Salaryman boogie

Just another Friday night out belly dancing with the co-workers for this dedicated salaryman.

What's that?!?!

The last few days, I keep feeling phantom earthquakes - meaning, I don't know if they're real but very small earthquakes (a definite possibility in Japan) or if they're just me thinking there's an earthquake because we haven't had a big one in a while and I'm just anticipating it.

Things that make you go hmm...

Snow!

It snowed Wednesday for a few hours!!! Yay!!

I'm just a girl

Me: What's the difference between futsal and soccer?

Heather: In soccer, when you throw the ball back in, you use your hands and throw the ball over your head, but you have to keep one foot behind the line. In futsal, you kick the ball in.

Me: Oh, that's good - in futsal you don't have to get your hands dirty.

Heather: (Silence.)

Me: I think that's the girliest thing I've ever said in my life.

More recent click, click, clicks

I noticed recently that I never leave home without my camera. I don't know when this started, but here's some stuff I've snapped while out and about recently.

The story of my life?

I was tagged for a "Meme."

It’s a “7 Random Things About Me” kind of Meme.

Here are the rules: Link to the person who tagged you and post the rules on your blog. Share seven random and/or weird things about yourself. Tag seven people at the end of your post and include links to their blogs. Let each person know they have been tagged by leaving a comment on their blog.

Et voila:

1. My favorite food in the whole world is eggplant. In the whole "if you could only have one food for the rest of your life" game, the answer is eggplant. In my previous life as a meat-eater (I loved bbq and my mom's chicken), I would still have chosen eggplant. If you ever invite me to your house for dinner, you can never go wrong in serving me eggplant.
2. I wish I could be more of a fashionista. I watch "Project Runway" like I know what they're talking about, read/browse through fashion mags so I can recognize some designer's styles, and have resigned myself to my materialistic SoCal background that forces me to judge (in my head, in the cattiest ways) the clothes, hair, and makeup choices of most people who cross my path, even though I am Public Enemy Number One on my own "Worst-Dressed" list. Yes, I see the hypocrisy, shallowness, and stupidity of this, but I am a product of my environment and I can't help it. At least I've trained myself to keep these thoughts to myself. In SoCal, as a general rule, these thoughts are allowed to be expressed out loud without guilt. Also, as far as learning the ropes of the fashionista world, I totally suck at that too. I really do read Marie Claire for the articles and the fashion spreads usually annoy me. Plus, hello, like everyone who knows me knows I wear practically head-to-toe Target and Payless with some Nordstrom thrown in here and there for good measure.
   
3. Happy Birthday Carebear sleeps in my bed most nights. I have had Carebear for 25 years. I don't snuggle with him unless I'm really sad and/or crying, so mostly he just stays in the corner of the bed. Carebear has traveled internationally without me after I left him in a Paris hotel room when I was 14 and he was mailed back home.
   
4. I am a serious night owl (as this 7 am post should attest). I actually am pretty productive at night and whenever I don't have anything to regularly get up for in the mornings, my schedule almost always naturally flips itself with me working most of the night and sleeping into the afternoon. I usually sleep 7 or 8 hours. I often clean my apartment in the middle of the night.
   
5. I get B.O. very rarely and only need to put deodorant on every 3 to 5 days. I actually can't remember the last time I put it on, though I know it was in the last week, and the quick armpit sniff check I just did tells me that the deodorant I put on whenever I did is still working. Because of this fortunate condition, I can be pretty sensitive to other people's smells, which accounts for my vivid smell memories in various cities of the world (you can guess which one won the prize for smelliest).
6. 4% alcohol cider gets me pretty tipsy after one pint and I can't finish two. However, hard liquor will only get me slightly tipsy and usually requires more shots/drinks than you'd think to get me drunk. For example, the other night I had a whiskey sour followed by a godfather (two shots bourbon, one shot amaretto) and walked out of the bar way more sober than I'd be after a pint of Strongbow. Also, I've never been falling down, black out drunk. I can remember most parts/sequence of events/verbatim conversation after a night of drinking. I've only been really, truly hungover twice in my life - once in May 1999 after the last night in the dorms and the second time in May 2007. Because I'd hardly experienced this phenomenon, last May I actually didn't realize I was simply hungover at the time and really thought something was wrong with me.
7. I have been snowboarding since the 8th grade, approximately 13 or 14 years old. (I can't calculate what age I was at that time - that's another random fact about me. Only Ashley knows how old I was for everything as my "Life Chronology" is all off when I calculate it.) I have my own snowboard, boots, etc. My board is the same one I got in the 8th or 9th grade and has a fiberglass patch on it from where I cracked the core and bent the frame when I landed the biggest (and last) jump I ever did. Now, I just like to ride straight down, on mogul-less runs, as fast as I can (which still probably isn't very fast).
8. Bonus fact: I probably won't tag anyone for this because I just never get around to that kind of stuff. So, if you wanna play, feel free to take it from here. :)
   

It's 6 in the morning...

And I can't frickin' sleep! There's no good reason for this and it's just annoying. Especially because in three hours I have a Japanese level test at a new school I want to try out.

For Shiraz

The basic foundation for everything Japanese that involves a sauce is:

Konbu dashi
Mirin
Sake
Sugar
Salt
Usually there's some soy sauce too, but not until the very end and then only on really low heat because otherwise the soy sauce burns and tastes yuck.

Shiraz, if you can't find these things on your own, next time I'm home, we can go to a Japanese market together and I'll show you.

I make my own ramen and it takes almost the same amount of time as it does to make the instant Sapporo Ichiban kind. I do everything by counting or just eyeing it, so I can't give too accurate of a recipe, but you'll get the basic structure here and then you can experiment to see what works for you. Here's the recipe:

Enough water to act as a soup base
1 packet konbu dashi powder
1 cube vegetable bouillon
4 counts mirin (approx)
4 counts sake (approx)
1 tsp sugar (approx)
.5 tsp salt (approx)
pepper to taste

Let this combo boil for a bit and make sure the dashi and the bouillon have dissolved. Then I usually add cubes of firm tofu. If you have cooked veggies handy already, you can throw those in too.

Add one packet of fresh ramen noodles.

Let cook for 3 or 4 minutes. Turn off heat and add soy sauce to taste (usually 3 or 4 passes around the pot from a table soy sauce dispenser - i think probably 2 counts if you're pouring from a bottle). Garnish with spicy or regular sesame oil and roasted sesame seeds. Bon app!

Sometimes I add instant curry mix after I put the noodles in to make Curry Ramen. Also, good to turn into a kind of Thai noodle soup by adding peanut butter and more spice (in this case, add p.b. before you add the noodles or tofu).

Dishes done

Just thought you might be worried, so thought I'd give an update on the dish situation. They're done, spic and span. Now I'm going to go buy ingredients to make a big pot of soup and then the place will be a mess again.

Congress says, "Hi."

Last month it was the DNC, in the form of the inspirational Howard Dean. This month, Congress decided to make a DAJ pit-stop that turned into an extended, 2.5 hour-long cocktail meet-and-greet with Representatives Mazie Hirono (HI), Jim McDermott (WA), and Hank Johnson (GA). Each Rep did their best at fighting off jet lag – some better than others ;) – to give a short speech explaining their backgrounds and positions.

As the first naturalized American member of Congress and a native of Fukushima, Japan, Representative Hirono has special insight into the positions of many DAJ members, many of whom are naturalized Americans themselves, long-time residents of Japan with close cultural ties to the country, or bicultural in background and upbringing. Representative McDermott is thought of as “an elder” among his colleagues for his wisdom and experience, having spent the last 19 years in Congress and the last 15 years making visits to Japan as part of a legislative exchange. Representative Johnson is a former judge whose words at the event were touching and precise.

Though this event was certainly more low-key than Dean’s visit – as it was meant to be, especially given the last-minute notice (four days!) – it definitely got interesting during the question and answer period when attendees got to ask burning questions or simply have at it with three real live members of Congress right there in the Mehta’s living room with us. They answered the questions in a fairly straightforward manner and took the heat with grace and experience.

For me, the standout moment came during Representative Johnson’s speech, when he spoke of House Majority Leader Nancy Pelosi (CA) as a “fearless warrior for the people” in facing the daunting task before her, that being not only to bring about a greater level of bipartisanship to the Legislature – I know I’m only one among many Americans who is sick of the cross-aisle food fight that has been playing out for the last eon that the recent years have seemed – but of running with that momentum and spirit and getting the things that need to get done done.

Overall, the visit was a positive sign from the people back home that not only are those of us out here holding down the Far Eastern front not forgotten, but actually sought out (it was Representative Hirono who contacted us!). Especially with Dean’s visit, but further supported by stops like these, the Democratic party is demonstrating that it recognizes that we – all Democrats abroad – are out here and that we’re a force to be reckoned with. So reckon with us already! We’re ready to take back not just the White House, but the common sense controls.

Don’t forget to vote either in your state’s primary or in the Democrat’s Global Primary on February 5^th!

Tootin' my own horn.

Sorry for the post overload today. Rather than life in Japanland being super busy the last couple of days, it's just been super lazy. But today I'm feeling productive (though not in terms of dishwashing... any volunteers willing to come over and yell at me about the gross pile of dishes sitting in my sink that need to be washed, please feel free... I'll even feed you).

Anyway, waaaaaaaaay back in October 2007, I had a great opportunity to write an article for Tokyo Journal (Thanks, Lauren!). I think I mentioned this on the blog, but if not, here's the short and sweet: I GOT TO RIDE IN A ZEPPELIN!!! Did you get that? Um, it was awesome. Like, seriously. Awwwwesome. So the bimonthly issue of the magazine that my article appeared in is out. You can check out the cover online (My story made the cover, which is... Can you guess?... Um, awesome.), but the story is only available in print. So, I'll make copies eventually and send them out to those who'd like to lose themselves in my brilliant words. Also, I put my video of the ride up on YouTube, mainly for the purpose of making people jealous. So, check that out below if you feel like hating me. ;)

Scenes from a train

Some shots I took on the way home last night.

Tired feet wanting home.

1960 calling!

I thought no one had noticed me, but this guy is looking directly at the camera... and striking a pose.

Japanese tradition update

Patricia sent me the link for the video about the proper way to eat sushi in Japan. This is also tongue-in-cheek, so please don't get your kimono in a bunch about it or take it seriously. Enjoy!

Especially for regular reader, Patricia!

In honor of regular "here we go" reader, Patricia, I post this video. It's not the one she mentioned today at dinner, but hopefully a close second. Enjoy!



p.s. Patricia, here's the enka song I was mentioning (when my friend and I sing it, we do it a lot more Peggy Lee style):

Happy Birthday, 2008!!

Sorry for the MIA-ness of late. My family was here in Tokyo for Christmas and, though my parents left a few days ago, my sister is still here 'til tomorrow, so it's been busy, busy, busy. Anyway, I just want to wish everyone a happy and fulfilling 2008. Here's to a year (and hopefully a lifetime) of good times with good people and good food.

Speaking of food, here's a picture of my first attempt at making ozoni (made vegetarian, of course), the traditional New Year's Day food here in Japan. It turned out pretty darn good, if I do say so myself. Bon appetit!

あけましておめでとうございます！