lioness in japan

Sorry for the long absence — I’m finally back from my hiatus and this post is definitely a lot happier than the last. I’m still struggling with a deluge of emails, photos, teaching, Beauty Box matters, and adjusting to Tokyo’s cold and dry winter after a whole month of sunny weather. Watch out for new posts coming up…

For the sake of my blog readers, I’m making this announcement, so sorry to you folks on Facebook who got this news already (I link my RSS feed to my FB profile).

The kangaroo surprised me with a proposal on a deserted beach in Goyambokka, a slice of paradise in the south of Sri Lanka, near Tangalle.

Some folks thought it was about time (we’ve been together for over six years) and some considered it was a miracle (the kangaroo was a self-declared, anti-kids bachelor), but I kind of expected it because there were lots brewing in his mind in the past few months…But not so soon…

He was quite the detective — ferreting around my costume jewellery to check for ring sizes; trying to get hold of my dad’s mobile phone number; and not raising any suspicion on my part. He loves surprises, as you can see, but you know, so do I.

No, he did not go on bended knee, and no I didn’t cry. We took the photo above just after I said, “Yes!” We couldn’t stop grinning and I had a million questions for him.

Here’s the beautiful ring he got me — it’s the prettiest thing I own.

I had a blogging schedule all planned out so that Lioness in Japan will continue as I’m lying on white sandy beaches in Sri Lanka.

But life has a way of throwing unexpected curveballs in your direction sometimes.

My grandmother passed away last Saturday morning at 4am. My elder sister alerted me through Google Chat that our mama (grandmother in Cantonese) died after two weeks of ill health. She requested that I return as soon as possible and I said, “Of course I want to be there for the funeral.” I flapped around looking for air tickets online but managed to wake the kangaroo up at 5am while he was in Frankfurt so he could change my Singapore flight (I was planning to fly this week because of my Sri Lanka trip).

And so it was confirmed I would fly out of Nagoya, which is 90 minutes away from Tokyo by shinkansen (bullet train) for an 11am flight. I rushed around all day tying up loose ends for work, packing and buying things that friends asked me to. I was actually glad to get out of the house because I would have cried if I stayed at home.

After 12 hours of travelling, I touched down into the embrace of my family where we comforted each other through old stories, traditions, and food. My grandmother lived with my parents since my sisters and I were born as he was her only surviving son. He decided on a Taoist Buddhist funeral because it was what she would’ve wanted although she was not religious.

My father got acqauinted with Taoist funeral rites and educated our whole family on what to do. I won’t go into the details but there was a lot of bowing, joss stick burning, offerings, and a couple of monks who chanted ancient scripts and songs. One thing that we did that was a little different was that we wore red after the cremation and had dim sum to celebrate my granny’s long life.

I can’t say that she died peacefully in her sleep because she actually suffered quite a lot physically towards the end. Our domestic helper, Yati, was her care-giver and was with her till her last hour and was an absolute champion in taking good care of my granny. We will forever be grateful to her for her kindness and patience.

As a family, we spent a lot of time together as the wake and funeral wore on. Before leaving for Sri Lanka, I decided not to spend all my time on the computer and I will just enjoy their company. I was afraid the blogging world would forget me if I didn’t post articles for a month, but I have more important matters to take care of in the real world, like catching up with friends and just being around my folks.

So, please forgive my absence and hope you will still be here when I check in again in Jan 2010. Ja, ne. Mata rainen.

I finished reading Murakami’s What I Talk About When I Talk About Running, and it just made me fall in love with long distance running again.

In this quirky memoir of sorts, he talks about how running shaped his life as a writer. There’s an interview he did with Runner’s World here, which is a great little introduction to his book.

As the summer morphed into autumn, I increased my jogging sessions to a few times a week. The last three months have been very busy, and like the dry leaves than sweep the sidewalks with the cool breeze, my schedule has also taken on a more languid pace.

I have toyed with the idea of running a full marathon at least once in my life but never committed to one. After reading this book, I feel like throwing myself into a serious running routine for the next 12 months and would like to run one in Japan at the end of 2010 or early 2011.

It was lovely to read about Murakami’s thoughts on marathon running and writing. He throws out gems that sum up the relationship with this popular sport and being a novelist. Both are difficult, long drawn tasks where stamina, patience, a strong will are essential to being successful. I have a new admiration for him being able to endure the pain of both. But he also says very simply that the reason why people love marathons is because it’s fun.

Because of this book, I went online to find out more about this enigmatic writer. Here’s an interesting piece in The Japan Times about baby boomers, the Sarin gas attack, and his writing/running routine. And you might also want to read about the hype around his next novel, 1Q84, here.

Today I’m going to do what blogging advice gurus tell you not to do: explain why I, the blogger, have been away. And get a bit more personal.

But dear reader, I’m sure you must be wondering a little what I have been up to and why this beloved space has become a bit sparse recently. Especially since I promised some meaty updates on how awesome my summer was in Japan.

While I was not abducted by aliens like the first lady, I was kidnapped by work at BB headquarters.

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Just a small announcement: I started a new blog, Raw Bento, because my interest in raw foods has just grown so big that I need a dedicated space for it. As a busy gal on the go in Tokyo, I need fuel but there isn’t a lot I can eat from convenient stores, so I got onto the bento bandwagon and found it a very fun place to be. I also can’t seem to get rid of this habit of taking food photos…

I’ve been uploading my pictures and recipes on Flickr for a few months now, so I thought, why not make a blog for it? What’s special about this blog is I write in English and Japanese. Not all the articles will be in Japanese because my command of the language is still in its infant stages (despite taking lessons for three years…), so this blog is about helping myself be enthusiastic about being raw and learning Japanese. Both are very important parts of my life, so a personal corner for it on cyberspace is just the perfect thing for me.

I had a three-day craving for hot dogs. I know, I’m a vegetarian/raw foodie, and I’m not supposed to talk about such a repulsive impulse, but you know, vegetarians are human too (you can imagine tragic violin music now).

I’ve been veggie for almost seven months, and honestly, I’ve not hankered after meat at all. It’s more of the smell of old eats that makes me feel nostalgic: fried chicken wings, grilled salmon, or towering hamburgers with a side of fries.

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Yes, there are raw vegans in Tokyo! After a few unsuccessful attempts to make it to a raw vegan picnic group in Yoyogi-koen, this same gang threw a birthday party/restaurant opening last Friday night.

OMG, a live food restaurant in Tokyo! Can you see how excited I am!

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This is a question I get all the time when people get to know that I’m a raw vegan, especially since I’m catching up with many friends in Singapore right now. It is a challenge and my answer is usually, “I try to order a salad or if I can’t I will go cooked vegetarian. I won’t freak out if I have a bit of cheese.”

But sometimes, I will bring my own food if the situation allows.

When I was in Izu (will blog about this soon), I prepared a huge bag full of raw goodies because I knew we were going to hang out by the beach and barbecue all afternoon long. I made this salad:

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It’s just a plain red hoop for now but feels good enough to do some serious spinning on my terrace.

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Still in hot hot hot Singapore but loving it. I’m always surprised by how much I miss it when I come back but I don’t think about it when I’m in Japan.

A large part of gardening involves getting rid of pests that eat your goodies. We have since zapped the aphids but another hungry foe has been lurking in our midst.

The kangaroo put on his headlight and found three munching caterpillars on our parsley (which is very bald at the moment). He plucked them off and shoved them into a ziplock bag. I think they were squirming in fright and pooed a ton of green balls. Yup, what comes out is a variation of what you ate.

But with all this love and care, we get great results like this:

Our first strawberry! It was smaller than a thumbnail. I popped it into my mouth and it was so sour I scrunched my eyes up.

The next challenge is to go all organic. A friend recommended chilli and ginger blended in water as a repellent — can’t wait to try it when I get back to Tokes.