1st Day Travel To Japan

My greeting party:]

Yup, McDonald's(:

Ohy! such a long flight from Penn. to Fukuoka, Japan. I wish i could of just left from West Virginia, but no, they don't fly international. I already had to spend $1,500 just to get here, not to mention on the way back. So far what I've seen is beautiful, and man am i glad i get to crash at my great uncle Takachan's house. He picked me up from the airport, and on the way to his place, we stopped at McDonald's to eat. I've never met this side of my family before, and hopefully we will get along great. As soon as i walked through the door, they gave me some money to spend! Man they haven't even known me for ten minutes, but they're treating me great. Thankfully i don't have to pay for any meals on my first day, because of these generous people. I can't wait to see the rest of Japan, especially the capital. I planned on going to all of the four main islands and seeing there most famous things. I can't wait!!

Ichigo Daifuku- Japan:)

What you need:

1.5 cups mochiko (rice flour) 1.5 cups water 1/4 cup sugar 2 cups of anko (sweet red bean paste) About a dozen small to medium strawberries Wax paper or a cutting board katakuriko (potato starch) for the cutting board

Mix the flour, water, and sugar in a pot. When it's good and mixed, put the heat on as if you were trying to bring it to a boil. Cover. After a few minutes it will thicken alarmingly at the bottom. Stir it up, and keep stirring every minute or so until you have what looks like a pot full of white chewing gum. Take the pot off the heat and leave uncovered.
Flour your working surface with the potato starch, or if you don't have that more rice flour, because this stuff is *sticky.* Using a wooden spoon or whatever, pull out globs of goo, about as much as you want to use for each daifuku (golf ball size is a good point to aim for, though it'll be difficult to judge because of how stretchy it is) and set them on the potato starch. This will help them cool faster. Otherwise you'll be waiting forever.  The pot will keep a layer of the gluey stuff no matter how hard you scrape. Don't worry about that, just set it aside to cool.
Wash the strawberries and cut the leaves off. Smear anko all over them. (The recipes I've seen show them rolled up in neat little anko balls. Hah! If anyone knows how to do this trick, tell me!) It doesn't have to look pretty, as this will all be covered up.
When the dough is cool enough that you can work it without burning yourself, flour your fingers, then work the dough balls into rounds. It's stretchy stuff, so this is easy. When you've got a good round place an anko-covered strawberry on it, then draw the dough up over the filling and pinch it together so it sticks. Pinch it all off and you have an ichigo daifuku! Resist the urge to eat it right there and make the rest.
Caution: don't stretch the dough too thin. If you do, the thing won't have much structural integrity and can tear.
Oh - remember the layer of crud in the pot? When it's cool you can just peel it out and eat it, maybe even make another daifuku with it, although the texture will be a little weird. If there's some papery stuff hardened on the sides, peel it off and eat it. It's tasty.

recipe from: http://www.c4vct.com/kym/bento/ichigod.htm

The biography about Kublai Khan(the 100 word)

   
Kublai Khan was the leader of the devastating attacks on Japan. He and 140,000 other men piled onto more than four thousand ships to try and overthrow the country. He wanted to take over Japan just like he conquered most of Asia. He must have been a great leader to be able to take over most of a continent. His first attempt, out of two, was in 1274. As his men loaded the ships, a typhoon began to build up somewhere far away. He didn't know of this though.

When they arrived at the shores, the men battled the Japanese. The Mongols outnumbered and had a great advantage over Japan. Their greatest mistake was when the Japanese retreated, which meant the Mongols won, but they thought that the Japanese was going for more reinforcement. This scared the Mongols and caused them to retreat as well. The Mongols didn’t give up though because they returned 7 years later in 1281. Two things stopped them from winning. One was the wall that the Japanese built to keep them off their shores, and the other was the great Kamikaze. Ever since then the Mongols haven’t tried to take over Japan.

The Great Kamikaze

     Living in Japan in the year of 1274 through 1281 was pretty dangerous as a child. I remember the soldiers always heading to the beaches, on patrol and trying to keep our people safe. Father was one of those soldiers who would be the first one into battle, always ready to defend what he believed in. Through those seven years, Mother didn’t let us go anywhere near the shores, and usually kept us inside the house, where we were safe. None of this would’ve happened if the Mongols kept to their own country, and didn’t try to take over all of Asia.

     I was only a child, around the age of seven, when the invasions started. Mother and Father told us children that the bad Mongols wanted our land, and we had to do everything in our power to stop them. I was too young to understand the full meaning of war, but I had a clue about it. On the days of the two invasions, one in 1274 and one in 1281, I vividly remember hiding in our home in the coast area. I can remember the battle cries of men, clashing of swords, and faint bombs. The sound of war wasn’t something that I wanted to listen to.

The Japanese Flag

     Kublai Khan was the leader of the Mongols attacks on our shores. On the day of the first attack, Father told me later in life, that there were more than four thousand ships bearing 140,000 men to attack our beaches. Now the Mongols had many advantages over us, but they weren’t the smartest. Whenever our men retreated the Mongols thought that we were going for more enforcement, which worried them and sent them to retreat too. This was their mistake, but then the power of nature helped as well. Some of their ships retreated by nightfall, but a terrible typhoon wiped them out. The ones who were still land bound survived.

We learned from the attack of the Mongols. To prevent any further attacks, we built two- metre walls. The construction was a long and difficult process. I remember sitting along the shore, watching the men build our giant shield. Thankfully there weren’t any attacks in the construction of the wall. The wall was finished within the year, and it gave me the feeling of security.

     Seven years later, at the age of 14, they came to attack again. Our wall was still there to protect us from the enemy. For months they tried to find a place to land. They were exposed to the elements for a long period of time. No matter what they did they couldn’t defeat our great wall. We basically had them in the palm of ours hands. Our wall could only hold up for so long though, and if they ever destroyed it we would’ve surely lost.

     Then the great Kamikaze, the name of a typhoon, came and destroyed them. Its powerful winds and waves crushed their ships, leaving the Mongols defeated. Some say it was luck brought upon us through the great winds, others say it was Mother Nature’s way of keeping balance throughout Asia. Whatever the reason the people of Japan were greatly thankful for it. Those are the days I’ll never forget.

This is Madori's Blog

So, im just experimenting with this stuff and what not n_n