'Tis the Season!

Hello there everyone! Well, now that we're a fair way into December, I'm into the Xmas spirit. I've got two playlists on my Ipod, one entirely of Asian (Japanese, Korean and Chinese) Xmas songs, and then the other all those old English classics. I did find a bargain of an artificial tree at a place called Nitori, and for $10, just had to buy it. As you'll see in the pic, everything I needed to trim the tree came with it, and it comes up past my knee, so it's sizable. Quite a bargain. People have started selling their New Years wreaths, and these mochi (both fake and real rice cakes) on pedastals which, I'm told, you offer to the Shinto god for New Years, and then get to eat seven days after. Also, they have special bentoes they eat, where every type of food has a meaning (luck having children, luck getting money, luck in studies, etc.). I've also been doing some shopping for the ingredients I need to make a Christmas Cake, and you would not believe how difficult it is to find cake/icing ingredients. Most supermarkets have a small section where they do have baking soda, baking powder, vanilla extract, crepe mix, sponge cake mix, sprinkles and sliced almonds and nuts. What is interesting, however, is that these sections, while having mixes, do not actually have flour. Oh no, they don't. And I'm dubious that this country even has powdered sugar. I've looked at four or five different places and can't find it anywhere, which makes my icing plan quite difficult. We'll see how this all plays out, shall we?

In other news, me and my host family took a quick drive around town tonight to see some of the lights. We went through Aoyama, to the OmoteSando street, which was very lovely, and back through Shibuya home, which was jam-packed with people. I'm also told that Roppongi, Midtown, Futako-Tamagawa and of course Ebisu, are other great spots for light-viewing, so I'll be going there soon, and I'll be sure to take lots of pictures. Well, I've uploaded a few pictures of the lights that were in Akasaka, which was where me and my friend Katy went to see a VK concert last week. Gorgeous, aren't they? Well, talk to you guys later, and Happy Early Holidays!