kenleewrites in 日本

Hijacked this photo from weather.yahoo.co.jp. It shows the path of Typhoon 18号. Namely the 18th typhoon that Japan has encountered this year. It’s been named Melor. I always thought natural disasters were always given female names. “Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned”, right? Found it interested that it was given a boy’s name this time around.

What’s alarming about Melor is that it will make landfall in Tokyo tomorrow. According to the experts, it’ll be in Tokyo for most of the day. The last time a typhoon hit land was 2 years ago in 2007. That flooded a few metro stations in Tokyo…

Be safe people.

Tsukimi (月見), literally moon-viewing, refers to Japanese festivals honoring the autumn moon. Think of it as a Japanese version of the Chinese Mid-Autumn Festival.

Tsukimi parties usually happen between September and October. During this period, Mcdonalds Japan will start selling their Tsukimi Burgers. Kinda like an offspring of an egg mcmuffin and a chesseburger. Rabbits always appear when Mcdonalds promote their Tsukimi Burger. This is intentional because the Japanese of long ago, when they looked at the moon, they saw the silhouette of a rabbit from the dark and bright areas of the moon. What was the rabbit doing? He appeared to be making rice cakes!

I didn’t have a rice cake, but I had myself a moon cake last night. How about you? Yeap, they do sell moon cakes here in Japan too. The one I had didn’t have an egg core… maybe I’ll go shopping for some more tonight!

Weather in Japan this week is pretty wet. Luckily I managed to get a clear shot of the moon’s arse… or maybe it’s her belly button? ^^. Click here for a fuller picture and determine for yourself.

Meat. Glorious meat. My favorite, beef. Can’t believe beef was once prohibited in Japan. The Meiji Restoration in 1871 changed all that.

I want to go for yakiniku (焼き肉) again really soon. Who’s with me?

今懐かしいムードにはいってしまった。。。Just felt like reminiscing a little tonight. My excuse? It is the first of October. 0110 or 1001 whichever way you look at it. Just zeroes and ones. ^^. Looked through my photo library for photos of my research labs and found some pretty memorable photos.

This photo you see on top is of the lab I entered when I came to Japan for my Masters degree. Can you guess where I sat? It’s pretty obvious if you know what fruits I like. ^^. It was a little messy, but it was cosy. Tight quarters meant that you had to interact with your neighbours… which I like to… alot! We did rearrange to room when our little family grew. I drew out the new layout. It was later improved upon when our family grew again. Unfortunately, I didn’t keep any photos. Kinda regret not chronicling the events. It’s a good memory to reminisce on.

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