Les Not-That Miserable Me

Hey Guys!

From the title, some of you... probably most of you can already guess what this post is going to be about.

Yes, it is going to be about food.


Just kidding!!! Of course it's going to be about the movie "Les Miserable," starring Hugh Jackman, Russel Crowe, Anne Hathaway and of course, the gorgeous Amanda Seyfried and Eddie Redmayne. Oh yeah and Sacha Baron Cohen and Helena B Carter as well.

I had no idea Cohen is starring the movie and I was like "is that... Borat...?" in the theatre. yeah ok, whatever.

I am here NOT to write critique for the movie.

I am actually here to talk about how I learned something new.
About how to prepare myself before watching a movie.

Embarrassingly, I didn't know the synopses of Les Miserable before.
Never read the book or never watched other versions of the novel's movie.

SO, basically I was asking around if anyone has seen this "Les Miserable" and if they have, I also asked them, "how was it?" or "what did you think?" or "did you eat popcorn?" or just you know, mediocre questions.

I was told by several people that they balwed their eyes out in the movie.
OR some told me that they were depressed or thought about life and stuff like that.

After hearing all these comments and such, I decided I should DEFINITELY bring something to wipe my tears and snot during the movie.

I thought, handkerchief?  Oh no. It wouldn't cut it if I need to blow my nose. Snot all over your face if you need to wipe your tears after blowing your nose?
GROSS.

So I bought myself 4 new packs of pocket tissue papers. You know what those are right?
These.

Not particularly these but I bought the ones that were soft and had moisturizers in them and all these fancy stuff to treat my nose nicely.

I watched the movie last Friday.

What happened to the tissue papers?

I USED NONE. WHAT! WHAT!

I did NOT shed a single tear before, during or after the movie.

I was in shock. with myself. I was thinking, "am I so cold-hearted that I couldn't cry in a movie that others bawled???"

But then, after the discussion with those I watched the movie with, we concluded that we were over-hyped or over-prepared to shed thousand tears.
You know, it's kinda like... uh... when you are SO hungry and dying to eat tacos and thinking you can gobble down 500 tacos but when you actually sit down for tacos, you only manage to eat 2 tacos.

Do you get it? I was just over-prepared.
I thought I would look puffy-eyed, red nosed, and still hiccuping coming out from the theatre. ... I guess at least I didn't look gross and miserable that way... but I was SO ready to cry.

The movie itself was good! and I liked the music and stuff.

BUT next time I know that I can't be over-hyped or over-prepared or set the expectation to cry or laugh or be scared or be hungry too high. I can save tissue money that way. Lesson learned.

HENCE, I shouldn't be asking around people about the movie that they have watched, which I have not watched but want to watch.

... Does that make sense...?

Well, I don't watch much of movies anyway. Pff, whatever.

Anyways, if anyone has not it yet, I recommend it.
Trust me, you won't cry. or maybe.... maybe not...

Driver's License Boot Camp.

That's right, you heard me. I said I would talk about it in last post.

Driver's License Boot Camp.

Did I just hear a loud "HUH??" from you?

Well, I don't blame you. Not this time.

Even if you live in Japan for a long time, if you are not really part of local community (for various reasons, maybe you are foreigners, went to American schools, etc etc), you might not know the existence of this camp. Hell, if you have never lived in Japan, you would probably never understand this concept from just the name of it.


It's pretty straight forward though.
It's a camp for those people who want to learn how to drive.

That's all!!! See you guys til next post!!!......

What? Too simple? Explain more?
Ay fine. I will do, since I promised that I would...

okaaaaayyy. So some of you may know, in Japan, to get a driver's license is quite lengthy and expensive. Pretty much everyone who is a first timer needs to go to driving school to learn how to drive in school's property with this special car that has sub-brake and sub-accelerator in the passenger seat. All the while you are practicing, instructor is sitting next to you the whole time.
You will also have to take classes to learn all these rules of driving and also some ethic classes to prepare for you to be a driver with a manner.... well it's mostly to prepare you for the written test OBVIOUSLY. Then you take the written AND road test to get the freaking permit. THEN you can drive on the normal road WITH instructor next to you. After like 20 hours of driving, you are finally allowed to take the road test to just GRADUATE the driving school. After you graduate, you have to take the final written test at your local police center or whatever and FINALLY GET THE LICENSE.






God, I hate writing so much. My head hurts now. Can I quit now? What? You haven't even talked about the camp part? UGHHHHH FINEEEEE. But now you get how lengthy it is.

SO the whole point of this camp is to do ALLLLLLL that stuff in only 2 weeks!!! You can indeed do all that in local driving school but it's harder to do, especially during summer vacation, since it could be crowded and harder to make reservation for each lesson/class. And in metro area like Tokyo, it's more expensive.

How expensive???


About.......Three F$%king Thousand Dollars.

I'm not exaggerating. And that amount is calculated as if 1 dollar is 100 yen. Right now 1dollar is about 80 yen or less so that would make it a little shy of $4,000.

Ridiculous right? Yeah I agree too. I'm sure there is a cheaper, more manual way to get a license on your own, but typically people go to schools and pay that much.

Boot camp is a little cheaper, since you usually go to country side and stay there fore 2 weeks and take classes intensively. They also provides you accommodation (usually business hotels) and  3 meals per day (through meal coupon kind of thing). Everything included it was $2400 per person ($1.00 = 100 Yen). Good deal right? Since it's a country side, it's quite nice to relax and people are generally nice... Some people say you can make friends with other camp kids. But being anti-social, I didn't make a single friend. Thank god I went with my sister.

I went to Niigata by the way.

No, no worries about radiation. well.... at least for now.

Did I get a license in the end???



YES.


So a piece of advice from me?

Get a driver's license elsewhere in the world and convert that into Japanese one.
You would save tons.

I should have f$%king gotten a license when I was in states...

I graduated...

hence, I chill the eff out.

Self-sustainable survival skills...

New York City....

Ohhhh you finally listened to my wish and made recent days so warm....

It's about goddamn time!!! GOSH!

As my graduation day getting closer and closer, I am concerned for the future of unemployment...

What's gonna happen to the wooooooooooorrrrrrrrllllllllllllllldddddddddd!!!

With static economic and worldwide natural disasters and political crisis and disgusting reality show galores, I think world is heading to a crazy place.

But you guys all know that you can still live (relatively) comfortably without being employed right?

How, you may ask. Let me answer you.

The answer.... find a sugar daddy/mama. 

JKJKJK!!!!

This post is dedicated to Japanese homeless people.

If you have lived in Japan for long enough, 

you have probably seen those nomads in parks, closed train stations and roofed building entrance. 

I have seen plenty of documentary about those people when I was in high school.

I didn't think about those shows very much, but recently something reminded me of those. 

I must say, Japanese homeless people are quite self-sufficient and sustainable. 

No, they don't beg on the train or on the side walk, 

shaking cups from the fast food places (occasionally singing and yelling). 

Instead, they build their "temporary houses" out of mainly cardboards and some other disposed materials like lumber or plastic sheets.Some guys go to the extent of finding broken electronic like radio or TV, fix them and  hell, they use those!!! What the heck!! That skill itself can already get you a job!

They also collect cans for recycling (it gives them i think a dime per can or so) and old magazines to re-sell them on the streets.

Some homeless, in spring season, get paid to reserve a spot for people going to Hanami (refer to my previous post). They basically get a spot from like 2 days before the weekend, stay there until party arrives.
Intensity much?

It's almost like a lifestyle.
Yes, the nomads-kind of life style.

There are so many facilities like comic cafe, which provides you with a small compartment (well, for those fanatic comic readers who stay there for hours and read) that has bathroom you can shower (!) for like couple dollars per hour. Obviously, many homeless take advantage of this system.

Well, at least they take care of their personal hygiene!!!

So I'm just putting this out there for those who are concerned about the future of the job market and employment.

AFRAID NOT, THOU LOST LAMBS.

You can always come to Japan and enjoy this nomad-type lifestyle! (or we can call it modern lost gypsies.)

I really think these self-sufficient homeless should do workshop in NYC and teach those cup shakers some skills.

I think NYC will somehow start smelling much better.

How to cure the sore throat.

Hi!

The radiation leaks are freaking me out,
although I understand that medias have been exaggerating things
and I should know the level is way lower than the normal level.

BUT IT'S STILL FREAKY!!!! AHHH!!!

In the midst of the chaos, I get sick. Yikes.
Aaaand it was my spring break week. Double yay!

UGGGHHH WHY. WHY DO YOU DO THIS TO ME UNIVERSE?

So I wake up one morning, feeling this "pinch" on my throat.
I'm thinking "hmm weird...OH WELL!"

The next morning, I feel something poking my throat when I swallow.
And I go, "I don't know what it is... MEH. it'll get better."

And then, the next morning....

OMMMGGGG MY THROAAAT!!!

Every time I swallowed something, I felt like thousand needles piercing my throat.

NOT A GOOD SIGN.
But honestly, I was not going to waste $25 on my copay, just for my doctors to tell me things that I can find on googles.

So naturally, I googled "sharp sore throat on right side."

The downside of google search: it can scare you to death. Some folks claimed that they had the same type of pain for 6 months!! WHAT! Go to the doctors at that point, freaks.

Anyways, I found handfuls of home remedies that could work for sore throats... here:

1. goggle with solution of 2 tbsp of vinegar and 1 cup of water. (OMG this BURNS, and honestly I'm not sure how effective it was... but it numbed the pain for a while I think...) and I swallow the solution after...ew

2. Spray the Propolis thing.(this burns too but it temporarily relieves the pain...and it's kind of sweet)

3. Black tea with honey...(it doesn't burn and kind of relieves the pain...maybe I was imagining. ok NEXT.)

4. Some Chinese Herbal thing (it kind of....worked?)

5. Goggle with solution with salt + baking soda + water (I'm not sure anymore)

6. Tylenol syrup med (almost did nothing)

7. Tons of sleep (hmmm magically the pain is less the next day)

8. Boil slices of gingers in water, then drink that solution with honey (OMG....finally...?)


After all these trial and errors, I could finally yawn without my throat feeling like being ripped apart.

My conclusion to the best solution: Tons of sleep + any of those remedies

I think I had some canker sore on the back of my throat.
So much for freaking out.
Goodbye sore throat, goodbye spring break....

Tears...

Valentine's Day!! Let us all be the slaves of corporate marketing!

Valentine's day... it is a special day for people to appreciate/confess/drop some dollars for their love.

Very romantic.

Eh, anyways.
Valentine's day, as commonly known, is a day started by Saint Valentine, a Christian priest, who helped young people marry under the prosecution of Roman emperor Claudius II. For his kind action, Saint Valentine was executed on February 14th. According to another legend, this saint confessed his love to a young girl the night before his execution by sending her a card, which was signed as "From your Valentine"... (sources: History.com)

OK THESE LEGENDS HAVE ABSOLUTELY NO HISTORICAL FACTS PEOPLE!

First off, there are at least 3, yes THREE martyrs called Valentines and we don't even know which one it is that we are celebrating.

Second, some historians argue that there are no romantic associations between St. Valentines up til certain period of time. Some go on and argue that Catholic Church used the date of St. Valentine's death in order to "christianize" the Roman pagan holiday Lupercalia (a day of fertility which happened to fall on between February 13 - 15, convenient!!!)

From these research, we can conclude one thing.

WE ARE ALL SLAVES OF MARKETING FROM ANCIENT TIMES!
Ah, the power of marketing... Love it.

In order to not fall into corporate hands by submitting myself into buying corporate Valentine's goods, I had to look for an inexpensive alternative to celebrate this HOLYday of romance... And found some interesting ideas...

HERE:

1. Make a memory jar. Take simple slips of paper and write a favorite memory on each one. Be specific, and try to record as much about the occasion as you can. Tuck them into a jar or wooden box, tied with a bow.

2. Build a romantic fire. Host your own indoor picnic, complete with a bottle of champagne and chocolate-covered strawberries.

3. Recreate your first date together. What were you wearing? Where did you go? Do you remember what you talked about? Spend the evening reminiscing and reflecting on how far you have come as a couple.

HERE COMES MY FAVORITE IDEA....!


4. Spoon. 

HAHA ok.

5. Choose a book in which you are both interested, fiction or nonfiction. Read a new chapter each night before bed. This cozy tradition will allow you to spend some quality time together and often makes for thought provoking breakfast conversations.

6. Make a tape of the songs special to your relationship. Include "your song," songs from your wedding, songs from favorite movies. Add a personal voice dedication and leave it in his briefcase, Walkman, or car stereo.

7. Turn off the TV and play a game of Scrabble or Pictionary.

OMG this website is soo NOT helpful with ideas. But just in case you guys are interested, here is the website that I pulled the ideas from.

http://www.creativehomemaking.com/inexpensive-valentines-day-ideas.shtml

#17 is my favorite, although it's pretty much the same as #8 and #17. Repeat much?

Hopefully this post has helped you reconsider... well figure out how to spend this marketing-filled date with you loved ones! I'm going to sit home and watch movies with some beer and wings. Let's recreate Superbowl feasting!

HAPPY ST. VALENTINE'S DAY EVERYONE!!! <3 <3 <3

Baby it's cold outside.... But we've got nothing to eat inside.

IT'S SO COLD OUTSIDE.

Yesterday's lowest temperature was 6 degrees (Fahrenheit) and -14 degrees (Celsius)!!!!
Holy crap. What a great day to start my semester.
I didn't think I would be able to make it to the subway after class, which was only 5 minutes walk.

Well, I made it. And somehow made it home too.
I closed the door of my apartment and that's it.
There was no way I was going to go outside again.
No, I resist.

And then the problem arose. I was starving...!
I had to make an ultimate decision: either freeze to death or starve to death.

Say what? Call the delivery?
You know, I am not trying to be an activist here but look at those delivery guys.
On the bike with baseball cap and very thin polyester jacket... oh tears...
It's -14 degrees and they are biking out the city!!! Have some mercy here.

Well, I'm tight on my budget too.
Actually that was the main reason for not getting the delivery.
I totally would have called the delivery if budget wasn't the issue, what the heck.

BUUUUTTTT!! For my 3rd year in NYC, I have resolved this issue.
I knew this day was going to come.
Cold day, no money and no food.




EMERGENCY FOOD IN FREEZER!!
and I happened to make this amazing "backup" the day before.
Remember people: Prevention is better than cure...

Here,

 From left: Meat sauce, dumplings, base for soup (veggies cooked in stock)

Some samosa wanna be things that I made from beef and filo dough.





AAAAND freeze them in your freezer.






Thanks to those lovely dumplings I made, I prevented myself from starvation, though one third of them are consumed in one night.
But hey, it was an emergency night!

Another way would be stocking up loads of pasta and some instant sauce.
But I just wished that there were tastier instant products...like in Japan... Japan's frozen/packaged food is so tasty that sometimes I would rather eat that than wasting my bills in a crappy restaurants.

So everyone, you should hurry up and stock up your emergency food in your freezer. When nights are cold and so is your checking account, your freezer becomes your best friend!!! How ironic is that?