Delicious Japanese Foods!

I’ve been eating lots n lots of foods here….   Most of them are Japanese food

I cook just simple dishes at home (such as grilled fish, simmered vegetables etc), but my dad sometimes buys us sushi, sashimi and grilled unagi (eel).

This sushi platter was from sushi bar which my dad often goes to.  It’s near my house, and we’ve been their customers since I was very little.

I visited my grand parents’ house (Hiro’s great grandparents), and they bought us sushi too.  Individually packed per person.

I told my mum that I wanted to eat buta-jiru (miso soup with pork), then she made to accompany the sushi.

Plus some small dishes including karaage and grilled chicken.

Tamago-toji Udon is one of my favorite.

Ama-ebi (sweet shrimp) sashimi.  Raw, of course.

Our usual breakfast on weekend at cafe.  I love Japanese bread!

Koala-no-March Hotel Room

Lotte Koala-no-March, chocolate snack in Japan, is one of my favorite.  I’ve seen Chinese and Korean version of this snack in Perth, so I don’t know if it’s originally Japanese though.  Inside, each chocolate-filled snack has different face of koala – one is smiling, one is crying, and one is angry.  Some of them are wearing sunglasses, and some of them wear kimono.

If you like this snack like me, you’ll probably want to stay in a hotel room filled with this cute koala character.  Yes, there are in Japan!  Koala-no-March theme hotel rooms.

This Koala-no-March themed hotel room has koalas everywhere – on the wall, bed cover, curtain, pajamas, and amenities.  Not only children but also adults will be exited to stay in this room, I think

This Lotte City Hotel Kinshi-cho (Sumida-ku, Tokyo) has beautiful views of Tokyo Tower, Sky Tree, and also JR trains from some rooms.  And, there is a chocolate factory cafe on the ground floor where customers can enjoy chocolate making.  Curry, pizza and hamburgers contain chocolate at this cafe.

There is a chance of winning a night at this Koala-no-March hotel room.  Simply go to campaign site and answer the question, and submit the answer to the address shown on the website.

Parenting Room in Shopping Mall Japan

I never paid attention on parenting rooms and babies/children play area in Japan until I had my own baby.  Since Hiro was born I appreciated the existence of parenting rooms in shopping centres in Perth.  They are clean, convenient, and roomy (most of them).

As I planned a homecoming trip to Japan, I was worried that there may be no such area in shopping malls in Japan.  I just didn’t remember seeing one.  So I was relieved to see such a clean, big parenting room in a small shopping mall near my house!  If a shopping centre in Shiga has like this, I’m sure there’s one as big as this or even bigger one in other prefectures.

Cushiony changing tables.

There is a scale for weight and height!

Sink to wash hand….

Inside breastfeeding area.

And, there’re many strollers for babies in shopping centres as well.  Few different kinds – the one attached to a shopping cart, the one with just a baby seat, and the one looks like a ride-on toy.

Getting Very Cold Here…

It’s been still our morning routine to go for a walk.  Here, the difference is that the temperature is much much colder than it is in Perth.  I hear it’s very hot over there…  over 37 degrees?  Here in Shiga, Japan, it’s about 10 degrees.  Plus it’s raining and pretty windy today, so I feel very cold.

I need to wrap Hiro up with extra layers.  Hanten, winter indoor jacket, is our must item.

As everyone probably knows, we eat lots of things everyday here.  Sweets, rice, noodle, okonomiyaki, etc etc.  When we go shopping, we can’t help ourselves to not buy the food at the stall or food court.  They all look so yummy, and cheap.

D loves stall-type (yatai) food such as yakisoba, takoyaki and okonomiyaki.  We ate them 2 days in a row.  It may be because Shiga is Kansai, but there’re are many shops/stalls selling these items everywhere here.

And my favorite Sugakiya ramen noodle.  D had yakitori-donburi and takoyaki.

Hiro is eating yummy Japanese food everyday, and he smiles a lot these days

Sunny Morning

It was a sunny morning so Hiro and I went outside for a short stroll.

It’s nice to go out!  It wasn’t too cold.  If it’s raining or snowing, we can’t probably go walking like this in the morning.  In Perth, going for a walk around 8AM had been our routine because while walking he always fell asleep and take nap for 1hour or so.  If he doesn’t take this morning nap around 8am (before his 10AM solid feed) he gets cranky.  So, walking using a baby carrier was a great help.  He loves the bouncy feeling, I think.

We walked pass the neighbourhood temple.  People were already working.

I can’t believe I used to swim in this river when I was a kid!  It’s all covered with grass now.

After this walk, he fell asleep as usual.  Already looks sleepy in this photo…