A Japanese New Year

Last December 31, A Japanese friend invited us to spend the new year at their place in Saitama. I took some pictures inside the car, while we were on our way. I'm really impressed by the Japanese's road etiquette. I asked our friend why is it that I seldom hear horn blowing in the streets. He said, they just do it for emergency purposes. It's kinda like if someone blows their horn at you, you're stupid or done somethin' that is not appropriate. So it was like, a humiliation, yay!


I was just fascinated, because in my country, those noisy horns is just an ordinary thing. You'll hear it every now and then. *grins* And you'll hear varied sound of it afar from the usual beep beep. Haha! Mostly from the Jeepneys - another means of public transportation in the Philippines. The Jeepney drivers in my country are fashionable! LOL.

The year end party or what they call the "bonen kai" was awesome. 'Twas my first time to experience a Japanese New Year. The host family is very hospitable, we drank sake` the famous Japanese rice wine. It smells like the usual alcohol but milder. It's nothing compared to our local "Lambanog". Haha! It's a local wine in the Philippines, which is often described as the coconut wine or coconut vodka. The drink is distilled from the sap of the unopened coconut flower, and is known for it's potency and high alcohol content (80 to 90 guaranteed). Just a random trivia, so you know. Japanese loves to eat and drink. And they really love to accommodate foreigners in their homes. I felt like I'm a celebrity. Yeah, right dream on girl! *laughs* I was able to try my hand on making soba, since it is part of the Japanese customs to eat soba during new year's eve. We had to make one for the evening. Soba is made up of rice flour and buckwheat, rolled and stretched out to a square, folded and chopped thinly as possible. Then the noodles are dropped into a pan of boiling water for sixty seconds before being plunged into ice cold water. It usually goes with a sauce of dashi, soy and mirin. And of course we had sushi and sashime too! 'twas a wonderful evening really.





Disclaimer: Some photos and videos herein are hosted by third party entities, unless otherwise specified. relentlesz.blogspot.com does not claim any ownership or responsibility of such materials. No copyright infringement is intended at any degree or level.