Tales of the Traveling K

Today I went with Yuko to meet her friends for hanami. Hanami is a Japanese event where people get together to see cherry blossoms and usually eat picnics under the cherry trees. It's still early in sakura season, so the trees were only about half covered in blossoms. I will hopefully be going again next weekend and will see the trees in full bloom.

We each brought some food. I made tuna sandwiches, Yuko and her sister Haruna brought chicken and salad, Yuka brought yaki soba, Haruka brought a dish she invented that involved konyaku and spice, and another girl (forgot her name, sadly) brought a rice, egg, and fish combination. Everything was really tasty!

When we were finished eating, we played cards, or as it's called in Japan, toronpu (from trump). I had a fun time talking about musicians and English pronunciation with Haruka. She said she wants to learn how to pronounce English properly, because it's usually hard for Japanese people. Her pronunciation was actually very good, though.

Posted by K. Raila at 6:29 AM Comments

On February 28 I went to stay with the Kimuras again. Yuko and I got in very late because we went after her meeting at school. Her grandmother made sukiyaki for us. Then, on March 1, we went with Yuko's parents to Kitano Tenmangu, Kinkakuji, and a bike trail with a big bridge.

Kitano Tenmangu is a temple where people go when they want good luck with school or exams, because it is for the god of studies. Yuko's mother went to pray for good luck for Haruna, Yuko's sister, who is going to take high school entrance exams soon. While we were there, we looked at the plum blossoms which have just come out recently.







The picture above shows the main part of the temple, where there was a long line of people going to pray. I am sure it gets very busy around this time of year because there are so many entrance exams.



Yuko and I posed for her dad to take pictures a lot. He really likes taking pictures, so every time he saw something interesting he would have us stop and pose. I had him take this one for me also.



The plum blossoms are very beautiful.






Our second stop was Kinkakuji, a temple covered in gold leaf. It is very pretty, especially when the sun is out and it sparkles.





We were lucky and the clouds cleared up while we were still there. Then I got to take the picture of Kinkakuji shining.



We had traditional tea with a small dessert. It was very delicious!



I think those might be real flakes of gold. The dessert cost enough that I would believe it!

Our final stop before I went home was a bike bath that is over 40km long. It has a very large bridge at the part where we went to walk. The wind over the bridge was very strong! Yuko's father took pictures of us there, but our hair kept covering our faces. I wish I had a copy of some of those pictures; I bet they look pretty funny.



I'd like to go back there for a picnic some day. I'd really like to ride my bike there, but it is pretty far from Hirakata, and I can't take my bike on any of the trains.



It was a fun weekend! I hope Yuko will come visit me in Boston when she does study abroad in Ottowa, so I can show her around like she has been doing for me here.

Posted by K. Raila at 8:44 AM Comments

This post is long overdue! Back on February 8, Asa (my speaking partner) taught me how to make takoyaki. We had a party with some of her friends and some of my friends. So, without further delay, instructions in making takoyaki!



First of all, you need a takoyaki-ki (takoyaki machine) and some ingredients. We used a bag of takoyaki-mix for the batter, so I'm not entirely sure what goes in if you make it from scratch. You will also need octopus. Tako means octopus, and yaki means baked/grilled, thus takoyaki is grilled balls of octopus. You could use the machine to make balls of pretty much anything, but if there is no octopus, it's not takoyaki! (^_^)

Get your mix and fillings ready, and oil the takoyaki-ki.



Fill the holes of the takoyaki-ki with the takoyaki batter.



When there is a good amount of batter, put in your ingredients of choice. We put one or two pieces of octopus in each, and added other things like kimchee, onion, cheese, tenpura balls, tuna, and even natto.



Get the batter nice and full of stuffings and let the bottom half of the balls grill a while.



When the takoyaki have formed a nice crust on the bottom of each of the balls, it's time to flip the them!



Flipping the takoyaki is a bit tricky. You use a little stick, which you slide under the bottom crust, and quickly flip each ball so the extra stuffing and batter than was all over the top becomes the new bottom. If done properly, each one ends up with a nice brown crust showing on top. Then you rotate them in all directions until they are evenly cooked and brown all over.



Time to eat! Toppings may include takoyaki sauce, mayo, and fish flakes. It's especially fun to put the fish flakes on while the takoyaki are really hot, because then they sway back and forth in the heat.



Enjoy! いただきます！

Posted by K. Raila at 9:01 PM Comments