Lipton Limone C

This 500ml bottled Lipton Limone C (lemon tea) contains a day's worth of vitamin C (100mg), and surprisingly, it is ZERO calorie! Amazing, huh?!

It's a quite refreshing, sweet and sour lemon tea, that I have bought it for 3 times this week. LoL

I know 100mg is not enough for girls, but better than nothing! I hope it will be available overseas someday soon ;)

What kind of drinks are you into recently?

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One Lovely Blog Award

I have been awarded the "One Lovely Blog Award" by grub of grub-town! Thanks!!!

She's an arts student in Melbourne, studying Japanese, too. She snaps very natural, soft, and relaxing photographs which makes me think she's a mature lady. hehe. I love her homey feel presentations!



To accept the award, there are certain rules:
1. Posting a link back to the person that gave you the award.
2. Share 7 random things about yourself.
3. Award 15 blogs.
4. Drop them a note and tell them about it.

7 random things I like to do:
- Cooking (Of course!)
- Shopping (Relieves my stress!)
- Coffee time (With my darling.)
- Eating out (I love to try creative Japanese foods at smoke-free izakaya.)
- Blogging
- Traveling (NY)
- Karaoke!!! (I wish I could have more time for it. I can sing for more than 3 hours! hehe)

I will pass this award to my good friends whom I met on the Net ;) - I'm not gonna drop a note because I know some are busy.
- Jon at As I See Japan...from L.A.
- Fran at Fran-Japani
- ReBekha at Genki Gaijin Girl
- Nazarina at Giddy Gastronome
- josephinechoo at Jose's Diary
- anGeLine at Journey of Angel's Life
- Jo at Literally In The Moment
- Merce at Love to Eat
- theda_bara at Maudlin
- Cathy at My Food Adventures
- Kym at p a t i k y m
- suki at suki pooki
- Jessica at Tales from a Tokyo Kitchen
- Tsu Lin + + at tsulin + +
- Mica

I am glad to become friends with you all!!!
Let's keep in touch ;)

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Ikanago no Kugini 2011

I am posting this every year! LoL

Ikanago no Kugini is my favorite tsukudani (food boiled in soy sauce) made with Ikanago (sand eel/sand lance). I really can't stop myself eating it with white rice! Yummy :P



Ikanago no Kugini is a famous Tsukudani in Hyogo prefecture. My grandma, who lives there cooks a few kilograms of "Ikanago no Kugini" every year for us in Tokyo.

It is usually cooked and eaten around the end of February or early March, when the fish is about an inch long. After its season, Ikanago goes deep in the sea where is cooler. Then it goes under the sand and aestivate.

Do you have any favorite food that has been passed down in your family for generations?!

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Our New Favorite Places

As you might know, my darling and I (actually I...) love to have a steady routine because I don't get bored of doing the same things :P Of course, I add some new things but not necessarily frequent. LoL

What we found near our new home is a jog spot! It's a 10 minutes run to get there. My dream to run along the river on the weekends came true :D



Near the station, we found many bento shops. One day, we tried okowa (sticky rice with vegetables or beans) bento, which you can select 3 different okowa from many!



Also, we found a sushi restaurant called Magurobito near station! Yay!!! As there are always long lines of people in front of the restaurant, their sushi was pretty good!!! We've already been there twice ;)



What we couldn't find is a cafe (my recipe thinking workplace LoL)... maybe I should better use our new dining table at home instead, which will hopefully arrive in April. Anyways, most cafes and restaurants are freezing cold due to the power saving (since the earthquake), so better to stay at home at the present day :(

Do you have any favorite place?
How often do you go there?



We are still having down-jacket weather in Tokyo...
I hope spring comes soon!!!

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竹生島神社 (Chikubushima Shrine)

竹生島神社 (Chikubushima Shrine) is one of the shrines located in 竹生島 (Chikubushima Island) on 琵琶湖 (Lake Biwa). Four gods are enshrined: 市杵島比売命 (ichikisimahimenomikoto) - god for traffic safety and good luck, 宇賀福神 (ugafukujin) - god for prosperous business and good harvest, 浅井比売命 (asaihinuminokoto), and 龍神 (ryujin). Those names are hard to read out for native Japanese, too...

Since no one lives on the island, it is believed to be a power spot where gods live!

My hula dancing buddy has just been there and gave me a cute charm against bad luck: 厄除身代り御守 (七色人形). I don't usually take a photo of my charms, but this was a souvenir kind (not that official), so I will show you how it looks :)

The seven primary colors used are said to protect us from evil and bring us good luck!

As I wrote before, 2011 is my grand climacteric year (大厄年).

I believe I already had many changes... but for more to come from now... thanks a lot!!!

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Japan Quake Map

Japan Quake Map is pretty scary.



If you select "Friday 11/03/11" and wait till after 14PM, you will see how severe the 9.0 magnitude 2011 Tōhoku earthquake was and how frequently we have aftershocks...

Since 3/11, we had 738 quakes in Japan!!!

I heard on the news that the aftershocks may continue at least for a year... Many people are now getting "quakesick", which you feel like shaking all the time, and so do I...

Hope we all get well soon!!!

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Work Desk

My dream was to have my own kitchen.

Of course, my darling has a dream to have his own work desk at home!!!

I hope I can get one for his birthday on 4/4 ;)



We are almost ready to proceed with our own projects.

Good luck to us!!!

P.S.
I will reply to the comments today! Thanks for your care!!!

*Renovation Updates*
- Completed
- 7th Week
- 6th Week
- 5th Week
- 4th Week
- 2nd and 3rd Week
- 1st Week
- The Start Date

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What "We" or "I" Can Do Now...

What we can do now is to save on electricity (because we lack electricity due to the nuclear power plant disaster) or stop stocking up on foods and supplies (many people do this on fears of the next disaster so the things come up short when someone is in need). Needless to say, we Japanese are working even harder to restore everything sooner.

Meanwhile, as Jon quotes the BBC News, the recent 9.0 earthquake in Miyagi may have slightly increased the chances for a large earthquake in the Tokyo area which is right in the middle of the plates that now believed to play a significant role in shaping seismic activity. How scary... I hope it may not happen anytime soon...



Facing the reality, many people may now think "time is money".

If I am not too late, I am ready to start what I can do now.

I pray for Japan, of course.

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Before and After the Move

On 3/16, we moved into our new home. We did most of the packing when the movers came since we were quite at a loss... LoL



However, we minimalized our stuff and threw away unnecessary stuff. I think we made more than 50 trash bags in total! Whew...



Our move was done in few hours. It was quite fast!



After the quake, we couldn't find enough food at stores, but my mom luckily found soba and bought for us :D Eating soba after the move is a tradition in Japan - it is called Hikkoshi Soba. (I took photo after I mixed up all ingredients. Oops...)



One of our air conditioners are set. (Another one is delayed because of the quake.)



We bought the lights at half price ;)



I opened all the new pans that I kept in the boxes because now I have a huge drawer :D I can't wait to use them!!!



We are still cleaning up our stuff...

I hope I can start cooking soon!!!

*Renovation Updates*
- Completed
- 7th Week
- 6th Week
- 5th Week
- 4th Week
- 2nd and 3rd Week
- 1st Week
- The Start Date

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Renovation Completed!!!

On 3/12, the day after the Miyagi Quake, our renovation was completed. In the midst of the afterquakes, we made final checks... how scary X(

But, my darling and I were thoroughly delighted with the finish, except we found some scratches on the floor and the wall, but those were fixed right away.

Kitchen





Accent wall



Bathroom



Restroom (with bidet)



Hallway (there are 2 rooms along the hallway)



The contractor told us that a professional photographer took some photos of our renovated home, so I will post them when I received them ;)

*Renovation Updates*
- 7th Week
- 6th Week
- 5th Week
- 4th Week
- 2nd and 3rd Week
- 1st Week
- The Start Date

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2 Days After the Miyagi Quake

The Miyagi quake was the most severe earthquake in Japanese history, a magnitude of 9! Still 20,000 people are missing...

We are still experiencing the afterquake in Tokyo and the largest of 7-magnitude afterquake is predicted to come in 3 days. How scary...

Tomorrow, we are going to have blackout for about 3 hours in rotation in Kanto area to save on electricity because we lack the power nationwide at this moment...

We have foods at stores, but no rice or bread because shipping businesses are still blocked.

Nevertheless, people are working, shopping, eating out as usual around here in Tokyo. We care a lot about devastated areas but we cannot all stop our hands but work and consume as usual!!! I think we Japanese are steady workers!!!

Believe it or not, my darling and I are moving out this Wednesday... Now we live in wooden house but our new home is reinforced concrete building, so I hope it's much safer... Anyways, I am really scared X(

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LIVE NHK Broadcast of Earthquakes

For Japanese who live overseas.


Live TV : Ustream

It's still shaking!!!

At 7PM, most trains in Tokyo stopped the services. Foods are about to sold out. OMG!!!



It's better to spend a night at work. Luckily, I have my toothbrush ;)

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