Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween, everyone!!

Though it's been many years since I wore a costume on this day, I always enjoy celebrating it. That used to mean, of course, trick-or-treating fun!! Once I got older it meant handing out candy and enjoying the costumes of the neighborhood kids, and then after I went to college Halloween was best celebrated by heading to Greenwich Village to see the Halloween Parade.

Though Halloween has started to catch on in Japan, it's still not nearly the day that it is in the US. But I do feel excited every time I walk by the (overpriced) mini-pumpkins at my local supermarket...Halloween is such a great day!

So how will everyone be celebrating today? I will be enjoying a feast of Peking Duck with the lovely Ms. Tari and some other friends...completely unrelated to Halloween, but just as exciting! :-)

By the way, here is a fun way to carve a pumpkin if you find yourself unable to do the real thing:
http://www.cubpack81.com/images/carve_pumpkin.swf
(Courtesy of Blue Lotus, one of my regular blog reads.)

It's raining, it's pouring

What is it with the weather in Tokyo recently?? It feels so extreme...it's either brilliantly sunny days with highs near 80 degrees (in October!) or it's typhoon-like winds with rain and bitter cold...and nothing in between.

Global warming?

Vacation highlights

Yes, it took me two motnhs, but better late than never, right? I've posted some photos below from our trip to Oregon in August. Enjoy!

I'll soon be posting from photos from Hong Kong and Singapore as well. I've been meaning to do that for ages, but it seems that life has gotten away from me recently and time just flies by...

In other news, Ali has now left Tokyo. :-( While I'm excited for her, I'm selfishly sad that she is no longer here. You already missed, Ali!!

Have a great week, everyone!

Vacation in Oregon #9

Native Americans in Oregon considered Crater Lake a sacred place and would not admit its existence to outsiders. After visiting, I can see why...it's truly a gorgeous place.

Vacation in Oregon #8

Crater Lake, Oregon on a beautiful day.

Vacation in Oregon #7

At Crater Lake, Oregon. It looks like sky in the background, but it's actually the surface of the lake.

Vacation in Oregon #6

A beautiful place on the Rogue River. The weather was perfect, too.

Vacation in Oregon #5

Salmon dinner in Prospect, Oregon. It was very good!

Vacation in Oregon #4

Yours truly with Barr Creek Falls. Not quite in focus...

Vacation in Oregon #3

Near Prospect, Oregon

Vacation in Oregon #2

This is the path we took when we went to look at some waterfalls. It was so peaceful and quiet.

Vacation in Oregon #1

Hellgate Canyon on the Rogue River near Grants Pass. It was a truly beautiful day!

For the chocoholics

Any chocoholics out there? I would certainly classify myself as one.

If you've read "Candyfreak" by Steve Almond, you know about the elusive dark chocolate Kit Kat, discontinued years ago and seemingly doomed to never make a comeback.

Well, imagine my delight when I found it!! I was in a 7-11 in Hong Kong last week buying water when I saw one on the rack next to the cash register. It was the last one left and it looked so lonely all alone in its box next to the regular Kit Kats. I was of course thrilled and bought it without hesitation.

However, after buying it I tried to find more information on the Internet about dark chocolate Kit Kats. Are they exclusive to Hong Kong? Are they a limited time version? I found many, many pages about dark chocolate Kit Kats, but what surprised me was that the packaging shown on all of the homepages I found is totally different from the packaging of the Kit Kat I bought.

So...my question now is, do I eat it? It looked authentic enough sitting on the candy rack in the 7-11, but now I'm not so sure. After all, it was the only one left, which suddenly seems fishy to my hyperactive paranoid mind. How much do I risk for a chance to try the rare dark chocolate Kit Kat?

I'll probably risk it.

To everyone looking for info on Kyubei

I'm not sure why, but recently I've gotten a flood of hits from people looking for information on Kyubei. Unfortunately, Kyubei does not appear to have a homepage, and I had a hard time finding comprehensive information on it in either English or Japanese. I would recommend finding a guidebook with information about it instead.

However, you can find a short review by typing "Kyubei" in the search box here.

If you have the time and the money while you're in Tokyo (especially if it's on someone else's dime), I recommend it! But don't worry if you can't make it there - there is lots of great sushi in Tokyo, most of which is not anywhere near as expensive as Kyubei.