Archive for June, 2006
June 30, 2006 at 9:22 pm · Filed under In the Kitchen and Foodstuff
I think I have been avoiding writing about “weird things in Japan”. Maybe because everyone else is doing it and I feel it would be redundant, maybe because I am boring, or maybe because daily life here is not always zany and weird. But…you don’t all keep tabs on those other sites of things in Japan, I am actually pretty sensational once you get to know me, and each day does, perhaps, bring something quirky and interesting along so I should share.
Today I introduce a product that I found at the grocery store, “Let’s Sand”. Its purpose – to make sandwiches. Very inviting name isn’t it? Though on first glance I thought of gritty hot dogs I ate at the cabin as a kid. Not being able to balance a roasting stick over a bonfire, my hotdogs often took quick dips into the beach sand below. Let’s Sand is not very gritty at all. I had the apple variety:
There is also chicken & mustard, fruit mix, egg, tuna, meat & cheese, and something & potato. I think I picked the best kind. You can’t really see from this picture (I will have to buy it again and take a larger picture…was lazy with the camera this time and to ruin the story I have already tried it and the package has been sent with the recycling) but Let’s Sand comes in a package about the size of those Knorr gravy mix or salad dressing seasoning packages. Inside is filling for your sandwich. Great for picnics and middle of the night snacks as Let’s Sand does not need to be refrigerated and will hold up well under your pillow. Though I would recommend keeping your bread in a bedside bread box for maximum freshness.
Final review: not too bad. The packaging, although champion in logo and name, is extremely unappetizing. Worse is having to squeeze the “sand”(?? I guess the bread makes the “-wich”) out of the package and onto your bread. Though once it is there, you realize that it is basically like apple pie filling. Thin package or can, it tastes the same to me! Pie filling and bread is not too bad but I would recommend toasting the bread first. Another campfire reference – has anyone here tried “bush pies”?
At 120円 (but I found it on sale for 80円), I might consider buying this product again.
June 30, 2006 at 1:04 pm · Filed under Dreams
Last night I dreamt that I was in a department store in Japan. It was quite the piece of architecture. Sometimes I amaze myself with the places I dream of and I think – why am I not designing indoor spaces? Though I will admit, since being in Japan the things my sleeping mind conjures up are not that impressive. The walkways and platforms and glass and colours and moving parts seemed all too normal when I thought of them again this morning.
I don’t know if I would design safe spaces though. One bridge inside this building I dreamt of had no railing and a four story drop below. I sat on it and thought about how many people considered jumping from it. Then I tried to find a place to eat breakfast at but it was “couples day” and restaurants were only allowing people in pairs. Gee…(insert picture of Bart selling soul episode dream clip here)…is my subconscious informing me of my lack of attachments to people?
June 28, 2006 at 5:12 pm · Filed under Experiences
I totally repressed this one somehow. Think it left my memory once I had realized I had taken the wrong train and, already extremely tired and hungry, would have a longer ride home.
A few weeks ago, maybe three(?), I was heading home on a Saturday around suppertime. At one station a group of maybe 8 American teenagers (maybe 15-17 years old) boarded. They were really loud and extremely aggravating. I felt like such an old fart for being frustrated with them but they were just nails on the chalkboard of a quiet Japanese train ride. There was a lot of swearing (I’m not opposed to cursing but please, keep it in quantities where the words can actually maintain their meaning!) and walking around, roughing each other up. At one point one guy pushed his friend who then fell into the lap of this very surprised woman. I really wanted to say something but didn’t.
Then I was completely shocked. One of the guys lost his balance a little and when he regained it, his shirt had lifted slightly revealing the grip of a gun he had tucked in his pants. A gun?!! Yes, it looked like a gun indeed but was it real? My first guess was that it was fake but…some kids think it is cool to carry guns don’t they? Then I became a little freaked out. Guns scare me, they totally freak me out. Not so much because they can kill but more because it scares me that people feel they need to carry them…and in Japan? It just seemed wrong and weird to me…am I totally naive and out of touch?
June 26, 2006 at 5:40 pm · Filed under Random Thoughts
I didn’ t have time to write today, even though it is a school day, because I am in the middle of writing the script to a movie called “Humidity Killed Meghan’s Hair” and it was a very bloody death indeed. But really my hair cut yesterday went well. I was a little scared beforehand but when you pay top dollars you get top service! It is too bad my post-haircut depression has to be enhanced even more by its inability to stay still in air with > 20% humidity. Post-haircut depression is (in case you are wondering) that sadness you get after the first wash and dry post-haircut. You realize that your hands can’t do what the stylist does and even if you say it looked great when you stepped out of the salon…people may or may not believe you. The salon I went to was great and the people there were way more interesting than me…or so they looked like it. My hair stylist asked me if I had a Japanese boyfriend (yet) and I told her no but tried to probe for advice on how to figure them out. She just told me that I should find a Japanese guy to marry so that I can stay in Japan. My probing was not to fruitful. Maybe I should have been straight forward and asked “are Japanese men attracted to giant, tall women with scalloped-by-humidity shaped hair??”. Maybe next haircut I will get into the details more. We were just getting past the where are you from, what are you doing here, and do you travel(s).
I guess I wrote!
June 23, 2006 at 8:03 pm · Filed under In the Kitchen and Foodstuff
I categorized this as “In the Kitchen” which is sort of “In the Kitchen with Meg” but it wasn’t in my kitchen and I wasn’t the mastermind behind this sweet project. Mayumi invited me to a baking class at the ABC cooking school last Monday. It was great – mostly in Japanese but she helped me so I learned a lot.
The class setup there is awesome. A big open space with many workstations. The workstations are for groups of no more than 5 I think, plus a teacher. You work together on a recipe and each person gets their share to eat afterwards, or take home. The great thing is that the classes are easy as ABC, but you still learn a lot. Or at least I did. I love baking and considering myself good at it but I sort of just throw things together. I think most of my recipes don’t involve too much science or technicalities.
We made chiffon cakes:
and they were quite yummy but there are a few key points to make them well. There is a certain timing you need when beating the egg whites, you should use vegetable oil and not butter, when you mix your beated egg whites into the batter you shouldn’t get all DJ on it but rather “cut” the whites into the batter, and so on.
In a few weekends we will go back for a special event class on making a Japanese confectionary. Sweet! Literally!
It is Friday evening and the 8pm music just started. Tomorrow is a me day. I have cleaning, Japanese, work, and a bit of relaxing to catch up on. On Sunday I am getting my hair cut…a little nervous!! Afterwards I will go to a concert put on by the NTT orchestra. A friend at work plays cello in it and she gave me a ticket. I can’t remember what they are playing offhand, but it is a Brahms symphony. After that, I think I will try to find a cozy spot somewhere in a cafe to sit down and write…something. I don’t know what yet. Probably many things cause lately I’ve had the attention span of a goldfish and I need like 50 windows open on my computer at a time to keep me productive. In fact I don’t even know what I am writing right now. Every three words I forget where I am so this is just an output of random strings of events being fired in my head. No…I dunno…should go home soon.
Have a good weekend : )
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