Tuesday, January 29, 2013 -- Monday night's kimono fun!

I didn't get a chance to write about my cultural adventure from Monday night. Wow, the days are packed with enlightening engagements with Japanese businesses and organizations, while the evenings are packed with Japanese culture, so there is little time to collect my thoughts and share.

On Monday night, we had the pleasure of being hosted at Ariyama-san's family home. She pulled out several kimonos and she and her friend dressed each one of us up in 3 different styles of kimono -- one casual, one formal, and one meant for ceremonies such as graduations. It was fun to try this particular cultural aspect of Japanese life, but I am grateful for the comfort of western clothing!

Ariyama-san's eldest son taught us a little about the typical food of the Osaka area. We tried our hand at making takoyaki (Japanese pancake balls with an assortment of the fillings of your choice -- octopus, pickled ginger, cheese, mochi, etc). When they were done, we doused them in yummy sauces. He also make us an okonomiyaki (Japanese pancake with squid, octopus, shrimp and bacon). Finally, he made us some yakisoba (Japanese noodles with octopus, bacon, cabbage, etc). I'm guessing that the yaki means octopus.

Pics:
1-3) Kimonos
4) Takoyaki
5) Okonomiyaki in progress
6) Okonomiyaki ready
7) Yakisoba