Yumi’s ever-evolving foyer display celebrates Canada Day.
Category Archives: Japan
Young, Skinny Me Teaches Kindergarten in Japan
While cleaning the garage today I ran across a brochure from a private kindergarten in Japan where I taught very basic English for many years. Yep, that skinny guy with lots of dark hair is moi, circa late 1980s/early 1990s. It was an extremely well-paying gig for just one morning a week.
Seasonal Foyer Display Features Spawning Salmon
I was doing some baking and couldn’t find one of our glass loaf baking dishes so I used a square one.
As I returned to my basement office, I passed Yumi’s seasonal display in the foyer, and silly me, there was the dish, full of salmon coming back to spawn in a colourful bed of glass beads : -).
Cooler Weather = First Batch of Oden Since Last Winter
You know you’re sliding toward fall and winter when you make your first batch of oden. It’s a bit late to dig in now (9:30pm) but it’ll be great with a side dish of genmai brown rice in the morning.
Anyway it’s often better when you let it sit for awhile and let all the flavors mingle…
Yumi’s Mom in Aomori (northern Japan) makes wonderful nishime in the fall & winter — I get the impression that her stock simmers for months and she just keeps replenishing veggies and seafood.
Fun Afternoon at Nikkei Matsuri Festival in Burnaby, BC
We dropped by the Nikkei Matsuri Japanese festival at Nikkei Place in Burnaby today. Great fun, good food, and lots of colourful action.
Another Super Powell Street Japanese Festival in Vancouver
We attended the 2015 Powell Street Festival in Vancouver today. Super sunny day. Great events and food!
My Flickr album here.
Happy Birthday to Me – Roll Your Own Sushi!
My lovely wife prepared a roll-your-own sushi feast for my birthday, You will also note the portion-controlled birthday cupcake :-).
Goshawk vs Snake Fight — in Tokyo?!
I just saw an NHK (if you’re Canadian think CBC) clip of a snake trying to snatch a goshawk chick from a nest way up a tree — in Meiji Jingu park in Tokyo. Mom GH intervened…
I used to walk through Meiji Jingu a couple of times a week on the way to work when I lived in Tokyo. I would get off the train a few stations early to fill my lungs with somewhat naturally filtered air and enjoy this haven in a sea of concrete and pavement…
But I never imagined a goshawk/snake fight in this green oasis in a metropolitan area of some 25-30 million people!
I’m attaching this Google Earth capture, just to show how isolated this island of biodiversity is in one of the largest metropolitan centers on Earth.
The red marker is Meiji Shrine and its park. The surrounding grey area is all buildings, concrete, and pavement. The other green areas to the right are other parks, and the Imperial Palace.
Nikkei Place Burnaby Celebrate Spring
Yumi and I walked up the hill from our place to the Nikkei National Museum and Cultural Centre here in Burnaby, BC, to take in their Celebrate Spring event.
We enjoyed the crafts, displays, performances, and, of course, the food.
Yumi with a handmade decoration for her hair. Happy girl! : -)
Wife Gets Creative With Japanese Decorating
A piece of folded cardboard, Ferrero Rocher chocolate wrappers, a hot glue gun, a creative wife… et voilà! Miniature golden Japanese screen.
I helped eat the chocolates.
This little scene in our foyer changes every month or two. The base is my late grandmother’s sewing machine, with seasonal Japanese-themed displays.