Blog

Short blog posts, journal entries, and random thoughts. Topics include a mix of personal and the world at large.

Consequences must follow

What really grinds my gears is going to Target and finding the thing I wanted to buy is locked up behind plexiglass. The introverted me will definitely not call for an associate to unlock the damn cabinet. Target often leaves me no choice but to buy the same item from Amazon. Sure I would have to wait two days to get it shipped for free, but at least I don’t have to beg someone to allow me the honor to make a purchase.

It’s a real shame that it has to be like this. Those tasked with making and enforcing laws have abdicated their duty to the public. When criminals can steal with impunity, the law-abiding majority suffers. The few ruins it for the many. We all have to take our shoes off at airport TSA checkpoints because one person nearly snuck a shoe bomb through one time. We all have to pay higher auto insurance premiums to cover the few who do not.

There has to be sufficient punishment to act as a deterrence. America cannot be like Japan: the orderliness, the cleanliness, and the utter lack of common crime is because of the Japanese culture. Lacking that, government must then create strong incentives. Take a look at China: pretty crimes are nonexistent, not because the population is overwhelmingly benevolent like Japan, but it is because there’s surveillance cameras everywhere. Who would be stupid enough to steal anything? Especially in a country with a somewhat arbitrary judicial system.

Not that I am advocating for mass surveillance here in the States. I’m just saying we cannot get to Japan from a bottom-up cultural standpoint. We must catch and punish those who do not follow laws. There’s no room for laxity. Oh, you can’t afford that red light ticket because you’re poor working class? Easy: don’t run the freaking red light in the first place. Choices were made, consequences must follow.

My fellow San Franciscans: you ever go to other parts of this country and be amazed that merchandise at a Target aren’t locked up behind glass? I have. It’s fantastic and sad to see at the same time. The powers at be in San Francisco are actively choosing to not have nice things.

Shogun

My one goal for this three-day Memorial Day weekend is to binge watch the entire 10-episode run of Shogun (streaming on Disney Plus). Long ago have I read James Clavell’s acclaimed novel of the same name. It was therefore super exciting to see it visualized in a new medium.

Verdict: Shogun is magnificently done. The cinematography is amazing, and the acting is superb (Hiroyuki Sanada and Anna Sawai should win lots of awards for their performance. Moeka Hoshi is a bonafide scene-stealer). Fans of the book - I would include myself - can be wholly satisfied with the show-runners’ interpretation of the base material. It’s largely faithful to the book. The subtle changes made contribute to better storytelling for television.

The depiction of Lady Mariko leading Toranaga’s retinue out of Osaka Castle, Mariko fighting through the samurai blockade, is wonderfully breathtaking.

The feudal period of Japan is my absolute favorite historical period - of any country. Before I read Shogun the book, what got me into this slice of history is the book Taiko, by Eiji Yoshikawa. Taiko narrates the story of Toyotomi Hideyoshi’s rise from lowly peasant to the Taiko - ruler of Japan - during the Sengoku period. That book is where I first learned of these giants of Japanese history: Oda Nobunaga - the unifier of feudal Japan, and Tokugawa Ieyasu - founder of the great Tokugawa Shogunate.

Shogun is actually a fictionalized version of Tokugawa’s maneuvers to claim the supreme title, during the period after the Taiko’s death.

I immediately wanted to play Ghost of Tsushima again after finishing the show.

This is embarrassing

Today is one of the days I am glad my car has an automatic transmission. The day after running a 10K is not the time to be operating a car using both feet (as one must do in a vehicle with a manual gearbox). Not only did I run the 6.2 miles in the morning (freedom units!), but I also then walked another 13,000 steps in the afternoon, doing the usual photowalk in San Francisco’s Chinatown. My legs are a bit tired today, to say the least. Single-foot driving is definitely a luxury worth having. Long live the manual transmission, but these tired old legs prefer a car that can shift gears itself.

The day before the 10K run, I went to the Oakland Coliseum to watch baseball. The Los Angeles Angels was in town to face the Oakland Athletics, and that means the phenomenal Shohei Ohtani is also in town. While it’s sad he’s injured his elbow, and therefore won’t be pitching for (at least) the rest of the season, the two-way star is still serving duty with the bat as the Designated Hitter. Never one to pass up watching greatness in-person, we made the trip across the bay to Oakland.

And it was immediately clear that Ohtani is blockbuster in drawing a crowd. I’m fairly certain that half the people at the Coliseum was there to see him play. A sizable of number that continent was Japanese - some from here locally, some from Japan on travel. We were lined up at security behind a few Japanese travelers, and it was somewhat embarrassing to see them go through bag searches and metal detectors. Embarrassing for us Americans, and for America. Because back in their home country, security checks before entering a stadium is not a thing.

Crime is so low in Japan, and communal trust is so high, that people can freely go into sporting venues as if it’s a grocery store. I know this for a fact, because I’ve been to the Tokyo Dome to watch the Yomiuri Giants play. Meanwhile, here in the land of freedoms, we can’t even bring backpacks into venues now, because god forbid some maniac might sneak in something explosive. For a country that’s all about freedoms, the United States sure have a lot of movement restrictions. We ought to be embarrassed, honestly.

Get the good rice

As someone who lives alone and only has to cook for himself, I have no problems spending more for the good stuff when it comes to groceries. Milk from organically grass-fed cows. Eggs from free-ranging, organically-fed chickens. Kimchi imported from South Korea (available at Costco, surprisingly). My philosophy is: we’re eating to keep alive, so it makes sense to put the best in our body.

Obviously it’s a different calculation if I had a family to feed. Then it’s five dozen super non-organic eggs for five dollars at Costco. The free-range stuff I mentioned earlier? Five dollars can’t even pay for the single dozen.

Anyways, I eat rice for dinner almost everyday. My favorite kind is Japanese short-grain: fluffy, moist, and a distinctive taste. Recently I decided to go big and buy Japanese rice that’s produced in Japan. Most of the stuff available at supermarkets is actually grown right here in California. Those suffice just fine, but surely Japanese soil, sun, and water make even better rice. You certainly have to pay for that privilege: my 11-pound bag was nearly $40!

Again, I wouldn’t do this if I had more than me to feed!

As suspected, the made in Japan rice has a distinct flavor that is absent from the California-grown. I could eat just the rice with some roasted seaweed and nothing else. The rice is the star of the show, rather than something you must pair with another dish to eat. If you’re a rice enthusiast like me, then I highly recommend you try a bag of imported Japanese short-grain. Get it at your local Asian supermarket.

Raw salmon pairs well with Japanese short-grain.

That's not sushi

Jesus Christ is it cold. The weather app on my iPhone says it’s currently 40 degrees outside, though I bet it is actually colder still. Looks like for the rest of today the mercury won’t rise above 50 degrees. Just last week I was talking about a string of unseasonably warm weather here in San Francisco. Well, guess what: winter is back, baby! It even hailed last evening. My poor BMW M2 that’s parked outside…

I would like to switch gears completely and talk about sushi. Ever since I came back from Japan back in 2019, I’ve seldom had sushi here in the States. After I’ve tasted the real quality stuff in Japan, the sushi we get here is just depressing. There are some good spots here in the city, but man do you have to pay a lot for it. In Tokyo, any old neighborhood sushi place is better than most of the Japanese restaurants here.

Hopefully Japan - and rest of Asia - opens back up soon without quarantine restrictions.

When I say sushi, I am speaking of the type where it’s just a slice of raw fish on top of a piece of rice. Sometimes it’s wrapped in a piece of fried seaweed. That’s it. I would not classify the fancy rolls we get here in the States as sushi. Too many ingredients, too complicated to make. The California roll and its similar brethren are more of a fusion-style burrito with ingredients from Japanese cuisine. Not to say those rolls aren’t delicious, but it’s not what I’m getting when I’m craving sushi.

Obviously today would not be a good day for cold pieces of fish. Tonight’s dinner call for fresh rice, piping hot soup, and Chinese barbecue pork. Now to get through the work day to get there…

It’s heated seats and steering wheel season!

Travel is back, baby

A coworker just returned from vacationing in Greece. He said there are no quarantine requirements, provided you have proof that of full vaccination, and a recent negative COVID test. I don’t suppose other European countries are any different. Hell, Britain is opening back up fully from the pandemic today. Travel is back, baby!

Too bad I have no desire to go to Europe. At least not right now. I yearn to go back to Asia, but sadly quarantine restrictions are still in place in places like Japan and South Korea. The athletes and surrounding cottage industry of people flying to Tokyo right now for the Olympics? They have to quarantine before being let out into the general population.

A population with low vaccination rates. It’s not good at all when Olympic athletes are already catching COVID, even whilst fully vaccinated. The delta variant is no joke, and it is rather shocking to see Japan going forward with the games, despite all the signs pointing to at the very least another prolonged postponement. Remember: the grandstands are going to be empty!

Stubborn pride of Japanese, perhaps? Having the entire world come to your doorsteps, while a global pandemic is still very much happening, can’t be a good thing.

It will certainly delay any relaxation of quarantine requirements for foreign travelers. Good thing I’m not pining for Japan as much as South Korea and Taiwan. Hopefully I will be able to visit either of the latter two countries during Thanksgiving week. More likely it’ll be South Korea as the vaccination program there seems to be going well. Fingers crossed!

Stock up!

One of the things I greatly miss about Japan is the sheer availability of drinks vending machines everywhere. You literally cannot go a few blocks without spotting one of them at a corner, ready to dispense refreshments. These vending machines are a godsend during Japan’s notoriously hot and humid summers. It’s also quite nice, too, to be able to have ice cold coffee practically anywhere, anytime, at a moment’s notice.

Obviously, such a concept of street-side vending machines everywhere would never work here in America. Our culture of rugged individualism would never allow such an enterprise to flourish. The machines would get vandalized and items stolen so quickly that they will never make any money from it. It’s a shame that we can’t have such convenience, though I guess there’s always the neighborhood Walgreens or CVS. Assuming the one local to you haven’t shutdown due to… vandalism and theft.

To sort of replicate having an arsenal of drinks at my disposable, I make weekly runs to Costco to stock up a on variety. Green tea is a given, plus cans of both Diet Coke and cold-brew coffee, and an aloe-vera drink. Whenever I’m hankering for something other than plain water - which is almost always - the cache of drinks is right there. Probably costs less than getting it from an actual vending machine, too.

Of course, it would be cheaper still - free, even - if I simply drink water from the tap. But that’s a terrible way to live: I make money so that I can enjoy tasty refreshments here and there. Until I actually move to an Asian country somewhere down the future, stocking up drinks at home is the way to go.