pork

The other day, we went out to an unfamiliar part of Tokyo to check out a fixed-gear bike for Jeff (he insists on being different).  On our way to the alternative bike shop, we passed a restaurant on the second floor of a building that had a line not only down the stairs, but out to door and down the street a bit too. 

In a city like Tokyo with enough restaurants to keep you busy for several years, a line out the door of a restaurant is reason to check it out for yourself.  We could see from the overpass we were walking on that the chefs seemed to be grilling cabbage and other stuff, and guessed it was okonomiaki, a panckake-like dinner usually grilled on the table in front of you. 

When we went back to get Jeff’s bike, the line wasn’t too long so we decided to stop in for lunch.  Maybe I should have been tipped off by the murals of pigs on the walls as we walked up the stairs to the dining area.  There were only a few choices for lunch.  None of them vegetarian and all featuring pork.  I’ve never been a huge fan of pork, and even managed to avoid it in Schweinfurt (“pig fort”) Germany when visiting a few years ago. 

When in Rome, do as the Romans do.  Jeff ordered me the basic dish which was essentially a slab of meat and a side of shredded cabbage.  I was honestly surprised to find that it was really good.  I enjoyed every bite.  That is, until my body reminded me with a tummyache a few hours later that I rarely eat meat and never pork .

It is almost impossible to eat the nearly vegetarian diet I had been accustomed to in America, and so hard to find many of the ingredients that make the staples of our meals at home.   I’m adjusting though, and finding new things everyday that I like.  A lot more on food to come!

Mata ne,
Melissa

Our House

Right now we are living in a very old house.  This house is not as old as our house in Syracuse, and nowhere near as old as Jeff's house in Ithaca (built about 1880).  But for Tokyo standards it's ancient.  It was built in 1931, before WWII and is surprisingly still standing.  Considering that "Tokyo was firebombed into virtual oblivion" during the war (source: Jeff, sitting next to me, 2009) our little neighborhood of old, traditional homes is an anomaly in a highly modern city.  We had a Japanese friend over the other day and he said he had never been in a house like ours!

The thing of note about our house isn't so much that it was built in 1931, but that at that time, they hadn't really started building homes to modern standards.  There is NO insulation. None.  The entrance to the house is made of sliding wood and glass paned doors called shoji that would have originally had paper where the glass is now.  The windows are also shoji-like and drafty!  We also have tatami flooring throughout most of the house and a genkan entryway.

Here's the entrance to the house looking through the front door and the genkan into the tatami room.  I like the red door!

This is the front/side of the house (you can see the red door on the far left of the image).  Those blinds that are hung outside don't adjust so even when we do open the window you can't really see out of it.

Our house would be referred to in America as a duplex.   The first window in view is ours, the one on the far left is our neighbor.   This area is in a stange situation in that it has been purchased by a developer who has yet to start construction.  We think someone still lives there, though we haven't seen or heard anything from them.



Here is a better picture of the genkan with the inside doors to the house closed.  You can see the handlebars to Jeff's new bike peeking out.


Behind our house is another really old house that is in disrepair.  It's funny, there is no real way to get to the house other than walking in the alley between our house and our neighbor to the right.  Maybe this is why there are several stray cats living back there.  Well that and the fact that our neighbor to the right , the neko onna or (crazy) cat lady, feeds them.  And talks to them. Everyday. At 7:00 a.m.  I mentioned before that our house has no insulation.  This means that everyday at 7:00 a.m. the neko onna wakes us up as well.   I'll spare you the images (and the smell and the awful screeching cat noises we hear at all hours) of this unfortunate scene. 

We've got some pictures from the inside of our house as well, but those will be posted some other time.

We were up late last night working on our weekend plans.  The great thing about not having jobs is that your weekend can start on Monday!  We'll let you know what we decide, but we're thinking maybe onsen!

mata ne,
melissa

Birthday Details

So when Jeff got home from his seminar he wasn't tired like I expected.  He was ready to get out there and show thirty what he was made of!

First we went out to eat at Malabar - an Indian curry place with amazing nan.  As you can see it was quite the spread!  That was for two people - and we finished (almost) all of it.  (For those who don't know, that is nan that Jeff is biting into.  We didn't expect it to be so huge so we ordered the small one to go with it.)


After dinner we walked around the Waseda area a bit.  We thought about going to a bar for a drink, but instead decided to try our vocal abilities at a karaoke place.  Karaoke is, as Jeff likes to tell me, a portmanteau - a combination of two words.  In this case, kara, which means empty, and oke, short for orchestra. It is nothing like karaoke in a bar that you might find in America.  The place where we went you sign in at the front desk and go to your own private booth/room.  You choose your songs from a little computer console and have at it.  We only stayed for half an hour, but you can choose to stay longer and even order drinks and food to your booth.  Maybe next time.

The best part was that I was able to go out and get Jeff a cake!!  I only had to say two words to the girl at the counter, and I even bought cute candles to go on top.  I don't know if Jeff was more surprised about the cake or the fact that I actually procured it on my own.  

In America it is still Jeff's birthday, but in Japan it's just Friday so we're going out to run errands.

Mata ne!
Melissa

Happy Birthday Jeff!

Today is Jeff's 30th birthday!!

He has to give a presentation on his research (he just got here to start it and he has to give a presentation already?) to his sponsoring professor's seminar this evening so he's been working on that all day instead of celebrating.  It's just as well though, since it's been raining all day so we wouldn't really want to be out and about.

For breakfast I treated him to awesome cinnamon french toast made of Danish bread.  I am not really sure what Danish bread is (it is not like a danish that you'd find with jelly or something in America), but its thick and crusty and they have it at the Gourmet City by our house.  I also got a nice bottle of wine the other day, and I am going to slip out and attempt to purchase a small cake (hopefully there will be no verbal exchange necessary) while he's in his presentation.  Normally I'd bake something delicious like whiskey cake, but our kitchen here leaves something to be desired and I have yet to tackle the grimy oven that isn't even big enough to fit a cake.

If you haven't yet, you can send him an email or call our skype number (it's free!) and wish him a happy birthday!

Matane,

Melissa

time for tokyo

We were married just over two months ago. I knew the move to Tokyo would follow the wedding, but somehow I managed to not give it a second thought. Between preparing to leave my full-time job and preparing for the wedding, I had more important things to think about.

But here we are. We'll be living in Tokyo for almost a year while Jeff does research for his dissertation. For a control freak such as myself, it's incredibly frustrating not speaking Japanese while living in Japan. I have no idea what people are saying to me, I could barely participate in the apartment search process, and I can't even order food for myself in a restaurant. Jeff has been incredibly patient. I can't say the same for myself.

We've been here almost three weeks, and I have really enjoyed exploring Tokyo so far (more on that to come). Now is the hard part. Jeff's started his research and I have to start getting serious about learning Japanese and finding something to do with my time.

I'll be posting on the transition to married life (which is awesome, by the way), living in Tokyo, the things I miss about America, and the things I don't.

Let me know if you want to hear about something specific or if you have suggestions for me.

Matane! (later!)

Melissa