Saturday, June 18, 2011

Well Done Kakujyo Brassband!

It's a rainy day, I should say it's a rainy week... Well, it's rainy season... But my heart is warm (This is what how my student will write to express warm-hearted :P)

I went for the brassband concert in the evening and needless to say, they were fantastic! (My student gave me a free ticket!) When they performed Ikimono-gakari's  (いきものがかり) "Arigatou" (ありがとう) for encore, I was a little emotional, sad, cos I will be leaving soon. It should be the last time I watch the brassband perform, and also the last time for the san-nen sei (3rd graders) to perform with the band. The students were all emotional too when they stood outside the concert hall to say thank you to all the audiences. One of the boys was crying away. I went around hugging them and shaking their hands, congratulating them on putting up such a great show. I'm sure this will be a great part of their memory of high school life...

Well done Saiki Kakujyo Brassband!



   

Thursday, June 16, 2011

The Giving Tree???

I planned a lesson based on the book "The Giving Tree" and I conducted the lessons with my ichi-nen-sei (1st graders) and san-nen-sei (3rd graders). They had to write about the "giving tree" of their life. Most of them wrote about their parents, teachers, friends..... I was in one of my san-nen-sei class today and they were writing and my JTE (Japanese English Teacher) called me over and showed me one of the boy's paper.

This is what the boy wrote:
The giving tree in my life is Sandy. The reason is she is so cute. She is smart. She is a great person. Therefore, she is the giving tree of my life.

That's not all, right at the bottom he wrote: Let's marry a person of different nationality!!

It was so funny. My JTE even read it out to the class. He said he is single, and kept asking how old I am. They said 18, I said 80. We had a good laugh. Cheeky boys...

One cheeky boy is good enough to make my day. The class continued and I was walking around checking their work and collecting them. As I was reading one of their essay, one boy passed his paper to me and I 顺手 put it at the bottom of my stack of papers, wanting to read it later, but he gave me a disappointed look. So, I took it and read it.

This is what he wrote:
The giving tree in my life is Sandy. She is a pretty and intelligent girl. She has developed into an attractive woman. Therefore, I love her forever.


Oh gosh, as if he knew me when I was 18. Haha... and he added and said," I'm crazy for you!" I'm truly flattered, but.... I can only reply," Thank you!"  (too bad they are all too young for me...hee)

These crazy yet sweet boys, I'm going to miss them lots when I return home...

Tuesday, June 14, 2011

A refreshing jog by the river and...

I know I have already published 3 postings today but... I just feel like writing now. I went for a jog down Banjyo River, very cool weather, and I felt really good after sweating it out. After the jog, I was walking around my apartment, trying to cool down and I saw the folder that contains all the letters, cards and notes I received from family and friends, so I took them and re-read every one of them. I miss them all, not in the sad way, but more of feeling their love and encouragement. Thank you! 

2 more precious months and I will be back in Singapore...

Dental Visit

I finally made a visit to the denist yesterday. One of the filling in my tooth dropped (again...), sigh... I had to see the dentist anyway, to get it cleaned and checked. The dentist speaks English, very good English. (so I'm in good hands...at least I understood what he was telling me.) He is a friend of Yellie (my neighbour) and I met him and his wife on my 1st day in Saiki. I haven't met them again since then... hee.. According to the regulation, I have to go back another 2 more times. He says it's better for me to get rid of my wisdom teeths. I'm still thinking about it. Price wise, it will be cheaper, but I don't know if I have enough time to do it in Japan.

RIce Planting...

Rice Planting Festival
12 June 2011

Japan is a country of RICE. They produce rice and rice is precious to them. Japanese love eating rice, I have seen my Jap friends finishing food on their plate and leaving the rice till the end. There's no way I can do rice planting in Singapore, so I have to plant some rice in Japan. So... I followed some friends back to Bungo Takada after the TAO concert and joined the Rice Planting Festival.

We had lunch there, special buffet lunch cooked by the locals there. I couldn't get a set of costume, cos I didn't make any reservation, but it's ok. I just wanted to plant rice. There was a ceremony to call for the god before we can start with the planting. They also had some people dressed up as a buffulo walking in the padi field. It was hilarious. Finally, we got to get into the mud and form lines and so some planting. They held a string of line with red dots on it and we are suppose to plant where the red dots are. After planting that line, they would shift and we will continue to plant. 

It was really interesting, but it rained the whole day, got reallly wet and cold. BUT... I can now say that I planted rice!!!

The Gaijins. Lots of paparazzis following them.
I'm a "Japanese"...

In line to do some planting...

TAO again!

TAO Concert
11 June 2011

Last Saturday, I went for TAO concert again. Last Sept, I went for their concert in Saiki for the 1st time and they were fantastic! Thus, I'm willing to pay and watch them live again this year in Oita City.

This is TAO's website:
http://www.drum-tao.com/en/main.html

Woah!!! I just found out that they ARE going to SINGAPORE!!! In September!!! Should I watch again?!

Saturday, June 11, 2011

Mushi Pan (Steamed Bread)

Mushi Pan (Steamed Bread)
11 June 2011

I was browsing thru baking blogs when I saw the Mushi Pan. I have eaten Mushi Pan before (bought from the supermart) and they are delicious. Healthier maybe cos it's steamed. They are soft and nice. Japantimes actually had and article about these mushi pan: http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/fl20010617a2.html

The ones I made are not as soft as the supermart's ones, but they still taste good, not too sweet. It's an in between of cake and bread. AND... becos I have my high-quality matcha powder (bought in Uji, Kyoto) and I don't have cocoa powder, so it's Matcha flavoured again. (I love the green!)


Matcha Chocolate Mushi Pan
(Made 3 with the alunimium holders used for Matcha cheesecake)

In the steaming pot, I forgot to take
a photo before steaming it.

Pretty Mushi-pan
Look at how nice the green is...

Ingredients:
½   cup (75g) all purpose flour
1½ Tbsp. Matcha powder
1    tsp. baking powder
1    egg (small) (If using large egg, use 3 Tbsp of milk)
4    Tbsp. milk
2    Tbsp. sugar
1    Tbsp. vegetable oil (Original recipe used 2 Tbsp)
2-3 Tbsp. chocolate chips
(I don't have chocolate chips, so I replaced with one "Melty Chocolate" in the middle and oreo bits on top, you can mix in the oreo bits as well, I forgot to do that.)

Directions:
1. Fill a pot with water to 2/3 full and bring it to a boil (and turn off the heat
    if you are not ready yet). 
2. In a medium bowl, combine flour, baking powder and Matcha powder. 
    Whisk them about 20 times. (This is a shortcut for sifting.)
3. In a small bowl, combine egg, milk, sugar, and vegetable oil and whisk 
    them all together.
4. Pour the egg mixture into the flour mixture and mix until smooth.
5. Add toppings (chocolate chips, oreo bits, whatever you like) and mix well.
6. Pour the mixture into the cups.
7. Place the cups in the pot and cover to cook 8 minutes. Stick a wooden
    toothpick or skewer into the mushi pan. When it comes out clean (without
    wet batter), remove them from the pan and cool down.

Tuesday, June 7, 2011

2100yen Bento and Oreo Matcha Cheesecake

2100yen Bento

A very good but expensive bento for lunch with the English teachers.

The chicken and beef were superb!
 Oreo Matcha Cheesecake

I made oreo matcha cheesecake for dessert. It is a non-bake cheesecake and I substitute the digestive biscuits with oreo and sprinkled some oreo bits on top as decorations.
I like the oreo bits...
Oreo Matcha Cheesecake
adapted and modified from:
(remove the cream, crush the oreos in a zipbloc bag, save some for topping, mix the rest with 40g melted butter) 


500g cream cheese, room temperature
200g milk (I used unsweetened soy milk)
80g sugar
10g gelatin powder (original recipe called for 16g, but I only have 10g)
20g green tea powder (I used 1.5 tablespoon)
12 square aluminium cups (about 6cm length, 5 cm height)

Method
1) Press oreo mixture onto the 12 square aluminium cups. Level the oreo mixture with the back of a spoon. Place cups into the refrigerator for at least 30mins.

2) In a medium bowl, combine cream cheese, sugar and milk and double-boil the mixture over a pot of simmering water, whisking constantly until cream cheese and sugar are melted completely.

What I did:
In a medium bowl, put the cream cheese into the microwave. Microwave on high for about 30s, or when the cream cheese melts and you are able to stir it.

In another bowl, warm up the milk in the microwave, dissolve the sugar in the milk.

Combine the 2, and whisk together. 

3) Add gelatin powder into the cream cheese mixture, whisking constantly until gelatin powder dissolves.

4) Pour 3/4 of the cream cheese mixture over the square cups, add in the green tea powder in the remaining 1/4 of cream cheese mixture and whisk until combined. (Next time I will try cocoa powder for choco-flavour.)

5) Pour the green tea mixture into the square cups and twirl the mixture with a satay stick to create the marbled effect. (I failed to get the marbled effect, not sure why.) Sprinkle some oreo bits on the cheesecake.

6) Set aside to cool to room temperature, after cooling, cover with cling wrap or aluminum foil and place it in the refrigerator overnight before serving.

Sunday, June 5, 2011

Rainy Day. Baking Day.Matcha Oreo Walnut Cookies.

Rainy Day. Baking Day.Matcha Oreo Walnut Cookies.
5 June 2011

I wanted to go to Oyujima Island to cycle today, but it is a rainy day.... Still raining now... so it's a stay home Sunday...

I baked Match Oreo Walnut Cookies. Actually, I planned to bake these cookies yesterday. I pre-made the dough and left it to chill overnight. Today, I cut them and baked it. Not bad, just that I think my cutting skill is bad, all came out different thickness.

Before Baking...

After baking...




Ingredients
(A)
160g butter, room temperature
70g sugar
1 egg, lightly beaten

(B)
180g all-purpose flour
5g matcha (green tea powder) (1 tbsp)
*sifted

(C)
50g sliced almonds (I changed it to oreo bits and chopped walnuts)

Method
1.    In a large bowl, blend the butter until smooth.*
2.    Add the sugar and blend until pale and fluffy.*
3.    Add the egg gradually and mix well.*
4.    Add the sifted Matcha-flour mixture and stir lightly with a rubber spatula, just long enough to make the dough smooth.
5.    Gently mix in the sliced almonds. (I changed it to oreo bits and chopped walnuts)
6.    Form into two rolls on waxed paper and chill overnight.
7.    Slice thinly (approx. 5mm thick) and placed on prepared baking sheet/tray.
8.    Bake in preheated oven of 180C for 12 - 15 mins.
9.    Remove cookies from cookie sheet to cooling rack and let cool.

Hotaru Matsuri

Hotaru Matsuri
4 June 2011

I have read about the Hotaru Matsuri (Fireflies Festival) in Honjyo (one of the village in Saiki) before and I have alwasy wanted to go. Well... SIngapore being such a small city, has no place for fireflies. I have never seen fireflies before. Since I am in Saiki, I have to see it! Weeks before the matsuri, I have to telling everyone (from my neighbour to the teachers in school) that I want to go to Honjyo to see fireflies. But none of them volunteered to take me. One of the teacher says she would invite me to her hometown in Honjyo, but she never did. Until on Friday evening, I met my neighbour and she asked," Are you coming with us for the Hotaru Matsuri tomorrow?" I was so excited! Yipee!!! Finally someone is taking me to see fireflies!!! The scene was amazing with many many blinking lights. But no decent pictures came out, so I gave up on taking pictures and enjoyed the moment then.

Just the Yatais...

Sunday, May 29, 2011

Interesting People

This week I met some interesting people. People who dont lead a "normal" life.  They lead a life out of the norm, different from people who work, have a stable income, have their own apartment... Maybe they have a dream and they pursue it  Many people would think they are impractical, they are wasting their time. Well... but they don't think so and I guess they are living their lives to the fullest (in their own way).

I went to a pub on Thursday night, cos there is a live band performance there. I met this group of performers there. One of the guy was talking to me and my Japanese friend. For 4 years, he did not have a home. He travelled around performing, doing music. Only recently, he settled down in Kyoto, but he doesn't know how long he will be there. He is going around performing in Oita, Miyazaki......

Yesterday, I met a friend's friend. He is from Tokyo. He went to New Zealand to learn English and he spent all his money there. With no money to come back to Japan, he went to Australia to work. He stayed in Australia for a few years and now he is back. He hasn't been working for 4 months since he came back. He sometimes helped his mother and sister (but I donno what business they are in). Now, he is travelling in Japan (with the money he saved from working in Ausralia). He stopped by Saiki to visit my friends (whom he met in Australia). His next stop would be Osaka, cos he wants to get more tattoo done. He already has tattoos on both arms and chest. He showed us his tattoos on his left arms. They are clocks. Why clocks? He said he wants to manage his own time, his clock is not a normal clock, the numbers are not in running orders. He wish he can control time.

They chose the life they want to lead and they are not afraid of what other people will think of them, what other people will say about them. I admire them for being who they are...

Friday, May 27, 2011

Hita Fireworks Festival

Hita Fireworks Festival
20 May 2011


Was a little hesistant about going to Hita for the festival at first, cos it's really far and I don't really know the ALTs there very well. But, it beats staying at home, doing nothing. Fireworks will be exciting and beautiful. I took a train down to Hita in the morning, explored a bit, ate a recommended udon that I didnt get to eat the last time, before I met up with the rest of the ALTs who took part in the tub-rowing competition. The fireworks display was over an hour, it's so long that I started think: When is it ending? hah... no complains, it's beautiful... (can't imagine how much they spent on that, or how much the whole of Japan spend on fireworks every year :P) oh... and the ALTs are nice too...Worth spending the money to get there!

Random flowers...

Chicken and Gobo Tempura Udon


I wanted to post a video, but seems like the file is too big...

Kakujyo Sports Day

Kakujyo Sports Day (体育祭)
20 May 2011

I have blogged about Sports Day in Japan being different from Singapore's Sports Day. There are more games than races. In Kakujyo, the students are divided into 2 teams: Red vs White. They have games and races and points are accumulated. This year, the White team won.

Interesting game... only the boys get to play...

Amazing how the boys managed to climb up...

Ferocious girls.. Don't mess with them...

Club activity race...
I love some of the games they play, dangerous but fun! I'm sure parents in Spore will complain if we play such games. Talking about parents, many parents turned up for Sports Day. Their PTA is really strong! I love the folk dance at the end of the Sports meet too (no photos nor videos cos I was dancing with my students.)

骑马战

Pray From Saiki

Pray from Saiki
15 May 2011


Pray for Saiki is a charity event in an effort to raise funds for the Tohoku Earthquake victims. It was a small event, but every little things add up. Saiki is a small part of Japan, we were not directly affected by the earthquake, and we just wanna do our part to support the people there. There were performances and sale of items. I went there with my African drum group Antatorona. It was my first performance, very enjoyable indeed. I can't wait for the next performance, I hope I get to perform with them again before I head back home. I'm going to miss them so much!

Pray from Saiki: a small but meaningful event

Gokkin: Leader of Antatorona

Masako-Chan

Haven't blog for 2 weeks...1st update: Golden Week Holiday


I haven't blogged for 2 weeks... Not that there is nothing to blog about, but am getting lazy to blog and I had some lessons to plan. I realise I only have 2 months left in Japan and everyone is asking me when I am going back, esp pple in school. I can feel the burden of work coming back to me, not a good sign... I better start feeling more positive about going back to work in Spore.
 
Some updates:
I went to Osaka, Kobe, Kanazawa, Nanao, Uji (Kyoto)... for Golden Week. It's a long holiday! I have to thank YP and Anna for hosting me. I saved on accomodation. I took the night bus to Osaka, stayed there for 3 days and took a bus to Kanazawa for 4 days then back to Osaka again. It was tiring but cheaper... hee... Yp and Anna were great tour guide, so I basically just folowed them around.

I went to USJ, The Momofuku Ando Instant Ramen Museum and designed my own cup noodle, Kobe for Kobe beef, Uji for beatiful scenery and green tea, Outlet for shopping and my best buy was a Fossil Watch  (expensive  but I really like it), Namba to see Gilico Man...Ate Okonomiyaki and Takoyaki and other good food and desserts recommended by YP. 
Next will be USS...
 
Gilico Man in Namba
  

Interesting Ramen Museum
传说中的神户牛肉

Uji 宇治


  


 


okonomiyaki @ 风月
Dekayama
In Nanao, I participated in the festival, Seihakusai 青柏祭. It was interesting pulling and climbing the Dekayama. It is always heaven to soak myself in the onsens. It was fun driving around with Anna, we "achieved" our goals of eating Noto Don in Wajima, seeing the Senmaida 千枚田 and Soujiji Temple, climbed the Dekayama, took pictures with the pple pulling the Dekayama, didn't manage to see sunset at the BungoFutami, but still managed to get some pictures of it before it turned dark. We ate hawaiian food, miso manju and GoGo Curry. (GoGo Curry originated from Ishikawa and on 5th May (Go means 5 in Japanese), there was promotion (all curry rice for 500 yen), so we headed there for dinner with Anna's friends. It was delicious, different from curry from other parts of Japan. They have branches in Singapore. I will try it when I get back to see if the taste is the same.

Go Go Curry
  
Noto Don











In conclusion, (have been teaching my 3rd grade students to end their essay with this), it was a good trip!





Tuesday, May 10, 2011

The FIRST in our family!!!

I went to Osaka and Kanazawa for Golden Week. I had fun, but I am not going to blog about that now. The most exciting thing that happened during the holiday is I got a email on my HP at 3am (Japan time) on 7 May, saying that my niece or nephew will be out soon. I replied and fell asleep again while waiting for more news. When I woke up at 8 plus in the morning, I called my dad, and they said my sis is still in labour, need another 1 hour or so. Such a long time!!! Finally, I received the news that baby is a pretty girl. Welcome to the family!

Isn't she pretty?

Wednesday, April 27, 2011

十二生肖on my table?!

I found a bag on my table on Monday when I reached school. Inside the bag is 十二生肖. I really don't know who put it there. I asked the teacher sitting beside me, but she has no idea as well. I think somebody put that on my table by mistake. Anyway, the 十二生肖 beanbags are cute. I will be leaving it on my table, just in case the person realise his or her mistake and decide to come round to take it back. If not, I will bring it back to Singapore! hee...

Who put them on my table?

Tuesday, April 26, 2011

Postcards from New Zealand...

I received 2 postcards from my twin who went to NZ for holiday!!! Wohoo!!!



迟来的生日祝福 :)

终于收到美国传来的生日祝福了。虽然迟了四个月,但仍然窝心。

Thank you Ting Lee, Ray and Miyo!!!

太可爱了!

融化的心

Saturday, April 23, 2011

Today...Time to ponder...


Today, I didn't have plans. I stayed home, clean my apartment, baked a Chocolate Swirl Cheesecake, went cycling around for a while, went grocery shopping, cooked ramen for dinner... A simple normal peaceful day that I am thankful for.  

I do have something to think about. I had to think about when I am heading home, decide on a date to fly back and I have to submit the form next week, before I go to Osaka for Golden Week. It led me into thinking about my 8 months in Japan. I suddenly had a thought that I wasteful much time here, I donno, as in I should have spent my time more wisely. I should and could have done so much more here. I think I did quite a lot here, I learnt a lot too, but the realisation that I have to go home soon, kinda makes me sad, 1 year is so short and before I know it, it is coming to an end. I love to go home, but I also enjoyed my life here very much or maybe I am just afraid of "what's next?" in my life.
What should I do when I go back? What other
exciting things can I look forward to? I donno
how to explain my mixed feelings now. 
Time to ponder again...


And I forgot to add this: Happy Birthday, Shan! Hope you had a great time at USS!

Recipe for Chocolate Swirl Cheesecake: