A Fish Out of Water

New Year round up

Yes, it's the middle of February, so it seems a little late to be blogging about our new year's holidays, but they tend to drag it out here (that's my excuse and I'm sticking to it). So I already shared our nengajo (new year postcard) but I thought I'd show a few of the outtakes. He's holding the ball in some pictures partly as a distraction and partly to represent that flaming ball or pearl that Chinese and Japanese dragons are often depicted holding (don't ask me what it actually means).

This year we were only in Osaka for a few days and we stayed at a hotel. My mother-in-law broke her wrist in December and was unable to cook, clean or drive so we just visited during the day and helped out in the kitchen as well as we could. My sister-in-law took charge and did most of the work, but I was able to learn how to cook some of the osechi ryouri (the traditional new year's dishes) that my mother-in-law usually makes. No pictures as we were rather busy, but there are years of osechi pics in the archives (here is last year, for example). Here is a picture of the whole family taken at our hotel after a dinner out.

We had lunch at Haneda airport on our way back, at one of the small restaurants in Terminal 2's 3rd floor that share common seating overlooking the departures lobby. We've always avoided this little alley despite some interesting looking restaurants because it's kind of like a food court and the seating looks crowded and uncomfortable, but we noticed some nice big chairs in front of a Sri Lankan place called Court Lounge. The food was good and not outrageously overpriced, and upon sitting down we noticed that every chair is different and we'd definitely snagged the best ones- Shuma loved swiveling around his his big armchair. I think we'll eat here every time we fly from now on.

Back home I decided to try cooking some more osechi. I've never, ever had to do it because my MIL always does everything, so I didn't want to get too ambitious. I decided to just try a few simple favourites, so I did yakitai (roasted sea bream), kani sarada (crab salad) and ozoni (soup with mochi), along with some quick cabbage pickles (not really osechi, I just wanted something pickled). My in-laws always order a great big sea bream that comes already cooked, wild-caught in the Seto Inner Sea, known for its delicious bream. I've always been under the impression that it must be really hard to cook, but mine (a little farmed one from nowhere famous) turned out beautifully and was surprisingly easy. I want to make this again, not just for new year's.

The crab salad was nothing special, my MIL's is much better and is presented really beautifully.

But the ozoni was good, it's very hard to screw up. It's almost the same as MIL's: a clear dashi broth with chicken thigh, hakusai (Chinese cabbage), mitsuba (trefoil) and square-cut mochi (rice cake), but instead of namafu (raw wheat gluten) I used shiitake. That's it above, with some of the sea bream.

Just like in Osaka, the day after eating yakitai we had taichazuke, which involves making a broth with the leftover fish head and bones and serving it over rice with any leftover meat. This is probably my favourite new year's food of all.

On January 7th we ate nanakusagayu (rice porridge with the seven herbs of spring) without taking a picture, but the herbs and the final dish look exactly like this every single year so I didn't bother with a picture. A few days after that is Kagami Biraki, which is when you break the kagami mochi (rice cakes displayed during the new year's holidays). That's our kagami mochi above, and you can tell how busy/lazy I've been because look at this year's compared to the one we had a few years ago. I mean, no little altar, an ugly fake citrus on top- I'm not even trying.

The mochi was stuffed into abura-age (pockets of fried tofu) and added to oden (a stew of vegetables and various fish and tofu products), which is not at all traditional but as you can probably tell by now I'm not too big on perfectly following tradition these days.

It was yummy though, even if this picture makes it look gross.

The final chapter in a Japanese new year is (I think) Setsubun, which falls on February 3rd. This is a time to drive bad luck out of the house (in the form of oni, best described as an ogre or troll) and bring in good luck. This is done by throwing around dried soybeans, which is really fun to do but rather annoying after because the floor is littered with beans. I really want to sweep them up as soon as they are thrown but seems wrong somehow, so I always mean to leave them overnight and clean them the next day, but by then they are already crushed or kicked away into crevices and I forget. And then for weeks or even months after I find the stupid little beans in random places. Like finding a forgotten chocolate easter egg in June, except not because it's a tasteless bean.

This year I got smart and decided to throw something different. A lot of people through whole peanuts instead, because they're easier to clean up, but I'm not a fan of raw peanuts (and like I have time to sit around shelling them). So I went with little bags of mixed nuts, and it may look like total cheating because there are no soy nuts but it was in the Setsubun section next to all the proper beans and accessories.

Besides being easy to clean up, these packages contain corn nuts and now you too know how to say corn nut in Japanese. What an awesome name, and if you think it makes no sense think about the name "corn nut". It's not a nut, people!

Some families get festive and dress up the dad or other volunteers as the oni. Oni are always red and blue and have horns (or a horn) and usually look rather grumpy. These ones were made at my playgroup so are on the friendly side.

Shuma would only tolerate wearing it for a second or two, so Hideaki and I had to be the oni.

But Shuma happily participated in the throwing part. All other customs, like eating your age in roasted soybeans (yuck!) and eating ehomaki (a fat sushi roll that is supposed to bring luck but is just a made-up thing to get you to but sushi were discarded. I will consider eating my age in giant corn though.

How my life has changed

I shouldn't have expected much, considering what an awful news site Japan Today is, but I was amazed at how bad an article called "How foreigners’ daily lives change when they live in Japan" was (yes, that's actually the title). Perhaps not totally Japan Today's fault (well, except for that title), as it's a translation of a Japanese article which is itself just a bunch of translated posts from an English-language Japan Reference thread (phew!). They seem to have gone to some trouble to find the least interesting posts and strip them of any humour or insight, and the result is surprisingly boring.

It made me think about how my life has changed, and at first I couldn't think of any ways that weren't age or marriage related (I've done a lot of growing up since I coming to Japan at the tender age of 22 and getting married at 25, naturally). I learned to love olives a few years back, for example, which probably would have happened had I remained in Canada (and might have happened much earlier had I chosen to make my home in, say, Spain). I've also learned how to actually dress for the cold, which definitely wasn't influenced by my adopted home, as Japanese women wait for winter to wear their mini skirts and short-shorts. It's very odd, jeans and long skirts are saved for the sweltering summer months.

But I digress. I finally was able to think of some ways in which my life has changed since coming to Japan, and here are a few of them:

• I've become much shyer. I've always been shy but was starting to come out of my shell when I first got here, and my imaginary alter ego that never left Canada is a wildly extroverted socialite by now. But the real me, after years of living in a country where I am always the bumbling foreigner, has retreated so far into my shell that I'm stuck. It's partly laziness, because in Japan shyness is actually a virtue for women so there is little motivation to change, and it certainly wasn't helped when I lost the hearing in my left ear (try making new friends at a party when you can't hear what anyone is saying). But mostly I'm blaming this on Japan.
• I've learned to sleep in public. Like at the park, in the "rest rooms" (which really are for resting) at hot springs and bath houses, and on public transportation. It's often hard for me to stay awake during a long train ride, and I've been known to nod off while standing during rush hour.
• My manners are atrocious. I sniffle instead of blowing my nose, shuffle my sandles and slippers instead of picking up my feet properly when I walk, and I apply Japanese table manners to non-Japanese meals (like slurping noodles, drinking soup right from the bowl, and spearing large chunks of food on my fork and then returning them to the plate). I know that my glass is supposed to go at the top right side of my place setting, but in practice it goes where ever it fits. My chair stays pushed out far from the table and I hunch over my food to eat it. I have no use for paper napkins (let alone cloth)- why bother when there is a box of tissues on every surface of the house, including the kitchen table?
  
• I'm missing out on a lot of culture. I used to go to the movies weekly, more when I could afford it. I'd see Hollywood movies, documentaries, foreign films, anything. Here in Japan, movies cost a fortune to see at the theatre, and rental shops usually ignore non-blockbuster type films. Not to mention the long delay- movies are released months later in Japan, and then by the time a movie is available on DVD more than a year may have passed since I first heard of it, and I've already forgotten about it. Plus there's the subtitle problem- Japanese subtitles for a French film don't help me mutch. So I miss out on a lot of movies. And at my age I wouldnt expect to still be going to concerts and clubs like I used to, but I always assumed I'd just trade those for the symphony and the theatre and other grown-up stuff. Well, I've only checked out symphony prices here once and I don't remember the specifics, only that I concluded that live classical wasn't about to be come my new pastime. Then there's the library- I used to practically live there, but even if I were to find one with a decent English book selection it wouldn't be a place to relax and spend time at. Libraries here are the domain of old men, and they occupy every seat all day long leaving nowhere for a youngish book-loving lady to browse. I also once frequented museums and art galleries, taking advantage of discounted days or free nights. In Japan the major museums are pricey and never, ever offer discounts, and popular exhibits are horribly crowded. True, there are plenty of smaller galleries and museums here that are free or affordable, but they are often so small and/or specialized that they aren't worth going out of my way for. Or maybe that's just my lack of culture showing. Damn you, Japan!
  
• On the other hand, I watch less TV than I did when I lived in Canada, and that probably goes far to balance my lack of culture.
  
• My posture is the pits. I used to have excellent posture, and was complimented on it frequently. But in my sixteen years in Japan I think I've had a grand total of one person mention it. It's not because people don't dole out compliments here, because they do- but it tends to be about different things. Like my height, my "tall" nose, or my "small" face. (Come to think of it I rarely hear the latter anymore. I guess second chins cancel out small faces.) Or really dumb stuff like my chopstick skills or my Japanese ability (most often after saying a single word like "konnichiwa"). But my (formerly) straight back and strong, graceful walk? Not noticed or appreciated. In Japan, a beautiful lady can slump her shoulders, lower her head and clomp around in her high heels and still be considered a beautiful lady. Not that I need compliments to maintain good habits, but it's hard to stay motivated to keep up something that isn't valued. And in the meantime, after years of dealing with miniature-sized furniture, low countertops and forehead-level door frames here, I'm starting to blend right in. (Well, minus the high heels and the "beautiful lady" part. At least I still have a tall nose.)
• I no longer need to drink sweet drinks all the time. Pop is for special occasions (OK, weekends). Juice is a treat too and no longer comes in a bucket-sized glass. Coffee may be sweet but it's for waking up or to go with dessert. If I'm thirsty I drink water, or hot green tea, or cold barley tea, or something else that doesn't need sugar.
  
• I've become more of a meat eater. This may be a surprise, since the Japanese are supposed to live on fish and vegetables, but as any vegetarian here will tell you: meat is everywhere. I ate very little meat before I came to Japan, especially red meat. I didn't even like pork. I got most of my protein from tofu and beans, and animal protein was usually chicken and shrimp. Maybe some lean ground beef once in a while, but that's about it. And then I came to Japan, where meat was in everything, and it was delicious. Even pork- especially pork. It's not like the average person here eats tonnes of meat or anything, but but most meals will have a small amount of animal flesh, and that's a very sensible approach.
  
• I've learned to appreciate fat. This is also a bit counter-intuitive, since Japanese cuisine is thought to be so light and healthy. It can be, but the Japanese also give fat its due, acknowledging that moderate amounts of it can be a good thing. This was hard to accept at first. I was used to lean meats, skim milk and low-fat everything. When I first came to Japan, low-fat milk was impossible to find and I couldn't stomach to 4% fat milk that was the norm. Low-fat cheese or ice cream or muffins didn't exist. The heavy marbling of wagyu (Kobe-style Japanese beef) and the gelatinous fat of braised pork belly horrified me. But somewhere along the line I gave fat a chance and realized something: it sure is tasty! Now I know that there is nothing more delicious than an ice-cold glass of full fat milk, low-fat products are usually not worth eating, and fatty meat is heavenly. Actually, I think a lot of North Americans have also been enlighted in this way, thanks to the foodie movement (sorry, I hate the word "foodie" but how else can I put it?). Maybe I would have learned to love fat if I'd stayed in Canada, but I'm pretty sure it wouldn't have been a wagyu steak that changed my mind.
  
• I've learned the importance of "ki wo tsukau" (to be considerate; to pay heed to another's needs). I've actually always been the type of person to make offers twice ("Hey, you want something to drink?" "No, thanks" "Are you sure?) or three times ("Are you sure you're sure?"). So in a superficial way I already got the concept, but it took a few years of living here for the true meaning of "ki wo tsukau" to sink in. It could be as simple as not hogging all the cookies on a shared platter, even though you're really hungry and they're your favourite kind. Or making sure that the person next to you can reach the soy sauce bottle, or doesn't have a bunch of empty dishes in her way. It sometimes shows up in weird ways, like a friend (or a few times, a stranger) entering the ladies room ahead of me and taking the washiki (Japanese-style squat toilet) stall and leaving the prized yoshiki (western style toilet) stall for me. An early lesson was learning to wake up my husband with a gentle kiss rather than a shove and "Hey, get up". The latter is actually easier, faster, and more immediately effective, but who wants to be woken up that way? I'm not all that good at it yet, and some people take it too far (it can easily turn into fussing, or be based on false assumptions, or cause excess inhibition), but when done well consideration is a very good skill for a human being to have.

There are many, many more, but it's past 10:00 and I need to get to bed. Can I blame that on Japan? Sure beats admitting I'm an lame old mom. For those of you living in Japan or otherwise abroad, how has your life changed?

Sushi Day

And after a snowy day comes a sick day, with the exertion of chasing around a toddler out in the cold turning a mild cold into a major one. Or that's what I'm telling myself: somehow sickness makes more sense when you can blame it on something. I've never had so many colds in my life, and of all the things they don't tell you about parenthood this is one of the most annoying.

But anyway. Sick days are no-cooking days, so we treated ourselves to some delivery sushi. It's not such a treat, actually, since the kind of sushi we can afford (from a cheap delivery-only chain) is really not all that good (not that you can't get really good sushi delivered, it's just very expensive). But it's not anything to complain about either, and we enjoyed it.

So did Shuma, much more than this crappy picture conveys. So here is a video:

Yes, it's two solid minutes of a child eating a cucumber roll. I'm sorry. But I did want to share his happy chewing noises with you, because I think they're pretty special. He makes them when he's really enjoying his food (or drink- he's a noisy nurser too), especially if it's something that requires lots of chewing or if he's sleepy. It can get pretty loud, and even embarrassing when we're out (people have to raise their voices to be heard over him) but I know I'll miss it when he grows out of it.

He'll grow out of it, right?

 

Yay for snow!

Today we woke up to snow! Not much of it, and it took a while to pile up enough to justify venturing out into the cold, but eventually we got out there and enjoyed it.

It's not his first time seeing snow, but last year he was too little to do anything more than look at it (or nap on it). This year he's old enough to react, and react he did- starting out with delight at seeing it falling all around him. He was somewhat less delighted to discover how cold it was after holding a snowball for a few seconds, and then spent the rest of the morning going back and forth between laughing and crying. He hasn't made up his mind about snow yet.

He kept whining to go, so we'd start walking home and then I'd turn around and he'd be wandering back into the snow. So we'd play for a few minutes and then he'd start whining or crying again, and we'd start walking back, and the whole thing would repeat. He just couldn't make up his mind about the whole thing, which makes him a lot like his mom.

My favourite part of the morning was seeing his footprints in the snow, one of his cutests "firsts" ever.

Time of chocolates

Here's a cute little romper adorned with an Engrish phrase and what appear to be Smarties. But it turns out they're not Smarties at all. When Hideaki asked why Shuma's outfit said "Time of chocolates" I said it was because of all the Smarties and he asked "What are Smarties?". Can you imagine? He's never heard of them, and they don't seem to exist here. Even after explaining what they are he wasn't convinced, and thought the candy depicted on the romper must be M&M's. Which is pretty dumb, because then they'd all be stamped with a little "m". Instead some of them have little smiley faces, which doesn't seem to match any known candy. Very mysterious.

Shuma couldn't care less, since he has yet to taste chocolate. He still thinks that bananas are the best thing ever.

This last picture, if only it were in focus, would be my favourite as it seems to show a fun-loving, slightly mischevious side of him. Or maybe it shows something else, and will some day end up on Born This Way.

In with the new

You've probably noticed things are a little different around here, and I thought I owed a bit of an explanation. I've been wanting to change both the name and the look of my blog for years, and a few days at the beginning of the year presented me with the opportunity. It came in the form of a teething tot, which meant lots of nursing and short naps (but only in my arms), leaving me with endless hours to conduct one-handed computer business. (Ew, that sounds dirty, but surely you know what I mean.)

First, the name. "Blue Lotus" doesn't really mean anything at all, I put about as much thought into it as I would a new email address, as when I started my blog, almost eight years ago, it was supposed to be just a simple journal for myself and maybe some folks back home. I didn't know I'd keep at it and eventually want to have a name that kind of reflected, if not who I am, than at least what I blog about. And I think the name fits quite nicely. I do feel like a fish out of water at times, both as an expat in a foreign land and as a new parent (and as a generally awkward person, lots of other times too). Plus I really like fish. There were several fish and water related names I considered, and if when I move back to Canada I'll change the name to "So Long, and Thanks For All the Fish".

The new look was an easy decision- I've hated my busy, cluttered look for a while and even I hadn't wanted to change the name I would have, as I felt it locked me into choosing the colour blue, and any images (I really wanted a banner with a picture) would have had to fit the theme. Checking my photo albums, I have tonnes of fish pictures, and only one picture of a blue lotus, which isn't even a lotus after all but a water lily (and it's also more purple than blue).

Although if I really wanted to name this blog after whatever I've taken the most pictures of, it would be called "The Shuma Blog". And let's face it, that's really what it's become. And no apologies, because my son is awesome, but I do look forward to some day having more of a life to blog about. For now though, I'm just happy to have a new, simpler design and a better name.

So it's still early January and my new year's resolution is already taken care of, and Shuma has two new molars. We're off to a good start.

Happy New Year!

Here is this year's nengajo (new year's post card), starring Shuma as this year's juunishi (zodiac animal), the dragon. He may not look particularly dragony but we were busy at the end of the year and didn't have time to create the perfect costume or take the perfect picture. This was as close as we could get to perfect, and that's good enough.

May you all have a close-to-perfect year!

Christmas 2011

Christmas has come and gone, way too fast as usual but it was good while it lasted. Shuma was a good boy so his stocking was full of presents from Santa and the tree was surrounded by presents from his fans.

We started Christmas morning with mimosas, because we're fancy like that.

Don't I just emanate Christmas cheer? This is before I had my first sip, obviously.

That's better. Shuma doesn't need much to get in the spirit, a little water and a Cheerio or two will do the trick.

On to the stockings, and after hearing about how kids this age care more about the packaging than the goods inside, we were slightly disappointed that Shuma had no interest at all in ripping the wrapping paper or playing with boxes. He did like the presents themselves though, so we're taking that to mean he is extraordinarily mature for his age.

His favourite presents were the banana, which he insisted on eating right away, and the clementine, which he doesn't think of as food but made a pretty good ball.

Next up was breakfast, with Shuma eating close to his weight in strawberries. We opened the rest of the presents after that, and just enjoyed ourselves without bothering with the camera. It was nice.

Christmas dinner started with oyster soup for the grownups and Cheerios for the little one.

Then roast chicken legs, greens sauteed with bacon and garlic, stuffing, mashed potatoes and gravy. I knew I wouldn't have time to roast a bird this year so went to the local chicken shop a week early to order a roasted chicken (a delicacy only available at Christmas). The owner replied that there would be lots and lots so there was no need to pre-order, so of course when we went to pick it up on Christmas there were none left. He was very apologetic and we were happy to buy just a few of the momoyaki (broiled drumstick with thigh attached) that are available all year. That's the best part anyway, and it was nice not having to deal with leftovers.

Shuma ate the same as we did, minus butter and gravy. He especially liked the chicken.

Dessert was a chocolate truffle cake from Nakataya, our local cake shop. Exactly the same as last year, and exactly as good.

Shuma made do with more strawberries, and had no idea what he was missing.

Now we're off for a very brief visit to the in-laws in Osaka. Happy New Year to all of you!

 

 

Summer Roundup

Photo dump warning: I'm going to post all the pictures from this summer that didn't get posts of their own, not because they were no good but because I was too busy, or lazy, or some combination thereof.

The first big event of the summer was moving Shuma's crib from our room, where it had been set up sidecar to our bed, to his own room. Well it's not quite his own room yet, it still has all of our computer equipment, the closet is full of boxes, and it has a balcony where I hang the laundry (and also where Hideaki smokes, though I'm trying to get him to stop using that balcony). He didn't actually sleep there at night for a few more months- we set up a guardrail on the side of our bed and kept him with us at night.

Then came almost two months in Canada, which I've only finished blogging about, and we had quite a hard time adjusting when we came back. Shuma didn't handle the jet lag well, nor did he enjoy the sudden lack of of a big house full of people fussing over him all the time. We had two weeks of a very grumpy boy, and unfortunately they happened to be two very hot weeks where no sane person would go out in the daytime. So we took to going out in the evenings when it was starting to cool down, and on this little hill in the local park there was sometimes even a breeze. We would have camped out here if weren't for the mosquitoes.

The adjustment took away his appetite, but it eventually came back with a vengeance and he fell in love with a series of fruits as they came in and out of season. We spent a fortune on fruit this summer.

He made such a mess when he ate that we gave up on bibs and had him eat in his diaper. If his high chair would have fit in the shower we would have fed him in there, it certainly would have made clean-up easier.

He liked to hang around in the nude even when food wasn't involved. I wonder what he's trying to convey with that strategically placed cone?

Just after getting back from Canada, when Shuma was nine months, he started to crawl. This was his first time, at a jidoukan (play centre- the excact same place he learned to walk), although he'd been on the verge of it for a couple months. He had a funny way of doing it, with only one leg doing the work and the other just kind of dragging along, but it didn't bother him.

We found some relief from the heat one day at Shakujii Koen, although he fell asleep almost as soon as we arrived and it was mostly just me walking around with a sleeping baby on my chest. Oh well, he'll be a better age for it next summer anyway.

While shopping at Lalaport in Shinmisato we came upon a splash pad and let Shuma get wet. The older kids were really interested in Shuma (Japanese kids seem to be way more into babies than Canadian kids), but forgot him once they got talking to Hideaki. Kids like talking to him for some reason, and he always gets involved in these long convoluted kid conversations where it's half really cute and funny and half "Oh my god these annoying brats won't shut up, get me out of here". It's a gift and a curse.

Shuma did a lot of playing in the water this summer. Right across the street we have a splash pool, and we went as often as we could. Here he is after a dip with his friend Hiyori.

And a few minutes later he was asleep. He had been playing for hours and was just beat. If I could get him in the water daily I'd have his napping problem solved.

In the next city from ours, Asaka, is a park called Aobadai Koen which as an even better splash pool. It has five different water zones, all connected (as well as regular playground equipment, including an amazing climbing structure that would never be allowed to exist in North America). It's a bus ride away so I only went twice, but it was so much fun for both of us. I really hope I have a bike with a baby seat by next summer so we can ride here every day.

There was more blueberry picking, I went four times in fact. This time was at a weird farm where the ladies who ran the place kept following us around and picking the berries for us. They probably thought they were being nice but damn was it annoying, it only takes a few minutes to pick enough berries and we try to drag it out as long as we can, cause picking is so fun.

They were tasty though, and made a nice topping for an unbaked cheesecake for Hideaki's birthday.

More half-naked hanging out.

And more trips to the park. Looking back, it kind of seems like we lived at the park, but even still we didn't go as often as I wanted. I think I was effected by a bit of radiation paranoia and held back, which I regret. I mean if I thought there was any danger at all, we wouldn't even be in Japan. But the fear seeps in somehow and there were times we stayed indoors when we should have been outside.

In any case, Shuma is always so much happier when he's out of the house, and happiest of all at the park. I think the very small risk of being exposed to trace amounts of radiation is worth it, but I'll always wonder.

He accidentally took the picture above himself while fooling around with my camera. Not bad!

This is us at our playgroup's family picnic. I was in charge of face painting and Shuma was in charge of looking silly in costumes.

And then the summer was over, way too quickly. It made me really sad to pack away his summer clothes, knowing most of them will be too small when I take them out again next year. I'm learning to appreciate the other seasons more and more as I grow older, but only summer makes me mourn its passing.

Ready for Christmas

It's late as usual, but the Christmas spirit has finally arrived at our home, mostly thanks to my mom. Thanks, mom! First she sent some Christmas colours for Shuma to wear, above.

Next came the tree, which unfortunately mom couldn't send. Like last year I picked it up at Ikea, and carried it home along with my other purchases (and Shuma) on two buses and two trains. Hopefully that will help explain why I picked one that is barely taller than Shuma (especially after I had Hideaki saw off a good portion of the trunk to help preserve it).

Then my mom sent a couple more boxes of Christmas treats, which of course are 99% for Shuma. And he knew it. He was so excited to open the boxes, pull out and manhandle the presents, and take them off to his various hiding places. The littlest presents keep disappearing and I suppose in a few months I'll find them in a secret hiding burrow of his (along with the TV remote control, several odd socks and a spoon that have gone missing recently).

He was really excited about "The Night Before Christmas", which parents want me to read to him on Christmas Eve, a continuance of a family tradition. I think I'll be reading it every night till then, along with "Good Night Moon", because he keeps insisting.

Finally, I got the decorations up, and not surprisingly Shuma loved "helping". I really wish I had the video camera handy, because he kept saying "Oooooh!" whenever I turned the lights on. He's also taken it upon himself to redecorate the tree, and putting his toy box in front of it doesn't help- he just climbs right in the box and grabs what he can reach. I think I'll have to get a bigger toy box, or a higher piece of furniture to put the tree on, or maybe my mom can send some electric fencing.

Frog Legs

I found the perfect way to get Shuma to hold still for a Fashion Show picture: stick him in one of the fold-down baby seats found in public restroom stalls. OK, there must be a name for those. Or maybe not, as I don't remember seeing them in Canada- maybe it's a Japan thing? If so that's a shame, because they sure are handy. And not just for taking pictures.

The focal point of this outfit is these frog legwarmers, and the froggy theme continues to his shoes. Which is totally accidental, because Shuma does not have a closet full of shoes featuring different animals that he can match to each outfit.

He was all dressed up for lunch with a friend at Sizzler, which I think is an American chain and I get the impression that it's not really a place people dress up for in its native land. But in Japan a salad bar is a rare and wonderful thing, especially for a toddler learning to eat. I never know what to expect: one day he'll eat everything we feed him, the next he won't want anything but cucumbers. Or pears, or spaghetti, or whatever little food fad he's following at the time. Of course when he decides he loves a particular food I'm happy to feed him just that- as long as he's eating, right? And as soon as he notices I've stocked up on it, he'll suddenly stop liking it. Is every toddler like this?

So at the salad bar he gamely tried a few different things before he noticed the edamame on my plate, which I knew to be one of his favourite foods and was trying to hide, in hopes that he'd eat a variety of food. So I had to give in and give him some, and that was it- he didn't eat a single other thing. Just piles and piles of edamame.

All that bean-eating is hard work, so he had a little nap while the grown-ups had dessert. Hmm, maybe if I indulged his edamame habit more often he'd turn into a regular napper...

Canada Part Three

Well, it's about time I finished posting about our trip to Canada this summer (the first parts of the trip were blogged here and here). We've been back for over five months and it still feels like yesterday. And I want to be back so badly, and looking at these pictures again makes me so, so homesick. Warning: this post contains about eight hundred pictures, and is good proof that I am just blogging for myself these days.

Shuma continued to spend a lot of time outdoors, especially as it started to warm up. Watermelon season came, which is always cause for great joy for everyone except myself. It turns out that Shuma likes the vile fruit (I have no idea where that came from, as Hideaki hates it as much as I do).

Not only to eat, but to roll around. And wear.

Shuma was just learning to eat, and had some setbacks (his initial jet lag caused some serious lack of appetite) but eventually he ate well, and cost my family a fortune in fruit. I ate well too. Oh the food I ate! I didn't take pictures of every memorable meal, but here are a few in no particular order:

I finally got to try Portuguese chicken that is so popular. Wow was it ever good (as were the greasy potatoes that came with it), and now it's just one more thing I can never have here in Japan.

Here's another: tomatillo tortilla soup, made by my brother Greg and his girlfriend Sherry. I've never even seen tomatillos in Japan, so I'll just have to wait till my next visit home and hope to get served this again.

After the soup they served these beautiful steaks, with refried beans and salsa.

My mom baked some lovely halibut with bacon and leeks.

And made a wonderful rhubarb crisp. The ice cream was totally unnecessary, but what the hell.

Another Greg and Sherry meal fajitas and black bean salsa.

I think this yummy meal was a whole family collaboration: chicken souvlaki with tzaziki sauce, tomato and feta cheese salad, sauteed greens of some sort, rice pilaf and corn on the cob. 

Sherry made this blueberry pie, and it was every bit as amazing as it looks.

It's hard to tell what you're looking at, and the picture doesn't do it justice, but this is my mom's cheese bread and it's deadly. It's bread baked with butter, onions, poppy seeds and cheese, and it's rich, gooey, crisp on the outside and so so good.

Served with steak, baked potato and veggies.

This is Sherry's strawberry shortcake, with strawberries she picked herself.

I went out for sushi with my sister Julie and her daughter Zoe, and was surprised at how good it was. I think it's pretty funny that they serve this bento with sushi AND rice, and a few things weren't quite right from a Japanese perspective, but it was great. I think the salmon sashimi is as good or better than what we get in Japan (which is often imported anyway).

Zoe introduced me to the dragon roll, which has unagi (eel) and avocado. I know very little about kawarimaki (the creative sushi rolls mostly found outside of Japan) but want to try more.

This beef, barley and porcini soup my mom made was so rich and satisfying, more of a stew than a soup really. I want some right now.

Zoe made her specialty, chicken brian, and Sherry helped out by making the pasta and side dishes. Everyone loved it, including Shuma (who loves any kind of noodle).

We liked my mom's pineapple cake so much she made it twice.

And I've never liked the combination of fruit and chocolate but Sherry converted me with these.

My last dinner at home was a Korean feast cooked by Sherry. I had requested ddukbokki, a dish of rice cake in spicy sauce which is also popular in Japan (where it is called topokki). Next came pajeon (spring onion pancake, called chijimi in Japan), which was eaten up before I thought to take a picture.

Then came thinly sliced beef, to be cooked at the table and eaten with a variety of kimchi, sauces and greens.

Here is one bite: a lettuce leaf, about to be rolled up with a sesame leaf, chrysanthemum leaves, cooked beef, kimichi and gochujang (spicy bean sauce). Yum!

All those calories needed to be burned off, so we tried to get out for exercise as much as possible. Baboo took Zoe, Shuma and I to Kelso for a bit of hiking.

And even though I kept worrying they'd fall, I even let Baboo carry Shuma.

We drove down to Toronto's lakefront and spent some time walking around. Shuma loved this splash pool and Cletis (my sister's dog) loved the geese that were everywhere.

And we all loved posing for some highly original pictures with a monument to the QEW (a local highway).

Closer to home, Shuma made many visits to our local park, here with his cousin Zoe.

But it was nice just to hang out at home. Look how pretty these flower baskets are! They are mostly Sherry's work.

There was always something fun to do, like hang around with Cletis.

Or jump around on the air mattress. I couldn't get any actual jumping on camera, because any commotion would attract Cletis and then Shuma would stop jumping and play with the dog.

Cletis managed to perfect the art of the photobomb, and starred in many, many pictures intended for Shuma.

Sherry was mostly in charge of bath time, and from the sounds of it they had great fun in the big bath. But when his eczema flared up we gave him an oatmeal bath in the kitchen sink. He'd never had a sink bath before as our sink is the wrong type, but it was the perfect size. He thought it was pretty nifty too.

And of course he liked his pool time out in the backyard. Basically he likes anything involving being naked, as it gives him access to his favourite toy.

But he really does seem to love the combination of water, the outdoors and nudity.

And then came Canada Day.

We all get dressed up in our finest patriotic finery.

The hockey stick was a big hit, and Baboo has great hope that he'll grow up knowing how to use it.

We played bocce in the field behind our house, which as always was really just an excuse to mock each other. Mom, Cletis and Shuma sensibly chose to watch.

And enjoy some snacks.

We taught Shuma how to stick a maple seed to his nose, which he took to right away. He's definitely one of us.

Zoe, as you may guess from these pictures, is a model and just got back from a few months in Bangkok.

She is known for professionalism and laid-back, sweet personality.

As well as her high standards of personal grooming.

Which is something we have in common.

Dinner was outside on the patio, which was a treat as most of the evenings until then were too cool to eat outside.

Shuma really enjoyed dining al fresco.

We had a lovely seafood dinner, including these clams roasted with potatoes and chorizo, and corn on the cob that came with little baby corns attached (the mini cobs were kind of disappointing actually).

And then it was fireworks time. This was Shuma's second pyrotechnic experience and he was very brave. His first time was Victoria Day five weeks before, and he'd been a little scared at first, but obviously interested. This time he really enjoyed them, despite being a little nervous.

On our last morning we went out for one last swing. I wanted to take the swing set with me, and I'm sure Shuma felt the same.

Back home we posed for some family pictures before I got ready to go.

And then it was goodbye. The flight home was uneventful and Shuma was well-behaved, which is pretty normal for a 9-month old. I know the next trip won't be so easy, but I can't wait.

See more pictures from the visit here. Please note that many of these pictures are not mine (namely: the good ones, which are by my brother Greg Bishop, his girlfriend Sherry Park or my father Jim Bishop).

Midtown

A few months back we had a nice day out that I never got around to sharing, so before I completely forget:

On a nice day in early October we went to Tokyo Midtown in search of the baby swing rumoured to be there. And we found it, sort of, in the park (Hinokocho Koen) to the northeast of Midtown. It's kind of half art instillation and half swing set, with a few regular swings and one toddler swing.

 

It's not really a baby swing though, and any kid big enough not to sit snugly in the weirdly designed seat is probably big enough to use a regular swing.

Just look how fun this swing is. Also, the whole swing set is really low and obviously parents have bumped their heads on the top bar, so on one side someone has slapped some ugly yellow and black warning tape. Not the side visible to most of the park though- wouldn't want to interfere with art. How the designers didn't anticipate bumped heads is beyond me, but it does seem to be a tradition in Japan for things to be designed by people who have never used them (thus my useless washing machine, obviously designed by a man who has never done laundry). End of rant, thank you.

We did have fun just hanging out on the lawn though. I don't know if it's on purpose, but most of the lawn is clover rather than grass, which is totally OK. The park is nice, and the other playground equipment looks OK, and there's a little Japanese style pond and garden and it's just a nice place to hang out.

We didn't find any four-leaved clovers though.

We had lunch at Union Square Tokyo, which I'd been wanting to check out since it opened a few years ago. They have a really nice patio, which faced the park and was spacious and had a few other families, which made us feel a bit relieved about bringing a baby to a nice place, but he was an angel.

I had pasta with oyster cream sauce, which was very nice, but Hideaki won for best order:

A nice burger, juicy and perfectly done, with good crispy fries. We also had some good wine, and the waitress fussed over Shuma, and combined with the nice weather and atmosphere it was a really really nice lunch. We've been back once and were kind of disappointed (especially since they close their patio at the beginning of November, regardless of the weather) but that lunch, and the whole day, was wonderful.

We're still here

Jesus christ, I just wrote a long ranty post about how tired and sick and uninspired I've been, and then I went and accidentally deleted it. My first post in over three weeks, and it's gone. I don't have the energy to try again, so here's the short version: sorry for not updating, feeling crappy, Shuma's doing well though. Here he is (months ago) taking a little nap during a diaper change. I wish he'd do that again. Or just take a nap.

An important announcement

Listen upeverybody, my son has something to say:

Motorcycle top

This outfit doesn't look very fancy, but that is the most expensive top I've ever bought for Shuma. We're not talking about designer prices or anything, but when you're used to buying baby clothes at discount retailers (not to mention all the clothes we've received as gifts) it's a big deal to pay full price at Baby Gap. The pants are hand-me-downs though, so I guess they cancel eachother out.

We just couldn't resist the top when we saw it, because it's got motorcycles on it. Or rather, his father the ex-motorcycle racer couldn't resist it.

Ha, dream on kid. That's as close as you're ever going to get to a motorcycle if I can help it.

 

 

More birthday stuff

Between August 20th and October 4th we celebrate Hideaki's birthday, our anniversary, Shuma's birthday, and my birthday as well. We also lean towards "birthday months" rather than big bashes on the days themselves, so please forgive me for kind of spreading out and jumbling up these birthday posts.

So I got a big surprise the weekend after my birthday- a delivery of ten fresh oysters from Akkeshi, Hokkaido! I'd dropped hints last year that, with a brand-new baby taking over our lives, went unfulfilled. This year Hideaki came through, and although they weren't my beloved Akkeshi kaki-emon oysters (which were apparently mostly wiped out in the tsunami) they were from the same brackish lake and tasted quite similar.

Aren't they pretty? He even shucked most of them for me, and I was nice enough to give him one. He doesn't like his oysters raw, so we cooked two in the microwave as recommended in the information that came with the delivery. Amazingly they were really good that way, just liked steamed but much easier.

These oysters are so flavourful that they don't need anything added, but a squeeze of sudachi citrus was nice for variety's sake.

The birthday dinner that followed was a humble but tasty meal of yaki-udon (fried udon noodles) and wonton soup. Hideaki uses fish sauce and ponzu to flavour his noodles and I'm totally addicted to that combination of flavours.

Dessert was a store-bought berry cake, and you can tell it's for my birthday because he hates these sour kind of berries. It's actually quite hard to find a simple cake like this, but since I don't like a lot of whipped cream and goo this is really all I want.

No candles or "Happy Birthday" singng, but then if those were really important to me I would have married a woman.

Then Shuma got a late and wonderful birthday present from some former students of mine who took us out for lunch. It's a birthday cake from Noe (pronounced "Noah", a much-loved cake shop in nearby Shakujii Koen). The chocolate heart says "Shuma-kun,Issai no Otanjoubi Omedetou" (Baby Shuma, Congratulations on Your First Birthday).

He was fascinated by the candle. He's recently learned how to blow but wasn't up for it so I took care of the candle for him (my wish was that he'd outgrow his dairy allergy so he could eat his next birthday cake).

He did get to eat his fill of fruit though, and his mom and dad really enjoyed the rest. Actually Noe cakes are the only ones I'll happily eat, cream, goo, and all. Yum.

Panda legs

Normally I'm thrilled when Shuma takes an unexpected nap. He doesn't nap well or regularly, so when it happens I get to do stuff that I usually don't get to do. Or at least get to do in peace.

But yesterday he fell asleep at the jidoukan (children's centre) while we ate lunch after a playgroup session. I was tempted to try to get him into his carrier as gently as possible and head for the nearest cafe so I could do a little reading and relaxing, but I was sure he'd wake up at some point and spoil my plans. So I put him in the centre's crib (thank goodness they have one) and miracle of miracles, he stayed asleep. And there we were, Shuma fast asleep and leaving me free in the one place I had nothing to do.

Well, not completely. I got to chat with some other moms without being interrupted every fifteen seconds by a baby needing my attention. And I got to take these pictures.

If I'd known I'd get to take pictures I would have chosen a more exciting outfit (he has loads of nifty clothes that I've been trying to get him to model). But the legwarmers are pretty neat, with their stripes, pandas, and descriptive lettering. Just in case you weren't sure what kind of creature that is.

Birthday boy

Shuma's first birthday has come and gone (like, a month and a half ago) without mention yet, but don't think we didn't do anything. His birthday is September 20th, which this year was in the middle of the week so rather than one big party we did a series of things. I don't think one-year-olds are really ready to appreciate major fussing anyway, and even if we allowed him to eat sweets he wouldn't be able to have a cake because of his dairy allergy. So he just had a few mini celebrations, starting with a birthday serenade at TGI Friday's in Shinagawa (see here for the full description and an awful, awful picture).

Next we got him an indoor playset. I mostly wanted it for the swing, as I still haven't found a park with a baby swing nearby, but I kind of misjudged how huge the thing is and it doesn't fit in our apartment with the swing addition (it doesn't look that bad above, but there was no clearance at all).

So the swing is packed away and will come out when we finish converting our office into Shuma's bedroom. Which I hope to god is soon because even without the swing this thing is huge.

He also got the walker seen in this post, which will convert into a scooter when he outgrows it. Yes he is completely spoiled. When I was pregnant we swore we wouldn't buy him much stuff, and now our place is completely overrun by tonnes of plastic baby crap. The thing is, he really likes it all, and since he still doesn't really nap I figure the more distractions he has, the more chances I have to cook, clean, and relax in peace.

On September 18th a bunch of Hideaki's relatives got together to honour his grandmother for Keiro no Hi (Respect for the Aged Day). It was a really nice gathering and Shuma got to meet some cousins and great uncles for the first time, and although we weren't specifically celebrating his birthday he did get a cake. Or rather, he got to watch us eat a cake. It says "Shuma-kun Omedetou", which means "Congratulations Baby Shuma".

Also not specifically for his birthday, but on September 23rd Shuma and I went to Enoshima with Hideaki's sister and her family. Enoshima is a small island in the Shonan area of Kanagawa Prefecture, near Kamakura, and although I've been to the beaches nearby I've never actually made it to the island. That's Katase Enoshima station above, one of the cuter station buildings I've seen. 

We first went to the Enoshima Aquarium, which focuses on the marine life of the neighboring Sagami Bay. It was a public holiday so the place was packed and it was hard to get close to many of the exhibits, but they seem to have done a great job recreating the amazing biodiversity of the bay. I'd like to return and spend more time there (I say this about every aquarium I visit, but I really really mean it this time).

And of course there are seal and dolphin performances, which the kiddies love. I like the way they designed the dolphin stadium (theatre?) with a view of the bay and Enoshima.

Shuma was a good boy and mostly enjoyed watching the sea mammals but is still a touch too young to really get into it. Or maybe he's like me and prefers the fishes in the aquariums.

Lunch was a big treat, as shirasu (baby sardines) is the local delicacy. I had tsukimi shirasu-don (moon-viewing shirasu rice bowl, with a raw egg yolk as the moon), which came with pickles, grated daikon and miso soup. Shuma loves shirasu so we both loved this.

 

And this past weekend we all got together again for a multi-purpose celebration- Shuma's birthday, Halloween, and cousin Yuuki's birthday (he'll turn one in December, so it's halfway between each of their big days). Again we had the staff bring free birthday desserts and sing (along with the nearby diners) happy birthday. Yuuki was excited, but Shuma was kind of scared- a bit disappointed as he'd just loved the same thing the month before. Oh well, at least we all got to share some yummy dessert.

Happy Halloween!

I lamed out this Halloween and bought Shuma's costume. I don't generally approve of store-bought costumes, but after looking forward to Halloween for months Shuma and I both got sick in mid-October, and stayed sick for two weeks. Despite being "just" a cold, it was the sickest I can remember ever being, and in addition to my cold Shuma got a nasty case of pinkeye that was resistant to the first of antibiotics and thus stuck around for much longer than it should have. Yuck. So I think I'll go easy on myself for not making what surely would have been the coolest Halloween costumes ever.

We're both mostly better now, aside from lingering coughs (and a general foul mood on Shuma's part), but we had to miss our playgroup's Halloween party which we'd been really looking forward to. We did get to go trick-or-treating in an even organized by a play centre- the first time I've ever heard of trick-or-treating in Japan. Shuma was still a bit grumpy from his cold, and is also still, you know, a baby, so of course it didn't go as planned. He was scared by the noisy older kids and wouldn't walk by himself and would cry if I even put him down for a second. What was I thinking bringing a thirteen-month-old trick-or-treating?

But back at the play centre he recovered and even though he probably didn't know that those colourful plastic packages were filled with candy (nor does he even know what candy is) he was really excited about all his loot.

We also got together with my sister-in-law and her family, to celebrate both Halloween and two birthdays (Shuma and Yuuki were born less than three months apart).

Shuma did manage to enjoy himself, although as you can see above he wasn't crazy about being caged in the playpen with Yuuki while the rest of used carved pumpkins. Or rather, some of the rest of us carved pumpkins. A certain someone chose to nap instead (bonus points for spotting him in the picture above).

That's my pumpkin on the right, and Hisashi-san, my brother-in-law's, on the left. Not bad, huh!

Here's mine again back home, along with another I did at as a guest at an English school's Halloween party.

Hope you all had a Happy Halloween!