イルミネーション：Hamamatsu's Flower Park Illumination

During the last week of school, my school's nurse invited me, my former vice principal (who is now Sarah's VP) and Sarah to the "Illumination" display at one of Hamamatsu's gardens.  While technically not Christmas lights, the lit garden definitely got us in the Christmasy mood!

 

We got our VP to make a peace sign ;-)

A gorgeous, huge Christmas tree

I love this photo!  Thanks Sarah ;-)

Do you see us?

 

a half-and-half poinsettia

Stair steps!

 

After walking the gardens in the frigid cold, we warmed up with HUGE bowls of Japanese noodles and mochi

An Octopi Pie Party!

Do you remember this guy?

Or how about this cuter version from my recent trip to Osaka?

December 20th was Haruku's birthday, and being from Osaka, he decided that he wanted to celebrate with a "create-your-own takoyaki party.  Now, for those of you who might not remember, takoyaki is a Japanese fritter-like food stuffed with octopus and other yummy things.  It was originally created in Osaka, and while it has become popular all over Japan, the best place to eat is still Osaka.

Osaka takoyaki

Anyway, getting back to the story....  Sarah and I decided it would be fun to surprise the birthday boy with a special dessert --  an Octopi Pie!  Okay, so maybe that's a slight misnomer (but it has a nice ring to it, doesn't it?)   We actually decided to make egg tarts -- another goodie found in Osaka (though originally from China) -- with a special twist. 

Ummm.... not quite!

The day of the party, there were all kinds of takoyaki fillers -- cheese, fruit, wasabi, Korean kimichi, pickled plums, sausage, and Sarah's chocolate (for chocoyaki, which happened to be not too bad!)

Haruku making takoyaki (l. to r.: Haruku, Joanna, me, Youko, Sarah, Mami)

Mami and Daisuke making yakisoba and misoshiru

Yakisoba (fried noodles) and takoyaki (or maybe its cheezuyaki!)

After dinner, it was time for the big reveal... which as most desserts, ended up being cuter than they tasted.

 

Oh well!  At least we were prepared with a back-up cheese cake that didn't dye everyone's tongues red ...

 ... and an adorable birthday card (if I do say so myself!)

The Japanese are so Creative

This took over 2500 photos!

Describe Anyone You Know?

Success!!

It has become a yearly tradition that every winter during the ALT health check day, I lose my cellphone.  However, this year, I vowed to change and I am happy to report that today, I had absolutely no need to visit either the police or bus station.  Of course, I don't promise that I won't visit them tomorrow ;-)

Winter Purikura!

Two Sundays ago, Sarah and I once again took the JLPT (Japanese Language Proficiency Test) and, as is our yearly tradition, we took celebratory purikura photos afterward.   Now, we just have to wait till February for our scores (while we start preparing for the next level in July!)  頑張ります！！

 

Now that the test is over, its time for winter vacation 2011!!!

大阪：Osaka, the city of delicious food

Two weekends ago, five of us from church embarked on yet another road trip.
 
The destination: Osaka.
 
The goal: to eat our way through the city and meet an octopus or two

Us in front of the Umeda Sky Building (notice the circle on the top, its important later!)

 

Dotonbori Canal -- the famous food avenue!

Octopus spotting and takoyaki (octopus fritters) advertisement

Running with the popular Glico Man (though nobody is quite sure why he got his fame!)

Haruku (our native "Osakian" guide)  and his new friend

I'm ready to cook some okonomiyaki !

Kenta's was ready too!

Emiko and Sarah were quite hungry!

Sneaking a peek

the finished cabbage, mixed seafood, pork pancakes complete with cute Japanese character mayonnaise art

"Diamond" covered Mercedes

Results of Sarah's really smart camera

authentic Osaka takoyaki

Yes, it was delicious

cool theatre

exciting butter mocha

the road goes right through the building!!

Remember the Sky Building?  We went to the top for a night view of the city from the circular "floating garden".

Writing Christmas wishes on stars to hang 

the wonders of black lights

the amazing city below

the Osaka castle

I love English in Japan!

Thanksgiving

Once again, Thanksgiving came and went with me in Japan.  However, this year, thanks to my awesome mommy and the wonders of preservatives, Sarah and I were able to have a "true" Thanksgiving dinner complete with turkey, sweet potatoes, mashed potatoes, and cranberry sauce! 

I even tried my hand at making a pumpkin pie from scratch -- delicious if I do say so myself!