Green Chili is good on Everything

Recently we made sushi and takoyaki (little ball with Octopus inside) with New Mexico Green Chili, and of course it was delicious. First the Green Chili Salmon Roll Sushi.

Next the making of takoyaki:

Thats green chili on the bottom left middle ish. Stage 2 turning the balls and adding more dough mix stuff.

And the finished product.

Of course since it is a bit hot and humid out we had to eat with a Chu-hi.

Motorcycle License

Working on getting a motorcycle license is a multiple phase project for me. Step 1. Get translation of american drivers license. This was pretty easy and only cost $30 or so and took about 30 minutes. Just went to the japan automobile association and they did it while I waited. Step 2. Get application for driving test. This was a little more complicated and since I didnt really plan ahead was much more time consuming than I had thought. The reception for foreigners is only open from 1pm to 2pm. I made my decision at 12pm that I would go yesterday. I thought I could get there by 1pm, but I ended up getting there at about 1:30, this after I told my coworkers Id be back at 2. I signed up on the sheet and was #5 in line. Didnt get called until about 4pm and every detail of my passport was scrutinized. The stamps that were faded from about 4 years ago and the 3 or 4 times we crossed between Argentina and Brazil were a bit skeptical. I also messed up a few key Japanese words like when they asked me what the license was for, I said a motorcycle, because that is what I want in Japan, but they thought I meant my american license was only good for a motorcycle when it is actually good for both a bike and car. Anyway I finally got through all that around 5pm, which was really a poor move on my part at work since I had volunteered to stay late for a special computer upgrade. I let them down, but they seemed to understand the underestimation problem and how long things sometimes take here... I hope. Now its time to take the riding test. I have heard horror stories of people taking the car test up to 18 times. I guess the driving/riding itself isnt too hard, but you have to memorize the course, and more importantly SHOW that you are following all the rules, ie turn your head exactly 90 degrees for 30 seconds to look over your shoulder before changing lanes, and turning on your signal at the right time etc.... My Japanese coworker Seki san just got his license so I asked him to show me the ropes a bit. July, August and September we might be working Saturday and Sunday and off on Thursday and Friday to spread out the demand for energy due to the plant at fukushima, so Ill have plenty of opportunities to go try for the license since the license center is only open M-F. Hopefully I havent forgotten how to ride, I was a bit shaky in the first place as everyone knows of my few mishaps with the dirtbike and the KLR. If I fail the first time I may go to a driving school where I can run the course a few times and learn what manners I am supposed to do. Hopefully Ill get the license sooner rather than later so I can go do some exploring later on this fall. I really want this bike 2010 CB1100, its a bit expensive so hopefully I can find a similar used one. Japanese generally dont like used stuff so its somewhat cheap, but for some reason retro motorcycles are popular now.

March and April

As everyone knows there was a huge earthquake in the northern part of Japan that triggered a tsunami and then problems at a nuclear power plant in the prefecture of Fukushima. The Japanese Red Cross is still taking donations though the US red cross just click here and follow the links to donate specifically for the Japan earthquake.
http://american.redcross.org/site/PageServer?pagename=ntld_main&s_src=RSG000000000&s_subsrc=RCO_BigRedButton
Most of us here in Utsunomiya had some minor damage to dishes or glasses in our apartments, as well as a big mess of random stuff thrown everyhwere, no where near anything that the people in the north have experienced so we were all very lucky. There was some concern about the Fukushima power plant so Boeing had us all move down to Nagoya where the rest of the Engineering team. Below is a picture I took with my cell phone of a coworker of mine who was a bit worried. He carried this bag around with him for a few days that had a spare set of clothes, his insulin, and passport... just in case. He got quite a bit of harassment from all of us.

We ended up staying in Nagoya for about a month which wasnt too bad since we were staying in the Hilton. I say we because Misato was also able to come with me so there was no concern there.

My Family got to come to Japan at the end of April. Misato was great and helped plan the whole trip with the help of a travel agent to do the hotels and trains. We got to see some awesome sites and got really lucky with a Hanami matsuri near Mt. Fuji. We also went to this sweet ninja restaurant in Tokyo that was kinda cheesy, but really fun. They performed some ninja magic throughout dinner where our dinner was instantly turned from egg to quail, and it was also delicious. Momma san also performed some ninja magic with the lead ninja. We took a tour in Tokyo and it was pouring rain when we walked up to the imperial palace!! Then we went to see Asakusa and the Tokyo tower. From Kyoto took a day trip to see the Himeji castle, although its under construction, and got to swing by Kobe for a quick Kobe beef dinner, which was freaken awesome. In Kyoto we went to see the golden temple and tried to see kiyomizudera, but it wasnt in the cards. Then we got to see an authentic Giesha dance, sorry no pictures, but that is the policy. The next day we went on a train ride to get to a boat ride down the river which was man powered. After the boat ride we went to a sake distillery tasted a bit of sake and got a few free tastes. On the way back to Utsunomiya we drank the sake and were a little bit tipsy before we got here, then had a few relaxing days before my family sadly had to leave. Great trip though. Tons of pictures below.

Family Vacation Japan 2011