Monday, December 27, 2010

New Year's Cards Tutorial (Nengajyo)


I’m not sure how this works in other countries, but in Japan people send out New Year’s cards to each other to wish everyone a happy year to come. While this is not traditional in the US, it’s still a nice thing to do, and your friends will love you for it. In the case you decide to send cards to your Japanese friends (both US and Japan) here is a mini tutorial on the etiquettes behind it.

You can either buy a card which looks relatively related to the New Year, or you can make your own. I prefer making my own b/c it’s a bit more fun (plus I love>

Nengajyo have technically 2 greeting parts to them and an optional 3rd.

1. Written from the left, first is the header 書出し(kakidashi) saying “happy new year”, of which there are several pre-established appropriate phrases. Pick the ones you like.

恭賀新

Kyouga Shinnen

謹賀新

Kinga Shinnen

Gashyou

Geishyun

新年おめでとうございます

Shinnen omedetou gozaimasu.

明けましておめでとうございます

Akemashite omedetou gozaimasu.

謹んで新年のお喜びを申し上げます

Tsutsushinde shinnenn oyorokobi wo moushiagemasu

* These all basically say happy New Year, except the last one which whishes the person happiness in the new year. Often justあけましておめでとう is on the more modern cards in hiragana.

2. Second, written to the left of the title, is the 結び(musubi). This thanks the person or wishes for their health. Again there are several expressions you can use that are very common.

今年も幸多い年でありますようお祈り申し上げま

Kotoshi mo kouooi toshi de arimasu you oinori moshiagemasu

Hope you have another very lucky year

本年もどうぞよろしくお願いします

Honnen mo douzo yoroshiku onegaishimasu.

Best regards for the coming year as well (treat me kindly)

昨年は大変お世話になりありがとうございました。

Sakunen wa taihen osewa ni nari arigatou gozaimashita.

Thank you for all your help in the last year

本年も変わらぬお付き合いのほどをお願い申し上げま

Honnen mo kawarane tsukiai no hodo wo oneai moushiagemasu

Hope this year we’ll keep our unchanging relationship (basically, lets me good friends this year too).

皆様のご健康をお祈り申し上げます

Minna-sama no gokenkou wo oinori moushiagemasu.

We (I) wish for everyones good health in the coming year.


3. These first two parts are on the front of the card. Sometimes there is no back to the card, but I like to add more stuff on the back, kinda like a postcard ^_^ This can be anything, and you don’t have to choose from a set.


Important Notes

4. Dating Your Card.

Date your card to the left of Musubi. Rather than dating the card like a letter (with the present day) its dated with the word Gantan (元旦)which means New Year’s Day, followed by the Heisei year. The year for 2011 is 23 so you can title it Heisei 23 (平成23).

5. Signing Your Card

Sign your card to the left of the Date and ta-da you are done with a basic NY card!

6. Sending Your Card

As usual you write the persons address and your own (to the left). However if you are sending this to Japan, be sure to write 年賀(nenga) on the front. The Japanese Post Office keeps all these cards and delivers them right on New Years then J

Lazy Online Cards

Yahoo Japan is doing free online cards which you can customize, if you don’t want to pay postage. You can even put your face in them!

http://event.yahoo.co.jp/nenga2011/

Please stay away from the Gundam cards…

Ubepo will let you make them and even have them printed via the post office in Japan. Also supports Twitter!

https://webpo.jp/

If You Forgot…

So if you didn’t send one but you receive one, that makes you kind of a jerk. But no fear, its not too late! January 6th is the official sorry I forgot about you return card day! You send a card which tells your buddy

寒中お見舞い申し上げま(Kanchuu omimai moushiagemasu), meaning to take care from the cold.

Other options that mean pretty much the same thing:

寒中お伺い申し上げま

余寒お見舞い申し上げま

In Mourning

If a person has had a relative pass away recently and are in mourning, DO NOT send a card. Period.

THE END ^_^

Wednesday, December 8, 2010

Fusion Filet Mignon


Oh its been a while~ I've been eating a lot of good food lately (i've started exercising again as a compromise kk)
Today I bring you Filet Mignon, but slightly different. Since everything I eat has to have ingredients from the great east, what could you possibly expect ^_~
Looks good right!

List:
- Beef (medium thickness) - beat this with a back of a spoon for a bit.
- Green Onion
- Mushrooms (try dried shitake and pre-soak them in hot water or microwave, then cut with scissors)
- Tsuyuu or soycause if you don't have it
- Sesame oil
- Garlic Powder
- Black Pepper

Step 1
After beating your steaks, rub them lightly with sesame oil, pepper and garlic powder.
Step 2
Pre-heat your oven to 350
Step 3
In a fry pan fry the top and bottom of your steaks until they look like they were on the grill. (the center should be raw still).
Step 4
Move to foil sheet and pour about 1/4 cup of tsuyuu over it (if you use soysauce mix with water)
Step 5
Add mushroom and onion around the steak (save some onion for topping) but make sure they are sitting in the tsuyuu. Bake for about 15 min. (or longer depending on how well you like your steak done, i like mine pretty lightly)
And voila! c'est facille right? Enjoy this classic with an Asian twist hoho.
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