Itadakimasu!

The weather has been quite nice -- about 72-75F sunny skies with a cool breeze. We woke up this morning to dark skies and rain. You would have never guessed that rain was coming. We decided to rest at home today because our legs were still sore from our long trek. Keisei's mom, who we call Mama is very nice and practically fed us all day since we stayed home most of the day.

"Itadakimasu" is said before every meal to be thankful for the food. We said this alot today :)

We ate a very filling BREAKFAST --

- Mama made a traditional Shanghai soup with red dates, mung bean, barley, nuts, rice balls, and sugar (added for sweetness)

- last night's left over pumpkin made into a nice salad

- japanese pomelo - it's very juicy and sweet

SNACK AFTER BREAKFAST --
- sweetest pecans that we've ever had! They are very crispy and taste like chocolate
- dried longan and lychee

SNACK BEFORE LUNCH (because Mama wanted us to eat a little before we went out to eat a late lunch)
- Shanghai noodles with pork and preserved vegetables
- Shanghai soup - preserved vegetables and egg

Keisei and Shu were off from work today because the first day of spring is a holiday for everyone. They were very generous and took us out to lunch at one of their favorite restaurants.

LUNCH:

- pork carpaccio salad

- raw shrimp in a martini glass

- sashimi plate

- miso soup had scallions and clams

- chawanmushi had fish cake, mushrooms, shrimp, and abalone

- tempura (shrimp, eggplant, onions, and okra)

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DINNER:
Mama and Shu made savory and sweet rice balls. A savory rice ball of ground pork and a sweet rice ball of black sesame. Oishi! (very yummy!) We are still full from that day.