Square Pegs

Sensational Soft Serve & Pickle Power!

I do enjoy the occasional ice cream cone, but I'm not a big consumer of sweets.  I'll take a salty snack or pickle over a piece of candy any day!  One of the major things that I'm going to miss about Japan is the abundance of pickles.  I love pickles made from just about any veggie, and Japan has more unique, interesting pickles than you could ever imagine, and interesting enough they are just as diverse with their soft serve ice cream choices!  When John and I travel together it is just about a perfect combo because he loves ice cream, although some of the available flavors don't quite appeal to him.  Conversely, I love vinegary foods and pickles, and most souvenir and snack shops in Japan have both pickles and ice cream available.  An odd combo, but go figure!

As I visited Nikko on Saturday for a visit to Toshogu shrine and some surrounding sites I happened upon the most extensive soft serve collection I had ever found from a single vendor in all of Japan!  I must have stood there gaping at the selections for at least 15 minutes before deciding to have chestnut ice cream in spite of the very chilly, rainy weather conditions.  I couldn't help but take careful photos of the menu so I could document each wonderful flavor available.  These various, uniquely Japanese soft serve options are a thing I will really miss when we move, particularly in summer time, but I can't wait to find out what kind of summer treats are popular in Guam!

  Of course, my trip wasn't complete without checking out the local pickle offerings either.  I hit the pickle jackpot when I stopped by Kyoto Station during my Nara trip last month, but I found that Nikko had quite a few tasty pickles as well, although most of the pickles I sampled in Nikko had a distinct hint of spiciness to the various varieties.  I selected two different varieties of burdock root pickles that I've been enjoying with my breakfast the past two mornings.  I've heard that in Guam you can find fruit pickles, so I can't wait to check out the pickle situation there! I have a feeling my pickle adventureswon't end when I leave Japan!

I'll be heading to Nikko again this upcoming weekend to enjoy the annual samurai costume parade at the shine, so maybe I'll have another go at a new soft serve flavor.  I've been giving it some thought, and I think that it would be delightful to find a pickle ice cream somewhere in Japan!  I know I would try it for sure! 

 

Move Over Krispy Kreme!

When you think of Japanese food, you probably don't think of fresh bakes loaves of rye bread, delectable confections and petite hand-made no-crust tea sandwiches- well at least I know that I didn't when I moved here.

It only took me about two months of living here in Japan before discovering they have some absolutely mind blowing bakeries!  They have literally got baking down to a science!  On my way to work every morning, I pass one such bakery called Vie De France.  On Fridays I usually treat myself to a goody from the shop.

I guess I picked the right day to visit the bakery as they had all of their special "Halloween" pasteries out on display and fresh out of the oven!  I think they need to take a page out of the Krispy Kreme book and turn on a light when they have fresh baked donuts because they are awesome!  I was able to try a fresh, warm sweet potatoe donut and also a chestnut donut.  They were both much better than any donut I have ever had before!! Here are some other great treats from Vie De France!!

 

The French Connection

If you are a foodie like I am, there is something magical about the connection you can have with a good friend while dining on extravagant, exquisite cuisine in a pristine culinary environment.  With my kitchen almost completely empty, I've been living on a diet of Vemma, Odwalla super food bars, raw veggies, and hummus for the past 10 days or so with the exception of my trip to Nara.  Although my waist line is grateful, my taste buds are about to mutiny!

I felt like I had passed into a realm of culinary nirvana as I dined on one-of-a-kind French-Japanese fusion cuisine on Saturday while taking lunch with a friend at Azamino Ukai-Tei Restaurant.  The food was to die for, the service couldn't be beat, and the company was charming and cheerful!

   

The display cooking was stunning, the decor was a perfect blend of French and Japanese elegance, and the quality of the food was stellar! By far it has been one of my best dining experience to date, and I have my gracious friend Takako san to thank for this amazingly memorable experience! 

Although there were a few tear-filled moments as the reality of relocation took hold, there is comfort in the fact that frienship isn't measured in kilometers or miles but within the connection of kindred spirits who don't say goodbye...just until we meet again.  Addresses may change but human connection and hope endure beyond physical location.   

Escaping the Chaos

For anyone who has moved with the Navy, they are familiar with the mind bending stress and chaos involved.  Without my mate here to aid in any of the planning or logistics, I think I would have lost my mind had it not been for a little help from my girlfriends this week who saved my sanity when I was hanging by a thread!

Amid rain storms, movers, an overload of school work, and strained communication with John on the ship, I was thankful I could escape it all and enjoy a day-trip to Nara with one of my long time friends.  I've been wanting to visit Nara Park and see the deer since arriving in Japan, and as the clock ticks away on my time left in Yokohama, I knew my window of opportunity was shrinking at an alarming rapid rate.

After a relaxing 2 hour shinkansen ride and a 40 minute express train trip, I found myself far away from paperwork, boxes, movers, and relocation related madness and basking the sights, sounds, and smells of historic Nara Park.  As soon as we arrived at the park we were greeted (or tackled more like) by the famous Nara deer in search of shika-senbei (deer crackers).  Although they are seen as messengers of the gods, there is nothing gracious or divine about their table manners!  Both Yuko san and I received several bites and head-butts until we gave up all of our crackers.

Touring the grounds of the various temples and shrines with Yuko san was such a treat as she is a veritable encyclopedia on Japanese culture,history, art, and religious traditions!

It sprinkled on and off during the day, but when the rain started coming down in earnest, we retreated to a small restaurant to enjoy some local cuisine while resting our feet .

      

Due to the inclement weather, we decided to cut our sight-seeing short and head back to Kyoto station early to do a bit of shopping and enjoy a cup of coffee.

It was just the kind of escape I needed this week to help me relieve a portion of the mounting tension and transitional stress.  Although I knew the following day was going to be filled with more paperwork, a day on Yokosuka base, and preparing for yet another morning with the moving company, it is a wonderful memory to dwell on and linger over during such turbulent times! 

Lions and Tigers and Bears....Sugoi!

The past few days have been absolutely wild....in both the fantastically good and the miserably disaster-ridden ways.  For me, aside from prayer, there are few things at calm my heart and ease my spirit quite like interacting with animals.  I'm still processing the events of the weekend, so while my mental gears are griding and emotional trauma is healing, I'm just going to dwell on the fabulous animal encounters I had today at Fuji Safari Park at the base of Mt. Fuji.

The morning started out early (4:30AM) as I spent some time with John before dropping him off on base for yet another underway....God willing it is John's second to last underway EVER aboard the Stethem!  I'm always a little emotional when he leaves so it was an ideal day to escape from the house and relax in the company animal companions. 

Although the trip got off to a bit of a delayed and alarming start when the tour bus operator was involved in a traffic accident, it was smooth sailing after the koban sorted everything out and allowed us to continue on our way.  The day showed its fist signs of picking up when I found a new KitKat at the rest stop on the way to the park.

When we finally made it to our destination I was glad to be able to venture off on my own since the weather was crisp, cool, and the perfect temperature for meandering through the park trails.  Being that it is a Monday, the park was not crowded at all, so I had the opportunity to feed several of the animals in various areas of the park with hardly anyone else around.

   

I was so thrilled with how close I was able to get to the animals!!  I even got nose to nose with a kangaroo interested in lounging on my lap and had to play tug of war with the spider monkeys who decided to try and get my camera and sunglasses through the fence surrounding their enclosure.  By far the spider monkeys were my favorite, I spent well over an hour playing with them, feeding them little rice puffs, and keeping them from trying to swipe all of my possessions.  They certainly weren't timid about reaching their little hands through the bars and grabbing whatever was in arms reach and testing its palatability.  I was absolutely delighted by their ceaseless energy and curiosity!

After visiting all of the park enclosures it was time to board the 'Safari Zone' bus to visit the animals roaming around their man-made "wild".  The buses looked a little intimidating as they had two rows of heavy protective bars and steel tire protectors- for a moment there I wasn't sure if I was going on safari or to prison. 

It wasn't until I was face to face with drooling lions and bears anxiously pacing for the meat and fruit I was holding at the end of a pair of metal tongs that I began wondering if only two sets of protective bars were enough!  I admit it made me a little anxious to be so close to the lions; hearing them purr like motorcycle engines when they got their meaty prizes yet snarl so loudly it could pierce your eardrums as they jockeyed for prime real estate next to the chuck-wagon.  The large male in the group was really cranky considering the bus arrived right as he was about to have a romantic moment with one of the females who lost interest in his advances as soon as the meat wagon arrived.  Hey, I think that would make any guy cranky!

Having been majorly spoiled by the San Diego Zoo and Wild Animal Park, I wasn't too sure what to expect at the park, but I was pleasantly surprised!  There were a few animals who looked like they could have used a little more  TLC or a slightly larger enclosure, but all in all it was pretty nice given its relatively small size and unique location!

Reflecting back on the weekend, I'd definitely opt of the snarling lions and ravenous bears rather than some of the folks we encountered this weekend...but that is a story for another day.

Bagpipes & Green Beer

One of the best things about the Yokohama area is that it is so Internationally friendly and there is never a celebratory opportunity missed!  Saturday was a perfect day for a parade as we woke up to a cool early spring breeze and a sky full of sunshine! 

John and I enjoyed a lazy morning together before dressing up in our finest green attire and heading down to Motomachi Street to meet up with friends for the parade.  John ended up being the subject of many photographers who seemed quite interested in his fuzzy green beard and pointy elf ears.

After enjoying the short parade, we started our own little parade heading down to Benny's Place where we all congregated, waiting for our favorite pub to open so we could dig into some tasty grub and chug some green beer!  Within 10 minutes of opening the place was nearly packed since it is one of the most popular post-parade hang outs each year. 

Last St. Patrick's Day I was the 'Irish Car Bomb' queen, but given my weight loss goals before moving, I just sipped some green beer and cheered on those wishing to claim the title for their own this year.

I may have not been the 'Car Bomb Queen' this year, but John certainly claimed the title of  'Wing King' as he munched down on some of his all time Benny's Place favorites.  We had a great time celebrating early since on the 17th John will be away from home, and I'll be at Fuji Safari Park sipping on green tea rather than green beer.  Happy early St. Patrick's Day to all!

Wild Monkey... (insert your favorite primate behavior here)

In a world full of caged up critters in every form, it is rare that you get to catch a  glimpse of animals in the wild...being wild.  Although I don't subscribe to strict evolutionary theory, it is amazing to be face to face with creatures that exhibit such human-like behavior.

When I first arrived in Japan and sat through the mandatory AOB/ICR class and heard about the wild snow monkeys in Nagano, I vowed to myself I would see these onsen dwelling primates before our 2008 departure.

I was unusually lucky in that John had a last minute schedule change that allowed him to go with me, which I was thrilled about!  We had to get up pretty early in order to catch the tour bus, but we caught a few winks as we made our way to Nagano.  We also got some outstanding views of Fuji once the sun came up.

Our first stop of the day was Matsumoto Castle.  Although you probably can't tell from the photo, it was freezing cold outside and started snowing heavily as we were making our way through the dark stairways of the castle.  I'm not sure why, but I still get really excited whenever it starts snowing, so I enjoyed standing in the 500+ year old corridors and imagining samurais and kimono clad women filling the halls and pondering how they must have stayed warm in such a drafty place.  Unlike the majority of European castles, most Japanese castles didn't serve a residences, but rather military bases of operation during Japan's civil war era.  They say if you close your eyes and touch the wooden walls within the castle you might just catch a glimpse of the shade of a samurai from long ago...

After touring the castle we started our trek to the snow monkey park.  There were a few moments during our bus ride that the snow was coming down so hard we could barely see out of the window!  Fortunately, by the time we made it to the park hiking trail we were only experiencing off and on snow showers, which made for a really pleasant walk through the snow blanketed woods up to the park.

   

I will say that our first monkey encounter along the trail was amazing!  It is really something to view a wild animal without cages or fences separating you!  Inside the park was the monkey onsen, or hot spring, where the monkeys relax, bathe, and escape the chill of the ice and snow.  They all seemed quite content to have their photos taken while grooming, scratching, pooping, bickering, splashing, and doing all the things wild monkeys do.

After about 30 minutes of observing the monkeys in their pool we decided to do a little more hiking before the trip home.   Nagano truly is a beautiful wonderland of white in the winter months, and our hike was quite picturesque.

Surprisingly there were no concession stands, vendors, or even souvenir shops in the area, so we were thankful we packed few refreshments for our post-hike snack before boarding the bus to return home to Yokohama. 

John discovered just how handy snow can be for making your own chilly drink holder.  After a chu-hi, some string cheese, and yaki onigiri we were both pretty sleepy on the bus ride home.  Post-snow-day snuggling is some of the best!

Candy is Dandy

I've never really been a fan of eating sweets, but I must confess that between my KitKit obsession and the multitude of cute confections available in Japan, I find myself buying and acquiring a whole lot of sugary, gooey-centered, chocolate coated treats of all kinds.  The kick is I rarely ever eat the sweets I get, but luckily John helps me in that department.

Today yielded a KitKat windfall as my student and friend Yuko san brought me a treasure bag of newly released KitKats caught fresh in the konbini wilds of Yokohama and Tokyo.  I'm tickled pink with all the new additions to my collection.  Some of KitKat's latest creations include salt, black tea, mikan (mandarin orange), and mixed fruit.  I'm planning on trying at least a bite of each new variety.  Not to worry about a sugar overdose though, I spent the morning playing around with a new vitamin packed, veggie and fiber dense recipe I found on my favorite cooking blog, Lex Culinaria, and noshed on some uber-yummy "African Stew". 

I will admit, one of my favorite sweets that I just can't pass up is kushidango.   I don't know what it is about those little round squishy balls of rice flour smothered in sauce, but when I see (or smell) fresh grilled dango balls on a stick, I just cave in every time!

The Beauty of Fuji

One of the many great things about living in Negishi is that on clear, cloudless winter days you can get a spectacular view of  snow-covered Mt. Fuji.  It seems like Spring is really on the way and our stint of cold, snowy weather is finished.  The plum blossoms are opening, the sun is shining, and the days are getting longer and longer.  When I looked at the calendar today and realized February is coming to a close, I got a pang of sadness intermingled with excitement and anticipation as we enter into our 3 month move window.  I've been getting regular e-mails from the USS Cable FRG including all the fun stuff going on in Guam and with the ship.  I can't wait to be part of an organization that actually seems to think of families as an asset rather than an intrusive annoyance that distract sailors from the ship.

John is away from home again, and won't be home much between now and the time we PCS (unless he gets the leave we're both hoping for), but I did manage to catch a nice photo of him and dogs taking in the beauty of Fuji!

Words Get in the Way

Context; it's one of the most powerful communication tools out there...no matter what your tongue.  Simple gestures, nods, pauses, smiles and hesitations (or lack thereof) can speak volumes without a single utterance- they can break a heart or sending it soaring over the mountain tops.  Although my Japanese language skills have been improving, there is still so much that leaves me scratching my head.  While my verbal skills are still developing slowly, there is one skill that I have been able to practice almost daily, out of necessity, which is reading gestures, body language, tone/inflection, and trying to glean understanding from context.  What I've learned by doing this is just how expressive and touching the little, tiny contextual nuances of individuals can be.

This past Saturday we had an AWESOME day with friends.  We started out at a sumo retirement ceremony for Sekiwake Takanowaka, which was amazing and surprisingly emotional! 

Our seats were the traditional tatami cushions on the ground enclosed by a little metal barrier.  I couldn't help but feel like a part of a giant human bento box sitting in my neatly placed cushion within the perfectly sectioned off box.  One of the great things about this type of seating is although there is a small metal rail separating you from the "box" next to you, it's like a huge picnic and your neighbors are right there with you sharing in the fun. I have to admit though, it was pretty comical watching John, who is 6'3", fitting into his alloted space.  Our hosts, Misako san and her husband made us feel like absolute ROYALTY that day- we wanted for absolutely nothing- whether it was wonderful sumo insight, a cold beer, or fresh, delicious snacks.  It was really touching to be cared for in such a way, in a addition to being able to witness such a rare sumo event.  I won't go into the details, but there were several moments in the day where I got a little teary eyed...and not from words...just from the context of situations and kindnesses.

The ceremony had several parts, including traditional song, taiko drumming, explanation and demonstration about the method and meaning to the sumo's chomage hairstyle, a comedy wresting match, the cutting of Takanowaka san's chomage (signifying his retirement from sumo), and a final wresting match culminating in the yokozuna from the east and west going for a round.  I'm not often at a loss for words, but having this experience was so amazing and wonderful for John and me that I have a hard time communicating just how meaningful and awesome it was to witness and be a part of.  It is truly a day that will live in our memories and hearts for decades to come!  It's not even that we are avid sumo fans, but sometimes private, personal circumstances just play out in ways that make you so appreciative of opportunities you are given.

 

After the final moments of the ceremony and the closing match, we were off to Tomei's for continued fun and merriment with the Fujimuras!  We had a great time enjoying gourmet food, delicious California wines, and basking in the company of true friends!  After we were finished with dinner, we still had left over fun energy that needed to be expended, so we bee-bopped over to Benny's to continue the good times.  It wasn't until 3am that we stumbled back in the door, exhausted, happy, and stuffed with good food and good memories!