Fukuoka & Jamaica: Patties and Jerk Chicken

I was recently in Fukuoka, Kyushu (Japan) attempting to have a vacation. I'm not sure how well the vacation part worked out, however, the city made an unexpected impression on me.

Fukuoka is located in the southern part of Japan and its capital is called Hakata. From the descriptions of my friend who used to live in Kyushu, Fukuoka sounded like the Tokyo of southern Japan. When it was suggested that I visit the city though, I wasn't thrilled. I guess I'm more of a sub-urban type of gal. Anyways, I went. Upon arriving at Hakata station, I was taken aback by the lack of organization that I'm used to in Kansai. Passengers did not line up for public transportation. There was a lot of bundling at the bus and train stations. The only saving grace was that they did not really push while entering the bus or train. I say not really because I got pushed once but decided to call it a mistake.

The Power of Habit

This post is dedicated to my lovely hobby of reading. I'm always reading something. These days though, it has been mostly academic material, however, I try to get some non-academic literary nourishment as often as I can. Most times that means short stories and / or short romance novels. Today, however, was not one of those days. Today I completed an extremely powerful book called 'THE POWER OF HABIT: Why we do what we do and how to change' by Charles Duhigg.

On October 16, 2014 I had a conversation with a high school friend on Facebook. We hadn't seen each other in years and just did a bit of catching up. We were both students pursuing post graduate degrees at the time, albeit in different parts of the globe. We both had struggles relating to school and I remember telling her that I was having problems with time management and productivity. As a solution to this problem I was finding things to fill up my schedule so that I would be forced to be more productive with the little time I had for each task. My plan was to create habits of going to the gym every night, working two part time jobs, studying Japanese more seriously and attending language classes, in addition to working on my thesis.

In essence, I wanted to change my habits. I told my friend about how I had lost motivation and how hard it was to work on my thesis. I went to school everyday, but most days were not productive. My friend then told me that she also went through something similar and suggested that I waste time productively by reading a non-wishy washy book called 'The Power of Habit'. She even sent me the link to the book on Amazon. I thanked her for it and decided not to buy it. A few months later, as I idly browsed the isle of English books at a bookstore in town, I saw 'The Power of Habit' on the shelf staring at me. It was fate, I had to buy it. So I started reading in 2015.

They're gonna talk!

Beres Hammond is one of my favourite artists. His music is so mello. He has gotten a bit old these days though, so he doesn't produce much music anymore. Anyways, his musical catalogue is long enough for him to retire comfortably without fans like me begrudging his inactivity. I am quite satisfied with all the songs I have to choose from his catalogue.

So today I will Explain the lyrics of one of his songs, entitled 'They gonna talk'. This song is in broken English, so it should be easy for non-Jamaicans to understand.  However, let me still provide an explanation for the benefit of those who still find it difficult to comprehend his lyrics.

The song is basically a love song. Two persons are in love or like each other a lot but one partner is overly worried however about how their relationship will be perceived by others. So Beres Hammond says 'as long as we know what's in our heart, we know our inner thoughts...' there's no reason to worry. That is, as long as we know that we are sincere in our feelings, we don't need to worry about other people doubting our love. In the chorus he continued to say people will talk, they will say a lot of things about the lovers.

The lyrics project an image of a poor man and a rich girl falling in love or a market vendor and a stockbroker falling in love. In such scenarios, people will definitely have an opinion on the couple's relationship because of their different social statuses. Beres' message is, 'let them talk, because as long as we are sincere in our feelings for each other, we have nothing to worry about'.

They gonna Talk

Some things were meant to be, so why not let it be and stop worrying about it.
Long as we know what's in our hearts, we know our inner thoughts, hey, no reason for concern.

Chorus:
They gonna talk, they gonna talk, they gonna say a lot of things about us.
You said you know that love is not a sin, but you worry about what people say
when they see me with you
Wonder what the crowd would say  when they find us together
Wonder what the people say when they know we are in love
Worry what the crowd would say

You pass them on the street, yes
Greet you with a smile, hey, as broad as a nile.
They will say all kind of goody goody to you, yes, that lingers for a while
All there in your mind - you wanna go, you wanna stay
It seems you can never ever make your mind up about it,
well,  but if you know that love is deep within, why should you worry what the folks will say?

When they see me with you?
Worry what the crowd would say when they find us together
Wonder what the people say when they know we're in love.
Wonder what the people say, oh yea

Wonder what the people say when they see me with you
And you wonder what the crowd would say when they find us together
Worry what the people say when they know we are in love
And you wonder what the people would say, yea yea

[Chorus]

Source of lyrics: http://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/bereshammond/theygonnatalk.html
Source of Picture: https://www.google.co.jp/search?q=beres+hammond&espv=2&biw=1366&bih=643&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0CAcQ_AUoAmoVChMIrInp-rWwxwIVipqUCh00Nw4P#imgrc=VBeUoCyiWey0-M%3A

Cold medicine in Summer

I have caught a cold in the middle of summer. Given the conditions that I usually experience, it may not be strange at all. Summer here is scorching hot and the humidity is as thick as thieves. At home, to monitor my electricity bill, I walk around half naked, open all the windows and use a fan. Some days though are just too hot, for example the days with temperatures 36 degrees Celsius and above. On those days, in order to not pass out from the intensity of the heat, I turn on the air conditioning unit.

On those days I genuinely fear the heat and avoid going outside for as long as I can. When I step outside I walk to in the heat to the train station then enter a cold train car. It feels really good to step into that car, but I imagine switching between such extreme temperatures can't be good for my body. As I step out of the train, it's back in the heat again. The same thing happens when I enter a store in a shopping mall. Each store seems to have their own air conditioner, so the hallways are hot. 

So with this constant exposure to extreme temperatures, I caught a cold this week. How inconvenient for me, given that I don't have time to be sick at the moment. Therefore, I headed to the internet to find the best over the counter cold medicine. Contac and VC 3000 were recommended repeatedly on a few sites, so I decided to go in search of that one. 

At the pharmacy I saw two types of Contac on the shelf. One was a one a day tablet and other was two a day. I figured the one a day was stronger so I chose that one. I proceeded to the cashier where the cashier called the pharmacist. Apparently, purchasing the drug called Contac requires special permission. The pharmacist then proceeded to inform me that the drug was of hospital strength. He went for a weaker version and asked if I was sure that I really wanted the stronger drug. I told him that the stronger the better since I don't want to be sick for longer than necessary. He asked me about three times if I was sure. 

This led me to wonder about his question. Why would he offer me weaker drugs? I then remembered hearing stories of dentists performing painful procedures sans anesthesia. I mentioned this to a Japanese one day and I was told that 'everyone' prefers to fill a tooth without anesthesia because the anesthesia is bad for us. Ask me if I wasn't shocked! I didn't even know that was possible. So maybe the pharmacist expects me to take weaker medicine over a longer period because that is perceived to have a smaller negative impact on the body. 

If that's the case, then I can understand his hesitancy to sell me the stronger medicine, but I'm from the get better soon posse. I don't want to be sick for more than a day or so. After all, this dissertation is not going to write itself while I'm waiting on the weak drugs to kick in.