torakris

I really want to try Paula's recipe, would it be ok then to leave the mastic out? especially since I have no idea what it is or where to find it in Japan....

Helen, keep that yuzu-koshou at the front of the refrigerator not the back! How was it on the sardines? Despite the fact that we live in Japan too, we had no sardines last night. Hide age three did run around te house wearing the oni (goblin/ogre) mask that Julia made at kindergarten while Julia (6) and Mia (8) threw beans at him.... for dinner we had: katsuo-tataki bonito sashimi seared then sliced and topped with mistuba (trefoil) grated ginger and a ponzu type sauce shirae tofu and sesame dressing mixed with shungiku (chrysanthemum leaves) and carrots leftover simmered kabocha homemade (not by me! ) takuan pickled daikon Japanese rice

word for 2/4: むつ mutsu (moo-tsu) These are some of the oldest apples in Japan and are mostly from Aomori prefecture. They come in two colors red and yellow and they are very noticable in the stores because there are no other colors really like them. The red is actually more of a pink and the yellow is really yellow. The picture I found doesn't really show them at their best colors : http://www.maruka-ishikawa.co.jp/veg-fru/i...pple/apple9.jpg NOTE* don't try to impress someone while speaking by adding the honorable "o" to the beginning of this word, because then you will be talking about diapers.....omutsu

I think the quick function is for white rice only. My rice cooker has a separate setting for brown rice and it quite a bit longer than white.

I have had Chinese food served in Western style course like Pirate described, usually at weddings, it always seemed odd to me..... I think some of the worst Chinese food I have eaten in Japan was those at the banquet halls in big hotels, very bland and everything tastes the same. Prasantrin, I have never been to the Chinatowns in Kobe or Nagasaki, but some of the best Chinese food I have had was at the Yokohama chinatown, especially the cheaper places. It is really hit or miss though, the last time I was there the restaurant we picked was really awful and it was expensive to boot. There are so many restaurants there that I usually go on a friend's recommendation rather than picking one randomly.

I have noticed slow food restaurants popping up all over Tokyo, they do tend to be European in focus, it is nice to see some traditional Japanese foods too. Thanks for the link.

Monday dinner: beef and lotus root patties with a teriyaki sauce served on a bed of shredded cabbage simmered kabocha avocado slices with soy sauce and yuzu-koshou (green chile and yuzu paste) Japanese rice dessert: leftover haupia

word for 2/3: 節分の日　　せつぶんのひ setsubun no hi (seh-tsu-boon-noh-hee) February 3rd of every year is setsubun no hi. This is the day the Japanese throw beans (mame maki) to rid their house/lives of the ogres/goblins and to bring in happiness for the year. There are often bean throwing festivals at schools and families do it in the house as well. While throwing the beans you chant "oni wa soto, fuku wa uchi" which translates roughly as "ogres/goblins out, happiness in". The beans can later be eaten. For some more information look here (with a picture of the beans): http://www2.gol.com/users/stever/setsubun.htm

So are there White Day decorations different than the Valentine's day decorations? Do they stay up all the way until March? Even I could get sick of that! Yes you do get sick of the decorations after a while! White day decorations are similar to those for Valentines Day but they tend to be white and white chocolate is very popular to be given as a gift. I read somewhere that 1/2 of most chcolate shops annual sales are during the one week period before Valentines Day! White Day doesn't seem to have the huge chocolate sales as most men don't seem as good about buying gifts..... Most of my friends buy the chocolates for their husbands to pass out. Hina matsuri (Girl's Day) is on March 3rd so there is a small break between the two chocolate "holidays" as wagashi (Japanese sweets) are more common on this day.

Sunday dinner: a sort of a twist on a loco moco (a local Hawaiian dish) a bowl of rice topped with a hamburger patty and some avocado slices and then a teriyaki sauce (made with a nice addition of freshly squeezed mandarin orange) onion and hijiki (type of seaweed) salad with ponzu and toasted cashew nuts dessert: haupia (Hawaiian style coconut pudding)

back to the apples! word for 2/2: 北斗　　ほくと hokuto (hoe-koo-toe) This is a larger than average sized apple from Aomori prefecture, it was created in the early 80's as the cross of a Fuji. http://image.www.rakuten.co.jp/syokutaku/img1053812209.jpeg

Sorry to confuse you, the men basically give nothing on Valentines Day, instead teh Japanese have created a day called White Day on March 14 and this is the same as Valentines Day except now the men give chocolates to all the women they know. Though it is a popular day for couples to go out, their isn't much given except for the chocolate, no flowers, presents, wine, etc...

Valentines Day here is HUGE, commercially that is. The Valentine chocolate stands start popping up in department store basements/supermarkets/train stations/you name it as soon as the New Year holidays are over. It is different from in other parts of the world in that the girls give chocolate to the men and not just their romantic interests, every man they know! Fathers, brothers, sons, co-workers, etc. Most of this chocolate is referred to as "giri choco" or obligation chocolates. It has become a trend in recent years to make your own choclate confections and thus most stores expand their baking sections during this period to include many varieties of melting chocolate, heart shaped pans and various decorations. The girls get their day in March (3/14) on "White Day" when they recieve choclates from all of the men they came chocolates to.....

I just ran across this incredidible site on the durian: http://www.durianpalace.com/

have you looked at this? http://www-ang.kfunigraz.ac.at/~katzer/eng...l?Zant_pip.html It has given me a headache and at the very bottom there is a mention of the ban.

So what are you going to buy for the men in your life? Here are some of the best chocolate stores in Tokyo: http://metropolis.japantoday.com/tokyo/505/dining.asp In Japan, only the women give chocolates on Valentines Day.....

Some info on this place in English, with a link to their Japanese homepage http://www.tcvb.or.jp/en/hot/sizzling/sizzling_ind.html edit: you need to scroll to the bottom and click on index and then on Pastry theme park I found a nice article about Jiyugaoka Sweet Forest, with listing of some of the stores and their offerings: http://metropolis.japantoday.com/tokyo/508/dining.asp

I just ran across this site: http://www.kyotoguide.com/index/index.html there is a new article on wining and dining in Kyoto, you need to scroll down a bit on the main page. Also in the column on the left side there is a guide to restaurants in Kyoto.

and where better to get Chinese food in Japan than one of the 3 Chinatowns. For more information on the 3 Chinatowns in Japan (Yokohama, Nagasaki, Kobe) look here: http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e2420.html

This sounds good and I would like to give it a try, do you know what kind of vinegar would be best to use? anything else added?

Friday dinner: roast chicken thighs and potatoes with a basalmic sauce sauteed red cabbage and red onions baguette Dessert: Costco apple pie

So you want to learn how to count, do you?? I have been studying Japanese for 14 years and I still don't know all the counters and freuently mess them up. There are probably close to 50 different "counters" or words used to describe objects being counted. First you need to know the numbers: 1 ichi 2 ni 3 san 4 shi/yon 5 go 6 roku 7 shichi/nana 8 hachi 9 ku/kyu 10 ju It would be simple if you could just take those numbers and pop them in front of the counter words, but nooo, they need to make it more complicated than that. Look at the examples below and you will see what I mean. I will teach you some of the counters you will be likely to encounter in daily conversations, especially those related to food. 杯　hai (cupfuls, glassfuls, bowlfuls, spoonfuls) 1 ip-pai 2 ni-hai 3 san-bai 4 yon-hai 個　ko (general object counter, especially sperical or cube shaped, like apples) 1 ik-ko 2 ni-ko 3 san-ko 4 yon-ko 枚　mai (flat objects, paper, pizzas, etc) 1 ichi-mai 2 ni-mai 3 san-mai 4 yon-mai 箱 hako (boxes, boxfuls) 1 hito-hako 2 futa-hako 3 mi-hako/ san-pako 4 yon-hako 本　hon (long objects, like pencils, beer bottles) 1 ip-pon 2 ni-hon 3 san-bon 4 yon-hon 匹　hiki (for counting animals) 1 ip-piki 2 ni-hiki 3 san-biki 4 yon-hiki/shi-hiki UNLESS you are counting large animal like elephants then you use tou (頭) and birds and rabbits have their own counter wa (羽) 人 nin (people) 1 hito-ri 2 futa-ri 3 san-nin 4 yo-nin 皿 sara (helping or courses of food) 1 hito-sara 2 futa-sara 3 mi-sara 4 yon-sara/yo-sara 束 taba (bundles or bunches, like leafy vegetables in the supermarket) 1 hito-taba 2 futa-taba 3 mi-taba/san-taba 4 yon-taba 膳　zen (pairs of chopsticks or bowls of rice, though the counter hai is also used for bowls of rice) 1 ichi-zen 2 ni-zen 3 san-zen 4 yon-zen Have I confused you yet? Did you even make it this far? When in doubt you can almost always use the generic counter "tsu" 1 hito-tsu 2 futa-tsu 3 mit-tsu 4 yot-tsu 5 itsu-tsu 6 mut-tsu 7 nana-tsu 8 yat-tsu 9 kokono-tsu 10 tou 11 juu-ichi The counter "tsu" is not used for numbers past ten, and from 11 on, the "regular" words for numerals are used. So if you are in a store and see something you want, just point at it and say: hitotsu kudasai one please futatsu kudasai two please mittsu kudasai three please etc, etc..... There will be a test next week!

I just typed tounyuu ramen (soy milk ramen) in yahoo Japan and came up with 105 hits, some with restaurants some were recipes so you can make it yourself, still look s gross. here is a nice picture (3rd picture down): http://www.committed-jp.com/kickback/food.html

eeeewwwww!!! sorry, I am not a big fan of soy milk....

Fukui is about 3 1/2 to 4 hours away from Tokyo and will cost you 14,000yen to 20,000yen one way. for more information look here: http://www.hyperdia.com/ click on English version (left side of the screen) and then input a starting point (station) and destination (again station name) and it will show you a variety of routes, times, prices, etc. This is an incredible website!! I use it all the time.