Hisashiburi! (Long time no see!)

It's been a couple busy months for us since the last time I posted: in March, we had an amazing trip to Europe (pictures on facebook!), and in May we had our good friends Kreg & Becky come to visit. Although I've been keeping up pretty regular with twitter and instagram, I haven't been able to post in awhile. I can't see things calming down as we've got busy months ahead, but I'll try and get back into posting more regularly.

For today, here is some photo booth action from when Kreg & Becky visited!

Dekopon: Sumo Fruit

I was listening to my new favorite podcast, dinner party download, and there was a segment that mentioned a fruit called dekopon. According to the podcast, the fruit is famous in Japan and is starting to be imported into the states. I was surprised to hear I hadn't heard of this "famous" fruit after living here for so long, and decided I needed to investigate. (On a side note, many of my Japanese friends haven't tried it, either.)

I found them easily enough at my local supermarket, at 128 yen a pop.

I heard the fruit is called Sumo in America because it looks like it has a little top knot.

Chad and I cut open the fruit, took a bite, and....

...it tasted like an orange. Like a mixture of an especially sweet orange and a slightly tart mandarin orange. Personally, since dekopon is a bit expensive, I'll probably just stick with oranges in the future. But I'm still glad I tried something new!

Kyoto Pics

Happy cold and blustery Sunday!! We've had a busy weekend, but I've got a moment here so I'm taking it to make a brief post to you lovely readers!

Here are some of the promised Kyoto pictures I took on our little getaway a few weekends ago:

 

 Yamazaki Distillery Tour

A little open-air space on the way to the Yamazaki Distillery 

Interesting Window 

Snow falling around the distillery

 

Fushimi Inari Shrine

Fushimi Inari Shrine

 

Nishiki Market

 Tonyu Donuts (Made from soy! So yummy!)

 

Tiny Octopus (about one inch long) at the market

 Quail 

 A Shrine at the end of one of the roads in the market

At a Supermarket

 

Interesting Signs

Nijo Castle

Interesting Building

 

Gas Delivery Truck

The weekend before last I didn't have a chance to post because we went to Kyoto for a few days for a little mini vacation. Then last weekend we had Saturday school, I had a ladies night with some coworkers, and Sunday we got to help brew some beer at Rokko Brewery! Makes it difficult to squeeze in blog posts, much as I've been wanting to! I will post some of my pictures from the Kyoto trip soon, but for now I will only post this video of a gas truck. Actually, the gas truck isn't visible throughout the entire video, but it is very audible. I still can't get over how vehicles in Japan can ride by anytime of the day or night blasting loud information/music.

So there you have it. I know that's not the most exciting of videos, but can you get my confusion over the noise pollution?

Oh, and did I mention we're taking a trip to EUROPE next month? Talk to you soon...!

Progress

Chad's foot is almost healed! Here are shots from his journey:

Above, Chad is on the train after getting his cast removed, and having it replaced with a removable plaster cast. Below is a picture from today, with only a tight wrap. If he stops accidentally bashing his foot into things, he should be able to play futsal again in a few weeks or less.

Just as Chad's healing progresses, so too do the sizes of beer cans in Japan. At one of the convenient stores near our apartment you can choose cans running from 135 ml to 500 ml. They used to be available in even larger sizes, but since the earth quake last March they've stopped selling them (something to do with one of the factories breaking down).

Above, cans sized from 350 ml down to 135 ml

Honestly, I don't know who would ever choose a 135 ml can except for that rare person enjoying the novelty of a can that small. I mean honestly, why have a gulp of glory when you could chug a more reasonable amount for only a few yen more? Perhaps as a method to ween oneself off beer? I'm not sure it'll ever be clear to me.

Choco Heart Shu

A few weeks ago, when Chad broke his foot, I thought I'd try getting him flowers or something. Couldn't really find any, but what I did discover was a new cream puff! I bought it at a shop called Hirota that was in Sannomiya Yamate subway station.

The cream puff, called Choco Ha-to Shu, has a layer of hardened chocolate on top, and a chocolatey whip inside. It's supposed to have a heart shape when you cut it open, but ours didn't. I guess because ultimately you don't see the love in a cream puff, you feel it. In your heart.

 

I hate to say it, but the Choco Heart Shu-cream might just be a rival to Beard Papa's lovely cream puffs!

Vegips

God have I ever found my new favorite side for lunch: Vegips. This newly-found delight is all sealed up in a pretty green package that boasts a picture of its yummy contents proudly.

In the package there are pleasingly crisp potato chips, airy, dissolve-in-your-mouth onions, and Japanese pumpkin with a subtle sweetness that really compliments the saltiness of the potato chips and onions.

Unfortunately they run about 138 yen a bag, which is a bit pricey considering the size. I can't lie and say I won't be buying them often, though! Have you found any new treats lately?

What the Heck is that Noise?

Last night we were watching a movie when suddenly we heard a loud whistling tone. It kept getting louder and louder, leading us to run around to different windows to figure out where -- and what! -- the noise was coming from. I began to get a bit more frantic in my search, wondering if a factory was going to blow up or if it was some kind of earth quake warning I hadn't heard about.

In the end, it turned out to be nothing of the sort. It was a yakiimo truck selling roasted sweet potatoes! I ran down and took the video above (which is very poor quality, but can give you an idea of the sound we'd been hearing), and then bought a sweet potato for Chad and I--a whopping 500 yen!

The price was worth the experience I guess--it was cool to be able to take a picture of the guy's truck and get a sweet potato randomly at 10:00 at night. The guy even whistled to his dog to come to the front window! Then again, Chad pointed out that by buying a sweet potato from loud truck-on-the-move, I had also encouraged the guy to repeat his sales on other nights. 

 This is the back of the truck where the roasting is done--and where all the noise comes from!

Our great, big sweet potato

 Delicious as the sweet potato turned out to be, I sure hope Chad isn't right about that noisy business coming up our little mountain again!

Slippers, Sweets, and a bit of the Strange

 I used to get really offended when Japanese people commented on the way Americans never take off their shoes when they get home because I always had to when I was growing up (then again, that was after we got new carpet). When such a conversation occurred, I was always sure to defend myself and say that each family is different, but that my family...well, you get the idea. In any event, what I couldn't say is that we have to take off our shoes anywhere else. In Japan, you take off your shoes and change into inside shoes/slippers as soon as you enter someone's home, but also when you enter a school, a gym, or sometimes even a restaurant. That, to my knowledge, is not at all an American custom.

We've gotten pretty used to wearing slippers indoors everywhere, to the point that my slippers had gotten worn out to an embarrassing degree. I finally got around to buying new ones the other day--one pair for home, and one for school.

What do you think? I got them at one of my favorite stores, Loft. 

When I was searching for slippers, I couldn't help but notice some more Valentine sweets that I have to share with you! Rather than being kind of strange like the other ones I posted, these ones are just cool! 

 Isn't this turtle pretty? 

Cute little piggies! 

 

 This detailed crocodile is too cool! 

 Darling Rilakkuma chocolates!

I would just like to drop a subtle hint to Chad about the chocolate turtle and Rilakkuma. As in they would be good for Valentine's Day. For me. 

And before I go, since I did mention those unusual Valentine's gifts earlier, I'd like to point out these pet snacks. Is it strange to anyone else how similar these look to the fish bought for Valentine's Day that I showed you in my last post?

                       

Interesting and Strange Finds for Valentine's Day

By the beginning of January, most Japanese supermarkets had already set up displays full of sweet goods and loving intentions in preparation for Valentine's Day.

 

One of many rows full of fancy chocolates available to purchase for Valentine's Day

Some goods I've never seen (and might be surprised to see) at a supermarket in America:

A Macaroon-Making Kit

 

Dried Fish

Bottles Filled with Breast-Shaped Milk Chocolate

Sake-Flavored Chocolate

...and a Giant Meiji Chocolate Bar

Which do you wish you could purchase the most?