the same... drizzly, windy, not quite freezing, but not too cold. We had planned on biking about town, but I just wasn't feeling it.  I was really missing the Fall season and all the festivities and smells that come with it - Apples, cider, visiting the pumpkin patch with Lisa's boys, and most of the the Leaves. I just love the Fall palette, it's my favorite!

David, then, suggested we take a drive to the mountains.  According to his co-worker it wasn't too far away, and an easy four hr drive. Two there, two back.  Perfect! I was ready and dressed in 45 minutes, really, I was...no Indian Time here!!  We had also thought of springing Oliver from the Kennel for the day but it was closed.  Well we followed the suggested path, ooh-ing and ah-h-ing, and just enjoying ourselves and were well on our way when it ended...hmmmm...that wasn't supposed to happen! So we decided to throw caution to the wind and go left!  This was the first view of Fall that we saw...I was a Happy Girl!!This is in Ome. We stopped the car and walked the bridge to take this spectacular view. My mother used the word breathtaking. I would say it's gloriously breathtaking!!

 After this first stop we were excited to drive further winding round and round, higher and higher, through more tunnels than I could ever have imagined and in awe of the view each turn. We finally, ended up at a dam, and since the sign was in Kanji, I do not have a name for you! Here are a few photos of our view where we achieved our cardiac exercise for the day with a daring mountain walk and jumping.  Jumping  has now become a family tradition to help our cousin, Alex's cause to prove that Jumping Pictures Will Save the World! And if you haven't thrown all caution to wind and jump in public, no matter your age, skill, and audience I would suggest you do. I promise you the rest of your day will be a happy one!!  

 









Did I mention that we I did NOT bring a map? Daring aren't we?  Well not knowing just exactly WHERE we were, we thought we would attempt to read a billboard map of the surrounding area. Off we went, round and round, higher, and higher. It was also getting cooler and cooler!
By this time I'm saying to him, I'm not sure we're going in the right direction? David is saying, "No, it'll be okay, lets just see where this goes". Now for those of you who know me, I have a great sense of direction and I also like to be in "CONTROL".  I was definitely not in control.  I started to pray and ask the Lord to just let me enjoy this ride and for once I was not driving..I was going to learn how to not be in control.  The ride was just beautiful, albeit, nerve wrecking - I was watching the sun quickly setting. We say tiny shrines, walking clubs of seniors that would put the 40 something club to shame, but that's for another time.  We even stumbled upon small baboons, I wish that I had not put my camera away because there they were sitting on the guardrail face-to-face with me.  It was amazing! 

I had finally settled back, nerves relaxed, all was OK...everything was OK. David and I were still oohing and ah-h-ing, all of a sudden, something in the horizon caught my eye. "Is that..? I think...I think that's Mt Fuji?!" I thought it couldn't be we were going the OTHER way. As the view broke again between the mountains...I yelled, "that IS Mt. Fuji!!! We are going the WRONG way!" By then there wasn't much we could do but finish the path we started. We were almost through the mountain pass and crossed our fingers that whatever town we ended up, someone could speak a teeny weeny bit of English.  Did I mention that we didn't bring a map? Just checking.  I have to laugh now looking back; we found out that we were three hours out of our way and the nice elderly gentleman was wonderful in helping us find our way home.  He couldn't speak English but I remembered what my newcomer's orientation speaker had said.   Just say Yokota the way the Japanese do and they'll help you.  We as Americans tend to say it in two syllables instead of three.  Once I said that, the look of surprise on his face, well...it was priceless! A blend of Jerry Lewis and Mickey Rooney flashed through my head as he said, " YO-KO-TA?!! Hai, TOKYO? Hai, oh-h-h-h, far, far away!!  So we outwardly laughed, inwardly groaned, and made our way back home. Our four hour day trip, turned into an Eight hour tour I couldn't help but think of Gilligan's Isle and their three hour tour. I'm so glad we had gas!

Catching up...October.

Where do I start? Ah.. Week 1! - As soon as Oliver and I hit the ground at 7:35 a.m. I couldn't wait to get off of that plane, 2 days is a long time to travel with a dog. I was quite proud of him, he did very well and held his pottie the entire 14hr flight.  Customs was a breeze and Oliver was cleared and approved for entry.  Unfortunately, we underestimated his stay in quarantine. We were counting on the end of November but he'll be released around January 23rd. *tear*  He is quite happy in his kennel and the facility is top-notch. Nonetheless, I still choked back tears leaving him there. It's not quite so bad now, we have a morning routine of a two hour walk, which equates to approx. 4.25 miles depending on the chosen path of the day.  Household goods came the same day we arrived and I was too tired, too wired, to care where things went.  We were so impressed by the efficiency and the professionalism of the Japanese workers. Everything was cared for as it were their own. Our walls were not dinged, they took their shoes off upon entry of the house and removed all papers, wrapping, etc.  Before we left GA, David and I worked very hard at pairing down our belongings before we came. Unfortunately, it wasn't enough. According to Japanese standards, we have a fairly decent size housewhich afforded us two extra rooms.  But we soon found out that they were not enough. As soon as the rooms downstairs and our bedroom was set up...the standing joke with the movers was.."Spare room?", "Yes. Spare room." "Garage?", " Yes, garage." Now mind you, our spare room is now our guest/storage room AND we do not have a garage.  David decided to call the small 5 x 12ft patch off the side of the house our "Garage", where our stuff will remain until we decide to buy a storage shed.  The movers did a fine job of filling it up and when they left that evening, I'm sure they had a good laugh at our expense...those crazy Americans!  The rest of the week flew by, I obtained by new ID card, driver's license and learned my way around. I was surprised though that jet lag didn't bother me too bad. Of course, i'm sure it helped that I was sick before I left and self-medicated myself to sleep the entire plane ride over.