Tuesday, November 30, 2010

Long time no... yea. (久しぶ。。。ん。)

Once a week is good enough, right? Right?

Hey. This time I actually have a reason.

Last week... I got....

Dun dun DUN.

Sick.

Yea, a boring reason, but a legitimate one nevertheless. Being a teacher apparently (a) wipes out your immune system and (b) exposes you to an entire population of people who don't understand the concept of "wash your hands and don't sneeze in my face please."

The doctor said it was just a strange sort of cold that's going 'round, but I rather think I had the 24-hour flu, and that Japan just doesn't differentiate between the flu and influenza. Not sure why, but there you have it. All I know is that I was achey and miserable, and colds don't tend to get you that way.

Anyway. Happier news.

Razzle Dazzle PART TWO was this weekend! HUZZAH!

Bigger and better than Nara, because everyone loves Kyoto and no one really cares about Nara.

...sad, but true.

And this time... I took pictures

First! The massively massive tour truck that was parked out back!






Ooo, aaah.

This actually helped us make sure that we were in the right spot, since we came from (what seemed to be) the less populated route.

Next, the line to get in!



You must realize that this is actually the second line we stood in--the first was to get tour goods, and Melon and I had the amazingly good fortune to be the last people able to buy merchandise before the booth closed down. Oh, yea.

Again, I was surprised by the number of men in attendance. I suppose that BUCK-TICK's awesomeness defies traditional Japanese concert gender norms. (Have you never noticed that it's mostly women?)

And since I'm a good girl and don't take pictures during the performance, the last one you get is over the truly touching good-bye message that flashed along the top screen after the last encore:


I am so glad I turned back around before we left. If I had missed this, it would have been a horrible, horrible thing.



It is now the standby image on my cell phone. Because I love it. How can you not?

.... I really am rather depressed that it's over now.

BUT! We have tickets to a Tokyo show (why? because) in April, so there remains something to look forward to! The BUCK-TICK love never ends, after all.

And hey, since I left you hanging for so long, have some 京都紅葉 (Kyoto fall colors) to make up for it, eh?


Nothin' better than a little 鴨川 (Kamo River) scenery to round off a good blog post, I always say.

This is Edo, signing off with a tune in her head and never-ending rock in her soul.

PS- They totally played Coyote. With some extra super-awesome Spanish guitar thrown in. How lucky can you get?



Never let it be said that clenching your hands together and muttering "Play Coyote, please play Coyote, come on do it do it do it do it..." as soon as you see the standing bass come out during an encore doesn't work.

Monday, November 22, 2010

Bits and pieces. (バラバラ。)

Just a short post to keep the world apprised in regards to my current life situation.

(Hint: it's kind of boring.)

1. Still studying.

As I've mentioned, it's a whole different kettle of fish, studying when you're working at the same time.

Why hasn't anyone invented the "study for money" job? I could do that.

...the key point being that I don't have to get tenure first. Ahem.

2. It has been brought to my attention that my no-ketchup omuraisu is, in fact, not omuraisu.

I disagree.

Mainly because I hate ketchup.

3. Jusco is still awesome.

I now have a discount sweater and a pair of sweat-like pajamas, for the combined price of under 3000 yen. How cool is that.

Mind, due to my size pride indecisivity, it took me a while to grab those pajamas.

No one likes having to wear an LL, ok. And I wouldn't, it's just that I, understandably, want my lounge-wear to be loose.

4. My frugal inner nature and my desire to purchase many things are more and more at odds lately.

Luckily, the cheapness is winning out so far.

I worry that it's only a matter of time, though.

Although considering how much guilt I still feel upon buying things that I actually legitimately need... maybe not.

And finally, the most disturbing bit of news...

5. I'm missing both home and college a lot more than I ever thought I would.

Oops.

This is Edo, signing off with some legitimate-yet-ketchup-free omuraisu in her very near future. Yum yum.

Wednesday, November 17, 2010

I am not dead yet! (まだ死んでないで!)

That brings my total Monty Python reference count up to... two, I think.

Anyway.

Still studying, still busy, but I thought I would do something to reassure the public about my well-being.

Ahem.

I am ok.

...

I could be  pill and leave it there, but here's a bit of something to make this post worthwhile.

I have discovered, in my efforts to both manage my time and money, a very convenient vegetable to pack inside a bento. Healthy and quick, I can have this baby ready in about two minutes flat, freezer to lunchbox.

Of course, I speak of green beans, or インゲン.


Of course, you can do all sorts of things to make these tasty little suckers non-economical--buy them fresh, for example--but we won't be talking about that sort of nonsense here.

Oh no, this is strictly for those of you who want quick, easy and cheap.

And who doesn't want that when they're making a lunch/dinner/thing right before work, really?

Anyway.

Buy yourself a bag of frozen green beans. I prefer whole, but you can get French cut if you'd like. I'm sure it doesn't change much besides the cooking time (I would try a bit less, for instance.)

Take out a serving size, and then put the rest into a plastic, freezer-safe baggie. I got three servings out of the last bag of green beans I bought (though I was eating them as a small side dish) so try to work with that guesstimate. You can take as many as you want out of the baggie later, close it up and save the rest so long as you don't let them thaw, so you don't have to do all your portioning ahead of time.

Now, if you have a nice glass dish with a lid, you can use that as your cooking vessel. If, however, you are like me, and prefer the simple and cost-effective route... go for two plates, one with something of an indentation if you can get it. 



This sort of depth will work, though if you can get deeper, I would recommend it. The top one should be a similar shape, so that when you put them together like a clam-shell, you have a nice space in between for your green beans.

Now, place your green beans on your designated bottom dish. As they are frozen, they should have some ice on them--this will work as your steaming "liquid." Cover them up with the desginated top dish, and carefully place them inside your microwave, or 電子レンジ.

Yea, that's right kids. We're cooking with microwaves. We have truly crossed into the realm of convenience and speed.

I usually put a good handful of frozen, whole green beans in for two minutes (I think on high, though I admit I've never confirmed that.) You might want to put in French cut for 1:30 and then check them. Heck, depending on the strength of your microwave, you might want to put whole beans in for 1:30 and check them, just to be safe--its always best to get to know your microwave before you begin to trust it.

After you have decided that your beans are done enough for your taste (how do you know? eat one, for goodness sake), remove the top plate and add your desired toppings. I usually stick with plain old table salt--tasty and easy. Healthy, maybe not, but certainly no extra calories!

I usually pop these into my bento right out of he microwave, then into the fridge--you can eat them cold, room temperature, or warmed up (again in the microwave).

And there you have it: Edo's Super-Easy, Super-Convenient Recipe for Frozen Green Beans.Try it at home, and be amazed!

... or just be satisfied with the fact that you got a serving of vegetables for cheap, and in under three minutes of prep time. 

... yea. Maybe we'll stick with that second one.

This is Edo, signing off thinking that she needs to work on her marketing skills before writing any cookbooks.

Friday, November 12, 2010

Why Edo hasn't been posting lately. (ポストが最近少なくなってるっての原因。)

Because her fingers are frozen to the keyboard.

Ok, ok, so that one's not technically true, but sometimes (like now) for instance, it certainly does feel that way.

How on earth did I ever survive a Kyoto winter, I ask you.

... admittedly, I did bitch and whine the whole time there, too.

Ahem.

Anyway, no. The real reason my posts have been dwindling in number more and more:


That's right. The dreaded 日本語能力試験一級, or Japanese Language Proficiency Test, Level 1.

Or, well, N1 now. If you want to be all fancy.

And you should, because technically it's more difficult than regular old 一級...

Which already stumped Japanese people, on occasion.

Grraah.

All my free time now is spent either studying, or taking a break from studying.

Needless to say, blogging does not provide sufficient stress relief to be that break.

...

Right.

Definitely.

A lot of studying.

... a lot now that I don't do it for a living, anyway.

... it's a very different lifestyle.

Ahem.

Anyway. That's it, in a nutshell. Know, at least, that I am not posting because I am attempting to, in some way, better myself.

Or at least my grammatical and kanji...tical self. Not quite sure how the JLPT translates into real-world value, actually, but I suppose that's just the bonus at the end anyway.

This is Edo, signing off trying to maintain all that is academic and studious in her soul.

Monday, November 8, 2010

An epic battle. (勇壮な戦闘。)

Or, how Edo fights off a cold in rural not-so-urban Japan.

It's pretty epic from my end of things, I'll have you know.

I'm rather hoping that I'm not a special case, which would thus render this post's purpose as a sort of guide to my fellow expats rather useless...

But we'll just assume, for the sake of argument and today's topic, that I am as normal as it gets when we're talking about physical health and move on from there.

(... even though based on all evidence we know that that cannot possibly be true.)

It's pretty basic advice, anyway, so let's just go with it, eh?

1) Cheat Vitamins

Take as many vitamins as you can safely get down your gullet in a go.

I mean it. Multi-vitamins, Zinc supplements, acidophilius, calcium, vitamin D... you name it I take it.

... admittedly, I am more paranoid than your average citizen, and the vitamin D is actually for my thyroid issues, but hey.

I say "cheat" because I have most of these vitamins shipped to me from back home. I only take Japanese-made zinc supplements... because quite frankly they're only to fight off this cold and my multi-vitamin has me covered normally. However, even this one concession to the native pharmaceutical industry has me wary--my American multi-vitamin has 15mg of zinc, and calls that my 100% daily requirement. My Japanese zinc supplement has 14mg, and calls it 200%.

.... right.

Since it's on top of my multi-vitamin, I don't worry so much, but at the same time... someone's being misinformed here.

2) Eat.

If you're on a diet stop it. If you have no appetite, tough luck. You need food, and lots of it.

Good food, preferably, with lots of tasty protein.

Because I don't care how fat you whine about being, if you spend your illness starving yourself, I'm going to have a hard time feeling sorry for you when it takes you a month to get over that cold.

It's embarrassing how many people do this. It's even more embarrassing that a lot of them are women. I  blame the media.

Oh, and, of course, general stupidity. That's always a factor. Because, holy crap. Use your brain.

3) Drink.

Preferably water, or sports drinks of some kind. I have drunk lemon-lime gatorade when sick since very young, and so may be biased, but you do need to replace them electrolytes when you're feeling crummy. I prefer Lemon Water or Vitamin Water when in Japan, as Gatorade is not readily available, and being forced to drink Pocari Sweat and Aquarius non-stop during my bout with influenza in Kyoto has kind of put me off the stuff.







I've seen Glaceau Vitamin Water in some stores, which is my latest drink-of-choice when sick in America, but I can't help but think that it would be ridiculously overpriced. Not to mention the fact that it's much more difficult to find than I would like when ill.



Don't drink soda, unless your stomach is feeling raunchy--then some sort of carbonated lemon-lime beverage is in order.

Definitely don't drink diet soda. The crap already gives you cancer slowly, and by being diet, it removes the sugar, which is what (theoretically) is helping that upset stomach in the first place.

Try to avoid caffeinated things, as they only dehydrate you.

How do you know if you're drinking enough?

You have to pee every damn hour.

Inconvenient? Yes. Healthy? You betcha.

4) Sleep.

That's right. Easy, fun, and refreshing, and you get to do it as a cure!

Ever wonder why you always feel best first thing in the morning when sick? Because you just spent 8 or so hours fighting the nasties with no distractions. Sleep is important, and your body needs it.

5) Wash./Be Considerate.

This goes for those sick and those surrounded by sick people. Wash your hands, wash the things you touch, wash everything. Even better, try not to touch things so much. Pick things up with hands covered by sleeves. Touch objects with as few fingers as possible.

And for the love of god do not touch people unnecessarily. Don't high-five, don't hand-shake, don't hug. Don't hover over people, don't come within sneezing distance, don't pat people on the back, and don't get offended when they're unwilling to take something directly from your hand.

I should actually name this section THINK. Because that's really all you need to do.

And now we get into more... homeopathic stuff.

6) Garlic.

Swallowing garlic cloves is apparently popular nowadays. You're supposed to take three the day you first feel symptoms, then one or two every day afterward until you're the very picture of health.

Ideally you should swallow them whole, slightly crunched, but even I can't manage that,and go instead for chopping each up into little pieces.

It's rough going--I gagged on at least five bits when my water and size calculations weren't quite perfect--and I don't know yet if it works. I feel fairly decent today after getting three down yesterday, but... I threw up the one I popped this morning.

Advice? Don't take them on an empty stomach. Especially if you're me, woman-with-bitchy-stomach-that-enjoys-making-life-difficult.

7) Vitamin C/Echinacea

The former is for when you have the cold, and the latter for prevention. Both have been proven and disproven countless times, but... hey. Why not, am I right?

Also, this is pretty much the reason I originally picked up Lemon Water, way back during study abroad when feeling a bit of a tickle in my throat during a shopping trip--who can say no to a sports drink with 1000mg of Vitamin C smooshed in?

...admittedly, there is the fact that your body will only take so much, and then proceed to pee out the rest, but... hey.

Anyway. Due to the massive amount of lurgy going around at work currently, I knew it was only a matter of time before I started feeling a bit off--sure enough, I felt funny on Friday, and have continued on as such.

Here's hoping my battle plan proves successful, eh?

This is Edo, signing off and hoping that her health soon returns in spades, because it really sucks to be sick.

Friday, November 5, 2010

So simple, yet so delicious. (めっちゃ簡単やけど、めっちゃおいしいで。)

Ah, the subtle combination of savory and sour, strong and mild, all blended together to form the perfect winter delight...

Or any time, really, it's just that it happens to be particularly winter-esque right now, and I thought it an appropriate descriptor given the atmospheric conditions, and...

Ahem.

Of course, I speak of that legendary "get out of my house" Kyoto dish, お茶漬け (ochadzuke).

Yea, there's no translation because there is no translation. There is a description, which is basically green tea and assorted other accouterments poured over hot white rice and eaten like a kind of stew/soup/thing after meals, as a snack, or as a light lunch.

(That last one might just be me.)

Regardless, it is delicious.


Not particularly gorgeous, but simple comfort food rarely is.

I particularly like the juxtaposition with the gloves--really gives you a sense of how freakin' cold it is.

But I digress.

All you need to make your own bowl of deliciousness is some white rice (frozen leftovers work wonderfully for this, provided you reheat them in the microwave first), a packet of nori ochadzuke mix (like anyone makes this stuff from scratch any more), boiling water, and some tasty, tasty umeboshi.

And don't give me that nonsense about umeboshi being too sour, or not suited to foreign tastes, or whatever ridiculous excuse you've been touting for not eating them. They. Are. Delicious. End of story.

Put your ochadzuke mix on your rice, and tear up a couple of umeboshi to go with it. I usually go with about three. Each one should give you four to five good pieces. Then, all you do is pour your boiling water over the whole mix (usually enough to just cover the rice) and WHA-BAM, instant late-night snack guaranteed to delight the senses and burn the crap out of your tongue (provided you're as impatient with your hot food as I am.)

And if you live in Kyoto and are hosting a dinner party, you also have all of your guests out of the house in something like twenty minutes.

Not sure about the history of it, but it's general knowledge now that if you are served ochadzuke in a Kyoto household, the chef is politely asking you to get the hell out.

At least it's a tasty way to go, am I right?

As far as I know, however, eating it alone in front of your computer as you blog has no deeper meaning whatsoever.

... as far as I know.

This is Edo, signing off with a full stomach and a sleepy brain.

PS- Sure it was a short post, but it was something!

... here's another picture to appease you.

Tuesday, November 2, 2010

Oops. (しまった。)

You know your posting schedule is getting bad when your grandma starts getting tetchy.

Though I admit that my grandma is a lot more likely to call me out on these things than your average friendly elderly lady.

But hey. It's... encouraging?

Anyway.

As I have just gotten back from Kyoto and have work today, you're all getting a very, very condensed recap of the past week... or so.

1. Getting a re-entry permit in Yokkaichi is the easiest thing ever.

Seriously. It took, no exaggeration or hyperbole, five minutes after I turned in the form.

Admittedly, this is because I knew to go and pick up my official payment stamp from the post office beforehand, but really, anyone with the internet can figure that bit out.

I meant to write a long, detailed post (something along these lines...) for all you foreign types in need of guidance out here in Mie, and maybe I will... sometime.

But that time, it is not now.

Suffice it to say that the toughest part of the whole ordeal is the ridiculously long drive.

And even that is sort of fun, really. There's a lot of interesting things along Route 23.

...most of which I had to drive by for  fear of getting there after the office closed. Pointless worry, but hindsight is 20/20, after all.

2. I made a super-awesome bento on Thursday.

.... or, well. At least I think I did.

It wasn't very complicated, but it did look nice.

  
What we have here is some 鮭塩焼き (shake shioyaki, salt broiled salmon), white rice, umeboshi (pickled plums) and steamed asparagus with salt.

Healthy, tasty, and super-easy!

I only wish that it was actually asparagus season so the stuff wasn't so expensive. Oh, how I love asparagus...

3. People in Mie don't go to Kyoto.

At least, not when I do.

Seriously. I'm the only one who ever makes the train change at 大和八木. It's kind of creepy.

4. I was a 狐女 (kitsune onna, fox lady) for Halloween, but unfortunately, since neither Melon nor I are very photo-enthusiastic, we have no pictures.

I do have a picture of the mask I wore (on the back of my head), however:


And that's better than nothing, eh?

5. I miss Kyoto. It hurts sometimes.

6. That does not mean that I don't think that even their last trains are too early. Still, however, they are far more reasonable than... other places. (ahem.)

7. It. Is. COLD.

And that, my friends, is all from your friendly neighborhood Edo for today. Tune in next time, when we will discuss something equally exciting, poignant, and relevant to your everyday life.

... it's a shame that sarcasm doesn't really translate well onto the internet.

This is Edo, signing off perplexed, as always, but that strange construction method that somehow makes the interior of Japanese houses colder than the outside air.