Back up and working!!!! Yayy!!!

Hey Everyone!
Got my computer back up and working, but I am moving in 2 two days - so - my internet won't be following until a few days later. Gomen,ne! :) I'll be posting back to normal ASAP - promise!

Updates to come:
DisneySea!


Osaka Weekend -
Sumo and the City!

Cicadas are out!

Hey all-

So, it has happened again!!!

I think I'm just cursed or at least I download like crazy...hehe....so what I mean is -
my computer crashed again.
So......no updates for a while.

This time it's a hard drive problem, meaning yes...I more than likely lost pictures and video and lots of paper work that I've created for class at school...BUT I have so much on my mind as it is (moving apartments, JP DL, Group B orientation, Japanese farewell speeches, family and friends coming to visit, Osaka/Nagoya-sumo/Kobe wknd, Fuji Rock) that it really doesn't seem to bother me!

Is that strange?

I think maybe I'm just still numb from last time (yes, only a few months ago!) when it crashed and I just can't be bothered. Who knows!?! It will be a week or so till I get me a new hard drive. And then I'll be BACK with revenge!!!

Until then you just got to imagine the great photos I have yet to show: DisneySea, Simone's Farewell Sing-dig, Kaitsu BoE Enkai, Last day at Ryoukawa JHS and their manga projects. Oh - I can't wait! It'll be good!!!

Crazy Language!

Let's face it - English is a crazy language!

You lovers of the English language will enjoy this... There is a two-letter word that perhaps has more meanings than any other two-letter word, and that is "UP."

It's easy to understand UP, meaning toward the sky or at the top of the list, but when we awaken in the morning, why do we wake UP? At a meeting, why does a topic come UP? Why do we speak UP? Why are the officers UP for election? Why is it UP to the secretary to write UP a report?

We call UP our friends. And we use it to brighten UP a room, polish UP the silver, we warm UP the leftovers and clean UP the kitchen. We lock UP the house and some guys fix UP the old car.

At other times the little word has real special meaning. People stir UP trouble, line UP for tickets, work UP an appetite, and think UP excuses. To be dressed is one thing, but to be dressed UP is special.

And this UP is confusing: A drain must be opened UP because it is stopped UP. We open UP a store in the morning, but we close it UP at night. We cut UP our food, but a cut UP is a clown. We seem to be pretty mixed UP about UP! To be knowledgeable about the proper uses of UP, look the word UP in the dictionary. In a desk-sized dictionary, it takes UP almost 1/4th of the page and can add UP to about thirty definitions. If you are UP to it, you might try building UP a list of the many ways UP is used. It will take UP a lot of your time, but if you don't give UP, you may wind UP with a hundred or more.

When it threatens to rain, we say it is clouding UP. When the sun comes out, we say it is clearing UP. When it rains, it wets the earth and messes things UP. When it doesn't rain for awhile, things dry UP.

Fess UP... You like this!

One could go on and on, but I'll wrap it UP for now,
Because my time is UP, so..... Time to shut UP! Oh... One more thing: What is the first thing you do in the morning
And the last thing you do at night? U-P

Tanabata - Star Festival

Japanese Star FestivalJuly 7th is called Tanabata in Japan. It's a Japanese tradition wherein people write their wishes on tanzaku paper (colorful, small strips of paper) and hang them on bamboo branches. People also hang many kinds of paper decorations on bamboo branches and place them outside their houses. People celebrate the day at home and in schools. Many cities and towns hold festivals and have Tanabata displays decorating the main streets. In some regions, people light lanterns and float them on the river, or float bamboo leaves on the river.
The most common Tanabata decorations are colorful streamers. Streamers are said to symbolize the weaving of threads. Other common decorations are Toami (casting net), which means good luck for fishing and farming and Kinchaku (bag), which means wealth.
Tanabata originated more than 2000 years ago with an old Chinese tale called Kikkoden.
Once there was a weaver princess named Orihime and a cow herder prince named Hikoboshi living in space. After they got together, they were playing all the time and forgot their jobs. The king was angry at them and separated them on opposite sides of the Amanogawa River (Milky Way). The king allowed them to meet only once a year on July 7th. This is why Tanabata is also called the Star Festival. People say that Orihime and Hikoboshi can't meet each other if July 7th is rainy, so they pray for good weather and also make wishes for themselves. In many regions in Japan, Tanabata is celebrated on August 7th (which is near July 7th on the lunar calendar) instead of July 7th.

Tokyo Disneyland

This last weekend Simone and I visited Disneyland on Saturday as well as Disney Sea on Sunday.
We had a blast!!!
It was scheduled to pour all weekend, but it only drizzled every now and then.

This is Cinderella's Castle! Not Sleeping Beauty's Castle like at Disneyland in the US

TOMORROW LAND

First ride of the day.

Space Mountain:
Experience an exciting rocket journey to the far reaches of the galaxy. From launch to landing, you'll find out what it's like to travel "faster than light" through the cosmos.


Micro Adventure:
When Professor Wayne Szalinski from the Disney movies Honey, I Shrunk the Kids and Honey, I Blew Up the Kid arrives to receive the "Inventor of the Year" award from the Imagination Institute, the audience gets caught up in a "little" adventure...

Also at Tomorrow Land we rode-
Space Tours:Experience space travel firsthand when you board this flight to a distant moon, piloted by a comical robot captain! Star Tours is the ultimate thrill adventure from the creative forces of Disney and George Lucas.

TOON TOWN

The kids and I playing in Toon Town.

Chip 'n Dale and a pack of "kawaii" Japanese girls. Just had to take a pic as well!

I'm breaking' out!

Yeah!
Sporting' my new Minnie Mouse ears. They're there...it's just dark.
The crowds forming for the daily parades. It had a Hawaiian theme since Stich is HUGE here, so the crowd is practicing a Hawaiian dance move for the show.
Simone sportin' her new Tiger tail, she's so cute with it!

FANTASY LAND

Muhahaha....the Haunted Mansion. My favorite ride at Disneyland.

Haunted Mansion:
Take a ride on a "doom buggy" through an eerie Gothic mansion where 999 ghosts, goblins and ghouls are just "dying" to meet you and make their number an even 1,000. Be sure to watch out for hitch-hiking ghosts as well.
Simone showing she can handle even fake spiders...maybe!
If you weren't happy with just the ears, you could also get Mickey or Minnie gloves or other character hands to complete the Character look. They kind of freaked me out though!
The classic Dumbo-elephant ride!

Other rides ridden at Fantasy land-
Peter Pan's Flight:
With a little bit of pixie dust, your pirate ship will fly you through the night skies over London, past the second star to the right and on to Never Land. You'll see Peter Pan, Wendy, Captain Hook and other characters in scenes from this popular tale.

Pinocchio's Daring Journey:
Travel on a mine car as you follow Pinocchio on his long, treacherous journey from wooden puppet to real boy. Favorite scenes from the Disney classic film, Pinocchio, are recreated here.

It's a Small World:
Take part in the "happiest cruise that ever sailed." Here you can enjoy the colorful scenes and the merry figures of children from around the world singing and dancing to the cheerful anthem "it's a small world."

ADVENTURE LAND




Pirates of the Caribbean:
During the Golden Age of Piracy, a band of merry buccaneers, known as the Pirates of the Caribbean, ruled the seas and ports... If you dare, embark on pirate boat and take a thrilling voyage back to the Old World of adventure and romance.
Jungle Cruise:
Are you ready for the excitement of wild animals, hostile tribes and unpredictable river perils? Entrust yourself to our experienced Jungle Cruise skippers and venture deep into mysterious, danger-filled jungles on a tramp steamer.



Other attractions seen in Adventure land:

The Enchanted Tiki Room, Now playing "Get the Fever!":
The Polynesian tiki gods have fallen asleep! Clap you hands and help a quartet of hip birds from Las Vegas to wake up the tikis, as the fine-feathered company presents a powerful vocal performance of tropical beats with the glamor of the Las Vegas nightclub scene.

WESTERNLAND

Big Thunder Mountain:
For years now, there have been stories about supernatural forces at work in Big Thunder Mountain. When one mining company didn't heed the rumors and blasted out all sorts of mine shafts and tunnels, unexplained and dangerous events started occurring. Some of the old hands even say they can hear Tommy knockers, the spirits of long dead miners, tapping from somewhere inside the mines...For the wildest ride in the west, no daredevil or thrill-seeker should miss a ride aboard one of the company's mine trains that roar down the tracks without an engineer!



Tokyo Disney Electric Parade- Dream lights:
Featuring Disney characters and over one million lights, the night parade is filled with scenes inspired by popular Disney animated films. Following the appearance of Mickey and Minnie near the front of the 700-meter parade, Guests are treated to spectacular sights based on scenes from Alice in Wonderland, A Bug's Life, and Beauty and the Beast.



CRITTER COUNTRY
Our last ride of the day was Splash Mountain:
Formerly called Chick-A-Pin Hill, Splash Mountain was renamed after an accident caused the Beaver Brothers' dam to explode and flood the whole mountain.
Now Guests have a chance to ride in one of the Beaver Brothers' hollowed-out boats and follow the cartoon antics of Brier Rabbit on a hair-raising flume adventure with the steepest, highest and wettest drop in the Park!
Disney Magic in the Sky!
The parks kind of spooky walking through at night.
Got my Churros - GOOD DAY!!!

Sammy Soba (NOT Sammy Sosa all you baseball fans)

How to make Soba noodles:

Soba noodles are native Japanese noodles made of buckwheat flour (soba-ko) and wheat flour (komugi-ko). They are roughly as thick as spaghetti, and prepared in various hot and cold dishes. The most basic soba dish is zaru soba in which boiled, cold soba noodles are eaten with a soya based dipping sauce (tsuyu).






The first step, mixing the flour with water into a dough, is considered the most important and difficult part of making soba noodles. The correct amount of water is added step by step to the flower and mixed for several minutes until the flour becomes moist enough to be formed into a dough. The dough is then pressed until it becomes very smooth and contains no more air.





This is our baby Sammy Soba somethin' somethin' (forgot the whole name, but it went on and on...)

The dough is then rolled into a thin square by repeatedly rolling it around a wooden rolling stick.






At last, the dough is folded and cut into the noodles.




Bring 2 liters (0.53 gallons) of water to a boil and add the noodles. It usually takes about a minute or less before they're ready, so watch 'em closely!

When the noodles are boiled, rinse them in cold running water and chill them.
Rinse them again, dry off the water, and place them on a bamboo sieve or plate.



Sprinkle flaked nori over the noodles (optional).
Put the sliced spring onions and other seasonings (usually radish) into the broth.

Enjoy your soba with tempora and cold beer!
Yummy!!!

















Zaru soba (serves 4 people)

Dried soba 1 pack (about 400 grams)

For the broth:Stock (Dashi)
1 cup
Soy sauce
1/3 cup (80cc)
Mirin (cooking sake)
1/3 cup (80cc)

Seasonings:Flakes of nori (dried seaweed) 10grams To be sprinkled over the noodles.
A little wasabi , to your taste.
White sesame
4 teaspoons
Spring onion
Sliced finely, washed, and dried 3-4 inches.
A little shichimi togarashi (red-pepper spice mix), to your taste