Wendell's Chex Mix with Animal Crackers

Wendell made some Oh So Dangerous Can't Stop Eating chex mix.  The recipe is from Hawaii Mom Blog and can be found here. 

Instead of pretzels he used animal crackers. He also added Fritos, Cheese-It crackers, Crispix and furikake.



Usually Bugles are my favorite thing in chex mixes, but in this one it's the animal crackers. 

Wendell got it at Sam's Club. He said it was around $7.

Kamakura

On our second day in Japan we visited Kamakura. We saw snow-capped Mt. Fuji on the way.



Our first stop was Kotoku-in (Great Buddha). 


Then we headed to Komachi Dori. 


Not sure what Amish Cooking is, but it can be found in Kamakura!


This is what we snacked on instead. 


This was grilling outside of a restaurant. I think it was free samples to try. 








This is where me and Lan had lunch. 








I had the Seared Salmon and Unagi. Oishiiiii!!

Tokyo's New National Stadium

We passed by the construction site of the National Stadium in Shinjuku which is being built for the upcoming 2020 Olympics. It is a HAYUGE 52 acres (half the size of Ala Moana Beach Park) and expensive ($1.5 BILLION). 

Demolition of the old stadium was completed in May 2015 and construction of the new stadium began in December 2016. It is scheduled to be completed in March 2019.

Omiyage Giveaway Winnah!

To the winnah:  CONGRATULATIONS!  Can you email me at JalnaA@aol.com please?

Tsukiji Fish Market

The crowd at Tsukiji was massive. There was no way that me and Landon were gonna join in.



So, after taking this shot, we both turned completely around and headed in the opposite direction . . .


where shopping for some tea . . . 


and tsukemono was less chaotic and a whole lot more enjoyable. 

Mario Karting

We saw these Mario Karters on the way to Ameyoko. 

Snow!

It snowed for a little bit while me and Landon were having breakfast one morning. It was the first time that Lan ever saw falling snow, so that was pretty cool.

I'm still majorly jet-lagged. I'm usually an early riser, but have been waking up at 9 a.m. since we've been back and am pretty foggy-brained all day long. Good thing I no need work anymore. *Big Smile*

Nezu Shrine - Ueno

I'm sorry to say that unlike previous trips, I am sorely lacking in photos for this one. Maybe it was because this tour was much shorter than previous ones and more of a shopping/eating tour than a picturesque one. Or it could be that the crowds and long lines made it hard. Or maybe it was because Landon got sick for the last two days and we didn't go galavanting much after that. At any rate, I didn't even fill one memory card . . . I usually fill several. 

At least I got a few pictures from Nezu Shrine for you. Nezu Shrine is noted for bringing good luck and is devoted to the granting of impossible wishes. 



Attendants made sure that the crowd approached the shrine in an orderly manner. 


When you get to the front of the shrine you toss a coin, preferably one with a hole in it ( as usual, I wasn't paying attention when the tour guide explained why the hole), then you bow, bow, clap, clap, pray, and bow).


Food booths lined the path to the shrine. 








At least once in every trip that I've taken, they'll be someone who will scold me for taking pictures. On this trip it was this guy. 


There was a small flea market on the grounds! Hoo hoo!!


I got this knife for 2,000 yen. 


Another vendor had a pile of watches that he said were only 500 yen that just needed batteries. I picked up a cool-looking vintage Swatch watch, but the vendor quickly took it out of my hands and put it down near him. WTH, right?? I pointed to it and he said, "Da-me (no good)". I wanted to say, "Why da-me?" but didn't wanna piss him off. So I just got this Seiko watch instead.

Omiyage Giveaway

I decided to show you the stuff in this giveaway in a video rather than a photo. Also, below are a couple of links describing two of the items. 

Sansho powder is made from a type of Japanese pepper. The article here claims that sansho powder makes things 100 times more flavorful. BTW, I said "sanshU" in the video . . . it's sanshO.

Kewpie Arabiki Mustard is said to be a popular condiment in Japan and is described here.




You can enter the drawing by leaving a comment here or by emailing me at JalnaA@aol.com. I'll announce the winner on Sunday, January 7. Good luck!

Coming Home!

Coming home soon. At the airport now. Stay tuned for omiyage giveaway!