A walk in the woods

A walk in the woods nearby took us to a beautiful lake.  The heavens opened shortly after we took the pictures and we had to make a dash back. When it rains here, it comes down in sheets!

Sushi lunch

We found a nice wee sushi place in Kutchan that does kaiten-zushi (where the sushi plates go around on a conveyer belt and you pick up the plate of sushi you fancy as it moves around on the conveyer).

Probably shouldn't have had Rose and Oscar sit next to the conveyer belt.  We learned our lesson on that one. If you pick up a plate, you can't put it back!

To be honest, I am not sure what this one was. Will have to ask Rit!

Oscar tucking in to some seaweed miso soup.

Rose had 4 plates of kappa-maki (cucumber maki roll sushi)

This was an interesting one.  Umeboshi (sour plum) with wasabi makizushi.

Some raw octopus.

When you are finished, just stack the plates.  They are colour coded for the price.  The waiter then adds up how many of each colour plate you have to make up the bill.  Simple.

Tooth Fairy!

Last night while brushing his teeth, Oscar lost another of his baby teeth.
He dutifully wrapped it in tissue and placed it under his pillow.  We wondered if there was a tooth fairy in Japan.
To his delight, he discovered there is a tooth fairy here and she is so generous! He received a 500 yen coin in exchange for his tooth! Wow! (Approx $5)

I wondered why the tooth fairy is so generous here!! Rose had a theory.  She thinks 100 yen is for the tooth.  The remaining 400 yen is a 'welcome bonus'!!

I asked some Japanese kids this morning if there is a tooth fairy here.  Apparently not. (She only visits international kids).  In Japan, once the baby tooth is lost, the custom is to throw it straight up in the air - completely straight - in hope that the adult tooth with grow in straight.  

If it's a bottom tooth lost - throw it straight up.  If a top tooth is lost, throw it straight down.

I'll be looking for baby teeth on the ground now when I walk around in Japan. 

The Loo

When we landed in Sapporo, Rose and I went to the restroom at the airport. 

Mummy, what are all these buttons for? she asked.

Why don't we try some and see? I said. 

(This whole experience, after all, is about experiential learning, is it not?)

The first button was fine. A lovely sound of birds tweeting filled the stall.  Why do you think there is the sound of birds tweeting? I asked Rose.  To make you feel happy, she said. 

The second button was fine.  After a moment, Rose said Oh, the toilet seat is getting so warm. 

The third button pressed.  Shrieks from Rose. Ah - the 'bidet' function.  

Emerging from the stall, we found the restroom had filled with old Japanese ladies, waiting patiently (and so quietly!!!).  Ah kawaiiiii, they said (Oh, cute), when they looked at Rose. I said, Oh sorry for making you wait. It was the first time in a Japanese loo for my daughter.  

Ah, naruhodo ne! 

A loo with a warm seat that plays music, massages your buttocks, squirts water for that 'extra fresh' feeling…

what's not to like?

Although in a traditional Japanese home, you may still encounter a 'squat toilet' (you know - a hole in the ground … my first encounter of this was in a campsite in France when I was a kid), modern homes and apartments have a western style loo.  But they have taken the design and Japan-ified it for extra comfort. 

Even in our wee house in the middle of nowhere, we have some special loo functions.

Building

In today's lesson, the kids had to make their own structures using old newspapers.
I was very impressed with the way the kids worked together today. And also seeing Mr Z in action! I hear a lot about his science lessons at Edinburgh Academy - but first time to see it for myself.
Well done, Rit.  Great job!

Today's Bento

I will try to not write constantly about food. But hey ho, maybe not today.

Here is today's bento lunch:

Rice with a little salmon, a piece of peach and papaya, a type of katsu with negi onion and pork inside, a spring roll, and a rather odd triangular thing (bottom right in picture) that had been fried and had a filling with an almost kimchi like flavour - but with a wet, jelly consistency. Hmm … we asked the Japanese kids what it was, but no-one knew. It wasn't awful, but I wouldn't be rushing back to eat it again!

 And Rose enjoying her lunch, japanese style!

Cooling off!

Today it was a little bit humid, with temps around 26oC.

There is a wee pool set up in the school yard, for the kids to use if they want to cool off. 

Oscar and Rose couldn't wait to get in there!

Food - the essentials

We really do not like an unstocked fridge. Sad for us that the fridge is so small! 

So what about the essentials? Here is what we bought first:

Rice, shoyu (soy sauce), crispy nori seaweed, miso paste, pickles, tofu, umeboshi (sour plums), ochazuke mix (for a kind of rice porridge - so yum), and spicy seasoning. 

Back in Edinburgh, Rose eats rice with nori probably three times a week. So she is well at home here. Oscar loves miso, and he loves ochazuke. Last night he asked me to cook extra rice so he could have ochazuke for his breakfast this morning. What a dude. 

Local produce here in Hokkaido is fab. Will post more on the farmers' markets later. But here are our first purchases:

Tomatoes, small green peppers (almost perfect for spanish pimiento de padron), myoga (which is like a ginger shallot), baby aubergines, enoki mushrooms and - in the middle - maitake mushrooms (ah - maitake - how I have missed you!)

And now - Rose and Oscar's favourite treat! Huge white flesh peaches. So precious they are individually cocooned.

And finally - this one is for you Ali Morton

Itadakimasu!!!

Terebi! (Japanese TV)

Everyone knows Rose loves telly. 

And here she is - hooked on something with her dad …

But what are they watching??

Oh Yeah! Sumo!

It's the Nagoya Basho this week. So exciting!

We even saw some cushion throwing from the spectators when the favourite lost!

Oscar too now loves to watch Sumo!

And our other favourites so far are the many cook shows that are on TV, and of course Japanese cartoons! It doesn't seem to matter to Rose and Oscar that it is all in Japanese.  

Bento Lunch

A couple of the ladies at the school tried to dissuade us from ordering a bento lunch. They said it was old fashioned and the flavours were too strong for kids. But then I saw what they were eating for their lunch (pre-packed convenience foods from the 7-eleven) and I thought … Hmm, not so sure I should be taking your advice.

So here are Oscar and Rose digging in to their bento lunch today. 

On the menu: JP curry and rice, a gyoza dumpling, some breaded chicken katsu, a piece of omelette, shredded cabbage salad and pickles (tsukemono).  What's not to like???

Onsen - Japanese hot springs

Japanese hot spring - one of the wonderful things we love about Japan.
But wondering how the twins would take to it….

In our first three days, we went to three separate onsen.
On day 2, Rose asked 'Are we going to the spa today?', so I knew she was already hooked!
Most onsen in hotels or ryokan (traditional Japanese inn), or in a public bathhouse are separated for men and women.

First thing, get naked. Then go to the wash, scrub area. It might look a bit like this one:

You sit on one of the small stools, get a wee bucket, and scrub yourself clean. The point is that your body and hair are completely clean before going into the bath.

Once you are shiny and clean, you can then enter the hot bath. Usually an onsen would have a couple of hot baths inside and then maybe an outdoor bath too (called a rotenburo).
The twins first experience of onsen was in a hotel very close to our house in Niseko.  The outdoor bath had amazing views of Mount Yotei. Here is a picture of the outdoor bath.

I think we have spoiled them!!

eating out - Soga restaurant

Oishii desu!!!

Fortunately for us, Rose and Oscar already love Japanese food. 

Here we are at Soga restaurant in Niseko. 

Oscar has ordered shio ramen. Shio means salt, but I think there might have been also some bonito stock in there as there was a seafood flavour too. 

Rit has a salmon sashimi teishoku (set meal) with a side of rice, miso, pickles and a wee pot of octopus. 

Rose has rice with nori (crispy seaweed), edamame (steamed soy beans) and some salad. We ordered japanese chicken karaage for her too, but she was not keen on the coating. Next time, yakitori for her!

The Journey

What can I say about a 3-flight, 24-hour journey with 6 year old twins that you can't imagine for yourselves? We arrived *safely*, and that is the most important thing; but I wouldn't want to be repeating that again in a hurry. 5:30 wake up in Edinburgh - the twins dressed and ready to go in the blink of an eye. Edinburgh to London flight - fine. London to Tokyo - aside from lack of sleep, this flight was grand until we reached the Tokyo area. Unluckily for us, there was a typhoon in the area. The pilot warned that the conditions would be 'sticky'. I think a better description would be absolute bloody torture. Weirdly neither Rit nor the twins were bothered in the slightest. Meanwhile I focussed on some yoga breathing and held onto the seat in front (one of the perks to sitting at the back of the plane! Pity those poor first and business class passengers with no reachable seat to grip!) Tokyo to Sapporo - despite being extremely late for this flight and being told we had to take a much later one, a wonderfully kind and tenacious airport customer care person jogged us through the airport to the gate where they held the plane for us. How annoying for the passengers waiting on the plane and ready to go. First time on Japan airlines for the twins and so far the highlight of the trip for Oscar. Weirdly, walking past all the seated passengers, Oscar wondered why they were all men. He was right! Row after row, in short sleeved shirts with ties, some with glasses, some without. But not a woman in sight. Oscar has declared his new favourite airline is JAL. British airways no more. The lovely cabin crew woman gave him a model JAL airplane. It is his new treasure. Bumpy back up in the air (that typhoon!), but a short and pleasant flight.

We are off

Summer is here and we are heading off to the northern island of Hokkaido in Japan. Rit is running the summer school at Niseko International School. Rose and Oscar are enrolled in the program where we hope they will make lots of new friends! This blog is a journal of our summer adventure in Nippon!