Jinja and Shoga: Life in the Land of the Rising Sun

I'm pretty sure that one of my tutors is a bit sadistic. Every lesson goes something like this:
Him: 'Blah blah blah blah blah blah...blah blah desuka?'
Me: 'Chotto yukkuri hanashite kudasai!' (Please speak a little more slowly).
Him: 'Blah blah blah blah blah blah...blah blah desuka?' (Big evil smile ensues).
I feel like Adam Sandler when he's trying to learn Spanish in Billy Madison...only I don't get the mansion and lots of beer!
Some part of me must like the torture though, since he's the only tutor whose lessons I bother studying for. Maybe it's akin to the mental equivalent of a cattle prod?
Whatever the case, I think that I'm finally getting used to him. After the first lesson, I was ready to quit and actually had a nightmare about him the night before my second lesson! Yeah, I know, I worry way too much.
I am, however, having a bit of fun myself trying to stump him with English words. Today, it was 'trans fats'. I have no idea how to say that in Japanese?? He didn't know, either...maybe because nobody seems to really care about them....margarine and shortening are in practically everything here! I happened to glance at the kaki fry (battered and deep-fried oysters) label a while back, and sure enough, shortening was listed. Who knew?? Like they're not toxic enough from being deep-fried. Delicious, though. If you're got to die of a heart attack, that would be the way to do it. Of course, my mom pointed out how 'kaki' sounds a lot like 'kaka', and she doesn't want to try anything bringing about that mental image!
Anyway. After the lesson, rushed home to find....Wasabi and the recycling bag. Or, should I say, Wasabi and the contents of the recycling bag spread all over the floor. I'm just thankful it wasn't the garbage! Right now she's purring and sucking her thumb after such a hard day's work. Tonight is vaccine time at the vet's, so let's hope it goes smoothly!

I've been meaning to post these pics for about a week, but have been too busy playing with Wasabi until now. She's currently sleeping on the mouse, so it's still a bit hard to post!
Last weekend, we went to Chiba to meet up with a bunch of our returnee friends for the second annual Umi no Hi (Ocean Day) get-together. We stayed at the same beach house as last year, since it's in a great location---right next to a ramen shop owned by the same people who run the beach house, and it's only about a block from the ocean.
Unfortunately, the wind was quite strong this time, so we didn't get much swimming in, but we still managed a bbq in the evening, and then a bonfire on the beach later that night after the wind died down. We also of course had a watermelon smashing contest/event, and Yuki pulverized it in the end. Much fun for all!

Fighting the wind


And they hadn't even started drinking yet...


Corn!




Roasted sweet potato


Watermelon smashing



Watermelon killer


Ramen



Bonfire


Scenes from my morning walk





Kakigori (shaved ice)

So, after running a bunch of errands this morning, we had a very late lunch at a ton katsu (pork cutlet) restaurant. Now, I don't usually go for deep-fried pork, but even I have to admit that this place is pretty good. I still order the soba (Japanese noodles) and some shrimp and vegetable tempura, though, and just have a bite of Yuki's massive ^[/8
5 (Ok, that was from Wasabi. Interpret as you wish).
filet-----------[[[[[[[ (bad kitty, bad!).
After lunch, we headed home and gave the little one some new toys. She of course promptly rejected the catnip, the ball with the bell inside, and the f 786+ (seriously, she's doing all of this typing on her own). As I was saying...and the feather on a stick in favor of...the cardboard packaging for said toys. Like getting your kid an expensive gift at Christmas, and he ends up making a fort out of the box. Beautiful. I'm just going to give her garbage to play with from now on!

*'Ketsu' is a ruder version of word 'backside' in Japanese, if you get my drift



Lunch at Katsukura


Ton Katsu


The so-called 'Ladies' set'...because it's as big as most Japanese ladies??



Chewing on cardboard from the cat toy packaging



Rrroar!





Wasabi chewing on a box of....wasabi





Helping Type

Here's the gyoza that I made...not the best pictures, but then again, you really don't want to see my miniscule 'kitchen', either.
I'd list the gyoza recipe, but I don't really use one. Here's what I basically do; it's a little different every time:
Add a little goma abura (sesame oil) to a skillet and cook a package of ground chicken over the lowest heat possible. While it's cooking, peel and dice 2 carrots; add to the chicken. Dice up one package of shimeji mushrooms and one package (about 3) of eringi mushrooms and throw these into the skillet, too. Add fresh ground ginger (I buy it in a tube here) and also fresh minced/ground garlic (also in a tube). Add a lot, that's all I can say. And add more garlic than ginger. Mix everything up and continue cooking. Stir in light soy sauce, maybe 1 or 2 tablespoons? And then toss in some chopped baby leeks (にら）. I add about a fourth cup or so. I usually chop them ahead of time and keep them frozen, then just throw them straight from the freezer into whatever I'm cooking.
Simmer until almost all the juices are gone. I usually turn up the heat at the end, since I get tired of waiting.
Let cool a little bit, then put heaping teaspoonfuls onto gyoza wrappers. Lightly moisten the diameter of the wrappers, then fold over and pinch together to seal. Place on a cookie sheet that's been sprayed with cooking spray, then spray the tops of the gyoza, too. Bake at about 350 F (170 C) for 20 to 30 minutes, until lightly browned and crunchy.
Serve with dipping sauce: About 2 Tb. light soy sauce, 1 Tb rice vinegar, and spicy sesame oil to taste. Enjoy!



Gyoza preparation


















The finished products



















Moyashi Kitty: Wasabi inspecting part of the salad I made for lunch.

This morning has been really busy so far! We've managed to climb up the storage shelves now and had some fun playing by the peanut butter. After that, we discovered Mommy's ABC gum in the wastebasket. Yummy! And you thought only dogs and small children would chew that stuff!
Luckily, today was garbage day so I'd emptied the wastebasket this morning.
Now it's time to make some homemade gyoza for dinner, at least a certain little someone doesn't seem to have much interest in people food so far (besides the gum, that is).


The joys of climbing



Mmmmm....minty!!



What???

We finally got a kitten! I've really missed having a cat the past 2 years that I've been here, and Yuki finally convinced the landlady to let us get one.
We'd gone to a pet fair last weekend, but there weren't any cats that I really fell in love with, besides a little black and white baby boy, and we'd told ourselves no boys, since in my experience females in general tend to be more cuddly (and a lot less territorial). We decided that we were going to get a little orange and white female, though, since she seemed sweet enough. After telling her owners that we wanted her, Yuki filled out a survey form, asking me what my 'ideal cat' was as he was writing. Without thinking, I said 'black and white female, loves people'.
Well, it turns out that the 'survey' was actually the application form, so we never officially applied for the other cat! But, to everyone's good fortune, lots of other people wanted her, and on Monday night, we received an email from the coordinator, telling us about a baby kitty who'd been raised at a local animal hospital. As soon as we saw the picture, we knew we wanted her, and we went and picked her up Tuesday night, the 21st of July.
Her story: Wasabi was found with her umbilical cord still attached, poor baby! I guess that there was a sibling with her, but that one didn't make it, sadly. So our little girl has been raised in a clinic basically since birth. Seeing as she's had no mommy to nurse off of and no other kitties around, she's taken to sucking on her own front forepaw before nodding off to sleep. She really loves being around people, but we're still working on the 'No biting' part!


The animal hospital where we got her. One of the people who found her had actually paid for her medicine and care for the entire 2 months. Such a kind lady!!


Bonding with my new baby





















I was ready to sacrifice Fuku-chan to her, but Yuki said No way!


















The first time she saw herself in the mirror...
lots of hissing and raised fur. It was hilarious!




















Cat in a bag



Rolling on the couch




Snuggling with her daddy. She's already got him wrapped around her little...paw??




Our landlady's son snapped this one when I took her over to visit with them. I had no idea that iPhones could take such good pictures!

Yuki's brother Takuma got married this past Saturday in Tokyo. Well, he actually got married in February in terms of doing the official paperwork, but here the ceremony and the paperwork are completely separate. The wedding was at Happo-en, a really gorgeous and traditional wedding site. It's famous for its garden, among other things, and I guess it used to be one of the most exclusive places to get married in Tokyo. As far as I could tell, it still is! Seriously, just a beautiful place and a great wedding overall. We were so happy to be able to celebrate along with friends we hadn't seen in quite a while.

Before the wedding, both families gathered in a reception room and introductions were made before the newlyweds began receiving guests.








The ceremony itself was done at a shrine in the hotel, but I didn't get any pictures of it unfortunately, since we weren't supposed to take any in there. Apparently that rule didn't apply to the wedding photographer, however.

After the ceremony, we all trooped outside to the gardens and waited for the bride and groom to arrive for pictures. Takuma looked great in his traditional gear, and Yuko was so lovely in her kimono, although I know she must've been pretty hot by that point!










For dinner, they changed into Western-style clothing before making their entrance into the banquet hall. Dinner itself was a really long course menu, only 1/3 of which I could read, seeing as it was mostly written in Chinese characters. There were a lot of speeches that I didn't really try to pay attention to, especially after watching the guys at our table get bored and start to doze off a bit in the middle of one! Of course, that could also be due to the massive amounts of beer and wine that were flowing through the meal. And the bottle of champagne that I commandeered for our table.
The wedding cake differed from the traditional Japanese cream-and-fruit type of cake in that it was heart shaped and topped with glazed strawberries, gorgeous!





After dinner, we had a break before the Ni Ji Kai (second party), so we met up with friends in the lobby before heading upstairs for yet more drinking and speeches. Yuko was quite exhausted from such a long day (combined with being pregnant), so she bowed out of the Ni Ji Kai rather early, leaving Taku to indulge in quite a few toasts.
The Ni Ji Kai got quite lively as the liquor kept flowing, but we called it a night around midnight and managed to catch the last train back to Yokohama. All in all, a wonderful celebration. Congratulations again to Taku and Yuko!!