pffft... books.

I find being in Japan as a good enough justification as to why I don't read much. First of all, it's not like there's an English book store that's even close to me, and when I do stumble upon a bookstore that has a foreign language book section, their selection is pretty limited.

That being said, I have attempted to read Japanese books here, though to varying degrees of success. I chose my books in the same way as I'd choose what books to read back in Australia: If they've made a movie out of it, no matter how bad the movie is, chances are the book is good. There must be a reason why they decided to make the book into a movie in the first place, right?


My first attempt, The Homeless Student, started after seeing the preview trailer at the cinemas as well as seeing some of my students reading the book between classes. I figured it was a good place to start; it was an autobiography about a Japanese comedian who became homeless around junior high school. It couldn't be that hard, I thought. After all, the students are all reading it, and as an autobiography about a student, it couldn't be that hard, right?

I ended up finishing the book 9 months later.  Nine months. People have babies in that time. Hell, I could have had a baby in that time, if I wasn't so busy reading that stupid book (Yes, the book is the sole reason I was not able to bear child, and  it was due in no part to my lack of ovaries).  In which time the movie had been released at cinemas, then finished its cinema released, and then was released on DVD. By the time I did end up watching the DVD, I had forgotten how the story started, so couldn't tell when some plot points had changed for the movie adaptation, or whether I just couldn't remember the story.

It took me another nine months just to get the motivation to start reading a book again, which was again, motivated by seeing a trailer for the movie. This one, Confessions, won a few literary awards in 2009, and set in a school, I figured would be easier than a more abstract novel or something.

Well, I think "literary awards" should have tipped me off about the type of language that would be in the book. Still though, I already spent a good ¥680 on a book, so not wanting to waste my money, I tried get through it.

3 full days or later, and I had read less than 50 pages. Knowing I wouldn't be able to finish the book in time to watch the movie at the cinemas, I ended up going to see it last week. It turned out to be a pretty good movie, despite the occasional monologues characters had explaining their motivations (I'm sure they would have been good, had I understood them). And, I still have no idea what exactly the catchphrase is of the antagonist that was repeated throughout the movie. But yes, definitely a movie I would watch again.

It was however, disheartening to find that, what had taken me three full days of non-stop reading to learn was explained in the movie within the first 15 minutes. And knowing that it'd probably take at least another 9 months to find out what I had just seen in the movie. Maybe I should just give up and work on that whole baby thing instead. Ovaries, Shmovaries. I'm sure it'd still be easier than finishing the book.

farewell, fuyu

Goodbye Japanese winter. As much as I loathed the lack of central heating in Japan, and the paper-thin walls that provided little insulation in my apartment, I will miss you. A bit. I'm still traumatised from the time I attempted to cycle home in the snow on icy roads, and just the thought of the smell of kerosene heaters still makes me nauseous, but believe it or not, there are some things I do actually like about you. 

• Kotatsu - For what Japan lacked in central heating, it made up for with this ingenious heated coffee table, with a blanket that went over the sides to keep the heat in. Some nights were so cold that you could see your breath, but it didn't seem to matter when your feet were warmly tucked under the coffee table and being covered by the blanket. It was a bit dangerous though, since once you were covered by the kotatsu, it was hard to come back out and face the cold of the room. There were many nights I contemplated taking up hibernating under this thing, but gave up once I couldn't find a way to keep my food supply within reach. 
• Heated toilet seats - Sure, I hated the nightly ritual of bolting out of the shower to get changed in a freezing room, but I did find solace knowing my butt wouldn't get hypothermia.
• Strawberries - It may sound weird, but prior to coming to Japan, I never had strawberries that really tasted like strawberries. You can find strawberries in Australia, but there's also a good chance they're sour, and if they are sweet, they don't compare at all to the ones here. I now realise what that artificial strawberry flavour is supposed to taste like. 

So, goodbye strawberries, heated coffee tables, and technologically-advanced toilet seats, and hello juicy peaches,  food-filled festivals, and uh...  giant cockroaches. Almost forgot about them. At least I leave Japan on a high note, right?

bangkok belly

While I was worried about going to Bangkok during Golden Week (a week of public holidays at the start of May), looks like I probably went at a good time compared to how it is now. Sure there were still protesters and military around, but while we were visiting, other than seeing quite a few military people around, and the inconvenience of the trains closing at 8 at night, it didn't seem as dangerous than I thought it would be.

Although I've done Bangkok a few times with my family, since we go fairly frequently, it's less about the places to see and more about the shopping and the food. So it was kinda a good break from my regular Bangkok trips to visit the touristy places again.

And, what better way to take a break from my regular family food visits to Bangkok than by going to cooking classes?

It didn't take long though before my high aspirations to see Bangkok from a new perspective quickly dissipated, and I went back to just eating food. 

Not even trying new ones, either. Just the same ones, every day. But seriously, We're talking about mango and sticky rice here - can you really blame me?