Autumn in Japan

Beautiful Japanese garden at Koumyou Zen Ji, a Bhuddist temple in Dazaifu, Fukuoka, Japan.











My mom and dad.













Me.

I'm in heaven

Hello from Fukuoka, Japan. I left DC in the morning of 23rd, and after 14 hours of flight, arrived in Narita Airport of Tokyo on 24th. Then I took a connection flight from there to Fukuoka, my hometown. The flight from DC to Tokyo was OK....the airplane was new and not crowded. There were many Vietnamese Americans going to visit their relatives in Saigon around my seat....they just kept talking loudly....it was a little annoying. Well, very annoying. In-flight movie line-up was not very good. I saw "The Break-up" and "Nacho Libre." The first one was a waste of time, the second was just OK. Oh, I saw Pirates of Carribian: Dead Man's Chest. The movie reminded me how much I loved Johnny Depp. On the way back to DC, there will be "The Devil Wears Prada." I look forward to it.

I've been doing absolutely nothing here at home. Wake up, eat, chat with my parents, play with my nieces, eat, watch TV, drink, eat, take bath, and go to bed. It's great. I'm sure I will gain weight. I eat two bowls of rice with miso-soup and Japanese pickles for breakfast every morning. I just can't stop eating! My mom's cooking is so great, and rice taste so good. Last night we had a small birthday party for my niece, Namiho. She will be 9 on 28th. We got great carry-out sushi for a dinner. $60 for 7 people! I'm so amazed how inexpensive everything is here in Japan compared to DC. Believe me, Japan is not expensive. You can buy almost everything at 100-yen ($1) shop....T-shirts, watch, even DVDs. You can have very tasty lunch for $5, and you don't need to pay tips. A dinner with all-you-can-drink option can be $20.

Well, but I'm not sure if I can live in Japan again....I'll write about it later. My mom said dinner is ready. Today's menu seems to be Tonkatsu, deep fried breaded pork. Yummy.

My obsession is not only alcohol

Just a quick note. There are some movies I want to see. First of all, "Volver." I can't miss Pedro Almodovar's movies. Penelope Cruz is back to Pedro's movie. Good. I like her only in Pedro's movies. And "Babel." I like the director ("Amores Peros" and "21 grams"), and love Koji Yakusho, a Japanese actor (he was in original "Shall we dance?" and "Warm Water Under a Red Bridge") . Believe or not, I may want to see "Casino Royal." Well, most likely, I will wait for DVD for this. I haven't seen "Little Miss Sunshine." I want to see it. Maybe "Running With Scissors"? I'd rather read the book...Oh, and I want to see "Borat"!

Tomorrow, I'll go to see "Nightmare Before Christmas" 3-D version with Steven and Mike and maybe some others. I'm not sure if I'm eager to see the movie itself, but I'm interested in 3-D. And it's always fun to see a movie with friends.

Ok, now I need to go back to work....yeah, it's Saturday...but.....sigh.

Americanization....and farewell to Junko

This is a peaceful weekend after hectic busy weeks. Today I slept until around 11:00am, and then realized it was actually 10:00am. My very smart cell phone (actually it does have a brain. A little cell phone accessory with a photo of sliced brain, which I bought at "Body World" exhibition in Philadelphia, is attached) told me the daylight saving time was over. I remember I was so relieved to learn I had one more hour to read before a class in my first year at a graduate school. Now I don't have to read thousands of pages of academic papers filled with incomprehensible sentencesand gigantic words. Thank Buddha.

Instead, I spent the extra hour to read VOGUE magazine. Yes, I actually "read" the magazine. There was an interesting article about a do-it-yourself DNA kit that analyzes your genetic profile and prescribe nutritional and lifestyle solutions that would help you avoid aging and disease. The article also says some genetic analysis can tell you the possibilities you will develop breast cancer or Alzheimer's. The question is if you want to know the information since there is no cure found so far, for example, for Alzheimer's. I sometimes think abut what I would do if I were diagnosed with the last stage of cancer. I may go to visit countries I have wanted to go
and then go back to Japan to spend time with my family. Or I may go to Cambodia to launch some projects to help slum communities so that I can feel my life was a little helpful for the society (how Angelina of me it is!). Oh well, the chances are I probably will spend the rest of my life at a hospital to try to survive as long as possible. I am coward. So I don't want to know my genetic information. I'd rather live with the uncertainty.

At Steven's party, Bill, my friend who I hadn't seen for ages, said Americans are too obsessed with their appearances. And today when I was zapping TV, I found so many ads about new diet program which helps you lose weight, new exercise equipment, botox, etc. Hmm. Now I do care about my appearances more than I did when I was 20-something in Japan. I go to gym and take Pilates classes, which I'd never thought of before. I buy much more clothes and shoes than before. Ok, maybe it's just because I'm getting old and now have more time and money than I did when I was working in Japan. But there are other things. I speak louder than before. I express my emotion by gesture and expression more than before. I eat donuts. I'm OK with
Starbucks. I wear pumps with bare foot. I debate with my mother. (And I'm blogging in English). I can't help but wonder: am I Americanized? Is it good or bad for me?

Well, I wasn't a typical Japanese girl even before I came to US. Maybe my characteristics have just been enhanced by this American "free society." When I saw a Japanese couple just typing text-messages on their cell phone silently without talking each other in a Tokyo commuter train, I thought it weird. Few people think that is weird in Japan. I guess the Japanese society
has changed, too.

I've just received an e-mail from my high school friend. One of my classmates died from cancer. I hadn't seen her since we graduated, but I remember her smile. I heard that after she had graduated from a college, she changed her career objective and went to a medical school to be a doctor. And she made it. I admired her courage. According to my friend, she had just had a baby girl last year. How cruel a fate can be. I guess I'd better live a better life. Well, I had a very good day today. I'll try to do it tomorrow, too. I really hope my friend, Junko, is in peace now.

Hmm

This morning, at the gym, I found out that I lost 5 pounds. I don't know if it is because I stopped drkinking or because I haven't eaten much these days. Hmm.

Last night, I went to Steven's Pumpkin Carving Party. I didn't carve a pumpkin again this year, but the pary was fun. It was good to know that I could enjoy party without drinking alcohol. Hmm.

But still, I think I will eventually start drinking again. Why? Because I can. Because drinking is a part of my life. Seriously.

The photo is a bar/grill I dined in Newport RI.

I'm sleepy

It's almost 1:00am. I'm still working. It sucks. But tomorrow is Steven's Pumplin Carving Party! Thinking about something fun always helps. When I have tough time, I always tell myself: Everything has the end. Yeah. My husband will pick me up at the office. I love him.

Trip to New England

I visited Rhode Island and Connecticut from 15th to 18th. It was a business trip, but I had some good time. In Rhode Island, I stayed in Newport one night. It was a beautiful day, and Seafood Festival was being held at the ocean front area. Since I didn't have any appointments until the evening, I decided to have some drinks with lunch. I enjoyed Sunday Afternoon Margarita Newport Edition....alone. I text-messaged Roberto. He said he was cleaning. Boo-hoo!

I stayed at Jailhouse Inn, a cozy B&B , which used to be the old Newport County jailhouse. My room had two bedrooms with big windows. I had a late dinner at a bar/grill next door "A&O Fish." It was a find. Great martinis, sophisticated dishes, and cute chatty bartender. There even was a real fireplace. The bartender said the bar was the second oldest house in Newport.

Next day I stayed in Providence. My hotel choice was right this time too.The hotel "Dolce Villa" was located in the middle of Little Italy (the photo was taken in front of the hotel). I didn't know Rhode Island had such a large Italian community. I wish if I had more time to walk around there. The hotel was actually for a long stay, and all rooms were suits. My room had a living room with a full kitchen, a bedroom (with memory foam beds), sleep sofas also with memory foam, Jacuzzi(!), flat screen TVs, DVD, VCR, and CD players, free High Speed Internet, free popcorn, hot chocolate and biscotti (ok, enough advertisement. I promised the hotel manager I'd blog about his hotel). Rooms were all in white. It was cool. There was a cafe/restaurant/bar next door (Cafe Dolce Villa). The bar had excellent martinis. I also found a little Italian pastry shop nearby. It had a great Cappuccino and biscotti. We need that kind of a little cozy cafe with homemade sweets in DC.....

I didn't have much luck in Connecticut. I arrived at hotel around 10:30pm, exhausted from long driving in a heavy rain. After I checked in, I immediately asked concierge what time the bar would close. She said 11:00pm. I rushed to the room, closed the door, then, fire alarm started. All guests were kicked out from the hotel. We were allowed to go back around 10:50. I rushed to the bar, it was closed. Aghhhhhh!!!! I begged to the bartender: "I just arrived and the alarm started. I'm exhausted. I need drinks!" The bartender: "I'm sorry, mom. We've already closed the bar. And I don't have a key." I hated him.

There was some fun in Connecticut, too. I visited Pez factory. Yeah, there were tons of petz candies and various kinds of heads. I made friends with some British reporters. We'll hang out sometime after the midterm election. I had a dinner at a local diner, I don't even remember the name, somewhere in Wilton, CT, and the dinner was enormous. Three huge stuffed peppers, rice, broccoli, bread, and garden salad. It was just $9. It was amazing. I couldn't finish even half of it.

Ok, now you think I just enjoyed staying at nice hotels (FYI, all stays cost less than $130 per night), dining good food and drinking heavily. I DID work, too, but I can't write about something related to my job. I'm now in the process of organizing thoughts for my article. I love my job more if I don't have to write articles.....sigh.

Never say never

I'm testing to blog via e-mail. I hope it works.

My weekend was perfect until around 11:00pm on Saturday...according to Angel
Roberto, who kindly took care of this drunk puking idiot. I went to Ray and
Joey's house warming party in Arlington. The party was lots of fun. I had
ONLY three martinis but somehow got drunk miserably. I got sick in a merto
and puked to a garbage can at the Metro Center station, again, according to
Angel Roberto. I vaguely remember I puked and said "I....'m sooooorrryyyyy"
to Roberto. He called my husband and my husband picked me up outside of the
station.

Next morning, I realized my wallet was missing. Then I got a call from a
hotel near the metro station, saying someone found my wallet and brought it
to the hotel. It's a miracle! My wallet was returned with my driver's
licence and all credit cards! And they were not used! But just in case, I
cancelled all cards.

I promised to my husband I wouldn't drink until his birthday party in
January.

I'll NEVER drink that way again. NEVER!

I'll blog about my trip to Rhode Island and Connecticut later.

_________________________________________________________________
Express yourself instantly with MSN Messenger! Download today it's FREE!
http://messenger.msn.click-url.com/go/onm00200471ave/direct/01/

Dear Vuboq

Dear VUBOQ:

You must have sexy British accent by now. I'm sure Bala Wala Shi loves it (ask her about her classroom embarrassment). Monday Afternoon Margarita Columbus Day Edition (MAM:CoDE) was a success. We had a lot of fun WITHOUT YOU. We were planning to meet at Alero Dupont Circle, but it was too gorgeous to stay inside, so we decided to change the location to Alero Cleveland Park. When I and Roberto were almost to finish the first pitcher, Roberto mentioned how different the neighborhood was from Adams Morgan. He said Cleveland Park looked mostly straight and conservative (I don't remember exact sentences...). Then I said "well, not really. I see two gay people walking down the street." Roberto looked at the direction and laughed. They were Mike and Darryl. Darryl's friend (?), 22-year-old (!) student, Jon (if I remember his name correctly) joined us. We had three pitchers of Margaritas (I think) and chatted until around 9:20pm (I think).

We talked a little about if we could have sex with someone without any emotional attachment. I have to say "yes." I tend to have emotional attachment to the person after having sex, but to be honest, not always. Mike said "well, but there is passion involved in sex." Maybe, but it doesn't have to be "passion for love." It could be "passion for a great sex." Well, I guess it depends on the person. For me, sex is sex. No less than that, no more than that.

I saw two movies during the weekend. "The last king of Scotland" and "Jesus Camp." I didn't like "The last..." very much, because while I know the movie is meant to be fiction, it confuses audience about the fact and the fiction. The actor Forest Whitaker did a great job to scare me out, though. "Jesus Camp" was very interesting. It's a must see movie to understand "ordinary" Christian right people and the reason why Bush won the second term.

Oh, and I had my first spinning class Monday morning. It was fun.

Better than nothing

I've just got back from Pilates. I've been taking 8 sessions of "Pilates Reformer" class which uses some equipments to build your core muscles. An instructor recommended me to take this class because I don't have some necessary muscle and if I keep doing Pilates without those muscles I may hurt my back. Well, she might just have wanted me to spend more money, but I've decided to take her advice because my back actually hurts after Pilates. I forewent buying a pair of shoes for this. I think it was a good decision. Class is 8AM every Saturday. It's not easy to get my ass up early in Saturday morning, especially after Happy Hour on Friday....but I can feel the day longer. So I'm blogging:-)

My company has imposed more strict regulations for employees' internet use at the office. So I can't update my blog as frequently as before....it sucks. I may also need to cut my internet shopping....this is good for me.

I remember one thing I need to note for my own record. "I don't like seafood salad at Alero." Ok, my SAM (Saturday Afternoon Margarita) comrades, please remind me this when I try to order it again. This is one reason why I need to blog. I don't remember many things. Last weekend, me, Steven, Roberto, Terry and Jake---Steven's friend who was visiting DC from NYC---had SAM at Alero Dupont Circle. I was going to order seafood salad. Steven: "Didn't you order it before?" Me: "Yeah, I think so...but I don't remember if I liked it or not...." I ordered it, and when it appeared in front of me, my memory suddenly flashed back.....I had it before, at the same Alero, at the same table, and I didn't like it!!! I guess I'm officially getting old.

I was talking to my mom in Japan on the phone the other day. She lamented how reckless and brutal Japanese, especially young people, have become these days. Teenagers or sometimes even primary school kids kill homeless people or elderly just for fun. Young parents abuse, neglect or kill their babies just because the babies "cry" or "poop." My mom said maybe a part of the reason is the fact that the majority of Japanese don' have any faith/religion. No moral values based on religion exists for them. Hmmm. Maybe. But how about Aum cult? They killed bunch of people with Salin gas for their faith. Certainly faith could sometimes be a brake to keep people away from some wrong doing. But it could also be a trigger for some fanatic act. It is true that Japanese don't have the core "value" they can originate with or they can use a guidance. Some conservatives are trying to find it in nationalism. In my opinion, that's very dangerous. Nationalism can lead Japanese into "state of denial." Denial of anything bad about us. I feel that "bad old days" are coming back to Japan.....well, maye not only in Japan.

BTW, my photo is on "Metroweekly." I'm famous! Woo hoo! We look so cute, don't we??

I bought this shoes . When you buy a pair, another pair goes to a child in Argentina. I get cool shoes, and an Argentine kid become a little happy. A little bit. I'm not that naive to believe that it can change something dramatically. But well, it's always better than nothing.

The photo is my spoiled and the cutest nieces.

Body and Mind

It's a beautiful day. I feel much better.

I've been reading this book (in Japanese), titled "disease Named Myself." I'm not sure if the translation is accurate. The author is a Japanese 47-year-old woman novelist. This book is a non-fiction about her 3-day trial experience of working as a sex-worker. She did it "to know if I'm still a sexually attractive woman men are willing to pay for."

.......I wrote the previous paragraph yesterday and then went for a lunch with my friend Y. The lunch was very good. Y took me to a small Peruvian-Mexican restaurant near Kst & Vermont. We ordered very tender grilled chicken with rice, beans and salad. Yummy. The price was less than $6.

We talked about the book I was reading (I finished it last night). The author said that many straight men misunderstood or justified themselves by believing that women wear mini-skirts or body-fitting outfits in order to seduce men. Not really, she said. Most women wear sexy outfits because they want to feel good about themselves or want other women to envy. I agree with her. I sometimes wear minis or sexy stilettoes because I want to feel good for myself. It's not for men, not even for my husband. I don't like my face, hair, big arms, small boobs, big thighs, big butt, but I like my legs. That's why I wear minis and stilettoes.

The author recollect when she was 20-something, an old man touched her thighs at a bar. She said "please stop." Then this man went, "why do you wear mini-skirt, then?" Those men use the same excuse when they rape women. Unfortunately, even some women blame rape victims for wearing "slutty outfits." That's wrong! It's a attacker who should be blamed. You can't rape women just because they wear sexy clothes.

Anyways, I've decided to take additional Pilates class starting this Saturday. From 8:00am. Gah. I was shocked to see my butt in a mirror in a fitting room of H&M the other day. I found cellulite! Aghhhhh! I know my face is not beautiful. I think it's fair to say my body is better than my face. Since I can't change my face (I don't want plastic surgery) , at least I want to try to improve my body line. I don't believe inner beauty changes appearance. Body and mind are two different things. I want to be a better person, but also want to be a better looking person. To feel better.

BTW, the Japanese new cabinet was formed yesterday. As conservative as Bush administration. Hmm. Maybe it's not time for me to go back to Japan.

The photo is a sunrise at the Virginia beach from a hotel room.

I'm cranky

It's 10pm on Monday. I'm still working. It sucks. My co-workers have gone for a dinner leaving me alone. It sucks more. I sipped a Japanese instant noodle soup while working. It was terrible.

I hope tomorrow will be a better day. I believe it will.

Lovely Friday

I had been busy and a little stressed out, so I couldn't blog. Well, it wasn't that serious. I just did some stupid things. Sometimes I wish if I could go back to the time, let's say, when I was 16 or 17, and do my life over again. Then I can avoid many stupid things I had done in my life and make better choices.....or can I?? Well, I think I will repeat the same mistakes and make the same stupid choices. I'm the same person, after all. I love my life as it is. Besides, I don't want to go through the crazy university entrance exam in Japan and write hundreds of job applications again. Plus, I don't' remember many of my mistakes in the past anymore. Aging is sometimes a good thing, huh?

BTW, I read this article in a Japanese magazine that a Japanese blogger who criticized the craziness of celebration of the new-born prince have got bunch of threatening postings. He apologized, then got more angry postings and e-mails. Scary. In Japan, some of the people "living in cyberspace" are almost kind of psychos who write racist remarks on the web and sometimes even post photo, cell-phone numbers and addresses of someone who they "target." Some of those people don't get out of their room for months, sometimes years. What problem of Japanese society have created these people?

Today I wear Kara Janx dress! I love it. But it's a little too cold for the dress. And I don't' have any Happy Hour plan to go in this dress. It sucks. I guess I'll just go home and watch Desperate Housewives DVD and Japanese porn videos. What a lovely Friday night!

How come this spell checker doesn't recognize words like "blog" or "blogger"?

Summer is officially over

Sigh. I hate Monday. Especially after a fun weekend on the beach. I still can hear the sound of big waves....

On Friday, I decided not to work after I had learned Roberto's Happy Hour plan. I left office around 6:00pm feeling my co-workers' cold eyes on my back. I met Steven, Roberto, Mike and Darryl at Halo. I think I had two watermelon margaritas and one bad martini....in an empty stomach. After Halo, I vaguely remember I ate pasta with tomato sauce and asparagus at somewhere in Dupont Circle...I don't remember what time I left there, but do remember sweet Roberto walked me to the metro station.

Saturday morning, I had a little hangover. I and my husband left home around 10:00am heading to the Virginia Beach. After 4 hours driving, we arrived at the beach around 2:00pm. Great weather! We grabbed some sandwithces and ate them on the beach. Everything was great except for the disturbing noise of jet fighters flying over from Norfolk Naval base. It seemed that there was Air Show going on. Ugh. Around 6:00pm, we were back to the hotel room, and relaxed in a heart-shaped Jacuzzi watching the ocean through the window. How romantic! But nothing romantic happened between us. I can't believe my husband is an Argentine. Or is it me who is the problem??

Anyways, then we walked along the beach and saw a big spooky red moon. We had a dinner at this nice and cozy restaurant Tautogs. On the way back to the hotel, we saw the moon just above the horizon and the beautiful path of moonlight on the ocean. How romantic! We saw some couples making out on the beach. It didn't happen to us. Huh. Well, but we walked holding hands each other like a high school couple. Cute.

Next morning, a beautiful sun rise on the horizon woke me up. I woke up my husband. It was really beautiful. After a breakfast on the beach, I went for Day Spa. I had massage and facial. In the middle of a mud facial pack and foot bath, I became to want to pee. Urgently. I tried to hang on, but then I couldn't relax. So finally I asked to the staff "excuse me, Um...." Except for that, it was great. I spent the rest of the day on the beach. We had a lunch at a beach side restaurant. I had a tuna (real fresh tuna) salad and margarita, and shared steamed shrimps with my husband. Yummy!

When we left the beach, I realized my summer was officially over. I felt a little sad. I still wear sandals today, though.

The photo is the dusk in Shennandoah. I took this photo last October.

Yey to Friday!

Today I wear a metallic-silver 80s vintage dress. I thought it might be inappropriate for the office, but today's Friday. I just avoided to match red stilettoes with it.

Yesterday I made a day trip to West Virginia to report about the Cold War era secret "bunker." It took four hours driving each way. On the half way to get there, I noticed my car was about to be out of gas. I kept driving trying to find a sign of gas station. 5 miles....10 miles....15 miles....no gas station. The alarm started blinking. Still no gas station. I was panicked. 20 miles....25 miles....It was literally in the middle of nowhere surrounded by mountains, and there were very few cars on the highway. Ahhhhh.....then finally I found a sign!! Thank Buddha!!I think there should be a sign something like "there will be no gas station 30 miles from this point."

I and my husband will go to Virginia Beach this weekend. Maybe I won't get into the water....I'm afraid of stingray.....or jelly fish. I just want to relax on the beach. We'll stay in a hotel we stayed last year. It's on the beach and has a heart-shaped Jacuzzi! I made an appointment for a Spa treatment there as well.

Yey to Friday! And Happy Hour!

ともきーと (I try if Japanese font works. Does it?)

My English

Your Linguistic Profile:

55% General American English

30% Yankee

10% Dixie

0% Midwestern

0% Upper Midwestern

What Kind of American English Do You Speak?

I've got this from VUBOQ. Well, since there isn't "Japanese English" category, and I've been living in DC area for 7 years....

It's a boy! Whatever.

Yeah, it's a boy. Whatever. It's such a shame those princesses are judged mainly, if not only, by their ability to give birth a boy. As far as Princess Kiko is concerned, she willingly joined the Royal family and accepted her role as a traditional good wife/mother. So it may be OK. But in the case of Princess Masako, she gave up her career as a diplomat to get married with the first prince (under a lot of pressure). I think she could have been Japan's foreign minister or a prominent Japanese diplomat. What a waste! Now all people want from her is a boy!!

Princess Masako had a little hope to change the Japanese Royal family. She wanted to be an active princess who travels around the world for goodwill diplomacy and charity, just like Princess Diana. Now she suffers from depression. The first prince promised to protect her from everything when he proposed to her. He should keep his words. He could transfer his title as the first prince to his brother and get out of the royal family. And he and Masako can be some kind of goodwill ambassadors or something. It would be really romantic.

Well, whatever. I really don't care. A TV morning show was talking about Princess Kiko's baby and TomCat baby Suri in the same category. That was good. Both of them are just another baby, after all.

Piano Woman

It was a fun weekend. Friday night, I went for Happy Hour at Tapatinis with Steven, Mike and Darryl. Our strong will and courage for Martinis beat the tropical storm! I had 3 Martinis and 2 Margaritas (I think). It was fun:) Saturday morning, after Pilates and treadmill, some supernatural force dragged me into DSW. My regular gym is located just next to a gigantic DSW. How could I resist? I stepped into the store saying "well, I'll just look at them....just look....." Alas, they were just in the middle of 3 day-sale "extra 30% off already reduced price." Ahhhhh....well, I was strong enough to stop buying after two pairs. And they were total of 80% off!

Then I and my husband had a lunch at Pho 75, a Vietnamese noodle shop in Rockville, and dropped in a thrift shop. I bought a beautiful green suede trench coat for $10, and a $12 Burberry-like trench for my husband. And.....I bought a YAMAHA electronic piano!!!! It was $30! Its highest C-key is broken, but it really doesn't matter. It can make more than 100 different tones and about 30 different rhythm. I used to play piano until I was 18, and wanted to start playing it again. I'm so happy! I spent the rest of the afternoon playing with my piano. I've mastered so far "Piano Man," "Eleanor Rigby" and some classics. At night, we watched DVD a Japanese movie "Kamikaze Girls." It's a cute and bizarre movie.

On Saturday, Steven and Mike invited me for a picnic at Rock Creek Park. I picked up Steven and Mike, and Dennis, a Mike's friend, and his super-cute dog, Luna, joined. We played croquet. Mike won again. I improved a lot. I was the third. It was a lot of fun. At night, I and my husband played a dice game until 1:30 am. My husband didn't want to stop until he won more than I did.....finally I became sleepy and convinced him to go to bed. We played 12 games, I won 7 times and he won 5.

On Sunday, I and my husband went to Annapolis. I had never been to Annapolis. It was fun.

Tomorrow, Japan's princess Kiko will give birth to her third child by C-section. My mom e-mailed me to see if I wanted to bet on the sex of the baby. She thought it was a boy. Me too. So the bet couldn't be completed. It must be a boy. We'll never have Empress. Well, I don't care anyways.

Summer! Wait for me!!

It's cold and rainy! Ugh. I'm having the first hot chocolate for the season. Has the summer really gone already? Wait! I haven't enjoyed it enough! How many SAM (Saturday Afternoon Margarita, I'll explain it later) have we had this summer? NOT ENOUGH! Ahhhhhhh!

OK, I'll try to think some happy things. There is this joke about "the happiest (straight) man in the world." There are some variations, but usually he has a Japanese wife, a Chinese chef, an American house, a British butler, a German car and an Italian(? I'm not sure) lover. And the unhappiest man has a Japanese house, Chinese wage, an American wife, a British chef, and....I don't remember. So, I was thinking of "the happiest woman in the world." For me, an Argentine husband....no, I was just trying to be diplomatic....let me start over. For me, a Singaporean husband (Tony Leung is accepted here), a Beverly Hills house (OMG, my Japanese-English dictionary has vocabularies like "Beverly Hills 90210" and "Beverly Hills Cop"!!) , a Thai or Vietnamese chef, a British bartender and an Italian lover. Sigh. I have none of them.

How about you??

Seoul Man

I saw a doctor yesterday about my stomachache. He prescribed a medicine and told me to come in 3 weeks. I didn't have pain last night. I hope it's improving.....I have a "drinking appointment" tomorrow, and I'm not sure if I can resist the temptation while watching others drinking...

It seems that not only Japanese women but also women all over Asia are crazy about Korean men. According to today's Washington Post (a front page article), Korean male celebrities are huge in China, Vietnam, Taiwan and even in Mexico. The article also mentions that Daniel Dae Kim, the Korean-born actor from "Lost" was the only Asian chosen for People's magazine's "sexiest Men Alive" edition last year. A room of my 70-year-old aunt's house is like a museum of Korean soap opera actors with an extensive collection of posters, photos and videos. She now lives alone (she used to be a groovy "Modern Girl" in 60s and 70s. She gave me a lot of tailored 60s style clothes. She was one of the few Japanese traveled in Europe at that time) . Those hot Korean stars make her life lively. Actually, many Japanese middle-aged women are blessed by the Korean stars. On, gay men, too. According to the Post, in Shinjuku nichome (Tokyo's biggest gay area) there are increasing numbers of bars with names like "Seoul Man."

So, why Korean? I understand Japanese women are attracted to them because Japanese men never say "I love you." Generally speaking, Japanese men are not "romantic." Men with few words have been considered the best in Japan. Saying "I love you" could be very embarrassing. Correction. For Japanese middle-aged men it's embarrassing. For younger generations it may be a different story. Washington Post said Koreans are "the Italians of Asia." "....typically rich, kind men with coincidentally striking looks and a tendency to shower women with unconditional love" it explains. There is a quote from a director of a Korean star management company: "It's a type of character that doesn't exist much in Asian movies and television, and not it's what Asian women think Korean men are like." Ok, I got it. Korean men have Asian looks and Western style of sweetness. But this director also points that: "But to tell you the truth, I still haven't met a real one who fits that description." Hmmm. Ok, maybe it's just a fantasy.

But I remember my Korean teacher of a language class I took briefly like 10 years ago fits exactly that description. He is handsome and with a lot of sweets words for every woman. And he openly said "I love my wife." That kind of man barely exist in Japan. Really. Oh, did I mention those Korean stars usually have beautifully built body? Korea has two years mandatory military duty. Maybe it adds some attraction to them.

Having said all of these, I still think Singaporean boys are the cutest. Hong Kong actors are the second. I love Tony Leung!!