Lunar Eclipse and the Crab!

It was a strange night indeed. Here in Japan the eclipse happened tonight and we watched it begin and now it is going into full eclipse. We can't stay up to watch the whole thing but it was pretty neat. However...we went to our local mall to eat dinner and then go shopping. On our way to the market from the restaurant we saw...The CRAB! Not sure why it was there but in was on the ground and it certainly caught everyone's attention. I gave it a nudge with my foot to see if it was alive but it didn't move. As I was starting to shop, I looked back and saw one of the employees holding it up to the other employees looking as if to say, "What the heck?"

 You can barely see the moon.

The CRAB!!!!!

Food!

I love Japanese food. I enjoy living in Japan and there are so many food choices that sometimes when I go to the store I can't make up my mind on what to get. However, when I visit the U.S. I realize that there are so many foods that I miss and it is hard to get to all of them when there is little time. As I posted before, Rachel wanted Rubio's fish tacos the first night we were there and I was happy to oblige but there was a Subway next door and I wanted to have that too. We couldn't eat all of it but it sure tasted good. The other thing that is hard to deal with when we go back is the amount of food that you are served. One morning Rachel and I went to Denny's for breakfast and we decided to share the blueberry pancakes. I am so glad we did because they were deliciously large and came with sausage, eggs, and hash browns. Oh how those hash browns were amazing and almost melted in my mouth. We went to Outback one night and the prime rib was the bomb. Oh, I was corrected by my kids that things aren't "the bomb" anymore but are "bomb"so the prime rib was bomb. The salad was amazing as was the baked potato. Loaded of course. Now that we are back in Japan we are enjoying Japanese food again but dang, it sure was good eating in the States again.

 I don't even know how to describe this ice cream delight. Stupendous?

 Our hotel had this pump Coffee Mate with complimentary coffee and breakfast.

 The nachos at the Ducks game! Disgustingly good especially with the jalapeños!

 OMG! We have Denny's in Japan but let's just say that it isn't the same.

 The bottomless cup of coffee. It is one of the best American traditions.

 Our last night's meal.

 Good grief. It doesn't get any better than this.

Oh yes it does!!!!!

Food Drive with our students and staff

   Last year during the Christmas and New Year's season, Januck and I thought of a way to donate our time and energy to a City-wide food drive.  We involved the staff at our school and our 4th graders in donating food to the needy of our city, Numazu.
   We were so happy to collect food items that they needed like- curry packets, dried noodles and snacks for our food drive.  The students collected money so Januck and I could go to the local bulk store and buy these items on Sunday.
    When we went dropped off our 8 boxes of food this afternoon, the workers were surprised at our donations and happy to take a photo of the items.  We feel that by donating it is about caring for other people and we hope we can instill this idea in our students' minds.  Living in a foreign country and trying to manage a project like this has been an eye-opener for us.  We would like to try again in August at a bigger scale because homeless and hungry people will always be needy and worth our time and energy!
   Thank you to all who donated and helped with this project.  We have appreciated your help!

Our donation as a whole.  The white box in the background is what they collect City canned food and donations!  We did good as a staff and student donation!

Our students donated one third of their monies and it went towards the Food Drive.  They also want to help the National Red Cross and buy books for a local orphanage that Januck has been involved in these past years.

 

100!

Well it has been awhile since I have posted but we have been busy and I just came back from America last week after visiting my father for his 100th birthday!

SoCal!

Rachel and I landed last Thursday in Los Angeles and got our rental car and headed to the Japanese Consulate to take care of some business. We then headed to my father's house to see him for a few minutes before we checked into our hotel. After checking into our hotel, Rachel wanted Rubio's for dinner and we found one not to far away. She bought three fish tacos and I bought one and ran over to Subway for a 6 inch Roast Beef sandwich. Neither of us could finish our meal and luckily our hotel room had a refrigerator.

Rachel and her Rubio's!

The next day we drove out to Norco for our DMV appointment because Rachel had lost her license and I knew that I would have to take my eye exam in October so I thought I would get it taken care of now. It turns out that if you are renewing your license more than 6 weeks before your license expires, you have to take the written exam. I haven't taken the written exam since I was 16 years old so I was a little apprehensive. I had to take the eye test and with both eyes I was fine. My left eye was fine and then I had to do my right eye and well, let's just say that the lady gave me a few chances to pass. I guess it is time to have my eyes checked. I took the written exam, which is on the computer now and I was shocked at how the questions have changed over the years. I'm not complaining but I got 100% on the test and it was certainly more common sense than anything. We then headed to our storage unit in Corona and I was looking for my scrapbook that had some special drawings from my father. Rachel and I looked so hard for them but finally found the scrapbook in the bottom left back part of the unit after about an hour looking. We then headed to Los Angeles to meet Alex and his girlfriend Luna for lunch and to go to the Japanese Consulate again. It was nice meeting Luna and we had a very nice lunch.

The lunch crew!

Rachel and I headed back to our hotel room and then went to the Anaheim Ducks game because she had bought me tickets for Christmas. They played the Los Angeles Kings so of course it was sold out and it was one of the most exciting games I've ever been to. The Ducks won so we left happy!

Saturday was my father's 100th birthday so we got there in the morning and spent some time with my father. Rachel and Alex had a good hour and a half jus listening to him which I know he enjoyed. We brought him some Japanese sake and shrimp chips and he liked them both. In fact, he ate the whole bag of shrimp chips and couldn't eat dinner but did have some room for some birthday cake!

 Yummy sake!

 A beautiful collage.

 Alex was happy with his balloon stacking skills!

 Mr. 100!

 Family!

What an awesome cake!

I was able to spend Sunday and Monday with my Dad and it was great just being there. It was difficult to leave but I know I'll see him again soon.

My friend, Sarah is coming to visit me!

   I am so excited, it has been too long and life is too short.  My friend, Sarah is coming to visit and I am really looking forward to her stay.  She has always been so open about Japan and has been so curious about me growing up here.

   With social media, it has been easier to keep in touch since we left California almost 6 1/2 years ago but I still miss our 3-4 hour marathon coffee dates at Starbucks.  My kids always wondered how long and what could I be talking about with Sarah to have these dates.  We just connected somehow and I know it has been because of commitment and time spent that has made us so close.
    It is easy to lose touch with a friend, it is harder to stay connected!  We have been through ups and downs in our separate lives!  Our last trip was to Palm Springs for a weekend and it is really special to have her come and see where we live.  She is going to come to work with me on Monday and hopefully understand why we choose to stay here in Japan.

Lamb from Hokkaido

   Friends brought back some lamb from Hokkaido after winter break and we cooked it up with vegetables last night.  It was so tender and good.  I am not one for leftovers but for lunch again today I ate some lamb, vegetables, rice and kimchi.
   We tried some tangerine beer last night and then I came home to make this lamb and it really hit the spot.  Living here we are spoiled with every fish you can buy but meat like beef, veal and lamb are still hard to come by.  Bacon is more like ham here and I really miss crispy bacon for breakfast.
   When you don't have something for awhile, it is such a luxury and I really like living as every day is a special day and every food is a special treat.  It feels as if sometimes, we take things for granted and don't fully appreciate what we do have in life!

How Are the Dogs?

Recently I posted about how Joanna bought the Dog stickers and I'm sure you are wondering how they are holding up. Unfortunately, it has become very dry because of the wind and cold and the dogs are starting to well...disappear. Now I'm sure you are wondering how a dog sticker can disappear but the mystery was solved as we were going out for dinner tonight. The hallway was dark and Joanna saw something on the ground and it was...THE DOG STICKER! Of course I was accused right away of pulling the sticker off the wall and putting in on the ground but I didn't do it. Then Joanna turned to Rachel but she convincingly told her that it wasn't her. It has to be the dryness and cold that are making the stickers start to come off. Hopefully (I mean hopefully they won't) all come off.

Poor Rover on the ground.

The amazing Curry Mochi Udon! (Oh, and the girls too.)

The Year of the Dog

So it is the year of the dog and Joanna has been looking for something to display in our apartment. Usually we get a small ceramic piece that is very traditional and is kind of like a bell but this year Joanna decided to go untraditional. She found some dog stickers and put them around our apartment above some of the light switches. Unfortunately for her, it is cold and dry so they have been peeling off and falling on the floor.

 The creepy smiling dog.

 The chained up choking dog.

My favorite. The butthole dog.

Early Bird Special

EARTHQUAKE!!!

That is what Joanna says every time we are sleeping and we have an earthquake. It cracks me up because most of the time I've already woken up and assessed the situation. We had two earthquakes yesterday morning (actually three) and they were two different kinds from two different places. The first one happened at 12:59 AM and it was a rolling type of earthquake. We are on the sixth floor of an apartment building and we swayed back and forth for awhile. The earthquake was in Chiba which is near Tokyo and was a 4.8 magnitude.

There was a 4.4 magnitude earthquake closer to us that happened at 4:41 AM but we didn't feel it.

Then we were woken up at 5:51 AM by another earthquake that was closer and on the other side of the peninsula from where we live. It was a 4.6 magnitude earthquake and it was the jolting kind. For those of you who have grown up with earthquakes then you know what I'm talking about.

I've lived with earthquakes all of my life living in Southern California and Japan and they don't bother me. The largest one that I remember was the 1971 San Fernando earthquake which was about a 6.5 magnitude quake and I remember telling my grandmother that I was awake because she always shook me awake to get me out of bed in the morning. I looked up and she wasn't shaking me but my whole room was shaking and she was at the door yelling at me to stay in bed. That was a crazy one and I still remember it even though I was pretty young. I know I'll feel more, living in Japan and when we have one, it makes me check on our earthquake kit to make sure we have enough in there in case of a large quake. One store that I go to has an earthquake preparedness section and I always make sure to pick something up to put in the kit. You can never be over prepared!

Indian food in Numazu

   Whenever my kids come back to Japan for Christmas, they want sushi and onigiri (rice balls).  We eat Japanese food for weeks.  I don't make traditional American meals while they are here.  We ended up eating kimchi nabe (stew) and going to our local cheap gyoza (fried dumplings) restaurant many times over vacation.
   So when Januck wanted to go for yakitori (chicken skewers) last night, I suggested Indian food and Rachel jumped on it.  It is nice to find a few restaurants that also do take out here in Numazu since doggie bags are out of the questions at Japanese restaurants!
   We enjoyed Aladdin's Indian yellow curry, tandoori chicken and Naan last night for dinner!  It was delicious as usual.

New Year's Hike

It has been about two weeks since I have returned to Japan. I was able to spend the first week back traveling with a friend from college. We went to Hiroshima, Osaka, and Kyoto. It was an amazing opportunity to travel and share my experience of living in Japan with a close friend. 

In front of Kinkakuji 

Osaka

Sadly, Alex had to head back to California on New Year's Eve after spending a week home. However, I am excited to see him soon! Our family decided to take a hike up Mt. Kanuki to start off the new year. It was a beautiful, sunny day and the hike was a great way to begin 2018. 

 There is a picture of me when I was about three or four years old standing in front of this shrine.

 Family selfie :) 

 View of Numazu

Checking on a geocache

New Year's Eve

Our refrigerator was getting a bit empty so Joanna suggested that we go shopping on New Year's Eve before it got too crowded. We went around 11 AM and the grocery store was already hopping! In Japan, most people go home for the New Year's holiday and the store knows that a lot of people don't want to be cooking so we call it Platter Time. There are all kinds of platters from fish to meat and even fruit. We decided to get the fruit platter and I think last year we got some sort of sushi platter. It was one of those days were almost all of the cashiers are open and most had two working at each one to accommodate all of the people. We made our escape and decided on steak and spaghetti while watching The Godfather (I forgot how long that movie was!)

 All of the tempera your heart could desire.

 Some traditional Japanese food platters.

 Meat platters. Delicious but expensive!

 Sashimi platters.

Who wants some tuna sashimi? Here's a giant platter! 

Sushi platters. Oh so good!

Our final goal. The fruit platter. It looked great but was mostly sour.