For the dinner celebration we're doing in a couple of weeks' time we went today to Casamingo a little way up route 18 from Nagano, and we were met with a serious treat for the eyes; their refrigerated counter of cakes.

All of the cakes inside the thatched European-style building are made by a father and son team, with the father making the ones on sale in the shop, and the son making the ones they sell via their website. The father's cakes are apparently more German in nature (the sponge slightly harder for example) while the son's cakes are more Austrian, as he trained in Vienna.

We talked to the son a little about wanting cakes to give back to our dinner guests (as is the tradition here) and he seemed very accommodating, explaining that he could deliver the cakes to the hotel at the time we wanted, and could create white-chocolate hearts with our names on to put on top of them. He even brought out a scrumptious-looking pear tart he'd just made to show us an alternative, which I had to photograph.

Of course we couldn't then leave there without purchasing some cake(!) so we chose pieces of three different cakes; chocolate sponge, raspberry-topped cheesecake and butter-cream roulade. We shared these with my in-laws so I didn't feel like too much of a pig. Because they are unusual they do cost quite a bit; around 500 yen per slice (£3.50).

Apparently Helly Hansen has been making products since 1877! But that had no bearing on my purchase of a new bag for my MacBook Air; I just thought it looked cool.

I found it yesterday in the Ikebukuro branch of the Tokyu Hands department store, and went back today to buy it after checking some other stores. I love the small red highlights on an otherwise black and white bag, but the main thing that sold me was the dedicated laptop pouch inside that *perfectly* fits my MBA in its sleeve.

That's according to my Mexican friend Esdras, with whom Yuzo and I went tonight. Tepito is located in the Shimokitazawa (下北沢) area of Tokyo, just one train stop on the express train from either Shibuya or Shinjuku. It is run by a Mexican guy and his Japanese wife (who speaks fluent Spanish) and the chef Gabriel is also Mexican.

The three of us arrived before the live music started, and what we experienced was quite unexpected. The musicians were Japanese who have lived in Nepal for 15 years, and throughout the 2-3 hours that we were there they performed a variety of music and dance from Nepal accompanied by a few different instruments and a sound system. The guy also demonstrated (with explanations in Japanese) the different sounds that could be made with his drums. There are a couple of short videos at the bottom, but they can't really do it justice.

Some of the food we enjoyed was Tacos de Carnitas containing pork (photo 2), Tacos al Pastor also containing pork but with pineapple for added sweetness, delicious chorizo sausage with tortillas (photo 3), guacamole with nacho chips, and Pancita soup which is made from part of the stomach of a cow. Unfortunately neither Yuzo or I liked the soup very much; we found it a little bitter. But Esdras nearly cried he was so happy to eat it again after four years (the last time he was in Mexico).

For drinks Yuzo and I had Bohemia beer which tasted similar to Belgian white beer to me, while Esdras enjoyed not one but two drinks. The one on the right is wonderfully sweet Agua de Tuna, which comes from a fruit (called Tuna) that grows on a type of cactus, while the left-hand one is a sweet milk drink called Horchata which is made from milk and rice, and then sweetened with vanilla, sugar and cinnamon.

We finished off with flan (Mexican-style creme caramel pudding) and of course the mandatory round of Sauza Gold tequilas, drunk straight of course without the pictured salt and lemon.

Between the first and twenty-eighth of October the yearly Ramen Fantasista is being held on the restaurant floor of the Tokyu department store in Nagano. It consists of three chefs or groups of chefs coming up with different ramen dishes for people to try. Last year I went, and it's nice to be able to eat some flavours of ramen that perhaps one cannot usually eat in Nagano.

The four-week event is split into two two-week sessions, with three lots of chefs in each session. Thus in the four weeks we're able to try six different flavours of ramen if we so desire.

On the third of October we went for the first time and took along a fellow ramen lover, Yuzo. Our first order was for one of the 豚骨ラーメン (Tonkotsu - quite a think strong soup) and two of the 醤油ラーメン (soy sauce flavoured soup) and finishing them pretty quickly, we decided we'd order the 味噌ラーメン (miso fish-flavoured soup) one to share. That way we got to try all three varieties, but it meant I left there feeling very full!

My favourite was definitely the 醤油ラーメン and I ended up going back on my own today for a second helping of that one.

Originally though I only managed to take photos of the 豚骨ラーメン (first) and the 醤油ラーメン (second), as when the final味噌ラーメン arrived I forgot to photograph it before diving in.

Today my other half went to Tokyo for the day, to have her first check-up after the Lasik eye surgery she had last week. I asked her to bring me back something nice to eat, and this is what she presented me with.

The bag and box showed the name Ginza Sembikiya (銀座千疋屋) which I was told is a famous shop that she saw featured on the TV recently. Opening it I saw two wrapped whole grapefruits. "Eh?" I said, after it didn't quite match my expectations of a scrumptiously sweet cake or dessert. However after unwrapping them it became clear, the grapefruits were chocked full (and I mean seriously no space spared in the hollowing-out and filling process) of absolutely delicious grapefruit jelly. Yum!

Needless to say quickly consumed. Apparently each one cost 700 yen (4-5 pounds) but well worth it for a special treat.

Amori (安茂里) is the area outside Nagano city where we live, and once a year they have a festival. Considering Amori is just a suburb the festival is surprisingly large; the in-laws who came with us last night were a bit shocked at this as they expected it to be much smaller and less impressive.

The festival takes place in and around the Saigawa shrine (犀川神社) nestled in the trees about 5 minutes walk from our apartment. Leading up to it were a few food stalls around which dozens of children hang out, buying food and toys, and saying hello to foreign-looking blokes (me). For the festival, a metal framework is built around the shrine grounds, onto which lanterns, fireworks and crackers are attached.

Inside the grounds the throngs of people were finding space to sit or stand, and were directed by the many marshals so that they stay clear of the areas where the various firecrackers are let off. You can see this in the first photo, with the shrine's entrance to the right.

At 9pm the performance begun, and lanterns and wooden portable shrines (神輿) were carried in and the lion dancing started. Lion dancing (獅子舞) I'm told is done to pray for a good upcoming harvest - for the rice, apples and other produce in our area - and also for the coming year. There were two types of dances performed, one in a solitary red outfit, and then one with three lions dressed in black, with long cloaks used to move them into various positions. I've been told the fact there are three lions for the second dance possibly represent three separate districts of Amori. Surprisingly the three black lions don't dance in rhythm with each other, instead each seemingly doing their own thing, but the dancing is accompanied with more playing of the wooden flutes and drums, and sporadic lighting up of lanterns and firecrackers around the perimeter.

At each end of the arena there were sets of huge catherine wheels which let out a loud scream as they turned and threw sparks out everywhere. I was just a few feet away so it was pretty impressive. The last photo is a lit version of Marukome Boy (マルコメ君), a mascot for a large local miso company. I have no idea why the relation, but I guess it's tradition that it's used here. Anyhow it's colourful.

Of course there were also proper fireworks sent up into the sky at various points, but without a tripod or video function, and with the partial tree cover overhead from where I was standing, it was somewhat tricky to get anything decent in the way of photos. As a finale they let fireworks fly on wires above the heads of the crowd, which then light up sparking firecrackers up in the trees. These let out huge amounts of sparks which fall onto the ground, and the heads of people who don't heed warnings from the marshals to clear the area. The first time I went and experienced this it was so strange; here are the Japanese, usually a cautious people, doing something that wouldn't be allowed for health and safety reasons in my own country. I should mention though that all around the outside I noticed the marshals carrying and using extinguishers of some sort to make sure none of the plant life caught fire - definitely important considering the location.

In all it lasted around 90 minutes, and thankfully the weather stayed clear. What with us going back to the UK we'll miss this festival for the next couple of years, and even after that we aren't sure where we'll end up living once we get back to Japan.

I'm glad the weather is looking good, as last year it was a complete washout. It's easily the most exciting (and possibly scary) fireworks I've seen in Japan, as at times they fly right above the heads of the crowds, and sparks come down everywhere. Should be able to get some nice photos with my 40d, which I haven't used properly for quite some time.

Amazing, the small things. When I lived in the UK I hardly ever ate baked beans but the last time I went back I had them a couple of times and really enjoyed them. So the last time I brought a couple of small cans back with me as I had space to spare in my suitcase. And so without further ado, here is today's lunch - baked beans on toast!

 Okay, so perhaps it doesn't look so appetising, but I really enjoyed it. I added some grated cheese on top for the finishing touch. I definitely think though that the small cans aren't quite enough for one person (but two small cans, or one larger can, is too much). But I've got one more can in the cupboard for next time I feel like Heinz Beanz.