Tuesday, February 23, 2021

Side Effects from My Second Dose of COVID-19 Vaccine

        This month, I've received my second dose of COVID-19 vaccination. As I mentioned in my previous entry, My Experience Side Effects from the COVID-19 Vaccine, I got the first shot last month, and I only had mild side effects from the first shot. However, the side effects of my second shot were stronger than the first one. Today, I'm going to share my experience side effects from the second COVID-19 vaccine with you. 


DAY 1

  10 a.m.   I got the second dose of COVID-19 vaccination.

  5 p.m.    I started having minor joint pain and feeling fatigue. I took an over-the-counter medicine, acetaminophen. Then, those symptoms went away.

  11 p.m.  I started having joint pain and feeling fatigue again, and those symptoms were stronger this time. Soon, I started being shivering and having a fever (38.5℃ / 101.3℉). After the chill subsided, I took acetaminophen.

 

DAY 2 
I still felt some ache and fatigue. I took acetaminophen every six hours or so. Because of those symptoms, I had to stay in a bed all day.


DAY 3
I still felt minor fatigue, but I could do normal activities. At the end of the day, I felt as good as before.
 
 
 
 
 
The Second Dose of COVID-19 Vaccine Side Effects Could Be Severe for Many People.
Before I received the second dose, I was told that the second dose of COVID-19 vaccine side effects would be severe, but I didn't really expect that I would actually have a fever because I had little reaction to the first dose. However, I did have a fever this time indeed. Most of my coworkers also had a fever at the night of the day they got the second shot. Some of them had a very high fever (40℃ / 104℉). Yet, it is an indication of a vigorous immune response, and those side effects should go away in a few days. If you are planning on getting the second dose of COVID-19 vaccine, I recommend you to take one or two days off on the following day. 
 
 
 COVID-19 Vaccination After-Care Instructions
COVID-19 Vaccination After-Care Instructions

 
 
 

Stay safe, and stay healthy! 

 

 

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     My entries related to Costco can be seen here.

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     My entries related to Best Japanese Beauty Products can be seen here.
 

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     You can find my beauty entries by categories from here.



Tuesday, February 16, 2021

How to Cook Japanese Homemade Spaghetti Meat Sauce

How to Cook Japanese Homemade Spaghetti Meat Sauce

         Last weekend, I cooked large amount of Japanese spaghetti meat sauce (スパゲッティ ミートソース). I sometimes cook in bulk and store them in the freezer to save my time and money. Anyway, my homemade spaghetti meat sauce turned out so delicious! It reminded me of Japanese school lunch, which is called kyushoku (給食) in Japan. Most Japanese public elementary schools and junior high schools provide nutritious school meals for all students on every school days. When I was in an elementary school, one of my favorite school meals was meat sauce spaghetti. (I also loved Japanese curry, Naporitan spaghetti, cream stew and so on at my school.) 

       Today, I'm going to share how to cook homemade meat sauce with you. This meat sauce is perfect with spaghetti, rice bowl and gratin. 😋

How to Cook Japanese Homemade Spaghetti Meat Sauce

 

 

How to Cook Japanese Homemade Spaghetti Meat Sauce

Ingredients (14 Servings)

4 Tablespoons of Butter

4 Tablespoons of Olive Oil

4 Cloves of Garlic (Minced)

3 Carrots (Minced)

3 Onions (Minced)

2 Lb of Ground Beef

1.5 Cups of Red Wine

6 oz (170g) of Tomato Paste

3 Tablespoons of Chicken Bouillon

Spaghetti Pasta 

Grated Parmesan Cheese 

 

※You might want to use a large pan for this recipe. I use a T-Fal 5.5-Quart Saute Pan.  

※I used a food processor, Cuisinart 7-cup food processor, to mince garlic and carrots to save my time. 

 

1. Heat butter and olive oil in a large pan over high heat. Put garlic, carrots, onions in it, and stir-fry them for 10 minutes. 


 

 2. Add ground beef and stir-fry them until meat is fully cooked.


 

 3. Add red win and bring it to a boil.


 

4. Add tomato paste, diced tomatoes and chicken bouillon.


 

 5. Cook until water evaporates. (Stir occasionally.)

 


 6. Cook the spaghetti in boiling water according to the package.



 7. Serve meat sauce over spaghetti. 

 

 

 8. Sprinkle grated Parmesan cheese over it according to your taste. Enjoy!


 

 

    You can put leftover meat sauce into containers (I use Pyrex food storage containers.), and store them in a freezer. 😉


 

 

        These are also my entries you might like.
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■How to Cook Chicken and Tomato Pasta

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■How to Cook Miso Soup

■How to Cook Japanese White Cream Stew

■How to Cook Soboro Don, Japanese Scrambled Meat And Egg Bowl

■How to Cook Easy Teriyaki Chicken


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    My entries related to my favorite recipes can be seen here.

    My entries related to foods my husband cooked can be seen here.

    My entries related to Japanese instant ramen can be seen here.

    My entries related to Japanese noodles can be seen here.

    My entries related to Japan Haul can be seen here.
 

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    ★You can find my recipe entries through my Pinterest.

 

 



Sunday, February 7, 2021

The Mint Museum in Osaka - You Can Touch the Huge Bars of Real Gold and Silver with Your Hand!

Japan Mint in Osaka (大阪 造幣局)

        As I mentioned in my previous entry, my husband and I visited Osaka in December, 2019. This time, we decided to go to Mint Museum (造幣博物館) in Osaka. Even though we used to live in Osaka for years, this was our first time to visit there. Japan Mint, Osaka Zouheikyoku (大阪 造幣局), is the place where Japanese coins has been officially made at since 1871. I was surprised that you can visit the Mint Museum and the Mint Tour, the coin factory tour (工場見学), for free. Yes, it's FREE! This time, we didn't visit for Mint Tour, but someday I would like to join the tour! (There is no parking space for visitors, so be sure to use taxi, or public transportation. We went to this place on foot from our hotel.) 

The reservations are not required. However, if you want to visit there with a group of 10 or more people, you must make a reservation for it.
Admission Fee : Free
Hour : 9 a.m through 4:45 p.m. (last entry at 4 p.m.)

 
The reservations are required.
Admission Fee : Free
Open : Monday through Friday
Tour Hour (90 minutes) : 9 a.m., 10 a.m., 10:30 a.m., 1 p.m., 1:30 p.m., and 2:30 p.m.
Minimum and Maximum People : 1 to 100 people for each tour.

 

      Due to coronavirus, the operations may have been changed. If you want to visit the Japan Mint, I recommend you to visit after the cornavirus subsides. You should always check their official site for the latest information before visiting there. 

The Mint Museum in Osaka (大阪 造幣博物館)
      The Mint Museum is very poplar place to see cherry blossoms. It's called Sakura no Torinuke (桜の通り抜け). If you visit there in cherry blossom season, you will be amazed at how beautiful this place is. 

The Mint Museum
1 Chome-1-79 Tenma,
Kita Ward, Osaka, 530-0043, 
Japan

The Mint Museum in Osaka (大阪 造幣博物館)

 

 

 


 

  

    When we visited the Mint Museum, there were only few people who looked like young men. I guessed that they were probably avid coin lovers. 😁






 

You Can Touch the Huge Bars of Real Gold and Silver with Your Hand! 

We were able to touch real gold and silver with our hands!

     At this museum, you can touch real huge gold and silver with your hand! At that time, the value of the gold we touched with our hands was 83,240,000 yen, which was equivalent to $792,000, and the silver was 2,070,000 yen, which was equivalent to $19,710! The gold price has been increasing since we visited there, so now its value is $940,634. 😵

 


 

     

 

 You Can See the Real Oban (大判) and Koban (小判)!

Koban (小判)
       At the museum, I was very interested in the real oban (大判) and koban (小判), which are old gold coin plates. The first oban was made in 1588, and the first koban was made in 1601. I've seen oban and koban in old Japanese folk stories such as Hanasaka Jiisan (はなさかじいさん) and old sumrai drama series such as Toyama no Kin San (遠山の金さん), but it was my first time to see the real ones! "The oban and koban really existed!" 😲   
Oban (大判)
        People in those old eras had already known that gold was so valuable. I watched Japanese TV show which said that the present value of one plate of the rarest oban is estimated over 100,000,000 yen, which is equivalent to a million dollars.

How People in Old Era Made Oban and Koban
     I was also interested in how people in old era made oban and koban.

How People in Old Era Made Oban and Koban

How People in Old Era Made Oban and Koban

I drew this mouse carrying a koban.
       A few week before visiting the Mint Museum, I drew this mouse carrying a koban for negajo for my readers. I couldn't believe that I could see the real koban in Japan!
 

The Mint Museum Booklet

      We were also able to see more of old Japanese coins and very rare coins at this museum. Actually, some of them were same vintage coins his late grandmother had given to him when he had been a young boy. In my previous entry, I wrote that we would sell them in the U.S. Indeed, we sold most of his Japanese vintage coins and bills on eBay. We are not coin collectors but really enjoyed this Mint Museum because of his grandmother!    


Mint Shop, the Souvenir Store at the Japan Mint

Souvenir Medal (造幣局本局 見学記念メダル)
      There was Mint Shop, the souvenir store at the Japan Mint. It's located next to the main gate of Japan Mint. There were very knowledgeable staffs who telling me the value of each coin and how they made those. This souvenir store was selling gold coins, silver coins, very limited coins and so on. 
Souvenir Medal (造幣局本局 見学記念メダル)
Hour : 9:00 a.m. through 4:30 p.m.
Souvenir Medal (造幣局本局 見学記念メダル)

       At the Mint Shop, I purchased this souvenir medal for 500 yen.

Souvenir Medal (造幣局本局 見学記念メダル)
 

     Actually, before going to the Mint Museum, I hadn't expected that this place was so enjoyable. I really enjoyed and was satisfied with this museum. I still couldn't believe that it was free. The Japan Mint is a well known place for seeing beautiful cherry blossoms in spring. However, I thought that Mint Museum is one of must go to places in Osaka in all seasons. If you are interested in Japanese coins, I recommend you to visit Mint Museum.

 

     Next time, I will write about Abeno Harukas (あべのハルカス), which is one of the tallest skyscraper in Japan.

 
 

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