#this is my favorite japanese restaurant in the entire us of a; of course i had to bleach brain it

[bleachbleachbleach]

That Time the 9th Division Revolutionized Gotei Dining

When I think about what I most want to see Bleach characters doing, it is either admin, eating, or the most depraved crimes imaginable. And when I think about how I want food to work in the Gotei, my guiding light is what I think would be the most fun. Generally, this means I think the Gotei should be run like a Girl Scout camp.

In general, my headcanon is that:

Like everything else within divisions, how food works really depends on the Division's particular whimsy. But in most divisions, there's a kaper chart and every week you're assigned to a chore in addition to whatever it is shinigami do all day: cooking, various forms of cleaning, etc. (Some divisions choose to outsource much of this to the pros at the 4th.) If you're deployed into the Rukongai hinterlands or the Living World, your kaper duties are either replaced by similar duties within your deployment group, or you're wandering around the Living World solo like some kind of contestant on Alone.

When you're on cooking duty, your group decides what you're capable of cooking in bulk, within budget. This might mean the same rice and soup every meal every day of the week if you get a cooking crew that's not into it. Others are more excited about cooking and sharing things they like. Matsumoto's tenure in the kitchen pre-VCship is somewhat legendary for its inventiveness. Usually, every meal there's just the one option, but some divisions offer a Set Meal A and B, and some have specialties that persist regardless of which shinigami are specifically in the kitchen.

Shinigami usually eat at their own mess halls in their division, but depending on where their duties take them or how far they're willing to travel, they can eat at other divisions for a fee.

These mess halls are separate from the various restaurants in Soul Society, though the restaurants are pricey. (The mess halls aren't FREE per se; you just don't have to pay when you go because a portion of your paycheck is automatically held back for meals. You're paying whether you eat there or not.)

Then there's the 9th. The 9th under Kensei, and then Tousen, and then Kensei again. By Kensei's tenure, the 9th was already well on its way to sub-specializing in multiple ways throughout the division--there's people doing stints in the SC editorial office, people specializing in field assignments in Team Muguruma. And then there's the 9th Division canteen, staffed by shinigami who still work their normal shinigami duties, but work primarily in the kitchens. They've gotten REALLY good at it.

But it's kind of a best-kept secret, because this is what the 9th Division mess hall looks like from the outside:

After being charmed by the incredible curb appeal of the 9th Division mess hall, you walk in and there's a whole wall with different meals you can order, cafeteria-style.

Each has a little slip of paper with the name of your meal and the price!

The "Stamina Don" is a very popular choice for lunching shinigami.

Once you've made your choice, you take it to the shinigami working at the order window:

And when your order is yelled out, you come back to the front and pick up your meal on a tray and grab whatever utensils and toppings you need. As pictured here, Soul SocieTV is playing nonstop in the 9th Mess Hall.

After your meal, you can enjoy some tea on these very Soul Society Approved couches:

Always the sort to embrace idiosyncrasy, the 9th Division mess hall is the only place in all of Soul Society that stocks these elegant Jesus mugs (so they know that you stole it, should a patron happen to "accidentally" walk off with one).

They also stock copies of the SC for your reading pleasure. This edition is extolling the wonderment that is "Smallmouth Disneyland," the Seireitei's annual bass fishing competition.

The 9th likes to keep all of this on the DL, because it's *amazing* that there's a mess in the Seireitei with dedicated cooks (well, their official employment is a 25/75, with 75% cooking and 25% Shinigami Stuff), and so many different options to choose from at every meal, and they don't want it too get too crowded/so popular as to be unsustainable.

Still, there's a small cabal of non-9th division folks in the know (Hisagi's Friends, mostly. Minus Matsumoto), which the 9th is fine with because their patronage = additional revenue for the mess hall, but overall it's probably the only secret in the history of Soul Society anyone has been able to keep successfully.

Ironically, this mess hall is also where Aizen, Tousen, and Ichimaru held a lot of their after-hours secret planning meetings.

[scarlett-v-the-fox]

WarioWare Move It! Japanese profile entires part 1

As of today, there are only a few profiles of the characters. These are Wario, Jimmy T, Mona, Ashley, Red, Dr. Crygor, Mike, and Penny. I am sharing what they say to you in English.

Disclaimer: My Japanese isn’t perfect, and I had to look up some of words used. But I’m confident 95% of this is correct!

President of the very great Wario Company

WARIO

CV: Hironori Kondo

(Translator’s notes: Wario uses the first person pronoun “ore” and uses the suffix “sama” after it.)

[Image of Wario in front a pile of gold] Today is also a great day! I'm cool, intelligent, and handsome!

WAHAHAHA! You had a good idea that you were interested in me! Take a close look at me from my head to my butt!

This is my profile!!

Favorite letter of the alphabet:

W

Most hated letter of the alphabet:

M

Charm point:

You’ll know it when you see it! Everything!

What made me happy recently:

I went to scrub myself today, and what a surprise! I lost 20 kilograms! That’s amazing!

What surprised me recently:

There was a type of canned food that I thought was delicious and became addicted to, but when I looked closer, it turned out to be for dogs! I got angry!

Things I am not good at:

Nothing! I am perfect!

Recommended movies:

There’s “The Wario Movie” starring me! ...Hmm? There’s no such movie? Hey Nintendo! Make it quickly!

Favorite proverb:

Be on the toilet bowl for three months.

Future aspirations:

Hey! That's enough! That's it for my profile!

~

Energetic high school girl

MONA

CV: Ruriko Aoki

(Translator’s notes: Mona uses the first person pronoun “atashi.” She also uses the “ojisama” suffix for Wario and Dr. Crygor.)

[Image of Mona in a city with her pets in the background] Isn’t Wario wonderful!? That nose and mustache!

Hi~! I’m Mona! I'm busy with my part-time job and club activities every day, but I'm going to run through it with high energy today too!

Profile:

My dream for the future:

To become an adventurer!

Person I admire:

I guess I’d say Wario after all! That big and wild nose… super awesome!

Transportation:

[Image of Mona’s bike. Below it reads “Mona Bike!”] Dr. Crygor made it for me!

Part time jobs I’ve done:

I've done a lot of things! I was a gelato shop clerk, a diner waitress, a pizza delivery girl, a rock band's vocalist and guitarist, a Chinese restaurant's poster girl, an amusement park staff member, a reporter, a cameraman, and even a spy... Oops, maybe I shouldn't have said this? [picture of strawberry gelato]

Family:

My papa is an artist and my mama is a supermodel! I'm an only child, but I wish I had an older sister.

My favorite animal:

Baby moth larvae with fluffy fur!

What I’ve been into lately:

I keep an observation record of the flowers I saw today! I like that they’re bumpy, hairy, and shiny!

Introduction from the president (Wario):

Mona thinks I'm cool, and I'm a guy with quite good taste! …however! As an adventurer, she’s not even close to my level! Even if she finds treasure, it's mine, of course! Because the president is amazing! Wahahaha!

~

Cool dancer

JIMMY T.

CV: Yuma Kametani

(Translator’s notes: Jimmy uses a lot of English words. He also uses the first person pronoun “boku.”)

[Image of Jimmy on a lit up dance floor] Oh YEAH~!! Let’s dance together until the morning, YO!

Everybody! I’m glad you came to visit my page, YO! Let's get feverish with COOL steps!

Profile:

How to spend the night:

Dancing until the morning at a nightclub, YO! [Image of Jimmy P]

Hobby:

Checking my emails! YEAH!

Special skill:

I might be second to none when it comes to high-speed flick input on smartphones.

A little boast:

For some reason, cats tend to like me, YO!

Relationship with Wario:

He’s my email friend! We are also childhood friends!

Favorite way to spend my weekends:

Watching the pigeons in the park, YO! And those kids there have some pretty good BEAT and VIBES, YO!

A secret I’ll only share here:

Actually, my afro, well… No, it’s nothing. Forget it.

Introduction from the president (Wario):

Jimmy is my e-mail friend and childhood friend! He teaches me how to make money with blogs like “Afro Eight” and is a very helpful guy! That's why I made him a special employee of the company, but I’ve never paid him a salary! Wahahaha!

~

Apprentice witch

ASHLEY

CV: Ayaka Fukuhara

(Translator’s notes: She speaks using third person in Japanese at times.)

[Image of Ashley with a mansion in the background] …I’m Ashley, the world’s witch.

…I’m Ashley… What do you want? …If I don’t have any use for you, can I use you as an ingredient?

Profile:

Hobby:

…Research on cursed magic.

Specialty:

…To make magic and potions.

What I think is cool:

…Monsters and carnivorous plants.

Things I don’t like:

Cute dresses… sweets… colorful things… I hate them.

Eating style:

…I eat what I like for last.

What I want most right now:

…Frie—… Nothing really.

How many times have you been called cute?:

Tsk…

Introduction from the president (Wario):

Ashley is always with her familiar, Red! She may be a bit perverse, but she's actually lonely!? Since she's an employee of the Wario Company, I'll take care of her! Looks like she can use magic to find treasure! Wahahaha!

~

Ashley’s partner

RED

CV: Mako Muto

(Translator’s notes: Red uses Kansai dialect, and uses the first person pronoun “ore.” He also talks like a kid.)

[Image of Red with Ashley in the background] Alright! Leave the transforming to me!

Yahoo! I am Red! I am Ashley’s partner, as well as her best friend! You came all the way to visit us, so take your time!

Profile:

Where I live:

In a haunted mansion on the edge of town! But I'm actually really scared of this place...

Special skill:

I can transform into something about the same size as me! Like a magic wand or broom! It’s amazing, isn’t it?!

Personality:

I am quite skittish…

What scared me recently:

When I saw my own reflection in the mirror, I freaked out… Eep…

What I think about Ashley:

Ah, it looks like she’s really shy. She remembered her parents from back home and looked into the distance.

Recent thing Ashley did:

She was practicing smiling in front of the mirror the other day! She was so scared! Ah, this is definitely a secret I should keep!

The scariest thing in this world:

Ashley when she’s angry…

Introduction from the president (Wario):

Even though Red is a monster, he's still taking care of Ashley! And I don't know where he learned to speak Kansai dialect! ...That means he might have some talent for business! Okay, me. Let's sell your game all over the world! Of course, we won't give him any rewards! Wahahaha!

~

Mad scientist

DR. CRYGOR

CV: Kensuke Matsui

(Translator’s notes: A gappori machine is a machine that gives loans in cash)

[Image of Dr. Crygor in a green lit laboratory] People call me a genius scientist... And I am actually a genius!

Here... it seems like you got lost on my page. This must also have something to do with me. Could you let me use your body as a test subject?

Profile:

Occupation:

I am a genius scientist that everyone recognizes.

Someone you hang out with often:

My granddaughter Penny, and my assistant Mike.

Hobby:

Dancing flamenco for inspiration.

My secret to youth:

Modifying my own body and wearing a life-prolonging suit. However, I forgot to extend the life of my scalp and ended up going bald.

Recent research:

I am devoting all my energy and research into promoting my hair regrowth.

Representative inventions:

Wario’s Bike, Wario’s Car, Mona’s Bike, Dribble’s Taxi, Kat and Ana's high-tech swords, 9-Volt's skateboard, Jimmy's cell phone, the Karaoke Robot Mike... You can see how genius I am.

About Wario:

I see him as an interesting research subject. I shall do some human experiments on him someday.

Introduction from the president (Wario):

Dr. Crygor is an old man, but he seems to be doing well! He is also the inventor of my Wario Car and my Wario Bike! But it's disgusting that he’s still bragging about that! ...Well, whatever. Someday, I'll have him make a gappori machine that will give me an infinite amount of money! Wahahaha!

~

Karaoke robot

MIKE

CV: Ryota Suzuki

(Translator’s notes: Robot characters use katakana in their visualized speech. They are also polite and use simple sentences.)

[Image of Mike in a room full of viles] I want to sing more and more!

I’m the karaoke robot Mike! What do you think, would you like to sing a song after?

My profile, lyrics and music by Mike:

Creator:

I was created by Dr Crygor.

Body structure:

I have microphones on my head and speakers on my body.

Hobbies:

I like cooking! My fruit punch is very good.

Special skill:

Karaoke, obviously. But for some reason, when I start singing, everyone covers their ears.

My dissatisfaction:

Why does the karaoke robot have to do all the cleaning?

A secret I’ll share only here:

I want to be independent.

Things I’ve been curious about lately:

Those meal serving robots for family restaurants...

Introduction from the president (Wario):

Mike is Dr. Crygor’s assistant! He seems to be good at cooking and doing the laundry, but he seems to have run away from home in disgust once! If he's going to be used badly, he'd be happier being used by me! Next time you run away from home, I’ll use you as my butt wiper! Wahahaha!

~

Future scientist

PENNY

CV: Maya Enokichi

(Translator’s notes: Penny uses the “chan” suffix for her grandpa. She also uses the term “scientist’s egg” which just means she’s a future scientist)

[Image of Penny in a park] My dream is to become the best singing idol scientist in the world!

Hello, nice to meet you! My name is Penny! My grandpa is a fantastic scientist!

Profile:

Occupation:

I’m a Diamond City junior high school student! I’m also a future scientist!

Someone I admire:

Dr. Crygor! He’s my grandpa!

Hobby:

I love singing in front of people! I wish I could be a singer...

My invention masterpiece:

"Sparkly Voice Ultimate" allows anyone to have a beautiful voice!

Things I’m not good at:

Actually, I'm not good at reading music sheets... just looking at the treble clef makes me dizzy...

About my hair accessory:

You can take the heart-shaped hair clip I'm wearing!

A secret I’ll share only here:

I've been checking all the information about idol auditions, but I'm scared. I haven't been able to apply yet...

Introduction from the president (Wario):

Penny is Dr Crygor’s granddaughter! She's a future scientist, but for some reason the minibike she sent to me ended up turning into a mini-mini myself while riding it! What on earth does that mean!? Well, she also has a geeky side. However, if she comes up with an invention that will make money, I will make a lot of money! Wahahaha!

[solradguy]

hi! can you tell your whole process for learning japanese on your own? where did you start? what resources did you utilise? how did you find and manage your time and maintain discipline? also, how long did it take you to reach fluency?

I am sooooo far from fluent hahaha I'm stumbling through this language Gromit-style

Ok, so, circa 2014 I was studying Norwegian because I really wanted to learn a secondary language (thx American school system...) and I really liked the cadence/feel of Norwegian. That was my entire reason for studying it, I just liked how it sounded lol. But by 2016 I'd learned enough of it from Duolingo that it was time to move on to more difficult study materials.

Which I could not find for the life of me.

I got frustrated and decided it'd probably be best to pick up another language. Japanese was the one I saw the most since a lot of my favorite artists are Japanese, some of my best inking supplies come from Japan (with Japanese packaging), and there used to be a really good local Japanese restaurant too (RIP). Duolingo had just launched an absolutely shit Japanese course that motivated me to look for better practice materials.

I think I started practicing the kana through just writing them a whole bunch before finding out about Tofugu's hiragana and katakana mnemonics-based study articles. From there I did the three free levels offered by Wanikani. Wanikani is awesome, I learned a lot through that program and wish the full version one-time purchase was more affordable... It's worth it, I'm just broke haha

After a while I lost interest in studying Japanese because it's so difficult/time consuming and tried out reconstructed Classical Latin (HARD!), Norwegian again, and just barely dipped my toes into Esperanto. About a year before I got into Guilty Gear (2020), I picked up Japanese again by refreshing my progress on Wanikani. The Duolingo course still sucked but it had gotten a tiny bit better with its kana study tool, though I dropped it again before long. What helped the most this time were books. I tried out these:

Genki - Not bad. I liked how it broke down parts of grammar. However, it's definitely written for a classroom setting. The topics/vocabulary were all school themed and, on top of feeling like I was missing vital information by self-studying, it just got boring.

Tae Kim's Guide to Learning Japanese - This has a physical version but I read it through the free app/website. Much more advanced than Genki, but made for self-study and as a grammatical reference tool. It went a bit over my head and was too fast-paced, I learn kinda slow... Now that I'm much better at Japanese, I should try it again.

Japanese From Zero - My favorite of the books I tried. Goes slower, made more for self-study, and has some free supplemental materials on their website.

While Japanese From Zero was working great, I was losing interest again because my brain CRAVES variety. Straight up translating stories has helped me more than anything else. Japanese Short Stories for Beginners by LingoMastery was a good investment alongside Barron’s Japanese Grammar by Carl and Nobuo Akiyama and Japanese Verbs & Essentials of Grammar by Rita L. Lampkin to help with grammar concepts Japanese Short Stories doesn't expand on enough. IMABI (website) is also a very good grammar reference guide. It can be a bit dry, but I like that. It doesn't waste time and is very direct.

Lingodeer has been invaluable too. The free version is smartphone app only, but that's fine since I usually study right before bed anyway. It has a 5 minute quiz that's just snappy enough to refresh my knowledge without being so long that my brain gets bored of the repetition. The lesson modules also do a really great job at explaining grammatical concepts. There are some other study tools, like specific ones for practicing grammar and vocabulary, that I like.

Then in 2021 I got into Guilty Gear. Boy, did I get into Guilty Gear. Translating GG books has helped me more than all of these other materials combined (except the Tofugu kana articles). HIGHLY recommend going a little crazy for a piece of Japanese media if you wanna learn the language.

I can't speak it for shit though, to be honest lmao. But I set out learning it to read things so that's fine; there are very, very, few Japanese speakers where I live anyway. What I mean by this is that I don't have any materials to suggest for learning how to speak it or to improve listening comprehension, sorry...

If I'm not currently working on a translation project (which counts as studying!!), I try to do at least one of these forms of practice each day:

10-15 minutes of Lingodeer

Do Anki flashcards until I get bored. There's a deck that's all 60 levels of Wanikani, though Wanikani itself is still better.

Practice kana stroke order for the ones I still sometimes struggle with （ツ、シ、ン、ソ......）and at least 5 kanji

Read something in Japanese. Lately this's been Japanese-English Translation: An Advanced Guide by Judy Wakabayashi

There's a page on my Neocities with some study tools but it needs updated with a few things I've since found that work better:

[charlesandmiranda]

Asakusa Adventures part one:

2/1 dinner with friends and 2/2 Senso-ji Temple

After leaving Ochanomizu, Charles and I took the train to Asakusa, our next stop in Tokyo. We had dinner plans to meet with a friend and her family that night, and we planned to explore the area the following day (which is yesterday, at the time of writing!)

Our friend, Penko, her husband As'maria, and two sons took us to Asakusa Ichimon, which is a super traditional restaurant. It was featured in the movie Shin Ultraman which came out in 2022, and Charles really wanted to visit it as a film location, but before we could even mention it to her, she was already suggesting that we should all go together, and so we did!

The interior was amazing, I wish we had taken more photos. Taking photos inside establishments can sometimes be difficult, privacy is much more significant of a cultural consideration than in the US and we don't want to take photos of other patrons. It was a lot of gorgeous, dark wood, short, low to the ground tables, tatami mats, and floor chairs. There was a super zen, indoor water feature too, which was pretty cool, to put it mildly.

I don't even begin to know how to describe how tasty the food was; there was a huge menu of sakes (Japanese style alcohol, think sort of like a "rice wine" even though that's not strictly accurate) and shochu (more like a liquor), almost all, if not all of which, we'd never seen before in the states. The entire meal was a like...5 course experience, starting with a small appetizer of fruit, tofu, fish egg and beans (in honor of the Setsubun holiday, which is today [2/3] at time of writing!) all the way to a hot pot of tuna, leek, mushrooms and more. Genuinely everything was like, beyond delicious, and it was sooooo much food, without ever making us feel like we were totally gonna pop (although it was close). There was also a beef dish mid meal that was the first beef Charles had eaten in close to two decades, and it was worth it.

It was also really really special to get to spend the time getting to know Penko and her family better; I first met her here on tumblr actually, maybe....gosh, I don't know, 8 years ago? give or take a year? through a mutual fandom (we were both fans of a specific pairing in a video game called Danganronpa, where she was a very popular fan-artist at the time). Since then, we've met her in Japan a few times on trips, and we've slowly gotten to know her family over the last few years. After our engagement, Penko actually drew some lovely art for us as a congratulations; if you were at our wedding, we had it displayed near our guestbook :P

The following day, we spent exploring around our Airbnb in Asakusa, as well as visiting Tokyo Skytree. Our stay was on the second floor, above a restaurant, right in the heart of the district.

We started the morning early at Cafe Royal, a super old-school Showa-era coffee shop built in the early 1960s. We had coffees and breakfast there, and their specialty Royal Coffee has to have been one of the best coffees I've ever had. It almost reminded me of dark chocolate in terms of its acidity and smoothness. It was truly awesome.

Afterwards, we spent some time shopping at Uniqlo, a Japanese clothing store (there are some in the states too, if you're curious!) My favorite pair of jeans ripped badly on the plane, and I wanted to replace them, so I bought a new pair at Uniqlo, as well as some of their warm layering clothing, which they're well known for, to stave off the February chill. Charles also got some warm winter wear, so we're both totally topped off for the rest of the trip with trendy heat-tech goodies.

We also wandered around the streets and streets and STREETS of Asakusa's extensive shopping and food district surrounding the massive, gorgeous Senso-ji temple. One thing I love about Japan is that these huge shopping districts often have covered roofs over the streets so even if it's raining or kinda crappy weather, you can still walk freely across blocks without too much trouble. We were mostly window shopping, but we definitely stopped for a few treats.

From there, we headed to Tokyo Skytree, stay tuned for our next post!

[cooladddy]

Humanoid fish and the passion for the east by Elena Garofalo Banish

Elena Galofaro 's love for oriental culture does not manifest itself, as one might expect, through the classic re-proposal of icons and stylistic codes borrowed from Japanese art or manga. Her style, on the other hand, is faithful to the search for her own personality and is the synthesis of her creative path and the experiences gained over time. Raised in Milan, she graduated from the National Film School (CSC) in Turin, where she studied 2D Animation, and then worked as an animator and character designer. She then moved to Japan for almost two years, doing an internship at an animation studio in Tokyo. She now lives in London, where she did her master's degree in Visual Communication at the Royal College of Art, and works for clients such as Nature, BBC and Apple. We interviewed her for you.

Hi Elena and welcome to Picame. Do you want to introduce yourself to our readers? Hi everyone! My name is Elena, aka Elena Bansh, and I am an Italian artist born and raised in Milan, who however has lived/traveled in different parts of the globe (Japan, United Kingdom, South Korea...). By trade I am an illustrator and animator, but lately I prefer to define myself as a visual artist. Do you remember your first drawing? Not the first ever but I remember that when I saw some of my drawings from when I was 3-4 years old there was one that particularly struck me. It was that of an enormous insect, which covered the entire surface of the sheet. The teacher, in the bottom corner of the paper, had written 'a louse', ha-ha. Another memory is the collection of Pokemon invented by me, with more than 100 different Pokemon. I was 6-7 years old.

Is there one of your works that you are most fond of? I would naively say that I am fond of everyone. Until my 20s I always collected every single drawing I made with extreme care, cataloging them all. This has led to cultivating a somewhat obsessive feeling towards my works. Now I have improved but it is difficult for me to say which one I am more fond of… Probably the collection of portraits of my friends in Japan, also called Out of the Shell , is of great importance to me. Is your technique still that of freehand drawing, then integrated with digital color? Yes, always that one. Unfortunately (or fortunately) I can no longer draw well on a tablet. It always seems to me that the sign is too 'clean' and not expressive enough. Although I initially trained as a 2D animator using only software such as Photoshop, Toon Boom Harmony etc.

Elena's sketchbook Do you have any other passion or dream in your drawer? Traveling and eating. I really enjoy trying new dishes and looking for interesting restaurants, especially when I travel to Asia. Regarding my secret dreams... I think I have too many, and too ambitious ones. Maybe I can finally finalize a story about my humanoid fish and illustrate it, perhaps in the form of a graphic novel. Another dream I have is to travel to new places and get inspiration from them. I'm currently contemplating Thailand or Mongolia. Is there an artist or character from the past or present that you would like to meet in person? I think I would have liked to meet Utagawa Kuniyoshi to better understand the dynamics behind his imaginative works. As for the present, I would like to meet Watanabe Naomi (a Japanese model/comedian) and collaborate! Then of course I would like to meet all my favorite artists.

Can you tell us what you are working on these days? Lately I've been finalizing my lesson for Domestika, which I hope will be released between June and July. I just finished filming a few days ago. An incredible experience! Plus I'm working on a couple of projects for fashion brands. You have previously defined the dreamlike atmospheres of your drawings as a world “where no one is ever fully human, and no one is ever fully understood”. How did the idea of ​​involving the people of the sea come about? I began to develop this poetics while I was in Japan, even if unconsciously. Japan is an archipelago and has a vast culture based on the sea and the creatures that inhabit it. There I started drawing lots of fish, which then became characters and somewhat grotesque depictions of people I met on the street. During my Masters in Visual Communication at the Royal College of Art, I began to investigate why I was drawing non-human beings. I thus came to the conclusion that not being able to express myself well in Japan created a communication barrier between me and those around me, transforming everyone into fantastic creatures. Not understanding what others were telling me, or simply not understanding the emotions and intentions of those around me (and still surround me in any city in the world) gave rise to my poetics. I too am non-human for you who are reading me!

You are Russian-Milan, you have lived in Japan and South Korea, now in London... Do you also feel a bit alien? Yes, but it's a pleasant feeling. I like to come into contact with different cultures and try to understand them. Perhaps the fact that I grew up in an extremely multi-ethnic environment gave me an extra push. Lately your sea creatures are in good company with their land cousins. Is the audience of incommunicability widening or can we hope for a common Esperanto? I'm trying to broaden my themes more, but sea creatures are still my favorite at the moment! Lately I have also been interested in frogs and amphibians. I still don't know exactly why, but in Korea I feel that people are more amphibian than fish, so I think the appearance of other creatures is due to the fact that I have been traveling a lot in South Korea lately. As for England at the moment I don't I have yet to have any artistic stimulation… perhaps because I see England more as a place to work, rather than one to be inspired. I don't think I'll stay in England much longer.

You have condensed your work from the last two years, including your Royal College degree thesis, into the book “Behind the fish head” : is this a way to put an end to your career and your life and start a new path? I think it was a way to define who I am as an artist. I wanted to collect all my works and share them with my audience. Posting an image online doesn't have the same visual impact as seeing it printed in a book. Furthermore, the digital image tends to vanish over time, submerged by new 'posts'. I wanted all my work, my experience, the stories behind my illustrations, to re-emerge from the depths of digital and to be kept inside a book. This is why my art-book is titled 'Behind the Fish Head' . You also published your 2018 Japanese diary, do you want to tell us about it? Certain! 'Watashi to Karera – Me and Them' is a diary that I started writing as soon as I moved to Yokohama, Japan in 2018. At the time, I moved to Japan to study the language at Yokohama Design College. This school also gave the opportunity to participate in extra lessons such as drawing. I was already quite advanced, so my teacher just told me to draw whatever I wanted. So during those six hours a week I focused only on writing my Japanese diary. With this project I even won a prize at school! Unfortunately the diary does not cover my entire stay in Japan, but it certainly talks about the most exciting moments which are the first months of my Japanese life, my first friendships, my home, the supermarket... The last pages of the diary are very personal, and drawn in the form of a comic. I didn't really plan to print 'Watashi to Karera' , but since I already had more than 60 pages ready I decided to do so, together with my art-book. The final result was very pleasant, and I also had a lot of positive feedback!

Cover for The Milaneser project

Cover for Nature magazine

Read the full article

[sunmarketing]

Bucket List Travel -#2 Toronto, Canada

This is Bucket List Travel, a special series within the podcast Dr. Mary Travelbest Guide.

This is Carolyn Ray, CEO and editor of JourneyWoman, a women's solo travel publication based in Toronto. I'm going to share some tips and advice about my hometown with you. I'm actually a sixth-generation Torontonian, and my daughter is a seventh-generation Torontonian.  

  So this is my hometown, and I can tell you, if you're looking for an exciting, vibrant city, Toronto is it. We are, you might be surprised, the fourth largest city in North America, and very easy to get to from just about anywhere in the world. Toronto is a great getaway for those living in Canada and a steal for women coming from other countries because of our Canadian dollar. So you'll find a lot of value coming here for your money, 

  I want to share with you a bit about how to get to Toronto, which may surprise you. Of course, you may know about Toronto Pearson Airport, our international airport, but we also have a smaller island airport called the Billy Bishop Toronto City Airport, which is right downtown. So if you can get a flight into Toronto Island, that's much easier. 

  But if you are flying into Toronto, Pearson, we have a wonderful train called the UP Express, which will get you downtown in about 25 minutes. If you are arriving at Union Station, you can get right on our subway system, the TTC, the Toronto Transit Commission. And it's very, very easy to get around on the TTC. It's a U-shaped route that goes north, just kind of starts at Union Station, and goes up both ways. And then there's an east, west route across the city at Bloor Street, which is B, L, O, O, R, we're building some more subways. You'll notice that when you're in town, and because of that, I just want to speak to a little bit about safety on the subways. Toronto is a very large city, and I just want to encourage you to be very aware. I know everyone thinks Canadians are very nice, but I also just want to remind you to be very self-aware when you're on the subways and on public transit.

  For things to do in Toronto, my number one experience would be to go to Toronto Island. It's very easy to get there on a ferry, and you can take a ferry over for the day. You can ride a bike, enjoy the beaches, or even get on a boat.

  If you are looking for a place to stay, there are many different kinds of hotels in Toronto, but I will say one of my favorites is the Fairmont Royal York, which is right across from Union Station. But I also like some of our boutique hotels, the Gladstone, the Drake, the Broadview Hotel. These are very lovely, locally owned hotels, creative, artsy, with really great rooftop restaurants and great views.

  I'll end with some tips on places to eat that you may not know about. I really love Spanish food, so I wanted to recommend Madrina y tapas and Patria. Patria is on King West, which is a very popular place to go for bars and restaurants. The Distillery District is one of our historic areas in Toronto, it’s a wonderful place to walk around and spend the day. And Madrina y tapas is one of my favorite restaurants there. There's also Yorkville, which is on at Bloor and Yonge Street. Kasa Moto is a Japanese restaurant that I would suggest there. And a secret you may not have heard of, this one is called Scaramouche, and it's a little bit farther north, but you can get wonderful views of the entire city. It's actually in a condominium, and you can see all of Toronto at night. It's lovely. And for those of us who like vegetarian food, it's Planta. There are two Planta locations in Toronto, maybe more now, great vegetarian menu. And of course, I must mention the St Lawrence Market, which has all, you know, all of the fresh food you could ever want. But also in the basement Manotas, which is a Spanish takeaway restaurant, and then also Busters, which is at the back of the St Lawrence Market, where you can get some wonderful seafood.

  Whatever you're doing in Toronto, I hope you have a great time. There's so much to do. There's so much to see, and I look forward to seeing you there. And if there's more information need about Toronto, please visit JourneyWoman.com. We've got lots of articles about the city. 

Thank you, Carolyn Ray and Journey Woman for this excellent episode. I love that you shared about Toronto on this one! 

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[purplesurveys]

1762

What name do you go by most often?  Robyn. It's awesome. It's a first name that can also stand as a nickname already.

Have you ever played Geoguessr?  I haven't, but I just looked it up and sounds like a lot of fun.

How many times have you been to a Disney theme park?  I have never been to any Disney attraction – Disneyland, Disney World, the resorts...and tbh not really interested in ever going. It just looks so crowded no matter what time of the year you go, and I bet everything is really expensive. I didn't grow up much a Disney kid anyway so I don't think I'd be missing out on anything.

Are there any live plants in the room with you?  There aren't. Can't take care of plants to save my life.

Did you grow up with your cousins, first or otherwise?  I grew up with one set of cousins, the ones from my mom's older brother's side. To this day they're the cousins that my siblings and I are closest with, to the point that we call the elder brother simply 'Kuya' (just how you'd call a blood older brother) because of how close we are.

Who is your favorite That 70′s Show character, if you have one?  I never got into That 70s Show. Tried watching the first episode but I struggled with finding the humor.

What color is your hair?  It's a light brown again now, with the black roots growing out. I'll dye it back to purple but I'll do that once I get my 13th month so I can allocate some extra monies for it.

Can you see any type of flag from where you are?  No.

Do you eat shellfish? What is your favorite?  I looooooooove them all. My favorite would be either crabs or oysters.

What’s your favorite theme song to a TV show/cartoon?  I never skip the intros to Friends, Breaking Bad, and The Walking Dead.

Are your nails painted? What color?  They aren't.

What is your favorite way to eat chicken?  Wings. The saucier and spicier the better.

Can you name all the major sports teams in your city/state?  So our country is too small (and underdeveloped in the sports space, if we're being blunt) to warrant major sports teams for every region. What we have instead are national teams for a few sports, and yes I'm familiar with how we call them.

Do you use a comb or a hairbrush or both?  Comb.

What was the last movie you watched?  Breaking Dawn Part 2 since I marathoned the whole Twilight Saga a couple of weekends ago.

Have you ever seen BoJack Horseman?  I have. It was fantastic and definitely deserves all the praise, but I don't know if I have it in me to do a rewatch of the entire show any time soon.

What color is your house/building?  It's a beige/creamish shade.

Do you know the middle name of the person you last talked to in person?  Yes.

What is today’s date? How many days til your birthday?  It's October 22. I don't know the number of days, but it's almost exactly 6 months before my next birthday.

When is the last time you had Starbucks?  I had coffee from there last Saturday.

What is your favorite number? Does it have to do with a specific date?  7. It coincidentally does, and in a cute way too I'd say. :) 7 is a very significant number in the BTS fandom, but I also happened to be a fan April 7th, 2021.

Do you watch SNL? Who are your favorite cast members?  I've seen spiels of some of my favorite celebs who've been on the show but I've never seen a full ep and am much less familiar with the roster.

What color is your phone?  It's blue.

Do you have any siblings?  Yup.

How many hours of sleep do you get a night?  Anywhere between 7-9 hours.

What did you have for lunch?  I haven't had it yet today, but yesterday I had fried chicken and burger steak from Jollibee. With rice, of course.

Favorite streaming service?  I don't have a favorite. Certain streaming services will always have certain programs that the others don't, so I go to whichever based on what I'm in the mood for.

Who is your favorite Pokemon?  Ho-oh.

Do you like soup? What kinds?  Only when I'm sick, or if I'm in a Japanese restaurant where they almost always serve miso soup as a freebie lol. I like miso soup and mushroom soup the most.

When was the last time you flew on a plane?  Last June when my family and I went to Malaysia, literally immediately after I landed from my trip to Thailand with friends.

What is your favorite movie Paul Rudd has been in?  I haven't watched a lot of things that feature him, honestly. I've only seen him on Friends and I loved him as Mike on there.

What room of your house (or otherwise) are you in?  My bedroom. I need to quarantine here for a few more days before I set myself free.

Do you know how to play the card game Skip-Bo?  I've never heard of that.

What was the last thing to annoy you? My sister being so boisterous when she was playing her Resident Evil game last Friday night. She was screaming and exclaiming and groaning every few seconds and it was making me jump every time cos I never knew when she was going to make noise next and how loud she was going to be.

Who is your favorite comedian?  I haven't watched much of Sindhu Vee's bits but in the stuff I've seen of hers so far, whether stand-up or interviews, she seems like such a smart person. I'd love to listen to her tell her whole life story.

What are some names you like that start with the first letter of your name?  Rachel, Renee, Rose, Rosie.

When is the next time you’ll be in a pool or body of water?  Might be in December.

[jordanprice]

June 19 - Nara Day Trip

Today we visited Nara and went to feed the deer and then to see the Buddha statue in Todaiji, as well as the museum there.

It took a while to get to Nara, so by the time we were there it was lunch time. Lauren and I ate at this Italian place called Piano, which I thought was a silly name for a restaurant. I got their grilled chicken dish and a blood orange juice. The chicken was only okay and really didn’t come with much food at all, especially for it being one of the more expensive meals I’ve had on this trip. So I’ve had a lot of oranges and orange juice in my life, and I’ve had blood oranges as well, and I’m telling you that was not blood orange juice it was just kinda crappy orange juice that was dyed, but oh well. Lauren got a margarita pizza and was kind enough to share some with me. After lunch, we grabbed some macarons, which were pretty good.

We then walked to the park to see and to feed the deer. Lauren and I both really like deer, and had a great time feeding them. The deer were so friendly and would bow back to you if you bowed to them. Lauren and I between us quite possibly got 20 packs of rice crackers for the deer. They were only ¥200 a piece. People were commenting on how many I was buying, but I didn’t let them bother me and just told them I was having a good time so I might as well. Lauren especially loved feeding the deer, so I kept going up to buy her crackers so she could keep feeding them. And the deer loved her as well. I quite enjoyed the fact that out of like anyone there, the deer seemed to like Lauren and I the most. I think it’s because the deer can sense our vibes and tell how much we like them. That I would tell, I was the only person that deer were coming up to to pet them. They only really went up to other people to be fed. It was kinda annoying me some of the people seeing me petting the deer who then tried doing it and freaked the deer out. They went too quickly and weren’t showing the deer their hands before going to pet them. You have to be calm, confident, and go slowly. Even though the deer are so used to people. That doesn’t mean they don’t get scared, in the end they are still wild animals.

The only two real downsides were that Lauren and I both got deer poop on our shoes and that petting them made our hands really greasy and dirty and there was like nowhere to wash them. It was definitely more than worth it though. I grew up getting to feed baby deer at a family friends farm in Michigan, so this wasn’t really a new experience to me entirely, but it was still a great time and I especially enjoyed how much Lauren was enjoying it.

After we were done feeding the deer, we walked to Todaiji, the Great Eastern Temple. And that name is not misleading, as the place is genuinely huge and I was a bit surprised at how big it was. Of course then Lauren and I started joking about how it would only cost $200k to buy as a small house in the suburbs, or like $50k in Geneva, Florida and how it was a lower middle class level house.

The Buddha statue was very large and ornate, but the comment I had on it was that unfortunately it wasn’t the one that was in Dr. Stone, one of my favorite anime, and Leina, our tour guide’s favorite anime. There was then this hole in a wooden pillar that was meant to be the size of the Buddha statue’s nostril, and it is said if you can fit through it, then you will have a good rebirth. I don’t have a picture of it, but you already know both Lauren and I made it through easily.

We then walked to see this shrine that had a bunch of lanterns in it. On the way there, we saw the most ordained deer I’ve ever seen in my life. He had such main character energy it was insane. The shrine had this 1,000+ year old tree, which I thought was cool to see. I couldn’t go into the lantern room, as it smelled strongly and was filled with smoke. Japanese temples and shrines sure do love their scented smoke…

After this, we were set free for the day, and Lauren had been wanting ice cream, so we went and got some. She got strawberry and I got chocolate. Also, there was this one deer that really wanted attention from me, so I pet him a bunch, and he even got territorial over me and scared off another deer that tried walking up to me. Then there was this deer which was very forward with Lauren, biting her pants string and pulling it to untie them. He did this twice and we found it pretty funny how forward this deer was. In his defense, Lauren did compliment him first, so he probably took that as her flirting with him.

We then headed back towards the hotel with Emily and Ana as well to go eat. We ended up going to this burrito place that had vegetarian and vegan options for Lauren and Emily. I got a chicken and cheese quesadilla and it was really good.

Academic Reflection

Today I learned about esoteric Buddhism. I learned about how Vairocana is meant to be the first Buddha, having come into existence sometime between 3 and 13 thousand eons ago. Their eons are described as having a mountain made of the strongest material, and every year a bird comes by and scrapes a blade of grass across it until the entire mountain is eroded. So yeah…. it’s a long time, and raises some questions for sure. Especially like how did he become the first Buddha, why is he the one with all the power, would the power be someone else’s if they got there first, how is he still supposed to be alive (because Buddhas are still meant to be living and have a limited life span), and where did he exist (like the universe wouldn’t have been a thing yet). I also learned that there are different Buddha bodies. The dharma body is the main, real body. The entertainment body, which caries out the law set by the dharma body and gained Buddha wisdom. Then there is the manifested body, which is the physical body that is perceptible to humans and which saves and educates the people.

[gingerontheside]

Disney Sea Pt. 2

Onto Arabian Coast! This area had a very obvious Alaadin theming, with camels and Arabian architecture as well as stores called Bazaars and more Middle Eastern and South Asian food choices. We did not spend long here, as the only attractions were Jasmin's Flying Carpets (think the Dumbo ride at Disneyworld), a carousel (which I never actually found but apparently was there), and a huge dark ride called Sinbad's Storybook Voyage. We skipped all of these in favor of going to Mermaid Lagoon faster, but I found out later that the Sinbad ride is considered one of the best dark rides in disney history. Oh well.

We hustled on over to Mermaid Lagoon, which had a few outdoor attractions such as Flounder's Flying Fish coaster (a little kid roller coaster, but delightful nonetheless), and Scuttle's Scooters (we did not go on this ride, it is a spinny ride I'm sure.) The real fun of Mermaid Lagoon was hiding within the massive Atlantis castle that drew us in in the first place.

Once inside, you went down a rather inconspicuous hallway until you entered a massive indoor cavern impeccably decorated to be a Little Mermaid seascape. This area was a welcomed respite from the rain, and actually had several rides, a restaurant, and shops. We only went on 1 of the 3 indoor rides, as the lines were fairly long and the rides did not look super interesting. I LOVED this indoor area as I had no idea it was hiding under our noses the whole time and gave us time to warm back up before venturing back out into the elements.

At last, we had made it to the final port; Mysterious Island. This was where the 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea ride as well as the Journey to the Center of the Earth ride were located. This area was decorated like one would expect a steampunk boat would be decorated, with a huge mountain smack in the middle where the Journey ride was buried within. For the 20,000 Leagues ride, you walked down a fancy spiral staircase, descending down to the water level before going inside a cave where you boarded a submarine-esque vehicle and dove 'underwater' to explore the great unknown ocean. I thoroughly enjoyed this ride and all the cute underwater alien creatures that popped out and hid from the submarine.

(You can see the fancy spiral staircase here)

The Journey to the Center of the Earth ride had the longest line of the day, and it was pretty obvious why. This ride shot you through the imagined core of the earth in a minecart, where monsters awaited at nearly every turn to pop out and scare you with fire. For the final piece, the minecart was launched up and down several hills and even 'broke out' through the mountain and briefly exposed you outside before rocketing you back inside. This was my favorite ride, and arguably the most thrilling ride at Disney Sea.

Once finished with Mysterious Island, we looped back to American Waterfront to tackle the Toy Story Mania ride. Again, a very long line, but the ride itself is extremely interactive. Your goal is to shoot as many balls as you could from a little launcher attached to your cart and try to beat the score of your car companions. The trigger was a rope you would pull on the gun and make a little 'ping' noise, and our arms very quickly became tired, but it was a very fun ride regardless. After this we tried to go on the Tower of Terror ride, but as I mentioned they had shut down access to those who didn't have Premiere access. I'll never get over it, thank you for asking.

It should be noted that most of these rides had a pretty intense narration, which we were lost on us because of course it was all in Japanese. I do wonder if my experience would have been different had I actually understood any of the rides entirely rather than just relying on context cues.

After ALL of this, we had been at Disney for nearly 8 hours, and I was getting tired, cold, and cranky. We made a few more stops at shops, where I acquired an adorable Baymax plush that I love way too much, and we were on our way home.

There was a light show that was occurring on our way out, but since it was a rainy day, it was not nearly as fun as it was supposed to be. Rather than a ton of lights and dancers, it was sort of just a couple of billboard-like boats that circled the water with Disney characters standing on top and waving. It was cool but we were not super interested, so we left.

Overall, Disney Sea was not anything I expected. I did enjoy myself, and I thought the park was beautiful. There were moments that it felt like the real Disney 'magic' was missing, and a lot of the areas just kinda felt .... empty. Almost as though there should have been more attractions and there were not. If i was given the chance, I likely would not go back to Disney Sea, but i still had a delightful time nonetheless and if you're looking for a disney park experience unlike anything else in the world, this is where you should go.

[kaibutsushidousha]

Tribe Nine progress report #00 (part 1)

Translations from the official Tribe Nine website, supplemented with things that were said on stream.

Character names are in Japanese order because that's how they're officially romanized.

Also, I'll be posting this in multiple parts because I reached the image limit on this post.

World

In the country of Neotokyo, year 20XX, youth with no hope for society's future form Tribes to find a place to call home.

With time, the disputes between Tribes continued to grow more and more violent. The situation was very intense in the eyes of the Neotokyo government, so they enforced the XB Law, which limited the quarrels between Tribes to only Extreme Baseball.

Pitch, bat, and trade blows. The youths were crazy over this radical pride-staking game.

XB (Extreme Baseball)

A duel method similar to baseball, designed to settle conflicts between Tribes. As determined by the XB Law, the loser must obey the winner's order(s).

Runners and the fielder with the ball can initiate battles with each other for the right to reach a base. The slugfests between players equipped with body-enhancing gear are XB's greatest trademark.

Rules

The games must be played late at night when there are no longer any onlookers.

The games will use the entire City as its field.

Batters are only out by tag out or by strike out.

There is no home run. In case of an extra-base hit, the runner(s) can run through the bases until they initiate a battle against the fielder with the ball.

A fielder with the ball is allowed to initiate a battle against a runner, staking the runner's right to reach a base.

Players can equip XB Gear to enhance their physical abilities.

Anything can be used as XB Gear, as long as it's approved by the Judge Robot acting as the umpire for the game.

The win condition is either scoring more points than the opposing team or knocking out the opponents in battle.

The winner can give any order to the loser.

Characters

[This section will have some character profiles for a few Tribes, but before that, I'll have to go over some elements that were only explained in a previous interview and in the stream. The game will contain 23 Tribes, each themed after one of the 23 wards of Tokyo. The names of the Tribes here all match the names of the wards they represent. Their base concepts will be all about local stereotypes, of course, but in the stream, Kodaka compared them to One Piece pirate crews in terms of how much individuality the characters will get within the team.]

Minato Tribe

A Tribe famed as the strongest in Neotokyo. They value the bonds between teammates and genuinely enjoy XB.

[The Minato ward is the ward where the Tokyo Tower (also called Minato Tower) is. Due to holding the symbol of the city, Kodaka chose it to be the ward of the anime's protagonist Tribe.]

Kamiya Shun (Leader)

CV: Akira Ishida

Birthday: February 22nd

Height: 179 cm

Weight: 65 kg

Voice sample 1: Let's enjoy one more game.

Voice sample 2: I'll show you how to topple the Minato Tower.

"What could be more exciting than XB?"

The founder and leader of the Minato Tribe, as well as the main reason why they're considered the strongest. He is one of the very few Beam Bat users. He's as top tier as you'd expect as a pitcher and batter, not to mention he's unmatched at a fistfight.

He enjoys unchallenged popularity on the XB field, but he also has a more goofy side. His antics include giving his teammate incomprehensible nicknames and getting hungover on coffee, among others.

Shirokane Haru

CV: Shun Horie

Birthday: January 20th

Height: 160 cm

Weight: 47 kg

Voice sample 1: My name is Haru. Shirokane Haru.

Voice sample 2: If I can really hit this swing...

"If I really have potential... I wanna give it a try!"

A timid bullied boy. He was getting into trouble with the town's delinquents as usual when Kamiya and Taiga saved him. He was bound by his own perceived uselessness, but Kamiya noticed his natural agility, wits, and keen eyes and he was invited to use these "weapons" of him for the Minato Tribe.

Taiga

CV: Chiharu Sawashiro

Birthday: October 10th

Height: 182 cm

Weight: 76 kg

Voice sample 1: I'll beat Kamiya Shun and become the best player!

Voice sample 2: The match only starts when you get to the batter's box.

You got nothing to worry about, you got me as the captain on this ride aboard the S.S. Big Ship Taiga, where S.S. stands for "safe and sound"!

A hot-blooded boy who came to Neotokyo from the other side of the ocean in pursuit of one dream: winning against the strongest man, Kamiya Shun! He joins the Minato Tribe along with Haru. He's a novice in XB and struggles to memorize the rules, but he keeps challenging his opponents with his dauntless courage and the brute strength he's so proud of.

Arisugawa Saori (Vice-Leader)

CV: Mai Fuchigami

Birthday: November 22nd

Height: 162 cm

Weight: 43 kg

Voice sample 1: The Minato Tribe never says no to anyone wanting to join or leave. You can stay as long as you want.

Voice sample 2: Raise your arm higher and put more strength into your swing.

There's no ball I can't catch!

The Minato Tribe's vice-leader. Despite her frail looks, she's an outstanding catcher, capable of stopping even Kamiya's blazing fastballs. She takes charge, commanding Minato's ensemble of oddballs since Kamiya is too careless to be a real leader.

No one values the members of Minato's team more than her, but she is extremely strict about rules and morals, never hesitating to unload a cartridge of her favorite airsoft gun on a transgressing teammate.

Mita Santarou

CV: Mutsumi Tamura

Birthday: March 30th

Height: 150 cm

Weight: 44 kg

Voice sample 1: I know talent when I see it.

Voice sample 2: The first thing rookies do is carry my stuff. That's the law of Minato.

T-those dudes are no match for me...! Ok, you guys go take them on!

A member of the Minato Tribe. He claims to be the ace of the team but is actually just a reserve pitcher. He's a pervert and a sleazeball and often gets punished by Arisugawa for it, but he shows no signs of wanting to fix his flaws.

He tends to abuse his seniority over the new members, but he's as caring and friendly as he is unreasonably bossy.

Daimon Manami

CV: Fukushi Ochiai

Birthday: July 20th

Height: 191 cm

Weight: 180 kg

Voice sample 1: I accept all forms of gratitude and cake.

Voice sample 2: You gotta swing hard but without straining yourself.

Don't forget to eat well before a game of XB.

A member of the Minato Tribe. He's always supporting the other members with his gentle personality and great cooking. Minato's base of operation is Lovely Ocean, a restaurant he runs.

Despite his usual calm, no one can stop him when he snaps.

[Translation note: Manami means "lovely ocean"]

Aoyama Kazuki

CV: Shouya Chiba

Birthday: May 18th

Height: 174 cm

Weight: 57 kg

Voice sample 1: Huhu, even if I can't use my left arm anymore, my brain is still much better than yours, stupid people.

Voice sample 2: Timing is essential in our next strategy, I'll be giving the commands. It'd be easier for all of you since you won't have to think.

"You'll be my pawns."

A mysterious boy who suddenly appeared asking to join the Minato Tribe. He can't properly play XB because his left hand is injured. But for unknown reasons, he's very knowledgeable about XB tactics and how to handle a Beam Bat and makes full use of his ingenuity to bring victory to Minato.

He seems to have some kind of goal in approaching the Minato Tribe, but what could it be?

Chiyoda Tribe

A tribe under the patronage of the king of Neotokyo. They have been suppressing many other Tribes all over the country to ostentate their power.

[Chiyoda is the ward where the Palace is, so the Chiyoda Tribe are the guys with political power]

Ootori Oujirou (Leader)

CV: Jun'ichi Suwabe

Birthday: September 26th

Height: 192 cm

Weight: 78 kg

Voice sample 1: Can you entertain me, even a little?

Voice sample 2: A game needs blood. In eras where giants clash, the people are waiting for battles that spray blood and shatter bone.

"Winning is everything. There is nothing else I need."

The leader of the Chiyoda Tribe, and heir to Ootori Tenshin, the king of Neotokyo. Tenshin trained him since he was a child to be the strongest XB player.

He challenges teams all over Neotokyo to prove he is the best.

Ootori Tenshin (King of Neotokyo)

CV: Hiroshi Naka

Birthday: January 31st

Height: 177 cm

Weight: 51 kg

Voice sample 1: None is allowed to disobey the Ootori family! It's the masses to duty to kneel before me. Am I wrong?

Voice sample 2: Every single one of those so-called big shots sullying my Chiyoda must be exterminated! Go show them the power of the Ootori family!

"Through XB, you must show that that the power of the Ootori family is absolute!"

The king of Neotokyo. He's strongly obsessed with XB, to the point he trained his heir Oujirou since childhood to be the best player.

After that, he founded the Chiyoda Tribe with Oujirou as the leader.

He aims to trample all Tribes in the country in XB to ostentate the strength of the Ootori family.

CV: Mikako Komatsu

Birthday: March 15th

Height: 170 cm

Weight: 46 kg

Voice sample 1: As you wish.

Voice sample 2: I honestly and absolutely believe you will get the result you desire.

"Only death awaits the enemies of the Ootori family."

Ootori Tenshin's secretary. To the public, she's nothing more than a modest secretary, but her secret is that she's a cold-blooded agent, capable of doing anything for the sake of the Ootori family.

Countless people who criticized or plotted to opposed the Ootori family's plans may or may not have been to their grave by her hand.

[shoichee]

hello! may i ask some tips about the instragram acccunts the GoM + kagami could have? like of sort of post, amount of followers, stuff like that THANK U and have a great day !!

THIS IS ACTUALLY HILARIOUS SINCE I BREATHE OFF OF INSTAGRAM LFMAO

[Headcanons]

Kuroko Tetsuya

HELP WHAT IF HE HAS NO PRESENCE ON SOCIAL MEDIA TOO—

professional lurker

never comments on anything unless it’s to congratulate under a friend’s post or something like that

probably started using it because Ogiwara moved from letters and texts to just... instagram (technology advancements, jazz hands)

his account is on private, and he only lets people he knows follow him

all of his posts are pictures to commemorate something or just really wholesome group pictures

DEFINITELY has that picture of the GoMs at his birthday OVA

DEFINITELY also posted the big birthday picture taken at the end of the party

and also had typed very sappy BIG paragraph captions for both of these posts, talking about the journey and him being grateful… y’know, him being him

HIS ENTIRE COMMENT SECTIONS ARE JUST EVERYONE SOBBING AND KEYBOARD SPAMMING??? ONLY LIKE MIDORIMA AND AKASHI POST COHERENT RESPONSES UNDERNEATH

@kiseryouta: kuROKOCCHIIIII!!NEJWIEISK

@momoiowo: TETSUU (ʃƪ˘･ᴗ･˘) YOURE SO SWEET REEEE

@a_daikiii: i stg quit being so corny no one died yet🙄 and @momoiowo relax smh

@shin_chan77: I suppose I can express some form of gratitude for being in my life despite you being a blood type A. (insert a giant paragraph after this)

@4k4shi: This was very touching to read, Kuroko. I’m very glad that our… (insert him going down memory lane)

Murasakibara has no comment LMAO

his entire Seirin team are his hype men under his posts

his profile picture is literally the gray default blank head because he didn’t even set up a profile picture for himself

he has like 20 followers max or something?

8 posts? like, he only posts on special occasions or big events

his occasional stories are always comprised of Nigou and blurry Kagami pictures/videos running away from Nigou UH OH (courtesy of @dust-of-fandoms)

@tetsuya11 for his user handle

@dust-of-fandoms JUST MADE AN INSTAGRAM FOR HIM HERE!!

Kise Ryota

uses his instagram account as a portfolio for his modeling career

majority of his posts are actually pictures he managed to snag from his frequent model shoots

it looks SO professional… but then you look at his IGTVs and his reel videos

his reels are either short clips of mini vlog series he does whenever he visits the GoMs or when he’s recording his Kaijō teammates doing tricks and dunks

his IGTVs are either skincare tutorials, fashion advice… or just… unexplainable, out-of-context shitposts of Kise running away from what fans assumed “a green-haired man” or some “captain”

follower account?? 124k

who wouldn’t resist a hot model?

DEFINITELY HAS A TIKTOK I CAN FEEL IT

@kiseryouta with an official verification next to it

people either love him or hate him

posts a casual selfie from time to time, and people praise him for “being real” LMAODOA AND HE’S JUST STARING AT HIS PHONE LIKE “??? IMIG BUT I JUST FELT CUTE TODAY”

his captions feel fake LMAO like: “Wow! today’s so pretty today!” as he puts a selfie post OR “What’s your favorite game?✨” under a professionally-shot model picture that does not correlate with the caption???

has posted shitposts on his stories and his fans are utterly confused… only the GoMs get it LMAO

Midorima Shintarou

ONLY reason why he has social media is because Takao convinced him that he could let everyone know the daily lucky items for each signs for every post he makes

so for the first 2 months of having instagram he just casually posts a “daily horoscope” report(?) for the day

his content attracted in all the astrology fans and people who are devoted to tarots

and he’s CONFUSED.

… Takao may or may not have played a hand in messing with the algorithms to expose his account to bigger audiences

once Midorima finds out he’s MAD LMAO *insert Takao pain noises*

either goes down two paths: just casually continuing to post the daily Oha Asa predictions without interacting with anyone OR deleting his account and making a new PRIVATE one just for communication/lurking purposes

so he can honestly have 10k followers if he chooses to be a horoscope account or like 3 followers on his private, take it or leave it

maybe he has two accounts if he feels that having instagram has its merits

definitely has a shit ton of random stuff/posts in his saved collections

boomer energy, like… what’s a “reels” feature?? people talk to their phone camera and record that?? he’s squinting really hard and scratching his head

either has 356 horoscope posts on his “main” or like 19 posts on his private

has a rubber duck as a profile picture for BOTH ACCOUNTS HELP HIM

@oha_asa_ for his horoscope account or @shin_chan77 as his personal because he doesn’t know how to change his username (thanks, Takao LMAO)

Aomine Daiki

he doesn’t give a shit about instagram LOL

it’s MOMOI who handles his account because he doesn’t wanna bother with it LMAOO

she would tease him and try to “encourage” him to stop lazing around by taking pictures of him whenever he’s snoozing and posting it

but he’s so damn good-looking that his sleeping pictures got some traction with new fans

Aomine is still sleeping

his account also has pictures of him eating at Maji burger or at a café, and of course Momoi is the one snapping these photos of him

he started caring about it a little more once Momoi told him that he can post videos of himself doing trickshots and one-on-ones to potentially find worthy rivals over the internet and meet up

so now his account (videos, reels, IGTVs) are all riddled with basketball/small parkour footage shot by yours truly, Momoi

so his fanbase is split between thirsty people and people who genuinely admire him for his skills… but I mean there’s also people in both categories, anywho

he’d totally follow his favorite Japanese idols on IG if they had one

also would follow any NBA-related accounts/players he admires

has like 2.7k followers (but growing really fast) with like 176 posts of videos and random pictures of him

his profile picture is literally a picture of him sleeping by Momoi

@a_daikiii

Momoi Satsuki

LOTS OF REALLY cute, playful selfies, and a lot of them are used with cute filters from the Snow app

sometimes would post herself doing a really cute Tiktok dance while in her school uniform

she doesn’t post too much; she’s actually more into posting IG stories and making highlights out of them and then making highlight covers have a coordinating theme together

very aesthetic theme on her feed overall hehe

definitely uses her account to comment on other GoMs posts, often commenting something snarky on Aomine’s and Kise’s

actually has 1-2 IGTVs on the Vorpal Sword’s big game against the Jabberwocks

doesn’t have much of full-body shots/outfit pictures other than mirror selfies because Aomine refuses to take good pictures of her

only when she sees Kise or Kuroko is when she can ask either to be a photographer

she’s definitely gotten a few small collab offers from small businesses, but she usually ignores them because it’s not exactly her thing

her profile picture is just a selfie with a sketch-line cat ear filter

uses a bunch of emoticons on her bio, captions, comments, everything

⌒(ㅇㅅㅇ❀)⌒ or ☆⌒(＞。≪) or .₊̣̇.ෆ˟̑*̑˚̑*̑˟̑ෆ.₊̣̇.ෆ˟̑*̑˚̑*̑˟̑ෆ.₊̣̇.ෆ˟̑*̑˚̑*̑˟̑ෆ.₊̣̇.ෆ˟̑*̑˚̑*̑˟̑ෆ.₊̣̇. you get the picture

967 followers… that looks way too specific, but it’s somewhere around there; a lot of them came from Aomine’s account after they saw who’s been taking his pictures, and they wanna learn more about her??

around 40 posts?

@momoiowo

Murasakibara Atsushi

Himuro showed him how to use the app, but Murasakibara doesn’t find ANY USE FOR THIS LMAOO

he’d probably only get on it to look at food on the explore page and drool about the cuisines

keeps tabs on local places/restaurants/shops on instagram; those are probably the only accounts he’d follow tbh

it’s probably like ONE post and it’s an old picture of a dango on a plate he ate like 2 years ago

I have this image in my head that he has a really cute bento art as his profile picture?? can you imagine a Rilakkuma-shaped rice as his PROFILE PICTURE?

his bio is definitely: “hungry”

and that’s it

27 followers, and it’s literally just his Yōsen teammates, the GoMs and probably some other classmates of his

his captions are literally empty or 1-2 words

@oomaib0

Akashi Seijuro

only uses instagram because it’ll be beneficial for his company and to expand social networks, plus getting those sweet business deals and engagement

he doesn’t mind seeing really wholesome videos on the explore page though

when he wants to relax, a cat video melts his stress away

laughs to himself while he reads all the shenanigans underneath the GoMs’ posts

DEFINITELY loses a few brain cells seeing trolls and idiots on the internet… especially on controversial or political ones LMAO

he at first had to REFRAIN himself and take deep breaths before he just scrolls on, but he eventually got used to them and can now easily ignore them as easy as he breathes air

he actually enjoys shitposts and meme videos?? like he may not completely understand the meme trends sometimes, but he’ll still find it amusing enough for a chuckle

he ends up being the one who uses instagram the most? like Kise posts a shit ton, yeah, but Kise doesn’t really sit down and just scroll endlessly; Kise releases out content, while Akashi consumes the content

he reasons with himself that it’s to study his current demographics for the company, and while that may be true, Akashi just enjoys social media, plain and simple LOL

he does get to study the behaviors of all the generations using the platform, young folks and old folks alike, and it does get him excited in using his analytical skills to try to figure out people BEHIND a screen rather than those in front of him

it makes a really good challenge for him when he wants a good mental exercise

he has a post or two about his horses, his manor, and a video or two on him playing his violin?? but most are business-related, them being advertisements or business contracts/offers… things like that

his highlights are all about Q&As regarding the company, his background, his skillsets, etc. like an actual resumé

actually links current world issue cards/petitions on top of his company website; he’s quite an advocate

he actually doesn’t post about basketball because that’s something very close to his heart since it reminds him of his late mother… having that mixed in with his company-related posts feels wrong to him

27k followers, most of them are business-related accounts AND some are some followers his father bought for him without Akashi’s input to inflate engagement, etc.

@4k4shi… oh he thinks he’s SO CLEVER FOR MAKING THIS USERNAME LOL with the 4 being his jersey number and the 4s looking like As… AKASHI PLEASE—

his profile pic is like a professionally taken picture, nothing less for our king

his grammar and syntax are impeccable on social media; after all, he’s still being judged for how he carries himself even on the media

Kagami Taiga

mukbang guy… DEFINITELY

hot guy eating nine plates of steaks

IGTVs are filled with mukbang videos because Kuroko said he could make a living off of his appetite

HE COULD MAKE MONEY OFF OF JUST EATING? SIGN HIM UP.

on his posts, he posts dishes he makes for the day/is proud of and talks about the dish and ingredients briefly in the caption

that, or he has pictures of his new basketball shoes LMAO

or all of his basketball merch

HE’S DEFINITELY POSTED PICTURES OF LANDMARKS AND OTHER ICONIC PLACES HE’S TRAVELED TO (*cough* in America)

has a generic Jordan brand logo against a dark background as a profile picture

doesn’t have his face anywhere unless it’s in a mukbang video

279 followers or something

why do I have a feeling that he’ll accidentally blow up when Alex takes his phone to do a quick selfie on it?—

@taiga10

[ashisstrange]

MASTERLIST

My oddly specific Nathan Prescott headcanons

After doing Warren it felt wrong not to do Nathan right away, since they're both my favorite characters in lis1.

I'll probably post a grahamscott hc post soon too, which will probably tie these two posts together a bit more (hint hint)

ps. the themes are kinda all over the place, sorry for that lol

‼TW: slight mention of suicide/sh in like two of the hcs‼

✥﹤┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈﹥✥

• Listens to all kinds of music, but mainly classical, It's calming.

• 100% dog person, he wouldn't want to be found dead with a cat. Cats hate him just about as much as he hates cats.

• Has a tendency to wear the same clothes for long periods of time, without actually noticing that it's gross

• Man abuses the shit outta deodorant and cologne though so nobody notices. He only changes once Victoria points it out lol

• Him and Victoria are childhood friends, and their families are very close

• He has a facination for oldtimers (old cars). Which is the exact reason he has a beat chevy pick up instead of your average rich kid car

• Begged his mom to ask his dad for a chevy instead of a sports car

• Which brings me to: mommy's boy :)

• He loves his mom, even though he's ASS at showing it. He checks in with her at least once a week.

• Tends to start his day with two whales diner breakfast. If he doesn't go to the diner his day usually ends up being at least 25% shittier than usual. Maybe joyce just brings luck.

• A CHEM MAJOR ‼‼ (pls im 99% sure this is canon pls take notes)

• Has been interested in art and photography since he was a kid, but his father never praised him for his art. He wasn't allowed to attend art school in the end, so he opted on taking the chemistry course at blackwell

• He usually insults people when he doesn't actually mean it, and if you don't react to his insult angrily he'll probably apologise

• "The fuck you want u tard!?"

  "I'm..... i'm sorry i didn't mean to call you that,"

• A  s u c k e r   for old movies and music, but doesn't really have anyone to watch them with

• He also enjoys horror a lot, particularly the gory kind (Think of japanese horror movies or for example the saw series)

• He owns the entire junji ito collection

• He likes to photograph subjects that are close to death or have been in direct contact with death, just so he can forget about how much he actually wants to die himself

• He gets anxious really easily, he tends to fidget a lot and struggle with sitting still (bouncing leg and picking at his fingers)

• Freckles!!! like all over his face and collar bones

• Overthinks like, everything he does/says

• Which is why he usually tries to not talk to people outside of his circle too much

• A sucker for disney movies, but he's never admitted that to anyone, not even Victoria. His sister knows, since they used to watch them together as kids

• Quite a picky eater, which is why he tends to stick with the same order for nearly every restaurant he goes to

• Can't really handle big changes well, so he sticks to the same people to hang out with and the same routine each day

• Can't sleep unless it's completely dark and completely silent

• Knows how to play the piano

• Doesn't use social media much, because he doesn't really need more negativity in his life than he already has. He only uses it to check Victorias page or online shopping

• He does enjoy his alcohol/drugs, but he knows his own limit (and he also clearly knows when he's purposfully crossing it)

• A complete sucker for stargazing, even though he knows absolutely nothing ab astrology

• Hangs out at the lighthouse a lot to cool down after a long week, smoke a cig and listen to some music after dark

• Hates physical contact with anyone he doesn't trust (which is practically everyone except like three people)

• regarless of that, he's very touch starved, so when he does get a hug he will like melt into it

• HATES summer with a burning passion. Probably also because it's quite hard to wear long sleeves and get away with it (plus its unbearably hot)

• Doesn't realise he has a resting bitch face lol

• He has one of those pine tree air fresheners in his car, hanging from the rear view mirror. Specifically the dark green one that smells like a forest.

• listens to music all the time, like while doing the most basic tasks. Mostly because music helps to drown out his thoughts (and possibly distract from hallucinations)

• His hands and feet get cold very quickly

(Comments are very welcome, i'd love to know ur opinion on my hc's :3)

[idyoma]

The Best Ways to Learn a New Language

Some of the Best Ways to Learn a New Language

My name is Tamara and I have always been interested in languages, how people communicate and how we can interact even more by learning new languages. I was able to take an international exchange program in 2019 and I started taking this interest to a new level by learning and interacting with friends and people that I was lucky to get to know.

I continue studying and trying to learn from home and this is what inspired me to write this article to help more people achieve their language goals and share some of my favourite ways to learn a new language.

People often recognize that being multilingual is associated with career benefits, but did you know that language learning can also enhance your cognitive health? Too often, people graduate from school and leave foreign languages behind in the classroom. Yet, there are some surprising advantages to tackling language learning later in life, too.

As you learn a new language, you build up your communication skills, supercharge your brain with heightened activity in its language centers, and possibly even open yourself up to new work and travel experiences.  

Fortunately, today’s language learners have a wide range of instruction options, like Idyoma, that don’t tether them to a traditional classroom. Finding time to learn a new language outside the home can be difficult for people with full-time jobs and busy households. By learning a new language at home, you can adopt an instruction schedule that suits your time frame — and you can fit in practice when it’s most convenient for you. As you decide whether to embrace ESL or learn Japanese, Spanish, or French, keep the following information in mind to help you create a learning dynamic at home that supports your learning style. 

Best Ways to Learn a New Language

Benefits of being mulitlingual

Setting up your learning space

Top 10 tips for learning fast

Tips for teaching kids a second language

Why You Should Learn a New Language: The Benefits of Being Multilingual 

Although there are many new pastimes one might embrace — knitting or gardening, web design or data science — to fill time, learning a new language is both enjoyable and professionally useful. Today, the career marketplace is highly global.

Bilingualism and multilingualism can catapult your resume to the top of an employer’s list, especially if the company is international and relies on its multilingual staff to communicate across borders. Learning Korean or German can open up an entire range of job opportunities that you may never have thought of before. 

Of course, there are other benefits of learning a new language, too. Language learning actually enhances your mental health. As we age, our cognitive function can diminish just as our physical health can. But, language learning can reduce that cognitive decline, slowing its process as you forge new neural pathways.

When you learn a new language you can boost your ability to focus, keeping our minds alert and agile. Many people who engage in language learning report that the time they engage in the study actually improves their mood. As you focus on the enjoyment and challenge of your lessons, you’ll focus less on the stress of all things left undone, giving your mind the opportunity to recharge and rejuvenate from your usual anxieties and inner chatter.

Finally, you might opt to learn a new language so that you’ll be prepared to get out into the world and explore. Being multilingual makes you a more skillful traveler, building confidence and helping you navigate new, far-flung places for a grand travel experience. And learning a new language improves your communication skills — a core interpersonal and professional talent that’ll get you far in relationships, in business, and beyond.

 How to Set up the Ultimate Learning Space

Of course, before you start pricing hotels in Barcelona or Paris, you’ll need to begin language instruction. But before you hire a language tutor or sign up for an online class, prepare your learning space at home so that you have everything you need to support your learning goals conveniently in one area. If you have a home office, you can enlist that space to learn, but you don’t have to dedicate an entire room to your new initiative. A special niche in your bedroom, kitchen, or family room will also suffice. 

As you set up your language study area, you’ll want to ensure that it’s both quiet and comfortable. Distractions will prevent you from learning effectively. Opt for a space with good acoustics, since you’ll be doing a lot of language listening. Good lighting is important since you’ll be doing a lot of reading and writing. A desk or small table and comfortable chair are essential furnishings for your study area — but why not take your language learning space to an even more exciting level?

Whether you’ve opted to learn Hungarian or Turkish, why not set up your space with some international flair for inspiration? Add some travel posters to your wall, and keep a globe handy. Incorporate the spirit of your Spanish independent study with a Mexican blanket slung on your chair, or enhance your study of Chinese with some picturesque paper lanterns hung near your window. By creating a fun language learning space, you’ll have a special space with a retreat-like atmosphere that may very easily become your favorite place in the house.

 Top 10 Hacks to Learn a New Language

Once your study space is ready and you know what language you want to learn, it’s time to get down to business. Consider all the various applications available for learning a language at home. The following hacks will help you transform yourself into a multilingual virtuoso — or close to it! Keep them in mind as you develop your language learning goals and make your plan. 

Enroll in an online course

Formal instruction is a good option for individuals who prefer to learn a new language with a more-or-less traditional dynamic. If you’re concerned that independent study isn’t conducive to your learning style, consider this tried-and-true learning route. A formal course features highly structured lesson plans, assignment deadlines, and interaction with a teacher and classmates, albeit virtually. 

Download the app

You’ve probably seen the advertisements online for any number of language learning apps. Less formal than an online course, these apps still offer learners a rich level of instruction designed to help them progress at a clip. Apps are ideal for independent learners who don’t have time to meet consistently for an online class. 

Update your library card

Your local library system will have a wealth of materials to enhance your language-learning experience. Plan to borrow language dictionaries and picture books, novels, and even films in the language you’re learning so you can read, watch, and practice your listening skills. Check out materials in person or reserve them online and pick them up at your convenience. 

Quality earbuds, headphones, or speakers

When you’re learning to speak a new language, you need to be able to hear your learning materials clearly. A speaker that crackles or earbuds that cut in and out will compromise your learning experience. Plan to invest in quality listening devices so that you can hear instructors or your language learning app with crystal clarity. 

Use flashcards

Flashcards work for kids, and they will still work for you, too. In fact, if you have kids, you might want to enlist their help — invite them to quiz you on your German verbs after you quiz them on their multiplication facts. You can also find flashcard apps for literally any language you want to learn. 

Hire a language tutor

There comes a point when you might hit a stumbling block or a series of obstacles while learning a new language. Don’t despair! Check with area colleges, and engage a language tutor. This can be especially helpful if you’ve never learned a foreign language before or you want to stay on track and pick up speed as you move from beginner-level learning to the more complex, intermediate stages. 

Find a learning partner

Convince your bestie, spouse, partner, or friend to consider learning a language with you. When you have a partner, you can keep each other motivated and take turns studying at one another’s homes. Of course, ideally, you’ll want to find someone who’s just as enthusiastic about learning Russian or Portuguese as you are, so choose your language learning pal wisely. 

Listen to native speakers

One of the complaints that many students of languages have is that classroom and app models are too formal and not the stuff of everyday language you’ll hear on the streets of Rio, or Naples. Use your devices to track down native language speakers — like watching and listening to videos on the internet. This is particularly helpful if you plan to travel to the country whose language you’re learning.

Be kind and patient with yourself

Too often, people abandon their language pursuits because life interrupts them, and they find it difficult to resume their studies. Keep in mind that it’s okay to learn at your own speed and tempo. It may be asking too much of yourself to learn Italian in six months. If you need to adjust your goals, do it! The key is to keep going — and don’t be afraid to revisit old lessons when you need a refresher. 

Immerse yourself in culture

Language learning may seem tedious at times, especially if you’re struggling with tenses or complex sentence structures.

Maintain your motivation to keep learning by immersing yourself in the culture of the language. Learning Greek? Invite your best friend to a luncheon at your favorite Greek restaurant. Learning Spanish? Set Saturday nights aside for a tapas feasting! You’ll find that cultural immersion boosts your learning — and enriches your life.

Tips to Teach Kids a Second Language

Speak It 

If you speak a second or third language and you want your children to learn it, the first step is to speak it with them. Children learn through repetition. Consistency is necessary to develop a habit, so the more your kids listen to you speaking in another language, the easier it will be for them to grasp it.

Music

Just like for an adult, listening to music in a different language is one of the best tips to follow when trying to learn a new language. For both children and adults, starting with kid’s songs with easy and basic words can work best. 

Audiobooks 

For bedtime or nap time, you could aid yourself by using audiobooks. Following a story with the help of native speakers can work wonders for children to learn different intonations, accents, and vocabulary while also entertaining them.

Have fun

Doing fun activities in the language you are trying to teach your kids is another great way to help them grasp the language. If you grew up in another country, do you remember what activities you enjoyed when you were a child? You can plan a fun afternoon with games from your home country to do with your children. If this is not the case and you are just trying to teach your child to learn a new language, games with new vocabulary are always the best bet.

Video

Another good idea is to let them watch tv or movies in another language. Not only tv shows where they interact with the audience work, standard format movies, cartoons, and shows can help you at home, they don’t need to spend hours in front of a screen. This is only to aid you in the repetition, consistency, and the develop a habit side of the process. Remember it is important that they have access to other intonations, accents, and vocabulary for them to acquire the language faster. 

Space to Learn 

You can set up a special space for them to study. If they are being homeschooled, they would probably already have a designated space for their study work but if not, you can choose a corner in the kitchen, your home office, or their playroom for this purpose. 

Things to add to their study space:

Get them a small table or desk their size with chairs. 

Set up a whiteboard on the wall with markers for them to write down vocabulary words or to draw. 

Corkboards are great to stick images and vocabulary words to.

Shelves for their storybooks and dictionaries.

Be sure to have good light. 

Add color. Remember children’s classrooms are always colorful, this makes them feel in a fun and exciting environment. Bright colors stimulate the brain and can help children retain information.

Add storage. If you want to avoid clutter, add boxes or drawers for them to keep things they work with.

When is the best time to learn a language?

When young, human beings acquire new languages, they don’t actually learn them, so you could say the best age to learn a second language is as a young child. 

But even if it’s easier to learn languages as a kid, don’t get discouraged. Remember that you can achieve anything you set your mind to. It’s scientifically proven that learning a language as an adult can also have its advantages. As adults, we can follow and understand grammar rules, so learning in a more technical way is easier for adults than for children.

Learning a new language enhances your life in numerous ways while providing you with a marketable skill. As you learn a new language, you’ll develop new communication skills, keep your brain agile, and even discover new writers and artists to read and enjoy as you encounter them in your studies.

Before you know it, you’ll be fluent in the language of your choosing, and who knows where you could go from there?

Written by Tamara Segal

[fandom-blackhole]

First of all give Gwen a good belly rub and a kith om her head. I bet she is a good girl. Also, I don't know what kind of force bond thingy is this but you and I think in almost the same wa. No worries me likey!

AAA I was thinking about Fennec too! See told you we are connected,

Boba having grandpa moment sksksks but yes, he loves Fennec as much as he loves you,

Also, for the love of God, don't ask him to take photos of you,

All your selfies with him end up looking like this 😐Boba 🤗You,

Boba was feeling extra and bought two diamonds collars, one smaller for Fennec and a bigger one for you,

If, he was not a crime lord and didn't meet you he would end up being like a crazy old cat lady,

Is your head okay? It must be painful to have a brain the size of the universe.

Yes, yes, yes Paz definitely helps hurt animals and went out of his way to get rhe right diploma for that,

Din is butthurt when children flood him with question when will Mr Paz come again,

But he swallows his pride and totally participates in eco wokness classes,

Recently I watched a documentary on YouTube about japanese bunny cafe sooo

Paz has also area for the rabbits in the restaurant???

One day on his way to work Paz came across a pupper in distress and he performed a cpr on the dog, someone filmed it and it went viral,

You were scrolling through Instagram and had to double take

Wait was it? No it can't be

Omg Paz my hero, being friends with animals like a Disney princess,

I need you to lay down, your back must be hurt as well. Hurt from carrying this AU on your back queen.

Space themed room for Grogu 10/10 idea and your idea for the metal ball works so well!

Grogu + Din + Running = one day you end up tending to your boys, there are some scratches on their knees and elbows, but mostly Din took the damage(like it was bound to happen there are compilations of din landing on his butt),

Grogu's stroller must be made out of some, really resilient material (beskar??),

Grogu being freaked out by Fennec, like he sees a kitty but the kitty behaves like a doggo??? (srsly Maine Coons are the best high five bestie),

Boba tried to snap a pic of Grogu and Fennec, yeah, we know how it ended up looking,

Grogu desperately tries to steal and sneak in snacks for uncle Paz' pupper because it's so tiny, must feed it a lot! (oh bless his poor soul, little angel),

You and Din spent a whole day shopping for a space themed blankie, literally went to every shop possible, you were too dedicated to the cause but you ended up placing an order on-line,

When Boba had to go abroad for business, you settled on having a FaceTime date,

You wanted to surprise him so he would try his best to come back home as soon as possible,

You call him up appearing on his screen, wearing his favorite lingerie,

Only to end up to a close up of Boba's forehead and him saying

Princess I can't see you, can you hear me, baby girl are you there??,

Srsly what's wrong with him not being able to use the technology correctly,

You decided on sending him pictures, yours were really spicy, you wanted to show him what he was missing,

Well, he send you a pic too. You weren't sure if it was his arm, leg, or his dick.

Maybe you need to check if his camera is stuck on some type of foggy filter because it's just ridiculous at this point,

Sorry I kinda went all of the place with those. If you want to stick up to specific theme you can choose! Or we can just keep up the random brainstorming - 🐣

Kajdksmskaksb stop! You can't be this nice to me lmao. (Also its funny you mention that my brain must hurt bc I do have chronic headaches and migraines) oh and Gwen says thank you for the belly rub and kisses.....

Lmao Boba is a total grandpa when it comes to technology

He totally takes pictures for you like this

Diamond collar you say 👀👀👀 (Boba's princess is totally inscribed on the inside)

TRYING TO FUCKING FACETIME WITH BOBA OMFG

This man is just fuckinv holding the phone like you would when speaking on the phone, you're just seeing the side of his head

He totally tried to send a disk pick but he only got his thigh and like part of his left ball in the picture, not that you can tell

How the fuck does this man have a phone that has the ability to take pictures as good as the best cameras out there manage to only get pictures that look like they were taken with a flip phone?!?!?!

Din's students definitely ask every day when Paz is coming, they just love him and it takes sssoooooo long for him to come back lmao

Paz's restaurant has places for all types of animals, it doesn't matter what they are he has thought of something for them, and he has food for all of them

Paz totally accidentally becomes viral and gets interviewed by so many news channels, and of course he uses the exposure for good and makes an Instagram to show case the restaurant, his organization, and all of the charities he helps

The Instagram blows up and becomes verified and all the money he makes from it he donates to a new charity each month

(He starts hanging up all the fanart he receives all over the restaurant, especially the ones done by kids)

Ok so Din coming home just covered in scratches and your just like 'wtf happened?!?!!'

Turns out Grogu tried to jump out of the stroller while he was jogging and he had to catch him

Din's entire arm and knee + part of his cheek are just scratched to hell, Grogu hand has a small scratch and he's acting like its the end of the world

Grogu + Fennec = over protective pet and the child that it protects

Fennec is constantly pulling Grogu back from trouble by biting his pants leg

Paz's chihuahua (aaaahhh we need a name) loves abusing Grogu's feeding them habit, constantly begging for food around him and he A L W A Y S finds a way to give them some even if you are watching him like a hawk

Also I raise you, Grogu's favorite movies and TV shows are Star Wars

You are constantly trying to convince Din that he looks like Pedro Pascal, but he always deny it

Jokingly one day you say, "you know what you're right Din, Pedro is so much hotter."

He pouts for the rest of the day

For his bday you get Grogu a Luke figure and post it to Twitter, Mark Hamill sees it and retweets it telling him happy bday and may the force be with you

Grogu totally flips out in excitement

Din makes Grogu his own mandalorian helmet that he helps him paint what colors he wants

Paz gets Grogu a telescope and a book about stars

Boba of course spoils the kid and gets the giant lego star wars sets, as well as one of the actual blasters used on set of the OG movies (its one of the ones that that really cool green bounty hunter used 😏)

Also this is us:

Anyways, sorry I was all over the place, I just got so excited lmao!!!

(Send me THOTS!!)

[opalmaplehibiscus]

Spicy Ramen, Sweet Love

*Hello Anon! And hello to everyone, I am officially back! ヽ(✿ﾟ▽ﾟ)ノ Thank you for the request! Your request wasn’t weird at all, in fact, I had a lot of fun writing it! It was honestly so cute that I would probably say that it’s my favorite request I have written ヾ(≧▽≦*)o I really hope Cater doesn’t sound OOC though and I seriously do hope you enjoy it UwU 

Cater x Reader HC w/ Small Cater-Lore theories

·       Despite how carefree he acts, when it comes to asking you to go on dates with him, it takes him a week to get over his initial nervousness

·       He constantly worries whether you would like to go, used to using the excuse of wanting a buddy to take pictures with on magicam before the two of you started going out

·       So, when he tries to ask you if you would like to go to a famous ramen restaurant and try their spicy ramen, he panics a bit on the inside, not sure if you would be up for it or not

·       He quickly adds on the end that it’s totally okay if you didn’t want to go and that both of you could head to a famous bakery that’s been trending on Magicam only to freeze and gape at you when you agreed

·       Cue him giving you a rare, honest yet bright smile when he looks at you in joy, happy to know that you wouldn’t mind going with him as well getting time to spend some alone time with you. After all, it doesn’t help how Ace and Deuce would constantly spy on the two of you or get in the way when he tries to hang out with the person he loves

·       Like, please, ADeuce, senpai isn’t going to do anything bad to you so let him have some time with you, yeah? Give some respect to your senpai

·       On the day you and Cater go onto the ramen date, he’s excited and happy

·       Not only would he be eating his favorite food, he’s able to eat it with the person he loves with his whole heart and brag about it on Magicam! 3 birds with one stone!

·       He takes a bunch of selfies and pictures while standing in line, posting some of them on Magicam but saving most of them in his private gallery since they included you in it

·       As he does this, he would continue to check up on you, constantly chatting away with you while holding your hand so the two of you wouldn’t get separated from the crowd

·       It’s easy to tell how excited he is, honest excitement radiating off of him unlike all those other times where he would put up a façade in from the rest of the students

·       Yes, around you, he’s more direct and looked more relax – more like true self. However, it was often rare for him to get to enjoy what he actually like

·       No worries about his image, rules, or any dorm members spying on the two of you – today is the day he’ll enjoy to the fullest!

·       By the time the two of you got in and seated, Cater would be on the roll and tell you all the popular toppings and side dishes that people seemed to get the most with sparkles in his eyes.

·       He also reminds you that you could order something other than the spicy ramen, only to feel touched and lucky to have you as his s/o when he hears that you wanted to order the same thing as he does because you want to get know him more

·       When you giggle, he snaps out of his excitement and flusters a bit, realizing how he was chatting about the food there nonstop

·       He starts apologizing for getting way too ahead of himself and seemingly ignoring his one and only s/o, but when you comfort him by telling him how happy you were to see this side of him, he ends up blushing

·       Cater doesn’t even bother taking the usual number of pics when it comes to food once the two spicy ramen comes out

·       One pic with the two ramens alone, one pic of a solo ramen, and one secret pic of the ramen with you in the background to remind him of the date

·       Right after that, Cater starts eating the ramen and ends up sighing out of pure bliss. To think that his favorite food could taste so good – savory, salty, and especially spicy. It was totally worth the wait

·       Once he gets over how good it tasted, he looks at you and asks if you had taken your first spoon yet

·       Hearing the answer to be no, Cater encourages you to try it, looking at you to see your reaction to the ramen

·       He may like spicy ramen but he came here because he wanted eat it with you. He wanted to share the experience of eating really good ramen since 1.he wants to spend time with you, 2.he wants to make a happy memory with you, 3. he loves you

·       He didn’t bring you here just so he wouldn’t be a lone and make himself look cool on magicam

·       He honestly just wants to be with you since you guys don’t get to hang out with each other a lot on campus

·       School work, club activities, and Heartslabyul’s rules really prevented you two from spending time together. With the addition of your friends’ interference? Is it really too much to ask that he could hang out with you by himself?

·       Like how people would want to share the things that they like on Magicam, he wants to share them with you. Of course, asking you before hand because he knew that everyone wouldn’t like the same  thing even when trying something new out

·       It really doesn’t help how back at home too, he’s rarely able to do the things he wanted when his sisters would force him to act in certain ways and like certain things while forcing him to do most of the house work as “the guy of the house”

·       So, when he sees you eat the ramen and tell him that it tasted good, it makes him happy from the bottom of his heart

·       He goes back eating the ramen while giving small comments here and there about it, not realizing the trouble you were having when eating it

·       It’s when Cater is half way down his ramen that he hears the small sniffles and coughs

·       Snapping his head up, his eyes widen before he gets up and slides beside you as try to wipe the tears from your eyes

·       Quickly ordering milk*, he wipes your tears away with a napkin and gently pat your back, asking if you were okay

·       You manage to nod and try to comfort him you were fine, that you accidentally swallowed to quickly. Yet Cater grabs both your wrists and have you face him, telling you not to lie when that wasn’t it

·       He gives you a worried and hurt look, asking why you didn’t tell him that you were weak to spices

·       Cater could feel his heart break a bit while in the same time warmed up when you reveal how you didn’t want to let him down or ruin the date he was obviously excited for

·       To see him be so happy and wanting to continue seeing him smile from the bottom of the heart, you couldn’t bring it upon yourself to tell him

·       He argues back how he told you about ordering something other than the spicy ramen since he didn’t know how well you could handle the spiciness, only to be reminded that you wanted to eat his favorite food to feel closer to him

·       Cater ends up looking up and covering his now-tomato face with both hands, releasing a frustrated yet endearing sigh

·       He couldn’t get himself to get mad at you when you were so cute and actually cared for him that much

·       Wrappings his arms around you, he pulls you into a hug, kissing the top of your head and mumble that next time, you should tell him what your limits are so something like this won’t happen during the next date

·       Keeping an arm around you, he then grabs the cup of milk that just arrived and hands it to you so you could drink it

·       Afterwards, despite how much you try to persuade him not to, Cater orders the restaurant’s other famous ramen along with a side of gyoza for you

·       Cater hushes you, saying how it wouldn’t be fair for him to enjoy his food when you can’t. That and he wants to spoil you for being a good s/o to him

·       Once you two finish your food, he tries to treat you to dessert only for you, this time, successfully getting him not to by kissing him on the lips and say you wanted to go back to campus

·       He ends up just doing that, holding your hand in his the whole entire while stealing small kisses from you either on the cheeks or lips along the way

* Note: Japanese traditional ramen restaurants don’t have individual tables but has a bar table where you sit on a bar chair and get the ramen you ordered right in front of the area they cook it. For the sake of this hc and the fact Twisted Wonderland is more western styled, the restaurant is formatted like a western restaurant. It’s also why Cater was able to order a drink from the first place because you wouldn’t be able to in a traditional ramen restaurant

[teawithshruti]

How did I keep myself sane amidst a pandemic - My thoughts on books, anime, and restaurants.

Yet another review of The Shining

A plot so well written you would want to go in room 217

Hi there! This blog comes to you from a bored 19 year old who has a knack for reading crime thrillers, watching murder documentaries, and loves watching MasterChef just to see Gordon Ramsay. LOL. And did I mention that she also happens to be a Stephen King fan, because who isn’t? So here is where I try and convince you that The Shining  is the best book ever written and how Stanley Kubrick completely butchered the screenplay, as well as why pasta is life.

Welcome to the Rockies!

The story takes place in the town of Boulder, Colorado, where our main protagonist Jack Torrance gets a job as a caretaker of the famous Overlook Hotel. Winters in Boulder are harsh, and the hotel remains closed as travel is not permitted with all the heavy snowfall. Now Jack is a recovering alcoholic with anger issues which led to him breaking his son’s arm prior to where the story begins. This made Wendy, his wife, question her marriage and the safety of their five year old son,  Danny. Danny on the other hand isn’t your average five year old who just watches cartoons and plays with toys. He is aglow with a psychic voltage, and has frequent blackouts. In the words of old Mr Hallorann, the hotel’s head chef, Danny’s a shiner. When the Torrances meet Mr Hallorann, he feels an instant connection with Danny. He warns Jack about the hotel and its sinister secrets and how the previous caretaker, Delbert Grady, killed himself and his family. But Jack is sure that this huge and lonely hotel with its splendid views is just what he needs in order to earn back his family’s trust. But going to a haunted hotel with a troubled marriage and a psychic son? Maybe not the best idea. But in his defense, Jack doesn't believe in ghosts. Little does he know that’s about to change.

Snowbound at The Overlook

The Torrance's begin settling in the Overlook. But as winter closes in and the blizzards cut them off from the outer world, the hotel seems to develop a life of its own. Meanwhile, Jack starts growing restless, craving for a friendly drink with each passing day. He also starts experiencing hallucinations, and wonders if they are withdrawal symptoms. Danny on the other hand is experiencing his own share of ghostly sightings, like the terrifying lady in the bathtub of room 217 who seems to have never checked out of the hotel. In one instance, he witnesses her climbing out of the clawfoot tub and advancing towards him with her bloated belly and dry hair as he stands frozen in fear in a blood covered presidential suite. This narrative by King with all its details is the truly the most spine tingling I’ve ever read.  Later when Danny’s parents find him in the room, a thumb in his mouth, that is when Wendy truly realizes that they are not alone in that strange big hotel. Jack goes and sees the tub for himself, but the lady from before doesn't want to greet him. Wendy, in tears, sees that both her husband and her son are being tormented by this place and begs Jack to quit the job. Danny later calms his mom down, who is weeping uncontrollably, by telling her not to worry as his daddy doesn't have the shining, so there is nothing to worry about.

Have you never heard of REDRUM?

Sure you have. Read it backwards.  Yes, you got it right. And so did Danny after seeing this word in his visions countless times. It so turns out that Danny is much stronger than he looks and after failing to possess him, The Overlook has turned to an easier target - Jack. As Jack slowly starts to lose his mind, he gives in and starts drinking again from the bar in the ballroom. His hallucinations keep getting worse to the point he actually sees Mr Grady, the previous caretaker / murderer,  and even has a talk with him. Danny sees his changing behavior and so does his wife, who just doesn't see the man she fell in love with in his cold, distant eyes anymore. With everything going on, Wendy takes Danny to their apartment in the employee wing of the hotel and locks them inside in fear of Jack, who is slowly slipping away from reality. But turns out this move from her proves to be disastrous, as Wendy keeping Jack away from his own son is the last straw for him. In one of his many hallucinations, Jack  meets his predecessor,  his buddy Mr. Grady and the two have a disturbing conversation about how fun it is to kill your wife. Yes , no one trumps King when it comes to the unique combination of horror and psychological thrillers packed into one nail-biting plot!

In other words...

The only thing I liked about the movie was Jack Nicholson’s excellent acting. Apart from that Stanley Kubrick let go of many crucial parts which were essential to the story. He eliminated the hedge sequence in the book, which was terrifying to just read. The ending was just a complete mess.  I get that you can’t exactly get all the details right of a 500 page book, but at least do justice to the ones you have chosen. Anyways I’m gonna go sulk in my room over this. Bye

.  

Is it too late to start Anime?

Hi there! Good to have you back! Ever since pandemic began, everyone’s been locked in their own house. So this led to me taking up a few hobbies like sketching and painting and binging on a whole lot of sitcoms.. My personal favorite is the alluring world of Anime. Several of my friends began watching it and I cannot exactly term it as peer pressure, but I did give in and start watching Anime too. And now my watchlist includes just a bunch of 2D characters with powers that even Superman himself can't fight. So this is my take on how a kryptonian can be defeated with Jutsu, as Mr Naruto would say. Lol. This one is for all the weebs out there. 

Manga and Anime are not the same!

To put it simply, manga is a Japanese term for comics and graphic novels, whereas Anime is the term for Japanese animations.. There are many similarities  between them, as they both have been created by Osama Tezuka, who is considered as the Japanese version of Walt Disney. Now have you ever seen a simple comic book? The one with black and white newspaper illustrations - like Garfield. Manga is just like that -  A book of illustrations. Now we arrive at the perennial question - Manga or Anime, which is better. Both of them are equally interesting, but I personally have a soft spot for anime. The intro theme songs, intense background music, and the beat dropping right before a big fight move, all these factors pack a punch. You don’t get that adrenaline rush from just a book.

My first anime - Demon Slayer

The story begins with the main character Tanjiro, who returns home after selling charcoal in town to find his entire family murdered by demons. Pretty intense right? His sister, Nezuko, survives but there’s a twist - she turns into a demon herself.  This makes him vow to take revenge and he sets off to train with Sakonji, who has trained many of the elite members of the Demon Slayer Corps. After many years of training and a painful exam called the final selection, Tanjiro finally becomes a demon slayer and is off on missions along with his sister, who unlike most demons doesn’t consume human flesh. On his missions he meets Zenitsu and Inosuke, who both have excellent powers of their own. My favorite story arc was when the highest ranking slayers, known as the pillars, were introduced. But my words won’t do justice to their powers they possess. So simply get your geek on by watching this short yet amazing series.

The Tale of Naruto Uzumaki

The hidden leaf village is not so hidden anymore! The series I am currently watching is one of the most popular anime from 2020 - Naruto.   The story is set around the shinobi villages and their ninjas and how Naruto Uzumaki plans on being the next Hokage [the most powerful shinobi] of the leaf village. He is trained by some of the best ninjas the village has ever seen. Before graduating from the academy, he was a hyperactive boy with lots of energy who just wanted to be the best. After graduation, he was placed in team seven, along with Sakura Haruno and Sasuke Uchiha. This team was trained by Kakashi Sensei who is known for wielding his Chidori and even the Sharingan. The sharingan, to put it simply, is a trait passed down in families. The Uchihas are known for their sharingans and hence it naturally comes to Sasuke as well. The mystery still remains unsolved as to how Kakashi got his sharingan, as he is not an Uchiha. But Naruto does have a super power as well. Not technically his powers per se,  but we can cut him some slack. After all it's not everyday you get to see a beast like the nine tailed fox sealed away in an 11 year old boy. In my opinion the story picks up Orochimaru’s entry, and it paves the way for Sasuke’s powers in the future. My favorite character has to be Sasuke Uchiha. With his effortless fighting skills and sarcastic yet cool personality, he definitely is an excellent shinobi. You have to start this show right away because once you have seen him use his fire style fireball jutsu.....the world just doesn't look the same anymore.

In other words...

My current watchlist includes Naruto Shippuden, Black Clover, One Piece, and a few other naruto spin offs. Anime was something I never thought I would like, but now as it turns out I can't get enough of it. So bye for now, if you need me I'll be at Ichiraku’s eating ramen with barbeque pork. And if you get this reference, have a bowl of ramen on me. K bye.

Home in a faraway land

Good to see you again ! Do you ever get that feeling of an intense craving for your favourite dish? Like say pasta or pizza? My favorite is pasta, but being raised in India, I can’t say no to a classic plate of butter naan and chicken tikka with a glass of buttermilk or chaas if you please. Of Course you can’t beat the taste of a home cooked meal, but let me tell you about the time I went to this amazing little Indian restaurant in Dubai with my family, and how the food there was absolutely heavenly. 

Out and About in Dubai

Skyscrapers, Sleepless nights, Gold Souks and gigantic malls - these are the visions  you'd usually get when someone mentions Dubai. Well, they're mostly right! I went there with my family about 5 years ago. We stayed at the Ramada, which was right next to the Dubai Mall.  The mall happens to be strategically placed next to the Burj Khalifa and we got lucky enough to see mesmerizing musical fountain shows night after night. The streets are spick and span, and everyone follows the traffic regulations dutifully. We also went for the desert safari, which was no less than an actual roller coaster ride. We also visited the Gold Souk, and oh boy. The name definitely fulfills its purpose, as the entire street is occupied entirely by gold stores. Huge gold ornaments are on display like clothes on hangers. I personally don’t have a thing for gold jewellery, but my mom had the time of her life there fawning and gasping over every store we came across. Shortly after our visit here, we came across this beautiful little Indian restaurant, and you can call me old school but at the end of the day, this girl needs a desi meal, because trust me room service gets boring after a while.

Peshwa - Not your typical 5 star restaurant 

Situated away from the hustle of the main city, this place still remains quite underrated. We stumbled across this hidden gem which saved us the efforts of getting back to the hotel for an overpriced lunch. As soon as we entered the restaurant, we could smell the aroma of a classic dal makhani  [ a simple gravy consisting of lentils infused with aromatic spices and hints of burnt chillies ] in the air. So we got a table and had a look at the menu and it was almost like being back home. The endless variety of gravies with paneer in almost every single one of them, to at least 6 different types of rotis, a little piece of heaven in this concrete jungle! We went ahead and ordered a simple meal of rotis and some paneer delicacy, along with dal and rice. Apart from the taste of the food, which was just heavenly, the overall ambience of the place in one word, was exquisite. The restaurant lived up to its very ethnic maharashtrian name. The food was served in those traditional style cutlery, reminding us of a simpler time.

A dish you just can’t miss 

If you have a sweet tooth like me, you definitely have to try the coconut barfi from this place. Made from desiccated coconuts, sweetened condensed milk, a finely ground cardamom, and a hint of saffron, this dish is a match made in heaven. It was freshly made and we could tell it by the intoxicating aroma of pure ghee [clarified butter]. So just for a day, give yourself a break from watching calories and try this mouth watering dish because here’s something to live for.

In other words…

The next time I’m in Dubai, the first thing I will do is find out if the restaurant is still there. And probably avoid the Gold Souk this time. I will most certainly go for the desert safari, because it’s not everyday you get defy gravity and drive through the sand dunes like in a Fast and Furious movie. Lol.  Also thanks for bearing with me throughout this blog. See ya!