Made a nice rub with some salt, pepper, rosemary, thyme, oregano, and sage, then fired her in the oven for a couple hours.  Next, roasted garlic to add to the mashed potatoes, stuffing from scratch, steamed carrots and brussels sprouts, and gravy.  Found some cheap spareribs as well, so there’s a little twist to the standard dinner.  Wish our oven could make some yorkshire pudding, but it just won’t get that hot.

By the time Kyoko got home from work, everything was set for our first Christmas dinner in Sendai.

Now playing: The Strokes – The Modern Age
via FoxyTunes

From the JNTO Website:

Watari Shigemune, a military commander, became the governor of Wakuya Castle (Wakuya-jo) in 1591, and for 277 years from that time the castle remained in the possession of the Sendai Clan, which governed this region. Backed by a hill and guarded at the front by the river, Wakuya Castle was a natural fortress. It had no castle tower but instead a row of buildings resembling manors. It was completely destroyed by accidental fire in 1689, then rebuilt over a period of several years. When political power shifted from the Edo Shogunate to the Meiji Government in the mid-19th century, many castles, symbols of the samurai’s political power, were destroyed, including most of the buildings of Wakuya Castle. Only the stone walls and the taikodo turret now remain. A three-storied tower-like building stands adjacent to the castle, exhibiting related materials.

The small park where the castle resides looks like it would be really nice in the spring when the cherry blossoms bloom. I will be somewhere else during Hanami however. Shiroishi or Kakunodate are on the short list this year.

As I’m still recovering from food poisoning, including a lovely trip to the hospital today, here is another installment from our trip to Tokyo last December.  This time it’s from Odaiba.

Originally this man-made island was built to defend the capital city (then Edo) from foreign sea attack, way back in the 1800’s.  Today it is a popular tourist attraction for Japanese and foreigners alike.  Like most popular areas in Tokyo, the best time to visit is at night.

We visited just before New Year’s Eve, so the whole area was even more crowded than usual. People come to pray and bathe in incense smoke, the latter of which is used to cleanse the body and promote good health. Check out the video here, or in the video box on the right.

Having a couple weeks off for Christmas/New Year’s, we decided to get the heck out of Miyagi. Our first stop found us in Utsunomiya City, Tochigi Prefecture.

Our final destination for the day was actually Nikko, one of the most popular tourist attractions in all of Japan, but we had to transfer trains in Utsunomiya, which is the capital city of Tochigi Pref. It’s also famous for gyoza. I could think of no better way to kick off our holiday than with a plate of gyoza and a glass of beer.

Utsunomiya is only about 100km from Tokyo, and with its half-million population is well known within Japan for not only gyoza, but its jazz scene and cocktail bars. As one travels throughout Japan however, you’ll quickly find that every single place is famous for one thing or another. We were here to eat!

Utsunomiya… is a strange place.  Rather, it has strange inhabitants.  Walking along the promenade in front of the station and in the department stores, we encountered numerous people who either had some sort of physical or mental ailment.  With so many people walking around having conversations to themselves or their imaginary friends, we sought safety at a Gap, where we were immediately accosted by super-genki sales staff.  After beating them off, we Kyoko and I decided we’d be safer out on the street with the cripples and retards.