It's Autumn, Winter's on the way...

Today when I woke up and looked out my balcony window, Mount Norikura was capped in snow. *sigh* Winter is coming indeed.


Here's another shot I took from Kita Yama Koen (Northern Mountain), the Park/Cemetery behind and above my apartment:



And here's a lovely, red, tombo (dragonfly) who was relaxing in the sun. Over here, dragon flies - especially red dragonflies - mean it's fall. This guy looks like he's wearing a warm, furry vest. I need one of those.

Cake? Chestnuts?

Tonight I made Kuri Gohan (Chestnut Rice), and it smells sweet, like cake. I kid you not. Kuri Gohan is a traditional autumn dish here in Japan, and it's really easy to make:

You need:

200g of shelled chestnuts (or there abouts)
3 cup of rice
3 cups of water
1 tablespoon each (or maybe even a little bit more) of Shouyu (soy sauce), Mirin and cooking Sake

1. Wash the rice until the water runs clear
2. Add the 3 cups of water, shouyu, mirin and sake
3. Place the chestnuts on top of the rice
4. Turn on your rice cooker.

Oh yeah, I used a rice cooker. I'm unable to make rice without one.

Here's a picture, yumm:



And here are some pictures of local rice fields: before harvesting, and after.