snow bunny

We had snow last week, and it still hasn't melted.  It hasn't stopped Ariel from getting out and napping in the BOB.

Yokohama, day 2

Look, Baikinman! and Cheese!

Our second day in Yokohama, we went to the Anpanman Children's Museum.  We went there a year ago, and you can see last year's visit here: January 2011.  Ariel seemed to remember it, and went right to work playing!  It was better this year with Jeff along.

Baikinman made a surprise appearance.  He's Anpanman's arch-enemy, but he's really not so bad.  We're fond of him because he reminds us of Ralph.

Elephant kid!

Ariel still fits in last year's Anpanman clothes, so we make the most of them before they're too small.  Thanks, Yoko, Dylan, and Hannah for the great clothes!

So many characters.  She knows many of them through her books.  She likes to have Jeff quiz her on the characters, even if we make up the names.

The characters at a festival.

And in a garden.

The mural says "Welcome to Anpanman World."

Kids posing for their parents outside.

Ariel flies Baikinman's saucer!

We hope to enjoy Anpanman, his friends (and enemies) long after we leave Japan.  We have a few Anpanman toys, books, dishes, and clothes.  At the museum, we bought a bilingual book by Anpanman's creator that explains many of the characters.

kissing Nene

I heard Ariel laughing and stopped to see what she was doing. She was walking up to Nene (on the couch), kissing her, then going to her Chinese-English animal book and kissing the cat page. Back and forth. She thought it was so funny, and so did I. Nene just looked at her with a sleepy eye. Of course, when I started filming she stopped doing it, but you get the gist:

Ariel's Yokohama lunch

A short video of Ariel lunching in Yokohama.  She was famished.  She was eating Japanese omelet.  It's a rectangular block of sweetened egg that tastes a bit like French toast.  She also had soba noodles and some tempura.

Yokohama, day 1

For Martin Luther King Day weekend, we took the train Yokohama.  It's just southeast of us a bit, on Yokohama Bay.

 Yokohama looks a lot like a USA city.  We stayed near the bayfront by Landmark Tower (the tall building on right) and Cosmo World (an amusement park.)

 Sunday night, we went to Yokohama's Chinatown!  It was decorated for Lunar New Year.  It may seem funny to have a Chinatown in Japan, but the two cultures are very different.

This Chinatown is very Japan-ized (neat, clean, and good-smelling.)  We avoided the shark-fin soup, and snacked on sweet bean & sesame-seed filled buns, and mooncakes.

 Ariel charmed the bun-making ladies.

Heading back to our hotel, we took in the city lights.

tofu cheese and pottty head

It's been almost 6 months since I transitioned to veganism.  I experiment a lot in the kitchen, and probably spend too much time there.  My friend Bridget, who's vegetarian and likes to cook vegan (and has a cute baby and dog) likes to exchange foods with us.  She cooks some good stuff!

This day I was making "tofu cheese" by frosting a block of extra-firm tofu (pressed) with miso paste.  Miso paste is fermented soybeans and comes in many flavors/varieties.  After letting the frosted tofu sit for 8 hours, and up to 3 days, you scrape off the miso paste (and save it for other uses.)  I sliced the tofu and ate it on crackers.  Really good!  I've learned lots of ways to get creamy, healthy textures for dips, soups, etc., without using dairy.  It's better for the cows.  I've learned most dairy cows do not live happy lives.  So tofu cheese it is, for me anyway.  I've read a lot of people have trouble giving up cheese, but I don't miss it.  There are so many other foods and flavors to enjoy.

 We've all been listening to Patrick Swayze's memoirs in the car.  So we decided to watch Dirty Dancing.  By the end of the movie, I noticed Ralph affectionately curled up next to Nene (and she was a little suspicious.)

Taking our time with potty training.  She prefers to wear the basin as a hat, and just sit on the hole like a real toilet.  This potty is a special hand-me-down from the Sweeneys.

On January 11th, Ariel saw her first movie in a theater at Yokota.  It was the new Winnie the Pooh movie!  This movie has also been popular in Japanese theaters.

 She was a big girl, and sat in her seat between us, but it kept folding up on her.  About halfway through the movie, she fell asleep in Jeff's arms.  It was a short movie, in the "old-fashioned" Disney Winnie the Pooh animation style.  We all enjoyed it.

The A Report

• Weighs 23-24 pounds, depending on the day
• Wears size 2T-3T.  Many of her shirts and jackets suddenly are too short!
• Likes swinging (between us or on a toddler swing), jumping on the bed, bouncing on the couch, turning in circles
• Likes computers - the big one and her toy laptops, pretend talking on the phone
• Likes certain pages in books the most (the hot & cold page in Oh My Oh My Dinosaurs, the page with many characters in an Anpanman books, 2 fish in Fifteen Animals.)
• The Three Little Kittens is a favorite book (among many - I should do a post just on her books)
• New words: bubble, Tico (the squirrel in Dora), twinkle (from the star song), cracker, mail, moon, gogurt (yogurt), shower to name a few
• Skills: re-organizing things, pointing to things in books, counting (at least to 3), identifying letters, shapes, and numbers, various baby "yoga" poses, flips with Jeff, dancing

Tokyo before New Year's Eve

 The day before New Year's Eve, we took a much-needed day trip to downtown Tokyo.  We went to the island of Odaiba in Tokyo Bay, and enjoyed lunch, beer, and hot spring bath at Oedo Onsen Monogatari.  Ariel is a natural at onsens, and she had a deep sleep afterward.

Then we went up in Tokyo Tower to see the city lights.

 At Shinjuku Station.  We got home late, but it was worth it!

opening presents

We like to relax on Christmas morning and stay in our pajamas.  We had fun opening presents.  Ralph has been our son for about 9 years, so knows how fun it is (paper wads flying, boxes to sit in.)  With our coaxing (and some catnip), Nene joined the fun.

 Dora & friends paper dolls and coloring books!

 monkey pajamas and a small baby stroller!

Fuzi goes for a precarious ride.

Thanks to Alice, Grandma Barb and Papa Rich, and the Anderson-Parks clan for all the presents! 

Many packages arrived to Yokota late (for everyone here), so we opened more on New Year's.

random photos from Christmas

 I'm behind on blogging.  Busy having fun and getting out in the sunshine, although some days have been cold.  My friend Megan (who we knew from Maryland) is often up for a "Japan adventure" during the weekdays, and Jeff & I stay busy together on the weekends and holidays with Schmig.  

This car ride was on Christmas day.  We found the toy car in someone's bulky-trash discards, so cleaned it up.  Ariel likes being wheeled around the backyard in it.  Jeff played with her while I cooked some things to take to our friends' house (the Taylors) for Christmas dinner.

 Little friends Robbie and Ariel.

 Hugging Baby Jaguar while looking in the mirror and laughing.  Baby Jaguar (the doll) was a gift from Ariel's friend Ginny.  I think Ralph got a little jealous.

 So I picked him up and hugged him.

In her new fuzzy winter hat from Alice.  She thought her Afghan hat looked good on top of it!

More later when I take time to catch up.  Thanks for all the great presents!  Some boxes arrived late, so we opened them around New Year's.

We Love Cats

 More gems (of questionable photographic quality) from the upstairs pink camera.

Nene & Ralph sunbathing beside our bed.

 The triplets napping.

"We love cats.  Don't you?"

Even more Taiwan pictures

Schmiggle is a trooper in the rain at Longshan Temple.

 At the hot sulfur springs in Shin Beitou.  A Japanese couple took this picture for us!

 On the MRT (light rail/subway) back downtown.  Ariel spreads joy to grandmas on the train.                                                  

Cutest little feet ever at Hotel Eight Zone.

More things we did in Taipei:

• walk through Da'an Park, seeing ducks, turtles, a squirrel, plants, "foot massage path", and fun playground
• ascending Taipei 101 at night (a tall building), and exploring the mall there (with good food court and big bookstore.)  We had Indian food in the food court.  "Taxi tour" back to the hotel.
• foot massages at Thai massage place near hotel
• electronics market and produce market
• breakfast buffet at the hotel.  Ariel liked the congee (rice porridge) mixed with egg & ketchup.
• super spa baths in our room.  The big bathtub had jets, multicolored lights, and would spew out bath salts.  It had a TV, too.  Not too shabby for an inexpensive hotel.