Will Smith. Hollywood Superstar.

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Straight out of Tomakomai, Japan......here is TAKA!!!

(Not to be confused with Will Smith)

*I posted several other videos of Taka singing karoake on our Shutterfly page if you wish to see more*

A Quick Glimpse into our life here in Japan......

Hello everyone!! After a long and exciting day at a local outlet mall Chris and I decided to make some homemade sushi for dinner. Our friend A.K. 'showed us the ropes' at our local grocery store last night. He deciphered the Japanese words on the seafood packaging and we can now successfully buy our own fresh tuna and salmon!!! Between our new confidence at the grocery store, and us mastering sushi rice, we are virtually unstoppable in making homemade sushi.

I thought some of you may enjoy what went down during dinner tonight.

6:40 p.m.

Chris mastered the 'perfect sushi tuna handroll'

 6:42 p.m.

 Chris eating his 'perfect handroll'

 6:44 p.m.

Chris still enjoying our sushi dinner

6:44 p.m. 

Chris mastering his salmon sushi roll

 6:45 p.m.

Mid-bite Chris looked at the clock, than RAN to his computer to check his waiver's on Fantasy Football.

After Chris returned to the dinner table we had the following conversation

Me: "Do you think you could ever go an entire day without Fantasy Football?"

Chris: "No.....Well, maybe a Monday because by then the games are already started and I can't do anything more...."

We thank God each and everyday that Chris has a job where he can fully dedicate himself to his Fantasy Football League for 12 hours a day.....

Tsukiji Central Fish Market

Yes, thats a tuna-head. And yes, its the size of a beach ball. Imagine how big that tuna was.....

Chris and I both agreed that the Tsukijii Central Fish Market was BY FAR the best thing we experienced during our stay in Tokyo. There simply are no words to accurately describe how amazing this place was. It was amazing, chaotic, invigorating, fascinating, exciting and we both almost got killed about a hundred times. I have never been so excited to see a hundred Japanese men running at me with 2 ft. long samurai-like knives. The funniest thing was how 'weird' Chris and I thought our local grocery stores were for displaying smelt, octopus, salmon roe and other disgusting seafood throughout its seafood department. After our experience at Tsukiji Fish Market, I didn't even think twice when I passed the tub full of fish intestines at our local grocery store this evening. Maybe we've been in Japan too long......

The Tsukiji Fish Market is the world's largest fish market. Each day over 2000 tons of fish and seafood (worth over $18.5 million USD) are sold within the market. Thats over 550,000 tons and $5 billion USD sold annually. Tokyo, and its surrounding areas, get's over 90% of the seafood within the Tsukiji Market. Each morning an auction takes place where the fisherman sell their catch to wholesalers who call the market their home. This auction usually takes place well before 6 a.m.  Fun Fact: In 2009, a single 128kg tuna from northern Japan was sold for $96,300USD. (Thats over $750 per kilo!!!!) The record for the most expensive fish sold at the auction was in 2001. A tuna was sold for a record $200,000USD.

If it lives in the sea, it's probably for sale in this market, where acres and acres of fish and fish products are sold each day within a lively, almost chaotic atmosphere. Each vendor is allotted its own area and a quick scan of the room will reveal mountains of octopus, rows of giant tuna and endless varieties of shellfish and tank upon tank of live fish.

Tourists are welcome to visit the Outer Market, however, lately tourists are discouraged from visiting the actual wholesale market because they have become a disruption to the business taking place within the market. The workers of the market are moving a thousand miles a minute. I was acting like a typical tourist, trying to take as many pictures as I could, and I almost got killed numerous times. My  brand new suede Ugg boots miraculously survived without disaster.....I wish I could say the same about the scarf tied around my purse. I don't even want to think about how many times it was dipped into octopus guts, tuna carcasses, shrimp tanks and numerous other less than appealing locales.

Taka (Our Personal Interpretor) has a friend who is a Master-Sushi Chef in Tokyo. He underwent a four hour bus trip to escort us into the wholesale portion of the market. He has a great relationship with a local man who runs one of the most prestigious tuna shops within the market. This experience was absolutely unbelievable. If Chris and I were to visit the market alone, we NEVER would have been able to experience the market to its fullest. First of all, the market is crazy and dangerous. Upon entering the market, one would think they were entering an abandoned  warehouse district that houses illegal activity. If we still felt adventurous enough to enter we would have been thwarted away by the hundreds of busy workers who rode around on motorized carts with reckless abandon. The aisles were no wider than 3 feet and one had to try their best to stay out the workers way....if not, you were pushed into the nearest fish tub. They are there to do business and they have NO TIME for being courteous to the tourists. The owner of the tuna shop told us that most people will work each day from 2 a.m. to 10 a.m. By 8 a.m. every worker is already cleaning up for the day and getting ready for the next days catch.

The things we saw were UNBELIEVABLE!!!!! We saw whole tuna that were larger than most dolphins. We saw crab legs thicker than my forearms. We saw garbage bins FULL of beach ball sized tuna heads. There were bins and bins of fish parts that I coudn't even identify, much less start to think about why people would eat it. We must have seen two million eel and fourteen million shrimp. Some of the prawns we saw were larger than lobsters found in the U.S.

I could sit here all day and try to explain everything we saw....but I think it may be easier to depict through pictures. In attempt to keep this post 'somewhat' short I will highlight some of our favorites. To see the rest, please visit our blog where all of our pictures will be posted. I should warn you....if you want to view all of the pictures: make a pot of coffee, get a snack and be prepared for it to take a while. There are ALOT!!!!!

Tuna Head eating a baby fish. After our day at the  market, this doesn't seem so weird anymore......

Octopus. It looks red because its soaked in fish blood/guts. Disgusting.

Biggest Shrimp E-V-E-R

Random filleted fish.

Best looking tuna steaks. They honestly looked like chunks of beef. Delicious.

Funniest guy ever. Heater in his mouth, knife in his hand. Might as well blow second-hand smoke into this tuna that probably cost over  $20,000. Well done......

Tuna Filets at our 'friends' tuna shop.

We are home!!!!

My dad's 'Home Away from Home'!!!!
Noone has ever been more excited than we were when we found Outback 

After 5 fun-filled days in Yokohama and Tokyo, we are FINALLY back home in Tomakomai! The weather was gorgeous and the city of Tokyo was incredibly overwhelming. After walking constantly for the past three days we are exhausted and are going to enjoy a full day of relaxation. We have TONS of pictures and will try to post them as soon as possible on our Shutterfly page. I will write more detailed posts about our trip soon. Here are a few highlights!!!

Mini Vacation!!!!

Downtown Yokohama

Hello Everyone!! Chris and I are off on a mini-vacation this weekend! Chris has two games this weekend in Yokohama and then we are going to spend 2 days in Tokyo!!! We will try to take as many pictures as possible and will attempt to post them as soon as we can!! Have a great weekend everyone!

Visit our Shutterfly Page!!!!

Visit our Shutterfly Page if you are curious what we've been up to for the past month.

There is a link to our page on the right side of our blog. Simply click on the icon and it will take you directly to our homepage! We try to bring our camera everywhere and have already taken TONS of pictures of life here in Japan!!!

Here are some of our favorites from the albums so far....

5 year old's with machine guns.....We aren't in Minnesota anymore...

Last night Chris and I were invited by his assistant coach to attend a Halloween party at his neighborhood. We had no idea what to expect, mostly because Halloween doesn't have much of a presence throughout Japan.  Stores are not stock-piled with Halloween candy, I couldn't find a single children's costume and I don't believe anyone in Tomakomai has ever actually carved a Jack-O-Lantern. In fact, a standard 8 inch pumpkin (small by Green Bay standards) cost a MINIMUM of $20.00 USD. 

In preparation of the big night, I headed to the local mall and stocked up on as much American candy I could find. I found regular and peanut M&M's, Nestle Crunch Bars and four different types of KitKats. They make every possible flavor of KitKats in Japan. I passed on the Aloe and Wasabi flavored ones and instead purchased the more appealing flavors such as: dark chocolate, blueberry and white chocolate with caramel.

The neighborhood families gathered pre-treating to chit-chat and take pictures as a group. I estimate there were around 30 children (aged from 2-13) and around 15 adults. The entire group walked around the neighborhood and visited the participating houses one by one to gather their candy. Since Chris and I didn't have a house, we used our car as our 'house for the night'. All of the children were so polite and happy to practice their English with us.  They were astonished when Chris and I started throwing handfuls of candy in their bag instead of just one or two peices. It was very cute to hear all the children try to say "Trick-or-Treat" and "Happy Halloween." 

For the most part, halloween costumes in Japan are very generic. We had several Disney Princesses and pirates and just as many children dressed as witches. As cute as they all were....this is a picture of our favorite costume of the night (maybe of all time).

Yes, this is a gun wielding elephant. Yes, this boy is only five years old. And yes, he ran around all night trying to gun down every person in attendance. This child was  h-i-l-a-r-i-o-u-s!!!!!! I can only imagine what kind of trouble he will cause his parents in ten years.

After the kids were finished trick-or-treating we all headed to a local beer garden for some dinner. The beer garden reminded us of a 'family style' restaurant with long tables and TONS of food. Each table had several grills and pots where everyone cooked their own food as they wished.  This 'cook your own food' seems to be a reoccurring theme at most Japanese restaurants. It's actually pretty fun and its been a great way for Chris and I to learn how to cook authentic Japanese-style cuisine.

As we were leaving the restaurant Chris was asked if he would mind going back in to talk to 'one of his fans'. I believe the word 'fan' is an understatement. This guy was completely bananas about meeting Chris. Apparently he is a huge fan of Chris's dad and the 1980 USA Olympic Hockey Team. He told us he has a DVD of that game and he watches it every single day. This guy was half drunk with excitement and half drunk off the keg of beer he seemed to have already drank. He was busting out the 'I Love You Man' and just about DIED when Chris was nice enough to talk with him for about 15 minutes. Here is a picture of Chris/John's SuperFan.

Notice the 'peace sign' he's flashing us. I think the Japanese associate American's with this hand gesture because EVERYONE flashes it to us!! Too funny....