We made chicken and yaki soba (cooked noodles, vegetables and meat) on the grill. We also had salad and fruit. Needless to say, I made way too much food. But, we had a lot of fun. Luckily, my commercial vaccuum sealer works here - even with the power difference. I debated on whether to bring it, but I am glad we did. It just runs a little slower. I was able to package chicken for two separate meals for us to eat later. We also found a low-cost meat shop. Elin was able to fill the freezer with beef and chicken for about 7000 yen.
One interesting note... Chicken breast costs about 200-300 yen per pound. Chicken thighs with no bone cost upwards of 600 yen per pound. I actually like the thighs best. In the US, we would buy the family packs for a few dollars. I haven't had chicken thighs here yet. Our supermarket only keeps meat out for a few days and then they slash the price to get rid of it. We go to the store about every day or two so we always scan the meat/fish sections for deals.
On Sunday, we were up early so we could go back to the rice field. We had to go back and weed. Along with weeding, they planned to take us to a strawberry farm and picked/ate strawberries. After that, we went to a picnic with work friends. There was a good mix of American and Japanese people there. We played flag football. I scored a touchdown and also had one interception. I was huffing and puffing throughout the whole game. I haven't done that in years. My body let me know that I wasn't a kid anymore...
We had some monster weeds growing next to our house. I think that they might be asparagus that went out of control, but I am not sure. Savannah and Denny played with them for a while. Denny pretended to use one as a witch's broom.
We wrapped Savannah up in a towel after her bath. I took a picture because she looked so cute.
Savannah sporting mommy's shades. We were on our way to Kainz Home Center and them to Nitori home center looking for curtains for her room. We waited until after payday to try to stay within our budget. Our house came with curtains, but they were a little old so we are slowly replacing them. Denny got the first set. We were able to talk her out of the brown curtains with fireworks on them... Whew. We have friends that are returning at the end of June. They are currently packing. We are lucky enough to be the recipients of the items that they don't want anymore. We have already received a lot of good stuff - heated carpet, bookshelves, Denny's bicycle and they dropped off a portable bicycle garage today. This helps since our shed barely fits the four bikes. I will now have a little more room in the shed.
Denny and Savannah grabbing a snack at where else?
McDonald's, of course. Cheeseburgers, ketchup and pickles only. On our first trip to McDonald's back in April, I asked for "no mustard, no onions". I thought that I made myself perfectly clear in Japanese. Unfortunately, we got two cheeseburgers with Mustard and onion only... DOH!!! They at them anyway which made me REALLY happy because I didn't want to try to explain the mix-up.
We decided to buy a grill on Saturday as well. The local hardware store had this one for 4000 yen ($40). The charcoal looks to be actual wood... not sure. I bought some charcoal starters which made the process a snap. Not like the last time at Mizuhono park. The charcoal we had then looked man-made.
Denny got a kick out of taking pictures. We traded the camera back and forth for about 5 or 6 sets. Most Japanese people give the peace sign during pictures... no one knows why. The kids picked it up too. I am periodically forced to do conform. This is one example. Peace.
Savannah came out a little later. Denny tried to get her to use his hat to fan the flames. For the "Buckeye Vally West" followers... check out Savannah's sweatshirt. Go Barons!
They had ducks that they released into the rice field. The fence around it is supposed to keep them inside. From what we gather, they are supposed to eat the bugs in the rice field. As soon as they hit the water, they were filtering the water through their bills.
All of the ducks after being released into the water.
After three weeks, this is what the rice looks like. There were supposed to be 3 stems in each bunch. It looks like there are a lot more shoots at this point.
Denny back at his jacuzzi. It was pretty cold this weekend. Elin and I chickened out and didn't go back into the mud. I think it was a wise decision.
This is what the field looks like now. Not much different, but the rice plants are a little bigger. I thought the reflection from the trees also looked cool in this picture. You can see the cloud coverage in the reflection off of the water. If you look in the back, you can also see the duck house.
Along with rice, they plant a lot of wheat. I assume it is like winter wheat that is planted back home since it was green in April and now it is dried out.
Savannah making friends with the ducks.
Baby duckling.
Denny peeking into the duck house. The ducks were covered in mud from the muddy water in the field.
Denny has a really cool T-shirt. It says 'chick magnet'. This happens everywhere he goes. The kids literally stop people in their tracks. It is funny. It finally happened when I had a camera handy. I believe the girls in the picture are high school girls who are somehow involved in agriculture - like 4H. Anyway, they asked him his name and age. I was close enough to hear him answer in Japanese.
Denny and I caught a frog near the edge of the rice field.
This is the greenhouse that had the strawberry plants. My assumption was that we were supposed to pick them and dump them in a flat. I heard that we were allowed to eat as much as we wanted, but could not take them home. I thought we were supposed to fill the little cups they gave us. Actually, these were for the green leafy part at the top of the strawberry after you ate one.
This is my cup... I had it filled and was looking for a place to dump them out. I was then told that I was supposed to eat them. In Japanese, strawberry is ichigo (ee-chi-go).
Elin and the kids looking for strawberries. I remember an old cartoon where there were a line of cows quickly moving across a field. The grass disappeared as they munched their way along. That is similar to the strawberry picking. There were about 40 people that went into the greenhouse. The plants were nearly wiped out after the first pass. After about 15 minutes, you really had to search to find one strawberry.
Fuerai 'Beach'
Fuarai Beach is near a river. I am told that the river changes course so often, that this area no longer has the river next to it. They still call it a beach, though. There were about 50 or 60 people at our picnic alone which is a lot. The Ransome's put the picnic together and they did a really good job.
We were surprised to see the Ice Cream Woman that came through. It was a little pricey - 480 yen for a small one-scoop cone and a small one-scoop cup. However, it was the best ice-cream that I have had in Japan so far. Savannah played it safe with vanilla and Denny got cookies and cream. They both were fantastic.
As we were eating the ice cream, a lady bug landed on me so I took its picture. All of the kids were trying to catch them as well as other bugs like grasshoppers. There are also huge stag beetles here that they sell just about everywhere as pets. I will try to get a picture of one, but I think you might be able to look it up on the Internet. They are really ugly.
Denny finishing his ice cream.
McDonald's, of course. Cheeseburgers, ketchup and pickles only. On our first trip to McDonald's back in April, I asked for "no mustard, no onions". I thought that I made myself perfectly clear in Japanese. Unfortunately, we got two cheeseburgers with Mustard and onion only... DOH!!! They at them anyway which made me REALLY happy because I didn't want to try to explain the mix-up.
We decided to buy a grill on Saturday as well. The local hardware store had this one for 4000 yen ($40). The charcoal looks to be actual wood... not sure. I bought some charcoal starters which made the process a snap. Not like the last time at Mizuhono park. The charcoal we had then looked man-made.
Denny got a kick out of taking pictures. We traded the camera back and forth for about 5 or 6 sets. Most Japanese people give the peace sign during pictures... no one knows why. The kids picked it up too. I am periodically forced to do conform. This is one example. Peace.
Savannah came out a little later. Denny tried to get her to use his hat to fan the flames. For the "Buckeye Vally West" followers... check out Savannah's sweatshirt. Go Barons!Rice Field
They had ducks that they released into the rice field. The fence around it is supposed to keep them inside. From what we gather, they are supposed to eat the bugs in the rice field. As soon as they hit the water, they were filtering the water through their bills.
All of the ducks after being released into the water.
After three weeks, this is what the rice looks like. There were supposed to be 3 stems in each bunch. It looks like there are a lot more shoots at this point.
Denny back at his jacuzzi. It was pretty cold this weekend. Elin and I chickened out and didn't go back into the mud. I think it was a wise decision.
This is what the field looks like now. Not much different, but the rice plants are a little bigger. I thought the reflection from the trees also looked cool in this picture. You can see the cloud coverage in the reflection off of the water. If you look in the back, you can also see the duck house.
Along with rice, they plant a lot of wheat. I assume it is like winter wheat that is planted back home since it was green in April and now it is dried out.
Savannah making friends with the ducks.
Baby duckling.
Denny peeking into the duck house. The ducks were covered in mud from the muddy water in the field.
Denny has a really cool T-shirt. It says 'chick magnet'. This happens everywhere he goes. The kids literally stop people in their tracks. It is funny. It finally happened when I had a camera handy. I believe the girls in the picture are high school girls who are somehow involved in agriculture - like 4H. Anyway, they asked him his name and age. I was close enough to hear him answer in Japanese.
Denny and I caught a frog near the edge of the rice field.
This is the greenhouse that had the strawberry plants. My assumption was that we were supposed to pick them and dump them in a flat. I heard that we were allowed to eat as much as we wanted, but could not take them home. I thought we were supposed to fill the little cups they gave us. Actually, these were for the green leafy part at the top of the strawberry after you ate one.
This is my cup... I had it filled and was looking for a place to dump them out. I was then told that I was supposed to eat them. In Japanese, strawberry is ichigo (ee-chi-go).
Elin and the kids looking for strawberries. I remember an old cartoon where there were a line of cows quickly moving across a field. The grass disappeared as they munched their way along. That is similar to the strawberry picking. There were about 40 people that went into the greenhouse. The plants were nearly wiped out after the first pass. After about 15 minutes, you really had to search to find one strawberry.Fuerai 'Beach'
Fuarai Beach is near a river. I am told that the river changes course so often, that this area no longer has the river next to it. They still call it a beach, though. There were about 50 or 60 people at our picnic alone which is a lot. The Ransome's put the picnic together and they did a really good job.
We were surprised to see the Ice Cream Woman that came through. It was a little pricey - 480 yen for a small one-scoop cone and a small one-scoop cup. However, it was the best ice-cream that I have had in Japan so far. Savannah played it safe with vanilla and Denny got cookies and cream. They both were fantastic.
As we were eating the ice cream, a lady bug landed on me so I took its picture. All of the kids were trying to catch them as well as other bugs like grasshoppers. There are also huge stag beetles here that they sell just about everywhere as pets. I will try to get a picture of one, but I think you might be able to look it up on the Internet. They are really ugly.
Denny finishing his ice cream.
As we were leaving, I took one last picture. If you look close, you can see the mountains in the background between the trees. I haven't figured out where they all are exactly. Every now and then, they just show up. Sometimes, the weather hides them as well. The mountains are one of my favorite things about Japan. We are originally from Pittsburgh which has a lot of hills. We lived in Ohio for the last 12 years or so. We barely have hills in central Ohio unless you are near a river. Soy beans and corn... good for the deer, but not much in terms of scenery. You can also see the cloud coverage here as well. For us light skinned, red-headed people, the overcast days are actually nicer than days with blazing sun.
Tomorrow, I am planning to ride my bicycle to work for the first time. I hope it doesn't rain. I haven't purchased a rain suit yet. I always have the bus as another option. We are trying to get by with only one car so I am trying to find outher means to get to work.
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