A few of my favorite things

I can’t wait to get back to Japan for the sights, the sounds, my friends and most importantly, my family, but even though it might be a mundane reason, I really can’t wait to partake of my favorite things. You might be already acquainted with some of them: ika, shake, otoro, hirame and a Kappa’s favorite treat: kappa maki.

I don’t know when I started liking sushi. My taste for it might have been a result of trying some on a “cultural” field trip in 11 grade though I can’t be sure. That was certainly my first taste of it and since then I’ve been hooked… and addicted.

There is something to be said about the power of fresh slices of fish and lightly vinegar-flavored rice over one’s palette. You might, at first, be opposed to the idea of eating raw fish, but once you have tasted it you can’t go back.  You become a slave to maguro and wake up in cold sweats for not having tasted the exploding goodness of ikura in sometime.

Such is my sickness. Along with this sickness comes the curse of having to settle for sub-par substitutions: the california roll, grocery store sushi, and improperly prepared and dried out fish at an all-you-can-eat kaiten downtown. These are merely a placebo to trick my brain that I am getting my fix. The shakes and night terrors will not subside till I have returned and sat at a counter.. any counter; be it in the fanciest place in all of Ginza or the Genki Sushi on route 16 just outside Sayama (formerly known as Sushi Ondo. RIP). Screw it, my friends and family can wait.

While I wait for my chance to have some sushi, please join me in watching an Iron Chef sushi battle! Enjoy!

Links to the rest of the battle: Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5

Stumble It!

The Final Countdown

Fifty-two days. Fifty-two excruciatingly mind-numbing and terror stricken days until I leave my current residence, upon a jet and a prayer, in order to live “over there” in Japan.  The teeth gnashing isn’t because I’m going, of course, but rather because I am still existing here.  “Here” isn’t of much consequence in and of itself, other than the fact that just being “here” drives me insane from sheer boredom and my own lack of perspective on things. Such traits take time to develop I suppose so I don’t burden myself with feeling down about it.

But that’s fine. I can cope at least. Pretty soon I’ll be back where everyday is a challenge and just communicating, due to my lack of persistence in certain areas of my studies (Japanese), is an often bewildering and delightfully frustrating task. That’s Japan for me. An exercise in exercising my mind a bit more than I do here. Its a matter of necessity to give “it” your all when you are living in Japan and even though you might fail occasionally most people won’t hold it against you, or at least they won’t show you that they do. Perfectly fine with me.

Besides, that is better than being here where everyday is about as drama filled as the day before it and nobody really knows what, if anything, they are existing for. Perhaps, I’m jaded. Ok, I can definitely admit that is the fact. Its been a character flaw of mine for some time now. But deep down, this place doesn’t feel like mine and its time to take the circus on a route towards a different circuit. Hopefully, somewhere along we’ll derail and I’ll escape this three ring sideshow. Let us meander down a different path.

52 days.