excess verbiage

With the endless crappy weather we've been having, nothing would hit the spot better right now than a piping hot bowl of Japanese ramen. I'm not talking about instant ramen - I'm talking about proper fresh-made chewy al dente noodles and a broth that's been boiled for hours on end, resulting in the most amazing soup. Of course the accompaniments are just as important: the melt-in-your-mouth slices of pork, medium boiled egg, the veggies, a side of gyozas. YUM!

Since there's nowhere in Vancouver that comes close to what I had in Tokyo, I'm going to have to just sit and reminisce about the best ramen I had. The one in this picture was described to us as just a cheap ramen. But honestly, even the cheap ramen over in Japan is still way better than the best that we've got here, which would be Kintaro, Benkei, and Motomachi Shokudo.

Now let's all drool over this food porn together.... mmmm.....

I've been seeing and reading a lot of interviews lately where you hear about how the celebrity has it in their contract that the reporter can't ask certain questions. And if the reporter refuses to sign, then the interview isn't granted. Just this morning, I read about how Ryan Seacrest got shut down by Robert Pattinson's publicist because he dared to ask about whatsherface.

Honestly, this shit is getting out of hand. Last time I checked, it was an interviewer's job to ask questions. No matter how uncomfortable the questions may be, it's their job to ask. And if they're an actual proper journalist, then they should be asking real questions, not just the kind that make the interviewee feel all warm and fuzzy. That's not to mean that they should be jerks either, but at the same time, a question's a question.

If the person doesn't want to answer it, then fair enough. Say "no comment" or else, "I'm not going to answer that, thank you." And then move on. That's it. Simple as that. It's polite and professional. The interviewer will get the point that the question isn't going to be answered and they'll move forward with the interview, which by the way, is to the interviewee's benefit - to promote whatever project it is that they're supposed to promote.

I realize that it's the publicist's job to protect the "brand" of the celebrity and to have them seen in the best light possible, but making demands on what questions a reporter is or isn't allowed to ask is bullshit. If you don't want your client to look like an idiot, then have them take a class on public relations and media. They have those, you know. I've taken one. They're really quite helpful, and in the end, your client will know how to dodge the questions they don't want to answer and not look like some diva bitch about it.

Even the Sarah Palin and Katie Couric thing made such big news. Honestly, I think Katie asked the right questions. Was she tough? Yes. But why shouldn't she have been? She was talking to someone who could've potentially been the 2nd in command as vice president. If Sarah Palin thought she was bitchy, it was only because she couldn't answer the questions and wasn't prepared.

I think that a celebrity, politician, or whoever can come off in a positive light in an interview if they know how to handle the questions - comfortable or not. It really is a skill, and when the questions get tough, you don't just go running off. And trying to get interviewers to sign clauses about what not to ask, that is against any sort of unwritten journalism laws there are out there. It's an insult when an interviewer is told "you can't ask that!" - Why yes, actually, they can ask anything they want to ask. If they couldn't, then that's called censorship, my friend. And that's bullshit.

It's sad that it's getting to the point where an interviewer might censor themselves because they're worried about pissing off the celebrity or whoever. Watching an interview with Oprah, you can tell that she asks celebrities a lot of "soft" questions. And when you have this new breed of celebrity bloggers who think that they're actual journalists but really don't know what the hell they're doing (um, Just Jared, anyone? Alliteration is not everything, buddy), you can see that all they're doing is asking a bunch of insignificant suck-up questions just to get the celebs to like them.

That's the thing - the celebs or anyone you interview - they don't need to like you. And you don't need to have them like you. If they do like you, that's great. But that's not the point. The point is that you need to do your job to ask questions, the right questions. And it's their job to answer them or comment as best as they can. And that's it. So publicists and celebs out there with your demands on what it's okay to ask you - get a clue.

Watching this interview from Jimmy Fallon just made me love Gerard Butler that much more. The accent - it's the accent!

One day, we were walking around the streets of Yokohama and one of our hosts bought some street food. We asked what it was and he said the english word is "marron". My friend and I looked at each other and were like, "Huh? What's a marron? Never heard of it." And then our other hosts all piped in and asked how we couldn't know what it was, because marron is definitely the english word. They even looked up the translation on their cell phones (their cell phones are huge bc they need larger screens for all the info they look up - watch, we'll catch up to that in about 4 years maybe. heh).

So we looked more carefully and then tasted it. Immediately we both knew what it was - a chestnut! We said we didn't know what a marron is, but that is definitely a chestnut. And we had to convince them that no one in the english speaking world would know what a marron is. It's "chestnuts roasting on an open fire", not "marrons roasting on an open fire." And then we kept seeing it all over town at different stores and many of them did have the word "marron" on their signs.

Even McDonald's was selling a "Gateau Marron McFlurry". My friend tried one and said it was good. It was a chestnut cake McFlurry. Forgot to take a photo of it, but here's the picture from the McDonald's site. See below. I just think it's so funny that an entire nation is convinced that the english word for chestnut is marron. I really have no idea where that word came from at all.

Airplanes are really pretty cool when you think about them. One minute, you're in your home country. You look out the window and everything is as you know it. Step aboard, sit down for some hours, and when you step off the plane, suddenly everything in front of your eyes is different. Walking through the airport corridors to get to customs and immigration was slightly nerve-wracking because they were telling us on the plane how there's this quarantine room, where, if they think you're sick or have h1n1, then they'll keep you there. And then I was worried about going through customs because I don't speak Japanese. Customs was actually pretty easy. They don't ask too much, but they do make you give your thumbprints and get an iris scan. And then you go get your luggage and you're off.

My friend and I got picked up by her relatives and immediately it felt strange because I couldn't communicate and needed her to translate everything. You feel powerless and it's just strange to have people not understand you, and vice versa. Anyway, the drive in the car was long, because it was a long weekend and there was a lot of traffic, plus they live in the burbs. It was on this drive that it really truly hit me - holy shit, I'm in Japan! Looking out the window of the car, it was amazing to see a different landscape than I was used to. The stores, restaurants, gas stations, convenience stores... everything was different - and it was awesome. Plus they drive on the other side of the road, like in the UK.

The air was thick and humid, like a sauna, and it would stay that way for the entire two weeks I was there. Which is to mean that I was sweating for two solid weeks! Hey, what can I say? I'm from Canada after all. heh. So while we were driving, one of the first things my friend and I noticed were how little and cute the cars and vans were over there. They're different shaped than what we've got here. Literally looks like a box on wheels. We found out that those cars are the eco-friendly cars and if people buy those ones, then they get a huge discount. People with larger, regular cars obviously pay more of a premium.

We dropped off our luggage and were given a tour of the house, including instructions on how to operate the shower and toilet. You might think, why would you need a lesson on that? But let me tell you, I could've used another 10 minute lesson on how to use it! The shower and toilet would become the bane of my travels. *shakes fist at sky* More on that later.

After freshening up, we went out for dinner. Not sure if they did this for our benefit, but we wound up eating at a chain restaurant called "Jonathan's Coffee and Restaurant". Really Japanese-sounding, right? haha. It was like an American style diner in design and the menu was half western food, half Japanese. The cool thing was that you didn't have to flag down the waitress. Each table had a button to press, that signalled the waitress to come over. Brilliant! I wound up ordering something that was pretty much a salisbury steak that was served with rice and miso soup. Not terribly adventurous of me, but it was a long day of travel and I just wanted some sort of comfort food. It was exactly what I needed.

After that, we went back and then I was ready to pass out. I had made it to Tokyo. Woohoo!

Been away for a couple of weeks in the land of the rising sun. It was an eye-opening and fascinating trip, and there are so many things swirling around in my head. Translation: lots of blog fodder. So I'll share some of the stories over the next little while. And of course, the geek that I am, I've got a bunch of food photos too. hehe. Travel stories to come...

This is a rant about a pet peeve of mine. I was at the video store recently and every single time I go, it always annoys me how they have to read out your movie choices out loud. I mean, come on - what if I didn't want everyone in the line behind me to know that I was renting 17 Again??! (It was pretty good, actually. haha) I feel like they're judging me, and of course they are, because if I were in their shoes, I'd be judging people too! ;)

A friend of mine used to manage a well-known video store chain and let me in on some of the happenings behind the scenes. First off, I must be blind or something because I never knew until she told me that every video store has a porn room. Wtf?! How could I not know that? And of course, said porn room has the door shut and have to be over 18 or whatever age it is to go in there. The funny part is that there's a video camera in the room, so the employees can watch and make sure that no one's wanking off in there. hehe. And yeah, some pervs totally do that. Something even more gross - the worst task to have is to have to go in the porn room to wipe, clean, and sterilize the products from... uh... "stuff" that might have... um... gotten it dirty. Yeah, you know what I'm saying! Gross, huh??!

So back to my point, when you're checking out the movies at the counter, they're required to read out the titles you're renting. And my friend said that they all had to learn to read out the porn titles without laughing or making faces. They had to use the same tone as for everything else. But still, even though I'm not renting anything pervy, I still don't like it when they read it out loud. Again, not major, but a pet peeve nonetheless.

A few weeks ago, I was at a restaurant (can't remember which one) and I went to use the bathroom. It was one of those where you had the whole little room to yourself. However, when I closed the door and turned around, I noticed that they had a floor-to-ceiling mirror on the wall opposite the toilet. In other words, as you're sitting on the toilet, you see nothing but yourself sitting on the toilet!

I was like, ew. I know it's, you know, me - but I don't want to look at myself while I'm peeing. Just like I don't want to see myself eating. I dunno why, but I just don't want to watch myself stuffing my face for some reason. And you know, there's other stuff I wouldn't want to watch myself doing either. Maybe I have issues or something, but I honestly don't want to be in a bathroom looking at my reflection while I pee. Who's with me on this?!

Also, it reminded me of another odd toilet at a restaurant that used to be in Yaletown some years ago. It was some sort of tea place, with the word "elephant" in the name. Does anyone remember what it was called?? Anyway, in that place, they didn't have a mirror, but it was almost even worse. The bathroom door was glass. If unlocked, then you could see through it - you could see the whole bathroom. However, if you locked the door, then the glass turned into frosted opaque glass, changing it into a solid door.

The thing is, when you were sitting on the toilet, you were facing the door. It was a very self-conscious thing to sit there, worried that whatever mechanism was making the door frost over might malfunction, leaving you sitting there with your pants down, and everyone outside the door seeing you in all your glory. It was crazy. There was a guy who went in there and didn't lock the door so it didn't frost over. Luckily for him though, he was only peeing so his back was to the door. But we all saw it. And no, I couldn't look him in the eye when he came out.

I know that people like to get creative and everything, but sometimes, let's just keep thing simple. No fancy shmancy stuff in places like bathrooms, please!

Has it really been that long since I've last posted? Man, I'm such a slacker. But what's more surprising is that my page views have been higher than usual - higher than when I post regularly! I don't know who's reading this, but thank you for checking in. :)

Alright, time to crank out a few posts...

They were talking about this on the radio yesterday morning. It was pretty funny. So many people have weird issues with certain things. There were people calling in saying that they can't take a crap unless they're naked, and unless they can take a shower afterwards. One guy even said that he works close to home so when he has to go, he'll drive home to do it just so he can shower afterwards. Oy.

For me, I'm kind of neurotic about phone cords. There is nothing that bothers me more than a twisted up phone cord. If I see one, I will detangle it, even if it's not my phone. I just can't bear to see it like that.

Also, I don't like food touching each other too much if it's saucy. It's generally not a problem but when you go to buffets and places like that, that's where it gets messier. I don't like white sauces touching red sauces, or sweet things touching savoury. I just don't like them mixing flavors. Each thing should be as it's meant to me. Yeah, neurotic.

The sound of someone crunching on cereal gets on my nerves too. I think this is from sitting next to someone at work who did it every single day in close proximity to me. It drove me crazy and I wanted to scream at her to stop. It was like nails on a chalkboard to me and I often had to walk away to get away from the sound.

I've mentioned this before, and I don't know if this qualifies as neurotic, or if it's just a food thing, but I hate green onions. So I will not eat my food until I've picked out every single one of them first. Even if I'm eating fried rice where it's all mixed in there, I will take 5 minutes and do some digging before I'll start eating.

And you know when you eat instant noodles and it comes with the flavor packet? Those usually have dehydrated green onions in them, so what I do is take one of those mesh strainers and I pour the flavor packet into it over the pot of water, so that I can get out every last green onion. Otherwise, I won't eat it. Cup of noodles can be difficult since the flavor powder is just loose in the cup oftentimes. So I have to carefully read the ingredients, as some flavors don't have any in them. What pisses me off is when it's listed as onions, which I like, but it's actually green onions. HUGE difference. Also, I like chives too, but won't touch the other stuff. Gross.

So what neurotic tendencies do you have?