Yokohama ストロベリー チーズケーキ (Strawberry Cheesecake) Kitkat

The Strawberry Cheesecake Kitkat, as well as the Ani Tofu Kitkat are the regional Kitkat flavours for Yokohama. Compared to the Ani Tofu flavour which had a more distinct taste, the Strawberry Cheesecake flavour was less satisfying. Don't get me wrong, it's still tasty and there was a tint of a fruity flavour but you can't tell it's strawberry and there's no cheese taste at all. Was hoping for a stronger flavour.

On the whole, it's an interesting omiyage to bring home with you but it's a winner in terms of its taste. If you are in Yokohama, suggest you pick up a box of Ani Tofu Kitkat instead. In case you are wondering why Ani Tofu and Strawberry Cheesecake flavours are supposed to be representative of Yokohama, it's because Yokohama is a port city and hence one of the first places in Japan that was exposed to foreign culture through foreign trading vassals. And hence, these two "foreign-imported" flavours were chosen.

Favourite quotes from Bones (Season 1 & 2)

Zack: She said "Take a hint." But when I asked "What hint?," Naomi said if she told me what hint, that it wouldn't be a hint any more, it would be a statement.

Booth: You're a smart ass, you know that?
Brennan: Objectively I'd say I'm very smart, although it has nothing to do with my ass.

Kostov: You have the most beautiful bone structure.
Brennan: I can't take credit. It's genetic.

Zack: This is the third time in a row we've investigated without Booth. I don't like it.
Brennan: Why? He mostly ignores you.
Zack: Ignoring me is Booth's way of acknowledging my presence. It's a guy thing.

Cam: Not everyone's brain works as fast as yours. I have to mull sometimes. Are... are you familiar with that concept?
Brennan: Yes. I just always thought that it was a waste of time.

Hodgins: Oh, I could kiss you.
Angela: That would require permission, which I deny.

Cam: Why do you know that?
Zack: My knowledge is vast.
Cam: Why did I ask?

Addiction to Bones

I'm an addict.

Why? If you manage to watch 2 whole seasons of Bones over just one weekend, I think it's safe to call it an addiction. It's not ending soon too. There are a total of five complete season so far (season six is still airing), and I'm still far from catching up. Hopefully, I'll be up to speed by next weekend. Really need to slow down my watching. Don't want to end up having to wait ages for a new episode. That will make me sad.

Brennan and Booth

Bones is not a new drama to me. I've heard of it abour 1.5years back when one of my friends got hooked onto it. She was so crazy about it that she used to tell me about the storylines every morning over breakfast. So, when I was watching the show, I could practically hear her voice in my head telling me about the characters and their invidual quirks. It was fun :) Made me feel like my friend was close by despite her being a good 7-hours flight away.

What I like? I love the characters, especially the main female lead - Brennan. She's so brilliant and logical. Strong-willed but passionate. Would love to have the same kind of passion and drive she has for her work. Hopefully, I can achieve this with my next job. Interestingly, my favourite character is Dr Hodgins (He's really cute and has an amazing body!). While I do enjoy watching the growing more-than platonic relationship between the two leads, I'm more interested in the story between Dr Hodgins and his wife, Angela. With every episode, I feel like I'm closer to these two characters and the more I find out about them, the more loveable they are. Also, I really like the relationship they have :) It's soooo sweet. Can't wait to get to season five where the couple will get hitched after spending time in a jail cell together.

My all-time favourite couple

Each episode involves a case which is mostly solved within the hour-long episode. This makes it much easier for me because I get closure everytime the episode ends. Much prefer this format compared to the draggy dramas with neverending storylines. Those make me so bored and restless. I also find the script very well-written and well-though out. It's like watching CSI but the characters are funnier and have more diamensions.

What I don't quite like? The gross scenes involving the dismembered body parts, burnt bodies, and endless scary-looking skulls. Sometimes the scenes creep me out and I end up just listening to the dialogue but focusing my attention on someone's online photo albums. Also got to stop watching the drama just before bedtime. Some stories creep me out so badly that I had trouble falling asleep later on because the gross images are stuck in my head.

Trash bags, Missing marker pen & School Tap woes

While I'm not a bad fan of Mondays, I aren't usually too affected by Monday Blues. However, this morning has been unfolding rather badly for me.

First, I was bagging my trash from last night's dinner when I realised that the bag was leaking. *ewww* Somehow, I had failed to see that there was a hole in the plastic bag. (I'm attributing it to a lack of caffeine.) Had to clean the floor, plus change my stockings which got stained. Next, I couldn't locate my black marker pen. (In Japan, all our trash bags need to be labelled -- the trash box you are located to, as well as your name. Reason being, if you have bagged your trash incorrectly, the trash guys can return the trash to you so that you can do it properly. When I first arrived, I lived in constant fear every evening when I returned home on Mondays and Thursdays. I was so worried that I had done something wrong and I might see my trash bag sitting in front of my door. *Yucks*) Thankfully, despite my 10-min search for my marker pen (which had fallen and rolled under my fridge), I managed to catch the rubbish truck before it moved off. (Read: Involves running down the stairs and dashing across the carpark like a mad woman.) Third, I go drenched while attempting to wash my hands after using the toilet. At one of my schools, the sinks are located outside and away from the cubicles. I turned on the tap without checking and ended up getting drenched by the gust of water shooting upwards. You see, the mouth of the tap was facing up and not down like usual. It's one of the Japanese quirks to save water. So, when someone like me fails to check, you end up becoming like a wet duck. Being wet when it's three degrees is not fun.

Ahhhh... hope the second half of the day turns out to be better.

Sign on the correct way to use the toilet seat in Chinese (中国語)

The photo below was taken in the toilet cubicle of Shiro Koibito (白い恋人) Park in Sapporo. In case you are wondering, the Shiro Koibito Park consist of a mini museum on chocolates and candy packaging, a pretty little park with a toy train which you can ride on for a fee (it was closed in winter >.<), and a walk-through on how the famous white chocolate butter cookies are manufactured. There is also an observation deck were you can view the cookie making process. It was pretty fun and it really reminded me of Willy Wonda and the chocolate factory. 

Anyway, this blog entry is not about the visit to the park (will try and cover that separately), it's about the rise of Chinese posters around Japan and how most of them are about etiquette issues. Instead of having the poster in both English and Chinese, the park management seemed to have decided that only the Chinese tourists will need guidance on how to use a toilet seat properly. While the Japanese are eager to welcome the Chinese tourists who are cash-rich and all-ready to spend, most of them aren't too impressed with the Chinese's mannerisms. Then again, I don't think the Japanese are the only ones who complain about the Chinese.

can u tell what's wrong?

Was sorting my pics and came across this photo that I took some time back. One of my silly moments. See if u can spot what's wrong.

*ouch* I fell in the snow

21 Feb 11 - Here goes my clean record of no falls in winter.  

Was thinking I would be able to make it through all four months of winter without falling but guess I would just have to attempt this feat again next winter. Looking at how clumsy I usually am, I still think that just one fall is really amazing. Was really worried about falling down and breaking a bone because of the numerous horror stories I have heard from the other senpai ALTs. Well, it's almost the end of February and the snow seems to have stopped. So, my bones should be safe till next year :)

Where and How - I was alighting from my car at the Senhata onsen when I slipped and fell. Somehow, I had managed to park right next to an iced over part of the parking lot and it was so dark that I couldn't tell there was ice on the ground. The minute I stood up from my seat, I just slipped and landed hard on my right side. Thankfully I only escaped with some small cuts on my right hand. Guess, all my winter padding (aka thick clothes and additional fats) really helped to prevent any serious injury. Was happily chatting away with my fellow passenger when I just disappeared from sight and started laughing. Yup, my first reaction to falling down was to laugh. I was laughing so hard that I wasn't able to pick myself up right away. My Japanese friend probably thinks I'm a little strange by now but she's just too nice and polite to say so ;)

Quest for authentic Chinese food in Japan

Chinatown entrance

I had the opportunity to visit Yokohama in end January this year and I was really excited about it. Japan has three Chinatowns - Yokohama, Kobe and Nagasaki, and the biggest one is in Yokohama. Having been in Japan for close to half an year, I was suffering from a serious craving for some proper chinese food. There are a handful of Chinese restaurants in Omagari but the dishes don't look or sound appealing. I did have dinner at one of the recommended Chinese restaurants about four months back, but the food was just so-so. For the price I paid for dinner, I would much rather have gone to a Japanese shokudo and got a more satisfying teishoku (set meal). 

So, when I got to know that I was headed to Yokohama, I was super thrilled at the prospect of finally having some local food, especially since there were reportedly close to 200 Chinese eateries there. Also, it was close to Chinese New Year (CNY) and I was hoping I could get some CNY decorations for my upcoming CNY lessons. 

Sadly to say, I did get to enjoy dim sum for lunch but it wasn't fantastic. It wasn't bad and it did helped to ease some of my craving but for that price of close to SGD45 per pax, it was really expensive dim sum. Attached some photos of my first and probably only dim sum lunch in Yokohama's Chinatown. I miss Crystal Jade and Ding Dai Feng badly >x<

My Dim Sum restaurant - it was really packed and the wait was almost an hour

The carrot cake was pretty tasty.

Horrible char siew - cold, dry and not burnt enough

The skin was good but the char siew filling was disappointing.

Simple porridge

The Cheong Fun was too thick and not smooth at all.

Almond tofu is a really popular dessert in Japan.

Love this senior citizen program - you get 10% off the bill if you're over 65.

As for CNY decorations, I did find some ang baos (red packets) but one ang bao was going for 100yen (SGD1.60) which is ridiculously pricy. The other simple decorations which would have costed less than SGD10 were going for close to 1000yen (SGD16). They were such so expensive that I couldn't bring myself to pay for them. My students will just have to make do with the pictures I have printed from the Internet. I did purchase a papercut of a bunny for my art teacher though. I was doing a papercutting art class with my 3rd graders and I thought it would be a great present for my teacher. Glad I did fork out the money for it coz she really loved the gift.

I also visited the Mazu (妈祖) temple in Chinatown and it looked every bit like the Chinese temples back home except that they had incense vending machines and the coin tossing box (similar to the ones you see at the Japanese shrines). And, the incense and offering paper were really expensive.  One packet of gold offering paper cost 1000 yen and incense sticks for one person (think it was like six sticks) cost 500 yen. The extra big gold offering paper was 2000 yen. As you probably would have guessed, I didn't buy any incense sticks or offering paper. It was just too costly to make any offering. No lack of Japanese who were willingly to fork out the money though. The temple was so crowded that I had problems trying to snap pictures because people kept walking in front of my camera.

Akita Winter Festivals -- Hiburi Kamakura (火振りかまくら)



14th Feb 11 aka V-Day - After a quick but satisfying dinner at our favourite onigiri place in Omagari, we got into Shiori's car and headed down to Kakunodate to get some fiery action. Thankfully while it was snowing, the snowfall wasn't too heavy.

The Hiburi Kamakura festival is held annually on the 13th and 14th of Feb. The first day is supposed to be the major event where people will swing bales of burning straw along the riverbank. The same place where you can see the sakura blossoms in April. (Can't wait for this. The photos I've seen so far have been gorgeous.)  On the second day, there will be fire swinging at several sites spread out around the town. Now that I have seen how fun it is, next year I will definitely try to experience the festival on the 13th.

 Despite not having any maps or information on the sites, we managed to find one by following the smoke rising from the carpark. When we got there, the first round of fire swinging had already ended and there was a camera crew from the local TV station waiting to take videos of the next round. In the middle of the area, there was a huge bonfire and at the tents by the side, residents were serving pipping hot tonjiru (pork-based soup) and amazake (a sweet drink which is normally served with a dash of sake).

You can don on a helmet for safety

See how close the fireball is to the man

Looking at people swing fire was pretty astonishing. When we found out that anyone can attempt it, Alex and I decided to give it a try. I also managed to convince my other other gal friends to give it a shot it. Unlike Alex, the gals decided we would go for the "chisai" bales of hay instead of the regular one. The difference being, the smaller version had no hay in the middle. Hence, there is less material to burn and the resulting fireball is less magnificant. While it may look dangerous, it really isn't. (Guess part of me also believed that if I did catch fire, I can easily save myself by jumping into the 1.5m tall snow piles surrounding us.) Just make sure you hold the string further away from yourself and keep swinging once your bale has been lit. Also need to watch out for other fire swingers around you. When your fireball starts to spread along the string, you need to toss the whole thing into the bonfire quickly. I came away from the fire swinging feeling extremely pleased with myself and exhilarated despite smelling of smoke.



The bale catches fire more quickly if you whirl it faster

Tossing it into the bonfire

The warmt from the fire was really pleasant given the falling snow. It's much more comfortable compared to the artifical heat from our kersone heaters. Wish they were giving our mashmallows too, would have loved to snack on some soft gluey mashmallows.



Fire-whirling on V-Day



The streets were lined with these
little lamps made entirely from ice.

What I found shocking and scary was the sights of dads swinging fire around their little kids/ toddlers and even babies. Yup! I saw one dad holding a baby over his shoulder and swinging the fireball around the both of them using his other hand. While it was an amazing sight, I couldn't help wondering why this was allowed. It was sooooo dangerous. According to Shiori, the locals believe that by swinging these fireballs around themselves, they will be blessed with good health and peace within their households. So, the dads are just trying to obtain divine protection for their young ones. Good intentions but still......

Celebrating V-Day in Akita - 14 Feb 11

Finally took photos of the V-Day sweets I received :) Now that I have done that, I can start feasting on them. They are look sooooo yummy! According to my students, they normally spend a good 4-5 hours just preparing the V-Day sweets. Some of the candy were purchased but most (around 80%) were handmade. 

Close-ups on some of the sweets

Besides giving chocolates to the boys/men you admire or love, the Japanese girls also give friendship chocolates to their female friends as well as their male colleagues, especially the bosses. A female will also present chocolates to her dad and brothers. Chocolates for one's other half and potential other half are called "Honmei-choko" aka "True Love Chocolates". The ones for the males are considered "obligation chocolates" or "Giri-choko". I asked a Japanese friend and she explained that it's embarrassing for males not to receive any chocolates on V-Day, so the females in the company are "strongly encouraged" (read: have to) give their male counterparts chocolates. Even if you really don't like a particular male colleague, you still have to present him chocolates because you might need a favour from him in the future. What you can do in this situation is to present him with "lousy"/cheap chocolates.

Chocolates purchased
from the store

In one of my JHS, the female teachers got together and bought candy for all the male teachers. I wasn't ask to chip in because I'm a gaijin and it's not rude if I don't abide by these social rules. >.< (Lucky me! Chocolates are soooo expensive during the V-Day season.)

Unlike in Singapore or other parts of the world, the men don't have to do anything on V-Day. They just sit around waiting to be presented with gifts by their partners or admirers. No need to queue for expensive V-Day set dinners or purchase bonquets of roses. Think the Japanese men have it easy (^0^).They only need to return gifts to the women they are interested to on White Day and these gifts don't have to be handmade chocolates. Any little token is reportedly sufficient. Males also don't have to present their mothers with any candy or gifts. (*Sad*) Can't wait for White Day (14 March) to arrive. Am sure it will be pretty exciting too :)

V-Day in Akita

My first Valentine's Day abroad!

It's been a while since I received chocolates/candies for V-Day! Sooooo Happy! Will post some photos once I get home! Can't wait to try these homemade sweets. Got to share them though... can't afford to gain more weight. Just love my girls... they are such precious dears. Was secretly hoping to get one but didn't expect so many.

Wish I had time to prepare something for them too. Well... I've got one more year to go.. so.. maybe I'll make something next year.

Akita Winter Festivals -- Kariwano Giant Tug of War

10th Feb 11 - Despite the heavy snow, three Omagari first-year JETs experienced their first winter festival - the over 500 years of Tug of War (Kariwano O-Tsunahiki aka 刈和野の大綱引き). So what's all the excitement about?

First, you can participate in this festival easily. Just pick one side of the town and head towards the crowd. Along the way, there will be volunteers handing out gloves as well as a strip of coloured cloth which serves to identify the side of town you are rooting for. (Note: see that red strip around my neck? That's it.)

It was really really tiring!!! The whole tug-of-war lasted over 30 mins and you barely get any rest. Aside from tugging at the rope with all your might, you also have to make sure you don't slip on the ice. Also, because of the rope is rested on the ground, you have to bend slightly to pull and this results in a backache which builds up gradually. One also has to watch out for the lanterns which are being swung by the villagers standing on the rope. I was hit by the lantern twice and that hurt! Kinda of sad my side of the town didn't win but it was a great experience. Am definitely going to participate again next year!

Second, you can to witness an amazing display of unity amongst the crowd as everyone puts in their all as they try to tug the rope closer to their side. You also get to be up close and personal with the festival rope which is HUGE! It's reportedly around 70cm thick and 65m long. At the end of the festival, you also get to pull out straw from the festive rope and this bundle of straw reportedly brings you luck! (Hee.. I brought a small bundle home).

Third, you can to enjoy hot festive food which is always yummy, especially after you have throw in your all into the tug-of-war.

So, why do the people wanna pull a long thick rope in the middle of winter? Apparently, this tug-of-war festival has a history of 500 years, and this annual battle of might between the north and the south side of the village will determine if the price of rice will rise or if there will be a good rice harvest for the year. Both results bore well for the people though :) If the north triumphs, it means the farmers will be able to sell their rice at a better price and if the south wins, a good harvest would naturally mean a better income.

All in all, it was a great festival and I was glad I went despite being super exhausted after a busy week in school.