You did what to a Mochi?

We were shopping around in the Akihabara area, known for electronic stores of all calibers, and went into a kitchen appliance store.
I found what I thought was a waffle iron, but it made white colored waffles? Huh?
So I googled it, and this is what I found.
It is a Moffle Machine! It makes waffles from mochi! And you can eat it with almost anything. Ice cream, curry, salmon roe (eggs), dipped in chocolate, with ham and cheese, really anything! I'm very curious. I don't know if I'm willing to shell out $70 USD to try it. I think there are a few cafe's that have put it on their menus. So I'll let you know when I try it if its good. :)
I guess the article says people have tried using their reg waffle irons with mixed results. I might try it, it can't be too hard to clean up right?

Fun with Evan

One evening, Evan whined his usual whine, "I need something else I can do!" I just happened to finish vacuuming so I had Evan lay down on my rug and pretend to be different letters. He did a pretty good job! I had to get my camera out and had him spell out his name. Cute huh?

Then I got an idea to turn up the fun. I read a post on designmom.com last year about how she took pictures of her kids to look like a scene from the nativity. And even making her daughter look like she's a flying angle. I wanted to try it out on Evan.

It turned out alright. I think I'd have to try a differnt rug, but it looks like he's flying! Maybe next time I can dress Careese up too and see what shots I can get.

ｴﾊﾞﾝは幼稚園に行きます!

I feel horrible that its been a while since I last posted something substantial. I've been meaning to post about our much anticipated trip to Singapore that we came back from 3 WEEKS ago! We had a great time and ate and ate and ate all the foods that I missed and visited friends and family I hadn't seen for over 10 yrs. Last time I went I was 17. Now I was bringing a husband and two kids with me. I think I enjoyed having the freedom to chose what I wanted to see and do. This time, I am the adult.
Mark had a conference there and we went a few days earlier to vacation. He'll be going to Singapore quite a bit for his job in the future, so I hope we'll be making trips at Singapore at least annually.
We visited with my dad's side of the family, and Evan had a blast with my younger cousins. So much fun, that he didn't want to come home with us. My aunt was nice to offer letting Evan spend the night. And even babysitting for us one evening so Mark and I could have a date night. I don't think we do that enough. Thanks so much Aunt Geoklee!
This is me with my cousin's daughter, Beverly Thong. Seriously, isn't that so cool! (Thong is my maiden name) She's such a cute girl. I forgot to ask her what her middle name was... :)
Here's the pictures to give you an idea of what we did. There were a few days where I forgot to take my camera out with us. So just imagine more pictures of us eating. hahaha

From Singapore 2008

So the reason why posts have been sparse lately is this...

The day after we got back from Singapore, Evan started Japanese Kindergarten. I thought with Evan gone for 5 hours everyday I'd have more time on my hands to do things I want, but really I end up running errands and doing house work! I decided to walk Evan to school cause its only a 10 min walk and thought it would be good exercise. But, I'm more tired now then before Evan started school! I guess the best part is that I get more one on one time with Careese. I was feeling guilty that she kind of gets shafted on mommy attention.
Evan is cute in his uniform. He actually wants to wear it now. Unfortunately, he's in the class that wears the bright pink hats. At least they only wear those hats a recess. Just wait till they start wearing their winter uniforms. I swear it was designed for the girls and they added suspenders and shorts to make it for the boys. And his winter hat KILLS me! Its got a long flowing bow on it! I wonder if they'd notice if I cut it off. Well, for now Evan doesn't know the difference. Just wait till he's older and looks back on his pictures. heehee
The last two weeks have been hard on Evan. He had a hard time adjusting, and cried quite a bit that they recommended that he only do half days for a while. I felt bad for him because I totally understand how he feels about going to a school where he doesn't understand the language. People that have had their kids go to school there, that didn't speak Japanese, said that it takes a few months before they get adjusted.
Well, this week Evan has done amazingly. He hasn't cried at all! And when I drop him off at the front of the school, he walks to his class on his own!
I tell him what time I'm coming back and he actually keeps track of the time. He told me when I came to pick him up, "Mommy, you come get me at 2? There's five numbers on the clock!" He actually watched the hour hand and counted 5 hours! I didn't realize 3 yr olds could make conclusions like that. I never told him which hand on the clock was which.
Time does fly by, I didn't think we'd already be sending Evan to school. It sneaked up on me, that I didn't even get a picture of him going to school. Thats a pic of him leaving school.

*check me out, I typed in Japanese! Yeah without help from Mark either. :P (translation: Evan goes to kindergarten!)

Why I heart Taiwan...

Guess who happens to be in town for the 2008 International Beef Noodle Soup Festival in Taipei...they should make me a guest judge. Tomorrow, baby.

Too much fun in Singapore

 

 

Evan had so much fun playing on the playground in the dark that even when he banged his head on a bar he didn't cry and just continued playing.  It wasn't until about 1/2 hour after he came back (he went out with Bev's aunt and his first cousin once removed Ray - I like Uncle Ray better, easier to say - while we ate), we were just on our way out, and for some reason I was playing with his hair when all of the sudden I hit a thick patch of hair stuck together.  Thought it was kind of odd, but just thought maybe Evan had boogers in his hair...until I looked at my fingers and found that they were red.  I did some more digging (visualize monkey picking lice) and found about a 3-4 cm laceration on his head, fairly deep, slightly bleeding. ...?  Did Evan not feel it?  Asked him if it hurt, he said, mmmh (which is yes, I think)...I think he was more interested in playing, of course.  Bev's aunt has four boys who can as a team wear out Evan.  The laceration looked like it could be remedied with Neosporin, but we just wanted to be sure it wasn't infected.  This would be the second gash on his head; the first one was when he jumped off the bed and hit the corner with the back of his head.  Blood was gushing everywhere, Bev said (or at least made it sound like) it was like something out of a horror flick (but I would never know, I don't like those).  Headed over to Juliana's alma mater, Gleneagles Hospital, and the doctors there glued his head together.  We told Evan the doctors were giving him a haircut so he was quite positive throughout the procedure, flashing gang signs at the camera and flapping his legs around.  

I was quite positive until I received the bill.  That's an expensive noggin.  There'd better be something in there.

just had to share

I'm getting myself and Evan, of course, ready for Japanese kindergarten in a couple weeks. I think Evan is totally ready for more activities and such, cause almost daily he'll whine to me, "Mommy, I need something else I can do!" I give him activities, but he's done and wants to move on in 10 mins.
Anyway, I'm worried that the school is going to frown upon me as a mom if I send Evan to school with peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. As much as he likes them, they are nothing compared to the bento boxes (Japanese lunch boxes) that I've seen in the past. I've been to the store to find a lunch box for Evan and there's a gazillion little gadgets and doodads and thing-a-ma-bobs to make your kid's rice balls look like Hello Kitty or cut a tiny wiener into a crab or making special hole punched seaweed to make Winnie the Pooh's face out of your carrots! Its insane how much time and effort these moms will put into making their kids meals look kawaii. more power to ya.
Although, I'm not about to invest in Doremon cupcake papers, I do want to at least provide Evan with something good to eat for lunch that's somewhat Japanese. Plus, I don't think Evan will care about cute food. Knowing him, he'll probably throw his backpack around enough that he'll find a bento full of garbled funny faces at lunchtime.
So, online I go, and I find this site. JustBento.com. I love how nicely everything is photographed. I haven't tried the recipes yet, but you can be sure I'm going to be trying them out soon!

Happy Bon Odori

bon odori

This is what I've been looking forward to about living in Japan... attending local festivities! Although this wasn't how I imagined it...

The base opened up its gates to the locals to celebrate Bon Odori on it's grounds. Usually they'd have to be sponsored to get on base. Well, there were booths of food and stuff for sale by locals, but then there's a few stalls that were selling pizza and hot dogs and Doritos and Lays and military paraphernalia and even Outback Steakhouse was there. And it wasn't just Americans selling American food. The Japanese were making fusion food. Like falafel dog. Think, hot dog on a stick wrapped in a falafel. I guess it would be good. And there was a stand from another of base restaurant selling Döner kebab. It was very yummy, but what did it have to do with a Japanese festival?

Well, despite the swellering heat and humidity and strange juxtaposition of hot dogs and kimonos, it was fun. We had way too many shaved ice just to keep cool. After a couple hours I was ready to take the kids home to put them to nap so I could nap! We woke up in time to eat dinner and go see the fireworks. There must have been firework shows all around base cause we were hearing them before the show on base would start. But then again it could have been another freak thunderstorm like the Fourth of July had.

I forgot to grab the camera, so you'll have to imagine it was a really good show. They were firing them off from two different locations, syncronized to music, that again wasn't all Japanese music.

It was nice to have the festival come to us on base, but I think I'm gonna have to do a little more research to find the authentic festivals I'm hoping to experience while we're in Japan.

p.s. click on the pic up above to see the rest of the pics.