The Spring Break Saga: Part 3
The update's a little late this time, but here's what we accomplished from our Spring Break challenge this past week:
2) Shop at a farmer’s market
In our area, any independent grocery store could be considered a type of farmer's market. Even the supermarkets have areas designated to "local produce." Japanese people, especially in a farming community like ours, are big into supporting local. This market was a little more rural, and a little more picturesque, so though technically we shopped at a couple "farmer's markets" over the course of the break, this is the one that made the cut.
5) Make a bird feeder
Made from sticks found in our backyard, 4 nails, some staples, driftwood bamboo pieces from a nearby river, and the free twine that comes with our paper garbage bags (yeah, garbage bags here are giant paper bags, all the more environmentally friendly for burning).
You may notice there is no feed in the bird feeder. As previously mentioned, we live in a farming community, and we've noticed that our neighbour works hard throughout the year to keep birds away from his vast garden and his rice fields. Therefore, we felt it wouldn't be very neighbourly on our part to be attracting birds by feeding them. Thus, for now, our bird feeder will serve more of a bird shelter (albeit, a rather haphazard one).
7) Go hiking
During Justin's holidays, we had the unforeseen opportunity to spend a day and a half in Kyoto, Japan's ancient capital. While we saw several astounding historical heritage sites, my favourite experience was probably... MONKEY MOUNTAIN!!!
I got to feed monkeys peanuts. Need I say more?
These monkeys are free to roam where they choose (a refreshing contrast to the monkeys we saw in tiny cages at the zoo from last week. In the picture above, I'm in the cage, not the monkey). During the day, they all gather at this mountain, however, because they get fed by tourists like yours truly. This also allows them to all be tracked and named for scientific observance.
The following picture captured the second before I was running for my life from a very angry monkey. In my zeal for a photo of the cute monkeys grooming each other, I got a little too close to "Ai-chan" (her name means love, ironically). When she turned around abruptly and noticed me, she was not happy, which is what you're seeing in the picture. The worker responded to my appologies by telling me she was always a very aggressive monkey, but I'm pretty sure in his head he was thinking, stupid tourists.
When I told some of our friends here about my extreme joy in Iwatayama Monkey Park, they were pretty skeptical. One said, "but Yasuoka is monkey mountain!" For us Canadians, it would be like people traveling and paying to feed raccoons. Oh well.
P.S. we hiked up a trail to get there, which is the reason I can justify adding this experience to the blog.
8) Read a book
I subjected Justin to hours of me reading Northanger Abbey out loud. Yes, we made it all the way through.
10) Host a BBQ
We didn't host this, nor is it a BBQ. But we were hosted for okonomiyaki!! Which is fried communally on a grill thing. So it's kind of like a BBQ.
Okonomiyaki is an egg-based, savoury, pancake-type mixutre, with shredded cabbage and carrots and such mixed in. You add your own toppings, usually some seafood or meat of some kind. Our hostess got creative for us vegetarians, and we had the options of raisins, cashews and cheese on ours. After it's fried, you drizzle it with mayo and BBQ sauce.
Dee. Lish. Us.
15) Go to a craft fair
Again, many little grocers or rest stops in our area carry local, handmade crafts. This was as close to a "craft fair" as we could find.
22) Go bowling
Arcade bowling for toddlers? No problem.
(P.S. This is just a standard part of the department store.)
25) Bake cupcakes
I don't have a muffin tin. I made cookies instead. I hope that counts.
Baking here can require some creativity, as many ingredients that would be standard in Canada/US are either difficult to find, or very pricey. This is a recipe I've discovered that requires only basic ingredients, and actually turns out relatively well in our mircowave oven.
Justin was helping himself, at this point unaware he was being documented.
27) Play Frisbee
31) Go mini golfing
I tend to hate mini golf, so I was dreading this one. But one sunny day in our meanderings through a random park, we stumbled across a mini golf course for only a couple bucks. We played. I actually enjoyed it.
37) Make smoothies
Our blender is in Canada, and fruit is crazy expensive here (think: $1.50 for one apple), so this one was not as easy as it would seem.
We do have a food processor (that was given to us by someone who felt bad for Justin having to chop so many nuts by hand for our nut loaf at Thanksgiving). So with a few bananas, some hot chocolate mix, and a spoonful of PB, Justin came up with an amazing PB-choco-banana shake.
40) Go rollerblading
Across from the mini golf in that park we discovered in a nearby city, was (of course) a rollerblading rink! What luck!!
I love rollerblading.
So we re-lived our childhood for the allotted hour, to the unexpected joy of one of the park workers who apparently didn't know white people could rollerblade.
42) Start a DIY project
Number 42 was another that we actually did several times throughout the holiday. This, however, was our biggest accomplishment in the DIY department.
In Japan, bed frames are not super commonly used, although they are progressively becoming more popular as Western-style furniture for homes is trendy. Most people sleep on a Japanese style mattress called a futon (not to be mistaken with a couch), and fold them up and put them away during the day to keep the area usable for other things.
I really wanted a bed frame for our futon for 3 reasons:
1) I've always found making beds to be a futile effort, and I don't like the idea of having to put away the whole bed every day. Call me lazy, but for us, where space is not actually an issue, it just seems counterproductive to me.
2) I've found 6 poisonous centipedes in our house since living here, 4 of them crawling along the floor.
3) Our dog lives on the floor. She's not always the cleanest living creature.
So, my wonderful husband built me a bed frame with only a hammer, nails, wood glue, and a folding hand saw!!
<3
I helped too. Besides contributing to the design and shopping for supplies, I hammered in a grand total of 5 nails before getting frustrated and giving up. I also gave helpful and encouraging advice such as, "that's not straight," or, "you're going to wreck the floor."
45) Go to the pet store
Our dog just got a rawhide bone.
47) Play in the rain
_________________________________________________________________________________
In our area, any independent grocery store could be considered a type of farmer's market. Even the supermarkets have areas designated to "local produce." Japanese people, especially in a farming community like ours, are big into supporting local. This market was a little more rural, and a little more picturesque, so though technically we shopped at a couple "farmer's markets" over the course of the break, this is the one that made the cut.
Made from sticks found in our backyard, 4 nails, some staples, driftwood bamboo pieces from a nearby river, and the free twine that comes with our paper garbage bags (yeah, garbage bags here are giant paper bags, all the more environmentally friendly for burning).
You may notice there is no feed in the bird feeder. As previously mentioned, we live in a farming community, and we've noticed that our neighbour works hard throughout the year to keep birds away from his vast garden and his rice fields. Therefore, we felt it wouldn't be very neighbourly on our part to be attracting birds by feeding them. Thus, for now, our bird feeder will serve more of a bird shelter (albeit, a rather haphazard one).
... however this slightly less legitimate hike is a way cooler story:
I got to feed monkeys peanuts. Need I say more?
These monkeys are free to roam where they choose (a refreshing contrast to the monkeys we saw in tiny cages at the zoo from last week. In the picture above, I'm in the cage, not the monkey). During the day, they all gather at this mountain, however, because they get fed by tourists like yours truly. This also allows them to all be tracked and named for scientific observance.
The following picture captured the second before I was running for my life from a very angry monkey. In my zeal for a photo of the cute monkeys grooming each other, I got a little too close to "Ai-chan" (her name means love, ironically). When she turned around abruptly and noticed me, she was not happy, which is what you're seeing in the picture. The worker responded to my appologies by telling me she was always a very aggressive monkey, but I'm pretty sure in his head he was thinking, stupid tourists.
P.S. we hiked up a trail to get there, which is the reason I can justify adding this experience to the blog.
I subjected Justin to hours of me reading Northanger Abbey out loud. Yes, we made it all the way through.
We didn't host this, nor is it a BBQ. But we were hosted for okonomiyaki!! Which is fried communally on a grill thing. So it's kind of like a BBQ.
Okonomiyaki is an egg-based, savoury, pancake-type mixutre, with shredded cabbage and carrots and such mixed in. You add your own toppings, usually some seafood or meat of some kind. Our hostess got creative for us vegetarians, and we had the options of raisins, cashews and cheese on ours. After it's fried, you drizzle it with mayo and BBQ sauce.
Dee. Lish. Us.
Again, many little grocers or rest stops in our area carry local, handmade crafts. This was as close to a "craft fair" as we could find.
Arcade bowling for toddlers? No problem.
(P.S. This is just a standard part of the department store.)
I don't have a muffin tin. I made cookies instead. I hope that counts.
Baking here can require some creativity, as many ingredients that would be standard in Canada/US are either difficult to find, or very pricey. This is a recipe I've discovered that requires only basic ingredients, and actually turns out relatively well in our mircowave oven.
Justin was helping himself, at this point unaware he was being documented.
I tend to hate mini golf, so I was dreading this one. But one sunny day in our meanderings through a random park, we stumbled across a mini golf course for only a couple bucks. We played. I actually enjoyed it.
Our blender is in Canada, and fruit is crazy expensive here (think: $1.50 for one apple), so this one was not as easy as it would seem.
We do have a food processor (that was given to us by someone who felt bad for Justin having to chop so many nuts by hand for our nut loaf at Thanksgiving). So with a few bananas, some hot chocolate mix, and a spoonful of PB, Justin came up with an amazing PB-choco-banana shake.
Across from the mini golf in that park we discovered in a nearby city, was (of course) a rollerblading rink! What luck!!
I love rollerblading.
So we re-lived our childhood for the allotted hour, to the unexpected joy of one of the park workers who apparently didn't know white people could rollerblade.
Keeping it legit.
Number 42 was another that we actually did several times throughout the holiday. This, however, was our biggest accomplishment in the DIY department.
In Japan, bed frames are not super commonly used, although they are progressively becoming more popular as Western-style furniture for homes is trendy. Most people sleep on a Japanese style mattress called a futon (not to be mistaken with a couch), and fold them up and put them away during the day to keep the area usable for other things.
I really wanted a bed frame for our futon for 3 reasons:
1) I've always found making beds to be a futile effort, and I don't like the idea of having to put away the whole bed every day. Call me lazy, but for us, where space is not actually an issue, it just seems counterproductive to me.
2) I've found 6 poisonous centipedes in our house since living here, 4 of them crawling along the floor.
3) Our dog lives on the floor. She's not always the cleanest living creature.
So, my wonderful husband built me a bed frame with only a hammer, nails, wood glue, and a folding hand saw!!
<3
I helped too. Besides contributing to the design and shopping for supplies, I hammered in a grand total of 5 nails before getting frustrated and giving up. I also gave helpful and encouraging advice such as, "that's not straight," or, "you're going to wreck the floor."
A well deserved siesta.
For only about $6, your dog can have a gourmet meal, such as hamburger with mashed potatoes, or a pork cutlet with a side of veggies.
_________________________________________________________________________________
(What remains of) Our Localised, Dog-Friendly, Budget-Happy Spring Break Challenge:
1) Go for a bike ride
3) Garden
6) Fly a kite
11) Have a games night
12) Play tennis
13) Wash your car
16) Play badminton
17) Attend a baseball game
19) Go canoeing
20) Give your house a spring cleaning
21) Play volleyball
28) Shop at a flea market
29) Start a kickball game
33) Take a painting class
3) Garden
6) Fly a kite
11) Have a games night
12) Play tennis
13) Wash your car
16) Play badminton
17) Attend a baseball game
19) Go canoeing
20) Give your house a spring cleaning
21) Play volleyball
28) Shop at a flea market
29) Start a kickball game
33) Take a painting class
34) Watch the sunrise
36) Go horseback riding
38) Do yoga
41) Attend a carnival
43) Play soccer
46) Fill a sketch book
36) Go horseback riding
38) Do yoga
41) Attend a carnival
43) Play soccer
46) Fill a sketch book
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