Interesting cake ...

Do you remember that I went to Tokyo a few weeks ago for work and for the AED course? On the Saturday night I stayed in Nihonbashi (I'll tell you about the good hotel I always use another day) so I had dinner in Tokyo Station. After an early dinner, I happened to pass by Dairmaru Department Store on the ground floor, near the Yaesu Central Exit of JR, and as I did I noticed ....... NO LINE!

No line of what? People! There is a really, really famous cake shop there and they sell a kind of interesting cake. I know that most Japanese people know what "Baumkuchen" is, but until I came here, I had no idea such a strange cake existed.

(If you are reading this and you aren't Japanese, it is a kind of cake that is cooked on a horizontal pole. The pole is dipped in cake batter that is in a big tray, then the pole is lifted up into a long oven and heated. That first layer of cake is cooked. Then the COOKED layer is put back down into the batter again, so another layer is formed. The pole is rotated the whole time so the layers are even, like tree rings! The process is continued until the thickness is about 5cm. After that the cake is cooled and removed from the pole. It is almost always sold in pieces, not as a big round of cake.)

Anyway, back to the line .... the shop in Daimaru ALWAYS has a line and on busy days there will be 50 or more people waiting to buy cake. Unbelievable. Staff members walk up and down the line to say how long it will take to get served and to say which products have been sold out. (Wouldn't you be annoyed if you had waited an hour and just before you the last box was sold???)

So I took advantage of the rare opportunity and bought two boxes each containing a slice of cake. One was the plain flavor and the other was Sakura :)

Was it worth it? Well, the price wasn't so bad and the wait was less than 5 minutes so that was okay, but to be honest, I'm not a big fan of baumkuchen. I much prefer castella!

And after wondering about the name, I just researched it on Wikipedia and it says the German name for this cake is literally "tree cake/log cake". You can read about it here.

Lost and found

Have you lost anything recently?

Last week I lost my watch. Well, it wasn't lost so much as "stolen" :(  By who? Kuro, I guessed.

I put my watch in either of two places at home, or if I happen to take it off at work, then either on my desk or near my computer. I couldn't find it anywhere, though I hunted about for ages. I even used a powerful flashlight to search under the sofa and in all the nooks and crannies on the floor of my living room. It was nowhere to be found.

Sometimes Kuro likes to try and pull it down from where I put it near my fish tank. I suppose he either likes it shining, or he is just being mischievous. So I thought he'd pulled it down, then hit it about until it slid under something. I REALLY couldn't find it, so then I guessed he'd even picked it up in his mouth and taken it to another room. (You would be surprised what cats do ....)

I finally gave up and bought another one last Friday night. I found a nice one at a reasonable price at a small watch/clock shop on the 3rd floor of Iias Shopping Mall, on the north end. The clerk was friendly and took time to explain the different features of several brands.

As I told him, my original watch was a good one. (I was surprised to see they cost 50,000yen now! I bought mine on sale several years ago for 20,000yen when an electrical shop went out of business.) I don't particularly like the original one, but it is functional. And when I found out how expensive a new one of the same model would be, I was really annoyed at the cats. So as I told the guy, I just needed a basic watch to tide me over until I could find the old one.

You won't believe it, but on Saturday I found it :(  Kuro HAD pulled it off the shelf near the fish tank. But when he did so, it must have fallen into the shopping bag I take to the vegetable store. I'd gone shopping last Sunday, and while I put the veggies away, I'd left the bag on the floor, ready to put it back into the entrance where it normally hangs. When I put the bag back on its hook, I didn't notice it was slightly heavier than usual, but this week when I took it down, I found my watch in the bottom. No wonder I couldn't find it anywhere!

So now I have two watches. (sigh)

Snowing again :(

It is snowing AGAIN! Why, oh why, has it snowed so many times this year?

In December, I made a gamble not to buy snow tires. I thought that 70,000 was a lot of money for a set of wheels and tires if it didn't snow. (Last winter it didn't snow.) Now I regret it because today is the 5th or 6th time we've had snow this winter ...

Snow does make things look pretty; the big magnolia tree at the front of my house looks lovely. (Better in real life than in the picture.) And as you can see, my car already has snow all over it. I'll have to take the other car to work today, because it does have snow tires.

Coming from a hot country that has very little snow, I didn't know if "snow tires" was really English or just a term used in Japan. "snow tires" is okay! They can also be called "winter tires". "stud-less tires" is also fine. The reason for "stud LESS" is that in a few Northern European countries, snow tires actually have small metal studs in them. However, it seems these are banned in most countries because they damage the road surface. You can read all about it at Wikipedia.

Someone is very happy about the snow today - KURO! He's been sitting looking out the window for the past 15 minutes or so. At first he was twitching his tail, but now he is just watching the snow. Perhaps he thinks he'd like to go outside and try and catch the falling flakes?! He is watching them so intently, it is kind of funny. He especially likes when leaves are so burdened with snow, that it suddenly falls off with a 'plop' :)

tire = American English spelling
tyre = British English spelling

A delivery

Dusty and Kuro don't like delivery people. Sometimes they growl when a van pulls up in the driveway, and then run around in alarm when the doorbell is rung. But after the delivery person has gone, they love to see what kind of present has arrived :)

Especially Kuro loves empty boxes and paper bags. 

This is one of the best pictures I've taken of him, don't you think?

Pork and Pumpkin

Here is another easy recipe for you. It can be for any meal, and even to pack into your lunch box.

1. Cut a small pumpkin in half, and scoop out the seeds. Rinse with water.
2. Wrap with damp kitchen paper, microwave for 3 minutes.
3. While the pumpkin is cooking, put a tablespoon of olive oil in a non-stick pan.
4. Add fresh chopped sage and thyme to the oil. (Dry herbs are ok.)
5. Heat the oil gently until the herbs are fragrant.
6. Cut the pumpkin into 1.5cm wedges. Add to the pan.
7. Cook the pumpkin until it is golden on both sides. Remove from the pan.
8. If you would like to cook meat, such as chicken or pork, add it to the herb oil.

NOTES:
1. It is easy to microwave pumpkin a little before you cut it, so it is a little softer. It will also cook faster.
3. I always use my non-toxic pan from Cuisinart, but you can use another pan or even grill.
4. Sage is great with pumpkin! Fresh herbs are really easy to grow in a pot. Sage is a bigger bush so you can plant thyme around it in the one pot. They won't die in winter if you keep them out of the frost. If you don't have fresh herbs, buy some bunches from the supermarket. Wash and dry them, and put small amounts into very small ziplock bags from the 100yen shop, then put them in the freezer. 1 bag = for one time
7. The pumpkin will stay warm for a while, or you can keep it under a fish grill set to low, or in a toaster oven.
8. Thinly sliced pork cooked in the pan is nice with the pumpkin.

Another blog

I've been making another blog - for cooking :)

I post some of my cooking ideas in this RE blog, but the new blog is 100% cooking and food.

Take a look here:

http://eating-easy.blogspot.com/

Using refillable bottles

Do you use refill packs for your household cleaners and toiletries?

Sometimes it is difficult to pour all of the contents into the bottle, and it takes ages. But I've found if you cut a small hole in the bottom of the pack, the liquid comes out really easily.
You should try it!

What do cats do?

What do we do in our free time?

Walk on top of the new TV (until shouted at, then understand it is bad - don't do that again).

Walk along the top of the curtain rail in the living room. 

(Continue to do this, no matter how much Mummy shouts.)

Sit with legs hanging over Daddy's computer.

Mummy gets very angry if we walk all over her keyboard or stand on the laptop and press some buttons. She is VERY angry if we press the "control" button and make strange things happen.

Sit on top of the rail in the bathroom.

(Wait here every night while people are in the bathroom, then suddenly MEOW loudly at them when they come out. Roll around and almost fall off ..... Mummy gets very angry about this.)

Make tunnels under the feather-down quilt .... 

..... or jump on top of the quilt because it is fluffy and it is fun to squash the air out of it.

Guard a toy.

And sleep, 

and eat,

and sleep some more,

and run around crazy,

and sleep ....

Girls' Day

March 3rd is Girls' Day in Japan, though sadly not a public holiday ...

Here are some lovely dolls. I wish I could have a set like this! Thank you K for sharing your photos.

By the way, every time I look at such dolls, I'm reminded of The Pillow Book by Sei Shonagon. I like to imagine that one of the ladies in waiting is Shonagon, though she would certainly laugh about that!

From the top:
Emperor and Empress, Ladies in waiting,
Court Musicians, Guardsmen, Workmen

And even Google is celebrating Girls Day. This morning I found this when I turned on my computer.

Not or no?

Are you confused how to use NOT and NO?

Look at these examples. Can you find any grammar pattern?

I have no money.
Peter was no help at all.
There is no salt on the table.

This pattern is:   no + uncountable noun
The meaning = do not have = does not exist = 。。。がない

****************

It is not cold today.
I am not tall.
Peter is not rich.
I am not a doctor.

This pattern is:   be verb + adjective
                        be verb + noun
The meaning = not that condition = not that thing = 。。。ではない

****************

I will not go to school tomorrow.
I have not seen Taro this week.
I do not like orange clothes.

This pattern is: not + verb
The meaning = 動詞 + ない　


By the way, for Part One, we often change "no" to "not".  Now the verb is negative and we use "any".
I don't have any money.
I haven't any money. (British English style)
Peter wasn't any help at all.
There isn't any salt on the table.

Keeping your letters clean

Spring is on the way and it is always really windy and dusty. I hate it when dust gets into the letterbox and then my letters get dirty :(

An easy way to stop the problem is to go to a 100yen shop and buy a piece of fake grass tile. Cut the tile in half to fit into your letterbox, and now the dust will fall down under the tile and your letters will be on top. Clean!

Hozomi vegetable shop

I buy almost all my vegetables and fruit from this small vegetable shop near my house.

The shop is owned by a young farmer, and his friends who are also farmers sell their produce there, too.

They are not certified organic, but use no chemicals or as little as they can. But best of all, the veggies are REALLY fresh and taste great. They taste like vegetables should taste like :) Sometimes the produce is damaged by frost, etc, but it still tastes nice! I much prefer imperfect vegetables than beautiful ones from a supermarket that have no taste.

Another thing we learn from shopping here is which vegetables and fruits are truly in season. Of course, summer has many more choices, but it is important to eat the foods in season and not eat many imported foods. So even though I love red and yellow bell peppers, I have to wait until the summer to eat them :(

Some fruit such as the oranges you can see in the photo, do come from another prefecture, such as somewhere in Shikoku, but everything else is local. This is also the same shop where I buy the free-range eggs - direct from Mr. Hozomi's chickens every day.

This basket full of produce cost 2, 620 yen. This week was a little more expensive than usual because I bought strawberries and some citrus fruit.

Here is what I got:
12 eggs, 2 packs of spinach, stick of mountain potato, lettuce, tomatoes, rape-blossom greens, horse-radish, turnips, baby potatoes, shallots, Chinese cabbage, lemons, kumquats.

A map to the bagel shop

Here is a map to the bagel shop, and to a great vegetable shop that I'll tell you about next blog post.

Yummy bagels

Something that is very important to me is supporting small, local businesses. Most small businesses have better products and they really care about their customers. We can ask their advice how to use something and even tell them our ideas.

Near my house is a specialist bagel cafe that opened almost 2 years ago. I've been going there all that time, and the quality is still very good. The owners are a lovely young couple who are really friendly and try to make lots of new flavors.

My favorite bagels to eat plain are the cinnamon and raisin ones. Try cutting them in half horizontally and putting them in an oven toaster :)



For sandwiches, the cafe will prepare salmon and cream cheese with salad. Yum!

At home, my most delicious sandwich so far was a bagel with dried figs. Inside I put freshly cooked sasami chicken and Camembert cheese.....

Or how about a hot ham steak and a ring of pineapple (both cooked in a non-stick fry pan) sandwiched in a wholemeal bagel? :)

To get there, going south on Nishi-odori, at the Anderson Bakery corner turn right. (Between Tsukuba Bank and the condominium.) Go west. Pass Couronne Bakery on the left. Pass Family Mart on the right. On the left you can find Matsushiro Dental Clinic, then a ramen shop (Kimura?). Then you can find a small hot dog cafe. The car park for the hot dog cafe is the same for the bagel cafe. It is across from Katsuragi Animal Clinic. And if you get to Seven Eleven, you went too far.

The cafe opens at 11am and closes when all the bagels are sold, or at 6pm. Thursdays are holidays.

If you want to give bagels as a gift, they have boxes to pack them in :)

Sesame seed and cheese bagel made
into a sandwich with smoked salmon
and cream cheese.

Double choc bagel with cream cheese

Mist or fog?

If you were up bright and early this morning, you will know that it was an unusual morning :)

Today was the first warm morning of the season, and the air contained a lot of moisture.

On my way to work, I was thinking, "Hmm, is this called fog or is it mist?" In my first lesson, my student also asked the same question. We checked the dictionary, and maybe this morning's weather should be called fog. The main reason is that it was quite thick and visibility was poor. Usually I can easily see the Mitsui Building but as you can see in the second photo, the central buildings are not visible at all!

By about 8:30am, the sun was higher and all the fog was burned off. Now it is sunny :)

During the afternoon, while teaching a class....

.... I found two mistakes using "while" and "during" ;)

Very basically, "during" is used with a noun phrase. That noun phrase shows a period of time. There is only one verb.

   Please make notes during the class.

   During the meeting, Mr. Tanaka fell asleep.

   I study English during TV commercial breaks.



"while" is used when you have two actions, so two verbs.

   I study English while watching TV.

   While I was talking to my sister on the phone, I cleaned up my    room.

   Please watch out for cars while riding your bike.


* Both "while" and "during" show an action over a period of time, not just at one moment.

* "while" mostly uses "V + ing" but not in all cases.

* Native speakers don't use "while" and "during" for every case. If the feeling of over a period of time is not important, we can change it to more simple grammar:

   Please make notes in class.

   Mr. Tanaka fell asleep at the meeting.

   I study English in TV commercial breaks. 

   I study English when I watch TV.

   When I was talking to my sister on the phone, I cleaned up my room.

   Please watch out for cars when riding your bike. 

Sakura season has started!

As you may know, I LOVE sakura flavored things!

Last Wednesday was the start of the cherry blossom seasonal flavor at Starbucks. Here is my Sakura Latte and Sakura macaroon.

Sorry the picture is not so good (I was using my mobile phone), but I think you can tell the milk is pink :)

The macaroon was okay, but I won't buy another one - it just tasted sweet, not like sakura.

Keeping your hands warm

This is my portable hand warmer :)

Actually, it is just an aluminium bottle (Boss Coffee) that I fill with hot water every morning before I leave my house. When I stop at each traffic light, I hold it in my hands to stay warm. Then when I get to work, I can hold it between my ankles to warm up my feet!

I like working in the early mornings, but in winter it is truly freezing here. If I don't use my hand warmer, by the time I get to work my fingers are numb from the cold. (I don't like to turn on my car 10 minutes early to heat it up, so inside the car is always under zero degrees.)

You can also use two cans if you go walking - they keep your hands warm and also act as mini-weights! Or you can put them into your bed before you sleep at night to warm up the sheets.

Another idea is to keep it inside your lunch bag to keep you boxed lunch hot.

After the water becomes cold, I give it to the indoor plants :)

WARNING: Please use gloves or a cotton cover on the bottle because the surface is HOT. And a coffee bottle is better than one containing green tea, because the neck is wider to pour in the hot water.

AED/CPR course

I spent my whole weekend in Tokyo. On Saturday I had a business English class in central Tokyo, then on Sunday I was a beginner learner :)

What did I learn? Well, I went to Shibuya Fire Station and in the morning I did a course on using an AED machine and doing CPR. Then in the afternoon, first aid for children. There were about 40 international residents from Tokyo and nearby.

AED = automated external defibrillator
自動体外式除細動器


CPR = Cardio Pulmonary Resuscitation
心肺蘇生法

It was really interesting to learn CPR and I was surprised how much power we needed to practice on the adult dummy, and how fast we need to do it. There was also a child sized dummy and a baby one.

The course was taught by Japanese staff and/or in English by an American guy named Dave. (He translated the Japanese to English.) I highly recommend taking such a course and I hope to ask Dave to come to Tsukuba in the near future.

Here are some pictures I took. (After asking permission if it was okay!)

Free-range eggs

Do you eat free-range eggs? "What are they?", you might ask.

First, think about the meanings of "free". I guess you could be thinking "free = no money". But usually, that meaning of "free" wouldn't become a two part adjective.

These eggs are 100yen, but those ones are free.
The free eggs were laid today, but they are too small to sell.
I got some eggs for free.

Another meaning is "free = not". That patter is noun + free. It means that thing is not there.

fat free yogurt = yogurt with no fat in it
stress free = having no stress

But for my eggs, you should think about the meaning "free = independent/wild/not in a cage".
"range" means "walk around a large area"

In Japanese? 　放し飼いの鶏の卵

These eggs taste wonderful. I get them from the small farmer's shop near my house. From memory, I think they are 210yen for six. They taste so good that I can't eat any other eggs nowadays. Anyway, I think keeping chickens in tiny cages is horrible and cruel, so I refuse to eat regular eggs.


The picture of the chickens is from another place that sells eggs. Those ones are also nice but more expensive and the shop is a little far.

By the way, the verb for mother creatures -
birds, reptiles (snakes, lizards, turtles), frogs, insects, etc  -
giving "birth" to eggs is "lay".

lay --> laid

The butterfly laid her eggs on the leaf.
My chickens lay about 20 eggs every day.