Aussie Word of The Day - Spider

Here is today's word, continuing on the theme of food.  Confused?  Read on.

spider n. Aust. carbonated soft drink to which ice cream has been added.

This is the equivalent to the American "ice cream soda",  or sometimes it is called a "float" - which has never sounded too appetising, in my opinion.

We, of course, also use the word in reference to those lovely 8-legged arachnids that are very common in Australia.  However, as the above definition is unique to Australia, I thought it a good one to share.  

So if you hear someone making reference to "having spiders" for a birthday party etc, they are talking about the drink and not the poisonous creature.  Just FYI.

If I only had an oven...

They say you don't know what you've got until it's gone.  Well, they are absolutely right.  

Last year I had an oven in my apartment (and also the last 10 years or so at home).  I can probably count the number of times I used it that year on one hand.  Maybe two.  And yet, here in Tokyo I find myself in a teeny-tiny apartment with a "kitchenette" and no oven. 

Oh, the things I could do if I had an oven!  I could make a pavlova, or ANZAC biscuits.  I could cook roast potatoes and pumpkin with gravy.  I could try that recipe I found on Pinterest for homemade muesli bars.  I could bake cakes, muffins or banana bread.  I could make apple crumble!  Oh the humanity!

I'm not pretending that I used to do all those things when I actually had an oven.  

But let's just say I'm looking forward to the day when I, once again, have an oven in my life.  Because I now know what life is like without one.  

Cue the violins.

Aussie Word of the Day - Tucker

Good evening, and welcome to another edition of AWOTD, brought to you by yours truly, and the Australian Oxford Mini Dictionary (4th Edition, 2011).

And tonight's word is:

tucker n. Aust. food; means of subsistence.

And now a bonus (yet essential) word, by special request of my friend Colin.  The following definition came from the Collins English Dictionary (online):

bush tucker n. Aust. any wild animal, insect, plant or plant extract, etc. traditionally used as food by native Australians; cooking based around ingredients taken from the Australian wilderness.

And now some additional input from yours truly:

Buck Tucker Man - this was a great Aussie tv series that aired when I was growing up, about 20 years ago, where a man known as Bush Tucker Man (Les Hiddens) went out to the outback and showed us the various kinds of bush tucker available, as well as explaining many other aspects of Aboriginal culture and traditions, and even Australian history.  Here's a little clip below from one episode, for your educational viewing pleasure.  I think they should totally bring back this series!

Random Thought of The Day - Monkeys

Question: What's the difference between a group of 14-year-old Japanese students and a pack of monkeys?

Answer: Not much!

This afternoon at school was crazy, but a lot of fun!  I had the entire contents of my pencil case raided and examined by some very excited and curious English students.  I hope I got everything back!

Aussie Word of the Day

Welcome to today's edition of AWOTD.  I have decided to include a few related words in this one post.

bush n. Aust. 1 natural vegetation; tract of land covered in this; uncultivated land. 2 rural as opposed to urban life; the country as opposed to town or city.  

bushfire n. fire burning (often extensive) areas of natural vegetation.

bushman n. Aust. person skilled in travelling and surviving in bush; person who lives in the bush.

And finally:

bushranger n. Aust. hist. person engaging in armed robbery, esp. living in bush as outlaw.

The most famous bushranger in history was, no doubt, Ned Kelly who was known particularly for the iron mask he wore.  He was captured and executed in 1880 at the Old Melbourne Gaol at about age 25.

All definitions taken from the Australian Oxford Mini Dictionary (4th Edition, 2011).

Aussie Word Of The Day

Welcome to a new sub-series of my blog.  It is called "Aussie Word Of The Day"!  Today I was reminded of the many great Australian words in the English language that are unique to our culture and country, and felt that since the rest of the world is so deprived of such amazingness, that I would be kind and share our jewels of lingual greatness for all to enjoy.  

So I shall be posting an Australian English word with it's uniquely Australian meaning as a regular segment from now on.  All definitions will be from the Australian Oxford Mini Dictionary (4th Edition, 2011).

And so here it is: the first Australian Word Of The Day (or AWOTD for short):

Aussie colloq. n. Australia, Australian person.  adj. Australian.  

Don't worry, they will get much more wild and exciting than that ;)

Book Club - Jane Eyre

I have heard the name "Jane Eyre" so many times, but had never read the book.  In fact, I really knew nothing about the story, except it was about a woman called Jane Eyre.  A couple of months ago I decided it was time to find out for myself.

I must say I was pleasantly surprised.  As much as Charlotte Bronte probably tires of being compared to her sister, Emily,  I'll admit I was perhaps expecting another Wuthering Heights.  But this book was far from it.  

Having said that, there were a few things which would have been handy to know before I commenced reading the book.  Firstly, I was a bit shocked at the very beginning at being confronted by the emotional and somewhat physical abuse of a child.  I have to say, it was rather horrible!  But after getting past those initial chapters, things ease up a little.  

I also realised that a comprehensive study of the French language would have been a handy prerequisite to this book.  There is a character who comes from France and actually speaks in French quite a lot, which Bronte soon ceases to translate.  Basically I have no idea what she said in most of the book.  But all I could really do was trust that what she said could not have been too consequential to the storyline, as that would otherwise be a little unfair!  I will probably never know.  

Those two things aside though, I thoroughly enjoyed the book, which does have a few twists and turns in it.  Jane Eyre is indeed a woman who shows great strength and moral integrity through considerable trials and difficulties.  She strongly values the marriage institution (anyone seeing a contrast to Wuthering Heights yet?) and refuses to give in to related temptations.

Funnily, this probably isn't one of those books where you will fall in love with the male lead character - at least I didn't!  I kind of wondered what she really saw in him a lot of the time, but hey - the book is about Jane and not me, and it was always clear that she had deep feelings of affection for him.

While there is a love-story in this book (but much more than just that), it was not entirely predictable.  It was interesting to contemplate after, how if things had gone "smoothly" without the suffering and trials of endurance in the middle, they would not have ended up as happy and as well suited as they did.  It suggests that sometimes (or often) the hard way is actually the best way.  When we take the easy road we sometimes compromise things of greater importance.

Jane Eyre was a great book to read, because it was much more than just a love-story and  presents so much for contemplation.  It shows growth and strength of character, and I also like it because Jane holds to moral standards, but also stays true to her heart's desire.  It demonstrates that having standards does not mean having to compromise true love.  You can indeed have both.

Random Thought of the Day - Dreams

Have you ever had a dream that someone you know did something terrible, then you woke up and realised they didn't really do it...but you're still mad at them?  (I'm glad I could find this Garfield comic, because it demonstrates it perfectly!)

Well, I'm experiencing that right now! Haha.  They are usually so nice and lovely, and last night in my dream they turned so evil!  It was so real and so awful!  Hopefully it will fade away soon and I'll remember they never actually did anything and are completely innocent...for now... ;)

The original - uncut

I recently had another letter to the editor published in my local newspaper back home, where I voiced some concerns on recently proposed legislation.  I may seem like a quiet person with not much to say, but get me on the right topic and I've got plenty.  This is one of those topics.  

I've sent in a couple of other letters before which were also published, on the topics of prostitution, and legalising "soft" drugs.  I'm basically always writing about politics and law.

Well in reading the version of this most recent letter that was printed in the paper, I found  that it was edited a fair bit.  So here is my original version - uncut!

So our premier, Lara Giddings, has pledged Tasmanian tax-payers’ money to a fight to legalise same-sex marriage in Tasmania.  What this means is redefining the definition of marriage from what it currently and legally is to include same sex couples.

The noticeable fly in the ointment here is that The Australian Marriage Act 1961 clearly defines marriage as being between a man and a woman only.  This is the Australian Federal Law. 

This means that despite our premier’s fight to change this definition in Tasmania, such marriages will still not be recognised according to Australian Federal law, as they will contradict what is written in the Marriage Act, under the Australian Constitution.

As some people may not be aware, in Tasmania there is already a legal provision for same-sex couples, in that they can register their relationship with Births, Deaths, and Marriages and receive a Deed of Relationship certificate.  (I’m sure no one would object to them holding a ceremony and celebration at this time either.)  This document functions much the same as a marriage certificate in proving and allowing rights in areas such as wills, property division, guardianship, health care, statutory compensation schemes, state taxes, fees and licences, and state superannuation and pension schemes.  It even gives them the legal provision to change their name, as does a marriage certificate.

So what rights exactly does Lara Giddings need to fight for here, with money that is much needed elsewhere? 

If she is serious about going all the way, this will lead to an inevitable (and very expensive) High Court battle to essentially separate Tasmania’s marriage laws from this definition under the Australian Constitution. 

Now, I know we like to joke about Tasmania being its own country sometimes, but do we really want to start separating ourselves from the protection of the Constitution? 

If Lara Giddings is successful in such a separation, where will that leave Tasmania?  Probably drifting down Bass Strait without a paddle…

Why, Oh Why?

Hello my dearest readers.  Today I am featured as a guest blogger on Random Japan, a blog by my lovely and humorous Irish friend, Ciara!  She invited me to write about the reasons why I came to Japan.  So if you'd like to have a read of this amazingly profound post, head on over by clicking the photo below.

Book Club - The Cat Who Went Up The Creek

Looking for something to read (in English), I discovered the library at Hikarigoaka park, and to my delight they have English books!  The first one I read was The Cat Who Went Up The Creek.  Being a cat-lover the title caught my eye and I thought I'd give it a go.  The blurb on the back implied it was some kind of murder mystery.

I soon discovered the book wasn't really about a cat, as such, but about a part-time journalist, Jim Qwilleran, who owns not one, but two Siamese cats.  Don't cringe when too much when you hear their names...Koko and Yum Yum.  Yes.  As you can probably guess, these are two very pampered felines.  But as Qwilleran says, they're the only family he's got.  There are times when I kind of rolled my eyes at their high social status, but I told myself it's just part of painting the character and I should worry more about the storyline.

Speaking of which, I thought it would be a pretty standard who-dunnit storyline.  The scene for murder set-up, the suspects laid-out, the character comes across and heavily ponders clues, before finally the light-bulb moment occurs and they know who the culprit is and face a dangerous moment of confrontation, before gaining victory and making the killer known to the police who show up just at the right time.  

Well, this book is a little different!  If I didn't read the blurb I probably wouldn't have realised it was a murder mystery.  There's some mystery initially which the main character, Qwilleran attempts to solve, but it soon becomes apparent that it is of little consequence.  Instead, it leads into the events which gradually build to form the greater mystery, of murder and motive.  But this is still somewhat hidden among the other events within the book.  In fact, when the first body is discovered (by Koko, the cat who went up the creek, incidently), not much attention is given to it by Qwilleran.  Kind of like "Hmm that's unfortunate...I wonder what's for dinner?"  You almost want to say "Hey!  A dead body!  Aren't you going to investigate?" But after calling the cops, he literally does nothing.  

The book continues, with other events and people and happenings, eventually leading to another murder.  Along the way, Koko sniffs out a few clues and even predicts or senses the second murder.   Despite not getting a huge amount of attention throughout the story, we are told that Koko has a bit of a gift for sensing these things and pointing out clues.  It is through this and other circumstantial evidence that Qwilleran, in consulation with his detective friend, eventually determines who the murderer is, and the motive.  But there is no confrontation, no confirmation of the motive itself, we told of the arrest which has occurred and are left to accept Qwilleran's theory as fact, and trust the instincts of the cat who went up the creek.

While a little unconventional, I did enjoy reading the book.  The people within it are interesting and it kept my interest going hearing about them and little connections in the history of the people and place.  The story keeps moving along at a nice pace.  I'm not too good with names though, and a lot of names are dropped along the way which the reader is expected to remember and piece together, so I got a little lost in the subplots at times.  I was also amused everytime it mentions Qwilleran stroking his moustache (i.e., in thought), as I kept forgetting to picture him with a moustache.  I'm not really a big moustache fan, but I guess it suits his character.  But anyway, it was overall an enjoyable read and I was a bit sad when the book was over.  

What are your thoughts?

Random Thought of the Day - Procrastination

You know, it's really interesting the variety of things we do in order to procrastinate.  There is no one way of doing it, and it usually involves far more than just sitting or lying and doing nothing.  In fact, I can become highly productive when I am procrastinating.  It's sometimes motivation to clean my whole house!  Or send that important email I've been meaning to.  Or exercise my brain to write a somewhat intellectual Book Club blog post (as I was doing just now).  They are usually pretty useful or interesting things that I do when I procrastinate.  The problem, however, lies in the fact that there's something else more urgent that I should be doing first.  Like now...

The variety and creativity of the things I do when procrastinating got me thinking.  Maybe I could write a book about procrastination?  So basically, I would end up procrastinating that task for several months, then list all the things I did instead of sitting down and writing it.  The book would practically write itself!

What are some interesting or unusual things you have done as a form of procrastination?

I want a pet jellyfish, and some garden eels!

I don't know how I do it, but every time I choose to go somewhere, I always manage to pick the busiest days!  It's just my talent.  So it was with the Sunshine Aquariam at Ikebukuro this week, but I still managed to have a good time (it was a close call though! So many screaming kids!).  One of my favourite things was the jellyfish arch, where I took this photo, watching them float and swoosh around and pondering how amazing they are to look so animated and fun without a brain.  I watched them as the edge of their "mushroom" top contracted and propelled the jellyfish forward, resulting in a beautiful flowing movement of the tentacles.  It was whilst enjoying the tranquility of this scene that I decided it would be pretty cool to have a pet jellyfish.  You know, just sit in the living room watching him do his thing.  He'd want a decent sized tank obviously, maybe a few friends. 

I also came across these guys at the bottom of a different tank (photo "borrowed" from google).  They look like little snakes sticking out of the sand.  I thought they were unusual and pretty cool, but it was in the gift shop when I saw what they were called that I really decided I liked them. Garden Eels!  Sounds so homely!  As you can see, there are two kinds here: the spotted garden eel and the splendid garden eel.  How cool would it be to have these in the tank at home too, swaying to and fro with the gentle current, like leafy seaweed?  

I think once I have a more stable place of residence and don't foresee the imminent international transportation or disposal of all my possessions, I shall invest in some kind of home aquarium.  Preferably with jellyfish and garden eels!

Gone Viral

Several months ago, back when I was living in Tasmania and we were having a long, hot summer (hard for you all to imagine now, I'm sure), I wrote a post which featured a poem entitled "Hare In Summer".  Instead of the hare photo you see there now, I had opted for a photo of the blue sky, with a hint of clouds and a bright, glaring sun in the corner.  Well... what I didn't know at the time was that this post would soon go viral.  

It took a bit of time, actually, and was definitely not an instantaneous result, but after some weeks had passed, I noticed its popularity dramatically increase.  I knew this through the statistics feature on blogspot, where you can see how many views each of your post have had over various periods of time.  But I knew somehow that it wasn't my amazingly interesting and witty post that attracted such attention, but alas, it was this rather plain, yet rather sought after image of the sun (I won't post the photo here or we'll have the same problem over again!).  With the stats feature also showing the source of each view, it was clear that google searches such as "sky with sun", "sun sky", "hot sun sky" and "sky images with sun" where indeed the culprit, and that most of the views would not have yielding in anyone actually reading the amazingly brilliant blog post text.

I'm not sure what it was exactly that made this photo so popular.   Perhaps the recent solar eclipse.  Perhaps the northern hemisphere summer.  Perhaps global warming (we can blame that for everything, right?).  But once the stats went up, they did not come back down.  

To give you a little taste of what I have been seeing:

Today - 13 views;

The last week - 208 views;

The last month - 887 views;

All time (since 29th Jan 2012) - 2,606 views.

My total blog views, including this figure, is 5,005.   So in other words, this post got more views that my other 45 posts combined.

So anyway, recently I decided it was time to do something, and today I finally took that photo off my blog. Goodbye popularity.  Goodbye fame.  Goodbye false sense of achievement.

Hello again, my 13 dedicated followers ;)

Modest is Hottest

A little while ago on Pinterest I decided to start a board entitled "Modest Is Hottest". The purpose of this board was to highlight and promote fashionable, modest clothing. 

There are a few pre-requisites I have to posting images on my Modest Is Hottest board.  

Firstly, it must be modest.  If it is "almost modest" then it does not make the cut.  

Secondly, I prefer to stick to images of clothing that people are actually wearing, rather than just the clothes themselves.  This is mainly just my personal preference, but also because seeing someone wear it becomes proof it is modest.  Sometimes clothing looks modest, until you put it on and whoops, it's just a little too short.  

Thirdly, it has to meet my personal tastes.  If I think the outfit looks revolting, but hey, it's modest, it still doesn't make the cut.  Again this is personal preference - when I look at my board I want to see an array of clothing that I consider to be beautiful and would actually wear.  

Celebrity photos is one exception to this.  If I notice a celebrity who is dressed modestly, first I get over the shock, and then I post a photo of them in their modest outfit.  As this is to highlight that big-name celebrities also think dressing modestly can look good, it's okay if their outfit suits their personal taste more than mine.  It doesn't mean, however, that I promote them as a role-model of continually modest dress.  Sometimes it may be a once-off, but hey, they wore it and they looked good!

Since starting this board on Pinterest, I have noticed something.  Many people have started following it!  People I don't even know.  While most of my boards average 63 followers, this board currently has 74 followers - including 20 people who don't even know me.  The numbers might not sound like much, but given that this blog currently has 13 followers, almost all who know me personally, I think it's pretty significant.  It makes me really happy when yet another person starts following my Modest Is Hottest board, because it feels like I am making a difference in the world, and encourages me to keep going and to add more to it.  

Modesty in clothing is very important to me, and has been addressed in specific counsel given by the Prophet and Twelve Apostles of today. They have counselled us to be neat and clean and avoid being extreme or inappropriately casual in clothing, hairstyle and behaviour, as well as to choose appropriately modest apparel when participating in sports.  According to their words, to dress modestly is to avoid clothing that is tight, sheer, or revealing in any other manner.  To women they have counselled to avoid short shorts and short skirts, shirts that do not cover the stomach, and clothing that does not cover the shoulders or is low-cut in the front or the back (see this link).

It may sound like a long list, but the result is worth it, which I have endevoured to illustrate with my board. It is part of my response to Elaine S. Dalton's call for a for each of us to "arise, and unfurl a banner to the world calling for a return to virtue."

I know that when we dress modestly we show respect for ourselves and for others.  It allows us all to feel more comfortable and focus on what is important.  I know that I certainly feel so much more comfortable when I am not distracted by somebody's cleavage.  Awkward!  For those of us who are single, if we are dressed modestly when someone of the opposite sex shows interest, we can know it's most likely because of who we are and not what we are.

It's up to each of us to make the world a better place, and why not start with living and promoting modesty in dress.

Modest is hottest!

Random Thought of the Day

Welcome to the new segment of my blog I call "Random Thought of the Day".  Just as the name suggests, they will be kind of random, and will be fairly short posts scattered here and there for your reading pleasure.  And now for today's random thought, on the topic of Fast Sunday:

You know you're fasting when you're looking at the vase of lovely flowers next to the pulpit at church, and find yourself fantasising about drinking the water...

What are you doing to me, Japan?!

It's only been about 2 and a half months since I moved to Japan, which is sure to be a great experience full of growth and changes, but even in this short time there are a few unexpected changes about myself which I have started to notice.  You may need to sit down, as some of these might shock you...

Firstly,  I am finding that I almost like dogs.  Almost.  I have never really liked dogs (except for my childhood friend in Melbourne, Jess the chihuahua).  They make a lot of noise, they leave a lot of mess, and they usually smell.  Perhaps it was also because I had the joyous experience in my childhood of being bitten by a dog - twice, in fact.  I have always preferred and loved cats, and always will, but...something about the cute dogs I have seen at the park is definitely softening my dislike for canines.  They just look so excited to be able to run around and play fetch, they seem a little better groomed here in Japan, and I tell you one day at the park I saw THE cutest little dog, which kept trying to run towards me happily as the owner was coming past with it on a leash.  I just thought, "I want one!"  Even larger dogs like the akita are growing on me.  While I don't plan to go out and buy a dog anytime soon, I do know dogs are pretty popular with men so I suspect my (future/non-existent) husband may be wanting one anyway, and so this may be preparing me for a more harmonious (future/non-existant) marriage.

Next on the list is curry.  I am not really a fan of curry.  See my previous post on curry for more details.  Since being in Japan I have had many an opportunity to eat curry, which I took despite my aversion to the taste.  The other day at school the main dish in the lunch menu was curry (again), and despite knowing this, when I smelt that curry I took a deep breath and seemed to let out some kind of happy sigh.  Uh, wait, I'm looking forward to eating this?  Wow.  Strange, but true, I can now tolerate and even enjoy curry.

Next on the news is that I'm the proud owner of a beautiful purple bike.  That's right, I ride a bike.  In public.  It took a few tries to convince myself I wasn't going to die, but the truth of the matter is that I'm without a car and it just takes so long to walk anywhere!  Not to mention the difficulties of carrying groceries that distance as well.  Going by bike is so much faster, and luckily my neighbourhood is pretty much flat, so no nasty hills to deal with  (my hometown of Hobart is a different story there!).  So I have been riding my bike around, especially to the park and the large shopping centre, and for grocery shopping I bought an extra basket to put on the back which has greatly increased the amount of food I can buy in one trip, woohoo!  There may have been one little mishap recently from which I got some pretty awesome-looking bruises, but on a whole, so far, so good.  Even considering getting a cheap bike when I go back home - as long as I can make it to the bike track easily I should be able to avoid the hills mostly... Then again, it will just be so much easier to drive.  Hmm, we shall see.

As I may have mentioned one or twenty times, in my home of Tasmania there are no commuter trains.  So catching trains is generally not something I have tried unaccompanied.  But since moving to Tokyo, of course, I have to catch trains to get anywhere.  For the first month or so I had fantastic beginners' luck and seemed to find the train system very easy to navigate.  I was very pleased with myself.  After the beginners' luck ran out though I discovered many details about the train system I did not know which can and did result in getting rather lost.  But having worked those out now I think I am back to being a pro at trains.  There are three main types of trains in Tokyo - the Tokyo Metro (my favourite), the Subway (not to be confused with Tokyo Metro, which is also a subway system), and private lines, such as JR, Seibu or Tobu.  They are each a little different in how they work, and they often have different stations.  Near my house I have the choice of three stations: Chikatetsuakatsuka (which is the Tokyo Metro one I usually use, and has THE longest station name I've ever heard of), Hikarigaoka (Subway) or Shimoakatsuka (Tobu).  Having mastered such a complicated system, with no prior experience with trains, makes me feel all smart.  Sure, I'll meet you at the said station to which I have never yet been or even heard of.  No problem.  I'll just check with my friend Hyperdia and it'll be no probs.  You can officially call me a city girl now. 

Unfortunately not all changes are for the better.  I expected living in Japan would mean I'd be all trim and slim, eating all that seaweed and tofu.  But alas, 'tis not so.  In fact, in the first few weeks, despite all the walking I was doing (a somewhat new concept for me), I put on weight.  I don't know how much, as I haven't weighed myself, but I have a new friend which resides on my stomach.  I call it "Jelly Belly."  I suspect it may have something to do with the very salty flavour of most Japanese cuisine - after eating it I always feel the need for something sweet to balance things out.  Probably that and placing myself in a suddenly stressful situation - new food, new city, new country, new people, new language, new job, new culture, new friends, new transportation system, new EVERYTHING - has caused me to stress-eat (especially chocolate, the greatest de-stressor).  Something about being in Japan makes me feel the need to always be munching on something.  Still, I am hoping to reverse this change with a little more time and effort.


And now the change that this whole crazy experience is about - the language.  Learning Japanese - as in, learning to speak it somewhat fluently - was my main motivator in moving to Japan.  So how is it going?  Well, it is certainly a lot harder than it sounds.  Yes, being immersed in the language certainly does help, but it still requires a lot of WORK if you want to see any progress.  So I have been studying in various ways to try to improve.  While I do get frustrated quite often with my lack of skills, especially after 10 years of study (doesn't help that I had gotten worse in the last couple of years from not using it at all), I did have an experience recently which helped me to see just how far I have come in the last 2 and a half months.  My listening comprehension has improved dramatically!  I have gone from understanding almost nothing, to understanding, perhaps, about 70%, depending on the context.  While speaking is a little harder I have also seen some progress there, and feel there is a light at the end of the tunnel!  It's still early days, and really I just need to remember that whatever progress I manage to make in my year or so here in Japan will still be a success story.  Plus there will be many other positive changes as a result of this experience, and there hasn't been a single day that I've regretting coming here.  In fact, I give thanks every day to be able to have this marvellous opportunity :)


I'll finish with a quote which I have found to be true:


"The key to change...is to let go of fear." - Rosanne Cash

Cute? More Like, Clever.

I have to say, there are some marketing departments in Japan that know exactly what they're doing.  Because if they put their tissues in a really cute box, I'm totally gonna buy them!  Just like I did tonight.

Bought this one several weeks back.  The same series also comes in baby seal and baby panda, sticking to the black and white theme.

The small print on this one translates roughly to "I am Mada Kodomo the *meow* cat. By the way...who are you?"  I also think the name essentially means "still young".

Breakfast - The French Way

I may not know how to cook much, especially here in Japan where the options of ingredients differs greatly, but I can usually pull off a decent breakfast, including this french toast I made myself this morning, mmmmmm!  Extra delicious with the extra thickly sliced bread common here in Japan.  It was too good to not preserve for ever and ever via this blog post.  And to make you all wildly jealous, of course ;)

So You've Experienced Your First Earthquake...

Well, ladies and gentlemen, it happened.  I was in an earthquake.  I am obviously alive to tell the tale, and tell it I will....

[screen turns wavy and blurry as it fades out]

It had been a long day, possibly because I had gotten up at 5am, and the day had included a lot of walking whilst exploring my neighbourhood, as well as getting completely lost at Ikebukuro Station (the second busiest train station in the world), which I had not yet discovered is HUGE, and getting home at 10:30ish after a night of fun with church friends.  I stayed up a couple more hours before finally retiring for the night.

So there I was at 1:30am, lying asleep in my futon, when suddenly the bed frame starts to shake.  In fact everything shakes, and there's a loud noise like a train going past.  After a few seconds I finally conclude, in my heavily sleep-induced state, that it is in fact not a train but an earthquake.  "Your first small earthquake, cool right?" I ask myself.  "Yeah, yeah..." my sleepy self replies.  "Wait...how do I know it's going to be a small one?  WHAT IF IT BECOMES A BIG ONE?!"  It is at this point that I decide that it might be a good idea to find shelter somewhere.  I chose the large cupboard area under my bed.  

"Do I have to?" I feel my body ask, as I drag it out of bed.  I wanted to turn on the light, being pitch black and all, but wonder if that's a no-no in earthquakes, and decide I'm better safe than sorry.  By the time I have gotten out of bed, the shaking has stopped.  I go out to the hallway and grab my unstrategically placed torch, and head to the underworld of my bed.  With the earthquake over, I soon decide there's not much point sheltering anymore, and wonder if small earthquakes have after-shocks...I crawl back into my futon, with my torch by my side, and soon find myself wondering if it was all just a dream.

But this link proves indeed not, with information regarding the earthquake which was 5.2 magnitude, and states in my area of Nerima-ku it was 3 magnitude, which funnily is what I guessed it would have been - see, I'm good at this already!  

I spent a fair chunk of this evening researching all things earthquake and have learnt the following: 

- it was probably better to stay in bed and cover my head with my pillows, until the quake is over;

- if not in bed, drop to the ground, find some sort of shelter and hold on;

- small earthquakes can have aftershocks...in fact, they may actually be foreshocks to a bigger earthquake, so I should probably be a bit more aware;

- it's probably a good idea to get an evacuation pack ready in case of a big one;

- there are many varying causes of earthquakes;

- there's a high risk area known as the Pacific Ring of Fire (and now I can't stop singing "down, down, down, in a burning ring of fire...");

- earthquakes can also happen in the centre of tectonic plates, but these are very rare;

- most injuries from earthquakes are caused by falling objects and debris;

- earthquakes are pretty much unpredictable...kinda scary!

- I am not invincible (it was hard to admit this one).

Having been half-asleep for this experience I am interested to see how I react to one when I am fully awake.  I only have a vague memory of what it really felt like at the time, basically just that I knew it was an earthquake and that I didn't hear any rattling of objects like you see in the movies.  Being from Australia, the centre of a tectonic plate, I have no previous experience at all of earthquakes.  But having had 2 earthquakes here in the last 2 weeks, there's probably plenty more where that came from.