I managed to walk all the way from the flat, into the centre of town, then to Cowcaddens (China Town), St George’s Cross (Where I used to live as a student), Byers Road (aka. Bryoz road) and down to Partick.
Grabbed a few groceries and headed home. I thought that after a couple of years, the west end would have changed dramatically, but it seemed to have just been a little run down, with a few of my local shops having closed. No doubt another area affected by the economic crisis.
So I made a mah-see-voh dinner for Sian, Gayle and Tina. Was fairly impressed as I managed to prepare everything together quite nicely, without burning anything. Although I was only really preparing the main course, the girls brought side dishes and desert.
It was a really pleasant evening, which was rounded off with some weird youtube videos, such as the one below.
One of the biggest things I miss about being in Japan, is turning on your TV at 3am to random things like this.
Rillettes is a preparation of meat similar to pâté. Originally made with pork, the meat is cubed or chopped, salted heavily and cooked slowly in fat until it is tender enough to be easily shredded, and then cooled with enough of the fat to form a paste. They are normally used as spread on bread or toast and served at room temperature.
Rillettes are also made with other meats, goose, duck, chicken, game birds, rabbit and sometimes with fish such as anchovies, tuna or salmon.
Here is a light and healthy recipe made with shrimps!
Shrimps Rillettes!
INGREDIENTS:
-Shrimps/prawns: 250 g (black tiger if available)
-Olive oil: as appropriate
-Brandy: as appropriate
B Butter
-Butter: 125 g (1/4 pound)
-Salt: a little
-Cayenne pepper/Chili pepper: as appropriate
RECIPE:
-Fry the shrimps/prawns whole with their shells in olive oil until their insides are cooked. Flambe them with Brandy. Once compeltely cooled down, extract the flaesh out the shell and mince the flesh very finely.
-In a pan drop the A butter and all chopped vegetables and fry until soft. Pour the tomato juice and stirby hand. Let simmer over a weak fire for 20~30 minutes.
-Pass the shrimps and vegetables through a sieve/chinois to obtain a paste.
-In a bowl drop the B butter and let it warm up to room temperature. Add sieved shrimps and vegetables and mix thoroughly until you obtain a smooth paste. Check taste. Add salt and cayenne pepper as appropriate. Leave inside refrigerator for at least a couple of hours.
-Before eating it, bring it back to room temperature and serve with thin slices of French bread. There should be enough for 10 people (as an appetizer!)
RECOMMENDED RELATED SITES: Warren Bobrow, Bread + Butter, Zoy Zhang, Hungry Neko, Think Twice, Frank Fariello, Mangantayon, Hapabento, Elinluv Tidbit Corner, Tokyo Terrace, Maison de Christina, Chrys Niles,Lexi, Culinary Musings, Wheeling Gourmet, Comestiblog, Chronicles Of A Curious Cook, Bento Boutique, Tokyo Through The Drinking Glass, Tokyo Foodcast, Urban Sake, Sake World, Palate To Pen, Yellin Yakimono Gallery, Tokyo Terrace, Hilah Cooking, More than a Mount Full, Arkonite Bento
Please check the new postings at: sake, shochu and sushi
I just tried to call my Japanese friend. Of course… she didn’t answer. Two guys passed the phone back and forth trying to figure out what I was saying to them. They didn’t know much English and I don’t know much Japanese. FAIL.
Of course this is a lot harder over the phone. I wasn’t able to rely on my charades to help me communicate.
I just wanted to tell her that I am going to be staying a few days longer.
WT2010 – JAPAN
Day 9/10 – Nozawa Onsen
[On the iPOD] Arctic Monkeys / M83
Waking up sore and tired is never a good sign before a big day of snow boarding. The word around the lodge was it was snowing up top and it was sunny, an awesome combo. I kitted up and set out early to find rock hard ice on the first slope without warming up I went straight up the cross lift to get to the centre mountain gondola only to find yet more Ice.
I’m still only a beginner/Intermediate and Ice seriously psyches me out, especially when you have to go down a 4m wide pass with a sheer drop off with no barrier. I had a few stacks and got in a grumpy mood from the on-set. Perhaps it was because I’d skipped breakky but I headed to the top only to find a nice small covering of snow covering a frozen solid ice underneath. Crappy crappy conditions. I struggled around for a bit but it was just no fun on this hired board, which is a little short hence not wide enough for my boots which causes your boots to catch the snow if u try and get a sharp edge for grip on ice.
I went for a long lunch and rest and was cheered up by one of the chefs at the station at mid-mountain Japanese courtesy and service wins again. After chilling out for a bit with some beer and ice cream. I lulled myself into confidence again and went for a few more runs down the right side of the mountain. It was a little lighter here and things started to pickup. I didn’t have much energy though perhaps due to getting up 5am the day before and traveling + boarding and getting to bed at 1230am.
I decided to stop on a nice bend in the middle of nowhere and build myself a little “kicker” jump into some soft powder off the track. It took me a good 15minutes of effort and I was buggered afterwards but It worked pretty well. I’d built it off a slight drop so I could practice landing off some good air. I did this about 4times and had enough, legs were giving out and it was near the end of the day.
So I decided to head back with one goal; walk as little as possible to my lodge. There was a pass I’d traveled the day before but I took a wrong turn near the end and had to walk a little. I was certain if I carried enough speed I could reach the lodge (there were a lot of flattening out areas where you’d stop if you weren’t going fast enough leading up to them)
So I went down the rest of the home run and made it to within 30metres of the lift to centre-right mountain. Technically you can get to here from the top of the mountain. It’s about a 3km run. I got off at the lift and gunned it, down and across and then across a the downhill centre slope at top speed aiming for a gap in the trees to a connecting path. The track connected to another and another and then finally the final turn which looked like it was out of bounds or something. I didn’t know I couldn’t read the sign. I didn’t care and gunned it and the track wound steep and narrow through some trees (tight s bends) and then opened up towards a carpark.
I skipped off to the left and continued to the home straight with enough speed. Making the final turn I was headed down a ‘driveway’ towards the road where cars fly past and pulled up right on the edge of the snow, sitting down, my board hitting the tarmac. Unbound and walked 100m to my lodge. Utterly amazing really. Technically you can ride the length of the mountain down the opposite side of the lodge and catch ONE lift and get to your door. A good 6km+ of winding awesomeness!
I decided to stop playing hermit at the lodge and the Australians who run it had it smelling like home in no time; a BBQ out front with Japanese beer, cool. I got to know a lot of cool people with some eye-opening stories. Everything from traveling around the world on a surf adventure in the 1970’s! to working 4months a year on a farm and then spending it all on holidaying around the world snowboarding the rest of the year. These people have their priorities in order!
After dinner we all headed to the main foreigner bar in town; next door and downstairs is a little bar called ‘STAY’ the vibe of this place is everything I dream about what a local pub should be. It’s about 10metres long by about 5metres wide, has a drum kit and guitar/bass/amps/pa in the corner, a bar and two tables and is covered wall to roof in a variety of local and international music regalia. We don’t a few local beers and then headed to karaoke joint up the hill. Some old locals were already in there but the 6 of us or so ordered yet more drinks and destroyed some classic songs. A bunch of 80’s tragics mostly but the Karaoke system was two touch screen wireless pads with a huge selection of modern songs across all categories, this is Japan after all.
Headed back to the lodge nice and early; walking through the pin-drop quiet winter cold town; the only sound was of running water; the village has a big system of under-road covered gutters which let the melting ice flow through it. I got in just before 2am. Had to be up early to hit the slopes and was hoping for a better day.
Up nice and early but intent on not rushing things on the Thursday morning incase conditions were like yesterday; a nice big breakfast this time which sent me jogging and skipping towards the first lift. I decided to do a warm up run on the first lift slope rather than take the cross mountain lift. It was mildly soft and was utterly brilliant down low. I did one run and then decided I’d do another upon which I decided I’d do a few more runs practicing riding goofy.
Up and down, rinse and repeat until i felt an entire level more confident riding that way, the odd stack had me looking sideways down the run. I somehow had completely missed a seperate track built that morning down the side of the mountain; it was a bunch of mini slopes leading into a set of kickers down 3/4 of the slope! So I decided to practice some jumps. Starting slowly and landing only one and aborting the last two “big” ones.
By the end of the day I was utterly buggered and had landed 7 consecutive airs including the last one; which has a lot of dug out snow after the kick; you probably get a good 2metres off the lip of the jump. Later; lodge-mate Arwin said one of the guys he runs with lands back-flips with a twist off it! I wasn’t going to try that just yet.
Somehow I was having way too much fun just trying to get better on this simple course on the first slope of the mountain and just like that it was all over, approaching 5pm.
But before I left there was one thing to try for the first time; A local Onsen (that’s a natural hot-spring public bath for those unawares) I’m all for public nudity, just as long as it doesn’t involve me. At least that was my view before I went in. It was full of locales and dads bathing with their sons. Once you get your kit off it just kinda feels right, you get the vibe of it and relax. When in Rome!
Funnily enough though a few minutes later one of the other lodgers turned up; also an Onsen virgin like myself. I think the locales where either totally amused or bemused at our faces when we got into the boiling water. Unknown to me was I got in the hot-end of the spring where there was only one older dood and most of the people were in the other end. They either thought I was crazy getting in that end or thought I was a wimp making ‘ouch’ faces as the water burns every part of you.
Theres a strict method to entering and a system you have to go through before you get in; first you take off your shoes to get onto the wooden slatted area with ‘lockers’ and take your clothes off, put them in the lockers. Take a small wash towel and bucket and soap over to the wash area. You have to sit cause splashing people is rude. You soap up and wash down making sure you have no soap on you at all before getting into the water.
I eventually caught on and moved over to the cool end where it was bearable, I was convinced my knees had sustained 3rd degree burns… but if the old guy could take it I thought whack the heck. Whilst ‘chilling out’ in the ‘cool’ (which was still burning me) I got splashed on purpose by a little 5 yr old kid, I thought it was pretty funny actually but the kids dad promptly hit him on the head with a bucket and told him how rude it was. Respect is primary here; even to silly foreigners like myself. I’ll definitely be doing it any chance I get now. In a town with natural hot-spring water, why waste energy heating water (taking a shower) when you can get it for free? It’s a way of life.
I was already thinking about boarding the next morning after checking out of the lodge! But it wasn’t to be out of cash for a lift pass which means I’m headed back to Tokyo as I write this on a Friday morning.
I’m actually really peeved about leaving here; the lodgers are all great and some have been here for months or are here on second and third visits; so they know all the jaunts in town and all the local characters. Even more worried about leaving the snow and all the cool people, in the back of my mind is leaving Japan in four days. I’m starting to regret I haven’t stayed longer.
I’m thinking this won’t be the last I’ll see of Nozawa Onsen. Farewell!
*Unfortunately no more photos the last two days, I have a lot taken from the LOMO which is Film, so no uploading them. Conditions were just too harsh to use the DSLR (Snowing both nights and freezing!) I will try and get out this morning to take some final shots of the town in full light. Don’t think I can get up the mountain without a pass though!
I like music and I’m pretty sure you guys do too. Since we all enjoy music to varying extents, I thought I would share my preferences with you. But this isn’t a one way street in which I only recommend artists to you. Please feel free to share your favorite artists which are similar in style to those that I post. That way, I can learn from you and you from me. Cool eh?
When it comes to J-Pop, the amount of artists I know are quite limited. I’m coming across new singers/groups all of the time and the biggest reason I am doing this is so I can be exposed to more through your feedback. If you don’t like an artist I present, that’s cool, just be sure to comment on who is even cooler. I just want to expand my musical awareness, yah, musical awareness. hehe
Though, I won’t solely focus on J-Pop and other Japanese genres. I’ll be sure to throw in some of my personal favorites from varying places around this crazy world. In fact, most of my favorite music comes from the très chic France.
Alrighty, lets get on with my favorite J-Pop group.
I’ve been meaning to write about Perfume since I started this blog, but just never found the time to introduce them. I figured they would be the best one to start with since Perfume was the first J-Pop group I started to listen to. My friend told me about them about 3 years when I asked him “What are some good J-Pop bands/groups with a electronic feel?” He only mumbled one word, Perfume, and that was all. I asked him if there were others, but he remained quiet. I guess not. So, when I got home later that night (making sure not to forget their name), I searched up this group and the rest is history. I’ve been addicted to their music ever since.
Perfume consists of 3 members:
かしゆか (Kashiyuka)
のっち (Nocchi)
あーちゃん (A-Chan)
These photos were taken from the new Natural Beauty Basic commercial featuring Perfume’s new single ナチュラルに恋して (Love Me Naturally). The photos can be found here and the commercial can be found here.
I could go on and on explaining Perfume to you, but the only way to ever know how good they are is to simply listen. I must note here that their music is created by the awesome Nakata Yasutaka. So if you like Perfume, there will be a good chance that you’ll like his other projects.
Below, I will provide you with 3 music videos. I’ll take one song from each of their albums starting with their earliest and ending with their latest. Enjoy!
Hopefully you enjoyed those as much as all Perfume fans continue to do. I just wanted to end this “Totally Rad Tune Tuesday” by giving a shout out to Perfume City. It’s a fan site dedicated to all things Perfume and anything that you would want (seriously!) is there. I encourage you to check it out if you have the slightest interest in Perfume or just J-Pop in general. Plus, if you want more music, you are bound to find it there.
If everything works out and this post doesn’t become a total fail (not sure why it would, but you never know), I hope to continue TRTT on a weekly basis. And please, if you have any music recommendations, please leave a comment below. I will make sure I check out each suggestion that I receive.
Thanks for tuning in everyone!
ps 16 High-Fives to the first person who guesses my favorite Perfume member.
The noun “onore” meaning oneself sounds classical. Jiko is a more familiar word having the same meaning.
What do people do with jiko (themselves)? Here are some examples:
To take a good look at oneself … jiko wo mitsumeru
To know oneself … jiko wo shiru
To affirm oneself … jiko wo kōteisuru
To deny oneself … jiko wo hiteisuru
To analyze oneself … jiko wo bunsekisuru
Jiko often becomes a suffix meaning “self-.”
Jikokanri means self-control.
Jikokansatsu means self-observation.
Jikogisei means self-sacrifice.
Jikokettei means self-determination.
Jikoshōkai means self-introduction.
Jikotōsui means self-absorption.
Jikohitei means self-denial.
Jikohihan means self-criticism.
Jikoanji means autosuggestion.
… and so on and so forth.
Self-centeredness is “jikochū shin.” It is abbreviated as “jikochū,” of which the chū is written in katakana. We do not use the slang “jikochū” on formal occasions.
Draw the hook on the top.
Draw the horizontal stroke.
Draw the U-shaped curve. Make it narrower at the end. The first curve is rounder than the other. At the second corner, you can stop a little to change the direction of the brush.
WT2010 – JAPAN
Day 5/6 – Harajuku & Roppongi
[On the iPOD] Initial D 4th Stage / Animal Collective
Well I really had to dig deep to go out Saturday night, after spending allday inside being sick and JUST managing to keep food down at 10pm I headed to Shibuya to a tiny rock club called Rock No Cocoro. I think it was ‘birthday night’ or something. Sitting there listening to Japanese people sing happy birthday in english was funny. The bar started to get a bit packed and by about 1am and once again, kids moshing without shirts to punk songs and Japanese rock.
Odd music selection. Greenday followed by Ricky Martin for example. Whack. (Yes I just said whack) But there were some good tunes in there too. The club is across the road from a band rehearsal studio, it’s a pretty rad area. Everything is so accessible here. I can’t think of one rehearsal space in Sydney remotely anywhere near anything let alone dead centre of the city surrounded by rad bars.
I then decided to somehow circa 1am muster the energy to go looking for two other clubs I knew of. One had closed permanently by the looks of it. Whilst the other looked like it was converted to a restaurant bar, at least as far as I could tell. So I decided to have an early one, home by 2am.
I felt the need to makeup for saturday so I was aiming for Harajuku in the morning. I got there about 10am, the bridge linking meiji-jingu (a huge shrine park area dedicated to Emperor Meiji) and the other side of the train station known as Harajuku is known for the cosplay scene kids showing up on weekends for photo ops. Cosplay is great though i’d never do it, the dedication these kids have to manga and anime characters is great I think. I don’t know if it was the fact the shrine area is a large tourist attraction or if the area has been bastardized by westerners purely thanks to a certain ex No Doubt singer talking about Harajuku girls has ‘hers’ thus thrusting cosplay into the mainstream but I felt very ‘Tourist’ when standing on that bridge.
It’s something I’m trying to stay away from on this trip, I cringe even having a camera around my neck because it instantly puts that label on me, but I need to document all this and lets face it. I guess I was playing tourist today. With no cosplay kids around as yet (10am) I decided to head to the shrine Meiji-jingu. It’s like 70 acres of park built by volunteers with trees donated by people all over Japan all in reverence of Emperor Meiji and Empress Shoken. It’s quite an amazing feet. I got to the main shrine building and there happened to be a few weddings taking place. This was a huge tourist draw card. I’ve never actually witnessed a Japanese ceremony or at least the lead up to one. Quite enthralling.
I then checked out the treasure museum which holds collections of past emperors, no photos allowed though but the main building literally had paintings of every emperor side by side since 700ad to present day. It was odd staring at 1300 years of family line in the face, also interesting to note the style of the emperors was completely unaffected by foreign influence until the mid 1900’s.
Walking back I headed to the gyoen (lower park area) to hear some bands busking. Entire bands play, drum kits and powered amps and all. One group had drums/guitar/bass coming through one P.A and somehow it sounded ok. There were other musos setting up most interesting of note an older bunch of rockabilly or classic 50’s styled rock guys (think leather jackets with studs and elvis/james dean hair cuts) By this time it was like close to 1pm and I’d decided to aim for Mori Art Centre in Roppongi hills (about a 2.5km walk) followed by Suntory Museum of Art. Walking along the way via backstreets I stumble on some mind blowing stores. I’d reken girls who have never been here would absolutely lose the plot shopping in Harajuku.
I’d promised I would only spend $70 a day in Japan sticking to some form of a budget. This has gone out the window of course but more so when I saw the worlds most amazing jacket for like 14800yen ($180) after speaking to the guy and me explaining I was Australian he offered it to me for 9800 ($115) I replied KYU SEN?? 9000yen ($100) and he looked at his store attendants and said fine. How can you not buy stuff in such a place anyway.
Walking on through Omote-Sando There appeared to be some Irish-Japanese solidarity parade featuring bagpipes and large hounds dressed in clothes. The street was closed off and a huge crowds. I wasn’t sure why this was going on until I checked online, oh thats right. St Patrick’s day, apparently it started here in 1992 for the purpose of Introducing Ireland to the Japanese people.
Somehow it was like 3pm and I STILL hand’t eaten. I was looking for a sushi place, something which you’d think would be analogous to hitting water after falling out of a boat but I couldn’t for the life of me find one. I’d even skipped breakfast for it. Eventually had to google it and running through backstreets towards the closest place on the way to the Mori Art Museum I got there to find it closed! I settled for ramen and gyoza and the next available place. Still haven’t had sushi in Japan, hmm.
Mori Art Museum is in the Roppongi Hills complex in a large tower which is also an observatory. You can buy a ticket that gives you access to both. I took some photos high above the Tokyo skyline, you can pretty much see everything obviously. Odaiba bay is pretty big even from afar.
I’ve never laughed out loud or stood so long at certain pieces anywhere as I did at this Mori Art exhibition. It was modern art and design, something which I normally stray from. No photos allowed unfortunately but I’ll do my best. Upon entry theres Instructions on the wall features Nintendo DS’. Yup thats right, rather than having long-winded captions under art works which limit artists to a word limit this exhibition simply had the Artist and piece name and a Nintendo DS outline with a number. You bring along your DS and type in the number and connect to the remote system and select a piece number and you get all the info as well as Artist info. Great idea.
There was a 3metre wide white canvass which was painted with black ink, a scribbly mind-explosion style with uber high detail spanning from left to right and then I noticed something. The Artist, barefoot was on the right hand side, ink felt and ink bottle in hand. Drawing it LIVE! I’d hazzard a guess It started as a blank canvass on day one of the exhibition and he’d come in from opening to closing drawing his work from scratch with all to view. He was on the far right of the work when I was viewing it but it was utterly inspiring, there were still a few blank spots open. Who knows when he will consider the work done.
Further on to a design section. Hows this for an idea; A Jacket that turns into a tent. Yes a camping tent, it was so utterly out of nowhere I laughed when I saw the design sketches, as did others. It was layed out pegged up on faux grass and was totally functional as both a one person tent which folds and zips up to a regular looking jacket, amazing.
Other works were a seemingly inconspicuous draw that folds out a 2metre long table in mini-sections. The craftwork that went into this was mind boggling. It was like origami from wood.
Kids toy lines, animations and yet more art. It was all kind of refreshing, but just like that it was over. And it was 5:15. So much for the Suntory Art Museum. Checked out a small park right near the building and then wandered on to get invited into a small gallery featuring works by disabled artists. Usually painting with brushes in their mouths, or sometimes feet. All I can say is wow, I couldn’t paint half as well if tried using a steady hand let alone a paintbrush in my mouth. It’s amazing how much determination some people have.
Roppongi is the upmarket part of town. I’d discerned this from seeing no less than six, yes six Ferraris fly by me in an array of colours, then a Corvette Z06 and a race-spec 911 GT2 and finally an R35 GTR. Whats more the streets had gone from standard uber clean Japan to eat off the floor / inside of your house clean. Apparently its also home of the red-light district in another part and home of many a Yakuza member.
I caught a train back to Harajuku to check out what it was like on a Sunday night. No major cosplay gatherings unfortunately but most of the shops were still open at 9pm. Does this city ever sleep? Lured by the distant and faint sounds of a nasel-whaling Johnny Rotten I wandered into a (literally) underground Punk & Goth clothing store and was met with ‘no photos’ before I even got down the stairs. Weary of people ripping off their designs was this shop owner. I was just browsing having already spent too much that day but they did have some gear I’d never seen anywhere. Maybe you’d have found them in Mclaren and Westwood’s stores in the UK in the 70s, or at least I was getting that vibe. The store owner explained she’d been open for 28years and a lot of Aussies go there. Wow, didn’t I feel like a tourist.
I saw a girl carrying a bag she’d bought and I tried to ask where she’d gotten it (I’ve been looking for something similar as a gift) only to find that she spoke absolutely no english and my Japanese wasn’t working and then her boyfriend turned up and it got seriously awkward. Time to head home I think.
March 17 is the Irish holiday St. Patrick’s Day. We take this occasion every year as an excuse to celebrate a beer style long associated with Ireland: Stout. Stout, of course, is a wonderful pitch-black ale that enjoys many stylistic manifestations. We serve up seven different interpretations of Stout during our week-long celebration which we call Lucky 7 Stout Week.
Lucky 7 Stout Week @ Numazu Fishmarket Taproom (Wed. March 17 – Mon. March 22):
This year’s Stout selection is as follows:
Shimaguni Stout
Mama’s Milk Stout (served on hand-pump)
Midnight Oil Export Stout 2010
Great American Stout
Citrus Wheat Stout
Morning Coffee Stout 2008
Morning Coffee Stout 2010
In addition to these Stout selections, we also will be honoring the Irish with the 2010 Real Ale debut of Luck of the Irish Red Ale. Special Lucky 7 Stout Cards, which include punches for all seven seasonal Stouts will be available for purchase and use during the week (Pint cards @ 5,000 yen; Half-pint cards @3,500 yen). Enthusiasts who purchase and complete a card during the week will be entered into an end-of-the-week raffle in which seven Baird Beer prizes will be awarded. The lucky 7 prizes to be awarded are:
Fishmarket Taproom Nonbei Pint Drink Card
Fishmarket Taproom Nonbei Half-pint Card
Shimaguni Stout (360 ml) 6-Pack
Midnight Oil Export Stout (633 ml) 4-Pack
Shimaguni Stout T-Shirt
Set of two Baird Beer logo glasses (pint & half-pint)
Set of two posters (Shimaguni Stout & Baird Beer logo)
Great Irish- and Stout-inspired cuisine, of course, will be served up by the Fishmarket Taproom kitchen during the week. A special Lucky 7 Stout Week food menu will include the following:
Irish Beef Stew
Roast Beef
Potato Gratin
Traditional Fish & Chips
Fisherman’s Seafood Pasta
English Cheese Plate
Stout Cake & Chocolate Platter
Warm Irish-style camaraderie and revelry will also be in abundance all week long. Please note that the final day, Monday, March 22, is a Japan national holiday and thus the Fishmarket Taproom will be opening its doors at noon. For all you Tokyo denizens who have not made the Numazu pilgrimage recently, this represents a great chance! We look forward to seeing and drinking/eating with all of you.
Cheers,
Bryan Baird
Baird Brewing Company
Numazu, Japan HOMEPAGE
The Japan Blog List
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Must-see tasting websites:
-Sake: Tokyo Through The Drinking Glass, Tokyo Foodcast, Urban Sake, Sake World
-Wine: Palate To Pen, Warren Bobrow, Cellar Tours
-Beer: Good Beer & Country Boys, Another Pint, Please!
-Japanese Pottery to enjoy your favourite drinks: Yellin Yakimono Gallery
——————————–
Please check the new postings at: sake, shochu and sushi
“ Thái Tử Nhật sắp thăm viếng Việt Nam từ 9 tháng 2 đến 15 tháng 2 năm 2009, đề kỷ niệm 35 năm bang giao với Việt Nam. Thái tử Nhật sẽ tham quan khắp nước Việt Nam từ Bắc chí Nam, kể cả miền Tây đồng bằng sông Cửu Long..
Trong loạt bài này, chúng tôi xin chia sẻ với các bạn một vài hình ảnh tôi và người tình trăm năm chụp tại Nhật trong chuyến tham quan du lịch nước Nhật trước đây, tìm hiểu nước Nhật..
Trong các entry trước tôi đã nói tới một vài nét đặc biệt của Nhật là rượu Sake, áo Kimono, các cô Geisha và chùa Phật Giáo nổi tiếng thế giới ở Nhật, chùa Todai-ji ở thủ đô đầu tiên nước Nhật Nara. Việt Nam mình ngày xưa có nhiều chùa chiền Phật Giáo. Nhật cũng vậy.
Trong entry nầy, mời các bạn tham quan chùa Kiyomizu là kỳ quan thế giới finalist của Nhật ở Kyoto. Chùa được xây cất trên đồi, rất lớn, không đóng một cây đinh nào. Đường lên chùa rất vui, tiệm tùng rất nhiều, các cô du khách giả làm Geisha dập dìu rất vui.
( Du Lịch thế giới, http://lthdan05.wordpress.com/2010/01/26/tim-hi%e1%bb%83u-n%c6%b0%e1%bb%9bc-nh%e1%ba%adt-chua-kiyomizu/)
I have taken a total of 1907 photos on my Japan trip, which is not a lot – I believe my brother averaged 1k photos per day when we were in England.
But sorting through almost 2 thousand photos is no easy feet.
I don’t do much photo editing (thank goodness), apart from some cropping and straightening. The problem is I have no idea where to begin with them. As per previous trips, I totally intend to identify photos by themes, put them together and upload them.
Where do I start? By geographical location, chronological order, similarities, favourites? How do you choose where to plunge into when you have 2 thousand options?
And it’s all about presentation, so before I figure it out, you folks won’t get to see anything. Sorry!
Recently I have been looking for good pictures in the Life magazine website: . Actually you can use Google to search pictures published in Life .
I have collected many pictures from various archives, including the MacArthur Memorial Archives, Municipal Archives in Beijing and Shanghai, as well as the Ohara Institute for Social Studies etc., but Life’s pictures really stand out in terms of its quality. Well, of course, Life had professional photographers.
Maybe I can use Life’s pictures on my research paper, but I am not sure if I can use them for publication (I mean a book). Somebody knows about it?
Why is it so cold again! Last night was pure misery in terms of weather: cold, sleet, snow and wet. But I braved the cold and went out for a night of great Taiwanese food and billiards, kudos to my partner’s colleague. I’m a pretty crap pool player, but I managed to enjoy it by the end of the evening
While I grumble about the cold and sleet, I must say there was something special about walking around Shibuya, the bits of ice/snow whirling in all sorts of impossible directions. It’s really beautiful to look at, if you’re not in it I guess! I’m guessing it will be a long time again until I’ll see weather of this kind, so I should enjoy it while I can, huh.
We made a rare trip to the Big City this weekend to do some shopping. There we ate lunch at a restaurant. Over on the next table was an American. My children noticed and were curious. They have met many English speakers and probably recognised that he was speaking English.
As we left my daughter of three said “hello” to him. She is by no means a shy girl.
While we do not speak English (my first language) at home, my children are keenly aware of the existence of English and its difference to the Japanese lanaguage. How they know this is because I always make sure they are exposed to natural English.
I often invite my Western friends over or go out with them so as to bring awareness to my children of a language which is not their own. And I talk to my parents, who live back home, at least two or three times a week by phone or internet. I make sure to show them what it is like to speak a language in its natural setting.
This alone I think is enough to help them develop it later, much to my wife’s dismay. She wants me to talk to the kids in English so as to get them bilingual. But I think it is not only unnecessary but also harmful.
Tyring to learn a language in a foreign language setting (that is, one that is not used in a place for any reason but for the sake of learning it) is not good at all. Ultimately, it brings about weak language skills and habits because of the lack of exposure to the language used in its natural environment. Without seeing how it is used in its natural conditions one must make guesses as to how to use the language.
The rules of language use are culturally defined more than anything else and therefore need to be shown as such, not only as a bunch of grammar points in a book or as a dialogue pattern on a language program. Being exposed to the real thing is always necessary for good language learning to occur.
Ich kann jedem nur empfehlen, diesen Blog eines jungen deutschen Ingenieurs, der in Japan arbeitet, zu lesen. Einige Storys sind schlicht zum ROFLn (also sehr lustisch). Hier die meiner Meinung nach lustigsten Storys:
niga-i, niga-mi, kuru-shii, kuru-shimi, kuru-shimu, ku
Although this character doesn’t have fancy meanings, it gives us a good opportunity to talk about how to inflect Japanese adjectives to make nouns.
This character generates two adjectives. One is nigai, meaning bitter; the other is kurushii, meaning hard. By changing the ending of each adjective, you can make nouns.
Nigami … bitterness
Nigasa … bitterness, or the degree of bitterness
Kurushimi … sufferings
Kurushisa … sufferings or how painful one feels
The noun “ku” means sufferings or trouble. Kuraku is sufferings and joys that you share with your partner or your close friends. You can say, “kuraku wo tomoni shita naka” to imply a long and close relationship. It means a relationship in which you suffered and enjoyed together.
Kujō is a complain often made about a product. Kugen is criticism offered by your supporter or adviser. Those who care about you give you this kind of criticism thoughtfully. It usually accompanies the verb “teisuru,” meaning “to offer politely.” The particle between the verb and object is “wo,” so criticizing in this way is expressed as “kugen wo teisuru.”
Draw the dot from the top left.
Draw the horizontal line crossing the first dot.
Draw the sweeping dot from the top right.
Draw the horizontal line in the middle from the left to the right.
The Japanese are coming around to support ethanol, something that clearly pleases the Brazilian sugarcane industry, which has seen an inflow of Japanese investments. The Japan Automobile Manufacturers Association (JAMA), a powerful industry group in Japan, recently issued a report in support of fuel ethanol. JAMA endorses the use of up to 10% ethanol blends in gasoline but insists that the alternative fuel have quality equivalent to the conventional gasoline or diesel fuel so that satisfactory safety and emission performance of vehicles can be achieved, the group says. Specifically on ethanol, JAMA endorsed up to 10% blends for all vehicles and said that greater than 10% ethanol content should be limited to vehicles specially designed so or for flexible-fuel vehicles. Ironically, Toyota has been fighting to require flex-fuel vehicles in the U.S.
Imagine a futuristic world, a place where fish thrive in the billions, throughout our oceans and seas. Imagine a world that has no overfishing; has no species on the brink of extinction.
What would that world look like?
You would walk down the deck of a ship and feel the cool, sea breeze envelop you, as the ship rocks in the wind. You would look out into the vast ocean stretched out before you, and see dolphins leaping out of the water, free and safe from horrific deaths that occur today, such as what takes place in Taiji, Japan.
Your ship would dock, and walking on to the pier, you wouldn’t see advertisements for captive animals “owned” by multi-million dollar companies, such as SeaWorld or other massive, unsustainable companies; unlike Monterey Bay Aquarium and New England Aquarium. Instead, there would be signs pointing to environmentally friendly alternatives, such as whale-watching, where the fish have not been forced into captivity or to perform tricks when they long to be free.
What happened to the Bluefin Tuna, which were on the verge of extinction?
They are once again thriving thanks to the European Fishing Ban that passed after the U.S. agreed to join with the other countries in banning fishing of Bluefin. Countries around the world are working with many private organizations, e.g., Oceanic Preservation Society that look out for the banned fish.
In addition to fishing bans, governments have agreed to support the “Captivity Agreement.”
The Captivity Agreement states that no fish that is banned may be held captive in aquarium tanks. For example, Cod and Bluefin Tuna are not allowed in tanks. It also states that any endangered animal found in aquarium tanks must be released unless the government has granted the owner of the tank a special exception, which are reserved for oceanic research and helping injured animals.
Finally, the Japanese government no longer has a large amount of influence in the International Whaling Commission‘. This is due to other countries not believing Japan because of the scandal revealed in The Cove, a documentary released in 2009.
Could this happen? It could if everyone worked extremely hard to save the Earth’s oceans and their inhabitants.
I don’t like the astounding costs of the whole damn thing for two stupid weeks of rah-rah frivolity . For example, the only current use for Bejing’s gorgeaus stadiums from the last Olympics, like the exceedingly large Bird’s Nest Stadium is now, well, a bird’s nest.
Yes, in a move towards Asian unity, The Chinese have offered it Japan as breeding ground for Rodan, their flying giant serpent. which is about all it’s good for now that Bob Costas has left.
Speaking of costs, I cannot stomach the special effects of the overblown mess, particularly The Opening Cermonies which makes the coronation of a Roman Emperor like Biggus Dickus
seem like a street naming ceremony in Towanda, PA.
With more special effects than AVATAR
and at a cost similar moving the entire nation of Chile off the fault lines,
it seems a bit much, to tell you the truth.
And what does it all celebrate….white people doing stupid shit!
Why do we need ceremonies for that…we do that every day. Just take a look at the US Senate ,if you don’t believe me.
In the small bit of Olympic watching that I did, one thing I also noticed was that there were very few African American athletes in The Winter Games which I think speaks to one of two things :
1. The high costs of participation in those sports.
Hmmm, as sociologists clearly have stated Black people as a group are a lower income base, blah blah blah which is caused by socio economic , racial hatred blah blah blah …..and hence it is clearly shown balh blah blah
OR
2. It speaks to a far a superior brain power among black people, who , in their infinite wisdom, looked at some crazy white dude hurtling down a mountain at 100 miles per hour standing on a small board , flying off into space off a ramp, doing twists and turn in the air like he’s having an epileptic fit, and landing on his feet….maybe.
They also watched the lugers. These are not German handguns , but rather a grouping of nutbags who dress like condoms , but have human heads.
They then lay on their back on a tiny sled ( in bizarre homosexual positions in some cases) and hurtle through twists and turns on an ice track no less, lifting their heads up to see where they’re going……controlling the luge sled with tiny muscle movements of their crotch and I guess shifting gears with their frozen penises. How women steer, I have no idea !
There are few black “curling ‘ professionals, unless you count hair care.
Even though there are a goodly number of black people in places like Ontario and Minnesota, the last thing they want to show the world is how good they are with a broom. Come to think of it, do women in curling use vacuum cleaners? Do females in Curling scream, “ I cooked. You sweep up!”
Oh good, only four years from now, no black people except Shoni Davis , the speed skater, can go to some goofy town in Russia the next Winter Games.
Taking advantage of the gorgeous February weather at the beach. Waiting on a tsunami that only measured 10 cm, good news. Met two friends then went for ramen. This is the day before the game, from Japan. At night I stayed in a love hotel just to be able watch the game on the big screen, had to wake up at 5am, totally worth it, Canada winning in overtime, 3-2, still sporting an afterglow!
After Nakameguro （中目黒）, we went to Daikanyama （代官山） which is just around 10 minutes walk from Nakameguro.
The picture above is Mekiri Slope （目切り坂）, a slope connecting Nakameguro （中目黒） with Daikanyama （代官山）. At the end of Mekiri Slope, you’ll see the former residence of Asakura family on your left.
The photo below was taken during my first visit there last year. It’s really a very well preserved traditional Japanese house. The entrance fees is just 100 yen, I highly suggest you to drop by this place if you have not visited any traditional Japanese house before. The Japanese garden is especially beautiful in Autumn when the momiji trees turn red.
We also got to see a little exhibition by these 1st year art students from Tokyo Zokei University (Art university in Tokyo).
It was a giraffe themed exhibition & I love giraffe!! Those giraffe wood sculptures are so cute yah!
Weather forecast says it’s going to be rainy days ahead … *shit* I don’t like to go to work in rain coz’ my office is very far from the train station.
English : giraffe
Japanese : キリン（きりん・kirin)
Korean :기린 (gi rin)
Chinese : 长颈鹿 (chang jing lu)
Recently I have been looking for good pictures in the Life magazine website: 
The Japanese are coming around to support ethanol, something that clearly pleases the Brazilian sugarcane industry, which has seen an inflow of Japanese investments. The Japan Automobile Manufacturers Association (JAMA), a powerful industry group in Japan, recently issued a report in support of fuel ethanol. JAMA endorses the use of up to 10% ethanol blends in gasoline but insists that the alternative fuel have quality equivalent to the conventional gasoline or diesel fuel so that satisfactory safety and emission performance of vehicles can be achieved, the group says. Specifically on ethanol, JAMA endorsed up to 10% blends for all vehicles and said that greater than 10% ethanol content should be limited to vehicles specially designed so or for flexible-fuel vehicles. Ironically, Toyota has been fighting to require flex-fuel vehicles in the U.S.
