This weekend we went searching for the elusive McHotDog. We arrived at McDonalds before 10:30, there were signs for the dog, and it was on the menu. Unfortunately after placing my order for the McHotDog I was told they didn't have them. I was given a really long explanation in Japanese, but all I got out of it was that I couldn't get one. They did say that it would be available tomorrow, but I have to work so the search goes on...maybe next week.
The McHotDog was a bust but the Tako taco was a raging success. In Japanese Octopus is called Tako, so if you make a Mexican taco with octopus it is a tako taco. I found this out before coming to Japan and it was a running joke at the office for a little while. Brian created a powerpoint with clip art of what a tako taco might look like with some kids at McDonalds.
I had been planning to make this for some time. I picked up the octopus from the local market, Kate had re-fried beans from the US along with the other ingredients. The family ate regular tacos while I tried the Tako taco...
Here is the real thing.
In the below picture I am pondering the flavor a little. I have decided that there is a reason the Tako taco has not caught on......It is not really that good. Octopus by itself or in yaki balls taste pretty good. Tacos also by them selves are pretty good. Together the flavors don't really work well together and the end result is just strange. Now I have to come up with another plan to make extra money, I don't think the Tako Taco stand will work out...
This week also happened to be Colleen's 8th birthday. We had a very good day. Typically for the families birthdays, the birthday person chooses where we go out to eat. Colleen wanted to stay at home and have tacos (thus the tako taco above). Kate and Colleen made a cake for her birthday. Frosting is not really used on cakes in Japan so Kate used whipped cream for the topping and put strawberries in the middle. Very tasty...
The finished product..
Happy 8th birthday to Colleen.
The economy in Japan, like the US, is not great right now. Many companies have had to let go of both direct hire associates and contractors as the economy has weakened. Recently one of the suppliers I work with has had to follow that trend. Ishizaki san and Noshiro san have been affected by the economic down, their contracts were not renewed so they will now move on to something new. On Saturday there was a fair well party I was able to attend. I wish them luck in their future.
A short time after we arrived the children had an activity at their school. They all stood in a formation and held paper or umbrellas above their head on the school playground to make a pattern in celebration of the schools 15th year. Then the activity was photographed from the air. We got the pictures from the school. The first is the formation and the second is an arial view of Takanezawa.
I added in a few things to show where we are in relation to a number of other locations around the town.
Today, while driving around, we pulled up to a stop light and saw a chopper motorcycle. It looked a little strange because the proportions seamed off. You can see in the picture the guy looks pretty big relative to the bike. In person he was not a big guy. Also you can see that there is only one very small exhaust pipe on it.
When the light changed the bike made all kinds of noise, but the acceleration was not so impressive. Actually I could easily smoke him in the Odyssey. I told Kate "I think that thing is only 50cc". Kate was able to make out the name. It is a Honda Jazz.
After we got home I looked up some information on the bike. I got it from this website www.50cc-motorcycles.com/cgi-bin/bikeDB.pl?bike_id=64
It is only 50cc, makes a whopping 4 horsepower @ 7500rpm and 0.43torque @ 6000rpm. Of course this one looks pretty heavily modified so it may be around 6 horsepower..Kind of reminded me of a couple of lines from a movie...[after Lloyd trades the van in for a moped] : Lloyd: I get 70 miles to the gallon on this hog.... Harry:Just when I thought you couldn't get any dumber, you go and do something like this... and totally redeem yourself!
Actually in Japan these bikes are legitimate transportation. Traffic is pretty heavy and there are not so many highways. This makes for a slower traffic flow and motorcycles have the option at every light to move to the front of the line. Depending on the situation they are faster than cars from point A to B. I smoked past this guy only to be caught later as I sat at another red light.
Thats all for this week, next week will be cherry blossoms..I think. Have a good week.
2 comments:
FINALLY! The elusive tako taco! Sorry to hear that it didn't taste so good. Maybe it would have been better with soy beans instead of refried beans.
And at least your contractors got a going away party. Ours were just told not to come in on Monday. :(
I think the biggest problem was the taco sauce. Maybe a different type would have been better than old elpaso. I added the picture you made on power point. Talk to you later.
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