Another Everest

So, tomorrow I've committed to do something that I know not.

As a wedding gift to my best-friend and her husband, I volunteered to baby-sit her 17 months old daughter for a weekend. I offered an entire weekend, but then of course I got some jitters and that whole weekend became 1 night and 1 day.
Except that after the kid's ear infection, fever, cold and some adult discussion - it became 1 WHOLE day, from noon till midnight. And that is tomorrow.

I'm having a stage freight.

Yeah.

That kid is one of the most adorable kids in the whole world. Really. She speaks fluent Swedish and understands Tah-Yee's(*) English, and she does roll-over, and walks everywhere and loves the drums and everything. And above all, now every time I swing by she will give me a full kram och puss! I can't get enough of her.
But then, I have never spent more than 3 hours alone with her - hence the stage freight.

Still nervous, I dig around my house and try to find something amusing to bring.
Nope, I got nothing in my house that is 17-month-old-friendly. Nada!

Right. I'm just going to go bring myself, armed with 4 DVDs of Cinderella, Snow White, Toy Story and Tweety Bird. And I'm also going to bring my guitar along. Little Ella always seems to like me a little more whenever I play some musical instrument.

12 hours... surely we're bound to have some fun. Yeah, I can take her to see the ponies and play at the park or something.

Everything is going to be fine... :)

*Apparently my name to her has gone through several evolution, from Ta-Ta, Da-Deeh and finally Tah-Yee

Aglio, olio e peperoncino a la Taiko Tari

After a long hard day at work (starting from 8:30 am), last night I came home late at 10:30 pm.

Famished and tired, I had about 30 minutes with the remnant of my energy to eat something and sleep and do everything all over again from 3 am.
I opened my fridge: nothing in there. I opened my kitchen cabinet - a lot of uncooked materials. There was virtually nothing but chips and lentils and canned goods that, frankly when you're as tired as I was last night, looked very unappetizing.

Then my eyes stumbled across some dried red chili pepper that my Japanese mum sent over earlier in the week, along with some dried bay leaves that our Niigata neighbor naturally dried from the big bushy bay tree in their backyard.
Then I thought... hey, I should make that pasta dish that is very simple, yet tastes very good. I went online trying to find a recipe for this pasta dish, but I couldn't remember what that dish was called.

I searched and searched. I bloody hell could NOT find it.

My tummy rumbled loudly. Yeah, I didn't eat all day because of Ramadan, except for the 2 pieces of chocolate at iftar, and now it's asking for some help.

So, I gave up Google and Cooks.com and started pulling out some pots and pans. You know what, let's just be creative here.

This is what I came up with:

Red pepper, garlic, olive oil and pasta recipe a la Taiko Tari

Ingredients:

spaghetti, however much you want to eat in one sitting
garlic, 2 big cloves, crushed or chopped
dried red pepper, 2 - slice thinly
dried bay leaves, 3 leaves
sea salt, to taste (about 1 tsp)
soy sauce, 1 tbsp
freshly grated parmesan cheese
SPAM oven roasted turkey, half a can
extra virgin olive oil, 2 tbsp

How to cook:

1. Slice SPAM oven roasted turkey, flash fry it with butter in a wok
2. At the same time, cook the pasta according to the instruction in your package, al dente. Drain and put aside
3. Heat the olive oil in the wok where the turkey was fried in #1, put in the garlic and cook until the garlic turned golden brown
4. Put in the sliced dried red pepper, cook until you smell pepper and your eyes watery
5. Put in the bay leaves, cook until you can smell the bay leaves fragrant
6. Toss in the cooked pasta in #2 and mix well, along with the sea salt and soy sauce, and sauté lightly
7. Put in a plate, sprinkle the grated parmesan cheese on top
8. Serve together with the turkey burger
9. Eat it
10. Make appreciation sound... yummm!

This dish is so simple and tasted so good. Now reflecting to my choice of ingredients, if you have access to non SPAM turkey burger, I would strongly suggest you use that instead, but otherwise this do just fine. Or if you want to make chicken burgers, or any fish or grill (go with white meat or seafood, not red meat); they would make a fine companion to the pasta.

And thanks to Rie, I now know that this pasta dish has a name... it is Aglio, Olio e Peperoncino!!! Google away, or you can make do with my revolutionary recipe. I use bay leaves and soy sauce - and no other people have done so in the past.

A new kitchen favorite

Last night I made a new discovery of a wonderful product: French Press Coffee and Tea Maker.



I don't know how I have lived without one for so long. This thing is freakin' amazing. So easy to make good coffee and tea with this. All you have to do is firstly put in the coffee or tea in, and then pour the boiling hot water in, let it sit for a few minutes and then press it down, slowly. Voilà!
No electricity required. Especially great with tea, because you get to squeeze all the leaves out that way.
Well OK, I've got the Italian stovetop espresso maker that has served me great espresso all these years, but seriously the French Press Coffee and Tea Maker is so convenient to use - that I am now nominating it as one of my kitchen's best appliance.

What is it with the French and their kitchen appliances? All the great ones are indeed French made: Le Creuset pots and pans, French Press Coffee & Tea Maker...

I 'heart' my new French Press Coffee & Tea Maker. Mais oui!

Good things happen to those who are patient

In many unusual ways, my life seems to be falling into places this month. So many things happened in so little time.

It seems like a lot of things that I have been waiting for (some for years, some for weeks, some for days, some for eternity, some for hours) are fruiting themselves.

Professionally and personally.

In this reflective Ramadan, I am grateful for the many chance that I have to, well, ponder about things.

And witnessing that all the hardships are finally paying off gave me the euphoric feeling of contentment.

Alhamdulillahirrabbil'aalamiin.**

As well as that one phone call I made to the Turkish mosque yesterday, and I discovered that they started Ramadan on September 13 and will have the festive Eid Al-Fitr on October 12. My anxiety (for missing out the morning Eid prayer because I will have to work on October 13-14 weekend) had been banished with that one phone call. All is confirmed, this year I'm doing Ramadan and the Eid the Turkish way.

Hello, Fellow Celebrants, please come to my hut for the festive Eid celebration on October 12! Anyone is welcome, from 3 pm onwards.

And for this, my boss has already approved the day off, too!

As Simon and Garfunkel said it

"...
I'm dappled and drowsy and ready to sleep.
Let the morning time drop all its petals on me.
Life, I love you,
All is groovy!
..."

I made my mother laugh...

... by telling her about the new plant collection in my apartment.



She couldn't understand why anyone would want to display red chillies as a display ornament. To her chillies belong in the grounds, or in cooking.

Never mind to her that her 2nd daughter has got the most un-green thumb in the entire universe (remember the dying rosemary bushes?).

For her to hear that I am picking chillies from my display and using it for cooking was the funniest thing she's heard this year.

Glad to have made you laugh, Mama!

The death of a clown

My clown died.

Yes, that is the sad truth.

This clown had happily served me and my bicycle for some months now, ever since I purchased him at my bicycle shop.

But now he died.



It happened this one fine morning when I cycled to work to attend a very early morning teleconference. About 10 blocks away from my office, I shifted the gear from 6 to 4, while standing static at the traffic light.
The bicycle made a really loud CLANG! noise as I tried to pedal, but there was no movement generated.

I looked down...

DAMN!

The chain had derailed itself and got dramatically stuck when I tried to wiggle it out.

Lucky for me, this all happened when I was still on top of a hill, the 10 blocks was not that hard to accomplish in 15 minutes without pedaling. And thank goodness for the early morning empty street and pedestrian walks.

Later that day one of my colleague offered to help me fix the bicycle. For ease of maneuvering, Shimo-chan turned the bicycle upside down. It took him about 30 minutes to fix the bike.
When it was done, he turned the bicycle into its upright position and then I looked at it and felt something didn't look quite right.
Mr. Clown... my Mr. Clown was looking all dented and black. Oh no, this didn't look good at all. I tired to honk it, no sound. Just a pathetic whispery 'beep'.
Only then I realized, when Shimo-chan turned the bicycle upside down, he didn't realize that we needed to detach the clown first. Instead, he remained on the bicycle and got violently squashed and murdered during the 30 minutes of service.

Maybe next I should get a sumo guy or something, he might be stronger to endure any bicycle repair violence.

Farewell, dear friend.

Ding dong, the typhoon is gone!

Yeah, by 2 pm today, suddenly everything looks 10,000 times brighter.

Maybe it is because:
1) The cursed online research has finally wrapped. Now we just need to transcribe it.
2) My report for the research in Sapporo has been finalized at 2 pm on the dot.
3) The violent typhoon no. 9 has finally passed, and Tokyo is now blue-skied and dry

All I have got left is this one usability research over the weekend, but soon after that, come Monday I will be well on my way to I-N-D-O-N-E-S-I-A!
Le maman et le papa, I'm coming home for a week! Oui!
Oh, yes, my frérot is also going to be in town during that week, so I'm looking forward to see him then, too.

... on the topic of typhoon

Living in Japan you're definitely no strangers to some natural disasters like earthquakes, tsunamis, typhoons, and the likes. You get them quite frequently. Sometimes some are bigger than others (remember this?), sometimes it's just a mild variety of your day to day life.

Typhoon is one of those, too.
Basically the word 'typhoon' in Japanese means 'a big wind'. In reality, not only the wind is whirling violently, it also always comes together with rain.
For the two days typhoon #9 loomed over Tokyo, we had a very strange weather. For 10 minutes it was raining, and then sunny, and then the sky tore open and in came the storm. All the while, the wind was blowing violently. Around 11 pm last night the eye of the typhoon arrived. I was fast asleep by then only to be awaken by loud "CLANG!" out on my balcony. I looked outside and saw the big wind had swung my patio table over the small BBQ. Those things are not light, which is enough to explain just how powerful the wind was.

Come 11 am, suddenly stillness filled the air. The typhoon had passed Tokyo, on its way North to Hokkaido. Leaving Tokyo dry with stunning blue sky.

Always an interesting phenomenon, typhoon is. In fact, one of my favorite past time is to stay snuggled up indoors during a typhoon. Let the wind and the rain go mad, I am indoors drinking a cup of cocoa... or in last night's case, eating a slice of delicious mango.

A ray of mango

One of my friend is an insurance inspector. And these days he's inspecting fruit shipments. Last week he asked me if I liked mangoes. Of course I said "YES!"
So he said, "OK, a mango is coming your way soon!"

My friend is leaving for a short holiday in Bali tomorrow and knowing that he's very busy before his departure, I wasn't expecting to see him nor the mango anytime soon. All my hopes for mangoes had vanished, I have sort of given up on that.

Until suddenly a phone call arrived last night, in the middle of a typhoon, and it was my insurance inspector friend.
"Hey, I'm coming over with your mango. Be there in 20 minutes!"

Next thing I know, at 11 pm at night, with the rain pouring hard outside and the winds blowing noisily, the doorbell rang.

There he was. Holding a mango in his hands, with the biggest mischievous grin pasted on his face, my friend shouted, "Delivery for Taiko Tari!"

Thank you, thank you, Dear Friend. That was terribly sweet of you bringing the mango all the way to my place in the middle of a horrid weather. Thank you!
Now I want le franc and grapefruits, anything in the shipment collection? Ha!

Getting to know your friends

Well, Montchan tagged me. And from experience, I know I am much better off doing what she says. Besides I've been up for a while now. It is 6:28 am and I prefer doing this than worrying about the chronically disturbed online research that is supposed to go live in 5 hours.

So, let's get to the questions, shall we?

(Wow this is a lot of questions!!!!!)


1. What time did you get up this morning?
6:11 am

2. How do you like your steak?
medium rare

3. What was the last film you saw at the cinema?
Oceans 13

4. What is your favorite TV show?
CSI Las Vegas, 24, and some sitcoms that are no longer airing (got all the DVDs though!)

5. What did you have for breakfast?
a cup of tea

6. What is your middle name?
Dewi

7. What is your favorite cuisine?
Thai, Indonesian, Japanese

8. What are your favorite chips?
Kettle sea salt and vinegar

9. What is your favorite CD at the moment?
I am going back and forth between Kodo and Save Ferris right now

10. What kind of car do you drive?
I always ask for Toyota Corolla Axio 1500 cc 4WD at the Nippon-Rent-A-Car.
(I live in Tokyo, having a car is a burden, rather than necessity)

11. What is your favorite sandwich?
I don't really like breads, thus ruling out sandwich altogether


12. What characteristics do you despise?
Liars. And people who won't admit their mistakes.

13. What are your favorite clothes?
cargo pants. I have like a dozen pair of them.

14. If you could go anywhere in the world on vacation where would you go?
Tibet, Peru, Kenya, Botswana and Hokkaido all over

15. Favorite brand of clothing?
Well if we go with my cargo pants collection, that means Abercrombie & Fitch.
The rest will depend on whatever comes my way

16. Where would you want to retire?
Good question... I don't know yet. Maybe Bali?

17. Favorite time of day?
Morning. Especially a sunny morning.

18. Where were you born?
A city called Bandung, in Indonesia

19. What is your favorite sport to watch?
soccer

20. Who do you think will not do this meme?
You know I tagged a few people before and it wasn't very successful

21. Who do you expect to do this first?
Well, I've resolved to no sequential tagging, so... no one

22. Pepsi or Coke?
Not picky, either one is good. Better be Diet Pepsi Twist or Diet Coke.

23. Beavers or Ducks?
Ducks.

24. Morning or Nite Owl?
Morning, of course!

25. Pedicure or Manicure?
I play guitar, can't have a manicure.
Pedicure is heavenly, but haven't had a chance to get one since March.

26. Any new and exciting news you'd like to share?
Meeting Montchan, c-Gen and SML in Paris!!
Vacation to Indonesia next week!!
Free mangoes coming my way from N tonight!!

27. What did you want to be when you were little?
a fighter plane pilot

28. What is your best childhood memory?
careless free days in Bangkok

29. Ever been to Africa ?
not yet

30. Been in a car accident?
yupe, twice. not fun. Not only I almost killed myself, I also got scolded for wrecking mum's car.

31. Favorite day of the week?
Saturday morning (when I have Saturday off)

32. Favorite restaurant?
Esperia in Nishi Azabu, Tokyo
Fungo in Shinjuku, Tokyo
Au temps Jadis in Harajuku, Tokyo
Zorbas in Athens
Pak Chi Met in Bandung
Bakso Akung in Bandung


33. Favorite flower?
Lilies

34. Favorite ice cream?
Haagen Dazs green tea

35. Favorite fast food restaurant?
anything available, but a big fan of First Kitchen's "jagabata" fries!

36. How many times did you fail your driver's test?
never

37. From whom did you get your last email?
My sister

38. Which store would you choose to max out your credit card?
Apple store or Yodobashi Kamera

39. Bedtime?
try to be in bed by midnite

40. Who are you most curious about their responses to this?
I've got all my answers from Montchan, c-Gen and SML.
So anyone else in my left bar!

41. Last person you went out to dinner with
My bestfriend last night, taking her out for her birthday

42. What are you listening to right now?
Sounds of the street

43. What is your favorite color?
white, marine blue, orange, black, red

44. How many tattoos do you have?
None

45. How many are you sending this meme to?
None

46. Favorite magazine(s)?
travel mag, foods mag, national geographic, SELF, and (don't laugh) People

47. What time did you finish this meme?
6:50

48. How old were you when you got married?
still single, my friend...

49. How old do you want your kids to be when they get married?
gosh, I don't know, whenever they're ready, I suppose!

Tokyo is very quiet these days...

Whoa... is this really Tokyo?

The Obon holidays always gives me the pleasure of being a Tokyoite. The streets are empty, the trains are empty, the restaurants have no lines. This is all simply because everyone flee the city to observe the return-of-the-dead holiday time.

Oh, alright, it is really not at all creepy. The Obon holiday is a Japanese Buddhist holiday to honor the departed (deceased) spirits of one's ancestors. This Buddhist festival has evolved into a family reunion holiday during which people from the big cities return to their home towns and visit and clean their ancestors' graves.

For a week when Japan is observing the holiday most businesses are closed, big cities' streets are empty, and everything becomes extremely quiet. Local stores will mostly be closed. Some banks might even be closed, too! If you want to get money, get it now while some ATM still have money in it, otherwise you might be doomed to the end of days until Monday when banks open again and refill their ATM.

Since I am neither Buddhist, nor from Japan and thus have no ancestors' graves to clean, I don't particularly pay much attention to this holiday.
Except enjoying the ultimate relaxed and serene week in Japan. Also that this year's Earth Celebration falls right at the end of the holiday period (usually it is a week after Obon). So this year, if anyone asks, for Obon I am paying respect to the drums in Sado island by playing them!

Sado island at Dawn

My weekend

Didn't get to make the chocolate cake, but I did manage to go 'camping'. My bed was my temple.

Blissful weekend, yes.

It's a very hot day...

Yeah, no kidding, it's been like this for a week now, 33-37C (about 93-100F) and 100% humidity, everyday. The air is so thick and you can cut it with a knife!
This makes it really difficult to go about your routines and even try to lead a normal life. You just can't think. And this alone makes the days completely unbearable.

I'm still bummed with this. This weather makes it even worse, the heart that usually forgives finds it really hard these days. My sister will always advice that something is a big deal because we make it one, so I definitely should switch my state of mind to make it a no deal at all.

I have to say it's hard, though. The heat and humidity really isn't helping. So, last night I made a list on what 100-times-better things to do than seething in grudges:

1. Taiko drumming, of course!

Oh I am so looking forward to my taiko practice on Sunday and the Earth Celebration next week!! There is nothing in the world like drumming that never fails to pick up my mood to the 7th heaven. You can give so much to taiko and guaranteed it will give you back the equal amount of energy. It's always funny with musical instruments, you get back as much as you give them.
Not to sound melancholic or cheesy, but there was a time when I had to go through a really terrible unfortunate situation. Details unimportant, but it involved a lot of unhappiness.
The following morning after the most horrible situation took place, I went to my taiko class, thinking that beating on the drums would take my mind off it. It was one of the most intense meditative experience that I have had with the drums, I laughed when the song was joyful, cried when the song was sad, bopped around as the song went funny, cried out with ridicule when everybody made mistakes during the songs. After very intense 4 hours, I left the practice feeling deadly exhausted physically but the heart felt a great deal lighter and I was able to smile again.

Yes, taiko is my other life. Indeed it is, I feel a lot better already now thinking about it.

2. Eat chocolate cake.

I want to eat chocolate cake. I want to eat a LOT of chocolate cake. The fudge one.

3. Bake the chocolate cake so it can be eaten

I am going to cook Nigella Lawson's chocolate cake. It looks really good in her cookbook!

4. Be a couch potato in an air-conditioned room.

Watch a whole bunch of DVDs that my sister sent me on some TV series that I like, ranging from Desperate Housewives, CSI: Las Vegas season 7, Grey's Anatomy, and Ugly Betty. This will be fun

5. Piddle with Antonio Sanchez la guitarra mi corazón!

Yes, teacher M gave me a couple of homeworks that she will test on me on Monday. She said that if I could keep up until level 5 exams songs, she'll have a chat with the school's guitar orchestra and see if I can take an apprenticeship training with them. I'm giddy with joy just to have that prospect. FUN!

6. Thank goodness it's Friday!

The weekend is coming up tomorrow! YEAH! Finally, a full real weekend. I forgot what it's like to have a real weekend. How fun it is to be able to sleep in, go to the gym, or I can also NOT do anything at all whatsoever.

7. Daydream about Earth Celebration 2007

This event is my annual pilgrimage. I go and join the celebration every year and schedule all of my work in August around this event. Ah, days and nights of fun, happiness, drumming, laughing, swimming, outdoors concert, camping, road trips, foods. Words truly can't explain just how fun it is to be there at the celebration. Believe me, I've tried so many times, you just have to go there and experience it yourself!

Ah.... there are indeed many things that are 100-times-better than the thing-I-thought-about when I started this post. Better dedicate energy to those! It's now long forgotten.

Please excuse me, now I need to continue my daydream about Earth Celebration 2007.

...it is one of those days...

Who is to say that it's OK for bosses to yell at you?

Who is to say that it's OK for anyone to yell at other human being? (Unless you're going through a military type training of sort)

More over, who is to say that it's OK for someone, anyone, to give you an earful, without checking his facts right - and when you pointed out that the part that he was yelling about was off, he began to be madder than evil?

I am not confrontational by nature and I dislike having a disagreements. But when someone confronted me with something that was not entirely my fault, I felt that I had to put my foot down.

When this happens in your private life, you might scream and yell back to bring your point across.

When this happens in your professional life, you began to question your motivation and try with all your might to prevent yourself from taking it personally.

It truly is one of those days.

My only wish is to survive the remaining horrendously busy days that had gone on and on at work. Three more days to go.

I am itching to get pass this and my mantra is... "I should never take this personally."

People make mistakes.

A tribute for Japanese postal service

Gotta love the postal service here in Japan.

One of the perks of living in Japan is that their postal service is absolutely amicable.
I got my contact lenses arriving in the mail. Since I wasn't home, the postman left a note in the box advising me for arranging another delivery. I called the number, arranged it and within 24 hours, the box arrived in my house between 9 to noon. Awesome.

Today, I came back from a joint birthday party celebration at nearly midnight. Having not been home in the past 15 hours, I checked the post and there was another note from Mr. Postman. The note said that there was a package from a Ms. ADM for me! My darling sissie said that she sent a package a week back and that it wasn't going to arrive in 2 weeks, so naturally it was such a great surprise when it arrived in exactly 7 days!!!
You see, I could arrange another delivery... however, since I was having a birthday high, I just couldn't-shouldn't-and-wouldn't wait. I must see what my sissie sent me at ONCE!
So, I went upstairs, got my bike lights and pedaled over to Yoyogi Post Office. I headed straight to the pick-up window, and rang the after-hours service (the district main post offices are open 24 hours, FYI) buzzer. 10 seconds later, a postman with a rather sleepy look turned up at the window. He checked my claim tag, got my package, checked my ID, and handed the package. All done in 2 minutes.

Gosh, I just love the Japanese postal service. They make it so easy and accessible. Absolutely amazing. I love them.

But I love my sister 10,000 times more... I mean, who wouldn't? Check out what she got me!!!

And for that, I thank you

On Monday July 30, I officially turned a year older.

On this blessed day 31 years ago, the world was graced with the arrival of Taiko Tari. (Hehehehe)

On this blessed day, some of my best girls (who were available at a spur of the moment invite) gathered at my place and we enjoyed it with an endless amount of cava and cheese and several other foods.

On this day, too, my father and mother rang to sing interesting rendition of the Happy Birthday song, one was off-key (dad) and the other one was adopting unusual new lyrics (mum),

On this day, too, my sister rang and graced my birthday with many joyful news Europe bound, in particular of the anticipated Christmas plans in Switzerland,

On this day, too, my brother forgot my birthday, because he's useless in remembering dates,

On this day and the many days surrounding it, so many happy wish and celebratory lunch and dinner had kept me happy and content and feeling so loved

And for that, I thank you.

Typhoon, earthquake and survival

What a weekend!

Obviously there is no logical explanation on why on 3 day-weekend alone one country could be attacked with so many natural disasters.

I and my drumming friend O.Div went up North to visit my Japanese family in Niigata on Friday evening. We were welcomed with a cold evening and was awaken by the rattling sound of rain on the sun-roof the following morning. The big typhoon was broadcasted to have hit Okinawa and was moving up towards Kyoto and Tokyo and eventually to the northern coast. The typhoon did not create many problems for Niigata area, except for the ongoing 24 hours of rain and wind.

Sunday was only mildly raining, and around 4 pm the coast was declared clear, so we ventured the Niigata Jazz Street festival. Some old friend's jazz band was performing at one of the hot spot at the festival, so we had to go and check it out.
We went up to one of Niigata skyscraper "Next 21" building to get a bird's eye view. We made it in time during the sunset and caught a very interesting mother nature phenomenon. the coast line was clear and blue but the black cloud was looming above the coast, with snippets of red from the sun there. The rest of the evening was pretty much uneventful. We sent away O.Div with the last shinkansen back to Tokyo and I was just hanging out with the family and chatted the evening away for the rest of the evening.

Monday came with me staring at the blue sky under the sun-roof. Yes! Finally a beautiful day!
I buzzed around getting ready and packed things and was about to undress and jump into the shower when I heard a loud noise. BANG!
Seconds later I heard my 10 yo little sister screamed from the attic. I opened the bathroom door to see what's going on and she pelted into the bathroom and clung to me, shaking. Or at least I thought that she was shaking. Moments later I realized that it wasn't her. The ground was shaking and the entire house was rocking along with it! Okasan* screamed for my little sister's name and ordered us to go the 1st floor. There we all opened all windows and ran quickly outside, together with the dog. The earth was still moving for about 10 minutes or so, and all our neighbors were out on the street - making sure that we're a significant distant away from walls and buildings.

After that, all was quiet.

Our house is located quite close to the coast of Niigata sea and we were wondering if we're going to be tsunami prone. Thankfully, our area was OK. We heard sirens coming from the coastline and some helicopters approaching as well. Otosan** turned on the TV and immediately we saw that the epicenter was indeed in Niigata prefecture, off the Chuetsu coast. The city that suffered the most is Kashiwazaki. It was 6.8 RM (Richter scale) in Kashiwazaki and was 5 RM in Niigata city. No wonder the shake was quite large and lasted a while.
The rest of the day we were still getting some after shake.
We spent a few minutes getting some emergency bags ready, as well as sleeping bags, and have all our shoes in order, just in case we need to bolt to the door in moments notice.

As of 10:30 am, all transportation systems leaving Niigata was suspended indefinitely.



For my part, I was stranded the entire day in Niigata. This is such a bad news since I had to attend 3 meetings the following day in Tokyo. Having all my my stuff packed, my eyes and ears were glued to the TV broadcast. The aim was clear: once we get news that the shinkansen service resumed its operation, Otosan would start the car and we'd be at the train station within 15 minutes.
Which was what happened at 6:15 pm. We rushed to the station, I made my way to the ticket gate and there was an announcement that the service had been re-suspended because one of the tunnels collapsed. No one could guarantee when the train will resume its service.
Fortunately the bus services had re-opened, the land authority had redirected the bus to avoid the damaged area. So, I thought, well... I guess I better line up for the 5 hours bus ride to Tokyo. Right, I wasn't the only one who needed to be back in Tokyo. All buses were fully booked, I couldn't even get a seat to go to the neighboring prefecture.
Otosan then rushed me to Niigata airport to catch the last plane out at 8:30 pm. Another failure -the plane was full.
Then we rushed back again to Niigata bus center and got me a ticket for the first bus out towards Kanto region. I was enlisted for 7:50 am bus towards Takasaki (Gunma prefecture), where I can get a train connection to Tokyo.

After one day of exhausting drama I decided to go to bed early, with my clothes on and bag on the ready - just in case there is another quake. At 5 am Okasan woke me up to say that the news has broadcasted that the shinkansen service has returned to service. And at 6:03 am I was well on my way back to Tokyo.

There are many things that I am grateful for Japan. Their swiftness in dealing with natural disaster is one of them.

p.s.
Thanks so much for the phone calls and messages. I am well and safe back in Tokyo. My loved ones in Niigata are all safe, too.


*Okasan = Mother
**Otosan = Father

Kitchen-ly dilemma

Twice a year I have my big grocery 'shopping' at my best friend's apartment. The Swedish trio always have their big fridge clean-up in mid July and mid December, right before they go back for their month long (sometimes 6 weeks) summer/Christmas vacations. The chosen person to be getting the load is unmistakably yours truly.

The problem is, I am actually going to go to spend the long weekend in Niigata. This means the rather big basket of produce containing several types of mushroom, potatoes et al is facing the harm of going bad. As well as a few containers of fresh cream, sour cream, frozen peas and a few other frozen vegetable. OK, the frozen fruits problem that I'm having is due to the very small capacity in the freezer - considering that I have just done my own fish and poultry shopping a few days prior.

At 10 pm last night, I was facing a dilemma as to what to do with them. Seriously, I have no intention of lugging them all to Niigata tonight; but I cannot possibly eat them at one sitting, I am just one small person.

So, I decided to cook them all. haha. Once cooked and kept in the fridge, the food should keep for another week. Which is kind of cool, too, this means that I don't need to fuss about cooking lunch at all for a week! How's that for a back-up plan?


In my fridge right now:

Potato and mushroom bake (completed with all frozen veggies and half of a zucchini)

Tiramisu

Blueberry and raspberry pudding

Mmmmmm.

I'm hungry again now.

*Image is of my potato and mushroom bake. yummmmm!

So, I'm going to Paris...

I am lucky, I have to say.
Last year I was a committee member for the conference that was (originally going to be in Cape Town) in Athens.
As a result from the previous participation, two weeks ago I received a contact from ESOMAR noting that they'd like me to participate in the Qualitative Conference 2007 in Paris.
It took a lot of convincing to make my company let me go again this year (this being my 4th participation), but the additional responsibility as a chairperson that I will have to bear somehow sealed the deal.

I am very lucky this rare opportunity comes by. It is a lot of work, but it will be a brand new challenge and thus it'll make me feel alive again.

So, hello to friends in Paris, make sure you're in town around November 12-14, let's have a good time. (Yes, I am talking to you, Henrike! And you, Patrycja! And you, Montchan, just in case you want to coincide your annual shopping trip to Paris around that time!)

Image was excerpted from "Ratatouille"

When all one do is work...

It is the inevitable... This one week has turned my life into utter boringness. How could 5 days have gone by with nothing to write about? Although on some work subject, I can write a lot about "Meet the Robinsons", Microsoft and a certain computer hardware manufacturer. Oh, I just remember, legally bound by NDA contract...I can't elaborate on those subjects either.

On the bright side, though, I got to go and have lunches and dinners at some of my favorite restaurants. Even though most of them were business meetings, the food are still first class - can't complain. Tomorrow, too, Viscount A from Italy and I are going to be brunching people at this restaurant that I found on my way to work. Le Gaulois' review seems to be very positive. I am looking forward to try it for myself.

On a sad note, we had to say bye bye to one of the Tuesdays.
So long, Andy, be good and be safe. Do let us know when you're done with the month-long road trip. Come by to Tokyo every now and then, Hong Kong is not so far away!

"Bye-bye Andy" Tuesday dinner at Esperia (Starting from the lady in pink: Deenster, Carlos, Andy, Taiko Tari, Antonio, MirPir)

On a happier note, Darling Ms. Bicky is in town for a couple of weeks. We had the usual Tuesdays dinner at Hale Kai's on Tuesday. It was soooooo good to see you again! It truly felt like you have never quite left us!

"Hi, again, Ms. Bicky" Tuesday dinner at Hale Kai's (starting from the lady in stripes: Deenster, James, Antonio, Krista, Ms. Bicky, Taiko Tari)

One fine day...

Another one fine day. It is at the moment 27C. Hellllooooo? It is Summer already now. Global warming at its peak, yeah. Yesterday it was 16C, and today it is 27C, and tomorrow is forecasted to be 17C. Global warming is the only explanation...

Today and tomorrow I am taking a couple of days off. Why, of course because I have 8 days worth taking altogether, and if I don't take them it will expire in a month time. So, I just simply think it is stupid not to use my comp days.

Unable to score an appointment with the dentist, the morning suddenly became available. Since my hamstrings are still sore, I decided to go to the gym rather than going to the park to jog. Besides, it is 27C, chances of fainting under the sun at 10 AM is quite high.
There was this aerobic class that I've been wanting to join, and it will be in an air-conditioned room.
The gym I'm commuting to is a chain that is available in different corners of Tokyo (and Japan). For convenience reasons (less people, closer to work, timely studio classes), I've been going to the one in Omotesando. Today, however, looking at the schedule the gym's HQ in Harajuku has a better class at 10:30 AM.
Got there at 10:20, running amok to the elevator to get to the class on time, only to be very puzzled to see the elevator's arrangement has changed. In fact, EVERYTHING have changed on that building. It seems now they are ruling all floors of the fancy glass building, except for 1st and 2nd floor, which is occupied by a stubborn boutique. Funny what 4 months renewal project did.

Back to the elevator... I honestly think their elevator arrangement is very stupid. They have two elevators, but only 1 that is functional to bring the gym members to the reception which is (now) on the 4th floor. For some oblivious reason, the elevator was stuck on one floor and never came down. Having waited 5 minutes, I grew restless, shouldn't there be stairs or something? Of course there is no other way, you have to be on that darned elevator.

Finally, the elevator came, and brought us up to the new reception floor, which is on the 4th floor. Now all lockers and showers and cross training machines are on the 4th floor. I became very confused... Did the studio move? If it didn't then how are we supposed to go to the 3rd floor? If it did, then where, there was no clear sign where everything was.
Asked the helpful lady, and she pointed a labyrinth like passage way to bring me to yet another elevator. "You need to go to the 3rd floor with an elevator, but hurry the class is starting like now."
The elevator came 2 minutes after they repaired it (some reconstruction was going on as I was waiting for it). Honestly, didn't anybody think of putting a flight of stairs to connect 3rd floor and 4th floor, to save anybody's anxiety and sanity? It is afterall a GYM. Taking a flight of stairs will give an extra workout, and that's good, no?
Oh well, the renewal is actually a good thing, though. The gym has become more spacious and you have more machines to use.

After the gym, I took a bike ride around Yoyogi and just going in and out of the small streets. The trees are now so lush and green, and it's blissfully empty, what big contrast to the Golden Week time where thousands of people seemed to choose my neighborhood as a hangout place and that's just bloody annoying.

Home again, now, after the refreshing shower I'm now going to eat some... grapefruits. Might cool me down a little. It is still May, so I don't allow myself to turn on the AC just yet.

Hmmmn, 2 more hours until I have to get ready to go to Carlos' thing. This will be good, I think this is his first time to have a concert at NHK Hall. So tonight, he's going to have the first concert for his new exploration of Gedo Senki (Tales from Earthsea)'s tunes. This album is called "Melodies Inspired by the movie: Gedo Senki". The album itself goes quite quickly, 10 songs, altogether only about 35 minutes. So for the remaining 1 hour, I am curious whether Carlos is going to showcase the entire soundtrack (which is not from the album), or he's going to do his own thing - considering the fact that the rest of his band are here, too. I hope for the latter. We shall see.

Okie dokes... off for my grapefruits now!