Wednesday, December 22, 2010

An adventure in heating. (暖房のアドベンチャー。)

Well, once again I find myself without an exciting event in my life to go into great detail about in a blog post.

Thus, I thought I would go the other way entirely and tell you all about an entirely non-exciting event instead.

Except, of course, I'll do my best to make it as action-packed and thrilling as possible.

Because what would this blog be without unnecessary drama and ridiculous levels of enthusiasm?

Ahem.

Anyway, without further ado, I give you...

THE KEROSENE ADVENTURE.

(See, even the title looks exciting now!)

(... I also thought that I would give it in step-by-step format, just in case any aspiring soul should care to duplicate the experience. Don't ask me why; it's not like I understand you people.)

1. Attempt to fill up the tank for your fan heater with kerosene from the tank outside, and be dismayed when the automatic pump stops long before you think it should. Realize that yes, you have run out of kerosene, and this is a sad sad thing indeed, as it is December and you are a desert rat with thin blood.

2. Greatly, greatly underestimate how long that half (or so) tank in your fan heater will last you. "I can go a week, come on!" No, no you can't. You can go maybe two days.

3. Feel much more dismay when the "low kerosene" song (yes, song) starts to play late Thursday night. You have taken your shower, and you'll be damned if you're going out to buy kerosene in this state. Tell yourself you'll deal with only your air conditioner's heat setting (which isn't so bad, really) and vow to get some more kerosene in the morning.

4. Go to bed. Tell yourself that it's just your imagination that it feels ten degrees colder already.

5. Wake up at a decent hour. Remember that there's something you need to do. Drag yourself out of your futon, wash your face, brush your teeth, and debate whether or not you really need to get dressed for kerosene purchasing. Decide that you only need jeans, and stick with your pajama tops under two (or three) layers of coat. Put on a hat for good measure.

6. Grab the depressingly light kerosene jug from the shed and pop it in the trunk of your car.





7. Drive towards the Shell gas station, because although you're fairly certain that all gas stations have kerosene, you saw some kindly old lady getting hers filled up by an attendant when you were getting your car serviced at Shell on Thursday. And hey, it's cold. Service counts for a lot.

8. Realize half-way to the station that there are probably five other stations much closer, which would have saved you time. Convince yourself that not having to fill up the tank with your own two hands is worth it.

9. Decide that yes, it is worth it, and stop beating yourself about driving a little further than necessary.

10. Arrive at the station, pull in and roll down your window to talk to an attendant. Be unsure of the process, and thus start with a simple "あの、灯油買いたいんですけど。。。。" (Um, I'd like to buy some kerosene...) Be relieved when she seems to have no problems with your foreign-ness and just agrees efficiently.

11. Pull forward and wait in the comfortable warmth of your car (or is that the comfortable warmth of the five layers you're wearing?). Feel slightly embarrassed when you have to ask her to repeat her question about payment methods because you didn't hear her the first time, but soon get over it and affirm that yes, you do want a full tank.

12. Be impressed when she goes straight for the trunk without having to ask, pulls out the tank, fills it up, wipes it down, then puts it back. Be even more impressed when she attempts to secure it from falling over with a random cardboard box you have back there.

13. Pay, with cash, of course, and receive a nice little stamp card that will get you some free tissues after you buy five tanks of kerosene. Why tissues? Beats me.

14. Drive home, feeling accomplished. Attempt to take all corners very slowly so as to avoid knocking the kerosene jug over, but feel like you failed.

15. Get home. You did fail, but luckily the nice attendant lady at the station really did make sure both caps were screwed on tight.

16. Hoist the jug out of the trunk. Realize that 18 liters of kerosene is freaking heavy.

17. Lug the jug (I made a rhyme) over to the shed.

18. Run (or, you know, walk briskly) inside, take off a jacket as you're about to do some physical labor, and pull the tank out of your fan heater.

19. Walk briskly (happy?) back out and fill your tank with the automatic pump. Feel immensely satisfied when it goes all the way to the top.

20. Close up the tank and put it aside. Close up the jug, and put it back inside the shed, still pretty damn heavy.

21. Go back inside and pop your tank back into the fan heater. Go and wash your hands (about ten times) while the heater fills with kerosene.

22. Wash your hands another five times, because damn that kerosene stink is persistent.

23. Go back into your room and turn on your fan heater.

24. Feel immensely satisfied with yourself.

And there you have it, Edo's amazing kerosene adventure in less than 25 steps! Were you on the edge of your seat?

... well, there's no pleasing everyone.

This is Edo, signing off warm but not necessarily humorous.

PS- As I'm sure you all have realized, the holiday season is upon us! Thus, I find it in myself to wish you all:

HAPPY HOLIDAYS!

I am unsure as to whether or not I will be able to post again in this year, so, to make up for any possible negligence on my part, I thought I would share a couple of my favorite holiday songs with you all. 

Bet you could have guessed that one, ah ha.

Here, a bit more traditional:

And that's all from me! If I don't see you again, have a happy new year!

Wednesday, December 15, 2010

Ho hum. (あーあー。)

I promise, guys. I'm not just keeping you out of the loop. Sometimes, it just seems that there's absolutely nothing interesting happening that I haven't written about before.

Going to Kyoto for the weekend? Been there, done that.

Cheap, quick doctor's appointment? I think I have at least three posts on the subject.

Shopping for lunch and purchasing amazing 250 bento? Yup.

(Which, by the way, I think is a Wednesday only thing. I have tested this hypothesis once and been proven correct--here's to further tasty, tasty experimentation.)

I could write about the difficulties of an American trying to experience authentic holiday cheer in a foreign country, specifically one who seems to think that Christmas is a time for couples and dating, but I feel that that might be too deep a topic to touch upon casually. I should think about it a bit before just blathering on as I usually do.

So, I am left with nothing but...

Pictures of Korean food I ate on Sunday night with Melon.

First, let me tell you: it is very difficult to find regular Korean food in Japan. Yakiniku? Easy peasy. More yakiniku joints, especially in a part of the country where the beef is famous, than you can shake a stick at. However, if you want more on your menu than grilled meat and the occasional kimchi delight, you're going to have to look a bit harder.

To that end, it is not impossible. Oh, no siree bob.

Why, we found ours in the top of the brand-spanking-new Kyoto branch of Yodobashi Camera.

  
How gorgeous is that place? I mean, really.

And yes, it is that huge. You could live in there. No wonder it took so long to construct. (They were working on it during my year at Doshisha, for some reference.)

I honestly think that it's employing half the population of central Kyoto by itself. 

But anyway. 

We were patrons of a restaurant called Chanchi, which we selected due to its very reasonable and Korean-tastic dinner sets.

Here's mine.



Look at that. Just look at that. If that doesn't spell delicious, I don't know what does.

Unfortunately, however, I don't know what most of it is called. Ah ha.

We have sundoufu (romanization probably off), which is the tasty, mainly tofu, super-spicy soup pictured here:


I went for the seafood version. You can't really tell though, since the little shrimpy-dudes are submerged. A shame, really, because they were pretty impressive with their shells on and everything.

You can't tell, but the stuff was still boiling when it came out.

We've also got some rice mixed with... some sort of grain, kimchi, pickles, delicious Korean nori, and some sort of beef-onion-mushroom stirfry which was on its on quite tasty, but made even more so because I watched a rather attractive man in a v-neck shirt make it.

Oh ho ho.

Here's another shot, which I mainly took because the first looked a bit blurry:






Honestly, I don't know that there's much difference. Oh well.

I hope you enjoyed my... well, not very descriptive foray into the wider culinary world. Tune in next time when I try the wide Japanese selection of Thai curries!

... but not really.

Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm off to refill my kerosene. I suppose it speaks to my thin blood that one tank didn't even last a week.... Oh dear.

This is Edo, signing off wondering how you go about taking your kerosene tank to the gas station without stinking up your car too horribly.

Wednesday, December 8, 2010

Once a week is good enough. (一週間一回ってええんちゃう。)

... though apparently not, according to my grandma.

But we don't have to let her know that I agree.

.... oops.

Anyway, as I have not been in much of a writing mood lately, I thought that I would attempt a new style of post: pictures from Edo's everyday life, with witty commentary accompaniment. How does that strike you?

... well, honestly, it can strike you up, down, and all around, but it's still how we're going today.

Ahem.

First, remember how I was taking that test... you know, the ridiculously difficult, kill-your-brain-with-kanji JLPT NI thingy-jobby?

Yea. That was Sunday.

And yea. It was painful.

Luckily, I was able to stay cheerful about the whole thing, and was laughing my way through the listening exam--as always, much easier than the rest (at least for a person, such as myself, who spends so much time working on listening comprehension) and full of hilarious non-sequitirs that had me snorting quietly in the back row. 

... well, I thought they were hilarious, anyway. As far as I can tell, I was the only one stifling my laughter, so maybe I just have a very odd sense of humor.

Anyway. That's not the interesting part.

The interesting part is that the 皇學館大学 (Kougakkan University) campus where I took it was absolutely gorgeous


I guess that's what happens when you're located in Ise, literally minutes away from 伊勢神宮 (Ise Shrine). No shoddy, prison-looking buildings there my friend!


And check out the crazy, Miyazaki-esque entrance path. How awesome would it be to walk though this to class every day? I mean, come on.


Ise is just pretty awesome in general. This is the street leading up to the university entrance. Admittedly, taking the picture during 紅葉 (kouyou, fall foliage) season does up the beauty a few notches, but any sidewalk that is paved with brick deserves some notice.

Not to mention the super awesome street-lamp-things.


You have no idea how hard it was to get this shot without the top of a car blurred along the bottom edge. I stood in the cold for you, people!

But anyway.

After I was released finished with the test, I went to Kyoto, as is my wont.


And this is the cute little light-up you can see from the platform at 大和八木 (Yamato Yagi) station in Nara. I thought it deserved a picture.

Certainly a nice surprise to be caught by, since I had about thirty minutes to kill until my next train.


And, tangentially enough, this is an interior shot of the super awesome American restaurant, Ash Fork, in Kyoto, around 百万遍 (hyakumanben). Definitely recommended, and not only because they named the place after a small town in Arizona (it's written up there on the sign, if you can see) and have a crap-ton of random memorabilia scattered around as their decorating scheme. Best hamburger in Japan, bar none.

Enough with the travels, let's get back to the boring, every day stuff!

... don't get too excited now.






This, my friends, is a 250 yen bento from Cosmos.

WHAT IS THIS MAGIC.

And I thought I loved that supermarket before. Holy crap.

Delicious, cheap, and I am still full to bursting as I write this. (Admittedly, those of you who do not think the addition of a soft-boiled/fried egg is a plus might not agree with my love for this lunchtime option. But hey. Learn to love the egg, my friends, learn to love the egg.)

(That said, I had to trade in my kinpira gobo for some renkon to get the egg on top of my hamburger, but I think it was a good choice in the end.)





This is the bag I payed 5 yen for because I forgot my eco bag. But really, I think it was worth  it:


Some people may laugh at Engrish, but sometimes, I find it absolutely adorable.

And finally, just to make everything a bit more random...


My favorite gum.

I admit that I may be swayed by the fact that Kimutaku advertises for them. But hey, this gum freakin' clears your sinuses it's so strong--I can appreciate breath that fresh.

So, what did you think? Was the lack of editorial content made up for by the picture spam onslaught?

.... I think so.

Ahem.

This is Edo, signing off with a stomach full of meat which she may or may not regret later. Oops.