Turkey!!!

I got a tip from a friend that there may be turkeys at the supermarket. So the next day, I was cruising through the meat isle and you'll never guess what I saw... a TURKEY!!! Turkey in Japan!?... you've got to be kidding me. I don't even need to tell you how quickly I snatched one of those birds up and put it in my cart, without even considering whether or not it would fit in my oven or how in the world I was going to cook it (I have never cooked a turkey before).

This 3.5lb bird cost me a whooping $20, but I didn't care. And yes, I said 3.5lbs not 35lbs! Can you even picture what a turkey that small looks like? I had no problem fitting it in my oven.

I guess you really need to see the size of my small oven to understand how tiny this bird actually was. I'm not even sure it was bigger than a whole chicken.

But I'm glad to report that my tiny, non-even cooking oven (you should see how lopsided a cake turns out in this oven!) did a fantastic job. And considering that this was my first time cooking a turkey, I think it turned out pretty dang good. This website and this website helped me immensely.

I was wondering and a bit worried about what I was going to make for Christmas Eve dinner. So this was the perfect find.

When I move back to the U.S., I am making a commitment to cook a turkey more than once a year. Why do most people only cook this fabulous bird once a year anyway? It's not that much work, and you have a ton of leftovers... which makes it worth it, in my opinion.

Happy Birthday to ME!

I didn't really want to do anything for my birthday, but good friends Yumi and Anna convinced me to go out. So needless to say, I picked an Italian restaurant - most of you already know this, but I've had spaghetti on my birthday for every single year as far back as I can remember. Of course this was always my mom's special spaghetti, but considering that we were celebrating my birthday from the other side of the world this year... we had to make due. There has been ONE exception to this tradition - the one year we were in Australia for the holiday and celebrated my birthday Down Under... this is the year I splurged and ate expensive and delicious Australian mudcrab. But because we were Down Under, I don't count that one. ;)

The ladies were nice enough to order me this awesome cake, which you can see was topped with yummy fruit. The owner of the restaurant made this cake, and even played "Happy Birthday" on his saxophone when presenting it to me. It was a very special experience, and I'm glad my friends convinced me to go out... a very nice and memorable birthday indeed. :)

KFC & Christmas Cake

This post is for my Uncle Mark, who reminded me about the important Japanese Christmas tradition of KFC... as in Kentucky Fried Chicken. 

Did you know KFC is one of the most popular U.S. fast food chains in Japan? Well it is, especially on Christmas Eve. This is the day that people wait in a long line for the special "Christmas Chicken Dinner." In fact, if you don't pre-order your chicken dinner, there's no guarantee you'll get one!

Photo is from here.

Apparently KFC has done a great job marketing their product, making Japanese people think that Westerners celebrate Christmas with a chicken dinner (instead of the obviously more common ham or turkey dinners). I read here how this trend got started: apparently foreigners started eating KFC on Christmas because they couldn't find a whole turkey or chicken anywhere else. KFC saw the opportunity, spent a ton of yen on marketing the phrase "Kentucky for Christmas!"then launched their first Christmas set meal in 1974. It's been a growing tradition since then, and today if you want KFC for Christmas, you better pre-order your meal or at least prepare yourself to wait in a huge line.

By the way, in 1974, you could get the Christmas chicken dinner for $10, today the chicken dinner goes for $40!

Photo is from here.

Another interesting Christmas tradition in Japan... the Christmas cake. The traditional Christmas cake is a sponge cake, topped with whipped cream and strawberries. These cakes are ordered months in advance, and are eaten on Christmas Eve along with the famous bucket of KFC.

Photo is from here.

You can order Christmas cakes pretty much anywhere in Japan, from the local 7-11 convenience store, to your average grocery store, to the most elegant department stores.

Who would have thought the most important thing to do on Christmas Eve in Japan is to pick up your pre-ordered KFC and Christmas cake...?

Tis the Season

Although Christmas is celebrated in Japan, it is purely a commercial affair. It's estimated that less than 1% of the Japanese population is Christian, so every year I'm always surprised by the amount of Christmas decorations throughout the city. I guess this comes down to the fact the Japanese love festivals and celebrations... and Christmas just gives them the excuse to drink, buy presents, and spend time with loved ones.

Train display at the Hilton

December 25 is not a national holiday in Japan, so everyone still has work - but the holiday is still celebrated in a very commercial way. Christmas presents are usually exchanged between people in relationships, as well as close friends. Typical gifts are always "cute" (cute is important in Japan!) and include items such as teddy bears, flowers, candies, scarves, and jewelry. Below is a picture of a package of candy I bought (for myself!) - the wrapping was beautiful, but of course I opened it to show you how cute the candy was.

Christmas music plays in almost all stores, and you can even hear the popular tunes playing over the loudspeaker when you're walking down the street downtown. Christmas lights and elaborate displays are set up throughout the city, especially at major hotels and departments stores. The city is actually quite festive, and all of the displays and beautiful lights give me the comforting feeling of home. So even though we're half way across the world, the Christmas season here really reminds me of home.

The depressing part is that the city tears everything down on Christmas night. They must have employees working around the clock, because when you wake up on the 26th - everything is gone. It makes it feel like the holidays didn't even exist. It's a sad and empty feeling. And the feeling of home... gone.

Santa Claus Visits Nagoya

There is a monthly women's gathering at an American restaurant where ladies come together to talk, eat, exchange news, and share helpful information about life in Japan. Unfortuantely this event is always held on a Tuesday, and since Elodie and I have swim class every Tuesday we always miss the 'Meet and Greet' luncheon.

The monthly gathering in December was having a special Christmas lunch, and a surprise visit by Santa for the kiddos. So I decided to skip swimming - as this would probably be the only opportunity for Elodie to see Santa in Nagoya.

Turns out, Elodie doesn't like Santa so much....

Many people have asked me if Japanese children believe in Santa. The best answer that I can give is that it depends on the family. In general, many kids believe that Santa will bring them presents if they are good and asleep when he arrives. When they wake on Christmas day, they find presents by their pillows instead of under Christmas trees. But again, it really depends on the family.

Eric's Visit

Eric, Joe's best friend and co-worker, came to Japan for a week to work. Fortunately for us, he was only a short distance away in Yokohama and was able to swing by Nagoya for a weekend to hang out. Joe took him to our favorite local places, Osu Kannon Temple and Inuyama Castle. We also made sure he tried the local Japanese food at a few of our favorite restaurants in town - sushi, okonomiyaki, and yakiniku (Korean BBQ). And of course I can't forget to mention that our Japanese friends took him out for karaoke!

Thanks for visiting us Eric! It was a quick weekend, but we had fun showing you around. Please come back soon, and bring your beautiful family with you, too! :)

Boracay Island, Philippines

We had the amazing opportunity to visit the Philippines for vacation on Boracay Island. The small island is only 4km long, and is surrounded by powder white sand beaches and crystal clear turquoise water. Truly a beach dream vacation!

The hardest part of the trip was getting there: subway to Nagoya Station, train to the airport, flight to Manila, had to stay overnight at a hotel in Manila, an hour flight to Caticlan early the next morning, shuttle ride to the ferry, ferry across the sea to Boracay Island, then a taxi to our hotel. Then of course we had to do that all in reverse on the way back.WOW, the trip there and back was exhausting.

This was the boat "ferry" taking us over to Boracay Island.

Our stay on the island was really wonderful. It definitely exceeded our expectations. Our hotel was clean, the pool was refreshing, the ocean was warm and beautiful, the food was excellent (and very cheap!), the massages were the best we've ever had, and the people were the nicest genuine people that we've ever met anywhere before. Oh, and the fruit shakes were awesome!

Elodie's diet consisted mainly of fruit shakes, but we were just thankful that she was eating something. We were pleasantly surprised with the variety of food choices that were on the island - our favorite of course was Mexican, probably because that's the cuisine we miss the most in the U.S.



Joe went scuba diving a couple of days and got his PADI certification, so he can now dive with a professional without taking any training. We took a beautiful sunset sail one evening, which surprisingly didn't make either Elodie or me seasick. But I'm not going to lie, it was a little scary... since we were only sitting on netting on the "wing" of the tiny sailboat directly over the sea, PLUS they didn't have infant life vests. But we managed to stay safe. ;) We also went on a boat ride around the island for an "island hopping tour" which was really just a scam because we didn't make it to any other island. But that's ok, because we enjoyed seeing the whole island from the boat.

It was a very fun vacation! If you can get past the poverty of the poor country in general, and look past the vendors begging to sell you something, it really is a tropical paradise. Getting there and back was the most difficult part of the whole trip. But even with all that said, I'd definitely go back.

Did you watch the last season of survivor? If so, you have a pretty good idea of what the Philippine islands look like. Absolutely stunning!

You can see all of our photos from the trip here. Enjoy!

Autumn Leaves

Fall in Nagoya is stunning - beautiful weather with colorful autumn leaves. Fall foliage is one of the most popular outdoor-friendly activities in Japan. There are several festivals and areas around Nagoya where you can enjoy the fall scenery. The most popular places to visit are the ones that light-up the leaves at night.

Unfortunately, we tried to go to one of the famous light-up spots - but were unsuccessful. We should have known that EVERY single person in the area was also trying to go see the leaves, so the traffic backup was just awful. After sitting in a line up of cars for just under an hour and not moving but a few feet, we decided that it just wasn't worth it - so we turned around and went home.

It's really too bad we couldn't see the famous red maple leaves lit-up at night at korankei gorge. This was on the top of my list of sites to see in Japan before we leave the country. But it is what it is, and we should have known better anyway. ANY site-seeing activity in this country is bound to come with thousands of people, traffic jams, no where to park, long lines, and the list goes on and on.

MHI/Boeing Picnic

We went to the first ever MHI/Boeing picnic at a nearby farm in the suburbs of Nagoya. It was a great way to finally meet some of Joe's co-workers. We lucked out with an absolutely beautiful day, so we were able to enjoy the sunshine, in the fresh country air, surrounded by friends and animals. It was Elodie's first time to see the farm animals, so it was a fun day for her too!

I don't know why I thought we'd be having grilled burgers and hotdogs for lunch - I guess I just assumed that since we were having a picnic BBQ, that's what we'd be eating. But I guess I should have known that Japanese-style picnics are much different than American style BBQ's! They cooked up some fresh "yakiniku" otherwise known as grilled meet and veggies, which you then dip in a variety of sauces. Although it was good, I think I prefer American-style BBQ's with burgers, corn on the cob, and potato salad much better. ;)

Jenny & Chad's Wedding

My other half, Jenny, got married on November 2! So now Chad officially has to share the title of "other half" with me. ;)

She was an absolutely stunning bride, and I loved her mushy-gushy look of pure happiness every time she looked at her new hubby. I couldn't be more happy for the newlyweds, they truly make a great couple!

 

Congratulations Jenny and Chad! May you have a lifetime of happiness together. :)