Abre los Ojos

Pretty creepy...
Great movie tho, so much better than the dumbed-downed remake with our least favorite height-challenged Scientologist (not that I know who my favoirte person in this category is).

What the fuck?! (moment #312)

You can't buy envelopes at post offices in Japan.
I went to the post office today after school, and because I was in a rush I just brought the documents themselves and decided to purchase the envelopes there. But alas, the woman at the post office matter-of-factly pointed out to me that they don't have envelopes at the post office. After she told me this twice I sorted of tilted my head to one side, furrowed my brow, and was like, "What the fuck?!"
But then I came home (I'm forgetting to mention I got off at 1 because I had no classes) and had an apple and felt much better about Japan. The apples during late fall and winter are unbelievably good. They're like better than candy.

Recipe #2

Spinach Salad with Lotus Root, Egg and Tomato
Pretty much just like it sounds.
Dressing from the bottle: Mushroom
Make your own dressing: Miso sauce, soy, ginger, bit of oil (more precise measurements to follow, cuz this dressing kicks ass!)
Lotus root is awesome! Like water chesnuts, but even crispier and more refreshing. Perfect for salads. Also good for soups, or just snacking dipped in soy, or whatever else.
Guess what I had for lunch today...

ELECTRAGLIDE. Pretty much the biggest party ever. 20,000 people. 1 massive venue.
I went this past Friday with Bob from Gunma and his mates. Aside from the fact that I forgot my 9,000-yen ticket I had a killer time.
I met up with Bob and his friends at Tokyo station and one of them jokingly asked, "Bob, got your ticket?" And he was like, "No. I forgot it. Hahaha." And then they were like, "Forget yours, April, hahaha." And then I got this sickish feeling as a picture of my ticket, still magneted to my refridgerator--where I had put it thinking it would be a visible, obvious place--crystallized in my head. To make a long story short, after the guys stuck by my side for about half an hour as I talked to the people at the ticket booth (their plan was to make the ticket people think we weren't leaving until they gave me a ticket, and it basically worked) I struck a deal with ticket sellers to get the money from my original ticket, which was now cozying up with my fridge, refunded after I bought a new one. Disaster averted, serious monetary loss *hopefully* avoided.
Once safely inside the massive complex things went off without a hitch. Underworld (a.k.a. Tomato) played a rockin 3 hour set, and aside from the highly suspect dancing (not to mention the white, frilly suit) of one of the Tomatos, all in all it was thoroughly enjoyable. How cool to be able to dance and sing along with 20,000 other people to "Born Slippy." Pretty damn cool.
But the highlight for me was definitely Vitalic. That dude's set was well, for lack of a better phrase, off the hook. It was pure booty-shakin for an hour, non-stop.
I hadn't been to a party like this since freshman year of college, and aside from seeming noticeably older nothing was too different. The crowd as a whole was older than when I was going to raves (I remember feeling like an old-foggie when I was 19 because there were so many damn 13-year-olds at the parties in Austin). And everyone was super chilled out. You take an American crowd that size at an event like that and I have a feeling some things would have gotten out of hand. But although the venue was crowded we all had room to dance in true P.L.U.R. fashion. And the hundreds of Japanese kids sleeping all over the place proved yet again that Japanese people really can sleep anywhere.
Close to 6 a.m. we were sweaty, tired and tired, and so we headed out.

Hello, Donatella, I've decided to go with the Gucci. No hard feelings though, I still think you're great!

Sarah does Japan! Sarah and I had an absolutely fabulous time while she was here. We stayed at the Westin in Ebisu for 4 nights and it was like being on vacation for me. That hotel was so swank, when I got back from my jog a doorman handed me an ice-cold bottle of water and a refreshingly chilly wet towel. Sweet!

The Super Healthy, Super Easy, Pseudo Vegetarian Cookbook

So I've had a brilliant idea for a cookbook. Well, you might not think it's brilliant but listen to the first recipe:

Kabocha (Japanese Pumpkin) Soup with Sweet Potato Medallions
Bake sweet potatoes, thin ones are best
After pots are done baking, slice into medallions 1/4 inch thick
Pumpkin soup:
Saute garlic and onions
Add thinly sliced kabocha, 3 chicken bullion cubes, 2-3 cups water
Simmer for 20ish minutes
Put mixture into blender, add milk, blend
Put back on pot, add salt and pepper
(If you can get your hands on it, add some shirataki to the soup...this makes this soup ridiculously healthy. Please google shirataki if you don't know what it is. I predict it, and konyaku, will be the Next Big Thing within the next 5 years.
Now, sprinkle Parmesan cheese on your medallions and broil for a couple minutes.
Dip medallions in soup. Enjoy!
(now I never said I was Martha Stewart, cuz her ass got fired, but remember the title of the cookbook.

FYI, for an appetizer I had apple-vanilla bean jam (Yamaoka-san, the home-ec teacher made for me)on saltines (wonderful salty/sweet combo!) and for dessert I'm going to have the lemon-pistachio biscotti Sarah King made me. I understand not everyone is as spoiled as me, that's why I'm not including them in the book. I also doubt they'd fall under the "super easy" heading.

Look for more recipes. If you try them and like them, please let me know. If you don't, keep it to your self; nobody likes a whinger. Basically I think I'll fill my cookbook with the stuff I make in Japan, which always involves less than 15 minutes prep time.
Why I'm working on a cookbook instead of my grad apps is none of your damn business.

Miyuki, Narisada-san, and Bun-chan.

I finally got to wear the horse mask!! One of the adult classes I teach had a welcome party for the 2 new ALTs and we had it at my favorite restaurant in Koga, Dalwhinnie. The very first time I went there I spotted their crazy stash of masks and hoped that one day I would be drinking with the right Japanese people in order to have the honor of wearing the horse mask. That day finally came.

Turning Japanese, oh yes I'm turning Japanese...

And I thought I had been a lot of places...

...still got a ways to go. (Thanks for the cool link Jon!)


create your own visited country map

And now for my close-up

Halloween. Thanks to Sarah my dream to be piglet was finally realized. P-p-p-retty c-c-c-ute, ne? (Sarah amazingly made the whole costume herself. You rock sweetie!)