Hearts Forever

Posted on February 14, 2013 by Shar

Things I Love

Yesterday, I spent my whole day in an online workshop and one of the things mentioned was to create an inspiration board using your own photographs of things that you love. Since it’s Valentine’s Day, I thought I’d take a moment to share a few things that I love, things that bring me happiness and inspire me, and will forever hold my heart:

cherry blossoms in the springtime
the ever-changing sky
relaxing on the beach
Japan; and my second home, Hamamatsu City, which I dearly love and dearly miss
Polaroids; instant, classic, and beautiful
ice cream — just can’t get enough!
reading — especially now on my Kindle
French macarons
flying, traveling, exploring the world

What do you love? What inspires you?

Happy Hearts to You!

Posted on February 14, 2013 by Shar

Happy Valentine’s Day!
♡ハッピーバレンタインデー( ˘ ³˘)♥ ﾟ+｡:.ﾟ

To be honest, I’ve always had a love-hate relationship with this holiday…

I love chocolate, and I love sweets, so all the chocolate goodies available for sale are a big plus in my book {and snagging them at a discount the day after!} .. I love all the crafty heart DIY projects, and love songs, and making ~~mixtapes~~ mix-playlists in iTunes ..Valentine’s Day (and similarly White Day!) in Japan was especially fun, with the exchange of home-baked sweets and handmade Valentine’s between lovers, friends, and even co-workers as an expression of appreciation and gratitude ..

A Japanese Valentine’s, 2011

But I’ve also always hated public displays of affection. I hate crowded restaurants and overpriced dinners. I hate cheesey heart-shaped boxes and Conversation Hearts. I hate that corporate America makes people feel like we have to express our love with red and gold and chocolate on the same day that everyone else is celebrating their love with red and gold and chocolate.

It’s not an enjoyable holiday when you’re single. And it’s terribly expensive when you’re not.

Love it. Hate it. Love it. Hate it. I think perhaps I love it, and I just hate the commercialism of it.

For the past several years, my boyfriend-turned-husband and I have always opted to celebrate Valentine’s Day just us. I might buy a card, he might bring me flowers, and we might share a bottle of wine. But usually Valentine’s Day has involved a nice home-cooked dinner and a movie or TV show marathon on the couch. One of my favorite Valentine’s, we spent the whole day watching Battlestar Galactica.

A home-cooked Valentine’s dinner, 2012

Especially after being in a relationship for almost eleven years, and going into our third year of marriage, Valentine’s Day just doesn’t seem like a big deal anymore. In the days leading up to Valentine’s this year, we both kept looking at each other, suspiciously asking, “You didn’t secretly plan anything, right…?” because we had agreed this year not to really do anything. It’s a Hallmark holiday, and in two weeks, we’ll be celebrating our third wedding anniversary anyway.

I’m quite looking forward to our anniversary. We’ll be taking a two-day trip to Bodega Bay and Point Reyes Station, one of my favorite places in California. Even better, we’re celebrating on a weekday during their non-peak travel times. It was tough choosing a restaurant to dine at, because most places are actually closed for dinner Monday through Thursday! It’ll be nice and quiet, and we’ll have the hiking trails all to ourselves!

Deer at Point Reyes Station, 2007

Regardless of whether you love Valentine’s Day or hate it, I hope you all have a wonderful day. Lovers aren’t the only ones you need to express love to; remember you have friends, and family, and most of all, you have yourself to celebrate today!

And so I leave you with this totally upbeat , cheerful song from one of my favorite pop artists in Japan, miss Kyary Pamyu Pamyu. I hope you have a candy candy candy candy candy filled day!

The Best Way to Relax

Posted on February 12, 2013 by Shar

The best way to relax is with a Kindle, chocolate, and a cup of royal milk tea.

ロイヤルミルクティー + チョコ + 本 = 嬉しい(o>ω<o)♪

Jalapeño Cheddar Bread (Bread Machine)

Posted on February 10, 2013 by Shar

Yum! I’ve been experimenting with different flours, different yeasts, and different baking methods. While my ideal bread would be baked in the oven in a fancy shmancy artisan loaf shape, I’ve gotten the best results using this Rustic Italian Bread recipe with a few modifications.

I’m using a mixture that is part white bread flour, and part all-purpose flour. Last week I baked the same bread using all bread flour, and the bread rose too much and ended up collapsing in the bread machine before baking. When I sliced off the top crust, I discovered a gigantic hole! It tasted great, but bread with a gigantic hole is pretty much impossible to make sandwiches with.

Also, I’m not sure if all bread machines have this option, but I’ve been making using the “European” setting. The dough is in the machine for about 3.5 hours, from start of kneading to the end of baking. I’ve tried baking on the “Regular White Bread” setting, and ended up with an extremely tough bread… though, this is possibly due to the instant yeast. I’ve switched brands and am having overall better results in everything I’m baking. I’ve also tried using the bread machine on the “Dough” setting, and then reshaping the loaf and letting it rise a second time. This also produces good results, but the family seems to like the texture of the bread the best when I bake it in the bread machine. Less energy and less dishes too.

Jalapeño Cheddar Bread
(using a bread machine)

Ingredients

1 cup warm water
2 1/2 tsp. active dry yeast
2 cups white bread flour
1 cup all-purpose flour
2 tsp. granulated sugar
1 tsp. salt
1 – 2 jalapeños, seeds removed, chopped
2 – 2 1/2 cups shredded sharp cheddar cheese

Directions

Proof the yeast by mixing it with warm water and letting it sit for about 5 minutes.
Add all the ingredients into the bread machine: wet ingredients first, then dry ingredients.
Set the bread machine to the “European” or similar setting then let it do it’s thing.
Enjoy the smell of cheddar and jalapeños floating in the air.
When the bread is done, allow it to cool on a wire rack until room temperature. Or, if you’re impatient like me, slice and enjoy while it’s hot and toasty.

Jack London Square Shinnenkai

Posted on February 10, 2013 by Shar

jacklondon01

I’ve still got plenty of posts about Japan up my sleeve, but sometimes it’s nice to post a little bit of local flavor. Even though I live in the Bay Area, I actually don’t go out to the bay that often — things are a little busier {and pricier} out there than here in the suburbs. But sometimes it’s nice to get out. We were invited to a 新年会 (shinnenkai, “new year gathering”) party at Yoshi’s Oakland Restaurant in Jack London Square. Traditionally in Japan, shinnenkai parties are held in January with friends or co-workers, but this one coincided just in time for the Lunar New Year. It was my first time to visit Jack’s London Square, and also my first time to eat at Yoshi’s. Nice views, good drinks, delicious food. :)

jacklondon02

Jack London Square is in an area of Oakland that also encompasses the Warehouse District and rail yard, so Union Pacific trains and these large container cranes are a common sight. They were part of my daily commute’s scenery when I rode the BART train into work. When I was a child, I used to think they were dinosaurs.

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Happy hour = $4 wines.

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Dinner was fantastic. A three-course meal, plus dessert! For the first course, Sendai Miso Soup (tofu, wakame, negi, and nameko mushroom) & an Anou Pear & Beet Salad (baby mizuna, wild arugula, feta cheese, and honey balsamic dressing). The second course: traditional vegetable tempura, including my favorite eggplant and zucchini. The third course: Grilled Mary’s Farm Organic Chicken with crushed herbs, spicy miso, and housemade teriyaki sauce; and a plate of seasonal organic vegetables served with spicy miso, wasabi aioli, and tamari herb oil. The omakase dessert consisted of a bowl of fresh frozen yogurt with assorted berries.

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I really should get out to the city more often!

Golden Week in Okinawa pt. 8: Naha Hari Matsuri

Posted on February 1, 2013 by Shar

The Lost Blogs #32

Travel Dates: Sat, April 28, 2012 – Thu, May 3, 2012

It was our final day in Okinawa, and we didn’t have much time left, since our flights back to Osaka were scheduled for 3:30 in the afternoon. We said goodbye to our rental car, the onsen, and our hotel, and knew that we wouldn’t be able to get out of Naha. We hoped that this last day in Naha would treat us kindly.

Luckily for us, the weather forecast was promising dry, sunny days. Yes, we were thrilled that finally, we could enjoy a sunny day on the main island, but we were also a little angry that the storm had come during our vacation and we would be leaving just as the weather started to warm up!! Oh well… しょうがない、ね。

We spent some time in Kokusai-dori to do our omiyage shopping for ourselves, students, and co-workers. Then we took the Okinawa Monorail into town, following directions on posters we had seen advertising the Naha Hari Matsuri (那覇ハーリー祭り).

Hari are dragon boat races, which originate from Chinese culture. The races are held to pray for a bountiful year and for the safety of fisherman. The main event is held at the Naha New Port Wharf in Naha City during the Naha Hari Festival, which spans the last three days of Golden Week, usually from May 3 to May 5.

As with all festivals in Japan, and Okinawa is no different, there are other events scheduled during the day in addition to the boat races, and plenty of festival foods.

We were able to find a lot of the usual menu items, like French fries, chicken karaage, takoyaki, yakitori, etc. but we also found plenty of international festival foods as well! Churros, corn dogs, tacos, just to name a few…

I got really excited when we found a stall selling Special Jumbo Pies, which were really deep-fried empanadas.

They even had BBQ ribs with pineapple! These looked so tasty, but I was so full already, I wasn’t able to try them!

But not to full to fulfill the desires of my betsu-bara — my second stomach, devoted to dessert! It was starting to feel hot, like the early days of summer, so I enjoyed a Puffy Snow with Okiniwan salt cookie (chinsuko) topping! Yum, yum, yum… I love chinsuko.

All in all, a good day in Naha! The festival is definitely worth checking out if you’re on the islands for Golden Week. :)

Goodbye Okinawa…! And hello, Kansai. We had a long afternoon of travel, with the flight, then the shinkansen to Hamamatsu, and then the bus back to our home. But it was nice to be back for Golden Week. We had been looking forward to the Hamamatsu Kite Fighting Festival for over a year, since the 2011 event had been canceled after the earthquake.

If you’re curious to read about the Hamamatsu Matsuri, click here to read my blog post!

MMM-FRUIT!

there is no such thing as too cute