Latest Acquisition!

I got a bed! G's college bed (which is a full, not a queen). His dad dropped it off today. It's fricking high. Thick mattress, box frame, tall bed frame. It's really weird how much closer to the ceiling I am now. I've only had it for about...seven hours, but every time I walk into the bedroom, I have to roll around on the bed. I have a bed again! No more borrowed futon on the floor! It's very exciting. Soon I can start obsessing about sheets and duvets and how to hide the casters without getting a ruffly bedskirt.

Here's one more shot for you to fully appreciate the lovely late afternoon sun...at 8:12pm. So awesome!

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Look, I actually cooked!

I finally made the curry! (A couple days ago.) Yes it was easy, yes I could've done this in Japan, but I was just that lazy. If you look closely, you'll notice that the kabocha is nothing but rinds. Oops. One time G and I made curry with kabocha but didn't put it in soon enough and it was hard. Guess I overcompensated.

It's no replacement for any curry house back in Japan, but it's good enough for at home in America cooking. I guess I should try to find a curry place up here.

I also made this pasta thing with bacon and fava beans. It was good, but definitely could've used more bacon and beans. Nice easy recipe, but it still took me way too long because of the bean prep. And the only grocery store that had fava beans was Whole Foods! Rargh. I went to Safeway, Trader Joe's, probably QFC too...nothing. Had to buy stupid organic hippie beans from the expensive store.


Poor presentation, I know. But it was good. And more importantly, one step closer to being able to eat carbonara again.

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But gravy sounds delicious!

What's supposed to be on it? Wikipedia seems to think it's gravy!

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All Muddied up again.

Went geocaching, third time this week and probably the last trip for a very long time. Went stomping through ivy, slid down more than one muddy embankment. I found one in about 30 seconds that M couldn't find after two other trips. He's now found 103, 50 of which I was there for. 50! Pretty amazing. I finally signed up for an account so I can start logging them too. Well, next time, which probably won't happen until I get my own GPS thingy.

My poor neglected kabocha is growing fuzz. Sad.

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Went geocaching again.

His girlfriend is out of town this weekend, so I have a friend again. 4 hours today, but allll walking, even though we probably should've driven a lot of it. We found a nice hidden bench with a view of the lake, and didn't get stung by nettles this time.

Didn't cook, I'll sort through photos eventually.

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I like it here #1

Well, official #1:

It's 11:20pm on a Friday night, and my nasty loud street is mostly silent. A few cars whisper by. No more big rigs, no motorcycles or revving engines. Just a reminder that I don't live in the sticks anymore (ohh--sad realization--I'll miss the crazy loud frogs. And the fireflies. Aw.).

I was going to say that if this were LA, it'd be just as loud (well, without the stupid big rigs) at night, but this isn't the same as Sunset Blvd or Santa Monica Blvd (my sister's place, not mine...). I live less than a mile from the grocery store, the bank, even a movie theater, but I live in a residential area. A neighborhood, with a well-recognized name. It's unlike anything I've ever experienced. It's wonderful.

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Already scheming.

Once I start making money, I'm going to try poutine! On this side of the border! Aren't you proud of me D? (I know I know, I'll try it up there eventually. I'll drag G with me.)

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Hmmm.

What exactly does one say to a friend of a friend of a friend who myspace bulletins her entire friend list (which includes me) to tell us she's getting divorced? Crazy. And a little sad. It's an amicable split, but I don't think I could just lay it out there like that. I guess that's how it works these days.

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Dammit.

I don't know if I should be relieved that I just re-found a sizable stack of traveler's checks or if I should be very very ashamed that I've had a month's worth of rent kicking around in a box for the past handful--no wait--six months. Even longer if you note that one set was from my trip to Malaysia, in 2005.

Oh well, it's a happy ending either way. Now I don't have to live off $50 for the month of June.

And I put together a bench! Three for three!

(Pictures later, I deserve dinner now.)

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No curry tonight.

Today was a gorgeous day. California blue skies and warm. So I IMed M (the guy I stayed with) and we went geocaching. His hobby, not mine. Yet. (In a nutshell, geocaching is an outdoor treasure hunt using GPS coordinates.) How long? For about seven hours. Seven hours of wandering through parks and the city, looking for little boxes. It's a lot of fun, and I'm not nearly as tired as I thought I'd be. Well, we didn't walk for seven hours...lots of driving here and there. The longest hike was about two hours because we had to go down this winding path to the beach.

But it was so great to be outside with a purpose under blue skies! I don't think I'm homesick, but I kept pointing out places that reminded me of home (which could be either Japan or SD. There's a drive along the coast that reminds me of Aji and Yashima.). And now it's 8:20pm, and the sun is still out. Feels like 5pm. Kind of makes me want to go back out again, maybe go take a picture of this awesome view I didn't have my camera for this afternoon (the skyline, with the needle and Mt. Rainier!). But it's just the sunlight getting to me. If it were more evening-like, I'm sure I'd be settling in for the night. This weather is super great, but it also makes me fear the cold dark winters.

Time for dinner, pictures later, I promise!

(Right, and no curry because I'm definitely too tired to mess with it. Not sure if it'll be like real J-curry (highly doubtful), but I'll settle for recreating the curry I grew up with. And hey, the directions on the box are in Japanese (and English). That's got to count for something, right?

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Total Accident, I swear.

I currently have five kinds of cheese in my refrigerator: cream cheese, ricotta, romano, swiss, and american. Other dairy includes milk, cream, and yogurt.

I knew I liked cheese, but I didn't I was that bad.

Another "accident": buying a ten pound bag of potatoes, because it cost the same as six pounds of the unbagged ones. Mmm potatoes. Guess I'll have to get some sour cream.

Goal for tomorrow: Japanese curry for dinner. With kabocha!

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Picture this:

I'm hungry but I refuse to stand up because I got blisters from walking almost six miles in zori. I seriously intend to only eat food that I can reach without standing up.

Good thing I just made a trip to Uwajimaya (Japanese/Asian food superstore) and I haven't put everything away yet. Hooray Pocky!

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It's raining.

I don't think I'll mind it, but ask me again in a couple months. The endless blue of back home can't be traded for all this green. I've got a great view of trees from half of my windows. I did make this realization: even though I live on the top floor, I can't hear the rain because of the attic above me. The landlady said that it's just crawlspace, but I seem to remember there being a window up there. Oh well. It's just weird seeing the rain and hearing the traffic but not the rain.

Oh, and there are two cars parked across the street. Funny, as that isn't parking. Also funny was a guy running by, and then another guy chasing after him. Hmm. I wonder what'll happen. I'll keep an eye out for 911 calls.

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Target trip

Purchases: this pillow, hopefully for the green-black-white bedroom and super glue for one of my poor broken chawan. (Thankfully one from college, not a handmade Japan one.)

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Salad for Dinner!

Here's that salad I ate a few days ago on the new plates I bought. Gold star for color!




I'm proud of the plates mostly because the bowls are good for udon (once I find/make it) and the mugs feel good. I kinda wish it was a set of 6, not 4, but what can you do? Practically speaking, I don't need service for 8.

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Color Ideas

Bedroom: light green (not sure if I want to lean towards yellow or blue), accented by black and white, maybe a little light blue. Like this, but no checkerboard. (Although I would totally do that in a kitchen or bathroom if I had the money and the burning desire to redo the floors):



Kitchen: As the carpet is industrial slate blue (a plus while I sit on the floor, quiet crappy once I start cooking and spilling), I think it'll have to be my blue room. What else can I do really? My plates are blue too. There's this awesome mirror I love, but I think it's only because it's reflecting the colors I want. Someday I'll have a room stylish enough for it (and the pocketbook to pay for it. Almost $200, F that.)



I'd love to sneak in some minimal red accents, like a red tea kettle or a photo of the HEP 5 roller coaster in Osaka (...the red one, with the red whales in the mall, seen it?), but I'd also settle for fitting this photo of my backyard in--just the photo, not necessarily the colors:


No clue about the living room yet. I feel like it should be warm tones, just because I'm going for blue and green in the other rooms. I wish I could furnish things with a bit more sophistication, but without a job, I suppose it's wisest to stick to ikea for now. And I'm not really a showroom sophistication sort of person anyway. Been spending too much time with the Crate and Barrel catalog. Bah.

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Small wtf:

I'm on a roll.

There's a site where you can check real-time 911 incidents, and today, there's a handful of brush fires. Brush fires? So it doesn't rain here for a week and suddenly there's brush fires? No wait, it was raining early this morning.

It's probably just the hobos, or the hooligans or the college kids, and it's probably not in the scale of what I've grown up around, but still. Seattle gets brush fires? Crazy.

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Hey Seattle Drivers:

Since the weather's been nice lately, a lot of you have been driving with your windows down and your sun roof open. I don't blame you. I've got all my apartment windows open, despite the loud rush of four-lane traffic.

But for those of you who play your music loud enough for me to hear in my non-street-side bathroom, know that I take a great deal of pleasure in judging your music. I've heard more country pop (SUVs) than I expected for the Northwest. And just now a mid-thirties yuppie in a nice car was blasting Hotel California. I didn't mind him so much, although his car suggested he was a douche bag.

PS: Thank you for patiently letting me out of my scary parking spot. Somehow I don't think that'd happen in LA without a great deal of aggressive malice on my part.

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Olive Bars?

Olive bars.

Is this a Northwestern thing (I've only noticed them in Oregon and Seattle), a yuppie thing, or a new trend that I missed while I was away? Now, I like olives, and I'll probably break down and buy some for snacking, but it seems a bit pretentious to me. An entire section devoted to fresh olives, as long as the salad bar.

It's almost as strange as the full service gas stations in Oregon and parts of northern California. I'll post a mini rant about that later.

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Ikea Trip: 90% successful.

Dresser and bathroom cart purchased. Extra purchases: plastic colander and utensil holder that will hopefully fit in my plastic magnetic bin that will go on the fridge. Refrained from buying floor cushions, because I'm not sure if I've got the floor space for them. They're frickin' huge! I even put together the bathroom cart within an hour of coming home. Piece of cake.

Minus 10%: The heavy dresser box is still in my trunk. Also, I opened the other dresser box, took out all the pieces, sorted all the brackets and doohickey things, and got thoroughly intimidated at the thought of putting everything together.

Too many damn things to consider. Bedroom first, I suppose.

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