Somewhere Over the Anuenue　「虹の向こうに」

Shimoda Coast and Aquarium

2010-09-06T12:32:00.019+09:00

Me and Daisy at a scenic lookout just before the town of Shimoda. You can see the white sandy beaches at Shimoda in the background.
It's a lovely place!

The last stop of fun in the sun this weekend, after a drive along the coast near the town of Shimoda (where there is a gorgeous white sand beach and water blue like Hawaii), was the Shimoda Floating Aquarium. Click HERE for a link. The website is in Japanese but they do have a PDF file you can take a look at in English. You can also just click around on the Japanese site to see pictures etc.

The aquarium is located at an inlet right on the ocean and makes use of the natural landscape and fresh seawater. Daisy was allowed to come in too but had to ride in her little trolley. It was way too hot for her to wait in the car!

There was a little shallow sea turtle pool as you approach the entrance. They are Japanese sea turtles but look very much like the Honu in Hawaii. It was really interesting as this pool has a low edge and you can get very very close to the turtles and get an amazing look at their faces as they come up for air.

First we saw a dolphin show. It was very minimal which I thought was nice as mostly the dolphins were not over trained to do a bunch of silly things that are not in their nature to do like many other dolphin shows you might see other places. Here, the dolphins just jumped and flapped around their tails and fins and swam close to where we could all see them as they were fed by the trainers. Daisy was totally fascinated having a look right at the edge. She really got excited when they would jump. I took a video of her watching them for a bit, it's pretty cute (IMO).

Daisy also got excited at the sea lion pool. When they would swim by close to the glass she was so shocked at first. I think it made her want to play and chase. But she stayed in her trolley like a very good girl and did not even bark. The sea lions also were not overly trained to do crazy things but one thing that was so cute was they were taught to pose at the glass for photos, either just holding still for a bit vertically and two were taught to put their noses together as if they were kissing. Adorable!

Two Sea Lions posing for a kiss! Enlarge to see their faces
(all photos on this blog can be enlarged twice).

We enjoyed sitting and watching various fishes and sea life in a large aquarium where it was air conditioned. They had some California Sea Lions, King Penguins and other smaller black Penguins as well. There is an area you can pay to feed and touch the dolphins as well as a program you can sign up to join the dolphins in the water a few times a day. That is my dream someday, to swim with dolphins!

Even though it was SO HOT that I wondered at times if we might get heat stroke, it was a fun day! It's a nice little aquarium if you get the chance to go there sometime.

Here is some video and pictures... Aloha

Poser!

There was even the cutest toilet paper in the restrooms!
Ken says they were selling this paper in the gift shop too... ha ha ha!

Daisy riding in her trolley, on the way back to the car.
This trolley is also helpful for when the street is too
blazing hot for doggie feet!

And here is a video of the dolphin show and Daisy having a good time watching. The crazy music they were playing and the annoucer's voice is alittle loud, you might want to turn down your volume before starting the video.

Orange Beach at Ito-City, Izu Peninsula

2010-09-06T09:28:00.012+09:00

A wet Daisy at Orange Beach in Ito-City, Izu Peninsula.

Here is one of our adventures on our outing this past weekend. When first arrived that afternoon (to the area we would be staying overnight, in Ito), we stopped for lunch at a famous seafood restaurant chain in the area which also boasts a brewery. They had nice outdoor seating overlooking the harbor and it is dog friendly. Along the boardwalk there is very nice bench seating running the length of a running stream of water from the Onsen/hot springs (man made channeling of the hot springs water, sort of like an irrigation ditch type thing). People can stop there and for no charge, sit on the benches and rest their feet in the onsen water and take in the view.

A couple soaking their feet in the onsen water while a tour boat pulls out of the harbor.

Ken ordered an amazingly gorgeous sashimi rice bowl and I had a crab meat pizza (on thin whole wheat crust) with a glass of their own brewed light beer. It was really nice there except it was such a hot day, even though there were umbrellas over our tables, we were pretty hot...there was just no breeze at all that day.

Ken's photogenic lunch, Maguro (Ahi Tuna), Uni (Sea Urchin) and Ikura (Salmon Eggs) on top of steamed rice.

Next, being so incredibly HOT, we headed a few minutes back down the road to a nice beach we had seen. It is called Orange Beach. We could park easily and change into our suits in the restrooms there. The water is nice here as there are some jettys blocking wave action, which makes it seem like a big swimming pool. Easy to get in and wade or float around and there weren't any rocks on the bottom so easy on the feet too! The water was really clear and clean. We didn't care for the volcanic black sand, however it wasn't dirty or coarse, just not pleasing aesthetically.

We were all totally overheated, Daisy got straight in the water and was starting to sit down in it. We then took her out to about waist high depth (for us). That is as deep of water she has ever been in and she immediately starting dog paddling in the air as we held her. We then made her swim around a bit. She seemed alittle worried about it all at first but then relaxed as we held her and stood in the water cooling ourselves off. Maybe next time she gets to the beach she will want to swim on her own.

Daisy also had a blast zooming back and forth along the shoreline. She started feverishly digging a hole at one point and she got it deep enough to stick most of her head in and then bark down into the hole! It was so cute...she is such the entertainer.

Here are some pics and videos to share with you!

Daisy in the sea

Drying off in the sun and sand

Totally wiped out, she moved to the shade of our beach tent and crashed :)

Here are 2 short videos of Daisy swimming (and splashing).

Resort Pension BEAGLE, Ito-City, Izu Pennisula

2010-09-05T21:28:00.016+09:00

Cute sign in front of the hotel

This past weekend we took a drive on the east side of the Izu Peninsula. It's about a 2 hour drive from Tokyo, if the traffic is light. Once you get to the peninsula, the road travels right along the coastline, near the shores and up on some amazing cliffs! There is so much greenery, at some locations we could have sworn we were in Hawaii!

We stayed in the city of Ito at a cute little dog friendly bed & breakfast hotel called "Resort Pension BEAGLE". The owners have their own beagle, a one year old girl named Nana. She wanted to play with Daisy soooo bad, but Daisy recently thinks she is too sophisticated for puppy games. Of course, any dogs, not just Beagle's are welcome!

The accommodations are comfortable and clean. There are gorgeous wood floors throughout. The location is atop the highest peak there and has an amazing view of the surrounding hills and the ocean far below. There are lots of pathways behind the building for hiking around in the forested area. They have a lovely deck in back with a large jacuzzi. It is such a peaceful place, we slept so well!

Dinner and breakfast are included in each night's stay. They served us a '5 star' meal for dinner, truly it was fantastic. Included was a small fillet of a local fresh fish called Kinmedai with some cooked vegetables in part of the menu. Also notable was the sashimi of Kinmedai and Shima Aji (translated in English as "Striped Jack Fish", normally found swimming in schools and are abundant in the southern part of Japan).

A photo of Kinmedai (Golden Eye Snapper), for reference, not from our meal! It has a very distinctive look because of its large eyes and its bright red skin, kind of reminds me of the Garibaldi in Catalina when my Dad would reel them in from the deep water so fast their eyes would bulge out!

Breakfast was also delicious and well planned out. It included of note, homemade hot just baked and super yummie rolls, plain, raisin and 'Yomogi' (Japanese Mugwort).

The husband and wife proprietors are very warm and gracious. We really enjoyed our stay.

Here are some pictures.

View of the building and parking area from the road.
Wow who's super nice Audi is that???

Daisy found the beds to be very comfortable.

Daisy and Nana, morning greeting in the lobby.

Our farewell photo in front of the building with Nana and our gracious 'hostess' (she really is a fantastic cook!)

My New Key for the Audi

2010-08-28T21:23:00.010+09:00

My fancy new key!

Finally......after over one month, a few hundred dollars, a coordinated phone call between Audi Japan and Audi Germany and four temporary tires and wheels mounted on our car (Audi Japan would not accept our non-standard 'hotrod' wheels and tires into their 'garage'), not to mention the 4+ hours my husband spent dealing with all this today, I finally have my own car key to our 'new-old' car!

This is surely the 'spiffiest' car key I've ever had. I still believe there is alot to be said for older cars, when things were simpler, like for example, when you needed an extra car key, you just went to the hardware store and got one cut for a buck or two.

The key part flips out (kinda like a switch-blade when you push the button, and then folds back in). I love having key-less entry!

However, our Audi is super fun. Perhaps slightly impractical, yet a realistic compromise instead of the convertible TT, which is the car that really made us fall in love with Audi. We rented a TT in Las Vegas in 2002 and never forgot how much fun it was! We really liked our Mitsubishi Diamante that we had for about 9 years but it was heading down hill fast and it was time to get something else. Being that my husband and I both love driving, we opted for a little more FUN for our money this time (sure hope I don't end up getting a ticket).

Since it is a wagon, we are hoping to be able to take some road trips together with our Daisy and enjoy driving and the outdoors alittle more.

Here are some photos of our new toy. It is officially, a 2004 Audi A4 Quattro 1.8 Turbo S-line wagon (whew that's a mouthful!). The color is Dolphin Grey with black and grey interior.

Front

Back

Back/Side

Interior, from the Driver's side (yes we sit on the right hand side in Japan)

Like most cars in Japan now, there is a super high tech GPS navigation system, that even let's us know the real-time road traffic conditions before we decide which street to take. Also in addition to the standard AM/FM radio and CD player, there is a DVD player and television. Now I never miss the 7PM broadcast of the Japanese news in English (yes there is a subchannel choice so I CAN hear it in English!). Now if I could only read all the prompts/settings in Japanese. With my husband's assistance tho, I have been able to learn how to muddle thru the most important functions for navigation etc.

Come on over and I will take you for a ride!

Japanese Pickles fresh from our garden!

2010-07-23T18:20:00.012+09:00

Fresh picked cucumbers and tomatoes from my garden today. Pickling vinegars and kimchee base in the background, used for making Japanese style pickles.

Today I harvested some veggies from our little garden. We are getting lots of cucumbers, so I am attempting some REAL Japanese pickle creations. Today I tried Shiba-Zuke, translates to "Natural Red Pickles" in English.

This recipe calls for Eggplant and Cucumbers with red and white plum vinegar as well as the regular Japanese rice vinegar . The plum vinegars were a bit harder to find than I thought it would be, but I am handicapped a bit due to not being able to read Japanese. My husband's co-worked kindly helped find the red plum vinegar for me!

I used:
3 Japanese Eggplants, slightly peeled
1 huge Japanese Cucumber (from my garden, about equal amount to the eggplant)

Japanese Eggplant slightly peeled.

Both the Eggplant and the cucumber needs to be sliced up into 1/4 inch (5mm) thick diagonal slices (after cutting the whole thing in half first). The both need to be soaked in brine (2 cups water with 2 teaspoons salt), eggplant separate from the cucumbers (2 bowls) for 2 minutes. Use a small saucer to lightly press down so all pieces can completely soak for 20 minutes.

I used some sliced pickled Miyoga (a kind of ginger) and some red shiso leaves from a jar of Umeboshi (pickled plums). You could probably use some Ume and Shiso furikake if you can't find the former. 1 tablespoon of this.

Thinly sliced the Myoga and squeeze lightly, place in large bowl.

After the 20 minutes soaking is up, squeeze out the water firmly from the eggplant. Lightly squeeze the water from the cucumbers. Place them also into the same large bowl with the Myoga. Add the Shiso (or the Ume and Shiso furikake if you are using that).

Sprinkle everything with the mixed vinegars (2 tablespoons of each of the plum vinegars and 1 1/2 tablespoon of rice vinegar) and 1 to 1 1/2 teaspoons of castor sugar (fine not coarse). Mix well and place in a wide bowl (preferably glass but plastic is ok too, NEVER use aluminum for either the container or covering!). Place a lid or saucer on top and weigh it down so that everything is compressed and completely covered in the vinegar juices. I used a large jar of peanut butter with a round lid underneath it.

Compressing the pickles with a lid and a heavy jar of peanut butter.

Mix once or twice to blend the flavors and it will be ready to serve in one day. I placed mine in the refrigerator for this process.

Side view of the pickles being compressed by the peanut butter jar and resting in the refrigerator.

And here are the finished pickles one day later...they are sour, not sweet...pretty good!

Daisy becomes a Service Dog

2010-06-28T03:13:00.006+09:00

Daisy in her seat on American Airlines from Los Angeles to Tokyo (12+ hours).

Since I got Daisy, when she was a puppy (12 weeks old), she has been trained to be a skilled Service Dog. I think such level of training is good even if your dog is not going to be a Service Dog, especially in a big city such as Tokyo, for the sake of safety, as space is tight and things can be dangerous. For example an out of control dog, or even one that is not trained to pay attention, can collide with a bicycle rider injuring not only the dog but the cycler.

Daisy and I made a trip to California early this year, and we were able to get a few pictures on our journey. Leaving Japan was her first flight, and 10 hours long but she was PERFECT. Her training has paid off well. She had no problems with anything at all, even on the long flight returning to Japan. She was able to hold off on her toileting needs for 14 hours straight (time before entering airport in Los Angeles to time of exit from airport in Tokyo (Narita).

Thanks to her I was able to make the trip without my husband and take care of family matters in USA. What a great dog she has turned out to be. Sadly, we noticed on this journey that many people who are working for airlines, either on the ground or in the air, are misinformed about Service Dogs. Daisy and I hope that we can help to familiarize people more with Service Dogs and help to make traveling for people who need them become a completely smooth and stress free experience.

She has been on 8 flights so far. We would like to give a BIG THANKS to American Airlines as they were very accommodating and treated us so well! Also to Southwest Airlines, they seriously have the best customer service of any airline I have ever traveled on, with or without a Service Dog.

Here are some pictures from this past trip (March -April 2010):

Getting ready to go through the airport Security Checkpoint. Daisy is fine with me removing all her leashes, halters and backpack so that they can be placed on the X-Ray belt. It saves time for everyone if her gear doesn't set off the metal detector as she walks through.

Daisy resting in her travel bed during the flight from Tokyo to Los Angeles on American Airlines (10+ hours).

Me and Daisy in the elevator at Seattle International Airport.

Daisy and a very tired me on United Airlines from Seattle to Los Angeles.

Relaxing by the pool at our hotel in Palm Springs.

In the desert, Palm Springs, California. That mountain behind her is San Jacinto.

At the beach just before sunset, Newport Beach, California.

How highway "Rest Areas" should be, Japan verison

2010-01-01T15:13:00.009+09:00

In Japan, rest stops (or rest areas) off the highway are not the scary, dirty, dreaded places that they are in USA (to me anyway, stopping at a rest area in USA is a last resort for me). In Japan they are spotless due to ladies that are constantly attending to things and they are never out of toilet paper! *whew*

I took some photos on our trip from Tokyo to Osaka last week of one rest area (called a Parking Area/PA or Service Area/SA in Japan).

Some rest stops are pretty big with Mc Donald's and sit down type Japanese restaurants and 7-11 type stores. Some also have Starbucks but the ones that don't certainly have all the vending machines one could ever need. This machine offers pretty great coffee! You can select many types of coffees, sizes, black, sugar, cream etc. There is English under the Japanese so that helps for us foreigners!

Here are just some of the choices...after you choose, you can view your coffee being brewed on the TV screen. When I took this photo, the lid was being placed on the cup.

The cup then appears in the little door but don't take it out until you see the red lights completely lit up in the little bar next to the door!

And the restrooms themselves can be very interesting. Narration below each of the photos.

First thing you see at this particular rest room, is an electronic sign showing you which stalls are available and which are occupied, and what you will find in each one (Japanese style toilet, Western Style, etc). My husband tells me that this is not in the Men's room.

After consulting the sign board, you can proceed to the stall you want.

All the 'Western Style' toilets have heated toilet seats and controls for 2 kinds of 'bidet' washing and a button to push for the toilet to make a loud flushing sound without actually using water to flush (so that no one has to hear 'your business'). Some also have a button for blow drying!

Some restrooms have instructions on how to use the automated toilet seats. Now we can have the "Powerful Deoderizer" function defined!!! Whew....

Just incase you were wondering how use the toilet itself....

How to flush the toilet can be different in every place you go it seems, thankfully this one has things spelled out in Japanese, English, Chinese and Korean. However, some translation may still be necessary for some as normally we flush the toilet with water, not 'pour' it!

Mother's of young children will appreciate the child seats in some of the stalls. Some common sense warnings are posted, don't turn your back on your child to do your make-up, don't let the child crawl around and play on the seat, watch fingers and of course, don't let your baby smoke in these seats!

The lovely hand washing area.

This sink is all automated. Hold your hands in front of each place with markings and water (center), soap and warm air (to dry your hands) to make it run.

And last but not least, here is a brand new 65 inch plasma TV on the wall showing the current (up to the minute) traffic information for the major highways one might be thinking of taking. Boy if this TV was on a wall at a rest area in USA, I doubt it would remain there for long! Sad but true....

ALBA Golf Magazine - Daisy in July 2009 Issue

2009-12-15T10:30:00.007+09:00

Me and Ken and Daisy Ipo at Kashimanomori Country Club for ALBA magazine July 2009 issue.

I just realized I forgot to put up a post on Daisy's photo shoot for ABLA Golf Magazine here in Japan. She was featured in the July 2009 issue for a spread they had on golf courses in Japan that accept dogs on the course. We had a fun time and Daisy was her usual photogenic self!

Enjoy the pics...

ALBA magazine photographers shooting Daisy on the golf cart.

Scanned from the magazine

Scanned from the magazine

Scanned from the magazine

Kashimanomori Country Club employees playing with Daisy while Ken and I enjoy the onsen after finishing golfing. The employees put this photo on Kashimanomori's blog.

Sunny 1st week of December on Maui

2009-12-06T12:45:00.006+09:00

View towards West Maui from the beach at Kenolio Park in North Kihei.

Here are some pictures and video from Maui this warm and sunny first week of December. Trying to get some fresh air in my 'sick' lungs provided a few photo opps to share with you. Enjoyed some waves at Hookipa (formerly known as a place to see windsurfers) and little sand crabs on the shore at the beach in front of Kenolio Park in North Kihei. Wish you were here!

Shortly after I took this photo, just beyond the rocks along the shore, a horse appeared from the trees (being led by it's owner of course) and played around in the water for a while!

After I layed face down at the beach to get alittle sleep, I felt a little tickle under the towel on my cheek. I peeled the towel back and found the source....cute huh?

Here are what the waves look like on your average day at Hookipa, on the always windy north facing shore of Maui. In the next 48 hours the biggest swell in almost a decade is expected, hopefully I can get some video of that!

ALOHA....

Lindsay Ann Hawker's killer caught

2009-11-11T00:52:00.009+09:00

Ms. Hawker posing with Tokyo in the background

This is kind of a sad story but it's happy news in Japan today. Normally I don't put anything but 'sunshine and butterflies' (so to speak) on this blog but I felt compelled to share pictures of the beautiful Lindsay Ann Hawker, a girl who came to Japan to explore and learn (like many of us) and to share and teach, instead she was murdered by one of her English students (in the same city where we live, less than 10 minutes from our home).

Today her killer was finally arrested after being on the run for 2 years and 7 months. There has been so much focus on the killer, whose name I will not even mention here. This because the only way to catch him has been to constantly keep his ugly mug in the news, and recently his newly remodeled uglier mug (due to plastic surgery he got to conceal his identity). I thought, how sad that Lindsay's life and beautiful face is not what we are all thinking about and seeing today (and lately), because really it is all about HER. So today I post the some pictures of the beautiful young Lindsay Ann. See you in paradise.....

Until then, R.I.P. Ms. Hawker.

Pictures of the very pretty Lindsay Ann Hawker, which appear to be from her time in Japan.

Dog Lawn Burn remedies dangerous?

2009-10-20T20:30:00.016+09:00

Two burn spots that I am working on re-growth

If you have a small space for a lawn like I do and like to let your dog out to enjoy it, burns may be an important issue to you. This summer, I began using a popular lawn burn prevention tablet for our dog Daisy to eat so that her urine PH would be neutralized in hopes to keep our lawn from being damaged. However now I am concerned that this may have contributed to (or even caused) her having a bladder infection.

After searching the internet for information on possible dangers of these lawn burn remedies and finding very little information or experiences, I wanted to share our story today on my blog. I hope that it may be useful information for others.

CAUTION: the below may be too wordy for some of you who are not interested in this matter directly ('Mom'♡).

We have a Dichondra lawn, which is pretty hardy, however, our soil does not drain well. I hate to call it soil even since it is composed of mainly clay it seems (this area used to be marshy tidelands from what I understand). Of course I prepared the area that was to be 'our lawn' with bags and bags of appropriate lawn soil (this took about 6 months), otherwise, I doubt any grass or other lawn type ground cover would have taken root. Our Dichondra lawn is beautiful and green all year round and super easy to maintain. It's especially nice to have that nice lush green to see everyday when living in a metropolis like Tokyo.

Then came our dog, Daisy. During the rapid growing seasons (spring and summer) the lawn can take all the punishment Daisy dishes out, but once things start getting colder and the position of the sun changes, the Dichondra goes into a sort of 'hibernation' mode. Then the dog urine burns a dead spot that doesn't grow over and then ends up being a spot of dirt. I take Daisy on regular walks but she still likes going outside in her garden too (and it's nice when I'm feeling tired or unwell that she can 'go' out in our garden).

A spot where the Dichondra has recently died, next step will be plain dirt during the slow growing seasons of late fall and winter.

The whole reason for putting in our lawn was to cut down on the dirt (which can be muddy during rain) and dust that blows around the patio and eventually enters the house, so obviously I wanted to find a way to remedy the lawn burning.

Last winter I made the lawn inaccessible to Daisy with this green garden net (in the photo here above). Since I had trained her to potty on a tray that holds disposable 'potty' pads/sheets for during times we were traveling and emergencies (like inclement weather), I then set up the potty tray on the lanai (patio). But she doesn't really like going on that and seems to wait to use the tray until it's a last resort (it seems to be more enjoyable to 'go' on grass etc.). There were even a few accidents in the house because she held it so long, she couldn't get out fast enough (sometimes we have to close the doggie door so she doesn't bark excessively at people passing by our fence).

So this summer I tried the lawn burn tablets for dogs. It sounded like a miraculous solution. It did say on the bottle that dogs with certain illnesses such as 'acidosis' should not take it. 6 months have past and it really seemed to help (or maybe it was just due to the growing season). I have kind of tapered off, not being religious about giving them daily. About 3 weeks ago dead spots started appearing again, as the weather is cooling down and full sunlight is not reaching the entire lawn anymore. So I put up the net and Daisy had to start using the potty tray on the patio again.

View of the netting off lawn and the 'potty tray' on the patio.

Because of using the potty tray, I was able to see that Daisy was 'ill' far quicker than I could ever have otherwise. I noticed last night after she urinated, that the color was much different that usual. It was almost red and there were little darker red spots. Also I could see a 'sparkling' in the urine, like it was crystallizing. So off to the vet we went this morning. She was diagnosed with 'cystitis' which is really a catch-all term for infections in the bladder or even urinary tract. She is on anti-biotics and a special diet for 2 weeks.

Now, I am left wondering, could the lawn burn remedy have had a hand in this? I realize that UTI/Cystitis is rather common, especially in a female dog and that Daisy waiting for long periods to eliminate could contribute to infections. But, I have to wonder too, if her PH is off, that is exactly what the lawn burn tablets work on, the PH, would that make the environment in her bladder friendly for an infection?

So my suggestion is, if you give your dog one of the many lawn burn remedies on the market today, it would probably be good to make sure to find ways to get your dog to drink more water than usual as well as being sure they are able to urinate at least 3 times in a about a 12 hour period (maybe more if they are able to get alot of water down). I would also pay very close attention to how they are doing, maybe monitoring the dog's urine occasionally by catching it in a dish and taking a direct look that the color and clarity are normal. If you are really savvy, you might figure out how to do some PH testing on your 'samples' collected.

After speaking with our Vet today and reading up on this condition, it is clear that the sooner a dog is treated for UTI the better.

Just sayin'.......and wondering....

Toyosu LaLaPort Dog Park - Tokyo

2009-10-16T23:03:00.008+09:00

Daisy and our friends at the ILIO dog park at LaLaPort Toyosu, Tokyo

Despite the rough start to my day today, a good afternoon managed to come to fruition. Daisy and I met my friend and her two young sons at the dog park located at the LaLaPort Toyosu shopping mall. The dog park is run by the pet store there called ILIO. There are also grooming services available. There is easy parking for the 'dog friendly' elevator on the North End of the center, nearest the Tokyu Hands store.

Also dog friendly is a wonderful cafe called Les deux Bleue that allows dogs, inside the restaurant as well as the outside seating they have facing the nice view of the riverside/harbor. There is a complete menu for dogs as well as people! How fun is that!?

So we spent about an hour in the nice little fenced off dog park. Daisy LOVED having two little boys to play with and they seemed to really like playing with her too. She was so good with them. And the "mommies" got to chat while the kids and dogs wore themselves out...hee hee hee.

After that, we stepped over to the cafe, Les duex Bleue and since it was such wonderful weather today, we sat at a table outside. We ordered some ice cream for the boys and some cakes and tea/coffee for us ladies. Daisy ordered a doggie Banana muffin, which she thoroughly enjoyed! They even bring a little water bowl for the dogs. It was very relaxing, we had such a lovely view of the sightseeing boats that port there, coming in and out of dock and the sunshine gently sparkling on the river.

It was such a lovely clear and warm day today, about 75F, we couldn't have ordered better weather! It was a perfect thing to do after my doctor's appointment that I almost didn't make it to earlier!

Since I'd never been to this LaLaPort mall, after parting ways with my friends, I put Daisy in the car to rest and looked around the mall. Its a nice little mall with some familiar retailers from Japan and USA. I checked out the LL Bean store and a shop selling goods from Hawaii. Then I found a nice little accessories shop for ladies, and got some interesting sparkly stirrup style stockings! I think I will wear them when Ken takes me on our upcoming special dinner date!

Since I was still there when it was around the time for Ken to get off work, I called him and we decided to meet at Tsukiji Fish market for a fresh sushi dinner. It only was 10 minutes from where I was and about the same for him. We had a great Friday night out for sushi, and I enjoyed a nice ICE cold beer...haven't done that in a while, it was good....✌

Here are some pictures from today...wish you could have been there.

View of the dog park looking towards the mall, the red umbrellas are the outdoor seating for the dog friendly cafe. Nice and close!

Everybody having a fun time!

Daisy and the boys looking for where her toy went off to. The buildings in the background are the Harumi and Tsukiji areas.

Yummie Yummie FRESH sushi!

Another packed Friday dinner time in Tsukiji...this particular shop is open 24/7-365!!!

Daisy and Kona

2009-09-20T17:49:00.004+09:00

Kona and Daisy

This past week, Daisy and I were invited to my friend Mikiko's home for lunch. She and her family just got a poodle named Kona. Daisy and Kona had fun playing and taking a walk together. I enjoyed some great food and a nice visit with friends. Daisy said she wants to go back again soon!

Here are some pics of the girls!

Kona-chan

Daisy shows Kona how to sit up

Playin' around on the sofa (Daisy is in mid-howl in this photo).

Our Family Day at Funabashi Seaside Park - Tokyo Bay

2009-09-06T17:19:00.006+09:00

Daisy playing with her ball at the beach

Near our home (less than 5 minutes in the car) is Funabashi Seaside Park, on the edge of Tokyo Bay. There is a grassy park, a community pool (that is opened only certain times of the year), tennis courts and some kiosk type stalls selling food/snacks and drinks as well as some toys and equipment for water and beach use. There are restrooms and fresh water showers/faucets that I sure enjoy rinsing off in before heading back to the car. There is adequate parking facilities (with a huge overflow parking lot just one block away) which costs a flat rate of ¥500. Very organized and well kept even though some of the buildings show their age.

Funabashi Seaside Park is basically a stretch of natural tidal shore that is very popular for annual clam-digging. The park authorities truck in roughly ten tons of clams, put them onto trawlers and then deposit them over the flats at high tide. When clam season opens, people show up (on some days in GREAT numbers) and after paying a small fee (a few hundred yen) they get a bucket, a shovel and an assigned a section of the beach to go dig their clams. It's great family fun. Many people also enjoy photography and birdwatching here. We saw many little hermit crabs and small fishes.

If you do wade out into the bay, take care because it is a haven for stingrays. There are signs that warn of their presence and it is not a joke. If you walk out onto the jetty walkway to the far left of the beach, you can look over the railings into the water and see them swimming around, in quite shallow water even. Some of them are pretty big!

Today we decided to have a family picnic with mom and enjoy the fresh air together. It was a beee-uuu-ti-ful day so we loaded up the car and drove down to the beach. It was Daisy's first time to the beach as an 'adult'. We took her to Makuhari Beach 2 times when she was a puppy and she wanted nothing to do with the water. She is also a little 'prissy' on her walks when it has rained, she avoids puddles and mud. So today I was shocked when she ran and jumped in the shore and wet sand and even the water! She had a blast!! It was so cute and fun to watch.

Here are some pics and then at the bottom, 3 videos of Daisy being a beach doggie!

A happy mouth full of sand after retrieving her ball several times

Me and mom and Daisy at our picnic site

Mom (in the middle of the pic) walking out in the tidelands

Ken, mom and Daisy...Queen Daisy gets the chair

What a nice day with family!

Another view of our picnic site, thanks to Ken for working so hard to get the umbrella up in the hard shoreline.

Flood in Chiba - Typhoon approaching Tokyo

2009-08-10T14:54:00.013+09:00

A little movie I took as I walked from our apartment to the lobby.

There is a Typhoon (Hurricane) hitting Japan today. It is currently south of Tokyo and not expected to arrive here until tomorrow, and since a Typhoon's ultimate path is unpredictable, it is not sure yet if we will get a direct hit or not.

However, we are already getting rain and alot of it this morning. Our street flooded quite quickly (this is not usual, we don't get flooding on our street usually) and since the lobby of our building is street level (with no curb even) the water was flowing in.

Our building is constructed to accommodate a steel barrier that is put up to block water in such cases and hopefully avoid flooding of the first floor (we are on the first floor incidentally). So once we saw that it was getting bad outside in the garden, Ken went outside to check the lobby. Some other men from our building were there too and they all started to quickly put the barrier together. It are 4 steel panels that once put together, form the watertight barrier about knee high. Since the lobby was already flooded, after getting the barrier up they had to pump out the water with a machine we have for that. So nice to have the 'men' on guard!

The lobby is clear now (and the road has drained) and the rain has stopped, but I'm afraid it is only a sample of what we might expect here in the next 24 hours. Hopefully the storm will make a turn out to sea before it moves north more towards us!

Here are the pics from this morn...thought you'd all find them interesting... Click on the pictures to enlarge if you like...

Our lobby glass doors and our helpful men folk putting up the barrier. First row is up and they are beginning to set up the second row.

Second row of the barrier being put into place. Notice the water level outside the barrier, even just the first row of the barrier was starting to have an affect.

Barrier in place, time to start pumping water out of the lobby. Across the street (I mean 'river', ha ha) in the background, you can see our parking area, which thankfully is raised above street level, otherwise we might have been worrying about our car too! There's my super-hubbie working hard, standing on the outside of the barrier.

Our flooded street, taken thru the fence of our garden. If you look carefully, you can see the line painted on the road under water, just below that cement wall (there is a field on raised ground there that a neighbor owns and farms).

A van barreling down our flooded little street.

Rainbow in Tokyo

2009-07-27T14:26:00.003+09:00

Rainbows in Shinjuku!

Today I saw this picture on the Japan Times website and thought I would share it on my blog. This photo is taken in Shinjuku area of Tokyo. The large rectangular building mainly houses the department store Takashimaya as well as the fun and interesting store called Tokyu Hands.

We had a rainbow here in Ichikawa recently (see previous post on the summer festival). I guess it's rainbow season!

Japanese Kinpira Gobo Salad - Carrots and Burdock Root

2009-07-25T17:21:00.006+09:00

Kinpira Gobo - Sesame Sauteed Burdock Root and Carrots

Another Japanese 'Home Style" recipe. This is an easy side dish. This can be served cold or room temperature. I recommend after you have finished cooking this, let it sit covered (unrefrigerated) for about 2-3 hours before serving. This allows the flavors to really come out, especially the red chili. Cover and refrigerate any left over portions and eat for up to 3 or 4 days later.

You can leave out the chili pepper if someone you will be serving it to does not like spicy foods.

For those of you unfamiliar with Burdock Root (called "Gobo" in Japanese) I usually describe it to be a kind of white carrot. It is a root like a carrot, but very long and skinny. You may have seen it in the produce section and exclaimed "What is that?". It looks much like a dirty branch laying there for sale. What could we possibly do with THAT?

Here is what unwashed raw Gobo (Burdock Root) looks like. This one piece has been cut, it was very long.

Gobo is crunchy like a carrot and hardly any flavor actually. I love crunchy things so I have always loved eating it. The first time I ever had it was pickled. Pickled Gobo is miniature sized and colored orange like a carrot. Its great on a Japanese salad!

See if you can make this simple dish at home! In English it would probably be called "Sesame Sauteed Burdock and Carrots". You will need Sesame Oil, Cooking Sake and Soy Sauce which can be found at many supermarkets these days.

Kinpira Gobo

1 med/large Burdock Root/Gobo
2 small/med carrots
1 1/2 tablespoons Sesame Oil
2 tablespoons Cooking Sake
2 tablespoons Sugar
2 tablespoons Soy Sauce
1 1/2 tablespoons toasted white Sesame Seeds
1 teaspoon dried Red Chili Peppers (very thinly sliced rings)

Scrub the gobo to clean and rinse under running water. Use an ordinary carrot peeler to lightly peel off the brown outer layer. Cut into julienne strips and place into a bowl of water to soak for 10 minutes.

Peel carrots and also cut into julienne strips. Drain the gobo . Add just the gobo and sesame oil and turn on the heat to medium. Stir around to evenly distribute the sesame soil. Add the carrots and stir again. Cook and stir for about 4 minutes until the carrots and gobo is becoming a little tender.

Add the cooking sake, sugar and soy sauce and the dried sliced red chilies. Continue cooking over a medium to low heat until most of the liquid has been absorbed. Stir in the sesame seeds and place in a covered dish until serving. If you like, you can sprinkle a few sesame seeds on the top when serving for a pretty presentation.

The julienned gobo is soaking in water and carrots ready to slice. Japanese carrots are HUGE. I was using both of these as I was preparing a double batch

Gobo, carrots and sesame oil in the skillet ready to begin cooking.

Here is what the sliced dried Red Chili Peppers and the toasted White Sesame Seeds look like that I used.

A Japanese Neighorhood Festival

2009-07-20T09:08:00.011+09:00

People from the neighborhood enjoying the afternoon.

In Japan, "Matsuri" is a word you hear alot. It means "Festival". There are many festivals throughout the year, most have a religious background (the most silly one for a foreigner is the "Naked Festival" (Hadaka Matsuri) where the male participants are dressed only in a kind of Japanese style loincloth, in some kind of purification ceremony taking place at Shinto shrines). Occasionally there are secular festivals, such as a neighborhood's summer festival. Yesterday our neighborhood (Baraki) held one called "Baraki Natsu Matsuri (Baraki's Summer Festival).

Some people from our apartment building (including my dear hubbie who got up at 6:00AM for this) prepared a little booth with games for kids. There was a small pool of water for them to fish out little Superballs and plastic fish toys using a paddle that had a paper screen. Whatever they'd managed to get before the paper screen broke, they could keep. One of the other games was a golf game. The golf ball and numbered screen was made with velcro, so if they got the golf ball to stick on the screen, they won a prize. All the games cost a 100 yen coin (which is about one US dollar). I helped take the money and pass out the paddles to the kids for the Superball game. Some of the kids were so cute and polite (all were very polite actually). When I would tell them "Do your best" in Japanese, some would smile so big, they were so excited to play the game! Later on, while I was waiting in line for something to drink at the drink booth, one of the girls who had played the game, came up to me and gave me one of her big Superballs for a present. I thought that was so sweet of her!

People from other apartments and homes in the area were responsible for some of the other booths, entertainment, food, drinks, shave ice and operations, etc.

While there, we ate some delicious fresh BBQ'd corn (Ken's favorite) and some yummie Yakisoba (stir fried Japanese Soba noodles with cabbage and thin sliced pork).

Ken got a kind of famous soda for kids. This soda makes all Japanese think of being a kid and summertime. When I saw the bottle for the first time (years ago) I couldn't figure it out! The glass is pinched at the neck of the bottle and I couldn't see how to open it. Ken had to show me how. Turns out, there is a glass marble blocking the opening at the top by the pressure of the soda bubbles. Once you POP the marble down (by applying fast and hard pressure) the soda is opened and you can start drinking. The marble is held in the neck of the bottle where the glass is pinched narrow. The marble rattles around and makes noise as you continue to drink. It's all a bunch of fun for kids. The soda tastes like 7-Up kinda. It's just a basic sugar flavored soda water Ken tells me.

Besides food and games, there was a band that played music for a bit, some older folks in the neighborhood sang some "enka" songs on the karaoke machine and a group of ladies performed some hula dancing. It was rather surreal for me to be sitting there, in Japan, surrounded by all things Japanese whilst listening to Hawaiian music and a hula show going on!

Although I was not really so enthused to drag myself out in the heat to a silly little festival in the dirt and gravel, it was a nice late afternoon/evening and I so enjoyed the little kids at the Superball game. We even had a rainbow appear (very rare around here) which put a smile on everyone's face!

Maybe you could join our festival next year!

The little side road on the way to the festival entrance, all lined up with bicycles.

The entrance to the festival.

Me watching some of the kids play the Superball game.

A view of the velcro Golf Ball game

Hula ladies

A close up of the marble inside the soda bottle, this was a bottle that was already empty.

Ken's soda just after being opened.

How the top of the bottle looks after the marble has been released.

A Baraki rainbow!

Sweet Tomato Salad (Japanese style)

2009-07-14T19:41:00.012+09:00

Recently after catching up with an old friend, she asked (as well as her 9 year old daughter) "what do I usually eat" now that I live in Japan? As often happens with others, she also asked if I eat alot of sushi. In USA sushi might be the most known type of Japanese food. Conversely, when I first came to Japan, my Japanese friends were worrying about if I was close enough to McDonald's often enough, as they thought I surely must be used to eating lots of hamburgers on a regular basis!

Having lived various places on this globe, I can tell you in my experiences, people eat a varied diet of things no matter where you are. Of course certain places are famous for certain types of dishes, preparations and ingredients but what many people don't know is that every where has their own "home style" cooking. This is very true of Japan. Japanese home style cooking is simple, healthy and very tasty, even for a 'foreigner'. It is what most Japanese people will remember that their mom made at home when they were growing up, sort of like Japanese comfort food.

I am going to start posting more recipes of the usual Japanese home style dishes I like to prepare. Hopefully it will be fun for some of you to try in your own home.

Tonight I made this Sweet Tomato Salad which is so simple but very good. I used a bunch of tomatoes from our garden that I had just harvested! This salad is best when made and then chilled at least one hour ahead of serving time. This gives the flavors time to come out very nicely, especially in regards to the onions, which after an hour or so will tone down a bit after soaking up some the dressing (sort of marinating).

**Note about Rice vinegars. There are two main types of rice vinegar used in Japan. The most used one is just plain ol' rice vinegar. The second most used is a SUSHI rice vinegar that is sweeter and is used to flavor rice, especially rice that is used in sushi (but not JUST for sushi rice). Think of it kind of like regular White Vinegar compared to Wine or some other flavored vinegar. This recipe calls for the just basic rice vinegar.

Japanese Home Style Sweet Tomato Salad

Several tomatoes
Approx. 1/2 of an onion, finely diced/chopped
2 tablespoons Rice Vinegar
2 tablespoons Honey (I used a wonderful Wildflower honey from Kauai)
A bit of salt

Boil a saucepan of water. Pierce the tops of the tomatoes and swish around in the boiled water for a few seconds (I usually count to 20 or 30 in my head).

How to use the fork to swish the tomato around in the boiled water.

Remove from the hot water and immediately run cold water over the tomato and set aside (do this one by one). This process makes it easy to peel the skin off of the tomatoes. After peeling each tomato, cut up into bite sized slices (how ever big you like the bite). I like to mostly remove the seeds from the slices, so that that part of the tomato doesn't later end up adding to the dressing (making it more watery than necessary).

Arrange the cut tomato pieces onto a plate (one with some 'lip' on it so that after you add the dressing it won't run off the edges of the plate, I use a glass pie plate). Sprinkle salt on the tomatoes lightly.

The tomatoes sliced, placed onto the plate and lightly salted, next comes the onions. The dressing is already made (in the background).

Add the chopped onion all around evenly on top of the tomatoes then sprinkle a little bit more salt over that. Combine the rice vinegar and honey until evenly mixed, then drizzle it over the tomatoes and onion. Refrigerate until serving.

Note** This amount serves about 2-3 people as a little side dish. Depending on how much you are going to need to serve, you can increase the ingredients accordingly. You can also vary the amount of tomatoes or onions according to your tastes.

A lovely summer salad...

Here is the finished product. We like alot of onions, again you can vary the balance of tomatoes to onions as you like.

Umenohana Tofu Restaurant - Toyota City, Japan

2009-07-07T14:39:00.012+09:00

Entrance to Umenohana at Toyota City

This weekend, we were able to visit Umenohana restaurant with our friends Mr. & Mrs. Miyano at the Toyota-City location. Umenohana means 'plum blossom' in Japanese. It is a restaurant famed for the very interesting and super creative ways that tofu and other soy products can be prepared and served.

As we sat in our own private Tatami room, tofu and it's various sub-production products such as Yuba (tofu 'skin') and Okara (soy pulp) were amazingly and deliciously used for what seems a myriad of dishes that kept coming every 10 minutes or so by a lovely kimono clad waitress.

I had been to this restaurant last year and requested that we take Ken there this year as he and I enjoy eating the Chinese dumplings from this restaurant that we can buy at a take-out location in a department store in Tokyo. I knew he would love this place!

It really is very delicious and easy on the palette, as well as pretty healthful dining. If you ever get a chance to visit one of Umenohana's locations, I highly recommend it. The link (above) brings you to their website which has a button for 'English' at the top of the page. However after I clicked on it today it takes you to a page that says in Japanese that the English page is currently under construction. Maybe it will be up in English soon. In the meantime you may still enjoy checking out the cool pictures of some of their dishes and their restaurants on the Japanese pages.

Below are photos of just SOME of the wonderful dishes served in our set-course meal on this visit (there were about 16 things served in all). You can click on the photos to enlarge if you like. Enjoy and try not to get too hungry...aloha!

Our table in the Tatami room

A sushi type roll with the Yuba (tofu skin) used on the outside of the roll. Inside is tuna and Japanese mountain potato (white parts), called Yamaimo. It is actually a yam with a sticky texture. The ceramic dish here sports a type of glazing that is famous in Mie (mee-aye) prefecture in Japan.

This is a cold kind of soup with shrimp. The shrimp is minced almost like a ground meat. It was SO good!

And here is the Tofu steamed dumpling. This is awesome!

This bamboo contraption is used to push out the blocks of Tofu served here. When the tofu is pushed through, it comes out of the bottom in 'noodle' form and is placed into the glass dish with some sauce to eat it with. One block is sitting in the bamboo gadget ready to go. Fun AND yummie!

The tofu 'noodles' after being pushed out of bottom of the bamboo gadget (seen on the right)

There were a 2 types of tofu served, this is a close up of the one that had bits of Shiso leaf in it. Very refreshing and tasty!

Tofu pudding for desert with a caramel type sauce made from toasted Soybeans

Soy/Tofu Ice Cream with soy caramel sauce and Kinako powder on top. Kinako is a kind of soy flour made from toasted Soybeans. It tastes kind of like peanut butter and is often used in the making Japanese candies.

One of the decorative 'relief' areas in the hallways of the restaurant. Each one was so different and had a fresh flower placed in it somewhere. This one had the flower in the moon hanging.

Daisy refines the "touch" command

2009-05-19T16:00:00.006+09:00

Some people have been asking me for new videos of Daisy. Daisy is happy so many people like her videos. She really is the cutest Lemon Beagle! Not only that, she amazes me with how smart she is. She very good at listening and waiting.

So finally I have downloaded a cool video converter that shrinks the size of the video down, making it easier for us to upload to YouTube and on this blog (before the file size was way too big). It's called DivX converter. It's super easy to use and really great at condensing and making your videos a better quality. There are Mac and PC versions.

Below are two movies of Daisy as she is fine-tuning her skills of "Touch". She used to just touch with whatever paw was nearby, but now we are working on "1" and "2" which means left or right paw. She is doing pretty good but needs a little bit more work so that she gets it right everytime. We are learning this so she can touch a 'mark', because..........

Daisy now has an agent in Tokyo. She will be doing doggie modeling and acting. So we are working on more commands and fine tuning her responses. She enjoys learning new things alot! She loves attention and treats!

Have fun with these two..more to come

Views of Hawaii - Spring 2009

2009-05-16T16:09:00.018+09:00

A "Dalmatian" pigeon we saw at Lani Kai

We've been fortunate to already have gone to Hawaii twice this year so far! Ken had mileage points that got us there in January. Then, since Ken still doesn't have a job, we were able to take advantage of a last minute unheard of cheap package deal in April, just before the busy travel season of Golden Week here in Japan (guess that's how retired folks can get good deals). So, off we went again for just a few days. We got in a bit of golf and good eatin' in during those times. We also enjoyed relaxing with Janet mom, especially the times we spent on Waikiki beach renting lounge chairs and umbrellas and acting like real tourists! That is the first time I have ever gotten in the water at Waikiki, since when you live on Oahu, you avoid going there at all costs.

We had such a wonderful time, everyday, we had good weather and soaked in the ALOHA...it sure goes along way to soothe ones soul!

Here are some pictures from both trips with some details below them. Hope you will find them enjoyable.

Whales off of south Maui coast

More Whales off the south coast of Maui

Ken as we start out a beautiful morning of golf at the Kahili Golf Course (years ago called the "Grand Waikapu") in Wailuku Heights, Maui. In the background is Haleakala, a rare view without too many clouds blocking the top of the mountain!

A view at Elleair Maui Golf Club and the new homes they are stacking in around the course and on the hillside there in upper Kihei that has long been open land.

Me and Mom's toes in the sandy shore at Waikiki

An Oahu firetruck parked in front of the Safeway on Kapahulu (which has a Starbucks), we liked the surfboard on it!

Our newest fun destination on Oahu (new for us) the Lion Coffee factory store/cafe. Ken is posing here in front of their somewhat cheesy display in the entrance.

A view of Windward Oahu (Kaneohe town) from the Ko'olau Golf Course. This course by the way, has some of the most beautiful scenery however is a pretty tough course to play!

Another view at Ko'olau Golf Course, the green colors were just amazing here as the sun broke thru a cloud!

Me getting ready to drive at the Waikele Country Club on Oahu

A mother Goose at the Waikele Country Club

Baby Geese at the Waikele Country club...so cute they were!

These birds were everywhere at Waikele Country Club, I believe this one was young as some of the other ones had more distinctive black on their chests

A bird looking for a handout at the Elleair course on Maui

Ever wondered how to keep some Plumerias you find on the golf course on your cart for decoration? Well I have, they usually blow off but I decided this time to poke a little twig in the center and then push it all into the one of the holes for holding a golf tee. Silly but these are the little things one enjoys when we can't be in Hawaii everyday.

Another shot of a Plumeria in the golf cart tee holder

Ken at the Ted Makalena Municipal Golf Course on Oahu. It's a flat course that we enjoy playing. Don't expect much in the way of facilities if you go, the holes aren't even marked and it can be confusing to follow the golf cart path for a first timer. See, doesn't my Plumeria look nice in the cart?

We finally made it to a Lampert's Ice Cream, Ken with his order

Me at Lampert's, the beginning of eating my way to oblivion

We love Leonard's malasadas and they have graciously placed a wagon where you can get some fresh and hot in Waikele (in the parking lot in front of the Big Kmart) instead of having to drive all the way to their bakery on Kapahulu, YUM!

The pet hotel delivering Daisy to us to the place where we parked our car at the airport. This caregiver let Daisy ride in front and watch for us to come get her. Can you see her face in the windshield, I think at this point she saw that I was approaching.

The second time we came home, the driver had Daisy in the back of the van, there were other dogs up in the front waiting to be reunited with their families. It's a nice service the pet hotel at Narita airport has. They will bring your dog to you as you are picking up your car at the airport parking, very nice for tired travelers!

Cherry Blossoms Tokyo - 2009

2009-04-07T23:20:00.004+09:00

The small river near our home, the trees are in full bloom!

Another year gone by, and the beautiful Sakura are everywhere right now as well as gorgeous weather for them! We took Daisy for a walk around a couple places we know that aren't crowded, especially the normal walk we usually take, a small river-side about 4 minutes walk from our house.

Here are the pics from this year.

A coupla posers, riverside near home

Tried to get Daisy to look at the camera, but she was enjoying watching other dogs and the little Sakura petals that were blowing off the trees in the breeze, like a snow shower of petals!

Ken and Daisy, taking in the view, and in Daisy's case, tasting the Sakura petals that have blown to the ground.

Ken pointed out to me this interesting phenomena, flowers sprouting right out from the trunks of trees!

A very close up of the Sakura fully opened.

Me and Daisy enjoying the view from the river edge

Birds in our Japan Garden - Tokyo

2009-03-27T17:48:00.033+09:00

Japanese White Eyed birds are a beautiful color green. They love cherry blossoms but also perform amazing acrobatics in our garden to catch gnats and mosquitoes in flight. They are also quite fond of the blooms of our Rosemary plants and any fruit we put out such as Mikans, Oranges or Apples.

Today I was inspired to share with you some of the many birds we see in our garden in the Tokyo area, especially at this time of the year. At one point today, there were 5 different types of birds in the garden at the same time, all providing a great service of natural bug control for us!

Some of the photos are my own, taken in our garden, but since it's hard to get the birds to pose well for me, I have included some photos from the internet for a closer and prettier look at each type of bird. One person called Ingo Waschkies (click here) I found has fantastic pictures on the internet of some of the common birds seen in Japan (along with a nice gallery of birds from other places besides Japan).

Who would have thought we could enjoy such a parade of birds in our little postage stamp of a garden in Tokyo, right from the sofa! It makes us cherish our little garden even more.

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Brown Eared Bulbul (Hiyodori)
This bird loves our little Mikan tree (tangerines). Here is one having an
afternoon snack of fresh Mikan in our garden.

Another more clearer picture of this type of Bulbul, these are very common in Japan.

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Dusky Thrush (Tsugumi)

This bird was busy for about 3 hours today running around in the flower beds and the Dichondra lawn finding and pulling out of the ground, cut-worms and Japanese Beetle grubs. I was thrilled since these worms and grubs often are the cause of damage in my garden.

Another picture of a Dusky Thrush
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White Wagtail (Hagusekirei)
This bird is very common around where we live since there are some open spaces, especially around the riverside of the Edo-gawa. Daisy thinks they are fun to chase.
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Daurian Redstart (Jobitaki)
This little bird is awful cute, it flits around the garden and it's tail bounces around after it lands each time. We don't see these everyday but have them visit quite a bit in the late winter.

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Grey Starling (Mukudori)
This bird is pretty shy about getting to close to humans, but today there were two in the garden busily finding things to eat. I was surprised to see them since they normally don't' come down on the ground in our garden. Usually we see them in large groups up on the telephone wires or hundreds of them in one tree making quite a bit of noise, and they can be rather messy for anyone and anything under a tree in such circumstances!

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Japanese White Eye (Mejiro)

Another picture of the sweet little Mejiro. Their song is as sweet as they look.

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Azure Winged Magpie (Onaga)
This is quite a beautiful bird and very big! It is related to crows and jackdaws. One day, one of these swooped down into our garden and plucked a large Cicada (Semi) off the trunk of our tree as we sat there watching. We didn't even realize the Cicada was there! These birds must have the best eyesight! We see them flying in small groups around the area where our condo is and around the Edo-gawa. They are a little shy and you don't often get to see them very closely.

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Eastern or Oriental Turtle Dove (Kiji Bato)
Here is a picture of one of the friendlier doves that visit our garden. They love to sit and sun in the lawn and as in this photo, various other places in the garden. Before we got Daisy, if we left the patio door open, they would sometimes wander right into the house! They are such a beautiful Dove and you can see by the pattern on their wings why they are called Turtle Doves.

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Bull-Headed Shrike (Mozu)
One of these was in the garden last summer and caught a baby lizard. I was not real happy since I do like the lizards that dwell in our garden, but a bird's gotta eat right? I'm sure it's not easy for the birds in the Metropolitan Tokyo area! I hear that despite their gentle appearance, these birds are considered almost a bird of prey and will even catch sparrows and small mammals!

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Great Tit (Shijyukara)
Another cute bird we love to see in the garden. We don't see these in the summertime, but usually there are a pair that come around to our garden every year in the winter and spring. We put out a bird house in hopes they would nest here but so far not yet. They love gnats and also nuts that we put out for them. Their song is a delicate melody.

Little dessert cakes from Japanese department stores

2008-10-07T14:29:00.011+09:00

A lovely little Chocolate Glazed Pistachio mouse cake with some real Gold flake on top

In Japan, every large department store has a basement with food for sale. Usually it's rows and rows of deli-style counters, a bakery, fresh fish and meats, small (and horrifically expensive) groceries (mostly produce) and sometimes wines and cheeses from around the world. A very interesting part (for me) is the sweets, especially the little Japanese cakes. Not necessarily "Japanese" by ingredients but more like the Japanese version of something from Europe or elsewhere in the world. They are really small but cost around $4.00 to $10.00 USD for just one! They are not something I buy often, but once in a while it's nice for a little indulgence.

These cakes are like most Japanese foods, meticulously made and presented. The packing for taking them home is also quite interesting too. Of course, they are super delicious!

Recently I got these two while at the Takashimaya in Nihombashi. Their basement has alot of French and Italian foods sellers. I also (besides these cakes) enjoyed getting some great, fresh baked (hard to find in Japan) authentic French breads and some Italian bologna and pate` (from Milan).

Chocolate Mousse cake and a Strawberry Cream cake packed in the take home box.

The salesgirl used these little pre-cut cardboard corners to secure each cake from moving in the box (using the ever adored, in Japan, scotch tape)

I don't know how they get the Strawberries so glossy in Japan, looks good doesn't it?

The inside of the Strawberry Cream cake

The inside of our chocolate cake, layers of Chocolate and Pistachio Mousse with a bottom layer of Chocolate cake

This is what the box it all came in looks like.

Slow Cooker Peanut Butter & Chocolate Pudding Cake - Low Calories

2008-09-30T20:43:00.007+09:00

Looks good doesn't it?

Ok, I am REALLY getting into my old crock pot (and I mean old, I have had it since 1983!). It's just too easy to make things in, especially these days when I have about zero energy for meals that take lots of prep work and cooking.

Now I have discovered that I can make some low-calorie desserts for my husband and I in the crock pot. We are, as most always, trying to lose weight but still crave some sweet goodie after dinner, so I am working on new creations in the crock pot.

Here is one I came up with this week. Can be enjoyed hot from the crock pot with some low-calorie ice cream, ice milk or Rice Dream non-dairy frozen dessert etc if you want, or you can pour some fudge sauce on top, sugar free if you are trying to cut out the sugar and some calories.

Slow Cooker Peanut Butter and Chocolate Pudding Cake- low calories

For the Peanut Butter Cake portion:

3/4 c. Cake Flour
3 teaspoons Somersweet
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/3 c. non-fat milk
1 tablespoon plain, natural unsweetened Applesauce
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 c. Peanut Butter (natural, unsweetened, creamy or chunky as desired)

For the Chocolate topping "pudding":

3 tablespoons unsweetened Cocoa Powder (I used Dutch processed)
5 teaspoons Somersweet
1 c. boiling water

Butter/grease the bottom, corners and up the sides about 1 inch of the crock pot before turning it on or placing any ingredients into it.

Combine the flour, 3 tsp. Somersweet and baking powder. Add milk, applesauce and vanilla. Stir with whisk until smooth. Add peanut butter and stir with spoon until mixed completely. Put into the crock pot and level out evenly if necessary.

How it looks with the Peanut Butter batter leveled out.

In a small/medium bowl, stir together the Cocoa, 5 teaspoons Somersweet and the boiling water. Whisk till completely blended. Gently pour over the peanut butter cake batter in the cooker. DO NOT STIR IT. Just let the cocoa mixture rest on top.

How it looks once you have placed the Cocoa mixture on top of the Peanut Butter batter.

Cover the cooker and cook on HIGH for about 2 hours. Be careful any time you remove the cover (which you should not do while it's cooking) that you do not let any water collecting on the lid run down into your dessert.

How it looks in the crock pot when it is done (in this photo, I had already removed one serving).

Crock Pot Kalua Pork with Cabbage

2008-09-24T15:18:00.009+09:00

Slow Cooker Kalua Pork with Cabbage, with some cracked pepper on top

One thing I really miss when I'm away from Hawaii is Kalua Pork. You may have eaten it if you have ever been to a Luau dinner. That is the 'real' thing where the pig is slow cooked in an "Imu" or earthen oven. The word 'kalua' in Hawaiian comes from 'ka', meaning 'the' and 'lua' meaning 'hole'. The Hawaiians used the Imu which was a pit in the ground, to steam whole pigs, breadfruit, bananas, sweet potatoes, taro, chicken, and fish.

The Imu acts like an underground pressure cooker. It takes alot of time and labor to prepare an Imu, so it was (and still is) mostly used for group meals, festivities, or religious ceremonies.

An Imu, a lua or round pit, is about 2 feet to 4 feet deep with sloping sides. The diameter and depth matches the amount of food to be cooked. The pit also contains not only the food, but rocks and vegetation. The excavated dirt or sand is kept next to the pit so that it can be used to cover the Imu later. Kindling material and wood is put in the bottom center of the pit, then stones, about the size of a closed fist, are then positioned on top of the wood. The kindling wood is lighted and the fire heats the pit and the stones. As the wood turns to charcoal, the Imu stones drop inward on the hot coals. After a few hours the stones are at their maximum heat and are then leveled out.

To steam the food in the Imu, green plant materials are needed. The Hawaiians used some of the traditional plants such as banana stumps, ti leaves, honohono grass, banana leaves, and coconut palm leaf.

The wood used usually is 'Kiawe' which is a cousin of Mesquite. This gives the pork the awesome smoked flavor. You can duplicate this at home in your slow cooker (crock pot) by using liquid smoke. I use Wright's Mesquite Liquid Smoke as it is easiest to find in most supermarkets. The Hickory type is also good.

A picture of the liquid smoke I usually use, from B&G Foods' website.

Here is my recipe...me ke aloha....

Slow Cooker/Crock Pot Kalua Pork

Pork Shoulder Roast or alittle fatty Loin Roast cuts, 1 lb or amount as desired
Water (to cover meat, one cup at a time)
Liquid Smoke (1 tablespoon to each 1 cup of water used)
Hawaiian Salt (about 2 tablespoons for each 1 cup of water used)

Place raw pork into the slow cooker pot. Cover with water (about 2 cups for each 1 lb. of meat). Add liquid smoke. Add Hawaiian salt. Cook on low for 5 hours.

This photo is just after adding everything to the slow cooker pot. See how the water is covering the pork quite a bit.

After 5 hours has past and around 2 hours before you want to serve, add roughly chopped cabbage as much as you like. I add alot (about 1/2 to 3/4 of a head of cabbage) and then mix around until it is almost covered by the water/juice. It will steam a bit as it is cooking so there is no need to cover the cabbage entirely by the water as you have done with the pork. Cover the crock pot with the lid.

I usually then turn the cooker up to high until serving (about 2 hours after having added the cabbage).

Enjoy hot from the crock pot with side of corn on the cob, potato or macaroni salad and/or steamed white sticky rice. The Kalua Pork can stay warmed and served for several hours (say at a party for example) by keeping the crock pot on low.

Here is some of the Hawaiian Salts I use. It comes in ground or course. Click here to read about Hawaiian Salt.

Krispy Kreme Doughnuts in Chiba, Japan

2008-09-22T18:48:00.014+09:00

Well now they've gone and done it. There is a new Krispy Kreme Doughnuts located about 10 minutes away from our home in Japan, at the Minami Funabashi La La Port shopping mall. Krispy Kreme has several locations in Tokyo proper, but now they are spreading out from there. We have never gone to any of the shops in Tokyo since the waiting time in line is usually 1 hour if you are lucky, it can easily be 2-3 hours. I have also heard of people waiting even 4 hours! We decided to check out the La La Port location and there was only about 15 minute (or less) wait time. We got there before I snapped this photo, there was no one outside waiting at the time.

Click here if you would like to read a fairly detailed article about Krispy Kreme in Japan (by Japan Inc).

So this location at La La Port, looks mostly like any US version of Krispy Kreme, except not as big inside and not as much merchandise for sale. The order board is in Japanese and English, helpful for folks like me! Not that I NEED to be making use of it very often (trying as usual to lose some weight!). You can see the doughnuts going thru the process of being made as with most of KK's shops. Boy does it smell GOOD in there! PLUS they were handing out free just made (still hot!) glazed doughnuts to all of us waiting in line. That was nice, but Ken and I joked that we should leave after that as that was all we wanted was one doughnut.

We ended up getting a dozen for our neighbor (as a peace offering since Daisy had chewed the wallpaper in their entry off a bit) and about 4 doughnuts for Ken and I to share with each other. The next day when we got on the scale, we had LOST weight so the big joke now is 'we need to go on Krispy Kreme diets to lose weight'....if only huh?

The left row of people waiting is for those who want to select various types and amounts of doughnuts, the open row (at the time of this photo it was clear) is an "express" for those who want to purchase boxed dozen (for take out) of the glazed doughnut only. It's very popular in Japan (the regular glazed doughnut) and many people buy 2-3 dozen (or more!) to bring home, take to the office, or give to friends or neighbors (whom are usually thankful to have the doughnuts without having had to wait in line for them).

The wonderful, and always fun to watch, doughnut making machine.

Orange Chicken, Panda Express style

2008-09-12T22:56:00.005+09:00

I have been trying to make Orange Chicken like the kind at Panda Express. My husband LOVES their Orange Chicken and will eat it every day when we are near Panda Express locations (because there are no chances for him to eat it in Japan). So I tried to make it at home. It is not easy but after the 5th try, I think I have got it as close to the real thing as can be done at home, and without a big Wok. I don't own a Wok...no space!

Anyway, we tried it tonight and it was delicious! I also have a recipe for Orange Lilikoi Guava chicken in a crock pot that I will post soon. It's similar to this Orange Chicken except it's all done in a crock pot. You lose alittle of the crunch of the fried chicken pieces but also it's healthier since there is nothing fried!

And now.......

Terri's Homemade Orange Chicken, Panda Style

For the sauce, mix together in a bowl:

1 cup Orange Marmalade (for lower calories use a sugarless variety)
4 tablespoons Shoyu/Soy Sauce (low sodium Shoyu is ok too)
1/2 cup Barbecue Sauce (any type you like, I used a Honey Mustard type)
dash of salt (about 1/4 tsp.)
1 teaspoon of thin sliced red chili peppers, fresh or dried
2 teaspoons of Organic Turbanado Sugar (optional)
1 tablespoon Lilikoi Juice concentrate (optional, I used Aunty Lilikoi's)

After thoroughly mixing these ingredients together, place them all in a crock pot and cook on low for 5-6 hours. You may check on it and stir once or twice.

For the Chicken:

1 1/2 - 2 lbs Chicken, thighs or breast as desired (I used both in equal amounts)
1 Egg beaten
1 1/2 tsp Salt
1/4 tsp ground White Pepper
1/2 cup Cornstarch
1/4 cup All Purpose Flour

After the 5-6 hours are past, cut into large bite sized pieces the chicken meat. Beat egg in a medium/large sized bowl. Add chicken, salt and white pepper. Mix together thoroughly and set aside.

Put oil in a pan or deep fryer and heat to frying temperature.

In another bowl, mix the cornstarch and flour. Add the chicken mixture, and mix until well and evenly coated. Add the chicken pieces in small batches. Removed from oil when browned on both sides (if using a pan to fry, you may need to manually turn over the pieces one by one to assure even cooking.

Place on paper or rack to drain.

After all the chicken is fried, put into a large bowl, or a smaller bowl in batches, and pour some of the Orange sauce from the crock pot over the fried chicken. Mix around until the chicken pieces are coated with the Orange sauce and serve.

**note, next time I am going to try adding some sauteed/stir fried crushed garlic to the Orange Sauce to see if that will spiff up the flavor a bit. Also my husband said he would prefer it alittle spicier so I will add more red chilies next time too.

ENJOY....

Avocado Mashed Potatoes

2008-08-31T20:43:00.006+09:00

Looks like Guacamole doesn't it?

Here is a recipe I just came up with today. Turned out pretty good! You just have to get over the mental block of green potatoes!

I think I will use the left overs to make Japanese style Croquettes tomorrow and will post that later.

Give it a try if you have some potatoes and an avocado needing to be eaten! It really is quite tasty!

Avocado Mashed Potatoes

About ¾ lb Potatoes
1 avocado
lemon juice
¼ cup soy or cow’s milk (I used soymilk, plain/unsweetened)
1 tablespoon butter
salt, white pepper to taste
garlic salt to taste, if desired

Peel and cut potatoes into large chunks. Cover in cool salted water in sauce pan and boil until pieces can be pierced with a fork (not too soft where they break when the fork goes in).

While the potatoes are cooking, peel and mash one avocado. Sprinkle with dash of fresh lemon juice (about 1 tsp is good). Sprinkle with some salt (about ½ teaspoon or as desired) and mix all well. Set aside.

Place the butter into the milk and melt in the microwave. Sprinkle the salt and pepper in and set aside.

When the potatoes are done, remove them from the water with a slotted spoon. Mash roughly in a bowl. Add the milk/butter mixture in about 3 portions to the potatoes, mixing thoroughly after each addition (use a hand beater or stand up mixer). Continue to mix to desired consistency (we like our mashed potatoes alittle lumpy in our home).

Lastly, add the avocado, folding in or mixing gently on low speed until evenly distributed into the potatoes.

Serve warm.

Mango, Coconut, Macadamia Nut Bread or Muffins - Sucanat

2008-08-11T16:18:00.005+09:00

Finished muffins, with one split open so you can see what it looks like done. YUMMY!

Today I was going to make some Mango Bread, which has coconut and mac nuts in it, but ended up putting the batter into muffin papers. As usual, I am trying to make my recipe healthier, using whole wheat flour (partially), Sucanat sugar (no white sugar) and some applesauce to replace some of the oil.

You can use fresh mangoes or frozen. I prefer frozen because besides the fact it can be quite an ordeal to peel and then cut up a mango (for me anyway), they are really expensive here in Japan, when you can find them and it's hard to find them not over ripened in what I consider, a usable condition. I'm serious about them being expensive! I saw a mango at the supermarket here 2 days ago that was 980 yen, which is about $10.00 USD currently! There was also some cheaper mangoes (smaller and probably from the Philippines) that were about half that price, still pricey if you ask me. A bag of frozen and already nice chopped mango is only about $3.50 USD and there is nearly 2 cups in the bag! However, again, it's not easy to find it. I usually have to go to more than one supermarket before I am successful, so when I see them, I often buy some to keep in the freezer for later.

This recipe could be used in a bread pan as a loaf of fruit bread, but you would need to bake it longer, around 45-50 minutes or more, depending on your oven.

When making muffins, you can also use reusable Sili-cups (silicon muffin baking cups) instead of the muffin tin and papers, which is what I usually do, but since I was giving a good amount of these away to friends, I decided it'd be better to use papers this time, giving them a bit more stability in transit perhaps.

Enjoy!

Mango Bread or Muffins

1 cup cake flour (or pastry flour)
1 cup all purpose whole wheat flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
3 eggs well beaten
1/2 teaspoon coconut flavor/extract (optional)
1/4 cup applesauce, unsweetened, plain
1/2 cup vegetable oil or canola oil, sunflower oil, etc.
1 1/4 cup Sucanat (cane sugar)
2 cups diced (peeled first) mango (fresh or frozen)
1/2 cup chopped macadamia nuts or walnuts
1/2 cup grated coconut (unsweetened, if you are forced to use sweetened, cut down the sugar)
1/2 cup raisins or chopped dates (optional, this will make the muffins much sweeter, I did not use any in this batch)

Batter mixed and ready to add the coconut, mac nuts and mango.

Preheat oven to 325 F (160 C) or a bit higher depending on your oven (I baked these at 160C).

For bread, grease and flour two 9 by 5 inch loaf pans.

Sift the dry ingredients together in a small bowl.

In a large bowl, beat eggs. Add the oil, applesauce, Sucanat and coconut extract/flavor.
Mix thoroughly.

Add the dry ingredients and blend well but don't over mix.

Fold in the mango, coconut, nuts and raisins.

Pour batter into loaf pans or spoon into muffin tin/papers or Sili-cups. Do not fill muffin papers or cups all the way , but rather just below the edge (see photo below).

Bake bread for 45-60 minutes (depending on your oven) and muffins for approximately 30 minutes, until golden brown. Test for doneness by inserting a clean knife or a toothpick into the center. If it comes out clean it's done.

Let loaves cool for 10-15 minutes before taking them out of the pan. Do not slice until completely cooled.

Muffins can be removed carefully and set out to cool.

This recipe makes 2 loaves or approximately 18 muffins.

This is about the level you should fill the papers or Sili-cups with batter.

BullFrogs and Japanese Toads in the garden

2008-08-07T21:46:00.019+09:00

Well today, as Daisy sat on her new little summer cot enjoying the fresh air in her garden, a huge BullFrog (called Ushi Gaeru in Japanese) jumped into the Dichondra lawn directly in front of her. Although this picture was taken before that 'event' this is exactly where it was (where she is looking towards in this photo above). At first I didn't know what it was in the lawn, then when I opened the door and stepped onto the lanai, that thing JUMPED! He lept at least 3 feet (about a meter) in one hop! He hit a potted plant and knocked it over and then hid in some dried leaves alongside the edge of the garden. Well this was quite interesting! I wanted to get a picture of him so I approached and then he took off. That thing can RUN and I also discovered it could climb a small fence! Finally he hid under a shed I have. I could barely get a look at him.

Daisy was so excited to try and chase him. I had to spend time taking her mind off of it with some juicy bones and treats for a while.

Here is a picture of what we saw and about the same size. This photo comes courtesy of a website on how to control Bullfrogs, I was unable to get a photo of 'our' visitor today. It was much too fast!

An American Bullfrog, they are not native to Japan but were introduced in the 1920's, originally to help farmers earn extra income by exporting frog legs. But they are great jumpers and runners, as we discovered today, and as some would escape the farms, they became established in the wild. Now they can be found all over Japan in the countryside as well as city parks, substantial ponds, rivers and larger irrigation ditches, and our humble urban garden!

click here to listen to a Bullfrog's cal l

UPDATE-Sept 1
We found the Bullfrog today hiding in the darkest wettest corner of the garden. After carefully holding back some leaves of the large plant he was sitting under, I was able to get this picture without upsetting him.

Funny thing is, it must have disturbed our regular Japanese Toads that live in our garden, under the sheds. They are called Azuma Hiki Gaeru in Japanese. Less than 10 minutes later, I saw one of our usual toads walking towards a shed we have on the opposite side of the garden looking dejected, like he just got kicked out of his house. He is lucky that BullFrog didn't eat him! Here is a picture of our regular Japanese Toad in the lawn. He doesn't move as fast as the BullFrog. The toads tend to freeze when you get too close, as if that would make you no longer interested in them. Silly toads, however the 'freeze' technique does make them very photogenic!

Japanese Toad as he is walking thru the Dichondra lawn. They seem to prefer walking like this and jump as a last resort. It looks funny as they walk across the lawn.

Azuma Hiki Gaeru, Japanese Toad acting like he isn't there, in a frozen position.

Hopefully our BullFrog will hang around, though he might have been traumatized by my trying to take his picture. I'm sure he is awesome pest control. He was so big and looked very well fed. I think he may have come from a nearby taro patch that someone is filling in partially to build some houses on. I used to hear the BullFrogs singing from there (at first I thought someone had cows or oxen!) but it's been pretty quiet over there now. I did however think I heard something outside along the dark damp side of our apartment for the last week or so. Guess it wasn't my imagination!

The next night, Daisy found this Japanese Toad in the garden. His markings are a little more pronounced than the one we saw during the day, maybe not the same toad. The poor thing was 'frozen' stiff in terror. Daisy was really not so interested in him after he stopped moving (she is actually quite gentle with things usually). I brought him in the apartment for a photo shoot, then put him back out in a bushy area so Daisy would give him some peace. Here are a couple really good close up photos for those of you that are interested and not squeamish about froggies.

Lemon Beagles can jump!

2008-07-20T20:31:00.007+09:00

Running in the clover with the little soccer ball

Today we took Daisy to the dog park. The dog park provides a little box with some used balls for the dogs to play with there. Daisy likes to root around and select one from the box when we go there. Today she chose a small rubber 'soccer' ball. Ken was with us today and he was letting her jump for the soccer ball while I got some action shots with my new camera. She looks funny when she is jumping. She jumps on command (mostly).

Enjoy the pics!

All that jumping makes a Beagle tired! Here are a few pictures of some of the breaks she would take around the water bowl (she likes to put the ball in the water bowl sometimes!).

Golf with Daisy in Ibaraki, Kashimanomori C.C.

2008-07-18T18:06:00.010+09:00

Daisy on the cart, ready to start!

This week, we found a place to golf in nearby Ibaraki that is dog friendly. This place was more welcoming to dogs than anywhere we've ever been before. Daisy was allowed to walk with us into the lobby and also during the lunch break, she was allowed to be in the room with us while we ate, though not in the main dining room. They even had a little bowl of water waiting for her!

We all had a great time. The place was called Kashimanomori Country Club and it only takes about an hour or so from our place, that is CLOSE for Tokyo area! It had very nice greens, not too fast and not too bumpy, so we had some very nice putts. There were however tons of bunkers and quite a bit of water. I managed to get myself in the bunkers pretty often on this day! But one needs to practice getting out of them once in a while and I managed to do so fairly well. Lunch was included and the locker rooms and hot spring bath was very nice. We already have reserved our next game there in a few weeks!

One view of the golf course, a kind of cloudy part of the day.

Here I am working my way out of one of the many bunkers!

Daisy was so funny! She really watched us as we would get ready to swing our club, then just like a human spectator, she'd watch the direction that the ball sailed off to. It was a little hot this day once the sun came out, so we got her T-shirt wet and put it on her to keep her cool. It worked really good, she wasn't even panting. We thought about getting ourselves wet too!

Here is a kind of photo log of how the day went. Video a the end of the post is cute of her running on the fairway. It was so cool that this place allows the dogs off the cart (just had to keep her off the greens and out of the bunkers).

In the car on the way to the Country Club, Daisy didn't mind getting up early to go "bye bye" in the car!

Enjoying a break in the grass with Ken.

After 17 holes and nearly 5 hours, I'm feeling alittle sleepy!

Just a few minutes later, after we started the 18th hole,
she couldn't keep her eyes open anymore!

Wow, it's amazing how cozy this cart is!

When we got home, she had dinner and then headed directly for her crate and passed out. Doesn't she look like a fat Caterpillar here? She was snoring like a freight train but slightly opened her eyes when she heard the camera switch on for this photo.

Video of Daisy and Ken running down the fairway as I drive by on the golf cart.

Summer 2008 Nagoya Exhibition

2008-07-15T15:43:00.009+09:00

Memory Wire Necklace with a handblown glass bead, Aquamarine and Ruby colored Garnets. Silver "Daisy" beads between the gemstones and dangle accents on the ends of the necklace.

This summer, as usual, I had an exhibition for my Princess T line of jewelry at Art Space Sou in Nagoya. It is so nice to go to Nagoya for the weekend and meet up with some of my loyal customers, enjoy the other exhibitor's creations in the gallery (especially Miki Miyano and Naomi Kazawa's lampworked beads) but mostly it's great to visit with my friend Miki and her husband in Toyota city. I had a lovely time this year! The time past by so quickly!

This year I kept my displays pretty simple. I also kept the jewelry designs a bit simple this year as well, focusing mostly on just a few design types, such as Lariat/Wrap style necklaces and adjustable necklaces on a knotted cotton or linen cord. I also enjoyed working with Memory Wire for necklaces and bracelets this year. People really liked the free sizing of the Memory Wire and the ease of putting on and taking off the jewelry made with it.

In the previous post, I introduced Sora-chan, the sweet kitten I got to play with while staying with my friend Miki, but here are some photos from my show and from some sights around Nagoya I hope you will enjoy. I am working on posting some videos as well soon so check back!

Display with mostly Memory Wire Necklaces and Bracelets

Display with many Lariat/Wrap style Necklaces

A fun adjustable chain necklace with Mother of Pearl ovals, beautifully clear Smoky Quartz nuggets, Tiger's Eye, one Fresh Water Pearl and a gorgeous piece of Gold and Black Rutillated Quartz for the pendant.

Some adjustable knotted cord necklaces in blues

A spiral shaped building in Downtown Nagoya. Each of the triangular glass/windows are a different size due to the shape of the building, not one is exactly the same!

A more distant view of the spiral building

The cleanest bus stop I've ever seen, though most everything is very clean in Japan. I don't think there was one fingerprint on the glass here! Can you imagine seeing such a clean bus stop in USA? Not in Los Angeles that is for sure!

This is a sort of mannequin used on the back of a road construction truck to warn drivers that they are approaching a construction area. You see these in Japan from time to time. He has a flashing yellow light on his shoulder and his right arm moves the flag in his hand up and down. From a distance, it looks like a real person sometimes, especially at night. It is a good idea actually since a live person standing on the road doing this job can be really putting themselves in danger.

Sora, a most fortunate kitten

2008-07-07T21:11:00.011+09:00

This is Sora. He belongs to my friends, the Miyano family in Toyota City (near Nagoya). I was visiting with them this weekend when I went to my show (exhibition) at Art Space Sou, which began on this past Saturday.

Sora was rescued shortly after he was born. It seems his mother was a stray cat and that she abandoned her kittens. Some of Sora's brother's and sisters didn't make it, but the Miyano family kindly took Sora in and hand fed him for the first 2 weeks they had him. He had to be fed with a kind of medicine dropper with a special formula since he was too weak to even drink/eat from a bottle. But after the 2 weeks, he started eating on his own and has gotten stronger and stronger. Now he is a very robust kitten who will be 3 months old soon. He is very loved and well cared for by his family. He is a very lucky little kitten!

I had alot of fun playing with him. He thinks he is a big and vicious lion! He really enjoys to tear into you with his needle-like teeth if you aren't paying attention, like any kitten his age. When he is being calm and relaxed, he starts purring right away when he sees you.

Aren't his markings adorable? I especially like the black spot that is right on the end of his chin. He is a real sweetie and I really enjoyed him. It's been a while since I've been able to spend time with a small kitten.

Sora in a mid-air jump trying to reach the fuzzy pink toy we were playing with.

One of Sora's first pictures when he was quite small.

CHECK OUT THE NEWLY POSTED VIDEOS BELOW! Sora is very funny!

Daisy goes for a bike ride

2008-06-15T18:56:00.010+09:00

Daisy in my bike basket riding along the Edogawa riverside in Tokyo (the entrance to Tokyo Bay is behind us, just beyond the bridge).

Today was a beautiful early summer day in Tokyo. Not too hot, not too cold, a sun shiny day with a little cool breeze. We took Daisy for a ride on the bike to enjoy the Edogawa riverside. It was the first time she rode in the bike basket with the basket cover I'd made for her. She was a bit wiggly going down the road at first, wanting to jump out and sniff around like she does when we go outside for a walk, but after a few minutes, she just enjoyed breathing in the air as we rode along. She sat pretty well, and when she didn't after I told her "Sit" she would pretty quickly. I guess all the times we go to the home center in the shopping cart got her used to sitting in a basket. The pet shopping carts there have a kind of basket/box on top of where a child seat would be (on the shopping cart) and she is used to me telling her to keep seated in that while we shop.

After we got to the Edogawa riverside, I enjoyed sitting on a towel in the sunshine while Ken took Daisy for a jog. The riverside is very nice and grassy with a paved bike path from Tokyo Bay (where the Edogawa river dumps into) all the way up the river for miles and miles. Many people are jogging, biking, walking or enjoying a relaxing time in the grass with their families and or dogs. Today we even saw someone with a pet Pot Bellied Pig!

People also enjoy to bar-be-que along the banks of the riverside and there are places to rent boats for fishing etc along the river. Further up from where we were today, which is where the Tozai line train crosses the river (Myoden area of Gyotoku on the opposite bank from us), there is a place where there are ponies for kids to ride and many baseball and soccer fields. It's nice that the riverside is only less than a 10 minute bike ride from our home.

I was able to relax and have a real quiet sit in the sunshine, enjoying a feeling of peace down to my bones, the kind of peace that has eluded me for a very a long time....

I look forward to more bike rides with Daisy and Ken soon.

Here are some pictures.

Coming back from a jog with Ken, heading towards me full speed ahead!

Relaxing in the clover/grassy area after jogging.

Daisy watching the train pass by (this is the Tozai subway line in Tokyo which runs above ground in our area).

Watching the goings on around the riverside.

Some people enjoying different types of boats on the river and on the opposite riverbank, some people BBQ'ing can be seen.

Ready to go home.

Indoor Electric Composter - Made in Japan

2008-06-09T13:48:00.021+09:00

A photo of the composter from Hitachi (Hitachi BGD-V18 Kitchen Magic)

This past week, Ken bought me the neatest new 'toy'. It's a composter. I have wanted a composter for a while, not having much space out in the garden for a pile, I have been looking for a good small barrel that could be turned easily. I was not that enthusiatic though since outdoor compost piles or containers can be pretty icky and attract unwanted 'visitors' (such as cockroaches and rats). That might not be such a big deal if you have a large yard and can place it far from the house. However, probably because most people in Japan have small or no gardens, here in Japan, they have made the ultimate electronic composter that can be used indoors or on your apartment's balcony! Several companies make one, Hitachi, National (Panasonic), etc. We got the Hitachi BGC-V18 model from Amazon Japan (and it arrived at our door less than 24 hours after placing the order!). I used it last night for the first time. I think this is a great machine!

First of all, it is nearly silent! Unbelievably quiet, I can only hear this or that being turned around inside. Last night I'd put some bits of a corn cob in there and I suspect those were responsible for most of the sounds I heard.

Second, it doesn't generate heat around it like I thought it might. The casing of the machine itself gets fairly warm to the touch, mostly on the back of the machine, but that is it.

Thirdly, it composted the things I'd put into it in only 4 hours and without any smell.

All this and it has a very minimal footprint!

Supposedly, it uses only a few pennies in electricity to run a full course (something like around 50 US cents/50 JP yen a month), which is drastically less than it ends up costing (in money and in the affects to the environment) to throw the material to be composed into the garbage/landfill instead. Because of this, our city will give us some money towards the purchase of this machine once we fill out a form they have. They pay for 1/3 of the cost of the machine. Pretty neato huh?

I am looking forward to seeing how my garden responds to the composted material this summer.

UPDATE June 21, 2009:

Well we have been using this composter for a year now. I really love it. There is some noise once in a while such as a squeak or tumbling sound, but hardly noticeable. I think it depends on what matter is being composted. There can be a slight smell when you open the lid to add things, but it is not repulsive. It smells something like burnt coffee in the bottom of the coffee pot (when someone has forgotten to turn off the coffeemaker). Again, it's not a horrible smell but I do try to pop the items into the machine all at once and close the lid quickly because my husband likes to comment that it's stinky. The final composted material works great in my garden and it seems my tomatoes this year are benefiting from it so far! What is really great is you can take out alittle compost at a time (after the machine has run it's approximately 4 hour cycle). You don't need to wait longer than even one day to use some of the compost, on the other hand, if you prefer, you don't have to use any of it for quite a while (in our 2 person household), just keep adding the matter to be composted and let it run a cycle, and on and on. I did empty all the compost out and give the inside a full cleaning about a month ago. I then had to add a new starter bag of compost accelerator. Very simple and easy.
Seems like these type of composters are STILL not available outside Japan. What a shame! I'm sure they would be wildly popular in the USA as well as many other places. Get smart Hitachi, Panasonic...start making these for the overseas market!!!

Here are some pics.

Here is the machine parked in our kitchen, next to the refrigerator.

The control panel on the top is easy for me to use even though it's in Japanese. Ken helped me with some translation which I have written on the protective plastic covering that it came with. I think I can memorize pretty quickly and remove the plastic and notes later on.

View of the inside after I had run the machine once. In 4 hours the corn cob, lemon peels, cuttings from the garden and other kitchen compostible wastes I put in, have turned into what you see here. The paddles turn around so quietly I hardly knew the machine was on.

Another picture from Hitachi showing how, once you open the front panel, you can have the machine expel the finished compost easily into a bucket.

Daisy is a golfer

2008-04-28T10:34:00.009+09:00

Watching intently as Ken gets ready to hit the ball

This weekend, we went up to the mountains in Tochigi to an area called Kinugawa. In the wintertime, there are lots of skiers at the resorts there but from now people enjoy golf, hot springs and nature there.

We stayed at Kinugawa Kogen Country Club which is a very nice golf resort and they allow guests to bring their dogs with them, even on the golf cart. Daisy had a great time! We stayed overnight in one of the log type cabins they had there too.

At first Daisy didn't realize a 'ball' was involved in what we were doing (golfing). But after she figured that out, she watched all the balls fly and wanted them real bad! We gave her one to play with at one point for alittle bit. She was surprisingly well behaved for the 5 hours it took to get thru 18 holes!

We all enjoyed the outdoors at the top of this beautiful mountain range. The snow had just melted recently and everything was starting to get green and blossom. I hope we will go back there again someday. The facilities at the Kinugawa Kogen Country Club (where we stayed and golfed) were excellent. They had a wonderful onsen (hot springs bath) that was absolutely heaven after we finished golfing each day! Also, the staff were all so friendly and the food was good too! Highly recommended! Click here to go to their website (sorry, it's in Japanese only).

As we were packing, Daisy wanted to make sure we didn't forget to bring her too!

Getting ready to start golfing!

Ken and Daisy pose nicely.

Daisy 'begging', hoping to get a ball to play with.

Sitting up worked, she got her own ball.

Daisy waits nicely while Ken tees off on the last hole, it was his best drive of the day!

The cabins we stayed in (photo from the Country Club's website).

View of the mountain range from the golf cart path near the Clubhouse.

Tofu Lettuce and Tomato Egg Drop Soup

2008-04-20T12:49:00.005+09:00

TLT Chicken Soup (Tofu, Lettuce and Tomato)

Here is a new soup I've been making that has turned out to be a hit in our home. I call it TLT Soup. It is a chicken broth based soup. In the photos here, I used cherry tomatoes. I usually use just a regular tomato or a Roma tomato which my husband and I decided today are much better in this soup than cherry tomatoes, which turned out to be a bit 'sour'. But it's all up to you which tomatoes you like best!

Also, I used Romaine lettuce but Iceberg or any other kind of lettuce would work fine as well.

Enjoy!

TLT Chicken Soup

1 block of firm or extra firm Tofu (Momen in Japanese)
1 Egg
1 Tomato, sliced into small wedges
4-5 Lettuce leaves, torn into bite size pieces (about 1 1/2 cups)
4 cups of Chicken Broth
1/2 tsp. Salt (or to taste)
2 tsp. cooking Sake
Dash of white pepper (or to taste)

Put chicken broth into large saucepan. Turn heat on medium. Cut tofu block into small/medium pieces and put into the saucepan with broth. Bring to a boil.

When it starts to boil, reduce heat to simmer and add tomato, salt, sake and pepper.

In a small bowl, beat the egg until completely mixed.

Add the lettuce to the saucepan. Stir briefly.

Slowly add the egg to the soup. The best way is by spoonful, drizzling a little bit at a time around in the soup. This will cause the egg to cook in a 'stringy' manner instead of ending up with one lump of egg in the soup (which will happen if you pour the egg too much, too quickly).

Once all the egg has been added and has 'cooked' (it will be cooked less than a minute after it has been added to the soup), it's ready to serve!

I used cherry tomatoes on this day, and squeezed them a bit before adding them to the saucepan to get some of the seeds out (after this photo was taken). However, I don't recommend cherry tomatoes unless you like a little sour taste.

The finished soup in the saucepan ready to serve.

Cherry Blossoms -Sakura in Tokyo 2008

2008-03-29T18:07:00.009+09:00

A beautiful night view of the cherry trees in full bloom in Naka-Meguro Tokyo, photo from the Japan Today website.

Cherry Blossom season has arrived early in Japan this year. This weekend (March 29/30) is the peak in the Tokyo area. In addition to arriving earlier than usual, the blossoms have opened fast and are not going to last as long as they usually do, because we are having some nice warm weather (warm for this time of the year, yay! I think winter is done!).

Today, after lunch, we took Daisy for a walk alongside a river nearby us that is lined with Cherry trees. It is a good place for us to see some cherry blossoms with out too much effort/traveling and it is void of any of the drunken crowds you might find elsewhere in Tokyo, such as along the Sumida river. Traditionally, Japanese enjoy sitting under the cherry trees to have an afternoon picnic, which may include quite a bit of alcohol for some. This area near us tho is quite subdued and a nice walk around. Daisy had alot of fun and she ate a few cherry blossoms that had fallen to the ground.

Hope you enjoy the photos!

Miss Daisy Ipo, cherry blossom girl

The 'weeping' style branches of this tree is so pretty! The traditional chochin (paper lanterns) are hanging in the trees to announce the cherry blossoms (as if you didn't notice them), it is pretty at night when the chochin are lit up. Can you see Daisy walking on the sidewalk in the right side of the picture?

Some picnics going on alongside the river under the gorgeous trees.

Some vendors selling food and drinks from their temporary stalls.

Me and Daisy, she is sniffing the air, trying to figure out the smells when we just arrived.

Ken and Daisy standing under the pink 'umbrella' of the cherry trees.

Daisy and I standing on one of the old wooden bridges that crosses over the river. She is standing up to try and see a dog that was on the other side of a hedge. She often stands like this to try and see over things or to reach something. She can stand like this for quite a bit of time! We are thinking of trying to teach her to walk upright!

Baked Rosemary Lemon Turkey Meatballs

2008-03-22T14:49:00.006+09:00

In the oven, ready to start baking.

Here's a recipe for some meatballs I have been making lately and really enjoying. They are very versatile and can be frozen for a quick meal later!

Serve plain or with a sauce such as hollandaise or a cream sauce like Ikea’s Graddsas sauce (which I used today). You may also use these meatballs in pasta dishes such as spaghetti.

Rosemary Lemon Turkey Meatballs

16 oz. (450 grams) ground turkey meat
1 1/2 cups panko (Japanese bread crumbs)
1 large egg, lightly beaten
1 garlic clove, minced
1 1/2 tsp. chopped fresh rosemary (or 1 tsp. dried rosemary)
1 tbs. lemon zest, plus
1 tbs. fresh lemon juice
Coarsely ground salt and pepper
Olive oil spray

In a large bowl mix turkey meat, panko, egg, garlic, rosemary, lemon zest & juice, salt and pepper (add salt and pepper according to your taste, I use about 1/2 tsp or so of each, maybe alittle more of the salt).

Mix just until combined (do not over-mix). Using your hands works best.

Roll into balls (sized about 1 ½ inches/3.5cm around). Place, slightly apart, on baking sheet (use one with edges so juices don’t mess up your oven while cooking). You can line the baking sheet/dish/pan with aluminum foil or a Silpat mat if you like.

Spray very lightly with olive oil (I use a refillable oil sprayer from Williams-Sonoma, click here to buy online) and bake in the oven at 180 C/ 350 F for about 20- 25 minutes.

All the ingredients, ready to mix together.

I have a handy spout that screws into a fresh lemon, just squeeze the lemon and pour the fresh juice out, keeps the seeds out of the juice too!

Mango Coconut Tapioca dessert

2008-03-18T13:20:00.009+09:00

Have you ever tried those stands/kiosks in the mall or somewhere else that are selling the fruity, tea or coffee drinks with huge tapioca balls in the bottom of the cup and a big fat straw to suck them up with? Usually called Bubble Tea or Boba Drink, here is a picture:

There is a little shop selling these drinks now at the mall near us (LaLa Port at Minami Funabashi), and we got some a couple weeks ago. That got me thinking about tapioca, even though, as a kid, tapioca repulsed me, or perhaps it was just tapioca rice pudding I didn't care for.

So, as usual, missing tropical flavors while in Japan has lead me to come up with another recipe. This one is a dessert using mango and coconut with small tapioca pearls. If I could have found the huge tapioca balls like in the photo above at the supermarket here in Japan, I would have made this dessert with those, but just finding regular small tapioca pearls here was a bit of a hunt, finally found some at the 3rd supermarket I tried. If I ever do find the huge ones, I will try this again with them, I think it would turn out to be even more 'fun'.

So, here is my recipe. Hope you enjoy if you try it.

Mango Coconut Tapioca Pearl dessert

1/2 c Tapioca, dry
2 cups Water
2 1/2 teaspoons Somersweet (or to taste) or other sweetener which equals approx. 1/4 c. sugar
4 oz/150 grams canned Evaporated Milk (or if using Sweetened Condensed Milk, reduce sweetener above to taste)
1.5 lb fresh Mango (or frozen chunks)
1/8 teaspoon Coconut extract/flavor
1/4 c Shredded Coconut (optional)
Mint leaf (optional)

Soak the tapioca pearls in 1/2 cup of the water for 30 minutes. Cut the Mango into large cubes/chunks or if using frozen Mango, defrost completely. Place into a blender or food processor and process VERY LIGHTLY to a chunky sauce consistency.

Boil the remaining 1 1/2 cups of water. When it begins to boil, add the tapioca pearls, including the water they were soaking in. Stir and cook for 10 minutes or until the tapioca becomes translucent. Turn off the heat and add the sweetener and milk. Cool to room temperature. Add the mango, coconut extract and shredded coconut. Pour into an attractive serving dish or into individual serving dishes, cover and refrigerate for at least 1 hour. Top with fresh mint leaf when serving if desired.

Yummy!

Hawaiian Flora and Fauna photos

2008-03-14T22:56:00.016+09:00

Here are some more pictures of the beauty of Hawaii, flora and fauna. Especially dear to us is the Nene, the Hawaiian Goose which is endemic to the Hawaiian Islands. It was named the state bird of Hawaii in 1957. The Nene is the world's rarest goose.

Once common in Hawaii (prior to 1778, when Capt. James Cook arrived, it is said that there were about 25,000 Nene), hunting and introduced predators such as mongooses, pigs and cats reduced the population to 30 birds by 1952. The Nene's nest is particularly vulnerable as it nests rather haphazardly on the ground. Thankfully the Nene breeds well in captivity, and has been successfully re-introduced. In 2004 it was estimated that there were 500 birds in the wild (and good numbers in wildfowl collections). It is easiest to see wild Nene flocks on Kauai where there are no mongoose (the only island void of the mongoose).

The "Nēnē" gets its Hawaiian name from its soft call. My husband and I think it sounds like such an endearing tired and sad little 'honk'. We LOVE to meet Nene and hear their voices. We met one at the Pana'ewa Rainforest Zoo in Hilo (on the Big Island) that came up to the edge of it's enclosure and just honked up a storm for us for quite some time. She/He was such a sweet little goose, very friendly but probably because it was being kept in captivity.

These Nene can be seen enjoying living at the inner gardens at the Kauai Marriott Hotel. We went there to eat at one of our favorite restaurants in Hawaii, Duke's , named after the famed 'father of surfing' and all around super interesting Hawaiian guy, Duke Kahanamoku. We recommend you try Duke's Kauai location if you go to Kauai. Say hello to the Nene for us!

Anthurium in a beautiful pink color.

Some fishes we were snorkeling with one day while on Kauai (image caught with my new and fun underwater camera). The darker fishes are Black Triggerfish, called Humuhumu'ele'ele in Hawaiian, and are cousins of Hawaii's state fish, the Humuhumunukunukuapuaa (Humuhumunukunuku for short, ha ha ha).A gorgeous tree on a golf course on Kauai

One of our favorite little doves in Hawaii, the Barred Dove (introduced to Hawaii in 1922). They have such a sweet little call, that is nice to hear in the morning. We think it sounds like they are sometimes saying "not at all". This is one of the things I miss when I am in Japan. There is something soothing to me having these little doves around everywhere.

Sweet smelling white plumeria flowers, filling up the air with loveliness, another thing I miss when I am in Japan.

A very colorful Gecko which I have only seen in the Kailua-Kona area of the Big Island(where this photo was taken) but it probably lives elsewhere unbeknownst to me . Doesn't it look like it's smiling?

Hibiscus flower photos from Hawaii

2008-03-14T22:49:00.006+09:00

While in Hawaii, I often take photos of flowers. Here is a collection of Hibiscus flower photos that you might enjoy. The varieties seem to be endless!

Soy Lilikoi Lassi - healthy and no added sugar

2008-03-05T09:17:00.006+09:00

We enjoy Indian Lassi drinks when we go out for Indian food. Recently, I discovered a very delicious soy yogurt at the Japanese supermarkets and started making soy yogurt Lassi with no white sugar at home. One of our favorites is Lilikoi flavor (Passion Fruit). Yet another yummy way to use lilikoi juice concentrate from Aunty Lilikoi's! Here's the receipe!

Soy Yogurt Lilikoi Lassi

*Makes approximately two 10 ounce glasses

Handful of ice cubes (as desired)
1 cup cold water
½ cup soy yogurt, plain
¼ cup lilikoi juice concentrate
1 ½ tbs Somersweet (or other sweetener, to taste)

Put the water and ice cubes into a blender, then other ingredients in the above order. Blend for at least 30 seconds.

Pour into glasses and enjoy!

An Alan Wong's anniversary dinner

2008-03-04T17:39:00.017+09:00

This year, we celebrated our anniversary by having dinner at Alan Wong's in Honolulu. It was our 7 year anniversary! Time sure flies when you having fun!

From time to time, we go to the Alan Wong's in Tokyo (at the Ikspiari Shopping center located in front of Tokyo Disneyland) which is very close to our home in Japan. There are many things missing from the menu at the Tokyo location that are available only in Hawaii. Obviously, fresh Hawaiian fish would be hard to have available at the Tokyo location (on a regular basis anyway, there are times when Mr. Wong brings over something special).

This being said, the food is fabulous in Tokyo as well as Hawaii. The Tokyo location is also a bea-u-tiful feast for the eyes when you walk in (check out the pictures when you click on the link above)! The King Street restaurant in Honolulu is the original location and to me, is "Alan Wong's". I love the relaxed yet sophisticated atmosphere and the down to earth yet professional manner of the people working there.

This time, I ordered my favorite Hawaiian fish, Opakapaka. It is getting harder to find these days so I was pleased to be able to indulge, on this our 2nd to the last night in Hawaii (and not finding it on the menu of anywhere else we dined the previous 12 days in Hawaii). It was prepared pan steamed, with Shrimp Pork Hash, Truffle Nage, Gingered Vegetables and Tapioca Pearls.

Opakapaka is commonly known as Crimson Snapper or Hawaiian Pink Snapper even though it's skin is a light brown color. They are usually caught at depths between 30 to 100 fathoms. It is found throughout the tropical Pacific, but it doesn't grow as large as it does in Hawaii anywhere else. A 12 -18 pound fish could be around 10 years old!

Last year, there was a 5 month emergency ban on bottom fishing in Hawaiian waters. Click here to read an article on this past ban. Deepwater snapper in Hawaii have been commercially exploited since the early part of the century. Efforts have been and are still being made to make changes in the fishing methods of the past, so that many of Hawaiian fishes, not just Opakapaka, can be saved.

Here is a picture of our friend the Opakapaka

Back to our anniversary....

I guess I was so excited getting ready for our 'date', that I ended up forgetting to bring my camera, so the only photos we could get at the restaurant were from Ken's cell phone camera. The quality is not very good as you will see. I also have included here a couple of other photos we have pulled off AW's website, etc.

Ken had for his entree, a yummy seafood steak (mixed seafoods made into a steak type patty, sorry I don't have the official description of this dish).

We started off with Alan Wong's famous Poky Pines. They are essentially, deep fried Wonton skins with Ahi poke inside. They sure make a striking appearance on your table! Here is a picture of them from my "Chefs of Aloha" cookbook.

Alan Wong's "Poky Pines", a signature item on the menu

The special and thoughtful Anniversary wish dessert plate for us from the restaurant. A frozen chocolate Tiramisu with fresh Roselani (from Maui) vanilla ice cream on the side.

WOW this was the most interesting and delicious dessert I have ever had, or right up there with the top 5! The 'coconut' shell is made entirely of chocolate sprinkled outside with toasted coconut shavings. The white inside is coconut ice cream (Haupia Sorbet), with fresh fruits and Lilikoi (Passion Fruit) sauce. Be sure to order this if you go! This is the picture we took with Ken's cell phone, but below is an 'official' photo of it from AW's website.

Alan Wong's - King Street
1857 South King Street, Third Floor
Honolulu, Hawaii 96826
808-949-2526
*Reservations are a must

Alan Wong's Japan
(at the Tokyo Disney Resort, Ikspiari)
1-4 Maihama
Urayasu, Chiba 279-8529
047-305-5630 (dialing from within Japan)

Windsuring on Maui - February 2008

2008-03-04T09:40:00.007+09:00

Having a good time

While on Maui, Ken enjoyed a day of Windsurfing. Action Sports on Maui offers windsurfing lessons, or equipment rental to go on your own, at Kanaha Beach, near the Kahului airport. This beach often has the right amount of wind for windsurfing and kite surfing. The instructors are great and you can even get out there if you have never windsurfed before!

Click here to go to Action Sports' website and get alot of detailed information about Kanaha Beach itself!

Looks like Ken had a lot of fun doesn't it?

The different windsurfing groups getting instruction and readying to go out

View of the place at Kanaha Beach where the windsurfing instruction takes place

Ken, starting out from the beach

Windsurfer Ken

Hauling the equipment up to the beach at the end of the fun

Views of Maui - February 2008

2008-03-03T17:06:00.009+09:00

My favorite view of the West Maui Mountains

Here are some pictures from our recent visit to Maui. It was such beautiful weather while we were there. The photos of whales are from 2 separate whale watches we went on.

When I look at these pictures, I can only think to myself "Maui no ka oi" (and "I'm in Japan instead of Maui because.... why is that again?").

View of Kaaholawe from Makena area

This little Zodiac was a blast! It was really fun being real close to the water.

View of West Maui Mountains from the Zodiac boat

The ocean so still that it is reflecting the clouds in the sky above like a mirror!

A whale swims slowly by us off of the shore of South Maui

A Mama whale very near our Zodiac boat!

A whale playing "eye spy"! This whale kept slowing popping it's head up out the water over and over. Was it looking at us on the boat?

Mama and baby whale lazily floating around near our boat

A Honu (Hawaiian green sea turtle) pops his head up near the shore in Kihei

Another Honu coming up for air

Big Beach in Makena. Wow it was such a beautiful day here!

View of Ulapalakua area on the slopes of Haleakala from the lava fields south of Makena

The firetrucks in Maui are yellow.

It looks like the moon, but it's really the top of Haleakala (as seen from the visitor center at the summit of the crater).

Ma'alaea Harbor Activity Center on Maui

2008-02-28T12:38:00.012+09:00

Scott and Casper in front of the 'office'

Do you want to know about the best activities and tours on Maui? Then make sure you go to the best place to learn about and book activities and tours on Maui, the Ma'alaea Harbor Activity Center.

The location couldn't be better. It's where nearly everyone ends up passing by while on Maui, whether you stay on the West side or in South Maui. Located just behind the Ma'alaea Village shopping center, where the aquarium Maui Ocean Center is, sitting right on the edge of the harbor, you will see a cute little shack. It may not look like much but you can book everything you'd like to do on Maui here, not just fishing or ocean activities. Easy and free parking right next to the booth too!

The manager Scott is eager to help you to get you what you want. Since he has solid relationships with and is well respected by the tour operators on Maui, he can even get you last minute reservations and is excellent about getting discounts that no one else can.

Scott takes pride in his work, is very knowledgeable about Hawaii and places the utmost priority on customer service. He is even available to help you out when the office is closed, just call him on his cell phone (808-242-6982). He really wants you to have a great time!

Scott helped us get a sunset cruise/whale watch on a large catamaran and also a morning trip on a small Zodiac boat while we were on Maui. Both boats were awesome but I thought the Zodiac boat was really exciting! I highly recommend it and can't wait to go again sometime!

When you are on Maui, stop by the booth and say hello. Scott and Casper will be waiting to meet you!

View of the activity booth

View of the boats docked just in front of the booth

Daisy's Maui 'sister', Casper the Dalmation

2008-02-27T18:57:00.008+09:00

Casper at work, wearing a lei.

While in Maui, we got to visit with our favorite Dalmatian, Casper. She is so funny! She smiles big and wide when she is happy to see you and when you try to leave, she will sit on you to try and pin you down so you can't go. Wish that Daisy could have come to Maui to play with Casper. They would have alot of fun together. Someday....

Casper is a working girl. She goes to work every day with her daddy Scott who operates the Maalaea Harbor Activity Center's booth at Maalaea Harbor on Maui. Click here to see another picture of Casper at work. Among some of her duties, Casper lets people on vacation, who are missing their dogs back home, give her hugs.

Casper welcoming Ken when we first arrived, you can see the corners of her mouth turned up a bit as she is still smiling alittle. She really smiles big, showing all her teeth when you first come to her home and say hello.

Just before we were leaving to go to dinner, Casper tries her best to pin down Ken so he won't be able to leave.

Maui Krispy Kreme doughnuts!

2008-02-26T21:24:00.015+09:00

Mom, our lovely Maui 'chauffeur', very obligingly waiting outside for us while we purchase some evil doughnuts.

After we enjoyed Kauai for a few days, we hopped on a plane to Maui. When we arrived, one of the stops on our list of things 'to-do' was Krispy Kreme doughnuts. They are located right near the airport, making it ~~impossible~~ very hard to drive by without stopping. There is even a handy drive-thru window!

There is a Krispy Kreme location in Tokyo now (we hear that more locations are planned) but we have not gone there because every day it's open, there is a horrific line to wait in! Usually the wait is around 2 hours! When you get there, you will see a sign that will tell you how long the wait is from the point you enter the cue. Much like waiting in line at Disneyland to ride on a popular attraction. We don't think a doughnut is worth such efforts but many many people in Tokyo do.

So, when we landed on Maui, we took the opportunity to see what all the fuss is about. Ken had never had a Krispy Kreme doughnut before. I have a few years ago when I was in California, when everyone was first starting to rave about the place. Personally, I didn't see what all raving was about. I don't eat doughnuts very often (used to when I was a kid) but I have had quite a few of them (all kinds) in my day and if I were on a mission for a doughnut, I think I still like Winchell's best.

Here's some pics of our arriving into Maui and the Krispy Kreme store there. Incidentally, it is now the only Krispy Kreme store in all the Hawaiian Islands.

View from the airplane window of Kaaholawe Island as we approach Maui. Poor Kaaholawe, it was bombed for 30 years by the US military but even before that, introduced goats etc. over grazed and caused massive erosion. There are hopes by the Hawaiian people (as well as many non-Hawaiian people such as myself) for it's complete restoration someday.

Little Molokini Island, which sits between Kaaholawe and Maui.

View of the Kealia Pond Wildlife Refuge and North Kihei (and the rest of South Maui) in the background. The Kealia Pond is a National Wildlife Refuge and is one of the few natural wetlands remaining in all of Hawaii.

Too many choices!

We're not sure, but we don't think the Krispy Kreme in Tokyo has all these options and merchandise.

Don't forget there is a drive thru if you are too lazy to haul your behind out of the car!

What we selected: Lemon Filled (Lemon Kist), Maple Glazed, Apple Fritter, Glazed Chocolate Old Fashioned, Original Glazed and Glazed Kreme Filled. I'm getting nauseated just looking at this picture!

Views of Golf in Hawaii

2008-02-23T12:34:00.012+09:00

Entrance to the Princeville Golf Club, on Kauai.

While in Hawaii the past 2 weeks, we were able to golf quite a bit. Fortunate to have excellent weather all but the first 2 days of our time there, we golfed on Kauai, Maui and on Oahu.

On Kauai we golfed 18 holes at the Wailua Municipal Golf Course on Kuhio highway. Click here to visit the website and see some photos of the course. We also tried to golf at Princeville on the second day we were on Kauai, however, when we got there we found it was raining heavily off and on and the course was already saturated from the prior week's worth of heavy rain, so we cancelled our game. Maybe next time!

On Maui we golfed our favorite Ka'anapali Golf Resort, which has just had some major renovations. Their logo is new, as well as updates to the clubhouse and renovations of the courses. The formerly named North and South courses are now called the Royal Ka'anapali and Ka'anapali Kai respectively. And not surprisingly, the fees have increased. We had a short lesson with the head golf pro, Sutee Nitakorn, before our game and he gave us some great pointers! We had a fun time on the Kai course.

We also golfed 18 holes at the Waiehu Municipal Course near Wailuku in Maui. This is where I learned to golf many years ago. The course was in great condition, however, the fees here have also increased, in my opinion, dramatically for a municipal course, whose facilities leave much to be desired. Their "real" phone number is hard to pin down and the staff seems tired yet still managing to be friendly for the most part, probably since the place is slammed with golfers all the time. There are no reservations for tee times, you just need to go there and wait to get on the course (which may not be possible on some days, especially weekends). This course can get pretty windy, especially later in the afternoon, so go as early as you can.

On Oahu, we enjoyed 9 holes of twilight golf at Pearl Country Club in Pearl City and 18 holes at one of our favorite municipal courses, the Pali Golf Course.

The Pearl CC, one of my favorite places for twilight golf, this time had pretty long grass in the rough and if your ball landed there, it was a goner 90% of the time. The course was packed and we were instructed prior to going out, not to use time to find balls that were OB and to just drop and move on. We started at 4:10pm (twilight starts from 3:30 here) and were not able to complete the entire 9 holes before the 6pm closing time due to a group of 4 ahead of us ~~annoyingly~~ painstakingly trying to find each and every one of their many lost balls (despite the aforementioned instruction to keep the game moving). We were also annoyed by quite a few hungry mosquitoes here!

The Pali Golf Course was very enjoyable. This course can sometimes get rained out being that it sits right at the base of the Koolau mountain range, which is often sort of a magnet for rain clouds. We have been driven off this course by buckets of rain before. This time, however, it was an amazingly beautiful and sunny day and we had a good dry game. We saw the usual chickens and wild birds that live on the course as well as wild pigs that have become accustom to being fed by the golfers. They were so funny trotting around the course begging for food. I've seen alot of animals and birds on the golf courses in Hawaii (turkeys on Molokai, goats on the Big Island, Nene on Kauai to name a few) but these pigs were hysterical. Check out the video at the end of this post.

Booking tee times is not easy for this course (or for any of the city/county golf courses on Oahu), you will need to call a phone number with an automated service to get a tee time. If you don't have a Hawaii golf card, you can only book 3 days in advance. However, it is possible to get tee times for the Pali Course near to the time you'd like to play (especially during weekdays), unlike the Ala Wai Course, which unless you are a local and have a Hawaii golf card (that allows you to book 7 days in advance), you can bet the farm you will never get a tee time no matter how flexible your time is or which day of the week it is.

Here are some pictures we took of our recent golfing at the courses described above.

Wailua Municipal Golf Course, on Kauai

Wailua Municipal Golf Course, on Kauai

Ka'anapali Golf Course on Maui, the island of Lana'i is seen in the background.

The Lahaina Sugar Cane Train passing by while on the Ka'anapali Kai Course.

At the end of the 9th hole, this is the way to the snack bar and restrooms (access on foot, carts are no longer allowed to cross the road).

Ka'anapali Kai course with the West Maui Mountains in the background.

The Pearl Country Club in Pearl City Oahu.

The Pearl Country Club in Pearl City Oahu

View of the Pali Golf Course on Oahu from the lookout off of the Pali Highway (see the clubhouse in the lower right corner of the photo?). Though it was a hazy day due to no tradewinds, you can see in the background Kaneohe town, Kaneohe Bay and Chinaman's hat.

The Koolau Mountain range at the Pali Golf Course.

The Pali Golf Course facing Kaneohe Bay.

Wild pigs coming down out of the forest near the clubhouse before the 10th hole. They proceeded to trot down the cart path to beg from the golfers in their carts who were lined up waiting to get on the 1st tee. Seems they have become accustom to people giving them a handout.

A hen nesting in the papertowels in the garbage can of the women's restroom at the Pali Golf Course. I had quite a shock as I was attempting to toss a papertowel into the can!

The pigs on the Pali Golf Course will come when you call them! Check out this hilarious video! This pig makes a sharp left and starts running towards me when I yell out "Hey Piggie"!

Some pictures from Kauai

2008-02-22T13:13:00.009+09:00

Ken taking a walk down the long beach in front of the Plantation Hale property

Here are some pictures we took on the island of Kauai. Such a beautiful and peaceful place!

A rainbow over the Hanapepe river, behind Hanapepe town. It's a bit muddy due to heavy rains and flooding during the first week of February 2008.

The Hanalei Taro fields from a roadside lookout. Click here for more info.

An interesting gift store called Earth Beads in Kapaa town. Besides gifts they sell some beads and beaded jewelry. See the pretty Bird of Paradise umbrella in the window?

Another pic of the beach nearby our condo and the protected 'pool' made by the small reef off shore.

A little different view of the beach nearby our condo and the protected 'pool' made by the small reef off shore.

A rainbow we saw along the highway on our way to Aunty Lilikoi's in Waimea.

View of the Wailua River from the Wailua River Bridge on Kuhio Highway. This river is where the famous Fern Grotto is located.

A good place to stay in Kauai

2008-02-21T18:08:00.022+09:00

The Best Western Plantation Hale, as viewed from the entrance to the property off the Kuhio highway

During our recent escape from the cold weather in Tokyo, we found a good place to stay on the Hawaiian island of Kauai. Last year, while on Kauai, we stayed at a condo in the Poipu area, but this time we wanted to stay more towards the other side of the island, so it would be easier for us to golf in Princeville.

We decided on the Best Western Plantation Hale in Kapaa. It was very reasonably priced, we got a car for a reduced rate with them too. Our room was actually a large one bedroom apartment with full kitchen. We enjoyed the jacuzzi everyday (there are 2 jacuzzis and 3 swimming pools) and a short and pleasant walk thru a field with wildflowers and birds to a beautiful long sandy beach. The ocean can be very rough here (on this day anyway, it was down right scary) and I imagine it's dangerous for swimming but the beach had a protected natural 'pool' area (an underwater reef formed a natural pool near the shore). It was great for taking a little dip.

There are also areas located near each of the pools for BBQ and picnic tables for the guests to enjoy. They have free internet connection in the rooms, though it's not wireless and you will need your own LAN cable.

From the Plantation Hale , it's a short walk to shops and a couple of restaurants at the Coconut Marketplace (literally across the driveway from the office of the property). We enjoyed a good breakfast at Eggbert's. Click here to view the shopping center's website.

For those of you who don't care for big expensive hotels, this is a great place to stay. We felt at home.

If you ever decide to try the Plantation Hale, ask for a room in a building with a balcony/terrace (called a 'lanai' in Hawaiian) that is not facing the highway. Although there is alot of foliage between the property and the highway, the units facing the highway do not have views of the pretty and well manicured grounds and you will get some highway noise that could be annoying to some (however we are talking about a highway on Kauai...not some big city). Also, there are lots of chickens roaming around (as there are everywhere on Kauai) so if you don't like the sounds they make, you'd be better off at a large hotel resort. My husband and I personally enjoyed the chickens and other many birds we saw (and heard) at this property.

Here are some pictures I took.

View of the entrance to the office

View of the road where the property sits

View from the property of the field and pathway leading to the beach

View of the property while standing the beach, looking back across the field

The beach accessed through the field

My husband is taking a dip (sitting) in the natural pool formed by a small reef

An underwater picture of a live sea snail I found near the shore in the protected 'pool' area of the beach

Some chickens and other birds enjoying the garden in the afternoon

One of the jacuzzi hot tubs we enjoyed, looks inviting doesn't it?

View of one of the BBQ areas on the property

Daisy plays in the Tokyo snow

2008-02-03T12:37:00.000+09:00

Well, we woke up this morning to snow! Daisy has never seen it before and boy oh boy does she like it! I let her out in the garden and at first, she walked around in the snow carefully placing her feet and lifting up a foot or two while standing and smelling it. Then she started pawing at it and eating it. She got surprised when clumps of snow would suddenly fall down from the tree. Later, when large snowflakes started coming down, she got so excited, running around trying to catch the falling snow in her mouth. Unfortunately the battery in my camera went dead and I didn't get that on video but below is some of the first video I took before the battery died.

It's a snowy but peaceful and beautiful day in Tokyo today.

Enjoy the short video....

Daisy's Custom Dog T-Shirt

2008-01-29T13:01:00.000+09:00

Today I 'made' another T-shirt for Daisy. This time, we used a plain white shirt. This took just a few minutes once I planned out where to put things and warmed up the iron.

I used 4 iron on daisy/flower patches and several hot fix Swarovski rhinestones placed around here and there.

Customizing a dog T-shirt is easy and a fun way for your dog to have a unique shirt!

Daisy sat so still for these pictures! She's a real poser!

Somewhere Over the Anuenue 「虹の向こうに」