I know things haven't been nearly as crappy as they seem lately, but everything got tainted with the same negativity so I wanted to get back to doing Things-I-love-Thursdays. So here goes...
- the weather today! I know reports say Tokyo will be melting again soon (over 35 on Saturday) but today was cool and sunny and lovely.
- random care packages! (thanks Cath!!) I opened my mailbox yesterday to find a thick brown envelope with a fun kids book and a bar of Swiss chocolate (that had completely liquefied in the heat and needed a time-out in the fridge).
- SWISS CHOCOLATE! After a day in the fridge the liquefied bar showed absolutely no bad side effects - if anything being even more creamy and melt in your mouth delicious. I had planned to use it as an award for having finished the translation I am currently working on... but my will power apparently isn't that good... oops.
Speaking of translations... I had thought I was almost done with this particular contract, only to open my inbox and discover a frantic email from the same art gallery - they just realized that a few images in the exhibit opening next week are actually new ones and don't have English titles yet... could I translate their titles in the next few days? Right then... enough procrastinating from me!
Thursday, 9 September 2010
Wednesday, 8 September 2010
Sort of Wordless Wednesday - Taman Mini
One of the most fun days I had in Indonesia was the one U and I and our friends spend at Taman Mini, a theme park / museum of Indonesian culture outside of Jakarta. It is a crazy mix of traditional type houses with cultural displays and B-rank theme park (no big rides but there was a gondola going back and forth above the park, a monorail going around it, swan boats on the central lake, bikes for four for rent, and a range of other "rides").
I spent a lot of my time giggling - until the heat and lack of food got to me and the rest of us and we all just about collapsed en mass!
So here's Taman Mini:
the "traditional" houses and the gondola
the castle (because all good theme parks need a castle)
the fake animals (only seconds after taking this picture I had my head between the jaws of the tiger... tee hee!)
and the characters off-duty
(The characters, with their heads on, would run up to you, pose for a photo, and then ask for money... it kind of freaked me out when I saw them all later without their heads to find out they were this dodgy looking middle aged guy and a couple of toothless women in their sixties...)
I spent a lot of my time giggling - until the heat and lack of food got to me and the rest of us and we all just about collapsed en mass!
So here's Taman Mini:
the "traditional" houses and the gondola
the castle (because all good theme parks need a castle)
the fake animals (only seconds after taking this picture I had my head between the jaws of the tiger... tee hee!)
and the characters off-duty
(The characters, with their heads on, would run up to you, pose for a photo, and then ask for money... it kind of freaked me out when I saw them all later without their heads to find out they were this dodgy looking middle aged guy and a couple of toothless women in their sixties...)
Monday, 6 September 2010
Yay for September!
I am pretty happy to see the end of August - it started of really with an amazing week in Indonesia - but went downwards immediately upon our return and didn't get much better. Getting sick, then some stuff at work, worries about a Japanese friend and her adventures in the less-than-stellar Japanese mental health system...
But September is here and a long-awaited break to the never-ending higher than average disgusting summer heat has to be just around the corner, right? Right???
Either way I have an art gallery translation contract to translate and a huge Girl Scout event to plan for - that should keep me busy! I've also decided to finally take level 1 of the Japanese Language Proficiency Test. I passed level 2 over a decade ago and have kept on putting off taking the next step. I don't think my kanji or esoteric grammar skills are good enough to pass but I'm not worried as the real reason I'm taking the test is to make me study Japanese with the hopes of passing a different exam in January.
Also, I discovered a silver lining to getting sick and loosing my appetite - when I pulled out the much-neglected Wii yesterday it told me I had lost more than 2 kilos! I don't recommend it as a diet technique but I'll happily accept the results! especially since as U's been working late a lot the past few months and that means late night dinners of ramen or fast food - the only places open when he heads back to his dorm late, and that means weight gain, so I actually weigh less than him now - tee hee!!
So there's plenty to look forward to, here's to the promise of fall!
But September is here and a long-awaited break to the never-ending higher than average disgusting summer heat has to be just around the corner, right? Right???
Either way I have an art gallery translation contract to translate and a huge Girl Scout event to plan for - that should keep me busy! I've also decided to finally take level 1 of the Japanese Language Proficiency Test. I passed level 2 over a decade ago and have kept on putting off taking the next step. I don't think my kanji or esoteric grammar skills are good enough to pass but I'm not worried as the real reason I'm taking the test is to make me study Japanese with the hopes of passing a different exam in January.
Also, I discovered a silver lining to getting sick and loosing my appetite - when I pulled out the much-neglected Wii yesterday it told me I had lost more than 2 kilos! I don't recommend it as a diet technique but I'll happily accept the results! especially since as U's been working late a lot the past few months and that means late night dinners of ramen or fast food - the only places open when he heads back to his dorm late, and that means weight gain, so I actually weigh less than him now - tee hee!!
So there's plenty to look forward to, here's to the promise of fall!
Wednesday, 25 August 2010
Wednesday, 18 August 2010
One year
It has been a year since Rachel first launched the Washoku Warriors on La Fuji Mama, and I'm rather proud to say that with just one exception (when my thesis was due only days later and sleep had been all but eliminated as a luxury), I've participated in every challege. I've enjoyed learning some of the basics of a cuisine that I eat (and cook) on a regular basis, and I've actually loved forcing myself to follow a recipe once in a while.
But the past year has another significance for me, it has been a year since U and I started dating. It is perhaps fitting, therefore, that this most recent challenge was cooked entirely by him. We didn't plan it this way, but one thing (a week in Indonesia) led to another (stomach troubles and a summer cold or perhaps a case of Dengue Fever???) led to another (taking time off work and spending long periods of time in bed) and I didn't have much appetite nor desire to cook. When U asked me what I wanted to eat one night my sore throat and weak stomach wanted nothing more than a plain broth, but I knew I needed something that would give me a bit of energy. I didn't feel like rice gruel, which would be what is eaten when sick in Japan. U seemed wary when I suggested chicken noodle soup and I honestly didn't have the energy to find a good recipe for him to follow, so I started wracking my brains for a Japanese equivalent.
Suddenly it occurred to me that Andoh had a tonjiru (miso-based pork soup with veggies and tofu) recipe that would be both good for my stomach and easy for U to make... and it would satisfy this month's challege too! (That's three birds with a single stone... or rather a big batch of delicious soup!!) So U pulled out Andoh's book and I wrote him a shopping list before I curled up for a nap. When I awoke the apartment was filled with smells that were tempting even my nonexistent tastebuds.
Tonjiru is a soup that appears often in Japan, especially in winter. It appears at just about every Girl Scout camp as it is simple enough to make and yet requires the girls to chop up lots of different veggies and thus feel like they've done something. I've eaten many bowls of tonjiru out of doors, in cold weather, and appreciated the warmth and simple goodness of the soup. Despite the hot summer weather, and despite my lack of appetite, I appreciated the bowl U put in front of me too. I finished it off and curled up for another nap, feeling cared for and loved.
I'd say that's one pretty darn good bowl of soup... although you'll have to trust me on that as my photography skills were rather lacking!
But the past year has another significance for me, it has been a year since U and I started dating. It is perhaps fitting, therefore, that this most recent challenge was cooked entirely by him. We didn't plan it this way, but one thing (a week in Indonesia) led to another (stomach troubles and a summer cold or perhaps a case of Dengue Fever???) led to another (taking time off work and spending long periods of time in bed) and I didn't have much appetite nor desire to cook. When U asked me what I wanted to eat one night my sore throat and weak stomach wanted nothing more than a plain broth, but I knew I needed something that would give me a bit of energy. I didn't feel like rice gruel, which would be what is eaten when sick in Japan. U seemed wary when I suggested chicken noodle soup and I honestly didn't have the energy to find a good recipe for him to follow, so I started wracking my brains for a Japanese equivalent.
Suddenly it occurred to me that Andoh had a tonjiru (miso-based pork soup with veggies and tofu) recipe that would be both good for my stomach and easy for U to make... and it would satisfy this month's challege too! (That's three birds with a single stone... or rather a big batch of delicious soup!!) So U pulled out Andoh's book and I wrote him a shopping list before I curled up for a nap. When I awoke the apartment was filled with smells that were tempting even my nonexistent tastebuds.
Tonjiru is a soup that appears often in Japan, especially in winter. It appears at just about every Girl Scout camp as it is simple enough to make and yet requires the girls to chop up lots of different veggies and thus feel like they've done something. I've eaten many bowls of tonjiru out of doors, in cold weather, and appreciated the warmth and simple goodness of the soup. Despite the hot summer weather, and despite my lack of appetite, I appreciated the bowl U put in front of me too. I finished it off and curled up for another nap, feeling cared for and loved.
I'd say that's one pretty darn good bowl of soup... although you'll have to trust me on that as my photography skills were rather lacking!
Tuesday, 10 August 2010
Tadaima
We're home. We got back yesterday and I had a blog post written (complete with a video to upload) in my head. But then a few hours after we got back to my apartment... well... I was struck with a bad case of traveller's tummy. Suffice to say that I was VERY glad my stomach had decided to wait until I was safely home and had easy access to a nice toilet but it did mean I got nothing done yesterday and although things had settled down by morning I was was still so weak that I had to call in sick and take the day off work.
But annnnyways... Indonesia was amazing. Incredible. We had a FABULOUS time. U did better than I would have imagined and LOVED it. He's started dreaming about our next trip together. While I doubt we'll be quitting our jobs to travel the world for months on end any time soon, it is exciting that he's caught the travel bug and I'm looking forward to many many adventures to come.
I will be sharing some photos and stories from Indonesia soon, but for the time being I'll just post this one (rather poor quality) video as I want to go to work tomorrow and feel the need to crawl into bed early. The video is of a mama orangutan and her 2-ish year old baby that we saw wild in the Sumatran jungle... pretty darn cool if I do say so myself!!
But annnnyways... Indonesia was amazing. Incredible. We had a FABULOUS time. U did better than I would have imagined and LOVED it. He's started dreaming about our next trip together. While I doubt we'll be quitting our jobs to travel the world for months on end any time soon, it is exciting that he's caught the travel bug and I'm looking forward to many many adventures to come.
I will be sharing some photos and stories from Indonesia soon, but for the time being I'll just post this one (rather poor quality) video as I want to go to work tomorrow and feel the need to crawl into bed early. The video is of a mama orangutan and her 2-ish year old baby that we saw wild in the Sumatran jungle... pretty darn cool if I do say so myself!!
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