Hotel Keikyu Aburatsubo Kanchoso Onsen and Maguro Donburi - New Year's Eve Day

It's New Year's Eve Day here and today Mama, Papa and I went to the onsen (hot spring) at the Hotel Keikyu Aburatsubo Kanchoso located at:  1152 Misakimachi Koajiro, Miura, Kanagawa Prefecture 238-0225, Japan 

(Trip Advisor: http://www.tripadvisor.ca/Hotel_Review-g1021284-d1049840-Reviews-Hotel_Keikyu_Aburatsubo_anchoso-Miura_Kanagawa_Prefecture_Kanto.html) 

The Men's Side of the outdoor onsen.  海洋泉「油壺の湯」 （海水を使用したお風呂）

A very reasonable hotel, restaurant and onsen about 30 minutes drive from Mama's house.  Mama, Papa, Jun, Ake and I all went last year and stayed overnight which was great because you can go back and forth from the room to the onsen and soak in the onsen all night long and to be in the hot spring water under the full moon looking at the ocean is just spectacular.  

The view is great from the onsen.  客室から望むマリーナ

However, being so close, it didn't really make sense to stay overnight.  Besides, it's New Year's Eve and I'd rather be home so we can go to the shrine at midnight as usual.

There are segregated men's and women's onsen, both with large outdoor soaking pools that look out over the ocean.  Papa and I soaked for about an hour and a half before meeting up with Mama in the dining room for lunch.

The dining room also looks out over the ocean and you can pick some fresh seafoods out of the tanks like crab, awabi (abalone), sazae (large snail), ise ebi (Japanese Spiny Lobster), ika (cuttlefish) and assorted fish.

(video of the huge crab!!  OMG!!)

Papa and I ordered the Maguro-Don or Maguro Bowl.  It is the freshest tuna sashimi beautifully arranged over sushi rice with a bit of a soy-based sauce and then garnished with smooth riced boiled egg yolk and spicy wasabi.  It also comes with a vegetable miso soup, potato salad, pickles and sauteed gobo.  Soooo delicious!  I don't really each sashimi or sushi in the US but in Japan, the fish is SO fresh and it just tastes different - worlds apart from US sashimi or sushi.

 Mama ordered the Zaru Soba and Tempura Shrimp and Vegetable Set which is also another favorite of mine - and since Mama eats a couple of bites and is full, I always end up having to finish her order...

The food was just amazingly delicious, and certainly the soaking in the relaxing environment of the onsen made it taste that much better.  The Maguro Don was amazing!!  Truly a different taste experience than any maguro I have had in the US...!!!  温泉の後美味しいまぐろ丼!!!

After lunch we went shopping for goodies, sake, nigori sake and  picked up the osecho ryori jubako Mama ordered for tomorrow. Yum!!!

I think I'll take a nap before the New Year walk to the shrine!!!

A Day's Delay

3:18 PM American Airline's Admiral's Lounge at JFK Airport, NYC:

So I had to reschedule my flight from yesterday to today.  I arrived at the airport a bit late due to traffic congestion, an accident and construction.  Even though I arrived at the terminal almost 2 hours before my flight, by the time I stood in line to get to the check-in counter, it was about 30 minutes.  Then the agent had to go talk to the supervisor who had determined that no baggage could be checked on my flight less than two hours prior to take-off.  The agent then came back and told me that I could make the flight but that I could not check or take my luggage.  Seriously!!

I then asked if I could check my baggage on the following day's flight and just get on my flight as scheduled.  Another big fat 'No'.

I then asked to change my ticket for the next day's flight and was informed that I would have to take my self and my luggage back to the JFK AirTrain and go from American Airlines' Terminal 8 (where I was) to Terminal 1 where Japan Airlines (JAL) is located.

The problem, she explained, was that while American Airlines actually provided the service for JAL, since it was purchased as a JAL ticket, JAL would have to re-issue the ticket.

I think the smoke pouring out my ears gave her cause to pause and she went back to the supervisor who gave her permission to re-issue the ticket to me at the American Airlines counter.

Once I had the new ticket, the agent helpfully informed me that the baggage check-in for my new flight started at 3:30 AM.  Right.

I then went through a number of area hotels before I was able to book a room via my iPhone at the Hilton JFK Airport .25 miles away.

My reservation confirmed, I went out to the taxi stand and grabbed a taxi to go the .25 miles to the hotel since the hotel shuttle had stopped running for the night.

My cab driver, a very young (20s?) southasian youth with earbuds hanging out of his ears found that he was unable to lift my luggage into the trunk of the cab.  I threw both suitcases into the trunk and we were off - or so I thought.  He then asked me for the address to the hotel.  Once again, a bit of smoke apparently poured out from my ears...  I pulled up google maps and directed him to the hotel.

Once I arrived at the hotel, the night smoothed out and was fine.  My reservation was fine, the room was great, I had WiFi and a couple of fresh juices from the snack counter and caught on my email and Facebook before going to sleep.

Today, I got up and was out the door and at JFK to check-in my luggage by 10 AM.  With my boarding pass secured, my luggage checked; I decided to head into Midtown to grab lunch and pick up a couple odds and ends for my Mom that I didn't get to at home.

I took the AirTrain to Jamaica Station, ten hopped a short ride on the 6 and ride on the E to get to Grand Central Station.

Once there, I made a quick Grand Central Apple Store stop and then headed to the Bobbi Brown Pop-Up Store where I picked up 2 pressed powder foundations in #6 for my Mom and 2 pressed powder foundations fin #5 for my sister-in-law.  I only mention what I picked up because the two clerks, one male and one female; were curious as to my purchases.

At the check-out, the male clerk couldn't contain himself and so he asked me, "So ~ who do you work for?"  When I asked him what he meant, he responded with, "...well you must be either a make-up artist or a personal assistant for a celebrity; and I'm guessing personal assistant.  Who's the celebrity?"

Well, I said, "...the celebrity is Shizuko Matsuzawa - my mother, who is a celebrity in her own mind; and I am just picking up last minute gifts for her since I am on my way to see her for New Year in Japan."

We all had a good laugh and I was on my way.

I took the E to the next stop and grabbed a large Apple n' Greens Jamba Juice and then made my way back to JFK by 3:00.

So now, I have my boarding pass, my currency changed and I am すでに日本語で考える (already starting to think in Japanese)

My iPad Mini, my iPhone and my Nike FuelBand are all charged up so I will sign off for now and my next post will be from Japan!!!

また後で Until Later!!

15 Pounds Lost in 43 Days

I have had a lot of people ask me just 'how' I lost 15 lbs in 43 days and so this post is just a bit of information for those of you who want to know exactly what my process was during the past 43 days.  It truly was an easy fit into my life and if you like the taste of the veg/fruit smoothie, it will probably work for you too.  In the same period, Ed lost over 20 lbs doing the same thing.  Again - this is just what I did for the past 43 days - definitely consult a doctor before you do anything like this and if you have young children or seniors who want to do this - it is NOT a good idea for them to do so according to my favorite doctor.

First, I saw the documentary "Hungry for Change" (http://www.hungryforchange.tv/) and it talked about  some of the tricks that the diet, weightless and food industry plays on us, and it comes from the same duo that brought us Food Matters in 2008, James Colquhoun and Laurentine ten Bosch - a documentary that looks at how food can improve or harm our health. It was interesting but, to be honest, perhaps a bit biased.  In it, however, Joe Cross was mentioned and how he lost 100+ pounds, got off medication and got healthier through a juice fast.  That piqued my interest.

I then saw the documentary by Joe Cross called "Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead" (http://www.fatsickandnearlydead.com/) and it was my inspiration to try a 5-7 day juice fast to see if it would help me to lose about 15-20 pounds.  I immediately went out and bought a Breville Juicer (which was used in the film) and 2 super blender/smoothie blenders, the NutriBullet and the Ninja Pro Blender.

I tried the juice that Joe Cross drank in the movie, 'The Green Machine' and for that, you need the Breville Juicer - or any juicer that pulverizes fruit and veg and extracts the juice.  The Green Machine juice was not bad tasting but it isn't something I could drink for every meal and the thought of a pure, filtered, liquid juice diet was not appealing.  

Aside from my own personal preferences, I also read a lot of testimony on the web where pure juice fasts/diets had the unpleasant side effect of causing constipation in many people because a pure liquid juice diet does not provide anything in the way of fiber.  I've never had those issues and I wasn't going to start encouraging them now just to lose 15-20 pounds.

The NutriBullet blender recipe book offered a very simple formula for making what they called a fruit/veg smoothie.  The recipe is simple:  50% of baby spinach or spring mix greens with 50% fruit of any kind, blitzed into a smoothie - skins and all - sans seeds, of course.

(A number of fruit seeds - apples, stone fruits - are not good for you.  Please read the 'Apple Note' found at the bottom of the page at:  http://patrickchadd.blogspot.com/2012/11/my-favorite-juice-recipe.html)

Anyway, the 50/50 formula was easy to remember and very tasty to my palate.  My favorite is blending together 50% baby spinach leaves (or spring mix greens) and a 50% mix of cantaloupe, honeydew and watermelon.  From time to time I add strawberries or pineapple to the mix as well.  I do remove the rinds of the melons and pineapple.

Here are the differences in the Joe Cross 'juice' and my 'juice' - Joe's is true, smooth, watery juice.  Mine is a thicker, chunkier, fiber-full smoothie - I adjust the thickness with water.

Juice Differences: http://patrickchadd.blogspot.com/2012/11/my-favorite-juice-recipe.html

So when I say 'juice' or 'fruit/veg smoothie', I am talking about the same thing - a blended mixture of greens and fruits, skins on; not just extracted juice.

So, now for my own personal process:

Through my whole process, I decided that I was NOT going to give up my daily Dunkin' Donuts XL Turbo Hot Coffee with Cream and Sugar.  Most days, I have 2 or 3 of these coffees.

Other than the coffee exception, here is what I did:

Day 1 - Day 7:  Just drank veg/fruit smoothies.  I drank 2 or 3 a night for dinner and some days when I was hungry I had them for lunch and a snack.  My snack drink was often just some apples (skin on) and water blitzed into a apple-saucy smoothie.

Day 7 - Day 21:  At least 3 to 4 days of the week, I had 2-3 large glasses of the veg/fruit smoothie for dinner.  I augmented this every day with fresh cucumbers and tomatoes sprinkled with seasoned salt made up of salt, pepper and garlic powder.  I also made fresh roasted sweet petite bell peppers or sauteed mushrooms cooked in a bit of olive oil and their own juices.

For the other days of the week, I grilled skinless, boneless chicken, salmon or steak and had 12 - 16 ounces of protein with my fruit/veg smoothie.  

Day 21 - Day 43:  I continued with the veg/fruit smoothie and grilled protein just as I had for Day 7 - Day 21: but a couple of nights, I added in some white rice, white bread or potatoes and other carbs which I did not have for the first portion of the fast/transition. A carb-free lifestyle is not something I can do or aspire to - it's not healthy. I specify white rice because that's what I grew up on, that's what I like and what I always eat.  If you want to replace this with quinoa, farro, brown rice - it should be fine. I am not a proponent of the "white food is bad" movement and I frankly like way too much of the bad white foods.

Holidays and Restaurants:  

Not really thinking, I started in the full glory of the Thanksgiving/Hanukkah/Christmas/New Year's holidays and so attended many holiday parties and dinners given by a variety of people from work and home.  I can happily say that at each of those events, I ate my fill of what I wanted and liked from soup, to appetizers, to main dishes, carbs and sweets.  In spite of that, I still kept losing weight, and I think it is because I incorporated a daily veg/fruit smoothie on most days.

Right before an event, I would have a glass or two of juice and on the days in between events, I also had a glass or two of juice.

I actually like the taste of the juice and I crave that pretty much every day so it has been an easy adjustment to make.

What will be interesting is this next two weeks in Japan with my family.  I left the US at 187 lbs.  I won't be getting on a scale until I get home on the 12th of January, 2013.  I think I am bound to gain some weight because there is SOOOOO much yummy food in Japan I can't get in the US that I usually pig out when I am there.