Thanksgiving 2011

Was lucky enough to have the whole family together for thanksgiving. my sister even made a special trip! had the urban family there as well (D, Sops, Alain, G, and Cheech). There aren't so many pictures as i was quite busy in the kitchen but i did manage a few snaps:

the menu:

a 7,000 yen herb butter turkey

Boursin mashed potatoes

spinach cheddar biscuits

steamed veggies (courtesy of mom)

stuffing

moroccan carrot soup

coconut rundown drummettes

gravy

cranberry sauce

pumpkin pie with whipped cream

butterscotch oatmeal cookies

everything was made from scratch minus the stuffing (stovetop) and cranberry sauce (canned). prep started 2 days in advance. man, i was wiped but it was well worth it. probably the best big complex dinner i've put together (if, i do say so myself!)

food, family, and friends. always my favorite combination!

Mutant Carrots

i'm not saying that these carrots are from china, nor am i saying that they use chemicals or radiation, nor am i saying that there's anything explicitly wrong about veggies with limbs. i'm just saying . . . it's weird.

Hiking in Mitake

What do people do in Japan on the weekends when the economy is crap and peeps dont have cash? they hike. ALL OF THEM. and their mamas. the train to the boonies was packed.

check out the crowds at this tiny, god-forsaken station!

it was a beautiful day for it:

the line for the bus would have had us waiting for nearly two hours so we decided to walk to the cable car. it was quite the hike in itself (cuz we were given shitty directions the LONG way). when we got there, surprise! another fucking line to ride the cable car to the top:

we were in fairly good spirits though:

outside looking in on me and D:

there's a very quaint village up there at the top:

after the hike . . . on to the mountain!

the leaves were beautiful! the colors were great:

finally! a picnic in a clearing. cheech wanted to eat much earlier but aarif had "plans:"

everybody gets lunch:

the post food nap:

on the road again:

D shows the finer points of a giant leech that he found on the path:

Tengu rock! it was a VERY steep climb. just a chain to help yourself up. clearly people don't worry about lawsuits here:

kevin comes up sans chain:

a clusterfuck at the top:

the traffic trying to get down:

its difficult to see how steep it was:

more views from the hike:

aarif engages in some dendrophilia:

what a great day! and it felt so nice to get out of the city for a while . . .