Yakitori yummies

You know how I mention about having to take a bite of shitburgers every so often? Well, I guess today is one of those days. But not only just me, I know some other people who are having some serious shitburgers too. Grumpy included. Towards me. Bahhh

And so, to cheer myself up, I will indulge in some yakitori yummies from my recent trip to Japan.

Chicken skin anyone?

Normal chicken...

This is a vegetarian sausage (no meat at all), and you dip it in fresh egg yolk. I never eat egg yolk, especially on its own, since I was a kid, but I did this time round. Peer pressure. And I was surprised that it tasted really good.

This is actually a gyoza, formed around a chicken wing..

And this is what the gyoza looks like after you take a bite. Absolutely delicious.

Some not so normal chicken. Grumpy calls it 'cartilage', which I do not even know what it means, but I am quite certain I will throw this part out if I were to cook a chicken.

Chicken heart. Yikes.

Easter bunny

Today is Little-Miss-Whats-For-Lunch's birthday! I spent last week thinking of what gift I should get her. She is a true Gleek at heart, so I bought her some Glee related gifts, which is from a pool of money we wombats contribute for birthdays. However, because she is also a special friend to me, I did a very random thing this morning. I ordered for balloons to be delivered to her office as a surprise! Indeed, she was very surprised when the receptionist at her office requested that she go over immediately! Haha.. She was really happy to get the balloons, not sure about all the unwanted attention, but she said she was very touched! That really made my day.

Also, before I left for Japan, my workmate Miss-BB6S (Black Belt 6 Sigma, because she has it and I don't) asked if I could help bring some Easter bunnies and eggs to her sister, who lives in Tokyo. I got in touch with her sister, and we agreed we will meet once I return to Tokyo from my other Japan travels. Unfortunately, our plans did not work out because of the quake and tsunami, and I was left with all the Easter chocolates in Osaka instead. I emailed Miss-BB6S to let her know I was safe. I also asked about her sister (and her family) in Tokyo, and then about the chocolates. She replied that the chocolates were the least of her worries, and she told me to enjoy the chocolates instead. Hmm.. I thought to myself, nahhh I am not going to eat them! These people in Japan are really just living by the day, with rationed food and no power!

So on Friday, our last day in Japan, I grabbed a box, bubble wrapped the bunnies, stuffed the eggs, and ran across the road to the post office from my cousin's apartment. They spoke NO english, which was very interesting... However, they were still able to help me out with my package. I also ran back to the apartment to get the concierge to fill in the Sender details for me. Finally the post office took the package, I said my "Arigato Gozaimasu's" numerous times, and then hopped on a flight back to Australia.

On Sunday, Miss-BB6S's sister emailed me saying they got a wonderful surprise in the post and it brought so many smiles in their family. Especially the two kids. First thing I thought was "OMG, does the Japanese post work on weekends? I sent it on Friday midday, and she has already received it in Tokyo on Sunday!" WOW

On Monday, Miss-BB6S told me her sister rang from Tokyo as soon as she received the package of Easter chocolates, and she was in tears! I guess being overwhelmed with all the drama in Tokyo, she was very emotional just from the chocolates.

I am so glad that I made the effort to post them to her in Tokyo. It was the least I could do.

Sometimes I get so caught up in my own life, that I realise what a selfish person I am. I only think of my own needs and wants, that in the end, it makes me become such an unhappy person. Just from these two events, I experienced a feeling of joy! Okay okay the first one does not quite make the cut (it was just a birthday present right?), but the Easter bunny one does!

A small bite of Tokyo

So... Japan was fun! While it lasted...

We were all bursting with excitement for our trip to Tokyo. We flew Jetstar via Cairns first, then to Tokyo. The flight was actually quite pleasant. But it took forever... Cairns was about 4 hours. Then we had to collect our bags, and check in again at the International terminal. From Cairns, it was about another 7 hours.

We arrived Tokyo quite late in the night. Plus, it was freezing! It would have been around 3-4 degrees Celcius at night. We made our way to the hotel quite easily, and although it was small, it was clean and modern.

After we popped our bags in the room, the quest for yummy Japanese food had begun! Our first meal in Tokyo was CoCo Curry House. While this was a chain restaurant, I was already starting to like Japanese curry! It was very delicious! It reminded me of my time in Ireland, where chips and curry sauce is so popular.

The next morning, we took a quick stroll around Shinjuku. After breakfast, we immediately checked out of our hotel. We validated our 7-day Japan Rail Pass at the train station, which allows us full access to all JR trains around the country.

We said "sayonara" to Tokyo for now, and we were off to Osaka! We were going to begin our travels around other parts of Japan first, and our last leg of the trip was the remaining 8 full days in Tokyo to relax, shop and have some good food! Before we left for Japan, I even made reservations at a 3-michelin star restaurant, Joel Robuchon (in Tokyo).

Little did we know, we were not going back to Tokyo at all!

We left Tokyo at about 12 noon. About 2.5 hours later, still in the train, I received my first text message from my cousin (in Osaka) asking if I was alright. Puzzled, of course I was fine.. I asked her whats wrong? She said a massive earthquake had hit the north and she was swaying in her office for a good 5 minutes all the way further down in Osaka. I assured her we were all safe.. Our train stopped for about 30 minutes at a station, but because everything was in Japanese, we had no idea what was happening. Minutes later, my father texted me, and he was worried sick. Finally we arrived in Osaka, and everyone was crowding around a TV screen watching the news and the extent of the quake. My cousin rushed to meet us in the city, and then we found out the disaster of a tsunami that had wiped out Sendai.

I am truly grateful that we were all safe and not affected by the disaster. Family and friends were trying to contact us to check if we were alive/okay. Grumpy and I were staying at my cousin's apartment for the next 3 nights, and it actually provided some relief to my parents that at least we were with family at a time like this.

Okay I promise some more interesting pictures in my next post.

Good night for now.

Camera lens

Two months ago, I mentioned here that my dog ruined my old SLR camera? Turns out the body was fine, it was just the lens that broke. And so, I decided to buy a new SLR lens. Instead of replacing the lens with the same one I had previously, I spent a ridiculous amount of money on a huge upgrade. I got myself a Canon professional camera lens.

After I paid for it, I sat down and asked myself, 'OMG what did I just do?!!!' I am not even looking at going pro or anything like that, this is merely a hobby. With that money, I could have bought myself a nice cute Miu Miu bag or something. SHITES I could have even bought myself a brand new SLR camera with twin lens kit. AHHHHHH

Oh well. Moving on...

The lens arrived today, and so far I am quite happy with it.

Here are some pictures I took earlier with the new lens.

Ahhhh mummy, must I get up?!

Our new snow pea plant! So happy that we have real organic veggies in our own garden :)

But it has only given us THREE snow peas! And now I can make a nice stir-fry... enough to feed a mouse!

Our basil plant.. we have a herb patch too.

Fend for myself

Its Tuesday and I am at home by myself.. my hubby-slash-personal chef-slash-personal driver-slash-partner in crime-slash-soulmate is away on a work trip. He is at the Yarra Valley, which is not that far, only about 30kms away from our home. But he is staying there for 3 whole days.. leaving me here behind to fend for myself.

The good thing is that it is nice to have some quiet time to myself. But the bad thing is that he took the car! So I feel trapped here, in my own home! I make it to work and back fine with my reliable two feet and a train, but I need the car to drive to the gym, grab takeaway or have dinner with my girls.

Yesterday, I copped a shitburger from the Queen of all bitches (my boss) at work. As I type here, I can hear Cee Lo in the background... and my favourite part is when he goes "Whhhhhyyyy??? Whhhhhhhyyy??? Whhhhhhyyy babyyyy yeahhhhhh??" hahahaha that is exactly how I felt like yesterday!

Today I bought us our 7 day rail pass in Japan. It was not cheap, but lets just hope we make the most of it. It felt good though, makes me think we are again much closer to going on our holiday!! Next week baby!!!

Ahhhhh I miss my honeybeee