Tagged!

Craig Charles in the middle.

1. Name one person who made you laugh last night.

Craig Charles, who plays David Lister in 'The Red Dwarf', dvd of which I watched alone in Frankfurt.

2. What were you doing at 0800?

Sleeping. And snoring, I'm sure.

3. What were you doing 30 minutes ago?

Reading blogs.

4. What happened to you in 2006?

Adjusting to residing in PJ after 15 years of living in Singapore. Wonderful!

5. What was the last thing you said out loud?

"Alles gut, danke", to the grocer who offered me a plastic bag which I declined.

6. How many beverages did you have today?

Water, chocolate-oat drink, wine, berry juice.

7. What color is your hairbrush?

Ain't got one.

8. What was the last thing you paid for?

2 boxes of blueberries, a carton of berry juice and a bottle of yoghurt drink.

9. Where were you last night?

On a Boeing 747 from Singapore to Frankfurt.

10. What color is your front door?

Dark brown.

11. Where do you keep your change?

In my key-pouch and in the pocket of my pants.

12. What’s the weather like today?

Foggy and cold - between -3 to 0 degrees Celcius.

13. What’s the best ice-cream flavor?

Rum & Raisins.

14. What excites you?

Soccer results, cliffhangers, deadlines and sometimes, sex.

15. Do you want to cut your hair?

Soon.

16. Are you over the age of 25?

Yes.

17. Do you talk a lot?

Occasionally.

18. Do you watch the O.C.?

No.

19. Do you know anyone named Steven?

A few.

21. Are you a jealous person?

Possibly.

22. Name a friend whose name starts with the letter ‘A’.

Atan.

23. Name a friend whose name starts with the letter ‘K’.

Khairul Ridzwan.

24. Who’s the first person on your received call list?

Ah Fook.

25. What does the last text message you received say?

*

***

*****

**@**@**

***^*****^****

*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*

********************

**********************

^^^^^^^^

I send this tree with all the best wishes for you and your family this X'Mas and New Year!

26. Do you chew on your straw?

Only if it tastes good.

27. Do you have curly hair?

Only in three places.

28. Where’s the next place you’re going to?

An Iranian kebab joint for a Shawarma dinner.

29. Who’s the rudest person in your life?

Probably myself.

30. What was the last thing you ate?

Tagliatelle fruti di mare & spinaci aglio.

31. Will you get married in the future?

Errrr......... errrr............. umm.......

32. What’s the best movie you’ve seen in the past 2 weeks?

Namesake. Directed by Mira Nair, stars the still-babelicious Tabu.

33. Is there anyone you like right now?

Plenty.

34. When was the last time you did the dishes?

Tuesday night. One plate I used.

35. Are you currently depressed?

Nope.

36. Did you cry today?

Almost, when finding out that Arsenal couldn't get 3 points at Portsmouth and Man U now leads the table.

37. Why did you answer and post this?

Because d.n.a.s. tagged me.

38. Tag 5 people who would do this survey.

I don't comply to more than 37 instructions.

Narita Village: One Eel Of A Time

The map says it: WELCOME TO NARITA. Friendly statues.


Sloping street that leads to Narita-san Temple.

Rice crackers. The spinning plate grills at the same time.

Interesting arichitecture.

The Narita Visitors Centre, in front of which is........

........ my favourite Unagi eatery in the village: Chrysanthemum.

Check out the mouth-watering displays. One could almost eat the replicas!

Some local patrons inside.

That's where I sat.


Some pickles and cold vegetables for the first course. Keep the soup for later.

BUT BEFORE WE ADMIRE THE GLORIOUS BOWL OF UNADON,
LET'S FIRST OBSERVE WHAT HAPPENS IN THE PROCESS OF
PREPARING THE EEL.

The 'slaughterhouse' gets cleaned first, by the apprentice.

The master picks a bucketful of eels.

Grabs the slippery fish from the bucket.

One incomplete chop to the head, to keep it from slipping away.

Pokes thru the head to the table, no escape for sure.

Finds the right spot and slices all the back to the tail.

The eel is now opened up. Spasmodic waves course along the vivisected fish.

The master skillfully debones the eel and

removes the inards, which isn't much.

The procedure is then repeated.

Again.

And again.

Until the bucket of eels is empty.

The bones are collected in another bucket.

They would be dried. And later seasoned and grilled.
Was told that they have aphrodisiac properties - 'adult food', said a Japanese colleague.
I have munched loads. Doesn't do it for me.
Maybe I was alone.

Back to our master. He has by now cut up about a hundred unagis.
Each is sliced in two.

And skewered for the grill.

Sometimes, they work in two. The master cuts and the apprentice skewers.

Two makes short work of the whole affair.

This requires skill and practice.

The grill cooks the unagi to perfection.

All smoked and ready! Just add the sweet teriyaki sauce.

Throw in on rice in a box and it's called Unajyu.

In a bowl, it's Unadon.

This was mine! The Unadon version of Big Mac, this.
With two slices of unagi. See the second one peeking from below a layer of rice?

The first time I had this soup (Fukuoka in 1991), the waitress said it's 'river soup'.
Took a few years, and many bowls later, for me to learn it is really liver soup - unagi liver.
That's the small bit in the middle of the bowl. The other two squid-looking things are bean-curd.

As usual, boy cleans up everything except the liver.
But after the pix was taken, the waitress comes over and says that it's good for the eyes.
So, boy gobbled the liver.

The meal ended with two cups of green tea, one regular and the other brown-rice blend.

With the stomach filled, Narita Village was then further explored.

That, is another story.

Tokyo Narita Village - Prologue

Went to this quaint village three times this year. The pictures posted are an amalgamation of the three seasons during which I was there: Winter, Spring and Summer. Didn't go during Autumn. Narita Village, to quote WikiAir, is 'the host city of Narita International Airport'. It is akin to Subang Village as to Subang Airport.

While the map of Greater Narita above may not be entirely legible, suffice to say that the area covered by Narita International Airport is represented in orange. The history of the airport is an interesting read, for its conception and eventual construction attracted much resistance.

Today, with further expansion of the airport all but cancelled, the peaceful village serves as a transit point for international air travellers in and out of Tokyo. It may not have the glitter of Shibuya nor sounds of Harajuku in downtown Tokyo, but it is subtly charming in its simplicity.

Stay tuned. Chottomatte kudasai.

Distraction: Smoke Rings at 36 000 feet

Nope. No tobacco was involved in the formation of these. Only plenty of jet fuel. The streaks of jet contrails we see trailing jetliners look like this up close. The spinning vortices are always present in the wake of an airplane due to the sheer velocity of airflow over, and under, the wing surface. These turbulent eddies can be so strong, they can rock a jumbo jet violently. It is a well documented fact that the Boeing 757 'wake turbulence' - as it is termed in the aerodynamic and aviation world- had contributed to a considerable number of aviation incidents and accidents, some fatal.
Anybody who has been close to a passing train, bus or truck would know the rush, or gust, of air in its wake. A jetliner zooms around at speeds 10 times faster. What makes the disturbance potentially deadly for a following aircraft is that it is not always visible like in the picture. Only when there is visible medium, like smoke, through which the wings penetrate can the extent of the vortices be seen. But don't cancel your flight bookings just yet. Years of research and studies have improved the understanding, and hence, the avoidance of wake turbulence related incidents. Around ground level, where the loss of aircraft-control is deadliest, such vortices do not pose substantial danger after 2 minutes. And in the air, standard practices regarding distances between aircrafts pre-empts any potential hazard.

The smoke rings in the photo were visible as moisture in the jet engines' exhaust condensates in the sub-zero temperatures of high altitudes. Even so, the combination of the ambient temperature, exhaust temperature and humidity of the (already dry) surrounding air determine whether or not the visible smoke rings will form. And when they do materialize, they can be such a sight to behold:

Just don't get too close. For the buzz is beyond any tobacco-infused smoke ring could ever muster.

Gimme a (toilet) break

KLIA: Approaching the common main entrance to the rest rooms, I saw a cleaning lady, I took a quick glance at the gender sign and made a left towards the Gents. But the lady was staring at me. Walking past her, she followed me with her eyes. As I entered the wash basin area, she was actually tailing me, shouting 'Oi! Oi!'. Crap! Did I just enter the Ladies? Bladder was about to burst, result of trying out some 'water therapy' in the morning and not making any stops all the way from Sentral. I was on the verge of panic. My engorged bladder would undoubtedly relief itself should some lady in the loo screams. Then I see urinals. MALE urinals. The aunty saw them around the same time, too. She hushed, blushed and got the **** out. I skipped, unzipped and let the waste out. Coming out of the dunny, the lady was nowhere to be seen, her bucket and mop waiting her return from exile somewhere.


CHANGI: Bladder was about to explode again. Toilet, check. Gents, check. I hurried in. Then I see the above on the wall! Did I actually goof and brought my grief into the Ladies this time? I was livid. In Singapore, they'll brand me a perv, jail me and the papers will have my sorry face all over it. Just then, a great sight for exploding male bladders: The urinal. It was the Gents, after all, 'Mommy's Helper' or not. Just why would they still call it 'Mommy's Helper' when it's in Dad's John?

Twice within 3 hours, I was mortified with the prospect of having entered the Ladies. Wonder if I should do the water therapy again.......


Water therapy info

Lencongan

I was supposed to blog about a visit to Narita Village in the outskirts of Tokyo. But I came across a LENCONGAN (diversion) that had me write about this instead. All because the darned portable 60GB hard-disk holding a few thousand photos, including the hundred-odd taken around Narita, decided to check out of permanently. I was hopping mad. "Du-uh! ******* hard-disk mati katak!" (literally: to die a frog's death) was my internalised exclamation upon the discovery. Interesting idiom this one, relating to the seemingly ignoble end to the frog. And there are many ways the frog doth croaks. One photo of which I kept in my laptop:

This amphibian hopped into the wrong pond for a dip: A hot spring. Took this picture on a drive from Cameron Highlands to Gua Musang, along which route is the hot spring. Other scenes of a frog's demise are too graphic to be shown here or even be photographed. You must have all seen plenty. I must say that the frog population must have dwindled a lot because I, for one, can recall coming across a lot more dead frogs when I was younger. Global warming? More roads and more vehicles? One too many biology lessons? Or the wise men of old really knew something about the leggy ones' inevitable leap towards extinction, mostly under undignified and unglamourous circumstances?

Then it got me wondering if anybody actually calls his/her blog mati katak? Voila! There is one such. I sincerely hope it is a misnomer, for such an appellative certainly comes with it a foreboding connotation. I am not about to jump to conclusions. For I have a more pressing undertaking at hand: To procure a new portable hard-disk, so I could travel around with my collection of photographs once more.

Before that can happen, I must first make sure the 500GB external drive at home hasn't gone the way of the frog looking for a hot dip.....

SELAMAT HARI RAYA EID AL-FITR to MUSLIM FRIENDS.

Maaf zahir dan batin to all.