Alternative Okonomiyaki

I was hungry and angry (Well, I don't talk about this because I don't want to be angry again, remembering it) when I came home. I opened the door of my fridge and found Brussels sprouts. I knew there were eggs in the fridge, slices of pork in the freezer, flour in the pantry and stuff. An idea came up in me, "Mm ... I can make Okonomiyaki for tonight. Brussels sprouts are a kind of cabbage anyway." So, this is my masterpiece that I made tonight. Actually, it was good. I like Brussels sprouts in the first place, which I think are more tasty than cabbage. I'm pioneering experimental Japanese dishes with alternative ingredients.

Something Very Wrong with the Medical System in This Country

I've got the medical bill from my eye doctor, who gave me a complete eye exam for a prescription for contact lenses. I just wanted to have a prescription, but why did he give me a complete eye exam?! That's my initial question. And the day I visited, he didn't prescribe a prescription. I had to visit the office again 10 days later to try on trial contact lenses. I thought I would finally get a prescription, but I was wrong. The doctor ordered a box of contact lenses through his affiliated spectacle shop, but he didn't give me a prescription. I didn't and don't get it. A couple of days later, I got a phone call from the spectacle shop which told me that my contact lenses were ready. I went to the shop to collect my contact lenses which are expensive, of course, expecting finally I would get a prescription. But no. I asked the guy how I could get my prescription. And he told me that he was not qualified to issue a prescription and needed to ask the doctor. I asked him to ask the doctor. And finally, a couple of days later, my prescription was mailed. What's the hell?! At that point, I thought this country's medical system was ridiculous. A contact lens prescription would be issued in one visit in Japan, without that time-consuming, meaningless complete exam.

Today, the bill came. The bill says the doctor is charging me $103.36! He must be kidding me! This is after insurance. This is ridiculous. My eye doctor in Japan teased me by saying he would like to practice in the United States.

Fixing a little cavity cost $75, a prescription for contact lenses cost $103 ... This country's medical system is really, really wrong. I can't get sick in this country.

Identity Crisis

Well, I'm doubting my Japanese. I have believed for 30 something years this spice is called "Shichimi Togarashi." But, see, it says "Nanami Togarashi." When I noticed this, I lost my confidence completely. I can't speak standard English. That's kind of OK because I'm not a native English speaker. But, I don't speak standard Japanese (I don't mean Tokyo Japanese by standard Japanese here)?! That's a big issue. Man!

I Was Right!

Yes, this spice is "Shichime," not "Nanami"! Thanks Wikipedia!

Generation Gap

Come on! My students don't know about "Twin Peaks," which was a phenomenon back then, say, in the 1980s! I just wanted to give them an example of McLuhan's idea of Global Village (so, stupidly I used "Twin Peaks" as an example. Man, I should've used "24" instead).

I felt totally I'm old, and a big generation gap between my students and me. Man ...

Gorgeous

What a gorgeous day today! I simply can't stop drinking beer. Well ... this is an excuse to drink beer :P

Papers

Yay, one of my papers was accepted by a conference in August. I'm going to Boston! That's cool. But what isn't cool is the one that I thought better than the other was rejected. I don't understand those reviewers' taste. I think and I believe the rejected one is much more interesting than the accepted one ... Mm, the academia is mysterious. It is not easy to understand, for sure.

Buddhist Monk Party?!

I have very interesting friends here.

I invited six people to grab some Japanese-ish food tonight. They are from every continent of the world. Two are from Ghana (Africa), one from Peru (Latin America), one from India (Asia) and one from the United States (North America). Oops, Europe is missing. Well, GM said he was told his ancestors may have come from Wales (Europe. It's not part of the continent though).

Anyway, I cooked hijiki (a kind of seaweed), kiriboshi-daikon (dried daikon radish), koya-dofu (dried tofu). You know what. These are all Buddhist monk food! They are my favorite, anyway, especially koya-dofu. Thank YO for sending me koya-dofu! I also cooked chickens with soy sauce and vinegar, made maki rolls, and kinako-mochi (rice caked coated with powdered soy beans) for dessert.

I was thinking if there are leftovers, they would be lunch and dinner for tomorrow. But I was wrong. Gladly and surprisingly, almost all are gone! Sushi and kinako-mochi are completely gone. It's amazing that they loved hijiki and koya-dofu. They are really, household Japanese food loving, interesting people.

... and I forgot to take photos again :(

Little Wonder

Look at this huge grape (far right)! I got thrilled when I saw it. You know now how bored I am here :( Anyway, it was a little fun which I desperately needed today after giving a lecture to emotionless students. I was disappointed, frustrated, angry and whatever after class. I felt like that I wasted my time to prepare for the class. I'm not going to be a teacher, for sure.

Kentucky Derby

SC threw a party this afternoon, named "Kentucky Derby Party." I was curious. Only what I knew about Kentucky Derby was it is a big horse race. That's it. Anyway, I thought it was a party to get drunk together (in the early afternoon). I needed drink and people. So, I went there.

It was a long way to get there. If I had a car, there'd be no problem. But, I only have a bike, called "Mercedes."

The weather was really unstable today. In the morning, it was so sunny that I thought I could bike (and take a bus) to SC's house. I made sushi rolls in the morning because the party was supposed to be a potluck. The party was scheduled to start at 1:00pm though the race itself started at 3:00pm. Around noon, it started raining. Damn. I waited until the weather got better. Around 2:00pm, the rain stopped. So, I biked to the nearest bus station. Luckily, the bus came soon. But before I tried to get on the bus, the bus driver announced, "Three bikes are on board. You are not allowed." Damn. The bus allows only three biked on board. I failed to get on the bus. I waited another 20 minutes. The bus came after 20 minutes. And ... three bikes were already on board, again. Come on! I missed another bus. It had been heavily raining when I was waiting for bus, but by that time, the rain stopped. I decided to bike to the terminal to make sure to get on the bus. I ended up biking to the terminal station, and finally succeeded in getting on the bus! Damn, I didn't know how difficult it is to get on the bus with a bike!

Anyway, I could arrive just before the race started. You know, I don't know about the race at all. And the race was only two minutes or something. So, it didn't matter. Other than the race, drinking is important (and seeing friends is also important, of course).

I like SC, and it was great to see her partner. It was the first time for me to see her partner.

After the race, you know, the race is just two-minute long, SC made me a cocktail called Mint Juleps, which I don't know the meaning. It was kind of sweet (because SC put extra sweeter for me to make it easy to consume) and, therefore, dangerous. I chatted with people over there with the first glass. It was easy to finish it. And I asked SC to make another. I found it contains bourbon, mint, ice and sweeter SC made. It's simple, but dangerous. The two Mint Juleps things made me feel so good. Because I thought if I stayed there any longer, I would get in trouble. Also, people started leaving by that time. So, I left for my safety :P

It was an interesting party, kind of cultural, if you would say.

Now, I have to read! I have to prepare for my class! I have to write! Arrrrgggghhhh, I'm in trouble!