I've done it again! (2nd year anniversary!)

 Today is my 2 year anniversary of living in Japan. Time does indeed fly. It's been quite a busy second year and a very blessed one. Within the 2nd year alone I've been to so many places. Within Japan I've been to Osaka, Kyoto, and twice to Kobe. Outside of Japan I've have had some amazing chances to travel. I've been to Taiwan, Singapore, Thailand, and Korea twice. All of this in one year. While my new home this 2nd year hasn't been as nice as my previous I can't deny Gods blessings in my life. New friends and new experiences.  So once again lets take a look back at my second year abroad.

 

Let's get started on this 3rd year.

Follow me on Twitter!

If you run from something long enough you will eventually give in to it. Which reminds me, you can now start following me on Twitter. A lot of things run through my head or happen in my day to day life that aren't really big enough for me to make an entire blog post about but now with the power of Twitter I can post random pictures or talk about the random small things that happen to me as I live in Japan. So come follow me on Twitter. I promise it will be at least 1/4th as good as this blog.

@Christian4Mayor

Snack Attack (Prt 6)

Oreo White Chocolate Cookies

It's the awesomeness of an Oreo cookie with a white chocolate glaze. To me it taste like cookies and cream ice cream just slightly less cold. It's cookies and cream ice cream in cookie form. I think that's about all the convincing I need to do.

 

**** out of *****

Country Maa'm Hotcake Cookies

You read that right. These are cookies with the flavor of Hotcakes or "Pancakes" for a lot of us Americans. The cookies is a filled with white chocolate, chocolate chips and maple jelly which I presume is what makes it eligible to be called Hotcake flavored. It's a pretty decent taste and reminds me of something that would be eaten annually in Fall which happens to be the time in which I first noticed it in stores. I can imagine the taste wearing itself out quickly though. How many pancakes can one eat at a time?

Mentos (Ume Flavored)
I've talked about Mentos before in Japan and how they have a dozen or so flavors that can't be found in America. This time I tried Ume. (Japanese plum) When people ask me what Japanese food don't I like I usually name Ume as one of the top 2. It's extremely bitter and very difficult for me to eat. On the other hand I've had an Ume drink before which may have been mixed with some other sugars or something but actually tasted good. These Mentos are in between. It's not so bad that I couldn't quickly finish a pack but with all the other flavors to choose from I don't see any reason to buy these again.

**1/2 out of *****

Viewing Momiji in Mino City

"Momiji" means Maple Leaves and the viewing of Momiji is the annual Fall event in which thousands of people all over Japan to go various locations to look at the pretty colors of Fall. There are a dozen or so of really famous places throughout Japan. One of the biggest ones is Kyoto a famous city for retaining the traditional look of Japan. It's also only about 2 1/2 hours away from me by bus so I wanted to go but I didn't want to go alone and couldn't find anyone to join so I gave up on it. While doing some Momiji research on the Internet I found a little location an hour away located in the same prefecture I live in now (Gifu) but in a different city called Mino. The location was at Oyada Shrine in Mino which is known as Maple Valley due to all the Maple trees that have been planted there. There is also a puppet show held on November 23rd (Labor Day) which is a holiday in Japan. There are two showings of the puppet show which last for 30 minutes each and tell the story of a group of villagers who are terrorized by a demon snake and then rescued by a God who saves their harvest thus creating a reason for thanks.

The puppet show viewed from the bottom of a hill. Here the demon snake is attacking the villagers.

The puppet with the blue had is one of the God's the villagers worship.

After the show the puppets can be viewed up close.

The villagers and their God along with the puppeteers.

Maple Valley

A small shrine.

The viewing of Momiji is also accompanied by a festival and all festivals in Japan have these various stands selling food.

By the way if you are looking to go there from Gifu city you can head to bus stop #4 near Meitetsu Gifu station and get on the N71 bus to Odaya Jinja. From Odaya Jinja you'll walk for about 20-25 minutes to the puppet show location and then a little further to Maple Valley. The trip will cost you 950yen 1-way. While the Maple Leaves can be viewed from mid November to the 1st of December the puppet show as far as I know is only held on November 23rd.

Puppet show times as of Nov 23rd 2011
1st show: 11:30am-12:00
2nd show: 2:00pm-2:30