Cake...Snowboarding...Kimono's...

The week started off with a trip to the Cake Buffet. The scrapbooking group invited us for lunch at Cake Buffet for Jessica’s birthday. How could I pass up a cake buffet?!?! This was at a local hotel that was very lovely. There were tons of desserts that wouldn’t take more than 3 bites to devour. I think I tried 85% of what was available. There were also a few “lunch” items such as takoyaki, soup, and salad. Cake buffet is offered for one week, once a month or once every other month, so plan carefully if you want to visit. Just kidding, there are millions of bakeries that offer just as many delicious desserts. The rest of the week was kind of same ol’ same ol’. My cooking experiment this week was Chinese donuts or “you tiao”. It’s the long fried dough that you eat with congee (rice porridge). I must say I was rather impressed. It was not perfect, but I think in time it might be alright. Again, one of those things I have found motivation to make since we cannot find it here in Japan. Friday night we went to try Min Min Gyoza. Min Min Gyoza is probably one of the more famous gyoza shops in Utsunomiya. I had high expectations going in considering we saw a line of 25 – 30 people waiting last Sunday. It was good, but I was a little disappointed. The gyoza’s come pan-fried, steamed, or deep-fried with the same filling in all of them. We ordered one of each to try the “variety”. I did enjoy them, but personally I like Yume Gyoza better, the gyoza shop close to our place. Maybe Min Min was too hyped up for me. Saturday, Michael and I went to Hunter Mountain in Tochigi Prefecture with Annie, Matt and Chris. This is probably the most well-known ski/snowboarding resorts in Tochigi and by the large crowd of people, I would agree. It’s popular because it’s still within one day trip limits for people in Tokyo. Hunter Mountain was modeled after the Hunter Mountain in New York. The trails were all names streets in New York like Madison Ave, Fifth Ave. etc. I was quite proud that I went up to the second highest trail, but getting down was a bit scary. Nonetheless, I made it. Michael on the other hand took a try at moguls. It was quite difficult and I think he spilled twice. He’s ok, but we’re both a bit sore. Afterwards, the five of us went to a German restaurant. After talking about German food, I have never in my life craved sauerkraut like I did Saturday night. This place was close to Orion Dori and after a few walks around the block we found it. I ordered some kind of sausage with potato and nibbled on some of Annie and Matt’s sauerkraut. It was so good. We are definitely going back again when we crave German food, not that we have a big selection, but this place was delicious! Sunday, we began the day skyping with people back home. We are so thankful that Skype exists because skyping with home via webcam is one of the best things ever aside from being there in person. This is one instance that I appreciate of technology growing so rapidly. After skyping, we went to a Japanese Cultural Festival at City Hall. This event is sponsored by UCIA and held once a year. We went with Michael’s teacher, Kawai sensei. It was not a large space, but it was filled with tons of great things. Michael and I got there when it first opened and we headed to the make your own onigiri table because we were starving. Onigiri is a rice ball filled with whatever you like such as salmon, seaweed, bacon, etc and made in the shape of a rounded triangle with a piece of seaweed wrapped around it. Ok, that might not have been the best description, but believe me, onigiri is yummy. After eating a delicious onigiri, we made way to the other tables. I did an ikebana (flower arrangement) which I still don’t completely understand, but it looks nice. Michael opted to do some calligraphy and wrote the kanji for love. Awww, how cute! After that we went to go try on kimono’s. The men’s kimono’s seem basic, but takes quite a bit of time to put on. The women’s one was pretty intense too. I had 2 women put my kimono on for me. At first it felt ok, but after 10 minutes or so I felt like it was too tight and had trouble breathing. I couldn’t keep the kimono on for long, but it was a great experience. Next time I know a little better that it should not be super tight. The cultural festival was a great opportunity for us to learn and experience many parts of Japanese culture. I hope that there are other events like this because I had a really good time.