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(Jack and Poy. Holly holly hoy! Whoever loses, he's the monkey!)
If you're Filipino, you know how that chant goes, and what we do while chanting it.
Yup, in English, it's actually called the Rock-Paper-Scissors (RPS) game.
Showing posts with label filipinos. Show all posts
Showing posts with label filipinos. Show all posts
29 July 2012
Who is Jack n' Poy? [did you know?]
(Jack and Poy. Holly holly hoy! Whoever loses, he's the monkey!)
If you're Filipino, you know how that chant goes, and what we do while chanting it.
Yup, in English, it's actually called the Rock-Paper-Scissors (RPS) game.
23 March 2012
The fastest and cheapest way to remit money to the Philippines from Japan [Updated]
On the topic of
filipinos,
philippines
Oh, the difficulties of having to pay bills at home while you're based in a very foreign land. I have told you guys about GCASH.JP through an earlier, short blog post, but man, o man, it is only now I've dipped my hands in it and it's like… holy water! (For you pundits out there: I said it's only like holy water; it is of course nothing like real holy water.) But it is truly a miracle, a real blessing from Up Above. Amen.
Long story short, I have some cash in my bank account here in Japan, and I needed to remit some to my bank account in Manila. How long did it take using GCASH? About an hour, and all from the comfort of my own home. How much did it cost? It cost me around 3.25% of my remittance amount1. That's very cheap! And very fast. Now that's what you call a wire transfer! I ♥ GCASH.JP!!!
Contrast all that now with the time when I transferred using my Japan-based bank's over-the-counter remittance services for the same amount of remittance applied at the same time of the day (nearly 3pm): roughly 1 banking day, and 11.6% of my remittance amount1! That's more than 3 times the cost!
Okay, the length of time it takes is not really a good point for comparison. I had internet banking set-up for my Japan bank account, and so that helped hasten things up. Plus, I also had to pre-register on to GCASH. Now, to go to my bank branch, I had to actually spend at most around 220 pesos for my roundtrip bus fare and 40 extra minutes for the trip. It was just before 3pm when I got to the bank, and we were told that the transfer might not be made until the next banking day. Otherwise, maybe it could have been just as fast, save for the 40 minutes to travel to our bank branch.
Enter the internet banking facilities of my bank. What actually happens is I first transfer to a pre-assigned local Japanese bank account associated with my GCASH account. I just do it online from the comfort of my own home, no need to pre-enroll my transferees' accounts (unlike BPI, but I heard China Bank and a few other banks allow you to make funds transfer within the Philippines without pre-enrolling as well).
In under 10 minutes, the funds from my Japan bank account is already in my GCASH account. And then in around 30 minutes or so, the funds from my GCASH account are already in my Philippines-based bank account.
I should also mention though that the 3.25% tax for remittance via GCASH is because I have a coupon, given to new GCASH members, expiring by the end of March. If without the coupon I would have paid around maybe 4%, which is still not so bad, and still nearly 3 times less the cost for transferring bank-to-bank, Japan-to-Philippines.
I should also mention that GCASH's Customer Support Staff are a delight. I interacted with an English-speaking Japanese via e-mail, and then later I got a call from a Tagalog-speaking Filipina who was very polite and very helpful (although she did not really have the answers to my issue that time). Speaking about my issue, I was on GCASH's English website and my bank's is in Japanese, so there was a little bit of a disconnect there even though I could use Google's translation functions, and that led to my problem but I eventually figured it all out. Thanks also to Google!
My local Japanese bank, by the way, is Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation. I would think that services offered through other Japanese banks are on the same level. Being in a city far away from Tokyo, my local branch does not have people who can speak English so that was a difficulty. Just by using the online banking facilities and Google Chrome as web browser, it didn't matter as much that the website is in Japanese.
GCASH, by the way, is a service by Softbank Payment Services here in Japan, and "guaranteed" by Globe (yes, the cellphone company) in the Philippines. You can do a bank transfer to over 15 other banks in the Philippines, including Citibank, Chinabank, PNB, and MetroBank2. You can also transfer to someone's GCASH account in the Philippines as "Mobile Money" - they can use it as prepaid cellphone load, and a number of other things, but I think it might be difficult to "withdraw" the cash. The remit-to-GCASH-in-the-Philippines option I believe has even cheaper rates. You can also remit to selected remittance centers in the Philippines, like Globe Stores, some pawnshops, and some banks. I can also actually transfer to my GCASH.JP account through convenience stores, but that costs a little bit more and the nearest one is about a 5-minute walk away.
2 [UPDATE/ADDENDUM] They sort of advertise that you can transfer to PNB and MetroBank bank accounts, and it gives you the impression that you would need to have an account at only those two banks. But the truth is, you can transfer to probably all Bancnet member banks. But there are some additional requirements for certain banks (I forgot which ones though), and you'll be informed of those requirements as you use the service. Anyways, the one big question we have is: This is somewhat a service of Globe - an Ayala company - and yet why does it seem impossible to transfer to BPI - another Ayala company!? That is so weird. But anyway, in the experience I recounted in this blog post, we transferred to ChinaBank. Tell us in the comments how different your experience might be if you had used other banks, or if you had used ChinaBank as well.
23 December 2010
A Glimpse of Christmas in Japan
On December 16, Filipinos start with the "Simbang Gabi" or Midnight Mass, which is a 9-day novena usually held before dawn leading up to Christmas day. Coincidentally, our Episode 16 features Christmas in Japan. I call this episode "A Glimpse of Christmas in Japan," and to me, all these Christmas decors, at least at major urban centers, make me feel just a little bit closer to home. I guess, these bring the outside world into Japan, for locals or residents who cannot otherwise experience Christmas as it really is, for example in the Philippines, in the US, and so on. As usual, I "filmed" in Atsugi and in Tokyo (Shinjuku, to be more exact).
Part of the video include glimpses as well of Yokohama, where we held our Christmas party (lunch buffet actually, which we ended with a round of applause, a Japanese custom for ending parties).
As a present for you all, the last part of the video is somewhat a how-to on making a Santa Claus origami. Origami as most of you know is the Japanese art of folding paper.
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year, everyone!
(This is the low-resolution version of the video. High-def version will be coming soon. Also, the Japan! Japan! Video Blog will be back after mid-January. See you then!)
Part of the video include glimpses as well of Yokohama, where we held our Christmas party (lunch buffet actually, which we ended with a round of applause, a Japanese custom for ending parties).
As a present for you all, the last part of the video is somewhat a how-to on making a Santa Claus origami. Origami as most of you know is the Japanese art of folding paper.
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year, everyone!
(This is the low-resolution version of the video. High-def version will be coming soon. Also, the Japan! Japan! Video Blog will be back after mid-January. See you then!)
30 September 2010
Pinoy Restaurants in and around Tokyo
General list: http://www.metrography.net/cgi-local/mmg-search/html/02_03_04_01.html
Note though that Tia Mare has closed down.
Bia's homemade food, restaurant, and Izakaya (in Chiba)
Wow Sari-Sari Shop (in Kiyose City, Tokyo; website is in Japanese only)
Travel Cafe Philippines Tokyo Shop (in Iidabashi near Tokyo Dome)
Kainan (in Roppongi) - prices are generally expensive
Shakey's (probably 7 branches in central Tokyo, 1 in Yokohama, and lost more outside of greater Tokyo area!) but I just learned it's not Filipino pala!
Note though that Tia Mare has closed down.
Bia's homemade food, restaurant, and Izakaya (in Chiba)
Wow Sari-Sari Shop (in Kiyose City, Tokyo; website is in Japanese only)
Travel Cafe Philippines Tokyo Shop (in Iidabashi near Tokyo Dome)
Kainan (in Roppongi) - prices are generally expensive
Shakey's (probably 7 branches in central Tokyo, 1 in Yokohama, and lost more outside of greater Tokyo area!) but I just learned it's not Filipino pala!
02 September 2010
Very Weekling
It has been 10 days since my last post. I am calling Japan Blog 2.0 quits. I am just too busy nowadays I think. And I think it will be this way until the end of my 3-years here in Japan. I've been here just 4.5 months so far.
But this don't mean I ain't posting nothing no more. I'll still be here. Just not regularly anymore. Certainly not daily, but no, I can't promise weekly posts. My intention also is to post more photos. Or do a videoblog. But I can't promise anything.
And, as you can see, I've been blogging on practically a daily basis for my 1st 4 months here. That is a world record. 4 straight months of daily updates!
Unfortunately, like for most part-time bloggers, and now, the end is near, for daily blogging. I do not have anything in mind yet for Japan Blog 3.0. But I do know that I plan to gather together all my Japan posts into this one blog, which means my posts for my Japan Blog 1.0 (from 2005) will also be found here in the near future.
Anyways, just to let you know, I finished two papers the past week. I had been delaying it because I thought it would be easy enough - supposedly I have the materials to write them. But, no, it wasn't easy. I was just too busy last Thursday and Friday, and then Saturday - Microsoft Word crashed on me! Well I was doing structural analysis and other stuff in the background so that might have added to it. What happened though was that I was already 90% finished on my first paper and boom, I went back down to probably 70% finished. I just thought, 70% is better than 0%. Thank you (or not) for those Auto-Recovery functions of Word. Anyways, I was so on a roll those two days, but when that happened, I just went blank. I just didn't wanna do it anymore. I spent just two hours or less on it during the weekend.
But that is so also because we went to this eat-all-you-can/tabehodai place called "Carnival Buffet." Western food? Nope. It's "Western." (Emphasis on the quotation marks.) It is actually Japanese-style Western food. There's a salad bar, a drinks bar, your choice of ramen, udon, or soba noodles. There are 4 kinds of pizza - two are more like Indian-style pizza. There is curry. Japanese love curry. There was roast beef for a little while. There are these small hamburgers that you heat on a teppanyaki grill yourself. And hotcake mix for making hotcakes for yourself. There was fried chicken and sausages, and pizza - did I already say there was pizza? I ate mostly the fried chicken, the sausages, and the pizza. I have been craving for real pizza. Or the taste of cheese. It was good enough. The fried chicken tastes a lot better (more Western-tasting maybe?) than the fried chicken at the cafeterias here in school. Then there was a salad bar where I had me a medley of fruits and an ice cream. Then "ka-ching!" I thought, I could have a float as well. So I made a Coke (Zero) Float. Yum. I was already "wa chun la" (200% full) just before eating dessert. I was "wa chuns la" (so full, I'm almost like dead) after the float. It was a good ending to a 1500 yen meal.
And then we rode our bikes back home. It was quite a long ride, and then I checked using Google Maps how long our trip was. It was 6.4 km each way! By the time we got back to the apartment, we were back to "wa pao la" (100% full) again.
Anyways, it was probably that long bicycle ride, maybe 40 minutes each way, that got to me. I was so dead tired on Sunday. It was a no-day. I was just at home. But I did find the need to go the grocery store. But I just can't ride the bike again. No sir, not yet. So I took the bus. And then, lo and behold. The supermarket was probably nearly half empty of groceries! I saw two of my fellow students and they confirmed, we should just come back another day. Anyways, I did go back the next day, and it was still probably close to half empty. But there were a number of employees putting some stocks back on the racks. It is so weird. I noticed then that apparently the furniture outlet store right beside it is closed. Is something going on? I really don't know. I wasn't able to find some of the stuff I needed so I went to the nearby grocery store #2, "Coop." It was my first time ever to visit a Coop grocery store. My friend told me about it already but I forgot - you have to pay a hefty amount for plastic bags. Anyways, it was a good thing I had extra plastic bags.
On Wednesday night, I feasted on sweet, sweet Tacos. 12 of them. :-D And then just today, I finalized probably 3 dishes: tokwa't baboy, postek, and sinuglaw. It was my first time ever to prepare tokwa't baboy - not a problem actually. But it was my first time ever to prepare kinilaw na tuna. I wondered how come my kinilaw at first didn't look at all like the ones I order from most restaurants. I think, based on what I read, that kinilaw actually has coconut milk or something. Anyways, I bought so much pork, I converted the kinilaw into sinuglaw, a mix of sinugba and kinilaw. Sinugba of course is Bisaya for inihaw. For the tokwa, I used Japanese tofu, of course. :-)
Wait, Ronjie, you bought so much pork?????? Yes, I bought them last Sunday but because I felt so tired that day, I was able to cook them all only now. It's not that I eat pork only. The last couple of days, I've been eating beef. I had tapsilog the last two days, and Tacos (ground beef) last night. My tapsilog looked better than ever. It is because this time I was able to buy a cut of beef that was more appropriate for tapa. It tasted great as well. Recipe was from my mom. I didn't use patis though.
Last Sunday, my engineering mentor, Doc Benny, arrived here in Tokyo for a 3-day conference and so we met up Tuesday night, together with my former thesis adviser, Prof Fer. We went to the Imperial Palace and the Asakusa area. I didn't realize that the walk to the Imperial Palace was that long. Actually, we did a lot of walking, even just for getting to/from the train stations and transferring between stations. Anyway, the Palace grounds was just so huge a place. Sunset actually caught us there.
When we got to Asakusa, most shops were closed. The good thing was, there were very few people. I didn't think the Sensoji Temple would look so much better in the evening. And then, we had dinner at this ramen and gyoza resto wherein they serve... just one kind of ramen, and gyoza! Their specialty, apparently. Not the greatest, but pretty good. Not so salty ramen. They had beer and Japanese sake (or rice wine; beer is also sake, actually because sake literally translates to alcoholic beverage.) as well; we had a cup each of sake. Pretty strong. And overall, a pretty good dinner: the ambience, the company, the food. It was a fun evening and it was nice to meet up with fellow Filipinos and chat in Tagalog. Doc Benny, who probably spent 6 or more years here in Japan for his PhD and associate professorship back in the 80s, still had very good Nihongo. But he wisely chose when to use it and when not.
So, well, that's it. Back to the books. Stay tuned for updates here and there. God bless, everyone!
But this don't mean I ain't posting nothing no more. I'll still be here. Just not regularly anymore. Certainly not daily, but no, I can't promise weekly posts. My intention also is to post more photos. Or do a videoblog. But I can't promise anything.
And, as you can see, I've been blogging on practically a daily basis for my 1st 4 months here. That is a world record. 4 straight months of daily updates!
Unfortunately, like for most part-time bloggers, and now, the end is near, for daily blogging. I do not have anything in mind yet for Japan Blog 3.0. But I do know that I plan to gather together all my Japan posts into this one blog, which means my posts for my Japan Blog 1.0 (from 2005) will also be found here in the near future.
Anyways, just to let you know, I finished two papers the past week. I had been delaying it because I thought it would be easy enough - supposedly I have the materials to write them. But, no, it wasn't easy. I was just too busy last Thursday and Friday, and then Saturday - Microsoft Word crashed on me! Well I was doing structural analysis and other stuff in the background so that might have added to it. What happened though was that I was already 90% finished on my first paper and boom, I went back down to probably 70% finished. I just thought, 70% is better than 0%. Thank you (or not) for those Auto-Recovery functions of Word. Anyways, I was so on a roll those two days, but when that happened, I just went blank. I just didn't wanna do it anymore. I spent just two hours or less on it during the weekend.
But that is so also because we went to this eat-all-you-can/tabehodai place called "Carnival Buffet." Western food? Nope. It's "Western." (Emphasis on the quotation marks.) It is actually Japanese-style Western food. There's a salad bar, a drinks bar, your choice of ramen, udon, or soba noodles. There are 4 kinds of pizza - two are more like Indian-style pizza. There is curry. Japanese love curry. There was roast beef for a little while. There are these small hamburgers that you heat on a teppanyaki grill yourself. And hotcake mix for making hotcakes for yourself. There was fried chicken and sausages, and pizza - did I already say there was pizza? I ate mostly the fried chicken, the sausages, and the pizza. I have been craving for real pizza. Or the taste of cheese. It was good enough. The fried chicken tastes a lot better (more Western-tasting maybe?) than the fried chicken at the cafeterias here in school. Then there was a salad bar where I had me a medley of fruits and an ice cream. Then "ka-ching!" I thought, I could have a float as well. So I made a Coke (Zero) Float. Yum. I was already "wa chun la" (200% full) just before eating dessert. I was "wa chuns la" (so full, I'm almost like dead) after the float. It was a good ending to a 1500 yen meal.
And then we rode our bikes back home. It was quite a long ride, and then I checked using Google Maps how long our trip was. It was 6.4 km each way! By the time we got back to the apartment, we were back to "wa pao la" (100% full) again.
Anyways, it was probably that long bicycle ride, maybe 40 minutes each way, that got to me. I was so dead tired on Sunday. It was a no-day. I was just at home. But I did find the need to go the grocery store. But I just can't ride the bike again. No sir, not yet. So I took the bus. And then, lo and behold. The supermarket was probably nearly half empty of groceries! I saw two of my fellow students and they confirmed, we should just come back another day. Anyways, I did go back the next day, and it was still probably close to half empty. But there were a number of employees putting some stocks back on the racks. It is so weird. I noticed then that apparently the furniture outlet store right beside it is closed. Is something going on? I really don't know. I wasn't able to find some of the stuff I needed so I went to the nearby grocery store #2, "Coop." It was my first time ever to visit a Coop grocery store. My friend told me about it already but I forgot - you have to pay a hefty amount for plastic bags. Anyways, it was a good thing I had extra plastic bags.
On Wednesday night, I feasted on sweet, sweet Tacos. 12 of them. :-D And then just today, I finalized probably 3 dishes: tokwa't baboy, postek, and sinuglaw. It was my first time ever to prepare tokwa't baboy - not a problem actually. But it was my first time ever to prepare kinilaw na tuna. I wondered how come my kinilaw at first didn't look at all like the ones I order from most restaurants. I think, based on what I read, that kinilaw actually has coconut milk or something. Anyways, I bought so much pork, I converted the kinilaw into sinuglaw, a mix of sinugba and kinilaw. Sinugba of course is Bisaya for inihaw. For the tokwa, I used Japanese tofu, of course. :-)
Wait, Ronjie, you bought so much pork?????? Yes, I bought them last Sunday but because I felt so tired that day, I was able to cook them all only now. It's not that I eat pork only. The last couple of days, I've been eating beef. I had tapsilog the last two days, and Tacos (ground beef) last night. My tapsilog looked better than ever. It is because this time I was able to buy a cut of beef that was more appropriate for tapa. It tasted great as well. Recipe was from my mom. I didn't use patis though.
Last Sunday, my engineering mentor, Doc Benny, arrived here in Tokyo for a 3-day conference and so we met up Tuesday night, together with my former thesis adviser, Prof Fer. We went to the Imperial Palace and the Asakusa area. I didn't realize that the walk to the Imperial Palace was that long. Actually, we did a lot of walking, even just for getting to/from the train stations and transferring between stations. Anyway, the Palace grounds was just so huge a place. Sunset actually caught us there.
When we got to Asakusa, most shops were closed. The good thing was, there were very few people. I didn't think the Sensoji Temple would look so much better in the evening. And then, we had dinner at this ramen and gyoza resto wherein they serve... just one kind of ramen, and gyoza! Their specialty, apparently. Not the greatest, but pretty good. Not so salty ramen. They had beer and Japanese sake (or rice wine; beer is also sake, actually because sake literally translates to alcoholic beverage.) as well; we had a cup each of sake. Pretty strong. And overall, a pretty good dinner: the ambience, the company, the food. It was a fun evening and it was nice to meet up with fellow Filipinos and chat in Tagalog. Doc Benny, who probably spent 6 or more years here in Japan for his PhD and associate professorship back in the 80s, still had very good Nihongo. But he wisely chose when to use it and when not.
So, well, that's it. Back to the books. Stay tuned for updates here and there. God bless, everyone!
15 August 2010
International Sunday
Last night, I slept again from 5pm to around 10pm. I had my brunch of katsu-kari (curry with deep-fried pork cutlet or "tonkatsu") and some Japanese bento meal at ~3:10pm already. Then I slept from 5pm to around 10pm. I had a 6" "instant" pizza, and ice cream for dinner. I slept at around 4am already, I think. I woke up at around 12noon, but as expected I was a little too tired. But surprisingly, I didn't have any real muscle or heel pain, not like just right after the climb.
Anyways, I was too tired even to prepare or buy lunch. I just edited my videos from the Fuji trip and then whoah, it was 4:30pm already. I had to go to the 5pm mass at the Atsugi Catholic Church.
I just found out that the videos on Multiply, where I have my Mt Fuji videos hosted, play only up to the 10:00 minute mark. Yikes! If you can find a way, download the whole video to your computer and watch it offline. Alternatively, if you have a Facebook account, and I'm your friend there, you can watch it from these links:
Part 1. http://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=463002935927
Part 2. http://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=463007370927
I took the 4:50pm bus and made it in time for I think the Glory song - I wasn't sure because it was in a foreign language. This 5pm mass is actually a special International Mass, in celebration of the feast of the Assumption today, the 15th of August. Very interesting mass. The 1st reading was in Portuguese, the Responsorial Psalm in Japanese, the 2nd reading in Spanish, the Gospel in English, and the homily in both English and Japanese. The prayers of the faithful were in English, Spanish, Portuguese, Vietnamese, and Japanese, in that order. The Our Father was in English. The recessional song ("Santa Maria del Camino") was in Spanish, Japanese, Portuguese, and Japanese.
Then after the mass, there was a little party. There was my lunch! God making lambing. I was looking forward to this as well as this was a chance to meet some fellow Pinoys. I approached one guy who was apparently with a rather large group of 20-something fellow Pinoys. My opener was "Pinoy kayo?" He said yes but he and his friends were too shy, the only thing I got out of him was that they are not from Atsugi itself, that they were all here on training for 1 year, but they did not arrive here all at the same time. And then just like that, he said he had to go. Okay. On to my next Pinoy. I approached a more mature group and then proceeded with my opener question to the lone man amongst the otherwise group of women. He was a little more accommodating and was encouraging me to dig into the food before it all runs out. I guess the difference between this group and the first group I approached was that the former is composed of people who are here or have been here for a long time (say 2 years or more). I guess I belonged more to this group than the first. Apparently, not many Filipino going to church here in Atsugi are from Atsugi! Yikes, I wanna meet Pinoy Atsugi-ites! Anyways, it's all good. Finally I met the choir lead singer/organist, Rinna, and then she introduced me to a slightly younger group of 2-year or longer residents. I also met and interacted with Nina, Mickey, and another lady. Mickey is a 20-something student who graduated from Don Bosco Manda and is here with a Monbusho (Japanese ministry of education, etc) scholarship but haven't found a school yet so he's currently an English teacher; he's been here for 2 years. As usual, these guys aren't from Atsugi!
Anyways, it was fun meeting them and I hope to see them again next time. I just confirmed that there is indeed an English mass here in Atsugi also on the 1st Sunday of each month! That is great news.
At the party, in addition to the sushi, pasta, fruits, and sausages, I had lechon manok, kutsinta, biko, and sopas. Yummy, Filipino food! I don't really like sopas, but serve me sopas here (once in a while) in Japan, and I can finish thehole batch you cooked. I most especially loved the lechon manok. Yum-to-the-nth-power-mee. It was a pretty good lunch. :-D
I took off at around 7pm and went to KFC to buy my dinner for the next two days (6-piece chicken and "emu-saizu koru-suro" or M-size cole slaw). I also passed by the convenience store to buy milk and juice. Then back home. I ate my dinner at around 9pm already.
Anyways, I was too tired even to prepare or buy lunch. I just edited my videos from the Fuji trip and then whoah, it was 4:30pm already. I had to go to the 5pm mass at the Atsugi Catholic Church.
I just found out that the videos on Multiply, where I have my Mt Fuji videos hosted, play only up to the 10:00 minute mark. Yikes! If you can find a way, download the whole video to your computer and watch it offline. Alternatively, if you have a Facebook account, and I'm your friend there, you can watch it from these links:
Part 1. http://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=463002935927
Part 2. http://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=463007370927
I took the 4:50pm bus and made it in time for I think the Glory song - I wasn't sure because it was in a foreign language. This 5pm mass is actually a special International Mass, in celebration of the feast of the Assumption today, the 15th of August. Very interesting mass. The 1st reading was in Portuguese, the Responsorial Psalm in Japanese, the 2nd reading in Spanish, the Gospel in English, and the homily in both English and Japanese. The prayers of the faithful were in English, Spanish, Portuguese, Vietnamese, and Japanese, in that order. The Our Father was in English. The recessional song ("Santa Maria del Camino") was in Spanish, Japanese, Portuguese, and Japanese.
Then after the mass, there was a little party. There was my lunch! God making lambing. I was looking forward to this as well as this was a chance to meet some fellow Pinoys. I approached one guy who was apparently with a rather large group of 20-something fellow Pinoys. My opener was "Pinoy kayo?" He said yes but he and his friends were too shy, the only thing I got out of him was that they are not from Atsugi itself, that they were all here on training for 1 year, but they did not arrive here all at the same time. And then just like that, he said he had to go. Okay. On to my next Pinoy. I approached a more mature group and then proceeded with my opener question to the lone man amongst the otherwise group of women. He was a little more accommodating and was encouraging me to dig into the food before it all runs out. I guess the difference between this group and the first group I approached was that the former is composed of people who are here or have been here for a long time (say 2 years or more). I guess I belonged more to this group than the first. Apparently, not many Filipino going to church here in Atsugi are from Atsugi! Yikes, I wanna meet Pinoy Atsugi-ites! Anyways, it's all good. Finally I met the choir lead singer/organist, Rinna, and then she introduced me to a slightly younger group of 2-year or longer residents. I also met and interacted with Nina, Mickey, and another lady. Mickey is a 20-something student who graduated from Don Bosco Manda and is here with a Monbusho (Japanese ministry of education, etc) scholarship but haven't found a school yet so he's currently an English teacher; he's been here for 2 years. As usual, these guys aren't from Atsugi!
Anyways, it was fun meeting them and I hope to see them again next time. I just confirmed that there is indeed an English mass here in Atsugi also on the 1st Sunday of each month! That is great news.
At the party, in addition to the sushi, pasta, fruits, and sausages, I had lechon manok, kutsinta, biko, and sopas. Yummy, Filipino food! I don't really like sopas, but serve me sopas here (once in a while) in Japan, and I can finish thehole batch you cooked. I most especially loved the lechon manok. Yum-to-the-nth-power-mee. It was a pretty good lunch. :-D
I took off at around 7pm and went to KFC to buy my dinner for the next two days (6-piece chicken and "emu-saizu koru-suro" or M-size cole slaw). I also passed by the convenience store to buy milk and juice. Then back home. I ate my dinner at around 9pm already.
18 July 2010
Sunday, Bloody (Scorching Hot) Sunday
On the topic of
around atsugi,
filipinos,
food,
mass,
nihongo,
pinoy food,
sunday,
weather
Was about to entitle this post Sunny Sunday, similar to a post I wrote months ago. But that Sunday was a pleasantly sunny Sunday. It was a welcome surprise amidst the cold, rainy spring days. But now it's summer and oh baby. Daytime high today was 35 degrees. That's the record high since the first time I've visited Japan. In the coming nights, the nighttime low is as high as 26 degrees. Another record high for me.
By the way, "Sunday, Bloody Sunday" is a song by the world famous and legendary (i.e. now they're senior citizens) band, U2.
Anyways, woke up not so early. I was able to take the 1:20pm bus, and so I arrived at Hon-Atsugi around 1:40pm, 20 minutes before the start of the mass. Haven't eaten lunch yet so since I've been craving for real fried chicken (not the filleted chicken), I ate fried chicken. Kentucky style. :-D Actually I ordered one that comes with a chicken fillet sandwich. The sizes are too small - 810 yen total. So expensive! I was so hungry, so I ordered a nana-pizu setto with koru-suro. Figure that one out. :-D
Anywho, so off to mass I went. The usual Filipinos there. You know, those who see each other only during Sunday mass so they catch up, and they play with the very cute babies during mass.
After mass, I decided to go to the Smile Company, a second-hand (Tagalog: ukay-ukay) shop. No wait, it's a mall (or department store)! They have a 5-storey building along a national highway! It was quite a long walk from Hon-Atsugi station, and this was around 3:30pm. Scorching hot indeed. It was interesting to find lots of... well, interesting stuff there. Like a 980 yen (10 dollars, 500 pesos) guitar! And iPod touch for only ~25,000 yen (250 dollars, 12500 pesos), nearly 40% off a brand new price. There are some clothes that are just 100 yen (1 dollar, 50 pesos) each - but mostly women's or children's clothing. The jeans - they were still in the 5,000 yen (50 dollars, 2,500 pesos) range. Yikes. Clothes in general are way too expensive here. My friend says you're lucky to find a shirt below 3,000 yen (30 dollars, 1,500 pesos) here. I wanna buy an I (Heart) Tokyo (in Kanji) shirt! Actually, I found some being sold online for only 2,685 yen plus shipping, it goes up above 3,000 yen. Oh boy. Maybe next time.
I also dropped by the 100-yen store, and saw an unfamiliar Pringles flavor. Apparently it's a "Spareribs"-flavored Pringles, although it also shows the world-famous "Welcome to Las Vegas" sign. (Well, it's not really that world-famous, but most Americans and Vegas tourists would know what I'm talking about.) Let's see how it will taste.
Anywho, so today I cooked Nilaga, Ginisa (Giniling), and... Lechon Kawali, at least the first part of it. Midway through cooking Nilaga, I realized I didn't have enough black pepper and onions anymore so I made a quick trip to the convenience store. While before I said it was unconveniently out of the way, now by bicycle it is quite near and more so because I found a really short (and not so slopey) route going there! There was no crushed black pepper! Big problem. There was ground black pepper though. Good enough. And the onions I thought were too expensive. Then I saw sliced onions in a pouch! Scallions actually, more commonly known as spring onions. I thought I should try it out. So I bought it.
Can't wait to eat these foods! :-D
P.S. last night as I went to the convenience store to buy my dinner, I noticed that nearby there was some kind of celebration or something; they had tents set-up with lights, and there were some fireworks (I only heard them; no more fireworks when I got there). On my way from the grocery, they were also setting up another kind of mini-festival; they have a truck that converts into a stage and there was someone singing (or rehearsing for her performance). They have lots of celebrations during summer, usually with fireworks. I heard that every first weekend of August there will be the largest fireworks display in Atsugi at one of its famous tourist spots, the Iiyama Kannon (a 10-minute bike ride from TPU!) Actually it might be the only real tourist spot here in Atsugi. They also have hot springs ("onsen") there.
By the way, "Sunday, Bloody Sunday" is a song by the world famous and legendary (i.e. now they're senior citizens) band, U2.
Anyways, woke up not so early. I was able to take the 1:20pm bus, and so I arrived at Hon-Atsugi around 1:40pm, 20 minutes before the start of the mass. Haven't eaten lunch yet so since I've been craving for real fried chicken (not the filleted chicken), I ate fried chicken. Kentucky style. :-D Actually I ordered one that comes with a chicken fillet sandwich. The sizes are too small - 810 yen total. So expensive! I was so hungry, so I ordered a nana-pizu setto with koru-suro. Figure that one out. :-D
Anywho, so off to mass I went. The usual Filipinos there. You know, those who see each other only during Sunday mass so they catch up, and they play with the very cute babies during mass.
After mass, I decided to go to the Smile Company, a second-hand (Tagalog: ukay-ukay) shop. No wait, it's a mall (or department store)! They have a 5-storey building along a national highway! It was quite a long walk from Hon-Atsugi station, and this was around 3:30pm. Scorching hot indeed. It was interesting to find lots of... well, interesting stuff there. Like a 980 yen (10 dollars, 500 pesos) guitar! And iPod touch for only ~25,000 yen (250 dollars, 12500 pesos), nearly 40% off a brand new price. There are some clothes that are just 100 yen (1 dollar, 50 pesos) each - but mostly women's or children's clothing. The jeans - they were still in the 5,000 yen (50 dollars, 2,500 pesos) range. Yikes. Clothes in general are way too expensive here. My friend says you're lucky to find a shirt below 3,000 yen (30 dollars, 1,500 pesos) here. I wanna buy an I (Heart) Tokyo (in Kanji) shirt! Actually, I found some being sold online for only 2,685 yen plus shipping, it goes up above 3,000 yen. Oh boy. Maybe next time.
I also dropped by the 100-yen store, and saw an unfamiliar Pringles flavor. Apparently it's a "Spareribs"-flavored Pringles, although it also shows the world-famous "Welcome to Las Vegas" sign. (Well, it's not really that world-famous, but most Americans and Vegas tourists would know what I'm talking about.) Let's see how it will taste.
Anywho, so today I cooked Nilaga, Ginisa (Giniling), and... Lechon Kawali, at least the first part of it. Midway through cooking Nilaga, I realized I didn't have enough black pepper and onions anymore so I made a quick trip to the convenience store. While before I said it was unconveniently out of the way, now by bicycle it is quite near and more so because I found a really short (and not so slopey) route going there! There was no crushed black pepper! Big problem. There was ground black pepper though. Good enough. And the onions I thought were too expensive. Then I saw sliced onions in a pouch! Scallions actually, more commonly known as spring onions. I thought I should try it out. So I bought it.
Can't wait to eat these foods! :-D
P.S. last night as I went to the convenience store to buy my dinner, I noticed that nearby there was some kind of celebration or something; they had tents set-up with lights, and there were some fireworks (I only heard them; no more fireworks when I got there). On my way from the grocery, they were also setting up another kind of mini-festival; they have a truck that converts into a stage and there was someone singing (or rehearsing for her performance). They have lots of celebrations during summer, usually with fireworks. I heard that every first weekend of August there will be the largest fireworks display in Atsugi at one of its famous tourist spots, the Iiyama Kannon (a 10-minute bike ride from TPU!) Actually it might be the only real tourist spot here in Atsugi. They also have hot springs ("onsen") there.
23 May 2010
Meguro Church, Tokyo!
I was supposed to attend an event in Tokyo today, particularly at the Komaba Campus of the University of Tokyo. The event starts 9am and will be until 5pm. That meant I have to get the 7:20am bus to get there on time. That meant I had to be up 6:30am latest. I've never been up that early here!
But I did try, and I had my alarms set at 6:30am... To no avail. I woke up at 7am but got up at... 8am! I was ready to leave at 9am. The latest I would arrive at the event venue would be 11am. I would miss the Sunday mass at the venue. I cancelled my trip there. Instead I took the 10:20am bus to get to Meguro Church. I got to the church around 12:10pm already! Almost a two hour trip! (Inclusive of the waiting for the trains, and the walking.)
Anyways, this is by far the largest church I've been to since coming here. More Filipinos as expected. But also more non-Filipino foreigners. And like in the mass I attended in Tachikawa, there was a baptism ceremony for two adults and one very cute little girl, as well as a First Communion ceremony for the two newly baptized Catholic adults. Of course, it's Pentecost Sunday so the priest was wearing a red vestment. :-)
I also met up with Prof Germar, one of my master's thesis advisers, at the church. And after mass we saw some of my former undergrad schoolmates from UP (also BS Civil Engineering grads) who are now taking their PhD, masters, or working here in Japan. We decided to have (late) lunch together at this "Italian" place (I'm sure my Italian colleagues here in TPU would disagree), but actually what I like about that place is that it's tabehodai (eat-all-you-can/buffet). The second thing I like about the place is that it can be as cheap as just 1000 yen for a buffet lunch meal! Of course, I like that it's Italian. I like fresh green salads with Italian dressing. And Caesar salad with grilled chicken. There was also "spicy" chicken nuggets, and a few other yummy stuff. Just a few. There was only one pasta dish on the buffet menu. Overall, it's not great but... it's great (for me)! Oh, but I have one complaint about the place though I would understand why they do it: they have very small plates for the buffet! Each plate was just probably 6 inches in diameter. So imagine how many trips I had to make!
On my way home, I dropped by the Atsugi Basu Senta (bus center) to look for the ramen place I used to visit 5 years ago with my colleagues back then (who have since earned their PhD degrees). It was closed! I don't know if it was only closed on Sundays or open only at certain times but... Well there's one less place to visit.
By the way, it was rainy the whole day. A little cool but not so cold - people were wearing plain t-shirts still. Daytime high was just 21 degrees.
For dinner I cooked my own rice yet again, and ate siomai (Tagalog for Chinese dumplings) dipped in Kikkoman soy sauce, some side veggies, some takoyaki, and a banana. The frozen takoyaki doesn't come close to being like the freshly prepared ones. But it was a hearty meal. Thank God for all the blessings.
P.S. Last night before I drank my milk and went to sleep, I made one bowl of sinigang soup - I brought with me some Knorr Sabaw ng Sinigang (or is it Mama Sita Sinigang Mix?), dropped about a teaspoon into a bowl of hot water, and voila. Didn't taste the same as the real thing though, maybe because there's no pork, veggies (most specially onions and tomatoes!), and fish sauce in there which add to the overall flavor of the real deal. Oh well, I loved it nonetheless. Thank God indeed for all the blessings. :-)
But I did try, and I had my alarms set at 6:30am... To no avail. I woke up at 7am but got up at... 8am! I was ready to leave at 9am. The latest I would arrive at the event venue would be 11am. I would miss the Sunday mass at the venue. I cancelled my trip there. Instead I took the 10:20am bus to get to Meguro Church. I got to the church around 12:10pm already! Almost a two hour trip! (Inclusive of the waiting for the trains, and the walking.)
Anyways, this is by far the largest church I've been to since coming here. More Filipinos as expected. But also more non-Filipino foreigners. And like in the mass I attended in Tachikawa, there was a baptism ceremony for two adults and one very cute little girl, as well as a First Communion ceremony for the two newly baptized Catholic adults. Of course, it's Pentecost Sunday so the priest was wearing a red vestment. :-)
I also met up with Prof Germar, one of my master's thesis advisers, at the church. And after mass we saw some of my former undergrad schoolmates from UP (also BS Civil Engineering grads) who are now taking their PhD, masters, or working here in Japan. We decided to have (late) lunch together at this "Italian" place (I'm sure my Italian colleagues here in TPU would disagree), but actually what I like about that place is that it's tabehodai (eat-all-you-can/buffet). The second thing I like about the place is that it can be as cheap as just 1000 yen for a buffet lunch meal! Of course, I like that it's Italian. I like fresh green salads with Italian dressing. And Caesar salad with grilled chicken. There was also "spicy" chicken nuggets, and a few other yummy stuff. Just a few. There was only one pasta dish on the buffet menu. Overall, it's not great but... it's great (for me)! Oh, but I have one complaint about the place though I would understand why they do it: they have very small plates for the buffet! Each plate was just probably 6 inches in diameter. So imagine how many trips I had to make!
On my way home, I dropped by the Atsugi Basu Senta (bus center) to look for the ramen place I used to visit 5 years ago with my colleagues back then (who have since earned their PhD degrees). It was closed! I don't know if it was only closed on Sundays or open only at certain times but... Well there's one less place to visit.
By the way, it was rainy the whole day. A little cool but not so cold - people were wearing plain t-shirts still. Daytime high was just 21 degrees.
For dinner I cooked my own rice yet again, and ate siomai (Tagalog for Chinese dumplings) dipped in Kikkoman soy sauce, some side veggies, some takoyaki, and a banana. The frozen takoyaki doesn't come close to being like the freshly prepared ones. But it was a hearty meal. Thank God for all the blessings.
P.S. Last night before I drank my milk and went to sleep, I made one bowl of sinigang soup - I brought with me some Knorr Sabaw ng Sinigang (or is it Mama Sita Sinigang Mix?), dropped about a teaspoon into a bowl of hot water, and voila. Didn't taste the same as the real thing though, maybe because there's no pork, veggies (most specially onions and tomatoes!), and fish sauce in there which add to the overall flavor of the real deal. Oh well, I loved it nonetheless. Thank God indeed for all the blessings. :-)
02 May 2010
Whew, Watta Day!
Got up early, did my laundry - whites, colors, and whites that have stains. Then left them to dry. I was too late to get to the 12pm mass in Meguro to meet up with a friend from college, Coy, who is taking her masters in Public Administration (or something like that). I left TPU at around 12:30pm, took lunch in Hon-Atsugi, then off to a route I have never taken before. I got off at Noborito, transfered to the JR Nanbu (train) Line, and got down at Tachikawa. Then it was a 10-minute walk to the church. The Google Maps directions led me to the back of the church, so I walked around one block to get to the front. I arrived at the church at 3:15pm, in time for the Alleluia before the Gospel reading.
Anyways, of course the mass was in English. The priest was Caucasian, but I don't know where he is from, but if I did not know that he was Caucasian, I would've thought he was Filipino because of his English accent. Interesting. Like the previous English-speaking (but apparently from a non-English-speaking country) priest, he was fluent in Japanese, and gave his homily also in Japanese - to this Japanese guy. Apparently that Japanese guy, an adult, was getting baptized that day. I loved that scene. It was also his first communion day! "Omedetō gozaimasu ne!" (Literally, "Congratulations [to him], right/eh?") It was really cool. I wanted to take a video but... well I regret not taking a video. Oh well.
His baptism rights were right after the homily, and it was given by the priest in Japanese. After that, the priest was continuing with the mass... in Japanese! He momentarily forgot it was an English mass. But of course, back to English it was.
As expected, most of the mass attendees as well as the choir there were Filipino. 3 guitar players in the choir. Then one "egg (mini maracas) shaker." Maybe 6 singers. And there was a drum-box drummer. I liked the choir at the Atsugi Catholic Church better... :-D
But unexpectedly, I heard 3 Filipino songs in the mass - "Si Kristo ay gunitain..." "Kordero ng Diyos na nagaalis..." and... I forgot the 3rd one, but it was a communion song. I don't know if any of the songs during the early part of the mass were also in Tagalog. The "Our Father" is a version we sing in the Philippines; I don't think it is sung elsewhere where there aren't that many Filipinos. "We Remember" was also sung. As well as "Take and Receive," and for the Recessional Song it was "For God So Loved the World," I think is the title.
Anyways, the mass finished at around 4:15pm and I had to meet up with Coy at 5pm in Harajuku. I got to Harajuku at 5:30pm already! That church is that far! Approximately 2 hours from my apartment (2.5 hours with some time for eating), and approximately 1.25 hours to Central Tokyo. It was probably 45 km from my apartment, and around 25 km to Central Tokyo. It was probably 45 km from Central Tokyo to my apartment. (In case you don't know yet, it's just a 2-minute walk from my place to my school. :-D)
So I met Coy, and the first thing we did was go to Softbank to ask about their mobile phones. I got a plan with a 2-year contract for ZERO monthly rate, and also I pay ZERO for the phone itself, because I am a student, and because I used my credit card. Credit card to pay for what? Anyways, the ZERO monthly rate, which is normally 980 JPY monthly, is what they call the "White Plan," which allows FREE same-network calls and texts (i.e. Softbank to Softbank users) between 1am and 9pm. Not bad! But then there's the catch. The phone itself doesn't come with a charger! So I had to pay to get one. JPY 1155. Okay, not bad. That is practically what I paid for the phone. PHP 500! (By the way, 100 JPY = 1 USD, approximately, so 1 JPY = 1 US cent). And another catch is, or at least that's what I think it is, is that I have to enroll my account for mobile internet services, which is 315 (or was it 350) JPY monthly. Minimum. Still not bad. So technically I'm paying 350 monthly. But actually once I use the internet, there will be charges. Yikes! *self-control* But there's a cap though, so in case I use the internet excessively, I won't pay hundreds of thousands of cents.
But anyway, my mission was accomplished. Get the cheapest phone and cheapest monthly rate, using a phone company that most of my fellow students also subscribe to so that our calls to each other are free, and now I am able to make emergency calls when needed, and people can call me when needed, and in case I am lost I can access the internet and take a look at maps and so on. I really hope I don't need to make emergency calls. I also set my billing to be automatically charged to my credit card so, no worries there. I'll be paying hopefully just JPY 315 or 350 monthly, or PHP 160 or USD 3.50 equivalently.
Actually I had a choice between a nice looking phone model and this model that I got which has.... TV! Chance to learn Nihongo! Ehehehe.
Anyways, it took us probably an hour at Softbank. Next stop was dinner. But we also passed by Takeshita-Dori (Takeshita Street) which is the popular teenage hangout street in Harajuku. Coy bought something at this women's socks (i.e. also print/colored stockings) place. Yikes, I forgot the name. Interesting looking "socks" though. Expensive if you ask my Philippines-based how-much-things-should-be standard. We also passed by The GAP.
Dinner was at this ramen place. I forgot the name! Anyways, Coy says it's her favorite eating place in Harajuku, and then the ramen we ordered, said Coy, is one of the more popular ones from the long list of different types of ramen (i.e. different ingredients). And indeed it was delicious. I forgot the name! But there was pork in it, and it was a little creamy - maybe with milk or butter? The pork also, was so tender. I loved it.
Coy and I left Harajuku at around 8:20pm - so I was just in time to catch the last bus, 1.5 hours later, from Hon-Atsugi back to school.
What a day. Yay to Sundays! :-)
Anyways, of course the mass was in English. The priest was Caucasian, but I don't know where he is from, but if I did not know that he was Caucasian, I would've thought he was Filipino because of his English accent. Interesting. Like the previous English-speaking (but apparently from a non-English-speaking country) priest, he was fluent in Japanese, and gave his homily also in Japanese - to this Japanese guy. Apparently that Japanese guy, an adult, was getting baptized that day. I loved that scene. It was also his first communion day! "Omedetō gozaimasu ne!" (Literally, "Congratulations [to him], right/eh?") It was really cool. I wanted to take a video but... well I regret not taking a video. Oh well.
His baptism rights were right after the homily, and it was given by the priest in Japanese. After that, the priest was continuing with the mass... in Japanese! He momentarily forgot it was an English mass. But of course, back to English it was.
As expected, most of the mass attendees as well as the choir there were Filipino. 3 guitar players in the choir. Then one "egg (mini maracas) shaker." Maybe 6 singers. And there was a drum-box drummer. I liked the choir at the Atsugi Catholic Church better... :-D
But unexpectedly, I heard 3 Filipino songs in the mass - "Si Kristo ay gunitain..." "Kordero ng Diyos na nagaalis..." and... I forgot the 3rd one, but it was a communion song. I don't know if any of the songs during the early part of the mass were also in Tagalog. The "Our Father" is a version we sing in the Philippines; I don't think it is sung elsewhere where there aren't that many Filipinos. "We Remember" was also sung. As well as "Take and Receive," and for the Recessional Song it was "For God So Loved the World," I think is the title.
Anyways, the mass finished at around 4:15pm and I had to meet up with Coy at 5pm in Harajuku. I got to Harajuku at 5:30pm already! That church is that far! Approximately 2 hours from my apartment (2.5 hours with some time for eating), and approximately 1.25 hours to Central Tokyo. It was probably 45 km from my apartment, and around 25 km to Central Tokyo. It was probably 45 km from Central Tokyo to my apartment. (In case you don't know yet, it's just a 2-minute walk from my place to my school. :-D)
So I met Coy, and the first thing we did was go to Softbank to ask about their mobile phones. I got a plan with a 2-year contract for ZERO monthly rate, and also I pay ZERO for the phone itself, because I am a student, and because I used my credit card. Credit card to pay for what? Anyways, the ZERO monthly rate, which is normally 980 JPY monthly, is what they call the "White Plan," which allows FREE same-network calls and texts (i.e. Softbank to Softbank users) between 1am and 9pm. Not bad! But then there's the catch. The phone itself doesn't come with a charger! So I had to pay to get one. JPY 1155. Okay, not bad. That is practically what I paid for the phone. PHP 500! (By the way, 100 JPY = 1 USD, approximately, so 1 JPY = 1 US cent). And another catch is, or at least that's what I think it is, is that I have to enroll my account for mobile internet services, which is 315 (or was it 350) JPY monthly. Minimum. Still not bad. So technically I'm paying 350 monthly. But actually once I use the internet, there will be charges. Yikes! *self-control* But there's a cap though, so in case I use the internet excessively, I won't pay hundreds of thousands of cents.
But anyway, my mission was accomplished. Get the cheapest phone and cheapest monthly rate, using a phone company that most of my fellow students also subscribe to so that our calls to each other are free, and now I am able to make emergency calls when needed, and people can call me when needed, and in case I am lost I can access the internet and take a look at maps and so on. I really hope I don't need to make emergency calls. I also set my billing to be automatically charged to my credit card so, no worries there. I'll be paying hopefully just JPY 315 or 350 monthly, or PHP 160 or USD 3.50 equivalently.
Actually I had a choice between a nice looking phone model and this model that I got which has.... TV! Chance to learn Nihongo! Ehehehe.
Anyways, it took us probably an hour at Softbank. Next stop was dinner. But we also passed by Takeshita-Dori (Takeshita Street) which is the popular teenage hangout street in Harajuku. Coy bought something at this women's socks (i.e. also print/colored stockings) place. Yikes, I forgot the name. Interesting looking "socks" though. Expensive if you ask my Philippines-based how-much-things-should-be standard. We also passed by The GAP.
Dinner was at this ramen place. I forgot the name! Anyways, Coy says it's her favorite eating place in Harajuku, and then the ramen we ordered, said Coy, is one of the more popular ones from the long list of different types of ramen (i.e. different ingredients). And indeed it was delicious. I forgot the name! But there was pork in it, and it was a little creamy - maybe with milk or butter? The pork also, was so tender. I loved it.
Coy and I left Harajuku at around 8:20pm - so I was just in time to catch the last bus, 1.5 hours later, from Hon-Atsugi back to school.
What a day. Yay to Sundays! :-)
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