Tabemono....

FOOD!!

So we've been here over a month now and I've come to find some great places to eat and shop. I wanted to share a little bit about the food here with you. So far everything has been extremely appetizing. There is so much diversity!

I wanted to start with my local grocery store. I have to admit how impressed I was with the amount of organic vegetables and fruit I've been able to find for C.J. Everything is always so fresh and I don't have to worry about scourging through piles of fruit or veggies to find a ripe one or one that isn't going bad already. The selection is not as vast as back in the States but I can still find the "necessities" for C.J. - Apples, bananas, and strawberries. Everything is priced about the same except for the more foreign/exotic fruits and veggies.



I saw a cantaloupe last week that costs ¥2940, that's about $32. It's a good thing C.J. and I don't like cantaloupe or honeydew. :) Watermelon is priced about the same as back in the U.S. I usually run to the grocery store about twice a week for any ingredients or groceries I am lacking or about to tap off. I can buy ground beef, chicken, pork, seafood, milk, juice, water and bread. I can also get some baking supplies as well. If we want steaks or beef, I hed to the Aeon Mall that is about 15 minutes from our apartment, on foot. The grocery store there is much bigger, 2 floors, and their meat department has more variety as well. I can get cheeses and yogurts there as well. (This particular mall is much, much smaller than the others by the Nagoya Dome and in Kanayama.These two other malls have department stores as well as bakeries and grocery stores.) Either way, I have had no trouble finding groceries for the boys.

My addiction

Then there's the one really bad thing about Japan: (I keep telling Erick, this is totally the wrong country for me to move to) Bakeries - my huge weakness!! The Quality of Life has a sweet little bakery that makes delicious breads and sweet cakes. I find myself walking through there every time I go. C.J. also has a favorite sponge cake he gets from there and a cupcake that's about the size of Ericks' fist. (Laugh) It is a simple cake recipe but it is filled with a pudding. It is tasty!

I also have a homemade donut shop a few blocks from the apartment as well. Everything is made from scratch and they have so many selections, like an orange créme and even a mocha donut. Sooo much better than Krispy Kreme, Shipley's, or Dunkin combined! I've put myself on strict restrictions from pastries though, after the first couple of weeks of being here, I noticed my little habit and put an end to it. I do not want to gain 100 pounds here by eating sweets! :)

C.J. has found a lot of new juices he really loves here. We have the basic apple juice we pick up anywhere but the Minute Maid Aloe & White Grape is only found in a few vending machines. Vending machines are found in every block all over the city as well so whenever he does see one, he asks for it right away. One he recently found is another juice blend of vegetables and fruits. The ingredients contain about 21 vegetables with lemons, apples, and oranges also. C.J. is already great about eating his veggies but this just really helps with his daily intake.

Sweet Goodness!!!

So my absolute favorite restaurant to go to is Mozart. It is a small café in the underground mall in Sakae. (One stop off the train from our apartment.) I LOVE this place! They serve salads, sandwiches, pastas, and of course desserts. C.J. and I have gone there a couple of times for lunch. We order off the pasta menu - we get the pasta, cake, and drink set about ¥1450. My favorite pasta is a shrimp and avocado in an oil sauce. It is amazing! The portions here are actually quite nice so C.J. and I have more than enough to share. We usually take a minute to decide on what dessert we would like. They have a wide assortment of yummy little cakes. We usually end up getting one with strawberries because C.J. loves them. :) I order coffee with my cake as well and next to Starbucks, Mozart coffee is so rich and tasteful - I could go there every day for cake and coffee but we all know the consequences to that as well....

I was super impressed with the Domino's Pizza here! I'm going to be sad when I go back to the States and won't be able to order it anymore. Just like the States, we order online and there is a lot to choose from. Wings, fries, salads, pastas, sandwiches, and the obvious: pizza. My favorite pizza is a pepperoni double thin layer stuffed with cheese. Mouthwatering!! I have to order this every time. Erick usually orders a regular thin crust for him and C.J. and he orders this especially for me.


International stores are found through many parts of the city And I go to 3 different local ones to find the different food and snacks we want. I get our pastas, sauces, chips, cookies, C.J.'s gummy bears, and our coffee's. (They all have a large variety of blended and flavored coffees that I can get as whole bean.) I can also get my Mexican spices and cooking ingredients between the shops, including tortillas.
--> I found these at one of them. :) Just like Flaming Hot Cheetos!!! LOVE them! I was so happy!!!









Next to 7/11's and Circle K's every couple of blocks, there is my lovely Starbucks every block or so! Seriously, they are ALL over the place. I can find really delicious snacks and small to-go lunches at these places. One of my favorite, filling snacks here are the sticky-rice balls. They come in many different flavors. Some have fruit, others meat, some are plain with spice for flavor, and only some come with the seaweed wrap but they are all yummy and a quick fix for when you're hungry in between meals and only for ¥80.

Yamachan is an awesome little wing place found all over Japan as well. They are absolutely delicious but soooo tiny. (We joke they are pigeon not chicken wings.) ;)  The order is sold by 5 but I always get 15. (Laugh) They have a nice pepper kick to them but we order some plain for C.J. as well. And apparently Japan is known for this little restaurant so if you ever find yourself over here definitely look them up. You won't be disappointed.




That's another thing we've been trying to adjust to here in Japan, portions are so much smaller than what we are used to in America. Everything is like a third of the size! There is no "large" order here and definitely no "44oz" anything. This isn't necessarily a bad thing of course, it is okay for us to eat less but sometimes, especially when I've gone to McDonald's, I'd like a bigger Coke Zero than the Small size (that is the Medium, here).

Fun Weekend!

So this past weekend we had our first real outings in Japan. On Saturday we had a baseball game and then on Sunday we had a wedding party to attend. They were both wonderful experiences! We had a great time. I'm glad we were able to partake in these events.

Nagoya Dome

The Baseball Game : So to get to the game we had to get on the purple line train. (Trains and lines are color-coded. Ours is usually the yellow line.) And of course because it is on the other side of town, it took about 8 stops to get to. Then more walking. :) The Chunichi Dragons are a professional baseball team here in the city of Nagoya. The Nagoya Dome is an indoors baseball field and is gorgeous! Just like any other stadium, they take your tickets at the entrance and guide you to your assigned seats. They even handed out baseball caps to the kids for free. There is food and drinks and memorabilia stands before you enter the seating area as well.  Of course we purchased some tiny bats used for noise-makers during the game, for C.J. to play with. The game reminded me the entire time of being back home at a high school football game. There were cheerleaders and bands and half-time shows! It was amazing!

Go Dragons!

The pre-game show consisted of the cheerleaders getting the crowd riled up and performing a dance to the team song. The mascots would join them as well. (Really not sure what they were. There was a pink one and a blue one. They kind of looked like Yoshi from Super Mario.) Each team had their own band that would play throughout the game and would play the team song when someone would get a run. Through the entire game, there were many vendors walking up and down the stands with refreshments and food and snacks. I felt so bad for some of the girls! They carry mini pony-kegs on their backs the entire time!! Talk about a work out. It was easier for all of us being lazy not wanting to walk down to the concession stands to get a beer. (Laugh) We had a great time! And the Dragons won, 4 - 1! C.J. has been asking to go back so we will definitely make it to another one soon.

With the Bride & Groom

The Wedding Party: May I say, weddings in Japan are extremely expensive and extravagant! We were only invited to the wedding party but the bride and groom had the ceremony a day before and then had a formal dinner with family at the Tokyo Hotel a few hours before the party. Mariko wore 3 different gowns, I noticed this while we watched a video compiled of all three events up on a projector. Each more stunning than the one before. We were not required to bring gifts because according to the bride, gifts are given at the actually wedding ceremony and she did not invite us to that because "traditional" Japanese wedding gifts are priced at $2000 and more!!!! (Insane!)
So the party was actually at the Saru Cafe Aoi right downstairs from our apartment. (Literally, as you exit our building it is right next door.) You pay a certain price per male/female and it is for all you can drink for two hours. We were each also handed a Bingo card for a game played later in the party. The Bride and Groom were seated in a love seat at the entrance for guests to greet them as they arrived. We said hello and Erick introduced me. They were both super polite and they looked extremely happy - I LOVE Weddings! There was a variety of finger foods brought in throughout the night by waitstaff and the bar was open for anything your mind could think of. :)
After a couple of toasts, they brought in a large flat sheet cake for the couple to take photos with. Instead of a bouquet toss, the Bride got a few of her female friends, I think 7, to the front and they were each handed a pink ribbon attached to the bouquet. After the ribbons were unwound, the person with the longest ribbon gets the bouquet - very cute. We then played Bingo. The bride called out only numbers and once you got 5 in a row in any direction, you of course, called Bingo and then went to the front were you picked a number from a box. The number you got would then be the gift you received. They had over 20 gifts ranging from a $100 gift card to even snack foods. It was really fun! I won a toy set. :)
When all the prizes had been won, the game ended and we saw a few more videos of the bride and groom and the family and mostly just mingled with the other guests. We really enjoyed ourselves. The party only lasted a few hours but was a nice night out for Erick and myself.

P.S. I'm sure you are wondering where C.J. was through all this. He was with his "Uncle" Mike at the movies. :) Mike is one of Erick's work friends. He's a great guy who has nephews he can't spoil so he's taken a liking to C.J. and C.J. loves him! He took him to see Battleship, then to the toy store, and then to get a late dinner after their first dinner...hahaha They returned to the apartment just as the party was ending. C.J. asks to see "Uncle" Mike all the time now. It's sweet.