Movie Review: The Ramen Girl

Konnichiwa!

Last night my parents and I sat down to watch a movie called Ramen Girl. I had been looking forward to watching this movie for a long time, seeing as I have a slight obsession with Japan. I have always wanted to try real ramen (the packaged 50 cent stuff in America is crap), but there isn’t any of the good stuff in Kansas.

Anyway this movie is about a girl who moves to Tokyo so she can be with her boyfriend at his new job, but he dumps her and leaves (right after sleeping with her too!). She finds refuge in a steaming flavorful bowl of ramen at the ramen shop across the street from her apartment. She is overcome with a desire to learn the art of ramen cuisine, and dedicates herself to convincing the chef to teach her. There’s only one problem… the language barrier of course!

I won’t spoil the rest of the movie for you, but I’ll give you my opinion of it. The main character Abby, played by Brittany Murphy, is completely obnoxious. Murphy’s acting is horrible and her botoxed lips are extremely annoying. This girl Abby consistently drags on to the Japanese restaurant owner about her horrible life and boyfriend even though he CLEARLY CANNOT UNDERSTAND HER. She does this throughout the entire movie. It takes her forever to learn even simple phrases like “I don’t understand”, “I’m sorry” and “please” (I felt pretty smug because I knew all of them). What’s more, the idea of her being able to master ramen in a year is pretty unrealistic, as is the teacher’s willingness to teach a white girl, along with the fact that he puts up with her very offensive antics. This being said, the movie was worth watching because of the heartwarming storyline, the intriguing sights into the ramen world of Japan, the ability to listen to the Japanese language and the hilariously cute Japanese characters. If you have Netflix, it’s free anyway so give it a go, and let me know what you think!

Keep it kawaii folks!

-Ainsley

P.S. since there were no pictures in this blogpost and I don't want to bore you to death, here are some random pics of me eating fasian food (both f's intentional, if you catch my drift). 

ANOTHER present from Ayana!

Konnichiwa!

So you remember my pen-pal Ayana, right? Well she totally surprised me and sent more Christmas presents :D And I mean a LOT. And its all extremely awesome stuff. Even the packing is freaking adorable. I feel really blessed to have her as a friend, and to live in an age of technology where international online correspondence is available. Here are pictures :)

 the gorgeous packaging

 I love seeing all the Japanese characters- its the little things that excite me<3

 extremely soft 'A' bag (A is both my initial and hers)

 strawberry lotion. I actually had put strawberry lotion on my Christmas list, so now I can cross it off :)

 flowers/watermelon bellyband. I've never had one of these before!

 Hi-chew candies! yum yum yum

 again with the authentic Japanese characters

 chopsticks with a holder!

 fake eyelashes. So glad to receive these because I planned on using fake eyelashes for prom

 unique envelope<3

 little Japanese stickers. So kawaii ( ^-^)

 very heartwarming, hand-written letter (Ayana's English is really impressive)

and here they are all together - yay!

I am so absolutely astonished at her generosity, and I have already found a use for every gift. This Christmas season has provided me with a lot of culture and love<3

Keep it kawaii folks!

-Ainsley

Boyfriend Christmas Exchange: Matcha Tea Set

Konnichiwa!

It's that time of year again... hence my posting this one day late :P It's Christmas! Definitely my favorite holiday. Obviously, my boyfriend and I spend Christmas with our families, so we exchange presents early. And he got me the COOLEST traditional matcha tea set ever, some matcha tea (hello lattes) and a new tea steeping ball, because mine broke. The tea steeping ball is actually shaped like a tea pot ( ^-^)

Here are some pictures

 Isu Matcha (powder green tea)

 adorbs tea steeper

 bamboo tray

 tea set box

 tea set

 bowl

 scoop

whisk

And here are some pictures of me making it for the first time

 filling the teapot with water (yes, my pot is Irish. Hoping for a Japanese one as a Christmas present)

 heating the water

 filling the bowl

 gettin a scoop :)

 dumpin that scoop!

stirring...

 Almost done!

 Yum yum soothing ( ^-^)

So basically I have the best boyfriend ever<3 Let me know what you get for Christmas, and what your favorite present is! And please, inform me if I'm making this incorrectly; I didn't look up instructions online, I just winged it. 

Keep it kawaii folks!

-Ainsley

Green Tea of the Month: Matcha

Konnichiwa!

So this title may be a little bit deceiving, but that isn't entirely my fault... When I bought this set of matcha green tea at Chelmsford Tea & Gifts, the lady selling it sold it as "matcha", even commenting that it is delicious as a latte. So naturally, I was under the impression that it would be a can of some lovely green powder for me to scoop into milk, like at Starbucks. WRONG. It is little tea bags filled with half normal green tea leaves and half matcha powder. Although it is refreshing steeped in water, I bought the stuff for lattes so I thought "dangit, I'm going to find a way to make a latte with this stuff." And it worked :D

(^tricky right?)

So here's how the latte is made

1. pour skim milk into teapot

2. microwave the pot of milk for 2 minutes on high

3. put two bags of "matcha" in a mug

4. when the microwave finishes, pour it on the tea and then steep for 2 minutes

5. remove the teabags

6. stir in stevia swettener (i do two packets tehehe)

7. snuggle up in bed, drink, and enjoy :) (and maybe even procrastinate from homework a little...)

Despite the deception, I'll give it up to Chelmsford for providing me with one hell of a latte! It has a slight hint of vanilla flavor, some good calcium,is relatively cheap per cup, and is only 80 calories. Beat that Starbucks! I'd really like to try making this with coconut milk instead of regular. I'll let you know how a real matcha latte goes when I get to making one.

Keep it kawaii folks!

-Ainsley