Funny Japanese TV Commercial

       Yesterday, I found this very interesting Japanese TV commercial. Amemiya (雨宮) is a professional pest control company in Nagoya, Japan. Their new commercial have been much talked about in Japan since it's published on YouTube. It won't leave positive images of this company. However, the animation is super funny, and the song on this commercial is so catchy. I didn't know this company before, but I think I will never forget the name of this company because of this intense commercial. In this commercial, they sings, "when you are in trouble with pigeons, call Amemiya". The man in this commercial has so many pigeon's poo on his head. He must be trouble with pigeons.

     This animation was created by AC部 (AC Bu), which is the group consist of three Japanese CG animation creators, Toru Adachi, Makoto Andou and Syunsuke Itakura.

     I found that AC Bu also created this promotion video of THERAPY, which is a song by group_inou. This video makes zero sense but is so funny.

     My entries related to Japan can be seen here.
http://itisapieceofcake2011.blogspot.com/search/label/Japan

Wilt Chamberlain - USPS Forever Stamps

       I ordered this sheet of 18 forever stamps, Wit Chamberlain, this month. Wit Chamberlain was an American basketball player and holds numerous NBA all-time records in scoring, rebounding and durability categories.

Wilt Chamberlain - USPS Forever Stamps

      According to USPS website, the U.S. Postal Service® celebrates the life of basketball superstar Wilt Chamberlain (1936-1999). On the court, he was a force of nature. The 7-foot-1-inch center dominated the NBA for more than a decade, setting a plethora of individual records. As a pro, he led his teams to two NBA championships, and in 1962 he scored an NBA record 100 points in a single game.
   

Issue Date:

December 05, 2014

Art Director/Designer:

Kadir Nelson, Antonio Alcala

Wilt Chamberlain - USPS Forever Stamps

Wilt Chamberlain - USPS Forever Stamps

       My entries related to USPS stamps can be seen here.
http://itisapieceofcake2011.blogspot.com/search/label/USPS%20stamps

      You can check and buy stamps at Official USPS Store on Ebay.

How to Cook Deep Fried Chi-ai Tuna, Tatsuta-age

       As I mentioned in my yesterday's entry, my husband and I cooked deep fried chi-ai tuna and it turned out so great. Chi-ai tuna is nutrient-rich food, which contains iron, taurine, vitamin A, D, B1 and B6. If you find fresh chi-ai tuna at Japanese supermarkets, you should try this recipe. It's pretty easy to cook. I'm going to share how to cook fried chi-ai tuna, tatsuta-age (マグロの竜田揚げ), with you. :)


Fried Chi-ai Tuna, マグロの竜田揚げ

   Ingredients (4 servings)

1 lb of fresh chi-ai tuna
1 tablespoon of grated ginger
4 tablespoon of soy sauce
4 tablespoon of sake
reasonable quantity of potato starch



1. Soak fresh tuna in water for 2 minute. Gently, rub tuna with your fingers in water. Then, discard water. Repeat this step three times.

2. Cut tuna into bite-size pieces.

3. Mix ginger, soy sauce and sake in a medium bowl. Marinate tuna in a mixture for 20 minutes.

4. Coat with potato starch.

5. Deep-fry them until golden brown.

6. Enjoy!

Fried Chi-ai Tuna, マグロの竜田揚げ

    This is my entries related to my favorite recipe.
http://itisapieceofcake2011.blogspot.com/search/label/recipes

      This is my entries related to cooking.
http://itisapieceofcake2011.blogspot.com/search/label/cooking

Excellent Fresh Seafood at Japanese Supermarket

      When I go to Japanese supermarkets, I always check fresh seafood sections because their sashimi grade fish is truly excellent quality. Last week, sashimi grade scallops from Hokkaido, Japan were on sale for $16.99 per pound. The pack of three scallops was just $3! Needless to say, it was cheaper than one in Japan. Since my husband loved scallops so much, I decided to purchase them without thinking twice. :)

Fresh Scallops from Mitsuwa Market Place

       As you can see the photo below, the fresh scallops were nice and big. These tasted sweet and so good! :))

Fresh Scallops from Mitsuwa Market Place

       My husband found that chi-ai tuna at Japanese supermarket that day. Chi-ai (血合い) is meat of tuna that is dark red with blood coming from parts close to the spine. Chi-ai is usually selling at pretty reasonable price. It was about $2 package that day. We had never had chi-ai before, so we decided to give it a try. As soon as we came back from the Japanese supermarket, we googled how to cook chi-ai tuna in Japanese. Some Japanese people make deep fried tuna, tuna stakes and tuna cooked in soy sauce with it. You can even eat fresh chi-ai tuna as poke or yukhoe if it is excellent quality. Since it was not sale for sashimi, we decided to cook deep fried chi-ai tuna (血合いマグロの竜田揚げ). If truth be told, I thought it would taste like gut such as chicken liver, which I don't really like. Moreover, I also don't really like cooked tuna while I really love fresh tuna sashimi. However, it turned out so delicious far beyond my expectation! It tasted just like my favorite grilled salmon, and its outside was nice and crispy. Chi-ai tuna is nutrient-rich food, which contains iron, taurine, vitamin A, D, B1 and B6. Moreover, it decreases bad cholesterol, LDL cholesterol. :) If I find chi-ai fish at Japanese supermarket, I will definitely purchase it again. :)


Deep Fried Chi-ai Tuna

      I'll write how to cook fried chi-ai tuna next time. :)


    This is my entries related to my favorite recipe.
http://itisapieceofcake2011.blogspot.com/search/label/recipes

      This is my entries related to cooking.
http://itisapieceofcake2011.blogspot.com/search/label/cooking

Whole Foods Haul

       I am going to make Bulletproof Coffee as soon as I get my new French press coffee maker. I will probably receive it this week. :) Today, my husband and I went to Whole Foods to purchase organic coffee and glass feed butter for our first bulletproof coffee.

       We had purchased some bags of coffee at Whole Foods before, but this was our first time to purchase coffee at their bulk section located next to the coffee bar.

       There were so many kinds of organic coffee we could choose from.

       We finally decided to purchase their organic French roast coffee beans. It was $11.99 per pound.

       We also purchased unsalted glass fed butter. Kerrygold unsalted Iresh butter was almost sold out! It was $3.69 for 8 oz butter.

      In this video, Dave Asprey, who is the founder of "The Bulletproof Executive" shows how to make Bulletproof Coffee. I hope I will make my first Bulletproof Coffee this week. :)

      My entries related to Whole Foods can be seen here.
http://itisapieceofcake2011.blogspot.com/search/label/Whole%20Foods

      My entries related to coffee can be seen here.
http://itisapieceofcake2011.blogspot.com/search/label/coffee

Umaiwa and Umaibou - Japanese Snack

     Today, my husband and I went to a Japanese supermarket and found Umaiwawas on sale there. We don't usually purchase Japanese snacks here in the U.S. because those are more expensive than ones in Japan. As I mentioned in my previous entries, we love and always purchase so many Umaibouwhen we have a chance to visit Japan. However, it was on sale today, and we had never tried Umaiwa before, so we decide to try this snack. :)


うまい輪 Umaiwa Cheese Flavor 75g by Yaokin / Riska

      As I expected, Umaiwatasted just like Umaibou. :) This cheese flavor was so good! This package contained 75g, so I think this was equivalent to 12 sticks of Umaibou. If you feel like eating so many Umaibou, Umaiwa is probably perfect for you. :)

うまい輪 Umaiwa Cheese Flavor 75g by Yaokin / Riska

     By the way, うまい (umai) means delicious and 棒 (bou) means stick in Japanese. 輪 (wa) means ring in Japanese. Therefore, Umaibou is a delicious stick, and Umaiwa is a delicious ring. :)


     This is my entries related to Japanese sweets and snacks.
http://itisapieceofcake2011.blogspot.com/search/label/Japanese%20sweets%20and%20snacks


     These are also my entries you might like.
Top 10 Products You Should Buy at Japanese Supermarkets (for Beginners!)

My Top 10 Favorite Japanese Sweets

My Top 10 Favorite Japanese Snacks

Nordstrom Haul - Bobeau Cardigan

      Three weeks ago, I ordered this cardigan from Nordstrom and finally received it today.

Bobeau One-Button Textured Wrap Cardigan

        As soon as I opened the package, I tried on this cardigan. It was as stylish as I expected and so cozy. However, it was a little small for me; specifically, the sleeve lengths were short. I think I should exchange it for one size up.

Bobeau One-Button Textured Wrap Cardigan

My Coffee Videos

      I have uploaded DIY videos on my YouTube channel. I would like to share more recipes through YouTube. :)

How to Make Starbucks Mocha Frappuccino

How to Make Espresso Con Panna

 

The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up

       While I was watching a Japanese news program a week ago, I knew that Marie Kondo, who is  a Japanese organizing consultant and author, was selected as one of the 100 most influential people in the world by Time magazine. She has written a bestselling series about cleanup practices, and it has sold 3 million copies around the world.

人生がときめく片づけの魔法 by Marie Kondo

the life-changing magic of tidying up by Marie Kondo

      I watched some YouTube videos to know about her more. I was surprised that she started reading organizing magazines at age 5 and became interested in organizing. She volunteered an organizer at elementary school when she was a child. She was inspired by the book, 捨てる技術 (Suteru Gijyutsu by Nagisa Tatsumi), means the skill of throwing out in Japanese, and she started studying about organizing seriously when she was a junior high-schooler.

Marie Kondo, "The Life Changing Magic of Tidying Up"

     Do you know that dan-sya-ri, 断捨離, has been pretty popular in Japan these days? The word of dan-sya-ri won the grand prize in the buzzwords contest in Japan in 2010. 断(dan) has the meaning "to refuse". 捨(sya) has the meaning "to throw out", and 離(ri) has the meaning "to distance."  People re-evaluate things in their house and throw out what they don't really need. They clear the mind of stuff and get rid of clutter. As the result, they make their life more comfortable. Her method, which is called Konmari method, of deculttering is like dan-sya-ri, so it's not new to me. However, what Konmari method impacted me was about "spark joy." When you touch the thing, you can ask if it sparks joy. If it makes you happy, you can keep it. Heretofore, when people start organizing, we tend to think which one we should get rid of. However, her method is to find out which one we want to keep and live together. In addition, I like that she said that tidying is like festival. You don't have to tidy around you everyday. :)  I would like to follow her book to make my life happy!

      These are my entries you might like.

■I Got the Konmari Book, Spark Joy! 

■My Tidying Marathon (Books) - Konmari Methods

■Japanese MD Player - My Tidying Marathon

■Marie Kondo Moved to the U.S.

■Marie Kondo's New Book : The Life-Changing Manga of Tidying Up


     My entries related to Konmari can be seen here.

     My entries related to Japan can be seen here.

The Best French Press Coffee Makers

      I love coffee brewed by French press. My husband and I purchased Bodum Chambord Coffee Press two years ago, and we enjoyed making coffee with it every morning. Last Sunday, it accidentally fell on the hard floor, and the glass beaker of our French press broke sadly. Now, we need to buy new one. I have been trying to find the best French press for our coffee time. I'm going to share these three best French press coffee makers with you.


1.  Chambord Coffee Press by Bodum (8-cup)
      This was the one we used before. I have no complain about our Bodum Chambord Coffee Press. It didn't only make great coffee every morning, but it was also beautiful and shiny. It made my coffee time happier. It was also dishwasher safe.

Chambord Coffee Press by Bodum (8-cup)

2. Classic Chambord Copper Press by Bodum (8-cup)
      I loved my old Bodum French press, but I am also interested in different design. When I first saw this Bodum French press, I fell in love with its beautiful copper finished stainless steel frame. What do you think?

Classic Chambord Copper Press by Bodum (8-cup)

3. SterlingPro Double Wall Stainless Steel French Coffee Press (1 liter)
     This SterlingPro Stainless Steel French Press has so many positive reviews on Amazon. All the part of this French press is made of stainless steel. If I choose this press, I don't have to worry about breaking anymore. With this insulating double wall, this French press keeps coffee hot while brewing coffee. 

SterlingPro Double Wall Stainless Steel French Coffee Press (1 liter)

    When I get a new French press, I will share one through my blog. :)



      My entries related shopping can be seen here.
http://itisapieceofcake2011.blogspot.com/search/label/shopping



     This is my YouTube video, How to Brew Coffee with French Press.

      My entries related to coffee can be seen here.
http://itisapieceofcake2011.blogspot.com/search/label/coffee

Target Haul - Pyrex Limited Edition 100th Anniversary Products

      As I mentioned in my previous entry, I finally got Pyrex 100th anniversary items at my local Target. :)
      You might know that I just bought a set of 18-piece Pyrex storage containers at Macy's a few weeks ago, but after that I found that Pyrex released limited edition items in vibrant colors for their 100 year anniversary. Those colorful designs are inspired by vintage Pyrex. When I first saw their 100th anniversary items, I couldn't resist buying them. I'm going to share what I bought at Target with you. :)

        I bought these two Pyrex 2-cup 100th Anniversary Measuring Cups, Turquoise and Blue. If truth be told, I have 6 Pyrex measuring cups now. :) Since I make coffee every morning, I use them to boil water in the microwave every day. Because I have Pyrex measuring cups, I don't need a kettle at all. In addition, I use them for measuring when I make homemade Frappuccino, ice cream, Japanese curry, miso soup and so on. They released three different sizes of 100th anniversary measuring cups such as 1-cup (white and green), 2-cup (turquoise and blue) and 4-cup (red). Frankly, I wanted all of them, but I ended up purchasing these two because I didn't have any 2-cup measuring cup before.

Pyrex 2-cup 100th Anniversary Measuring Cups, Turquoise & Blue

Pyrex 2-cup 100th Anniversary Measuring Cups, Turquoise & Blue

Pyrex 2-cup 100th Anniversary Measuring Cups, Turquoise & Blue

Pyrex 2-cup 100th Anniversary Measuring Cups, Turquoise & Blue

       I also purchased these five Pyrex 4-cup 100th Anniversary Storage Dishes.

Pyrex 100 4-cup 100th Anniversary Storage Dishes

      These colorful dot containers are so cute! I would like to make delicious meals for these adorable containers.

Pyrex 100 4-cup 100th Anniversary Storage Dishes

Pyrex 100 4-cup 100th Anniversary Storage Dishes

      Pyrex also released their limited edition 100th anniversary pie plate and portable bag. You can still get those items at Target or Pyrex Website. :)


                                     

      This is my entries related to my favorite recipe.
http://itisapieceofcake2011.blogspot.com/search/label/recipes

      This is my entries related to cooking.
http://itisapieceofcake2011.blogspot.com/search/label/cooking       

      My entries related shopping can be seen here.
http://itisapieceofcake2011.blogspot.com/search/label/shopping

How to Make Starbucks Mocha Frappuccino

       I finally uploaded  my new YouTube video, How to Make Starbucks Mocha Frappuccino.     By the way, If you are going to make Frappuccino, you should check out my entry, How to Make Frappuccino Less Watery, to make the best Frappuccino. :)

How to Make Starbucks Mocha Frappuccino

Ingredients

 1 tablespoons of sugar
 75 cc of espresso

 1 tablespoons chocolate syrup
 125cc  of milk
 1 cup ( 250 ml) of ice cube

for garnish:
  whipped cream
  chocolate syrup



1. Brew espresso.

2. Stir the sugar into the hot espresso.

3. Add chocolate syrup.

4. Chill the mixture and add milk.

5. Cover with plastic wrap and chill in the refrigerator for several hours. This will be Mocha Frappuccino base.

6. Put 1 cup of ice cubes into the blender.

7. Add Frappuccino base.

8. Blend the ingredients for 30 to 45 seconds until smooth.

9. Pour into glass and top with whipped cream. Drizzle with chocolate syrup.

10. Enjoy!

      My entries related to coffee can be seen here.
http://itisapieceofcake2011.blogspot.com/search/label/coffee

      This is my entries related to my favorite recipe.
http://itisapieceofcake2011.blogspot.com/search/label/recipes

      This is my entries related to cooking.
http://itisapieceofcake2011.blogspot.com/search/label/cooking




Getting Pyrex Limited Edition 100th Anniversary Products at Target

       Today, my husband and I went to Target to get Pyrex limited edition 100th anniversary products. These have been pretty popular since these popped up in the end of March. Some of limited products were already sold out there. Indeed, we went to two Target branches to get what we really wanted.

Pyrex Limited Edition 100th Anniversary Products at Target

1 Cup Measuring Cups

2 Cup Measuring Cups

4 Cup Measuring Cup

Storage Dishes

Pie Plates

       I'm going to share what we bought today next time. :)


                                   

      This is my entries related to my favorite recipe.
http://itisapieceofcake2011.blogspot.com/search/label/recipes

      This is my entries related to cooking.
http://itisapieceofcake2011.blogspot.com/search/label/cooking       

      My entries related shopping can be seen here.
http://itisapieceofcake2011.blogspot.com/search/label/shopping

Gifts of Friendship (Japan Joint Issue) - USPS Forever Stamps

       I also ordered this sheet of USPS forever stamps, Gifts of Friendship, when I purchased Cherry Blossom Centennial forever stamps this month. USPS and Japan Post jointly issued this stamps to celebrate on the centennial of the gift of dogwood trees from the U.S. to Japan in 1915. "友情" means friendship in Japanese.

Gifts of Friendship (Japan Joint Issue) - USPS Forever Stamps

       According to USPS website, in a ceremony at the Tidal Basin in Washington, D.C., on March 27, 1912, First Lady Helen Herron Taft and Viscountess Chinda, wife of the Japanese ambassador, planted the first two of 3,020 flowering cherry trees gifted to the nation’s capital from the city of Tokyo.

As a show of gratitude for this generous gift, former President William Howard Taft arranged for the United States to send 50 flowering dogwood trees (Cornus florida) to Japan in 1915. These gestures of goodwill fostered a rich tradition of exchanging cherry and dogwood trees that continues to this day.

In both the United States and Japan, the dogwood and cherry trees exchanged over the years bring renewed life each spring after the long winter months and showcase the natural splendor of our two countries. They are celebrated on both sides of the Pacific Ocean with annual festivals that echo the spirit of friendship. With their stunning displays of color and rich history for the U.S. and Japan, these trees remain symbols of the deep bond between our nations.

Issue Date:

April 10, 2015

Art Director/Designer:

Paul Rogers, William J. Gicker, Junko Kaifuchi

These two stamps were created by USPS.

 These two stamps were created by Japan Post.

The Lincoln Memorial with Vibrant Cherry Trees in the Foreground

The U.S. Capitol Building Surrounded by White and Pink Dogwood Trees

 The National Diet Building Framed by Cherry Blossoms

The Clock Tower Outside the Diet Building Rising Behind a Foreground of White Dogwood Flowers.

Gifts of Friendship (Japan Joint Issue) - USPS Forever Stamps

Gifts of Friendship (Japan Joint Issue) - USPS Forever Stamps

       These stamps below were released in Japan on April 10 this year. If I lived in Japan, I would get these too. 

米国からのハナミズキ寄贈100周年

       My entries related to USPS stamps can be seen here.
http://itisapieceofcake2011.blogspot.com/search/label/USPS%20stamps

      You can check and buy stamps at Official USPS Store on Ebay.