Toyama with the Family

Sunday!!! Yes. 

It was a tough week, with out midterm and all, so I was more than happy to leave behind my worries for the three day weekend! 

For breakfast this morning, my mom made something a little different that she's never made me before!

A Breakfast Sandwich! Maybe I shouldn't call it "a" breakfast sandwich, because it was so delightful :)

Ladies and gentlemen...I present to you: "The Minamizono Eggwich" 

(I need to work on the name...)

Anyways, it was soft scrambled eggs and thinly sliced ham with a little japanese mayonnaise on my mom's homemade rice bread. 

Japanese sandwiches are just white pillowy clouds of deliciousness. I love them. 

Around 10:30, the whole family and I packed up the car to go to Toyama for an overnight stay at my mom's parents' house!

As part of the journey, we took a few sightseeing stops!

First up: 

 Himi Fisherman's Wharf. 

Along the Toyama Bay, the market at the Himi fishing port sells all types of fresh seafood to buy (or look at, take pictures of, sample, eat...like I did)

Me with my mom and lil siblings!

Inside the market, there were tons of stalls selling freshly caught whole fish, along with prepared hot foods, like fried squid, sashimi, and omiyage to take home. One of the most popular products at the market was canned marinated baby squid! They were handing out samples of these tiny squid, so I got try one (or two or three. hehe)

This firefly squid (hotaru-ika) is about the length of half of my palm (2-3 inches usually), so they really are quite tiny. And delicious! I even ate one that was completely black from being marinated in squid ink! 

After walking around the market, the kids took a juice break, while we decided what to eat for lunch. 

Aren't they just adorable? They do something bad, but them pull out the cuteness, and it's just all over from there. I also like that Haruki's shirt says, "I'm ok." I want a shirt like that. The period makes the message especially potent, don't ya think?

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For lunch, I was intrigued by a stall we passed on the way in selling Don Don yaki. I'd never heard of it before, but it basically looked like a savory crepe, or a thin version of okonomiyaki. Since Toyama is known for it's small white glass shrimp, I ordered a don don yaki with white shrimp. The thin, chewy, mochi like pancake was also topped with green onions, ginger, okonomiyaki type sauce, and seaweed. 

It is a popular sushi in Toyama Prefecture.
Some bamboo leaves are laid in a round case made of thin wooden boards, and some salted fillets of trout are put on the leaves. ("Masu" means "trout".)
And after vinegared rice is filled on the fillets, the case is packed with a press of lid.
This sushi is sold in the case at main railroad stations, department stores, supermarkets, convenient stores in Toyama Prefectures.
It is well-known throughout the country, so we can get it in Tokyo.

My mom got this masuno sushi, popular in Toyama Prefecture. Trout and sushi rice are pressed into round, wooden boxes lined with bamboo leaves to create a densely packed disk of sushi pizza! To eat, just invert the box, unwrap the leaves, and slice it up! 

I'd never seen it before, so I enjoyed eating two new things at lunch today!

I also got this cider to drink. 

I still have no idea what Rabon is, but the bottle looked cool, and Japanese cider always tastes good!

After lunch, we made a quick stop along the Uozu coast, which is famous for the mirage that appears from April to June from around 11 am to 4 pm, in which the opposite bank appears to be extended or reversed on the sea. I don't get it because I didn't see it. But it was pretty anyways!

There were tons of beautiful little shells everywhere, so I collected a handful to take with me! 

I also saw tiny crabs and other sea life in the tide pools!

This is a temple complex which is typical of Zen Buddhism in the early Edo period, and vividly shows the financial power of the rich Kaga Clan. In 1997, three buildings of the main gate, the Buddhist sanctum and the sermon hall were designated as a national treasure which show the best work of Zen Buddhism building in the early modern times. The temple was erected to pray for the second feudal lord of the Kaga Clan, Toshinaga Maeda, by the third feudal lord, Toshitsune Maeda.

Next, while the kids and my dad hung rested in the car, my mom and I went to the Zuiryuji Temple, reflective of typical Zen Buddhism in the early Edo period. It was also huge, meaning the Kaga clan were rolling in the money. 

Below are the two scary looking guardian gods of the Sanmon gate, a designated national treasure. 

Inside the temple

I have to admit that one of my favorite parts was the green grass! It was just so vivid. GREEENNN. 

After our temple visit, we finally arrived at the grandparent's house! 

It was a very nice, traditional Japanese home surrounded by greenery. It's so cool to stay in a real home, as opposed to a hotel. I feel like you get such a great sense of culture and everyday life. 

When we arrived, we had a little osenbei snack and resting time. 

Just look at the lil nuggets. 

Haruki easily gets bug bites, and just happened to get one on his eye lid. I thought it was a pretty random spot to get a bug bite, but apparently he get's them on his eye quite often. Weird, huh? Well, sadly, it was swelling up, so he wore a cooling patch over it so his eye wouldn't puff up so much. 

So cute. 

The grandparents! They are super genki and incredibly nice! 

I can't tell you how hospitable and welcoming they were. 

Although it wasn't quite 6 pm yet, we left to go to a popular kaiten sushi restaurant nearby since there is always a long wait. Sure enough, the place was packed! So we stood outside for a bit while we waited. Here is Kaho with a dandelion. Precious. 

The kaiten sushi restaurants in Japan are so high tech! 

Basically, you just press all these buttons to choose what you want on the screen at your table. There are so many options, from sushi to noodles to fried items. After a few minutes, your items arrive on a....

 Shinkansen! So coooooollll! The little train just comes zooming around the corner, then stops at your table for you take the food! On this train, we got the marinated cucumber sushi. It is actually one of my favorites! I've never seen it in America. 

Here are some of the items we ordered clockwise from top left: Cold somen noodles, crab miso sushi, the freshest mozuku vinegared seaweed ever, and yuzu tuna sushi. 

We did some good work. Look at all the plates!

 After our nom nom NOM feast, I got even more spoiled with a trip to the Kintaro Onsen right up the road from the house! 

The Onsen culture in Japan is so neat! Although spas are prevalent at home, there is nothing quite like onsens in America. 

Separated by gender, you go into the locker room to undress, shower off in the cleaning areas next to the hot springs, then hop from one hot spring to the other! Some have massaging jets, while others are outside. So much variety, so much relaxation. 

Fresh from the onsen and in my pajamas, we then drove home for a good nights sleep!