New Year in Japan 2009

Like 2008, we spent New Year's Day 2009 in Japan. It was a time spent with relatives, and taking care of my niece. Isn't she cute?
As usual, we also had osechi (御節料理) on New Year's Day, as per Japanese tradition. This is traditional Japanese food, usually prepared the day before, composing of boiled/steamed food, preserved food and dried food. The reason? So that the housewife working throughout the year can take a break on New Year's Day (she prepares the food beforehand). And dinner was wonderful again, with the remaining osechi items from lunch, as well as fried chicken aka kara-age (から揚げ).
And the view from my in-laws' living room is great! You can see Mount Fuji clearly from the living room.
All the great food over the festive season had me putting on weight... I was about 65kg before I went to Japan.
To end off this entry, here's a shot of Mount Fuji at sunset.