An ill-timed shopping spree

Not that there's ever a well-timed one when you're supposed to be saving money, but this one was particularly poorly-timed considering 1) I also had to pay my Japanese dance performance fees--50,000 yen!!--this week; 2) my brother is coming next month & we'll be taking a trip to Tokyo during the October long weekend, so I'll need to pay for travel/accomodations, etc. for that trip, too; 3) after paying for #1 & #2 on top of my spending spree, I'll have to wait almost a full month for the next pay day!! ^^;; Really, I'm usually a bit better at budgeting, but I guess since I so rarely go shopping, when the fever strikes, I don't have much in the way of defense against it...

So yeah, it all started on Sunday afternoon when I decided to stop by Uniqlo after the Kirida Hachimantai Jinja Matsuri (shrine festival). I ended up buying a gray zip-up hoody (it was on sale for cheap, though, 690 yen!) and a brown "neoleather" (it's actually made of polyurethane--like plastic bags!) jacket (again, on sale but not so cheap at 4990 yen).


Being less than bright, I didn't stop there. Having recently realized that I don't have any nicer/cuter going out clothes (pretty much it's just jeans & T-shirts for me), I decided to drop by a couple of reasonably priced clothing shops favoured by younger female co-workers as well as some of my (JHS) students--Shimamura, and Chambre/Avail (attached shops--Chambre has slightly "older" stuff, while Avail is quite casual). I only bought one thing at Chambre, but since it was a fairly "Japanese-type" top, I realized when I got home that I didn't have anything suitable in my closet to wear with it. (Although I think it will go well with the Kimi ni Todoke poncho I pre-ordered...)

So on Tuesday (Monday I stayed home and did laundry and cleaned!) I headed back to Uniqlo in the hopes of finding the right pieces to get that uniquely Japanese "layered" look. (Sorry, if you don't know what I mean, I can't really explain it!) I don't know if I actually succeeded or not, but I ended up leaving Uniqlo almpst 150,000 yen poorer. o_O;; Not only did I buy leggings and a beige turtleneck to go with the previously purchased top, I also ended up buying a gray wool hooded tunic (on sale for 3990 yen) and brown "Neoleather" furry-hooded parka (also on sale for 4990 yen).

Then I needed to go grocery shopping, so I headed off to the Towada Jusco. Not only did I get the necessary groceries, I also ended up buying a pair of high brown boots. ^^;; Considering how many pairs of boots I already have, I really didn't need to buy them, but I couldn't resist because the inside lining is so soft and warm, plus it's not often that I can find high boots that fit because my calves are so huge (thanks for the genes, Dad =P)! While I was in Jusco, I got a message from Courtney about a surprise b-day party for Vi and Sanae, so I also did card/present shopping while I was there. ^^;; (Sadly I'm not good at shopping last minute...)

So yeah, my wallet and bank account are slightly hurting right now... It's not like I'll have to live off of rice and soy sauce or anything, but I may end up dipping a bit into my reserve fund (what else is new?) before the month is out... *sigh* Really need to be more disciplined with my money.

But I guess it was part of my usual pattern of shopping after a particularly busy/stressful time. I always ending going a bit crazy right after exams in university, too...

Anyway, apart from a bit of regret over messing up my budget (I'm really quite happy with the clothes, though, so it's really just "a bit of regret"), I had a really good weekend. Even doing laundry and cleaning all day on Monday felt really good since I haven't done a serious cleaning in at least a month. Plus I cooked dinner for the first time in a while.

Then Tuesday was the shopping plus surprise birthday party in Shichinohe. I'm glad Court figured out I was in Towada and invited me. Though I haven't regretted regressing back to my hermit-like ways, I must say it was nice to hang out with everyone again. I should probably make it a point to invite people to hang out or to accept invitations at least once or twice a month so I don't become a total recluse... (Well, I've been hanging out more with Japanese friends lately, but I should probably make more of an effort to keep in touch with the ALT community...)

Today was the first big rehearsal for the Japanese dance performance on October 4th. We were on the actual stage for the first time, so it was a bit awkward at first figuring out our positions. Plus it was our first time practicing with live music--which was pretty difficult! (Thankfully I'm right behind the person who we're all supposed to follow for timing, etc.) But apart from a few problem areas, I feel like I should probably do OK for the real thing.

After the rehearsal I came home and baked cookies!! I'm planning on giving them out to my co-workers at the office tomorrow since I'll eat them all if I keep them at home! =P

Oh, and I'm not sure if I've ever posted my recipe for soft chocolate chip cookies, but if you're interested, here it is:

This is a sugar-reduced version of the recipe I found on FoodNetwork.ca - Chocolate Chip Cookies a la Anna Olson."

Since I found this recipe five or six years ago, I've probably made thousands of these cookies to give out as holiday (Christmas, Valentine's Day, etc.) gifts! (If I didn't give them away, I'd eat them all by myself--they're so addictive!)

Yields:
~45-60 cookies

Ingredients:
- 1+1/2 cup (~340g) unsalted butter, softened
- 1+1/3 cup (~285g) brown sugar, lightly packed
- 1/3 cup (~70g) granulated sugar
- 2 large eggs
- 4 tsp (~17g) vanilla extract
- 4 cups (~500g) all-purpose flour
- 4 tsp (~11g) corn starch*
- 2 tsp (~9g) baking soda*
- 1 tsp (~6g) salt
- ~3.5-12 oz (100-350g) chocolate,** cut into chunks

* To make crispy cookies instead of chewy cookies, omit the corn starch and replace the baking soda with baking powder
** Personally I like to overload my cookies with chocolate. Also, since the recipe is already sugar-reduced, you don't have to use bittersweet/semi-sweet chocolate--you can use anything without making the cookies overly sweet! For Christmas I like to use 1/3 regular milk chocolate (chopped up chocolate bars, usually) and 2/3 Christmas (red and green) M&Ms. For Valentine's Day, I use 1/3 milk chocolate and 2/3 strawberry chocolate. The possibilities are endless!

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350F (175C)
2. Cream together butter and sugars
3. Add eggs and vanilla and blend in
4. Stir in flour, corn starch, baking soda, salt
5. When mixture has reached a good dough consistency, stir in chopped chocolate
6. Drop spoonfuls of dough onto baking sheet lined with parchment or baking paper***
7. Bake for 8-12 minutes until golden brown around edges
8. Cool on pan for 2 minutes before removing to wire rack to cool completely
9. Enjoy immediately or store in airtight container

*** You don't have to use parchment/baking paper--a normal greased baking sheet will work fine--but I feel that I get better results with the parchment paper than without

Oh, and if you're wondering why I have gram measurements for everything, it's because Japanese measuring cups are smaller than (North) American ones! Also, most Japanese recipes tend to give measurements in grams, so I figured if you wanted to share the recipe with Japanese friends, etc., having the grams would make it easier.

In fact, if you ever wanted to know exactly how much a specific quantity (oz, lb, cups, etc.) is in grams, you can use the Gourment Sleuth Gram Conversion Calculator! There's also a more accurate Cooking Conversions Calculator which will allow you to specify the ingredient as well as the quantity to convert to/from grams!! It's pretty impressive and very useful for life in Japan for those who rely on recipes...

Off to an awesome start!

(Be warned! This is an even longer post than my usual rambling ones! =P)

For a while I've been wondering if I made the right decision to stay in Towada instead of traveling somewhere (overseas or within Japan) for this five-day weekend (a.k.a. "Silver Week"). But things have gotten off to such an awesome start that I'm really happy that I made the choice to stay put!

Friday night was bowling followed by all-you-can-drink and all-you-can-eat-yakiniku with everyone from the Board of Education (our section plus the general affairs, sports & recreation, lifelong learning and culture sections). It wasn't my best game by any stretch of imagination, but considering that I think it's a great thing if I make it past 70, my scores of 99 and 88 were more than satisfactory. The yakiniku afterwards was nice, too, since it's been a while since I've had meat for dinner. =P (Yes, I've been back on my "too-lazy-to-cook diet" of raw veggies for dinner recently.)

Then today I went to Aomori City with a coworker-friend (Muranaka-san whom I mentioned in my Aki Matsuri post). We went to the Michinoku Traditional Wooden Boat Museum in the morning, had lunch in the 14th floor restaurant at Aspam (great view of the sea!), checked out the Youkai (Japanese demons/spirits/monsters) at the Aomori Kyodokan (Culture Museum), and coffee/tea & desserts at Patisserie & Cafe Chandola.

The Boat Museum was right by the water, so before going in we stopped to take a look and to breathe in the sea air. Living in the middle of Aomori Prefecture, I always forget that Japan is an island and that it's not that far for me to go to the sea/ocean. It was also interested to see lots of old men out fishing; I didn't think they would be able to catch anything that late in the morning (10am-ish?) but apparently fish are still out at that time.

I didn't know what to expect of the Boat Museum (other than seeing different boats), but it was pretty cool to see fishing gear--like three-pronged spear-like things for getting uni (sea urchin) and wakame (seaweed) collecting things. (I didn't take any pictures inside the museum, but I'm sure you can find some online! =P) It was also neat walking through a wooden boat that they made (and sailed to Hokkaido, I think) using old time methods, as well as a Chinese junk used in a drama.






Lunch at Aspam was good. We actually had "dessert" before lunch, in the form of hotate (scallop) soft serve ice cream!! It was pretty salty and the more you ate the stronger the scallop taste got, but it wasn't weird-tasting enough to prevent me from finishing it. =P Then we went up to the 14th floor restaurant for a proper lunch. Even though Friday's kyushoku (school lunch) was curry, I ended up going for the seafood curry set. ^__^ It was tasty, but really filling. The nice thing about the restaurant was that we could choose to sit at a counter looking out to the sea. With my natural habit of eating quickly combined with all my practice gobbling down kyushoku, I usually finish my meals in about 10-15 minutes, but the atmosphere was so relaxing it even slowed down my eating pace! For once I managed to enjoy a leisurely meal. (I'm sure the interesting conversation(s) I was having with Muranaka-san also helped to slow me down.)

















After lunch it was onto the "main event." When I talked with Muranaka-san at the enkai (party) after taiko for Aki Matsuri, he mentioned the youkai exhibit going on at the Kyodokan. Thanks to manga like xxxHolic, Hyakki Yakou Shou, Natsume Yuujinchou and Mononoke I've gotten to know a little bit about Japanese demons/spirits, so I was really interested in checking out the exhibit.

And I'm really glad I went because I was able to see lots of interesting pictures/displays. For example, there was a series of images hyaku monogatari (100 stories), an Edo period game where people got together at night, lit 100 candles and told 100 "ghost" (I use the term loosely, here) stories--blowing out one candle with each store. When they finished telling the stories, apparently some sort of creature/ghost would appear. The one thing I didn't understand was why people would want to summon a supernatural creature, but various online sources suggest it was used as a test of courage. I'd actually read about it in xxxHolic before, but I didn't really get what it was all about until today.

There was also a set of scrolls depicting people who had died undergoing judgment and receiving punishment according to their sins in life. Apparently the scrolls were linked to Buddhist belief and were shown to children as cautionary tales, i.e. "if you do bad things like this, this is how you'll be punished". I thought it was interesting because it reminded me of Dante's Inferno and the various circles of Hell.

They also had some extremely creepy tengu (bird-like creatures with long beaks/noses) "mummies"--they were far too real-looking for my comfort!

Apart from the exhibit, there was also the permanent collection which had ancient stuff (pottery, axeheads, etc.), wildlife and "olden time" clothes/housewares, etc. from all over Aomori Prefecture. It was especially interesting to see a Japanese person's depiction of foreigners who came to Japan. Oh, and there was a chart of Tsugaru and Nanbu ben words for body parts which I thought was pretty awesome!

When we finished at the Kyodokan, we went to the main street to look for a place to have coffee. We found a shop (Chandola) right away, but when I looked at the menu and all the desserts offered I realized that I was still pretty full and suggested that we keep walking. I wasn't hungry, but I did want to find a coffee shop or someplace where we could drink tea/coffee and chat. (I guess I felt like I wanted a slightly more casual atmosphere than Chandola seemed to have.) The next shop that we saw was already closed, though, so we ended up going back to Chandola.

I (re-)learned then that I have very little self-control when it comes to sweets. Despite all my protests of not being hungry, I ended up ordering a chocolate parfait along with my Darjeeling tea (the picture was just too tempting!) And it was delicious. The vanilla ice cream had what I presumed were real flecks of vanilla bean, and the chocolate ice cream was also good. Plus there was mango and raspberry sauce--yum! I was also quite impressed that they had a glass-covered tea light to keep the tea warm, and that they brought a timer to the table with the tea so you'd know when it was done steeping!

In a rare instance of my "separate stomach for desserts" failing me, however, I only actually managed to eat about 1/2 to 2/3 of the parfait and had to rely on Muranaka-san to finish it off for me. ^^;;

After that it was back to Towada!

It was a really fun trip, but I felt a bit bad because I was the one who asked him if he wanted to hang out over the long weekend but he was the one who ending doing all the driving and planning for the trip. ^^;; He also paid for everything--except for the hotate soft serve. @_@ We actually had a minor tussle over the Chandola bill (which I had managed to grab slightly before him but didn't move out of his reach fast enough), but I ended up giving up because I felt like it was better to gracefully accept his kindness than to insist on having my way. (But I'm definitely doing the treating the next time we hang out!!)

That aside, though, it really was a great day. I really appreciated getting to see things I wouldn't have ventured out to see on my own. Plus I learned a lot--not just from the places, but also from our conversations. For example, somehow we got to talking about the Governor General of Canada (hereafter GG), and I realized that I really didn't know much about the position: only that the GG was the ambassador for the Queen and that the function was mostly ceremonial. I remembered Adrienne Clarkson, but I blanked on the current GG's name--well, I thought it was "Michelle", but it's actually Michaëlle Jean. I also told Muranaka-san that the Prime Minister picked the GG, but actually, the PM only recommends a choice, and the Queen actually does the appointing.

But really, I had no idea that the role of GG included such a lofty responsibilities as being the "guarantor of responsible government" and "Commander-in-Chief" of Canada (although, again, "Commander-in-Chief is pretty much a title that only requires "honour[ing], recogniz[ing] and encourag[ing] Canadian troops." But at least I was right about the GG welcoming foreign dignitaries and promoting Canadian culture.

Other than that, I also learned from Muranaka-san that the origin of "unlucky 13" is from the Last Supper. Since Jesus plus the 12 disciples made 13 at the dinner table, it became a superstition that 13 people at a table would result in one person's death within the year. There are other opinions, but Nathaniel Lachenmeyer, author of "13: The Story of the World's Most Notorious Superstition" suggests that most of the other origin stories are the result of people going back and imposing the superstition on older stories; the Last Supper story is the one that was generally known/accepted when the superstition was first recorded.

I think Muranaka-san is a good influence on me because he likes history and enjoys studying. I like history, too, but I've been too lazy to study. After talking with him, though, I feel like I want to start doing some studying of my own again--Canadian or Japanese history, or just something! Got to keep my brain active!

Anyway, after coming back from Aomori I had a bit of time to relax at home before going to Hide-san's house for conversational Japanese practice. I got lots of advice for good places to go eat while Nathan's in Japan. ^__^ So it was pretty much a full day of speaking Japanese for me (which is good because I don't really study on my own). Well, admittedly when I was really stuck for an explanation in Japanese with Muranaka-san, I ended up saying things in English (and usually he could understand) or using my dictionary, but it was mostly Japanese. =P

When I came back from that (and grocery shopping) I noticed a white envelope sticking out from my mailbox. I didn't think I was expecting anything, but when I got to it I found the xxxHolic/Tsubasa Chronicles drama CD I'd sent away for in the summer! (I could get it by sending in stamps I collected from the special manga/DVD editions of xxxHolic 14-15 and Tsubasa Chronicles 26-27!) And the great thing is that the booklet has the script, so I can actually figure out what exactly they're saying!

Then when I woke up this morning, instead of just checking the weather on TV (like I usually do), I ended up surfing randomly for a bit. And I found a show called Top Runner (or something like that) interviewing Oguri Shun!!! <3 They showed clips of his early work, like his debut in the 1995 NHK drama Hachidai Shogun Yoshimune. When talking about the drama, Oguri Shun said that he thought that if Shogun Yoshimune had ruled longer, Japan might be a country more like Canada!

He explained that although he didn't know much about Canada, when he visited, he saw that Canada had both English and French (languages and culture) and he thought that made Canada a country more open to different peoples/cultures. So he thought that if Yoshimune had ruled longer, Japan might've had a greater influx of foreign culture/learning and would be a more international country now. (Shogun Yoshimune relaxed the rules restricing the importation of foreign books into Japan and started rangaku, Western studies.) Go Canada!

So yes, my long weekend is off to an awesome start so far! And I still have the Kirita Jinja Matsuri (shrine festival) this afternoon, plus all of Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday to look forward to!

Good timing

Or possibly bad timing from my wallet's (not to mention my budget's) point of view!

I randomly decided to head to WonderGoo today to check out manga and DVDs. Turns out two of my favourite series had tankoubon (i.e. graphic novel/trade paperback editions, as opposed to anthology magazine installments) released recently: 君に届け Kimi ni Todoke (hereafter referred to as KnT) #9 and 幸せ喫茶三丁目 Shiawase Kissa San Choume #14.

In front of the stack of KnT #9 books was a small sign advertising the start of the KnT anime!!! Unfortunately the scheduling is terrible: it airs on Nippon Television on Tuesdays from 24:59-25:29 (i.e. Wednesdays from 00:59-01:29), starting on Oct. 6th! @_@ And of course it has to be that Wednesdays are usually the days I visit an elementary school in the morning before going to Kirita in the afternoon. *sigh* I'm torn between not wanting to miss the chance to actually watch an anime series as it's airing (rather than waiting for the English DVD releases) and not wanting to be a zombie at work.

Knowing my lack and discipline, though (not to mention taking into consideration the fact that I often sleep between 1am and 2am anyway), I expect that I'll be watching the show for the first couple of weeks at least.

I also saw that the recently published (came out 9/12!) Margaret Betsuma anthology had KnT furoku (extra, promotional items): a comic cover and a promotional DVD for the KnT anime! Naturally, I had to buy that as well. (Yes, advertising promotions pretty much always work on me--and I'm also a sucker for "special/limited editions.")

And from looking through that, as well as the small promotional insert inside KnT #9, I learned that there's an online clothing store selling a poncho/sweater thing that the main character, Sawako, wore in volume #7! The store is also selling a "Sawako-image" one-piece dress & parka (hoody) set!


Because, as I said, I'm a sucker for advertising, I've already pre-ordered the "poncho" and I'm just waiting a couple more days (for the start of the next billing period for my credit card) before I order the one-piece set. And I fully recognize that I'm being a little crazy considering that I recently commented (in a forum) on how I think Japanese women's clothes are really cute on Japanese girls/women, but I don't think they really suit me. o_O;;

But yeah, chalk it all up to my desire to make the most of the fact that I'm living in Japan--while I still can. After all, I'm not going to be able to get all these "limited edition" things (or even the regular releases of manga tankoubon/manga anthologies) once I move back to Canada.

Apart from the KnT stuff, I also learned while I was browsing manga in WonderGoo that a Kobato (one of the newer CLAMP series) anime will also start from 8pm on Tuesday, Oct. 6 (on NHK-BS2).

And a drama series for My Girl by Sahara Mizu (a touching story about a man left with a daughter he never knew he had when an old girlfriend passes away) is also starting in October! It will air every Friday night at 11:15pm on TV Asahi starting from Oct. 9!

I'm really excited about all these shows! It's really too bad that they're all starting in October (while I'm still crazy busy), but I'm sure I'll manage to find the time to watch even with work and all the various other obligations. ^___^

Low key night

I think that when I look back on my time in Japan, it's nights like tonight that I will treasure the most.

Instead of going to the AJET Aomori Welcome Party, I opted to stay in Towada to check out the Aki Matsuri (Fall Festival) with a teacher friend who used to be at Kirita JHS (she now teaches at a different junior high school in Towada) and her friend.

Even though it was raining a bit, we walked down together to see the various dashi (floats) in the parade. All the taiko players, dancers, people pulling the dashi, etc. were pretty energetic in spite of the rain. We had takoyaki (octopus balls), jaga butter (potato with an unbelievably massive hunk of butter), and shaapin (fried dough pancake with minced meat & veggies inside).

After the parade, we went to a small restaurant for dinner and drinks (just iced Oolong tea for me, of course, since I'm such a weak drinker). The saba (mackeral) and hotate (scallop) sashimi were good, as expected, but the cow liver sashimi was also surprisingly tasty! I've never really liked liver, but when they asked if I was OK with it before they ordered, I figured I'd give it a try and so I said yes. Turns out that liver sashimi tastes quite different from regular cooked liver... I wouldn't mind eating it again!

But yeah, we talked about a bunch of different things: students nowadays, the differences between Japan and Canada, Japanese superstitions (apparently it's OK to kill spiders in the morning, but not good to kill them in the evening!), etc. etc. Even though I didn't speak a lot, I still felt comfortable and included in the conversation, and didn't feel at all awkward or uneasy about my long stretches of silence (which is generally NOT the case when I'm at a large social gathering).

Although I had kind of wanted to go to the Welcome Party to meet the new JETs (in particular to see the Group A newbies again), I really prefer hanging out with people in small groups (3-4 is perfect), so I feel like I definitely made the right choice in staying in Towada for my final Aki Matsuri. I feel a bit guilty about it, but I suspect that I will be making the same choice (to stay at home or to do something with a few friends instead of attending large JET events) a lot this year.