Lonely won't leave me alone!

Lonely won't leave me alone! 

Sad again with a void inside

Yearning for someone, with me to collide

Can't understand man's preoccupation with love,

Yet I won't allow myself to be freely plucked

This must be the world's Greatest paradox

A religion of love

An abundance of love

But still - no love

No back rubs or foot scrubs,

Thirsty, stranded in the sea

Tainted water, too salty - this sea

So i'm waiting, alone, 

For my limbs to grow weary

And my eyes to get sleepy

Waiting for..................,,,

Hmmm,

Only God, he knows!

I hope my friend, loneliness,

Will die peacefully someday soon

I wish to attend her funeral 

And cry no tears, but bloom :)

But the worst type of sadness comes from within

It comes from a place of emptiness

A place better forgotten

A place to be sealed away 

And never unlocked

In this box, I want to place my lonely heart 

Ackee and Saltfish, more than fork to mouth

Ackee and Saltfish isn't just Jamaica's national dish. It's so much more and I only realized it today (better late than never :). I shared a little about myself and my country today to a class of undergraduates. They seemed to be interested in the fact that this little black woman with plaits was going to be in their class every week but when I showed them ackee and saltfish, the whole class let out a resounding 'wow'. Wow indeed. The questions then ensued, 'is the red thing ackee or is it that thing on the side? Oh no,that looks like banana. Is it the green

or yellow thing?Is it like eggs? What does it taste like?' I was once again reminded that ackee is not a universal fruit. I've never met someone from this side of the world who knew about ackee except those who have traveled to Jamaica before or tried it at a Jamaican restaurant before. During the exclamations of praise and questions, I realized how colourful the ackee and saltfish dish really is, if prepared well with tomatoes, bell peppers, onions, black pepper, etc.,. With those ingredients, the dish becomes a bright representation of the rastafarian colours. How awesome is that! Everyone knows that Rastafarianism is originally Jamaican, but to see it represented in our national dish is simply awesome.

Ackee is said to be originally from West Africa; however, during the years of slavery the ackee was transported to the Caribbean. The word 'ackee' is derived from the West African word 'Akye fufo'. Ackee bears fruit seasonally first from January to March then from June to August. So, there you have it, Ackee bears right in time for Emancipation and Independence celebrations :).

Ackee should only be eaten when ripe. That means when the pod opens and the top of the black seeds can be seen otherwise one may become sick with the 'Jamaican Vomiting sickness Syndrome' (JVS). Jamaicans learn that we shouldn't eat ackee before the pods are naturally opened while growing up, so I'm guessing that nowadays this sickness mostly affects foreigners who lack this piece of valuable information. According to Professor Lancaster from the University of the West Indies' Chemistry department,  in recent years JVS has been very rare given the spread of information about the proper time to eat the fruit. Therefore, there is no need to fear ackee, once you eat it when it's ripe. That's pretty much like most things in life. Doing something in the right time may reduce or eliminate potential problems.

                                                                                     

Ackee and Saltfish with fried plantain, dumplings and yam.

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                 

Sources: 

http://wwwchem.uwimona.edu.jm/lectures/ackee.html

http://www.foodandlens.com/2010/08/ackee-and-saltfish-jamaican-dish.html

http://www.jamaicanrastafarianlove.com/rastafari/rastafarian-flag-meaning-red-yellow-green-lion/

Sakura: Convenience Stores in Japan

Sakura: Convenience Stores in Japan: Convenient stores in Japan are extremely convenient. Even the name title is convenient. In Japanese, a convenience store is a conbini. It so...

Convenience Stores in Japan

Convenient stores in Japan are extremely convenient. Even the name title is convenient. In Japanese, a convenience store is a conbini. It sounds very close to 'conveni-ence'. Convenience stores come in several brands, Family Mart, Sunkus, Lawson, Asnas, among others.

Convenience stores usually have the following machines:

• Photocopy machine
• ATM 
• A machine that looks like an ATM, but is not. This machine may be used to pay for a variety of goods and services purchased online or at the machine. These include airplane tickets, bus tickets, test fees, international calling cards, among many others. 

Obviously the convenience store also has food, but the variety of food in these small shops is amazing. Almost anything that one would be able to find in a supermarket, can be found in a convenience store, even sushi. 

Convenience stores also have magazine racks; however, half of the magazines are pornographic in nature. That was shocking for me at first, because men sometimes just stand by the racks reading or looking at pictures. They don't seem to think that porn is private. Some of the more x-rated magazines are covered in plastic, but I am still wondering if that is the best place for pornographic content to be sold. 

Convenience stores stay open at all times. Recently there was a super typhoon and all other businesses around my area were closed, except the convenience stores. Which brings me to another point, they are usually several convenience stores located in one area. They truly know what the word 'convenience' means. During the storm, the shops were being run as if it was the most normal day of the year. I visited one during the storm and it brought a sense of normalcy to me, a calm during the storm. I truly love these convenience stores.

Here's a link to another article on Japanese convenience stores: http://japan-magazine.jnto.go.jp/en/1301_cvs.html