One Day till Mt Fuji???

I woke up really late today because I stayed really late last night at the office, to finish as much as I can before TPU closes tomorrow!  And today, we'll be doing some shopping for gear and necessities for our Mt Fuji climb.  Supposedly I should be at the office already by 10:30am to help Kim-san move to his new desk - because he's graduating already!  He'll be Dr. Kim soon.  Anyways, Kim-san's current area is an ideal position and so one of the next senior students, Jiang-san, had already "reservate" the area so he was moving there.  Meanwhile, I "reserved" Jiang-san's seat.  So when I got to the office I moved my stuff first.  I knew I was going to be busy today and so I ate my 2nd batch of franksilog (frankfurters, sinaing/rice, and itlog/egg) at the office.  I also started copying files to my hard drive so that I have the option of doing some school work during the summer break while TPU is closed and the electricity is down (hence I cannot access my school PC even remotely).

But wait, when I arrived at the office, there was "bad" news.  The last couple of days we were weary of this typhoon that started from around north of the Philippines and which has made its way to Korea and forecasted to hit Japan from the west.  There was a chance it could make the weather really bad on Thursday and so Kim-san, our Mt Fuji trip organizer and 2-time Mt Fuji climber, postponed our bus reservations a day later.  Yay!  One more day of rest before Mt Fuji.

At around 3pm, it was time to go for our Mt Fuji shopping already.  5 of us went by bicycle.  We first went to the 100-yen store at AT.  My Fuji trip buddies bought flashlights, gloves, sunglasses, and hats/caps.  Next stop was downtown Atsugi where we wanted to buy Oxygen supply cans.  The store which sells them was closed!  So we went to SATY, a mall / department store, hoping to find those O2 cans there instead.  No luck.  Instead, there were some jackets selling for only 500 yen.  Wow, that is extremely cheap!  3 of us bought jackets.  I didn't bring the jacket up to Fuji though because it is not water-proof.  The other 2 did.  My trip buddies also bought sunscreen lotion.  So anyway, next stop was the shoe store.  As expected, I didn't have any shoe size so I had to make do with my Nike running shoes.  3 of my trip buddies were able to buy hiking shoes at relatively cheap, sale prices at around 4000 yen.  Wow.  I have this difficulty of finding shoe sizes in Singapore and in Japan.  I had this problem years ago in the Philippines but thankfully now, there are more people with big feet like me and so they do sell the larger sizes but mostly only for non-formal footwear like sports shoes and sandals.

Anyways, after that we went back to AT to buy food and drinks for our climb.  Actually earlier today I received my online order of Nature Valley granola bars from Amazon.co.jp.  Plus last Sunday when I did my grocery shopping, I already bought 4L of this Gatorade-like Aquarius sports drink by Coca-Cola, but more similar and more in competition to Pocari Sweat.  So, I only needed to buy another carton of juice and milk which I didn't buy last Sunday because I thought my week is only until Wednesday and that Thursday and Friday will be devoted to the Fuji climb.  Anyways, I saw one pack of Dried Green Mangoes for sale and I bought it. :-D

Actually, whenever I do get a chance, I buy these Philippine-made products (like these dried mangoes and Magic Flakes) so that hopefully they would think there is a market here and so they would continue to import from the Philippines.

And so, that was the shopping we did.  We all went back home of course, and then I had my last batch of BBQ ribs.  Ate it together with steamed pechay.  Then back to the office, to do my last minute work before TPU closes tomorrow.  I stayed quite late at TPU, along with probably 4 other guys.  Literally there was no tomorrow, not until 6 days from now.

Grocery+Mass+That's it

Too tired from the last two days.  But, I had to do grocery shopping.  And go to mass.  I went to AT by bicycle, and bought freshly made tempura with rice from the grocery for lunch supposedly.  But I didn't have time for lunch.  I then had to prepare and go to the 5pm mass at the Piarist Catholic Chapel near Komabatodaimae (Front of the Komaba Campus of the University of Tokyo) station in Tokyo.  As usual, it was a short mass and I was a little late because I took the 3:50pm bus from the apartment.  I arrived during the 1st reading.  When I got home, I had the tempura for dinner.  And, because of the 3 straight days of exercise, I just had to sleep.  But wait, there's more!  Actually before sleeping, I marinated the ribs I bought in home-style BBQ sauce with ketchup, soy sauce, vinegar, pepper, sugar, and garlic.  I can tell it was yummy.  Can't wait to cook it.  I also bought furankufuruto (frankfurters) from the grocery.  Can't wait to eat this.

Hanabi!

Fireworks!  It is a Japanese tradition to hold fireworks shows usually at their major rivers during summer.  Tonight was Atsugi's turn, at the intersection of Sagami River with two other smaller rivers.  As I mentioned, there was one in Tokyo's Sumida River last week, and tonight also at Edo River, I think.

Before that...  My day started a bit early today, at a little past 8am.  I did my laundry and finished before 11am.  Then I packed lunch and went to the office.  I ate ginisang giniling with pechay and with semi-hard-boiled egg for lunch at 12:30, and then attended a seminar at 1pm, where a presentation was given by the most senior PhD student who is to graduate by end of September.  He presented his research thesis/dissertation, of course, and the intention was to get public opinion, thus this "open" seminar.  At a little past 2pm, the graduating student finished his presentation, and shared some snacks with all of us, while the professors continued to deliberate his thesis.

Then, it was back to the office for most of us.  For me, though, I didn't do any school work - just work.  At around 5pm, me and my "kuya" (Filipino for "big brother," but in this context a more senior student assigned to take care of you) went to see one of the professors who was apparently still busy with his earlier meeting.  We waited until a little past 6pm and scheduled meetings with the professor for Monday instead.  During that wait, my "kuya" and I exchanged stories about our home countries - the Philippines and China.

We actually had to be at Sagami River by ~6:30pm.  But we left our apartment probably around 6:30pm already!

On our bike ride to the hanabi venue, we tried a new route this time.  It was a slightly shorter route, but with a steeper downhill part that ends abruptly in an intersection -- dangerous!  Anyway, we were all safe.  I don't usually ride my bike on very steep downhill slopes (and uphill of course) and so as usual, I walked my bicycle downhill.

Then straight along relatively flat terrain we went, but then at one point we were not sure which direction to go.  We noticed that an unusual number of people were walking in the same direction, and so we thought where everyone was going is were we should be going as well.  We were right.

Then we noticed that people were all WALKING.  So we decided to park our bicycles somewhere and started walking ourselves.  There were so many people already, and some streets were closed to traffic.

Along the streets, we noticed that some people were already camping out on the sidewalk, seated on mattresses or beach chairs, and taking some food and drink, some even selling food and drink along the sidewalks.  There were a lot of police, traffic guides, and crossing guards that helped ensure the hundreds of pedestrians are all safe, and cars are properly diverted.

Then there was a little bit of a choke point where some stalls started to appear, lined up, selling the usual Japanese street food fare at these summer fireworks events like cotton candy, takoyaki (literally "grilled octopus," but it actually one small cube of grilled octopus meat wrapped inside an egg-based ball together with some veggies and mayo - yummy!), yakisoba (literally "grilled noodles;" they look like pancit canton with less sahog and with a sweetier taste - yummy!), yakitori (grilled chicken - yummy of course), furankufuruto (a Japanese-style frankfurter), some shabu-shabu-like street food fare, okonomiyaki (literally means "anything you want, grilled" but in this non-restaurant setting, they look like a sandwich of different veggies between two pancakes - very different from the one you would get at a restaurant), drinks of course (beer, water, sports drinks similar to Gatorade, soda, juice, shaved ice drinks), ice cream on a stick (which obviously you have to finish quickly - not a problem during summer), suteiki (Japanese-style "steak," this time served in square-shaped pieces on a stick), ikayaki (grilled squid), sakanayaki (grilled fish), and I think that's it.  We would find there are many stalls selling the same thing, but I think each stall is owned by one family, and so their fare would have slightly different taste from the other.  So, some would look and taste yummier than others'.

And then those hundreds of people were apparently just the newly arrived.  There were thousands of people, and I would guess there were at least 10,000 people there.  And that's just on our side of the river.  Apparently on the other side of the river, there are even more people, and even more food stalls.  On our way, we heard "booms" already - hints that the fireworks had already started.  Indeed even from far away, we can already see the action starting.

We walked, and walked, and walked, until we decided we were close enough to the action.  Along the supposedly walkway, some people have sat in a row and so we thought joining the bandwagon and sit there.  And sit we did.  Thankfully, one of my fellow students brought some junk mail that we can sit on.

There were plenty of people in yukata, a traditional Japanese clothing usually worn indoors (nowadays, you can find some in hotels), or during summer.  On women, you would think it is like a kimono but it is as you can see less formal.  There is also a version for men.

And then the fireworks.  There were different colors, of course.  And smiley face shapes, heart shapes, maybe some hiragana (Japanese) characters, Saturn (planet) shapes, mushroom shapes, zigzagging fireworks, flower and butterfly looking shapes, the usual en grande finale in some presentations, and I forgot what else.  Having watched two International Pyro Olympics in Manila, these were normal to me already and in fact, lacking coordination with a certain song as background music, to me, was something missing here.  There was some loud speaker on but usually there was just some announcement by some lady after each 1-minute or so fireworks showcase.

By around 8:15 I think we started moving again, with the intention to get out of there before everyone does or else it's going to be a stampede!  Well, no, that won't happen here but well, we just wanted to avoid the sardine-can-like crowd.

On the way out, we tried takoyaki balls (500 yen for 6 pieces), yakitori (100 yen per stick), and yakisoba (500 yen per pack).  Expensive!  Takoyaki is just 400 yen for 10 pieces at the convenience store.  And instant yakisoba is just 100 yen and probably tastes better than the ones we got.  But of course, these are all cooked fresh, and it didn't really matter during this festive event.  Overall, this was part of this hanabi experience.

And then so we found our way out of the crowd and got back to our bikes.  It was probably 9pm already.  And then here they go again.

"Let's pass by the (out-of-the-way, back-deep-in-to-the-multitude-of-people) supermarket first before we head home."  What?  Why not just go tomorrow to the supermarket that is just 10 minutes away by bike from our apartment?  "It's boring to go there."  What is so boring about that?  And so he wanted to drag all three of us companions of his along, out of the way from our route home, and back towards the crowd that we just ran away from.  I think he was just tamad to go again to the supermarket tomorrow, and for his tamadness he wanted to drag us along with him.  "My fellow Indian friend said I have to buy chicken now, for tomorrow, and that the supermarket here in downtown closes at 9:30pm.  So I have to buy now."  Hmmm, I think I see what's going on here now.  Someone is being a puppetmaster, another a puppet.  One is more senior than the other.  Match A & B with 1 &2.

Well, no, not me, man.  I told them I'll go ahead and head straight home.  Hitori de (by myself).  It was the first time I rode by bicycle by myself between downtown Atsugi and my apartment.  It was fun.  It was also the first time I tried the route we usually take going downtown, the opposite way around.  Fun!

But, wait.  I haven't drank anything yet!  On the trip, "thirst came," as these Indian fellow students of mine would say, meaning "I felt thirsty."  And it was a little bit warm.  It's summer, you know.  And so when I got home, my clothes were drenched yet again.  And I drank sports drink and nearly a liter of water.

Overall, this is a very nice day, and very nice new experience.

So close, yet so far away

The date was set, 12noon to eat lunch at a Thai restaurant near Hon-Atsugi.  I wasn't really invited, so I "thickened my face" (hahaha, that's a Filipino expression and it's supposedly in Filipino) and volunteered to come with.  12noon came... and went.  It was postponed for Monday lunch.  I was hoping to start this true long weekend right.  True because on other long weekends we would have a seminar on Saturday, making it only really a two-day weekend.  Right because it is a long weekend, and Monday's holiday is called Marine Day (or "Sea Day") and technically I should be out enjoying the sea!  I haven't really dipped in saltwater this year, have I?  Yes or no, I want to now!!!  It is so hot.  It is so summer!  Can't wait to make a full turn of all 4 seasons.  Can't imagine winter!  1 degree Celsius!

Anyways, so we're here in the now, without any lunch date anymore.  It is sad.  So I had to pamper myself.  I got me a Salt & Lemon Chicken, "Poteto," and Corn Syrup.  Also known as Salt & Lemon McChicken, French Fries, and Coke (which comes with high-fructose corn syrup).  Well, the chicken tasted great.  Tasted salty and lemony in just the right kind of way.  I'm lovin' it.  Oh, this is the nearby McDonald's I talked about 3 months ago on this same blog.  Pap-parap-pap-pa...

Actually while I headed for McDonald's, I knew there was another restaurant beside it, named "Skylark Gusto Cafe/Restaurant."  On its windows were posters of what looks like Tapsilog.  Mmm, I thought about trying that out first.  Maybe they have healthier food than McDonald's.  So I parked the bike, got inside, and...  There was what seemed like a line of people queued up to sit.  But there was no attendant.  There was one person that seemed to be the maitre'd, but he ignored me.  I really didn't know what was going on.  It seemed like there were so many empty tables.  Then again, it seemed like there were few wait-people (waiters and waitresses) and maybe they're too busy.  I stood there for a minute and nothing.  So I guess it was a sign: "Go pamper yourself at McDonald's."  Why are things good to the senses (in this case, the sense of taste) bad for the body?

From McDonald's, I thought I was already halfway between TPU and the grocery so what the heck, I thought I should go grocery shopping already.  And so I did.  I bought stuff for making Nilaga, Ginisa, and...  I'm still debating whether I'll make Lechon Kawali or Pork Steak.

Anyways, I did not yet cook anything today though because I felt so exhausted.  I took lunch at McDonald's around 1:30 or 2:00pm.  I got to the supermarket around 3pm and left maybe around 4pm.  It was clear skies and a sunny day.  It was really, really hot!  And that, plus playing basketball last night, probably contributed to my exhaustion.

I was also thinking about going to the Toys R' Us here in Atsugi.  Yes!  Yes, there's a "Toizarasu" here in our small little town!  Well, Atsugi, land area-wise isn't small.  Hey and we have plenty of McDonald's here.  So we're not really small.  But anyways, again I was too tired to go there.  It's a 20-minute ride on slope (downhill going to, uphill coming from) each way to the place.  Hopefully Monday.  Tomorrow is the 3rd Sunday of the month which means downtown Atsugi (after mass) for me. :-)

By the way, dinner was konbini food.  I craved for egg.  I haven't eaten egg in a while.  So I got some salad with half an egg in it.  And I also got this gyudon (rice topping), which also has some egg. :-D  I was surprised to learn that the dressing that comes with the salad is a Ceasar.  Love it! :-)

"Atsui" + Goodbye Sinigang

It's "hot" again today - for some locals and some who are used to winter weather.  Daytime high was 27 degrees.  Just right for me.  In contrast, that's the nighttime low in Manila nowadays!

Lunch and dinner was my own rice, plus convenience store ulam and frozen veggies.  I did some groceries today - took me 2 hours including the 12-minute bike ride each way!  But that also included a walk from the grocery store to the "DIY" store where I was supposed to buy a stove already.

Have I told you I've been craving for Sinigang now?  That is why I want to buy a stove already!

Back at the "DIY" store, I examined all the available stoves and chose one stove (the cheapest one).  I was not sure (can't read Japanese yet) if it had a tube to connect to the gas line.  So I got one tube also.  And off to the cashier I went.  Then the cashier was saying something that I didn't understand.  But I got that she was saying that the stove was for propane gas lines only.  So with the little Japanese I know, I told her I don't know what type of gas our gas line is and that I will not buy the stove and tube anymore.  Goodbye Sinigang, I will have to wait again for you...

Laundry, Bike, Mass, Grocery

Woke up quite early and did my laundry.  I think I should do my laundry weekly, at least for my colored clothes.  The washing machine is too small for 2 weeks worth of my colored clothes.  It was sun-shiny the whole day.  Yay!

Lunch was my own cooked rice, and this Okra dish and this mixed fried stuff (sausage, burger, chicken, hashbrowns) I bought from our friendly neighbourhood convenience store.

Then I went by bike to the Atsugi Trellis (or AT), but only just to park there.  I took the bus going to downtown Atsugi, then walked as usual to the Atsugi Catholic Church.  I hesitated on bring my bike all the way to the church because I didn't know if there are areas particularly in downtown Atsugi where bikes are not allowed.  I think there might not be any.  Anyways, it's also a 30-minute bike ride from home to the church.  Quite long.  It's downhill going there, but it's uphill coming back!  So by parking the bike midway, it wasn't as tiring, and at the same time I saved around 90 pesos in bus fare!  Actually, me not being used to riding the bike, my knees are feeling a little tired even after just 15-minute bike rides to AT (and another 15 back)!

Then Mass.  I learned that the priest's name is something like Father Brunsfield or something.  There were battalions of Filipinos in church today.  Most churches here don't have weekly masses in English, so many Filipinos tend to attend mass in different churches.  I think a lot of the people in attendance today were from outside of Atsugi.  Anyways, the usual "issues" you would encounter in the Philippines: you can actually HEAR people "whispering," friends who see each other only once a week so they "catch up" on each other's stories, and then lots of babies crying, and toddlers and early elementary school kids running around... during the mass!  I think the priest noticed the unusually noisy crowd today and asked to have a moment of silence after communion.  Didn't work.  My theory: English is not the Filipino's first language!  It didn't register.  The priest was too kind to not insist on the moment of silence, or to ask everyone to keep the noise down if not totally out.  If I had another choice, I wouldn't attend mass there again!  While I try my best to listen to the readings and the homily and to all the prayers, it can be really distracting.  Specially in such a small church.

One other thing I noticed was that many songs were unfamiliar.  Personally I knew "As The Deer" and "You Shall Be Clothed in Power from On High," but I don't think the others knew those songs.  I didn't know many of the other songs.  And then, like the choir in Tachikawa, the choir doesn't adjust to the situation.  Back in Tachikawa, the song ended already but the guitarists kept on playing; they insisted the song should end in the way they think it should or in the (only) way they know how.  Unnecessarily took up people's time.  When you are leading people into prayer or a choir and a people into song, you stay aware of what's happening.  You don't just pray.  You don't just play the music and sing.  Anyways, of course I will still attend mass in Atsugi during the 3rd Sunday of the month.  In fact, I would really like it if there were masses in English every Sunday in Atsugi!  Oh and as usual, the priest briefly spoke in Japanese during his homily, to the ~three or more locals present.

Anyways, so back to AT I went.  Bike's still there.  Great!  And I dropped by my favorite store - the 100-yen store - and bought a couple of pitchers.  On my previous visit I bought these filters you attach to the faucet.  From what I know, tap water here is safe to drink.  Whenever I drink straight from the tap, I don't have any problems at all.  But I noticed that when I refrigerate tap water and drink it later, there's some kind of smell and taste that comes out.  I thought it was just the container...  But it was really bad!  But when I started to use that filter - no more of that bad taste and smell.  So now I plan to store water in the fridge in the new pitcher I bought.  Actually the other pitcher, I will use for making iced green tea.

How to make iced green tea: steep one green tea bag in a mug of hot water for around 3 to 5 minutes, remove the tea bag, put the green tea in a 1 liter pitcher, add water and ice until you have a liter of green tea, then add 1 teaspoon of brown sugar (or to taste).  Voila!  Tastes like C2.  I'm excited about this.  I've done this before.  Now, I can save on some vending machine expenses. :-D

Anyways, so I did my groceries and only had this on my list: banana, ketchup, and juice.  And then the "difficult" part about doing the groceries: you tend to buy more than what you listed!  But it's not that I won't consume these other things I bought.  I bought my dinner for tonight: sushi, teriyaki chicken, cherry tomatoes on the sides, and banana.  But actually I also bought my dinner for the succeeding nights: ready-to-heat-then-eat takoyaki balls, pizza, side veggies, shrimp cake, and... I forgot what else.  There are so much interesting stuff here, food-wise, and not just the usual Japanese food, but also Japanese-style food.  Like their desserts and stuff.  Last night actually I had this interesting ice cream sandwich that cost around $1.30 equivalently.  Yummy.  Very, very yummy.

Well the plus side about all this is that my refrigerator isn't so lonely anymore...  (Yeah right!)  Ehehehe. :-D

And then so I got home, took my hung-dry clothes inside the apartment (but I didn't fold them yet - I don't know if they're all dry already), packed some rice and then ate dinner here at my desk.  Yikes, the biking today and yesterday is really draining, but I welcome it because I think it's good for my health.  I hope to bike more regularly!

That's it for now.  Time to chat with my love. :-D

Bike

I feel so tired the whole day today, but more so now after biking 10 minutes to Yamada Denki (the "electrical" shop which sells computers and so on), and biking 10 minutes + walking uphill 5 minutes back.  Fun exploring these new places here in Atsugi by myself.  Actually I remember being accompanied 5 years ago by one of the then-masters students to Yamada.  But it's all a blur because we got there by car and so I didn't really enjoy the scenery and the other stores.  There's a "Wild-1" camping and fishing store.  And a Shoe Plaza.  And AOKI Men's Apparel.  By the way, remind me to buy a shoes as an extra pair when I get back to the Philippines.  I don't have any shoe size here!!!!  Are they all that short and small-footed?  Or, I am just too tall.  The bike ride was really fun.  Thank you Lord for the sunshine!  No rain so far...  Yikes, I hope it doesn't rain on my designated laundry day!

Class, Bike, Basketball

Got to my desk around 10:30am, and was just in time for my class at 11:00am.  The class was interesting - actually it was more of a discussion rather than a lecture.  We talked about this and this.  Very interesting indeed.

There are two of us students there, the other a Japanese who speaks and understands little English.  But we had some common opinions, probably being both human and Asian.  But Japan being developed and the Philippines developing was probably the difference.  One particular difference in situation is that in Japan, the birth rate is going down and the population is probably decreasing.  It is the opposite in the Philippines...

Anywho, since class ended at 12:30pm, and since my usual lunch buddies eat at 12pm, I ate lunch at the by-the-pound cafeteria by myself.  Not so bad.  Today my lunch was just around 700yen.  My lowest priced by-the-pound lunch cost me only around 650yen.  My most expensive by-the-pound lunch was probably 850yen.  Right now my budget is just 800yen per meal.  It was a good meal as usual.  I had my usual share of leafy veggies.  I just don't like that a lot of the meat are fried and with breading, therefore meaning it uses eggs.  Cholesterol.  I should really get a stove and steamer soon.  I don't plan on using my rice cooker for steaming again because the fishy-oily smell from the steamed fish clings to the rice cooker's pot!

Aside from a stove and steamer, I also plan to buy a bike when I get my first "salary" (basically my subsistence allowance) and when I know I have enough money for my basic needs.  But actually today...  I now have a bike to use!  Not my bike, I just borrowed it.  I rode it around tonight.  It is a pleasure to ride in a bike.  Problem is, I'll have less walking exercise around the area now.  I should just make sure now to play basketball or do some running more regularly.  But actually, it's just a 5-minute walk including a 4-storey climb up some stairs to get from my apartment to my desk.  I plan to use my bike only though to go to Atsugi Trellis, where the nearest grocery is.  But I also plan to explore Atsugi more with my bike, as well as go to some other stores which I haven't gone to by myself before, like the Yamada electronics store, where I also plan to buy later a webcam so that I can make video calls from my school computer.  The only problem with going there is, my place as well as the school is on top of a hill so going there is no problem, I'll just be cruising down the slope.  The problem is going back.  Oh well, part of the exercise.  Or of course I could just walk up the slope.

Well that's about it.  I really like riding the bike.  And so much more in this weather.  Oh, I played basketball. The "kompyang" unfortunately put us two taller guys together in one team, and the not-so-tall guys on the other team.  So it was not so competitive but it was still fun.  Basuketoboru ga daisuki desu.  I love basketball. :-D