So one of the great things about Japan is there are Holidays all the time...which means vacation for us so we're not complaining.
Zeph had the past 2 weeks off because of Holidays that are being observed. Last week was "Golden Week". Its a week that observes 4 different national holidays within 7 days. (Showa Day- which celebrates a former Emperor, Constitution Day- which celebrates a post war constitution put into effect in 1947, Greenery Day-a day dedicated to environment & nature and lastly, Children's Day- Families pray for the health and future success of their sons by hanging up carp streamers and displaying samurai dolls, both symbolizing strength, power and success in life).
Unfortuantely, the extent of our celebrating was resting at home since Zeph came down with a cold. During this time we have have gotten slightly hooked on the show Heroes so we've spent a little time... alot of time watching that and are currently in season 3. We watch it so much that in most of my current dreams I myself am a Hero or everyone else around me is. Yes, we are addicted.
Thursday Zeph was feeling a bit better so we went down to Arakawa River in Nagatoro. Its a beautiful river (with awesome rocks) and there was almost no one there. I love that just 20 minutes from our home we can be in a quiet and relaxing "retreat" as Andrea put it. The water was nice and the weather was warm.
Some random-ness:
City Song- At noon and 6PM everyday our city plays a song over loud speakers for the whole city to hear. It's not loud or annoying...just a nice little song to let you know that its noon or 6. Kinda silly.
Amazon- Japan has a version of Amazon and its kinda great. We can order anything from books to houseware things, make-up, clothes, music and have it shipped to our local convenience store. The awesome thing about it is that we can pay for it when it gets here or pay in advance at the store. 2-3 days shipping since Japan is so small.
BBQ -The barbecue sauce they have here taste like A1 sauce. Costco has the good stuff though... next trip there I am getting some!!
Eat of the week: Yakitori
We have actually added pictures for this weeks pick to try and emphasize the magic that is Yakitori. This past week we discovered a "Yakitori" man outside of our local grocery store- Belc. Yakitori is grilled chicken on a stick in some delicious teriyaki/soy sauce. Like a shishkebab but glorified. In the words of Zeph "this place has taco truck status!". Our favorite is Negima- alternating chicken pieces with leek all grilled up. We somehow managed to ask the guy for his schedule and found out which stores he will be at for the next several weeks. Yes, it is that good. Did I mention that they are only 80 cents each??
Word of the week: Chotto Matte - Which means "wait a second"
p.s- Within the next 2 weeks we are going to have a special guest contributor to our blog so keep your eyes open!!
