Life was meant to be easy part 2: rice milling on your own

I think in Japan they designed equipments/gadgets etc not to only make life easier but also so that you can have a work done even by yourself. Like milling rice, here you can just go to that coin rice mill booth [looks like an ATM booth, sorry I was not able to take picture :-( ]. Here is the picture on how to do it, maybe not so complicated at all...


just put the rice, then the money, select how clean/white you want the rice to be, wait for a while and then voila! You have your milled rice ready for cooking.

here is where you put the rice


you select the "whiteness" and put money here


and the milled rice will come out from here


it is easy and maybe all you need is a strong back so that you can carry a sack of rice on your own.

deki agari desu :-)

Trying to cook: Thai omelet

This morning, because it is Saturday and I'm a bit tired of eating bento from the university's hospital or from the various conbini nearby, I decided to try cooking omelet for breakfast. I got the recipe of a Thai omelet from this website http://pinoycook.net/. And this was my finish product...



Well, my omelet picture is a bit different from that of the site; mine looks more like an embutido. I think I was a bit generous with the ingredients. But still I felt good seeing the finish product. And the taste-- it was eatable enough :-)

The not so serious ikebana

I always thought that Ikebana arrangements should always be so serious and formal, until I saw this arrangement two weekends ago at an Ikebana exhibit in the city...


closer view of the materials used...




this arrangement really made me smile...

Life was meant to be easy: my struggle with kuri

After struggling with the kuri (chestnuts)because I do not know how to open them, after trying all the possibilities that I can thought of...suddenly I saw on the packaging the instructions (complete with drawing) for the proper way of opening them...

I forgot that here in Japan life was meant to be easy and convenient...especially, when it comes to food consumption...lesson learned: read food labels/packaging first before trying to be creative...I just hope they come with pictures or else I will struggle with the kanji...

Weekend in Nagasaki

In between deadlines and unfinished experiments, I made a dash to Nagasaki last weekend to visit my friend who is having a short training at the Tropical Medicine Institute at Nagasaki University. Being too busy and on a budget, I forgot that there is a plane from Kochi to Fukuoka so I just took the bus and endured the almost 10-hour bus ride from Kochi station to Fukouka station plus 2 hours from Fukuoka to Nagasaki city. It was quite a tiring travel and finally at around 11:30 am on Saturday I was able to meet my friend.

Nagasaki is not a big city but it is still bigger than Kochi and the public transport is so convenient and cheap. Each tourist spot is accessible, just check out the map and ride the densha and the fare is just Y120.

Our first stop was the Peace memorial park, then the hypocenter of the atomic bomb,the atomic bomb museum, and memorial for the atomic bomb victims. Visits to these kind of places always make me sad and hopeful that wars will not happen anymore.



After meeting up with another pinoy we headed for the site of San Lorenzo Ruiz shrine. San Lorenzo Ruiz is the first Filipino saint and he died a martyr in Nagasaki while on a mission to spread the word of God. We also visited the shrine of the 26 martyrs and the temple with the giant Buddha on top of giant turtle.

Walking up and down the hilly streets of Nagasaki made us hungry and for dinner we met up with two more pinoys and ate in a kaiten sushi shop at the shoutengai (my first time to try the kaiten sushi). Then we had coffee at Starbucks.

Next day we went to the Glover garden on top of a mountain. From there you can see the entire Nagasaki city (I'm exaggerating ;-)). By 5:45 pm I was on the bus again on my way back to Fukuoka and by 7 am on Monday I was back to Kochi. It was fun and tiring weekend.

parting ways

I always wonder when two people part ways and say goodbye to each other who will be lonelier, the one leaving or the one that will be left behind. I always think that the one left behind will be lonelier because the one who leaves will have something new to look forward to while the one left behind is stuck in the same place, stuck with the memories. But when I came to Japan I realized that the one who left (me) can also be lonelier, with all the adjustments and homesickness that I have experienced.

Last September Fiona graduated from Kochi Daigaku and she went back to the Philippines after her graduation. I was both happy and sad. Happy because she finally earned her PhD degree; after all the trials and challenges that she had experienced. I also know that she misses home so much so I was happy that she can finally go home. I was sad because I knew I will miss her. She is one of my closest friends here, one of the reasons why I am surviving life in Kochi, surviving life away from home. She's not only a friend but also a big sister (though I do not call her Ate) and a confidante. I will always be thankful to her, for all the help and times shared together.

I'm not good at saying goodbye, it's always difficult for me. But I was surprised that I did not cry when we saw her off at the station. Maybe in my heart I know that she is happy and someday we will see each other again and reminisce about our days in Kochi.

onsen

I have been procrastinating and at the same time busy (bit of ironic) for the past weeks hence this late blog entry...

Japan is also famous for onsen or hot spring. I have never been to an onsen since coming to Kochi until we went to Hotel Iya Onsen in Tokushima last September. It was a girl bonding trip and also Fiona will be graduating and was soon going back to the Philippines.

We also have hot springs in the Philippines but it's quite different because there we can take a bath in just swimsuits or T-shirts and shorts. But here you are allowed to wear only your birthday suit. Maybe that is why I waited this long to go to an onsen here.

The hotel was located on a mountain so the view was really beautiful. We first tried the outdoor onsen located down by the riverside. Then after dinner we tried the indoor one.

It was an enjoyable experience and I was so glad to have some bonding moments with my friends whom I consider my big sisters in Kochi.