A KitKat for All Seasons and Reasons

KitKat for  Valentine's Day

  

Here in Japan, I find it  a delight to browse shelves at groceries and convenience stores.  Most likely, I see KitKat among the goods there, and it is always a pleasant thrill to see the latest flavor.

strawberry flavor

新年快乐 Xīnnián kuàilè Happy New Year!

I have made it a yearly tradition to go to Chinatown in Kobe Motomachi every Chinese New Year since I first came to Japan.  No, I don't take part in any activities there nor do I go to watch the Lion Dance.  I just walk around the place along with many people to get the feel of the celebration minus the deafening  firecrackers. 

I do this in honor of my beloved Chinese classmates (kinder through highschool) , former colleagues and students , and friends at Kian Kee (Cebu Christian School/Philippine Christian Gospel School).

This is also in honor of  my maternal great grandmother , Januaria Golle-Olavidez, who was a Chinese mestiza.  Her father was a Chinese businessman immigrant from mainland China and settled successfully in Leyte in the 1800's. 

I like to say to friends often that you'll be able to find your way to Chinatown pretty easily.  Just follow the scent of the "siopao".  Almost every corner in Chinatown has a siopao shop where lines of people can be seen outside its door. 

Kobe Chinatown is not that big compared to the one in Yokohama.  In fact, it took me roughly 10 minutes to go around it.  Crowds were there as early as midday for the Lion Dance and other activities and shows, but there was hardly a problem about navigating the crowds . The legendary  Japanese way of crowd control is impeccable and impressive.  

The Lion Statues (one with open mouth , the 'beginning' and another with a closed mouth, the 'end) stand guard at the entrance of the Chinatown. 

Culture Lesson: Valentine's Day

The last culture lesson for the school year was about Valentine's Day.

For the elementary and kinder classes I taught them the song "Skidamarink".  I found a fun video on YouTube by Muffin Songs, and this was what I showed to the classes as a warmer.

Art Activity  
                                                                           

The activity that I chose for the elementary classes  to do this year was Paper Hearts wreath/clover which they could hang on their walls at home.  I found this on the Martha Stewart's website.  Very easy thing for the kids to do, just folding and putting scotch tape on the sides to form paper hearts. Originally, the design is a wreath, but the kids wanted a clover design, which was fine with me because it meant fewer paper strips to use.  (The paper strips with designs were bought from the 100-yen store in Sannomiya).

The Kinder class did a coloring activity which is on one of the pages of their homework book "Sing and Play".   I let them color the pictures and had them fold and tape a plastc straw in between the folded sheets.   Then I made them say, "I love you" many times, (to practice the sounds of 'l' and 'v') , as they held the folded paper with the straw and waved them.

I made this as a sample

The Love Chapter in the Bible:  For the Adult class on Saturday, since the chaplain Toriyama-san could not make it to class that day, I had the students read the Japanese version of 1 Corinthians 13 for their Bible time. I think it was good for the students to know the ideal love as written in God's word. 

So that was this year's Happy Valentine's Day in our classes!

Kobe Honeymoon

Lany & Jillius at the hotel lobby

Lany, my cousin (Papa's side) got hitched last Jan 25th.  She and her husband, Jillius, decided to have a Japan honeymoon on the first week of February.  Among the places they went to was Kobe.

My sister and I decided to give the couple a paid -one-night- stay and a lunch buffet at a luxurious hotel here in Kobe as our gift for them.  Right on top of my choices for their stay was the Kobe Meriken Park Oriental Hotel. 

Kobe Meriken Park Oriental Hotel is located in the harbor area of Kobe City.  Its shape is like a ship and when you see it from afar , it's like floating on water. 

I've been  to this hotel many times for the sumptuous lunch buffet, courtesy of a good friend from church.  Each time was always memorable for me.  

The dishes on that day were Japanese, Chinese , Western and Italian. Crabs were on the table too, and my cousin and her husband enjoyed their plateful of dainty looking crabs.  I had to beg off because I'm allergic to seafoods. 

my dessert plate

This hotel is  very close to one of my favorite shopping areas, Harborland.   We strolled around the hotel areas , around the Kobe Port Tower and the Harborland for snapshots and sightseeing before we went back to the hotel for the lunch buffet.

Hearts Day 2015

Valentine's Day in Japan is a happy day for all chocolate shops and chocolate lovers.  

Women and girls here  are supposed to give chocolates to the men in their lives....husbands, boyfriends, crushes and even just friends. These chocs are called "honmei choco".

 The bosses in companies also get a lot of chocolates from their workers, called the "giri choco" - given out of obligation.  Women also give chocolates to their women friends, called "tomo choco" - tomo is short for tomodachi (friend).

They say this Valentine tradition started many years ago as a marketing strategy of a chocolate company.  It was so succesful that it became a yearly tradition all over Japan.  

Chocolate shops make a  'killing' during V-Day!  In just a week, the sales that they get during Valentine season is enough to cover profit for the whole year, these companies and shops reported.

These days, many ladies and girls are getting money-wise, so they give home-made chocs to their friends and loved ones. 

Personally, as a choco lover, I enjoy  this day for the reason that I get many 'tomo chocs' from lady friends.  

This year, these were what I got from a good friend at church. 

About five years ago,  I remember a very snowy V-Day  (heavy sleet showers actually , as our area doesn't get that much snow like Hokkaido :)) ...with a lavish Japanese lunch treat from my Nihongo tutor then, and  a box of chocolates from her after. That was to be my despidida from her for I returned to the Philippines a month after that.  I will always remember that day ....and the chocolates, of course. 

New Year's Day traditional food in Japan

These are posters of traditional food eaten during New Year's Day here in Japan.  

I went over to the nearest 7-11 store to get something for dinner one day and saw these posters propped up on the shelves. 

The Japanese nowadays buy these foods in sets.  No, they're not cheap.  Just look at the prices on the posters for each set.  But to Japanese housewives, they'd rather buy these sets of foods than spend days and days during the last weeks of the year, preparing and cooking all these  for New Year.

Each kind of food in the sets symbolize something:  prosperity, strong family ties, good health, etc.  Things everyone wish for themselves and the rest of their loved ones for the coming year.