What living-in-japan changes me

1. Sleeping with blanket, covering all including my whole head underneath it

2. Whenever in train, i'll definitely target the corner seat

3. Stopping for 2-3 seconds in front of automatic door before it opens as they still remain closed when you approach it

4. Asahi's 'straight tea' which used to taste real weird n close to tasteless feels sweet now

5. Following that, sugar in tea has become quite unthinkable

6. I can eat potato chips with chopsticks

7. I eat less fried food or almost to none in a month

8. Buying CDs is a normal thing

9. Eating ice-cream so frequently (especially baskin robbin's)

10. Places within 1-2km away is just walking distance, no sweat

11. I can eat 'ikura' now, yeah i'm a sushi-lover!


...and no doubt much more

something japanese

yesterday, as always, i skipped breakfast, or more like i slept until past noon to disable me to have one.

i had a date with arini. again. this was for 2 days straight.

we are shopping buddies.

the day before that, it was tokyo where we walked at akihabara and harajuku. GAP's new spring collection is indeed attractive, just that our budget won't allow it, so byebye. but further walk led me to buy another pair of boots. 

and yesterday, it was a place much closer. Omiya.

what's there in omiya, you ask? err, for saitama residents, that's one of the big places you can go, okay, for shopping you might opt for Koshigaya Laketown, as it's the biggest outlet after all, but that'll take more minutes by train.

i arrived with my partner already waiting at the promised spot. apparently she was enjoying it, the time she had to wait.

today(yesterday) was feb 14th, so observing the people around can be amusing it seems.

that was a lot of couples. japanese with all their obsession of this date.

i couldn't care less.

our stomach's growling (it still growls no matter when), we hurried to fill it. the day was raining, we had to find somewhere close.

and we entered a shop.

no couple spotted at all.

SUSHI!

i love sushi. apparently no one dates in sushi shop, so were saved from a choking view of couples being loveyy-dovey or whatever.

and sushi really is delicious. and we entered one with no conveyor belt. to have it arrive to you in wonderful presentation makes it even more delicious.

maguro saikou! (and i actually had quite the same thing last month, but last month is last month)

yesterday's at Gatten Omiya

last month's at somewhere in shibuya (remember this somewhere? yes, a recycled photo)

a really funny video i just found regarding sushi, this really made crack!

winter makes me hungry

it's a fact when your body is cold, your body will counteract with producing as much heat as needed, and even though your body has so many fat, there'll be signals sent to the brain telling it it needs more resources from outside, thus the hunger.

a hungry me is definitely not the best state. the thing is i admit i'm not a good cook, nor i like to cook in the first place. so i can hardly produce any food by myself. i have to get it somewhere. but, winter really is not my best friend. in fact, i dread it quite a bit. while most people i know would be so happy to see snow, i'll smirk. it's hard to move, it's cold. even to walk to the nearest 7-11 is quite a task. like today, i just had spaghetti as dinner (thankfully there's instant spaghetti sauce for people like me), yet i'm now hungry again.

one thing i hate to be in japan is the ambiguity of the ingredient listed. easier said, i'll just be a vegetarian here. i would avoid all the things with meat or animal extracts, and resort to seafood stuff and vegan. yet, for all the processed food available out there, the most problem i'll encounter is these two: 'emulsifier'(乳化剤) and 'shortening'. both of them can be originated from either plants or animal. emulsifier is called by that name due to its function which is to stabilize an emulsion by increasing its kinetic stability of a food. on the other hand, shortening is a substance that prevents cross-linkage between gluten molecules. the problem for me here is those two can either originate from plant (which is okay) or animal (which is definitely a no). i mean, what's the use of listing ingredient by its function? is there anyone who is interested to know there is a substance in the food that is doing what kind of job. what i want to know is what it is derived from. just why can't you write down specifically 'lard' or 'vegetable fat' instead of shortening, those two functions to prevent cross-linkage between gluten molecules (just copypasting the above). don't vegetarian people in japan be conscious of these stuff? or there's practically no vegetarian here. oh yeah, here is asia after all. animal-sourced stuff maybe is cheaper and more economic for food manufacturing, but please be detailed in disclosing the information.

and oh, my bad when i made a call to the manufacturer, to confirm whether there's any animal-sourced ingredients or not, apparently dairy stuff also considered animal. err, and then i don't know how to ask further. how can i exactly ask them, anyone can teach me the exact term for those?

but i wonder why in other places i've been (talking big as if i've traveled the whole world, yet the number of countries i've gone can even be counted by one hand), i never had to bother with these? i mean, these are the common substances used in food industry. is japan (the famous advanced country) is the only who uses animal-sourced subtances as emulsifier? you see, how awkward to not be able to buy bread? i assume at the moment fresh-baked stuff at bakeries is okay as it's less likely to have these subtances. or should i ask every single time, "does this bun has lard? does this one too?". okay, i know no other ingredients than lard that i shouldn't consume.

babi.

the above is the name of their main source of meat, favourite for most. (okay, honestly i just wanted to mencarut)

yes, i'm hungry. i need to drag my feet to 7-11 and get my favourite dango which cost 105yen, and a 1L pack of lipton milk tea (anyone wanna inform me the emulsifier in it is animal-sourced?? i don't know how many hundred of litres i've drank so far).

or maybe i won't after all, it's cold. i'd rather be in my futon. oh no, i should be studying coz i haven't started at all!

okay, otsukare to all who's already done, and ganbarou who still have papers coming. mine starts next week

p/s: feast to the eyes. another delicious food i got to relish last weekend. maguro saikou!!!

first post of 2012

wow, i only had one entry for last month!

well, i tend to write long entries and when i couldn't finish it, it all get stuck in drafts.

in the end, i didn't even write an entry about the latter half of my summer vacation-sorry for those who anticipates it.

and now the semester nearly ends.

honestly, i don't think i'm doing good. i was even figuring out how exactly i survived the last semester. or specifically to remember that vigor to do things. i've lost it now.

okay, in return, i rigorously do something else completely unrelated to school. i'm sorry for myself.

that's all for i feel inside, i actually had been involved in stuff too lately.

i went to a programme in Zao Liza (pronounced as 'raiza') in Yamagata prefecture.

it was good that i went.

i got to experience snowboarding for the first time too.

that was during the short winter vacation i had. (thanks to the super long summer vacation, our winter vacation is cut short)

now it's over, the school is nearing the period we call final exam. while i'm still clueless what exactly i learnt in classes.

oh, quit that rants!

oh yea, before that trip, it was food haven for me~ for a few days straight, i could relish on delicious cuisines or simply food.

for how many times i lost count, i went to dohtonbori and eat okonomiyaki with my friends on the last day of school of the year. i already memorized the only several menu i could eat there, and i've eaten them all.

that next day, i was fortunate enough to be able to savor on delicious sushi! obviously there's a difference between kaitenzushi (the one that goes round the shop on revolving lanes) and the one that are not. thanks to a particular someone who kindly brought me there. i'm very grateful now. oh yea, we took purikura too.

and then the next day, it was a house party at jlo's. she and her housemates made chicken rice, a tasty one! and i met Heng-their junior, and the rest of the day was pure adventure, where it all decided at the spur of the moment. that was fun watching movie, eating ice-cream, taking purikura(now this is 2 days straight), and unexpectedly singing our heart out.

and then, the next day was sunday, christmas. as much i was puzzled as to how christmas is becoming significant to japanese although they're mostly atheist or buddhist/shinto, i still celebrate the day as holiday and i spent it with my girl friend eating cakes all we want. that was a lot of delicacies.


yeah, FOOD MAKES YOU HAPPY.

for some reason, i'm heavily attached to baskin robbin's ice-cream, during new year, i ate various types of them for 3 days consecutively. on jan 4th, i just couldn't continue as i had no money in my wallet.

oh yea, yesterday, i made nasi goreng. in my case, this is a big news! i really want to put the picture, but i'm now typing this from my main notebook, so lazy to transfer the photo from the phone

if only i got macbook, i could easily use it from the photostream.

i want a macbook <-- this is avarice. it's not like i don't have a functional computer to use (even though the monitor is not working)

i should save more money.

honestly, my head is thinking of more things to write. but i don't think it has any more relevance.

so, ciou.

before that, a feast to the eyes!

the sushi! (i wonder why i took from this angle, tamago is not my fav though)

p/s: i changed the look of the blog! somehow the previous one failed me, i really want a layout with snail on it >.<

.... (didn't even know i unposted this)

The last time i wrote here was about a month ago, and just like then, i'm still on a rollercoaster of thoughts and emotions. And i could only laugh just like how i would when i ride the real rollercoaster.

I've been quite disappointed for quite a few things especially when it's regarding my own self. I'm questioning myself where had all the motivation gone and how to retrieve it, worried when i sense no crisis when i think i already should. I have no plan or whatsoever, and the things i'm doing at the present doesn't seem to be in good shapes, it makes my mental goes haywire. At times i took a breather, or should i say a lot of times? Well, they work as effective as placebo.

Okay, that's all for some soliloquy.

Now, i shall write by what's happening lately. I realized my english has gone worse when there's zero demand to use it here. In fact, japanese language has monopolized my language use including inside my head. I know i should do something when i start to have to translate things from japanese first in my head. As a countermeasure, i frequent the english lounge we have here a lot now. And i also took part in the lecturer's research which requires me to take ielts test, in the same time it enables me to know my current language ability. Well, the result significantly shows that i have a lot to improve. But surprisingly i did quite great in listening though i know that was certainly my weak point as i'm not exactly an auditory type of person. On another event but closely related, i was really at a loss for words when someone told me i exude good energy it made her feel good to be around, that was my first time to be told that, i don't know i should be flattered or what, i was simply astonished.

Moving on to another topic, i think i just managed to make miso soup! I'll try to make it again next time all by myself. I hope it'll turn out delicious like the one i made (supervised by my friend) the other day.



While writing this, i'm on a train heading to hachiouji as i'm having nothing to do after i forgot my reading materials at home. The heater located below the seat really makes my legs warm, in fact hot. i actually was (or still am) grouchy since the early morning, i keep listening to 2 songs in my ipod on repeat. As always, Solanin by Asian Kungfu Generation makes me calm. i also found DUGOUT by Radwimps to have a consoling effect too and made me curious with the lyrics as well. Usually Noda always amazes me with his words. I wish i have that kind of skill too, but maybe it's just because the way we think is different in the first place. Now that's something i can't really do anything about. Human minds are so wonderful just by the diverse ways it works by individuals, it makes the world so complex and colourful.

Okay i've been rambling randomly here. Now i just reached my destination, so Byebye

Sleepless in the futon

It's nearly 8pm and i've curling myself for about 2 hours under the blanket. Really want to sleep after staying up all night last night. But i'm still not asleep.

It has been a while since i last wrote nothing particularly worthy here. So let me just recount what happened today.

In the morning, starting from 2nd period, i got class. The first one was applied fluid dynamic. I remembered the lecturer mentioned about sonic speed airplanes, then i got asleep for the rest of the class until my friend woke me up as i was nearly producing snoring sounds. I'm glad i got a kind friend at times like these. Then, after lunch break the 3rd period was material engineering. We were learning about material strenghtening. There was something molecular stuff mentioned, even into nanoscale. But as always i can only stand half the class before i run out of concentration and can no longer pay any attention. Yet, the class still goes on even when i secretly hope the lecturer would just pause and stop talking for a while. It kind of makes me sick. What's greater, next week we got a test. -.-

The final class i got was human interface where my 2 close buddies just decided not to come. In previous 2 classes on the subject we were required to do presentation which is evaluated by all students aside from the teacher himself. and today, the result was announced. Who would've thought my group was the most highly evaluated. No, it's not exactly a good thing, we were required to present it again! but yeah, the person who was responsible for presentation was absent today, so it was up to me and another one member who were in charge of the slides. The sudden notice was quite a shock. That was my first time doing a presentation in front of others here, impromptu. Ditto.

Thankfully, when my stock of chocolates is running down at the moment, we were given chocolate as reward!

We made gyoza! +verbal descriptions

it's somewhat a chinese food but it seems like it's normally made in japanese home. so when my friend came over again last time, this is what we made.

apparently they usually use pork for the 'inti'/fillings but we replaced it with minced chicken. and actually we made 3 types of them. chicken kimchi, chicken miso and chicken umeboshi+cheese.

it was really yummy!

okay, don't ask me for the recipe. i only had to stuff the fillings into the skins and i managed to make that hideous curls (the 3rd picture is my first piece). eventually i was getting good at it though. and actually the gyoza is not fried like in the 5th pix, i had to borrow aluminum foil from others because i don't have the lid for my pan. they are somewhat steamed to produce the delicious gyoza.

oh gyoza! 餃子 <-- i just knew this is the kanji for it.

now i'm looking forward to what we will be cooking next time (or more accurately what Tsubasa-chan will cook). previously she made hamburgers too~~ (look below). but at least i already am resolute to learn how to make miso soup(let's see how serious i'll actually be). i love the miso soup that she makes each time, especially with the dearie mushrooms :D

wish i have this now

i don't think i'll ever find a 5kg nutella like this anywhere else (this was discovered in a store in strip district, pittsburgh)