Spring Time Photo Shoot

Haruka chan and I spent much time together last month because her time at school was only on a half-day class. We usually spent our day out at the nearest park passing by with beautiful blooms and during one of our time together, we went out with my camera and took some spring time photos ^_^

I love spring time most especially the yellow colours that brighten up my day and sneeze in between lol! It's hard to have a pollen allergy and I'm always ready with my nasal spray in hand whenever my allergy attacks.

Yellow Spring Flowering Shrubs
Had a wonderful time with Haruka chan

My favorite flower ^_^

No matter how long the winter, spring is sure to follow.

~ Proverb ~

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Bandai-Azuma Roadway, Fukushima Trip

Yes, in Fukushima! And why not? I wanted to let the world know that it's safe to visit Fukushima as long as you stay away at the exclusion zone around the nuclear plant. Fukushima is rich with beautiful sceneries like mountains, lakes and nevertheless, Fukushima needs all the help that they can get most especially tourism industry. I can't believe that there was less tourists travelling to Fukushima during the peak season of the Golden Week ( longest holiday here in Japan) unlike the past years and it makes me sad. During our trip there, we didn't encountered bus full of tourists.

The Bandaisan Gold Line, Bandai Azuma Skyline and Bandai Azuma Lakeline toll roads are a good way to enjoy the scenery and a popular sightseeing spots here in Fukushima Prefecture, northeastern Japan. Actually, we've been a couple of times there already most especially on autumn but it's a first to visit there during spring time. Enjoyed both winter and spring on the very same day! We planned to climb the Mount Azuma- Kofuji and walk around Goshikinuma Lake but because of a sudden change of weather, we didn't had a chance to do so. However, we enjoyed the trip of awesome mountain ranges and great scenery.

Mt. Azuma
Lake Hibara
Eco friendly boats is operated at Lake Hibara
My kids with their Daddy
Bandai Azuma Lakeline
Yours truly took full advantage with the whole family during the holiday Loong road
The climax of our trip was the Snow Corridor reaching four meters in height during the start season but it was 3 meters in height the time we went there
I can't believe I have photos of the famous Snow Corridor during the peak season of the Golden Week!
Average height of 1,622m above sea level
Mt. Issaikyo, 1949m~ one of the peaks of Mt. Azuma
Mt. Issaikyo is an active volcano
Bandai Azuma Toll Road

We planned to visit again the place as scenery changes with the season~ next time in green ^_^

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Food Trip Friday--Yochan's Birthday

We celebrated Yochan's (hubby) 37th birthday last December 30 minus the kids! The kids were picked up by their Grandparents and went to their grannies home to stay during the New Year celebration. The kids went 2 days ahead of us and we were left at the apartment and had a general cleaning. We're not used of getting out during the night most especially with the kids around and it's very rare that we went on an evening date 2gether ^_^We went to Akaoni, a typical yakitori restaurant (just a 30 minutes walk from our apartment) and sat at the bar/counter, infront of the grill. Not so fancy but if you're a beer/sake drinker you'll love the izakaya atmosphere. We ordered their best skewers ( negima, tsukune, kawa and some other japanese grilled chicken ) and some beer. It was served perfectly grilled, juicy and flavourful. Now I guess you're wondering where the skewers are, the bummer in me forgot the camera(T_T). Here's our dessert instead that I bought ahead from Repaco Garden that made a large increase in my waistline that day^_^

Pistachio Mousse@450 jpy--creamy and smooth, my favourite

Trou Chocolate @450 jpy--a heavenly piece covered with dark chocolate ganache, Yochan's fave.

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

Haruka's Christmas Play

Haruka's Christmas Play was held at Alios Iwaki Performing Arts Center last weekend and was a huge success and the kids performance was spectacular! It was a first for Haruka to be on the stage and was kind-a nervous but when she started to play her role, she was great! Wakaba was beside me and almost memorized all the lines and some of the songs coz she had performed the same twice. Her first was here and her second was here on her kindergarten days. If you're a reader of Kizuna, you might have read and seen her performance on my post ^_^
Well anyway, before starting each scene, the Principal/Director of the school explained the background of the story about celebrating the birth of Jesus for some Japanese audiences aren't Christian and so that everyone will have an introduction of every scene is all about. What I love about Christmas plays is that everyone gets a part--full scene by the manger, three kings, star, sheperds attending to their sheeps, the herald angel, inn keepers, the kids singing Christmas carols with handbells and some cutie lil Santa Claus costume. Nevertheless, the children were fabulous and we had so much fun! During the the Finale, yours trully and some of the Japanese mums were on stage,too and sung Christmas songs together with the kids. DVD will be given from the school and hope to share them to you one of these days. Here's some of the photos and videos to share, hope you'll enjoy watching ^_^
The kids in their class uniform
Haruka playing the " Star "Singing a Christmas Carol
Handbell ringing
Mommies joined the Finale song
Awesome kids! They did a great job!

An entry for

Food Trip Friday--Gyudon (Beef Bowl)

Gyudon with Potato Salad and Mugicha ( roasted barley tea) for lunch

Another Japanese dish in a donburi style called Gyudon, served with a bowl of rice and topped with beef and onion. I usually cook them during lunch at home coz it's very easy, quick to prepare and it cooks up so fast. Japanese loves to add raw eggs to their gyudon but I love mine just the way it is and lots of beni shonga ( red ginger ) for topping. It adds a punch to the flavor. If you don'tlike to add raw eggs to your gyudon, you can use poached egg for topping if you like. Today, I'm gonna share my simple gyudon recipe for you to try at home, too^_^

Gyudon ( Beef Bowl )

Ingredients:( good for 4 people )

Beef-- thinly sliced, 240g
Ito Konyaku( shirataki noodles )--160g
Onion--1 pc

A:

Dashi soup--200 ml ( 200ml water + 1 tablespoon of dashi powder)

Sugar--2 tablespoon

Soysauce--4 tablespoon

Mirin--2 tablespoon

Preparation:
1: Boil shirataki noodles ( if you don't have in hand, it's okay ), set aside.

2: Cut onion thinly

3: Put A into pan and put to a boil then add #1 and #2, simmer for a few minutes in a medium heat then add beef. Simmer for a few minutes more in a low heat until done.

4: Serve hot plain rice into a bowl individually and put the beef toppings over the rice add some boiled green peas, add beni shonga on top and you're done.

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

PBW--NASU Animal Kingdom

---NASU Animal Kingdom-- Nasu, Tochigi----

During my kids summer vacation at school, we wanted our kids to have fun memories and great adventures inspite that my husband is busy and crazy over his work but taking our kids out is also our sort of relaxation and we wanted the kids to get excited so all of the summer plans is a secret to them. We didn't tell them where we're going, only hints: not at the circuit, not at Disneyland nor Disney Sea, and not at Sanrio Puroland ( not this year and if we are, we always planned of a 2 days fun so staying at a hotel is another plus to be planned for.

This time we went to NASU Animal Kingdom at Nasu, Tochigi Prefecture ( 3 hours drive from our place ) where my kids had a blast with all kinds of animals ( 500 and more ) from aqua to zoo and they had a close contact with dogs, rabbits, etc and we spent almost a day there coz the park is soo spacious--it is 10 times larger than Tokyo Dome and they have a free bus transportation to go over where you wanted to explore at the animal kingdom. Wakaba enjoyed her first ride at a camel ( the truth is I wanted to ride too but it says that the camel ride is limited for people who weights 50 kilos only lol ) and Haruka also enjoyed the horse ride with me at the back ( gosh, bumalik ako sa pagkabata! ). We also enjoyed the New Zealand Farmshow performing the scenes of sheep farming-- the dogs did a very good job of controlling the sheeps and of course with the help of a sheep raiser from New Zealand. They also have a bird performance show and some events which family will love to enjoy.

We had a wonderful time, walking around and staying there for a day really worth the money we spent and the food is delicious and the whole area is clean and lots of greens to cherish! I thought that my kids will get tired feet but no, they're active in walking and I love 'em for that!

And again, another fun summer memories for all of us ^_^ ---Close encounter with dogs---
---Kawaii neko chan!!---
---Cats world---
---My kids had a lot of fun feeding the rabbits with carrot---
---Humboldt Penguin---
---Aqua Zone---
--- Eurasian Eagle Owl, Bird Town----
---Wakaba enjoying a camel ride---
---While me and Haruka enjoys the horse ride--- ---Watching the show with Daddy---
---New Zealand Farm Show---
---Yakiniku lunch, good for big eaters like our family---
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