thursday

Last Thursday, we were preparing for Typhoon Ampil or #7 as the Japanese call it.

There was this weird cloud outside and also a rainbow "spot"

close up of the rainbow spot.

I was also worried that the Fireworks for our ward would be cancelled.

For the past 6 years I've been waiting to show Satoshi the fireworks that we can see from our lanai.

(Since 2018, there have been typhoons, the pandemic and just bad weather that has cancelled the show.)

Luckily, even with #7 approaching, they went ahead with the show.

I'm also thankful they didn't change the area that they launch them from so we could enjoy them from our lanai.

If it weren’t krazy humid, I think we might’ve gone down to see them up close, one day…

If you'd like to see some fireworks, please look here.

akueki taisan

(photo taken from Halekulani (Oahu) 2011) Monday night around various parts of Japan, they had a 5 minute fireworks display.

The areas were not disclosed, if you happened to be at the spot at the right time, you were lucky to view them. (we were watching a movie so we didn't hear or notice any fireworks)

The reason they did this was to prevent crowds.

Apparently Shogun Tokugawa Ieyasu first displayed fireworks near the Sumida River as a way to pray for the health of the Japanese after an epidemic in what the Japanese call "akueki taisan".

Since most of this year's summer firework displays have been cancelled, it was a nice way for many of the firework makers around Japan, to "show off" their fireworks.

It was also a nice way to "cheer up" those who were lucky to see them.

A nice way to thank the people working on the front lines.

And most of all, pray for this pandemic to be controlled.

so...

If you are following us on Instagram, you'll know that I was able to view the fireworks for our city last night from our balcony.

Click on the photo to view (a little over a minute long) video.

The whole fireworks show was 40 minutes long.

Because the winds were southerly, I could even smell the smoke from the fireworks!

Anyway, it was nice to be able to view them without having to deal with the crowds.

Today, the winds are krazy strong but still very very humid and warm.

We're expecting some cooler (non-humidity) temps over the next couple of days but after that, the temps are forecast to go up again...eep!

fireworks

This time of year there are many fireworks shows.

Saturday night they had a fireworks show near Odaiba.

Odaiba is a man-made island near Shinagawa, which is near to where we live.

I checked the position of the fireworks show and compared it to where our apartment is.

Luckily we could see the ones that got up higher than the building in this photo from our east balcony.

Tonight is supposed to be the fireworks show for our ward.

Hopefully we'll be able to see it from one of our two balconies.

inagawa fireworks

I think I told you how bummed we were to see that apartment complex come up last year, here.

Well, between the two buildings (the new apartment and an older one), we could see the fireworks...whoo!

Here's a short video.

bummed

I wrote about those tall sequoias before here.

They used to add character to the sunsets.

Well, the 6-story apartment building is almost finished.

We used to be able to see the Inagawa Fireworks show (between two electric poles) and through those trees.

Sad and jealous that those people who are gonna live there will be able to see the fireworks now...boo!

koshien

The summer series for highschool baseball is going on right now. Usually a whole town stops to watch their school play. The television coverage of high school baseball is, in my opinion, better than when they show professional baseball...why? they show the whole game.

Whenever you watch professional baseball (Japan's major league), chances are that if the game runs past 9-ish at night you will not see the end of the game, sponsors and advertising seem to control what can be shown and for how long.

Satoshi always says, "this would never fly in America". My MIL (another baseball fan) says, "they should show the last couple innings of the game rather than the beginning.

Oh and if the pro baseball game is tied, they will only play up to 12 innings, if after 12 innings it is still tied, the stats end as a tie. Not like the fight to the death style of the MLB where a tied game can go many, many innings until a winner is declared.

Anyway, getting back to high school baseball, they have a spring tournament and summer tournament to determine who is the best in Japan. Apparently for the spring tournament the amount of participating teams is less than the summer. Summer has 49 teams vying for the title.

Though the Spring tournament is not as pronounced, it is still an honor just the same to play.

So, we went to Koshien (the stadium that holds the tournament, which is also the stadium for the Hanshin Tigers), this past Saturday.

This year was the 91st tournament (I think the only time they did not have this was during WWII).

Everyday, for 14 days, there are about 4 games played...that is a LOT of baseball.

When we arrived, there was an announcement that all seats at the stadium were filled, still it didn't stop people from sitting on the stairs (talk about fire hazard!) in the outfield.

The outfield seats were free, which is probably why there were tons of people...

Since I didn't want to bake in the sun, I told Satoshi to go ahead and watch the games...and headed across the street to Lalaport Koshien (a mall).

From the entrance it looked like a small place, but inside, the mall turned out to be really long. It only had 2 floors but walking the mall for two hours took its toll on my feet!

At about noon, Satoshi came out for lunch. We bought some items from Itoyokado (a supermarket), then sat outside the stadium and ate.

While eating, we ran into an older alumni of Satoshi's university baseball team, who kindly gave us tickets to sit near 3rd base. (Thank you!)

Satoshi was very happy, I wasn't because we still had to sit in the sun. The seats were REALLY close together too. You can see a photo of my legs near the back of the people in front of us.

Many people were burnt, fire engine red! (see the man in the red shorts??)

There is a special item only sold during the summers at Koshien called kachiwari, this is a bag of ice, 200 yen (about US$2), open the bag, stick in the straw you are given and suck up the cool water. While you are waiting for the ice to melt, the bag will keep you cool too.

This turned out to be a great buy, it took over an hour for the ice to melt.

And if you thought that the cheering for pro baseball was wild, the highschool baseball cheering is just as loud and crazy.

The area we were sitting in, was a cheering section for a team, who, unfortunately lost their game.

After a game is played, both teams bow to each other to thank each other for the game, then the school song of the winning team is played.

Then both teams go to an area on the field to scoop up dirt from the field as a souvenir of the game. Usually the losing team cries as they scoop up their dirt.

Some say that the dirt is sprinkled on their home field to wish them luck for next year's tournaments. Others say that the dirt is kept in bottles as reminders of their experiences. Whatever they do with them I think the overall experience is a good way to bring the community and team members closer.

Saturday's breakfast was a salad marinade muffin at McDonald's...bacon, a slice of cheese and veggies marinated in Italian dressing on an english muffin...not too heavy like some of their other breakfast items...230 yen (about US$2.30)

Dinner was a shared Anchor Porter...a dark beer from San Francisco, 355 ml, 5.6% alcohol...385 yen (about US$3.85). This wasn't smoky but it was good.

and Greek Nachos...recipe to be posted soon.

Fireworks...we could see the Inagawa Fireworks show from our apartment (between two light poles).

How was your weekend?

foodie 4th of july weekend

Friday we went to Costco, since they close on the 4th of July, the place was packed with people picking up food/drinks for the long weekend.

While my mom stood in line at the checkout, I ran over to Fat Boy's to pick up our lunch...only to be greeted by a huge line there too.

I had read about Fat Boy's on Lori's blog last year and wanted to check them out. My mom was a bit leery because of their name (wouldn't you be too?).

But we were glad we checked them out. Their food was tasty and the portions very generous. I picked up their garlic chicken bento (US$5.25) 6 pieces of their garlic chicken, rice and furikake.

Their chicken tasted more like mochiko chicken, didn't have much garlic flavor, was crispy but not hard as rock as some deep fried chicken are.

Mom chose the BBQ Mix (US$8.95), this came with a salad, 2 scoops rice, a good sized piece of grilled teri chicken, lots of teri beef and a strip of teri short ribs. I gave my mom some of my chicken and she gave me some of her chicken and short ribs. The teri beef we saved for our lunch on Saturday.

Dad chose the mini beef curry (US$6.50). This came with salad, 1 scoop of rice and the curry. He liked the flavor of the curry but was disappointed at how little beef there was, how huge chunks of celery there was (probably one whole stalk chopped chunky!) and one piece of carrot.

I think Fat Boy's popular items are the grilled items and the garlic chicken. While we probably wouldn't get the garlic chicken again or the curry, we would definitely get the BBQ Mix.

Saturday, we got up early to check out the KCC Farmer's market...it was nice to see the market packed with locals and tourists.

I picked up a small bottle of Wililaiki (Christmas berry) honey from Big Island Bees, US$6. My friend introduced me to them awhile back and I was glad to see them at the market.

All around the island you can see these shower trees in bloom, my Aunty M said that they are late this year, they remind me of cherry blossoms.

Saturday evening we gathered at my Aunty M's in McCully. She has a pretty good view of the fireworks (well, there are a few buildings in the way), but it beats fighting the crowds and sitting in traffic.

We picked up some grilled KFC (did you know they only serve drumsticks and thighs for their chicken pieces and use the breast for something else? my mom said that when we were kids a bucket of KFC meant getting a whole chicken.)

Anyway, my mom also made baked beans w/portuguese sausage, 3-bean salad, potato salad and grandma bought some sushi. We all agreed that grandma's homemade sushi tasted better than the bought.

Dessert was apple pie and some manju.

Grandma got this ripe mango from a friend and gave it to me. It was my first time peeling a mango and gnawing on the seed (gosh, have I lead a sheltered foodie life or what??) The mango was perfectly ripe, juicy and delicious. I shared it with my parents during lunch.

Sunday dinner was at our house, my mom made my favorite shrimp with pineapple. And we also had leftover salads from the night before.

Dessert was an apple pie from Costco, these pies are huge! but the crust was a disappointment, it seemed raw in some areas. We agreed that the pie the night before was better.

The weekend ended with this beautiful sunset.

It was a great foodie weekend, hope you have a great week!

Fat Boy's
94-1201 Ka Uka Blvd.
Laniakea Plaza
Waipahu, Hawaii
Phone: 808.680.7520