Icebucks Tailgate Party

Saturday we made a brief trek to Nikko for the last Icebucks regular season games. We attended the 2nd ever Icebucks tailgate party (The first being on New Years eve this year while we were back in the states) The weather was a bit brisk but we still managed to have a good time with the beer and brauts flowing. As you can tell by the pregame desolation of the parking lot, the tailgaiting gig hasnt quite caught on yet here in Japan. The girls also managed to muster up a little cheese cake and some candles and a quick round of Happy birthday for Heather. The team took a 4-1 loss, but i believe will still make it to the Asian League playoffs this year.

Sumo 相撲

Saturday, Heather and myself joined my Japanese Sensei Shinobu, and Skeet, in a trip to the Tokyo Ryōgoku Kokugikan to see the ongoing Sumo Tournament. In all the years of Japan visits, it was the first time I had seen Sumo live and I must say it was pretty entertaining. There is a bit of pageantry surrounding the tournament that was mildy entertaining, but the fighting was clearly what people were there to see. The Ryōgoku Kokugikan itself is used exclusively for Sumo, and was a very nice venue to see the fighting from even the highest vantage point. We were about half way up and still had a very nice view. We probably could have bought seats in the lower bowl section, but this is all Tatami seating which means sitting on your knees and ass for 3 hours, something none of us were into. There was a total of 35 matches and they were all pretty good with both of the Yokozunas, Hakuho and Asasyoryu easily winning their matches at the end. It actually can get pretty exciting when someone gets thrown clear off the ring and falls into the crowd, usually mashing the fans in the first couple of rows. Having seen these 300-400 lb. guys in person, I would not want them falling on me from any height. Heather and I will definitely take the opportunity to go again, and I would recommend it as a great way to spend part of a day in Tokyo or one of the other large cities that the tournaments are held. The film above is the final match of the day between Hakuho and Miyabiyama and as always there are a few more pics in the flickr folder.
Click here for Sumo Wikifacts.

Shaka Shaka Chicken シャカシャカチキン！

Its here! Yet another fine culinary delight from our friends of Japan McDonald's. Its a chicken fillet in a bag, to which you add one of three fine flavor powders options, Hot Chili, Lemon Pepper, or Cheese. You then give it a "Shake Shake" or a Shaka Shaka which is Automonopia for the exact sound the chicken makes in the bag as its getting coated with all of that tasty powdered goodness. For our trial run, I selected the cheese flavor, which may have not been the best choice. The cheese was pretty much the same powder you get with A Kraft Macaroni and Cheese kit. My guess is the Chicken fillet alone by itself probably tasted pretty good before I gave it the old cheese Shaka Shaka treatment, with the cheese powder, Im sure you can imagine. As its on the 100 Yen menu, we will probably give the other 2 flavors a run at some point, but as with many of the great Japan exclusive McDonald's products that come and go, they may be gone before we get around to it. Stay tuned well into your next lifetime for my evaluation of another great new "Sando" option, the "Cheese, Egg, Double Mac". http://www.mcdonalds.co.jp/sales/new/tamagow/index.html

Over 3000 visits in less than a year.

Its Hard to believe that we have had over 3000 hits/visitors on the blog in the 11 months it has been up. Using the sitemeter (visible in the lower left column) we are able to see daily where the visitors are from, and its pretty amazing that we have had visitors from almost every state and so many countries from around the world.
We are looking for some ideas to freshen things on the blog up a bit, so if you have suggestions, let us know.

Snow is here.............for a few hours anyway.

Winter sets in, Saturday was freaking Cold, Snowey, and of course the drinking ensued..............Rumor has it we may get out of town and head to Tokyo on Saturday for something a little more cultured like the Sumo tournament, and of course more probably drinking.

Christmas and New Years in Ohio

Hi to all! We made it back to Japan quite tired but with no major complaints with maybe the exception of dealing with the throngs of psychotic Buckeye fan tards we encountered in the Airports first thing Saturday morning. O-H!!!!!....sheeesh.
We arrived in Tokyo where it was a sunny day and pushing 60 degrees thank you very much.
Heather and I both had a great time during our stay and want to thank all of our family and friends for going out of their way to make it so enjoyable for us. It was most enjoyable to get to spend time with you all, and it really went fast. Here is a sampling of pics from the visit, you know where to find the rest. Currently we are planning a return visit possibly in the beginning of May and we hope to see you all again then, maybe the weather will even allow for some outdoor activities. Remember the door is always open for you all to swing by and visit us here in Utsunomiya if your so inclined.