Tigermama talks

Thursday, November 30, 2006

New Rules

I have opened the "name that appetizer" game to anyone who wants to participate...Japan resident or other. Let`s here your guesses!

I Am Partial to Gin







What horrible Edward Gorey Death will you die?




You will drink too much gin. Not the worst way to die, but you won't remember too much of your life. Hey, at least you made some people laugh!
Take this quiz!








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Wednesday, November 29, 2006

More Food

We love curry. Indian, Thai (green, red, and our most favourite of all....YELLOW), and Japanese. We`ve had yellow curry twice this week but I`ve run out of my supply of coconut powder so we won`t get to have it again for awhile:



The following appetizer was enjoyed by us last week at dinner. I will send a prize of the *"Hello Kitty" variety to anyone who can tell me what it is made of and what`s inside of it. People in Japan are not allowed to answer because it`s an item at a chain restaurant here and, obviously, they will know what it is:



We had lunch at our favourite revolving sushi restaurant on Sunday. Each plate is only \100 (aproximately $1) regardless of what it contains and it`s really really good:



My favourite item there is the "abura ebi" which is a piece of shrimp seared with the blowtorch and covered with a mentaiko-mayo topping (mentaiko is a spicy fish egg). Not quite sushi but delicious:



Lastly, I purchased this box of chocolates at the grocery store today thinking it was orange flavoured. I should have looked more closely because it`s actually melon flavoured...GROSS! I`ll have to give it to the kids after they do some tricks for me.



And that remote control is for the air conditioner....we are still using it, believe it or not!

Mata ne.

*Male readers (dad, brothers, perhaps an uncle?) don`t worry, Hello Kitty is not just for girls. There are plenty of "manly" Hello Kitty items around Japan!

Monday, November 27, 2006

Weekends.

The last couple of weekends we have spent a lot of time walking around the malls. There is a surprising amount of things to do. For instance, if you are into hula hoop:



Or perhaps you`d like to watch a little tv. My kids like sumo (????) but I`m sure you can turn the channel if you want:



Then there`s lunch. The kids and I shared a massive bowl of udon and still had some leftover for Tigerpapa (he had his own bowl too of course):







Some weekends there are clowns and lion-like donut guys (see previous posts) as well as singers and different kinds of promotions. We also like to browse the clothing shops and make fun of the weird clothes. Some day I`ll get a picture of what passes for children`s clothing around here. It`s amusing and a little bit frightning.

Ja ne.

Saturday, November 25, 2006

One Word

Oh, I like this one!

One word, and only one word, so here goes:

Yourself: Humourous
Your partner: Strong
Your hair: flat
Your Mother: giving
Your Father: multi-talented
Your Favorite Item: computer
Your dream last night: soothing
Your Favorite Drink: ale (ginger or other ;) )
Your Dream Car: none
Your Dream Home: open
The Room You Are In: living
Your Ex: dunno
Your fear: anxiety
Where you Want to be in Ten Years? healthy
Who you hung out with last night: family
What You're Not: sure
Muffins: orange
One of Your Wish List Items: boots
Time: lots
The Last Thing You Did: shop
What You Are Wearing: ugly
Your favorite weather: crisp
Your Favorite Book: well-written
Last thing you ate: chocolate
Your Life: surprising
Your mood: lazy
Your Best Friends: treasured
What are you thinking about right now: friends
Your car: grateful
What are you doing at the moment: blogging
Your summer: family
Relationship status: married
What is on your tv: Shrek
What is the weather like: hot
When is the last time you laughed: today

And now, I will make my first tag! Midori and Marianne, let`s see your list.

???????

We live next to a poultry farm. Smelly? Why yes it is! More interestingly though is why the roosters crow at 11pm and 1am?????

Friday, November 24, 2006

Why Don't We Do It In Our Sleeves?

I got this from my sister K and thought it contained valuable information. Plus it`s pretty funny!

Stomach Flu

What is it with men and illness? Tigerpapa rarely gets sick but when he does.....HOLY COW the world is coming to an end! I woke up early Tuesday morning (4am) feeling like hell and puking until it was time to get up and get the kids off to school. I had been called in to work at my new job so I really didn`t want to call in sick. I decided I would soldier on and go to work. It was horrible but I made it through the day. Meanwhile TP was feeling pretty bad himself so he decided to take off early from his job and, because my work is close to TP`s office, I picked him up on my lunch break and he waited for me to finish my last class. Then we enjoyed a lovely ride home together...NOT! Whine whine whine "I`m sicker than you" blah blah blah all the way home. The rest of the day he slept while I took care of the kids and went to the grocery store. Wednesday morning started out in much the same way as Tuesday`s had for me. This is where TP redeemed himself by taking the day off work so I could stay in bed. He even made the kids bentos (sorry no picture!). Weirdly (and thankfully) the kids were unaffected!

Thursday was a holiday here and our kindergarten`s bazaar. I ended up making chocolate cookies because that was the only thing I had the ingredients for and I wasn`t feeling up to another trip to the grocery store. They turned out really well and sold out first at the baked goods table. I think people were curious as to what "The Foreigner" made and that`s why they sold out so quickly. Anyhoo, the kids had a fabulous time at the bazaar playing games and "shopping" for little treats. I just sat at my station taking money for the shooting game while TP directed the players and gave out the prizes.

Last week Tigerpapa came home from his office with some interesting modifications to our car:



There has been a lot of publicity lately to stop drunk driving and speeding on Okinawa and the Japan Self Defence Force has decided that all members need little reminders posted in their cars. The sticker on the steering wheel says, "Don`t drink and drive" and the yellow arrows are pointing to the speed limit on the speedometer. There`s also a sticker on the passenger side that reads, "Is the driver drunk?". I don`t know if it will help but I suppose it`s worth a try.

Stay tuned for a post about how we spent last weekend!

Ja ne.

Friday, November 17, 2006

Sukiyaki recipe (for Andy)

Sorry, I messed up your comment. I don`t really know what I`m doing with blogger!

Here`s the sukiyaki recipe I use:

1 lb of beef (round) slice thin
1 Japanese leek
1 pack of shirataki (thin strands of konnyaku)
1 block of tofu (yaki-doofu)
6 shiitake mushrooms
1 pack chrysanthemums (shungiku)
1 pack Chinese cabbage (hakusai)
1 tbsp vegetable oil

Sauce:
1/2 cup soy sauce
1/2 cup mirin
3 tbsp sugar
1 cup dashi broth

Combine and heat the sauce ingredients in a saucepan to make the sukiyaki broth (adjust flavour to taste. I use less sugar than most recipes advise).

Cut tofu into rectangular blocks about 2 inches long. Slice leek thinkly on the diagnol. Remove stems from the mushrooms and cut each cap into thin slices. Pour boiling water over the shirataki. Cut hakusai and chrysanthemum leaves into bite-sized pieces.

Put a wide saucepan on medium heat. Add the oil.

When oil is heated, add the leek and saute briefly, then pour sauce into the pot and start to simmer. Add meat, tofu, shirataki, mushrooms, and leaves in that order. Simmer for awhile and serve.

Dip in raw egg and enjoy!

Sukiyaki

It seems that food and the kids are my main focus as that`s what I`m always blogging about. Ah well, until that changes you are stuck hearing about those two things!

I made sukiyaki on Tuesday night and it turned out really well. It would be really easy for those of you in N. America because the ingredients are so basic. Let me know if anyone wants the recipe.


(Shirataki noodles, tofu, beef, Japanese leek, shitake mushrooms, chrysanthemum (sp?) leaves, and Chinese cabbage simmered in a soy/mirin/sugar/dashi broth.)

As you can see, I made a lot of sukiyaki so that made my Wednesday obento decision rather easy. I just threw in some carrots in the morning for colour:

(sukiyaki over brown rice, edamame (soy beans), tomato, and persimmon)

Thursday Tigerpapa and I had to go to the kindergarten for some "Bazaar preparation" and a parent-teacher conference. To our annoyance, the preparation turned out to be rather time-wasting and ridiculous. We had to sort through all of the donated toys (which are to be prizes for some games) to separate the dirty/not working toys from the clean/acceptable ones. Well, there is was a HUGE difference in opinion between TP and my idea as to what is clean and acceptable compared to the lead PTA mom`s idea of what is clean and acceptable. Unfortunately, we didn`t realize this discrepancy until AFTER we had sorted 3 or 4 garbage bags of stuff and thrown out one whole bag as unacceptable. Cries of "Motainai" and "Ehhhhhhhh, nande?!!" could be heard from far and wide. We couldn`t believe the stuff that was pulled back out of the garbage to be put into the prize bags....Macdonald toys, old stuffed animals, and taped up character toys, to name but a few. I made TP apologize for creating all the extra work and said that we must have misunderstood the criteria for acceptable (after all I do have to see this woman every day when I take the kids to the bus stop). The fun didn`t end there. Next we got to tie 200 strings of yarn into little loops for the fishing game and attach them (by hand) to the prize bags. Tigerpapa was incredulous that someone created all of this work when we could have just stapled rubber bands to the prize bags and achieved the same goal. I just looked at him and asked, "Aren`t you Japanese?". He had to laugh at that!

The parent-teacher conference went really well. Tigergirl is doing great especially compared to last year (a story for another time) and has turned out to be quite a leader in her class. Tigerboy has adjusted well and is speaking more and more Japanese as the days go by which is great as he was only speaking English in September. All in all, we are very happy with the yochien...even if we have to spend time doing meaningless activities for the Bazaar!

Here`s a rearview mirror I`m thinking of getting to replace the one we have. What do you think?


Take care everyone.

Tuesday, November 14, 2006

The Swing

Tigerpapa rigged up a swing on the balcony and it`s been quite a hit with the kids:






Not quite happy with conventional swinging, Tigergirl rigged up her own bit of fun:



Lastly, the donut mascot. I think it`s a lion with a donut head. He was very friendly:

Sunday, November 12, 2006

Haircuts and Clowns

Tigerpapa is away at work for the weekend so I decided to take the kids for some haircuts. If I mention haircuts when he is around, he will go get his razor and scissors and try to do it himself. I`m not against do-it-yourself haircuts in general but after a couple of butcherings in the past I avoid giving TP any opportunity to cut the kids hair. We went to two different places because boys can get really cheap cuts at the barber shops here and I figured it was worth an extra trip to save the 400 yen (400 yen = 1 Starbucks coffee for moi!)! During TB`s cut, Tigergirl kept up a running commentary because I couldn`t see what was going on from my chair.

Me: How`s it going TG?
TG: He`s looking like a different little boy!
Me: Really?
TG: Yes, he`s looking like a STANGER, like someone we don`t know!
Me: Is that right?
TG: Now he looks like a mushroom.
Me: Which is better a stranger or a mushroom?
TG: Mushroom.

You be the judge. Here are "before" and "after" pictures of TB:





Tigergirl`s haircut is great. I`m thinking about going back there to get the same one done on me. She has the same fine, limp, and lifeless hair that I do so it should turn out well for me too.


(Where`s my little girl? She looks so much older now...it`s a bit scary!!!)

Bring in the clowns...send in the clowns...go get the clowns? How does that song go? Anyhoo, today we went to the local mall so that I could enjoy that Starbucks coffee and there happened to be a clown show taking place. It was really good and the kids enjoyed themselves immensely:



I almost got pulled up on stage to catch a flying marshmallow with my mouth but thankfully my skills at eye-contact avoidance prevented THAT from happening...whew!

Mata ne.

Creepy Desert Peddlers

Saturday, November 11, 2006

Friday Night Yakiniku

We love Fridays around here. Not only do we usually head out to our favourite restaurant for dinner, I also get to watch Survivor thanks to the American Forces Network (a tv channel for the American military stationed on Okinawa).

Anyhoo, here are a few pictures of "Yakiniku" taken at our local restaurant:


(First, Tigergirl must set up dinner for her little dog "Pudding-Pudding". I`m not sure what she`s eating or where TG got it?!)

Here we have an assortment of raw meat which will eventually be cooked upon the charcoal grill in the following picture. I like the steak and chicken (boring, I know) but Tigerpapa, he likes the "weird" stuff like chicken tendons and intestines. I don`t know exactly what kind of intestines he eats but they are circular and kind of squishy. I didn`t get a very good picture, but you can get a good enough idea from this:



Here is the grill with a huge fan over top of it to suck up all the smoke:



And lastly, the meat being cooked on the grill:



Once the meat is cooked, you dip it in a bbq-type sauce and some garlic paste. We use so much garlic paste that the servers in this restaurant now bring us a huge bowl of it as soon as we sit down! The kids like hotdogs and sometimes we smuggle in our own so that they get the kind they like the best...shhhhhh....don`t tell!! Of course BEER is the drink of choice to go with yakiniku!

There you have it. Yakiniku, a Friday night tradition for the Tiger Family! :)

Stay tuned for a picture of some creepy child-like chef dolls.

Ja ne.

Thursday, November 09, 2006

Election Time

The excitement is not limited to the USA. We are having elections here on Okinawa too. Today I got to experience one of the most annoying candidate tactics that are used over here in Japan. The "Roving Speech Van". That`s right, the candidate drives around in a van spewing LOUD messages out of it`s speaker system. And it gets even better! The van frequently parks outside of large apartment buildings like ours and proceeds to address the residents of said buildings with a little speech whilst standing on top of the van! Today`s speech happened at noon but yesterday the van came by at 7:30.....AM!!!!!! Tigerpapa tells me that it`s actually illegal for the politicians to do this but they do it anyway. I wonder who I can call to complain?


(You can see the van and the politician down there behind the abandoned bus (nice view eh?!).)

And here`s yesterdays obento:


(fried brown rice, sauteed chicken, cherry tomato, avocado with oyster soy sauce, orange, and cheese)

Have a lovely day.

Ja ne.

Tuesday, November 07, 2006

Apology presents.

One aspect of Japanese culture (of about 1000) that is extremely hard to understand is the endless rounds of gift-giving required for almost any situation. Move in to a new apartment? Gifts must be given to your floor plus the apartment directly above or below you. Having some yard work or house work done? Gifts to the neighbor on either side, the neighbor across the street, and make sure the construction workers get tea and snacks. Invited to a wedding? Cash in the proper denominations and new bills only! Go on a vacation? Gifts that represent the place you vacationed at to almost everyone you know. You get the picture. Our neighbor once came to our door with a box of beautifully wrapped cookies because the previous Saturday night he had come home a bit tipsy and tried to open our apartment door instead of his own! Apparently, drunken idiocy requires gift-giving too!

Ja ne.

Monday, November 06, 2006

Random Tidbits

Number 1: There is an arsonist in our area who is setting fires to sugar cane fields. There have been over 20 fires so far and they have no leads on who is doing it. Tigerboy likes to watch the fire trucks (Tigerpapa too) but it`s unsettling for me. I feel sorry for the farmers. Most of the farms around here are very small and run by very old men and women. These people work so hard in their fields...usually without any equipement other than a small tractor. I saw two of them standing vigil over their field last night at about 8 pm. Like they need MORE work to do. Sigh.

Number 2: I started working for a school nearby and am really enjoying it. Unfortunately, I am only a substitute until April (start of the school year here) so I don`t really know when or how much I will work in any given month. Then today, when I was picking up the kids at their kindergarten, the principal mentioned something about one of the mothers wanting me to teach more classes. I`m not sure if they want me to do something private aside from the classes at the kindergarten or if they want me to do more classes there. It`s good news if she wants private extra classes as I am looking for more work but it`s bad news if she just wants the kindergarten to provide more classes for the fee they already pay. Often I`m not sure what exactly is being said to me (need to study, need to study) and sometimes Japanese people will kind of suggest something they want to happen in this manner. Not sure if I`m makings sense but there you have it. I`ll wait for the mother to call me and find out the details.

Number 3: Tigerpapa and I may get to take a little trip this holiday season. His parents may be coming to visit and have said they would be happy to watch the tigerkids if they do. Woohoo! We are thinking about going to Taiwan because it`s so close but we may venture farther....like Hawaii again. Anyone want to come meet us in Hawaii????

Number 4: I have to make some goodies for the kid`s annual BAZAAR. Does anyone have any good ideas? Remember, I have a tiny oven so unbaked treats are best! Remember mom`s finger jello? It was always such a hit....maybe I`ll make that. :)

Time to go start dinner. Tigerpapa will be home soon and he`s always sooooo hungry when he walks through the door!

Bye bye, CU next time! (phrase I repeat at least 100 times when leaving my job).

Friday, November 03, 2006

Holiday!

Today is a National holiday here in Japan so Tigerpapa has a long weekend. Lucky for TP, we (more likely, I) decided to hang out around the house and clean up a bit. :) We have 2 bedrooms in our apartment and one of them is full of stuff and not very livable. I really want to make it into the kids playroom and get all the toys out of our living room so we went to the Home Centre and got some plastic bins to help organize the closet (to make room for the stuff!). Woohoo, we know how to have a good time here at the Tiger household! Anyhoo, after all of that hard work we (more likely, TP) decided to go out for lunch. We tend to frequent the same restaurants and it`s getting a bit boring so today we tried something new....a Tonkatsu restaurant! Ton means pork and katsu means fried so, you guessed it, we had fried pork. It was quite an experience. See below for a pictoral guide to the local Tonkatsu restaurant.

Here, TP is grinding the sesame seeds to prepare them to go on the pork:



Next, take some sauce with the fancy dipper:



Then pour your sauce over your fried pork along with the crushed sesame seeds:



Eat and enjoy! It was really good and you get as much rice, miso soup, and cabbage as you want!

Here`s what the kids shared:



(Miso soup, hamburger, fried shrimp, chicken nugget, rice with furikake, potato salad, "octopus" hotdog, tamago yaki, french fries, and juice.)

All in all, it was a good day. We are about to put the kids to bed and watch the movie "Sayuri" (Memoirs of a Geisha) with some nachos and beer. Like I said, we know how to party!!

Ja ne!

Wednesday, November 01, 2006

More About Obentos.

As promised, here is today`s obento:


(peanutbutter noodles, apples, broccoli, cherry tomato, hamburger with homemade gravy, and cheese)

And here is the "gear" that goes along with the obento:


There is a LOT of different gear needed for kindergarten over here. Bags for this, bags for that, envelopes for this, little books for that etc. Anyhoo, first you have the obento box with an elastic "obento hold-togetherer" thingy. Then you have the placemat, the oshibori (wet towel to wipe hands), and the knife, spoon, and chopsticks set. This all will be place within the obento bag, tied lovingly, and sent to school with the children like this:




Did you notice the nametags? They are on EVERYTHING, including the toothbrush and the little plastic cover that goes over the toothbrush. Why yes, I did write it myself!! :)

Ja ne.