Create Every Week - Week #3

We had SNOW!

I know for many people that isn't very exciting but I LOVE the snow and we don't get it very often here.

I wasn't the only one who was stupidly excited about it, admitedly the rest of the lcoals were under the age of 13 hahaaha


Although I had planned to do some drawing this week I couldn't resist grabbing my camera and heading out in the snow and not only the snow, we had a misty morning out too - it was stunning.

I love the snow for so many reasons, being a winter babe probably has something to do with it but I also love...

I love the chance to be the first to walk across an untouched path of snow, it is the one of the times when you can truely be The First.

I love the way that it changes the scenery, making the usual boring and mundane look mysterious and intresting.

I love how it changes the sounds, everything seems quieter and sounds are more intense.

I love the smell, that fresh, clean air that your lungs just can't get enough of.

I love the patterns that nature brings us with the snow, the way that the wind blows it or the way that it covers cabbages in the field making them look like mini mountains.

I love how it changes the energy, kids squeal with excitement, adulats remembering the days they went sledging or the best snowman they ever made.

I love that it is a free creative tool that, when just right you can build amazing sculptures or igloos or snow trolls!

I love the chaos that it brings becuae it makes you appreciaite everything when it's running normally.

I also love that I work from home and don't have to commute in the chaos :D

So here are a few, unedited shots from my 2 and half hour walk! I mamnaged to get my 10K steps in before 10am!

Taste tests: Ebi-kun Eats and taste tests - Long chips

I think this must have been one of the long lost videos that I forgot to upload! Bad mommy!

We went to do some shopping and then to see what was happening at the super arena, there was some kind of festival on which included beer and food stalls, which of course meant that Ebi-kun insisted on trying something new!

We have got him a clip mic for his birthday so that he can do more 'outside broadcasts' we have recorded a few in the past but the sound has been terrible so we haven't been able to use them.

This was actually from earlier in the year, better late than never or so they say... enjoy!

We discovered another new cafe

This seems to have become a new family "thing" finding and trying out new cafes. I feel a bit guilty as I am sat in my favourite cafe, writing about another place! What a traitor!

I haven't attempted it yet but this looks like it's biking distance and have lovely outdoor seating, set in a really pretty garden. The cafe is part of a garden centre and is in the middle of the rice paddies. I think it is one of those places you need to know about, you wouldn't randomly drive by.

We sat under the pagoda where the grapes were growing, to be honest, the menu was very basic. Several spaghetti dishes, most of them containing fish or seafood or waffles. But the setting was lovely which distracted from the limited menu, the drinks were very good though!

They have a lovely big garden and a small area for the kids to play hoopla etc. There were a couple of kids throwing paper airplanes and running about.

And the bees! This is a bear bee, they are really big compared to your average Japanese bee but they have no sting, I have no idea what this purple plant is but the bees loved it, which makes me thing we need some in our garden.

This isn't what it appears to be, it's the back of an open shed where they sell stuff! Although it looks like a super cute house until you get up close. 

I would love to bike over and work in the garden, I expect it would be quite a quiet place to be during the week, but I'm not sure it will be one of our weekend lunch regulars just because the menu was so limited. 

The vicious gnomes of Shinrin Koen

We have a great park, Shinrin Koen, about an hours drive away, it really has something for everyone, whether you are a dog lover, a family with small kids, tweens or keen explorers, there is something to jeep every family member happy.

Last time we went, we tried out hand at orienteering, this time we just rocked up and wandered. We kept seeing these little gnomes and what started out as one or two daft pictures anded up as a whole series...

I'm going to print the photos out and see if Ebi-kun will write a story to go with them. He is very much on a maths kick at the moment so I'm not sure if there will be much interest, we will see.

And the buggers have learned to drive now....

No end of amusement! And now when we think about this particular day at the park, it will be remembered for the vicious gnomes... you have been warned!

Lunch With The Foreign Biz Ladies

The other day I decided to take a few hours off, well to be honest, pretty much the whole day. But I am the boss, so that's OK!

I headed into town and went straight to the massage place, my neck and shoulder was so stiff, she worked a treat on it! Although I sometimes wonder if masseurs actually make it hurt more just so when they stop you feel total relief... hmmm.

After that I met up with an old friend, Laura, she had arrived early. We had a bit of a chat then met everyone else at the cafe. It was great fun meeting other entrepreneurs, most of my foreign friends here are teachers/moms so the conversations tend to circulate around those two topics, this time it was different and I enjoyed the ideas being bounced around!

We were quite a mixed bunch too, I was the token Brit then we had a couple of Aussies, an American, a Jamaican, and a Dane plus two adorable hafu kids who were both incredibly well behaved.

I am hoping we can make this a monthly event, we all have to travel to the central spot but once a month should be doable.

How do you grow trees on the second floor?

[December 19]

Aghh the post that got out of sync! Oh well, I should be back up to date soon, you know before spring arrives!

This was after the Christmas market, daddy had been at work so we met up at Saitama Shintoshin for dinner then has a wander down to the hiroba to see the lights, it finally started to feel Chrsitmassy, the lights were very pretty...

Another Christmas market, far from crowded but equally rubbish! I have come to the conclusion that someone who has never been to a Christmas market has set these up! Oh well, looked pretty!

Ebi-kun found a friend, I don't know why but he really likes the Pink Panther, I always though it was stupid - we're not so alike after all.

We used to meet up with the playgroup kids here back in the day, it's a strange place, there is an open area with trees planted but they are on the second floor, there are actually shops and the bus station underneath the trees, I'm still not sure how it works!

So although it started out as a disappointing day it turned out OK in the end. And if anyone knows how the trees work at the Hiroba, let me know!

Phones, Friends and Football

We had a national holiday this week so we started off the day at the phone shop and just happened to upgrade our phones to the iphone 6 - whoo-hoo! My old 4s has gotten really slow and took forever to do anything on, I can't believe how quick my new 6 is!

In Japanese style, we started off at one AU shop - we moved to AU from Softbank but that shop gave us a quote and hubby wasn't happy, then the shop clerk told us we should try a different AU shop and they might have a better deal.

I have to admit, I have no idea why this works but, we went over to the other shop and managed to save ¥30,000! Crazy pants!

Once we had eventually finished there we met up with some friends in the park, it was a beautiful day, perfect for lollying around on the grass watching the kids wear themselves out...

Now the kids are older and have school and after school activities, it's really hard to find a time to get together, which makes me sad but it's always good to see them have so much fun together.

Out Exploring...

Daddy was working on Saturday and the weather forecast was for rain so we planned to just hang out at home (we usually go out on an adventure when daddy is working) but it turned out to be a beautiful day so on the spur of the moment we went out on a bike ride.

We had a conversation earlier in the day about tree huggers, Ebi-kun thought it was one of my many made up terms, I had to google it to prove that I hadn't made it up! So it was only right that he hugged a tree whilst we were out...

We discovered a new-to-us temple, there are lots of tiny old country road where we live so we just randomly went down a few, you never know what you might find! One thing I hadn't seen before were the statues wearing pearl necklaces....

These statues I think are for babies or children that have died, usually the statues wear a red hat and bib. 

Turned out to be a lovely day and it was actually nice to just to potter around and not have to go anywhere or be anywhere, just some quality downtime.

The weirdness of Japan

It is no secret that Japan is quirky - which is why I love it! This is one of the quirky Japanese things. Just down the road from where Ebi-kun goes to aikido. It's a statue of a girl in a red bikini! And she is hanging out with a panda and a lion...

I thought there must be an interesting story behind it all - and just to be clear, we live in a landlocked prefecture - we are no-where near the sea or even a lake! Turns out that it was just a local who wanted to make a girl in a bikini!

Bambi eat your heart out...

The next town over has just opened a new ice-rink, so we thought we'd go and try it out. Ebi-kun has only skated once before and that was at a tiny rink in the UK for about 30 minutes (most of that time was spent on his arse) 

The rink is great, you pay for your skate hire then it is all self service and they have tubs full of helmets which I think is a brilliant idea (after seeing a lad get his head cut open with a skate, it's definitely a great idea!)

Took him quite some time to find his feet as it were. There are actually two rinks, a big one and a smaller one which is where they were holding lessons when we arrived but that got opened up to the public an hour or so later. I fell on my knees at one stage, no thanks to Ebi-kuns Bambi like technique and a week later I still have two cracking bruises to show for it!

Pictures may speak a thousand words but videos just make you want to pee your pants laughing....

The Cutest Lunch...

We went to one of our favourite cafes for lunch. It gets so busy these days that we now know to book ahead to be sure we get a seat!
The menu is very simple, they have 2 dutch oven meals, basically the same except one is served with bread the other with rice. Then they have two pasta dishes. They make all their own pasta and bread and it's sooo good!

I love how they served up the main meal..

As my husband and I relaxed with a lovely coffee Ebi-kun found a book and was totally engrossed, some things never change! Of course we had to stay until he finished the story.

And I couldn't resist a quick snap of these cute sheep cakes - in honour of year of the sheep for 2015, these look pretty easy to replicate.

Beautiful Colours Of Japanese Autumn

The weather was glorious on Sunday, so I had a walk around the park, stunning colours, I think you'll agree (taken on my phone)...

Not far from where we live is this beautiful gingko tree, I got hubby to stop the car so I could jump out and take some pictures...

This reminds me of a poem in an on Enid Blyton annual I have..

I'm rich today, but the gold I have

Can't be put in a money box,

It can't be slipped into my little purse

Or kept behind bolts and locks.

It's the buttercup gingko trees in the fields down the lane

That makes me rich as can be,

And if you would like to be wealthy too,

Why, come to the meadows with me!

Saitama Day - yet another day off school

I know my posts haven't been as regular as normal, it's all these public holidays! Since Ebi-kun started back at school in September he hasn't had a full day at school. What with school holidays, typhoon days, national holidays and the odd sick day! Needless to say it has been cutting into my blogging time. Grumble. Grumble.

All that said, I do like having him at home so we can spend time together! So Friday was Saitama Day which meant all the schools in Saitama were off. I decided to steer clear of any museums or attractions that are popular with kids as I knew they would be mobbed - past experience! many of them are open for free on Saitama day too. Personally I'd rather pay and miss the crowds. We did consider going to an art museum in Tokyo but Ebi-kun was feeling 100% so we decided to stay closer to home.

As I had a spot of work to do, he went outside with a friend to set fire to some paper with a magnifying glass and do some loombanding...

I found a place on the internet which I thought was cafe but turned out to be just a shop but we went on an adventure to find it anyway... they sold lots of cute cookies and they are packaged really cutely too (one thing they do so well here!)

The shop is called Okashisan and the main cookies are ¥300-¥400, they also have boxes of cookies and roll cakes too. It is at Yonohonmachi Station, in the Beams section of shops, right at the station.

Since they didn't have a cafe, we sat outside and out ours!

After we had scoffed our delicious novelty cookies we walked over to Saitama Shintoshin. Ebi-kun took his camera and was snapping shots for a new project he is working on (all hush, hush for now)

Then we went to the Hawaiian Burger place for lunch. We very rarely have burgers, I'm not that fussed on them and I hate McDonalds, Ebi-kun is very proud of the fact that he has never been to McDonalds and after watching some of those Jamie Oliver videos, I doubt he ever will!

He wanted popcorn shrimp urgh! so we went halves on a burger set because they are so big and he had his scrimp.

Then we checked out the book store, Ebi-kun bought himself a new book and some Lego. We have been using a new system for his money, I will share in a podcast soon. Once he was spent up we headed home. A pleasant date with the boy.