Our flight left Manila at around 12:30 in the early morning and we were provided with one hot meal prior to our arrival to Japan. We arrived at Narita airport at around 5 in the morning. We then waited for our van to pick us up and we proceeded with our 2-hour drive to the town of Oarai in Ibaraki-ken. The first day was a flurry of events that I may have forgotten a lot of already. But let me try to reconstruct as much of what I can remember. We arrived in Oarai at roughly around 10 in the morning. The first stop was at the school's office to pick up some provisions that we will be given. We were provided with futons, dishes, basic household items, etc. After which we were shown to our respective apartments. We were dropped off and told to be ready in an hour, we will be picked up at around 1 pm. So we hurriedly unloaded our stuff and picked rooms. At around 1 indeed our teacher picked us up from the apartment for lunch. This was the first encounter I had with a Japanese s...

Around October or November of 2014, I was mindlessly scrolling around Facebook when I came across a page offering a study and work program in Japan. And, like so many times before, I just gave it a mindless try, thinking that it was going to end up like most of my failed endeavors of going to the Land of the Rising Sun. As far back as I can remember, Japanese animation has been part of the Philippine airwaves. With Voltes V and Daimos at the helm, not counting Bioman, Shaider, Ultraman and a few other shows I have forgotten, the Japanese influence can really be felt. But, it was with the early 90's animania that really left a mark in my young brain that I subconsciously pursued up until now. A little bit of history regarding my childhood: I became hooked with Japanese anime with the dawn of Sailormoon. Growing up, I was actually not allowed to watch TV except Friday nights and throughout the weekend. Screen time ends on Sundays, 8 pm. So fortunately for me, Sailormoon a...

This post is long overdue. About, a little over 2 years overdue. I have changed my blog's name to integrate it with my new blog that is more centered and I would say more of the real ME. I started this blog to document my journey supposedly to being someone I wished to be. But as what always happens with me, I keep changing my mind. In my head I think, "all this time and you still don't know yourself well enough to know that at one point you will have to accept the fact that you are just dreaming?" The impossible dream is as what it claims to be... An impossible dream. Despite the decision to give up, deep in my heart I still have that longing to be a doctor. But, let's face it... I'm too old to start with this and I do have my little angel to care for. Maybe this journey isn't about who I want to be, but who I'm meant to be. February of 2011, I gave up my job teaching English online to go back to a job I really did not want to be in s...

I first heard the word "carbonara" from a classmate back when I was in elementary. At the time, I had no idea what that was, all I knew was that it was a kind of spaghetti dish. As I started experimenting in the kitchen, I came up with a recipe, cream, cheese, and milk, that I called carbonara, bless my heart, which I so firmly believed it to be. Then, later on, when we finally had paid cable at home, I watched a cooking show, I think it was Nigella Lawson's but I forgot exactly which one, and she made that similar dish but to my surprise, she used eggs and cheese. So to enlighten us a little bit... Filipino Concept of Pasta (Spaghetti) Dishes Spaghetti - as the name suggests, this dish uses spaghetti noodles topped with tomato-based meat sauce (to the effect of Bolognese) characterized by a sweet and slightly spicy taste. Now the meat sauce can sometimes contain, hotdogs, sausages, ham, etc. And depending on availability or the amount of spaghetti to be produced, ketc...

My angel and I went to his pediatrician early today for his second flu shot. It was just like any other visit to the clinic only there weren't that many patients yet. The doctor wasn't there yet when we arrived so my little bundle of joy was giving me the time of my life by squirming in my arms while toting his bottle. And, mind you, he was not light (therefore I look like a haggard housemaid after a full day's chores). A few minutes later, our pediatrician arrived. She was in a nice mood upon seeing little Ram squirming in the clinic waiting area trying to escape from me. We had to wait a few more minutes as she got ready to receive patients. So we went in and she started her check-up. I told her about the issues Ram has been having since our last visit. Then after the check-up and as she was preparing the shot, I asked her about WVSU where she graduated from. I asked her if it was hard to get into WVSU and about the new curriculum, WVSU was implementing (Problem Based L...

Nothing like comfort food on a rainy day. I made this using parsley instead of basil. And surprisingly, it came out heavenly either way! Ingredients: 250 g linguine or any kind of pasta 1 can tuna in brine 1 small onion chopped 50 g curly parsley 1/2 cup olive oil 2 dashes of McCormick Italian seasoning 1 tbsp Parmesan cheese (powdered or shavings) 1 tsp crushed peanuts (pine nuts, cashews, macadamia nuts, sunflower seeds may be substituted) 1/2 tsp salt (or to taste) 1 tsp vinegar 6 cloves of garlic Process: 1. Mince the parsley and garlic. 2. Combine all ingredients in a mortar and grind with the pestle in a circular manner. 3. Keep grinding until the consistency is thick and pasty. 4. Taste occasionally to check the saltiness. 5. Boil water for pasta according to package instructions, add salt to the water to make it taste like seawater. 6. Saute garlic and onions in olive oil, add tuna. 7. Add pesto, high heat, then toss the pasta. 8. Remove from heat and ...

Back when we were kids, there was a time when Japanese animation broke through the Philippine airwaves. For me personally, it started with Sailormoon and for the boys, I think it was Slam Dunk or Ghost Fighter... Well anyway, that was the start. Then bit by bit, Philippine channels were swamped with anime, lots and lots of it. And with the animania going on, so did the fanaticism to anything Japanese. Japanese restaurants have been thriving all the while but gained more attention from kids wanting to try that "sushi" thing they see on one or more shows they are absolutely crazy about at the time. And I was no exception. I became so obsessed with Japanese food that I drove my mom and dad near crazy to have our Sunday dinner in a Japanese restaurant. Those were my first experiences in eating Japanese food. Now, as most people know, Japanese food is known for some of their raw dishes and of course having to eat them with wasabi on the side. (Though I read somewhere that true...