women only

i'm against single-sex previleges in theory, but i can't say no to "ladies' nights" at japanese bars, when you get two drinks for the price of one. and then there's the slightly more contentious "women-only carriage"...

of course it's ridiculous. it's sad that japanese men can't learn to keep their hands to themselves, that many women still find it hard to speak up, and that the only effective solution was to offer a single-sex refuge. but when i get to the platform and see a bunch of sweaty salarymen cramming into trains, and find the women's carriage always far less crowded, guess where i stand?

a typical dinner at my parents'

i don't know if it's because my family lived in the u.s. for so long, or because my mother loves trying foreign recipes, but i'm used to eating all sorts of funny food combinations, like miso soup and french toast, tofu and tacos, or coq au vin and rice with umeboshi for dinner.

dinner tonight was a funny mix: a "champloo" of tofu, pork and leftover goya, an orange and raisin salad, spinach gratin, and pork kakuni. this was followed by some soft cheese, and for dessert, macarons with sweet red beans and cream. ahhh, so much for the diet!

bien gorgeous on headphones

the last weekend FT had a story about the iPod and how it had changed the way people listen to music --that listening to music has become a very private affair and less of a communal, or shared experience. a well-written opinion piece, but i thought his point was arguable. 1) headphones (and don't forget the walkman) have been around for quite a while 2) it's easy to share music with friends 3) and besides, a lot of music sounds better on headphones.

i'm no stereogeek, but i think cornelius should be listened to on headphones rather than speakers, though i read somewhere that the artist himself prefers four speakers.

before purpleman left, he lent me superaquello's bien gorgeous, saying it sounds much better on headphones. he's right, i can hear a lot of funny sounds and whispery singing that i totally missed the first time i heard the album on my sister's cheap stereo. i like the third song on the album, stiki, so much that i sometimes play it over and over -- although that's breaking the rules, according to some.

goya in my garden

the goya is native to okinawa, but given extra care and lots of sunlight, they can even grow in tokyo, as my mother has proven these past few summers in our little garden.

the ones that she grows are smaller and rounder than the kind from okinawa, but they're just as bitter and addictive. yes, addictive! goyas are definitely an acquired taste, but once you get used to the bitterness... pictured here is what i think is going to be our garden's last goya this year. i'm going to snip it off the vine tomorrow morning and make a goya and bonita-flake omelette.

nidding alone

purpleman is in london for 7 weeks. it's too bad he had to leave just before two, back-to-back three-day weekends. i've only had to work three out of the last nine days! of course i have no complaints about the holidays, but after catching up with friends from school, finishing haruki murakami's new book, and trying to make the perfect octopus risotto in tomato and orange sauce, i had to admit i was a bit BORED. i hadn't been bored in such a long time. i remembered that my parents used to tell me that people who get bored easily have no inner life. so i thought, have i lost my inner life? do i depend on purpleman too much?

for the first time in a while i went to nid cafe alone. this is where i used to spend long hours on my own, reading and day-dreaming between classes. since i've almost always gone with purpleman for the past year, the waitress asks me if i'll order right away or if i'll be waiting for "him"...
but after having a cup of iced cafe creme, writing a few postcards and staring out the window, i felt okay again.

williamsburg

purpleman and i have decided we want to live in NYC one day. and that our favorite neighborhood is williamsburg in brooklyn.

astoria, queens, where my sister lives, is a great neighborhood: not yet gentrified in ways that nice brooklyn neighborhoods are, so it's managed to keep its character intact and the rent from skyrocketing. but after seeing the cool bookshops, record stores, and coffee shops around bedford avenue, i thought, maybe it would be worth paying extra to live in a neighborhood like that.

it will take a while (and jobs for both of us!) before we'll really have to worry about where to live in NYC, though. for now i have to think about where to move in tokyo. i am finally about to find my own apartment after almost a year of staying at my parents'. so i am thinking:

is shimokitazawa the williamsburg of tokyo? is hongo (bunkyo-ku) the astoria?

new jersey wedding

the main purpose of our trip was to attend the wedding of our dear friend and former colleague dan in new jersey.

i'd never been to a big american wedding before --what a huge production! dan and his fiancee took dancing lessons for months, and had hired a live band (which was actually pretty good, and played stevie wonder for the first dance and john denver for the mother-and-son). i got to see purpleman in a tuxedo too.

despite the funny theatrics (which were probably normal by american wedding standards), though, i was moved. i think anyone would be, if they knew the story of dan, the hairy drunk and his angry but philosophical monologues... i miss old dan but i'm glad he's no longer sleeping on a tiny air mattress. omedeto***

new york, new york...

september must be one of the best months of the year to be in new york city. we were blessed with gorgeous weather every day of our stay. the air was crisp, the sun made everything sparkle, and even new yorkers looked happy...

as always, our daily activities centered on food.
one place i tried for the first time and really liked was la palapa on st. mark's place, a casual mexican joint recommended to us by a colleague's mexican boyfriend. the seats in the back terrace were very comfortable, the service was relaxed, the drinks were cool and yummy, and we ended up staying there for 4 hours, just chatting and nibbling on things like chalupas with chorizo and guacamole. purpleman ordered a skirt steak marinated in lime and tequila.

another memorable meal was a thai restaurant in queens called sripraphai, which my sister says is the best in the "area". i don't know how big an "area" is, but purpleman and i were very impressed and i would even say it's probably hard to find a better place in manhattan. they didn't seem to tone down their flavors for non-thais. my favorite dish was the fried rice with shrimp-past, which was intensely fishy but balanced out the spiciness of the green curry and papaya salad. the only thing i didn't like was their sticky rice, which was a bit too dry.

our little splurge was at scalini fedeli. my favourite was the truffle ravioli served before the appetizer. it was so tiny i wanted to ask for another, but i'm glad i didn't because the other dishes were great too, and very filling.

it's september!

but it still feels like summer, doesn't it? in two days we'll be on a plane bound for new york city, and while it's for a friend's wedding we'll be there for a week and so it will be like a little summer vacation for us.

one thing i regret this summer is not having worn a yukata. i've been too lazy. it really isn't that much trouble, i just never got around to getting it out of the closet. it would be so nice to be able to wear a yukata all the time, and getting my own made at chikusen.