I'm in the USA!

That's right, I'm in the USA!  In case you haven't been keeping track, I have not been home since August 2011 and not back to the states since October 2011.  Needless to say, it's been a while.  This trip was planned to coincide with going to campus for school.  I am working on a doctoral degree and there is a 3 day in person workshop to end a class I have been taking in nutrition focused physical exam.  Since we are actually learning how to do a physical exam, it is important to get to practice in person.  My school is not far from where Ryan is from, so it was the perfect time to take some leave and head back to the States.  Here we go, direct from Tokyo to Newark!

Just before we set out on the long journey, something made me think to grab some food, even though I knew we would eat on the plane.  The good news is that this was an excellent decision because we ended up delayed just over an hour, sitting and waiting on the plane, so we could have ended up very hungry.  There were limited choices after clearing security and customs, so McDonald's it was!  I ordered the Ebi Filet-O... which is a shrimp "filet".

I would have loved to take pictures of the food on the plane, but there was no way to access my camera and not make a huge mess and annoy people, so I just gave up.

Just a few minutes after we took off, we were there!  Ok, that's not quite how that happened, but it is really close.  Given the 13 hour time difference and 12.5 hour flight, we managed to land just before we took off.  Crazy how that can happen!  Once we were on the ground, we headed to get the rental car and then made our way to the hotel.  The rental car was actually very nice, but I was definitely afraid to drive because I haven't driven on the "American" side since October 2011.  In Japan we drive on the left, like in England.

It was really late by the time we got in, so I was glad to see this bed!

After a good night's sleep, although a very short one, we woke up and headed out to get some breakfast.  You can't get real bagels in Japan, so this was sort of mandatory for day 1.  We went to Bagel Street since this was one spot Ryan could remember from when he used to live around here.

I was beyond excited to get a poppy seed bagel.  Those are my favorite.

The next stop was to visit Ryan's aunt.  We hung out with her for a bit and before we knew it, lunch time had crept up on us.  His aunt recommended this cute place nearby called The Peasant Grill, which was perfect because the weather was unseasonably warm and they had outdoor seating.

Ryan's aunt had some quiche and gazpacho.

Ryan went with the French Dip.

And I had a roasted vegetable panini.

After enjoying some time outside, we headed to find a book store because I really wanted to see if I could locate my book.  I can't tell you how exciting it was to find my book on the shelf at a Barnes and Noble.

Crazy!

Our next stop was to walk around and enjoy the weather some more in Princeton.  I have never been here before and was really interested in checking out the campus.  Loved the old buildings and the atmosphere on campus.  These next few pictures are all from Princeton campus.

After a nice and very enjoyable walk we stopped for some frozen yogurt.

Dinner was with Ryan's best friend (and the best man at our wedding) and his wife.  They took us to a cute microbrewery called the Vault.

Most everyone went with the tasting flight of beers.

Here we are all enjoying a great night out, American style.

The lighting was pretty much non-existant, but I still tried to take pictures.  This was the hummus trio sampler with homemade bread.  There was regular hummus, basil hummus and a beet hummus.  I am not a beet fan, but it was actually really good.

I was also impressed to find that they had buffalo cauliflower on the menu.  I was so excited because I had just spotted this on Nicole's blog, PreventionRD.  It was awesome!  I can't wait to try this one out at home.

We ended up with two pizzas.  This is the margherita with aged balsamic.

This was a white pizza with capers and tomatoes.  

After all that it was definitely time to head back to the hotel and get some rest.

QUESTIONS:  When was the last time you travelled by plane?  Have you every had buffalo cauliflower?  Do you have a local brewing company?

Day 1-2: Travel Days, Getting to Australia

It still seems so surreal to me that I was headed to Australia.  My flight left in the evening, so I still had the whole day to go about doing things, getting ready, playing with my pets, and making sure I left everything cleaned up.

I flew down to Tokyo, but once there I had nearly 4 hours until my next flight.  This meant I had plenty of time to enjoy dinner at a sit down restaurant.  I almost went with sushi, but then some horror stories popped into my head where people got sick from the raw fish and had to suffer with that on the plane.  Certainly it wasn't sushi from Japan, but the idea still made me a little uneasy.  No worries because there were plenty of other places.  As soon as I spotted this pizzeria, I knew I had to go in.  The gentleman was in the front cooking pizzas in a wood burning oven.  The who visual process really drew me in.

Before I knew it, my white pizza topped with salmon, shrimp and onions arrived.  Wow, this was amazing!

After some looking around, I headed to my gate.  Next stop...Singapore!  I was flying on Singapore Airlines, which is one of the best airlines in the world (and now I know why!) and is part of the Star Alliance, which is where I earn my travel miles.  Lots of airlines I use regularly are part of the Star Alliance.  I have been collecting miles for some time, and that even helped me purchase these tickets to Australia.

Since I spent the good portion of 24 hours either on a plane or in an airport, there isn't a whole lot to share, but I will go ahead anyway in case anyone is curious what the veggie meals from Singapore Airlines looks like.

First up was a snack.  I actually didn't like this and therefore didn't eat more than a few bites.  It had been refrigerated, and as a result, the buns were hard, just like stale bread.  But I did like that it was egg with tomato.

I found my seat to be really comfortable and managed to get a few hours of sleep.  I was awoken by the flight attendant letting me know it was time for breakfast.  This meal was much better, however the picture is not the best.  I was a bit tired and couldn't see too well, and sadly the light just hurt my eyes so I couldn't keep it on too long.  But the food was good.  I had a fruit cup, OJ, blueberry yogurt and an omelet with veggies and hash browns.

Once we got to Singapore, I made my way to terminal 3, not just to catch my next plane (I didn't need to rush, I had ~4 hours), but to check out this:

I was so excited when I discovered just 2 days before leaving for Australia that there is a Hard Rock Cafe in the airport in terminal 3.  For those of you that don't know much about me, I collect Hard Rock shirts.  Ever since I was 16, I have been collecting them.  I am happy to say, I bought one here and I love it!  But, I also decided that I really want to come back and actually visit Singapore next time, and we won't even need to go to a Hard Rock.

I made sure to get a coffee from Starbucks, and then I spotted a Dunkin' Donuts.  These do NOT exist in Japan.  Starbucks, yes, but no DD.  So I ended up with a chocolate pudding donut...and it was so worth it!

Before I knew it, it was time to go to the gate and board my flight to Melbourne.

I know, before noon is a tad early, but I couldn't say no to the free wine!  I made sure to get some water too.  

These seats weren't as comfortable as the first flight, but they were still more comfortable than most planes I have been on.  In fact, I even fell asleep for probably 3 hours on this flight.

Here is my lunch meal.  This was actually really good.  It was a marinara sauce with mushrooms, zucchini and rice.  I also had a salad, fruit, a roll and some cheese.

Then came the WOW factor!  After we finished eating a flight attendant came around with this ice cream.  That is something I have never experienced before.

Just before landing it was time for the snack (this flight was just under 7 hours long).  It was pretty good too, but the English muffin was a bit soggy.  I loved the tofu scramble on top of it though.

Before I knew it, we were on the ground and I was officially down under.  In fact, this marks the first time I am in the southern hemisphere.

To get to my hotel from the airport I went with the Skybus, which in the end saves a lot of money.  If you are ever coming to Melbourne and flying in, I highly recommend the Skybus.  The transport went to a train station, and from there I got another shuttle, as part of my initial payment and ticket, and this took me right to my hotel.

Locating reasonably priced hotels in Australia is not easy, but I did manage to find some for my trip that I was comfortable with, as far as price and amenities, coupled with location.  I really wanted to be centrally located and near many things that I could walk to.  So for Melbourne, I picked the Victoria Hotel.

Upon check in, the front desk attendant notified me that they had upgraded my room and it would be much larger than what I reserved.  Boy, they weren't kidding.  I am in a newly renovated room with 1 queen bed and one twin (actually slightly larger), and a huge open space in the middle of the room.  I am here for nearly a week, so this turns out to be really good for me.  I don't have to be cramped.

You can see that it is nice and wide open.

I almost couldn't find the bathroom, and nearly panicked, but then I saw a very well camouflaged door along the back wall.  Whew, because I needed a shower after about 27 hours of travel!  Flight times weren't so bad, but I did have a few layovers.

Once I was in my room and settled in a bit, I realized it was 10 pm and I was starving.  I walked down the street and spotted a falafel sandwich.  It was not the best, but it certainly did the trick and I won't go to bed hungry!

QUESTIONS:  Have you ever been to Australia?  Have you ever been to Melbourne?  Have you ever been in the southern hemisphere?  What is your favorite airline?  Have you ever flown on Singapore Airlines?

Hodge Podge of Home Cooked Goodies (Mostly)

Before I show off some of the goodies I made while Ryan was recovering, check out the sushi I picked up from the commissary.  I was really trying to keep the noise down in the living room and not run the microwave or cook things that smelled too much because he was really sensitive to all of that, so I thought sushi would be perfect.  Well it would have been, except he woke up right then and can into the living room and it was a tad too fishy smelling for him.  When you are sick, you are sick, and some smells just do not work.

As he was starting to feel better I started making more foods.  One that I was really eager to try was this Flatout bread that I picked up from FNCE.  I spotted the pizza picture on the front and thought this would be a really great idea.

So let's take a look at the facts.  One bread has 90 calories, low in fat, high in fiber and has quite a bit of protein.  Not sure about the 1 gram of sugar alcohol in here, but I will let that slide.  Overall I think this fits in to any diet well, but I wouldn't use it everyday.  I like that it is low in calories, but the sodium is a little high, and I personally like variety in my breads.  I actually think I like this better for pizza use than a sandwich.  As for the taste, not to bad, and I am picky, so I was impressed that it tasted better than I expected.

Here is what it looks like before I "decorated".

I added mushrooms to my pizza, and as usual, I added way too many, which I knew, but left them on, and it was a little too heavy for the pizza.

But it was good, and I ate all of it.

During his time home from work I also got out of the house a little bit just to make sure he had quiet and I could go and make some noise somewhere.  So where might I head to entertain myself?  The local grocery store.  After wandering and looking at packages of foods, I came home with some sushi for dinner...

...and some ice cream for dessert.

I really like the little cups of ice cream.  It is better than sitting around with a pint (although I could never eat that all in one sitting).

Towards the end of Ryan's time at home, he was starting to feel better and was eating a little more, so I was ready to get into the kitchen.  I had gotten a few Cooking Light magazines in the mail, which had been forwarded from the island, so they are a few months old.  I saw these salted caramel brownies and knew right away that I wanted, no needed, to make these.

Started with my dry ingredients.

Then I ran into a problem.  I did not have enough liquid to get everything wet, and I had quite a lot left over that was dry.

I decided to add just a teeny bit more of egg and that did the trick.

After my oven finally decided to cook my brownies (we have since had the oven replaced), I took them out, let them cool, and moved on to the caramel topping.

The topping included some butter, and then a bunch of sugar.  Not the healthiest, but if I am going to indulge in some brownies every once in awhile, I am certainly making them from scratch and using the "real" food.

Yummy caramel topping!

Then I coated my brownies.

Drizzled some chocolate.

Obviously sprinkled with too much salt in some places (as you can see here, oops!).  Then I enjoyed my brownies.  Yes, my slice is about 2 servings since the recipe makes 20 brownies and the pan was a 9x9 so I cut into 9 brownies, although we did cut some of those in half.  I really depended on our appetites at that time.

Next up is a yummy white bean soup.

I started with carrots, celery and onions

Cooked those in a little oil.

Then I added some veggie broth, a little water, and my beans, plus some black pepper and Mrs. Dash Italian seasoning.

When it was nice and hot we enjoyed a tasty soup.  This was a good one, and I plan to make it again sometime.

Last up is a sandwich, which I made using these flatbreads, which I picked up at FNCE too.  They were chipotle flavored, so I decided they would go nice with a breakfast sandwich.

I kept it basic and just added some scrambled eggs and cheese.

Folded it over, and had a yummy breakfast sandwich.

After all that, Ryan was feeling much better and headed back to work.  When he came home at the end of his first week he brought me these beautiful flowers.


I was very glad that I found the vase after only 10 minutes of looking.  I figured it may never turn up.  Yeah, it was sitting next to the sink for so long that I just forgot it was right out in the open, like it was a permanent fixture in the decor and just blended with the wall.  I felt silly after that one.




QUESTIONS:  Have you ever tried Flat Out bread or the Pan Plano bread?  How would you use them? What is your favorite kind of brownie?  When was the last time you got flowers?