Grace is a Mama's Helper

So, we go to the park a lot during the week.  It's partly how we fill our days.  This week, Grace made friends with a little girl (she is a one-year-old) and her mom.  I wasn't sure that the mama really liked Grace leading her daughter by the hand, walking around with her, helping, etc.  I wasn't able to communicate with her well.  People are so polite here, I often feel like someone could be just being nice.  However, as they were leaving she was able to ask me (through another mom that was there) if we would be returning tomorrow.

This week, we've met them at the park on three separate occations.  They live in the building next to ours.  And, the little girl is so sweet.  She hugs Grace while they are playing and Grace is so cute with her too.

Yesterday while at the park, Grace and Luna were playing and the mom sat with her phone and I sat trying to catch a wireless signal on my Kindle and we talked back and forth by typing into our devices.  It's better than nothing...one of the things I typed was an apology that I didn't know Japanese.  One of the things that she typed out to me was:  "are you going to be in Osaka forever?"  I'm sure there was some translation changes there, but it was bittersweet.

P.S. for Lori B- this reminded me of the days when our big kids were little and Grace would chase him around with his drink ;)

Weekend 5: June Kadotani

On our way to the beach on Sunday, we saw this singer in the train station.  We had seen her another weekend, but had just missed her performance.  She was lovely.  For some reason her song and voice touched me, although I could not understand her words.  I bought her cd and hope to work on some loose translations of her music.  I believe her name is June Kadotani.  Enjoy...

P.S. It is extrememly common here for people to make a peace sign in their photos.

P.S.S.  The average price of a music cd here is 3000 Yen ($37.76)

Weekend 5: Suma Beach

The girls had so much fun putting their feet in the water on Father's Day weekend, that we decided to go back with a purposeful visit to the beach (bathing suits included)!  We also thought that since Erin had just arrived, a lazy day at the beach may be good for her jet lag...

Here is some of the fun we had...

Erin has never been to the beach...so we initiated her by burying her in the sand!

Then it was Grace's turn!

After leaving the beach on Father's Day weekend, Jim told the girls we would probably go back to the beach at some point before we returned to home.  Sarah immediately and excidedly asked, "when we go to the beach next time, can I wear my Dora swimsuit AND can Dora get wet?"  She has asked this several times since then.

So after we had been at the beach for a little while, Jim asked Sarah, "Has Dora had gotten wet yet?"  Dora had not yet gotten wet...and here is a picture of how Sarah decided to remedy that.  It made Jim and I laugh.

Later, Dora got wet in a more traditional way....

And, finally...Funny story of the day. This guy asked if he could get his photo taken with Jim.  In some parts of Japan the people do not often see Caucasians.   But, maybe he thought Jim was a movie star???

This is me taking a picture of them taking their picture.

Weekend 5: More Waffles (for breakfast)

For Erin's first breakfast we took her to the waffle place.  She chose a tropical waffle combination of mangos, mandarian oranges and pineapple drizzled with strawberry syrup.

Grace and Sarah shared the type of waffle that Erin ordered.  This is us asking Sarah how the ice cream is...her eyes light right up.  Our little sugar monster, we call her.

Weekend 5: Dancers at the Train Station

At the train station while the girls and I were headed back to the apartment (and Jim was headed to pick up Erin), the girls had their picture taken with these dancers we watched.  We later found out that the girls were promoting a fashion show.  But, we thought you may enjoy....weekends at the train station provides various entertainment for us.

Weekend 5: Takoyaki (Octopus Dough Balls)

Erin arrived safely and was feeling alert and awake so we decided to go out to dinner.  We jumped right in to giving her a more Japanese dinner experience and went to a little restaurant in town.  We ordered Takoyaki.

Takoyaki (たこ焼き or 蛸焼, literally fried or grilled octopus) is a ball-shaped Japanese snack made of a wheat flour-based batter and cooked in a special takoyaki pan. It is typically filled with minced or diced octopus, tempura scraps, pickled ginger, and green onion. Takoyaki are brushed with takoyaki sauce, a sauce similar to Worcestershire sauce, and mayonnaise. The takoyaki is then sprinkled with green laver and shavings of dried bonito. Takoyaki is associated with yatai street food stalls, but there are many well-established takoyaki specialty restaurants, particularly in Osaka and the Kansai region. 

Takoyaki was first popularized in Osaka, where a street vendor named Tomekichi Endo is credited with its invention in 1935. (Wikipedia).

We also ordered some raw fish and some different meats on a stick.  Which is also something you see here...chicken, pork, etc all served on a stick.  For some reason I didn't take pictures of any of that.  But, it was good and Erin's introduction to Japan began in full swing.  Oh, and our girls ate the takoyaki, right after I took the octopus out...

Randomly, the next day we saw someone (in a restaurant window) making takoyaki.  It was made much different than I thought, (since I thought a dough ball with octopus in it was dipped in a fryer), so I took a short video to show everyone.



Weekend 5: Namba

Erin (my sister) arrives later today, Saturday.  In the morning before her flight arrives we decided to take the train to Namba - a district in southern Osaka.

Just riding the train is entertainment for the girls.  We walked around the streets (below) and the mall (above) and I took a few photos to show you.  If you search on the left side of the photo above you will see the McDonalds sign.  There are several McDonalds here and so far we have not eaten there - well, I have not.  The very first day Jim and the girls walked in and stopped there for a drink and shared a small fry, but I don't know if that counts as eating there!

However, we did break down and eat at Burger King this day.  I'm happy to say that a Whopper here is the same as in the U.S.  The only difference is that you can add a fried egg to your Whopper if you want.  You see that a great deal here, egg on the top off different dishes.  And, I did have a green tea smoothie to go with my meal!

Weekend 5: Aloha Festival

Friday evening the plaza across the street hosted the Aloha Festival.  There were lots of Hawaiian themed booths, vacation information and hula dancers.  Hawaii is a popular travel destination for people who live here.  It's about a 5-6 hour flight and there are many places in Hawaii that have things/information translated in Japanese and some people also speak the language...making it more easy to vacation there for people from Japan.  Take it from me, being in a place where you can find some people who speak your language, even just a little bit, helps you tremendously!

Giggles

Conversation between the girls and I


Grace:  "We really need to learn how to say good-bye in Japanese."

Me:  "Yes, you are right.  We do."

Sarah:  "We don't need to know how to say good-bye in Japanese.  This is how you say good-bye in Japanese." 
Then, she waved.

Kids Plaza Osaka, Take Two!

We bought a membership to Kids Plaza Osaka so we went for our second trip.  We still haven't seen it all!

Here are the girls at the "beauty salon" where they each picked out their magnetic hairstyle and bows, placed them on the board and then went around back to see themselves in the mirror...and to smile at my camera.

 They have four little restaurants set up for the kids to play and serve their customers...one of them serves Takoyaki (fried dough ball with octopus inside), another sushi and below see the noodles?

 This is little Sarah waiting in line to ring up her groceries at the store.  Below you see her scanning them and after she's done a little receipt pops out for them to keep. 

Here are the girls playing house in the pretend play area...complete with leaving your shoes at the door!

And below are the girls dressed up as little Korean princesses.  (I made the princess part up)

...and this is Grace in a little Vietnamese outfit.

Another fun day...

Playdate

Thursday, we had a playdate with a mom and her daughter who live in our apartment building.  (Remember, the letter under our door?)  We had a nice time, the girls got to play with someone besides each other and the mama made us lunch.  Hayashi Rice.  It was yummy.  (I would have taken a picture, but I already took a picture of the chopsticks and I didn't want the woman to think I was strange).

Pictured here are some little chopstick holders.  When setting the table, you place your chopsticks on the holder at each place setting.  Many of the holders are chosen purposely depending on the season.  Some (like the doughnut above) are for fun!

It was a very nice way to spend a day...talking to other people besides each other :)

"Our" Fruit Stand

This is the fruit stand we visit at least twice a week.  A cute older couple run it and they declined my request to please take their photo.  So, this is a photo of their fruit stand.  We love them.  They are so cute.

The grocery store we like best, Life, is right around the corner and we stop at the fruit stand almost every time we go, on our way home.  This couple speaks no English, but they can say hello and enough to have asked us if we are from America.  They think the girls are cute (which of course, they are).

About the third time we went there the gentleman began under-charging me.  I didn't quite catch it that time, but the next time we were there I was paying attention...and I asked.  Of course there is a severe language barrier.  And after searching his head for the right word, he came up with "service" which I took to mean, with his non-verbal expressions, "repeat customer." 

Although he doesn't speak English a couple weeks ago I attempted to ask where the apples were that day.  We love the apples here, I don't know the variety but we had went to the fruit stand for apples.  And of course, we had a communication issue.  He had know idea what "apple" meant and at the time, I did not know how to ask for a "ringo."  However, the next week there were ringos there.  And Sarah grabbed an orange (which we do typically buy) but we did not want this trip.  So, I took it from Sarah's hand and put it back.  The gentleman took it out of the basket and gave the orange back to Sarah.  Then, I stood there not wanting to be rude and trying to decide what to do...and then the gentleman gave Grace an orange too.  So, then I knew that he was giving us the oranges and I paid for my two rather large apples.  Service.  :)

This fruit stand is part of our life here.  It's "ours" and even with the language barriers it is nice to find ways to communicate in spite of them.

"Trials" of Living as a Foreignor

So, when we first got here our apartment had given us a couple packets of dishwasher soap and laundry soap.  I set out to buy more and found this product in the laundry aisle.  If you look at it, would you guess laundry detergent?  It smells fragrant. 

Just to be sure, I did ask a lady in the aisle.  She didn't know the English word and I kept showing her my empty packet of laundry detergent and pointing to this bottle, in effort to ask if it was the same thing.  She looked in her translator to find the word and told me...that this, my friends, is bleach.  It's always good to ask!  And, I did avoid a laundry disaster :)

Giggles

Grace:  Jim went in to check on Grace the other night because she was making some noise in her sleep.  When he went in there she was saying, in her sleep "I just can't walk anymore..."

Sarah:  She will argue with you if you give her noodles (fried noodles) without chopsticks.  She does not believe they can be eaten with a fork.  She insists upon chopsticks, then she proceeds to put one chopstick in each hand and feed herself the noodles.

Weekend 4: The Beach

On the way back from fishing we walked along the beach toward the train station.  The girls' couldn't wait to put their feet in the water.

It's not vacation season yet in Japan, so the beach was not very busy (except fisherman and a few other people enjoying the beach).  So, we were able to get photos without others in them fairly easily.




A starfish right by where they were putting their feet in





Jellyfish we saw on the way to the fishing pier



Weekend 4: Father's Day Fishing Tradition

It's a Father's Day tradition, in our family, to go fishing.  We started this tradition when Grace was 2 months old and haven't missed it yet.  This year, fishing in the ocean in Suma, Japan was our special location.

We stopped and got fishing licences (see the yellow tag hanging from Jim's neck?).  The girls didn't need one and went to go rent poles and get bait.

They gave us two bags of little shrimp (I guess) and a spoon.  You spooned the mess in a little blue weighed cylinder on the end of your line.  Then the shrimp floated out and when the fish went to bite, you hoped they also hooked themselves on a couple of hooks above the blue basket on your line.

 

It didn't look like there was a great deal of success on the pier, but there were alot of people set up and fishing.

 

And, we had success!!!  Look at this fish that Grace reeled in without any help!!!  She baited the goop in the basket, plunked it in the water and reeled it in...no help from anyone.  A little puffer fish and very exciting!

And, not to be outdone by her sister,...after Grace's catch, Sarah got re-interested in fishing for the day.  And, with some help from Daddy (and some help from Grace - dropping some extra bait in the water with the spoon) Sarah pulled out this fish!

On the way home Sarah asked if we could go fishing in "Cha-pan" again next year on Father's Day.

Happy Father's Day to Jim.  It was a good day. 

Weekend 4: Father's Day - Park Pit Stop

After lunch and walking around the harbor in Kobe, we got back on the train and headed to Suma, Japan to continue our Father's Day fishing tradition.  On the way, we stopped at a park.  Here are a few cute photos of the girls.

Weekend 4: Father's Day Lunch

 

Jim got Father's Day off this weekend (he almost did not).  So we went to a Korean Barbecue restaurant which is one of his favorite.  We ordered chicken, sirloin and Kobe beef to go with our veggies and rice.  The girls cooked over the fire (just a little) and we enjoyed lunch.

Below you see some Kobe Beef on the grill (above the chicken).  Some of you may have heard of this.

From Wickipedia:  Kobe beef refers to cuts of beef from the black Tajima-ushi breed of Wagyu cattle, raised according to strict tradition in  Hyōgo Prefecture, Japan. The meat is generally considered to be a delicacy, renowned for its flavour, tenderness, and fatty, well-marbled texture. Kobe beef can be prepared as steak, sukiyaki, shabu shabu, sashimi, teppanyaki and more.

Despite many American beef products being labeled Kobe, authentic Japanese Kobe beef is not available for sale anywhere outside Japan, with the solitary exception of Macau.

Since we were in Kobe (the city) we decided to order some Kobe beef for our lunch (since it was not a steak (around $150), this meat was only about $25), you see some of it below.  As for taste, it was good.  But, so was the sirloin and the chicken.  And we can say that we have had authentic Japanese Kobe beef.

Grace is Really Fitting in Here...

People on the trains get on, find a seat or place to stand and either 1) listen to their IPOD, 2) read or 3) almost immediately close their eyes to rest.  Grace fits right in on this day...

Syrup Bottle

I made pancakes this morning!  So, today we opened the bottle of syrup that we bought...and I noticed the cap.  A nifty design for poruing...wouldn't mind seeing this on some bottles at home.