Japanese on the weekends: 2015

Thursday, October 1, 2015

Tasting at Cask

I went to Cask the other day with a friend. They have a few stores (at least two that I've been to) and have tastings quite often (Tastings link) at the Postal Building near my work. They've got quite the nice selection of whiskeys, if you're a fan, and the Postal Building is a nice building.

Cheers!

Saturday, September 26, 2015

豚肉ときのこのお弁当 - Pork and mushroom obento

ヤット新しい弁当箱買えました!!これで、お昼全部ひとつの容器で済む。ヨシ！We finally bought a new bento box!! So, now I don't have to put my son's rice in a separate container (yay!)

Today's bento was grilled pork with shimeji mushrooms, broccoli (I wonder if my kids eat too much broccoli sometimes...) and rolled omelet (with black sesame seeds), with vegetable furikake (a kind of dried flake topping that you can put on rice) mixed with rice.

本日のお弁当は、豚バラ肉とシメジの炒め物、ブロッコリーとゴマ入りの卵焼きの少々手抜きのお弁当でした。ご飯は、野菜ふりかけのかけたご飯でした。

Monday, September 21, 2015

Things that happened a long while ago...

I often take photos of things that I would really like to share, but then get so busy that I never get around to posting...at some point I start to wonder if it makes sense to post such things any more and usually eventually delete such pictures or save them for my own picture books. This is one of those things, but, as I would really like to post it, please endure.

I attended the opening of my friend's exhibit at the Canessa Gallery (Canessa) at the beginning of August. It's title was "Time". It was a series of photographs that detailed my friend's journey of handling the loss of his dear brother. It was truly a beautiful exhibit. The opening was attended by his brother's widow and child. I really meant to post this quite a while ago. Unfortunately the exhibit ended at the end of August. Here are some pictures from it however.

Saturday, September 19, 2015

Chicken & Nori (seaweed) (チキンのお弁当)

Today's J-school bento was chicken. ....hmmmmm....well I'm really running out of creativity on these. I've tried hard not to repeat bentos...but it's tough. In the name of spontaneity, I put nori (dried seaweed) in today's rolled omelet. ^_^;;;...weeeeellll....it doesn't look too impressive, but my kids (even the baby) loooove nori. So. Much. This omelet was kind of a success. Although I should figure out how to make the nori form a lovely swirl through to the middle of the omelet.

飽きないよう、卵焼きに海苔を入れてしまい、見た目はともかく、海苔好きの我が子にとってはｸﾞｯd(TヮT;;)らしいです。

Wednesday, September 16, 2015

GG Park Japanese Tea Garden 日本庭園でのお散歩

My family and I took a stroll through the Japanese garden at Golden Gate Park the other day (Here). It's a nice size, although a bit expensive for what's there, I feel (SF residents are $6 and non-residents are $8. They charge $2 for children from age 5 to 11.). I guess, this not being Japan, they are able to charge in accordance with its rarity? For instance, the garden at Meiji Jingu is very big and beautiful and only carries a JPY500 (about $4.15) "contribution" (I always pay, but maybe you don't have to?) for maintenance of the garden, but the garden in Golden Gate Park provides a nice stroll. It's a good size for small children (my 1 y.o. was able to walk the whole thing without problem). Also, there are squirrels, which basically are never in Japanese gardens in Japan, so that was exciting. We took a snack at the tea house there. The matcha and snacks are complete decent. It also serves fortune cookies because fortune cookies are actually a Japanese creation brought to America. It's interesting because here they are almost exclusively found in Chinese restaurants here...^_^;;;

先日、家族とゴールデン・ゲート・パークの日本庭園に行ってみました。割と広いですけれど（それでも1歳児でも歩ききれるぐらいの広さですが）、ちょっと高い気がします。アメリカは、こうゆうガーデンが珍しいからかしら…？園内のティーハウスでおやつをしたが、写真をとる前に子供はもう食べかけてしまいました。お菓子などは、以外と食べられ、普通においしかったです。↓の紅色のお餅は、なぜか強いイチゴの味がして、びっくりしましたが！

園内は、フォーチュン・クッキーが食べられます。フォーチュンクッキーはアメリカですと、よく中華料理のお店で出されますが、本来、日本からアメリカに持ってきたものなんで、ここで食べられるのがとてもいいと思います。

View from the tea house. ティーハウスからの眺め。

Food at the tea house (my kids starting eating before I could take a picture) -- the pink mochi was surprisingly a strawberry flavor (this is not the flavor of pink mochi in Japan)!

Saturday, September 12, 2015

Obento come-back

Japanese school has started up again. Which means...bento-making is back as a part of my Saturday morning routine. This bento consists of a hamburger patty (ground beef, onions, panko bread crumbs and egg; after grilling it with the cover on the pan (so that it also kind of steams itself), it spends some time in a "sauce" bath -- I think I've written about Japanese "sauce" before, but it's something like Worcestershire sauce. Well, usually my kid doesn't like any sauce on his food, but I'm trying to break that a bit), grape tomatoes, blueberries (they weren't very sweet, so I rubbed them in some sugar -- gah! I know, but US fruit is sooooo hit or miss -- probably because the seasons are sooooo long (the market near me has had blueberries every time I go since April...)), burdock root (cut and simmered in cooking sake, mirin, soy sauce, salt and sugar <--the holy grail of all Japanese cooking) and a rolled omelet.

さあ、補習校の秋学期が始まったので、お弁当作りにまた挑戦いたしまあす！息子のあんまり気に入ったないソースのものですが、なんと全部食べてくれました！ヾ(￣∇￣=ﾉﾊﾞﾝｻﾞｰｲ♪

ソースに煮込んだハンバーグ、グレープトマト、
ブルーベリー（甘くなかった（アメリカだから）ので、お砂糖をかけて）、ごぼうと卵焼き。

Thursday, September 10, 2015

Texas hotels (テキサス州のホテル)

I had planned on making a post on my stay at the Mansion on Turtle Creek in Dallas the other day (by which I mean about a month ago, after my first visit)...but then I was busy, as I usually am, and then it just never happened. So here is a review of the Mansion, at which I have now stayed multiple times, and the Omni in Fort Worth (which, btw, is sooooooo far away from Dallas), at which I have stayed once.　お待たせいたしました。やっと約束したテキサス州のホテルのレビューです。ローズウッド・マンション・オン・タートル・クリーク（ダラス市）はもう何回も泊まっているホテルです。オムにホテル（フォートワース市）は一回しか泊まっていません。ちなみにフォートワースはダラスの近くにありそうで、実はものすごく遠いのです。

-- And just now as I started writing this, I received a package from the Mansion, which basically speaks to why I love them. I forgot my suit jacket in the closet of my room after my most recent stay, and the FedEx'd it to me right away. Really nice service there. --

Anywhoo...

Gone again!! またまた旅立つ。。。

Off to Texas again on work!! Well, this is looking to be the last time for a while though. As a small-town girl, I will tell you that traveling (by which I mean getting on planes) and staying in hotels is rather exciting (even though I've lived in NY, LA, Tokyo and SF :P)...but I have started getting a bit tired of SOOO much traveling. I've basically been gone four days a week, every week for the last month. My poor kids were so happy to see me a bit more last week, but now I'm off again. I will be plenty relieved to settle back down once this stint is over.

また仕事でテキサスに行ってきます。今回はしばらく最後だそうですが、本当だといいけど…や文句ゆうけんど、実は、田舎育ちのアタシにとっては、普通は、トラベルってすんごく楽しいと思います。飛行機に乗ったり、ホテルに泊まったりすると未だにわくわくする気持ちでいっぱい（大人になってからはニューヨーク、ロス、東京、サンフランシスコに住んだことあるが、まだまだ田舎もん^^;;）。が、KONNA NI 出張するとちょっとしんどくなってしまうんです。だって、この一ヶ月は、毎週、週４ぐらいで出張で家にいないのです。先週はより家にいられて、子供が大喜びでしたが、またまた今日出かけちゃいますね。今回が終わったら、ちょっと家にいられるのを大事にします。

Tuesday, August 25, 2015

Running wear

Today's jog started at Ocean Beach and went through Golden Gate park. Still trying to run once a week....but traveling for work all the time has really put a hamper on it >.<. Eating nothing but room service and business lunches isn't helping my waistline either -_-;;.

さあ、今日もジョギングしてみました。オーシャンビーチをはじめ、ゴールデンゲートパークなどをジョギングしました。最近、仕事のトラベルが多いので、あんまり走れてないが、ちょっとウェーストや腰の辺が。。。＞。＜。しかも、ホテルのルームサービスやクライアントとの食事も多いので。。。困ります！

Overcast in the outer Richmond

Joggers' Russian Hill ^_^;;

Running wear -- here's a mother of three's tummy! I love how a tight sports bra pulls up everything in just the right way -- instant sportiness!

三児の母です！スポーツブラのおかげで、スポーティ度アップ↑↑↑！

Wednesday, August 19, 2015

And as soon as I'm back, I'm gone!

また仕事でテキサスに行ってきまあす！

At the airport on my way to Texas again for work

Monday, August 17, 2015

ただいま～ (Back in the SF Office)

Well after a busy week of traveling to NY and then to Dallas, it's a bit nice to be back in the SF office. All the summers are gone -- grabbed my fav junior for a quick coffee at the new Blue Bottle Coffee (here) by my office. She got a waffle←I totally recommend these waffles btw, they are delicious...unfortunately, it was eaten before I got my coffee (some people just cannot wait! Lol!!).

ここおいしいよ！

やっとサンフランシスコに戻りました！一週間に、４回の飛行機って疲れますよね。ちょっと落ち着くため後輩と職場の隣に新しくできたブルーボトルに行ってみました。日本にもあるらしい（ここよ）が、アメリカと同じ味でしたら、大変お勧めしますよ。後輩はワッフル頼んだけんど、コーヒーを待ってるうち食べてしまいました←これもおいしいと思う！

Saturday, August 15, 2015

New York for OCI

What a whirlwind of a week. It started off by taking a redeye to NY. Unfortunately, although it was the first time being back in NY in over 5 years, I was stuck in the NY office all day on Monday. Tuesday I was busy doing OCI (well, EIP since it was for Columbia students -- law school students will know what this is, but it's interviews for summer associates. It stands for "on-campus interview"; EIP stands for "early interview program") all day.

うぁ！先週は忙しかった！！！日曜の夜ニューヨークに出発。月曜は一日中仕事。火曜日は一日中面接（この時期は、ロースクール生は、みんな就職活動中。うちはサンフランシスコオフィスの代表^_^;;)>として面接を行いました。）水曜日はテキサスに飛んで、金曜日までダラスで仕事をし、家に着いたのは金曜の夜９時ごろでした。つかれたあああ！

View from my guest office ・ゲストオフィスからの眺め

I stayed at the London

Coffee with a fellow blogger

Had the honor of having coffee with this girl (fellow blogger with a legal day job) → http://www.pacificavenueblog.com/　←ブロガー先輩と会うことができました　☆キュン☆

She loves La Capra too. Cheers! 彼女もラ・カプラが好きだそうです。乾杯！=^_^=

Heading off to NYC next week for OCI interviews. Perhaps I'll see you there. Be sure you dress to impress! 来週はニューヨークよ！チャオ！

Wednesday, August 5, 2015

Toe stockings -- ストッキングのレビュー

My mother-in-law recently came for a visit from Japan and brought me these ↓ toe stockings (like toe-socks, but, well stockings. And yes, a 5'7 size 3-4 person in the US will be a size double L in Japan >.<).

義理の母に買ってもらったストッキング。日本だとよく買うメーカーさんですが、指になってるストッキングって。。。

So, I tried these on before work this morning....the toe parts are made for someone who has super short toes....or maybe I have unusually long toes. LOL! ^_^;;

たこシチュー -- Spanish octopus stew

昨日はそうでしたが、たまに子供にスペイン料理をあげたくて、たこのシチューを作ります。うちの作れるスペイン料理はこれとチューロスぐらいですかね（苦笑）。I feel like making Spanish food every now and then...and octopus stew and churros are about the only things I can make. Hoho!

たこシチューは以外にかんたんです。材料は：

①ねぎ、たこ、オーリブオイル、べイリーフ（2枚）、粉パプリカ、サーフロン（少々）、塩、コショウ、ニンニク
②白ワイン、貝殻スープ、トマト（４つ）
③ニンジン、キャベツ、ソーセージ、きのこ（何でもいいケンド、うちはだいたいシメジを入れてます。スペインにあるかどうかは分からんが。）
④パセリー、レモン汁

まずは、①をおなべに入れ、弱火でねぎがやや透明になるぐらい火を通します。次は②を加えて３～4時間煮込みます。③を入れ、40分煮込みます。最後にパセリーを入れ、混ぜます（うちは子供のシチューをパセリー抜きにしてますが、大人のほうには入れてます）。レモン汁は食べる直前にかけます。大人のほうだけにはチリフレーク（ほんの少し）も入れてます。

主人はいつも驚くが、子供はゴク普通たべます（アメリカに来てからはじめて作ったので、別に海外の料理に慣れてるとゆうのは全くありませんでした）。ご自分で作っては、いかがでしょうか？

Onions and bay leaves -- just some apples on my counter (there are no apples in this recipe)

This is the octopus I get imported from Spain via La Tienda: Pulpo en Aceite de Oliva by Conservas de Cambados

スペインから輸入した蛸
Cook these with the onions, bay leaves, garlic, paprika and saffron until the onions start sweating. Then add wine, seafood broth, and four cut tomatoes and simmer, simmer, simmer

simmering for 4 hours
Then add carrots, cabbage, sausage and mushrooms and simmer for 40 more minutes.

All done -- this is a kid's portion over white rice
(For adults, I also add parsley and chili flakes) squirt some lemon juice on top and enjoy! ^_~

Friday, July 31, 2015

ジョギング "Jogging" is "jogging" in Japanese ^_~

先日ジョギングを始めました。10年ぶりかな。いきなり5.1キロでしたが、大変すぎるう！全身筋肉痛>.<!!

I started jogging the other day...(I'm inspired by a really fit female attorney in this office!)...I haven't been jogging in about 10 years. I started with a 3 mile run (because this is how you start training for x-country in high school), which I figured is a distance that non-runners should probably be able to do.

...I hurt all over.

Bay bridge is near my office

Back to work!

Tuesday, July 28, 2015

Feels like home to me…oh but not to you?

Well continuing on my experience in Dilley, TX, the other week...

The work we did in Dilley, I feel was important. It’s hard to make a dent in just a week though. I don’t know if any of the people I talked to will eventually get out of that detention center. I may in fact never know. Additionally, even if they are eventually released, the road to asylum is long ahead. I won’t share their stories here. They are too horrible – too terrible to share with the world on such an easygoing blog. But I do hope that the judges they eventually face look upon them with compassion.

So, I won’t talk about that anymore. This blog isn’t supposed to be that deep, and my initial plan for this blog was never to discuss anything resembling the law. Today, I would like to talk about the city of Dilley, Texas, a town of about 3,500 people.

I hearted everything about Dilley. To me, it brought up memories of the town where I grew up (although I’m from west Texas where there is no humidity, so that was a bit different). My town has seen significant growth in the many years since I left, but when I was growing up, it was quite small, and (largely because my mom couldn’t drive) I never really went beyond the part of my town within 2 – 3 hours walking distance from my house. This portion of my town comprises all my memories of my town and is very easy to romanticize.

Texas for International Justice Day 国際ジャスティス・ディー（難民申告者を解放すべき）

Well, in case you were wondering where I went, I was away in Dilley, Texas last week. 先週は南テキサス州ディリー市（市とゆうても南テキサスのちいさな村なとこです。）でボランティア活動をしてました。

There is a "family" detention center at Dilley for asylum seekers that houses only women and children. These are immigrants mostly from Honduras, El Salvador and Guatemala who are trying to escape gangs that are in control of their hometowns and have targeted them and their children for various reasons. When they reach the U.S., they are being rounded up and detained (here is a LA Times article about the center: "Immigrant families in detention: A look inside one holding center". Recently it's gotten a bit of media and political attention. Here is an article about the group I went with, although I reject the bit that the transactional lawyers didn't know asylum jargon(!): Immigrant lawyers handling a border surge: 'This is really an emergency room situation'). So, I volunteered there last week, mostly hearing people's stories to see if they will be able to pass a credible fear hearing -- this is different from an asylum hearing, but is basically the first step in a long road to asylum or withholding of removal.

ディリーには、母子のための拘置所があります。ほとんどの人はホンジュラス、エルサルバドル、グアテマラ出身で、国を完全コントロールする暴力団にターゲットされ、子供と一緒に、母国を離れ、アメリカに逃げてしまうのです。アメリカにやっと着いたっと思いきや、逮捕せれて犯人扱いされてしまいます。（拘置所の状況に関する記事が上のリンクからアクセスできます（英語ですけど）が、ひどいです。）。とゆうわけで、一週間かけてディリーで務めさせていただきました。ほとんどの私がやった活動は、移民局の方と自国の話しをするときの話し方などの練習やアドバイスでした。単純のことのようですが、とても大事なことです。信憑性のある話かどうかを評価されるため移民局のかたと面談をし、嘘や難民申請をしても、認められない話であろうと判断されたら、国に帰させられてしまいます。初めて自分の話を人に言うとゆう怖さや言葉の壁や心の傷など、いろんな理由で、女性がうまく自分の話を伝えられないのですが、国に戻るとレープされたり、殺されることもあるので、何とか助けたいことです。拘置所から出ても、難民申請がまだ始まったばかりです。認められるまでは長い長い道のりです。

Now, I am honestly not the most lenient in my views on immigration. However, I do not believe it is correct to lock up women and children asylum seekers. These women and children have been through so much in their own hometowns, as well as even more hardships, including rape and exploitation, on the way here. Additionally, I have found that most asylum seekers feel emotional attachment to the places they are from, and I honestly believe that if conditions weren't horrible in their respect countries of origin they would be happiest in those countries.

Well, I started writing this when I arrived in Dilley two weeks ago. My last day there was International Justice Day. I didn't actually know about International Justice Day, but it seemed so perfect to learn about it while in Dilley. Happy Belated International Justice Day, y'all.

サンフランシスコに戻る日は国際ジャスティス・ディーでした。国際ジャスティス・ディーは何なのか全く知らなかったけれど、ディリーで初めて知ったってとても運命的だと思います。

#JusticeMatters

Sunday, July 12, 2015

Nail Magic (自分でマニキュア)

週末の出勤はイヤですが、たまに必要ですねえ（東京ですと普通ですが）。書類のコメントが届くまで、待あてまあす。ので、先日買った用品でマニキュアやってしまいました↓。

Did my nails while waiting for document comments -- oh, weekends in the office are so productive -_-...at least there aren't too many over here.

polish color is bubblebath (OPI); the little flowers are manicure stickers from Daiso

お花はダイソーが売っているつめ用のシールです。実は、使った用品はネイルポリッシュ以外は全部ダイソーです。

3 out of 4 manicure products from Daiso -- I was especially impressed by the base coat

Okay, see you~.

Wednesday, July 8, 2015

Cafe Madeline

Took a summer to Café Madeline. I *heart* their logo. I got a cappuccino with whip cream. In Japan this is on the regular menu at Illy (cappuccino Viennese), but not at Illy in the US (T_T). Café Madeline only has chocolate whip cream (which is sooooo delicious!!), so it's a little different but so good.

Their desserts are delicious as well ～☆.

カプチーノウィーンスタイル＠カフェマドレーヌ。

ロゴがかわいいでしょ＾＿＾

Tuesday, July 7, 2015

Little white dress (ホワイトワンピース)

肩がみえちゃうホワイトワンピースが大流行の最中ですよね。あったかい所に住んでたらいいのにね～。っとゆうけんど、小さい子もいるし、肩を見せるのもかわいいとは思うけれど、うちはなかなかできないタイプなので、ちょっとこの流行に参加できないかなあと思うのですね。

だけんど、アタシがフォローしているブロガーさんの記事から下記のとても素敵な例を挙げようと↓

No doubt little white dresses are soooo in this summer. It makes me wish I lived in a warm place...

Anywhoo, here are two of my favs on blogs I follow:

Fellow SF attorney blogger (but oh so much more fashionable than I -- LOL!): Darah Gabrielle at Pacific Avenue (blog) -- she was in Palm Springs (too cold in SF for such cuteness!)

Fabs style in the warm south: Southern Curls & Pearls

Well, not only do I live in a permafrost environment, but have three smallems makes me generally wary of beautiful white dresses.

Here's a compromise for us mummies by Joie (print over a casual white dress -- I also like this dress, because although I get the off-the-shoulder boom as well....well, I'm more of a show more leg, show less shoulder kind of girl ^_~): http://www.joie.com/arryn-b-dress-porcelain-steel ←完全ホワイトじゃないけど、うちみたいなママが心配なく着ることできそうなかわいいワンピでえす。気に入ってまあす。自分の素敵なワンピを見つけてね！

Happy dress hunting!

Sunday, July 5, 2015

Boss as I wanna be (新スーツ買いました)

So, finally, finally, finally had a real meeting the other day with an actual company and bankers and various counsel -- seriously no one has face-to-face meetings in the US!! I mean, I understand that the US is wide, and perhaps people do not like to come all the way from NY to SF or from wherever else they are to SF, but not meeting in person is soooooooo sad for associates. It's much easier for me to spend endless hours on your documents if I have met you in real life.

Anyway, so in celebration of a real meeting, I bought a new suit. *tee hee*

先日は、やっと、ヤット、やあっとクライアント等と対面しての会議があったの。本当アメリカ人は電話会議が好きすぎよ～。アメリカが広いって分かってるが、飛行機に乗るのが面倒だって分かるが、アソシエイトの立場から見ると、客と会わないで、何週も何ヶ月もかけて書類を書くのが、つうううううらああああいいいいいいの。たとえ、夜中4時までかけて仕事するのって、実際に会ったクライアントのためだと、随分よりやりやすいと思います。そして、実際に会ったほうがより客と弁護士の信頼関係ができやすいと思います。東京ですと、一年生のときからクライアントと会う機会がものすごく多いんですが、こっちですとぜんぜん会わないのが、本当アメリカに来てからの一番大きなカルチャーショックかもしれません。

なので、記念に新しいスーツを買いに行きました。ホホ～！

Morning lighting -- pre-makeup >.<

I really never buy pant suits -- really. I only own one other. But since I've come to the US, I really feel empowered by pants! 日本ですと、スカートばかっりのアタシ、やっぱパンツって不思議なパワーあるね。

office post-meeting (evening) lighting -_-;;...

Wool is nice. I luuuuuuv the color.

See you~!

It's Hugo Boss. See it here (words jump): Jacket and Pants. I'm a size 4 (~36), for your reference. The shirt and cardigan are Uniqlo, btw.

ヒューゴボスです。日本のサイトに載ってるが、インターネットショッピングができないようですねえ：ルックブック（下のほうにあります）。アタシは、USの4サイズですがEUの約36かな？170センチです。

Friday, July 3, 2015

Day off in the park (日本町の近くにできた公園)

I've got today off (observed 4th of July), so I took two out of three smallems (eldest went with my husband to a doctors appointment) to the new playground near SF's J-town (at Raymond Kimbell Playground).　It's new and clean and even my small smallem (1 year 6 months) could easily play on most things (he couldn't play on a tension wire thing they have or a net bridge thing they have).

7月4日（アメリカの独立記念日）が土曜日になっているので、今日が振替休日になりました。サンフランシスコの日本町の近くの公園（Raymond Kimbell Playground (地図)）に新しい遊ぶとこができましたので、ちびっ子たちと一緒に行ってみました。

little kid play structure (うちの下の子は1歳半だけど、問題なく小さいほうの滑り台などで遊べました。).

a xylophone - 鉄琴です

Lovely lattes

A successful launch demands a moment to one's self...or rather shared with a junior ^_^;;. A lovely café breve for me and a quad latte (four shots!!) for my dependable junior -- after a long night of work, sometimes you need a LOT of caffeine! Hee hee!

Quad in the back; breve in the front. ...and a little friend.

Monday, June 29, 2015

Lunch Box Catch-up (the end of Summer School Period)

やっと集中学習の時期が去った！は～、は～。本当、毎日お弁当作るママたちはすっごいと思います！大変でした！

さあ、木・金・土のお弁当は以下になります。

Well, finally my son's two weeks of J school everyday have finished!! I really have a new appreciation for all the mamas that make a bento lunch everyday!! It was tough!

Below are the missing lunches from Thursday, Friday and Saturday. Cheers!

Thurs/木：
Two lightly salted rice balls with sesame seeds, carrots, yakitori style chicken and rolled omelets.

ゴマ入り（「入り」かな混ぜたものだケンド…）の塩むすびｘ２、ニンジン、焼き鳥、卵焼き

After I finished my son's bento, my daughter said she wanted one too. She's not in school yet, but I made one for her too: lightly salted rice ball, hotdog flowers, cherries and omelets (one is a heart; she really liked it -- she's three and really enjoys small cute things like this).

娘も作ってほしくなっちゃったので息子のほうの弁当ができたら、↓も作りました。

ソーセージのお花、さからんぼ、卵焼き、塩むすび。

Fri/金:

Friday was thinly sliced pork with ground ginger and onions (season with salt, sear, then add cooking sake (probably white wine would work as well), ground ginger, soy sauce and a bit of sugar; then reduce), boiled broccoli, grape tomatoes and rolled omelets.

金曜日は、生姜焼きにブロッコリー、グレープトマトと卵焼きでした。

Sat/土:

土曜日は、集中学習の最後の日でしたので、カツ（！）にしました。↓はチキンカツです。前の日作っておいて、ブロッコリー、豆と卵焼きと一緒にペアリングしました。息子はソース系が気持ち悪い（唯一の好き嫌い…）とかというので、しっかり味付けをしました。おいしく食べてくれました。v(^_^)o

Saturday was the last day of the summer school period (made it!), so I made a chicken cutlet. Well, in order to pull this off, I had to make it the night before and then just arrange things in the morning. It's presented with broccoli, green beans, and rolled omelet. Chicken cutlets are normally served with "sauce" (its a Worcestershire sauce-like (based?) dark sauce that is just referred to as "sauce" in Japanese), but my son doesn't like anything sauce-like (in the English since of "sauce", so no ketchup or bbq sauce, etc.), so it's just a bit more heavily seasoned than normal. He gobbled it up though! Whew!

There's actually four cuts of katu, one is hiding under the middle cut.

And with that J-school entered summer vacation! Whew! I bit of a breather is nice too!!

土曜日をもって、夏休みに入りました。よかった!

Friday, June 26, 2015

Gittin aaaaall purdied up (おしゃれしていいかな？)

So “summers” are here. People who work at law firms will know that this means “summer associates” (law students who work at law firms during the summer between years at law school). This is a joyous time of the year because associates tend to get budgets to take summers out for coffee, lunch, dinner and, in the case of this office, manicures. The Tokyo office did not have a manicure budget…and manicures in Japan (although they do end up fabulous) are too expensive for me to splurge on (never mind that I would never have enough time to leave the office to get my nails done in a million years). So, for the last five years or so my nails have been bare.

Today, that changed. Another transaction done and done, so I got my nails done with a summer this afternoon (then I came back to work -- haha). I've never tried such a bold color before (I'm generally pretty conservative and go with light pinks when I did used to get my nails done so long ago)...but this office is soooooo casual (and I'm somewhat senior -- senior-esque?) that I think I can pull it off. Cheers!

5年ぶりにマニキュアしてもらって、いいきぶんに！↑↑^_^

Wednesday, June 24, 2015

Emergency bento change up! (集中学習のお弁当 -- そのV (Summer School Lunches -- Part V))

今朝、お弁当つめようとしたら、ふたの羽（ってゆうの？）のところがパッチと取れちゃったw(￣Д￣ w のぉぉぉぉぉぉぉ~！これはこれは。。。

でも大丈夫。ちっちゃいのがいっぱいあるので、早速弁当箱をチェンジ‎する事ができました！ヨシ！

さあ、今日は、アスパラの豚バラまき、ソーセージ、さくらんぼです。やっぱ毎日お弁当を作るとクオリティが下がりぎみですね。ふ～ん。

This morning, when I went to put together my son’s lunch, the snap part of the lid broke off in my hand (∑(O_O；)Shock!!!). Well, it’s okay. For one, it was only about a dollar or so for the lunch box from Daiso in Japan (I guess if I went to Daiso here it would be a $1.50, because Daiso in the U.S. is a $1.50 store instead of a JPY100 store – even though with today’s rate 100 yen is only about $0.81). But more importantly, I have a slew of other smaller lunch boxes for just such an emergency (not really for just such an emergency, but because I used to put my son’s snack in little lunch boxes when he was in preschool/kinder so it wouldn’t get crushed in his backpack).

Today’s lunch is ↓. Asparagus wrapped in uncured bacon (the cut is the same as bacon), Japanese sausage, cherries. It’s hard to keep up the quality of bento ingredients when making bento every day. Hm. Not sure what to do about it. Got to get more creative!

微妙～

Tuesday, June 23, 2015

Fried Dumplings 揚げギョーザ入りのお弁当 (集中学習のお弁当 -- そのIV (Summer School Lunches -- Part IV))

Fried dumplings are surprisingly not time consuming to make if you only make a few in the morning. I buy pre-made skins and fill them with pork (seasoned with hondashi (bonito stock powder), salt and scallop soup powder -- tastes like chicken stock I swear), corn and cheese. Deep fry until they float back to the top. Fried dumplings last better in a lunchbox than regular pan-fried (seared?) dumplings.

The lunch below consists of boiled broccoli, tamago-yaki, grapes and fried dumplings. The rice is white rice cooked with gokokumai (five grain rice) mix.

揚げギョーザは以外と時間がかかんないです（四つしか作らないときは）。↓の中身は、豚肉（＋ほんだし、お塩と帆立スープのもと（こっちはなぜか鶏殻スープは売ってないので））、コーンとチーズ。出来上がったものに少々お塩をかけるので、味ポンなどはいらないです。

卵焼き、ブロッコリー、焼きギョーザ、葡萄、五穀米ミックスと一緒に炊いたご飯

Sunday, June 21, 2015

卵が笑った A smiling sun ^ヮ^ (集中学習のお弁当 -- そのIII (Summer School Lunches -- Part III))

さあ、またまたお弁当です。

ゆで卵は楽しい。朝は子供が三人ですと、きゃら弁なんてはとても無理です。が、ゆで卵を入れると太陽などをイメージして、ワンポイントの楽しいところを入れることができます。では、昨日のお弁当を紹介します。↓のおかずはゆでたブロッコリー、グレープトマト、ハンバーグ（豚肉、溶いた卵、お豆腐（＋塩＆ホンだし））、ゆで卵にゴマ＆海苔です。

Mornings with three little, little ones means that elaborate lunches for my son for J school are mostly out of the question. But with the help of boiled eggs and seaweed, a slightly fun lunch is achieved!! Yesterday's lunch is below.

boiled broccoli; grape tomato; hamburger patties made of pork, egg and tofu; boiled egg with seaweed smile and sesame seed eyes

UPDATE: Fyi, if you're wondering what happened on Friday. Friday's bento was substantially similar to that of Thursday (sans the smiling onigiri), so I shall refrain from posting. There is no J school on Monday, so my everyday trying-my-best will continue on Tuesday! ^_^;;

Thursday, June 18, 2015

集中学習のお弁当 -- そのII (Summer School Lunches -- Part II)

Well, just as I imagined would happen, I was in too much of a hurry to take a picture of yesterday's lunch. I had to stay up until about 2am the day before for work, and barely woke up in time to whip something together before running out the door.

Today's lunch too was a bit rushed and not very well composed, but at least there is evidence of its existence, haha! Today's lunch is grilled chicken that is then braised in chicken stock (I usually marinade my chicken overnight in shio koji (a kind of fermented salted rice -- I'm not a good translator. Here is a site that explains a bit on it in English (it will open a new window to a site that is not my site. I cannot speak to its content): Kojiya), but I didn't have time last night, so I used braising to get some flavor into it), tamago-yaki (rolled omelet), grape tomatoes and snap peas. The two onigiri are just seasoned shio musubi (lightly salted rice balls). One is saying "doh!" because he is upside down!

昨日は急いでて、写真撮るチャンスがなかったのぅ↓↓↓。今日もあんまり時間がなかったので、構成がイマイチなんだけど、写真は撮れました。今日のお弁当はチキンコンソメで蒸し煮したチキン（普通は塩糀で一晩寝かすけど、時間がなくて…）、卵焼き、グレープトマト、えんどう豆、塩むすびx2。卵焼きなんだけんど、いつもより10倍ぐらいのホンだし入れてしまった（眠くて、面倒くさくて、指でつままないで容器からトントンと出そうとしたらバ～～と出てしまった）けど、それでもまずくはなっていない。ホンだしスゴイ!!

Doh! -- Onigiri (rice balls)

Does onigiri = rice ball? I remember when I was in New York for law school, I was behind a woman and her daughter who had just bought onigiri at Kinokuniya. The mother said to the girl "don't forget to eat your triangle rice". I thought this was very clever. Indeed, Kantou (eastern Japan) onigiri are triangular, and even Kansai (western Japan) onigiri are not "balls" (although Chubu/Kinki (middle Japan? Translation is hard...) region apparently used to have more ball-like shaped onigiri). Well of course, "rice ball" is not a literal translation of お握り, which comes from the verb meaning something like "to grasp", also "to mold into a shape" (its the same as the nigiri in nigiri sushi -- the other option to "rolls" in the U.S.).

Wednesday, June 17, 2015

Workwear

Today's a workday. But I had a bit of time in the morning. Here's some workwear in my U.S. office. It's a lot more casual than in Tokyo. Hair and make-up were done before leaving my house. Yes, I have a tent in my living room...

今日は平日とゆうのに、今朝はちょっとした時間があったので、朝の一枚。こっちのオフィスは金曜じゃなくてもビジネスカジュアルとなっているようです。ヘアメークは出勤する前に済んだ。

後ろは子供関係でテントです。そうです。居間にテントがあります。

洋服は日本のブルックスブラザーズのパンツにこっちのユニクロのノースリーブシャツです。

Brooks Brothers bottoms (last summer) and Uniqlo top ^^;;