Momoko

One of the Alex's bike pedals needs a repair. He completely took it off the bike body. I do not know exactly what happened although he explained it in details – I could not understand :-P

He wants to repair it himself because he does not want to spend lots of money on it, which is fine. He has a part-time job 6 days a week. Although he owns a car, he walks to a job because the petrol costs a lot as well, which is also a fine reason.

So far, it sounds OK?

However, it is more than 2 months ago that the problem happened to the pedal and his work place is about a 15-minute bike ride away from the flat. Do you understand what this means?

He has been walking to the job taking 1 hour for a single way every day for more than 2 months. That is to say, he is wasting 1.5 hours every single day!! When I asked him about the bike in early October, he was saying that he would repair it next Monday because the university was starting soon (if he does not repair it, he has to walk to the university taking half an hour for a single way).

It has been 5 or 6 weeks since he said so, but he is still walking. Two of my friends (both Japanese) said, "He must be thick". I felt it was too much to say... because I know him better than they do (they have not met him) and know that he has got many good things.

Having said that, I do understand that he does not want to spend lots of money, but I wonder he does not notice how many hours and how much energy he is wasting? He keeps saying, "I'll repair on my next day off", but never does. I do not understand what he thinks. If he was my close friend or boyfriend, I would definitely egg him on to repair it. Oh well, it is none of my business, though.

* * * * *
He bought a pumpkin for Halloween. But eventually, he did not make a lantern and just left it on a kitchen table. It was still there last Sunday (8th) and rotten.


Alex, if you are not going to celebrate Halloween, would you please keep it in your room!!!


I asked him on Sunday what he would like to do with it. He said, "I'm going to cut the bad part off". He had not done that for a couple of days since then.

* * * * *
In the beginning of October, I suggested a rubbish takeout rota. I first told Alex about it. He said, "Oh, I'll do that because it's a man's job in my country". I said that it is not fair that only1 person does a particular job constantly and it tends to be a woman's job in Japan. Then, as the conversation went to a different direction, i.e. cultural differences, we could not find a compromise.

Though there were 6 recycling days since then, it was only 1 time that he took the rubbish out and it is me who did other 5 times. Other 2 people do not contribute to it. We need a talk...

Alex and I have known for over a year, and I know lots of good aspects of his but to be honest, I came to a conclusion that Alex is all mouth and no trousers. Even if he says, "I do it!", I would not take it seriously.

Momoko

Oh, it has been a week since I posted the last entry (><) I was writing a new entry, which was supposed to be updated yesterday or today, but I will write about other thing because I watched an interesting TV programme.

It is called "The Execution of Gary Glitter". In Britain , the capital sentence was banned in 1969. However, in 2004, a campaign of the return of it began and it became bigger and bigger. It was brought to the Parliament and discussed. Finally in 2005, the death penalty (hanging) was re-introduced in the UK. It is carried out to murderers and sex offenders who raped a child under 12 years old.

Gary Glitter whose real name is Paul Francis Gadd was a former rock singer and was in a prison for raping 2 children aged 10 and 11 in Vietnam. He was quietly saying that he did not do anything and there was not a case. He was always quiet and calm as if he was making fun of people who he was speaking with. Against his will, his case was taken to the court and he was sentenced an execution. He was the first person since the death penalty was regained its lawful status.

You can watch the programme on 4oD. You will see a British court scene (I think it is a real trial of his), an execution place, the execution day and a moment of the execution as well.

In the programme, a group of people who are against the capital sentence appears and one lady was shouting human rights to live.

On the last day (execution day), death-row prisoners are permitted to leave a final statement after a last meal. Gary Glitter read a statement that he had prepared and it was tape-recorded. While he was reading it, he cried. I could not tell if his teas were real, but as I continued to watch him in the programme, I became sure that he was afraid to die.

I cannot say if I am for or against the capital punishment, or if serial murderers and rapists still have a right to live, but this documentary gives me a moment to think about it.

Although it is a 77-minute programme, I really recommend you to watch it. If you press "S" next to a volume symbol, subtitles will appear.

Momoko

Stupid me! I burnt myself by spilling a hot water on my hand. When I made a cup of tea in a paper cup, I poured a hot water too much in it. I thought "If lifting it up, it will spill out...", but as I did not have a tray to carry it on, there was no means other than carrying with my hand. I lifted it up, then, the just-boiled hot water spilt on between a thumb and an index finger. I shouted,


"Ooooouch!"


thinking how stupid I am… It was so painful even after cooling the spot. So while I was studying, I was holding a bottle of water to heal the pain.

When I came back to a flat and looked at the spot, I found a big blister between the thumb and the index finger. It is 1 cm in diameter. Now I knew why it was so painful when I gripped a handle of a bike.

Hmmm... I am eager to break the blister... but I want to show it to my friends too.

Momoko

Need sugar! Need sugar! I need sugar!

Study makes me so tired and I need something sweet. So, I baked mayonnaise cocoa cake!





When I tell about mayonnaise case, 100% of people who hear it show a negative expression on their face. But think about the ingredients, all can be used for cakes!

In the past, I have let some friends of mine try a portion. In fact, they liked it.

The cake that I made this time contains only 3 tablespoon of mayonnaise. So, it does not taste it at all. Even if containing more, it usually does not.

Not sure if it is because I mixed the mixture too much or because the recipe was not good enough or this cake is supposed to be what it is now, its texture is something between a cake and bread and it is not fluffy…

If you are curious about mayonnaise cakes, you can find lots of recipes on the net!

Momoko

I wrote before that I had 2 new housemates from October. One of them suggested "Kitty".

"Kitty" has several meanings – a kitten, a girl or a young woman, a prison or a gaol (I prefer this spelling to "jail") and a sum of money which is collected from some people to use a certain purpose.

My housemate meant the last meaning, which is very common when sharing a flat/house with someone else. Usually, people buy anything they share with that money such as a washing-up liquid, cleaning stuff and bin liners.

She suggested that each person puts £1 (= ¥150) in the kitty each month and buy those stuff with it.

Though I have lived many places with different people, funny, I have not experienced this system (nobody suggested).

My opinion about it is that I prefer not to share consumer expendables except bin liners and cleaning detergents for a bathroom, a toilet and a kitchen. So, I spoke to the housemate who initiated. She agreed that I would not share what I do not want to share with, but suggested me to give 50 pence for other shared things. I agreed at that time, but one question popped up in my mind.


How do they separate my money from theirs when buying toilet papers, etc?


We have plenty of kitchen cleaners from last year and so I believe we do not need to buy this year. If we buy 1 bottle of bathroom cleaner, it will last quite long. Therefore, what I will have to share the cost regularly is just the bin liners. As for this, I buy a roll of it from my money once every 4 times.

So, for me, there is no point to give the kitty money every month. Some people might think that people like me are "problems". But to live comfortably as much as possible, we should not be silent.

While I was waiting for an opportunity to speak to the housemate again, the kitty box disappeared from the kitchen. I am wondering if this suggestion has been turned down or not...

Also, other new housemate suggested to buy a clothes airer together, but oh sorry, I have got one... Other people might be happy to get one?

Oops, I forgot to write the most important thing! A kitty box does not have to be a "Hello Kitty" money box :-)


* Photo is borrowed from Sanrio and amazon.co.uk.

Momoko

Here comes the British Winter Time! Have you put your clocks and watches back by 1 hour? We could stay in bed for 1 extra hour in the morning^^

It feels fast. I just changed the time for the summer time the other day, but again we have to change it for the coming winter. Refer to my old entry for the reason why the UK has adopted the summer time.

So, the time difference between the UK and Japan is now 9 hours, i.e. if the UK is 12.00 noon, Japan is 9.00pm on the same day.

As time has gone back by 1 hour, we see the darkness 1 hour earlier and I have to think about going back home 1 hour earlier. Hmm... I prefer staying on campus as long as I can because I cannot study at home.

Even if moaning, gloomy winter is coming anyway (@@)

Momoko

I was watching Jamie's American Road Trip last night. It is a TV programme that Jamie, a British celebrity chef, goes around America, communicates with local people by exchanging cooking and discovers unknown America. In the last night's show, he met cowboys in Cody, Wyoming, saw rodeos, tried their slow-cooked beef and cooked some British food such as baked beans for them. Yummy yummy! That is one of my favourite British foods.

He went to a stadium, where 8 cowboys tried to stay on a crazy horse for 8 seconds. If won, they can get $120 (= £73, ¥11,044). Then, when he spoke to one American cowboy and the cowboy began speaking, subtitles appeared on the screen! I knew the British TV subtitles when Indian people speak English (it is quite common. Maybe always put the subtitles on). But it was a first time to see the subtitles for the Americans. Having said that, there is no wonder about that because American English is one of the English dialects; even within a country, it sometimes requires subtitles. Though I have not come across the situation to do that for the British people in the UK, I have in Japan.

So, the cowboy's English was, to be sure, hard for me to understand (I tend to unable to understand American English, though :-)), but it seemed to be hard for the the British too. I wondered if Jamie could understand it because he was just saying like "Right... I see".

This programme was a repeat, so you can see all 6 episodes on 4oD. The last night's show was the episode 2 (second last from the bottom). You can put the subtitles on by pressing "S" next to a volume button.

If you want to try his recipes click here.

Momoko

I was a bit surprised when I found small octopuses in a jar on Alex's shelf in a fridge. Western people tend to dislike octopus and squid because they are chewy. But of course, many eat them.

Japanese food is popular here. I have met 1 British who dislike green tea, but I have not met people who dislike Japanese food. If I was asked to make 3 Japanese dishes, I would make Maki zushi (< sushi), Nikujaga and Okonomiyaki. From my experience, these 3 dishes are accepted by almost everyone regardless of nationality and age.

When we have a potluck party (a party everyone takes a food or a drink and share them with others), at least 1 Japanese person always brings Maki zushi. I have a concern about this... Though this is also good traditional sushi, king of sushi is, after all, Nigiri zushi. So I worry that people might think Maki zushi is proper sushi. I learnt how to make Nigiri zushi long long time ago, but I forgot :-P Silly me (><)

Western people like Nikujaga because ingredients (potatoes, carrots and beef) and soy sauce are familiar to them.

The same to Okonomiyaki. But interestingly, opinions about Takoyaki (tako=octopus) split. One of my British friends and an American friend of my friend's and his family do not like it at all. My friend's friend and his family tried it and did not like it. My friend even cannot try because, he says, it looks like eye balls. Strangely, all of them like Okonomiyaki. For Japanese people, Okonomiyaki and Takoyaki are basically the same, aren't they? But this proved (?) that people eat food with their eyes! Visual effect is important!

Personally I prefer Takoyaki. To tell you the truth, when I went back to Japan last Christmas holidays, I wondered to bring a Takoyaki pan back...

Oops, I have not got a chance to ask Alex how he cooked octopuses.

By the way, a word "octopus" has 3 plural forms. One is "octopuses", which I used in the entry, the second is "octopi" and the third is "octopodes". According to Oxford English Dictionary, the third form is rare. "Octopi" sounds cute to me and also reminds me of a musical "Okepi"(Ochepi) (English, Japanese) (YouTube).


*** References ***

sushi day
About.com: Nikujaga, Takoyaki
Visual Recipes
Kateigaho International Edition
The Japan Foundation: Play of the Month, English, Japanese

Momoko

What do you think about when you are lying in a bed before falling asleep? I always (no exceptions!) think about what I should take for lunch and supper next day.

As I come back home late and want to save money, I make lunch and supper and take them with me to campus.

What I cook is usually so-called a one-dish meal such as spaghetti, fried rice, okonomi-yaki and baked sandwiches. These are all easy cook dishes, aren't they? If I lived on my own, I would cook various side dishes and preserve them in a fridge or freezer. But as I share the flat with 3 people, I hesitate to occupy a kitchen for hours. Because they cannot cook while I am cooking. I guess other housemates think the same way.

I try to use lots of vegetables and make a couple of side dishes as well. Yesterday, I took fried rice and cous cous (both with lots of veggies) plus pickled cucumbers and kóyadófu (YouTube about it).

Since I came to England, I began to eat what I do not like, for example, curry and miso soup (I like Thai and Indian curry very much). But I still cannot eat or drink orange flavoured products :-)

Curry which is easier and cheaper to get in a nearby shop here is the one similar to Japanese curry. I still do not like the taste but, as I said, it is very easy to cook and convenient... and soI cooked it today too. Today's lunch was spaghetti with curry.

As for the miso soup, I feel it is tasty ONLY when I am hungry. So, I eat it when I feel peckish at night - it is healthier than eat biscuits or toast at night, isn't it?

Many of my friends eat out for lunch or take away food from café on campus, but they eat proper food for dinner at home.

I feel people tend to cook or season dishes from their home country. I use more soy sauce than my housemates do, ex Chinese flatmates in a student accommodation cooked Chinese food very often, and British students eat only microwave meals :-P

I believe I am adventurous in food. I am not at all gourmet nor interested in eating out, but I am curious and quite positive to try anything that I have not tried yet. However, in reality, I always eat the same vegetables and variation of my cooking does not expand...I should try more and more vegetables that I do not get in Japan.

Momoko

Last week was the very first week of the academic year. We (my university) call it Week 0. Week 0 was also called a Freshers' week, which Freshers (new students) have lots of events for the new life. For example, introduction of academic and administrative staff, the courses, how to use the library, societies, etc. There are a few receptions where they can meet other freshers. Oh, and they have to register during this week.

Most of these events except the registration have nothing to do with the returning students like me.

This week is called Week 1 even though it is a second week of the year. From Week 1, the courses (classes) start, and Weeks 1 and 2 are, I call, a trial period. Students go to lectures that they are interested in and decide which 4 lectures they take. If they take the lecture, needless to say, they will have an assignment (usually essay) at the end of the term. So, they need to be careful with deadlines of the assignments. If the deadlines are all before Christmas holiday, that would be a nightmare!

Some of my friends spent their summer holiday in their country. One of them came back from Japan last month and gave me a souvenir! I requested matcha (green tea) chocolate and this (photos) is what she bought for me.






This chocolate is produced by a tea company, so it has a good rich taste. Sooooo tasty! I will not share it with anyone else^^

I miss Japan so much (;_;)

Momoko