Hello again! The weather is finally getting beautiful! It's a warm day and some of the trees are still showing cherry blossoms. I hope everyone is having a good week.
On April 14, we are having an English conversation bbq party at the park near the Watarai Bridge. I hope you all can come! The party will start at 13:00 and we'll finish at 16:00. Bring your own food and drinks to enjoy.  |
Saturday, April 10, 2010
test
Tuesday, February 2, 2010
Tuesday, November 24, 2009
Repeatitude
Every year, the somewhere-under-100 Mie JET program ALTs gather in the capitol city, Tsu, for a November meeting, the agenda for which is this: discuss the meeting to be held in January.
Granted, that January affair is more than a meeting (it's the mid-year seminar), but the whole operation is an exercise in -- what's the word -- repeatitude. We gather. The guy from the BOE reads a few key points about a few key things. It's nothing they couldn't inform us about via faxed/mailed/e-mailed document.
Mainly they bring us there to force us to decide who will have to give presentations at said January seminar. And essentially, it's already decided, on a mysterious document known as "The List."
While volunteers can step up, The List is there as a back-up when people don't. The List's victims rotate every year, so, it's essentially fair. But despite its objectivity, this annual meeting still exists.
Every once in a while, I'm reminded about third molars, aka wisdom teeth. They make themselves known with bursts of pain, ranging from mild pain to moderate pain. The other night, my lower-right wisdom tooth started in on a kind of pain between moderate and high.
While at this hour the pain has shifted down to what I'm calling sustained mildness, it all raises the question: do I need extraction?
Since I'm not a qualified dentist (anymore) I plan to schedule an appointment soon. There's an English-speaking DMD around who I hope can take a look at the situation.
It's now inside a month until arrival in Oregon. We're very excited to spend time there and see family and friends. Of course, Portland, Corvallis and Pendleton (plus maybe Vernonia?) are all on the agenda.
And this year it shall be a three-week affair rather than a rushed, Winter-Blastified two weeks. Not that I'm complaining about the Blast. While it complicated travel and caused some stress, who doesn't like a weather story?
Granted, that January affair is more than a meeting (it's the mid-year seminar), but the whole operation is an exercise in -- what's the word -- repeatitude. We gather. The guy from the BOE reads a few key points about a few key things. It's nothing they couldn't inform us about via faxed/mailed/e-mailed document.
Mainly they bring us there to force us to decide who will have to give presentations at said January seminar. And essentially, it's already decided, on a mysterious document known as "The List."
While volunteers can step up, The List is there as a back-up when people don't. The List's victims rotate every year, so, it's essentially fair. But despite its objectivity, this annual meeting still exists.
---
Every once in a while, I'm reminded about third molars, aka wisdom teeth. They make themselves known with bursts of pain, ranging from mild pain to moderate pain. The other night, my lower-right wisdom tooth started in on a kind of pain between moderate and high.
While at this hour the pain has shifted down to what I'm calling sustained mildness, it all raises the question: do I need extraction?
Since I'm not a qualified dentist (anymore) I plan to schedule an appointment soon. There's an English-speaking DMD around who I hope can take a look at the situation.
---
It's now inside a month until arrival in Oregon. We're very excited to spend time there and see family and friends. Of course, Portland, Corvallis and Pendleton (plus maybe Vernonia?) are all on the agenda.
And this year it shall be a three-week affair rather than a rushed, Winter-Blastified two weeks. Not that I'm complaining about the Blast. While it complicated travel and caused some stress, who doesn't like a weather story?
Monday, November 9, 2009
One Pot
Ah yes, my blog, that canvass of neglect, that conduit of silence, that never-ending, rarely-updating story of my life.
Why do I ignore you so?
Blah. Enough with the sentimental stuff.
Last I wrote here, I was weathering a storm. A typhoon (aka hurricane) to be clear. Obviously I made it through that all right. If you were really following along, you would have also seen my (cell-phone-powered) twitter updates at the time, which picked up after the power went out and took my Internet access with it.
By morning, all was well. Minor damage (none to my building). Slight floodery nearby. Trains weren't running. The power was still out.
At school, the trees rained down debris overnight. In the morning, with the students told to stay home, we teachers cleaned it up. One student who showed up by mistake joined in the cleanup.
And now, roughly two months later, I'm here. I don't know if I'll keep the blog going again. I came back last time in a spurt, but then it sputtered out. We'll see.
Right now, as fall picks up -- winter temperatures have reared and shall rear again next week -- the season of nabe has begun. Nabe literally means "pot" in Japanese, but in practice it means much more.
The nabe pot is brought to the table, heated on a gas-powered or convection burner. A base broth of some kind is brought to a boil, then whatever ingredients you like are thrown in. Popular broth bases include curry or kimchi. The toppings of course include a variety of vegetables and meat.
Nabe represents a communal eating style popular in many Asian cultures. Everyone grabs what they want from the central pot. Sometimes, when you finish your solids, you pour the extra broth in your bowl back into the pot to cook up the next round. Nabe fosters this level of closeness. Though in these times of the new flu, perhaps the communal nature of nabe will be seen as a threat this winter.
I've had nabe at restaurants as part of a course menu (blow fish!), and I've had nabe at friends' places. But as of this last weekend I can now nabe (sure, it's a verb) at home.
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I did the kimchi type over the weekend and then curry tonight, with my ALT colleagues Annette and Conrad as guests. We were all quite full after the session, which also featured a screening of the latest episode of Dexter.
Now, as 11 p.m. nears, I'm winding down, wondering what's for dinner tomorrow. More nabe? We'll see.
Why do I ignore you so?
Blah. Enough with the sentimental stuff.
---
Last I wrote here, I was weathering a storm. A typhoon (aka hurricane) to be clear. Obviously I made it through that all right. If you were really following along, you would have also seen my (cell-phone-powered) twitter updates at the time, which picked up after the power went out and took my Internet access with it.
By morning, all was well. Minor damage (none to my building). Slight floodery nearby. Trains weren't running. The power was still out.
At school, the trees rained down debris overnight. In the morning, with the students told to stay home, we teachers cleaned it up. One student who showed up by mistake joined in the cleanup.
And now, roughly two months later, I'm here. I don't know if I'll keep the blog going again. I came back last time in a spurt, but then it sputtered out. We'll see.
---
Right now, as fall picks up -- winter temperatures have reared and shall rear again next week -- the season of nabe has begun. Nabe literally means "pot" in Japanese, but in practice it means much more.
The nabe pot is brought to the table, heated on a gas-powered or convection burner. A base broth of some kind is brought to a boil, then whatever ingredients you like are thrown in. Popular broth bases include curry or kimchi. The toppings of course include a variety of vegetables and meat.
Nabe represents a communal eating style popular in many Asian cultures. Everyone grabs what they want from the central pot. Sometimes, when you finish your solids, you pour the extra broth in your bowl back into the pot to cook up the next round. Nabe fosters this level of closeness. Though in these times of the new flu, perhaps the communal nature of nabe will be seen as a threat this winter.
I've had nabe at restaurants as part of a course menu (blow fish!), and I've had nabe at friends' places. But as of this last weekend I can now nabe (sure, it's a verb) at home.
.jpg)
I did the kimchi type over the weekend and then curry tonight, with my ALT colleagues Annette and Conrad as guests. We were all quite full after the session, which also featured a screening of the latest episode of Dexter.
Now, as 11 p.m. nears, I'm winding down, wondering what's for dinner tomorrow. More nabe? We'll see.
Thursday, October 8, 2009
Wednesday, October 7, 2009
Red Circle
11:52
We're just about in that thick red circle denoting the 50 knot or higher winds. Wind gusts are getting noisier as the rain continues. Definitely seeing a worsening of conditions.
We're just about in that thick red circle denoting the 50 knot or higher winds. Wind gusts are getting noisier as the rain continues. Definitely seeing a worsening of conditions.
Rain
10:52
Check out the radar showing the rain intensity. That's us in red.
http://www.jma.go.jp/en/radnowc/index.html?areaCode=210
Check out the radar showing the rain intensity. That's us in red.
http://www.jma.go.jp/en/radnowc/index.html?areaCode=210
New warnings
9:40
Not really surprising, but the region including Ise is now under official warnings for storm, heavy rain, flood and high waves.
Not really surprising, but the region including Ise is now under official warnings for storm, heavy rain, flood and high waves.
Wind prediction
Some forecast specifics are coming to light. If the track and intensity holds as currently predicted, we may see 100 mile an hour sustained winds and gusts of up to 134 mph.
Phase shift
It's 10 to 9 and things are picking up out there. I can hear the wind whaling and bursts of rain up against the window. I just took a peak outside and saw an ambulance or something up the road. Could be unrelated but not sure. The water on the roadway looks gnarly in the wind. More later.
(The tracking images on the blog should be updating here too, or you can go check them out at their original sources. The JMA site also has a precip radar and a satellite image. )
And a note to family: If we lose power, I may change over to twitter. See my feed at www.twitter.com/danofthenorth
(The tracking images on the blog should be updating here too, or you can go check them out at their original sources. The JMA site also has a precip radar and a satellite image. )
And a note to family: If we lose power, I may change over to twitter. See my feed at www.twitter.com/danofthenorth
News reports
7:42
This article by Rueters says this may be the strongest typhoon to make landfall on a main island of Japan in 10 years. I should note that my goal here, mom, is not to scare you. But after a day of hearing some people freak out and others say "oh it's weakening" I wasn't sure what to think. I'm still not sure what I'll see here. But I feel pretty well safe and informed. There's a branch of city hall across the street and plenty of neighbors nearby.
I'll update again in a while.
This article by Rueters says this may be the strongest typhoon to make landfall on a main island of Japan in 10 years. I should note that my goal here, mom, is not to scare you. But after a day of hearing some people freak out and others say "oh it's weakening" I wasn't sure what to think. I'm still not sure what I'll see here. But I feel pretty well safe and informed. There's a branch of city hall across the street and plenty of neighbors nearby.
I'll update again in a while.
Update
7 p.m
Mie and many other areas are now under the official storm warning. TV news says to expect peak wind around here at about 2 a.m. Meanwhile, about 500 ml (1.6 feet) of rain are to be associated with the storm in this area (I suppose this includes the rain that's already been falling).
We're also now inside the yellow circle here in Ise (perhaps that's what prompted the storm warning being made official). I haven't noticed any wind pick-up just yet. We shall see.
Precautions: I have extra food and water on hand. TV news said to fill the bathtub, as it can allow the toilet to flush if the normal plumbing goes out. I don't have a flashlight, but next-door neighbor and ALT colleague Anette does.
I have no idea what to expect. If it is a category 1 storm when it reaches, sustained winds could be up to 95 miles an hour .
More later ...
Mie and many other areas are now under the official storm warning. TV news says to expect peak wind around here at about 2 a.m. Meanwhile, about 500 ml (1.6 feet) of rain are to be associated with the storm in this area (I suppose this includes the rain that's already been falling).
We're also now inside the yellow circle here in Ise (perhaps that's what prompted the storm warning being made official). I haven't noticed any wind pick-up just yet. We shall see.
Precautions: I have extra food and water on hand. TV news said to fill the bathtub, as it can allow the toilet to flush if the normal plumbing goes out. I don't have a flashlight, but next-door neighbor and ALT colleague Anette does.
I have no idea what to expect. If it is a category 1 storm when it reaches, sustained winds could be up to 95 miles an hour .
More later ...
Home from work ... the rains pick up ... oh right, plus wind ...
It's 20 after 5 p.m. and I've arrived home from work. The rain has been going non-stop since morning, but it is just now starting to pick up. Drainage ditches through the rice fields are filling up but not overflowing. The nearby Seta River is high, but I've seen it higher in periods of heavy rain. A ways to go before even close to threatening overflow.
The wind is also stronger than this morning. Though we are not yet in the area likely to see 30+ mph winds. This photo above is the tracking of the typhoon on the Japan Meteorological Agency website. The yellow outline shows areas with winds of 30 knots or higher (34 mph). The thick red circle is areas with winds of 50 knots or higher (57 mph). The lighter red line shows a vague "storm warning area" ... which at this point is just an advisory/warning that the storm is coming.
As the hours pass we may get more specific warnings for high winds or flooding. Despite the weakening, we can still expect the storm to be Category 1 strength or borderline Category 1 / tropical storm as it moves over the area. And we are still in the section of the storm (top-right quadrant said to pack the strongest winds.
At the moment I'm just sitting at home checking info online and on TV. No big plans but I may head over to fellow ALT Conrad's apartment nearby to watch movies or TV shows and see if anything happens.
The brunt of the storm should come in the early morning hours. A decision on whether or not students have school will be broadcast around 6 a.m. Early prediction -- there will not be school. Staff still have to report, they reminded us in the morning meeting. I'll go along unless it's dangerous to go out.
More later ...
Weakening
The typhoon is weakening faster than previously expected. It's now a Category 2 storm. By the time it gets closer to our area overnight and early Thursday morning, it will be a Category 1 weakening to a tropical storm.
Certainly still cause to be carefull but it looks like less of a threat than once thought.
Certainly still cause to be carefull but it looks like less of a threat than once thought.
Tuesday, October 6, 2009
Typhoon Melor
On this Tuesday night, Japan is staring down a storm called Melor. At this hour, the typhoon (same as a hurricane) is moving over Minamidaito, an island that is part of the Okinawa chain.Soon, the storm will begin to track northeast, potentially passing directly over us here on the Kii peninsula (circled in red).
Ise is on the tip of the eastward jutting peninsula-within-a-peninsula in the northeast quadrant of the circle.
Forecasts appear fuzzy as to Melor's exact center path, but here in Mie and Ise we are within the possible direct-hit area. Meanwhile, present TV predictions show the center path pushing through the middle of the Kii peninsula.
I was also reminded by the TV weather guy that the strongest part of a tropical system is to the right of the center (see image at left). Current TV predictions, then, do not bode well for this area.
Although perhaps not as strong, this storm has a path that resembles Japan's worst typhoon in recorded history, the 1959 Isewan Typhoon, named for the bay to Ise's east that extends up to Aichi prefecture and Nagoya City. That storm killed more than 5,000 people. Here is the path of that typhoon:
While the path is similar, the 1959 storm was stronger. And of course, today more precautions are in place. Better seawalls to fight flooding off the bay. Better knowledge of how to prepare and stay safe. Stronger buildings.
Nevertheless, this storm has the potential to be dangerous.
The first effects of the storm may be felt here tomorrow (Wednesday) afternoon or evening. For this reason I wouldn't be surprised if students are sent home at midday. School also could easily be closed on Thursday. This is just for students though. According to the "rules," staff still report to school.
If a staffer cannot get there, the system would expect them to use paid leave. It's laughable how ridiculous this is. I don't plan to use paid leave if I can't make it to work on Thursday. However it's fair to say the school may be safer than my low-lying, river-butting neighborhood.
I have never experienced a direct hit from a typhoon/hurricane, nor can we be sure about the strength or path of the coming storm. But at the very least I plan to stay informed and take basic precautions.
Tuesday, September 29, 2009
An update
The Osaka trip redeemed itself, mainly in the form of Mexican food at Osaka's El Pancho restaurant the day after the USJ adventure.
Oh, I should also mention that we went to Costco. There are a few Costco outlets scattered around Japan, and they look exactly like their U.S. counterparts, down to the products and store layout.
When we arrived by train and taxi in the early afternoon, there was a 20 minute wait to sign up for membership (roughly $40 for a year). We then were set loose in a jam packed store -- think holiday weekend at peak hours -- for about an hour and a half.
We didn't have a car, so we couldn't fill a cart full of wonderfulness. Also we couldn't really do things that needed to stay cool.
I bought a huge container of Picante sauce, a 20-pack of flour tortillas, a small pack of beef jerky, and a some onion and cheese bagels. It all fit nicely into my backpack, but that meant for a heavy bag to heave around train stations.
Hopefully we can head back to Costco again some other month, but this time by car, so we can load up on more items and perhaps even take orders from friends.
I gave away half the bagels, and my half is long gone. We used 10 of the tortillas at a bbq/burrito party, and the other 10 are nearly gone from my fridge. The jerky went fast during a night out at the bar.
Meanwhile, the winter holiday season approaches, and I need to start thinking about plans now. I was in Oregon as recently as June, though I was busy with the Canfield-Nealon wedding. Then I hit Hawaii in August. So I'm strongly leaning toward staying out of the U.S. this Christmas.
I might instead hit the slopes of Nagano. There are a few others already talking about putting together a trip, and it would be nice to see if I can still ski after a several-year break.
Other options include an even wintry-er destination: Japan's northern-most island of Hokkaido.
Still undecided. And I guess it's possible the U.S. could slip in there. Oregon? New York? Money?
Oh, I should also mention that we went to Costco. There are a few Costco outlets scattered around Japan, and they look exactly like their U.S. counterparts, down to the products and store layout.
When we arrived by train and taxi in the early afternoon, there was a 20 minute wait to sign up for membership (roughly $40 for a year). We then were set loose in a jam packed store -- think holiday weekend at peak hours -- for about an hour and a half.
We didn't have a car, so we couldn't fill a cart full of wonderfulness. Also we couldn't really do things that needed to stay cool.
I bought a huge container of Picante sauce, a 20-pack of flour tortillas, a small pack of beef jerky, and a some onion and cheese bagels. It all fit nicely into my backpack, but that meant for a heavy bag to heave around train stations.
Hopefully we can head back to Costco again some other month, but this time by car, so we can load up on more items and perhaps even take orders from friends.
I gave away half the bagels, and my half is long gone. We used 10 of the tortillas at a bbq/burrito party, and the other 10 are nearly gone from my fridge. The jerky went fast during a night out at the bar.
Meanwhile, the winter holiday season approaches, and I need to start thinking about plans now. I was in Oregon as recently as June, though I was busy with the Canfield-Nealon wedding. Then I hit Hawaii in August. So I'm strongly leaning toward staying out of the U.S. this Christmas.
I might instead hit the slopes of Nagano. There are a few others already talking about putting together a trip, and it would be nice to see if I can still ski after a several-year break.
Other options include an even wintry-er destination: Japan's northern-most island of Hokkaido.
Still undecided. And I guess it's possible the U.S. could slip in there. Oregon? New York? Money?
Tuesday, September 22, 2009
Hollywood Dreaming
I report this morning from Osaka, in fact, in the middle of Osaka. Yesterday I went to Universal Studios Japan, referred to here as USJ.
I should note that it is the middle of a 5-day weekend. Three national holidays aligned themselves to make a mini-vacation in the summer-heads-toward-fall period of late September.
Needless to say, USJ wasp packed.
We managed to ride only one real attraction, a rollar coaster called Hollywood Dreams. The wait was more than 2 hours.
I should note that it is the middle of a 5-day weekend. Three national holidays aligned themselves to make a mini-vacation in the summer-heads-toward-fall period of late September.
Needless to say, USJ wasp packed.
We managed to ride only one real attraction, a rollar coaster called Hollywood Dreams. The wait was more than 2 hours.
Meanwhile, the mass of people walking around the park, in the still-summer heat and Osaka humidity, were naturally thirsty. But vending machines at USJ are scarce. Seems they'd rather have you wait in line for an hour to get a drink and why-not-a-meal at one of the theme park restaurants.
This next (last for now) picture might not mean much to those outside Japan, but this country is loaded with vending machines. They usually look like the one in this picture, except for the red light shining beneath every beverage. That means that all the drinks are gone. Yes. All of them. This was at 6 p.m. Four hours to closing time. It was never re-filled.
Wednesday, September 16, 2009
The Earliar In The Night Show with Jay Leno
Thanks to the Internet and its pirates, I watched the first episode of the new Jay Leno show, NBC's consolation prize/cheaper-than-a-drama 10 p.m. hour of something allegedly "new."
Instead it was the same old Jay. The trappings of The Tonight Show morphed into something that felt 1990s. The musical backupled by the same laughing leader, renamed "The Prime Time Band." The same burst of energy from back stage flowing into the same handshake affair the faux host Larry Sanders once comically tried in an effort to boost his ratings.
As for the conent, its much the same too, with an opening monolouge that was as strong as you'd expect when it draws from three months of material. Leno himself was energetic and appeared in his element. But the comedy bits fell flat. Kanye was there, too, apologizing again, and garnaring more headlines and angles for Jay's debut. Jerry Seinfeld, in a tux, was funny as you'd expect, and his bit-within-a-bit featuring Oprah was perhaps the comedic climax of the program.
But judging from Day 1, the new show hardly deserves the "new" designation. As he expands his roster of guest comedians in skits, and perhaps follows up on stated plans to give the mic to up and coming stand-ups, maybe the show can find a niche. But I imagine the Leno niche -- already established from his days with The Tonight Show -- won't be seeing a major shift at all.
Instead it was the same old Jay. The trappings of The Tonight Show morphed into something that felt 1990s. The musical backupled by the same laughing leader, renamed "The Prime Time Band." The same burst of energy from back stage flowing into the same handshake affair the faux host Larry Sanders once comically tried in an effort to boost his ratings.
As for the conent, its much the same too, with an opening monolouge that was as strong as you'd expect when it draws from three months of material. Leno himself was energetic and appeared in his element. But the comedy bits fell flat. Kanye was there, too, apologizing again, and garnaring more headlines and angles for Jay's debut. Jerry Seinfeld, in a tux, was funny as you'd expect, and his bit-within-a-bit featuring Oprah was perhaps the comedic climax of the program.
But judging from Day 1, the new show hardly deserves the "new" designation. As he expands his roster of guest comedians in skits, and perhaps follows up on stated plans to give the mic to up and coming stand-ups, maybe the show can find a niche. But I imagine the Leno niche -- already established from his days with The Tonight Show -- won't be seeing a major shift at all.
Tuesday, September 15, 2009
The Swine and the Surgical Mask
Swine Flu is making its way through my school this week, with one 40-student homeroom on a 3-day leave because the virus was spreading rapidly. A few other cases from other classes, all second-years (juniors), have been reported.
I came down with a bug last week, manifesting as a sore throat early in the week. Out of an abundance of caution (haha) I stayed home on Wednesday. It didn't get any worse so I returned to a normal schedule. As usual the sore throat shifted to sinus pressure and then some sneezing (this time only about three sneezes in total) and then it faded to nothing in time for the weekend.
Not Swine Flu.
But I guess there is a fair chance I will catch it, working in a school. Many students and staff around here are wearing what we call surgical masks as a preventive measure. Fortunately they also pressing more logical prevention techniques such as thorough hand-washing and sneeze-etiquette, as well as keeping the known sick kids at home.
I am trying to remember to wash my hands more often, and I need to get in the habit of bringing my own hand towel.There are no paper towels and hand-dryers in the bathrooms here, just a single towel than I guess they think everyone should use. On top of that there isn't always soap in Japanese bathrooms, even at schools.
The Swine Flu fear has changed this a bit, in the form of more readily available soap.
A rather flat post, but I wanted to try to keep blogging after that rush of posts the other week. I will try to keep it up from now on as well.
I came down with a bug last week, manifesting as a sore throat early in the week. Out of an abundance of caution (haha) I stayed home on Wednesday. It didn't get any worse so I returned to a normal schedule. As usual the sore throat shifted to sinus pressure and then some sneezing (this time only about three sneezes in total) and then it faded to nothing in time for the weekend.
Not Swine Flu.
But I guess there is a fair chance I will catch it, working in a school. Many students and staff around here are wearing what we call surgical masks as a preventive measure. Fortunately they also pressing more logical prevention techniques such as thorough hand-washing and sneeze-etiquette, as well as keeping the known sick kids at home.
I am trying to remember to wash my hands more often, and I need to get in the habit of bringing my own hand towel.There are no paper towels and hand-dryers in the bathrooms here, just a single towel than I guess they think everyone should use. On top of that there isn't always soap in Japanese bathrooms, even at schools.
The Swine Flu fear has changed this a bit, in the form of more readily available soap.
A rather flat post, but I wanted to try to keep blogging after that rush of posts the other week. I will try to keep it up from now on as well.
Sunday, September 6, 2009
I want my money back
Here now, is a weekend wrap-up:
On Friday, mainly I lost money.
Well that wasn't the plan, but a post barbecue trip to the bar led to an impromptu 3-person poker game, a tournament-style hold-em bout that I failed to win.
Here is the money (roughly $30) in the original pot.
I lost. Then I tried to buy back in. Then, I lost again ... to this guy, on the left, who informs me his winning on Friday led to more winning in a much larger Saturday-night game.
The barbecue was a nice little get together at Sean's place (Sean being the Guy On The Left Who Took My Money). Nice burgers, made nicer with the kick from some Huy Fong Sriracha. Now that I think about it, I left my Sriracha at Sean's too. He takes everything.
On Saturday I headed for Nagoya. I picked up an application for the Japanese Language Proficiency Test, which I plan to take in December to prove that I am kinda OK at Japanese but not as good as I probably should be after 2.5 years.
Then I went with a friend to the Port of Nagoya, where we toured an old scientific-explorer ship-converted-into-a-museum. More on that in a later post, perhaps.
After looking around the port area, it was time for a dinner of Indian curry.
Overall, a nice weekend. Some stats:
Money lost: $20
Mannequins of Japanese scientists on a ship-museum posed with: 3
Spiciness level: moderate to high
That's all for now.
On Friday, mainly I lost money.
Well that wasn't the plan, but a post barbecue trip to the bar led to an impromptu 3-person poker game, a tournament-style hold-em bout that I failed to win.
Here is the money (roughly $30) in the original pot.
I lost. Then I tried to buy back in. Then, I lost again ... to this guy, on the left, who informs me his winning on Friday led to more winning in a much larger Saturday-night game.
The barbecue was a nice little get together at Sean's place (Sean being the Guy On The Left Who Took My Money). Nice burgers, made nicer with the kick from some Huy Fong Sriracha. Now that I think about it, I left my Sriracha at Sean's too. He takes everything.
On Saturday I headed for Nagoya. I picked up an application for the Japanese Language Proficiency Test, which I plan to take in December to prove that I am kinda OK at Japanese but not as good as I probably should be after 2.5 years.
Then I went with a friend to the Port of Nagoya, where we toured an old scientific-explorer ship-converted-into-a-museum. More on that in a later post, perhaps.
After looking around the port area, it was time for a dinner of Indian curry.
Overall, a nice weekend. Some stats:
Money lost: $20
Mannequins of Japanese scientists on a ship-museum posed with: 3
Spiciness level: moderate to high
That's all for now.
Wednesday, September 2, 2009
sketched
Many of our students are talented artists. Often, as English Club winds down, these students flock to the white board and begin sketching. Popular choices are sometimes interesting takes on characters like Doraemon, Hello Kitty or others. Occasionally we ALTs become the targets as well.
Here is a caricature done by a second-year student we call Oku-Rina. I think it captures me well.
Here is a caricature done by a second-year student we call Oku-Rina. I think it captures me well.
Tuesday, September 1, 2009
Map My Run
As noted a few posts back, before all that food and sight-seeing stuff, I'm attempting to put some more exercise into my routine. Last week was solid, but it didn't take off beyond the 6-mile run and the single gym trip.
Needless to say the weekend went by without any further exercise besides plenty of walking around the tourist spots of Ise.
This evening Annette and I headed out for a run after dark, so we headed through the city instead of out toward the bay like last week. We also planned to cut the distance in roughly half.
We followed a path I've taken before, along the Seta River toward the city center, and then back again. I like the route because there's not much traffic and it's expandable if you feel like going farther up the river.
I signed up for a website -- www.mapmyrun.com -- which does just that. Below is a look at today's run (let me know if you can't see it). We actually stopped running right at the 3-mile mark, though we didn't know that at the time. A quick cool-down walk and we were home again.
A nice, quick, and mostly painless run. New goal: repeat or build upon the effort tomorrow.
Needless to say the weekend went by without any further exercise besides plenty of walking around the tourist spots of Ise.
This evening Annette and I headed out for a run after dark, so we headed through the city instead of out toward the bay like last week. We also planned to cut the distance in roughly half.
We followed a path I've taken before, along the Seta River toward the city center, and then back again. I like the route because there's not much traffic and it's expandable if you feel like going farther up the river.
I signed up for a website -- www.mapmyrun.com -- which does just that. Below is a look at today's run (let me know if you can't see it). We actually stopped running right at the 3-mile mark, though we didn't know that at the time. A quick cool-down walk and we were home again.
A nice, quick, and mostly painless run. New goal: repeat or build upon the effort tomorrow.
Monday, August 31, 2009
Foodstuffs
Lots of Japanese women have blogs on which they mainly write about to post photos of what they've been eating or making. Am I turning into a Japanese woman?
Last night, our usual bar Nanaimo hosted a takoyaki party. Takoyaki is another dish most famous for being Osaka fare, but like okonomiyaki it's popular throughout the country. In this case, there's a similar batter base and the same put-in-what-you-like process for ingredients.
The main difference is the shape -- in this case little balls. The tako in takoyaki means octopus, as this is the most prevalent filler. But you could really add anything. Last night we used quail egg, cheese, pork, kimchee in addition to the octopus.
The picture above shows me helping prepare the takoyaki. I was perched there for a couple hours straight trying my hardest not to screw up the food that paying customers would attempt to enjoy.
The key is a fast spinning motion around the outside of the forging ball. Attacking too soon can mess things up. Or being a silly a foreigner. I had moments of glory, but there were those other moments too.
And also, I had beer.
Today I opted for a lighter dinner, leading to a salad. I had only tomato, cucumber and some bacon to work with. I got the bacon to ultra-crispy mode and chopped it up into bits, then threw this in with the chopped veggies and added an onion-flavored dressing. It was pretty good.
But a couple hours later I was hungry again. So I made up some pasta with a spicy meat sauce to serve as a second course for dinner and also as tomorrow's lunch at work.
To spice up the regular store-bought tomato pasta sauce, I added a mixture of sirracha chili sauce and the aforementioned onion dressing. Very tasty. Perfect amount of spice. In fact I might have to break into the fridge and have a litttttle bit more.
Okonomiyaki
The previous post mentioned the pancake-like dish called okonomiyaki.
A little background. Okonomi means "what you like" and "yaki" means to cook or grill. So the idea is you add whatever ingredients you like to a basic pancake-like batter, top it with a sauce, mayonaise and more and then eat. This is one of the signature dishes of Osaka, but it's available and popular all over Japan. (Wikipedia for the hard facts.)
Here is where it all begins for the customer. The big bowl has the batter and some toppings, including the pork. My kimchee is off to the side.
A little background. Okonomi means "what you like" and "yaki" means to cook or grill. So the idea is you add whatever ingredients you like to a basic pancake-like batter, top it with a sauce, mayonaise and more and then eat. This is one of the signature dishes of Osaka, but it's available and popular all over Japan. (Wikipedia for the hard facts.)
In Osaka city, there are many okonomiyaki shops around. In Ise, there's a nice little shop just down the road from my place. At this shop, like at many, you can have the staff do the prep and cooking or you can do it yourself at your table/grill.
In the past, eating with fellow foreigners who often forge a collective aversion to culture, I have opted to let the professionals do the dirty work. But on this occasion, with a Japanese friend, it was a chance to try for myself.
Here is where it all begins for the customer. The big bowl has the batter and some toppings, including the pork. My kimchee is off to the side.
The Mom (appears to be a Mom and Pop operation) told us to mix up the contents of the big bowl, pour half onto the grill, add the main ingredient(s), pour on the rest of the mix, and then begin the grilling.
Here is mine in the early stages of grilling. It may be hard to gauge how big it is, but picture it as a two-spatula situation.
After a few minutes, when the underside begins to solidify, it's time to flip. First I watched Mai handle hers with the grace expected of a local. She slid in the two metal spatulas and sent the unit up and over itself, landing it perfectly in the same right-center spot it had been before.
My turn. What I lack in grace I make up for instincts, so when my flip went awry, sending the disc of goodness onto the rear quadrant of the grill, I tried to use the spatulas to pull it back to the center. Oops. Some of the ingredients came out, but the disc stayed put. The result -- the salvage, really -- was the birth of what I call the okonomi-baby.
But all in all my cooking experience was good. The final product looked decent, though not as good as its natively-engineered counterpart.
If you want to try this at home, which could be fun, try an online recipie. Here's one from About.com, although I of course cannot personally vouch for it. You can probably subsitute or omit a lot of the topping ideas (fish flakses, for example). One could have of fun trying different fillings and toppings (sirracha!).
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