Nov 22, 2005

Good wine and cheeze


Good wine and delicious cheeze... those are the best.

Today, I went to this wine bar. It's true that good wine won't make you drunk. It was after a couple drinks that we went there but I could drink more! Usually I start to feel good after 2 glasses of wine but hey, I drank 3 more. Wow... and I don't feel dizzy nor drunk. I enjoyed the taste of wine and cheeze. hmmm, those were good:)


I used to only be able to drink sweet white wine but these days I can drink dry white or even red. I'm beginning to learn the taste:) I had this year's Beaujolais Nouveau the other day. It that was okay, I mean, not the best though. I prefer others. I don't know why everyone's so excited about Beaujolais Nouveau this time of the year when it opens. Is it like that in other countries too? or is it just Japanese that crazy about anything french.

おいしいワインとチーズ、これがあるとほんと幸せな気分☆

Nov 17, 2005

These days...

I'm becoming an owl these days... Awake and study at night, go to bed when the sun rise...
Actually I can concentrate more in midnight. When outside is quiet and dark, I feel like I can study.


It's 12 a.m. now so better get back to work.
Beginning of my day...

Nov 16, 2005

シアトルのカフェ事情 Seattle's Cafe

                                                                             シアトルといえばやっぱりカフェ♪みんなコーヒーもって歩いてます。

日本上陸しているシアトル発カフェといえば、TULLY'S、Seattle's Best Coffee、そしてもちろんStarbucks。日本でもスタバ、タリーズは至るところにあるけど、本場シアトルにはかなわない。初めてシアトルに行った時、スタバの数には本当に驚かされた。同じ通りのちょっと行った数ブロック先にまたあったり、斜め向かいもう一軒にあったり、一つのモールに数箇所あったり。こんなにあって儲かるのだろうか?って思うけど、結構どこも人いっぱい。学校やスーパーのコーヒーも大抵スタバだし。さすがスタバ!
でもシアトルにはこのようなチェーンのカフェだけでなく、小さな個人でやってるようなカフェもたっくさんある。一軒一軒個性があって、コーヒーの味も違うし、なんといってもそこで働いている人を見るのも面白い。働いている人でその店の雰囲気とか変わるしね。あっ、あとバリスタの絵もいろいろあって楽しい。
そこで今回は私が今回の旅で巡ったいい感じのカフェ紹介します☆

まずは一番よく言ってたCafe VITA。お家からも近く、アーティストの絵とかが飾ってあってBroadwayらしいカフェでした。 隣にはこのコーヒーカップを作っている工場があった。カフェからガラス張りだから丸見えで、とてもおしゃれな感じがした。お兄さんたちが汗水たらしながら楽しそうに働いていたのが印象的☆

     


ここはBook Cafe Bauhaus。本が壁にそってギッシリと並べられている。通りすがりの人がみんなここで一杯買っていくからレジはいつも並んでいたな。ここら辺のカフェはほとんどワイヤレスインターネットが使えるからパソコンをもって勉強している人も多い。シアトルには珍しく、ここは結構遅くまで空いてるし、私も勉強してました。
       




右はPike Place Marketの前にあるカフェ。おなかが減ったので近くのおいしいと評判のあるピロシキ屋でピロシキを買っていきました。ここでは滅多に頼まないブラックを注文。





他にもいっぱいあるんだけど、今日はこの辺で。

でもやっぱりスタバのラテは毎日とは言わないけど、よく飲んでたな。スタバのラテを飲むとシアトルを思い出します。もうこの味に慣れてしまって、一番落ち着くかも。コーヒーにこだわりのある人からこんな事いうと非難をあびるかもしれないけど。スタバ依存症の人多いのでは?Addictedは怖いね。

Nov 8, 2005

Japan's pornography culture

日本のポルノ文化について一言いいたい。

この前東京から神戸へ帰る新幹線でのことである。日曜の午後ということもあり、禁煙席は満席だったため、喫煙席をとるしかなかった。乗ってみると車内はたばこ吸ったり、ビール飲んだり、イビキをかいて寝ているおっさんばっか。。苦しくてしかたがなかった。まぁこれは喫煙席だし仕方ない。
私の隣に座ったのは50代くらいのおじさん。ビール2本に週刊誌みたいなのを持っていた。

私が腹が立ったのは、20代の女の子が隣に座ってるというのにどうどうとエロ雑誌を広げて読んでいたことだ。丸見えだった。確かに、個人の自由かもしれない。だけど、恥・プライド・マナーというのはないのか?と思う。そしてその時、前にイギリスの友達が日本のポルノ文化について激怒していたことを思い出した。彼らに言わせて見れば、日本ではエロ本・エロビはほぼどこでも誰でも手に入るし、コンビニには子供の手の届くところにいかにも見ろといっているように置いてあるし、電車に乗ってもおっさん達が何の恥もなくおおっぴらに読んでいる。イギリスでは考えられないのだそう。確かに日本ではお酒もタバコもエロ本等も誰でもどこでも手に入る。自動販売機として置いてあるし、コンビにではIDは見ることになったものの、実際にチェックすることはほとんどない。こんなことでいいのだろうか?

そして失望して辺りを見回してみると、マナーのないおっさんばっかり。お仕事して疲れてるのは分かるけど、公共の場だし、もう少し恥というものを感じてほしい。日本のおじさんたち頼むよ!!

I wanna say something about Japan's porno culture.

I was on the bullet train (shinkansen) the other day on my way home from Tokyo. Unfortunately, I had to sit in a smoking seat since non-smoking seat was already full. The carrige was full of business men (or salary men in Jp) smoking, drinking beer, or sleeping and snoring. A man sat next to me was about in mid 50s, also drinking beer and reading magazine.

What I was upset about was that he, even though I (20s girl) was sitting next to him, was reading this porno magazine without hesitation. He had that magazine so wide open that I could see everything. Of course people have a right to do anything they want. It's freedom. But, dont't they have some kind of embarrassment or pride or manner?

Then, this reminded me of my friends talking about Japan's porno culture long time a go. They were from England and were so angry at the fact that anyone can buy porno books & videos almost anywhere! alcohol and cigarettes too. For those who don't know about Japan, let me tell you. Almost anyone (even kids) can buy alcohol, cigarettes, and porno stuff anywhere in Japan. I know, it's ridiculous. All of them are sold in vending machines, porno books on the shelf of convenience store where kids can see & reach, many men (mostly old men) reading porno books in the train, and there are a rule that you need to show ID when buying them at convenience store but most of the time staff won't check for yourID unless you obciously look under 20. Can you believe that?

And when I looked around the train, I saw many 50-year-oldish men in a terrible manner. I understand they are tired after their work but it's public place and I wish they have more manners.

Nov 7, 2005

Seattle & Chicago Pictures!!

*Seattle*









*Chicago*





Sorry it's not a good quality. I took them with my cell phone camera so not so good pics...
for more pics, see here:
  • Seattle & Chicago Pictures
  • Nov 1, 2005

    Thank you everyone!!! leaving soon....

    It's my last day in the U.S... I was away from Japan for 1 month visiting Seattle and Chicago. I thought I'll write about my trip when I'm back in Japan but decided to do it today cause I don't wanna sleep tonight... I wanna be tired and sleepy tomorrow so that I can sleep in the plane. 11 hours flight from Chicago. Man, that is too long...:(

    Anyway, I had so much fun!! Thanks to those who spent time with me and made my trip enjoyable.
    Aura & Tessa; you are the most wonderful and warmhearted family! Dima; thank you so much for everything! Nice ride too:) Tatsuro; It was surprising that we were in the same apt. building! I wish you the best for your future career. Astri, Kristi & Kei; happy to see you again and hope to see you in Japan next time! Jeff & Dave; I had fun playing pool and drinking that night! hope I didn't do anything when I was drunk.lol Kazui & John; nice meeting you and it was fun talking with you guys:o) Toshiko; we are the party girls! Shari, Sean & Cody; I enjoyed staying with you and the Alki beach view. Thank you for all of your kindness and the blanket!! Tomoko; enjoy rest of your Seattle life! Tina & Naomi; nice to see you again! Good luck with your job. Keith, Amanda, Mike, Carl, Ayami, Bernard, Jun & Maura; Nice to meet you all!! We had fun together:) Coco; I appreciate so much for letting me rent your studio for 2 weeks. It was very comfortable. Aki & Mike; Thank you for everything in Chicago. Too bad I caught I cold the whole time. Good luck with your studies and stay happy:) Thank you soooo much EVERYONE!!! Those of you who are coming to Japan this winter, looking forward to seeing you all soon! I'll show you around and let's have fun:) Others, I'm sure we'll see each other again. You can come to Japan and visit me, or I'll definately visit Seattle again sometime. I love Seattle!! It's my favorite city. so, Keep in Touch!!!

    I promised myself that I'll do my graduation thesis during my stay in Seattle. Since I had 3 weeks, I thought I'll have time to do this. I DID do it a little but not much as I wanted to... I went to the Seattle public library a few times, checked out books and did some data search. Not much progress though:( Once I get back to Japan, I need to do this seriously. I only have about 1 month and I haven't even start writing it!! I was just reading books as much as I can to clear my idea and organize the layout. AHHH~!! well, so what? I should do things that I can only do at that time (in this case, life in Seattle) I enjoyed!! I would regret if I was studying instead of meeting people or see the city. Life is short and you only live once! Do what you gotta do but also, do what you wanna do:) Right guys?

    Well, back to the real world, real life from the day after tomorrow.
    Wish me luck guys!

    P.S. I'll update the pics I took in this trip later.