Hidemi's Rambling Dec 9, 2009

It was my long-awaited day of half-price takeout pizzas. Up to this time, I had missed the opportunity every month for various reasons, and I had to get one this month. It was a very cold evening with an icy wind blowing. From my place to the pizza store is a twenty-minute walk. I was determined enough to endure the cold for a half-price pizza. The place was tiny and packed with customers. I plowed through to the order counter, where the clerks were busy taking orders for delivery by phone. The phone kept ringing one after another and they prioritized delivery orders because they were for list prices. I held on there for ten minutes, waiting for the clerks to hang up the phone and take my order. That moment never came. I overheard that it would take two hours to receive a pizza. Other customers were waiting that long standing in a crammed store, doing nothing. I don't have that kind of patience. I left the store empty-handed and walked back home in the cold for another twenty minutes. Getting a pizza at half price is such a hard attempt. My patience isn't qualified for it...

Hidemi's Rambling Dec 7, 2009

I love Christmas. So much. I am anxiously counting down to Christmas all year long, every year. At long last, the holiday season has come. I decorated the tree and my apartment joyfully. After the decorations were all put up, I got grabbed by a feeling of melancholy. Being in the holiday season means that it will be over soon. Even before Christmas Day comes, I lament for it to be over. How many days are there left to celebrate Christmas? Very few! A negative countdown has started...

Hidemi's Rambling Dec 6, 2009

After shopping, I had dinner at Starbucks. Their subs are my favorite, but the main reason to dine there is that restaurants in Japan are full of housewives who take noisy, ill-behaved kids along. They don't pick a time and place. From an expensive restaurant to even a bar, kids are there. Some Japanese bars have a play room for kids. There is even a baby at a bar at night. Crazy. The safest place for me was a cafe. But, they came. When I enjoyed a sub and a holiday cake with a quiet, relaxing atmosphere listening to holiday music in the background, this kid invaded the place. His loud babbling and shrieking filled Starbucks and ruined everything. Starbucks was my last resort and finally, I have no place to dine in Japan...

Hidemi's Rambling Dec 5, 2009

I did the shopping at the mall and bought a summer dress. To save money, I get summer clothes in winter and winter ones in summer because they cut the price drastically for what remains unsold during the season. The summer dress with a cardigan cost only 350 yen, which was about $4. Ideal shopping, but on the flip side, I can't wear them right away. Usually I need to wait for half a year until the suitable season arrives. And sometimes, I forget about having bought them by the time to wear in season. Am I really saving money...?

Hidemi's Rambling Dec 3, 2009

One of the biggest disadvantages to live in Japan is that you can't watch the TV shows of US. Some of them are available but at least one year behind. The saddest thing is a sitcom. They are too unpopular to be broadcast. So are animations such as 'The Simpsons' and 'Family Guy'. Online broadcasting doesn't allow access from outside US. 'LOST' Season 5 was on cable and just finished. Even on cable, it was one year behind and the season 6 will be here next summer. I will have to fret about what is going on there until then. In US, it has already started and they know how the hydrogen bomb went. Went off? Or what? I am left in this craving...

Hidemi's Rambling Dec 2, 2009

The season finale of 'Lost' Season 5 was on air in Japan. Since my partner remarked that I resembled Ben Linus, I have felt an affinity with him. I even mastered to do an impression of him. In the season finale, there was a scene that Ben confronted Jacob. I was deeply moved to tears by that scene because what Ben said to Jacob was exactly what I have had in my mind for a long time. I completely understood how Ben felt. Does that mean I resemble him not only in appearance but also in character? Ben is a bad guy. What about me?...

Hidemi's Rambling Dec 1, 2009

I have just come back from a grocery store now. They had a great one-day sale today. Since I couldn't go out for it last week, this one was kind of revenge. I arrived at the store and guess what. The sale items were all sold out already. Revenge never works. I got completely upset and was involuntarily scribbling a complaint on a comment sheet at the store. It was a totally compulsive move and when I came to myself, I submitted it to the box. As I cooled down, I realized something. I got up at 12:30 p.m. this afternoon, had lunch, and by the time I was at the store, it was past 4 p.m. Maybe my lifestyle is a problem, not the store...