Japan has a lot of national holidays. May is a month when we have a concentration of them. Actually, it all starts on April 29th (Showa Day - I think it was the Showa Emperor's birthday), then we have May 3rd (Constitution Memorial Day), May 4th (Green Day), and May 5th (Children/Boy's Day). So those lucky workers who can get holidays on Monday and ( Read more... )

1) If you had to build a Christmas tree with just items around your house, what would definitely be part of it?I've seen a Christmas Tree made of books on Pinterest. That looks really nice. But... I don't think I want the hassle of having to put them all back later. Maybe plastic bottles? Since hubby uses a lot of those and we always have a bagful ( Read more... )

I'm back for an update so that I don't forget what I have been up to, and all the little thoughts I have been having.

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wind_storms introduced me to a recipe and it being a 4 day weekend for me here in Japan, I finally got around to making them! I made them with thigh instead of breast but I think next time I will try breast. The chicken turned out juicy and soft and the crust crumbly and perfect - especially the bottom of each piece, maybe because I use a microwave oven - ( Read more... )

It's Sunday, so here is just one more post.
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"Shichi-Go-San is a traditional rite of passage and festival day in Japan for three- and seven-year-old girlsand three- and five-year-old boys, held annually on November 15 to celebrate the growth and well-being of young children. As it is not a national holiday, it is generally observed on the nearest weekend." (Wikipedia ( Read more... )

Saturday was a rare holiday for Alex - he didn't have cram school at night as he usually does- so we decided to have a birthday cake for him. His birthday was October 12 but we went out for dinner that day so we'd been waiting for another good day that all of us could get together and we finally had one.
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Yesterday was the Halloween party for our English School. It's a bit early, but we hold it on the Sunday before Halloween every year since it's the only day we don't have regular classes.

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yeuxdebleu and I were discussing Japanese curry w/ rice and how easy it is to make in a previous (25 Day Challenge) post and since it is Sunday - my "try to cook something home-made for the kids" day, and I happened to make curry, I thought I'd share ( Read more... )

It's become an annual thing to go up to hubby's friend's cabin (made by a Canadian crew with logs imported from Canada - yay!) in the woods during the summer for a few days.

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