We're Making Plum Wine!!!

Yesterday we went out for a random shopping trip/drive. While out we noticed the small green plums used to make japanese plum wine (umeshu) were out on sale. This wasn't the first time we had noticed them, but on this particular occasion we randomly decided to make it! So we got the fermenting jar, rock sugar and "white liquor" needed and went home and mixed it all up in the jar, put the lid on, and hid it away in a cool dark cupboard as per the instructions. It was all stupidly easy to do, and this time next year we'll be opening it up to drink and to eat the softened and sweetened plums. Our friend Kimiko made some a couple years back and let us try some of the plums from it. They were SO SO good! Fingers crossed ours turn out like hers.

After mixing up the plum wine ingredients and tidying up just a little, it was time to head out to Ippei's house to pick him up and head out to Omiya for dinner with Junko and Yoko. It was the first time all of us had met up together since coming back from America, so we were all really looking forward to it. Ippei was wearing his "NAVY" T-shirt that Owen bought him in Annapolis. We went to a traditional Japanese izakaya restaurant. 

We sat on cushions on tatami floors (as usual). We ordered a tonne of dishes. We really should have paid more attention to the size of our table before ordering half the menu, but we didn't... and so the food just kept coming and coming and it wasn't long before there was no spare room on the table to put the newly arrived dishes! haha.

 We had so many different dishes, including this sashimi platter (raw fish) complete with a flying fish fin as decoration.

 And these grilled chicken kebabs (yakitori) were awesome!

Ippei had a bowl of ramen noodles to finish off with. So incredibly Japanese! haha

Everyone brought photos along, so we had fun looking through the different photos from our America trip/wedding and reminiscing.  

We had a really great night.