Suitengu Shrine

Suitengu Shrine, is dedicated to safe delivery and childbirth.   Yes, a shrine solely for this purpose, which is not surprising in Japan.

As our quiet weekends are coming to an end, Mike and I decided to go and check it out.   It never hurts to have multiple religion praying for you, so why not.   It is basically like visiting any other shrine: you ring the bell, throw some coins in, pray, and then clap twice.

This weekend also happens to be a celebration of 7-5-3, where you bring your 7/3 yr. old daughters and 5yr sons to the shrine to be blessed.  Its a big deal, as you can see below, everyone gets dressed up.   I though she was super cute

30 weeks...

and counting until the arrival of Swimmy.   We have about 7-10 weeks left, YIKES.   j/k.

Mike and I are as prepared as we are going to be.  All the clothes, blankets, etc, we have thus far are washed and put away ready for the arrival.   I'm still in search of a bassinet/moses basket, but I am sure I'll find one before the time is actually here.   Baby shipment should arrive by early December and just in time.

As you all know, I'm not a belly picture person, but figured I would share as people have been asking.  Plus from what everyone tells me here, I'm pretty small, though I dont' feel that way most days.

September in the States

The entire month was spent in the states, hopping around to see people and celebrate many occasions.   We started in STL to see the family and surprise them with the news of the Swimmy (aka baby Miles).   Little did we know that the secret had already been let out of the bag, which means we learned our lesson for next time!   Golf, lots of golf, and celebrating Swimmy were on the agenda.

I headed to El Paso for 2 weeks, which was great to celebrate my mom and Swimmy again.   I spent alot of time with lil Gabe and Ella, and sister.   It was hard to leave as I really do miss them.
On to Houston to see friends and shop for a few days.   I ended my stay in Tulsa to see a good friend of mine, Ashley get married.  All in all, it was a good trip, but quite exhausting in the end.  I was ready to come home to sleep in my own bed!

Here's a few pictures.   I completely forgot the camera charger, so no camera for the whole month!

Weekend Getaway in Karuizawa

Mike and I have tried to schedule a weekend away, just to get out of the city, but its been difficult.   Thankfully, my friend, Hiroko and her husband, invited us to join them at their summer house in Karuizawa.   She's asked me several times, but timing didn't work out, so I was glad it did this time.   Last weekend, we boarded the shinkansen and left the city.

Karuizawa is about 1 hour westish from Tokyo and in the mountains, so the temperature is much cooler.   It is a popular summer spot for the Japanese due to the temperatures.   We stayed at their house, which was beautiful, nestled among the trees and near a creek, which you could hear flowing every morning.   There were no plans for this trip, just relaxation, which was easy to do.
Mike did golf, with Toshio, on Saturday, while Hiroko showed me the city.   We had breakfast on the terrace, lounged around as the rain fell, read books, smelled the fresh air and enjoyed peaceful bliss.

Here are a few pictures

 Maru-chan, their dog, who also enjoyed nature and lounging/sun bathing on the balcony

Mike and I at the top of a trail, with view of several mountains...the overcast day prevented the views.  Like my shoes!

 Shiraito Falls, famous area to see while in town....the water comes from the Asama Mt, and takes 6 years to reach this point.  Crazy, huh?

We came back to Tokyo late Sunday night, got off the train to the stench of the city and knew our mini vacation was over.   If only we could have stayed in nature bliss!

Last Fireworks in Tokyo

Summer is a time for celebration and in Japan, that is done by huge firework display shows that last about 1.5 hours.   Literally, 1.5 hours of fireworks.   On Wednesday, I met Mike down in Yokohama, where he works, to see the firework display.   It was a company sponsored event and quite fun.  We got  prime seating on the 2nd floor of a building, complete with drinks and food.   Perfect way to spend the evening even though it was a bit hot.   Mike and I stayed for about 45-50 minutes after the fireworks started and then headed for the train.   As we were walking to the station, we managed to see the finale, which was great, but getting to the train before thousands of people, was preferred.

This first picture was taken from the 2nd floor of the building we were in.  See all the people, its only a fraction of the number of people that were there.   So now imagine the trains when it was completely over

Midtown Laser/Water show

Summer is officially upon us in Tokyo.  You're probably thinking, what, but yes it is true.   Our hot summer arrived late, about 2 weeks ago, but I'm not complaining.   In true summer fashion, there are lots of events to see around the city  Our friends Jennifer and Dave, invited us to picnic with them at Midtown to see the laser/water show this past weekend.

It was actually a perfect night to picnic as it wasn't that hot or humid.   It also helped that mist from the set-up was blowing in our direction to keep us cool.    The show only lasted about 10 minutes or so, but was really neat.   We were at the very back to avoid being soaked, can't say the same for those in front.

Here's some pictures...

This event reminds me of being home and going to the Miller outdoor theatre.   Too bad Tokyo doesn't have move outdoor fun events  :(

Peacock Quilt

From the previous post, you know that I was hosting a baby shower back in June.   It was for a good friend of mine, Jennifer Peacock, who was having a baby.   She and her husband told us they were expecting in January and I was super excited.   Since I started my sewing adventures, I figured I needed to make her something and what better thing than a baby quilt.    Turns out I found the perfect pattern, a baby peacock in the middle with elephants along the top and bottom.   Peacock for their name and elephants as her baby room theme

As this was my first quilt, it took me some time to get it together, especially the 3D ears on the elephants.   However, after many hours, it was complete and Jennifer was so excited to receive it.   Baby Peacock, who arrived on June 19th, is a lovely girl named Grace, who has a peacock quilt hanging over her bed to watch over her.

Here's the finished product, which would have been up sooner, but remember, my computer is dead and I'm on a learning curve with the MAC

Now to start on the next baby quilt!

Sky Tree

The Sky Tree is AMAZING and HUGE. For those you who don't know, the Sky Tree replaces the old Tokyo Tower. The complex opened in late May, but it wasn't completely opened to the public. You had to get into a special lottery to win tickets before they opened it up completely. The women's group I belong to was in the lottery and won tickets, so I signed up to! It officially opens to the public for day tickets on July 11.

 Facts:
- tallest tower in the world
- 2nd tallest structure in the world
- outside its 634meters tall
- inside, highest point is 451.2meters
- from highest point, Tokyo looks like legos!

 Here are some pictures

Me at 451.2meters, just in case you couldn't see from the pillar

What the city would look like at night from this point

looking down from 345meters up....
hoping to get back to Skytree so that Mike can see if before we leave!

LONG OVERDUE Update

I've been a bad blogger and fully admit it, but life has been crazy these last 3 months that there was no time to blog.

Here is what has been going on:
March 9-17 Thailand
March 30 - April 6 Mom visits Japan
April 13 - 22 Cousin Rigo & Amanda visit in between I have meetings, sayonara parties
April 28- May 6 Bali
Meetings, luncheon, saynoara dinners
May 17-24 Sister, b-in-l, kids, Dad arrives  computer dies....not sure about recovery :(
May 29 Baby shower
May 30 hosting a breakfast
June 2 Balcony party/sayonara party at our house

 As you can see, its been a busy time and with the few days I did have off, I was trying to finish a quilting project for my friend by the time the baby shower date arrived. I did manage to finish, the night before! Now, Mike and I are free for the summer with no plans in the near future. I'm looking fowrad to things settling down for me, not sure that is going to happen for Mike. I'll post a little about some of these events, but will continue from here. We, yes we, promise to better bloggers especially since we have only 6 months left in Japan. happy summer days

Pictures from Amanda

Click here to view these pictures larger

Sapporo Snow Festival

Last weekend, Mike and I headed up to Sapporo for the annual snow festival or as they say it "yuki matsuri" (literal translation). The Riess family hopped on over from Korea to join Us and what a fun time we had. It was super cold on some days, but then tolerable on other days.

We went the weekend before it started so that we could see some of the sculptures being built. Turns out all the massive ones were already built, but we still got to see them making smaller ones. Here's some cool pictures of the process.

There were clearly 100+ sculptures made of either ice or snow in all three of the areas. The main festival site was 12 blocks of sculptures, food stalls, slides, and of course attractions! During the weekend, we all checked out the main festival park, found bars to warm up in, and headed over to the Sapporo Beer Museum. Here is our group shot

The festival officially opened on Monday, so we headed back out see everything. It was really cool. Here are some of our favorites:

In the evening we headed back to see the different light displays and different they looked at night. On Tuesday, we headed over to the Tsudome area, which is where all the cool snow activities were. Here we are on the tube slide
Amanda

Mike

As you can see, it was extremely cold with all the snow, so we headed inside for lunch and some warmth... What says warm better than ramen, beer, and churros

We headed back to Tokyo on Tuesday evening and were ready to get back to warmer weather. We had such an amazing time and were so happy the Riess family came to join us. As for more pictures, well, we do have plenty more and if you have some time, check out the next post for the link. Skim through to see the sculptures because they are amazing!!!
Another check off on the Japan list before we leave.

Coffee Cup Warmers

perfect for my Starbucks addiction, which only started after I moved to Tokyo. If you ever need to find the ex-pats in the morning, just pass by any Starbucks and you'll see them all.

I found this great online pattern and decided I needed to try it as I have a big project coming up and need to make those sewing lines straight. It was super easy, some fabric, batting, and ironing board cover to help with insulation. here is the first warmer I made and I love that its reversible...The owner of it is now my good friend Jennifer

Works even better for those tall or grande cups. This pattern is on back of the one above. And the daisy fabric from below is on this one, which I am using almost everyday. It really is funny to see the Japanese barista's reaction when I use it!

Made this one for my friend Allison, who loves Starbucks just as much as I do! Good thing I'm seeing her this weekend to hand it over

And because you all know I don't like pink all that much, but do love this color combo, I had to make another one in different colors! Purpler/white dots

So everyone who's seen me with it, absolutely love it and think its a great idea. They even commented that they would pay me for them...Hmmmm, I could make some money.
Anywho, love them and will be making more so I could switch out whenever I want!

Breakfast Pita

The title says it all and no real explanation is needed

Eggs
various add ins
pita pocket

Cook, fill, and eat

We used 1 slice of cooked bacon, red & green peppers, and onions. Tasty, quick and delicious. Obviously, the side should have been some fruit, but we had quite a few oranges last night and I wanted some potatoes!
I recommend trying this...

Gingered Pork with Couscous & Oranges

Look at us being good with those resolutions. Didn't I tell you we were going to keep to the eating healthy and working out unlike others!
Absolutely love the cookbook I got, so we decided to try another recipe.

It was simple, easy, and quick. Gingered Pork with Couscous and oranges. The recipe actually calls for the pork to be on skewers, but we didn't have any and to find them is a hassle. It also calls for grilling them on an actual grill as opposed to the gridle. But hey, we all know that when cooking, substitutions can be made.

Here's the pork and oranges getting those grill marks. And yes, they are on the same gridle, but I kept them completely separate and used different utensils for each

Here's the marinade you put on it right before everything is done. Fresh grated ginger, orange juice, honey. Very tasty

And of course, the final product. I think it would have looked nicer with the skewers, but whatever. And for those of you who are saying, wine isn't healthy...I say who cares, we weren't going to give up everything, because that just isn't us.

Everything was actually tasty and the couscous had some fresh grated orange peel in it, which had an extra flavor. The oranges were a nice compliment to the mains and just what you wanted. Will definitely be making this again!