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?

                       

November Challenge

As is the case for many Americans, when November rolls around, so do thoughts of thankfulness. (Wait! I just said rolls! Rolls and turkey and pies and mashed potatoes and, and, and!)

...Anyway...

So I've been thinking about thankfulness (and food), and I've also been thinking how much I need to make little changes in the every day so that a big change can take place in my life. It's cliche, I know, but I need to be more mindful of my blessings each and every day. Also, I need to be more mindful of what I'm putting into my body and how I'm treating it and myself. I realize that I don't need to (nor do I want to!) go into my personal history of body/mind issues here for you to get the general idea, but I do want to make it clear that I often get these grand ideas of how I'm going to be a better person, and I inevitably never meet the standards I've set for myself. I'm aware that failure brings growth and learning, and I'm aware that --to quote Michael Jordan-- "You have to expect great things of yourself before you can achieve them." In this case, I'd like to expect just a few little things of myself, in hopes that they can spark bigger things! I'm getting rid of unmeetable standards and expecting to achieve just a little something. So here are a few of the little somethings I'm going to challenge myself with, from this day in November, until the end of the month (and who knows? Maybe even longer! But let's not get too ambitious here...):

1. Go for at least a 35 minute walk every day Monday through Friday.
2. Use my stupidly expensive gym membership 3-5 times a week, even if that only means walking fast for 20 minutes and then stretching.
3. Drink at least two 1 liter bottles of water during a workday, and then more later.
4. Don't ever, ever buy or eat sweets when I'm alone.
5. Write down one thing every day that I'm thankful for, and post it here with other challenge updates Monday through Friday.

I used to be amazing at going to the gym, but I need to get back into it regularly after having bronchitis, and I need to get back into working out better (without pushing myself too hard and then wanting to give up). I don't want to buy sweets or eat them when I'm alone because although I often do buy them when I'm hungry, I also have a lot of other hidden attachments (like I am sad or I had a long day or I ate really healthy and a little treat should be okay, etc.). This doesn't mean I can't have sweets, because let's face it--that's ridiculous. But it means I can't eat them when I'm alone, I can't buy them when I'm alone, and I'm going to be more accountable to myself. I want to be healthy, and to enjoy it. I want to stop gaining and losing 4-10 pounds every week and a half to two weeks. I want to set a healthier lifestyle for myself now so that it will be easier to set a good example when I have kids later. And I want to pay attention to things I'm thankful for because mindfulness goes hand in hand with being healthy, and because challenging myself to record such things here will force me to take the time to blog, which I love but never do because I make up reasons I'm too busy.

So, here you are (aren't you?) supporting me in this so that I stick to it. After a long post, here's a brief recap of today, which isn't too bad considering I just concocted this challenge about an hour ago:

I didn't go for a walk, but I did go to the gym. I drank 1 liter of water at work, and another one at home (almost got that one!). I bought and ate sweets while alone... *coughs with embarrassment* I'm thankful for these cute baby portraits hanging at a shopping center in Japan--especially the last one, which I feel really captures that randomness of this country. These made me smile and kind of laugh.


Be back with more tomorrow!