Physio 4

So yesterday was my 4th treatment...

It was really painful this time...
Not from moving my muscles back to their original positions but because I had done a stupid thing the day before...

I drank a lot of margaritas and ate a lot of Mexican food...
Both cause a lot of bloating!!

My therapist just laughed at me and said we'll "take it easy today" but even so, it was soooooooo painful!!

Basically, my "treatment" that day was just flushing out my lymph vessels and getting the water and blood in my body to circulate the way they should.
It was the first time I asked her to stop what she was doing because it hurt too much!!

She first worked on my thighs and worked on shifting the muscles back to their original position. This didn't hurt so much and she said that my muscles are becoming more flexible and easier to move.
Big improvement compared to four months ago.
But then she moved to my calves and feet.
Mother f*****!! (Sorry...)
I screamed!! Literally!! And all she's doing is rubbing my muscles and not using much force at all!! Of course all she did was laugh at me...

Then she put my legs in a device that zips up from the toes to the thighs and there is a pump that blows up some balloons inside of it to create pressure. This pressure works its way up from the toes to the thighs and it helps to improve blood and lymph circulation. The first three times I tried it it felt wonderful. But this time, it was actually painful for me...  Proves how bloated my legs were...

While my legs were being taken care of by the device, she worked on my upper body, specifically my chest area. Oh my G**!! (Sorry...)
It felt like my first treatment where it hurt like hell!! I was actually crying!!
The right side of my body didn't hurt as much but when she worked on my left side... I thought I would pass out from the pain... Especially when she worked on the the left chest where the main lymph "pump" is.
It still hurts now just lightly brushing my fingers over the area... The sides just under my armpit and the area just above the last rib bone of the rib cage really hurt too... Ugh...

So once all the treatment was done, my legs felt really good but I was so tired that while eating a light dinner at home, I was falling asleep in a sitting position!! I ended up going to bed at 7:45P.M. and didn't wake up until 5A.M. the next morning!! 

My body was still sore this morning so the shower was half refreshing and half painful... So, am taking it easy at work today!! Lol!!

But I certainly learned a painful and when you think about it, common sense lesson. DO NOT DRINK ALCOHOL OR EAT SALTY FOOD THE DAY BEFORE A PHYSIO TREATMENT!!!! 

D'uh!!

March Kabuki

Today I went to watch a Kabuki performance at the Shimbashi Enbujyo. It's near Higashi Ginza station on the Hibiya line (exit 6).

https://www2.ticket-web-shochiku.com/en/performance/00413031.html

Every so often, I get some free tickets from an acquaintance from work and if I have some free time before work, I usually ask for tickets to the afternoon performances. Honestly speaking I'd love to go to the evening ones since that's when the top billing show is performed... But beggars can't be choosy, eh?

So the first show that was performed is called "Imoseyama Onna Teikin".
The story is about a dictator called Soga no Iruka who has set up his own court and now seeks to destroy his opponent Kamatari. One day, a mysterious fisherman named Fukashichi comes as a messenger from Kamatari, claiming to bring a message of surrender. At the same time, Iruka's younger sister, Princess Tachibana has fallen in love with a handsome young man named Motome. But actually, Motome is the son of Kamatari and says that he will only return her love if she will go against her brother Iruka. On top of that, a country girl named Omiwa has also fallen in love with Motome. The story is a romantic tragedy where the death of Omiwa and the intertwining of all the other characters are what causes the downfall of the evil Iruka.

This story is based on true Japanese history from the Aska period (early 600 A.D.). Iruka did obtain power in Japan but was a treacherous man who did not think about the people. So, Kamatari, who was concerned about the stability of the country and the welfare of the people, worked with the Imperial family to overthrow him. This part of history is known as "Taika No Kaishin" and is taught in Japanese history as one of the important turning points in shifting of powers.

I'm glad I knew the actual history because if I didn't, I don't think I could have enjoyed the performance. That goes the same for any of the Kabuki performances. It's always good to read up on the historical background of each performance before going. That way you'll be able to understand what's going on and what's being said.

Unfortunately, I couldn't watch the second performance because I had to go to work but I hope I get another chance to watch Kabuki some time soon!!

Birthday dinner for Sachiko

Went out with three other good friends to a Japanese restaurant in Shibuya on Sunday.

It's called "Namikihashi Nakamura".
http://ameblo.jp/fg-nakamura/

We went to celebrate one of the girl's belated birthday. She had requested a Japanese restaurant so her sister found this place.
It has a very simple yet stylish decor and the ingredients they use are mostly what's in season now.

It's best to make a reservation before going. You don't have to order a course meal and everything on the menu looks good and the dishes we ordered were all very delicious!! We each had about two drinks as well and we each paid about 5,000yen. Not bad!!

Here's what we ordered;

Ginger cocktail with deep fried tofu (mine)

Seasonal steam vegtables

Egg with sakura shrimp

Spring Roll with fish cake and seasonal vegetables

Seared mackerel sushi

Tofu salad

Stewed bamboo shoots with butterbur (fuki)

Butterbur sprout stuffed with minced pork

A plate with their name

Grilled pork

Fried rice with sakura shrimp and greens

Grilled salmon rice ball (mine)

Strawberry daifuku and warabi mochi

Not much...

So I didn't cook much in February...
I don't know why...
Maybe I just got lazy...
Or was it because it was so cold...?
These are the dishes that I did cook though!!

 A dish called "chimtak". Stewed chicken with potatoes, carrots, onions and vermicelli in a spicy soy sauce. 

 

"Gyoza"!! But made with minced chicken, drained tofu, and cabbage.

 

 

"Pork curry". Ate it for three days...

 

 

Korean mochi called "topogi" and "kimchi chijimi". The milky drink is Korean "magoli". 

 

 

Hot pot is a Korean dish called "dakkanmari". Basically stewed chicken with leeks and potatoes. Light soup so it's to be dipped in a spicy sauce. That spicy sauce is at the bottom of the photo. Plastic cup with spoon in it. 

 

 

"Tonkatsu"!! 

 

 

"Cabbage rolls"!!

 

 

Cooked rice!! Mixed plain white rice with brown rice and 15 other grains. 

 

  

"Pork chijimi" or also known as "pajyon". 

  

New Album, "TIME"

I really love Korean pop music (K-Pop) and that was the reason why I started studying the Korean language. I wanted to understand what was being sung and what was being said in interviews. 

There are three groups in particular that I really love.
They are;

                     TVXQ (Tohoshinki, in Japan) (pix from ticket pia site 2013)

                     Super Junior (pix from single "SPY" 2012)

                     Big Bang (pix from "ALIVE" album and tour 2012)

Now, TVXQ and Big Bang have many songs released in Japanese as well but I want to be able to understand their Korean songs as well. Thus the studying. But luckily, many of their songs are direct translations from Korean to Japanese so those songs are great for studying. But some are only released in Korea so there aren't any translated versions. Of course fans have uploaded translations onto various sites so I can read those and study but I want to be able to understand them on my own just by listening. Well, someday, that is...

Today, TVXQ released their new album called "TIME" in Japan.
It's their second album after becoming a duo. They used to be a 5 member group but broke up at the end of 2009.

I was really looking forward to this new album and was counting down the days until its release. Of course I pre-ordered the album and got the one with the music video clip collection  DVD.

But what was disappointing was that it had only 5 original songs. The other 7 were songs that were released in the past as singles and their coupling songs. So basically this "new" album isn't exactly new...
In the Fall of 2011, they had released an album in Korea called "Catch Me" and it had some really good songs in it. I was looking forward to hearing some of them translated into Japanese and sung in Japanese. But unfortunately, none of them were translated. Well, except for one called "Humanoids", but that was released as a single in Korea.

In their last album called "TONE", some of the songs were direct translations from their Korean album called "Why? Keep your head down". Of course this Japanese album had singles and their coupling songs in it as well but there was a total of 15 songs, at least. This new album has 12 songs...

So, I'm wondering how many "old" songs will be sung during their concert tour which will start on Saturday, April 27th.
Well, I'll be attending their concert on Saturday, June 15th at Tokyo Dome so I have just over 3 months to memorize (?) all the songs so I can sing along at their concert!! Lol!! And for any "old" songs, at least I know them already!! Lol!!

Basically, I may not be too happy about this album but I still love them regardless!! Yes, love is blind!! Lol!!