26 hours, 1 hour of sleep ~ Part 2 April 21, 2008

4:30 in the morning we are dropped off at the air port with 3 bags to check, 2 carry on bags, 2 personal bags and a stroller. 3 check in bags are on wheels. 1 carry on is on wheels, 1 is a duffel bag, and we had the stroller… Wait a minute. We have 2 adults, and a 2 year old. Who is going to pull the 5 things on wheels and carry the half asleep toddler? We should of listened to Johns friend and got one of those carts to put all the bags.
Oh well, so I push the stroller with the toddler, carrying 1 personal bag, the duffel bag, while pulling the other carry on and John tried to push and pull 3 big bags on rollers. That’s my man. (hee hee hee)
We get to the check in counter. All of our bags check in at under 40 pounds. Oooooh, I’m good…

On to the next hurdle, “Going through Security”.

Take off the shoes, take off the jackets, take out the 2 lap tops and put them on separate trays, fold the stroller down, take out both of the 7.5 by 8 baggies with our 3.4 ounces or less liquids, and the other zip lock bag for the toddler with all of her 2 packs of 8 oz Organic Milk and 1 pack of 8 oz Soy Dream + 2 fruit cups (which may be allowed on board but must be declared to the TSA at the security checkpoint for screening.), have toddler put stuffed animal to be screened as well.
We got our bag on rollers checked because of our camera, but everything else went surprisingly smooth.

Before getting on the flight I get a mocha and a bagel and take my echinacea. The flight from Detroit to Newark was very rocky. I got air sick for the very first time in 31 years of traveling. I’m regretting the Mocha I decided to get before I got on the plane. Thank GOD it was a short flight.

Newark Air Port is HUGE. We got out, started to walk, John calling T-Mobile to tell them to unlock our phones for the ???teen time before we leave the country and end up not having a phone. Yes, they can unlock your phone and you can buy a pre-paid SIM card in the other country and use your PHONE!! (I do recommend you on doing this maybe a month ahead of time to avoid what we went through. We just found out that Japanese cel phones don’t use sim cards though… So can’t use the phone anyway for other countries that do have sim cards.)
Any who, we had to walk a bit and then catch the little People Mover to go to the next terminal, where our plane was taking off from. We had to go through security again. (ugh) This time the TSA stopped me and told me that I couldn’t bring in that much milk. I told him that I knew that you could bring that amount for my Toddler as long as I declared it, do to the information on their web site, he let us go. And he thought I had no clue… (But just in case they give you a hard time, make sure you bring a print out of the airline carry on restrictions so that you have proof.)

It was about 11 am, so we decided to get some subs before we board onto our 13 hour flight. As some of you may know, I thought we were only going to get a lunch on this 13 hour flight so I thought about eating and packing as much food as I can before I got onto this plane… Turns out I was a bit wrong.
During this 13 hour flight we got lunch, a snack of pretzels, dinner, breakfast and even ice cream. I’ve always hated food on the plane, especially the meat and fish are gross! So I called ahead of time and ordered a special needs meal for Zu and myself. We are vegetarian for this flight and Zu, because of her chronic constipation, is Vegan. Our meal turned out to be surprisingly good, but one of the bad things was, is that they only got Zu’s special needs order, and not mine… (sob) That’s okay though, Zu ended up sleeping through the Palak Paneer dinner, which was pretty good, except for the fact that Continental doesn’t know what Vegan means, or they don’t know that Paneer is cheese. And during lunch, she wanted the chicken nugget like patty that was in my Chicken sandwich, that the flight attendant said, “Sorry for not having your Vegetarian meal, but we have chicken or fish, would you like that instead?” Vegetarian…, chicken…? fish…? I had no idea those were vegetables. Well, I went for the, vegetarian meal substitute, Chicken and Zu liked it. Breakfast was a more curry like dish. Zu was sleeping so I ate it for her. Apparently all vegetarians are Indian, or Indian lovers to have some sort of curry in all 3 meals of the day. Oh, did I forget to mention that the veggie burger served for lunch had a hint of curry and coriander to it?

So in honor of my pretty good Vegan (Indian) flight menu, here’s a recipe for the Continental Vegan.

Chicken Tomato Curry:

• 400g of Boneless Skinless Chicken Thigh Meat
• 1 onion
• 1~2 carrots
• 1 can of black beans (drained)
• 1~2 knobs of garlic (minced)
• 1 knob of ginger (grated)
• 2 tbsp butter
• 3 tbsp curry powder
• 1 large can of crushed tomato
• 1 cube of chicken bullon
• 1/4 tsp galam masala (if available)
• 1 tbsp oregano
• 1 tbsp basil
• 1 bay leaf
• 1/2 a lemon
• 3 tbsp soy sauce
• a dollop of plain yogurt for garnishment

In a large Le Creuset pot (or large pot with lid), on medium heat, brown the chicken with 1 tbsp of the butter. To the same pan, add the vegetables with the rest of the butter and saute until tender. Add all other ingredients except the yogurt and mix well. Cover and turn heat down to simmer. Cook for about an hour. That’s all! Serve with a dollop of yogurt or sour cream and eat it with your favorite Nan or rice.

Not sleeping yet…

My Okayu (rice porridge) March 25, 2008

This past weekend, I have gotten the comment, “That’s gross. If that’s what I have to eat, I would never be Japanese!” This is about the Okayu.

The same group of people were also making fun of my Organic Loving, Tree Hugger lifestyle.
So, for those of you living in the woods, who have never learned about Global Warming and is just gaining those tons of pounds from your hormone injected, 3 times faster growing animals. Please stop reading this blog. I don’t think this blog is right for you. You may just want to keep idealizing this and not come back to my page. Oh, and I recommend you to buy this.

Any who, after the venting, I am coming back to introduce to you the delicious recipe of my Brown Rice Okayu.

Ingredients:

• 1 cup brown rice
• 30 grams soba (buckwheat noodles) – optional
• 8 cups water
• 1 tsp Chinese Dashi (chicken broth)
• 1/8 cup Daikon Radish (or any other radish or carrot) sliced into small bite size pieces. Oh, Nappa cabbage is good too!
• 1 knob about 5 slices of ginger
• 1/8 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp soy sauce
• small piece of leftover salmon (optional)
• 5 cm of long onion (garnishment)
• pinch of toasted sesame seeds (garnishment)

Rinse out the rice with water and leave it in a large pot with 6 cups of water (covered) for at least 30 min. (If you don’t have time, just leave it in hot water while boiling the soba) Meanwhile break the Soba noodles into small pieces and boil it in some water (2 of the 8 cups) for 5 min. Drain Soba, and set aside.

(I’m cooking with my 2&3/4qt. Le Creuset pot.)

Put the pot with the rice & water on medium heat and start adding the Dashi, Daikon, Ginger, Salt, and Soy Sauce. (You could add a piece of chicken leg or wing, that’s really good!) When it starts to simmer, cover and turn the heat down to LOW. Cook for about 40 min. Add the Soba, and cook for another 10 min. Turn heat off and let it sit for 15 min. with the lid on.

Garnish with the salmon, thinly sliced long onion and some sesame seeds. Yummm

This recipe is very healthy, great for dieting, and fantastic for your digestion. Make a lot and you can freeze 250 gram portions (160 Kcal) & have it for breakfast every morning!

Or just don’t eat it because you’re afraid to be healthy and turn into someone who is JAPANESE!!