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.

Interesting

Ah, a break from the consecutive busy, not very interesting days.  As I mentioned, I slept quite early last night, and woke up quite early today, around 8am in fact.  I did my laundry - and finished my laundry at around 10am. I was thinking, should I go to the grocery already?

I got the bicycle, but I ended up in school.  And I didn't leave school anymore until the seminar, which was an interesting one.  Delivered by a current University of Tokyo professor who was formerly a UN officer, it was about disaster risk reduction, which is the trend now versus yesteryear's disaster reduction, which he explained was very different from disaster risk reduction.

Anyways, the seminar ended around 3:15pm, and I was debating again whether I should go the grocery already?  I thought about it and thought about it, and next thing you know, it was 5:30pm already.  Our meeting time for our "group date" was 6pm in downtown Atsugi - a 30 minute bicycle ride.  So what the heck, grocery shopping can wait till tomorrow.

And then wow, the food was good.  It was Indian food, all-you-can-eat, and I haven't ever eaten that much since I came to Japan.  There were samples of Tandoori Chicken, Samosa (a kind of potato empanada dipped in ketchup), Fish Fry which was really good, Cauliflower Fry which was also surprisingly good, and then the all-you-can-eat nan, this other bread, Indian rice, and 4 kinds of curry - ebi (shrimp) curry, chicken curry, keema (mutton) curry, and vegetable curry.  Yum-mee.  We were told it's drink-all-you-can as well, so I had a couple of beers.  Turns out it wasn't drink-all-you-can for beer.  I should have just tried the Lasi.  And the Mango Lasi.  There's always a next time.  I heard that at that restaurant, it was only eat-all-you-can because our Indian colleagues arranged it so, and that there needed to be at least 10 people.  I think there was 17 of us.  Fun!  I really love the bread (nan), especially the garlic nan, and the keema curry!  Of course the Indian way was to use the hand, and maybe I and every one tried doing that but it wasn't so comfortable so thankfully there were spoons and forks and knives. :-D

After dinner, some went home and some wanted to go out for some more drinks, and so I went out for some more drinks.  I didn't know Atsugi had such cozy places for just relaxing and chatting with friends over some drinks.  I also got to speak with some Japanese, and supposedly I was to exercise my Japanese, but I ended up exercising their English. :-D  Anyways, because I was getting sneezy with beer, I had what they call a "Kiwi Sour" drink.  It's basically Kiwi (fruit) with "Sour," which was kind of a Japanese alcoholic thingy.  It wasn't so strong.

By the way, I learned that "draft beer" is nama bi-ru in Japanese.  Here's a joke for all ye Pinoys: Use nama bi-ru in a sentence.... Di ka nama bi-ru e! :-P

Glourious Sinegang!

Okay now, don't hit me on the wrong spelling.  That's called literary license.  Ehehe.  If that's not enough reason for you, how about discrimination - why can Brad Pitt's Inglourious Basterds use "wrong" spellings?

Anyways, that is what it is.  I thought I should title today "Unusual," in contrast to yesterday's title "Usual," and let the Sinigang be a surprise.  But it is just too important a milestone for me here.

I got up the usual time.  Took my usual breakfast of coffee and something.  Today's breakfast something is a few pieces of Oreo cookies.  Then I did my laundry.  It's a gloomy, overcast day the whole day today (daytime high was 19 degrees = 66 degrees Fahrenheit), and even a little bit of rain later in the day - but no worries, the washing machine spin-dries the laundry dry enough for hanging indoors.  Of course they won't dry as fast as when they're under direct sunlight.  But I had to do this today because tomorrow I will most likely go to Meguro church again for the 12:00nn mass and then meet up for lunch with my fellow Filipinos taking or finished taking or yet to take their PhDs here in Japan.

Anyways, I had two batches of clothes hanging to dry already, and one more batch was still in the tub but it was already 12:00 noon and so I went to the DIY shop.  Again.  To try to buy a stove.  Again.

But this time I came prepared.  I learned that there are two types of gas lines here: the city gas ("toshi gasu") and the propane/LP gas ("puropen gasu"), and that my apartment uses the city gas line.  I even have a document that says what gas type exactly.  There are sub-types of city gas, like "12A", "13A", etc.; mine is 13A.  So I found my stove type, and got the cheapest one, although it was only 200 yen / 100 pesos / 2 dollars cheaper than the next one.  I noticed that one brand would have two different types of the same style of stove at the same price, one for propane and one for city gas.  So of course I took the city gas type of stove.

When I went to the cashier, I tried to confirm that what I was getting was correct.  I asked the cashier if it's okay, and she said yes.  Then I showed her the document, and again she said yes, it's okay.  So I said, okay I'll buy it.

And there was the start of today's miracles.

I also bought a tube to connect the stove to the gas line.  The stove, by the way, cost around 5600 yen / 56 dollars / 2800 pesos.  Imagine that.

Anyway, next stop was the 100-yen store, to get some "accessories" for the stove, like these aluminum-material table top surface protectors and aluminum-material tilamsik protectors.  I didn't need pots or pans or those big spoons for cooking (what are they called again?), because the person who used to live in what is now my apartment left his cooking stuff there.  That person is also Filipino, and well not for any reason but just to make sure, I soaked all stuff that I got for free (like those pots and pans, etc.) and that I didn't buy myself in boiling water, then scrubbed them clean, so they're all like new. :-D  I didn't also need to buy cooking oil, because there was already cooking oil.  The next thing to buy was...  Food to cook!

So down to the grocery store I went.  And I went crazy.  It's difficult being deprived!  My total grocery bill today was 4003 yen, if I remember correctly.  That's around 2000 pesos or 40 dollars.  I bought pork, beef, eggs, veggies, and spices for making sinigang, nilaga, picadillo, pork steak, and tapsilog.  I wasn't so sure which was beef and which was pork.  I was only 98% sure, and so there was a 2% probability I was wrong and I could just be wasting money.  But anyways, I asked other shoppers around...  "Is this pork?"  ("Botaniku desu ka?")  "Is this beef?"  ("Gyuniku desu ka?")  So I became 99% sure.  I was only 100% sure once I've cooked and tasted them!

Anyways, I guess the little doubt was fine.  I also bought three 1-liter cartons of milk, and bananas, and a few other items.  I think the total weight of everything I bought today was around 10kg.  And I only had one basket on my bike.  So anyways, it was a difficult bike ride back home, going slightly uphill with all that weight on the bike (some also on my backpack).  And then it was starting to drizzle.  Just very tiny drops though, like  the ones that come out from hairspray cans.  I don't know the effect though on the fresh veggies and meat I bought, if they got wet.  Oh, and on the stove!

Anyways, all those worries were secondary.  My primary focus was the food that I was going to prepare and eat that evening.  I got home around 4pm.  I left home to go to school at around 8pm, after taking dinner and cleaning up a bit.  (I haven't yet washed the pots and pots... :-D)

Guess what I cooked!

Sinigang?


Nope.

Nilagang baboy?

Nope.

Picadillo?

Nope.

Pork steak?

Nope.

Tapa, sinangang, and itlog?

Nope.

All of the above!

Kidding.  I cooked Sinigang, then rice, then Picadillo.  :-D

The Sinigang looked like the real thing.  I bought "buto-buto" or boney pork parts - I think they're from the ribs part.  I also had okra (lady fingers), sitaw (string beans), labanos (but I used "Japanese radish" - which I think is just the same as labanos, except it's larger in size), a couple of green peppers, tomatoes, and onions, and of course Sinigang Mix.  The difference?  I can't find kang-kong, or patis, so I settled for some cabbage and just salt.  Actually it lacked a little bit of saltiness but in general, I loved it.  I've never been this full since coming here.  Getting full by Sinigang is not like any other feeling in the world.  I am truly thankful for the things that has lead me to this moment.

Oh, but wait!  The Picadillo was still cooking.  I got it wrong actually.  But I think it's fine considering it has been a long while since I last cooked Picadillo.  I think I was still in high school then - more than 17 years ago now?  On the contrast, this is already the 2nd time (and yes, only the 2nd time) I cooked Sinigang - the 1st and last time being around 5 years ago.  Both times, I used Sinigang Mix, of course.  But the first time around, I didn't check to see if the meat was tender enough, so it turned out a little too chewy.  And I think I didn't have labanos back then.

Anyways, my Picadillo turned out too salty.  The first thing I got wrong was I put too much oil for sauteeing the onions, garlic, and tomatoes (i.e. the ginisa part).  So it took a long time for them to release their taste and aroma.  Anyways, so I put the meat in.  But the next thing I got wrong was I put too much water after.  So it took a long time for the water to come down to a level such that it doesn't look like a soup.  Anyways, like I usually do, I season to feel (not to taste).  When I put in salt and soy sauce, there was still so much water.  When a lot of the water has evaporated, it turned out a little too salty!  My remedy for this is that I will eat them with rice anyway, which should tone down the saltiness a bit.  If it is still too salty I guess I'll need to add more water and then just heat again.  Hope it doesn't turn into soup, though!

Today, I "seasoned to feel" also because I didn't know exactly how much weight of meat I bought!  Can't find any indication of weight in the labels.  But anyhow, the Sinigang I prepared is good for 2 meals (so 1 more Sinigang meal to go).  The Picadillo I prepared I think is good for 3 meals.  So assuming I will eat them for dinner, I have food until Wednesday evening.

By the way, one other new thing I tried today is to eat at the foodcourt on the 3rd floor of Atsugi Trellis, same floor as the 100-yen store.  I tried this McDonald's-like Japanese fastfood place, I think it's called Dom-Dom.  They have this promo, 100 yen off this 550 yen set meal that includes fries and drinks and this chicken sandwich.  I got lost in translation for a little while with the cashier who was trying to ask me something but I didn't understand her.  Anyways...  The chicken sandwich was sooooo juicy and sooooo yummy, I wanted more.  Medically that translates to: too oily, too fatty, and too much sodium.  But it was really soooo juicy and sooooo yummy and well it was toooooo small actually in size, and that is one other reason why I wanted more!  This is a must try.  It's a new kind of chicken sandwich experience I've never had with any other chicken sandwiches.  

Then again, who cares about chicken sandwiches if you've got Sinigang, right? :-)

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