春が来た・・・・・・らしい

Spring is upon us here in Japan. I don't have to wear my huge winter coat anymore, which is really nice b/c it takes up a lot of room on the train. Yeah for SPRING!!!

So keeping in tradition with this blog, here is a picture of another tasty looking meal at the Saia-O'Neil household.

Spinach, Lotus root, Scallop Pasta! hmmmmmmmmmmmm
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I haven't had a lot of too interesting things to talk about b/c my life has been consumed with work, doing household chores, and trying to get to bed at a normal time. I've been trying to avoid the 3:00am nights...

So today I went out to run errands: the fruit/veggie stand, the post office, and the recycle place. On my way home I there suddenly appeared a cute little stand that wasn't there the day before. It was selling homemade mochi (pounded rice cake) with various types of sauce on top. One of the little old men was pounding the mochi himself!! It was fun to watch for a few minutes. I decided to buy some sweet bean paste flavored ones and almost scared the men when I ordered in Japanese---hehe. It made a rather yummy lunch.
The cute little stand ---> (i tried to a take a picture sneakily)

McDonald's has come out with a new McFlurry here: carmel and oreo. It was yummmmmy!!!
----> (notice my blinged out phone!!!)

Here are some other pictures as I was walking through the park to get to work today. They planted one of my favorite flowers, pansy.



The last bit for this blog is a picture of a present I got from one of my students. She has this glue that you can make things and then it becomes like a sticker. It was pretty cool and she gave me one today. awwwwww I love my students!
So that is it for this episode--- peace out ladies and gents (^-^)v

Changing the calendar to March

Today was quite possibly one of the most productive days I've had in a long time. (^-^)V

I went shopping at Loft (my favorite department store) and discovered that they had an entire KAPIBARASAN section!!! I think I literally squeaked with happiness. Kapibarasan (spelled in English as Capybara) is a relatively new character that has come out. I have a small one that when you pull the Yuzu on the top the little thing vibrates and goes in a circle. It is kinda fun to play with and my kids really like it. I think it is so cute and such an interesting idea to take a real animal that is pretty cute and turn him into a really cute cartoon, thus now everyone flocks to Ueno Zoo to see the REAL Capybara (which i already have seen.. hehe). So I of course bought a few things, and a few postcards and then came home.
The real Capybara at Ueno Zoo.

The rest of the day was spent not doing a whole lot, but enjoying the quietness and relaxation. I haven't had a day like today in a long time and it was definitely long overdue.

Spring is popping up here and soon the Cherry Blossoms will be blooming! My student's father told me that there are some that are already 30% in bloom in the park by our school. I was surprised to hear this considering that they usually bloom at the end of March-beginning of April. Anyway, it is time to start carrying my camera with me at all times. I don't want to miss a chance at a good picture!

Here are some pictures I've been meaning to put up of the past few weeks or so:
Kozue and I at our monthly dinner! It is soo nice to have one night to get dressed up and go eat at a nice restaurant in Tokyo. I'm gonna miss those times when I go home.

Yokohama

Today we took a roomie day-trip to YOKOHAMA to visit one of my PU friends, Jon. The days started a little later than we had originally planned b/c I'm fighting a cold and didn't feel so good this morning. Then b/c of the wind our train was about 20min late and it took twice as long to get to Tokyo Sta. than it usually does. Buuuuuuut after a little bit of a bumpy start we finally made it to the right train and a lovely warm comfortable green car seat! It was so nice to just sit down and relax without getting a blast of freezing cold air everytime the door opens. It is the easiest thing to buy tickets, you just add a ticket to your SUICA and then hold it up to the light above your seat. The light turns from red to green and WALAH you are all set!
We had hoped to get on at Tsudanuma and take the same train all the way to Yokohama, but w/ the wind and all they changed the trains so we had to change at Tokyo Sta. and then go onto Yokohama. We took our lunch, sat in our nice, comfy seats and happily munched on onigiri, oranges, and pretzels.

The plan once we got to Yokohama was to do some sightseeing and go to this really cool onsen. We had some initial issues trying to find the free shuttle to the onsen, sooo we just took the metro and walked. With all the delays we decided to go straight to the onsen and just relax.

The Minato Mirai Manyo Club is an 8-story onsen/massage area. There are about 15 different types of massages that you can have, private family baths that can be reserved, and then the main bathing area (separted by gender of course). When you walk in you pay and then get to choose from about 8 different styles of yukata to wear. After going through the normal pre-bathing ritual you can choose to go into any of the following bathing areas: the inside ofuro, any of the 4 outside ofuro, an herbal steam bath, herbal heat sauna, or salt sauna. It is definitely something to experience for yourself. Sheila and I are already planning to go back, this time for an entire day. They also have a gift shop, many different restaurants and places to rest and relax after you finish bathing. It was so relaxing, just what I needed. (^-^)v
After a great time at the onsen we met Ayumi and Jon for dinner at a place called Garlic Jo's. It definitely lived up to its name~~ yummy yummy yummy!

Now for some pictures:
<----Wind power at its best!!














A really cool looking ferris wheel (but something definitely to do when it is warmer)

Leave it to me to find a Disney Store wherever I go!!! YEAH MICKEY!

I went to Yokohama and brought back a Starbucks mug!!!!!

The Fuzz~~

I have officially been logged into the computer system in Japan as having been checked for ID. We were looking at a map to check where exactly to go and this man w/ an Airport POLICE tag walked up to me and in Japanese asked if I spoke Japanese. I told him yes, and he then proceeded to ask if we lived in Japan and if we had any identification such as a passport. I told him that we didn't have our passports but we did have the Alien Registration Cards and would that work. He said of course and asked if he could write down the information from our cards. The whole thing probably lasted about 4-5 minutes but it was a little strange. We always have our cards w/ us, and I was previously told to always keep the card in my wallet b/c the police can ask for identification at any time--- but I never thought it would actually happen. It was a little embarrassing b/c people were staring and kinda whispering as they walked by, but the officer was nice and after writing down our information we parted with a polite thank you from both sides.

Oh the things that happen in Japan~~~

風邪＆風

The 2 kazes--- in Japanese kaze=cold and kaze=wind. Recently these two things have happened decided to greet me at the same time. A few days ago I caught a rather annoying cold. This winter I've had a lot of colds--- I'm going to be sooo happy when Spring finally comes!!

The second kaze, wind, has been crazy these last few days. I was riding my bike home the other night and I was almost going backwards the headwind was so strong--- Then Sheila and I started laughing and that didn't make it any better.

Tonight I made dinner!!!!
If you know me then you know that I'm not the best cook, buuuuut this actually turned out pretty well, so I decided to take a picture!
The Menu: Salmon, young broccoli with steamed tomatoes and mushrooms, and an apple

Valentines Day '08 & the daifuk

Valentine's Day---- in any country it is a special day for couples. Well considering I am single, the whole couple thing didn't work out in my favor this year. Instead of going out for a nice dinner or making dinner w/ my significant other, this year my significant other (otherwise known as my roomie, Sheila) and I went for KAITEN SUSHI! Kappa Sushi, where every plate is 105 yen, is the pillar of the sushi community in our minds thus we go at least once a week. Because of a change in our teaching schedules, Sushi Friday has now been changed to Sushi Thursday. So after stuffing my stomach full of 7 plates (14 pieces) of sushi and one green tea pudding dessert, I decided that Valentine's Day wasn't such a bust this year. I did get a few very cute valentines from my students, which was very unexpected!


I hope everyone else had a great Valentine's Day!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Part 2: The daifuk
Prior to coming to Japan, I refused to eat anko (sweet red bean paste) adamantly! However since being here basically since last March, I've decided it is rather good. In fact I actually make an effort to go out and buy anko donuts. Craziness! When did I become like this!! WHAT IS HAPPENING TO ME!!~~~~ I didn't actually recognize this change myself, my mother pointed it out to me as I was buying an anko donut at the local bakery. She was so surprised and said so in such a way that made me almost drop the donut that I had so daintily plucked.... My roomie also likes the daifuk (it is really pronounced daifuku, but we shorten it b/c-- well it just sounds cooler) so tonight we bought one for 80yen and split it for dessert. Geez, where did the ice cream and pie go and when did the daifuk become the dessert of choice?

And now for some random pictures of the last month or so:

This is our microwave/oven . So small and sad, but we finally got enough courage to try it out as an oven. I was a little skeptical-- "it looks questionable to meeeeeee.
The final result: very yummy chocolate cookie bars!!!

LET IT SNOW, let it snow, LET IT SNOW!!!

THANK GOODNESS for Sundays... I finally had a day I could sleep in. Ma is here visiting so the only time we can go and do things is in the morning. It was sooooo nice to just sleep in, wake up and watch cartoons--- Lilo & Stitch in Japanese. :)

Last night we had a Girls Night at our apartment with 3 of our friends. It was a lot of fun to just have people over and hang out. It is fun to go hang out in Tokyo b/c there is always something to do, but sometimes it is a pain to have to worry about the train and when the night is over there is always about a 1hr ride home and then an expensive taxi ride to our apartment. It is just cheaper and more fun to have people over to our house.



So as I speak it is snowing! I have missed snow soo much. It just didn't feel like Christmas w/o the snow. So a few months late, but it is finally snowing!!!