Tuesday, September 28, 2010

Just a brief message. (短いメッセージだけで。)

Just to keep the jackals away.

Jackals, of course, being an endearing and truly loving term used to refer to the women one and two generations above me who rely on this is a source of my daily goings-on and who will, doubtless, begin to complain should I go too much longer without an update of some sort.

Rest assured, oh family of mine: I am healthy, happy, and other good things beginning with the letter "h".

I am just also lazy, lethargic, and other... not-so-conducive-to-posting things beginning with the letter "l".

Today's post was brought to you by fond memories of Sesame Street.

It is comforting that children now are still entertained by that show, at least in some form.

...talk about off-topic.

Anyway, once again the weekend was dampened by rain, and my sleeping was eased by the pitter-patter (read: roaring and yet somehow soothing barrage) of raindrops on my rooftop. And all surrounding surfaces that reflected noise, really.

I'll admit that I foolishly believed the weather report on Sunday and therefore left my laundry out during an errand-adventure, and thus came home to a rack fulll of rain-soaked clothing which I had to run to get under some protective covering.

Luckily I have a laundry rack at my disposal which is, in fact, under a nice bit of porch. And thus, my clothing was saved, albeit dried a bit more slowly than I would have liked.

And my futon never did get to be aired out properly, since it rained Monday too.

Oh, well. There's always next weekend.

This is Edo, signing off sort of wishing that it would rain ever night as she drifted off to sleep.

Sunday, September 26, 2010

Away to the doctor we go. (医者さんまで行こう。)

Well, here's a switch for you.

Something fairly important about my life that may have some influence on yours down the road!

.... in a fairly tangential and roundabout way, I admit, but hey.

Anyway.

On Friday, I had my first experience (this time around, anyway; I went a few times in Kyoto, recall) with a Japanese "hospital" (better translated as clinic, despite what textbooks and poor dictionaries will have you believe), or 病院 (byouin).



And it was very nice, actually.

Especially considering the fact that, regardless of the country, I usually dread the doctor, and try to avoid visits at any cost.

Because. Yech. And other adult-like words.

Anyway.

Why was I going to the clinic, you ask? Why, oh paragon of health and happiness that is our beloved blog writer?

Oh ho ho, you flatter me.

Actually, there was the possibility of me having a minor infection (of which I will not give you further details, because I'm not quite that comfortable with this whole personal-info-on-the-net thing yet), and once my head teacher caught word of it, she ordered me to visit the doctor before it got any worse, as she has experiences with the same infection, and knows how it can go from bad to worse shockingly quickly.

And thus, work schedules were shifted, and I was bustled off to the nearby clinic Friday morning.

...and when I say bustled off, I mean that chief gave me a name and a map, and I didn't argue. Who am I to go off, gallivanting on my own to find a doctor? Pfft.

And it's a good thing I got the map, too, because the clinic moved in the beginning of September, and google maps had not yet been updated.

Of course, google maps is rather lacking in general when it comes to Matsusaka-type-info.

Anyway.

I walked in, looking a little lost, but eventually walked up to the front desk to address my concerns to a nice looking administrative lady. I informed her that I did not have an appointment, but that I would like to see the doctor...

And of course forgot to mention why.

Luckily she asked, and luckily chief had given me the common word for  my supposed infection the day before (apparently the one I had looked up was very odd).

And let me tell you, once they knew the problem, things moved quick-like.

They took my health insurance card, told me what to do, gave me a form, and had me in to see the doctor all in under twenty minutes.

Mind you, this is the first time I have ever been to this clinic.

Take that, naysayers of national health insurance.

Once I was with the doctor, I was informed that yes, I did have an infection (drat) and that it could often be brought on by these rapid fluctuations in temperature we've been having, among other things. I was told I was going to be given five days of antibiotics, and to properly finish taking them even if I felt better after two days (ok, fine, I guess everyone gets that schpeel...). I then got a regular sort of check-up to make sure nothing else was wrong, chatted with the doctor for a bit, and then was sent along my merry way, pills in hand and a cure in my future.

And here's the best part.

All for 1590 yen.

Oh, and did I mention it all happened within forty-five minutes?

Beat that.

So, not only did I have a good experience on my own in a clinic (I admit I have never had to go on my own before), but I got my treatment and proved millions of right-wing nuts wrong in the process.

A good day, all told.

And as an interesting side note, my doctor knew exactly where I worked based on my address (company housing). Apparently, everyone knows my boss.

In other news, went back to the 銭湯 (sentou, bath-house) with a co-worker yesterday as a little bit of post-work stress relief. fun times, and we got chatted up by a random Japanese lady who wanted to practice a bit of English (but luckily reverted back to Japanese once she discovered we both spoke it.)

So, a tiring week, and a lonely one, but ultimately? Good.

And that's all we can really ask for.

This is Edo, signing off with a long list of things to do today, and insufficient energy to get started.

Friday, September 24, 2010

Too busy for prose. (散文のため忙しすぎ。)

I sometimes wonder if that shouldn't have been the title of my entire blog, after the big ol' move to an adult life.

Perhaps one day.

Until then, though, I will continue on with the struggle to at least pretend as though I will eventually be writing some long, thought-out editorials for your reading pleasure.

Eventually.

Today is again fun-times with bullets and point-and-shoot updates.

...I've never realized how very gun-happy that sort of terminology is. I wonder why.

1) Weather in Matsusaka is crazy.

Yesterday, ridiculously hot. Today, actually quite cold and massively stormy at some points in the morning.

Typhoon stormy, you might say.

Though it wasn't actually a typhoon.

Just very, very wet and very, very loud.

Currently, I am sitting in my room, no air conditioning, with my sweat-shirt on.

Talk about a jump in climate.

2) I love onsen.

But they need to close down later at night.

Because really.

Who can finish their bathing before 8 o'clock?

That's just unreasonable.

3) Drug stores are surprisingly lacking when it comes to actual drugs (and just to clarify, yes I mean medicine).

Who'da thunk.

Also, Japan needs to embrace the caplet and pill forms of medication.

Because trying to choke down powders is simply not something I want to have to deal with at this stage in my life.

Really now.

4) I realized this during the live on Sunday night, but then forgot again in the interim. So it's worth a mention now as well.

I like lynch. a lot more than I thought I did.

Which makes that 800 yen I spent on their phonestrap that much better a purchase.

(... somehow, I think that sentence was off, grammatically.)


... Maybe I'll take a picture of the strap I own one day, as that is truly a tiny picture.

Very difficult to take a picture with your phone of something attached to the bottom of your phone, though. 

Veritable logic puzzle, that one.

(An no, "take it off" is not the answer.)

5) Apparently I am too tired for prose as well.

And thus I bid you farewell and good day.

This is Edo, signing off with a minor crick in her neck and a major crick in her brain.

Wednesday, September 22, 2010

An exciting kind of weekend. (興奮させる週末やん。)

Which is why my updating schedule got all out of whack.

Again.

But that's not what we're talking about here.

What we're talking about is the fact that I had a fantastic weekend with Melon, surprisingly right here in good ol' Matsusaka (and a little bit in Tsu, admittedly.)

Which admittedly made going back to work today all the more painful, but what are you going to do. That's just the way the world works when you're a contributing member of society.

Anyway.

Bullet form (somewhat), just because I'm lazy.

1) Melon arrived on Saturday night, and we got ourselves some Hakata-style ramen.

Admittedly, not the best Hakata-style ramen, but after you've have 一風堂 (ippuudou), there's just no going back.

Good enough, anyway.

We then went home, and watched late night Japanese television on the brand-spanking new (to me anyway) TV that is now in my room.

(Thank you, boss.)

I really love late-night Japanese TV.

2) Sunday was a busy day.

We were supposed to go to the post office to send in my JLPT registration, head over to work to show Melon my day-to-day life, to Honeys to pick up a shirt I had ordered, then out to lunch, all before coming home, getting all rock-oshare'd up and heading out to the live.

The post office being closed kinda threw a hitch in that plan.

Admittedly, I guess most post offices are closed on the weekends, but having had access to the mondo Kyoto-eki post office for so long... I guess I got a little spoiled.

The rest of the afternoon went off fairly well, though, even though we should have hit another hitch--we showed up at the Italian restaurant I had picked just after they had "closed" for dinner preparations. Luckily, the owner was feeling kind, and let us come in and eat.

We then went home to get ready for our rockin' evening.



And rock did it ever.

Despite the early start (4:30 open and 5:00 start? What, did you have to make it home for your bed time, guys?), both bands put on excellent performances--even though I went in thinking that I would greatly prefer DEATHGAZE (who unfortunately only got half an hour on stage), lynch. was excellent live, and I thoroughly enjoyed both acts.

I am currently suffering from headbangers-neck, which is truly the sign of an evening well spent.


I wanted to buy a cell-phone strap from both bands, but unfortunately DEATHGAZE had priced theirs out of my humble range.

My ticket stub went into their bucket at the beginning (indicating why I had come that evening), so I think that makes up for it, really.

3) Monday was also a busy day.

After wondering what to do, I ultimately decided that we needed to go and see BECK, since the nearby theater (Tsu is nearby, when it comes to movies) was having their customer appreciation day, discounting tickets by almost half.

And we'll take any excuse to see a bit of Mizushima Hiro action, admittedly. 


And it was actually quite a good movie, which I am very happy to have seen in theatres.

...aaand if this were a movie post I would summarize it for you.

But it's not, so I won't.

Maybe some other time.

Anyway. As we had to drive to Tsu, and as it was quite a long movie, that took up most of our daylight.

But that's all right.

Because our last bit of excitement did not require daylight.

That's right.

温泉 (onsen, hot spring) time.

Or really, more like 銭湯 (sentou, public bath) time, but it was good all the same.

And ridiculously cheap.

An excellent way to end a weekend.

Because I've told you before.

There is nothing better than naked time.

Especially naked time with your best friend at the close of an excellent weekend.

...admittedly more late night television was pretty good too.

But it was really all about the naked time.

...so much so, in fact, that I am tempted to go back myself this Friday after work.

Because damn. I'm already tired.

Ahem.

All in all, excellent, excellent times this weekend, and certainly enough to make me think longingly and nostalgically of only 36 hours ago.

... can you use nostalgically that way?

This is Edo, signing off feeling nostalgic no matter what you say.

Saturday, September 18, 2010

No more news? (もうニュースない?)

You see, that's the problem with a big update like the one I made last time.

...you are conspicuously short on things to say the next post around.

So you're going to get (a) a rehash and (b) more cooking.

...because when you work a full day, cooking takes up a lot of your free time, I must say.

First, the rehash.

1. Melon is coming tomorrow.

As expected, I am happy happy happy.

And it will certainly make a full work day seem much easier.

Looking forward to something always does, have you noticed?

2. lynch./DEATHGAZE live at M'AXA

Because how awesome is that, really.

I mean.

In Matsusaka.

A hard rock/V-kei/metal live.

Which just happens to be taking place when my best friend is visiting.

Talk about your amazing happenstances.

Not to mention the fact that I got two tickets at least a month after they first went on sale.

Clearly, we were meant to go to this concert.

...you know, I say that, but every time I start trying to believe in fate, it juts backfires.

So.

We were lucky and therefore get to go to an awesome concert.

There we go.

3. The weather is awesome lately.

Seriously.

It will probably get hot again tomorrow, though.

Sigh indeed.

(Can you tell that I'm trying to space this entry out...?)

4. I made potato pancakes!

Of a sort, anyway.

I love left over mashed potatoes; they're so useful.


Who knew that all you needed to add was an egg to make delicious perfection?

...ok, and salt and pepper, but that's a given.

This is, of course, the second batch--first batches are always icky looking, you know. They were in my stomach long before cameras were ever brought into the picture.

The addition of the egg gave them a sort of scrambled-egg-and-hash-brown taste, which was quite satisfying, I must admit. I definitely recommend these to anyone with some mashed potatoes on hand. Delicious.

Sauteing them in butter helps, I imagine.

... and, yes.

I told you I was short on things to talk about today.

This is Edo, signing out incredibly excited for her weekend and now craving some more potato pancakes... curses.

Thursday, September 16, 2010

How about cooking, then? (料理はどうや?)

Well, I originally intended to make today's post another weather-centric, super-interesting climactic-spectacular...

But then something else came up.

As of this weekend, I just realized, I have been in Japan for a month.

My, how the time does fly!

...no, that's not the "something else," but it deserved mention nonetheless.

The "something else" is, as you may have guessed, another adventure in Japanese cuisine!

... and of course, by Japanese cuisine, I mean cuisine Edo makes while living, breathing and shopping in Japan, not cuisine that has any particular Japanese slant or flavor.

Sometimes it does.

Just not tonight.

BUT FIRST.

There really was some interesting weather, all right?

As mentioned last time, today (Wednesday) was cool and overcast. So cool and overcast, in fact, that I made a point of opening every single window within my reach (yes, even my porch windows--I found the screens!) so as to save energy and get all that outdoorsy goodness working for me.

And then, wonder of wonders, it began to rain!

How cool is that.

...ok, for a desert girl like myself, it's pretty cool.

It doesn't rain in September, unless there's some late monsoon storm that got lost on its way to the Pacific.

So, now the windows were open not only for the cool, but for the glorious, glorious scent of rain.

...my laundry has probably suffered for this. I'm not sure, but I suppose I will find out one way or the other.

Anyway. Moving on.

I have had a nice chunk of beef (what sort of beef? absolutely no idea, that's what sort of beef) sitting in my freezer for a while now; I had intended to make it this past weekend, as some of you may know, but was foiled once again (the last time was with chicken for omuraisu) by my inability to remember to take things out to thaw the night before I want to actually cook them.

Last night, ah ha! I remembered.

And thus, today was beef day.

I also had a bag of small potatoes (new potatoes? yukon potatoes? who knows) sitting around getting old, so I thought to make it an all-american experience and whip up some mashed potatoes to go with my beef.

I wanted to make caramelized shallot mashed potatoes, but unfortunately, was stuck with garlic, as the supermarket I popped into today had nothing even resembling shallots, and as we all know, onions aren't the same.

...they aren't. I'm serious here.

There was asparagus though, albeit less-than-fresh-looking asparagus, so I got some of that to round off my meal.

So, later on, I set my potatoes (peeled, of course) to boil with a few cloves of garlic along with. I halved my asparagus, foolishly discounted the whole "tough ends" theory and did not peel them, popped them into a bowl with some butter, lemon, salt and pepper, covered them up and microwaved them for a bit. Sliced my beef, and pan-seared it in butter with salt and pepper.

What I'm not telling you is that my timing was such that the asparagus was done a good few minutes before everything else, so I am guilty of snacking on it during the rest of the cooking. Oops.

I also popped a few leftover rolls in the toaster, just to make things really American.

After my beef was done, my potatoes were just about ready to mash. I then had a brain wave, and took a ladel of the boiling potato water, dumped it into the beef pan, pulled up all the beefy-buttery goodness, and dumped it back in with the potatoes. Beefy-garlic potatoes! What an idea!

... might have been better if I had actually cooked the potatoes in this beefy mixture for more than a few moments at the end, because I honestly could not taste the difference.

Did clean the pan up pretty well, though.

Finding no potato masher in the kitchen, I improvised using that same ladel, mashing up my taters with some whole milk, butter, salt and pepper. Scooped some out onto a plate with my asparagus and beef, and voila, a dinner fit for a king:


I'm telling you, even though it was a bit over-cooked for my tastes (easily remedied next time), lemon butter asparagus is truly one of the finer inventions of man.

I will be less dubious next time and peel the bottoms, though. I wound up gnawing a few bits, omnivorous teeth sans canines not really working for me. (Curse you, pediatric dentist!)

I now have something like two meals of potatoes left over, and at least one meal of beef (which tasted somewhat like steak, if a bit tougher.) Talk about the meal that just keeps giving!

The bag of potatoes was... oh, maybe 128 yen, the beef was 304 yen, and the two bunches of asparagus were probably 200 yen together.

Not bad, eh?

I really do need to find a better way to make garlic mashed potatoes, though. Perhaps mashing the garlic up with the potatoes instead of taking it out beforehand? Hm.

Admittedly, I also should have been using cream, but my hips are wide enough as it is, thank you much.

Also, I honestly think that I haven't eaten beef since leaving America-land. It just isn't the meat of choice over here. And, of course, my stomach has already adjusted to that sort of beef-free diet. Moments after swallowing my tasty, tasty protein, I could feel the danger ahead and immediately went for the tums.

Sometimes I really just think that my stomach makes things up to suit itself.

In other exciting news!

Melon is coming to visit this weekend, arriving Saturday night and going back to Kyoto (lucky girl) on Tuesday morning.

At first, I worried that my humble inaka town would bore her.

And then, after the tiniest bit of searching, I found this (I've hyperlinked the date to the venue's website):


lynch. オープニングサポート;DEATHGAZE
lynch lynch.

オープニングサポート;
DEATHGAZE 
16:30open/17:00start
◆前売り¥3,500
 drink=¥500

※入場は整理番号順となります。
※未就学児童入場不可。
8月14日(土)より一般発売開始!
チケットぴあ:0570-02-9999(P:114-109)
イープラス:http://eplus.jp
ローソンチケット:0570-084-004(L:45682)

Hello, hard rock concert (or, hard rock live, as we say around here) right in my back yard!

What are the odds.

And, after a bit of checking, I have discovered that I like both of these bands.

And even though today is one month after the on-sale date...

I managed to snag us some tickets.

Which apparently were either the last ones, or at least some of the last ones.

Good timing? Yes, I think so.

A fun weekend? Oh, indeed. You can't go wrong with a hard rock concert, I always say.

So really. Productive day off?

I think so.

This is Edo, signing off full of beef, potatoes, and hope for the future.

...goodness, that got silly all of a sudden, didn't it?

Tuesday, September 14, 2010

Weather is interesting, ok? (天気っておもろいやろう?)

It is when you've been gradually melting for the past month or so due to absolutely ridiculous humidity levels, let me tell you.

So, when I woke up this morning to find a cool breeze blowing, I was absolutely beside myself, and set upon flinging open every window in the house that was under my power to do so.

...imagine how disappointed I was when I found out that none of my porch windows have screens.

I mean, sure, with the wind, it's less likely that bugs are going to manage to creep their way into my humble abode, but considering how often they manage to find their ways in without me opening the door for them, I'm not going to go making it easy.

Even though I am feeling guilty about having my AC on when I don't need to.

It's the fault of the bugs! The bugs, I say!

The fact that the forecast for tomorrows is a cool, cloudy 28 degrees had me absolutely giddy with anti-humidity joy.

You see, we desert kids don't mind the heat (actually enjoy it, to a certain extent), but we are not at all cool with this thing you call humidity.

Doesn't suit us, not one bit.

So. Because coolness necessarily predicates a decline in the humidity percentage, you are looking at one happy little gaijin.

...although the fact that it's still 74% here while 5% at home does give me pause. Sigh.

Cooler than Kyoto, however, which gives me a sort of satisfaction. Bitter, perhaps, but something.

... I wonder sometimes if I should switch my Google forecast over to Celsius, to truly get into the spirit of things.

But then I remember that I really only vaguely understand Celsius still, and really shouldn't be quite so ambitious with my adaptation regime.

Anyway, all this talk about weather has inspired me to put a little weather doo-hickey over there on the side of my blog, so now you can see what the weather is like in my little corner of the world all the time!

Isn't it exciting?

...ok, it is for my mom and grandma, all right?

...unfortunately, I am so far into the boonies, even according to Japan, that all we get is a basic idea of the weather where I am. The top-right area is probably as close as you're going to get; even my phone only believes that Tsu exists in my vicinity. Sigh.

In other exciting news, I plan on applying for the JLPT (N1, of course) tomorrow, thereby blowing a good chunk of money for something I probably won't even pass just for practice.



...this is how much I love this language, guys.

Oh, well. Off to get ready for another day of work, and then a day off tomorrow! Huzzah!

There is something to be said about going into work on Monday; having the week broken up is sort of nice.

And I am something of a loner, so being in the office all by myself ain't half bad either.

This is Edo, signing off and hoping that this cool weather indicates something of a trend.

Sunday, September 12, 2010

Nothing like a trip to the salon. (美容院に行くより、何もない。)

Well, you know what they say about how a new hair-cut can give you a major confidence boost?

I have now amended that saying.

Instead, it should be:

A trip to a Japanese salon can make your entire day amazing, spectacular, and downright stupendous.

Also, it can make you really giddily happy, even when you're technically lost in the wilderness of Mie with only a vague idea of where you should be going.

And to think I went into all this so nervous I was actually shaking in my seat.

So.

Woke up this morning (a little late, I admit) and got ready for my day. Had some coffee, washed my face, surfed the internet, you know the drill.

Left the house around 11:50 for my 12:00 appointment. Because, literally, the place is five minutes away, and I didn't want to be that annoying customer who gets there way too early and bothers everyone by sitting and staring awkwardly.

...however, when I ran into traffic on the way (what the hell, Matusaka), I began to worry about being that annoying customer who gets there late and throws everyone's schedule off all day long.

Luckily, I got there in time, as my propensity for being everywhere early won out--my extra five minutes turned out to be the perfect amount of time, traffic and all.


I walked in, wielding the picture of my haircut and getting nervous because I am something of a chicken. Was greeted, of course, by a solid round of いらっしゃいませ's and walked up to the counter to tell the man that I had an appointment. Of course, at twelve, he replied, and offered to take my bag.

Really, so far, the only one freaking out about me being a gaijin was, well, me.



Which was why when they gave me a name card to fill out with my address, I was shaking quite badly and couldn't remember the kanji for 町. (Yea, that's pretty bad.) Stupidly couldn't remember 松阪 either, although that's been happening consistently since I've arrived, so no big surprise. I did remember 三重県,  外五曲 and the first half of 前沖, luckily, although the ultimate fail was when I couldn't remember my house number. When T-san, my stylist, asked what was wrong, I had to inform him of this, and he said that it was all right. I suppose I'll fix it next time.

Luckily, that did not injure my image in his eyes too badly.

How do I know this?

Because, as I mentioned, I had marked the "I want to have a good time with my stylist" (loosely translated) button on the reservation page, and goodness me, T-san believed me and launched right in, getting into this that and the other thing after we had discussed my desired style in great detail. (There was a bit of concern about the length; my hair was so long as to make him worry a little that I didn't know what I was getting into with the cut I wanted. I think he got over that when I told him I hadn't had a cut in about three months though.)

And the best part? It was not at all your typical gaijin-Japanese person talk. We had a surprisingly deep conversation, touching on topics such as foreigner politics in Japan, gun laws in America, and the acceptance of outsiders in our respective cultures (to name a few.) We even commented on how "deep" our conversation was getting; I told him to let me know if I started bothering him, but he insisted it was fine.

We had some light talk as well, mainly about how Japanese and American tastes are different, comparing Japanese and American women, and then, of course, getting into what we each thought about Japanese vs. American aesthetics.

There was also some commentary (positive) on my personal appearance, but I don't like to brag.

By the end, we had built up quite a camaraderie (though one or two of my jokes fell rather flat, as I really need to learn that English sarcasm just does not translate at all) and were calling each other by our nicknames (which we had both asked for early on.)

And honestly, it was so nice to be treated like a regular person with deep thoughts. (I mentioned that we talked about treatment of foreigners in Japan, right? I love talking about that, and I loved even more that he was willing to discuss it with me at length.) Admittedly, it might have been all that service-industry-kindness doing the work, but at the same time, he didn't have to be so chatty. It wasn't always me bringing up new points of conversation, after all.

Needless to say, I left completely and totally thrilled with the experience.

I especially like that T-san and the receptionist who handled my bill came out and watched until I left. This happens at bars too, but I don't know where else. Regardless, a very nice extra little touch that may be completely fabricated, but feels nice regardless.

Not to mention that now I have my point/members card, and will get 20% off next time I go. Ah ha HA.

...I need to figure out if it's within 6 weeks or after 6 weeks, though. Probably within.

Anyway, I decided to try and find a used clothes store shop on the way home that I had looked up earlier, and thus took a strange road home.

And got lost.

But hey, I was in a good mood, so I just kept driving and turning when I thought it might be appropriate, and eventually got back onto the road that takes me to work. I then drove into work, turned around, and went back to the supermarket which was supposed to be my landmark for the used clothing shop.

Then I missed my turn.

Good thing I was in such a good mood, eh?

I pulled into the supermarket, pulled back out and went back, making the turn I had meant to, and heading towards the "Advance Mall."

Which really isn't Advanced.

And although I never found the used clothing shop, I did find Honeys, which is one of the shops that has (a) clothes I like and (b) clothes that fit me more often than not.

So of course I wandered in.

And found a sale.

And after I picked up something like five items, a shop-keeper came over and offered me a basket.

And started chatting me up. (In a shop-keeper way, not a hitting on way.)

She asked how long I had been there, commented on how good my Japanese was, etc. etc. Eventually I got around to asking her where I could find a shirt I wanted that I had seen on the website, but could not find in the shop. After a lot of confusion about which shirt it was, she finally understood and ran off to get it for me. Unfortunately, they had neither my color or size, but she quickly offered to order it in from another shop, no charge and no problem if I didn't like it.

Win.

I tried on the clothes I had, and wound up liking three items, though I had limited myself to two. I took everything up to the counter, and asked for two of the items, and then if they thought that the third would be around in a month. Winning once again at shopkeeper awesomeness, they said they would hold the third shirt for me.

Yes.

So I walked out with a skirt and shirt, and a shirt (now discounted unexpectedly) on the way, along with a ridiculously good chat boosting my mood.

Not to mention the left-over happiness from my haircut and T-san.

So. What do I have to say about my one day off this weekend?

Absolutely. Positively. Massively. Well spent.

Oh, yes.

This is Edo, signing off quite happy with life and feeling much warmer in general towards Matsusaka as a whole.

Friday, September 10, 2010

The real world is time-consuming. (本物の人生って、時間かかるで。)

Once again, I find myself posting late at night right before bed, rushing to get something out because I just know that I won't be in the mood for writing tomorrow morning before rushing off to work at 9-something in the am.

Early days are bad for blogging, dear readers.

I suppose if I regularly worked "early days," that would not be the case, but when you get set up on a certain schedule, those early days (no matter how regular they may be) always through you for a loop.

Luckily, I was smart and made myself some good bento-material today that had left-overs.

Kinpira Gobo? Good stuff. I recommend. Not particularly pretty though, so no picture for you.

(...yea, sure, that's why there's no picture.)

Even if I didn't use mirin... due to the fact that each of the three bottles of mirin scattered around my kitchen was expired to the umpteenth degree.

Apparently, the former inhabitants of my humble abode had the best mirin-centric intentions, and yet... no real follow through.

That's ok, though. Still tasted quite good, to my thinking. Can't go wrong with sesame oil.

(I also didn't use chili flakes, but hey. I considered using my shichimi, but didn't know if it would be an ok substitution to make, and in the end it tasted just fine without any spice addition, so I left well enough alone.)

In other news, I had my hair appointment confirmed!

Sunday afternoon, オシャレイケメン haircut paradise baby.

...

Good lord, that doesn't sound silly and shallow at all.

I shall blame it on the late hour and use it as an excuse to take my leave.

This is Edo, signing off and thinking that "burdock root" sounds a lot more intimidating than gobo.

EDIT- Ah, Melon's post reminded me... I did tell you that I wound up getting this guy, correct?



Ah, the Urbano Barone. ...Let's just say that I miss my old phone dearly.

Heck, I still use it as my alarm clock, because for some reason, the Urbano doesn't like to let you use regular ring tones to gently soothe you into consciousness every morning. No, it insists on buzzing and beeping.

How utterly crass.

But I still say that making me pay something around one thousand extra a month just for the privilege of using a phone I already owned is more than a little ridiculous.

If only I had some mad phone hacking skills...

Wednesday, September 8, 2010

Life, she goes on. (人生は続くんや。)

The first day of the work week is always the toughest. Have to gear yourself back up into "productive member of society" mode, and realize that sitting around in front of your computer all day simply is not going to happen.

... which is not to say I sat around in front of my computer all weekend. I got many an errand done, some of which have been recounted here for your reading pleasure. But still. It's the possibility of being a lazy bum that's so attractive to my horribly exhausted mind.

...and I'm not even exhausted, really. I just like sleeping. Or something.

Though I still am tired rather a lot.

...admittedly, that may be my Hashimoto's kicking in again. Oh, inherited thyroid conditions. What fun.

As more evidence of how absolutely fail-tastic my earthly form is, I was nearly incapacitated earlier today (oh, who am I kidding, I'm writing this bit after the post date, even) by a migraine. Luckily, I have absolutely amazing co-workers, and since the pain was worst during my two-hour prep time, I pulled myself together in time for my last four classes of the day (the first of which was graciously switched from a rambunctious group to a quiet single kid, thanks to my beautifully amazing head teacher.)

So, bad for my head, excellent for my work morale and feelings towards my co-workers.

And here I never thought I was a silver lining type of gal.

...Speaking of which, it started raining while I was hunched up in my chair with an ice pack pressed to my forehead. So that was quite lovely.

Theoretically, it's supposed to continue with the rainy theme today, due to a naughty typhoon whose course has changed dramatically. After so long of this heat... one can only hope. The rain was gloriously cool yesterday, even if it didn't last more than twenty minutes.

In other news, Melon is now in Japan (hooray!) and is the main cause of me not getting this post out on time, so you know who to cry to if you have your panties in a twist about scheduling.

...you know I say that, but really, I wasn't actually coming home last night with any bright ideas to finish this post up as it was, so. Ahem.

I have made an appointment to get my hair cut at a local place... which is apparently staffed entirely by オシャレ young men (ok, and one オシャレ young lady.) My original goal was to wait and go back to Kyoto for all my hair-cutting-needs, but a combination of ridiculously long and unkempt hair (my bangs are getting a little silly, and I'm sick of putting it up every day for work) and my discovery of this very Kyoto-esque place right in my back yard (truly, it's about seven minutes away)... well, let's just say that travel-three-hours-for-my-hair idea is getting put on hold.



Which is not, of course, to say I won't do it; during my search for a local hair salon, I also found out that the stylist I went to at my salon in Kyoto is still there, so of course I am eager to go back, say hi, and see if he remembers my crazy gaijin self who always started freaking out when he put the dye in my hair.

...although the service at that place is so good that even if he has no clue who I am, he will make sure that I think he remembers everything about me.

I do hope that my experience in Matsusaka is similar.

...then again, at present, I hope the reservation goes through.

I made it online, which is something of a first for me, and through a third-party site at that, which personally informed me that there's no guarantee of me actually getting the appointment that I requested, and that I have to wait now for the salon itself to contact me and confirm.

What a nerve-wracking way to set up a hair-cut.

Really, I probably should have just been a big girl and called them up myself, but... well. (a) I'm a coward and (b) I'm still sort of iffy with my Japanese phone skills. You non-language learner types, think for a minute--consider how hard it is occasionally to understand the person on the other line when he's speaking your language. Now put that into another language, with seriously jacked up polite speech and the possibility of confusion over your freaking name.

...ok, really, that last bit has never happened to me, but I cannot help but feel that there would be trouble when they asked for my name for their records and I wasn't there to just write it down.

And then again, everything might just be hunky-dory and I would leave the conversation feeling good about myself and my conversational skills.

...if I go back, I'll call, ok?

Geez.

Talk about pressure.

This is Edo, signing off and hoping she actually has a hair appointment for this Sunday.

Monday, September 6, 2010

Oh JUSCO, where would we be without you. (JUSCOがないと、どうするのかな。)

So, everyone who has ever been to Japan for more than a quick little touristy-tour has heard of JUSCO.

Anyone who has ever lived remotely far away from a big metropolis in Japan has been to JUSCO.

Anyone who has ever lived in the boonies of Japan relies on JUSCO as their one source of food, entertainment and socialization.

Yea. JUSCO.


Think American shopping mall meets Japanese shopping arcade meets.... everything your average boonies-prefecture-citizen could possibly need to get about their daily lives, and you have JUSCO.

Actually, you have AEON... but JUSCO is the important part here. I'm not getting into umbrella corporations and Japanese corporate life in my blog, all right?

Basically... clothes, groceries, lunch, drugstore...goods, everything you need, JUSCO is your one-stop shop.

And today I went and found the closest one and had an afternoon.

Seriously. Three+ hours, just in JUSCO. And I was making myself leave at the end, simply because it was pushing the end of daylight hours and... uh, well. I don't know why that's a valid reason to quit shopping, but it worked.

It may also have been because I am one cheap motor scooter, and desperately wanted to stop myself from spending money.

Which I didn't really do all that much of...

Anyway. I wanted to get some more floofy skirts, as they are the coolest thing to wear this time of year and I only have one.

Guess what I didn't buy.

Through no fault of my own, I might add; the only one I saw and liked was white, and I know better than to wear white clothes. ESPECIALLY white bottoms; that's just asking for problems when you're as spill-prone as I am.

Anyway. Was I discouraged by my lack of skirt-finding skills?

NO. NO I WAS NOT.

Instead I bought three pairs of socks (which I actually desperately needed), some very cheap undergarments that made me smile more than anything, a super-comfortable and very soft sweater-cardigan-thing that can be used for work or casual looks later in the year, two tupperware containers (which I also desperately neeed), a basket of snacks (which I.... did not desperately need, but toast is not a snack, despite my treating it as such) and two small croquettes to take home and snack on in the car.

A good day for staying within a single building, wouldn't you say?

On a side note: while shopping, especially in the grocery store downstairs, I was once again baffled by how young (or how young-looking) people marry and breed around here... Though I suppose that more than anything demonstrates my big-city mindset. Or my marriage-and-kids-not-so-much mindset. Or my goddamnit-I'm-still-single mindset. Or something.

But hey. That aside, a good day of shopping is... a good day of shopping.

One day, maybe I'll actually stop being so cheap and start to enjoy buying things properly!

...but probably not.

Oh, and you now what's great about the boonies?

After the initial shock of it (which some people even manage to completely ignore or hide well), people are very willing to believe that I speak Japanese and can understand what they're telling me to do. Thus, I get friendly service in the clothing stores, and am generally treated like you average human being.

...admittedly, most clothing stores are this way if you look to be in a buying mood. The good ones are, anyway.

Regardless, it's very nice not to be gawked at so often, and even nice to be treated the same as everyone else.

...damn, this is turning into a gaijin rant again. I'll stop, I'll stop!

...I'm probably going to make omuraisu for dinner again. Is that a bad thing?

This is Edo, signing off and wishing that her cheap potato chips didn't taste quite so cheap.

EDIT- Ah ha! Dinner was not omuraisu, it was this:



Which I made partially using the recipe here and partially using my own memories of a similar dish I made back home one Saturday afternoon.

Hence my addition of lemon juice at the end, and the cut little dump-the-peel-in-too trick that I've seen done on countless Italian cooking shows.

I left out the pine nuts and parsley because, well... (a) I was working with what I had and (b) I live in Japan on a budget, thank you very much.

I would splurge if it wasn't my basic meal-for-me-myself-and-I kinda situation; guests get fancy foods, I get what I need. 

Also, if you're thinking of trying the recipe, I would recommend basil instead of parsley, myself, as that's what I used on that Saturday, so long ago. Parsley seems a little strange, honestly... and then there's the fact that I don't much care for it to factor in, ah ha.

(... I probably should admit at this point that I only made pasta because I had foolishly forgotten to take the chicken out of the freezer for my omuraisu. As I have remedied that situation, my meal plans will be back on schedule tomorrow. Ah ha. Foiled by frozen fowl. Whoda thunk.)

...my hands smell yummy.

Saturday, September 4, 2010

Thank you, COSMOS! (COSMOS, ありがとうよ!)

Seriously. That super-market is a wonder among wonders.

Not only did it provide my absolutely spectacular and inspiring lunch today, it also let me know that there are young and attractive men wandering the streets of Matsusaka.

...admittedly, they may all be married with children.

At the same time, though, it's a good thought to have.

Also, another man who appeared to be young and attractive through two layers of tinted windows turned to watch me go by on the drive home, so that's nice.

...admittedly, it may have been more "oh god gaijin!" than "check out that babe!," but I like to think that with my black hair and sunglasses, it's rather difficult to tell my race when I'm driving.... ergo, I can trick myself into believing the latter with a very reasonable amount of persuasion.

And although I write after my trip on Thursday, this will be my Saturday post. Because I can do that, and goodness gracious when I can write a post so far in advance, why not!

Anyway, as you may have guessed by the tags, I've decided to share my amazing lunch with you. Because, along with being simple, delicious and (I think) healthy, it is a dish you can make easily in either Japan OR America-land! How cool is that.

Edo's Spectacular Tuna Salad

Software:
Green-Leaf Lettuce
Balsamic Vinegar
Olive Oil
Canned Tuna (one small/medium can)
Black Olives
Lemon Juice

Hardware:
Salad Bowl
Small Bowl (for mixing dressing)
Fork (for eating and tossing; save dishes!)
Spoon
Notice how I didn't put any amounts up there, aside from the tuna. That's really because this is another one of those "taste" recipes. You need to either (a) experiment, (b) taste test, or (c) have a really good idea of how much of each of these flavors you generally like in a dish.

...look, I said it was simple, not that it was necessarily easy.

Tear up enough lettuce to either fill your salad bowl, or make what you think will be enough to fill you up for the meal ahead. You want a good amount, as it's sort of the only vegetable going into this salad, oddly enough.

Drain your tuna (I used the kind packed in oil, but water is fine too) and fork it on top of your lettuce, trying to separate it as much as possible.

If you, like me, love the flavor of balsamic, put equal amounts of balsamic and olive oil into your dressing bowl (I used about a teaspoon each) and mix well to get something of an emulsion going on. Don't worry if it's not too uniform; it will still taste just fine. Pour your dressing on top of your lettuce and tuna, and toss well to coat.

Slice up your olives, and toss a handful or so on; this is really up to you, and you can even leave them out if you, like my mom, are just not that into olives. You could also try adding capers, but man, capers are expensive, and I'm saving them for pasta.

Finally, after that's all tossed together, squeeze some lemon juice on top; I used half a lemon's worth, but I really like lemon. Of course, you can use the kind from a bottle, but... you know it just won't be as good.

Toss one more time for good measure.
 And voila! You have Edo's spectacular tuna salad, excellent alongside some nice french bread (which I had, thank you again, Cosmos) for a light lunch. Eat while watching a mid-day Japanese talk show for the full experience.

...a mid-day Japanese talk-show featuring Mizushima Hiro et al, or the cast of BECK.

Which I must see.

Because oh my goodness.


Two posts in a row of fan-tarded-ness... I should probably start cutting back.

This is Edo, signing out with a stomach full of salad and a mind full of beautiful Japanese men.

PS- For those of you interested, I have found something hip and happening to do in Matsusaka! Huzzah!

I... am going out this Saturday evening. All oshare-d up in my own rather punk-ish fashion and ready to dance my hiney off.

Hopefully all my dreams will be fulfilled and this will be the start of my new and exciting social life in Mie!

Wish me luck!

Thursday, September 2, 2010

I'm running out of titles here. (タイトルがなくなってるで。)

I'm always intrigued when there's a linguistic difference between my Japanese and English titles... for example, in today's title, the grammar point is actually quite different and yet at the same time each is the best equivalent (in my mind) of the other.

Just a little thing called localization, baby.

...ok, ok, I'll either start a translation-geeks-anonymous blog or limit these little monologues to three paragraphs maximum, how's that?

...would anyone read that blog, I wonder.

Anyway, you're getting another point-by-point update today, simply because I have found it to be an easier way of telling you all about the amazing adventure that is my life in Mie.

...it's such a shame that you can't see irony on the internet.

(For those of you not in on the joke: there's not a whole lot of amazement or adventure happening in Mie... pretty much ever.)

1- Cosmos is a much better supermarket than either Max Value or my super-cheap place.

That said, it is quite a bit more expensive.

The question is, am I willing to pay more for the sake of wider aisles, more selection, and a better atmosphere in general.

...the answer is probably something along the lines of "yes, but I'll still go to the other two when my lists can be fulfilled within them."

But really, Kyoto spoiled me--I definitely want to do all of my shopping at Cosmos...

Thank goodness I'm horribly cheap, otherwise I'd have very difficult time saving money on my daily groceries.

... although sometimes I wonder if I'm a bit too cheap. I passed up on the balsamic vinegar I wanted yesterday, for example, simply because I "didn't need it right then."

...is that silly or frugal?

2- I need to find fun things to do in Mie.

Really. Because this aching-in-the-heart for Kyoto is sort of distracting.

It wouldn't be so hard if Mie wasn't so stinkin' boondocks-tastic.

I mean really, it's hard to go clubbing or what have you when you have to drive and therefore cannot drink.

And considering the fact that the current highlight of my weekend plans is hitting up the relatively-nearby JUSCO.... yeeaaa.

3- I bought the first three Harry Potter books in Japanese, hard-cover, a paper-back novel, and a special Kimutaku-MR. BRAIN issue of an an all for 750 yen this morning at Book-Off.



Oh, Book-Off. How I have missed you.

Funnily enough, the an an was the most expensive item: 350, whereas everything was was 150 each. I debated paying so much for a used magazine, but...

Then I saw the special Kimutaku photo-shoot.

Oh, yes.

Suffice it to say the issue landed in my basket within milliseconds.

I can't imagine who sold that magazine back, but to whoever did: thank you, thank you, thank you.

...goodness, that wasn't creepy or fan-tarded at all, was it?

4- I found another futon (mattress) in the downstairs closet and have added it to my pile of bedding. Tonight, I predict that I will have the most comfortable evening to date!

... er, when starting on August 12th, that is. Ahem.

5- I listened to some old BUCK-TICK albums on the way to and from Kyoto this weekend, and have found myself absolutely hooked on Mona Lisa Overdrive.



It is good stuff kids, and I definitely recommend it if you haven't yet had a listen.

Really got me pumped up for those two lives, let me tell you.

Oh well, that's enough for one night; some of us had a full day of work you know!

This is Edo, signing off and wondering why she never hears BUCK-TICK at dance clubs.