pinku

Thanksgiving Roundup!!

Well, the restaurant I was thinking of going to was booked out, so we ended up having a home thanksgiving. I don't think we did bad considering we had very little preparation time (in thought and in action).

On the table:

* roast chicken (thanks to the kinokuniya supermarket)
* stuffing (yum!!)
* homemade potato bake
* gravy
* cranberry sauce
* broccoli (needed some greens)

Special guest:

* Bernie Vickers (Jamie's sweet dog)

Here's some photos:

Our special guest, Bernie

The potato bake - thanks mum!

The food

Website for Girls!!

Get Crafty is a super funky website dedicated to girl stuff like making girly things, clothes and other really fun stuff. I love one of their logos: DO IT YOURSELF: knit, create, make pretty.

As you can tell, there's lots of STUFF on their website :)

You gotta read this!!

How a woman consumed her twin and became two individuals - genetically speaking

Lusty Police

This is why I read my hometown newspaper on-line. Pure entertainment.

Who's excited??!!

The final installment of the Lord of the Rings - The Return of the King - premieres in Wellington on Monday night. Although most of us await the release of the movie, there are some awaiting the release of the Return of the King trading card game. Are you one of those people???!!

Well, the film opens in the US on Dec 17 and then in Australia on Boxing Day....and MUCH TO MY REGRET does not open in Japan until the Spring!!!! NOOOOOOO!!!! Why do they force me to try and download a pirated copy? Why do they encourage me to fly to China to buy a pirated copy? Why??!!

In other news!

We were happy to hear that one of Darin's paintings has shown up on the subscription page of Juxtapoz magazine. This is only the beginning....

The painting is behind the guy sitting in the middle of the page!!

This just in!!!!

A Thanksgiving reply from my talented brother, Stephen!

Happy Thanksgiving!!!!

Umm well, I know that I am Australian but I live with an AmeriCAN not an AmeriCAN'T (Sorry about that aberration and nonsensical addition to this sentence, it is a line from a movie I saw recently...except that it was used with the Mexican nationality...) ok. Tonight will be my very first Thanksgiving dinner and I am pretty excited about it. I am not completely sure about the holiday details, but I am gonna eat a lot and while I am eating I am going to send out thank you vibes to all the people below for all their love and kindness:

darin
my mum and dad
my sister, kristina and her family (esp. jack and mia)
my brothers, stephen and chris
my nanna and grandad
all other related relatives both on my mother's and father's side
my friends (you know who you are...and if you are reading this, then you have made it into my top ten list of best friends!!!)

this list could go on forever, cause I am thankful to all of the people that make me laugh.

Saturday Night!

As you may have noticed, I have not mentioned the Wallabies loss to England in the Rugby World Cup final last Saturday night. It was terribly disappointing to lose in the last minute, but the game was a real nail biter - once again there seemed to be a lot of yelling coming from my mouth!! Amanda, my friend and fellow Aussie, was also keen supporter with her Wallabies hat and her Wally keychain (pretty upset that I lost mine).

Luckily we all ended up having a great night at our favourite drinking hole in Kichijoji - Mississippi. I would give you a link, but it is a 'tiny hole in the wall' izakaya. If you ever come to Kichijoji, email me and we'll take you there. Don't forget to bring a video as there is a video player where you can watch your own video!!!! Fun!

Here are some photos from Mississippi and one of me being a silly drunk....

Jamie and Amanda

the silly drunk

Tyler, Darin and me

Darin

Some random thoughts

* Pay Day! - I think that there should be a rule where pay day should always come before not after a three-day weekend!! Especially, when you only get one pay day a month....

* Umbrellas! - I bet that Japan consumes the largest number of umbrellas in the world. To be honest, I think I have seen very few Japanese people without umbrellas on a rainy day (like today). In Australia, we often just run from one covered area to the next covered area - is this because we are lazy, unprepared, or is it because the weather forecasters don't do their job very well??!!

* Crochet! - Am rediscovering the joy of crochet at the moment. I have branched out and started crocheting with natural cotton and pure wool - I guess that I only used to crochet with acrylic when I was younger as I hadn't really come to appreciate natural fibres. It is amazing the dexterity required to crochet and it is interesting how that increases or decreases with different fibres.

* Inokashira Park! - I think that Inokashira Park is the park that santa forgot...oh no I mean...autumn forgot. I prefer to say fall though, as that's what the leaves do....fall. Being from a subtropical place, I love the seasons, and I love walking through the park everyday to see what has changed. Most recent changes include: leaves falling off trees, the big carp are missing (do they hibernate?), and the turtles are off in hibernation (come back soon please, I like to watch you basking in the sun on the wood logs!!!

So, enough of that. Here are the few photos that we took at Inokashira Park on the weekend:

Oyakodon recipe

As I mentioned earlier on in the blog, we are really enjoying cooking and growing our own herbs (basil, cilantro, mint, etc.). One of my most ever favourite recipes is for oyakodon. Now the English translation for oyakodon doesn't sound that appealing - egg and chicken rice bowl, but I guarantee you it's delicious, easy and quick to make. Thank you google for leading me to this yummy recipe!

OYAKODON (for four people)

Ingredients:
* 4 cups of short grain rice
* 4 medium chicken thighs (tastes much better than breast meat)
* 1 onion
* 2 cups soup stock (Japanese dashi)
* 10 tbsp soy sauce
* 5 tbsp mirin
* 5 tbsp sugar
* 4 eggs

How to cook:

1. Cook rice.
2. Cut chicken in to small chunks and slice onion.
3. Put the soup stock in a pan on medium heat.
4. Add soy sauce, mirin, and sugar in the pan.
5. Put chicken chunks in the pan and simmer on low heat for a few minutes.
6. Add onion to the pan and simmer a few more minutes.
7. Wisk eggs in a bowl
8. Bring the soup to a boil, then pour the eggs over the chicken and onion.
9. Turn the heat down to low and put on a lid.
10. After one min, turn off the heat.
11. To serve, first put cooked rice in a deep bowl, then place the chicken mixture on top of the rice.

If you like spicy food, then I recommend sprinkling a generous amount of shichimi - a mixture of seven Japanese spices. Yummy!

Here is a photo of what ours looked like tonight. It really doesn't do justice to how happy it made me!

Crochet Heaven!

Pinku! is busy getting back in touch with a loved high-school craft - crochet... Am using some deliciously pretty pink wool bought in a dirty market in Beijing. I'll let you know when I get close to completing anything.

In other news, this is the first day in another three-day weekend here in Japan. This one is Labor Thanksgiving Day. In fact, we will have at least one public holiday every month until June - nice!

RESFEST

The RESFEST is on this weekend in Tokyo at Laforet in Harajuku starting on Friday (Nov 21) and finishing up on Monday (Nov 24).

RESFEST is:

an annual, global festival dedicated to showcasing innovative film, music, art, design and technology. Designed to support and inspire emerging talent, the festival kicks off each fall in the United States, and then journeys worldwide to over a dozen cities across six continents, building a global network of creators and audiences. The festival has supported breaking new talent, hosted visionary filmmakers, and pushed boundaries to rethink the visual language of cinema.

Since its founding in 1996, RESFEST has been both an artistic and technological pioneer. RESFEST was the world's first global event to champion desktop tools designed to empower the independent creator. Since then, the festival has evolved in response to the convergence of film, music, design, fashion and art. RESFEST is now the home for an even wider international cultural movement being created by the collision of creative disciplines.

This year's program includes:

* Spike Jonze Rarities
* Michel Gondry Retrospective
* Mike Mills Retrospective
* Lots of music videos, short film
* There is also an all-nighter at Roppongi Hills where you can see the Spike Jonze, Michel Gondry, and Mike Mills stuff all in one go (midnight to 4:30 am on Saturday night - 4000 yen)

The english program can be found at www.resfest.com, click on Tokyo for the program. Unfortunately all ticket info is only in Japanese - check it out here.

SHIKINEJIMA

A couple of months ago, we spent the weekend on Shikinejima - one of the seven Izu islands about three hours from Tokyo by jet foil. The weather had been terrible in Tokyo, but it was picture perfect on the island. It is the smaller island next to Niijima, which is famous for surfing. There is no surfing on Shinkinejima, but there are free camping grounds, great hiking trails, spectacular views, clear waters for snorkelling, free tidal rotenburo (outdoor hot springs), bikes for hire, clean air, very few people, and great beaches for bbqs, sunbathing, frisbee-throwing or, of course, drinking a beer!!

Go to Australia!

Sipping a beer just 100 feet from the frothing sea, I felt as if I were sitting on the deck of an ocean liner.

Ah, this is just one of the great lines from the New York Times Australia travel series last weekend. They even talk about the local R.S.L - it made me really want to eat a steak sandwich with my nan and grandad at the R.S.L.

By the way, happy birthday, Nanna!!!

Far Out East in Australia

Bondi, Beyond the Beach

Play Cowboy, Aussie Style

Beijing

Well, have finally got around to putting my Beijing slideshow together.

Also, have also updated the pink item of the week corner. This week's photo was provided by my talented friend, Amanda who recently got back from a trip to Vietnam - lucky her!!!

Wallabies rule!

Australia - 22
New Zealand - 10

Woohoo! The Wallabies kicked some serious Kiwi ass on Saturday. I was a little worried when the All Blacks nearly scored in the first 10 minutes, but those feelings of worry soon disappeared.

Don't forget to watch the final this coming Saturday, November 22 - 8pm Sydney time; 6pm Tokyo time!

I think the win influenced the weather here on Sunday because it was seriously beautiful - clear blue skies, warm sun and a perfect 24 degrees celcius in the middle of November. We raced down to our backyard (Inokashira park) with a cold beer in hand and sat in the warm, warm sun soaking up the warmth, the great atmosphere, the music and enjoyed some great company.

Brisbane artist

If you are lucky enough to be in Brisbane (Australia) tonight, there is a hot new art show by Stephen Mok called 'Head Case' opening at the Doggett Street Studio, go and check it out!

11/14 - Head Case

Opening Party from 6-9pm 11/14. Running until dec 6.

Doggett Street Studio
85 Doggett Street
Newstead Brisbane
ph: 07-3252-9292

artists: stephen mok, wendy moore, nick robba

Orgy??!!

You are looking at an orgy on the Barrier Reef and it is in the shape of a heart... - read more here! How could it happen that I have never been to the Great Barrier Reef even though I have lived my whole in Queensland? Well, most of it anyway.

coral are animals? mass spawning once a year? a few days after the first full moon in November? 27 degrees celcius?

who would have known??!!

earthquake!

My unhappiest posts are earthquake updates. My hands are shaking as I type - another one just rocked our building and I'm SICK of it!!! I can only imagine how horrible a big one would be....

beijing crap!

ok, so I spoke too soon. The perfect quality of our new, illegal dvds needs to be downgraded. The newer the movie, the worse its quality. I don't know what country's cinemas they film these movies in (I assume it's the US), but I never realized how many people get up and walk around in front of the screen during a movie!! Now as we load a movie into the dvd player, we wait holding our breath hoping it works. It doesn't end there. If there are any pauses during the movies, our hearts stop and then we just hope that it will continue to play.

Guess you can't expect much for less than $2.

trash blues

We are wallowing in our own filth. That doesn't sound too cool, does it??!!! Well, it kind of sucks actually.

Let me explain.

Before I moved in July, I lived in a 15-storey building which means that there is a place in the bottom of the building where everyone can stash their trash/rubbish at any time during the week. Well, with the move the trash/rubbish rules have changed and they are tough. Dazza and I live in a three-level apartment block in a very nice, small residential area surrounded by parks. Residential means quiet which is good, but it also means that we are surrounded by rich, old Japanese women that have lived there forever and follow the trash/rubbish rules meticulously. We also love the parks around us, but parks also mean that our area has a serious crow problem.

The trash/rubbish rules

1. Trash/rubbish must be separated into burnable, non-burnable, and recyclable trash/rubbish
2. Milk cartons must also be kept separately and cut into a specific shape.
3. Recyclable trash/rubbish includes bottles/cans/ cardboard boxes (these must be cut up into smaller pieces and then tied with string)/magazines]
4. All trash must be put into see-through bags so they can check that you are not trying to sneak some non-burnable in with the burnable trash. (Some old ladies in our area go as far as labeling each bag that they put out)
5. Burnable trash/rubbish is collected twice a week.
6. Non-burnable trash/rubbish is collected once a week.
7. Recyclable trash/rubbish is collected once every two weeks.
8. All trash/rubbish must be put out before 8am on the morning of the collection and NOT the night before.
9. All trash/rubbish must be covered with weighted down netting to prevent the crows from getting in the bags.

Rule number six and eight provides us with the biggest problems, especially since we have both been traveling lately. As you may all know we like to enjoy the odd can of beer now and again. Also we like to have people come over, so that also increases the number of cans we collect...so having missed recyclable trash/rubbish day for a month now - our trash/rubbish situation is getting dire. Also it is my job to get up early, but have accidently slept in a couple of times lately (the bed is sooo warm and the air sooo cold - who can blame a girl!!) which means that we have a serious collection of a variety of burnable, non-burnable and recyclable trash/rubbish.

Anyway, what it comes down to is shown below in the pic. It is getting to the stage where we will pay someone to come and take it away. Will you come and do it!!!???? Please!!!

china to japan

ok. back in the land of japan. was getting worn out near the end of my trip. so, all in all I completed four of my seven goals. not bad for only really 24 free hours in Beijing. I ended up buying 16 dvds - they mostly only sell new releases. It is a pretty funny process - these hawkers know that only really foreigners are interested in buying dvds so they hang around where the tourists will be with black briefcases.

"Lady, lady - you want dvd, cd, vcd!!???"
"All new"
"Look this"
"this one maybe"

Halfway going through his collection in the middle of the street, he all of a sudden runs away to hide behind this wall, while leaving me holding about 30 illegal dvds. Everyone is really conscious of the police (they do look menacing - like they'd just shoot you on the spot), but I don't think they are really interested in dvd hawkers. Anyway, was worried that they wouldn't work when I got them back here - but the quality is perfect and they each cost me around 2 US dollars - sweet!

Overall impressions of Beijing:

1. They hock loogies just as good as the Japanese - actually, if they was a hocking loogies world championships - China and Japan would come out with the gold and the silver!!!

2. It's a city (country) on the move - people still sing in the street (that's always a good sign about a country) despite their poverty.

3. Major gap between the rich and the poor

4. They know how to cook duck.

Anyway, have a bunch of photos, but haven't got around to sorting them out yet.

More later.

Beijing update!

Well, goal number one is completed. Peking duck equals delicious! They did have items such as duck brain, duck tongue, and frog oil on the menu but we stuck to Peking duck. The skin was crispy and juicy and the meat sooo sooo soft. We ate at Qianmen Quanjude Roast Duck Restaurant which is pretty well-known and not far from one of Beijing's major streets, Wangfujing.

After dinner I took a stroll up to visit Mao. Tianamen square was blocked off, so just took a couple of photos and then walked back in the snow. It really is cold here. I was here eight years ago, but Beijing has completely changed. It is clean, modern.....and unfortunately there are chainstores everywhere - Starbucks, McDonalds, Hagen Daaz, etc.

Anyway, only six goals to go in two days....gonna be busy!!!

Snowing....in Beijing

UPDATE!!

So I finally get out of the hotel.....guess what........it's SNOWING!!!

Goals in Beijing

Hey, well this is the first two seconds I have had free since I arrived in Beijing yesterday. We have been preparing for a conference and I have had a total of five hours sleep over the last three days - that's not enough I tell you. Also I have not left the hotel once...seriously not once. Have an amazing view of the roofs of old Chinese buildings and the buses going by...and by tomorrow things should settle down so that I can finally try and get out and accomplish my Beijing goals, which are:

1. To eat some delicious Peking duck
2. To revisit the Forbidden City and capture it on camera
3. To watch a Chinese acrobatics performance
4. To ride a bicycle around the Hutong district (all the dirty old back streets!)
5. To buy illegal black market dvds.
6. To get my hair cut in Beijing - hasn't been cut in over six months (it's about time)
7. To find fun stuff to buy like a taikonaut poster (I haven't forgotten, db)

Zaijian!!

Harappa Matsuri

I love recovery days. Today is Culture Day in Japan - I am not exactly sure what kind of culture it celebrates, but I'm celebrating recovering from a big weekend. The perfect three day weekend, and only the first of three for me this month!!

The Harappa Matsuri finished today - it is a three-day music/food/art festival in Tokyo. Most people camp out for the three days (everyone seemed very well prepared) - supposedly there was a bigger turnout than usual this year because of the beautiful autumn weather (yesterday not today). There was an extremely friendly vibe, lots of drums, interesting people, music, lots of delicious food, bonfires, fleamarkets, and some really fun interactive art installations in the woods AND best of all, it's totally free (you do have to pay for the food though). You should definitely go next year if you missed it this year - I guarantee that you'll forget you're in Tokyo.

Here's some photos (click for to view larger):