Festivals, Festivals, and Mo' Festivals! TaChIbAnA and NaGaSaKi!!!
Last Saturday and Sunday I went to Tachibana, a town near mine, for the Plum Blossom Festival. It's amazing to me that folks here designate special days to look at pretty trees. I guess that's part of living in/near the country. Saturday, I went with some fellow English teachers. 
Sunday, I went with one other English teacher who lives in my building and some of our Japanese friends. All the vendors who remembered me from Saturday were like "Hey!" A photographer caught sight of us while I was in line to buy a roasted sweet potato. She asked if I could be in some of her photos for an amateur photo contest. I said sure as long as she sent me copies of 
all the pictures. While the potato man and I were standing together for the shot, this crazy woman (the photographer) says, "Ok, now give him a kiss on the cheek." You know the "Did I hear you correctly?" face...well that's what she got...followed by a long stare then a "NO" head shaking! And as if that's not bad enough she asked that my coworker and I stand by the flowers for a picture then she asked again...so this time she got the "This ain't that kind of party" neck role followed by a narrowing of the eyes and an eyebrow raise...So she said "Ok." After that I was through with it so while she was requesting a photo somewhere else I said, "Thank you" and "Goodbye" after I got her business card. I better get my pics...lol
This Saturday, I went to Nagasaki with a fellow teacher who is from Jamaica. There are Chinatowns in Yokohama, Kobe, and Nagasaki. For the last two weeks they were celebrating the Chinese Lunar New Year. I guess the Lantern Festival only takes place in Nagasaki. Nagasaki is the western most city in Japan and it is also where the US dropped another atomic bomb 3 days after Hiroshima back when the they were acting a fool with weapons whose power I don't think they fully understood. In the morining we went to the Peace Park and the Atomic Bomb Museum. It was much less graphic than the museum in Hiroshima where I felt a certain uneasiness every time I looked an older Japanese person in the eye. I think that fact the the weather was really nice also made a difference in mood. Hiroshima was cold and rainy when we visited the A-Bomb sites. The afternoon and evening were spent browsing the stores and looking at the lanterns. I was originally under the impression that the laterns were made of paper, but they are made of material stretched over wire frames that are lit by small lights inside. It's was still pretty cool though. There were performances and the presentation of 
the Misses froom the different areas around Kyushu (the island I live on...Japan is made up of four main islands). I snacked on Goma Dango (deep fried mochi (rice cake) balls with sweet red bean paste in the middle and covered in sesamee seeds) and I bought Castellas (sponge cake made of sugar, flour, eggs, and starch syrup...thought to be originally from Spain, brought by way of Portuguese merchants in the 16th century) and Jasmine tea.
Sunday, I happened to run across an annoucement for a taiko performance in the
city. Well, I couldn't find it so I ended up at an outlet mall...I don't know how my shopping radar just pinpoints malls like that. I didn't buy anything though (SURPRISE!)...lunch doesn't count. I always forget that I live near the ocean because my city is fairly industrial so it's pretty much all concrete with the exception of the mountains in the distance. Well the mall is right on the water so I took a couple of pictures to remind myself that I am indeed not landlocked! On the bus back to the station I spotted a grocery store that sells foreign food, so I hopped of the bus to take a look...a $40 "look"...and walked out with one bag! What was in this bag you ask...
fresh basil (which I can't find anywhere!)
sponge cake (cuz I don't have an oven to bake my own...)
baking brandy (to sprinkle on the cake)
heavy whipping cream (to layer in the cake with strawberry purée)
cinnamon apple chips (just because they are delicious)
a big bottle of olive oil (cuz buying small bottles is less cost efficient)
a mozzarella/tomato/pesto pizza (that I can cut in half to fit into my toaster oven)
$40!!! AAAH!
Then I came home and did my real grocery shopping...bought twice as much for less than half that price! Since I had extra pastries I decided to have a tea party. So I drizzled the brandy on the sponge cake, blended the strawberries with sugar, and whipped the cream to spoon over it....well, let's just say that there's a reason that the cooking brandy is sold in such small bottles...it was TOO STRONG TO DRINK! Luckily I had also made some Japanese sweets so there was plenty to snack on while we just stared at the cake in disbelief. Too bad...it would have been so good. Oh well, lesson learned.
Sunday, I went with one other English teacher who lives in my building and some of our Japanese friends. All the vendors who remembered me from Saturday were like "Hey!" A photographer caught sight of us while I was in line to buy a roasted sweet potato. She asked if I could be in some of her photos for an amateur photo contest. I said sure as long as she sent me copies of 
all the pictures. While the potato man and I were standing together for the shot, this crazy woman (the photographer) says, "Ok, now give him a kiss on the cheek." You know the "Did I hear you correctly?" face...well that's what she got...followed by a long stare then a "NO" head shaking! And as if that's not bad enough she asked that my coworker and I stand by the flowers for a picture then she asked again...so this time she got the "This ain't that kind of party" neck role followed by a narrowing of the eyes and an eyebrow raise...So she said "Ok." After that I was through with it so while she was requesting a photo somewhere else I said, "Thank you" and "Goodbye" after I got her business card. I better get my pics...lol
This Saturday, I went to Nagasaki with a fellow teacher who is from Jamaica. There are Chinatowns in Yokohama, Kobe, and Nagasaki. For the last two weeks they were celebrating the Chinese Lunar New Year. I guess the Lantern Festival only takes place in Nagasaki. Nagasaki is the western most city in Japan and it is also where the US dropped another atomic bomb 3 days after Hiroshima back when the they were acting a fool with weapons whose power I don't think they fully understood. In the morining we went to the Peace Park and the Atomic Bomb Museum. It was much less graphic than the museum in Hiroshima where I felt a certain uneasiness every time I looked an older Japanese person in the eye. I think that fact the the weather was really nice also made a difference in mood. Hiroshima was cold and rainy when we visited the A-Bomb sites. The afternoon and evening were spent browsing the stores and looking at the lanterns. I was originally under the impression that the laterns were made of paper, but they are made of material stretched over wire frames that are lit by small lights inside. It's was still pretty cool though. There were performances and the presentation of 
the Misses froom the different areas around Kyushu (the island I live on...Japan is made up of four main islands). I snacked on Goma Dango (deep fried mochi (rice cake) balls with sweet red bean paste in the middle and covered in sesamee seeds) and I bought Castellas (sponge cake made of sugar, flour, eggs, and starch syrup...thought to be originally from Spain, brought by way of Portuguese merchants in the 16th century) and Jasmine tea.Sunday, I happened to run across an annoucement for a taiko performance in the
city. Well, I couldn't find it so I ended up at an outlet mall...I don't know how my shopping radar just pinpoints malls like that. I didn't buy anything though (SURPRISE!)...lunch doesn't count. I always forget that I live near the ocean because my city is fairly industrial so it's pretty much all concrete with the exception of the mountains in the distance. Well the mall is right on the water so I took a couple of pictures to remind myself that I am indeed not landlocked! On the bus back to the station I spotted a grocery store that sells foreign food, so I hopped of the bus to take a look...a $40 "look"...and walked out with one bag! What was in this bag you ask...fresh basil (which I can't find anywhere!)
sponge cake (cuz I don't have an oven to bake my own...)
baking brandy (to sprinkle on the cake)
heavy whipping cream (to layer in the cake with strawberry purée)
cinnamon apple chips (just because they are delicious)
a big bottle of olive oil (cuz buying small bottles is less cost efficient)
a mozzarella/tomato/pesto pizza (that I can cut in half to fit into my toaster oven)
$40!!! AAAH!
Then I came home and did my real grocery shopping...bought twice as much for less than half that price! Since I had extra pastries I decided to have a tea party. So I drizzled the brandy on the sponge cake, blended the strawberries with sugar, and whipped the cream to spoon over it....well, let's just say that there's a reason that the cooking brandy is sold in such small bottles...it was TOO STRONG TO DRINK! Luckily I had also made some Japanese sweets so there was plenty to snack on while we just stared at the cake in disbelief. Too bad...it would have been so good. Oh well, lesson learned.
posted by Tifi @ 8:41 AM
2 Comments:
That's funny. You'd think the baking brandy would be milder but hey they drink what they cook with on the cooking shows, lol.
Hey cutie,your aunt Sheila here,okay I know you love to cook and eat, but I do believe brandy is strong in all country and should be tasted before consumption, but all in all I see that you are having a wonderful timeand enjoying it to the fullest , Hi to Justin next time you see him, and I am on Byron laptop, should have one in about a month, birthday present, and he is back for a minute, domestic problems,he says Hi also, love and kisses, aunt Sheila.
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