travelling cupcakes

a relocation

2011-11-20T15:06:00.002Z

I love how Blogger reminds you when you last blogged when you log into the dashboard page. 3 June - over 5 months ago :-(

I've relocated to WordPress! Hopefully I will do better with this one...

Break point

2011-06-03T22:18:00.003+01:00

I had planned to watch Sleepless in Seattle tonight (to complement You've Got Mail from two nights ago), instead I spent most of the day watching the most exciting tennis in many years. Nadal vs Murray was already quite exciting, but it's the Federer-Djokovic match that (almost) stopped my heart. It was simply phenomenal. Both players were playing exceptionally well; the rallies were thrilling and there were plenty of magical shots flying across court.

If Nadal and Federer continue to play like they did today, then it might be time for Federer to de-throne Nadal at Roland Garros. Nadal hasn't been playing his best and Federer is getting back on form, and if Federer wins on Sunday, it'll be the biggest win of his career since beating Pete Sampras in the 4th round of Wimbledon in 2001.

I'm quite looking forward to tomorrow's women's final. Li Na has already proved that she's capable of winning a grand slam (runner-up at the Australian Open in January; lost to the then-unstoppable Kim Clijsters). But even still I think Francesca Schiavone might have the edge. She's the defending champion and has already shown how well her game is suited to the clay court. Li, on the other hand, is mainly a baseline player with a very powerful forehand that is perhaps better suited to the hard court. If Li wins tomorrow - on 4th June - it would be a historical date to remember for China. I wonder what's her view on the incident from 22 years ago...

A Single Man

2011-06-02T23:17:00.002+01:00

Today I actually watched 2 films - Ever After and A Single Man. Morgan, Afifah and Cayley have been telling me to watch Ever After for a long time so now that I have the time it became one of the films I had to watch straightaway. It exceeded my expectations - it's not just another chick-flick. It's a little bit different. It's a twist on the classic Cinderella story, and I quite liked the feisty character of the protagonist (played by Drew Barrymore), but maybe it's the setting (15th century France)...it's just not really my cup of tea. Hmmm don't really know why.

Another very different film - A Single Man. It may be the cinematographically most beautiful film I've ever seen. Everything on the screen was done to perfection - courtesy of the impeccable style of Tom Ford. The story itself is unlike the blockbusters. There's no feel-good factor that The King's Speech had. It is almost a showcase dedicated exclusively to Colin Firth's beautiful acting through the emotions of his face. The ending was a bit of an anti-climax though.

Finally...

2011-06-01T20:56:00.004+01:00

Yes it has been a month. A whole month has gone by since I last blogged. Now that 20 years of education has ended, I no longer have excuses not to blog. It feels weird, not having to think about study-related things. I don't feel relieved or happy though. I don't think I can feel happy until I get the results (in a month's time I guess?). In the meantime, it kinda feel like the summer of 2007, when I finished the IB exams on around 23/24 May, and most of my friends were doing A-Levels so I just got so so bored at home. If I recall correctly, it was also the summer when one night I decided to watch all 40 episodes of an old Chinese TV drama (one that I watched as a 10-year-old) about firefighters - in one go. I remember 'cause I had stayed up all night watching it, and in the morning we went to visit my grandma in the nursing home and I fell asleep in the car. I had never felt so tired before. Well this was before May 2009 when I had two essay deadlines on the same day and I had gone for 35 hours without sleep. Well, anyway, the ramble is over. I won't pull any unnecessary all-nighters anymore. Although to be honest I don't think I have the ability even if I wanted to pull an all-nighter.

My point is, this summer, I would like to do something productive (although 'productive' is a rather vague adjective). Since my favourite TV series have all ended, and I'll have to wait until September for new episodes, I'll be doing things other than watching TV. Here's what I've got on the list:

- going to watch LSO's performance of Candide this Sunday at the Barbican

- Wimbledon

- take the driver's theory test (finally!), so that once I start working and earning money, I can pay for an instructor

- watch a movie everyday (tonight was You've Got Mail). There are just so many films I have yet to watch.

- read novels. Finally I have the time to read something other than academic journals and newspaper articles

- go jogging in the parks of London

- take photos

- learn how to edit videos with iMovie

- go wander and get lost in the museums and galleries

- catch up with fellow Londoners especially the Old Girls

- Promming

- find out things to do in London that would not cost a penny (any suggestions?)

P.S. I'm also looking forward to a trip abroad at the end of June. And graduation of course.

May Madness

2011-05-01T20:20:00.005+01:00

This is the last month of my 20 years (or 19? when did I start going to kindergarten?) of education. I have a handful of bananas and plenty of coffee in the kitchen, ready to pull all-nighters to finish 1) an essay in Japanese on gender stereotypes (I picked this topic - otherwise it would have been social withdrawal, youth delinquency, or childrearing), which is due on Tuesday 3rd; and 2) the 12,000-word dissertation in English on the U.S.-Japan alliance (due on Friday 13th...). Plus, there is an oral exam on the 9th, where I'm required to present a speech and a PowerPoint, both of which I'm taking the shortcut by using the final presentation I did at Osaka back in August.

In terms of written exams, there's the EALC32000 on the 24th, where we'll have to translate a passage from Japanese to English, and then answer an essay question in Japanese. On the 31st there is the EALC30012 exam ("Japanese Theatre in a Historical Perspective"). For this class I've missed one or two lectures and seminars, and those that I did attend I really didn't pay much attention. I managed to do pretty well in the presentation and essay, but will have to put in a lot of work studying kabuki, noh, bunraku, shingeki, Takarazuka etc. for the exam.

I, along with 24 million other Britons (plus many more worldwide), watched the Royal wedding on Friday morning. The entire event was beautiful, and I may have shed a little wedding tear (I know! That is so not me. I haven't even cried at the weddings I've actually attended). It may have been caused by the sight of the bride's dress. Sarah Burton is a genius. The dress reminded me greatly of the one Grace Kelly wore at her wedding. The Duchess-to-be looked gorgeous in the Alexander McQueen (although it was noted by many that Sarah Burton has made Lee's bold and daring style much more feminine), as everyone had expected. Personally, I thought she looked a little too thin. HRH has always been slim, but perhaps the stress of planning the wedding of the decade and being the centre of all the attention contributed to the weight loss. Her exposed neck made her look older than 29. Plus I'm not much of fan of her (and her sister's) tan, obviously not natural (despite the fact that we've been blessed with days of sunshine). Don't get me wrong, I think she's the most beautiful bride this country has seen (her physical beauty surpasses that of the late Diana, in my opinion) and I love her style, very classy and full of grace and elegance, I just think she would have looked even more stunning and healthy had she not lost weight. The dress though, it's absolutely amazing.

Also came under the spotlight was the Prince's bald (bigger than a mere) spot. We all knew that he's balding, but the severity was just shockingly bad. Maybe it's another by-product of the wedding stress.

For me, the climax of the wedding was when the congregation sang Parry's "Jerusalem". Jerusalem has always been my favourite hymn, we used to sing it almost every other week at school because everyone loved it so much. But I never imagined it would be used in a wedding, and never thought 1,900 snobbish aristocrats, diplomats and politicians could sing it so well! Maybe it's thanks to the wonderful acoustics of Westminster Abbey, and the fact that it was the most beautiful wedding (I loved the trees on the aisle!) of this century. On the note about the congregation, I can understand why diplomats and ambassadors serving in London are invited (instead of the head of state - this wasn't the wedding of an heir apparent to the throne), but among those who attended was the North Korean ambassador to the UK. US, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Japan...yes, but North Korea? And while the Polish and Indian ambassadors attended, there were no representatives from Russia or China. I wonder what was Clarence House's criteria for the guest list...

London calling

2011-04-17T19:44:00.010+01:00

Last Thursday was Andrew's birthday (also my Dad's 56th). Seb, Daan and I decided to travel to London to celebrate with him. For his present, I was thinking of something One Piece or Pokemon-related, or something from Everton (Liverpool is only about 45mins away by train). Last year we bought him Pokemon t-shirts and One Piece cutlery. But here in Britain it's more difficult to find a Pokemon Centre or a manga museum. We do, however, have the Northern Quarter in Manchester. When Daan and Seb came to visit last December we walked into a comic book store (just like the one in The Big Bang Theory, only bigger), the Forbidden Planet, so I decided to go back there to have a look. There were a lot of manga (in English) and comic books, some Pokemon stuff but they were all tiny figurines, which aren't really that special. Then I walked past the Star Wars aisle, and spotted these very cool lightsaber chopsticks and had that feeling when you know you've found "the one". They came in either red/purple or red/green. I wished they had one in light blue (recalling Sheldon Cooper: "You know the pale blue of Luke Skywalker's lightsaber, before it was digitally remastered?").

As for the birthday cake, I wanted to make something new. For Seb's birthday I made that luscious chocolate layer cake from The Primrose Bakery cookbook. This time I used the new Cake Days cookbook from The Hummingbird Bakery. I made, or at least I intended to make, the spiced apple cake with brown sugar meringue frosting. I got up at 6am on Tuesday morning, started making the brownies and cookies, and moved onto the cake. The cake itself is delicious, full of nutmeg, cinnamon and ginger. Grating a couple of Granny Smith apples wasn't fun though, things get a little bit messy. I went to work at midday and came back at around half five to do the frosting. The brown sugar meringue frosting is a Swiss meringue frosting; I first beat the egg whites and soft dark brown sugar over simmering water till they form soft peaks. I was supposed to add small cubes of chilled butter into the meringue, little by little, and that was supposed to stiffen the frosting. However, even before I could add all the butter, the meringue started to curdle. We all know what over-beaten egg whites look like and it's not pretty. It's also irreversible so I had to chuck that bowl of frosting away. I was beginning to run out of ingredients (which is very rare in my kitchen - I always have plenty of eggs, butter, flour and chocolate just in case I suddenly feel like baking), so I ran downstairs to get some more eggs. The frosting failed the second time too. By then I only had about 40 minutes before the cab comes to take me to the train station, so I used the remaining butter to make a simple buttercream icing. I thought vanilla buttercream icing would be too sweet, and a little bit dull. So I chose to add some coffee extract (since Andrew likes coffee so much). I only had enough icing to ice two layers of cakes, and not even enough to sandwich the cakes together. I had to use some raspberry jam I had in the fridge. The spiced apple cake was supposed to be a four-layer cake. When we eventually cut and ate the cake on Andrew's birthday, we were like "hmm...this is weird." It reminded us of that Friends episode when Rachel added beef, sautéed peas and onion to her "English trifle". Obviously, my cooking is nowhere as atrocious (thank goodness) as Rachel's, but the cake was such an odd combination of ingredients. The coffee buttercream icing was too strong that it overshadowed the lovely spices of the cake.

This wasn't the first time I've been disappointed by The Hummingbird Bakery. Last month when I made the red velvet cake, the cake turned out brown even though I had added enough food colouring. And last year for Andrew's birthday (again), I wanted to make the Brooklyn Blackout Cake but the chocolate frosting (the frosting again!) didn't and it ended up having lumps of cornflour syrup, which I had to pick out with a cocktail stick bit by bit. The Hummingbird later published a revised version of the Brooklyn Blackout Cake recipe, which I have yet to test (although why bother? The chocolate layer cake from The Primrose Bakery cookbook is good enough anyway). It's quite frustrating, when things go wrong even though you've followed the recipe to every word. I'd consider myself as a relatively experienced baker (baked my first batch of fairy cakes when I was 13), although I'm still an amateur and nowhere near the level where you can come up with your own recipe, it's very annoying and frustrating when a cake doesn't come out the way it was supposed to be.

Getting together with Daan, Seb, and Andrew was really fun, just like old times, and of course how could we not sing karaoke together? Andrew took us to this tiny Japanese secondhand book store on Brewer Street in SoHo. There were small karaoke rooms at the back of the bookshop. It felt secretive and exclusive. The songs weren't the latest ones but it had all the Japanese classics we had sung at Shidax. We actually went to the same karaoke (same room) two nights in a row. First night was just the four of us, second night was with Andrew's friends from university. But altogether we *only* sang for 5 hours, still not as intense as those 6, 7-hour sessions we have at Shidax in Onohara (9 hours for some people!).

Singing Japanese songs at a karaoke in London felt a bit weird. It was like we were in Osaka again, but we weren't. It wasn't really the same. I know it's quite impossible for all of us to get together and sing at Shidax again. But it was nice that we're all trying our best efforts to see each other as often as possible. These are friends I've spent a wonderful time with, the most talented, funny, loyal and classy, and the people I'll always love from the bottom of my heart, and I really can't imagine a world without them.

We stayed in Kensington, and had the opportunity to walk around the ever-so-beautiful Kensington Gardens. This time I also discovered the amazingness of the Whole Foods Market. It's absolutely a foodie paradise. A very expensive one though, even more so than Waitrose. For the first time I saw an artichoke (it's nowhere to be found in the supermarkets in Manchester, Asda, Sainsbury's, Tesco or Waitrose), but it was almost £4. Apart from sampling chocolates and cheese, and the oh-so-cute sesame street-themed cupcakes, I was in awe of the cheese room. My jaw dropped when I saw it. Once you slide open the heavy glass door, you'd walk into a temperature controlled room smelling of cheese. All four sides of the room were filled with stacks of cheese wheels. Some were quite expensive though, there was a tiny piece of French blue cheese that cost over £5.

Foodie Murakami

2011-04-07T20:15:00.002+01:00

For the written assessment of EALC30000, I have to translate an extract from Murakami's Norwegian Wood. I've never read it (English or Japanese), and I still haven't seen the movie. But from this short extract that I've read, I love it already, simply because it's about food.

I'm quite pleased our teacher chose this passage, not only is the language really easy to understand (no big words or difficult grammar; very casual conversations), it's about food, so all the vocabulary is food-related. Aji (horse mackerel - remember the time when I tried to fillet horse mackerel and made the big mess?), knives, chopping board, whetstone, and food with Kansai flavours. The extract reads like a foodie blog!

Ottolenghi's aubergines

2011-04-07T00:04:00.006+01:00

Today's dinner is roasted aubergine with sofrito and chickpeas, a Spanish-inspired dish by Yotam Ottolenghi. I found the recipe from The Guardian (always packed with wonderful recipes) a few days ago.

The dish is pretty nice. But this dish takes like 2 hours to prepare and cook...I might not cook it again for a long time.

Recently I've fallen in love with aubergine and coriander seeds (coriander seeds are so fragrant!). Actually it's been a lot easier than imagined to be a vegetarian. There's so much choice, variety and versatility when it comes to vegetables, and the thought of plenty of nutrients in my food makes me happy.

mashed chickpeas

sofrito - onion, red peppers, chopped tomatoes, sherry vinegar, bay leaves, paprika, coriander seeds, garlic

Dissertation

2011-04-05T23:13:00.003+01:00

Good news: I'm making progress on the dissertation. Word count-wise. So far 2000/12000.

Bad news: lack of structure and coherence. I know what I want to write about, and there's a vague plan, but it's not good enough. Everything Mr. Gerig taught about writing an essay (literary commentary to be exact, but the format applies to all essays really) isn't here. I need a clear thesis. 12,000 words make it difficult to be coherent, I seem to drift off the topic on occasions. It's hard to have a clear flow of argument, because everything is inter-related so I don't really know how to link the points together. Plus, I'm still doing reading, so new sources and information keep popping up, and I have to figure out a way to incorporate these new ideas.

I just e-mailed my tutor and postponed the meeting. Right now what I've got is 2000 words on a word document, random unrelated paragraphs in a size 12 Times New Roman font. Maybe I should approach my dissertation as a recipe of a cake. I will do all the research, make sure I have all the ingredients and exact calculations. Then I'll add the ingredients and incorporate them together in an orderly fashion, and spend time "baking" (=writing) it - cooking time will definitely be more than 30 minutes - and perhaps a dissertation meeting with the tutor would be like letting the cake cool and putting icing on top to make it better.

the countdown

2011-04-01T21:12:00.003+01:00

1st April - for me it's not April Fools. It's the start of the countdown to the end of my student life. Today I paid £42 to hire the graduation gown, hood and cap. And I reserved tickets for the ceremony. This is it, last 2 months of my 20 years of education.

This is what's going to happen in the next 2 months:

4 April: EALC30012 essay on Kabuki due

5 April: planning to hand in my resignation at the restaurant

6 April: stupid EALC30000 grammar test (yes - we're still doing JLPT 2級 stuff. *yawn*)

8 April: last EALC32000 assessed presentation

30 April: (hopefully) my last day of work at the restaurant

3 May: EALC32000 essay (in Japanese) due

6 May: EALC30000 Japanese-English translation (3.5 pages from Norwegian Wood - it's about food and cooking. Thank goodness I took the time to read recipe books when I was in Japan)

9 May: EALC30000 oral assessment (another 10min speech?)

13 May: Dissertation due

16 May: parents' 30th (pearl) anniversary

24 May: EALC32000 exam (translation plus Japanese writing)

31 May: EALC30012 Japanese Theatre in Historical Perspective exam

After the exams I'll probably do absolutely nothing for a few days before heading south to London to look for a new place to live in. June is going to be just flat-hunting and house moving. Graduation is 14th July, then after that I'll probably go to HK to visit family. And while I'm in the Far East I'm hoping to hop onto a 3-hour flight to KIX so I can feel like the old days again. Maybe just for a week or so.

Apart from travelling, there are several things I'd like to do this summer: read novels (there are way too many books I want to and ought to read which I haven't had the time to do so), watch movies (ditto), catch up with friends in London and HK, read lots of magazines, blog more often and take plenty of photographs.

My parents asked me what I'd like as a present (for graduation - I don't really know why. Should I be getting a present?). The first thing that came into my mind is a Canon EOS5D Mark II, a full-frame DSLR with HD video. Yes - I'm ready to jump ship (from Nikon to Canon). I still love my Nikon F50 and I still love film photography. But a DSLR is just so handy. Anyway I thought of it, but immediately abandoned the idea. The camera costs like £2k+, there's no way I'd have my parents pay that sort of money. So then I thought of a Canon (!) PowerShot S95, which would replace my current Panasonic Lumix DSC-LX3. S95 is a little more compact so I can tuck it away into my pretty plum-coloured clutch from Coach. But then they might be baffled by the idea of me getting yet another camera...

what a day

2011-03-24T15:20:00.003Z

Let me start with Tuesday. After work I rushed home (bumping into Wen Chean on the way - she was just leaving the gym) to make chocolate brownies. I was already really hungry but didn't start to eat dinner (edamame and miso soup) until I put the first batch of brownies into the oven. Having made brownies using this "best-ever" recipe (see previous post) a few times, I now have a few ideas to improve the recipe. 1) add 1/2 tsp of vanilla essence to enhance the smell and flavour; 2) baking time should be 40 mins (45mins was a little too much - starting to get a little dry); 3) the ratio of dark chocolate and milk chocolate could be adjusted to personal taste. About the dark/milk chocolate issue, personally I love dark chocolate (honestly I eat dark chocolate exclusively - you'd never see me eating anything with less than 60% cocoa), but I understand it could a bit too bitter for people who prefer milk chocolate.

Anyway after I finish baking the brownies, I took a shower, packed my bag for the next day and went to bed at around 11pm. On Wednesday morning I got up at 5am. Why? Because I had to catch the 0700 train from Manchester Piccadilly to London Euston. I got to the office 15 minutes before the pre-arranged 10am time. I was the only candidate there to take the e-tray assessment that particular day so it was nice not to have any disturbance. I had just about enough time to read through all the e-mails, attachments and select the appropriate replies. Then I wrote the e-mail (as the written assessment), although 50 mins was just about enough. In the end I didn't have much time to make notes (for the subsequent interview).

Between the assessment on the computer and the interviews I was whisked away to a fancy lunch with an associate. She was incredibly nice and throughout lunch I discovered that we had quite a lot in common (including a common friend!); she studied Japanese (at Oxford though) and she did the IB diploma at a boarding school in Hertfordshire.

After lunch it was the e-tray interview. I was interviewed about the e-mail I composed in the written assessment. The interviewer happened to be a Chinese lady from HK who shared the same surname as me. The interview was obviously carried out in English, but I guess I was clear in the explanation and justification of my written piece so she didn't really ask me that many questions. We had some time left before the partner arrived so we just chatted about Japan and HK. Then the partner arrived, after I introduced myself and talked about university and part-time jobs and internship, he asked me only a couple of competency questions, the rest of the time was him talking about his career so far. He asked me "why Osaka" and I told him about my past experience in Kansai and how I like the people from Kansai. I guess that pleased him 'cause he's actually from Hirakata (大阪府枚方市)! At the end of the interview he walked me out of the building and we had a very short conversation in Japanese about Osaka.

I left the office at around 3.40pm and didn't know what to do next. I had planned to meet Piotr in Tower Hill at 6pm so I still had plenty of time. I didn't want to go anywhere on the Tube 'cause I'm afraid someone would call my mobile and there wouldn't be any reception. Yesterday was really sunny and unusually warm so I decided to walk from Chancery Lane to Tower Hill. On the way, about 40 mins after I left Chancery Lane, I got a call from the first interviewer and she told me that I'd been successful - in Cantonese! It was really noisy on the street but I managed to pick up words such as "congratulations" etc...but afterwards I kept thinking whether I was making things up in my mind or not. (When I got home at midnight I saw the e-mail in the inbox.)

Yesterday was a really long day. I got up at 5am and didn't get home till midnight. Adrenaline really kept me going. I had two dinner dates and was talking basically the entire day. When I got onto the train at 9.40pm and sat down in my seat, I was still a little bit jittery, but then half an hour into the journey I suddenly felt really exhausted and fell asleep (most people were asleep). So many things happened, and I really couldn't believe how a person's life can be changed in just one day. I guess I'll be flat-hunting in June and rejoin the Londoners.

がんばれ日本。私もがんばります。

2011-03-15T20:00:00.003Z

Today I made an online donation at Red Cross UK. As insignificant as it is, that's all I can do right now. The closer I follow the news feed, the more I read about the terrible things happening in Japan, the more I want to be there. Having studied the language for over 5 years, having lived and studied there, this is a country I've grown to love. I'm (still) not a Japan fanatic. I don't blindly love everything about that country. There are certain things and people in Japan that bug me. But all the good things about it have created an intangible but strong tie between my mind and that rising sun.

I remember writing in my UCAS personal statement, that I hoped to enter diplomacy or journalism as a profession. Although at the moment I'm heading towards a different career path, I don't think I'll ever give up that aspiration, especially not now. I might have been unsuccessful at this year's Fast Stream selection, but I will try again in the future. Seeing footages on the TV and reading articles in the papers about everything that's happening in Japan, the voice in my mind keeps saying "I should be there - reporting the news or helping with the search and rescue". I didn't study Japanese so that I could experience a natural disaster, but knowing the language makes me think that I should be there utilise what I've learned and hopefully help someone in need. Making a donation doesn't satisfy my feelings. Having said that, it is still important that we all make a small contribution - people of the Tohoku region are living with lack of food, water, electricity in the freezing conditions. They need all the help they can get.

best-ever brownies

2011-03-14T21:31:00.004Z

Seriously, this recipe makes the most amazing, moist and decadent chocolate brownies, ever. Roomie Wen Chean makes this from time to time and I pestered her until she gave me the recipe. It's from BBC Good Food. Today I made it for the first time, since it's Megan's birthday. Personally I don't like white chocolate (it's not chocolate!), I replaced it with milk chocolate so altogether I used 185g of dark chocolate and 100g of milk chocolate. The use of dark chocolate and golden caster sugar and 3 eggs make this brownies incredibly moist and fudgy. I've seen recipes that uses no real chocolate (using cocoa powder instead) - come on! how can it be chocolatey without real chocolate? Strangely, the chocolate brownie recipe from The Hummingbird Bakery has similar ingredients to this one from BBC Good Food, but I remember the last time I used the Hummingbird recipe the brownies came out quite greasy...maybe it's the way the ingredients were incorporated?

Andrew says his flatmate James and his sister make the best brownies, I don't know if mine have the deliciousness to rival his favourites. We shall see...

P.S. In addition to the replacement of the white chocolate, the baking time needed to be extended to around 40-45 mins. 25-30 mins is simply not long enough.

Sendai

2011-03-12T22:48:00.003Z

That's really everyone and anyone could think about the past couple of days. I don't know anyone from the Tohoku region, but I think my parents have some friends from Sendai. I don't know how they're doing. My friends in Tokyo are well, which I'm very grateful for. Natural disasters on such a scale are always devastating, but as this has occurred in a country very dear to me and many of my friends and family, it's especially heart-breaking.

I was actually in Sendai this time last year. I was travelling alone and took the very long journey to Miyagi prefecture because I wanted to visit Matsushima Bay, one of the 日本三景. Not only was I impressed by the natural beauty of Matsushima, I also came to like Sendai the city very much. It's cold (weather-wise), but the people are very nice and stylish, and the streets are beautiful and full of greenery. Not to mention they're famous for sea urchin and oysters.

These photos would look very different now...

sundried tomato stuffed mushrooms

2011-03-11T21:43:00.002Z

For dinner I had a Quorn savoury eggs and lettuce salad, and sundried tomato stuffed mushrooms. The first one is just something I make every now and then, when I'm hungry and don't want to cook. Just throw the savoury eggs and lettuce together, add splashes of olive oil, balsamic vinegar, pinches of salt and pepper and voila.

The latter - sundried tomato stuffed mushrooms - is from a recipe I found on smittenkitchen.com, a food blog which Morgan, my flatmate Wen Chean and myself have grown to love. The dish is not difficult to make although it takes a bit of an effort to make the stuffing. The result is really satisfying though. Healthy, delicious...and I love every bit of the ingredients: mushrooms (first roasted for 10mins to extract the moisture - you know how soggy mushrooms can get when they get cooked), sundried tomatoes, breadcrumbs, parmegiano-reggiano, parsley, egg yolk...all stuffed into the mushroom cap and become little balls of heaven. This dish makes a great canapé, or you can did what I did, eat 7 of them as dinner...

Lent

2011-03-08T23:19:00.003Z

Lent '09 - I gave up Facebook.

Lent '10 - I gave up caffeine.

This year I'm giving up meat. I'll be a temporary vegetarian - for 40 days (plus Sundays). What will I be eating then? Hmmm... I'll probably start exploring and trying out recipes from 101 Cookbooks, the beautifully written and illustrated foodie blog.

My weekly grocery shopping list would look something like this:

Dorset Cereals raisin-free muesli (I eat this everyday for breakfast. It has replaced bran flakes as my favourite breakfast food)

Berries (blackberries, raspberries, blueberries... whichever one's on offer. I add berries to the muesli and together it's my favourite meal of the day)

~~Chicken thigh fillets~~

~~Salmon~~

~~Prawns~~

Tofu

Lettuce

Baby avocado

Tomatoes

Nuts (almonds, pistachios, soya nuts - all unsalted)

Semi-skimmed milk

Flat-leaf parsley

Coriander

Basil

Chinese leaf

Aubergine

Cheese (parmigiano-reggiano, blue stilton, gruyere, goat cheese etc. whichever one I feel like that week)

Pak choi (I'm still very Chinese at heart)

Quorn savoury eggs (sounds disgusting and they don't look that appealing either, but I just really like eating them)

Mushrooms (portobello, shiitake, chestnut etc.)

eggs

I've given up red meat as a new year resolution anyway, so hopefully it shouldn't be too much of a transition from no red meat to no meat. I just have to give up chicken, fish and other seafood for ~40 days. Will need to make sure I get enough protein from eggs, milk, cheese, tofu and beans though.

the bare necessities

2011-03-07T21:16:00.002Z

Since I started working at the shop/restaurant, I've had 3 customers asking for my phone number and asking me out for coffee/dinner. Flattering as it may be, it really baffles me that on all 3 occasions, I was wearing glasses, no make-up and very plain clothes...so how did I manage to have 3 different guys to ask me out? I have no idea. Although I gave out my phone number to two of them, I never went out with any of the guys.

I only wear make-up for special occasions, interviews, birthday dinners and parties etc. But on those occasions I have never been asked out or flirted with (although to be honest I'm not really sure what flirting actually involves...not much experience in that area). I remember when I went to get a hair cut when I was in Osaka, the hairdresser (a Japanese guy) said he was really surprised and he found it really rare that I was a girl who had absolutely no make-up on. Japanese girls are always fully made-up, many with fake lashes and contact lenses that make their eyes scarily big.

So when I was web-browsing the other day, and found this article on Marie Claire US. Do men find women with no make-up more approachable? I always feel that a little make-up is better than none. Although I feel comfortable without make-up (and that's my look for most days), I always feel a little make-up can boost a girl's confidence and enhance her appearance. Maybe I should turn this into a little social experiment, and see how make-up affects one's chance with the opposite sex. It wouldn't exactly be a valid/reliable experiment, since I have so little practice/experience with the opposite sex...

Tarte aux pommes

2011-03-06T17:27:00.008Z

My brother, Sam, keeps asking me to make this dessert, even though I've never made it before. It's just that he really wants to try it but he doesn't bake. He cooks (paella, roast chicken etc) all sorts of food and he's pretty good, but he never bakes. No idea why. Anyway since we've now entered into his last week in Manchester (the secondment at the Manchester office is ending soon), I've decided to indulge him and his laziness.

I have a couple of recipes by Julia Child and Elizabeth David, but in the end I settled with one from the internet - Ms. Glaze's Pommes d'Amour. This is a food blog written by a Cordon Bleu-trained chef. The result was pretty good and quite similar to the photo in the original blog. Although next time I'll skip the 30ml of water, the apples were juicy enough on their own. It wasn't too sweet and I just love the smell of the cinnamon sticks!

Tarte aux pommes is not difficult to make, but it does take time and effort. Peeling and slicing 6 apples (the recipe said 7 but I found 6 to be sufficient) is quite time consuming.

For lunch, I made my own version - the lazy man/woman version of chicken cacciatore. Basically, I had 3 very ripe vine tomatoes I had to get rid of, and had no onion, thyme, white wine or white wine vinegar. This is the quick and simple version -

3 large, ripe tomatoes. Blanched, skinned and diced.

3 pieces of chicken thigh

bay leaf

a few cloves of garlic, crushed

sea salt, coarsely ground black pepper

dried basil

tomato puree

olive oil

I just pan-fried the chicken thigh and garlic until it was browned on both sides, then added all the herbs, spices, tomatoes. Then I put on the lid and cooked until the chicken is thoroughly cooked and the tomatoes become a mushy paste. Voila, a very quick lunch.

Okay I know it doesn't look very appealing...

02032011

2011-03-02T14:29:00.004Z

Last night I was browsing on the internet and found out that SOAS had already sent out all the JLPT results in the post. So this morning when I left the flat for the 10am class, I saw the Royal Mail van right outside the reception (where our pigeon holes are). First thing I did after class was go back and get my mail - and there it was, the big white envelope saying "please do not bend". I passed! The score is not great though, and somewhere in my mind is thinking that I should retake this exam later this year to try and get a higher score. Hmm...

As a token of thanks to the tutors and lecturers who helped me with the speech contest and postgraduate applications, I made a chocolate cake - the same one I made for Seb's and Wen Chean's birthdays. Now that I've made it 3 times, I can definitely tell that the first one I made for Seb was the best one. That time I realised that the amount of ingredients was too excessive so I reduced it proportionally, but then it didn't taste or look as good. So next time I shall stick to the original recipe (from The Primrose Bakery cookbook).

In the afternoon got a phone call from my parents. They were calling to congratulate me on the JLPT, and then it spiralled downwards into the usual - heated discussion about my plan post-graduation. I would tell you all the details here, but that just makes me even more upset and angry. So I won't.

Sometimes I feel like I'm enjoying life, but that doesn't happen often. Most other times I'm distressed over dissertation and graduation, and the mess that my personal life is.

Sideburns and wet breeches

2011-03-01T19:03:00.005Z

The man of the moment is of course, the newly crowned ~~king~~ best actor at the Academy Awards, Colin Firth, a.k.a. Mr. Darcy.

Having been educated at an all-girls school, where Pride and Prejudice is a set text in the GCSE English Literature curriculum (and was voted the most popular novel every year during the seven years I was there), my girlfriends and I have been fans of Colin Firth since watching the classic BBC adaptation. Although for me, it wasn't the wet shirt (which millions of women in this country seem to be obsessed with) scene that "sealed the deal", it was the scene when Elizabeth (Jennifer Ehle) visits Pemberley, Mr. Darcy intently watches her playing Mozart's "Voi che sapete" (from Le nozze di Figaro) and oh-my-goodness Colin Firth's glowing face -

In Year 12 I shared a room with Sarah, who hails from Seattle, and we shared a mutual passion for Colin Firth/Mr. Darcy. We even had a noticeboard dedicated to pictures of Colin Firth in our room, so impressive that it got mentioned in the nationally published The Good Schools Guide:

Of course I own a DVD copy of the mini-series, and I watch the entire series (6 episodes, 5 hours in total) at least once a year. The last time I did the P&P marathon was last spring, in my room in Osaka with Larisa and Morgan and big bowls of microwave popcorn. That was a lovely afternoon.

Apart from Pride and Prejudice and The King's Speech, one of Colin Firth's finest work must be A Single Man, which earned him his first Oscar nomination (last year). While I have yet to watch the film (there are way too many films I want to watch but haven't had the time to do so), - and read in some reviews that the film looked more like a very long perfume advert - the praise for Firth's acting was unanimously acclaimed.

Another art house type film that Colin Firth did, and one that I had actually watched and liked, is Girl with a Pearl Earring. It's quite a slow-moving film, but the subtly portrayed attraction and sexual tension between Firth (who plays Vermeer) and Scarlett Johansson is incredibly lascivious.

Obviously Colin Firth is also remembered for many often romantic, but not so Oscar-worthy, comedies such as Bridget Jones's Diary and Love Actually. Incidentally both of these films also starred another British export in the name of Hugh Grant. Today I read an article on the Telegraph website, which amused me greatly, where the writer compared Firth and Grant (who are actually born a day apart):

Firth is the movie star Hugh Grant could have been if he a) gave the impression of loving acting, and b) actually did some.

A bit mean, but so true. I really liked Hugh Grant in Notting Hill. But he seems to play the same character in every single film he starred in - himself.

At the many ceremonies where Colin Firth's acting was honoured with many awards, you can see him being accompanied by his classy and beautiful wife, Livia. Apparently she owns an eco-fashion store in Chiswick. Since the success of A Single Man last year, she's been using all the red carpet opportunities to showcase eco-friendly fashion in front of all the cameras. "The Green Carpet Challenge" has been covered by Vogue UK. Not only does Mrs. Firth look absolutely stunning, the man himself also looked rather dapper and handsome in a Tom Ford suit.

(Photo source: Vogue.co.uk)

my smitten kitchen

2011-03-01T00:11:00.004Z

following yesterday's fantasy about the perfect dinner party, today I'll illustrate how my dream kitchen would look like...

first of all it'd be something like Meryl Streep's in It's Complicated, where it's a combined open kitchen/dining room. Plus I want exposed bricks and hardwood floors (although tiles would be easier to clean).

I'll need two full-sized ovens (plus grill) and a double-door fridge. And plenty of shelves for all the spices and ingredients. Actually come to think of it, Nigella Lawson's kitchen (featured in her shows) is pretty dreamy too.

I've found more lovely photos on Elle Decor (an amazing website of the US magazine; the UK version of the magazine doesn't have a website!) -

(Photo source: Elle Decor)

a sweet fantasy

2011-02-27T16:39:00.002Z

Right now I'm fantasising about having an intimate dinner party with my Handai friends (in my dream house and kitchen :P) -

guest list: Morgan, Seb, Andrew, Daan, Reinout, Larisa, Ivan, Mark, Naomi

menu:

pan-fried scallops

breadcrumb-coated goat cheese

boeuf bourguignon

tomates a la provençale

mushroom risotto

tomato and mozzarella pizza

chestnut mushroom and mozzarella pizza

cæsar salad

chicken cacciatore

desserts:

chocolate cake

chocolate brownies

mississippi mud pie

pumpkin pie

I can imagine all ten of us sitting all together (an oblong table or a round one?), with a vintage chandelier hanging from the ceiling, eating and chatting and sharing plenty of laughters and love.

お疲れさまでした

2011-02-26T20:59:00.004Z

I'm now on the way back to Manchester. Okay no I didn't win the speech contest, but I really enjoyed myself today. Met the nicest people and had a fabulous time. I was really relieved when the speech was over. When I was leaving the stage and walking down the stairs in those stilettos I could feel my legs shaking...I was so pleased with myself for not messing anything up. I delivered the speech the best I could (although there was still a little panicking), and answered the questions the best I could, so I'm pretty pleased. Plus even though I didn't place in the competition, being a finalist also came with a little perks:

- £6 lunch money (despite I only spent £3.15 on a Pret a Manger salad)

- train tickets paid for

- £100 which I now have to contact the sponsor to get it

- £10 book voucher

- £50 restaurant voucher (pretty awesome actually 'cause I don't think I've ever spent that much on a meal before)

- a book on the Edo period

- a book on Japanese bento recipes (perhaps too kawaii for my taste)

- a (yet another) very kawaii bento box set

- subscription to a Japanese newsletter

After the ceremony I talked to the chief judge and she gave me some really useful feedback. She said that my most obvious strength was my pronunciation and accent, that it was really easy to understand. There were two points that I needed to improve on: 1) the speech needed more personal experience - I could have elaborated on my experience in Okinawa; 2) my speech covered many points and everything was really detailed, BUT I needed to focus on one main point/thesis and emphasise that.

During the drinks reception I had really lovely conversations with some of the audience. There was a number of Japanese ladies who were in the audience came up to me and said how they liked my speech, and they really hoped that I had won blah blah blah (you know the usual "I'm sorry you lost" consolation), a couple said that I looked "really pretty" on the stage (lol). And I was thinking "hmm thanks? that didn't win me the competition but thank you for the compliment..." One Japanese lady also said that she only knew a little about the whole Futenma air base situation, despite it being such a prominent issue in Japan, and that my speech gave her better understanding of the issue. I also talked to two solicitors from Baker & McKenzie (who is one of the major sponsors of the competition), which was really interesting and they kept trying to influence me to do law, my Dad would definitely agree with them.

One of the judges (a lecturer from Sheffield) actually spent his year abroad at Osaka (Gaidai) as well, and he knows Richard Harrison of Kobe University too. Another finalist, Matt, went to Kyodai with John and Paulina...the world of Japanese Studies is very small indeed.

I think I'm surprised at myself too - for not being upset about losing. I'm usually pretty competitive, but I think in this case I've already tried my best and since the competition was so fierce and everyone else did so well, I wasn't really expecting myself to surpass others' achievements. And having people coming up to me afterwards saying how they enjoyed listening to my speech, that itself was pretty flattering already, and kinda cool. Plus the fact that it was Andrew who won made the whole day even more wonderful.

[update at 2304]

okay I can't believe I just started crying on the train... I'm absolutely exhausted, but that's not why I'm crying. I had the most amazing time today, meeting new people, talking to other students, the judges and the members of the audience. I was speaking (mostly) in Japanese to Japanese people. I had the most fun I've had in many months, and it's the fact that it's all over that upsets me. I had an immensely enjoyable time today, especially because I was with Andrew and Seb and being surrounded by Japanese people - everything just made me miss our year in Japan even more. And now I have to face my mundane life at the university, not studying any advance Japanese and having to stress over the dissertation. I just can't believe today went by so quickly...

London-bound

2011-02-25T15:06:00.002Z

Last night I decided I've had enough of the black background and changed it to white, a little more cheerful perhaps?

Right now I'm on the train, which has yet to depart from the platform. It's my first time blogging from a train. Or rather, it's my first time taking this MacBook out of my room and using it in public. The train is pretty packed, probably because of half-term and it's a Friday.

I'm London-bound - tomorrow is the speech contest. I guess I'm pretty ready...I still get nervous, even when practicing on my own. But the speech itself, it's my best efforts and I'm already pretty proud of myself for getting through to the finals and having written the speech.

Let's see what happens tomorrow...

anxiety strikes

2011-02-24T16:50:00.003Z

"How do you feel?"
"Full of hot air."
"Isn't that what public speaking is all about?"

(The King's Speech)

Two days till the big competition. Well it's not that big. But it is my first time doing a formal original speech (unlike the reading at the school's carol service), and my first time participating in a public speaking competition (in any language).

I have never been someone who's full of confidence. Even though my time as a student ambassador has really helped me with speaking to an audience, I just hope that on Saturday I won't faint at the sight of possibly over a hundred people.

"Vivian's Speech"

2011-02-17T22:13:00.002Z

Today I freaked out about next Saturday's speech contest. I fear that when I go up to the stage (I'm last on the programme!) I'll have an anxiety attack and start stuttering through my speech.

To make myself feel a little better, I keep going back to last month when I spoke in front of perhaps 100 16-17 year olds at university about the IB diploma. It was at one of the University Place lecture theatres, which is absolutely massive (even bigger when they merge the two theatres into one), and I've been to SOAS's Brunei Gallery and I know UP is much bigger so at least I've had the experience of speaking in front of a large audience in a large theatre, and I know I did pretty well the other time (considering I hadn't prepared a speech beforehand)... BUT, that was public speaking in English and it was about personal experience so I didn't need to prepare anything and it wasn't a competition. This time is in Japanese and I have to memorise 10 minutes of speech and pretend to be all serious and smart and talk about politics.

I'm really grateful to the Japanese tutors at the University, who have given my some great feedback and suggestions on how to improve my speech. I know I still have a lot to work on, and I really want to win - not necessarily in the competition - but in competing against myself, hoping that I could overcome all the fear and anxiety of giving a speech in a foreign language. I (sort of) conquered it in English, and now it's in Japanese.

food!

2011-02-16T21:45:00.003Z

Not only have I completely cut out red meat, fizzy drinks and alcohol from my life, I've also cut down the amount of carbs, and replacing it with protein-rich food and lots and lots of veg and fruit.

Seafood such as fish and prawns are very high in protein, so lately I've been eating a lot of prawns and salmon. This is my "two-way with prawns" dish: one half is eaten cold (ripe baby avocado, pan-fried king prawns, coriander, sea salt and coarsely ground pepper, lime juice), the other half is eaten hot (king prawns cooked in self-made tomato and basil coulis).

This is what I had tonight: aubergines au gratin (from Elizabeth David's French Provincial Cooking), with a slight Italian twist - I added grated parmesan to the aubergine layers. It's basically aubergine slices baked in a tomato coulis with parsley and breadcrumbs. Baked in a slow oven (150ºC) for an hour.

I've also developed a liking for Quorn savoury eggs...

15022011

2011-02-15T22:21:00.002Z

Today was a rather bizarre day...

The morning was typical. An hour work-out at the gym following my recent favourite raisin-free muesli.

In the afternoon I got an e-mail from SOAS - got an offer for the postgrad course in diplomacy. I still have a few weeks before deciding whether to accept or decline the offer. As much as I want to do this course, it's really expensive and I'm still waiting for two upcoming job interviews. But then the dates of the interviews haven't been decided...anyway I'm now much less anxious about my future post-graduation.

While I was at work, a customer came in looking for tofu and wakame (he's going to make miso soup for the first time), so I gave me some suggestion and advice. And then when he was paying for the stuff he asked me out, quite straight-forward "do you want to go out sometime?". I smiled and said 'no'. It was rather odd. Twice before I've had customers asking for my phone number, but then those two guys were sort-of regulars and I'd seen them before. But this guy is a first-time customer and there was't much conversation preceding the asking-out, so it was kinda bizarre.

Being asked out by guys is flattering, but also quite amusing at the same time. Mainly because I'm not used to it, and also because I don't find myself that attractive - especially not when I'm at work. I'm wearing glasses and no makeup, my hair is always tied up...being asked out by strangers just seems like something that only happens on TV or in the movies.

...what resolutions?

2011-02-09T21:27:00.002Z

holy crap. what happened to my "daily blog + photograph" resolutions?

honestly I don't feel too guilty about it, 'cause I've been hitting the gym doing hour-long workouts quite often lately, that makes up for everything I guess.

plus my employment prospects are getting a little better, and I'm getting closer to a job offer. And a couple of days ago I got an offer from Durham, which was surprisingly fast considering I only submitted my application less than a fortnight ago...

the only thing on my mind right now is (besides my dissertation) my craving for chocolatey things. the better I am at sticking to the diet & workout, the more I crave for chocoholic havens such as Wen Chean's chocolate brownies and Mississippi mud pie...

Odette & Odile

2011-01-21T20:58:00.004Z

Tonight I watched Darren Aronofsky's new film Black Swan with Wen Chean. It was immense, beautiful, sensual and very very creepy. Natalie Portman and Mila Kunis really did a great job and I think they deserve all the praise they've been receiving. But it was creepy, and it would have been more overwhelming had I watched this alone in a dark room.

Behind all the beautiful tutu and elegant moves, there's always a dark side to everyone. It almost lures me into searching for my own darkness. Time to get out the eyeliner and black lace...

The more I dream about it, the more I want to try it - living in New York City. Even though I've been to the city once (back in 2005 during GYLC), it didn't make much of an impression when I was there, but then I didn't really have a chance to explore the city. Right now I'm trying to save up money for summer travels, but I haven't decided where to go yet. Originally I was planning to do InterRailing. But now other places have crossed my mind: North Korea (maybe it's too unpredicted right now), New York or Los Angeles. First thing first: save up money. Target: at least £1500.

m.m.p.

2011-01-20T23:46:00.002Z

This is the finished piece - Mississippi Mud Pie. I used the recipe from The Hummingbird Bakery Cookbook. It's very rich in chocolate, even though I only used 150g of dark chocolate. But it's sweeter than I had expected (a result of using 300g of soft light brown sugar perhaps?). Anyway this dessert is definitely not good for the body. SIX EGGS I had to use! I headed to the gym soon after I had a slice. Didn't work out much though 'cause my body is being lazy. Last week I had one session where I ran non-stop on the treadmill for half an hour and it felt amazing. But since then I haven't been able to get back into the rhythm, grr...

Another phone interview tomorrow morning (at 9am again - HR people like to test university students, don't they?), followed by a 6-hour day at the University working with secondary school students considering to study the International Baccalaureate Diploma at sixth form/college. IBO should seriously pay me for doing things like these (I'd done it once with Trafford College).

Self-discovery

2011-01-19T22:48:00.002Z

This "I'll blog and photograph everyday" resolution isn't working out, is it?

Yesterday I woke up early for a phone interview, and as usual I didn't sleep well. I hadn't been sleeping well lately (until last night). It's all part of this stress/anxiety/depression phase I guess. Anyway after a long day at work I was really exhausted, so soon after I made final changes to my speech (for this morning's oral exam) I went to bed (with hair rollers! they're so much better than the curling tongs) and slept incredibly well... then once again I had to get up early this morning, for the oral exam. In the afternoon I made a Mississippi mud pie, which is now setting in the fridge, and I'll finish it with double cream tomorrow morning.

I'm quite tired too, and I shall tuck in quite soon. But I'm feeling better today. I watched Julia Roberts' Eat, Pray, Love. Honestly it's not really good...and I got bored watching it. But I sort of made a tiny self-discovery. Or at least I gave myself time to think about what I really enjoy doing. Since I came back from Japan I haven't taken many photographs, I haven't done much travelling, I haven't sung anything or played the piano or the clarinet at all. All I've been thinking is dissertationjobhuntingexamsclassesreadingessaysapplicationsinterviewstests...

I know we have to be realistic and pragmatic. I don't have the money or time to go off travelling like Elizabeth Gilbert. But at least I remember what I like doing and the satisfaction and happiness I once had. I remember the year in Japan, the solo trip I took to Prague two years ago...I was taking photos everywhere I went and I was marvelled by everything I saw. I remember going to theatres and concert halls, and the feeling of chills down my spine and getting goosebumps everywhere whilst listening to Joshua Bell and Midori doing their virtuosic cadenzas, and singers belting out that last note that makes you stop breathing for half a minute. What I need to do, is just to get myself into doing these things again...I just don't know when I can afford this luxury.

s-a-l-a-d

2011-01-17T21:37:00.004Z

today I threw some stuff together and made a very satisfying quick lunch (a variation of the salad I had yesterday).

1 ripe baby avocado

1 little gem lettuce

moderate amount of Gruyere, chopped into small pieces

lightly toasted wholemeal bread (I used this Irish yeast-free loaf I bought from Asda), cut into small pieces

coarse sea salt

coarsely ground black pepper

olive oil

balsamic vinegar

It was actually quite filling and I didn't feel hungry until Sam came to make me dinner (salmon fishcakes with spinach and potatoes).

Right now I'm in a musical theatre mood. Last night I downloaded Highlights from the Chess concert at the Royal Albert Hall (starring Idina Menzel, Josh Groban and Kerry Ellis) for just £0.79 for the entire highlights album. Bargain! In addition to Chess, I'm also listening to Spring Awakening, Hairspray, Miss Saigon, Rent, Les Miserables (duh) and The Phantom of the Opera. Aah I can never get bored of it!

P.S. Y-A-Y for Colin Firth who won Best Actor at the Golden Globes last night!

the weekend

2011-01-16T21:09:00.003Z

Didn't blog last night...was too exhausted after work. Didn't do much today really. Went to the gym after grocery shopping with Sam, but then I did have a tiny revelation by throwing various fruit and veg I had and made a lovely salad for dinner:

1 avocado

1 little gem lettuce

1 yellow bell pepper

2 ripe plum tomatoes

coarse sea salt

coarsely ground black pepper

balsamic vinegar

extra virgin olive oil

I basically chopping everything up and mixed together. Simplest thing ever.

I also had a ready-made pad thai as dinner. I have descended to the laziness of microwaveable ready meals. God what is happening to me? Browsing on NHS Choices, I seem to have symptoms for depression, anxiety, and stress. Not good.

a chocful of love

2011-01-14T22:45:00.002Z

Today is roomie Wen Chean's birthday. I made her the same chocolate cake I made for Seb's birthday last November. I wanted to make something I had done (succesfully) before so I won't mess someone's birthday cake up. But I still managed to mess it up somehow. Okay it tastes alright and it looks alright, but I was impatient and one of the cake layer sort of broke into pieces when I flipped it over when it was still warm (should have waited until it was cooled!), such a rookie mistake. 9 years of baking experience should not result in this. Argh it makes me mad when I fail at things I know I'm good at.

Lately when I'm thinking about my career and future etc., I keep thinking "what if I had known what I wanted to be from very early on?" and "what if I could choose again? what would I do?". Obviously we can't travel back in time, but if I could it again...I think I might choose musical theatre. Even though I had seen Joseph and the Amazing Technicolour Dreamcoat and The Lion King when I was young, but I was never moved or inspired...until I saw Les Miserables at a school production. Then I saw videos of young classical singers performing arias and art songs and all these things made me wanted to take voice lessons. I never wanted to perform in school musicals, I thought musicals and singing were too girly and that they were only for the dominating drama queens. But now when I think about it I really loved it when I pour all my heart and soul into performing a musical number, it gets out all my energy and it feels great! Well now it's a bit too late, isn't it? Plus I can't dance (at all), maybe I can act? And even though my singing has improved since taking voice lessons (I swear I couldn't sing at all before that), I'll never be good enough to become a professional. Hmmm...it's never bad to dream eh? I can keep singing in the shower ;)

2011-01-12T23:35:00.002Z

Another photo-less blog entry. My apologies.

Nothing much happened today, except for a short visit to the waxing salon down the road, and I made Coq au vin for dinner.

On the job-hunting front, things are looking a little better. Today I did two separate sets of reasoning tests (my eyes are exhausted from staring at the computer screen for too long), and now I have two upcoming telephone interviews, both are happening next week (why do employers like to have phone interviews at 9am? Are they trying to test us and see if we can get up early in the morning?).

On the other hand, zero progress on dissertation/Japanese speech.

Down in the slums

2011-01-11T21:33:00.003Z

Today I finished the new dessert menu for the restaurant. That's probably my only achievement today.

The day began with me drowning in depression. The POLI30101 essay mark was published online and I have never ever done so badly on an essay at university. Why? why does it happen in my final year? Not only is my chance of achieving a First in jeopardy, I have now given up applying to Oxford for postgrad.

The day got a little bit better when I did well at work, but I hate to think that my only achievement comes in waitressing/shopkeeping. I do realise that I've been whining a lot lately, but I don't think I've ever felt like this before. Everyday I get up and I can't find a thing to look forward to or feel excited about. I know being all self-centred and whiny is not good at all, for me or for anyone, but it's just impossible right now. When will things get better?

Recipes

2011-01-10T23:14:00.003Z

This is my Moleskine recipe notebook. I first saw it in a bookshop in Kyushu, Japan. Foreign things are usually much more expensive in Japan so I waited until I came back to buy it on Amazon.co.uk. I'm never a creative person (even with art - I'm only good at life drawing and not at anything abstract/original), so I don't come up with my own original recipes. I do, however, use existing recipes and tweak it into my own. With American recipes (e.g. Martha Stewart and the ones from the Magnolia Bakery cookbook) I have to change all the measurements into metric, and often have to reduce the portion.

I also search for recipes online (Delia Smith, the Guardian and the Observer are exquisite) and copy them into this notebook. And obviously I gather my favourite recipes from a variety of cookbooks and copy them into here. Today the Marcella Hazan cookbook arrived in the post - I had no idea how big and heavy it was! It's a paperback but it's the size of an encyclopædia. The structure is similar to French Provincial Cooking and Mastering the Art of French Cooking. I haven't had the time to read through all the recipes yet but I'm already falling in love with it! There are entire chapters devoted to pasta sauces and risotto and pizza toppings. These dishes are simple but the variations could really make a difference. Can't wait to cook! Let's start planning this week's grocery shopping list...

ballet flats

2011-01-09T22:12:00.003Z

Sorry. Another photo-less blog entry. I have, however, included a image from the web. It's my wardrobe staple - ballet flats. Not just ballet flats, and not the ridiculously over-priced French Sole flats - H&M ballet flats (at £7.99 each pair).

I buy at least one pair every year and I wear them almost everyday during the summer. This is how I got my feet tan lines in Summer 2009 - I wore these flats whilst watching the epic Federer-Roddick Wimbledon finals at the big BBC screen at Exchange Square and five hours in the sun resulted in embarrassing and odd tan lines on my feet. As soon as I wear them out (with holes in the heel) I throw them away and get a new pair. Things got a little difficult in Japan 'cause the H&M in Shinsaibashi didn't sell shoes (I know!) so my temporary alternative last year was Uniqlo's flats, but they were more expensive and didn't last as long.

I usually get one pair in black and another in this pale pink colour. The black ones would go with jeans/trousers/tights, and the rosey pink ones would go with skirts/dresses/bare legs. As an unfortunate girl who has serious problems with bunions, hammer toes and callouses, these ballet flats are a wonder 'cause I can wiggle my toes easily in these flats and run without the fear of tripping or losing my shoes.

another photo-less blog

2011-01-08T23:19:00.004Z

Another apology. I'm afraid I hadn't taken any photos today. I shall figure out how to do this 'cause I spend Tuesdays and Saturdays at work and these are 10-hour shifts so by the time I get home it's 2200 and I'm exhausted...

My work is pretty boring so I won't blog about it here. I just sit behind the cashier and give out advice or suggestions to people wanting to buy Japanese food products. Sometimes people come in looking for ingredients to make sushi, so I direct them to the rolling mat, seaweed, soy sauce, wasabi, rice and rice vinegar. Since the end of Christmas it's been quite slow at work, not many customers (they've probably spent too much during Christmas). But then recently I've started doing some graphic design for the shop and restaurant and it makes me feel a little better.

I studied Art at school until I left for university, and I had been doing life drawings since I was 5 or 6. I guess I was pretty good at drawing (not painting though). My best moments came when I was 13 and I did a sketch of the side profile of my friend Alice in about 10 minutes during art class - and the resemblance surprised even myself. The other moment that I'm proud about is during one parents' evening (in Year 9 - I was 14), my D.T. (Design & Technology) teacher - the respected and adored Mr. Gee - told me that I should seriously consider design as a career. At that time I really did consider doing graphic design as a career...but then having pragmatic Asian parents I knew it was going to be really tough and competitive so I gave up that aspiration.

Last month I used the existing logos and illustrations the restaurant already has, and designed gift vouchers. My boss was pleased and she said I was "artistic". Haha I don't think I've heard that word for a long time! I'm now working on a new dessert menu. I don't claim to be artistic though, it's all thanks to Adobe Photoshop CS ;)

an unexpected e-mail

2011-01-07T23:34:00.004Z

Today I made chicken drumsticks (and 29 chocolate chip cookies). The drumsticks were a fusion of recipes by Martha Stewart and Nigella Lawson.

The drumsticks were marinated in buttermilk, a mix of spices (ground cumin, cayenne pepper, dry mustard, Maldon salt and coarsely ground black pepper), and a touch of golden syrup. Then it's coated in a flour-and-cornmeal mix and ~~deep-fried~~ roasted in the oven (220˚C) for 30 minutes. The Martha Stewart version is the flour/cornmeal coating and deep-fry, whereas Nigella Lawson's has no crispy coating. I wanted the crispy coating without the grease so voila - this is my version. Some of the coating got stuck to the wire rack though so it didn't look very golden and pretty. But the buttermilk marinade is pretty awesome 'cause the lactic acid keeps the meat juicy and tender.

Today I received an e-mail from someone closely related but it was rather unexpected. I was really moved and touched by her e-mail, and it comes at the crucial time when I am really frustrated with the job-hunting failures. Honestly I haven't really studied Japanese or done much research for dissertation lately (at least I practice speaking Japanese with my colleagues at the restaurant), because I've been so preoccupied with job applications. This e-mail I received today is the most wonderful thing that has happened to me since Boxing Day. I can find the sisterly support I've never had.

Pizzas

2011-01-06T23:44:00.002Z

I like to make my own pizzas. The dough takes an hour to rise, but other than that it's quick and easy, and very soothing and satisfying. So far I've only been making two kinds: margherita and mushroom and mozzarella. Need to learn other variations...I like these two 'cause they're veggie and very healthy. As much as I love parma ham and salami, even in my pork-eating days I didn't like them on pizzas. They tend to get really greasy and salty and urgh. Hopefully when the Marcella Hazan cookbook arrives later this week I can start learn to cook real italian food.

"Thanksgiving with no turkey is like Friday with no two pizzas!"

bad start of the year

2011-01-05T23:21:00.003Z

not good. I didn't go to the gym today. I just came back from a work party at the restaurant and now feel like a pig. I haven't eaten an apple and I physically can't. I didn't take a photo today.

had a discussion about careers with my flatmates today and I'm feeling as crap as I've been for the past month. ugh this job-hunting and uncertainty is so depressing...why can't life be as fun as sitcoms like Big Bang or Friends? I might have watched too much TV that one part of me believes that life could be that easy.

today's post is a short one. I'm discontent with life right now and I probably shouldn't spill my grief and grumble here. Go live your happy lives. I shall come back a happier person soon. Perhaps it's time to think about baking a cake tomorrow morning...

food cravings

2011-01-04T21:59:00.002Z

Now that I've given up red meat, not having it makes me crave for it even more... I don't normally eat a lot of meat anyway so giving up is not too difficult, but the fact that I can't have it makes me want it more.

I often get food cravings when I watch movies or TV. Examples include:

- The Big Bang Theory: Thai food, meatloaf (in spite of its depiction that space toilet episode)

- Ugly Betty: Mexican food in general, but especially flan ("Brrrring It!")

- Julie and Julia: everything! the lobster, reine de saba, hollandaise sauce, bœuf bouguignon, mississippi mud pie, bruschetta...

- Friends: American food in general, pumpkin pie, roast turkey (the Thanksgiving dinners), pizzas and sandwiches (a.k.a. Joey's not-for-sharing food), and popcorn (from time to time you can see there's a bowl of popcorn on the kitchen table and the characters would occasionally dip their hands into the bowl for some popcorn).

- Sex and the City: cupcakes, salads (these women don't really eat much, do they?)

and then obviously when I watch cooking shows I get seri

ous cravings too...

but then somehow I believe in myself for not breaking my no-red-meat diet, maybe my cravings could be satisfied with just the thoughts of eating these food?

Blogging from my new MacBook:

Let 'Em Have Cake

2011-01-03T23:37:00.000Z

Today I sent out another job application and completed a reasoning test for another application. I haven't had much progress with this job thing. So far I've had numerous rejections...there's only one upcoming interview, but I don't know when 'cause people haven't gone back to work yet. I really can't screw this one up. I know job-hunting is difficult, especially this year, but receiving rejections is just so depressing!

Apart from job-hunting, I also did some dissertation work. Very little though I must say. I didn't do any work for the past two weeks and I feel I'm quite behind on this dissertation reading. I have a plan for it but I can't write anything until I've read enough. I'm also writing a 10-minute speech in Japanese on the same topic, for the oral exam in two weeks' time (and for the speech contest finals in February). I really must stop procrastinating and get back to work. The trouble is that my topic is contemporary so it's very difficult to find relevant published academic papers and essays. And I need to find sources in Japanese too, which is even more difficult considering I'm like over 5000 miles away from the country.

Next Friday is Wen Chean's 22nd birthday, and I've been contemplating on which cake to bake for her. For my birthday last October she made me this lovely, moist and pink-ish strawberry cake. So I went through my cookbooks, and looked up for recipes online...but still I'm undecided. Right now I'm choosing between a red velvet cake or the chocolate cake that I made for Seb's birthday. I know I'm confident with the chocolate cake 'cause I've made it before and it was good. I've only made red velvet cupcakes but an actual cake, and last time I made the cupcakes the cream cheese icing was not as stiff as I had hoped. Hmm... I can hear a voice inside my head that's whispering "chocolate chocolate chocolate" (or is that the voice of my hormones?), but then a red velvet cake can be wonderful too... aaaaarrrrggghhhh!!! So not only do I have to stress about my career, dissertation, I also stress about making the perfect birthday cake. Perhaps it's fair to say that I'm a bit of a perfectionist. Or is that euphemism for OCD?

extra-ordinary

2011-01-02T22:49:00.003Z

I added the hyphen between "extra" and "ordinary" because it has been extra (in other words, "very") ordinary. The climax of the day may have been blasting Bon Jovi through the speakers whilst eating mashed avocado on toasts in my room.

Today I made chocolate chip cookies, using the recipe from The Hummingbird Bakery Cookbook. I'm a fan of the bakery and its cookbook, especially the recipes for Green Tea cupcakes, Lavender cupcakes, and pumpkin pie. I haven't tried all the recipes yet, but so far I have found its chocolate brownies and chocolate chip cookies too greasy. From now on I shall stick to Martha Stewart's for the cookies.

I bought this cookbook (Martha Stewart's Cooking School) at Kinokuniya bookshop at Hankyu Umeda station, while I was studying in Japan last year. There was a sale on English books and I bought this for 2,000yen. It's a hardback and has five hundred pages of traditional recipes ranging from sauces and soups to pasta and pies.

See how bored I am right now? I am writing about a cookbook. Okay yes I do love this cookbook...but writing about it is not as fun as cooking from it. Tomorrow I shall make chicken piccata.

I don't intend to make this blog into Julie and Julia (as much as I loved that film), but right now cooking is probably my only passion. I haven't really gone out to take photos, not since going to the Lake District on Halloween. Even though I bought a long-desired Polaroid SLR 680 last month I have yet to find the money to buy the film. I have just ordered another cookbook off amazon.co.uk. Having learned to make several French dishes, I thought I'd try some Italian, that's why I chose to buy Marcella Hazan's masterpiece. Shall let you (whoever you are) know how that goes :)

twenty eleven

2011-01-01T23:05:00.006Z

I never really make New Year resolutions. To be honest I don't really make New Year a big deal. Yesterday was just another day. Last night I stayed at home and just watched TV with Sam, Wen Chean and Duncan, until midnight.

But then this morning I thought of Helen Fielding's Bridget Jones's Diary and Julie Powell's Julie and Julia, so I decided to blog my way through 2011. Not only will I write a blog entry everyday before midnight, I will also:

get a job
graduate with a First
take a photo everyday
learn a new recipe every week
shed the michelin tyre around my waist that had come into existence since the beginning of the last decade (although I must confess I just ate a piece of Wen Chean's brownies - the best ever!)
go to the gym five times a week
eat an apple a day
eat no red meat
save up £1500 for travelling (right now I'm choosing between InterRail-ing in Europe...or North Korea?)
drink no alcohol
drink nothing fizzy

So here are my resolutions.

In Renee Zellweger/Bridget Jones's words:

I've decided to take control of my life, and start a diary, to tell the truth of ~~Bridget Jones~~Vivian C., the whole truth.

And yes I have eaten an apple and taken a photo (of the apple).

I do promise to take more interesting photos (and not with my stupid phone)...

I guess in someway I decided to blog everyday this year 'cause somewhere inside my mind I want to be a good writer (obviously not wanting to become a writer as a career path or whatever). I just want to see whether I can write about my mundane life and make it sort of witty/entertaining in words. Honestly, ever since I came back from Japan my life has been going downhill. As depressed and pessimistic as I am right now (the past month has been absolutely crap), I might just one teeny bit of hope for something better this year.

Mandarin Chinese

2010-12-18T22:26:00.003Z

For some unknown reason people are always really surprised when they hear me speak Mandarin Chinese...they'd look shocked and then they'd compliment that I speak really good Mandarin, when in fact I'm really not confident about speaking in Mandarin.

I've only had about 4 years of learning Mandarin formally in class, but that was in primary school in Hong Kong (between 1996-2000; months before the handover they suddenly thought it was time for us to learn Mandarin) where we only had about an hour per week, and honestly no one was listening in class, let alone practicing or speaking it when we're at home.

Since coming to Britain I think I've actually learned more Mandarin than I had done in HK, mainly by watching Phoenix TV on Sky. And I guess the visits to Shanghai and Beijing (my Dad worked there for several years) helped a bit too.

I think people are surprised when they hear me speak Mandarin is because people from HK are supposed to be Mandarin-speaking-handicapped; some people are surprised just by the fact that I read/write Chinese alone...they think that since I've been in the UK for a decade I probably don't know how to read/write Chinese. Some of my parents' friends in HK are like "you can read Chinese? wow that's great!", and I'm like "duh of course I can". Okay I may not be able to write a business letter or an academic essay in Chinese (not that I don't have the vocabulary, it's just I don't know the format and style), but I can certainly read essays, novels and newspapers in (traditional) Chinese.

But the truth is I'm still not confident in speaking Mandarin, maybe because I so rarely speak it I'm never certain if I'm speaking it correctly or not. I really need to get back to practicing speaking Mandarin, and Japanese...and perhaps someday I'll go back to studying French and Spanish again (my GCSE levels only allow me to read menu at restaurants). It'd be nice to be able to become a polyglot :)

End of semester

2010-12-17T10:35:00.002Z

Well actually the official end of semester is the end of January, after the exam fortnight. But I only have one oral exam in mid-January, and today's last day of classes so it could be seen as the end of semester I guess.

In the past few weeks things got quite eventful. Not socially though, apart from Seb's and Daan's visit to Manchester nothing much happened. I'm still working 20 hours a week at the shop, I'm still stressing about university and job applications.

On 5th December I took the JLPT N1, it was better than I had expected, so hopefully I had scraped a pass. Around that time I was feeling really really low, getting rejections after rejections in job applications. When Seb and Daan came it was so wonderful, just hanging out together, watching Friends, cooking and eating...

Around the same time Seb and Daan were here, I had 2 essay deadlines: dissertation plan and the essay for POLI30101 (Global Governance and International Organisation). The dissertation plan is only pass/fail so I wasn't too worried, but the global governance essay was quite stressful. It was due on Monday at 1400, I was writing it until 0400, then went to bed and got up at 0700 to continue writing it, and finished at around midday. I slept for 11 hours that night ;)

Then I thought after handing in the POLI30101 essay I would have an easier time, but obviously life doesn't always work that way. I went down to London on Wednesday for an interview, which was alright I guess but I'll have to wait till next week to see if I got through to the next round. Had another telephone interview this morning, after receiving 2 rejections... one of them was from Japan. This application to Japan had me stressing over taking numerical and verbal reasoning tests in Japanese (I just made random guesses); after the tests I got an e-mail saying that the next stage is a telephone interview, which made me think that I had got through and I started freaking out about having a telephone interview in Japanese (my business Japanese is non-existent), then this morning I got a rejection from them (obviously haven't passed the reasoning tests)...so I just freaked out over nothing.

Anyway the most upsetting is the other rejection I got today - from the Civil Service Fast Stream. The rejection from Uniqlo wasn't as upsetting as this - I've been wanting to join the FCO for a long, long time...guess I'll have to wait 'till next year, or maybe later...

Last night we had a nice, small gathering and Christmas dinner. We made Delia's roast chicken with lemon and tarragon, potatoes, tomato and mozzarella pizzas, Julia Child's tomates à la Provençale, Wen-chean's cheesecake brownies and the Hummingbird Bakery's pumpkin pie. Quite satisfying actually, the whole cooking and eating process. I guess that has become my main hobby, now that I'm not taking so many photographs since returning from Japan. I have, however, bought myself a long-desired Polaroid SLR 680 camera. I've been dreaming about this since I was 14 or 15, when I started to take up photography as a hobby. The auto-focus single lens reflex instant camera uses the Polaroid 600 series film, unlike the iconic SX-70 (which requires the less readily available SX-70 film), but then now that Polaroid is no longer manufacturing the film it doesn't make that much a difference eh? I need to save up money to buy the films (my finances right now are in an absolute mess), via either eBay (that's how I bought the camera) or The Impossible Project (started by some lovely people who decided to bring back the manufacture of the polaroid films).

This year we're spending Christmas in Manchester. Since Sam moved here last week my parents thought it might just be easier if we spend it here. My brother and I are responsible for the Christmas dinner though, and we'll have to start planning it soon! It's only one more week to go and we have to make sure we get all the shopping done before Christmas Eve... what's for dinner?

Leaving chorus

2010-11-24T23:32:00.006Z

my life hasn't changed much since I last blogged. it still revolves around the following: JLPT (10 days left!), dissertation, job applications, global governance essay, global governance presentation, Japanese speech, Japanese reading class presentations, part-time job...sleep, shower, eat, and cook.

I feel like crying but I think my tear glands are too proud. It feels like I'm about to crack under all this pressure and stress. Cooking is my way of relaxation, that's really the only time when I feel peaceful and soothed. All the other times I'm just anxious, stressed and exhausted. I haven't been to the gym in weeks, the lack of endorphins is soon to be filled by caffeine. A while ago I decided to give up drinking (alcohol), but now I think I'll take up caffeine instead. I don't usually drink coffee (tea all the way!) because it makes me really jittery and my heart beat speeds up like a sports car, but now I think I might need it for the future all-nighters.

because of the busy schedule I have these days, plus I've been having a crappy time at chorus, I've decided to leave chorus. even in October when I wasn't as busy with work, Wen Chean and I realised that chorus had drastically changed when we temporarily left for our industrial placement and study abroad. the new conductor is not as inspirational as Marcus, the repertoire is not as exciting as Elgar/Britten/Mendelssohn/Orff, and the committee seems to be lacking organisation. at the beginning I knew that I couldn't sing in the December concert because it clashes with the JLPT in London, so there hasn't been motivation for me to attend rehearsals and enjoy singing with chorus. then came November when work really started to kick my ass, I just couldn't make it to the rehearsals. Thursday is my busiest day at the University, with the last lecture (with the politics lecturer who resembles Brad Pitt) ending at 1800, I'm usually exhausted by that time. so basically that's the story...it's quite sad, when I think about it, because in my second year I put in so much time and effort into chorus, being the committee's secretary, preparing for the concerts (especially the big one at Bridgewater Hall). It was so much fun and very rewarding watching 2,000 people coming in to listen to us sing. But now I know that's not going to happen again.

anyway these days instead of singing Haydn with the chorus, I'm singing Les Mis in my room. And apparently my singing is more audible than the hoover...

The King's Speech

2010-11-04T23:47:00.004Z

Just came back from a lovely evening at the Leeds International Film Festival. Tonight was the opening night and the selected film was The King's Speech, the much anticipated film of the year. It certainly deserves all the hype, personally it's the best film I've seen in years. I've read reviews of it from the film festivals in Toronto and London, and I just couldn't wait until January to watch it in the cinema, so I took the hour-long journey to Leeds to watch this film. The cast is absolutely stunning - Colin Firth, Geoffrey Rush, Helena Bonham-Carter, Timothy Spall, Jennifer Ehle, Michael Gambon etc etc.

In one particular scene, I was reminded of BBC's 1995 adaptation of Pride and Prejudice. Jennifer Ehle (Elizabeth) plays Lionel Logue's (Geoffrey Rush) wife, Myrtle, who had no idea that her husband's patient was the King (played by Colin Firth, aka Mr. Darcy). Myrtle walks into the dining room and sees Elizabeth (then Queen - not Queen Mother yet) sipping tea. Already shocked, then Logue opens the door and says "erm...I believe you haven't met erm...King George VI". It sort of reminded me of the scene in Pride and Prejudice where Elizabeth walks into Darcy at Pemberley. It's worth mentioning that David Bamber (aka Mr. Collins) made a cameo appearance as a theatre director, who rejected Lionel Logue's audition (Logue was an aspiring but unsuccessful actor, as well as a speech therapist) earlier in the film.

The film will be released in the US later this month, but in the UK we'll have to wait until January, closer to the award ceremonies season. I really hope and I think there's a great chance for Colin Firth, Geoffrey Rush and Helena Bonham-Carter to get nominations and possibly awards!

my life these days

2010-11-03T21:30:00.004Z

this is why I haven't been blogging much lately. these days my life revolves around:

- 19hrs/week of work at part-time job at a Japanese restaurant/food shop

- 6.5hrs/week of classes at university

- going to the gym

- being a temporary vegetarian

- reading for presentations in Japanese class

- reading for global governance class (weekly tutorial - with the hottest lecturer ever, essay and presentation)

- writing a speech for Japanese class

- translation

- studying for the Japanese Language Proficiency Test in early December

- reading for dissertation

- job/internship applications

- reading the newspaper to prepare for job applications

- having doubts about my ability of getting a job interview/job offer

- having doubts about my ability to get a 2:1/1st

twenty two

2010-10-07T23:17:00.003+01:00

8035 days. Or twenty-two years. That's how long I've been living for.

Today was just another ordinary day.

0001 got out of the shower and blow-dried my hair

0040 went to bed

0740 woke up

0815 breakfast (toasts with houmous; Tetley tea)

0850 watched Friends on Channel 4

0945 laundry

1200 POLI30101 tutorial

1300 Lunch by myself at the Refectory (roast lamb, veg and mashed potatoes; vanilla cupcake; Quavers)

1400 EALC30000 class (oral and listening with Shaw sensei)

1600 skyped with parents

1630 watched a little bit of Friends on E4 whilst talking on the phone with Shachi, who turned out to be the only person to call me on my birthday

1700 POLI30101 lecture

1800 Dinner at the veggie cafe with Wen-chean

1900 Chorus rehearsal

2030 Got bored of Haydn's The Creation so Wen-chean and I sneaked out of rehearsal during the break and went home; watched Friends then The Big Bang Theory on TV; blew the candles on the strawberry cake Wen-chean made for me, ate the cake and some popcorn whilst watching TV.

2130 Watched She's All That (Afifah's DVD) - the last time I watched it was probably 10 years ago?

Last year I spent my birthday with people I barely knew. Had cheap, disgusting sushi off a conveyor belt and walked through the rain in the typhoon.

This year I got 60 messages on my Facebook wall, some from people I love, and some from people I haven't spoken to or seen for years. I don't even know what their "Happy Birthday" messages mean. Is it just 13 letters in the space of 14 digits that conventionally represents a greeting used on the anniversary of someone's birth?

Usually I'm a fan of Facebook, because it allows me to get in touch with people who live half way across the world, and it's fun to upload and tag people in photos etc etc. But sometimes, things get complicated because, let say for example, there are photos or messages that I only want a certain group of people to read. And then some people make a fuss about not able to see someone else's profile etc. And today I dislike Facebook more than ever. I guess it's pretty handy when you want to send a message to someone you're friends with, but not that close that you could write a personal e-mail or text message or give a phone call. But when your parents, sibling, the closest friends...the most important people of your life chose to send their regards and sentiments via a web portal, just because it's handy and convenient, life doesn't get more miserable than that eh?

I'm not upset that today's been uneventful; I never wanted to celebrate anyway. A birthday doesn't signify much, does it? Right now all it means to me is that 22 years ago I was born on this day. Other than that actual day (7th October 1988), what do the other birthdays signify? I'm just disappointed at myself. This is perhaps karma. Cold and detached as I could sometimes be, this is probably what was coming for me. 22 years on and I still have plenty to learn about building and maintaining relationships.

Don't get it wrong, I am truly grateful for my friends. I love and am grateful for my flatmates. I feel at ease when I'm with the girls, even if it's just watching TV, going to the gym or cooking dinners. Last night I managed to have a short skype conversation with Morgan after I got off work; and today I received a few very lovely text messages (thank you Seb - I look forward to see in Oxford!). One of them was from a guy I've only met a couple of weeks ago.

And oh yes the birthday presents: a set of cute plastic pencil cases from Rachel, a lovely pink Strawberry cake by Wen-chean, and a small two-tier cupcake stand and a cookbook from Afifah...

And 60 e-mails from Facebook titled "xxx has written on your wall..."

Is this my quarter-life crisis?

Les Miserables

2010-10-07T00:13:00.002+01:00

So the Les Mis 25th Anniversary Concert was amazing, as everyone had been expecting. The concert itself was phenomenal.

My favourites of the afternoon were Lea Salonga's Fantine (of course), Alfie Boe's Valjean and Norm Lewis's Javert. Matt Lucas (of Little Britain) played a wonderful Thernadier; his comedian nature came in right on spot.

Every actor was singing and acting superbly...well everyone except for Nick Jonas. I must say he was a better suited Marius than Michael Ball, in terms of appearance and character. But when it came down to the singing, well... I didn't know who Nick Jonas was before the concert, and I have never heard of his songs, but when he was singing on the stage his voice was almost non-existent compared to the other actors, who all had substantial training and experience in theatre. I felt bad for Jonas, 'cause it was obvious that he was putting in his best efforts, and his acting was pretty good too.

As much as I've enjoyed the concert, I must admit that I still prefer the 10th Anniversary "Dream Cast" concert. One thing the 10th anniversary didn't match this 25th anniversary concert was that a few of the numbers were cut from the programme 15 years ago. The programme at this year's concert is longer (although I was not happy that Gavroche's "Little People" was cut to only one verse, they had an amazing boy singing Gavroche!). But in terms of the singing and vocal qualities, the "Dream Cast" of 1995 is still the best.

However, this concert's encore was mind-blowing. Cameron McKintosh, Claude-Michel Schonberg and Alain Boublil had invited the 1985 Original Cast (Colm Wilkinson, Michael Ball, Patti LuPone, Alun Armstrong, Frances Ruffelle etc.) onto the stage and perform with the concert cast as a finale. Colm Wilkinson and Alfie Boe were joined by Simon Bowman (who originated the role of Chris in Miss Saigon in 1989, alongside Lea Salonga) and John Owen-Jones who were playing Valjean at the Queen's Theatre and the Barbican respectively. The four Valjeans performed a quartet of "Bring Him Home". It was definitely the highlight was the concert. When Colm Wilkinson opened his mouth and began singing "God on high...", those three notes were pure gold.

And then Michael Ball and Frances Ruffelle (and the original Cosette) came to the front and sang the "A Heart Full of Love" trio. There at that point, when Michael Ball began to sing, I genuinely felt sorry for Nick Jonas. There was a huge contrast between his voice and the one of Michael Ball. Oh yes Lucy and I managed to catch a glimpse of Ball at the stage door after the concert.

At the stage door, the most unexpected happened. Lea Salonga walked out and immediately I shouted her name. Even now I don't know where I found that courage to do so, I'm usually pretty timid about things like these. Then I asked "Hi, can you sign this for me please?" and handed her a programme of the original production of Miss Saigon from 1989, which I had bought from eBay for less than a fiver. She looked at her biography and photo from '89 and said "Oh God". It was so surreal. I met my favourite musical theatre actress and she autographed my vintage programme. Lucy and I were jumping up and down, screaming with joy afterwards.

Afterwards I went back to Euston to meet Andrew. We had dinner in Russell Square. It was so strange, to see him in London and not in Osaka. It was absolutely delightful though - but then it did make me miss the life I had in Japan, and the friends that I had made there.

Time flies

2010-10-02T20:32:00.003+01:00

Wow it's already been over a month since I left Japan and returned to Britain. Not that nothing has happened since I came back, it's just that I can't really write about the same stuff as I used to write about when I was in Japan. From time to time I would have periods of depression because I miss my friends too much. It's especially bad when the photos I ordered arrived in the post, and I pinned each photo onto the noticeboard in my room, and all those memories come rushing into my mind and explode in tears.

There's been a lot of frustration regarding university, which I shall discuss further later this week. Before classes started it was about looking for a part-time job. I got rejection from Harvey Nichols, Boots, and the Manchester Museum. Still haven't heard anything from H&M or Selfridges. But anyway I now have a regular part-time job (in addition the occasional student ambassador stuff I do at the University). When I was looking for jobs I thought of place where I can practice Japanese, so I wrote to Samsi (a Japanese restaurant in Manchester owned by two Britons) and asked if they had any vacancies in their basement shop (I didn't want to do waitressing - I didn't have a good time at the Midland 2 years ago, except for the occasional celebrity sightings such as David Cameron and Martine McCutcheon). And the owner replied and soon offered me a part-time position after a very brief interview.

A couple of weeks ago I did an evening of training, shadowing the other staff, learned how to use the cashier etc. Today was my first formal, 10-hour shift. God it was exhausting! At times it's really quiet, 'cause the shop is in the basement and only patrons of the restaurant and people who know the place would come in to buy Japanese snacks and cooking ingredients. But today, apart from using the cashier, credit/debit card machine, replenishing the shelves, I also cleaned out a fridge (some idiot had turned the power off over the weekend so the fridge was filled with mouldy food and stank real bad), cleaned a sink (again stank like hell), took out rubbish, washed up a few dishes and mopped the floor. I'm pretty sure those things were not in the job description. But then there wasn't really a job description, or a contract or anything in print. I won't even get paid by bank transfer. They pay in cash apparently. The advantage is that I won't have to pay tax/NI contributions on it, the disadvantage being there's no legal protection. One of the perks of the job (in addition to the 20% off staff discount) was the free meal. It's nothing fancy but today I had grilled salmon bento, which would normally cost around £5.

The salmon, the Japanese food and snacks (Pretz, Pocky and the Koala chocolate etc.) in which I'm surrounded - all remind me of the wonderful year I had in Japan. It's very, very hard not to think about it.

I'll now work 29 hours per week at the shop; 6.5 hours of lectures/tutorials at the University; and the rest of the time I'll be spending it doing homework, reading for tutorials and dissertations, chorus rehearsals, applying to postgraduate courses and graduate jobs, going to the gym, in the shower, cooking, and sleeping. There's really no time to relax or procrastinate. I really need to get back into my don't-waste-time mode I was once in while in 6th Form; I was insanely productive at one point, having 25 hours of classes per week (no "study/free periods"!), applying to universities, planning travels to Mongolia and Japan, participating in two orchestras, Jazz Band, chamber choir, organising events for boarders and captaining the badminton team. How did I manage that? I really can't remember...in the second half of Year 13, the procrastination cells started to dominate my mind, which was unfortunate as it was the most crucial point of my secondary education. That really can't happen at any point this year.

I shall update later this week about my day trip to London for the Les Miserables 25th Anniversary Concert, which was phenomenal, and it was followed by a wonderful dinner with Andrew :)

11 months

2010-08-26T08:00:00.004+01:00

Next Tuesday morning I'll leave Japan, after spending some fabulous 11 months in this country. I'm not one of those enthusiasts who is madly in love with Japan. I definitely like this country, but what makes this past year so amazing isn't just the country itself. It's the people I've met, whether Japanese or not, who have made my year in Japan the best year of my life so far. And there are some breath-taking, stunning sceneries in Japan which has blown my mind away.

In the past eleven months, I...

...dressed up for Halloween for the first time in over 10 years

...met some incredibly gifted polyglots

...had my first hangover after 7 or 8 tequila shots

...kissed four girls in a row in one night (no tongue though - I'm not a lesbian!)

...kissed a gay man on the lips (also no tongue)

...learned to cook a few Japanese dishes

...passed Level 2 on the JLPT

...travelled to the following prefectures: 京都府、兵庫県、奈良県、和歌山県、三重県、滋賀県、愛知県、岡山県、広島県、岐阜県、新潟県、宮城県、栃木県、東京都、神奈川県、香川県、愛媛県、高知県、徳島県、沖縄県、山口県、福岡県、大分県、佐賀県、長崎県、熊本県、鹿児島県、長野県

...been to the 3 Kyoto festivals (時代祭、葵祭、祇園祭)

...been to the 日本三景（松島湾、厳島、天橋立）

...dug gravel and pushed a car

...learned to make green tea cupcakes and lavender cupcakes

...learned to say "eight" and "basically" with an Irish accent

...accumulated 9 different stores' point cards/membership cards

...learned to like karaoke and internet cafes

...made many mistakes in terms of handling relationships with people, and learned from the mistakes

...have come to wish I knew how to turn back time

...learned a lot from some very talented photographers

...learned to sleep without air-conditioning during summer

...sang レミオロメン's 「粉雪」over a thousand times, at karaoke, a cappella, with Daan's guitar accompaniment etc.

...entered into a relationship for the first time

...broke up with someone for the first time

...discovered my own flaws; learned about myself thousands of miles away from home

...met some of the most important people in my life

Without you, I don't know how I'll ever be the same person again. I don't know how I'm going to adjust to moving back to Manchester. There's probably going to be some sort of counter culture shock...I thought that going back to somewhere familiar might help, but it seems that Osaka is now the familiar place.

I love you. Everyone of you.

瞳を閉じればあなたが

まぶたのうらにいることで

Even if I close my eyes, I can see you behind my eyelids...

(レミオロメン「3月9日」)

由布院

2010-08-09T13:29:00.005+01:00

After 阿蘇山 we drove to 由布院 (Yufuin) in 大分県. On the way to Yufuin, we stopped by a garden called 九重ラベンダー園 in the countryside of the 九重 (Kokonoe) area. The season for lavender is actually early~mid-July, but there was still some lavender at the garden, plus other beautiful flowers. It reminded me of my first visit in Japan, when we went to Hokkaido in July '03. Farm Tomita in Furano is famous for its lavender; we had to get up at 0600 to see the lavender before all the other tourists but at that time there were already dozens of photographers at the lavender farm. This time in Yufuin - there was no one else!

Yufuin itself is a small touristy town, like Takayama in Gifu, there isn't much in the town really, just some shops selling souvenirs and handicrafts. There was one shop, though, which caught my eye. It was a shop that sells only One Piece goods. The first thing/person that came into my mind was Andrew, 'cause he's a huge fan of the manga.

Around dinner time we drove past an italian restaurant and decided to check it out. The prices were not amazingly cheap, around 1200-1800yen for a pasta or pizza dish. It's worth every yen though. The restaurant was packed with people; the pizzas were baked in a stone oven. I ordered the classic margherita - tomatoes, mozzarella cheese and basil leaves - yum.

阿蘇山 (Mount Aso)

2010-08-09T07:35:00.009+01:00

阿蘇山 (Mount Aso) is now officially my favourite place on the main Kyushu island (i.e. except for Okinawa and the outlying islands in Kagoshima prefecture).

For accommodation we stayed at ペンションサンディーベル (096-767-2008; 熊本県阿蘇郡長陽村河陽4635). It's a family-run accommodation. A little bit like a bed & breakfast, except that we get both dinner and breakfast. The room itself isn't that amazing, looks like a dorm room with 3 single beds, a TV and an en-suite bathroom.

The meals, though, were amazing. The house itself is European-style. It looks like it has just popped out of a Swiss postcard. I don't know who cooks the food, the owner (an おじさん in his 60s I guess) or the younger guy who gave us serrano ham... anyway the food is delicious and it was my first time in a very long time to have good authentic European food. I just didn't imagine it would be in the middle of the Japanese countryside near an active volcano.

Here's the dinner menu:

1. Hors d'oeuvre

2. Serrano ham with homemade freshly baked dark rye bread

3. Gazpacho

4. Warm salmon and potato pate with spinach

5. Roast duck breast

6. Vanilla mousse

We were also offered a pizza at around 2200, as a late night snack...we were so full from the dinner already so we could only eat half the pizza.

The next morning breakfast was just as pleasing - a huge chunk of bacon and tortilla espanola (Spanish omelette), served with green salad and freshly baked bread.

Oh yes about Mount Aso - I totally forgot to write about the volcano having been too absorbed in the deliciousness of the food - it's an active volcano, but we could still drive right up to the crater. I wanted to look pretty so I wore my dress - it was a huge mistake 'cause it was damn windy up at the top of the volcano! Luckily there was no flashing or anything immodest.

We also saw the views of Kumamoto prefecture from 草千里ヶ浜 and 大観峰 -

Kyushu

2010-08-07T09:26:00.007+01:00

I'm currently at a family-run B&B-esque (ペンション - "pension" in Japanese - no idea why though) accommodation at Aso-san (阿蘇山), an active volcano in Kumamoto prefecture.

I haven't had internet access so far, until now, but this crappy internet in the middle of nowhere is not free, except for Google-owned websites (e.g. Gmail, Blogger...). Odd.

This is what I've done so far in Kyushu -

04/08 Met up with my Mum in Fukuoka; had a late dinner at a 屋台

05/08 Went to 有田 ('cause my Mum wanted to see the

apparently famous pottery);

佐世保, where we took pictures of 九十九島 (where they shot the opening scene of The Last Samurai); lunch (soba and udon)

長崎 - the Confucius temple,

Peace Memorial Park (where things have been set up in preparation for the 65th anniversary of the 2nd atomic bomb attack on 9th August, 1945), 眼鏡橋, 大浦天主堂 (the oldest Gothic cathedral in Japan, built in 1864), the former Nagasaki branch of HSBC; sushi for dinner

06/08 長崎原爆資料館 (Nagasaki Atomic Bomb Museum);

drove to 島原 to catch the ferry to 熊本

delicious 豚骨ラーメン for lunch

熊本城

and now we're at 阿蘇山

Tomorrow we're going to drive around the volcano before heading to the hot springs of 由布院.

The weather has been superb, just like the past few weeks in Osaka, but it's been very very hot. I manage to get a little bit tanned, which is nice 'cause I know once I get back to Britain it'll be rain rain rain all day long...

As much fun as I'm having with my Mum in Kyushu - I've started to miss people in Handai already!

Baking frenzy

2010-08-03T08:21:00.002+01:00

Today is my first day of summer holiday. Well I guess it hasn't officially started yet 'cause we still have the final presentation tomorrow afternoon. After that I'll be off to Kyushu for 9 days!

Anyway today I'm supposed to prepare for tomorrow's presentation, but since it's going to be boring as hell no matter how much or little work I put in it, I decided to spend the afternoon baking.

I made 10 matcha (green tea) cupcakes, 12 lavender cupcakes (both from The Hummingbird Bakery Cookbook), and 26 chocolate chip cookies (Martha Stewart's recipe).

August

2010-08-01T01:45:00.002+01:00

As much pain as I'm in right now, writing this literary criticism on 「蜜柑」, a short story by 芥川龍之介 (Ryunosuke Akutagawa), I don't really want this weekend to end.

It's not because tomorrow is Monday and we have classes - it's because tomorrow is the last day of classes. Tuesday I have the day off to prepare for Wednesday's presentation. And that's it - the end of my studies at Osaka University.

Yes it'll be nice not to have to stress about exams and essays etc., but I'm not looking forward to saying goodbyes to the people I love.

瞳を閉じればあなたが
まぶたのうらにいることで
どれほど強くなれたでしょう
あなたにとって私もそうでありたい

One more month

2010-07-31T05:40:00.005+01:00

I have exactly one month left in Japan. The classes are almost over...I still have a kanji exam, an interpretation exam, a literature essay, and a presentation.

Here's my schedule for August:

02 Exams and essay deadline

04 Presentation; my last day with Morgan :'(

05-13 九州

14 Daan's birthday; might go to Nara for the 燈花会

16 京都五山の送り火

19 彦根城

20 修了式

22 天橋立

24-25 犬山城、松本城

31 flying back home via Frankfurt

Things to do before leaving:

- pack (ugh this is not going to be fun)

- send parcels in the post

- cancel phone contract, PiTaPa card, bank account

- stock up on Japanese food? well at least the matcha powder so I can bake green tea cupcakes when I go home :)

- The Museum of Fine Arts Botson exhibition in Kyoto

- Impressionism and Modern Art exhibition in Osaka

Resemblance

2010-07-24T16:06:00.002+01:00

Having recently discovered the joys of facebook and modern technology, my Dad scanned and uploaded a photo of him and my Mum in their 20s (he was 29 and my Mum was 26). While my brother is the literally the masculine form of my mother, I've never considered myself a splitting image of her (even though there have been many people who say we look alike). I don't object to that statement, of course I look like her. But looking at my parents' old photos, I was in awe at how I bear resemblances to both my parents, I could actually see myself in their faces.

One time my Mum joked about what if my brother and I got mixed up at birth at the hospital, I laughed it off 'cause that would be impossible. Not only it's completely hypothetical, I just don't see it as possible. My brother looks exactly like my Mum (except for his ears, which stick out a little like my Dad's), and I look like both my parents, so even without a DNA test I'm 100% certain that my brother and I are the products of my parents' union.

NANA

2010-07-24T11:00:00.003+01:00

I'm normally not a great fan of manga or anime, but this film adaptation of the manga NANA is one of my favourite Japanese films. (I love のだめカンタービレ too but only the tv series.)

The movie came out in 2005, and I remember watching it (with Chinese subtitles) with my Mum at a cinema somewhere in HK (the summer holiday after GCSEs). And then my Mum bought me the DVD, and I watched it with my roommate Sarah at school. The TV at school couldn't display the Japanese subtitles, nevertheless we watched it together, despite the fact that we had only studied Japanese for about 6 months! Sarah is a big fan of the manga, and she had been reading it for a while (in English) as it's published in a manga magazine in the States. So even though we could only understand a tiny bit of the dialogues, we knew the story quite well.

Maybe now I can watch it and understand the entire film fully for the first time?

Apart from the friendship of the two main characters (奈々 and ナナ), the other main theme is the music - songs such as "Glamorous Sky", "Journey", and "Endless Story" are quite memorable. And the performances by 中島美嘉 (who plays ナナ, vocalist of the fictional band Blackstones) and 伊藤由奈 (who plays the vocalist for another band, Trapnest) are pretty good too.

Right now "Endless Story" is my song-of-the-moment. Yes it's a ballad but I love the lyrics, simple yet precisely describes my thoughts right now...

13 new rules

2010-07-20T02:26:00.002+01:00

Been feeling like I'm in a slump, so I made some new rules for myself:

1. Smile

2. Say "thank you"

3. Be decisive

4. Straighten up and stop slouching

5. No junk food

6. Recover from failure

7. Don't freak out about mistakes

8. Be positive

9. Quit feeling jealous

10. Make eye contact

11. Remember the good

12. Stop procrastinating

13. Don't overreach

Two chicken dishes

2010-07-19T11:30:00.003+01:00

Today for lunch I made 野菜と鶏肉のくわ焼き, and for dinner とうがんと鶏肉の煮もの. Both are chicken dishes, and unbelievably easy to make.

野菜と鶏肉のくわ焼き is basically stir-fried chicken and vegetables (lotus root and エリンギ - king oyster mushroom). The veg is cooked first; the chicken is first marinated in soy sauce and Japanese cooking wine, and then coated in corn flour before cooking in the frying pan. And everything is stirred together with the sauce (soy sauce, mirin and Japanese cooking wine).

In contrast to the stir-fry, which has a great sweetened soy sauce (as mirin is added) flavour, とうがんと鶏肉の煮もの is even simpler in terms of flavour. There's very little added flavouring, just 1/2 tsp of salt, a big piece of ginger and some Japanese cooking wine. It reminded me greatly of the good ol' Chinese home cooking I used to get as a child.

とうがん (冬瓜 donggua), literally means "winter melon", is actually a summer fruit. Similar to watermelon, water makes up 90% of its weight, hence it's a very good hydrating fruit to counter the sizzling heat. The dish is basically boiled winter melon and chicken, a bit like a soup, but slightly different from the Chinese a corn syrup (2 tbsp cornflour with 4 tbsp water) is added at the end to thicken the soup. Because there's little flavouring, all you can taste is the original flavours of the melon and the chicken. Very natural, healthy and tasty!

A lesson of love

2010-07-18T14:56:00.001+01:00

Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.

(1 Corinthians 13: 4-7)

Here's one of my favourite scenes from Grey's Anatomy (Season 2, episode 24 "Damages") - I always cry when the father of the victim puts his hand onto the guy (played by the brilliant John Cho) who crashed into their car and subsequently killed his pregnant daughter

(BGM: "Nowhere Warm" - Kate Havnevik)

I go nowhere high, go nowhere warm
Until you’re by my side
Your hand in mine
And I’ve always known
You’re like a feather
You go where wind and fire melt together

And I’m sure you’re on your way
Yes I’m sure you’re on the road
And I’m sure you’re faster than before
Yes I know you’re somewhere on the road
I reckon there is nothing more to say

あじの梅じそ揚げ

2010-07-18T12:35:00.005+01:00

So for a while my Japanese cooking thing went into a halt, probably because I had been lazy, and trying to save some money by eating some instant food (e.g. なっとう、くらげ) with rice. As much as I love natto et al., I can't eat that for a week straight. For sometime I ate at the cafeteria as often as possible, but then I got bored of the crappy food there (the unagi rice a couple of weeks ago was pretty good though).

Anyway, today I got back to cooking, and I made あじの梅じそ揚げ. Aji is Japanese for horse mackerel. The dish is basically pieces of aji and bits of ume-boshi (pickled plum) wrapped inside an しそ（大葉; shiso）leaf, and then coated with flour, egg and breadcrumbs and fried.

It looked tasty in the recipe book, and I happen to like fish, umeboshi and shiso so I thought I'd give it a go. It tasted okay, perhaps a little bit more umeboshi would have made it better? But the process was a pain in the ass.

At the supermarket I couldn't find ready-to-cook horse mackerel fillets. So I bought two fish - actual fish, that needs filleting. That took me almost an hour! and I had to wash my hands a dozen times 'cause they stank of fishiness...and the chopping board was covered in the fish's internal organs and blood and roe etc. Ugh.

As much as I liked the dish, not going to make it again. Never again.

Ramblings

2010-07-17T13:53:00.004+01:00

Wow, I don't think I've ever felt like this.

So alone...everything is all grey (despite the beautiful weather and the dreamy marshmallow clouds) - all because of just one person.

What's happening with me?

Looking at the graduation photos of my fellow St. Helen's old girls, everyone looks so elegant, grown-up and beautiful. Then I look at myself.

I might look grown-up, but sometimes I feel like I'm still twelve. So immature and irresponsible.

By the way, today was scorching hot! and it's only going to get hotter...

Deadlines

2010-07-13T13:09:00.000+01:00

I'm currently swamped with work. As we approach the last three weeks of classes, exams, presentations and essay deadlines are looming...(so are the ever-tempting summer festivals), hence the lack of blog posts - sorry!

~~13/7 2,000-characters report on interpretation seminars~~

15/7 draft of the final report

17/7 Gion festival

20/7 Grammar exam (on JLPT Level 1 stuff); meeting with advisor about the final report & representation

21/7 Politics presentation

24/7 Gion festival

25/7 Tenjin-matsuri

29/7 Classical Japanese assignment (translate into modern Japanese); Speech on stereotypes for conversation class

30/7 Essay for Early Modern History class

02/8 Essay for Literary Criticism class; Kanji exam; Interpretation exam; final report due

04/8 final presentation

Last Saturday was the university's summer festival - quite nice that it's on Minoh campus so no need to travel to other campuses (like the Machikane festival in Toyonaka last November). The weather was pleasantly timely - it's been rain rain rain. But on Saturday it was sunny and clear and very, very steamy hot. Nevertheless I put on the yukata for the first time in two years! I was a very happy bunny ('cause many people complimented on the outfit) until I saw another girl who wore the same yukata :(

2010-07-01T04:16:00.002+01:00

I have tremendous weaknesses in these things:

black lace

cashmere

freshly baked, chewy chocolate chip cookies

cheese

Cosmopolitan (the cocktail)

Hollandaise sauce

cameras, film and digital

sea urchin (ウニ), salmon roe (イクラ), and crab (カニ)

deep-fried stinky tofu (臭豆腐 chou dou fu)

鼎泰丰小笼包 (xiao long bao from Din Tai Feng)

Christian Louboutin's red sole

cinnamon

Rachmaninoff

Tchaikovsky

foie gras

warm, moist chocolate brownies

handsome heterosexual male pianist/violinist/singer

Rage Against Everything

2010-06-30T06:37:00.002+01:00

Last night I went to bed at 11. And yet I couldn't sleep until 2.30 am.

People were screaming and shouting two doors down the corridor. And outside my window, people were blowing into the vuvuzela, even at 2am.

I know it's the World Cup, I know it was Japan vs Paraguay, I know it's only once every four years. But it doesn't mean you can just disrupt other people's lives at your will.

I spent the night lying on my bed crying. I had so much rage and grudge in me, and yet I couldn't yell or scream. It felt weird, to cry, because I hadn't cried for a very long time.

The last time I cried in front of people, it was my parents. I used to throw tantrums as a child, so my parents taught me not to show emotions in public. I always have to force myself to hold everything in, suppress every emotion and feeling in me. That one time when I broke down in tears, my parents had considered sending me to a shrink.

I tend to drive people away; I'm just a cold, heartless bitch who doesn't show emotions or sympathy. But the one time I need someone beside me, it's too late. I don't know how, or when, or if it's something I did, but I feel like I'm losing my friends.

Last night was probably the worst night of my life. I was all alone, and nobody noticed.

Months gone by

2010-06-29T14:06:00.002+01:00

It's been a while since I last updated. Nothing exciting happened, that's all. I've spent a couple of weekends staying in and working on JLPT Level 1 Kanji and grammar, even though I'm not taking the test this Sunday.

Anyway, here's a list of the boring (and not-so-boring) things I've been through this month:

1. 2-day trip to 長谷寺 (Hase-dera, in Nara prefecture) and 伊勢神宮 (Ise Grand Shrine, Mie prefecture)

2. the temperatures have been reaching the low-30s lately, making my room a sauna. apparently we get some sort of air-conditioning on Thursday

3. been following/"watching" Wimbledon via BBC live text. I hate not having access to BBC and being in an entirely different time zone.

4. to my own surprise I watched the entire England vs Germany match

5. things have changed in my personal life, still trying to adjust to the changes. somehow, I don't know why or since when, the group of us don't hang out together as one big group as often anymore... I kinda wish things could go back to November/December. I think some of us have changed a little...

6. This is the end of June. The calendar year has reached the mid-point. Scary!

7. Just worked out my timetable for the new academic year. Turns out I only get about 7 contact hours per week, one-third of what I'm having at Osaka right now. No wonder why Manchester scores so low on student satisfaction (hence low national ranking), all the money has gone into research (which leads to high international ranking).

My Favourite Musicals

2010-06-06T14:23:00.006+01:00

As much as I would like to include more of the classics, such as Rodgers & Hammerstein (The Sound of Music, The King and I etc.), I've only seen the film adaptations and perhaps studied and sung a few numbers in Mrs. Lawman's singing classes, haven't actually seen these musicals on stage, so I can't really write about them properly.

1. Les Miserables (Claude-Michel Schonberg and Alain Boublil)

My, and Britain's, all-time favourite musical. It premiered 6th October, 1985. 25 years! Plus I like the fact that its anniversary is a day before my birthday (I'm not 25 though). Okay that's not why Les Mis tops the list. Hugo's story is moving; the music is exactly what is should be, somewhere between classical and pop. And I love the use of motifs. Favourite production has to be the "dream cast" of the 10th Anniversary Concert at the Royal Albert Hall. Especially Lea Salonga's Eponine. Okay yes she's my favourite musical theatre actress and I'm biased. But her rendition of "On My Own" was truly inspirational. In my opinion her rendition surpasses all others, even Lea Michele's on Glee.

Salonga made an equally show-stopping Fantine when she returned to the Broadway revival a couple of years ago. She's been booked to sing the role of Fantine in this year's 25th Anniversary Concert (3rd October at the O2 Arena) - I was so pleasantly surprised and pleased when I found out. And then all my hopes and dreams of watching her perform live were shattered when I went to book the tickets...all the cheapest tickets were gone within the first hour! Now I'm praying for some kind of miracle.

2. Miss Saigon (Claude-Michel Schonberg and Alain Boublil)

Another Schonberg/Boublil classic. Unforgotten moment would be the one when a helicopter lands on stage. The musical which made Lea Salonga a star. She became the first actor to win multiple awards (Olivier, Tony, Drama Desk, Outer Critics Circle, and Theatre World) for a single role. Not to mention this was her West End/Broadway debut, at the tender age of 18. Favourite song would be "Sun and Moon" - simple melody and orchestration but very beautiful.

I saw the Japanese production two years ago in Tokyo. Obviously not the same but still it was pretty good. Plus the role of the Engineer is always a crowd-pleaser.

3. Candide (Leonard Bernstein)

Technically an operetta. Neither an opera nor a musical. Anyway, I've seen two student productions of Candide, one at The University of Manchester, and the other at Royal Northern College of Music (right across Booth Street West from UoM). Haven't seen a professional production yet, but I absolutely adore Kristin Chenoweth's performance as Cunegonde in the concert version with the NY Phil and Marin Alsop. She can really pull off the comedic effects and sing all those coloratura at the same time. The Overture is great in its own right, and has joined the standard orchestra repertoire. Voltaire's story is satirical and witty, and Bernstein has kept to it.

4. West Side Story (Leonard Bernstein and Stephen Sondheim)

A Bernstein/Sondheim classic. The story never fails - it's Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet. The music, the choreography... and my favourite moment has to be the end when a distant mezzo-soprano voice chants "Somewhere". The film adaptation (starring Natalie Wood as Maria) is also a classic in its own right.

5. The Phantom of the Opera (Andrew Lloyd Webber)

Lloyd Webber is usually not my thing. Too cheesy for my taste. But I remember when I saw Phantom for the first time (Broadway in July '05), when the Overture began, I was like "wow - I want to learn to play the organ!".

Totally hated the film adaptation though. Yes, Gerard Butler was hot and made Phantom more like McSteamy than a psychotic murderer. But the singing was awful! That statement applies to the pretty girl who played Christine as well.

My Favourite Operas

2010-06-05T17:45:00.006+01:00

1. Puccini - La boheme

(2008 Franco Zeffirelli production at the Metropolitan Opera, starring Ramon Vargas and Angela Gheorghiu)

I cried watching the final scene: Gheorghiu's Mimi dying, Vargas's Rodolfo thinking that "she's sleeping" seconds before realising that she's dead. Angela Gheorghiu's performance is divine, as usual. And Vargas is just simply charming as Rodolfo. The first act is my favourite; but the best aria award goes to "Donde lieta usci" in Act 3. One word to describe it: romantic.

2. Tchaikovsky - Eugene Onegin

(2007 Metropolitan Opera, starring Renee Fleming as Tatyana and Dmitri Hvorostovsky in the title role)

Renee Fleming's "Letter Scene" gave me chills all the way down my spine! Her voice is pure gold.

Eugene Onegin is actually the first (professionally produced) opera I've ever seen, at Covent Garden back in April 2008. I had seen The Marriage of Figaro at the Royal Northern College of Music in December '07, but that was a student production. Anyway I love this opera for its music and plot. I could totally identify myself with the character of young Tatyana. The production at ROH was pretty good but my favourite has to be the Met production, featuring my favourite opera singer of all-time (I own a DVD of this!).

3. Verdi - La Traviata

(1994 Royal Opera House, starring Angela Gheorghiu as Violetta)

A classic. Gheorghiu's legendary performance of "E strano...Sempre Libera" was breath-taking (she made it seem so easy!), and it made her a star. Plus she looked absolutely gorgeous in that dress.

4. Bizet - Carmen

Yeah yeah the Habanera ("L'amour est un oiseau rebelle") is pretty famous and all that jazz... But I think it's the orchestral music which makes this opera come alive. I remember playing the overture with the school's orchestra back in Year 9. Then there are the entr'actes. The music is so gorgeous that Sarasate and Waxman had to write a fantasy, combining all these wonderful melodies into fiendish virtuoso pieces for the violin.

5. Mozart - Le nozze di Figaro

(1998 Metropolitan Opera production) I've seen Figaro at the RNCM, and the ROH production in the cinema. But this Met production in 98 has to been the best. I haven't actually seen the entire thing, but video clips on Youtube would suffice. There can't be a more stellar cast: Bryn Terfel as Figaro, Cecilia Bartoli as Susanna, and Renee Fleming as the Countess.

My Top 10 Concertos

2010-06-01T14:30:00.001+01:00

Here are my all-time favourite concertos (or orchestral works with a prominent instrumental solo):

1. Rachmaninoff (duh) - Piano Concerto No.2 in C minor, Op.18

THE ultimate romantic concerto, ever. The opening chords are (fiendish - requires absolutely a huge hand span to strike all the notes) sombre but beautiful. The entire piece is just so romantic and beautiful. I love every single note.

2. Tchaikovsky - Violin Concerto in D, Op. 35

I absolutely adore the cadenza of the solo violin. And the orchestral tutti passages are simply inspirational.

3. Rachmaninoff (again) - Piano Concerto No.3 in D minor, Op.30

Fiendishly difficult - one of the most technically demanding piano concerto ever written. The cadenza in the middle of the first movement says it all. I don't know how Martha Argerich plays this at that monstrous speed.

4. Sarasate - Fantasy on Carmen (violin and orchestra)

Bizet's opera score is brilliant on its own, and then came Sarasate who put together the most popular melodies together and made it a violin concerto for the very few virtuoso players.

5. Elgar - Violin Concerto in B minor, Op.61

I love how the violin solo plays all these amazing melodies and goes a little bit crazy when it comes to the high notes.

6. Vaughan Williams - The Lark Ascending

Quintessentially British. Serenity and beauty of the British countryside in its musical form.

7. Elgar - Cello Concerto in E minor, Op.85

Quite depressing actually, but just so painfully beautiful that no one can resist.

8. Gershwin - Rhapsody in Blue (Piano and Orchestra)

Fun and funkiness, Jazz and classical combined.

9. Weber - Clarinet Concerto No.1 in F minor, Op.73

The first concerto I ever learned to play.

10. Rachmaninoff - Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini (piano and orchestra)

Nothing (except for Variation 18) sounds like Rachmaninoff's other piano concertos, the rhythmic nature stems from Paganini's 24 Caprices (written for solo violin). Rachael Flatt (U.S. National Champion) skated to an abridged version of Rhapsody in her free skate at the Vancouver Olympics this February.

Ramblings

2010-05-31T13:15:00.004+01:00

It's one of those days when I think life is crappy and I don't want to do anything except for procrastinating in my room...

- my host family in Minoh is moving away to Tokyo at the end of July;

- I was going to meet them yesterday, but got a message on Saturday saying that the grandfather of the family passed away so yesterday became funeral day. Next meeting now postponed to I don't know when.

- I took a few rolls of film to get it cross-processed at Horiuchi Color in Umeda. Most of the photos turned out to be over-exposed... next time I'll have to under expose everything before cross-processing. Noted.

- Have absolutely no motivation to work right now. I'm 3 weeks behind on the weekly activity sheet, trying to do them all tonight, not wanting to risk getting Shoji sensei angry (life was so much easier with Yamamoto!).

- I failed for the second time running in making the frosting of the Hummingbird Bakery's "Brooklyn Blackout Cake". Something wrong with the cornflour syrup...

- I failed for the second time running (again) in making the Hollandaise sauce. The strange thing is that I nailed it at the first time and it was amazing. Then the second and third time I couldn't do it...ended up with a runny melted butter liquid mess.

- Personal finance is very bad right now. I don't even know where my scholarship money goes to... it just gradually vanishes from my bank account. And I still have plenty of things I want to buy, and I still want to go onto that end-of-year trip to Kyushu in August.

- I'm feeling a little bit under par right now. Been having this annoying throat infection for the last couple of days. Grrr...

End of tonight's ramblings. Back to work (I hope).

P.S. The weather has been quite superb recently. Warm but not hot or humid. Yesterday's blue sky was quite a pleasant surprise amidst all this crappiness.

A Saturday afternoon

2010-05-24T15:54:00.003+01:00

Last Saturday, Morgan, her friend Lauren, and I went to 万博記念公園 / Expo '70 Commemorative Park (a.k.a. "banpaku") for the free-entry rose garden. The weather was amazing - sunny and very very warm at 30C. It was hot, but thank goodness it was still bearable. Morgan and Lauren come from Texas and I grew up in Hong Kong - we know what is hot and what isn't.

The park is just a short ride on the monorail from the dormitory. After taking numerous photos of the beautiful and fragrant roses, we decided to walk to Kita-senri station via the Suita campus of Osaka University. Osaka University is divided into three campuses: Minoh (where we live and go to classes), Toyonaka (with the arts, sciences and law faculties - where I go to the law class on Friday), and the main campus in Suita (with the university's medical and dental hospitals and faculty of engineering).

We walked to the student union building and had a quick bite. さすが本部だ！The menu was twice as big as the one we have in Minoh, not to mention they have more than one cafeterias. My katsu-kare was very good, especially the katsu.

Anyway, after lunch we walked through the campus and a nice park to reach Kita-senri station. We weren't actually going to take the Hankyu train though. It was for the showcase gig of the university's 軽音楽部 (literally "light music club"). Daan's and Matthias' band was playing so we went to support them. As expected of Daan, there was shirtlessness and he (very sweetly with a hint of "gayness") dedicated his performance to Seb. Awww...

Seb and I took photos at the event. Mine haven't been developed yet but Seb has some beautiful shots of Daan and Matthias in action (they're not on the web but check out Seb's other photos on his Flickr photostream!). Here's one of Simon and I, taking photos/videos on our cameras with Matthias on the stage in the background -

Spring Exhibition

2010-05-20T14:03:00.007+01:00

This week has been the photography club spring exhibition. For this exhibition I submitted three photos:

"One"

Panasonic Lumix DMC-LX2

1/6 sec, F4.0, ISO400

Kuromon Market, Osaka

24th April, 2010

"Two wings"

Nikon F50, with AF Nikkor 35-80mm F3.5 lens

Fujichrome Provia 100F

Matsushima Bay, Miyagi prefecture

March 2010

"Three of us - model, camera, and I"

Diana+, with 55mm wide-angle lens

Fujichrome Velvia 50, cross-processed

Osaka University Minoh campus

Model: Morgan

April 2010

The exhibition ends tomorrow. Today I was helping out at the welcome desk, and had the chance to read through some of the comments we've received in the past few days. There are many excellent photos by other students (foreign and Japanese). Obviously I tried to look for those who commented on my photos.

Out of the three photos I've submitted, I've received comments for only the first two, most comments were for the seagull shot. People who liked it commented on how it captures the moment. One said that they noticed the person feeding the seagull was virtually out of the picture, which he/she didn't like. A few liked my photo of the man sitting alone in a cafe in Osaka. I took that photo when Andrew and I were sipping coffee/tea at this old-fashion cafe in Kuromon Market.

I did receive a comment on both the man and the seagull photos which particularly caught my attention - it read like this:「選び抜かれた作品だと思う。‘作品’ として価値がある。」

My interpretation of those two sentences is "these are works that have been [carefully] chosen. They deserve to be pieces [on their own merit]".

Obviously it could be interpreted in other ways, but I think this comment is a positive one. When I read it, I swear my pride/confidence started to float out of my body to some higher place. It's nice to receive feedback, whether negative or positive, because they help us to be better photographers. And when we get praises from people we don't know at all, it's such a confidence boost and great motivation to make us wanting to go beyond what we can do.

Morgan's four photos (1. Daan, 2. Seb, 3. Engagement, 4. Leap) have received many positive feedback, too. These aren't the official titles for the photos, they're longer and contain an in-joke about Daan's "homosexuality". Morgan's photos are all available for viewing on her Flickr photostream, please visit 'cause she's very selective about her photos so only the best get uploaded! In constrast to my upload-almost-every-photo-I-like policy...but still, drop by my Flickr photostream too please!

Road Trip - Days 6 & 7

2010-05-18T12:50:00.008+01:00

We left the Iya valley and drove towards the eastern coast of Tokushima prefecture. We wanted to see one of the natural phenomenas - whirlpools - at Naruto (鳴門), which is the coastal down facing Awaji-jima (淡路島).

Andrew had been there before with his host family, so he knew where and which boat tour to take. We were lucky to get onto the last boat tour, which took us right around the whirlpools (not into them, obviously).

The whirlpools are almost directly below the 鳴門大橋 (Naruto O-hashi), which links Shikoku with Awaji-jima. After the boat tour we took a stroll on the lower level of the bridge (the upper level being vehicle traffic), where there are glass panels on the floor allowing us to see the whirlpools.

After we left Naruto we drove to Tokushima city, stumbled across an izakaya near JR Tokushima station, which played the Glee soundtrack by the entrance, and assigned us to a private room with karaoke (for no extra charges!)... Quoting Seb: "I have died and gone to heaven". The drinks weren't that cheap (no izakaya beats the everything-at-300yen 鳥貴族 chain of izakaya) but still we had fun. We ended the night at another branch of Funky Time. I can't believe I'm saying this (as this is something we'd imagine Cayley say), but I actually quite like internet cafes! For not much money you can get internet, watch movies, read manga (for those who like manga...), free drinks, read magazines, sleep, shower, sometimes even karaoke and snooker.

The next morning we drove back to Osaka via the Naruto O-hashi and 明石海峡大橋 (the Akashi bridge), which has the world's longest span on a suspension bridge. The journey took less time than we expected, and we got back to campus at around 11. That day also happened to be 29C in Osaka, the hottest day we've had so far (even till now) - summer is just round the corner!

Road Trip - Day 5

2010-05-14T10:31:00.006+01:00

On (what would be in the UK) Bank Holiday Monday, we left Kochi prefecture and entered Tokushima prefecture. The objective of the day was to see the Iya valley, especially the pissing boy statue and Kazura vine bridge.

I had never heard of Iya valley until Reinout suggested that we go when we were planning this trip. But as we were driving into the hills, the view was - wow - getting more and more scenic. We eventually stopped at the side of the road and took photos of the beautiful sight.

There were not many cars on the road, but then as we saw more and more, we realised we were close to the pissing boy statue. We parked the car outside an onsen hotel not far away from the statue, walked to the statue and took photos, before returning to the hotel for hot spring.

The hotel has two onsen - one outdoor and one indoor. We were attracted to try the outdoor hot spring, which required a ride on the cable car down the steep valley. The view was amazing, but the hot spring itself wasn't. It was a sulphur bath so it smelled like rotten eggs...and there weren't any showers down the valley. We the girls didn't have enough time to try the indoor bath and showers.

We found a campsite in the valley and loved it very much. It's by the river and very close to the famous Kazura vine bridge. After setting up the tents the guys had fun playing in the river, throwing the frisbee and I had a good time photographing their actions.

At around dinner time we walked to the bridge to look for food. Since the bridge closes at sunset the nearby shops did too, we stumbled across a small shop and the owners offered us some free food 'cause they were closing for the day. After dinner we decided to cross the bridge, despite its being closed. There was only a string acting as a "barrier"... during the day it cost 500 yen per person to cross the bridge, but at night - free! I thought it would be quite fun and easy, but I got really scared, 'cause the gaps between the vine were quite big, and the bridge swayed a lot...thanks to Daan who held my hand (Andrew, on the other hand, "abandoned" me to complete his feat of crossing the bridge without holding onto anything).

Road Trip - Day 4

2010-05-13T08:33:00.007+01:00

After some much-needed post-gravel-digging sleep, we woke up to a beautifully sunny Sunday. We decided that we wouldn't stay at the campsite for another night, so packed everything back into the car and off we went to the Kochi city centre.

We're in Kochi just in time for the Sunday market. It's basically a mile long of street stalls, selling fresh fruits, vegetables, hot food and other things.

After lunch (of yaki-tori and tako-yaki etc. at the market), we headed off to 桂浜 (Katsura-hama), a beach in the south of Kochi city.

The beach has amazing views of the Pacific Ocean, the only upset was that the beach wasn't sandy - it was gravel. Again. Plus there was a sign saying we can't swim... anyway we got into the water, sort of.

My right foot got cut on the gravel so I didn't go into the water, while everyone else did. Especially Daan, he fell multiple times as the strong waves hit against the shore.

We spent the night at an internet cafe called "Funky Time". It was my first time at a Japanese internet cafe. It's quite nice and I quite liked it. We each paid 1,500 yen for 9 hours of internet, manga, movies, free drinks, karaoke and a warm place to sleep in.

Road Trip - Day 3

2010-05-11T02:31:00.015+01:00

In order to avoid sleeping at a karaoke again, our strategy was to phone up the tourist information to find phone numbers of campsites. So on Friday Reinout phoned the Matsuyama tourist information and we were directed to a campsite in 伊予市/Iyo, 40 minutes away from Matsuyama. By the time we had a not-so-nice hot bath at Dogo onsen and eaten dinner, it was already 2200. So we had to find the campsite in the dark. We were driving along the coast, and then made a sharp left turn and went uphill. The road was windy and we got slightly lost...all we knew the campsite was inside a park.

Anyway, we found the campsite, composed of gravel - this marked our first encounter with gravel... as you might expect it wasn't particularly comfortable. Seb chose to sleep in the car; the guys were in one tent and the girls in the other. Still, the gravel was actually more comfortable than the sofas at Shidax. It got a little cold at around 0300/0400 though, but when we got up the next morning, what we saw outside the tents, was simply breath-taking.

When we were driving at night we knew we were close to the coast, but had no idea what it looked like 'cause it was dark. The next morning when we got out of the tents, I had never seen such an amazing view first thing in the morning! It was a panoramic view of the 瀬戸内海 (Seto inland sea). Just blue and blue and blue everywhere.

Fresh air, green trees, clear blue sky and a deep blue sea - all that was what we saw whilst brushing our teeth!

After a nice late breakfast at a road-side Starbucks (with a drive-thru!), we headed to 松山城 (Matsuyama Castle). Matsuyama, being the location in which Natsume Soseki's (夏目漱石) novel Botchan (『坊ちゃん』） is set, there was a lot of Botchan-related stuff on the way to the castle. There's a Botchan tram/streetcar running in the city; and we happened upon the seven main characters of the novel:

Instead of hiking up to the castle, which is at the top of the hill, we decided to make use of the chair lifts. Andrew and Morgan had been on it and just as their recommendation, the chair lift was really fun and gave us an amazing view of the city.

Matsuyama Castle is smaller than Himeji Castle, but it's still very impressive because of its wooden construction and how everything is virtually the same as ever. Near the entrance there was a taiko drum, with which Andrew and Daan had fun playing.

As we were leaving the castle tower, I spotted a little Japanese kid (maybe about 3-4 years old?), who was walking in front of us with his grandparents. His hair was wavy and long(ish), reminded me greatly of Daan's hair. To us, that Japanese boy is Daan's illegitimate son :P

After a late lunch we left Ehime prefecture and drove to Kochi prefecture (高知県). The road in the mountains was windy but it wasn't so challenging (especially when compared to those we came across in Tokushima prefecture). On the way we saw some beautiful valleys, with a turquoise-green river running through. At one point we couldn't help but park the car on the side of the road, and took photos with the river as a backdrop. And then we took some photos in front of the car, to mark our road trip -

This photo is a homage to the one we took in front of the coach in Wakayama. We're standing in the same order, plus Larisa in the front.

Similar to what we did in Matsuyama, we phoned the tourist information in Kochi and was directed to a campsite 45 minutes away from Kochi. It looked pretty good on the car navigation system (the ka-nabi/カーナビ, which we have come to hate during this road trip for its inaccuracy and tendency of telling us to drive into trees/the sea/buildings etc.); the campsite is located on a river bank, which looked green on the screen. Well, guess what, it was not green, at all. We took a sharp left turn on the road and went down a slope - onto a massive land of gravel.

We were hesitant at first, at whether this was a campsite or not. But then we saw other motorists camping there (some with motorbikes and a group with a four-wheel) so we got it right. Well, almost right. Our car wasn't a four-wheel, and the body was quite low, and there were seven adults (4 guys and 3 girls) plus our luggage on board. So when we were driving on the gravel, very soon the two front wheels got stuck in the gravel.

At first we thought, "haha this is quite amusing". Then we realised it wasn't. We tried to push the car as Seb reversed it, but the sounds were simply horrifying. There was simply too much gravel stuck underneath the car. We had thought about calling AA (or the Japanese equivalent) or the police, but then it was a Saturday evening during Golden Week, it's unlikely that we would get any help soon. The sun had just set so it was getting darker and darker, and we were stuck in the middle of nowhere. Had no idea where to eat or shower...

So our solution was, dig - dig out the gravel underneath the car. We realised that digging around the two wheels wasn't enough, 'cause there was gravel stuck between the wheels underneath the car. So Morgan, who happens to have the smallest constitution among the seven of us, volunteered to crawl underneath the car and dig out as much gravel as she could.

It worked! We managed to dig out enough gravel, after 90 minutes, and pushed the car back as Seb reversed it. It was so joyous, the moment the car moved, we yelled "YES!" and hugged each other. As Seb drove the car backwards towards the solid ground of the road, we realised we've created a crater in the gravel.

We were all sweaty and dusty from the road works. So as soon as we got out of the campsite, we searched for a 温泉旅館 (ryokan with onsen) on the car-navi, which was useful for once. The hotel we went to was really nice and although cost us 700 each for a bath, it worth the money, especially after all the hard work we had put in! And the bath was much much better than Dogo onsen. It was about 2300 when we finished bathing, so we drove to a Cafeガスト (a 24-hour "family restaurant" chain) nearby and filled our stomachs.

After a very very late supper, we drove back to the campsite. Yes it did cross our minds "what if the car gets stuck again", but this time we were more sensible, and decided to park the car closer to the road and away from the looser gravel.

Road Trip - Days 1 & 2

2010-05-10T10:58:00.011+01:00

So finally, I have a little time to blog about the Golden Week road trip (29th April - 5th May). Since coming back from Shikoku I've been bombarded by the accumulation of assignments (my spectacular skills of procrastination didn't help at all), and my lack of sleep is still going on since the beginning of the road trip (which, I shall explain in detail in the forthcoming blog entries).

About the road trip. It was me who came up with the idea, back in...I can't remember when. All I remember was Daan, Seb and I were walking down to the old couple's restaurant and I suggested it then. I remember I was wearing my big woolly coat so it must have been winter. Anyway, the idea originated from the fact that we love karaoke so much and our lives seemed to revolve around karaoke. Back in autumn/winter, our daily lives were composed of two things: going to karaoke and planning when to go to karaoke. My cousin in Hong Kong saw my photos on facebook and during a skype conversation she commented "is that all you do in Japan? karaoke, karaoke and more karaoke?". So yes we love karaoke. Then I thought, instead of walking 30 minutes to Shidax and sing for 6 hours until 3am, eat McDonald's before dragging our exhausted bodies back to campus, why not just rent a car, play our favourite music in the car and sing as much as we want to (without disturbing anyone else)?

Everyone loved the idea (yay go me), even Seb, who is our sole driver; I guess his fanatical love for karaoke trumps the prospect of driving 6 other people in a car for a whole week.

This takes me to talk about the car. We rented a "seven seater", since there are seven of us. Okay yes we knew that having seven people in a seven seater was going to be crowded, but when we saw the car Mazda gave us - oh my God. We spent a good deal of time trying to find the seventh seat! It turned out that we had to lift one of the middle seats and take out the additional seat. So now we could seat seven people. Then came the problem of the luggage. Each of us brought relatively few bags 'cause we knew there wouldn't be much space. In reality, "space" was virtually non-existent. We ended up putting the bigger bags and the tents in the "trunk space" at the back of the car, and then have the rest all around and over the laps of the two people sitting in the back seats. For the first couple of days - those two people were Morgan and I. At first we were like "we can't move!" and lyrics of Queen's Somebody to Love came into my mind - "I'm gonna break out of this prison cell, someday I'm gonna be free". We kinda got used to it (Daan switched places with me on the third day - thank you!), it's just that it takes efforts to get in and out of the car, and my back and hips ached for a while.

We picked up the car from Shin-Osaka, then drove for about five hours, via the 瀬戸大橋 (Seto Oo-hashi; Great Seto Bridge) and arrived at 高松/Takamatsu (in 香川県/Kagawa prefecture) just in time for dinner.

Since we were in Kagawa prefecture, 讃岐うどん (Sanuki udon) became an obvious choice for dinner (please see my previous post on Kotohira). The shop we went to was empty, just the owner himself. He seemed to be in his 30s, and was very very friendly. He lent us a couple of guides with information of campsites. He even phoned a couple of campsites on behalf of us! But all was in vain, all the surrounding campsites were either fully booked or the reception had closed for the night.

Yes - we hadn't booked anything. Absolutely nothing. Well, except for the car. It was my first time travelling so spontaneously. I usually plan and book everything at least a month in advance, such as transportation and accommodation. It's a little risky, especially it was Golden Week, but then there were seven of us, and we had a car, so nothing could really go wrong, right?

Ha, ironically, we spent our first night at Shidax in Takamatsu. I thought the whole point of the road trip was to sing in the car (thus not having the need to go to Shidax)? Well we only sang for a couple of hours, before squeezing our bodies onto the tiny sofas of the karaoke rooms. Andrew had to sleep on the floor, and even those of us who had the sofa, it was not comfortable. Another problem with sleeping at Shidax is that it closes at 0500. So we were woken up by the staff at around 4 with a "rasuto oda desu". When we left the karaoke at 5am, it was just about dawn. Routinely, we went to the nearest McDonald's for food.

After breakfast, Reinout and a few others wanted to go for a walk in the city, leaving us the Brits taking the opportunity to nap in the car, which was parked in the McDonald's carpark. And it was good.

I was a little hesitant, thinking "how many more nights are we going to do this?". I simply couldn't see how we could sleep in a karaoke for the entire week...thank goodness we did not.

At around 0800 we went to 栗林公園 (Ritsurin-koen). I first knew about the park when I saw a beautiful picture in the Lonely Planet country guide. It was a bright and beautiful morning (felt a little like midday though considering how early we woke up that day) - and we were blessed with warm and glorious sunshine for the entire Golden Week. The park was peaceful and serene, and very very green.

After Ritsurin-koen we drove to Kotohira, which was about an hour away from Takamatsu. The objective was to visit 金刀比羅宮 (Kotohira-gu shrine, or more affectionaly こんぴらさん/Konpira-san). Larisa and I had already been there a couple of weeks ago so we stopped at half way of the 1368 steps, while the rest completed the challenge.

We then left Kagawa prefecture and drove into 愛媛県/Ehime prefecture. We didn't shower the night before so we headed to the famous 道後温泉/Dogo hot spring for a bath. It was a total disappointment. Andrew told us not to get our hopes all high 'cause he and Morgan had already been there in February. Still, I was quite disappointed. It was full of tourists, the bath was tiny and there weren't enough showers for everyone so we had to wait (standing naked next to old ladies). No soap or shampoo or towel so we had to buy/rent. Totally not worth 600 yen. The building looked pretty impressive on the outside though.

That night we slept somewhere other than a karaoke - we decided that karaoke is only for amusement and not for sleeping - which I shall reveal later this week.

"Daan's Crotch"

2010-05-09T13:55:00.003+01:00

As a by-product of one of our in-jokes, which originated from our Golden Week road trip to Shikoku (which I shall write about soon), Seb created a fan page for Daan's crotch.

As hilarious as this idea was, I couldn't get myself to "like" this fan page, for it would be highly inappropriate. (Plus half of my extended family are on facebook so I really didn't want them to see "Vivian likes Daan's Crotch" on their newsfeeds.)

Several similar sentences came up on my newsfeed though, which gave me much amusement.

Diana+

2010-04-26T14:12:00.007+01:00

I have two medium format cameras, a Holga 120SF and a Diana+. I bought the Holga back in 2004 (? I think...can't really remember now), but didn't really get the hang of it until like two years ago. Then I bought the Diana+ last summer when I went to Hong Kong. Both cameras have a lot in common; besides its plastic-ness and toy/lomographic nature, it has something in common with me - we're all products of HK. The Diana was originally produced in HK in the 60s, then the Holga in the 80s.

Until recently I've only really used the Holga as my main medium format camera, 'cause it's easy to use. There's no aperture or shutter speed setting, just point, shoot, and roll. It's (sort of) reliable, except for the occasional red flares (which I - think - I've found a way to get rid of, by making my own lens hood out of card paper).

The Diana+ is slightly smaller and lighter, and gives me more artistic scope. I can change the 120mm back to a 35mm back, allowing it to take photos with the normal 35mm film. (I did have a 35mm back for the Holga too but that's really ma-faan/troublesome; and I've left it in Britain.) Plus there's a "B" button on the Diana+, so I can take long exposure photos with the cable release.

Anyway, I can't remember why but a couple of weeks ago I took out the Diana+ from my shelves and decided to start shooting! The first roll was a 120mm Fujichrome Velvia 50 (my favourite reversal film!) - I had it cross-processed at "Frame*", a photo developing & processing shop and cafe in Nishinomiya (get off at Hankyu Kotoen station; close to Kwansei Gakuin University). It was a bit of a trek, took me over an hour to get there, and quite expensive too... I might try another shop in Umeda, which a Japanese senpai from the photography club recommended. The cross-processing at Frame* was okay, I was a little disappointed 'cause the colours weren't as saturated as I'd expected. Maybe it was a little over-exposed, maybe I had set the aperture too large? The portraits of Morgan and Ivan were pretty good though, I quite liked them (and so did Morgan and Ivan).

The second roll was just a cheap, simple 35mm Fujifilm Superia 400 that I've had for ages. I loaded the film into the 35mm back. It was not a disaster, but the photos didn't turn out the way I wanted... I used the additional viewfinder (which came with the 55mm wide-angle lens) which is positioned slightly higher than the original viewfinder, so the composition of the photos were completely wrong, in terms of the level/height of the object/model. Almost everyone's head got chopped off at the top of the frame, or had the sprocket holes right across their foreheads... anyway I guessed I've learned a lesson now!

I'm planning to take the Holga (modified now - with the paper lens hood) and a couple of Velvia 50 with me to the Shikoku road trip later this week. I think it's been feeling a little bit left out 'cause I keep using the Diana+. I have this thing where I pretend my cameras are my pets, and I feel bad if I leave one unused for a period of time, which happens often considering I have erm... too many cameras? Here with me in Japan there are 5 (Nikon F50, Panasonic Lumix DMC-LX2, Fujifilm Instax Wide, Holga 120SF and Diana+), but sitting at home I think there're two/three other instant cameras (one smaller Fujifilm Instax, a much-treasured Polaroid SLR and another bigger Polaroid which takes wider photos)... I had to switch to Fujifilm Instax from Polaroid since the latter stopped manufacturing the film a few years ago.

Now that I'm starting to get into lomography, I'm considering getting a few accessories for the Holga and the Diana+. For example I'm quite tempted to get the lens adaptor for the Diana+, so I can mount my Nikkor lenses onto the plastic. And there are a couple of Holga lenses available on the internet, too, but I'll have to check whether they're compatible with the Holga 120SF, since the Holga on sale now is a newer model and I bought mine several years ago.

P.S. My favourite operatic soprano, Renee Fleming, who recently won a Grammy for Best Classical Vocal Performance for her latest solo album Verismo, will be releasing her second non-classical album (the first was Haunted Heart, a Jazz album which I quite often play on my iTunes) this spring. Dark Hope will include covers of Duffy, Jefferson Airplane, and Muse! I've seen her performance in the Metropolitan Opera's production of Tchaikovsky's Eugene Onegin (she plays Tatyana, my favourite operatic heroine; I own a DVD of this opera!) , and I saw her "live" last summer singing Violetta in Royal Opera House's production of Verdi's La Traviata on the big screen at Trafalgar Square (and heard her rehearse in a distance when I went onto a ROH tour). But I've never seen her perform live on a stage - in front of my eyes. There was one time when she performed with the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra in my hometown, but obviously I was not there... anyway I'm really hoping that I can see her perform live one day, that's why I'm dying to go to the Proms this year!

Promming at the Proms

2010-04-24T01:50:00.002+01:00

Once again, I'll be missing out on many many quality concerts at the Proms this summer. However, I'm planning to go the the Last Night of the Proms on 11th September (hmmm why this date?), not for the cheesy and cliché union jack-waving during Rule Britannia, Jerusalem, Elgar's Pomp and Circumstance March No.1 (aka "Land of Hope and Glory") and the National Anthem etc etc... but for my favourite operatic diva - Renee Fleming!, who'll be singing Richard Strauss (Fleming is one of the celebrated interpreter and performer of Strauss's songs), Dvorak's "Song to the Moon" from Rusalka (one of her signature songs), and "You'll never walk alone" from Rodgers and Hammerstein's Carousel, which Fleming sang at the inauguration of President Obama. Gosh I'm excited already just by looking at the programme on the internet!

Prom 71 featuring the Orchestre National de France, whose programme includes Debussy (naturally) and Stravinsky, also tempts me - although I don't know if I'll be in London on 7th September... I still have no idea when I'm going back.

In all this excitement I'm fully aware of the many other concerts (the majority of the Proms really) which I'm missing out on:

Prom 2 (17th July) - Bryn Terfel and Amanda Roocroft (remember her from the University of Manchester Chorus performance of Britten's War Requiem at the Bridgewater Hall last May?) in a concert performance of Wagner's The Mastersingers of Nuremberg with the Welsh National Opera

Prom 3 (18th July) - Placido Domingo, almost a Saint in the operatic world, in a semi-staged Royal Opera House production of Verdi's Simon Boccanegra

Prom 4 (19th July) - Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra plays my eternal favourite piano concerto, Rachmaninoff's piano concerto No.2 in C minor, Op.18

Prom 14 (27th July) - violin virtuoso Hilary Hahn plays Beethoven's violin concerto in D major

Prom 19 (31st July) - Bryn Terfel (again) performs excerpts from Sondheim's Sweeney Todd (in which the Welsh bass-baritone plays the title role). Other Sondheim works to be performed include A Little Night Music.

Prom 23 (3rd August) - former BBC Young Musician of the Year, Nicola Benedetti, makes her Proms debut, performing the hauntingly beautiful and ever-British The Lark Ascending by Vaughan Williams.

Prom 35 (11th August) - Tchaikovsky's violin concerto, my favourite violin concerto, ever.

Just by listing these highlights of the Proms here already starts to make me feel depressed...

Kotohira 琴平

2010-04-23T13:11:00.009+01:00

I spent last Friday and Saturday with 28 fellow students in Kawaga prefecture in the Shikoku region. It was my first time to step foot in the island of Shikoku. It was a university trip to watch Konpira kabuki theatre. Not many student joined this trip 'cause the cost was twice of what we paid for Shirahama and Hiroshima (8000yen instead of 4000yen), but it was worth every yen.

When we arrived at the hotel in Kotohira we were given our tickets to the kabuki theatre, the tickets alone cost 13,000yen per person! Plus the hotel we stayed for the night was amazing - there were outdoor baths and one of the ladies' baths there were roses floating on the surface! The dinner was mediocre but the breakfast buffet was jaw-droppingly good. I had crab for breakfast!

Friday was spent mainly at the historical kabuki theatre. It was packed with audience, and the kabuki was much more interested than I imagined. I had seen kabuki once before, at Sadler's Wells in London, back in June '06. I remembered it being quite boring and not much happened during the performance... but this time it was fast-paced, funny, and 3.5 hours didn't seem long at all.

Saturday morning we went to the nearby Kotohira-gu (金刀比羅宮), a Shinto shrine in the hills, hence the 1368 steps required to climb before reaching the last of the numerous shrine buildings in the forest.

After we returned to sea-level, we rewarded ourselves with the local 讃岐うどん (Sanuki udon) which Kagawa prefecture is famous for. I think the main difference between Sanuki udon and normal udon is the texture, I don't know how to explain it but I liked it very much.

On the way back to Honshu we stopped at Awaji on Awaji-jima (淡路島), and was introduced to the local Awaji puppet theatre (淡路人形浄瑠璃) with a short demonstration and performance from a scene from a puppet theatre play.

I liked Kawaga prefecutre - the atmosphere was relaxed, quite different from Osaka (although Minoh is about the same! in terms of countryside-ness), and I can't wait to go there again next week - the much anticipated ROAD TRIP :D

Birthdays

2010-04-17T15:23:00.009+01:00

Last Wednesday was Andrew's birthday, and Thursday was Reinout's, so on Wednesday evening we went out for 焼肉食べ放題 for dinner, followed by a 飲み会 in the dormitory. Reinout's mother is in Japan so he couldn't join us for dinner, but just like Cinderella he managed to get back before midnight to celebrate his 22nd birthday.

Before going to dinner, I spent a couple of hours baking cupcakes for the party. For the first time, I made 抹茶 (matcha, powder green tea) and lavender flavoured cupcakes.

For the matcha cupcakes, it's basically chocolate cupcakes topped with matcha buttercream icing. I really liked the icing - the bitterness of the matcha powder neutralises the sweetness of the icing sugar. Andrew thought the flavour was a little too strong but I think my parents (who have less of a sweet tooth) would really like it.

The lavender cupcakes were surprisingly satisfying. I thought it would be a little risky, but they turned out pretty good and everyone loved it. I didn't even consider making lavender cupcakes, until I saw a pack of lavender at a shop in Kyoto. It was originally for herbal tea, but the packaging also said that it can be used for cakes etc. To get the lavender flavour, I soaked the lavender in milk, and used the infused milk in both the cake mixture and the buttercream icing. The purple sugar is actually the only thing that hasn't got lavender in it. I'm thinking of getting some purple food colouring, so the next time I make these they can look a little more like lavender.

For Andrew we bought him various Pokemon and One Piece goods; and for Reinout we bought him 6 six-packs and a special set of beer and a beer glass, all assembled together to form a beer pyramid. I think they were both very very pleased.

Speaking of alcohol, after the yaki-niku dinner we went to the store next door and were looking for alcohol for the party. In addition to the three bottles of Smirnoff, we were also tempted by some massive four-litre bottles of whiskey that were in the same aisle. Unfortunately they were quite expensive, and I'm sure we would all die of alcohol poisoning if we drank all that in one night (not saying that we planned or intended to). Anyway we didn't buy the whiskey. Phew.

More flowers...

2010-04-12T15:54:00.005+01:00

Yesterday I went to Expo '70 Commemoration Park (万博記念公園) - again - with my host family. Dr. Nagano was busy with work (even on a Sunday!) so he couldn't come, so it was just Mrs. Nagano, Tomomi and me. Anyway we had fun watching street performers, and picnicking under the cherry blossom. Even though the cherry blossoms have passed the full bloom period, and started to fall from the trees, it was still very pretty, especially when the petals get blown away by the breeze and sweep through the air like a light snowfall of pink and white petals.

We walked to other parts of the park, some of which I had never been to. The tulips were very very pretty, so was the Japanese gardens. But I think I still prefer the botanical garden in Kyoto, that seemed less man-made and artificial. I wanted to see the poppies as well but the weather was getting less bright and sunny and more windy, and it's quite far away, right at the other end of the park, so we didn't go. Maybe next time? I definitely have to go see the poppies sometime soon.

Today, for the first time in my life, I had classes from 9 to 6 (0850~1750 to be more precise). I am utterly and completely exhausted. Okay yes I know I picked those classes, but I (am being a geek) really like these classes I've chosen, especially the literature class - finally - some challenging literary theories and criticism to be studied in Japanese!

I've decided to take the JLPT Level 1 test in December in London, rather than in July here in Osaka. I want to enjoy the rest of my study in Japan, and get as much as I can out of the classes, and not having to stress over cramming in test-oriented revision with assignments and using Japanese practically in daily life. I have already, however, started studying some Level 1 grammar, and will continue, just slowly at my own pace.

Am about to pass out onto my bed right now...

Kyoto Prefectural Botanical Garden 京都府立植物園

2010-04-10T14:25:00.003+01:00

The Kyoto Prefectural Botanical Garden is my new go-to place in Kyoto!

I went there today, with the intention of taking photos of the cherry blossoms, but ended up having more fun taking photos of the daisies, poppies and tulips.

It costs only 200 yen to get into the garden, and you can spend hours in there strolling in the woods, taking photographs of various kinds of flowers and plants, picnicking under the cherry blossom etc etc.

It's easily accessible by the Kyoto city subway (Kitayama station on the Karasuma line).

It was soooo relaxing, and today's weather was perfect (20-22C, sunny and warm but not too hot or humid). I guess April would be the best month; once the rainy season starts in May/June the temperature and humidity will just kill all the fun...

Miscellaneous

2010-04-08T15:28:00.005+01:00

Yesterday, out of boredom, I made chocolate chip cookies.

Today was the first day of classes. I'm actually having fun! First class was the Bridget Jones's Diary class. It's actually quite pleasant to wake up to a bit of Helen Fielding and Mr. Darcy.

Second class was introductory classical Japanese, which I've always wanted to learn; it just so happened that I didn't sleep well and have an aching back, the two combined made me very very sleepy and distracted...

Then I had two periods off, did laundry and made myself a piece of ham and cheese on toast. And a cup of good ol' Tetley. Mmm...

I went to advanced conversation class during fifth period. Atsuda-sensei was simply amazing. I don't know why I didn't take any of her classes last semester. She's friendly, very chatty and has a great sense of humour. I wish I could take her listening and grammar classes on Fridays but that would clash with the Japanese legal system class at the Faculty of Law.

The sakura outside our dormitory is blooming very beautifully right now -

P.S. I think I might have written about this here before, but I just love love love avocados. There's nothing better than the joy of cutting open an avocado and find it perfectly ripen.

I usually mash it up, add the juice of half a lemon, a splash of extra virgin olive oil, salt and pepper, and chopped parsley (or coriander, though this is difficult to find in Japan). Spread it on toasts - yum.

お久しぶり！

2010-04-06T13:03:00.007+01:00

No, I haven't forgotten about this blog. And no I don't have any excuse as to why I have neglected it till now. Laziness perhaps?

To sum up what has happened since I came back from Okinawa:

- something significant happened the day after I came back. Sometimes all we need is courage.

- parents and brother came to visit! We had a wonderful week road-tripping around the Kii peninsula, and it was the first time neither of my parents had to sit in the front seats (my brother drove for the first time since passing the test). I was a good navigator, thanks to the car-navi (aka the GPS).

- for the first time, baked cupcakes and banana cake with the dormitory's crappy microwave (it has an "oven" function). Results were satisfactory.

- hanami (cherry blossom viewing) at the Expo '70 Commemoration Park in Suita. The park was packed with people on Saturday and a drunken old man stumbled across us and made some friendly conversations. Quite amusing actually.

- have been scanning films and editing photos from last month's travels, and uploading them onto facebook and flickr. Some of the seagull shots from Matsushima bay have received good reviews from friends and fellow flickr members, which made me very happy. One of my personal favourite is, however, not from the seagull photos:

I just love the saturation on my favourite colour!

- met the Mamiya family for the first time since 2007. They were my first Japanese host family with whom I stayed with on my first visit to Kansai in the summer of 2006.

- played badminton for the first time in months! I realised my fitness level has once again plunged to the very bottom, and the effect of bronchitis and asthma have had on my breathing...not good.

- today we got our course descriptions for the spring semester and I'm very very excited about the new classes I can take, including one on the Japanese legal system at the Faculty of Law, and one on modern literature and literary criticism, both involving studying alongside Japanese students!

- and oooh, we got our grades for last semester. I did pretty well, 6 Ss and 2 As (S is the highest grade for scores between 90 and 100, A is for 80-90), but then I did take some easier classes last semester.

- I'm now considering withdrawing from the School of Foreign Studies orchestra, due to the foreseeable amount of work I'll have this semester, and I don't think I'll have time for a third extra-curricular activity (I'm already in photography club and badminton).

Okinawa - Days 4 & 5

2010-03-20T13:34:00.003Z

I didn't write anything last night 'cause I was simply to tired and sleepy to write.

Yesterday morning we took a 4-hour ferry from Naha to 久米島 (Kumejima). The ferry was slow but we had great views of the ocean.

We've read in books and pamphlets that Kumejima is famous for ハテの浜 (Hate-no-hama), a strip of white sand off the coast. It's a 20-minute boat ride from the shore, but by the time we checked-in and had lunch it was already past the departure time of the last boat to ハテの浜.

I was really disappointed because it looked amazing in the photos I've seen. I had considered going there the next morning, and take the later ferry back to Naha, but that would leave me with less than 50 minutes to travel from the ferry terminal to the airport, check-in and go through security. I really couldn't risk missing my flight so I just had to give up going to ハテの浜. Maybe next time...

That afternoon we just spent time on イーフビーチ (Eef beach), which is right next to the accommodation. We also went to 畳石, another beach which is 30 minutes walk away from Eef beach. It wasn't that far but we thought it was a bit time consuming, so on the way back we decided to hitch-hike.

We hesitated at first, and just watched cars drove past us without even trying. Then we thought 'come one! we can do this' and I put my thumb up in the air. It was quite easy, the first truck stopped and the driver was a middle-age fisherman. He agreed to give us a lift, warning us that the back of the truck was a little bit dirty. When we hopped on to the back of his truck we were like 'woah', 'cause there was a heap of sea urchins! Plus the floor was quite wet so we had to squat through the 10-minute ride (Yining just stood up the whole way). Hitch-hiking was quite exciting actually. Obviously it's always risky, especially being girls, but everyone in Okinawa have been very friendly to us. And on Kumejima the locals are extra friendly and unreserved, so we could put our guard off for a while.

I stayed at a 民宿 (minshuku - the equivalent of a B&B?) for the night. It was more expensive than hostels but I get my own spacious en-suite room and a nice homemade breakfast. But if I come again I might just go to the hostel Larisa and Yining stayed at (I booked a month ahead whereas they just quite spontaneously decided to join me to go to Kumejima, and booked the hostel a couple of days ago).

At night there's not much to do on the island, so we just walked around the beach for a while, and looked up to the starry sky. It was quite amazing how many stars we could see in the sky. Yining had brought her laptop with her so we watched Big Bang, Bones, and 27 Dresses (yay chick flick! and James Marsden!). It was quite amusing and sweet how Larisa cried watching a romantic comedy.

This morning I got up at six, and saw that the sun was just rising so I quickly changed and rushed to the beach. I couldn't see the sun itself but the gradation of the colours of the sky was beautiful but subtle.

I've come to really like Okinawa, and I definitely want to come back here in the future, do a bit more island hopping (to Ishigaki, Miyako-jima etc.). Okinawa really reminds me of Taiwan, or perhaps suburban China? Many buildings and streets seem to have stopped at the 1970s, it's a nice escape from the modern world.

P.S. Sunset seen from the plane -

Okinawa - Day 3

2010-03-18T09:45:00.000Z

This morning I met up with Larisa and Yining again at the ferry terminal to go to 渡嘉敷島 (Tokashiki-jima) together.

The ferry terminal turned out to be a mere 10-minute walk from the hostel, quite convenient. On the way I stopped at the Family Mart to get sandwiches for breakfast. On the shelves I saw a tacos 巻きずし, and tacos rice packed in a paper box (like one of those Chinese takeaways boxes you see on American dramas). Perhaps it's all because of the US influence on the island, otherwise I can't think of a reason why people love tacos so much to the extent of making such variations!

The ferry was 70 minutes long. There was a fast ferry that departed an hour earlier, but obviously that's more expensive so we took the slow one.

There were very few people on the island (apparently the island's population is 730 - but we saw much less!) when we arrived at the ferry terminal. There's a minibus service to アハレンビーチ (Aharen beach - one of the two main beaches), which was only 10 minutes long but cost everyone 400 yen one-way - a rip-off really!

But - oh my God - Aharen beach was simply amazing! I was utterly speechless. The colours of the sea were the most jaw-droppingly beautiful shades of blue turqoise I had ever seen.

We went to grab some lunch at a nearby restaurant before changing into swimming suits and running down to the beach. The water was quite cold though, but that didn't put us off. Larisa and I had a fun time swimming in the sea and taking photos together.

Something annoying, strange and a little funny happened on the beach. There were only a handful of tourist so we weren't worried about our belongings at all, we just left them somewhere open on the beach and went swimming. Then at one point when we returned to our bags, we realised 'someone' had tried to go through our belongings. The water bottles were lying on the sand; my jacket, which originally stuffed my half-opened backpack, was covered in sand on the beach; and Larisa's paper bag was torned apart.

It was weird 'cause there weren't anyone suspicious around and we didn't lose anything. Later we realised, as we looked up to the sky, it was the crows! They tried to search for food in our bags!

On the way back to Naha we took the slow ferry again. There are 2 decks on the ferry. The top one has the usual seating, and the lower one has 2 rooms with raised, carpeted floors where passengers can just lie down. It was quite nice, actually, to lie down and take a quick nap (or watch sumo on TV) to pass that 70-minute journey. We didn't spend that much time at the beach, but there was that exhaustion everyone feels after having been to the beach.

Okinawa - Day 2

2010-03-17T00:28:00.005Z

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Today I went to Churaumi Aquarium. It has one of the biggest tanks in the world and is host to three whale sharks.

It's located on the Motobu peninsula, which is approximately 2.5 hours away from Naha by bus. It's quite a trek, but worth it I guess. I took a highway bus (2,040 yen, 90 minutes one-way) to Nago, then change to a local bus to the Ocean Expo Park (860 yen, 55 minutes one-way). I bought the admission ticket to the aquarium at the Nago bus terminal for a 10% off discount (from 1,800 to 1,620 yen).

Today's weather was similar to yesterday's, warm but cloudy. I went to the "Emerald Beach" next to the aquarium; the water is really clear but still, without the deep blue sky it's nothing like a postcard.

On the highway bus I spotted several US military bases. I didn't see any military facilities though. Instead they were housing for the servicemen and their families.

Even though the aquarium is so far off from anywhere, and I only saw very few other travellers on the way, the aquarium was quite packed with tourists. Many of them came as a tour, and some people drove. The whale sharks were really impressive, and the tank that houses them is huge! But the rest of the creatures in the aquarium were not as impressive as the collection at Osaka Kaiyukan, in terms of both range and quantity.

For lunch I ate a very strange onigiri that I bought from the convenience store - taco onigiri. It's basically mince meat with cheese in rice and wrapped in dried seaweed. It might sound disgusting, but it actually quite funky (in a good way). It wasn't bad at all!

After I returned to Naha, I met up with Larisa and Yining, who arrived in Naha that afternoon. We had dinner (I had another goya dish - goya salad) at an izakaya before going window shopping on Kokusai-dori. All I can say is that Larisa is a bigger fan of shopping than I am!

Oooh I found Nemo and Dory!

Okinawa - Day 1

2010-03-16T12:51:00.000Z

Today I got up at 6 to catch the flight at 0840 at Osaka Itami airport. As it's a domestic flight there's no passport control, no one even asked for any form of ID. I just used my Asiamiles membership card at check-in (it was a redemption flight).

The flight was a little over 2 hours long. Japan Airlines isn't really as good as what people generally expect from a Japanese company. Maybe 'cause it's almost broke. Throughout the flight all the passengers had were drinks. Not even peanuts or pretzels. Even British Airways manages to give out sandwiches, chocolate bars and sometimes paninis (on a 30-minute Heathrow-Manchester flight). I remember flying from Heathrow to Charles de Gaulle once on Air France and had a pretty good baguette.

It was just past 11 when I arrived in Naha, but I was starving already. The hostel I booked is in the city centre, about 15 minutes from the airport by monorail. I couldn't wait so I just found a nearby shokudo-style restaurnat (with a meal ticket system) and had my first bowl of Okinawa soba. At 450 yen, it was quite divine. The soup wasn't too salty, and the pork belly almost instantly melted in my mouth. Yum.

I booked a dormitory bed at 月光荘 (Gekkousou) for 3 nights (1,500 yen per night). It's not the cheapest I've seen (some are 1,000 yen per bed per night), but I found this in a Japanese guidebook. The house is quite old, but has a great atmosphere. The floor, the pillars and the beds are all made of beautiful dark wood, giving it a primitive (in a nice way) and country feel. The shared toilets and shower were very clean too, and the staff are very friendly. It's only a couple of minutes' walk from a monorail station, and a short walk from 国際通り, a thriving high street and the main shopping/dining area of Naha. Between the monorail station and the hostel is a branch of Junkudo bookshop. I was impressed by the branch in Niigata, and this one is Naha is just as good. Three storeys, stocking plenty of books in both Japanese and English. Tonight after dinner I spent over an hour, just reading various magazines and books. There's also a bargain shelf, selling outdated Lonely Planet guides at 500 each. I was tempted but didn't buy any 'cause I don't know where I'll travel to next (or when).

After checking-in, I went to the UNESCO World Heritage site of Shuri-jo (首里城). It's at the end of the monorail line. I bought a one-day ticket at the airport, which cost 600 yen. It's quite worth the money if you travel at least 3 times on the monorail in a day. And it offers a 20% off discount at Shuri-jo.

Shuri-jo was the palace of the Ryukyu kingdom until its end in the 19th century (during the Meiji Restoration it became part of Japan). It was also the venue of the 2000 G8 summit. There was a small exhibition on the banquet dinner the G8 leaders had at Shuri-jo. All seemed to be expensive delicacies - is that what world leaders do? Spend their time frivolously on expensive wine and food instead of solving global issues?

It was only 1500 when I finished touring Shuri-jo. Then quite spontaneously I hopped onto a bus and went to Futenma. It's an hour away from Naha - and home to one of the several US military bases on the island. The town was really quiet and most of the shops were closed. You can see some American influences scattered around town, e.g. a taco shop. One shop that was particularly interesting was an antique shop, which even had jukeboxes for sale!

Surprisingly it was rather difficult to see any Americans, perhaps they're limited to certain hours or places, I don't know. In the end I only saw a couple of (presumably - they're were in casual clothes) US servicemen jogging on the pavement outside Camp Zukeran (also known as Camp Foster).

It was dinner time when I got back to Naha. I found an izakaya on Heiwa-dori and ordered one of the more well-known dishes of the Okinawan cuisine - goya-champuru. I've made a veggie version of it before, but I guess the pork is quite essential to the dish (to my surprise, it's SPAM luncheon meat that is generally used in this dish, perhaps another US influence here?), and the original was indeed quite delicious.

I also bought something called 海ぶどう from a shop on Heiwa-dori. The name literally means "sea grapes", due to its appearance. But it's more like a cousin to seaweed. The shape and texture is quite funky (in a good way). There's not much taste but I like it anyway. I've had it once before at a Japanese restaurant in Hong Kong. This plant seems to be a local Okinawan specialty.

The hostel is very lively at night. One of the female staff plays the guitar and sings Okinawan music. It seems to be a popular place for young backpackers. They gather at night in the common area and drink and sing together. I guess "lively" could be euphemism for "noisy"! My room (has four bunk beds but right now it's just me and another lady in her 40s) is right next to the common area so it's quite a racket out there!

Sumo: 大相撲春場所

2010-03-15T12:55:00.008Z

Today we went to watch the second day of the Spring sumo tournament at Osaka Prefectural Stadium in Namba.

Before going to see the actual tournament, we went to visit a sumo museum in Nara, followed by a visit to the nearby 当麻寺 (Taima-dera). The sumo museum visit was quite brief, and there we were joined by the foreign students from Nara University of Education (one of the two national universities in Nara prefecture, the other being Nara Women's University). The temple itself wasn't really interesting, except for some early cherry blossoms we spotted in one of the gardens.

We had a 1,000 yen buffet lunch at a roadside ファミリーレストラン ("family restaurant" - something similar to the American diner). The quality wasn't outstanding, but it was cheap. Reinout and Ivan helped themselves to multiple servings. I got really sleepy on the coach though, having eaten too much for lunch.

We arrived at the stadium at half two, just in time for the second half of today's tournament. The big names such as 琴欧州 (Bulgarian) and 白鵬 (Mongolian - the current highest ranked sumo rikishi - who succeeded fellow Mongolian 朝青龍 after the latter retired prematurely in January) came in the last couple of matches so the atmosphere was lukewarm for the earlier part of the afternoon.

Sumo was much more interesting than I expected. The actions were fast, too fast though so there was little time to create any tension. Each game ended within one minute or so, although sometimes there were the dramatic throws which got everyone shouting and cheering.

(this photo above is from the match between 琴欧州 and 旭天鵬. Ivan and the other Bulgarian students were quite excited about this game, but 琴欧州 lost...Ivan was quite disappointed.)

Wednesday is pay day; for the past couple of weeks I've spent too much (wayyy over the budget) over travelling to around the country, leaving very little money left. Yesterday I searched through my food cupboard, not finding any kind of starchy staple foods. So I decided to make myself a couple of pizzas. I had yeast, flour, sundried tomatoes, garlic, cheese and canned tomatoes - and TA-DA! I did it - it didn't taste bad at all considering it was my first attempt at making pizzas (I've done it before with my brother, never by myself). Now at least I know I won't starve to death...

"Kyoto Sakura Journey on a Train"

2010-03-14T10:43:00.002Z

I bought 『京都電車で行く桜散策』(English title: "Kyoto Sakura Journey on a Train") from the bookshop at Keio University (also available at Amazon.co.jp).

The book is very beautifully laid out, and the photographs are simply stunning. It's simple in presentation but gives sufficient information as to how to get to these temples, shrines and parks etc. What's more is that it's bilingual - every page is written in both Japanese and English, very useful even for those who don't read Japanese. The book is a little pricey but I think it's worth the price, I haven't seen a better hanami book/magazine yet. Usually these publications (especially the magazines) are bombarded with too much information (with souvenirs, restaurants suggestion for tourists) and many advertisements. But in this book the information is very clearly laid out, and I just love the photography, which gives me great inspiration.

Kamakura

2010-03-14T02:57:00.007Z

I had planned to go to Kamakura with Rachel yesterday. Then came the morning and Rachel couldn't get out of her bed...so in the end I went by myself.

Anyway the weather was really good, and plus it was a Saturday, so there were a lot of people at Kamakura. Out of the numerous temples, I only went to 円覚寺, 鶴岡八幡宮, and 高徳院 (where the big buddha is - although it's smaller than I thought), because I couldn't afford to go to all the temples and pay the admission fees.

The highlight of the day wasn't the temples or the shrine, but the sunset from the beaches of Kamakura. The sky wasn't as clear as I had hoped it to be, but the colours were still pretty amazing. It was also quite windy so it hurt a little when the wind brought up the sand and blown it onto my face.

円覚寺

鶴岡八幡宮

In the evening I met up with Rachel and Karen at JR Yokohama. Karen studies Economics with Japanese at Birmingham. I met her in August '08 through Piotr (who's her senpai), who came travelling to Hong Kong, and we went to Ocean Park together. Karen is now spending her year abroad at Keio, just like Rachel.

We ate dinner at a cafe near the station, the food was quite cheap but almost all the other customers in the cafe were smoking, so by the end of the night we all smelt like cigarettes. Ewww. I had to smell like that until this morning when I came back to Osaka.

I took the Hankyu highway bus from Yokohama to Senri-chuo. The bus had arrived half an hour early, and I had to wait for at least an hour and a half for the first bus back to the university, so instead of the bus I took the monorail, and came back to the dormitory at around seven.

The bus journey wasn't bad. There was blanket and slippers. I was on the window seat, but there were only three seats in a row (with aisles in between) so I didn't have to sleep next to a stranger. I slept for about five hours, until the driver woke us up at 0500 (why?) to tell us that we were in Shiga prefecture (hence close to Kyoto and Osaka, the destinations).

Today I'm taking things slowly. Took a little nap after a nice, long hot shower in the morning, and now I'm making pizzas - only because I'm really low on money and have nothing else in my food cupboard except for olive oil, flour, yeast, sundried tomatoes, red pesto and cheese.

The dough is now rising in the bowl, and my room is smelling like natto.