I returned to Japan for summer vacation with my daughter.

Full moon above my house takes on a ghostly quality and....

look at this picture of my daughter and her friend doing fireworks on the same night. Totally ghostly... Boo!
What did I do in Japan? Mostly eat great Japanese food. Like this dessert

I had this at the Yamanashi Museum Of Art. This is a favorite of mine it's vanilla ice cream with a sauce made from black sugar (kuromitsu) and kinako powder. Kinako powder is a soybean flour that has a peanut butter like taste. Simple, healthy and delicious.

The Yamanashi Art Museum has quit a large garden that surrounds it with many statues. This silver statue is actually a large apple, you can't see this until you look at it from the other side.

Can you see it?


Lunch... Tamago (egg) sushi and Tempura O Bento (lunchbox). Delicious!

Dessert is a macha (green tea) parfait made with mochi ( rice pounded into a paste and formed into balls), green tea jelly, anko (sweet beans), candied slices of sweet potato and whipped cream. I love it!
Of course I did a little shopping and was handed a face bag when I went in to try on clothes. I didn't know what it was at first and felt a little insulted I was thinking foreigner with swine flu but I guess it's a new thing to keep makeup off the clothes.

I couldn't resist taking a picture of myself. I don't think anyone actually wears it but I could be wrong.

On the bus to the airport we cross the Rainbow Bridge which has a great view of the city. There have been accidents on the bridge blamed on people looking at the view.