Hokkido
I went to Hokkaido with my younger son. It was a nice trip. If you come over to Japan, You should visit Hokkaido . Foods are very nice. Sashimi, vegetable, ice, cheese and beer etc.

Mount Yōtei in Niseko 

Natto
We eat Natto with rice.
Have you ever eaten Natto. Natto is Japanese traditional food. Maybe you don’t want eat Natto. Because it has not good smell for you. You don’t like that smell. Some Japanese can’t eat it. Foreigners who live in Japan long years don’t like it.
By the way, after the earthquake, it was difficult to get Natt. Because factory which made package of Natto, damaged by earthquake. Now I get Natto easily.
I have ever visited Australia three times. Then I had breakfasts in hotels. Always
I tried to eat Vegemite. So I cold’nt eat it. And I came back to Japan with vegemites which I left. Because I think I tried to eat it again in Japan. Always Vegemites were kept in refrigerate long years.

Before we eat natto, we sti Natto with soy sauce and mustard.

A big curry and rice
When we went skiing, I and my husband share it.

Anmitsu

Anmitsu is a Japanese dessert. I went to a tea shop 3 yeaars ago. I wanted to eat this anmitu.

So I went to the tea shop again with my younger son.

rice cake with soybean flour

The Ramen Museum
Tess wrote about The Ramen Museum in Japan. We have known this museum. But we didn't have chance to go to this Museum. I got this museum's tickets last month. So we went to the Ramen Museum.
We imagine museums are like British Museum. The ramen Museum is very defferent.

The Ramen Museum has several different types of shops of nouille. We ate two kind of ramen.
They were very nice.

miso

shoyu

old style Japan

New Year dishes called OSECHI
My mother made a lot of new year dishes. My mother prepared OSECHI before New Year's Day. It was so busy.

Now I didn't cook OSECHI. I just bought them. We can get a lot of food at the first three days of the New Year at shops. It is convenient.

When I was young, shops didn't open at the first three days of the New Year. My mother had to cook OSECH that could be kept for a long time.
Which is better ?

This holiday, my husband has job. (It is not every year.)
It is not good for my sons. The first three days of the New Year are important for Japanese. I think New Years are more important than Christmas for Japanese. But recently Japanese forget about it. Many customers like convinience.
We have to change it.

dumplings
Tess's gyoza is so nice. Her gyoza is so beautiful.
But my gyoza is just gyoza. Because my sons want to eat a lot of gyoza. I make 50 gyoza.
Every time I see Tess's gyoza, I want to make wrappers by myself. But I don't have any time.
Because my sons want to eat gyoza soon.

Pear picking
Yesterday, we went to pears park nearby my house.
There were lot of pears field in my town. My town was famous pears production. But now pears field became building land.

I have been thinking, I go to pick pears with my kids. Because I used to go picking pear with my family.

Wine tasting

When we visited a winery, we had a lot of wine. Actually we don't know real wine taste. I tested many kind of wine. The more I drunk, the more I couldn't select wine.

cup for testing

Happy meals
My younger son likes happy meals. He is 6 years old. Maybe about five years later, he will needs
foods for adult. So I will not be able to take picture of happy meals in restaurants.

Square-shaped watermelon
When I went to a supermarket, I found a square-shaped watermelon. I thought it was strange.

When I was young, my mother bought big watermelons in a visitable shop with me. And she carried them which were in net every time. And I had ate watermelons before the end in summer.
So I fed up with watermelons.

By the way, when you eat watermelons, do you spit seeds of watermelons?
They said if you eat a lot of seeds, you might suffer from appendicitis .
That is not true. It is just an urban legend in Japan. But my husband believe it.

I'm sorry I can't visit your blogs. Because it is very hot in Japan. I want to give up learning English. Now I just sitting front of my Personal Computer which is heat. I sweat easily.

Are you good at managing your money?
The beginning of month always I try to keep a household account. But I can't it.
The beginning of year always I try to make a budget. But I can't it.

Every day I cook with a homemade dinner. But I buy just delicatessen in supermarkets.
I try to cook something weekend. And I want to save foods for weekdays. But I feel tired. I can't it.

It seems impossible to me. LOL

Urban legend
I heard an urban legend in the USA. It was about little Mikey who likes cereal. After that, when he ate a lot of Pop Rocks and coke, his stomach explode.
Anyway, he is very qute.

When I was young, my mother gave me Kellogg's cereal. We thought cereal breakfast was strange. "How to did they grow up? They just ate cereal?."
I didn't feel my stomach was full, Even if I ate cereal.

But when I was young, almost Japanese body were smaller than them.
Story(December 04, 2005)

Watermelon
Summer is season of watermelon in Japan. My son's grand mother gave his grandchildren this watermelon. My younger son was really happy to get watermelon. He loves watermelons. When we went to supermarket, he rally wanted it. But it was expensive yet. Younger watermelons are expensive. July is nice month to get watermelon in Japan.
By the way, summer is very hot and humid in Japan. Usually I suffer from the summer heat. And I can eat only cool and light foods which like watermelons and cold noodles.

I think there are several types of noodles in Japan.
Tess wrote on her blog. It is "Udon".

Tess's Udon

This is "Soba".

The other "watermelon"(June 21, 2006)

Sleeping car
We got on a sleeping car again. Now when pepole take a trip in Japan, they usually use planes or bullet trains.(Off course we use car too.) Because planes are faster than sleeping cars. Therefore sleeping cars become to disappear on rails.
Next year this sleeping trains will stop.
Therefore before stopping this train we planed to get on it.
Strange to say this sleeping cars getting really trendy.

We slept in a nice room which is a little retro. Next time we want to write facilities in this room.
We Japanese travel by train, we eat Ekiben on trains. "Eki" means station. "ben" means lunch box. I think ekiben are a part of Japanese culture. And eating ekiben on trains is the Japanese way of traveling by trains. If you travel by trains in Japan, you should try ekiben. You can get many kinds of ekiben. Any stations have any bento.

Bamboo shoots
We get bamboo shoots near my mother's house. We eat bamboo shoots which are boiled up with soy sauce and sugar. My parents made me eat bamboos shoots. Because there is bamboo grove near my house. So in spring we get a lot of bamboo shoots. When I was young, I enjoyed to eat them. But finally I was getting fed up with them.
Tess's bamboo shoots are different of ours. If Tess's house is near my house, I would give Tess bamboo shots.

This year I got a lot of bamboo shoots too. I cooked them. I have been eating them.

My son's bento

Robot bento

Snowman bento

Spring or Fall
Which do you like spring or fall ?
In Japan spring is cherry blossoms season. It is very beatiful. If you come over to Japan, you should come in April. And you go to notrh Japan of Tokyo. You will continue to enjoy cherry blossoms. But it is a hey fever season. I'm having a runny nose and very itchy eyes . Also in Japan schools start from April.

The other hand, turn leaves are very beautiful. My uncle took these pictures in Nara. We feel like something. (Do you say melancholy or sad??)
Because leaves fall off the trees. So winter is coming. It is dark just about 5:00PM. When I come back to my house and I pick up him from his preschool, I recognize this year is almost over.
Anyway in Japan you enjoys a lot of foods in fall.

For me, acutually I like summer! Of course I like spring, if I do not have hay fever.

Chirashi sushi
We eat Chirashi sushi. What would you say it in English??
It is kind of sushi. We cook it at home. But we don't usually nigiri sushi at home.

Revolving sushi restaurant in the preschool
We say it is Kaiten sushi restaurant. My younger son's teacher made them. You said it is Revolving sushi restaurant.(My husband said it)
But I found words, Conveyor belt sushi.

When I was young, there were not Revolving sushi restaurants. And when some visitor's came over to our house, my mother was used to delivers ushi from sushi shop which run real sushi chef.
But recently old type sushi shops closed down near my house. Instead, sushi shops which take delivers only, like Shakey's Pizza Parlor in my town.