Kate went to the community center with our neighbor Yagishita san to make Anman and Nikuman this past week. Anman and Nikuman are two types of dumpling, Anman has bean on the inside and Nikuman has meat. After the dumplings are stuffed they are steamed to perfection and then eaten. These dumblings are somewhat doughy and not at all like gyoza. The picture below was taken during the preparation, you can see the steamers on the left.
Here they are ready for eating..
For school Colleen grew her own popcorn. Recently we received her corn from the school. She first removed the kernels from the cob and then she was able to pop it last week. This is the bag of corn she got from the cobs.
And the finished product, you can't tell in the picture but it was really tiny pieces of corn. The school has a garden and the children have been able to learn about growing various vegetables. I think it is good for them to understand were there food comes from.
Although I have cut way down on my bike riding I am still riding to work almost every day. This past weekend I was able to go for a ride to Tsukuba with some friends from work. They have determined that I like hill climbing so a trip to the mountains was in order. Maeshima san, Sasaki san, Hakamata san, Ubukata san, and Ohishi san were all able to get up early enough to make the trek. Ubukata san made the plans for the trip and scheduled for us to depart at 6:30am. His reasoning was that the restaurant we would eat at would become busy so we should arrive there by 11:00. I don't know the exact temperature, but I can say that it was really cold at that time of the morning..
We rode a short ways (1 hr) and met up with Sasaki san along the route. I was fairly comfortable, but I had about 4 layers of clothing on. Sasaki san rode up with no hat, and no gloves. Only a newspaper stuffed under his jersey to block the wind and keep him warm. No way I could have done that... As we rode our destination quickly became evident. We could see the mountain looming off in the distance. You can see it in the below picture.
Just at the base we turned onto a very narrow road and around the next corner it immediately went upward. This climb is about 4 times the length of the hardest climb in the Japan Cup race. The grade is also more challenging. Some sections went to 20%. I was able to snag this picture at a short stop along the route. From left to right is: Maeshima san, Hakamata san, Ohishi san, and Ubukata san.
The view from the top was amazing. We stopped to take in the sights for a little while. The wind was ice cold and was really blowing hard over the top. I was glad to have all the layers of clothing with me to stay warm.
Here is a picture of me to show I was actually on the ride as well.
We laid the bikes down on some astro turf at the top. It is there because this location is used by hang gliders as a launch site. We didn't see any hang gliders on this day, but off in the distance we saw a huge paraglider floating in the wind.
Hakamata san had a tripod in his pocket and was able to set his camera up in the street at the top to take this photo, since he used the timer everyone made it in the picture.
I snagged this picture of my bike beside a Tori gate close to Tsukuba mountain.
We went down the mountain a short way and finally arrived at the restaurant. It was a very small restaurant. It could have easily been mistaken for someone's home. Had I gone on my own I would not have thought to stop there. We piled all the bikes along the side and went in.
Once inside I was greeted with an all Kanji menu. I could only pick out a couple of things, so I just asked for everyone's recommendation. They recommended a dish that included a variety of beef components.
It was a Yaki Niku restaurant so you cook your own food at the table on a small grill. Below pictured with Sasaki san is some of my food cooking on the grill.
Ubukata san, Maeshima san, and Hakamata san grilled at the table next to us. That only left about 3 other tables in the restaurant. It was a good thing we arrived early as Ubukata san recommended as by the time we left there were people waiting outside to come in and eat.
It was a great ride with everyone and the weather, for this time of year, could not have been much better. Before we separated paths to go home I heard talk of plans to ride the most challenging road in Tochigi. I am hoping it is a little warmer when we take up that challenge.
On the way home I crossed paths with the Yaki imo truck, so I was able to pick up a couple to take home to the family to enjoy. The children had heard the truck earlier but it didn't pass in front of our home so they were happy I was able to catch him.
This week in Utsunomiya there is a hot air balloon festival. One of the activities includes a night show with the balloons. That show was tonight. Kate and I decided to take the children to go and see it. It was only about 20 minutes from our home. We typed the phone number into the navigation in the car and headed off. When we arrived at the navi's destination there was nothing there. Turns out it was on the other side of the road, so after a brief bit of confusion we found it. At night the balloons are really beautiful when the flames are fired up.
With nothing but darkness around the flames are quite bright.
The children's favorite was this Asimo balloon. Asimo's upper body sticks out of the front of the balloon and his feet stick out the back.
While I shot some pictures Kate was able to film a couple of short videos. The first one shows what it is like when they light all the balloons up at the same time.
The second was taken while the balloons were being lit to Michael Jackson's "I'm bad" song.
I think they cut it a little short as it started to rain pretty hard at one point during the show. I am glad we were able to make it out, it was fun to watch. Kate and the children are talking about going and watching a little of the balloon competition tomorrow. They don't have school tomorrow so if the weather is nice I think they will go.
Have a good week...
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