Our Saturday and party

At noon, my husband returned from his business-trip and we decided to go to Onuma for a little walk.

The weather was great and we enjoyed the warm sunshine.

Later in the evening, we took the train and went to Izakaya Koko again to celebrate my husband's world-record. Here you se Markarel-sashimi topped with haring eggs. *yummy*

And this is one of my faves !!! Fresh Sea-Urchins ^____^

I'm not a fan of raw Oyster, but I could die for fresh sea-urchin. It may look weird for most Western people, but it tastes totally delicious !!!

And here is crab-salad, also yummy !!!

and crab-tempura. In the end I was soooo stuffed... ^_^"

Afterwards we went once again to Hakodate beer to enjoy the live-music and the beer, of course.

Today we will look out for Fukinoto (Butter-bur flowers). We know a spot near an Onsen, where we might be lucky enough to find the first ones in this year.

Our weekend

On Saturday we had heavy snowfalls, so we could not do much outside the house... well, anyway we were still very busy preparing things for our moving... and we were also very tired. I really enjoyed to sleep longer that 6:30 a.m in the morning.

So after we got up and the kids made homework, we went for Miso-Ramen.

One of my fave Ramen-shop for Miso-Ramen is "Yashiro"

I've eaten famous Miso-Ramen in Sapporo, but I think Yashiro Miso-Ramen taste so much better !!!

And they are especially delicious, when the weather is cold.

In the evening, we decided to go to Hakodate Beer. They have their own brewery and great Hefeweizen, Koelsch, Altbier, Ale...

and strong dark German "Bockbier", which tastes wonderful, but it can also knock you off your feet. Anyway, I always drink one, because it's so good.

We always enjoy the live-music there, too.

On Sunday, we mostly relaxed and sorted out more stuff, which we have to throw away before we move.

In the evening, I prepared some Shishkebab and potatoe-gratin for us.

Now I need to go back to my diet >_<"

Autumnpath

Just finished this one... It was fun, because I started with a completely black background and I shaped it out by working from to back to the front.

Done with acrylics, watercolor, markers and airbrush on paper.

Size is B3... original is available. 

The chef of the south polar - a great movie

Today I want to write about one of the best, funniest and touching movies I recently saw... and it's based on a true story. It's called "The chef of the south polar" and takes place in the antarctic, where Japanese researchers had to stay for one year. But the main-character of this story is the cook of the crew, who does not only do is "job" but who is really passionate about cooking.

I loved the characters, the way the story was told and that it was very true to Japanese daily life and thinking. If you want to understand more about Japanese mentality, way of life and cooking I really recommend you that movie. There is a version with English subtitles available.

Here is the official homepage for more information:

http://www.nankyoku-ryori.com/

Cold...

Just caught a nasty cold today, but I'm pleased that out moving goes so smoothly so far. Soon I have to pack all my colors and brushes, but from time to time I can not resist to paint a little bit in the mornings.

This painting was done with watercolor, Acrlylics, ink and airbrush on paper.

Size is B4, original available...

Fotos from the Fuyu-art

After we all had a struggle with a nasty flu last week, we were finally able to see the exhibition here in the Hakodate town hall gallery.

me and my painting...

The show was great and I enjoyed seeing so many different pieces of wonderful art. I will miss this annual exhibition, but I am happy that I could take part twice.

The art of Okonomiyaki

 

On Sunday my husband prepared Okonomiyaki for us. A lot of Western people think the common Japanese dish is Sushi and because of that, Japanese food is always cold, but that is not true at all. Okonomiyaki is one of the typical foods for the whole family and you can compare it best with Italian Pizza. People in Italy used "leftovers" like meat, vegetables, cheese, mushrooms... and put it on pizza for the whole famliy. That is basically the way, what Okonomiyaki is.

You add vegetables, meat or/and seafood, mushrooms, eggs to dough and fry/bake it in a frying pan, mostly directly prepared at the table, so that you can vary the taste from Okonomiyaki to Okonimiyaki a little. Okonimiyaki means "favorite fried food" so you can make your individual Okonomiyaki.

That is how it looks, when it's done...

and that is how it's served with sauce and spices on the plate.

Itadakimasu !!! ^_^

Hokkaido Winter

Sunday was a wonderful Winterday here in Hakodate, so instead of driving to the exhibition (we will do that later this week), we decided to drive up to the hills surrounding Hakodate and take some pictures of the beautiful Winterscenery.

 

 

Later we went home and my husband cooked a wonderful Okonomiyaki. After another eventful and busy week it was great to relax.

Fuyu-art in Hakodate

Like every year there is the Fuyu-art in Hakodate and I wanted to take part one last time, because we are moving. So here is the painting I sent there. The show is from 7th- til 14st of February... I'm looking forward to go there and see all the other works. There are a lot of excellent artist there and it will be fun to make new friends and watch all of the paintings.

This one was done with acrylics and airbrush on board... size is B1, the original will be available after the show.

Yosakoi, an awesome dance !!!

One of the things I will definetelly miss is Yosakoi !!!
Since I moved here, I totally adore this powerful "Soran Soran" Yosakoi dance... and often I was in tears, when I danced it with the people here, because I was touched that I was so welcome here as a stranger...
It was a dance of the poor fisherpeople at the soran coast here and over the years it became a dance festival, where every group is allowed to modify the dance and the singing.
I totally love the variety of how this classical dance is interpreted every year and if I was younger I would love to take part. It's always such an adorable and touching event.
Here are the winners of 2009 and they really deserved it, but I must admit ALL of the groups were wonderful.

Moving...

At the beginning of 2010, my husband got a position at Kyushu-university, which is one of the best in Japan, especially for his research. So this is a big honor and chance for him and we decided to go. I will miss Hakodate very, very much... all the friends I made here, the kindness of the people and also my mushroom-spots in the forest, but I saw books about Kyushu and found out that it must be also very, very beautiful down there.


With e-mail and letters I can keep in touch with all my friends and I can make new ones there as well. The kids are looking forward to it, too. The school-system is the same and they never had problems making new friends. Oh, and then there is a Pokemon-center in Fukuoka and I told them, when they have good marks in school, they can wish for something.
Things will be busy in the next weeks. We will already move on March 25. So it might take me a little to reply to letters and e-mails, but I try to catch up on everything as soon as things calm down again and we have settled there.