Free time or work time?

Over the last year, I have enjoyed traveling around the world to destinations I would have never thought possible being a small town boy from Colorado. However, recently I have been thinking about my career and what I should to work towards my future. I love traveling and experiencing new cultures and especially the food.

But, I know I need to concentrate on tomorrow and not only live for today. Thus, I have decided to take a short break from travel and pursue a career that will help me in my future. I have been living in Japan now for about 12 years and I have become bored with my daily hell. I think now is the time for me to experience something new.

I have been offered a new job working for a hotel company that is going to expand to the overseas market. I know this is good oppoturnity for my future but I will no longer be able to enjoy my time traveling or spending it with friends. I guess.. there is a point in everyone`s life when we need to figure out what is important.... time or money?

April and the puff pastry

It is spring here in Japan and I have decided to do more cooking at home. Recently, I have been into baking this last week and I have discovered a new product at the supermarkets here in Japan. Japan has started to sell Pie Sheets (In the USA, it is known as puff pastry).


As you all might know, I have love to bake quiches and pies and so on...

But, sometimes I get very busy and I do not have the time to bake from scratch. This is where the pie sheets come into play.

You can buy a pack of these pie sheets from the supermarket for about 400 yen. You get two sheets of pie crust. The brand I use most is Meiji.



This last week, I actually injured myself and I couldn't walk. These pie sheets were very easy for me to use and I was able to cook without spending a lot of time standing.

I made apple pies, pigs in the blanket and even homemade hot pockets with them.

Theres pie sheets are a lifesaver

Stuffed squid

After returning home from the department store I decided to cook dinner. I decided to look online to see what I could make with my newly bought ingredients and to my surprise I found a list of things I could make with squid.


I decided to try making stuffed squid.


The recipe was quite simple all it required was a cup of old rice, chorizo sausage, red peppers, the tail and tentacles of the squid, garlic, white wine vinegar , salt and pepper.

All I did was cut up the squid and fry the the rice and other ingredients in a fry pan. And then stuffed the body of the squid with these ingredients and then fried the body of he squid. After frying the body on both sides for about 2 minutes each I placed it in the oven safe dish and covered the squid with about a half cup of wine vinegar and baked for about 45 minutes on 170C. If you want to make the presentation look nice, I would add some tomatoes or other vegetables around the squid when you bake it.

The stuffing can be replaced with anything you have in the fridge.

The recipe is quite easy to make

You can find the original recipe at this link

http://pasto.wordpress.com/2011/08/22/chorizo-stuffed-squidlulas-recheadas/

The original asked for bread instead of rice, but since I live in Asia I decided to use rice instead of the bread and egg mixture.

Shopping in the Japanese department store for food

Since moving to Shinjuku I find it quite enjoyable to shop in department stores for daily goods. They are quite expensive compared to supermarkets but the quality is great.


This last week, I was walking around Shinjuku after work and decided to go check out the seafood department at Odakyu department store. After arriving at the department store I was quite shocked to find that they were having a sale on seafood.


I was able to buy a basket of squid and two Kai

The basket of squid only cost me 500 yen and the Kai cost 480 for the two.

Great deal

Days of our lives

Recently, I haven't updated my blog for a majority of reasons the  main reason being that my work has been super busy. Over the last couple of months I have had a total of 4 days off...

Moreover, a majority of my coworkers have been quitting left and right. At first, I thought this was because of overworking but boy was I wrong.


They are quitting because of company politics. I know this is a big problem in American companies but I didn't know it was a huge problem here in Japan as well. According to Japanese law, one cannot be fired if they are a lifetime employee (seishain). However, if the company wants you to be gone they will try to make your life a living hell so you will quit. This is what his happening at my current company.


My company is a branch of a publishing firm and we are mostly dealing with the production of education materials. Many of my coworkers have years of experience in either publishing or education.


I have found out that many of my coworkers don't get along. The only reason I found out was because some coworkers often excluded others from parties and etc.


Unlike in the USA, Japanese tend to bully or exclude coworkers they don't like from lunch or other social events. It is very similar to middle school or high school here. By doing this, it would cause their coworker to feel as if they don't belong and quit.


Welcome to the days of my life

Blueberry Muffins Review

The other day I was bored at home and I didn't want to leave my house. So, I decided to use up some frozen blueberries I had in the freezer. So, I looked online and clicked on the first recipe.

The recipe was on Allrecipes website for blueberry muffins.
http://allrecipes.com/recipe/to-die-for-blueberry-muffins/

There were both easy and quick to make. I made them in a total of 40 minutes with little preparation.



However, I used frozen blueberries instead of fresh but they still came out great.



Just remember that if you are baking with frozen fruit make sure to roll the frozen fruit in some flour prior to mixing them in the batter. If you don't they will end up sinking to the bottom of the cake or in this case muffins.

Yasukuni Shrine

After viewing the Emperor and his home, we decided to walk to Yasukuni Shrine located near the palace. This Shrine is quite famous because it is where some of the World War Two War Criminals are inshrined, thus making it a huge news topic in Asia. This last year Prime Minister Abe visited this particular shrine to pay respect  to his dead relatives. But by doing so.. He also prayed for the inshrined war criminals.


Lets just say it didn't go well with Japan`s neighbours.

Once we got to the Shrine we got something to eat and people watched. It is quite evident that many of the people who come here for prayer are either Japanese Mafia or Japanese extremists.



At around two in the afternoon we decided to head back home.

Emperors New Year Speech on January 2nd

After celebrating the New Year Holiday at home. I decided to meet up with some of my old friends from University to attend the Japanese Emperors New Year Speech on January 2nd.

This is a big event in Japan. Many Japanese people as well as Japan Nationalists come to view this great event every year.

 Thus, there are long lines in order to see the emperor`s speech. My friend decided to attend the earliest speech possible because that is when most of the royal family comes out to greet people (common folk). Thus, I decided to wake up at 7 in order to get there before our 8:30 scheduled time. 

As usual, I over calculated my time and I arrived at the station at around seven thirty am which meant I would have to wait over an hour for my friends. Moreover, I was really tired and had to use the restroom really bad. Thus, I decided to look for a coffee shop or restaurant to use the restroom and get a fresh cup of coffee. However, everything was closed which meant I had to walk about 15 minutes to the nearest Starbucks to use the restroom.


After using the restroom and drinking a nice hot cup of coffee, I headed back to the station to meet up with my friends. I arrived at the station at around eight twenty and they had already been waiting for me. After meeting up with them, we headed to view the emperor.


We arrived at the entrance of the palace at around 9 am just in time to get into line and wait for another hour to get in. As you are waiting to enter the palace you can see many kinds of interesting figures. Most of them are extreme nationalists and Japanese Yakuza.




















At around 9:30 the gates opened up and we were allowed on the palace grounds where we lined up and viewed the whole two minute speech and then were quickly ushered out. The speech was really short compared to previous years( I don't blame him, he is quite old ). Luckily,  I am tall. If you are short or typical Japanese height it is almost impossible to view the family during the speech because everyone waves Japan flags during the whole event and scream bonsai!!!!.

New Year`s Eve meal

I already wrote about New Year Day and what I did but I have yet to tell what I made on New Year`s Eve. 

Most Japanese eat soba as I had mentioned in my previous blog. Thus, I made soba and also bought a nice bottle of sparkling white wine. 

Moreover, I wanted to make dessert for my friends. So, I decided to make a simple Mille-feuille with homemade whipped cream and custard. 


The custard was very easy to make 

All you need is

35 grams of sugar 
150 cc of milk 
One egg yellow 
15 grams of flour 
15 grams of cornstarch (optional)


You mix all the ingredients in a bowl excluding the cornstarch, then put the bowl in the microwave for about 1 minute and thirty seconds.

Take it out and mix 

Then put it back in the microwave again for another 30 seconds. 

If you don't like the constancy of the custard you can some cornstarch when you stick it in the microwave for the second time. 

If you do so please add about 15 grams of cornstarch. 


After making the custard I got some frozen pie sheets and baked them and then cut them into squares followed by whipping up some cream. 


I then layered them like a sandwich. When you layer them, please make sure that all the ingredients are cold otherwise they will fall apart during this process. 

pie sheet
custard
cream
strawberry
cinnamon 
pie sheet
custard 
cream
strawberry
cinnamon
pie sheet

Then, you have a very easy treat for your friends. 

two weeks left until I should arrive in Japan?

Hello, everyone how is everyone doing? I haven't been doing too bad myself. I have been busy with school; I cannot believe that I only two weeks until this semester end. This semester has gone by so fast and I have learned allot about my self in the process. I learned that I cannot take online classes because I am not disciplined enough to deal with all of the responsibilities. I also learned that I have grown closer to my family these last couple of months. I know they can get on my nerves most of the time but hey they are family.

As for Japan I am still waiting to hear about the visa situation at the moment, according to my admissions counselor he is still waiting to hear from the immigration office. I only have two weeks until I am supposed to arrive in Japan. Yet, I haven't bought a ticket or even found out I have received a visa to study in Japan. The way I look at it right now, I might end up going to Japan or not going to Japan at all.
I have also started to read the book Vodka are you there? It is me Chelsea, I would like to say this book is as funny as Miss Handler's TV talk show. The book goes into detail about her life growing up in NJ to her relationships in her 20's to stories about her crazy family. The book is a fun and fast read, it only took me one day to read from front to back and I enjoyed every minute of it. If you don't mind crude humor I would recommend it.