A Time to Walk

Last Saturday I had to reach Seinen Center by 11 am for the private nihongo class so I left the house 30 minutes before. But the wind was strong at that time and it was so difficult to ride the bike so I decided to leave my bike at Gion(2 stations away from Seinen) and take the subway to get to Tenjin where Seinen Center is. The class was nice coz it's not crowded, there's only 3 of us there, I wanted to attend the advance class but it starts at 10 am, the teacher asked me if I don't want the challenge but I told her the challenge to wake up before 10 am is more difficult hehehe. I wanted to buy the Master Series Book they are using but she wouldn't sell it to me unless I attend the class.. bongga!

Anyways after the class, I wanted to rush home coz it was so cold and I wanted to sink in my bed while eating chocolates and watching Greys Anatomy. Especially that Hubby was in a client meeting then it meant I have all the bed for myself.

I was supposed to take th Y100 yen loop bus (it's a bus that takes you anywhere in Fukuoka's main places for only Y100) but it is so slow because it has many stops, it might make me more sleepy than I already was. Since I have all the time in the world, I decided to walk from Tenjin to Gion (I think it's like Guadalupe-Buendia), with my IPOD and my maong trench jacket to keep me warm (which I bought in Whoops! in a whooping P2000 with Georgia, Mau and Jaja... George, sulit jud sya kay dili baduy diri!) I journeyed on foot and smelled the roses.

Walking in pleasure is indeed a different experience, it gave me better perspective than when I ride the bike, the subway or the bus. I realized how beautiful and clean the place is, thanking God that my life is less stressful now and happier. Then I thought of my friends who are currently also living their dreams, the birth pains of leaving your comfort zone really pays off. Thank God for the courage to outshine the hurdles along the way.

Then when I got home, I received a news about the bombing that happened in Glorietta 2. It is sad but also good thing that it didn't happen when I was there coz I am really a mall rat or at the time Georgia and I were busy shopping for our trips (unsaon na lang, sayang ang among lahi). I heard later that my tita and cousins were there having lunch during the bombing, but they were at a different part of Glorietta so they were gladly safe.

Indeed there's a lot more to be thankful for that day.

Gourmet Friday

I had an early knock off because there has not been a reply from the client about the SIP Server I am going to use. So I dropped by the grocery to buy milk,vanilla and egg separator to make myself a leche flan from Rodel's recipe (Juliet's bf).His leche flan is one of the best I've tasted so I was excited to try making one myself. It turned out good, I think this is the best leche flan I've made, except that my caramel was too saucy/watery coz I put too much water on the sugar. =(

These are the ingredient's of Fukuoka's famous leche flan:
6-8 egg yolks
1 cup fresh milk
1 cup condensed milk
a dash of vanilla

And of course you already know what to do with them. I didn't take a photo of it coz I murdered it as soon as it was done. Meaning I ate half of it already so it was not photogenic anymore.. hehe.

This Leche Flan will be our dessert (or my hubby's only coz I already ate my share) and our main course is the Shrimp Scampi... or rather the Ebi Scampi. Well, I have this frozen shrimps and I didn't know what to do with it so I looked for some recipes from the internet and found this recipe for Shrimp Scampi. I forgot how Scampi really tasted coz it's been so long since I last ate my favorite Shrimp Scampi with Cream and Pasta at Oliver's Sandwiches in Glorietta. So I'm not sure if I got it right, I substituted the white wine with Japanese Cooking Rice Wine. I just got disappointed with the shrimps coz it got smaller and smaller as they were cooked. Well, what can you expect from a frozen good.

Shrimp Scampi is expensive when you order it in the restaurant, it's also the most expensive pasta in Oliver's. So if you're wishing to eat something gourmet, and you have Shrimps just follow the recipe on the link. It's so easy. =)

My Ebi Scampi

Sailing in Fukuoka

One of our friends invited us to go sailing with his Japanese friends and his family. We went to Shinakoshima, a small island in Fukuoka and had barbeque at the port. It was my first time to go sailing and now I understand why rich people splurge on a yacht and why owning yacht is often part of a person's dream. It's definitely great to be in the middle of the sea, away from your usual world with just your luxurious yacht or your family/friends. Hubby found it boring and missed his laptop, especially when they stopped the engine and pulled up the sails and let only the wind to glide the boat but for me it was really fun and relaxing!

When I grow up, I want to be rich and buy myself a yacht!

You're easy breezy and I'm Japanesey

Beef, Asparagus and Carrots Roll

Hubby likes asparagus and we have this pack of asparagus in the fridge that has been waiting for me to get my hands on but aside from saute-ing it with pork or egg, I don't know what else I am going to do with it coz frankly I don't really like it that much. Good thing I found this recipe from Kitchen Cow, oh it's so delicious! I am not good in food presentation so my picture doesn't do justice on how good it tastes. But I highly recommend it for you to try. I used the thin slices of beef instead of the sirloin so I didn't need the toothpick to roll them together making it much easier. If you want some other way to serve yourself some veggies, just follow Kitchen Cow's recipe! It's yummy! Now I have a new friend with Asparagus. =)

And for today's bento or lunchbox, I made Spam Musubi which I also found in the internet. Just follow the recipe on the link. On the way home last night, I dropped by 100yen shop to buy me cookie cutter (for the Spam) and sushi molder(to form the rice). There's a lot of cute bentou stuff that I wanted to buy but i'll just save it for later when I have enough time and creativity for a pretty lunchbox. =)

My Japanese Lunch

*My entry's title is from the song 'easy breezy' by Utada Hikaru, it's a cute song and I'm not sure if I understood it well, but it's a nice song to pep my day. Try downloading a copy from Limewire, I'm sure you'd also enjoy it. hehe =)

Easy Breezy

My new favorite Japanese Song...

Fashion Mornings and Some

I bike from house to the office for 15 minutes everyday and everyday, no matter how sleepy I am, I get shooked up to my senses by the live catwalk on the streets. Japanese fashion is always a feast to the eyes. The coats, boots, layered shirts...they are always put together that it makes me feel like a grandmother with my usual Philippine office attire and my very pink Hello Kitty fleece jacket..eeewww.

I REALLY want to try Japanese fashion and blend with them, and I have a long wishlist for that, like a pair of boots, fancy coat, black leggings, skirts, layered sweater, semi-dress, accessories, smaller thigh so it will look good with a pair of black leggings and smaller butt so the skirts will fit me hehe.

Speaking of Japanese fashion, let me take you to Japanese beauty department. I have friends who are asking me about Gluthatione or some whitening pills here because as they said it all started here so it might be cheaper here. But as I roam around their drugstores, I think Gluthatione is a thing of their past. (This is just my own conclusion). Because they have a lot of beauty pills here with ingredients whose names are so foreign to me, that claims to lessen melanin production (so whitening sya), minimizes blemishes from within and hasten metabolism(so makapayat pa jud). From the pictures on their promotional posters, I assume it also delays ageing. Even their ordinary vitamin C has claims that it whitens your skin. Kumbaga higher level ang whitening nila. I don't know with these women they are so white but they are still obsessed with whitening. You won't see papaya soap or whitening lotion because they prefer to work from within.

Something also caught my attention at the drugstore, it's in a tube bottle as big as the Large Pantene Conditioner with a name Emotion Type Lotion. Well, it's a lubricant! Do they really need help that much or is it for the middle gendered? I mean in the Philippines I only saw lubricants on a sachet but here it's in a bottle! Hmm... now I know what to give Mau on Christmas bwehehehe.

Work no Koto

Since I've become too domesticated with my previous entries, let me tell a story about my work. I've been working on a P2P thru JXTA project for a popular Japanese telecompany. I'm still getting a hang of the JXTA (Juxtapose) protocol when the client demanded to connect the application to a SIP Server (Session Initiated Protocol). So I added Java Telephony on my code and installed this server with a funny cute name, Brekeke where I connected my application, and a Windows Messenger 5.1 which has a SIP communication support. But to my dismay, the two cannot see each other, they cannot communicate with each other. You see I am trying to make a Skype Client like application, where my application connects to the SIP Server and be able to send a message or call another client. I thought it was my application's fault so I tested two Windows Messenger that registers to the SIP Server, but it still gave me the same result. I clearly followed the instruction in the server's tutorial on how to use WM with it, kulang na lang mag tumbling ako. Suspecting that it was the VM Ware's fault, I even tried to ask Claire and Georgia to help me using their WM but their version was old, so they couldn't do anything. I even posted a topic on the forum which proudly displayed my full name! arrgghh! Then I got an account on another SIP Server and connected the WMs but still the same thing happens.

So to keep myself from sulking on frustration, I distracted myself on chatting with Claire, Lizette and Georgia about anything under the sun and moon. It can be really frustrating you know when you can't make a supposed to be simple thing to work. I began to think maybe I am not cut out for this job.. maybe I am really meant to be a geisha... tsk tsk.

Then realization happened... I downloaded another free SIP Client and connected it with the Server. Installed another in my VMWare and voila! it worked! Connected my application and yatta! it also worked. I added a CallListener to my app and yey! my app is ringing! and even accepting calls!

I received a reply on my post this morning and it says it's because of unsupported chorva of Windows Messenger and their SIP Server. Grr, they should have said it in their tutorial Guide.

Oh well, this is such a boring entry... cooking and recipes are far more interesting to tell. I tried but ndi talaga ako bagay mag technical hehehe.

Actually all I wanted to say is Sam Milby and Piolo Pascual are gays and dating based on Lolit Solis account on PEP. Wala jud mabuhat.