Sunday, December 21, 2008

The Yuzu




How to explain the taste of a yuzu? It's lemon-limey with an orange-influenced grapefruity finish. Let them float in your bath or infuse in hot water with some Manuka honey for a healthy winter tonic (thanks Cinny!). Ground up with chili peppers it makes and wonderfully sinus-cleansing addition to ramen. Last night we squeezed it over cod baked in sesame oil.



I'd give anything if they'd let me bring my little 4-year old yuzu bush to Australia.

Wednesday, December 17, 2008

Product Placement from HELL


I bet you thought America was the worst in the "how many products can we sell through one of our crappy movies" category. Well, Hollywood is king no longer. Here, the tie-ins are so complexly woven together it's difficult to differentiate between entertainment and advertisement. In fact, the only real difference is that the ads are more interesting.


Check this out: the new film "Archipelago of Contagion". It's about some super-flu wiping out the entire population of Japan... and don't forget to buy your anti-virus mask as seen worn by famous actors in the movie! But waitaminit... they all died in the story so doesn't that mean their product is crap???



Kind of reminds me of 9/11 when I was watching the towers falling on Japanese TV and messages kept scrolling across the screen reminding you that Sony and Mitsubishi were sponsors of the program... disaster sells!!!

Tuesday, December 16, 2008

Arts and Craps


The holiday spirit got into me one day and made me go out and buy a bag of oranges and loads of Christmassy spices. I stuck one orange full of cloves, but got bored so stopped there. I wrapped the sticky bugger in butcher's paper and stuck it in a cool dark place - the shoe closet. Welp, one month later I pulled the thing out and it had molded. Bah humbug. Oh - but my shoes now smell of citrusy feet.

Saturday, December 13, 2008

Intoxicating Burmese Milk Tea


Helen sent me a coupla packs of instant Royal Myanmar Tea that I tried yesterday at work. The color was just right and it had a deep, smoky, fermented smell. Unfortunately, it was way too sweet for my taste so I just used it to warm my hands and breathed in the evaporating caffeine. This seemed to work - I was super hyper in the following class... so much so that I heard a student ask their partner "Is the teacher drunk?"

Sunday, December 7, 2008

Blog Stalker Part 2: My Robot Is Pregnant


Some time ago Cindy sent me a link to a video about urban beekeepers. The featured honey-lover mentioned his blog and now, although he gave away his colony of hard-working girls, I still check My Robot Is Pregnant nearly every day.
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Fantastic stories about dumpster-diving, bar fights and hitchiking to New Orleans via Craigslist. Philisophical randomness I find inexplicably pleasing. Some of the comments elicited are the best part. Enjoy.

Monday, November 3, 2008

How safe are you??




Japan is well-known for its safety. A woman can walk alone through the toughest streets of Kabukicho at 3am and have nothing to worry about (save for the occasional mass stabbing and even rarer gassing, but whatever). So why are there all these old men in the train stations up on platforms with yellow armbands that say, in English, "On the alert!"?? The bullet trains and subway monitors also all proclaim "On the alert!".
...
Now even the cleaning ladies in my apartment building are on the alert... the yellow flags on their mop carts say "On safety patrol in the projects".
I suppose I feel a little safer from those stray cats... but what if there's a rhino stampede? No need to worry, they've got plenty of old men with sticks, nets and a bucket ON THE ALERT.

Saturday, October 18, 2008

¡Lo quiero el pulpo!


Misericordia - original designs all handmade in Lima with locally-grown organic cotton. The clothesmakers are paid 35% more than the minimum wage and have superb benefits (including being able to use leftover material to design and make their own clothes and getting 4 weeks paid vacation). This is no sweatshop.
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If my wages were just 35% higher, I'd be able to afford that octopus Tshirt...
(and to continue the Peruvian theme - click on the album cover of Los Hijos del Sol below left)
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Saturday, October 11, 2008

A lovely meal but...

Spinach, yellow peppers and black-bean sprouts swimming in a ginger dressing with loads of lemon, cayenne and sesame seeds. Shockingly spicy, cool and crunchy. Unfortunately, the new $1500 tooth I got yesterday spontaneously split in half just before I tucked in. Thus it took me an hour to gum it all down with the right side of my mouth that's still missing a tooth. Sheesh.

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THen - made a nice cuppa mint tea and went back to the paper I've been working on since 8:00 this morning when, lo and behold, the file was fucked beyond repair!!! Hooray!!! Ten hours and ten pages magically turned into kanji, little squares and gobbledygook...

NO I did not back it up so don't even ask...

Sunday, October 5, 2008

Typhoon of stupidity hits Japan!


This was so ridiculous I had to get out of my sick bed (which I've been languishing in for 5 days) to post this blog. Forgive me if it rambles, it's the medication typing...

ANYWAY... a new fad diet has taken Japan's consumers (aka "sukkaz") by storm. It's something like if you eat a banana in the morning, then you can snarf down bags of pork rinds or whatever and yet miraculously lose weight. Absolutely dumbass. But wait - it gets even better. Last week I couldn't buy bananas because of the throng of people grabbing the little yellow buggers (I am totally serious!). This evening in the supermarket I was met with completely empty trays and this sign (below) apologizing for the banana famine placing the blame on the crazed banana dieters! Oh - and by the way - there's still a bloody butter and parmesan shortage going on thankyouverymuch!!!
gaaaaaa!!!!

Monday, September 22, 2008

Niigata - magical land of beer


And yet another marvelous microbrew from Niigata~ fantastic taste and a cool woodcut print of a cloud to boot. I like the name: Eight Ocean Mountain Spring.
Tragedy is, I can't remember where I bought the damn thing...

Sunday, September 21, 2008

autumnal flavors


No one enjoys the change of seasons more than the Japanese and about every 3 months the consumers are dazzled by new products themed on Spring, Summer, Winter or Autumn. On the left we have the latest seasonally-flavored gum: chestnut.
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I didn't try it.

Thursday, September 18, 2008

Cool n Easy

Bite-sized cubes of raw tuna chilled overnight in a drizzling of sesame seed oil, dry chilis, garlic and sea salt. Pulled out of the icebox and tossed onto a mess of mizuna and quartered, yellow cherry tomatoes.

Dammit! I forgot to add the avocado... :(

(Adapted from Joy's original yummy recipe)

Wednesday, September 17, 2008

Economic Armageddon

Confused about how we got to the Second Great Depression? Ira Glass helps us financial illiterates understand it all on This American Life in the broadcast The Giant Pool of Money.

Monday, September 15, 2008

MicroBottlers



Reduce your carbon footprint, rid the world of too many PET bottles, save money for some solar panels, and wet your whistle all at the same time! TAP'DNY bottled New York City tap water!



We're already doing it right here in Tokyo. Although I admit to filtering it twice before it goes into my bottle.



Monday, September 8, 2008

Separated at birth


Hirano Remi, the domestic goddess of sparkling clean kitchen counters, and the Alaskan governor.


Saturday, September 6, 2008

खाना खाने ठाउँ कहाँ छ?



The good thing about visiting the dentist every week is that there is a fantastic Nepalese curry shop close by. My mouth is usually numb, bleeding or sore, so I get my curry&nan set to go. I get a kick out of the guys who run the place - Tara and Ali. We communicate in half-Japanese and half-English and Tara sometimes speaks German to me - "Ja, sehr gut ja!"

Up at Nojiri, Joy gave me a jar of her homemade rhubarb chutney. It went so well with last night's dahl.

Sunday, August 31, 2008

비빔밥

Shinichi has been on a cooking quest recently, much to my enjoyment (I think he is sick of my uninspiring menu of Italian pastas and Indian curries). Last night was an uber-oishii bibinbap (sprouts, kimch'i, zenmai, spinach, daikon, sesame oil, an onsen egg, and loads of ground black sesame seeds on top of rice) and mozuku (seaweed) soup. I made iced barley tea to help cool us down.

Although we lamented the fact that we didn't have the sizzling stone bowls that make the rice all crunchy on the sides, I think it's still way too hot here to be sitting in front of a molten rock at mealtime.

Wednesday, August 20, 2008

Phantastic Phở


Look what Shinichi made this evening!! Can you see all that crushed red pepper dangerously pooling on top of the sardine dumpling? The steaming rice noodles and fresh coriander? With the windowns open and a typhoon raging outside, it was a phở-king phabulous meal.
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Ok, that's all... you can phởck off now.

Sunday, June 29, 2008

Butter is back! But...





After months of butterless muffin making, my yellow friend has returned to the shelves. However, the sign says each customer is allowed to purchase only one box at a time to avoid "panic buying".

The dairy shortage is pretty serious. First, cheese and butter dissapeared, then all the Cheesecake Factories in Japan closed down, and last week our Baskin-Robbins shut its doors... oh god... summer without ice cream... how will I survive???

Rainy season...

Monday, June 23, 2008

Saturday, June 14, 2008

Kitty wigs




"Pink is the color of fantasy. Our model, Chicken, looks like her mind is elsewhere when she wears this wig -- somewhere in a land of cotton candy and pinwheels where the air smells like sugar kisses."

Monday, June 9, 2008

Chaitén!

Carlos Gutierrez (UPI) took this photo of Mount Chaitén erupting while getting hit by lightning.

Sunday, May 25, 2008

Ay México!


Found a jar of jalapeños at an import shop last week and upon consuming nearly half of the firey little buggers I've been overcome with an acute case of nostalgia for Mexico. Pictured here is one of my favorite buildings in la Ciudad: the chocolate museum ~ unfortunately funded by the evil Nestle company, but at least they have some taste in architecture. Designed by the very young Michel Rojkind.

Saturday, May 17, 2008

Chronic indolence

I was told when I took this job that it was a university where poor attendance was endemic. "Not in my classes it ain't!" I smugly thought (and yes, my complacent inner voice often speaks in double negatives). Well, in spite of a strict - yet fair attendance policy (the kids can email me from their cell phones and I won't count it as an absence/tardiness) I have already failed 8 of the lazy-ass mofos yet we're still three weeks from mid-terms! At least my buddy in the photo has a sense of humor. And for his effort, he was granted clemency.

Friday, April 4, 2008

日本語が好きです!


Feeling determined to pass the Level 2 Japanese Proficiency Test this coming December, I decided to spend the afternoon studying kanji... well, not determined so much as guilt-ridden for spending 6000yen on a box of 1000 kanji flashcards... but ANYWAY, I got discouraged and wondered why I should memorize all those complex symbols when I rarely need to read them. I decided to take a break and went to the supermarket. As I was letting myself back in the front door, I noticed these three small stickers on my doorbell; apparently explaining what the different alarm sounds mean.
The top decal, 「ピッピッ」, means that when you hear a "pee-pee" alarm, there is a gas leak. Yikes.
The middle 「ウーウー」 alarm goes: "Oooooo~Oooooo~" and, if my kanji isn't failing me, it means there is a faulty obi (kimono sash) somewhere. Hmmmm.
The third one I dread hearing the most. It says 「ピー」 (a constant "Peeee~") and has 4 very angry-looking kanji underneath - two of which mean "harm" or "injury". You hear this? You run.

Monday, March 31, 2008

Cazwell



This guy ain't short on razzmatazm, but being a fan of The Electric Company can be exhausticatin'.

Friday, March 21, 2008

This summer's frozen cocktail~

Frozen mango, passionfruit juice and lychee liqueur. Jeezus, Josheph and Mary it's good! Yes, I know it's not summer yet... and yes, I am sitting shivering in woolen cap and scarf in front of the heater drinking it... but there's some summer right here in this plastic polka-dot martini glass man!!

Thursday, March 20, 2008

EduPorn and the War on テロ



Canadian high-school senior Arman Noory made a video about America's "War on Terror" for his politics class' final project. He used a 1981 porn flick and dubbed his own voice to explain the war. Fantastic. Check it out here.

Thanks BoingBoing!


p.s. the board game pictured is so on my wish list... comes with balaclavas!!!

春分の日 Shunbun no hi

Yesterday I spent most of the warm sunny afternoon cleaning the garden and porch. I found a new tree which I replanted and six spider sisters hiding in the pile of leaves under the tatami room window. I gently swept the future mosquito eaters into the monkey grass, watered the ash trees and even hosed down the unbelievably filthy walls. All this spring cleaning just in time for the vernal equinox. Today we share the same amount of light and darkness as our friends down under - kinda nice innit? But from here on out I'm taking more of the light for myself! Mwah ha ha ha ha!

Shouldn't have gloated... today it's cold and rainy.

Wednesday, March 19, 2008

I need a hug...

Australian Juan Mann started the Free Hugs Campaign in 2006 and, thanks to Sydney band Sick Puppies' music video "All the Same", it's become a worldwide 'phenomenon'.


Check out the videos of people giving away hugs from all over the planet here and here. I loved seeing the differences between peoples' reactions in places like China, Mexico, Japan and Brazil.


I saw the free huggers in Harajuku the other week. But being Harajuku, it was of course cosplay hugging...



Sunday, March 16, 2008

WWOOF!



I recently joined WWOOF - an international group of volunteers, hosts and organizations promoting sustainable living. Basically, farmers act as hosts for volunteers who go and work on their farms in exchange for food, lodging and education about organic farming. After a couple of years of reading up on beekeeping, I am itching to get some hands-on experience. There are two beekeepers near Tokyo that I am hoping will accept me for a couple of weekends this spring!!!

Once I get my own hives and am able to produce some high-quality wildflower honey, I can start brewing rice-based honey beer just like they did in Henan, China 9,000 years ago. Unfortunately, Chateau Jihau beat me to it.

Friday, March 14, 2008

Mmmmm... nice aloma!

All the way from Otaru, Hokkaido comes this gorgeous little pilsner made with all organic ingredients and "aloma" hops. They also make a dunkel that I have yet to try. Best part is - it's 40yen cheaper than the leading brands!
Am currently looking for gluten-free beer as I may have sprue. Found some sorgum beers in the States but the only "100% rice beer" I have found here actually contains wheat... hunh?

Sunday, February 3, 2008

El Matador


Thursday, January 31, 2008

Wednesday, January 23, 2008

Black soybean pasta

In an attempt to cut down on my gluten intake (long story) I got some organic black-soybean pasta from Alishan and cooked it up with a tomato-garlic sauce and a dash of Parmesan. The taste is so mild as to be undetectable... but the texture is fantastically like cheese! Nothing like the coarse whole-wheat pasta I'm used to (which is good too btw).

Monday, January 21, 2008

refresh!

After the bible pr0n I thought we might need to look at something nice. These are the flowers Shinichi gave me for my birthday last July. Lovely to have on this unusually cloudy and blustery morning.

Saturday, January 19, 2008

Bible pr0n

In every bedside table drawer in every hotel room in Japan there is a bible and a guide to the pay-per-porn on TV. Judging by frayed corners and greasy fingerprints all over the latter, it isn't too difficult to guess just how much prayin' is going on.

Monday, January 14, 2008

Redemption???



Hopefully this makes up for last night's dinner disaster. A crunchy-crusted honey oat sunflower seed bread made from buckwheat flour. How does it taste? Dunno... still cooling on the rack.