Have you heard of Wii Fit?

Menu for the different muscle conditioning exercises.

What is Wii Fit? It's a new addition to Nintendo's Wii games. You may have heard about it. It was released this past December in Japan. It is hard to get though, as it is sold out as soon as the store gets it in. A few weeks ago, my father in law found out when a local store had just received a shipment. He stood in line about an hour before they opened and he was able to get one. It costs 8,000 Yen in Japan which is currently about $75.00 USD.

We are visiting with my in laws for a week right now and are enjoying playing around with Fit. I usually dislike gaming, mostly to do with the time it wastes and the negative content of many of the games, but I really think that Nintendo has done something great with Wii. This is enjoyable not only for those who have never really been into gaming, but also now the whole family can get involved. I think Wii games are good mental exercise (the basic ones I have seen) and now with Wii Fit, you can get a bit of physical exercise too, especially for older folks who may find other gaming systems difficult.

I have tried some Wii games earlier this year at a friend's house and I liked it (Wii Sports was fun), but now I am really motivated to get Wii Fit when it comes out in US (since I don't really read Japanese well, I need to be able to operate it in English).

I have heard that Fit was supposed to be released in early January 2008 in US, but then read some other comments on the internet that it will be available much later than that. Release dates for Australia seem yet to be announced as well. I'm sure it will sell out quick in the English language verison whenever it becomes available. Some places may be pre-selling it seems.

Fit has more than 40 different types of training activities designed for all ages/members of the family. There are four fitness categories including aerobic exercise, muscle conditioning, yoga poses, and balance games. The aerobic exercise consists of 10-minute exercises that are designed to get the heart pumping. The muscle conditioning is done by controlling your motions using arms, legs and other body parts. Yoga Poses uses classic poses that focus on balance and stretching. Some of the balance games are ski jumping and heading soccer balls, that challenge the player’s overall body balance. Lean to block soccer balls, swivel hips to power hoop twirls or balance to hold the perfect yoga pose. When you stand on the Fit's balance board, your body’s overall balance is tied to the game.

The Wii Fit's balance board can also be used for daily tests. These evaluate two key measures that a household can track via progress charts:

• Body Mass Index (BMI): A weight evaluation based on a ratio of weight to height.
• Wii Fit Age: The Wii Fit Age is measured by factoring the user’s BMI reading, testing the user’s center of gravity and conducting quick balance tests.

My father in law is 82 and has no problems with the games or operating the Wii internet functions and photo viewing. We only had to help him get the wireless router necessary for the internet connection (for the Wii itself). My niece and nephew (10 and 12 years old respectively) were monopolizing the system on New Year's day when we all got together. They tried out all the games for us and then gave us pointers.

Here are some pictures and some of the Wii Fit different games we have been enjoying.

The Wii Fit balance board.

The balance board with someone standing on to show size.

Ken enjoying the snowboarding game, for this, the Wii Fit balance
board is turned lengthwise.

The Yoga menu.

Menu for the balance games, soccer balls, downhill skiing,
ski jump, tightrope walking, etc.

Downhill ski racing game.

I don't know what this one is called, but it's pretty fun. Tilt the different shaped trays (this one is a "W" shape) and make the balls fall into the hole within the allotted time period.

Tilt the iceberg to get points with the penguin and jumping fishes.

Zucchini and Sweet Potato Muffins (or Bread)

Last week I got a big box of Zucchini from Costco, so I decided to make some Zucchini Bread. However, for a change, I wanted to find a recipe alittle more interesting than the usual basic Zucchini bread I make (although it is very good). I checked the internet and found a Sweet Potato and Zucchini Bread recipe on the Epicurious website. I made a few changes to make it alittle healthier, so here is my verison below.

Zucchini and Sweet Potato Muffins or Bread

1 c. Unbleached White Flour
1 c. Whole Wheat Pastry Flour
2 tsp. ground Cinnamon (I used Cassia cinnamon from Vietnam)
1 tsp. Baking Soda
1/4 tsp. Rumford Baking powder
1/4 tsp. Salt
1 1/2 c. Sucanat, or Rapadura (organic cane sugar)
1/2 c. applesauce (natural, no sugar added)
1/4 c. vegetable oil
3 large eggs
1 tsp. Vanilla extract
1 1/2 c. grated Zucchini (about 1 and 1/2 medium sized zucchini)
1 1/2 c. grated Sweet Potato (I used a Japanese variety, as shown in the photo below)
1 c. lightly toasted, chopped Walnuts

Preheat oven to 350 F / 180 C. If using a bread pan, butter and flour it (about 9x5x3 size). For muffins, line muffin tin with muffin papers or use reusable silicon baking cups as I did. Place the "Sili-Cups" on a cookie sheet.

Sift dry ingredients (the first 5 ingredients listed, do not mix in the sugar (Sucanat/Rapadura) yet). I split into two basically equal parts when measuring and then sifted each half together into one large bowl. It is important to sift the dry ingredients well so that you do not end up with unbaked lumps of flour in the finished product.

Beat eggs in a small bowl. Measure sugar, applesauce, oil and vanilla and put into a large bowl. Stir in the eggs into the large bowl and mix thouroughly with the sugar, applesauce, oil and vanilla. Add in the zucchini and sweet potato until mixed completely. Lastly, add in dry ingredients mixture about half at a time, mixing until wet the first addition, then just mixing until wet the addition of the second half. DO NOT OVER MIX. Fold in the walnuts just until evenly mixed.

Fill the muffin cups or papers to no more than 3/4 full. During baking, these rise abit but not alot. If making bread instead of muffins, put the batter into the prepared bread pan. I like to use an AirBake bread pan so that I never get burnt edges.

This recipe filled 12 Sili-Cups and then I had batter left over to also fill about 1/3 to 1/2 of a bread pan as well. I baked everything at the same time, by placing the Sili-Cups around the bread pan that was centered on the cookie sheet.

Bake for about 25 minutes for muffins. Full bread pan will take about double the baking time. My partially filled bread pan finished baking at the same time as the muffins. You can check muffins or the bread for doneness by inserting a clean knife or bamboo skewer. If it comes out clean, it's done!

Japanese Sweet Potato

Top left to right: Beaten eggs, shredded zucchini and sweet potato, mixed dry ingredients, toasted chopped walnuts and lg. bowl with sugar, applesauce, oil and vanilla. Shown here just before the final mixing together.

"Sili-Cups" (re-usable silicon baking cups)
ready for filling. I bought mine at Williams-Sonoma.

Close up of finished muffins...they're really good!

Ramen in Matsudo City - Tonikaku's new location - 松戸市のラーメン 移転した「兎に角」

Tonikaku (兎に角)の外観

Previously I have posted information on Tsuke-men at two restaurants in Matsudo City. Yesterday Ken and I went back to Tonikaku (which translates to "Anyhow" in English) and since it was pretty cold outside, we decided to have the ramen to try to warm ourselves up.

We discovered that Tonikaku has moved two streets over from it's previous location. It's now on a corner of a street that is closer to the train tracks and much is larger inside, seating about double the amount of customers than before. There is a considerable foyer/entry area where a few waiting customers can line up, instead of everyone having to stand outside in the street. Very nice on a cold day like yesterday. They were still playing 'oldies' music (Bee-Gees etc. on this particular day) but I noticed there was a mix of Japanese and English tunes this time.

There are at least 4 paid self parking areas within a 2-3 minute walk of the restaurant that we were able to see without even looking for it.

Their hours of operation are still 11:30 am to 2:00 pm and 6:30 pm to 9:00 pm every day except Monday (closed on Mondays) and open only for lunch from 11:30 am to 2:00 pm on Sundays, Thursdays and holidays. The NEW address is:

Nemoto 462, 1st floor
Matsudo-City
phone 047-361-4667

The soup in their ramen was quite delicious! Not fatty but not too thin. We noticed the noodles were more spaghetti like than the typical or expected ramen noodles. They were also very good.

Don't get too hungry looking at the pictures!

Basic ramen

Close up of the soup

Char-shu Men

A Japanese Giant Mantis - 大かまきり

The rescued Mantis on our hanging flower basket

Daisy has discovered in our garden this past week (on November 18th), a Japanese Giant Mantis, which I suppose is the Japanese version of what is called a Praying Mantis in America. She sniffed it out and picked it up in her mouth, perhaps thinking it would make a good thing to play with, since everything is 'funny' to Daisy. I quickly noticed she had something new and of great interest, as she was proudly trotting around the garden like she had just discovered a treasure. Thankfully she was carrying it gingerly in her mouth. So I ran over to her and rescued the poor creature.

We have a little hanging basket of flowers that usually has some little bee or butterfly buzzing around it so I put the Mantis there. All week it has been staying on the basket, moving around I imagine getting something to eat. We have had nice sunny days for about a week now, with temps around mid to high 60's (that's Fahrenheit, which is about 14-16 C). Normally I don't think that we would see a Mantis in the garden this time of year.

I checked one of my favorite blogs that has info on nature in Japan and found that the man who writes that blog also found a Giant Mantis on Nov 25th, although where he is located in Japan it tends to be a bit warmer than where we are (click here natural-japan.net, or see sidebar link, under "My Favorite Web places").

Wonder how long this one will make it into winter. Temps are supposed to 'plunge' from today we heard on the news last night.....We will keep an eye on it (I think it's a 'she').

If looking at 'bugs' close up doesn't bother you, click on the photos to enlarge!

The Mantis a few days after it's rescue, watching some little bees flying around the flowers.

The Mantis today, Dec 3rd. Seems it is trying to stay dry and out of the rain today, hanging on the underside of the basket.

UPDATE: Dec. 5th; The Mantis was found dead today, not surprisingly since it's been very cold at night now. Hopefully we will find some of it's offspring in the garden when the weather warms up in a few months.

Bicycle Basket training - 自転車のかごに乗る練習

Recently I bought a larger bicycle basket so that Daisy can ride with me on my bike. Before putting it on the bicycle, I have made a cover for it, mostly to protect Daisy from getting her toenails stuck in the holes of the basket, but I thought it would also make her like the basket more if it felt like a comfortable blanket or cushion she was sitting on.

So I found some fleece material and trimmed it with some Hawaiian print cotton fabric I had. I made the bottom a kind of pillow, filled with some foam and used some shoe strings in the edges to tie to the basket so it won't slide off.

Now I put Daisy in the basket a couple times a day so that she gets used to sitting in it. She is getting very cozy in it and even fell asleep yesterday. She seems to think it is another doggie bed perhaps and really likes sitting in it. I'm hoping when I put it on the bike, she will sit and stay in it well while we ride!

Inside bottom cushion of the basket cover (attached to cover).

Close up of the button hole opening for the tie to the basket.

Daisy comfortable and getting more relaxed in the basket.

Very cozy and nearly asleep, she fell asleep shortly after this!

Where's the puppy? - 子犬はどこ？？

Well, winter is literally around the corner. While we have been having some nice sunny and pretty warm days for this time of year (the high has been 70F/21C or so for the last 3-4 days), the temps fall drastically at night and it gets rather cold. There appeared to be frost on the car windows this morning when we went out there at 6:30AM to take Ken to the airport. Since three days ago, nighttime temperatures have begun to fall below 50F/10C (last night was about 44F/6C), so I have brought the plumerias indoors to their winter location. So far, they have all their leaves still, due to the warm days up till now.

This winter will be Daisy's first experience with winter and cold weather (she will turn 1 year old January 28th). So far, she doesn't seem to like the cold at all and is in LOVE with the heater. As soon as you turn it on, she hears the sound and stops what she is doing (or wakes up) and runs over to go lay directly in front of it. And she stays there in front of it until she worries me that she is dangerously cooking her body, so I finally make her move away from it. She also recently likes to cuddle up in and get under blankets.

Just now, I couldn't figure out where Daisy was. All was quiet and when I looked around for her, there was no puppy in sight in all her usual places. Then I saw a slight lump in the blanket on the sofa. Ken and I have a couple of soft, small blanket/throws on the sofa and Daisy thinks they are for her now. Here is a little movie of where I finally found her! It's kind of funny. Enjoy

Make Easy Sushi Rolls - Forget the bamboo mat! - 簡単に出来る巻き寿司（

Have you ever tried to make sushi rolls? It can be a daunting task, getting the rice spread out in a layer on the Nori (seaweed), then rolling it up with the bamboo mat roller. Unless you are quite skilled or a professional, its hard to get it tight and keep all the ingredients inside. The end result can be quite pathetic and something you will not be proud to serve a guest, let alone be together enough to hold up between the plate and your mouth (in my experiences anyway, I've never been able to get it right that way).

I have found what I call a 'magic' sushi roller here in Japan. It's a 3 part mold that makes anyone an instant sushi roll expert. It could probably be found at a better gourmet cooking store or at an Asian shop or market in US, especially in Hawaii. If you have a hard time finding it in your area, let me know and maybe I can help you get one! I could put some up for purchase by auction on Ebay though I have seen them on Ebay from time to time offered by other sellers.

Now I can make sushi rolls that I wouldn't be embarrassed to serve to my Mother-in-Law even (she is Japanese)! It's really fun too!

Here is what it looks like and the package it came in. This is the large size one, there is a smaller one that make narrower rolls. There are 3 parts, a bottom, an inner mold that fits in the bottom and an upper rounded mold that is used to press down and form the roll when you are finished adding all the ingredients.

Today I made a roll with real crab meat and a roll with avocado and that imitation crab meat you can get these days. You can add what ever you want to the insides of your sushi rolls. One suggestion I have is don't be shy about putting alot (amount wise) for your center ingredients. The first one I made I was afraid I was putting too much in but when the roll was finished, it seems like hardly anything was in there. Like a big rice roll! It could have something to do with the amount of rice I used as well, I filled the molds to the maximum, which was not a problem as far as using this sushi roll maker is concerned but in relation to the amount of goodies in the center..it wasn't balanced well. Don't be afraid to add lots of fun stuff for the inside!

Don't forget also that sushi rice is flavored with sushi vinegar.

You may notice in these photos that I used a Japanese brown rice but I think it might stick alittle better with a mixture of regular white Japanese rice and the Japanese brown rice or of course, just the white Japanese rice is always ok.

Here are some pictures of the whole process.

First, add some (sushi) rice to the bottom inner mold

Make a little indentation or trough to put some ingredients into.

Ingredients are then added, crab meat seen here, pushed down into 'trough' in the rice. Then veggies, in this case, cucumbers and yellow bell peppers (piman in Japanese) are laid on top. Don't add the ingredients right to the edges of the mold since you want the finished roll to have rice all the way around and not have the inner ingredients touching the side or poking out.

Alittle mayonnaise on top which will end up in the center of the sushi roll, it's not necessary to add this but that's how we like it in our house.

Place the filled inner bottom mold into the bottom container of the sushi roll maker.

Add more rice to cover everything.

I added to rice to the top edge of the bottom container of the sushi roll maker.

Place the top mold on and press down to form the sushi roll.

You may notice that there is a gap between the top and the inner bottom mold (even though I exerted a fair amout of pressure when pushing the top mold). It's not a problem if the pieces don't touch, however they may touch if you used alittle less rice than I did.

Next you need a sheet of Nori, which is the Japanese word for dried seaweed. Here is the type I used. Any brand will do, as long as it's a fairly large sheet like you see here.
Lay it out onto a flat surface such as a cutting board.

Remove the top of the sushi maker to expose the formed rice roll, then turn it upside down so that the rice is on the Nori. Place on the edge and so that it fits well onto the sheet of Nori. Remove the outer bottom container, if it is sticking a bit, you can put your finger in the little holes at the bottom to ease it off.

Now you are left with the roll and the inner bottom mold sitting on the sheet of Nori. When removing this inner bottom mold, it is very likely to stick so there are some thoughtfully placed, very handy tabs that you can push gently down on to help ease the sushi roll out.

Now roll it up in the Nori, so that the Nori covers all the rice.
After that, I let the roll sit with the 'seam' down for a while. The Nori will start to soften up a bit from the moisture of the rice and it will stick and form a good seal after a few minutes. At first the Nori is pretty dry and if you left the roll sitting with the seam side up, then it might curl up a bit and not lay nice and flat on the rice.

Here is the rolled sushi 'resting' for a bit on the cutting board, seam side down.

Slice and serve. Use a very sharp knife or a bread knife might work good. The Nori can be tough to cut and the rice very sticky. You don't want your nicely formed roll to get misshapen from a dull knife dragging across and sticking it! It may help to wash off the knife half way thru the slicing of the roll and continue with a clean knife for the other half (a clean knife that is even damp alittle, will slide thru the rice easier).

Daisy's new Doggles - デイジーのゴーグル購入

Miss Daisy Ipo, modeling red frame Doggles with smoke lenses

Have you seen Doggles goggles and sunglasses for dogs? They have 100% UV protection and are claimed to help dogs that get eye problems due to UV rays, as well as being good for keeping out dust etc when dogs hang their head out the car window or ride on a bike or motorcycle. They are designed especially for dogs, they come in many color frames and the lenses can be changed to different colors or clear. We got ours from a nice lady named Stephanie at www.dogscene.com.

Close up of Daisy's goggles

We also got the lovely red halter in these pictures from Dogscene.com. It hooks up in front and INSTANTLY solved the problem of her pulling and jumping around on walks! It's fabulous. My arm no longer gets pulled out of the socket when Daisy wants to take off running for something and she walks nicely by my side now.

Daisy gets terribly red eyes sometimes when we take a walk along the nearby riverside. A few times her eyes have been so red I gasp in shock when she looks up at me and want to rush her to the Vet! They don't seem to hurt though and they look normal and dry other than the redness. The Vet says the pollen outside, maybe from the weeds growing around the riverside, may be irritating her eyes.

Hopefully these goggles will make a difference. It's a bit much though don't you think, I mean, she gets enough attention already, these goggles are over the top!

Healthy Homemade Dog Cookies Recipe - Meat and Carrots - ヘルシーな犬用クッキーのレシピ

Today I made these cookies for Daisy. She loves them. Why don't you try them for your dog?

After mixing up the dough, I bake 1- 2 cookie sheets of them. Then I save a handful out for Daisy to eat right away and I freeze the rest. That way, I can give them to Daisy straight out of the freezer every now and then and not worry about spoilage. Invariably, I either don't have the time or the energy to bake up more than one or two sheets of cookies, so I also freeze some of the dough, so that I can bake more later when I have more time or energy. Just take the frozen dough out of the freezer when you want to bake more, defrost thoroughly, then roll out the dough and proceed as usual.

This recipe calls for shortening, but I use butter because in Japan, it's hard for me to get shortening (unless I go to a specialty store) and since I rarely use it, last time I bought some I used about 2 tablespoons then it sat in the cupboard until eventually, the whole can went bad and had to be thrown out. Butter seems to work just fine but you may prefer shortening for your dog. I used butter that had salt it in but it may also be better for your dog to use a no salt butter instead. I think it's probably best to avoid giving salt to your dog, from what I've heard, but I doubt the little bit in the butter is harmful, unless you know that specifically your dog should not have any salt due to some health condition.

Meat and Carrot Dog Cookies

Ingredients
2 1/2 cups sifted whole wheat flour
1/2 cup powdered milk (dry)
1 cube of bouillon, crumbled or 1 tablespoon powdered bouillon
1 cup cooked ground pork or pork and beef mixed
1 cup grated carrots
6 tablespoons shortening or butter
1 xtra large egg or 2 medium eggs
1/2 cup cold water

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (or 180-190 C) depending on your oven. Mine needs to be at 190 C.

Use a Silpat baking/cookie sheet or lightly oil a plain cookie sheet. Silpat works the best...if you don't have a Silpat baking sheet, get one! It's a fabulous and indispensable addition to your kitchen. I don't know how I ever lived without mine! Gone will be the days of burnt bottoms on your cookies or other baked items, not to mention, no sticking to the sheet.

In a large bowl, mix the flour, powdered milk and bouillon. Add the cooked meat, grated carrot, shortening and egg, while adding water gradually until you get a firm ball of dough. You may find you don't need the entire 1/2 cup of water.

Lightly flour your rolling surface and then roll out the dough to about 1/4 inch (0.5 cm) thickness. Use what ever design cookie cutters you desire (I used hearts) to cut out cookies and place them on the baking sheet. You can put them fairly close together, but not touching. They do not spread during baking.

When you make heart shaped cookies, I have found that pressing my finger lightly and making indentations at the top of the hearts makes them formed better (after peeling them off the rolling surface and placing them onto the Silpat in which they sometimes get malformed a bit) and it adds a cute texture when they are finished baking.

Press the tip of your finger lightly into each rounded top part of the heart to make an decorative indentation.

Keep re-rolling the dough scraps so you can use all the dough for cookies. If I have a little dough left at the end that I just can't get one more cookie out of, I form it into a small ball and flatten it out and bake it. The dog likes it the same as the heart shaped ones!

Put in the oven and bake for about 20-30 minutes, again depending on your oven. Alittle well done (but not with burnt edges) is fine as dogs like 'em crunchy. Cool and serve or freeze for serving later.

On the Silpat mat, in the oven and ready to bake!

You can probably safely keep the cookies or the dough frozen for up to 2 months. I am not an expert on this, it could be it would keep even longer, this is just my personal opinion based on experience.

Add Some Cheese!

Here is a photo of some cookies made in the shape of stars instead of hearts . Also, I added just a pinch of shredded cheese on top of each cookie before baking for an extra flavor treat (click on photo to enlarge and see the cheese more closely). You can see the cheese melted nicely while baking. I used a cheddar and jack cheese mix on these cookies, but you could put almost any kind of semi-hard cheese such as cheddar, mozzarella, gruyère, edam or jarlsberg.

ALOHA! AND ENJOY.....