Our Wedding Plan

Yesterday, my darling and I had a very busy day. We visited two wedding halls led by a wedding planner.

The halls we saw are not hotels, restaurants or guest houses. But we loved it! Believe it or not, we (actually, I...) made a snap decision without hesitation!

Luckily, the place was available on 2010/10/10. My darling suggested this date and I loved it, but all places we saw were already reserved, so I have almost given up!

I won't be writing things in detail until our wedding date, but it is going to be super CREATIVE with full of our ideas, if successful... he-he!

Can't wait to think about it with my darling :D

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Yummy Miso Dipping Sauce @ Tsukada Nojo

Yesterday, my darling and I had dinner at izakaya called 塚田農場 (Tsukada Nojo). As a free appetizer, they serve miso dipping sauce with raw vegetables. This kind of appetizer is very popular in Japan. But mostly, miso dipping sauce is pretty salty. However, I think their miso was best of all I had in my life! They mix tens of different kinds of minced vegetables in miso, so it is rich and tasty! Not at all salty :D I couldn't stop eating vegetables!!! Before you leave, they'll give you a small plastic case with miso. If you bring the case the next time, they'll fill it up! What a nice idea! But I hope they sell it there. I would love to buy it!!! They have 8 restaurants in Tokyo. I recommend you to go there once when you get a chance!

BTW, Tsukada Nojo is famous for Miyazaki local chicken dishes. Mostly izakaya serves foods in strong flavor since it's a drinking place. However, this izakaya serves everything in mild taste! I would say, all dishes there are great!

Changing my story, I have another post today. Which is kind of important :D

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Hatahata Nabe @ Robataya

Sometimes I learn a lot from eating out.

Last Saturday, my darling and I went to an izakaya called Robataya and had hatahata nabe (hot pot). Hatahata is a fish called Arctoscopus japonicus in English. It's a local specialty of Akita Prefecture. I knew the fish called hatahata but never had a chance to try it. It was very sticky with chewy eggs X(

After I got home, I found that the eggs are called "buriko" and they are coated with sticky liquid. If you salt it, the eggs become more chewy like rubber. Interesting, right?! I found a blog that explains hatahata in detail. Please click here to learn more.

It is sunny and the temp this week is warmer than last week :D

Tomorrow is a holiday (The Emperor's Birthday), so I will come back on Thursday. Have a good day!

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Arferique Shirogane

It was a super busy weekend again X( We visited 2 wedding salons this weekend since we realized we need to decide a date for our wedding by the end of the year to reserve a good date in 2010!!!

The first one was Arferique Shirogane. After looking at their webpage, we thought their pool is huge, but it wasn't! Needless to say, I think it is always good to visit the place to make sure!

On this day, there was an actual wedding ceremony. Funny but we peeped into the hall while people aren't in use.

The wedding salon was adjacent to the wedding hall, so they served us a sample dessert plate for the party. We had a plan to move over to the next salon, so it was a perfect snack! Especially for my darling! He cannot concentrate on things when he is starving... ha-ha.

The next salon was pretty interesting. We are going to visit their wedding halls on Wednesday the holiday (The Emperor's Birthday). I will write about it later when I get a chance.

Busy Monday! I already gave up to go to the GYM this afternoon. Whew...

Take care!!!

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BVLGARI - Marry Me Ring

Before I forget, my darling gave me an engagement ring, which we ordered a month ago, on Friday! I chose this BVLGARI Marry Me ring because I liked this casual cute design ;)

It is hard to see but we carved our names and the date we got married :D

Thanks my darling!!!

I forgot to wear it today, though...

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Decision-Making Time!

At a restaurant, how long do you take to decide what you want to drink and eat???

Me?! I think I need at least 5 minutes for a drink and 15 minutes for foods... So, once in a while, my darling and I have a small fight! Needless to say, looking at a food menu before deciding what I want for a drink is out of the question!!!

On this day, I was looking at a pasta menu... my darling took my picture and laughed (luckily he enjoyed) but I was serious!!!

I sometimes give up and ask my darling what he wants to eat, but he is scared of me saying his decision was wrong... so he doesn't like to decide instead!

I think women understand me!

Anyway, Happy Friday :D

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Silly Me...

Am I goofy, or what?!

I always think I make a silly mistake.

Last week, I cleaned my mouse at work, off the top of my head, for the first time in 5 years, and broke... I think removing the dirt was not a good idea for my well-thumbed mouse. Anyway, I bought a new mouse with a new mouse pad, so now I'm feeling okay, but silly me...

Then, yesterday, I received my new passport. I changed my signature to my new last name along with my change in last name without thinking anything but now I realized I didn't have to change my signature! I mean, it is just a signature, so I can use my maiden name!!! I called the passport center but they told me they don't accept any change until I lost or damaged it! Oh boy...

Then again, yesterday, I bought a new ink for my pen but the color was wrong!!! I totally believed the salesperson, so I didn't check the color. Hasty shopping, double work...

Then one more for yesterday. I put a hot pan on the table without a mat, so the table was roundly burned... X( I haven't done this for many years... but why yesterday?!

I sometimes think I need to think more before I act!

Have a good one!!!

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My Accomplishments

Hi! I am finally listing my accomplishments in November.

On 11/4, I won the special prize at at Yodoran (iodine-enriched egg)'s contest. I made dashi based curry soup with an egg.




On 11/23, my Creamy Christmas Tree Salad using Takanashi's fresh cream was posted on Cookpad as a sample recipe using fresh cream. To make it creamy, I mixed avocado paste and fresh cream in mashed potato. Then mixed smoked salmon, cream cheese, and corns for the ornaments. The recipe was also printed on the recipe card!


On 11/25, my Egg Stir Fried Tomato and Ashitaba won the idea award at ashitaba recipe contest. Ashitaba is a green leafy vegetable, containing antioxidant flavonoids (chalcones) and is rich in amino acids, vitamins and minerals ( A, B, B2, C, B12, Iron, Potassium and more), chlorophyll, enzymes and fiber. To tell the truth, it has a strong scent and scum, so it was hard to cook X( Have you ever tried it?! BTW, the iseebi I posted the other day was the prize!!!

Also, on 11/21 I received a prize for participation at green lemon contest and peanut contest.

As usual, I won some samples. Seasoning for rice with green tea, mannnanhikari (rice shaped konjac food) sample, and GABAN dressings.

Could be better... I think I need to try harder X(

All the best!!!

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Hair Accessory Gift

Yesterday, my friend sent me a cute beaded hair accessory with a card as a wedding present. Can you believe it is handmade?! I readily wore it to work this morning! Thank you!!! (Sorry I couldn't adjust the exposure correctly...)

BTW, DECO CHOCO that I reordered arrived! What do you think of the frames?! Cool, right?! ;D I put them into pink bags and gave them to my co-workers.

I am busy today, so I gotta go now. I hope I could list my accomplishments in November this week or so...

The high is 50F (10C). Sunny but chilly. Stay warm!!!

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UP

Hi there! How was your weekend?! Mine was busy as usual... However, taking time out from our busy schedule, my darling and I went to see movies.

What we saw is Disney-Pixar's UP - an animated comedy adventure about a 78-year-old man who ties balloons to his house and flies away, with an 8-year-old stowaway.

I loved the story. It is adventurous but romantic. Couples can enjoy together ;)

Have you ever seen 3D movies?!
We saw movies in 3D for the first time and was pretty exciting. It wasn't dizzy at all and I got used to the 3D scenes real quick :D

Time really flies. It's already mid-December! I need to do things in advance, not to fall behind!

Busy Monday X(

Take care!!!

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Scary Yummy Iseebi!!!

This is something about 11/29. I received a box of Iseebi (Panulirus japonicus / Japanese spiny lobster) as the prize of the contest. When I received the box, I heard the sound, so I cautiously put my ear on the box, and again, I heard the same sound!!! I knew it was a perishable food, but NOT ALIVE! My darling looked up the picture book and what we saw was something like the left image!!! (This image is from The World Biodiversity Database)

We gave up to open the box and I called my mom. She gratefully took it home. Whew... Later, she texted me with some photos and said there were 5 Iseebi in the box!!! When she opened the box, they were full of energy and jumped out form the box! I'm glad I gave them to her...




In the evening, she brought 2 of them after she boiled. They were really delicious! She said she couldn't make them into sashimi because they were really strong... Can you imagine cooking them on your own?!


It's raining cold today. I have a long meeting plus reception tonight. Booooo! I wanna go home!!!

Happy Friday!

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