More Food Porn....I love it!

To your left is:

Daikon with citrus and pan seared fish liver
Below is a a platter of Fugu (blow fish) skin in a spicy aspic, swordfish with some boiled fish inside, some sea critter in a shell (quite bitter...and it very phallic looking once out of the shell) fish row, abalone, and Maguro tuna with a quail egg, lotus flower, and some type of seaweed.


This here photo is Chawan Mushi. I like it. It's a egg custard. This particular one had shrimp crab, mushrooms, and brown stuff...? Looks like a blob of poop. Wakkata. Dakara oishiikata. Oh, can't forget the Shiso leaf.

I would never find an Izakaya like this on my own. The thanks for this particular fascinating culinary experience go to my Shimizu mom Keioko. This is her favorite place and it is run by the parents of one of her old students from when she taught in elementary school. The kid is older than me now! Sorry, I keep on forgetting to take pictures of people.....oops. I guess we know my priorities! I did take pictures of Keiko's cat Shu-chan.

I have a handful of buddies here now. I'll call them friends when we do something besides go for drinks.

I am tired this weeked, work was nuts and I had a friend from Toyohashi AEON come to vist and we were up purdy darn late. Then the next day I went to the Izakaya featured in said photos. So, I am going to do some yoga and veg. It will be the first time.

I still want an animal bad......My last fish died last week. It was adding insult to injury. The week already sucked without something dying.

So, Golden you can pester Pond up in fishy heaven.

Amen.

Images From Somewhere in Shimizu

I missed the green of Seattle, so today I headed out towards the mountains and this is what I found.

1. A lovely wee little temple

I have no idea what the sign says. I assume it says "Hey, this tree is special!"

2. A cemetery.....it smelled nice! It also seemed rather old when I was looking at the wear on some of the stone Jizo statues.

This is a cool view of Shimizu from the cemetery. It sits fairly high on the hill.

workin' 9-5 what a way to make a livin'

* My work space. Note, it is fully equipped with Obento made by manager's mom, hashi(chopsticks), camel back water bottle, and ipod. All the necessities in life I'd say.



* The picture below in my student Chi Chan.

My first week back after winter vacation and I am beat. And broke. It's not bad, but I am anal retentive and I plan things out. I want to go to Thailand during golden week so I am saving up for that too. You could say my brokeness is due to my priorities. All it really means is that I am board. Although, I am learning a lot about Japanese culture through the boob tube!
Usually on my days off I bicycle somewhere. I haven't headed north east. I might head that direction today. I also rent cds. That's right, I said rent. I burn um and enjoy. It's like buying 5 cds for 10 bucks, but its in yen so take of 50 cents. On Mondays, I have Japanese lessons. I might have to give it up for a month or so, till I get a little more pocket change. Keiko Sensei is great, she is a student of mine who works at Nova as a cram school teacher. She usually makes me dinner too!
I digress, one of my co-workers got sick and was subsequently fired. So, I took over part of her class load. The new year also brought me a new schedule that was tougher than my previous one. Also, every other week I have 2 extra classes. Oh, and I have been having to do interviews with prospective students lately. My daily schedule is as follows: wake up at get ready for work. Go to work. Stay there for 8 1/2 to 9 1/2 hours. Go home. Eat ramen. Sleep.I do have to say that my co-workers are great. What would I do without them! I can't wait till April when the school year starts. My class load so straighten out some. BTW, Amie wont be having kids now. No, don't like um. They are kinda cute, but I don't want to deal with them.
They economy is also bad here. There is a saying when America coughs Japan gets a cold. As, the foreign teacher, I should work harder, keep my customers (not students), and be more business savvy. All of which I ignore when I am at meetings, cuz I can't get fired and I am working my tail off. Now, if the head office would quit spying on me. Other than that I am getting used to this teaching gig. Please pray that my students are actually learning. I'll try to get work pictures up.
As a side note, which is random. I miss chocolate. The Japanese quality is awful!

* This hilarious video is of one of our students who does magic tricks for us after class.

Nagoya Trip photos

Kyoko Okasan and Minako waving goodbye to me a the train station.

There is a family of deer living in the old mote of Nagoya castle. It was my favorite part of the castle!
So, I do think I am funny.

The famous Nagoya castle. I got to watch Manzai while I was there....I didn't understand a single word and Okasan feel asleep.

A Tori gate at a ? some Jingu in Nagoya. There were so many people. It was like being in a mosh pit. I have never been shoved in Japan before this. I hope to never do this again. But, it was very fun and I was making babbies laugh while waiting in a 400 meter que.

Breakfast #2. Tofu with bonito and green onion. grilled fish, rice, Omisu with Omochi, and salad.

This is my fist Shabu Shabu experiece. Pork, some tofu like thing, greens, and bean sprouts, and ofcourse dipping sauce.

The sideways picture is my New Year breakfast. It's comprised of : fish cakes, tamago yaki, oseichi, renkon, little teriyaki dried fish, and fish eggs.


Oiishikaata! Osoba with tempura ebu (shrimp) and pickles

Christmas in Shimizu

Yup it's KFC and Christmas cake time!
Today I actaully might get a slice of Christmas cake. To me it just looks like a white cake with some strawberries? I know sounds very hoilday like. I wont tell them about ginger bread. They might get upset.
I wont be doing anything for the holidays. But on the eve of, I am going to a karaoke party. Maybe I'll sing jingle bells in Japanese? Very festive indeed.
I get internet by sitting out on my porch; with the laundry. It's free and conveniently located. Unfortunatly a spider thinks this is a good location to build a home for its family. Yes, I am going to try and kill it. It's huge and balck and yellow, in addition to being Japanese. Therefore, it can not be trusted.
I am constantly decorating my apartment. By the photos I am sure you noticed that it is a wee bit small. It sucks, but the loft is really nice. I'll post more photos soon. Feel free to vist when your in the area!
On Monday nights I take Japanese lessons. Which means I try to speak Japanese and Japanese people answer back in Japanese and I don't understand a thing. It's fun! Some how everything works out.
I was at a shrine in Miho and purchased a fortune with tigers eye stone. I said I had a good fortune and then proceeded to tell me all the shit that was going to go wrong. Hum, very Japanese. Well, the year is almost over so I don't have to worry about it much.

I am going to Tomokos mum's house for New Years. It's a really big deal. I'll post pictures. I'm wearing a kimono,....you've been forwarned.

I for got to make you jelous about cheap sea food and such. Geeze, and I am a fat person! I have not right to be one...

Shimizu pictures

My not so lovley apartment and my lovley view.

The view from my class room at Shimizu station.

Who needs X-mass lights when you have neon?

Wow, racist! It was funny though, becuase it made me think of my brother Nicholas. Another thing that makes me think of him is a student I have that sounds like a Japanese Borat.

The port of Shimizu from the S Plus Dream Plaza( aka the mall).

It's Time

I leave this friday! I wont be posting for a while as it takes forever to get internet set up and I don't have any hotspots close to my place.
If you have any questions about Japan ask me and I'll go on a quest to answer it for you.
caio,
Amie
I am here and it's the 21. I am sick but here.