Japan Bucket List Update...Final Months

All I can say is that 4 years flew right by!  Just a few more months and we are on to our next adventure.  The last time I updated this list was over a year ago, back in March 2014.  I know I didn't get to cross everything off my list, but 100 items is definitely a lot and I am just glad to see I have made it through at least 50 of them.

1. Take Survival Japanese (November 2011)

2. Visit Tokyo (November 2011- Part 1, Part 2, Part 3)

3. Visit Kyoto (September 2013- Part 1, Part 2)

4. Visit Osaka (September 2013- Click here)

5. Sapporo Snow Festival (February 2012- Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4)

6. Ride the Shinkansen (November 2011) 

7. Go horse back riding- Sadly, I don't think this will happen

8. Learn to ski- I wish we had just gone ahead and did this, but we didn't.  Part of the problem was that this past winter was mild.

9. Learn to snow board- Same comments as #8

10. Visit Hirosaki Castle for the Chrysanthemum Festival (November 2011- Click here)

11. Visit Hirosaki Castle for the Cherry Blossom Festival (May 2012- Click here), Did it again in April 2015

12. Aomori Nebuta Festival (August 2012- Click here, August 2013- Click here)

13. Make okonomiyaki (December 2011- Click here)

14. Try takoyaki (February 2012- Click here)

15. Make my own sushi (December 2011- Click here)

16. Take Beyond Survival Japanese (January 2012)

17. Buy a kimono (December 2011)

18. Visit Oirase Gorge- We didn't hike the Gorge but we did make it out to the general vicinity

19. Visit Big Buddha in Aomori (October 2011- Click here)

20. Visit Aomori Art Museum (April 2012- Click here)

21. Visit Towada Art Museum (October 2011- Click here)

22. Take a cruise on Lake Towada

23. See a snow monkey

24. Go snow shoeing- (December 2014- Click here)

25. Take a trip to Thailand (June 2013- Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, Part 6, Part 7, Part 8)

26. Take a trip to Australia (September 2012- I have 18 posts from my roughly 3 weeks in Australia, so here is post 1 to get you started.  The rest are easily located from there.)

27. Climb Mt. Fuji (July 2012- Click here)

28. Go to an onsen (October 2012- Click here)

29. Go to Tokyo Disney (July 2012- Click here)

30. See Tsukiji Market (November 2011- Click here)

31. Travel to South Korea (September 2013- Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5) 

32. Go to Universal Studios (in Osaka)- Missed out on this one too

33. Buy something with Hello Kitty on it (November 2011-Hello Kitty Hard Rock Shirt)

34. Write a blog post during an earthquake (any idea what just happened! LOL) (December 2011)

35. Visit Okinawa- Also another worthwhile adventure that just didn't happen, but at least my husband got a chance to go there.

36. Go to a Sumo tournament- (May 2014- Click here)

37. Drive to Tokyo- Although we didn't drive ourselves, in April 2014 we went on a bus trip down to Tokyo so I had the chance to experience the drive all the way there.

38. Go to the beef and garlic festival- (October 2014- Click here)

39. See the Ryusendo Caves- This is seriously the next thing on my to-do list for activities

40. Volunteer for Tsunami/Earthquake relief (from 2011 Earthquake) (September 2012- Although no major active efforts have been taking place, I was able to donate 1 hour of nutrition counseling to an auction where the proceeds went to directly support a community still rebuilding from the tsunami.)

41. Go to a Japanese baseball game

42. Go ice skating

43. See Kabuki theater performance- (May 2014, same trip as Sumo- Click here)

44. Travel to Hawaii

45. Take the ferry to Hokkaido (February 2012- Click here)

46. Try green tea ice cream (Can't recall a specific date, but I have had it a few times now)

47. Visit Sendai (May 2013- Part 1, Part 2)

48. Attend Shabbat services in Tokyo

49. Go apple picking- Since we missed apple season we won't be able to do this before we leave

50. Go cherry picking- (June 2014)

51. Visit a Buddhist Temple (August 2011- Click here)

52. Visit a Shinto Shrine (August 2011- Click here)

53. See the wild horses-( September 2014- Click here)

54. Go to the Rokkasho Salmon Festival (September 2013- Click here)

55. Drink sake (July 2012- Click here)

56. Visit Tokyo National Museum (November 2011)

57. Visit Hiroshima

58. Visit Kenji World- Too bad it closed down

59. Visit Morioka (March 2013- Click here)

60. Eat shabu shabu- Never found any with just seafood and vegetables

61. Visit Tokyo Tower- (May 2014, Click here)

62. Have a traditional vegetarian Buddhist meal (September 2013- South Korea)

63. Buy fresh fish from a market- Visited a lot of markets, but never left with more than taiyaki (fish shaped pancake filled with bean paste
64. Buy an antique (January 2012)
65. Attend a tea ceremony (September 2013- Click here)
66. Dine Japanese style (sitting on the floor) (January 2013- Click here, we've actually dined this way a few times)
67. Go to a concert in Tokyo
68. Learn to use chopsticks (August 2011-This was a tough one for me, but I have it mastered now!)
69. Use a Japanese toilet (August 2011-Squatty Potty!)
70. Buy a heated toilet seat- We are still contemplating this!
71. Go hiking (September 2012- Click here)
72. Go camping
73. Visit Nagoya Castle
74. Visit Nagano
75. Visit the Imperial Palace in Tokyo (July 2012-Click here)
76. Dine along Dotonbori (September 2013- Click here)
77. Visit Ueno Zoo (July 2012- Click here)
78. Buy a Hard Rock shirt from all locations in Japan- I've come close, but the one in Narita closed after we moved here and I wasn't able to get to Osaka Universal Studios (I did get just Osaka) or Fukuoka.  I did go to 4 out of 6 locations.
79. Visit a Japanese beer brewery (February 2012- Click here)
80. Play a round of golf (all 18 holes!) (June 2012)
81. Drink apple wine (February 2012- Click here)
82. See a fire works display
83. Swim in the ocean (July 2012)
84. Visit Shipwreck Beach- Can you believe they cleared off all the ships?!?!?  So we never went.
85. Build a snow man
86. Eat tofu on a stick (February 2012, Click here)
87. Visit the Tokyo Sky Tree observation desk- (April 2014, Click here)
88. Visit Disney Sea
89. See a professional Taiko drum performance- (I will count the Yokohama based group that played on my mom's cruise ship the first night, so this was April 2015)
90. See the deer in Nara (September 2013- Click here)
91. Visit Sensoji Temple (November 2011, click here)
92. See a Noh theater performance
93. Go dolphin and whale watching
94. Check out Harajuku- (May 2015)
95. Sing karaoke
96. Eat a sea urchin
97. Make a kanji painting (I did a calligraphy painting of my name in kanji, but I can't remember the date.)
98. Learn how to spell my name in Japanese
99. Ride the subway in Tokyo (November 2011)
100. Be a good ambassador

Well I have counted 65 so far!  I am happy to say that even though we did not and will not get to all 100, there were many other amazing adventures and opportunities that we came across while here and those things were truly amazing.  I have more posts to come.  I am pretty behind on everything because I have been busy with work and school, but I hope to get caught up soon so that I may be able to more quickly share about our upcoming adventures.  I don't think I mentioned this yet, but we are headed back to Europe.  The big move isn't too far off, so stayed tuned for the rest of our Japan adventures followed by plenty more fun, travel, sightseeing, food, and culture.

QUESTIONS:  What have you recently crossed off your bucket list?  What was the last thing you wished you had done but sadly had missed out on?

Soba Noodle Making Class in Tokyo

One of the coolest things we did while in Tokyo last Christmas was learn how to make soba noodles. While I will never be an expert and I can't tell you all of the step by step details, I can share the pictures and tell you this was an awesome time.  We did the basic class, for fun, at the Tsukiji Soba Academy.

Here I am with our sensei, Akila.

We started off making the dashi, which is a broth and base used for just about everything in Japanese cooking.  One of the main ingredients in dashi is dried bonito.

As part of the cooking process we watched our instructor create a chemical reaction among the ingredients using a hot metal rod.  Here you can see it over the open flame.

Here are some mushrooms that are being prepared to eat with our soba.  We started off by learning to make all of the sauces and accompanying ingredients, then we watched him make noodles, and after eating lunch we learned how to make our own.

Here goes the metal rod!

Here the dry ingredients are being measured out for the soba noodles.

Sifting

Mixing it all up with some liquid added.

Kneading

Shaping

And here we have a Hershey Kiss!

But not for long, haha!

Then it was flattened.

And rolled out.

Bigger and bigger

Until it was at the right thickness to be cut.

Next it needed to be folded over a few times.

This is the special knife designed just for cutting soba noodles.

This board is used as part of the noodle cutting technique.

You cut it and then angle the board back and slide it a little.  Hard to explain and even harder to do it correctly!

Look at him go!

Pretty impressive to watch him quickly cut all of these noodles.

Then it was time to prepare, serve, and eat lunch.

Radish for grating.

Getting the fresh wasabi ready.

Grating the wasabi fresh for our soba.

Wow, that's a lot of fresh wasabi!

Grated daikon, which is a Japanese radish.

Then it was time to cook the noodles.

Some of the ingredients for the soup.

Almost ready to enjoy these fresh soba noodles.

The meal as it was set down at the table for each of us.  In the middle is soba for eating cold with a dipping sauce.

Lovely presentation of our hot soba dish.

And close up.  Yum!

Scallop soup

And if that wasn't enough, we finished off the meal with matcha ice cream.

After lunch it was time for Ryan and I to try out making our own soba noodles.  Since my hands were dirty pretty much the whole time there are no step by step photos and none of me in action.  But that is ok because I was able to fully concentrate on making my noodles.  And I have to admit, it was difficult, but I think mine turned out pretty well.

As did Ryan's!

What an awesome day!  

If you are ever in Tokyo and looking to learn a little about food and cooking techniques, I highly recommend this class.  It was just me and Ryan and well worth the time and money spent.

QUESTIONS:  Have you ever made soba noodles?  Have you ever made any type of pasta?  What was the last cooking class you took?  Have you ever taken a cooking class while on vacation?

Christmas in Tokyo

It's nearly Spring, but life has been busy and I am only just getting to our Christmas trip down to Tokyo.  Just in time for me to head back to Tokyo for vacation again (actually it will be my second time since Christmas...I can't stay away!).  Ryan and I decided to go down for the long holiday weekend and see what Tokyo had to offer during Christmas.  Japan is not a Christian country so Christmas isn't celebrated here in the same way it is celebrated in many countries.  Everything is open.  The biggest difference we noticed was that most restaurants offered special course menus and set menus for couples.  Given our food preferences this may have been an issue, but the Japanese are so accommodating that contacting the restaurant in advance allowed us to custom create a course menu for each of us.

We started the evening with the Robot Show.  Not kidding, I definitely said Robot Show.  It isn't for everyone and I don't suggest this if you only have a short time in Tokyo and aren't a huge fan of strange things.  For us, this was perfect.  This was probably my 10th or so trip down there and we knew what to expect, so this was definitely on our list.  All I can say is "WOW".  There are no words to describe this show, so I won't even try.  Below are some of the pictures to demonstrate the colors, costumes, and robots on display throughout this show.

Definitely a memorable experience!

After the show we headed just down the street to our favorite restaurant, Yasaiya Dining.  Like I said, we preplanned the meal so we knew we would get foods that we both liked.  I eat seafood and Ryan doesn't and he eats meat/poultry and I don't.  This restaurant focuses on vegetables and those are a highlight, but they definitely serve meat so we wanted to make sure these were things we like.  The meal started off with some fruit and vegetable juice, freshly made.

Here is my custom menu.  They printed one out for every guest and then at the end of the night presented it to us with a photo of us placed inside.

Here is my starter salad.  Yum!

While waiting for the next course we had the pleasure of watching the vegetables cook on the teppanyaki grill.

This is the smoked salmon tartare.  

Ryan had French onion soup.

Since I couldn't have that they replaced it with a vegetable soup, which was very good.

Then I spotted my lobster.  One thing I love is that when I ask for a change to a menu where there is beef as the choice, they always offer to replace this with lobster.  I can't complain!  I have also had giant tiger prawns been the substitution as well.  

The veggies were finished cooking so they brought us the different salts that we could place on the grilled veggies.

Yum!  So simple and they always taste so amazing!

Next up the chef began preparing my live abalone steak.  I had never had abalone before so this was definitely an adventure.  It definitely sounded better than the milt of true cod option (which I learned was not something I wanted to eat!).

It was presented very nicely and although a little chewier than I prefer, I did eat pretty much all of it.  The flavor was very good.

Then came Ryan's steak, which he enjoyed.

Here is my lobster along with the veggies, waiting to be prepared.

The chef here is wonderful (we have eaten here before) and I love being able to sit at the grill and watch him prepare the food.  Thankfully this time nothing got up and tried to run off the grill (yeah, that happened before).

Here is the final presentation.  

Yummy!  I may have had a little bit to drink and was trying hard to get everything out of the shells, and I may have gone a little "Maryland style" (aka like it was a crab) which is by no means refined or very Japanese, but I think they were intrigued by the idea and the chef took what was left and cut it all out and regrilled some of it for me.  I was not letting any of that lobster go to waste!

Then came some miso soup.

Amazingly delicious garlic rice.  One of my favorites.

And finally the dessert...avocado, red beans and nuts tiramisu with a strawberry Santa.

What an amazing meal to end off a very fun evening!  Definitely a memorable experience.  I highly (and I can't stress that enough) recommend this restaurant.  I also recommend the Robot Show if you were looking for something fun and different in Tokyo.

Stay tuned for more posts on our mini holiday vacation to Tokyo.

QUESTIONS:  Have you ever celebrated Christmas away from home?  What is your favorite Christmas dessert?  Would you go see the Robot Show?