Do You Want to Go to Japan? Yes you do!! Osaka Version!!

as-salaam aleikum wa rahmatullah,


ohhhh wow I have been lazy in the blogging world lately!!  I need to get caught up!!  I tried to spend a couple days replying to the blogs I am following and then got lazy again!!  So I am finally back with a new post!!


Lets talk about one of my favorite places to travel--Japan!!!  I loooooooooooooooooooooooooove Japan!! love it love it LOVE it!! MashaAllah.  


 I mainly go to Tokyo all the time because that is where my family is, but my husband and I have travelled to Osaka as well.  I want to post some photos so I need to split up my posts into Osaka, Tokyo, and then just a photo post of foods in Japan LOL

 Osaka is Japan's 2nd largest city and is known for its cuisine.  There is a saying in Japan:
  "Dress (in kimonos) till you drop in Kyoto, eat till you drop in Osaka" (京の着倒れ、大阪の食い倒れ)  

The dialect of Japanese spoken there is different from the one spoken in Tokyo.  The dialect is named "Osaka-ben" -- I loooove Osaka-ben!!  Its hard to describe it to someone who doesn't speak Japanese though. Interestingly, a looot of famous Japanese comedians are from Osaka or the surrounding areas that speak with a similar dialect.  Its so interesting to hear  :)     


unfortunately, I didn't take all that many pictures of food while we were there...    and we sure did eat A LOT  LOL


its also hard to find enough photos without me or my husband in them LOL 

Enjoy a few photos inshallah  (God willing)

This is a photo in Namba, Osaka --Namba is considered the entertainment district of Osaka.

Here is a famous crab restaurant in the same area--I have eaten at one of their chain restaurants in Tokyo every time I visit.  The menu is full of different crab a la carte and combo menus.  I love it there MashaAllah-yummy!

Another picture in Namba

Namba Parks Mall

this photo is from a restaurant in the mall that was all-you-can-eat.  You get 1 hour to eat all you want.  The main fun of this place is you go and pick up all the raw meats/poultry/seafood and you get a bowl of a paste made from flour/water and a nother bowl of bread crumbs.  You crumb your own raw food and deep fry right in at the table!!  you can see the stainless steel deep fryer in the pic  :)    It was so good but you do leave smelling like you've been deep-frying food LOL

Some pictures in the Dotonburi area (right by Namba)

Shinsaibashi shopping districts...just a bunch of small blocks lined with places to shop and eat!! 

Here is one place that makes Japanese style souffle cheesecakes.  They had a looong line when my husband and I went so we decided to stand in line and buy one for us.  My husband like it but I thought it was just ok... I much prefer American cheesecakes  :)

the HEP Five Mall--that is a merry-go-round right on the top of the mall!!  We never rode it LOL

a Mexican fast-food chain in Japan. Not authentic Mexican.  LOL  Japan was where I ate the worst Mexican food I have ever eaten in my life LOL--but its a cute place don't  ya think??  :D 

And just a beautiful classic Nissan Skyline (or was it a Daihatsu Datsun (thank you ultra[blue]!!) car back then???) we spotted one day  :)

And can't forget Osaka Castle--this is a replica of an ancient castle in Osaka that was burned down in 1868

Allll I was worried I wouldn't find enough photos to post but I actually had to edit down... :)

next post I will post about Tokyo inshallah!! 

Just a Casual Day :)

as-salaam aleikum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuh,


 ***Texan in UAE... I am working n it!! sorry to take so long but its hard when being put on the spot LOL  its coming slowly inshallah!!


 I've got something yummy to show y'all!!


 So, last night my husband said we should go out to eat lunch so I got up a bit early but he didn't. So I worked out and figured he would be up by the time I finish.  He wasn't.  I realized he was going to really sleep in because he didn't get good sleep this past week.  So I decided to make us a yummy lunch instead.  Pizza Margherita con mozzarella di Bufala!  Pizza Margherita with buffalo mozzarella.

Here is some Pizza dough I made and let rise 2 times, and then there is my homemade pizza sauce (I usually make a lot and freeze in batches), and Fresh Mozzarella made from Buffalo milk (the best fresh mozzarella there is MashaAllah)
 

got the mat and roller ready

then the dough

then all rolled out and set in the pan--I meant to make it thin crust but the dough overlapped the pan so I rolled it all into a thicker crust. then added my pizza sauce--not too much.  then the buffalo mozzarella (yum yum) and a few sprinkles of regular shredded mozzarella

I sprayed the whole top all over with extra virgin olive oil (I bought one that came in a spray bottle) then bake it up and then here are the results!

I Every part that had the toppings were absolutely delicious MashaAllah, but the thick crust parts were too whole-wheaty if you know what I mean, and we didn't eat most of the crust. I made it with whole wheat flour because we are trying to eat healthier and to lose weight (I need to lose a lot LOL)inshallah.   So I will definitely make this a thin crust pizza from now on inshallah.


If any of y'all want the recipe, you can get it here:
Pizza! 


I posted a pizza sauce recipe link as well, though I make a different one now, but I do it all by eye so I will have to pay attention next time to be able to post a recipe inshallah. 


Also, if you don't want it whole wheat, by all means use all white flour, or you can mix it up too! And with the white/mix you can make the crust thicker and it will be yummy  :)




Then later we decided to go see a movie... we chose "Moon" showing at the PictureHouse at Reel Cinemas in Dubai Mall.  It was a good movie by the way  :)

Afterwards we decided to eat at a restaurant named Waterlemon in Dubai Mall.  We loved our food Alhamdulillah.  My husband had the Stuffed Chicken Breasts and I had the Asian Baked Salmon. yummy!!  oh... we splurged a little by ordering chicken wings for our appetizer.  They actually gave us plastic gloves to eat the wings with so our hands wouldn't get messy.  You can't eat wings with plastic gloves!!  Getting your hands dirty is part of the experience  :)

 

When the Cats Come Out to Play

as-salaam aleikum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuh,


 so.... my cat Tora-chan gets to go outside a few times a day and in the end I make her come in at the latest 1am.  Well.. last night (or early this morning I should say) she didn't come home and I was outside at 2am calling and calling for her.  I finally gave up and went out again at 4:15am and I could hear her pathetic meows from outside the home.   She was trying to climb a tree from outside but maybe she couldn't climb all the way or something to get on our roof so she got scared that she shouldn't get back in.  So I opened the front gate and down that tree and in she came running.


She compeletely smelled like metal... like if you rubbed your hand on stainless steel and then smelled it. So today came what needed to be done but also doubled as her punishment.


Here she was about an hour before just chillin' like a villain--Habibi she is!!:

And here she was after!! 

Here she is trying to clean off the water off herself LOL

Allllll my husband said "I'm not going to help you because I'm scared" LOL  (she fights for her life)  so there I was doin' it by myself.  Then my husband came in to check things out since he heard me yelling at her (she got away and ran out of the tub once) and he even said "it totally smells like metal in here!!" --even water alone couldn't get that smell off.. but I have shampoo for cats so she got lathered up twice. 

After a bit he couldn't take her desperate pleas for help anymore and so he left again LOL   though he finally had to help me at the very end because she started thrashing around too much. 

ahhhhh but now my BRAT sweet sweet Tora-chan is all clean again MashaAllah  :)  

now I have to go take a shower.. that was quite a workout!!  LOL

Photos from the BBQ

as-salaam aleikum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuh,

 if you haven't yet, you can read Texan in UAE's entry about our lil' BBQ get-together at Om Abdullah's home the day before yesterday :)

  I was going to make a post about it as well but she pretty much summed it all up in her post MashaAllah.

 But I do have some photos to share-- you may not want to look at them if you are hungry  :P

so, here Kasey, Texan in UAE, and I  just skewered the marinated chicken (you must try this recipe--which you can get at Texan in UAE's post)

and here Om Abdullah spiced the steaks

here Texan in UAE and I were in charge of grilling... and well...  we burned this first batch LOL   and we decided to do the rest in the oven instead  :D

So next were the steaks and after a few minutes flames started shooting up from their oils that drippped down and instead of moving the steaks I thought, "photo opportunity!!" and snapped up some photos before moving them LOL

Here is the yummy salad Texan Teen made for us

oooohh baked potatoes!!! the real thing too!! baked in the oven (not microwaved like some people do--thats not the real thing!)  :D

and here ya go, the kabobs and steaks  :)

Your Saying it Wrong!

as-salaam aleikum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuh,


I know I already made another post earlier today but I just had to tell this little thing...  its really random and only an Arabic speaker might understand the mumble jumble I write here LOL


 so... Om Abdullah (Om A)was BB-ing with Texan in UAE (Texan) who was talking to me from her landline.  Om A asked us to ask our husbands for a few words starting with the Arabic letter noon (for her daughter's homework)  So Texan's husband tell her "nakhla" (palm tree)-- and then I could hear Texan asking her husband how to spell it... then after a few seconds Texan asks me,
"Ask your husband how to spell 'nehala'." 
and I could hear her husband  telling her something in the background (but not clear enough to understand)...and I asked my husband
"So, (husband's name), would you spell Nahala-- 'n', 'e', 'h'..." 
and he interrupted me and said,
"its 'naHla' not 'nahala'" -- allllll annoyed at my pronunciation LOL
so I tell Texan (while rolling my eyes),
"oh, so he is saying its 'naHla', not 'nahala'"
and Texan said, 
"My husband is telling me the same thing!! that its 'nakkHHHHHHHla' and not 'nahala'" 

allll she tells her husband my husband is complaining about the same thing he is and he starts laughing!


allllllll both our husbands at the same time are all annoyed at our pronunciation because we are having some difficulty with the Arabic letter "Ha" that you pronounce in the back of your throat  LOL

-we need some practice to pronounce some of the letter correctly.  It takes time especially coming from speaking a lazy language like American English LOL

oh...wait.. I speak Japanese, and some Spanish, French (well, I used to speak it really well but its pathetic now) etc... and then Texan speaks Spanish as well--   but in our defense...none of these languages have any letters pronounced in the back of the throat  (oops well french does have one)!!

***oops correction I called Texan back after posting this and it turns out we were both pronouncing different words.. she was meaning Nakhla meaing "palm tree", while I heard it from her as nehala (she can't pronounce the harsh KH that is also pronounced in the back of the throat ), so I pronounced it like her and my husband was thinking she was meaning neHla, meaning "bee".  LOL 

Texan just told me--the funny thing is her sisters in law always laughs at her and once told her "Texan, when you say palm tree do you know what your saying?"    
 and she answered 

"yes, palm tree"

and her SIL said, 

"no, your saying 'bee'"