EVACOMICS BLOG

  2 weeks ago, there was a Winter Sale at Gotemba Premium Outlets located in Hakone, where you can get a nice view of Mt. Fuji. Unlike the Chelsea Premium Outlets in California, this outlet has more branded boutiques such as Prada, Tods, Ferragamo, YSL, Jimmy Choo, Bvlgari, etc. It is also the biggest outlet in Japan. 2週前逛了在箱根的御馬場outlet，那時正有冬季促銷，還能欣賞到美麗的富士山風景。和加州的Chelsea Premium Outlet不一樣的是，這間outlet有比較多名牌商店，例如Prada, Ferragamo, YSL, Jimmy Choo, Bvlgari，等。御馬場也是全日本最大的outlet。

I finished my GMAT (Graduate Management Admission Test) on Friday so I was thrilled that the autumn leaves waited for me to see them, thanks to the warmer temperatures which delayed this year's red leaves viewing. 今年的紅葉因為受到比往年更暖的氣候影響，所以較晚變紅。很慶幸秋季的葉子有等我在星期五考完GMAT :P

Our first night was spent in one of these hostels run by the state government. The hostel name can be interpreted as "National Youth Nature/Exchange Hostel". These hostels are wide-spread throughout the nation and are always situated within nature bountiful mountains. They are popular with schools and companies who want to train their people because they are equipped with classrooms, assembly halls, sports and camping facilities. However be warned that there are a lot of taking off shoes and changing to slippers or walk bare footed in Japanese facilities and museums! 我們的初晚在這類國立宿舍渡過。名字可翻譯為"國立青少年交流／自然之家"。這類宿舍遍佈全國，而且通常位於充滿大自然的山上。因為裡面都備有教室，禮堂和其它運動和露營設施，對那些要集訓學生的學校，童子軍，公司等受歡迎。不過在日本的設施和博物館內，得常脫鞋穿鞋，非常麻煩。

I recently bought this silicone cookware which came together with its magazine to teach you how to use it with your microwave. For the price of 1680yen, it's quite cheap to consider if you're paying for both the cookware and the recipe magazine. 最近買了一本教妳如何使用微波爐和硅樹脂鍋子的小雜誌，還附上特別鍋子。以1680yen的價格來說，有雜誌又有鍋子算是蠻換算的。

During the 21st Oct, scholars from the same organization and I went for a 4 days 3 night study trip to Kyushu to learn more about the Japanese culture, history and customs, as well as to interact with the local Japanese. Our first stop was the Aso mountains located at the heart of Kumamoto.  10月21日，我和其他獎學金學生一起去了一趟4天3夜的九州研修。目的是為了對日本的文化，歷史和生活有更深一層的認識，並且于當地的日本人交流。我們的第一站就是位於熊本縣中央的阿蘇山。 Aso mountains is filled with man-made grasslands, wide-spread through human intervention of burning and clearing the lands for cow grazing. It was a nice change to walk around open space unlike the crowded streets of Tokyo. Though feeling relaxed, there is not much scenery to look at during that time. 人工草原遍佈了整座阿蘇山，這些都是通過人為燃燒出來的，為了就是能放牛。 在廣闊的草原中漫步和在東京的擁擠街頭是截然不同的新鮮感覺。雖然心情很放鬆，不過那時沒什麼好風景欣賞。

I don't usually celebrate any festivals, let alone Halloween. But maybe because I'm starting to miss the English language, and feeling nostalgic for those festivals celebrated while I was studying in San Francisco, I bought a little basket of candies and cookies, swapping some with other variations from my inventory. This is a good time to clear stock and bring in the new snacks XD 我平時都不慶祝節日和生日的，不過可能我開始想念英文和在美國唸書的日子，所以買了一籃糖果和餅乾來小小慶祝一下。當然也偷換了一些。這是清理舊貨換新貨的好時機 XD In US, you would put a Jack pumpkin outside of your house to indicate that it's okay for the kids to knock on your door to say "Trick or Treat". People would also dress up in costumes to party out with friends in the streets or at homes. Of course, in Asia, nobody practices the pumpkin thing, but cosplay is rather popular. 在美國，放一顆南瓜頭就表示小朋友們可以敲你的門來要糖果。很多人也會變裝和朋友在街上或家裡慶祝。當然在亞洲，放南瓜頭似乎不流行，倒是cosplay很受歡迎。

These buns, called either nikuman (meat buns) or anman (red bean buns), are popular during this season when the climate is getting cold. Basically you can heat them up by either using a microwave or steam them in a rice cooker. I'd tried both and found the traditional steaming method more preferable. However, unlike my Japanese teacher's comment that these buns were absolutely tasty, I found them rather okay. Maybe I should buy those authentic hot buns directly from the convenient stores. Since typhoon no.14 is now in Tokyo, these hot buns had become both my breakfast and lunch. Today's dinner is probably something else steamed... 這些nikuman(肉包子)和anman(紅豆包子)在逐漸變冷的天氣中賣得特別好。加熱的方法很簡單，不是用微波爐就是用電飯鍋。我兩種方法都試了，結果還是傳統的蒸法比較好吃。雖然日語老師極力推薦此產品，但是我覺得味道還是馬馬乎乎...可能要去便利店買正統的熱包子才會比較好吃吧!? 既然台風14號正襲卷東京，這些包子成了我的早餐和午餐了。今晚的晚餐應該也是蒸點什麼來吃吧...