Closed! :(

I had heard many good things about a pizzeria in Oji (30 minutes north of me where I transfer to go to some of my schools). The only NY-style pizza in the greater Tokyo area. I was gonna go straight from Omiya to Shinjuku when I decided today was gonna be the day that I finally try this pizza.

Then I got there and saw the gate closed, and this sign posted. I can't read it except the first part, which I'm guessing is "Esteemed Customers" (which phrase the Japanese use for customers in a store, on the train, etc) and the last part, which I think is Roccozu Pitza.

I think I see the character for "eki" or station there. Did they move to (near) another train station? Or maybe it says "thank you" because the last few characters of the second line says "gozaimasu" and I only know that to be used with "Arigato." This is the kind of patchwork reading/guessing I do all the time here, by the way.

Missed My Chance!

Oh dammit- I just realized that he last bill in my wallet that I counted wasn't a 1,000-yen note but 5,000 (yen notes are not numbered on all four corners like dollars are). So I could have gone to the buffet after all. :T Ah well. Maybe next time.

Another Day, Another Quiche

I am at Dean and Deluca at Shinagawa station, enjoying this lovely onion and smoked salmon quiche. I am going to the immigration again, this time to pick up my work visa (yay!), but they are closed for an hour for lunch so I am having--well, brunch, really--here.

My first choice would have been the buffet at Shinagawa Prince Hotel, which I heard was amazing. But I don't have enough money (it's 2,500 yen for lunch and 5,000 for dinner), especially since I have to spend 4,000 buying a revenue stamp (I think that's something like a money order) for the visa process later.

Today, I have to do a million things:

* Pick up my visa in Shinagawa (30 mins south of my home by train and bus)

* Pick up my monthly salary in Higashi Miyahara (an hour north of here)

* Get a cheap haircut somewhere, anywhere. Koko has been complaining that I've been shedding so much, maybe because it's hot, so I tie up my hair in a bun every day, and when I undo it, a bunch of hair comes out. I always shed hair, but not this much. I'm not going bald; I just have too much hair! I think it'll be good to chop off a few inches. Tokyo is getting too hot for this shit.

* Buy dress pants

* Buy dress shoes (flats)

* Meet my young women's leader to get some application from her

* Go to Shinjuku and check out the huge 100-yen shop there for knick-knacks to use in my classes

* Check out the second-hand shop in Shinjuku San Chome to see if it has any nice men's bags. Koko wanted to buy a bag for work and after many days of looking everywhere, including the expensive department stores in Tokyo (SOGO, Queen's Isetan, Takashimaya, etc), the only one he liked was a Bottega Veneta tha cost $3,000--yes, USD.

So I'm going to try to find something similar at the what the Japanese call a "recycle shop." The one I want to go to is one I've passed a few times before and snubbed, because well, I could care less about buying Prada, Gucci, etc. But apparently Koko has more expensive taste, haha.

Well, he's not like that most of the time (his casual clothes are from places like Uniqlo, the GAP of Japan). I want to get him something nice for his birthday because it's the first that since we started dating (5 years ago) that I'm working full-time with a decent salary. But I don't know about buying a bag that costs more than my monthly salary.

What It Means to Have a Tiny Fridge

It means stress. It means not being able to buy groceries for the week in one trip--not that I could carry everything in my two arms or in my bookbag anyway, since we don't have a car or even a "grandma cart" here, which no one actually has here. The only "grandma carts" hey have here are the ones with little seats on the top, and the carrying capacity is less than what I could carry myself, unless something was small and heavy, of course.

Having a tiny fridge also means having to buy a cooler (or two or three) for our BBQ tomorrow, which Koko thought it was so easy to have. He had actually invited our friends over last Sunday but we had to postpone it because we had already accepted an invitation to my colleagues' joint birthday party.

I've spent all week thinking about the things I'd need to prepare for it. Koko is good at planning things like budgets, career and education goals, but he has no idea how much work it takes to host a BBQ.

This is like the time in California when he thought it would be a good idea to have his colleagues come over right after work one day for a BBQ. That meant I had to prepare everything myself--buying and marinating the skewers (the wooden sticks for which must first be soaked for half an hour), marinating the chicken wingettes and drummettes, making the burgers, making sure hat I buy fish and veggie burgers incase someone didn't eat meat, making the iced tea, etc.

Now I only have one day to do all this, and I have to cut back on the kinds of foods, because I don't have a pan or container big enough for skewers and don't know if I'll have time to make them even if I did.

I wanted to make a salad earlier this week (as well as to buy some grilling veggies and cheese) and they took up the whole fridge, as you can see in the picture. We'll have to buy a cooler or two, depending on the size, to store he raw meat until it's ready to go on the grill.

We'll also need a small, foldable table, like the ones most Koreans have in their homes, or like what Japanese have for--I'm assuming--tea, since they call it chabudai.

Oh crap, and plates, utensils, napkins and cups.

Sigh.

I love making food and having people over, but it always stresses me out, especially when there's a ton of stuff to do and to buy, and no time or space to do it in. :T

Freaking Hot and Humid

This is the fan I was using all day at the office and on the train this afternoon. It says "Bambi" on it in stylized katakana, one of the two Japanese syllabary or alphabet systems. I'd switched from a bigger one so I could use it on the train without hitting the person next to me, but it's so small as to be almost completely useless.

It's so freaking hot and humid. And it's only June. It probably wouldn't be this bad if Japan weren't "setsu-den"ing (saving electricity) now, but...I feel like I'm gonna pass out. My face flushed just from walking to the train station earlier today in the mid-day sun. I think something like 600 people were admitted to the hospital two days ago for heat stroke.

After stewing all day in my own juices, I am now on the train where there is at least some air-con. it was supposedly on at the school today, but the windows' letting in so much sunlight, the relatively high A/C temp (28 degrees Celsius), and the big space all combined to make it feel like it wasn't on at all.

I only spent three or so hours in an A/C'ed room today:

* 1-1.5 hours while recording the audio tracks for the school's self-produced textbook. (If you ever wonder why the dialogue tracks on language-learning CDs are so lame, blame the textbook writer, not the speakers!)

* One hour while eating lunch

* One hour while teaching

I would've taught more classes if the senior teacher today let me, if only to be in an A/C'ed room. Heck, I would have taught all six of his classes. But I couldn't, because he was training someone and either letting the trainee observe or teach in most of his classes.

I'd like to think that the reason this train reeks of sweat isn't me, but I can't be sure. I am so hot and sweaty, I want to drink a gallon of iced tea while standing under a cold shower, then replace all the blood in my body with said iced tea. x_X

These days, when I get home from work, I'm so disgustingly hot and sweaty that I literally peel off everything (yes, literally, since everything is stuck on my skin, I can't just slip out of my skirt or shirt; I have to peel them off) as soon as I step in the door and jump in the shower.

There's no amount of wet wipes (of which we have large sizes, and many) that would get rid of the stickiness. I need to start carrying wet wipes with me so I can wipe down when I get to work.

I had to go to the bathroom as soon as I got to work today (not for the usual reasons), but to splash some cold water on my face. I don't know how women are still wearing all that makeup. Mine would have melted into a brown puddle onto my shirt.

Ugh.

Ok. Enough complaining about the weather. For now. I

I'm gonna read my Murakami book and hope it takes me to a faraway and cool place. Like a cave. Filled with iced tea.

It's 86 and Melty

It's freaking hot in Tokyo now. But it's not just the heat; it's the humidity. And don't forget that Japan is made up of islands, so anywhere you go in Japan is gonna be sticky.

I'm wearing a skirt and pantyhose (you'd think that for something so thin and see-through, it'd be cool, but it's just like wearing a blanket on your legs). Instead of my usual thin, knit top, I'm wearing a short-sleeved, button-down shirt and skirt and already feel like I'm melting.

If I had to wear a suit with a long-sleeved shirt, undershirt, and jacket like I see many salarymen still wearing, I'd pass out for sure.

The only upside is that I treat myself and sometimes my colleagues and students to ice cream.

For lunch, I'm having (from Mos Burger) a chicken teriyaki sandwich and a vanilla ice cream cup with real, big blobs of mochi, green tea pudding/jello chunks, adzuki beans, and some kind of cereal flakes (!). I don't think they're corn flakes, but rather rice Kellogg's rice flakes. Definitely crunchy and thick enough to withstand the wetness of the ice cream. Sounds like a strange combination, but it was pretty good.

I read an article today comparing some product prices in the US and in Japan--for American foods as well as comparative, like an American beer versus a Japanese beer. It found that ice cream was cheaper in Japan than in the US.

After a trip to the local 7-11, I have to say I agree. I got a box of generic chocolate ice cream popsicles and it was only 198 yen. Sure, that might sound a lot or like regular prices when you convert it to dollars, but don't forget that their dollar stores are 100-yen stores, so it's like getting a box for less than two bucks.

I don't think any American supermarkets carries similar products at these prices. I've seen similar for Asian flavored (red bean, green bean, mango, coconut, etc) at the Chinese supermarket in NY for a little more than this. Maybe the box was three bucks.

Anyway, I'm gonna go back to my burger. I always forget that Japanese people love putting blobs of mayo in their burgers, though. x_x

Reading Again

For some reason, it never occurred to me to read an interesting book on the train in Japan. I've only ever had Japanese textbooks, music, and magazines with me.

I went to Minato's main library yesterday--the one across from city hall--and picked up a small, illustrated book of Japanese rakugo (comic storytelling) and read it very quickly on the train just traveling to and from meeting my friend Emi. I really enjoyed them. I guess they're kind of like folk tales, but meant to entertain more than to educate.

For example, the introduction to one of the stories was about a rich guy who decided that he didn't need eight servants, so he got rid of half. Then he realized four was too many, so he got rid of two. Then, he realized he and his wife didn't need servants after all, so he fired them too. Then he thought that his wife was a burden, so he divorced her. Finally, he thought he was a burden too, so he hanged himself.

The other stories (including the actual story that followed this introduction) aren't as dark as this, but they have a similar sense of absurd humor, which I love.

Nearly all the stories had a lazy, good-for-nothing character in it. It makes me think that effort and hard work are part and parcel of Japanese culture. The few Japanese dramas I've seen also emphasize effort and hard work. I guess it makes sense, then, that this is a society where people suffer from "karoshi," death from (over)work. They work these crazy long hours, are expected to drink a lot many nights a week, sleep (or try to) on the trains, and for lunch, eat Yoshinoya or Sukiya--the McDonald's of beef bowls. And a beef bowl is exactly what it sounds like--a large bowl of fatty beef with a few slices of onions in a soy-based sauce, over rice. It's cheap (only about 250-380 yen, depending what you get) and fast, but not terribly good for you, as you can imagine.

Anyway, the little rakugo book reminded me how much I loved reading when I was younger, and how I should really get back into it.

Today, I started reading "Birthday Stories," an anthology of short stories edited by Haruki Murakami. He has a story in it too, which I'm looking forward to reading because I'd never read anything of his before. Maybe I'll start reading more Japanese authors.

Oh, and speaking of Murakami, Google's search engine page yesterday featured Takashi Murakami's artwork. I wonder why. Was it his birthday or something? I love a lot of his artwork from what I've seen at the Brooklyn Art Museum a few years ago--very cute.

I realized recently that I don't like most art museums. Unless I'm looking at (being in/under/around) sculptures, installations, or architecture, I get very bored and want to go home. Has anyone else experienced this?

NYC-hominess

Oops, forgot to click "send" last night-

On the Namboku line on the way home. I forgot that I was supposed to take the Mita line instead and ended up walking an extra 1/4 mike from where I was transferring from (Oedo line, at Kasuga). Sometimes being automatic mode is good, but then here are times like these.

So exhausted. I think the super-bright fluorescent lights in some of the classes didn't help my eyes. Otherwise, why else would my eyes feel like I'd been reading for hours when I barely read a passage or two per hour?

The other day, I heard some women on the train speaking in Korean and I felt like I was back home again. Too much time in North Flushing? Haha.

Deflated

Feel like my bubble just got deflated. My upper-elementary school kids today (who are nomally talkative with each other but uncommunicative in their responses to my questions) seemed to be helping each other out today for the first time, the way my last Friday students were. I was so happy to see that.

Even Misaki, the sole girl in the class, who normally doesn't say anything because the boys only talk to each other, tried to help Kyosei as he tried to explain what he did over the weekend. (Apparently, he had wanted to buy a pen but grabbed a marker in the same bin by mistake.)

And even my Step 2* class, which is full of some really smart kids but who are really quiet, seemed to be more talkative today. I heard the boys laughing for the first time during my lesson.

* In Japan, there are English language proficiency tests called Eiken (or "Step") tests. Most of the people who take it are in school (elementary, JH, HS or even college), with level 5 being the easiest and 1 the most difficult. I know-- this numbering order confused the hell out of me for a while. There are two intermediate levels as well, such as pre-2 and pre-1. The Step level of a student isn't necessarily correlated to his or her age. Kids with parents are fairly proficient in English and/or an international school education, in which all classes in English and are full of non-Japanese or half-Japanese students, will have greater proficiency at the age of 4, for example, than a 12- or even 30-year-old who is taking his first English class. It sounds logical, but if you teach the advanced 4-year-old first, then the lower-level teens and adults, it can be very frustrating when the older students can't communicate or understand half as much.

Anyway, during my last class of the day, Ryosuke and Kotaro kept talking, even they they intermittently apologized when I stopped talking to the class suddenly to stare at them. I even tried to crack a few jokes at Kotaro's expense (other teachers have said that embarrassment usually works pretty well), but then he and his buddy figured out how to tell me, in English, that I was being rude. I shrugged, but I felt bad. Sigh. I guess it's just not my style.

I don't want to be one of those excessively strict teachers. But they are very disruptive at times, and it's hard for me, let alone the other students, to focus on the lesson. I'm not sure how to manage them. I'd done a point system thing a few weeks ago that seemed to work well, but he following week, it failed. And today, I didn't bother doing it, but maybe it's a matter of setting the ground rules and being consistent. Oh, I know! Maybe I can get one of the Japanese teachers to translate my rules to them. But I have to some up with them first.

Other causes for deflation today- I broke two, possibly three, office rules regarding food:

1. Students cannot eat or drink in the classrooms, and I had given a kid some water (because he said he was thirsty!)
2. No eating in front of the students
3. And especially no eating in front of the parents

Perhaps these sound strict, but I can see that doing any of these would result in an excessively dirty school, not to mention an unprofessional appearance. Sigh.

Oh, and I was informed that I had to sign my second written warning. Teachers incur an infraction for every lateness, failure to call in advance when late, among other things. After 3 infraction, you sign a written warning. After two written warnings, you lose what's called an attendance bonus. :T

I guess I'm ok with it since it would have been only about $300 anyway for the year. But then I got a little speech by the manager of foreign teachers (at least, I think that's his title), saying that during his first three years at his school, he had lived farther than Shinjuku (where he thinks I live near) and was never late. Shinjuku is a good half hour northwest of me, and the schools are all at least 30-60 minutes beyond that.

I know I really don't have an excuse for being late despite living the farthest out of all the teachers, I think. It's not like I wake up late; I actually wake up early enough, but always underestimate the amount of time I spend on things, and therefore end up being late. If you know me, you must know that I can't be punctual to save my life. I was 30-60 minutes early every day for my first week, and now I'm barely punching in on the dot. I don't know how to get back to that, or to develop a reasonable sense of time and punctuality.

I guess in the end, I didn't do anything horrible, but I hate the feeling I get when I'm being reprimanded.

Hiroshimayaki in Azabu Juban

Koko and I went to a little restaurant in Azabu Juban yesterday for "Hiroshimayaki" or Hiroshima-style okonomiyaki (Japanese savory pancake of sorts). Sorry, I didn't catch the name, but it was on the middle of a block, on the second floor, with indoor and balcony seating.

Koko's co-worker had brought him there and he liked it, but I thought it was a little disappointing. Both of ours had yakisoba (stir-fried soba) inside and an omelette on top. For the filling, mine was shrimp and squid. His had sliced beef, like bulgogi.

I thought the omelette was rubbery and the soba hard and overcooked. While it was maybe a good idea in theory, its execution left something to be desired. Each dish was about 1,400 yen, including a tiny almond tofu dessert, which was quite tasty and infinitely better than the main course.

The Hiroshimayaki would have been better (de-)constructed as a stir-fried noodle dish like pad Thai. The sauce, like many Japanese sauces, was both very sweet *and* salty. But at least there was just the right amount so as not to drown the pancake but to enhance its otherwise bland flavor.

A Nice End to a Rough Week

After a pretty rough week (all those stress dreams about teaching to students who couldn't understand me or who couldn't produce an answer), I'm relieved to end it with a class in which the students regard communicating in English as a fun puzzle. What a joy!

With the help of the school manager, they wrote this message. :)

It was a "welcome" because even though i've been teaching for this company (which owns many schools throughout Saitama), it was my first time teaching these particular students. I was taking over an outgoing teacher's classes.

I thanked them for the message. They asked if it was ok, and I said, yes, my name was spelled correctly. And then I corrected their grammar, haha.

What else makes teaching them a joy so far?

1) There are two students in the class--one with stronger skills (Takashi) than the other (Hideaki), and the stronger student will always try to help the weaker one, eg. by translating my question for him when he says"Nani?" ("what?")

2) They try their best to answer my questions and will even draw on the board or use other ways to describe what they're saying if I don't understand.

3) They not only answer my questions, they volunteer information too. It helps improve their English and me to get to know them better. The better I know them, the more enjoyable the class is, and the easier it will be for me to give examples, etc.

4) They seem to really enjoy learning English. They asked if ad-libbing (the blanks in the new sentence structure) was ok. Today, they learned the following:

A: Can you ['go shopping' or some other verb] with me on [day of the week]?

B: Sorry, I can't. I have to ['do my homework' or some other verb].

So they came up with "Can you go skiing with me *for three months*?" and "Can you have dinner with me *every day*?" instead of plugging in the days of the week like any other (boring/bored) students would have done.

4) They teach me things too--Takashi said his birthday was May 15, the same day in 1947 when Okinawa became part of Japan. Before, it was part of the US (because of occupation).

5) They show a great curiosity by asking me questions too, like how tall I am, where my parents are from (because I look Asian but don't speak Japanese. Some upper elementary kids have been quite confused by this fact).

They also told me that the local soccer team, the Urawa Reds, was playing today, and that the stadium was near Urawa-Misono, the last stop on the Namboku line (which is the train closest to me).

I explained all the red t-shirt-clad people I saw on the way home afterward. I don't know if the team won, but everyone seemed to be in high spirits. It was almost as if I had gone to the game too. I definitely want to see the Reds now.

MOMA in Japan

Not only is there a MOMA (Museum of Modern Art) in Japan, it's in Saitama, of all places. I don't know enough about Saitama to knock it much, but it is more suburban and even rural in some parts. Some people, namely bored teens and snobby Tokyoites, call it "Da-Saitama" combining "dasai" (which means "boring") and the name of this prefecture.

So a MOMA here rather than somewhere in central Tokyo was a big surprise. And even more surprising: it's in the middle of a park--one that's quite lovely and verdant, by the way.

I barely took a few steps into museum corridor, but didn't go further because I only had 10 or so minutes left of my lunch break and I wanted to walk around the park a bit.

Sorry for the multiple posts, but I haven't yet figured out how to upload multiple photos to a single blog post.

Today's Lunch: Kyushu Ramen

My colleagues were talking about how wonderful Kyushu was right before lunch, how nice the people are, etc. so when I walked around and saw "Kyushu" on a sign, I decided it would be a good idea.

This restaurant was tiny, with a long counter and bar stools like at so many noodle shops for salarymen (though some don't have seats at all; they're designed for salarymen who need to eat and run).

Like other such noodle shops, there was a vending machine through which you select and pay for your meal. Like a soda machine, but instead of getting a clink and a can of Coke, you get a little ticket. At some places, there are duplicates--one for yourself and one for the cook. Here, there was only was for the cook.

Right after I ordered, the cook asked me something and pointed to a menu with various numbers. They weren't for side dishes, and he wasn't asking me what portion size noodles I wanted, like at other places. (The funny thing about Japan is that at many shops, everyone pays one price for a noodle soup, then you have the choice of supersizing, downsizing, or regular-sizing your noodles. If I had a bigger appetite, I'd supersize every time, just to get my money's worth.)

Anyway, I couldn't figure out what he was saying at all until the owner, I think, came over and spoke to me in English.

It turned out to be a menu of choices of the number of minutes that you'd like your noodles to be cooked--"like pasta," he said, though I'd never been posed such a question at any Italian eatery before.

Apparently, the standard cooking time at this place was 45 seconds and when it came, I could see why people might prefer 3-minute ramen instead. It was still white and hard in the center. But there were so many more numbers/minutes as options...would anyone really want 30-minute noodles? It'd be just a pile of mush.

So...it was ok. Not a lot of food for 650 yen, especially considering that this was Saitama and not central Tokyo. I've gotten 50% more food for the same price in other similar restaurants. And the broth, while good, was excessively salty.

Ah well. Now I can say I've had Kyushu ramen.

At Minami Urawa

Waiting for the Keihin-Tohoku line to go to work. I'd gotten on the train that ended here instead of in Omiya, forcing me to transfer to another KT train.

Oh, that was quick. The train is here already. Hurry up and bring me to my stop- I have to pee!

Good News / Bad News

The good news is:

1) I figured out how to make an easy, drinkable "meal replacement" type drink: barley milk.

I used to drink oat milk in the States if I didn't have time for a meal. As with the barley milk above, there's no milk involved, but it has a milky texture/appearance. But no one sells oat milk here, and shipping it from home would be insanely expensive.

Last week, I tried to make brown rice milk first since we have more than 5 kg left. But it was a flop because the hull made it taste more like watery, flavorless congee, despite my adding some sugar, vanilla oil and cinnamon.

Alton Brown had a recipe on his "Just Barley" show for a barley drink, but his called for straining the liquid after processing and blending.

I made my own version today with cooked pressed barley (in the rice cooker), water, and agave syrup. It's yummy and although I thought I was putting a lot of sweetener, it didn't taste too sweet. I just eyeballed everything, but maybe next time, I'll follow a recipe more closely so I'll know just how much agave syrup is going into the thing.

Rough recipe was:
- 1 Japanese rice cups of pressed barley (actually, a little less than one full cup since I was using these little packets, and two of them were a little less than a cup)
- 2-1/2 rice cups of water for cooking
- Water as needed to pulse and blend
- Maybe 1/3 or 1/2 cup of agave syrup (not sure...)

Made about 800 ml (two skinny Thermos-ful), plus one overflowing coffee mug, I drank on the spot.

2) Oh dammit. I forgot what other other good news was. But I do love my blender already! :D So far, I'm glad I bought it. One of my fellow cook/foodie friends here in Japan said she didn't like any of the Japanese brand blenders (she has a KitchenAid), but I figured Zojirushi has decent rice cookers and other appliances, so why not? And generally, Japanese consumer electronics are supposed to be very good and durable (except maybe for Sony).

I got a Zojirushi blender with rubber gasket on the lid, glass jar, mill blade and two small containers for milling--a small, plastic one and a larger, glass one. It even came with a little, flexible plastic tool, with one well-designed bristly end for cleaning all the parts of the blender, and a spatula on he other end for scraping down the inside of the jar. I love the thoughtfulness.

(I have a Japanese humidifier back in NY that also came with a bristle brush, and that was stored on the inside of the base unit--which is convenient and keeps it from getting lost. I'd seen another blender before I decided on this one, maybe a Japanese brand--I forget--which had a jar in such a shape that you could put it upside down on top of the base, so it saves space and prevents the buttons from getting dusty).

The only downside of this blender that all the instructions are in Japanese. x_X I'll have to get a friend to help me with it. Good thing there are pictures. I can probably figure out most of it from online; most principles should be the same. Eg. Pulse in short bursts rather than blend for prolonged periods of time (ie. more than a minute at a time), etc.

3) I placed my order yesterday for my electric griddle/grill/takoyaki maker. It's a Tiger brand, which I'd never heard of. I hope it's not the same one that makes computers in the US, because a friend used to work for them and they had really shady business practices.

Bad News:
1) I didn't have time to do gongyo this morning, even though I woke up at 9 am. It's quite early for me, especially on a workday. I remember the first few weeks of work, I couldn't wake up before 10 or 10:30 because I was so tired.

Now, I'm less tired, though I'm not sleeping as well.

2) I've been having a lot of stress dreams lately, in which I am teaching English to people who don't understand me at all--which is really the case sometimes. Sigh.

If you are students, please do yourselves and your teachers a favor: If there's anything that you don't understand, please ask for clarification rather than pretend to get it.

And, when asked a question, please respond with "yes," "no," or even "I don't know." Or at least *try* to explain. Nothing is more annoying than a classroom full of blank stares. Except maybe kids who openly mock me, disrespect me by containing to talk despite several requests for them to stop, or take advantage of the fact that I don't know Japanese.

Test Post: Bento from Ito Yokado in Ageo, Saitama

This is my test post for mobile blogging. Whatever I send to a particular email address is supposed to be posted to my blog, so let's see if it'll support both text and photos without looking too strange.

Edit: Ah, dammit. On my phone, I'd put this blurb above the pic, and some text below it, but the below text didn't show. Here's the rest of the original post:

This was my lunch yesterday--a very Korean-tasting assortment of salted/pickled veggies, a few slices of black pepper pork, and a perfect-sized bed of rice. All for 298 yen! 

Also, I had (not pictured, sorry) two taiyaki with custard cream filling. Teriyaki is like an eggy pancake batter cooked in cast-iron molds, usually the shape of a fish, and usually filled with the more traditional "an," or red bean paste.

Location: Ageo, Saitama, Ito Yokado Dept Store, level B1 food court, Hana-ya bento box vendor