I`m sorry for not blogging for 2 months. I was on holidays in Australia. I thought I might blog while I was Australia, but I didn`t really have time.
However I`m back in Japan now, so I will resume (= start again) blogging. Of course I have lots of pictures of my Australian holiday to show you, but first I want to thank Yuki, Kahori, Miho, Naoki & Naomichi (he looks like he has long hair in this photo, but it`s just shadow) for having a `Welcome Back` dinner for me on Saturday. We went to a new place in Ichinomiya called Neneya.
Thanks, guys - I really appreciate it!
Finally a Thai restaurant has opened in central Ichinomiya! It`s called Mai-Pen-Rai, which means `nevermind` in English, or `shoganai` in Japanese. It`s just in front of Ichinomiya Station.
I went there with my wife on the weekend. We ordered Moo Larb (spicy pork salad), Som-tum (papaya salad), & Tom-kah-gai (a kind of coconut milk soup with chicken). Mmmm... delicious!
This is their homepage:
http://mai-pen-rai.jp/
Sometimes Pepsi in Japan brings out new, strange flavours such as cucumber, or shiso (a kind of herb leaf used in some Japanese dishes). Now you can buy `Salty Watermelon` flavour Pepsi!
Actually, it`s not so salty. If you can imagine raspberry soda mixed with soda water or tonic water, I think it tastes like that.
Although `salty watermelon` sounds very strange to non-Japanese people, it`s not so strange if you know that in Japan people sometimes sprinkle salt on watermelon when they eat it. In Australia nobody I know does this.
It`s getting hot now, isn`t it? What do you like to eat in hot weather? Shaved ice [kakigori], which many cafes & restaurants serve in summer, is pretty good. Mizumanju (a jelly-like traditional Japanese sweet) is also cool & tasty, & you can get it at most supermarkets. Even better though, is... mizumanju IN shaved ice!
However, there`s only one place I know that sells it...
"Owen, grab your hat - we`re going to Ogaki!"
"Ogaki? Yada..."
"...to eat mizumanju! In shaved ice!!!"
"Iku!"
Of course it tasted great, & from another shop we bought some more mizumanju which we ate in the park by the castle. Finally, we got some to take home too.
These are some of the souvenirs I got in Okinawa:
(clockwise from left)
- chillis in Awamori alcohol
- a pineapple
- candy
- a lunchbox cloth
- `Shisa` lion-dog figures
- black sesame & salt seasoning
The pineapple was a gift from the landlady [ooyasan] of the cabin where we stayed. She is the owner of a pineapple farm. We ate a lot of pineapple while we were there...
If you`re not Japanese, you probably don`t know about `White Day`. In Japan, girls often give chocolate to guys on Valentine`s Day, then guys can give chocolate or cookies/biscuits to girls on March 14, White Day.
I made these biscuits for my workmates. They`re called ANZAC biscuits. I`ll post the recipe soon.
Vegemite is a kind of strong-flavoured, salty spread (paste). It tastes good with butter on toast. Yum!
Well, I think it`s yummy because I`m Australian, but people from other countries often say it tastes terrible.
Anyway, one of our staff recently went to Australia & she bought these new, vegemite-flavoured chips (`crisps` in British English) for me as a souvineer. Thanks, Yuki!
Have you ever tried Vegemite? If you really want to try it, you can get it at Kaldi stores.
The other night my wife cooked roast beef, mashed potato & steamed vegetables for dinner - yum! I guess she liked the presents that I gave her for Christmas.
Anyway, this gave me an opportunity to teach Owen one of my favourite nursery rhymes (a kind of children`s song/poem), which features roast beef. It`s called `This Little Piggy`:
This little piggy went to market.
This little piggy stayed home.
This little piggy had roast beef.
This little piggy had none.
And this little piggy went wee wee wee all the way home!
When you say each line, you touch a toe on the child`s foot (big toe first). When you say the final line, you run your fingers from the little toe up the child`s leg & tickle them. You can see how to do it in this Youtube video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z8qMwieKTGA
Kids really love it, which is probably why it`s still popular after so long; it was first published in 1760.
I recently had lunch at Kirio Shopping Centre food court. I was interested by the English instructions on the paper around my dish. Three verb styles were used:
1. Mix well to cook!
2. Mixing it evenly.
3. To mix it well `till lean meat is cooked.
Which style is correct for instructions in English: 1. Mix? 2. Mixing? 3. To mix? Do you know?
UPDATE: The answer is 1. Mix...
When I was a kid I used to read American comics like Spiderman, Batman & Superman. Sometimes in those comics there were ads for a kind of snack called `Twinkies`. However they weren`t (& still aren`t) sold in Australia, so I was really curious about them. What were they? Were they tasty? They looked tasty!
Similarly, when Snoopy drank something called `Root Beer`, I was really curious about it. What was it? Was it tasty? If Snoopy drinks it, it must taste great!
Finally, after so many years, I got to try these two things in Hawaii. Twinkies are just small sponge cakes with cream inside, & actually we have `root beer` in Australia, but it`s called `sarsaparilla` - in the end I had tried it but didn`t know it.
Visiting Hawaii was very educational.
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