Ano ba ang "Plastic" sa Japanese?

Minsan, natanong ko na rin to sa sarili ko. Ano nga ba yun?...

Example:

Nung dumating ako dito, sobrang excited ako. I want to meet many friends, so as much as possible, I keep on my mind all the things that would most likely open up a conversation, a lively one. So, when I do, parang ang naging dating sa kanila, immature. Yung laging nakangiti (smiling face ba lagi), ang dating sa kanila nun hindi ka seryoso sa mga ginagawa mo. Pati yung mga usual natin na ginagawa sa pinas, hindi katulad yun dito...from here, pumapasok yung term na "Tatemae".

Meron silang saying, na minsan natanong ko sa pinoy na sempai. "Honne to Tatemae ga chigau".. Ibig sabihin, mag-kaiba yung tunay na personality sa personality na ipinapakita. So, may mga time na meron tayong ka officemate na Haponesa, tapos parang ang sweet-sweet satin, it doesn't necessarily mean na gusto nila tayo. I'm also not saying na malabo mangyari yun, pero usually Tatemae yun. Sa mga Japanese kasi, napakaimportante ng Work life, kasi most of their life dito na napupunta, well depende pa rin sa Japanese to, kasi meron ako kilala na Japanese, super bait nya mas pinili nya na mag volunteer work, than to earn money here.

Anyway. back to the topic. Ayun, gusto kasi nila makapag work sila ng maayos, so para mangyari yun, dapat as much as possible wala ka kaaway sa work. Yun ang Tatemae, minsan hindi sila talaga umiinom ng alak, pero para magandang pakikisama, iinom sila. Parang ganito rin sa atin, although at some point, parang ka-plastican ito, di ba? Pero I think, for a good cause.

Tapos isa pa, example kunwari meron ka bagong hairdo, tapos pag nakita ka nila, sasabihin nila "Wow, ayos ng buhok mo.. kakkoii". Pero sa loob loob nila, "Hala, saang carnival ka nanggaling? Nag cosplay ka ba?"... dito naman Pumapasok yung isang term, na ang tawag e "Omoteura ga aru"....

One notable na nangyari sakin na ganito, isang beses merong Japanese na me hawak ng main computer. So yung computer na to, dito ako gumagawa ng mga applications ko, usually web application. Ginawa nun, nagbigay sya sakin ng access, naka CC sa ibang japanese. tapos, nung aaccess ko na yung computer, ayaw... Yun pala, mali yung binigay sakin. nung lumapit ako, aba, eh iba iba yung case nung username and password, mali pa yung spelling. Para sakin, eto ang tunay na ka plastican. Pero parang doble kara ito, so kahit biro wag nyo sana sabihin sa Japanese. kung sa atin, parang pag sinabi mo, "sus, plastik mo..." , matatawa pa tayo. Sila, hindi....

And another thing, napaka sensitive nila sa pagkakamali. Make a mistake and you're lucky if pagbigyan ka nila ng pagkakataon.

At sana, wag nyo isipin na lahat ng Japanese ganito. Meron din mababait na Japanese, parang sa atin din, or kahit saang lugar. Every place is a forest, ika nga..

A series of Friday Nights :

Like a recent started habit, I often find myself walking in streets of Roppongi, watching how people go. First we take dinner then go somewhere else, for a change.

Members: Me, Neth-san, Liezel, Niki (Liezel's italian BF), Roque (pinsan ni Neth, canada), Ayako (gf ng pinsan ni neth, japanese), Yukihiro (pinsan ni neth, japanese), xander (brother ni liezel)

And look, it seems there is some change in Minato-ku. I wonder if this is really effective, since there are still intimidating guys who constantly follow you and ask going to their bar. etc...

We went to First Bar, and I've seen many fellow "kababayan" there, but they would just stare at you and ignore you should you start a conversation. Quite friendly fellow, aren't they? We went out and approached by some bouncer, and asking us to go to their place, which seems like they are forcing us. The bouncer already grab one of our member's hand and I cut the bouncer's sweet plan, because we have our plans and I don't want anyone in our member harrassed in such a way. Another bouncer approached me, like some trouble is about to happen but things went cool. We went to the old "party place" Motown2. And oh my god, I thought I'll be able to rest here. I took some drink, was alone that time and quite pissed because we lost our umbrellas at First Bar (thanks to the stupid bouncer who took it for us and then lost those....). I was like thinking for my remaining days here, and was approached by a Japanese woman (she looks old by the way, maybe mid 30's).

She pulled my hand all of the sudden, and said. "Hey, you should enjoy!".
Although, I said I'm enjoying countless time, she keeps on saying that I'm not Happy.
I said I'm happy, I keep on talking to her in English and Japanese, but she won't listen.
I said I'm tired and I want to rest, so she grab a seat and leaned her body on me, heads on my shoulder.

We had some talk, she asked many things but I rarely remember some. She looks really drunk, I guess because she touched my body and when he touched the...... I insist that she should dance with the crowd. (This would be a trouble...)

So fortunately, my members returned and she surprisingly tried to undress one of our member, I was really surprised. Hahaha... and when other people in the bar saw that, they moved on her and a few more minutes we find our space to go at TGIF to kill time until the first train.


And when I thought we can safely stay here, there's a chinese guy who tried to touch the body of the japanese girl in our member. this chinese asked her, "where you're from", while trying to touch her shoulder. I'm sick of these guys and just word came out " Problem!?". I looked at him,and he turned his back and leave suddenly. I feel sorry that I surprised everyone, I just feel sad that some foreigner like me would do those things, giving japanese people a bad impression of us.


And finally the train.
I was rained all over from station to my room...
going out on a rainy night is not such a good idea...

Food Trip : eating classy foods for less

Eto ulit. dami kasi nag request ng 2nd part. Anyway, sabi ko nga sa previous post ko, kahit mahal dito, pwede ka pa rin mag enjoy. Wag lang kayo maniwala dun sa mga website na nagsasabing, wag kayo gumastos at hayaan nyo lang yung mga kasama nyo na Japanese ang gumastos, bad yun. Wag masyado kuripot, just spend as much as you can and keep contact. You'll be glad you did. Sabi din to sakin ng Engineer na nakausap ko before I went here in Japan (after ko pumasa sa jouhoushori).

If medyo malakas ka kumain, marami ditong resto na merong "viking lunch". Siguro kaya Viking tawag nila kasi malalakas kumain yung Viking. "Tabehoudai" kung tawagin sa Japanese. Eat-all-you-can. The catch? You have to eat on certain amount of time, usually 1 hour. Pero meron ding mga place na walang limit, as in hiya mo na lang, hahaha. Minsan, meron pa kami nakita na pinoy, aba me dalang plastic bag at dun nilalagay yung mga food. Sana po wag natin gayahin ito, kasi nakakahiya.

At kung ayaw mo naman kumain ng stiff, meron din mga places na me plan yung pagkain. Example here, 2,800 complete na. Appetizers, Main course and yung Banana Split. Pwede na yun, considering yung quality ng food.

Maraming way para mag tipid, pero merong practical na pagtitipid at yung maling pagtitipid.

Opinion ko lang. Yung matitipid mo na pera, it could have that value today, pero bukas, baka barya na lang yan. Pero yung experiences mo, with your friends, kahit pag tanda mo, maalala mo yun at pati sila din , maaalala nila yun. From the way na kakain kayo sa labas na onti lang yung dalang pera tapos maghahati sa bill, lahat yun... for me, gusto ko balikan someday at mapagusapan ulit with them.

Ikaw? Paano ka ba nagtitipid?

Pagkain : Hindi ibig sabihin na magtitipid ka , kakain ka na lang ng kahit ano.

Hay, sabi nung isang nakakita ng previous post ko, "Pagkain ba yan o mukhang pagkain lang?". Ngek? Ano yun? Syempre pagkain naman yun. Mukha lang kakaiba, pero OK naman. Baka akala nyo kasi sa sobrang mahal dito, kumakain na lang kami para makaraos lang. Siguro 50% totoo yun. Ako, I admit, minsan pag merong oras, inaantay ko na mag ka discount yung pagkain, minsan up to 50%. Imagine, nakakabili ako ng mga 6 to 7 pieces ng tinapay for 99 yen each whereas yung normal price nun eh 210 yen.


Minsan, meron din katulad nito. Bale Okonomiyaki saka yung kalahati Takoyaki. Yung Okonomiyaki, para siyang pancake na yung halo eh either Octopus, some onion, etc. Tawag nga nila dun, Japanese Pizza, pero mas feel ko siya tawagin na Japanese Omelet. Yung Takoyaki naman, bilog na merong Octopus sa loob. Ilang beses na ako napapaso dito pag kumakain, so a piece of advice, wag kainin agad pag medyo tumagal sa Microwave ng mga 3-4 minutes tapos 550w. Or else, para kang nakakita ng batang kumain ng bagong saing na kanin at iniluwa agad.
By the way, nabili ko pala yun ng 190 yen lang (original price nya eh 380)


Eto naman yung Ramen. Naku maraming klase ng ramen dito, pero yung pinaka OK sakin yun Shouyuu Ramen. Yung iba kasi, hindi ko ma stand yung amoy, parang medyo mapanghi ba. Kakaiba yung amoy eh.

And wow, ano ang mga ito? Teka, kahit mukhang masarap yan, oo Tipid pa rin yan. Syempre, minsan minsan nagkakayayaan kami, napunta din naman kami sa OK na place, lalo na pag napasama kayo sa mga Japanese na babae, wow... kung pwede lang dadalahin nila kayo sa mala- Hanzel and Gretel na lugar. Kung pwede puro Ice Cream at chocolate na lang... Kawawa nga ako... Hindi ko kasi trip masyado yung mga matatamis eh, minsan nga nabigyan ako ng chocolate ng valentines, sabi ko.. Hindi ako kumakain ng masyado matamis, aba umiyak... ayun, next time bigay sa akin, cookies na lng daw.. sinita din ako ng mga friends ko, sabi nila "kakkowarui" as in, "lame" daw. so Minsan, as for "Tatemae"matters, sige pag binibigyan nila ako ng Chocolate, kinukuha ko na lang. Medyo parang ka plastican satin to, but that is not the case. Later I will post something here, about yung sinasabi nila na ka-plastican.

Yung nasa taas, brownies yan. Sa Fridays. Medyo hindi ako mahilig sa matamis, pero ang masarap dyan, me ice cream sa taas, tapos yung brownies fresh from oven pa, kaya yung ice cream unti- unting natutunaw... To be fair, masarap talaga cya. Tuwang tuwa nga yung mga Japanese na babae, kasi kinain nila yung part ko.. hahaha

Eto naman Chicken Steak... Masarap din to.. Mukhang mahal di ba? Actually, nung kumain kami dito, inabot kami ng mahigit 5000 yen, kasama na ung unlimited drinks.. Pero, tipid pa rin to.. dapat mag suggest ka ng "Hatian", sabihin mo lang... "Warikan ni shiyou".

Yung una nga, niloloko pa ako.. "gochisousama deshita daw..." sinasabi kasi to sa nanglibre ng nilibre.... so yung sinabi sakin to, sabi ko.... "sore ni suru to, kimi tachi wa firipinjin no dansei ni shoukai shinai yo!" - (Pag ganyan ginawa nyo, hindi ko kayo ipapakilala sa mga friends ko na pinoy). ayun, sabay labasan ng mga wallet. hahaha.

I'll definitely miss them.

Namimiss ko luto ni Mommy

Hindi ko alam kung ano tawag dun sa kulay green na pagkain, yung katabi ng soba, pero pag kumakain ako nyan, naaalala ko yung luto ng Mom ko, yung abodong kangkong. Medyo ganun kasi ang lasa. Dati na try ko lang kainin to kasi eto yung pinaka-mura na set ng meal dun sa Soba Shop. Minsan kumakain ako dito kasama yung isang pinoy friend, pero bihira. Food trip din namin yung Karage (yung chicken na deep fried, parang pork chop yung pagkakaluto, masarap dinadayo pa namin sa Ginza, about few minutes walk.)




Ano kaya to?

UPDATE: (June 02/2009)

Ang tawag pala dito, 高菜ご飯セット - Takana Gohan Set.