Girl's Talk--Spiritually

Prayer is humbly speaking to God-- when we pray we should speak to God from our heart... I am not a perfect Christian--- I don't (can't ) go to church every Sunday, I don't( can't ) make confessions, I don't ( can't ) receive the Holy Communion and there's no church near us and I live in Japan where most people are Buddhist and or no religion at all. I believe that God can hear silent prayers said in our hearts at any time and any place. Will God forgive me for not being so religious at all??

I pray whenever my heart moves me to thank and praise God and pray not only when I have problems or my faith is being tested. But when I pray, I really mean what I said. I'm not a perfect Christian but I'm trying my best to live by His laws.

Do you talk to God regularly? More here at

Couple's Corner--Our Inexpensive Hobbies

Me and my husband both have a yearly passport at Aquamarine Fukushima and whenever he had his day-off on a weekday and the kids are at school, we love to go out for a date and have a precious time together-- only me and my husband ^_^ I believe that it is also important for a couple to go out even for once in a while. And when time permits us, Aquamarine Fukushima is our dating place and oh! Please don't tell Wakaba and Haruka 'bout this coz they would feel jealoused and they haven't seen this recent photos as well! But their Daddy is kind, he would treat the kids out ( without me and that's for sure lol! ) Anyway, these aquarium has lots of features and is unique that's why we kept on coming back at the same 'ol place for photography. After our date at the aquarium, we would treat ourselves for a lunch course and even though it's ONLY once in awhile, it musn't be an expensive lunch at a fancy restaurant--we're still guilty of going out minus the kids lol!
Wherever we are, whatever we do, as long as we're together, we're both happy in our simple lifestyle ^_^

---Napoleon Fish---
---A rare solo photo of me--- ---Okinawa's Shisa--- ---Clownfish------IXY 930 IS photo---
For more talks at Couple' s Corner, head up to Mommy Liza' s fun meme

Food Trip Friday--Craving For Starbucks

--- Andalucia Orange Chocolate Mocha---

We don't have Starbucks Coffee near here in our place and the nearest Starbucks here will take us 2 to 3 hours just to have a frappuccino or a caramel macchiato lol! Good thing that Konbini ( japanese convenience store ) is just a few minutes walk and everytime I wanted a coffee run, they're available 24 hours a day, seven times a week ^_^ Photo above is the prepackaged cafe latte newest flavor for the summer and now available for some convenience store chains in Japan--the orange is quite strong, sweet and delicious and my kind of coffee but wouldn't run as my everyday coffee coz it's too much sweet for me. I'd rather have Seattle Latte instead.
---Freshly brewed coffee and Filone Teriyaki Chicken---

It was late in the evening when we arrived to Narita Airport from a vacation in the Philippines last January of this year and walked to Starbucks. See? It's been awhile and I'm really craving for a juicy and tasty Filone Teriyaki Chicken ( photo above ) with onions and cabbage saute, sliced tomato plus an accent of mustard and mayonaise which is really, really good and of course a freshly brewed coffee to match with it.
ANYONE WHO WANTS TO TAKE ME TO STARBUCKS??!!\(^0^)/

An entry for Food Trip Friday. Chibugan na!!\(^0^)/

Mommy Moments---Rides On Amusement

We had an opportunity to have a long hour drive all the way to Gunma Prefecture, a four hour drive from our home using the highway and stopped by this Michi No Eki ( a road station ) last April of this year. They're a rest stops on the highway--they have souvenier shops, snacks, delicacies, rest rooms and serves great foods, too. We didn't know that this Michi No Eki has wide varieties of amusement rides that my kids enjoyed so much while we rest from a long trip. It helped them ease from boringness even for awhile coz that time 'twas a very long journey for them. Bought a ' norihodai ' ticket for them where they can try all the rides as they want and they did try everything lol! They enjoyed the ferris wheel, caroussel ride, etc and an hour later, we went to the see the Cherry Blossom but was too late for the peak bloom date but still happy to see with a lil flowers and managed to take some photos and nature tripping. Here's a photos of them enjoying rides and yes, I enjoyed with them too ^_^

---Ferris Wheel---
---Enjoying a ferris wheel ride!---
---My girls---
---Hello Kitty Ride---
---The Caroussel Ride--- ---Giraffe Ride---

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We' d love to hear from you! ^_^

Bazaar On-Going Projects, Done!!

Yesterday was the last day of our bazaar projects and the schedule was quite hectic--me and some other Japanese Mom's at school ( volunteers ) has been doing a lot of handmade crafts for fundings. It will be sold at the schools bazaar day event on November and same as last year's bazaar, the proceeds will go to the school. Last year we made an Eco- Craft Basket and the school ( where Haruka is in and Wakaba's former school in Kindergarten ) added a new swing out of the bazaar proceeds.

Each and everyone of us made our parts to make our work smooth ( and at the same time talking ) and somehow fast---some Mom's brought their electric sewing machines and some sewing and crafts materials while myself only have a couple of thread, needles and scissors ( I'm not really into sewing ). One nice Mom let me experienced my first ever to run an electric sewing machine and I was scared lol! I'd rather like to use my needles and threads but slow. Aside from sewing, I was also in charge of the pressing the fabrics and attaching. After a series of making handmade crafts, it was a lil bit fussy at first but with their help I was able to make my share ( but not good as them ). The truth is I wanted to post a step-by-step procedure photos for ideas to everybody to try ( for those who loves crafts ) but the photos ain't complete ( what a big miss ) coz I was uber busy with the tasks given to me so I'm gonna share the finished products that we made instead. Here's the fruits of our labor: Mini Basket Pouch, Sleeve Protector, Plastic Bag Holder, Chopstick Carrier and Knee Cover. ---Mini Basket Pouch---We bought the baskets at 100 yen shop-- they did the sewing of the pouch, I did the bondings and sewing attachment of the basket---
---Sleeve Protector---Japanese uses arm cover ( that's what they call here) when working at the garden and another thing is it can be used as a stopper if you're wearing long sleeves when washing the dishes coz it will prevent the sleeves from falling down---
---Plastic Bag Holder---problems of how to store your plastic bags? Plastic bag holder is now handy in the household! You can stuff your plastic bags in the top and pull them from the bottom when you need them---

---Chopstick Carrier--- Carrying your own hashi or chopsticks is a part of Japan's eco-lifestyle and instead of using the eco-unfriendly disposable chopsticks, people here is encouraged to use their own hashi for dining out. Chopstick is slipped in, ready to be rolled up---
---All rolled up!---
---Christmas Ornament---made fun with beads! Forgive me, I had a hard time of sewing corners(T_T) ---
---Knee Cover--- it is used to protect your clothes not to get dirty when doing household chores, it is also common at Japan schools to use knee cover when cleaning the school---

Now you all know of what's keeping me busy for the past weeks, I was dead tired and didn't had a chance and didn't much energy of blog hopping. Thank you very much for always dropping by here even if I can't return the visits. Have a nice day to everybody!

Food Trip Friday--Wafu Hamburger Steak

---Wafu Hamburger Steak---

It's time for me to share another comfort food of my family and it's called Wafu Hamburger Steak---Japanese style hamburger steak has daikon oroshi instead of the common gravy then the sauce and the herb used is japanesey. You can find some of the ingredients at your favorite Asian store.

Ingredients: ( good for 4 persons )
Ground Beef and Ground Pork-- 400 grams
Vegetable/ cooking oil-- 1 and 1/2 teaspoon
Onion--- finely chopped, 1/2 piece ( big )
Daikon ( white radish )---(1/4) grated, drain excess water
Ao Shiso leaves ( japanese herb )---4pcs
Shimeji mushroom---1 pack

A:
Bread Crumbs--- 1 cup
Egg--- 1 pc
Milk-- 1/4 cup

B:
Nutmeg-- 1 teaspoon
Salt-- 1/3 teaspoon
Pepper-- a few

C: Mix the sauce in a separate bowl
Water---200ml
Sugar---1 tablespoon
Soysauce---3 tablespoon
Mirin ( japanese sweet rice wine )--- 3 tablespoon
Katakuriko ( potato starch )---1/2 tablespoon

Directions:
1: Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium heat, fry the onion until brown. Set aside to warm.
2: In a large bowl, mix together with the ground meat and B until the meat turns out into 'whitish' then add #1 and A and mix thoroughly.
3: Spread some oil to your hands ( can be messy and sticky if you don' t ) divide the meat into four and form into patties and flatten the center.
4: Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium heat, fry the patties until brown then add water till the height of the patties for steaming and cover.
5: When water is almost gone, add shimeji mushroom, C and simmer. Gradually mix the sauce over the patties until sauce thickens turning heat to low. Taste.
6: Arrage platter, bed your hamburger steak with ao shiso leaves on top with grated daikon over it and then add the sauce. Serve with plain rice, soup and veggie salad and you're done!^_^
---Wafu Hamburger Steak for dinner plus veggie salad ( photo not included )---


An entry for Food Trip Friday. Chibugan na!!\(^0^)/

Mommy Moments--Kids and Bags

---Wakaba and her Randoseru---

It's Friday once again and it's time for Mommy Moments and for today's theme is all about Kids and Bags.
I'm sharing photos of my kids bags that they are using at school. Photo above is with her randoseru backpack that we bought then when Wakaba Entered Elementary School .Wakaba's Granny promised to buy her one but we insisted and just save the money for her instead. Randoseru backpack used in Japan is guaranteed to last the whole six years in elementary-- it's made of genuine leather, very durable and tough and of course, pricey.

Haruka had her school bag as our gift from us during her 4th Birthday last Febuary 2o, this year. At first, we thought that we bought a big bag for her size but months went on, it perfectly fits her. Kids grows fast, REALLY!
---Wakaba chan is enjoying her days at primary school!---
---Haruka chan is soo active, just like her big sister!----
---My girls used these Sesame Street bags to bring their extra clothes and stuffs if travelling far---
---Haruka's Cinnamoroll school bag from Sanrio---

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We' d love to hear from you! ^_^