Mala Doufu

"Delishas!" as my friend blurted out. Yep I make a mean, mouth-numbing Mabo Tofu. Actually I've read that Mabo Tofu without meat is called Mala Doufu, but nobody cares about that.

I've been lazy these few days and have been eating microwaved pre-made stuff from the grocer. So I finally kicked myself out of this unhealthiness and decided to cook something wondrous, natural, and spicy. And tadaa! Mabo Tofu! Actually I have to confess that I did cheat and that I just bought the sauce, but at least I compromised by doing a no-meat thing and served it only with mushrooms, onions, and various veggies. And of course, tons of hot peppers.

Mabo Tofu is traditionally made with a special spice, Sichuan pepper. It's not really hot like a regular pepper should be, rather it gives a numbing effect. So since I don't have any, I settled to recreating the said effect with peppers, crushed chilis, and a large dollop of jalapeno hot sauce.

It was so hot and spicy it melted my bowl and turned it into a plate. Okay that was a joke, but it was OH-GOSH-ARRGGHH. I loved it. And I also loved how the tofu squares managed to retain their perfect symmetrical shape even after all those boiling around with the other non-symmetrical veggies. They were so soft, bouncy, and totally tasteless, balancing out the powerful sauce.

"Delishas!" and very cheap to make too. I made gallons of the stuff, enough to feed me through the week. Thankfully, spiciness acts as a preservative and a great substitute for numbing peppers.

I now have something to make for Christmas. Something to make my friends appreciate my choco custard more.

Hitsumabushi~! Cheaper and more Fowl!

That is not an actual pic of what I ate today at lunch, I wasn't able to take a pic at all of what I ate actually. Anyway, it looks somewhat like that minus the miso soup. It was delicious and very fulfilling! And replace that eel in the pic with chicken.

I would like to explain how to properly eat hitsumabushi first. So I'm going to introduce another kind of Japanese food: okazuke. This may seem confusing at first, and may keep on becoming so, but I assure you, it's fun and delicious, and did I mention fulfilling?

Okay, where were we...? Right, "How to Eat Okazuke". Basically, okazuke is rice in a bowl, then you add some savory toppings (seaweed, pickles, meat, sesame seeds, seafood, etc) and then you pour either green tea or soup stock over it. I prefer the soup stock though, I mean, green tea plus seaweeds and sesame seeds???

Anyway, it's kinda like eating breakfast cereals with milk, only with rice and soup. I wasn't aware of this Jap dish until recently, it sounds so outrageously Japanese though. My coworkers surprised me when we went to a restaurant and they said that the dish is green tea over rice. I was like WHAT??? and they were HAHAHA but the waitress was like BEEF OR FISH STOCK? and I was OOOH!! BEEF!

So now that you know how to eat an okazuke, be rest assured that hitsumabushi is eaten just like that too. Actually, it IS exactly like that. I'm not sure why they made a whole new name for it, and I'm not sure of the difference, now that I think about it. I even asked what the name means and they said it was just a name, so didn't fuss over it too much. The name is actually 日妻武士 which reads hitsumabushi. 日= Sun, 妻 = Wife, 武士 = Warrior.

Soo... yeah. Sun Wife Warrior. Delicious.

Hmm, hitsumabushi is supposed to be okazuke with eel, but what I had was grilled chicken... maybe it wasn't hitsumabushi that I ate. But it said so in the menu...

If you haven't have one yet, you could try the fish stock. My coworker was spouting Jap slangs all over it. Oh and he was smiling, so I assume it was that good.

Not Quite Handy

Didn't think I'd do it but I did it again. I bought something to warm me up... only it doesn't.

Oh sure, the scarf actually does warms me (it even makes my neck sweat) but I'm still "cold". So I consulted my friends and they said that actually the body is the last one to freeze. The first to tingle with the cold are the extremeties.

AHA! So that's why my fingers go numb first, my knees, then all of the sudden, my chest muscles vibrate. And then that's when I'll get really colddd...... I need gloves! Quick! So I dropped off the train at some station somewhere along my route, walked a couple pounds off, then found these pair of black leather gloves for only ¥1000! May sound expensive, but it's not. These are leather gloves we're talking about here.

Anyway, I wore them right away and lo! My fingers froze. I thought that maybe hey, I should give them some time to warm up to me first. But things, or should I say temps, went downhill from then on. There were times I had to look down to make sure my hands are still clutching my bag. Although since they're locked into a closed position, I didn't have to worry anyway... but you can never be too sure...

My friends then suggested that maybe it "traps heat" inside and that I should wear them when my hands are warm before going out to the frigid chillness. So I rubbed up my hands, blew hot breath on them, wore my gloves, got my hand stuck AND cold. So I guess that idea's off.

Then I tried to buy another pair, just for comparison. Maybe mine's defective and has missed a quality assurance inspection somewhere. So I got myself some new cotton gloves (or should I say mittens... with fingers, yes they were that thick, and these are my second pair of cotton cause the first ones didn't work either). Woo! They WERE warm! It got so warm that I rushed to the cashier with glee. But my glee was short lived when I stepped outside and wore them back on. Apparently, when you try something on inside a warm store, it would usually feel warm itself.

The cotton disappointed me too. Bad cotton. Again.

Oh well, sorry for being so cynic in my post here but I am really sad that none met my needs. Though I still wear my leather pair because they look too cool not to. My 2 pairs of cotton ones are somewhere... in the house...somewhere. I'm just wondering though, if they managed to make thermal undergarments as thin as stockings, yet can still leave your valuables in heat, why can't they do the same with gloves?

Or maybe I'm wearing them wrong. You DO put your fingers inside right?

Fail!

Kinda depressing today, results from the mock JLPT Level 2 exams came by and I absolutely, horribly failed. But of course, they haven't included the points from the listening tests yet, and that's where I usually salvage my scores (I got 89% from the listening exams last time).

Not to be depressed, I immediately sought out the unimaginable and limitless powers of the Internet. And I was not disappointed. To say the least, I bounced back to my normal genki-ness in no time. I probably gained a few more years to my life after laughing this much.

And thus I present to you, Objets d'Laughing Matter:


I don't think they need captions. Do they?

I laughed years off of me and almost threw up! Amazingly, I still am intact, alive and well. I do hope I have managed to bring at least a smile, or a blink if you can manage.

Whew! Okay, I am fine now. And I think that hot bowl of honey hazelnut oatmeal helped a lot too. Yum!

Meadow Lodging

The alarm rang at 7, got up at 9.

Me and two other friends decided to spend the Sunday by going to Harajuku, and thankfully, the 20% chance of precipitation weather for today cooperated and settled for sunny skies and frozen fingers. Hehe, at last I had the chance to wear my newly-bought leather gloves! A bit of a tight-fit and not warmth-inducing, but very cool-looking as heck.

We set off with runny noses and fashionable clothes and arrived in a station packed full of Japs in their best clothes, as well as foreigners who, like us, are expecting to find a candid view of Japan in its rawness. Going with the flow, we found ourselves standing in front one of the massive torii gates of Meiji Shrine. Not to be outdone by other tourists, as well as locals who came with their kimono-clad kiddies, we strutted our newly bought stuff down the tree-lined road towards the main temple.

The shrine didn't disappoint, and I even managed to get myself one of those lucky charms; I had a hard time picking between a lucky keychain and a Blessed Arrow of Sacred Light. I settled with the keychain even though it costs more just because I don't think I could attach an arrow in my bag/cellphone and not attract stares... @__@;;

After taking tons of photos, praying for fortune and well-being, and witnessing an authentic Shinto Wedding, we got ourselves back to urban Japan to grab some burgers for lunch. Then fought back the mob and went into Yoyogi Park.

If you take a closer look at the photo, you can see me mingling with the crowd! Go ahead, take that magnifying glass out of the drawer.

We didn't have to crane out our necks that much to see the "fashionable" Harajuku-ers. They were wearing their maid uniforms, gothic outfits, and once we entered the park grounds, there were some hillbillies dancing to some Elvis song.

Autumn hit us full in the face the moment we entered Yoyogi park. The falling leaves were going at it in full power, the trees burning with hues of reds and yellows, and the cold breeze nipping at our exposed extremeties. With lots of sunshine still left, our photoshoot went into full swing. By the time the sun finally went down, our cheeks were tired and poses were getting lame.

Strolling through the nature-filled avenues and ponds gushing with fountains, we got to thinking of how here in Japan, the old really does collide with the new, to some surprising and rather astonishing effects, not to mention downright outrageous. Like trying to eat a whole takoyaki ball in one bite... oh wait, that was me. My tongue felt like it licked a lit cigarette. Ouchies.

We went home tired, sore, and satisfyingly content of our excursion. If chance presents itself again, we wouldn't take a second to consider going back again.

From the Meiji shrine, to the Omotesando shopping district, and through the Yoyogi park, we discovered another slice of Japan that I can safely report as a must-go-to-places for a huge doze of culture-shock. We had so much fun in Harajuku... And did you know that its name meant "Meadow Lodging"?

Notice Anything~?

If you've somehow asked yourself, "What the--?" after visiting my site, then I applaud you for being one of those who've been here before. Please continue to do so. Oh, and I love you.

And if you're my first-time visitor, thank you for being here. Please enjoy yourself, read on, and bask in my new layout. Too bad you haven't seen the previous one... But no matter, it's not much better than this one anyway. Otherwise, I would've kept on using it.

This change is long way past its due, and it's all thanks to my overpowering procrastinative powers. But after a few clicks, hours in Photoshop (darn the new version, I felt like a beginner all over again), and cups of veggie soup, it is finally done.

I may tweak it a bit here and there, every now and then, for some reason or another though. I am a bit of a perfectionist and there are times I am never satisfied ever. Usually I just make a compromise with myself. *shrug*

Leave comments, suggestions, reactions, may it be good or bad. Speak now, or wait till my procrastination ebbs down again... which might be never, considering that it'll be Winter soon...

I Saw My Breath!

It was during a freezing morning while I was trying to feel my breakfast. Because I can't really fully enjoy a meal with one of my senses missing, I had to thaw my hands with hot water by the sink. So there I was, enjoying my warm and wrinkly fingers when my cellphone rang. My neighbor/friend was urging me to come out for a bit of a talk, so I did. I opened the door, looked around for the caller, and yelled "What?"

Then *woosh~~* a cloud appeared in front of me.

While I was stunned frozen, I managed to let some of the precious air-conditioned heat to escape. Then I yelled back again to the phone, "hhhWhere hhhhhare hhhhyouhhh? " spewing out some frozen breath. Finding out that no one's there, I closed the door. Then opened it again and blew more clouds.

I did this for a while until I realized I wasn't talking to anyone anymore, so I shut my phone, went back inside, and re-heated my meal. When I went out again on my way to the office, the sun has brought the temps back up a little bit. Although not enough that my gloved hands still went numb, my breath wasn't as misty as before. So by the time I reached the station, it's already gone.

Today was the very first time I saw my breath. It was utterly breathtaking, and yes the pun was deliberate.

Bununu

Yesterday afternoon, my neighbor-friend suddenly decided to go to a mall to buy something. Actually I'm not the type to go off on unplanned excursions, but since she gave me a slice of pizza last night, I guess I owed her something in return. Well I can't give her a pizza slice back, so I went to the mall with her.

We walked into a store and came out with two gigantic bananas.

Another friend called and asked what we were doing, so I told him our findings and he said that he knew about these bananas. That they're really bitter unless they've fully ripened. I told him mine's brown and he happily told me that I should be rest assured that my banana will be sweet. Then he hung up saying that a convenient store clerk's trying to sell him some plastic bags.

I forgot to tell to him that what we bought were pillows.

Truth is, this was supposed to be our Christmas gift for each other. But we couldn't really wait till next month, so we bought it right away. My friend bought a pink one and both our bananas were the pineapple series. It does resemble a banana with pineapple skin, only it's furrier and it's 4-foot long. It's a real comfort when sleeping, and it warms up after a while of tight embrace.

Lonely nights no more!

Hot Buns and Roasted Legs

Today was the first time I managed to get a seat on the morning trains.

Okay that was a lie, maybe a half-truth, so let me rephrase that: Today was the first time I managed to get a seat on the morning trains after a looong loong time... while having my "buns" toasted.

Usually I just stand at the very end of the last train carriage, with my hair getting blow-dried by the heated air-conditioning, and my back feeling the warmth of the train master's cabin. But today, due to my unrelenting lateness, I've managed to grab a seat!

It was a moment of a bliss, after being subjected to a freezing morning walk to the station. I then began to thaw and was soon taking my scarf off (apparently the scarf really does warm you, I was just too cold to notice).

I realized that my bum was hot. Hello, what's this? Am I on a hot seat? And I dug a hand to check... wow, it really IS hot! And very soft and firm too!

A glance at the row in front of me, and I saw a long grill hidden underneath the seats. I've long wondered what they were for (back when the aircon still blew cold) and thought that they must be exhaust fans of some sort to suck out the dust.

How nice is that! A heater that stretches along the opposite sides of the train, warming Japanese bums and toasting our legs. It was wonderful... at first. Then I began to feel just how hot a heater can be at a VERY close range. There were moments I've even thought about giving up my treasured seat just to cool off my burn-marks (just kidding).

I've known about the Japs and their obsession with scalding things; I've burnt my tongue an innumerable number of times slurping ramen, biting into takoyaki balls, and sipping miso soup. So it wasn't a surprise to find the onsen-loving people firing-up the temps inside the train. But after a few stations, I was welcoming the cool air rushing in at every stop.

I guess it's a delicate balance: not too hot for the passengers inside, while not being too cold for the new arrivals. I sincerely appreciate the energy-consuming conveniences the trains provide, but I do hope the Temperature Coordinating Manager Train Master would take a look at their computations once again.

Either that or I'll just have to resort to standing up again.

Life's Like That

Just this morning, I heard that my friend's brother died in a motorcycle accident. I'm not sure of the details, but because of this piece of shattering news, he's going back to his country in the next earliest flight available.

To think he just got accepted for a job finally after going on a job-hunt for more than 4 months. And only last night, we were talking about taking a trip down to Kyoto for the holidays... *sigh*

Life's surprises are too surprising; dreadful, cruel, and unjust. Yet sometimes it can be so beautiful, joyful, and wholly unexpected that it can't be nothing short than a true miracle.

When you thought things have finally settled down and that the road seems to straighten out its curves, a sharp bend suddenly careens you out of control, leaving you grasping frantically on the wheel wondering, "Where the heck did that come from?!"

I am well aware that death is to be expected and that life is but an instant, but to have it taken out of you so abruptly, it's just SO unfair. I seriously can't imagine what I'd do if my own brother would suddenly go away like that. Granted, me and him have fought for so long and reconciled many times more, then went entirely into war and into a truce. But I love my family, and they have always been there for me. I've taken it as a fact that they're always there, just an email or a call away.

And that even with 6 months of notice, my family considered my leaving for a Japan still "a shock" is proof that no matter how many days, months, years, or even a lifetime it would take, nothing could ever mentally and psychologically prepare anyone for the sudden departure of someone they loved...


My thoughts and prayers go to those who have been treated unfair by life and its awful truth. And to my friend's brother:

May you find peace and comfort with such sincere friends and a loving family, and may all those you have asked be answered. Eternal rest I hope have been granted and light lead you into God's arms.

Today has gotten much colder. Painfully so.

Mafura~

I've been waiting for the day to actually use a scarf, or muffler, as they call it here in Japan. I've included one in my luggage, which puzzled my coworkers as to why a tropical country where I came from would sell such things. I'm not sure either, considering that I haven't really seen anyone back home wearing one before, but since we also have sweaters, blankets, and thick fake-fur coats, I' m guessing entrepreneurs have asked themselves at one point, "why not"?

So I donned my suit, twisted that thick knitwork around my neck, and stepped outside. To tell you the truth, I didn't feel any warmer. True, I looked awesome and the wool was comfy, but the fact that my hands are immobile told me that I'd probably need gloves too if ever I expected to be warm on my way to the office. Actually I do have gloves, in the same knitted design as my scarf (or muffler), yet when I tried to wear them inside my own warm house even, my hands went colder than before.

It's probably a lack of research for aero-dynamics on the part of the manufacturer, but I don't really see the point of making something supposed to be warm yet instead, rewards its wearers with the unexpected. Maybe I'm just wearing it the wrong way? Or maybe the color is wrong...

Nevertheless, I still looked cool (or hot, whichever warms your fancy) so I'd probably wear it up till the weather turns deadly and I'm forced to buy authentic warmers. I've been advised to buy thermal undies and a trenchcoat too, so that's absolutely gonna go to my Christmas shopping list... once I start on writing one.

Japautumn at its Coldest

And after going on a month-long silence for reasons unknown even to me, I am here to post an entry! Woo! To think I even promised a new layout... *sigh*

Well the layout's gonna have to wait till the weekends, and that's if I can find time to do it. I have a bunch of Japanese dramas and animes queued up for me to watch, supposing we don't go off again on our "almost weekly" excursions around Japan. Well, mostly around the Tokyo area anyway.

Just have to report that Summer's absolutely over by now. Temperatures are dipping wayyyy below the 15's now (Celsius), and it's not unusual to wake up and see that the window's dripping wet with moisture. They said that the snow's going to be earlier this year... ohhh I just can't wait!

I used to see the sun up and shining even up till 7 PM, while nowadays it would make its dramatic exit as early as 4:30. It's really difficult to get up in the morning with everything looking so dark. I'm used to opening my eyes to the sunshine, but nowadays, it's like getting up at mid-twilight; all dark, gloomy, silent, and cold. Makes you want to ignore the alarm and snooze off till noon. I usually turn the alarm off when it rings and get up 45 minutes later, giving me a boost of adrenaline once I open my eyes and realize that if I don't get up now and put my freezing butt into the shower soon, I'll be late for work.

And it's quite nice to see that the trees here are so festive and burning with passion. Most of the leaves have yet to turn into the Autumny-red though, but some of the smaller trees have gone on and embraced the season whole-heartedly. In my country, they just turn brown, die, then fall into the ground and transform into trash. Not really dramatic, but I guess I can't blame them if they want to escape the sweltering heat of our Winter... if you could even call that a Winter. I guess we only have two seasons back home: Summer and Hotter Summer.

I just wish I could enjoy Autumn long enough before the temps go any lower. With my hands and ears freezing as it is, I can't even imagine just how much colder it would be when Japan's Winter finally comes. I sincerely hope it wouldn't be so cold that it would freeze our eyeballs the moment we step outside. That would be scary and downright horrifying. Can that ever happen...?