With Kate in Hong Kong,

these are my plans for the evening:

Eat these strange wasabi eggplant things that we got in Izu and Kate hates (although she has not actually tried them).
Make a strange brown rice, spinach, garlic, kim-chee thing for dinner.
Drink an Yebisu.
Watch Felicity.

Hello from Hong Kong!

Eric and I are here for a few days to see the sights together.

Today we did some standard things:
First, we ate some delicious dim sum with a friend Mike and I know from Mike’s time in Yokohama.I also saw the HSBC building, which is pretty neat looking.We went to Hong Kong University and walked around the grounds and visited the art museum there.Then, we went to the oldest temple in Hong Kong, which had A LOT of incense!Last, we walked around a bit at night, and saw a (but not the) night market.

Anyway, these are just the highlights from our first day. I’m not sure I’ll be able to post every day, but I just wanted to share a few shots now.

The last Gifu post (I promise!)

I know, we posted less after returning from Kyoto. Oh well.

This post is just a random hodge-podge of things.

First, some pictures of the gardens at the house where we stayed. The first is of the nakaniwa, the square outdoor garden around which the house is built. Yes, that is snow in the foreground. The second picture is of the garden in the side-yard.

Second, on New Year’s Eve, around 11:30pm we set out on a walk with our friend and his mother. Our first stop was at a Buddhist temple and rang the bell once to welcome in the New Year. (Our camera wasn't working as planned for the second picture here, but it is kind of a cool shot, anyway - and a nice view of the hat I made!).We are sort of unclear as to the significance of the bell-tolling, but we think that only 108 people could ring the bell, related to the 108 troubles/anguishes (we are unclear on the translation of this word. And by “we,” I mean Mike) recognized in Buddhism. Bells are only rung on New Year’s Eve, and they have a low, deep, gong-y sound. And they are loud. In the clear night air, we could hear the bells echoing from other temples nearby.

Our second stop was at a Shinto shrine, where our friends lined up with others to make the first temple visit of the new year.

At both places, we were offered this sweet, milky, unrefined sake that is typically served on New Year’s Eve.

Also, one embarrassing shot of each of us (TFT here, baby!):Me, marching(?) to the temples on New Year’s EveMike, eating mochi on a stick (another traditional way to eat mochi).

The foods we ate. . .

We ate well in Gifu. In addition to the aforementioned latkes, we ate a lot of Japanese food.

First, the (also aforementioned) mochi. This is what it looked like after the pounding:And this is what it looked like after it had dried for two days and been cut up:The mochi was then put in soup. It was very sticky, but otherwise tasteless.

Our friend's father also taught Mike to make this traditional egg dish. The dish is a little complicated since after you whisk the eggs, you pour a little into the hot pan, cook it, fold it, pour more, and so on. It ends up looking like folded crepes made of egg.

We also went to the sushi restaurant our friend’s father has been going to every day for the past thirty years. This figure was not an exaggeration, as it was corroborated by other family members. I have to admit, the sushi was really, really good.Also, and this is truly an only-in-Japan experience, we ate this fish at the sushi place:

No big deal, right? Well, the thing about this fish is that to welcome us to Gifu, our friend’s sister had purchased this fish. She then brought it over to her mother’s house (where we were staying), and her mother then brought it to the sushi place when we all went for dinner. I mean, how else would you welcome guests, except by buying them fish? The fish, by the way, was delicious!

Also, the sushi place had this crab, which we didn’t eat, but I felt deserved a picture.Crab is actually part of the traditional New Year’s foods (called osechi ryori). Our friend’s family ordered the traditional set from a restaurant. We didn’t taste everything, but from what we ate, we can say it was pretty good.

The friends we saw. . .

Well, you’ve already seen plenty pictures of Nagu (the cutest baby in Japan), and this post will be no different. We spent a fair amount of time not only with Nagu, but also with his cousins (okay, really, the whole family). And what an attractive family they are!

Eating oranges on the shinkansen

Driving a car in the supermarket in Gifu

Attempting to eat the dog food. Grandma removed the dish just in the nick of time.Eating a better dinner:Momoka, our friend’s mother’s hairdresser’s granddaughter (of course!)

Nagu’s cousin Yoka. She didn’t really warm to us. By the way, the word in Japanese for “shy” is hazukashi. Just in case you need it.

Nagu and Yoka, at the mochi-making.

Nagu’s cousin Yu-kun. He had been taking some English classes, and we loved playing with him. Although I have no idea where he got the idea to do this:

Oh, wait.

Our friend’s mother’s hairdresser’s niece on her way to the temple on New Year’s Day. She stopped by (at the behest of her aunt) to show us her kimono. Our friend’s father was also wearing a kimono for the New Year.Our gracious and wonderful hosts:

Temples and Castles in Gifu and surrounding areas

While in Gifu with our friends we did other things besides eating (more on that later) and playing with all the extremely cute children (more on that later, too). We actually got out and saw some really interesting stuff.

Our first excursion was to a temple in the mountains above Gifu. It was much snowier here than in the city, but very beautiful. Also, although our pictures make it look peaceful and tranquil – because it was – we are also told that New Year’s Eve (the next day) would see 200,000 people there to welcome in the new year. Can you imagine?We were told that the origami cranes were made and brought to the temple to request help for a sick person, probably a child. We hope that the get well wishes are as effective as they are beautiful.

Also, we saw a dog at the temple:Note, if you will, that this dog coat actually includes shoes!

Our second excursion was to Gifu castle. The castle sits high above the city (a very defensible position) and has a wonderful view.Our third excursion was on New Year’s day to a temple associated with success in business. It was extremely crowded. Although there was a fair amount of pushing and shoving, there was very little hostility or impatience. People just waited while squished up against one another. A very un-American scene (you may have to open the first picture to see the crowd in the lower right).

Noooooo!

Two related bits of news, the second made more painful because of the first.

1. The weather. See, I am not just complaining for nothing - it really is cold here!

2. Tully's has replaced the Tiramisu latte with a "honey mik latte." This is not a move that pleases me. Not. at. all.

Mochi

Probably the most famous traditional food for new years in Japan is a mochi soup. Mochi is white rice pounded into cakes. Many families these days buy their mochi cakes, but our friends' family pounds their own. This was a lot of fun.


In addition to being used in soup, Mochi also has a ceremonial purpose for new years that we don't really understand. But here are some mochi cakes at a Buddist temple we visited:

Latkes

This Chanukka, Kate and I could have been the only people in all of Gifu Prefecture making latkes and applesauce. Both went over quite well, especially Kate's applesauce.




I made a simplified version of the potato latkes from the New York Times Jewish Cookbook. My friend's sister wanted the recipe, and here is my Japanese translation:

Latkes (ユダヤ教の伝統的なじゃがいもパンケーキ)

材料
じゃがいも（1k）
たまねぎ（１コ）
レモンジュース（大さじ1）
卵（２コ）
メリケン粉（50ml）
塩（自分のお好みで）
サラダ油

１．じゃがいもを洗います。しかし、皮膚を剥げ落ちません。
２．じゃがいもとたまねぎを本当に小さく切ります。フードプロセッサーがあっ たら、フードプロセッサーで切りますが、なかったら、手で切ります。
３．じゃがいも、たまねぎ、レモンジュース、卵、メリケン粉、塩をミックスし ます。
４．なべを熱して、サラダ油を加えます。なべが暑くなってから、少しずつパン ケーキを作ります。