Le Japanista

Monday, May 5, 2014

Ikebana

Good day to all you flowers lover,

this post is specially made for you.♡

Ikebana (生け花）is a Japanese art of flower arrangement.

生(Ike), comes from the word ikeru(生ける), which means living, or keeping alive,

while 花(Hana) means flower. So to put it simple, you're basically arranging the flowers to keep it alive, beautifully! But, it's not just a simple act of putting them into containers.

"Ikebana is a disciplined art form in which nature and humanity are brought together. "Oh, how I love the Japanese ♡

keithstanley.com

To know more about ikebana, you may want to visit:

http://www.ikebanahq.org/whatis.php

So one morning, before my appointment with my Japanese friend, I followed Okaasan to Shin-Okubo(新大久保) to her ikebana class. There's alot of Ikebana schools around Tokyo. You might want to do a little research on the location that is the closest to your accommodation.

During our walk to the Ikebana school, I found a Chinese restaurant with my name on it. How interesting!

When we reached the school, I received a warm-hearted welcome by the Oba-chan(s) who were the regular students. Japanese Moms are super duper nice and friendly! You will never feel pressured because of the pleasantness they'll give you!

I managed to capture a few pictures of the Ikebana I did!

It was my very first time, but I think I did pretty well? :P

Each person's masterpiece is then shot with a professional camera and then shared with everyone in class through a slide-view during the end of the lesson. You will also get a hard copy of the photo for reference when you do your ikebana at home.

I'm super bad at remembering names, so I can't remember the name of the flowers.. #guilty

After class, Okaasan and I went to a nearby restaurant for lunch. I had hamburg steak and it was

SUPER YUM!

美味しいかった！

Have you ever tried Ikebana/ flower arrangement?

Leave some comments! ♡

xoxo

Good luck,

Have a sweet day!

☆*･゜ﾟ･*\(^O^)/*･゜ﾟ･*☆

Instagram: @hachidiane

Twitter: @Hachihachiko323

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/hachihachiko323

Sunday, May 4, 2014

Japanese breakfast

Good Morning!
おはようございますー！(Ohayo-gozaimasu)

Rise & shine, i'm ready for breakfast!

The feeling of waking up to a table of sumptuous breakfast? You can't beat that.

Are you a breakfast person? Well, I am!
[Even though i'm a (-)morning person.]

Well, according to the I-know-everything-Mr. wikipedia, apparently,
Breakfast is the first meal taken after rising from a night's sleep, ~~most often eaten in the early morning~~ before undertaking the day's work.Period.
Who says waking up in noon means you can't have breakfast?
So I grant you the wish of waking up late and still enjoying your beloved breakkie.

Okok, maybe I overdone it. But I was doing justice for the (-)morning person! #uselessreasons

So what's your idea of breakfast?

I know I know, the smell of crispy bacons and maple syrup overflowing your perfectly done pancake which was just tossed out from a pan with an extra humongous scoop of nutella/peanut butter at your own pleasure for that extra gazillion calories, two sunny side eggs with a dash of salt right on top of that runny yolks that just oozes out as you fork it without mercy, now, lets try something different, something healthy, something asian!

Have you ever tried Japanese breakfast?

A traditional Japanese breakfast usually consist of:

Miso soup 味噌汁

Steamed riceご飯 or gohan

Natto納豆 (fermented beans)

bookmice.net

Tamagoyaki卵焼き (grilled omelette)

creativevegan.com

a kind of fish (grilled/steamed)

shizuokagourmet.com

Tsukemono漬物 (pickles)

jalna.blogspot.com

and many others depending on the person's who's making it! :)

Let me share with you a couple of my breakfast back in Japan prepared by le okaasan♡!

You can never go wrong with natto.

When eating natto, place it in a bowl and season with some soy sauce. Add various toppings if you would like and stir well. Place the natto on top of steamed rice and eat with rice.

Well well, some of you might go like "ewww, natto!?" or like "How could you possibly let those slimy substance be lingering in your mouth?!" and all that drama.

Quoted from cheesie's blog that I read a longgg time ago and till now it can't stop me from laughing:

"It tastes like a bowl of raw bean (slightly gone off/bad) being frozen for years until you take it out, blow your nose and cough up thick phlegm and then proceed to spit/dribble both the bodily fluid into the bowl, mix it up well, then pass it to an eighty-year-old toothless lady (who is willing to take up this part-time natto making part-time job) to chew for a good 5 minutes, and regurgitate back into the bowl whereby it is then ready to serve.

KY also has a shorter description of it, which includes two different bodily fluids that are being discharged from two different lower-body orifices which i prefer to not talk about here. " HAHAHAHAHAHAHA

But trust me laaa, it's not that bad. Seriously, if you conquered the smell already, you can't stop asking for more. Sure, tell me you don't trust me, or you're never gonna try natto ever or simply you just can't accept it, there's one more thing that is almost as good to eat with the gohan too, which is:

Mentaiko明太子

Don't you think this resembles the Japanese flag? ^-^

it's like a topping for plain white rice.

Mentaiko (明太子) is the marinated roe of pollock, and cod including is a common ingredient in Japanese cuisine.

But of course, breakfast isn't always rice and all. Sometimes, we do have a little westernize breakfast, too!

Like this:

Can you ever say no to bread? NEVER!

Because most Japanese are health conscious people, vegetables and fruits plays very important role in each meal.

Even when you're eating a meal that's not usually served frequently, a plate of healthy greens will still appear on the table. Talking about being healthy :)

Now, embrace yourselves, fellow strawberry lovers....

these are Japan's most, amazeballs, awesome strawberries

Omg. I just can't. #stahp

Mmm I like it big. #thatswhatshesaid

Are you hating me for making you hungry with all the food pictures already?
Okay, come, i'll heal you with my shameless selfie before I continue my kiss with my prince in my dreamland. Zzz

#shamelessselfie

Ok, bye!

See you on my next post! ♡

Leave some comments for me please, love?

Yes, you. :)

Good luck,

Have a sweet day!

☆*･゜ﾟ･*\(^O^)/*･゜ﾟ･*☆
Instagram: @hachidiane
Twitter: @Hachihachiko323
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/hachihachiko323

Saturday, May 3, 2014

Getting to know me

Hello there!

So, before I continue to blog about stuffs, let's know more about me first!

I go by the name ‘Hachi’. But if you feel weird pronouncing it you can refer to me as Diane. I’ll still turn around to try my best to give you the sweetest smile you’ve been pondering for when you call me by either of them. J

Ok, Sorry if this smile is not up to your standard.

I’m a March baby, born in the date 23 of year 1992. Yes, it was spring. And if there is a flower that could represent me, it is no other than 桜(Sakura) a.k.a cherry blossoms. Why? Because it's pink and blooms only in spring! Yay *Sakura showers*

*le picture stolen from google. Oops :/*

Baby Hachi turning one! ☆

My family consist of 2 elder brothers, and two amazing parents. As lucky as I am, being the youngest in the family I received the most love.

Le eldest brother who treats me like the only princess♡

Le second brother trying to kiss me yet got rewarded by a scratch from le violent baby Hachi.

I can never imagine what I’ve done in my past life to be showered with such magnificent love. I probably saved the whole universe from an alien-conquering-the-earth attack. So that is why there’s so many alien rumors all over the internet. Maybe the aliens are coming back to hunt me down for a revenge. Wtf.

I’m currently an undergraduate student, studying in a university in Taipei. This is my third year majoring in foreign language. I’m a senior next semester and I really can’t wait to graduate!

I hope I could graduate in time tho...

Being born into a multi-lingual family, I can speak at least 5 languages. I speak English, Chinese, Indonesian, Japanese, Korean(Ok, I admit i forgot ALOT of my Korean..) But why so many?

Man, don't even ask for the umpteen times.

I can read both traditional & simplified Chinese, Japanese kanji, Korean hangul, and well, English and Indonesian shares the same alphabets.

Language level: Asian.

Now, talking about hobbies, I love singing. I used to perform so much in high school. Always had my solo stage and i just enjoyed every single moment on stage.

Ikr. So sweet!

One of the best moments in life.

Hyuna - Change

But now? Sigh.. I wish I had all those courage again. You know, sometimes the older you get, the confidence decreases with the age... :(

Actually, another ugly reason is, I.grew.FAT. Yea, truth hurts.

Oh, last but not least,

let me introduce our 2 super duper cute family members!

This was taken years ago when they were still in the states. Still skinny!

After moving to a new location, these babies took a 16 hour flight to our new house and we were so worried at first that they would not be used to living in the new environment, since the weather is totally different. But, worry not my mates.....

now

*poof*

Hachi ne-chan, help me! I can't get up because of my tummy!

Rhoda baby forever the baby gurl.

And lastly my tiger, Le warrior, Rex,

Always pestering me to sleep early so he could snuggle in my boobies. Lol wtf

I have pets since I was a baby, so that explains why I'm such an animal lover! I used to have dogs, rabbits, and guinea pigs. I always give my mom headaches when I come home from school with a furry baby in my arms asking "Mommy, can I sleep with this every night? *puppy eyes*"

I just can't resist from all the furry cuties out there. When I see one, my legs go jelly and I could just scream in my highest pitch.

Ok, to end this post, imma spam the rest of it with pictures of me and dogs. Please roll your eyes as much as you want.

Be prepared,

You ready?

Here it goes..