teamEggers

Working in the Future

Glad you asked. teamEggers is… working.

Mrs. teamEggers is rather grumpy about said arrangements, but I think she’s handling it rather gracefully. After all, actually working 6pm-7am, 7 days a week, sucks significantly more for Mr. teamEggers.
But you don’t see him complaining about it.

You may be wondering what *I’m* doing in my now jon-less time. I haven’t been terribly inspired to conquer new territories alone, so I spend my nights quietly. Having exhausted my supply of Murakami books, I’ve taken to reading trashy novels and drinking wine at the Spanish bar we recently found.

I’m also working on a coffee table book with the photos from our trip. I expect it to be around 100 pages long – 11×13.

Rereading all of our blog posts from the past four months has been really interesting. I look back at the posts from January and can honestly say I’ve learned some things about this crazy country. I no longer leave the house in well-disguised-terror and I can accurately tell the difference between a shrine and a temple.

My goal is to finish the book before May and send it off to print a week before we leave. I would really love it if we had it right away to show everyone when we got back.

In 1999 we were still developing film and showing off our photo albums. In 2009 we’re actually publishing books with the help of software like iPhoto, WordbPress, and Blurb. I love the future.

(the picture up top are of the snail-statues outside our apartment)

Yokohama Wifi

This is a message to the future-Michelle and all other hopeful, displaced technophiles living in Yokohama.  You may be wondering … “where’s the wireless internet in yokohama?”  “Why are there no cafes with wifi in yokohama?”

I, myself, asked those questions.  I twittered. I googled.  I despaired.

But then, there was hope.  There’s actually a whole lot of free wifi in Yokohama!

After Jill discovered Cafe Creo (behind SOGO), I had started hanging around Cafe Hula (in the Bay Quarter), whose hot malasadas are to die for.  They also have Hawaiian lunch bowls for around  $8.  Though the music left something to be desired, it was a pretty good spot.  It even has power outlets. (The outlets at Cafe Creo were sparse).

Feeling confident with my new found wifi, the streets of Yokohama opened up to me.  Yesterday I visited Cafe Flower. With its English menu (see crazy english above), power outlets, little dogs, and booze, it may just be the best place in yokohama to work remotely.

For $6 I had “Okinawan Taco Rice” which seems to be the Japanese take on Mexican food. I tell you, these “Hamakkos” (that’s a yokohama person, in japanese!) are on to something! I think I’ll have to recreate this at home.

So. Future self. There IS wifi in yokohama. In fact, there’s wireless internet in tokyo all over! Check out the semi-english map on freespot for a full list.

dishes

I think I’ve become a housewife.

I mean.  I work from home, so it’s easy to do the laundry / dishes, etc if I need to step away from my inbox for a few mintues. I make jon lunch and breakfast, and if we don’t go out, I make dinner. I clean because our housekeeper’s a deadbeat. My feminist 17-year-old self would be appalled.

Eff that.  I’m buying some overpriced wine and going on strike.

Lunch time, in the office.

On a personal level, I am opposed to the stir-fry-mix packages and just-add-water noodle bowls. I think it’s cheating.  I *enjoy* cooking. It’s like… my hobby.

Okay.  So Japan, meet Hobby.  Hobby, this is…. what? Hobby, you don’t like Japan? Well, perhaps you just haven’t been properly introduced.

See.  The thing is.

Judging by the standard restaurant fare, I think they eat noodle bowls and soup here at home, like all the time. So I’ve been wondering… how do they make the soup?  How is it that everything in a restaurant taste so uniformly… good and healthy? Have I been doing it wrong? Is everything I know about “Asian Cooking” one big fat sake-induced lie created by the Food Network?  perhaps. At first glance, it seems that the packaged fresh-noodle-and-sauce thing is where it’s at.

A recipe for finding your calm center, in the Japanese kitchen:

1.  The ingredients may look the same, they probably don’t taste like what you remember.

2. Find vegetables.  Vegetables, meet saute pan.  Saute pan, meet noodles.

3.  Pour soup mix and hot water over all of the above.  Slurp noodles and drink broth from the side of the bowl.