Mandy's Gourmet Trip In Tokyo

This June, I had a very nice trip to Tokyo, and also visited Hakone, the famous hot spring place, and Yokohama in 5 days. Since I've been to Tokyo before alone, so a relaxing gourmet trip was a great choice before I went back to Taipei to start my new job.

After 2 months, I finally put these pix together and to share my crazy gourmet trip...don't be scared when seeing me eating so much food in a few days!!

Mandy's gourmet trip in Tokyo

習慣

很多事都在習慣之後結束,從習慣之後開始.

剛開始的時候,走路都慢慢的,習慣那份散居的閒情後,覺得自己以前匆匆忙忙趕車趕上下班的急性子可笑的很,也不會在聽到捷運車滴滴滴的警示音響起後還匆忙的想要擠進車廂裡. 一個多月的早晚奔波趕捷運之後,竟也習慣了趕著上下電扶梯的擁擠和忙碌.閒情,當然也就早不知道到哪去了.

然後,慢慢的接受了每天汗流浹背的悶燥空氣,還有烈焰般的火炙陽光,也習慣了出門撐傘的標準動作. 害怕人多要排隊的我,居然也開始打起了頂著汗臭和嘈雜也要逛街挑路邊攤的無畏精神.

吃小吃攤開始騎歐兜麥大啖黑砂糖ㄔㄨㄚ\ 冰,習慣了這樣的擁擠生活之後,魂縈夢牽的,還是在香檳開著黑玫瑰穿梭林間逛圖書館的閒情雅趣啊!

在九份發現St. Thomas

還記得今年春假我被遺落在加勒比海小島上時,驚奇的發現 St. Thomas根本就是九份的美國版,而趁著週末到九份山上看海時,我又不禁咋舌的驚呼,這裡真的好像 St. Thomas喔!

雖然海沒有那麼藍,陽光沒有那麼耀眼,可是山貌地形,就彷彿我在99 Steps的山丘頂端俯瞰時一般;而我,也彷彿看到了在港邊停靠的,一艘艘夢幻般的郵輪.而那公主號的煙囪,也好似在我眼前陣陣冒出裊白的煙一樣,充滿了海洋的味道.

台北的女生怎麼都那麼瘦?

不知道是不是受到名模風潮的影響,台北街頭的女生體脂肪率大概都低於19%吧??在捷運上我總望著自己在車窗裡的倒影,不可思議的懷疑那是不是哈哈鏡,怎麼會把自己照成這麼大一隻,身邊每個細瘦的身軀更讓我懷疑自己是不是一個異類.那份在美國時被形容成 Tiny的欣喜心情,早就消逝無蹤了.

黝黑的隧道裡,我殘忍的覺得,自己在這個空間裡,漸漸的萎縮消失...

孔雀,老虎,貓頭鷹和無尾熊

嘿!!猜猜看,這四種動物湊在一起時會發生什麼事啊?!

我們的公司,把所有的人分為以上四類,每個人進公司前都會做一個所謂的心理測驗,然後依據答案把人只分為四種,哇!!比十二星座還要少耶!!連血型都還分陽性陰性呢!!

所以每個新人進了公司最常被問的一句話就是,你是不是無尾熊啊?

爲什麼是無尾熊呢,因為這裡大部分的人都是相依相靠的群體動物無尾熊,而我這猛虎,可就讓大家敬而遠之了.甚至還有一個人,大辣辣的問我,你脾氣是不是很不好啊?我一個新人,還能說什麼?所以我就點點頭,然後他就再也沒跟我說過一句話了!!(哈哈!其實我還覺得很有趣呢!) 每個嬌生人都知道高級主管們的屬性,也都遵循動物的屬性來與大家相處.表面上看來像是一個很有邏輯的系統,可是這樣的定義也未免太狹窄的吧?

好處是,因為被歸位為無尾熊的同仁都要展現合群的溫合本性,所以大家也都是安樂的相處著.至於是表面上還是實質上,可就要我這小山貓細細的再觀察了.

到底是誰在亂放話 Part II

之前因為一些流言耳語讓自己不快樂了好多天,所以意氣用事的寫了那篇憤憤不平的"到底是誰在亂放話".結果啊,看了一個月的台灣新聞之後,才知道大家愛亂說話實在不是沒有原因的.

像我前些天打開電視剛好看到林志玲被專機送回台的報導,突然的她就成了眾矢之地的"台灣女兒",而只要是颱風過後橋斷了有人涉水而過的地方,全都一致的被定義成為"孤島". 我的嗎呀!這樣莫名其妙的加冠名詞,還真是獨特的一種文化哩!!

也難怪大家喜歡加油添醋的抹黑惡化別人,因為這樣才有收視率啊!那些回了國找不到工作的人乾脆去應徵電視台記者吧!保證短期內可以連跳三級哩!!

我不是酸言冷語,只是由衷佩服這些造口業又不擔心後果的人啊!畢竟我這個太在乎別人感受的人是無法辦到的.

唉 唉 唉

這要我怎麼辦才好呢?工作總是做不完,而唯一的原因竟是效率問題.不是我的動作不夠快,而是長久累積的公司文化,讓我深深的感到無力.

從沒看過一個公司的財務部,資料都是大家一個數字一個數字的key in,而我雖然想要改變這個狀況,一個新人又怎能使得上什麼力呢? 不是說我不想加班趕工,可是天天為了這樣的情況而加班,實在讓我覺得非常的糟糕,如果士氣不振,又何必那樣的拼命呢?還不如趕緊回家休息一下,隔天才有動力繼續改變這陳舊的制度.唉唉 終於知道國父革命的辛苦了.畢竟要改變一整個破碎的系統,不是那麼容易的啊!

颱風眼中心下的那杯溫潤咖啡

風雨才稍停,我就跳上車往光復南路開去.巷子裡有一家,全台北最別緻的咖啡,只在颱風天裡的低氣壓下,才會溢出酒紅色的甜蜜香氣.

老闆對於我這個新客人的到訪,露出一點失望的表情.後來才知道,他是專做老客人生意的飲品名家.不是只擅長於全台北最貴的一杯咖啡,還對各種茶類紅酒有深刻的研究.店裡只有一個客人,從進門到離開都一直不停的挑戰老闆的專業權威,不像我,只是靜靜的點了杯咖啡看著自己的書悶不吭聲. 老闆先是把剛磨好的咖啡拿來給我品聞不同角度的氣味,從鼻翼到鼻間,孑然不同的煙燻味和花蜜香並存著.然後他邀請我到吧台邊,現場示範虹吸式咖啡的煮法,沒有一滴香味從壺中溢出的獨特邏輯,給了我對咖啡的一種全心感受.所有的氣味,當然都要被水給包住,才能喝得到,而煮完的咖啡粉,則是一點氣味也沒有殘留,全都奉獻給了那淳厚的酒紅色汁液.

沒有我平常慣長添加的牛奶,我倒也不會自顧自的給它添上一個黑咖啡的俗名.隨著大量空氣啜一小口咖啡,然後大聲的咂嘴,一股甜香果然從喉頭流轉到了鼻腔.在舌尖,像是濃茶的甘香,在喉韻,則是紅酒般的勻厚,真是妙啊!

但我的重點也沒放在咖啡上太多,我只是想找片刻的寧靜,而這一刻,在窗外颱風呼嘯的咖啡廳裡,清靜的旋律搭配著中西合併的獨特裝潢,我的心,竟在久久之後,沉靜了下來.

滿路的橘黃色螢火蟲

颱風要來了,我在高速公路上飛車奔馳著.上帝之口泊泊湧出的泉源之水,從天上飛瀑般傾洩而下,彷彿又走到尼加拉瀑布的洞穴中,我觀賞著銀瀑飛濺的清涼.

前方的路已不是太清楚,霧茫茫的一片,很有身處霧中少女號的觀瀑精采. 滿路的車突然都開了閃光黃燈,閃呀閃的,好像探險的螢火蟲一樣,奮勇的在白瀑中穿梭著,有趣極了!

其實好危險的是不是?如果要變換車道,打什麼方向燈都沒人知道了不是嗎??

黑玫瑰在紅塵

回到台灣的不適應不習慣在幾個星期後漸漸的散去,但只是physically. 我還是隱忍著,對於各種牢騷盡可能的往肚裡吞.不是自己假意的自以為嘗過兩年多加了點石灰的美國水,就清高的對一切一切指指點點,而是文化上,生活上的重新進入,是標準的由奢入儉難啊! 原來自由自在輕鬆的日子,被滿街狹窄的灰色高樓給擠壓著,而隨性跳上車開往郊外的雅興,也給悶燥的空氣逼得沒了喘息的空間.那些逛了又逛的街,吃了又吃的美食,還有各色各樣繽紛的夜生活娛樂,又何嘗是我一個人孤單的走在路上時可以愜意享受的呢!滿街的人們,逼狹的天空填得滿滿的,盡是層層疊疊的寂寞啊!!忠孝復興站裡,那長長的,連接木柵線和板南縣的電扶梯,載著我一階一階的往下降,心情,也跟著往下沉,沉到擾攘的地底下,無聲內心的掙扎.

到底是誰在亂放話?

過去的兩年,我真的受的夠了.

不過我也學到,對誰好都是沒有用的.有的人親近你,其實只是為了從你身上多撈一點八卦,可以多一點話題去講.這個我也認清了.只不過,聽多了那些恐怖的流言蜚語,自己真的會覺得好無力.雖然常常說捨不得回台灣,但回了台灣至少可以把耳朵都關上不聽不想,也不要理人.自己不講,不代表承認所有的事;別人拼命講,也不表示他們說的都是事實.好笑的是,書唸的多的人,錢賺的多的人,道德意識和良知卻成反比例的螁減,似乎是不變的真理.能不能秉持著自己的良心做人處世,對於別人的蜚短流長不形於色,我想那才是最高的做人功夫吧??

一直有朋友告訴我,人家會講你的八卦,表示你具有話題性,引人羨妒或是招人注目,可是我寧可低調一些,老聽那種不營養的東西,聽久了真的會有厭世的衝動...

畢業之後

嗯哼!!好像很久沒寫 log 了ㄋㄟ!!大家一定很好奇,畢業之後到底在幹嘛呢?

說實話,沒幹嘛...除了去了芝加哥幾趟逛逛街上club之外,就是去St. Louis喝酒喝到吐,然後其他的時間都在香檳城打混. 台灣同學也好久沒見面,每個人一看到我都問我到底在忙什麼.哪有在忙什麼,都在家裡晾著啊!

剛 開始還好,可以看看電視DVD什麼的,後來電視也賣了,DVD player也賣了,就只剩空空的客廳.多半的時間我在看圖書館借來的書聽聽CD,其他時候都在煮菜...煮個不停.包水餃,包餛飩,最後居然閒到包起粽 子來.真的,鹹粽甜粽包的可是不亦樂乎呢! 要不然就是烤蛋糕,烤麵包,烤斯康餅 (scone),烤 muffin,烤肉...各種麵食也弄個不停,台式涼麵,日式涼麵,韓式涼麵,港式撈麵,青醬義大利麵,總之我就是竭盡所能的煮..連到最後電鍋賣了我都 還能拿湯鍋煮出香噴噴的白飯和珍珠丸子,真是太神奇了!! 幾個好友每天輪流煮煮菜,有時吃吃美國沙拉,德國牛排,印尼牛尾湯,海南雞飯,其實也挺開心的.

真是跟我原先的計畫完全不同...本來希 望天天去打高爾夫上健身房,結果最後都 在看電視看DVD. 都怪 Harry 買了個什麼 Blockbuster的 monthly pass,所有任看免錢,搞得我們天天都看兩部電影,不然就是影集看個不停, 外加Haggen Daze冰淇淋甜點白酒洋芋片吃個不停,我看不肥才怪哩!! 有趣的是,每天我們都換不同的地方看片子,有時拿個 laptop一架配上兩個強力Bose喇叭, 感覺也是好的很呢!! 幾乎每天,我都會到圖書館報到,選選電影,翻翻雜誌,不然就是借書回家看,覺得真是好幸福.

By the way, Nip Tuck實在是一個超讚的影集,強力推薦!!! 不僅劇情有深度,所有整形手術逼真,人物對白精采絕妙,而且背景音樂酷炫,加上Miami浮華炫麗的場景,讓我真的是每每讚嘆不已!!

還可以更衰嗎?

有什麼是比賣車前兩天車被撞更衰的事?

真是不可思議,兩年來我努力辛苦的維持至少零肇事的紀錄居然被一個韓國笨女人給毀了. 明明就硬生生的把停在路邊的黑玫瑰撞了個屁股開花,還先聲奪人的說是我沒停在停車格上. 開玩笑,沒停好你可以叫拖吊公司把我車拖走啊,憑什麼給人家撞下去?雖然說不至於到悽慘的地步,可是還是得聯絡保險公司,送修板金什麼的.好啦!現在要我 怎麼賣車??

而且一周內我就要離開了呢!就已經在煩惱車賣不出去了,居然發生還這樣的慘事.可惡的是那韓國媽媽居然去敲門叫鄰居一個白人壯漢裝熟,還打電話叫了一群韓國人來壯聲勢,嘰哩咕嚕的不知道在講什麼.有什麼好講的,我二話不說就打電話叫警察來,看你怎麼說?

警察沒說什麼,拿了雙方的證件抄了半天就要我們各自申訴,我也只好摸摸鼻子找上對方保險公司. 天!我只剩不到一星期,到底要我怎麼辦??

IMPE POOL

之前提過學校的健身房 IMPE,後來學校東側開了個新的健身中心 CRCE,我喜歡那裡的跑步道和嶄新的設備,加上停車方便,就沒再去impe了.可是CRCE新蓋的水療設備居然問題連連,不是掉瓷磚就是爆水管,一直沒 能玩到水,實在是畢業前的一大遺憾啊!

這 天 Harry, Sascha & Charlotte 找我到 impe的室外泳池玩.我貪新鮮,即使游的不好,身材不好,還是穿上了Bikini到池邊曬太陽. 反正這裡是中西部,大家都胖,就是肥肉露出來也不怕. 室外泳池娛樂性多於運動性,多半的人都沒在游泳,不是曬太陽看書,就是躺在水床上聊天,要不,就在旁邊的跳水區撲通撲通的下著水餃.我們也又叫又跳的玩著 跳水,在跳水板上的那一剎那,的確讓我發冷汗,但一咬牙往下一跳就覺得沒什麼了. 我運動神經不好,不會玩那種高難度的,連下水的時候都是整個人平平 '趴' 進水裡, 可痛的哩!所以我多半都是以腳先入水的自殺姿勢進池.其他的人就玩的開心了,尤其是男生,跳的花式多的很,不像我們穿著bikini,一進水的第一動作就 是趕快檢查泳衣是否還完好的在原來的位置,哪有可能亂耍什麼招式. 好玩的是,其他的泳客看我們玩的開心,也跑來加入,還教Harry玩背後入水的超高級動作. 36歲的老傢伙,也不認輸的玩到背都紅了.也真難為他了....

St. Louis - The gateway to the west

1st Day - In the middle of midwest

Sasch, Harry, and I were best friends in the MBA program. We not only had fun together, but studied, and shared life experiences together. So we decided to take a trip together before we left here. I actually initiated the idea cuz I wanted to go to Six Flags, riding on those crazy roller coasters and screaming for fun. So we booked the hotel, and headed to St. Louis, the gateway to the west.

The first destination, was not the Arch, but the Budweiser Brewery. Since Harry is almost an alcholic, he will never skip something so fun. So we had a nice tour and of course, 2 glasses of free fresh beer. Hmm, yummy!!

The most reknown thing in St. Louis, of course, is the Arch. Erected to attract more visitors, at least in my view it is, this Arch actually appealed Sascha a lot in the sense of its construction engineering and the ingenious idea of a tram ride to the 630 foot high top. After watching a documentary movie "Monument to the Dream", we headed to the famous Laclede's Landing, the business district for dining. Thanks to Sascha's complaining all the way, we had a terrible dining experience there. Not only did the service sucked, but the food was cold. And it was the most famous restaurant in the area - Morgan Street Brewery. Not recommended!

We went back to the hotel and took several stupid pix, pretending the three of us were sleeping on one bed (of course not, we slept on three beds!), and the old uncle Harry fell asleep so easily, almost in a blink.

2nd Day - Six Flags and Harry's

I never expected Sascha to be such a coward until we saw those roller coasters towering over us. He actually had cold sweat when we waited in the line. Haha, and he even skipped several rides, leaving me and Harry to ride together. Of course, I know Sascha is not into rides, and not until we switched to the water park, the other side of Six flags, did we realize how much fun it could be here.

There are several new facilities, especially the exciting Hurricane, throwing a little boat into the jumbo tube while it circled around us till we fell into the water. We also did various kinds of exciting slides several times until suddenly the park closed unexpectedly one hour early because of some private event. We sighed because we spent so much time on the roller coasters

Then we went to this restaurant called Harry's. Just because the name is same as Harry, it aroused our interest and it turned out to be the best dining experience ever, what a contrast to last night's dinner! The waiter was very informative, well manner with a lot of knowledge about wine and matching food, with an amiable attitute. We were very happy with the atmosphere, food, well, actually everything. It was a fine night on the outdoor terrace with a great view of downtown and the Arch. Everything was perfect, and I was very satisfied with best friends there that we gave the waiter more than 20% tip. Most guests were well dressed, making the atmosphere even better, and after 10pm, all of a sudden this restaurant changed into a fancy club, with an excellent rock band and outdoor bar severing drinks. We enjoyed the music and dance until late into the night. Sascha was so excited about the bar and all the pretty girls there that he couldn't fall asleep and tortured us till very very late.

3rd Day - We found Germany in Missouri

The fine waiter last night told us Missouri is actully well known for its wine, and the best wineries are just an hour away from St. Louis. Huh! Before that we didn't even know that Missouri produces wines! So this morning we decided that going on a winery tour would be the best ending of the trip.

Only one hour west of St. Louis, the scenary changed completely. No more flat plains anymore, but all the winding roads along the hills and pretty houses scattered among vineyards. The facinating scene actually captured Sascha and Harry's hearts cuz they were in Germany last winter, and according to them, the scenary looked exactly like Germany. Then we visited a couple wineries until Sascha suddenly found some German words on the brochures and he asked the staff in the winery for the reason. The answer was unexpectedly simple: Germans settled here several hundred years ago and they introduced the skills to make wine. No wonder, no wonder this place looks like Germany and the wines tasted like German wines. We kept visiting small towns and historical museums to get to know more about the German settlement. However, the language has been lost here, only the skills of making wines is left. Interestingly, the area doesn't even have a German restaurant, so we didn't have a chance to eat German food.

On the way back, Sascha saw a winery and was interested in its German name. So we visited it and it turned out the best winery we visited. The wines were of good quality and the surroundings were nice. So we bought a bottle of white wine and enjoyed it outdoors at the white table under a blue unbrella on the terrace. With the nice wines, bratwurst (German hotdogs), and great outdoor band playing 80's music, I was very content about the trip and everything we had, especially friendship, so I drank a few glasses happily and fell asleep while Harry and Sascha were chatting. I don't remember how long I slept but when they woke me up, the winery was closed and people were leaving. I stood up and was about to follow them to the car, but suddenly I couldn't see anything and passed out. The next thing I remembered was that Sascha patted on my face, called my name and I sat back into the chair. It's obvious that I just lost consciousness and fainted. I saw Harry and Sascha look at me with horrified eyes and they were busy putting wet napkins on my neck and forehead. People around us were also scared and stayed to see what was going on. Some members of the winery staff helped to get ice water and napkins, and I was very embarrased. Harry said it might be because of the hot weather, the wine, and the dehydration that caused me to blackout. Thank God I regained consciousness in a minute and while I fell, Sascha happened to catch me in time. Then when I thought I should fell better, I threw up everything. Poor Harry, I didn't even have time to walk to the restroom and he was the one who held a plastic bag for me to throw up. It sounds terrible but with the help of Sascha and Harry, we found it quite interesting. On the way walking back to the car, we felt it was so funny and we said it would be a memory that lasts a lifetime for all three of us.

I really appreciated that I had an opportunity to travel with them, and gained such great memories. You know, friendship doesn't show its value until something really serious happens.