For Christmas this year, we didnt do anything too special. However, we did do what a lot of Japanese people do on Christmas… eat cake. However, instead of buying the small overpriced cakes that are sold everywhere, we made our own.

The end of the year hiking trip was to Miyagase Dam. Also, for the first and last time this year Suzuna was able to join the hike. The hike was a very easy one around the dam area, but the winter air was cold and clean which gave a nice view of Yokohama. This day was also the Winter Solstice, and in Japan it is customary to bathe with ‘Yuzu‘ to prevent getting sick. On the way back to town we made sure to stop at an Onsen to relax with the smell of Yuzu. Finally, since it was the last hike of the year all the club members that were available got together for the end of the year party.

Although we weren’t able to go last year, hiking up Mt. Takao with Daniel my friend from Switzerland and his kids is another one of my yearly traditions. We were a little too late for the fall colors this year, but the air was clean and beautiful and we had a great view of Mt. Fuji and the surrounding area. After the hike he invited us to his house to have a ‘Racklette’, which is a Swiss dish made be melting said cheese and pouring it over potatoes and other meats. It was my first time to have it and it was really good. I think I ate more cheese that night than I had all year long.

We made Christmas Spritz cookies..

One of my housemates works for a company that produces a somewhat popular computer golf game with cute anime characters in Japan. The game is called Pangya. There was a small promotional exposition for his game and I decided to go check it out. I didnt take many pictures, but there were a few different booths with different games where you could win some items for use in the game. I also tired to play the game at one of the booths, and although it had a very anime feel to to was a little addictive.

My friend Alex invited me and Suzuna over for Chinese ‘hinabe’ which I guess means ‘fire pot’. It is so named because it is usually red in color and really spicy. Although for us they didnt make it quite as spicy as usual.