Scouting in Japan: Udon Noodles!

This past Sunday, our Cub Scout Pack hopped a train to go visit our brother pack, Kiyose 3, for a fun day of making udon noodles & town cleanup. We are so fortunate to be able to share this amazing friendship which offers our boys cultural exchange opportunities. We try to meet up with our Kiyose friends once a month for something fun. I am always amazed at how easily children bridge the gap of a language barrier to connect with each other. 

Our friends met us at the train station & we divided all the boys into 2 groups for the walk to the community center we were using. On the way, the boys complete a small service project of picking up any trash along both sides of the road. It's about a 15 minute walk & we ended up with maybe 10 pieces of trash. Japan is very eco-savy, but its nice to instill that sense of community involvement with our scouts.

Fair warning.. lots of pictures ahead! 

Udon noodle dough is really simple.. it's flour, salt, and a small amount of water.

All of the scouts are divided up into groups to take turns helping make the dough. They all love this part, as it is very messy!  

Water is added in tiny amounts to the flour/salt mixture until a smooth dough is formed.

 After the dough is checked for consistency, the real fun begins!

The dough is shaped into a round & then placed into a plastic bag.

All the scouts take turns kneading the dough further... with their feet!!

Little Dragon even got a turn helping out! :)

The dough is squished out flat, then folded up again, and the process repeats until the dough feels as soft as when you gently squeeze your ear lobe.

Once done, the dough has to 'sleep' for a little while, so the boys were sent off to wash their hands & play while the grown ups tidied up a bit.

The next step to noodles is rolling out the dough into a giant, thin rectangle.

I love that everybody was encouraged to take a turn helping.

To help it roll a little faster, the dough is gently stretched as it is rolled around the pin.

This actually takes a soft hand & skill.. if you're too rough, the dough will rip.

Finally the dough is folded back and forth across a small wooden board & then cut into noodles!

The cooking is done in a big pot over a wood fire. There is an attached spigot to add cold water as needed to prevent it from foaming over as it boils.

It got very warm & smoky at this point, so Dragon & I took a break in a cute attached room with tatami mats. It was rather warm in there too.. but it offered a quiet space to feed & change the baby.

I told my husband I would love to have a room like this in our "forever home"!

ok, back to the noodles!

Once cooked, the noodles were drained & set out on each table for everyone to share. Everyone got a bowl of broth with onions, tofu, & pork. Other toppings were available such as green onion, japanese pickles, pickled radish, & nori (dried seaweed). The adults were offered additional choices of more onions & what i believe was nettle leaf. It was very earthy in flavor & slighty minty.

Bubs dug right in & was definitely enjoying the fruits of his labor! We were also treated to japanese pear, which tastes like a cross between apple & pear. They are huge & delicious! I didn't get a picture, as all the adults had to act quickly before the kids swiped it all!

A bowl of homemade udon & a glass of cold green tea... heaven!

Stay tuned to see where our next scouting adventure will take us!

Mother of Dragons

I'm back!! I had a long hiatus that was part life getting busy & part locking myself out of my blog! (tricky google switching my language to japanese... ha!)

The past year has been an amazing time for me! After what felt like the longest lesson ever in patience & waiting on God's timing... we were blessed with another sweet baby boy! 

Our Little Dragon joined our family in May of this year, and just like his brother, he came in his own time. He brings our family such joy & I love seeing how my boys light up when they are together. They have such a love for each other & such unique personalities! 

Stay tuned for updates on all the fun that's been happening in our little corner of the world!

~Ashley~

The Meiji Shrine

While Julie was here, we were able to visit the Meiji Shrine! It was an amazing experience & I look forward to taking my family to visit in the fall when the weather is cooler. (Thankfully we had fans... Tokyo summer is no joke!)

The Meiji Shrine is tucked away in Yoyoji Park, located just outside the Harajuku train station. The best way I can describe Yoyoji Park is that it's basically a forest with a giant rock path carved through it. Although the summer heat was in full force, we enjoyed a peaceful stroll through the park on our way to the shrine.

For any history lovers:

The Meiji Shrine is dedicated to Emperor Meiji and Empress Shoken. It's construction was completed in 1921, but it was later destroyed during the Tokyo Air Raids of WWII. The rebuilding of the shrine was completed in 1958. The surrounding grounds are expansive at 170 acres, with 120,000 trees of 365 species having been donated from all over Japan.

(source: Wikipedia)

My bestie & I... i love her!!

yes, we had a selfie stick..

no... we have no regrets

#TouristsInTokyo!

The first Torii gate on our walk to the Meiji Shrine.

Custom dictates that out of respect, you should pass through the gate either to the left or the right, never through the middle. The middle is know as "Sei-chu" and is the path of God.

The wall of sake barrels... it was even more gorgeous in person! Every year, brewers from all over Japan donate a sake barrel as tribute to the enshrined deities.

(I actually did some research afterwards, and discovered that the majority of the barrels are donated empty. The Shrine only asks for the sake it needs, but the intention behind the gifting of barrels is what's important more so than the gifting of the sake itself. No sense in accepting more gifts than one can use. So generally the shrine will accept small bottles to accumulate what they will need for ceremonies & the large decorative empty barrels are displayed outside the shrine.)

Prior to entering the Shrine, it is respectful to participate in the cleansing ritual.

Using your right hand, scoop water & pour over your left. 

Switch hands to pour over right. 

Switch again to pour water into left hand to cleanse mouth. 

Then tilt scoop back toward yourself & allow remaining water to cleanse the handle.

Once inside, there was such a spirit of respect. If anyone was speaking, it was in quiet tones so as not to disturb those who came to pray. The interior courtyard area was spacious and lovely. There were a few areas for prayer; a large tree with an offering box, the temple/shrine area, and then a prayer wall. For a small donation, visitors to the shrine can purchase "ema", wooden plaques, on which they can write their prayers or wishes. They are then hung on the expansive wall. As I wandered, I discovered quite a few written in English and it was so moving to see the hearts desires of people. A stunning reminder that there are still selfless people in a world that seems so topsy-turvy.

I'm so glad we made time to visit the Meiji Shrine. I love getting a glimpse of parts of the culture we are experiencing while living in Japan. 

If you ever make it to Tokyo, you should put this place on your list!

Guest Blogging!

My bestie, Julie, is doing some traveling this summer and asked me to guest blog!

Hop on over to The Redolent Mermaid for a great post on why I love to travel!

Even more exciting!?!?!

JULIE IS HERE!!! 

IN JAPAN!! 

WITH ME!!!

*kermit flail*

We're busy hopping trains, exploring Tokyo, enjoying delicious food, & searching for Godzilla!!!

Stay tuned for a recap of our shenanigans!

Tokyo DisneySea

We have been Disney fans for a long time! While living in Florida, we made a few trips a year to go experience the crazy magic that is Disney. So it was a no brainer that we would be visiting Disney upon arrival in Japan! There are 2 parks here: Tokyo Disney & Tokyo DisneySea. When we asked our little which park he would want to visit, he immediately yelled "DisneySea!" So for Spring Break this year, we surprised him with some Disney magic!

Unlike Magic Kingdom, DisneySea is more of an Epcot type park. It hosts more visual attractions than actual rides, but also has a slew of Disney movie characters. It is also home to Duffy the Bear!!

The entire park seems made to photograph! In all honesty, the longest lines we encountered were not for characters, but for photo spot areas such as flower planters, statues, and seasonal displays. Those areas were actually the only times I saw professional park photographers.

One of the things everyone talked about was the popcorn! Throughout the park, there are different flavored popcorn carts and a variety of popcorn buckets. Our first popcorn bucket purchase was Mr Potato Head & he was filled with a delicious White Chocolate Popcorn! (Little man was gracious enough to let us sample... and then he promptly hoarded the entire bucket to himself!) Purchasing a popcorn bucket is a must, as it enables you to get refills of any flavor for a discounted price! We purchased a second bucket & spent the day snacking on the different flavors. Our popcorn flavors for the day were: Milk Tea, White Chocolate, Cappuccino, Jalapeno & Cheddar, & Curry. Popcorn is a favorite snack in our house, so we really enjoyed the continuous snack options. 

While the rides may have been sparse, they were certainly packed with detail and the amazingness that you expect from Disney. One of our favorites was Indiana Jones! There was a slew of things to look at as you waited in line and the staff was super polite! I'm used to the theme park experience of trying to pack every available seat on a ride. The 3 of us were lucky enough to score a front row seat & the staff politely asked if we would mind if a single rider joined our row. This was a re-occurring theme throughout our day... while it was a Disney park, the staff were very mindful of the experience & making sure that all the guests were happy.

One of the biggest differences between our experience stateside & our experience in Japan was the character meet & greets! In the states, you stand in long lines & then have a photographer take your photo. However, DisneySea had characters roaming around & no lines in sight! I think the largest group we saw near a character was 6 people! Again, I found this to be partly because of the polite society and partly because of the handler's expertise. Little man was feeling rather shy, so we waited patiently for a turn each time.. and sure enough, every time he wanted to meet a character, the handler would notice him & make sure that he wasn't overlooked. 

Another cool thing from our visit was Disney's Easter Celebration! This year was actually the first year that DisneySea was decked out! In years past, only Tokyo Disney hosted the Easter festivities. There was lots of decor throughout the park, but my absolute favorite was the Easter egg display! Each egg represents a different section of the park!

Where would a good Disney post be without more food?!

These delicious morsels were Alien mochi dumplings from the Toy Story section! We received a trio of flavors: chocolate, strawberry, & lemon. The line was ridiculously long, and I can absolutely see why! They were one of the tastiest things I ate all day!

This next set of photos is probably my favorite moment of the whole day!

As we were wandering through some of the quieter sections of the park, we came across Honest John & Geppetto. As luck would have it, only 2 people nearby! So of course we stopped to watch what they were up to & snap a few photos.

...and this is why you should never antagonize a villain....

This interaction was just another amazing experience that I can only summerize as "Japan".

Not only did the characters (& their handlers) interact with my son, but the characters themselves took the time to make sure my son was posed as well! 

So the next photo has an accompanying story:

As we were finishing up our time with Honest John & Geppetto, we heard ear piercing shrieks of "Kawaii!" (so cute!) & tons of giggling! As we turn, these 2 japanese girls came racing up to us completely in awe of our son. (I'm telling ya, this kid has mad skillz with the ladies...) After about 5 minutes of giggling & "kawaii! kawaii!", we finally managed enough charades to get the idea that they wanted a photo with him. We, of course, obliged... however, it seems Honest John was a little put out that he was not the center of attention. So he promptly photobombed & it is one of my favorite pictures from the day!

My view the whole day... i seriously love this little boy! 

I hope he never outgrows his love of Disney magic!

 I hope we don't lose sight of one thing - that it was all started by a mouse. ~ Walt Disney

An Evening Stroll amongst the Sakura

Hanami - the Japanese traditional custom of enjoying the transient beauty of flowers, most commonly used in association with those of the sakura.

Knowing that the sakura season was going to pass by quickly, I was itching to get out at least once more to experience the beauty of the blooms. This time, however, I wanted to experience it off base and with the locals. When you take the time to experience something 'the local way', I feel that the experience is vastly more rewarding.

There was a local cherry blossom festival occurring, and while we didn't make it out in time for the festival.. we still managed to enjoy an evening stroll and 'Hanami'. The weather was a bit chilly, but there were lots of locals still out and about who greeted us with smiles as they strolled by with their families. We had already experienced a daytime viewing, so we opted for an evening viewing which would allow us the added ambiance of the glowing lanterns swaying gently in the boughs of the blossoming trees. Even though the song birds had gone to nest for the night, the gentle stillness was relaxing and a most enjoyable experience.

 A perk of venturing out later in the day... we had the walkway to ourselves for quite a bit.

We found ourselves in an open park area down by the Tama River filled with flower gardens beginning to bloom, a trickling stream, and a fabulous view of a train coming across the bridge.

Our very first family photo under the sakura!

Now that warmer weather is here, we hope to get out more & enjoy the sights!

Stay tuned for more adventures!