I found a nice local coffee shop in my neighborhood on the way home. I wanted to check it out for a long time, but didn't stop by until today.
Wish it was closer to my apt.
What are you going to do for the 4th of July weekend?
I am flying to Chicago and staying at Eric's house.
I'm psyched about getting together with my Illinois gals, namely, Anita, Fei, KK and Becky (if my flight doesn't delay too much)! Yes, it is also exciting to hand out with Eric and wear my brandnew dress and a bargain pair of pink payless shoes for his friend's wedding!!
6/30/2006
6/29/2006
A day at Princeton, NJ
We went to Princeton to meet someone who has been doing source localization.
After the meeting, my boss wanted to try a pizza restaurant in Trenton scoring very high on rankings. For the reputation, the place was relatively small and had old decor, but it was packed with local people and the pizzas were delicious! We had a roasted red pepper & olive pizza and white pizza with clams. I liked their pizzas because 1) grease didn't stay in my mouth, and 2) my stomach didn't get bloated. They were good enough for me to feel like going there again next week if I could. Well, in spite of taking Lactaid pills, my stomach was later affected by the sudden influx of cheese it hadn't seen for more than 3 months, and man, those 30 mins felt forever while going home.
FYI: De Lorenzo's Pizza
We went to Princeton to meet someone who has been doing source localization.
After the meeting, my boss wanted to try a pizza restaurant in Trenton scoring very high on rankings. For the reputation, the place was relatively small and had old decor, but it was packed with local people and the pizzas were delicious! We had a roasted red pepper & olive pizza and white pizza with clams. I liked their pizzas because 1) grease didn't stay in my mouth, and 2) my stomach didn't get bloated. They were good enough for me to feel like going there again next week if I could. Well, in spite of taking Lactaid pills, my stomach was later affected by the sudden influx of cheese it hadn't seen for more than 3 months, and man, those 30 mins felt forever while going home.
FYI: De Lorenzo's Pizza
6/25/2006
Necessity of Affiliation:
One of the most inconvenient issues about being a resident alien is need of a host person/institution/corporate organization.
When I was in college, I was on a 5-year visa and didn't worry about losing my eligibility to stay in the US. However, ever since I graduated from college in 2004, I've been more aware of importance of having to belong to somewhere. I cannot quit a job or change jobs anytime I want. Visa status change requires a lot of time and careful planning (and money). I am not saying I want to quit my current job, but I sometimes miss freedom I have in Japan.
It was ironical that I was going to use my Illinois drivers license in Japan if asked for my ID because I didn't want to carry my passport and don't have Japanese drivers license or anything else to identify myself. Luckily nobody was suspicious of me except at Narita airport where I, a Japanese citizen, was screened for special security check while EMB, a foreigner, obviously looked harmless and went through the gate without any trouble.
After all, it's this obligated need of being always affiliated with a legal entity that pushes me to work hard and establish myself in the US.
One of the most inconvenient issues about being a resident alien is need of a host person/institution/corporate organization.
When I was in college, I was on a 5-year visa and didn't worry about losing my eligibility to stay in the US. However, ever since I graduated from college in 2004, I've been more aware of importance of having to belong to somewhere. I cannot quit a job or change jobs anytime I want. Visa status change requires a lot of time and careful planning (and money). I am not saying I want to quit my current job, but I sometimes miss freedom I have in Japan.
It was ironical that I was going to use my Illinois drivers license in Japan if asked for my ID because I didn't want to carry my passport and don't have Japanese drivers license or anything else to identify myself. Luckily nobody was suspicious of me except at Narita airport where I, a Japanese citizen, was screened for special security check while EMB, a foreigner, obviously looked harmless and went through the gate without any trouble.
After all, it's this obligated need of being always affiliated with a legal entity that pushes me to work hard and establish myself in the US.
6/24/2006
6/21/2006
I have trouble sleeping and staying awake althugh it's been two days since I came back from a 1-week stay in Japan. I don't know if this is due to jet-lag, fatigue caused by heat & humidity, or my naturally sleepy head.
For the whole time until I went home last week I believed Japan's summer was as humid as Philly's. I was wrong.
Philly's summer is worse!
For the whole time until I went home last week I believed Japan's summer was as humid as Philly's. I was wrong.
Philly's summer is worse!
6/17/2006
Things Yoko found interesting about Japan after 2.5 years of absence:
- Everything is small and expensive.
- No coffeeshops offer decaf coffee - they looked at me as if they never heard of decaf (they call it caffeine-less in Japan)
- Some public bathrooms are not equipped with hand dryers or papers.
- Store clerks thank you repeatedly and follow you out of a store even at Mos Burger.
- Japanese media is sometimes obnoxiously polarized. During the past one week all they broadcasted was 1) why Japan lost to Australia in the World Cup, 2) one particular murder case, 3) a land slide in Okinawa, 4) problems with Schindler elevators.
*** Right Photo: at Heian Jingu Shrine in Kyoto
6/15/2006
Left: on top of the twin city "Floating Garden" in Osaka
Right: in front of Daisenin (Daitokuji Temple) in Kyoto where we saw Japanese Garden and had green tea
My passport was stamped with a new visa and returned to me today! I am very impressed at the fast 3-day processing of the US Consulate General in Osaka.
I am so relieved because I kept reading/hearing that it would take them 1 week to return a passport by mail, which would cost me to change flight plans and extend the stay here.
Anyway, I finally have peace of mind.
6/13/2006
Things that intrigues an American visiting Japan for 10 days for the first time:
- There are signs letting you know, in a very graphic nature, that a toilet will squirt water on your derriere.
- Beer vending machines are available everywhere 24/7, but convenience stores card you for buying beer.
- Toilet papers are not perforated.
- Exiting a station half way through your journey and buying another ticket is cheaper than going in one "leg." (An example from a Suma - Osaka trip on JR line, Sannnomiya as a half-way stop)
- Store clerks hold credit cards with two hands (to be polite), although credit cards are not big enough for two hands.
- Small children stare at white people.
- Strange uber-nationalistic political vans drive around Kobe downtown, making announcements.
- The sheer number of people devoted to either directing pedestrian traffic or automobile traffic, or just to alert people of some fact.
My passport has been stamped and being sent!
It seems too fast to be true, though. I just hope they are not returning me the whole application because of some errors.
My mother took us to Akashi fish market and we ate delicious authentic tamagoyaki.
It seems too fast to be true, though. I just hope they are not returning me the whole application because of some errors.
My mother took us to Akashi fish market and we ate delicious authentic tamagoyaki.
6/12/2006
Oops. Since I arrived in Japan, I've been too busy to think about this blog...
Saturday, June 10
A friend of mine got married, and girls from my old soccer team gathered to celebrate it. The bride was beautiful!
After getting home, my mother put hakama, man's kimono, on Eric.
Looks good?
Saturday, June 10
A friend of mine got married, and girls from my old soccer team gathered to celebrate it. The bride was beautiful!
After getting home, my mother put hakama, man's kimono, on Eric.
Looks good?
6/06/2006
I went to dentist for the first time in the US.
Since it was the first appointment, they took 18 X-rays to examine my oral health and did basic check-up.
Taking X-rays was a torture. For every X-ray image, a dental assistant put a metal piece which has a small flat square panel to capture the desired location of the mouth and keep my tongue away.
When the metal device had to be placed close to molars, I couldn't stand it because I felt like I was being choked. I was too uncomfortable to have the huge thing close to my throat and couldn't let it sit twice.
The poor assistant woman felt really bad and tried to calm me down as I got choked up and my eyes were so teary.
A tip of the day: breath through nose when you have something inside your mouth.
That choking feeling reminded me of my mother's abhorrence against dentists. I inherited bad teeth genes from my father and dentist phobia from my mother.
Here's the bad news.
When a dental resident looked at each tooth, she found 3 cavities and 2 decaying teeth which might have to be extracted. Looks like the pain I had felt on the left molar was due to the cavity.
Unfortunately my next dentist appointment is on July 5... July is the worst month to have hospital visits because new residents, fresh out of med schools, start on July 1. Since cavity restoration is a routine job, I am not worried about it, but I hope a new doctor doesn't drill my tongue by mistake.
I love dental insurance!!!
It covered my bill which was approx. 3 times more than what I have paid so far.
Since it was the first appointment, they took 18 X-rays to examine my oral health and did basic check-up.
Taking X-rays was a torture. For every X-ray image, a dental assistant put a metal piece which has a small flat square panel to capture the desired location of the mouth and keep my tongue away.
When the metal device had to be placed close to molars, I couldn't stand it because I felt like I was being choked. I was too uncomfortable to have the huge thing close to my throat and couldn't let it sit twice.
The poor assistant woman felt really bad and tried to calm me down as I got choked up and my eyes were so teary.
A tip of the day: breath through nose when you have something inside your mouth.
That choking feeling reminded me of my mother's abhorrence against dentists. I inherited bad teeth genes from my father and dentist phobia from my mother.
Here's the bad news.
When a dental resident looked at each tooth, she found 3 cavities and 2 decaying teeth which might have to be extracted. Looks like the pain I had felt on the left molar was due to the cavity.
Unfortunately my next dentist appointment is on July 5... July is the worst month to have hospital visits because new residents, fresh out of med schools, start on July 1. Since cavity restoration is a routine job, I am not worried about it, but I hope a new doctor doesn't drill my tongue by mistake.
I love dental insurance!!!
It covered my bill which was approx. 3 times more than what I have paid so far.
What have I been doing?
[a post through email]
A friend of mine, my roommate and I spent the past weekend in NYC, and we had a great time. Priceline helped me reserve a room at Hilton Times Square at the premier location for 1/3 of the regular price. If my friend had decided sooner to come here, I bet I could've booked the hotel a lot cheaper, though.
On Saturday we enjoyed delicious juicy paozi-like food in the huge Chinatown and window-shopping in SoHo. I highly recommend Joe's Shanghai on Pell St. Hime joined us for dinner and we had a good time until 10pm ish.
On Sunday we started out with Apple Store. Then we took a carriage ride in Central Park, just like Carrie and Mr.Big did in Sex and the City. :)
The Dakota and Strawberry fields made me think of "Yesterday" and "imagine."
After that, we just walked around the west side of Central Park for a few hours.
Man, manhattan is big!
When the internet connection is good, photos will be uploaded...
2 days till returning to Japan!
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