Familiar shape?

Thu, 30 October 2008

I know i have talked about these mushrooms before. But anyway, these are a taste of autumn here in Japan. They are called "Matsutake" and the most expensive mushrooms because they are very scarce and only available in Autumn. I guess being raised in a family that values traditions and seasons curses me. Because I feel like I'd be missing something if I hadn't had these before winter comes!!! Oh well. Anyway, I bought these 4 mushrooms today at the department store and they were 16,000 Yen = US$162.42 = 123.93 Euros (yes, Japanese Yen is stronger against those currencies due to crazy financial situation). I know it's ridiculous and if you buy less aromatic Matsutake, the cost is reasonable but a good quality is always a key. I do understand many of you are very familiar with the shape of these mushrooms. But please don't get too excited by looking at these at grocery store. These should be cooked in soup or grilled over charcoal. Since my guy came home early tonight, I fixed these and other traditional autumn Japanese dishes for dinner. Surprisingly, none of us mentioned or joked about these mushrooms' shapes. I like real ones. Unfortunately, I forgot to take photos after cooking as I was very lazy and tired today. When I was single and felt tired, I didn't cook but I almost do it everyday now. I totally believe cooking is worth it when someone who can appreciate it is present :) Anyway, I hope you are having a great autumn if where you are has one :) Happy Autumn!

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"Team Piranha"

Sun, 21 September 2008

If you know me, I wasn't being a food/wine snob. I just enjoy it so much. This is the best therapy when I am frustrated at work! :)
Have a fantabulous weekend!!!

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Ready! Set! Go!

Sun, 31 August 2008

We have four seasons here and the autumn is on its way. When do you feel the autumn is about to come if you live in the area where autumn is observed? To me, the first sign of autumn is this beer. Autumn limited edition. "Taste of Autumn" is the name of the beer. While my favorite beer is Sapporo, this is made by Kirin. I don't drink beer much because it doesn't get me drunk but does make me full. (A friend recently told me I drink lots but that's not true. I only drink two days a week mostly. But when I drink, I at least finish 1 bottle of wine. but it's because I like it so much. I went out for drinks with another friend last week for wine and we finished two bottles of wine and several by glass. My friend was so tipsy and wasted. He doesn't even remember what he said or did. he kept hitting on me but I was so strong On the other hand, I didn't get wasted but it's because I wasn't tired. Really, statistically, genetically, we, Japanese, are supposed to be very weak.:) From last week, the autumn limited edition beer is sold at grocery store and etc. While it's not as humid/hot as the mid august (It's been kinda cool and rainy these days actually), it's still summer here in Tokyo but I can totally feel autumn is around the corner. This beer, the daytime is getting shorter, the tax deduction from my monthly salary has been reviewed (-_-凸. Are you ready for the new season? I will be working on Saturdays and Sundays in September and October due to this ridiculous project. In September, I only get 3 days off!! It's madness but I will survive as I willl probably go on vacation in November. Get ready for the brand new month!

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Lunch Date (^_^)V

Sat, 26 July 2008

Have a fantabulous weekend!!!

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Do I have anything else to talk about??

Thu, 3 July 2008

I guess there aren't many things I should share on this blog anymore about Portland but if I have things to blog about, I shall. Hey, this is non-exciting as always. That's my motto on this blog :) Later!
Have a wonderful day!

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Usual Japanese Winter Dinner Event this month :)

Thu, 13 December 2007

Due to one invalid entry by the duplicated post with different names with the same IP address (Yes, this is why I work as an IT geek. You cannot fool me. Sorry!), there is one open position for the holiday campaign entry :) If you haven't applied and are interested, you can enter yourself now! Just only one applicant! You snooze, you lose! You have a very fantabulous day!!

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I don't need sex :-P

Mon, 5 November 2007

Except that it cost fortune to have these bottles of wine on Friday, the weekend was fabulous. We, a party of 3, opened 5 bottles of wine and every bottle was so much better than bad sex. I totally guarantee I can live without sex as long as there is good wine. I mean I am sure I almost wet my pants due to this fantabulous sensual feeling you were able to get from the wine. I learned somewhere that there are 3 desires. Sex, Food/Drinks, and Sleep. If one of three is missing, s/he tends to fullfil her/his desire with one of other two. Since I haven't gotten much action lately, wine is my sex. :-P However, I think I am gonna have to marry a sommelier not to go broke. I am sure I will forget how I should have sex if I go on like this but at the moment, I do not care as long as I have my hands if you know what I mean. Back to my point, we opened 5 bottles of wine and three bordeauxs, and two bourgognes. I was able to come home before the sunrise which was a bonus. But, I got a call from a friend and he said he passed out in the middle of the flowerbed and got up in there. I told him flowerbeds are not real beds!!! Geez, my motto is "do not become a slave to alcohol" Know your limit. Really. So this is how I spent my Friday night. On the other hand, there is this "Krispy Kreme" shop near my work which has been there for a year almost. There was a long line before I headed to the wine bar. It said "one and a half hours" to get into the shop. I think this is another way to spend the weekend. To me, spending one and a half hours at a wine bar is so much better than waiting for doughnuts. But that's just me... How was your weekend?

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I am so aged.

Mon, 28 May 2007

I got summoned by a friend of mine who went to elementary school together. So I went to this fantastic French restaurant and met this friend and a homo friend who also went to the same school. It was this straight friend's birthday two weeks ago and he got this bottle of wine in the photo as a birthday gift. This wine was bottled in 1975. The year in which we were born. He thought he'd share it with other friends who could appreciate this and who are as old as this wine so I was selected :-) Because cork might have been very fragile and hard to be pulled out, he brought it to the restaurant and asked for a professional sommelier to take care of it so we could also enjoy fantabulous french food. A very smart decision. :-) The sommelier had a problem to pull it out but he was able to do it finally and we tasted this old aged wine. It was funny tasting first and a very interesting part is every time you sip, the aroma changes. I even laughed out loud first becuase it's completely different from any wine that I know.The color of the wine was also very aged as well (brownish dark red). And I said "Wow, we, 32 years old, are as old as this wine!!!" and that comment sobered us up a little but I am very thankful that I was able to taste this "old" wine with "old" friends. It was a good night even though I had to go off the meds for the asthma thingy. :-) Being aged rocks! You have a pretty week!!

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Late Spring/Early Summer lunch.

Tue, 8 May 2007

since I am not working, I guess I happen to cook by myself more often than ever. This is very reasonable for sure. But sometimes, I enjoy gorgeous lunch outside with friends or family :-).... Anyway....you have a gorgeous day!!!!

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No Judgement from the outside. :-P

Thu, 3 May 2007

If you aren't into wine, please skip it. I am sorry if I go "ga-ga" about this. Since it is a 4 day weekend from today for corporate slaves (not me :-P), I and my friends who work Monday through Friday went out for booze last night. 1 bottle of Champagne, 1 bottle of Chardonnay, 4 bottles of Red. It was a great night. There is this moment that you get really excited, thank that you are alive when you taste great wine. If you taste super great wine, you can almost get this sensation you'd experience after ejaculation. Super great wine could be better than bad sex for sure. I tasted this wine 5 years ago for the first time. That's when I decided to be certified for Wine Expert. I thought I went to heaven. Now, great wine doesn't have to be vintage nor expensive at all. And you cannot judge from the kind of grape, either. Let me introduce my super wine that literally changed my life. Marcel Lapierre 2005. MMV means 2005 in Latin BTW. This is Beaujolais. I know many would go "Are you freaking kidding? if it's beaujolais, it would be very fruity and young like a person without pubic hair." When you pour this into a glass and smell it, you would go "Are you freaking kidding? It's not aromatic at all!". Wait til you drink it. That's when you realize this is super fantastic wine and you will appreciate the joy of being alive. Pleasant aromatic long finish is marvelous. I really thank Mr. Marcel Lapierre. :-) The great thing is this only costs 4000 Yen = US$ 33.27 = 24.45 Euros. chilling it to 15 Degrees celsius = 60 degrees fahrenheit is recommended prior to opening. But I don't think this would be great for the first bottle. Keep it as the last bottle :-) No antioxidant. Very organic as well :-) So, this is recommended by a certified wine expert from tokiobleu.com. I am sure some won't find it amazing so it's just my personal opinion... This is like me talking about a newly dating guy or something....sorry... Anyway, you have a great day and take good care of your liver :-)

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I didn't know....

Mon, 23 April 2007

First of all, I have added a link to the dentist in Canada. Maggie. She is one of the visitors to my blog and contributes interesting/educational comments. :-)
1.... I didn't know that I was a rare case about being able to control a dream while being asleep. I mean if I have a nightmare, I can rewind it and make it better. I thought there were more people who could do this but apparently, after sharing this with friends last night...
2.... I didn't know that my fly was wide open again from this morning at the gym after workout to the cafe. I felt the "breeze" on my private part as it was chilly earlier today. The problem was I was wearing pink boxer briefs... My friend pointed it out subtly at cafe as PINK was so easy to notice. Since it has happened to me three times, I'd love if the gym puts up the warning "Did you zip up?" sign instead of "Please take off your shoes in the locker room" sign
3.... So after zipping up, I had this fantabulous matcha (green tea) cake originally made by this Japanese patissier in Paris. While it was really good, I didn't know a bottle of perierr costs 800 yen. (If I convert it, it doesn't sound that expensive as Japanese Yen is weak recently but...) US$6.73, 4.95 Euros... I am sure this sparkling water magically transforms to something so snobby once it enters this pastry place.
You have a wonderful week!

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My unusual way to spend the afternoon

Thu, 15 March 2007

You have a wonderful day!!

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I like it hard (for a particular thing).

Thu, 8 March 2007

Finally, Japan has started selling my favorite sparking water on this planet. Gerolsteiner from Germany! This sparkling water is "very hard" 1400mg/L. Even though it's very hard (blush), it doesn't taste like it has a lot of mineral. I believe this is accomodated because it has fine bubbles :-) Water Hardness is determined by how much mineral there is per liter according to WHO. FYI, Evian's hardness is 291, Contrex's is 1500 while Volvic's is 60. So you can understand how hard my favorite sparkling water is. The harder, the better? Well, yes on a totally different topic I would love to elaborate but it doesn't mean the harder, the better in water. I prefer hard water when I drink though. Japan has relatively soft water. The best water considered in Japan is in Kyoto and it's ridiculously soft. (the 4th slide) Soft water is good for fixing Japnaese green tea, steaming rice (sticky kind), and Japanese soup stock (Dashi). Hard water is considered good for fixing/boiling meat, pasta and more mineral to consume after workout of course. Please look at the chart I have here. You can see how soft water in Kyoto is. If you are wondering how soft/hard your water is, you could probably ask your waterworks department. An Italian chef told me once it is very difficult to boil pasta with Kyoto water and doesn't turn out the way he wants so he boils it with mineral water. When I lived in Amsterdam, I had to attach the water softner to my shower because the harder water, the less soap foam and the harder to rinse. So when I distributed beef and chicken up in the air and got assigned to a flight to Tokyo, I was really happy and enjoyed my bathing time back home :-) (Really. Have you ever noticed if you ever made a trip to somewhere where offers harder water and you don't get a lot of soap foam even though you are trying hard?) So when I go to Europe, I have to pack a different kind of soap for better cleansing.... that's a drawback about Europe for me. If your city provides hard water, and if you want to fix something Japanese, I'd suggest you to go get soft water (Volvic) and observe the difference :-) Have I mentioned I am a nerd?

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Some thoughts on food.

Tue, 6 February 2007

1... I went to this upscale Chinese restaurant in the fancy hotel near my work with a friend for lunch yesterday. It was his treat:-) If I remembered right, the prettiest waiter on this planet (I swear) is working. He was. The problem was he was working in the smoking section (yes, we do have smoking sections in restaurants here). None of us smokes. But we took the smoking seat to get closer to him because it's totally worth risking our lungs. Really. I've never seen someone that pretty. How was the food? I don't remember.... I am pervy...
2... In front of the hotel, the first store ever of Krispy Kreme is there. It opened last December and is the only Krispy Kreme store in Japan. But do I want a doughnut by waiting in the line for 30 mins? There is a long line always in front of the store and it usually takes 30 mins to get into "KRISPY KREME". Let me repeat, it's just a freaking KRISPY KREME store. I think I can live without a doughnut. It was really surprising to know how much you have to wait..
3... Instead of the donught, we had this fantabulous cake from France. However, my friend kept saying "I am going to be so heavy after having this." You know it has a lot of calories for sure but it tastes fantabulous. So it's such a waste to feel guilty for something so good. But since he is a catholic gay guy like myself, I think he has to feel guilty like he does after having sex. On the other hand, I didn't feel guilty. I ran extra 5Km this morning. I am all set :-)
4... I've been talking about food lately. I should change the subject?
5... But I was taught the three most needs for human beings are "sex", "food", and "sleep" in some psychology class. Since I don't get much action or sleep lately, it's natural to talk about food like this. I am not sad. :-) Have a super wonderful Tuesday!

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Soup on the very first day of spring :-)

Mon, 5 February 2007

It was the first day of Spring here in Japan yesterday. Yes, according to the calendar, it's Spring! I guess we won't see snow this winter here in Tokyo. But I am very much looking forward to spring as I can see this

After quitting my work, I really really have to train myself to be a good husband. I'd love to be a fantabulous husband. Or am I too dreaming? This was awesome! have a fantabulous week!!

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Thoughts about food/drink...

Tue, 23 January 2007

1...If there was food that would fly you away so high and let you see the heaven, this must be it. This was my lunch today. Atlantic Lobster and crab tomato soup with oragnic rice by Soup Stock Tokyo. This lunch looks so sad on the surface and is not cheap but it's totally worth it. I am sure I had a little tiny orgasm after having this.
2...When a customer orders "vodka soda", why on earth would a bartender mix vodka with SPRITE??? When I tasted it, that was the most unpleasant moment last night.
3...It's very commmon around this area to see a caucasian expat (who only wants to get laid with a foxy asian girl) hanging out with a very young foxy Japanese girl (who wants more than sex. maybe a commited relationship). Anyway, this foxy Japanese girl looked so proud because she got a sugar daddy? Also, He looked so happy coz he was about to score the girl who is way out of his league. I thought she could do better than that though... Anyway, we, Japanese, have a lot of problems to pronounce English words. I do misprounce things, too. HOWEVER, can a foxy girl not repeat "Let's take shit here" loudly at a quiet restaurant? I am sure she wanted to mean "let's take a seat here". But the expat didn't seem to mind as he could still score her... On the other hand, I almost died from pasta choking fiasco and the soup came out of my nose......sigh.
You have a fantabulous day! :-)

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How I got drunk :-)

Thu, 18 January 2007

I've been doing this flash slide thingy a lot latey. I should stop... but I thought it would be convenient this way. Anyway, have a super gorgeous day!!

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Henriot rocks!! (with a reasonable price)

Tue, 26 December 2006

Have a fantabulous Wednesday!!!

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My head hurts.

Mon, 20 November 2006

It looks like Mr. Stubble is not happy with my work schedule. I had to work yesterday as well. I didn't go to his place by the time I said I would. The dinner got cold and Mr. Stubble was grumpy. We had a non-erotic fight. Ugh. But I learned that some serious anger is a good source of intense um... private interaction. :-) This is why I am not a marrying kind. I am married to work at the moment. How pathetic do I sound? That's why I'd been trying to avoid any regular dating routine until I met him. I hope this will last though. Anyway, I was slow yesterday and I had to schedule one application program I created to run at midnight on Tuesday. This is where I got confused. 12a.m. or 12p.m.? That's why I like millitary time system. You know I could change the time display settings there to 24 hour time scale but it didn't even cross my mind so I had to think hard... my little brain was almost fried. I couldn't figure it out. Googling about it didn't come to my mind, either. So I scheduled to run it at 1min after midnight on Tuesday. When you work too much, this happens to you, too. :-) FYI, 12am in Japan is considered midnight at least according to the dictionary... whlie it's recognized as noon in some other countries. Oh, my head hurts .So on my way back from the furious fight with Mr. Stubble, I picked up the seasonal limited edition beer by my favorite beer company, Sapporo. "The winter tale". You know what? This was the best beer ever!! I wish I could export this to all of you... huh... Anyway, I should get up early tomorrow so you have a fantabulous week! So shall I :-)

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What is a weekend?

Fri, 17 November 2006

It's been crazy. It looks like I will have to work on Saturday and Sunday this week, too which means I will have to work 20 days straight even though I am so gay. :-( If I don't get a day off like this, I get stressed out at work. I do the followings when I am under stress. 1. Going batting in the batting cage. 2. Run a lot. 3. Private entertaining stuff several times (more than 3) a day. 4. Cooking. I am not good at cooking but it's getting chilly here in Tokyo even though it's said it will be a very warm winter but it's the autumn and I wanted to have something autumn. While fresh uncooked oysters are great, I find oysters taste better when they are actually cooked. Am I so wrong? So I fixed oyster gratin as shown in the photo. Oysters :-) But after cooking this for myself alone in a lonely kitchen at 3a.m. in the morning, I realized I hated cooking. But I did it anyway. I am not thinking straight. Anyway, I am so submitting the resignation letter in two weeks. Wish me luck!
You have a fantabulous weekend!

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Another Tuesday... (though the 9th day without a day off)

Tue, 14 November 2006

1... So this was my lunch yesterday. Oysters from Hiroshima over rice. I actually had these last week in Hiroshima but anyway. Oysters. :-)
2...It's been almost a year since I quit smoking. I don't miss it. I still find a hunky cowboy (not that Brokeback mountain cowboy type) smoking is a great sight to see. I really should go see a real hunky cowboy.
3...Listening to iPod on my way to work is sometimes so not the thing I should do. I didn't even notice I was skipping down the street and did a little steps. No more iPod commuting for awhile.
4... When I was searching for something and trying to take the thing out of my bag, a pack of condoms slipped out as well. And a friend saw that. And I said "No, it's not what you think" even though my friend didn't comment about it. She actuallly didn't even notice until I said that. The more I give excuses, the more embarrassing it gets. sigh...
5...So there was an incident that I misshaped my eyebrow. Ergo, I am using the eyebrow pen not to look stupid. I had never felt qeer-er than this before.... I hope it will grow back soon.
You have a wonderful Tuesday

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The happiest moment between 9am and 5pm

Thu, 9 November 2006

My life is pretty much non-exciting these days but I guess this blog suits my non-exciting days very well. Yay

You have a fantabulous Thursday!

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Quickie

Tue, 24 October 2006

I used to bring my own like this. But since I don't have any husband, I am being so lazy. I would love to fix something like this if I had a husband but since I don't.. here it is. Anyway...you have a super wonderful Tuesday!

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We are obsessed with seasons.

Thu, 12 October 2006

Yeah, I guess we are obsessed with them. I have no idea why but I guess we heavily rely on seasonal stuff as there are so many seasonal little thingies almost everyday. or I was raised in the family where seasonal events were taken so seriously. I have no idea. Anyway, speaking of which, it's a very warm warm fall day today. I am going back to work from today. I am not looking forward to it but I will act pretty and deligent. You have a fantabulous Thursday!

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My little happy dinner.

Sat, 30 September 2006

I think I got over the jet lag a few days ago so that's not it. But I go to bed at midnight and get up at 4 in the morning like a grandpa. huh... I didn't expect the technical training would be this long and packed. As you have probably noticed, being in the suburb area is not my favorite thing to do. Anyway, the gate security person told me about this fantabulous seafood restaurant because she went "You've gotta eat seafood in New England even if you are from the country of Sushi." She even yelled at me in a good way. So, I wanted to have seafood at the restaurant she recommended. It was packed and they told me I had to wait for 30 mins to get in. I didn't want the seafood that bad. Then, I went to TGI Friday across the street. It was packed there, too. I pretty much gave up on having dinner at a restaurant when I hit Olive Garden. I mean having Friday dinner at Olive Garden ALONE? nope. That's so sad. Therefore, my dinner for yesterday was this. My favorite American fast food. Since I was so starving and didn't wanna wait, I even had it in my rental car that is not covered by my corporate account. I had it in the Wallmart parking lot when it was deadly dark... While I wanted to enjoy nice dinner at a great place in the city, this made me feel happy even though I am almost certain this could look like the most pathetic dinner on Friday to anybody. My little happy moment in the suburb. Though I am so ready to go back home... You have a fantabulous weekend with decent meals!

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Graceful sushi dinner. :-)

Tue, 12 September 2006

so I went to fish store to pick up some fish yesterday (Yes, I sometimes cook by myself even though I am not good at it), I was going to do some Tuna sushi salad. But I couldn't believe what I saw. The price of Tuna was ridiculously expensive. I asked the clerk why. She told me it's getting more expensive because Tuna Sushi is becoming more popular worldwide and tuna is getting scarce. Wow.... On a different note, I will change my blog patter from tomorrow so I will probably blog in the evening before going to bed. I wonder if there is any mood change for that. Anyway, you have a wonderful Tuesday!!

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Sniff, baby.

Fri, 8 September 2006

OH YAY, I was finally able to get this!!!! I am over the moon because this is EXTREMELY hard to get recently. It's been in market since July, I guess. This is chewing gum called "Male Scent" but what's so special about this gum is that it exclusively targets dudes from 20s to 50s. You see, male body odor is something unpleasant even if some of you (a.k.a. me) find it arousing. But seriously, you don't want the werid male typical middle aged man smell on you, do ya? This gum has come to rescue. The substance, geraniol, which you can find in roses is in it. What it does is that once it's inside the body, it comes out from sweat glands. That way, you will smell like rose subtly but for sure. I like to smell something subtle. You might think fragrance would be an alternative solution. But we don't really wear that and oversprayed guys are a big turn off. For the record, I don't smell like a middle aged smelly man .... but I bought 5 packs yesterday. Due to the super popularity among guys here, this is so back ordered. This illustrates there are so much more metrosexual guys here in Tokyo, maybe. I was very happy to see them at the closest convenience store! Rose scented Shigeki from now on. :-) How romantic. I can go on a date after eating too much garlic. :-) However, I don't deny that I like to smell something smelly under the SPECIFIC circumstances... You have a fantabulous weekend! I am going to smell like rose today. :-)

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It's coming :-)

Tue, 5 September 2006

It's the time of the year again. Even though it's still humid (well, a lot less humid than it was in August) and hot (30 degrees Clesius 86 degrees Farenheit), the air smells like autumn already.This canned beer sold at any convenience store reminds me the autumn is on its way. This is the beer only sold in Autumn. The taste and aroma is richer than usual beers, and I like it very much. The weird creature in the center is Chinese legendary animal, qilin. The name of the beer company is "Kirin". BTW, there are so many "light" beers out there for less calories. I am not a big fan of those fake beers because I don't want to worry about my weight issue when I drink/ eat something fabulous. I want the best even if it has more calories....And what's up with those people who supersize everything but order a diet coke? Okay, I am being critical... sorry.... Another BTW, I am not on a strict diet or anything. I weighed myself at the gym this morning and it turned out I lost 5 kilos (11 pounds) and now weigh 61 kilos (134lbs). Considering I am only 171cm /5'7" tall, I think it's still okay. Look what corporate stress could do to my body...I lost muscles as well. I need to bulk up...It's a long way to get fantabulous abs... But I can never give up real super great beers like this even if it takes a lot more to get any fantabulous body part... I am hoping I can be all slutty when I go somewhere tropical next time... Seriously...sigh... You have a fantabulous Tuesday!

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Joy all over my body.

Tue, 25 July 2006

So the straight guy in translation/interpretation department came back from the biz trip in Paris yesterday. That's so not fair. I don't get to go to Europe on buisiness at all. Anyway, when he was sick two weeks ago, I had to be his substitute and wore a suit on a very sticky hot day to join the conference to be an instant fake technical translator for this expat. I know I didn't do very well in there but I managed... I think.... He knows I am a big fan of Paris and I like everything about it excpet for the dogs' souvenirs. He asked me what I'd like from Paris as he said he would get me something pretty and nice from there as a Thank-you gift. You see straight guys don't do that quite often. So I think it's very nice of him. In the perfect world, I could have asked Dior's new sexy passive-agressive slutty shirt. But since my pecs and arms aren't awesome, I went with the next best thing. This is my favorite cake made by the shop called Stohrer. I used to pick this up every other weekend on my way back from school when I stayed there for the summer program. Now, this is called Baba. Baba is actually Italian bread if I remember it right. You sprinkle rum all over it until it's soaked so much. Any Baba would be perfect if an Italian hunk feeded me that. But since I don't know any Italian hunk to do that for me, this is the best at the moment. Oh my, I am over the moon. I hope I didn't cover my mouth and keep my pinky up like a high school girl when I had this. After all, good cake is sometimes much better than Dior's. I think the joy I could get from a great meal is almost the same as the joy I could get after good fuck. Well, I said "almost". uh-huh. When you are tired, get yourself something sweet. You have a fantabulous day!

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Get it out :-)

Mon, 5 June 2006

I had this medical condition last Saturday. Shooting pain in my chest. It was a clot. I run regularly and only allow myself a greasy imported food (KFC) once a month. Look what work stress could do to ya! Thankfully, it was not as serious as it sounds. I got out of the hospital today. I am as good as new for a 30 year old guy... By the way, I realized Gaijin (meaning foreigners in Japan...no offense, foreigners.) can take very good photos of something very Japanese. Since I was born here, my neo-Japanese category is not as cool as their photos. Anyway, Detox-ing is very happening in Japan as well. There is this iced tea sold at a convenience store. This tea is supposed to get rid of excessive alcohol and heroin in your body. um...nope, that's not it. This tea is supposed to get rid of body wastes. I drink this twice a day. It actually works. :-) My skin is glowing. The package *blush* on the left in the photo is Kanten jelly. Kanten is made out of a kind of seaweed and it's gelatin like. completely 100% vegan. It can be used as the substitute of geltain when you make jello, and it is 0 calorie. contains a lot of dietary fiber. If you try to smell it hard like sniffing cocaine, you could smelll something seaweedy. But it's not disgusting because the aroma is very subtle. So these are my detoxing routines. I love Kanten. You should make Orange jello with Kanten instead of geltain if you could get one. By the way, have any of you tried colon cleansing? That's some detoxing I'd love to try. I am not afraid of that as I am not straight if you know what I mean.... :-) Take good care of your body :-) Happy Blue Monday!

Posted by Shigeki at 09:38 PM | Comments (18) | TrackBack (0)

Vegans can eat this fish. :-)

Mon, 24 April 2006

First of all, I just realized if I worked til January, 2007 at the current work place, I'd get a half of my annual salary as the resignation package. I am so ready to leave by the end of August but then the resignation package is very intriguing... I am in a big dilemma right now...
You have a fantabulous week!!!!

Posted by Shigeki at 10:25 PM | Comments (14) | TrackBack (0)

Don't judge it too fast

Mon, 3 April 2006

When I went to am/pm (which is a 24/7 convenience store) today, I saw something fantastic. I don't think I have seen this before today. It must be a new product. Every Japanese person around my age should know this. It's a popular drink especially in summer. However, this drink is specifically unpopular for foreigners who speak English.... The name of the drink is "Calpis" (no 2 Ss for the record....) The way we pronounce it seems to be heard as "Cow Piss" for those English speakers. Since our mother language is not English, it doesn't even cross our minds. My ex was one of those foreigners who was skeptical about this drink and never tried it even though how many times I told him "Cow Piss" is not included in the ingredients. This drink is a yogrut flavored drink; however, it comes as the condenced liquids. Therefore, you add water to make the drink usually. The ones that are sold in am/pm are ready for drinking. Any yogurt drink is never close to this Calpis. It's fantabulously tastey for me. :-) Every Japanese around my age at least once had this in the hot summer. Now, they invented a 0 kcal version of the drink. The taste is very light compared to the original one but I don't have to worry about extra calories. :-) I have no idea why this tastes so great. Maybe, after all, cow piss might be in there. :-) But seriously, don't judge too fast, please. It's not as bad as it "sounds" ::-) Happy Monday!

Posted by Shigeki at 07:30 PM | Comments (12) | TrackBack (0)

Always Japanese. :-)

Tue, 28 March 2006

The work life has gotten back as it was before I left for the vacation, but I still feel happy for no apparent reason. It must be the Spring or the "friend" I had fun with last night. I guess I should have worked crazy like I used to; but, I went ahead and took an extended lunch break. I have no idea why but when I am here in this country, Japan, I tend to have as many Japanese meals as possible. I rarely eat something non-Japanese when I am here. Yet, I don't miss Japanese when I am abroad. FYI, I really like Vietnamese, American, Indian, Italian, Thai, etc... Today, I went to this revolving Sushi table place which is considered a low-end of Sushi restaurant. While a friend of mine who works in the same district had a few, I was very hungry and finished 6 plates. It cost me 1300Yen= U.S.$ 11.13 = 9.23 Euros. The sushi was alright. It was eat-able. But nothing fancy. Anyway, Japanese meals vary from Tempura to greasy Americanized Teriyaki crap to Sushi, I love everything about it. Why? I am Japanese after all. This could mean "Ethnocentrism" but I can't help it. However, I didn't eat Sushi without chopsticks as I didn't want my right hand fishy while I was told that the real Tokyoite (Edokko) eat Sushi without using them. Having Sushi with the right hand is very classic but I can't do that.... nope. My nails are too pretty to do that. Try to have a great lunch some time. Ta-ta-!

Posted by Shigeki at 08:17 PM | Comments (17) | TrackBack (0)

I am inappropriate

Tue, 24 January 2006

The photo is Tokyo Metropolitan Government Office Building in my work district. I took this photo when we had a lunch break. A friend of mine who works in the same district asked me whether I could have lunch with him. Surprisingly, I was able to afford my time for a decent lunch time. Even though I have to renew my passport and my international driver's license pretty soon, (meaning I have to take a photo of myself and I need to take extra caution on my skin to look best-est as I am not photogenic) I had greasy lunch today. That's not good for my pores on my face. But we went to KFC anyway. KFC lunch here is a little different so it's not as pathetic as you might imagine. But it's not defenitely fancy, either. :) Anyway, for your information, my favorite animal meat is either lamb or chicken. When we just sat after ordering our lunch, this question popped in my head. I couldn't hold it to myself so I had to ask a friend of mine. "How many chickens do you think they have to kill in one day just for this store to accomodate every order they get? " I also fooled around with a chicken leg by saying "cock-a-doodle-doo". But I didn't really gross me out with the idea but a friend of mine lost his appetite. I still enjoyed my chicken though. I am so inappropriate.... I am going to hell for sure.... Have a fantastique day/night!

Posted by Shigeki at 08:48 PM | Comments (17) | TrackBack (0)

I need bubbles.

Fri, 30 December 2005

I got a call from my father for the fifth time this week. He was wondering if I could stop by my parents' before the New Year's day. I came home at 6 in the morning today. (FYI, I went to work at 9a.m. yesterday) Due to the information leak, I need to have this task done and submit the data to the National Tax administration agency... I don't like my mother around this time of the year. She is way stressful to prepare "Osechi" which is a Japanese New Year's traditional meal. Anyway, since I didn't wanna be yelled at by my mother for no specific reason, I don't go to my parents' at all... But, I was asked to pick up some champagne for New Year's meals. When it comes to wine, and champagne, there are so many snobs who happen to brag... Why is that? It does not matter which one you pick up as long as you enjoy it. But, when I hold a home party or something, there are some wine snobs present. So, I need to pick up something decent. Since I like wine, I went to wine school to know it more and got a certificate for Wine Expert exam. Anyway, to cut the story short, there are so many Champagnes available. Don Perignon is nice but it's too expensive. The efficient champagne I'd recommend when you have to have wine snobs is this. If you don't know what to pick, please pick this up for your special occasion. :-) Billecart-Salmon Demi-Sec. It's not ridiculously expensive . and it's amazing. You can shut wine snobs up with this. :-) Just make sure you don't let the champagne come out of your nose when you drink it. After all, after 3 glasses of it, you wouldn't care what to drink. You are drunk and it's less important what to have. :-) So there you have it. This is the recommendation from not-so-brilliant-wine-expert from Tokyo. :-) Have a happy day!

Posted by Shigeki at 11:59 PM | Comments (7) | TrackBack (0)

Thanksgiving Lunch??

Wed, 23 November 2005

First, I added a link to Tim from Southampton, U.K. Yay for the second link to U.K. He seems to know a lot of things about Japan. He just returned from a nice trip to S'pore. When you make a trip from somewhere warm to somewhere freezing, you can easily get a cold.... oh no... I hope you will get better in no time, Tim! Anyway, It's a national holiday here in Japan. If I translate it directly, it's Labor Thanksgiving day. To appreciate the hard work you do, you get a day off. Okay, I don't have that as I had to work today... But my sister who is a college student obviously does. How's that possible?? :-( We don't do anything fancy like the people in the U.S. do on Thanksgiving Day. We don't get turkey or anything. It's just another holiday. :-) (By the way, I so love turkey. I wish we had that widely available here....) Anyway, I had a long nice lunch time at this hotel near my work with a friend of mine. It's funny that there aren't younger people like me (oops, I included myself...is it a sin?? :-() don't really have fancy Japanese food at fancy Japanese restaurants. Well, yeah, it's kinda expensive to have lunch at any hotel anyway... Ergo, my eyes didn't have to cruise guys much while I was at it. (Admit it. Some of you cruise even if you don't really notice yourselves doing that) The lunch we had was the autumn version still. I wonder if the winter ever comes this year. FYI, it's going to be 15 degrees Celsius = 59 degrees Fahrenheit for high, 8 degrees Celsius = 46.4 degrees Fahrenheit for low here in Tokyo. I think it's good as this is the first winter without a boyfriend in 9 years. Viva, warmer winter! You have a fantastic Thursday/Wednesday.

Posted by Shigeki at 10:25 PM | Comments (6) | TrackBack (0)

Wonderland (a.k.a. Isetan)

Sat, 19 November 2005

Isn't smoking a cigarette after running 5 Kilometers = 3.1 miles great??? :-P After running in the early morning, I took a looong quality breakfast time while the sun rose. It's another chilly beautiful day in Tokyo. I decided to run errands for myself before my friends came for lunch. I went to my favorite department store on this globe. Isetan in Shinjuku. It's like 15 mins walk from my place. The blessed thing about this dept. store is that they have way cuter clerks than any other dept. stores in addition to high quality fabulous products. Since it gets really really crowded there, I usually go shopping in the morning while some people are still asleep. I decided to pick up some fabulous dessert at this dept. store.
Jean-Paul Hévin. This is my favorite chocolate shop in this world at the moment. When they opened a store here at Isetan, I was so happy. The drawback about this store is since they have gotten way more popular after crazy advertising, you will usually have to wait for 15 mins to get in!!! That's crazy. I don't want that. So, I usually go in the morning when it's cold for people to get up still. :-) I can get in without waiting. I picked up "Mont Blanc", Marron Cake. Even though Jean-Paul Hévin is famous for Chocolate as the one he makes is considered "jewel", his marron cake is fabulous. I had a great tea time with my friends while enjoying the cake. If you happen to be in Paris, Tokyo, Hiroshima, Fukuoka, may I suggest stopping by this fabulous store? But if you are not a fan of chocolate, you don't have to. :-) I think I am gonna have to run 3 extra kilos though.... Fantabulous weekend!

Posted by Shigeki at 09:52 PM | Comments (7) | TrackBack (0)

Special Day

Thu, 17 November 2005

Boss: You told me you'd have to leave earlier at 4p.m. but can you stay longer?
Me: No can do! It's the SPECIAL DAY. An One time thing of the year!
Boss: What is it important you have to leave??
Me: Beaujolais Nouveau!!!
My boss didn't even say a word but got surprised how stupid my saying was... I don't care. Yeah. It does sound insane for this wine but it's true. Today is the special day. Release day of Beaujolais Nouveau. Beaujolais Nouveau is the young made wine produced in the region of Beaujolais, France. To be honest, they started doing this because the wine made in that region wasn't that high quality. But it's now a great deal all over the world. Japan is always crazy about this wine every year. people who don't regularly drink wine go crazy about this, too. It's very popular here. Though I don't particularly like this wine because it's like drinking juice. Too light. Too fresh. But that's the reason why it has become so popular even for people who don't really like wine, I think. Because I have to go to work early, I decided to leave earlier even though the president wanted me for the briefing at 5p.m. It doesn't matter. I waited for this and got approval from my boss one month ago. (Speaking of the president, she was here in Japan yesterday....Lady, look at the paper. Not cameras!!!!) I left at 4p.m. Why? Well, I wanted to drink a lot! When I drink wine and feel alright, I go for 2 bottles. Because I couldn't stay up late tonight, I and several other friends decided to celebrate the release day of this wine from 5p.m. at my place. 6 different Beaujolais wine. 12 bottles. Even though I don't like the taste (God, I sound snobby...), it's the festival! I am pretty much boozed right now. I am heavily boozed... The wine is not expensive at all. So even if you don't like wine, may I suggest Beaujolais Nouveau for dinner? I bumped into something sharp when I was more drunk and my right shin's got a bump. It doesn't hurt right now. I think it will..... Anyway, happy drinking!!!

Posted by Shigeki at 11:59 PM | Comments (8) | TrackBack (0)