February 27, 2003
must have been the awamori
A work colleague is visiting from Washington. We discovered last year during a different visit that we enjoy checking out funky eateries in Tokyo together, so when he's in town, he calls me up and I get to try out a new place. Last night we went to Little Okinawa in Ginza. We were told we'd have to wait an hour to get in, but it looked well worth it, so we signed up and headed for the nearby toy store, Hakuhinkan, to pass time.
The entrance was packed with White Day chocolates. It's a totally commercial, totally Japanese obligation day: if you receive chocolate on Valentine's Day, you should give back on White Day (March 14). Now it's kind of divided that women give on Valentine's Day and men give back on White Day. But it's to the point where it's like a ritual; my mom dutifully prepares a bag of White Day goodies for my dad to take to work come March 14.
It reminds me of the various complicated gift-giving 'rules.' Like the Oseibo and Ochugen gift sending rush people endure twice a year to send soap or cooking oil to basically anyone they are indebt to ( お世話になった人). Or like wedding gift money where the receiver must then give back a gift of exactly half the monetary value of something that is enduring (like dishes or useless gaudy towels), a tradition so developed that you can go to department stores and they have sections of 'appropriate' gifts in all the monetary value ranges you'd need.
Anyway, I digress. The main point is we went to Little Okinawa and first ordered
Awamori. I was all into taking pictures to record the evening and traditional Okinawan dishes, but uh, I somehow got distracted after the Awamori was served. Good conversations and mighty good Awamori!
February 26, 2003
Unabashedly about my cats
I know I talk a lot about my cats so I've been trying to spare you all, but upon looking at other people's blogs, I discovered some are devoted entirely to their pet(s)...some even in the voice of their pet(s). So, let me indulge myself and share with you MY cats.
First pic is Katsuo, then the next two are of his sister Wakame. They really are brother and sister and act like it too (lots of fighting recently). The first 5 years of their lives, they had free reign to outside space, trees, and little critters to hunt. Not only did they endure the awful plane trip over here from San Francisco and quarantine (bless their hearts), but now they find themselves living in a very urban, very small apartment. How can I explain that concrete is all they got? I do plan to move to a more cat friendly area some time, but for now, I've trained them to venture out and explore what little there is to explore.
This is how it works: Late at night when there is little traffic and people around to spook them (and the land lady won't bump into us), I open the door and let them out. I used to have to sit and read on the stairs until they got the courage to follow me down floor by floor. They are used to the routine now, but still don't go all the way down unless I go with them - and as you can see, Wakame is very cautious all the way down. But once they get to the ground floor, they disappear into the tiny dark alley way between my apartment building and the next one. Then I walk back up and hang out inside until they come back on their own. They do seem a bit refreshed when they come back although this really isn't a permanent solution.
Katsuo has picked up this strange habit of licking the condensation off the windows. I rarely see him use the bowl anymore and he'll lick for a good 10 minutes (with his tail sticking out from the curtains). The last pic. is of the cats in the morning eagerly waiting for me to get up and feed them.
They certainly color my life and I love them dearly.
OK. Got that out of my system. Thanks!
February 22, 2003
A bit of my neighborhood
Nishi Koyama, the station where I live, is old and cute. Yep, those are the adjectives I'd use. Here is the cutest fruit stand which doubles as a "Fruit Parlor." Here you can have fruit desserts, sundaes, and ice cream...The door looks like it's from the 50s. Nearby is the milk shop. I'm not sure who are the customers, but this place delivers little glass bottles of milk...I remember getting them during lunch when I was in elementary school. We usually got normal milk, but twice a month or so we'd get either strawberry milk or coffee milk. The last photo is of a shoe shop. The window is full of slip on black shoes...more grandpa style than trendy. But that's why I like my neighborhood.
Rice isn't just for eating
Here is my mom buried in rice. She introduced me to this AMAZING experience. It's a wooden box full of the outer layer of rice mixed in with special bacteria that does what bacteria does and produces major heat. You basically strip down and get covered in this stuff for 15 minutes...and that must be the maximum because when you get out, your body is jeeeellllooooo. The rice and bacteria combined with the heat open your pores, suck out bad stuff, and infuse you with good stuff (minerals?). Sorry I can't be more specific, but there's something phenomenal going on: you get heated to the core in a very different way than a hot bath.
Apparently it's good for a variety of ailments. The place was packed with both the young and old, male and female. Some people go twice a day and have purchased the 'super discount deal' which costs a million yen for a bunch of tickets at 1,000 yen. The usual price is 2,500.
February 18, 2003
Strange
Table for two by the traffic?
2 of the narrowest houses I've ever seen. I know it's hard to tell, but there ARE 2 houses stuck between the outer houses!
I couldn't help it...it was freezing and this woman wanted to wear shorts. Whatever...
