Throughout my childhood I’ve always been one of the smaller girls. People would say, “wow, how do you stay so skinny,” or “you eat like a bird!” I’ve never took pride or in being on the smaller size, but all of that changed when I first went to Japan. The women of Japan have beautiful skin and are extremely skinny! Keeping in mind that depending on the style and the brand I can wear a size 0 or a 2, but Japanese women must be a negative 2 to negative 4.

At Narita’s airport I noticed the Japanese women and how skinny they were and but it did not bother me. My husband and I stayed within walking distance of Shibuya’s famous 109. 109 is a young women’s shoppers paradise because the whole building is full of only young women’s clothing and accessories. As I walked through building I found reasonably priced hair clips and handbags that looked nothing like the items available in Hawaii. When I did find a beautiful top I decided to try it on and took the size small to try on. Off to the dressing room I went to try on my first Japanese top. I placed my arms through the sleeve with no problem. Next got my head through the top. Then started pulling the top down and had a difficult time. What a surprise!!! How could this be?

There are times when I go shopping and find the extra small to be too big and now I can’t even fit a small? What a culture shock. Ashamed of this fact I asked for a size medium. When I put the size medium top on I held my breath and put it over my head. The whole time thinking, please fit me please fit me. Victory, it fit!

But wait… I’m just medium by Japan’s standards. Must be time to go on a diet. Maybe later on in my life because I enjoy eating.

This past weekend Ryan won the state wrestling tournament for his weight class.  Last year, his junior year, Ryan won second place so winning first this year is a big accomplishment.  Ryan must have felt a lot of pressure to win because family from out of town came just to watch.  Family from Los Angeles and Sacramento came especially to watch the tournament at the Blaisdel.

The final match was exciting.  When we woke up Nanci at the start of the match she had to use the restroom.  Nanci and I ran as fast as we could down the stairs to the restroom, and all the way back up the stairs to our seat.  Thankfully we made it back in time to watch the second and third periods.  To our surprise Michael, Ryan’s older brother, was able to coach Ryan during the match.  At one point during the match Ryan was losing by one point but was able to come back and win.

When Ryan won everyone was so happy for him and went to celebrate by eating dinner at Shinn Restaurant near the Japanese Cultural Center.

My favorite foods are Shabu Shabu, chocolate crepe, and mochi.  The first time that I ate Shabu Shabu was at Kyoya Restaurant once located in Waikiki, and I was hooked because of the simplicity of the dish.  The star of Shabu Shabu is the protein which can be thinly sliced beef or pork and the occasional crab leg.  You can place a variety of vegetables and noodles in the dish.  My family normally puts round onion, mushroom, enoki mushroom, tokyo negi, and noodles into the hot pot.

In Honolulu there are not many delicious crepe stores but I did find Harajuku Crepe in Shriokiya located in the Ala Moana Shopping Center.  The crepe at Harajuku Crepe is thin, crispy on the edges, and chewy in the middle and the best place in Honolulu to purchase crepes outside of Japan.  My favorite crepe is the chocolate banana with whip cream.

My ultimate childhood favorite is mochi!  During special occasions such as birthday parties and holidays there would be chichi dango on the table.  As I got older I found other types of mochi.  At Chinese restaurants I eat gin doi, a deep fried mochi ball, with smooth azuki beans inside and sesame seeds on the outside. Another favorite is strawberry on a bed of azuki beans and white mochi.

All of these foods bring joy and a smile to my face when I eat it.