Good Luck in your last exam Jack!!!

I am very, very full. Today has been rather a culinary education/marathon. This afternoon Kumi came round to teach me some cooking, Japanese style. Firstly we went to the good ol' supermarket to buy some groceries. This was great for three reasons, one Kumi's great company (she picked on a linguistic idiosyncracy I'd previously been blissfully unaware - I now know I say 'oi, oi, oi' when alarmed/suprised - and we both spent some time laughing hysterically as I walked into a sign, almost ran into/over several small children, almost dropped some vegetables, you get the idea); second she can read the signs, so for the first time I actually was sure of what I was buying, and third, she put loads of stuff in my trolley that I hadn't the faintest idea what to do with before today. Blinding.

After cooking said ingrediants (yum, yum) I hot footed it round to Mike and Miyuki's to teach her some Italian cooking (I learnt some Japanese stuff off her the other week and have been happily cooking it since). Brilliant fun, though now I'm pretty fatigued after effectively 7 straight hours of food related shinanigans...

In other news, finished knitting my socks today (1 project down, 2 more to finish). The closure is really nice, after several years of doing everything at once I'm getting finished projects!!! Love it. I even did Luke's birthday present (for March.... 2005). Jack, yours is next mate, after my other loose ends are tied up (or cast off.....)

Also, good vibes your way Jack - last exam tomorrow. Gambatte!

It's a tiny little felted dog...

... yes it is. Just don't try putting your actual dog through the washing machine. Aside from matters of shrinkage, I've heard that matted fur is a bitch to comb out.

Sod's Law is [also]...

...spending a good chunk of your evening writing a witty, verbose blog entry, to then hit the wrong button and lose the whole frickin lot.

Any additions welcome. Post below.

Sod's Law is...

... a day of glorious sunshine, balmy breezes and general clement-ness the day after your weekend, which was none of those things.

After our Nihongo lesson last week, Mutsuko stayed round for a cup of tea and some ice cream to watch an English language programme on NHK (the equiv of BBC). I was interested in this because my Japanese culinary guru Harumi Kurihara was in it. Basically Harumi (who's a cooler version of Delia or Martha) tries to learn English and every week she's in a different situation - this week's was in a restaurant - she has a go speaking then an english professor in the studio corrects her mistakes and good ol' Harumi has another go. It's a testament to the japanese spirit of 'gambatte' (do your best!), refreshing to see someone willing humiliate themselves and most of all great fun to watch, not only because some of her attempts are interesting to say the least ("I'd like soup, but I'd like it boiled", "boiled?", "yes, boiled soup") but also because every week she teaches a different recipe in english. I'm hooked.

Harumi's Japanese style guacamole

Mash up one ripe avocado with a little lemon juice, add 100g silken tofu and mash up a bit more. Add 3 tbsp cottage cheese, some ground black pepper and 2 tbsp mayonnaise. This is really good on grilled prawns or fish, and chicken I suppose (but being a pseudo-veggie I wouldn't know)

As if all this wasn't enough, immediately after Harumi there was a learning Spanish show, followed by a Thai language lesson. Surreal to say the least....