Valentine's Day, Part 2

Yesterday, we arrived home to find a package of chocolates in our mailbox. (Thanks again Mom! (and Dad?)) There were some delicious Laura Secord french crisps, but they're all gone now. You can see below what's left:

The heart-shaped box contains some delicious truffles (I just ate one) and the red-wrapped ones are solid, delicious chocolates. I shared some of these with one of my students.

Today, I also received some delicious-looking maple cookies from one of my students. So it looks like it's going to be a fattening week.

The citrus fruit called "yuzu"

These are yuzu fruits:



These are quite large and unsightly, but some beauties can be found on Flickr. These are some I found in my neighbour's yard in Yonago a few years ago.

There is nothing too special about this photo other than the fact that two separate Flickr users have contacted me on two separate occasions asking for my permission to use it in some project (two separate ones I presume).

The first was some guy in France (possibly) who wanted to use the photo in a school book. I told him no problem.

The second was from a couple in the UK who wanted to use the photo in a software package called Cook It! This was last September. I just heard from them again last week. They thanked me a second time and told me they were sending me a complimentary copy of their software! I should be receiving it soon.

I don't believe in karma, but this is karmaesque. Yay!

Menko and other games

I learned about a Japanese card game called Menko the other day. I never played with Pogs which were hugely popular (and maybe still are) in Canada a few years ago, but the two games seem to be closely related.

In Menko, players throw cards on the ground, trying to overturn their opponents' cards, thereby claiming them. One of my students played this when s/he was young, so I'm not sure if it's still popular today.

I remember playing marbles when I was a kid, and also war (with regular playing cards). These games introduce gambling to kids at a young age. I remember winning and losing lots of marbles (not figuratively) every day. In fact, my marble addiction led me to perform my one and only act of shoplifting in a Hanmer, Ontario shopping mall. Shame on me!

My Japanese IQ

I'm really smart, according to a Japanese IQ test. I couldn't read the instructions, so I fumbled through the quiz, trying my best to match the various diagrams together. Well, I did a bang-up job. The site reported my IQ as being 135, in the top 2% of all of Earth's inhabitants. Wahoo! Take a look at this: (you might have to click it in order to see it properly)

A bad feeling

We went to Tachikawa the other day (a large station with many nearby department stores) and I saw something I hadn't seen before. I'm sure you're all familiar with the sight of people handing out tissue paper or flyers in busy areas. What I saw were some very pushy young men, targeting pretty young girls and women, and almost forcing them to take what they were offering. I was pretty disgusted. Then I saw another guy holding only a thick leather day planner. When he spotted a woman (these guys were like predators) he would walk up close and hold his day planner in front of them while saying something in a hushed voice. After about 5-10 steps, he would finally give up.

I don't really know what these guys were doing. But I have just recently read about people who try to recruit women for various unsavoury jobs. It may have been a similar situation. I wanted to do something, but what? I guess these women could have complained to a security guard or to the police.

We must have similar people in Canada, I have just never seen them. Perhaps they don't make themselves so obvious. Anyhow, that afternoon left me with an unpleasant feeling inside about the world.

Chocolates from Canada

Thanks Mom and Dad for the chocolates and card and earrings! I just read the God-Math article and it was interesting. I liked the following quote:

"With or without religion, good people will do good, and evil people will do evil. But for good people to do evil, that takes religion."
(Steven Weinberg)

Hand-made Chocolate

One of my cute soon-to-be 8-year old students gave me two truffles, plus two hand-made chocolates, one of which you can see here. It was tasty! I particularly liked the little silver candy beads, which I remember eating when I was a kid.

Thanks N___a!

The Choc-U-Lator!

I can't forget the gift that my sis sent me. It's a choculator!


This smelled so chocolatey when I was opening the wrapper, and I was so disappointed when I realized that I couldn't eat it! But, I now have a choculator, which I didn't have before, and I can't complain about that.

Thanks Kath!

My Valentine Gifts

I was able to relax this Valentine's Day, because in Japan, men don't have to lift a finger... until March 14th, which is White Day, when men return gifts to all the women who gave them gifts. Anyhow, I got some lovely things from my Valentine, as you can see below:

Here you see some fat, arranged in nice shapes and packages.


Here you see a nice brown shirt.


And my favourite gift, a brown watch. Brown! I love it. Who said watches bring bad lu-u-u-u-u-u-u-u-u-c-k....

(Sorry, I just fell out the window.)

Food Police

Yesterday, I was getting ready for my first class when I heard someone's voice through a loudspeaker outside my school window. I ignored it at first, but went over to see what was happening after the second outburst.

I saw three police cars parked behind the Seiyu department/grocery store, and about eight uniformed policemen milling about. One of them opened his car trunk, opened a briefcase, and took out a digital camera. He then marched into the rear entranceway and disappeared out of sight along with the rest of the crew.

I don't have a clue what was going on. Maybe it had something to do with the Chinese food poisoning cases that are surfacing all over Japan. Anybody know?

Some recent meals

You're probably not too interested in hearing about our meals everyday, but here is yet another post related to food.

First, a pepperoncino pasta:



Next, a green Thai curry:



Next, steak and potatoes:



And finally, a red Thai curry, with another Thai dish whose name I'm unsure of:



Thanks Yuu for some delicious meals!!

More snow last week

There was yet more snow in Tokyo last week. This video is from the 3rd. I heard stories of people staying at home because of the snow which made me smile. We got only a few centimetres. In Canada, it would take 50 centimetres to keep us house-bound. Of course, Tokyo doesn't have the snow-clearing capabilities we have in Ontario.

Connections

Yesterday, I realized that I have arms-length relations with some interesting types of people. I know a famous kabuki actor. Through him, I could probably have the wildest parties with all of the other men kabuki actors.


One of my students' best friends is a geisha, and through her (along with wads of cash), I could probably have some pretty wild tea parties and shamisen concerts.


A few of my students have friends who are exceedingly wealthy, having maids and drivers, etc.


One of my students knows a celebrity, although I'm not yet privy to whom.



I've got to start working these connections, so that I can meet with all of these fascinating people, and stumble uncomfortably through broken conversations with them!

Makizushi Dinner

Two nights ago, Yuu-chan made a traditional Japanese dish. I think it has to do with good luck and warding off evil demons. I will let her explain it more accurately in her blog.

The dish is called makizushi (zushi as in sushi) which is rolled sushi containing fish, vegetables, and various other fillings.

First, you cook and cool rice.


Then, you prepare the fish and long strips of various things.


Here you see cucumber, pickled daikon, carrot, crab, and rolled scrambled egg.


Then you lay out a piece of nori seaweed on to the bamboo roller and add a layer of rice plus the fillings.


Then you roll it.


Then you cut it.


Then you lay it out nicely on a plate or two (with soy and wasabi.)


Then you put the leftover filling in a bowl over rice (like donburi).


Then you eat it!

Winter Walk

We wanted to take a nice long snowy walk this afternoon, but we had to cut it short because of all the slush and wet, falling snow. Some young j-hooligans threw a snowball at us, and I returned the throw on our way back past them. They were stunned. We saw this sleepy cat warming him or herself on the side of a house.

See the short video for a view of the snowy outskirts of Tokyo. After last year's snowless winter (except for a brief snowfall at the start of Spring 2007), Tokyoites must be quite surprised.

Oil and Beer

One of my students works in a place where he often gets product samples. Tonight he brought his overflow to the school and presented it to me. Here you see some Suntory "The Premium" beer and some Econa vegetable oil. Thanks, student!!

Australian Geisha

Here's a very interesting article about an Australian woman who claims to be the first foreign geisha in Japan. She's training in Asakusa (a-SAH-k-sa) and has some interesting things to say about Golden's "Something of a Geisha".

Mount Daisen Magic

Why is this magic? Take a look at the photo below. The bothersome telephone pole has been removed, and it was easy as pie! Using FotoFlexer, I was able to easily select the pole and cables, and then sit back and relax as the website tool magically removed them for me. What a joy! If you look closely, there is a slight trace of weirdness in the fixed photo, but it's barely noticeable. I didn't try to get rid of the bottom stuff, although that would have been quite easy too. You should give it a try!