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

Will and Matt have moved out. Their contracts expired at the end of September. I knew this but I was not sure whether they would really move out because I did not see them packing their belongings at all. But finally they left last week.

I did not know when Matt evacuated completely. So we did not say good bye. But Will left a message to Alex and me... which was written on a piece of a cardboard box :-)

I was supposed to move into Will’s room, a girl into my room and another girl into Matt’s room. The landlady was saying that the girl would be moving into my room on the weekend (3rd October), so I was thinking to move my stuff one day before. However, when I was on campus on 31st September, I got a message from the landlady that the girl would be coming on 1st! Too soon!! I hurried back home and started moving.

My old room was a 3.8 tatami-mat room!! 1 tatami mat is about 0.9 x 1.8 m. So, 3.8 tatami mats are 6.156 square metres. The first word of my friend who visited was "Oh, small" (hahaha). Yeah, surprisingly small^^

But my new room is a double room with a double bed, which is equal to 6.7 tatami mats (10.85 square metres). I have more space than last year though there are no shelves and not enough storage. So, I have to place files and books on the floor and some stationeries in a box. It is so funny and weird that each time I move a house, my belongings increase. Usually it should be opposite.

I have been in this room for a week so far... it is nice and cosy.

One thing I feel sorry to other housemates is that all of us pay the same rent price even if the room size is different. The smallest room is even smaller than half the size of my room and is on the ground floor plus facing west.

Sorry about that (><) but you can take my room next year because I will be moving out!

Momoko

I have written before that my flat is a university accredited house (a first part of this story). Hence, a council person comes to check the house regularly. Our landlady was told 2 things by them;


1. Use wireless internet
2. Use fire resistance doors for bedrooms


All of us use wired Internet because the box (?) is broken. Alex and I reported to the provider a few times (other housemates are not helpful), but they have done nothing to this yet. We have been appealing it over half a year, though! Fantastic, isn't it?!

The reason for the wireless Internet is because it is dangerous to lay cables across the stairs and in front of the doors. So we told the landlady about the problem very first time and she is trying to sort it out now. She was thinking that we were using the cable because we could not use the wireless on our computers. This problem will be solved soon.

As with the doors, they have been all replaced now. It was funny that fire alarms went off when the builders started shaving door frames. They were talking,

"It's not a smoke at all :-("
"Yeah but smells a little bit".

Needless to say, I was wearing headphones!

I thought that they just take the old doors out and put the new ones in but I had a second thought. It is not that simple... They have lots of small jobs such as adjusting differences to fit them in and putting lever on.

2 builders came at 9am and left the place at 8pm. 11-hour job!! Yet, they could not get all jobs done! One of them came back next day and did it to a finish. They said that they did not expect it took that long. We did not either!

Now, new doors are a little bit heavy and do not match the interior :-) It is just a wooden door. Might need to be painted.

Momoko