Having "Me" Time

I wake up in the wee hours of the morning (4.30am) for no apparent reason today with the thought of Maple Snaffes in my head. The thought of it won't go away, my brain wants to have some, but helas we don't have any and so I will just have to write about it instead. Continuing from my previous posts on Snaffles from Hokkaido, where I talked about the original cheesecake flavor and chocolate favor, I have to say that my new favorite one is the Maple Snaffes Cheesecake. The Maple Snaffles cheesecake have the same soft and feathery texture of the original cheesecake flavor but it has an added tinge of maple syrup. The great thing is that you can taste and smell the maple syrup but yet it does not overwhelm the cheesecake. It makes the cheesecake aromatic (I like the smell of maple syrup, don't you? ) Too much of the maple syrup would make it too sweet, too little would not be enough to make it aromatic. The Maple Snaffles, have the amount just right. If you've n...

I love to eat. I think many like me also like to eat but our likes and dislikes change over time. I think our tastes also change the older we get. When I was young, I hated mushrooms. Now I devour them as if they were the most delicious thing on earth. Anything with mushrooms are good. Tonight I want to share with you one of my all time favorite sweets, not sweets but (as if you can’t tell from the post title) Snaffles. In Japan, apparently each city/region has their own specialty when it comes to sweets. You can only get the triangular mojis from Kyoto, Tokyo Bananas from Tokyo, Castella cakes from Nakasaki, and Snaffles from Hokkaido (correct me if I am wrong here). My first experience with Snaffles was early last year when we had a Japanese friend come visit. With him came along a box of Snaffles which has since become one of my all time favorites amongst cheesecakes and japanese sweets. I usually don’t like cheesecakes too much because they are heavy and creamy. Not my thing. ...

After the earthquake I wrote an email to a Japanese colleague asking her of her troubles and hoping that all was fine.  Her response made me teary eyed and it's something I still remember till this day.  She told of her hardships and how they were having trouble with electricity, but it was the end that hit me.  She apologized for having caused me concern and worry.  Wow.  I was breathless.  Here she was in trouble, her nation was suffering, and still she apologized for making me worried about her!!  I admire her. My experience is but a fraction of what others have experienced.  Since that unfortunate day of earthquakes and tsunamis, I've been hearing endless stories about the Japanese discipline and sense of morality.  How even in times of suffering and the Japanese will not loot nor take advantage of those less fortunate.  Other people's lives are taken into deep consideration.  Afterall, everyone is in this situation and e...

Yesterday morning as I headed out to run amidst the rain, I felt like I wanted to snuggle back into bed and just enjoy sleeping through the rain. Then I turned on the news to watch while I run and saw the devastation in Japan. It's heartbreaking, but at the same time it is also a humbling experience. It reminds us how fragile our lives are. Lives could change in matter of minutes. No matter how much you anticipate it, prepare for it, you can never be sufficiently prepared. Who would imagine that this seemingly harmless "water" could suddenly rise up so high that it would topple buildings, pass the barriers and tumble down upon houses, obliviating all in its path and leaving nothing but a pile of debris and mud. A newspaper today showed a cruise ship balanced ontop of a two or three storey building. It's not architecturally constructed, yet it happens in real life like it were showing off the force of nature. And so with this giant of an earthquake in Japan, many ...

It's been two days since the earthquake in Japan, yet safe in Bangkok I still feel a certain sadness for those in northern Japan.  Some entire villages were swept away. Entire families and communities gone just like that.  In a blink of an eye.  I cannot imagine.  I cannot say I understand how it must feel to be in the midst of this devastation because I am not there and I am not the one whose house was swept away or whose relatives are missing.  All I can say is that my thoughts are with those in Japan and that I pray the worst is over.  This earthquake demonstrates how powerful nature is to destroy all in its path.  Nothing can withstand the force of 10 meter high waves hitting inland. Footage show entire houses being swept away as if they were toy houses and cars rolling around in the water like ice cubes bubbling up and down in water.   Some say it is nature's way of "cleansing" itself, it is inte...

This afternoon, as I sat there watching and reading the news about the earthquake in Japan, I cannot help but feel a sense of sadness and a certain emptiness inside.  The quake measured 8.9 on the richter scale.  This is no little affair even for Japan which is used to having earthquakes.   I pray that there are no devastating aftershocks and that the tsunamis don't affect more people than it has already.  I know it's partly wishful thinking since warnings have been issued from Russia to the US, and the Philippines, but one does have to hope for the best.  We must all hope for the best. This was one catastrophic movement of the teutonic plates and somehow this past year or so, more of these catastrophic events have been occurring.  I'm not sure if its just me but with the one in Haiti, New Zealand , Indonesia and South American countries,  earthquakes seem to be occuring every few months.  Thaila...

And so my week long vacation in Japan has ended and what a better end to the vacation than going to a live piano performance by Yundi, the 2000 Chopin Competition Winner, at Bangkok's Cultural Centre which happens to be built with a grant by the Japanese in celebration of our King's 60th Birthday.  All's well that ends well they say.  I was fortunate to have gotten complimentary tickets from a dear friend of mine who is a regular at these events and always manages to magically have free tickets.  Lucky for me :)  Thank you again! You know who you are :D  And so a day after my arrival from Japan and a night before returning to work, I went to listen to Chopin at a cultural centre built with a grant from the Japanese.   The Japanese whom are also known to love Chopin. Chopin who was born in a country with which I grew up.  How strange it is when you think about all these linkages. The world is indeed a strange place.  Ev...

For the first time this year, today Bangkok citizens felt the first cool breeze of the upcoming winter season.  Last year we barely had a day of cool weather, this year seems promising.  Since early morning, the sun was out but instead of being hot and humid, it was wonderfully cool averaging around 25 degrees celsius.  Oh how I love this weather.  The entire city feels like it is airconditioned.  This cool air of autumn is one of my favorite times during the years and always makes me happy.  It reminds me of the beautiful autumn colours, hiking in the Shenandoah Mountains last year, or in the Austrian countryside.  It's always so relaxing and pleasurable after the summer rush and energy.  Then Thanksgiving arrives and the festivities begin.  Of course it also reminds me of  my recent trip to Japan when all the shops started putting everything up for Autumn and it made me think about what were my impres...

After we eat at Tokyo, we go pray.  Somehow this sequence reminds me of the novel Eat, Pray, Love.  As a first time visitor to Tokyo, I had to go see Tokyo's oldest and most significant temple, the Sensoji-temple or also known as the Asakusa. The temple is dedicated to Guan Yin or the Goddess of Mercy and is supposed to have first been built in 645.  Although most buildings have been destroyed during the World War, they have all been rebuilt and it continues to be an important temple in Tokyo.  People still worship and pray at this temple.  While I was there, I witnessed a ceremony taking place with a few monks but I wasn't able to ascertain what the ceremony was about. It's a fun place to visit even if you've been to a dozen shrines already.  I particularly enjoyed seeing how this place of worship just suddenly appears to you walking down the street.  The entrance is dominated by an enormous "Thunder Gate" under which hangs an equally gig...

What is a holiday if you don't allow yourself to enjoy a little bit of eating? Japan is heaven for Japanese food lovers like me, so you have to eat and enjoy yourself while you're there.  What I always tell myself is this:  eat whatever you want, beware of portion size, and know the consequences.  As long as you are willing to admit the consequences from too much eating, then go ahead and enjoy yourself.  I did, and one of my favorite finds during this trip was at the Tsukiji Fish Market. As any food lover, I wanted to bare witness to the fish auctions that take place at the biggest wholesale fish and seafood market in the world: Tsukiji Fish Market.  I wanted to see tuna, salmon, sea urchins, eel and all sorts of food being auctioned away, but this time I have to admit I couldn't wake up.  It was too early.  It would require me waking up at around 4am in the morning and getting myself out to the fish market by around 6am to make the f...

After the silent Shinkansen ride where everyone was quiet, and extremely orderly, I arrived in Tokyo.  The capital of Japan, Tokyo was a completely different story from Osaka, Kyoto and Nara.  With a population of 13 million people it was bustling with people.  Everywhere I went, I was surrounded by people. At first glance of the underground map, I thought I was looking at a painting by Jackson Pollock with coloured lines and dots scattered all around the page in seemingly random patterns.  It was a piece of art in itself, but upon close study of it, you realize that there was really quite a lot of sense in all this chaos and a pattern emerged.  This combination of JR trains, Toei Line Trains, or Tokyo Metro Line allowed you to go anywhere you wanted to.  It is no wonder that Japan has one of the most extensive network of surface lines in the world. I stopped at Shinjuku station to see what this shopping area ...

Not far from Osaka, Kobe is a city of approximately 1.5 million inhabitants and it is said to be one of the most attractive cities in Japan.  I thought it was a very "cute" and quaint city especially if you go walk around the neighbourhood of Kitano where there is a uniquely European-American atmosphere.  Very different from all the shrines, castles and small wooden houses found elsewhere. On this hillside, away from the hustle and bustle of centre city where all the shopping and businesses are located, I feel like I have just travelled to a little hillside town in the US or somewhere in Europe.  I walk up some steps and find myself in a little plaza where ice-cream shops and cake shops adorn the place.  I could be in Germany, I remember seeing a small area like this when I was last in Frankfurt, the only difference is that the ice-cream is all Japanese style, soft served in a cone and green-tea flavored and the people eating it are japanese. I walk further up ...

On holiday one goes to so many sites within the space of one day that after two days you feel like you've seen so much, experienced so many things and nourished your senses.  Yesterday I went to visit Nara, founded in 710  as the first capital of Japan and it is definitely a site not to be missed.   There are eight Unesco Heritage Sites in Nara alone and the best part is that a lot of them are within walking distance (though make sure you have comfortable shoes.)  I like it because it doesn't have the large bustling atmosphere of a modern city.  I can feel its history in the air. The main sites are located in Nara Park which is an area so large you would probably need an hour or so to walk around. Being someone who loves to just soak in the atmosphere of the place, I took longer, much longer. I spent at least two hours walking around.   I couldn't help but just stand and look at the large wooden columns that towered over the entrance of the Todai-ji Temp...

In less than two day's time I'll be on my annual block leave and wondering around the land of the Samurais.  I've been planning this trip for years and for some reason or the other never made it.  I've made plans before with friends, bought the guidebook and even had an itinerary. Then something comes up and 'phoof' it's off and gone. This time though the trip is set in stone with tickets issued and an itinerary prepared.   It'll be by first time in Japan and I'm excited.  I have always loved the Japanese maple tree, the landscape, I die for japanese food, I crave to visit the zen temples and discover some peace, I admire the japanese sense of order and am enthralled by the strangeness of Murakami novels.  There is so much that is yet to be discovered in Japan.   I grew up with a wonderful Japanese friend, and I can't wait to see her once again. It's been many many years.  Much too many. Yet despite all thi...