Hello all, and happy Valentine’s Day!
We have been doing great! We had an awesome Valentine’s Day complete with lots of candy (and a couple small toys for Jordan), and Christian and I hunkered down after Jordan went to bed and watched “Definitely, Maybe”. Can’t have Valentine’s Day without a good romance movie, can you?
This week for our weekly excursion we decided to check out a local Japanese thrift store! We had heard a lot about them and had heard that they were different from US thrift stores, but had never visited one! Check out the video below!
Hope y’all had a good Valentine’s Day and we look forward to new adventures!
See you next time!
Brittany and Christian
Sunday, February 18, 2018
Saturday, February 10, 2018
Week 27: Sapporo Ice Festival
This week's blog is written by a super-old 30-year-old guy who went to Sapporo without his amazing and understanding wife, leaving her all alone with their one-year-old son. That's right. I'm in charge today. Mwahahaha.
Anyway, this week, the brass quint(oct)et from the USARJ (United States Army Japan) Band were invited to perform at the annual Sapporo Ice and Snow Festival! It was such an amazing (and cold) experience. I ate WAY too much food and spent WAY too much on it, but it was incredibly fun! Below are some highlights, culminating in a video from my time there.
REALLY yummy dessert from one of the places I ate. Underneath that whipped cream is ice cream!
Awesome Final Fantasy XIV snow piece. It was like 50 feet tall!
Ol' Lenny, himself! Apparently he started the Pacific Music Festival in Sapporo in 1990, but unfortunately passed away before it really got started. So he's kind of a big deal here.
Also, Sapporo must have a high concentration of Christianity because this was just one of several Christian churches I saw just in the few blocks of the city that we explored.
"This is the very steak. The big cut of steak." - Ikinari Steak.
And here's the montage video:
If you'd like to see the whole Final Fantasy video, you can CLICK HERE. And if you'd like to see the whole Leonard Bernstein video, you can CLICK HERE. (Note: the Bernstein video is about 15 minutes long.)
I got back in time for my birthday. Had an awesome day with the family. Then today we went out to a train hub (Sagami-Ono station) and just wandered and explored the shopping area around there.
See you next week!
Anyway, this week, the brass quint(oct)et from the USARJ (United States Army Japan) Band were invited to perform at the annual Sapporo Ice and Snow Festival! It was such an amazing (and cold) experience. I ate WAY too much food and spent WAY too much on it, but it was incredibly fun! Below are some highlights, culminating in a video from my time there.
They had a store for Final Fantasy stuff right next door. There were some really cool figurines, but the cheapest was about $70.
If you'd like to see the whole Final Fantasy video, you can CLICK HERE. And if you'd like to see the whole Leonard Bernstein video, you can CLICK HERE. (Note: the Bernstein video is about 15 minutes long.)
I got back in time for my birthday. Had an awesome day with the family. Then today we went out to a train hub (Sagami-Ono station) and just wandered and explored the shopping area around there.
See you next week!
Saturday, February 3, 2018
Week 26: Cup Noodles Museum
Hello friends!
This week we took a trip to Yokohama to visit the Cup Noodles Museum! Yes, I mean these things:
The inventor of Cup Noodles was Japanese. He invented Cup Noodles during war times in Japan when people were poor and hot meals were hard to come by. He invented a way to dehydrate a standard Japanese bowl of ramen so that those poor people could have cheap, hot meals. (Spoiler: it involves boiling the noodles in hot oil...one of the reasons Cup Noodles aren’t very healthy for you).
We had lots of fun at the museum! They had a little theater that showed a cute little video about the history of Cup Noodles, and they even had translator devices that allowed us to hear the video in English so we could actually understand it. They had several kid-friendly exhibits. One of the most popular activities at the museum is where you can help make your very own custom Cup Noodles, so we had fun designing and filling a cup with the ingredients we wanted. Watch the video below to see all the fun stuff we did at the museum!
We love sharing our adventures with you!
Love,
Brittany and Christian
This week we took a trip to Yokohama to visit the Cup Noodles Museum! Yes, I mean these things:
The inventor of Cup Noodles was Japanese. He invented Cup Noodles during war times in Japan when people were poor and hot meals were hard to come by. He invented a way to dehydrate a standard Japanese bowl of ramen so that those poor people could have cheap, hot meals. (Spoiler: it involves boiling the noodles in hot oil...one of the reasons Cup Noodles aren’t very healthy for you).
We had lots of fun at the museum! They had a little theater that showed a cute little video about the history of Cup Noodles, and they even had translator devices that allowed us to hear the video in English so we could actually understand it. They had several kid-friendly exhibits. One of the most popular activities at the museum is where you can help make your very own custom Cup Noodles, so we had fun designing and filling a cup with the ingredients we wanted. Watch the video below to see all the fun stuff we did at the museum!
We love sharing our adventures with you!
Love,
Brittany and Christian
Sunday, January 28, 2018
Weeks 23-25: First Snow and Japanese Farmer's Market
All right! It's been way too long, I know. We've been busy and some of us have been sick recently, but we're posting now!
We have officially had the first snow of the season! It dumped on us! It started snowing in the late morning and continued all that day and all night. Our section of town got 4-8 inches by the end of the night! That's more snow than we've seen in a long time -- last time we had that much snow, we were still living in Utah.
Jordan didn't get to see much of the snow last winter or the winter before that (there was next to none anyway), so this was kind of like his first encounter with snow. He was hesitant at first, but he really liked it... until it started to get high enough to where he had trouble walking in it. Then he decided he'd rather be picked up.
Christian got together with the neighbors and made a giant snowman.
We also recently went to a Japanese farmer's market near us and purposely picked out foods that we had no idea what they were. Then we went home, researched them, and then prepared and ate them. Here's the video!
We are having lots of fun here! Stay tuned!
Love,
Brittany and Christian
We have officially had the first snow of the season! It dumped on us! It started snowing in the late morning and continued all that day and all night. Our section of town got 4-8 inches by the end of the night! That's more snow than we've seen in a long time -- last time we had that much snow, we were still living in Utah.
Jordan didn't get to see much of the snow last winter or the winter before that (there was next to none anyway), so this was kind of like his first encounter with snow. He was hesitant at first, but he really liked it... until it started to get high enough to where he had trouble walking in it. Then he decided he'd rather be picked up.
Christian got together with the neighbors and made a giant snowman.
We also recently went to a Japanese farmer's market near us and purposely picked out foods that we had no idea what they were. Then we went home, researched them, and then prepared and ate them. Here's the video!
We are having lots of fun here! Stay tuned!
Love,
Brittany and Christian
Saturday, January 6, 2018
Week 22: Sushi-Go-Round Restaurant!
Welcome to another week of the Mealeys' Adventures in Japan!
This week we went to a conveyor belt sushi restaurant, otherwise known as a sushi-go-round. There are lots of different types of sushi (and a few other dishes like veggies and desserts) that go around all the tables on a conveyor belt, and you just pick up the sushi you want as it comes by your table. The dishes are color coded -- certain colors of plate correspond to different prices, and you just pay at the end based on how many plates of different colors you have on your table.
Here's a list of all the stuff we tried! Before today, we hadn't tried much in the way of sushi (the occasional California roll in the US, and some accidental raw fish once here in Japan, is about all), so we tried to get some of the most adventurous options available! We were lucky they had an English menu, or else it would have been SUPER adventurous because we'd have had no idea what we were eating! Here's a list of what we chose:
Fatty tuna (raw)
Flatfish fin (raw)
Seared salmon (mostly raw)
Salmon roe
Natto (fermented soybeans)
Squid tentacle salad
Cucumber rolls
Kanpyo maki rolls (shaved gourd)
Edamame
Shrimp avocado rolls
Flan with whipped cream, cherries, and strawberries
We liked some things better than others! Watch the video to see the adventure we had, and what we all (including Jordan) thought of the sushi!
We are having a great time with these adventures and we love to share them with you! We have some great plans for our weekly excursions for this year, so stay tuned!
Love,
Brittany and Christian
This week we went to a conveyor belt sushi restaurant, otherwise known as a sushi-go-round. There are lots of different types of sushi (and a few other dishes like veggies and desserts) that go around all the tables on a conveyor belt, and you just pick up the sushi you want as it comes by your table. The dishes are color coded -- certain colors of plate correspond to different prices, and you just pay at the end based on how many plates of different colors you have on your table.
Here's a list of all the stuff we tried! Before today, we hadn't tried much in the way of sushi (the occasional California roll in the US, and some accidental raw fish once here in Japan, is about all), so we tried to get some of the most adventurous options available! We were lucky they had an English menu, or else it would have been SUPER adventurous because we'd have had no idea what we were eating! Here's a list of what we chose:
Fatty tuna (raw)
Flatfish fin (raw)
Seared salmon (mostly raw)
Salmon roe
Natto (fermented soybeans)
Squid tentacle salad
Cucumber rolls
Kanpyo maki rolls (shaved gourd)
Edamame
Shrimp avocado rolls
Flan with whipped cream, cherries, and strawberries
We liked some things better than others! Watch the video to see the adventure we had, and what we all (including Jordan) thought of the sushi!
We are having a great time with these adventures and we love to share them with you! We have some great plans for our weekly excursions for this year, so stay tuned!
Love,
Brittany and Christian
Monday, January 1, 2018
Week 21: A Japanese New Year Celebration!
Hello friends and family!
This week we wanted to celebrate the new year in Japanese style! So we researched Japanese New Year traditions and tried out as many of them as we could!
Traditionally, Japanese New Year's Eve dinner consists of "osechi ryori", basically large bento boxes full of an assortment of fancy dishes that are supposed to each symbolize a different aspect of good fortune during the new year.
However, we also discovered that these "osechi ryori" boxes apparently cost around $80... for the really cheap, lower quality ones, and can go up to prices around $2000. The one in the picture above costs 21,000 yen.... which is equivalent to about $186. Soooo we decided to research other options.
We settled on this dish called "toshikoshi soba" which is also a traditional Japanese food to eat at New Year's Eve dinner, and we decided to buy all the ingredients ourselves and make it at home! See the video below to see how it went, and what Jordan thought of it! Here's the recipe we used!
After Jordan went to bed, we watched "Kōhaku Uta Gassen", more commonly known simply as "Kōhaku", a Japanese show that airs on New Year's Eve. It translates to "The Year-End Song Festival." It's a "battle of the bands" type show where lots of Japanese music performers come and compete. It's supposed to be about as popular as Americans watching the Rose Bowl on Thanksgiving, so we decided we couldn't celebrate Japanese New Year without it! It turned out to be pretty entertaining! Watch the video below to see what we thought were the best little snippets of the show!
The Japanese aren't big on fireworks, so we had a peaceful and quiet night. The next day (New Year's Day) we participated in one last New Year's Japanese tradition: playing Fukuwarai! Fukuwarai is a children's game (but played by adults as well) similar to Pin the Tail on the Donkey, except you pin the facial features on the face. We had lots of silly fun! See the video below.
That's about it! We had a fun New Year, and we hope you did too!
See you next time!
Love,
Brittany and Christian
This week we wanted to celebrate the new year in Japanese style! So we researched Japanese New Year traditions and tried out as many of them as we could!
Traditionally, Japanese New Year's Eve dinner consists of "osechi ryori", basically large bento boxes full of an assortment of fancy dishes that are supposed to each symbolize a different aspect of good fortune during the new year.
However, we also discovered that these "osechi ryori" boxes apparently cost around $80... for the really cheap, lower quality ones, and can go up to prices around $2000. The one in the picture above costs 21,000 yen.... which is equivalent to about $186. Soooo we decided to research other options.
We settled on this dish called "toshikoshi soba" which is also a traditional Japanese food to eat at New Year's Eve dinner, and we decided to buy all the ingredients ourselves and make it at home! See the video below to see how it went, and what Jordan thought of it! Here's the recipe we used!
After Jordan went to bed, we watched "Kōhaku Uta Gassen", more commonly known simply as "Kōhaku", a Japanese show that airs on New Year's Eve. It translates to "The Year-End Song Festival." It's a "battle of the bands" type show where lots of Japanese music performers come and compete. It's supposed to be about as popular as Americans watching the Rose Bowl on Thanksgiving, so we decided we couldn't celebrate Japanese New Year without it! It turned out to be pretty entertaining! Watch the video below to see what we thought were the best little snippets of the show!
The Japanese aren't big on fireworks, so we had a peaceful and quiet night. The next day (New Year's Day) we participated in one last New Year's Japanese tradition: playing Fukuwarai! Fukuwarai is a children's game (but played by adults as well) similar to Pin the Tail on the Donkey, except you pin the facial features on the face. We had lots of silly fun! See the video below.
That's about it! We had a fun New Year, and we hope you did too!
See you next time!
Love,
Brittany and Christian
Monday, December 25, 2017
Weeks 18-20: Christmas Concert, Emperor's Birthday, and First Japanese Christmas!
Hello everyone, and merry Christmas (メリークリスマス, or "meri kurisumasu") from Japan!
We have had a busy couple of weeks since our last post!
On December 15th and 16th, the United States Army Japan Band (Christian's band) played a Christmas concert for the Japanese people. They sold 2800 seats between the two nights, almost filling the hall, so it was very well attended! I was able to get a ticket for one of the nights and I was impressed! They played everything from Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer to O Holy Night/Jesu Bambino. The only downside was that the hall they performed at (which holds 1500 people) only has about 30 spaces in their parking lot! So of course the parking lot was full probably at least an hour before the show started, requiring me to find creative parking solutions! But it was so worth it!
On December 23, we went with the Morale, Welfare, and Recreation Center (MWR) on a guided trip to the Imperial Palace to celebrate Emperor Akihito's birthday! See the video below, and scroll down to see more pictures of the Imperial Palace grounds! Super fun!
Then, of course, we just celebrated Christmas today! Jordan had lots of fun opening presents. It took us a couple hours to get everything opened, not because we had that many presents, but because Jordan wanted to spend time playing with each of the toys after he opened them (understandable, I suppose!) instead of opening more presents.
A little about Christmas for the Japanese:
First off, yes, they celebrate Christmas, although just the commercial part of it (Santa, reindeer, presents, etc). Less than 1% of the country is Christian (most are Shinto or Buddhist), so I doubt if many of them know the reason for the holiday (kind of like Americans celebrating Halloween even though most of us aren't pagan and have no idea what the holiday really means).
One funny thing is that it is a Japanese tradition to have KFC (yes, Kentucky Fried Chicken) for Christmas dinner! Many of them are surprised to learn that Americans don't have this tradition! The reason for KFC on Christmas started with American tourists traveling in Japan over the holidays and not being able to find turkey for their Christmas dinners (turkey really isn't a thing here). So, KFC filled the void and opened a restaurant offering fried chicken for Christmas as an alternative. Then they launched a marketing campaign offering the Japanese people a "Kentucky Christmas"! Below is a Japanese KFC Christmas commercial for your entertainment.
They sell boxes of fried chicken including cake and champagne, and people come in droves! People start ordering their boxes of KFC as early as October in order to avoid the lines on Christmas, but lines at some locations are still so long that you have to wait anywhere from 2-6 hours to get your Christmas bucket of KFC! Here's a picture! It's like going to Best Buy on Black Friday! Crazy!
Anyway, that's all for this week! We hope you all have a very merry Christmas!
We have had a busy couple of weeks since our last post!
On December 15th and 16th, the United States Army Japan Band (Christian's band) played a Christmas concert for the Japanese people. They sold 2800 seats between the two nights, almost filling the hall, so it was very well attended! I was able to get a ticket for one of the nights and I was impressed! They played everything from Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer to O Holy Night/Jesu Bambino. The only downside was that the hall they performed at (which holds 1500 people) only has about 30 spaces in their parking lot! So of course the parking lot was full probably at least an hour before the show started, requiring me to find creative parking solutions! But it was so worth it!
On December 23, we went with the Morale, Welfare, and Recreation Center (MWR) on a guided trip to the Imperial Palace to celebrate Emperor Akihito's birthday! See the video below, and scroll down to see more pictures of the Imperial Palace grounds! Super fun!
Then, of course, we just celebrated Christmas today! Jordan had lots of fun opening presents. It took us a couple hours to get everything opened, not because we had that many presents, but because Jordan wanted to spend time playing with each of the toys after he opened them (understandable, I suppose!) instead of opening more presents.
A little about Christmas for the Japanese:
First off, yes, they celebrate Christmas, although just the commercial part of it (Santa, reindeer, presents, etc). Less than 1% of the country is Christian (most are Shinto or Buddhist), so I doubt if many of them know the reason for the holiday (kind of like Americans celebrating Halloween even though most of us aren't pagan and have no idea what the holiday really means).
One funny thing is that it is a Japanese tradition to have KFC (yes, Kentucky Fried Chicken) for Christmas dinner! Many of them are surprised to learn that Americans don't have this tradition! The reason for KFC on Christmas started with American tourists traveling in Japan over the holidays and not being able to find turkey for their Christmas dinners (turkey really isn't a thing here). So, KFC filled the void and opened a restaurant offering fried chicken for Christmas as an alternative. Then they launched a marketing campaign offering the Japanese people a "Kentucky Christmas"! Below is a Japanese KFC Christmas commercial for your entertainment.
They sell boxes of fried chicken including cake and champagne, and people come in droves! People start ordering their boxes of KFC as early as October in order to avoid the lines on Christmas, but lines at some locations are still so long that you have to wait anywhere from 2-6 hours to get your Christmas bucket of KFC! Here's a picture! It's like going to Best Buy on Black Friday! Crazy!
Anyway, that's all for this week! We hope you all have a very merry Christmas!
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