月別アーカイブ: 2011年1月

Showers!

It’s finally happening (!), thanks to our new manager!  Yes, the showers are under construction!

Thankfully, 2 showers are remaining, not forcing us to run home soaking wet from the local sento (public bath) in the middle of this mildly cold (let’s be honest here) winter.  On the other hand, only two showers are remaining for a house of 59 people!  Eek!  Luckily, due to the fact that most Asian people (the majority of the residents in my guest house) shower at night, this leaves the mornings fairly open.  I usually end up battling it out with the increasing number of Swedish people in my house.

Progress seems to be moving along nicely.  I came home today to find two showers have been completed allowing for the remaining two showers’ construction to begin.  Not too shabby Oak House.

Looking forward to showering in the new booths.  Now if only something could be done with the shower heads?

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Souvenirs

In America, souvenirs are meant for the person who has traveled (except for perhaps your family) and with the price of vacations these days that seems pretty fair to me.  However, in Japan souvenirs seem to be mainly for the people around you, family, friends, co-workers and the list goes on.  It’s a nice thought but unfortunately I’ve seen more often than not people ask for souvenirs before even asking about the trip!  Sometimes I wonder if those people even wonder where their acquaintances went!   In Japan, shopping for these souvenirs is made pretty simple with a variety of packaged edibles (most Japanese souvenirs seems to be food) but returning to America I found it quite difficult.  What do I bring back?  A big bag of Cheetos?  They do have boxes of chocolates at the airport with “America” written across the top along with pictures of the American Flag, Mt. Rushmore and eagles.  Really?  This is America?  Saying all this, I’m still relatively a newbie at what is appropriate and who I definitely need to buy for but I must admit, I have become quite the good at receiving!  Living in a guest house allows for many little treats from many different places.  I wonder what’s next?!

the first 17 days of January 2011

a few years ago, someone slap me 10 times i still would not believe that, a few years from 200x, i would be in a completely different place.

i have to admit, things have been good since the first day of 2011. or even a couple days before it. thanks to a certain someone. it maybe all just a matter of “timing”, completely unexpected, again, oh well, is there anything that actually is “expected” 100%?????

anyway, i have no complaints this year, like i mentioned before, it was so good already at the last few days of 2010, since friends here are getting closer with each other, drinking with friends is absolutely one of the best things you can do for yourself and others. そして、2011 so far has been EVEN better … ^^. thank you.

anyhow, people here still not seem ready to go back to work, at least i am not. i so want to just go back to the common area and meet with friends and all, but i have shit load of 翻訳 to do actually.

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trust me, if u find these photos no good, the taste is a completely different story. ^^

recently, i just find out, how 幸せ this is. if every day, can be like this, how sweet … back in US, almost not 1 single day i could live like this when i was working.

so does it assume that, if i am fortunate enough be able to work in tokyo, i can continue to live like this for a while?

days that i never dreamed can happen. all because of the bad things in the past, forced me to come here without even given a conscious mind. now, looking back for 1 second already come this far. scary.

again, thanks to a “certain someone”, my life in here has become even more complete. almost 申し分がないほど。

i guess after all, it is all in GOD’s plan … the sadness of the past many many years. wow.

january 16, it was the b-day of my long time ex., who would have thought, many years later, on this very specific day, the person next to me has been changed, and i actually spent the day with a completely different person, having such a good time, almost not realizing, it is already jan 16.

Countdown

Last year, i went to countdown since i thought i never went to one before in japan while i am still here might as well join one right?

the scenery was good, cause it was a countdown seeing the Tokyo Tower, but geez, the CROWD … i don’t know, i cannot say if it is worthy. unbelievably crowded!!!!

had such a hard time just to wait for everyone! after that, also have a hard time to leave while the thing is over … troublesome.

then, this year, as usual, 精神的に too tired to plan anything. losing interests? oh well.

anyway, me and my good friend here, long time ago we were already invited in person to go to a tiny “soba dinner”, there are not many people going, but since we were invited personally, so we went.

omg, it was SOOOOO good! the SOBA was super smooth and the soup has “duck meat” in it@!

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the soup base is DELICIOUS!!!

the noodles SOOOO smooth!!!

the host is a very good cook, and he sometimes host some parties and the food is wonderful!

we finally had the soba on the 3rd floor lounge, later, we went to the 2nd floor to have other gatherings, the entertainment continues till morning like 5am.

very relaxing, and still feel no mood to work …

幸せと思う。if everyday can be like this, having good times with friends, won’t that be nice?

Before 2011 starts

wow, another 信じられないこと、people in the guesthouse are really carefree.

we are here for many different reasons, come from many different places, some of them work full-time, some of them work part-time. of course most of the natives are full-time workers, foreigners are mostly part-time workers.

after Christmas day 25th, our “party” streak did not stop there.

on dec 26, no one feel like working neither of course. 全然 without any type of planning, people just keep bumping with each other in the kitchen or lounge area. whenever someone is cooking, other people will get interested in what is being cooked and looked and asked and ends up the people that was cooking will usually have to say the following …

“would you like to try some?”

and the other party will say “oh really?”

“of course you can…”

sometimes the “host” means it, sometimes he/she does not, but it happens a lot like this.

and 自然に、these people might even ends up eating together and sharing each other’s food.

ok, talk back to the end of 2010. because of the above pattern, we often can hear, “would u like to join?” and some people would, but some very shy people will decline.

that was what happened at the end of 2010, many people without even being invited ahead of time and ends up eating dinner together, and on 26th, 27th, blah blah, i cannot remember 1 single night that i end up NOT being with someone drinking or eating. it was so fun. reason is, cause they are very kind and interesting. and there are so many of them and everyone is so different, entertainment just keep coming. でしょう?!

and i remember one conversation, …

“since when you decided to drink like this?”

”生まれたから〜”

hahaha.

a girl feel no heartbeats from me, so i told her.

“私、心がない〜”

and then, all of a sudden, one of my “drinking” and “always seems not 元気 friend said “僕も心がない”  “生まれたからもなかった”

hahahahahahah.

ごめん、if u find it not funny, but the way he said it and his expression, it really is … priceless.

this is the first time i heard him saying something so meaningful. hahaha, and SO 当たる、something i was to hear, cause it is true and funny.

and then i asked him what we should do, since we do not have a heart.

he said we maybe can buy it in 100¥shop, then added “um, it maybe made in China …”

i said, “oh no! i don’t want a product THAT important to be made in China.”

then the “aimless” conversation continues …

Christmas in the guesthouse

so fast already 2011, so hard to believe.

this year, did not start with anything bad, there are things that happened, out of expectations, but it was not all bad, i sort of feel like, the “bad luck” for the last few years, is going away from me.

and in here, so nice, i do not have to drive. so happy.

in the guesthouse, it was all HAPPY HAPPY, during the Christmas and New Year.

many people here did not have much of a plan, just ただstaying here, but somehow, we end up having dinner and drinking parties together. they are so fun to be with!!!!!

after this Christmas, we get to know each other a little better, もっともっと楽しくなったよ〜。

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we end up having like almost 9 people eating together for absolutely no reason. the food is good because we were having fun. but the taste really is not as strong as i want them to be. but it is ok ^^. more than ok!

Abu Dhabi: The Best and the Not-so-Good

The Best –

1) The Grand Mosque.  Wow.  This is a beautiful structure.  So clean and crisp yet so full of color.  Also the only time we were required to wear headscarves which was an interesting experience in itself.  Awesome tour guide.

2) The Falcon Hospital.  Very interesting to learn about falconry and of course seeing, touching and being so close to those beautiful birds felt like a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

3) Dune Bashing.  It may have made my sister throw up but I thought it was pretty fun!  Who doesn’t like some life-threatening danger?!

4) The Food.  Yummy lamb, hummus, dates and hotel buffets!  One warning though:  If you take the Dhow Boat Tour (which is lovely) don’t eat before and don’t fill up on bread… you have a lot of food to get through!  Don’t say you haven’t been warned!

5) The Service:  Although it seemed many times no one could really effectively communicate, they did do it with smiley faces!

The Not-So-Good

1) The Construction.  EVERYTHING was being constructed upon! Apparently in 2030, Abu Dhabi is going to be an incredible tourist destination… planning our comeback now.

2) The Service. Like I said before, I think because many aren’t native of UAE this causes some breakdown in communication.  We encountered a problem because of this at our lovely Falcon Hospital tour which also included lunch.  Nice meal of hummus and lamb in a traditional tent, sounded nice, right? Well, unfortunately our driver was also supposed to drive back another group whose tour DID NOT include lunch.  This resulted in us eating as fast as we could while they sat in the van.  Awkward!

3) The Desert Safari.  The potential in this is huge and it does have the ability of being really cool but unfortunately there was just something lacking.  This could be mainly due to the fact that the henna lady was not present (we were looking forward to that the most!) and that it was cold.  The desert night sky was pretty though.

4) The Shopping.  It was hard to find good authentic goods stores.  Most were American goods or stuff with crap (for lack of a better word).  The hotel at least had some good little stores.

5) The Cultural Centers.  Both the Heritage Center and the Cultural Center turned out to be rather disappointing.  The Cultural Center was completely closed due to… yup, construction, but at least the Heritage Center had a couple little market shops.

So there you have it.  Abu Dhabi has a lot to offer but seems to be still putting all of it together.  I look forward to returning in 2030.

Abu Dhabi: A Reaction

I have to admit Abu Dhabi was different than I imagined but not necessarily in a good or bad way.  There were disappointments as well as very memorable experiences.  However, looking back, often what seemed like a disappointing experience often turned out to be the memories that I’ll cherish the most!  For example, when entering what seemed like a slightly sketchy area looking for a fruit/vegetable market that never really materialized too much, we did come upon a date (a sweet fruit originating from the Persian Gulf area) market which ended up being the most delicious date around town!  Plus, we experienced the added bonus of seeing a processional prayer, where they drop everything they are doing at certain hours of the day and head to their respective prayer rooms and pray for 4-7 minutes depending on the prayer.  Very interesting to see… a bit like zombies all walking across the land though! Eek!

In my next post I’ll let you know my best & worst aka not-so-good but good for memories of Abu Dhabi!  But what I think I took most from my visit to Abu Dhabi is what I learned about the people of that area.   According to our Mosque tour guide, only 12% of Abu Dhabi’s population or native Emiratis.  Which means that people from all over the Middle East and other places come to live there.  Many people, including myself have had stereotypes already implanted in our heads about people from the Middle East and so it was nice to be surrounded by friendly, helpful and fun-loving people.

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Sweepstakes Surprise!

You know those sweepstakes where you enter in your email after coming across the website during a break from work?  You rarely think about it again and never ever hear about the winner of the fabulous prize.  Perhaps it has even crossed your mind that there’s not really a winner at all!  Well, I’m here to let you know that there are winners to those contests, as my mother was one of them!

Yes, my mother was the grand prize winner of the Entertainment Tonight Summer sweepstakes 2010.  Her prize was a 7 day, 6 night trip for four to a location of her choosing (out of Rome, London, Bali and Abu Dhabi).  She chose her three daughters to take along for the trip (much to my surprise and pleasure!).

When choosing the destination we decided against Rome and London as we wanted to go somewhere warm and would be going in December.  Bali was DEFINITELY on the table for a long time but we decided that it could be done fairly cheaply on our own (did I mention that she also received $5000 cash spending money?!) and with an opportunity like this we thought we should pick a place we would otherwise never go.  It was decided.  Abu Dhabi or bust!

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Happy Holidays!

I want to wish everyone a Happy New Year!

I hope everyone had a fun and relaxing holiday with their family and friends.  I went back to America with my boyfriend.  Yes, he got to experience his first American Christmas (do I dare say “and hopefully not his last!”).  While buying presents for preparation for the big day, I’m sure my boyfriend saw the typical American Christmas as an excessive spending spree and lacking any little children in our family, it probably was a bit excessive.  However, Christmas is the one time we are all together all year and able to enjoy each others’ company.  Sure, we can do this without the presents but truthfully it’s not the items contained in those boxes that really matters.  It’s all sitting together watching each other open silly presents, serious presents, needed presents, touching presents and doing this all sitting by the fireplace as we try things on, test things, play things, study things or admire things.  Truthfully, I could give all my presents away the next day and still look forward to Christmas just as much.  I hope that’s what my boyfriend took from the experience.

Saying that…. stay tuned for my next post where I tell you one of the best presents I got this year.