Sand Storms, Star Wars, & Shark Fin Soup

Today's experiences were varied to be sure. After yesterday's dust and sandstorm, I spent the morning vacuuming up red sand, mainly from my kitchen. Wow, if it wouldn't have been so bad for my camera, I would've taken some pictures. The sky turned reddish brown as it was rolling in. The wind was horrible! I've since learned that the DSS (Dust and Sand Storm) phenomenon is a growing problem in Japan. The dust blows in from China and elsewhere. I woke up this morning having a horrible time breathing. After cleaning up the sand, we headed out to church, and then on to lunch with friends. (I'll leave out all the details in between...although church was inspiring and had a good message.) We headed back to our favorite restaurant in Chinatown. Thanks to the nice Japanese lady next to me, I learned a little more about their menu. Most notably, shark fin soup. I'm familiar with shark fin soup and have been outraged in the past about the collection of shark fins. Though I have felt morally opposed, I wanted to see what the rage is all about. Japanese people love this soup. I'm skipping to another paragraph because shark fin soup needs to be set apart, it was just that unique of an experience. The fin itself was not overly apparent in the bowl. In fact, when I scooped up a bite, it appeared to have some sort of rice noodles. Using chopsticks, I lifted an opaque clump from the broth. I studied it a bit and noted that the shape was consistent with a shark fin. This particular one was about two inches tall. That was a small shark. I could not bring myself to put the whole fin into my mouth, so I decided to break off a piece. What I found was that the fin was easily pulled into strings, similar to string cheese. What I thought had been rice noodles were actually strings of the fin. Upon trying my first bite, I concluded that the "shark noodles" had a texture similar to a very al dente noodle. It didn't have much taste. The broth contributed most of the flavor, which was mildly fishy. I feel as though I have a better understanding now of the draw for shark fin soup...though I must say I'll never have it again. It was interesting, but I'm mostly disappointed in myself for having this culinary experience. I will say this, I'll never try turtle soup. On a slightly happier note, Koen watched Star Wars today for the first time. After investigating which order is the optimal order to view them in, we opted to start with episode IV, the original movie. Some of the plot has already been spoiled though since he just finished reading the book for episode I. That's okay though, he's still hooked. I think he understands now why his friend Micah loves Star Wars. Now they'll have more to talk about. Overall it was a good day. The coming week is sure to be full of fun and adventure. We'll be going to a couple museums this week, which should be lots of fun. We're heading to the Anpanman Museum and the Ramen Museum. I'm looking forward to seeing what fun and adventure those have in store for us.

Chinese Go-Round (Kai Ten)

Okay, so we were back in Chinatown today. We joined several friends for lunch at a very interesting Chinese restaurant. I'm not sure if I've shared with everyone about the sushi-go-round restaurants here in Japan. These restaurants have small servings of sushi dishes that run on a conveyor belt around the restaurant. The belt passes in front of each seat, where each person then reaches and grabs a plate and digs in.

The restaurant cost 1260 yen for me and 630 yen for Koen. It was all you can eat. We were able to try about 10 different dishes, including: eggplant; dumplings filled with greens and onions; wontons filled with I don't know what; chicken with cashews, peppers, onions, celery and eggplant; and a coconut milk cake. That only barely scrapes the surface of the dishes they had to offer.

My husband is going to be in love! I can't wait to take him there. It'll be our first stop after he's back from deployment.

Chinese New Year in Yokohama, Japan

Chinese New Year
Current mood: excited
Category: Travel and Places

Last Friday, Koen and I headed to Chinatown with friends for the Chinese New Year celebration. Two words describe the festivities, loud and colorful. There were probably several thousand people lining the streets to watch the parade.

The parade included women dancing, people in festive costumes, and several lions doing the Chinese lion dance. All of this was followed up by a metal cage being pulled along by a Chinese man who occasionally tossed a large pack of firecrackers into the cage, which filled the air with incessant popping and smoke.

One of the costumes was of a large, tall, barrel-chested Chinese man. The character had a large plastic head with movable eyes the size of a grapefruit. Each time he would jump up and down, the eyes would blink just like a baby doll. He was quite rolly poly.

Without a doubt, the lion dance was the neatest part of the parade. The colors were vivid - red, pink, blue, silver, turquoise, yellow, gold, and black. Each lion weaved in and out of the crowd "pouncing" on innocent bystanders. Koen stood along the edge of the street as the lions appeared before us. He didn't so much as flinch, but was completely unmoved and stoic. The turquoise lion made its approach shaking its head slightly and rising menacingly into the air as if to intimidate Koen. Still, he was unshakable. Then it happened, the lion moved swiftly and enveloped Koen. It seemed to swallow him whole and just when I knew all was lost, Koen emerged victorious, having survived his "attacker." He was elated and now could claim some bragging rights (sort of). By the way, my friend Naoko says the lion's head coming down on you like this brings good luck.

Another highlight of the parade was seeing Po from Kung Fu Panda, and the two men in costumes below.  They seemed somehow celestial.  Their faces were painted and they carried swords. At times they would stop their forward movement and engage one another in mock battle. Swords flew, bodies spun, and they energetically threw themselves into the air.

All of this was so exciting that Koen and I ran ahead of the parade. We had to take it all in once more before it was over. We wound the corner and followed the widening curve of people down the street weaving in and out of throngs of Japanese people, all the while looking for a break in the bodies to get to the street's edge. No luck.

With the crowd impeding Koen's view he wound up on my shoulders - a motherly sacrifice to be sure. If you haven't seen him for a while, he's over 70 pounds. Getting him up there was fun. Japanese people around me stared as we went through the process. The bird's eye view only lasted about five minutes, after which a lady on the street's edge reached through, grabbing Koen and pulling him to the front. I was very thankful. So was Koen.

After enduring the final blasts of the firecrackers, we were ready for some dinner. 

Chinatown is one of those places where it's just as easy to eat dinner standing alongside a vendor's stand on the street as it is to sit down at a restaurant. There are plenty of both. We decided to head to a vendor known, by our friend Ashley, to have the best gyoza.

On the way, we stumbled onto the Kanteibyo temple (Buddhist). To say that the temple gate was ornate is a gross understatement. It was absolutely beautiful. Scores of people were climbing the steps, arming themselves with incense before penetrating the inner workings of the temple. I found myself drawn by curiosity. People left their incense sticks sticking upright in large bowls at various numbered stations. One lady stood the whole time we were there praying with her eyes closed at station one. On the inside was a large statue of Kuan Yu (Guan Yu). There were offerings on an altar before him. As a Christian, I've never seen such a blatant display of idolatry. It was fascinating and sad and I walked away feeling thankful to know the one true God.

In the end, we found our gyoza stand and partook of some pretty good eats. Ashley was right, it was excellent. They also made a variety of Chinese steamed buns called baozi. Koen and I tried one with pork, shrimp, veggies, and spices. Boy was that delicious! Chinese food is one of my favorites! We had fun just standing there eating our baozi. (In Japan you don't walk around eating food. It's more proper to stand in place next to the vendor stand and consume your food before walking around.)

On the way out of Chinatown, we stopped by an antique store. I found a Japanese doll in a case that was really beautiful, so I inquired about it. Long story short, I bought four Japanese dolls of various genders, sizes, and dress, for 5000 yen. That's less than $50. I was thrilled and some friend or family member may be the lucky recipient of one of my good fortunes. 

We all had a great time and look forward to going again next year. Although... we don't have to wait until next year to visit Chinatown. We're going again today to sightsee with friends. What adventure awaits us this time? Hmm...we'll see.

Snow Day

It snowed here on February 3rd - about 4-6 inches in some places I would guess. Everything was canceled for the day and the snow beckoned to us . . . you must make a snowman, it said. We couldn't resist. We spent the day in and out, building forts, building and then destroying our snowman, snowball fighting, and sliding down a huge hill behind our house. We even took on some of the neighborhood teenagers in a snowball battle. They were quite surprised that an old woman like me could hold her own! The day was great, but it only just now occurred to me that we never made snow ice cream. Bummer, although we do still have snow on our front lawn. Hmm . . . maybe not, there's always next time.

Take it to the Lord in Prayer

Koen is in the middle of his piano lesson. Normally, I retreat to my office to take care of e-mail and other business while his fingers move deftly over the keys. All the while I hear the reassuring voice of his sensei (teacher), Hiroko Saito. She is a lovely lady, full of energy and always ready to flash you a smile. Hiroko san speaks to Koen in English punctuated by the occasional Japanese "ne." I wish I could help you understand what that sounds like. It is warm and loving - something I've been told only women in Japan say. Koen adores her. She adores Koen, too, I think.

During their lessons, sounds of laughter, marking time, high-fives, and partnered tunes fill the air. It has become so commonplace that I often tune it out and carry on with my own business. However, today something catches my attention - the beautiful sound of "Take it to the Lord in Prayer." The notes waft up the stairs bringing a smile across my face. Suddenly, I am filled with the hope that Koen will learn the true meaning of taking it to the Lord in prayer. This is a perfect opportunity for me to do the same.