Day 4-Where did day 3 go?

As long as I write 30 posts in 30 days, it's ok. Right? Can I re-write the rules to this game? Challenge? Is this cheating?

Post comments below.

Bye!

xoxo

I kid! I kid! Did you think I would just leave it at that? Of course I'm going to post something. This is the next post of the rest of my life! I'm not going to mess around with that sort of thing.

Who here knows about gacha machines? It's ガチャ (gacha) in Japanese and they are probably the coolest thing ever. Just a little dispenser machine where, for 100￥ to 400 ￥, you can get some sort of key-chain, toy, or in the following case, a basil plant!!

Rerakkuma adorns my lovely basil plant :D

 I spent 200￥ ($2.60) on this really cute Rerakkuma (Relax Bear) potted plant. I wish I had taken a picture when I first got it, but I didn't. This is about two weeks of growth! The set came with a little pot, a disk of dirt that grew when I first watered it, and 5 little seeds. It was so fun to watch them pop out of the dirt, and as you can tell, some grew faster than others. I can't wait to start using the basil, although it seems cruel to eat something I raised from a seed...Does that make me a sort of anti-vegetarian? "I refuse to eat anything I've grown myself!"

I want to go to the mall and see if this gatcha machine is still around! I want to get Italian parsley and the chamomile plants, but I would be happy just to get a few more plants to keep my basil company. I wonder how long they will live? I guess as long as I continue to water them and put them in the sun, they will keep growing. Until winter, that is (dun dun DUNNN).

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I was invited to go out to dinner with a friend last night and before we met up, I went to a book store to do tachi yomi ( 立ち読み) or reading while standing. This happens in the US, particularly at bookstores, so it's not an unheard of occurrence. But, I heard that it is especially common in convenience stores with young men who live alone. It is really common to see 3 or 4 men standing at the magazine racks, especially later at night, reading a comic book or magazine. I guess there is a sense of camaraderie, just standing next to another person and reading. Maybe they feel like they are being social, without having to actually talk? Who knows, all I really know is that, despite the fact that these men (and women) might not actually buy anything at the convenience store, they aren't forced to leave. However, some stores wrap their magazines in plastic to prevent this from happening.

The were a lot of people at the bookstore, doing the tachi yomi thing, especially around the girls fashion magazines, so I went to the next best thing. COOKING MAGAZINES! I grabbed the following magazine:

Curry Magazine!

This magazine is called 料理男子 (ryouri danshi or "cooking men" or Men who cook?). This issue is, as you can see, ALL ABOUT CURRY! I am super excited to try making ALL the recipes! Who knows, maybe I'll make one on Friday! I have a friend who LOVES curry, and she has infected me with the curry bug. I have currently loaned her the magazine, and together we will make some delicious curry! I will post step-by-step photos of the adventure, so keep an eye out for that!

Which brings me to the best part of the night: yakiniku! 焼き肉 is absolutely my favorite interactive dining style. You pay ridiculous prices to cook your own meat and veggies, wear a silly paper bib, and leave feeling full and smelling like meat. What's not to like?? Can you see the bib in the picture? I have to say, we looked quite cool.

This lamb really wants me to eat it.

The restaurant was called Ra mu (羅夢) and it serves...lamb! I think the name of the restaurant is sort of a pun...what do you think? The Japanese word for lamb is hitsuji (羊）so I am not really sure...Maybe it's a clever play on the owner's name? Maybe he/she is Ramu Takeshi or Kikuchi Ramu? I'll never know, because the restaurant is closing! So sad! It was super good, and would turn any lamb-hater into a lamb-eater. We also had some really delicious eggplant, another under-appreciated food. Eat more eggplant!

After two and a half hours of eating and socializing, I was BURNT. OUT. I had a lovely, half-asleep bike ride home and, despite how tired I was, I tossed and turned in bed for an hour before finally falling asleep.

I blame it on that one sip of Red Bull I had.

That's a drink that is over-appreciated. I don't think I like that stuff...

That's it for now! Tomorrow I start work at my new school! Can you guess what I will write about?

xoxo