Just testing out the photo option. :P
Monday, December 11, 2006
Sunday, December 03, 2006
Namba is on crack.
This is going to be a little long. Fair warning.
We've been spending a fair amount of time in Namba on our off days, in the middle of Osaka, and it is insane. In a cool way. I can't really describe it adequately, as the bright lights, neverending shopping alleys, and ridiculous numbers of pachinko parlors, arcades, and internet cafes have to be seen to be believed, but it's fun roaming around in it. There are random street promoters all over the place with bullhorns, as well as cell phone places on every block.
And, in the midst of it, joy of joys, I found a MUJI store, which makes me all kinds of design-happy. It's like an upscale Japanese IKEA, and who doesn't love that? If you want to take a look, MoMA's website sells stuff from it. Besides, I think that's the only place thus far where I've seen bras that don't have two inches of padding on the inside. To quote Aaron: "Well, it's extremely unlikely I'll cheat on you here!" Apparently, his only criteria for cheating on me are huge breasts, which don't appear to exist in Japan so much :P. However, I do find there to be an unexpected abundance of skanky boots.
On the topic of foodery: Aaron and I bought some kind of delicious potato/taro fried thing as a snack during our first week here, and it's become a slight addiction, as have takoyaki (fried octopus balls). They're pretty cheap, but while the basic premise remains the same (octopus piece, in a perfect circle of batter), the toppings change, which can drastically alter your enjoyment. The first ones we had were only all right by my standards – I would have preferred them without the dusting of dried ginger and bonito flakes on top, but Aaron was pretty happy with them. Conversely, I was really happy with the ones we bought near the house, which had aioli on top. The other famous street food here is okonomiyaki, of which we've had a few. Basically, it's a very eggy crepe, filled with cooked cabbage, occasionally meat, onion, and even more egg, and then flipped in half and served with teriyaki sauce (I think) drizzled over it. Aaron and I are both amazed that the Japanese have such long life spans, considering the sheer amount of deep frying and abundant mayonnaise we're seeing here (and actually attempting to avoid). And good god, I'm really hankering for something spicy - Japanese food as a whole is extraordinarily bland. We have eaten a fair amount of ramen though, and that's good in general, and excellent once you add a few heaping spoons of garlic paste and chili oil.
Mainly though, we've been cooking dinner at home, for both flavor and cost considerations. For Thanksgiving, I pan-roasted some chicken and made mashed potatoes and salad, but it was definitely nowhere close to being home. I've also made a lot of good ol'-fashioned spaghetti bolognese, as the Japanese conception of Italian food includes a lot more sugar than I was really expecting. And! I got lucky, and found a place that sold nuoc mam (mmm, fish sauce) and managed to produce a pretty good bun thit nuong one night.
I'm going to try and do some more research so that I can find the ingredients I need to produce a more varied menu, as I think both Aaron and I miss the ease of eating different cuisines. Reasonably authentic European/American/other Asian cuisine of any kind is hard to come by here, although I have high hopes for a place in Shinsaibashi called Mekong, which is supposedly Vietnamese-owned Vietnamese.
We've also eaten a fair amount of sushi, from a kaitenzushi – conveyor belt sushi! For the two of us, it was 1820-yen, which is like, 16.50 US. Ridiculously cheap, comparatively speaking. And obviously, the fish quality was excellent. Also went shopping at the Tokyu Hands department store in Shinsaibashi, which was comprehensive but expensive. We're still looking for recycle shops to buy things from, but we've found an excellent 100-yen shop in Namba, called Daiso. It's a five-floor dollar store, with ACTUALLY COOL THINGS.
You're not going to guess how much a rice cooker costs. Seriously. I can't imagine what kind of bells and whistles can propel the price of a rice cooker to 68600-yen – about $600 USD. Crazy! If I'd known that the cheapest model would be approximately $70 bucks, I'd have bought one at Costco and shipped it over. Luckily, we did find one at the Costco here that was reasonable, and very large, for all my rice cookin' needs. I do believe that one's coming home with us, though. Namba is a 200-yen, 10 minute train ride away from Tezukayama. It's amazing how punctual the trains here are.
Aaron and I have also "previewed" Nara with Norm and Valerie, who are another couple in our training group, and just as much geeky fun. Nara was the capital of Japan during the Heian period. It's pretty cool - there 's a five-story pagoda there, and maaaaany temples. Unfortunately, it was monstrously rainy and dark the day we were there, so we didn't really explore to the fullest extent - hence the "previewing".
Other than that, we've finally finished basic training and will start teaching on Tuesday! Training was hardcore - it basically amounted to being in class for six hours a day, and then having like, an hour of homework/demo preparation at home afterwards. It wasn't entirely horrific, although one trainer did inform us that he thought we were the worst group they've had "since April." I think he was mainly using scare tactics, since we were subsequently all signed to contracts. To celebrate the end of training, we all went out last night (after training, obviously), and had drinks and "faux-Cajun" food at a jazz bar in "American Village" (Ame-mura!). It was pretty fun for the most part, and America-mura is really funny - very trendy and "American", in that there's a replica of the Statue of Liberty standing atop one of the tallest buildings in that section of Osaka.
All in all, I think we're adjusting for the most part, although there are some titchy lifestyle things that are mind-boggling (like washers, but no dryers?). I miss you guys aplenty. Give a call if you feel like talking - now that our internet is up and running, Skype is pretty much on all the time.
Also, if anyone's interested, Aaron got a new haircut and looks...well, not very Japanese as that's nigh-unto impossible, but certainly very anime character-ish. I'm loving the faux-hawk that the stylist gave him :P
I'll have pictures up later. Right now, I'm just trying to figure out how to get LJ's hosting service and Blogger to talk happily to each other :P
We've been spending a fair amount of time in Namba on our off days, in the middle of Osaka, and it is insane. In a cool way. I can't really describe it adequately, as the bright lights, neverending shopping alleys, and ridiculous numbers of pachinko parlors, arcades, and internet cafes have to be seen to be believed, but it's fun roaming around in it. There are random street promoters all over the place with bullhorns, as well as cell phone places on every block.
And, in the midst of it, joy of joys, I found a MUJI store, which makes me all kinds of design-happy. It's like an upscale Japanese IKEA, and who doesn't love that? If you want to take a look, MoMA's website sells stuff from it. Besides, I think that's the only place thus far where I've seen bras that don't have two inches of padding on the inside. To quote Aaron: "Well, it's extremely unlikely I'll cheat on you here!" Apparently, his only criteria for cheating on me are huge breasts, which don't appear to exist in Japan so much :P. However, I do find there to be an unexpected abundance of skanky boots.
On the topic of foodery: Aaron and I bought some kind of delicious potato/taro fried thing as a snack during our first week here, and it's become a slight addiction, as have takoyaki (fried octopus balls). They're pretty cheap, but while the basic premise remains the same (octopus piece, in a perfect circle of batter), the toppings change, which can drastically alter your enjoyment. The first ones we had were only all right by my standards – I would have preferred them without the dusting of dried ginger and bonito flakes on top, but Aaron was pretty happy with them. Conversely, I was really happy with the ones we bought near the house, which had aioli on top. The other famous street food here is okonomiyaki, of which we've had a few. Basically, it's a very eggy crepe, filled with cooked cabbage, occasionally meat, onion, and even more egg, and then flipped in half and served with teriyaki sauce (I think) drizzled over it. Aaron and I are both amazed that the Japanese have such long life spans, considering the sheer amount of deep frying and abundant mayonnaise we're seeing here (and actually attempting to avoid). And good god, I'm really hankering for something spicy - Japanese food as a whole is extraordinarily bland. We have eaten a fair amount of ramen though, and that's good in general, and excellent once you add a few heaping spoons of garlic paste and chili oil.
Mainly though, we've been cooking dinner at home, for both flavor and cost considerations. For Thanksgiving, I pan-roasted some chicken and made mashed potatoes and salad, but it was definitely nowhere close to being home. I've also made a lot of good ol'-fashioned spaghetti bolognese, as the Japanese conception of Italian food includes a lot more sugar than I was really expecting. And! I got lucky, and found a place that sold nuoc mam (mmm, fish sauce) and managed to produce a pretty good bun thit nuong one night.
I'm going to try and do some more research so that I can find the ingredients I need to produce a more varied menu, as I think both Aaron and I miss the ease of eating different cuisines. Reasonably authentic European/American/other Asian cuisine of any kind is hard to come by here, although I have high hopes for a place in Shinsaibashi called Mekong, which is supposedly Vietnamese-owned Vietnamese.
We've also eaten a fair amount of sushi, from a kaitenzushi – conveyor belt sushi! For the two of us, it was 1820-yen, which is like, 16.50 US. Ridiculously cheap, comparatively speaking. And obviously, the fish quality was excellent. Also went shopping at the Tokyu Hands department store in Shinsaibashi, which was comprehensive but expensive. We're still looking for recycle shops to buy things from, but we've found an excellent 100-yen shop in Namba, called Daiso. It's a five-floor dollar store, with ACTUALLY COOL THINGS.
You're not going to guess how much a rice cooker costs. Seriously. I can't imagine what kind of bells and whistles can propel the price of a rice cooker to 68600-yen – about $600 USD. Crazy! If I'd known that the cheapest model would be approximately $70 bucks, I'd have bought one at Costco and shipped it over. Luckily, we did find one at the Costco here that was reasonable, and very large, for all my rice cookin' needs. I do believe that one's coming home with us, though. Namba is a 200-yen, 10 minute train ride away from Tezukayama. It's amazing how punctual the trains here are.
Aaron and I have also "previewed" Nara with Norm and Valerie, who are another couple in our training group, and just as much geeky fun. Nara was the capital of Japan during the Heian period. It's pretty cool - there 's a five-story pagoda there, and maaaaany temples. Unfortunately, it was monstrously rainy and dark the day we were there, so we didn't really explore to the fullest extent - hence the "previewing".
Other than that, we've finally finished basic training and will start teaching on Tuesday! Training was hardcore - it basically amounted to being in class for six hours a day, and then having like, an hour of homework/demo preparation at home afterwards. It wasn't entirely horrific, although one trainer did inform us that he thought we were the worst group they've had "since April." I think he was mainly using scare tactics, since we were subsequently all signed to contracts. To celebrate the end of training, we all went out last night (after training, obviously), and had drinks and "faux-Cajun" food at a jazz bar in "American Village" (Ame-mura!). It was pretty fun for the most part, and America-mura is really funny - very trendy and "American", in that there's a replica of the Statue of Liberty standing atop one of the tallest buildings in that section of Osaka.
All in all, I think we're adjusting for the most part, although there are some titchy lifestyle things that are mind-boggling (like washers, but no dryers?). I miss you guys aplenty. Give a call if you feel like talking - now that our internet is up and running, Skype is pretty much on all the time.
Also, if anyone's interested, Aaron got a new haircut and looks...well, not very Japanese as that's nigh-unto impossible, but certainly very anime character-ish. I'm loving the faux-hawk that the stylist gave him :P
I'll have pictures up later. Right now, I'm just trying to figure out how to get LJ's hosting service and Blogger to talk happily to each other :P
Tuesday, November 21, 2006
First Entreeeeeeeee
Bloggin' about Japan for the year and some change that we intend to be here. Pictures, etc. are forthcoming, but for now, I'll be updating with the scribbles I wrote the first couple days we were here.
Local Date: November 12, 2006 (Heisei 18, if you use the Emperor system). Local Time: 12:37 p.m., Osaka, Japan.
Soooooo we’re in Japan now – have been for about two days, and we’ve been a little plagued by false starts. First of all, that guy at the American Airlines counter was being a total douchebag because my computer DEFINITELY would have fit in both the overhead compartments and underneath seats (we measured). Secondly, also on the note of how he was a huge douchebag and I will punch him when I see him next, customs would have been fine checking it, as they didn’t even turn on Aaron’s computer – just x-rayed it and wiped it for explosives residue. And he can’t even open his computer up the way I can!!! So if anyone knows how to ship a computer to Japan, pleeeease speak up, because I’m feeling pretty bereft right now L. Parental units, I’ll try and figure it out and send you guys the money for it (stupid f-ing guy!).
The flight over was fairly uneventful, although I have to say (and I’m sure Aaron agrees with me) that American Airlines has some of the worst airline food (and worst staffers) ever. I didn’t take any pictures, but trust me, there’s no way that the shrimp faux-sushi they served as an “appetizer” was anywhere close to edible. The only eventful things happened when we were on lay-overs. For example, at Dallas/Ft. Worth, Aaron reaaaaaally really really wanted to take the Skyline monorail thingie around the airport. So we did, and discovered that’s actually a really cool-looking airport.
When we touched down at Tokyo, I was already pretty wiped out and irritable (largely because I WANT MY DAMN COMPUTER), but we hopped on a bus to Haneda from Narita, and met a couple of American military guys, one who looked about 32, and one that seemed even younger than Aaron and I and was regaling us with stories about his two-year old daughter and his myriad tattoos. He both looked and sounded like Jay, from all the Kevin Smith movies. I was just waiting for him to break out with “Noishe, noishe, noishe, schmokin’ weed, schmokin’ weed…” haha. The other guy was pretty quiet. They were both headed to Okinawa to return to base after visits home.
The bus to Haneda took about an hour, which wasn’t bad, and the nice thing about it is that people at Narita checked our luggage for us under the bus, and then when we got to Haneda, they offloaded our suitcases and checked us back out. Very efficient, although I was very concerned for all these tiny Japanese men lugging my 70-lb. suitcases about! Seriously, the rumors are true: the Japanese are teeny-tiny. I feel positively enormous next to most people, especially the boys! And I think this has to be the first time Aaron’s ever been on the tall end in any society :P.
Plane ride to Osaka took an hour, and then FINALLY, we were here at about 10 p.m. locally. We missed the Nankai Rapido Beta train we were supposed to take to Tengachaya, so in a fit of desperation (I needed a shower, so badly), Aaron and I hopped onto a local train. Mustering up as much Japanese as I could remember after 25 hours of travel, I approached a man in a suit and endeavored to ask him if the train went to Tengachaya. It did, but in a conversation consisting of his broken English, my broken Japanese, and drawing on the back of one of his papers, he managed to convey to me that at Izumisano Station, Aaron and I should switch to an express line to get there faster. The dear man even got off the train with us at Izumisano, walked us over to the correct train, and rode with us for a bit until he was sure we understood.
We hit Tengachaya at 11, located Patrick (our housing agent with Apollo Properties) loaded the two suitcases we weren’t having delivered by PASCO (a baggage delivery service ECC paid for) into the van, and took off for our new apartment. More on PASCO later…
Patrick was kind enough to show us around the neighborhood first before dropping us off, so that we’d know where the 24-hr. supermarket and other such things were. After signing the apartment contract and turning over the monies, the apartment was ours. It’s an all-right place – pretty clean, albeit a little dusty, which sent Aaron into a cleaning spasm pretty much immediately. It’s bigger than I thought it would be, and there’s plenty of storage, which will help a lot. There are a couple of things we don’t really appreciate, like our bizarre and somewhat uncomfortable pleather couch, so Aaron and I are going to endeavor to get a cheapie couch from like, IKEA, to replace it.
We’ve had some issues with the baggage delivery service, as it’s taken two days for them to deliver our other two suitcases when it should only have been one. That’s been a little annoying. Especially as we spent all of yesterday waiting for the bags without them arriving, thereby preventing us from going grocery shopping or going out to get cell phones, etc. But, as of today, we’ve ordered our internet and cable, to be installed next Sunday, met our neighbors, who are from Jersey and also working for ECC, and seem to be really nice (and so helpful thus far!!!), and we’re hopeful that we will in fact get our baggage at two, allowing us to finish unpacking and actually feel more settled in. At least, that’s the plan. After that, we think we’ll take the Nankai Koya train into Namba, do a little appliances shopping for a rice cooker, buy a couple of bikes to get around on, and FINALLY do some grocery shopping.
As I expected, the adrenaline fright of moving away from home has worn off a little bit now that I’m here, which is NOT to say I don’t miss you all very much. In fact, I miss you guys a ridiculous amount, and wish you were all here to share the experience :P. But, I think my type-A has re-asserted itself, and dictates that I adapt to my surroundings as quickly as possible rather than whinge about, being useless. After all, training starts on Thursday ::bites nails::.
Odd notes: the 24-hr. supermarket looks like it belongs in Vegas.
I did in fact bring 14 pairs of shoes with me, which surprises even me. :P
There are two bathrooms: one with an American-style toilet, and one with our shower and extra-deep tub.
I found hair SOAP at Whole Foods, which I brought with me, and it’s pretty awesome.
I’ll post pictures of the apartment soon, probably after I decorate a little. It’s somewhat Spartan at the moment. And seriously, if anyone can help me (and my parents!) out and FedEx/UPS/Post Office it, whatever’s cheap and relatively fast…(like, a week, two weeks?) my compy here, I’ll love you forever. Compy, keyboard, mouse, and if possible, a lan cable. Please don’t forget my power cord to the computer. Probably ought be insured for like, $1200 US. Just email me and let me know who’s doing it, and I will…write a check, do a bank transfer, whatevs. I’m typing on Aaron’s laptop at the moment, and it’s just not the same as having my big ‘ol PC with iTunes and AIM running in the background. :P Besides, he gets uppity when I check CuteOverload too much. Keeps babbling about spyware and such, the big wuss.
Local Date: November 12, 2006 (Heisei 18, if you use the Emperor system). Local Time: 12:37 p.m., Osaka, Japan.
Soooooo we’re in Japan now – have been for about two days, and we’ve been a little plagued by false starts. First of all, that guy at the American Airlines counter was being a total douchebag because my computer DEFINITELY would have fit in both the overhead compartments and underneath seats (we measured). Secondly, also on the note of how he was a huge douchebag and I will punch him when I see him next, customs would have been fine checking it, as they didn’t even turn on Aaron’s computer – just x-rayed it and wiped it for explosives residue. And he can’t even open his computer up the way I can!!! So if anyone knows how to ship a computer to Japan, pleeeease speak up, because I’m feeling pretty bereft right now L. Parental units, I’ll try and figure it out and send you guys the money for it (stupid f-ing guy!).
The flight over was fairly uneventful, although I have to say (and I’m sure Aaron agrees with me) that American Airlines has some of the worst airline food (and worst staffers) ever. I didn’t take any pictures, but trust me, there’s no way that the shrimp faux-sushi they served as an “appetizer” was anywhere close to edible. The only eventful things happened when we were on lay-overs. For example, at Dallas/Ft. Worth, Aaron reaaaaaally really really wanted to take the Skyline monorail thingie around the airport. So we did, and discovered that’s actually a really cool-looking airport.
When we touched down at Tokyo, I was already pretty wiped out and irritable (largely because I WANT MY DAMN COMPUTER), but we hopped on a bus to Haneda from Narita, and met a couple of American military guys, one who looked about 32, and one that seemed even younger than Aaron and I and was regaling us with stories about his two-year old daughter and his myriad tattoos. He both looked and sounded like Jay, from all the Kevin Smith movies. I was just waiting for him to break out with “Noishe, noishe, noishe, schmokin’ weed, schmokin’ weed…” haha. The other guy was pretty quiet. They were both headed to Okinawa to return to base after visits home.
The bus to Haneda took about an hour, which wasn’t bad, and the nice thing about it is that people at Narita checked our luggage for us under the bus, and then when we got to Haneda, they offloaded our suitcases and checked us back out. Very efficient, although I was very concerned for all these tiny Japanese men lugging my 70-lb. suitcases about! Seriously, the rumors are true: the Japanese are teeny-tiny. I feel positively enormous next to most people, especially the boys! And I think this has to be the first time Aaron’s ever been on the tall end in any society :P.
Plane ride to Osaka took an hour, and then FINALLY, we were here at about 10 p.m. locally. We missed the Nankai Rapido Beta train we were supposed to take to Tengachaya, so in a fit of desperation (I needed a shower, so badly), Aaron and I hopped onto a local train. Mustering up as much Japanese as I could remember after 25 hours of travel, I approached a man in a suit and endeavored to ask him if the train went to Tengachaya. It did, but in a conversation consisting of his broken English, my broken Japanese, and drawing on the back of one of his papers, he managed to convey to me that at Izumisano Station, Aaron and I should switch to an express line to get there faster. The dear man even got off the train with us at Izumisano, walked us over to the correct train, and rode with us for a bit until he was sure we understood.
We hit Tengachaya at 11, located Patrick (our housing agent with Apollo Properties) loaded the two suitcases we weren’t having delivered by PASCO (a baggage delivery service ECC paid for) into the van, and took off for our new apartment. More on PASCO later…
Patrick was kind enough to show us around the neighborhood first before dropping us off, so that we’d know where the 24-hr. supermarket and other such things were. After signing the apartment contract and turning over the monies, the apartment was ours. It’s an all-right place – pretty clean, albeit a little dusty, which sent Aaron into a cleaning spasm pretty much immediately. It’s bigger than I thought it would be, and there’s plenty of storage, which will help a lot. There are a couple of things we don’t really appreciate, like our bizarre and somewhat uncomfortable pleather couch, so Aaron and I are going to endeavor to get a cheapie couch from like, IKEA, to replace it.
We’ve had some issues with the baggage delivery service, as it’s taken two days for them to deliver our other two suitcases when it should only have been one. That’s been a little annoying. Especially as we spent all of yesterday waiting for the bags without them arriving, thereby preventing us from going grocery shopping or going out to get cell phones, etc. But, as of today, we’ve ordered our internet and cable, to be installed next Sunday, met our neighbors, who are from Jersey and also working for ECC, and seem to be really nice (and so helpful thus far!!!), and we’re hopeful that we will in fact get our baggage at two, allowing us to finish unpacking and actually feel more settled in. At least, that’s the plan. After that, we think we’ll take the Nankai Koya train into Namba, do a little appliances shopping for a rice cooker, buy a couple of bikes to get around on, and FINALLY do some grocery shopping.
As I expected, the adrenaline fright of moving away from home has worn off a little bit now that I’m here, which is NOT to say I don’t miss you all very much. In fact, I miss you guys a ridiculous amount, and wish you were all here to share the experience :P. But, I think my type-A has re-asserted itself, and dictates that I adapt to my surroundings as quickly as possible rather than whinge about, being useless. After all, training starts on Thursday ::bites nails::.
Odd notes: the 24-hr. supermarket looks like it belongs in Vegas.
I did in fact bring 14 pairs of shoes with me, which surprises even me. :P
There are two bathrooms: one with an American-style toilet, and one with our shower and extra-deep tub.
I found hair SOAP at Whole Foods, which I brought with me, and it’s pretty awesome.
I’ll post pictures of the apartment soon, probably after I decorate a little. It’s somewhat Spartan at the moment. And seriously, if anyone can help me (and my parents!) out and FedEx/UPS/Post Office it, whatever’s cheap and relatively fast…(like, a week, two weeks?) my compy here, I’ll love you forever. Compy, keyboard, mouse, and if possible, a lan cable. Please don’t forget my power cord to the computer. Probably ought be insured for like, $1200 US. Just email me and let me know who’s doing it, and I will…write a check, do a bank transfer, whatevs. I’m typing on Aaron’s laptop at the moment, and it’s just not the same as having my big ‘ol PC with iTunes and AIM running in the background. :P Besides, he gets uppity when I check CuteOverload too much. Keeps babbling about spyware and such, the big wuss.
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