Soba Making with HR16

Yesterday I joined HR16 for a soba making class with Mr. Katsumata. Soba is a thin Japanese noodle that is made from buckwheat. I have always wanted to learn how to make soba and was really excited when Mr. Katsumata offered to teach me.  Earlier in the day he taught Mrs. Sekimoto and I and it was a lot more difficult than I thought it would be. When making soba you have to kneed the dough four hundred times and the dough isn't soft like bread dough so it takes a lot of effort. Afterwards the dough is flatten and rolled out, which also takes a lot of effort because it has to be rolled in four different directions to make it into a square. When it is thin enough the flat dough is folded in half, then it is folded from right to left and again from left to right, making a rectangle. Now it is ready to be cut into very thin noodles. Later, I join HR16 for their class and some soba tasting, it was delicious!

 

Some of the class learning how to roll the dough.

 Two of the girls trying their best to keep the noodles thin enough.

The knife looked a little scary but it was fun to use.

Fuka and I were definitely better at cutting udon than soba! Mr. Katsumata cut the perfect noodles, below.

 Ours were not as good!

Hakuba and the Onsen Monkeys

One of my favourite things about Japan is that the ski slopes here are very accessible. From Gotemba you can drive a few hours north and be among the beautiful Northern Alps in Nagano. I usually go to Hakuba, which is where the 1998 Winter Olympics were held. I am definitely not an expect skier but I have been getting better and as long as I keep to the green slopes I'm safe and happy! This is my friend and I enjoying a great day skiing.

There are many great things to do in Nagano apart from skiing. For example, visiting the onsen snow monkeys, which is what I did on my last trip. It has been a dream of mine to visit these monkeys since I watched them on David Attenborough's program, Planet Earth. I think they are incredibly human-like and they remind of old men relaxing by a fire. They were very interesting to watch so I took a lot of pictures. Here is a selection of them below.

We where able to stand really close and they didn't seem to notice us there. This little boy was enchanted by them, so cute!

To get to the monkeys we had to walk for about 20 minutes through the forest. It was beautiful and still because of the snow, we all said it felt like we were in a scene from Norwegian Wood.

Christmas and New Year in Australia

 I enjoy traveling and want to visit most countries in the world but Australia had never been on my list of countries to visit. However, when my youngest brother moved there I decided to visit him for Christmas. My mind was completely changed and I fell in love with Australia because it is such an exciting country. It is unique but also very similar to the UK.

The Twelve Apostles

My brother and I at the Twelve Apostles

I flew to Melbourne and spent the day shopping and getting to know the city a little. The next day my brother and I traveled along the Great Ocean to the Twelve Apostles. Unfortunately we didn’t have enough time to stop much along the way, but I’d love to go back and visit all the lovely little towns along the road. The Twelve Apostles were stunning, and the beaches near there were beautiful.

The next day was Christmas Eve and we had booked to have Christmas dinner with some friends in Sydney that evening. So it was a very long, hot car journey to Sydney. The Christmas dinner was great though.

 Over the next few days I relaxed with friends and explored the city. I went to see Sydney Harbor and the Opera House which was so beautiful, even close up.

Close up I amazed that it was made of lots of little tiles

My brother and I in front of Harbor Bridge

Aborigines playing the Didgeridoo to dance music

View of the whole Harbor

 I caught the boat to Manly, which has many beautiful beaches. I visited a friend there and played bowls with some of her friends. The boat ride was very great and it was amazing to think that it was some peoples morning commute. 

When I got back to the city I visited Hyde Park, which was very beautiful. It had great walkways lined with amazing arching tree and a lovely fountain.

Entertainer in Hyde Park making huge bubbles

These weird birds were everywhere, I thought they were funny.

Before I knew it was New Years Eve and we were of to celebrate the end of 2012 at Sydney Harbor. We all gathered together and spent the day enjoying the sun in Mort Park on the harbor waiting for the evening’s fireworks entertainment. They didn’t disappoint and the show was spectacular!

Happy 2013!!

On New Years day I spent the morning swimming at Coogee beach and in the afternoon I went to my cousins house. His apartment complex had a pool so we relaxed there and played in the pool. 

The next day we decided to go to Taronga Zoo because I really wanted to see some Australian animals. I loved seeing the Kangaroos but my favourite was the Kola bears. They were very energetic when we saw them and were jumping between branches as well as fighting.

The Tasmanian Devil

The view from the Zoo over the Harbor was amazing

On my second to last day we took a trip to the Blue Mountains. We visited the Three Sister, which is an unusual rock formation there. We walked through the forest and climbed down to the Three Sister.

These trees looked like they were silver

People carved their names into the rocks which were very smooth

On my last day the weather was marvellous so we all went to Bondi Beach. It was a great last day in Australia, we went swimming in the sea and relaxed and chatted in the sunshine. It was a perfect end to a great holiday and I hope I can visit Australia again some day.