Wednesday, January 04, 2006
Why I wasn't blogging (for the last 1.5 weeks)
Our first holiday stop was in Franklin, Vermont. I'm always amazed at the amount of gift giving that goes on in an American Christmas. Personally, I was a little overwhelmed and felt like I didn't do enough shopping. But then again, the Japanese gift-giving culture consists of as many things, only spread out throughout the year.
My personal favorite gifts that I got this year included the wood carvings that Randy's sister got in Ghana, the fluffy scarves, and a fuzzy bathrobe from my parents. I've been a good girl this past year, I guess.
One of the interesting things I did this past year was to go to a Christmas Eve service, as Randy's Mom is the minister at several churches in the area. I hadn't stepped foot in a church in ages (and for pure educational curiosity only), but the Christmas service was something that I understood despite my shallow knowledge of the faith. I think I got a flat bum from the wooden benches though.
O' Christmas tree, O' Christmas tree...
I got my White Christmas! (the first in 6-7 years?)
Randy and I departed snowy Vermont for the balmy West Coast.... only to find out that it was RAINING dogs and cats in the San Francisco Bay Area. There were even flood warnings in the Napa-Sonoma region, which was a pity.
But we had some windows of opportunity to enjoy the sun, like this day:
Monterey's cool blue water and white sands make for a scenic photo. But wait, what are those slug-looking things on the beach???
SEALS!!!! (I like the way they bounce up and down on their stomach to inch into the ocean)
Picturesque. Chasing the sun along Highway 1, as it dips into the Pacific Ocean.
And you can't possibly pass up the opportunity of going to Northern California without tasting the wine. So we went on a (free) winery tour. Quite educational, really (and you can be a wine snob too!). Courtesy of Wente Winery.
Fermenting barrels. Each barrel makes: 15 cases x 12 bottles per case = 300 bottles of wine. Woo doggy!
Yeah, a tank of wine.
49,100 gallons of wine... Hmm... Sign reads:
CAUTION
Confined Space. Use Lock-Out & Entry Procedures Prior to Entry.
You can ENTER that thing? Sweet! *dresses into a bathing suit*
Bottling station. They fill the bottles with nitrous gas (which is heavier than oxygen) and then the tube fill up the wine, pushing the gas out. They can fill 100 bottles/minute here.
The international door. The door says "Keep the door closed" in different languages (written by the workers).
Murietta's Well (another winery) - this is the legendary well where the Artegian horsemen stopped to rest their horse (or something like that).
We ate A TON of food. This trip was almost planned according to our meal schedules. We had steak, seafood, Vietnamese Pho, (amazing) Mexican Food, homemade South Indian food, sushi, osechi (traditional Japanese New Year's meal), and In-n-Out Burger. Whew! Alkaseltzer anybody?
Mmm... homemade sushi.
My brother with our adorable neighbors - Nivita and Nitin.
Just playin' with the cat. Cat in a bag. Cat in a bag.
A real treat this year was to attend Hoover's 10th Annual New Year's Eve Party. A high school reunion, really. Good to see some old faces, catching up and being merry.
Deven, Liz, Joe, Paul, and Laura look pretty for the camera.
With their homemade TiVo, we watched Deven's show (she was an Assistant Project Manager at Nickelodeon) Catscratch. We get the inside information about what really happens inside the studios - haha.
A rare shot of Nick and Karma (does not love the camera, but caught them anyway).
And come January 1st...
Traditional Japanese New Year's at the Takasu Household. Osechi and sake.
An excerpt from Deven's online journal:
"We got to have this today. Saki invited us over for a traditional Japanese New Year feast, and it was really really good. Her mom just kept bringout more food! After the main dishes, we also had a soup, (I think it was called Zoni), and then sugary candies. I think I drank my weight in tea. I also had my first taste of sake, which I've been meaning to try for awhile. It was a lot of fun. It was the best meal I've had in a long while. I think it spolied me on regular food."
Women cook this for several days straight at the end of the year so that they don't need to cook for several days in the new year. The food were all things that could be eaten cold and needed little re-preparation. As a kid, I never understood how this was fair at all. Thank goodness to supermarkets and refrigerators now though.
Akemashite Omedeto gozaimasu ^_^ Wishing everyone a Great New Year!
My personal favorite gifts that I got this year included the wood carvings that Randy's sister got in Ghana, the fluffy scarves, and a fuzzy bathrobe from my parents. I've been a good girl this past year, I guess.
One of the interesting things I did this past year was to go to a Christmas Eve service, as Randy's Mom is the minister at several churches in the area. I hadn't stepped foot in a church in ages (and for pure educational curiosity only), but the Christmas service was something that I understood despite my shallow knowledge of the faith. I think I got a flat bum from the wooden benches though.
O' Christmas tree, O' Christmas tree...
I got my White Christmas! (the first in 6-7 years?)
Randy and I departed snowy Vermont for the balmy West Coast.... only to find out that it was RAINING dogs and cats in the San Francisco Bay Area. There were even flood warnings in the Napa-Sonoma region, which was a pity.
But we had some windows of opportunity to enjoy the sun, like this day:
Monterey's cool blue water and white sands make for a scenic photo. But wait, what are those slug-looking things on the beach???
SEALS!!!! (I like the way they bounce up and down on their stomach to inch into the ocean)
Picturesque. Chasing the sun along Highway 1, as it dips into the Pacific Ocean.
And you can't possibly pass up the opportunity of going to Northern California without tasting the wine. So we went on a (free) winery tour. Quite educational, really (and you can be a wine snob too!). Courtesy of Wente Winery.
Fermenting barrels. Each barrel makes: 15 cases x 12 bottles per case = 300 bottles of wine. Woo doggy!
Yeah, a tank of wine.
49,100 gallons of wine... Hmm... Sign reads:
CAUTION
Confined Space. Use Lock-Out & Entry Procedures Prior to Entry.
You can ENTER that thing? Sweet! *dresses into a bathing suit*
Bottling station. They fill the bottles with nitrous gas (which is heavier than oxygen) and then the tube fill up the wine, pushing the gas out. They can fill 100 bottles/minute here.
The international door. The door says "Keep the door closed" in different languages (written by the workers).
Murietta's Well (another winery) - this is the legendary well where the Artegian horsemen stopped to rest their horse (or something like that).
We ate A TON of food. This trip was almost planned according to our meal schedules. We had steak, seafood, Vietnamese Pho, (amazing) Mexican Food, homemade South Indian food, sushi, osechi (traditional Japanese New Year's meal), and In-n-Out Burger. Whew! Alkaseltzer anybody?
Mmm... homemade sushi.
My brother with our adorable neighbors - Nivita and Nitin.
Just playin' with the cat. Cat in a bag. Cat in a bag.
A real treat this year was to attend Hoover's 10th Annual New Year's Eve Party. A high school reunion, really. Good to see some old faces, catching up and being merry.
Deven, Liz, Joe, Paul, and Laura look pretty for the camera.
With their homemade TiVo, we watched Deven's show (she was an Assistant Project Manager at Nickelodeon) Catscratch. We get the inside information about what really happens inside the studios - haha.
A rare shot of Nick and Karma (does not love the camera, but caught them anyway).
And come January 1st...
Traditional Japanese New Year's at the Takasu Household. Osechi and sake.
An excerpt from Deven's online journal:
"We got to have this today. Saki invited us over for a traditional Japanese New Year feast, and it was really really good. Her mom just kept bringout more food! After the main dishes, we also had a soup, (I think it was called Zoni), and then sugary candies. I think I drank my weight in tea. I also had my first taste of sake, which I've been meaning to try for awhile. It was a lot of fun. It was the best meal I've had in a long while. I think it spolied me on regular food."
Women cook this for several days straight at the end of the year so that they don't need to cook for several days in the new year. The food were all things that could be eaten cold and needed little re-preparation. As a kid, I never understood how this was fair at all. Thank goodness to supermarkets and refrigerators now though.
Akemashite Omedeto gozaimasu ^_^ Wishing everyone a Great New Year!
// posted by sakit @ 1:34 PM 
