明けましておめでとう from Tokyo!

Happy 2008, everyone! Hope this year treats you as well or better than 2007 did.

The pic above is the scene at the Zoujou Temple (増上寺) next to Tokyo Tower, at the moment the clock struck midnight, where people who were lucky enough to get a balloon to write their wishes on released them into the sky. Truly awesome.

Mr Ed comes to Dinner

Japan is a land of many culinary delights, including gems like sea urchin roe, octopus tentacles, natto and deep fried crickets. I'll try almost anything once, but when I found raw horsemeat (馬刺 - basashi) in the supermarket, I have to admit it took a very long time for me to overcome my reluctance towards eating my birth animal. Though I probably shouldn't have been, since I recall I was fed a German sausage when I was a kid, only to be told later it was made of My Little Pony.

Anyway I eventually decided to bite the bullet and partake of a little astrological cannibalism, just so I can say I took advantage of all the gastronomic opportunities this country has to offer:

I suspect these are the leftovers from the horse races in Fukushima city. >.> Well, waste not, want not, I always say.

Okay, so I did hesitate a little when it came down to the wire. It was hard to reconcile those delicious looking slices of rich, glossy red meat with Phar Lap, but omnivorous instincts eventually won out, and I must say the taste is quite pleasant, like slightly gamey raw beef. The togarashi (Japanese 7-spice pepper) miso dipping sauce in the pack really went well with it, and I reckon it would taste good even on a slab of grilled cow.

I dunno if I'll try this again, given that it's not the cheapest meat around, but I suppose it's better to have lived a bit than never know what it was like. I hear that they serve schoolkids whale meat for lunch in the big city up north... *flee*

OMG snow! Part 2

Coming from a subtropical country, the only snow I've ever seen is on TV or in my freezer. So I'm really looking forward to the upcoming winter when I'll experience first hand frozen water vapour falling from the sky. I've been told that the snow in Sukagawa is of the slushy variety, so it'll probably be no fun to build snowmen out of, but I reckon any snowballs I make will be deadly. XD

Speaking of deadly, I've also been warned about driving on the roads here during winter. Apparently it's a lot more dangerous to drive when there's been a light snowfall as opposed to a heavy one, because the snow that melts when it hits the road rapidly refreezes into a thin, almost invisible layer of extremely slippery ice. Good thing our landlord has included snow tyres in the price of the rental on our cars, and all we had to do was change them over at the local servo.

Excellent service, but my only concern was that they left my car in the station's parking area *with the key in the ignition*. It's probably a tribute to the low crime rate that they can get away with doing that here, but it was still a little alarming when they told me where the key to my car was.

As the month heads into the actual winter season, the birds and insects have gone into hiding or defected to warmer climates, and the air's become colder and drier. I was in class one time, but stopped halfway to look out the window, grinning like an idiot at this (look real closely):


I'm told I'll get over all that pretty snow fairly quickly once it gets really cold, but I think I'll indulge the n00b in me for a little while longer. ^^

Eeee... pretty! Even though I know some snowflakes are six-sided, it was still really cool to see one up close. I was in my neighbour's car while on the way to work one day when the snow started and some fell on the windscreen. Good thing I wasn't the one driving, because I was too busy examining the 3-4mm snow crystals and picking out the perfect ones. *.*

I can't wait to see snow piled up in the neighbourhood nearer to January. Snowball fight!

Japanese Lesson - Tang Poems

Poetry lessons continue into higher school levels too, it seems. I was asked to observe a junior high Japanese lesson on Kanji poems together with all the other teachers the other day. I was really surprised that they used old Chinese poems recited in onyomi (Chinese pronunciation) to teach rhythmic patterns, and even more surprised to see one such Tang poem in the kids' books that I knew in school myself.

1chun 2mian 4bu 2jue 3xiao
4chu 4chu 2wen 2ti 3niao
4ye 2lai 1feng 3yu 1sheng
1hua 4luo 1zhi 1duo 3shao

Asleep unaware it's dawn in spring
Hear on every side the birds sing
Came a storm at the night
Who ever cares how many blossoms had fallen

(translation from SuMOnelse)

The kids were being introduced to the meaning of the poem together with a Japanese adaption, with it's own rhythm and stress, though to me it sounded really different and perhaps a little less structured than the original. It can get really difficult to understand Chinese poems since they can and do omit individual characters from compound words to make each line fall into the 5 or 7 syllable pattern.

I wish I knew more of what was going on, because it would have been a really interesting comparison of language, culture and adaptation. I reckon this crosses more into the realm of literature and academia, seeing as it's a study of verse structure and intonation, and so might appeal more to people who have a high level of language ability and can afford to spend time on more intellectual pursuits. I remember when I first came across this in secondary school and was quite inclined to throw it out the window because I wasn't good enough in Mandarin to appreciate fine verse. Good thing my classmates were the creative type, and came up with a jolly good filk, which I remember way better than the original.

1chun 2mian 4bu 2jue 3xiao
4chu 4chu 2wen 2zi 3yao
4ye 2lai 1ba 3zhang 1sheng
4bu 1zhi 3si 1duo 3shao

Sleeping in spring, unaware that
I'm bitten by mosquitoes everywhere
In the night there are slapping sounds
Who knows how many have died?

I was subsequently asked to recite the Chinese version of the poem for the kids in English class as part of the explanation of the word "poem". The fun part was watching them stunned mullets realize that they'd already learned it in another subject, and that it sounds really different in its original form. Score one for internationalization!

Masochism, pure and simple

So I decided to give the Japanese Language Proficiency Test (JLPT) a go this year, to give myself an extra push towards basic fluency. I really should have taken the advice I got at the shrine at the Tsuruga Castle in Aizu, which was to concentrate on one thing at a time. Due to driving classes and other distractions related to settling into a new country, I haven't been able to get down to any serious study since I got here, even with the correspondence materials provided by CLAIR. So it was with much trepidation that I headed up to Sendai for the Level 3 JLPT on Sunday, knowing full well just how much I didn't yet know of the language.

The phrase "on a wing and a prayer" never felt so appropriate. XD

The trip up was uneventful, being quick and painless by shinkansen. Okay maybe it does hurt my wallet a little, seeing as I had to spend money on accommodation and transport during the JET Mid Year Conference just a few days before. Once we got there though, it was quite a surprise to see a bustling city of one million people crammed into a place less than half the size of Adelaide. It felt for a moment like I was back in Tokyo, except the city had a vaguely retro feel about it, like it was still trying to shake off the trappings of the 70s.

After living here for a while, it feels a little strange to see a whole bunch of non-Japanese people in one place at the same time. Though I really shouldn't be, given that I've lived in largely multiracial communities all my life, I'm quite surprised at the diversity of Japan's expatriate population. Aside from the usual JET contingent, there were mainland Chinese, Filipino and Indian people, and one guy from Ghana taking the test in the same room as I was. I guess I hadn't expected such an international presence outside major cities like Tokyo.

The United Nations aside, the test itself was murder. I had a bad feeling the writing and vocabulary part of the test was the easiest, and I was proved right when the listening section zipped by before I could say, "sorry, what was that again?". It was nothing compared with the reading comprehension and grammar section, where the combination of post-lunchtime sleepies and lack of grammar knowledge probably torpedoed any hope of me passing this year. Stay tuned in February though, when they'll release the results and I shall promptly go drown my sorrows in a bucket of sake.

I reckon a large number of us were pretty depressed about the exam, so I decided that a little retail therapy was in order. Being a major city, Sendai has a major shopping area, part of which is covered and protected from the wind and rain. The imminent festive season also means that these shopping boulevards are decked out in fairy lights and Christmas decorations, the likes of which are shown below:



In Japan, Santa has black hair and wears kimono. XD

To cut a long story short, we (being my neighbour and I) visited several anime, comic and hobby stores, and came away with gashapon, mini figurines, a plush Chocobo white mage and a statue of Xecty Ein from Shining Wind (I hold you responsible for this, Sent! XD). So much for keeping to budget this month. >.>

We found a little cafe on the upper floors of a shopping centre next to the JR Sendai station serving very delicious looking omurice. I ordered the prawn and tomato sauce omurice and it looked like this:


If you think it looks good, it tasted even better. ^^ The rice had tomato and mushrooms in it, the egg was just right, not overcooked nor runny, and at just over ¥900 for the rice, a soft drink and a green tea soft serve cone, it was a great relief for the hip pocket.

Taking the route bus on the way back brought back memories of that eventful night in Tokyo on the midnight bus, though this time we managed to get back by 10:30. The ride was long, but it gave us plenty of time to look over our loot from the afternoon and fangirl (or fanboy) over all that nice anime stuff. ^^

So much for the JLPT. I'm going to take this week off at least, and start on studying the rest of my CLAIR materials only after this weekend.

Or maybe after Christmas.

... make that New Year's. XD

ps: It's customary for students taking exams to be given Kit Kat to eat, because the Japanese pronunciation of the brand sounds like "I'll definitely make it", hence the chocolate bar in the picture above. You know what they say, when in Rome...

Livin' La Vida Local (Produce)

Living in a more rural area of Japan means you get up close and personal with the local agricultural industry. Here in my town the place is full of ricefields and plots of fertile land filled with cucumbers, corn, cabbages, leeks, apples, pears and mandarins. The people here take farming seriously too, going so far as to incorporate vegetable farming into the syllabus at elementary school level.

It so happened that my time at the elementary schools here coincided with the harvest season for a multitude of produce, so I was given an armful of fruit and vegetables before I finished my last days there. It's really nice to know that the staff think of you when you go home with a daikon radish, sweet potato, apples and quinces in the boot of your car.

One school in particular was surrounded by ginkgo trees, so I was given a bag of ginkgo nuts as a souvenir, as well as instructions for cooking and eating them. I was told to wrap them in baking paper and nuke them in the microwave until I heard them pop like corn. Specifically, they were ready to eat after two pops, no more, no less. I have to admit, the method really works, especially with small batches laid out in a single layer. Sure there are a few that don't get cooked through (I wouldn't eat those; the raw nuts are poisonous), but those that are well done are really quite good to eat. Not to mention of course that cooking them kills off the butyric acid component in the shells which makes the raw nuts smell somewhat pukey.

I still had a large batch of ginkgos left after experimenting with them, so I decided to try something out. There's a popular rice dish in Japan called kamameshi, literally "pot rice", similar to claypot rice in Chinese cuisine. The supermarkets here sell kamameshi kits, but I decided to do it the hard way from scratch (would you have expected anything less? ^^), using the ginkgo nuts as a star ingredient. The following original recipe for Ginkgo and Shiitake Kamameshi is reproduced here for my own reference, so I don't forget what proportions of seasonings and stuff I used.


Serves 3-4

2 cups rice (Japanese short grain, standard 180ml rice measure)
1/2 cup ginkgo nuts, nuked, shelled, peeled
3 dried shiitake mushrooms, soaked and cubed
1 150g pkt sansai (edible wild vegetables), rinsed and drained well
1/2 carrot, cut into matchsticks
150g chicken momo (dark meat from the thigh and drumstick), diced and marinated
2 inch piece konbu soaked with mushrooms

stock:
liquid from soaking mushrooms and konbu
4 tbsp soy sauce
2 tbsp mirin
1 slightly rounded tbsp dashi powder
salt to taste
water

marinade (all amounts to taste):
soy sauce
salt
pepper
sesame oil

cooking oil

1. Discard soaked konbu. Combine ingredients for stock and add to rice in a rice cooker, topping up with an appropriate amount of water if necessary. Mix well.

2. Scatter ginkgos, mushrooms, sansai and carrot on top of the rice. Do not mix.

3. Saute marinated chicken on high heat with a little oil. Drain and add to the vegetables in the rice cooker. Cover with a circle of greaseproof paper (a cartouche, for you technical minded people out there) if using a small cooker.

4. Turn on the rice cooker. Once the kamameshi is cooked, remove the paper, mix the rice, and return to the cooker for an extra 10 minutes. Serve hot.

As I mentioned above, some of the ginkgo nuts don't get cooked enough on the first go. It's okay here though, since they get cooked a second time with the rice. I found that the rice itself was a little on the moist side, on account of the vegetables and mushrooms adding extra liquid to the pot. I might reduce the water a little the next time I try this so that the rice isn't too mushy. I might also remove the skin from the chicken to cut down on the fat, but that'd be no fun, would it?

Anyway, the finished product actually tasted alright for a first try:


The salad in the background was made of the daikon I got from school, served with wakame seaweed and shiso (perilla) flavoured dressing. Since I live in peony town, I thought I might cut the daikon to look somewhat like the local speciality:


The orange tinge is from a few drops of raayu (chilli oil), which gives the daikon a tasty kick.

I kinda wish the junior high schools I'm at grew their own vegetables too, but methinks I shall have to settle for the local supermarkets. Not a complaint, mind you, the produce here is excellent. I suppose there are advantages to living in the sticks after all ^^

ps: I just got another daikon from school the other day. XD