Author: wabisabisole Page 51 of 54

I told you it was a popular name in Japan! So popular in fact there is a cracker type product named – Julia. And of course I had to buy both the apple flavor and the strawberry flavor. For investigation purposes. 

I bought these two boxes Friday night on our way home from Yokosuka. 

I waited to try them because I was too full from dinner. This morning we went to “Yorkmart” (the close Japanese grocery store) and I saw this display…

This was the accompanying advertisement. Google translate gave me gibberish except for the large print at the top. 

I tasted them this evening with my glass of wine. The packaging is typical Japanese style – Kawaii!! Included of course are opening directions. 

A plastic bag inside the box keeps them fresh. 

They are both very sweet. I would suggest them with a dry white as a dessert. And both Dave and I agreed, the strawberry was better. With only 215 calories, they make quite a sweet impact!  Just like the Julia name implies – Sweet! 

Too much sugar made me a little sappy… 

The secretary in Dave’s office is pregnant and we were invited to her baby shower on Saturday. Earlier this week, Dave sent me the invitation and I immediately thought of making taggies and when Dave came home he asked if I would be make a few. Great minds. And. Hmmmm… Maybe? 

Before leaving Great Lakes, I made a plethora of taggies for the NMCRS in an effort to refill their stash and reduce the amount of fabric needing to be moved. Long story short – I needed fleece to make taggies. 

A friend and I set out to Kamakura to find a fabric store called Swany. Here was our route. 

This journey was a little tricky because it required us to not only switch trains, but also train stations. Google maps can be a little challenging to follow when on foot and as a result we made one wrong turn. No worries, we turned around and continued to the other station and found the correct track and train. 

Once in Kamakura, we were able to find the store effortlessly compared with finding th train station in Zushi. On our way to Swany we crossed a bridge and passed over small river with koi! They were gigantic! 

And so was the store! Three stories! 

This is actually one of the few stores that has English on the outside. It made finding it that much easier. 

Inside the store were lots and lots of fabric options. Cute patterns and prints. Different textures including coated, wool and canvas. 

Unfortunately, the one fabric the store didn’t have was fleece! I was able to find a small piece in the baby section as well as some jersey type material. I made a few purchases hoping for success. 

On our way to the train station, we passed by a ¥100 store (like a dollar store, but much better). Of course we needed to stop because you never know what you might find… Perhaps fleece!?! Sure enough – I was able to find fleece! Although it was in the form of a towel with edging. I thought I should be able to cut off the edging and use the material. It was worth a try anyways. 

Once I was home, I set to work cutting and sewing. I set up the sweatshop at the kitchen table because I put my sewing table in storage. After an hour or so, I had 4 taggies. 

The three with fleece from the ¥100 store worked great. ¥100 for the win! The jersey like material was too stretchy and a bit flimsy. To sew up my story, my lesson learned was to explore all options, shift my paradigm of thinking the obvious answer is the best choice and always check the ¥100 for options first! 

Besides coming in cartons of 10, Japanese eggs or tamagos as they are known around here, are a little bit different than American eggs. They are extra fresh and extra orange. Today, I made my first batch of sweet treats in Japan. This was also my first time baking with Japanese eggs. I have made scrambled eggs & boiled eggs, but this was my first time baking. Knowing I needed a fail proof recipe, I made crowd pleasers – salted caramel chocolate chip cookies. I snapped a picture of the eggs before I mixed the dough. Can you identify the Japanese egg? 

Despite the funny look of the eggs, the cookies Look perfect and are delicious! 

The eggs when boiled also look a little different than normal America eggs. Can you differentiate between the two? 

The freshness of the tamagos make them a little bit harder to peel as witnessed by the choppy white edges of the orange yolks. No worries, with these eggs & tamagos, I made egg salad! So, chopped was good. 

One more item of my continuous list of things to accomplish to help us assimilate was completed today.  I registered our bikes. Yep, that’s right. Bicycles have to be registered to legally be ridden on base. Honestly, I think this is a Navy thing not a Japan thing. But, only a “when living in Japan Navy thing.”  Anyways, I rode both bikes (one at a time) down the hill to the security office, filled out the paperwork and then rode them back up the hill. Sounds easy? 

Let me quantify the evolution. Both of the bikes I registered are our beach cruisers – one speed bikes. The hill we live on is pretty significant. For reference, VB friends, it is much larger than Rudee Inlet bridge. For reference, G’town friends, it shadows Kimbrough hill. For reference, Great Lakes friends, it even puts Hero Hill to shame. This sucker is HUGE. Talk about burnie burnie thigh burnie. I was standing up the entire hill! Another important factor to note is the temperature. 85 degrees with a heat index of 101. Needless to say, I was a Sweaty – Saurus – Rex by then end of the evolution. 

The plus side, the chore is complete. We have hopes of biking around the town, Zushi, outside of housing this weekend. If all goes well, I should never have to ride that hill twice in an hour again!  

Fleet and Family Support Center (FFSC) has a satellite office here in Ikego. They offer a beginner level Japanese course for spouses. I signed up with another newly arriving spouse to attend on Tuesdays from 12:00 – 1:30. The course is taught by a local Japanese lady and her BFF who is an ex-pat. Today was our first class. 

I learned how to say the following greeting:

1. How do you do? Or Hajimemashite. (Ha – gee – may – ma – she – tay)

2. I am Julia. Watashiwa Julia. (Wa – ta – she – wa Julia)

3. Nice to meet you. Doze yorishiku. (Doe – zeye / yo – lee – she – koo) 

Did you get all that? It’s a mouth full. 

The tricky think about Japanese is there are three different ways to write. Kanji, hiragana and katakana. I would describe kanji as the most formal. Hiragana the most common. And katakana as the easiest way to write if learning Japanese as a second language. However, signs will be a combination of all three. 

We were taught how to write our names in katakana. I’m fortunate because Julia is actually a common Japanese name and therefore easy to write. Each of the syllables are present in the Japanese language. 

I especially like it because it starts with Ju which is a smiley face!  

The pronunciation is just very close to the English version.  “Ju – lee – ah” or of course, “Jew-ya” will do. 

Another important word I learned was “please” or “kudasai” – (koo – duh – sigh). I have already accomplished and discussed with you, “thank you” – “domo Arigatōgozaimash”. Now that I have “please”, I feel like I can be simultaneously clueless and polite. 

My favorite part of the class was a quote from the instructor, Junko (June – ko NOT junk – o). Junko said, “When we hear Japanese from you, we will be happy. Because maybe you love Japan.” It brought me back to the concept of “wa” or harmony. If we as foreigners are trying to learn Japanese, it demonstrates we are trying to assimilate into the culture. We are trying to find harmony and harmony is good. Sayonara, friends. 

Frequently, when we pass a 7-11 or Family Mart, I make a quick stop to assess the candy. I’ve been searching for wine flavored KitKats and the search continues. I have found a couple other candies that possess an alcohol flavor. 

The secretary who works in Dave’s office gave me saki flavored KitKats. 

I tried them today. They were good and very sweet. They did have a pleasant sweet saki flavor. 

I decided to store them in the fridge because they were a little soft from the summer heat. I would purchase them again. 

The other candy with alcohol I have found were these wine & cheese chewy candies. 

They reminded me of a super fruity flavored Hi-Chew. I didn’t notice the cheese flavor on the inside. It was overpowered by the fruit chew. 

These were not very good. I don’t anticipate purchasing again. I find exploring the convenience stores a fun way to discover the local tastes. My hunt continues for wine KitKats! 

As I have already addressed, Yokohama is the second largest city in Japan and located half way between Yokosuka and Tokyo. With the size and summer heat in mind, we decided to pick 3 points of interest to explore today.

1. Cup Noodle Museum
2. Yokohama Brewery
3. Yokohama Landmark Tower

The total walking distance was about 5km. All three were fantastic, albeit for different reasons.

To start the day, we took the train to Yokohama and then transferred to get a little closer to the action.

First stop, Cup Noodles Museum. At the museum, you learn about the inventor Momofuku Ando. He is regarded as a Japanese elite inventor. On par with other famous people pictured below.

At the museum, you can create your own Cup Noodle recipe and container. We each made one for our two friends under the age of three. Surprise!

After coloring the container, you select the flavors and watch as they are sealed.

The final fun part to the museum is having a chance to visit the Noodles Bazaar and sample noodles from around the world. All samples just ¥300 – $3.00.

I opted for the Korean cold ramen. Great on a summer day.

We posed for a quick photo and were ready for a beer. Off to the Yokohama brewery!

We walked to the brewery and were happy to enjoy a few pints of American Beer & the best ramen I have eaten since we arrived. This particular ramen had extra seaweed.  Seaweed is to ramen as a pickle is to a burger.  Salty yummy goodness.  Extra seaweed in this ramen made me extra happy.

Our final destination was the Yokohama Landmark Tower. The tower is the tallest building in Yokohama.  It contains a hotel, a HUGE shopping mall and observation deck. The observation deck is on the 69th floor and provides 360 degree views of the city.  On a clear day, Mt. Fuji is visible. Unfortunately, today was hazy. For ¥1000 or $10.00 each, we were able to take an elevator to the top and enjoy a Heineken and the view.

The tower is also famous for the role it plays in Godzilla movies. A little baby Godzilla greeted you when you came off the elevator. 

Our beers.

I consider the day a success.  It was really hot walking around so we wander through shops with air conditioning to cool down.  The walking distance was perfect on a hot day.  I would consider all of these points of interest viable parts of Julia’s Yokohama tour.

 

Friday night we went out to dinner at a Yakiniku restaurant in Yokosuka. At a Yakiniku restaurant, you sit at a table and are provided a pot of charcoal coals to cook your food. This particular restaurant was located on the top floor of the More City mall in Yokosuka. We were seated at a table and told to remove our shoes and place them in a little cubby behind our table. The table had a hole in the center and the pot of coals and grill were placed in it. 

We were provided English menus and when we were ready to order, we pressed the button on the table. 

We ordered an appetizer of kimchi. It wasn’t my favorite. The beer was refreshing! 

For dinner, I ordered shrimp and a side of ramen. 

Dave cooking my shrimp and his order of meat. 

The ramen was good. It also provided another opportunity to play with my food. It was served with a mortar and pestle to grind the sesame seeds. 

The Yakiniku restaurant was a fun date night. It gives you the opportunity to chit chat while the food is cooking and the table provided privacy from other customers. The waiter call button was a simple way to get the waiter’s attention without them having to constantly check on you.