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Tuesday, June 24, 2014

June 24th 2014 To Boldly Go! (to different train stations)

When I was in 2nd grade some of the neighborhood kids and I liked to play Star Trek. (Yes, the original series, I'm THAT old!) There were some funny little bushes that were the perfect height for small children to crawl inside of and that was our Enterprise and from there we explored different planets and battled Romulons and Klingons! So, when I was home one of my siblings asked me what my favorite thing to do in Tokyo was and I told him it was hopping on the train and getting off at a station I don't know and exploring! It may not be the same as different planets but it satisfies my curiosity.  That's what I did today. First stop was Hino Station. Hino turned out to be a bit more rural Tokyo than some areas I've visited and it was hilly! It also had lots of trees and vegetation though which I like! Here's some pics from my wanderings around.
                                                                   
         I first ended up at a little temple area/graveyard. I found the little knit cap on the statue amusing. Was his head cold? What is the custom behind that I wonder?



                                                                    Graves

Then I went on my way and climbed some hills....
                                                                             Up!
                                                                                Up!
                                                                              Up!

And then SIT!  There was a little park at the top of the hill with some benches to sit on, Yay! 

         And then back down the hill while stopping to admire Hino's street covers! Every area has their own                                              design I always enjoy seeing the different styles!

By then I needed an ice cream so I stopped at a vending machine! I wanted the watermelon flavor but it was sold out so I got grape instead!

Then I continued my exploring, I saw a bus headed to Hachijoji train station so I hopped on! You can see areas of the city by bus that you don't get to see by the train route. It was a pleasant ride and Hachijoji had more things going on than Hino.  I only took a little walk there and decided to save further exploring for a time when Gary could come too! Good news though was that I found a Burger King! We have only run into one so far here in Tokyo and it was far away so this is closer and will be fun to check out the area too.

View from the station.

                               Another view from the station. (Aren't you glad I'm explaining this? lol)


                                                                You get the idea...
                                                                         
                                                             It's starting to rain a little.
                                                                               
                                                                        Burger King!!!!
                                 
                                    Fugu fish staring at me...we are both thinking of killing each other!
                                                                             
                                                                Cool building!


                                                                           Street view
Sherlock Holmes Pub... which is here instead of England.

Then I headed back to the train station and went towards Tachikawa.

By the time I got there and had just left the station looking for the second hand store I like, THIS happened! Even with my little umbrella my feet and legs got quite wet!

       After wandering around a bit and buying a treat for Gary, I decided to head back home, I re-boarded the train and headed to Kichijoji and hopped on the Mu bus and after a stop at the grocers I dragged my soggy self in the door!  Now you have an idea of what a day of my exploring looks like!  Mostly it involves alot of wandering around!

                                                                Hasta Luego!                                                                
                                                                           


                                                                           


Monday, June 16, 2014

June 17th 2014 Happy Birthday Katiebear!!!

Our Katiebear celebrated her 26th birthday this week! She was such a sunshine-y happy baby and her sweet happy personality has endured!  Here she is with one of her students!
 
                                 



In honor of Father's Day I thought I'd share a picture of my own Daddy.  He passed away in 2001 and I miss him still.  When I was a little girl he laughed at me because I was such a tomboy, he said he should have named me Louie instead of Lisa and the name stuck. He called me Louie the rest of my life!
 
 
 
 
 
This week was spent mostly in rain until Thursday afternoon when it finally cleared up so I could catch up on laundry! On Friday we went to Narita airport to meet up with the pastor couple from Pearl City, Hawaii. They were on their way through to Guam for the annual conference there and had a long layover in Narita, so we hopped on the bus and headed out! It's a about a two hour trip to the airport depending on traffic but the bus is comfortable and the ride enjoyable!
 
 

 
We met at our favorite Hot Dog Man in the airport!
 
We had lunch and afterwards enjoyed some coffee jelly frappuccino's  at Starbucks!
 When you are the only church in the country you enjoy the occasional visit!
 
(Robert and Ariya Santos)
 
On Saturday I did some running around getting things for the Father's Day service on Sunday.  Here I am dressed to blend in, the obligatory hat that everyone wears and sunglasses.  I don't think it worked... lol!
 
 
 
 
First, I had to go hunting for a tall fan for the church. It's getting very hot in the season now and until we get the air conditioners installed we will be needing fans! It's hard to find tall fans, many are low to the ground because futons, chairs tables and sofas are often built to sit very low to the ground.  I decided to look in Mitaka as that is close enough to the church I could carry the fan there after I bought it. 
I looked...
 
                                                                                 
                                                                        and looked....
 
Finally, in the third store I looked I found a fan! Then I had to carry it to the church!
 
 



                  It only took me twice the time it would take a normal person to assemble it!  I'm getting better!
 
Now I was ready to shop for some Father's Day gifts!  I headed to Kichijoji!
It was VERY crowded (and apparently blurry)!
 
 
My trip was a success and Father's Day at church went well!
 


                                Afterwards, we had donuts and tea and fellowshipped!
 
 
On To Food!!!!!
 
 
When I went to Wisconsin last month I told Mom I only had two places I needed to go, Walmart and the Dollar Store! Every missionary understands why I say this. There are always little things that we crave that we just can't find in our host country so trips home or friends visiting are when we manage to get a few goodies!  I picked up things like, toothpaste and deodorant which for some reason is very expensive here. I also found some little treats like a box of unfrosted blueberry pop tarts and a salted nut roll. I managed to bring a couple bags of pinto beans which enabled me to make Enfrijoladas!   Enfrijoladas are just lightly fried corn tortillas, dipped in blended beans and then you add crema, thinly sliced onions, cheese and salsa on top. They are not fancy at all but they are a delicious and filling comfort food!
 
(a picture I stole from the internet)
 
I also found some Dona Maria Mole!
 
Legend has it that Mole originated when an arch-bishop was to visit a poor nuns convent and they didn't have anything to feed him. They took what ever they could find around the kitchen,  chiles, dried bread, bananas etc. and mixed it all together cooking it and creating a sauce that they poured over a boiled turkey. When the arch-bishop asked what it was the nun replied Mole which is from an old word for Mix. Usually Mole is served for special occasions like birthdays and weddings.
  Mole is a very individualized dish. There are almost as many mole styles in Mexico as there are Mexican last names! I always loved the Mole almendrado that I would pick up in the Tianguis. Tianguis are weekly open air markets that travel from neighborhood to neighborhood.
(Here's a cool picture I stole again from the internet Wikipedia site for mole. )
 
 Mole can be found in paste or dried form. There are of course probably some people that still make it from scratch but all the ladies I knew bought it pre-made in paste or dried form because it is a very laborious process! I prefer the paste myself. Anyway, the Dona Maria mole is a good enough base to begin with but I like to improve upon it by adding some of my own ingredients and try to get it as close to my favorite Almendrado as possible.
Don't laugh or say gross because I add... peanut butter, cocoa, cinnamon, sesame oil and sugar. I blend it all with the paste and some chicken stock and cook it while stirring until it is smooth.
 
 
 Here is the finished product served over boiled chicken with Mexican rice and home made corn tortillas... it was delicious and a real treat! (There was enough mole sauce left over to freeze and have for a couple more meals later on!)
 
 
That's it for now!  Have a great week!!!

Sunday, June 8, 2014

June 9th 2014 Eating my way through Korea town!

Well it's official, Tsuyu (rainy season) is upon us and with a vengeance this year! It's been a pretty much steady rain for the last five days! My sister bought me new shoes when I went home but I can't wear them because I don't want them getting wet, so I'm wearing my old tennis shoes instead! Still and all it is cooler outside but I could use a little sunshine hopefully this week to do some laundry!
In other more interesting news, on Saturday, Aya and I  pretty much ate our way through korea town! We stopped at a grocery store first and sampled a bunch of different kimchis and bought a few groceries. There were at least 12 different kimchi samples, some with seafood, others with cabbage or seaweed or cucumbers... you get the idea. Delicious! The store also had a street side grill making tasty treats. Aya had kimchi chijimi which is like a veggie pancake, I had a taste and it was  very good! I bought a couple to take home and fry up later!
                                                                       

I chose to have Hotteok with cheese in the middle!
First, he took a handful of yeasty dough and put some cheese into the middle .
                                               
Then he put it on a hot griddle and let it sit there for a few minutes.

(Around this time he turned away from us and did some bending exercises by the window for some reason, maybe he was bored. That made Aya and I laugh, but I didn't take a picture!)

Then he flipped the hotteok and squished it down!

After a few more minutes on the griddle it was HOT and ready to eat! It was delicious! 

There were other filling choices as well, including honey, kimchi, and sweet red bean paste. Being from Wisconsin, I opted for the Cheese!

After that, we walked and explored some of the local shops which turned out to be mostly K-pop souvenir shops for teenage girls!

Then we decided to find some more food! (of course) We ended up at a korean bbq place called Tonchang and that's when the real fun began!

We had  Samgyeopsal, delicious grilled pork belly and kimchi with many side dishes that you can pile onto a piece of lettuce and stuff the whole thing in your mouth.. preferably in ONE bite!

 (Pretty soon it looked like this picture I stole from the internet because I was too busy eating to take a proper picture!)
                                       

 
                  Aya was moving so fast trying to eat it in one bite that this picture came out blurry....

  We were making quick work of our porky feast!

Soon it was gone... but that wasn't the end, the grill was cleaned and the final course begun!

                                         Udon noodles were thrown onto the hot grill

                         Kimchi , green onions and other goodies added (not sure what all it was to be honest)

                                                                  Some fried tofu

                                           and finally, bonito flakes danced to the heat on top!
                                                            (it really does look like it's dancing)

It was all very delicious and fun! 

And as if that wasn't enough, as we headed back to the train station we found a cool "icecream stick" shop and had to try that too!


Finally, we waddled to the train station and I was so full that by the time I made it to Kichijoji train station, got off and was waiting for my bus, I didn't even mind the rain anymore!