http://www.huffingtonpost.com/john-barrett/chicagoburgerbiblecom-kob_b_875658.html

Last night I was grazing on leftovers while Kuniko had to work late, and what leftovers they were: spaghetti in a tart cream sauce with ham, pickled red and yellow peppers, and garlic herb cheese wrapped in prosciutto. We tend to eat big on the weekends, and occasionally that spills over into the work week. Luckily from today we’re back to normal food – and since Kuniko is coming home early today she’ll be behind the wheel of tonight’s menu.

Anybody watching Game of Thrones? I’m up to speed on the books but last night’s episode was still brutal. Can’t wait to see what they do with the next episode. Let’s hope their computer graphics department is up for the challenge.

OK, OK, I’m back. Three days of weekend seems to be just the right amount – I’d love to get into this schedule regularly. It was a full couple of days, though.

First the trip on Friday into Osaka to apply for visas went reasonably well. They only accept visa applications between 10 am and noon, so beforehand Kuniko had downloaded application forms so that we could fill them out in advance. Each of us had two forms to fill out, and I had to include a ton of paperwork related to my visa in Japan. Unfortunately, when I arrived at the front of the line at the visa office, they told me that we had filled out the forms for the Tokyo office, and that I’d have to start over with their forms. Oh, shit.

The office was busy, with not a pen or table space in sight. I hadn’t brought a pen, so I went next door to a small supermarket to buy one. The pens there were sold out – only red available. Trying not to panic I went across the street to another store, but it was a members-only store. Sorry, you can’t come in.

No convenience store in sight, and just about 90 minutes left before the visa office closed. Suddenly, I had a flash of inspiration, and went into a coffee shop. I sat down, ordered an ice coffee, and asked to borrow a pen. A comfortable writing space, a pen, and some coffee, all for 350 yen. Nice.

After rewriting our applications, and some research on the internet with my phone, I was able to get all the paperwork done. Going back to the office with one hour left, I held the door for an Indian guy who was very friendly. Turned out he was from Bangalore, and he gave me some tips on traveling while we’re there. By the time I turned in my papers and paid the bill (Americans always get screwed on visa prices it seems. Kuniko’s price was 2000 yen, and mine 12,000 yen) it was nearly noon. Kuniko will go back and pick up our passports with the visas in a week or so.

After the stress of the paperwork and time limit I decided to go out for some Taiwanese food. My students had recommended a branch of the chain restaurant DinTaiFung (鼎泰豊) specializing in shorompo – little pouches of pork or seafood and soup, steamed and served as dim sum 点心 style. My students usually go to this restaurant in Taiwan where it is super-cheap. Instead I paid a whole lot more for a whole lot less, but I will agree that the quality was excellent. Very delicious.

After that I was free to wander around downtown Osaka, which is always interesting, and allowed me a chance to exercise a little. Eventually I made my way back to Kobe and met Kuniko for dinner at 満月 (mangetsu) – a nice yakiniku place between Kobe and Motomachi stations. This was also a recommended restaurant by one of my former students, and it was also an excellent meal. We started out with some beef sushi – raw strips of wagyu beef on rice – and then moved into the cooked meats. We were completely satisfied with the meal and the price – a good place to eat.

Saturday and Sunday we both had off, but because of heavy rain we didn’t get out much. We rented some movies, spent a lot of time in the kitchen, and drank lots of wine. Very nice.

This week should be a standard work week for me, but Kuniko has a late night tonight. The rain has slacked off at least, so we should be able to go about our business this week without getting too wet.

Today is the last day of my week, thanks to a little forethought about six months ago. I had figured that I’d need to get a visa at some point for the trip to India, so tomorrow is the day. We’ve got our paperwork finished, and I’ve got the addresses mapped out on the phone. The window for visa applications is only two hours in the morning, so I’ll need to get hit it just right to get in and out of there at a reasonable time.

One of my students told me about a pretty good Taiwanese restaurant in the area, so I’m going to try to drop in for lunch. It’s supposed to be pretty popular, though – it might be tough to get in. The good news is that there are a lot of options in Osaka.

So I’m off to teach the last classes of the week.. I’ll try to blog later this weekend.

Kuniko cooked a couple of great dishes last night – mabochicken, which had all the spices of mabodofu, but instead of the tofu had chicken and eggplant instead. Also we had very spicy fried tofu with a side dish of spinach and ham salad. I’m always looking forward to Tuesdays – Kuniko has a lot more time to cook and she gets pretty creative.

The rainy season is continuing here. I brought an umbrella to work yesterday and I’ll do it again today. Hopefully we’ll get some sunshine for my long three day weekend coming up…

Just a quick entry today – not much excitement this week!

It’s good to be back at work. Yesterday I talked with my boss about the next round of classes starting in the fall, and we talked about the best way to handle classes for the new employees that just entered the company. I think we’ve got a basic idea, and he’ll put together a preliminary schedule. I think the basic idea is that I’ll continue to work the same schedule, so I’m happy about that. It’s a really nice schedule for me.

I beat Kuniko home by at least two hours, so I had plenty of time to grill some avocados and fill them with homemade salsa for dinner. They turned out pretty good – who knew grilling avocados would be so good? Probably a lot of people, actually. Today Kuniko has a half day off, so I’m looking forward to seeing what she comes up with for dinner.

Not much else going on – just getting things ready for my Friday trip to Osaka to pick up our visas for the India trip. It should be a proper adventure in the big city…

We’re getting back to work around here after the weekend. It was a pretty quiet weekend actually. Kuniko and I went out to Indian food at Swaad on Friday, and then Yoshi and I hit the trail on Saturday morning.

We took a slightly different course than usual and ended up somewhere on Mt. Rokko I had never been before. The area was called Futatabi park (再度公園) and was accessible by car as well as on foot. We found a small lake in the middle of the forest, and surrounding it were small spots where people could stop and rest. There were some picnic tables on the far side of the lake, so we sat down there and caught our breath from the long hike. Yoshi pulled a surprise and pulled a bottle of Napa Cellars Cabernet Sauvignon from his bag, so we had some snacks and split a bottle of wine right there on the lake. Very nice.

The next stop was to check out the Foreigner Cemetery nearby. Unfortunately it was locked up, but there was an overlook where you could see graves and gravesites nestled into the forest overlooking a big valley between the mountains. Seemed like a pretty good location to be buried, if dead people care about that kind of thing.

From there we hiked down the mountain and eventually descended Mt. Rokko right in front of Kuniko’s school, and by chance caught up with her going home. Good timing! Saturday night we had a wine and cheese party and got into some of the good stuff – a 2006 Marietta Vineyards Angeli Cuvee. Highly recommended if you can find a bottle.

Sunday we went out to see Black Swan (quick review: creepy but good) and also watched a movie at home “Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind” that Kuniko had never seen before. All told, a full and enjoyable weekend!

Last night after work I met up with Bill at the tachinomi for a couple of drinks before heading home. He’s an inspector at the factory where I am working – checking to make sure that the equipment that they make meets the standards of the contract. He’s also a great guy to hang out with, and he’s got some good perspective on a lot of issues both inside and outside Japan. We had a good time chatting and drinking at the “Tach”.

One of the things he mentioned was that he is looking to bump up his Japanese speaking skills. Unfortunately he doesn’t have a lot of free time to put towards studying so he was looking for some pointers on how to step it up a notch. Without study time it is pretty tough, but I suggested a textbook and hopefully he can persuade people around him to speak more Japanese to him.

This being Friday Kuniko and I decided to meet after work at Swaad. Hopefully we’ll be able to get a table. Recently we’ve been raving about the place to just about everyone we know, in the hopes that business will continue to be good for them and we can continue to be able to eat delicious Indian food just a few minutes walk from our house. Tomorrow I’ll go hiking with Yoshi (weather permitting) and then Sunday is a little unclear. We may go to Kyoto, we may rest up around our house.

But before the weekend I’ve got to knock out Friday’s classes, and do some heavy lesson planning afterwards. It’ll be a busy day in the office I think.

Last night we cooked up our first batch of somen noodles of the year. There is nothing that brings to mind the sweat and heat of a Japanese summer like ice cold somen noodles dipped in tsuyu and onions. I guess the sounds of cicadas are just around the corner.

I recently ordered a really good digital book called “Anaheim Vacationland”, which outlines in detail the hotels/motels and motor lodges that sprang up around Disneyland back when it first opened. The pictures and postcards are great, and especially good is the promotional text in the advertisements, bragging about “free Hi-Fi” and “color televisions in almost every room”. The “Inn of Tomorrow” was an especially fond memory of my childhood. We never stayed there as far as I can remember, but seeing the strangely lit exterior is a memory I can recall clearly to this day. The book is great, and I was able to download it to my iPad through the Kindle application. I’m on a bit of a Googie kick recently, I guess.

Tonight after work I’m going to catch a couple beers at the “tach” with some of the inspectors before heading home. Kuniko is at baking class tonight, so it’ll be a quiet evening around Casa de Fredricks.

A nice day yesterday looks to be sandwiched between some more rain – today is supposed to be rainy all day. Luckily the heat and the rain make little difference to me now that I’m going tie-less. Yesterday not one person said a thing about cheating on Cool Biz, but maybe that is because most people at work wear uniforms.

This month has a couple of small events. This weekend we’re thinking about taking a trip into Kyoto to see a model railroad exhibition and also to try a wine bar (called “Opus One”) that one of my students recommended. The week after that I’m taking an extra day off to go into Osaka and sort out our visas for the trip to India in August. Towards the middle of the month we’ll head over to the official housewarming party for Mr. Tojo. The end of the month is pretty open, so we’re thinking about having a BBQ party at our place, but we haven’t really put together a guest list yet. A lot of stuff to look forward to!

Today is the last day of May, and that means that from tomorrow we move into “Cool Biz” season. That means that it is officially OK to stop wearing a tie to work, and save money on air conditioning fees. It is a constant source of amusement to me that this rule is implemented regardless of the temperature outside – if the globe continues to heat up over the next 50 years there will still be people waiting until June to lose the necktie. Change happens slowly around here.

But today I am going to work without the tie, in the tiniest act of rebellion ever. I’m doubting that anyone will really care, though. Just an experiment – we’ll see how it pans out.

Yesterday despite the early morning rain warning students were going to school, and Kuniko had to teach yesterday. I guess there is a last minute check that everyone does, and at the last minute they changed their minds and kids were required to go to school. They made the right call, though – yesterday was a much nicer day.

Friday night I had a good time after work, hitting Osho for take-out Chinese food, and then later heading over to Red Spanky for some cocktails. I had a chance to meet some new friendly people over there, and we exchanged facebook info so that we can keep in touch later. Afterwards I went home pretty late, and crashed out.

Saturday the oncoming typhoon was all over the news, but there was little effect other than a constant downpour of rain. I spent most of the day sleeping, cleaning house, and relaxing before heading to the airport to meet Kuniko in the evening. I took the bus to the airport, and waited with some other teachers and lots of parents in the lobby of Itami airport.

The plane arrived on time, and after the last speech was made, and after the last student’s mother took her home, we were free to go. It was good to see Kuniko – she looked tired but happy that the trip went so well. Apparently it went without a hitch – and so it was more like a vacation than work. A vacation that you get paid for, not the other way around.

We grabbed a quick meal at a Japanese restaurant in the airport (sushi and zarusoba) and then caught a bus back to Sannomiya and a train from there to our place. Then it was unpacking time and we called it a night soon afterwards.

Sunday the typhoon officially arrived, and we sat it out inside our house. The typhoon actually fizzled out before it hit us, and it was more like a big storm – lots of rain and wind. Every few minutes a big gust of wind would come up and blow water all over the place, but other than that it was pretty mild. We were inside polishing off champagne and eating “salmon candy” from The Fishery. We also dug into some cheeses that Kuniko brought back – a hot pepper infused feta and goat cheese with black pepper. Yum.

Now it’s Monday morning, and outside it is still blowing hard. We’re off to work, but because of a weather warning it looks like Kuniko won’t have any students today. It’s very nice that she’ll enjoy a gradual return to teaching…

The end of the week is here! I’ve got a light schedule today, and then I’m off for the weekend. On Friday I have a class period to myself to work on paperwork and followup on the week’s classes, which means a little bit of an easier day. After work, I decided to head back home and get some Chinese take-out for dinner instead of ripping it up in Sannomiya. One of my ex-students went to the wine bar on Wednesday night and gave me a positive review, and just hearing about the place whet my appetite to go back. But I’ll hold off and wait until I can bring some friends along.

Kuniko is on schedule to come back tomorrow evening, and so that means I’ve got to do some last minute preparations to make her homecoming as comfortable as possible. Doing laundry, stocking the fridge with sparkling wine, cleaning the bathtub. Sunday should be a slow, relaxing day for both of us.

OK, I’m off to wrap up this week and then gorge myself on garlic for dinner.

Not a lot going on today and not a lot planned tonight. This is the wild bachelor life I’m leading, I guess. I had considered going nuts tomorrow night and going into Sannomiya to drink (alone) at Bar Mar, and then go have some wine at our favorite wine bar, but I’m leaning towards Chinese food at home.

This week I’ve been watching some TV once I get home – some Japanese, and some downloaded shows. I’m all caught up with just about everything from overseas, though. I’ve also been listening to a lot of new music – jazz, reggae, and rock. Lots of good tunes – I just need more time to listen is all.

Tonight I’ve got to get home to receive a package that will arrive, so no time to linger around at work. Let’s hope my students don’t decide to visit after classes today…

Today at work is “no overtime day”. That means that all the workers that usually work until 10 pm are required to leave by 5 or 6 pm. That’s right – they are forced to go home and be with their families. I think it is great, and the employees also seem to like the system. The only problem is that their workload is so much that it is a very stressful day for them to finish up before 5 pm.

What this means for me is that I almost never have any students coming in after my classes end for “office hours”. So I’m guessing I’ll be home early tonight. Last night I made Thai fried rice with red, orange and yellow peppers. Tonight, I have no idea what I’m going to make. When you are the only one eating the sky is really the limit. I’ll probably spend an hour or so all together today thinking about what to make. These are the stresses in my life.

I’m leaving my jacket and umbrella at home and going to work in the sunshine today. Looking forward to some good weather for a change.