Back to more serious topics

I remember the first thing I did when I got the key to my room was to check for toilet paper. No check there on my to-check list, off to the supermarket. To my utter disappointment, there was no fruit flavored toilet paper. I had to settle with the next best I could find:

Made from old milk cartons. Double layered, it was remarkably soft for something that was so hard. And it smelled like babies. The only con I can think of is the lenght between the perforated tear lines; it’s near being twice the ones back home, meaning you’re more likely to use more than necessary.

Btw, for those interested, I just started on my 6th roll and I’ve been here for almost 7 weeks. Slightly behind on schedule I guess. I’ll need to start getting serious from now on.

Backlog 15-10 – 22-10

Stopped writing it in my notebook and started typing it at some point. These will be the last ones. It was less fun doing it as I expected it would… still haven’t thought of anything else yet.

Th 15-10-09
Finally bought a matching pillowcase. Ever since I arrived, I’ve been sleeping on a 100 yen cushion meant for my chair, as in to sit on. Why? Because until today, that is, 4 weeks exactly after I arrived, I’ve been too lazy to measure the pillow to buy the case in the right size.

Fr 16-10-09
A real pillow is such an improvement…
An ass pillow is also an improvement
Still no scholarschip funds -_-

Sa 17-10-09
First time in a Yamagata batting center: fun
Seeing some random elementary school kid hit every pitch with this cool sounding *clunk* while I fail horrible: less fun

Su 18-10-09
Arms and abdomen muscle pain: even less fun
Gyuudon from Yoshinoya, it felt like ages but it’s only been less than 3 weeks. Got a campain coupon. 2 more coupons = free gyuudon!

Mo 19-10-09
Setback: exemption from paying pension funds failed, need to cough up 100ish euro each month for the old but growing group of Japanese…
I really do not want to admit my age was the deciding factor for this decision but it’s the most credible explanation.

Tu 20-10-09
another international student said the Jasso funds had arrived! finally being able to do some decent groceries, I spent almost all money I had left, only to find out mine hadn’t arrived yet… So i’m left with 1300 till whatever day it does arrive

We 21-10-09
it appears there are some people who did and some people who didn’t receive the scholarship funds. Mine would arrive Friday or Monday. 1200 left. Shouldn’t be so bad as I do have food left for the next few days.
Saw some examples of ikebana today. At first sight randomly arranged pieces of twigs, leafs and flowers. That perception will probably remain the same forever in my case.

Th 22-10-09
Money hath arriveth! No, I did not do silly things like buying a new TV and PS3 and speakers… yet. *Cough*FFXIIIlessthan2monthsaway*Sneeze*

Experimental: 14-10-09

Experimental: 13-10-09

Experimental: 12-10-09

Experimental: 11-10-09

Experimental: 10-10-09

Experimental: 09-10-09

Experimental: 08-10-09

Just a small tryout. Thoughts, impressions, experiences that come up in my mind at the most random moments written throughout the day.

Ignorance is blissful knowledge

At first sight 3 completely random pictures of food. In hindsight, the circumstances surrounding these pictures have taught me a great deal about food.
The first one comprises an evening meal. Yes that was one of the meals I had for dinner. Why would one eat something like that when you can go to one of the many convenience stores or cheap eating establishments? I failed to look at the expiration date when I bought the bread. It was the same date as the date I bought it. As punishment for being ignorant, I decided to finish the loaf by the end of the day. Using only stuff I had in my fridge, the exceptional plainness that is this slice of bread, tonkatsu sauce and cabbage was the result of my creativity. The lesson leant: tonkatsu sauce goes pretty much with anything.
The second one was taken at a Korean restaurant. The menu was entirely in Korean with Japanese phonetics in katakana. The one thing I could read was “Summer specials”. I decided to take one of those, XL size. I could’ve asked what is was but I was so hungry it didn’t really matter. The waitress looked slightly puzzled upon ordering. It took a while but the huge bowl shown in the picture was what I got. As my evening meal that is. The lesson here: gummy candy and suger frosted corn flakes go very well with ice cream.
The last one was taken after cracking an egg open I bought at the local supermarket. I bought this little box of 4 eggs without really paying attention to what was written on it. After all, eggs are eggs right? Not much can go wrong there… until you buy the one kind that is pre-half-boiled for lazy people. I decided to just dump it in my okonomiyaki mix and use it as an extra ingredient. The third lesson: Making okonomiyaki is an excellent opportunity to dump leftovers, it will taste great whatever and how old it may be.