お好み焼き [Oko-no-mi-ya-ki]

Okonomiyaki is the Japanese word for what could be translated as "a cabbage pancake". It's healthy and delicious. I was recently shown how to cook this popular dish, Kanto style -- which was very different from the method I usually use!

Here is the recipe....


1. Mix batter and add to the bottom of a hot pan. Add shredded cabbage over the batter.

2. Next, add the inner ingredients: one egg, crushed dried shrimp, your favorite meat and veggies (usually cheese, mushrooms, etc...)

3. Add more batter to the top, cook and fold it over.

4. Add sause, mayonaise, dried green seaweed, and bonito (a kind of dried fish). 

The inside looks like this: 

Kanto style okonomiyaki is folded over and the taste is similar to eating mochi with vegetables. In other areas of Japan, this dish is cooked differently -- all the ingredients are mixed with the batter and cooked as one. Simple and easy. Kanto style takes a little longer, but the end result is still tasty! ^_^

What to know more about okonomiyaki? Click HERE to read more, and learn how to cook it. 

Doshi Village, Kanagawa

My boyfriend surprised me one Friday by coming over just after lunch. "You're not working today?" I asked. He said: "I want to take you out, so I took a half day off work." o_O Wow.

He then requested I get my map of Kanagawa and explained the day's plan: a circuit drive through northern Kanagawa, west to Yamanashi, south via Shizuoka and east, returning to Kanagawa.

We drove north for about an hour before hitting unspoiled green territory. Along the route, we stopped several times to take photos...

View from a bridge, of a bridge! (laugh)

Looking back at the road: 

The green mountain view:

Continuing to enjoy the greenery, we found a sign pointing to something interesting. I asked to stop the car and explore. We found this.....

.....a suspension bridge! ^_^ This one looked much safer than the one I walked across in Thailand.

Cutenekko walks over: 

View from the bridge: 

View to the end of the bridge: 

Safely across! 

After walking over, we both commented that the experience was so scary! With each step, the bridge bobbed up and down quite a bit. At the end of the bridge, there is a trail leading up to the mountain. The signpost said that takes 3.5 hours, so we agreed to come back another time and challenge the mountain! ^_^

We continued to drive the winding, mountain roads and laughed as the Beatles song: "The Long and Winding Road" came on the radio. Northern Kanagawa is famous for fishing spots and campsites, and we passed many. A rest point on the road provided a map of this area, known as "Doshi Village", which is a scenic, rural road, following the valley river.

Cutenekko points out the current location: 

Close up the map (click to see details):

We entered Yamanashi prefecture, and came across one lake near Mt.Fuji. There are five famous lakes, which are known as "Fujigoko" [5 Fuji Lakes]. This one was called "Yamanaka-ko", but enjoys the nickname "Swan Lake", due to the birds wading here. The mist made it a little gloomy, but still lovely...

Looking out over the lake: 

On a clear day, you can easily see Mount Fuji from this point.

Five hours had already passed, so we headed back, but Samurai suggested stopping at a shopping mall along the route. A guy who wants to go shopping = a rare species! (laugh)

The mall was Gotemba Premium Outlet mall -- famous with Tokyo-ites who want to buy brand name goods at half the retail price. I didn't take photos, as it was getting dark, but there is an excellent website HERE. Highly recommended, even if you don't have money! (laugh)

Kanagawa and its surrounding prefectures are pretty spectacular. I hope you enjoyed today's drive. ^_^

Information about Doshi Mura (Doshi Village) activities and sights, can be found HERE. A map of the area is HERE. Yamanaka-ko (Lake Yamanaka) in Yamanashi prefecture, is HERE. 

Candle Light Service

Welcome to my revised blog. A new country and fresh adventures prompted me to redesign my page. I hope readers will enjoy the changes and interesting scenes from Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan. 
Maps HERE and HERE.

I received information about a unique event held in the countryside of Kanagawa ---a candle light service to mark the summer solstice. City workers had set up over 80,000 candles in a local park, lighting them at dusk. Samurai invited me to go, so we enjoyed touring the park together.

Workers gave speeches before the event began:

The lighting begins! 

The lit pathway...beautiful eh? ^_^

A giant heart:

This park was huge and had a lot more to offer than just the candle service. We walked deeper down the path to find....a rose garden! Wow! A proper English garden in the midst of the Japanese countryside??? Amazing!!!

Roses:

It's the rainy season in Japan currently, and one flower is synonymous with this time of year -- 紫陽花 [ah - ji - sigh = hydrangeas]. Tucked in a corner of the English garden were these beautiful flowers....

Hydrangeas: 

We also found a children's playground with a zip line. Even wearing a dress, I hopped on the rope and sped down the zip line (laugh). Sorry, no photos as it was quite dark...I'll visit again to get some video.

We also followed the sounds of a group of excited people huddling together near a bamboo forest. What were they all staring into the forest intensely about....? Oh....蛍 [ ho - ta - ru = fireflies]! We saw a few..again, no photos, sorry.

Peace & Love

I enjoyed this event very much for several reasons -- it was free, it was outdoors and it was quite romantic. What girl wouldn't be impressed walking through a park at dusk, surrounded by candle light?! Japan is lovely, no?

Sayonara Thailand -- Part 2

The day had finally arrived for my departure from the Land of Smiles. I had mixed feelings about leaving. On one hand, Thailand had been very therapeutic -- one could enjoy the warmth, flair and activities of the city on a limited budget, on the other hand, I really missed Japanese food and the exciting offer of trying something new and unknown.

My flight left so early in the morning, I was quite sad to not be able to say goodbye to my condo's security guards. They were always so kind to me!

I took photos to commemorate my final flight...

On the ground:

Take off....enjoying all that green!

In the air...the last view before entering clouds:

Thank you Thailand for a fun 2 years. ^_^

As the flight wore on, I got anxious and excited....and injured. When our planed pulled into the gate at Narita airport outside of Tokyo, a guy dropped his bag on my head while opening the overhead bin. OW!! It was not exactly the よこそ日本へ！[Welcome to Japan!] I had hoped for. (laugh)

I soon experienced my first shock -- the temperature. [>_<] Significantly lower than the 34 C I enjoyed daily in Bangkok....Brr!!

After submitted my customs forms to the moving company counter, I had about 30 minutes to wait for my bus. A friend had promised to pick me up with my mountains of luggage. Cheers for all the kind friends in the world! ^_^

Waiting (and freezing!) at the bus stop:

Another adventure was set to begin... my second life in Japan. I hope readers will enjoy more sights and scenes from Asia.

Sayonara Thailand!

After my brother and his girlfriend returned to Canada, I had a few weeks to pack up for my next adventure -- I was moving back to Japan.

My girlfriends in Bangkok organized a small home party, as a way to say goodbye before leaving. It was held at my Thai friend's house, which was really nicely decorated! Take a look:

Her living room:

Entertainment Center:

She ordered food from a famous chef who works for an expensive hotel in the city. The result was a table full of delicious food! (The photo only shows half of the dishes...)

It was really good to catch up with my girlfriends and enjoy one final send-off. We laughed and chatted about our various experiences with boys....two girlfriends dated the same guy on the same day!! (laugh) Ah, Bangkok, you are never dull. ^_^

We gathered for a final photo together. It's interesting to note all the nationalities represented here: a Thai, a Kenyan, a Brit and one Canuck. ^_^ I will definitely miss the international flair of the city. This photo makes me laugh though; after taking it, a friend commented: "We look like a bunch of merkats!" Hahaha!

***Special Thank You***
To my friends, Bionic, A and G -- thank you for a great party. I had so much fun. Now, when are you coming to Japan? ^_^

Travels in Thailand - Part 13

...a trip to Kanchanaburi continues...

Day two of our action packed tour continues! On the menu: an appetizer of elephant riding, a main course of elephant bathing, and for dessert? A slow return via bamboo raft to a waterside restaurant. Diners ready? Let's eat, Thai (adventure) style! ^_^

My brother wanted to try riding an elephant, as the symbolic animal of Thailand is naturally, the elephant. They have been used in battles, as workers (carting logs from jungles) and for transport (carrying Kings in days past). This tour included a 30 minute jungle trek via elephant. I'd ridden them before (in India and Thailand), so I knew the feeling, which is to say, I've been lurched about before. (laugh) But I was unprepared for beauty and stillness of the jungle...

On the path...


The view at the top of a hill (lovely, no?):


Our driver:


As I can speak Thai, I spoke with our elephant's driver. I was surprised to learn he was from Burma, working in the Kingdom. When I asked if he enjoyed his job, he said: "No, it's boring." (laugh) Well, I appreciated his honesty. He asked why I can speak Thai, where I am from, what I do in Thailand and we chatted about Burma too. All that chatting paid off, because near the end of our trek, the driver jumped down and asked for my camera. He then took many photos for my travel companion and I (all free!). Lucky!!

Our cute elephant and my travel partner, a nice lady from New Zealand: 

Next, the lady from NZ and her two daughters paid for a "Bonus" -- bathing/ swimming with the elephants. I asked if I could follow them to the river to watch. The photos show the fun.

Into the water: 


Elephant shower, activated! 


Up, on the trunk....


...and tossed over the elephant! ^_^ 


The lady from NZ said it was so tiring as you had to hang on pretty tight while the animals dove under the water. What might have been tiring for the humans, seemed like great fun for the elephants. The big animals looked to be really enjoying themselves.

Finally, our tour would take a slow, leisurely pace, with a trip down the River Kwai in a bamboo raft. For those who are wondering, the raft really is made of bamboo! 

Our raft: 

We had two drivers, both from Burma (I also talked with these guys in Thai -- they were both very funny!):

Driver #1 (steering):

Driver #2 (paddling and lookout):

We drifted down the river, silently. Our whole group, which had been quite chatty before, became hushed to enjoy the stillness...

River view: 

A passing long tail boat: 

After about 20 minutes of travel, we caught up to a suspension bridge. Our raft stopped just before the bridge, so we could disembark and walk over the bridge! Wow!!

The bridge: 

Bridge entrance...looks a little...um..unsafe?
 

 Must be alright...I can see some people walking across it...

My feet and the crazy bridge: 

View from the bridge's mid point. My heart was just pounding in fear here...haha:

 

 Safely across! Here's the view from land: 

After that heart stopping bridge crossing, we enjoyed lunch together. Wiping our mouths after feasting on the spoils of Kanchanaburi, we headed back to Bangkok on full stomachs and happy memories. This trip was certainly one I will remember for a long time. ^_^

Kanchanaburi is located 3 hours by van/car outside of Bangkok. Several national parks, the famous bridge on the river Kwai, elephant trekking and a host of other activities can be found here. For more information, visit HERE.