semi-rant

The other day, Satoshi and I went to see this movie "Kokuho".

Nowadays, we can reserve seats in advance, pay online and then when we go to the movie theatre, we can either print out our tickets or just scan the code on our phone at the entrance to the theatres.

Anyway, I wanna rant about the movie staff...they do not show people to their seats after the movie starts...

So, there were these 2 ladies, going up and down the stairs looking for their seats! with their cell phone "flashlights"...

And at one point, one of the ladies fell and hit the lady sitting a row above us and also partly hit Satoshi...

Grr...

Luckily, no one got hurt but we all missed a good 2 to 3 minutes of the movie...

The movie was good, I'm not a total fan of Kabuki but it was interesting and entertaining.

semi-rant

Friend Hiromi just came back from a trip to Europe.

She was kind to send us omiyage...thank you!

I need to semi-rant about us trying to find this package...

Satoshi had come back from the doctor's and was checking the mail.

Inside our mailbox was the notice that the Kuroneko guy (delivery service) left a package in our lobby's locker.

Satoshi calls me from downstairs to tell him how to open the lobby locker.

I told him how and the locker opened but nothing was in it.

He shows me the notice and it doesn't have a tracking number on it nor who the package is from.

Unfortunately, most of the phone numbers on the notice are only for requesting them to re-deliver the package (and you need the tracking number for it to be re-delivered)...

Luckily the driver's phone number is on the notice...but he wasn't picking up...boo!

So, I dug deeper and called one of their offices.

I told the woman on the phone that there was no tracking number nor who the package was from nor when it was supposedly delivered

I gave her the driver's phone number, our name and address and she told me she would investigate...

About 15 minutes or so later, our phone rang...I think it was the driver.

He tells me that the package isn't in box 3 but in box 10...so I should go back down to the lobby to see...sigh

So Satoshi and I go back down...and we open the locker but only box 3 opens...so then I press the button that puts packages into the locker and press box 10 and lo and behold...

our package!

We figured out that the guy probably wrote up the notice, put the notice into our mail box, opened the locker then realized that it wouldn't fit into box 3...then put it into box 10...um, he should've written another notice but was too lazy!

And was too lazy to come up to our apartment in the first place!

I've been noticing that these delivery people are getting lazier...

Like when I order something, and ask for it to be delivered between a certain time, they'll just put the package into the lobby locker and not come all the way up to our apartment.

All while I'm waiting in our apartment trying not to go to the bathroom because they might come to deliver while I am in there...

And then when I check online it says "delivered"...then have to go all the way to the lobby to get it from the locker...

Anyway, long semi-rant..if you read this far, thank you!

We were thankful she sent us something.

And we hope she enjoyed her trip.

civitas & semi-rant

Stopped into Civitas before Satoshi's appointment to buy a new cell phone.

I'm glad I got to try their coffee float...780 yen (tax included)

Satoshi had their passion fruit soda...880 yen (tax included) (no photo)

I usually get their hot cakes but it was close to dinner time…it was nice to try something different.

Semi-rant: getting a new cell phone is as painful as buying a new car...

(In Japan, you can add all sorts of things to your cell phone account...internet, gas, electricity, any kind stuff...) so they try to "sell" you all kinds of stuff

on top of that, there is so much that changed from the time you bought the cell phone you have until the time you intend to buy a new one...

I was disappointed (kinda mad) at the way the "young" staff member spoke to us, it seemed super condescending.

And then we had to go back the next day because we had gotten rid of a cell phone email address (because they were gonna charge us a monthly to keep it) when we bought the new cell phone, but realized that the trashed email address was attached to the cell phone’s point card account and couldn’t change the address to a new one...sigh

Luckily, we didn't have to make a new appointment and the woman at the shop was able to help us

Anyway...he has a new phone, Kat was super stressed trying to set it up (we usually get the new cell phones at the same time so that Kat can be “someone’s” tech support)

Hoping Kat's cell phone lasts a little longer, otherwise we might have to do this again...

thinking outside the box

It's holiday card season.

Not sure when it happened but the price of sending a postcard overseas went up from 70 yen to 100 yen.

In the past, the postal service made "fun" stamps to cover the difference for postcards going overseas

This year, they did not do this (I think), so in order to send out my holiday cards, I needed 37 yen in stamps to make up the difference.

I went to the post office and told the person working there my situation, and she suggested that they print out those boring label looking "stamps" for the 37 yen.

I told her that my friends and family love to see the different stamps that Japan has, so I wanted to put "real stamps" on my cards.

Well, she said she could sell me 20 yen, 10 yen and 7 yen stamps, but she only had 31, 7 yen stamps...

So I told her can't you sell me 5 yen and 2 yen stamps to make 7 yen stamps?!

"oh"...she said.

sigh...it seems unless you suggest it, they won't think of it or suggest something to you...

anyway, finally got the mojo to work on my cards and sent them out on Thursday.

no class

The person or persons who left their bags of garbage outside of the area where we are supposed to put them.

This guy sleeping on the train with his shoes on the seat, mask guarding his chin.
 

another year

For Satoshi’s birthday, I bought a small tray of assorted sashimi (maguro (tuna), madai (red sea bream), ika (squid) and buri (amberjack)) chopped it up, added some thinly sliced onions and seasoned it with half a packet of NOH poke mix and a teaspoon of sesame oil.

I also picked up cake from Maiko, chocolat noblesse for me, which reminded me of Dee Lite bakery’s dream cake and a strawberry tart for Satoshi.

The poke got the thumbs up from the birthday boy.

Super low key but grateful we are able to celebrate.

semi-rant: he went out on Saturday with a friend for lunch and drank so much that he stumbled home! and slept until the next day…sigh! just thankful he made it home safely (even if he scraped his wrist somewhere)

semi-rant

They are planning to turn off our water today for an hour from 16:30 to 17:30 to do some type of work…I wanna know who chose that time frame?!

…that is prime dinner cooking time for me…

I was thinking to order pizza, but there is also a big soccer game around that time, so I’ll probably cook something ahead so we can eat on time.

Hope they won’t run into complications with the water…1st world problems…

Happy Lunar New Year!

this and that

This past Saturday (Friday in the US) was my cousin's son's graduation.

I think in order to keep the gathering small, each student could only invite 4 people to attend the ceremony.

Luckily, they had an online viewing, so we were able to watch the ceremony, love technology!

It was Satoshi's first experience to see an American high school graduation.

Congratulations K and the class of 2021!

Chiyohime peaches...these were smaller than normal, but super floral.

Chiyohime literally means Princess Chiyo

They could have been a little more ripe because the flesh near the seed was sour and really firm.

Can't wait to try different varieties in the coming weeks.

On June 20th last year, we were eating at Civitas.

Since last year, most eateries have these acrylic "walls" to block "flying germs"...which also makes conversations pretty hard to hear...

The only reason we were eating out was because we went to see Satoshi's friend perform rakugo.

We saw him perform a couple of times in Osaka.

The auditorium that we went to see the performance at had seats blocked off with these signs so that no one was seated next to each other and not right behind each other.

Everyone had to keep their mask on while watching the performances.

This dude was not paying attention and sat right in front of me.

The sign which was taped to the chair fell off the seat and when he stood up to leave, guess what was attached to his back?!

We should have chased after him....we wondered how far he got before someone told him about it…or if anyone told him about it

It was nice to be out and about, but it was oh so humid especially while wearing a mask.

Not to mention my feet got beat up from not wearing sandals in over a year.

Loved the stained glass in the lobby of the auditorium.

Near the main entrance there was a life-size cut out of sumo wrestler, Taiho.

On the way back to catch the train I noticed this huge magnolia hanging over the temple wall next door to the auditorium..

Monday...emergency dental thingy, I freaked myself out and thought one of my lower front teeth had cracked near the base of the tooth and was kinda depressed about it…after some checking the dentist says…”it is plaque!” and had the hygienist clean my teeth…whew! and thankful for insurance.

As for the Olympics, they (JOC-Japan Olympic Committee) have decided to go against what the medical people have recommended.

The medical people recommended no spectators…JOC plan to allow 10,000 spectators to view each game and allow 20,000 spectators each for the opening and closing ceremonies.

The medical people recommended people from other prefectures not be allowed to come to Tokyo..so JOC are allowing it.  

And while we are at it... the main branch of government have also allowed people from other prefectures to come to Tokyo to get vaccinated!

As of June 21st, the state of emergency in Tokyo has ended, bars & restaurants are allowed to serve alcohol.

BUT, you can only be in a party of 2 and can only drink for 90 minutes (at a time) between 11:00 and 19:00…there are people that have been drinking non-stop from 11:00 to 19:00…geez!

All eateries/bars must close at 20:00....excuse my finger, but you can see how antsy everyone was to go out drinking with all the empty bottles in front of a bar...

Can you believe JOC was thinking to serve alcohol during the games in the stands?! which would've been a double standard for all the eateries who would have had to stop serving at 19:00...sigh

Oh and there was one member of the team from Uganda who tested positive AFTER arriving in Japan.

The main government is playing the "I thought you were supposed to do it" card with who is supposed to check on the others travelling with the infected member and the other passengers on the same flight...sigh

As of today, the infected one member from Uganda has since increased to two members...eep!

Tokyo is on the rebound with infected cases, with the state of emergency ended and everyone out and about like the pandemic is over, I can only imagine what the numbers will be like next week.

With less than 30 days until the start of the games, Tokyo will probably skyrocket out of control...pray for us people...at this point, the main branch of government is only relying on the vaccines...

Have a safe weekend.

this and that

Sorry it's been quiet here...

Satoshi was off Tuesday and Wednesday.

Note to self: KFC's chicken pot pie was junk last year (no chicken) and teeny this year..waste of money.

Marco's marron marron is a fruit sandwich of sorts...chestnut whipped cream with chestnut paste.

So good!

so... when you notice that the "other person" forgets their cell at home, how you gonna tell 'um?! (not the first time either)

We received a package of teas and hawaiian salt from reader Ryan and S....we appreciate their kindness and thoughtfulness (thank you!)

Wednesday, I took out this teeny bouche de noel (a chocolate cake filled with chocolate cream and covered with dark chocolate) from Starbucks.

It didn't go with the Gingerbread Latte that I also took out, but since I don't get to Starbucks too often these days, I got the items I wanted all at once.

Glad I got to enjoy at least one gingerbread latte for the season.

Yesterday, I tried Moto's Kitchen's taco rice. 

You can choose your level of spiciness from 0 to 6.

I chose level 3...this felt hefty and had more cabbage than rice which was nice.

I would definitely get this again.

I thought we (Tokyo) were plateaued at 200 but Tokyo's case numbers have doubled over the past couple of days...sigh.

Hope you all are doing well.

Have a safe weekend.

Moto's Kitchen

1-11-3 Kamiikedai

Ota, Tokyo

Phone: 03.3726.6781

Closed Saturdays

Hours: 11:00-23:00
 

semi-rant

Proof that the other person in this house throws out the silverware...

and you know I have to take a photo because "that person" refuses to believe he is throwing it out...

And then the other day when his butt kept dialing my phone 3 or more times in a matter of seconds...

Not too bad if I was the only one he was bothering, but his butt apparently has called others too...sigh.

Hope you are having a nice week.
 

smoked salmon

Recently, I was searching for smoked salmon but the ones I found at the import grocers had fake sweeteners added...bah!

Luckily, when I went to the local supermarket there was smoked salmon made with sugar...

I figured out that when they brine the salmon before smoking is when they are using the sugar or sweeteners...

Wish Japan would pass some kind of law to label stuff when they use artificial sweeteners, would make life a little easier than trying to read the backs of all the label ingredients.

Who knows, I may convince myself to buy a stove-top smoker and smoke stuff on my own...

For now, I try to memorize the brands that I've found not to have these artificial sweeteners in them and try to only buy these products.

foodie stamps

Yesterday, I wrote about getting our holiday cards done...well, between Picmonkey and Fudeoh, I got the design done.

I worked on the ones I will send overseas, but I still need to work on the ones for Japan.

I wanted to show you these stamps that they came out with for the holidays...sushi & tempura...so cute!

My only peeve is that they didn't make a whole lot and ran out, so we had to buy some of their other (ugly) stamps to add to our postcards.

Because I'm a foodie, I am biased and feel they should make these regulars instead of just for the holidays, don't you think?!

Have a nice weekend!

gads

I think gasoline prices are going up all over the world right now.

You would think that since we don't have a car, it wouldn't affect us, but...

It is affecting the prices of a lot of things over here like butter, processed meat products, even dry cleaning.

And to make things worse, as of July 1st, a lot of companies here have either decided to raise their prices or lessen the amount of the products they are selling (Like a bag of chips may be lessened a couple of grams but sold at the same price it was before the weight was lessened)...maybe even both?!

And with Japan eating as much bread as they are these days, there is talk of some bakeries turning to margarine...no-o-o!

I hope the government will re-think raising our sales tax from 8% to 10% in October...

How's life in your corner of the world?

alien to resident to fuji

Recently Japan changed their "alien cards" for foreigners to "residence cards".

Since my re-entry visa was coming up for renewal, we called the Immigration office to see what we needed to do.

It turns out that all we needed to do was come in to change the "alien card" to the "residence card" and we no longer had to renew the "re-entry visa".

Talk about spending less time and money at the Immigration office.

I think we used to pay something like 6000 yen for the "multiple re-entry visa" every 3 years or so.

So, we got there after lunch, filled out the paper work, I took an ID photo in their photo booth....

Paying 800 yen for 4 photos & they only use 1 is a total rip-off! But I'm glad we received the card that day. The next time we need to renew this card is in 7 years...whoo!

On our way home, we noticed a board with a notice for the Noda Fuji Matsuri. Fuji is wisteria in Japanese and Noda is the area which this flower grows in Osaka, Matsuri is festival.

Since the area was kind of on our way back, we checked out some of the many spots they have listed on the festival map.

Some turned out to be duds because they were located inside of many school grounds or some hadn't started blooming yet, but for the most part, most were located at parks.

One location was in front of an apartment building this was really nice to see in the concrete jungle.

I wish they would've given more addresses than just points on their map, we had a "scavenger hunt" of a time finding some of the locations.

I want to go back to see some of the spots we weren't able to see.

If I get a chance to I'll definitely share the photos with you.

Have a nice week!

daily stuff

The other day, I wanted to print up some postcards.

Since we just got a new laptop, there are new programs you need to deal with.

Like WORD, I think they make the newer versions purposely more and more complicated to use.

It doesn't help that everything on our laptop is in Japanese...

So, anyway, I tried to print...

it would only print in the center of an A4 size sheet of paper. (A4 is Japan's version of the US' 8.5"x11")

Since I needed to get these postcards printed, I drew borders onto my A4 size sheet and placed the postcards on one by one to print.

It was tedious and so primitive...

I was upset, I mean how can we have a new laptop and only be restricted to printing on A4 size sheets of paper?!

It didn't help that Satoshi can't help me with the "computer stuff"...

So I surfed around the internet for an answer and realized that I needed to upgrade the printer's software to match the new laptop.

Et voila!

After doing so, I could control the size of the paper and even print in black and white if I wanted to...

Life was good again...

Do you ever have days like this?

semi-rant

The girl working at Sanrio told me that there is no replacement for the ink in their Hello Kitty ball point pens...boo!

You know, these pens cost 525 yen, and when the ink runs out, I'm supposed to throw them out?! I think not.

I was determined to find a replacement.

I brought the used ink cartridge to MUJI and found the same size...ha!

If you need one for your Hello Kitty ball point pen, (and have a MUJI store nearby) look for the ink cartridge with a #2 and 0.7mm on it.

At least now I know, and won't have to throw out my pens after the ink runs out.

p.s. The typhoon was pretty impressive, blustery, the wind whistling and all. Sheets of rain passing by the window. Unfortunately, Satoshi had to work, so he didn't see "the show". Luckily, the rain and wind stopped by the time he came home.

driver license

As of March 2012, the way we renew our drivers licenses in Hawaii was changed. (I am pretty sure this is for all islands, but check with your island's DMV to be sure)

You now need to show "legal presence". This means you have to show that you belong in the U.S., belong in Hawaii in order to get a license to drive.

What a P.I.T.A. I mean, I've been driving since I was 15...15! and now I need to show legal presence...WT?!

Many women have stood in line (for many hours) to renew only to be turned away. Reason? they got married, changed their name and needed to show proof of that change...a.k.a. marriage certificate.

My parents and I went to the Satellite City Hall in Pearlridge the other day to renew, from filling out the application to standing in line, it took us about 30 minutes total.

The types of I.D. we showed were our Social Security card & a valid passport.

I was shocked that the new fee is US$40 for an 8 year license (25-71 years of age). I think previously it was US$20 for 6 years?!

Plus, they don't accept charge or debit cards, only cash or check...

Satoshi was bummed because he has had a Social Security card and Hawaii drivers license (from the years he worked in Hawaii), but no other valid paperwork for his "legal presence"...boo!

At least I passed without a restriction (no need to have glasses on while driving) and I won't have to renew for another 8 years...whoo!

If you'd like more info, check out this link: http://www1.honolulu.gov/csd/vehicle/dlicense.htm".

nuuanu okazuya

You know, if I walk into your establishment, look over the foods you are selling and a sign catches my eye, namely..."oki-dog".

Don't get all grouchy and give me 'tude because I order it...

If you don't have all the ingredients that day, put a sign over "that sign" ...

But no-o-o, you didn't, so I ordered it!

I'll give you half-props because it was delicious, a little too heavy on the garlic in your chili and oki-dogs usually have okinawan shoyu pork in them, but it was still good.

Instead of ending this post on a bad note, what I will rave about is your sweet beet namasu, super crunchy and more sweet-sour!

I'd definitely come back for this.

Nuuanu Okazuya
1351 Nuuanu Avenue
Honolulu, Hawaii
Phone: 808.533.6169
Mondays-Fridays 5:00-13:00, Saturdays 5:30-14:00, Sundays 7:00-13:00

semi-rant

Our visit with MIL went "okay", she gave us many food items, some that we were happy to receive and some not so happy to.

She still had food from her osechi, so we ended up eating that.

Whenever we visit her, she gives Satoshi lots of beer to drink, then he takes a L-O-N-G nap, leaving me to listen to my MIL's endless rants and chatter.

I try to help her in the kitchen, but her kitchen is so small, I usually feel like a bull in a china shop.

She also treats us more like guests than family. We tell her that we don't need to be served on fancy dishes/plates, but she takes them out and feeds us from them.

I know that because she lives alone, she doesn't have someone to listen to her everyday, but still, from the time we arrive until the time we leave, she is chattering away.

On top of all of that, the trains are usually crowded going to and from Kyoto and we end up standing the whole way. (which is about an hour one way)

When we come home I am usually pooped, mentally...I mean, Japanese isn't my first language. After living in Japan for 8 years, Japanese comes rather easily, but still my brain does tire trying to process it all.

Over the holidays, my BIL got my MIL a cell phone, it "just so happens" to be the same company that I have, since we are with the same cell company, calls to each other are free...I have a feeling I may be receiving many a call from her cell...

Thanks for listening, I feel better.

Today the weather is gloomy, need some sun....hope you have a great week!

no aloha days

Sometimes daily episodes make me homesick. I like to call them "no aloha" episodes.

Whenever I run into "no aloha" episodes here, it makes me crave "the little stuffs" of home...the smiles from people you don't know, gestures of courtesy like holding the door open for the person behind you, saying "thank you" or "excuse me".

Take for example the other day, I was in a bookstore, looking at a shelf of books. Mind you, I wasn't right up with my face to the shelf, I think I had some space (maybe a foot, maybe more) between me and the shelf.

Along comes a woman, she is looking at the books on the same shelf but further down, she moves closer to me and stops right in front of me! Like I was invisible! WT!

I tsked and moved to the side of her but she didn't look at me. Talk about being unconscious to the world around her.

And then there were two of the same type of episodes in one day...

I was walking home from the market. I'd like to think I was going at a rather good pace. A girl comes around on the right side of me walking in the same direction, I thought she was going to overtake me, but instead she takes a left and cuts me off! I had to stop in my tracks or else slam into her. (You know, if we were both in cars there would have been impact!)

And then a few minutes later a guy does the same thing! Unreal!

No aloha here...feeling a bit homesick. (Trying to think good thoughts...kinda failing though)

It is Friday here...let's hope next week will be better.