Through Thick or thin, hot or cold

Hubby and I compliment each other very well, even if our interests differ like North and South (his passion is to develop softwares while my passion is err.. anything but that..), we still find ways to have fun together and well, live happily and peacefully. Until now that the Autumn breeze is here, we found out that we have one big difference to settle.

It began to be cold last night so I turned off the fan and closed the windows because I felt like catching a fever because it was too cold for me, my hubby didn't complain until I touched him and he felt hot. He said he gets feverish when it's hot, he didn't complain when I turned off the fan and closed the windows because he didn't want me to get sick.

Needless to say, I couldn't buy the electric blanket(a blanket that emits heat when plugged) from the Buy and Sell forum to prepare for winter, unless we want to be like the usual Japanese couple that sleeps on a separate futon.

He told me he just wear white shirt and shorts at home during winter while I am wrapped like a lumpia or suman. Winter is like his energizer, while I am at my lowest during that season. He doesn't like to use heater while I am wishing for a centralized heater.

This will be our our first autumn and winter together so I wonder how we will live together during these times. I was suggesting for a temporary divorce, where I could use the spare room at home and bask in my electric blanket and heater. Anyway, the marriage contract didn't say through hot and cold right? =P

Holidays on Mondays always get me high...

A walk to the Rainbow

listening to the streets of China in an educational playground

my serenity

"Itay, ba't nyo ako iniwan dito?"

Hello Kitties live! in Tenjin

Sayonara Party and Reunion

At Ruby and Randie's Sayonara party held in Sannou Park.

reunited with my closest chinese officemate from previous company

what a way of practicing nihongo while having fun!

Kaun pips reunited. Come next month, everybody has resigned

Guess who wants to be a dad?

My New Favorite Yuzu

Honey Citron Tea

A lot of my friends dislike tea, even if Judy Anne Santos already popularized the L-Carnitine of Green Tea to get you a yummy boyfriend like Ryan Agoncillo to burn your fats, they still prefer that diet pill over drinking green tea. I can't blame them, I don't like the weird taste of tea either, plus that after smell in your breath.

But I change my mind with this tea Maila introduced to me which she bought from her vacation in Busan, Korea. It is called Honey Citron Tea, made from Citron fruit which ONLY grows in Korea and Japan. It looks like a marmalade so I got surprised when Maila scooped some and put in our cup of hot water. It is just like a juice, no weird taste nor an after-smell. Plus, you can eat the Citron Peel when you've reached the bottom because it is so sweet, unlike Orange and Lemon peels that are bitter. Actually my favorite part is munching on the peelings.

It is called Yuzu in Japanese and Yuja in Korean. It is said to have 3 times more natural vitamin C than lemon and ten times more than apple. Plus it can solve necessary quantity of vitamin C with 1-2 cups of Citron tea one day for adult. I wish it also burns fat coz I can't get enough of it. I make a cup or two after meals, hot or cold. Maila like it hot but I like it better in cold water with ice, it tastes like the Iced Tea back home or the honey kalamansi Otep used to sell in NEC way, way back.

It is my sole reason why I frequent Maila's house (ahihihi) coz she always serves it or sometimes I demand her to serve me some (bwehehe). I was even willing to go to Costco (a Makro like department store miles, miles away) just so I could get my own jar of this tea.

Good thing I found one available in Gyomu Su-pa in Gi-on! It's rather expensive for Y680 for a tea but with its health benefits and the energy I save from biking to Maila's house make it a good buy.

I'm not sure if it is available in other countries but if you find a Korean store around, I'm pretty sure they have it. And if you find one, go grab yourself one. You will love it. I promise!

Coffee Break

Veloce Iced Coffee and Strawberry & Yougurt Bread

I don't usually drink coffee unless needed, like if there's a lot of things to do for the day and I didn't get enough sleep the night before, because I have a low caffeine tolerance. Unlike Georgia and Claire na ginagawang tubig ang kape.

I discovered a cafe here in Fukuoka named Veloce and I love their Iced Coffee, especially this hot summer season. It's cheaper compared to other cafes here but for me they have the best cofffee in town. Even with 2 servings of gum syrup and 2 servings of cream... the coffee doesn't lose its smooth bitter taste. It becomes sweet with a hit of bitterness which I love. For Y160 for Iced Coffee and another Y130 for my favorite pastry, followed by 4 cups of water after to dillute the caffeine (by the way they don't have decaf here)... completes my Japanese Snacktime!

By the way, here in Japan it's okay to go to cafe or fastfood like McDonald's alone. Nobody will give you a sympathetic look, or you will not feel out of place amidst the noisy people around because they have a special table for single but not necessary lonely customers.

Ever since I wanted to go to cafes alone with a book and a cup of coffee. But I couldn't do that in Starbucks in Glorietta or Greenbelt could I? or else I will look like one of the pick up girls and well, sitting alone in a cafe simply doesn't suit well with our culture.

Here you can lose yourself with your book and coffee combo coz the person seated beside you is also busy in his own world. As soon as you get your coffee from the counter, the coffee shop becomes a blank canvass for the world you would want to imagine yourself to be in.

Last night my hubby had his dinner at 11 pm coz I came home at 9:45 pm from my coffee break. Tsk, tsk bad wife.

New Bonding Activity

I am never fond of computer games, but my husband wants me to play computer games with him. (what's with guys and computers really, my hubby is not the only guy in my life who wanted to get my interest in playing with these games). Hubby taught me how to play Dota, Starcraft and Diablo but to no avail, I just lose interest after a game. I don't want to strain my eyes.

Then hubby installed Mario Games and other family computer games in the PC and bought a joystick much to my protest coz I thought it's just a waste of money. He used a lot of tactics to get me to play these games, first Mario World, then the Mario Kart. Until I gave in and started to like Mario Kart since we can play it together and race to the finish line. Mario Kart is a kart racing game played by different Mario characters, along the way you get powers that you can use to topple the other characters.

Slowly I found myself addicted to it, since hubby has mastered the game already, I am always challenged to beat him or kill him with homing bombs (sa computer lang po). Maybe it helps that my hubby is not "mainitin ang ulo" when I don't get things right instead we just keep on laughing.

Everynight I await his return so we could play together, it's no fun to play with AI coz walang kukulit sa iyo and wala ka rin kukulitin. I own the joystick now and he just settle with using the keyboards. The other night was my first time to join him in the stand of victory as the 3rd placer.
Next goal will be to beat him to first place.

Papayag ba kayo...

Na ganito ang suot ng batang anak ninyo?

I saw this displayed at a Kid's Boutique at the Canal City. I think it almost gave me a heart attack, can you imagine a 5-7 yrs old kid wearing this skimpy shorts and with bra inside her "plunging" polo short?

Kung ako may anak na babae, ndi ako papayag dahil ako lang ang may karapatang magsuot ng ganito.. hmm may big sizes kaya sila...bwehehe...

Shoyu in Japan

It's difficult to be a cook here in Japan when you're a Filipino who is so used with sweet taste. We all know our tastes are totally opposite from Japanese, they love salty, we love sweets (heck even our toyo are sweet), therefore sometimes looking for ingredients at the su-pa is like finding a needle in the haystack. Or sometimes it needs some magic to get the right taste when you want to cook Filipino food.

Like last night, I wanted to cook Pork Bistek (you know that familiar sweet with a hint of tang, filipino pork steak your mother serves you back home). Instead of pork fillet or shoulder steaks, I made do with the pork strips we bought yesterday. Then the shoyu (toyo) and lemon juice that had been resting in the fridge for days.

Making the marinade was so frustrating because the shoyu was so salty and its flavor was so strong plus the lemon juice was super sour that they didn't mesh well. I even tried putting sugar, mirin, even yuzu but to no avail, the taste of the shoyu overpowers everything. So I gave up and went to the nearest grocery to buy a real lemon fruit and another toyo (maybe kikoman coz I am more familiar with it's taste). But Kikoman was expensive so I carefully chose from the long array of toyo, I read each of their names and I found out that there are many kinds of toyo here. There are Sashimi Shoyu, Koi-Kuchi Shoyu, Usu-Kuchi Shoyu and blah, blah (I couldn't read the kanji anymore hehe). I picked the sashimi coz since it is used with sashimi which we usually bathe with lemon juice before pouring toyo so it must be less salty . And hoped for the best.

And it did, the Sashimi toyo and real Lemon Juice extracted form real lemons blended well, plus the sugar, pepper and garlic. Perfect! I gotta admit, I made a delicious Pork Bistek.. hehehe.

Curious, I researched the difference of those toyo here in Japan (here is what I found in the internet).

1. Dark soy sauce (koi-kuchi shoyu)
   Dark soy sauce contains carmel for coloring and thickening, and his a rich flavor. It is by far the most common type of soy sauce.
   
2. Light soy sauce (usu-kuchi shoyu)
   Light soy sauce is amber in color, clearer, thinner, and saltier than the dark soy sauce. Light soy sauce is used to season foods like fish, vegetables and clear soup without imparting a dark color.
3. Tamari
   Tamari is produced in and around Nagoya, in central Japan. This is the mother of all soy sauce from 400 years ago. Unlike the others, it is made using a lesser quantity of wheat to no wheat, which is much produces a darker and thicker sauce. Tamari is good for Sashimi, Teriyaki and Nimono (simmered dishes).
4. Saishikomi
   Saishikomi is twice fermented and is a darker and thicker soy sauce for Sashimi and Sushi
5. Shiro
   Shiro, or white soy sauce is a lighter colour than light soy sauce. Unlike Tamari, Shiro uses a larger ratio of wheat to soybeans and requires more salt water than others. It is used for cooking white fish, vegetables and soup base for noodles.
6. Gen-en (low salt)
   After brewing, 30-50% of the salt is removed from the soy sauce to produce a low-salt version.

I found out that we're using Koi-Shoyu, that is why it is so salty. I hate it, and now I knew this I'm gonna buy a different kind before our kidneys give up. hehehe.

A Housewife Day-Off

Fukuoka Symphony Hall

Last Sunday, I asked a day off from my boss aka my husband so I could go with Maila and Juliet to watch an orchestra concert. So I left my husband at home with nothing to eat and biked to Fukuoka Symphony Hall with my girl friends. A friend of Juliet and Maila gave 3 tickets to the concert so I was able to watch a live full orchestra concert for the first time, for free.


It was superb! Bravo, bravo. It's really different when you hear it live, it was like falling inlove with my first love all over again. As soon as the maestro lead the first beat, I was taken to a different world where everyone understands the same language, very relaxing indeed.


That evening, I went to Maila and Juliet's place to have a Filipino dinner with Juliet's boyfriend and their Japanese officemate Goto-san. Actually, I just invited myself coz I didn't feel like cooking for dinner, I just let my husband eat McDonald Pork Burger for his supper. The girls cooked ginataang monggos, pritong isda and Humba plus a yummy, yummy leche flan and chocolate chip brownie for dessert. After the filling dinner, I brought home a serving of leche flan and brownie to take home for my husband, while on the other hand, one of my girl friends got herself a new boyfriend. Indeed, "the easiest way to a man's heart is through his stomache". (well that will be another story to tell).


Before you accuse me of being a bad wife for leaving my husband with nothing in his big tummy while I go for a girl's day out. I made it up to him by cooking a hot Egg Drop Soup (not the instant type but from scratch talaga), Lemon and Pepper chicken and Kani Salad for dinner tonight to ease his exhaustion after a day of long distance biking with his friends. I planned to put the recipe here but I'm sleepy already so next time na lang.


By the way, I'm proud to say that I already know how to make my favorite maki sushi! Though it doesn't requre any cooking, rolling the rice is a bit difficult even with the bamboo roller. I still couldn't make a perfect centered filling, but I will try next time.

Magaling-Magaling

Japanese service never fails to amaze me. Last night, I realized my new phone still had no email service, when I asked Dan how to get one, he said we have to go to Softbank office to have it set up. But after our Ichiran Ramen dinner, he had to rush back to the office so he no longer had time to take me to Softbank.


I want to live a normal life here in Japan, I mean, I want to go to places, get basic services without Dan's help. So I decided to pass by Softbank and try as much as I could to have my keitai email.


When I entered the small shop I went directly to the anime looking lady and managed to say "sumimasen, watashi no keitai no emairu wo setapu shitain desu ga, do shitara ii desu ka?", in the middle of saying this I forgot that I don't know the nihongo for setting up my email. The anime lady didn't understand what "setapu shimasu" means.. so I tried different ways of pronouncing it like "shetap?", "shitappu?" but to no avail, at last she understood me when I said, "emairu wo tsukuritai desu"... nagsisisi na nga ako bakit pa ako pumunta dun. She got my keitai and did something to it when she stopped and asked what my phone's ansho bango is (PIN number). Dan bought the phone so I didn't know, baka isipin niya na ninakaw ko yung phone, I explained to her that it was new and my husband bought it from me. She asked a lot of things which I didn't understand so "hai" lang ako ng "hai". Then her phone rang and she excused herself to answer it... I thought wala na syang silbi sa akin since hindi rin namin alam ang PIN, umalis na lang ako na hindi nagpapaalam kasi may kausap pa nga sya sa phone.


When she suddenly appeared to me at the bicycle parking lot, running and asking "daijoubu desu ka?" (Okay ka lang?). Imagine she got out of the shop and followed me, just to make sure I got the best service.


Only in Japan...

F4 Stopover

I am here in Taipei, the land of the F4, for my stopover to Fukuoka, I arrived too early so I decided to roam around the international airport and look for that blind massage coz I badly need a massage after that panic packing I did.

On my way to the massage center, nauhaw ako, I looked for a water fountain pero wala, naisip ko tiisin ko na lang.. pero ndi na kaya, tuyo na talaga ang lalamunan ko. At napabili ako ng USD2.00 na bottled water, most expensive water na nabili ko sa tanan buhay ko! (OA). Buti na lang talaga may $50 akong dala. And then napadaan naman ako sa Duty Free Shop, and I decided to check it out since I have a lot of time to kill when I found the pot of cream Arlene was telling me about... which I wouldn't say muna kung ano. It's not available in the Philippines and baka wala rin sya sa Japan and since nabaryahan na yung $50 ko (excuses, excuses)... binili ko na sya for $18. Ang saya pala gumastos in USD kasi ndi mo alam na hundreds na pala ginagastos mo hehehe. After I paid for it, the chinese saleslady told me in her broken english that the cream is indeed good... sabi niya "it will make your face pink, I put too". Sus sana sinabi niya yun habang nag iisip-isip pa ako kung bibilhin ko yun para ndi na ako nag isip pa! hehehe... Hay ang arte ko talaga!


And then while watching the runway, natulala ako nung dumaan yung Eva Air na Hello Kitty yung paint sa body ng plane. Gusto ko picturean but I was too excited to get my camera from my bag. Nung bumalik na ung ulirat ko, nakalipad na yung plane... tsk tsk.. sayang! ang cute talaga ni Hello Kitty!

So that's what I did during my stopover... and you guessed it right... ndi na ako nakapagmassage (naging beauty cream na)... kaya nag iinternet na lang ako ngayon. hehehe