So this weekend while I was home we got some Asahi Beer, and as I was heading downstairs I passed the printout we have of my great-great-great grandfather's obituary. He was the one who was in Japan just as it opened and died there, so when we were in Japan we visited his grave ( Read more... )

I've been playing around with the Japanese keyboard on my computer, so I put in what we've learned so far. This is how I'd introduce myself ( Read more... )

As part of my attempt to become a somewhat competent cook by the end of the summer before I become entirely responsible for my own food I've started experimenting, like making soba for tonight. So far it seems to be going well, better then when I tried to make fried rice. It was edible, but I screwed up the rice and it wasn't soft enough. ( Read more... )

In light of my experiences in Japan and the fact that I'm not especially enamored with the Peter Pan buses right now I've made my return trip reservations with Amtrak, leaving from Springfield. This gives me a good amount of time with my parents before I leave and will probably be much more comfortable than a bus, plus it allows me to see if I will ( Read more... )

Alright, we have the ichiban dashi and the other ingredients combined and set to boil, am working on frying the tofu and will do the soba noodles next, followed by the spinach. So far, we're good ( Read more... )

Also turns out that I lost 4 pounds while in Japan. This is a feat, since my body literally does not want to change mass, it usually just converts stuff to muscle. My mean weight really hasn't changed at all in about 4 years, though I'm considerably more muscular now from working. I think I might have also increased my upper body strength a little ( Read more... )

I'll start with something scenic, mainly the view from the top of Mt. Hiei:

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Here are the first couple, grouped into about 6 or 7 a post so as not to totally kill the servers.

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(I'm back at this point, but hadn't gotten to posting this as of the 29th when I wrote it ( Read more... )

We're now back in Mass, and I'm very much exhausted. More of an update later when I'm not in such danger of falling asleep on the couch (I already did once, with Jesse-cat on my lap ( Read more... )