Author: Teddy McCormick
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Heading to Florida
We’re setting out tomorrow for a few weeks in Florida! I don’t normally mince words about my opinion of Florida, so you probably know I’m not terribly excited about it, but I am looking forward to seeing friends and family there.
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Grape Cake and Strawberry Mousse
We got these from a patisserie in Sapporo. Shine Muscat grapes are like, one of the most popular fruits in Japan and you can find them in everything; I never would’ve thought to do a grape cake, but it was lovely. The giant strawberry mousse in the shape of a strawberry was also very good.
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Butter Chicken Curry
Cassie and I are both big fans of Japanese curry. For those of you who haven’t had it, it’s very different than a Thai or Indian curry; it’s thicker, sweeter, and barely has any spice to it at all. (Fun trivia: they consider it a Western food, because they got it via the UK, not…
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Okinawan Pork
This was some pork from an Okinawan restaurant we went to – our host ordered for us so I don’t know the exact name. But it was so outrageously tender, you could cut it with a wooden chopstick. Absolutely incredible.
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Bear Pudding
This was a little pudding cup we got at a patisserie in a grocery store. There are so many treats like this; Japan takes the appearance of their desserts as seriously as they take the taste.
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Otoshi
This is an otoshi – basically a small collection of snacks that you get at lots of restaurants as an appetizer – think like the chips and salsa at a Mexican restaurant. This specific one comes from Ohana, our favorite restaurant, but it changes every time we go, there’s no set collection of snacks.
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Soup Curry
Soup curry is a lovely Hokkaido specialty; like a watered-down Japanese curry that is loaded with vegetables. This is from a small chain in Hokkaido called Ramai that we really recommend, but we’ve had soup curry a couple places now and it’s always one of my favorite dishes.
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Reading a Lot
I have this problem where when I start reading a book, I can’t really stop until it’s over or else I don’t pick it back up again. Some books are easier to return to than others, but in general if more than a day passes after setting it down, I’m not gonna finish it.
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Playing Things By Ear
The funeral stuff was a lot; Cassie may do a post getting into the specifics more later, but I’m not going to pressure her to do it if she doesn’t feel up to it. But it’s over now, so things are settling down to… well, not normal, but that’s mostly because normal isn’t a thing…
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Back in Virginia
Boy, we knew Los Angeles was having a bit of a cool spell, but we didn’t expect Virginia to be this much hotter. Still, it’s nice to be back with family, even if it is for a funeral.
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Time in Los Angeles, and a new posting philosophy
So I’ve realized that part of why I’ve been posting less has been that I view fewer of the things in my life as eventful or noteworthy. Problem is, I made this blog so people can see what I’m up to, not just see the most interesting things I do.
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Korea and Los Angeles
We’re back in the USA! After a brief visit to Korea to see some friends there, we took the 13-odd hour flight to Los Angeles and we’re now here, safe and sound and getting over some tremendous jet lag.
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Big News
Okay, so our departure from Japan was a bit of a whirlwind. But the good kind! I don’t want to bury the lede, so let me open by saying: we have a path to a visa!
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Valentine’s Day Cake
This is a tiny cake Cassie got me for Valentine’s Day. That’s right – she got it for me. In Japan, Valentine’s Day is a day when women give men chocolate – usually in the form of some sort of baked good. Men give women chocolate on White Day, March 14.
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Ohana Poke
One of our favorite restaurants in Hakodate is this place Ohana, a Hawaiian restaurant. It’s really fun now having had Hawaiian food in Los Angeles, in Hawaii, and now in Japan, and getting to see the subtle variations between locations. This one had a distinctly Japanese spin, with loads of shredded nori, and as much…
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Nebula Ice Cream
We got this ice cream cone at a planetarium in Tokyo – obviously themed after outer space. I’m not normally a big fan of cotton candy, but the way it was stuffed into the cone so each bite got some of it and some ice cream? Spectacular.
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Poké-donuts
Aren’t these so fun? There’s this donut place called Mister Donut that’s known for their decorated donuts – we got these two during a Pokémon tie-in event!
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Tteokbokki
This wasn’t actually from Japan – I had this when we were in Korea. Tteokbokki is one of my favorite Korean dishes, but I was a little disappointed to discover that it’s apparently not as spicy in Korea – I think the tteokbokki I had in Florida was spicier!
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Birthday Cake
This was a cake that our friend Florence made for me and a few other friends whose birthdays were near mine! Cassie decorated it with help from two small children who really, really wanted to squeeze the icing bag, and who did not care to direct the icing bag or try to follow any sort…
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Hokkaido Ice Cream
This was our first taste of Hokkaido – some ice cream cones from a Hokkaido foods fair in Tokyo. The one on the left is satsuma and cream, and the one on the right is strawberry and dark chocolate.
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We’re not going to Vietnam
Whoops lol. So turns out getting Vietnam visas takes longer than we thought. Luckily it’s an easy pivot to do South Korea again – we were already going to be there for an overnight layover, so we’ve got a hotel our first night and we’ll actually be on the same flight!
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Ohana Mama
It’s been sad saying goodbye to all of our friends here, especially since we don’t want to leave and don’t know when we’ll be coming back. But the sadness is also wonderful, because it’s only so sad thanks to how many close friendships we’ve made!
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Personal Pour-Overs
One of the most common ways to get coffee here is with these little one-time pour-over packages; most hotels will have a couple in your room when you get there. Very easy and very fun!
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Yodobashi Akiba Ramen
This was one of the first meals I ate out in Japan, and it’s still one of the best! A bowl of ramen from a little shop on top of a big shopping mall; absolutely delicious. If you’re ever in Akihabara, it’s worth going to Yodobashi Akiba just for this!
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Food Pics!
Some of our friends suggested a part of the blog just for pictures of food we’ve eaten – this is going to be that section! Japan has a ton of fantastic food that’s as fun to look at as it is delicious, and this seems like a fun way to share it with our friends!
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We’re going to Vietnam
The short version is our visas are running out soon – March 19th – and we have no real leads on how to extend them. The longer version isn’t much longer.
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Yesterday was national cat day – because 02/22 is pronounced “ni ni ni” which sounds like cat sounds. So stores have a bunch of cute cat-themed treats!
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Japanese Makes So Much Sense
Cassie and I have both obviously been studying Japanese since before we left the States, and it has not been a fast or an easy process. But the more we come to understand Japanese, the more I think the hardest part about Japanese isn’t anything about Japanese – it’s just how different it is from…
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Living Life
I don’t normally like posts apologizing for not posting, but uh, it’s been a minute, so I am sorry to anyone who’s been wondering how we’re doing. We’re doing great! We’re just, like, settled in now.
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Merry Christmas!
I hope everyone had a great Christmas! We’ve had a surprisingly eventful one here – Japan doesn’t hold Christmas in quite the same regard as the States does, but it’s a very big deal in Hakodate, and all our church friends obviously celebrate it.
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Finally Back
I am writing this from our Airbnb in Hakodate! A bit later than we’d planned, but at least we’re here now.
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We are back in Japan, currently on the train to Hakodate! Hooray!
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Woof! Tuesday was *rough,* yesterday wasn’t fun, but I’m feeling good today, so we should be back in Hakodate by tonight!
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Old/New Friends
Well, I’d intended to write a couple posts over the course of our time in Korea, but we stayed so busy, it looks like it’s just a retrospective. But that should help tell you how great a time we had!
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Off to Korea
We’re currently packing for South Korea tomorrow! It’s funny how weird it feels to be going to another country – we’ve been traveling a lot in a foreign country up until now, but this is a new foreign country, and it’s strange to think we’ll be in a whole different place tomorrow night.
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Winter Wonderland
Hello from Sapporo! We’ve been here for a couple days so it’s past time for an update.
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We are keeping an eye on the situation in South Korea, but my friend there says it shouldn’t impact us, so we’re not too worried about it.
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To Sapporo and Seoul
We’ve picked a path! We’re finishing out this visa in Sapporo, the big city on Hokkaido, and then spending a week in Seoul before coming back.
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Looking Back, Looking Forward
We’re nearing the end of our tourist visa (about two weeks), so it’s time to reflect on everything we’ve seen, and time to start figuring out what comes next.
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Went to a dope park today – but it was bitter, snow-on-the-ground cold!
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Now that I’ve shaved, I’ve had to go through all the profile pictures and things on the site and change them to me without a beard, or else nobody will be able to recognize me!
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Hanging Out
If you’re wondering why there haven’t been any posts while we were in Osaka, it’s because we didn’t do anything while we were in Osaka. Cassie hasn’t been feeling well, and we didn’t have any specific plans in mind anyway, so we just chilled.
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I’m uploading all the photos for the Big Photo Dump I’ve been promising, but there’s a bunch and it’s late; I’ll post them all tomorrow once we’re in Osaka.
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Alright, we’ve ported our numbers to Google Voice. We can text as much as we want now, and we’re 90% sure we can call for free whenever we’re on Wifi now.
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Saying Goodbye in Hiroshima
I have my laptop again! This is still going to be a quicker post just so I can get some of the details down while they’re fresh, but I am still planning a larger photo dump sometime soon.
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Nintendo Day!
We’re back in Kyoto! But in a very different part of it, so it all still feels new. Our hotel is very nice and homey – as much space as a small apartment – and has been very comfortable. Also, we went to the Nintendo Museum!
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We’re in a really cute mountain town.
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Traditional Hotels and Mountain Towns
While we’ve mostly been keeping with the fast pace, we’re staying a couple nights in the same place right now, so I have the breathing room for another post before Kyoto.
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More posts coming, we’ve just been on the move a lot and I haven’t had time.
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Tokyo, Revisited
The McFarlands (and PJ, Lizzy’s sister) are here, and we’ve had a great time traveling around Tokyo with them, showing them some of the stuff we’ve enjoyed. I guess before I get to that, though, I should talk some more about our week before they got here. It wasn’t very eventful, but we did do…
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The McFarlands land in an hour! Ahhh!
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Our current hotel is fine but not great – but it’s right next to a river walk which is stunning.
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Stumbled across a Hokkaido food fair yesterday and got some great food – including these dark chocolate/strawberry and milk/satsuma swirls!
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Church was really great! We had a lot of fun hanging out with everyone there, and maybe made some new friends???
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Same City, New Hotel
We haven’t had nearly as eventful a time as our friends and family back in Florida, but we do have a few updates!
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Slow couple of days
As predicted, it has been more chill since Shaz and Dad left – though a little more chill than we were expecting, since I caught a cold. (And now that I’m feeling better, Cassie seems to have caught it from me. Of course.
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I got a book of postcards – like 40 postcards for less than $10! Send me a text if you want us to send you one!
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Dad and Shaz’s last day
Shaz and Cassie’s dad will be leaving later today; yesterday was their last full day here. After that, we have another week with Drew, then two weeks where it’s just me and Cassie, until our friends Micah, Lizzy, and PJ show up for two weeks.
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We’re at a train museum that is clearly targeted at small children. Whoops!
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Our time in Kyoto
Here it is! A massive photo dump and summary of our time in Kyoto. You already know the basics, so I’m just gonna dive right in!
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Home Sweet Home
It’s funny; we spent almost as much time in Kyoto as we had in Tokyo, but we all agreed that coming back to Tokyo felt like coming home again. It’s a nice neighborhood and a comfortable place!
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Nara Park is totally worth it. Feeding the deer is way more fun than I expected, and there’s a ton of cool architecture and scenery around.
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Okay, we have a lot of pictures now, but they’re probably gonna wait until next week when we’re back with my laptop.
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Kyoto is actually gorgeous.
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We have phones again! Also Kyoto is nice!
So first things first: I should warn you to expect lighter updates for the next week. We’re traveling in Kyoto and I didn’t take my laptop, so all posts until we’re back in Tokyo are going to be written on my phone.
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We went to the Shibuya scramble crossing today!
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I Love It Here
Tokyo has been fantastic. I don’t even know where to begin; it’s just great. I love Los Angeles, but Tokyo has everything I like about LA, plus the food is cheaper, the public transit is reliable, the roads are more walkable, there’s affordable housing, and everything is cleaner.
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Here’s a statue of Captain Tsubasa from near our Airbnb.
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Welcome to Tokyo
We are in Japan! A longer post will be coming soon (Wednesday?), but I just wanted to let everyone know that we are here and it is wonderful. Oh, it’s everything I wanted it to be and more.
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We are in Japan! But it looks like our phones won’t work here, so we will not get your texts or calls. So the best way to reach us is email, or finding us on Whatsapp.
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We are currently in the air, almost to Japan! Less than two hours to go! Ahhhh!
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Cramming Everything In
We only had, what, four days in Hawaii? So we did what we could to do as much as possible in those four days. It was, to be honest, probably too much – but dang, we sure did a lot!
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Hawaii Is Gorgeous
Shocking news, I know. We’ve only been here for a day, but because we’re only here for four full days we’re trying to cram a lot in.
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Whirlwind Tour
Our time in Los Angeles may have been dominated by sitting around the house sick, but that just meant that our final weekend, when we were finally healthy, had a lot of stuff we needed to cram into it!
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It’s getting so hard to focus on anything. We’re gonna be in Japan in like a week! Ahhh!
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Sitting Around in California
California has been lovely, but also not exactly what we were expecting from it. This is, in no small part, thanks to a fun little merry-go-round of COVID that we’ve been riding at the McFarlands’ house, which means we’ve not done very much during our time here.
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I’ve been to the Asian grocery store near us three times in the last four days – and I wanted to go today, but Cassie was with me and said no.
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From VA to CA
It’s time. We had a fantastic time in Virginia seeing all our friends and family here, but today’s the day we say goodbye to everyone. Thank you to everyone here for making our time so great, and an extra big thanks to Candace and Tim for hosting us and for taking care of our cats!…
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We’re gonna be pretty consistently busy, but if we gave you one of our contact cards, we’d still love to hear from you. As long as you don’t expect a fast reply, feel free to reach out, tell us what you’ve been up to, or even just say hi!
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VA Friends and Family
We’ve been having a lot of fun seeing all of our friends and family in the area, so I thought it’d be fun to tell you all about some of it!
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Just bought a bidet and installed it in Candace and Tim’s guest bathroom. We can’t live without one!
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Virginia and Our Cats
We’re fairly settled in now in Candace and Tim’s basement, where we’ll be for most of the next month, so really, it’s past time for another update on where we’re at and what we’ve been up to!
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We have landed in VA by the way; we’re staying with Cassie’s sister. We (and the cats!) are all settling in well, we’re just tired. Expect an update soon!
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Hello Virginia!
The day has come! If you’re reading this, we’ve left the state. (This post is scheduled to go live after our flight has taken off.) We land today in VA, where we’ll be for the next month and change.
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As excited as I am to leave Florida, we’re at the point now where most of our goodbyes to people are Goodbyes, and it is sad. We’re going to miss so many people!
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The Goodbye Tour
We have our tickets bought! Which is exciting, but made me realize it’s worth going into a little more detail about our pre-Japan plans, and when we’ll be where. So here are the actual dates!
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Pre-trip FAQ
There are a lot of questions that we keep getting asked about our move to Japan, so we figured you might like to see the whole list! We’ll keep updating this list as questions keep coming up.
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Welcome to the blog
This is (going to be) our blog! We don’t promise to be particularly punctual about updating it, but since we don’t really do Facebook or social media of any kind, it seemed like a good way to keep in touch with people, and let everyone know what we’ve been up to.