Winter Woes
There are only two things I like about this time of year: the beautiful colours of the changed leaves and the nearing of my holiday. Without a winter holiday to look forward to (Laos) I'd probably go nuts. But I can, so I don't.
I've a stack of photos to put up. When I get around to it. But in the meantime, I've been VERY productive. I'm achieving a lot of things at the moment. Whether this has anything to do with the new eating or not I don't know. But it's all good.
Did I mention I bought a Brita water filter? Loving it! I also bought a Braun hand blender, which is SO awesome I can't describe how awesome it is.
Anyway, the food thing is going well and I'm experimenting more.
Last Friday was a national holiday and I dragged Jen and Jan to try VEGGIE PARADISE, the new raw restaurant in Yoyogi-Uehara, with me. It was SOOOOO good. That's all I can say. It was really really good. I definitely plan to be dragging a lot more people there in the near future. And the manager is absolutely lovely and she gives 'cooking' classes there, which I'm dying to do. Only thing is, they're in Japanese - unless I can find five other people wanting to take the class and then she'll do it in English.
Yoyogi-Uehara is SUCH a cute area. I would love to live there. I saw an organic food shop - possibly the first I've seen since I came here and the houses were really cute... and it was just a really nice area - and it's only 5 minutes by train from Shinjuku. Bet it's really expensive though.
On Sunday there was a World Music Festival in Yoyogi Park which was pretty cool. At one point we were all waving around incense sticks. It may have been for world peace, but I'm not really sure. I inhaled a lot of incense that day. And ate the first cooked food I'd had all month (falafel) - and really didn't feel right afterwards.
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I've made an observation: Shinjuku station seems to have a very strange rule in the mornings: between 7 and 8am everyone rushes for the escalator and then walks up on both sides. Between 8 and 9am everyone rushes for the escalator - and then stands still on BOTH sides - after nearly killing each other to get there. Most odd. MOST annoying.
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Have I mentioned how cold it is? My apartment is COLD. The balcony doors let all the cold air in and the heater fan is high up on the wall so, if I'm standing I can be really hot but if I'm sitting down on the futon (my normal position), the heat tends to only sporadically filter down. Great.
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My skin seems to be clearing quite well. Having to contend with the new diet and the onslaught of cold weather and hot dry rooms isn't the best thing for sensitive skins, but it IS getting better.
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I've decided to give up eating raw fish. I'm 100% vegan now. I'm a little surprised I've not lost more weight than I have though - in 3 and a bit weeks I lost just under 2kgs. I'm not really sure why this number is so low but it IS something, and that's the point.
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Photos soon. Promise!
posted by Jo at 18:14
6 Comments:
Did you see the absolutely perfect little Turkish mosque in Yoyogi Uehara? The bizarre thing about it (bizarre for Japan, that is) is that it is no way kitsch or fake. Well worth a look.
Just occurred to me- where does a vegan who doesn't eat tofu 'cos it's cooked get protein from?
TEFLtastic blog- www.tefl.net/alexcase
11:37 pm
Congrats on going vegan. That's Awesome!
And, thank you for writing such a thoughtful blog. I love reading about other areas of the world, especially with respect to food (vegan, raw, organic, etc). Please write more :)
Cheers!
1:05 pm
Hey Alex, I didn't see the mosque, but I'll hunt it out next time as I plan lots more trips there.
Where does a vegan get protein from? fruit, vegetables, nuts, seeds, sprouts, soaked grains....
Kristen, thank you! But can you answer my question: on a strict raw vegan diet, IS it correct to say I can't eat tofu but miso IS okay?
1:45 pm
Hey girlfriend
Congrats on the 2kg - in 3 weeks that is fantastic.
I think I am going to commit to the raw food party excursion. Can you put me down for it. It was 8th right?
I can't believe the sticking power and resolve you have on the diet - it's fantastic. Now chuck some of that motivation and bright eyed and bushy tailedness my way!
2:19 pm
Hey Sigs!
You and the boy? I'm glad you guys are coming. I'll add you to the guest thingy. Should be fun.
Sticking power and resolve? It's SO much easier for me to follow a strict diet than a balanced diet with reasonable portions, if that makes sense? in other words, even when I ate relatively healthily before, I ate too much. Now I don't feel the need to do so. I'm VERY all or nothing, me!
Good, huh?!
10:30 pm
Right, tofu isn't raw, and miso isn't "raw" either. BUT, miso is "living" and has beneficial digestive properties. Many Raw foodists still have warm miso soup and/or put miso paste in some of their dishes for the "salt, flavor, and digestive aspect"...I have miso soup every few weeks (probably more in the winter).
3:01 pm
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