Million-dollar Baby Back Ribs

Here I am, after two weeks of stay in ShinKawasaki. Well, what do I get? First a comfortable place; no more wholes-on-my-door door but a solid but seemingly unbreakable one,cozy bathroom and kitchen, and well-ventilated living room(did I mention, internet connection?). But of course, its not the best room in Japan, because only the best things are free. It costs me 8Kyen for its monthly commodity fee. And I just had with me a phone line for a 4Kyen per month, a 22Kyen bicycle, an Ipod, shoes, clothes, watches, sunglasses, and etc (I think I have been so extravagant for buying all of these things). Anyway, I wont be buying all of these things again in the coming months (promise). It is what I call "buying happiness to temporarily suppress homesickness" thing. I think I just had my million-dollar baby back ribs with special sauce, lemon, wine, and a little bit of peppermint tingling on it when I really crave for "humba tagalog" and "tinono-an" (Dont ask, they are filipino cuisines).

One-centavo Soup

May 13. The dreaded day of transfer from the "rotten" NishimachiHouse to my permanent bachelor type apartment in ShinKawasaki. Dreaded? Hell yeah. I hate things like packing things up, making up my mind for another routine, and adjustments to a new place. I know I am looking forward for this transfer but somehow the thought of packing, then talking to a Japanese taxi driver to go head for the transfer place (saying "hai hai" when you really do not know what he means), updating my ARC (Alien Registration Card), losing my Nishimachi house daily cash allowance, losing my free commodities in Nishimachi house (and actually paying for them with my own budget when living in ShinKawasaki).

You may wonder(if you are witty enough huh) that I used the word "rotten" with Nishimachi house. Well, it may be an overstatement, but guess what, having a door in my room with two wholes on it (one is covered with an F4 boyband poster), staying at the fifth floor on a no-elevator building (even hostels now have one), and a shower room in the basement(it would take years for me to get up and have a shower), could somehow justify my situation. To top all that, my air conditioner is just nothing but a thing sticking at the wall(If you know what I mean). Well, what would I expect on a one-centavo soup anyway?

The Sisters I Never Had

They are my closest friends; confidante, loyalist, financer, secret-taries, you name it. They are my perennial friends. We can't tell when our friendship had started but we can tell it would never end. Ray Lyn, I call her "sexy" because she has this supermodel swaying and movements of her hips and arms altogether to conspire her qualities of a fine lady. Lyn, I call her "miss lyn", has a cutee charm of a wholesome socialite woman. The kind of lady you'll mistake at a first glance for "Oh could be an haciendero's daughter" thing. But both of them are my "audience-impact" of my jokes, whines, and moods. They are the sisters I never had. :D

Watashi no Saisho no Hanami (My First Hanami)

Hanami (花見, Hana + mi, literally means "flower viewing") is the Japanese traditional custom of enjoying the beauty of flowers, "flower" in this case almost always meaning cherry blossoms (桜 or 櫻, sakura?), or ume blossoms (梅, ume?). From late March to early May, sakura bloom all over Japan.

Precisely yes, this was my first Hanami. All of my previous trips for Japan were scheduled on summer, that is why I have seen countless Hanabis, but not even a single Hanami. On the Hanami festival, almost if not all of my Japanese colleagues were all present.

Here are some of the pix ...

A peek on my boss's house ... Inoue-san got so tired and slept ...

The whole gang on our way to my boss's house ...

Yoshizu-san, my boss, with his daughter, Momoka-chan ...

Not all Hanabis are as wild as this ...

"Peace to you guys out there ... "

"Peace to you too ..."

(From left, Kudo-san, Hasegawa-san, Okabe-san, and me)

The head-turn pose demonstration ...

Yoshizu-san, my boss, with lovely his wife and their cute little daughter ...

From left is Akune-san, me, and Peter, on his AOTS training.

Okabe-san, test-driving Momoka-chan's BMW ...

now, Hasegawa-san is doing a second test-drive ...

.. and the third and final test-drive by Satou-san.

Yoshizu-san and Inoue-san ...

From left, Inoue-san, Satou-san, Kudo-san, and Hasegawa-san...

Thanks guys for that wonderful Hanami.

I wish I could spend another one with you again, someday.

Blooper Day 2006

Hey, I officially declare this day as the Blooper Day. You are asking me why? Okey, ill list down the facts as my grounds for this declaration.





1. I had a chat with my officemate Rajah. We agreed to meet on this day to visit some places here in Tokyo together. Upon discussing on our rendezvous, we realized we are just on the same hotel, in adjacent rooms.
2. Later then, in one of those unfamiliar train stations, some Japanese undercover police approached us to check our identifications.
3. In Akihabara electric town, as we were looking for a steamer or dry cleaner for suits, we picked up an item that stated "dry [price]leaner". It was actually a car cleaner. The price tag had perfectly hidden the letters "car c".
4. Unmindfully, we took off on a station, 4 stations away from the station where we should get off.
5. I left my key back in my hotel room.