Pennennenemu Harry Restaurant

Miyuki told us about this cute little restaurant she thought the girls may enjoy.  They did and we are so glad to have spent an afternoon at Pennennenumu Harry.

One of the even-more-special parts of this trip was that the restaurant had two little dogs and one was "Harry" from a book that Grace's Specials teachers read to her last year in Kindergarten.  So, except for the Japanese title and text..she recognized it the second we walked in the door - where it was on display with the dogs.

Grace had liked the book Mrs. Freking read to the class so much, she checked it out from the library for me to read to she and Sarah at home.  So, we all remembered the cute story about a dog named Harry...







Here is a photo of the girls with the book (in Japanese).  The girls are standing right in front of the dogs (below).  The black dog has a Japanese name and also had a book that he was named after too.  Unfortunately I can't spell or pronounce his name...but here they are.  "Harry" and his friend:


The golden brown dog is "Harry"



Next, we went upstairs to find a table.  You find many Japanese restaurants are multi-level for seating.  Here are the girls enjoying looking through the books, many of which we did recognize (just couldn't read)...

    

Grace was excited to see one of Jim's favorites
as a child..."Where the Wild Things Are"

 















As you can see, even at the table, there were plenty of books to select and choose from.  (behind Grace above)




"A Light in the Attic" by Shel Silverstein





And then, the food arrived!  Grace wouldn't eat her "Harry" cookie because it was too cute (at least for a while) and the girls oohed and ahhed over the cute little cocoa powder paw prints that were on the plates!

Lemon cheesecake for the girls (above).

Tiramisu for me (below).  Sarah and I ended up trading...she wasn't too excited about the lemon part.

And if you order a meal...this is the presentation that is delivered to your table.  You may be able to see a little, but the bread is shaped and decorated to look like a little turtle!

And, you know octopus is common here.  We ARE on an island in the middle of the ocean...it's in the grocery stores, it's in many, many dishes at restaurants, it's placed on pizza and mixed in fried noodles.  But, please don't think that means that we are eating much of it!

However, we did think it fitting that they had an octopus slide in a park a block away that we stopped at for a few minutes on the way home.  I made this picture larger so you could try to see Sarah in it's mouth (or that's how the girls explained it)!

We are so glad Miyuki suggested that we visit this place.  What a special afternoon!

Weekend 10: Okonomiyaki

Okonomiyaki is very famous in Osaka.  (o-konomi-yaki)  It is said to have originated here and people describe it as a pancake with vegetables and meat in it.  We had this for dinner at Spa World.  They mixed it up and grilled it right in front of us.  We had a pork and shrimp version and a beef and pork version.  The latter had noodles also added to it which is mentioned in the definition below.

From Wikipedia: 

Kansai- or Osaka-style okonomiyaki is the predominant version of the dish, found throughout most of Japan. The batter is made of flour, grated nagaimo (a type of yam), water or dashi, eggs and shredded cabbage, and usually contains other ingredients such as green onion, meat (generally pork or bacon), octopus, squid, shrimp, vegetables, kimchi, mochi or cheese. Okonomiyaki is sometimes compared to an omelette or a pancake and may be referred to as a "Japanese pizza" or "Osaka soul food".

In Osaka (the largest city in the Kansai region), where this dish is said to have originated, okonomiyaki is prepared much like a pancake. The batter and other ingredients are fried on both sides on either a teppan or a pan using metal spatulas that are later used to slice the dish when it has finished cooking. Cooked okonomiyaki is topped with ingredients that include otafuku/okonomiyaki sauce (similar to Worcestershire sauce but thicker and sweeter), aonori (seaweed flakes), katsuobushi (bonito flakes), Japanese mayonnaise, and pickled ginger (beni shoga).

When served with a layer of fried noodles, the resulting dish is called modan-yaki, the name of which may be derived from the English word "modern" or as a contraction of mori dakusan, meaning "a lot" or "piled high" signifying the volume of food from having both yakisoba and udon.

We had both okonomiyaki and madan-yaki.  Jim likes it with noodles better.  I prefer without.  The girls won't tell me what their preference was, but they both ate it.  So - that right there says alot...it was good!

If you would like to watch a few videos of how this is prepared, I took them for everyone.  And if we don't already look like tourists, me video taping them making okonomiyaki sure confirmed it!  I think it made almost all of the workers in the restaurant laugh a little...but not in a bad way.  Most Japanese people we find are proud to share their culture with westerners...even if it means their hands are on video!

 

This is the beginning.  They bring the mix in the bowl to the table, mix it up right in front of you.

Then they place the mixture on the grill....

And then they flip it...just like a pancake!

Add two special sauces...and it's ready to eat!  (This is just a photo, not a video)

Little Joys

It's the missing hair tie!  YAY!  Grace found it in the pocket of Sarah's sweater this afternoon.

And we are all so happy!  It's the little things...

Weekend 10: Tennoji Zoo

The Tennoji Zoo opened on January 1, 1915 and we visited it on Sunday.

The girls enjoyed seeing many of the animals at the zoo.  We saw seals, polar bears, reptiles, koalas, a kangaroo mouse, a crane and Mongolian Bears...and many more.  The Zoo was a nice little adventure and it was fun to see a few animals that we don't see at the Cincinnati Zoo.  For some reason, we were not allowed to take photos of the Koala Bears which I would have liked to have because we don't have Koala's in Cincinnati anymore, but there were many signs that said "no photography" and a guard stationed inside the Koala building - so I think they were pretty certain about this!

It was hot, but everyone did well (aka Sarah).  Going in the air conditioned buildings helped, but also this zoo was pretty shady - and not hilly like our zoo!  And, Jim also caused shouts of glee when he disappeared and then showed back up with two large cups of shaved ice for all of us to share.

Being honest, there were a few things that were maybe a little less clean or kept-up with than what we may find at home.  Or maybe we just noticed because we go to the Cincinnati Zoo alot during the year and there is a reason that it is nationally ranked among zoo's in the United States.  Either way, we had a nice time at the Tennoji Zoo and have a little more appreciation for our own Cincinnati Zoo.

After the zoo, we went back to Spa World - a perfect way to cool off after spending time at the zoo...and it was a block away!



Watching the seals and listening to them bark!

 

Polar Bears





Mongolian Bears

 

Out to Dinner

The other night Jim got home "early" (7 p.m.) so we decided to go out to dinner (he had emailed before he left work).  One night this week he got home after the girls were asleep and we were needing some "get out of the house and be a family" time.  So, we decided set out to eat somewhere we had not eaten before, somewhere that was close by (because how cool is it that we can just WALK to restaurants???) and somewhere that had availability - you will find here that a lot of the local restaurants are full by 7 p.m. because they don't have the seating capacity that we may be used to.  You will also find that these little places have wonderful charm, a quaintness that is inviting and unique AND more compelling than a chain restaurant...

Anyway, our waitress did speak some English (which helped because this restaurant did not have many pictures in their menu - which is uncommon here).  Jim loves to just point to something on the menu and order it.  I, however prefer to know what I'm eating before it arrives on the table. (wink)  So, we settled upon asking our waitress, "What's Good?"  And these are the items we ordered.  Unfortunately, I do not know what any of the are called.  Maybe I'll ask Miyuki to help me with that...but, until then pictures and my descriptions will serve us nicely.

This was kinda like a pizza - in the sense that it was round and flat and had cheese baked on top of it.  Inside was a creamy white sauce that I'd say was the consistency of cream cheese or something.  It also had "leaves" in it which Sarah would not eat until it was picked out.  I think it was spinach, but she is funny about "leaves" these days - which she defines as anything green and flat.  Jim and I liked this appetizer dish.






This is what we ordered for the girls.  Jim said that he has this quite frequently in the lunches the company he is working at orders for them.  He thinks it's maybe a sweet potato dipped in batter and fried.  I'm not sure, but it was something fried that was mushy inside.  The girls didn't eat it.  But, kudos to Grace because she tried it.  That's big for her.  It was okay, but I probably wouldn't order it as a main dish.





This was our main course.  I was excited when I saw it because it reminded me a little of the dish we ordered on our Anniversary.  We cooked it at the table (which is always fun).  But, it ended up being more like a soup.  Grace ate the carrots off the top before it was done....more kudos for her!

It also had beef in it, which you can't see because it was under the cabbage.  There was also a mild soy sauce in the pan in which everything cooked.  In all, this was okay too.  I think we would have liked it better had it been served with rice - and it probably could have been if we had ordered some (or known what we were doing).  But, it was good.

For this meal, we also got some fried noodles but the girls ate them all before I could take a picture!

And finally, for our entertainment - Sarah took the hand towels they give you before the meal to preform a magic trick - where she asked where her glass was and then pulled them off and said "Here it is!"

The Apartment

Welcome to our home-away-from-home.  We wanted to walk you in to the apartment and show you a quick overview of the layout.  In follow-up posts we will take you through room by room.

Before you enter, we want to point out something.  Through this blog, we have attempted to share with you our "adventures" and some of the culture of Japan.  The apartment is a large part of our experience however, this is a "western" apartment.  It's "big" (for here).  So, while we want to welcome you in to our living space, we also want to mention that this may not be a representation of space that similar-sized Japanese families reside in.

That being said, welcome to our Japan home...

Introducing Brilliant Osaka

This is the apartment building where we have lived for the summer.  It is called "Brilliant Osaka."  We live on the seventh floor of the building.  I took this picture from the park across the street, where we spent a great deal of our time.  I took it from here so you could see how close we are too the park and so that you could close your eyes and imagine how blessed we are by the proximity of having a "backyard" right across the street - literally.

More on the apartment to come...

Kids Plaza, Part 5

So we went for our weekly trip to Kids Plaza, stopping for an errand on the way to register Jim's new status as a "resident" of Japan.  Technicalities...

Here are pictures of the girls being postal carriers...

At the grocery store...

Making noodles in the restaurant for their customer (me):

This is the veterinarian section.  You listen to the pet's picture on the wall with a stethoscope.  Then, when you put it in the right spot, the mirror above lights up to show you the "problem."

     Playing drums:                                                                                         American Football:

Trying on clothes from other parts of the world.  I think the blue dress is from Brazil...not sure about the other one.

A New Friend

So, this week we met a new couple at breakfast that has moved to the building.  They have arrived in Japan from India.  We spent the day with "her" just hanging out and playing with the girls.  It's hot here and after our trip to Universal Studios, I've been trying to keep Sarah inside for better portions of the day.  The first half of the day that we spent with our new friend we were in our apartment and then we went up to hers.  She made the girls some "Maggie" which is sort of like ramen noodles - except kicked up with spice.  It was a little spicy for the girls, but I liked it alot.  Sarah kept trying to eat it, but she'd take a bite and then about 4 huge drinks of water.  That made me laugh.  She also shared some biscuits (cookies) with the girls and they ate all that was left!

Then, she and I had tea and a traditional Indian snack.  I have figure out what it was called (again), but it was good.  And we had Darjeeling Tea to go with it.  The tea is another something that I'll enjoy when I get home too.  I'm pretty sure I'll be able to find that there, I have just never had that type of tea before.

Kimono Playdate

We had another playdate with our friends on the 10th floor!  As always, we spent hours and hours together sharing time and enjoying one another's company.  The girls played, but also tried on a Yukata.  This is a casual summer (cotton) kimono.  Aren't they just so cute?!?!

After the girls were finished trying on the yakatas, Miho and I spent time looking through a book she had about wearing kimonos, tying the belt/sashes...they can be tied in many different ways and different ways to fix your hair when wearing a kimono, etc.  She explained to me what some of the special markings were, how some are more formal than others, etc.  And then she showed me many of her kimonos - from casual to formal...all beautiful.  They are typically stored in a special box (because are often made of silk) so that bugs are kept from them and are wrapped very specially.  I should have taken a picture of that too, but I forgot.

Later in the afternoon the girls and I shared our glitter nail polish and I gave the girls manicures.
We feel blessed to have found such special friends to further share the Japanese Culture with us.

Weekend 9: Universal Studios Japan

Saturday we took the girls to Universal Studios Japan.  It's in Osaka...four train stops away!  It was a hot and humid day here in Japan and we tried our best to stay cool and hydrated.  Sarah literally could not take the heat and I ended up leaving with her after about 4 hours.  But, before that she had a good time and Jim and Grace stayed until the closing parade and really enjoyed the rest of the park.  We only have pictures of the things we did while I was there since it's usually me taking the pictures and Jim wouldn't have been able to take pictures and ride the rides with Grace at the same time.

As you can tell the younger child area of the park is Sesame Street themed.  Sarah really loved driving the cars.  Of course, it was one of the only rides she rode (although she rode them three times).  Before she left she also rode the merry-go-round, watched a couple shows and slept through lunch.  Gotta remember, in an amusement park you stand in line for a while to ride a ride for 2 minutes...

She was still talking about driving the cars the next day!
















 They had this little water section with Ernie in the bathtub with his rubber ducky and then water trickling out down a stream in which the duckies could zig-zag through.  I guess I didn't get a picture of that, but Grace is picking up a duck at the bottom.

Grace wasn't allowed to ride the cars that Sarah rode.  But, here she is riding the cars for the bigger kids!

It was an "okay" day at Universal for our family.  Universal itself was fun, but Sarah needing to go home did put a damper on the experience, especially because Jim and I were a little worried about her.  (Now, mom - this doesn't mean she was passed out and we weren't taking care of her so don't get worried, she's fine!). 

But, on the positive side...we took a train to get here.  I left with Sarah.  Had we went to Kings Island for the day - the whole family would have needed to leave in the car we used to drive there.  Grace and Jim were able to stay and spend the rest of the time there together and came home smiling.