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When the smell of greasy french fries wafts over on the balmy evening breeze, the temptation is almost too hard to resist. To keep myself going for the next 2 months without jeopardising my healthy diet, I have decided to start a to-eat list! This list will consist of the food I've been insanely craving for, but had to abstain from in the interests of losing weight. Some are, of course, my favourite food! And the people around me have been super kind, they actually asked me to start a list and they can go eat with me when competition's over. Labels: cheerleading, food
Hello everybody! Let me show you - once again - the apple of my eye:
Labels: food, Japan, pics, school
After 3-4 hours of looking through books and surfing websites reading up on ANA, JAL, alliances, code sharing, frequent flyer programs, management policies, costs, and deregulations, I'd just about had enough! On a spurt of energy, I changed and walked to Santoku to buy groceries to make myself the curry I'd been craving for a long time, but had been too lazy to cook. Even from outside Santoku, I picked up fruits and green peppers, things I hadn't been planning on buying. Inside, after choosing potatoes and carrots and onions, I got stuck at the meat section. There was a 3 pack for 1000yen offer! After some deliberation, I bought some discounted beef that wasn't part of that promotion for my curry, and 3 other packs to be eaten over the next few days. Can you believe it, I had 4 packs of meat in my basket! All those, plus a 1.5l drink, means I spent quite a lot of money. But hey, it's been a while since I last did proper grocery shopping. So this is an indication that my cooking urge has returned! Or more like I'm sick of having nothing proper to eat in my room, and am tired of eating instant noodles or skipping my dinner.
Ooookay, we're back into the swing of things! The day started with me opening my eyes a little before the annoying "RIIIIIIING!" of my alarm, groaning, and thinking "do I have to do this for the rest of the semester?!" If you didn't already know, 'this' refers to waking up early. To me, waking up in the morning, ie before 12 noon, is already considered early. Imagine what waking up at 740am does to me. =s
It feels so surreal, having lessons to attend again! My first lesson was Japanese, which was okay, but I need to once again get used to expressing myself verbally in Japanese; I was stumbling over my words trying to say what I did during the long spring break. Japanese speeches and presentations aside, what I dread most about returning to school is waking up early! One of my neighbours has an alarm that goes "di-di-di-di", while I have the most annoying alarm that roughly yanks me out of my dreams with its horrible, deafening "RRRRIIIIIIIIIIING!" My mom must have smiled in glee when she heard this alarm, and promptly chose this among all the other clocks in the shop. Considering that I can hear my neighbour's alarm when it goes off, I hope I'm not waking everyone else in my level when mine goes off. =x
Despite my best efforts at sleeping at 2am with the intention of getting up at 10+am to rectify my sleeping cycle in preparation for school, I ended up stirring at around 5am. Why? Because neighbour #1 had neighbour #2 over in her room (at that time, it is not allowed, i tell you!), and neighbour #2 who has a naturally loud, piercing and basically carrying voice, was talking pretty loudly. The window must've been open or something, because I wasn't hearing just murmurs, I could hear actual words. -.- So I flipped myself around and tried to go back to sleep, but to no avail. Into my mind floats images of food I want to eat: yaki imo, pizza toast, garlic bread, miso soup, pancakes, fujiya home pie... So I inevitably started thinking of the groceries I need to buy when Santoku/ Picaso opens. Then the task of entertaining myself until they are both open, which means I essentially have four hours to kill.
I just went to Santoku, and I'm feeling happy! There were more hinamatsuri products on sale (even the Koala biscuit packaging had the hinamatsuri edition!), and there was a song on hinamatsuri blaring over the speakers. What a lovely feeling, being reminded continually that 3 march is going to be celebrated, hahaha. Labels: food
Before I came to Japan, I remember my friend telling me that I should learn to cook, and that cooking is fun. I kind of scoffed at the idea, because I couldn't really imagine myself in the kitchen. Or rather, I knew full well that I'm pretty useless in the kitchen. For a month after coming here, I basically ate out every night, gaining pleasure from trying the different cafes in the area. Maybe it was inevitable that I'd get bored of so-called outside food, because I was used to going home for dinner in Singapore at least once a week, usually more. So started my foray into the world of cooking. The current situation is the opposite of what it was at the beginning - I basically eat in every night, and venture out into the cold occasionally for a change of environment. Amazingly enough, I find cooking fun. There's satisfaction in knowing that I'm capable of preparing my own meals, there really is! So much so that I find it a little hard to believe that up till now, some people are still eating out most of the time. (I've never seen them in the kitchen in my block.) Some people treat cooking as a social activity, ie if there are no friends cooking together with them, they wouldn't prepare their own food. On the other hand, to others cooking is a norm, a necessity; It doesn't matter whether or not they've got company. I realise that most of the girls on my level cook. Almost every day and night you'll see someone in the kitchen cooking something. We're so domestic!
Labels: food, Japan, pics, school, yay
Whoever thought I wouldn't eat well in Japan because I'd be alone and end up losing weight (myself included) was dead wrong. At two in the afternoon in the midst of a lecture, I was daydreaming (or rather, planning) dinner and feeling excited; I couldn't wait to cook and eat!
So some things of the top of my head that I want to eat:
1) KFC cheese fries/ Carl's Junior beef chilli cheese fries
2) carrot cake
3) lava cake
4) seafood!
5) chicken wings
6) desserts e.g. cheese cake, tiramisu, spike D..
7) buffets!
Suddenly thought of the last COL when we were talking about our upcoming Valentine's Day celebration together. Someone proposed going to watch a romantic movie, whereby we will hold each other's hands and go 5678 awwww during romantic scenes. I imagined that there will be popcorn raining down on us because of other people's irritation. And in my mind, I saw myself grabbing the falling popcorn and stuffing them into my mouth! I voiced that thought just for fun - isn't it a funny imagery? Then I saw my coach giving me the look coupled with a smirk. He asked, "You want to eat popcorn ah?" "Uhh.. I was just joking!" *sheepish smile*
Haha, what to do? I love to eat! :D
my darling! <3
And this is Punkie, who has been making me laugh quite a bit recently:
funky punkie with pink sheets and cherry boxers ;p
cute container for my chrysanthemum tea 
our $10 chilli crab was goooood! 
the king of fruits - DURIAN! <3
4 dec 07 - interview project presentation
20 dec 07 - speech
1 jul 08 -book-reading project presentation
( maybe i was glaring at someone who wasn't paying attention, hahaha)
probably one of the last..
it's been pretty well-fulfilled thus far :)
it doesn't even look that bad!
sneak peak of my half-drunk lassi in the fridge ;p
When my stomach calls, it is difficult to listen to the voices in my head whispering, "What about losing weight?" Aiyah! What a hassle, just live and let live! Things will work themselves out somehow. Or so I fervently hope, since I do want to return to my post-piggy weight. Hahaha.
Now, to prepare dinner... :D A girl needs her energy before diving headfirst into writing an 8-page term paper, no?
Welcome! ... To where?
Hmm. People queueing for food... For what?
Mains and desserts... OH! Sweets Paradise!
made my own float (which yj said resembled an alien drink!)
happy foodies (i had a most terrible bad hair day >.<)
cute lights
dessert spread :)
absolutely stuffed. satisfied!
For reasons I cannot fathom, last night I was imagining the scene at the airport when we part (somehow I'm sure that the one who leaves Japan later will send the one who leaves earlier off at the airport). No doubts about it, it was a sad scene. Why are goodbyes always inevitable?
Japanese classes have returned to their familiar 'bustle', or should I say the yellings and loud talkings of a particular classmate. I really wish he will get his textbook quickly so that when we're supposed to read he will actually be reading instead of talking loud enough for everyone to be privy to the conversation. It's not that he will be totally silent with a textbook, but at least there will be slightly more peace. This part of Japanese classes, I do not miss. Having said that, language classes are usually my favourite among all my classes, and I doubt that will be any different this semester. The thought of writing a report for molecular biology scares the crap out of me. I don't think biodiversity and conservation will be any less intimidating. Don't shoot me an incredulous look and wonder why an arts-inclined person like myself who has totally no background in such subjects is taking such classes. I am merely trying to fulfill my degree requirements! No matter how boring or how difficult the classes are, I have successfully mapped them, so by golly I will bear with whatever comes my way. Such is the power of successful module mapping - it breeds in me some form of determination and discipline. Hur hur.
School matters aside, I was gleefully telling my mom that I made curry all by myself last night, and I think she is amused by how proud I am of myself when I achieve a higher level of culinary skill. =p Then a friend told me that the ability to cook aids in the romance of a relationship, and is basically beneficial when dating/married. I was supposed to tell my friend if it really is that case, but sorry dude, you've got to wait till I'm in a dating phase! I doubt I'll be skipping the dating phase and getting married anytime soon, haha.
And guess what! More than a month past my birthday, I got two more birthday presents! =D It's pretty cool, and they really make my day. Everyday is a special day! Right now, I feel especially... tired. Either I'm sleepy due to insufficient sleep (by my own standards), or my eyes are tired because I haven't put in my contact lens in a while. Whatever the case, I hope to stay awake for my next two lessons. Another one and a half hour's wait for three more hours of lessons. I can do it! Go, me! >.<
Now, to occupy myself until my next lesson at 4.20pm...
[ Edit ] I think one thing good coming out of Yoon Jeong's baito, for me, is that I feel the need to get out and do more stuff without her. To take part in more activities, make new friends, have plans... To sit around in my room and wait for her to have some free time to play with me is a little too sad, and a tad pathetic. Besides, that will be quite a waste of my time here. Hence I decided to stop being such a lazy bum and signed up for the language exchange programme organised by the ICC. If I'm so free, I might as well get a partner and work on my Japanese, right? On top of that, I have now found a gym partner who is waiting for me to get my gym membership, so I now have to stop procrastinating and apply for that too! These, together with school and some new friends made over the holidays, ought to keep me busy enough - I hope. If I still have too much time on my hands, I should find a circle to join too. But I think the inclination to procrastinate never goes away. I have to enquire about some stuff about the sumo tournament on behalf of my friend, and I am so not looking forward to making that call. Is there student discount? I don't know, that's why I have to ask. Then book. Japanese phone conversations make me very nervous. I've been dragging my feet for days, I really should get down to it... soon. Mamaaa.... help! :(
[ Edit 2 ] I must stop wasting food! One thing about cooking for one person is that there's always leftover vegetables, or meat, or something. So I put it back in my fridge, and then I have lazy days where I don't cook, so by the time I look into my fridge again I've got spoilt food. My friend was just talking about a disgusting can of black ham in his fridge when he moved into his room when I remembered my own opened can of luncheon meat. And damn, there's mould. :( I suppose I could try to cut away the mouldy bits and eat the rest, but Japan's cold weather and whatever has made my previously iron stomach a bit weaker, so I don't particularly want to risk getting a stomachache. I always feel bad throwing food that I allowed to turn bad. No more!
It is crap when people interrupt my sleeping plans.
I should either spend my day preparing food, or going out to look at flowers then shop. I haven't decided what I want to do. Maybe I actually have time for both since I'm up so early today. Hur hur.
And... that's all! Food pictures aren't with me, so gotta be content with seeing our faces. Pretty ones, they are! =p
I didn't have anything in particular to buy, but I just walked through all the aisles. As I walked past the meat section and saw the chicken wings, I stopped and stared. Memories of past barbeques at East Coast Park, chalets, sy's place flooded my mind, and drool flooded my mouth. I so wanted to eat bbq chicken wings then! I wonder if the Japanese have bbqs when the weather gets warmer? And where? Maybe I should ask around, and bug some of them to organise in the future.
I saw huge squids on sale! Much as I wanted to buy squids to cook in the dorm, somehow the thought scares me a little. Usually they're small and slimy, and I can't really imagine yanking out their tentacles and cutting them up while the small beady eyes stare at me. Today they were big and frozen, but the thought is still urgh. Even if I'll get stinky fingers and all, one day I will pluck up the courage to buy and cook them! My sambal chilli awaits... =D
Very randomly, thoughts of okonomiyaki came to mind. I think we have all the necessary ingredients, but I don't want to do it alone, that's too sad. Yoon Jeong, come back quick! I've added another item to our to-eat list!
And I've got a beer date tomorrow!
.
.
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Big parcel! 
.
.
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Food, glorious food! 
So now I've got my own
Chinese New Year goodies corner!
And my favourite dumplings never tasted so good.
Anyhow, let's backtrack to yesterday's dinner:
itadakimasu! *rubs hands in glee*
That's one of the perks of being Kaori-chan instead of Kaori-nuna. =p
... Then again, some people do it mainly to save money. =|
trying to wheedle some food out of the photographer
happy with my own food
... but not happy 'nuff that i won't snitch others' food
Whether or not life is boring, it largely depends on what you make of it, how you make the most of it... Of late, the nights have been getting more interesting. :)
After a lengthy evening nap, I was woken up to go grocery shopping for ingredients to make okonomiyaki! Despite being first-timers (like making the first okonomiyaki too big, and upon flipping the 'juice' came flying towards me and stained my shirt -.-), it turned out good! Then again, we were saying that as long as we're armed with okonomiyaki sauce, and mayo, and the other things you sprinkle on an okonomiyaki, it's hard to go wrong. Here are the results of our efforts!
kuma okonomiyaki (i miss my fatty!)
koyangi okonomiyaki (nyan!)
After our bellies were stuffed and we washed up (I've never laughed as hard as at this dinner session since I came to Japan! I had so much fun), we went to the playground nearby with the intention of skipping or something, and ended up fooling around with the numerous cats instead. It was amazing, one cat really resembled hitler!!! Since there was a couple there, it would be weird if we started skipping near them, so we brought the skipping rope elsewhere and jumped jumped jumped. It has been absolutely ages since I used a skipping rope. It has also been pretty long since I exercised, so maybe the least I can do is to skip regularly. Hmm.
I'm feeling pretty proud of myself! I decided to challenge myself by calling the Sapporo International Youth Hostel to change our reservation instead of sending an email to do so, partly because it's urgent and I didn't want to wait three days for them to reply to my mail. After a blooper where I accidentally dialled some emergency hotline or something and had my location traced via handphone GPS or something (o.O scary!), I got through to the right place, and voila! With my strange Japanese (it probably is strange to the ears of a native speaker), I managed to ask the appropriate questions and make the necessary changes! Yay to me! *pats self on back*
That's why I say, life is goooood. :)
the slacker
the studious young lady (actually i was studying the menu =p)
[ Aside: Oh, and with regards to the age thing, it's true - he doesn't really think of me as being older than him. He thinks I'm like 18 or 19! ]
our empty dishes. (to think some were already cleared away!)
"why're you taking a picture of me drinking water?!"
his momo, my gurepu furu-tsu ;p 
[Aside: Aikido instead of Japanese class tomorrow! I wonder what exactly we'll be doing. Nothing to do with kneeling or whatever, I hope. I don't even want to climb too many stairs wearing jeans. My knee hurts, raaaar!]
Food's one of my best friends too, I've realised. There's no way I'll stay away.
Onward, ho! We went to this hamburger place called Gold Rush. After hearing that I've got quite an appetite and am able to generally eat more than my friends, he ordered a 450g portion of hamburger for each of us. Well I've no idea how big it would be, since the weight means nothing to me. Even knowing that there would be 4 pieces didn't mean much; After all, some places serve tiny hamburgers. When the food came, this is what I saw:
As I was eating, I was looking around, and I soon realised that what most people order is different from us. Their portions are half ours, ie they only have two hamburgers. Even the guy at the table next to ours ordered that. Upon realising that, I was rather horrified. I thought four was the norm, but apparently not! ... And I ate up every single morsel. Oh well, at least my uncle was happy that I could finish my food. :)
Since my uncle works near where I stay, he's intending to try to meet me for dinner at least once a month (I think), and I've got an invitation to go to his house and stay over during the new year period! I kinda want to meet my three cousins whom I haven't seen in over ten years. Yet much as I want to meet them, I have a feeling that we won't have much to say when we finally do meet. Hopefully they've all matured and won't bully me anymore. =x
I think it's sweet how my uncle was looking out for my well-being, wanting to ensure I stay warm (most people seem to be like that. Maybe it's because I'm from sunny Singapore, and perhaps more susceptible to the cold?). I also mentioned that I love desserts, and when we were nearly at the station I noticed he kept craning his neck to look at something. Apparently he wanted to buy shuu cream for me to bring back to my dorm to eat! I felt self-conscious spending his money though, especially after he bought me clothes and dinner, so I fibbed that my refrigerator's too full to put in anything else. So we're going to eat yummy dessert together at Shibuya next time. Not much difference huh.
Before we parted ways at the train station, he took out a ticket from his pocket - he bought it for me while he was waiting for me to arrive! That was the ultimate sweet thing to do, I think! I'm in a goooood mood. It is wonderful to have family in Japan! <3
Brunch today - scrambled eggs on toast:
In class yesterday, my friend and I were doodling on the desk (we did erase it before we left):
On the way to ICC to submit something, I passed by Okuma Garden. We don't necessarily have to go far to see beautiful kouyou. Okuma Garden loobks equally good, just that in terms of extensiveness of the grounds, obviously Kyoto wins. Lovely, nonetheless.
Edit: It's 4.45pm now and the sun is setting already. o.O
dinner last night
The past few Japanese lessons our teacher brought us out to conduct our interview, but the last lesson we got distracted by the kouyou and she got us to take pictures instead. Presenting my class at Okuma Garden:
