...and then!

(borrowed from the internets)

Am at home sipping on garlic tea waiting for Japan to take on Paraguay (in the World Cup, for those of you who live under a rock). Never thought garlic tea would actually be so...palatable. And no, I don't intend to kill vampires with my breath, just trying to get rid of a very icky sore-throat. errrgh!

All the soccer viewing is taking its toll on me. Have had to miss a few games (gasp!) to ensure that I don't collapse from sleep deprivation. Most were worth the watch but the most memorable so far was probably the 3am rendezvous at a nearby pub to watch the Japan vs Denmark game. Found out upon arrival that one needed to have purchased tickets, and that all tickets were...sold out.

But persistence, sad pouts and 30minutes of lingering around the door batting eyelashes at the doormen got us in...my friend and i ended up being the only foreign females in the place, total foreign population was about 5. Was a real treat! Japan won (shockingly beautiful!) and we saw and met and cheered alongside a lot of soccer-crazy/japan-crazy fans! Then there were also others- high-heels clad, perfectly manicured nails, sipping on their Vodka Cruisers. Great game viewing and awesome people watching. All in all worth the wake!

Otherwise, have about 3 weeks of school left and exams are creeping up slowly (what will turn into shinkansen speed soon). Start an internship at NY Times Tokyo office mid August, pretty excited even though I have no idea what I will be doing. Will find out soon enough. And then there's the planning out of the rest of summer...

And the bus drivers are usually stoned.

Got out of Tokyo for a day about a week ago. The trip was organised by JICA and they put a bunch of us foreigners from Tokyo on a bus to Nagano (which is the inner mountainous area on this island). We were to spend the day with JICA Volunteers soon to be sent off to their respective host countries.

Was nice getting away from the lights and concrete and driving into the green (still slightly snow-capped) mountains. When there, we were put into separate language groups of English, Spanish and French. My group had one volunteer bound for Fiji, two for Palau and two for Rwanda.

On the visiting side there was me and a (spiritual leader) from Mozambique with X's in his name!!! (yes, kaicolo) The Mozambique guy was carrying a stick...which was apparently sacred and would be used as weapons in the old days. It had a rounded top, almost like those old Fiji war clubs. For all its worth, the guy actually forgot it on his chair when he was leaving. I had to yell after him and point to the stick, a little scared to actually touch it myself. Now he owes a random Fijian girl for life. Yes.

We also did some Japanese calligraphy. My work wasn't really worth putting up so am including a pic of the brush instead, a fair trade I would say. I usually write with my paper/book etc placed sideways, when I suggested doing this during the calligraphy lesson I was quickly shushed by disapproving nods. And one needs to have their forearms parallel to the table when writing. ouch! not.my.cup.of.greentea.

During the snack break/reception thing I met with some other volunteers bound for Fiji, 4 in total. They were all asking questions about what to expect and putting their fears to rest (or igniting them further :P )
They asked about the humidity in Suva, the beauty of Sigatoka, if Nadi actually had anything interesting and perhaps the most amusing of all:

"is it true that the buses don't have windows?"

(>_<)

Friday night traditions

Haven't updated in way too long, so will try to do a rough track back...starting with culinary pleasures!!

The last two months or so have been centred around food more than usual. Fridays are now reserved for dinner with Thunder, (who sometimes brings his girlfriend) and Bright Eyes. Thunder lives upstairs in my building and Bright Eyes lives 10minutes away on the bike. Met both during my first week in Japan, we all started off in the same month at the same dorm in Tokyo and then slowly each of us moved out closer to the university. Really great mates, and two of the few I have left in Tokyo.

So Fridays are now the official day to dine and catch up. This usually takes place at a nice and cheap Chinese place (authentic Chinese at a reasonable price is a rare combo here) just up the road from my apartment. Sometimes we walk a bit further in the neighbourhood and try out other eateries we haven't been to. We've tried out a Burmese restaurant and a Kaiten zushi (sushi-go-round) place. The kaiten zushi place was a pain in the neck, literally, as it had one of those order touch screens overhead to punch requests into instead of calling out to the sushi-chef as is the normal practise.

Anyway, last week we opened up the newly formed tradition to outsiders inviting Thunders 2 Chinese language tutors, a Chinese friend of Bright Eyes and my Ukrainian friend who is also studying Chinese. Yes, a very Chinese oriented affair indeed. And what better way to top it off than with some Beijing Duck. Mouth-watering, cheap Beijing Duck. I love food! Here's a crappy pic taken with my fone, I was too busy eating anyways.

Otherwise, have been cooking at home full-time, even I can't believe to what extent! Tried my hand at a proper Japanese style meal with pan-fried salmon, brown rice (the brown bit is my latest obsession), miso soup and tofu splashed with soy sauce. Otherwise the other usuals are spaghetti bolognese, Fiji style chicken curry and roti, chickpea curry, Yaki soba (Japanese style fried noodles) and ummmm... oh! microwave brownies!!! Plus made some Halwa for a potluck on Sunday (where I also had to mix and serve kava to about 20 people, made up of some other Pac Islanders and the rest Japanese).

I think I have written a lot, I need to go make dinner :)

oh, and now that the weather is getting warmer, Friday night traditions usually end with a stroll to the ice-cream place nearby with cheap soft-serves in about 20 different flavours (and run by a Chinese guy from inner Mongolia as we found out last week!)

Itadakimasu