There was a dress-code for the Christmas party this year: red, green, silver or gold. Here's Masa-san was trying to figure out what to wear to the party. This one didn't make the cut.
It was a good night full of great food, wonderful people and of course, too much cake!!
The little man here, Evan, was so excited by the Christmas log his mom made.
Then there was a lovely chocolate pudding cake from the local chocolate/patisserie shop. Yum!!
Tuesday, December 29, 2009
KIT Annual Bonankai
This year's bonankai was at one of Japan's most renowned onsens- Kagaya. It is an annual one-night retreat where the KIT staff goes to celebrate the school year, network and of course, enjoy unparalleled service that the hotel offers.
We arrived in the afternoon, slipped into our comfortable yukatas and relaxed in our tatami rooms while we were served clementines, green tea and Japanese sweets by lovely kimono-clad ladies.
Pictured above (from left to right: Carolyn, Hye-Young, Makiko, Ksenyia, and myself) in our yukatas.
Afterward, there was time to take a dip in the onsen (the natural hot baths). Then, the multi-course all-you-could-eat dinner began, after a few words from KIT's President.
This year's entertainment included a performance from a Okinawa based group. They sang, danced and were dressed in traditional Okinawa style.
Pictured below is the front page of our menu. Unfortunately for me, my kanji is poor, so what I was eating was still a surprise. The many courses included crab, sea cucumbers, abalone (which was still alive and cooked in front of us), sea urchin, sashimi, beef, noodles, soup, rice and French pastries.
Our night of food was followed by a night of karaoke, first in front of the 400 members of the KIT staff and then in the privacy of our own karaoke booth. Ah, it was a wonderful weekend.
We arrived in the afternoon, slipped into our comfortable yukatas and relaxed in our tatami rooms while we were served clementines, green tea and Japanese sweets by lovely kimono-clad ladies.
Pictured above (from left to right: Carolyn, Hye-Young, Makiko, Ksenyia, and myself) in our yukatas.
Afterward, there was time to take a dip in the onsen (the natural hot baths). Then, the multi-course all-you-could-eat dinner began, after a few words from KIT's President.
This year's entertainment included a performance from a Okinawa based group. They sang, danced and were dressed in traditional Okinawa style.
Pictured below is the front page of our menu. Unfortunately for me, my kanji is poor, so what I was eating was still a surprise. The many courses included crab, sea cucumbers, abalone (which was still alive and cooked in front of us), sea urchin, sashimi, beef, noodles, soup, rice and French pastries.
Our night of food was followed by a night of karaoke, first in front of the 400 members of the KIT staff and then in the privacy of our own karaoke booth. Ah, it was a wonderful weekend.
Friday, December 25, 2009
First Turkey in Japan
Yes, folks. I had my first turkey in Japan... it was deeeeelicious. Turkey is quite rare here, so to have it was a real treat. Please don't let the date of today's blog fool you... I had the turkey for Thanksgiving.
While I'm on a fowl topic, I'd like to touch on the Christmas chicken phenomenon... It's customary for people to get chicken for Christmas here, and it's not just any ol' kind of chicken will do, it's gotta be Kentucky Fried Chicken. Sound strange? I thought so too, but there is a reason for it.
Since turkeys are hard to come by here, ex-pats would eat chicken for the holidays... so then KFC thought of a marketing scheme... Westerners eat chicken for the holidays, Christmas is a Western holiday, voila... Christmas Chicken. My oh my, KFC did a good job of their marketing because people line up for their buckets o' chicken and family packs. Colonel Sanders in lookin' good sportin' his Santa suit.
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