Cooking with Marion

In December Marion saw that she had bought a "wrong" type of rice. Eriko, our Japanese friend, said that it was not meant for making some kind of rice cake. So when I discovered a recipe in a Japanese cookbook for making sweet rice balls with red bean paste, which Marion and I love, we had to get togehter and try it!

  

 We bought red azuki beans, cooked them for an hour, mashed them with a cup of sugar and then formed them into balls. We also formed the cooked rice into balls.

  

 Flatten the red bean paste, place a rice ball in the middle, and cover it with the paste.

  

 And then it should look like this. Not the prettiest dessert in the world, but it tasted good. Next time we would double the amount of sugar though.

The end is coming!

Oh my, I have only 3 days left! I'm starting to panick!

I have been abandoning my blog for a while, because there were so many things going on. But now I want to update at least the most memorable things that I do not want to forget. I want to write them down now so that they are still from a relatively fresh memory before actually being back in Germany.

I do not want to go back... It makes me sad...

Soccer Match

February 2nd in Oita Stadium: Japan vs. Venezuela!

A Japanese friend managed to buy tickets for the international students. In the end we were a bunch of excited 15 international students to go. It was a match between two countries! We expected it to be even more exciting than the first time we went when FC Oita played.

 

Already before entering the stadium everybody bought fan merchandise to support the Japanese team

  

It was so cold! But at the entrance we were distributed small blankets, which we took with gratitude

  

Not so excited anymore. Everybody was quiet and sitting. Maybe the coldness froze everybody's brains? I was a little bit disappointed by this match. No fun in the audience and 0:0.

 

The Japanese are so well organized! On the way to and back from the stadium shuttle buses transported the crowds to their destinations.

And look at this. Some fancy chandelier in the bus! I felt like a VIP... I was just missingn the champagne

The eight hells in Beppu - a tour for all senses

We went to Beppu to the 8 hells. If Kyushu is famous for something, it would be the hot springs in Beppu. There are eight main hot springs, which all have a distinct feature. Beppu is only 20 minutes by train from Oita and cost 540 Yen back and forth.

Directly in front of the train station in Beppu you already encounter the first mini hot spring.

 

It is for your hands. It is nice and warm and the water is supposed to be good for your skin.

In order to get to the 8 hells you can take a bus to the hot spring area. 5 of the hot springs are in walking distance. You can purchase a ticket voucher for 2,000 Yen (16 Euro) for entry to all 7 hot springs. We had a discount of 10% and so we saved 200 Yen.

The tour was really an adventure for all our senses: seeing, hearing, feeling, smelling, and even tasting!

The first hell: Oniishibouzu Jigoku

  

It is basically hot mud, around 98 degrees

  

The best part about this hot spring: a hot spring for your feet! As it is so cold in winter, it was really nice to bathe your feet in warm water. And we forgot to bring towels. But you can buy them at the entrance! And guess what: for exactly 200 Yen. Haha, so in the end our entrance fee was not cheaper... Dang it.

  

FEELING

As this picture shows, putting ice cold feet in warm water is not nice in the beginning...

  

...but after getting used to the warmth, it is really relaxing to sit there, especially when the sun is shining and warming your face and your body, too.

  

These citrus fruits swim in the water probably to ease the sulphur odor from the water

A quiet and nice place to relax - I could have stayed here all day!

  

SEEING and HEARING:

Steam everywhere you look and listen

  

 More steam

 The second hell: Umi Jigoku

  

Green

  

It is so warm that blossoms bloom

  

Red

  

There is so much steam, sometimes we disappeared

  

There is steam coming from the road

  

Lotus in a winter garden

  

Steam, steam, steam

  

The blue hell

  

Eggs are cooked here and sold!

  

Lunch: Dangojiru

The third hell: Kamado Jigoku

This hell had different booths, where you could experience various aspects of the hot springs.

 

1st booth

Warm feet: the stone plates are heated with steam from beneath and provide warmth

 

2nd booth 

TASTING

Hot spring water for drinking

  

It tasted salty and smelled like eggs that have gone bad. Yuck!

  

Double yuck!

  

3rd booth

Steam is kept under the wooden plates

  

You can put your hands in the warm steam

  

SMELLING

Steam for your face. It smells really bad! It is supposed to be good for your skin.

It gives the phrase "Where the hell is Matt" a new perspective.

  

More hot mud. (Heißer Dreck)

  

The Onsen has a natural clear blue color

  

Here they sold steamed buns and eggs, that were cooked in the hot springs

  

We got one

  

And it is brown inside! 

It tastes almost like a normal egg, but with a weird aftertaste.

  

We discovered this sign only after having eaten the egg. Well, never mind. I won't eat it again. And I doubt that it would have tasted much better like this.

4th hell: Shiraike Jigoku

  

This hot spring was not spectacular. Only the steam shooting from a stone cave was worth a look.

 5th hell: Chinoike Jigoku

The name has something to do with blood. Dramatic name!

  

  

  

A Zen fish

We did not make it to all 8 Onsen due to lack of time. There are two hot springs with animals, one with alligators and one with other animals like elephants. But I do not want to go there. It is not supposed to be an animal friendly place. 

It was a really fun day in Beppu! 

Karo was here

My old friend from Germany came to visit me. Actually, we just realized that we have known each other for 20 years now! 

When she arrived at the train station in Oita I was there to pick her up. I had been excited for days already. She had made it all by herself from Tokyo to Oita. I was impressed! We took her straight to an izakaya for dinner and getting to know some of our Japanese friends. So her first impression of Oita was a cozy personality-filled bar with Japanese sitting on the floor around big tables in seperate rooms, Japanese dishes like raw fish, tempura, mochi, huge sake bottles, children running around in the bar... She said to me: "All this really exists? I thought this is only in movies." I have spent 4 months in Oita so I already forgot how it is to encounter everything with fresh eyes and fresh mind. It is interesting to see the things she finds fascinating, which has become normal for us.

The first day I had to show her Oita City. I started the tour by the most basic thing: 7-11! I had to show her how to survive in Japan without being able to read Japanese signs, nobody speaking English... Especially in areas where there is no McDonalds to rely on... The Japanese konbinis have everything you need as a traveller to survive. Mini bottles with shampoo, convenience food in see-through packing (so that you see what you are buying), water, juice, bakery goods, warm meals, which are heated up for you... This seemed especially important, as she had been hungry the first day when she was alone in Japan because she had not dared to go into any restaurant. The foreign signs and letters and the speaking barriers had prevented her to get something to eat!

After the konbini I showed her all the important shopping places - our three department stores. I basically did the same tour as on our first shopping day in Oita back in October. Forus, Parco, Tokiwa. We could not do anything else than shopping because it rained so much. We were so unlucky! All the time the sun is shining in Oita and on the day she comes to visit me, boom, rain, rain, rain... But the shopping day was excitement enough. I think she was overwhelmed by the variety of accessories, clothes, shoes, and simply crazy stuff. 

 

The morning started off very relaxed in the Traindor bakery at the station. I had shown her some Japanese alternatives for breakfast, but the "normal" bakery seemed like a more secure choice for the moment...^^

  

Japan has many "fantasievolle" watches

And they are not too expensive: around 20 Euros
 (Parco, third floor)

Karo encounters Japanese love for colorful objects

  

 I heart Japan

  

Telling name

  

 In the evening we went to an Indian restaurant. Two types of curry, bread, rice, and meat for the meat eaters.

 

It was a fun evening - thank you guys!