Attended a Las Vegas Show: Rat Pack Show

Sun 12/26/10

For Christmas, Yuichi bought us all tickets to see a Vegas show. We had a really good time. I learned about the Rat Pack, an entertainment group from the 50's and 60's that included Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Joey Bishop and Sammy Davis Jr. among others.

Rat Pack according to Wikipedia

True Grit

Mon 12/27/10

Took my friend, Stephen, to dinner at one of his favorite joints for sushi rolls and then went to see a movie for his birthday. The old geezer turned 37 that day. He's about 2 months older than I am.

imdb site: True Grit

promotional site: http://www.truegritmovie.com/

I didn't see the original with John Wayne, but I really enjoyed this one. Some good action, colorful characters and humor in strategic spots.

Courtesy- truegritmovie.com

Annual Holiday Sushi Feast

 

 12/29/10

Okasan, Yuichi, Noriko and I went to the International Marketplace in Las Vegas to buy the ingredients for the Sushi Dinner that Okasan makes every year when I come to visit.

 There were so many cultures represented with the product selection and customers. I heard so many languages in one building as patrons shopped.

Yuichi selected some Blue Crabs. The were indigenous to the East Coast, where he attended school.

He said he liked the flavor better than other types of crab and knew how to prepare them.

Behind the crab bin, you can see several sashimi quality cuts of Sakana (fish).

Fresh fish is flown in to Las Vegas and delivered to the many Asian restaurants.

Sashimi is Okasan and my favorite food. Once a year, when I visit, she makes a feast and we eat until we've had our fill.

After dinner, I took out the camera and tripod for a Holiday family photo.

Bachi Burger

Sunday, 12/26/10

Bob told me about his sons opening up a gourmet burger restaurant in Las Vegas, NV. I planned on checking it out during my visit here.
The restaurant was decorated with trendy photos of Japan, shoji screens and track lighting, which gave it a really classy ambience. I had the Green and Black burger, sweet potato fries, truffle fries, garlic edamame, and crab cake burger. All were delicious!
The burger had some kind of sweet teriyaki sauce on it and was covered with a sweet Hawaiian bun. Blue cheese, mushrooms and lettuce topped the medium grilled pattie.
I really recommend this place if you're in Vegas.

for more info, visit bachiburger.com

Holiday 2010: My parents' neighbors are kichigai (crazy)

These neighbors of Jeff and Okasan's are pretty hen desu (strange). Okasan thinks they are about in their mid 60's to 70 years old. The husband is employed as some kind of armed security guard.
One night, their American flag was ripped from their flagpole (presumably by a strong gust of wind), past my parents' house and onto the roof of the house on the far side. Okasan is convinced that their neighbors believe that the Lundell household had something to do with it, because ever since that night, the two give looks of poison if my mother or step dad try to say, "hello" to them.
Jeff told me about a time when he was walking Matsugoro (their poodlish mongrel) outside and had to pass within a few feet of the neighbor lady. Jeff gave an obligatory, "hello". She seized the opportunity to give a dramatic sneer, turned the opposite direction and walked away. Jeff did a pretty convincing reenactment of the exchange for Noriko and I.
Another time, Jeff found some dog poop that had been thrown onto his driveway. He insisted that Matsugoro (who is only outside when supervised and then taken back inside after business) might have went unchi too close to the neighbor's rock yard, even though it was well within his own property lines. The neighbors wanted to make a point.
In front of our houses, the far side of the street does not permit parking- it's housing community rules. So we all park on the closest side of the street to Jeff and Okasan's house... just not in front of the neighbors' house. Okasan has us and our guests move our vehicles any time someone is parked in the street in front of the evil neighbors' house.
The other day, someone parked their car on the roadside in front of the lava rock lawn while visiting someone up the road. My step dad walked out and saw that a note was placed under their windshield wiper. He couldn't help himself. He went up and read it, and came back to the house shaking his head with a look of exasperation on his face.
Now Okasan, Yuichi and I all had to know what the note said. We all put on our shoes and enthusiastically approached the car and took turns reading the note.
I really wanted to take a photo of the note, but my parents forbade me in the interest of keeping peace.

To paraphrase, here's the gist of what it said:
"To the owners of this car,
You are very rude and inconsiderate to park in front of a lawn that we worked so hard to decorate for Christmas. I hope Jesus forgives your stupidity."

I'm serious. They pulled to Jesus card.
Okasan joked that we should write a note that said, "But Buddha says it's legal to park here," and post it on the neighbor's door.
One of the house occupants must have seen us reading their note and laughing about it, because when we looked several minutes later, the car was still parked there, but the note was gone.

2010 Holidays: Noriko and I head to Henderson, NV

This year, we threw all of our traveling needs into a bag the morning of the drive and hit I-5 at Noon. I drove all the way down the Interstate into California by Sacramento before turning East towards Nevada. I made the I made the trip in 17 hours this year, beating my last year's drive by 3 hours. By the time we reached the Lundell residence at 4:30 a.m., Jeff Sr. was up for the day- barely.
I tapped on the window on the side of the house for the room that he was in. I didn't get around to the front door when Jeff opened it and saw Noriko standing on his front steps, bags hanging from shoulder straps and an apologetic expression on her face. Jeff had his own expression, I'd heard later; one of sleepy and bleary eyed shock. You see, we originally planned on showing up there a day later.

Although Noriko was able to catch a cat nap or two on the drive down, I'd been awake for about 24 straight hours, driving for 17. We had to have a nap for a few hours.

When we got up, Jeff and Yuichi took us out to see "Buffalo Bills" casino on the border of Nevada and California.

The casino had a Wild Western theme, combining images of settlers running from brown bears or rattle snakes and the bright lights from the food franchises and slot machines.

There was a canal with water that went through it through the "Mining" area indoors. Patrons were able to take rides for $6 in what looked like little log boats.

2010 Holidays: Brother brings news from Texas

Hideki flew up to Portland to spend a couple of weeks with the Anderson family with his wife and 18 month old daughter. Tom, Jenny and Sada stayed with the grandparents during their stay. Johnny stayed over several nights with his daughters, Amaya and Kalina, as well.
It was really good to spend some time with them. Sada was very active and curious. She terrorized the dogs, Bo and Masa just a little bit. Tom shared news that Jenny is expecting a second child. I hope her health is good.

We had met at Papa's Pizza on Main St. in Springfield for our "traditional Anderson Pizza" dinner. Our fun cousin, Brandon met us there with his kids, Gabby and Tyee. My friends Bob and Rosa came by to meet my family for a few minutes.

Brandon went in the kid's area to pick up Tyee and Gabby.

Later, Johnny, Hideki, Jenny and Sada went attending the 2010 JAA Mochi Tsuki with Noriko and I.

I love attending the Japanese American Association events and spending time with my friends at the events. I helped Misa Joo, Bob and Rosa and Mike set up the event.