Almost 4 in the morning...

I just finished reading my first ever Murakami novel...

after almost 3 years in Japan,

and then the earth shook.

Coincidence?

no, just another tremor. >_<

Oh Japan, how I look forward to embracing more of you for the next/last two months.

NB: Norwegian Wood (Norway no Mori).

In other news, the packing has begun, poignantly so.
Yet excited about the next adventure too.

The mamachari let go sooner than I would have liked,
got towed to some big yard where all bikes go to rest
which was probably for the best.
Its wrong to be so attached to spokes.
And I had accumulated a lot of bad karma anyway from illegal parking,
amongst other things.

So lost the bike but found the sea.
Yin and yang summer this will be.

(this post was inspired by Dr Seuss,
and two days of delirium due to what I hope is the final cold I will get this season)

Over-efficiency is creepy

This freaked me out.
Gmail is watching...

(Although, I am super thankful for the ingeniousness, I sometimes do forget to attach the intended document to my email.)

A word or two on words

“So avoid using the word ‘very’ because it’s lazy. A man is not very tired, he is exhausted. Don’t use very sad, use morose. Language was invented for one reason, boys - to woo women - and, in that endeavour, laziness will not do. It also won’t do in your essays.” - John Keating, Dead Poet’s Society


Amen. 
A rich vocabulary is sexy.
Sexier than a rich man. 
Communication, being my strength, also becomes my weakness. 
In that the lack of it causes despair.


Or at least thats the reason I attribute the fair many (many many) 'single' months 
in my inactively non-existent "romantic life" to.
My inability to use/understand Japanese nuances in more intimately social situations.


Not that I am complaining. Single is the new blue.
But there were some long and cold winters in between. 
Literally and figuratively. 


Luckily that has finally changed, 
with me gaining a somewhat more comprehensible grasp 
on this (godforsaken/beautiful) language. 
Or perhaps just gaining more confidence knowing I have very little time left in the country.


No, I still am fancy-free, 
but with a newfound appreciation for the local...er, charm.
And about time too!


But alas, we shall see how that turns out later.
For now I must invest my own currently dwindling vocabulary into writing my thesis.
One month to go. 
Cannot.bloody.wait. 

Quote Re-quote

“To laugh often and much; to win the respect of intelligent people and the affection of children; to earn the appreciation of honest critics and to endure the betrayal of false friends. 
To appreciate beauty; to find the best in others; to leave the world a bit better whether by a healthy child, a garden patch, or a redeemed social condition; to know that even one life has breathed easier because you have lived. 
This is to have succeeded.””

- Ralph Waldo Emerson

Phone pics backlog

Realised I hadn't blogged in a while, so figured I should clear the backlog of pics on my phone.

Two birds flock together and all that. (Yes, I like mixing sayings)

My favourite one is: spilt milk under the bridge.
I try to live my life as such so that I never have a need to use that.

So pics:

• Tracked down this ramen place after reading a great review on http://www.goramen.com/

Kururi (くるり）has the best miso ramen I have had in my entire 2.5 years here.

• This is from a Japanese dessert place next to a river, near where I live. Thunder and his (now) fiancee discovered it. It has an array of things: red bean, soft mochi and stuff I don't even really know the names of. But most importantly, they were all super yum.

ice-cream with red bean and mochi etc, green tea and cake?

• This next one was taken at a 'service centre' stop on a random road trip taken in Feb. Service centres are found on the main highways and are for bathroom/ciggy breaks, and to refill on food/drinks. I love the food stalls and different fares that appear depending on where they are located in the country. Tiny octopus' on a grill. It was too early in the morning for me to try it out, so I just took a pic. 

Release the Kraken!

And this was found inside the service centre.. yes, soy-sauce flavoured kit-kat. again, your argument is invalid.

Add caption

...invalid because this country also has Strawberry sandwiches

after-dinner snack on the Shinkansen back from Toyama

Toyama also had tiny squid, this time I actually tried it out. But had enough for my entire lifetime because the tei-shoku (set menu) had tempura squid, pickled squid, ginger squid... you get the idea.

mini-squid overdose

Blurry squid, damn autofocus!