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the food-tasting mission

now, i seem to have some income coming, my food-tasting mission just have to start again.

sometimes i wonder, if i could have met him EARLIER, i think i would be a lot happier, he moved to the same place as i did last summer, so why i met him only (can only go out with him) END of last year? he is also a blessing to me, while i was having such a tough time … -_- thank you kawaii kun.

i have this for breakfast, i have wanted to eat this ALLLLLLL the time, but just too darn expensive, but once i have income i just have to have it once!!!!!

it taste WONDERFUL! and my co-workers saw me eating this and just have to laugh …

i have this when i had my part-time in university.

it was tough, cause it is FAR. so after work i just have to have something.

and i tried this GUSTO cafe … um, i don’t think i will go there again, just not clean enough, not as much as i expected.

but sure the photo is great right?

i am just not a big fan of fried things. not much satisfaction. thank GOD i was born this way, otherwise i would have been 200 lbs. +_+

Miracles happens

2 months ago, miracles starts to happen.

the things that i have never even DARE to dream — to work with things that interests me in a country of my love, a place that i know nothing of their language and everything else.

it is a miracle. for someone like me, being here for like 2.5 years and never even tried hard to study the language, there is actually a work-place for me (which i can only use Japanese) … nice.

i had been very very poor for very very very long time. to the point that i have to stop going to the supermarket cause i just cannot afford to get any of the food there without slaughtering the CENTURY low US$. it was up to the point that could make me sick.

THEN, at the very ギリギリ time, my chance came, it was a very tough job, but they let me work there. no complaints. and every day, i was forced to create a lot of pieces of design. also no complaints, cause GOD KNOWS how long i had not been able to be entrusted to design anything. the feeling was super. at the 日ノ出町。every day も見事いっぱいだし。^0^

back to the main topic, the above JELLY, i always wanted to try but just too darn expensive to try when i had absolutely no income and the stores here are so expensive. finally one day i had the energy to go there and see they are on sale. YAY! let’s try everything!

so i bought, the look is great. i do admit the taste does not quite match up with the look, but it is good. i don’t mind eating it if it is free. but i don’t think i would spend money on buying it again.

esp. nowadays, just about every day i need to have ice-cream or ice-bar, it just too much sweets. this summer, i am going to be quite sick.

these tomatoes, they were on sale too, and of course, i only had the mood to buy these when i realize i can have salary coming soon? -_- ya …

this sushi too, my beloved salmon, i wish i can have 放射-free salmon every day … >.<

oh mine oh mine, there is the lovely egg. just about all the eatable egg on this world are delicious. esp. THIS kind.

KYOTO…. between ancient and modern

I had the opportunity to revisit Kyoto again. I must say it took a second trip for me to fall in love with this city. Why??? Well, I can say I was naive to believe people when they said : “Kyoto is ancient, you feel like you are walking in the Edo period”. When I arrived the first time, I was so disappointed to see the Kyoto tower! I was indeed hoping to see a modern city, yes, but perhaps not that modern, or perhaps I was hoping to see more ” ancient” than modern. I was never personally fond of the mix between modern and ancient, just like some Parisians dislike the mix of their dear Louvre Museum with that huge crystal pyramid as an entrance. I think it is very difficult to make both coexists together in harmony, but in some cases it is possible.

Kyoto is perhaps one of the most blessed cities in the world with the most beautiful temples and shrines! Yet I have an after taste that there is something “wrong” about this city. When I think again, yes, I love its shrines, I love shinbashi dori in Gion, but I dislike that around such a beauty, there are ugly buildings that completely kill the ancient atmosphere. To me, some old houses “struggle” to exist among the new ones (Check out the picture below)

Courtesy of "Homesick Home"

I have heard that there are laws that try to keep the harmony in some neighborhoods. I do find interesting that in some Gion corners, you are walking down in a modern street and all the sudden you find yourself in an old street, but when they try to mix both in the same street, it just doesn’t seem to go well :

Courtesy of Home Sickhome

Despite all this, I have to say that I enjoyed visiting the city once more. The first time I went there I had only spent 2 days. This time I spent 5 and it was worth revisiting the sites seen and seeing others that I missed in my first visit. My favorite was the twin dragons ceiling painting in Kennin-ji! That is to me a perfect combination of modern and ancient! The painting was made in 2002!

Saving Electricity

Due to the nuclear power plant problem caused by the March 11th earthquake, the government is requesting everyone to not use electricity as much as you can. In order to help preserve the electricity many people have been restricting their usage of air conditioners, including myself.

To help people succeed with not using the air conditioners, stores are offering a variety of products to help us cool down. One popular item is a kind-of towel that you wrap around your neck and either you can put ice packs inside or another one if you get it wet it stays cool for up to 7 hours! Many of my students are using these and I think they are good for a bit. However, I do see some down side to them. The ones which you get wet don’t really stay that cool for a long time and the ones with ice packs soon turn into water and actually turn warm under the sun! Oh no!

Another product that I found is a kind-of spray that contains something like menthol or something to that effect. So when you spray it directly onto your scalp, it really cools it down. And it has this amazing popping sensation so it feels like pop rocks on your head! I love it!

Unfortunately with all these products I still usually turn the air conditioner on right when I get home (I bike home and am so hot!!!). I usually end up letting the room get cooler and then turn it off and then turn it back on when it gets hot and so-on and so-on. I wonder if this is helping or maybe even making it worse?

Bad Customer Service

It’s not often that you come across bad customer service. Yes, sometimes it’s a little bit too robotic for me but it’s not bad. However, in the middle of May I found a bike company that sold cheap and, according to customer reviews, good road bike. So I bought one….

First problem, I used an American credit card and they automatically thought that someone used it fraudulently. So we went back and forth trying to contact each other so that I could let them know that indeed I was innocently just trying to buy a bicycle (although my American name and bad Japanese should have confirmed it). Right from the beginning the customer service seemed shady. Definitely not up to the Japanese standards that I’m used to.

After sorting out the payment problem they told me that the delivery date would be postponed until the beginning of June because of ordering parts. So I waited… Beginning of June, nothing. No bike, no word. So I had to email them and ask about the progress of the bike. Nonchalantly, they added that parts were backordered and it would now be the end of June. So I waited… End of June, nothing. No bike, no word.

I wasn’t really freaking out because they hadn’t taken my payment but still I was getting a little angry by now. So I emailed again and they said now it would be the end of July! WTF! The bike ended up being shipped and delivered within 10 days of the last email however the last correspondence I had with the company had no real message of forgiveness.

I think I have been spoiled by good customer service in this country. I just couldn’t believe it, Two months! But even more then the time it took, was the lack of communication that really bothered me.

Oh well, I’m going for a ride now.

bike

Cultivated Eggplants!

The eggplants I planted in May have gotten big enough to pick! Due to the fact that there wasn’t much rain during rainy season and that it got very hot, very fast, the eggplants are a little on the small side and the skin is a little tough.

However, this year is the first year I have tried to grow my own vegetable. I didn’t really know what I was doing especially since all the products are in Japanese (pretty sure I wouldn’t have known what I was doing with products in English either!). Therefore the fact that such small and cute vegetables grew makes me very happy! Not to mention delicious! Fresh food is definitely the cream of the crop!

eggplant

MIYAKEJIMA… A little paradise island not far from Tokyo

Two weekends ago I had the pleasure to go to Miyakejima, a little paradise island that is the perfect getaway for those who need a break from the crazy hectic life inTokyo, but that don’t have time to fly far away. It is an island that is part of the Izu Islands , just 180km away from Tokyo.

Miyakejima is perhaps well known for its active volcano (actually the whole island is a volcano). A couple of eruptions occurred throughout the years, some very recent like in 1962, 1983 and the most recent one, in the year 2000. The island was completely evacuated and it was not until 2005 that residents were allowed to go back. In fact, according to what I was told by the locals, it was until very recently that tourists were allowed to come and camp without masks. (Well, there are still parts of the island that you can’t hike, or pass by, since there are still concentration of toxic gases, but it is now safe to go travelling around the island)

So what is it in this island that makes it so special? Well, if you are looking to go shopping, this is NOT your place. There are very few shops. In fact, I only saw a main supermarket and a little “conbini”shop (not even the chain stores are here, so if you need to get money from a Family mart, 7/11 or Sunkus, get it in Tokyo before coming here). Now if you are looking for a place to see birds and fish, this is your place. This island is mostly about its sea life: if you’ll enjoy snorkling or scuba diving. This place is not even a place for beach swimmers. The beach is not sandy but rocky ( imagine that instead of sand there are plenty of little rocks, which makes it a little hard to walk ^-^) and it is hard to get in the sea sometimes since there are waves are quite agressive. However this doesn’t mean you can’t get into the water at all. Yes, it is possible, there are some spots that you can go swimming, and you will be amazed how the water is beautiful!!!! It has an amazing blue!

For those who have time and money to spare, the big deal here is the dolphin swim. The dolphins are not quite in Miyakejima, but in an island near by. For around 16,000yen the day yo can swim with wild dolphins for like 4 hours. You can’t touch them, but they will come to you and swim around you. I didn’t have this money with me at the time, but I do plan to go back for that 🙂

For transportation you have to think about that before coming to the island, specially if you have children. There are only 4 buses that run a day around the island and it is too far ( and tooooo hot in summer time) to walk around the island. You can make it around only with the buses ( that is actually what I did, I bought the bus 2-day pass and it was enough ) but you have to be organised about your trip. You can think about a bike ( again if you are courageous enough to bike during this hot summer) or rent a motorbike for like 44, 000yen the day. You can also hire a car at the port when you arrive.

So if you don’t mind not having shops and you enjoy gorgeous scenery, Miyakejima is really the palce to go. Oh !! bird lovers, this is also your island. There is a huge variety of birds and you can go and watch them! To gop there for a weekend, catch the night ferry from Takeshiba Sanbashi Pier on Friday,you get there at 5am on Saturday. Get to enjoy free camping sites and eventually enjoy the dolphin swim. You can get back to work on Monday if you catch the 2pm ferry on sunday ( you ‘ll be in Tokyo by 8pm sunday)

If you feel curious about this island and you don’t exactly want to go now, check out the movie that was just released 3 days ago. The true story that happened during the 2000 eruption : http://www.rock-wanko.com/

Enjoy!

Courtesy of Tokyo Gaijins

Miyakeyima map, Tokaikisen Ferry Company

MIYAKEJIMA MEGANE

My Japanese school in Tokyo…”Espace Langue Tokyo” (also a French school)

When you arrive to Tokyo, there are endless choices when it comes to language schools. There are also schools that promise you “rapid and efficient methods” that make you speak Japanese in “10 lessons”, “in a few months”, in “miracle” no time, etc. The truth is that Japanese is quite a complex language and no matter what language you want to learn in general, there are really no miracle methods. The magic formula adds up to practicing as much as you can until it sinks in 🙂 So be careful when you chose your school. Be picky and check their program, their methods and their teachers 🙂

I chose my school because of two main reasons: they have small classes and they speak French. I am not really a French native speaker, but it is always nice to see Japanese native speakers learning French…and it definitely changes from the usual English-Japanese school. This school is conveniently located in Omotesando, just few steps away from Harajuku, the famous Meiji-jingu, and just a 15 minute walk away from Shibuya. So you are a native Japanese speaker and you want to learn French? They got tailored classes for you. You are French and you want to learn Japanese from your native language? This school is perfect for you. You are an American, Irish, Spanish, etc and you want to learn French for your next jump? This is also your perfect place. All teachers are completely bilingual. In fact, they have short and long stay programs for French learners in Japan as well as intensive language classes for Japanese learners. To check out their prices and information, go to their website:

http://espacelanguetokyo.com/ They also have a facebook page.

Here is a picture of the view from the school, sometimes it makes it very hard to concentrate :p

ENGRISH FAIL

The other day my Japanese boyfriend made a bookmark folder on his computer called “Engrish.” I was happy to see it because 1) he never studies English and 2) he was using that humor that I love about him. However, it turns out that he didn’t realize he had used an “r” or even worse, he didn’t know it was an “l”! (>_<) I’m afraid to ask.

Engrish is a common term to make fun of the plethora of mistakes that Japanese people make in English (I know we butcher Japanese characters as well too). It’s all pretty endearing stuff but having lived here for awhile now I’m pretty used to the weird English or the common mistakes that they make and when I see them it almost doesn’t faze me. However recently I have seen quite a few examples of usage mistakes working against a product’s mission. These still make me giggle (although it’s sort of sad).

So the other day, I saw a whole line of these “Preshower Bug Repellents”. Sprays, rubs, you name it, they had it. I wonder if these are the instructions: Apply and then wash off? NAME FAIL. Did not a single person in the whole manufacturing design/manufacturing line notice this mistake?

Engrish

Weigh In

Ladies, when you come to Japan be prepared. I’m not talking about bringing your own toothpaste, deodorant and feminine products (although I recommend that as well) but I’m talking about emotionally. Not only is this the country of tiny people and subsequently tiny clothes, but it’s also the country where they freely tell you about your own weight. I’ve had numerous people say to me I should lose weight or comment that I have gained weight (even if it was only 1 kg or about 2.5 pounds- I don’t even notice it then!). At times, I could wring their necks seeing as though I am probably at one of my lowest weights since college but most the time I can take it with a grain of salt.

They mean well, it’s just a different culture. The women here constantly think about their weight, like American women as well, but I think the fact that the likelihood of them actually becoming fat is slim (pun intended), makes it easier for them to freely throw around their opinions about themselves and about others. It still rubs me the wrong way though so I try to avoid these types of conversations. But don’t feel bad, if you feel depressed just remember… Your big bones can crush their tiny bones!

weighin