月別アーカイブ: 2012年2月

Where are my sober, non-smoking vegetarians at?

I don’t drink. I don’t smoke. I don’t eat meat. I also don’t eat spicy food and eggs. I eat fish, but I don’t really like it.
I remember when I used to live in Kagawa, I would go out with my meat eating , super 元気, smoking friends (back then I was drinking).  Life was good. I was only 24 and didn’t mind that I would spend equally as much as everyone else even though I would eat about 25% of what they did.
ぎょうざダメ！
豚カツダメ！
しゃぶしゃぶダメ！
すき焼きダメ！
からあげもダメ！
コロッケさえダメ！
It wasn’t fair! But such is the Japanese style of eating out in groups. Damn you 割り勘!
I stopped eating meat when I was 16 for health reasons, and I have never been able to tolerate spicy food. I love Mexican and Mexican food is NOT spicy. It’s only spicy if you add (hot) salsa or jalapenos.  I have never smoked. Well, I tried once. It felt like my throat was on fire, so I never tried a second time. Where I’m from smoking is not allowed in restaurants, so I never had a problem with people smoking at restaurants.
However, eating out became more challenging when I stopped drinking. No, I’m not Muslim. No, I’m not pregnant either! I decided four years ago to improve my health, so I stopped drinking alcohol, which not only resulted in various health benefits but also social and spiritual ones (a post about my yoga journey will come later!).
As most of you know, smoking, drinking and eating meat seems to be a significant part of the Japanese dining experience. I can occasionally withstand a night out for a few hours at an izakaya , but I can’t do it every weekend, let alone once week. Twice a month is my limit, but I want to go out more and not get bombarded with questions about why I don’t drink, or why I don’t eat meat, or what I can eat, or if I can eat this while having cigarette smoke invade my body!
By the way, I respect you all and am not trying to convert anyone into being like me! This is just my way of life and I’m curious to know if any others like me are out there.
Any suggestions are welcome!

Life is a Battlefield

Last night I had a wonderfully, scary, exciting experience of catching the “last train” home. The main reason I don’t live in Tokyo is because off the jam packed trains. There are dozens of You Tube videos showing real, live, everyday people being squished into a train. It’s scary, but is it really?

Fortunately, I was with a friend and he had some insightful words to share during our adventure. First, as the train was approaching, and we saw an already packed train, he said, “This is a battlefield,” and we laughed and laughed and slowly smushed ourselves onto the train. Then, as we stood on the train, totally smushed and claustrophobic, I kept saying, “I’m scared, I’m scared.” My friend looked at me with a warming smile, “If you feel scared, you will be scared. If you feel excitement, you will feel excitement,” so we chose excitement and laughed, and twisted and turned with elbows in our faces, stepping on other’s toes during the hour ride home.

Life may be a battlefield, but we don’t have to be scared. We choose to be scared, or we choose to be excited and take everything in as an experience.

Namaste

Yay Japanese Police

Anyone who ever has or ever will get lost in Tokyo should be glad for the Japanese police, and the “koban,” little labeled Japanese police boxes scattered throughout the city. I’ve made use of them more times than I can count for definitely non-urgent matters. For example, there was the day I was trying to find my graduate school’s campus for the first time: Hitotsubashi has an undergraduate campus in Kunitachi, about an hour west of Tokyo, but it also has a graduate school (my school) near the Imperial Palace. When I arrived in Tokyo last summer, I was wandering the streets, without a trusty internet connection or Google Maps, totally incapable of reading Japanese addresses, baffled by the lack of street signs, trying to find it. That’s when I came across two Japanese policemen.

Kameariekimae-Kitaguchi_Koban
Dusting off my out-of-practice Japanese, I asked them for directions. First they laughed: Hitotsubashi University? You’re in the wroooong place. To which I said, no, the graduate school has an office here, at this address, and I showed them the little slip of paper I’d brought along (anticipating just such a situation). They said yes, there’s a building there, but it’s not Hitotsubashi, and I said no, I promise you it is, it’s on floors five to nine. (At about this time someone else, a Japanese person, rode up on a bike to ask for directions – so at the very least I was encouraged I was not distracting them from important crime-fighting duties, or at least no more than the rest of the populace). The policeman who stayed with me said oh, is this their phone number here? I’ll call them, and proceeded to, yep, take out his cellphone and call the number. The administration office informed him they were indeed at that address, the mystery was solved, and he took out a laminated map and gave me very helpful instructions. It turns out if I had just kept walking two blocks the way I’d been going (instead of getting concerned and asking for directions) I would’ve found it.

Oh well. Japanese language practice.

Rikugien, a Green Escape in Tokyo

Rikugien is a traditional garden near Sugamo Station. According to the brochure:

“This strolling, mountain and pond-style garden was created based on the theme of Waka poetry in the 15th year of the Genroku Period (1702) by the shogun, Tokugawa Tsunayoshi’s trusted confidante Yanagisawa Yoshiyasu. This garden is a typical example of the famous gardens of Edo Period. In the Meiji Period, this garden became a second residence of the founder of Mitsubishi, Iwasaki Yataro. Later, in the 13th year of Showa (1938), the Iwasaki family donated this garden to the City of Tokyo, and in Showa 28 (1953) it was designated as a special site of exceptional beauty and an important cultural asset.”

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Tragically some of the landmarks in the garden, including stone formations in the lake as well as one of the structures, were damaged in the Tohoku earthquake six months ago.

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The garden is about a half hour walk from where I live, and miraculously I did not get lost on my way there. It was 300 yen to enter, and I wish I’d brought a book to manufacture a bit more patience to sit and enjoy the scenery. Rikugien was a strange oasis in the middle of the city, with huge trees that blotted out the sky in places, and everywhere cast this incredibly cooling shade. The noise of the wildlife – bugs and birds – was almost deafening, especially with summertime’s constant cicada hum. It may be quieter now that winter’s set in, but it’s still a little oasis in the middle of the big city.

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Isetan’s Chaya Macrobi

The other day my friend Akiko took me to the top floor of Isetan in Shinjuku to have tea at Chaya Macrobi, a cute little macrobiotic cafe. I only have a few pictures, but suffice to say everything was adorable, everything was delicious, and (almost) everything they sold seemed to be vegan. Their cakes were all made without eggs, dairy, etc, and they even had a little cooler of itty bitty ice creams also made without animal products.

I had the chocolate pistachio cake, and Akiko had the tofu cake. I tried a bite of hers, expecting something like the tofu cheesecake we American vegans know and love.

Before I tried it I asked her what it tasted like.

“Tofu,” she said.

“Not like cheesecake?” I asked.

“Hmm… no.”

I took a bite.

“Well?” she asked.

“Tofu,” I said.

It was a little firmer than “tofu cheesecake” consistency, almost springy. And it definitely tasted like mildly sweetened tofu. I was happy with my chocolate pistachio cake, which had a nice, rich chocolate flavor, a crumbly crust, and also wasn’t too sweet. The sweetest desserts I’ve had in Japan are either drinks (such as my beloved adzuki bean drink, which is all over vending machines in Kyoto and in at least one vending machine in Ginza) or the glorified sugar cubes one has with powdered green tea.

choccake

Alas, like most macrobi places, Chaya Macrobi was also expensive. You get quality and cute presentation for what you pay for (see my 500 yen pistachio chocolate cake), but definitely a rare treat rather than an everyday snack. The ice cream ran about 300 yen for a teeny single serving cup that, coming from the Land of Supersize that is America, my brain could not accept as an adequate serving of dessert.

I’ll probably get some though. I’m glad I know where to find it if I get a craving.

Saturday Brunch at Machida Garden

There’s something magical about cooking food that people enjoy.
Flowers

I have never been a cook. I tried being a cook in my college and early adult days, but after many failed attempts, like setting the toaster oven on fire, making furry spaghetti and almost slicing my left thumb off, I just gave up and resigned to frozen dinners, Subway and pizza.

Upon moving to Japan, I was pleasantly surprised to find out that my work schedule kept my mornings completely free so I started using my
free time to learn how to cook. CookingwithDog and RunnyRunny999 became my go to YouTube channels on Japanese cooking. I also searched
for recipes on www.allrecipes.com. I’ve learned how to make a mean miso soup and amazing french toast. After months of practicing, I felt
confident enough to invite some friends over to enjoy Kenkoku Kinenbi (National Foundation Day) together and merge my love of miso soup and
French toast.

Brunch menu:
First course: Miso soup, scrambled eggs and sushi
Second Course: Fruit salad
Palm Tree Fruit Salad

Third Course: French toast
FrenchToast
My friends also brought wine, juice, soda and sweets.

It was delish! Good people. Good fun. Good times.
Alexis & T
Brunch Group

Namaste

超級起伏的心情

In short, 諦めたい。

很氣憤，我連解釋自己的行為或商量的機會都沒有。

就是因為我嘗試喜歡他，怕他自己沒信心，他就這麼得意洋洋，說甚麼我喜歡他太多，覺得重，。。。
誰都會認為這是個不能承受責任的人吧。

有別人喜歡自己，而如果自己也有興趣，享受這些 “被愛” 就可以吧。

說甚麼已不想親密，要像朋友一樣 。。。真的諷刺到令我感惡心。簡直就是和我說，你一點魅力也沒有吧。

真的越想就越覺得過份，越想就越覺不服。

只是因為種種原因，令我有過份的行為，為甚麼不早幾個月認真和我說？不早幾個月認真和我相談？

連給時間我解釋，一齊尋找處理方法，給時間我去改善一下, …  甚麼都完全沒有。

以為自己甚麼都不直說，全世界都一定會知道你在想甚麼嗎？

真的以為這世界一定有這樣的人嗎？

在這短短的人生，真正喜歡自己的人已經不多，不但不珍惜，只會覺得 “太多太重”，這不是反賤嗎？
換句話說，這是不成熟的表現，太易得到，不需珍惜。

我真笨，以往就算有男的約自己單獨外出，無論是多好看和有趣，都會拒絕，誤以為這是專一，正所謂己所不用，勿施於人，覺得，如果自己看到男友和別的女孩單獨在一起，自己也不自在吧。

怎麼會知道這世上的男性，你越LOYAL越簡單他們反為越不在乎你，真的不知所謂。

以後我絕不會再有這愚蠢的想法，無論最初你以為怎樣好的人，最後也會對別的人有興趣，對不起自己吧。值得自己100％專一的人，恐怕是不存在的，因為他們全都是男，無論外表怎麼不好看，男的就是這樣，真是可悲致極。

既然你竟然這樣自以為是，這樣不在乎你身邊最關心你的人，不懂珍惜身邊的一切，我也看不出有甚麼理由叫自己去繼續接受你，去接受一個我原本根本不太喜歡的人。認識你後，以為你和其他人不一樣，原來也只不過如此。

失望到極點。

我不在，每天很快樂吧，以為和我一起沒自由吧。
我就自那天後每天都不知怎樣。

真的越想越不憤。算吧，那你繼續你的自由自在。
這個世界不是只得你一個男生的。

既然你可以這麼狠當我不存在，
我也會同樣的對待你。

さよなら, i hate you, the person who made me suffer at the last.

New Supporter: Jordan

Hello! My name is Jordan, and I’m a writer from the U.S. This is my second time in Tokyo, and this time I’m hoping to stay. In undergraduate I studied abroad for half a year at Sophia University, also in Tokyo, and I’ve been wanting to come back ever since. Now I’m here attending Hitotsubashi University’s International Corporate Strategy (ICS) program and getting my MBA. Needless to say, full time graduate school is a little more of a workload than a semester abroad, so I haven’t seen as much of Tokyo as I’d like, but every chance I get I go out and about to experience this amazing city.

Oakhouse has been a big help in taking the stress out of housing. Talking to my classmates who searched for their own apartments, then had to buy furniture, washing machines, set up internet connections… only to be leaving in a year? School is enough stress, I don’t want to deal with that, too. When I arrived last August, I rolled off the plane, got myself to Otsuka station, and met my manager at the gate, where he drove me to the house. Signing contracts while jetlagged wasn’t ideal, but it was certainly better than apartment hunting, furniture shopping, utility-setting-uping, and all the other stuff I could have been doing. I can’t imagine anything worse than coming off a twelve hour flight from the States and not having a bed to collapse in.

Now that I’ve gotten used to Tokyo life, I’ve really come to like my share house. It’s an all-girls house on the Yamanote line, which couldn’t be better: convenient location, friendly and quiet housemates, and no fear of cross-gender judgment when I stumble downstairs with my hair a mess, without makeup, in rumpled sweats – because come on, we all do that. The Yamanote line is also beyond convenient, and no matter where my adventures have taken me during my half a year so far I swear I’ve only had to transfer once to get where I was going.

Someday, when all my time and money isn’t going to school fees, and I actually have a paying job again, I may dedicate the time and effort into finding my own place. But for now Oakhouse and my sharehouse are there to take at least one stress out of my life and make my time in Tokyo much more enjoyable.

Are you prepared?

We all remember what we were doing on March 11, 2011- I had arrived at the Himalayan Institute in Honesdale, Pennsylvania 8 days prior. I was suffering from insomnia at the time so I was wide awake laying in my bed around 2am when I received a text from my mother that read, “There was a 9.0 earthquake in Japan.” 9.0, surely, it was bad.

I am a Los Angeles native so earthquakes are nothing new to me, but 9.0, that’s scary. My mother taught me to always keep shoes by my bed just in case I had to run outside suddenly. I’ve always done that, but storing food and water, keeping emergency supplies and having an emergency backpack ready never made it to the list of routine tasks to do.  I always knew about the importance of preparing for a disaster, but I’ve never felt the need to truly be ready…until now!

Since coming to Japan, I haven’t been worried about earthquakes but the one on January 1st unsettled me a bit. My former housemates had starting preparing emergency water and food supplies last March, but most of the water and food were reaching their expiration date, so I decided to clean out the supplies.

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Then, on January 28th, we felt a rather large and steady earthquake around 7:10am.

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Ironically, I had written that note to my housemates just a day before this earthquake.

-If you don’t have an emergency backpack, go to a website and find out how to prepare one.

-If your shared house does not have an emergency plan, create one.

-If you don’t have emergency food, water and supplies, buy some.

Are you prepared? I’m not, but I will be.

Namaste

Train Etiquette

I must admit that the Japanese have some quirks about them.  Some things, to the western mind, seem ridiculous. Lots of things actually. However, at the same time there are some things that the Japanese have perfected and Western cultures wouldn’t be any worse off taking note. One of these things are the train system in Japan.

The trains are super clean, unbelievably punctual and can take you anywhere you need to be. One of the things that helps the trains run so nicely is the line etiquette.  In America the train doors open anywhere on the platform while here in Japan they open in specific locations. At those locations everyone lines up and files into the train. Very orderly-like. Although it does sort of turn into a dog-eat-dog moment with grannies pushing for their rightful seats. Stick to the etiquette and good luck!

trainetiquette