If you thought I had a lot of randomness in the kitchen, just you see what we have laying around the rest of the apartment. Most things were won in machines, stolen borrowed late at night or given as charity.
We are essentially hobos living on the 31st floor of a high rise building.
The budding tiny musical instrument collection on a Sapporo beer crate.
Bookshelf of orphaned things.
Yes, there's a tiny Alf figurine on our bookshelf.
I was a little bored this weekend and decided to take some snaps around the house. It turned out to be a fun couple of hours. It gave me the opportunity to marvel at all the weird stuff we've accumulated over the past 2 years.
I'm really proud of all this weird stuff!
I love this. These are the various sauces and seasonings that sit on my counter top.
From left to right: Mediterranean sea salt, rice vinegar, olive oil, grape seed oil, thai fish sauce, light soy sauce, mirin, parmesan cheese, maggi sauce, black pepper, kochujang, sesame paste, shichimi, chinese chili oil.
Smiley spoon, various mismatched chopsticks in empty sake one cups
These were actually scattered around all over the kitchen. I have a tendency to make lists of ingredients from recipes on the super cool internet on the back of whatever is near me - old bills, actual notebooks, cute stationary from Japan and elsewhere
Fridge craziness. This is actually a really great story board of our life in Japan so far. Every piece has a memorable/funny story behind it and you might recognize some of the stuff because you gave it to me. Congratulations! You've made the fridge of fame!
Doodles of Squidward killing animals in various super radical ways
Moneys from around the world, running bib, silly magnets
I love getting post cards. They seem to be falling out of fashion, which makes receiving them even more of a delight. If you send me a postcard, it goes straight to my heart and onto my fridge
An interesting thing happened to me today. An "acquaintance" (Google+ tells me that this is "people you've met but aren't particularly close to" so let's go with that) today asked me if I spoke Vietnamese in front of a group of other acquaintances, to which I answered honestly. (I don't) His response was, roughly:
"What is wrong with you Californians? You grow up in a multicultural place and you can't even speak your own language."
Whistle! Penalty! Foul! Red card! Technical!
What I am about to write is more for me than it is for you because this exchange has really thrown me into a tizzy and I need somewhere to work out my thoughts in a meaningful way. Something more productive than "F#%! that guy!" and "Are you effing kidding me?!" Though it feels good to go on a whinge like that, it's not that helpful. But if you want to keep reading, please do. It is a blog after all.
I think I responded to this comment as best as possible given the shock and embarrassment I was experiencing at the moment. That is to say, I gave him the stinkiest stink eye I could muster and just waved him off because it wasn't worth my time. And it's not. I can't be bothered with stuff like that at this point in my life. Maybe if I were 22 and still minoring in American Ethnic Studies, I'd have some awesome speech for him quoting Ronald Tataki and Spike Lee. But I've calmed down a bit since then when it comes to racial stuff. It can get really tiring being offended all the time. It's also really hard to explain yourself without sounding defensive or like you have something to apologize for. So it's better to just pull the stink eye out. That's what it's there for.
Rough transition: I'm not sure if I've ever mentioned this before, but the Tokyo expat community is pretty weird. I don't mean that as an offense, but it seems to be very different from other expat communities in the world. Foreigners just aren't that friendly with other foreigners here. Everyone thinks they're better than the other guy for various illogical reasons. Because you can speak Japanese fluently. Because you're not an English teacher. Because you've lived here longer. Because you have Japanese friends. Because you're married to a Japanese person. Because you think you're not an obnoxious foreigner. It's weird and I think that this is just a Japan thing.
Another interesting thing about foreigners in Japan (or actually, just people in general) is that they tend to fall back on wildly stupid generalizations about each other in a not jokey kind of way when meeting strangers.
"Oh you're from Australia? Have you ever pet a Koala?" -- No, because they all have chlamydia and are high on eucalyptus leaves
"Oh you're from England? Do you know Kate Middleton?" -- No, but she's hot.
"Oh you're American? Fuck you." -- Oh...umm, ok. Nice to meet you too.
You know that tidbit about the rest of the world hating Americans? It's totally true! Hating on Americans simply because they are Americans is a thing. Fair enough. I get it. Sometimes I hate America too. (Okaaay, "hate" is a strong word but whatever, free speech! Yay America and yay the internet!) But their understanding of Americans and American culture can be very limited. Rightfully so! You didn't grow up there, so why would you know the difference between the East and West coast? Why would you understand anything about Asian-American families and the American immigrant experience? I tend not to fault people for their first offense of ignorance. I try my best to educate people about my country and culture in a non-condescending and polite way. But..I don't know, what happened today went beyond that. I just don't feel like I need to explain myself. This was personal for the kind of relationship we had.
My feelings over this whole matter are pretty weird in that I'm really surprised that I'm so affected by the exchange. I had a pretty intense fight or flight response in the moment. And once that kind of settled, I was just sad. My mind was rationalizing everything saying "It's fine. He didn't mean to offend you. He just doesn't know." but my body wanted none of that. I just wanted to punch something. Or cry. So I did a little, in the bathroom. I'll admit it. And it felt good I guess. But then I was upset that I had let him get a reaction out of me which made me want to cry more...a vicious cycle!
Truth be told, I am really sensitive about my inability to speak Vietnamese. It's always been a sore subject for me since my teens, so it's no wonder he struck such an emotional nerve. But even though it's an issue for me, it's really not something people should comment on. That's my opinion. There are plenty of people who, for various reasons, can't speak their parents' native tongue fluently. That's America and that's what's great about it. How many Italian-Americans can actually speak Italian? Why isn't anyone up in arms over that?
Look see? I'm totally Vietnamese! I've BEEN to Vietnam! My last name is NGUYEN!
Just because I don't speak Vietnamese doesn't make us any less Vietnamese. I'm really proud to be Vietnamese-American. I really am. And I'm proud of both - to be an American and to be of Vietnamese descent. Maybe I didn't always feel that way - yeah, when I was little, I wanted to be taller and have blonde hair. I've been called "whitewashed" a plenty of times. I'm not Asian enough or not White enough -- that's sort of the feeling. But I've come to terms with all that. When I went to high school and started seeing more people "like" me, it sort of washed away all those insecurities. I guess today was a little bit of a wake up call.
A gay friend of mine recently told me a story about how his Japanese boss put him on the spot at a work function about which woman in the office was his type, basically trying to get him to admit that he was gay. I remember him telling me this story and feeling sorry for him, but now I really get why that was a big deal to him. Both being Bay Area kids, we were brought up in this little bubble where people are slightly more educated about diversity, be it homosexuality or race. But we're not in the hand-holding, flag waving, accepting Bay anymore and things like this are bound to happen from time to time. Even though we grow out of these insecurities, the scars are still there. If you poke at it hard enough, it'll remind you how you got it in the first place.
I've really been looking forward to this post. I've been snapping pictures of post-disaster Japan for the past month in hopes of sharing what it's like here right now. Like I said earlier, life is back to normal in Tokyo but that doesn't mean that anyone has forgotten about the earthquake/tsunami/Fukushima Nuclear Plant situation. The country is in a recession, people are still missing and without homes and the summer heat is coming, which will put a strain on power in the greater Tokyo area.
By far, my favorite sign posted around my neighborhood, Akasaka. The big type above the adorable pig cartoon roughly translates to "Turn on your energy!" however "energy" here is not electrical energy (that's sort of the opposite of what they're trying to tell us) bur rather, your courage/energy/vigor. I see this sign all the time, but it wasn't until yesterday that I realized that at the bottom it says:
"We are open with minimal light and maximum smile"
Though normalcy has been restored in Tokyo, there are some signs of change. Buildings and metro stations are noticeably darker and many escalators are roped off to save power. Signs informing the public of cutbacks in power can be seen everywhere. It is a bit of a graphic designer's wet dream if you ask me.
Before the earthquake, Tokyo Metro unveiled big shiny TV screens at the entrances of their stations and also on the platforms. Poor timing for them but I like how they're using the monitors to show the daily power usage in Tokyo. This sign basically shows how much energy is being used compared to estimated capacity.
This is a sign from our local Pachinko parlor. Pachinko is BIG in Japan. I still don't understand it, but they're kind of like a hybrid between arcades and casinos. People sit in front of these pachinko slots for hours smoking and waiting to win. They're a big problem in Japan actually. There's always some sad story in the news about a baby that died because their parents got so into pachinko that they forgot to feed them. They're loud and smoky but also well air-conditioned. Many people say that if all the pachinko parlors in Japan were shut down this summer, we wouldn't need brown-outs. I'm not sure if that's true, but it's not a bad idea. Seems that the Pachinko owners are self-aware, as they are advertising a 25% cut back in power.
Apparel stores are helping consumers gear up (or down) for the extra summer heat with tips on how to dress properly for the warm weather. Workers are allowed to wear t-shirts and jeans this summer under the government backed "Super Cool Biz" energy-saving campaign. I'm curious to see if women are still willing to shield their porcelain skin under matte black tights this summer.
More trendy PSAs. The rainbow banner above again uses the kanji for "genki" meaning healthy/robust/vigor. It's basically saying "Be Healthy/Be Energetic for Japan" The "Power Off and Carry On" poster is another favorite of mine since all the morale boosting posters around town are reminiscent of the classic British WWII "Keep Calm and Carry On" advert. (See how I threw in some Brit slang there?)
Ganbarou Nippon! Ganbare Nippon! Let's Go Japan! Go Japan!
There is no shortage of "Ganbare" posters in Japan. The verb "ganbaru" is one that you learn early on when you move to Japan. It means "to fight/to do one's best" and Japanese people will say to you a lot when they realize that you don't speak Japanese. It is meant as encouragement and you hear it all the time. It's also used in sports, the Japanese equivalent to "Go Team!"
I had a hard time figuring out the sign on the right but from what gather, at the top, they're using some Northern Japan slang for "Ganbare" "Keppare Tohoku" is how it reads. I think that's a nice show of solidarity from a small town near Tokyo, Ome. It's kinda like when the Saints were in the Super Bowl after Katrina and everyone kept saying "Who dat dem Saints"
And this concludes the Japanese language lesson portion of this post.
Even the fashionistas and too cool for school kids in Harajuku are getting in on poster fun. I like their angle of promoting the Red Cross.
Though it has died down a bit, you'll still see collection boxes at convenience stores. The picture on the right is actually of 2 TV personalities collecting donations at Shinjuku Station. I don't know their names, but I recognized them. The one in the blue coat once had to bounce 10 times on a pogo stick on the edge of an active volcano in South America.
By the way, if you want to donate, my charities of choice is Second Harvest Japan and you can donate here.
I'm sure I'll come across more great signs in the future, but this seems to be a good stopping point.
Just kidding, I forgot that I wanted to share this JR commercial that makes me teary eyed every time I watch it. It was filmed prior to the earthquake and I don't think it ever aired but I think that it has a nice message in light of everything. This is the debut of the Kyushu Shinkansen route. Kyushu is the very southern part of mainland Japan and even though this has nothing to do with the North, it has a nice message. It really capture the playful and supportive Japanese spirit.
If you're ever in Tokyo, I highly recommend stopping by Tokyo Midtown. You will most likely make your way to the Roppongi neighborhood to check out Roppongi Hills. Tokyo Midtown isn't that far away and in my opinion, there's a lot more to see and do here. First of all, it's where I take bread classes at ABC Cooking Studio. On the weekends, ABC offers 1-day English cooking lessons where you can learn how to make some Japanese dishes but they're only offered at the Tokyo Midtown location. Second, Tokyo Midtown is a great place to pick up not-cheesy souvenirs. It's a design nerd's wet dream and they're always hosting interesting art and design exhibits on the premises.
Their annual Design Touch event took place last month and I took a few pictures of one of the cooler displays. Basically, a computer takes a picture of you and prints your silhouette on black adhesive sticky tape. Sponsored by Epson, the idea was to have people put their shadows up on a wall with a message about what they cared most about in the world, such as the environment or community. It was a really cute idea, even though most people ignored the whole social message angle.
Currently running at Tokyo Midtown is their holiday light show. Oh man. It is BONKERS. Most Japanese people don't even celebrate Christmas, but boy do they love holiday decorations. And this being Japan, they took the original idea, flipped it on it's head and made it bigger, over the top and totally fun. A few weeks ago, I was stopped dead in my tracks when I turned the corner and saw the incredible light show taking place. The garden lights run every night until December 26th from 5pm - 11:00pm. Here is a description of their concept:
In a large grassy space of around 2,000 square meters, 250,000 blue and white LED lights represent the vastness of space and the night sky.
I don't know what the vastness of space has to do with Christmas, but I don't care! It's gorgeous! People, there's dry ice and fake shooting stars! Pictures really don't do it justice. And the holiday cheer doesn't stop there. There are Scandinavian Christmas shops, red "cracker" streamers draping from the ceiling and lights everywhere. Perhaps you won't be in Tokyo this holiday season, so here's a little preview of what you're missing:
Infinite box of lights that will make you feel like you're in a Madonna video.
One of my greatest fears of living abroad for too long is getting out of touch with American culture. Namely, American pop-culture. It sounds really stupid and superficial, but it's how I communicate and connect with most of the people in my life. I work for an American company and conduct business in English. Communication isn't a problem and yet, it is. When you take away water cooler talk, simple conversation becomes a minefield of awkwardness and misunderstanding. There's no glue. At my old office, my co-workers and I couldn't be more different. But how could a Long Island mother of 3 and I carry on and fully enjoy a 15-minute conversation? Lost. 24. The Real Housewives of Orange County. How much I hate/you love the Yankees. They may have been purely superficial relationships and conversations, but at least it was a connection made. It makes working together easier somehow. It's the social lubricant of the American office.
I'm getting dangerously close to becoming a complete foreigner to American culture. This sucks mostly because I used to be like...for reals in the know. I knew things, I probably shouldn't have, but it made me feel like I was a part of society. Celebrity gossip. Political gossip. What music was acceptable to show people on your iPod and which ones you should hide. I just looked at the iTunes top selling singles and albums and couldn't identify anyone other than Katy Perry and even then, I have no idea if I'm supposed to like her or hate her. Glee? Never seen it. Why is the #9 most downloaded song called (and spelled) Gonerrhea? There's a movie about Facebook? Is Twilight still "a thing"? Enrique Inglesias is now making music again? Have I seriously been away so long that pop music has lapped me? I've gone from working at The Worldwide Leader in Sports to not being able to tell you who won the last World Series/Super Bowl/Final Four. (I'm so un-American in my sports participation at the moment, that I could tell you who won the World Cup, Tour de France and any Grand Slam this year.)
Sure, the internet helps a ton. I'm religious with my Google Reader reading and my friends keep me somewhat informed on what's "hip" and "groovy". But still, for every Marcel the Shell I do catch, 20 others come and go and I'm left standing alone with my sometimes functioning Apple TV catching up on last season's hottest show hoping not to read any spoilers online. And then there's the struggle between trying to stay relevant and trying to go out and live my life in this weird, wacky and pretty awesome in its own right country. Poor me, right?
I'm about to go back to the States for 10 days and fear that I'm going to be overloaded with culture shock. Seeing as how much of my trip will be spend inside a metal tube high above the ground (an airplane), I'll be stocking up on the latest American Culture 101: Why We're a Dying Civilization required reading - Us Magazine and People.
PS - Just kidding! America is awesome! (NO REALLY, don't block me at immigration. I've got some weddings and family hug parties to get to!)
I read a couple of news stories today that peaked my interest. First up, another proposed fare hike for the New York MTA. This news comes just after the agency announced massive service cuts across their entire system. Honestly MTA?! New York is a great city and everything, but they run their government agencies ass backwards and are completely incompetent. The trains are always dirty, late and you can never hear/understand the conductor's announcements over the PA. Ugh. They clearly just don't give a fuuuuuuuck. MTA - you gotta hustle to make that paper! Thank goodness I live in Tokyo right now.
Which brings me to the second story I read today. Suntory, makers or beer, whiskey and other things that turn my face pink, has paid Japan Railways to change the station melody at Shimbashi Station to their highball commercial jingle. If you don't live in Tokyo, that sentence may register in your head like this "whiskey...trains...shimdla;ighwo....jingle...whydoireadthisblogagain?" Let me break it down --
In Tokyo, the government run train operator is called Japan Railways (or JR if you're cool) and at every JR station in Tokyo, there is a jingle that plays when the train arrives. Each station has a different tune and I presume they do this because it's adorable and so you know when you've gotten to your stop. Here is my favorite, Takodanobaba. They play the theme song to Astro Boy because in the manga, Astro Boy is born in this neighborhood of Tokyo.
Getting back to the point of this post. So Suntory paid JR to change the melody at one of the busiest hubs in Tokyo to promote their whiskey which I think is super rad. It's cool because it shows how much Japanese people love to drink. It's cool because Suntory is thinking of new ways to promote their products and this is pretty unique. It's also cool because it shows how JR is willing to sell any kind of advertising space so that they make money thus keeping fares low and rats and puke off of the trains. The grossest thing you'll find on a Japanese train is a foreigner. No lie. Because we smell. But really, whose fault is that? Maybe Procter & Gamble should come to Japan and advertise antiperspirant on the trains!
Me = Marketing genius!
Also, do you know what Japanese people call puke on the train stations? Platform pizzas. Isn't that so gross and accurately descriptive?!
Oh, here's the Japanese news story on the Suntory jingle via Japan Probe.
I love drug stores. It's a known fact. I could wander down aisle after aisle of any drug store for hours on end and be completely entertained. Everywhere I travel, I like to peruse the local drug stores to see what they have to offer. I love German lotions because they're so medicinal looking and almost always smell of random herbs. Before Nivea started selling chap stick in the US, I used to stock up on random trips to Europe. (Don't I sound sooooo pretentious talking about my no you can't get that here French lip balm?! It's awesome, right?) Vietnam...well, ok, Vietnam's drug store selection was pretty bunk but that's fine. I'm okay with bootleg bottles of Pantene so long as they never make durian scented lotion.
So today, I went to my local drug store in Tokyo (a chain called Tomod's) and took some not so stealth photos of some of the weird/interesting things you can find in Japanese drug stores. I know that this isn't really about food and my blog is supposed to talk about things you eat...but I did sneak in something you're supposed to ingest at the bottom*...though I wish this product didn't exist. Intrigued? Keep reading!
I'm starting with the more mundane stuff. Here's a Shiseido face care set. Japanese ladies love to take care of their skin, which is admirable but 4-steps is just way too many steps for me. I bought one of these trial sets once and figured out how to use 3 out of the 4 steps but still have no idea why I have two different kinds of "gel cream".
Pro tip: if you are a cosmetics brand in Japan, mention the word "white" on everything. In Japan, white skin equals beauty and it's pretty difficult to find a skin product that does not have the word "white" in it. I have no idea if it does actually bleach your skin, but I purposely avoid buying face lotions in Japan. I would definitely end up looking like Sammy Sosa circa now.
If I were to ask you what color a Japanese woman's hair is, what would be your answer? Black, right?! WRONG! Finding virgin black hair on a young woman in Japan is very rare. Everyone dyes their hair the same kind of brown color, similar to what you see above.
"Hi! My name is Sebastian. I'm a good angel. Today, I have a present for you. Please open it like a treasure box once a week. It casts a spell on your hair to get brilliant and beauty hair."
No idea what this does, but I obviously need to incorporate it into my beauty regimen.
As well as this. Gotta have some Sexy Girl hair cologne. The pink one on the right is Berry scented and the white one on the right is Peach. They both smell like candy I want to eat.
Have you ever looked at someone's eyelids and been like "EWWWW! You are disgusting because you have no fold in your eyelid!" Yeah, me neither but in Asia, eyelids are a big deal. This is more of an issue with Koreans I think, but these "double eyelid maker kits" are popular in Japan too. Basically, you brush a clear glue on your eyelid, then use a plastic fork to prop your eye open as the glue dries. Once it dries, it creates a fold in your eyelid like a white person...I guess.
These are socks you wear to bed to make your legs skinny and/or attractive. I think. I see them all the time in the store but I can't wear socks to bed so I can't test them out and tell you about them.
Ok, on to some weirder stuff. For $15, you can pierce your ears with these ear piercing kits. I have to say, as much as I hated crying like a little bitch in the middle of a mall, there's no way I would have wanted to pierce my own ears at home. This gives me shivers down my spine.
Various supplements you can eat. Collagen is super popular with women. Next to skin whitening and brightening, I'd say this is the #2 pro tip for beauty brands in Japan. I believe that ingesting collagen does you no good - it's not like fat. If you eat fat, your face will get fat. But if you eat collagen, you're a sucker. As for Raw Shark Liver Oil, I have no idea what the supposed benefits are but I'd say you're pretty bad ass if you're popping those down with your morning milk.
I mean, I just don't know what to say about White Placenta*. I guess "gross" is a good place to start. Also "whaaaaat?!" Props to this company for really taking notes on what sells in Japan because not only does this include collagen, placental protein is twice as effective in whitening skin than the leading whitening chemical. By the way, the product to the right is called The Placenta Jelly.
A few other things to know:
Products for men are packaged in black
It's hard to find makeup and nail polish that do not contain glitter
Japanese mascara rules
Things you probably won't find in Japanese drug stores: tampons and antiperspirant
Mint is a really popular scent, flavor and sensation -- even in your eyes
because they're so medicinal looking and almost always smell of random herbs. Before 
in the US, I used to stock up on random trips to Europe. (Don't I sound sooooo pretentious talking about my no you can't get that here French lip balm?! It's awesome, right?) Vietnam...well, ok, Vietnam's drug store selection was pretty bunk but that's fine. I'm okay with bootleg bottles of Pantene so long as they never make 
