Chris’s Blog

For those of you who are A.L.T’s – you know how sometimes the kids ask you how the class went (今日の評価は？) and what to bring next time e.t.c? For a couple of my classes, I joke around and ask them to bring things like cake and gifts for me (as a joke!) – but one of my students said she would make a cake and wanted to know what cake I wanted.

Naturally I asked for the only cake I have never found in Japan (It’s also my favorite) – carrot cake. Of course, she had never heard of it so it was up to me to find a recipe, of which did not seem to exist in Japanese. So my only option left was to translate one for her.

Let me tell you how much of a pain it is translating a recipe into Japanese – especially from an American recipe (stupid Imperial system). Most of the ingredients do not translate directly into Japanese and others are not readily available (i.e pecan nuts). Then there are the directions – something as simple as “Let the cake sit until cool, then turn over onto a cake rack” in Japanese becomes impossible to directly translate.

Anyhoo, with the help of the other teachers at school, I was able to complete the recipe and give it to Non-Chan (her nickname) in anticipation of eating a cake I haven’t had for three years.
Luckily she managed to bake the cake and have it ready on the last day of school (For me). It was just as I remembered, my favorite being the icing – sooo gooood. So below I present to you the cake, and the translated recipe. Feel free to distribute it in any way you want – unless you intend to make money from it, in which case – give me some too!

The Reciepe : 人参ケーキ

Not one of the better days. Although I did enjoy the fruit (can’t remember what it was called.)

The wonderful students of ３年２組 made me some cake! Tasted good

Only problem is, now that they are preparing for graduation – I don’t get to teach them anymore. I only had three classes with them too

I wanted to start eating healthy in the morning, and I should really emphasize wanted too. After grabbing some fruit – probably the first time I’ve actually bought real fruit in Japan I realized that it wasn’t going to work out.

I purchased three apples and two pears. The total cost you ask? About $13 or 1300 yen. They were pretty big, but nowhere near worth that much. At that price, I could have bought about three bags of apples and two bags of pears in New Zealand.

That’s not the only thing. My stomach revolted against this sudden ingestion of healthy food and I felt crap all morning – and hungry. So back to the Nutella on toast for me, until I find a cheaper place to get nice fruit.

It kind of sucks because I know I’m putting on weight (thanks to all the all you can drink places around here) but I’m way too lazy to put any additional effort (other than walking to and from school every day – about an hour) into loosing weight. The only other method is eating healthier, and healthy food is just so much more expensive than eating out, even at nice places.

Oh well. So much for staying healthy. I could always try to eat more fish. Or not.

Went to Harajuku last weekend to hang out with a mate from NZ. It sucks ass. Unless you are into clothing and fashion, you should never step foot in Harajuku. Its crammed tighter than a can of sardines with a fat man on top.

There was one place I found that was to my liking, but I cant remember the name. It apparently has Tokyo’s largest hamburger. Bit pricey – 1800yen, but it was pretty big. Wasn’t very nice, but certainly filled me up. Also made me crap bricks for a few days.

Also went to visit Tokyo Mid Town, somewhere in Tokyo. There were a few nice buildings, expensive shopping malls, TV broadcasting building (asahi) and a Kiwi Bar / Cafe. The last place matters most, I managed to get some of my favorite beef jerky, with some NZ beer (Tui) and listen to some Nz music. Beer was a bit expensive – Tui the cheapest at 650 yen – ouch!