THIS IS IT (2010.1.26 19:36)

I'm on of those who missed seeing it in the theater, but this time, I definitely put my hands on it.


The reputation around those around me:

"When we do our job, we definitely wanna look like this."

Everybody gives it big praise, so I thought, well I might as well. (^_^)

How long have I looked forward to this day? (^_^)

So, well, let's not think about that. (^^;)

But before that, a meal:


Pardon me... It's the same menu every time. (bwahahah)

For a while now, my number of meals has been on the rise, so I used up all my leftover ingrediants in one meal. (^_^)

I made a half and half blend of the miso base I talked about last time and the miso base I usually use, and it turned out really nice. (^_^)

Everything's been amazingly tasty lately, too. (*joy*)

And also, the promised desert.


This is a new model of the usual. (^_^)

Man, people who develop this stuff, they really understand what I like. (^_^)

But, it's strawberries, STRAWBERRIES!! Strawberry shortcake... My favorite thing!

Mm? There's really nothing better? Man alive, everybody,

when you say cake, I saw strawberry. (^_^)

Certainly chocolate, and mont blanc, and chiffon, and cheese cake, these are all my favorite foods,

but now that you mention it, souveniers for my friends are combinations of cakes, and when I give a strawberry one,

I have to have confidence that I'm giving the best. (^_^)

Once in a while, as a test, I'll combine strawberry tart with strawberry bavarois or something. At times like that, I generally keep it for myself. (^_^)

So, well, I had a bunch of reaction stuff to say about the strawberries, (^^;)

but I write about it and I get massively hungry, so I'm gonna go eat something.

Well then well then~ Everybody have something delicious~

Sorry I was out for so long. (^^;) (2010.1.21 22:51)

I was a little kidnapped. (^^;)

Yeah, there was a snowy mountain preview. (bwahahah)

So, i'm really into cooking for myself lately, so I bought myself a present. (^_^)


With this miso base, I can make another pot meal. (^_^)

However, earlier this year, I felt like I'd never snowboarded (^^;) but thanks to this, I finally got my intuition back.

Lately, I've been reading some snowboarding stuff, but the stuff that's already written is so amazingly high level.

In Japan, snowboarding having a renaissance right now, so it can't really be helped,

A snowboarding magazine I saw a while ago had an article about "Beginning Level Tricks." Aaah, now these are just normal jumps. (^_^)

When I first started, 99% of snowboarders were beginners, too, so jumping put you right up at the head of a class that just did gliding,

although frankly, these days I've got a long ways to go even to get up to beginner level. (^^;)

Well, in my case, if I broke my arm, my life would pretty much be over (^^;) so I have to exercise some self control and careful caution (^_^) so maybe I'll just hold off on those jumps after all. (^_^)

Everbody, please have fun, but take care not to injure yourselves.

Well then well then~

A Late First Visit... (2010.1.16 22:40)

Belatedly, I finally went for my first temple visit of the new year.


When I pulled a fortune from the tiny pile that was left over (^^;) it said this year would have "Middling Luck." How delicately put...

Well, time's passed so quickly since New Year's Day, all the "Great Luck" ones were probably taken already... Yeah... Yeah, that's gotta be it... (^_^)

Hoping for my luck to go up, I stepped inside the shrine.

However, lately the fad of people visiting power spots has been growing, and there were a ton of people in there.

Somehow, when I get in places like that, my heart gets all weak. Maybe when the atmosphere clears up...

In that kind of a holy place, I prayed for world peace and world conquest again. (^_^)

So, when I got home, the obligatory "Chige"


Today's picture is from before I boiled it. (^_^) This is after I put in the bean curd and chives, and finished up with the all-purpose onion. I tentatively tossed in a small amount of chili pepper, too. (^_^)

This pot seems to be getting biggger and bigger with each passing day. (^^;)

Man... It's stragely a relief when the amount of food you can eat keeps going up. (bwahahah)

Although, by day three, I won't be getting full any more... (^^;) Well, of course I have to have a little brown rice, right.

Everybody here is not impossibly deliciously beautiful. (^_^)

I'm a little bored with these, we have to think up my next menu~ Well then well then~

Chige Diet (^_^) (2010.1.14 19:34)

For those of us who are overweight with New Year's overindulgence!!

I'm totally having a "flab" rebirth. (^^;)

The only way to lose weight is to stop eating so much, so I'll have to cross the starvation hell (^_^)

Lately the training's been hard, so I don't know if I can survive fasting though. (^^;)

Well, being healthy right now's difficult anyway (^^;) since I'm on the rebound.

For now, I'm trying no carb meals centered around vegetables, but my stomach's always empty empty... (big ^^;)

This way, I have a menu that has enough nutrition, and I burn calories efficiently, and my belly swells,

and I can slam on the "Tofu Chige." (^_^)

Tofu is full of protein, and vegetables have it too, and if you add capsaicin, it seems like you should be able to get a good burn from it, right? (^_^)

So, here's what I made. (^_^)


The base is my impression of a multi-use miso soup. I mixed some miso with some stronger dashi and added cabbage, bean sprouts, chives, hackberries, kinoko mushrooms, shiitake mushrooms... etc I added in all my favorite vegetables.

Then I stir fried in some sesame oil, pork, and garlic, and of course slipped in some gochujang (a korean chili paste) through the back door, and added some more sesame oil and kimchi.

In the end, I let some tofu in, to. If you like spicy stuff, you can pile on the Korean red pepper powder. (^_^)

And thus you have, something like, a simple "Tofu Chige."

They way it's all mixed together in the picture doesn't look that tasty, (^^;) but seriously, it was huge success. (^_^) That I could make something so delicious surprised even me. (^_^)

For preference, it might be even better with shellfish and seafood in it.

With my stomach firmly settled, and my body nice and warm, this week will be given over for taking recipies to their extremes. (^_^)

Have some, everybody, for those cold nights.

Avatar (2010.1.12 16:00)

All of you new adults, congratulations on becoming adults. You've got a lot of life from here, so don't give up on anything, really try and realize your own dreams.

Of course, for those of use who are a long ways off from the coming-of-age ceremony (^_^) we've got some time left, too, so let's all go for it.

So, this isn't connected to the coming-of-age ceremony in any way, but I went to see "Avatar" which has taken the town by storm.


This year is totally the "Year of 3D" so they're changing movies and tv into 3d,

and a 3d movie appeared her and there last year, but it seems that the first 3d movie to go epic is this "Avatar."

Incidentally, at "International CES" held in Las Vegas, which is the place for world appliance debuts, where domestic companies of course, and world consumer electronics companies gather, this 3d thing is a driving force,

so I think the days are near when even regular household TVs will have 3d. I've heard they're for sale in Japan this year.

So I got a little off subject, but, "Avatar."

WOW, IT IS COOL!! The graphics!! (^_^) Man, really cool!!

The level CG and stuff has finally reached, when kids see this, it's no different from reality. (^_^)

People who haven't seen it yet, this is a must. (^_^) See it in 3d if you can, and get fully into the world of the movie.

Well then well then everone, it suddenly got chilly, so beware of colds.

Just when I get to talk about the mild winter weather the other day... So, freezing. (^^;)

GIVE ME body heat~ (^_^)


[ well, your 'umble translator went and got herself Basement plan, not so hot for the Timely Translation plan. they will get done, YOUkun is still (and probably eternallly) cute and funny, but i think we're past the era of the 5 second turn around time. not that i've been having that for a while now. still. just thought you'd all like a warning. the next few months may be especially rocky, until i get set up in my new place. after i find a new place. anyway. see you on the flip side, minna~ ]

Sorry I kept you waiting. (2010.1.10 03:31)

I am back at last from a long trek to the snowy mountains. (^_^)


I went on this trip intending to drop the filth of last year's waves of busy,

but it took so long to get there, with every day slipping away...

Yeah... And my back pain further deteriorated. (^^;)

Finally, a vacation, but with my endurance slipping away, too, of course, my entire body snapped right into total exhaustion mode...

Tomorrow will definitely be maintenance again. (^_^)

Last year was one big explosion of frustration, but this year I was gonna go for it~

It's smack in the season of heavy snows, so it blizzards and blizzards (^_^) and right when the snow hit, of course I went out! (^_^)

The picture is from the day it finally cleared up. (^^;)

Although, it has been a mild winter so far... Well, if it's cold, it's cold,

but I always remember it being freezing in the winter when I was a kid.

It's not that far, but if we could go back even 10 years, I have a hunch it was plenty warm.

Eventually, when it would start snowing or something... When I think about that, it only gives me cause now to wonder when the heck I'm going skiing. (bwahahah)

Everyone, it's seriously cold, so take care not to get hurt and please enjoy your respective sports underwear.

Well then well then~




... Ah... My first shrine visit of the year... I haven't gone... (^^;)

Happy New Year (2010.1.3 20:28)

Well wishes at the new year. m(._.)m

Wrapped up in everybody's warm affections, last year turned out to be one hot year.

I've still got some skills to learn, but let's have a good time this year, too. Let's all have a great year.

We can still have new year's greetings this far into it. (^_^)

Did everyone jump off into the new year? (^_^)

We, like we do every year, were firmly made to jump.

Maybe we'll have our best jump in these 10 years? We must have been thinking something like that, so we jumped into the air to meet the new year. (^_^)

Halfway through the countdown,

we were counting, "Ten, nine, eight, seven..." we started asking, so, we jump at one? or at zero? (^^;)

Just at the last minute, we said, "Three, two, JUMP!!!" and when we jumped, right at the highest point of the jump, was timed perfectly when they announced, "PLOP."

So, we were perfectly airborn for the new year. (^_^) We instinctually called out with everybody else, "Ooo!!" (^_^)

People who didn't do the new year jump, should definitely challenge themselves to do it. It's an amazing rush. (^_^)

Well then well then, everyone, really, be careful about New Year's gorging. (bwahahah)

I just got back from a trip, and I'm going right out on another one for a while. (^_^)

New Year's Eve~ (2009.12.31 20:49)

In this, the last minutes of this New Year's Eve, I am really totally rattling. (^^;)

Halfway through spring cleaning... (^^;) Before long, we'll be looking over our shoulder at this year...

With the first step of this new year,

I hope everyone jumps off (^_^)

once again in to the sky. (^_^)

Well then well then, have a good year~

I'll be on a trip for a short while~

A Party on Fire (bwahahah) (2009.12.30 00:29)

Man oh man~ my fever didn't go down even a little bit, but at our traditional year end party, I was chugging down that sake,

and the next day, not only did I not have a hangover, but somehow my fever had gone down, and my cold was cured. (*shocking*)

Maybe that's the so-called alcohol disinfectant effect? (^_^) Plus my skin is all smooth. (*joy*) Sake can be scary... (^_^)

Ah, I guess I should say, all you good kids out there should definitely NOT try that at home. When you have a cold, stay warm and stay in bed. (^_^)

So, now that i'm healthy, it's time for some aimless wandering down to Harajuku...


I went to buy some sports outerwear.

By the grace of the store manager, I got a tidy discount. Dear me, there really are side benefits. (^_^) So I'll borroww this space to say,

To the mass of athletes around me, (^_^) I highly recommend them. m(._.)m

And of course to everyone else, too. (^_^)

So, there was some fashion underwear in town (^_^) but the ones I had for fatigue recovery were "SKINS," and this time I bought a supporter called "UNDER ARMOUR" to try out.

Seriously, though, this thing is really amazing. (^_^) Jump jump (^_^) * You might say it's a feeling of wearing a full body supporter, and I feel like my body's potential certainly went up.

People who do sports should definitely try wearing this.

I'm happy with mine, and went into training right away. (^_^) Incidently, I did more barbell lifts than usual. (^_^)

Well, "SKINS" and "UNDER ARMOUR" are ridiculously expensive, so when you buy them, there's a lot of hesitation, (^^;) but these really hit the mark.

I definitely recommend these to people who overwork their bodies.

Well then well then~ Everybody~

Sake for beautiful skin. (^_^)

And underwear for when you exercise. (^_^)

And it is with that sort of feeling that I conclude. (^_^)

So then, I've gotta do some spring cleaning... Just... great. (bwahahah)


[ * this is the onomatopoeia for a) jumping vigorously, b) being super healthy, or c) bouncing. i'll let you pick whichever you like best... ]

School's Closed~ (2009.12.27 03:33)

Man oh man oh man~

2 Days in Osaka~

That was really really hot.

Not that my whole body wasn't rattling already, but everybody's cheering from the stands fixed me right up.

Good job everybody, both days had MAX energy, and we had a couple of Lives perfect for ornamenting the end of this year.

That sense of unity was crazy. (^_^) Of course, it was Osaka. (^_^)

For helping us win the fight, truly I thank you. Honestly, with the force of that Kansai dialect, it felt like we knocked our opponent straight to the floor. (^_^)

Of course the takoyaki power was the strongest. (^_^) On the Shinkansen on the way back, I got wrapped up in feelings of gratitude, and ate some "takomusu." (^_^) *

So, I sadly passed Kyoto, was home from Osaka in a moment, arrived at home, had a light meal, and then my arm fell of. (^^;)

They say when you go to sleep right after you eat, you become a cow, but when I woke up, what I had was a cold. (big (^^;) )

Plus, I was sore all over, and even breathing hurt pretty bad.

I swore I was going to forge my body into perfect shape, but as usual I had a weak constitution... (^^;)

Well, this has been the hardest year in the past 10. (^_^) Before we cross over into the next year, I should do some firm body maintenance.

Maybe some spring cleaning after that? (^_^)

Everyone, seriously, please take care not to ruin your physical condition.

Well then well then, to celebrate the end of the year holidays, a toast!! Cold medicine!! (^_^)


[ * which is takoyaki (octopus dumplings) + omusubi (rice balls), of course. ]