Finally!! I've been thinking about writing this post for.. about a week now. :)

But I needed to put the video together first, which unfortunately takes forever on my poor, old computer.

So a couple weeks back, we traveled all the way back to Nabari (in Mie Prefecture) to visit Shota's family for a little shogatu fun times. Mostly exchanging otoshidama (new years money..?) and eat food. Eating a LOT of food. And of course, eating mochi..! :3


Nabari is a little over an hour away from Osaka by sub-rapid express train, but when usually go, we have to use the Express, which takes closer to an hour and twenty. Not really much of a difference except when it's 9pm and you're just dying to get home D:


As you can see, after the train station and some cram school businesses and bars.. there's just mountains. So many mountains..
That also means it's really cold :<

This is a photo of Shota and his brother-in-law. They both got their hair in similar styles without knowing it~ I think his brother's cut is a little cooler, but don't tell Shota that :x








Here's a shot of the rice used to make mochi. It's a little different from normal rice, probably a little shorter and fatter. It actually reminded me of popcorn :D Or that might just be my tummy growling now..








The rice is then put into this fancy little machine. It actually cooks the rice (the same as a normal rice cooker would) before pulverizing (?) it. Total cooking time from kernels to gooey mochi form is about forty minutes.


That means we have to kill time while we wait..




So we tried a little shichinarabe (I don't know what it's called in English D: but it's a card game) while waiting.

Danju, who is only 4, was having none of that rules nonsense so he made up his own game and forced everyone else to play.


I love how happy Danju looks and how confused Shota's bro looks..! Lol


Meina prefers to wait patiently at the table for her mochi.

Maybe she's thinking first dibs?


Or she just wants to play in the flour..





After being pulvarized into the gooey ball shape (up top), it's time to take it out (while it's hot) and separate it (while it's hot). I tried it last year. This year I just took a video. ;D









First dibs indeed! Look at that happy face :]









Happy faces after bellies full of mochi. I think Danju was holding back from his 100% smile, but that's better than the running in fear he was doing earlier. Meina, as you can see, loves the camera. She does hate, however, wearing pants.






These mochi have red bean paste in them, though you can't really see it. That type of mochi is usually referred to as 'daifuku.'

I don't like the taste of red bean so much, so I usually eat mochi with 'kinako' which is soy bean powder. It doesn't sound delicious, but it is..!! You can buy it in warabi-mochi snacks from the super market. Try it sometime!♪

A few weeks ago, I had the unfortunate pleasure of contracting a virus. Well, it ended up not being a virus, but I'll get to that later.

It all started with an innocent dinner with dad-in-law. He likes eating, but he really likes drinking, so we usually end up at a bar or izakaya. This day, however, Shota and I had both skipped lunch, so we were dying for some real food. I told Shota he could choose this time, so we ended up at a local yakiniku (Korean BBQ) joint near the train station. It's located near a lot of shabby looking bars, but I wasn't going to complain since food is usually food.

We got our meat, ate, but left a little earlier than usually because Shota wasn't feeling well. We stopped for some cake at Saizeriya, but didn't stay there long either because Shota was getting irritable and sleepy-eyed. So, we said our good-byes and went home.

Fast-forward to Sunday evening, and Shota has a fever of 37.5C or so. It's a little high, but not terrible, so I give him something for his fever and send him to bed. The next day, he goes to work, but maintains the fever from the night before. I suggest a doctor's visit, but he's stubborn, or doesn't like doctor's, not quite sure which. He puts it off and decides that if he doesn't feel well Tuesday, he'll see a doctor.

On Tuesday, he leaves work early and goes to the doctor. The diagnosis is a virus, maybe. The report I got from Shota wasn't terribly clear, but he gets a blood test taken, some meds, and the day-off work on Wednesday.

Wednesday comes around, and he's looking better. His fever is receding and he appears, overall, more coherent. Thank goodness, because I can't understand feverish, frantic Japanese. Since he's feeling better, we decide to run some errands the next day and just enjoy our day-off together.

By Thursday, Shota is much, much better. He's back to his bad jokes and goofy faces, which means I can spend less energy baby-ing him and get back to my own business. We go pick up my wedding gown early that day, then had back home for a quiet afternoon with out PS3. But by the time we get back, I'm not feeling so well. We eat some lunch, then play a little Dynasty Warriors 6, before I ask for a break and take a nap. I wake up around 7pm to a worried Shota. Apparently, I don't look so good, and I have a fever. Crap..

I pop-in some anti-fever medication, and hope for the best, but by 8pm, my fever has jumped up to 38.7C and I have chills. I've never had chills before, but it's probably the worse thing I've ever experienced next to vomiting (I HATE vomiting). So I'm on my futon, shivering like crazy, with a fever close to 100F and two ice-bottles under my arms. I send an e-mail to my boss and co-worker telling them I probably won't make it to work on friday.

That's the end of the story of how I got this not-virus. Now on to the hospital bit. It's pertty long though, so you'll have to click READ MORE! :)