daily slice-of-life photo blog of a Gen-X dad
A huge storm rolled through today, producing a lot of lightning and thunder. Our dog, Lani, was so scared, she hid under the desk next to me. Sad, but cute too!
By early evening, the clouds broke and the air was crystal clear. It was beautiful.
And then we had my favorite meal, oyakodon. So it ended up being a good day. 😄
I hope yours was nice as well!
またね～
こんばんは。How’s it going?
My friend and I went to a special showing (only two nights here!) of Okko’s Inn, a Japanese anime directed by Kitaro Kosaka (formerly of Studio Ghibli). The film was awesome! Both my friend and I thoroughly enjoyed it.
********* SPOILER ALERT *********
I had a special interest in the animation and character style, but the story itself blew me away. It was funny, sad, smart, uplifting, and engaging. I especially loved when the character Matsuki would pull out quotes from historical figures. Hilarious! 😆
There were so many elements of the film that I found interesting: the onsen town setting, kaiseki food, the supernatural, and traditional rituals. And the animation was so well-done. The scene where Okko slips on the tatami was great! If you’ve ever felt how slick a tatami mat can be, you’ll know what I mean. It was captured perfectly.
I also liked the fact that there were no overt antagonists in the story. I was expecting Okko’s grandmother or Matsuki to play that role. Although Matsuki started as a rival, she had noble intentions and wasn’t inherently nasty. The lack of any enemies reminded me of Kiki’s Delivery Service or My Neighbor Totoro in that respect. I really appreciate stories like that, especially if they can keep you engaged.
I enjoyed Okko’s Inn even more than some Ghibli movies, like Ponyo, Kaguya, and Arrietty. When I left the theater after seeing those, I felt that I had watched good movies but wasn’t overly excited, but after Okko’s Inn ended, I was pretty stoked, and thought that I’ll definitely need to own the Blu-ray version!
If you didn’t see Okko’s Inn during the special engagement, look for it on video later. It’ll be well worth your time.
My rating: 9/10
こんにちは。How’s it going?
We visited a friends’ house for a pulque and mead drink tasting, garden tour, and of course good food. The man of the house is a sushi chef, so we were treated to some yummy salmon carpaccio. It was fun to watch him effortlessly slice up the fish. Wow!
Our friends grow so many different kinds of vegetables, herbs, and fruit in their yard. It’s really amazing! And they have chickens too, so they can enjoy fresh eggs all the time. As a bonus, we got to see the new chicks they are raising. So cute!
Please enjoy the photos:
Today we made two excellent curries: Aloo Matar (potato and pea curry), and Sri Lankan chicken curry. We had planned the Sri Lankan curry before the awful bombings happened, so that gave me several moments of pause while we were preparing the meal. Very sad news…
Before making the curries, I cooked a huge batch of Indian onion masala in our Instant Pot, some of which was used in the potato and pea curry. We froze the rest of the onion masala which will be great for our future curries!
Most of the ingredients can be found in supermarkets or smaller Indian markets nearby so we had most of them in the house. The curry leaves were the hardest to find, Mariko said, and had to be ordered online. I had never seen them before, so those were interesting to use.
I love curry so much, and these two will only satisfy me for a short time. In fact, I’m already thinking about Thai curry! 😄
こんにちは。How’s it going?
Today I did a lot of work in the backyard, then relaxed in the afternoon and evening, indulging in three movies. Unicorn Store was just okay. It was amusing but really forgettable. I also watched a documentary called A Suitable Girl, which follows three young Indian women, and their arranged marriages, and the circumstances surrounding them. It was fascinating! I really liked it.
But the standout movie for me was the Bollywood blockbuster Chennai Express. I haven’t seen many Bollywood movies, so I cannot compare this to others, but I was thoroughly entertained. It was hilarious, and the costumes and scenery were beautiful! I loved the music and dancing… super! The story itself wasn’t very original, but everything else was great. I had a smile on my face the whole time. Recommended! (find it on Netflix)
I hope you had a relaxing day. 😌
またね～
