Ah, Is That An Ice Cream Truck I Hear?

Even after two years in Japan, I can still almost taste the neighborhood ice cream of yesteryear when I hear this jingle (click on arrow beneath first photo) from the end of my driveway.

But as the tune draws near, and I almost smell the neighborhood garbage of yesterweek, I am disillusioned. Alas, it is not an ice cream truck, but a garbage truck...

"Let's Do Lunch"









Miranda and her first, best, and only friend Julia (Kathleen's daughter) dined out for lunch at Cantina restaurant across from Zushi beach last week. They have a lot in common; they were born in the same month, they have the same cup (and the same strollers), they both love to eat, and they both have an older sister named Sydney!

Sydney's a Model!

Sydney made her modeling debut in a Japanese magazine called Shortcoco. Last month, I took both girls to the photo shoot one morning while Brian whisked Dave and Danielle around Tokyo. I didn't mind missing Meiji Shrine for what would've been my seventh visit. Plus the location was convenient to the New Sanno Hotel, where we were staying. And more importantly, it only lasted a couple of hours and all she had to do was play with Legos and hold a doll. Fun!

Here are the Lego pages:

And here are two more pages in which Sydney's holding Tottemo-chan, the doll mascot for a milk tea company called Tottemo.













Behind the Scenes:

It wasn't too difficult to get her to play along. Although she kept wanting to turn her back to us to delve into the dollhouse (not shown above, it's on the opposite page). And in between her photos, the trusty video mp3 served its purpose (read: Dora) well.

And actually getting to delve into the dollhouse provided at least 30 minutes of self-directed play between photo shoots.

Miranda and I were a little jealous (just look at her expression), so we started taking photos of ourselves and then Miranda took the floor... (well, only literally!) Sydney stole the show that day!

It's Official...









I outrank Brian. No, just kidding. But I did receive a Navy Meritorious Public Service Award at the USNH Yokosuka Change of Command ceremony last week.

It was an honor for developing a welcome guide (with my friend Kathleen) for incoming hospital command families and creating a website for the Oakleaf Club of Yokosuka, (which is the hospital spouses' group).

Left to Right: Vice Admiral Robinson (Surgeon General of the U.S. Navy), Melissa, Kathleen, me, Captain Krentz (outgoing CO of USNH)

Cooking with Keiko and Noriko
Lesson 2: Sukiyaki

Brian and I agree this was one of the best meals we've had in our two years in Japan. Of course we couldn't help but enjoy this special meal when, 1) our Japanese friends made it for us, and 2) the meat alone was $30 (i.e., psychologically it "must be good")!

Regardless of the reason, we really enjoyed the sukiyaki Noriko-san and Keiko-san made for us last week. I only hope we can replicate it! Of course, I was too busy socializing and watching to remember to take photos of every stage. Not that it would've helped, since they used a "little bit" of this and a "little bit" of that. But here's my best guess at recording what we did.

(And for the record, sukiyaki is usually made in the winter, not in July. It is also supposed to be made at the dining table using a gas burner under a special sukiyaki pan. But after much Japanese debate between Keiko and Noriko--presumably about the authenticity of the resultant sukiyaki--we improvised and made it on my gas stove and brought it to the table. Sacrilege? Maybe. Delicious? Definitely.)

Here's what you need:

• 1 pound of sukiyaki beef (tenderloin thinly sliced)
• 1 piece of beef suet (usually comes with the sukiyaki meat)
• about 3 long onions (similar to leeks)
• 1/4 of a head of Chinese cabbage
• 1 package of shirataki (jelly-like noodles made from starch of a vegetable root called "devil's tongue)
• 1 package of shitake mushrooms
• 1 block of grilled tofu (can use regular, but it may fall apart during cooking)
• about 1/2 cup soy sauce
• about 1/2 cup mirin (Japanese sweet wine)
• water
• about 4 to 5 tablespoons of sugar
• raw egg for dipping
• 1 package fresh udon noodles

1. Prepare all ingredients before beginning. Cut long onion into diagonal 2-inch slices. Cut off stems of mushrooms and make a criss-cross incision on the tops of each mushroom. Cut shirataki noodles into 3-4 inch lengths. Cut cabbage into small pieces, slicing the stem portion very thinly so it cooks evenly.







Cut grilled tofu into bite-size pieces.

2. Heat pan. Place beef suet in the pan and cook until half-melted.

3. Add some beef, spreading the thin slices. When beef begins to turn brown, add about an equal amount of soy sauce and mirin, a little water, and about 4 to 5 tablespoons of sugar. The liquid in pan should be about 1/4 inch deep at all times.

(I started to reach for the cabinet to get the sugar bowl while asking how much sugar we needed. Keiko laughed and said we needed "big sugar." She wasn't kidding, so I pulled out the canister of sugar. Now I see why most Japanese desserts aren't very sweet; dinner has enough sugar!)

4. Then add some vegetables, shirataki, and tofu and let simmer a few minutes. As the ingredients are cooked, remove them from the pan. Dip the cooked food in a raw whisked egg before eating. (Alternatively, Noriko's husband likes to make a well within the sukiyaki vegetables and adds the egg to poach in the sukiyaki liquid).

5. Repeat steps 3 and 4 until all ingredients are cooked. After meat and vegetables are eaten (or removed from pan if saving for leftovers), add fresh udon noodles to the remaining sauce in the pan, cook, and enjoy!

My Little Patriots

I'm Miranda.

It's my first 4th of July.

This is my sister, Sydney.

It's her third 4th of July.

So, then why are you wearing this outfit, too?

"Because 'Mena' (Nana) gave it to me!"

Sydney's Potty Train

Now that summer's here, I have a looming deadline of August 21st--the day Sydney starts preschool and must be potty trained. This isn't an unrealistic expectation, but since the cut off date for starting preschool was October 31 and her birthday is October 30, she is basically the youngest kid in her class, potentially presenting more of a potty training challenge.

So, I started to potty train Sydney two weeks ago with no real plan except to stay home and quit diapers cold turkey. I drew an eight-car train, letting her put stickers on it each time she used the potty. (I figured we are potty training, although I knew the pun would be lost on her.) And of course she was allowed to drink juice all day long for three days straight--a real luxury. (She didn't even mind that I diluted it and she began to ask for "juice and water," since she saw me mixing the two all day long!)

Surprisingly, by the fourth day, she was "on board the potty train" with no accidents! Good thing, since the Toilet Training in One Day book arrived 7 days too late...

We've had an accident every now and then since then, but mostly while getting onto the potty. So, I can't complain. In fact, once we got past day 2 and the continual carpet cleaning, it has kind of been a rewarding experience seeing her enjoy her independence..and her rewards.

Her favorite colors are pink and purple, so the last car of the train was purple (only because I didn't have a pink marker). I told her when she got to purple, she could have a toy. I had one toy on hand, and it's a good thing since she went on the potty eight times the first day. So, day 1 she got some purple princess dress-up shoes.

We faultered a little day 2 and 3 because I didn't prebuy toys and didn't feel we were ready to go out to a store to buy one. But when I brought the prospect of a present back on day 4, she had renewed interest. So, the second gift she earned this week she picked out herself at the store. A cash register, which she dubbed her "money toy." She is my daughter! I would've loved this toy as a kid, with the electronic scanner for groceries and the credit card, which you can actually swipe through the machine and it makes a fun sound. But alas, she doesn't let me use it when we play store. Only Sydney gets to be the "store lady." She helps me pick out the groceries and perhaps as a consolation prize she doles out extra money to me from the cash register rather than depositing the money I give her. If only this was the way real stores worked!