St.Patrick's Day Cake Pop

Ingredients:
- 1 box of Betty Crocker french vanilla cake mix (432g)
- Betty Crocker chocolate frosting (450g)
- Wilton dark green candy melts (340g) - from Michaels
- Wilton shamrock mix sprinkles (70g)
- 3 eggs
- 1/3 cup oil

Equipment and other ingredients:
- Cake pop sticks (50 sticks) - I got mine from Target
- 9" round baking pan
- Ice cream scoop or a tablespoon to measure out cake pop sizes

Steps:
1. Bake the cake as per the instruction in the cake mix.
2. After cake has cooled down, break the cake into crumbles.
3. Mix in some frosting to the crumbles (I used half the can but found it to be too sweet).
4. Shape resulting mixture into cake balls.
5. Melt candy melts in the microwave.
6. Dip the cake pop sticks in the melt, then into the cake balls.
7. Dip the whole cake pop in the melt.
8. Add sprinkles.

Osaka Aquarium Day Trip

I love aquariums!  I'm not sure why, because I'm not really an animal person, and I don't really like visiting zoos.  But there is just something about being inside an aquarium that gets me excited.  So when we were in Osaka, we spent a day at the Osaka Aquarium, which is one of the largest aquariums in the world.

Right from the start, actually before we even entered the aquarium, we were greeted by a "march of the penguins" outside the building.  It was the cutest thing ever, to see them waddling around outside.  :)

I think they are every bit as curious about us as we are about them!

I don't know how many people work at the aquarium to keep the place running and clean, but once in a while we see workers in scuba gears cleaning the tank - it was kinda fun to see them swimming about and interacting with the visitors (we waved at them, and they wave back).  I guess it provides the employees with a perspective of what it's like to be in the other side of the tank on display?

I have no idea what half of the aquatic life forms I see in the aquarium are… but I honestly don't care.  It's not like I want to be an expert in marine biology or anything. After walking around the aquarium for a few hours (the place is pretty big), we were tired (and hungry).  I guess this is a common occurrence with most visitors, because right at the halfway point, there is a cafe with a beautiful harbour view.

We ordered takoyaki, but it wasn't really that good… we should've followed everyone else and have the green tea ice cream. Anyways, back to the aquarium...

One of the highlights for me personally (other than the penguins), are the jellyfish.  They have a whole floor dedicated to them, and it is just darn fascinating to watch them move around.

Other Japan trip reports

Osaka

- Osaka Aquarium

- Museum of Housing and Living

- Toka Ebisu festival at the Imamiya shrine

Hiroshima

- Memorial museum + A-bomb dome + Okonomimura

Tokyo

- Tokyo DisneySea

- Meiji shrine

Wedding Favour Box - Brides Bird House

Another wedding update! We've been having a hard time finding a favour box to hold our charms. We were originally going to order these Tiffany blue boxes off ebay, but I just couldn't justify paying more for shipping costs than the actual products, and I just don't like buying things off the internet when I can't see the quality beforehand.

I was shopping at Michaels the other day for valentine's day deals, and came across a sale section with these bird houses by Brides. I didn't pay much attention to it at first, since I'm not really a bird person, but the teal ribbon caught my eye - it's the same colour as my bridesmaid dresses! After deliberating for some time (I end up spending an hour at the store!), I end up purchasing 6 packets, enough for all of our wedding guests.  :)

This is what the kit looks like, minus the happy bride and groom figurine… I just put them there because they are so adorable:

Each kit contains components to make 50 favour boxes:

I tested one out, and it was relatively easy to assemble! The most time consuming part was threading the ribbon through the roof, but other than that, didn't take long. My only suggestion is to use glue instead of the double-sided tape provided to glue the corners of the roof. I find the double-sided tape not strong enough, and the corners end up popping up.

Line the bottom with pink tissue paper, and it's all set! Perfect for our Mickey and Minnie charms. I can't wait to start assembling them. All 300 of them!

Osaka Museum of Housing and Living

We had a free day in Osaka, and I've always been the type of girl that loves to walk around Ikea and envision what other people's day to day lives are like.  So when I heard of the Museum of Housing and Living, I thought it would be something I would enjoy spending an afternoon exploring.

The fact that admission was only 600 yen ($6 Cdn) is an added bonus!  What I enjoyed most about the museum visit was their kimono rental program.  For an additional 200 yen per person ($2 Cdn), you get to rent a kimono for 30 minutes and walk around the museum.  It was so much fun!

Free kimono socks with kimono rental.  :)

Needless to say, once the kimono is on, the museum suddenly became a play belief and photoshoot opportunity for me, and I noticed the same for all the other girls in the museum as well.  Basically all the dads/ boyfriends/ hubbys are given the camera and ordered to take tons of photos.   :)

Kimono fun aside, the concept of the museum is pretty cool.  It is a life sized replica for a village back in the old days, and for an additional 100 yen, you can rent an audio tour, which I suppose is the educational component of the Museum.

Beyond the "life size village", visitors can also explore miniature displays of villages from different eras.  You get to see how life has changed for the villages through the generations.  I would have loved to spend a bit more time exploring this room, but we got to the museum late and it was closing by the time we took off our kimonos.  :(

Still, it was an amazingly fun afternoon, and we got a few more couple pictures for our wedding slideshow.    :D

Summary
Place: Osaka museum of living and housing
Cost: 900 Yen/ person - very reasonable!
Overall experience: Definitely worth a visit. One of Osaka's hidden gems

Other Japan trip reports

Osaka

- Osaka Aquarium

- Museum of Housing and Living

- Toka Ebisu festival at the Imamiya shrine
Hiroshima

- Memorial museum + A-bomb dome + Okonomimura

Tokyo

- Tokyo DisneySea

- Meiji shrine

Osaka Toka Ebisu: Business Prosperity Festival

I was googling things to do in Osaka for our last day there, and came across this "Toka Ebisu Festival" at the Imamiya Shrine.  Oh cool, a festival at a shrine, let's go check it out!

The Festival happens on Jan 10th, with over 1 million visitors visiting the shrine every year. Locals bring fresh bamboo and buy lucky charms to hang on the branches. They also bring last year's bamboo to dispose of, as apparently keeping it for over a year brings bad luck.

The highlight for me is the Good Luck Parade with geishas and good luck girls. They are all chanting and singing and the overall mood was so festive!

So apparently if you're chosen to be a good luck girl, you'll end up getting lots of marriage proposals… seems a bit superficial, but then again, I'm not in a position to judge other people's cultures and customs!

Outside the shrine, stalls are set up to sell charms and snacks.  This reminds me of a night market in Toronto.  We went during the day so it wasn't too busy, but I think it will be more festive at night.

Summary
Event: Toka Ebisu Festival
Location: Osaka Imamiya Shrine
Cost: Free!
Overall impression: Definitely worth a visit if you happen to be in Osaka during the Festival.  :)

Other Japan trip reports

Osaka

- Osaka Aquarium

- Museum of Housing and Living

- Toka Ebisu festival at the Imamiya shrine

Hiroshima

- Memorial museum + A-bomb dome + Okonomimura

Tokyo

- Tokyo DisneySea

- Meiji shrine

Our Valentine's Okonomiyaki Meal

Happy valentine's day everyone!  This year we decided to make our own v-day dinner to save $ for our upcoming wedding, and also because we actually feel that it's more romantic to cook a meal together.

Ever since we had Hiroshima Okonomiyaki in Japan last month (click here for our post on Hiroshima), we wanted to try making it at home, and v-day serves the perfect excuse! So we headed to a nearby Japanese market and purchased our ingredients:

Ingredients (for 2 portions):
1 pack Okonomiyaki mix
1/2 head cabbage
Bacon
2 eggs
Green Onions
Dried seaweed (optional)

Sauce (make your own or purchase Okonomiyaki sauce):
1 tsp ketchup
1 tsp soy sauce
1 tsp mayo
1 tsp oyster sauce

The great thing about the Okonomiyaki mix ($4 Cdn) is that it comes with ENGLISH instructions, which is oh-so-valuable for non-Japanese speaking people like myself.

 1) To make the batter, combine 5.4 oz of water with the Yam Powder included in the mix, and stir.  Then add the Okonomiyaki Batter powder and mix.

2) Add chopped cabbage, green onion, tempura crisp (included in package), and the eggs to the batter.  Remember not to over-mix or else the mixture will become too thick.

3) Now it's ready for cooking!  Pre-heat the skillet and add cooking oil.  Pour in the entire mixture, and add the bacon strips on top.

4) Wait 5 minutes, and then flip!

5) While it's cooking, you can prepare the sauce.  We weren't planning on making our own sauce, but since we forgot to buy Okonomiyaki sauce, we had no option. Turns out its really easy to make - just combine equal parts of ketchup, mayo, oyster sauce, and soy sauce.

6) Once both sides are cooked, add dried seaweed and drizzle mayo on top, and there you have it! Your very own Okonomiyaki. By the way, if you have Bonito flakes, be sure to add them on top for added touch.