Japanese omelet - Tamagoyaki

Japanese style omelet is called tamagoyaki.

I first made this dish in Singapore more than 5 years ago.

My cousin liked it a lot but due to our busy daily schedules, I didn`t have a chance to make it for him again.

Jhong Ren - This post is dedicated to you.

Dinner

Yesterday`s dinner was chinese style fried chicken in spring onion sauce and deep fried spicy eggplant with pork mince.

The boneless chicken thigh was marinated in shaoxing wine and soya sauce for 2 hours.

I coated it with corn flour before deep frying it for 10 mins.


Result - cripsy and succulent chicken meat with a faint chinese wine taste.

The sauce was a mixture of water, oyster sauce, sugar, sesame oil, vinegar, spring onions and grated ginger.

It looks good and believe me, it was delicious.

Butter Rolls

My husband is a bread lover.

He simply can`t resist the smell of fresh baked bread.

For him, I decided to try making some.


This is my 4th time baking butter rolls.

Its the most basic bread in the recipe but you need at least 2 hours for the fermentation process to complete.

**Baking your own breads is a wonderful way to save money.

These butter rolls have become our regulars on weekend breakfasts.

Karaoke

August is probably the hottest month in Japan.

It feels like a big sauna out there in the afternoon.

To enjoy cool air, we decided to do some indoor activities on Saturday.

We headed for the karaoke as Takashi wanted to practice one song before visiting Taipei for business.


Its been ages since we visited the karaoke and we were very impressed at how the karaoke system has changed.

There was a hand held PDCA look alike in the room and everything can be controlled by using the touch screen panel.



The variety of Chinese songs available also came as a pleasant surprise.

Hey Shaun..there are many songs by Stefanie Sun too!

Fireworks Festival @ Akashina, Sai River

During the Obon Holidays, we decided to attend Akashina fireworks festival at Sai River.

The event was scheduled to start at 8pm but we reached there early at 430pm in order to get a good viewing spot.


We were lucky to find a spot near the VIP seating.

Due to our past experiences, we were well prepared with drinks, sushi from the supermarket and magazines which made our 3.5hour wait a breeze.


This year, Akashina festival consisted of 2500 fireworks with a 400m Niagara Falls finale.

The show was impressive with gigantic colourful fireworks, each coordinated spectacularly.

This is the first time I got so close to fireworks and can`t help exclaiming with excitment.

I don`t even need to use camera zoom to take the pictures as we were sitting right in front of where the fireworks are being fired off.

The one hour show was totally amazing.


Takashi`s parents are coming over in Sept and we are planning to bring them to the last fireworks festival on Sept 2.

They are really looking forward to the spectacular show consisting of 17000 fireworks. Me too.

Mitama Matsuri

In Japan, most companies have obon holidays from August 12-16.

Obon is the Buddhist All-Souls Festival when the ancestors return for a few days to the earth.

It is a time to return to your hometown, visit the ancestors` graves and express gratitude to them for watching over you through the past year.


This is very similar to the Chinese Qing Ming festival plus Hungry Ghosts Festival.

We happened to pass by a Mitama Matsuri, soul festival held by a local shrine.

Hundreds of lanterns are displayed, brightening the summer sky in soft orange.

Sunflowers

In Japan, the symbols of summer are the sounds of cicada, the spectacular firework festivals, yukatas and sunflowers.




These pictures were taken at the sunflower field in Horigane village.

When we went in June, the field was empty.



Now, it is full of yellow round heads in full bloom .

We were amazed by how the sunflowers have grown in such a short time.

I really like the bright yellow sunflowers.

You can't help but be happy when you look at them.

Snow Monkeys in Summer

I first visited the Jigokudani park in March 06.

With their thick fur coats, human-like faces, and thoughtful eyes, the snow monkeys captured my heart so much that I decided to climb the mountains again to meet them.


The isolated mountains keeps most people away,but photographers and nature lovers can enjoy a close encounter with wild monkeys.

Mating season was in Nov and when we arrived there last sunday, there were many nursing baby monkeys.

We are not monkey lovers but we were so amazed by their human like behaviour that we spent 2 whole hours in the park observing them.





Before the park closes at 5pm, the park keepers fed the wild snow monkeys with apples.

It was quite a sight as the monkeys stopped all their activities and crowd around for the apples.

Spotted a greedy monkey biting an apple while holding another one preciously.

Indian Food @ Matsumoto

Tonight we went to `Turmeric` in Asama town for some authentic Indian food.

My husband had heard from someone at work that there is a really good Indian food restaurant in that area.


It was a cozy restaurant and the chef was a young handsome Indian guy.

We were overwhelmed by the variety of curries in the menu.

There were so many different things to choose from and we had a hard time deciding what to eat.


Finally, we decided on the 1500 yen course which includes salad, soup, one type of curry and unlimited servings of nann.


The soup of the day was tomato soup and the curry of our choice was chicken curry.

This was definitely one of the best Indian meals that I have ever tasted.

I would certainly go back again.

Fireworks

Summer is the season of festivals.

From end July to August, fireworks festivals are held across Japan.

Every summer, thousands of people flock to watch over an hour of spectacular display.

Expect traffic jams when there is a big event.




We were lucky to be able to watch it from the comfort of our home last night.

It was not the best viewing spot but we enjoyed the one hour show on our bed munching tidbits.

Blue Sky

Matsumoto was expecting Typhoon No 5 on Tuesday.

However, we were greeted by a beautiful blue sky in the morning.

It seemed that the typhoon went past Chiba prefecture and detoured towards the ocean.

Highland Escape

During the summer season many holiday makers visit the highlands escaping from summer heat.

Last weekend, we drove to Kirigamine Heights through `Venus Line`, the most famous long driveway in Nagano prefecture.

It was a refreshingly pleasant driveway through the mountains.



Kirigamine Heights is about 1500m to 1900m above sea level with an average temperature of 24 degrees in summer daytime.




From mid July to early August, the mountain is full of yellow lilies called Nikkokisuge.

We did a short hike and saw many unique flowers and alpine plants that bloom only in the highlands.

Spotted a dragonfly enjoying the summer breeze.

Summer Bloom

Its really hot in Matsumoto now with an average temperature of 34 degrees in the day.

Spotted a bright pink summer flower blooming under the blazing sun.

I hate the summer heat but I love the colourful flowers.

Watermelons

One of the many pleasures of summer is indulging in a juicy refreshing watermelon.

Japanese watermelons are expensive.

On average, one watermelon costs around 1000yen ($14 Singapore dollars)

The branded ones cost more than 3000yen ($40~)



Last weekend, we went to the watermelon festival.

There, we get to sample watermelons from different vines free of charge.

Since I was not keen on buying one, I told Takashi to sample till he is satisfied.


After lunch, we went to the watermelon vines nearby.

Most of the watermelons were ready for harvesting.

Those with defects were thrown out as they will affect the growth of healthy ones.

The original size of the watermelon fruit is the size of a small baseball.

Its amazing how this little one will grow in a few months.

Curry Puffs

I miss the Old Chang Kee curry puffs at only $1 each.

Its impossible to buy in Japan so I tried to make some today.

The puffs are filled with curried potatos,onions and diced chicken.

Took me 2 hours and lots of patience to complete this snack.

Here`s the result.