Monthly Archives: March 2011

stress buster: experimenting in the kitchen!

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Stressed and frazzled over things you really can’t do anything about but to wait and hope (oh please Fr. Dong)?

I vent it out on cooking and experimenting on food. Lately, i’ve been experimenting on some side dishes. Really, it helps.

Tomato tuna sandwich. It’s best with a vinaigratte.

I just can’t get enough of yellow bell pepper. Toss in tomato and brocolli. The bunch is best with roasted sesame dressing.

This afternoon, I had to buy a new pack of the Vit. E globules since we ran out of stock already. Goodness, 50 globules costs 1380yen!!! I just had to buy though, Hubby’s request. These globules better have some effect on my skin considering how expensive they are.

1 month!!

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Was jolted to being fully awake (even after reading more than 10 wedding-related emails and replying to a number or so) when I saw the date on my computer screen – March 30!!

Alarm bells went screeching in my head. We’ve only one month to go!!! Ahhhh!!!!!!!! I should calm down, i should calm down. Ugh, if only our choice priest is not being difficult on us, I wouldn’t panic like this. 🙁  

In any case, I had to wait for another bookshelf delivery hopefully this morning (yes, another bookshelf! hopefully the last one. Two were delivered yesterday) and then i’ll be off on an adventure to find the Foreign Ministry Office somewhere in Shin-Sugita for my re-entry permit. I probably wouldn’t rest until I have that on my passport. Should have went there yesterday right after I claimed my alien card (i deem it’s required when i apply for re-entry) but Hubby and I doesn’t want to risk me going farther than Maita since I have just only recovered from a very very bad sinusitis (cigarette smoke thank you very much).

Lots to do today. Hope I can manage to tick eveything off on my to-do list.

modified paksiw

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I wanted to cook Tuna Paksiw (Paksiw –  a traditional Filipino vinegar-based food), Papa’s way. But I wasn’t able to go to Asian Store hence I don’t have any Filipino vinegar at hand. What I have is Hubby’s apple vinegar.

Realizing I need to ask Papa how a real paksiw should be cooked, I ventured on concocting a revised paksiw menu. I didn’t have the confidence to experiment on the traditional paksiw, this time.

I had two slabs of tuna (forgot to take a picture).

Mushroom, sold at 98 yen in Yokohamaya, somewhere in between Maita and Gumyoji. To be cut in halves.

Medium-sized yellow bell pepper. I SO love yellow bell peppers. I can eat them as is.

Cherry-tomatoes, to be cut in halves.

Tsada! Care to suggest a name for this?

yes i know, i need a NEW pan

It was good, especially since the bell peppers and cherry tomatoes weren’t overcooked. Lessons learned though:

  • need to simmer it a bit longer so the sauce could sip into the tuna and mushroom a bit more
  • measure the amount of vinegar – i always cook by feel, no measuring. So i have to learn to measure
  • don’t use apple vinegar if you don’t want a fruity sour taste

6th month

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We’ve been married for six months now, and living together for 2.5 weeks in our apato. In exactly 38 days, we’ll have our Church wedding. Although it’s becoming quite a trend lately (and it’s also quite the norm here in Japan), still, I find that it’s quite unconventional, living together and prepping up your new home and at the same time preparing for your wedding. But I ain’t complaining. In fact, I love the novelty of it.

I miss my work, terribly. But I love keeping home and arranging home as well. I love cooking for Atsushi, although it’s just in the evenings. I am ashamed to admit that I still am asleep when Atsushi goes out to work.

But I love how he wakes me up to kiss and hug me goodbye and wish me  a good day, as I in turn wish him the same thing. And I love how he allows me to go back to sleep. And I love how he puts the blanket back on me, in the middle of the night. Those, and other things besides.

There are a lot of adjustments to be made, that’s for sure, especially since we both have different nationalities; grew up in different cultures and backgrounds. But considering all the good things we have and are experiencing, getting married is indeed the best decision I ever made.

And of course, this comes with a prayer: That I hope we continue to be the loving couple that we are now, even after 50 years.

Haha, call it fate, but Journey’s “Faithfully” is playing in Accuradio as I wrote this blog.

Yep, Atsushi, i’m forever yours, faithfully and i’m sure you’re mine as well. And I can’t wait for us to finally make our vows this time, in the Church.

Fulfilling Yasai (vegetable)

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It isn’t just good food (or more like good drink/tasteful drink in this case). It’s packed with healthy goodness as well. You can taste the richness in nutrients and minerals with every flavorful sip. Why so? Cause it’s a pure juice made out of 20 vegetables and 5 fruits.

music corner

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It truly was a productive long weekend, mostly with home prepping. Dining table delivered at last by Watanabe Furniture Shop, the friendly neighborhood shop although i’m yet to decorate it. As expected, dining table came in pieces. Watanabe-san and his apprentice set it all up and gave us, as part of their service, the Indonesian malong that they used in their display. Yay!

The two DIY bookshelves (each as tall as Atsushi and twice his width) were also delivered and it’s already 95% filled as of last night. Yet, we’re barely 1/4 done in arranging the books. Some books may have to be sold/donated/thrown away. We ordered for 2 more bookshelves and thankfully, they’re not DIY so it’ll be easier. Yes, it’ll be a home cum library and I am not complaining. A lot of Atsushi’s books are really interesting with a WIDE selection of topics, making me want to learn Japanese and fast. Mine are more on fantasy and novels. 😀

Anyways, we also DIY-ed the shelf for the mini-music corner. Bought it at Tokyu Hands and since we want to get immediately started on organizing the mini-corner, we opted to carry it home instead of having it delivered. See how truly thoughtful the Japanese customer service is. They put a foam on the bag handle to protect our hands. How thoughful!

Japan is probably the DIY-country, where you can DIY a lot of stuff. Found the perfect corner stand I had in mind albeit we have to DIY it. But it was pretty easy to assemble so it was just perfect.

Behold, the stand adjuster – just in case you have uneven flooring.

BEFORE: Music corner with a boxful of music scores.

AFTER: Tada! 🙂

The music scores kept piling up after this shot as we “unearthed” more scores in the other boxes. We’re yet to look for four (yes, four!) guitar stands for Atsushi’s guitars but as Hubbie said, maybe we’ll just display two, for now. Atsushi told me to try and learn playing his base guitar – I have never been as pressured…HELP!!!

Oh, just now, we had another earthquake. Thankfully, the music corner held.