I'm a web editor from Singapore living in Tokyo. I'm building websites for a living as a writer on the go. I worked in print media for six years until I moved countries and used the Internet as a way to have a viable, mobile career. The Internet is a fascinating space and I never thought I would ever morph into a web chick - but here I am.
...The ups and downs of expat life, trailing partner issues, food, travel, and Japanese culture. It's a way to keep in touch with friends back home and all over the world, plus it's a corner for me to showcase my work. But really, I'm just a restless spirit looking for great adventures and fabulous food.
Besides loving Coldplay’s new album Viva La Vida, I think I am sharing a little bit more with its frontman, Chris Martin.
He did an interview with Rollingstone and was asked how he kept his hunger for his career going, “You’ve got to be hungry. If your wife went out with Brad Pitt, you’d want to prove yourself, you know what I mean?” Wow, the guy has some self-deprecating wit.
Sorry for the long delay in this last installment of my “Teaching in Japan” series. Life has been busy with all sorts of things and I have to admit I’ve slacked a little on blogging, but I promise there will definitely be more prolific times.
Let’s dive into this topic — what are Japanese students like and how to teach them?
Just a short pictorial of what has been brewing in my kitchen. Sometimes I go through periods where I struggle to think of what to whip up, but there are days where I feel inspired to be a cooking demon…
Here are a couple of non-Japanese dishes I have been making:
I am PMS-ing like hell — my sugar cravings have gone through the roof and I have found three mouth-watering snacks right here in Tokyo:
Calbee nori (seaweed) potato chips
Introducing my latest workout buddy…Billy Blanks! It’s so cheesy, I know, but a lot of women swear by this kick-boxing aerobic and ab routine. Even more embarrassing is that this was THE exercise DVD of the year in 2007 — I sure took a long time to check this out. I used to chuckle over the fact that this ex-military dude could get so many sedentary Japanese women off their butt to do killer stomach crunches in their living rooms.
I got my first nasty comment in the history of this two-year-old blog, which set me thinking a lot in the past few days. I wanted to wait a little for some inspiration on how to intelligently create a response, rather than fall back on a simple rant.
Here is the comment but if you are interested to read it within context, it’s at my old blog address:
“The problem is you! You are clearly a spoiled low class bottom feeder and trust me the people in this world that know the difference will smell you a mile away. You may have been annoyed but your writing nails you as the cheap dirtbag that you really are. Disgusting human being. Sorry that worthless trashy people like you take up space in this world.” (Signed off as Anonymous)
My first reaction was, “Yikes, who is this from? What an angry comment!”
My second reaction was, “Wow, my first ‘controversial’ comment — maybe it shows that my blog is making more of an impact on the blogosphere!”
My third thought was, “Gosh am I really spoiled?!”
So my bestie came to visit all the way from New York and I think I was more excited than her to go clubbing. I love having a quieter, more orderly lifestyle now, as compared to my crazy hectic days in Singapore (which I may blog about one day), but sometimes I do crave breaking my good-girl habits.
Yes, I’ve been struggling with my energy levels today because of a whirlwind five days. After two cups of coffee, I still feel exhausted.
Before a dear friend touched down at Narita from New York, I went out for a casual dinner and drinks to pass some DVDs back to another gal pal but somehow the shouchu I had kept me awake till dawn. There was no turning back, especially when said friend arrived and we embarked on some speedy shopping, eating, clubbing, and heart-to-heart talk. It was dead fun, but man, I’m tired.
Always a fan of trendy new stuff, I was highly tickled by the moon cup that a friend told me about.
The manufacturers were obviously inspired by the connection of a woman’s menstrual cycle and the lunar cycle. New moon = flow comes to town; Full moon = ovulation time. I had a fuzzy notion of it and half expected something about werewolves (well, there is metaphorical biting and lots of blood involved), but glad that Wikipedia cleared it up for me.
Basically it is a silicone cup that is inserted much like a tampon (without an applicator methinks) and “collects” the blood. I know, ewww, but there are several reasons for the gaining popularity of this simple invention.
Last night wasn’t my first time trying chicken sashimi. In fact, a Japanese friend who lives in Singapore invited the kangaroo and I out to dinner and ordered a tiny plate of six delicate chicken sashimi slices. I thought it was fish because it didn’t have that butcher’s meat taste in the least. I even I had a second piece and relished the tangy sauce that came with it.
