Viewing Category: Random Thoughts
2008 Mar 02
The other night when I went out for a run, I had a few things going thru my head. The first was that my face was kind of burning. It felt like I had a bad sunburn or something. I guess my skin was so dry, and the perspiration was burning my cheeks.
Then later I started thinking about my new meatless diet. I’ve been reading some vegetarianism forums the past few days, and I’ve been surprised at how aggressive vegetarians and non-vegetarians are towards each other, at least on these message boards. It’s so surprising to me that people would get so confrontational about one’s lifestyle choice. Especially about food. I guess I can understand when someone is passionate about not eating meat, but the meat-eaters who come to these forums and start flaming the vegetarians are just amazing. I guess I just don’t agree with forcing your lifestyle choices on others. It’s okay to explain why you made the choices you made, but it’s too much to demand that others follow the same path.
My regular running route takes me to the neighborhood high school, at which point I turn around and head back home. This particular part of the route is a long, straight street, with a speed limit of 35mph. I have often seen people get ticketed for speeding here, and I always keep my speed down. But, since it is near the high school, I see lots of new drivers hauling ass down this stretch. This night, I saw the opposite, although it was still a bit of stupid driving. One car was driving extra-slow, and another car behind it (I presume they were friends) was tailgating. Brake lights would flash, and they would slow down even more. Then they would speed up. Then slow down. I tried to remember back to when I was in high school, and I guess we did silly stuff like that too. What these kids were doing was not too dangerous given the slow speed and lack of traffic, but still, I couldn’t help but shake my head.
Towards the end of my run, I again noticed that my face was totally burning. It only hurt when I touched my cheeks, so I just tried to ignore it. It must have worked since the next time I thought about it was when I was falling asleep, and my cheeks were back to normal.
2008 Feb 08
These past few years, I’ve been reading lots of blogs and participating in forums in which the posts are being contributed from around the world. It’s interesting to hear about all the cultural differences (and surprising similarities) among the countries. One particular thing that has struck me in the past couple months is that I have seen the word ”Jap” come up in normal conversations/threads. In the States, this term’s usage is rare and pretty much confined to racist remarks towards people of Japanese ancestry. It goes back to WWII, and the propaganda used to depict the Japanese enemy. But, you know, in some parts of the world, it is a common, generic term to describe something Japanese. So, even though I cringe a little when I see the word, I realize that no ill intent is meant. Just a cultural difference, I tell myself.
2008 Jan 11
Here are a few things about Japan that I just don’t get:
Crowding into an elevator when there is an escalator just over there
Sure, we are 6 floors up, but I’d rather take an escalator, where I can relax and maybe see interesting things rather than pack into an elevator with 12 other people, have to try to push my way in and out, stop at each floor and get out of the elevator to let people out, then squish back in. All the while, trying to avoid uncomfortable eye contact, and also not touch anyone lest they think I am chikan. Oh, and repeat for each floor til we reach the bottom.
Plain Mochi
Mochi is rice that has been pounded into a dough. Although you can eat it year round, it’s often served at New Years in a soup. I was watching a show on tv, and one of the hosts had a big bite of mochi, and of course exclaimed"Oishii!!!" (delicious). I was thinking “No way, how can you say that big lump of tastless dough is delicious.” There’s a lot of delicious Japanese food I’d rather fill my belly with than mochi. However, one of them is not…
Dango
Similar to mochi, dango are balls of usually rice flour, and put on skewer. I remember being at a festival and getting handed a skewer of three mitarashi dango. They looked delicious, these little balls covered with a golden brown sweet shoyu sauce. Only after I bit into it and found out that I was eating another tastless lump of dough, did I realize that it was not nearly as delicious as it looked.
2008 Jan 10
I must say that JAL and ANA>American Airlines. The stewardesses flight attendants for JAL and ANA are so hot. AA, well lets just say they don’t discrimitate based on age…
Seriously though, the service on JAL and ANA is top-notch. They give toys out to the kids on the plane. The food is actually good. The flight attendants are always courteous and never give any sort of bad attitude. Even the JAL and ANA staff at the airport are great. I wish I could fly JAL or ANA every time we fly. Come to think of it, the AA staff at Narita was just as good as the JAL and ANA staff. Could it be that it’s just Japanese training and culture?
2007 Dec 07
So I was at Target today buying some new jeans. But the sizing of Levis are just weird. I tried on a pair of some boot-cut jeans, at 30W 30L, but they were too tight. Then I tried on some regular fit ones in the same size, and they were pretty good. What gives? And whatever happened to shrink-to-fits that were popular a long time ago. The ones that you’d have to wash to get the correct fit. I think it was they would shrink 1 inch at the waist and 2 inches length. Good ol button-up 501’s! You know, I don’t think I have ever owned a pair of jeans that weren’t Levis. But it is funny, one of my friends said that our European coworkers once commented that Americans wear Levi’s too much. I guess it’s true. Oh btw Target has great prices on Levi’s. $19.99 for the pair I got!
2007 Dec 05
“Repeal Day is not widely celebrated in this country, yet it commemorates the anniversary of the day the United States repealed the Eighteenth Amendment and gave Americans the constitutional ability to consume alcohol.
From the Repeal Day website.
[link via Ryan]
2007 Nov 28
I just don’t understand the fascination with Steampunk!
