hong kong phooey

The awful thing about having a blog, for me at least, is the nagging problem of sporadically updating the damn thing. It's like cardio. Working out don't mean a thang, honey, if you only do it ... and now I'm too lazy to complete the simile in ghetto. Sometimes I really don't have anything to share, sometimes I have a lot to share but I'd rather not divulge what I have to say into a public forum, sometimes girl just don't wanna write, yo'. 

My cousin Jasmine told me about the "runner's wall." She hates running but she ran for an hour up a mountain one time and it was just marvelous after she hit the "runner's wall," you see. She said, yeah, running sucks and is tiring, but like after 30 minutes of just pure running you hit a "wall" where you're no longer tired and then you're running on autopilot, liberated from the tediousness and labor of running and you're kinda just in the moment and blissed out. Maybe there's a blogger's wall. 

So it's a brand new year. I celebrated the last stretch of 2008 in Hong Kong with some family and it really was the hap-happiest season of all. Sure the presents were nice, and the food was beyond satisfying, and yeah, true to my nature, I drank and offended strangers and should have been/was close to being arrested/heavily fined, and I brought some great reading material back to Japan that I cannot wait to finish, BUT....I realize more than ever that after this trip there is nothing more in this world that I value more than my family. I think I've been too busy in Japan or wrapped up in myself to realize that I miss my mom and my sister so much, and how my aunts and my cousins are so brave and strong after everything they have gone through, and I'm genuinely happy that everyone is healthy and doing well in life. GongGong and PoPo would be so happy if they were here to see how everything has worked out. I'm getting teary-eyed just thinking of them. I love that even though we're countries apart, we're so close it's annoying. What other family has an e-mail tree 15 members long? I can call any one of my cousins a sister or a brother or any one of my aunts a mother. And I can no doubt tell you that the feeling is mutual among any of the 15.       

We are so cute. In Macau with auntie Connie, sister, mother, me, Jasmine.

Back to the grind...yeah right, back to my incredibly simple "job" of "teaching English" to Japanese children. Here's to 2009 and another awesome year. 

Thousand Island

The girl I replaced left me a jar of honey. On a whim, I decided to mix some of the honey and soy sauce to garnish (or salvage) what had originally been the dry, bland and pasty chunks of fried chicken I had prepared for dinner, which were barely seasoned with olive oil, black pepper, and salt. You might think that's culinary childplay, but I mean, this is a huge step for a girl who just started cooking raw meat an entry ago. Anyway, the result was delicious, flavorful, mildly salty and mildly sweet, and once further shoved down the palate, a little bit familiar. Then it hit me. While I was delighted by the successful sauce-improvisation, it had occurred to me that what I had created wasn't Lorraine's Soy and Honey Glazed Chicken, but was actually good ol' proper-noun-less teriyaki chicken...which has already been in existence for ages. I'm a little upset by it. 

This could be a giant metaphor. 

sunrise, sunset

Beppu has the worst sunsets. It kind of just turns pink and then it gets dark...brain fart...Land of the Rising Sun, duh. I love spontaneous epiphanies, especially while I'm typing stream of consciousness style. 

I've been having a really good week since the last post. So good that I hardly even want to mention them. Who likes reading about happy people? My blog is entirely about what annoys me...and my profound social commentary (yeah right). I can basically parallel this with an awful and awfully embarrassing Sex and the City reference because that's the only thing I've been watching lately: It's like when Carrie realized that she was unhappy with Aiden because there was nothing wrong with their relationship somewhere around season three or four. I've been cheating on my blog with happiness and contentment. And Carrie ended up marrying Big, now how about that? I think Proust said something about how grief empowers the mind. It also makes you a better writer. 

Since my blog lacks in lists, I've decided to make one about what I've been up to and what's been exciting:   

-I turned 23 and had a fantastic birthday week because...(sublist ensues):

-I hosted two travelers at separate times via couchsurfing.com and had the best time with both of them discovering Beppu, finally. HOTSPRINGS ARE AMAZING. 

-my supervisor treated me to gyoza and champon, or something, whatever it was good and I love how birthdays mean you don't pay for your food and everyone is nice to you. 

-I was only hungover in half the times I went drinking since the last post. 

-I cooked! A sesame-soy-miso, chicken, potato, broccoli, tofu stew. My very own recipe! It needed some salt, but it was edible.

-for winter holiday, I'm going to HONG KONG to see my family for Christmas and New Year! 

  

tylenol cold

tylenol cold is fantastic. i think i'm getting visuals. i'm trying to fight the induced sleep but i'm so going to pass out in about 3 minutes.  

TONIGHT I ATE RAW HORSE: 

It was alright. nothing special about it except that it's equine and i love that i ate my little pony. i think all raw food tastes similar--cold, slimy, could live without eating it ever again. 

m.i.a.

I came here because I wanted to escape from the comfort and familiarity of home, and be on my own for awhile. But unless I'm commuting on the train or, like now, in bed right before I go to sleep, I have had zero time for myself. I want just one day to get settled and discover Beppu City for myself. I don't even have time to vacuum or decorate these sad, empty walls because the job and other obligations come in the way. I have no energy to learn Japanese because I'm so busy. I haven't had the chance to figure out how to beat my cold. And now, with my new phone which I hate and love equally, I have another device connecting me to the world. I feel that if I'm not surrounding myself with people and loading up on plans then I'm missing out and wasting time. All I really want, just for a little bit, is to soak it all in. And clean my barren, dusty apartment. And get some toilet paper.      

Wired...or wirelessed (?)

Lorraine's gotta keitai (cell phone).

Lorraine got hate crimed in class by a little shit Japanese kid named Shoichi. 

Lorraine has a new stalker friend who she's going thrift shopping with this Sunday because new stalker friend has CNN. 

Lorraine cooked spaghetti with marinara and broccoli TWICE since her success with instant ramen. Will move on to spaghetti with pesto and boiled potatoes tomorrow. 

Lorraine was somehow able to wash her clothes after aimlessly pressing buttons on the Japanese washing machine. Lorraine also realized it takes two days to air dry wet clothing

Lorraine's immune system is fighting a losing battle against the Japanese cold virus. 

I need to buy some toilet paper.  

Gaijins are crazy

People don't lock their bikes here and that offends me. It offended me so much last night that I knocked several over. I unplugged the lit wreaths hanging on lampposts along Christmas lane because the Japanese only celebrate Christmas aesthetically. Last night's gaijin-dance party was so fun and so very successful, not only because I woke up without a hangover, but also because I remember everything that happened and now I know there's a 4 a.m. bullet train from Oita to Beppu.  

I have Wannabe stuck in my head

Firstly, HI JO

And secondly, today was awesome. Maybe it's my diet that's making me so happy. I've been taking a lot of St. John's Wort and everything I ate today either had sugar or caffeine in it. What a great Thanksgiving! 

Speaking of my irregular diet, even though I have my own kitchen, I have not actually cooked anything yet unless you count reheating leftover pizza in the toaster oven. I'm using my stove as a drying rack for wet dishes. And I haven't plugged in the fridge yet not only because I haven't bought any perishable food but also because I'm paying my own bills. 

In other news, I caught myself speaking English with a Japanese accent today in class. I think I'm turning Japanese.

   

 

    

JAPAN 2

The following are merely some thoughts with no transitions. 

Today I bought an electric blanket because it's cooooooold over heres. It's supposed to snow! I don't know what to do with myself.  

I made friends with a Japanese lady at the Beppu tourist office and I'm meeting her tomorrow for supper at her house. She's probably 60 years old. She's wants me to converse with her in English to improve her speaking skills. I accepted because I'm lonely, and I need her to help me get a cell phone, but she doesn't know that yet, so booyah. 

On Saturday I'm going with my new friends Minna and Iris to this gaijin dance party held inside a room. It's all you can drink for some exorbitant fee. I decided to go because I'm lonely and because the possibilities of where the night will end up excite me. The zero-likelihood that I will make the last train home at midnight with no place to crash means that this night is going to be interesting in the least.  

I will probably never write about work because my job is a joke. 

Inspired by previous post, besides recycling, these things also annoy me about Japan. I have striked out the language barrier because that's something I should learn since I'm in their country. 

- How google opens as google.co.jp. 

- Customer service. Construction workers, train station managers, McDonalds employees, every other damn clerk, etc. are so fucking polite. If you have a shit job, you don't have to be nice to me, o-kudasai. I like my coffee served with a side of disgruntled-worker angst. And no, I don't need a bag for that.  

- Taking off shoes indoors. Not only in homes, but in restaurants, dressing rooms, corporate offices, etc.    

- Cell phone charms. Cell phones in general, actually.  

- The price of fruits and vegetables. A cheap head of cabbage is 100 yen, or about a dollar. Actually all food is expensive and come in small portions. A shitty medium pizza cost me 1,700 yen, or about 17 dollars.

- Trendy Japanese male fashion

- Celsius. 

     

JAPAN

So if you're wondering, Japan rocks. I am so happy I did this. I feel free.  

I'm sitting on my tatami munching on potato chips, grape juice, and chocolate cookies and I couldn't be more pleased with myself. 

My job is alright. I teach like 3 hours a day and get paid in gold bullion. I also love everyone I've met through the job. 

Getting around Japan is easy. Trains are straightforward. Everything I need is in walking distance. As for the food, all the menus come with pictures of the meals so I just point at what I want and say, "o kudasai." 

I do miss home, of course. I would kill for an Entertainment Weekly, a fatty steak, or some so-Cal sun. The only thing that pisses me off about Japan is recycling. I really hate separating my trash. Tomorrow I'm going to dump my unseparated garbage in a McDonalds' trash can and walk away victorious.