Autumn Reminiscence - Yokohama

"Autumn is a second spring where every leaf is a flower"

                                                                                     
   Albert Camus

Yokohama - Japan's second largest city.

We took a stroll around the Minato Mirai 21 which is a seaside urban area in Central Yokohama one fine Autumn morning.

 

 

 

and witnessed our very first autumn sights after 8 consecutive years visiting Japan. First experience is always memorable.

On the last day we were in Japan, the leaves left their tree and settled on the pavement.

Just like the leaves leaving their trees, leave we must back to our home in Kuala Lumpur.

And as with the seasons, return we will one day to Japan - that I am sure of. ^^

Pucuk pauh, delima batu
Anak sembilang di tapak tangan
Sungguh jauh, negeri satu
Hilang di mata, di hati jangan

a Malay pantun for lost love, but I think it is also apt for me and my "love" for Japan. ^^

translation:
A ruby, a mango shoot
A tiny catfish on my palm
The world is one, tho far to boot
When out of sight, keep memory warm.

Do read previous posts of this Autumn Reminiscence series while you are here visiting.
Autumn Reminiscence - Lake Kinrinko
Autumn Reminiscence - Shikoku Mura
Autumn Reminiscence - Nara
Autumn Reminiscence - Ritsurin Koen
Autumn Reminiscence - Ueno Park
Autumn Reminiscence - Yanaka Cemetery

A Kite Store, Door County, Wisconsin

When I was in Door County so many years ago, we stopped in this quaint - chock full of kites - store.  I just had to take my husband to see it when we were there again in Oct. 2011.

As you pull into the parking lot the yard is full of wind socks and moving lawn ornaments.  I wanted to start choosing right away :)

Oh my, and then you walk in and the walls are covered as is the ceiling like in the 1st photo.  The floor space is full of bins and containers with all sorts of kites, banners, flags and related items.  The guy with the big eyes is the one we bought for our grandson.  

The Fish Creek Kite Company is located on the eastern side of Door County, on Rt. 42 right alongside Lake Michigan. 

If you are ever are lucky enough to tour Door County, be sure and stop and visit this cute store.  It is just one of those places that make you smile everyplace you look.    

Autumn Reminiscence - Yanaka Cemetery

Departing autumn
with hands spread open
chestnut burs
                                       Matsuo Basho

The eternal home for many of Japan's luminaries; including the last of the Tokugawa Shogunate - Tokugawa Yoshinobu.

I felt slightly at odds visiting it, torn between the need to be respectful; as this is after all very much an active graveyard, and being a total tourist and snap photos of everything I see.

The cemetery was a quiet peaceful pocket in Tokyo and we heard birds chirping, saw colourful autumn colours and enjoyed a nice shady stroll through it. Like Rurousha mentioned in her post on Yanaka Cemetery (which, by the way was what made us finally venturing there) I wouldn't mind ending up here for my eternal resting place either. *^^*

 

 

 

 

And while we are on cemeteries, there'll be a post about an insect cemetery put up, one of these days so stay tuned. Visit me often because I sure as heck don't know when I'm gonna do the post. ^^

Do read previous posts of this Autumn Reminiscence series while you are here visiting.
Autumn Reminiscence - Lake Kinrinko
Autumn Reminiscence - Shikoku Mura
Autumn Reminiscence - Nara
Autumn Reminiscence - Ritsurin Koen
Autumn Reminiscence - Ueno Park

WOW: Slowing Down, Taming our Bucket List

a lovely park model by the sea, an option for Stage 5

When Bill suffered the heart attack (please see http://rvcruisinglifestyle.blogspot.com/2011/12/wow-getting-scared.html), friends cautioned us to slow down. My children who were just here for the holidays also said so!  Bill disagrees.  We are younger than many we meet in the campgrounds and he feels the level of activity and stress will be as great or even greater if we settle into one place (especially with my propensity for boredom). But the arrival of 2012 has nudged us to look down the road and begin to think about Stages 4 and 5 (please see http://rvcruisinglifestyle.blogspot.com/2010/04/going-through-five-stages-of-cruising.html).

trade show goers lining up to inspect a $2 M RV

The choice of settling down in the US or the Philippines is a no-brainer because most of our children, all grandkids, and majority of siblings are here in the US. But it should be in a place where temperatures go only to lows of 60s during the day even in winter months (these old farts don’t do well in the cold)! The following cities make the grade: San Diego, LA, and Palm Springs for California, Phoenix, Tucson, Yuma, and Lake Havasu for Arizona, Brownsville and Corpus Christi for Texas, and most cities in Florida!

a brand new Mountain Aire, $500K

To pin down the city, we can use the following criteria: proximity to children, local attractions, quality of healthcare, availability of Thousand Trails campgrounds (all free of charge up to 2022), availability of Ballys Fitness Centers (Bill has a free lifetime membership), proximity to water and/or mountains,  and sales, income, and property tax structure (especially for Stage 5). If we construct a decision matrix, the clear winners are 1) Orlando, Florida, 2) Tucson or Phoenix, Arizona, and 3) San Diego, California.

the interior of the brand new Mountain Aire

This is what emerges as a strategy. For sunbirding in Stage 4, we should opt for Orlando, Florida or, alternatively, San Diego, California because these two have many Thousand Trails campgrounds. Ten years from now, we can proceed to nest in Stage 5 and choose Phoenix or Tucson, Arizona which do not have any. In fact, San Diego may make more sense than Orlando because during Stage 4 we will not be full time residents anyway and therefore not subject to the state’s higher tax structure. California is nearer our children’s homes. 

an Italian villa for European sojourns in Stage 4? 

Stage 4 means rotating among available campgrounds in the sunbirding chosen area as opposed to being permanently in one.  When we nest in Stage 5, we may even choose a condominium complex with the same amenities and activities over a park model in a campground. We went to the Florida RV Trade Association Show at the State Fairgrounds last Saturday to look at options of brand new motorhomes and park models for these 2 stages. We found out that a brand new Mountain Aire would cost us about $500,000 (there was even a $2 M motorhome!) and a modern Net Zero 500 sq. ft. park model would be around $100 K.

an RV Resort for sunbirding in Stage 4?

To choose the specific location for nesting, we shall use the following criteria in another decision matrix: proximity to a supermarket, Ballys or another good exercise facility, a Catholic church, a good hospital, amenities, and activities. Most retirement communities have all these features. In the final analysis, beginning 2013 when we would have finished Stage 3 (sight-seeing/relaxing) in North America and we would be begin our extensive travels in countries abroad, we do have to have a slower schedule here as sunbirds for rest periods, staying around southern California, if not Florida, 3-6 months a year!

a 55+ condominium complex for Stage 5?

We have also decided not to cover countries outside of North America by cruising in an RV. We concede…we are already getting on in years and we need more conveniences in traveling. Besides cruising means a pace, not a specific means of transportation! For instance, renting apartments in central locations in Europe and making them bases for road trips to nearby attractions may be the best way to cruise Europe (even less expensive).

The rest of the world will be through the best hotel/flight deals. We will go out of the country for three months at a time, visit the children and siblings the other three months, and rest the other 6 months. This way we may be able to cover Europe in 2-3 trips, Australasia in another 2-3, Central America and South America, 3-4, and Africa, 1-2. This is how we can slow down and still cover the rest of the world! It will take us all the way to 2022 when we should be able to completely settle down. It is called taming our bucket list!

German Saurbraten (Sour Beef)

They say smell is the quickest trigger of memories.  Well when I smell this cooking it reminds me of growing up in NY and early afternoon Sunday dinners after church. 

Any cut of beef that is used for pot roast. Cover with 1/2 water - 1/2 apple cider vinegar.  If it is a big roast I will use more water. Add cut up onion and pickling spices which are broken bay leaf, mustard seed, coriander seed and black peppercorns. (some use cinnamon to - I don't!)

Let is marinate for 3 -4 days turning every 12 or 24 hours. Pat dry or it will splatter during the browning step. I brown it well in alittle bacon fat or oil or crisco.  I tell my  myself 'think almost burn' when I am browning so it gets a dark rich color and 'bark'.

I finish cooking in the pressure cooker anywhere from 30 - 45 minutes depending on the size of the roast.

Finished plate served with Spaetzel, red cabbage and sweet and sour green beans.  For the gravy I use browned flour and some of the marinade - how much depends on how sour you want it.  Some  add gingersnaps but I don't do that either. 

 The only thing that makes this more complicated than a pot roast is the time it takes to marinade.  The measurements I use are approximate but there are plenty of recipes out there with exact measurements.

Hope you try this delicious meat dish and add it too your repertoire of recipes.

Autumn Reminiscence - Ueno Park

"Every leaf speaks bliss to me,

fluttering from the autumn tree"

                                                  Emily Bronte

Tokyo's oldest park and a park that was originally part of Kaneiji Temple which used to be the largest and wealthiest temple in the city and a family temple for the ruling Tokugawa clan during the Edo period.

 

 

 

 

 

Yellow leaves dominated our view when we visited Ueno Park on an autumn day last year and what a sight it was.

Do read previous posts of this Autumn Reminiscence series while you are here visiting.
Autumn Reminiscence - Lake Kinrinko
Autumn Reminiscence - Shikoku Mura
Autumn Reminiscence - Nara
Autumn Reminiscence - Ritsurin Koen

2014 will be another autumn adventure for us in Japan.

It's The Lunar New Year! And Other Holidays Too.

The Lunar/Chinese New Year celebration is coming soon, in a week's time. Everywhere I turn, splashes of red can be seen. Red is after all, an auspicious colour.

That's me, in a very festive Chinese New Year mood

We ourselves (that's me and family) do not celebrate the Lunar New Year as we are both Malay and Muslims but Malaysians do enjoy a two-day public holidays for the lunar/Chinese New Year this Jan 23rd and 24th.

Wishing everyone who celebrates the Chinese New Year a Happy New Year. Gong Xi Fa Cai. Xin Nian Kuai Le. May you have a happy, auspicious and prosperous Chinese New Year.

I look forward to do some "loh hei"  which means tossing of salad, with my fellow colleagues. It's a symbol for gathering prosperity. Toss the salad high with your chopsticks to raise good luck! The higher the toss, the better your luck will be. *^-^*

"Yee sang" literally means raw fish. It has raw strips of salmon as the main ingredients with shredded mix vege, jellyfish, crackers, sauces and condiments. Even though I mentioned that I don't celebrate the festival itself (I am neither a Buddhist nor a Chinese),  I do enjoy having fun during the festival with my Chinese friends and colleagues.

Not only that, I am so looking forward to hampers and mandarin oranges that will be sent over to my department! I love free oranges! xD For singles, those oranges can come handy during "Chap Goh Mei"  which marks the end of the Chinese New Year celebration; by throwing them into rivers/sea in the hope of finding a good husband.

And in about three weeks, we Muslims will be celebrating the Maulidur Rasul which is the Prophet Muhammad's birthday. Yes, everyone gets a day off. The celebration itself though, is pretty much low-key.

Then, two days after the Maulidur Rasul; there is Thaipusam (another holiday, yeay!) an important festival for the Hindus. Also, Ponggal which is a Tamil harvest festival is celebrated this Sunday!

Diversity in culture, we certainly have in Malaysia.

Talking about diversity, how many languages are spoken in Malaysia? Well, for starters there's Malay (which is my mother tongue), Chinese (and spoken in many dialects too - Mandarin, Cantonese, Hokkien, Hakka, Hainanese, etc), Indian (Tamil being the predominant one but there's Hindi, Telugu etc spoken too) and then you have various ethnic languages too, like Iban, Kadazan etc. And of course, English is spoken in everyday life.

Being just bilingual in Malaysia can be rather a handicap.

I'm putting up this post here, instead of over at my other blog for the benefit of my non-Malaysian readers - specifically to Rurousha for a bit of insight on Malaysia. Can't talk about Japan incessantly, can we? Lest you think I don't care about my own country!