Square Pegs

Weddings in Paradise Show

With the first week of my internship at the Hyatt behind me, I feel more excited than ever about my future career in the hospitality industry!  To wrap up my first week at Hyatt I was able to attend Saturday's 'Weddings in Paradise' show in the grand ballroom.  Although it was much smaller than conventions I attended back in SoCal, it was still a really great event!  Since I'm not a bride-to-be and didn't have wedding stress as a factor while I strolled the booths, I was able to just enjoy the artistry of it all- the flowers, the decor, the cakes!

     

   

It was great to see my current co-workers in action on the show floor promoting the Hyatt brand!  I just love getting ideas from such talented hospitality professionals who showcase their talents at event like this.  The Guam HRA will be hosting an upcoming show at the Hyatt that I also can't wait to see! 

"You Can Be The Cheese!"

Although I'm much closer to my 30th birthday than to my 20th, I feel like I'm having the typical college student summer.  I've managed to keep my 4.0 GPA to date, and am looking forward to my 3 week summer vacation starting on June 16th.  I'll be spending my summer doing an internship at Tomei's California Wine Bar, and pet sitting for local base residents vacationing in the United States during the summer (plus teaching my regular English classes).  I've put in a lot of effort to make sure I'm busy and productive while John is deployed so I don't slip into the 7th Fleet blues.

I started my internship on Monday, and I'm already learning a lot!  I was even given my own official wine glass for the kitchen and a wine charm to designate it- I'm the cheese. We all got a little chuckle when it was decided I would "be the cheese".

I'm really excited about this internship opportunity!  I know that I've got a lot to learn about wine, and am on my way to enhancing my hospitality career in years to come. 

I'm raising a glass in hopes a successful summer as "the cheese"!      

Princesses on Parade

One of the great things about my job is that if I can dream it up and plan it...I have the opportunity to do it!  Last Saturday, in an effort to provide some of my Niki's Kitchen students with a bit of much needed pampering, I held a 'Spa Day' at my house here in Negishi. 

The 4 hour party included a buffet of healthy foods provided by me, yoga with Meggan, facials with Ami K., and massage with Rey. I had 12 students that day, and it was so much fun!  Students were broken up into groups of 4 (determined by the color of their princess crown party favors), and then had 1 hour at each pampering station.  By the end of the day, everyone had experienced a 45 minute outdoor yoga class, a mini-facial, and a mini-massage.  Students also got to take home a little souvenir 'Princess Bag' filled with silly party favors. 

It took over a month of planning and coordinating, but it was totally worth it!  We sure have some talented folks living out here in Negishi, and I am so happy I was able to provide an outlet for them to showcase their amazing skills!  A big thank you to Rey, Meggan, and Ami for making the day fabulous!

If you are interested in facials/massage with Ami K. or yoga with Meggan, please post a comment and I will be sure to let you know how to get in touch with them (sadly, Rey is moving in just a matter of days and is currently unavailable for massage appointments here in Negishi <sniffle>).  In the interest of their privacy, I don't want to publish their contact information directly on the site.

  After 4 hours of relaxation, everyone had glowing skin and smiles on their faces!  It really was a fun day and I hope to be able to hold another spa day in the future!  Thank you to everyone who participated and made the day a success!

BBQ Maddness!!

One of the true joys of my job as a cooking instructor for Niki's Kitchen is the cultural exchange that often takes place at parties and classes.  There is nothing like sharing a cultural holiday/experience that is relatively new to your host country. 

I've always loved 4th of July; the fireworks, the BBQ's, the parades...  This past Saturday, as I hosted a special "All American" BBQ party for Niki's Kitchen, I tried to bring all of the flavors and all of the fun of 4th of July to my small little house on the Kanto Plane. 

I spent about 3 days prepping for the BBQ, between decorating, trips to Costco, and actually making food it was quite an ordeal- but all worth it!!  We had burgers, fried chicken, potato salad, macaroni salad, coleslaw, hot dogs, roasted corn on the cob, baked beans and of course fudge brownies and strawberry shortcake.

I was really happy with the way all of the dishes turned out, and I had so much fun making everything!  It felt just like a 4th of July BBQ back in the states!

 

 

Once we had all eaten, we pulled out water balloons and tossed around water bombs in the front yard.  They didn't all quite break without throwing them with an ample amount of force, but we still managed to get each other pretty soaked!  John had a great time chasing down the ladies and making sure each one was made a target at least once!

Having had our fill of water war, will broke out the string and shots and had a 3-legged race 'Lykins' style.  All of the racers started at one end of the yard, raced to the other end, downed a shot, and then had to make their way back.  It was pretty hilarious!  Kazumi-san even shot a really funny video that I will upload for you to enjoy! Download videorace.AVI

It was a really fun party, and I'm looking forward to doing it all again on July 17th when I have my next "All American" BBQ party!  Thanks to everyone who contributed pictures to this post!!

Everybody Limbo!- Luau Part 3

While flinging pies at each other may not be synonymous with luaus, testing your flexibility under the limbo stick sure is!  After everyone had taken a trip to the washroom to clean all the remaining whipped cream from their bodies- the luau limbo line up started!

With Rey at one end of the limbo stick and me at the other, it was time to start up the music and let limbo madness begin!  The first time through, everyone passed through with minimal effort, but with each subsequent pass, the bar got a little lower and it got pretty interesting, not to mention side-splittingly funny!!  It had been a really long time since I had gone under the limbo stick, so I really had to give it up for how great all of the ladies did!!  Even John couldn't resist taking a pass under the limbo stick at the prompting and urging of the ladies.  Needless to say, at 6'3", he didn't quite make it and fell in a pile of arms and legs on the ground, however, like a true sailor, managed not a spill a drop of his beer.

 

It was a close competition towards the end, but our "limbo queen" of the day was Aiko-san!  Her "trophy" was Hawaiian macadamia nut candies which she proudly displayed to all! I could tell that a few people had a few aches and pains after doing their best to shimmy under the limbo stick, so the perfect solution was a round of shots and another go at the buffet line to help numb the pain just a little.

After a little alcohol and a post-limbo snack, we turned up the music and did a little dancing!  We also had fun dressing Madu up in a lei, trying on John's Ronald McDonald size 13 work boots, and chatting it up about all the latest news!

After four hours of fun, food, and fabulousness, it was time for all the ladies to hula home, but not before we got a few great group shots in front of the tiki torches!

Thank you to everyone who contributed pictures to this post!

In 'Yo Face!!!- Luau Part 2

After a trip or two through the Hawaiian food buffet line, and not to mention a couple of Blue Hawaiians and pina coladas, it was time to slip into ponchos and get ready for an old fashion, messy, in-your-face pie toss!  It was hilarious to see everyone doing their pie toss prep.  We had ponchos, goggles, and shower caps, but in the end, there was no amount of prep that could stop the inevitable shower of sugar that was to ensue!  All of the ladies were armed with a whipped cream pie and given a number, and no one escaped their turn sitting in "the chair of despair".  I'll let the photos speak for themselves....  

It had been a really long time since I laughed so hard!  All of the ladies were such good sports and I loved seeing everyone in their pie toss attire!  One by one, pies were tossed and a new wave of giggles filled the summer air until there was only a stack of empty pie plates and a whipped cream covered chair.  A dairy drenched "crime scene" for sure!  After everyone was nice and sugar coated, it was time to wash up and get ready for the limbo contest! 

The Negishi "Bing"

This month is Sopranos month in the Lykins' house!  It was not too long ago that I became hooked on the award winning drama, The Sopranos (see my Sopranos Day post from March).

While the Negishi "Bing" doesn't have any scantily clad, surgically altered females sliding around under cheap lighting on steel poles, it does, however, have lots of food straight from Tony Soprano's dinner table!  We've got loads of red wine, mounds of pasta, and Italian spirit that we serve up in heaping, garlic and olive oil smothered, helpings! 

All of my cooking classes this month have recipes straight from The Soprano's Family Cookbook!   I would recommend this cookbook for anyone who loves to cook Italian food (even if you don't love the Sopranos)!  It has some fabulous recipes and even some fun trivia about the television series.

On a side note, I'm really enjoying cooking with octopus this month!  I tried octopus balls for the first time yesterday.  I've been dreaming about them ever since Negishi Friendship Day on April 22nd, where I watched them being expertly prepared by a snack vendor.  I think purple meat is something that I'm still working on adjusting too, but since octopus tastes so yummy, I think the transition will less painful than I originally anticipated!

I've got 3 more cooking classes coming up this month, so bring on the red wine and MANJA (eat up)!!!

Caught with egg on your face

Generally, when we, as Americans, say we have been caught with egg on our faces, it means we have been caught in an embarrassing situation, not that we really have egg running down our faces.  However, yesterday, as I hosted an Easter Party for Niki's Kitchen, we literally all had egg on our faces...our hands....our backs...our legs....

When I was growing up, Easter egg hunts at my house were always double the fun because afterward, we'd have an Easter egg fight.  My mom would hollow out the eggs, dye them, and stuff them with confetti paper.  This would allow us to crack eggs on each other without too much mess.  This year I decided to put a new twist on an old family favorite, by throwing some raw eggs in with the hollow eggs to make something of an Easter egg Russian roulette.  Everyone was given two eggs and could not show them to anyone.  One by one we took turns cracking eggs on each other, and well, as you can see, hilarity ensued!

Of course the day wasn't all egg shells and yolk soaked ponchos, we enjoyed a full Easter feast which included Virginia country ham (all the way from Surrey, Virginia), deviled eggs, green bean casserole, garlic bread, mashed potatoes, and other Easter time goodies.  Our party activities, aside from the Easter egg fight, included an egg hunt, and a showing of the latest Harry Potter movie: Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire.

Although the Easter party was held one week after Easter, I think we all still had a very fun time!  I had so much fun with my Japanese friends and have a new respect for their sprinting and egg tossing skills!

Saint Patrick's Day a little early in Yokohama

Over the past few months, I've really been enjoying the opportunity to teach English and cooking classes here in Negishi.  I love being back to work again and having something productive to fill my days with.  While all my cooking students are adults, the majority of my English students are children, with a few exceptions.  I began working with AKC (American Kid's Circle) back in late December and have been delighted to see and hear the kid's language skills improve over the weeks.  In my classes this week, we celebrated St. Patrick's Day a little early by making Shamrock necklaces.  The kids all did a great job!

From the time I graduated from high school in 1998, I have spent most of my working life in professional offices of one form or another.  Whether it be in a dermo-pathology lab in Los Angeles, Creative Nail's legal department, or Rubio's Real Estate dept., I never really saw myself as fitting in to the teacher mold.  As I have learned in the last few years, life never seems to stop surprising me and teaching me new things about myself.  Although coming to Japan has presented me with lots of learning experiences about my environment and other cultures, I've also been given the opportunity to learn a lot about myself.  The next couple weeks the children will be on their end of school year break, and will be back to school in April.  I'm looking forward to continuing my teaching and continuing to learn through my students as the new Japanese school year begins in just a few weeks.

BAM! Kickin' It Up a Notch with Niki's Kitchen!

  As I sit here at my computer, reflecting back on this past weekend, I have to say it was one of my best weekends in Japan, despite being still a little under the weather!  Although it cost me what little voice I had left after battling the flu, it was well worth it! 

When I had to quit my job at Creative Nail Design almost a year ago, I had no idea what kind of work I would be able to get when I moved out here to Japan.  I spent a lot of time worrying about it, and wondered what was in store for me out on the Kanto Plane.  Had I known all the fun waiting in my future, I would not have spent so many hours worrying and fretting over it.

I have been very blessed to be able to begin working with "Niki's Kitchen" (here is my feature page where students sign up for my classes). Although I spent most of the week battling the flu and had to cancel a couple lessons, my cooking series this weekend was a big success!  Of course I couldn't have pulled if off without two of my fellow Navy Spouses, Rey DiDonato and Alexis Henshaw!

Alexis Henshaw, our resident Pampered Chef guru, started off both Saturday and Sunday with a stellar Pampered Chef demonstration where she prepared some delicious brochette.  Alexis spent 4 years living in Italy, so she was able to give students a special treat by speaking Italian and giving her personal insight into Italian cooking.   Since Pampered Chef items are not widely available here in Japan, students really enjoyed seeing the tools and having the opportunity to try out the Pampered Chef gadgets!  The garlic press and food chopper were big hits!  By Sunday my voice was shot, so I used the time during Alexis' presentation to down as much hot tea as possible and pop a few Halls before the actual lesson!

The menu for both days was the same, but I had two different groups, so it was a lot of fun to all be in the kitchen together, making new friends.  Rey was such a big help to me this weekend, and I don't know what I would have done without her!  She was the main reason that Saturday went so well because of her charming personality and quick thinking!  She even brought over some extra chairs and tableware on the fly, and helped me sign in and transport guests when we had unexpected extra people!  She's the best! I feel so blessed to have her as my best friend!

This weekend our menu was Waldorf Salad with Lentils and Pine Nuts, Chicken Twist Bistro Bread, Penne Pasta with Gorgonzola Cheese Sauce and Kahlua Tiramisu.  The ladies did a great job cooking on both days and the food turned out very nicely! 

You can find all the recipes on my cooking site, "What's Cooking?", along with pictures of the food prepared by the ladies this weekend!  Next month we'll be having a St. Patrick's Day party with an all Irish menu that I am really looking forward to! 

Download Aimecookingmovieone.MOV

Download Aimecookingmovietwo.MOV

I'm having such a great time working in the kitchen and meeting so many new friends!  Thank you to everyone who participated this weekend!