Category: Familia

The Ginowan Seaside Park

People always assume that everyone goes to Okinawa for their beaches.
Truthfully, I have never stepped foot into the water during my trips to Okinawa. It may have something to do with the number of family and relatives we want to see while we’re here. Or because we’re there for certain occasions such as weddings or funerals. Or possibly due to the season we’re here.
But that doesn’t stop us from taking an afternoon walk by the beach!
This is part of the Ginowan Seaside Park (宜野湾海浜公園) and is a great place to walk around. There are also many benches and lawns so you can take a break or just sit to enjoy the view.
Despite the wind, there were actually quite a few people swimming in the water. There were also families who were doing BBQs. And of course, there were people like us who were just enjoying the weather (a bit cloudy, perfect for a walk outside!).
We’re definitely coming back here in the summer one of these days!

The Yard Full of Flowers

The morning after I got to my grandma’s house, I ventured outside to check out the yard. Because when you’re a single girl living in the city, a yard is a luxury.
My grandpa passed away a year and a half ago but he loved orchids. And he loved growing them in the yard. I don’t know much about orchids but I’ve heard that some orchids are very difficult to grow. You could say he had a green thumb for orchids. And now my grandma is taking care of them. With the way the pretty orchids are starting to bloom, I think my grandma has a green thumb, too!
These were some of my favorite plants I found around the yard.

My favorite orchid in the whole yard…love the yellow and fuchsia pink!

Another pink purple-ish orchid…doesn’t it look kind of like a face?

Nago-ran (名護蘭), another favorite, is a tiny orchid named after Nago City in Okinawa.

Sennenboku (千年木) has the prettiest leaves. Gorgeous fuchsia, don’t you think?
I forgot what this was called but I liked how delicate the flowers were.
Love how beautiful this hibiscus is. Hibiscus tea, not so much…but I love the flower!

The Afternoon at Costco

Met up with my sister at Costco.
Costco is like Disneyland.
It’s too expensive to go everyday
but every time we go it’s like a magical wonderland.
I’ve learned to control myself at Disneyland.
I’ve learned that Bambi ears are not cute outside in the real world.
I’ve also learned that Mickey popcorn cases just get in the way at home.
But I have yet to learn to control myself at Costco.
You would think we weren’t two single girls.
Thank god for these huge shopping carts
or we would have had to get two.
But we had so much fun!
And I’m looking forward to not having to buy any
detergent or shampoo for the next 5 years. Ha.
After shopping, we headed to a near by onsen.
I love onsen in the winter.
Especially the baths outside.
We call them Rotenburo.
There’s something so relaxing and refreshing
about sitting in a hot bath outside when the air is chilly.
You can stare up into the sky and see the winter constellation.
Or the vast blue sky if it’s during the day.
But either way, I love it.
Rotenburo’s are really really great.
If you have never done this, you really need to.
We headed home all relaxed from the onsen.
And spent the rest of the night watching Happy Endings
while eating tortilla chips with cheese and salsa.
Pretty great day 😀

The Nanakusa Gayu

This is Nanagusa-gayu (七草粥).
It’s tradition in Japan to eat this on January 7th.
It’s a dish of rice porridge with
seven different types of wild herbs.
Nanagusa means seven herbs in Japanese.
It’s an old tradition that came to Japan from China
sometime during the Heian Period (794-1192).
We eat this in hopes for a healthy new year.
My mom also told me that the reason we have this tradition is because
we pretty much celebrate the new year by eating and drinking.
And we eat this rice porridge because it’s easily digested
and our poor overworked stomach can get some rest.
Plus the herbs are good for you.
The seven herbs are:
Seri: Japanese Parsley
 Nazuna: Shepard’s Purse  
Gogyo: Jersey Cudweed
Hakobera: Common Chickweed　 
Hotokenoza: Nipplewort
Suzuna: Turnip
Suzushiro: Radish

The Trip Back to Tokyo

Heading back to Tokyo today.
We took the express from Imabari and
headed to Takamatsu in the next prefecture.
Slept through most of the train ride
but caught a sight of the beautiful Seto Inland Sea.
We call it Seto Nai Kai.
It’s the ocean between mainland Japan
and the island of shikoku.
And there are apparently over 3,000 islands here.
The view is really fantastic.
We got to the airport with plenty of time to shop for souvenirs.
And we both went through airport security and
promptly got on separate airplanes.
The reason for this is that
my sister flies JAL and I fly ANA.
So this is how we always head to the airport.
Go together, get on different planes.
I landed in Tokyo a bit before my sister
but we met up at and went to Dean & Delica Cafe.
I love this place.
The yummy apple cider.
The pretty wood floor.
We were both beat but
it was a great way to end this trip.
Quiet time at the cafe to
recharge for work starting tomorrow.
Starting the year 2013 in Tokyo.
This is going to be my year.
I’m pretty sure of it.
Dean & Deluca Cafe Haneda
03-5757-9605
Haneda International Airport Terminal 1
3-3-2 Haneda Airport
Ota-ku, Tokyo
Hours: 7am-9pm

The New Years Service

It was really nice starting off the year at church.
The new years service was really inspiring.
We always have a potluck
after the new years service at church.
A full on traditional new years dish would be
the Osechi-ryori, a bento box filled with various foods
that have some sort of meaning behind it, to bring in the luck.
But we usually do a semi-traditional new years potluck
with dishes like Nimono (boiled vegetables),
Zenzai (red bean soup with mochi),
and Ozoni (mochi soup). 

But we did include a couple of traditional foods
that are eaten to bring us luck or a better new year.

We had Konbu (rolled seaweed).
It’s similarity to the word Yorokobu, meaning Joy,
is considered to be a very good thing.

Also had Kuromame (black soy beans).
It symbolized health and is meant
to wish everyone a healthy new year.

Considering how much we all ate
I think we are going to have a fabulous new year 😀

Oh! And we also took family pictures
for our Nengajo (traditional new year postcards)!
It’s been great welcoming a new year with family!

The Aiport

We went to see my baby sister off at the airport.
Thank goodness this was Japan.
We don’t really go home for Christmas
so it wasn’t crowded at all.
Not that I really care.
I LOVE airports.
And even though there’s barely any holiday traffic
we actually DO decorate for Christmas!!!

At first I thought the owls were creepy but
after a while they sort of grow on you.
Kind of like a Harry Potter themed tree.
Aren’t they weird?
Anyways, Lisa Naomi got through security
and gave us a quick wave and headed down to her gate.
She’s such a grown up.
I loved having her stay at my place for a week.
I’ll miss having her as a roommate.
But at least I’ll see her at the end of the month again!
Can’t wait 🙂 

The Birthday Girl

Happy haapy birthday to my beautiful sister!!!
Yoko came out for the weekend
so we sisters could hang out together.
So glad she did so we could celebrate her birthday, too!
We like to use the exact number of candles on the cakes.
No 2 big candles and 8 small candles for us.
Nope.
We stuck 28 tall candles in that cake for Yoko.
(thus the large flame…haha)

We had a good laugh over the blazing flame
that got bigger with each pictures I took.
Glad I got the longer candles or we wouldn’t have any cake left!
Happy Birthday Yoko!!!
May You Have The Best Year Ever!!!

The Nabe Night

Guess what we had for dinner today?
Kimchi Nabe!!!

Making nabe (pronounced “Nah-Beh”) is so simple and
it’s the best dish to make when you have people over.
It’s really easy to adjust the amount you make
and all you have to do is cut everything up.
I think that’s why it’s so popular in Japan.
Plus there’s tons of soups to choose from.
My favorites are Kimchi, Tomato Cheese, and Soy.
I know, they sound pretty gross.
But call yourself a fool and try it once.
I promise you’ll soon be a nabe-lover like us 😀
We also love mikan.
(They’re like mandarins…small and seedless.)
Everyone eats mikan in Japan during the winter.

Growing up in a family of six,
we would always get mikan by the boxes.
But we would eat them like starving hyaenas
that they never lasted long. 
Looks like somethings don’t change.