hello kitty holidays

one "weekend" late in november (which is almost never saturday and sunday for nova teachers, it was tuesday and wednesday for me, wednesday and thursday for jill) jill and i made plans to go to takamatsu for a little starbucks and to start our christmas shopping. and in the evening we would meet mariko for some dinner and drinks.

well after lolly-gagging in starbucks for far longer than normal people (it feels a little like home... plus there's great people watching) we attempted to do some shopping for people on our lists. sounded like an easy enough task, to pick out some cute japanese themed stuff to mail home. and yet all we came away with that day was a 3-foot plastic christmas tree and some hello kitty decorations. we made plans to go to takamatsu *again* the following weekend - and this time really get some gift buying done.

christmas presents started arriving in our mailbox, along with some confusion trying to pick up packages at the post office, and our flat started to look really festive. we began planning our christmas eve and day feasts, as well as a post christmas detox day before we headed to tokyo for new year's.

christmas eve day was so balmy that we could open our balconey doors and let the air flow in. after watching "pirates of the carribean" for the second time over a breakfast of poached eggs and hollondaise it was time to get ourselves moving. we rode our bikes to vivre in utazu (the shopping center extrordonaire) without coats to purchase our holiday feast supplies. we came away with ¥10,400 worth of groceries packed in our bike baskets and our backpacks (which seems like a lot of money - it's about $100 - but we did get 4 bottles of wine and ¥1,000 worth of beef, so i'd say it was pretty good) and headed home to start preparations.


our christmas eve setup
we spent christmas eve like i do at home every year. we watched christmas movies (my family sent a tape with some of the classics on it - a charlie brown christmas, rudolph the red-nosed reindeer, and white christmas). and we drank and ate (edamame, gyoza, chili shrimp, sushi, pistachios, pringles, and mulled wine).

christmas day was the strangest ever - for many reasons. in the morning we had a lovely, holiday breakfast of bacon sandwiches and mimosas. but then jill had to go to work (while they love christmas in japan, it's not *really* a holiday as most people are shinto and buddhists). i spent my day doing laundry, going to the store to buy jill's christmas gifts (they were open, since it's not a holiday), i painted my nails, and pretty much sat around watching movies until jill got home from work.

then the real holiday began. we started by opening some wine and our presents. then we began preparing our feast. we started with a butternut squash soup (from a carton). then we had a japanese flavored beef stew, mashed potatoes, green beans and corn, broccoli citron, and of course more wine. by the time we finished we could barely move.


christmas dinner (notice the mobile phones at the dinner table)
we had planned to meet some of our friends at karaoke to sing some christmas songs, but in the end didn't feel like getting off the couch. we watched "pirates of the carribean" again (a gift from my lovely girls) and drank more wine. all in all it was a lovely day, but strangely didn't quite feel like a real christmas....

if you're going to san francisco...

this post has been hanging in limbo since march 14, 2006... nearly 2 weeks ago. c'est la vie. here it is now:

... be sure to wear some flowers in your hair

both caitlyn and i arrived at oakland airport on friday evening. at danielle's dorm room that night (almost like old times - except no cassie! :( ) we perused a catalog of vineyards in preparation for our trip to napa valley.

we woke early the next day, despite the loud japanese girls living down the hall, without too much trouble (hooray 3 hour time difference - 8am feels like 11am). after a quick stop at starbucks we were on our way.

the day was sunny enough as we made our way to our first winery, the hess collection. located at the end of a long and winding road it had a small collection of modern art, beautiful views, and of course wine tasting. next we headed to darioush. the outside was beautiful, the entry way was flanked by columns and fountains, the view was scenic. but on the inside the wine was pricey and the whole atmosphere was a little too posh. after a lovely midday meal at pacific blues we went to provenance, which we had been given free tasting coupons for from hess. here we learned a little about wine growing and grapes in napa valley and i tasted my first sip of my newest obsession - port.

the next winery on our list was v. sattui. this place had lots of people, like darioush, but was very down to earth. we took a place at the tasting bar and were served by an older guy whose name tag read george sattui (though he claimed it was a coincidence). we made our purchases and headed to our last stop of the day - hall. this place was small, but the staff were funny and the the other tasters amusing. we closed the place down with a glass of sparkling california wine and headed back to hayward.


the crew at hall winery
sunday was our day to explore big sur. big sur is a coastal region of california, with dramatic oceanside cliffs and redwood filled forests. after the long drive we started with some sandwiches and hot tea at the nepenthe restaurant. then we did a short (but steep) hike to an unimpressive waterfall in the pfeiffer big sur state park. we followed the coastal route 1 home.


the beautiful big sur coastline
on our third (and my final) day in the bay area we spent in san francisco. early in the morning caitlyn's dad (mr. man) arrived for a few days visit and they went off to breakfast. after danielle and i got ourselves together we all drove into the city. after checking into their hotel, mr. man took a nap while we girls headed off to japantown for lunch. a seemingly straight route from the hotel was nearly all uphill (*big* hills too) and after a short descent we arrived at our destination.


danielle and caitlyn in japantown
we had some lovely sushi at a shop proclaiming to have the best sushi rolls in san francisco (and they were pretty darn good). after a little shopping (and the discovery of one of my obsessions from my time in japan - rice crackers) we went back to pick up mr. man. after dropping danielle at the bart station (she had work to do, it was a weekday afterall) we drove down lombard street - twice - which was big fun.

then we walked down to the wharves to see the excitement and the sea lions. after wandering around and poking in and out of some shops we chose a restaurant for dinner with a view. sadly there was not the beauteous sunset we had hoped for - it was still quite cloudy from the afternoon rain. my time in san fran was coming to an end. after a little post-dinner tv i was dropped at the airport with my crate of wine bottles and a ticket home.

good times. :)