I've had a few extra days off from work this week and have been spending a lot more time than usual with my family. It has been wonderful and has definitely made the week much better.
As many readers of this blog may already know, I am a huge fan of the Instagram iPhone app. I decided to start taking a series of pictures of my son and calling them Baby Adventures in Japan. I have been taking them in various locations we've been to throughout the week and just have two rules: 1. Make the shot cool. 2. Don't show his face. I'm not trying to be super secretive since I have in the past shared pictures of my son. I just thought it would be a cool way to snap some fun shots.
Here's the first Baby Adventure in Japan:
"Baby Adventures at IKEA"
By the way, HAPPY FIRST BIRTHDAY son!!!! It was a wonderful day!
I am sick. It’s official. It came out of nowhere. Some coworkers couldn’t make it into work today because of illness, but I felt great. I suppose I did have some minor “blahs” to the heavy rain all day, but aside from that, was ready to teach and excited about hitting the road early in the morning for my first training run in several days (looks doubtful that run will happen).
I am feeling worse with every passing minute and will crawl into my cocoon (aka…bed) soon. I was however able to construct one piece of (out of 2) IKEA furniture that was delivered to our place this evening.
I decided to come up with a list of things to do when you suddenly become sick, but definitely have to go to the work in the morning:
1. Drink boat loads of water, herb tea and other hydrating fluids.
2. Take some over the counter cold medicine (not sick enough to necessitate a trip to the emergency room). Unfortuantely, cold medecine in Japan is pretty weak compared to what I am used to in Canada and really doesn’t help much. I suppose the placebo affect might be worth something.
3. Build IKEA furniture (but then realize you are too weak to finish the second book shelf).
4. Feel sorry for yourself (I’m really good at this one)!
5. Go to bed….night folks….
DOWN with being sick....especially on cold rainy nights!
You can follow me and my sick self on Twiter:@jlandkev
Tis the season for trees, lights, snow, snow days, turkey, laying on the sofa with a beer, eggnog, rum, gifts and a big fat man in red! That's right, the festival holiday known as Christmas is quickly approaching. It will be here in exactly ten days. In honour of this wonderful and epic holiday, I decided to spread myself even thinner and put together a video about Christmas food. I posed the question to folks who enjoy my video-blog, "What is your favorite Christmas food or beverage?" I wanted to know about people's comfort food. Many of the things I consider "comfort foods" are somewhat difficult to get my hands on in Japan. I can get turkey, but it is often hard to eat an entire turkey with only three people in your family (one having yet to grow teeth).
Here is my 2010 Christmas Collaboration video for You Tube. I asked anyone to submit a video and about 55 people did so. It was somewhat of a logistical nightmare to put together, but I did it for the second year in a row. Although it consumes many hours of my already frantic life, I think it brings a little bit of happiness to many out there. Even if it makes someone smile, it was worth making (wow! That was very cheesy...but true!).
One of the awesome things about doing this sort of project is the diversity of the people. I had videos sent to me from here in Japan, South Korea, Canada, United States, Germany, France, Norway, Sweden, England, Australia, Panama, etc.
I had the chance to play Mr. Mom today. I took my son to IKEA where I picked up a few more decorations for our Christmas tree as well as a few consumable Christmas treats. I grabbed a few Swedish Christmas beers which are similar to a red ale as well as a bottle of Glogg. That is popular in Scandanavia. It is basically mulled wine.
Here is the Swedish beer I picked up in the IKEA food section. At 349¥ a can, it is expensive, but a rare treat.
Here is the bottle of Glogg I bought. It cost 799¥ and has 12% alcohol, similar to a regular red wine. Again, Glogg is mulled wine.
I'm now on vacation for the next few weeks. Time to run a lot, enjoy good food and hang out with my little whipper-snapper!
A couple of days ago I was at the local IKEA doing some shopping with my wife. She pointed something out to me and it was pretty cool...if only "small C" cool! Normally IKEA sells hot dogs in it's little diner area near the entrance. I've even been known to partake in their 100yen hot dogs from time to time. They won't win any awards, but for the price, they're not bad.
What my wife noticed were the new "Ninja Hot dogs"! That's right.....let them stereotypes fly! We realized that the Ninja Dogs are longer than the normal ones. What does this mean? Where Japanese ninjas of old more well-endowed than the average Japanese male? Was this part of their selection process? Part of their training?
According to Wikipedia a Ninja is: "...a warrior specially trained in a variety of unorthodox arts of war. These include assassination, espionage, and other martial arts."
This said nothing about extra long "Shlongs"!
Ah well....
I started running in a new place this week as well. I was reading my "Run 2 Kobe" book and I realized I could run over the bridge from Port Island to the island that Kobe Airport is on. I didn't know that! I ran it yesterday (about 10km's) and it was a brilliant run. The bridge is a great "hill" and awesome for my hill days when I train. I liked it so much I ran over to the airport today (about a 13km run). I think I may even head over there tomorrow morning. I might gun for a run between 10-15k's tomorrow morning.
What's a Canadian boy to do at Christmas when he's in Kobe? Well, I have to admit that I happily eat Japanese food on a daily basis and enjoy it. I live in Japan and enjoy it, but...I am not the sort of "gaijin" who's "hardcore" about Japanese culture and that's the only thing he cares about. To be honest; it's the Christmas season and I can't wait to have a nice turkey dinner with gravy, stuffing and loads of wine! But, where is a Canadian guy to get this sort of meal? Well...luckily there are a lot of ways o get my fix.
During my years in South Korea (5+) to be exact (or not), I only had one serious turkey dinner. That was the year I taught at Pagoda Foreign Language School in Shinchon, Seoul and myself and a large number of coworkers ordered a cooked turkey from the Hilton Hotel. It was a bloody fortune, but wonderful comfort food.
At the end of the day, that's what it's all about. It's comfort food. It's what you know and what you love. it's what you expect and enjoy. Although I really enjoy life in my new home in Japan, I still crave what I know. The same way my wife, when we lived in Ottawa, Canada, craved Japanese food and baked goods....it's comfort food.
Well....my fix arrived at my door this evening. These are some of the makings of my Christmas 2008 dinner. Later this month we'll host a party.We'll cook this bad boy in our oven and feed about 15 fine folks a "Canadian" style Xmas dinner. It'll be GREAT!
I ordered this food from FBC. The Foreign Buyer's Club. It's a mail order foreign food store based here in Kobe on Rokko Island. there is quite a large foreign population here in Kobe and a lot of services to cater to them. Of course this turkey cost me a king's ransom, but it's worth it.....comfort food.
Oh yeah....here's something from left field. Have you ever had a Swedish beer? WEll, neither had I, until this evening. My wife was shopping at IKEA which is on Port Island in Kobe. I live on Port Island, nice and close. She called me and asked if I'd like to try a Swedish beer. She could pick one up for me. I said "Hell Yeah!!!!" Here it is...beside the Kirin. It wasn't bad. A very light and smooth taste. It's a Christmas blend with %5 alcohol. Not bad at all, but I do like beers with bolder flavours!
Ah yeas....check out my latest YouTube vid. KansaiPJ and I were kickin around Sannomiya in downtown Kobe on Saturday afternoon and what didwe see?
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