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March 23, 2007
i'm nuts
ok, 10 days of china, and 4 days of going out everynight, and now, ANOTHER trip to malaysia and cambodia for 9 days.
i are nuts.
but as i leave tonight for tokyo, and then tomorrow afternoon, the really really really cool thing about this all is that...
drum roll please.
i'm going to meet susie in kuala lumpur!
:D
行ってきます～
Posted by Jeff at 11:57 AM | Comments (0)
March 22, 2007
highlights
like goofs and gallant.
except not.
anyways, back from china and fully recovered (slept till 3:30 yesterday), been getting a few questions like `how was your mandarin?` and...
well ok, just that question. let's just say this is more or less how them 10 days went:
mike: haha ok
mike: so shanghai #1
mike: did you get a table
mike: or stand in line
me: table
mike: to be honest, i didn't think the buns there were better than at ding tai fong
mike: but still
me: i wasn't impressed
mike: gotta go
mike: it's famous
me: they were good
me: let me tell you
me: that hostess did NOT appreciate me being illiterate ahahaha
mike: lol
me: `so um... yes... i'd like some xlb... and... could you tell me what number 2 is?.... and number 3....`
me: `....4?`
me: 5 items on the menu
mike: `....5?`
mike: `...and what was 4 again?`
me: lol
me: exactly....
me: `...could you explain them all as if i was 5?`
mike: hahaha
in the end i took a few orders of everything...
on the flight to shanghai though, i met a pastor named hugo who gave me a pretty interesting conversation. he's probably given me one of the better talks of my life in addition to the greatest comeback of my life:
me: you know, i've just grown so cynical of it all.
hugo: well jeff... maybe things will get better for you when you are cynical of your own cynicism.
lol oh yeah, and one more thing.
i'm no big history buff, so when i went into china i saw all these things about `mao is great` not quite exact but more or less to that extent. and so when i got back to japan i had to do one thing:
wiki up mao.
and let me tell you something i discovered in my researching.
he wasn't a nice guy.
in fact he was downright mean...
... what's wrong with this picture?
Posted by Jeff at 10:26 AM | Comments (0)
March 19, 2007
ただいま!
holy crap, it's been 10 days!
finally back from china and let me say, it was... /chuckle... pretty amazing.
3/9 - 3/10 -> shanghai
3/10 -> took the sleeper train to xian. think titanic... but on a train.
3/11 -> xian
3/11 -> took the sleeper train to beijing
3/12 - 3/16 -> beijing
3/16 -> took the sleeper train to shanghai
3/17 -> shanghai
3/18 -> back in tokyo
highlights of the things we saw:
1. the great wall - walked 10km of it or 1/630th of it
2. the forbidden city - even after you pay it's kind of forbidden...
3. tian'anmen square - opened on the LAST day we were in beijing
4. terracotta warriors - really really cool to see in person
and of course [mike wu] i ate at nanxiang steamed buns, and peking duck @ quanjude and @ da dong roast duck. btw: duck fat and sugar is ridiculously good... though i will say i think that taiwanese food is better... mmmm taiwanese food... :)
...and the hostel staff in beijing said that they think i'm cute :D
Posted by Jeff at 04:29 PM | Comments (0)
March 08, 2007
f-ing nifty
where were YOU december 2005???!!!!
yes a cheap plug as well...
Posted by Jeff at 05:45 PM | Comments (0)
if you knew my dad
this would make you laugh.
a little background. tomorrow i'm off to china and i asked my mom to write me some good foods i might like in chinese (in case there are 1. no english menus 2. no pictures.
for number 3 it could have just been:
hot pot with lamb meat.
oh no.
it actually was this:
hot pot with lamb meat, dad said you will NOT like it.
hahahahaha.
Posted by Jeff at 09:02 AM | Comments (0)
March 07, 2007
bata dori?
so because of heavy rainfall monday night, my ramen night was postponed to tuesday night. thankfully ryan was willing to come keep me company as it was a slow night with the yamadas. keep in mind that last sentence was a bit sarcastic, think of it as someone offering to take you to eat with the nicest people on the face of the planet earth (well japan at least). would you honestly say `no` ?
didn't think so.
anyways! we finish our meal and yumiko hands us these little individually wrapped packages that read `bata dori.`
me: so what do you make of this?
ryan: i dunno. looks like mini pancakes with azuki (aka red bean) wedged in the middle.
m: well they gave it to us... can't be that bad...
/weopenandtakeonebite
r: what the hell is that in the middle of the azuki?
m: wouldn't that be awesome if it was actually a slab of butter?
r: haha yeah seriously. wouldn't that be hilarious, i mean we know it's normally in the dessert, but who actually puts a visible slice of butter there.
both: nervous laughter.
m: serious, i mean it's not as if butter rolls come with a fat slab of butter, that shit's baked in so you can at least pretend it's not there...
/ibiteintoit
m: omg that's...
r: no, it's not.
/ryanbitesintoit
r: see. it's not eve... omg yes. ...it's a slab of butter.
m: man they're really not even trying anymore are they?
r: well, it is bata dori...
both: ...
you can just hear yourself getting fatter...
Posted by Jeff at 12:15 PM | Comments (0)
March 06, 2007
survey says... (updated)
1. where is jeff from?
they... are actually getting it right. i don't believe!
though i have seen the rogue `china` and `canada` pop up >:o
...new zealand o.Oa
...and boston????
2. how cool is jeff?
a. he is tallest in my school <--- i think that's a good thing...
b. i call him jeff. <---- i do too.
c. yes. it is. <---- yes what is?
d. yes. jeff is cool. <------- A+++++++++
e. no. <---------------------- F---------
f. jeff is enjoy! <---- ...in bed?
g. jeff is very cool. <------- A++++++++++++++++++++++
h. of course. <------- <3
i. he is very high. <-------- hahahahahaha
j. that's right!
k. no. jeff is very hot! <---- 100%
l. his hair is cool!
one more section:
jp kids keep saying `hello` and ` bye bye.` so i taught them: hey, heya, yo, sup, hi, and, see ya, see you later/tomorrow/soon, peace, later, take care, and gotta go.
one of the sections i asked them to write down as many as they could for each...
one student wrote `yar` for `hello.`
i gave her a point haha.
Posted by Jeff at 12:05 PM | Comments (0)
March 05, 2007
it's the little truths...
in life that we treasure when we truly understand their meanings:
me: and i'm goin to go drown my sorrows in chocolate cake
m: brb
m: (going to the local bakery)
horace: oh man that sounds good
m: lol
m: it's just chocolate cake
m: nothing special
m: but man it's tasty
h: better than no cake :P
touche sir. touche indeed.
Posted by Jeff at 01:24 PM | Comments (0)
March 04, 2007
see mom?
it's not my fault!
Posted by Jeff at 10:25 PM | Comments (1)
March 02, 2007
well it's that time of the term again
final exams!
and with final exams, we have my beloved bonus section.
but first, a few updates. currently i'm still reading catch 22, i know it's been 3 months since i started but to be honest, i've been ridiculously exhausted as i ride trains these days and i just find myself passing out. up next on this list is hopefully another murakami, and then sherlock holmes vol. 1.
we just finished a 3 day conference in yokohama that was mainly to help us get back on our feet for when we all go back to our home countries (respectively of course). good to meet some old friends and find some new. as always aeon (my second cousin who started jet the same time i did) seemed to always find me there (and i him), and as always, ryan and i never really hang out during such events.
another note, chris from back home is in tokyo now for a transfer program from his job. he's only here for six months, but it blows my mind when he's just beginning his six months, and i have about six months to go on my own contract. in addition, it feels like the home stretch where as it's just the beginning for him.
and the final update, the third years just had their graduation ceremony yesterday... though i did spend most of the time fixing my bike and eating a snickers...
now, onto the final exam answers!
this term brings back an old question (mainly cause i couldn't think of a new one, so sue me :P): `where is jeff from? and `how cool is jeff?`
will post it in the next entry.
Posted by Jeff at 11:01 AM | Comments (0)