Yosokai Festival

Last weekend was the Yosokai festival here in Sasebo. It's one of the biggest festivals that they have all year and it's where dance teams come from all over the country and perform on 17 different stages throughout the city. One of the "stages" is down the middle of our outdoor mall called the Ginza. Behind each of the dance teams are men waving giant flags that represent their team. Here are a few more photos.

I found these mini candy apples at a stand and just had to try one! 300Y for one and it was well worth it! I loved that it was so small because it was way easier to eat!

My favorite food!

Probably one of the food that I get the most excited about when I see it on a menu is Gnocchi. When I went into my favorite Italian restaurant here in Sasebo and found this on the special of the day menu. I was ecstatic!!! It didn't taste exactly how it does in the states, but it was homemade and had a yummy garlicky tomato sauce.

And this is my cool bottle of Ginger Ale. You can get ginger ale anywhere in Japan. It would be the equal of sprite back in the states.

Try it, you'll like it...

My parents always told me growing up... "Tryyyy it, you'llll likkkkke itt." The extra letters in there are so you can try and sound like they did when telling us. This even more so and almost always applied to trying new foods. So, here are two new things I have tried these past few days.

What do these look like to you? Well, I went along with the photo and took it as purple sweet potato chips.

Ya! I was right! I tried it and sure enough, it was a chip. It was more tough and harder to bite then the normal American chip. However, very tasty...

This next item is something my Japanese Phrases class teacher or "sensi" as they call it, gave me. Each class she brings a Japanese tasty treat for everyone to try. I guess their popular "fall" flavor is hazelnut. This was a hazelnut bean paste cake. Pretty darn yummy. Most of the sweets here are made with bean paste. I know what everyone is thinking. What? Beans? They're not sweet. You hate beans Kristi. This was my first thought as well. But then, I tried it. Guess what? I liked it! Honestly, it tastes nothing like beans, but hey, what do I know? I've never really eaten beans all that much to know the "flavor" or taste.

Inside. No, that is not chocolate on top. Although, I think that would have tasted wonderfully!

Log Kit

First we can talk about Log Kit.... Log Kit is an original Sasebo Burger place here. Sasebo burgers got very popular after the war when all the Americans brought over their hamburger. The local restaurants here started making them to cater to the new sailors that found Sasebo as their new home. And POOF! Sasebo Burgers are now found all over Japan and some even say, world wide. Here are some photos of me and some Essex wives as we ventured to the very American restaurant.

When you ask to take a photo, they run over and grab cowboy hats for everyone to wear. It's kinda like their logo.

Log Kit and Hikari are two hamburger shops right next to each other. I have yet to try the Hikari to see if it's as good as Log Kit.

Along with your burger you get to try a side. Smiley face fries or fried mac and cheese triangles.... Both extremely oily.

Me with my burger almost the size of my head. It has the normal stuff, plus pickles, tomato, fried egg and very thick bacon. I couldn't even eat half of it.

My friend Tabby and I holding up the traditional Japanese peace sign.

Sizes

A good lesson on why I should not try and squeeze my feet into a Japanese size pair of socks...

Favorite Snack

So this is by far my favorite snack here in Japan. These things are so yummy and it has the perfect combination of salt and chocolate. Let me know if you would like me to send you some!!!!

Talking is teaching!

         Yesterday I signed up for a program called SEED at the Huis Ten Bosch park. This is a program where schools come from all across Japan and get to participate in a fun program where they get to practice their English speaking skills. When I was there it happened to be a middle school all the way from Sapporo! Sapporo is on the very top big island of Japan and so they traveled quite a ways!
        As to what I was doing there, I was "coaching." When we first arrived, we got a little training where they told us exactly what to do with the students and how exactly we would be "coaching" them. Basically, what we did, was get a group of 5 or 6 kids that gathered around us. They would give us a topic that they wanted to talk about. There were about 10 topics they could choose from and then I would ask them questions about this subject. Some kiddos would talk a lot and were not shy at all. Others tried hard, but really couldn't spit much out. Anyways, we talked to them for 5 minutes and then we would switch groups. One thing I started doing with every group of kids, was when they first came over, I would go around the little circle and shake hands with every person and say my name and nice to meet you. The shaking hands thing was a very interesting part to me because it is not custom in Japan at all. Some of the kids knew what I was doing, but others just kind of fallowed along. I think they all liked getting to know a very "American" thing to do. Another thing they loved was a high five at the end. This was definitely a cool experience and I plan on signing up many more times.

Me Coaching...

My friends and our name badges...

Say Cheese!

A view of every one in their groups.

Akizuki

On Sunday I went to a place called Akizuki Castle and surrounding town. This place was beautiful! It was a very traditional town with many old buildings and small narrow roads. We arrived on the bus from an almost 2 hour ride and headed straight to wear we got to pick out which ever kimono we wanted to wear. I, if you know me at all, of course went to the brightest most colorful one I could find. This kimono that I chose stuck out like a sore thumb and I was in love! Once we picked out the one we wanted we were then dressed by Japanese ladies. The tied everything together and wrapped us up like a Christmas present. Once we were done getting ready we were able to explore the town and do as we wanted. We opted for the tea ceremony and got the chance to see it demonstrated for us before we tried it ourselves. I am not a fan of this kind of green tea, but many people enjoyed it. After the tea ceremony we walked around town and took a lot of photos. We stopped at a very traditional noodle restaurant for lunch and I tried the soba noodles. Soba noodles are made out of buckwheat I believe and tend to be healthier for you. I thought they were just okay and will more then likely go for the thicker udon noodles from now on. When you look at the photo with the noodle dish in it, look at the white and bright pink thing. I tried that!!! I really didn't want to, but I thought to myself, "if Russell were here he would be very proud of me for trying something new!" So I did. One little tiny bite at first to make sure it wasn't toxic, but then a few more bites after that to really taste it. It wasn't bad. It had very little flavor, almost like a cooked egg.

This was the room where we got to choose our kimono.

Laura and I took a photo with Japanese kimono models.

Sasebo Military Shufu's! (housewives!)

Remember you can click on the photo to enlarge it!

Soba Noodles.

I was trying the pink and white thing.

I love this photo of me...

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Halloween Party Time!!!!

My halloween party was a great success! I had a blast and I'm pretty sure my guests had a good time too. I will let the photos do all the talking.

 

 

Quotes

One of my friends who's husband is also away at the moment, is counting down her days by doing a quote every night before she goes to bed. While I don't believe I could possibly handle that, I decided that this was one those perfect quotes that describes my feelings these past few days. And not in the nasty way for those of you that were thinking that. Ha!

"I think we dream so we don't have to be apart so long. If we're in each other's dreams, we can play together all night."
~Bill Watterson, Calvin & Hobbes

Tomorrow...

Tomorrow I have my 1st annual, Halloween Costume party!!!! Ya me! While getting ready for this big bash, I have come across a few things that I do miss having in my everyday, even low rented college apartments. Here is my list of things I miss having in my kitchen....

1. A garbage disposal!!!! I am one to just throw it down the drain and forget about it. Well, not anymore! Anything I throw down that drain gets caught up in my stainer that I then have to remove and dispose of. Yuck!

2. A dish washer. That's right people, these hands have never been wrinklier... I can't wait for Thanksgiving. lol.

3. An OVEN!!!! I just baked two cakes in my toaster oven. When I was growing up, I never quit got the point of having a toaster oven. I thought surely they couldn't actually bake a cake in them. Well let me tell ya, they can!!! A small one. However, two small ones, makes a big one!

4. Counter space. I  always knew counter space was a big deal, but until I got to Japan and noticed that it obviously was not a big deal to them, I had no clue how entirely important it could possibly be. I have about 2 feet by 2 feet of counter space. The good thing is that my stove is now (when not in use) a new counter top. ya!

Russell's Christmas List.

 I love my husband's comedic attitude on life.  I just had to share...

Small TV (small enough to put on a desk at work)

Stethoscope (a good one-my hearing isn’t so good)

Book: Bates guide to physical exams and History taking

My kitties

A baby (girl or boy)

PSP go

Backpack authorized for wear in uniform (blue cammie pattern)

Deep sea fishing trip

Getting back into the business!

So yesterday, I finally had the chance to do my first photo shoot here in Japan! My best friend here let me take her and her husbands portraits at one of the most beautiful shrines in the area. They were great subjects and let me take my time to get the right set up and lighting, all while they were having a blast! It went fantastic and I can't wait to be able to find my way to more clients here at my new home. Here are a few of the shots that are my favorites.

 

 

5K!!!!

This morning I ran the 5k race for breast cancer and domestic violence awareness causes. It was a last minute idea, so I really didn't get the chance to train for it. Boy did it make me work my booty off! It felt good to go out and run for a great cause though :) Next time there is a 5k, I will be ready for it!!!

 

Ready! Set! GO!!!

That's me in the bottom right corner.

Still smiling as a friend and I sprint to the finish line!

Grocery Shopping

Today I went shopping at one of the local Grocery stores in the Ginza. I would say it was the equivalent to a Trader Joe's or Henry's. I just had to take pictures of a few things that I thought were pretty cool.

I have no clue what kind of fruit this is, but someday, I will buy one and research how to eat it. It looks so pretty! Do you know what it is??? It's about a $10 for one piece of fruit, so I'm sure it's something yummy!

I found some good quality balsamic vinegar! Ya! They don't have any good brands at the commissary here. So seeing this made me very happy.

I saw a little sign saying this... The Japanese Ingrish makes me laugh.

Look what I found!!!!!!! Every year, I put these in my parents stockings. I was so excited to see them here. However, sorry mom and dad... You won't be getting these ones. They are about $5 each!!!! I was very tempted though.

I have never heard of bottled avocado oil! Although, I more then likely will not be trying this (maybe for a special occasion). It was 2600Y!!! That's more then $30 for ONE bottle!

And here is everything I came out with. A bag of green tangerines. They taste sweet, just like the ones that come from my Grandpa's tree back at home. Those were only 150Y for the whole bag. That's about $2.00. Then on the bottom of the photo is the mushrooms. I'm not exactly sure what kind they are, but they have them in all the good restaurants here. I'm excited to see if I can make them taste just as yummy! Then there is the quarter of a squash. I LOVE Japanese squash more then I love the California acorn squash. It's more sweet :) Then last, but not least, there is the box of pumpkin soup mix! I think this is what I am the most excited about. I am going to ask one of my Japanese friends if they can translate the directions on the back. It looks like it will be very delicious!

These are the directions to the soup. Sorry it's sideways.

Huis Ten Bosch!!!!

Today Laura and I went to Hario (the other base in sasebo with the larger commissary) to go shopping for groceries. Well what we both completely forgot was the the commissary is closed on Mondays and Tuesdays!!!! So we drove that 30 minute drive for nothing.... That is until we decided to walk on over to Huis Ten Bosch! It's a big theme park (not the kind with roller coasters) that completely looks like you have just stepped over into Sweden. It's rather expensive to go into this park so we just walked around the "free zone" and looked at all the pretty buildings and views. They also had some fun stuff to take photos with. Here are a few!

 

It's a Sbarro's pizza! Like the one in the states!

Surfing USA!!!!

Don't you just hate it when your head gets stuck in a canon????

                                                                           Cool dude!