The Great Thailand Escape, Part I

Steaming 60¢ pad thai noodles and mouthwatering curries for under $2. Noisy, intruding sputters of the three-wheeled tuk-tuk taxis. Cosmopolitans intermingling with backpackers to a background of cat-calls from tailor shops. $5 one-hour, full-body massages, ancient temples, and techno clubs, all woven together with devout, shrine-worshipping Buddhism. Surely there is no other workout for the senses as the one given by Bangkok, where we began our 12-day vacation in the colorful country of Thailand.

The markets...ohhhhh, the markets!!! There's no greater pleasure than eating your way through a Thai market and stuffing yourself with old favorites and strange, new indulgences, all for the price of a subway trip downtown back in Sapporo!

For Christmas, we headed to Pechaburi, a Thai town seen by most visitors through the blurred windows of a south-bound bus down to the beaches and resorts. Getting off of the "banana-pancake trail" (as we lovingly called the tourist route) for a bit gave us a chance to experience an old Thai Royal Palace, as well as some incredible Buddha caves guarded by a throng of wild monkeys.

And of course, we ate...and ate, and ate.

Part II and back to the Banana Pancake Trail, to be continued...

Until Next Year...

We're headed off for two weeks in Thailand tomorrow and will be back in 2009, the year of the Ox!  Happy, happy holidays everyone!

The Great Santa Gig

A couple of weeks ago, I posted this about the local elementary school who wanted Jacob to be their "authentic" santa for their kindergarden program by presenting him with their Secret Santa File.  Unfortunately, I was unable to get off of work for the event, but was able to send my camera along with one of the teachers, who took some of the cutest images ever (yes, that really IS Jacob under all that garb):

I think Jacob's already been booked for next year.  We're hoping to branch out into the local malls as well.

Pounded Rice and Ninja Elves

The holidays are just around the corner, and we've been preparing in style at school this past week.  One of the coolest events we held was the traditional mochisuki ceremony, a Japanese New Year's event where mochi, or pounded rice cakes, is made in the old, two-person team style by bashing the bejesus out of a pile of steamed, glutinous rice in a big mortar.

Mochi can be found all over Japan, especially during New Years.  If you come to this country, you will no doubt become acquainted with these glorious globs of glutinous goodness soon after your arrival.  The stuff is prepared and served in a variety of ways, from sweet to savory, and is definitely one of Japan's most unique foods (in fact, where we have the Man on the Moon, the Japanese think that there are two rabbits on the moon pounding mochi)!  You can read more about mochi here.

The PTA moms, who graciously sponsored the whole event, were on hand to serve tea and roll the large, freshly-pounded mochi blobs into small balls before serving them up to the students and teachers.  They had every kind of mochi available, from daifuku (mochi stuffed with anko sweet beans) and kinako (roasted mochi dipped into a mixture of soy sauce, water, and sugar) to serving it in a variety of soups!  Pictured below on the left is mochi in zoni soup (a broth with vegetables and chicken) and on the right is oshiruko, or sweet bean soup:

I even had a go at pounding mochi, despite my worries of taking the little old lady's hand clean off!!

If you can't get enough of this zani mochi-making, check out the video I took of two professionals in action:

This week was also the English Club クリスマス (Christmas) party...a riveting time if I do say so myself!

We stuffed ourselves silly with delectable treats...

...sang Christmas carols and opened presents...

...and had a special appearance by Rudolph and Santa themselves:

The best ninja-esque Santa I've seen yet:

Christmas Eve will be the last day of classes, and incidentally, the climax of the "Japanese Christmas Frenzy" which began long ago, about two weeks before Halloween.  This is the day when all of the fried chicken and cakes get eaten, all the presents are given, and all the romantic dates are had (yes, that's right, Christmas is a romantic holiday here)!

Ahhh...the holidays in Japan...