Ehomaki, Oni mask, and soybeans

Today is Setsubun no hi (節分の日) in Japan (Feb 3rd, 2010). Setsubun is a special day before the first day of spring, and it is celebrated by people wearing oni (Japanese demon or ogre) masks and throwing soybeans to usher in good luck for the new year. The magic spell is “Oni wa soto, Fuku wa uchi (鬼は外、福は内)” which literally means “Devils out, Luck in.” This beans throwing activity is known as “Mamemaki (豆まき)”.

For the family events, one of person wear “Oni men” (鬼面) which is the devil mask to be Oni. Lest of family throw Oni soy beans with “Oni wa soto.” So, it’s always the dad who becomes the devil in the family, and kids get this day to throw beans at dad. How cool is that. Poor dads. But when there is no Oni, you throw soy beans outside of your house from the gate with “Oni wa soto (devils out)”, then throw them inside of the house with “Fuku wa uchi (Lucks in).” 

Posters about Ehomaki up early

After all the beans throwing and getting your house covered with beans, you eat specific number of soy beans, which is your age + one. The Japanese also eat thick sushi rolls called Ehomaki (恵方巻). If you’re in Japan you might already notice several posters and flyers about ordering your Ehomaki early so that you can enjoy it on the day itself. Ehomaki literally means “Lucky Direction Rolls” while facing the yearly lucky compass direction, determined by the zodiac symbol of that year. So this year the lucky direction should be West-South-West, and the weird thing is, you have to finish the whole roll in TOTAL SILENCE. Break the silence, and there goes your luck. Believe it or not, I never really tried that, except the time when I was told by my ex co-workers about eating in total silence. Imagine the whole office having everybody eating their sushi rolls in total silence, all facing towards the same directions! What a mover!

A final way of celebrating setsubun no hi is to take a nice long relaxing bath, with some slices of yuzu in the water. Bathing in hot yuzu-infused water is supposed to get rid of bad spirits. At least it smells nice! Well, this is the interesting Japanese tradition that they still have in Japan, kind of interesting, and why not try it? Go get yourself a thick sushi roll for a year of good luck, people!

We all love Disneyland, don’t we? It’s where you’ll feel like a kid once again, and it’s a place to bring you smiles and brings out your childish side in you. Well, whatever it is, this time we only headed to Downtown Disney, and not into the park itself. We’ll deal with the parks later, perhaps.

I guess one of the major reason for a trip down to Downtown Disney was to get some souvenirs for friends of mom and dad’s. Since my brother’s working at Disney’s game department, he gets 50% off (for a limited time, if not the normal 35%) every purchase at World of Disney (yes, disney stores!) How cool is that? It’s like getting 2 for the price of one. It’s no wonder they wanted to go down there so badly.

Lunch at Rainforest Cafe

Anyway, we had lunch at the Rainforest Cafe, a tropical rain forest theme restaurant with interesting interiors like gorillas and elephants. It’s like you’re having your meals in a rain forest with the animals. Food was ok and atmosphere was kind of unique. I was kinda of fascinated with all of the fake foliage and the glimmering skies painted across the ceilings. I bet kids will be amazed by all the faux lightning once in a while and the sounds of those animals and their huge aquariums. But if you’re a sucker for wildlife, then don’t go. (too bad for you!)

After lunch, we went strolling and went into almost every available shops there, including Build A Bear Workshop where you get to create your own cute cuddly critters (usually bears and dinosaurs), give it a heart, and dress them up with little accessories you like. Your bear even gets to have a birth certificate! Little kids just love that place!

World of Disney

Anyway, the main store to head to was of course the World of Disney, so they spent lots of time there, picking and choosing the plush toys that the kids might like. I picked one for myself too, and it’s a fuzzy Mickey plush toy which my brother bought for me! Absolutely love it! My parents ended up picking 10 mickey and minnie 2010 edition plush toys, 5 each for both genders. Good thinking, since it’s the 2010 edition and it’s quite memorable to keep.

So all in all, it was kind of a great day being out since we only get to go out during weekends. Yes, I only get to update with happening stuffs during the weekends! So bear with me…

My favorite - Fudd Sliders!

Oh, not forgetting a great dinner at the Fuddruckers too! I love those mini sliders because the size it just nice for me! At Fuddruckers, you get to choose your own original toppings and sodas! Build your own original burgers with you heart’s content! I love jalapenos in it! Mmm-mmmm, absolutely delicious!

Can’t wait for Disneyland day! But I guess I won’t be able to go crazy about the fast rides this time. Urgh, what a waste!

It has been quite a while but I think I’m really feeling it this time. First they were just “flutters” that I’m feeling, and just a few minutes ago it’s a stronger jabs from the inside. It’s not hurting, and it’s really amazing to be able to feel that.

I’m still not done with the baby announcements yet, because I do not want to be all too hyped about this. I guess I’ll keep a low profile and see how things go. After all, I’m still not sure whether it’s a boy or girl, so I’m hoping to find out during the next check-up, which is next week! But it doesn’t matter whether it’s a boy or girl, I have had several blood tests, and hope everything will be all right then.

Till then, will continue updating you all!

I love Chuno. It’s exciting, it’s beautifully scored, it’s well acted, it’s stunning, it has got my favorite actor, Jang Hyuk starring in it. So yes. You have got to watch Chuno.

Of course, I’m not too hyped and on my knees begging you not to miss this drama, I don’t worship this drama nor I am not that a fanboy of Jang Hyuk. But watch it, and you’ll know what I mean. There’s no doubt that this drama will be huge this year, possibly drama of the year (I think it deserves it!). Heck, it’s already been scheduled for a Japanese broadcast in April, with Japan buying it in December before its premiere had even been unveiled. Talk about a drama this big.

Not only that, Chuno hits an impressive high rating prior to its first and second broadcast on KBS, and still being a strong contender to other dramas with high expectations. Chuno, meaning “slave hunter” in Korean, talks about bounty hunters tracking down escaped slaves. I’ll leave with you to google up for a more detailed synopsis, but I must say, with its solid cast, this epic drama not only shows you the story of a man chasing after another man, but with its pretty pictures and slow-motion fighting scenes to show off everyone’s rippling muscles, and their intensive face-offs in the fields with swords and daggers, Chuno is entertaining and exciting to watch.

Oh, did I mention that Jang Hyuk looks frickin’ awesome in this drama? Gosh… just look at his body!

No, I ain’t a fanboy! Just watch the drama and see for yourself!

Squid Pizza - it's black!

I love pizza.

Pizza in Japan never failed to amuse me with their wide and crazy varieties of toppings. Sometimes I think they did too much evil with the toppings that God never intended to sit on top of a crust. This would be another culture shock for the Westerners when flocking to Japan and craving for something that resembles “home”. Little do they know that they will be presented with the strangest combination of toppings ever in the world.

The most common topping for pizzas in Japan should be “corns”. Come on, corn in pizzas? Jeez, I still don’t get their obsession with corn on a crust. Sometimes there’s too much of corn you can’t even dig into other toppings. Besides corn, I personally don’t like the idea of having this weird combination of mayonnaise with potatoes or shrimps.

Domino's Whip & Berry Pizza

Oh, what about “cod roe” special, “nori” and fish, “squid ink”, or “kimchi” pizzas? Gosh, gosh, and gosh. You really got to be kidding me. Ah, and another one that don’t really appeal to me is the “onion beef pizza” with heaps of fresh spring onions and braised beef. I wouldn’t want to scare other people away with my stinky onion breath!

Yes, pizza from the “dark side”. It’s weird, but I respect their creativity and new menu change every season to come. At least you wouldn’t be bored of the usual menu of just pepperoni, and deluxe pizzas. And yes, they also have the nerve to come up with SWEET PIZZAs! How cool is that? If you’re bored with pepperoni and chunks of meat, try fruits on pizza. Just like Pizza Hut’s Applesienne, or Domino’s Whip & Berry. You might even like those dessert pizzas. Or too sweet for you because you need exercise? Go get the equipments, dude! Don’t worry about eating! All right, get your nordictrack promotion code if you want, but don’t forget about the pizzas!

My favorite Quattro Camembert Millefueille Pizza

Till then, I’ll stick to my favorite “Quattro Camembert Millefueille” where you get 4 different toppings on a thin crust of several pastry layers with melting Camembert cheese between each layers. Mm-mmm. It’s different from the regular crust pizza, it’s filled with cheese every layer, it has 4 different toppings… Now, that’s what I called, pizza.

Any of you ever had experiences with Japanese pizzas? If you do, please share it with me too!

Recently my hubby informed me about receiving a coupon from Google, but had no idea what it was. I told him to snap a picture of it, and found out that it was a coupon for Adwords. Hmm… I’ve heard about working at home earning revenues by things like sell merchant account or using adwords campaigns and such, but I guess I’m just not good at it. So, 5,000 yen of free sample doesn’t really appeal to me either…

If you’re good at this, tell me what I should do.