Happy Sunday

Love and friendship knows no boundaries..

Hachiko

In 1924 a proffesor in agriculture took Hachiko as a pet. 

Hachiko, was a golden brown Akita dog.

During his owners life Hachiko greeted him at the end of the day at the nearby train station.

The two continued this daily routine till May 1925.

One day at work, proffesor Ueno suffered  from cerebral haemorrhage, and died, 

never returning to the train station where Hachico was waiting. 

For the next nine years Hachico waited every day for his beloved owner return. 

...

At first the attendants tried to scare, and to get Hachico out of the station for a long time, 

but many daily users of the station had seen the proffesor and Hachico together,

so soon enough left let the poor dog alone. 

 In October 1932 an article was published about Hachiko, 

from that day people started bringing treats to the poor dog.

 This continued for nine years, every day!!

And every day precisely at the due time that the train was suppose to come!! 

Hachico caught the nations attention, and he was used as an example of loyalty.

...

In March 8th 1934 Hachico died ...waiting for his owners return...

A metal statue was erected in the station as a memorial for Hachiko's loyalty.

Every year Hachico's devotion is honoured with a solemn ceremonty at the Tokyo Shibuya  rail-road station.   

Let Hachico be an example for all of us.

Happy Sunday wherever you are :)

I'm a sinner!! so what ?

Halt!!!

Content not suitable for highly devout catholic! 

I live my life my own way, let things flow and and pass...  I try not to harm others, in any way, I live and let others live that is the motto!! But is it that we have to preach or to practice? that is the question ! but at the end of the day I am only human and human "sin". I don't want to make a Catholic speech out of this but ....I just want to view things from a different perspective.
By saying sin ....hum how to start Sin in the Catholic church is an act done against or that violates  God's  will, and\or an act done to harm\hurt other living beings. But you can harm yourself and that is a sin as well!.  (although that would be classified as sin since you are hurting a creation of God!). By harming I mean not only physically, but also mentally or spiritually ?!.  

Let me make a twist on this..." The seven capital sins"
The seven capital sins are also known as the seven deadly sins, they can be classified on different levels as "venial sins" and "Mortal sins". Venial sins is a small sin considered not to "Compromise our affair with God?..." any way...., mortal sin usually is suppose to condemn one's soul to the eternal sauna of hell!!.

I don't want to go into "sifting" all the sins and so on bla bla bla ... as I said im taking a twist on the seven capital sins ..so here we go!.

And the nomeniees are   Lust , Gluttony , Greed , Sloth , Wrath , Envy and last but not least Pride !!

Lust 

Lust... Lust is associated with carnal wanting "sexual" but it can hold in its apron deep desire. Who did not want or wish for something badly ?

I am a victim of lust! I wanted, wished and took what I craved for ...that makes me a sinner?. Then lets see it from  a kids point of view, when I was little I wanted so bad a playstation ...I had my way in the end...so kids can sin too?. Things changed when I grew up I wanted more!, discovered the opposite sex.. But if love... Love is an act of God It is the most beautiful emotion human beings share with one an other "Always if you do it from your heart that is!" so that can be a sin too?  And by the way ...by saying I have discovered the opposite sex that does not turn me into a sex maniac! I just had  4 affairs in my life (so far) and had an intercourse with 3 ....been in a relationship for the past 8 years now and never ever had an other one since....(physically at least sigh ...but that is an other story!).

Gluttony 

Gluttony is the over indulgence, or over consumption! to the point of waist!  It is also consumption of expensive food or over eating of delicacies! sigh ...yet an other "Mia Culpa" sooo  many times I eat and over eat!! I love delicacies...who doesn't?  I have a weakness for chocolate!! and many times I indulge in it ..way too much! to the point of nausea!! humm  there is so much that  I love that fit perfectly under the list of gluttony!! and mostly are expensive !!! Foie gras, caviar, salmon, shell fish, venison.....not mentioning all the goodies I ate from Harrods food halls!!!! OMG..... I know.....it is so clear now!!!  Harrods is a devils invention so that people can commit all of the (or at least most!!) seven capital sins !!! 

Greed 

   Greed is just like lust and gluttony, it refers to the crave for material possessions.Usual considered a sin when one wants material things so bad, that other sins are committed like betraying, stealing, bribery and so on and so forth. It could mean the possession of more than one person could really need!. hummm here we go again so if its a sin on material sins, my collection of perfumes is a sin? well if I'm going to hell I might need them! (I heard its pretty hot down there so I might sweat a lot!!). And what about my shoe collection!! I think I was a Cobbler (shoe maker) in my past life ...got over 40 pairs of shoes ....and I believe I will drag mum  to hell with me here!! You can hear unbelievable blasphemies when it comes to the floor washing of my room!! moving about 15 pairs of shoes  each time!!. Greed .....but the most ting I'm greedy about are my loved one's I want them all the time with me!! so yet again I'm a sinner here!!

Sloth 

Sloth  is the definition of physical laziness! ahhaha  !!  I got you here!! I don't consider my self as a lazy guy ^^ !! unless ...it comes to clean my room, washing the car, waking up too early, get to the end of the daily to do list !!! ........ --" !!!! sigh.....

Wrath

A.K.A  (also know as) rage, it defines the uncontrolled feeling of hate and anger! It could go hand in hand with other feelings that may be of personal gain, also could include suicide (since life is given by God as his biggest gift,  and we are rejecting his gift by means of suicide, that make us angry therefore "wrath" and suicide make God angry so that is why its a capital sin.....hoo my,  its a never-ending loop of anger that transfers from one to an other!!). I as much as I think I never got to a state of total "wrath" I'm a very calm person, and I sift the situation very carefully before I make a decision ....and some times it takes me ages to come to a conclusion ...perhaps if at the beginning I had the feeling of "wrath" I would definitely cool down  until I find the answer or an explanation  :P 

Envy 

Envy is similar to jealousy, ie: discontent for others belonging, possessions and status!. Well, well, well ...envy..no I guess I never felt such thing in my entire existence! I think one should be happy of what he is provided with ...and if he\she wants something more in his life, he\she should work hard and follow the dream, at the end of the day we all have abilities, different abilities, some unique to others and we are all good in doing something, even those considered less talented!!. Lets take an example I love to paint!!! many say I'm good but, I know many are better then me at it! but I know I do it from my heart I put passion in it! I love my creations and I am proud(hum Sinner!!!) of them ... and that is what really counts!. 

Pride 

Mirror, mirror on the wall which is the greatest sin of them all??  its definitely  Pride!!. Pride is considered to be the worst sin of them all!, it is considered to be the source of the others. Pride is the excessive love of self considering your self on top of others. A very well known example is Lucifer he thought he was better then God himself!, that made him turn into Satan!!. But is it pride or proud that is wrong ?!.... hummm so lets see pride and proud are basically the same or at least they are made out of the same dough. They both mean  ego "over-exaggeration ?"   It is the exact opposite of humble!. most of the times we criticise others saying "I can do that better!!" or "mine is better then yours" isn't that pride? One have to be grateful for what he have and owns. I think we are all in the same boat!. In my country we say "we are all in the same ocean" meaning we are all subject to the changes around us, no one is eternal and better then others, we all have abilities and the secret is to learn how to use and find them.... 

I'm proud of what I have done and achieved ....are you ?.

 

No one quite like you.

There are times that you just can't follow a schedule, and today was one of them...

 It have been a wonderful day considered  how it started!.



"Do you need a wake up call?" she asked me.
"Please!" I replied.

You gave me a wake up call, just like you said...You always or at least you do your best to keep your promises. 

 I was to "anxious" I was needing to write more... not even time for a coffee... almost!. 
I wrote and wrote, I got lost in a time warp called blog!!. Lost track of time! I had to pick you up but I forgot to!
Looked at the phone 5 missed call's, 2 messages..... Shit!! In just seconds closed my laptop changed to my swimming trunks, grabbed a towel, wallet, camera....out I go ...arrrg! *#/?! car keys!!... sigh Ok ready to go.... car hot as hell!!!! nooooo!!!! forgot to put on the sun shield again!! :s

Drove like crazy...found you waiting in the scorching sun!.
"Sorry I'm late!" I said
"...." you just kept silent....
Don't blame you if you'r angry with me......  I would be.... I said to my self.
"Half hour in the sun...what do you think?" She shouted
"Sorry ...I ....overslept!" I mumbled.
"And what about the wake up call? why did you need one if you went back to bed? you said see you soon!!" she continued yelling.
"Slept again right after.... work been terrible last night!" I said.
"This is happening on daily basis now.... sigh ..all the hiding and mysteries"

I asked her if she would have liked to stop for a refreshing drink and grab b'fast \ lunch = "brunch".
we did ..... .we talked over a few topics .... mostly general stuff ordered our food and a take out salad to take with us by sea.

Hoo God ....I almost choked in my drink, just as I was having my first sip... as you said out of the blues "so what about your blog? !!!"
Blog? ...what blog?...(my heart stopped)
The cooking page! you should really set one up  ,I know you can do it ...you can write recipes and helpful tips too,  people will love that!!!

Wheeew sweet, sweet relief.

Somehow I postponed  the subject to an other time yet again .....

Today was amazing ^^ loved the swim in the chilly waters, our walk by the sea... the Chinese take out ...and the movie.... and now here I am again, writing...

I thank you my dear you made today special ....made me remember once again why I love you ...and as much many times I don't show you, I do, I really, really do! perhaps I never loved any one quite like you.....

hope you are ok now....

Nigel was a weird guy sometimes happy, some times depressed, he went from extremes to an other!
He worked  with me for a short while (6 months more or less), but I have to say he never quite gave me anything to complain about ... except for  the fact that he loved to work in jeans!!!. I simply hated that! "That is why we have uniforms!!!" I used to say!,  and besides the heat!!!! how can you work in a kitchen wearing  jeans?

You had your ways to live your life..I tried to help you out many times...I knew something was not ok...but you never shared with me what was troubling you...I asked and asked...but you kept it all inside...if only you shared...I could have helped...maybe....

Even your dad many times called me to see how you where doing.He was concerned about you! I always said that you where a hard worker ...well after all  I just said the truth...  I started thinking something was wrong when all of a sudden you sold your car...I drove you home every night..I never minded .....you always have been good company.

One day I received a call from you saying you will not be coming to work any more!
Trough the phone you explained me that you where having drug problems for the past months. And that police found you in possetion of drugs...

It was a shock for me I wished I helped you...felt help less and destructed..

Hope wherever you are you are ok ......

The food critic

The story so far...

Vince left the company and started working with his new employers,

Joe joined him just after two weeks,

about six more chefs left within a month!

I was left alone controlling a non-existing brigade!!. 

  

For those who did not believe in me 

Immediately the head chef took action and admitted new recutes, my new assistant name was Nigel.

Sigh...Nigel, there is so much to say about him! and yet we knew nothing about him...It was a spare of the moment! chef just recruted the first comers!. The hotel was in crisis! no one to fill up the missing posts!! Only God knows how many  frustrating days I passed!, it was work, work and work. Regretted so many times that I was blinded by money and that I did not join Vince!!. But what was done was done! I was there and had to do what a man got to do!.

    

 Many have not believe that I could do it, and many waited for me to step back. But it did not happen! I took seriously the job and I was willing to share all that I knew, I became a teacher, chef kept sending the new comers to me, saying "Hotei just introduce them to our system, you know how to handle this". Not sure if he just wanted to take the piss out of me, right after training the new comers and introducing them what and how to work ..chef would removed  them and place them to a new post!
   and me would have to restart over again as in the new guy came!!.
Nigel stood strong by my side, he was in his 30s I think....and I was 21!! Many times guests looked up at me then at him with a "what the fuck" expression on there faces!!
I remember one episode, I think it was my first or one of the first small wedding dinners I managed. The mother of the bride went to the head-waiter and said " Please we would like to thank the kitchen for there wonderful job! my son in law loved it, and he's a hard one to please, he's a chef you know?! !!", so the head-waiter came into the kitchen and called me out I called Nigel too (I always believed that every one was a vital part of the team, from the dishwasher to the waiters, if one of us went down, all of us went down with him!, so by using the same thinking, if one was to be praised all had to be praised!, it was a joined effort from every one). well we stood near the door that gave to the kitchen and the mother of the bride grabbed Nigel's arm dragging him across the restaurant...saying "lets not forget to thank the kitchen staff for there wonderful performance tonight!!). The head-waiter "whispered" in her ear  "Madam! you got the wrong Chef there!! " She said loudly "what do you mean wrong?" he pointed at me and she said "Him??" Ok ...Ok ...I had a late development thing going on, and had a tough battle against gravity!! till the age of 22 I still looked like a 17 year old.....sigh... hair less "body wise!!", pail and short!!. LoL ^^ that did not scare them away cause for 5 years they kept coming to the hotel and asked for me each year!! we had become friends!! I always loved to peek from the port hole of the door that gave from the kitchen to the restaurant and wait for the approval " Thumbs up :D  !!" .

It was round about 2 or 3 weeks from the episode that a food critic came to the Thai restaurant and criticised almost everything! Jam was furious! he couldn't take it, that he had such a bad review!. No one knew who or when the critic came! he was a shadow! even in the magazine where he wrote! he just signed "Kornucopia!!".
It was the week after that he came again to the hotel this time it was my turn!! The review criticised the decor of the restaurant and its accessibly!! He mentioned lack of attention on the table,  by the fact that we had not much waiting staff !. On the food bit ...at least on his report he ordered a carpaccio of beef with marinated wild mushrooms while his guest took Foie Gras with a tangy onion marmalade. He  said it was good but expected more! that was a total points of 7\10. For main he took fresh fish which he liked and his partner ordered a fillet of beef also hit!. that gave us 10\10 ^^ . Dessert he took Panna cotta made with baileys and set over forest red berries, and his partner had the "piece  de resistance" the cream caramel !! that was a hum a bit "contradict-iv" he said if both took cream caramel it would have been a 10/10 instead of 9\10 , but he did not  "extraordinary like" the panna cotta, well I don't blame him if he had a taste of the cream caramel :P!     The verdict was a good one!! ^^ I was in seventh heaven while reading it !!  
On the day I also received a text message saying "well done son!! ...if you where here you would have took more points but not bad for such an inferior hotel :P keep up the good job!! ...Vince"