Staycation Highlights

{Yuriko Sensei's rare smile was a surprise when I saw this pic.}

Wearing yukata (summer kimono) at amusement/theme parks is normal practice during summer. It was a fun experience when we spent Friday evening in the park to watch fireworks and just hang out. While we had to follow school rules, it sure was a lot more relaxed since we were on staycation. Food was still delicious and I enjoyed helping out at the kitchen. As always, miso soup, tea, and pickled veggies were always served with our meals. Love Love Love Japanese homecooking. :D

The school principal treated us to lunch at an eat-all-you-can yakiniku place. Check out my eats. I started with sushi, asparagus, pineapple, pasta salad, brocolli, and peaches.

{Salad and Sushi}

While the principal grilled beef, I used my grill space for satsuma imo (sweet potatoes), kabocha, and squid steak. I think I amused him when I also threw in some of the peaches and pineapple in the grill. :P

{Lower Half of the Grill: Kabocha, SweetPs, Squid Steak, PApple, Peaches}

Second tray. Grapefruit, orange, onion, and more kabocha. A scoop each of chocolate and matcha ice cream. There were tons of flavors to choose from but I had my heart on these two flavas from the very start. :D A bowl of cold udon on shiso flavored sauce sprinkled with sesame seeds. Last saucer contains a takoyaki, slice of omelette, and nimono (stewed carrots, renkon, and daikon).

{MORE Kabocha, Fruits, Choc&Matcha Ice Cream, Udon, Takoyaki, Omu, Nimono}

We chose half of the pastry selection for sharing. Here are my six bites of sweet heaven: plain cheesecake, strawberry cc, mango cc, chocolate cake, angel cake, and strawberry shortcake. PLUS, edamame! :D

{Cake and Edamame}

Do you think I overindulged? Personally, I think I handled this buffet well. I skipped the fried rice, curries, fried potatoes, fried chicken, yakisoba, spaghetti, salad dressings, and a lot of the high calorie items. While everybody else grilled meat, I was very much satisfied and comfortable grilling my kabocha and onions. My fave pick for this buffet was the chilled asparagus. The last buffet I went to, my fave was wakame salad in ponzu sauce. Haha. :D It must be the heat.

How do you handle buffets? Do you choose your fave dishes or do you like getting a bite of everything? If I had it my way, I wouldn't go to an eat-all-you-can restaurant. For me, the amount of available food choices is just not normal. One needs to exert more restraint compared to when one simply orders what s/he wants from a menu.

Lovely

Kelly gave me my first ever blog award and I'm thrilled. Thanks Kelly! She is super cool; she finished a sprint triathlon a couple weeks ago! Plus, she's planning her own wedding so expect more loveliness in her blog.

{Lovely}

I'm supposed to pass this award to 15 blogs. Val, Kailey, and Karena's are lovely and they've also received this one. In place of the three, I'm including Allie, Katharina, and Maya so you can check them out if you're not reading their blogs yet. I've only started visiting theirs but I'm sure to go back for more lovely reads. Hopefully, I'll have the time to update my blog roll this weekend.

Live Laugh Eat
Burp and Slurp
the whole plate
MegaNerdRuns
Healthy Ashley
Eating for England
She Runs Brooklyn
Chocolate Shoestrings
American Gourmande
Girl With The Red Hair
Angie's Appetite for Life
Katharina's Food Adventures
Running To Slow Things Down
Madison's Healthy Happenings
Living Healthy in the Real World

If you're a Lovely Blog Awardee, kindly pass it on to 15 people and let them know you gave it to them :) I wish I could give everybody the award though so I'm sending you some virtual chocolate loving instead. :D

{Bitter Chocolate With A Spicy Kick Fit For A Kitty Princess}

As the rain pours outside, I lie on the floor near the balcony. After a little rain watching, I pick up a book and lose myself in the story while nibbling on good chocolate. Dolls, tell me about a lovely thing you like doing.

Snacking Around The World

Although I don't eat cereals often, the fun packaging got me. So, I sampled cereals from Lithuania! Their website states: "In exhibition World Food Ukraine in Kiev, our best products Cinamoni and Nuttys won Grand Prix and Golden Medal in tasting contest." Looks like the ones available at my favorite imported grocery shop are winners! I like how the cereals were not overly sweet. Yum. What's your fave cereal?

{Cinamoni&Nuttys}

Next up, caramelized biscuits from Belgium. These were perfect match with tea as I read on a rainy afternoon. A bit dry and crumbly, I did not mind dunking them in the tea.

{Speculoos Lotus}

Where do your bananas come from? The ones here are from the Philippines. Ever since reading about Gena's Banana Soft Serve last month, I've been making and having some. I had it plain, with cinnamon, and with dark chocolate. It's simply the best. Today, I had some topped with black sesame. The toasty seeds gave the creamy bananas a bit of crunch action, not that it needed that.

{Kitty Jiggles in Approval!}

While it is best to purchase local, I am guilty of buying imported food. My reason could be as silly as cute packaging, or the excitement of trying something foreign, or that there simply are no bananas in Japan. Do you buy at imported food shops? It's like taking a foodie trip around the world, right?