Unicycling

My daughter Wakaba seem to be interested in unicycling when some of the kids in the neighborhood were practicing their own unicycle near the apartment. She was itching to have her own and we decided to buy her one last summer. After she's done with her assignments, off she go to have a practice together with me for at least one to two hours a day. She was eager to learn and I knew she's a challenger and she seem to enjoy it with me ( she said that lol) and Haruka chan. Wakaba rides her unicycle almost everyday and even though she can now ride it herself without my help, she wanted me to see her doing it lol! I'm sharing now this video taken last autumn when Wakaba succeded unicycling for the first time without my help ^_^

Wakaba's proud moments ^_^



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Gaga Over Pretty Cure

Wakaba and Haruka is a big fan of Pretty Cure and they both love to imitate the anime dances, songs etc. They're both a lover of all-things-magical-girl! Sometimes you would just hear them saying some lines of the anime that would end fighting with their Dad as the ' bad guy' lol! Sharing with you a homevideo of them taken year 2009, this video makes me smile ^_^


Isn't it so much fun to go back and just yank them all out and just sit there and reminisce? ^_^

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Harapeko Aomushi

I guess some of you recognized The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle, it is called Harapeko Aomushi here in Japan and the books are quite famous among japanese children including to my Wakaba and Haruka. They watched the story at youtube ( of course in japanese) and they love to talk about foods and or count the foods that the hungry caterpillar ate lol! Last month, I bought a Harapeko Aomushi Memory Game for us to play at home and to help them exercise their minds. My kids loves the game and it passes the time quickly.

The Very Hungry Caterpillar Memory Game



Kids are like caterpillars, they will eventually grow up and when it's time to let them go, we have to let them fly and be grateful with their time with us ^_^

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Strawberry Mousse Cake For Wakaba

Made this Strawberry Mousse Cake during Wakaba's 8th Birthday last week and since the party was a yakiniku party, I decided to go for a refreshing dessert which I made earlier before the party starts. I was worried coz I thought there will be no more room for dessert for them but Wakaba says she wants her birthday cake as soon we came home from the yakiniku restaurant ^_^

Well, anywho I wanna share the recipe to all of you coz it's really easy to make and the how-to's step by step. Enjoy!

Strawberry Mousse Cake: ( 18 cm cake round pan )

Ingredients:

18 cm sponge cake, sliced

your favorite strawberry/raspberry sauce or jam
Fresh strawberries- 30 g, cut in dices

For the mousse:

Fresh Strawberries - 200 g
Gelatin - 10 g
Water - 50 g
Sugar - 70 g
Whipping cream, cold - 160 g

Directions:

1: Soften the gelatin with water, stir until the gelatin is dissolved

2: Whip cream until thick but not stiff, set aside
3: Puree strawberries by a food processor or mixer
4: Put the pureed strawberries on a bowl and add sugar then mix
5: Heat the dissoved gelatin for seconds at the oven range and stir while it's still hot then pour it to the strawberry mixture and mix
6: Fold the whipped cream into the strawberry and gelatin mixture
7: Cover the bottom of the cake round pan with a plastic wrap and secure with rubber band around it then prepare your 18 cm sponge cake like of the photo above ( you'll only need the half of the sponge cake, please cut your sponge cake smaller than the size of the cake round pan ).

8: Pour the half mixture unto the sponge then add some diced strawberry then cover with the other half of the mixture. Chill in the refrigarator for 2 to 3 hours
9: Option: Spread in your favorite strawberry/raspberry sauce and then chill for another hour
10: Transfer Strawberry Mousse Cake to service plate then release the cake/unmold the cake with the help of a hot towel to soften the mousse. Decorate with fresh strawberries.
Sharing with you my daughter Wakaba's birthday cake ^_^

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Wakaba's Happy 8th Birthday

Wakaba celebrated her birthday last Tuesday with a blast! Wakaba's Grannies granted her wish to celebrate her birthday with us and not only that, her Grannies stayed for the whole week at the apartment. They brought along some japanese futon coz we don't have extra for them at home lol! Wakaba was excited coz her Grandpa dropped Haruka to school in the morning and picked Wakaba after her class in the afternoon and that was almost everyday^_^

Her Grannies shopped some clothes for Wakaba as a birthday gift ( and Haruka, too ) on her big day then we decided to have a yakiniku party like we always did when having special occassions but our favorite Za-Za Yakiniku Restaurant is now closed because the said restaurant is 8 km away from the nuclear plant in Fukushima and I'm afraid we will not be able to lavish their high quality meats anymore... We went to Gyu-Kaku instead which was just a minute walk away from the apartment and enjoyed the foods while having some good laughs and drinks. We handled her our gifts at home and ate the birthday cake ( which I made earlier ) for dessert.

A Grandpa's love
Gyu-Kaku Yakiniku Restaurant
Us with the birthday girl
Birthday gift from us~ Tamagotchi id L, latest model ( released last March 19,2011 ) featuring 32 virtual Tamatomo characters.
Another new Eco-friendly Water Bottle for her to use at school
Hello Kitty Pencil Case
Happy Birthday, Wakaba chan! We love you!

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Pretty Cure All Stars Show

Heart Catch Pretty Cure ( Cure Marine and Cure Blossom)

One of the most awaited part of the summer activities of my kids is watching quality live stage shows where they could see their favorite heroines really upclose and enjoyed fun activities like choreography dancing and singing and shaking their favorite heroines hands after the show. Last year we went to a summer special event for families and the fun includes some games, pools, gourmet and a live show performance of Pretty Cure All Stars which happened to be my kids favorite anime character on TV. And because they're 17 Jewels, the stage were too small for them lol! Wakaba and Haruka enjoyed a lot most especially when we bought character figures for them that day^_^

Pretty Cure Splash Star ( Cure Egret and Cure Bloom)
Futari wa Pretty Cure Max Heart ( Cure Black, Shiny Luminous and Cure White )

Fresh Pretty Cure ( Cure Berry, Cure Passion, Cure Peach and Cure Pine )

Pretty Cure 5 Go Go! ( Cure Mint, Cure Rouge, Milky Rose, Cure Dream, Cure Lemonade, Cure Aqua)

17 Jewels Pretty Cure All Stars

Watch my kids dance, they really love Pretty Cure!

Got this from Youtube, it's the same of what we saw on the show

Isn't it so much fun to go back and just yank them all out and just sit there and reminisce? ^_^
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Hinamatsuri 2011

Chirashi Zushi Cake

Japanese Doll Festival or Girls' Festival is celebrated on March 3 when people pray for the happiness and healthy growth of little girls here in Japan. Our Hina-ningyo ( Hina dolls ) was bought by my PIL when Wakaba were still little and now displayed right our entrance in our apartment. I was down to fever for the past few days ( I'm well now, thanks God) and displayed the Hina dolls day before the special event and will be kept away today--not because of the superstitious belief ( that if Hina Dolls isn't taken down right after the festival, the girls might have to wait to get married), the Hina Dolls is quite huge and we don't have much space here lol!

It is customary to eat sushi at Hinamatsuri and this time I prepared Hinamatsuri Chirashi Zushi Cake and they're really easy to make! I formed them with a circle ( 18 cm, used for baking cakes) and from the bottom is the sushi rice, layered my favourite and handy soboro meat then topped again with sushi rice and decorated with egg strips, boiled carrot and peas. You can easily make your own by mixing and layering the ingredients.

Here's my awase-su (seasoning for the chirashi zushi ) 3-5 tbsp rice vinegar, 2tbsp sugar, 1/3 tsp salt. Mix this on your 3 cups of rice then layer your favorite ingredients ^_^
Wakaba chan and Haruka chan with their Hina Dolls
My homemade Strawberry Short Cake
Japanese Potato Salad
It's their day^_^Hinamatsuri Festives

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


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