Yesterday evening we spent most of our time cleaning the house and getting ready for Kuniko’s party tomorrow night. We made salsa and guacamole, and tried to prepare everything so that it will be easy for Kuniko to prepare when she gets home. I think the party will start before I get back, so she’ll have to keep everybody in drinks and also start cooking dinner. Should be interesting.

As for me, I’ve got just another normal day at work. I’m hoping to sneak away a little early today to assist with the entertaining, but my schedule after regular classes is pretty odd and I never know who might drop in. Hopefully, today – nobody.

Yesterday after work I made it 90% of the way home before the sky exploded in rain and thunder. Two ways of thinking about it, really. One is that I carried around an umbrella for 90% of my day but only actually used it 10% of the day. Not very efficient. The other is that I kept my umbrella dry for most of the day, but in the end it did get a little wet.

Luckily the worst of the storm happened after I settled in at home, and from my window I could watch the lightning flashing and hear the cracking and rumbling sounds outside. I love a thunderstorm, mainly because they were fairly rare growing up in California.

Last night for dinner we had a salad and some leftover enchiladas. Today is our prep day for the party on Wednesday, so tonight we’ll have a simple dinner and work on cleaning the house and prepping some dishes for Wednesday night. Should be a pretty busy one tonight.

Just like that the weekend is over and it seems like it just got started. We were both pretty tired this morning, and it was hard to get out of bed, even with the prospect of a nice cool shower.

Sunday we made a road trip into Amagasaki for a hit and run at Costco. This trip was completely successful – they had everything on our list (even some beautiful flank steak for carne asada) so we shopped and left before it got busy. Next door at ex-Carrefour we picked up some beer from Sonoma (Hot Rod Ale) which is pretty rare for Japan. Ex-Carrefour still has a better than average wine selection – we passed up buying a Coppola Director’s Cut Zinfandel and a Clos Du Val Zinfandel because of the price, but it was the first time I’ve seen them for sale in Japan.

We were back on the road home around 10:30 a.m., and got home a little after noon as rain started to pour down. The rest of the day was cleaning house, doing homework, and enjoying enchiladas for dinner.

Saturday we went over to the Fukumi’s place for dinner. It was just the four of us, so we had a lot of time to talk and really get to know them better. They cooked a delicious Italian dinner – pizza, pesto, risotto, and some delicious salads as well. They also kept the wine flowing, so communication was getting both easier and more difficult, if you know what I mean. Good times.

Wednesday Kuniko invited some coworkers to come over for Mexican food, so today and tomorrow we’ll get the place ready for a mid-week party. We’re going to have Mexican food on Wednesday, so we’ve got to make some guacamole and salsa as well. Should be fun…

Last night Kuniko came home with some bread from her baking class, and it was really good. Kind of like Italian style, with a lot of vegetables and basil baked into it. Yum. Since I was on my own for dinner I had cooked up a pizza I bought at the supermarket, but only after I had spiked it with mozzarella, fresh basil leaves and Chinese hot peppers. Again, yum.

Today is Friday – and I’m glad. We’ve got a bit of a busy weekend coming up. Tomorrow we’ll go over to the Fukumi’s place for dinner and to catch up with them, and then we’re considering a Costco run to Amagasaki on Sunday. Next week we’re hosting two parties, so we’ve got a lot of things that we need to pick up there. Right now Kuniko has a million things going at work, and not enough time each day to get them done, so the weekend really hinges on whether she needs to work more at home or not.

We’ll see how it shakes out. I’m looking forward to sleeping in tomorrow, though…

While it is easy to remember summer months in Japan as waking up bathed in sweat, or taking a shower and then stepping outside and needing another one, one thing I always kind of forget is the change in how long we sleep.

In the winter it is very hard to get out of bed, and it is a struggle to get out of bed before 6:00 a.m. But now we’ve been getting up before 5 a.m. every day – no alarm required. It’s nice to be up and at ’em without effort every day.

Today after work Kuniko will attend a baking class, so that means that I’m on my own for dinner. I’m torn between stopping somewhere on the way home or scrounging up some leftovers around the house…

The week is chugging along with temperatures getting hotter and hotter. My guess is that the rainy season is over, but my students insist we’ve got a couple more weeks before we’re out of the woods. The humidity is doing a number on the herb garden. Little tiny aphids are starting to eat the mint, and the cilantro decided to stop growing where it was. I’ll give it another week and then harvest it all, I think. There’s a taco party coming up next week anyway, so good timing.

These next two days will be especially long at work. Some of my students had to reschedule their extra classes, and so they’re piled on the next two days. I’ll have very little time between classes, so that always makes the days go by quicker – but I’ll be plenty tired at the end of them. Thanks to these switches I should have a nice easy day on Friday. Let’s hope it stays like that.

Gotta run – I’m on the hook for dinner so I need to peruse the kitchen and see what to make…

It was a tough transportation day yesterday. I had a 15 minute delay going to work – someone suddenly collapsed in the front of our train, but luckily it happened at a station and they were able to pull them off the train and get them to a doctor ASAP. Then on top of that, at the next station we were delayed because somebody had jumped in front of a train at Shin-Nagata station, causing the local train line to be delayed even more. But considering that all of that happened and I still was only delayed 15 minutes, I guess I can’t complain too much. I usually arrive an hour before class begins, so arriving 45 minutes before class starts isn’t a big deal.

Last night we had some Jerry’s Pies – these things are great. Last night was chicken/mushroom and steak/onion. They are really good – it’s like eating at a British pub. With pies we had to open a few beers and everything went together very nicely.

Kuniko’s car is in the shop today, and so they left a loaner car here for her to drive around until they finish up doing almost nothing to her original car. The new car is cute and it has Kuniko dreaming of a new car in the future – which is exactly what they had hoped would happen. But it is nice to drive around a new car without having to worry about insurance or anything. I’m not sure how long we’ll have it, though.

Friday night after work Antoine and I got together in Sannomiya for dinner and drinks. We tried a new burger shop in the back alleys of Sannomiya called ジャンク (Junk) which probably should have been a warning sign. But we were craving authentic burgers, and it turned out they were not so junky. I had a double cheeseburger, and Antoine had an avocado burger. Mine was pretty good, but the meat was quite small, and the whole thing fell apart messily after the first bite. The bun tasted great, but wasn’t strong enough to hold the meat, toppings and sauce. The meat itself had great flavor, but since it was made from super tender Japanese beef it fell apart pretty quickly too. Not bad, but it was no Starchild.

We also hit a couple of other places, including D Wine and had some Havens Merlot, and a really tasty Spanish wine – 2007 Condado de Haza Crianza. Finally we stopped in at the New York for a last drink (and some pizza) before catching the train back. It was good to see Antoine and talk about what he’s got on his plate. His family life is going well, and he’s got some things developing in his professional life, so it’ll be good to see how it works out.

Saturday Kuniko was stuck at work all day, and I was holding down the home fort. It was freakishly hot so I mostly stayed inside protected by the air conditioning system. At around 6 pm Kuniko came home from work, and then a few minutes later we left to meet a new friend that I met a while back at Red Spanky. His name is Mr. Ota, and he lives here in Okubo. He met us in front of McDonald’s, and after introducing Kuniko we walked over to a local place he wanted to introduce called 穴婆 (Anaba). I had walked past the place before, but it seemed a little on the spooky side. Turns out that once you go inside it is quite nice. The couple running the tiny restaurant are really friendly and we squeezed in between two regulars at the counter seating and ordered some cold beer.

Mr. Ota is a cool guy. He works as an electrician doing freelance work in the area, and his girlfriend (who I also met at Red Spanky) lives nearby. Unfortunately she was out of town for the weekend, but I’m sure we’ll get a chance to see her in the future. We talked with Mr. Ota and the owners of the place, and had some good conversation while being fed various foods – homemade gyoza, chicken wings, 豚冷しゃぶ (cold pork strips on salad with sesame dressing), chicken hearts, and grilled mushrooms. For some reason I was thirsty for beer – I had five or six mugs of it, when I usually only have one or two. It was a good evening.

Sunday Kuniko had to take an English test in Kobe, so again I had the place to myself. I did a little shopping and chopped vegetables for dinner. I marinated the veggies in olive oil, maple syrup and wasabi. It turned out to be a little too subtle for our tastes, but it was OK. With the grilled veggies we also had 冷奴 (hiyayakko) cold tofu smothered in green onions and topped with 本つゆ (hontsuyu – fish based salty broth). Yum.

It was a nice weekend – we drank a lot but we also managed some healthy eating as well. Next weekend we’re going over to hang out with the Fukumi’s, so more parties on the horizon. I’ve also got a plan to go out to the tachinomi tonight with Bill, one of the inspectors at work. Looking forward to it…

Last night after work I got home to a hot house and did my best to open all the windows and get a cross breeze going through to cool it down. While the house was cooling I started marinating two chicken breasts in olive oil, lemon juice, thyme, garlic, salt and pepper. I turned on the grill, and then went outside to harvest a handful of basil. After a bit I threw the chicken on the grill and shortly after that Kuniko came home.

She was wondering why I wasn’t using the air conditioning.

So we turned it on for the first time this season, and all the sweat just magically stopped. So nice. Dinner turned out great – I put the chicken on some “premium” bread from the lady down the street, with a little mozzarella and some tomatoes, then shredded the basil and put it on as well. A perfect sandwich.

We also used the A/C to cool down our bedroom for sleeping, and that meant that when I woke up I was sweating – a trend that will continue for the next three months. On the positive side, I’m sure to start losing some weight because of this.

Tonight I’m meeting Antoine after work for dinner and drinks. Not sure where we might go, but the nice thing about Sannomiya is that there are plenty of options. I haven’t hung out with Antoine for months and months, so it’ll be good to catch up with him and see how his new family is doing.

The humidity is really kicking in around here. At work I have no choice but to use the air conditioning, since I work in a small classroom in the middle of the building without any exterior windows to open. But at home, we’ve been getting by so far without using the air conditioning – relying on open windows and cross-breezes to keep things cool. Unfortunately I think that in the next couple of days we’re going to have to use the artificial cooling. It is seriously hot and humid recently.

Last night Kuniko had an after-work party, so I cooked up some leftovers and relaxed around the house, listening to Mitch Hedberg and watching some TV. The weekend is rapidly approaching, and I don’t really have much planned, so a little midweek comedy party hit the spot. We got to bed rather late – sometime after midnight – so getting up this morning at 5 am was a little rough. Like a couple of zombies shambling out of the bedroom, actually.

This morning the top search on my blog was “brian fredericks diet plan”. Whoever you are, don’t do it! It’s all parties, alcohol and noodles over here. No effect whatsoever on my weight…

Last night Kuniko requested pho for dinner, so we cooked up some rice noodles, a beef broth, and a few mint leaves and cilantro from the garden. It was delicious, but a little hot for this kind of weather. It seems to be getting hotter by the day, and plenty of humidity from the intermittent rain. Ugh.

Tonight Kuniko will be attending a party after work, so I’ll be on my own for dinner. I think I’ll kill some leftovers we’ve got sitting around, so nothing crazy planned. Maybe open a bottle of wine?

Although it was raining most of the day yesterday it had little effect on me as I work entirely indoors. But it is clear from my students that they are getting sick of the rain. The rainy season seems to be going on and on, and as soon as it ends we’ll face the summer heat. Talk about a rock and a hard place.

Today Kuniko is going into Osaka after work to pick up our passports, hopefully with a visa attached. That means that I’ll get home before her, and she requested some pho for dinner. Luckily we’ve got a great crop of cilantro growing outside. Now I’m wishing I had some seriously spicy peppers to chop up and put in as well. I guess I’ll put that on my list.

OK, off to work early today. My class load is increasing starting this week, so even more lessons to plan out before and after work…

One of the best things about the weekend is that it finally gives me something to blog about. Keeping the secrets of my company and students makes the weekly blog posts pretty boring, I admit. Luckily the weekend comes along, and finally I can write some good stuff.

And good stuff it was. We started with a meetup in Kobe on Friday night. I got off work and went to a wine shop to pick up a couple bottles of wine to bring to Mr. Tojo’s party the next day. Soon afterwards I met Kuniko at the entrance to Tokyu Hands, and went to 味香苑 for dinner. This place was introduced to me through one of my students, and it was pretty authentic. Without a reservation it is hard to get in there, but we had planned ahead and we got a counter seat. Turns out that there are two restaurants owned by the same guy, and they are across the street from each other. We initially went to the wrong place, but the owner took us across the street to the correct place, and chatted with us while he did it. He was a really friendly guy, and you could tell he knew the importance of hospitality.

We ordered from the menu, selecting a range of foods including tofu noodles, spiced lamb skewers, a cinnamon-spiced fried rice, and stir fried vegetables. As one of my students pointed out to me, their menu is quite large, and even includes dog. Although the name of each dish is translated to Japanese on the menu, there was at least one entry that was only in Chinese. Although the kanji for dog in Japan is 犬, in Chinese it is ç‹—, and there it was. I didn’t have the courage to order it. At least, not this time.

The best dish we had was a stir fry with harusame noodles and pickles, and when it arrived the aroma from the dish was intense. The spice smelled like every Asian street market we’ve ever visited – Bangkok, Hanoi, Hue and China all had the same exotic smell. I wish I could identify, but it is exotic and something we almost never smell here in Japan.

There was a Chinese lady entertaining a Japanese guy in the corner, and all the staff were Chinese, and it really had an authentic feel. The servers spoke Japanese however, and although they often times seemed curt or grouchy, it only added to the authenticity of the place. We got the same treatment when eating in China.

On Saturday Kuniko had to work most of the day, and I stayed home to do some housecleaning and laundry. At around 5 pm we lugged a box full of wine and beer over to Mr. Tojo’s house for the party.

He was having a big group of coworkers and friends over to introduce his brand new house. When we arrived there was already a few people there, and the party started in earnest after a few minutes. Two of my ex-students were there, and also a student of another teacher that had worked at the company for a while (they were impressed with how long his nose hairs were). Introductions were made, there was a lot of drinking, and twice we ran back to our house to bring over some wine glasses and other support items for the party. Mrs. Tojo cooked some great foods for dinner – roasted rosemary chicken, roast beef, and lots of sashimi. Yum.

After several hours of non-stop drinking and talking one of the guys who was drinking the heaviest fell off his chair, sending the chair against the pristine wall behind him and leaving some fairly dark scratches on the wall. Everybody remained calm and smiling, but I’m sure both Mr. and Mrs. Tojo would have liked to kick the guy. I remember the first scratch in our wall after we moved in – I couldn’t take my eyes off of it. Hopefully this wasn’t the first scratch in their house.

We finally drank our fill and headed out rather late, and then stumbled back to our house and went right to bed. The next thing I knew it was almost noon on Sunday, and I was very glad that we didn’t have anything planned. Mostly we read, rested and recuperated yesterday, and ate only somen noodles for dinner.

Now it’s Monday and we’re back to work. It should be a pretty non-eventful week, with a meetup with Antoine at the end of it. Hopefully there will be something to blog about…

After a full week the weekend is looking pretty good right now. I’ll meet up with Kuniko after work to get some Chinese food at 味香苑 in Sannomiya. I’ve been there once before and the food is pretty authentic. Last night I was making reservations and it was a comedy of errors in Japanese as the American guy tried to speak clear Japanese to the Chinese guy on the line. Hopefully we were able to communicate enough to secure a proper reservation.

We’ve also got to pick up a couple bottles of white wine to bring to the party we are attending tomorrow night at Mr. Tojo’s house. He’s got a house full and so we’ll try to bring 5-6 bottles of wine and a couple six packs of beer. We volunteered to bring some alcohol, hopefully somebody else will bring some food…

It looks like the rain has let up for the week, and we might be able to enjoy a dry, albeit cloudy, weekend. Fingers crossed.

The week seems to be flying by. I’ve been busy at work, and that always helps, but also I’m running on a lot of stored up energy from last weekend’s three days off. I’m looking forward to visiting Mr. Tojo and his wife on Saturday night, but the rest of the weekend should be pretty relaxing.

Last night I spent the evening watching most of the Tigers game. One of my students was attending, so I wanted to catch up with the Tigers and see how they are doing. Right now they are near the bottom of the division, but they seem to be climbing lately. It turned out to be a great game, with them winning by one run. One surprising thing was that they cut away from the broadcast at 9:45 in the bottom of the ninth and the Tigers ahead by only one run. There was even a runner on second, but they decided to cut away to another show. I was pretty surprised – the game hung in the balance, and it was the most dramatic part, but they stopped the broadcast. Strange.