Okinawa

Long time no see!

No surprises, I had given up to write in English.
But!
I try again!


Today it's very cold. In Osaka, highest temperature was 6 degrees Celsius.
I hate cold weather.
So I'm gonna see some pictures in Okinawa, I traveled in October.

Okinawa is the southernmost prefecture in Japan. It's about 2 hrs flying from Osaka.
In Okinawa, we can bathe in the sea even in October.
There are some small islands and the scenery is very beautiful.

Long time ago, Okinawa and Japan were different countries.
So the cultures are slight different.

In the airport, we got into an Okinawan Restaurant.

My friend ordered this "Mimigar Don" Mimigar on rice.

Mimigar is pigs' ears. In other areas in Japan, pigs ears aren't eaten. It is unique in texture.
It was good:)


I ordered this one.
It's "Goya and Spam don" ; Goya and span on rice.
Spam is, you may know, canned precooked meat product made by the Hormel. They are especially popular in Okinawa. And Goya is bitter gourd, a traditional summer vegetable of this area.
This is my favorite!


We enjoyed parade.


The other day, we ate another Okinawan traditional food.
"Soki Soba" (Soki on Noodle)
Soki is pork spare ribs stewed in the mix of awamori(Oknawan alcoholic beverage), Soy sauce, and sugar for hrs.
Okinawa Soba is different from "Japan soba". Okinawan is more thick and made from flour instead of buckwheat.
The soap is made from pork and dried bonito.
It tastes good!


I LOVE Okinawa:)

KINOSAKI

Last month I went to Kinosaki Hyogo.
It takes about 4 hrs from Osaka by car.

This town is located near the Japan Sea and these areas are very cold in winter.
It was snowing!

This town is well-known for its hot springs.
And crab dishes are also popular. I can say that the major destination of trips for the Sea of Japan side is to eat crabs for many Japanese.
Crabs are in season in winter.
In the cold season, Japanese often eat nabe.(Nabe is Japanese one-pot dish cooked at the table.)
Nabe with crabs(Kani-nabe) are also very popular.

I'm sorry but I couldn't take pictures of kani-nabe and I show you a sample picture.
This is typical Kani-nabe.

And this is the picture I took this time.
before cooked...

We enjoyed the dinner so much (^-^)


On the next day, we took the cable car.
It was bad weather and very cold!
We couldn't enjoy the scenery so much.
But I enjoyed the roasted rice cake.

For a souvenir, I bought sake made in this town.
I really enjoyed this trip.

at New Year's

Happy new year!
I stayed in my parents' home during the holiday.

At the end of the year, my relatives got together at my uncle's and made plenty of rice cakes for New Year's Holidays.

This is a kind of rice cake called "mame-mochi" (bean rice cake) because black beans are inside it.
"mame" means bean and "mochi" is rice cake.



This is so hard that you cannot eat without heating up.
White one has no bean.

Then, I baked it.
Mochi expands when baked.

And it gets tender.
You can extend it easily.


Rice is most important food for Japanese.
So rice cake is the fertility symbol.
And rice cake represent longevity because it extend longer.

Thus, mochi is eaten at New Year's as auspicious food.