Baseball games by day:
Fireworks at night:
Happy Birthday USA!!!
Saturday, July 4, 2009
Saturday, June 27, 2009
Happy Basude =D
This goes out to my Step Dad Fritz, who is having his "29"th birthday today ^^
Happy Birthday - Click here for funny video clips
Happy Birthday - Click here for funny video clips
Friday, June 12, 2009
Pitagora Suichi
I don't usually watch my tv, since it's all in Japanese and there are no subtitles to help me. But every now and then I turn it on and if I'm lucky I'll find a show called "Pythagora Switch", an educational program for children. I like it cause I can usually understand most of it (since it's for young children the language is pretty simple), it's made to make you think, and generally speaking it's pretty amusing ^^
My favorite segment is called ju pon anime, "10 stick anime". It involves 10 sticks coming together and doing.... stuff =D
One of my all-time favorite songs from the show is the onomatope no uta, "onomatopoeia song", which shows just a few of the zillions of onomatopoeia there are in the Japanese language ^_^
And here are a few examples of the Pythagora Switches (Rube Goldberg machines) featured in the show
This one shows all the stops of the Yamanote Line in Tokyo
Cool show, hu? See? Television can be educational!
My favorite segment is called ju pon anime, "10 stick anime". It involves 10 sticks coming together and doing.... stuff =D
One of my all-time favorite songs from the show is the onomatope no uta, "onomatopoeia song", which shows just a few of the zillions of onomatopoeia there are in the Japanese language ^_^
And here are a few examples of the Pythagora Switches (Rube Goldberg machines) featured in the show
This one shows all the stops of the Yamanote Line in Tokyo
Cool show, hu? See? Television can be educational!
Saturday, June 6, 2009
Polini Grand Prix of Japan
This is very, very late, but back in April I gave myself a very cool birthday present. Tickets to see the Polini Grand Prix of Japan - the Japanese leg of the MotoGP circuit. And I talked a friend into going with me too, heh heh. You may remember, I posted briefly about this race last year when Valentino Rossi won the championship at the track in Motegi.
This year the Twin Ring Motegi hosted the 2nd round of the MotoGP championship, and it just happened to fall the weekend of my birthday. The tickets are actually good for the full 3 days of practicing, qualifying, and the final race day, but since I had to work Friday and we spent all day Saturday driving the 6 hours to Tochigi prefecture, we only saw the main event. Which was all I cared about seeing anyway ^^
We left early Saturday morning, our goal:
the "tsuin ringu motegi", located in the town of Motegi, in Tochigi Prefecture. And because my luck is like that, the weather was terrible
Motegi is actually a very small town, so we stayed in the larger city of Utsunomiya, located relatively nearby. Six hours after we left Takayama, we arrived and parked in a very cleverly designed parking lot
why is this so cool? cause look! It locks you in until you pay! genious.
The weather was actually so bad this day that they were unable to do the qualifying laps for the finals the next day, so we didn't actually end up missing anything by burning one day driving. So we entertained ourselves in a mall near our hotel, where I found POPPLES!!! How long has it been since you've seen them?!?! They must have made a comeback.
The next morning we woke up to a slightly better-looking sky...
And headed off to the track!
At this point I was getting quite giddy and couldn't believe that I was actually at a MotoGP race. eeeeeeee!
There are all sorts of booths set up by the various teams and companies represented in the competition, all selling merchandise
Many of them also had replica bikes you could look at or sit on, this is at the Fiat Yamaha team tent. The bike is a replica of the one Rossi rides ^^
At this point they were beginning the warm-up laps, so we decided to go find some seats before it got too crowded. Unfortunately, mother nature had different plans and decided to start pouring rain minutes after we sat down. Our umbrellas weren't up to the challenge in that much rain, and all of the ponchos sold out in seconds; leaving us to run for shelter in the Ducati shopping tent, of all places =D Which is where I got my current favorite sweatshirt (that I was teased about in the last post ^^). I took this pic of a Repsol Honda bike as we were running for cover in the downpour
Lucky for us, the rain only lasted about a half an hour, after which the sun broke through and dried the track. And it actually turned into a lovely day! We were sitting in a pretty awesome section, near to the start/ finish line and one of the curves in the track
The 125cc and 250cc classes each had their races before the 800cc GP one. During which we got to see a bike go down right in front of us
The rider was ok, though I'm sure unhappy about crashing out.
Eventually we got to the main event - the MotoGP class race. Since the qualifying laps the day before had to be cancelled due to the weather, positions were based on the warm-up times the riders had on Friday. Which put my favorite, Rossi (number 46), in pole position
The stands were pretty full by the time this race got going. Check out all those Japanese flags!
There is one Japanese rider currently racing in the MotoGP class, Yuki Takahashi. There are also a few others in the 250 and 125 cc classes. Actually I think the Japanese star of the day was the 250cc rider Hiroshi Aoyama, who came in 2nd in his race. Unfortunately for Takahashi, he crashed out in the first lap, taking down one of my other favorite riders, Nicky Haden with him =( But this is only Takahashi's rookie season in MotoGP, and I am very much looking forward to seeing him develop as a rider ^^
Anyway, we had a pretty good view for the start of the race
And some awesome views of the curve
^ here you can see the 3 leaders - Jorge Lorenzo, Valentino Rossi, and Dani Pedrosa (1, 2, and 3 from the left)
A closeup of Rossi and Pedrosa
The race was actually fairly straightforward, the biggest event being that Rossi lost the lead to his teammate Lorenzo relatively early in the race, and was never able to get it back. Aside from the crash at the beginning (which happened on another part of the track so we only saw it on the big tv) and a little back and forth between Rossi and Pedroasa, it was pretty uneventful, ha ha ha
Rossi approaching the finish line
The final results were Lorenzo in 1st, Rossi 2nd, and Pedrosa 3rd
Lorenzo got a bit caught up in the excitement and jumped off his bike to plant the victory flag in the sand
After which his bike stalled and he had to be pushed over to the podium, HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA!!!!
You can hear the Japanese announcer saying near the end "that was a great performance Lorenzo, but please don't stop your engine! ^^"
Before we left we checked out the shops one last time
And I made sure to grab some Rossi schwag
And that was it! We hopped back into the car and began the 6 hour journey back home. I'd say it was a birthday weekend well spent ^^
And in return for going with me to this race, I had to promise my friend I would go with him to see the F1 Japanese Grand Prix race at the Suzuka Circuit in October. So it looks like my racing days for 2009 are not quite finished yet! ^^
This year the Twin Ring Motegi hosted the 2nd round of the MotoGP championship, and it just happened to fall the weekend of my birthday. The tickets are actually good for the full 3 days of practicing, qualifying, and the final race day, but since I had to work Friday and we spent all day Saturday driving the 6 hours to Tochigi prefecture, we only saw the main event. Which was all I cared about seeing anyway ^^
We left early Saturday morning, our goal:
the "tsuin ringu motegi", located in the town of Motegi, in Tochigi Prefecture. And because my luck is like that, the weather was terrible
Motegi is actually a very small town, so we stayed in the larger city of Utsunomiya, located relatively nearby. Six hours after we left Takayama, we arrived and parked in a very cleverly designed parking lot
why is this so cool? cause look! It locks you in until you pay! genious.
The weather was actually so bad this day that they were unable to do the qualifying laps for the finals the next day, so we didn't actually end up missing anything by burning one day driving. So we entertained ourselves in a mall near our hotel, where I found POPPLES!!! How long has it been since you've seen them?!?! They must have made a comeback.
The next morning we woke up to a slightly better-looking sky...
And headed off to the track!
At this point I was getting quite giddy and couldn't believe that I was actually at a MotoGP race. eeeeeeee!
There are all sorts of booths set up by the various teams and companies represented in the competition, all selling merchandise
Many of them also had replica bikes you could look at or sit on, this is at the Fiat Yamaha team tent. The bike is a replica of the one Rossi rides ^^
At this point they were beginning the warm-up laps, so we decided to go find some seats before it got too crowded. Unfortunately, mother nature had different plans and decided to start pouring rain minutes after we sat down. Our umbrellas weren't up to the challenge in that much rain, and all of the ponchos sold out in seconds; leaving us to run for shelter in the Ducati shopping tent, of all places =D Which is where I got my current favorite sweatshirt (that I was teased about in the last post ^^). I took this pic of a Repsol Honda bike as we were running for cover in the downpour
Lucky for us, the rain only lasted about a half an hour, after which the sun broke through and dried the track. And it actually turned into a lovely day! We were sitting in a pretty awesome section, near to the start/ finish line and one of the curves in the track
The 125cc and 250cc classes each had their races before the 800cc GP one. During which we got to see a bike go down right in front of us
The rider was ok, though I'm sure unhappy about crashing out.
Eventually we got to the main event - the MotoGP class race. Since the qualifying laps the day before had to be cancelled due to the weather, positions were based on the warm-up times the riders had on Friday. Which put my favorite, Rossi (number 46), in pole position
The stands were pretty full by the time this race got going. Check out all those Japanese flags!
There is one Japanese rider currently racing in the MotoGP class, Yuki Takahashi. There are also a few others in the 250 and 125 cc classes. Actually I think the Japanese star of the day was the 250cc rider Hiroshi Aoyama, who came in 2nd in his race. Unfortunately for Takahashi, he crashed out in the first lap, taking down one of my other favorite riders, Nicky Haden with him =( But this is only Takahashi's rookie season in MotoGP, and I am very much looking forward to seeing him develop as a rider ^^
Anyway, we had a pretty good view for the start of the race
And some awesome views of the curve
^ here you can see the 3 leaders - Jorge Lorenzo, Valentino Rossi, and Dani Pedrosa (1, 2, and 3 from the left)
A closeup of Rossi and Pedrosa
The race was actually fairly straightforward, the biggest event being that Rossi lost the lead to his teammate Lorenzo relatively early in the race, and was never able to get it back. Aside from the crash at the beginning (which happened on another part of the track so we only saw it on the big tv) and a little back and forth between Rossi and Pedroasa, it was pretty uneventful, ha ha ha
Rossi approaching the finish line
The final results were Lorenzo in 1st, Rossi 2nd, and Pedrosa 3rd
Lorenzo got a bit caught up in the excitement and jumped off his bike to plant the victory flag in the sand
After which his bike stalled and he had to be pushed over to the podium, HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA!!!!
You can hear the Japanese announcer saying near the end "that was a great performance Lorenzo, but please don't stop your engine! ^^"
Before we left we checked out the shops one last time
And I made sure to grab some Rossi schwag
And that was it! We hopped back into the car and began the 6 hour journey back home. I'd say it was a birthday weekend well spent ^^
And in return for going with me to this race, I had to promise my friend I would go with him to see the F1 Japanese Grand Prix race at the Suzuka Circuit in October. So it looks like my racing days for 2009 are not quite finished yet! ^^
Saturday, May 30, 2009
E=awesomeness
I had to go to Gifu City yesterday for a conference. Usually I don't like going to Gifu, especially when I have to take a train that leaves Takayama at 650 in the morning in order to make it on time. There's not much there that I am interested in doing, it's usually hotter and more humid (in summer) than Takayama, and it takes over 2 hours to get there by train. Plus, if I go for work it means I have to sit in meetings all day, and yesterday was no exception. I would have much preferred to stay in Takayama and go to school ^^ ha ha ha ha, I'd rather be at school than travelling to a city. Oh, how times have changed!
After the conference I chose to come back with some other ALTs on the 615 train. Usually when we take this particular train, we end up standing in the back of the car as the non-reserved seats are all taken by people in Nagoya. Last night, however, we got lucky. There were just enough open seats!
I was pretty tired after having to get up so early, then sitting in meetings all day, so I planned to just plug in the iPod and go to sleep. Shortly after we all sat down the man next to me turned to me, pointed at the ALT in front of me, and asked "is he your husband? if you want to sit together I can exchange seats with him." I just laughed and told him that we were just co-workers and it was fine. I put on the iPod and prepared to pass out.
And then a thought struck me. Hey! He spoke pretty good English. And I had noticed when I sat down that he seemed to be reading some kind of technical paper. Whatever it was it was full of mathematical equations involving integral signs. Something like this:
which I totally stole from the wikipedia article on path integral formulation. This particular equation came from the section on the Schrödinger Equation.
But enough geekery. I glanced over at the paper he was reading again, and I noticed it was written in English. He was reading a paper about something very math-ey, in English! Intrigued, I had to ask him about it.
me: wow! you're reading about math in English!
man: yes, it's a paper about theoretical physics
me: *glances to the top of the paper*
paper: *quantum mechanical theory.....*
me: oh! are you a student?
man: no, I must write some questions for a test so I am trying to get some ideas.
me: so you're a teacher then?
man: yes. I'm trying to make the questions difficult, but no TOO difficult.
me: wow, that sounds, well, difficult :D
man: yes, these days there are so many students who attend university. I think many more than in the past, because they don't want to start working yet ^^ (ha ha)
me: really?
man: yes! and a lot of them want to go to graduate school to keep avoiding starting work [*wink wink, nudge nudge*]. so I must write a good test to find out who REALLY wants to study and who's just avoiding work. Especially in this subject, because it is very difficult to find work in this field. There aren't many positions open for theoretical physicists.
me: O.O
Turns out he's a professor of theoretical physics for a university in Tokyo. He's originally from a town near Takayama, went to high school at Takayama's best public school, then university in Kyoto. He was returning for his nephew's wedding, but he had to give a lecture that day so he had to take the train all the way from Tokyo, via Nagoya, instead of the (much more direct) bus.
I was curious, so I asked him if the textbooks Japanese theoretical physics students study are in English, and he said that for undergraduate students it's all in Japanese. But if they go to graduate school they also must learn English because many of the papers they will have to read about the subject are written in English. Also sometimes French, German, or Russian, but mostly English. And then if they do a PhD, their dissertation must be written in English.
!! Can you imagine? Doing something that difficult in a foreign language. It really makes me appreciate much more how lucky those of us who speak English as our native language are. I mean, sure, I can have a simple conversation about inconsequential things in Japanese (hey! it's pretty hot today isn't it? is this an apple? can I sit here?) but I can't ever imagine doing something like differential equations. Heck, I can hardly explain why I hate eating shishamo so much, ha ha ha
We chatted a little about his work, and then moved on to much more important discussions. Like our mutual dislike of natto
We talked non-stop for the entire ride home. About food, teaching English, my lack of scientific anything since I've moved here, how he lived in France, how he met his wife, how we both like motorcycles. He teased me for wearing my Ducati sweatshirt, when my name so closely resembles another famous motorcycle brand ^^
In the end, I was really disappointed the train ride wasn't longer. That was a pretty damn awesome conversation! And who would have thought? There I was, ready to just pass out and ignore the guy next to me. If it hadn't been for the integrals, something I hated doing in college, by the way, I might never have met such an interesting person d(^_^)b
I never thought I'd say it, but thank you, Isaac Newton.
After the conference I chose to come back with some other ALTs on the 615 train. Usually when we take this particular train, we end up standing in the back of the car as the non-reserved seats are all taken by people in Nagoya. Last night, however, we got lucky. There were just enough open seats!
I was pretty tired after having to get up so early, then sitting in meetings all day, so I planned to just plug in the iPod and go to sleep. Shortly after we all sat down the man next to me turned to me, pointed at the ALT in front of me, and asked "is he your husband? if you want to sit together I can exchange seats with him." I just laughed and told him that we were just co-workers and it was fine. I put on the iPod and prepared to pass out.
And then a thought struck me. Hey! He spoke pretty good English. And I had noticed when I sat down that he seemed to be reading some kind of technical paper. Whatever it was it was full of mathematical equations involving integral signs. Something like this:
which I totally stole from the wikipedia article on path integral formulation. This particular equation came from the section on the Schrödinger Equation.
But enough geekery. I glanced over at the paper he was reading again, and I noticed it was written in English. He was reading a paper about something very math-ey, in English! Intrigued, I had to ask him about it.
me: wow! you're reading about math in English!
man: yes, it's a paper about theoretical physics
me: *glances to the top of the paper*
paper: *quantum mechanical theory.....*
me: oh! are you a student?
man: no, I must write some questions for a test so I am trying to get some ideas.
me: so you're a teacher then?
man: yes. I'm trying to make the questions difficult, but no TOO difficult.
me: wow, that sounds, well, difficult :D
man: yes, these days there are so many students who attend university. I think many more than in the past, because they don't want to start working yet ^^ (ha ha)
me: really?
man: yes! and a lot of them want to go to graduate school to keep avoiding starting work [*wink wink, nudge nudge*]. so I must write a good test to find out who REALLY wants to study and who's just avoiding work. Especially in this subject, because it is very difficult to find work in this field. There aren't many positions open for theoretical physicists.
me: O.O
Turns out he's a professor of theoretical physics for a university in Tokyo. He's originally from a town near Takayama, went to high school at Takayama's best public school, then university in Kyoto. He was returning for his nephew's wedding, but he had to give a lecture that day so he had to take the train all the way from Tokyo, via Nagoya, instead of the (much more direct) bus.
I was curious, so I asked him if the textbooks Japanese theoretical physics students study are in English, and he said that for undergraduate students it's all in Japanese. But if they go to graduate school they also must learn English because many of the papers they will have to read about the subject are written in English. Also sometimes French, German, or Russian, but mostly English. And then if they do a PhD, their dissertation must be written in English.
!! Can you imagine? Doing something that difficult in a foreign language. It really makes me appreciate much more how lucky those of us who speak English as our native language are. I mean, sure, I can have a simple conversation about inconsequential things in Japanese (hey! it's pretty hot today isn't it? is this an apple? can I sit here?) but I can't ever imagine doing something like differential equations. Heck, I can hardly explain why I hate eating shishamo so much, ha ha ha
We chatted a little about his work, and then moved on to much more important discussions. Like our mutual dislike of natto
We talked non-stop for the entire ride home. About food, teaching English, my lack of scientific anything since I've moved here, how he lived in France, how he met his wife, how we both like motorcycles. He teased me for wearing my Ducati sweatshirt, when my name so closely resembles another famous motorcycle brand ^^
In the end, I was really disappointed the train ride wasn't longer. That was a pretty damn awesome conversation! And who would have thought? There I was, ready to just pass out and ignore the guy next to me. If it hadn't been for the integrals, something I hated doing in college, by the way, I might never have met such an interesting person d(^_^)b
I never thought I'd say it, but thank you, Isaac Newton.
Sunday, May 17, 2009
green alligators, some long-necked geese...
This past weekend (May 16-17) was the All-Japan ALT Soccer Tournament. There are two tournaments held every year, one in the spring and one in the fall, although this is the first time I've gone to one. Usually the spring one is in June, but for some reason they moved it up a month early, so we got to play in some lovely springtime weather (driving rain and wind ^^)
Gifu prefecture was only represented by the girl's team this year as the boys failed to get their act together in time. We were the only participating prefecture with no men's team. Rock on Gifu Pirates!!!
And since our prefecture is pretty large, and our team members are spread from the north (where I live) to the south, this was also the first time we've all played together. The result? After 4 games yesterday and 3 today, in the wind and the rain and the cold, we came in 3rd place (out of 6). Not bad, eh? Honestly we weren't THAT upset when we were eliminated in the semi-final round, as the losing team was free to go home afterwards and we'd all had about enough of being cold and wet.
After 2 days spent outside in nasty weather playing soccer, and then another 3 hours driving home, followed by a quick stop for dinner, I realized I needed to do some shopping before I went home. Cause I knew once I was in I'd collapse into an exhausted, lumpy heap on my bed. So I stopped at my usual supermarket on the way home, hair still a mess from being wet and wind-blown (thus resulting in it being very VERY stringy and curly) and up in a pony tail, and wearing the sweatshirt and fleece pants I changed into after the last game. And it slipped my mind that just about every time I go to this place I see someone I know, seeing as it's the closest market to my towns.
Sure enough, as I'm grabbing some milk I turn around and there's one of my 7th graders with his mom. He says hi and I ask him how he is (your typical quick say-hi-without-really-wanting-to-talk greeting). His mom, who I may or may not have met in the past (can't remember, but most people in my town know who I am even when I have no idea who they are), comes over to say hi and looks in my basket.
The contents of my basket are:
apples
bananas
soba noodles
ground chicken
ground pork
milk
"mom": what are you picking up?
me: *looks in basket*...*grins*....uh, food?
"mom": food! ha ha ha ha ha! *slaps me on the back*
student: *looks embarrassed*slowly creeps away*
me: *continuing to grin at the absurdity of this conversation*
"mom": *points at her son*keep up the good work with him, eh?
me: yes mam!
This was followed by me being spotted by and waving to/ saying hello to at least 4 other students before making it out of the store. still in sweats, hair still a curly mop.
And you know what? It was just another example of why my town is so awesome. Cause I can totally do that and not be embarrassed, ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha =D
Gifu prefecture was only represented by the girl's team this year as the boys failed to get their act together in time. We were the only participating prefecture with no men's team. Rock on Gifu Pirates!!!
And since our prefecture is pretty large, and our team members are spread from the north (where I live) to the south, this was also the first time we've all played together. The result? After 4 games yesterday and 3 today, in the wind and the rain and the cold, we came in 3rd place (out of 6). Not bad, eh? Honestly we weren't THAT upset when we were eliminated in the semi-final round, as the losing team was free to go home afterwards and we'd all had about enough of being cold and wet.
After 2 days spent outside in nasty weather playing soccer, and then another 3 hours driving home, followed by a quick stop for dinner, I realized I needed to do some shopping before I went home. Cause I knew once I was in I'd collapse into an exhausted, lumpy heap on my bed. So I stopped at my usual supermarket on the way home, hair still a mess from being wet and wind-blown (thus resulting in it being very VERY stringy and curly) and up in a pony tail, and wearing the sweatshirt and fleece pants I changed into after the last game. And it slipped my mind that just about every time I go to this place I see someone I know, seeing as it's the closest market to my towns.
Sure enough, as I'm grabbing some milk I turn around and there's one of my 7th graders with his mom. He says hi and I ask him how he is (your typical quick say-hi-without-really-wanting-to-talk greeting). His mom, who I may or may not have met in the past (can't remember, but most people in my town know who I am even when I have no idea who they are), comes over to say hi and looks in my basket.
The contents of my basket are:
apples
bananas
soba noodles
ground chicken
ground pork
milk
"mom": what are you picking up?
me: *looks in basket*...*grins*....uh, food?
"mom": food! ha ha ha ha ha! *slaps me on the back*
student: *looks embarrassed*slowly creeps away*
me: *continuing to grin at the absurdity of this conversation*
"mom": *points at her son*keep up the good work with him, eh?
me: yes mam!
This was followed by me being spotted by and waving to/ saying hello to at least 4 other students before making it out of the store. still in sweats, hair still a curly mop.
And you know what? It was just another example of why my town is so awesome. Cause I can totally do that and not be embarrassed, ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha =D
Thursday, April 16, 2009
On tasty, doughy, molded delicious
The spring Takayama festival was on Tuesday and Wednesday of this week. Tuesday night would have been the parade of floats through the old streets, except that the weather was crap. Rain, all day. We had gorgeous weather the week leading up to it, and it cleared up in time for Wednesday too. But Tuesday? Naw. Rain.
So, no floats this year. But they did have the festival stalls, which are conveniently located along a street that has covered walkways ^^ I decided to go, even in the rain, to see old friends and, more importantly, the call of taiyaki was just too strong...
Taiyaki is the most fantastic festival food I have discovered. And there are a LOT of fantastic festival foods. There's this misconception that all Japanese food is healthy, but these events are the proof that this is just not so. Karaage (fried chicken), giant baked potatoes covered in butter, yakisoba, takoyaki (balls of fried dough with bits of octopus inside, quite tasty!), crepes (yes, the Japanese have fully embraced this feature of French culture and taken it WAY beyond anything I ever saw in Paris), chocolate-covered bananas and strawberries, okonomiyaki (sort of a fried mish-mash of noodles and toppings that vaguely resembles a pizza), various kabobs, some delicious pita sandwiches, frozen chocolate-covered fruit, ice cream ... the list goes on. and on. and on. ^^
But, the best is taiyaki. Which is a fish-shaped cake filled with any number of delicious fillings, usually azuki (red bean) paste. (wikipedia link)
This year I found a shop selling miniature tayiaki, that you could buy as sets ranging in size from "little delicious" to "whole-world delicious" (^o^) I got a "little delicious" variety set, filled with tiny surprises of custard, chocolate pudding, green-tea, and of course, azuki. Which is my favorite.
Welcome festival season! My stomach and I look forward to enjoying you ^^
So, no floats this year. But they did have the festival stalls, which are conveniently located along a street that has covered walkways ^^ I decided to go, even in the rain, to see old friends and, more importantly, the call of taiyaki was just too strong...
Taiyaki is the most fantastic festival food I have discovered. And there are a LOT of fantastic festival foods. There's this misconception that all Japanese food is healthy, but these events are the proof that this is just not so. Karaage (fried chicken), giant baked potatoes covered in butter, yakisoba, takoyaki (balls of fried dough with bits of octopus inside, quite tasty!), crepes (yes, the Japanese have fully embraced this feature of French culture and taken it WAY beyond anything I ever saw in Paris), chocolate-covered bananas and strawberries, okonomiyaki (sort of a fried mish-mash of noodles and toppings that vaguely resembles a pizza), various kabobs, some delicious pita sandwiches, frozen chocolate-covered fruit, ice cream ... the list goes on. and on. and on. ^^
But, the best is taiyaki. Which is a fish-shaped cake filled with any number of delicious fillings, usually azuki (red bean) paste. (wikipedia link)
This year I found a shop selling miniature tayiaki, that you could buy as sets ranging in size from "little delicious" to "whole-world delicious" (^o^) I got a "little delicious" variety set, filled with tiny surprises of custard, chocolate pudding, green-tea, and of course, azuki. Which is my favorite.
Welcome festival season! My stomach and I look forward to enjoying you ^^
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