今日の日本語の言葉: tanken suru (探検する) - to explore (not to be confused with "saguru," which can also mean explore, but sometimes means exploring in more of a... groping sense)
This word was brought to you by the fact that it popped up everywhere today.
I spent this morning watching Boys Love, which is a drama that is exactly as it sounds. It's about boys, in love. Except for the fact that it's a freaking tragedy—though it did foreshadow it by stating in the first lines that "this is not a tragedy. It is a story about love," which I should have taken seriously, but being gullible me, I totally believed it. And oh my god I was so close to crying when it was done. I mean everything was happy until the last three minutes of the movie. That's at the part when you're sure the director has already decided, and everything is in the denouement. Not here! No siree! This one's special in that it screws with your happy mind.
That aside, as I watched Boys Love, I kept laughing at the subtitling differences between what was said and what was written down. Isn't that a good sign though that I can tell now? There are some parts where I can even do something else, like draw (which I was doing sometimes) and listen, and still understand. This is progress, and it makes me so happy! Though I only still understand the gist, and not the subtle nuances and implications of the way of phrasing yet. But we'll get there someday.
I have two favorite subtitle flukes from Boys Love. The first of which happens when two friends are sitting on the roof, and one of them gets fed up with the conversation, and walks off. The conversation is as follows (with actual said text in parentheses):
A: Oi! Where are you doing? (Where are you going?)
B: Gotta take a piss (I've got to get to work. My schedule's tough, sometimes)
I mean, it's just like a subtle nuance in meaning difference here, but... does anyone else see how this can lead hapless watchers (like I once was) into some big misunderstandings?
My second favorite subtitle fluke came in the context of the main guy's best friend confessing to him, which he rejects, because he's already in love with a reporter. It's very teary, very dramatic, and if you read the subtitles in such a dramatic and over-the-top fashion, you will see why I was laughing when I should have been angry or fearful or heartbroken:
A: I've loved you since... since...
B: I'm sorry, but to me, you are just a friend...It's good to draw (actual: just that).
You should write more often (actual: nothing more.)
A: Why don't you draw like before?! (actual: We're meant to be!)
Now do you see why I was rolling on the ground with tears of laughter? Sometimes subtitling problems can be the highlight of my watching experience, like this one below from Code Geass where the guy grabs some fish from a river to eat, and this is what we see:
Again, some misunderstandings are just a bit too much for me not to laugh at, no matter what the situation is. (Suzaku actually says something along the lines of "this fish looks like a great meal!").
Anyways, onwards and upwards! Since Anna wasn't around this morning (because it was Halloween for all of you), I decided that I'd take this time to go and hang out somewhere I haven't been before and see what was there. I finally decided at around 8:00 to go to Ginza, in search of cheesecake at Tokyu Hands, which at Ginza is called Ginza Hands. Of course, the place doesn't open until 11, like many other places in Tokyo, so I didn't end up leaving the house until much later.
I was trying to find Marronnier Gate, which houses Ginza hands, but ended up in Marion instead, which apparently held miscellaneous things like clothes shops and a theater. I wasn't too interested, but the architecture was nice. Plus the inside of the elevator, looking up, looks like it's a bunch of stars, which I found very beautiful.
I moved on from Marion, and was lucky enough to get my bearings by street names (I'm happy that I can remember street names now, even though only the big streets have names). I found Ginza Hands without trouble after that (it's got a large green side out front), and was very excited. I wanted cheesecake. My dad's cousin, uncle Jeff, had told me about good Tokyu Hands cheesecake, and I wanted it very badly. I'm going to tell you right now that I didn't find it, and I sent him an email to remedy that. I want it very much.
The inside of the Marrionnier is just tons of clothing stores, high end restaurants, and Tokyu Hands from floor 5 to floor 9. I wasn't interested in the clothing, or spending $40 on a meal, so all I ended up going to was Tokyu Hands (which was already plenty enough).
The first floor of Tokyu Hands I went to had miscellaneous items like toothbrushes, shoe shiners, etc. They also had a little cafe and bakery there, at which I searched for the cheesecake, but to no avail. I wasn't much more interested in this floor except for for the bakery, so I moved on quickly.
The next floor up was a bit more interesting. It was like, baby goods and house comfort goods. So it had these cute little covers for those hot/could pouches you can microwave or put in the freezer or fill with hot water and stuff. They even had ones the size of my hand! Isn't that just so cute?
They also had these cute little bath fizz things, in the shape and with the smell of various fruit. I was tempted to get one to try out, but there's no way the Japanese ever put anything in their baths. Just water. No soap or anything. And I wasn't sure I wanted to wait all the way to try it back at home. So maybe later sometime later I'll get it before going to a hotel or something and give it a go.
This thing is worth so much more than a comment under a picture. I've been in awe of just how many choices they have when it comes to stationery stuff. I mean, where in America can you find this much lead types and brands? All there is is usually HB lead. But here, almost every store that sells stationery as at least this much selection. And colored leads of different sizes too. If Japan wasn't so expensive, I would totally love to live here, if only for this. <3
I finally looked at my watch, and realized that time was passing. So I finally had to move on, despite how much I wanted to stay behind and look at the tons of blue hues they had for pens (there must have been at least twenty, if not more). The next floor had bento boxes and cook-ware. That was on one side. The other side had some odd gadgets, toys, and cool sunglasses.
After departing from Ginza Hands without the cheesecake I had set out to find (maybe it'll be at the Tokyu Hands in Shibuya), I took a few stops on the Yamanote to Akihabara for school. On the way, I always tend to find people reading manga or watching anime, and I like it that grown men and women totally do it too, without shame. I mean, the last time I saw someone reading before today was a woman that looked to be in her sixties or so, reading Junjou Romantica (which, for those of you who don't know, is a blatant boys love manga, which is quite explicit at some points too). She was totally unabashed.
Today, I managed to get a shot of someone reading Dragon Ball Z. He was totally gruff and serious looking too, which totally threw me off when I actually recognized what he was reading. You tend to see very interesting sides of people on the train. =]
Before school, I went to have a quick lunch at Maku Donarudo (Mc Donald's). I've yet to try them over here, and I wanted to do it at least once, because Mc Donald's from around the world are actually quite different. The one in Italy serves curry sauce as a dip, for example. I, of course, got nuggets. They didn't have honey mustard, so I got mustard... which tastes exactly like American honey mustard, so win-win? The chicken is also sort of like a katsu crispy. Definitely not in the same way as American nuggets are. It also has a different taste that I can't really describe, but it's like... a little... less sweet than American nuggets. Either way, they're different, so I'm glad I had the experience. And now that I've eaten it, I shan't be going back. There are bigger and better things to eat (like black pepper chicken onigiri from Lawson's).
School was a blast today, despite the test (which was easy, and, since I didn't study for it, I aced it). Shimazaki sensei is also quite wonderful, and she has that sarcasm that Yoneyama sensei possesses too. There was this one time in class when she started talking to a backpack about the weather and the time of day, and she even went so far as to ask it out to lunch and stuff, just because one of us referenced it as "This backpack is (name)" rather than "This backpack is (name)'s." I love those two! They're wonderful teachers.
The picture below was from probably the best part of any class I've ever had at Intercult. Shimazaki-sensei speaks very good English, so she was entertaining us by trying to speak English in a burly man voice (which came from the fact that she was trying to ask us where the bathroom was as a man, and making us describe it with directions in detail).
After class, I went home the same way as usual with Saya, and we stopped by Lawson's to see what they sold. I found some pancakes in a bag, which surprised me very much, and I found it so interesting. I've never seen anyone sell just... cooked pancakes like this before. Is it just that I'm oblivious of these things in America, or is this just rare over there? Am I actually writing about some new and interesting thing, or is this just a blog about me being oblivious? xD
For dinner, we had negitoro, which I've never had before, but it's amazing. Hands down, I think it is the best raw fish I have ever had. It's minced maguro (raw fatty tuna) mixed together with green onions. You eat it with rice and soy sauce. Oh. My. God. Why doesn't this exist more in the states? All of the sushi places I've been to don't have negitoro, and I've actually seen it once (though I didn't try it), but it was so high priced! Maybe fatty tuna is just expensive in the states? D:
But I have to try this with Anna, my sushi buddy. Does that mean that we're going to have to make it ourselves out of... *shudder*... American fatty tuna, or will we have to go to some crazy restaurant in North Dakota or something? Whatever it is, though, I'll do it. It's just so good. You can also see that we had yakitori, which is grilled chicken. Yummm!
On my way out, I managed to catch a picture of Ayuka being extra adorable with her Cinderella outfit (which I proudly told her was and is my favorite Disney princess). On the left picture, she even looks like she's fitting on the slipper that she lost at the ball. Ain't she a cutie?
I've actually been to Yurakucho station before, that time I went to get a bento box at Loft ("Rofuto"). But on the other side of the station, a bit off from Loft, is where Ginza officially begins. So the area of Ginza was new to me, and it was very exciting to see. Ginza is known for its modern looking architecture, so needless to say, I took a lot of architecture pictures (which everyone looked at me weirdly for, because, after all, what's so special about a high rise?)
I was trying to find Marronnier Gate, which houses Ginza hands, but ended up in Marion instead, which apparently held miscellaneous things like clothes shops and a theater. I wasn't too interested, but the architecture was nice. Plus the inside of the elevator, looking up, looks like it's a bunch of stars, which I found very beautiful.
I moved on from Marion, and was lucky enough to get my bearings by street names (I'm happy that I can remember street names now, even though only the big streets have names). I found Ginza Hands without trouble after that (it's got a large green side out front), and was very excited. I wanted cheesecake. My dad's cousin, uncle Jeff, had told me about good Tokyu Hands cheesecake, and I wanted it very badly. I'm going to tell you right now that I didn't find it, and I sent him an email to remedy that. I want it very much.
The inside of the Marrionnier is just tons of clothing stores, high end restaurants, and Tokyu Hands from floor 5 to floor 9. I wasn't interested in the clothing, or spending $40 on a meal, so all I ended up going to was Tokyu Hands (which was already plenty enough).
The first floor of Tokyu Hands I went to had miscellaneous items like toothbrushes, shoe shiners, etc. They also had a little cafe and bakery there, at which I searched for the cheesecake, but to no avail. I wasn't much more interested in this floor except for for the bakery, so I moved on quickly.
The next floor up was a bit more interesting. It was like, baby goods and house comfort goods. So it had these cute little covers for those hot/could pouches you can microwave or put in the freezer or fill with hot water and stuff. They even had ones the size of my hand! Isn't that just so cute?
They also had these cute little bath fizz things, in the shape and with the smell of various fruit. I was tempted to get one to try out, but there's no way the Japanese ever put anything in their baths. Just water. No soap or anything. And I wasn't sure I wanted to wait all the way to try it back at home. So maybe later sometime later I'll get it before going to a hotel or something and give it a go.
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| Cake shapes made of diapers. So sweet. |
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| I was very tempted to get this. It's got the Union Jack on it! |
When I got to the next floor, I knew that I was home. I had found it. Heaven. It really does exist. I mean, do you see that sign? It says "colorful stationery." A floor full of that stuff. It was all I could do to not hyperventilate with excitement. Needless to say, I ended up spending the most time on that floor than on any other.
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| Do you see that this folds up? So cute! <3 |
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| They have 0.3 lead pencis. Pretty prevalent too. Do you know just how fragile and thin that is? Like... wow. |
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| The design on this set of books is so magnificent. I totally want one, if I actually had something to do with it. |
This thing is worth so much more than a comment under a picture. I've been in awe of just how many choices they have when it comes to stationery stuff. I mean, where in America can you find this much lead types and brands? All there is is usually HB lead. But here, almost every store that sells stationery as at least this much selection. And colored leads of different sizes too. If Japan wasn't so expensive, I would totally love to live here, if only for this. <3
Japanese stationery stores also have such a good selection of pencil cases. I mean, I know I'm addicted to pencils and cool pencil related items, but who wouldn't find this just plain awesome? I mean, a mini backpack pencil case? Or a converse shoe pencil case? These are things that I can only find on eBay, or in Japan. You just don't see this much in America, because the market is different. How did I grow up with the Japanese sense of stationery, anyways?
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| These are so hard to find in the states. I've never seen this large a selection before either. I'm so tempted to get one of each, though that'd be pretty expensive... Still, I love them so! |
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| So many book covers! This is why second hand books here are as good as new books in America. |
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| So much tape! I want all of it! To tape up... stuff. God, I never tape up anything, do I? |
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| Very cute, yet very French~ |
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| I like it how they have to have fake lettuce, to give the illusion of vegetables. xD |
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| It's Christmas here already, just like I'm sure they're doing in the states before it's even Thanksgiving. |
When I finally reached the wonky glasses section, I just had to try these on. This might be the only time in my life I ever get to look like Cyclops from the X-Men. The slight problem is that... well... I've never seen or read anything X-Men before. I know, I know, I'll get on to it sometime. It's just that there are always bigger and "better" things to watch and read. How am I supposed to push Doctor Who series 7 back, for example? Things just keep piling up.
There were also nano blocks here, which made me so happy. They're so damn cute, and much more interesting to play around with than legos (for me, at least). Legos have all of these pieces that fit in odd ways and flip weird things around. All I want to do is make cool models with standardized piece sizes, so that it's more about math than about flipping things whichever way and confusing the hell out of me. I think legos are for people who use PCs, and want all of those extra unnecessary options that make your life harder to deal with, and nano blocks are for people who use Macs. They want their lives streamlined, beautiful looking, and easier to deal with. Life's tough enough as it is without having to look at odd color coordination.
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| They even made the freakin' castle. Tell me that isn't awesome. |
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| I want both of these. Really badly. |
I found the Japanese version of these games to be pretty interesting, mostly because the layouts are different and the landmarks are also different. There's like, stuff about bath-houses and tea ceremonies and stuff in the life game, from the kanji that I'm able to read. I'm pretty sure that doesn't exist in the American version, though I could be wrong...
I finally moved up to the last floor, which wasn't interesting at all. It was all technology, and I love cell phone charms, but they don't have the greatest selection I've seen (best place for it still is probably Harajuku—though I've yet to go to Shibuya and explore extensively yet). I did, however, find another cat that sits on top of the cellphone sort of charm, by the same company as mine. And there was also another adorable cat that stretched all the way down your phone so that its tail sticks out the bottom.
They also had very cool umbrellas that were actually quite big for how small they folded up. I mean, when folded well and correctly, it goes from the tip of my middle finger down to just a little past the wrist. Isn't that just so small it's a little unbelievable? I guess I also share a Japanese taste for small things as well. :3
After departing from Ginza Hands without the cheesecake I had set out to find (maybe it'll be at the Tokyu Hands in Shibuya), I took a few stops on the Yamanote to Akihabara for school. On the way, I always tend to find people reading manga or watching anime, and I like it that grown men and women totally do it too, without shame. I mean, the last time I saw someone reading before today was a woman that looked to be in her sixties or so, reading Junjou Romantica (which, for those of you who don't know, is a blatant boys love manga, which is quite explicit at some points too). She was totally unabashed.
Today, I managed to get a shot of someone reading Dragon Ball Z. He was totally gruff and serious looking too, which totally threw me off when I actually recognized what he was reading. You tend to see very interesting sides of people on the train. =]
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| He has officially replaced Matsumoto Jun as the cutest Japanese guy I have ever seen anywhere. Of course, I have no idea who he is, though he looks a bit like Sho Sakurai from Arashi <3 |
School was a blast today, despite the test (which was easy, and, since I didn't study for it, I aced it). Shimazaki sensei is also quite wonderful, and she has that sarcasm that Yoneyama sensei possesses too. There was this one time in class when she started talking to a backpack about the weather and the time of day, and she even went so far as to ask it out to lunch and stuff, just because one of us referenced it as "This backpack is (name)" rather than "This backpack is (name)'s." I love those two! They're wonderful teachers.
The picture below was from probably the best part of any class I've ever had at Intercult. Shimazaki-sensei speaks very good English, so she was entertaining us by trying to speak English in a burly man voice (which came from the fact that she was trying to ask us where the bathroom was as a man, and making us describe it with directions in detail).
After class, I went home the same way as usual with Saya, and we stopped by Lawson's to see what they sold. I found some pancakes in a bag, which surprised me very much, and I found it so interesting. I've never seen anyone sell just... cooked pancakes like this before. Is it just that I'm oblivious of these things in America, or is this just rare over there? Am I actually writing about some new and interesting thing, or is this just a blog about me being oblivious? xD
For dinner, we had negitoro, which I've never had before, but it's amazing. Hands down, I think it is the best raw fish I have ever had. It's minced maguro (raw fatty tuna) mixed together with green onions. You eat it with rice and soy sauce. Oh. My. God. Why doesn't this exist more in the states? All of the sushi places I've been to don't have negitoro, and I've actually seen it once (though I didn't try it), but it was so high priced! Maybe fatty tuna is just expensive in the states? D:
But I have to try this with Anna, my sushi buddy. Does that mean that we're going to have to make it ourselves out of... *shudder*... American fatty tuna, or will we have to go to some crazy restaurant in North Dakota or something? Whatever it is, though, I'll do it. It's just so good. You can also see that we had yakitori, which is grilled chicken. Yummm!
I part here with you, having taken about four hours to write this blog post. I kept running out of words, having too much words, getting tired of typing, getting tired, and getting distracted by another drama I'm watching (this one doesn't have bad subtitles, but it does have flowery effects, twinkling smiles, and people saying other people's names without much else, like:
A: I love you.
B: Gii... (the guy's name, and this is said in such a surprised way. Every time. For no reason.))
Anyways, there you have it. My parting picture is an update on what the cover of my sketchbook looks like so far. I'm sure all of you know what the two inked figures are (please, tell me you do (really? Are you sure you don't? (It's Sherlock and Watson. You have made me sad.))). The one that is currently sketched on is, once again, no surprise here, Mikhail. I'll get around to drawing Alexei too, eventually.
Oh crap. I went this far without telling you guys what the sad news was. Well, I guess I'm not ending it at that picture after all. So let's get straight to the point: Julien's going back to America on Saturday. It wasn't like I wasn't expecting this or something, but recently, he's been having problems because at the age of 18, you're not allowed to drink. However, Tokyo rarely ever cards, so you're relatively safe if you keep it on the down low. The "problem" is that he's a late night owl, a partier, and whatnot, and his host mother is like, the classic Japanese host mother. She's trying her best, but they're incompatible. Plus, Julien did drink, and, I don't know why, he told everybody about it, which put CIEE in the tight spot of having to act, because it's against CIEE rules (though I'm sure they couldn't care less, honestly, as people). Anyways, they've tried to solve this for quite a while, but Julien is unhappy. CIEE got fed up, and thus, Julien's heading back to the states. He's thinking of going to Montreal to work with his spare time now. He says he'll definitely be back (after he turns 21).
Of course, that leaves Ian and me. And when December comes, Ian's gone. And then when February comes, all the college students I know are gone too (including Gabby, who is a wonderful person who goes to Harvard! This is her junior year (I might have told you that somewhere already, so if I have, I apologize). Anyways, that also means that most likely, if I want to go to Hokkaido in February, I'll be going on my own. A tad bit scary, but I think I can do it. It's just a bit lonely too, you know?
Anyways, that's it for the bad news! Now that I've gotten that out of my system, it's time for me to go to bed. I don't know why I'm so tired today, since I usually go to bed at later times, but I'm going to go listen to that body of mine.
また明日、
マギー
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