Welcome to "Okonomiyaki"possibly my favorite Japanese food.Google it.
Living and working in Anjo City Japan. Follow me on my wacky journeys. Learn about Japan, learn about me, learn about other random Asian things, heckle me. Enjoy your stay!
If you've been keeping up with my blog you may know that I enjoy making films and even studied it in college. If not here are some of my films here,here and here. In total there were four films that I shot while in Art school but one of them while was completely filmed has not been finished yet. Due to the need for a lot of post production including special effects and life takingme on some interesting roads this last film was never completed. We'll I have decided to finally get it done.
The film is a Japanese movie titled "ゆりと蛍" (Yuri to Hotaru) which translates to "Yuri And The Fireflies" The cast is all Japanese and the movie is spoken in Japanese with English subtitles. Yuri And The Fireflies is the story of a young woman who escapes from a miserable life and abusive relationship using a mysterious book given to her as a child by her mother.
I'm happy to be working on the movie again as just from the footage shot alone I think it will turn out being my best yet. I'm not certain exactly when it will be finished but should be the first half of 2012 if everything stays on schedule. Below are two posters for the film.
I went to my first Nomikai (drinking party) last Friday with co-workers after the Sports Day at school. It's a Japanese tradition for co-workers including the boss to get together and go to an eating/drinking establishment and basically drink away until they finally open up to each other and start talking about all of work's problems or other things that the Japanese normally don't open up about. At first I was a bit apprehensive about going as I don't really talk to the co-workers at work and I felt it would be like having dinner with a bunch of strangers. I also don't drink which is the key element to a drinking party, but I wanted to be a team player so I decided to join. I've heard the teachers can get a little wild at these things. For me this wasn't the case.
Our Nomikai was held at a traditional hotel in near Nagara river in Gifu which apparently was built back when Samurai's were still roaming around being awesome. There is also a very popular Onsen (hot spring) inside the hotel and if you arrived to the Nomikai a hour before it started all the employers were able to get in the Onsen for free. I didn't have enough time but it's the thought that counts. During the event in which almost every teacher showed up everyone is sitting at their own small table. Throughout the night food and drinks were being served by women in Kimono's.
My table setup. Let's get eating! Itadakimasu!
Honestly no idea what it was but the presentation was nice.
"Shabu Shabu". Meat and vegetables cooked in some kind of oil based liquid? Ours were cooked by candlelight.
There was also a number of drinks to choose from like beer, cola, sprite, tea and non alcoholic beer ( alcoholic beer is both pointless and disgusting.) One tradition during a Nomikai is for the lower level workers to go to the people in higher positions than them and pour them drinks although even the Principal of my school was serving others drinks. He even tried to serve me. (Nice guy) I also took part slightly in this tradition by serving the Principal and Vice Principal. While eating and drinking there are a lot of conversations to be had. I talked to a few people myself most of which are the only ones that talk to me while at work but I was able to learn a little more about them which was nice. We also played variety show type games splitting the teachers into two teams. All in all it was an interesting night and while I didn't get to bond with some drunk as I expected, it did give me something to do that evening.
The first stop on my awesome summer vacation is the country/city of Singapore. I had a friend who was traveling there for a trip as well as a friend who currently works there and I had never been so I decided why the heck not. Besides I wanted to see these legendary "clean streets".
There is a lot of color in Singapore.
From Japan it took a little over 6 hours to get to Singapore which is the longest flight I've been on in quite awhile and Ive taken a plane 3 times since moving to Japan. It all just reminds me how much in agony I will be when I decide to take a visit back to the US. After arriving in Singapore I headed to the guest house and waited a few hours for my friend to arrive as he was coming from Bangkok. The adventures began after he arrived. The first thing that caught my attention about Singapore is how multicultural it is. There were so many people from different countries and it reminded me of a big city in US like New York which I haven't experienced in awhile. It was also the first English speaking country I had been to in a long while. Despite there being so many different people I did however feel that most of them stayed in their own groups which was a little disappointing. The second thing I notice was how colorful it was. Like from buildings to cars to plants everything was so colorful and pretty. Singapore also gives me a South American vibe.
Me and my college buddy Peter.
Singapore is a small place. I feel like you can travel the entire country in less than 2 days, but within this compact area there are a lot of neat things.
Singapore Locations Sentosa Island Sentosa Island is a popular Island resort within Singapore. Located on the island is a Universal Studios, a beach, golf courses a mall and various other attractions. Sentosa is like the get away place for Singapore residents during the weekend and despite being a huge attraction it has a relaxing atmosphere and besides any place with beaches is a plus.
Setntosa Island with a view of the famous Merlion in the background. There are many Merlion`s in Singapore but this one is the biggest. You can even go inside.
We didn`t go in but you can never skip a chance to take this picture.
Riding the cable car up to Mt.Faber.
As advertised.
Wake boarding. Expensive but fun to watch people wipe out.
Pizza on the beach. That`s a vacation.
Sunset on the way to Mt.Faber.
There are also a few free shows that looked like they would be pretty good unfortunately our schedules were pretty packed so we never got a chance to see them. Theres a light show as well as a show involving two gigantic metal birds.
Singapore Zoo
According to a ton of websites the Zoo in Singapore is the best zoo in the world. I've only been to a couple zoo's in the US as well as in Korea but I am incline to agree with the Internet. The Singapore Zoo is pretty cool. They call it an open air zoo and it's hard to explain but there aren't a lot of cages. The animal areas are designed in a way that makes them feel very open like they are in the wild. There are some animal encasement's that completely confused me on why the animals don't just leap over the 2 ft wall they are behind. It allows for a more intimate feel with the animals.
Feeding time for the White Tigers. You can watch a lot of various animals being fed at this zoo.
These things are just running around all over the place at one encampment. You can even get close enough to touch them though I think that is frowned upon by the zoo.
The magic of the Singapore Zoo. You never know when a tiger is gonna jump out and attack you.
Along with the normal zoo they also have a night zoo. You can go and watch the nocturnal animals during night time. It brings a bit of a new perspective on the zoo experience.
It wasn`t night yet but if you wanna avoid the huge lines you need to be waiting at the Night Zoo a bit early.
Clarke Quay
A nice area near the water Clarke Quay is the perfect place to hang out with friends for a night out of dining, dancing and enjoying the atmosphere. The night time atmosphere is especially vibrant. It's a good place to spend your weekend nights.
Another Merlion. This one spits water.
Sunset on the Clarke Quay
A lot of fine dining can be found.
Little India
I've never been to India before but I felt like I was there when walking through Little India. Lots of Indian restaurants and shops and strangely enough a ton of Indian people hanging out at night sitting in groups on the road. I don't know if this is Indian culture but I found it interesting the amount of the people randomly sitting on the sidewalk or lying in nearby grass. Little India also houses the Mustafa Centre which is a huge 24 hour shopping center.
A temple that despite it being late was pretty lively.
24 hour shopping center
China Town
Every big city has one. It's China Town. I've been to a dozen China towns my favorite being either the one in San Francisco or Yokohama but they all feel a tad different and Singapore already has a huge Chinese population. If you aren't speaking English in Singapore you are probably speaking Chinese. Like most China Towns Singapore's is filled with cheap shopping and delicious Chinese food. If you are looking for souvenirs this is the place you should be visiting.
Expensive but good.
Every night looks like a festival night.
Something that really came as a surprise to me was the price of things in Singapore. I had heard it was expensive for a South East Asian country but I was shocked by how expensive and I live in Japan. Unless its Singaporean food pretty much everything in Singapore is imported and the high prices reflect it. A plus side to Singapore is the easy and efficient train system. It's the first city I've been to to have a touch screen for buying train tickets. Singapore is also popular for having a lot of laws and they do indeed have money fines for a large variety of thing's you shouldn't do. One of the most famous is the ban on chewing gum. Littering is highly frowned down on and there are huge fines for those who are caught doing it. Even chewing gum has been banned. I couldn't even find it on sale in the convenience stores. Gum feels like a some kind of drug which by the way if you are caught with drugs you will face the death penalty. Singapore does not play!
It was a good trip and while I don't have a huge urge to return except to visit my friend it was definitely worth the first visit. I think it's more of a place to live then to travel to.
Here are some other interesting pics of Singapore!
Hanging out with my Korean friend (The girl behind me.)who works in Singapore and her roomies.
View of a mosque from the guest house window.
This is a long slide from top floor to the bottom. Oh and it`s in the friggin airport!
The floating boat looking structure in the distance has a huge pool on top. (Marina Bay Sands)
