good-ness

weekend goodness 101.

relaxing 101 started this weekend. we finished up the moving on friday. phew. phew. phew. and are all settled at h-kun's folks' place for the next week. 

i've been wanting to make these forever. peanut butter crispy bars. that smitten kitchen gal knows what she's doing. seriously. 

time was spent saying goodbye to good friends. three different sets. over vietnamese lunch. over coffee. and tonight over air hockey. nothing wrong with a little game center fun to take the sadness away.  

but. the best part of the weekend. by far. was talking to my little sister this morning. hours after she gave birth to my new little niece. welcome, baby joelle. whoohoo. i will meet you very soon. xo. 

weekend goodness 100.

100 posts. 100 weekend goodness posts. that feels like a lot. and i have two more weekends left in japan. 101 will be spent in mie. h-kun's home prefecture. 102 will be spent in tokyo. and then 103 will be spent back home in canada. crazy. i haven't been home in over two years. and am definitely looking forward to seeing all those folks. and enjoying weekends with them. 

remember a few weekends back. when i had kuro goma (black sesame) ice cream. well. i haven't stopped thinking about it since then. and i was talking to a friend about it recently. and she told me how she makes it. so simple. well. we had dinner at our neighbours this weekend. and i thought this was my perfect chance. to make some kuro goma ice cream. 

simple. for sure. just let your ice cream sit out for a bit. until it gets a little soft. stir in some of that black sesame paste. put it back into the ice cream container. and back in the freezer. i am in love with grey ice cream. it's so creamy. almost like a light peanut butter taste. wow. i am so glad that ice cream is sold in such small containers here. it's more of a treat. opposed to an indulgence.i hope that makes sense. next on the list is matcha ice cream. i think that will have to wait until next weekend though. yep. 

weekend goodness 99.

 

it was a crazy one. but i did get a pac-man t-shirt. and h-kun made me pancakes. and we went for a few walks. and we created some big piles of boxes. and stuff. around our apartment. the end of april is almost here. please wish us luck. or wish us good-use-of-our-time. or wish us more-hours-in-a-day.

weekend goodness 98.

summer arrived this weekend. well. locals will tell you this is spring. but canadians will tell you that this is summer. we were above 25 degrees celsius here this weekend. sleeping with the windows open. lighter blankets pulled out. sweaters packed away. and crazy h-kun even wore shorts. whoohoo. 

the second thing about this weekend. was bedtime last night. after having the flu since friday evening. i was finally well again. and very thankful for that. 

last week was a tad crazy. busy. and the next few will only get busier. but i am going to continue on with the japanese alphabet thing. starting today. there will have to be some double post days. yep. i want to finish it before i leave here. my gosh. less than a month left. 

weekend goodness 97.

remember that river from last year. with sakura lining both sides. lit upat night. well, we strolled along it again this weekend. it is absolutely amazing. and so magical. 

      

and we stopped by a new cafe. while walking on saturday. nana's green tea. that was the name of it. and there were so many green tea drinks and desserts. i got the green tea ice slush with black sesame icecream and mochi balls. the best part was the icecream. by far.

on sunday we went out with my favorite student and his parents. to a famous tofu restaurant that i had heard of. but had never been to. my gosh. it was amazing. everything was tofu based. and the dishes just kept coming. my student is three. and i made him this little bag before we went. and filled it with the phonics puzzle pieces. that we had used every week.

(long) weekend goodness 96.

h-kun and i headed out of town. for a long weekend. and we packed a lot of in.

 

spent time with h-kun's family. enjoying one of my favorite places. a historical little town. okageyokochou. and the country's most important shrine. ise shrine. that's surrounded by the largest trees. just wondeful.  

   

also spent some time with my host family. and then went to osaka and met up with more friends. and met their adorable little baby. ( and the bib fit. crazy.)

 

and we headed to kobe on sunday afternoon. such a great city. the almost-five-hour-worth-of-waiting-for-four-medical-exams-for-h-kun's-visa was definitely not the best way to spend a monday morning in kobe. but the little shops that we visited afterwards made up for it. and the day was redeemed. phew. rollo and rollostock were packed full of so many vintage buttons and european tape. it was tough choosing what to buy. my gosh. you can find more photos and information from my trip to the shops here.

weekend goodness 93.

 

a great saturday. for both h-kun and i. he was out of town surfing. and i was in town hanging out with friends. one was a long-time-no-see friend. and it was just like old times. love that. 

on sunday we headed to our favorite park. the sun was amazing. we found a large group of unicyclists practicing. and we sat and watched them. for a really long time. ooohhing and aaahhing. and cheering them on. these flowers were right behind me. oh, i love spring. and afternoons like this. no plans. just wandering. and enjoying. 

and i finished off a pile of pouches. that have been waiting for the finishing touches. for too long. and quilt 07 got quilted. i've got my fingers crossed that the binding will get done. this week. 

weekend goodness 92.

these have got to be one of my favorite little treats over here. the shop calls them hanabi (fireworks). and they are made from satsumaimo (sweet potatoes). i only have them about once a year because i don't know where to buy them. which is a good thing. because they are deep fried and then coated with some super sticky sweetness. my gosh. my friend showed me where the famous little shop is that sells these.  dangerous. 

     

two separate deliveries came this weekend. from two great gals. who i did swaps with. the fabric on the left is so wonderful. i'm not sure i'll be able to cut it up. thanks, lindsey. and the fabric on the right is some of my favorite. it's my third batch of it. thanks, erika (aka mikodesign). 

we also took a trip back to h-kun's hometown. to have lunch. and tea with his folks. while taking the back way to his parents' house we found a farmer's field. with a bunch of ume trees in bloom. at various stages. and in a few different colours. and h-kun's mom told us that the sakura trees should start blooming in about two and a half weeks. so we planned our first hanami (cherry blossom viewing picnic) of the season. i am super excited. 

weekend goodness 91.

so. the weather was amazing this weekend. i am sure spring is here. and i am lovin' it. in a big way. 

we did lots of walking. i loved this field from yesterday. love the browns. and i found so many blossoms but didn't have my camera with me today. i will have to go back tomorrow. for sure. 

and i finished quilt 05 this morning. and gave it to my friend this afternoon. that is such a great feeling. after spending hours and hours on something. and giving it to somebody you really like. 

i loved reading the list of what you are all loving now. so many people mentioned the longer days. more sunlight. and that spring is coming. those are the exact same things that i am loving, too. and the lucky gal who gets that cloth is kim. kim, please email me with your address. 

weekend good-ness 90.

 

went to a monthly market at a local temple. it was huge. and full of so much goodness. i can't believe i've never gone before. i will now always have something to do on the 21st of each month. 

we also had a mexican dinner party last night. no photos though. i was too busy cooking. i tried a couple of new recipes to go along with the tacos. and they were both super delicious. black bean and tomato quinoa. and vegetarian tortilla soup. nothing wrong with a little lime juice, cilantro, black beans, corona and friends.