Sounds of Japanese Summer

Today, Tokyo hit a very hot 26 degrees celsius. I attempted in the early afternoon hours to sit on the balcony, under what I thought was a 'warm' sun, to grade the remaining papers. However, once I stepped out onto the balcony, the sun was a little bit more than warm; rather, it was scorching. In that instant I felt the Japanese summer sneaking up. And tonight, what confirmed its imminent arrival was the pitched, constant buzzing of the semi: cicadas.

I couldn't really believe my ears when I first realized that it was, indeed, the resonating buzz of the cicada. After all, it is just becoming May. Amongst friends who actually know what a cicada is, and have not grown up in Japan, these bugs are "annoying as hell" in their loud, almost obnoxious droning that doesn't seem to stop, and also for their gross abundance. However, here in Japan cicadas are, if not well-respected, at least well-perceived and accepted as a crucial part of Japanese summer culture. They stand at par with glass bells (fu-rin) that tinkle to the wind; with fireworks (hanabi); with summer kimonos (yukata); with bright-red goldfish and watermelon; and crowded summer festivals (natsu-matsuri) with their street food vendors. In fact, in the art of haiku poetry, the cicada is an officially designated summer 'season-word'.

Anyone who is aware of what a cicada sounds like and finds it to be annoying would be quick to question why the Japanese adore this summer icon. I don't really know, but I could take a guess. Cicadas live most of their life underground, and it takes an average of 5 to 7 years for a cicada to fully mature. Once matured (some cicadas shed their skins four times before climbing up to the surface), cicadas come up from the ground, and find themselves a tree to latch on to. They shed their final skin after they are amply above ground. After 5 years of developing you'd think they would be there for the entire summer; well, their constant buzzing doesn't cease until the end of September, right? Contrary to what one may think, these bugs only live outside for about a week. So, perhaps it is the energy with which the cicada cries (to find a mate) and the spirit with which it attempts to make the most of its short life, that the Japanese are drawn to.

The sound of cicadas made me realize how quickly the year has gone by; it seems like only days ago when I had arrived in Tokyo, and turned my ears to this sound I had not heard in 4 years. Fall has gone, winter flew by, spring was brief, and now, summer is coming. The year is really ending.
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Rain

Around 2 o'clock in the afternoon, soon after I brought all my dried laundry inside, the sky started to darken and the grumbles of thunder were heard. I thought myself lucky - after all, it would've been a shame for my freshly laundered sheets and blankets to be soiled all over again. I grabbed Irving's novel and spread out in the living room. Lightening started to spark.

After a while, I paused my reading. It was quickly getting darker, and I found it hard to read. But instead of getting up to turn on the light, I reached for one of the dining chairs, slid open the screen door, and sat on the veranda. I pulled the hood of my sweatshirt above my head and just sat, watching the black clouds roll themselves across each other.

I hate to be so cliched, but there certainly is something cathartic about sudden, early afternoon thunderstorms. These past few weeks have been a bit of a roller coaster ride for me. Except, the part where the coaster climbed, building up anxiety, continued excessively and was only followed by a short drop that did no justice to the amount of anxiety accumulated. In short, I had started to store a kind of frustrated angst inside my gut, just at the bottom of my lowest ribs, that no amount of sighing or drinking tea could relieve. The sudden, yet determined, act of sitting on the balcony in thundering weather was, thus, like reaching out for that ever-so craved cigarette after months of abstinence: instinctive, yet purposeful.

My love and passion for percussion, I always believed, was due to its liberating ability to express quite precisely the angst, sorrow, tenderness, and umph that I could not express otherwise. Thunder, I found that afternoon, did very much the same thing for me. As I sat trying to curl my toes on to the edge of the plastic seat, I felt every crack and rumble pierce that spot at the bottom of my lowest ribs. I didn't feel that much better, but I felt like I did.

Soon, the first drops of water began to fall, but this was nothing more than a tease. It would be a good 20 minutes later that the seemingly random drops would turn into torrential downpour. When was the last time anyone just sat watching rain fall, instead of hurriedly taking cover from the unwarranted wetness? Well, it had been a while for me, anyway, and so once the rain started to fall, that was actually more interesting to watch than the eruptive sparks of lightening.

Rain doesn't just fall from a cloud, to the ground, especially if there is some wind. It ebbs and flows. That afternoon, the rain fell in front of me as if someone above the clouds were watering his plants with a giant hose, turning from left to right to make sure that all of his plants were getting the moisture they needed. So, for two or three seconds, the scene in front of me was that of downpour, and then it would soften into a misty spray. For a while - as stupid as this may sound- I sat on the balcony, mesmerized by this ebbing and flowing fall of rain, while sparks of lightening struck through the clouds above me. Occasionally, a sudden crack caught my attention, but always I was drawn back to the rain.

I soon realized that the skies were getting lighter and lighter. I wondered if the clouds would break and the sun would come through. But, alas, that would be too perfect for such an imperfect world, an imperfect life, the imperfect existence of my being. The little horizon I could locate through electric wires and poles, across rooftops and between apartment buildings, was turning light-yellowish, and while the rain had begun to subside the grumbling thunder could still be heard from afar, and I thought to myself, Shit, you too? You, too, won't let me indulge in cathartic bliss, won't ease the anxious pain, won't let me free? As I began to interrogate the winds above were carrying the clouds away, as if to say, "That's enough grumbling for you."

So, they were gone. And the rain began to monotonously fall, and its cold indifference was exactly the kind I wanted to escape.
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World's Largest Bookclub?

Ever heard of this fascinating idea?? BookCrossing is a network that facilitates "the practice of leaving a book in a public place to be picked up and read by others, who then do likewise." All you have to do is grab a book that you deem so good that you want to release it to others, register the book on their website, and then accidentally 'forget' it on a chair in your local cafe. When you've found a book (you can check for locations on their awesome website), you are encouraged to write a journal entry about your finding(s), and the person who registered that book will be notified by e-mail where abouts in the world their ex-book is.

I found out about this via my neighborhood community forum, and was so excited about it I registered right away!
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Places to go in London 2

According to my neighborhood forum...

POGO CAFE - Vegan/Eclectic
76a Clarence Rd Hackney, E5 8HB
Their menus average under £6, rated highly on VegGuide.Org. Delicious soya shakes and smoothies.




INDIAN VEGETARIAN BHELPOORI HOUSE - Indian
92-93 Chapel Market, Islington, N1 9EX
One of the vendors at Chapel Market. For £3.00 I can eat all the Indian curry I want! How rockin' is that.




THE REAL GREEK - Greek
2A Southwark Bridge Rd SE1 9HA.
Up Great Dover Street, past Borough Statio and up Marshalsea Road, up Southward Bridge Road.





CHAPEL STREET - Marketplace
Islington, N1
Apparently this place is host to a wide variety of fresh fruit and veggies! Located north of Aldwych; nearest tube station is Angel.




TAI TIP MEIN - Chinese
6 Elephant&Castle, SE1 6TE
The name of this place literally means "Big Plate of Noodles." It hosts a cheap noodle bar and an all-you-can-eat buffet. For £3.50 - £3.95, you can get a full stomach! Go down Falmouth Road until you hit New Kent Road. Turn right, then turn left at Elephant&Castle.

THE WILLIAM - Vietnamese
16 Harper Road, SE1 6AD
They have pho--this is the key. Turn off Great Dover Street on to Trinity, then down Falmouth Rd. Located on the corner of Falmouth and Harper.




SUCHARD THAI RESTAURANT - Thai
102 Tooley Street, SE1 2TH
Reviews say they're cheap and good. Up Borough High Street towards the Thames, turn right on Tooley Street, go straight. Located on the corner of Bermondsey Street and Tooley.



COFFEE@BERMONDSEY ST. - Coffee shop
163-167 Bermondsey St, SE1 3UW
Free wireless internet, with a funky and relaxed atmosphere. Organic and fair trade goods. Possibly the equivalent to Think! Cafe on W10th in Vancouver. From Great Dover, go up Tower Bridge Rd, and veer off leftwards on Bermonsey St.

BRAZIL BY KILO - Latin American
17 Oxford St, W1D 2DJ
The will serve you rice, beans, veggies, meat, and weigh your grub by the kilo. The current rate is 99p/100g. Located on the corner of Oxford St and Court Rd.


CAFE ROSSI - Cafe
57 Borough High Street, SE1 1NE
Apparently I can find a good meal for under £4. Located up Great Dover and then up Borough High.





SANH HING - Chinese
82 Tower Bridge Rd, SE1 4TP
Another place to grab some cheap Chinese grub for under £4. Down Great Dover towards Tower Bridge Rd, turn left. Located on the right side.



Also:
ASAKUSA - Japanese: 265 Eversholt Street, NW1 1BA. Near Mornington Crescent station.
BAR ITALIA - Dessert/Cafe: 22 Frith St, W1D 4RP. Apparently a bit overpriced but has some of the best desert in town. Their hot chocolate is supposed to be amazing, and it's open all night!
FOOD FOR THOUGHT - Vegetarian: 31 Neal St, Covent Garden WC2H 9PR. 70s decor, quality cheap veggie food with good service.
WAGAMAMMA - Noodle House: Chain stores, on Wigmore St (behind Selfridges), Bond St, Streatham St (near British Museum), Lexington St (between Piccadilly and Oxford Circuses), Camden Lock, Covent Garden (south of the Market) and Leicester Square (Irving St).
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Happy Birthday!

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Slightly @ unease.

Last night, it was broadcasted in Japan that 1 of the 2 Japanese kidnapped in Paraguay at the beginning of the month was released. This supposedly 'new' group that conducted the kidnapping consists of 20 to 25 people, mostly Paraguayan, some Brazilian and Argentinian, and are in their 20s and 30s. The recent kidnap wasn't their first; most of them sustain criminal records that name burglary and murder as some of their committed crimes. The police in Paraguay have apparently identified some of the members of the suspected group, but have not released their motives for the kidnap, other than their demand of a $750,000 ransom (which started at a measly $300 but hiked up subsequently).

According to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan (MOFA), there have been developments towards kidnapping foreigners for a ransom on some occasions; however the recent kidnap was the first of its kind that has actually affected the Japanese. There is even a wicked case of a Japanese man targeting young Japanese backpackers, inviting them to stay a night with him in a dorm room of a hostel to cut back on lodge costs. When the backpackers are gone on a day trip or while they are taking a shower, this man steals their cash and leaves before the travelers return. What a jackass!

This is slightly worrisome. I am flying to Peru in August, and while it clearly states that touristy areas such as Cusco and Machu Picchu are fairly unaffected by terrorist threats and drug-related criminal activity, visitors should still maintain high alert at all times, and be careful not to leave personal belongings unattended, and avoid traveling in cabs at night, especially if you are alone. I am worried, however, of Al who is traveling through Chile, Bolivia, and to Peru in July. The last thing I need is either of us getting kidnapped in South America. I shall keep an eye out for other 'dangers' relevant to my travels.
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Yummy and healthy soy

Ingredients - Serves 2
1/3 (400g) finely chopped cabbage
1/2 (100g) finely chopped onion
1 firm tofu
1/2 egg
A: 1 Tbsp flour, 1 tsp mayo, 1 tsp miso, salt and pepper
A bit of: watercress, flour, olive oil, soy sauce

Directions
1. Rid water from tofu.
2. In a bowl, mix cabbage and onion, and heat in microwave (500W) for 5 min; drain water.
3. Add egg, tofu, and mixture A, and knead. Divide in half and form into hamburger shape. Sprinkle flour on surface.
4. In a frying pan, spread olive oil, and fry the hamburgers at medium heat. Once the surface is fried, lower the heat and fry for 2 min.
5. Serve on a plate with watercress and some soy sauce.
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Cravings of Vancouver.

Ingredients - Serves 12
320g cake flour
225g white sugar
5g salt
10g lemon zest
20g poppy seeds
300g unsalted butter, softened
5 eggs
150g white sugar
180ml lemon juice

Directions
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease and flour one 9 x 5 inch loaf pan.
2. Stir together the flour, salt, lemon zest and poppy seeds using a wire whisk. In a medium bowl, cream together (WELL!) the butter and 225g of sugar. Beat in the eggs one at a time. Then stir in the dry ingredients. Pour into the prepared loaf pan.
3. Bake for 60 to 75 minutes in the preheated oven, until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.
4. To make the syrup, combine 150g sugar with the lemon juice in a small saucepan, bring to a boil, then remove from heat and set aside to cool. When the cake is done, place the pan on a wire rack with a cookie sheet underneath. Prick the top of the cake several times with a toothpick or fork. Brush the top of the cake with the syrup, allowing lots of it to run down the sides and soak into the cake.
5. Allow cake to cool slightly before removing from the pan to the wire rack to cool completely. When completely cooled, wrap the cake if foil or heavy plastic wrap and let it sit for 1 day before serving.

Recipe courtesy of Allrecipes.com
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Places to go in London

As recommended by a friend..
1. Little Venice. Walk along the canal towards the London Zoo and into Camden. Check out the boat houses.
2. South Bank. Walk along river from the London Eye, eastwards.
3. Oriel's. A slightly posh French cafe on Sloane.
4. Sausages & Mash. Genuine (?) British food.
5. Electric. Restaurant on Portobello Road with good breakfast food. Check out the cinema with good lounge seats.
6. Goddard's Pie House. Currently under renovation? In Greenwich, right by the station. Apparently it looks like it belongs in Critter Country, Disneyland.

Any other recommendations are always welcome!
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